Sprint To Gendry

Demonic steel sliced through the skulls of mortal men. Blue flames licked up from the blade burning away at fungal spores before they could spread. I shifted my blade tore it from the skull of a former ally and sliced through the top half of another man's skull. For a brief time, I let Diabla sit in the cranium. Blue flames licked up dark azure and hungrily devouring the spores. I guided them with my aura targeting each spore before they could go any further.

My AI mind was good at that. Targeting and locating spores as they exploded from wounds, I delivered was easy. I ran simulations and struck. My organic and qi minds handled the what ifs and maybes. Each cut needed the precision of a surgeon. The flames needed to be guided like intercontinental missiles.

It was difficult. Even with my predictions there was always a degree of error. That is where my other two minds came in.

Though I was one being I sat upon three thrones. The throne of the machine, the throne of man, and the throne of a god. My minds different from each other and could handle problems differently. By allowing each mind to specialize it lowered my stress overall. Targeting enemies and auto firing spells, instinctively using skills, and targeting the tiniest of spore were possible thanks to my AI mind, my physical brain, and my qi.

I developed an APP to control Diabla's Soul Fire. That's why I didn't worry about the spores getting away. When I swung my sword, I knew no spore would escape my flames.

With a yank the corpse of the retinue chef fell away. He was one of the ones hit by a full cloud of spores. Even without aura the man had resisted the change for 6 hours of hard travel. That took more will than most possessed.

Diabla magnetically stuck to my back thanks to my shoulder harness. I kicked Oath's withers and galloped to the front of the procession.

The men marched for Gendry Town and a few sang an off-key song. There weren't enough horses for everyone. Running would only force the men's hearts to beat faster pumping the infection further through their blood stream. Even if we dumped the wagon supplies and loaded every man up it was likely the wagon would break down. The carriage lost a wheel and Star cheerily sang among the men. Her dainty clothes gifted by the Inquisitor danced in the wind.

The men around her sang a bit louder than the ones further away. Janus road Trixie a mischievous red roan with too much intelligence in her eyes. She was like Oathkeeper that way. She was large enough for me to ride and Janus looked small on her. Still, Trixie was gentle with Janus and eyed him every so often. Her grey, red fur and red main was whiter due to the snow. Janus shivered on her back.

Janus flashed a little aura to fight the cold. "How can you kill so easily?" Janus asked over the wind and snow.

I looked back at the still burning corpses on the road. Even in the blizzard blue flames could still be seen. Or, maybe my it was my enhanced eyes. Sometimes, it was hard to tell.

"You shouldn't hesitate to kill things like that fungus. Lewis seemed to know what he was doing so I didn't intervene when he killed the zombie. Neither of us thought that something like this would be in the north." I said.

Janus glared and his eyes flashed with white aura. "No, I'm talking about Peter and James. You killed them without a second thought. They could have been saved." Janus said.

I shook my head at the naivety of youth. "We could have tied him up and tossed him on a sled. With this many men we could probably get one built in a couple of hours. But that's time these men don't have. We don't know the terminal point." I said.

He clutched at Trixie's reins hard. "I hate this." Janus said.

I snorted. "I bet Peter and James hated it more. You weren't infected and you have aura. Watch your back, people who are about to die do some crazy things. One might try to infect you. I'd advise hiding under the bear skin but Gwen or Doppel would probably eat you." I said.

Janus turned a shade of green and kicked Trixie forward. Oath snorted and galloped forward.

I found my way to the front where Sid held his staff on Kate's back. The powerful steed trudged on through the blizzard. Sid's staff held a bright lantern powered by white aura. A small compass on the instrument told us we were at least going in the right direction.

A bit of warmth radiated from the lantern even in the blizzard. I raised my hands to it and rubbed them together. Despite my physiology and constitution, the cold still got to me. My gloves were a tattered mess after my fight with Dol. I needed to find a furrier and have the bear skin made into some fur coats, boots, and gloves.

Sid looked over at me. "That sword came from demons didn't it." The Priest said.

I raised my hand and brushed the handle for comfort. Diabla practically purred at my touch. "It was made from a material in their realm. She has been a fine partner." I said.

"My staff has a single splinter from the staff of an ancient saint embedded within it. During the age of fire Sol Saint Augustus left his staff in the Solarium atop our local church. As a youth I snuck inside and took a fallen splinter. It scorched my fingertips when I touched it. Many of my first staves burned before I learned enough runecraft to channel the great power properly." I nodded my head and looked his staff in a new light.

We settled into a grim silence for a moment. Sid's expression turned dower. "If I don't survive this please return my staff to my hometown. The splinter must be returned to Saint Augustus's staff."

From the staff I could sense a powerful source of white and gold aura. The two forces mixed well within the staff and channeled into the lantern hanging at its end. I wasn't sure what I could say. Sid was my friend, and I hadn't really had one like him before. It was so easy to talk to Sid.

I shook the snowflakes from my hair. "We're almost there. A few more leagues and we'll be at Gendry Town's gates. The vampires will force Lewis into a deal and cure us. Then we'll put on some political theatre and put the scandal behind us. Maybe this fungus will serve to distract the masses from the scandal. A crusade against the fungus sounds like quite the news. The vampires might send a force to join in to establish friendlier relations." I said.

Sid laughed. "Don't give a dying man so much hope Jacob. The vampire Duchess in the north doesn't want better relations. Vampires only want a stable blood supply, noble vampires want a supply of virgins, and higher aristocrats want the blood of priests and knights. Unless we sell them chapters of our knights or convents of nuns, there won't be peace." Sid said.

I shook my head.

Hours flew by and I killed every man who turned. The cold made the turning slower. Many on the outer edge of group held on while those who stayed somewhat warm turned quickly. Heat was the enemy and so was cold. Those men who managed to freeze themselves also succumbed to the cold. Diabla cut through their bodies and burned away the spores.

Light slowly began to spill over the white landscape blinding everyone. With the new light came a bit of warmth which promised to spread the infection. I spat out a glob of blood. The infection was still contained in my lungs for now. Even that wasn't a sure thing. Eventually, I would die to it if there wasn't a cure.

The sound of hoof beats filled my ears as a large group of mounted cavalry approached at our flank. Lewis stood up on his horse and held his badge of office over his head. A little over 500 mounted men approached us slowly from our flank while a single rider left them to meet with us. Clearly, they were here to kill us if we seemed too far gone.

Under the trees even with the dawn no light hit us directly. The man dressed in black furs and with a solid steel breast plate over the fur stopped ahead of Lewis. Sid and I approached the man.

Gloved hands removed the helmet. The man's face might as well have been carved from marble for its perfection. Only a faded scar above the eyebrow exposed him as a mortal instead of some god walking among mortals. His eyes were an icy glowing blue. Though he didn't smile there was some mirth in his eyes at our sorry state.

"It seems you had some trouble on the road. We will send our fastest rider to prep the hospital for your arrival. Follow me Lord Inquisitor your men must be tired from their journey. For a price we will accommodate them all comfortably." The vampire said.