The Crimson Mystic Legacy Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Prepare

Read chapter 17 of The Crimson Mystic Legacy by CRIMODAS on NovelPedia.

Uzi crouched in the ash; knees sunk deep; lungs burning from the run. The violet mist from the shattered archer still curled in the air behind him like a dying ghost. Silence pressed in; broken only by the distant crackle of flames and the fading crunch of poison boots marching away. Who was that voice? The question slammed into him again; colder than the wind. That mocking; familiar whisper that had sounded almost… amused. Why had he listened? In the heat of the moment he'd agreed; mentally nodded like a fool; yes; kill the archer; escape; follow later. Smart. Tactical. But what if they kill Guntic and Garnet right now? What if the voice lied? What if it was Rathra's curse; Solus's trap; this body's sickness twisting his thoughts? Then he thought about his last comment. "Hey voice, what do you mean I have 2 Mystics. I thought you can only have 1?" The voice, snickered and responded amused pretty fast. "Ok Einstein, your soul has a mystic, and this body has a mystic, its a special type called a bloodline mystic, I'm not gonna go into detail, but all you need to know is its very rare, I'm being vouge to piss you off. Oh, and i wont help you at all unless I have to." "If you think, your pissing me off, your not, its just kinda annoying." Uzi responded, which made the voice "t" Suddenly, a shot of pain shot from his foot to the rest of his body, luckily, his shoulder wasn't in pain. His heart hammered so hard it hurt. He spun around fast; eyes wide; panic clawing up his throat. he made it to a slope where the knights had gone. There; far down the slope; one poison knight still visible; violet armor glinting between blackened trunks. Uzi let out a shaky sigh of relief. He hadn't lost them. Good. He slipped from tree to burned tree; limping but silent; keeping low; using every shadow the ruined forest offered. The ash never let up; gray flakes drifting like dirty snow; coating his hair; his eyelashes; the inside of his mouth. Every breath tasted of death. They walked for what felt like an hour; uphill now; the ground rising toward what might have been a small mountain once. His leg began to hurt horrible now. Fresh smoke stung his nose; real smoke; not the old stale kind. Flames still lived here; orange tongues licking the sky. Up ahead; Guntic and Garnet knew better than to speak. They stumbled in their poison cuffs; heads down; but Uzi could almost hear their thoughts: Did the kid really ditch us? Did he leave us to die? Uzi's stomach twisted harder. He crested the rise and froze. A camp sprawled across the flattened hilltop; ringed by fresh fire. Behind it; living green forest burned; bright and hungry; the flames marching forward like soldiers. In the center: rows of iron cages; maybe twenty of them; crammed with people. Eighty souls at least; some slumped unconscious; others pressing terrified faces to the bars. Forty poison knights patrolled the perimeter; swords dripping violet. Twenty archers stood on boulders; bows ready. Every single one looked identical; same melted armor; same misty helmets. No variation. A perfect army of poison. Uzi trembled; full-body shivers he couldn't stop. Two knights shoved Guntic and Garnet forward; the cuffs glowing brighter as poison crept up their arms. Garnet stumbled; Guntic caught her with bound hands; both forced into the nearest cage. The door clanged shut. That was when the helmetless one turned. He looked like a knight; taller; broader; armor more ornate; edges dripping thicker streams of violet. But no helmet. The face was just swirling purple mist; eyes and mouth forming and reforming like smoke in a jar. And it smiled; the same wide; knowing smile from earlier. The general's misty gaze snapped straight to the bushes where Uzi hid. A gloved finger pointed; voice rolled out like liquid rot. "Come out; you human! I know you're there. You're not really good at hiding. Let's talk." Shit. Uzi's blood turned to ice. Holy magic flared instinctively; gold light pooling in his palms; bright