Gregory woke with a pounding headache. Honestly his whole body hurt, but it was his pounding head that stopped him from opening his eyes.
"Gregory. Are you awake?"
Cooper's voice pulled his eyes open. He looked around.
They were in a dark, dank prison cell. It looked like they were in a castle dungeon. Gregory's hands were bound in scripted iron manacles, chained to the wall. Cooper was nearby inside a small iron cage. The bars of the cage had script that matched the script on his own bonds. He knew they would block his powers before he even tried.
"Just woke up…my head is killing me. What happened?"
"I don't know. I just woke up too."
A new voice called from the door to their cell. "I can tell you that."
Gregory looked up to see a man with a slight build. If Gregory had one word to describe the man, he would say he looked like a knife. Sharp, hard, dangerous. The blood red clothing and two swords crossed across his back helped with the image.
"It doesn't look like I'm going anywhere," Gregory called back, holding up his chained hands. "Please do tell."
The man laughed. "You're funny. My name is Kevek, but most people just call me the Bloodhunter."
"You hunt blood?"
"I hunt anything with power. You two wouldn't normally qualify. You're here because your master offended a powerful nobleman. He humiliated and hurt his son. For that, he wanted you two to pay."
Despite the menacing man and the implied threat, Gregory could only laugh.
"What's so funny, boy?"
"It's just…I've ended up captured by someone who's mad at Olivander, and it isn't even surprising. Honestly, it's kind of a miracle it's taken this long."
"Maybe he's been beating people up behind the scenes to keep us safe. You know, after he does something to put us in danger."
Gregory laughed, imagining Olivander sweeping up his own self-inflicted problems with a comically large conjured broom.
"Laugh while you can. I need to prepare for our guest of honor. I have no doubt he'll shake answers out of the city soon enough. Oh how delightful this is going to be."
They listened to the man's sinister laughter as he walked away.
"I did not like him."
"Me neither. What do you think? Olivander might not even know we're gone. Do you think everyone else is safe?"
"I don't know. Hopefully everyone is safe…I don't think we can wait for Olivander. The rest of the group would just think we ran off."
"Yeah. Maybe we should stop doing that so often."
Gregory stretched out his arms. He had a little room to move, but his chains wouldn't reach Cooper's cage. He tried to view his status. Nothing happened. He tried a few more things before giving up.
"Looks like I'm fully suppressed here. I can't use any powers."
"My telepathy works. I can't cast my lightning bolt spell though."
"Can you draw a ritual?"
Cooper's nose glowed briefly, and he drew out a circle.
"Nice! How can we use that?"
"I know three rituals. Identify, heal, and shock. Maybe I can shock the scripts on my cage?"
"Worth a try."
Cooper drew out the ritual and charged it with a little mana. He nosed one of the bars. The scripts flashed for a moment, but they lit back up after a moment.
"No good?"
"I tried with just the lowest mana, I think I might be able to overload it."
Cooper drew out another ritual, charging it for longer. Then he nosed a bar again. The script flashed, then went out.
"Nice! Oh, wait."
All of the bars on the cage had scripts, but only the one Cooper touched went out.
"I guess this is going to take a little bit."
"My guess is you won't need to destroy them all, just so they aren't surrounding you. Maybe half. Did you use all your mana?"
"Just about half. Might be able to knock one out with a little less."
Cooper got to work on the long task ahead of him.
* * *
Olivander, Burtrum and Raz headed out of the city on floating disks Raz kept on hand for emergencies.
"Once we have a good sight line, I'll portal us closer. I need a distinct target for portals when I haven't been to the location, and the low hill in front of us isn't really enough."
As they crested the hill, Olivander was able to pick out a particularly large geyser and portal to that. They had to take back out the disks and continue flying, however. They continued on the road east, past smaller geysers, herds of elephants, and even the occasional roaming monster. A blast of pure mana from Olivander convinced the monsters that the fast moving adventurers were not prey, and they were given a wide berth.
"They should really put up some standing stones or something on this road!"
The plan they had discussed when heading out of this city was to make their way to the fort using the disks for the final stretch. Olivander warned that the Bloodhunter had tried to capture him before, and had methods for making his portals unreliable or dangerous. He had still hoped to portal much of the way there.
"There it is!" Raz called over the rushing winds.
As they crested another low hill, they could finally see the sea in the distance, and at the beginning of the hilly portion of the basin, the Low Fort sat neatly beside the road. Its name belied the fact that it was a massive building surrounded by high walls made from massive stone blocks. It had a few towers, but one was clearly broken and had caved in a portion of the roof. Olivander could see why it was thought to have been long abandoned.
They pulled to a stop. Olivander prepared a few more spells, casting them on the party.
"He likely knows we're coming, but not exactly when. I masked all of our presenses before we left the city. He wouldn't have known where we were in the city from this far out, but he's smart enough to know we're coming for him now. These extra spells should prevent him from controlling you with your own blood. If you feel the second ward break, get out of the area. You'll just be another person to fight once he breaks through the third ward.
"Finally, I expect him to have a weapon that he'll use to try to drain my power. Burtrum, if you see the white orb I showed your earlier, it's your job to contain it and get rid of it. It'll drain all of your mana, but you don't need it for most of your work anyway."
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Burtrum nodded.
"Raz. You're going to be trying to find the boys. Wait until we engage before bothering to hide yourself. He'll be able to easily see through any obfuscation you put up, but if you do it after we're fighting, he might be too distracted to bother punching through it to see what you're up to. If you get the boys, use the special item I gave you and get out. Got it?"
"I do. Olivander. How dangerous is this fight for you? I don't know how strong the Bloodhunter really is in comparison to you."
"Honestly, it could be very dangerous. The Bloodhunter has long sought a way to replicate a feat he once did. He stole the power of a Magus, and grew his own by doing so. If he's trying to set a trap for me here, I assume that he thinks he's discovered a way to do it again."
"How was he able to drain power the first time?"
"Part of it is his own natural blood magic abilities, the second part was draconic magic. I assume they gave him something, or granted him some power. I think when I activated a particular spell, it destroyed whatever magic he had been given. If he still doesn't have that power, then it should be a challenging but nearly certain win for us."
Burtrum donned his helm and pulled out his hammer. He activated an enforcement power, and his armor's runes began to glow softly. Raz was cloaked in shadows, and a wicked dagger appeared in each hand. Olivander summoned his Staff of the Grand Magus, and his wand.
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Vestrius' Wand
* Soulbound Weapon: Wand
* Rarity: Legendary
* A wand belonging to the Legendary Magus, Vestrius. Entrusted to Olivander.
* Enhances all spells used while wielding.
* Capable of shooting bolts of force infused with the power of death.
* Once per day, the wielder can cast the bound spell: Breath of Damnation
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Breath of Damnation
* Spell
* Cost: 500 mana
* Curse an opponent you can see.
* Every breath the opponent draws brings them closer to Damnation.
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Olivander looked at his wand. It was a rod of a black glassy material. It glowed alternately with a faint orange and electric blue, barely visible in the bright sunlight. It was soulbound, so he didn't need to carry it with him, it lived in his soul, and he could summon it at any time. He rarely had the need. He didn't like looking at it anymore. Perhaps he never did.
He had been excited and proud when it had been entrusted to him. Now he thought of that moment as the end of an era. Before he had the wand, he was a happy-go-lucky kid who was fascinated with innumerable things and found joy in every aspect of life. Afterwards, he felt like a man who pretended to have that carefree spirit, but who knew deep down that the power he held would one day be his undoing. Looking at the wand always dampened his spirits.
His grip tightened, and he firmed his resolve. He wouldn't let past regrets or current worries prevent him from doing what he needed to do right now. Putting that monster where he belonged and keeping his friends safe.
They boarded their disks once more, and approached the Low Fort.
* * *
Raz was glad he was cloaked in shadows. That way, no one could see how utterly terrified he was. He had no idea why he was here or participating in this outrageous plan.
Olivander was a Platinum rank adventurer, Burtrum Gold. He was sure the Bloodhunter would be Platinum rank as well, if he was allowed to be a guild member. Raz though? Raz was Silver rank, and had never been a fighter. He was a thief, plain and simple.
They hadn't asked him to fight. He was just going to do what he did best. Sneak around and steal stuff. In this case the sneaking would be around a man who could annihilate him with a stray thought, and the stealing would be of prisoners. Even so, the thought comforted him. At least until his mind drifted back to annihilation.
He had watched Olivander summon a black wand and look at it with grim determination. Maybe it was just him ruminating on the past. Maybe he thought they were all doomed. Raz had to hope it was the former. Whatever it was, the feeling that the wand gave off made his skin crawl. He avoided looking at it again.
Olivander had them slow again when they were several hundred feet out from the fort.
"Boundary formation ritual. It's amateurish but powerful. I think we all want to keep our skin attached, so I'll just deactivate it."
Olivander sketched a quick ritual, and then said something about digging, and the ground before him was scooped out and deposited off to the side of their group. In the new hole, Raz could see the ritual magic. He would have never felt that. He would have just been flayed alive. Delightful.
Fire called down from the sky seared the permanent ritual until it shone brightly and finally shattered.
"Let's take it slow, shall we?"
Raz couldn't argue with that.
They paused to deactivate another trap, but otherwise didn't encounter any trouble getting close to the fort. Around two hundred feet out, Olivander stopped and stepped off his disk. Raz and Burtrum followed suit, and then Raz heard the clapping.
"Very well done, Olivander. You honestly made it out here faster than I thought."
A man had appeared about fifty feet from the fort's main entrance.
"Kevek. If you release my apprentices, I may leave you unharmed."
The Bloodhunter laughed.
"If I believed something like that, I'd have died a long time ago."
"I don't know if you know this, but people change. Rage no longer burns with so much fury in my heart."
"Does it not? Tsk. You're going to need that fire, Olivander."
Olivander began walking forward. His weapons casually floated to his right and left.
"And what's your plan here, Kevek? Why draw me out here? Have you finally figured out what it was that the dragons gave you?"
A scowl passed over the man's face. Raz knew that meant he hadn't, which meant Olivander's estimation was that they had a near certain chance of winning. Raz made sure to not let himself relax. Olivander might be nearly certain of victory, but that didn't make Raz any less vulnerable.
"Ah, I see I don't need to worry about you draining my power then."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that."
The Bloodhunter drew a pair of blades from his back. They were red and wet. Raz had a moment of panic until he remembered that's what the Bloodhunter's blades were always rumored to look like.
"If you're just looking for a fight, Kevek, we're happy to oblige."
Olivander grabbed his weapons out of the air, and a blast of fire ripped out of his staff towards the Bloodhunter, who battered it away with casual contempt.
A wave of angry power washed over the area. Raz could feel it through the three wards Olivander had placed on him. It was blood magic. It tried to control him, but it was held back enough by the wards the even he could resist it with ease.
"FOR GREGORY!" Burtrum yelled as he drew back his mighty hammer.
The Bloodhunter battered away a blast of energy from Olivander's wand while spinning, then caught the warhammer on crossed blades above him. The incredible force of the blow made the stone shatter beneath his feet, but the man didn't buckle or break.
"Olivander, you brought help? You need a brute to do the heavy hitting for you?"
"Oh, I think you'll find he's more than a simple brute."
The Greathammer of the Pits opened up, and molten slag poured onto the Bloodhunter.
* * *
Burtrum grinned inside his helm as his hammer's technique activated.
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Greathammer of the Pits
* Weapon: Greathammer
* Rarity: Epic
* A hammer forged in the Hellfire Pits of the Red Mountain. It glows with the mountain's burning light, and contains the fury of the Hellfire Pits.
* Bound Ability: Unleash the fury of Hellfire, pouring molten rock out of the hammer's head. Slag does a high amount of burning damage, and sticks to opponents.
* Cooldown: 4 hours
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The Bloodhunter didn't scream, but he did grunt. It wasn't a finishing blow, but it would deal some damage. Burtrum took a step backwards through a portal Olivander opened and appeared a dozen feet away, on the other side of the Bloodhunter. Olivander had warned him about portals, but said if they could keep the man on the back foot, it might not come into play.
Olivander wasn't wasting time either. Even as he opened the portal for Burtrum, he was drawing out a ritual with his wand in the air before him. He thrust his staff through it, and the ritual wrapped around the staff like a sleeve. Then the bolts of fire that Olivander launched from the weapon contained a hunk of magma that resembled the slag Burtrum just deposited.
The Bloodhunter had to waste precious moments to scrape away the slag before it burned him too badly, but he was being hit by new molten chunks constantly. Burtrum charged back in and activated a simple hammer enforcement technique. His hammer blows fell quickly, and the Bloodhunter was practically defenseless before his assault.
"Ox Giant Smash!" he bellowed, and the glow of his armor brightened. The horizontal swing was the peak of Burtrum's power, and it took the Bloodhunter in the chest. The man was launched like an arrow, blurring over the ground until he tumbled to a stop a hundred feet away.
Olivander finished a second ritual with his wand, his grimoire glowing brightly.
"Entropic Decay!"
A black bolt of magic launched toward the Bloodhunter, who had just begun to stand.
"Raz! Go!" Olivander said, low enough that it wouldn't carry.
"Are you ready, Burtrum?"
"Ready? We have him on the ropes!" Burtrum could see whatever spell Olivander used had engulfed the man in a black fire. Oddly he could see frost forming on the ground around the flames.
"No, Burtrum. This fight has just begun."
A wave of power blasted out from their enemy. The black flames were overwhelmed and Burtrum felt the first of the wards Olivander placed on him crack. Then he tasted metal. He coughed, and flecks of blood sprayed out of his faceguard.
"My wards will only weaken his abilities. He would destroy them too quickly if they blocked blood magic entirely, so watch your health. Remember, if your second ward breaks, retreat! I'm not joking, Burtrum!"
"Aye," Burtrum said, spitting out the blood in his mouth. "Let's bury this monster."