Salvage ~ V1: Nuts and Bolts (Steampunk/ Gaslamp Romantasy ~ FxM, MxM)

Chapter 7: Are You With Us? ~ pt. 1

He was cloaked in the dark garb of a mercenary, his face wrapped in a mask that left only his eyes visible, and he held an axe in one hand.

Ice spread through Kazia's chest and settled over her shoulders as she readied her dagger, but as he reached her the mercenary was hit by an apple-sized orb of energy that sent him flying sideways.

She glanced aside to see Kelvaran standing with one hand outstretched.

"Well done," she said, and ran after the mercenary to where he now lay on the ground.

The man flipped himself back up onto his feet, but Kazia kicked his legs out from under him, sending him sprawling again. Mustering a bit of ethereal energy in her fingers, she used it to drive her dagger through the mercenary's right hand and well into the ground, nailing him down.

He screamed and kicked at her, but she danced back out of his reach.

"Are there more here?" she asked him.

He ignored her and lay gingerly trying his hand against her dagger, but the steel and the bit of magic stood strong.

She leaned down to pull his face covering off and he tried to hook his free arm around her. She twisted sideways and came upright again with one foot on his left wrist and the other on his left knee.

A sickening pop came from the knee under her foot and the man screamed again.

"Are there more here!?" she shouted.

Kelvaran approached, leaned over the mercenary, and tapped his forehead with a tiny spark of energy.

"Truth," Kelvaran commanded.

Kazia watched the man's face contort as the spell set in.

He was clearly determined to resist, but few had the mental strength to withstand this kind of magic aside from very experienced Alchemists. Fear welled from the man as the spell wormed its way into his mind.

Kazia leaned forward, her boots grinding into both joints under them.

She needed him to speak quickly. The Seamist she had taken that morning was fast wearing away now. Every pain she visited upon him was reflected back to her, and she didn't know how much more of it she could take.

To make matters worse, Kelvaran now regarded her with a disturbed revulsion, tinged with vindication in his assessment of her.

"Are there more here?" she asked quietly, a menace in her voice.

"Not here..." the mercenary wheezed. "The big house..."

~~~*~~~

"Let's go!" Kazia shouted.

Momentarily frozen, Kelvaran watched her run back toward the carriage, pausing to scoop her skirt off the ground as she went. He gave a last glance to the man on the ground, writhing in pain and fear.

Amelys had described this woman to him as a genius with Alchemical Artifacts, but what he had just witnessed – Amelys had said nothing of that sort. His suspicions growing by the minute, he ran after her.

Inside the carriage, Neiphi and Brandra were all frantic, panicked questions, but he ignored them all, and Kazia did the same.

Amelys tried to calm them as the carriage pulled away, turning toward the main house. Kelvaran sent a bit of energy into a console in the back compartment – an Artifact attached down into the wheels to augment the carriage's speed.

Kazia leaned back in her seat, her breath heavy and erratic.

"Kazia," Amelys said quietly. "Are you with us?"