Aster Fall, Ch 53: The Flow of Time (Patreon)

A sense of overwhelming danger crashed down on Sam as he saw his father standing there. The Grand Flaw was much bigger than he’d expected, and with his dad’s position at the front, whatever happened, he would be the first to face it.

The careful plan to attack from a distance flew out of his mind. There was no way he would let him face that alone. Before he even thought about it, he was running forward as fast he could, leaping down the slope in front of him. A wave of crystal flame exploded outward in the air as he pushed himself faster.

Those war beasts had an advantage over regular fighters due to their size. It was the same as a Level 60 wyvern or basilisk against humans, but even more extreme. Level was only a rough guide when it came to giant monsters. Each of them was worth at least a few fighters, which meant the only way to deal with them was to gang up until their defenses crumbled.

Their only chance was if he and the Ice Sylphs joined in as soon as possible. Otherwise, he doubted many of them would be alive to return home.

He reached back to touch the water crystal on his back as he ran. Beside him, the Ice Sylphs ran as well, flowing like the wind as they drew back their bows and summoned sparkling currents of Ice. It was natural to attack, so they didn’t think anything of his sudden charge.

He was halfway down the slope with a Starfire in either hand when his father’s reminder rang in his mind. “If you feel angry, step back. There’s a better way. Fight with your mind clear.”

His steps caught, nearly making him stumble, but the snow firmed up beneath his feet and kept him upright as he continued to run.

Based on the plan, he was supposed to stop on the roof of a building just beyond the battlefield, taking up a position where he’d be in range for spells but not on the field. So far, they hadn’t passed that point.

He growled as he changed his target, heading for it. Rushing onto the field would only distract his father at a crucial moment. As soon as his dad saw him, he would rush over to protect him. If he wanted to save his father, he had to do better than that.

There was still half a mile to the Grand Flaw, and the Starfires were burning in his hand. His mind cleared as he continued to run forward, and he began to think of how to best implement the plan he’d come up with. He hadn’t expected there would be so many Outsiders, which meant he needed to make some changes.

So far, neither the church forces nor the Outsiders were moving on each other. The church was preparing another wave of distance attacks and the Outsiders were arranging themselves in front of the flaw, making it clear that they wanted to protect it.

That was enough to give him an idea. Force to force, the church was weaker than the Outsiders, but if the war beasts could be separated out and dealt with individually, and if any formations could be broken...the church would have the advantage on their side.

The problem was doing it.

He was nearly to the point where he was supposed to part ways with the Ice Sylphs, which meant he didn’t have time to change the overall plan. All he could do was work on modifying it slightly.

“Try to single out the war beasts and take them down one by one!” he shouted to Siwasir, his voice carrying on the wind. “I’ll work on disabling them!”

He infused the two Starfires with enough essence to cover the distance and then he sent them arcing into the air ahead of him. As they flew toward the Icebloods’ shield like twin blue stars, he pulled the water crystal off his back and leapt onto the roof of the building.

If he wanted to help his father, he needed to hinder the Outsiders’ movements and remove any formations they had. If he could do that, it would give the Ice Sylphs time to deal with the war beasts one by one and turn the battle to the church’s favor.

The Ice Sylphs were still running, their bodies nearly invisible against the snow. In the next few moments, they would hit the edge of the snow field. The six of them were powerful, but they couldn’t face an army by themselves. Before that happened, he needed to intervene.

As quickly as he could, he unwrapped the water crystal and laid out the parchment he’d made. Unfurled, it was nearly seven feet wide. At the same time, he sank his awareness into the core enchantment, sensing for the flow of energy through the ruins.

With quick motions, he adjusted the position of the parchment until it aligned with the ruin’s energy lines.

This area had once been heavily inscribed with transfer patterns to support the teleportation and transfer of goods, both on the ground and in the buildings, and it was the work of an instant to make sure that the parchment was touching one.

As soon it was ready, he placed the crystal in the center and focused on the core enchantment. He’d created the enchantment that would bring everything together, but activating it was the most important part.

He placed one hand on the parchment’s activation rune and one on the relic’s energy line to the side. Then he sent a worried glance at his father and to where the Ice Sylphs were approaching the field before he closed his eyes. The core enchantment spun in his mind as he sank his consciousness into it.

Just as he began to focus, piercing shrieks rose into the air as three wyverns took flight from hiding places throughout the ruins. Their powerful legs propelled them from the roofs and their wings snapped open as they shot through the air, circling higher as they gained altitude.

He sent out a call to the Moonlight Relic, asking for its help. A moment later, it answered.

Energy Transfer Approved.

SnnNNaAAApppp!

There was a tingle of energy beneath his hand, followed by a sharp pull on his spirit like the world was turning in place. The transfer line began to hum. A silvery current of energy flowed upward from the ruins and flooded into the parchment’s activation sequence.

Unexpectedly, and before he could see if the parchment was functioning, his perspective shifted as his spirit was pulled into the transfer line, swept away by the intensity of the energy.

The entire seventh layer appeared in his mind’s eye as a great, silver web of energy like an ocean. Each line was a current pulling the waves in one direction or another, all of them swirling together into a vast network.

Looking at it, he was stunned into immobility by the sheer scale. A flood of information on the differing amounts of energy in each location, the damage to the transfer lines, the integrity of the enchantments, and....

There was too much for him to handle. He felt his attention splitting off, pulled in a thousand different directions that all demanded equal focus. The parchment beneath his unresponsive hand shuddered as the activation rune began to smoke from excess energy, its edges curling.

Then the Guardian Star was there, its indifferent voice flowing into his mind.

Moderating the energy transfer. Buffering Guardian’s awareness of the core enchantment.

He felt the burden of managing all the lines of power fade, simplified down to a single task. It felt like he was a hawk flying above the seventh layer, soaring above the sea of energy. Wherever he turned his attention, the details suddenly jumped out to him.

A surge of gratitude for the star rushed through him, but he didn’t have time to waste. In the confusion, his awareness had been tossed far away from the location of his body. He scanned over the ocean, searching for it.

Everything here looked different and it took him a moment to find it. It wasn’t shattered ruins or fields of snow, but curling waves of power. To find his body, he had to use the mountain as the center point and overlay it with the map of the relic in his mind, searching for the place where he was supposed to be.

He just hoped he wasn’t too late.

When he found it, he folded the wings of his spirit and dived. Rippling waves of energy and light passed over him. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but as he approached his body, the Guardian Star began to feed him images of the battlefield, both what had just happened and what was still going on.

The shrieks of the wyverns tore across the battlefield as they launched themselves into the air, swiftly gaining altitude. Their lean, green-scaled bodies were like venomous blades cutting across the night sky. Each of them was close to Level 80 and their combined might was enough to cause even a First Evolution combatant to worry.

They beat their wings as they surged upward and began to circle, gliding over the battlefield as they searched for a target. The church forces saw them and the priests continued to chant, the words of their spells changing slightly. A gleaming white dome appeared above them, swirling with intricate runes on the interior. Strands of wispy light connected it to the Ward of Law that was all around their forces.

Green light rippled around the wyverns as corrosive energy built up around them and they swirled around each other, the three of them somehow twisting their energy together. Their mouths opened as one and three spheres of bubbling green venom flew outward, sizzling in the air as they shot down to crash against the shield.

The shield held, but as the spheres struck it they exploded outward, turning into a hissing rain that flowed across the surface and dripped down the sides. A vile green fog built up around the shield, covering it in a layer of mist that blanketed the area.

For now, the fighters under the shield were safe, but if any of them left the range of the shield, they would have to face that cloud of venom. The wyverns weren’t able to kill them directly, but with that action they had limited their mobility and made it much more difficult for them to advance across the field.

If the shield broke, many of the weaker members would be poisoned. The pressure on the church forces had just increased, making it much harder for them to attack.

The wyverns swept through the air again, darting like lean, venomous fish through the skies as they curved around for another pass. If left to their own devices, they would be able to blanket the entire area in a cloud of venom.

At that moment, a thunderous roar burst across the heavens, echoing from one side of the field to another. A lean, white-scaled form with nearly invisible wings surged through the sky, his body angled for the wyverns. Behind him, Caelus was nearly at his zenith, the light of the blue moon refracting through the drake’s translucent wings.

A bolt of sparkling ice led the way, freezing across the wings of one wyvern as Elsanar crashed into another, causing it to flip around in the air. His body was nearly twice as large as the wyvern's, and he grabbed his prey in his claws as his wings flared, stopping the rotation as he forced the wyvern down toward the field below.

He clamped his grip down on the monster as he roared again. His head rose as another bolt of ice tore through the sky to strike the third wyvern, covering its head and a portion of its wing in swiftly spreading ice.

The two wyverns that were coated in ice began to fall from the sky, their wings struggling to move. They had lost their advantage. As they tumbled through the air, Elsanar rode the third to the ground, his claws locked onto it.

Despite their height, it took only seconds for them to approach the snowy field. Just before they reached it, Elsanar’s jaws snapped the wyvern’s neck in a violent spray of green blood.

The dying wyvern crashed into the stones with an explosion of snow as the ice drake’s wings flared again, lifting him in a curve as he glided across the ground. With mighty beats, he surged back into the air, each stroke carrying him higher as he curved around again.

As he came around again, the ice coating the other two wyverns continued to grow thicker and they were unable to maintain their altitude. They tried and failed to stop their fall, their wings too heavy to respond. They crashed into the ground, their bodies echoing with dull thuds.

It was impossible for them to survive for more than a few instants longer as Elsanar dived again, another bolt of ice forming.

A domineering roar echoed across the snow. From the first instant of his attack, the ice drake had demonstrated his superiority.

Without him, the church forces would have been cloaked in a continual rain of corrosive venom, their attention distracted by the bombardment that forced them onto their back foot when they needed to put their attention toward the Outsiders in front of them.

Flying monsters were difficult to deal with, especially if they were agile and had long-range attacks, but with Elsanar there, the pressure had evaporated. Across the field, the Paladins and captains standing at the edge of the shield let out a sigh of relief, turning their efforts back to the shield. Behind them, mana rose up from the ranks as a new wave of white hawks appeared, rising into the air before they crashed down against the shield.

The shield shuddered under the barrage and the gaps in it tore wider, but whatever the Outsiders had used to reinforce it, it wasn’t breaking yet. The pale blue color was fading, but the yellow and red clouds inside were becoming brighter.

All along the inside arc of the shield, talismans shimmered into view. Each of them was a narrow, ugly spear formed from long bones. Skulls and smaller bones, including some fully intact hands, dangled from the points, which were large jawbones that had been sharpened at the end. On the inside curve, rows of sharpened teeth had been added. Some of them looked human.

At that moment, the Ice Sylphs arrived, striking the far side of the barrier like a wedge of hardened ice. All around them, flows of Ice mana formed into a crystalline barrier that was as sharp as an icicle.

Driven by the strength of six First Evolution sylphs, their spells drove into the barrier and tore through it like an arrow through a paper target. An instant later, they were through and heading across the snowy field with light steps.

Below their feet, bubbling dark red and yellow spots erupted upward, forming into bizarre shapes and phantasms, but the snow flowed around them, giving them sure footing as they continued on. Swiftly forming ice blocked the spells below their feet. They ignored the rest of the gathered forces and the erupting curses erupting as they headed straight for one of the Outsider War Beasts.

Behind them, the shield rippled, the tears too big to seal over again. Instead of shattering, however, the blue color faded, the energy in it pouring into the red and yellow clouds. A moment later, the remains of the shield exploded outward in two waves.

The first wave was a sizzling, yellow cloud of corrosive gas. The second was a blood red haze.

The Paladins and Jeric were already at the edge of the barrier, and as the shield erupted, it blew straight past them. The yellow cloud clung at the edge of their personal shields, hissing as it tried to invade. Strange shadows leapt up from the red haze, like blood phantoms with long claws.

The curses rolled over them as they continued on to the forces behind. They mixed with the green fog from the wyverns as they collided with the church wards. A moment later, a brilliant white explosion ripped outward from the priests, but that was all Sam had time to see before he slammed back into his body and time resumed.

The field in front of him was a haze of curses, smoke, and enraged shouts. On one side, the church forces began to surge forward. There were holes in their lines where some fighters and mounts were lying on the ground, choking under the effect of the cursed gas. Priests were beside them, trying to heal them, but that drew attention away from the defensive wards.

The three captains and the Paladins shouted, orders pouring from their mouths as they rallied the capable troops to advance. The church line split instantly into two forces, one reserve that was watching over the wounded men and one that charged forward, joining ranks with their commanders as they headed across the field in three wedges.

On the opposite side, the Outsider War Beasts turned their reptilian heads to the sky and let out resounding roars. Icebloods, serpents, and wraiths swarmed up their sides, taking up a position on them as the great beasts tossed aside the stones in front of them and began to run, their claws slamming into the earth as they tore across the field. Their footsteps sounded like thunder echoing on the stones.

Before they could get far, the Ice Sylphs arrived, their strength slamming into the side of the nearest beast. Waves of Ice curled up around its feet, locking it into place as spears, arrows, and a rain of crystalline shards tore across it.

The attacks sliced through the Outsiders on its back and knocked it to the side, even as it clawed at the ground, but its defenses were strong enough that it didn’t fall. Its scales shattered as meteoric bolts of ice tore at its body and blood began to gush down its sides, but it lifted its head and roared in anger. It wouldn’t die easily.

To the side, in front of the charge of another war beast, Jeric continued to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Paladin Commander. Even across the distance, Sam could make out the familiar lines of his father’s face.

The Paladin Commander might be able to go head to head with that war beast, or at least to survive a few blows, but if that monster hit his father.... Even with his enhanced Constitution, he probably wouldn’t survive.

Despite that, his father had the same expression as when he looked at any difficult task, as if this wasn’t much different than digging fence posts or taking in the harvest. It was straightforward bravery, an honest outpouring of who he was, even as his hands curled around his hammers. Despite everything that had happened, he was a simple man. He wasn’t there for glory, but just to protect his family.

With that sight in front of him, Sam’s awareness finally caught up with the flow of time. At the same time, an enormous torrent of silver energy surged into his enchantment from the Moonlight Relic. All across the parchment, thousands of flickering runes poured in, their energy combining to a single purpose.

The enchantment around the water crystal began to shine with a brilliant, multi-colored light as the auras ignited. The parchment began to crumble to dust, Sam looked upward, checking on the position of Caelus, the moon that guarded the elements.

With swift movements, he tilted the crystal to align with the angle of the moon, letting its blue light strike the crystal at the same time as the lines of the enchantment flared upwards, wrapping around it in a layer of swirling, supercharged auras.

Energy gathered around the crystal like a bubbling spring as water in five different sparkling colors shot upward, each of them representing one of the auras that he’d infused into the enchantment.