Aster Fall, Ch 17: Ice Wyvern (Patreon)

Crystal flame burned around Sam in a raging torrent as he released the Starfire spell in his hand, targeting the sorcerer in front of him.

It was an instant decision between the wyvern and the bandits, and he doubted that the wyvern would go down quickly. It was better to eliminate the trash and then deal with the wyvern with their complete focus.

He also wanted to take care of any other surprises the sorcerer might have, before he could pull them out.

The sphere of starfire headed toward the bandit like a meteor.

The layers of crystal flame surrounding the central rune rotated, each of them turning in a different direction. It gave the sphere a blurred, starlike effect as it flew.

The brawler and half-giant were already a dozen steps away from the sorcerer by the time the spell arrived. The sorcerer saw it coming and the icy blue shield that had blocked the crystal flame arrows sprang up in front of him, growing brighter as he channeled more energy into it.

The sphere collided with that shield almost gently, like a burning star falling into an arctic lake. Crystal Focus tracked the exact moment it hit.

At first, the outer layers of the sphere bent, pressing up flat against the shield as they spread slightly outward. Then the star rune struck the barrier as the crystal flame layers compacted back toward it, like a gentle white spark landing on ice.

KRraaaTTOOOoooMMM!

The rune at the center exploded outwards, igniting the layers of crystal flame around it one after the other in a cascade of power. Each layer fed into the blast, magnifying the effect as it rippled outward.

The sorcerer’s shield was at the center of that explosion, taking the brunt of it as the first expanding ring slammed into it. He was Level 48, but he was already wounded and the shield crumbled away half an instant later.

The sorcerer braced himself, trying to reach into his dimensional pouch for something, but he was much too slow.

The second, third, and then fourth expanding rings washed over him, disintegrating his body in a flare of crystal flame and burning starlight.

A series of metal objects on the sorcerer’s body warped, turning to slag with ringing explosions as the intense heat shattered them. A moment later, his dimensional bag fell to the ground, its edges smoking.

Spatial objects were protected by the folded space inside, like an inner bubble, making them difficult to destroy without crushing the entire space.

The explosion expanded outward, covering close to thirty feet in diameter within a tightly contained radius. The snow in the area evaporated, as did the grass beneath it and the few tree branches.

A moment later, the spell evaporated, leaving a charred circle in the stony ground that sizzled with residual heat.

Sam spun toward his father, tracking the movement of the half-giant and the wyvern. Lesat had fought the brawler before, and he would have to hold out for a moment on his own.

Jeric was rolling away from another attack as the wyvern snapped forward, chasing after him. He jumped to his feet and continued to evade, trying to put as much distance as possible between him and its fangs.

The wyvern was much larger than him, which made it easier for it to cross the ground. Its movements were quick and darting.

It was a predator of the high peaks, one of the deadliest things a person could encounter here. Its natural abilities gave it nearly perfect camouflage, speed, crushing force, and flight.

Unfortunately, Jeric was a moment too slow and the monster’s fangs sheared through his Earthen Shield, ripping a deep, bloody gash down his calf and nearly tearing off his boot as he tumbled away.

His father’s shield could handle some physical attacks, but it was designed for magical ones. It wasn’t able to block more than a glancing blow from the wyvern.

A new, swirling white shield appeared around Jeric, blocking the following bite and claw slash as the wyvern chased him, knocking him forward like a toy.

The Amulet of Swirling Winds.

Under the wyvern’s attacks, even that shield was unlikely to last for more than three or four hits.

A moment later, Sam’s attention was pulled toward the half-giant. The bandit was outside of the blast radius, and he spun in place as he let out an enormous roar, his voice swelling with infused mana.

A sharp wave of sound tore out from him, flattening the tree branches and grasses nearby as he hammered his fists together and changed his target, turning to charge toward Sam instead of Jeric.

The half-giant’s body began to glow with a blue light that swirled into a pattern of natural runes. The air around him sparkled as the vapor in it froze and shattered, covering him in a swirl of snow and ice.

Another racial ability, probably one that enhanced his strength or durability.

As the giant raced toward Sam, the wyvern continued to chase Jeric, its fangs swooping down like icy daggers. Its claws tore forward just as Jeric sprang to his feet again and turned to face it head-on, bracing himself for the impact.

He was tired of running. His face was in hard lines as he glanced toward where Sam was and the giant running toward him.

His golden-yellow Earthen Shield surrounded him as his hammers rose in the air, the enchantments on them pulsing with multi-toned vibrations.

The wyvern’s claws crashed against Jeric’s shield, shredding it apart. Jeric’s hammers landed, shattering scales on the wyvern’s head, but then they hit the bone beneath and glanced off, sliding to the side as they rebounded.

The force of it spun him around. Then the wyvern's fangs tore through the unprotected air and into his left shoulder and arm.

In that moment, Jeric's Constitution was the only thing holding him together as the wyvern seized him in his jaws and reared upward, flinging its head left and then right, shaking him like a rag doll as it tried to tear him apart.

His Enhanced Physique made his bones and skin harder, but all it could do was hold him together. The wyvern's fangs drove deeper, piercing toward his bones as they tore muscle and veins.

The shield from the Amulet of Swirling Winds tried to form, flickering in shards of white light, but it shattered against the wyvern’s scales. It couldn’t create a solid barrier with something interrupting it.

Blood flew across the snow as the wyvern tossed Jeric back and forth.

As he saw it happen, Sam’s mind flashed back to being the boy in the tunnels. He’d changed an incredible amount since then, but it was less than half a year ago.

The memory of his old panic rushed through him, when he worried that his father would die from the gnome marauder.

Back then, he’d been helpless to save his father.

This time he could do something about it.

Sam’s mind went blank as the anger he’d been bottling up surged out of him. It came from the constant irritation of the essence in the snow, from the bandits threatening his family, and now from this wyvern attacking.

He’d wanted to come to Highfold to live a simple life, enchanting and studying as they grew stronger. Then, one day, they would go out and find the Flaws in the Seal and fix them, ensuring a stable future.

Peaceful, calm...the result of planning and progress.

Unfortunately, the slow and steady route wasn’t one that was open to him. Just like when the World Law had pushed him into a conflict, the situation in Highfold was doing the same.

Even if they hadn’t come chasing these bandits, something like this would have happened soon enough. He’d accelerated this meeting by a handful of days or a few weeks at most.

They would never have been left in peace.

Rage boiled through him. It was directed at himself for not being strong enough and at the world for not making it easy.

The essence stars in his blood intensified, acting like miniature furnaces as they took that anger and burned it, converting it into a source of energy. Crystal Focus grew stronger as time slowed down.

A flight of crystal flame arrows formed and ripped toward the giant in front of him, but he didn’t wait to see them land.

He tracked the wyvern’s movements as the crystal flame around him built to a peak. As soon as it did, he compressed it, forming it into an Essence Blade.

KRisshshHHHhh.

The diamond-shaped spell blasted forward from his hands, flying toward the wyvern that was still trying to toss his father into the air.

It hit the wyvern low on the abdomen, just in front of its rear legs, as it was about to jerk its head up into the air again.

The crystal blade sizzled as it blasted into the monster's stony hide, melting through the tough scales.

Then it exploded.

The wyvern’s side tore apart in an explosion of scales, blood, and muscle. At the same time, a storm of crystal flame surged outward, blasting away into the air.

The force of the explosion sent the monster’s rear legs tumbling, throwing it into a roll. At the same time, its jaws opened in a bloodcurdling shriek that tore at Sam’s ears.

Jeric fell out of its jaws, rolling across the ground away from the wyvern. His shoulder and left side were covered in a waterfall of blood, but he was moving.

A moment later, the wyvern’s claws dug into the ground as it caught its balance. It spun in place, its right leg dragging.

Its hips were crooked now and there was a hole the size of a cart wheel in its side. A river of whitish-green blood was pouring out, staining the snow around it.

It let out another rattling shrieeeek in the air as its wings flapped, stirring up the snow. Then it lowered its head and charged toward Sam in a stumbling half run, half glide.

At the same moment, the looming figure of the half-giant staggered into view, bleeding from half a dozen points as it closed in on Sam, raising its arms to grab at him.

Sam’s staff appeared in his hands as more crystal flame poured out of him, and then he sidestepped, swinging the staff toward the giant. Essence poured down his hands into the runes on the staff.

The end of the staff thudded into the giant’s side at the same time as an oversized hand swept through the air where Sam’s head had been.

The staff flickered as it landed, a swirling yellow light rising out of the runes as they poured their energy into the giant’s body.

An illusory web of essence that was like drifting yellow spidersilk appeared, surrounding the giant as it sank into his muscles and bones, freezing him in place.

Sam used the force of the rebound to throw himself backward again, trying to avoid the giant’s reach.

He spun around, ducking behind the giant’s frozen form to put it between him and the wyvern as he compressed another Essence Blade in front of him.

The paralytic effect of the Staff of Withering Stasis would hopefully last for a moment.

The wyvern was already there, however, barreling into the giant as its clawed wings ripped through the air. The force of its charge threw the half-giant to the side, tearing through him with no regard for friend or foe.

If it was working with the bandits, it definitely didn't care about this one.

Then it slipped on the snow, bracing itself on its good leg as its wings flapped in the air for balance. A flurry of snow swept out around it, making eyesight useless.

Only Crystal Focus kept track of its location as Sam released his spell.

KrissSSssHHHhhh.

The second Essence Blade sliced through the air at point-blank range as Sam's essence dropped to almost nothing. A warning pulse of emptiness spread through his body with a sharp ache.

The snow evaporated around the spell as it cut a path toward the wyvern’s sternum, where huge, corded muscles joined together that led back to its wings.

SkreEEEEecccKKkkk!

The wyvern shrieked again, the sound choking off a moment later as its wings flared. It reared up, trying too late to avoid the blast.

The spell exploded against its chest, flaring with brilliant cerulean light as the energy ripped through the outer scales and exploded against its breastbone.

Blood and viscera erupted outwards as the monster stumbled back half a dozen paces, its wings beating frantically at the air like an ungainly bat as it tried to stabilize itself.

Its movements were uncoordinated, its wings moving out of sync with one another, and the left wing started to droop down as the muscles controlling it snapped, but that wasn’t enough to stop it.

The wyvern’s head shot down, barreling toward Sam as its fangs flashed. Rows of them like icy knives gaped wide, driving toward his head.

The crystal barrier of an Essence Shield appeared between them and the wyvern’s head slammed into it, its fangs crashing against the shield.

CraaacAAACckk.

Like porcelain shattering, the shield broke apart under the force, splintering into crystal blue shards. He didn't have enough essence to sustain it.

The wyvern’s head crashed through, slamming into his shoulder as its fangs ripped their way through his skin. Points of burning, cold pain tore across his side.

Then he was released, the fangs tearing free as the wyvern’s wing claw crashed into his left leg, tearing across it as it sent him flying through the air in a tumble of limbs.

The Amulet of Swirling Winds activated, surrounding him in another shield as he crashed into the snow a dozen feet away. It cushioned his impact, but he felt the shattering force of bones breaking in his ribs and arm.

The wyvern staggered after him, blood running down its chest and rear leg as it tried to move forward in an ungainly, sliding hop.

Then it seemed to freeze, rearing up into the air as it released another piercing shrieeeek.

At that moment, two forms appeared on the other side of the wyvern, a sword and a spear glowing with enchantments as they drove the weapons into the wyvern’s abdomen, tearing at the wound there to make it larger.

The wyvern’s wings flapped, its long neck stretching out as it whipped around. Its tail spun through the air, slamming down toward Jeric and Lesat.

Lesat took the blow directly on his shield. The enchanted metal caved in with an enormous dent as the bone spur at the end of the tail struck it. The guard was thrown backwards, tumbling head over heels.

At the same moment, Jeric moved in, his hands wrapped around an old, familiar spear. The Spear of Umbral Flame.

The edge of the point was covered in black flames that sizzled as Jeric raised it and stabbed it into the wyvern’s side again, jamming it deeper into the wound.

The world around Sam spun as he tried to force himself to his feet. His left leg collapsed under him as he tried to put weight on it, forcing him to shift his balance to his right as he wobbled.

He could feel blood running down his shoulder and side in hot pulses. Flickering blue flames accompanied it, burning across his skin. His right arm hung limp.

He was still able to reach into his aura storage as he pulled out three auras, the dimensional pocket responding to his will more than his movements. His veins felt like they were on fire as he staggered, combusting the auras one after the other.

Each one took him about a second, and in that time, the wyvern reared up again, its wings trying to beat at the air as its tail swung around a second time toward Jeric.

This time, the bone point on the end shone with a glaring white aura as shards of ice hurtled through the air next to it.

Jeric grunted as he stabbed the spear deeper, the swirling white barrier of his amulet surrounding him. The wyvern’s tail hammered into the shield as he spun, his hands switching positions on the shaft.

He was trying to redirect the force of the blow down the spear and back into the wyvern, to make it drive the spear home for him. Unfortunately, the angle wasn’t quite right.

The spear tore free as the shield around Jeric shattered. The icy shards all around the tail slammed home, stabbing into his arms, legs, and chest like knives as he was thrown backwards.

The spear ripped out of his hands, tearing a long gash along the wyvern’s side.

At that moment, Sam finished combusting the last aura. He tried to step forward, but he staggered as his left leg collapsed. He barely caught himself before he fell over.

The crystal flame in the air condensed around him then, and a flight of crystal flame arrows hissed as they shot forward and headed for the wyvern’s open wounds.

The dozen arrows were bolts of sizzling cerulean light as they struck, burning their way inward as they tore new paths through the opening.

Now that the wyvern’s scales were broken, the arrows were much more effective than they’d been in the past.

It reared again and let out another sharp scream, staggering backward as the arrows seared through its intestines.

Crystal Focus flowed through the air, locating his father where he was lying on the ground. Sam let out a quick hiss of air as he saw the damage, but his dad was still breathing.

The only thing he could do right now was to try and kill the wyvern as fast as possible.

His aura burned around him as the rest of the essence he’d just absorbed flared upwards, billowing outward around him.

Another quick Essence Blade formed in front of Sam and he sent it hurtling forward.

It ripped through the air as it exploded into the open wound in the wyvern’s abdomen, crystal flame burning in blazing streaks all around it as it incinerated the wyvern’s flesh and cut deeper into its body.

The explosion this time came from deeper in the wyvern’s stomach, as its body bulged outward from the inside. The scales were working against it now as the force of the spell was contained by its own scaly hide.

The shriek died in the thing’s throat as it staggered, its wings flailing as it thrashed around, half-falling on the ground. As the spell shredded its abdomen, it slumped over, its wings trying to beat at the air as its fangs bit wildly at nothing.

Then whitish-green blood erupted from the wounds on its body and its throat, gushing out like a river.

It was durable enough that the explosion didn’t kill it, but it fell to the side, thrashing weakly as it tried to recover. An icy light began to radiate from its scales, starting to seal the wounds closed.

Another Essence Blade formed in front of Sam as he took stock of the battlefield, looking for the other enemies.

The half-giant was lying dead on the ground now, its body torn in multiple places. Claw marks from the wyvern were mixed with wounds from sword and hammer that had finished it off.

Clearly, his father and Lesat had killed the bandit before they attacked the wyvern.

The brawler was lying dead off to the side as well. He was a broken figure, half-twisted around his own body, tossed to the ground a few dozen feet away. His skin had transformed to something like scales in many places.

The bandits were all dead, which meant the wyvern was the only enemy left now.

At that moment, Lesat stood back up, forcing himself to his feet. His shield was concave with a massive dent in the center, and it looked like his left arm behind it was broken. It was twisted and hanging at his side.

His sword was in his hand as he started to walk forward.

“Heal my father!” Sam shouted at him, his voice hoarse. His left hand pointed toward where Jeric was lying, dragging Lesat’s attention toward it.

Lesat took in what was happening and then nodded, changing his target as he ran toward Jeric. He sheathed his sword and reached to his belt for a healing scroll.

The wyvern was still thrashing around weakly, and Sam kept an eye on it as he reached into his belt pouch, pulling out a healing scroll of his own.

He activated the scroll, which dissolved into a swirl of brilliant white light that settled into his body. He felt the energy surge through his veins, sealing his wounds closed as the bleeding slowed.

Some strength returned to his left leg too, but testing revealed that it still wouldn’t take his weight.

He grabbed his staff in his good hand as he limped in a circle around the wyvern, finding the best angle as a new Essence Blade began to condense in front of him.

KRisssSSHHHHHhh.

The spell tore through the air with shredding force, ripping through the wyvern’s torn abdomen as it headed upward towards its heart. A moment later, it struck the rib cage from the inside and the force contained in it exploded outwards.

The wyvern shuddered, its body swelling in the center as its chest inflated, but its scales contained the full force of the explosion. Its ribs cracked, rupturing under the pressure.

Its fangs glinted in the frost as it let out a final weak roar and then it toppled over to the side, its head and neck crashing to the ground, followed a moment later by its wings.

Snow exploded outwards, covering everything in a veil of white flakes that were tinted red.

The entire area was covered in blood.