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Ivy knew she should’ve said something. She’d gone to bed with a deep sense of apprehension tightening her chest but had just written it off as residual anxiety from their recent close encounters. It felt like they’d been running for weeks without a destination – just away from whatever was chasing them.
Sometimes, Ivy wondered if joining Carmen and Player was really the best move for her and Zack.
The strange duo was like a danger magnet, somehow always ending up in life or death situations. They’d run into Zack and Ivy by pure chance and kept them around simply because they were some of the first people they met that hadn’t tried to kill them. Neither Carmen nor Player had fully divulged exactly how they’d met, who this “VILE” was that was after them or why, but they’d proven themselves to be good people. Good people who really needed some sort of protection.
That’s where Ivy and her brother came in. Artificers were becoming more common, but nothing compared to what the siblings could do. They’d been practicing their trade for years, perfecting enchantments for a myriad of objects. Already, Ivy had made Carmen armor for her human form and Zack was currently working on imbuing a stronger staff for Player.
But honestly, no matter how much the siblings provided for Carmen and Player, the two always seemed to get themselves into some of the most terrifying predicaments. Maybe that’s why Ivy ignored the unsettling feeling twisting her insides that night. The feeling of being in danger had become a norm at this point.
It still didn’t make her feel any better now.
Player had taken the first watch that night, claiming he was busy working on some spells and would be up for a while anyway. Carmen shot him a human thumbs up and collapsed on her bedroll, exhausted from flying all day. Zack tinkered away at Player’s future staff as Ivy maintained the fire at their makeshift campsite.
Eventually, the flames died down to nothing more than glowing embers. The gentle heat and hypnotic shimmer had finally eased Ivy’s mind and put her to sleep, her brother laying down next to her shortly after.
Ivy’s mind quickly took solace in a dreamless rest, her mind deciding to take the night off...until she heard the explosion.
It wasn’t a normal explosion – that was something Ivy was sure of. Unlike any of her machines or weapons malfunctioning, this sound seemed to happen in reverse. A loud noise followed by a wind up. A year ago, Ivy would’ve had no clue what it was. Now, she recognized the sound of a powerful spell detnotating.
It wasn’t often Player used his magic, but from the very beginning, Ivy had known he possessed more power than any mage she’d met before. She’d quickly come to associate this particular noise with terrifying situations. The young mage was like some sort of secret weapon, only using his powers when someone’s life was on the line.
Ivy was immediately on her feet, her body still tingling with sleep, trying to catch up with the attentiveness of her mind. The first thing she saw was a concerning amount of green-ish fog surrounding the area, skewing her vision towards the outskirts of their campsite. Strangely enough, the smoke seemed to stop at a very exact point. It wasn’t until Ivy’s eyes adjusted to the dark that she was able to make out the dim blue barrier hovering over their team members.
The redhead smirked, familiar enough with Player’s defensive magic to recognize his forcefield spell. That was almost definitely the source of the sound that had awoken her.
Looking around, Ivy quickly took a tally of her team members. Zack was closest to her, still rubbing his eyes, trying to wake up and make sense of the scene around him. Carmen was on her feet with her weapon already in her hand, looking like she’d never even fallen asleep. Even from here, Ivy could see a fierce protectiveness burning in her eyes, searching for the form of her best friend.
Following Carmen’s line of sight, a chill settled deep in Ivy’s bones. Where was Player? Everything within his protective barrier was visible, meaning he’d clearly gotten it up before the green magic fog had breached their perimeter. But as Ivy whipped her head back over everything again, she realized the young mage was nowhere to be seen.
He’d thrown his spell to protect his friends from the attack, but he hadn’t bothered to protect himself. Ivy nearly groweld, unsurprised at such an action. Player often put others’ safety before his own, to an infuriating degree.
Either he’d gone and done it again or he simply hadn’t had time to protect himself. Honestly, Ivy didn’t know which was worse.
“Player!” Carmen screeched, her voice echoing with a fierceness that could only come from a dragon.
Silence rolled around in the fog in lieu of a response. Ivy and Zack ran to different ends of the magical shield and attacked it with their hands, attempting to break through. Although she expected to fail, their attempts actually had an effect. The blue magic wavered, weakening in the spots it was hit.
It wasn’t like Player to let his strongest defensive spell be so penetrable. Ivy and Zack both stepped back and shot each other a knowing look, scared to touch the forcefield anymore. Ivy’s sickening feeling returned tenfold, recognizing that something was absolutely, definitely wrong.
Carmen copied their movements, slashing the blue magic with her sword and smoothly cutting a hole in it.
“Carm, wait!” Ivy screamed, hand outstretched. “We don’t know what that smoke does!” The artificer wasn’t a back-stabber and she certainly wasn’t one to leave a comrade behind, but she knew Player had put the shield up for a reason. He didn’t want them to get exposed to the lingering spell.
Which meant that he’d probably already succumbed to whatever the effects of the fog were.
“Not when he’s out there!” Carmen shouted again. She moved to attack again but Ivy grabbed her arm and held her back. The girl turned her full wrath on Ivy, her pupils morphing from round to thin slits. Her lips pulled back in a sneer with her teeth slightly sharpened into fangs.
Ivy immediately let go and took a few steps back, stopping instinctively within the blue border. For all the life and death situations Ivy and the others survived, this felt like a slap in the face. How dare Carmen direct her ire towards someone who was just trying to help? Anger bubbled within her and she snapped.
“Fine! Go and get yourself killed or kidnapped or whatever VILE wants from you.” Ivy crossed her arms and took another step back so she now stood beside her brother. Zack watched intently and silently. “Zack and I will just pick up the pieces like we always do.”
Carmen deflated and her features stopped becoming dragon-like. Her eyes rounded again and she bit her lip with flat teeth. She looked away, fingers gripping her weapon so tightly her knuckles turned white. “I’m sorry.” She muttered quietly, keeping her eyes in the distance. “I just…”
There was no need to finish that sentence. Ivy understood. She’d done some pretty stupid things for her brother before and learned the hard way that rushing in often led to more problems.
Ivy sighed and stepped forward again, offering Carmen a smile. “We’ll get him, okay? It already looks like this nasty smoke is clearing.”
In hindsight, that was probably the wrong thing to say. The fire instantly reignited in Carmen’s eyes and she scanned her surroundings, taking in the smallest of details. Retaining the sharpened senses of a dragon often worked for their benefit but it also meant there was no hope of stopping her now.
Carmen’s eyes locked on something in the distance and her jaw clenched. She took one last look around at the smoke, made a decision and slashed at the wispy blue barrier protecting all of them.
Ivy gasped and clamped a hand over Zack’s nose and mouth out of instinct. Honestly, this smoke could be anything. She was unsure if holding her breath would even make a difference.
Strangely enough, it didn’t matter. It seems Carmen had timed things perfectly. The dense fog was beginning to recede, like a long, silk sheet being pulled back. Ivy and Zack exhaled together, searching through the surrounding area as it became more clear.
“Player!” Carmen threw her sword aside and ran forward, not even caring how close she was getting to the dying, green fog. She only had eyes for the motionless form standing in front of them.
“Carm, wait!” Zack yelled and ran after her before Ivy could hold him back, too. Did everyone in their little group have a death wish!? She followed closely behind anyway.
It didn’t take long for her to figure out what Carmen was running towards. There was a figure clearly standing out against the receding fog, though Ivy couldn’t quite tell if he was facing towards them or away. And he didn’t look like he was moving at all.
Ivy and Zack were right on Carmen’s heels, arriving at the Player’s side seconds after she did. Except...this wasn’t their mage. It was–
“A statue?” Zack questioned, eyes scanning it quickly.
“A statue that looks exactly like Player...” Ivy breathed out, finally realizing what effect the fog must’ve had on living creatures. No wonder he’d been desperate to protect them.
Player’s face was frozen in a startled, yet determined look. One arm was stretched outwards towards their campsite, most likely the hand that threw his defensive spell. His other arm had been reaching for the small dagger he carried on his belt, his fingers frozen mere centimeters from the weapon.
Even the short cape he wore had turned solid, extended out as if it had been caught by the wind. Whereas it normally fell softly against the young mage’s back, now it was brittle and stiff in its elevated position, not moving an inch.
Player had been completely turned to stone.
Carmen released some sort of guttural scream and grabbed the mage’s shoulders. It looked like she tried to squeeze his arms, but the statue’s exterior had no give and Carmen’s nails just scratched the top layer of stone off. She yelled again and looked around, eyes once more locking on something far in the distance.
Ivy didn’t even have time to blink before Carmen was replaced by a much larger dragon, her red eyes blazing with uncontrollable anger. The dragon roared and lunged forward, making a b-line for the lanky figure standing at the edge of the dissipating fog.
Honestly, Ivy felt bad for whoever had done this to Player. As kind as Carmen could be, it was hard for her to show mercy at times like these. Distant screams and booming roars broke through the early-morning air, the sounds of someone who’d crossed a very important line likely taking their last breath.
There weren’t often survivors from a rage-fueled dragon attack. Normally, Ivy, Zack or Player would’ve stopped her from crossing such a line. But they already had enough to deal with today and Ivy was already exhausted. Hopefully she’d just bring the guy back for an interrogation instead.
Besides, it was a well-known fact how irrational Carmen could become when any of her crew members were targeted. Most sorcerers VILE sent knew to leave Player, especially, alone. It simply wasn’t worth invoking Carmen’s wrath. Whatever poor spellcaster had attacked them tonight was currently learning that very lesson.
“Ives!” Zack’s panicked tone snapped Ivy back to the matter at hand. His expression was painted in hysteria, having no idea how to reverse the effects of the enemy spell. “What do we do??”
Zack’s hands were moving across Player’s shoulders, as if looking for some type of button to snap him back to normal. It was no use though, Ivy knew they needed some sort of magic to reverse this.
Once again, she and her brother would need to engineer something they never knew could exist. The thought thrilled and depleted her. They couldn’t ever catch a break.
Ivy did her best to breathe herself through her own worry, attempting to approach the situation with a level head. “Carm’s already got the guy. He’ll be shaking so bad in his boots that he’ll beg to undo this.” Ivy gripped her brother’s gaze with her own.
“But what if she doesn’t?” Zack looked over towards where Carmen had disappeared. Unsurprisingly, there were no sounds of battle. An easy fight, then. “Or, what if she–”
“She’ll get the guy.” Ivy assured him, refusing to believe the alternative. As soon as the words left her mouth, an incredibly loud flapping sound exploded above them. Huge gusts of wind poured over her and her brother as Carmen came in for a harsh landing beside them.
Before Ivy could even recover from the momentary gale, Carmen was standing beside her in human form, breathing heavily from exertion. Veins popped in her neck and forehead, displaying barely-contained fury.
Ivy barely had time to recognize that Carmen had come completely alone before the shapeshifter spoke. “I lost him,” she breathed out, gaze already locked on Player’s frozen face.
“What?” Ivy choked out, disbelief and horror grappling for control over her expression.
Zack spluttered similarly beside her. “H-how? You’re a drago-”
“He had a teleportation charm.” Carmen spoke sternly, stepping towards Player. Her voice was dangerously low, almost as if her vocal cords had forgotten to switch back to human.
“But…” Ivy trailed off, scanning over Player’s stone body. “Without a mage, it’s gonna be nearly impossible to reverse engineer a cure–”
“I know!” Carmen shrieked, snapping her head towards the other girl suddenly. Ivy shrunk beneath the scolding, terrified of saying anything else right now. As much as she knew it was just Carmen’s misplaced emotions, she couldn’t stop her heart from nearly leaping out of her chest.
Carmen was beyond furious, her protective instincts rising to a concerning degree. Ivy knew she meant no harm, and eventually, once they fixed Player, she’d calm down.
Until then though…
Zack and Ivy would have their work cut out for them.
Ivy had studied spells like this. She knew it was a relatively simple one, often used to quickly immobilize an enemy. Had it not impacted their magic user, Ivy was certain it would’ve been no big deal to undo its effects. But the operative had been strategic, metaphorically taking out their medic and crippling the rest of the team.
As it was...well, they needed Player to fix Player right now. Ivy felt her own hands shaking with anger, recognizing exactly what this was.
A checkmate.