I’m peppered with enchanted wooden shrapnel, it digs into every last bit of exposed flesh, and works its way between joints and plates in my armor to strike every bit of non exposed flesh as well. It feels like my eyeballs are shredded. That, that’s going to take a long time to heal, if I can even manage it. Hellspit and Fel Fires Reggie. You got carried away you idiot. Now how are you going to deal with the rest of these suckers? Bzzt. Zap! Ow! Zzz. Ow! What the?

Every last volt of electricity left in this creature seems to be being drawn back towards me in waves. It’s like the worst case of static shock on a dry, cold winter’s day while wearing wool socks. I, I guess I can work with this. For now. I figured I’d lose the staff, but this isn’t something I factored into my plan as a possibility. I guess I just have to roll with the punches. Ow. Mother friggin’ hell.

Alright crossbow. You haven’t gotten much use on Rayileklia. You specialize in anti unholy damage, mostly undead. What about hellish hordes? I really hope you work the way I think you do. Slapping the double barreled holy halefire wrist crossbow onto my right arm, I leap out the back of the enormous beast’s exploded cranium, roaring my challenge to the Felgre hordes once again. I fire testingly behind me, towards the creatures that had been advancing past the enormous monstrosity while I was being eaten. Thankfully, the bolts definitely seem to hurt their targets.

In fact, the bolts seem to hurt and anger their targets so much, that they start their disturbing, painful alien hissing speech again, seemingly ordering everyone to converge on me once more. Fine by me. Claws approach my face and I barely lean rearwards out of the way in time as my danger wraps guide my reflexes, then the unthinkable happens. The mass of electricity swirling about within me shuts down my nervous system. I crumple to the ground as my muscles stop responding. No, no no no. I’m not going to spontaneously die. I’m still conscious. All it takes is a bit of focus. Redirect the internal electrokinesis. Come on Reggie, you can do this. Quickly! Claws incoming!

I suddenly cease to exist. At least, in any way that I’m used to being able to exist on my own. Instead, I finally achieve something Linti had always been capable of. I become a streak of lightning and I travel up the claws of the creature attacking me. As I reform at Mach speeds from its shoulder, my buckler slams through its skull with explosive force while I’m sent sailing high into the sky further behind enemy lines. It’s, it’s too hard to control. I streak about erratically, unable to control the careening forces tugging me about, shooting me from one target to the next. I’m going to be sick, and I can tell it’s burning away neurons and nerves. I have to find some way to let loose this power. I suddenly understand why Linti hit basically every obstacle and tree in her way when we traveled. Despite my attempts to stop or even slow down, I find myself being yanked ridiculously far up and down the battlefield, bouncing from Felgre to Felgre like a pinball.

If only I ha..d—. I could swear I felt a hand on my shoulder for a moment, but all sensation was messed up beyond belief. My senses are returning to normal however. Oh, that would be why. Thank you Tiktik, you amazing, beautiful sorceress. A dragon’s scale that’s almost twice my size begins orbiting me, drawing the excess electricity from my body. The scale appears to be made of titanium or platinum. It also appears as if it utilizes the excess electrical energy that it's absorbing from me to rotate rapidly and discharge lightning with repelling force at anything getting close enough to strike at me. Huff, whew. She saved me. I don’t even know where she is, but Tiktik saved me. That’s a spell from her second largest pool of S P. The sixth rung of magic.

There’s a slap on my butt that causes me to leap in surprise. I look down to only find Tiktik’s ghostly hand. You crazy little goober! I know the range on that spell! You’re within a few dozen feet, out here in this horde! What are you thinking!?

Tiktik’s telepathic avatar sends my way, “Pal, it’s apocalypse o’clock. I’m going to use every last trick I’ve got. If I had to, I was going to wrap you up in my inversion cloak and poof us back to town. I’m not letting you go out like that. Teuila, she’d, she’d die of heartbreak. Just uh, don’t explode anything for a couple of seconds, please? I had to get close to get the scale up on you. I’m retreating sneakily. When my hand disappears, then go get ‘em Tiger.”

Tiger huh? Well, if I’m Tiger to Tiktik, that makes her Kitten. I think we found our nicknames. I draw a deep breath and loose a sigh as I attempt to center myself and slow my breathing. I’m functioning at something like two hundred percent capacity right now, while also being aided by external magics. This is as good as you’re going to ever get on this planet Reggie Shellcracker. Get back to it. Fireball, holy bolts, lightning arc, dodge, weave, duck, slide, leap, fireball below me for some extra height, and another one behind me towards where Tiktik had been retreating from, to cover her escape, while also propelling me through the air towards the next Portalspawn.

That’s right you idiotic lump of meat, open wide, here comes a treat! I really, truly, probably shouldn’t try this again. Come on, we’ve got at least one more in us, right Reggie? Yeah, I think so. The scale should help ground us afterwards. So, you ready buddy? Sorry, not you Bud, talking to myself. Yes, yeah. Probably. Yep. Just, just rest up Bud, please. You sound awful. I mean, you sound worn out. A tiny crawlspace for Tiktik? Perfect Bud, thank you. You’re brilliant.

Anyway, let’s do this. I leap upwards inside the roof of this creature’s mouth while spinning, attempting to gain enough rotational force to drill outwards as I become lightning once again. Hurk. I’m going to lose my lunch, my guts, and probably most of my brain cells if I try this again. Oh heavens, if I had a gastrointestinal system, I’d be dropping a brick behind me. Blurgh. Okay Reggie, never do that again, until you get home to Can’Z’aas and can have Linti teach you. I, I know. It’s unlikely to ever happen, just, just focus on the fight.

We blast through the back side of this Fel Portalspawn’s skull, only to be snagged out of the air by something we’d never expected. One of the rear Fel Portalspawns has wised up, and is summoning forth some sort of flying monstrosities that seem unaffected by lightning. It’s one of few things on the entire planet that might be able to safely fly around Rayileklia. No, no no no, we won’t be able to keep these things out of the town! Wait! Whew. Thank you archsorc staff. This spell is one I’d planned to use on Kozzurth, but she never bothered taking wing.

I transform a massive area of the acidic cloud cover into an acidic sleet storm with fist sized spikes of hail raining down rapidly en masse. The Portalspawn that had been unleashing flying horrors upon the world is caught up in the storm, as are many of the Felgres below. More importantly, all of the creatures in the sky that had already been unleashed are now crashing to the ground, their wings shredded and melting.

I’ll need to maintain focus on this for a while, and the staff is already below half of its mana pool. Carefully, breathe slowly, we’re about to impact the ground Reggie. Yeah, I know. Use just a smidgeon of inertia, use its momentum, rotate our center of mass about and piledrive this flying horror into the Felgres below.

Hey Bud? You know how in my fake memories from the world that doesn’t exist, some people cope with depression and strife and struggles by trying to maintain a level of humor? Okay, maybe you don’t know. Anyway. What if I tried tackling stuff like that to stay upbeat and stop spiraling into giving up? I wish you could respond to me, obviously don’t respond if it’d wear you out worse. I’m worried about you. I hope you’re okay. I hope you’re alive.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I quip as we approach the hordes below, “Hey you bunch of jerks! Guess how often these flying horrors crash? Heh. Just once!”

I backflip off of the horror, kicking it crashing down with as much force as I can muster while I spin between acidic hail spikes. Grinning like an idiot, I call out to the Felgre I’m about to fall on, “Hey, your order’s up. One knuckle sandwich, special delivery! With a side of hurts donut!”

I hear Tiktik giggling across our telepathic wavelength, and I can’t help but smile, despite the intense pain I’m in, and the terrible odds. We’ve dropped two of the enormous, mountainous Fel Portalspawn, and there’s still probably half a dozen, at least. And that’s just within easy sight range, let alone what might be beyond in the dark.

I call back telepathically to Tiktik, “Kitten, please, please tell me you have a lot more left in the tank with wide area? Because I’m already half tapped out on even possible uses in my staff, but I’m saving the rest for conjuration spells. My lightning staff is gone, though its shards are embedded in me painfully, my dagger is trashed, and I’m not doing so hot myself.”

Tiktik’s telepathic avatar shrugs helplessly as she pouts before responding, “Sorry Tiger, nothin’ left in the sticks. I can set up glyphs if you want for retreating, but they take a long time to set up, and they’re not much bigger than a regular fireball. I’ve got some pretty strong single target stuff, and I can sling some ambient cantrips all day long, but all I have left is basically one on one stuff.”

I shake my head sadly in meat space, and have my telepathic avatar indicate the same emotion. I mentally ask, “Can you be prepared to save Apheliotes when he turns back into a statue? He’s going to burn out pretty fast fighting amidst all this.”

Her telepathic avatar gives me a solemn nod that lets me know Tiktik is ready to jump back into the fray to rescue Apheliotes, despite the risk, when the time comes. I whisper Apheliotes Zephyrus’s name as I unleash his animate incarnation from the gryphon statue. The creature of solid metal comes to life and increases in size enough to rival an elephant. Without hesitation, he throws himself into the fray based on my subconscious desire. I know he’s technically just a magic item, but I’d still feel awful to lose him all the same.

Leaping back into the fray and landing amidst a pack of Felgres, I rapidly fire my holy halefire crossbow, tearing holes in my foes, gaining their attention once more. Apheliotes and I fight in separate directions. He fights out of the horde towards town to slow the horde’s advance, I fight deeper into the horde to get to more of the Fel Portalspawns.

I’m in so much pain from taking on too much electricity, and the crushing blows I’ve already been dealt. I can barely focus on the combat, let alone keep track of resources I’ve already used up. I have to be careful though. One slipup with my resources and it’s all over. If I pass out now, I die, that’s it, no coming back, no traveling back in time to send a message to myself to keep the mistake from happening, nothing. I, I used what, sixty six runes for a swiftly cast Steely Body. I’m pretty sure that between sleeping with Tiktik, and meditating outside of town, I should be topped off on S P. I’m sitting at around five hundred ninety more S P before my muscles begin becoming unresponsive, based on my last daily safe usage. Nine hundred twenty four S P from now I immediately drop unconscious, period.

What if, what if I bend the system? If I quicken the fifth tier of mana construct, but then recast empowering that same set of runes rapidly in succession? I should only have to pay the quickening cost once. I know from study that master sorcerers can occasionally spot traces of previously empowered runes free-floating in the atmosphere, and utilize those to speed their casting. With all this extra electricity running through me, maybe I can form some sort of magnetic cage or something to keep the runes from dispersing. At least for a few seconds.

Let’s do the math, a quickened cast brings me down around five hundred thirty S P, and re-empowering those same runes I can do maybe fifteen times safely, then I probably won’t have enough S P left for another full safe spell. Is that the right choice here? Sixteen more allies on the field, allies that don’t bleed or die or turn into grief-stricken memories when they vanish? Each of them as powerful as several Felgres put together? I can’t think of a better use of my S P at the moment for taking out these Fel hordes.

I attempt to leap atop the backs and skulls of my foes, but I’m suddenly struck by the feeling of slamming my face into a brick wall as a migraine explodes through the right side of my head and face. I topple down amidst the Felgres, and the enormous dragon scale that has been protecting me shrinks as it absorbs blow after blow in my stead. The pain is so nauseating that I’m left vomiting until I can only dry heave on the field of battle. I wanted to do this from a better vantage, to summon my constructs near the Fel Portalspawn bringing forth flying Felgres. I’m not certain how long I can maintain the hailstorm that’s grounding them. Especially with this worsening migraine.

I’m going to have to do it here, while the scale is still protecting me. Despite the waves of sick I’ve unleashed, and the flopping of my stomach, I quickly craft the fifth tier of the monstrous mana construct conjuration spell. Inspired by Apheliotes tearing through the hordes behind me, I conjure a gryphon of pure mana. Working my internal electrokinesis I manage to suspend the runes between my hands momentarily. During this brief moment, my conjured gryphon is clearing the nearby Felgres from my line of sight so that I can gaze towards the Fel Portalspawn that’s spewing flying Felgres.

I conjure forth what I hope is a balanced myriad of mana constructs. I call on two of each elemental, two shadow hounds, and five additional gryphons. My hope is that the gryphons and wind elementals can keep air superiority to prevent any further Fel Portalspawns from getting the big idea to summon more flying creatures. The shadow hounds jobs will be to infiltrate the skulls of the Fel Portalspawns and destroy their brains, since they can move through the tiniest of gaps in a nearly ethereal fashion. The stone, fire, and water elementals are on the ground, with me, beginning to draw our line in the sand as Apheliotes and Tiktik mop up the foes behind us, closer to the town.

I cast my senses about for Tiktik, trying to observe her psychically. She and Apheliotes are a vicious whirlwind of combined force, slaying stragglers, and any that still make it past me in their reckless charge.

Still, seeing Tiktik sets me to worrying about her. The membranous field of mana about her takes on an icy sheen, and is simultaneously wreathed in flames. She mentioned those spells, and it’s amazing to see them in action, though worrying. It means her reflexes aren’t quite quick enough to get her out of the way of many blows.

Her armor occasionally forms a kite shield strapped to one of her wrists to help her guard against blows, but more and more attacks slip by her reflexes and defenses, battering into her mana field. Thankfully, Felgres that connect pay a massive price as their limbs are either seared to ash, or frozen and shattered, or exploded by the combination of fire and ice. I know that each hit though wears down Tiktik’s mana field, and she’s starting to show signs of weariness.

Tiktik telepathically teases me, chastising, “Pay attention to your own fight Tiger, I got this, I’m good. I swear. We’re starting to push back the tide entirely, or at least hold our ground.”

I adopt a half smile as I nod solemnly. She’s right, I have to pay attention to my own fight. But what bit of fighting can I even do while I focus on directing these mana constructs? Most of my weaponizable spells are used up, my own S P pool is nearly empty, and I don’t even have a dagger or staff or any other weapon I can safely fight with any longer. Wait. I can pull out a bigger weapon. Knowledge. I know this is a stupid time for it, but I pull out the book containing the weather control spell, sit in lotus position, and begin committing the spell’s runes to memory. I don’t really have time for that, but I’m running out of options and ideas.

Can I practice them in thinkspace? Instead of killing myself practicing them externally? Even if I’m capable of doing so, will it translate to the precise twitch-muscle-memory in meat space? I’ve never thought to actually train while in thinkspace, not even when I had accelerated thinkspace available. Let’s try this at least. If nothing else, we’ll, err, I’ll carve the runes out in thinkspace so that Tiktik can see them. As a last ditch effort, we’ll try to ritually cast it together.

I absentmindedly let my right arm be guided by my danger wrap senses to aim about and fire off my holy halefire crossbow while I focus on learning the runes. The thoughts I use to telepathically direct my conjured mana constructs, I shove down into a subconscious mental subroutine that basically boils down to, stay alive, kill Felgres. I’m very, very tempted to pull out the nuclear option, and follow it up with calling all my power from Can’Z’aas. It’s not yet time for that though. For now, slaying a Felgre every few seconds absentmindedly while reading is going to have to suffice until I have a more concrete plan.