Callan immediately activated Wurmchain, the weapon dropping into his waiting hands.
Alert: 4.5% Apotheosis used.
Total Apotheosis is now 17.5%
Ligo sneered at him before summoning his flame whip. “No cliff left for you to cling to, you filthy yeth bastard. I’m going to make you wish you’d fallen with the rest of us.”
How is this one still alive? Xeph’s voice was practically a screech in Callan’s head.
“You expect me to answer that?”
Callan had meant the retort for his head-mate, but Ligo’s eyes narrowed, and he raised his whip in response.
“You’ll pay for every one of my brothers and sisters you sent into the Cairn’s waiting arms. By the time I’m done, you’ll be begging to join them.”
He cracked the whip, then sent it hurtling forward. Callan snapped up his Wurmchain in response. The two weapons met in midair—
And the fire whip split neatly in two, the farther piece snuffing out like a drifting ember. Callan almost burst into laughter.
I did tell you before that stone is advantaged against fire, Xeph noted dryly.
Ligo stared at his broken weapon in shock. He let out a yelp and dove away as another swing from Callan’s Wurmchain almost split him in half like his lost weapon. The fire encompassing him snuffed out.
“You pathetic lowland cur!” he growled, backing away and summoning a ball of flames into his hand. “Did you really think such tricks would work against an archon?”
“I think they’re working just fine,” Callan said, pressing forward and swinging his weapon again. Ligo dodged out of the way and hurled his fireball in response. The shot went wide, but Callan felt the heat as it passed. Somewhere behind him came a surprised scream.
“Pathetic. That god in your head must not possess many followers, or you wouldn’t have attempted such an underhanded trick back at the cliffs.” Ligo snarled at him and raised his hand. Callan tensed for another fireball. “Allow me to show you what someone wielding the full might of a goddess is capable of!”
A slit opened in Ligo’s palm, and black smoke poured into the warehouse. Even as Callan began to cough and wave it away, the archon let out a chuckle and retreated into the growing gloom.
“Xeph?”
Do not worry, mortal. The smoke is safe enough. It is merely a way for the archon to mask his presence.
“Yeah, not exactly what I was worried about.” Callan glanced to either side, then yelped as a flash of orange light flew past, scorching the hairs on the right side of his head. From somewhere within the murk, Ligo cackled with laughter.
“Great. Now I get to play peek-a-boo with googly eyes in the fog,” he muttered. Another ball of flame came tearing at him from one side, and with a curse he barely managed to leap aside.
Do not forget, our ultimate goal is the destruction of the temple. This archon is nothing but a distraction.
Callan rolled his eyes. “Sure. Try telling that to him.”
Around him, the smoke swirled and grew thicker.
----------------------------------------
The battle had actually been going rather well for Kivi before the smoke rolled in. She’d managed cut down one of the cultists—a smaller veloomian who looked more scared to be there than anything—and after that a half-dozen villagers had returned to join in once they’d retrieved weapons.
True, most were just sharpened tools used for climbing the pythian, but the fact the villagers were willing to stand against the cult at all was significant.
She was harrying another cultist with her Wurmchain, this one a forfiliin woman who kept creating a scorching wall of fire to ward her away, when the room began to grow hazy.
Within moments, the cultist had disappeared from view, along with Kivi’s allies. While the sounds of fighting raged around her, Kivi stalked through the gloom, lashing out with her chain whenever she saw a shape that was too large to be a lud.
Unfortunately, it seemed the cultists possessed some ability to pierce through the gloom that even her superior eyes could not. Kivi cursed the unfairness of it all as she hunted.
The longer she wandered, the more bodies she began to stumble upon. None of which were cultists. First, she encountered Agnuu, a Biiran girl only one year her senior. The two of them had often played together as children, before such matters as caste and parentage had forced them apart.
Now her childhood friend lay broken on the floor, a hole scorched right between her breasts. The girl’s eyes stared at the ceiling with an expression of shock and surprise.
Past this lay Bartram, a middle-aged man also of Daisa caste. He had always been gruff and antisocial, so seeing him here among the dead was a shock in more ways than one. Of all the people to raise arms in defense of the village, Kivi never would have counted him among them. It just went to show you never knew some people. Pity she had only learned this too late to matter.
The third body she stumbled upon was Aldis.
Kivi froze, staring in shock. The lud elder lay face down, with no immediately apparent sign of how he had died. It didn’t seem real. How could one of Xeph-Zul-Karatl’s priests have fallen so easily, without even a sign of a struggle?
Through the smoke and haze, a ball of flame came hurtling in her direction. Kivi just managed to step aside before it reached her.
Ah, of course. The enemy had many tricks.
She ground her teeth, then lashed out into the murk with her chain. A sharp cry echoed back, but she thought it more likely one of surprise than pain. Still, the cultist retreated in search of easier prey.
Before Kivi could follow, another shape loomed to her right. She raised her weapon again, only to let it fall as Shamain materialized out of the haze. Coughing and waving a hand before her face, the elder lud woman slumped against Kivi, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
“Glad to see a—” She coughed again, then hacked something to one side. “—Friendly face. Been wandering in circles for five minutes now. Things aren’t looking so bright, girl. We may have them outnumbered, but that won’t last long.”
“Shamain, I found Aldis. He—”
“I know. I saw him fall. Gave one of them cultists a nasty bruise on the way out, at least.” The woman smiled at her, but it was a hollow thing. “Time to sound the retreat. This battle’s lost. Assuming we can even find our way through this damn smoke, anyway.”
“We can’t retreat, Shamain! The avatar is working to corrupt the temple. He needs us!”
“If that boy had been planning to corrupt anything, I imagine he’d have done it by now.” Shamain shook her head. “It’s time to start thinking about your own skin, girl.”
“I won’t abandon him!” Kivi said. A shape appeared in the smoke, and Kivi swung her weapon. There was a scream, and a wall of flames sprang up between them. When the flames died, the cultist had fled. Kivi seethed with impotent rage.
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“Suit yourself, but I’m getting out while I still can!” Shamain said. Kivi opened her mouth to chastise the woman’s lack of faith, when her Wurmchain winked out of existence in a little puff of sulphureous gas. She stared at its absence in mute horror.
“See? It’s a sign, girl. Come on, we’ll gather who we can on the way.”
Shamain tugged on her sleeve, but Kivi refused to move. It couldn’t be over. Not after all their preparation. Their practice. The avatar was going to save her village. She was going to save her village. It couldn’t end now, when they were so close—
Somewhere in the distance an orange light flared to life. Kivi braced for another attack, but quickly realized that the flames were too large for that.
From the light of the flames, the silhouettes of several combatants wavered and warped about the warehouse. One of them, Kivi thought she recognized.
“Avatar!”
A small explosion nearly bowled her over. Once she managed to get her feet under her again, Kivi looked around and saw that she was alone. “Shamain? Shamain!”
No answer. Either the woman had fled, or... No. Kivi shook her head. The elder woman wasn’t her concern right now.
She took off running in the direction of the flames and the flickering silhouettes. Her avatar needed her.
And Kivi intended to serve until her dying breath.
----------------------------------------
Another fireball flew at Callan’s chest, but he casually knocked it away. He’d stopped bothering to dodge Ligo’s attacks once he realized that the cultist’s flames dissipated the moment they came into contact with either his Wurmchain or Mountainformed fists.
Unfortunately, they had reached a stalemate. Every time Callan tracked the bug-eyed forfiliin down, Ligo produced a wall of fire, retreating before Callan managed to punch through it.
So they continued to play their game of cat-and-mouse, while Callan searched the smoke for more pillars. As he cut through a third with his chain, a grin climbed onto his face.
What are you smiling about? Xeph asked.
“Oh, nothing. Just amused by the situation. The longer this goes on, the better it works out for us.”
He pulled up his stat screen. Its blue light was almost painfully bright in the dim haze. Sure enough, it showed his apotheosis was already down to 11% again.
His apotheosis declined roughly one percent every three minutes. And at a cost of 4.5% for every fifteen minute summon of Wurmchain, he was actually coming out ahead on apotheosis recovery. Not by much, but should he actually need to call on his other Orison, every little bit might help.
Do not forget, you are not alone in this fight. The sooner we finish this business and hobble the cult, the better.
As if to punctuate Xeph’s statement, another pair of messages appeared in front of him.
Followers lost. Available faith decreased by 1.
Negative faith detected. Minor Debt Penalty applied.
“Okay, I’m guessing that isn’t good.” Callan glanced around. He’d heard a scream a moment ago, but hadn’t thought... Who had fallen? Shamain? Tervak?
Kivi? The thought sent an icy shock through his stomach.
Yes, I was concerned this might happen.
“What does it mean, minor debt penalty?” Callan smacked aside another blast of fire and looked around for Ligo. There was no hint of movement in the smoke and, worse, no cackle of laughter. The archon must have finally learned from his earlier mistakes not to give away his position.
While our faith remains in the negative, your powers will accrue apotheosis at a faster rate, and it will take longer for apotheosis to reduce. It is time to end this, mortal. Quickly.
“What do you think I’ve been trying to do?” Callan growled. Another pillar loomed out of the smoke. He raised his Wurmchain to sever it, only for the weapon to dissipate. Cursing, he summoned a new one.
Alert: 5.75% Apotheosis used.
Total Apotheosis is now 18.75%
Oh damn. His orison was costing an extra 1.25% at the moment. That meant Shape Stone would as well.
He swung his Wurmchain again, but at that moment Ligo fired another blast of flame. Callan swatted it away, but the shift disrupted his attack, and instead of severing the column in two, his chain stuck fast.
“Aw, c’mon!” He tugged at the weapon, but like with the cliff and the warehouse wall, it was stuck fast.
Several blasts of flame came out of the darkness, from multiple directions this time. Had one of the other priests joined with the archon? Callan was forced to release the weapon in order to block the attacks. It faded into a puff of sulphur.
Holding out his hand, he summoned a new weapon. With a single swipe, the pillar rumbled and stones toppled at his feet.
Alert: 5.75% Apotheosis used.
Total Apotheosis is now 24.5%
Well, I’ll just have to make this Wurmchain count. More stones cascaded down as the pillar toppled, and some of the roof landed at Callan’s feet as well, letting in a bit of dull light.
Still, it wasn’t enough.
“We’re never going to bring the building down like this.” Callan glanced about, trying to gather his bearings. Even with the additional light, the place was a murky maze. “Think Wurmchain is strong enough to tear the altar itself apart?”
I highly doubt it. Even if you did, there is no guarantee that would be enough to disrupt the temple’s domain. You need to greatly damage the structure itself.
“And how exactly am I supposed to do that—” His eyes fell on the nearby cluster of wooden barrels. One still lay tipped on its side where the lilish priest had crashed into it.
Barrells. Full of pythian oil.
Bingo.
Callan spun back and forth, doing his best to appear frustrated. He knew that the archon must have a way to see through the smoke, so with luck his performance was convincing.
“Where are you, Ligo? Are you going to continue hiding forever? Come out and face me already!”
He stalked in a wide circle, progressively moving closer to the barrels. “Or maybe you’re a coward, just like that goddess of yours. After all, what kind of deity must Zavastu be, to pick on innocent villagers that just want to be left alone?”
A chuckle echoed over Callan’s shoulder. He swung his Wurmchain about, encountering nothing. Another laugh came from his right, and Callan twisted, striking about at random.
“I know what you’re doing.” Ligo’s voice drifted through the smoke. Growling, Callan kept swinging at random. “You’re trying to destroy our temple. It won’t work.”
“Oh? Just give my followers more time and it won’t matter anymore. All your priests will be dead. Then where will you be, Ligo?” Still twisting and turning, Callan kept up the swings. C’mon, he mentally urged. Why wasn’t the forfiliin shooting at him?
“Somehow, I am not worried. Are you not concerned for your own followers? Surely they must be feeling tired about now. Using a god’s powers is so exhausting, and they can’t be particularly experienced. I wonder if they can even wield their bounties for more than a few minutes.”
“They can handle their own.” Though he had to admit, the archon was right. Kivi and the others were probably without Wurmchain any longer. In the distance he heard a scream and couldn’t help but wince. The archon’s chuckle let him know the action hadn’t gone unnoticed.
“There is still time to surrender. I’ll have to make an example of a few lud, of course, but if you lay down that weapon of yours, I might just be merciful.”
In response, Callan swung his Wurmchain. It stuck fast in the floor. With an angry grunt, he released it. He didn’t summon another.
“I don’t need my weapon to beat your ass, Ligo. Come out of the shadows and let me show you what an avatar is capable of.”
“You know what I think?” The words hissed in Callan’s ear. He spun and found the archon looming over him. “I think you’re running low on power yourself and getting desperate.” The air around Ligo’s hands began to shimmer and warp. “I think you’re a young god who is in far over his own head.” He grabbed Callan’s stone-encrusted fists. “I think you’re hoping I’m stupid enough to fire a flame blast into those barrels and do your dirty work for you. I’m not.”
He clamped down tight. “And now I’m going to show you the error of your ways.”
“Aaaaaaaagh!” Callan felt like he’d stuck his hand in a furnace. Even through the protection of Mountainform, he could feel Ligo’s power burning away his flesh.
“If you think this hurts, just wait.” The archon grinned, and his whole body suddenly burst into flames. A pair of fiery wings expanded from his back. “Let me draw you close, avatar, and show you the extent of Zavastu’s mercy.”
“I’ve got... a better idea.” Callan couldn’t pull himself free from Ligo’s grip, so he didn’t even bother to try. Instead, he let himself fall backward. Dragging the archon with him.
Ligo’s face changed, first to surprise, then shock, then pain as Callan’s foot impacted his stomach. His shoe immediately caught fire, but Callan kept going, hurling the archon over his head and onto the floor beyond.
The floor which, thanks to many wild swings of his Wurmchain, was now saturated with oil from the shattered barrels.
As the oil caught fire, Ligo let out a scream and released Callan’s hands, whether in pain or surprise Callan neither knew nor cared. He was already scrambling away.
He’d hoped for a flame blast to set the barrels alight, but a flaming archon would serve just as well.
The first barrel exploded when he was only about twenty steps away, the heat a fiery rush against his back, spurring him on faster. Yet the temperature was rising faster and faster. Callan didn’t dare glance back for what he might see.
Move, mortal, move! Xeph urged in his head. Not that he needed encouragement.
Ahead of him through the dissipating smoke, he could see the dim glow of the temple doorway. He only needed a few more seconds...
Another explosion, and the heat at his back flared. Callan yelled in a mixture of pain and frustration and stumbled forward, but the heat was intense now.
He’d never make it.
“Avatar!” Out of the fading smoke appeared Kivi, coughing and practically tumbling head over heels in her haste. She slammed into Callan, and together they tumbled to the floor.
“Kivi, the barrels. You need to get out—”
“I know, Avatar.” Kivi looked at him, and he could see the fire behind reflected in her eyes. They widened as the light suddenly bloomed, the flames rushing down on them like some fiery tide set to consume the world itself.
Callan clutched her close in some vain hope of protecting her with his own body. He squeezed his eyes shut.
Beneath his feet, he felt the stone floor shift right before the explosion washed over them.