The rock creature formed spikes over its body and bristled like an angry porcupine. Its feet dug into the ice, and it could move normally, which meant it was free to destroy them.
The black blade scarred the rock one more time but didn’t do any lasting damage. Akisane stumbled away more than dodged as it slammed its foot down and stamped the ground with a toeless footprint.
That impact would have driven him into the ground. I have to sacrifice Bahram to save myself and the group. I’ve already waited too long. Why haven’t I acted yet?
A whip of fire sprouted from Bahram’s hand, and he snapped it at the creature, but it wasn’t hot enough to melt the rock. The air filled with dust and chips like little razors when it missed and struck a boulder.
Tightening his grip on the handle, Akisane noticed his hands were numb from striking steel against stone. It rattled him to the core every time the impact shot down from the sword and worked its way through his body.
Shank crawled onto the rubble surrounding the hill and searched, perhaps for a weapon, since his daggers were useless in this situation. The best part about him was that he might take orders, but he'd leave as soon as he didn’t like the arrangement. The man had no devotion to anyone or any spirit, setting him apart from the commonly hired blade. But why did he still stick around when the fight was lost?
Even Amat and Bahram fought on despite an insurmountable challenge when all the creature wanted was the sword in the hands of the Duke’s son. Was this loyalty?
The only time Akisane saw magic wielded as a group was when Kichi and the other fools fought his brother. Perhaps instead of sacrificing Bahram, he could use the sorcerer's power in tandem. Rather than use his spirit energy to shove, he sent it out and searched like a blindfolded man for a hold, and what he discovered was emptiness.
A rock fist came near, and though Akisane threw himself, the contact sent him flying. He skidded along the ground and felt skin tear but never gave up searching. In the void, his search found resistance like giant strings of a lute, but they weren’t solid when he reached for them but diverted from the touch until they locked with his own in harmony.
As Akisane merged their magics, he knew what he’d done. He’d seized control of the sorcerer's magic by force.
Judging by the look of shock he directed to the Duke’s son, Bahram realized what happened.
And the spell Akisane constructed with the vast reserve came together almost of its own accord. He knew the name of it like a name recalled from so long ago that it felt familiar and unfamiliar simultaneously. It was Tandem Fire Decay.
Bahram’s flaming whip vanished, and at the same time, sparks burst from Darksun in a shower that rose to a blaze of blue and white.
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The sword was so black that it remained a shadow in the inferno, which made the lake of fire look as cool as ice water. The blackness crept out and licked around the flame. You don’t need other’s magic to be this powerful. Why do you hold yourself back?
He didn’t respond to Darksun. Instead, he rushed forward with the blade raised high.
The creature bounded forward and raised a fist. “The elemental druids constructed me at the Red Temple. Fire will not destroy me.”
This was undoubtedly a powerful being who had no reason to fear the magic of someone like Akisane, but necessity can force imagination. “You underestimate me.”
Before the swing came close, the rock crumbled into powder and flaked away, and then the white flames made it pop and melt. The strike went clean through the creature, and the two halves thudded to rest beside the cube.
Bahram staggered when the magic released, and the sword died out. “The sun rises a thousand times in the east, and no one takes note. It rises one time in the west, and the world ends.”
Shank walked through the rubble with an old dagger, throwing it aside before seeming to change his mind and pick it back up to tuck it in his belt. “Put the sword back, and let’s get out of here.”
“Not yet,” Bahram said. “We need to cleanse the creature before it returns, which might be sooner than you suspect.”
Akisne didn’t sense corruption in the rock, but perhaps they used something else. “I don’t think I can. A creature this strong would take a squad of knights to cleanse.”
“Nonesese. Knights are uneducated and needlessly put themselves at risk. The desert threaders could teach them so much, but their arrogance is without equal.”
“Okay, then teach me.”
“Put Darksun into the dirt. I will draw from the creature, and whatever I can’t handle will fall to you. And whatever you can’t handle, you will channel into the earth to hold. It’s called Grounding, and we could be here in moments or hours. This is how so few threaders have cleansed so much of the Blasted Lands.”
The energy passed through the sorcerer and trickled to Akisane until the floodgates opened, and it slammed into him in a torrent. Rings filled and overflowed, and when it felt like consciousness faded and the world shrank to a pinpoint, it passed into the sword and into the ground. Hours passed, or lifetimes, before they could draw the stored energy back up from the ground and metabolize it.
Akisane let go of the handle and looked at his hands; the lines stood out in the grime. I’m so strong.
Shank looked at the cube, which appeared lifeless. The blue lines dimmed to gray. “Can you put it back?”
Akisane tried, but it was dead stone, and though there was no resistence to placing it into the slot, it came right back out.
Thailoc began to laugh, and the noise vibrated the ground under their feet. Stalactites fell in the echoes, and pillars fell.
Level: 20
Vertical Rings: 15
Focus: Telekinesis
Secondary focus: Shadow walker, fire walker, Tandem Fire Decay
Weapons: Darksun Sword - 85% corrupt, decay+12