Alchemi ( volume 1 of the "Swirdiniad " series

Nadya

Nadya was about to run into a fruit cart in the middle of the streets of the Hollow. She held on to its ledge and jumped over the cart, knocking it down.

" Hey, you stop!" the vendor and the Guard shouted, coincidentally, at the same time. Their shouts were drowned by the loud chatting of the thick crowd.

Nadya ignored them and kept on running, She weaved through the crowd with ease. She side-stepped a group of women walking side by side, and ducked under the wood plank of a carpenter who was cutting it, probably to create an art piece. She brushed the wood slightly and felt its grainy texture. Nadya ignored it and kept sprinting.

The guard must've called on reinforcements because there were a few men in black chasing after her. Coincidentally, her sleeve got stuck on a meat hook. She tried to pull it free, but it would not budge. The men were just a few meters away from her. She gulped and thought about using the secret weapon.

Nadya tugged harded and she fell forward, but her sleeve was torn. It would take a lot of money to fix that. She turned a corner and she imagined herself jumping a great height. Her amulet glowed a faint purple and she felt lighter.

The men turned a corner and witnessed the theif leap onto a rooftop. They gaped at the sight, but decided to push down their curiosity. They backed out into the busy street of the hollow and ran after the girl.

Nadya's amulet stopped glowing right after she floated onto the roof. Gravity took over and her weight returned. She ran over the rooftops until she landed on a rotted, wooden one. She activated her pendant, grabbed the top of the window, and swung herself into the room. The necklace deactivated and she went flying into a wall.

" Ow. " Nadya cried from the pain and rubbed her head.

" Nadya, what 'append? Ye better not 'ave messed up the goods." Orison shouted from the stairs.

" Don't worry Orison, your useless boxes are still intact. " Nadya shouted back.

The door swung open and the giant came in. Orison was a tall male with red hair and weighed approximately 150 kilograms. There were hundreds of scars on his bulging arms alone which he probably recieved from multiple bar fights and crew missions. He wore gloves, worn-out boots, vest with a t-shirt underneath and a pair of trousers.

Because of his height, Nadya had to look up when talking to him.

" What 'ave ye done!" he exclaimed, running to his fallen crates.

"Overprotective." Nadya whispered to herself.

" No, no no! These 'ere's boxes are not s'pposed to be in this position!" He looked to Nadya and said " I will go 'an tell Kaz about this. "

Nadya's eyes widened at the mention of Kaz, their silent leader. The crew gossiped about how Kaz was just a shadow, and intangible object which watches all their activities. Nadya had been recruited by that man, himself. On that faithful day, he wore black clothing and a black mask to hide his features. Every time Kaz would go out, he covered his whole body, not a single centimeter of flesh was exposed. People noticed that and started calling him " Kaz Ymatros": Kaz the Shadow Stalker.

" No, please don't tell him" Nadya pleaded.

Orison grinned and asked " Then are ye goin' to fix this mess up?"

Nadya gritted her teeth. Before she could answer, Yssamoi shouted " Base under attack!"

There was a flash of shock on Orison's face was soon replaced by rage. " I will return!" he whispered into Nadya's ear while running towards the fight.

Nadya decided to help out her crew mates even if they're mostly horrible people. Orison was one of the better ones.

Nadya trotted down the stairs as quickly as possible that the creaks could be heard in the attic. When the lower rooms were visible, her comerade was flung unto the rails. His blood splattered on Nadya's dress.

The sight was terrible. There were men being maimed and blood splattering onto the walls. Luckily, Nadya was accustomed to gruesomeness, but she was still shocked from the amount of blood and gore of the massacare.

A man in black ran his sword into a man's heart, he had no chance. Some theives were running out the door, but an Alchemist was killing them with his mystical devices and glowing weapons.

Nadya gasped and ran back up. She knew fights, and fights like this led to death. It would be better to pick fights she could win, but her path to the hallway was blocked with men with masks. No, she wouldn't have sent specialists.

The men ran down the stairs and tried to grab her arms. Nu-huh, Nadya would not let them take her alive. She kicked the man's hand. There was no sound from him, but he held his hurt hand with his other one. His companion drew out his sword and swung it at her. Nadya leaned backwards and almost fell off the stairs. She regained her balance, but this time, the sword was about to slice her from the top, down. Nadya's amulet glowed and the sword was deflected. There were a few sparks as if it hit something invisible. While the man recovered, Nadya drew out her daggers. She grinned and slashed the dazed man on the face. The knife cut through the mask and grazed the skin.There was still no sound, not even a grunt. His companion recivered from her blow. He had drawn his sword and tried to slice Nadya's neck clean off. At the last moment, Nadya deflected the sword with one of the daggers. The other man tried to slice her diagonally from the right. Nadya locked herself in with her other dagger.

While the man focused on trying to cut her diagonally, she thrust the other dagger into his gut. He did not fall. He didn't even scream in pain. These must be alchemically enhanced ones. She couldn't say because she was not in the Alchemi guild, but the man must be enhanced with something because reegula men would be dead or tired by now

Nadya felt a drop of sweat fall from her forehead. The other man got up and he thrust his sword into Nadya's gut. Her amulet glowed again and the invisible field deflected them both back. They fell on their backs and this gave Nadya the opportunity to run for her life.

There was a thud on the wooden stair behind Nadya. Her curiosity took over and she looked back. Orison's body slumped on the stairs, dead, his eyes were wide open with shock. Nadya was tempted to close them but decided otherwise. The men she was fighting were starting to stir. She ran past them and stepped on one. He fell back down to the ground.

Nadya ran into the cargo room and locked the door behind her. She flung open the window and glanced at her amulet, it did not glow. She tried to imagine herself floating, clouds, the feel of water droplets on her skin, but her concentration was broken by the sound of a metal sword trying to cut a wooden door open.

' Please.... please, lucky charm, just do it for me this once.' she thought, but still, the amulet did not glow. The sword hacked into the door and there was a small slit.

No choice, Nadya had to throw herself out the window and break a few bones. She climbed onto the windowsill and lett her legs dangle over. The sight was nauseating and her vision was becoming swirly. Yet, she slid herself off the windowsill. The fall was shorter than she expected. It wasn't that bad. Just when her feet connected to the hard pavement, she felt a jolt of pain. The pain stayed and it was unbearable, but Nadya ignored it. She pushed herself up and slowly limped, using the wall for support, towards the safe-house.