Chapter 16: Calm Before the Storm i

“Stop the wagons! Big trouble ahead!”

It was only near the end of the journey did the line of caravans stop. Alarmed, the rest of the adventurers left their respective carts prepared for any threat that appeared, but what met their eyes left their mouths ajar. Their destination, Viscor, was now a series of desolate craters completely out of place with the surrounding landscape.

A large encampment was located westward of the craters, three noble flags were planted in the center, waving their colors high claiming control of the desolate terrain.

A small band of men were approaching them, waving the ocean blue flag of Balros.

Irelithe hid and waited, peering through a crack in the walls.

“Halt, this area is now under the control of Viscountess Virandi of Balros. State your intentions for passing. Resistance will not be tolerated.”

A man in silver armor rode his war steed forward, his hands held onto a black mythril lance shining with a sinister gleam.

The merchant leader, Warren, approached the armed men. His body was tense but his voice was cooperative.

“I am a mere merchant from Lanchester peddling my wares across the continent. Behind me are the mercenaries I hired to protect me, and in the wagon are various spices and equipment I planned to sell along the way.

The man in silver armor pointed his free hand towards the wagons, gesturing for their search and eventually their seizure.

Warren was frantic, he spent a good deal of his fortune on this expedition and now these men were taking away his goods for nothing.

“Uhm, Sirs?”

The man in silver armor looked back at the stout man in front of him.

“I’m protected by the Merchant’s Coalition you see, if I rep-“

The black lance raised towards Warren’s neck, only stopping before drawing blood.

“Report what? We are merely confiscating rations for war. In return we will guarantee your lives.”

His smile was rotten. His eyes laughed at the man’s fate. He was bewitched by this enjoyment until the last moment. His head caved in by a sudden jet of flame from behind one of the wagons.

The sounds of unsheathing swords rang out as the armored men circled the wagon where the fire had come from. They drew closer and closer, the well trained steps moving forward with no pause or break between.

Irelithe had done something again in her recklessness. She pulled out a scroll she had prepared during the first days of the trip. It was a simple spell, but it was extremely useful for circumstances like this. She poured her Mana into the scroll and prepared for the worst, cupping her ears and closing her eyes as the scroll began to brighten and whirl on the floorboards of the wagon.

One of the men had detected the activation of magic. The formula appearing in his head a second after, realizing what will happen soon.

“It’s a [Flash]!”

A blinding light and an ear-splitting sound erupted from the wagon. Half the men lost their footing, the other half staggered by the sudden assault on their senses.

Irelithe used this chance to fight back. She rushed out of the wagon throwing azure spirals of flame at a few of them. They chased after her but not without difficulty.

The other mercenaries were blinded as well but recovered faster than the armored men due to several advantageous factors. Their location and their stats trained through actual combat. They charged the men, attacking with their assembly of different weapons and magic. Even the glimpse of a black lance could be seen amongst the many weapons.

But the mage tracked down Irelithe. He sent lightning javelins at Irelithe every few seconds or so, only missing by at most a metre at a time.

She sent her own attacks back but he merely blocked them with a cage of lightning surrounding his body.

“You won’t be escaping today after killing Steve!”

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The man raised his left hand, the entire cage of lightning condensing into a single destructive stream of lightning.

Irelithe had to admit, he got her good. She could evade the lightning javelins before but this one was different. No matter how well she moved under the effects of [Fleetfoot], this particular attack followed here. Veering towards her with reckless rage.

The lightning approached her but before it touched her, a pure red light radiated from Irelithe forming a protective shield around her. The ruby on her pendant heating up as the Mana she had stored was used to block the lightning. However, it didn’t work. The lightning pierced through the ruby’s ward before colliding with the sapphire’s. And even then, to Irelithe’s dismay, the lightning also smashed through the blue shield before finally fading.

“Oh? That’s a fancy artifact you got there!”

The Lightning Mage was even more excited now at the prospect of getting his hands on her trefoil pendant. He amplified his yellow lightning, the static electricity even reaching Irelithe causing her skin to sting.

“You can block one of my Lightning Bursts, but can you handle this?”

His lightning changed. Solidifying into a roughly humanoid shape twice the size of the man.

Irelithe knew what it was. It was something that had been banned by the Wizard’s Tower for years.

“Fool! You fused with an Elemental?”

“That’s what all the others said before they died!”

The man cackled, his lightning forming a direct link with the primordial being behind him. Yellow runes spread across his skin, the sclera of his eyes turning black, and his voice split into two. His transformation causing even the sky to change as black thunderheads began to form. The distant thunder calling the attention of many.

He raised his right arm, a bolt of jet black lightning forming into a spear as long as the man was tall.

“Now DIE!”

Just as he was about to throw the spear, a pressure dug into his arm. He dropped the spear and looked down at his arm. He watched it twist, the finger like shapes snapped his arm clean off. Black blood began spilling out of the wound. His enraged eyes looked in the direction of the one who maimed him.

“This plane has no place for things like you.”

Xuan stood defiantly between Irelithe and the mad man. His arm held in front of him holding onto nothing. He raised his other fist and thrust forwards towards the man, an invisible force crushing his entire body into a black mess.

But it wasn’t over. The lightning surged once more. The man which they had thought had died rose from the black blood. His body was entirely lightning now, pure undiluted energy. No longer alive or dead. He laughed a long gruesome laugh. The twin voices echoing with his combined insanity.

“I should thank you for helping me complete this form.”

Xuan just stood there… waiting.

“Aren’t you going to bow down at my new power? I am happy enough to even take you two as servants.”

“You still don’t understand do you?”

Xuan had seen this happen many times before, and never had the outcome been remotely different.

“What is there to understand? I am tr-

The lightning man began screaming, the harsh gut wrenching screams seemed to gnaw away at Irelithe’s sanity.

“You can feel it now can’t you? The Elemental is consuming your soul as we speak. Do you understand now why the Tower banned it?”

The lightning man couldn’t respond. His mind had shut down long ago with his soul devoured. His body was now an empty shell to be used by the Elemental.

“I... Am... Ishvalt... As... Per... The... Contract... You... Will... Live...”

The man turned Elemental pointed towards Irelithe, her mind nearly snapping under the extreme pressure just from its words alone.

“But... She... Will... Die...”

Xuan wasn’t going to allow that though.

“She’s under my protection now. According to the contract, she will live, no?”

The Elemental Ishvalt remained silent for an undeterminable amount of time.

“The... King... Approves...”

The Elemental Ishvalt shot upwards towards the rumbling clouds above. With its exit, the pressure on Irelithe lessened, her heart racing due to the difference in power between the two.

Xuan looked down at the dainty Elf he had saved, his expression neither lustful nor greedy.

“Look, you saw something you shouldn’t have and now you have to be with me. I don’t care if you die but-”

Xuan paused as the woman looked into his eyes. Her shimmering emerald eye betraying her heritage. She was a rare one indeed! It made him feel better about abandoning that Devil but finding a Wyrd Elf was definitely a stroke of luck. He thanked Tavroth for his blessings before revising the words he were about to say.

“Actually, on second thought, come with me. I’ll protect you so long as you don’t cause a hassle.”

Irelithe saw his gaze, how he had paused when their eyes locked. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe the man had fallen in love with her at first sight, but she knew the man wanted something from her. She shuffled slightly, moving to stuff her trefoil pendant deeper underneath the singed robes she now wore.

She waited a few moments as if debating on whether or not to accept his offer.

“What do I get out of this?”

The man standing gallantly on the slightly raised ground ever so slightly chuckled. His mouth moved and harsh words came out, but Irelithe didn’t hear any of it. Instead, Irelithe heard the man’s voice in her head.

“You don’t really have a choice. Come with me or else. Ishtar is watching us right now, look see?”

The man pointed to the sky, the dark gray thunderheads still floating in the sky.

“It’s still watching, don’t resist. If for even an instant it thinks that you refuse my protection, it will strike you with lightning far beyond what that crazed mage had.”

Irelithe really did have no choice. She would either die or live depending on her answer, and she obviously needed to be alive to find that blacksmith.

“Fine. I will join you.”

The one eyed Wyrd Elf accepted Xuan’s proposal, the dark clouds dispersed revealing the bright cloudless sky that had been there an hour before. Xuan and Irelithe were now bound by fate (or as long as Xuan’s curiosity in her lineage lasted rather).

“Then we will leave. I have some things to do but bringing along a girl like you should be fine.”

“One. My name is Irelithe. Two. Where are we going?”

Xuan’s face contorted into a creepy smile at Irelithe’s somewhat innocent question.

“I have no idea!”