by Aaron Oster
The window also had a set of latches, where magesteel shutters could be pulled across in case things got really bad. The door was also just as thick and insulated all around to make sure it could withstand the same level of punishment as the walls themselves, and seeing as two of the walls were part of the mountain, the cottage could not have been more secure.
There was about a week’s worth of supplies as well, but they were basically there as luxury items, as both Beatrice and Katherine could survive for several weeks without needing to eat anything. Still, the ability to do so was nice, and seeing as they were both royalty, only the best had been provided.
While not overly large, the cottage was quite roomy, containing two bedrooms and a living room kitchen area where they could eat. Of course, because she’d tagged along, Grace had been stuck sleeping on the sofa, but seeing as even her bed back home wasn’t as comfortable, she really didn’t mind.
What she did mind, though, was being stuck in here with Katherine and Beatrice while Morgan was up on top of the mountain without her.
“Come on, can’t you please at least let me go and help?” she begged for about the tenth time that day.
“If you ask me one more time, I’m going to open a portal back to the palace in Pinnaclefall and make you wait for Morgan there,” Katherine said, clearly resisting the urge to rub at her temples.
“I don’t understand why you would want to go up there anyway,” Beatrice said haughtily, swirling the wine in her glass before taking a delicate sip. “Let that hooligan take care of the monster and just enjoy the comforts of this quaint cottage until he’s done.”
Grace was about to snap back, but thankfully, Katherine beat her to the punch.
“You do realize that that hooligan, as you call him, is the only chance your kingdom has, right? Even if you threw your top fighters against that monster, they’d probably lose, turning your kingdom into a wasteland with all your subjects turning on you.”
“Yes, yes,” Beatrice said, dismissing her annoyance with a wave. “We’ve all seen what happened in the North, so no need to fret. I was merely telling the girl off for complaining, that’s all.”
“You do realize I’m still here, right?” Grace said, glowering at the pair.
“Of course, dear. Although I’m still not sure why.”
“Grace is a supermage, in case you’ve forgotten that as well,” Katherine said. “Her strength may one day be needed to save your kingdom from some other misfortune, so I’d recommend you treat her with a little more respect.”
Grace still wasn’t sure how to feel about Katherine, seeing as she was stunningly gorgeous and very interested in Morgan. But in this instance, she was glad to have the woman along and on her side.
“Calm yourself, my dear,” Lumia said, her voice projected into Grace’s mind. “You do remember how powerful that last Pinnacle King was, right? You’re lucky Morgan agreed to allow you to come here at all, so try and use this as a learning opportunity.”
“How am I supposed to do that when I can’t even see what’s happening,” Grace muttered back, keeping her voice low enough so she wouldn’t be overheard.
“By using your other senses,” Lumia replied. “Why else do you think Morgan would impart one of his own skills upon you otherwise?”
Grace resisted the urge to open her status and check on the Aura Sense trait that Morgan had bestowed upon her just a few days ago when she’d convinced him to allow her to come along. Grace hadn’t really been sure why he’d given her the trait when she had her own Echolocation skill to show her what she couldn’t see, but now that she was at the bottom of a mountain, with Morgan thousands of feet above, she could understand.
The problem was that she couldn’t open her own senses without being completely terrified of the massive powers surrounding her. She’d known Morgan was strong, but it wasn’t until she could truly sense his strength in comparison to her own that she truly understood it.
When she’d received the skill, she’d immediately opened herself up, only to be greeted by a literal mountain of power. Compared to her own aura, which barely shone past her body, Morgan was a monster, his power towering to the very heavens, and perhaps even beyond! And, if this Pinnacle King was just as powerful, Grace felt that she might be happier not seeing how strong it was.
“Ignorance may be bliss, but it can also be dangerous,” Lumia said, as though sensing her fear. “Down here, you are safe. You have me, and if worse comes to worst, the Queen of the North can open a portal, and we can escape.”
Grace let out a long sigh but nodded all the same. She knew Lumia was right – the drake normally was – and so, gradually, she opened herself up, allowing her Aura Sense to begin expanding. The first one she sensed was Lumia, her presence a towering mountain in and of itself. Katherine and Beatrice came next, twin pillars of strength stretching to the heavens and showing hers to be inferior at best and outright pathetic if she were to look at it objectively.
Next comes…
Grace’s brows furrowed as two cores blazed in her field, coming closer with every passing second. One was a blazing red, and the other was purple. Was there another supermage here?
“Someone’s coming!” Grace said, alarm bells going off in her head.
There shouldn’t be another supermage here. Were they under attack? Was the enemy striking when they were alone and vulnerable?
Both Katherine and Beatrice tensed, preparing themselves for intruders, but when a fist pounded on the door and a familiar voice called out, they both relaxed, although, in Katherine’s case, she didn’t seem all too pleased. A portal opened right inside the door, and a moment later, Hilda walked in, her hair plastered to her scalp and face, followed a moment later by Elyssa.
Grace immediately understood why Katherine wasn’t too thrilled to see the elven queen, what with the fact that she and Morgan were engaged and set to be married in less than four days. Elyssa had spent the last couple of weeks in the East Kingdom, trying to stay out of the reach of their enemies until the wedding. Of course, all of Faeland already knew of her engagement to Morgan, as they’d announced it through Ragnar, King of the Dwarves.
This marriage would solidify their alliance and assure that there was no war between Faeland and the Five Kingdoms, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives. The price for that peace was losing Morgan in a way.
Grace wasn’t really sure how to feel about the elven queen, although she knew she was jealous of the slender woman’s looks. Her beautiful silvery-blue hair almost seemed to shine, despite the water dripping from her. Her perfect skin was, as always, smooth and unblemished, and she carried herself with poise and dignity. Of course, there was the fact she was marrying Morgan, and seeing as Grace’s feelings were still all jumbled up where her teacher and friend was concerned, Grace couldn’t help but dislike the woman.
At the same time, Elyssa had been nothing but kind to her. The elven woman was sweet and had seemed to take a liking to her, and although they’d only spent a few days together in the East Kingdom while Morgan and the others planned out the wedding, she thought she had a pretty good handle on the elven queen’s personality. That, in turn, made it harder to hate the elf.
“What are you doing here?” Katherine asked, her tone cold and distant. “It isn’t safe for you to be wandering around unguarded.”
“Last I checked, I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself,” Elyssa said, tossing her long mane of hair. “Besides, Hilda is a powerful fighter, and we still have a portal scroll in case of an emergency. What I want to know, though, is why no one told me about Morgan running off to fight some monstrous beast! You do realize that we’re supposed to be married in just a few days, right?”
“How can I forget?” Katherine muttered.
Grace looked between the two women and decided that she was going to stay out of it. In her opinion, Katherine was both intimidating and the most beautiful woman in the world. Despite Elyssa’s elegance and poise, Katherine was
just about the perfect woman as far as humans were concerned.
By nature, Elves were far slimmer and tended to be on the shorter side, and Katherine was everything Elyssa was not. She was tall, just about six feet, and her figure was about as curvy as anyone’s could be. Her long golden hair was elegantly styled, and she was always dressed in a way that was both provocative yet still refined at the same time. Suffice it to say that she’d had hundreds of suitors, yet the one man she’d wanted for years had continually rejected her in favor of Sarah, the woman who’d been killed by the first Pinnacle King to rise over two years ago.
Because of all that, Grace could understand why Katherine would be so upset over the fact that someone else had come in and claimed him, even though Sarah was gone. At the same time, she was a ruler and had to consider her nation’s welfare, which meant putting her people's needs ahead of her own. Grace was glad she wasn’t a ruler because she honestly didn’t think she’d have the strength to do the same.
“Why aren’t any of you up there, helping him?” Elyssa asked, placing her hands on her hips. “The alliance hinges on our marriage, and if he dies, we can’t exactly do that, can we?”
“Well, if you can find someone qualified to fight a Pinnacle King alongside him, please, enlighten us,” Katherine said, her lips drawing to a thin line.
“Me!” Elyssa snapped. “I am a supermage, and I am perfectly capable of defending both my future husband and the wellbeing of my people!”
“You are an honored guest, and as such, cannot be risked fighting our battles. Had Morgan wanted you along, I suspect he’d have asked,” Katherine said.
Elyssa was about to snap back when Hilda interrupted.
“I happen to agree with Katherine,” she said. “It was risky enough that we left the safety of the East Kingdom palace. Climbing to the top of a mountain in the middle of a storm like this is a risk we can’t afford to take. Think of your people.”
“I am,” Elyssa said, glowering at the group at large. “Now, I’m going up that mountain whether you want me to or not. So, who’s coming with me?”
Grace moved forward before Lumia could stop her, a look of determination on her face. She might have been kept here when she had no backup, but now that Elyssa was offering a way out, she was going to take it.
“I’ll go with you,” she said, her heart beginning to race.
Elyssa’s features softened for a moment, and she reached out to pat her on the shoulder.
“While your willingness to fight is admirable, I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist you stay here,” she said. “But I’ll make sure Morgan knows you were the only one to volunteer once we beat that beast together.”
Although this was clearly directed at everyone else in the room, no one volunteered.
“I know I can’t do much, but there has to be a way for me—” Grace began.
“No,” Katherine said, stepping up and placing a staying hand on her shoulder. “Morgan gave us all strict instructions to stay down here and out of danger. I might not be able to stop everyone, but it’s my responsibility to make sure you stay safe.”
Grace glowered, her expression mirroring that of Elyssa’s as the elf looked around the room one last time, seeing that no one was going to be leaving with her.
Finally, the elf let out a disgusted snort, then wrenched the heavy door open as though it were made of paper and slammed it shut behind her, leaving silence in her wake.
“Well,” Hilda said, looking around awkwardly. “I can’t see how this can go wrong. On another note, does anyone have a towel?”
3
Morgan vaulted into the air, shattering the stone behind him and dragging it along with him as he closed with the Pinnacle King. The beast roared, causing lightning to flash across the sky, illuminating the dark clouds with twisted shapes that could easily be confused with horrific monsters out of nightmares.
Morgan brought his hands forward, pulling the dozen stone pieces before him and flashing toward the Pinnacle King. Decagon extended a single hand, and blue lightning arced from his fingertips, shattering the stone to thousands of pieces that pattered harmlessly off his skin. But Morgan had only been using the stones as cover and closed with the beast, using his immense strength to land a powerful punch.
Decagon was blasted from the air, his body slamming into an adjacent mountain hundreds of feet away and leaving a crater in his wake. Morgan appeared right in front of him using his Gravity Tear and drilled another series of blows into the Pinnacle King’s unprotected abdomen.
Decagon’s skin was far tougher and rougher than it appeared, and although Morgan’s punches drove the beast further into the mountainside, they didn’t quite manage to do much damage. Decagon lashed out, his claws tracing lines of light in the air and slashing across Morgan’s chest. Although Morgan was all but immune to lightning, the force generated by the compressed explosion was more than enough to send him spinning back through the air, his body trailing smoke in his wake.
Decagon followed, his wings buzzing loudly as a violet aura sprang up around him. Even as he flew back, Morgan used Maximum Stormforge, forging a dozen spears of violet energy and propelling them at the monster. Then, he slammed into the mountain, his body turning into a wrecking ball and creating another crater in its side.
The Pinnacle King blurred, dodging nimbly between the flashing spears and avoiding them all. Without Morgan actively guiding them, their movements were quite linear. He pulled himself from the crater, which had been made by his body, and saw Decagon practically on top of him. He pulled the spears toward himself before throwing his arms up to block.
The entire mountain shook as the beast’s fist drove him in deeper, but Morgan didn’t mind a bit of pain. The Pinnacle King was about to feel a whole lot more than he was. Decagon pulled his fist back for another blow, then grinned as his entire body turned bright blue. He vanished in a bolt of lightning, appearing ten feet away and leaving Morgan to face his own barrage of spears.
If Decagon had been trying to get him to kill himself, he’d gravely underestimated Morgan’s abilities. Instead of turning him into a pincushion, the spears morphed around him, turning into a glowing suit of forged armor. Morgan tore from the crater, one of his gauntlets extending into a lance, while the other formed a short blade.
Morgan drove the lance at the surprised Pinnacle King’s head, only to be met by a wall of wind that kicked up in his path, throwing him off course. Decagon raked at his back as he passed, but Morgan’s Stormforged armor prevented the blow from making it through. Using Gravity Tear, he appeared at the beast’s left flank, then drove the shortened spike into Decagon’s side, finally piercing his skin and drawing blood.
The beast roared in pain as Morgan sent lightning coursing into his body. It seemed that while this beast could control the element, he wasn’t completely immune to its effects.
Decagon swiped at him, and Morgan disappeared, kicking at the beast’s head as he appeared above him and drilled a hole through the tip of the mountain with the creature’s body. Morgan followed, using his flight to keep pace, as well as the speed and intensity of this battle.
Right now, he was in control and had the Pinnacle King on the back foot, but he couldn’t forget the kind of monster he was facing. Beasts like this had the capacity to destroy entire kingdoms, and his fights with their kind had nearly cost him his life — twice. Complacency was not something he could afford right now.
Decagon caught himself, only to have Morgan slam into his midriff, driving him back. Morgan shed the armor, morphing it back into spears and following the beast on his descent. Decagon slammed into the ground a moment later, splitting the earth and sending dirt and trees spinning into the air. The spears impacted a half-second later, all twelve slamming into him and causing the entire mountain to tremble under its immense force.
Morgan didn’t wait to see if the attack had done the beast in, extending his hand and activating one of his most powerful skills.
A smal
l black spot appeared above the Pinnacle King’s body, then expanded, a massive sphere of darkness engulfing the area and pulling so powerfully that not even light could escape its grasp. His Collapsing Star Hyper Nova cost him a whopping 3,600 RP, which depleted his already dwindling reserves, but Morgan was smart enough to know that now was not the time to be conserving reiki.
The Pinnacle Kings were the most dangerous beasts on the continent, and thus, needed to be treated as such.
He stood in the air, hundreds of feet above, watching as the forty-five-foot sphere of blackness sank into the ground, the gravity so powerful and dense that the ground couldn’t hold it up. He breathed evenly, catching his breath and allowing his RP to regenerate. With his Wisdom, he’d recover over 84 RP per second, and since his skill would last for over thirty, he’d recover plenty while the skill ran its course.
While the black ball of gravity continued to attempt to crush the powerful beast within, Morgan continued making his plans. He wasn’t foolish enough to believe that the Pinnacle King would go down so easily, but so far, the fight had gone as he’d hoped. Decagon hadn’t managed to inflict much damage, and he’d kept him on the back foot the entire time.
Morgan noticed then that the intensity of the storm seemed to be increasing and wondered if it mirrored the rage of the one who’d created it. Either way, he’d be finding out in just a few more seconds.
Morgan reached for the few spears that had managed to survive the impact with Decagon – there were only four – and pulled them onto himself. They formed into gauntlets and boots, giving him the best chance for a powerful offense, which was what he’d need when facing the enraged beast.
The black sphere of superdense gravity ran its course and began to glow a brilliant blue, then burst outward, destroying several rock formations in an instant and leaving a massive crater in its wake. There wasn’t much smoke, but when the dust cleared, Morgan saw Decagon crouched in the center of the blast zone, his body steaming and blood streaming from dozens of small cuts.