I take out my stat booster to take a look at it, and I find out to my surprise that even though I don’t have any new points to spend, there is a flashing message in the corner of the screen saying: ‘Emergency mode available. Tap here to activate.’
Emergency mode? Is this something that can only be activated when the device gets access to a great amount of energy? If so, then is this what Eiden did to power up my device after he pumped it with energy before my fight with the dragon?
Unfortunately, I don’t have much time to think this through. I’m going to have to rely on my guts, here. And my guts say that I should take this chance, while I still have it.
As I tap the emergency mode message, I suddenly feel a great amount of energy surging through my body, similar to what happened before my fight with the dragon, and just like last time, I realize that I now have access to an impressive roster of spells, as well as the knowledge required to be able to cast them. For a moment, I could see two additional stats being displayed on the device’s screen, next to the nine existent ones. The stats were named ‘Magical power’ and ‘Magical knowledge’, but they disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared.
I think I may be starting to understand what’s happening here. This ‘Emergency mode’ somehow powers up two hidden stats that I don’t normally have access to, but it only does so temporarily, when the device gets ahold of a surplus of energy that it can’t assimilate immediately. This is how Eiden powered up my device for my fight with Tyrath. I’m sure of it. The feeling I’m getting is exactly the same as back then, even though I don’t seem to have access to nearly as many spells as I did last time.
This time around, it seems that I don’t have any flight or teleportation spells available, so I guess I’ll have to move around the old fashioned way. I’m also missing some of the bigger spells I had access to last time, and I can feel that the power behind each of my spells is significantly weaker than it was when Eiden powered up the device. Regardless, this is the best chance I’ve got to turn the tables around, and I need to take full advantage of this opportunity.
Let’s see… There are five stillwaters in total, of which four seem to be elementalists that each have mastery over a different magical element, and the fifth appears to be specialized in supporting the others, by either weakening the enemy’s defenses, or casting protections on his allies. Given their perfect lineup, I’m going to assume that they were part of a squad during the still winter, and that they died together, during one of their missions.
However, the five of them combined are nowhere near Eiden’s level. They may have a lot of magical power and energy, but besides that, they are not any different from regular mages. The elementalists don’t have control over more than one element, the supporting mage isn’t casting any other spells than the ones he is specialized in, and none of them seem to be able to ignore the laws of magic in the same way that Eiden does.
Meanwhile, my stat device’s emergency mode gives me access to all of the four traditional magical elements, as well as non-traditional ones such as ice, acid and electricity. I also think that my current power level is somewhat comparable to that of each stillwater, but I can’t be one hundred percent sure of that because I’ve never had the opportunity to fight mages on equal terms before.
The question now is what the focus of our fight should be. If we’re just aiming to buy time until the necromancer’s spell runs out, then our best bet would be to keep reinforcing Daren’s barrier, while attacking the skeletons from afar. Our main target in this case should be the supporting stillwater, since he would be the one constantly trying to weaken our barrier, and since killing the necromancer would not actually cancel his spell before its time limit.
If our aim were instead to eliminate the stillwaters directly, our best bet would probably be to aim for the necromancer, since the skeletons’ main priority would be to defend their master, and this would serve to disrupt their rhythm.
“Guys,” I say, “I think I may have a plan.”
“What the hell?” Daren says. “What’s with the crazy magical energy radiating from you all of a sudden? Don’t tell me that Eiden froze time again to give you magic powers!”
“No,” I say, as I start to reinforce the magical barrier to give us some time to talk. “It wasn’t Eiden. I just used my device to harness the energy that’s being leaked from the stillwaters.”
“You can do that now?” Daren asks me.
“Apparently,” I say.
“So what’s this plan of yours, then?” Daren asks.
“I think we should start going on the offensive,” I say. “I have enough protection spells for everyone and I also have access to a lot of powerful spells, so we’d be better off putting some pressure on them than stalling for time. We should begin by focusing on the necromancer, because the stillwaters will be forced to protect their master when we attack him, and that could make them break their formation.”
I pause a bit to think before I continue.
“Daren, I’m going to cast most of my protections on you,” I say. “Try to grab the stillwaters’ attention as much as possible.”
“Okay, I can do that,” Daren says.
“Hadrik, I want you to put as much pressure as you can on their necromancer,” I say. “Once we exit the barrier, you should run straight at him and hit him with everything you’ve got.”
“Consider it done!” Hadrik says, with a grin.
I turn to Flower.
“Flower, you can fly, right?” I ask her.
“Yeah, sort of,” Flower says. “I don’t know any flight spells, but I can make jets of fire come out of my feet, which propel me into the air and can keep me airborne for long periods of time.”
“Perfect,” I say. “You’ll be coming with me, then. I don’t have any flight spells either, but I think I can use air magic to fly around decently enough. You, Illuna and I are going to attack the skeletons from above, in an attempt to overwhelm their defenses.”
“Aye, aye, sir!” Flower says, as she performs a military salute with her right hand.
“And lastly,” I say, as I turn towards Kate. “Kate, since you specialize in long range attacks, I want you to stay inside this barrier and to observe the fight from afar. The skeletons will likely be ignoring you, so you will be able to analyze the situation calmly and to look for their weaknesses. They are bound to make some mistakes with the amount of pressure we’ll be putting on them.”
“Okay,” Kate says. “I’ll be sure to punish them severely for any mistakes they make during the fight.”
“Alright, that’s everyone,” I say. “We’ll dash out of the barrier together as soon as I finish casting all of the protection spells. Get ready!”
Once I finish casting the protection spells, we step out of the barrier and start putting our plan into action. Hadrik dashes straight for the necromancer and reaches him in a matter of seconds, but the air elementalist reacts quickly, and he uses a wind spell to push Hadrik back several dozen feet. By the time Hadrik gets back, the supporting skeleton places a magical barrier around their master, which the dwarf is now trying to break with a flurry of fists.
Daren heads for the five stillwaters, and when he comes close to them, one of the skeletons shoots a powerful beam of fire towards him. Daren uses his sword to absorb all of the fire, and then he sends it back towards his attacker. The skeletons’ barrier defends them from the blow, but Daren’s actions seem to have caught the stillwaters’ undivided attention. They are now all firing spells towards him, while he uses his shield to block and his sword to absorb their elements.
This is what we were waiting for. I wave at Flower, and she nods her head, as she starts to run towards the stillwaters. While running, she jumps high into the air, and she then uses her fire jets to propel herself higher, as she goes to position herself above the skeletons’ barrier. I follow her lead and use my air magic to lift myself into the air. Using air magic to fly is nowhere near as easy as it sounds, and I’
m feeling a lot clumsier than when I was using the flight spell in my fight with the dragon, but it should be good enough for my intents and purposes.
I catch up with Flower, and we both position ourselves some thirty feet above the stillwaters’ barrier, putting a bit of distance between ourselves in order to make it harder for the skeletons to target us both. We then start attacking the barrier with fire, water and earth spells from all sides, in an attempt to overwhelm the stillwaters’ defenses.
“No, no, no, you’re doing it all wrong!” Arraka shouts at us from inside her amulet. “Stop attacking the whole barrier and focus on just one point! Can’t you see how slowly their supporting mage is reinforcing individual parts of the barrier? It’s because he never learned how to properly localize his energy output! I kept telling him about it six hundred years ago, but the idiot wouldn’t believe me until I demonstrated it to him by using a goddamned tree branch to break through his barrier and puncture his lungs.”
Taking advice from Arraka is not something I am particularly keen on doing right now, but as I take a look towards the skeleton’s magical barrier, I can at least tell that she is not lying. The magical energy is spread thin throughout the barrier, which helps a great deal against spells with a wide area of effect, but it should leave it vulnerable against more focused attacks. I start charging up a lightning attack while I’m still in the air, and when it becomes powerful enough, I aim it directly at the supporting mage, making sure that all of the power behind my strike is concentrated on a single point.
My lightning strike goes straight through the barrier and it hits the supporting stillwater in the skull, killing him instantly. As the magical barrier starts to disappear, the other four skeletons that were hiding underneath it are now standing around, looking very confused. I take advantage of this and use a great deal of magical energy to create a large pool of acid underneath the stillwaters.
The skeletons were caught unawares and they had no time to react. As they all sink slowly into the pool of acid, the air elementalist uses a wind spell to lift the upper half of his body that hasn’t yet melted into the air, but I quickly raise two chunks of rock from the ground, and I use them to smash the skeleton’s head between them. Eventually, all of the skeletons sink fully into the acid, and I decide to start heading towards the ground, before my device’s energy depletes completely. Once I get down, the pool of acid disappears, but the skeletons had already melted completely before this happened, which means that the necromancer is now the only enemy left standing.
“No!” Zack shouts, as the barrier around him begins to disappear. “I won’t let it end like this!”
Right after he finishes his sentence, the necromancer takes a knife out of his robes and he uses it to stab himself in the chest. He then gets enveloped in a bright red light, and soon afterwards, he starts turning into ashes.
“The God of Death… shall have his prize…” Zack says, just before he draws his last breath.
As we all gather around to look at the pile of ashes that the necromancer has turned into, Hadrik starts to laugh.
“As far as final words go, I’ve heard better!” the dwarf says.
“That wasn’t just some empty threat,” Illuna says, while she looks around frantically, as if she were expecting something to blow up. “That thing he just cast was a sacrificial spell. A kind of spell that requires the death of its caster as payment, in exchange for providing effects that would not be obtainable through normal means. The curse of death that the ogre shaman cast on me before we left the fort was also one of these spells. This isn’t over yet…”
“Relax,” Hadrik says. “If his all-powerful stillwater skeletons couldn’t kill us, what do you expect him to do after he’s already dead?”
“That’s some tough talk coming from someone who couldn’t even identify an obvious weakness in their enemy’s defenses,” Arraka says. “You all would have been toast if it weren’t for me. I’m the one who saved all of you losers. Where’s my reward for that, huh?”
“Oh, I’ve got your reward right here!” Hadrik says, as he grabs Arraka’s amulet from Flower’s neck, and he starts spinning it by the chain.
“Wait,” Flower says. “Don’t do that! Didn’t I tell you that she has motion sickness?”
“Really?” Hadrik says, with a grin, as he continues to spin Arraka. “Huh. I guess it must have slipped my mind.”
“Put her down, Hadrik,” I say. “It’s not worth the bother.”
“On the contrary, Barry,” Hadrik says. “I believe this is well worth the effort. In fact, I think I will be incorporating this routine into my daily schedule from now on! But I need to consult with Arraka first. I wouldn’t want to impose. What do you say, Arraka, does ten in the morning sound like an okay hour for our daily spinning sessions?”
“Dwarf!” Arraka shouts, as Hadrik continues to spin her. “When I get out of here again, I’m going to stick my hand through your throat and turn you inside-out! And then I’m going to hang you from a tree by your own intestines so I can use you as a swing!”
“So, ten-o-clock is too early, then?” Hadrik asks, with a grin. “Would it be better if we scheduled it for eleven in the morning instead?”
While Hadrik and Arraka are talking, I hear the sound of stones starting to crumble somewhere on the opposite side of the market square. I turn around, in order to try and identify the source of the sound, but I don’t see anyone in that direction except Rose.
Suddenly, the stones on the ground in front of Rose get sent flying into the air, as a skeleton emerges from underneath them and quickly uses a rusted knife to stab her in the heart. Rose had no time to react. At first, there was only shock in her eyes, but soon, her facial expression turned blank, while her arms hung beside her, motionless. As the light leaves Rose’s eyes completely, her attacker presses the knife harder into her chest, making her fall on her back, while the skeleton crumbles into pieces.
“Rose!” Daren shouts, as he rushes towards her.
When he reaches her, Daren starts casting a healing spell, but Rose does not react to it in any way. We all gather around the two of them, and watch them without saying a word, as Daren continues to cast healing spell after healing spell, while Rose is staring blankly into the distance, without moving a muscle.
“Rose, stay with me!” Daren shouts, as he keeps desperately casting his spells.
It’s no use… I’m sure that Daren must have realized it as well. Rose is no longer breathing. She stopped breathing even before she hit the ground. She’s dead. After all we’ve been through to bring her back home safely. After everything that’s happened this past week. She died, just like that. And not even Daren can bring her back.
“No…” Kate says. “This isn’t right. This has to be an illusion! The necromancer could never harm her like this. The tournament’s spell would have prevented him! This has to be a—”
“The necromancer is dead,” Illuna interrupts her. “The tournament’s spell that was preventing him from hurting Rose disappeared along with his aura. This trap was specifically designed to activate after his death, in order to circumvent the protection spell’s effects. He used a loophole. This isn’t an illusion. Rose died, and the necromancer is the one who killed her.”
“No, this can’t be!” Kate says, as tears start flowing from her eyes. “She can’t just die like this. This isn’t fair. She didn’t deserve this!”
Kate stops for a few seconds, in order to rub her eyes with her hands, as she tries to hold back her tears.
“She didn’t deserve this…” Kate says again, this time in a much lower voice.
“This is my fault…” Daren says, as he finally lets go of Rose. “I was the one who offered to escort her home. I was the one who promised we’d protect her. I failed her. It’s my fault that she’s dead…”
“Hey, now, hold on there!” Hadrik says. “You can’t just go and blame this all on yourself. Rose knew very well what she was getting into when she decided to stick
with us after what happened yesterday with the noble. She made her own choice and she stuck by it until the end. She died with honor, and we should all respect her for that.”
“What do you know about Rose?!” Daren shouts furiously, all of a sudden. “Do you think she wanted to live her last moments in a cesspool like this? Do you think she died happily, knowing that she left her little siblings behind to fend for themselves? Do you seriously think that everything in the world can be measured by your primitive values? What gives you the right to talk about Rose this way? Tell me!”
All of a sudden, Rose starts to move, and she slowly raises her torso from the ground, as she looks all around her, with an empty expression on her face. But her expression is not the only thing that feels empty about her. Her aura is completely different from before as well. It feels hollow, almost lifeless, and her skin is much whiter, almost as if there was no longer any blood running through her veins.
“Rose!” Kate shouts. “You’re alive!”
“No,” Daren says, with a very dark look in his eyes. “This isn’t Rose.”
“What do you mean?” Kate asks. “Of course it’s Rose. She’s right there!”
“Only her body is there,” Illuna says. “Rose is dead. What you see before you is a revenant. An undead being that is born with the host’s previous memories, but with a completely different personality. Now I understand why the necromancer went out of his way to cast a sacrificial spell before killing himself. It was so he could make Rose into a revenant.”
“No, that can’t be true!” Kate says, with desperation in her voice, as Rose gets up from the ground and starts to walk slowly away from us. “Rose, tell them that isn’t true!”
“The one you refer to as Rose is no more,” the revenant says, without turning her head towards us. “I am a servant of Ulruk, the God of Death, and my task is to bring this time weaver body to him safely.”
“Like hell, you will, you undead scum,” Daren says, as he pulls out his sword. “You’re going to leave her body here, so we can give her a proper burial.”
Magium: The Mage Tournament: Book 1 Page 35