Ellianora continued feeding the spell between her hands, it was nowhere near as powerful as she needed. She took a glance to her right at the fight between the Mist Hauler’s crew and the black field pirate’s captain, a fight which was not going to last the full fifteen minutes. The crew were giving it their best against an opponent that blatantly outclassed them, and they’d need support to last long enough. Gritting her teeth under the effort to both contain the spell and still keep up the same charge rate, she moved the circle of runes to sit solely on her left hand. Draining mana from only one hand instead of both sent a ripping, stinging sensation up all the way to her shoulder, and her skin began to swirl with a dim multicolored light. Now with her right hand free she turned it toward the gigantic figure. I don’t have the mana to spare for a rock or arcanum spell, and fire and lightning risks the ship. Which leaves me with… what exactly? She considered as she projected another set of runes. Wind > Blast > Bolt was what she ended up settling on, as she grunted under the spiked mana strain. The spear shaped blast of air struck the captain in the chest dead center, before detonating in a concussive blast, pushing the captain a whole half step back.
The giant face snapped to the origin of the spell, locking eyes with her. “Well then, we cant ‘ave that now can we?”
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Markus ducked and rolled through the hoard of pirates, doing everything he could to keep them close together. The avirril hadnt managed to get off another spell with him mixed in the hoard of combatants and Markus was happy to keep it that way were it not for the sounds coming from below deck. Sounds of footsteps and shouting were getting closer, ascending the floors of the ship to join the fight. Time for a change of plan. Markus pulled a large glass bead from a pouch on his bandolier, the bead was the size of a purple table grape, the same color as well. Throwing the bead against the floorboards, shattered it releasing the chemicals inside, thick rolling black smoke poured in every direction choking the air and cloaking the entire middle of the deck within seconds. Seizing the opportunity for reprieve Markus dashed out of the smoke cloud, and tool cover from the spell caster beneath him, hiding against the wall of the castle. He peeked his head down the stairs, the walkway was crammed with deckhands fleeing the smoke that was now filtering down into the lower areas. Markus reached up to his chest and in a swift motion pulled off several small leather pouches and dumped the contents on the stairwell. The crew on their way up found a barrage of caltrops, ball bearings and oil scattered across them and the way forward. Satisfied that that would by him at least a bit more time Markus made to move back to reengage the enemies he’d left in the quickly thinning fog cloud. In his rush he failed to notice the Gnoll that had suck up to him from the side until an axe bit into the back of his shoulder.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
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Ellianora ducked as a blast of shotgun pellets ripped apart the cargo she was hiding behind. More time, I need more time, but I’m not gonna live that long if this keeps up. Standing up, she loosed another spell with her free hand, Wind > Wall > Beam. A beam of shimmering air lanced from her pointing finger to the deck in front the pirate captain, where it touched the space seemed to shift like a mirage before a massive blast of air ripped upward, like a hole in a steam engine. The powerful blast lasted a few seconds since she didn’t have the spare energy for more than that but to her great displeasure, it failed to stop him from blasting her again with lead bullets as she ran for the mast ladder. When the wall dissipated it revealed something even worse than the spell doing nothing, a gem placed in the pommel of his shotgun glowed a soft silver and he broke his feet out of the metal crystalline growths that had held him rooted to the ground. Of course, she lamented, of course he’s got a magic gun.
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Markus whipped around and fired a revolver bullet into the assailant’s chest. Pain bloomed in his right shoulder blade, forcing his sword arm to sag. Grimacing, he sheathed his sword and reloaded his revolver, as a rush of feathers cast a shadow on him from above.
“Shit!” Makrus rolled away from a large icicle that had been aimed to impale him. The somersault landed hard on his wound, flaring again.
The avirril continued its flight path, landing on one of the masts to begin casting another spell. Markus pulled himself to his feet and shoved a speed loader in the chambers of his gun. Flicking it shut, he brought the barrel up and released four shots, then re-aiming and firing a fifth. The first two shots slammed into the spell barrier, the purple shell springing into existence to firm the impact causing cracks to spiderweb from the impacts. The third shot landed square in the center of the weakened barrier, shattering it into purple bits that rained down, disintegrating into glittery dust. The fourth bullet found its way to the upper arm of the spell caster, interrupting his focus. Bullet number five had been aimed far above the caster's head, shearing the rope that held the sail in place. The full weight of the sail crashed down on the avirril, knocking him off the mizzenmast, flat onto the deck.