Empyrean 23: The Shadow of War (Patreon)

Amelia, here! :) Please enjoy another chapter of Empyrean's Flight.

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The half-orc had returned from the last time we killed him, and he was out for blood. He pulled his axe from the face of his latest foe and turned directly toward me, extending his finger.

“You,” he sneered.

My eyes widened, and I immediately prepared for the worst.

You have cast witch armor on yourself. Your damage resistance has increased by 10%.

A level 20 half-orc has cast psionic strike!

The assassin, who had clearly done some levelling since we met last, flung his morningstar toward me. Before I could dodge, the weapon flew into my stomach and knocked me back onto the floor.

I let out a frustrated moan and held my gut. A searing pain consumed me, but I couldn’t let it stop me. I grabbed the weapon and tossed it away to the side, hoping it would be out of the way for the half-orc to get again.

My armor held, though, and I could get up quickly enough to retaliate. Holding my bow ready, I started shooting fire arrows in the direction of the charging half-orc.

A hostile entity has evaded your attack!

A hostile entity has evaded your attack!

A hostile entity…

The assassin had a nasty grin on his face as he, almost elegantly, dodged most of my arrows. I felt panic consume me as I shot more toward him, until finally, one struck his face.

You have critically injured a level 20 half-orc!

The arrow pierced his eye and pulled through to the back of his head. The assassin let out a mighty yell, trying to smack away at the flames that had consumed him.

But the half-orc, still, did not fall.

Once the flames from my arrow died, his face curled into a menacing scowl before he charged the last foot toward me.

A level 20 half-orc has cast psi-leap!

The assassin propelled his body toward me and knocked me back. I fell to the ground, half-orc on top of me, and powerless to stand up.

Your witch armor has broken.

Blood from his eyeless socket dripped on my face, and the assassin wrapped his hands around my neck. Struggling for air, I quickly felt my life drain.

But I wouldn’t die here. I couldn’t.

I still had my dagger within reach, and, infused with light, I managed to plunge it into the half-orc’s eyeless socket. I twisted the dagger further into his head, and blood and gray matter sprayed across my face.

Trying to hold in the bile rising in my throat, I pushed the half-orc away from my neck. He was screaming, grabbing his eye, and distracted enough that I could pull myself away from his grasp.

Adalinda clawed into him as I stood up. The lizard was holding on with great strength, and her claws were pulling down with deep gashes into the half-orc’s back.

His scream turned into rage as he tried to grip onto the lizard. Not being able to reach, he slammed down onto the ground, and Adalinda was stuck beneath him. I stood quickly, charging light’s fury into my hands, and grabbed his head.

The force barreled through his skin. I held on for as long as I could, feeling my face contort with desperation.

A level 20 half orc has cast psionic strike!

The assassin flailed for a moment before thrusting his fist into my chest, knocking me off and back. He stood up. I looked behind him, if only for a moment, to check on the lizard.

She was moving. Thank god.

The half-orc staggered toward me. I took a stand and held my bow ready, shooting arrows toward his chest.

You have critically injured a hostile entity.

The arrow struck perfectly against his heart. Behind him, Adalinda had managed to get up, and breathed fire across his back. From both ends, the half-orc was set ablaze.

You have killed a level 20 half-orc.

He rolled on the ground, trying to dampen the flames, before finally stilling. I let out a long breath.

You and Adalinda have gained 3 levels and 3 attribute points.

Your summoning skill has increased to 19.

Your fire magic skill has increased to 24.

Your light magic skill has increased to 23, reaching rank 2.

Adalinda’s tooth and claw skill has increased to 20, reaching rank 2.

Adalinda’s natural armor has increased to 20, reaching rank 2.

Celestial trait triggered! Core skills and attributes mirrored.

“Elana, behind you!”

The celestial’s warning came too late. Distracted by the array of Game alerts, I couldn’t react before a hand grabbed my neck from behind, lifting me up slightly. A menacing chuckle reverberated in my ear, and I felt the touch of cold steel on my back.

“I’ve got you now, girl.”

I watched Adalinda run toward me before my eyes started closing, the lack of air breaking my consciousness.

This is it. This is where I die.

But I could barely finish my thought before I was dropped to the ground. I coughed and spluttered, holding my neck where the foe had held me up. I turned to look at who it was that saved me.

And was met with Alon’s familiar smile.

✵ ✵ ✵

The axeman held his hand out to help me up.

“You’ve taken quite a beating,” he said. “You’re welcome.” A smug grin curled across his mouth, and I could do nothing but hug him.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” I said, pulling away from him. “Come, let’s get out of here.”

I had questions, but we couldn’t have a conversation in the middle of a battlefield. The Raccoons were dwindling now, and the Devils would come looking for us soon. I didn’t want to take on whatever was left of them now.

I drew back toward the city hall, indicating that the lizard and Alon should follow. We managed to find a quiet spot away from the fighting behind the building.

I looked at the axeman, leaning against the cold stone of the wall. “Where is Soren?”

Alon’s face darkened a little at my question. “He’s alive, but I don’t know where he is. He and Eoman left the battle when things started turning bad.”

“You didn’t go with them?”

“I did, initially,” he said. “But I turned back. I didn’t feel right leaving the fight. And thankfully I arrived just when you were being held up by that thug.”

I held my hand against his face. “That was a stupid decision,” I said plainly. “You shouldn’t have come back alone.”

Alon shrugged. “It ended up being worth it,” he said. “But I’m assuming you want to go find them now?”

I nodded my head rapidly. “I was so worried about you two. I got back from the city to an empty base, and I couldn’t help but think the worst had happened.”

“I’m sorry,” Alon whispered. “But don’t worry, we’re okay. Soren took Eoman back to the hidey-hole. We can go there together.”

“Why did they go there?”

“It was just for a short time. They needed a place close by to escape to, and they were going to make plans once they got there. I think Eoman is worried the Devils know about the Raccoon hideouts,” he replied.

“Elana…”

I ignored the celestial for a moment. “Okay, that makes sense. Let’s go then, before they leave.”

“Elana!”

“What is it?” I snapped.

“Look.”

The lizard was standing with her back arched, and her nose pointed to our left, slightly behind me. I spun around quickly and squinted my eyes. In the distance, just too far for me to see properly, I made out two figures walking toward us. One was unusually tall, and the other looked to be half their size.

“Who is that?” I asked Adalinda.

“It’s Cantos.”

I stood up quickly, my eyes widened and my heart jumping into my throat. I pulled Alon on his arm. “Come, we need to go.”

The axeman stood up and looked at me quizzically. “What’s wrong?”

“Cantos is here. We need to go now.”

Alon stood still. I pulled on his arm again, pleading, “Please, we have to go now.”

The axeman looked in the direction of the Devil leader. He took his axe from his back and stood ready to fight. “He’s just going to come after us,” he argued.

“We aren’t ready for this. Please, let’s go. We can find him and deal with him when we are better prepared,” I said. Cantos or his companion could not have seen or heard us yet, as they were not running toward us. We still had an opportunity to leave before they did, and Alon’s stubbornness to stay was terrifying me.

“He can’t even see us right now,” I pointed out.

Alon breathed hard through his nose before turning around toward me. “Okay, let’s—”

Before the axeman could finish his sentence, an arrow pierced through his shoulder. He screamed out in pain, holding onto the shaft.

“Oh my god,” I said, panic now taking over. “Run!”

I tread quickly in the direction of the hidey-hole. Alon and Adalinda followed, albeit slower than I would have liked, and we tried to escape the attackers. I could only assume it was Cantos who had seen us.

We ran for less than a minute before Adalinda called out to me.

“Elana, stop.”

I turned back to see my companions were quite a bit behind me. Alon was sitting on the ground, crying a little from the pain. He was holding his shoulder. I sighed and walked back to them, quickly, and scanning the area for any enemies. To my surprise, we seemed to be alone. Cantos and his companion were nowhere to be seen, anymore, and there were no other bodies around.

We had run just to the right of the city hall, near some smaller buildings. I could hear the faint shouts of the battle in the courtyard, but it looked like no one had followed us. Was that a stray arrow from the battle?

I kneeled next to the axeman. “What can I do?” I asked.

“Take this damn thing out of me,” he said, his voice strained.

I held the front side of the arrow and snapped off the head. Pushing on his shoulder blade with my palm, I pulled the rest of the shaft out of his muscle. It had struck him deeply, and blood started gushing out as the arrow was moved.

I dug in my backpack for a healing potion. “Here, take this,” I said.

Alon took the potion and gulped it down desperately. As he drank, I watched the hole in his shoulder grow closed.

“Thank you,” he said, swallowing the last of the potion.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said, ruffling his mop of blonde hair. “We are not safe.”

As I stood, I looked around one last time to see if the assailant had made themselves known yet. But there was nothing, just the now-familiar sounds of battle still behind us.

With Alon healed up, we walked quickly toward the hidey-hole. It wasn’t far from city hall, and it was the last place we knew Soren and Eoman were. I walked first, taking paths less travelled and trying to avoid more trouble.

But then it found us.

I turned a corner into a narrow alleyway and was faced with a remarkably tall elf. His hair and eyes matched in darkness, and he was wearing some kind of armor that glowed with a slight purple color.

I held out my arms to signal my companions to stop. “Who are you?” I demanded.

The elf said nothing and continued to stare me down.

I readied my ethereal arrow and asked again, “Who are you?”

“I see you’ve healed nicely,” he said, finally, his voice orphic. He was looking past me and directly at Alon.

“That was you?” the axeman asked angrily.

I shot a warning arrow toward his left shoulder. “Let us by,” I warned.

The sound of metal clanging permeated the air as he pulled out two daggers. “I can’t do that,” he said plainly.

I shot another arrow, this time aiming straight for his chest.

You have critically injured a level 20 rogue!

The elf recoiled as my arrow struck him. Fire consumed his armor, but only for a moment before it disappeared again. He threw both daggers toward us.

You have evaded a hostile entity’s attack.

I rolled down toward the ground and felt his daggers cut of small strands of my hair as they passed. Behind me, Adalinda rushed forward and let out a breath of fire. Alon, too, stepped over me and charged toward the elf with his axe at the ready.

I stood up quickly and held another arrow ready. Adalinda’s fire had burnt the elf, but he was still standing. Alon burst past the fire and swung his axe down, cleaving through the elf’s shoulder.

I took a moment to protect myself.

You have cast witch armor. Your damage resistance has been increased by 10%.

Alon pulled his axe from the elf, who had dodged away from the axeman. The elf rolled underneath Alon’s arm and behind him. He started running toward me.

I held my arrows ready, but with each passing step, the elf dodged my attacks. He ran straight past me, gaining on where his daggers had landed behind our position.

I quickly turned and continued to shoot.

You have injured a hostile entity!

A hostile entity has evaded your attack.

Without much success, my arrows only hurt him a little more. With his daggers back in his hands, he jumped alongside the walls of the alleyway and back toward us.

I held light’s fury in my hands and tried to grab his legs as he dodged past me and straight toward Alon.

As the elf drew nearer, the axeman held his weapon ready for a swing. The rogue somersaulted over Alon and his weapon, landing smoothly behind him. In a single motion, he plunged both his daggers into Alon’s back.

My companion turned and swung his axe limply.

Before it could strike the rogue, he cut his daggers across Alon’s throat, and the axeman fell to the ground.

“Alon!”

I saw him take a breath before he stilled completely.