For any other father-daughter relationship, it may have been a nice gesture.Touching, even.ButCalamityknew that her father was interested in one thing only: power.Andany apparent affection for his offspring was almost certainly because of her prophesied ability to bring him more of it.
That said, asCalamityfought back-to-back withMorganain the underbelly of theCapital, finally dropping the enemy in front of her with three rays of scorching fire, the totem seemed to be calling to her.Notliterally– she would have been at least mildly alarmed if it had been whispering to her in the night or something– but she could really use more of thatPrinceofPandemoniumpower.
TheVarjo’smen were no joke; the shadow himself wasn’t even here in the maintenance chamber of the city’s sewers, butCalamityand her friends were losing the battle against his syndicate, and fast.Yorickwas on the ground in a heap, bleeding;Edenwas fighting off three shadowy dagger-wielders at once, using her arrows as melee weapons; andLiam… yep, there wentLiamsoaring through the air, a reddish haze of evocation magic trailing after him, leading back to the spellcaster who had sent him flying.Calamitywatched asLiamlanded hard on his shield, then stopped moving.
Calamity turned and held her thumbs together, summoning fire across her splayed hands, the burn exhilarating as she aimed the flames at the fighters in front ofMorgana, hoping to catch the ones corneringEden, too.Butshe didn’t look to see if it had worked; she ran over toLiaminstead, turning him onto his back and pressing her hands to the gash in his gut, just below his plate mail armour.Shewished desperately that she’d paid attention whenLiamandYorickhad cast healing spells in the past– sure,Liamgot his power from his oath, butYorickhad studied for it the old-fashioned way– but all she could do was clasp the wound together and wrack her brain for any useful knowledge about how to stop the bleeding.
Eden yelped as she, too, dropped to the floor, andCalamityfelt a shudder of fear run through her.Shemight actually, genuinely lose her friends.
She couldn’t let that happen.
Calamity spared one hand fromLiam’sbleeding torso to clasp the totem around her neck.Shesqueezed her eyes shut, despite the battle raging around her, and whispered the only prayer she’d ever uttered, to the last person she wanted to pray to.
“Help me,Dad,” she said. “Icall on you,Trulnuroth.Please.”
Suddenly,Calamity’shand began to burn, and not in the satisfying way that her magic scalded her skin.Shetore the now-glowing totem away from her, snapping the leather strap, and flung it out into the room.Butinstead of clattering to the ground like stone should have, it floated in the air, spinning in place, then burst into a bright, purple light so blindingCalamityhad to cover her eyes.
When her vision finally cleared, there was a person where the totem had been.
She was tall and lean, all muscle and sinew, with green skin, speckles like a meadowlark’s egg over her arms and face.Herhair fell to her shoulders in thick, rope-like tendrils, long, pointed ears sticking out from between them.Shewas unarmed but for a simple wooden staff, and she wore no armour, though her hands and feet were wrapped in battered fabric.Shehad clearly known a fight or two in her day.
Calamity held up her free hand to flag down the newcomer, who ignored her.Instead, the stranger charged straight for the remaining syndicate members, who were all heading forMorgana, and unleashed the furyCalamityhad seen coiled within her from the moment she’d emerged.Shepulled one back by the scruff and used the momentum to kick him against the wall.Thenext was the lucky recipient of a surprise staff to the back of the head, making them crumple.Then, a third assailant– though, who was the assailant here, really,Calamitywondered– took a brutal jab-cross combo to the face.
Calamity felt a stirring beneath her hand, and she looked down to seeLiam’seyes open, his chest rising and falling.Sheexhaled sharply in relief.Shelooked around, her eyes searching forYorickandEden.Yorickhad propped himself up on an elbow, watching the fight, andEden… yes,Edenwas stable, too.
“Here, let me,”Liamsaid, reaching up toCalamity’sface, his fingers skirting a cut on her forehead, but she shirked away from him.
“You need it more thanIdo,” she said. “Healyourself so you can get the others up.”Thenshe pushed to her feet, ready to helpMorganaand this stranger her father had sent her.
By the time she reached the centre of the chamber, though,Morganawas doubled over in exhaustion, and the stranger stood over a pile of bodies.Calamitycould hear the patter of footsteps as one of the enemies ran away through the sewers, but she didn’t go after them.Instead, she locked eyes with this mysterious warrior, who was holding her gaze with the oddest combination of intensity and disdain.
“Who are you?”Calamityasked, trying her best to keep her voice measured and even. “Howdid you get here?”
“I amNashala,” the stranger said, the corner of her mouth quirking up in a smirk. “Andyour father sent me.ThePrinceofPandemoniumsends his regards.”
Chapter10
Chloe
It took me about two minutes afterTeddy’scharacter had been introduced to figure out whatFatimahad done, and another two to decide whetherIwanted to confront her about it mid-session.Ididn’t, becauseIapparently did have the survival instincts of a stoat, who are resourceful little guys, it turned out.Iknew better than to confrontFatimawhen she heldCalamity’slife in her hands.
But my intact sense of self-preservation didn’t meanIwasn’t annoyed.Itwas just so typical of her– give her even the faintest whiff of real-world drama, and she would try to weave it into the narrative fabric of our in-game universe.
Afterwards, we all tramped down to the pub for post-game drinks as usual, sansTeddy– she’d taken off immediately after the game, citing the long drive back to the farm.Itwas also raining that spectacular horizontal rain that gets inside your coat no matter how tightly you zip it, andIarrived at the bar with water dripping off my nose, looking like the world’s saddest raccoon, the way mascara streaked down my cheeks and pooled under my eyes.Amysidled up next to me, andIhanded her a bar napkin, as if it would do anything for the sopping wet locks of blonde hair hanging down her back.
“You look like you just lost a fight in a drive-through car wash,” she said to me, her voice laced with affection, andIlaughed.
“I was just thinking the same about you.”
We were all at the table– andFatimawas halfway through her pint– beforeIworked up the courage to bring upTeddy’scharacter backstory, but she beat me to the punch.
“Great job tonight,” she said. “YouandTeddyreally brought out the best in each other.”
I narrowed my eyes at her over the rim of my glass. “Didyou seriously build a whole campaign arc just so you could get us to bond?Orare you actually sadistic and want to watch us squirm?”
“Por que no los dos?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows at me.
I groaned and let my head thunk onto the table, narrowly missing a puddle of condensation.Notthat it would have made much of a difference, the stateIwas in.
