by Wolfe Locke
Edd used the opening to unleash a targeted Frost Nova. Tiny shards of ice peppered the werewolf’s face and neck with lacerations. When Edd followed up with a swing of his broadsword, the werewolf was ready for him.
Dodging his blow, the werewolf grabbed him with its good paw and lifted him aloft. He brought his free arm down, digging the shield's bladed edge into the werewolf’s chest, but was unable to further damage the monster. The werewolf roared as it readied to end the skeleton.
“Colubra!” he shouted.
She moved in on the beast, lashing out with her Spear. It screamed but held Edd fast as it raised the skeleton towards its mouth, ready to snap off Edd’ head. The monster glared at him with watery red eyes. Edd readied himself to unleash all of his ice magic in a Shard Storm.
Before Edd could finish, a glowing arrow suddenly sprouted from the werewolf’s throat. The monster dropped Edd and clutched at its neck, trying to pull the shaft out. Its bloodshot eyes darted around, baffled, looking for an explanation for what had happened. Slowly, gasping for breath, it sank first to one knee, then the other.
“One down,” Selesius boomed, holding his bow aloft. Colubra stood next to him, snake-hair standing on end in triumph. She climbed onto the centaur’s back, sitting side saddle, and they galloped over to the dying monster, ready to unleash more attacks on him.
The beast was lying on its belly now, blood pooling in a circle around it. Twitching, it rasped out one final pathetic howl and lay still. Sols rained down around them in a shower of gold.
“Sorry, guys,” the centaur muttered bashfully. “That was a trump card I was trying to keep hidden.”
Chapter 18:The Next Wave
“Well done,” the Dark Lord’s voice boomed as the elevator on the other side of the Arena descended again for the next wave. “But your next challenge will not be so easy.”
Colubra leaped gracefully off the centaur’s back and into a fighting stance. She looked every bit the part of the queen she had been in life as she raised her spear. Edd quickly shoved that thought to the back of his mind and turned his focus to their next opponent.
“What do we think it’ll be? Who will it be?” Selesius wondered.
“The revenant had another ally,” Edd answered. “The sphinx. Perhaps it will be her.”
The lift ground to a halt. A greater skeleton stood on the platform in a red-plumed helmet. He shifted uneasily, with a two-handed sword in its skeletal hands.
“Ha!” Colubra barked. “He looks just like you, Edd!”
Edd looked at the other skeleton, baffled. “What is this? I thought I was the only one?”
“I warned you all,” Zekant said from above, “that some of your foes would look very familiar.”
Edd raised his own sword, ready to meet this new foe head-on. He’s mine. The skeleton did the same, completely mirroring his movements. He passed it to his left hand. So did the skeleton. He summoned the power of Frost Nova in his hands, the magic ability causing his bones to crack— and so did the skeleton.
“Why?” he groaned. “This is terrible.”
Selesius dug his hooves into the ground. “Edd, you might have to sit this one out.”
“He cannot!” Zekant said, his voice tinged with the authority of absolute power. “All must remain in the Arena in order for the win to count.”
“Edd!” Colubra said. “If the skeleton is mirroring you, maybe just try to interfere with its movements and make it easier for us to land a killing blow on it.”
It was worth a try. He sat his sword down on the ground and stood facing the other skeleton with his hands behind his back. The skeleton looked at him blankly, then sprinted toward him.
“Didn’t work!” Edd said, snatching his sword up again. “Colubra, what do we know?”
“It mirrors your actions sometimes but can choose to ignore them at other times,” she shrugged. “And it might just have been toying with you. The skeleton might be completely independent of your movements and created with a similar skill set.”
Edd tried not to make any sudden moves as the three of them arranged their party in a battle formation around the new skeleton. Any time Edd tried to attack the skeleton, it imitated him mockingly, directing a version of the same attack against his allies, rather than towards him directly.
I’ll need to use something more powerful. Edd brought his magic into his hands, and it did the same— and then shot a bolt of ice at Selesius. The centaur leaped over it with a grunt. Edd reached into the spacial ring and pulled out his spear and hoisted it high, and the skeleton did the same— and then launched it at Colubra. The gorgon slithered away, contorting her body to try and avoid it.
“Edd, stop trying to attack it!” Colubra said. “It just comes for us! Think of something different.”
He gritted his teeth in frustration. The other skeleton made the same expression, and then it did a waggling little dance, deliberately taunting him. Edd was enraged. He could feel himself losing control. Sparks of magic raced up his arms in the beginning of a Shard Storm.
“Don’t!” Colubra shouted, racing toward the skeleton with her spear at the ready. “He’s mine!”
The skeleton did another dance, looking right at Edd as it summoned a vicious-looking icicle and threw it at the gorgon. Edd had had enough. He used his ice wall ability and summoned a sheet of glacial ice in front of Colubra, stopping the ice spear. She drew up short with an angry howl and jumped backward as the ice spear managed to penetrate most of the glacial wall before stopping.
“This imitation is mine and mine alone,” Edd announced.
Notification: The ability “Ice Wall” has evolved into “Glacial Fortress.”
Increased durability of ice and is no longer limited to only single walls.
Evolved ability? Let me put that to good use. In a rush of power, Edd reached into himself and summoned glacial walls. Completely surrounding himself and the other skeleton. They were trapped and hemmed in on all sides. Only one of them would leave the circle alive. This is my fight. They have done their part.
The two identical skeletons circled each other with sword and spear, red eyes burning. Edd struck out just as the other skeleton did. Each dodged out of the way of the other’s weapon, moving in tandem. Again and again, they lashed out with their weapons, and again they both evaded injury.
Eventually, they came together in a flurry of blows. The other skeleton was the most skilful opponent with a sword Edd had ever faced, in this life and the last. The skeleton seemed to know exactly where Edd would strike next. For every attack Edd made, the other skeleton’s blade was already there to counter it.
Neither had the advantage, and both swordsmen backed off. Edd hurled an ice bolt at his opponent— and immediately had to dive out of the way of an identical ice bolt thrown at him. He growled in frustration, sounding a bit like the werewolf he and his team had killed earlier. The other skeleton cackled in response.
“What’s wrong, Edd?” it asked in Zekant’s voice. “Getting angry? You’re only getting angry with yourself.”
Edd lashed out with a flurry of blows, but the other skeleton continued to counter him. This is useless. What is it that Zekant wants from this? None of his other foes had ever spoken before in this manner, much less taunted him as the skeleton was doing now. What made this different?
“This fight is going nowhere!” Colubra hissed from outside the wall of ice. “I’d have finished this by now! Dismiss this ice and move aside!”
Edd tuned her out. Not likely, you couldn’t take me in a fight. But there must be a secret here to win. What did Zekant want from him in this battle?
What had impressed the Dark Lord in Edd’ previous fights? Not swordplay, certainly. Yarrl would have been a better swordsman. No, it was raw power. The most pleased he’d seen Zekant had been when he’d unleashed an uncontrolled whirlwind in the Arena and immediately passed out.
He sent an experimental icicle flying at the skeleton, which countered it easily. Then, Edd sen
t a smaller volley, testing and probing. Again, the skeleton countered, turning his ice to harmless power. It laughed in Zekant’s voice.
“So tentative, Edd? So frugal.” It laughed. “Have you lost your nerve?”
It was clear what Zekant wanted him to do. I must evolve beyond myself. Edd reached within himself and grasped a large strand of the innate glacial power Zekant had planted within him. He could feel its roots in the source of his strength. He shaped the magic with his mind, honing its edge to razor sharpness. Then, he unleashed it at his opponent.
Notification: The ability “Storm of Swords” has morphed into “Razor Frost.”
Razor Frost causes a mist of powdered snow to spawn and rise in a vortex in a small area. Anything caught within this vortex must endure the sharpened edges of the flakes of Razor Snow.
I can feel the changes. It was more overwhelming than he could have anticipated. He laughed as a rush of intoxicating power rushed through him. The other skeleton had just a split second to look down before the barrage of icy particles slammed into it, knocking it to the ground and pummelling its body with deadly force. Flake after flake cut into its bones, cracking them into dusty pieces. The skeleton never even had time to scream.
Unlike before, when Edd had first unlocked his magic, he retained complete control of the power within him. Through the glacial ice, he looked directly at Zekant as he summoned another wave of Razor Frost where the skeleton’s motionless body lay. It was overkill, but Edd didn’t care. The Dark Lord had wanted his power to grow. Edd would revel in that.
He called off the Razor Frost only after the imposter, the skeletal imitation, had been totally and completely destroyed. To Edd’ surprise, he still had reserves of power left over. He was getting stronger. I should check how much my magic has increased when I get the chance.
The skeleton’s bones lay scattered around the Arena. Deliberately, Edd walked over to his opponent’s skull and crushed it into dust under his bone foot. Then, he curled his hand into a fist, causing the walls of his Glacial Fortress to collapse. He turned to face Zekant’s viewing box and bowed theatrically low.
“Are you not pleased, my master?” he asked, an arrogant edge to his voice.
“Easy,” said Selesius, trotting over to him. “We’re not done yet.”
“Well done, Edd,” the Dark Lord boomed, smiling. “This bodes well for your future. Some of the other Lords have grown very interested in you. Your third foe approaches. It will be the most challenging of the three.”
Colubra scowled as they once again assumed battle positions and hissed at Edd. “The skeleton was mine. You took it from me. I wanted to destroy it.”
“The Dark Lord wanted me to do it,” Edd said. “It has forced me to evolve my abilities.”
“You don’t know that. You just took over and took the kill for yourself,” Colubra responded hotly.
“And defeated the enemy as usual,” Edd responded coolly.
“The next one is mine!” Colubra shouted.
“Stop it!” the centaur hissed. “It does not matter who makes the kill. What matters is that we are victorious, as a team, and survive to meet whatever challenges await us next.”
Edd turned to the rising elevator growing tired of the argument. He would be the one to destroy the enemy. His would be the power and the glory. Colubra would not get satisfaction. The Dark Lord will acknowledge me.
Chapter 19: The Armored Demon
The lift ground to a halt with a screech as the platform struggled with the weight of its burden. On it stood a strange and eerie creature even by the standards of the Nether and Great Empty.
“A suit of armor…?” Edd muttered. What matter of trick is this?
The armor was twice the height of a man, and its body was made of molded iron. There was a dark emptiness between its helm and the chin guard where its face should have been. An enchanted armor?
“This is my iron golem,” Zekant said, answering the question on everyone's mind. “I have chained a demon duke to a suit of my own glacial armor. It will never stop fighting until it is destroyed. For my fellow Lords, this is a foe comparable to an Infernal.”
The demon moved its head stiffly, scanning the Arena. It rattled with every motion the iron golem made. Its every step caused the ground to vibrate underneath its weight.
“The demon inside is enraged at being forced into this form,” the Dark Lord added. “I have convinced it that you are to blame for its captivity. It wants nothing more than to kill you and feast on the essence within your souls. Good luck, and do not disappoint me.”
The Dark Lord sat back in his seat and motioned for the battle to begin. The Champions waited, unsure of how to proceed, thinking the golem would start by sprinting toward them as some of their other foes had done, but it did not. Instead, it moved slowly, with a lurching, stiff-legged gait as if it was just learning to walk.
“It moves awkwardly,” the centaur said. “The armor must be hard for the demon to manipulate.”
They watched the enemy stagger forward as Colubra pondered their strategy.
“Let’s try the same tactic as with the scorpions,” she said finally. “Selesius, you can try breaking a hole in its armor with your enchanted arrows. I don’t know if it will hurt the demon, but it’s worth an attempt. If not, Edd’ ice magic might be helpful.”
They circled the golem with Selesius hanging back out of its attack range as usual. Colubra went in first. She called her orb of stone magic into her hands and launched a massive boulder at their enemy.
It slammed into its armored chest with great force— and bounced harmlessly to the ground. The golem stopped its relentless forward advance and swiveled its helmet around, trying to find the source of the attack.
“Selesius!” she said. “New strategy!”
Her voice had given her location away. The golem turned toward her and clanked forward again. She fell back, firing rocks at the creature as she retreated. It didn’t stop. Her stone magic ricocheted off the golem’s impenetrable body. It didn’t even seem to notice she was attacking it.
“It can’t see well with all the dust your rocks are making,” Edd said, “and your magic isn’t hurting it. Stop fighting it and see if it can find you without a storm of rocks telling it exactly where you are!”
Colubra stopped attacking and, moving quietly, crept around behind the creature. Slowly, as if it was having trouble controlling its own body, it clanked to a halt. It scanned the Arena again, trying to see what had happened to its foe.
“It has some perceptive abilities,” Selesius said. “But they’re poor. The demon isn’t used to this body. We can use this to our advantage.”
Edd remembered the trick he’d used with the goatman he’d blinded in his first battle. “If Colubra and I stay on the move,” he said. “We can keep it from knowing where we are. Attacking it from multiple sides at once will confuse it.”
Colubra nodded. “It may not be vulnerable to earth magic,” she said. “But my stone fist ability might be able to distract it. If Edd has issues seeing through the dust, maybe it might as well. It will be a good distraction, as will your arrows, Selesius.”
The centaur nodded. “This will buy us some time. We need to figure out what it might be vulnerable to.”
All three Champions went on the attack, each of them firing their ranged magic at the golem as they raced around in circles. The creature spun around, trying to figure out where they were and which of them it should attack first. It bellowed in distress.
“It’s not that tough!” jeered Colubra as she launched a barrage of stone bolts at it. “All it does is walk around!”
This was true, but their magic wasn’t having much effect on it, either. The rocks and arrows just bounced off the golem’s metal body. Edd’ ice magic was a bit more effective— it flinched whenever an ice shard hit it— but only a bit. Even Edd didn’t seem to be doing any noticeable damage to it.
“We can’t keep running in circles forever!” boomed Se
lesius. “Eventually, we’ll run out of magic and energy, and that monster will finish us off.”
“Think!” Edd said as he shouted at them. “The Dark Lord said it was made of iron. Does iron have any weaknesses?”
“How would I know?” hissed Selesius. “I was a doctor. I dealt in healing and in death!”
“My soldiers fought with iron weapons,” Colubra said. “None of them ever complained to me.”
Edd sighed. This was no use. He didn’t know the answer either. This is a riddle Zekant wants us to solve.
The air above the iron golem bristled with power, the battlefield growing chaotic with magic as they continued to attack it relentlessly. Arrows and darts flew past each other over the creature’s head as did Edd’ icicles and Colubra’s stone bolts.