Chapter 293 (Patreon)

Enjoy!

* * *


Abyssal Skein is level 47!

The team ran through the tumbled ruins of Shelim, burning their Stamina like kindling. Felix was at the fore, but he wished to zip ahead and leave the others behind. But without his Abyssal Skein, they'd all get found. Felix ground his teeth and couldn't help going over Evie's words.

She'd explained that an Arcid covered in spikes, with hands bigger than her torso had emerged from nowhere to grapple with Harn. It had been invisible to her senses, slipping in and out again with the warrior so fast she couldn't even give a good description of it. Kikri hadn't even seen the thing.

How did Harn, of all people, get caught?

Felix skidded to a stop, and those behind him did the same. Chunks of ice clung to the buildings here, reminding him of its appearance when the Frost Giants had control of Shelim. Red was splashed about, vibrant against the white and blue, while shattered stone and crumbling ice spoke to a quick, violent struggle.

There was no other sign Harn had ever been there.

"Yyero's withered ass! He-he was taken that way," Evie panted. She'd been running nonstop, but she showed no hint of slowing down. "If we hurry, we can overcome it maybe."

"No, not like this." Felix said.

"They got Harn, Felix! We're not leaving him!" Evie half-shouted.

"Evie. I'm not saying that. We can't go barreling after it without a plan." Felix grimaced. "We know the Arcids are attacking Vvim's Tower, so I have to assume it went back there. Vess, Evie, Kikri: track it if you can, but we'll head straight for the Tower next unless we see a reason not to."

The others nodded and moved into position. Shortly they were running once again.

Evie fairly flew forward, her weight lightened and legs kicking hard off the sunken cobbles. She was using Stealth, her outline blurring as it tried to convince his Perception she wasn't there, and Vess was right behind her. Kikri did her best, but her Apprentice Body couldn't keep up with the sheer mobility of the others. He hoped that Harn had been dragged somewhere close by, somewhere they could rescue him without alerting an entire army of their presence.

He was sorely disappointed.

That is a great many adversaries, Felix.

"Yeah," Felix said to the sword. "Yeah it is."

They'd been forced to the rooftops of the ruins as the streets grew steadily more populated. Hoarhounds, Ghostfire Simians, mantis-like Wretches, and Reforged were everywhere. There were even a number of Wurms winding between the stone, sinking and swimming through it all like water. Around the base of the Tower, however, the horde grew thicker still.

"Has to be at least four hundred monsters down there," Kikri noted.

"Five hundred and forty, give or take a dozen," Atar said. His olive complexion had paled considerably. "Far, far too many to take on."

The assembled monstrosities were tearing into the base of the Tower, fighting against living statuary that peeled itself from the sides of the structure to attack. The white, spectral fire of the Simians and the brute strength of the Wretches and Hoarhounds was doing its dire work however. One by one, the risen defenders fell to pieces and the pillars and alcoves beyond were splintered and broken.

"Did you know those statues were all Golems?" Vess asked Atar. The fire mage shook his head.

"Not a clue."

"Why are the monsters all here?" Alister asked. "You said they were after this Vvim person, but why?"

"The Archon's appetites are strange and horrifying," A'zek said. His lip curled from a stark white fang. "No doubt he planned to use the Geist's ancient body for his dire experiments."

"There!" Evie hissed. She pointed into the rear of the horde, where a series of cages stood out, each of them made of ice so cold they misted in the warm summer air. They were filled with beasts and monsters, but one drew their attention.

"Harn," Felix growled.

The man was slumped in one of the larger cages of ice, stripped of his helmet and weapons. Two Arcids hovered near him, one literally hovering and covered in a haze of green-white Mana, while the other was littered with dark spikes that practically absorbed the silver light of Siva.

"That's the bastard that took him," Evie said. Felix could feel her rage bubbling across her Spirit, ready to boil over in an instant. "I'll tear it apart."

"No," Felix said, as gently as he could. "We can't take them on all at once. Not like this."

"Felix, you can't hold me back. I'm goin' in, and I'll take that oversized anvil's head."

"Peace, Evie," Vess said. She laid a hand on Evie's arm. Gently. "We're not abandoning him. We must only be more creative." Vess looked to the rest of the team. "We have two objectives. Rescue Harn is priority one, and reaching Felix's contact is the second. Do we agree?"

Silent, tight nods swept through the group.

"Then, I have a plan. The information Vvim has is crucial to our Quest, and perhaps to stopping these creatures' mad master, once and for all. Felix, you and Pit will take to the air and secure your friend." Using her spear, she had scratched a quick diagram in the dirt atop the flattened roof. "Evie's team will split their attention, and my team will head for Harn."

"I'm not doing the distraction," Evie had protested. "I'm heading for the cage. That thing needs to bleed!"

"It will, Evie. But getting Harn out is more important, right?" Vess had asked, and Evie reluctantly nodded. "Then you will cause the distraction. You're one of the fastest here and the only choice."

"Fine. But if I get a chance to take that thing down, I'm takin' it."


* * *


Felix watched with mixed feelings as his friends risked themselves again.

He had stuck with Vess' group while Evie had split off, and he kept his Abyssal Skein active to keep them hidden. Shaking himself, he pulled his Perception from Evie' progress to his task. Vess' plan. Felix's senses quested forward, burning through his Mana as he sounded Stone Shaping on top of his Skein. It was fine at first, but the further he traveled from his position, the more Mana it consumed, quickly surpassing his regeneration and stealing away his reserves. It didn't bother Felix—he had plenty to spare—but it concerned him that he might not achieve his goal.

Stone Shaping was one of his best spells, but it had some significant limitations. Primarily it was how Mana hungry the spell was when he attempted anything wide-scale, though his large reserves were typically up to the task. The other limitation laid in the difference between dirt and stone and ore. The Skill was designed to affect stone, not anything else. Felix had altered the Skill's pattern previously to allow for metal inclusions in the stone, though it had burned through even more Mana. In the weeks since he'd achieved that feat, Felix had done it regularly, but it was by no means easier.

Still, he had little choice. His friend was in danger.

Felix poured himself into the spell, leaving only a small part of himself to maintain the Abyssal Skein. The earth liquified before his immutable Will and he pushed his Intent to shape it all. Mana filled in the rest, providing power and catalyzing the process.

Stone, metal, and dirt shifted and parted.

It took even more Willpower not to attack the Arcids when Felix felt their proximity. Instead he moved carefully around their positions, mindful to keep vibrations to a minimum, until...There.

He pulled himself back and sucked in a deep breath. He swallowed and caught Vess' eye.

Stone Shaping is level 63!

<We're set.>


* * *


As soon as they came within a block of the Tower, Evie and her team split off. Each of them had a Stealth Skill except for Nevia, but the Dwarven mage was slight. Far easier to avoid notice if they were careful.

Evie hopped lightly from the second story roof to the street below. Her Stealth had only recently hit level 52 and she felt like a ghost with it active. Sure, Felix could track her—the jerk—but no one else in their party could, not even Harn. She felt a sharp spike of pain in her chest and sucked in a tight breath.

You better be okay, idiot. I'm not losing you too.

Evie growled to herself as she pushed through the pain and ran to the nearest set of trees. They were waist thick and three time her height. They were perfect. They had brainstormed the most efficient distraction they could, and the Haarguard had come up with a great one.

<Here,> she gestured at her team.

Kikri was right behind Evie, but Wyvora had carried Nevia down, much to the Dwarf's embarrassment. They quickly closed.

<Do your thing, archer,> Evie signed, and Kikri nodded.

She reached out and placed a hand on the nearest tree, whispering all the while. Angry as Evie was, she would have had to be deaf not to hear the gentle melody as the Elf's Skill activated. Motes of green-gold and deep blue Mana flickered and swayed among the branches. Evie looked all around. The trees in a ten stride radius were all...vibrating, ever so slightly. Then, as if on cue, each of the five trees split open.

"Noctis' tits," Evie whispered. The inside of the trees hummed with a gentle song just steps away from melancholy. They were sad but...accepting.

Blind gods, I hate this music thing, she thought with a sniff. Gettin' weepy over trees, now.

Task done, Kikri slumped. Wyvora supported her as she rubbed her temples, likely suffering some Mana drain, and Nevia moved forward. The openings were no bigger than her square, Dwarvish hands, and Nevia walked around to each. A surge of chimes and chill winds assaulted Evie's senses, and the center of the trees all shook at once. The holes had all filled with chunks of ice.

<Back up, everyone,> Nevia warned before following her own advice. They retreated to the other side of the street, and the three others readied their weapons.

<Do it now,> Evie signed.

Ice Mana surged, and with a shrieking blast the five trees exploded.

Evie shouted, putting all of her Journeyman Body behind it.

"Come and get it, monsters!"


* * *


Vess and the others hunkered beside him, waiting for Evie's signal.

"Did you discuss what the signal would be?" Felix asked.

"I am sure it will be unmistakable," Vess said with a thin smile. She was worried, clearly, but also determined. Felix fitted his hand over hers and gave a brief squeeze.

"It's a good plan. Better than most of mine, in fact," he said.

"That is not a...high bar, Felix."

Felix grinned and let out a soft gasp. "Et tu, Brute?"

Vess quirked any eyebrow. "Is that more of your strange native language? It sounds familiar."

"Latin, actually. I've seen it in a few places on the Continent, so far." Felix looked over the edge of the portico they were stashed atop. "I know like, three phrases from school and old movies."

They were both crouching, and Felix tried not to notice Vess' nervously bobbing knee. "You think we can do this?"

"It's a good plan," he repeated.

The night was rent by the high pitched scream of explosions, paired with a basso rumble that hit the air like a drum. The horde collectively flinched, and their team hunched lower in the deep moon shadows.

The flying Arcid rose several stories into the sky, peering in the direction of the sounds, before it gestured sharply to the beasts below it. With chittering howls of excitement, several dozen peeled off and tore down the ruined streets. The flying Arcid, glowing brilliantly in the moonlight, followed quickly after.

<Now. Quickly,> Vess signed to everyone, all of them slipping off the roof. She gave Felix's hand a surprising squeeze before she followed.

C'mon Pit. Time to fly.


* * *


Harn Kastos was pissed and he'd just woken up. Not only had he been captured—something he knew Cal would roast him alive for when she heard—but now it was jawing his ear off.

"Why have you come here, Human?" The slippery Arcid said in a voice that sounded like tar bubbling. "What is your purpose?"

Harn ignored it. He missed his axes. These bastards took his axes. If he had them, he could have had a real nice chat with ol Slippery. And the other one, if he knew where it had gone.

The Arcid moved closer, not walking but sliding on its oversized feet around the ice cage. Slippery shook its oblong head at him, and its three eye fires burned bright. "You are being unreasonable, Human. You have trespassed upon my Master's lands and offer no defense save silence. You are blessed that you were not killed outright, blessed by my great Master who desires to see any and all interlopers in his lands."

Harn snorted. "He's claimin' the Foglands?"

"Ah! It speaks! Glorious," Slippery made a weird burbling sound in its metal throat. It made Harn's hackles rise. "The Foglands belong to my great Master."

"Not accordin' to the System, they don't."

"The System has no control over the great Master!" Slippery shouted, and his spiked fists clattered against the ice cage. The blue-white bars turned brownish-black at the contact, as something oozed from Slippery's metal body.

Earth and shadow Mana, Harn guessed. He wasn't good at picking out the different types, but he'd seen that combo a time or two. Makes things slip and slide. Impossible to grapple. That's where I went wrong. He cursed internally. Shoulda let it burn instead.

Slippery, taking his silence for being cowed, leaned back from the cage in clear satisfaction. "You will come to know your place soon, Human. When my Master peels that armor from your flesh, you too will learn the Truth."

"An what's that?" Harn asked.

"Only power can fix this cursed world, and we've none of it." Slippery practically hissed the words. "Submit, and find peace."

Harn felt the cage tremble, as if it resonated with the Arcids words, but he just grinned. The scars across his face stretched and pulled his expression into a grim specter of a smile. "I was about to say the same thing to you."

Slippery tilted its weird head and weird eyes. "What do you—"

Massive gouts of stone and dirt detonated upward, and with a joyous, bloodthirsty shout Harn and the Arcid fell into the dark below.