Chapter Two Hundred and Eighty - 280
The Reforged thundered through the undergrowth, paying little heed to things like trees and hillocks or the cloying mix of ice fog and woodsmoke. They swept their ice-shaped weapons in grand arcs, delivering destruction upon the green valley even as it burned alive. Yet despite their great Strength and Endurance, their size and their fury, they could not touch Vessilia Dayne.
"RUAAAH!"
Dragoon's Footwork!
An axe bigger than her entire body slammed sideways into a tree, but Vess was simply not there. The steps of her movement Skill had her flicker before the ice warrior's perceptions, there and gone, and the giant could only rage impotently.
Evie also danced around her opponents, though she faced two Hoarhounds as well as one of the Reforged. Her new chain proved its mettle as it tore into the hounds, flensing flesh from bone and metal with every rotation, but it did not stop the remade creatures. The Hoarhounds were as fast as the Reforged were strong, and worse they operated in packs and used tactics. Were it not for the mages, Evie would have died within minutes of their first engagement.
"Imbued Sparkbolt!"
"Grand Impetus!"
Crimson flame and a cobalt lance of power came from opposite ends of the fight, but each one found the legs of a hound, fouling their steps and sending them sprawling. The fire even dropped them into squealing bouts of pain, something that the blazing forest couldn't do. Ice may be their element originally, but the creatures all seemed inured to normal flames. More hounds lunged forward, snapping for the mages, but a trio of blue pillars from the sky drove their bellies to the earth.
"Thanks Al!" Evie shouted mid-air, already between the tree trunks. "I got the dogs! Can you two kill the big guy?"
"I have it," Atar said. His curls were tumbled over his forehead and slick with sweat, but there was nothing but determination in his eyes as a crown of molten flame ignited above his head. "Crown of Ignis! Imbued Sparkbolt!"
No less than twenty orbs of fire spun out of his crown, zipping toward the Reforged in a volley of light. The former giant screamed in agony as it's body was wracked with an explosive firestorm.
Focus on your own fight!
Vess stepped into the wild swing of the ice warrior, using two of her floating spears to deflect it up and into another charred tree trunk. The woods were thick and close, despite the razing hunger of the wildfire. She thrust her partisan in a flurry of strikes, each one fouled by the beast's icy armor, but her Strength was not to be denied. Cracks crazed the ice of its form, worn ever thinner by the intensity of Atar's fields of flame.
Spear of Tribulations!
More spears were conjured around her, manifesting in a tight net above her head. They blocked the Reforged's first strike and parried the second before the giant's enormous Strength sent the lot of them flying outward. Vess grunted in pained surprise, but wasted no time. Tethered to her Will, they spun back around, each of her seven spears surging forward to rejoin the battle
and tangled in trees and brush, held a breath too long to block the Reforged's next attack. Vess dove desperately aside, caught flatfooted by her Skill's failure. The blow sundered the well-packed dirt and ancient flagstone beneath their feet, opening a small chasm that crackled with remnant frost.
"RUAAAHH!" The Reforged screamed at her, full of spittle and fetid breath. Its innards smelled of rot and putrefaction, neatly curdling Vess' stomach. "DIE!"
It flipped its axe into an overhand chop, too stupid to know its end. Vess darted forward and aside, flaring her Dragoon's Footsteps and Pierce the Sky so that the weight of their might rested behind her spear. She closed in, too fast to avoid, too deadly to survive.
Snicker-snack.
Her spear took it's head.
You Have Killed a Reforged!
XP Earned!
"Vess! Help!" Alister hollered, his voice rising in a panic. Through the smoke and ice fog, she saw two more Reforged join against the mages, and Evie still hadn't defeated the Hoarhounds.
Tch. She gathered her spears to her again, careful to maneuver them around the tangled growth on all sides, before leaping high up into the air. Her Skills were designed to be used mid-air, among the skies, not snarled upon the earth. Here the silver-seeming spears, crafted from the very winds, soared.
Dragon's Descent!
Hurtling downward, Vess' form flickered with streamers of green-white vapor. They burst from the tip of her partisan, chased along the edges of its hidden array, spiralling outward until they enveloped her completely. Her Seven Steps of the Dragoon guided the air Mana instinctively, No longer a Human warrior, nor a Dragoon, but a judgement sent from on high.
The verdict was death.
Pierce the Sky is level 59!
Spear of Tribulations is level 70!
Dragon's Descent is level 57!
You Have Killed a Reforged!
XP Earned!
Pyroclast!
Just as the Mana of his Master-forged Skill reached the cusp of release, a slab of thick, obdurate stone burst from the ground before the Arcid. It blocked his access to the tunnel almost completely!
"Wh-what is this!?" He whirled, his thick, powerful limbs slamming into the earth. "Who dares block one of the chosen?"
At the far end of his servants, a lone Human appeared from the accumulating woodsmoke. The Arcid was as disgusted as he was confused. A Human was a base mortal. Weak, but many. Yet this one was alone. It didn't even attempt to armor itself, paltry though such efforts would be. Instead the Human was bare of limb and wearing cloth of all things.
Two weapons glinted at its side, however. At the very least, it thought itself a threat. 55597 would have to disabuse it of that notion.
"Human. Why do"
"Arcid. You're all kinda jerks, huh?"
The Human spoke out of turn, off-hand, and it insulted him! The Arcid could not let a single one of those insults stand, and he vented his rage. Twin plumes of fire shot to either side of him, setting more brush aflame. "You wander alone into my presence, and insult me? Do you know who I am? Who I represent?!"
"Yes, no, and yes," the interloper said. "In that order. I mean, I know your number. 55597 right? Kinda bland." He spread open his disgusting, fleshy arms. "Plus, you're kinda weak, huh? 55389 was a lot tougher."
The Arcid's eyes, twin fires in their own right, narrowed. "How do you know that designation? Who are you?"
"You don't know? I figure you would. Archon must not like you," the Human said. Its voice was disgustingly smug, and it just about sneered at him. Him!
"The Master trusts me more than all others! Who else would be tasked with ridding his lands of the Henaari pests?" Number 55597 drew himself up, pushing out his burning chest. "None of the others were even considered to hunt them down!" Then his eye fires widened. "How do you know the Master's name?"
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," the Human said.
"And if you do not, I'll kill you where you stand," the Arcid threatened. No, promised!
The Human shrugged. "You can try."
Of a sudden, stone spikes shot from the earth on every side of the Arcid's force. The spikes stabbed through many of the Hoarhounds' heads, killing them instantly, and those that dodged were followed. The spikes bent and twisted. In less than a moment, all of the Hoarhounds were dead.
"Huh," the Human said. He seemed surprised. "That was easier than I thought."
"KILL HIM! KILL HIM NOW!" The Arcid was already charging, filling its chest with a raging, infernal heat. It roared to life, a living flame that melted the rocks around him into puddles of magma. "BREAK HIM!"
Gargantuan, metallic-edged screams shook the tunnel, and a sudden, terrible heat bore down on the huddle group of Henaari. Yet, for some reason, the heat did not bloom into flame.
"What is happening?"
"Has the monster fled? Captain Eskr?"
"II don't know," the captain said. His nerves were as shot as all the rest, though he tried to hold onto the dignity of his people. "Perhaps we should"
There was an abrupt slamming to the side of the gathered Henaari, and without warning an entire portion of the tunnel collapsed again. Except, instead of cutting them off as the Wurms had done previously, there was a rush of cool, musky air as a new shaft appeared beside them. From the darkness of its mouth, a welcome figure appeared.
"Come with me if you want to live," A'zek said.
Though ferocious-looking, the entire group brightened immediately. Cries of "Farwalker" and "Companion" lilted through the passage, and the harnoq had to encourage speed and silence multiple times.
"Move. Faster. The death you avoided still survives. Run!" A'zek hissed the last, striking at the floor with his barbed tail in emphasis. The Henaari took the words seriously and began to hustle, until they were loping down the curiously smooth tunnel he'd traversed.
"You made a tunnel for us?" Captain Eskr was confounded. He never knew the chimera had such a Skill. "Raven preserve us. How much Mana did this take?"
A'zek regarded the Captain of the Dawnguard with a single, earth-toned eye. "I did not make this. It is the plan of another, one which I do not approve."
"Another...?"
The harnoq sped down the tunnel, forcing the captain to keep up. Yet even as they ran, he did not miss that the opening to their tunnel had somehow, seamlessly sealed itself closed.
"Then how?"
"Questions are for the living. Run. One day, you may hear the answer," A'zek said, before blurring forward too quickly for the captain's Perception to follow.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.
