"We can"t teleport! It"s still locked, I checked again! And no matter what trinket I use, I"m sure I can"t break it! Just keep the little guy covered! I"ll hold on!"
Hearing these words which were shouted by the mage over the din being made by the thousands of people around them who were scrambling to get out, Norcet nodded and used his robe to cover his son up more so that none of his body would be exposed to the air.
It seemed like an eternity ago, when they were all watching the final round of the Mage Handball Tournament to see who would be the winner.
Both of them had also bet all of their money on Lanthanor just like the little kid, and this had made his eyes s.h.i.+ne like lanterns.
His mother had pa.s.sed away many years ago in a raid on their caravan when Norcet was still a baby. From then, it had just been Norcet and the Mage who had brought him up.
Seeing him so happy, joy had also filled their hearts, and at that moment, they didn"t even care if Lanthanor lost and took their money with it.
When the first screams had started to sound across the stadium, the mage had been the first one to detect that something was wrong.
He had tried to teleport them away immediately, but at some point of time, a s.p.a.ce lock trinket had been covertly placed which covered the entire stadium.
In fact, at that point in time, there had still been a chance to escape, as the mage had a Warrior-level s.p.a.ce lock breaking trinket which he knew would be effective.
However, just before he was about to squeeze his hand around it, a second, stronger s.p.a.ce lock came into existence.
This one was more powerful than he had ever seen, and when he heard the loud buzzing which meant that the d.a.m.n creatures were close, he erected this barrier around them.
This was one of the spells he was most proud of: a barrier that could move.
Although it didn"t offer too much protection when moving with the person being cast, its strength could be increased at a whim by stopping the movement.
Till now, they had been moving with the crowd to the exit, but the problem right now was that there were mosquitoes on both sides.
"What are these things?! Have you seen them before?"
"No! But they"re fast as h.e.l.l and they seem to multiply easily!"
"Are they bigger than before?"
When the mosquitoes had first made their appearance, all three of them had used zoom trinkets to see exactly what the threat was.
Then, the s.h.i.+ny insects had been the half the size of a human ear.
However, right now, they seemed to have at least doubled in size.
All three of them were standing in a group of 20 people, who had all started to squeal with terror while also praying to the heavens to save them from this mess.
Raising his head, Norcet got a clear vision of what they were up against, but he actually wished that he hadn"t done so, as he had just gotten such an intense urge to puke from the sight of what he had just seen that it had taken him all he had to push it down.
Just a few meters away, a man was standing limply on the ground with a wide smile on his face.
His eyes were rolled back to show the white, and his head was angled upward, as if he couldn"t get enough of the pleasure coursing through his mind.
THUD.
The next second, something golden zipped to one of the people in their group, while the first man fell the ground and didn"t move.
That same d.a.m.n smile reappeared on the face of this new person, and they too stood up straight with hands hanging limply to the sides.
Seeing this, those in their group hurried to create distance, but one by one, each of them started to get that smile which meant that their end was near.
These mosquitoes were definitely the most terrifying killers that Norcet had ever seen.
In his life, he had seen a fair share of murderers. When they killed, they had some emotion on their faces, and their actions were driven by logic, by greed.
Even animals acted due to some interest.
These mosquitoes were different.
They only buzzed, and killed.
If one was done, they would move on to the other.
Again and again, until all that would be left were unmoving bodies.
DONG!
Driven out of his fear-driven reverie by one of the creatures which had been the cause behind it in the first place, Norcet looked up and realized with horror that there was actually a hole in the mage"s barrier.
"Dad, don"t worry! The King will save us!"
"Shut up, son! We only have ourselves! How are these things THAT powerful?! Here, take these!"
Putting his hand into his pocket, Norcet pulled out 10 different trinkets after berating his son like so.
The kid was too optimistic for his own good, but he had no time to explain patiently now.
"Norcet, you miserly b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You must have h.o.a.rded so much to buy so many trinkets! Let"s hope it saves us."
With a nervous and fearful chuckle, Norcet watched as the Mage took the 10 trinkets.
However, the mosquito that had attacked them had lost interest and moved to one of those alive in their group who didn"t have a trinket.
For now, there was enough prey around, so they weren"t bothered.
However, in barely 10 minutes during which the trio tried to move without drawing attention and failed, the mosquitoes were slowly running out of open human bodies to feed on.
They started to converge on their barrier, and the mage"s barrier broke in a few seconds.
Yet, it was replaced by one from Norcet"s trinkets, giving them a measure of protection.
They had been detected anyway, so the trio made a run for it.
However, there was only death and more mosquitoes all around.
Soon enough, they were on their last trinket, and there seemed to be no more hope.
Norcet had seen this coming in the last 60 seconds, and as he saw the end of his life coming, he didn"t have any regrets except maybe coming to this event.
Of course, that was irrational.
His son, who was in his hands covered by the cloak, had by now already caught a glimpse outside and gotten terrified.
When Norcet bent to kiss his forehead for one last time, he heard the chant the kid was saying over and over again, and it actually made him laugh.
"The King will come. The King will come. The King will come."
"it"s time, old friend. It"s been great knowing you."
The Mage, who was struggling to put up the last barrier using his aching mageroot, only sighed and patted Norcet on the shoulder before saying, "The feeling"s mutual. I just feel bad for the kid. I wish-"
CRACK
The barrier finally broke, letting a mosquito bury its mandible in the mage, making the smile of death appear on his face.
Meanwhile, Norcet also felt a p.r.i.c.k on his back.
What followed it was a rush of euphoria, telling him that all was right with the world.
There was nothing wrong with having the blood and life leave his body. No, this was how it was supposed to be.
His mind was flooded by chemicals which left him no choice but to…smile.
His last shreds of consciousness were being eaten away, but just before he let everything go, he thought he heard something.
It was a shout from a voice which sounded familiar, but Norcet no longer had the mental faculty to determine who it was.
Yet, he was able to comprehend the meaning, but it made no sense.
"Hey, you golden t.u.r.ds! I"ve got tastier blood here, come and get it!"
Just as fast as it had come, that euphoria was replaced by an intense feeling of weakness which made him collapse to the ground.
His leg was being shaken by his son, who kept saying over and over again, "DAD, I WAS RIGHT! HE CAME!"
However, Norcet was preoccupied with the sight above him.
Hundreds, no, thousands of golden mosquitoes each the size of a man"s palm were all meshed together into a huge squirming sphere.
They were all alive, and they seemed to be trying to get to the center.
They were so packed together that Norcet couldn"t even get a glimpse of what was inside, but just from seeing such a fantastical sight, he knew in his gut that it was the King of Lanthanor.
And as the sphere moved forward and started to cover more ground in the stadium, he patted his son on his head and hugged him tight.
Meanwhile, Daneel wiped his forehead as he heard the notification from the system.
[Collection underway. Percentage: 63%. Biological a.n.a.lysis underway. Kill switch being searched. Control switch being searched. Alternate methods to subdue being searched. Please proceed with collection.]
In his hands were the bottles of blood he used to train with, and in his neck was the strongest barrier in Lanthanor.
As he saw the piles of bodies, he had to try hard to control the rage and bloodl.u.s.t that threatened to rise again.
Whoever was responsible for this would pay, and he would make sure of that.
For Lanthanor.
And for Angaria.