Unbound

Shelled Aurochs, level 28, a Tier II beast, Felix noted as two shattered through Nevia's defensive wall. Too strong for them!

His Mana sank into the earth, ready to shape a series of spikes to stop the Aurochs...but Vess beat him to the punch. She exploded from his side—cracking the ground and the tree behind her with the force of her leap—and met the two Aurochs head on. Her new spear gleamed in her grip, striking in a flurry of lancing blows that blasted huge divots from the ox-like monsters' hide. The Aurochs both bellowed and floundered among the ice, dead before they hit the ground.

Hell yeah! Felix engaged his Will once more, sounding the etched patterns in his core space with blue-white Mana. It spun outward, through his channels and into the world at large, transforming the rock beneath the soil and roots at his command.

Stone Shaping!

This time, he formed thick, horizontal columns from the stone, supported along the bottom and sides by sloping ramparts. Six, wide-nosed rams thrust outward, meeting the thunder of the Shelled Aurochs' advance with the percussion of the monolith. The beasts were many in number, but his creations stopped several in their tracks and forced the rest to either leap atop his constructs or go around.

"Form up! Mages inside, melee on flanks!" Harn shouted. His twin axes were out and bisected the nearest Aurochs with a solid strike. Like a boulder in a river, the majority of the beasts stampeded around them and into the forest. "Mages! Everything you got! Loose!"

Sparkbolts, Ice Arrows, literal arrows, and bolts of kinetic force all speared into the Aurochs. The beasts' thick hide—the rocky shell they had—prevented most strikes from felling them, but the sheer amount took many down anyway. Atar's fire, in particular, was nasty once it caught the Aurochs' shaggy hair aflame, hair that was located around it's' neck and underside. Alister's bolts of force were also good, as they often cracked open the beasts' shells and allowed the others a vulnerable target.

Felix didn't understand why they weren't huddling up defensively at first. That had been his plan, after all, and why he'd created his fortification. His team, at the core, were safe for the moment. Then it came to him.

Free experience. Experience that, in his case, would be drops in the ocean.

Felix held back, letting his friends and the Haarguard take their turns attacking. Instead he inspected that oppressive feeling he had felt when the horde descended.

It felt bloody, much as the force that had frightened the avian monsters at the Wall. It was of Vellus, that Felix was sure about—he wouldn't forget the goddess any time soon, unfortunately. His Born Trait ensured the memory stayed fresh and utterly visceral for the next three weeks, but even after that he doubted he'd be rid of the sensation of floating in that dark place while the goddess of storms and blood tried to—Felix frantically pulled away from the Memory, which threatened to all but transport him back there.

Bastion of Will is level 69!

That hasn't happened in a while, he panted. He had thought his Willpower and mental defenses had long grown beyond the power of a wayward Memory...but then again, his Mind had been strengthened as well. It would make sense if the blade of it were double edged.

Double edged...opposite. Yeah. That makes sense. The Dissonance he was feeling, tinging the Harmony of the Foglands: it was here, built into this bloody force. He'd long ago noticed Dissonance as a major component to the Archon's Profane Sigaldry, which was part of why it hurt people to view. So he had, what? Used his Profane Sigaldry to...utilize the Bloodmoon?

That had some merit. Felix knew the Archon had made use of the Bloodmoon—a rare celestial occurrence—to empower his forces during the invasion of Haarwatch. What was stopping him from using it in other ways? Like—Shit.

Like to escape.

The Aurochs came at them, masses of pure, unfeeling destruction. It was all Vyne could do to protect himself, let alone the rest. Were he to Taunt even one, that would be the end of Vyne Pallas.

Still, the fight was invigorating. Seeing the Fiend in action again, even though it was only a single spell...what a spell! Stone battering rams, summoned from the earth itself! Effectively splitting the stampeding horde in two, and giving everyone enough breathing room to fight. A single, powerful movement that determined the flow of the entire battle. Vyne hoped to be half so capable in the future.

You Have Killed A Shelled Aurochs!

XP Earned!

You Have Gained A Level!

You Are Now Level 33!

You Gain 3 Free Stat Points!

That capability was coming faster and faster now that they were seeing battle. Vyne was not an offensive powerhouse, not compared to Davum or Nevia, but tagging them with his hammer and shield dealt at least a little damage and got him contribution credit. Even if one of the Fiend's Companions did the real killing. His chimera was especially good at attacking large swaths of enemies, all at the same time with its blades of air Mana.

"Down!"

Vyne ducked, pulling his head below his tower shield as a rain of icy spears rained down on a wounded Aurochs. The beast bellowed in pain and tried to turn toward them, but was instead trampled by its fellows who never even slowed.

"Yes! Another level!" Nevia cried. According to her proclamations, she had benefited the most from this fight so far, but she was also a mage. And mages lived or died on their Mana.

"Almost out though, huh?" Kikri said with a sharp smile. "I'll keep you in mind as I reach level forty first."

"Listen here you sap drinkin' twig tosser," Nevia started before suddenly losing her balance. Vyne leaned forward and caught her with a single hand.

"Easy there, Nev," he said in a low voice. "You're nearly drained."

"Night," the Dwarf cursed. "You're not wrong, hammer face. But it doesn't mean I gotta like it."

"Fair."

He helped her to feet and reset his shield before him. Kikri had wisely moved on. In part, he suspected, because she actually cared for Nevia, but also to reach another tree.

"Green Shaping," she hissed, and from the trunk of a nearby tree came perfect, fully formed arrows. Her quiver filled with them and the tree groaned, as if in pain. "My thanks," she muttered, before plucking out a projectile and letting it loose.

The arrows were made entirely from wood, but something about the process strengthened them. They could punch through iron armor, given the right Skills, and Kikri excelled at ranged offense.

The arrow—and the four others she loosed besides—all ignited with a swirling blue and yellow vapor. Suddenly they burst forward, now glowing with an intense heat, and impacted two of the nearest Aurochs hard enough to shatter small holes in their shells.

"Two more for me," she crowed, before following up with another six arrows. How she fired them so fast, Vyne was unsure. He believed she was layering multiple Skills, but even that was relatively difficult with each Skill added to simultaneous activation. It was murder on her Mana as well, and Vyne did not doubt she was hurting for Stamina either. Yet she didn't stop or rest, same as the rest.

Davum swung his greataxe into the fray, letting his poisonous blade spin in a whirlwind of toxins that he swept off into the horde. Each breath the Aurochs' took weakened them, and the Orc chased after them with murder on his mind. He was one of the few that could deal considerable damage to this foe, as a result of his specialization toward Strength alone.

Kylar, meanwhile, focused on quick, precise attacks with just enough power to create a wound. His dual sword style was a popular one back in Setoria, but less so in Haarwatch. That was because in Haarwatch they had to deal with this sort of thing, coming out of the Foglands.

"Die, damn you!" he shouted, swords clanging off their rocky hide. "Die!"

"Kylar! Focus on their eyes and mouths!" Vyne said, shouldering his shield and rushing to his teammate's aid.

"I know my business, Vyne! Mind your own!" Kylar screamed as he hurled himself at yet another Aurochs, none of them staying still long enough. His blades sent out sparks with each rapid-fire attack—three or four hits in the time it'd take Vyne to strike once—but the amount of blows mattered little when they could not penetrate. "Why won't they die?"

The shield warrior merely rolled his eyes and took a single, solid step forward. Vyne's tower shield, as tall as he was, smashed into the Aurochs and sent it stumbling a single step to the side. It was enough to slow it down, so that Kylar's swords found purchase in the beast's neck. The Aurochs let out a pained bellow before throwing its head back, and smashing the warrior off itself.

"Ahh!"

Kylar landed in a heap just beyond Vyne, and the armored beast turned on them both, snorting in clear anger.

"Blind gods," Vyne swore, before he planted his shield into the earth and began stacking his Skills, one by one.

High Bulwark!

Carapace of Steel!

Stone Thews!

Mana and Stamina drained from Vyne's Body and Spirit, while the metal and earth Mana burned through his channels. Vapor swirled and settled into and around his Body, transforming his skin to pebbled stone and his blue armor to a dull grey metal.

"Kylar! Behind me!"

The Aurochs charged.

Once it was clear the danger had truly passed, Vess instead used the rampaging creatures as an opportunity to test herself.

Dragoon's Footwork!

She flitted between the enormous beasts, feet and spear constantly moving as she carefully thrust and sliced into the Aurochs' necks and eyes. One after the other fell before her, it's body soon trampled by the press of its fellows and increasing the difficulty all the more. Yet Vess persisted.

The Haarguards were sending out their own attacks, but they were easily sidestepped. Each step was a lie, a false perception that twisted around the horns of an Aurochs or the bursting heat of an enchanted arrow. Friendly fire was always a concern on the battlefield, and Dragoons had to be able to entry the fray regardless. Vess pushed herself, blurring faster and faster, each foot breaking earth and stone and trunk as she launched herself through a brutally graceful kata.

She thought on her father, on his disappointment. She believed that he had ordered her return; he had not wanted her to train so far from home in the first place. His Chosen Hand was but an extension of that feeling—brute though he was—and Vess could admit to herself that she also longed for the sun-kissed streets of Pax'Vrell. To go home...it was a siren call she could not give into. She had a duty here, a responsibility. Friends.

Her father had long stressed family as the utmost importance. To honor the family was the highest calling, and doing her duty as his heir was so much of her life for so long. Her mother often repeated something else.

Ain't no family like the one you forge, Vessi.

Soon, Evie joined her in her own dance. Where Vess' techniques made her difficult to predict and utilized her Strength and Dexterity to confuse her opponents, Evie simply relied on speed itself. Her Agility was high, pushed well beyond five hundred points Vess knew, and her Dexterity was similarly elevated. Her friend swayed between the beasts, a frown on her face, as her chain twirled around her arm, shoulder, her neck; all the while it sliced and punched into armored hide with a weighty finality.

That frown, Vess knew, was not from concentration. They were both feeling that blade of Intent, one that lingered on the beasts like a foul stench. It fouled Vess' concentration, again and again, crashing over their Affinity. But it was just another distraction, another foe on the field.

She would master it, as well.

Dragoon Footwork is level 66!

Grace is level 58!

"The avum!"

Vess spun toward the voice, nimbly stepping aside from lowing beast to see the mounts running free. She felt their limited Spirits, brief flashes of wild fear, before the birds were trampled by the onrushing tide of Aurochs. The guard who cried out, Nevia, was on the ground after trying to restrain at least one of them. Vess leaped to her, helping the Dwarf up.

"Are you well?" she asked.

Nevia sucked in a sharp breath and cradled her arm a bit. "I'll be fine, but—Vyne!"

Vess followed the Dwarf's gaze, landing squarely on the two guards that looked most alike. Swordfigher and Shieldbearer, and a maddened Auroch's charging at them.

Pierce the Skies!

Vess fairly flew into the air, her powerful legs and Born Train sending her speeding into the branches of the high trees. She twisted, shaping her body and spear so that not a single leaf touched her, before coming back down in a guided arc.

Dragon's Descent!

Vess landed spear first on the charging beast, stabbing through it's toughened head and forcing it into the dirt. From that height, her spear—the Partisan of the Blue Eyed Dragon—cut through the Auroch's earth-spelled shell without missing a hitch. For good measure, she wrenched back and twisted it, turning the monstrous creature's body perpendicular to the cowering guard.

Well, perhaps cowering isn't giving them credit, she thought.

The shieldbearer, Vyne, had seemingly utilized every defensive power he had available and stood his ground. His shield was planted properly, even angled in the right way so as to deflect the charge rather than meet it head on. The swordfighter, Kylar, was much less impressive.

"You idiot! That would have killed us! And you just stood there?" Kylar scrambled to his feet, and gathered one of his two swords. Somehow it had been tossed aside. "You're worthless, cousin!"

"Enough," Vess said and yanked her partisan free. A gout of pale yellow blood followed it and the swordfighter blanched. "Return to the center. You are both too weak to be fighting these directly."

Vyne sighed in obvious relief. "As I suspected. Thank you for saving us, your Grace." He bowed his head.

Vess inclined her own, just a touch. "You are quite welcome. Now—"

"Kylar!"

Kikri leaped from above, having taken refuge in the trees at some point, and laded with cat-like grace. She straightened and looked at the swordsman and, belatedly, the shieldbearer. "You're alright?"

"I'm fine," Kylar snapped, his face regaining some color. In embarrassment, Vess felt. "The—the Lady Dayne saved us."

Above them, Pit swooped down, sending a spray of icy spears down into the Aurochs and driving them further from their group. Vess raised a hand in appreciation and Pit shrieked in joy.

Without warning, the bloody Intent that hovered around the Aurochs shattered. Another sound supplanted it, plowing through its core before scattering it to the winds.

Felix's song.

It was...alluring and dangerous, a solemnity hiding teeth. Vess shivered and looked over to find the man atop a stone pedestal he'd created, overlooking the still-stampeding monsters. His face was tight with concentration, but it slackened as the oppressive, bloody sensation passed.

"Wow," Kikri said with wide eyes and a slightly slack jaw. "He's beautiful." Vess looked down her nose at the Elf, which made Kikri blush. "No disrespect intended, your Grace."

"...Indeed. Focus on helping your friends," Vess ordered, sending the Elf back toward her team. "And find those avum."

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