Pale gray energy swarms around Bones. All his excess minions are swept into the hungry power. The dead not yet recruited to his army also join the growing mana storm. The storm splits equally, and the mana forms colossal death abominations. The monsters are as tall as trees and uglier than one could imagine.
The giants, while effective, are nowhere near as effective as the numerous combatants Bones had in his army before. The spectacle, though… well, there is a reason why I’m distracted from my current target. I put the two gross images out of my mind and turn to my first target.
The eerie dryad either doesn’t sense my presence or doesn’t care. I step out of the shadow behind her. Swiftly, my dagger strikes through her heart. I add a couple more stabs and then reanimate her lifeless corpse as the pocket of light around her closes. She is given a command to support Bones’ demon extermination.
My next target is three hundred yards south, in the opposite direction of where I took out the dryad. I shift back into shadow realm and sprint to my next target. The winged harpy looks similar to Draxxo with much less exaggerated features. White hair spiked across his head resembles the pattern of the crown he wears. His armor is earthy, and in his hands are two blazing whips.
The harpy senses my presence before I even step out of shadow. At once, the whips start cracking in my direction. Usually, I feel safe when I’m inside shadow. Unless it is a substantial object, attacks have no threat to me. These whips feel like an exception. Unlike other attacks I’ve ignored in this realm, my senses are warning me of danger.
Trusting my instinct, I dodge the first whip crack just as it snaps where my eyes were. I spin my body sideways to avoid the next sweeping attack from the second whip. Just as I land, I roll to my left and then right. The heat from the whips cracking inches away singes my Gloom in the closer encounters.
I continue to dodge the whips within my shadow until I can summon bone swords. The blades in my hand make the battle less dodgy and more aggressive. I parry each crack, forcing the snapping whip away from my body. Though my blades are strong, they do not sever the magic-enhanced cord striking at me.
An expertly executed whipping or a lucky lashing wraps my blade, pulling it out of my hand entirely.
The battle of whips and blades transforms into blades and whips, forcing me to summon another sword to balance the fight. The harpy displays tremendous skill with whips, and even the sword, now caught in his whip, proves to be a chaotic encounter. I let one more sword get wrapped and taken from my hand, tying up the loose whip. The unfamiliar whip attacks become much more predictable now that they are attached to blades.
The predictability of the blades allows me to get off my heels and start fighting back. A new chitin blade is summoned as I begin messing with the senses of the harpy. To him, his sword whips look to be an overbearing advantage.
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My perception continues to appear struggling with the whip blades. At the same time, I navigate the furious attacks until I’m within range of my opponent. When I step out of shadow, the warrior jumps back, forming a wall to intercept my strike. As my sword slices through the wall, the earth shatters toward me, and I must fend off the shrapnel while dodging the blades attacking my back. When I fend off the encounter, the harpy takes flight.
The ground beneath me begins shaking, and jagged rocks erupt trying to pierce me from below, while the whip blades strike at me from above. I continue to dodge the attacks from top and bottom until the hard, threatening ground turns soft. My feet begin sinking beneath the floor. I’m forced back to defense as my swords swing all around me, cutting through rocks and parrying swords; all the while, I continue to sink.
I calm my mind while battling the tumultuous attacks. The demon harpy is proving to be a skilled fighter. Besides Gronk, this is my first fight with a templar-ranked opponent, and Gronk doesn’t count much because he was sleeping when I fought him.
Right now, the ground is my immediate threat. I’m nearly at my knees, and there is no sign of the sinking stopping. If it weren’t for the durable armor plating around me, my legs could be crushed right now. I begin directing bone material to form beneath me. I dump bone-plating into the ground until I’m no longer sinking. As I solve that problem, I’m faced with another in the form of rocks and trees forming into golems.
Leaf blades and rock spikes are hurled at me from the golems. The harpy doesn’t relent with his own attack, and his whip blades often land despite my swords creating a nearly impenetrable defense. I’m not fast enough to keep up with the barrage. However, my thick armor deflects the blows I can’t dodge. My focus is now split between dodging attacks and repairing cracks and dents in my armor when my dodging is less successful.
To give myself a respite, I cocoon myself in bone plating. I don’t stay long; the demon can quickly bury me while I’m inside my shell. I promptly push more bone beneath me, finally raising myself out of the ground while overloading my shell with death mana. I continue to load my shell with mana until it is about to burst, and then I add a little more, only stepping into shadow the instant it explodes.
Our immediate forest rumbles from the explosion. Bone shards fly in every direction, barely scratching at the earth golems; the demon is forced to cover with an earth shield he summons from the ground. I send out all my perception to confuse the shielded harpy while I let my mind mana create a tether between us. Unaware of the mana approaching him, the demon does nothing to protect himself. The hidden attack is further covered by my relentless arrows, which the harpy is caught dodging when my mana finally tethers our minds together.
Under ideal situations, I’d use this moment to talk to my mind-linked foe and maybe try recruiting him. However, I’m getting a loyalty complex from this guy and doubt he can be enticed. Instead, I force bright white images into the demon’s mind, creating the illusion of some bright bomb. While the demon is being flashed, I sense a mild irritation from his eyes and nose — an irritation I’m familiar with. Knowing I have a small window, I push my attack.
Swords are drawn, and I slice out with perfect execution sending blade energy through the earth and into the irritated demon. I don’t stop slicing until the earth calms down, the light pocket blackens, and my mind link is severed. Unfortunately, my victory is interrupted when I get a bit of spell kickback and am forced to sneeze… twice. As much as I hate my bloody light sensitivity, it is nice to find that I’m not alone. When my sneezing stops, I feel a new presence step into the battlefield created by the harpy and mine’s engagement.
From a larger pocket of light steps, a familiar-looking drake.