Chapter 94 Try It.

“Holy Halya in the heavens on high.” Esk swore as the ceiling of the cavern poured fire, lightning, and brimstone down on the drow reality shields relentlessly. “What is that?”

Edward smirked despite the emotionally charged battle going on a dozen feet away from them. “Celeste!” He called across the sounds of clashing steel and cries of pain.

“The Dawnbringer does not disappoint!” Fable called back.

“It’s her specialty!” Edward replied while ending another drow soldier’s life.

“Burning through her entire mana pool in sixty seconds or less?” Esk questioned as the storm broke apart from the spell ending.

“Ending armies!” Edward called back. “It’s a shame these bastards brought shield artifacts!”

“Indeed.” Fable replied. “This would be over by now otherwise.”

—

Lenna lurched to the side under the brutal impact of Macken’s aura and mana empowered fist into her side. She let out no cry of pain but she did clench her teeth.

“Lenna! I will drag you back kicking and screaming if I must.” Macken explained as he blocked her return punch only to take a kick to the shin hard enough to lock his knee and bruise his shin bone through his armor and flesh. “Damn it woman!”

Lenna flipped her sword into a reverse grip and brought the pommel up into his exposed elbow. The impact knocked his hand free of her faceplate and they staggered apart. “I refuse!” Lenna replied and leveled her sword at him. “Surrender or I will be forced to kill you!” Her voice dropped so low that he almost missed what she said next: “My first friend.”

“Ancestors hear my call,” Macken began.

“Come forth,” Was Lenna’s retort as she dove at him.

“aid your child in crushing hi-” Macken’s chant was cut off.

“ember of a dying star!” Lenna finished before he did and the fireball went off just behind his feet as her body impacted him. The force blasted them both off the ground and the air was forced out of their lungs. They twisted and flailed in mid air until they both hit the stone on their sides. Lenna kicked off the stone to end up on top of him and brought her fist down on his faceplate. “I won’t go back!” She yelled despite the two feet between their faces.

Macken’s fist impacted the side of her head as he shoved off the ground with one of his legs causing them to tumble to the side and all of a sudden their positions had switched. “You are a dark elf not a human! Come home!” He ordered and punched her faceplate again causing the once broken rivet to break again.

Lenna’s faceplate twisted and only her one eye could still see but it was enough. “Can’t you see why I left?!” Lenna demanded and grabbed his faceplate with her free hand while she tried to swing for his neck with her sword. He caught her blade with his forearm and grabbed her other wrist with his other hand.

“I don’t care!” He shot back.

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“Let my flames” Lenna began.

“You wouldn’t dare.” He mumbled as her hand started to heat up.

“consume all before me.” She finished and a torrent of flames poured out of her hand and into his helmet.

With a grunt, Macken ripped her hand free of his faceplate and flames shot into the air. His face was burned but only barely. He was missing his eyelashes, eyebrows, and some of his hair and his skin was surely going to peel later as if it had been badly sunburned, if he survived, but the flames were far from lethal under such short exposure.

Lenna’s fire cut off only for her entire body to start glowing with flickering orange flames. She let go of her sword and burned even more mana to enhance her punch as much as she could before it slammed into the side of his head, tossing him completely off of her. They both staggered to their feet. There was nothing but scorched stone and carnage around them. Anyone and anything that happened to get caught up in their fight had been blasted away or apart mercilessly. They were both breathing hard as their only visible eyes met. His faceplate had also broken at some point. Lenna reached up and ripped open the latch on her chinstrap and Macken did the same.

They both ripped off their helmets and stared at each other with exhaustion, fury, and resolve set in their faces so thoroughly that they looked like they had been born that way. “I’m taking you home. It’s for your own good.” He told her.

“Try it.” Lenna dared and threw her, now flaming, helmet at his face.

—

Isaac dodged backwards to avoid another slash from Jallen V’Nova. Each of the paladin’s attacks could’ve ended him. Isaac had traded his invisibility for a low grade boost in strength and speed. He was finally faster than a Quickened Fable but it wasn’t enough. The Quicken spell may have doubled the speed increase from his own boost but speed alone could not beat Jallen V’Nova. Isaac quickly realized that the only reason he had even stood a chance was because Jallen was fighting off of intuition alone. Now that the paladin could see Isaac’s every move the Mage was getting pushed back relentlessly. Isaac was forced to teleport again as he found himself completely boxed in by the spectral ancestors of the V’Nova clan that Jallen had summoned.

Jallen growled as Isaac slipped from his grasp again in a puff of black mist. The specters swore as they abruptly changed direction to continue their chase after the mage. Isaac could feel Jallen’s general condition. He knew that the paladin had taken in enough poison to kill him five times over even with his near immunity to the liquid. The man’s resistance had been far beyond what they had anticipated and his aura had been even worse. Jallen was so adept at controlling his aura and its effects on things that he had managed to keep the poison from spreading with willpower and aura alone. Now Jallen was almost healed completely. Isaac had an awful time getting a good read on how much mana the paladin had as the legendary grade items covering him from head to toe basically blinded the mage’s mana senses.

The cavern was alight as fire rained down over the battlefield behind the dueling monsters in mortal skin. Lightning flashed and both were washed in a watered down white light. “You’ll run out of mana eventually.” Isaac promised the paladin while maintaining distance.

“Not before you die.” Jallen promised and tossed his sword up before catching it in an all too familiar grip. Lightning fired and thunder rolled as two of the four specters were turned into gold and purple mist.

Isaac grinned. “I figured I should call my familiar over, if we are using summons.” He taunted as Jallen whirled on the skeleton dragon. Isaac immediately went on the offensive as soon as Jallen’s attention wasn’t entirely on him.

Jallen launched his sword at the dragon despite the forty feet between them. Isaac’s blade bounced off the side of Jallen’s helmet causing him to stumble slightly before he spun around with a glowing fist that could’ve killed either Isaac or Kahtesh outright. “Die.” Jallen ordered through gritted teeth.

Kahtesh hopped out of the way of the incoming glowing sword. He was not prepared for the weapon to be flying as fast as it had been and the sword’s tip nicked the edge of his left wing. Kahtesh felt his entire left wing vaporize from the instantly imparted oathbound divine energy. He continued jumping around the outside edge of their tiny battlefield. The last two specters dove after Kahtesh as Jallen tried to finish off Isaac.

Isaac jumped back as quickly as he could and threw all of his normal throwing spikes at Jallen at the same time to try and get some distance. He had prevented the paladin from executing Kahtesh and that would have to be enough. Jallen blocked his face with his forearm and that brief moment of being unable to see Isaac was enough for the mage to get out of the line of instant death that was the charging Jallen V’Nova.

Kahtesh didn’t let any of his power flow towards his missing wing and instead directed all of it at his lightning rune. One of the specters flew through him and he felt power leave his body. His legs threatened to fall apart as he suddenly lacked enough power to move them. He turned as he fell and focused the trickle of incoming power from his master into his rune. It had almost been ready to fire before the specter had robbed him and he was going to make sure he got it off.

Kahtesh turned his head as his legs gave out. He started toppling to the side because of the massive difference in weight. His existing wing drug him down as if it were made of lead. The little dragon opened his mouth with the last of his strength and thunder roared. Lightning split the air. The second of the pair of specters had been too slow in reaching the little dragon and had instead been positioned right in between Kahtesh and Jallen. The lightning moved through the specter as if it hadn’t even been there, reducing the ancient being to a cloud of mist. The lightning continued until it closed in on Jallen and just… fizzled.

Jallen’s aura stopped the incoming lightning bolt as if it were a city wall. The lightning went from nearly full power to a tiny spark over the course of a dozen feet. Jallen hadn’t even felt the little dragon’s strongest attack but at least he had finished off another specter. Kahtesh’s eyes flickered out from the second pass of the still living specter right as he witnessed something he really wished he hadn’t. Isaac had been hit by one of Jallen’s attacks and it hadn’t been a glancing blow.