Moonlight Relic, Ch 15: Old Curses (Patreon)

Sam was awoken by the pulse of a drum. It was the thunderous roar of a waterfall crashing through his heart and veins, and it threw him to his feet with a shout as his lungs expanded. Even once he was standing, it poured through him in a current of lightning, energizing him and throwing him to full wakefulness.

He staggered for a moment as he caught his balance with his hand against the wall, and then he let out a slow breath as he let information from the world flood in from Crystal Focus. He could feel the moons on the horizon, which meant it was almost dawn.

Why are the dwarves sounding that drum? He grumbled the question at the star, not really expecting an answer. And why are they so energetic about it?

Krana had filled him in on what she knew, but that didn’t explain why there was a dwarven drum echoing in the valley. Every time he heard it, it made him jump. Even the help with healing wasn’t enough to make him like it.

If your aura were more stable, it would probably be pleasant, the star suggested. That is why no one else is upset by it. Currently however, the energy is a shock to you.

Sam grumbled to himself, but didn’t respond. The drum was beneficial, so at least there was that. Nearby, the sylphs were still asleep, tired out by the long night of teaching him runes. Raelia and Danir looked thinner than ever, their bodies frail without the spirit that animated them while awake. Forming the runes to show him hadn’t come without a cost, although they’d said nothing of it.

His hands tightened until his talons bit into his palms and he forced them to relax again. He was going to chase down the curseborn this morning, and that would deal with one problem facing the village.

Crystal Focus expanded around him as he pushed it to the limit, stretching out to sense the activity of the village. He couldn’t sense everything, but he could tell that people were already gathering in the center. The hunting party was almost ready. He reached out, sensing the position of the moons as he tried to estimate the time remaining until the alignment.

How much did I heal last night? he asked, turning his attention to the enchantment around him. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep, but he’d been here for a while. Hopefully, it was enough to get him through the remaining repairs. It took too long to come back in between.

Your aura has recovered to 26.5%. Five and a half days remain until the alignment. The star’s words left him startled for a moment as he tried to calculate how long he’d spent here.

Shouldn’t it be six days? he asked as he let out a breath. The time was shorter than he’d thought.

No. The star’s response was clear and sharp, and it made him want to move. You arrived at late morning, spent the evening in study, and slept through the night. You have spent twenty hours in the enchantment now, which has repaired your aura at 0.6% per hour.

That would be only 20.5%, but your meditation on runes and the time with your family has accelerated the healing. The energy from the drum also helped.

Sam nodded as he sorted through his bags, separating out anything that might be useful for fighting against the curseborn. He had a few scrolls, but most of his supplies were running low. When he was ready, he pulled his cloak around his shoulders and headed out.

The remaining four sylphs that made up the hunting team were already gathered in the center of the village, giving their reports to Siwaha. He wasn’t as familiar with them as with Raelia and Danir, but he still knew their names. He scanned over them, reminding himself of their levels and classes.

Aylin. Sky Mage-Healer. Level 111.

Vitar. Ranger-Ice Weaver. Level 117.

Marin. Healer-Ice Shaman. Level 124.

Erilar. Frostblade-Ice Mage. Level 105.

He nodded as he filed the information away. He’d only seen Erilar once before. The Frostblade had been out scouting most of the time that he’d been in the village. He was wearing white and blue scale mail that shimmered as it blended into the air. It looked like snow one moment and frozen ice the next. Several daggers were strapped to his legs and waist, the pommels marked with blue gems. He was standing to one side with his arms folded, looking impatient.

Now that Sam was looking for it, he could see flickers of the First Snow and First Spring in the sylphs’ auras, as well as some of the other runic patterns that Siwaha had given him. They were faint, but they stood out in his senses. Small flickers of similar energy radiated from their equipment as well.

Siwaha was leaning on a gnarled staff as she heard the rest of the reports. Her expression was calm, but there was an underlying pressure around her like snow that was about to fall. When she saw him, she waved him over. His balance was better now and it only took him a moment to reach her side. He exchanged a nod with the hunting team.

“Sam, you are just in time.” Her voice was clear and firm. “Erilar has brought word that the number of curseborn is growing by the day as new monsters join their ranks. The cause is not clear, but we need to stop it before it becomes even worse.”

“Waves of monsters have been stirred up all across the mountains,” Erilar added in a forceful growl. His attitude was the sharpest of any sylph that Sam had met so far. He radiated impatience. “Some of them have already started to join the curseborn, and it looks like they’re slowly changing into that themselves.”

“There has to be some enslavement formation or curse left behind by the Icebloods,” Aylin agreed as she shook her head. There was a staff in her hand and she tapped it on the ground as she spoke, showing her own impatience. “We need to destroy it before it becomes even worse.”

“Let’s head out,” Sam agreed as he glanced down at the bracer on his arm. All of his artifacts were fully charged. Along with his spells, that would have to be enough.

“Exactly!” Erilar agreed with a nod of approval toward Sam. He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he glanced into the distance. “There’s no time to waste.”

Siwaha held up her hand, motioning them to wait, and a moment later a swirl of snow rose up all around them, but for the first time, it wasn’t just snow in Sam’s sight. It was a translucent spellform made from long chains of white and blue runes that shone like gemstones. Here and there, he saw some of the runes he’d just learned, but others were blurred, their forms hidden from him.

The spell spun around them, settling on their clothing and skin. Bands of runes wrapped around Sam’s arms, interlocking like armor spun from frost as thin as gossamer, before they all disappeared.

“May the snow speed your steps.” Siwaha nodded as she lowered her hand. As she finished speaking, the snow pressed up against Sam’s boots, giving him the sense that he’d become weightless.

---

Like the last time, the team’s Ice affinity pulled Sam along and it brought a hot pang of memory that burned in his veins. This time, he intended to make sure things turned out better. The village didn’t need any more injuries. All around him, the sylphs were equally intent as they scanned the slopes for enemies.

There was a notification from the World Law that he’d missed the night before, hanging just on the edge of his awareness. When he saw it, the words resonated in his mind with a soft golden chime like ancient temple bells. Something about it spoke to him, as if it were part of his soul.

Congratulations, Battlefield Reclaimer.

With the help of those close to the natural laws, you have grasped the essence of bringing runes into existence. Be aware that the foundations of reality exist on many layers and it can be dangerous to alter them.

Innate Ability Recorded: Rune Formation (Basic).

[You have demonstrated a basic ability to create runic formations. Your ability remains dependent on your grasp of the core concept.]

With that, the notification disappeared like a field of fading golden stars, leaving behind the snowy slopes of the mountain and the hunting team around him. His feet skipped a step and then he fell back into the run.

The notification felt different than other ones, and he was pretty sure it was because it was an innate ability. Rune Formation wasn’t related to a class. It was something unique to the individual. The World Law was recognizing what was already there.

It felt right.

It also raised the question of how much the World Law controlled and what other innate abilities existed. So far, he had three: Essence Control, Moonlight Aura, and now Rune Formation. Everything else was part of his Class, Race, or a Skill, things that felt like they were more under the World Law’s control. That was a line of thought that the church would probably be very interested in, but he pushed the question aside. There was a battle to fight.

It took them two hours to reach the location that Erilar had discovered. They halted at the edge of a cliff, where he glided to a stop and raised his fist to halt them. His motions were swift and silent, each done with purpose. The sylphs fanned out around him, their bodies half fading into the snow as they looked down at the area he indicated.

“The wards here are thinning,” Marin announced quietly. Her voice was barely a brush of wind past Sam’s ears and he could tell that it disappeared just outside of their small group. “The link to the hearthstone is weaker than it should be.”

She was the only Shaman in the group and one of Siwaha’s main apprentices. Sam wasn’t sure if she was going to take over from Siwaha at some point, but if any of them knew about the wards on the valley, it would be her. His senses expanded as he pushed Crystal Focus to the limit, searching the flow of energy in the area.

He wasn’t as familiar with the valley as the sylphs, but after a moment, he found something. It was a trace of blood and the feeling of the dark curses that the Icebloods had used. He could only sense the edge of it, but it felt like it had been sitting here for a while, slowly fermenting. The portal to the Blood Elemental had a trace of the curseborn, but this was a full blown stench. It hung on his tongue like rancid oil. Whatever was down there, it was trouble.

“They are just below,” Erilar nodded briefly. His words faded into the wind as well. “There are at least two dozen of them, plus some normal monsters.”

“Once we eliminate them, you can strengthen the wards again,” Vitar said with a nod to Marin. He turned to look around at everyone, checking for readiness. “Is everyone prepared?”

There was a chorus of agreement from Aylin and the other sylphs, who checked their equipment one last time and nodded at Vitar.

“Ready,” Sam agreed as waves of crystal flame began to rise up around him, condensing into spirals around his arms and legs. Silently, at the signal of a hand slicing down through the air, they sprinted forward.

Sam leapt over the cliff in front of him, falling like a meteor as he built up layers of wind and flame until they were slicing walls that spun around him. He landed on the ground below an explosion of compressed air as a fountain of ice and earth erupted upwards. All around him, the sylphs flickered into existence with their bows drawn and spells already flying outward.

As soon as he landed, his eyes picked out the shapes of the monsters. They were gathered in a shallow depression about two hundred feet ahead. There were at least forty of them and the aura of the curseborn radiated from about half. The rest were regular ice vipers and trolls, along with some spiky centipede things he hadn’t fought before. The notification for one of them floated through his mind.

Spiked Glacier Centipede. Level 76.

Their legs were a nightmare of angled spikes that writhed across the ice, stabbing into it with each step. Beyond them, trolls and vipers were packed so densely that the center of the area was blocked, but the area radiated with the aura of the curseborn. Two Starfires blasted away from him, heading for the center of the pack.

He didn’t stop there. By the time the first spell left his hands, the spirals of crystal flame all around him surged together and then split apart, forming into dozens of arrows that tore through the air. More essence roared out of him as he focused on the concept of a burning white star and began to shape new Starfires.

Beside him, a barrage of arrows, flames, wind, and ice swept through the valley as it headed for the monsters gathered just ahead. No one cared to deal with the monsters one on one or to give them a chance to defend, and the effects were layered on top of one other. When everything hit, there was a crackling explosion of erupting ice and flames, along with a hail of arrows tearing through the air like a rain of meteors.

Most of the monsters were only in their 60s and 70s, and some were weaker. When they were swept up by the spells, the result was an explosion of gore as scales, blood, and viscera disintegrated. The second set of Starfires tore through the remainder in an explosive flame, followed immediately by another rain of arrows from the sylphs.

There was a sudden silence as half of the monsters disappeared, leaving only a scattered field of curseborn in front of them, like mushrooms standing tall when the grass had been swept away. Many of them were injured, coiled into defensive balls or crouching on the ground, but their only reaction to the attack was to let out loud hisses in protest. As one, the monsters’ heads swung toward the center of the area that had been blocked before.

A dark whisper of something moving fluttered through the air. It was a strange sound, soft but pervasive, like claws scraping across roughened cloth, and it sent a warning shiver down Sam’s spine. A shadowy form stretched upward from the center of the pack as two skeletal arms reached outward, extending for thirty feet in either direction.

No, not arms. They were withered like dry branches, but the slight curve to the bone and the tattered remains of skin between them made it clear that they were wings. They weren’t the same as a wyvern’s wings. Instead, they looked more like a bat. Then the thing they were attached to reared upwards, stretching above the heads of the curseborn that were bowing to it.

It was hard to decide what it was. It was a strange and skeletal amalgamation of bones, teeth, and oversized wings. Its limbs were barely covered in skin, and there were gaping holes through its body that made it look unfinished. The skull and ribs had once belonged to a wyvern, but the legs were made of troll bones fused together to form two sturdy columns.

As it rose, it opened its mouth in a silent inhalation and the gore from the monsters scattered around the field flew towards it. Chunks of flesh, bone, and scales plastered themselves to it, sealing over some of the holes in its form, although others remained.

A blaring notification from the World Law accompanied its appearance, along with the swearing of the sylphs next to Sam, but Vitar’s shout drew his attention first.

“A Revenant!” Vitar shouted as he pulled out a different set of arrows from his dimensional pouch. They looked like they had been carved from white ice. “Marin, Aylin, prepare Cleansing spells! Erilar, try to hold it!”

The notification filled his mind with a warning pressure that said the thing was dangerous. Its name came to him.

Revenant of Curses. Level 112.

There was little other information, but he could see the parts from the monsters flying toward it. All around its legs, the curseborn were surging back and forth, like puppies at the foot of their master. The revenant’s head suddenly darted down, seizing one of them in its mouth before it threw it up into the air and swallowed it.

What in the world is that? Sam growled out to the star, hoping it had an answer. At the same time, he shaped a wave of crystal flame arrows and flung them toward the monster and the curseborn around it.

An aberration left behind by the Iceblood curses. The star’s voice was calm as a pulse of energy flared out from it, scanning the area. You will have to get closer to analyze it. There is a cluster of energy just behind and below it that is similar to the curse formations the shamans used.

Sam grumbled something incoherent back at the star, but despite the surprise, he felt centered. He’d seen too many battles by now to be upset at one new thing. A ripple of moonlight aura rose up from meridians, flowing into the crystal flame around him. His horns grew by a hands-breadth as his eyes began to glow with three-colored light. Whatever it was, it was enough to know that it was built up from Outsider curses and monsters.

It was nothing a little more fire couldn’t deal with.

He shook his arms out as he tapped into his bracer, pulling on the concepts in it. The runes on it flared to life and a shimmering wave of energy built up between his hands. The runes for star, flame, moon, and edge all appeared, hovering in front of him. At the same time, the earth around his feet shook as rocks tore out of the ground and began to fly in an intensifying spiral.

All around him, the sylphs were releasing spells and arrows, but there was no panic in them. They were already spreading out as they moved on to stronger attacks. Erilar charged forward in a blur of sparkling ice trails, visible only for an instant at one point and the next. Sam condensed more flames as he began to shape a spell around the runes, but most of his attention was on studying the monster.

How far behind it is that focus point? he growled out, as he picked out a path between the enemies.

Twenty seven feet, the star replied instantly. A glowing overlay appeared on the ground behind the monster, marking out the location. It was almost under the revenant’s tail.

Then let’s welcome this thing to Aster Fall. Sam’s thought was a low growl as his hands rose. His talons carved through the air as more runes formed, creating interlocking chains that joined with the ones already there.

A few moments later, the web was no longer single runes. It was a swiftly growing enchantment hanging in the air. All around him, the rocks from the earth began to fuse with the runes and crystal flame, turning into a rising whirlwind of sparkling points.