Ezekiel swiftly, yet silently, moved across the land as he approached the encampment of the Cruor. He passed by several teams of patrols as he approached. Something that he was certain Jill and Mac had difficulty bypassing. But with his unique spells, avoiding them wasn’t difficult. The fact that he was much stronger than when he traversed Morncrest also helped him maintain his cover.
As he moved further and further along, however, he soon noticed the strange mist that Jill and Mac had previously mentioned. He briefly felt something touch his mana. But beyond the sensation of feeling like he was submerged in water, he felt no pull on his mana. Instead, he found that it was like he was covered in a film of grease. Uncomfortable, but not particularly debilitating.
Initially, he had wondered why the patrols were so thin compared to his experience in Morncrest. But upon entering the mist, he realized that there simply wasn’t any need for additional forces. No Mages or Hunters would be able to enter the area without slowly being drained of mana. Even Spirits would quickly find themselves incapacitated.
“I don’t like this.” Shine mentally expressed. “This entire area feels wrong. Like there’s something missing, but I can’t tell what.”
Ezekiel felt the same. But he also had trouble figuring it out. It wasn’t until he was checking his mana consumption, and reminded himself to meditate to gather mana more quickly when he returned that he requested Shine to meditate as he continued to move.
“There’s no mana in the environment!” Shine exclaimed.”How is that possible? Even in the Desolate Lands, there was always at least a small amount of mana! Not enough to use, and it was impossible to absorb it without becoming a beacon to Umbral Beasts and Cruor, or accidentally absorbing Ichor, but there was at least some!”
“I don’t know how they did this, but it can’t have been for anything good.” Ezekiel exclaimed. “My main concern is what are they using the mana for? They can’t be using it purely to rear Umbral Beasts or increase the power of the weaker Cruor, can they?”
As they continued forward, Shine and Ezekiel couldn’t help but brainstorm ideas regarding what exactly was happening right now. Suddenly, as he jumped over a dead tree, its colors fading into the pale dried and corrupted wood of the Desolate Lands, a horrifying thought crossed his mind.
“Is this how they spread the Desolate Lands?!” Ezekiel mentally exclaimed. “No one remembers how, exactly, the Desolate Land was spread during the Age of Despair. Only that the clouds above the land turned black incertain areas. Man would then become less abundant, and Umbral Beasts would start to appear as Ichor spread through the land.”
“I don’t like that that makes sense. The atmosphere is already changing too...” Shine muttered fearfully as they examined the environment around them. Other than the lingering mist, much of the flora and other surroundings were beginning to acquire the bleached look that the Desolate Lands had.
Worried that his theory might be correct, Ezekiel and Shine moved faster than ever. They couldn’t afford to take any longer than necessary. Not only was their team waiting for them, but it was possible that the Cruor were going to do something drastic to the land. Something that would take decades to clear out. If they even could, with a Broodlord and his Brood directly supporting his plans.
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The duo came to the somewhat large walls surrounding the Cruor’s base with a sense of trepidation and concern running through them. While the forces they were facing weren’t particularly powerful, there was still a significant amount of Tier threes. The only good news so far was the lack of Tier fours. But that was subject to change once he entered the interior of the camp.
Another thing of note, and concern, was the fact that the mist had grown thicker as they had approached. It no longer felt like simply water was surrounding him. Instead it was like he had jumped into a pit of mud. A constant pressure seemed to weigh down on him as he moved towards the camp.
“Ready?” Ezekiel asked Shine as he prepared to Jump to the other side of the wall.
“Ready!” Shine exclaimed. They hadn’t sensed anything too disturbing on the other side. But they were still at full alert just in case. This area might not have been as infested as the true Desolate Lands, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t be caught by a stray patrol because of a stupid mistake.
Getting Shine’s confirmation, Ezekiel Jumped inside the wall. He immediately made himself aware of his surroundings. To which he mentally groaned as he found himself inside a small building that was clearly a living quarters of somesort. It was empty, thankfully, but it was also clear that no one was inside, or likely even nearby.
Exiting the structure, Ezekiel maintained his Shroud in full, even containing his air and scent, as he walked through the camp with relative ease. Unlike with Jill and Mac, who could merely hide their presence with their spells, Ezekiel could hide his existence. Something that wasn’t as total five years ago, but upon reaching Tier three, it had grown much stronger.
Even his footsteps were utterly silent, and any footprints he left behind seemed to either fade away after a few minutes, or simply didn’t appear. Eventually, he wouldn’t be surprised if his Shroud allowed him to walk through walls as he simply ignored the existence of everything around him except what he wanted to interact with.
Passing in front of a patrolling team of Fanged Cruor unnoticed, Ezekiel felt somewhat more confident regarding this mission. He would still be careful, of course, but it was good to know that his increase in Tier had increased his spells abilities to such an extent.
“Move faster! We can’t hold the Shroud up forever you know!” Shine mentally exclaimed. But Ezekiel didn’t do so. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he knew he needed to be careful.
While his covert actions were noticeable, if he tripped or did something that had a stronger impact on his surroundings, he could still give away his position. Given how important this location likely was, he didn’t want to do that until well after he had gotten more information.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to look around for his destination, as he could easily see the large tower-like structure in the middle of the camp. Heading in that direction, he soon came to the base of the structure. He was surprised to see several dozen Cruor kneeling and praying to the structure. He previously hadn't been more thankful for the fact that this world only had one language than he was right now. But the words that the Cruor were saying made him realize that things were worse than he thought.
“One more week. Just one more week and the Ichorous Spine will be ready to bloom.” One of the Cruor who were staring at the Spire in reverence declared. He then held out his arm, slicing through it with his claws. Several other Cruor that were near did the same. Their Ichor fell to the ground and was drawn into the large tower-like structure. The Spine they apparently worshiped.
“May this land be claimed once more by the Broods.” The Cruor’s words were repeated by all those who had bled on the Spine.
Within moments the Spine went from a solid bone white to having oily veins running up and down its height. As the veins reached upwards, the mist seemed to increase as a noxious black mist was released from the peak.It quickly faded into a much lighter color, but the thickening mist remained as it was.
“I think we were right. I think that this thing really does help spread the Desolate Land.” Shine said. “But how come we haven’t seen these things before? Wouldn’t structures like these exist in the Desolate Lands? Why haven’t these things been found in Ruins? What about the lands that were reclaimed in the past as well?”
“I’m not sure, but if these things can bloom, maybe they can wilt as well.” Ezekiel theorized. “It’s possible that, after spreading and growing, once this thing blooms it will crumble into dust. Leaving little to nothing remaining. From there, the land can later be reclaimed, but only with a ridiculous amount of effort.”
Previously, when Ezekiel had been doing research on the Desolate Lands as a Scholar, he had come across records of how some of the lands on the fringes of the Desolate Lands had been reclaimed. This could only be done with an exceptional amount of preparation and materials. It usually took the work of hundreds if not thousands of Legendary Hunters. As well as the relocation and reinvigoration of the land by Spirits and Life Mages.
Only when Life had been restored to the point where it could flourish without the aid of Magic would the land be reusable, and the Miasma in the atmosphere would finally clear. From there, the mana would eventually return, and the Ichor in the land would slowly be broken down and removed.
“We should try to find out more information if we can. Keep an eye out for anyone that seems to be looking in our direction.” Ezekiel told Shine. He moved to follow the Cruor that had previously spoken. He seemed to have a much more clear idea of what was going on, so it was more likely that he would have more information.
Following behind, as quietly as he could, Ezekiel eventually found himself entering the largest building in the camp. Checking his mana briefly, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stay for too long. But as he noticed several other Cruor standing by close to the building, he had hopes that there would be a meeting of some sort that he could eavesdrop on.
Staying outside the building, Ezekiel moved to a crack near one of the doors. There were few windows, and all were out of reach, so this was the best he could do. Adjusting his Shroud to take a deep breath, he fully concealed himself, using his mana senses to listen in as best he could.
The voices were muffled, however, but there seemed to be some frantic concerns being voiced.
“... sensed outsiders... prepare... attack...”
“...need... assured... reinforcements coming... Peer-”
“...That’s why... disgraced... support... Broodlord...”
“Ezekiel, I think we need to go!” Shine’s voice suddenly cut through Ezekiel’s focus. Looking around, it seemed like there was a patrol of Cruor that were headed in their direction.
“Alright. I think I heard enough anyway. We'll regroup and get back to the city as soon as possible. This just became a much bigger deal than we thought.” Ezekiel said. “Jump us out of here in three, two, one.”
Silently, Ezekiel and Shine disappeared from the Cruor’s camp. They reappeared several hundred feet outside the walls. Turning in the direction of their allies, the pair moved as fast as they could to get back in time. They were officially on a deadline. Given the proximity of the city to this Spine, it would easily be engulfed by the Desolate Lands if the Spine was allowed to bloom.
If that were to happen, then it would be impossible for the city to recover for the next several years. Something that would only be possible if they managed to push the Cruor back at all. With a Broodlord in such close proximity, that was incredibly unlikely.
Unless they managed to get additional reinforcements from the Empire’s army, as well as another one of the Exalts. Which, given the Emperor’s disdain for anything that existed outside his personal territories and the capital, was unlikely to happen.
For now, however, he needed to focus on what his team’s next actions were going to be. Specifically, whether or not they would be taking action personally, or heading back to the city to regroup.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Given the timeframe, Ezekiel feared that the former would be the decision that was made.
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By the time Ezekiel had made it back to the makeshift hideout, doing everything he could to cover his tracks and ensure he wasn’t followed by an unknown Winged Cruor, his and Shine’s mana was nearly fully empty. Fortunately, it seemed like his Adept level Magic was enough to get him there without running into any major antagonistic forces.
Stepping into the hideout, bypassing all the defenses to ensure that he wouldn’t be caught no matter what, he reappeared in the middle of a space that was somewhat clear.
“Ancients!” Half the Hunters cursed as his sudden appearance nearly gave them all a heart attack. It was so bad that Ezekiel found himself partially encased in ice, and several other elemental constructs were forcibly dispelled before they could strike him down.
Of course, he had set up several barriers with his remaining mana, so it wasn’t like he would’ve died, but he certainly would’ve suffered an injury or two. But given the information he had for them, he figured that the speed was necessary, as was the discretion.
“We have a serious problem!” Ezekiel exclaimed before anyone could call him out for giving them all heart attacks. “That tower isn’t just a building, it’s some sort of Brood creation that absorbs mana and Ichor. Apparently, we have one week before it Blooms, and the entire area gets covered in Miasma, turning this area, and likely the city of Harkem, into a proper part of the Desolate Lands.”
Ezekiel’s statement was met by silence. His words were nearly impossible for them to believe. No one in the modern day knew how the Desolate Lands truly spread. Just that the mana in a given area would lessen severely, and then Miasma would appear to cover the landscape and block out all sunlight.
Theories had been made regarding how the Miasma was created and how it actually spread. But most assumed that it was a natural progression of the land when Ichor had corrupted a given area. Something that hadn’t been disproven, but was never latched onto in full. This was because the amount of Miasma needed to do so would be immense.
If there was an artificial means of spreading the Desolate Land’s Miasma, however, then that would explain just how the Desolate Lands had spread so fast all those hundreds of years ago. Such a thing would also spell the ultimate end of Harkem’s existence. There would be no recovery, only retreat, if the region was subsumed by the Desolate Lands in full.
“Before you ask, I found this out when I got into their camp. One of them, potentially the leader, mentioned it. There was some sort of minor ceremony, and all the Cruor were treating the Spine, as they call it, like a revered temple of somesort.” Ezekiel explained. “But that’s not all. It seems like they managed to find tracks from Kill and Mac, because before I left, I managed to overhear a private conversation. Apparently, they have some means of spreading information, because they’ve already got reinforcements coming. Peerage members were mentioned.”
In truth, Ezekiel hadn’t heard them specifically mention the word ‘Peerage’, but it was likely that it was a Peerage member. Ezekiel couldn’t think of anyone else that an Adept Cruor would bring up the word ‘Peer’ when referring to their reinforcements.
“You said we have a week?” Garrad asked after thinking about it for a few minutes.
“That’s what I heard them saying, but I can’t be certain. It’s not like they kept written records of stuff like this. I tried to look, but I don’t think that’s something the Cruor would do.” Ezekiel said. “It might be longer, might be shorter, but a week is what was said.”
“Then five days is what we’ll assume. Which means we won’t have enough time to get back to the City and rally a proper assault team. Even if it is a week, that still might not be enough time. Not when we’d have to forgo stealth and alert the Cruor of our movements.” Garrad said. “That would lead to them sending even more reinforcements. Which would be able to respond more swiftly than ours could.”
Ezekiel was silent. He knew what Garrad was most likely thinking, and with the apprehensive and conflicted look on Nonette’s face, it was likely an idea she had as well. Looking around, he saw that it seemed like most of his teammates saw where this was going as well. But he remained silent as he knew that, as the most junior Hunter there, he really didn’t have any say in what was going to happen.
“We might have to go there ourselves and destroy it.” Garrad said. Ezekiel couldn’t help but admire his bluntness. There wasn’t time to tiptoe around the situation, but Ezekiel knew there were many Hunters who would. It was a shame that not everyone appreciated it though.
“You can’t be serious!” Tory said. “There’s no way we can take out an entire Cruor encampment on our own. Especially when we’ll be drained of mana if we enter that damned mist. We can’t even tunnel underground, since apparently, there’s something down there draining mana as well!”
Tory looked around the room, searching for some sort of support. But it seemed like there was none to be found. Ezekiel and the rest had no desire to risk the Desolate Lands spreading once again.
“You do have a point, Tory. Which is why we’ll be discussing a plan while we all recover our mana. I don’t want anyone leaving this hideout before it’s time to go. Understood?” Garrad asked.
“Yes sir!” Was the unanimous reply from the Adept Hunters.
“Good. Now then. Ezekiel, give us a more detailed report regarding their patrols and forces. We have a few hours before we move out. Which will hopefully still give us time to do what we need to before their reinforcements arrive.” Garrad said.
Running through the information in his head once again, Ezekiel detailed every bit of information he retained from his infiltration. He talked for nearly half an hour, answering every question asked of him. Until finally, the group had enough information to begin working on a plan.
It was well into the night when they finally headed out. A horrible time for them to begin, but they didn’t have the luxury of waiting until sunrise. Not when such a thing may never happen again in this region by the end of the week.
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It didn’t take long for the teams to reach the edge of the mist. They did, however, end up reaching different areas. For the sake of the plan that they were intending to put into place, the teams had been split into four groups. Two distraction groups, one assault group, and one messenger.
Tory, due to his strict opposition to their intention to destroy the Spine, was delegated to be the messenger, with a sealed letter for Exalt Harras’ eyes only. He was forced to sign a contract stating that delivery of that letter would be his only priority, and that he wouldn’t open or hand it off to anyone else.
Nonette ended up leading the rest of her team somewhat south of the direct route to the encampment. While Garrad led his team, sans Ezekiel, on a direct route towards the camp.
Ezekiel and Shine, due to their immunity to the mist, were sent with as many destructive Artifacts as the combined teams currently had. With all the Artifacts having been jury rigged to form a make-shift explosive device that would, hopefully, take out the Spine.
Fortunately, it seemed that inert Artifacts didn’t get drained by the mist’s strange power. So, it was possible for him to potentially cause a chain reaction by overloading the artifacts. Void Pouches were also unaffected, so storing them away acted as a secondary defense that helped hide the Artifacts.
“Are you sure this is the best idea, boss?” Herend asked Garrad as several formations had been laid out on the ground. Mostly, they were there to hide the group so they could set up properly. But it would hopefully aid in their efforts as well.
“No, but it might be the only chance we get to do this. Tory will get Exalt Harras to bring reinforcements. Hopefully, that will be the end of it. If we fail.” Garrad said. “My only concern is whether or not he decides the city is a lost cause, and pulls back without a fight. But the Exalt doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who would run when there is still a chance of success.”
“I’m surprised you’re not more concerned about Ezekiel.” Filia said. She was also setting traps with her Spirit. If things took a turn for the worse, there would hopefully be more dead Cruor than dead Hunters tonight.
“He spent several weeks infiltrating the Desolate Lands when he was a fresh Tier two, and only thirteen years old. If he can’t get in and destroy that Spine with the explosives we’ve given him, Then it might only be an Exalt that can take that thing down.” Garrad said with a solemn tone. He hadn’t wanted to send Ezekiel by himself. Especially since he hadn’t volunteered to go when the topic was brought up. But he had to order the young man to go, since no one else could properly fight within the mists.
“Get ready! I’m sending the first volley now!” Garrad said. Donning his Spirit armor as Brucey came closer, he formed a massive stone chain that he used to swing an even larger boulder around him as fast as he could.
Spinning around, faster and faster, Garrad finally reached maximum speed after clearing the area. Letting go in the direction of the camp, a loud ‘BOOM’ filled the air as the speed of the boulder increased just a little bit more, breaking the sound barrier, and flying into the sky.
The destruction created by his wind up had obviously created a lot of noise. To the point that Umbral Beasts were now moving into the area. But the rest of his team was prepared. Their setups were complete, and the first few waves of Beasts fell quickly as Garrad prepared another boulder, once again spinning as fast as he could. But as hardened feathers and reinforced bone spears fell from the sky, Garrad grimaced, knowing that the battle was about to really begin.
Off in the distance, he could hear the forest coming to life as trees began to move, and the cries of many more Umbral Beasts, and the Cruor masters, fell to the power of Nonette and her team. Hopefully, the two pronged assault by Legendary Hunters would be enough to draw in more forces from the Cruor. Usually, two Legnedaries would be an incredible force, but the sheer amount that they were outnumbered meant that this battle would be hard. Even with a good team as back up.
“Move fast, kid. I have no idea how much time we’ll be able to buy you.” Garrad thought as he released the second boulder, making a third in quick succession. But as the number of Cruor and Beasts grew, he knew that this would be the last attack he made directly.
Now, it was all up to Ezekiel. The kid he’d left to fight for himself, yet again.
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Sneaking back through the mist wasn’t as easy. Due to it being nighttime, it was much more difficult to move through the areas controlled by the Umbral Beasts and Cruor. The patrols had technically lessened, but only because the number of Umbral Beasts that came out to hunt had increased.
Hearing a massive crash in the distance, Ezekiel knew that it was time to move. So, maintaining a Shroud as best he could, Ezekiel launched himself into the trees, jumping between them to make it to the camp in as short a time as possible.
“Are you sure that these explosives will work?” Shine couldn’t help but ask as they approached the walls of the encampment. Ezekiel paused for a moment, allowing a group of Cruor to pass. They were moving as quickly as possible, and Ezekiel could see that a large number of buildings had been destroyed by a massive boulder rolling through the encampment.
“I’m sure. I made the alterations and temporation enchantments myself, after all.” Ezekiel said as he observed the situation in the camp.
In such a situation, it would make sense to retreat in the face of overwhelming firepower, but it was clear that the Cruor weren’t going to simply lay down their arms and fall back. Not when such an important object was at stake. Ezekiel didn’t know for sure, but he assumed that it would be nearly impossible to recover from such a loss in any sort of short timeframe.
As crackling sounds like massive trees breaking in half echoed out, and another boulder fell from the sky, Ezekiel saw that the number of Cruor streaming out hand lessened for a brief moment, before picking up again. Only for the Cruor to have seemingly all gone out to battle as the third boulder fell. Much of the encampment had been destroyed, but it was either bad luck or some sort of force that prevented any of the boulders from hitting the Spine.
Entering through a newly made hole in the wall, Ezekiel made his way through the camp in a much more frantic hurry than before. It seemed like the entire place was empty.
Given that it was assumed that Hunters couldn’t enter the mist, that kind of made sense to Ezekiel. Why leave anyone behind to defend up close when you knew that no one could do so. Sending their full forces to destroy the ranged attackers made much more sense in this situation.
But as the pair reached the Spine, it was apparent that some had still stayed behind. A group of Five Cruor, one Adept and four Apprentice levels, had remained to watch over the Spine.
“We’ll need to make this quick. Spare no expense.” Ezekiel said to Shine. They conveyed a sense of agreement and understanding. “Let’s go.”
Ezekiel got as close as he could to the Adept Cruor. A Fanged Cruor that was incredibly viscous looking, in that it had a massive mouth that opened all the way from ear to ear, and was filled with teeth the size of steak knives. His hands were also tipped with massive serrated claws that would easily rip Ezekiel apart if he allowed the Cruor to get too close to him.
Fortunately, it seemed his Shroud was still holding strong, and he was able to get right behind the Cruor with Shine fully drawn. Pushing himself to the limit, he immediately decapitated the Cruor, much to the shock of the two Apprentices.
From there, he dashed forward, cutting down another fanged Cruor that was off to the side before she could figure out what was going on. Her partner, another female Cruor, whipped a serrated blade-like tail directly towards his head. In doing so, Ezekiel was forced to throw up a barrier to prevent it from wrapping around him. The Cruor woman quickly found Shine’s blade piercing through the bottom of her jaw and out the top of her skull.
The remaining two Cruor, both bone Cruor, roared in fury as they tried to smash or crush Ezekiel with their larger bodies. But Ezekiel was quicker, and Jumped behind and above them. He stabbed down on one of them. The Apprentice level Cruor’s bone armor wasn’t strong enough to stop Shine from piercing his brain.
Then, jumping normally to the back of the final Cruor, Ezekiel was unable to get to the head, but could pierce their back easily enough. At which point he levered Shine back and forth, cutting up the Cruor’s insides with ease. From there, he stepped down in front of the fallen Cruor. But as he did, he looked upwards, channeling his mana as much as he could.
Up in the sky, far beyond Shine’s sensory range, a trio of Winged Cruor were flying. He had been concerned, originally, that something like this would happen, but knew there was nothing he could do to stop it.
He was just lucky that they were either too far away to sense his mana, and thought he was stronger than them if they were Adepts, or they were actually all Apprentice level, and he really was stronger than them. His thoughts didn’t linger for long, however, as they quickly flew away, heading north, to where their reinforcements were coming from.
“Let’s finish this.” Ezekiel muttere aloud. Unheard by anyone in the emptied encampment.
Opening his Void Pouch, he quickly began setting up the explosive Artifacts. There were practically nothing when compared to what he could bring to bear when he actually had good supplies to use, but he figured the yield of these makeshift bombs would be enough. He hoped.