Chapter Two Hundred and Thirty - 230
"Now is the time," the Archon rumbled.
Dark, almost black energy flooded a gate before him. It was the twin of the one he'd sent his other Arcids through, only far larger. The Archon considered it, still troubled by the sensation of something touching his Mind a few minutes ago. It had felt...familiar, and he did not know why. Only that it filled him with wrath, and the urge to crush everything before him.
The golden giant thrust a massive hand forward, and yellow-red striations of power peeled out of his channels and roared against the flickering gate. He hadn't the Mana to open the way previously, but times were changing. The gate filled with brilliant carmine light and the sound of cascading chords.
"The Bloodmoon. It fuels the exit. It lacks the strength to shatter my chains. But you..." the Archon laughed and regarded the hulking form behind him. It stomped from the dark, its breath a bellows that kicked stone dust into the air.
"You shall pass."
The Dust was dark. The quarter didn't have many functioning lanterns at the best of times, and now the streets were as empty of light as they were of life.
Unless you count monsters, Felix groused.
His groupcomposed of himself, Vess, Evie, Cal, Harn, and Atarnavigated the back alleys, carefully avoiding the prowling Wretches and Simians where they could, and swiftly ending them where they could not. Felix took point, but Cal and Vess were not far behind him. Evie and Atar sat in the middle while and Harn took the rear. Felix had his Perception extended to its limits, but it was taking in far too much information. He was getting better at narrowing it down, but for now only a city block or so swam through his senses, and not all at once. The rain was a constant distraction, as were the occasional roars and shouts in the far distancesadly not everyone had evacuated the Dust Quarter.
The Ghostfire Simians were exceptionally silent, their padded feet and hands making only whispers of sound against the wet cobbles. But they couldn't hide their Spirit, not from Felix. He gestured behind him, signing for them to stop as they approached a blind corner.
Stone Shaping!
You Have Killed Ghostfire Simians (x4)!
XP Earned!
Felix waved the others forward, and around the corner were four corpses. Each one was impaled by spikes of stone shaped from the masonry. Felix reached out and claimed them.
Ravenous Tithe!
Another Stone Shaping and the spikes melted back into the walls.
"Well break into smaller groups," Cal stated. They'd all rested as much as they could amid all the preparations. The command group was clustered around her water stained maps of the city, laid out in the warded room where Felix had once Tempered himself. "Itll be more dangerous, but well be faster and harder to spot."
Harn pointed at the map. "Our team will go down the center, the most obvious path between our camp and DuFonts. The others will flank. Here and here.
, Evie signed and Felix shrugged. They prowled forward, out of the alley and away from the fading remnants of monster Essence. The next street over was shrouded in shadow and curtains of rain, which made sneaking behind another group of Ghostfire Simians easy, even for their group.
Felix rolled his eyes, but he could see the smile on his friend's face. It was true, his control and capacity had increased dramatically since hitting Journeyman Tier. He could practically feel the ribbons of light weaving beneath his cores; a sturdy column of vibrant light that spread through him in waves.
Felix smirked and gestured ahead. Evie gave an elaborate bow that ended with her chain zipping out through the air and punched straight through the monkey's skull.
Influence of the Wisp!
Blue-white fire ignited around the three humanoid monkeys, freezing them in place. Evie rushed forward, Cal and Vess close behind, the moment the others were close enough, Felix dropped the Skill.
my thing,> Atar signed. He was looking healthier than ever, even despite his blonde curls hanging limp in the rain. He flexed his hands around his sharp metal staff, nervously.
Felix signed back. He heard a faint chime along his Affinity and looked at the three women. All of them swiped a notification out of their vision.
"What do you known about two cores?" Felix asked.
"Two cores?" Zara said, eyebrow raised. "In one person?" At his explanation, her expression turned complicated. "That is...forgive me for saying so, but it is remarkable. And your Race changed as well?"
"Upgraded, it says," Felix shrugged. "I don't know what any of it means."
"You're not the only one," Zara noted. "Primordials are run from, not...PeopleHumans, Dwarves, Naiadswe don't become Primordials. All encounters with a Primordial in the past turned all those infected by its influence into either rampaging beasts or melted them from the inside out. Either spawn or dead."
"Are you saying you expected this? The Revenants, the Ghouls, all of it?" Felix clenched his jaw, feeling a familiar anger surge from his belly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Would it have made a difference?" Zara said in a grim tone. She set aside the stone she was inscribing along with Felix and the others. Hector, Atar, and Alister were helping as well, following Felix's crude instructions. "Would it have stopped what you had to do?"
"...No," Felix admitted. He couldn't help feeling used, though. "But what if I hadn't been able to absorb the rest of the Maw? What if I had failed, or died?"
Zara's expression sent a shiver through Felix's Spirit that his Mind didn't catch up to for a few seconds. His gut clenched as he remembered.
'I could kill the Revenants, but not without demolishing the city...'
"You would have done that?" he asked.
"In a second," she replied. "But the Primordial and Divine...only an Unbound, and an outstanding one at that, could possibly touch upon their spheres of influence. To do it as you stepped into the Weaving Stage? That is simply monstrous.
"The growth atop your cores I am hesitant to name, but," Zara tilted her head. "I can hear it. It sounds like both Harmony and some atonal counterpoint are being woven together. The song inside you has grown strange, Felix Nevarre." Zara shook herself before moving back to the stones in her pile. Time will tell if you can make use of it.
A block further down, they encountered their first real threat. An ice-armored Reforged crouched among a Lesser Wretch and six Ghostfire Simians. It's body was moving strangely, but their angle of approach blocked most of the scene. Felix's Manasight picked them out from the dark and rain, but even normal sight would have spotted the Reforged. They glowed with a faint, purple-white luminescence. The Mana poured off them like steam in the cold rain.
Vess asked. Evie signed back to all of them.
Felix shifted his position and made out the dark smears staining its hands and arms. The thing turned it's craggy, inhuman face and sniffed. Blood coated the ice-armor around its mouth and forehead. It dove back down, chomping away.
Blood. It's eating somebody.
"What if we run into the metal assholes?" Evie asked, raising her hand. Yan nodded and Kelgan pointed at her. Keru had sat atop his head at some point. "I didn't catch big boy's level, but he gave you trouble, didn't he Felix?"
Felix nodded. "If we run into them, I can"
Cal shook her head. "Maybe there's only two Arcids left, like you said Felix. That might feel tempting no matter their personal strength, but theyll likely be surrounded by these Reforged. And every single one of them is a tough customer. We'll fair better if we dont engage any of them."
"Yeah," Felix said. "Thats not gonna work for me."
Influence of the Wisp!
Stone Shaping!
A wave of blue-white fire inundated the courtyard, washing up and over the Simians and Wretch, but leaving the Reforged untouched. Following nearly instantaneously, eight thick spears of stone stabbed up from the ground, each one four feet long.
You Have Killed Ghostfire Simians (x6)!
XP Earned!
You Have Killed A Lesser Wretch!
XP Earned!
Unfettered Volition!
The Reforged blocked the stone shaped spear from hitting its chest with an arm, and bashed it apart with a simple backhand. A snarl rippled through its chest and the Reforged turned...only to find Felix flying through the air, fist first.
Corrosive Strike!
Wild Threnody!
Felix's fist, sparking with a corrosive aura, smashed through the Reforged. Shards of ice exploded around it as it's face was driven back, only to feel the needy tendrils of shadow Mana grab it's exposed flesh.
Shadow Whip!
It's body was brought savagely back into collision with Felix's acid-fueled punch. This time, it's entire face caved in.
You Have Killed A Reforged!
XP Earned!
"AH!" Another Reforged stepped from the darkness, hidden from sight by the crumbling ruin of a building. Felix didn't hesitate, but threw himself forward as the Reforged screamed out a challenge. Distantly Felix could hear the stomp of approaching footsteps.
"Felix!"
"He's getting too far ahead!"
You Have Killed A Reforged!
XP Earned!
The next one fell to his transformed claws, it's chest unable to withstand their Essence fueled sharpness. His friends were yelling, but his ears were too busy ringing. Felix had quite enough with these bastards, and he was more than ready to vent his frustrations. A wave of shaped spikes took out the knees of a contingent of loping Simians, stabbing at them sideways from the walls.
Purple-white Mana vapor accumulated ahead of him, lighting up the streets as footsteps shook the ground. A chittering call joined the booming steps, and the spectral light of the Ghostfire Simians soon joined them. Felix ran, heedless. He could feel chain, spear, dagger, and axe begun laying about themselves behind him but he wasn't concerned. His friends could handle themselves.
He had monsters to slay.
"The gates aren't manned, at least not well," Keru chirped. Pit pawed at the kingfisher, causing him to flit about to avoid the tenku's playful bats. "They might be strong, but there weren't any redcloaks nearby. Mana flow looked weak too. Might be the best place to attack."
"Likely what DuFont is thinkin' too," Harm pointed out. "She's wily."
But what if its not just us? Vess suggested. She pointed at the map, drawing everyone's eye.
"Has a bit of poetry to it, considering what she's done," Cal allowed. "Reckless though."
Evie clapped in delight. Oh I like that! she said.
"Lafei! What's that?" Keryk pointed with his oversized chin, too lazy to even lift a finger.
Lafei checked the sword at her side and adjusted the tilt of her enchanted helmet. Inquisitor DuFont had raised the both of them to Initiates despite their age and lack of battlefield achievements. She was dedicated to proving herself worthy of the responsibility and authority placed upon her shoulders. Keryk, meanwhile, slouched harder despite his expensive armor and flame-forged sword. So it was with little enthusiasm that she responded to her partner's exclamation.
"What are you?" But then she saw it. A collection of purple-white lights converging on their position, and soon, beyond the relentless sound of rain, the cacophony of monstrous footsteps. "Monsters! A horde has breached the city!"
Lafei reached for the bell pull, to alert the Inquisition, but froze mere finger-lengths from the cord. Pain assaulted her with a terrible, hideous touch as blue-white fire sprung about her entire person.
Status Condition: Enthralled!
I-I can't move! She screamed internally, the flames burning her exposed skin. Her Health began to steadily drop. Keryk!
But in her peripheral vision, she could see that he too was affected. No!
Below, just beyond the red-gold glow of their wall, a man had run out into the open. He was moving incredibly fast, but what struck Lafei the most in that moment were the brilliant, deep sapphire blue of his eyes. He was looking right at them, and his own body was limned in an identical flame.
It's him! The ground all but quaked around her. The Fiend!
Behind him, racing as if the Pathless himself were after them, five others followed the Fiend. All of them shimmered with a motley collection of Mana vapors, while behind them the purple-white luminescence increased many fold. Monsters, creatures from the dark imaginings of the Continent raced out of the stormy night, howling for blood.
Had she been able to move, Lafei would have fallen back in fear.
*KATHOOOM!*
The Fiend hit their gate like a Human catastrophe. He and all of his friends caved in the reinforced doors, sending them careening into the inner bailey erected by Inquisitor DuFont just that evening. A shiver of red-gold went through the entire structure, and despite her pain, Lafei felt a twisted pleasure. Soon the defenses would activate and
and nothing happened.
What? Why? Lafei quailed. Inquisitor! Save us!
The grotesque horde hit their gate only moments later, a tide of ice-borne horrors and insectoid abominations. Lafei screamed, and not until she heard Keryk shouting alongside her did she realize the truth. The Enthrall had faded along with the fiery torment. Hands numbed by scalding pain, Lafei reached for the cord and rang the alarm bell.
"Breach! En-enemy has breached the gate!" she shouted, her voice hoarse already. She rang the enchanted bell for all she was worth, ignoring the truth as an icy monstrosity impacted the guard tower and threw her from her feet.
It was too late.
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