Chapter 78: Book 2, Chapter 19: A Sister's Sacrifice

Iktchi-Chi knew what she’d find well in advance of her arrival at the cottage. She could sense her sister, and her sister’s pain, from well over a mile away. She redoubled her efforts, wings straining.

She touched down within two arm’s lengths of the cottage, coming in hard and stumbling to her knees. Heedless, she lurched to her feet and raced inside, panic clawing at her heart.

It was bad. Cha lay on the bed, delirious, bandages swathing her, stained with her vital fluids, the stains spreading. Chi hugged her, laying her face alongside her sister's, tears flowing freely. “Cha,” she crooned. “You’re here? How are you here? I’m here, Baby,” she kissed the girl’s face. “Big sis is here. You’ll be alright, I promise. Just like always, right? Big sis will take care of you. It’s all going to be better. Big sis is here.”

She will not heal, Rosaluna sent. Despite our best efforts, she will not heal. We cannot staunch the flow of blood. I’m at a loss, and she hasn’t much time left.

Chi looked up and saw the room’s other occupants for the first time. Rosaluna, a much younger version of her, and, against all sensibility, a mouse in wizard’s garb, who nonetheless shone with an outsized mana halo. She looked back down to her sister and stroked her damp hair, stifling sobs.

That collar, Rosaluna pointed. It differs from the one you bear. Far more powerful. It saps mana as quickly as we can apply it, rendering our best efforts useless. It must be removed if she is to be saved.

Chi’s eyes narrowed as she beheld the ring of darksome metal constricted around her sister’s neck, oozing a thick miasma of familiar darkness to her fairy sight. The god’s words rang through her head. Regardless of how urgent. Regardless of how desperate the need, it’s a one time thing. “You bastard,” her trembling whisper barely moved the air.

He knew all that occurred on Mund. He had to have known Cha was here and that she was injured. And he’d given her this choice? How could he have been so cruel?

She placed her fingers against Cha’s collar without hesitation, and closed her eyes. “In the name of Jehsha the capricious,” she spat. “Clown God of Mund, who thinks himself oh so humorous! BEGONE!” It hadn’t really been a choice, though, had it? It could never be.

The collar flared bright golden, pulsing to black, first thick, then thin, large to small, as though it were fighting the banishment spell. It’s gyrations brought a strangled cry from the injured devil girl. And then it was no more than a cloud of floating mist, disbursing upward and outward, crackling as each minute particle of its substance flared incandescent and popped out of existence. Chi collapsed against her sister, her arms on fire from her fingertips to her shoulders, a raw, scraping agony that grew worse with each breath.

The attendant mages in the room stood wide eyed and shocked to their cores. And not only because they’d just seen a demon invoking, even demeaning, their god.

“Now heal her,” Chi hissed unmoving, her eyes still squeezed shut, her arms still aflame. “I’ve brought the elixirs.”

She felt cold hands grasp her by the upper arms and cried out as they pulled her upright, moving her clear of the bed. One of the constructs, its touch surprisingly gentle, for all the good that did.

The moment she was released, she undid the strap that held her bag close against her when flying, groaning in pain as she began rummaging through it for the elixirs. Pulling them free, she set them on a workbench. The construct lifted one of them clear and held it out to her, pointing with its free hand at her blistered arms.

Identify told her that this construct was rank forty-eight. Nearly her own— nearly her former level. Reluctantly, she took the bottle and downed a third of it before passing it back. “For my sister,” she rasped forcefully. “I won’t take any more until she's whole.”

I’ll need your aid in this, Rosaluna sent after a moment. I’m not entirely sure about the anatomy of your kind, or how it should function, and she is broken in a great many places.

Chi moved closer and squeezed in between the older and younger magical girls. She began assessing the extent of Cha’s injuries, struggling to maintain a shred of calm as she did so, and failing. The trails of Cha’s injuries told that they’d been working on her for a very long time.

Chi had to struggle to hold herself from vomiting at the thought of how she’d been reveling in her simpleminded happiness while her sister had been undergoing such torture. But she steadied herself. This wasn’t the time for guilt. Later, there would be time and to spare. Though she tried to force herself not to think of it, she found herself wondering in a small corner of her mind, if Cha had been lying here dying as she, herself, had been working at seducing Jack back in town.

A rumbling intruded on the scene some time later while they labored to stabilize Iktchi-Cha, now that they could, growing from a mere hint of sound to a great caterwauling that shook the ground and walls. The Runstable’s had arrived, still maintaining a good clip despite the terrain.

Jack jumped clear the second it had come to a halt, and while it was still rocking on its springs. Bob followed, racing ahead, his stubby legs a blur. Jack was halfway to the cottage by the time Mohrdrand half fell from the same door, going to his knees and retching.

Jack stumbled to a halt just inside the doorway as he spotted the figure on the bed, unsure what to make of the situation. Who...?

Chi didn’t turn, but she knew it was him. “She is my sister,” she told him. Somehow, my sister is here. And she’s badly hurt.”

“I’m... I’m sorry,” he stammered. “But what am I supposed to—”

There is a device, Rosaluna sent. Explosive, meant to kill anyone who might be waiting on this side of the portal. I have no idea what it might be, how powerful it might be, nor how to disable it. I was hoping that you might.

“Portal?” Jack remained confused. “Wait! You mean the portal the jaegers came through? From Tarr?”

Indeed, Rosaluna confirmed. Your friend Chi found its location some time ago, and informed me. I’ve been... monitoring it ever since. It would seem that their Dread Lord has grown weary of my doing so.

Jack scrubbed a hand across his face. Great! This was just great! “Where is it? The explosive, I mean, not the portal.”

The girl is wearing it on her back, Rosaluna answered calmly.

Jack’s other hand joined the first. “And you’re taking no precautions at all? He asked with no particular inflection.

And what would you suggest we do? The old woman wondered. Leave her to die while we dither and worry?

The hard, cold reality of it was that, yes, without an EOD guy handy, that’s exactly what they should have done. But he didn’t say it. He took a deep breath before going on. “She stabilized at all yet?” his voice had gone cold, clinical.

Nearly, the old woman responded.

“I’ll be right back, then,” he told the room at large, turning on his heel and heading for the Runstable’s at a trot.

Mohrdrand was just staggering down out of the coach, having separated the hind motive wagon from the rest as Jack arrived to fill him in.

“I’m gonna need a lot of light,” he told the wizard after having explained their situation. “Something that doesn’t cast shadows, and that sort of thing is beyond my skills at the moment.”

Mohrdrand was still trying to move past the fact that they were risking their lives to save a demon, and was slow to grasp the requirement. Perhaps because he was still woozy from having gotten what he’d wished for during their journey here in the speedwagon.

“Greater Illumination is what you want,” the old man wheezed. “I can provide it. Give me a shoulder, you gormless lunatic, and help me to the cottage.”

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“Hey,” Jack grinned as he slipped the old man’s arm around his neck and slid under it. “You said you wanted to go fast. Well, you went fast.”

Jack watched in horrid fascination as all four of the most powerful magic users on this part of the continent gathered close together and hovered over what was likely a live bomb. Without them, this part of the continent was probably lost to the monsters and creatures of the dark, yet there they stood.

His very soul rebelled at the thought of risking so much over such a gamble. But he kept his yap shut, and consoled himself with the thought that it hadn’t gone off yet, so maybe, just maybe, there was a chance they wouldn’t all die in a fiery cloud of expanding gore.

With the caliber of the attention she was getting, he didn’t expect it to take them long. He was doomed to be disappointed.

“It’s no use,” Chi announced, her voice ragged. “She’s lost too much blood for anything we can do.” turning to Rosaluna, she asked, “do your people understand the concept of transfusion?”

Trans... what? Rosaluna asked, turning to Mohrdrand.

“Trans; to move, yes?” he wondered. "Fusion; the state of—”

“She means moving blood from one body to another,” Luciandro, the mouse construct, told them. “The master used the technique from time to time. It’s not something to be done lightly, as it may as easily kill the recipient as aid them.”

Chi throttled any expression of surprise at the source of the confirmation. “Have you the tools for it?” she asked eagerly.

Luciandro goggled. “Lady Demon,” he protested. “Even had I such, the... ah... size differential would render them moot.”

What do you need? Rosaluna inquired.

“A tube,” Chi told her. Long enough to connect my arm to Cha’s. And hollow needles to be placed at both ends.”

Mohrdrand straightened. “You’re proposing to transfer blood directly from your veins to hers, then?”

She nodded. “I’ve done it before. And she for me. I already know our blood types match, so it’s completely safe.”

Other than one of you being strapped to a bomb, Jack thought from behind them. Again, he kept his thought to himself. Or thought he had, noting Rosaluna giving him side eye.

“I might have something,” Mohrdrand began rummaging in his bag. “I sometimes have need to transfer liquids between—”

“They have to be sterilized,” Jack informed him. “And they have to be absolutely clean so you don’t pump some foreign substance into her veins with the blood.”

Both of the older mages turned to him. “You know of the procedure?” Mohrdrand asked.

Jack nodded. “And if I’d thought I might need to worry about it, I’d have tossed my *CLS bag into my backpack before I left for work that last morning.

Chi shook his worry off. “I can sterilize it,” she told him without turning away from her sister. “And I can shield us from any chemical contaminants.”

“And what are you gonna use as an anti-coagulant?” Jack inquired deadpan. “You got a citrated blood bag in your pocket? And won't you need a second line to go from the bag to her, or were you planning to bucket brigade it?”

Chi gave him a hard glare and it took awhile for her to answer. “I know what I’m doing, Jack,” she insisted. “She’s my sister, and I wouldn’t attempt this if I wasn’t sure it would work.”

Mohrdrand went back to rummaging.

You have performed this procedure before? Rosaluna asked him dubiously.

“More than I care to remember,” he told her. “There was a reason we all carried tags with our blood types on them.

Blood... types? Rosaluna queried. You served with those not of your species? But of what use tags? Would it not be obvious?

He shook his head. “People come with a number of different types of blood, Rosaluna. I don’t know all that much about what the types mean, but I do know that pumping the wrong sort into somebody will probably kill them. Luciandro isn’t wrong.

“Now find something for her to lay on,” he ordered the others as Mohrdrand continued to rummage. “They’ll have to be level with one another for this to work.”

Chi, meanwhile, turned to the old woman. “Lady, Rosaluna,” she asked. “Do you have any way to prevent blood from coagulating in a localized area?”

The old woman gave it some thought, working her way through the request. I’m sorry, Lady Chi, but I do not. I've always found it more important to close wounds than keep them open.

Chi placed the heel of a bloodstained palm against her forehead, squinting in thought. “How well do you see into people’s heads?” she asked tightly.

Rosaluna straightened, casting a ghost of a glance towards Tiarraluna. If you direct yourself to address me, she said slowly. I should be able to hear—

“See,” Chi pressed. “I need to know if you can see into my head.”

Whatever for? Rosaluna was confused.

“There’s a spell,” Chi told her. “Fairly high level, and currently beyond me, due to...” she paused. “Circumstances... There isn’t time to teach it to you in the traditional fashion, but I can show you in my mind, if you are able to see.”

The concept was completely new and foreign to the old woman. Could she actually learn a high order spell in such a way? How high a... uhm... level are you speaking of? She asked.

“Not sure by your system,” Chi shook her head irritably. “When I was rank fifty-six, I could have cast it. As I currently am, I cannot.”

You’re not—

“Thirty-six currently,” Chi grated. “Prices were paid, Lady.”

We shall try, then, shall we? The old woman sent.

“Ahah!” Mohrdrand exclaimed, pulling forth a length of rough hose and waving it in the air. It looked like it was nearly half an inch across!

Jack took it from him, giving one end a sniff. “Crap, what is this, linseed oil?”

“Why, yes,” Mohrdrand raised an eyebrow. “You recognize it?”

“I do,” Jack grimaced. “What else have you had through this thing?”

Mohrdrand had to think. “This and that,” he said, although I do believe I cleansed it with boiling water prior to putting it to its most recent use.”

“Like soaked it cleansed it, or like ran the boiling water through it until you got clear water cleansed it?”

Mohrdrand smiled. “Now that’s how an artificer talks,” he chuckled. “I ran the water through it until it ran clear and left no stain on a clean cloth.”

Jack was examining the hose closely. “What’s this made of?” he asked.

“Ah,” Mohrdrand paused, thinking. “Mostly a cellulose compound combined with various wood resins, and a bit of binding magic.”

“You listening, Chi?” Jack asked without looking away from the tubing.

“Yes,” she answered distractedly. “I think I know what he’s talking about. It’s a common enough evolutionary step on most of these worlds before they find latex. It should be safe once I’m through with it. ”

“Fine,” he said, low-voiced. Now, about those needles. Needles! Hah! They looked like something you’d use to fill a fish tank. He didn’t want to think about trying to shove them into somebody’s veins.

Looking around and feeling self-conscious, he sat himself down cross-legged against a wall and closed his eyes laying his fingers along one of them. Feeling. Allowing his perception and touch to tell him what it was. Decent steel. Low carbon. A long cannon shot from surgical steel, but he figured it should do after Chi’d had a go at it.

Now he concentrated, his brows drawing down, his jaw clamping. He was still pretty new at this aspect of his secondary class, and it required a huge draw of power. But he’d been practicing until his hands bled.

He drew the fingers of his left hand slowly, ever so slowly, along the steel tube, drawing it out. When his fingers came away, it was just that little bit narrower. Just that little bit longer. Again, and its shape altered. Again. And again. And again. Over the course of about twenty minutes. The chunk of mild steel morphed from what had amounted to an open spigot, to a passable, large gauge needle. It wasn’t smooth by any means, and would probably hurt like hell going in, but it was at least smaller than the arm he was going to stick it into.

Rosaluna gasped. Lady Chi had her eyes pressed tightly closed and was holding herself very still. The image she was concentrating on was slowly swimming into view. There were eight circles! What’s more, it drew from six different schools, populating four of the five colleges! One facet drew from the Curse school!

And you were able to cast this at rank fifty? She hardly believed it.

“We wrote it while I was rank forty, actually,” Chi gritted. “Can you duplicate it?”

It will take some time, Rosaluna told her. I will do the best that I can.

"Please Hurry."

The second needle took Jack slightly less time, although he did have to stop in the middle and chug a greater mana potion.

The hose was obviously way too big around. It would bleed her like a gunshot wound. So he took it at the middle, with both hands, side by side. Breathing evenly, he squeezed. He wouldn’t draw this one out, or he’d end up with twelve friggin’ feet of very fragile tubing connecting the two girls. No, the length was fine, it just needed to be about half its current diameter.

He’d barely started, though, before Chi, fresh from her exchange with Rosaluna, saw what he was about. “No!” she told him, her voice tight. “It’s fine just the way it is. I’m going to need some extra interior space for the ward, to seal it off from the blood. The bigger around it is, the thicker I can layer the seal.”

“Here, then,” he said, staggering to his feet and limping over to Chi, holding the assembly out.

Chi took the tubing from Jack. Identify told her it wasn’t exactly blood safe, but she could fix that temporarily. Trouble was, it would need a very high level ward, and that was going to require a considerable amount of mana at her current reduced rank. “Does anybody have—”

Jack held up a bottle filled with a deep blue liquid. Another very high quality, very expensive potion. She frowned, but held out her hands. “Don’t worry, Jack,” she sighed. “I’ll pay you—”

“Shut it,” he smiled. “You don’t owe me anything. However many you need, they’re yours. You should know that.”

He was facing the wrong way to notice the stricken look that came to Tiarraluna’s face at the exchange.

Chi forced a grin and took both the potion and transfusion rig.

The others continued to work on Cha while she addressed the tubing. They were succeeding in staving off her death, but were slowly losing ground.

The spell Chi had in mind was a sort of offshoot of the warding tree with a good bit of abjuration thrown in. It would coat the entirety of the inner surface of the tube with an even layer of force. A shield, in effect, that would impede passage of any material substance, be it water, oil, poison, or a great cave bear.

The nature of the object, however, posed a problem. There was a limit to how thick she could lay the shield without hindering, or even halting the flow. Further, given the constant onslaught it would be subjected to, the ward would abrade away over a fairly short time, particularly with the caustic nature of blood. In this instance, the excess size of the hose worked to their benefit, in that she could lay the ward on much more thickly. It would be fine. After all, she’d probably run out of blood before the ward gave way, right?

“Finished,” she handed back the coil of hose.