Page 64 of Forsaken Secrets

It was as though the man had disappeared where the blade touched!

"I think we found what happened to the monster, Topin," the man yelled into the hallway, his lips curling into a snide smile as he spoke. "That damned monster hunter got it. The boss ain't gonna be happy."

Another man stepped into the room, tall and wearing a bowler hat. "Oh good!" he said. "I've been wanting to try this new trick out for a while."

He let out a deep sigh, then shook his arms out. My jaw dropped as his body turned to mist and then reformed, quickly doubling and then tripling in size.

The process repeated until finally his hat bumped the ceiling and fell off, sending dust showering around us.

A giant? No. Those had disappeared before the Fall. Unless … could he be a body mage?

I ducked behind the shelving and watched as Lynk swung his blade again. It just bounced off of the man's skin, though.

"Body mages," whispered Eli. "They're either very skilled and powerful, or they're using relics. Based on this room, I'd guess relics."

I closed my eyes, reaching through the resistance I always felt to find their korras. They were too hazy to make out any details, but similar to the little golden relic, there was a darkness at the center.

"They're twisted, Eli."

He grimaced. "What can we do?"

Lynk still stood out there, defending against the mages. But they were obviously just playing with him.

Fuck it. I couldn't just stand there and let him be killed!

But Lynk was right. My little blade wouldn't be enough.

Desperate, I searched the room for a different weapon. Not the relics. That would be too dangerous.

A slim metal bar stuck out of the door leading to the spryke's prison, though. A piece of their cage?

Perhaps it could work on the twisted mages like it had on that spryke?

Checking to make sure no one was watching, I dashed back to the door and grabbed it. A strange sense of numbness instantly flooded my mind, and I shook my head to clear it. Nothing happened. It felt like I was stuck inside a damn bubble. That poor spryke, stuck in there for who knew how long!

I dashed back to the shelves with Eli, trying to ignore the strange feeling as I watched for an opening.

The shorter mage was too fast. There was no way I could dodge him while feeling so numb.

But the giant might just be slow enough …

Calming my mind, I sprinted towards the fighters, dodging past Lynk's blade and diving in-between the giant mage's legs. The rough floor scraped my knees and calves, but I ignored the pain.

Taking a deep breath, I jabbed the jagged edge of the bar into the fleshy part at the back of the giant's calf and leapt out of the way.

His skin melted like butter.

I stared, disgusted, as the entire leg collapsed in on itself and he fell into a heap on the ground.

Holy hells! That had worked better than expected!

"Good idea, Kaiya," Lynk muttered as he leaped forward and sliced the fallen man's head off. The shadowed blade made a clean cut, and with the korra disrupted, the body collapsed to its normal size.

The other mage stared, wide-eyed, then burst into smoke and took off, weaving his way towards the exit they'd come through.

Growling, Lynk grabbed the bar from the giant's body and chased after him, sprinting through the doorway and into the long hallway beyond.

I took off after him.

---