The Archbishop led me deep into the bowels of the church, deeper than I honestly thought it was possible. We passed a few levels where I could see cells, but they were immaculate. “Surprised?” He asked, catching me looking at them.
I shrugged, “Pretty much. Nobody gives much thought to prisoners.”
“Ah, and that is their downfall. Dirt and grime lead to disease, which can prematurely kill a prisoner before he can give their information. Water seeping in means the walls are compromised and it becomes a possible escape route. Once per decade, each of our levels gets completely redone. Fresh mortar, thorough checks on the bars. The newest ones house our most important prisoners, while the older ones get those less likely to attempt escape.”
“That’s nice and all, but why tell me this? I’ve already surrendered and asked for asylum. It wouldn’t make much sense for me to try and hold anything back. And before you say anything, Apophis is most definitely not one to forgive and forget.”
“Ah, that is true. One moment.” He said, reaching into his robes and pulling out a key. It had teeth on three sides, and slipped into the lock without any resistance. The room opened up to what had to be the most comfortable looking torture chamber I had ever seen. There was a large wooden desk, that the Archbishop quickly sat down in. He shuffled a few papers, before pulling over an inkwell and some blank sheets. The guards behind me gently steered me toward the opposite side of the desk, where I could choose a padded chair or a strange cross between a chair and a couch. I ended up with the couch thing, sighing in pleasure as I sank slightly into the soft cushions. “Comfortable?”
“Very much so, thank you.” I nodded, smiling with my eyes closed. “So, where would you like to start?”
“Why are you here? And I don’t mean asylum, I want to know your reason for infiltrating our world.”
“Ah, right to the heart of matters, yeah?” I said with a sigh. “Our world is dying. Our ambient mana levels are slowly lowering, and in a few hundred years we won’t be able to field half the magical strength we do now. The Church of Apophis went with such a simple lie that nobody cared to challenge it. Our mana is being siphoned away by your world through the permanent portals. That’s why you guard them so zealously. I was sent through to find the machines you use to siphon our mana, and destroy them. At least, that is what I was led to believe. I had a partner who would occasionally reinforce this lie with mental magic, but I developed a resistance far quicker than they imagined I would. Once I realized that there was no magic siphon, the rest of the lies imploded. I killed my leash holder, trapped his soul in a gem that you will find in the spacial ring, and decided to throw myself on your mercy.”
“Interesting. Do you know where your world’s magic is going?”
“Not for absolute certainty, but one of the title’s that they don’t spread around much about Apophis is the Devourer. Tell me, what would be more likely? That some group took over portals that a group of dragons used to escape our world and are slowly draining us of our magic, or some hungry serpent is slowly draining the world and looking for the next conquest?”
The Archbishop nodded, “I see. Do you have any family back in your homeworld?”
“No. I was chosen from an orphanage and trained to fulfill my role.”
“I see. And just what would we be gaining by doing this?”
I stared at the Archbishop for a moment, then shook my head as I chuckled. “That question almost makes you seem as greedy as that snake. From my perspective, all you do is gain. It’s not like you are drawing the ire of some neutral party, Apophis is already doing what he can to destroy you. In exchange, you get to deprive him of his champion. He won’t be able to summon or promote another while I live. So one of his most powerful pieces is removed from the board. I know the inner workings of his church, and his current plans. I know the identities and powers of his five Vipers.”
“And what would you say if I told you that he is down to at most two vipers? Most likely one.” He said smugly.
“Oh? Congratulations! He must seriously be hurting then, as he can only replace them once every other year. I can still reveal their weaknesses and strengths. Is there anything else you would need?”
“Ah. Let me ask, what are your thoughts on returning to your homeworld?” He finally asked.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sean’s POV
Flying via Colossal Falcon was really the only way to go. We had met as planned, and a bit of gravity magic boosted with the lightweight spell easily held me to the bird’s back. We had climbed so high that the atmosphere was incredibly thin, and I was forced to create an artificial area of high pressure just so that I could breathe. As we flew, I could see the curvature of the planet, and it was amazing. Despite our current speed, which was deceptively fast, I could see a rend in the atmosphere that would likely take us several days of flying to reach. Could the monster lands really be that large? If so, then there must be some amazingly powerful creatures further in. Likely some that had undergone an evolution of two.
As I was pondering what types of creatures Vitae could offer, I felt a mental tug from my ride. An unexpected bonus from our contract, I could get simple emotions and thoughts. And apparently shared eyesight too, as my view zoomed in on what I thought was a simple brown spot that was cruising below us. Suddenly I could see that it was an incredibly ugly bird. The overlong beak out in front had a small forked prongs on the end, and from the slight shadow on the beak I could tell that the middle was divided by a jagged ridge. I had originally thought that something named Sky Master would be this enormous bird thing that rivalled a pterodactyl in size. Instead, from the feeling of the falcon I was riding, it was barely the size of a man. The only ornamentation on the bird was the central feather in the tail. This one was a solid gold color, and was my target. It also seemed unaware that it was being hunted, which was perfect.
Bidding my ride a farewell, I rolled off the back and started free falling towards my target. I wasn’t quite vertical, as I didn’t want to hit terminal velocity. At least, not yet. I used the barest hint of gravity magic behind me, but I didn’t really want to give the game away if this creature was as sensitive to magic usage as the falcons were. When I felt like I was close to pushing the limits, I dropped all magic and entered true freefall. Eyes slit, they were still too sensitive to the passing air, so I had to form a slight screen. As that didn’t even alter my mana consumption, I went ahead and lined both hands up to the elbows with mana as well, and tried my best to guide my rapid descent towards my target without the use of any magic.
Right as I grabbed the tailfeather, strengthening my grip on it with mana and tossing it into my storage ring as soon as it ripped free, I couldn’t help but think about how this poor bastard never even saw it coming.
“KRAAAAAAAAA!!!” With a deafening boom, the creature screeched in rage and unleashed the mother of all static charges. As I was the only thing within range, I ended up taking a small lightning bolt to the body, though my hands did block a small portion.
“FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!” I managed to swear in my brain as my body locked up from the electricity coursing through it. I was rocketing away from the damned bird, but that was the only bonus. I was also currently upside down and unable to release my wings, and the tree tops were getting awfully close. Throwing all hope to the wind, I encased myself in my mana armor and did my best to brace for impact. I managed a small gravity well at my feet, but it was far too little, too late as I started to feel impacts along the back of my head and spine, and suddenly I was flipping around and smashing through branches.
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BOOM!
A massive boom heralded my arrival with a tree that could finally withstand the forces of my impact, and I found myself embedded nearly a half inch into the bark of the giant. Looking back along the trail of devastation, I quickly realized that my troubles were far from over, as the bird was hovering as it glared at me. Above its head was a massive ball of electricity, and my eyes got wide as I realized just how much trouble I was in. That initial burst did two things. Knocked me for one hell of a loop, and it also created a mana tether that was just now being hooked up to the massive ball of electricity.
“I really don’t want to be a lightning rod. Chaff blast!” I thought, sending a concentrated burst of summoned metal shavings along the mana tether. A burst of dark magic managed to absorb the tether, and I dropped deeper into the trees as I sent out bursts of metal shavings in all directions. “This is gonna hurt.” I muttered, just before my world became white.
I couldn’t tell you how long I was down, but it wasn’t too long. My ears were constantly ringing, and I was surrounded by devastation. The chaff had done its job, dispersing the electrical charge into several of the surrounding trees and saving my life. A bit of gravity manipulation, and I slowly climbed to the charred top of the nearest tree. I stopped just below the top branches, as it was clear enough for me to get an idea of what happened.
The Sky Master was still searching for me, and I really didn’t want to tangle with something that had such powerful burst damage. Unfortunately, it looked like it was rather tenacious, as it was meticulously searching through the blast area in an obvious search pattern. I needed a plan, and a way to neutralize the lightning attacks. While the creature searched, I started changing my mana armor into a Faraday cage. Thick wiring surrounded me, and I always had a tendril of mana leading to the ground. That would save me, but also prevent me from using my wings so all flight would have to be done via gravity magic. A quick look at my status showed me that I had already burned through half my mana, and the conjured metal suit was cutting my regen by a third. Not ideal, but it would have to do. Using gravity, I created a well and tethered it to a broken tree on the far side of the bird, and used it to sling the remains of the tree at the unsuspecting back of the bird.
An instantaneous blast of lightning shot backward and blasted the remains to bits, but it let me know that the bird could indeed sense mana, though I wasn’t trying to be subtle. I shot upward, using a meteor shower from the side to distract the bird. Just as I thought I was going to get a direct strike, there was a much slower blast of lightning that weaved its way through the meteor shower and emerged on the other side, only to reveal the bird staring back at my attack with contempt. I saw the beak open and it presumably issued a challenge, but the only thing I could hear were my still ringing ears.
It sent another burst of lightning in my direction, but this was slow. Hoping I could hit it and ground the lightning, I shot forth a spike of metal. Unfortunately the lightning dissipated before making contact, and the bird flowed around my strike with its mouth wide open.
“Ugh!” I groaned in pain as my chest was slammed with a wall of air, sending me shooting through the sky once again. Bastard bird! It must have carried a chunk of air through the lightning with it, using the speed boost to increase the force! By the time I had stabilized, I realized two very troubling things. First, I had lost concentration and my Faraday cage was gone. The second was that the bastard bird was coming at me again. Reacting on instinct, I dropped all the spells holding me aloft, and increased gravity below me. I shot downward just in time to avoid getting smashed by another air hammer attack, quickly spreading my wings and canceling my gravity boost so that I could get out of there.
As my fall turned into a glide and then rapid flight, I kept my senses behind me for the Sky Master. Shit! It was charging up another of those mega blasts again, but this time I wasn’t as panicked. I tethered his mana chain to an iron chunk, and set it floating with a bit of gravity magic. Meanwhile I cloaked myself in a bit of bluish light that I really hoped matched the sky and shot upward as fast as I could. Once I reached nearly a hundred yards in the air, I cancelled the magic holding the iron chunk and let it fall into the forest. It never made it, as it was obliterated by the Sky Master’s attack.
Seeing it sent a shudder down my spine. You had to basically double the melting point of iron to vaporize it, meaning the massive bolt of electricity hit it and instantly heated it to somewhere around 3,000 degrees Celcius. And that was after it had started to dissipate! At nearly 2/3 the total distance, the lightning had started widening and branching out, the heat instantly withering several of the upper branches of trees and turning them into charcoal. I needed to end this, and fast. Sadly, my camouflage wasn’t nearly as good as I was hoping, as I saw the Sky Master charging in my direction once again.
This time I shot straight backward, sending metal chaff into the direction it would need to follow me in. Sure enough, as soon as the lightning hit one bit of chaff, it started immediately jumping around. The bird emerged with what I assumed was a screech of either rage or pain, as I closed the distance. Reversing direction, I immediately closed but the bird was too agile for me, dodging my clumsy punch and raking claws along my back as it started circling me. Like planes in a dogfight, we corkscrewed higher, me trying to turn swiftly enough that he couldn’t get a clear shot at me. As we reached heights where I was starting to have trouble breathing, I blasted out a massive cloud of mist, concealing me as I dropped all magics.
I had used one small burst of magic to alter my position, but was mostly trusting to momentum to keep me in the air for what I was needing to do. Seconds after I left the cloud, the Sky Master burst through right on my heels. Instead of me being inside his turning radius where he could rake me with his claws, I had shot myself to the outside and turned so that I could blast him with the small bit of electricity I was quickly summoning. “HIYAAAAA!” I cried out, unable to resist letting some of my anxiety out as I blasted a concentrated blast of electricity at him from close range. I kept the tether open, constantly sending random bursts of electricity through it to keep it from forming any concerted defense. It’s really hard to do something requiring fine motor control if you keep getting random shocks.
Dismissing my wings, I dove head first toward the open back of the creature. I sent one last electrical pulse before changing the mana tether to one of gravity. As I was falling, the creature was being pulled toward me, specifically the point of its back right where the wings meet. Covering from my right foot to my shins in a layer of mana several inches thick, I flipped around at the last second and delivered the mother of all drop kicks. I should have thought it through.
I was going near terminal velocity, and the bird was moving toward me so relatively I had passed that speed. That is a hell of a lot of force, and it has to go somewhere. Some gets released by a bit of sound, but not nearly enough. I’m fairly certain that the bird took the majority of the impact, as I likely shattered the majority of its skeleton. But some of that force was transmitted back through my mana, only it couldn’t travel through the mana to my foot. Instead, it traveled around the mana until it found a discontinuity. Like, say, a flat ring of mana where it met my legs. Just like a blade with jagged edges in the serrations instead of rounded wells, that ring managed to concentrate the force of the impact. While my leg didn’t actually break in half like a blade would have, I did feel it as both bones snapped.
“GGGYAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!” I screamed, cursing myself for my stupidity. I could feel my leg twisting about in the wind, and instinctively extended the mana boot I was wearing to stabilize my leg. Panting heavily, I slowly made my way toward the now silent and devastated jungle to gently land on my good leg. Once that was done, I put the corpse into my storage ring and tried to take stock of the damage. Tried. And failed. The pain was just too much. Knowing I couldn’t keep a mana boot on the entire way, I very carefully used the dirt to rise up around my foot and make a hardened cast to hold it in place. Once that was done, I tried to fly with my wings, only to give up after one flap.
“AAAAAH DAMNIT!” I swore, sitting down and thinking things through. Using my wings to gain height wouldn’t work, as the jarring forces would play havoc on my leg and the pain would destroy my concentration. I was down to about a quarter of my maximum mana, which wouldn’t let me get all the way back. Thanking my lucky stars that I had such a high mana regen, I leaned back against a tree to wait out the half hour it would take me to recharge. I would have to use gravity magic to gain height, but once I got moving I could use my wings to help me glide. The worst problem I could see would be explaining to Elendria how my plan of running away didn’t work, and how I managed to break a leg. And destroy my shirt. Come to think of it, looking down confirmed. I had gone out hunting in leather armor, and I was coming back in what could generously be called a loincloth. All that, and I only gained a whopping 2% toward my next level. Shit.