“Yes, of course. But we first have to move as much as we can from this cart to the fully operational one,” Xavier said.
He hopped up through the small doorway opening in the back of the wagon, and Lloyd jumped up in the cart as well. Chests, bags, and clothing were thrown asunder around the entire interior. Lloyd had to be careful with his footing so that he didn’t ruin anything more than it already probably was. Or maybe everything is in perfect condition, considering their Tailor is pretty good. He focused on a nearby chest. His magic morphed around it, lifting it into the air. Lloyd immediately felt the strain from the weight of the object. It wasn’t like trying to move a beast, but it was quite burdensome. Lloyd brought the chest to himself and dropped it into his arms. The physical feeling of the storage box proved that it was quite heavy, but it was probably better to be carried this way.
“Sorry about that. We do have quite a few large objects here. We were trying to make the most of the journey,” Xavier said with a smile as he noticed Lloyd straining to carry the chest.
“No worries, it’s a good workout,” Lloyd said as he handed the chest down to Regal on the ground.
A few minutes passed, and they fully loaded the functioning cart. The two bison wouldn’t fit side by side, so Xavier arranged them in a line. The bison slowly moved their feet as they grunted under the heavy load. The two groups walked alongside the cart while the bison pulled. Sheena walked ahead of the cart, a scowl on her face as she refused to look at any of the newcomers. Colette walked on the left side with Xavier and Caleb. Lloyd and Regal ended up with the two women. The Void Space Crafter was the first to speak up.
“I never introduced myself before. My name is Shannon.”
“Nice to put a name to a face,” Lloyd said, as both he and Regal kept a wary eye toward the tree line.
“I’m curious about the whole Void Space thing. How exactly does that work? Lloyd asked.
“Honestly…not quite sure. I’ve only ever made one,” Shannon said as she lifted the black cube that was tied to her red sash that blended into her robe.
Lloyd bent down to get a closer look. The cube was as dark as a moonless night, with subtle grey wisps that wove around it. The movements were mesmerizing, and Lloyd stared longer than was appropriate. When Lloyd looked up, he saw Regal look as dumbfounded as Lloyd felt.
“We were fortunate to find a location that held a small Manarite crystal. We scrounged for some other herbs and Corrupted parts that we needed. It took years, but we finally had the right stuff. I can sense materials related to Void Spaces…in fact. I sense one now. I couldn’t tell before, but now that I’m closer to you two…Which one of you has a Void Space?” Shannon asked.
“Not me,” Lloyd answered as he looked toward his brother.
Regal still wore the same dumbfounded look before he shook his head. “I think you do, actually.”
“What do you mean?”
“I saw it when I picked up your bag after…after the bandits. I just threw everything in there and picked you up. I honestly completely forgot about it until just now when I saw Shannon’s Void Space.”
“What?”
Regal chuckled. “Check your bag.”
Lloyd removed his bag, turned it over, and dumped everything on the ground. One of the final items to hit the dirt was a small black cube. Lloyd stood there, unable to move. How long was that in my bag?
“Oh my god. I think that might be a soul-locked one. Mind if I look?” Shannon asked.
“No. Go ahead,” Lloyd said, still planted in the same spot.
The cart had continued ahead, and Lloyd’s group had all stopped to inspect the cube that now sat in Shannon’s hand.
“This is incredible. I was told the only way to get the materials to make one of these was west of The Citadel. How did you come across this? Who is it soul-locked to?” Shannon asked.
“I’ve never seen that before in my life. I have no idea who…” Lloyd began to say as Shannon handed him the item. Once the cube dropped into his hand, it felt the same way his blades once did for him, like the cube was made according to his soul. “It might be locked to me. How is that possible? I thought you said the crafter needed to be in contact with the person it was made for when they created the item?”
“They do. There is no way around it. Are you sure it is yours? Can you pull it into your soul?”
“How do I do that?”
Shannon shrugged her shoulders. “No idea. I guess, try to think about connecting with the item?”
Lloyd wanted to ask more questions, but he knew they would lead nowhere. He focused on the item in his hands, and the rest came effortlessly. The cube wanted to be placed in his soul. The blackness melted away as the wisps of grey wafted into his chest. He felt a brief surge of power before it calmed back down to normal.
“Holy shit. Now, how do I…” Lloyd began to say before getting interrupted by the snapping of twigs in the forest to his right.
Beyond the pine needles in the underbrush, he saw the familiar flicker of the flaming fox dashing through the greenery. Both Shannon and Sarah looked over at the animal as fear careened through their faces. Lloyd quickly turned to them.
“Don't worry, that is Sheena’s companion,” Lloyd explained.
“Yeah, don't worry about that animal. She's mine, but I would worry about the ones behind her,” Sheena yelled.
“It has blue eyes. Why does the fox have blue eyes?” Shannon asked.
Lloyd didn't want to share Sheena's information, but the cat was already out of the bag—or the fox was already out of the box, he supposed.
“She is a Beastmaster. She doesn't control Milla—that is the name of the fox, by the way. They are both companions and have a link with each other,” Lloyd said rapidly as the words flew out of his mouth.
Although Sheena’s message was cryptic, the general theme bled through. It was time to prepare for battle. The subtle snapping of branches and rustling of leaves that were left in the wake of Milla running through the forest was, but a gentle breeze compared to the torrent of wind and destruction that smashed through the forest after her. Lloyd could see potentially a dozen different deer running full speed at the wagon and all of its guards. Their hooves and antlers crashed through any unlucky flora in their path. The ground beneath Lloyd began to shake even though the deer were still over a hundred feet away. Lloyd could hear a subtle and consistent clicking sound above the roar of the shifting earth as they approached.
The bison reared up onto their back legs, almost tipping the contents of the cart onto the ground. Their stomping didn’t help quell the shaking of the earth. Xavier quickly grabbed the reins of the bison and untied him from its duties of pulling the cart. The animals ran into the forest on the opposite side of the road, huddling behind a few trees.
“T formation!” Regal yelled to his group.
Over the last few days, mingled in between conversations of hometowns and everybody's favorite food, Regal and Lloyd decided it was best to create formations with the three new members of their group. The t formation found Regal front and center flanked by Milla on his left side and Sheena on his right. Colette would stand behind the front lines, and Lloyd would be behind her. Lloyd’s focus would be to make sure Colette stayed protected while she healed whoever needed it. Milla crouched low, ready to attack the incoming deer, which were almost at the front lines. Looking over, Lloyd saw that Sheena had copied Milla’s stance. Sheena was crouched low, daggers in hand. This would be the first time that Lloyd actually saw Sheena fight, she usually let Milla do the fighting. Lloyd found it eerie how much they mirrored each other.
The cart group wasn’t as put together as Regal’s group. Shannon and Caleb scrambled on top of the cart, seeing as though neither one of them had any combat powers. Both Xavier and Sarah looked around, finally running towards Regal’s group at the last moment. Xavier joined the front lines while Sarah took up a position alongside Colette. As the first deer drove its massive antlers into Regal’s stomach, Sarah looked back and motioned Lloyd forward. Lloyd firmly gripped his swords and stepped into the second line. He remembered that Sarah could enhance his abilities, and she must have wanted to make sure that he was close enough. The deer had driven Regal back to within a few feet of Colette. He dug in his feet as he gripped the antlers with his left hand and stabbed the deer into its throat with the sword in his right. The mule deer released a loud gurgling bugle as Regal stabbed into the animal. The rest of the pack was almost there.
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Once again, Lloyd felt clunky with his swords in his hands while he tried to use his powers. He sheathed his swords and focused on a medium-sized fir tree between their group and most of the charging Corrupted. He felt resistance from the tree, but finally, with a sharp snap, it came tumbling down. The fir tree tumbled on top of half of the deer, impeding their immediate charge. Lloyd was sure that it didn't kill any of them, but hopefully, it would give them time before they were overwhelmed. Regal killed the first deer, but there were four more to contend with. Sheena dodged an antlerless one as she quickly stabbed her daggers into its hide.
Looking to the left, Lloyd saw Milla was firmly attached to the side of another female deer. The Corrupted tried bucking the fox off of it, but Milla’s claws held firm as she ripped pieces of the deer out with her fangs. Xavier was having a rough time as he was thrashed by one of the smaller male deer, its antlers carving into his arms and stomach. The deer did not attack without retaliation. Xavier grew hair on the knuckles of his closed fists, turning them into stone and ramming them into the side of the buck. The blunt force blows rocked the deer to the side. His fists connected with the antlers, shattering both bone and stone from the animal and Xavier. As the stone broke away from his hands, Xavier would reach down and grab either stone or wood to replenish his powers, continuing to pummel the beast with his fists.
Colette had already started to move towards Xavier to heal him, but the fourth deer was looking to intercept. Lloyd reached out, pointing directly at the charging deer headed for Colette. The tendrils of power gripped around the antlers. The telekinesis felt slippery around the antlers as it attempted to resist his powers. Lloyd tightened his mental grasp as he ripped his arms towards the ground, forcing the beast's head to mirror the movement. Its antlers dug into the ground, kicking up pine needles, dust, and stone as it scraped forward, stopping before it reached Colette. With his right hand, Lloyd unsheathed his sword and replaced his physical fingers with his telekinetic ones, thrusting it through the air into what Lloyd hoped was a weak spot of the deer. The sword struck true and went through the deer, down to the hilt. Lloyd could feel the resistance from the deer fade as it slumped to the ground.
Looking around, Lloyd could see that the other three fighters in the group had their respective opponents in control. That was until the trailing group broke through the fir tree barricade. The first one to crash through sported no antlers, but its red eyes pierced forward as another eight trailed shortly behind it. This deer was one of the largest in the group. It leaped into the air and when its hooves crashed into the ground, it shook the entire forest floor. Fissures opened up at Lloyd's feet, and he could see similar cracks erupt all around the rest of the people in the group. Xavier didn't react in time and stepped into the crack. The deer lowered its head and thrust its antlers into Xavier’s side, ripping his blue overcoat and tearing into his skin. He screamed in agony as his arms flailed at the beast, thin wooden splinters dislodging in the animal.
Anger erupted through Lloyd as he considered the very real possibility that more people might die today. He didn't know anyone besides Regal for really that long, but he was already tired of watching people die. A surge of power coursed through him, and he thought it might have been thanks to his anger. With a brief glance to the right, he could see that Sarah had activated her powers in full. She radiated a red glow around her, and he could see that whoever it touched also glowed a faint red. Not wanting to waste any time, Lloyd removed his second sword from his left sheath. He sprinted toward Xavier’s fight, adding his telekinesis to his swing as he quickly slashed and severed the deer’s head.
“Kill the big one!” Regal yelled.
The large female deer who led the second pack, now stood behind the others. There was a mix of ones with antlers and ones without. Lloyd noticed that the ones with antlers favored physical strength and pure combat. The ones without began casting their magic. In the blink of an eye, chaos erupted around them. The large female deer continued to smash her hooves against the ground, sending thin fissures toward the group. Vines began thrusting their way out of the soil, wrapping themselves around the legs of Regal and Colette. Lloyd tried to focus on freeing Colette first, but the tendrils of his magic slipped off of the vines. That had never happened before, and he wasn't sure what to do about that. Colette reached out, casting her magic on Xavier from a distance. Xavier got to his feet and, with wide eyes, looked back toward Lloyd and Colette.
Just as Lloyd tried to refocus his attack on the large deer, he was jabbed through the back with something sharp. He looked down and saw an antler protruding from his stomach. He was then lifted off the ground as the antlers squirmed and shifted inside of him. He tried to look behind him, but his movement was limited, and he could feel the strength already draining from him. Lloyd thrust his arms backward and focused on shoving himself away from the animal. The antlers dislodged themselves from Lloyd, tearing more of his innards as they left. Lloyd hit the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood, hoping beyond hope that his newly Ascended body could heal quickly. Either that or Colette could.
Lloyd turned as quickly as he could with his fractured body to face his attacker. What he saw was difficult to believe. The deer that stabbed him straight through was standing and staring at him with blood dripping from its antlers. The thick brown fur that it had moments ago was now actively rotting and turning into blackened mange as it sloughed away from its body. Its eyeballs fell out as the skin on its face decayed rapidly. The corners of its mouth gave way, momentarily turning into an eerie grin. Lastly, the face of the deer melted away until it was merely a skeleton.
Lloyd saw that the other two defeated deer behind the group had risen from their status as corpses. One of the female deer must have resurrected its companions. The only one who didn't come back to life was the one that Lloyd decapitated.
“Zombie deer! Take off their head! Or kill the one that's resurrecting them!” Xavier yelled.
Lloyd’s throat felt hoarse as a cough erupted. More blood swam into his mouth, and he quickly spit it to the side. His powers and Mana felt as strong as ever from Sarah’s aura, but his body felt feeble. The deer hovering over Lloyd reared back on its hind legs and prepared to stomp. Lloyd saw one blade on the ground; his powers found the hilt and slashed toward the vertebrae of the zombie deer. The exposed neck gave little resistance, and it lost its head before it could fully attack. The now two-time deceased skeletal corpse crashed down on Lloyd. He struggled to remove the reanimated skeleton deer, taking more time and effort to push it off him than he would have liked. By the time the task was complete, he could feel the effects of the blood loss. Fortunately, Lloyd felt a hand on his shoulder as a surge of warmth swam through Lloyd. The hole in his stomach quickly stitched itself together. A hand reached out in front of Lloyd and pulled him to his feet.
He only saw a white dress and blonde hair sprinting away from him toward the center of the battle. Now that Lloyd’s body was fully healed, he could appreciate the surge of power that ran through him. He saw his second sword in the distance and willed it to him. The approach was much smoother than the last time he tried this trick, the hilt gently finding its place in his palm just in time as two deer charged toward Lloyd. The ground still shook as small fissures continued to pop up around the battlefield.
The first deer tried to gore Lloyd with its antlers, but he was having none of that. His powers halted the animal’s attack. He swung the sword in his right hand toward the nape of the deer’s neck, not wanting more zombie deer. A vine wrapped around Lloyd’s wrist and his blade, stopping the momentum of his attack. The second deer stared directly at Lloyd. He once again tried to shift the vines but found his magic had no effect. Lloyd dropped his focus for only a moment, but that was enough for the male deer to get out of his grasp. The animal swung its antlers, cutting deep gashes into Lloyd’s back while temporarily freeing Lloyd from the vines. The beast then focused on an approaching Xavier. Lloyd pushed his powers until they encapsulated the deer’s head, stilling its movement. Xavier was now equipped with a foot-long metal blade that extended from the back of his fist. He slashed down, easily separating the deer’s head from its shoulders. The two of them made quick work of the vine-growing deer near them.
Before Lloyd could turn around to see how the rest of the group was faring, he felt a warmth spread throughout his body. Colette had sweat-tattered hair, and her breathing was ragged. He could see that she had received quite a few cuts herself, but she had yet to fix them. She must have been trying to heal everybody else first.
Only two deer remained when Lloyd and Xavier turned around. The large deer that had been creating the fissures had either run out of mana or had decided to go more directly on the attack. She stood high on her back legs as she tried to stomp out Regal. He caught the front hooves with his hands, but the weight and the power of the deer shoved him down to his knees. Sheena and Milla were attacking the second deer. Milla had her fangs around the deer's throat as Sheena stabbed away at the deer's side. The female deer cried out, and a large shard of a fallen tree zoomed towards Sheena's back. Lloyd reached out and tried to slow the movement of the projectile. He could feel the tendrils gripping around it but they yet again felt a little too slippery, too hard to grasp. The shard was within a few feet of Sheena when Lloyd decided to stop trying to prevent its movement but instead to shift it. Pushing out with both hands he instead felt the side of the shard and pushed. It altered the path enough so that it whizzed just barely passed Sheena’s ribs and implanted itself within the creature that was controlling it. Sheena stabbed her dagger into the animal and then looked back at Lloyd. Their eyes met, and she gave him a quick head nod before returning to finish off her opponent.
Regal yelled out, and Lloyd’s heart rate accelerated. He heard Regal scream like that only once before. Lloyd saw that the large deer was indeed back to using her fissure move. This time, her hooves were in Regal’s hands. Small cracks appeared in his skin. Lloyd sprinted forward and put all his remaining willpower and Mana into getting the deer off of his brother. Something inside Lloyd shifted and a staff with a blue crystal appeared in his right hand. Sarah’s aura was still active, but he felt another elevation in power once the wood from the staff hit his palm. The tendrils flooded from his body as they dug into the top of the head of the deer and gripped onto its jaw. In one fluid motion with all of his remaining Mana, he ripped the head toward the sky and the jaw toward the ground. The sharp crack of splitting bone reverberated off the surrounding trees. Its red eyes snuffed out as its pupils went wide, its headless body slumped onto the ground.