Unbound

When the explosions settled, the edge of the Dust Quarter was ruined. Vess surveyed uneven mountains of rubble that filled the space of two city blocks.

Blind gods, Felix. What have you created? Those grenades of his had done such immense damage. And all it had taken was a mage with raw power and Mana Manipulation. Dangerous and difficult to set off, but Thangle had done it.

But Vess cut off her musings on the future and instead scanned the section of debris before her. Of the few monsters she could spy, all of them were dead. The trap had worked, desperate though it was—only a few of the strongest Reforged still moved, and none too quickly. Forty or so of them had lurched from the rubble, their ice armor broken and busted from the collapse of the world around them.

The others gave them no mercy. Whittled down, the Reforged were manageable. Rory, Yan, Kelgan, and others isolated one or two of them and brought their massive pools of Health down to nothing. Bodie—freed of his role as Thangle transport—had even waded into the fray, meeting the ice warriors' blows head on. The Reforged were strong, and the Berserk Blood Status Condition pushed them beyond the edge of their already impressive Endurance; yet they were not invincible, especially without the support of their massive, monstrous army.

Then the earth began to shake.

"Shield wall! Western front!" someone shouted. The Tin and Iron Ranks that had been recovering got to their feet and put up their shields once again. "Reinforce!"

A shimmering wall of multicolored vapor manifested as each combatant poured their meager supply of Mana out around their shields. Purple-white, orange, and smatterings of silver flowed and spun before their readied shields, each of them planted securely in the earth. A surprisingly difficult task, given that the ground shook beneath them all.

"What is it?" Vess yelled out to Rory. The Dwarf shook his head.

"Can't be certain! But it's big—"

Ahead, perhaps five hundred strides out, the industrial facade of a tannery exploded into a shattered cascade of stone and wood. From within, an Arcid of colossal proportions charged, each step simply eating the distance. Pieces of its metal flesh were melted and broken, but it showed no hesitation as it plowed through the few remaining structures in a straight line.

"Atar! Now'd be a good time to drop those sigils again!" Alister said. He, along with some of their more long range combatants had hung back from the Reforged fight.

"Burn me. I'm on it!" Atar raced out, his hands already summoning spinning points of flame. Shapes scorched themselves into the earth as he passed, lines of an array they hadn't been able to use on the Skeleton Arcid. "Oveh!"

A Dwarven woman, her hair bundled up into a no-nonsense bun, didn't reply but flung her arms out. A wave of dusty brown vapor sped along the ground, sinking into and shaping the glyphs along the edges of Atar's scorch-marks. Hector ran behind her, a pile of glimmering monster cores in his satchel. He met Vess' eye and shouted.

"Go! We need time!"

Vess nodded. "Karp! Portia! On me! Those of you not holding the shield wall, fire everything you have!"

Pierce the Skies!

The heiress shot into the sky, an arrow at the moons. Her Born Trait activated, sending her further and faster than any normal Human should go, and with the dregs of her Mana Vess summoned her last seven spears. The monster—the Apollyon, her Analyze said—did not stop, not even when a barrage of elemental Mana bolts hit it dead on. Green-gold life Mana and golden light arrows hit harder, but were no more effective. The creature was twice the size of any building in sight, and had the Vitality to match.

Dragon's Descent!

"Seven Tribulations!" Vess dropped from the sky, her silver spears preceding her. They detonated with all the force of a Journeyman combatant, and hunks of metal tore from the Apollyon's mangled frame. Clouds of dust billowed outward, but Vess dove right in, spear first.

*KLANG!*

Vess twisted her body, pushing her Agility hard as her Perception twinged upon impact. Her spear found no purchase. She leaped and kicked off a jagged surface, but wasn't fast enough. A massive hand swung into the thick dust cloud, catching her side and throwing her to the ground.

*KRAKK!*

"AUFH!" she groaned from the bottom of her ten foot wide crater. Vess rolled from her back, gasping for breath. Her Health had dropped to less than fifteen percent from that one hit. "Bl-blood and ash-ashes."

Yet the creature didn't bother to finish her off. It's foot steps slammed onward, toward their impromptu army. A rain of Frost Spears shattered against its armor as Pit strafed across the sky. The force of his magic dented a few of the Apollyon's plates, but left it's Health untouched.

Pierce the Skies!

Vess went airborne again, rising until she was level with the Apollyon once more. She and only a single spear left and precious little Mana. She kicked off a building as she went, reorienting herself and sending her ascension in pursuit of the colossal Arcid.

"Do not ignore me!" she hurled at its back along with her spear. The creature paused to look at her, just long enough to take the silver weapon to it's helmeted face. The detonation of air Mana made it flinch backward, and Vess grinned.

Without warning, the creature pivoted and put its entire shoulder into a retaliatory blow.

Dragon's Descent!

Vess attempted to reorient, dropping at an angle, but the Apollyon was too fast. Its descending fist came at her without mercy or hope to dodge it. However, the blow she feared came instead from the side: a hand shoved her away, while a second brought a massive blade to bear.

She tumbled to the earth once again, skidding into a wild roll before pivoting to her feet. Above her a ringing roar filled the air, accompanied by the groaning sound of metal stressed beyond its breaking point. The Apollyon's fist had impacted the wide blade of someone else.

"Darius!"

She couldn't even make out the Hand's expression before the force of the monster's blow sent him smashing into and through a nearby building. He hit so hard the entire structure collapsed after him.

"No!"

The chimera's lithe form followed after her father's Hand, diving into the wreckage. She ached to follow, but a surge of fiery Mana stole her attention.

"Vess! Get out of there!" Alister cried. "It's ready!"

"Set it off!" she gasped in a rage, and the road blazed with light. Orange fire Mana surged beneath her feet, connective sigaldry thrumming between her boots. The street below them ignited in a vast array of interconnecting symbols. "Burn it down!"

Spears of orange flame stabbed though the Apollyon's arms and legs and chest, each coming from a different direction. The colossus strained, caught overextended and off balance, but was held fast. Vess would have cheered, had she not seen it's metal flesh begin...absorbing the heat.

"Back! Everyone back!" she tried to warn, but the Apollyon shattered the restraining array moments later. It lurched, pitching wildly toward a shield wall that would not survive a single stride of its boot. She had nothing left, no Mana and vanishingly small amounts of Stamina and Health. She—

The sky exploded.

Yellow heat Mana flooded the entirety of the sky, tendrils of vapor that burned away the clouds. Rain evaporated, the heat so intense Vess could feel it from the ground. Everything stopped as their attention turned upward, monster and mortal alike. The sky was dominated once more by a sea of stars and the carmine, lidless eye of the Bloodmoon. Then came a gale that drove all of them to their knees or worse as debris blasted in all directions. Vess braced herself against the gale, but others were not so fortunate and some of the smaller Races were flung into the air.

The Apollyon paused, but only for a moment. It's faltering steps pushed onward, only a hairsbreadth away from the shield wall itself. Quite without warning, a lightning bolt blasted down from the heavens, chased by the crashing sound of thunder.

No.

Not lightning. Felix—moving so fast she only saw the blue-white power of his dive. He hit the Apollyon square in the chest, and its entire frame crumpled.

The Apollyon fell, and the small, Human shape of her friend rode its body down.

It hit the earth with its own thunder and everything jumped beneath them. Atop of it stood Felix, surmounted by flickers of blue-white, gold, and dark crimson energies.

"Felix!" someone said.

"The Fiend!"

Manifestation of the Coronach is level 46!

Now Active - Status Condition: Rallying Cry!

"CAL! You got it?" Felix shouted, looking back along the street. A figure, far down the block atop the gold-red bulwark, raised its hands. Crackling energies wreathed her, enough for him to recognize her and two other figures beside her. Cal bellowed into the night.

"None of you are allowed here!"

The streets around them lit up, what remained of the street lanterns flickering to a bright yellow radiance. The monsters that survived trembled, suddenly stricken by a weakness none of the mortals felt. The Apollyon, struggling to stand, fell prone once more.

Felix could hear that strange, terrible music, near twin to the concerto that hummed in his core space. It wreathed the monsters all around him, and was especially potent on the beast beneath him. Felix leaned forward and forced his fist into the Apollyon's chest. Metal groaned as his Essence-fueled claws bypassed its armor.

"I know you're in there, Archon," Felix hissed, twisting his talons. He felt the edges of a large, lumpy core and gripped it. A tingling sensation surged up his arm, like pins and needles but involving more fire.

"NYM!"

The shout was immense, greater than ever, and a wave of yellow-red vapor swirled out of the Apollyon's injuries. Felix took a single, careful step back, releasing the core. But he didn't flee.

He was done with that.

"You live...no, you thrive," the Archon observed. Felix felt his skin crawl at the thought of the golden giant's eye-fires on him. "Feeding on these insects' emotions and hope...Typical. It will not save you."

"I'm pretty sure," Felix worked some spit into his mouth. "I'm pretty sure this makes me three for three, Archie."

A well of hate and fury rose from the Apollyon's twitching, fragmented body. It resonated in the yellow-red Mana cloud, a quivering. Then it suddenly smoothed out, unnaturally so; like a pond going glassy still.

"Why do you bother with them, Nym? Mortals cannot halt me, not forever. I am ageless and unrelenting," the Archon said with a reasoning tone. "Ah, but there are no Nym to aid you any longer, are there?" It's voice turned smug and satisfied. "You are alone."

"No," someone said from the side, and Felix saw Vess step from the rubble. "He is not alone."

"Aye, ye face all of us, ye smoky bastard," Rory added.

Voices large and small joined in, all of them shouting. Felix felt the threads between him and those around him swell into thick, braided cords of connection and could not help but feel his skin prickle.

"How sweet," the Archon crooned, before violence flooded his Spirit. "But ultimately meaningless. Today is not the end, Felix Nevarre, last Nymean of a dead empire. It is but an opening salvo in a game far too advanced for you to even underst—"

"Game on, then," Felix interrupted. "Cal!"

That discordant harmony swelled around them, pressing inward on the Mana vapor. The voice of the Archon crackled and stretched, straining.

"Haarwatch rejects you, Archie," Felix said. "Bye."

With a screech, the cloudy projection of the Archon was crushed from existence.

A ragged cheer sounded from his people, and Felix gave them a shaky smile. He was beat, but he didn't let them see it.

"Felix!" Vess shouted to him, but he held up a hand, begging for a moment. He knelt. Beneath him, the Apollyon sagged in abrupt exhaustion. Felix's Voracious Eye confirmed it's Mana was utterly spent, and it's Stamina was draining fast as it fought against whatever Cal was doing. Its connection to the Archon was clearly cut, and Felix knelt down again to grab at its core. He was hungry.

Ravenous Ti—

Felix felt something tremble in the core. It was faint, more like an echo than anything else, but he...What is that?

It felt cold and alone. Lost.

Lost.

Felix groaned, feeling the tug of his Affinity and a swell of Intent. But he surrendered to it, as he had previously. The Skill was a mystery to him, but it felt important.

Unite the Lost.

Essence and Mana poured from him, the majority of what he'd taken that night, and into the Apollyon's giant frame. Metal shrieked and fell away, corroding in strips and crumbling apart. Ichor swirled and boiled, evaporating so fast Felix almost doubted it had existed. From within, something else began to take shape, until the metal shell beneath him collapsed completely.

Unfettered Volition!

Felix kept his feet, riding down the rotting panels of metal as a figure was born from the corpse of the old. It was much smaller, but still at least twenty feet tall. A Risi, a Frost Giant, stumbled out from below, naked and terrified.

A gasp of alarm swept through those watching, but Felix held up his hand to stay their attacks. The Risi's Spirit quaked with terror and bewilderment; it turned and ran. Back along the path of ruin it had made. Back, he assumed, to the Foglands.

Zara dropped to the ground, limping and bloody. "What have you done?" she asked, her voice colored in equal measure by concern and trepidation.

Felix regarded her calmly. "Where've you been?"

She ignored his comment as he had her own. "You're letting it go? What if it rejoins the Archon?"

Felix regarded the vanishing creature, feeling its Spirit. There was neither anger nor retribution in its troubled Aspect. "I don't think it will. And I'm...I'm tired of killing things." Notifications flashed in the corner of his vision, not yet addressed. "And I have a feeling tonight is far from over."

"No," she agreed. "We have a lot yet to do, Unbound."

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