The open sky greeted Daniel as he lay on his back. It was heaven, this sky, after the nightmare today had been. No cloud in sight to obscure the stars and crescent moon. It was strangely similar to Earth, though the stars shone brighter and with faint color. Light pollution only explained one of those deviations and he didn’t care about the reasons behind the other one.
He had no reason to be this happy. The world was doomed, according to Lograve, and he’d almost died again. But, that was hours ago now and he was laying next to Claire on their roof. She was right next to him. Not even in an alluring way, both were just watching the stars. Hunter was there and that would have spoiled any possibility of a mood.
It didn’t matter. There, back on the stone of a foreign world and flanked by a murder cat on one side, a sexy mage on the other, Daniel felt normal. Subtract the magic and this could be a scene from his world. The dark shape of Tlara swooped through their sight line to add another item to that list. That ever so slightly ruined the moment, but she’d earned it.
Not for leaving Daniel to die, or convincing the others she would double back to see if he’d climbed up only to stay in the city. Tlara had risked her own life to alert Roost’s Peak that the wyverns dropping on them weren’t trying to kill them. Sure she’d also been protecting her new pets but that didn’t change the fact that she’d flown down in the face of the fort's ballista in the hopes they wouldn’t waste ammo on such a small profile.
You are happy, Hunter noted. They were close enough for the bond to become slightly empathic.
Daniel glanced at the ringcat’s side and answered. You’re all better. Of course I am! There wasn’t a mark to remind him of the explosion that had torn into the beast, a late evening nap having finished off Hunter’s recovery. If Regeneration could flawlessly fix that at level one, Daniel never needed to fear death as long as he survived. He was pretty sure leveling endurance up was the wise next choice, though no commitments had been made yet. He could only get it to 18 with what he had now. Without Dual Soul also giving him points in wisdom, the choice wasn’t as easy.
“I envy that, you know,” Claire said to him, still facing the sky. “Being able to talk to Hunter. If it worked that way with my familiars I’d never be lonely again.”
“That’s what you have me for.” Claire laughed at that. For once, it seemed Daniel had the perfect response.
“Are you sure about that? If this is going to last we’ll need to talk about what happens after the dragon.” Daniel had told her, of course. That threat seemed so minor compared to the Origin Beast monster god and he didn’t care if Lograve would be mad at him later. Though, he hadn’t mentioned the giant egg to Claire. That was a secret no one else knew, and if it got out Lograve would know who to blame.
Secrets aside, the question threw Daniel. For one, Claire all but confirmed this wasn’t just something temporary. He wanted that, right? Absolutely, without any shred of doubt paradoxically weighing on him even though this was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He wanted this and there absolutely wasn’t any part of him deep down inside that worried he wasn’t ready to commit this much to someone this quickly. But to answer the question?
Daniel didn’t know what was outside the Thormundz. More settled regions, sure. Cities definitely, people had referenced them several times and it seemed the Thormundz had been a backwater, especially without Eido. But what were they like? Were humans the majority everywhere, or just the second Realm? Just here? Living in a city filled with Tlaras would be beyond him, even with Claire there. And there was Hunter. What if people found out about him? Wait, no, what if people found out about me? At best they’ll try and kill me for being a heretic.
“You’re giving this a lot of thought,” Claire observed. She did turn to him then, bringing herself up into a sitting position to gaze down into Daniel’s eyes. “I do have an idea. It’s not exactly conventional, but I guarantee you’d love to see it.” She dragged out the pause long enough to torture Daniel with the question of what she was referring to. “Have you heard of a Sojourn? It’s where I grew-”
Hunter stood suddenly, the fur on his neck raised and a low growl seeping discordance into the night air. “What is it? A wyvern?”
No. Something I cannot… I can’t describe it. The ringcat’s head was turning in all directions, trying to catch a scent.
“Something you can’t tag either, then. Claire, send up a warning.” The Arcanist nodded and used her illusion spell to shape light above them. The power was level one and modest, though it stood out in the darkness. Any who saw, which would be everyone on the walls, would know an attack was coming. The warning would have mattered if something else hadn’t alerted them first.
…
Yedra was standing in front of him with her arms crossed. That irritated Lograve just as much as the fact that she had been the one to suggest the mission to the mine in the first place. The woman didn’t even hold an official position of power in the city, the garrison just looked to her as their leader. In the end, that was all that mattered.
“We need to leave,” Lograve repeated, keeping his tone level and all sense of humor at bay. This was a serious conversation. That was something he normally ignored to lighten the mood, but not this time.
“Feel free,” Yedra replied pointedly, her voice deeper than the Arcanist’s. “But we ain’t. If I remember right we were supposed to hold this place until it fell.”
“Until just before it fell. Which it is about to!”
“So you say.” There was a way that Yedra said this that seemed significant. Like there was something she knew, that he didn’t. Someone had set the trap in the mines and she was the prime suspect. Her motivation for doing so was beyond him, and it also no longer mattered.
Lograve paced to one of the windows in the central keep and glanced towards the mine. Towards what lay at its heart. If this valley had only been surveyed just a little farther, the danger would have been detected before it had come to this. Daniel was right, they shouldn’t have missed a giant hole in the side of the mountain. What had the incursion army been thinking!? He looked back to Yedra and sighed. How am I to explain this to her? I wouldn’t believe me, and I’m me! “The wyvern attacks have almost broken through your defenses before. They will get worse, and soon you will start losing people. It’s time to go, Yedra.”
“Maybe it’s just time for you to leave.” An edge curved the voice that chilled Lograve. She was below his level. In every other way, he was at a disadvantage. Out of mana and up against a class that specialized in close-range combat, to say nothing of her allies within the room! Was this about to become an assassination attempt? Who plays politics while the world burns down? Lograve was saved from what could have been, by what was. All across the city stark orange light illuminated every living creature. The reaction of those inside the room was very hostile towards Lograve until they noticed he was affected too. “What is this?” Yedra asked, not putting down her hammer or turning it away from the Arcanist.
There was only one answer. The light, collecting around the head and chest of everyone in the room, was from an ability he’d seen before. It could come from several classes, but there was no one in the region powerful enough to do this. Unless, but how would, could it be? Lograve’s mind quickly processed the logical steps necessary to come to the only possible conclusion. “This is time running out.”
…
Rorshawd perched atop the cliff face and looked upon the workings of mortals with distaste. From his memories of Daniel, he knew the city was well defended against aerial attacks. That mutilated beast of his would have made his approach very problematic, if not for the fact that a monster of his level could easily avoid the senses of a mere level one. They would be easy prey. A creature. Prey. The mind of Rorshawd delighted in those unconscious word choices. Ascension beyond the mortal form was the desire of any who followed his path. It was the way to immortality, and those who did not manage it would not survive the inferno to come. He had been the first to reach the end. The other name he’d had was forgotten now. He was only Rorshawd, although the dragon idly thought he could use a title. Something to muse on later.
He could feel the vitality in his form. The fire, or the magic that would create it, rested in deep oceanic pools. The beating of his wings to subdue the air made his soul soar just as much as his body. This was far, far greater than he deserved. Rorshawd would see that his Lord’s goodwill was repaid in mortal blood.
There was more than the strength granted to him by the Lord at his disposal. Just as that damned man had taken from him, so Rorshawd had received in kind. The trade turned out to be generously in his favor. Take Mark Weakness, for example. It was prohibitively expensive for Daniel to use in any way other than sparingly. Even with a fully refreshed mana pool, the Artificer couldn’t mark Rorshawd.
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The opposite dynamic was the key. Only one creature below Rorshawd cost a noticeable amount of mana as he marked everything he had already tagged with Identify Creature. And what a useful power that was! In the mists that were the stolen memories of Daniel, Rorshawd remembered the Artificer blandly waxing on how clever he had been to combine the feature with his companion’s senses. Well, Rorshawd could see everything too. He was the equivalent of a high-end level five mortal with well-rounded attributes in that range. Level disparity worked both ways. Having a much higher level than the ability used would not increase its power unless it was a scaling ability, but it would drastically reduce the mana cost.
Moment of Clarity was the prime example. At Rorshawd’s new level, the ongoing cost was negligible and the initial only bothersome. It was still a level one ability, he could not act in the frozen time, but he could think. He could examine every one of the weaknesses he’d marked in detail. His draconic eyes could cut through the night and tally every ballista and every shot that they could put out before running dry. His range of vision had also improved, allowing him to see the village in its entirety without needing to turn his head. For most, he even saw deep into the powers they possessed due to what Identify Creature did at higher levels. Quick Mind, heightened to level five, rapidly analyzed the information presented to him. The strange analytical process running parallel to his main thoughts returned a conclusion the dragon approved of. All who would bear witness to his ascension this night would perish.
The head and the heart. Those were the primary weaknesses most of his targets had. Rorshawd’s draconic visage would have grinned, revealing long teeth, if time flowed normally. Did that even matter? His fire would incinerate anything it touched. No, if Rorshawd was to be honest, there was only one he needed to discover the weakness of. Kob. The others were just for intimidation. Only he could see the auras around each flicker out on death. Mark Weakness would provide a visible, undeniable sign of each life he claimed.
Kob was the one Rorshawd spent the majority of the stolen time scrutinizing. The gestalt was just a mass of vines, what weakness was there to mark? Plenty, as it turned out. Knots in the vines spread out among the throng that served equivalent functions of joints, bones, and nerves. The source of their strength and vitality. In an even fight, Rorshawd knew he could just fly around the giant and breathe fire at them with impunity until its stone defenses melted and the vines beneath burned. He'd have to be careful not to be caught, but even then the Berserker was a mimicry of a level five while he arguably stronger than one with all his advantages. Though, with a city at Kob’s back and roughly 10% of Rorshawd’s mana spent in these opening maneuvers, he would need to be more tactical. That was why he prepared to use terror as his first weapon.
…
Seconds after the entirety of Roost’s Peak had been marked, Rorshawd took flight. No longer moving cautiously, he allowed himself to be tagged in kind by Hunter. The Artificer’s eyes widened at the title accompanying the red aura. It was formatted differently than any tag he'd seen before, including the monster race as well as a section that would normally indicate a class.
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Rorshawd (Young Fire Dragon, ??? - 5)
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The name, the recognizable ability, and his character sheets gave Daniel enough to reach the same conclusion Lograve had. Claire had been affected too. The sight of that mark on her, the intent behind its placement- Moment of Clarity, Daniel thought. Not to activate it, but to warn Hunter. The ringcat still hated the ability. We can’t beat that, Daniel thought as the spell took hold.
Kob is strong. Hunter pointed out after only a second of complaining.
That dragon has my powers! Panic began to edge in as Daniel felt his mana dwindling. He’d spent so much over the day. They all had. Every competent fighter was half strength at best. Except for Tlara, but odds are she would just run. He needed a plan, but he needed to stop burning mana. Tlara gave him an idea, but it would do nothing against the dragon. I’m restarting time soon. Hunter, run. Keep yourself tagged and I’ll find you.
No!
You can get out of here faster than I can! Daniel protested. I need you to make sure Claire gets away safely.
What? But there was no time to explain.
“Tlara!” Daniel shouted as loud as he could, narrowly beating out the cries of alarm that spread throughout the city. Miraculously, she was close enough that the arrival only took a moment.
“I don’t know what the fuck that came from, but I’m out of here,” was her predictable greeting. “Good luck.”
“Wait!”
“I’m not taking you,” she said flatly.
“Claire.” Tlara glared at him for a second before looking away.
“Shit.” She sighed, spent a second trying to glare at the Arcanist, and for some reason couldn’t. “Now or never, lover girl.” The wyvern landed on the roof, taking up all of the space not already occupied.
Daniel turned to Claire fearing she’d protest, but she was already taking Tlara’s offered hand. “You better be right behind me,” she said.
“Hunter’s following you and I’ll do my best to-”
“Wait!” Claire panned the city and pointed to a building. It was closer to the dragon than the walls, though not a great distance away. “Parduc. Please, find him and help him get out.”
Daniel nodded in confirmation, seeing Parduc’s aura in a basement close to where she had been pointing. “I will.”
“Time’s up, I’m going.” The first of the ballista had begun firing and Tlara probably didn’t want to be around for them to mistake her as a valid target. Her wyvern had been marked too, meaning the ballista could get a clean kill with one shot given the opportunity. Claire tried to say something else, but it was lost in the wind.
Hunter vaulted off the roof in pursuit, sparing no time despite the brief anxiety Daniel could feel through the bond. That left him alone on the roof to witness the end of Roost’s Peak.
Rorshawd the dragon was twisting in the air. Daniel couldn’t believe it. Even knowing the midair control features both he and the dragon possessed, it seemed impossible that Rorshawd could dodge every bolt loosed against him. He had seen them up close and watched them fired in daylight. The speed and power the ammunition carried rivaled small artillery of his world due to their enchantments.
It didn’t matter. Rorshawd had a momentum of his own, sinking into gravity while simultaneously guiding his huge body through the air. Wings pulled away just enough to avoid skewering, and when a hit couldn’t be fully avoided the dragon rolled to make it a glancing blow. This was the soul that had been hidden inside him? Daniel had come to realize the times his body had acted against his will had been Rorshawd’s doing. In a way, the Artificer owed the dragon his life. It was almost funny.
Fire reduced two ballista, and the five men around them, to liquid that intermixed and sizzled. The one shred of hope from that sight was the opportunity the dragon gave the other ballista by pausing midflight. Four struck, and one bounced off! The hit had been clean, straight on, and the ballista bolt reacted like it had been aimed at the cliff wall. The other three drew a snarl from the dragon and it listed to the side.
What hit Daniel the most was the names. He didn’t know any of the ones who’d died but he’d known their names. Ralven, Kanias, Flora, Thresher, and Skain. The first people he’d seen die.. Their auras and the fire hadn’t even joined. The wave of heat propelled ahead of magical flame had killed them. Perhaps that was a mercy. Rorshawd seemed to be focusing on the ballista first, and none of his friends-
Daniel’s heart dropped. He’d forgotten them. So readily he’d agreed to save Parduc, but he didn’t think of helping those he’d fought with. Most of them were in the keep in the center of the city, debriefing or visiting the injured before calling it a night. He debated whether he should intervene or trust them to escape on their own before realizing he was wasting more time. People were dying. None of the garrison besides Parduc and the librarian were level three, so everyone Daniel saw die told him their name before they were erased from the world.
Balance, the actual name of the parkour feature Daniel obtained after the ringcat pack, proved its worth as Daniel began vaulting rooftops and running along walls. There was no time. He constantly reminded himself of that. At any moment Rorshawd could choose him as the next target. The dragon must have Identify Creature, meaning it could track him.
The ballista of Roost’s Peak were the only reason this was anything but a slaughter. Some weren’t firing, out of either ammunition or men courageous enough to stand their post. Another third were slag, the rest on their way to join them. There were minutes at most, and Parduc was- “Fuck!” Daniel cursed. Parduc’s aura was retreating to the keep. Maybe that was logical, maybe that building could withstand dragon fire. Kob was there, if anything could stand up to Rorshawd it would be the gestalt. Could Daniel be blamed for leaving Parduc? Would Claire forgive him? Would he forgive himself?
Javelins of ice were being fired from windows in the keep. Lograve, it had to be. The Arcanist had no mana left, but his Aquakinesis had already been heightened. Given that Lograve only used it at level three, Daniel had to wonder what it did at lower levels. Not the time, he grimly told himself. Shame or glory. Was that the choice here? Lograve and Tlara had said the Octyrrum rewarded bravery and prudence in kind. They were living out either side of that doctrine, but Daniel just wanted to find somewhere in the middle to hide. Instead, he kept running to the keep. The outer walls were on fire anyway. Stone shouldn’t burn but Rorshawd’s fire didn’t care. Liquified rock dripped from the areas directly exposed to the brunt of the flame.
It was insanity. How much mana was this costing the dragon, and how much did it have to spend? It had marked everyone in the city and still had enough to bring about this cataclysm. Would it run out? Could it run out? Was the Origin Beast feeding it as much mana as it needed? Those questions occupied Daniel as he ran on. He’d made up his mind. Living with Claire was what he wanted, but he couldn’t do that if he watched his friends’ names vanish like the rest of the garrison. They were all there. Lograve, Thomas, Evalyn, Khare, Gadriel, Kob, and even the wounded Tak and Sigron.
Daniel threw himself across a roof and into an open window. The main gate had been shut, though he hadn’t known that. This was just the fastest way. Two people, members of the garrison, briefly raised weapons before dragging him into cover. They’d expected dragon fire to follow Daniel. None came. Rorshawd was too busy killing the rest of the city.