Day 39, Month 4, Day 11
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Name: Phoenix
Journey Tier
Attributes: 0 points
Strength: 7.2, Constitution: 14.2, Coordination: 13, Mentality: 23, Will: 17.4, Charisma: 18, Luck: 13
Skills: Ritual (Worship Arachnae) 42%->43%, Acting 27%->29%, Disguise 27%->29%, Fists and Feet 23%->24%
Arcane Skills: Magical Theory 66%->67%, Duration 60%->61%, Magical Shape 40%->41%
Luck: 1
Magic Pool: 42
—
Phoenix pulled himself out of his trance. Trying to not wake Panna, he went through what was becoming his routine- set up long duration defensive wards on himself, then some exercise, then working on his channel. Once again, his channel was a craggy, jagged mess. The new power was amazing, but it reversed days of effort in smoothing the flow and condensing the magic points. It made him think that it might not be as much of an advance as he thought, but in the end he decided he would rather have raw power and then need to practice, than lack raw power at all.
As he heard the guards change shifts, he made his way downstairs and out into the early morning fog to get breakfast. Isabel had Hella escort him to and from the parfait vendor, which Phoenix found amusing and frustrating in turns. He settled on being grateful that someone recognized his power and usefulness. It felt a bit validating.
He ate a parfait together with Isabel and Hella at the guards camp on the first floor, then got on the elevator to head up to the top floor. As he arrived, he could overhear loud voices in what sounded like an argument going on.
“Acolyte Veronica? Why are you here? Lady Celeste assigned me to assist the tower.” Panna said as Phoenix arrived.
The Acolyte who had been with Priestess Reelwen, Veronica, was indeed there, seemingly in the middle of offering tea and breakfast to Yvonne. She had a shocked look on her face, and both Panna and Yvonne looked angry.
“Fena, at last someone with some sense. Will you kindly escort Acolyte Veronica out of here, she has been trying to foist the most goddess awful tea on me, and I have no time for her nonsense. Hasten back, I need to read you in on the tower operation.” Yvonne said, snubbing the tea that Veronica was trying to push on her.
Something weird was going on with Phoenix’s vision however, which was distracting him from what Yvonne had to say. A kind of haze covered Veronica, and suddenly his panel came up.
—
Ward versus The Lie 50%
—
The haze dispersed, and standing where Veronica had been was something else entirely. In some respects, she looked the same. Her face structure and her hair style still resembled her human form. But now, she was taller, her face had taken a red cast, her hair coal black. Two short horns protruded upwards from her forehead, and two large wings were folded neatly at her back. Her fingers were tipped in long black nails that looked wickedly sharp. A long, sinuous tail wrapped around her waist and down one leg, ending in a bulbous four sided spade. She was dressed in black chitinous armor, and twin short swords hung from either hip. Her eyes, burning red, latched onto him, and he felt her will press against his.
—
Ward versus The Lie Exhausted.
—
“Demon!” He managed to shout, and things started happening all at once.
Veronica, the demon, whatever she was, blurred into motion, so fast he nearly couldn’t follow. Before the tea cup even had time to reach halfway to the floor, both of her blades were out and slicing into Magus Yvonne, showering the space between them with purple shards of energy.
At the same time, a translucent globe surrounded the entire floor, and all sound was swallowed up, setting the entire fight to eerie quiet. Phoenix couldn’t even hear the roaring of blood in his ears, it was as if he had gone completely deaf all at once.
Yvonne was shouting something, but it was sealed by whatever magic had stolen the sound, and Phoenix was raising his hand and focusing a Sun Lance at Veronica. Still much faster than either of them, Veronica kicked Yvonne in the chest, hurling her back against the glass walls to another spray of purple shards, which Phoenix recognized as Yvonne's Death Ward. Recognized it as failing, if how his own Death Ward acted was any indication.
His enhanced mentality and coordination brought his Sun Lance in line just in time to fire a shot into Veronica’s side, a sparkling riot of color as it refracted against her armor. Veronica turned from Yvonne to inhale sharply, then blast a gout of fire from her mouth to engulf Phoenix, while Panna dove backwards onto the elevator to escape the flames.
—
Death’s Panoply 73%
Magic Pool: 34 (42) [respiration halted, draw breath 7 per activation]
—
Phoenix held his breath as the searing heat surrounded him. The Panoply held, but the damage had been significant and he couldn’t take many hits like that. He concentrated and brought up his Illusory Earth wall, separating Panna and himself from the demonic Veronica.
—
Magic Pool: 26 (42) [respiration halted, draw breath 7 per activation]
Illusory Earth
—
This didn’t seem to bother Veronica much, as she turned and dashed towards Yvonne. Out of the bedding, a bolt of lightning struck the demon in the head, and then resolved itself into Anaxitrith. The lightning seared a long scar across Veronica’s cheek, and a shimmering field flickered to life around her, stopping Anaxitrith’s followup bite cold. With one blade, Veronica smashed Anaxitrith across the room, while the other she lunged forward with, striking Yvonne directly over the heart.
Somehow, Yvonne’s ward held, but the blade withdrew with a tinge of red blood on its tip. Looking scared, Yvonne clapped her hands against Veronica’s cheeks, and a concentrated blast of force hurled the demonic woman backwards head over heels into the opposite wall. Phoenix had made himself a porthole, and just as the demon was stunned by the impact, he launched another Sun Lance into her chest. The shimmering field absorbed the strike with little effect however.
Meanwhile, Panna had crawled to the elevator controls, and managed to activate them. Veronica twisted her face into a snarl, and hurled one of her swords at the Acolyte, but it was intercepted by Phoenix’s Illusory Earth wall. Unfortunately, the wall was shattered by the impact, and the sword raced back to Veronica’s hand just as another bolt of lightning from Anaxitrith smashed into the demon's face. As Anaxitrith dropped to the ground, Veronica slashed with both blades, and Yvonne opened her mouth in a silent scream as the little mechanical snake fell into three separate pieces.
“Arcane Combat Enhancement Personal Frame. Charge: 100%. Shock Bolt Module Activated.”
Simultaneously, both Phoenix and Yvonne launched lightning bolts at the demon, each smashing into that shimmering defense field and staggering Veronica back against the wall once again. Veronica shook her head in apparent pain, then flung both her swords out, one at Yvonne, the other at Panna. Phoenix hurled himself in the way of the sword headed towards Panna, feeling the impact against his shoulder just as Panna dropped out of sight on the elevator.
—
Death’s Panoply Failure
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Magic Pool: 18 (42) [respiration halted, draw breath 7 per activation]
—
The air seemed to shift all in one direction, and the bubble that had engulfed the room shattered into pieces. A cacophony of sound rushed in, nearly overwhelming Phoenix, all the world's screams and horror reasserting itself.
“Anaxitrith no! You motherless bitch, I will end you!” Yvonne was sobbing and shouting, one of her hands held out to launch another spell, the other clutching her side where bright red blood spilled down her leg.
“Help! To the control room! Demon attack!” Panna’s voice was shouting below them.
“This is Guardian, intrusion alarm has been raised. Hostile magic dispelled. Command authorization needed.” A presence in the air, sounding throughout the facility.
“Get the outside crew in here! Hella, Tandy, with me!” That was Sergeant Isabel, from far down the open elevator shaft.
Something that sounded like meat hitting a grill reached his ears as he climbed to his feet. A bright flash of light nearly blinded him, and he had to screw his eyes shut and cover them with one arm. The afterimage left on his cornea was of a beam of intense light connecting Yvonne with Veronica, and the sizzling sound came from the direction of the demon.
Phoenix staggered forward and hit the edge of the center console, then ducked down behind it to clear his vision. He took the same moment to activate Draw Breath. Another cry of pain from Yvonne had his heart in his mouth, and he rolled out to the side of the console to see what was going on.
—
Magic Pool: 25 (42) [respiration halted, draw breath 7 per activation]
—
The horrifying tableau before him took his breath away. Veronica stood in front of Yvonne, half her face a burned mess from whatever spell had struck her, one eye completely gone. Both blades were buried to the hilt in Yvonne's chest, their points tenting the robe of her back. Dark red blood vomited from Yvonne's mouth, and Veronica flicked the blades backwards to drop the Magus to the floor in the rich pool of it below.
Phoenix didn’t scream. The horror would come later, now he just had to hold out somehow, pull that thing's attention, and maybe get close enough to use the bronze talisman that Tianna had given him. It might be enough to save Yvonne’s life, if he could only get there in time.
“Arcane Combat Enhancement Personal Frame. Charge: 100%. Shock Bolt Module Activated.”
The floating images of the words projected by the Acepf were strangely comforting, and the bolt of lightning lanced out to strike Veronica in the back, right between the shoulder blades. She was thrown forward, and tripped over Yvonne’s body, to slam her damaged face into the window. Angrily, she whirled around, and spotted Phoenix behind the console.
—
Magic Pool: 17 (42) [respiration halted, draw breath 7 per activation]
—
Phoenix ducked into full cover, Drawing Breath as he tried to keep the console between him and the demonic assassin. Just as he was about to peek over the lip to check where the thing was, twin flashes of light caught his eye.
“Arcane Combat Enhancement Personal Frame. Charge: 50%.
Alert! Death’s Panoply Activated In Reflex Mode!”
—
Death’s Panoply 49%
Magic Pool: 24 (42) [respiration halted, draw breath 7 per activation]
—
Shards of purple light sprayed from both sides of his head as the demon's blades smashed into his skull, and he hit the ground hard. Veronica was there, standing over him, both blades raised for another strike, when the rage in her remaining eye seemed to extinguish.
“Fena… Ooooh, I almost did a bad thing!” Veronica’s voice was all honey and poison, mixed into one. Instead of a strike, she sheathed both blades, and then dropped a hard knee into his solar plexus, just beneath his sternum. “Time for you to go to sleep, little boy.”
—
Death’s Panoply 43%
—
Phoenix felt the crushing weight on his chest, but instead concentrated on his hand. A black blade of energy formed around it from the Panoply, and he lashed out at Veronica’s side. Contemptuously, she batted her hand against his to block the strike, only to suck in air as the blade bit through her skin in a gout of black blood. With her other hand, she smashed a powerful fist into his jaw, rocking his head back into the ground.
—
Death’s Panoply 34%
—
Phoenix encased his other hand with a blade as well, and he struck with both in the same way that Veronica had, a criss crossing strike. This was enough to force her to use an intense beat of her wings to launch herself back off of him and on to the console, hissing in anger.
Just then, the elevator arrived, racing up at emergency speed. Isabel, Hella, and Tandy all had crossbows at the ready, and loosed their bolts in a volley at the demon. All three struck home in Veronica’s chest, punching through the crystal plate armor and eliciting a gasp of pain from the demon.
The three soldiers disembarked from the elevator, Tandi and Hella reloading their crossbows while Isabel dropped hers in favor of her spear and shield. Veronica drew both her swords again. Blood crusted her lips as she gave an evil smile. Phoenix took the opportunity to roll to the side out of the way, and half crawled, half ran towards where Yvonne lay on the floor.
He lost track of the fight behind him, both Isabel and Veronica were snake quick, slashing and stabbing at one another in a flurry of blows. He could even hear the clack of the crossbows discharging, but he put it all out of his mind as he reached Yvonne’s still form and fumbled the bronze talisman out of his cowl.
“Arachnae’s touch soothes my wounds.”
Nothing happened. No Magic Pool drain to power the spell, no glow encompassing Yvonne’s wounds. He stared down at her bloodied frame, so small and frail in death. His hands were coated in her blood. He looked up and out of the glass window in front of him, tears blurring his vision. His brain wasn’t registering anything at all. Then the Fire of Mentality brutally drew him back to reality.
There. Outside the window. He was staring into the face of a goddess.
“Kan-Tal-Yek!” He shouted in terror.
An enormous bolt of lighting lanced out of the cloudy sky, striking the side of the War Tower just below where he was standing. The explosion hurled him back across the room, chunks of stone and shards of armored glass streaming beside him, and he slid to a halt just at the lip of the elevator shaft.
—
Death’s Panoply Failure
Magic Pool: 25 (42) [respiration halted, draw breath 7 per activation]
—
“This is Guardian. War Tower under attack. War Shield Raised under reflex protocols. Command authorization required.”
A glittering hexagonal shield of energy sprang forth from the top of the War Tower, falling down in a rain to merge with the walls. More thunder and flashes of light lit up the windows of the tower, but Phoenix had no more attention to spare for Kan-Tal-Yek. The fight with Veronica was going poorly.
Isabel was limping with a bloody gash in her right leg, slowed slightly and fighting on the defense. Two more crossbow bolts protruded from Veronica’s back, black ichor dripping from the wounds, but she was still cutting and slashing fast enough to create whip-crack-like shocks as her blades struck Isabel’s shield. Tandy was curled on the ground, the front of her scale hauberk a giant bloody gash, unconscious or dead he couldn’t tell. Hella had a cut above her eye, but still had her crossbow and was attempting to line up another shot.
Phoenix tapped the crystal control plate of his Acepf.
“Arcane Combat Enhancement Personal Frame. Charge: 50%
Magic Pool Transfer from User engaged. Charge: 83%”
He used Draw Breath to offset the drain, trying to find an angle where he could engage the demon. Shouts and commands from below revealed that the soldiers from the exterior had reached the elevator, so reinforcements were on the way.
—
Magic Pool: 24 (42) [respiration halted, draw breath 7 per activation]
—
Phoenix subsumed his anger and sadness beneath the Fire of Mentality, holding on to that icy certainty and calm. He let his mind work on the timing, waiting for the right moment to strike, and it didn’t take long. As if she could read his mind, Isabel ducked to the side, her shield over her body to protect her from Veronica’s strikes. Hella let loose with her crossbow, and Phoenix blasted Veronica with his Shock Bolt out of the Acepf.
“Arcane Combat Enhancement Personal Frame. Charge: 83%. Shock Bolt Activation.”
—
Magic Pool: 16 (42) [respiration halted, draw breath 7 per activation]
—
Veronica took the crossbow bolt to the side, and the lightning bolt to her shoulder, the combination twisting her nearly fully around. At last, the demon was slowing down, dancing back from a renewed volley of attacks from Isabel. Then she gave a grin, and bull rushed into Hella, smashing the smaller woman back and into the open elevator shaft, before diving in after her.
Shouts and cries of pain followed, and Isabel rushed to the edge to see what was going on. Phoenix knelt next to Tandi to feel for a pulse, only to find none. He did not dare close his eyes due to the emotion.
The elevator finished its ascent, carrying a tangled bloody mass of soldiers with it. The remains of the fourth squad were there. Hella lay atop two of them, and all three had sword cuts in their limbs or armor. Panna was kneeling beside them, trying to heal. Three more were standing around their piled compatriots, shouting and hurriedly reloading their crossbows, a babble of voices overlapping each other.
“Check on them!” “Get the elevator back down, it must be going for the door!” “Where did it go!?”
“Enough!” Shouted Isabel. “Squad, clear the elevator and form a perimeter around Fena and Panna! Do not lower that elevator!”
The squad lept into action at her orders, dragging the three wounded over next to Phoenix and taking up guard around them. He heard Panna whispering prayers under her breath, and the bright light of divine healing washed their wounds away. She then turned to Isabel to administer the same treatment.
Isabel turned to Phoenix then. “Fena, tell me you have command authorization for the War Tower.” Her gaze was desperate and intense.