Zeke was determined not to be the last of the boys to glide. Their little group of farmhands found that learning the skill was quite difficult. It was Ricki, the youngest of their group, who showed them the magic — although blessing or gift would be a more apt description.

Unlike his cousins, Zeke had a mage for a brother. Erik was trained in the arts — but even he could not figure out what was happening to Zeke, nor how he could perform his feats of magic.

His brother told him to keep it secret — and to tell the others to do so. He called their brand of magic strange, perhaps druidic in nature.

Gliding across the earth like it was ice, increased strength and endurance, sensory perceptions tied to the earth — all of they were doing and experiencing should have used mana, but his brother felt none of it inside him.

It was probably the gems — no definitely. The snail’s gift connected them to the earth, allowing them to feel its presence and draw from it.

At first, they thought they got stronger through mana flowing through their bodies. They later found their connection had nothing to do with mana. The scourge even gave them stones that he said held mana. If they could feel the power in the stones, then they were on the path to magehood.

Zeke clutches the two stones around his neck — one plain, the other a gemstone. Erik told him the plain stone held great power, while the gemstone had none. He even wanted to take the stone to the Guildhall Arcana to show it to his mentors for study. When he asked if he wanted the stone — not that he would give it — his brother dismissed it entirely, saying it was a mere bauble.

A mere bauble, indeed.

It was the bauble that connected them to the earth, while the stone did nothing. At first, he thought his brother was tricking him — chiding him to forgo the bauble for the stone, but it wasn’t the case. Erik truly believed the gem was worthless.

There.

Earth Glide * Complex Magic * Alteration * Earth * Forces

Effect: Manipulates gravity, friction, and inertia ta allow fast travel over land.

Source: Unknown

The ground pulsed beneath his feet, pushing him forward. The movement felt unnatural at first. He expected to tip over from the speed — but his body stayed balanced as the earth seemed to slide from beneath him.

He stopped the call.

Thank you.

He hoped his attempts at gliding did not irritate the earth — or whatever was helping him.

When he and his cousins first realized the things they could do with its help — they used it wantonly, only to find themselves failing in their attempts and powerless for the next days. It didn’t matter if most of them restrained themselves from the power. The earth didn’t seem to see them as individuals — only as part of a whole.

Warren forbade them from unnecessarily calling the power — saying they could be drawing too much and taxing the earth or irritating it through their senseless requests.

Everyone agreed, but he was sure Dylan or Warren were showing off their strength somewhere to impress a girl or two.

Strength and endurance came naturally. It didn’t seem to tax the earth, especially when they were working the fields. Other abilities or gifts had to be learned.

It felt strange having to learn how to ask the earth for something — but now he knew why. Words were all but useless. He needed to use his emotions to communicate, but the smallest trace of hesitance and fear would mar the message.

Four. So far only three — now four — of them could glide.

Zeke believed gliding was far more useful than Harrow’s rock bullets. Sure, it looked neat sending a rock flying off — but it didn’t hit that hard and he could throw a stone with greater force.

Tomorrow, they would be going back to see Shelby. Having a giant snail for a mentor seemed mighty strange — but there were a lot of strange things going around in the Scourge’s home.

For one, there were spies hiding in the woods by the road. He wouldn’t have noticed them, but most of the farmhands developed a sense for the earth — allowing them to sense creatures within a certain distance. His earthsense was the widest, spanning close to 200 steps.

It was funny they didn’t see each other. Zeke counted at least three groups in the woods — all of them probably held back by Shelby.

They decided not to confront the spies or alert Sebas. Ricki said Shelby knew of them and that they were more of a nuisance than a threat.

Zeke finally noticed the sun nearing the horizon — it was time to head home.

***

Kurt was not happy. The plan to burn the city would draw too much attention to the Serpents, and he was not so sure they could remain hidden from the combined efforts of the city and its mages were they to continue with their plan.

Two dead.

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That Malice was a menace. He couldn’t believe the man rose so high in their ranks. He was vindictive and bloodthirsty — so what if he was ancient? The fact that he was in his fourth — maybe fifth — body only showed how inept the man was.

He kneaded his brow. The headaches were coming more often. Constant fear, impossible tasks, screaming leaders — the stress from his position was close to overwhelming.

But it was worth it.

Yesterday, he earned his way to the outer circle of the Serpents. The ritual involved the death of two vagrants, one he provided himself.

A small gate was opened into his soul, allowing him to commune with his personal demon. The imp would teach him the ways of magic. In return, he would further the cause of the Serpents throughout his life — one that had the possibility of continuing for centuries once he reaches the inner circle.

Hellfire — it was the first spell he was tasked to learn. Before teaching him, the imp demanded one of his fingers. He gave it two — cut from a drunkard’s hand. The imp seemed disappointing and satisfied at the same time, he couldn’t tell from its expressions — but he did learn the spell.

Hellfire would burn through everything that lived or had a life. A normal person could stamp out the flames with mana and force of will, though it would take a lot of both. Using it on the city — with houses built with wood — would cause massive damage.

They would be performing a ritual instead of individually casting the spell. A ritual would strengthen the resulting hellfire, making it impossible to douse with simple magic. It would reduce a large part of the city to ash.

A piercing pain on his head woke him from his musings.

Damned Joric.

Their newly-appointed leader required them to ingest mind maggots. The creatures had a hive mind, allowing the queen to connect with her subjects — and Joric had the queen.

The maggots would ensure none of them would be able to provide information on the Serpents if they were caught or turned. The maggots would wipe out their memories, making them useless alive or dead to their captors.

He was fine with that. He believed in keeping the secrets of the Serpents. But this Joric — he used the maggots wantonly to act as messengers, and the only message they could convey was pain.

There would be a reckoning, he swore. Their new leader was becoming more and more like Malice, and their group was already bleeding from one.

***

“I can’t hold them anymore,” roared Aiden. The warrior faced two trolls, blocking them from reaching his companions fighting another one of the creatures. His shield was bent and torn in several places, it was a miracle it still held.

Three trolls should have been easy for the three veteran adventures. They delved into the forest to find elden bears and fire wasps, hoping to make some gold from their parts. What they didn’t expect to find was a fire-breathing lizard.

It was too small to be a dragon and its body was too large for its neck. It had two lumps growing near its neck — which they surmised would eventually grow into wings.

Needless to say, they fled the encounter. The thing tore through them, leaving them badly hurt before they managed to escape.

Aiden downed his last potion, healing some of his wounds but leaving him close to exhaustion. Illendra spent most of her mana. Now, she was limited to casting the most basic of spells, and using them sapped her endurance. Arkos fared better than the two. The ranger was nimble, allowing him to dodge most of the lizard’s fiery breath — too bad his quiver didn’t. He was left with six arrows, and he wasn’t too good with the shortsword he brought along as a backup weapon.

Exhausted and reeling from the fight, they made their way out of the forest — only to be ambushed by trolls.

Arkos desperately tried to parry the troll’s blow with his sword — only to be pummeled to the ground by its strength. The troll wielded a makeshift club, torn from one of the forest trees’ bigger branches.

The creature closes in on the fallen Arkos, but the ranger bought enough time for their wizard to gather enough mana to cast her spell.

“Cold Fire!”

Cold Fire * Compound Spell * Conjuration *Abjuration * Fire

Effect: The spell engulfs a target in fire. The fire burns as normal, but it is enveloped in a shield of mana that prevents heat from escaping.

The injured troll gave a defiant roar before falling to the spell.

Illendra exhaled a sigh of relief. The spell took a lot from her, but at least it kept Arkos alive to join the battle once more.

A timed hit from Aiden’s longsword severed the leg of the troll to his right. A burst of power filled the warrior, as his sword drew mana from the wounds of the fallen enemy. Superficial wounds began to close, but the deeper ones kept bleeding.

Aiden’s moment of relief was cut short by a powerful kick. The warrior slammed into the ground listless, momentarily stunned by the impart.

The enraged troll slashed its wicked claw at the fallen warrior, severing his shield arm. Another kick from its clawed foot tears through Aiden’s neck, leaving a gaping wound.

Illendra deeply regretted joining the two brothers. The two did well for adventurers, fewer party members meant more gold between them. Goblins and wolves were easy pickings for the two — but now they faced more terrible foes.

She grasped her staff firmly in her hands, holding it defensively — hoping Arkos would muster the strength to rise up and defend his downed brother.

It was then that she heard — more like felt — the forest stirring.

Three snails, the size of small dogs, charged at the trolls. One of them seemed to cast a spell, burying the legless troll into the earth. The other two blasted the remaining troll’s legs with their flail-like protrusions.

A kick from the troll sent one of the snails crashing into a tree. The snail dropped to the ground and stayed motionless.

The two remaining snails seemed to hesitate, seeing what was done to their companion.

They began to circle the troll, sending spikes of earth whenever the troll had their back facing one of them.

The enraged troll charged one of the snails. It swung its club, only to hit the ground as the snail sped away.

The two snails stayed together. Walls of earth appeared in front of them, sometimes hindering the troll and sometimes encasing it entirely.

It was a defiant but hopeless stand. The troll was too powerful, and it was slowly getting into striking distance.

The last earth wall collapsed under the trolls, leaving the snails vulnerable to its assault. The triumphant troll roared in glee, only to be knocked forward by an arrow to his back.

Two more arrows followed the first, dropping the troll to the ground.

The worn-out Arkos limped over to the downed troll, severing its neck before motioning to Illendra to burn the body.

The two snails glided to their injured companion. They seemed to be inspecting its injuries, clicxing and hwhitling as they did so.

One of the snails approached Illendra and dropped what seemed to be a card.

“The corner shop?” Illendra wondered at the card she was reading. “Didn’t the two of you head there before?.”

Her words were lost to Arkos who was searching in his brother’s pack. He grabbed what seemed to be a red drop packed inside a flimsy see-through container.

He easily tore the container, grabbing the pack. He hastily reached for his brother, desperately pulling his pants down.

“What are you doing?” the shocked Wizard could only ask. The sight seemed unnatural and she didn’t know the ranger’s thoughts.

“Read the paper,” Arkes responded before shoving the red drop into his brother’s behind. “It said — swallow or use ass.”

The shaken wizard stooped down to grab the clear packaging — finding the crumpled paper. She shook her head — she knew the brothers were slow in the head, and that little crumple might have led to the uncalled-for act.

It did say — swallow or use as.

If only the brothers read the crumpled part it would have made more sense.

Swallow or use as a plug on a severed limb. — she definitely regretted joining the two.