Unbound

Harsh screeches scratched at Loquis’ ears, and it was all he could do to shout orders over the din. The Brumalbats swarmed the blue sky, their ice-wreathed wings glittering like diamonds in the sunlight. They were huge, easily the size of a man, with twice the wingspan. A few weapons were hurled from the town below, but the simple black iron spears clattered harmlessly off their hides as the beasts swooped down. Women and children ran through the streets and into their homes, but they weren’t fast enough.

“Aim for any that swoop too low to the town! Keep them from the people!” he said.

Arrows and magic ripped from the Claw members, their Skills singing brightly in Loquis’ Affinity. Compared to the ineffectual spears, the effect was astounding. Perhaps forty of the giant bats were mortally wounded, with half as many wounded.

You Have Killed A Brumalbat!

XP Earned!

Loquis lowered his hand, staring at the horde. He wasn’t sure if his lightning spells had actually killed them or just hurt it a bit, what with the amount of attacks darkening the sky. They’d need another volley to be sure of the creatures’ resistances.

Before a second attack could be mustered, three dozen bats peeled off from the main horde and immediately wheeled toward their position. Loquis shouted a warning, and the mages to his left and right unleashed a torrent of lightning Mana. A number twitched and faltered, but only a single severely wounded bat actually perished.

He cursed. “They’re resistant to lightning damage! Hit them with anything else!”

The Talon switched to their alternates, mowing down bat after bat with flame, shadow, force, and life magic. Everyone avoided ice and lightning if they could; everyone except Pit. Loquis was certain that the Chimera did not play by the same rules as the rest of them, as his massive ice spears that burst into tiny lightning storms killed all they touched.

For his part, the Half-Orc’s only non-lightning spells were short range. Thankfully, he had a crossbow at his waist. Loquis pulled it up and squeezed the trigger…but the damn thing jammed. Before he could drop the weapon, a surviving Brumalbat dove, fangs opened wide for his throat. Loquis flinched, calling up a force ward—

Blood, hot and wet, splattered against his face. Loquis jumped back, moments too late, to find the Brumalbat split in two before him. Did I—?

A chain covered in sharp blades retracted from the corpse, flinging half of it into the open air. “Whew, nasty little things, huh?” Evie said.

“You saved me,” he managed through the ichor on his lips.

“You uh, you got some gunk on ya,” Evie said, motioning to his face. “Next time, hit ‘em with force or fire spells.”

“Right.” Loquis gritted his teeth against the embarrassment. He’d underestimated the Brumalbat’s speed, otherwise he’d have readied his shorter range Skills. “I’ve got a few.”

“I know. Hit their wings. They don’t like it.” She turned away, flicking her chain free of the smoking guts at her feet.

“Wait. Let me help,” Loquis said. He leaned down and ran his hand across the least deadly part of her chain, holding in a grunt of pain when a blade nicked his finger. Magic followed in the wake of his hand, a sizzling orange that made her chain links glow.

“Ooh, what’s that?”

Loquis stood back up, pinching his injured finger to stem the blood flow. “Incendiary Charge. Short-term buff; it’ll add extra fire damage to your attacks, and a low low chance to set things on fire.”

“Huh.” She jerked her arm and the chain snapped out into the open air, where it caught the face of another diving monster. The creature screamed in pain and careened into the cliffside below. Evie laughed and punched his shoulder. “I like it.”

Loquis hid his pain—again—but couldn’t hide his beaming smile. “Come back when you need it re-applied. I’ll be–uh, here. I mean, of course I will be.”

Evie just laughed again and leaped into the sky. The Half-Orc mage watched her as she defied the laws of the world and flung herself about with the whirling of her glowing chain. It snapped out, wrapping around a Brumalbat from face to rear, allowing the agile warrior to spin around the still-flying monstrosity. Her chain ground into it, fire Mana flaring to melt through its icy flesh as she reached the zenith of her rotation and let go.

She rocketed out, into the greater swarm.

“Wow.”

“Tempest Fugit!”

Pit braced his legs as another twenty spears of ice burst from his Mana Gates and tore into the cloud of Inferior Elementals. Each one skewered a bat before exploding and releasing bursts of lightning that arced between the others. The lightning wasn’t doing as much as it would on others, but Pit knew how these ice monsters worked. He wasn’t concerned—not about doing enough damage, at least.

What did chafe at him was his landbound position. He kept firing Tempest Fugit because that was his best long range Skill, but it left him feeling like one of those magic ballistas Alister made. The Yttin were next to him, hurling their harpoons in graceful arcs, before yanking hard on the braided silk ropes attached to their ends. Those ropes were coiled around thick, girdle-like belts, allowing their powerful back-appendages to get involved in the retrieval process. More than once, a resisting Brumalbat was dragged close, allowing Pit to finish them off and eat their core.

Evie was out there, practically flying as she slaughtered her way across the sky. Vess was too, and she was flying, standing atop a floating spear as she commanded her weapons like a general did their troops. A maelstrom of bronze discs and silver spears surrounded her, creating a zone of death that the Brumalbats feared to enter.

It was impressive, and frustrating. Down on the ground Pit’s vantage was limited, meaning he couldn’t fire on the enemy; he was eager to eat as many cores as he could, but not if that meant he hurt his friends.

A trio of Brumalbats dove through the Dawnwalker’s volley of arrows and let loose a flurry of bladed ice-shards from their wings. Right behind it came a terrible screech, a sonic attack that didn’t hurt so much as needle their concentration. The Henaari flinched, and that was enough.

Dark Glacial Guard!

Pit was there, between the ice shards and the Dawnwalkers, his lean body coated in floating panels of shadowed ice. The attack bounced harmlessly off of him, and he retaliated.

Dawn’s Advent!

A crescent of golden energy ripped into the banking bats, slicing them from skull to sternum. Diver harpoons speared their chests, snagging the corpses at the last second.

You Have Killed A Brumalbat (x3)!

XP Earned!

“Raven guide you, Honored Tenku,” one of the Dawnwalkers said.

“Mhm.” Pit made a vague gesture with his paw. “Same.”

The Henaari shifted away, angling themselves so that they had better shots at the monsters attacking the city below. Their bows had incredible range, so they were well suited to the task. Pit just watched as his chances at affecting the battle dwindled.

“Reinforcements are on the way. Where are they all coming from?”

Pit looked further out, to where the Yttin Diver was gesturing, and saw nearly a hundred more Brumalbats arrive. They emerged from the depthless blue sky as if conjured, but they certainly smelled real. “Something funny is going on,” he said. “Stay here. I’m gonna find out.”

“As you will, Beast.”

He needed to get higher, and there was one thing Pit hadn’t tried yet. Though Felix was far away, his Companion’s core space was close, and he could feel the Skills within shine like torches just around the corner. I’m gonna take this, Felix. Hope you don’t need it.

Cloudstep!

A platform long enough to hold his entire body flickered into existence twenty feet above the cliff’s edge, and Pit leaped atop of it. The structure held—for all of a second. It shattered into purple and blue vapor and Pit tumbled down. Someone above shouted in panic, but Pit hadn’t the time to worry about them.

Cloudstep!

This one was angled, and Pit flexed his legs just as he landed and pushed backward. The platform still shattered, but he was able to redirect himself. Pit leaped into the cliff, hindquarters first, before pressing off with every ounce of Strength he possessed. The rock cratered, and Pit shot outward at considerable speed for a goodly distance.

Just enough to land atop an attacking Brumalbat.

“Excuse me!” he shouted, digging Dark Glacial Guard claws and his own into the monsters back as he jumped off. Gouts of ichor flowed in his wake, and the monster careened into the earth. Pit, however, was not so easily stopped.

Another Cloudstep flashed ahead, and he pressed a paw to it before summoning another. And another. Each one shattered in less than a heartbeat, but if nothing else, Pit was fast.

He ascended. Higher and higher, heading straight for the oncoming storm of monsters. Nearly a hundred, they were an avalanche of elementals, all teeth and claws and burning evil eyes. They screeched at him, their sonic attacks distorting the very air. The sound cracked his conjured armor, peeling off chunks of ice and shadow with every reverberation, but Pit didn’t stop.

Dark Glacial Guard is level 25!

Apprentice Tier!

You Gain:

+12 END

+12 STR

+12 VIT

Pit marshaled his core and the magic that swirled within. Ice and lightning swelled, the patterns singing from the branches of his twisted tree until they pulsed through every channel Pit possessed. Without his wings, Pit was down by two Mana Gates, but he could manage this much.

“Tempest Fugit!”

Felix stopped in his tracks, nearly causing Beef and Hallow to run into him.

“What’s going on?” The big teen asked. “Did you find them?”

“No,” Felix said. “This is something else.”

Etheric Concordance sang in his chest. Pit’s emotions had been running hot for a while, but it was a battle. The little guy was always overeager about fighting, especially if food was involved. Now, however, his Companion’s emotions reached a fevered pitch, and Felix jerked his head back toward Cold Rock.

There, in the daylit sky, was a cascade of shimmering ice. Distant, gruesome pops and faint screams came from the horde…before all of it was inundated by bolts of lightning. It spread and, for an instant, connected every single Brumalbat in a web of light.

Connection… A twinge burned from his chest, and he followed it to his Adamant Discord, as if it were alerting him of a new link. Felix chased that sensation, catching the sound of it through the air and his Companion bond in equal measure. “I feel it,” he said aloud.

“Feel what?” Beef whispered.

Felix pointed to a nearby hill, one of many outside the flat approach to Cold Rock. It appeared to be the same as any other, save for the now-bright link he could sense that rose like a beacon before it guttered out. “There. The Witches are controlling the horde from there.”

“Mother of monsters,” Kimaris muttered. “How can you tell that?”

“I couldn’t, not till now. I felt them at the start of the fight, but they’ve been moving around somehow, probably with an illusion or a ward or something.” It was one of two reasons why he hadn’t reached them already and ended things. He’d sent his Illusory Double out to scout the area, but it hadn’t been able to find the Witches either and he’d recalled it. “They either have someone very strong there, or they’re just really good at tricks.”

“The Feldspear Coven is not known for subtlety,” Kimaris said. “We must prepare for a hard fight.”

Felix nodded and gestured for his allies to hunker down. They were moving under his Abyssal Skein, so he wasn’t too worried about being discovered, but the capabilities of a Coven were unknown to him, and they’d already surprised him once.

Illusory Double.

Once again, shadows pooled beneath Felix before growing up at his side. It swiftly formed into a dark version of Felix, the shadow detailed enough to mimic his fur-lined cloak and even the swords at his waist. It was all black on black, though, the only color coming from its eyes. Those shone like distant stars dotted by a gleaming flame. Felix finally understood why everyone thought his gaze could be so unnerving.

At the start, Felix had been concerned that his Double wouldn’t be included with his Abyssal Skein, but that Skill had quickly traversed the connection Felix had with the construct. As before, the darkness of the Void sank into the Double and it faded by several shades.

Go.

The Double loped up the snowy hillock, feet making zero noise as it ghosted atop the snow. A piece of Felix’s Mind moved with it, his Perception riding shotgun in its head, which let him see and feel what his Double experienced.

Illusory Double is level 46!

He found their gathering just over the ridge, holed up within a field of ice chunks and rocky outcroppings. There were twenty-six of the nine-foot Risi, and each was positioned around a glowing red circle of sigaldry, their arms raised as an ephemeral power rippled between them. A series of mounds were interspersed among the rocks and ice chunks, appearing random at first before his Perception threaded through the thin snow coating.

Interesting.

In the center of the grotto was the red circle. Objects were placed in the circle, things that ranged from sinister to innocuous: two bloody vertebrae from something very big, a series of burning coals, two sets of fangs, one of ice and one of metal, a chunk of dark ice, and several small mounds of colored powder, each one a different hue. A giant-sized skull sat in the center, stripped of skin and covered in far too many horns, one of which looked as if it had grown into the poor creature's eye socket. Sigils glowed balefully from every inch of its surface.

The Witches were speaking.

“A foul beast of ice and shadow has decimated our beasts!” one hissed.

“At least the Warriors have penetrated the gate,” another said.

“They have been pushed back! Warriors in bone have arrived and have stopped the Berserkers in their tracks!”

“They aren’t even of the Kin! Why are they here?”

“Unknown magic sours the air, sisters. What is happening?”

“We all felt it. Do not let yourself fear. The battle is not yet lost.” A Witch that was half-a-head taller than the others turned her bright purple eyes on her fellows. “Bring in the Destroyer.”

Felix’s Double blinked its bright eyes. Well that can’t be good.

“They’re controlling the Brumalbats through some ritual,” he said through his main Body. Whatever sigaldry the giants were using was unfamiliar to Felix, but that much was clear. “And they’re getting desperate. Something about bringing in a ‘Destroyer.’”

“An Inferior Elemental horde, now a Destroyer. Only a full Coven could do that.” she gasped. “That means all of Feldspear Coven is on the field now…if you take the Coven, they can do nothing.”

“Are they all as strong as the Witches in Cold Rock?” Beef asked. “Because they felt tough.”

“They claim to be stronger, but Mother Vepar has never been successfully challenged in six decades. By any of the tribes.”

Felix banished his Double, worried that it would be found. “C’mon. Before I lose them again. My plan should work just fine, but don’t take any chances.”

“Got it,” Beef said. “Hallow?”

“My Bodies are already moving.”

Felix cracked his neck, the sound swallowed by Abyssal Skein. “Then let’s go meet the neighbors.”

The Witches were in the midst of chanting when Felix landed among them all.

“Hi there.” For a shocked moment, no one did anything, but their Spirits raged. Felix lifted his hands. “Let's not do anything we’ll regret later, okay?”

Fully half of the Witches acted at once, hurling a literal blizzard of ice magic at him. Felix lifted his hand, Rime Shaping the blast…only to find Kimaris’ magic joining his own. The blizzard was spun aside, coating nearby boulders in six inches of ice.

“Face me, Feldspear!” she cried, engaging with as many Witches as she could. Spells rained down, but Felix couldn’t worry about her. He had other goals.

Ten hidden Berserkers burst from those low snowy mounds, exactly where he’d tagged them earlier, but Felix ignored their frenzied approach. A Multipeded exploded from the heavy snow behind them, smashing into the Berserkers like a freight train. The Sharpwing Matriarch bisected one of the giants, her wings too much for its crystallized rage, and the Homunculus peppered them with shortsword-sized Crystalline Darts. Last was Beef, who splattered the enemy with every swing of his maul. The earth shook as the giants were taken down in seconds.

Half of the Coven scattered, turning chaotically to face Kimaris and Felix, while the rest seemed rooted to the spot around the red ritual circle. Kimaris fell to her knees, overcome by sheer numbers, and Felix zipped to her side. A maelstrom of magic descended on him, but Felix didn't care to figure out what it was gonna do. He opened his mouth.

Chthonic Tribute.

The storm of power hit him and was devoured. Silence overcame the grotto, the Witches gaping like fish out of water. Felix ran his tongue against his teeth, grimacing. “Gah, that tasted bad. Why did that taste bad?”

“You ate their curses as well as their elemental attacks,” Kimaris said through gritted teeth. She smiled at the shocked Witches, a grisly, bloody thing. “It was all they had.”

“Oh good.” Felix turned back to the Witches and the circle. “Then we can end this.”

Six Witches were down, felled by Kimaris’ power, and the Berserkers had been demolished. Beef stepped up alongside them, Hallow’s Bodies fanning outward to surround the enemy. As they moved, shards of ice rose from the ground, gleaming with ice Mana as protective wards wrapped around the remaining Witches. The purple-eyed leader stared daggers at Felix.

“Oh, I used to have one of those,” he said, pointing at the ice shard. “Look. I don’t need to kill you. I’ll give you one—”

“Tu ratha, Human!” she spat. “Whatever Cold Rock paid you, it was not enough! You will merely be the first to die.” She lifted her hands, and whatever ritual they were enacting surged. “Come, Destroyer!”

“Oh, come on, I’m just trying to talk!”

As if conjured from nothing, a monster surged across the tundra, a blur of steel and fur. To Felix it moved like it was underwater, but he knew it was too fast for everyone but Beef. A Superior Savage Therium, he realized. He’d run into them in the Ironskin Domain, but those had been a lot smaller. Strong, big reach, and decently fast. I’m not gonna risk this fight spilling onto my friends.

End it fast.

Felix flared Sovereign of Flesh.

The Therium’s Will proved as durable as its Body, which is to say not at all. Flesh sundered from bone and blood as Felix imposed his power on the beast, and the Superior Savage Therium unraveled.

It was gross.

Felix shaped the viscera away from his people, while flaring Rime Shaping at the same time. The ice shield flashed like opalescent lightning before each and every one of those shards cracked in half, and the shield failed. He let the majority of the beast’s guts splash against the Witches, coating their fine robes and white hair.

Rime Shaping is level 86!

“Like I was saying: one chance.” Felix bared his normal, human teeth and every one of the Witches flinched. “Stop. Or be stopped.”

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