When Ezekiel woke up, it was to pins and needles poking him in crisscrossed patterns all over his body. Not the most unpleasant sensation he’d woken up to, but not the most pleasant either. He’d rate it somewhere in between.
“It looks like your man is awake.” A now familiar voice spoke as Ezekiel began to shift.
There were minor twinges of pain that shot through him here and there. But they weren’t bad enough to make him do more than briefly wince before continuing.
Opening his eyes, Ezekiel saw Riley crouched at the mouth of a tent looking in at him. A worried smile on her face as she saw that he was apparently alright. A shrunken Celia sat on top of her head.
“Good morning.” Riley was quiet as she moved in to check on him. “” You’ve been unconscious for a while. How are you feeling?”
“... Tingly. I’m assuming that I’m covered in medical salves and bandages.” Ezekiel gently lifted the blanket off his body. Now that he could see his arms, he was satisfied to see that his assumption was correct. His entire body was indeed covered in bandages.
“Yeah... the injuries themselves weren’t that bad. Relatively. It was mainly the sheer number, as well as the amount of blood you lost.” Riley carefully examined his body for any bandages that might’ve gotten loose while he slept. “According to Talon, any other Mahe, or Hunter without the Spirit armor, would’ve been bisected from just the first wound. Even with the basic enchanted clothing we had on.”
Riley ran her hands down the largest line that ran down Ezekiel’s chest. It was totally covered, but even then it was obvious where most of the medicine had gone.
“Yeah... That was a kill spell if I’ve ever seen one.” Ezekiel had known that his toughness was ridiculous after going through his broken ascension to Tier four, and absorbing all that mana from the Cruor Ichor, but he had never truly pushed it to the limit before.
Usually, the Legendaries he’d faced so far were using things like Lightning, which his toughness was only somewhat better at defending against, or Radiance, which had its own esoteric properties of magic. Such a thing had weird effects when it came to causing harm.
An actual physical battle of magic at the Legendary Tier was something he had managed to avoid so far. But he still considered it a good thing at this point. Had he faced a Lightning Hunter again, or a Radiant one, then it was highly likely that he’d be dead right now.
“I’m sorry. The moment I saw that Tempest Legendary, I should’ve had Shine ‘Jump’ us out and ran away with you. That fight was foolish, and not worth the risk. I made a mistake, and I can only ask that you forgive me.” Ezekiel turned to the ground, unable to look Riley in the eye at the moment.
“I thought we could take her down as well, Ezekiel. I could’ve called for us to run the moment those other Adepts were killed. I chose to fight with you. So, don’t blame yourself, alright?” Riley pulled Ezekiel’s face back to look at her. He didn’t say anything, still feeling guilty about his bad call. “What was it you once told me? ‘You need to learn from this and move forward.’ Do that. You’ve recovered a fair bit already, right? So just keep recovering, and when you’re strong enough, you won’t lose again.”
Riley smiled, but Ezekiel could see that she was still upset at what had happened. But he knew her words weren’t wrong.
“Alright. I’ll do that.” Ezekiel smiled back at her, but he knew that it didn’t look real either. Fortunately, it seemed like Riley didn’t want to continue this conversation any more than he did. So, it came to an end there.
“Don’t forget about me!” Shine called out from where they were lying next to Ezekiel. “Now that your consciousness is connected to me again, I can help you with repairing your Spirit Paths. We’ll get your magic back in full in no time!”
Shine's apparent exuberance was infectious, as Ezekiel and Riley both let out a short laugh. Their smiles were much more real this time, but before they could continue, a voice called to them from outside the tent.
“Oy, lovebirds! Get out here. We need to talk.”
Ezekiel let out a sigh as Riley pulled away, but he winced as he twisted to push himself up. Riley reached out to steady him. She gingerly took a hold of his arm and helped pull him to his feet.
The lack of premonition kept Ezekiel from panicking. A feeling of comfort and reassurance from Shine also helped. So, Ezekiel knew that whoever was outside wasn’t planning to kill them. Not yet at least.
Taking his time, Ezekiel allowed Riley to help him get dressed. He still had his underclothes on, but even covered in bandages, he felt a little bit naked. So, he was happy to put on the loose pair of pants and shirt that Riley handed to him.
They weren’t his, but as he looked around, Ezekiel saw that his Void Pouch was nowhere to be seen. He turned to Riley and noticed that she didn’t have her Void Pouch either, nor did she have any sort of weapon or enchanted item on her person.
Now much more cautious, Ezekiel gently channeled mana through his body. There was a slight warming sensation as his pathways strained themselves. But it was nowhere near as bad as the night before.
The channeling quickly cooled, and Ezekiel directed his mana to reinforce his body and enhance his natural healing. It wasn’t nearly as effective as normal Life Magic, or specialized healing Glacial Magic. But in the few seconds it took for him to leave the tent with Riley, he already felt somewhat better.
Of course, he stopped his channeling the moment he saw the group in front of him. There were half a dozen Legendary Hunters sitting around a doused campfire. Tempest, Life, Flame, Lightning, Obscure, and Cavern. The sun was rising in the distance, and Ezekiel could tell that it was just before midday.
“Long time no see, kid. Come here. Sit down. Tell us why you’re here, and maybe me and my compatriots will finish patching you up.” Talon pointed to an empty pair of stools near the campfire.
“What? No death threats? You must like me more than I remember.” Ezekiel relaxed when he saw a couple of the Hunters crack a small smile at his joke. Including Talon.
“After what you did to my badge, I think I should’ve. But seeing as you’re apparently hunting the same people we are, I’m feeling nicer right now.” Talon turned his business face back on as all emotion left it. “Your girl told us a bit. But it’s always nice to confirm. Though, the badge you had on you did help.”
Ezekiel took a seat next to the Lightning Legendary. Riley sat next to him, and they both turned toward the assembled Legendaries.
Briefly going through the events of the last few months in his head, Ezekiel began his story.
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It was over an hour later when Ezekiel wrapped up his story. An Adept from a separate area of the camp had come by with some food a little while ago, and the assembled Legendaries were eating lunch.
“You’ve been through a lot since you headed into the mountains a year ago.” Talon put his empty bowl down and addressed Ezekiel.
The group had been silent while they ate. Ezekiel had been stopped several times during his tale. The sheer number of things that his audience didn’t believe almost made them throw him and Riley out. But the fact that their magic told them he was telling the truth kept him and Riley safe.
“Yeah. But I’ve been through a few things like this. Hell. The first Ruin I went to was when I was ten years old. It’s only been a decade or so since then.” Ezekiel tried to wave off Talon’s words. But the reminder of everything he’d been through made him clench his fist. “Regardless, I think you and your friends need to make a decision about us.”
“Oh? Not going to ask us why we’re here?” Talon raised an eyebrow.
Ezekiel pointedly stared at him. “The Guardian Spirits of the Fjorya asked for help. Since they can’t freely cross Spirit territories as easily as Hunters.”
All the Legendaries tensed up at Ezekiel’s words. But they relaxed again a moment later. Ezekiel figured that Talon wouldn’t be this far in Spirit territory with strangers that weren’t allowed to be here. Territory rulers might allow some Hunters to pass through unimpeded, but only during times of trouble, or if sufficient payment was provided.
The cost for Legendaries was often too high for a lone Hunter to pay. Only Guilds had the means to do so safely. Yet, none of these Hunters wore a shared emblem. Thus, Ezekiel figured that they were given badges of friendship with rulers or Guardians in the area.
“You’re still as sharp as ever. Even as a cripple,” Talon said with a grin. “But you’re only partially right.”
“... Rebel forces that have been driven out of Tarquessa that are striking back against the Cult of Light that only barely manage to take over in full on the surface?” This time the Legendaries all glared at him. A couple even palmed their weapons. In the corner of Ezekiel’s vision, there were several Adepts sitting around that did the same.
“Too sharp, kid. Too sharp.” Talon wasn’t smiling anymore. But Ezekiel wasn’t worried.
“Better to lay everything out right now, rather than have you thinking I’ve deceived you later.”’’’’’
Ezekiel and Talon locked eyes. Neither one was willing to back down. Riley fidgeted as she glanced back and forth between Ezekiel and the other Legendaries.
“Um... Excuse me, but why are we almost fighting? Don’t we all want the Cult destroyed? Doesn’t that mean that we should work together?” Riley’s question made Ezekiel and Talon finally break eye contact. They both turned to her alongside the other Tier four Hunters.
“It’s a matter of risk, reward, and planning. You and I are also Imperials. They are all from Tarquessa. Outside of merchant groups, there’s not a lot of good relations between the two factions,” Ezekiel explained. “Mostly due to the Empire, since they have a history of trying to take the Fjorya and its resources for themselves. Though the last attempt was fifty or so years ago. I can’t remember the exact date.”
“He’s right. While you are clearly against the Cult, we don’t know if we can trust you to not turn against us for your own benefit. Or abandon us if you think things are going poorly. We have no means of making contracts to ensure such a thing doesn’t happen.” The Lightning Hunter said.
“It makes things even worse since you’ve been promised a badge of friendship by the Rulers if you kill enough Cultists before the month is up,” this time the Life Hunter spoke. “The benefits that such a promise will grant you if you succeed are great. Each of us can guarantee that.”
“The other issue is the fact that the Cult has been chipping away at our forces. We had nearly cleared out one area. But thanks to your actions in the other regions, the Cult has been sending in more reinforcements before we could prepare to fight them off. Now there’s a high chance we won’t be able to, and they’ll be able to regain their foothold and force us back again,” Talon said. “In which case, our attempts to form a force to pincer and damage Chime will fade have been pointless.”
This time, Ezekiel opened his eyes wide in shock. He had mostly just been inferring things based on the little information he had. He knew there were forces that the Spirit Rulers had named friends, and he knew the Cult had enemies in Tarquessa who didn’t like that the Cult had been winning the war.
He had thought that this group was just a simple resistance force that was fighting off the Cult to slowly wear them down. He hadn’t thought that they were part of a plan to retake one of Tarquessa’s major cities.
If they succeeded, then the damage to Rime could be mitigated and recovery efforts would be possible. The forces opposing the Cult would once again have a major staging ground in the northern regions of Tarquessa.
“That’s a dangerous plan. The Cult doesn’t like to lose what belongs to them. They may very well have trapped the city to destroy it if they can’t keep it.” Ezekiel leaned forward, nearly glaring at Talon as he said this. He had more experience with the Cult’s methods than anyone else here.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Next to Ezekiel, Riley shivered. She had firsthand experience regarding the dark depths that the Cult of Light would go to. Previously, they had needed to keep their forces and methods hidden to build up their forces.
This didn’t apply to Tarquessa. The Cult was already out in the open down there. So, there wasn’t any point in keeping their hand hidden. Not when there was a risk of losing the pot.
There were grim faces all around. Each of them knew full well that Ezekiel was right. They had all lost something to the Cult. Whether it was friends, family, or business, the Cult had affected them all.
For now, why don’t we figure out what you’re going to do with us.” Ezekiel pinched the bride of his nose and sighed. There were too many things going on for him to deal with them all at once. He figured it would be better to get their primary issue out of the way before moving on.
“Agreed. So, how about you tell us exactly what you can do?” Talon interjected before his allies could say anything. Taking charge of the conversation once more.
They all forced themselves to settle into their seats. The Flame Hunter relighting the fire, as it was moving into the afternoon, and it was getting colder. Ezekiel could already tell that he and Riley weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
At least their last few kills had bought them another couple of days.
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Ezekiel crawled back into his tent, exhausted from the day of discussion. It had been a long and tedious conversation, but he and Riley had managed to convince the other rebel Hunters that they could be of use. No contracts were created, but it was decided that Ezekiel and Riley would take a leading role in dismantling the Cult reinforcements that had arrived.
Since this was something that would help the pair with their own mission, this was somewhat acceptable. The only downside was the fact that they would be operating as a separate force that was semi-dependant on the rebels to succeed.
Talon had tried to fight for Ezekiel. Citing the fact that it was only due to his actions that Marco had been killed during the fall of Rime. But it seemed like this was only enough good will to give them the chance to cooperate. Which Ezekiel was fine with, since he knew that the whole reason Marco attacked was to kill him in the first place.
Flopping onto his bedroll, Ezekiel patted his returned Void Pouch for comfort. He had been able to argue that they needed their supplies and equipment back, so at least they weren’t as bad off as before.
Next to him, Riley flopped onto her own, freshly unraveled, bedroll.
“What are you doing?” Ezekiel turned to face her. “Weren’t you given your own tent?”
Riley faced him before answering. “Safety in numbers.” Before immediately throwing her blanket over herself and falling asleep.
Too tired to fight it, Ezekiel just allowed himself to do the same, and woke up in a tangle of limbs as Riley had somehow wrapped herself around him. Both were still exhausted from the lack of proper sleep the night before, as well as Ezekiel’s still healing wounds. Though they had fully closed at this point and were merely somewhat red thin lines that ran up and down his body.
The two dressed quickly before heading out. Neither one felt comfortable looking each other in the eye at the moment. Ezekiel was only just able to force down his blush as Riley turned red.
A few of the rebel Hunters outside just gave them raised eyebrows as they smirked at the embarrassed duo. The rest sneered in disgust or disdain, assuming that Ezekiel and Riley weren’t taking things seriously.
“Alright! That’s enough.” Talon called out. “Your various leaders would’ve likely told you what the current plan is. While we’ve managed to clear one area of Cultists, we’re now moving into a new one. There’s a dozen or so bases that need to be wiped out. All centered around the central ravine.”
The ravine he spoke of was the one that Akland had claimed as his territory for the most part. There were sections that were outside the fish Spirit’s control, but they were enough that Ezekiel and Riley could still follow along.
“Given the situation, the two outsiders will be the vanguard for the main assault for the Cult’s primary fort. Word is that they’ve reinforced the area with teams including at least two Legendaries. Possibly three.” This was information that they had discussed before. Apparently, the rebel Hunters had enough scouts and ties to the Fjorya Spirits that they had much better information than Ezekiel and Riley. “That means that we’ll be operating in two teams, to ensure that we outnumber any forces we run across. I, and our lady of Life, will be working with the outsiders, while the other four will be making a separate assault on another base. Hopefully, this will force the Cult to split their forces. Though, given that they’ve already consolidated their numbers into four main camps, it will probably take too long for them to stop us.”
This was information that Ezekiel and Riley had been shocked by. They had been aware that reinforcements had been sent by the Cult. Legendaries that weren’t usually stationed in the Fjorya. What they weren’t aware of was the fact that they had grouped together and put a pause on their patrols and poaching.
Due to the pair’s assault on the teams outside the bases, the Cult had decided to write off some of the simpler campsites and pull all their forces back into the structural bases. Thereby forcing any attackers to assault them on the Cult’s own terms.
Had Ezekiel and Riley made any more attempts to take out the Cultists in the wilderness, they would’ve found themselves forced to enter properly defended Cult territory. As well as outnumbering then two-and-a-half-to-one.
“If there are any questions before we begin, say them now. Otherwise, pack up and get ready. We leave for our new campground, with the intent to arrive by dusk.” Talon looked around the assembled rebels for anyone who might have something to say. Seeing nothing, he nodded. “In that case, let’s go. If things go well, the Cult will be dealt a massive blow on two fronts by tomorrow morning.”
With those final words, the Hunters all took down their tents and supplies. Void Pouches were filled with equipment, and Spirits grew to rideable sizes. Riley mounted up on Celia, and Ezekiel readied himself to run ahead of the main force.
As Talon took to the sky, everybody moved out. They had only a bit more than a day to get ready for a major assault. Even with grim faces all around, a sense of determination filled each and every one of them.
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Beneath a camouflage blanket atop a tall cliff, Ezekiel and Riley looked out toward the reinforced structure that the Cult was using as their main base. High above them, well out of sight, Talon was apparently circling the area. He was waiting for the signal to strike. His attack being the indicator for the rest of the Rebels to begin their own offense.
It had been nearly two days since Ezekiel and Riley had set out with the rebels from the camp that he had woken up in. Since then, Ezekiel had managed to do a little bit of repair with the help of Shine. But his Pathways were still far from being good as new.
‘Are you sure that they won’t just leave us to die?’ Shine couldn’t help but worry as they shared what senses they could with Ezekiel. From what they could tell, the formations that now surrounded this base were roughshod enchantments that had several holes in them.
Whether they were there due to the rush, or to lay traps for any attackers was unknown to Ezekiel. But he wasn’t planning on using them anyway.
‘No bad omen feeling so far. I think Talon can be trusted as well. He did give us his token of friendship when we needed it. We’d be dead if he hadn’t.’ Ezekiel still remembered the badge that had gotten him out of the life and death situation he was in last year. ‘I don’t think a man like that would just betray us on the eve of a great success.’
The sun had set a couple of hours ago. Ezekiel’s job was about to begin. He simply had to get in, break the formations, and cause as much damage as possible.
Surviving until Talon and the Legendary Life Hunter could support him was also necessary. But it would be far more difficult to do. Even if Riley moved in to support him.
“Hey, there’s no chance of there being four Legendary Cultists in there, right?” Riley’s voice cut through Ezekiel’s thoughts. Turning to look at her, Ezekiel could see that she was fidgeting as she gripped her spear.
Focusing on the base, Ezekiel ran through numerous scenarios in his mind. Desperately trying to convey his intent to go through with these different actions.
The only time his sense of premonition popped up was when he thought about assaulting a different base without any support. There was still some concern regarding their current plan of attack, but it wasn’t enough for Ezekiel to decide to turn back.
Although, the same could be said for the previous night. They had ultimately been lucky that Talon and the other rebels had been passing through the area from their previous region. Thus, Ezekiel now knew for certain that the lack of bad feeling was only an indicator of a non-instant death sentence.
Whether or not he and Riley survived would still be up to them, and his premonitions only applied to his own well-being. Not that of his allies.
“I’m confident that we’ll be able to survive this. We just need to be as careful as possible and be willing to pull out all the stops to ensure success. If anything, running away is possibly our worst option right now.” Ezekiel thought of what the rebels might do to him and Riley if they tried to run. He shivered at the possibilities that flowed through his mind. “If we do, then that means we’ll have three forces after us. The Cult, the rebels, and the Spirits.”
Ezekiel had no doubt that the Hunter allies of the Guardian Spirits of the Fjorya would have enough pull to have his own badge of friendship revoked. At which point fleeing the mountains would be the only thing that they could do. Since they were on the southern side of the Fjorya at this point, they wouldn’t even be able to flee into safer territory. The Cult would then hunt them down with ease.
“Time to go,” Ezekiel said as a small flash of light caught his eye. It wasn’t enough to set off any alarms, but it told him that he needed to move out. “Only move in when you hear the explosion.”
Riley nodded her head. Tensing up as she focused on Ezekiel. He ignored this as he leapt from the cliff. Landing gently with Shine’s help. A Shroud covered them both, and Ezekiel ran through the forest as fast as he could. All while not making a sound or otherwise disturbing the night.
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The walls of the base were twice as thick as the walls of the last base Ezekiel infiltrated. But Shine was easily able to ‘Jump’ them inside. From there, Shine took a risk to expend some more of their mana. Keeping Ezekiel aloft to ensure no Cavern Mages could sense his position.
Moving around the base, Ezekiel carefully places the grenades he had commissioned at the village he and Riley had previously stopped at. The simple metal orbs were filled with Riley’s fire, and a small barrier filled with Void mana was contained within as well.
The barriers would only last a few more minutes in all of them. So, Ezekiel would have to get rid of them soon, or else they would explode on him.
There were only a dozen grenades prepped for today. Riley’s Flames couldn’t last long without her fueling them. It only took a couple of minutes to place the makeshift Artifacts in such a way that a Cavern Mage wouldn’t have sensed them right away. But he only managed to get ten in place before he knew his time was up.
Floating up to an open window, still Shrouded, Ezekiel saw one of the Legendaries that he would have to fight. Unfortunately for him, it was indeed a Cavern Hunter. Meaning that Ezekiel would have a disadvantage since he couldn’t easily fly.
If the Cavern Hunter didn’t leave the ground, he could simply attack Ezekiel from all directions. A hidden assault was his best bet at getting out of this alive.
‘Shroud the last two grenades as best you can,’ Ezekiel mentally told Shine.
‘I don’t know how long I can hold a Shroud at a distance for. It could use up way more mana than what would be safe.’ Shine didn’t like this plan. They had never Shrouded anything that wasn’t touching them before. Not for longer than a few seconds at least. Barriers were a bit better, since they were made beyond the reaches of their body naturally.
‘That should be fine.’ Ezekiel didn’t care at this point. He knew Shine was running low on mana fast, but he needed to do something that would help in disabling the Cavern Hunter.
Wordlessly, Shine conceded to Ezekiel’s command. They waited for a little bit longer, until the grenades were on the cusp of going off.
Gently tossing the two Shrouded grenades through the open window, just as the Cavern Hunter was standing up, Shine immediately felt a sudden pull on their mana that was stronger than before.
Unlike the Void Panes, the Shroud wanted to reinforce the surrounding mana in the atmosphere much more readily. It was an effort of will to hold it back.
Ezekiel ended up dropping a few feet as Shine had to rebalance their focus of their mana. Which was a good thing, however, as the grenades all went off at once. Blowing out the room the two had been tossed in. The mana from the Shroud apparently added to the mana that was sealed in the little bombs and made them even stronger.
A blood curdling scream roared from the building, and all the formations surrounding the base were broken in an instant. The Cavern Hunter hadn’t been wearing his Spirit armor before but was now adorned in orange-brown armor that denoted his place as a Legendary Hunter. A badger motif was clearly visible on the chest plate portion.
The fact that he had survived spoke greatly of the man’s power. He must’ve been mid to high Step amongst the Tier fours. But Ezekiel wasn’t despairing at the situation.
The Hunter was currently lacking an arm, after all.
However, before he could allow himself to feel any sense of joy at the damage he had done, Ezekiel felt himself blown backwards towards the crumbling protective walls of the base.
The air was filled with the scent of ozone, and he was suddenly surrounded by Lightning from all sides. But it wasn’t only him. The entire area was filled with violet light and the crack of thunder.
A wide range attack had just taken him down. The force was enough to jostle even his reinforced body to the point where he was spitting up blood.
He had to carefully channel the mana within his body just to keep himself functioning. The Cultists in this base were far stronger than any other Legendaries he had fought before.
“So, you're the one that’s been killing our Hunters, and disrupting our operations in the Fjorya,” a light and feminine voice called out to Ezekiel. Above his prone body, a petite woman with long violet hair floated with an elegant looking saber in her hand. The motif on her armor was that of a mouse. “You even managed to kill over a dozen of our Hunters here with your sneak attack. I can see why our leaders want you dead so badly.”
The Cavern Hunter was frothing at the mouth next to the Lightning Hunter. The rage and pain he felt were clearly disrupting his mental facilities, but he was holding back as the Lightning Hunter spoke.
Before anything else could be said, however, a flash of blue fire filled the area. The Cavern Hunter flinched away, while the Lightning Hunter disappeared in a crack of thunder. She reappeared a dozen meters away.
The fire began to spread, and a sudden typhoon slammed down on the area. The fires followed the trails of wind that pulled the blue flames towards the Cultist Legendaries.
A gray clad figure descended from the sky, swinging a set of daggers towards the Cavern Hunter. Only to be forced to dodge as a bolt of Lightning flashed towards him.
Beside him, Riley landed with Celia, who had grown to a larger size to fight more directly. A trail of burning bodies was left in their wake.
The true battle against the Cult had now begun.