Sovereign (The Gods' Game, Volume IV)

by Vider, Rohan M.

  Base skill in psionics has increased to 34. Psicasting cost reduced by 13.9.

  Base skill in spellcasting has increased to 26. Spellcasting cost reduced by 13.3.

  Remaining: 0 combat SP, 11 combat AP.

  Kyran’s Profile (Condensed)

  Name: Kyran Seversan.

  Combat level: 34. Civilian level: 32. Health: 340.

  Attacks: 44.2 (slash), 67.3 (psi wave), 84.2 (shock bolt).

  Defences: Physical (47.1), psi (34), spell (34).

  Resistances*: 25% divine, 17% death.

  Class skills

  Beast bonding (89.1), body control (69.4), light armour (40.8), psionics (69.4), telepathy (69.4), air magic (86.7), earth magic (86.7), supportive magic (86.7), spellcasting (66.3), water magic (51), nature lore (33.6).

  Other skills (0 combat and 0 civilian SP available)

  Fire magic (43.4), longsword (10.4), telekinesis (26.5).

  Commander (16.0), governor (14.4), mage lord (48.0), scrying (14.4), travelling (14.4), feudal lord (14.4).

  New abilities (11 combat and 4 civilian AP available)

  None.

  New items

  Ring of free movement (immune to slippery ice).

  Bracelet of simple mental protection (immune to confusion, terrify, sleep, charm).

  Ring of advanced divine protection (+8% divine resistance).

  Chapter 17

  04 Novo 2603 AB

  Wards, containment fields, barriers. Whatever they are called, in a realm such as Myelad, where the use of magic is widespread, these fixed magical protections are as essential to defences as are their physical counterparts—walls, gates, baileys, and moats. In every major defensive structure, spelled protections are necessary to inhibit hostile magic or prevent observation by the enemy. —Kel Maldax, Game scholar.

  Intruders detected.

  Adra’s camp early warning system has detected the entrance of hostiles.

  A blaring awoke Kyran. The camp alarm, he thought, eyes snapping open. The campsite was enveloped in darkness and he couldn’t see anything.

  But he didn’t doubt they were under attack.

  He rose swiftly to his feet. The alarm’s ringing disappeared and was replaced by strange whooshes of air. His brows drew down. What is that sound?

  An unknown attack has hit Aiken for 10 piercing damage (10 resisted). Remaining: 650 / 660 HP.

  Arrows, Kyran realised, gut churning. He dropped back into a crouch and cast truesight. “Brother, are you alright?” he asked.

  “A scratch only,” growled Aiken. “But I cannot get to the attackers. They are above us.”

  The darkness around Kyran receded as the truesight spell took effect. Hastily, he traced back the slivers of wood whistling into their camp. Aiken was right.

  The intruders were in the treetops.

  An unknown attacker has hit Kyran for 12 piercing damage (8 resisted). Remaining: 328 / 340 HP.

  Kyran bit back a scream as an arrow bit through his scale armour and sank into his thigh. Clenching his teeth to stop from crying out—which could give the archers a better target—he ripped out the arrow.

  “Kyran, are you alright?” Adra asked.

  “I am,” he wheezed. “See to your own protections first.” He scanned the camp furtively from his prone position. There were no intruders in sight. Adra and Mirien were crouched behind the trunk of a collapsed tree. Using it for cover, neither had been hit yet.

  Kyran scooted over to the pair and flung himself down against the fallen tree. An arrow thudded into the trunk, inches from his face.

  He flinched. The decaying trunk only partially protected him. The enemy were firing down from all sides. The party was surrounded. Drawing on his essence, he began weaving a magic shield around himself.

  “Brother find what cover you can,” he gasped. His mind worked feverishly while he channelled and tried to work out what was going on. He was worried about his companion though. Given his bulk, Aiken was the easiest target by far.

  As if to prove his concern valid, more arrows ripped into the jade bear.

  An unknown attack has hit Aiken for 15 piercing damage (7 resisted). Remaining: 635 / 660 HP.

  An unknown attack has critically hit Aiken for 20 piercing damage (0 resisted). Remaining: 615 / 660 HP.

  Kyran swore fervently and nearly dropped the weaves of the spell out of worry. “Heal yourself, Aiken!” he yelled.

  Aiken was a few metres away, but he couldn’t go to the bear’s aid just yet. The bear huffed in pain as the arrows sank into him. Ducking his head and swaying, the bear tried to foil the archers’ aim.

  Even in the midst of his casting, Kyran could see the rate of fire was increasing, and he realised in sudden dismay that the enemies’ aim was improving. More shafts thudded into the bear, and even protected by his jade armour, Aiken felt their sting.

  A band of unknow attackers have hit Aiken for a total of 140 piercing damage. Remaining: 475 / 660 HP.

  In frustrated fury, Aiken raised his head and roared, temporarily halting the hail of arrows.

  Aiken has used terrifying roar (radius: 120m), 14 attackers dazed, 24 terrified.

  A second later two of the attackers, their minds befuddled, fell to the ground as they tried to flee. Aiken’s head swung to the pair. “Goblins,” he snarled.

  “It’s the forest goblins!” Kyran shouted to the women.

  Mirien bit off a curse. “How did they find us?” she muttered as the shimmering bubble of a magic shield formed around her. “We’re surrounded—forty to sixty of them by my count. Where do we attack, Kyran?”

  But Kyran was only half-listening.

  In the confusion of the ambush and his own spellcasting, he hadn’t realised one of the party was missing. “Where is Gaesin?” he yelled.

  Shock surged through the two women; they hadn’t noticed the half-elf’s disappearance either.

  Kyran’s magic shield snapped into place a moment later. He paid it scant attention, though, as he turned his focus inwards to scrutinise the battlegroup.

  Gaesin’s life thread was dimmed to nearly nothing.

  Fear clenched Kyran’s heart. How could he have not noticed the youth’s peril? I let myself become distracted, he thought bitterly. This was not the time for recriminations, though. He had to help Gaesin first.

  But where is he?

  The half-elf had been on watch, Kyran remembered. Ignoring an arrow that clanked off his shield, he traced Gaesin’s cobalt thread back to its source.

  There!

  Gaesin was slumped behind the trees to the right, his life thread pulsing weakly. The youth was unconscious and gravely wounded, but Kyran was relieved to see he was still alive. However, what little remained of the youth’s life-force was draining away steadily. He needed urgent aid.

  “Kyran! Kyran! Have you found him?” shouted Adra, her voice turned shrill with fear.

  Kyran realised she had been trying to get his attention for some time. “I have—”

  A goblin witch has cast gasping roots (radius: 32m, chance to resist: 25%, duration: 6 minutes), Adra entangled.

  Damn! Kyran swore as grasping roots rose from the ground and tried to clamp down hard around his feet. The goblins had spellcasters too. He couldn’t do anything about them right now though. “Gaesin is in the trees to the right,” he said quickly. “He’s badly wounded, but alive. I have to go to him.”

  “Let me,” said Mirien. “I’ll use a healing salve.”

  Kyran shook his head. “No, he is too far gone for the salve to work on him. Stay here and protect the others.”

  A second later their predicament worsened.

  A goblin witch has cast ice wall (length: 35m, wall HP: 350, duration: 7 minutes, damage: 1 HP per second), Aiken frozen.

  Kyran stared aghast at Aiken’s frozen form. He realised there were at least two goblin spellcasters. One witch would not have been able to cast both spells in such a short space of time. Kyran’s gaze darted from Aiken, frozen and bleeding
, to Gaesin’s dying thread in the battlegroup. He hesitated, gripped by indecision.

  “Go save him, brother,” said Aiken. “I can wait.”

  Aiken was right. Gaesin was the one in most desperate need of attention. “Stay alive, brother,” he whispered back. “Mirien, Adra, take care of the goblins,” he said, then added fiercely, “and make sure you stay alive!”

  Unshielding his mind, Kyran spun psi tendrils out of his consciousness and into his body. Once the violet cords of psi were latched in place, he pulled his body into the mindscape and out again.

  Emerging back into the ‘real’ near Gaesin, he sprinted the remaining distance to where the youth was slumped against a tree. The youth’s eyes were closed and his tunic was soaked in blood from the arrow jutting out of his chest.

  Drawing on his will, Kyran cast insight on the youth.

  Gaesin has sustained a major wound (debuff: severed artery, damage: 1 HP per second). Remaining health: 49 / 279 HP.

  While the wound was grave, Gaesin’s life was not draining too quickly. Kyran slapped his hands against Gaesin. For now, he only needed to buy some time for the party to deal with the goblins.

  Kyran’s restore health has healed Gaesin for 0 health. Remaining: 45 / 279 HP.

  Warning: restore health cannot heal damage sustained from a major wound. A higher order healing spell is required.

  Kyran swore under his breath. It was much worse than he feared. He would have to attend to the injury immediately. “Adra, I am going to have to cast cure wounds on Gaesin,” he said. “Get Aiken out of that ice if you can.”

  “We will, don’t worry,” she replied resolutely. “You take care of Gaesin.” She hesitated. “Don’t let him…”

  “I won’t, Adra. I promise.” An arrow clanged off his magic shield, then another. He looked up. The goblins, spotting his form near Gaesin, were firing down on him. This place was not safe.

  He hoisted up the half-elf’s slumped body as carefully as he could. Then, staggering under the weight, he turned and fled.

  The arrows slowly petered out as he gained distance from the battle. He breathed a sigh of relief as none of the goblins gave chase, content to focus on the trio still trapped in the ambush.

  A hundred metres away, in as sheltered a spot as Kyran could find, he hastily set down Gaesin’s body. For a moment, he listened to faint sounds of the battle still raging back at their camp and was tempted to check on his companions in the battle group. Trust Adra and Mirien, he scolded himself.

  If he was going to heal Gaesin, he couldn’t let his focus wander. The pair would make sure Aiken came to no harm. Blocking out further thought of his companions’ fate, Kyran drew on his essence and prepared to cast cure wounds.

  He could only hope he was up to the task.

  ✽✽✽

  Mirien looked at Adra. The wolven woman’s eyes were turned inwards. She realised Adra was communicating with Kyran through the battlegroup—likely about Gaesin.

  Mirien bit her lip worriedly. She hoped the youth was alive. Without his magic shield, Gaesin was the party’s most vulnerable member. It would only take one well-placed arrow to…

  She wrenched her mind away from the thought. There was no use dwelling on matters beyond her control. Either Kyran saved Gaesin or he didn’t. She and Adra had enough other problems to contend with. Resolutely, she turned her mind to the task at hand: killing the goblins and saving Aiken.

  Mirien glanced up at the trees. Arrows still rained down from above. With Aiken encased in ice, the archers had swapped targets to herself and Adra. The enemy casters, thinking their prey immobilised, also pelted the two women with magic projectiles.

  But concealed by the fallen trunk and partially obscured by her stealth, Adra was no easy target, and Mirien, since she was protected by her magic, was impossible to hit.

  Absently ducking another arrow, Mirien cast her remaining buffs while she waited for Adra to return to the present. She had already cast magic shield, haste, mirrored selves, and blur. Now, she activated mind-over-matter and boost speed.

  Once the spell weaves were completed, Mirien bounced lightly on her haunches, magic and psi coursing through body. Her eyes scanned the trees, searching for her targets as she prepared herself for what was to come.

  At a hint of motion at her side, she glanced back at Adra. The wolven’s eyes had refocused, but her face was stricken. “What is it?” asked Mirien.

  “Gaesin’s condition is critical,” Adra said, trying to swallow past the lump in her throat. Mirien realised the wolven was struggling to hold herself together.

  “Kyran will have to heal him using cure wounds,” Adra went on. “We’re on our own.”

  “Adra,” Mirien said urgently. She couldn’t afford for the scout to collapse right now. “Trust Gaesin to Kyran. We take care of the goblins, then see to helping Kyran.”

  Adra’s eyes snapped to hers and nodded decisively.

  Mirien smiled in approval. “Good. I think I have located the two spellcasters. I will handle them. Do you think you will be able to free Aiken?”

  The jade bear was still frozen within the ice wall, but while he was helpless to move, he still had access to his magic. Mirien had seen multiple healing waves ripple over the bear, which had relieved her immensely.

  The goblins had erred in freezing the bear in the ice wall. While it had taken the bear out of play, it had also given him time to recover. By now, the bear had likely reversed the damage done to him by the goblins’ initial volleys.

  Realising that Aiken was in no imminent danger had given Mirien time to think and plan. Now she was ready to act.

  “I’ll free him,” Adra promised. “Go.”

  “Good—” Mirien broke off as a smooth layer of mirror-like ice formed underneath her; a second later, neon tendrils of toxin ate at her shield. The damn witches again. Slippery ice and poison ward, she thought, grimacing.

  Neither spell touched her, though, protected as she was by her magic shield. She turned to Adra. The wolven, holding herself still, was managing to retain her balance while crouched behind the trunk. Tendrils of green—evidence of the poison—wreathed her form as well. “Adra are you—”

  “I’m fine,” said Adra, interrupting Mirien. “Go. The sooner you get those casters, the better,” growled the wolven.

  Mirien nodded sharply, then shadow stepped away.

  ✽✽✽

  Adra watched the whiesper disappear, then cautiously peered over the fallen trunk at Aiken. The moment she began her own attacks, her stealth would drop and she would be exposed to the goblins’ fire, but there was no way around that. She would have to risk being shot and trust to her armour to protect her.

  Carefully nocking an arrow to her bow, she wove threads of fire essence into its shaft. A second later, she released the flaming projectile and struck the ice wall dead centre. Adra lowered her bow and studied the damage.

  Adra’s fire arrow has hit an ice wall for 50 damage (+100%). Remaining: 300 / 350 HP.

  A goblin arrow glanced off her helm. She ignored it. Nocking three more arrows, Adra drew back on her bow and kept it drawn as she channelled fire essence again. When the arrows were fully imbued, she released the projectiles with a small sigh.

  Adra triple shot has hit an ice wall for 180 fire damage (+100%). Remaining: 120 / 350 HP.

  Great chunks of ice broke off as the volley struck the ice wall in a blaze of fury. It needs just one more volley. Nocking another three arrows, she drew back on her bow to fire yet again.

  An arrow thudded into her back.

  Adra bit off a strangled yelp of pain, and barely stopped herself from loosing too early. With difficulty, she ignored the burning agony in her lower back and wove essence into the three arrows.

  Another arrow drove through her arm.

  Blood spurted from the wound, and her vision went hazy. While fighting the sudden vertigo, she growled to herself, “Don’t fail now, Adra.”

  Her leather armour was proving poor pr
otection against the goblins’ arrows, but her arm still worked. With a colossal effort, she managed to keep the bow drawn for the second longer she needed to finish channelling.

  The last of the necessary essence sank into the arrows’ shafts. Done, she thought, then released the projectiles. Since her eyes were swimming with pain, it took her a second to confirm the volley’s flight.

  Adra triple shot has hit an ice wall for 164 fire damage (+100%), an ice wall has been destroyed.

  Aiken is no longer frozen.

  Aiken’s terrifying roar shook the air, loud and menacing as the bear voiced his rage and fear for his companions.

  Adra smiled and slumped against the tree trunk. Her job was done.

  Now it was up to Mirien, Aiken, and Kyran to save the party. Closing her eyes, she surrendered to the pain of her wounds.

  Adra is unconscious, two minor wounds sustained.

  ✽✽✽

  Kyran placed his hands on either side of Gaesin’s wound. The arrow stuck out from the sickening mess of blood and torn flesh. He dared not withdraw the shaft yet. He feared if he removed the arrow too early the wound would deteriorate rapidly and the sudden loss of blood would prove fatal.

  He licked his lips nervously. If he was brutally honest with himself, he was not sure if he was up to the task of healing the youth. The damage was daunting.

  Kyran breathed in deeply and settled his nerves. Then, he got to work. Reaching into the wellspring of essence within his spirit, he directed strands of energy from himself into Gaesin.

  The wound sucked greedily at the magical energy spilling out of Kyran. More and more essence flooded into the torn flesh and tissue until the whole area shone with the luminous light of life.

  But that had been the easy part. Next, he had to knit back Gaesin’s flesh, and it had to be perfect, or the energy would fade away into nothingness. Holding to his nerves, Kyran worked inwards from the edges and repaired the least damaged tissue and flesh first.

  To start with, it was easy going, but got progressively harder as he neared the ugliness at the wound’s centre. Sweat dripped off his brow and his eyes narrowed in focus. Meticulously, he fixed the ruptured vessels and stitched together the youth’s damaged organs.