The previous Sassy Saturday post can be read here: Mad Scientist and a Monster Unicorn
The context for this post: Order has invaded Annala's hometown, Dnnac Ledo, and she is unable to fight him because a magical slave collar restricts her abilities. Then she realizes that the collar is the perfect weapon against him.
This is the last excerpt from Mana Mutation Menace. This means that it is also the last Sassy Saturday until I publish Transcending Limitations. That is going to happen sometime next year; like March or so.
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Order's invasion was overwhelming. Both Meza's
ordercrafter hunters and the village guardians were spread thin. Even the
civilians had taken up arms to fight against the invading army, but it was
still not enough. As the battle continued, four enforcers ganged up on Alexis.
Mustering her courage, Annala stood, hiked up her skirt,
and ran forward. She had to do this; she had to because there was no one else. It
was fear for her aunt that compelled hers; her aunt and herself. She feared
that what she saw in her vision, and what happened to Alexis in real life,
would come to pass once more. Thwarting such a nightmare was worth any risk.
The enforcers ignored her because she was designated as a
slave. The Order Shield was as thin as air to her. Order himself didn’t notice
her until she was under his nose. She slapped him across the cheek and shouted,
“Hypocrite! Your host stalked me for months despite the
local government’s laws against stalking and
the laws against private ordercrafters. He disrupted my life, sowed disorder in
my community, locked this thing on my neck against my will, and kidnapped me.
You yourself disapproved of that last one! Now here you are vandalizing like
the original vandals! How can a being that protests to embody Truth and Rule of
Law defend against such hypocrisy?”
Order hesitated. His pilfered body stopped moving and his
aura dimmed a degree. Lacking his direction, the enforcers also lacked his
vitality and elves all over the village suddenly found themselves an easier
fight. Alexis fought her way out of her silver vapor cage and Meza banished the
ones that attacked himself. Nulso’s body stood alone, except for Annala.
She backhanded him on the other cheek and again denounced
him.
“You are like Theodosius I, who claimed to be the
legitimate 167th Western Emor Emperor because he occupied the
capital and convinced the Eastern Emor Emperor that it was so! In truth, he was
a thug and a bandit who conquered with thugs and bandits. All you prove here is
that your precious ‘stability’ is nothing but brute force and fear. Such things
are chaotic in nature, devoid of any ‘law’ except the ‘Law of the Jungle.’”
An ethereal
tendril wound itself about Annala’s waist and up towards her neck and the
collar resting there. Annala didn’t flinch; her fist clenched, her shoulders
tensed, and sweat broke out all over her body, but she didn’t blink or look
away. Neither did Nulso’s body. His sense of awareness was focused solely on
Annala. Alexis and Meza took this opportunity to finally pierce his Order
Shield. Annala’s intervention provided the opening they needed. To make sure
Order didn’t notice, Annala slapped him a third time and continued her scathing
criticism.
“You can’t kidnap me. You yourself recognized me as Eric’s
property. To do so would be stealing. You can’t justify that. You can’t even
use Eminent Domain because you lack the consent of the governed to form a
ruling body of law.”
Sagart whispered hymns to boost Alexis’ and Meza’s strength.
“A mind
such as yours is wasted serving Lady Chaos. You should join my administrators.
I would place you in charge of every elf on this world; slave or free. I’ll
even remove the collar.”
Alexis and Meza, working together and with the power of
Sister Sagart's prayers, finally broke through. The latter ripped open a body-sized
hole in the Order Shield with his bastard sword and the former lunged with her
rapier. Order ignored the wound to his vessel. Hearing Annala’s reply was more
important.
She smiled politely. “I must respectfully decline. While it
is a tempting offer, the job security leaves something to be desired.”
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Mana Mutation Menace, and the rest of the Journey to Chaos series, is available for purchase at Amazon as both an ebook and as a paperback. The series is also available in Kindle Unlimited. _____________________________________________________________________
To learn more about the heroines of Journey to Chaos, visit the Tvtropes character sheet.
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