Unbound

The Revenants were thick in the streets, nearly choking them with their furious onslaught. Guilders fought, side by side, doing butchers work as they progressed slowly up the thoroughfare. Blood flew and the sizzle of arcane powers filled the air with the tangy scent of burnt flesh.

It was disgusting.

Turned Blade!

Purple Mana vapor poured from Lilian Knecht's outstretched fingers and into the two Guilders ahead of her. Their flagging defenses rallied beneath her spell, and the talons of the Revenants were turned aside. With a roar, they charged forward, clearing further space. Lilian, meanwhile, barely suppressed her gag reflex as her Mana dropped to ten percent.

"Lilian! Are you alright?" Dabney asked, his hands quick to take her weight off her feet. She jerked her arm out of his grip.

"Do not touch me, oaf," she snapped. He tried to use those big puppy dog eyes of his again, but it wouldn't work. Not again. "Focus on maintaining the barrier."

"I am," Dabney said, a shade of outrage creeping into his tone. How dare he grow angry at me!

Lilian huffed her breath and turned away, activating Meditation to help her push her Mana back to full. She had only gotten the hang of using it in combat, but it was far from truly effective yet.

Meditation is level 15!

Hmph. It was about time for it to level. She'd have it to Apprentice Tier in no time. Six weeks to learn a new Skill and gain fifteen levels in it? She would have been considered a prodigy among her family.

Family. She felt her stomach drop. She still hadn't found them, neither her mother or father. The Eyrie had fallen and—she turned away from those thoughts. Refused to acknowledge such impossible facts.

Lilian looked about, counting the Guilders around her. They'd only lost a handful on the journey through the Wall Quarter, reducing their number to just under thirty. Their success was heavily predicated upon the Silver Rank in their midst, along with the front line Bronze Ranks. She and Dabney were among the handful of Iron Ranks present, while the bulk of their expeditionary force were Tin. Elder Teine had them sent out that morning, but it had been an hours long slog through ever-thickening monstrosities to even reach the edge of city center. She glanced behind, where the slowly decomposing forms of the Revenants littered their path, arcing down the hill and back toward the red-gold glitter of the Wall.

Will this be enough, Teine? Will you release us from your Oaths? The others in the group may have come willingly, but Lilian had only wished to hide upon the Wall. After her experiences in the Domain she hadn't wanted to face the Revenants again. Yet when Teine had come to her, he had pressed upon her Oath in such a way that disobeying him was a distant, foreign thought. It burned to even consider it, and that terrified her almost as much as what became of her former teammates in the Domain.

Burn you and all the Elders. I'll get your Authority if it means cutting my ties. No longer did she care what her family thought or how rank in the Guild would elevate her; now it was survival, pure and simple.

"Iron Rank! Press ahead with your wall! Chevron formation!" The Silver Rank, Onai shouted at Dabney. The boy saluted—like an idiot—and put his core to work. Dusty-brown Mana coalesced in his grip and the dun colored stone wall shifted into an angular 'V' shape before pushing ahead. Onai along with several other Bronze Rank fighters put their arms against it and pushed, lurching them all into a steady run as the Revenants lashed and gnashed their rotten teeth at them all. It forcefully reminded Lilian of the Domain.

You're free. You're not there any longer. Lilian's hands trembled as she noticed her Mana tick high enough to cast again. You're safe.

She disregarded the fact that the Tin Ranks were ragged, and that even the Bronze Ranks were quaffing tonics and potions to keep themselves afloat. They would make it through, find the Nest, and return in glory to the Elder. And she would have her reward.

"Commander Onai!"

An agile blur flitted into their moving bulwark, resolving into a nimble Bronze scout that easily shifted to keep pace. Onai turned her thick face and jutted her heavy jaw at the scout. "Report."

"Ettivan Square in one mile! And it's empty."

"These are the last abominations?" Someone murmured, and the scout's words were met with exhausted jubilation.

"Enough! Kill these few and we'll move ahead. Take it slow and steady!" Onai shouted at them all, and her smile was an ugly, eager thing. "Then we take that Nest."

The three of them made their way across the square. It was desolate in a way that made Felix's skin crawl. His sharp eyes and nose spotted blood smears and the gristle of gnawed on bone, but the perpetrators were absent. The stink of fury and broiling hate, that aura he'd come to associate with the Ravager and its spawn was thick as anywhere else. And growing thicker.

The arcade was elevated, stepped into the city side as everything else. City center had proven to be a network of stairs and landings, albeit ones large enough to hold several city blocks. The higher they moved, the closer to the ruins of the Guild tower they came. In the gaps between mansions, Felix could see out over the city and some of the Dust and Wall Quarters where it wasn't blocked by buildings or statuary. The Dust looked as it always did, stone blue and clay red roofs bright in the afternoon sunlight, almost as if all was right in the world.

The Wall Quarter, what little could be seen from the square, was devastated by the fall of the Eyrie. The Wall itself was a reddish-gold strip in the distance, atop with faint flashes could be seen. Discharges of Mana. They were fighting again, or had never stopped. Reports kept saying the Wall was being attacked at all hours of the day and night.

A wide fountain, carved with frolicking children along the base, dominated the space. Centered upon that, still gushing a flow of water, was the statue of an armored warrior of impossible dimensions; he held a winged monstrosity aloft, spitted on a spear that rained down a spray of water below. Ettivan, he presumed.

Within him, Pit growled.

Yeah, that's definitely a chimera. Didn't look like a tenku, but it was perhaps a...fanciful version of a harnoq, one of those cat-snake monsters he kept hearing about. Wonder if the artwork will be better now that the illusory fog is gone. Maybe I could use Stone Shaping to make a statue of you.

Pit cooed at that, mollified.

Bodie moved a behind Felix, his massive mace unsheathed and ready for violence. "Step careful. I feel eyes upon my Body...something watches us."

The Hand snorted, his own greatsword slung carelessly along his back and his walking was light and easy. "Superstitious nonsense. I've a Skill for such things, and it's detecting nothing but trace elements of monsters we've already dispatched. Come. We've a station to secure."

"I've a Skill too, Hand," Bodie began, but the jerk was already on his way. His Adept Tempered Body was far faster than theirs, especially Bodie who had to struggle to keep his hulking mass moving at speed. "Felix, do you feel anything?"

Felix nodded. "Revenant spawn were here. Maybe still are, but it doesn't track. They usually charge us if given the chance."

"Charge you," Bodie corrected. "They sure don't like you, huh?"

"The feeling is mutual," Felix grimaced.

Despite their unease, nothing happened as they reached and passed the fountain. Beyond it, perhaps another forty yards away, was the pump station. Nestled among the huge mansion-like buildings around it, a Continent version of mega-businesses Felix assumed, the station looked relatively small. Still, it was four stories tall and nearly three hundred feet wide. The steps approaching it were steep, reaching up to the second floor, and the edifice of the station was carved into intricate designs of mighty warriors fighting against pitiful monsters. Monsters that looked like more bad renditions of chimeras.

Pit growled again, but it was more saddened.

"Hm, monsters did a number on the doors. This could be trouble," the Hand muttered. In the silence it was easy to hear him, at least for Felix. The doors at the top of the steps were huge and hung askew. From the look of the damage, it was far more likely it was something breaking out rather than in. He put a foot on the first step and looked back at Felix and Bodie making their way across the cobbles. "What are you waiting for? We've a station to clear."

The Hand started walking up the steps, and Felix immediately felt a shift in the air. The roil of crimson fury tweaked, ever so slightly, like someone stepping on creaky floorboards. He felt a thrill of fear spark down his limbs.

"Reed! Stop!"

"Hey! You bastards!" A high voice shattered the peace seconds after Felix. "Where do you think you're going?!"

A group of Bronze Rank Guilders hustled down a side street, weapons drawn and Mana Skills flickering at their fingertips. Their leader was a brutish looking lady with a lantern jaw and biceps bigger than Felix's head. Felix Eyed her quickly and felt his gut drop: Onai Storr, Silver Rank, nearly at Adept Tier according to his Eye. He looked up at the Hand and the looming pump station and forced a weak smile.

"Uh, we're having water issues. Gonna check the main line," Felix said lamely. "You too?"

"Don't believe him," said a voice. A familiar one. Felix craned his neck, but couldn't see anyone until the lead Guilders parted. Behind them was a slight woman with pale blonde hair and a twist to her lips. Lilian Knecht, Alister's cousin. "He's full of lies."

"Oh," Felix forced a smile. "Hi Lilian. Glad to see you survived." Felix used his peripherals to eye the distance to the pump station. "How's things?"

"Things were just fine before you mucked it all up, Felix Nevarre," Lilian hissed. She waved at the city around them. "Until you did this. Where is my cousin?"

"He's...fine, and that's not fair, I didn't knock down the tower. This was Teine's doing, and the Inquisition only made it worse," Felix said and several of the Guilders shifted their weapons. The Guilders were looking at him with much more heat than before. "I tried to stop this."

"And you failed, for all your supposed 'power,'" another voice said from above. Felix looked up and spotted Dabney DeLane, earth mage and second hand man to the tiny girl before him. Felix Eyed the man, but both he and Lilian had only gained a handful of levels and were no closer to their next Tempering.

"Why are all of you talking and not fighting?" Onai growled.

"This, Commander Onai, is the vaunted Blue Eyed Fiend," Lilian announced, and laced through her voice was a purple Mana vapor. It was...amplifying something. He could see it sink into those around her, including the commander. Murmurs moved through the Guilders, and both Bodie and the Hand shifted their weight. Things were gonna go bad soon, he knew it.

"We do not wish to fight," the Hand said. "We wish only to end the threat these creatures pose. Do you truly not desire the same?"

"What we desire is none of your concern," the Silver Rank, Commander Onai, said again with deceptive calm. Felix could hear the woman's heartbeat and Spirit, and both were raging for violence. All of the Guilders were on the edge of it, ready for things to begin.

"Listen, why don't we take it out together? Help is appreciated. Just," Felix looked around. "Just be careful. Monsters are close and we don't know what will wake them."

"You think us afraid of these beasts?" The Silver Rank shouted, her rage clearly boiling over. "We've waded through the blood of hundreds to get here, and a few more won't stop me from claiming that Gold Chest."

Like a magic incantation, mention of the Quest reward sent Spirits spiralling higher and the scales tipping further toward conflict. But the noise did something else as well. Beneath his feet, Felix felt...movement. He looked at Bodie and the Hand, and they nodded. They felt it too.

God damn it.

"Fine," Felix said, throwing his hands up. "You win. We'll just walk away and you can have all the—all the glory, or whatever you want. It's right through there." He gestured at the pump station doors.

"What we want is the loot, kid," their Commander said to him, though she spared a quick, greedy glance at the unhinged doors. "Now I don't know if this Iron Rank is spittin' shit or not, but if you're the Fiend, I ain't trustin' you at my back. She's right about one thing: the Fiend got us into this mess. You're comin' with me."

The brute force of the Silver Rank's aura manifested and pressed down on Felix. It was like she was leveraging emotion and something else; a weight to her presence that he couldn't quantify. Felix had felt auras like it before, many far worse. Onai's lacked some tooth in comparison to the Ravager King.

"Truly? You are attempting this?" The Hand asked, but the pressure against their senses only redoubled as Onai sneered at them.

"Try and stop me, fancy boy."

Reed slashed his bare hand into the air, and it was as if a sharpened blade sliced at the aura. The Silver Rank's pressure vanished instantly, and she stumbled backward, her nose bloody. The Hand smiled, wide and bright, and Felix felt a quiver fear rattle through his own Spirit.

Holy shit. That was just his hand. Felix watched the Guilders as if in slow motion, his own Perception coupled with his Intelligence overclocking his system for a brief burst. Is that why he's called that? That's dumb—

An absolute wave of stone and ice and fire swept toward the three of them as nearly thirty Guilders unleashed their Skills all at once.

"Everlasting Bulwark!"

A wave of dust and fine powder broke free from the cobbles, launching upward to form a thickened sheet of sand. Ice and flame hit it, burning parts of it away, but it was replenished almost immediately. Felix blinked and Bodie laughed. "Don't make me wait all day, Felix! Go and kick some ass so I can drop this thing!"

Felix grinned.

Sovereign of Flesh!

His smile shattered as his human teeth were replaced by jagged fangs while his bones and skin crawled and snapped. Felix through himself up and over the Everlasting Bulwark, easily leaping the fifteen feet height and met three Guilders with the same idea.

Reign of Vellus!

Reign of Vellus!

Dual casted bolts of kinetic force and lightning slammed forward with all the subtlety of a thunderstorm on a cloudless day. The two Guilders, Bronze Ranks both, were catapulted backward and Felix landed amid a literal firestorm.

Onai the Silver Rank had recovered from her brief lapse, and had charged straight at Reed, her massive sword bearing down upon his own blade. Each swing sent shudders through the air and ground, and scattered the half-hearted Mana Skills that aimed for the pair, among them Sparkbolts.

Meanwhile, red flames bloomed outward all around Felix, and more were on their way. Charging across the square were the two hundred men and women he'd arrived with, each bearing a heavy metal shield and absolutely brimming with Skills that sparked and dazzled his Manasight. Felix laughed and swiped out with his talons, catching another Bronze Rank across his armor and hurling him to the side. Their faces twisted in horror at the sight of his dark scales and odd, cyan markings, even through his simple clothing.

"Up the steps! Now!" Lilian shouted, and the majority of the Guilders obeyed, scattering from Felix's claws. "Dabney!"

A rock the size and density of a cannonball blasted Felix in the chest, and drove him directly into the ground.

"HUAGH!"

The cobbles shattered beneath Felix and something cracked inside his chest. Blood flooded his mouth, but it only stained his teeth, his Transcendent Skill already busy replenishing his Health as the expense of his Essence store. Three more boulders fell from on high, but this time Felix dodged out of the way, and peered up at the source. Dabney had his hand outstretched and a Mana potion tipped up to his lips.

"Not so tough now, are you?!" Dabney moved his hands strangely and a glowing sigil appeared. Felix blinked. It meant 'slide.' "This is for the Domain!"

"I didn't do anything to you!"

An explosion of dusty brown Mana ripped from Dabney's channels before it was sucked up into the very building he stood atop. Simultaneously, the building itself began to tremble and great fissures burst apart its edifice.

"Avalanche!"

Great.

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