Incoming Request

World: X-002

Spell Level: 7

Duration: 4 hours

Mana offered: XXXX

XXXX!? As I spit out my proverbial drink, a vision flashed before me. A throne room, replete with a ruler and his guard. A great ritual was underway. Many summoners worked in concert to cast a summoning spell beyond their individual abilities.

Request Accepted

Select your form.

Choice: Battle Deva

Select spawn location.

The forms menu had a celestial theme. What the vision didn’t tell me, this theme did: I’ve been summoned to the city I spirited Decker out of. The Accursed has attacked the town.

The Battle Deva is the versatile option here. While all of the forms offered can fly, it is very good in physical combat, and able to use some magic. Its arms can morph into short lances at will, which can’t be disarmed.

I materialize in the throne room, facing an open set of doors. The summoners huddle to perform another ritual. A map view appears before me, with dots on it: objectives.

I leave the throne room, then the castle, following the trail of bread crumbs on my map. So this is how the big boys play! The sky overhead is black, and it’s not nighttime yet.

A wall of heavily armored soldiers block the palace walkway. Beyond them, a sea of walking corpses were pushing against their shields. Mages were hurling spells at them from the castle walls, but it was like emptying a lake with a bucket. There were simply too many.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

As I approach, the soldiers enter my aura, and their hearts steady. The corpses enter next, and they begin acting erratically. The crowd starts to come unglued. I continue over the shield wall, covering as much of the crowd as I can, and activate AREA DESTROY UNDEAD!

The simple magic animating the corpses is erased, and their corrupted flesh is ignited by celestial fire. The crowd is no more. I continue forward to the city within the inner wall.

In the temple district, they are faring better than at the palace. The shield temple has a shield wall at its door, while others have barricaded their entryways with furniture. Unlike the palace, the corpses are passing by, not trying to gain entry.

Ahead, I see the large open park and dark temple. The temple is still violently shaking. The grass is gone, completely dug up. This must be where the corpses rose from. The temple now stands elevated above its surroundings, as though it should have a moat.

As I approach, the temple comes to a sudden stop. Out of suspicion, I stop and watch. A whip of concentrated mana lashes out through the temple’s door, tearing open a tall, elliptical portal.

*

Darkness pours out of the portal like pressurized smoke. Great bony fingers exit the portal, and wrap around its rim. The great hands stretch the portal wide open, wide enough for four men to walk out side-by-side.

A cloaked figure floats through, its bone wings barely clearing the portal opening. It rapidly beats its wings to reach my height, and hovers. Its glowing eyes can be seen under its hood. It tilts forward, beats its wings, and charges toward me!

I dive to dodge its charge, turn, and fire off a DESTROY UNDEAD at it. It connects, but nothing happens. There is no magic animating it. This thing, it’s not undead, it simply is what it is. It charges again.

I ready my lances and charge to meet it halfway. It happily collides, deflecting my lances and swinging around with its blades, grazing my flank. I turn to pursue it, and it attempts another charge. I bluff another charge, slowing just before the clash, and turning to face my opponent.

It lets out an uncanny cackle and extends a black, bony hand. I feel I’ve been hit with barrage of fireworks, and nausea comes over me. My form recognizes the attack: WOUND, a staple dark spell. I respond with AREA LIGHT, and it flees as the illuminated area radiates outward. My form deduces that this enemy is a Nightmare, an abyssal creature.

I activate LIGHT BRAND, which cloaks my lances in light magic, and pursue the Nightmare. It shrieks horribly and flees. A roar rises from the portal.