“Many do not truly understand the process of a Warden transferring Corruption. Corruption is not carried in the seed, if this were so female Wardens could not exist. It is not necessary to release inside a woman to transfer Corruption, those who spill their seed outside the body while in physical contact still transfer Corruption. There are romantics who believe trust is necessary, again this is not true. We do not like to speak of it because of how dark it is but in instances of rape where neither party “trusts” the other, corruption is still transferred. The only thing necessary for the transfer of corruption is a woman, willing or not, and for the Warden’s body and mind to be in a relaxed enough state. Even orgasm is not required though most Wardens cannot relax enough without it. We are not fell men; our bodies naturally want to expel Corruption and will readily do so if circumstances allow.”
-Batrus Makail, a correspondence letter found in the collection of the High Templar at his death 300 AB
Cain- Friday, October 4th, 564 AB
Aranea and I headed back out to the wall the next morning. Despite the pressure Mistwall was under those in command made sure to give us a solid night of sleep. That didn’t mean we weren’t tired, but we didn’t have bags under our eyes at least. I looked at the sweat and blood-stained Wardens getting off the wall as we headed up to replace them. The militia were firing their ether muskets in waves the steady crack and thunder the constant backdrop of the town’s defense.
The only people who hadn’t been able to rest were the Exarchs and they likely wouldn’t be able to until we’d broken the horde’s strength.
“New orders,” Enoch told me. “Sir Valren isn’t having us go in four hour shifts anymore.”
“We’re not?” I asked, surprised.
“We’re starting to clear the corruption from the field,” Enoch said. “They want us to fight, fill our cores with corruption, pass on our Relics to our Weavers, cleanse then do it again.”
I sighed. “At least that means we’re nearing the end.”
“Still a few days of cleanup,” Enoch said.
The bell rang and we went to the wall. It took a moment to get into position with the higher tier Wardens surging forwards to push the djinn back to give us time to get into position. The Exarchs dispersed to handle the larger threats again and we moved forwards hacking down the soldiers as they clambered over the wall.
I helped to cut down the soldiers and also made sure to get the occasional hit if I could safely make it on the high tier djinn. Depending on if the Voice judged my contribution enough, I would get the same amount of XP when the djinn died. This was the second reason for why Ether storms always power leveled the Wardens and Weavers who survived them. Everyone always got the same XP from the kill regardless of how many participated in killing it as long as they did enough damage to it; there was no division or diminishing returns. That meant low level and tier Wardens such as myself could assist much higher level Wardens and shoot up in level.
33 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
I cut down a Moon Soldier, they were more common now after having several nights to spawn. Ducking under the swing of an Earth Soldier’s club. I rolled under it and rammed Achlys through the back of its left knee; without its support it went down using its Shield and club like crutches to hold itself up. Off balance the djinn was unable to block Enoch’s spear as it rammed through its mask shattering it.
37 XP gained
My shield arm went up blocking the sword of a Sun Soldier and another Warden took it out with a battleaxe. I took a step back for a moment to catch my breath and drew my bow releasing an arrow at a Water Demon making its way towards the wall. A Storm Exarch landed on the battlefield next to the Demon in a burst of fire, a superheated sword sliced through the ice plates that formed the Demon’s armor, steam rose in a cloud obscuring anything else. I knew the Demon was dead moments later when I got XP as it died. The Warden leapt into the air as djinn closed in all around where he had been, but he landed easily back on the wall the flames along his armor receding.
200 XP gained
That flame Exarch was one of five who guarded about a quarter mile of the wall with Rineer being another one of them. I emptied my quiver charging each of my arrows with ether releasing a blast of fire as they exploded on impact against the Jtunn, Demons and the few Dragons in our area.
301 XP gained
An Earth Dragon crashed into the ground crushing dozens of other djinn under it, sadly no one would credit for those kills from the Voice. I’d gotten a shot in on the Dragon before it died and got an equal amount of XP as everyone else who had contributed to taking it down equal to the Corruption in its core plus its level. Luckily none of these djinn had really had the chance to level up other than a few arrent attacks that took out some of their own kind.
A shiver ran down my spine as I briefly imagined one of the wyrms of legend emerging out of the earth. Stories were always told of miners coming across subterrain caverns where some djinn had spawned and slowly level up over decades or centuries into an unstoppable abomination.
I snapped back to attention as a wave of Soldier djinn clambered up onto the wall. Depositing my bow in barrel of arrows I drew Achlys and joined the other Wardens on the wall.
“Lunar Smite,” I said extending the reach of my weapon with its etheric projection of silver light.
I only got the killing blow against a handful of soldiers but manage to at least strike a dozen earning me three-hundred XP. A Paladin swept through clearing the wall below to give us Pages and Squires room to breathe. A Mist Jotonn smashed through the djinn in its way charging the wall dodging out of the largest projectiles sent its way. I stepped back sheathing Achlys on my wrist again and drew my bow charging an arrow and centering it on the Jotunn’s torso. The arrow exploded against it along with a dozen other’s just as it reached the base of the wall.
78 XP gained
While all our attacks had been focused on the Jotunn a Wind Dragon swooped low and latched onto the side of the tower where Aranea and the other were in. Its side was torn into as attacks from inside of the tower ripped into it but it lower its jaws to one of the slits and expelled its breath attack.
“Aranea!” I screamed and charged it. “Hurricane Step!”
I landed on the dragon’s back only realizing how foolish my actions were as my feet touched the scale plates that made up its back. It was to late to think and I drove Achlys down towards its neck.
“Mist Blade!” I said and my dagger passed through the armored plates of the djinn’s shell. “Lunar Smite!”
I was only Page tier five full tiers lower than a Dragon but I did have level on the creature and a relic inside a djinn no matter the tier was always agony to them. The Dragon’s head reared back as it roared in pain. Arrows and explosions of rifle shot peppered its flank. I could see the Dragon’s health bar above it as I focused and watched it plummet before hitting zero.
The dragon fell down the wall as its talons came loose as it grip was loosed in death. I rolled off its back barely grabbing the lip of the wall and pulling myself over a shard of stone tore across my back created and launched by an Earth Soldier. My shield came up blocking two more spearheads of stone I looked up at the wall.
“Hurricane Step.”
I appeared in the air above the battlements and my arms pinwheeled for a moment before I hit the stone and rolled back to my feet.
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“Stay at your post Cain!” Rineer snapped at me.
“Aranea is she…” I gasped out catching my breath and afraid to even finish the question.
“She’s fine,” Rineer said but his face fell. “There were others who weren’t so lucky; stand firm their Wardens aren’t fit to fight right now.”
I noticed that we were several Wardens short right now, Rineer implied they weren’t dead. A shiver ran down my spine imagining being like them, standing above Aranea’s lifeless body. There was no time to indulge in fear, I pushed the nightmare aside and stood alongside Enoch on the wall.
More djinn hurled themselves against the reinforced stone of the walls and those that flew collided with the barrier above the town forced to fly down and fight it out on the battlements. The spear of a Mist soldier glanced off my shield and I shoved it up opening up the djinn to a retaliatory strike from Enoch’s spear. The djinn’s ribcage was destroyed by his spear and we fought on, any djinn that managed to get past the reach of Enoch’s spear were met by my dagger and Hero’s teeth.
My arms ached after just another fifteen minutes of fighting but we pressed on as I switched freely from melee to ranged combat as needed. I barely paid attention to the Voice as I was rewarded for the kills and soon, I hit my next level up. I’d maxed my core out with corruption from my kills I headed over the tower and found Aranea.
She let out a surprised “oomf” as I dragged her into a big hug. I let her go feeling relieved to just see her again. The hug was brief, and I handed Achlys over to Aranea and she quickly gleaned the djinn on the wall filling her core, I sat down for a break while Aranea purified herself spinning the corruption in her core. Next, we retired to our tent briefly making love but there was no real time to enjoy or take comfort in the other as the bell tolled and we were once more called up the to the wall. Before taking my place, I quickly spent the available stat points I’d gained from my level ups putting fifty of my seventy-five available points into Endurance and the remaining twenty-five points into Might. My Hit Points shot up massively with the increase to my Endurance and the Might would increase my physical damage with my Relic and general prowess in battle.
Enoch came up beside me and we switched with the other Pages on the wall as they took their turn to cycle out and purify themselves of Corruption. Once again Enoch and I were side by side with Hero guarding our lower legs as we repelled the Soldier djinn clambering up the wall and the mounds of djinn corpses. The thunder of muskets continued to fire blasting apart the majority of the front line of djinn leaving the few that managed to whether and survive the blistering fire storm to our blades.
Minutes passed and my limbs grew leaden as I swung Achlys down and thrust over and over again my corruption ticking up and XP flowing in. I received another Level Up but had no time to distribute the points and just kept on fighting.
Level Up! You have reached level 22! 15 Stat points are available to spend, Ether core increased by 5.
While I still got tired I actually was doing the best of my peers, the reason for this which I couldn’t tell them was my Trait, I got faster, stronger and my endurance actually rose even as my muscles tired. The battle was starting to feel faster, we weren’t killing djinn at a higher rate than before but we were taking the time to absorb our kills. My core reached near saturation again and I once more passed my relic to Aranea and she gleaned some djinn before we went down to our tent again.
---
Aranea
I collapsed against Cain pulling my skirts down. The physical exertion of battle and then sex was starting to take its toll. I began to prioritize in my mind the need to learn draw corruption out by touch like my Mother Superior had done. I was vaguely aware of the techniques but had never been able to practice them since I hadn’t been a Weaver when I learned them. Cain’s hand trailed down my back and ran through my hair.
“Are you doing ok?” he asked me.
“Yeah,” I said softly shifting and pressing into him as his fingers ran over the skin of my neck.
“When I saw that Dragon attack the tower….I…” Cain struggled for words. “I can’t lose you.”
“I’m here,” I assured him burying my face into his neck.
The bell rang and I sighed the rest and moment between us broken. Cain got up and returned to the wall and I sat and began to expel the corruption purifying it into golden threads of pure ether. She returned to the tower wincing and averting her eyes as she walked past the sheets covering the bodies of the weavers who had died from the Dragon’s breath attack. Their Wardens wept over them, they wouldn’t be allowed to grieve for long the need for them was too great, but they weren’t ready to be put back on the front lines yet. There were also Weavers mourning the loss of their Warden but all in all the casualties had been low.
I began hurling Lunar Rays at the djinn joining the salvos. Again, and again she and Cain switched out as the defender began to take a serious effort to purge the amount of corruption in the area. She and Cain were surging in level as was to be expected during an Ether Storm, those that survived would be stronger but those unable to stand would be broken.
While I didn’t have access to all the reports, I calculated how much corruption we were clearing every hour. At level twenty-five now I could hold a maximum of four-hundred-and-seventeen corruption, it took three hundred corruption to form a Dragon and twenty-five corruption to form a Soldier. I didn’t go up to my limit when gleaning to avoid the risk of becoming corrupted when I purified Cain. I knew his core and gathered enough Corruption where I would be around four-hundred points in total giving me a bit of buffer window for safety so every half hour I was removing enough for corruption for one Dragon and four Soldiers or sixteen soldiers. I was just a Needle and Weavers of a higher level and tier than me could possibly do double that.
The number of djinn we were facing was going down, but it wasn’t something you could visibly see. We killed them and they reformed soon later but we were gradually clearing the corruption they could form from. The sun was beginning to set, I was glad we hadn’t been scheduled to work that night. It wasn’t that djinn grew stronger or anything in the darkness but the idea of having to fight them in the dark just made my skin crawl.
I was so tired that Cain had to carry me to our horse and up the stairs to our apartment. He drew up a bath for me and his strong hands ran a sponge across my back. I had a few nicks and cuts I hadn’t noticed but he healed them with a touch, and I relaxed into the steaming water.
“We’re going to be all right,” I said to myself as much as to Cain. “I did the math, and I think we’ve already reduced the corruption in the air by almost a quarter. If the night shift does the same, we’ll only have to get through tomorrow and then onto clean up.”
“I hope so,” Cain agreed, his eyes distant. “Have you ever wondered how the Fell deal with ether storms?”
His words shocked me somewhat. “No, why would you think of that?”
He shrugged. “I was just thinking of the bandits we killed coming here and the people they had captive. How do people survive in the Mist without walls and Wardens? How do they get rid of the corruption?”
I shivered not liking this subject. “They’re monsters,” I said. “They eat the djinn to get more powerful, then they start eating each other if they can’t find any more djinn.”
Cain seemed to sense my discomfort and dropped the subject. He toweled me off and tucked me in before taking his own bath. I was exhausted and only felt him get into bed and wrap me in his arms before I lost track of anything but darkness.
---
Aranea-Saturday, October 5th, 564 AB
Cain and I headed out for another day of battle. It was as I said and we were only facing about half the djinn as we had the previous day. There were more of the higher more deadly tiers, Jotunn, Demons and Dragons but combined skill attacks from us Weavers and the volley fire of the militia brought them down. Lady Constence’s lightning cannon’s were less effective against single target extremely durable targets but the moral of everyone was slowly starting to rise as victory came into sight. We pressed on but it became harder for the lower ranks like Cain to gather corruption, you couldn’t absorb just part of the corruption of a djinn’s corpse is was all or nothing and there were less and less soldiers to absorb. Still the XP we were gathering was pushing up what even a Page like Cain and Enoch could absorb both having past level thirty at around noon. Even though there were less targets to absorb for the first- and second-year Wardens the rate at which the corruption was being purified was actually going up. Weavers like Lady Constence were able to purify their Wardens through touch and allow them to cleanse the Exarch Wardens in only a few minutes and send them back into battle and purify a thousand or more points of corruption in one go. While there were more Dragon assaulting the town’s barrier, we’d gathered so many cores from the djinn and had so much purified Ether at our fingertips from the spools each Weaver was producing that it was in no danger of breaking.
“Not much longer now,” I told Hannah checking in on her, given her condition I was worried about her, but she seemed to be faring better than me.
“That’s good,” Hannah said.
She had been charging a set of Imp and Beast cores to help the militia keep powering their Ether muskets. The fortune of cores that had already been spent was staggering to me already I’d seen more cores in a day than I had in my whole life, but every town stockpiled charged cores for occasions just like this.
My voice was feeling horse again and I considered that maybe I should invest into more training like Cain to use my skills without voice activation. There was so much to do and learn and I felt a fire ignite in me to grow stronger to protect the ones I cared about. The sunset ended and the waves of djinn were gone, only a few high tier djinn remaining. Luckily even the djinn, even the Dragon, all spawned in at Level one. Whatever their Stats were our Exarchs far outmatched them, we’d run into higher level djinn in the days to come as we began cleaning up the djinn that had spawned all along the Ether Storms wake. That, however, would be a problem for the Wardens.
I looked at Cain, he stood on the wall next to Enoch and his dire-hound. I felt a surge of pride and fear for him, his armor was battered he stood there his bow in hand firing at the Jotunn, Demons and Dragons.
“Christ protect you,” I said hoping the Voice would hear my prayer.
The bell sounded and the first and second year Wardens and Weavers were dismissed. We would assemble for morning mass the next day to give thanks to God for our survival and pray a prayer for those who had fallen in battle. Cain and I were somber as we returned home, the sweat washed off and I washed Cain’s clothing and mine setting them out to dry in our washroom and setting out our best clothing to wear for Sunday service tomorrow.