Quick Change Volume 1: Slyborn

by C. T. O'Leary

  Seth got his first glimpse of Ybarra then. While Seth’s arm of the army had been pushing into the Howlingshield formation, another section of the Adventurers’ Guild had been pushed back badly.

  Ybarra whirled through the guild members, dual blades spinning and killing wherever they went. The rogue flipped his right dagger into a reverse grip and slammed it into the raised translucent blue shield of one of the adventurer knights, shattering the shield instantly and slaying the man behind it. Without hesitation, Ybarra then jumped onto one of the dragons’ heads and rammed his dagger into its eye socket. The dragon stopped moving, and Ybarra jumped off, continuing to decimate the guild members he encountered. Seth hoped that the man couldn’t single handedly kill their entire army.

  Then it hit Seth. He was probably one of the very highest level people on the adventurer’s side since Pahan had accidentally catapulted him to level forty three. He had to fight Ybarra.

  Seth found Dominick still near him, also watching Ybarra, and said, “Keep me healed up if you can.” He started striding forward toward the man. Seth quickly glanced at his skill list to see if he’d gained any new skills with all the new levels. He had, so he read over their effects quickly. He needed any edge he could get.

  Bellow - Cost: 30 Fury - Cooldown: 25 seconds You roar in your rage. All enemies in a radius of 10 feet have a chance to be stunned for 2 seconds.

  Cyclone Whirl - Cost: 20 Fury - Cooldown: 15 seconds You whirl in a circle, blade outstretched. All enemies in a range of 7 feet take 160% weapon damage.

  Berserk - Cost: 100 Fury - Cooldown: 2 minutes You use all of your fury to enter a berserker state. For 30 seconds you gain twice as much fury, double your strength, but halve your stamina.

  Berserk caught Seth’s eye. If he doubled his strength, he’d be incredibly strong, but halving his stamina would drop his maximum health points.

  Seth closed the window when he spotted an enemy scout aiming an arrow at him. The woman released the arrow and Seth swapped to his heavy armor. The arrow clanged off the armor, only doing a few damage to Seth, and he swapped back to his primary outfit. He ignored the woman and continued toward Ybarra.

  Ybarra saw him coming. As soon as the man’s eyes fell on Seth, the irrational fear was back. He couldn’t defeat Ybarra. He barely knew what he was doing. He should just turn and run.

  Ybarra was messing with his head. He had to do this. Even if he died, it didn’t even matter. If he let Ybarra keep tearing through this army, everyone might die. A circle of open space had opened up around the two of them. Ybarra said, “Is that your lion?” Verun had disengaged and stood behind Seth.

  Seth said, “We’re partners, yes.”

  Ybarra said, “Hmm, doesn’t look quite right. But the right color. And it has wings. What’s your name?”

  Seth said, “It’s Seth. We’ve met.” He was having trouble forming words with the terror running through him. He needed to find a way to negate whatever Ybarra was doing to him.

  Seth saw recognition in the man’s eyes then, “Oh! I was surprised to learn you escaped. Good thing I had a backup plan with that idiot scout, huh?”

  That was it. Seth leapt back, getting into the range where he could Charge, and shot toward the rogue. Ybarra stepped to the side and tried to stab him in the back with one of his daggers as he overshot, but Seth swapped armor and took the blow on his heavy plate, before switching back and whipping Fearless at the rogue. Ybarra dodged, and the fight was on.

  Seth wanted to tag Ybarra with Quick Change Position, but the man wouldn’t even let him get close. He was incredibly fast, it seemed like there was no hope of touching the rogue with his hand, he could barely nick the man occasionally with his sword as they fought.

  Neither of them landed any serious blows during the first exchange, as Ybarra nimbly danced out of the way, and Seth was able to deflect most of the direct stabs by swapping to his heavy plate armor. Dominick kept Seth’s health topped up when Ybarra did nick him, and Seth saw an enemy priest doing the same for Ybarra.

  The battle forged on around the two of them, though the little bubble surrounding them stayed relatively clear, as if the other combatants didn’t want to get squashed between them.

  During their next exchange of blows, Seth looked for his moment to use his ace in the hole, Quick Change Pierce. It came quicker than he expected. Seth thrusted his sword toward the rogue’s face, and Ybarra simply stepped backwards a couple of feet to dodge. As quick as a thought, Seth activated Quick Change Pierce, and his long sword replaced Fearless, extending at least a foot longer than just an instant before.

  The result should have been Seth’s longer sword appearing instantaneously inside of Ybarra’s brain, bypassing all of his defenses and killing him, but the rogue somehow dodged the attack, teleporting backwards almost a foot. Seth didn’t know how Ybarra had had the time to react, since Quick Change Pierce was literally instant, but he had. Ybarra just grinned at him.

  It dawned on Seth that he hadn’t seen Ybarra use nearly as many skills as the man had against Ramses. Was he being toyed with? Ybarra started to advance toward Seth, but an arrow suddenly slammed into the man’s shoulder. He snarled, yanked the arrow out, and looked to his left.

  Seth followed Ybarra’s gaze and saw Ivon standing next to Verun. Ivon’s moustache bristled at a mean rate as he walked forward, and Seth saw another, younger man walking behind him, also holding a bow, with a thin stubble moustache growing in on his upper lip. Ivon looked at Seth and said, “We’re with you.”

  Seth expected Ybarra to back off, but he just kept coming forward. When he got within striking distance, he let loose a flurry of slashes and stabs with his blade. Seth swapped to his defensive outfit, but some damage still came through, and one of the stabs had gone through a joint in the armor on his left hip.

  Two arrows whizzed over Seth’s right shoulder but Ybarra dodged out of their path. Seth saw Ybarra clench his jaw and glare at him. Seth felt the artificial fear grow even stronger. He was having trouble breathing. It felt like he was having a panic attack, and that his heart was going to beat right out of his chest. Seth froze.

  Ybarra motioned toward the sky with his daggers, and two huge shadow hands appeared from the ground, holding Seth in place. The man crossed his arms over his chest in an X and fell backward, disappearing into the ground. Seth knew from the fight with Ramses that Ybarra might be right behind him, so he activated one of his new skills, Bellow.

  His fury meter had almost filled during the fight, but now it dropped by thirty points. Seth roared and saw necks turn his way at the sound. He whirled, and saw Ybarra standing right behind him, dagger raised. Seth his sword to slash, but the stun had already worn off, and Ybarra’s dagger plunged into Seth’s chest.

  Level 49 Rogue (Ybarra) hits you for 1,395 damage.

  Seth’s health bar lost almost ninety percent in an instant. Ybarra withdrew his dagger and readied the finishing blow. Seth could see Dominick behind him, golden light surrounding his hands, trying to get the heal spell out in time. Then Verun’s mouth was around Ybarra’s head, jaws snapping closed.

  Verun’s teeth clacked together as his mouth closed over empty air. Ybarra had teleported again, this time to the other side of Seth. Seth heard Ivon yelling, “That teleport has a long cooldown, boy! Take advantage!” Seth’s fury meter had rocketed to one hundred percent from that last attack, so he went for broke and activated his new skill, Berserk.

  Rage. Rage drowned out all feelings of fear from whatever Ybarra was doing to his head. Rage was all that was left. Seth felt like he could punch through a mountain. He thought he’d settle for killing a rogue.

  Seth screamed and slashed at Ybarra, but he dodged backwards, then darted in to quickly open a gash on Seth’s stomach. Seth didn’t have the presence of mind to swap to his defensive outfit. He was too focused on the anger.

  Seth idly noticed golden light swirling around him, but he didn’t even look at his health bar. It didn’t matter. He advanced towar
d Ybarra, swinging wildly, and did score one good hit on the rogue’s arm, but it just wasn’t enough. No amount of rage or strength made him fast enough to hit the man.

  Ybarra knew it, too. He dodged one slash of Seth’s sword, and then shot forward and kicked him in the chest. Seth fell back onto his butt and looked up.

  But Ybarra was no longer looking at him. No one was. Seth followed their gazes behind him, toward Slyborn, just as a thunderous roar tore through the mountains.

  Pahan’s massive wings were pushing him above the walls of Slyborn, and Aurora sat on his back. Her red cape was whipping in the wind, and she held her sword above her head as they hurtled toward the battle. It seemed like the entire fight had slowed to a halt, with even the two remaining Lung dragons stopping to watch Aurora and Pahan fly in. Seth heard several of the Adventurers’ Guild members muttering about “The Liberator,” and even heard Ivon say, “Well, I’ll be…”

  And they weren’t wrong. At that moment, Aurora and Pahan looked like a perfect replica of the tiny painting Ivon had shown to him, supposedly painted by some oracle far in the past. The moment seemed to last far longer than it really could have, seeming surreal and dreamlike, but then the battle was back on. The ground shook as Pahan landed and Aurora leapt off his back.

  Pahan and Verun split and began to try and cut off Ybarra’s access to the dwindling Howlingshield forces. Ivon and who Seth assumed was his son hefted their bows and arrayed themselves to either side of Seth and Aurora, who moved toward Ybarra, weapons drawn. Another heal from Dominick brought Seth’s health back up to full.

  Ybarra sneered and his eyes flicked between them. Seth expected him to try and retreat from the group of Adventurers’ Guild members arrayed against him, but instead he shot towards Aurora like a serpent, blade outstretched, freakishly fast. Her shield erupted from her bracer barely in time to catch the blow, but the force of Ybarra’s strike had already cracked her shield.

  Ybarra spoke extremely rapidly, eyes locked on Aurora’s through her shield. He said, “I saw you just then, just like the painting. Now I know, so Ygzotl knows, too. We knew you were somewhere in this country. All I had to do was hunt down one little red-cape and in exchange he gave me all of this power! Once you’re gone, lord Ygzotl will give me another boon! I’ll rule all of Efril!” Spittle was flying from his lips by the end, and his eyes had taken on a manic cast, like a junkie needing their fix.

  Seth shot a thought to Verun, and then made eye contact with Ivon. The old man nodded, and Seth hoped he was thinking the same thing. Seth jumped toward Aurora and thrust his own sword toward Ybarra. Verun moved in behind the leader of the Howlingshields, blocking his ability to move backward. Aurora’s positioning made it impossible for him to dodge left.

  Seth mentally activated his Quick Change Pierce ability when his sword was about a foot from Ybarra’s throat, but just like the first time, he teleported before it could hurt him. With the space behind him blocked by the bulk of Verun and the space to his left blocked by Aurora, his only option was to teleport to his right. Seth saw him appear out of his peripheral vision, an ugly grimace warping his features as he whipped one of his daggers toward Seth’s throat.

  Seth knew there was no way he’d be able to block in time, and he squinted his eyes shut. No blow came, though, and he opened his eyes again when an eerie silence dropped over the battle.

  An arrow had sprouted directly between Ybarra’s eyes. The same nasty grin was spread across his face, but his eyes didn’t seem to see anything anymore, glazed over. His limbs fell limp, and he fell to the ground in a heap.

  The Howlingshields instantly lost discipline and started running in droves. The guild members chased them, mercy the last thing in their thoughts.

  Seth turned and saw Ivon approaching, stern look on his face. He nodded at Seth again without comment, remorse in his eyes, and walked around to Ybarra’s corpse. He wound up and kicked it and said, “That’s for trying to take my boy away from me, you delinquent!”

  Ivon turned to Seth then, and said, “Sorry I had to hurt you, boy, but my son needed me.”

  Chapter 35

  Seth soared over the marching band of adventurers on Verun’s back as the group neared the foothills surrounding the Broken Bones. He still wasn’t entirely used to the whole flight thing, even after practicing the two days since the battle with the Howlingshields. His stomach dropped every time the lion angled too steep or turned too sharply, and the wind constantly whipping at his face had prompted him to acquire some goggles to match Aurora.

  Aurora had been surprised the first time someone had let it slip about the guild members all thinking she was the prophesied Liberator, and had done everything she could to squash talk of it, though that only meant people were not saying things in earshot of her. She’d also been given Ramses’ cloak to match her new rank, however temporary it may have been, after Ramses’ funeral.

  They’d held the funeral the day after the battle, once everyone who could be saved was, and the enemies were well and truly driven out of the mountains. They’d burned his body on a specially built funeral pyre out on the mountain plain where the battle had taken place. Molly, Barnett, and several other guild members gave a speech about Ramses, and his contributions to the guild. Seth was brought to tears.

  During the two days following the battle, Seth had seen several people missing limbs or appendages, since apparently normal priest heal spells only closed wounds and didn’t regrow lost limbs. There was apparently a skill to grow them back, but no priest at Slyborn was high enough level to use it yet, so those members had to wait for a high-level priest.

  Aurora had Ivon thrown in chains and taken to the dungeon cells for holding immediately after the battle. He hadn’t put up a fight, and when Seth met his son, Isaac, the young man shared that his father had been expecting as much.

  Aurora, Seth, and Molly interrogated Ivon. He was extremely forthcoming. He explained how he’d found the whisper sigil in one of his pockets the first night after they’d escaped Vardon. Ybarra had spoken to him through it, and even let him talk to Isaac for a few breaths to prove that the young man was still alive and captured. Ybarra had turned him then, promising to return his son if he led him to Ramses.

  Ybarra had been on a mission from the patron god of wild spirits, Ygzotl, if he were to be believed and not just insane. He’d been tasked with killing the Liberator. Ygzotl hadn’t told him who it was, just that it was an Adventurers’ Guild member residing in the Vardon area. Ybarra had taken that to mean the most powerful adventurer in the territory, and his theory had been reinforced after he’d wiped out the entire Vardon headquarters, only to be told by Ygzotl that his mission still wasn’t complete.

  Ivon obviously firmly believed that Aurora was the Liberator from prophecy, and she’d lost some of her composure during that part of his story, getting somewhat flustered. At the end of their debrief, Ivon revealed that, after he’d told Ybarra where he could find Ramses, Ybarra said he’d let his son go only after Slyborn was in his possession and Ramses was dead. Ivon said it was then that he realized that Ybarra would never let his son go.

  He’d been planning on disappearing in the night and breaking Isaac out from the grasp of the Howlingshields, and Barnett recognizing the whisper sigil had sped up his timeline. When he was done telling his story, he apologized to all of them, but he looked at Molly the whole time.

  She was silent for a long time before saying, “He’d want me to forgive you,” and walking from the room. Later that day, Aurora had released Ivon on a probation period of one year. He’d have reduced privileges and be required to submit to searches and couldn’t hold a solo post.

  Now, the majority of the guild members at Slyborn were leaving, bound for Vardon. Since Pahan had inherited the territory, there hadn’t been a single monster attack. Some lung dragons were still sighted, but they kept a wide berth around the fortress. No shades had appeared at all.

  The plan was to secure the sacked headquarters in Vardon
, save as much as they could, and then move the headquarters permanently to Slyborn. The Vardon guard had obviously betrayed them, and Aurora said that a rift had opened between the city and the guild, and it was best to pull back for a while and let the politicians mend the wound.

  Seth could see Aurora leading the column down below. Her iron plate armor sat under a black cloak, red peeking out of the edges at it fluttered in the breeze as she walked at the head of the column of guild members, bound for Vardon. There were probably fifty guild members in the column, and five horse pulled wagons bringing up the rear, with food and supplies for the journey.

  Seth let his mind wander and took in the stunning landscape as Verun continued to soar in lazy circles over the guild. He jerked when he realized he’d never actually gotten back to spending the boon upgrade he’d earned when Pahan had accidentally given him all of that experience. He decided it was time to take a look at his options.

  Boons

  Quick Change Artist - Upgrades available: 1

  Owned Upgrades: Position Available upgrades: -Control: You gain finer control over your divine boon, and are now able to change only certain pieces of your outfit and equipment, instead of being forced to swap entire outfits at once.

  -Position II: *Requires Position boon upgrade. You may cast Quick Change Position as a projectile spell.

  -Expand: You gain access to an additional distinct outfit.

  Seth grimaced at how difficult the choice was this time. Quick Change Position was an awesome skill, but he had failed to use it at all against Ybarra since he couldn’t seem to lay his hand on him during the fight. Perhaps a projectile spell would have made that easier to pull off.

  On the other hand, both Control sounded like it could come in handy, and Seth was intrigued there were second level options for upgrades. Perhaps, the second level upgrades for the other two would be amazing, but he had no way to know what they would be. He didn’t feel like he had enough distinct armor to his name to warrant needing a third outfit swap, so he didn’t feel very drawn to the Expand option.