The Mimic Becomes a Merchant King

Coin stood in place, dumbstruck, as Leona darted from point to point in a series of silver flashes. Her magic was something she had a clear mastery over, her reflexes and speed making Broadfellow's thugs seem slow and sluggish in comparison. Crossbow bolts whistled and snapped through the air, yet never got even remotely close to hitting her.

Her cohorts, dark and sleek, shifted into cover among the trees and returned fire, downing two gnomes with well-aimed shots to the brow. The thugs had numbers, certainly, but the Brotherhood men were on another level when it came to training.

In the chaos, Caldwell had slid back toward the treeline and vanished from sight. Lantern light shone a modest distance from the camp, growing closer and closer. Reinforcements, Coin knew.

The mimic grunted and scrambled to his allies, uneven and groggy on his feet. His head ached and throbbed, and it was an active effort to mend his wounds. The knuckles of the steppe ape could shatter stone into gravel, and Coin had only directed so much biomass to reinforce his head before he was attacked. Between the bashing to his noggin, and the rush of his magic, it was a powerful combo that had him winded.

"Lad," Elijah breathlessly said, catching him by the shoulders. "Easy, easy. Good grief, that damn ape nearly tore your head off."

Coin swallowed harshly. "I'm okay," he huffed. "Just... weak in the knees." He tried to catch his breath, ignored the blood drying on his brow. He could still fight. The sounds of screaming and ringing steel echoed through the darkness, a stark reminder that he HAD to fight.

"Th-that woman," Pearl murmured. "Sh-she must have followed us all this way. Goddess above, she's tearing through them like a wild animal."

"Aye. If she's a Brotherhood knife, that kind of skill is to be expected among their upper echelon. But for someone as young as her... goodness, she must have been training her whole life."

A bush behind the wagon rustled, and a split second later it parted to reveal a massive man with an axe clutched in his hands. He grinned, lunged at the group, his blade shining in the darkness.

Coin grit his teeth, adrenaline surging in his veins to give him a sudden rush of clarity. That bastard must have snuck around in the chaos, leaving his allies to be cut down. Anything to get his hands on the casks in the wagon.

But, before Coin could raise a hand and take aim, a dark shape lunged at him from the rear of the wagon. Essine's knife struck true, plunging directly through the leather on the side of his neck. The man barely managed to scream, the gurgling rush of blood drowning out all sound before he struck the earth with a thud.

The kobold rolled onto her side, huffing for breath as she wrenched the blade free. She moved to her feet, nervous twitches assailing her posture.

"Essine?" Pearl murmured. She had raised her lute on a reflex to defend herself, and now seemed to find it quite difficult to lower it again.

"This one..." she swallowed and huffed, blood speckling her fur. "This one does not like to kill. But if the need is there to aid you and protect you... then this one shall."

She had killed before, Coin reasoned. Likely only in self defence, but she had barely hesitated when the opportunity was presented to her. He huffed, his weight sagging toward the edge of the wagon. Leona and her cohorts were still hard at work, but from the sound of things more and more of Broadfellow's men were joining the mix.

"We need to go!" Elijah said, glancing to the driver's seat. "Put some distance between us and them. Everyone in, I'm going... going to head eastward."

"Eastward? From here?!" Pearl hissed. "But that'll take us directly toward-!"

"The alternative is to head west, directly into the damn knives!" Elijah growled. "And if the risks should give them pause about chasing us, all the better. Now come on!"

Coin had never seen the old man like this, but he could hardly blame him for getting fired up. Things being as they were, someone had to be willing to take charge in all this.

They scrambled to the seats, and Coin caught a glimpse of Leona in motion. A few men had managed to surround her, and were doing everything in their power to keep her on the backfoot with their spears. Yet even three men attacking in quick succession struggled to break through her guard.

Dancer sported a few marks on his chitinous shell, where a few stray crossbow bolts had grazed him. Yet, despite his hissing distress, the mushien was no worse for wear. A hard flick to the reins set the beast in motion, Pearl and Essine bundling into the back. A harsh whistle from Pearl spurred her own mount into following them.

"They're tryin' to get away! Cut 'em down!" a voice howled from afar.

Arrows and bolts sailed after them, cleaving through the air. But in the murk and gloom, their shots went wide of the mark. Coin, grimacing, turned and glanced toward the figures trying to rush past Leona and her allies.

The Brotherhood members, skilled as they were, could not halt some of the people who banked around them. And soon, illuminated by the lanterns on their belts, Coin could see several men on horseback racing after them.

They burst through the treeline and set off on a wild ride along the hilly countryside, only barely lit by a lantern Essine ignited and handed to Coin. The sight of the glow gave the marksmen some pause. It wouldn't do if they accidentally shattered the lantern, set the wagon alight, and blew the casks into oblivion.

Dancer was fast when he was fully in motion, scuttling on a myriad of hairy insect legs that could outpace the average steed. And, were it not for the wagon weighing him down, he might well have outrun their pursuers. But they were gradually, steadily, closing the gap!

He stood on his seat and tried to take aim, arcs of electricity dancing between his cupped palms. A stance that could only be called 'anime-esque' by most multiversal scholars.

"Try to hold us steady on the road," Coin huffed. "Can't aim in the damn dark like this!"

"L-lad, are you sure you have more magic in you?!"

Did he? Coin wasn't entirely sure. Certainly, the two magic-users he'd eaten, combined, could tap into a large reserve of power at their peak. But his own mind and body had only scratched the surface of it, his practice sessions only doing so much to acclimate to the strain. It was only his superhuman vitality that kept him from knocking himself out from summoning up some of the more destructive spells..

"I'm gonna do what I can," Coin murmured. He winced and jerked his head to the side, avoiding a whizzing bolt that very nearly grazed his ear.

A great arc of lightning cleaved through the air, heat racing through his outstretched hands. It closed the gap toward some of the riders, uprooting a swathe of solid ground in passing. The shock wave and ensuing spray of debris knocked two steeds over, flinging their riders from their saddles.

The terrain grew rockier, wilder, the wheels of the wagon creaking and rattling from the shifting terrain. Coin strained, fighting for balance. Bursts of pressurized air exploded from his palms, zipping forth faster than the incoming bolts. Each shot sent a jolt racing up his arms, their weight growing heavier and heavier by the second.

A few of their pursuers were unhorsed, broken bodies spent tumbling into the darkness. But by now the remainder were aware that someone was actively sniping them with magic, and were gradually spreading out and making their movements erratic to throw off Coin's aim. And, gradually, their aim was growing more accurate as their eyes adapted to the darkness.

"Th-they're getting closer!" Pearl exclaimed. "W-what should we do? Th-throw the casks out?"

"Break those casks, and they'll kill us for making their lives harder! Damnation, after every man of theirs they've lost so far... at this point killing us is probably personal for them!" Elijah shouted. He gripped the reins until his knuckles paled, clenching his teeth from the stress.

He'd been chased by rough customers before, but this was excessive!

Coin was huffing for breath, his legs twinged with a dull ache. It was an uphill battle to keep his balance at this point, each breath coming in harder than the last. And, in the chaos, he did not see or hear the incoming bolt until it had thudded loudly into his right shoulder.

Blood gushed from the point of impact, a shrill gasp escaping Coin. Without even thinking, he wrenched the bolt free and tried his best to ignore the burning sensation that tingled around his shoulder.

"Coin!" Elijah cried.

"I'm... I'm alright." He hunkered down to avoid another shot. The burn in his flesh was only growing more intense. And spreading outward. He glanced to the sharpened metal in his hand. There, beneath the dripping blood, he could see a strange green substance crusted along the tip of the bolt. His vision swam and swayed, and he felt as if his body weighed a thousand tons from the neck down.

Another rider was pulling up on them, his horse at full gallop. Through the darkness, and his pulsing vision, Coin saw the glint of his crossbow as he took aim. A burst of electricity shot from his fingertips just as the man loosed his bolt. Coin's magic struck true, launching him from the saddle in an explosive flash.

The crossbow shot, in turn, caught Coin in the gut. He grit his teeth, pulled the tip loose, dropped it and sagged into the driver's seat. Blackness hissed in his vision. He'd been stuck with arrows and bolts in the past, certainly, but nothing had ever had an effect like this.

"Lad!" Through the miasma enveloping his brain, Coin felt Elijah lifting and cradling his weight. He felt... sleepy, all of a sudden. Despite the chaos, despite the pain, despite the danger, he just wanted to sleep.

"Stay with me!" Elijah called out, but he sounded as if he was a hundred miles away. "Don't close your eyes! Zeke! Zeke!"

Blackness engulfed his vision utterly.