Aster Fall 3, Ch 2: Interrupted (Patreon)

“Altey,” Aemilia spoke up before anyone else. “Run to Elder Siwaha and seek shelter with her. Go now. I’ll check on you soon.” As soon as she was finished speaking, her eyes shone with silver light as she began to search the darkness for information on what was approaching.

She was using Far Sight to scan the area. She had Foresight too, but it wasn’t a reliable ability. It activated according to its own logic, and even though it would grow stronger as she gained levels, Seers were frequently caught off-guard by events they hadn’t foreseen.

“Love, you should go as well.” Jeric frowned, his broad forehead furrowed with concern as he looked at his wife. She was only Level 36. “It will be too dangerous outside. Let the elder protect you.”

Sam agreed with him, but he held his silence as he looked between his parents. Level 36 wasn’t enough to face wyverns, but his mother always chose her own path and he knew better than to interfere.

“I know where I am needed.” Aemilia shook her head as she rejected her husband’s idea. “I’ll be with the other villagers protecting the buildings. It is too bad that Krana and the others aren’t here.”

Krana and Lenei visited the village every couple of days, but they were staying in Highfold. Krana had family there and Lenei was resting with the church forces as she tried to figure out whether her Call was going to change or if it would keep drawing her to Sam. They were too far away to reach the village before the monsters arrived.

As for Lesat, he’d been uncomfortable in the sylph village, but he hadn’t wanted to stay in the city either. He’d taken a room at an inn in the valley. He would probably head this way as soon as he heard the news, but whether he would arrive in time was a different question. Jeric already had his hand on his amulet, sending messages to everyone as he told them what was happening.

Altey didn’t look happy at her instructions, but she didn’t refuse. There was a tight frown on her face as she stuffed a few things into her new bag. The delicate birthday cake still sat untouched on the table. They hadn’t had time to cut it. She paused as she looked at it, but there wasn’t a tear to be seen in her eyes. She had experienced a great deal over the years and this wasn’t enough to shake her.

“We’ll eat the cake as soon as everything is settled,” Jeric said reassuringly as he put the amulet down and patted her on the shoulder. “Now, off you go. Make sure to do what Elder Siwaha tells you!”

After a few more words from everyone, Altey ran out of the house at a sprint, her blue dress flowing across the snow. And then the adults were moving as well, running out into the dark to where they were needed.

Before he left the house, Sam turned toward the table and swept the cake and the other birthday items away, wrapping them in a layer of cool essence before he stuffed them into his dimensional bag. Then he too was gone, sprinting out after Siwasir as he tracked nearby movements with Crystal Focus.

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Sam and Jeric stood at the western edge of the village as they looked out at the night sky that was illuminated by the moons and stars. Siwasir and other sylphs were nearby preparing, but for the moment they were alone. Ribbons of moonlight cut across the snow. The village was in an isolated location on the lower slope of Winter Peak, and there was only snow and distant peaks in front of them. Sun’s Rest towered to the right. The Moonlight Relic’s central plateau was hidden at the top.

“If the wyverns are heading straight here, it’s deliberate,” Sam said, breaking the silence. “It would make more sense for them to attack the valley. It’s large and its defenses are scattered except for near the city. They have to be coming here for a reason.”

“Maybe for revenge,” Jeric offered. His hands were resting on his hips, near his hammers. “There’s also a long history here between the monsters and the Ice Sylphs. They’ve guarded the valley for a long time. If the monsters get rid of them, the valley would be easy pickings.”

Sam nodded in agreement. It was true that the sylphs were the main guardians in the valley. They hunted any monster that dared to come down the slopes to bother the settlers here.

“Highfold would eventually get involved, but they seem to ignore the farmers here.” Sam shook his head in disgust. “They rely too much on the Ice Sylphs to take care of everything else.”

Jeric harrumphed in agreement. “That’s what happens when people ignore the world and focus on their own concerns. They become blind to what’s really going on.”

“Civilizations fall due to complacency.” A swirl of snow marked Siwasir’s arrival, followed by his clear words that echoed in Sam’s ears. “It is why our village remains small, even after all these years. We do not wish to lose who we are or the truth of where we come from. Those who live in cities often do not see the sky or the seasons. Here, we live among the memories of our past.”

The three of them stood there together, sharing a silent moment as Sam turned over Siwasir’s words in his mind. Even though he’d only known the Ice Sylphs for a short time, he could feel the truth in Siwasir’s words. The sylphs were probably not much different now than when their race had been born.

“They’re almost here,” Siwasir announced, his ears tilted as he looked into the distance. He pointed toward a constellation called the Hunter’s Bow that hung on southwestern horizon. “Elsanar has begun to harry them, but there are too many for him to engage directly. Look.”

A line of brilliant blue cut across the sky, drawing Sam’s gaze. His vision narrowed as the image sprang to life. A white-winged form that shone in the moonlight was swooping through the stars of the constellation, breathing out bolts of freezing ice. All around him, smaller and darker forms with a green glow about them were tumbling away.

A moment later, Elsanar beat his wings and soared away again, rising higher into the air. Then he curved, diving back down as another brilliant line of ice tore through the sky ahead of him. It was like watching a hawk attack a flock of crows. His size and strength gave him the advantage, but there were too many crows for him to deal with on his own.

“Something is not right with them,” Siwasir added grimly as he watched the scene. “That is one reason I came to warn you. Normally, a flock of wyverns would turn to attack him, since wyverns and drakes are old enemies and they have a hard time controlling their rage. If that happened, he would lead them away and we would go out to help kill them. But despite his best efforts, they are still heading in this direction.”

Sam frowned as he began to gather crystal flame around him, condensing it into spiraling bracelets around his wrists and head. Loop after loop of energy began to radiate around him. It was a tighter form of the battle spiral that he’d used in the past. Unlike a week before, the crystal flame had a brilliant edge where starlight and moonlight shimmered through it.

After the battle with the Outsiders, he’d been working on new methods to improve his spells and he’d upgraded the Starflame Bracer on his wrist to include moonlight and edge focus runes. It wouldn’t have worked without his own understanding of the concepts behind those runes, but he’d come to a fairly deep comprehension of both in the battle to close the Grand Flaw. The change to his crystal flame was the result.

The moonlight aura from the relic had started out as an imprint in his soul, but after he’d drawn on the relic’s energy, it had become a surging tide that rested just under his skin. His connection to the relic’s core enchantment had grown deeper at the same time. He wasn’t able to understand all of it, but there was something more there than before.

The imprint had developed into something like an elemental affinity. He was able to feel the movement of the moons in the sky, including their alignment. It was listed as “Moonlight Aura” under his Innate Abilities now. He had some other ideas for how to use it, but he would need to experiment.

With the battle approaching, he took a quick stock of his recent progress as he considered the best way to deal with the wyverns and protect the village. He had been focused on repairing the ruins and enchanting for the last week, so he was still Level 89, but with the attributes he had gained from hunting Outsiders, he was much stronger than the level suggested. He glanced at his status sheet, focusing on his attributes.

STR: 63

CON: 113 (+2 with Belt of Gentle Climes)

AGI: 40

WIS: 90

INT: 237 (+6 with Starflame Bracer)

AUR: 237 (+6 with Starflame Bracer)

CHA: 73

With the bracer, his essence pool was at 243. A Level 89 Wizard would have a minimum of 190 Intelligence and probably more like 220 or higher, but they were only relying on one attribute for power, whereas his energy was drawn from both Intelligence and Aura. In a flat calculation of attributes, their energy was based on 220 attribute points and his was based on 486.

He figured that he was at least twice as strong as a Wizard, even before the properties of essence, artifacts, and the small boost from his Charisma were taken into account.

The calculation wasn’t as simple as that, since a warrior who was twice as strong as his opponent was more than just twice as effective. There was a big difference between a warrior who could lift 220 pounds and a warrior who could lift 486. It was the same for a caster.

If it came down to melee and other attributes, it was also in his favor. A Wizard’s Constitution would be on par with their level at best, and usually a bit lower, since they only had two points per general level to distribute. His was 24 points higher than his level. A Wizard’s other attributes would be extremely low, probably around 20-30, while his lowest was Agility at 40.

His racial abilities were solidly in the third layer now and his Elemental Manipulation was at Expert. The three completed essence constellations in his blood hummed as power resonated from one star to the next. With each heartbeat, the wind and other elements spoke to him, whispering of possibilities. It shouldn’t be a problem to deal with some wyverns.

When his assessment was complete, he looked over at his father. Jeric had reached Level 70 after the battle at the Grand Flaw and resembled a weathered mountain. His muscles were sculpted stone and he moved as if a tidal wave was about to crash down, even though his hair was still streaked with grey. The scars on the slopes would take time to fade. With his Earth-blessed physique and Ice affinity, there was little here that could trouble him.

One to one, he should be able to deal with any wyvern under Level 80. That was saying a lot, given the racial advantage the monsters had. Normally, they went through like-leveled foes like a scythe through wheat.

Unless the wyverns heading their way were at the First Evolution, it shouldn’t be a problem to deal with them. The question was why they had targeted the village.

It didn’t take long before the shapes of the wyverns grew larger, even as Elsanar continued to harass them. At the same time, a rumbling wave of monsters on the ground accompanied them. They were slower than the wyverns, but with Elsanar harassing the ones in the air, it was a close match.

All along the edge of the village, Ice Sylphs began to fade into view. Their long white cloaks and blue hair blended into the snow. Bows and spears were in their hands as they looked toward the approaching enemies. At the same time, a line of flickering white energy sprang up beneath their feet. It stretched along the ground until it made a complete circle of the village and then flared brighter as crystalline ripples began to appear in it.

It was some type of defensive ward and as soon as it was present, Sam felt a boost of strength and cool energy flowing into him. When he followed the flow of energy back to Siwaha’s house, he saw her standing in front of it with her hands raised. Swirling currents of mana spun around her like a snowstorm.

Elsanar’s roar shook the area, pulling Sam’s attention back as a bolt of brilliant blue ice cut through the sky. It struck a wyvern solidly in the side, freezing one wing and half of its body in a thick layer of ice. The monster tumbled through the air in a wild spin until it slammed into the mountainside below. The other wyverns ignored the attack and continued flying, their scaly heads only twisting for a moment to see what had happened.

Arrows from the Ice Sylphs sliced through the air as the monsters finally came into range, and Sam joined in. A spiral of crystal flame around his arms flared outward, expanding massively in size until a cutting ribbon of flame soared through the air. It was nearly three feet wide and forty feet long, and it twisted around itself as it flew toward a wyvern at the front. The edges burned with moonlight and the brilliant white of starfire.

Moonlight Edge.

It was a new spell that he had modeled on the relic’s trap. He wasn’t sure how practical it was, since crystal flame arrows were much easier to summon, but using it helped to advance his skills and it was hard to dodge. It was a good choice against flying targets.

Arctic Wyvern. Level 61.

When the spell hit the wyvern, it wrapped around it, cutting through its scales in an instant. The monster only had a moment to rear back in panic as it tried to flare its wings, but it wasn’t able to escape. Chunks of wyvern exploded outward as it was sliced into half a dozen pieces.

There were ten more wyverns in the sky, but attacks from the Ice Sylphs were already heading toward them. Arrows and spells streaked across the sky and slammed into the wyverns with brilliant explosions that tore through wings and scales. The hunting team was spread across the line, and with six Ice Sylphs in their First Evolution, it shouldn’t have been difficult to deal with some wyverns, even a dozen of them.

As the attacks landed, however, it was only the front three wyverns that were truly injured. They collapsed like broken kites with shattered wings as they fell to the ground below. Behind them, the remaining eight wyverns continued to approach. The attacks that struck their hides tore off scales, but that was all. At the same time, the monsters on the ground came closer, demanding attention.

Sam’s eyes narrowed as he looked between the two groups. There was a gleam of reddish-black energy around the wyverns that shouldn’t have been there. Some of the monsters on the ground had it as well. Just as he was about to call out, Siwaha’s voice carried through the air. It was a single word that cut across the line, demanding attention.

“Curseborn.” The elder’s voice was heavy with loathing as she identified the problem. “The Outsiders left their taint behind. Use purifying spells if you are able to. Otherwise, it will be difficult to break through the magic to harm them.”

“What’s a curseborn?” Sam only had time to mutter a question to Siwasir before his attention was pulled back to the approaching monsters. Rings of crystal flame spiraled up from his arms, turning into two more Moonlight Edges as he sent them into the sky.

Immediately after, he summoned a wave of arrows and hurled them toward the ground forces. Now that they were in the open, he could make out their forms more clearly. There were ten ice trolls, a handful of Hoarfrost Serpents, and a dozen other things.

“An aberration of nature,“ Siwasir’s expression was twisted into a grimace of distaste as he drew back his bow, firing one arrow after another into the distance. His movements were so fast they blurred and arrows left his bow as soon as they touched his hand, each of them disappearing in a streak of crackling white light. The effort didn’t stop him from answering the question. “The Outsider Shamans you encountered must have done this. They bound the monsters with curses and blood pacts. Then they died and the curses were left behind.”

His words were interrupted for a moment as he tracked one of the wyverns in the sky and he shot three more arrows at it. They slammed into the wyvern’s chest, but it only shuddered in the air, even as streaks of green blood began to pour out the wounds.

All along the line, sylphs with healing classes had stepped forward and were doing their best to add their abilities to the attacks, but it looked difficult. Healing spells weren’t meant to be fixed onto an arrow.

“A Curseborn is the result of a cursed monster that has become twisted. Its master disappeared, but the curse remained.” Siwasir’s words were short, coming in bursts as he continued to shoot. “It explains why they are acting like this. The curse follows them, driving them to madness. They don’t feel fear or pain. There’s only a hunger to cause destruction or get revenge. Even other monsters fear them. At the same time, the magics draw on their life force and become a shield for them as it consumes their core. They rarely live more than a few weeks, but they are difficult to kill. Sometimes, the orders left by their masters remain, and they try to carry them out.”

It was only a brief description, but it was enough to explain what was going on. The monsters here had somehow been bound to the Outsiders and when they disappeared, the curses began to consume them. Perhaps it had taken a week for it to reach this point.

Sam condensed more spells as Siwasir spoke, splitting them between the sky and the ground. Essence burned along the inlaid runes on his bracer as he shaped his spells. The normal monsters were falling quickly, but the ones radiating the red-black light of the curseborn were not. Even when attacks broke through the magic and their limbs were destroyed, they continued to struggle forward.

By the time the wave hit the edge of the village, all of the normal monsters had been slain. There were still five wyverns in the sky. Their enormous bodies were covered in wounds, but they were flying. On the ground, five ice trolls, four Hoarfrost Serpents, and one Darkfang Viper remained. Now that the monsters were finally in range, the sylphs who specialized in melee combat rushed forward to meet them. They crashed together in an explosion of muscle and ice.

Jeric went with them, his twin hammers singing in his hands as they spun. He leapt forward toward one of the Hoarfrost Serpents as a line of snow exploded from beneath his feet. The serpent’s head darted down like an avalanche, its fangs spread wide, and a hammer met it across the temple, blasting it to the side with an eruption of scales and bone. There was a crackling sound as the layered enchantment around the hammer struck the red-black aura, but that was all.

Above, Elsanar curled around into a sinuous dive as he seized a cursed wyvern and drove it toward the ground. They fell through the air in a tangle as the wyvern tried to fight back, jerking its head and wings to escape, but the drake had it firmly in his claws. He shredded the monster’s wings with a series of brutal bites and flung it away. A moment later, the wyvern smashed into the slope with a bonecracking thud as the drake soared away.

The curse was protecting them from his breath attack, but one-to-one he was much stronger. It looked like his magic was bolstering his speed and strength, even if he couldn’t use it to freeze them.

Despite the success, the rest of the defense was being pushed back by the assault. Arrows and spells struck at the monsters, but they were only doing a fraction of the damage they should have against the Level 60-80 monsters. It shouldn’t have been particularly difficult to kill all of them, especially not with the entire Ice Sylph hunting team here, but their durability was beyond his expectations.

Sam frowned as he condensed another flight of arrows and flung it at one of the serpents. It was thirty feet long, and with its head raised, it towered over him in the air as it sped closer. He followed it up with a Starfire, the spell forming in his hand in an instant, but as it turned out, there was no need. The arrows carved furrows in the snake’s scales before tearing through its viscera. A moment later, it exploded in a wash of blood and shining scales that coated the area around it.

He frowned as he spun toward another serpent with the spell in his hand. That had been more effective than he’d expected and his mind spun as he searched for the reason, but he didn’t hesitate as he hurled the spell. The monster was slipping through the defenses as it headed for the village.

Above, Elsanar was entangled with another wyvern, but he couldn’t stop the remaining three that were swooping down toward the village. Two of them dived toward the villagers where his mother was and the last headed directly for where Siwaha was standing. In the house behind her, Altey and the younger generation were hidden away behind those aged walls.

The Starfire erupted in front of the serpent and the star rune at the center flashed outward, focusing the blast as it swept over the monster. The serpent twisted as it was lifted a dozen feet into the air. It tried to coil up and protect itself, but a third of its body turned black under the intense heat. By the time it fell back to the earth, it was barely moving.

Sam raced toward it as a blade of crystal flame formed in his hand. He flung it ahead of him as he ran, but he barely paid attention to the serpent’s death. Instead, he was focused on the wyvern that was heading for Siwaha and the house behind her. The wyvern was diving, its jaws outstretched as it shot down toward her. Flame and wind blasted out around him as he gripped at the elements to drive him faster, but before he could cross even half of the distance, it was already there.

As the shadow of the wyvern fell over her, the elder didn’t move. She stood there, blocking the path as she leaned on her staff. It was a gnarled branch that usually served as her walking stick. She moved almost slowly as she tilted her head back and looked skyward at the approaching monster. Her eyes were bright blue and they seemed to grow larger as she raised her staff into the air.

The wyvern’s wings swept back as it flared to slow its speed, and its head and legs shot forward like a hawk trying to seize a rabbit. The bone spurs on its ankles shone in the air, gleaming with a yellow-green light. In front of that, the elder only pursed her lips and swung her staff.

The staff gleamed with a brilliant white light as it suddenly expanded in size, stretching upward a good dozen feet. It closed the distance between Siwaha and the wyvern in an instant, its speed belying the elder’s aged appearance. Then it struck, and the wyvern shot through the air like a ballista bolt as it was flung away faster than it had come.

It flew across the village in a tumble of wings and green scales, its head snapping around as it tried to let out a shriek. It slammed into the mountain slope two hundred feet away with a great, cracking sound that carried across the area, its body half twisted around a boulder.

Siwaha frowned after it as she set her staff back down on the ground with a tap that was much louder than it should have been. A half-heard, muttered complaint followed it. He’d never seen the elder fight before, but clearly, there was a reason she was guarding the children. Her eyes caught Sam’s as he ran and he couldn’t help but follow her gaze as she looked toward the other two wyverns that were heading for the villagers.

The two wyverns were circling above the villagers, keeping their distance now that they’d seen what happened to the rest of their pack. Their jaws opened as a greenish ball of venom gathered between their fangs. The new description of them sprang into his mind as he analyzed one of them.

Curseborn Wyvern. Level 72.

Beyond them, the last Hoarfrost Serpents had broken through the line and was shooting away into the village. Its enormous body slammed into the houses and shook the walls as it searched for weaker prey. A trail of brittle white frost trailed behind it. The living wood that made up the house walls was crumbling in its wake as the frigid aura eroded it.

Curseborn Hoarfrost Serpent. Level 65.

As if that was a turning point, another notification appeared, letting him know that Analyze had reached the Advanced tier, but he dismissed it as fast as it came as he sprinted toward the villagers. He needed to get to his mother. Her golden hair shone like a beacon from the middle of the group.