The first monster to emerge from the trees was clearly not of this world. It stood at double the height of a man, an unnaturally long yet thin torso, vaguely birdlike legs, head, and beak, yet no arms or wings to speak of. Its skin was a discordant mix of gray hues and the three giant eyes on its long and narrow skull were filled with dozens of glowing irises each, almost like an insect’s. This was all Raela could see at a glimpse, and a glimpse was all she got.
“Ignum adcurata fortis dionis.”
Fifteen’s heat beam punched clean through the bizarre creature’s midsection, causing a huge chunk of its torso to simply vanish. The rest of it rapidly disintegrated into nothingness before its body even hit the ground. The high-powered spell defeated it so easily it was as if the legendary creature was little more than a soap bubble. In fact, the hit exhausted so little of the beam’s energy that the spell went on to gouge a sizable hole through the forest behind the Sage’s target. The sorceress discarded her burnt-out focus and aimed her second staff at the nearly identical creature that came at her from the side.
“Tactum.”
It popped just as easily from the relatively light bolt of pure magic, confirming that these were mere apparitions with very little substance to them. Fifteen silently chided herself. It was her first time facing a demon, yet she foolishly let loose with a big spell right at the start. She must’ve been a bit too excited.
“Tactum.”
As she felled the third dummy, she gathered that these were no mere illusions. Though fragile, the trampled grass they left behind revealed they had some weight to them. Most likely disposable puppets woven together from strange magics that no human could hope to master. They could not be ignored, and whatever enemy employed them was likely a cautious, calculating creature that wanted to test the waters. Either that or it was a weakling who’d lose instantly in a direct confrontation. If this was the latter case and trickery was afoot, then it was time to bring out an old friend. Fifteen reached into her robes to fetch it, but at that same time another demon came galloping out of the darkness towards her. This one was a wagon-sized pale-green ball of muscle with just five goat legs and a giant mouth – no head, eyes, ears, or nose to speak of. The heavy vibrations transmitted through the ground made it clear this one was far more solid than the others.
Bright orange lines glowed underneath Bahm’s fur as he pounced on the new foe with a high leap. The boosted saber-tooth slammed into the demon from above, blazing claws latching onto its wide scalp like it was a plus-sized scratching post. The alien creature howled and screeched as it tried to buck the smaller monster off, but Bahm’s former title as ‘King Claw’ was well-earned. As he clung to the demon, he pulled his head back for a moment and then threw it down with a mighty roar that unleashed a cone-shaped torrent of flame. The scorching breath washed over and enveloped the entirety of the spherical monster. The attack must have thoroughly confused whatever unnatural senses it had, given the way it erratically ran off screeching and burning into the wilderness.
Cover us.
Having received the telepathic request, Bahm dismounted the creature with another mighty leap and dashed towards another fake almost-bird that had invaded Fifteen’s blind spot in an attempt to trample Raela. The saber-tooth was able to intercept it in time, but the instant he got in range he was attacked with a pecking motion so swift that the girl didn’t even see it. One moment the half-fowl was just standing there and in the next its neck had extended more than a meter and its beak was buried in Bahm’s face. Or so it seemed at first, but Raela was relieved to find that the apex predator had much better reflexes than her and was able to stop the spear-like thrust by biting onto it mid-motion. The demon and the saber-tooth struggled against one another in a contest of strength for a few moments before the apprentice remembered she was a mage and punched a hole through the hostile creature’s chest with a conjured firebolt.
Whatever these apparitions were, their beaks were the only truly solid part of their freakish bodies, so they were quietly and unceremoniously dubbed ‘beak-things.’ A group of three more came charging out of the shadows next, but they were out of surprises. Bahm was able to bait and dodge the first two’s meter-long insta-pecks, then finished them off with fang and claw to their extended necks. Raela got the third one with another well-aimed blast of concentrated heat. She had absolutely no idea where these things were coming from, how many they were, or what sort of threat they truly posed, but having felled two of these did wonders for her confidence. At least until she realized there were suddenly twenty or thirty of those beak-things that charged at her from all sides.
A blinding light then erupted from Fifteen’s hand, startling everyone and momentarily halting the apparitions’ charge. Her apprentice and familiar had bought her enough time to bring out and activate the enchanted crystal vial she secretly wore like an amulet. The Wandering Starlight’s glow peeled back the darkness even further, and in doing so also revealed that trickery was indeed afoot. There were twenty or thirty sparrow-sized demons hiding in the bushes and branches nearby, their tiny forms so thoroughly concealed that even Bahm failed to notice them. However, the light of Fifteen’s magic item scattered around them, painting them in a rainbow-like sequence of colors. Whether they were obscured through magic or camouflage, all deception was laid bare before the Wandering Starlight.
“Ignum expulso trionis.”
Fifteen aimed an explosion at a relatively dense cluster of targets gathered around a tree she had felled earlier, and all of the creatures gathered there vanished in an instant, as did several of the beak-things. It would appear those little vermin were the ones summoning and controlling those apparitions, and now that they were found out, the lot of them scattered in all directions while commanding their puppets into a suicidal charge. This posed a problem. As fragile as the dummies were, their attacks posed a real threat, and too many of them were spread too widely. Even Fifteen would struggle to eliminate them all before they got in striking distance… if she were alone.
“Raela. Blanket fire.”
“Yes!”
Both pyromancers thrust their hands out and sprayed the ground and air around them in two sweeping jets of flame that billowed out in opposite directions. The resulting ring of fire wiped out the blind rush in one fell swoop, and in mere moments all the demons had either died or fled. The campsite itself was unfortunately set ablaze in the process, but the area seemed clear of demons for the moment. Far from quiet, though. The black sky continued to thunder and the first drops of the looming storm pattered against the scorched ground.
“Woah…”
Now that she had a moment to think and breathe, Raela couldn’t believe what had just happened. Being attacked by demons came as a shock, of course, but she was more surprised at herself. Her magic came out so swiftly and easily that she didn’t even need to think about it. That huge sweep, especially. It wasn’t something she’d been taught or practiced at all. When she heard ‘blanket fire’ she just assumed she had to spray and pray for the best. Certainly wasn’t expecting it to turn into a combination attack. For her mentor to match and synchronize with her ad-hoc conjuration in an instant, just how cool could she get?
“Focus. It’s not over.”
“R-right!”
Fifteen’s words snapped her back to reality. As before, just when one threat seemed to be dealt with an even bigger one appeared. They heard it before they saw it – an entire stampede of those five-legged ball-mouth things. They emerged from the sparse treeline at the edge of the overhead flare’s light, flattening the forest in their path. Raela thought she’d prepared herself, but she was still a child and couldn’t help but cling to Fifteen’s robes out of fear. The sorceress was feeling the pressure, too. This was a much larger assault than she anticipated, which meant she’d have to escalate her efforts appropriately. Rather than deploy her amplification circle – she was saving that for a little later – she drew a second staff and held both in a hand each, then clacked them together.
“Ignum fortis quatris.”
One focus disintegrated as the other was wreathed in flames and then pointed squarely at the incoming wave of muscle and teeth.
“Ignum fracta expulso dionis!”
The two-part incantation produced a cascading column of conflagrations that carpet bombed the central portion of the demonic charge out of existence before they could even get within twenty paces of the sorceress. However, the other two thirds quickly filled in the gap as what seemed like a hundred carriage-sized demons moved in as if to encircle the group. They were so fast that Fifteen didn’t have the time to invoke another big spell, and she’d need two or three to fully wipe these things out.. So, she didn’t even reach for another staff. Instead, she picked up Raela in both hands, nodded to Bahm, and then put her newly acquired purchase to use.
“Parparo!”
Reacting to the nonsensical code word, the shaped explosion spell sealed within her prosthetic leg’s heel activated, launching the Sage and her apprentice up and over the demonic charge. Bahm achieved similar results by employing the same leaping prowess he displayed previously. Neither the sorceress nor the familiar were able to clear the monstrous tide in a single bound, but the creatures were densely packed together. There was a 50-50 chance whether they’d land on one of their wide backs or fall between the gaps and be trampled to death. Both coin flips landed in their favor.
“Parparia!”
The second explosive charge was released immediately upon the point of contact, blowing a hole clean through the wretched creature that served as Fifteen’s improvised foothold and sending her skyward once more. The woman’s thigh and spine whined in protest at the extreme forces they were forced to endure, but her reinforced prosthetic absorbed and handled the bulk of the stress without issue. It could easily stand another three or four fiery jumps without so much as a crack or dent. The sorceress knew her investment in high-quality materials would pay off, though she didn’t imagine that would happen quite so soon. However, she couldn’t relax quite yet.
Though that second leap was enough to get her and Raela out of harm’s way for the moment, they didn’t have much time before the ball-mouths turned around and came at them again. Given how simple-minded their ilk seemed, it was all but guaranteed the second charge would play out similarly to the first. Therein lay the issue. Fifteen only made it through that first assault by sheer luck, and she didn’t fancy taking that risk again. Especially since, no matter how dumb they seemed, demons were supposed to be fairly intelligent as far as monsters went. There was no guarantee the same trick would work twice, or that either those beak-things or some other demon might show up to complicate things.
“Sweet, merciful Prophet!” Raela screamed after finally catching her breath. “Did we fly?! We just flew, didn’t we?!”
She was somehow both excited and terrified at the same time, which wasn’t surprising. There was no such thing as an adventurer who wasn’t also a thrill-seeker, especially when it came to fire mages. Some, like Fifteen, just did a better job of hiding it. On that note, she figured it was about time to cover her gaping cheek up while she had the chance, so she set the girl on the ground and quickly fixed her face-wrap and hood.
“Can you run?” the sorceress asked.
“Uh, I think so. My ears are thumping pretty hard but I don’t feel tired at all!”
Though the gods never gave humans magic, the adrenaline their bodies produced was every bit as miraculous at times like these.
“This way.”
“Yes! Wait, where’s Bahm going?”
The saber-tooth had body-surfed the demon wave with relative ease. Though those ball-mouths were bigger, stronger, and tougher than him, his vastly superior speed and agility allowed him to easily get into their top-sided blind spot. He could probably keep back-hopping between them all night, and that was in fact the reason why he was dashing after the stampede rather than away.
“To distract the enemy, buy us some time.”
“Understood. Stay safe, Bahm!”
The saber-tooth stopped for a moment to flash her an over-the-shoulder giant-fanged grin, then disappeared into the cloud of dust left in the demons’ wake. The other two went the opposite direction – where those things first appeared from. It was a bit tricky navigating the crater-riddled ground left in the wake of Fifteen’s carpet bombing spell, but the path beyond it proved much easier to traverse as it had already been cleared by the stampede. Unfortunately, the earlier drizzle escalated to pounding rain in less than a minute. It snuffed out the floating flare in the back and the already moist soil quickly turned to mud. Neither of those were good things. At least Fifteen’s Wandering Starlight still gave her and Raela plenty of light, but with so many drops in the air visibility was incredibly poor regardless.
Thankfully, this development did have an upside. According to Bahm, the storm confused the hell out of the herd of sightless demons and he was able to slip away unharmed. It would be unlikely the ball-mouths would find them easily so long as the rain persisted, but that also went for the saber-tooth. No matter how excellent a hunter, even Bahm couldn’t track them in this mess. He’d have to rely on his mental connection to point him in the general direction of the sorceress, then once he was close enough he’d be able to find them by the Wandering Starlight’s glow. It would take longer than anticipated, but he reassured Fifteen he’d catch up before long.
“Mistress… I can’t…”
It would seem Raela’s adrenaline rush could only bring her so far. She’d been hiking for eight straight hours shortly before this mess happened, and all this mud and rain sapped what little energy she had left. Fifteen was getting a bit winded herself, but she still had enough strength to pick up Raela and keep moving.
“I’m sorry. I’m slowing you down, aren’t I?”
“It’s alright. We need high ground more than distance.”
“In… In that case, head there,” the girl pointed to the left. “Should be a small hill with a big boulder, just past that old tree.”
“That one? You’re sure?”
“Yeah. Saw it earlier today, on our way back. It, uh, looked like a butt so it made an impression.”
Fifteen raised an eyebrow at the withered trunk. Now that she looked at it more closely, it was indeed shaped like someone with a generous rump was bending over. As silly as it seemed, it was better than wandering blind, so she decided to trust her apprentice. Sure enough, the pair hit a gradual upward slope and the sorceress spotted a massive rock formation at the hilltop thanks to a flash of lightning. Very few trees or shrubs nearby, too. Once she got close enough she remembered the landmark herself, though the fact that those ball-mouths had come from the same direction they were hiking earlier was surely no mere coincidence.
However, the sorceress was unable to think through that implication before she suddenly found herself beset on all sides once more. A pair of dog-sized beetle-like creatures began to emerge from the drenched soil, their shells black and shiny like obsidian. They resembled the giant scarabs of her homeland, but only loosely. Way too many legs and pincers. The wilderness around Cherrytown didn’t have any such monsters. No doubt these were demons as well, burrowers by the look of it. When Raela saw them she squealed and doused them in flames while still clinging to her mentor, but between their tough exteriors and the heavy rain the wild magic did little but spread some sparks around..
The two creatures came snapping at Fifteen’s heels, causing her anti-scarab reflexes to kick in. Meaning she kicked in the closer bug’s forehead before it could sink its mandibles into her. The creature was lighter than it looked and she succeeded in flipping the bug-demon over onto its back. It would need some time to right itself, so she moved to stomp on the other one with her brass leg. Unfortunately, the second creature proved quicker and dodged her metal heel, which proceeded to sink into the muddy soil. This seemed deliberate from the creature’s behalf, given the speed with which it pounced on the immobilized limb. Whatever it had for jaws sank into the brass plating easily, but the steel underneath that decorative layer endured despite the horrible scraping noise.
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Things then got worse yet again as dozens of scarab demons began to emerge from the ground. Way too many for one and a half wizards to handle, especially with Fifteen’s foot immobilized. Between the mud underfoot, the monster clamping onto her, and the squirming girl her in arms upsetting her balance, she was unable to pull her leg free. So, in a fit of desperate inspiration, she put all her weight on her pinned foot and tightened her grip around Raela.
“Parparata!”
The third and final shaped detonation vaporized the dog-sized bug that gave her so much trouble and sent Fifteen flying forward and upward. She managed to make it atop that massive boulder she was trying to reach in the first place. Her trajectory wasn’t the best and the moss-covered rock was slick from the rain, so the sorceress slipped the instant she landed on it. Thankfully, her enhanced reflexes allowed her to twist her body so she fell flat on her back while holding Raela safely against her chest.
“Mistress! Are you alright?!”
“… I’ll live.”
Getting sandwiched between the girl and the boulder hurt like a bitch and knocked the air out of her lungs, but nothing was broken and her apprentice was unhurt. Of course, things wouldn’t stay that way if the two of them just lay there, so she let go of Raela and rose to her feet as quickly as she could without slipping again. Looking around, it would seem her decision to take the high ground had been correct. Despite their size and overabundance of limbs, the pseudo-scarabs were incapable of climbing up the steep and slick side of the half-buried boulder. It was a temporary reprieve, judging by the slew of gnashing and scraping noises from the rock’s base. The alien swarm was no doubt carving away at Fifteen’s foothold. If their mandibles could chew metal, then the boulder would be reduced to pebbles in minutes, and the humans wouldn’t even have bones left afterwards. Assuming, of course, that other demons didn’t find them first.
Which they assuredly did. There was a terrible crackle as ambient magical energy spiked once again and dozens of ball-mouths appeared out of thin air all around the sorceress. There was something different about this lot, however. Their once green hides were now a deep crimson, and what seemed like molten metal oozed from their disfigured maws like drool. There was no question this bunch carried the spark of fire magic within them, which was an inevitable development.
Demons had two traits that made them a nightmare for mages to deal with. The first was their immortal nature. Even if defeated, the monster would not perish truly, but merely be banished to whatever dark realm spawned it. Their second ability was a form of mimicry. If magic was used to accomplish this deed, then their souls would absorb and adopt that energy in order to grow stronger and gain invulnerability to that element. Put simply, demons would not die twice to the same trick. At least, not back-to-back. Given that none of the ones earlier had any magic, it was safe to assume this charged state was temporary, which could only mean one thing. These fiery monsters were the same ones Fifteen obliterated minutes before and they were back for a rematch.
To be more precise, they were summoned.
None of this evening’s events were an accident. Someone was actively trying to eliminate the Sage of the Sands by proxy. Fifteen suspected something like this would happen. She felt eyes on her the whole time she was in Cherrytown, and not just the usual ‘look at the weirdo’ stares she got from commoners. She even had Bahm secretly infiltrate the city and shadow her throughout the day from the rooftops and dark alleys. The saber-tooth didn’t spot anyone following her, but also felt as if someone was watching them both. That subtle yet intrusive sensation continued even after the two of them left the city with Raela, yet neither found a tangible foreign presence.
The most likely explanation was that a clairvoyance ritual was used for the deed. Though it was silent and invisible, its magical signature could not be obfuscated completely. If magic was involved, then this was either the guild or a cabal of witches. Given current events, the latter seemed significantly more likely than the former, which in turn could only mean this was the work of the same cult who took over Roderick Asylum. Summoning so many demons from a significant distance was by no means a small feat. It would require cooperation between several heretics well-versed in forbidden arts, and may even involve a relic or two from the War of the Ancients. Fifteen must have really pissed someone off if they were willing to commit such resources to hunting her down, and those maniacs were the only ones that she could think of.
Though the ‘who’ and ‘why’ seemed obvious, the ‘how’ didn’t make much sense. Even if Bahm’s presence would make it difficult for a normal assassin to sneak up on her, this roundabout method seemed incredibly risky in other ways. Demons weren’t particularly picky whose blood they drank, after all. The timing didn’t make much sense, either. Why strike while she was still awake and without the cover of rain? No, it was folly to seek reason in the actions of lunatics, not to mention she didn’t have that kind of time. Fifteen was surrounded on all sides with more and more demons continuously streaming into sight and encroaching from all directions. She had to thin them out while she had the chance.
“Raela, take cover.”
The girl was an emotional wreck at the moment, but as before instantly responded to the voice of her mistress and curled up by her feet with eyes shut, ears plugged, and mouth open. That command meant things were about to get very loud, and they did indeed, though perhaps not quite in the way either of them expected.
A strange object that resembled a massive stone maul fell from the heavens. Its pointed lower end buried itself in the soft soil amidst the sea of alien scarabs and fiery ball-mouths, leaving its intricately-carved spherical head standing at a height taller than most humans. A lifelike carving of a stone serpent was coiled around it, its fanged maw open as if threatening the creatures around it. A bolt of bright yellow lightning fell upon the object in the next instant. The six fist-sized crystal spheres embedded in the relic’s bulbous head flashed with that same blinding hue as they channeled that immense power in a huge arc, instantly vaporizing everything within six paces of the staff.
The item’s owner landed next to it with an earth-trembling impact, ridiculously long twin-tails fluttering in the howling swirl that enveloped her like a cloak. She stood at a height almost matching that ridiculous weapon in an equally ridiculous outfit that showed off so much of her ridiculous muscles it was as if she couldn’t decide if she wanted to be a wizard, a wrestler, or a stripper, so she went for ‘all of the above.’ Even the horde of monsters was so startled that they took a collective step back.
“Let the earth quake and the heavens weep, for the Sky Splitter has arrived!”
image [https://i.imgur.com/yPYjO0D.png]
Raela could only stare in mute amazement while Fifteen disapprovingly shook her head.
“I’m not paying you to be late, Azyra,” she yelled out.
It wasn’t hard to imagine the show-off intentionally waited until she could make that ridiculously flashy entrance.
“Calm your tits, Sparkles! I was busy.”
Thunder-thighs – as Fifteen sometimes insulted her in her head – pointed upward, towards the disintegrating bits of slain demons that were mixed in with the heavy rain. It would appear the enemy had deployed flyers as well and Azyra needed time to clean those out before she could help out ground-side. Indeed, now that the Sage thought about it, the constant thundering she’d been hearing for the past while seemed to be following her and Raela. Fifteen felt the need to apologize. As insufferable and impulsive as the loudmouth was, she was undeniably effective in her work, and she was here on business. The flame-flinger had hired her to be on standby during this mock expedition and that flare she sent up with Raela was supposed to be a signal for Azyra to rush over and lend a hand. Though it had taken her longer than anticipated to respond, now that she was here, it was finally time for a proper counter-offensive.
“Leave the red ones, sweep the rest.”
“Hmpf. Whatever.”
Though she wasn’t thrilled to be taking orders from her rival, a job was a job. Azyra pulled her maul-like staff from the ground and held it up as if she was about to smash the ground with it.
“Lorkor svantraakul kodont!”
And that was precisely what she did, the impact releasing a cascade of deadly vibrations that ripped everything in a wide cone in front of her to shreds, ground included.
“Myink treakic daguam!”
Next she swung the artifact in a wide circle, kicking up a localized tornado that wrapped around the boulder and violently expanded outward, leaving her client in the calm center while the surrounding winds pushed away the deceptively light black bugs. Her magic was certainly impressive, but not as much as the way she handled that weapon’s monstrous weight as if it was made of paper rather than solid stone. It seemed impossible even with her cultivated physique, though it wasn’t as if Azyra’s muscles were the only thing at play here. The artifact she used as focus and bludgeon both was called Raijin, and it was a unique magical weapon with a slew of special features. Its wielder demonstrated one of those by tossing it into the air, making it spin in circles above her head and automatically blasted anything stupid enough to get close to her with a precise jolt. With both her hands now free, stormcaller then grasped the silver wand tucked into her thigh-high boots and waved it in the flame-flinger’s general direction.
“Guawy drong hruur dastudr!”
Another chant in Draconic saw a puff of golden manifest and wrap around the Sage of the Sands. It was the same strengthening spell that allowed Azyra to wield Raijin as easily as she did, and though Fifteen had experienced it before, she wasn’t used to its peculiar sensation. It was as if a hundred tiny hands were pushing and supporting her every motion. The sorceress found this unsettling, but also unnecessary. Why did Azyra waste time on boosting her physical abilities? Didn’t she see the massive glowing circle on the ground? Even that airhead should know this was no time to be moving around.
Fifteen bit her lip to chase away those distracting thoughts and directed her focus towards the burning ball-mouth demons. They were strong and heavy enough to pass through the perimeter whirlwind and with their height they wouldn’t struggle to climb the boulder. They strode forward with clear confidence in their five-legged gait. They no doubt thought the sorceress posed little threat to them now that they’d inoculated themselves against her flames. Indeed, if it were any other pyromancer, they’d be in deep trouble. However, red dragons were also notoriously impervious to heat, and yet they posed virtually no threat to an Ashwalker.
“Ignum decantus fortis quintis!”
The closest hot-head suddenly let out a pathetic whine as its newly acquired inner fire was literally pulled out of its mouth and drawn into Fifteen through her staff. It didn’t last more than a few moments before the focus exploded into splinters, but it was enough. The demon’s body shriveled up and shrank so much that it looked to be literally skin and bones, too weak to even stand upright. These extraplanar creatures were essentially sentient lumps of energy wrapped up in conjured skin. By adapting to and replicating the fey magic that slayed them they did indeed grow more powerful, but in doing so also made themselves targets for the Order of Ash’s secret flame-stealing technique. The man who taught Fifteen that spell also educated her on its most compatible targets, and demons who’d been ‘dyed’ by her inner flame were near the top of that list. That was why, even though someone was trying to kill her, the sorceress couldn’t help but look forward to the feast from the moment she realized what sort of creatures she’d be facing.
“Ignum decantus fortis quintis!”
And now that the time was finally here, she couldn’t help but go all out.
“Ignum decantus fortis quintis!”
One after the other, the immortal creatures’ essence was greedily sucked up, leaving them as close to true death as their ilk could experience.
“Ignum decantus fortis fracta quintis!”
She even devoured a few at a time, should they be unfortunate enough to be clumped up.
“Ignum decantus fortis adcurata quintis!”
Naturally, each chant expended a significant amount of energy – a demon’s essence wasn’t something easily stolen – but it would all become nourishment for her future self.
“Ignum decantus fortis quintis!”
How much of this boost would be retained was down to luck, so the more she absorbed the greater the potential benefits would be.
“Ignum decantus fortis fracta quintis!”
Unfortunately, no matter how bountiful or delicious a feast was, there was a point at which it had to end. In Fifteen’s case, she still had plenty of targets and energy, but ran out of spare staves. The smart thing to do was to cease, but as with the church-sponsored shopping spree, the sorceress couldn’t help but get carried away.
“Ignum decantus fortis adcurata quintis!”
She repeated the full-strength spell without the aid of a focus, thinking she could handle the recoil. She was wrong. Her entire right arm sprayed boiling, smoking blood in every direction with such force that it ripped through her robe’s sleeve.
“RRAAARGH!”
That miraculous substance called adrenaline dulled the pain, but it was still enough to make her roar in pain and double over, losing the greed-fueled spell in the process. Raela had been laying low as instructed and quickly rose to catch the lurching sorceress. It was a small and pointless gesture, but nevertheless appreciated.
“Mistress! What happened?!”
“Rnnngh! Miscalculated,” she growled through clenched teeth. “I’ll be fine.”
The damage was only superficial – just some ripped skin and muscles – but she could have easily broken a bone or lost the limb if the spell was more potent or if Azyra’s physical enhancement didn’t absorb some of the recoil.
“That’s great and all but those things are still coming!”
The bastards were starting to scatter after seeing all of their kin shrivel up into a pathetic, almost comatose state, only to instantly turn on their heels when their enemy showed weakness.
“I know.”
Her right arm wasn’t much use at the moment, but her left was still in good condition. She retrieved her copper wand and pointed it at the nearest fire-touched demon, almost within arm’s reach.
“Ignum fortis trionis.”
A flick of her wrist saw the monster suddenly lurch sideways, barrelling into its friend and sending a bunch of them tumbling down the side of the miniature cliff like an avalanche. None of them died, but it would take time for them to clamber back up. Also, it would appear those beak-thing puppets were back with a vengeance and a temptingly hot flavor. It was safe to assume the winged ones who delayed Fifteen’s backup would follow suit shortly, empowered by a far less delectable element. As much as the flame-flinger wanted to keep feeding her inner flame, the enemy’s numbers only kept increasing.
“Azyra! We’re leaving!”
“About time!”
The Sky-Splitter paused for a moment and let loose a whistle so sharp and loud that it drowned out both the bellows of demons and the pounding of the rain. Moments later, a massive shadow descended on the scene as her roc familiar swooped down on a cluster of ball-mouths, dispatching them in seconds with beak and talon. The massive bird of prey had been outfitted with a saddle-like piece of gear, letting up to four people ride its back in relative comfort. Or, in this case, three mages and one saber-tooth with impeccable timing. The group rapidly clambered aboard the roc express and braced themselves. The creature struggled to lift off at first since the passengers and rain added a lot of weight, but a quick booster chant from Azyra gave it all the strength it needed to carry them all skyward. The ground-bound demons could only howl and screech skyward the glow of the Wandering Starlight disappeared into the stormy heavens. A flock of resummoned gargoyle-like demons attempted to block the roc’s escape path and were quickly scattered with a combination of lightning bolts and heat beams. The survivors gave chase, but had no hope of catching up to the monstrous eagle’s speed.
Moments later, at a secret underground lair about twenty kilometers away, a man lying on the ground removed the lightning-seared parchment from his face and sat upright, head shaking.
“She’s gone. No way in hell we can catch up.”
He looked to his three comrades. Each of them wore the same dark and obscuring robes as him. Only the lower halves of their faces were visible in the combined light of the 231 candles spread around the stuffy chamber. The number was significant, of course, as were the scrawlings and shapes painted onto the floor, walls, and ceiling. A closer inspection would reveal all of this had been prepared within the last few days, meaning this ‘secret underground lair’ was in fact quite temporary. The ground was still covered in dust, with fresh skid marks from when the ritual’s centerpiece was dragged in here just this morning.
The article in question was a cauldron that, though seemingly carved from some kind of stone, was perfectly smooth and round. It was full of mercury that glistened and shone in hypnotic patterns as its surface bubbled and boiled despite the absence of flame or, indeed, heat. In fact, the air was so cold that the three robed figures gathered around the occult artifact couldn’t help but let out puffs of white as they suddenly started panting. The molten metal settled down the instant they dropped focus, and the demons who were accosting Fifteen’s party would vanish into the void seconds later.
“Are you alright?”
The one responsible for scrying on their target approached and placed a hand on the eldest man’s shoulder. Even though very little could be seen of the group’s faces, it was enough to make it clear all of them were men well past their prime, but this guy’s long gray beard and spotted wrinkles made him look positively ancient.
“Yes, yes, I will be fine,” he grumbled, shrugging off the hand on his shoulder. “It’s just been a while since I used this bloody thing.”
“Really sucks the life out of you, don’t it?” a fellow cauldron-tender chuckled.
“You’d know a thing or two about sucking, wouldn’t you, Grep?” the third one groaned.
“Hey. Watch it. No names,” the scryer cautioned him.
“Oh, come off it,” the careless one rolled his eyes. “Who’s gonna hear us all the way out here, at this bloody hour? ”
As if on cue, the locked door that served as the only means in and out of this abandoned basement suddenly flew off its hinges with a terrible crash. It remained airborne for several paces before clattering to and sliding across the floor until it bumped into the stone cauldron in the middle. The four mages could only stare in shock and horror as a mountain of a man dressed in unmistakable trappings stepped inside their hideout, lead-lined greatsword hoisted onto his shoulder.
“Heh. Who indeed? Hahaha!”
Brother Tacitus always got the shit assignments, but some were easier than others, and this?
“HA HA HA HA HA HA!”
This one was child’s play.