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The Knight rounded upon her swinging his sword down. Mira flinched back, raising her hands as she was still recovering from her last hurried spell, as the blade crashed down on her, the unexpected happened. The gift from the Sprites in the Vivarium, the Aurora Glyph on her hand, flashed and exploded in waves of light and power. The Knight’s blade rebounded, and a burst of summoned winds battered the knight, sending him tumbling across the room.
“Thank you, Sprites!” Mira gasped from her crouch. That was far too close, she thought, jumping up.
She needed to stop the Knight quickly and she was running out of ideas. She summoned her large copper tub and dropped it on the Knight. The undead was still in a prone position on the floor but he backhanded the large object with his sword, sending it crashing to the far wall knocking several displays over and triggering their explosive spell traps. Lightning from the traps arced over and about the room.
“Alright, then! Try to stop this, you damn overpowered nightmare!” Mira yelled. Even though she didn't do live feed entertainment anymore, she still frequently narrated her adventures with her standard Mythic Realms banter. She summoned her Grimoire Ad Infinitum; the book was still locked and protected by the Lore Warden. She hefted the huge tome and with some telekinetic help; she slammed the huge tome down upon the skeleton. The enormously weighty book pressed him down. As Mira let it go, she activated the bookmark's full set of protective powers, both locking the book down and protecting it from harm.
“Knowledge is power, you Son of a Lich!” Mira screamed. The Knight screeched, unable to raise his sword or move from beneath the book. The giant immovable book refused to budge despite his Qi-empowered strength. The Lore Warden artifact had frozen the grimoire in place and protected it from all damage.
Mira scurried back a safe distance, her chest heaving trying to catch a breath, as the Knight continued to struggle. Tiamat landed beside her.
“Are we safe now?” the dragon asked, her voice trembling.
Mira let out a tired and dry chuckle, “Safe is a relative term when dealing with undead knights and cursed treasure vaults, my dear. But for now, I think we can catch our breath.”
She noticed Tiamat flinch as another metallic screech echoed from the trapped knight. Mira turned back towards the vault; her gaze drawn to the still beckoning waves of godly Aether. Despite everything, the allure of the divine artifact was almost impossible to ignore. The faen threads tangled about the Knight in gold and black ribbons, giving Mira pause. A horrid realization occurred to her as she began to see the bigger picture.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Fucking Fae! I just realized that our earlier loot wasn't for Reggie at all.” Mira yelled. She summoned the Necromancer’s Intellect Shard.
“This treasure from the Viper’s Nest should restore the Knight Borador to lucidity and maybe free that damn Dragon from the Magister’s Geas at the same time.” Mira said.
“I’m sorry, Reggie. I wanted this to be for you, but I think we don’t have a choice. We need it, here and now. I know a Chekov’s Gun plot device when I see one. I shouldn't have assumed it was for my personal goals. These god damn Fae. This totally sucks!” Mira complained, slowly dragging herself to her feet and summoning the room's dense Akasic mana to her.
Mira focused on the Intellect Shard; the reversed glyphs used by Necromancers blazed with dark energy across its facets. The fallen hero continued to struggle and shriek in animalistic ferocity. Mira had a good idea of how to use the device. Her ability with Necromancy was poor to middling, but the device would do the heavy lifting. She pulled the power about her into an energetic tornado.
She carefully approached the knight, circling around his flailing limbs. She pushed with all her will to funnel the Akasic maelstrom that she had created into the crystal and pressed it to the squirming undead knight’s forehead. The mana inverted as all the shadows in the room lit up and the glow spells darkened. Necromancy was weird like that.
The rubble strewn about the room levitated as winds lashed about the room. The chaotic effects centered on the trapped undead. The floating debris shuddered and dropped as the thunderous casting subsided. The room was quiet. The unearthly music had been silenced, its enchantments were either broken or drained by the mana inversion. More promising, the Death Knight Borador, was silent and looking with confusion about the room.
“Hello there, young lady. I’m sorry for my rudeness in not bowing, but I appear to be trapped here. I don’t recognize this room. Did the Demon Horde break through? Where is the Duke of High Reach?” The Death Knight somehow managed to appear both regal and sheepish despite his gruesome skeletal visage.
Mira cautiously approached. The armored creature that was pinned under her Grimoire didn’t seem hostile. It acted like a confused and polite man. The Necromancer’s Shard had truly delivered. It had restored the man, or at least restored his mind.
“Borador?” she asked.
“Sir Borador. Yes, Ma’am. If you can help get this book off me, I must find the duke. The Demon Horde was breaking through the garrison at Torbin’s Pass. I must prepare the defenses of the Keep.” Borador said urgently, still trying to shift out from under the large immovable book. Mira sighed, she had a lot of practice with reconnecting people with old or faulty memories to the new reality thanks to her Faen Forgetting Curse, but she didn’t like it.
“I think that I can assure you that the danger is past, Sir Borador. I can move the book. Can you promise to make no sudden moves if I assist you? You were just trying to kill me moments ago, after all.” Mira asked the Knight.
“What? Ridiculous! I would never threaten a maiden. What has become of the Demon Horde? I think I was knocked unconscious. Is the battle over? Where is the duke? Where am I?” Borador asked earnestly.
“Ah, I think I have some good news and some bad for you, Sir Borador. Let’s get this book off you and we can talk.” Mira said, as she vanished her Grimoire into her storage, she began to explain.
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