Beastborne

by James T Callum

  I need you to understand, Hal mentally urged her. I know you. I’ve seen your soul laid bare. I cannot take you to where you need to go, you have to get there yourself, Ashera.

  Bit by bit, the shock and horror began to fade. Replaced by a simmering fire behind her eyes.

  Come on, Hal thought. You’re almost there. Get mad, Ashera. Realize you’ve got something to prove after all!

  Just as it seemed she would snap at him, Ashera broke the connection and looked away. Once again taking on the perfect image of the demure and obedient maid. The caretaker who would never even raise her voice.

  “I am a coward,” she said so softly that Hal barely heard her. “All my life I have gained my strength from those who have given it to me. I am not strong enough to take it. I am sorry, Hal. I am not what you need. I will only be a burden. And I will not willingly put you in harm’s way.”

  For a fraction of a second, Hal began to lift his arm. Unchecked fury coursed through his blood like an inferno and he nearly slapped Ashera for falling back into that pit of despair.

  Worse, she saw the motion for what it was, and rather than fear him or back away, there was only acceptance in her eyes. As if she thought she deserved to be hit.

  It broke Hal’s heart.

  Instead, he grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace. She held out for a moment against him, stiff as a board. A moment later, she relaxed and laid her head softly against his shoulder.

  “I am so sorry for whoever hurt you so much that they made you feel this way. That you are without value purely because you lack magic,” Hal whispered intently into her ear, mindful of being poked in the eye by her large horns.

  “They were – are - wrong. I do not value you because you have some ability, some skill, or esoteric knowledge. I value you because you have a strong, noble heart. No matter what darkness you steep it in, the light breaks out. I have seen it time and time again.

  “You are valuable to me because you are my friend. Perhaps the closest friend I have ever known. You would never judge me as you judge yourself. When I had nothing, did you not encourage me to keep trying, to find my own way? Why should you be any different?”

  Ashera Reputation: +3,000 (Confidant).

  Ashera has always seen something in you that no other has. As a confidant, Ashera views you as somebody she can rely on and confide in. Someone to whom she can voice her darkest fears and know she will not be judged.

  Hal pulled back from the hug and hitched up the sleeve on his left arm, motioning to the fierce golden glow of the founder’s mark and its accompanying moonlight Manatree symbol on his forearm.

  “Am I only different because of this mark, then?” he asked. “Is that all the value I have to you? Would you abandon me if this mark went dark tomorrow?”

  Ashera’s eyes overflowed with tears. “I would never…. How could you say-”

  “Because that is what you assume I will do, is it not? That if you do not immediately prove your worth to me in some tangible way that I will cast you by the wayside like so much refuse?”

  Hal shook his head sadly. “You are so wrapped up in your own loss of self-worth that you can’t even see I would never do that. Just as you would not leave me simply because I have lost this mark. What you can’t see, is that there is no one, no one Ashera, that I would rather have watching my back than you.

  “You, more than anybody else understand me. You have protected me when I was weak, not with your healing magic, but by standing beside me. I don’t care if you can heal. I don’t care what magic you wield. You can still lift a weapon, can’t you? Then I want you by my side when I go into battle.”

  Ashera began to say something more, but Hal put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “I know it’s hard,” he said. “I never said it would be easy. I need you Ashera, but I will not force you. This is a choice that has to come from within yourself. But I swear to you, if you want my help in finding a solution to your problem, I will do everything in my power to see you made whole.”

  Offer Oath of Compassion to Ashera?

  Oath of Compassion

  You have sworn to aid in rescuing Ashera from the darkness she found herself within, whatever the personal cost.

  Oath of Compassion Condition

  No matter the cost, you must find a way to reconnect Ashera’s magic or otherwise give her new magic in place of what she lost without incurring an Experience Penalty from acquiring a 4th Class.

  While he didn’t mean it quite so literally, the Oath would at least show Ashera how serious he was. That’s an interesting way of making a magically binding promise, Hal thought.

  He didn’t see what purpose it had beyond illustrating his sincerity. Not that that would be any reason to deny it. With a thought, he agreed. A grin spread across his face as Ashera received the notification.

  For a brief moment, he wondered if she would deny it.

  Ashera chewed on her trembling bottom lip and nodded, more to the prompt he knew than to himself.

  Oath of Compassion accepted.

  Once this Oath’s Conditions have been met it will transform into a Completed Oath. Completed Oaths increase your Honor, which may be utilized to increase other Oaths in strength and provide greater buffs. Certain Oaths will require a prerequisite amount of Honor to enact. The more Honor you possess the more likely other parties will consider your offered Oaths, and the stronger those Oaths will be.

  Hal pulled Ashera into one last tight hug. “I only want you to be the best version of yourself, Ashera. The person I know you to be in my heart.”

  The sound of battle echoed through the dark and cramped confines between the wagons. Hal had to go. Releasing her, he gave Ashera one last smile. In it was no attempt to manipulate her or to push her to realize something he hoped she would in time.

  His time had run out and he failed.

  With a mental command, he sent another invite to Ashera. Her eyes widened. Before she could say anything – or worse, decline it – Hal raised a hand to forestall her. “Think about what I said. party invites don’t expire, so think of it as an open invitation. I will always keep a spot for you. However long it takes.”

  At least I didn’t push her away, he thought with a frown. Without another look back, Hal weaved through the tall man-sized wagon wheels and nearly stumbled over a patrolling Lurklox.

  The koblin girl scrambled out of Hal’s way, throwing up a quick salute that he mimicked on instinct. Hal reached the edge of the fighting just as he exited from between the last two wagons.

  “Took you long enough,” Mira said at his shoulder in an instant. “Couldn’t convince her to join us?”

  Hal’s answering look was all the Dragoon needed. Her jovial expression faltered. She clapped a metal gauntleted hand on Hal’s shoulder and nodded gravely. “You did all you could, dude. You can’t help everybody you meet.”

  I should have been able to help her. Hal grit his teeth and clenched his jaw to keep the words – and self-beratement – to himself. He gave Mira a nod and fell into spellcasting.

  A swirl of shimmering ethereal feathers flooded around him, and Hal focused his mind on each of his party members. Only Mira stood beside him, Elora and Noth were up ahead. He could feel them through the chaos of the battle being waged at the edge of the Manashield.

  Hal reached out to each of them. With Empathy, he extended his Feather Barrier to them as well.

  You cast Feather Barrier.

  You gain the effect of Evasion Up (+15%).

  Elora gains the effect of Evasion Up (+15%).

  Mira gains the effect of Evasion Up (+15%).

  Noth gains the effect of Evasion Up (+15%).

  Pulling out [Brilliance], Hal hurried forward as he wrapped the [Chain of Binding] around his left forearm and let the rest of its length dangle.

  The sky outside of the Manashield was a bloody bruised affair of roiling clouds. Ruby red lightning jabbed at the moonlight shield all about them but barely disturbed the prote
ctive magic that enveloped them all.

  Outside of the barrier was another matter entirely. Each forked stab of lightning blasted the ground and left a searing afterimage upon the eyes of every onlooker.

  Once Hal’s vision was restored, he had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

  Each lightning strike spawned several twisted crystalline creatures. The land itself was changed from each strike, some areas formed large crystalline outcroppings that violently erupted from the hardened ground while other strikes turned whatever it hit into crystalline copies.

  It wasn’t hard to understand how the Mirrorlands came to look as alien and strange as they did. It was the Manastorm’s doing. It was changing the land, not as a force of destruction as he had been led to believe. But one of terrifying creation.

  As awed as he was by the Manastorm, somewhere deep in the back of his mind he tucked that all-important realization away. It was significant. How significant, he didn’t yet know. But he would. It felt like he stumbled upon the keystone of the Manastorm mystery.

  28

  Using Splice, Hal tapped into his two most powerful essences, eldritch and aberration. He felt the change come over him, the way the power settled into his bones.

  As much as he would have preferred shadow or any other essence, these two were his strongest. There was no denying the strength of eldritch’s Elder Prowess. An increase of 20% to all of his magic was simply absurd.

  Fuming red curls of energy wafted off Hal’s body as Mira looked at him, one eyebrow cocked. “Want a lift?”

  Hal sheathed [Brilliance] and held out his arm to her. Mira looped her arm through Hal’s and leaped with all the power of a Dragoon.

  It was like being shot out of a cannon.

  They rocketed into the sky high above the fight, nearly touching the top of the Manashield’s protective barrier. “My god,” Mira muttered under her breath.

  As high as they were, the scope of the battle was revealed to them in full. And it was staggering. An army of creatures swept their way. Every stab of lightning into the ground created another monstrosity that walked the land toward them or altered the area in more alien ways.

  Small swirling tornados of deep purple and blood-red touched down from the roiling heavens above, and where their tips met the ground a dozen or more creatures emerged.

  But through it all, Hal sensed something else. Something faintly malevolent looking his way. It was not more than an itch between his shoulder blades then it was gone.

  Hal pointed out Noth standing near the southern edge of the barrier, swinging her massive black scythe around to startling effect. “There, on Noth’s flank.”

  “You got it, boss,” Mira shouted above the roar of the storm above them. She twisted and flung Hal toward the ground. Using Convergence, Hal braced his legs as he impacted on the ground, rolling to the side to absorb the remainder of the shock.

  Though it was hardly necessary.

  Convergence allowed him to use a portion of his INT and CHR to bolster his body in a variety of ways. Most useful at that moment was his ability to strengthen his legs to absorb an impact many times stronger than his 10 base Strength would allow.

  The more he used Convergence the more he was able to control it. He was able to focus it on specific body parts, providing a more significant localized boost.

  He came up, [Brilliance] back in his right hand just in time to snap his blade off to the side and cut through the reaching crystallized hand of some undead-looking creature.

  [Brilliance] cleaved through the hand up to the forearm, splitting it neatly like firewood. Hal pulled the blade out, twisted, and kicked out with all his might into the creature’s abdomen to force it away.

  On his left, Noth swished her scythe through the air, carving two creatures in half. Her strikes, when given enough room, were wide but it left her open on her right flank. Right where Hal landed.

  Spotting a line of the creatures shambling through the Manashield, its effect slowing them slightly, Hal conjured Divebomb. The shadowy essence of a bird materialized in the air above him a second later and its phantasm dove at a sharp angle, pulling up at the last moment to blast through the reeling creature in front of Hal.

  The four creatures behind didn’t fare much better.

  You cast Divebomb.

  Synergy Triggered!

  The [Crystallized Husk | Lv. 15] takes 243 points of damage.

  The [Crystallized Husk | Lv. 14] takes 251 points of damage.

  The [Crystallized Husk | Lv. 15] takes 239 points of damage.

  The [Crystallized Husk | Lv. 16] takes 246 points of damage.

  The [Crystallized Husk | Lv. 15] takes 260 points of damage.

  You defeat the [Crystallized Husk | Lv. 15].

  You defeat the [Crystallized Husk | Lv. 14].

  You defeat the [Crystallized Husk | Lv. 15].

  You defeat the [Crystallized Husk | Lv. 16].

  You defeat the [Crystallized Husk | Lv. 15].

  Noth defeats the [Crystallized Husk | Lv. 13].

  Noth defeats the [Crystallized Husk | Lv. 17].

  You gain 1,400 Experience Points.

  You absorb 45 Eldritch Essence.

  You earn 140 Sparks.

  Noth looked over her shoulder at Hal. “I thought I heard your fell whispering. Something seems odd about these things, don’t they?”

  Hal nodded, watching the creatures. They came in all shapes and sizes. Some were tall and stretched like taffy with crystalline jagged growths, others were bulbous and large. Many more of them were humanoid in shape but with those strange crystalline growths.

  Crystals that looked distinctly different from those in the Mirrorlands. These crystals seemed to be melting with an ichorous glowing red-and-purple liquid.

  It reminded Hal of melting ice cream.

  A dwarf rushed by, hacking with his oversized axe. Each swipe of his heavy weapon folded a creature in two over the blade and then split them in half. But it wasn’t the blade, Hal realized a moment later, watching the same scene play out as he came across with a two-handed swipe of [Brilliance].

  The creatures were highly inflexible. If they were bent hard enough, they simply shattered.

  You defeat the [Crystallized Husk | Lv. 13].

  You gain 200 Experience Points.

  You earn 20 Sparks.

  Hal dismissed the [Chain of Binding] around his left arm and took hold of [Briliance] with both hands. Focusing Convergence as much as possible into his arms, Hal lunged into the horde of creatures making their way through the edge of the Manashield. Noth covered him on his left, swinging her great scythe with reckless abandon, nearly clipping him a few times on the shoulder.

  Mira leaped through the air as graceful as ever while Elora’s bow sang out, a continual dirge of death. Each arrow found its mark in the crystallized eye or throat of one of the creatures, dropping it before they were ever a threat.

  Hal and Noth worked at the edges of the Manashield with their combined strikes forcing the tide of enemies to break upon their blades and divide around them.

  The dwarves to either side wetted their blades on the creature’s strange crystalline blood. Dozens upon dozens of the creatures lay dead at their feet and still, the things came on without a care for their own wellbeing.

  The creatures were strong, he watched as a single backhand strike sent a heavily armored dwarf through the air as if he weighed nothing at all.

  Luckily, they were frail. But Hal was tiring, like those around him he was beginning to realize that even if the creatures never grew stronger and no greater threat pressed them, their sheer numbers might overwhelm the group.

  How much worse might it have been without the Manashield where every strike of red lightning might maim or cause another creature to spawn? Where the Manastorm could set down dozens of creatures in their midst.

  With the Manashield up, the Manastorm could surround them but it could not break them.

  All the whil
e, something tugged at Hal’s consciousness. Something deep within the Manastorm itself. Something was calling to him. He felt it in his bones, a deep animosity that went beyond the slowly rising Strain he was doing well to keep under control.

  Even through the prolonged combat, Hal’s greatest Strain increase was from repeatedly casting Feather Barrier in order to spread the buff to his party. He managed to keep his Strain under the first Affliction Level. He would normally welcome the boost, but the creatures were weak and he suspected he might need to hold on to his strength rather than expend it all at once.

  Something didn’t seem right to him. The creatures were strong, yes, but this felt too easy somehow. Of course, without the dwarves, they would have been overrun in short order and summarily destroyed. Even with the Manashield.

  Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was missing something important. Some clue that would help him unravel the Manastorm itself.

  Throughout it all, he managed to get hit only a few times, but each time it took off a chunk of his HP. The weakest, glancing attacks dealt 10% of his HP. Judging by the number of potions being used and how busy Buffrix was with his healing spells raining down on the dwarves, they were taking heavy damage as well.

  Area Effect: Manastorm Upgrade: Stage 2.

  The Manastorm has not yet been dispelled and has gained in strength, upgrading it from a Manastorm Stage 1 to Stage 2. The Area Effects have been upgraded to include: Caustic Air, and Evolutionary Leap.

  Caustic Air

  The air has become saturated with chaotic mana, staying out in the Manastorm will cause damage at regular intervals.

  Evolutionary Leap

  Manastorm entities increase in Level and strength, evolving into new strains the longer they are alive.