BT II - Chapter 32 (Patreon)

“Dodge!” Micah yelled, his Arcana sense screaming danger as the four-armed giant hewn from blue stone lifted its top two hands above its head.  Its eyes, gems set into the smooth stone of its skull-like face flashed yellow and green fire seemed to pour from open space, filling the monster’s cupped palms.

One of Leeka’s new enchanted arrows sprouted from its wrist, a tiny, glittering spike of metal, barely significant against the rocky creature’s bulk.  The archer staggered, visibly drained as she unleashed her limited mana to power the projectile’s enchantment.

Both Telivern and Ravi took to the air, circling around the skeletal rock giant as they looked for a place to strike.  Meanwhile, Trevor strafed sideways, peppering the creature’s sunken, ridged ,chest with air knives to create an opening for Drekt.

The giant flung the massive ball of emerald energy toward Micah, but he was ready.  He sprang from a half crouch toward the left, flinging up a pair of air shields to hinder the attack’s progress.

As big as the sphere of flames was, it lacked some of the power that Micah had expected.  Whereas air shield had only slowed the fire attacks from the forgotten for a half second, the first one survived almost two full seconds as the stone giant’s ability roiled and eroded it.  Once the first layer was destroyed, it lurched a pace forward before encountering the second.

All the while, Drekt tore into its shins and knees.  The enchantments on his new cleaver weren’t anything fancy, but they didn’t really need to be.  It was hardly an elegant weapon to begin with, so magically reinforcing its sharpness and durability would have been enough to increase its effectiveness greatly.  What pushed the enhancements to the next level was their ability to alter the cleaver’s already substantial weight in the eye-blink before it struck an enemy.

Each slash from the cleaver hit like a lightning bolt, cracking and shattering the monster’s body as Drekt sheared off great slabs of blue stone.  The giant turned its attention away from the huge but lethargic ball of flame, swiping at Drekt with its taloned pair of lower claws.

Telivern swooped in, knocking one of the attacks to the side while Drekt met the other head on, his cleaver shattering one of the monster’s talons and knocking the arm backward.  Micah took one last glance at the fireball to ensure that he was well out of its range as it sputtered and raged at the last defensive spell.

Then, he began casting explosive thicket.  As he cast his gaze at the giant four armed stone skeleton and the walls behind it, searching for a spot to anchor his spell, a smile formed on Micah’s face.

Another arrow slammed into the skeleton’s hip, pulsing magic into the stone monster.  Above, the rock holding its companion in place disintegrated as the enchanted area dissolved the stone.

The Skeleton’s fireball burst through Micah’s final shield at the same time that he finished casting explosive thicket.  The entire clearing rumbled as the green flames exploded outward, collapsing the narrow path they’d just traveled through and washing everything within twenty paces of its impact point, including a frantically running Eris and Esther, in flames.

Plants burst from the skeleton’s chest, ripping the rib-like ridges out of place and spraying fist-sized rocks like shrapnel.  The monster stumbled, its amber eyes flickering, as massive chunks of stone crumbled and fell to the ground, replaced by a mess of spikes made by hardened plant roots.

Drekt’s cleaver slammed into the rock creature’s knee, shattering the joint with its enhanced momentum, and sending the monster tumbling to the ground.  It slammed into a nearby mountain, shattering one of its upper arms like expensive porcelain.

Its eyes went dim, and its stone limbs went limp.  The magic animated that the blue rocks faded, and they slipped out of place crumbling into a vaguely humanoid outline splayed out over the nearby incline for a second or so before they began to roll down into the clearing.

Micah sprinted across the clearing, positioning himself between where Eris and Esther lay on the ground, groaning, and the avalanche of boulders rumbling them.  A pressure spear blasted one smaller rock to rubble followed a second later by a wind blade slicing a chunk of the stone monster’s femur in half.

Trevor ran in from the side, jabbing one of the remaining chunks of stone repeatedly with his spear, each blow knocking it slightly off course until it easily missed the spot where Micah was defending the girls.

One last glance at the walls around them to ensure that they weren’t at risk from more falling rocks, and Micah was on one knee next to the girls.  He touched his hand to Esther’s wrist, casting augmented mending as he checked her pulse and surveyed her body for any visual signs of injury.

Her pulse was weak and her skin was red, as if she’d received a bad sunburn.  Micah’s magic quickly repaired the light burns that covered her body.  He shifted his attention to Eris, noting the same symptoms as he did what he could to fix her visible injuries.

“Whazz,” Esther muttered behind him.  “I remmemer green, lotsa green and-”

“Don’t push yourself,” Micah cut her off.  “Trevor, grab Esther something to drink.  She’ll be all right in a second, but she needs to clear her head first.”

“Hot,” Eris mumbled, stirring and trying unsuccessfully to pull her wrist from Micah’s grip.  “Why is my necklace hot?”

Micah glanced down at the scrimshaw on her chest.  The enchanted medallion practically hummed with energy.  He pursed his lips before replying.

“Because Esther and you got hit by a soul attack.  You were far enough away that the fireball didn’t deal much heat damage through all of your layers of defenses, but there was something in it that attacked your core directly.  With the scrimshaw you probably would have woken up in thirty or so seconds on your own.”

“Without it?” Micah shrugged.  “Without it I suspect that attack would have done permanent damage.  I’d bet my last point of attunement that the bone skeleton was some sort of trap left by the Pontiff.  That opening attack it used was strong enough to cripple anyone other than me, and even then I suspect a direct hit would leave me in a bad way.”

“What about Garrat?” Esther asked, shaking her head to clear out some of the cobwebs.  “Did he manage to-”

“Sorry,” Leeka interrupted, gently tousling Esther’s hair.  “I don’t think anyone under level twenty could have survived what happened to him.  I doubt there’s enough left of him for a proper funeral.”

“Shit,” Eris muttered quietly.  Trevor and Drekt nodded their agreement.  Even Telivern managed to look chastened despite its dislike for the former guide.

“And that’s why we have to be careful,” Micah said sternly.  “The closer we get to the Pontiff, the more powerful the foes we’re likely to face.  The only good news is that we will have the advantage going forward with regard to experience and teamwork.  Almost every minion of the Pontiff that we’ve encountered so far has operated off of raw power, burning soul energy to try and overwhelm more skilled opponents.  The same will be true for any of the original traps that survived the years since Dakkora’s fall.”

“Mind your surroundings,” he continued, standing up and extending a hand to Eris.  “Make sure you know where your partner is at all times and what they are doing.  Only attack if they are supporting you, and make sure you’re ready to support them if the enemy turns its attention to you.”

“And Leeka,” Micah finished, flashing the orange woman a quick smile.  “You really managed to do some damage with the disintegration arrows.  Really, the only downside I see is that every shot seemed to take a lot out of you.  Your class doesn’t give you many points in spirit does it?”

“No.”  Leeka grimaced.  “I don’t even use martial arts for that reason.  I’m a good tracker and a good archer, but beyond that I start running into limitations.”

“Micah.”  Worry furrowed her face as she put a hand on his shoulder.  “I thought I could handle whatever monsters we ran into, but watching the way the rest of the team moves and fights, I just don’t know if I can keep up.  Against anything as big or strong as that skeleton, my regular arrows will just bounce off, and I can only fire one or two of the disintegration arrows before I basically pass out from mana exhaustion.”

Micah reached into his pouch, pushing things around for a couple of seconds before he found what he was looking for.  He took Leeka’s hand, turning it over and putting a half dozen glinting sticks of metal in it.

“Hairpins?”  Leeka asked incredulously.  “What am I supposed to do with a bunch of hairpins?”

“They’re enchanted,” Micah replied.  “The girls used to use them for practice.  They aren’t anything insanely powerful, but they represent three pairs, one for each of your mana pools.  The clip for the left side of your head increases the size of your total mana pool by thirty or so points while the clip for the right side increases the rate at which you regenerate mana.  Individually they aren’t much, but if you add them up, that’s probably three disintegration arrows rather than two before you need to recharge, and as long as you can stay clear of the fight, the right-side clips actually make regaining enough mana to fire a fourth arrow mid-battle a realistic option.”

“That’s how we became so strong,” He continued, using his spare hand to close Leeka’s fingers over the hairpins.  “Everyone has weaknesses.  It’s a matter of learning what those are and finding ways to cover for them, either through teammates that compliment your fighting style, or through magical gear to help make up for them.  You’re part of the team Leeka.  I just haven’t had enough time to properly put together a training routine and equipment list for you.  Give it a little time and we’ll have you up to speed, trust me.”

“But Garrat,” she began, shaking her head slightly before restarting her train of thought.  “I’m not sure that I’m ready, Micah.  I’m not afraid of getting hurt or dying, that’s part of being a warrior.  I’m afraid of not being strong enough when someone needs me.  I don’t want to be the weakness that lets the entire team down.”

“You’ll get there Leeka,” Micah replied with a smile.  “Even with just two disintegration arrows in a battle, you have the potential to dissolve a significant portion of a hardened enemy’s armor.  You might not be in position to kill a high level foe on your own, but you can certainly land the blow that lets Drekt or I finish them.”

Leeka paused, chewing on her lip thoughtfully before nodding decisively in response.

“Great,” Micah said, turning away from her and striding toward the cave mouth that the skeleton had been guarding.  “Now it’s time for us to keep going.  We’ve already had to delay a whole lot more than I’d like.  The Pontiff is almost certainly in front of us.  All we can hope is that he was delayed enough by the maze or Dakkora’s traps so that we can catch up.”

He reached into his pack, pulling out a pair of fist-sized glowing chunks of quartz.  Micah tossed one to Trevor and another to Esther before pulling out his own mage-light.  He used the bottom of his armor to buff the white crystal before holding it aloft in his left hand and stepping into the cave.

The glowing chunks of rock barely lit their way.  Micah could only see about ten paces ahead of him in the thick gloom of the tunnels, a major problem given how vague his map was.  While it was true that he theoretically had directions to guide him through the maze of tunnels and caverns, the reality was far more frustrating.

Unfortunately, the drawings in the Ancient Folio didn’t show any proper detail, just lines for tunnels and circles marking caves.  Reality was much more complicated.  The rock walls were uneven, filled with recesses and blind passages.  Worse, the tunnels wound endlessly through the bowels of the mountains.  It wasn’t uncommon for Micah to come across an intersection that wasn’t reflected in the Folio only to find out that the route he took ended after a couple hundred paces.

The worst chambers were the ones populated by moonbats.  The bats themselves wouldn’t have been a threat even if they had tried to bother Micah, but their guano was awful.  The slick substance was everywhere in the caves the bats called home.  Not only did it smell awful, but the droppings were hard to see in the dim light from the quartz, making the entire footing extremely treacherous.

After almost an entire day of getting lost down side passages or taking the wrong exit from a cave only to backtrack, Drekt called for a stop, and their group began to set up camp.  Micah set out his bedroll and erected parasite netting over it before plopping down onto a rock by the outskirts of the camp.

Esther and Trevor set their mage-lights up on either end of the campsite while Leeka began to build a fire.  Micah looked up as Drekt walked over, dropping into a crouch next to him.  For almost a minute they sat in silence, watching the bustle of the lively campsite.  Finally, Drekt broke the silence.

“This is going to be bad, isn’t it Micah?”

Micah sighed, running a hand through his hair.  It was greasy and unkept from days of frantic travel without a moment to stop for a bath or a trim.  He stared out over the campsite, watching Leeka shout with glee as a flash of yellow and orange marked her starting the fire.

“If we can cut the Pontiff off before he ascends the Tower,” Micah began, choosing his words carefully.  “I don’t know exactly how powerful the abilities he inherited from the third prince are, but you can only reinforce the human body so far.  Abilities rooted in Elsewhere are tough to deal with, but I’m pretty sure I could take the Pontiff in a one on one if-

“What do you think the odds are that he hasn’t already ascended the tower?” Drekt asked quietly.  “He has had multiple days worth of a head start.  Even if he was slowed once or twice, he almost certainly arrived at the tower well before us.”

Micah was silent for a couple of seconds.  He sighed.

“You’re right Drekt.  I don’t want to talk about it because we need to try, but you’re right.”

Micah pulled out a water skin, squirting some of the liquid into his mouth before offering the container to Drekt.  The big warrior silently drank his fill before handing it back.  Micah sighed deeply, corking the skin and putting it back in his pack.

“We’re in a lot of trouble Drekt,” Micah continued, keeping his voice low without actually whispering.  “The crown and the scepter of Dakorra are supposed to be artifacts with enough power to let me feasibly challenge what is for all intents and purposes a god.  If the Pontiff can unlock even one tenth of their power, this is going to be a tough fight.  If he actually knows how to use them?  We’re dead before we even launch the first attack.”

“Trevor!”  Drekt shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth.  Micah winced as the sudden noise broke the relative quiet of the cave.  “Get over here!  Planning session!”

He turned back to Micah, a thoughtful look on his face.

“If the problem is scepter and the crown,” Drekt said, his voice slow as he thought through their dilemma, “the first step is trying to find a way to take them from him.  After that, it’s a matter of taking advantage of our strengths to pummel him into submission.”

“That makes sense,” Micah agreed as Trevor jogged over to where the two of them were sitting.  “If we can stop the Pontiff from using the artifacts, we will have a fighting chance.”

“Good,” Drekt replied.  “I remember your conversations about the third prince’s powers, and I have an idea.  It might not be the best plan, but I am more than open to suggestions.”