“If you couldn’t take Vaust you can’t take Wulfsun!” Devol cried heatedly. “They are equals in the order.”
“Is that so?” Salvo chuckled and the unnerving voice echoed it. “Well, I look forward to seeing how long he can last against me. It’ll give me some idea and a time to beat when I find the mori.” He grinned, his wand still pointed at the pit. “But that’s for later. Right now, I want to enjoy our reunion.” A circle of fire erupted, covered the vast edge of the hole, and climbed a few feet.
Devol turned and tried to shout to Wulfsun but a blue light flashed behind him. He turned to see that Jazai had created a shield to block the attacks by the four ghouls that sprang into action as soon as he looked away.
“It won’t hold!” the diviner shouted and Devol and Asla prepared to fight as the shield fell and the beings pushed through.
Salvo watched this for a moment in genuine amusement. They had been able to hold Koli off so they should be able to last against a few ghouls for a couple of minutes, at least. He pointed Kapre above the pit and rolled the wand in his hands. He would need a little time to set this up, but it would be worth the effort. It was dark in this hole, after all.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Two ghouls, one with a pair of daggers and the other with wretched claws, clashed against Devol’s sword. Asla battered one away and Jazai swept in quickly to grab the ghoul with the knives and ported them away.
Devol forced the remaining two back, slid away, and held his sword up. These beings were fast and much stronger than he had imagined. Wulfsun had said they were reanimated corpses, right? He would have thought their muscles would have decayed if that were the case. He studied them as they began to circle him and noticed that they pulsed with mana, but it didn’t appear to be Salvo’s. It couldn’t be theirs as the dead could not form mana, and whoever gave it to them had enough to spare as these entities could use vis with ease.
He held his blade to one side and his gaze darted from one to the other. He glanced at Salvo, who waved his wand casually toward the pit, and he frowned. What was he doing? One of the ghouls moved toward him and he snapped to face it. He could fight multiple opponents at once usually, but given how fast these could move, if he messed up only once, that might give them enough of an opening to disembowel him. Instinctively, he began to back away, only to realize that would either take him closer to the crop fields and whatever might be lurking in there or closer to the fires Salvo had already created.
He looked at his teammates. Jazai managed to fend his opponent off but couldn’t land a clean strike and Asla and her ghoul traded blows. It was fast enough to keep up with her, but she had been worn down by their time in the abyss. While he was certain she could outlast it, he wasn’t sure how long it would take before she could eliminate it. Either way, neither of his friends could take one of his two adversaries. He needed to take care of these grunts and get to Salvo. His instincts didn’t like that he merely stood there and made no effort to attack them as well given how much he seemed to want to hurt them.
The young swordsman looked at Achroma. It was a fine long blade but he would probably be better off at the moment with two shorter ones. The ghouls lunged at him, one on either side. He moved to defend against the one with daggers and would try to dodge the other, but he might have to take the blow. Seconds before they stuck, Achroma’s light flashed. He held firm against the attacker’s blades and anticipated the blow from the other one, but it never came. When he glanced back, he gaped in astonishment. The second being was held back by another sword shaped exactly like Achroma but made purely of the white light that ran through his blade.
Devol kicked the ghoul off him and the floating sword swiped at the other to force it back. He spun his sword and the duplicate copied his movement before it turned to face the other assassin. This was something new and very welcome at the moment. With more assuredness granted to him thanks to the magically appearing weapon, he lunged at the creature in front of him and the light sword attacked the other.
His adversary held its daggers up to block him but was no match against the heft and strength of his sword. He almost shattered the daggers with a strike and knocked the ghoul's hands away before he spun and used the momentum to carve through the creature’s waist and slice it in two.
He turned to see the other trying to reach him, but the light sword no longer mirrored his actions and instead, tried to either attack it or simply held it at bay by deflecting it. Devol leapt forward and tried to run his blade through the creature’s head but it caught his blade as he landed. He struggled against it for a moment, looked at the light blade, and smiled as he snatched it by the hilt and drove it into his adversary’s stomach.
The ghoul’s grasp weakened and he yanked his majestic out of its hands before he raised it high and arced it down through the creature’s skull. As its body collapsed, black liquid seeped from its skin. The light sword vanished from his hands and he was baffled for a moment. He didn’t want that to happen, he thought wildly. Then again, he did not know how it had appeared in the first place.
Devol looked at Jazai, who had finally trapped his opponent and weakened it with a shock cantrip before he used a mana blade to behead it. Asla was already finished. She tossed the head of her opponent to the side and he grinned. It appeared he was the only one to show any ingenuity in his finishing blows. He and the wildkin moved forward to confront Salvo, who had turned to look at them. The young swordsman felt a nervous chill despite the heat when he realized that the mask seemed to smile at him.
“Oh, no!” Jazai shouted and pointed frantically into the sky above the pit. “He’s going to roast them!”
Asla and Devol whirled and both scowled at a large orb of flame far above, close to the top of the dome. The boy lunged at the fire magi before he could register what he was doing. He swung his blade over his head in preparation to strike Salvo down. Before he could complete the motion, the fire magi whipped a hand out and struck him across the face to hurl him several yards and close to the fire-wall. Asla managed to bound closer and stopped him.
Devol stared at the large man while he tried to regain his footing from the impact. Had he been that strong before? He did not remember fighting him physically but someone who used fire magic like that usually preferred to fight from a distance. They didn’t train that much in physical combat. He and Asla glanced at one another while Salvo stared at his hand with his head tilted to one side. It appeared even he was rather impressed by how much power he had unleashed in one blow.
“Incredible isn’t it?” the fire mage asked and returned his focus to the group. “I had heard about the malefics, even when I was your age, but never paid them much attention. They were powerful, sure, but the tradeoffs… Well, I was fine with Kapre when I eventually got my hands on her.” He pointed the wand at the large fire orb and lowered it. The three friends watched in horror as the orb plummeted past the fire-wall and into the pit, which erupted in a pillar of flame.
“No! Wulfsun, Farah!” Devol shouted before the explosion knocked both him and Asla back. He turned to the fire magi with fury in his eyes. “Salvo!”
“So you are finally showing a little spirit!” The man laughed, waved his wand in front of him, and sent a whip of fire at the swordsman.
Jazai moved quickly in front of him and held a hand out. “Frost!” A wall of frost formed in front of the group which Salvo’s flames made impact with and caused steam. “It’s burning too fast,” the diviner warned and he grasped his two teammates and blinked out of the way before the fire bored a hole in the ice.
Salvo winced and balled his hand so tightly that he realized he could potentially snap Kapre. Under normal circumstances, that wasn’t a concern but given his new accessory and the unnatural strength it gave him, it was a real and potentially fatal mistake. He ran a hand down the mask for a moment as the order from before grew steadily louder. Kill them. He would, of course. That was what he had come there to do, but he should take the time to e
njoy it at least.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“By the Astrals, I hate doing that,” Jazai said where he sprawled on the ground, coughed, and shook his head. “Teleporting oneself is enough of a pain but bringing others along for the ride makes things…whirly.”
“Are you okay?” Asla asked and rubbed his back. “You did the same thing with the ghoul earlier.”
“I had to get it out of the way,” he muttered and rolled onto his knees. “I didn’t want to have you dodging my attacks while dealing with the creep.”
“Where did you take us?” Devol asked and looked around. “Are we in the crops?”
“I didn’t have time to plan.” He raised a hand but lowered it weakly. “I chose a direction and cast us through the…the…hold on.” Jazai slumped and moaned and Asla rubbed his back.
“We need to get him out of here.” The young swordsman patted his friend’s pocket. “Where’s his marble?”
“No!” the diviner protested and forced himself to stand. “We need to keep Salvo busy while Wulfsun and Farah finish with the rift.”
“Wulfsun?” Devol asked incredulously. “Do you think he’s all right?”
Both his friends shook their heads. “What? Of course! You haven’t learned yet that surviving perilous situations is simply what he does?”
“What in the hells was that?” the Templar roared, pushed himself to his feet, and helped Farah to stand. Above them, a massive dome created using his majestic had defended them from the large fireball that threatened to incinerate them. All around the barrier, the pit was aflame but inside their smaller space, they were safe. “Damn. I had to let go of the rift to make that barrier.”
“Is it opening again?” Farah asked and glanced at the portal “Can you still close it?”
“Aye, but I need to keep this barrier going as well,” he stated and studied the inferno outside their haven. “Those aren’t normal, even for magic fire. I don’t want to risk being caught in that.”
“Wulfsun!” Farah held her blade up and nodded toward the portal. Several more fiends came through, these a little more solidly built than the gaunt horde they had recently fought. “Focus on the rift. I’ll take care of these.”
“Thanks.” Wulfsun nodded. “I’ll work as fast as I can. The barrier will probably get smaller if I have to keep it up for too long. And when we’re done…” He looked into the sky. “We need to find out whatever the hell made that fire. Hopefully, the young ones don’t do anything rash.”
Salvo strolled around the fire-wall and threw out small blasts of flame in an attempt to smoke the three friends out. “Have you left already?” he shouted and set fire to a row of crops. “Is this getting too hot for you?” He sighed at that. It was pathetic. He could usually come up with better taunts but he was too hot and bothered. What the hells was wrong with him?
He looked at the fire-wall around the pit, parted a section slightly, and peered in. At the very bottom, a dome of bright yellow light was visible amongst the fire. A magical shield? It must have been damn sturdy to survive his attack and still be standing. He squinted at the numerous figures inside. One wielded a sword and fought several darker humanoid beings. A larger one occasionally confronted a few of the creatures but seemed to be focused on something to do with the rift.
It didn’t matter to him exactly what they were doing. He had tried to kill them earlier and it would be bad form to let them continue living. It was a point of pride with him to finish what he started if possible. He pointed his wand at the shield and considered the best way to destroy it when he sensed a powerful surge of mana directed toward him.
“Salvo!” Devol roared and raced toward the fire magi with renewed vigor.
“There you are,” he responded cheerfully, turned toward him, and fired a stream of flames. The boy swung his blade to cut them cleanly and disperse them. The fire magi leapt aside and the blade narrowly missed his jacket. “You can cut through fire?” he asked. “Is that normal for a sword?”
“Frost!” Jazai shouted and a pillar of ice suddenly encased all but the bottom of his left leg, right arm, and neck.
“Do you think this can hold me, you novice?” he demanded as he began to force out of the ice using his strength alone.
“Fortify!” the diviner stated calmly. The ice began to harden and compress the villainous magi.
“Clever little bastard.” Salvo scowled and tried to spin his wand in his hand. As he began to form a fireball to blast himself out, Asla pounced at him, her claws extended and aimed at his mask. “Don’t you dare, mongrel!” He hissed his outrage and the fire orb turned into several smaller ones that he cast at her. She was able to twist around them and stretch a claw forward to swipe as he managed to burst through the ice in a fit of rage. The wildkin rebounded off the pillar, which began to melt from the heat, and landed near Devol as the fire magi landed and ran a hand over his mask. He suddenly became very still.
The young swordsman noted marks on the mask. Asla had been able to damage it, although the plan was for her to try to steal it. He would finish it, he decided. That had to at least cause some damage to Salvo, shouldn’t it? They were connected as long as he wore it. He took Achroma in both hands and the light within swirled into a fire not unlike his adversary’s. As the man turned toward him, he surged into an attack. Thick, deep-red blood poured from the marks on the mask and it now pulsated.
“You dare too?” Salvo growled his outrage and raised his wand as Devol arced his blade. “I am done playing.” He cast out a large torrent of fire as the boy unleashed the same from his blade, similar to the attack he had used against Koli months before. These flames, however, did not tear through the land like those had. Instead, they were halted and clashed against his adversary’s inferno, one that slowly changed color to an unnatural crimson hue.
“Devol!” Asla cried and prepared to run toward him, only for the flames around the pit to flare out in front of her and block her path. Jazai used his frost cantrip to create paths between the flames but they melted faster than he could make them.
The young swordsman’s hands shook and the flames from his blade were forced back and he along with them. The fire magi’s continued to grow as he stalked forward. “This is what forced Koli to run?” he shouted over the roar of the flames. “Pathetic!”
Jazai eased behind Devol and threw up a large wall of ice before he stretched forward and yanked the swordsman back. Salvo screamed at them and his fire blazed through the frigid wall in one swipe. The diviner jumped and moved both of them out of the way as the crimson flames seared the ground along its path.
With a yell, he threw his robes off and Devol realized they were alight. His friend fumbled on his belt, retrieved a vial of clear liquid, and poured it along his arm where burn marks were visible from his knuckles to his shoulder. “Jazai!”
“I’ll be fine!” The boy grunted and flexed his hand. “The fire burns like the hells, though. What was with that color?”
“It has to be something to do with the mask,” Devol reasoned. “Check your tome.”
Jazai opened the book as the two boys wandered around the labyrinth of flames in search of an escape “It won’t tell us anything,” the diviner stated and his lips pressed together in frustration.
“Is he blocking you somehow?” he asked.
“No, it’s not that.” His friend flipped the book and showed it to him. “I don’t think he’s capable of anything like that now.”
Devol looked at the page which contained no paragraphs and no general information, only two pages filled with the same words constantly repeated. Burn them, kill them, consume them.
Chapter Thirty
“That mask is taking its toll,” Jazai stated and shut his tome. “It grants power in many ways and forms, but each time you use it, the cost is a little more of your sanity. It doesn’t take long to collect, especially if you weren’t all there to begin with.”
“Consume?” Devol sliced through the lines of fire with his b
lade. “Does he want to eat us?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him at this point.” The diviner placed his hand against his burn and used frost to wrap it in ice. “I’m not sure if that is his desire or some kind of condition of using the mask. Or maybe he’s simply losing it, but I’m not interested enough to find out.”
“Asla!” Devol shouted and swept his blade through more flame. “Asla, where are—” His words died as the fire began to die down before it pulled away from the ground entirely and floated above them, where it contorted and formed into separate strands.
The wildkin stared at the flames much like they did before they all looked at Salvo, who held his wand straight up to the sky. Devol’s gaze shifted to the mask. It was still bleeding and its form had shifted again so it lived up to its name. The man looked like a demon—or, rather, like he was possessed by one. He no longer bellowed or screamed but wordlessly pointed his wand at them as the flames coiled around one another to form a serpentine figure.
The fire magi whipped the wand toward them and the fiery snake struck out at them. The swordsman ran forward and attempted to block the attack with Achroma. He succeeded once and knocked the snake to the side, but the man simply flicked the wand in the other direction and the serpent attacked, surged into his sword, and dislodged it from his hand.
Asla’s anima flared and she prepared to strike while Jazai tended to Devol, but the fire creature encircled all three of them and constricted quickly around them. “Keep your animas up!” Jazai shouted and uttered a hiss of pain as the snake inched closer to his burned arm. Devol reached for his majestic but the snake was too quick, ensnared the trio, and hoisted them into the air.
Bloodflowers Bloom (The Astral Wanderer Book 2) Page 16