by Eric Vall
“Understood,” the elf said. As she spoke, her red mage markings glowed and pulsated as her dark powers surged within her.
A dark red fire erupted from her pale fingers and crawled upwards into the air and through the dome, allowed by my will. As the sinister fog snaked toward one of the worms, the creature reared its head back in anticipation of the attack. True to form, its rider waved his hand in the air and conjured an enormous purple sphere around the worm. The fiery magic struck the gigantic orb and flared up for a moment before it dissipated.
“Foolish woman,” the mercenary sneered as he dissolved the barrier he had created. He shouted something in Valasarian to one of his nearby comrades, and the man shouted back in response. Then the two mercenaries raised a hand to the air before them, and as they did so, small spheres of purple light burst into life above their palms. After a moment of building power, the men reeled back their arms and hurled the violet orbs at us.
The spheres of volatile power collided with the scarlet dome and exploded. Though the barrier vibrated intensely, it still held. Then the men looked down at us with unbridled hatred brimming from their eyes as they began to conjure more explosive blasts to hurl at us.
“Continue to engage them,” I said to Morrigan.
The tattooed elf nodded determinedly and raised her hand to the air once more to call forth the Death Fog. Morrigan unleashed incantation after incancation of dark magic, and just like before, her magic was deflected with a simple gesture. In return, the two sorcerers kept up an unending assault on my barrier as the worms bellowed and continued to bash their heads against the dome in sync with the mercenaries’ assaults.
Obviously frustrated by their lack of progress, the last two worm riders began their own intricate spell under the cover of their comrade’s constant barrage. I remained unalarmed, annoyed only slightly by the constant rattling that made concentrating on my new powers a mild challenge, as streaks of purple lightning began to take shape in the palms of the chanting riders. The jagged lightning stretched and grew as their power built to a crescendo. At its height, the mercenaries unleashed all the pent-up power in one simultaneous blast of lightning.
As the streaks of lightning flew toward us with alarming speed, they sizzled and sparked with malevolent energy. They struck the barrier that surrounded us with a resounding crack as it crawled over the crimson barrier.
The jagged fragments of lightning let out a loud buzzing sound as the electrical glow intensified, and the outside of the dome was covered in oscillating streaks of purple light that made the walls of the dome look like a sky tormented by a thunderstorm. The dome shuddered around us as the lighting crackled furiously.
“Master, I fear that the barrier will not hold,” Morrigan said as she continued to launch her fiery magic at our adversaries.
“It will hold,” I said firmly.
“I do not understand.” Morrigan furrowed her brow. “My magic is not enough to break through. It seems we are at a stalemate. What do you intend to--” The elf’s concerned voice trailed off mid-sentence when she saw what was rising from the sand behind the attacking worms. A large arm of sand burst from the desert terrain, and another identical arm popped out right the other. Enormous sandy fingers grasped at the air and suddenly slammed their palms onto the surface. The worms abruptly stopped their assault on us and turned their heads in the direction of the sudden disturbance as did their masters. The mercenaries murmured to themselves in surprise as the arms hauled a titanic sandy head with two piercing red eyes rose from the ground. As soon as its mouth was free, my sand demon let out a thunderous roar. The men shrank away in fear, and the worms reeled back and hissed defensively. As the sand demon hauled up its huge torso and tree-like legs, another gigantic pair of hands clawed their way through the sand. No sooner had they appeared when two more sets of limbs erupted from the golden glistening sea. The mercenaries gaped at the creatures as one by one they tore free of the dunes. Now on solid ground, the sand demons that I had called forth thudded toward the mercenaries and their worms with a chorus of earth-shaking bellows.
One of the mercenaries looked back at us angrily and hissed something to his companions. Then he let out a battle cry as the other men raised their spears overhead right before the worms that they rode immediately leapt into the air. As the creatures’ bodies snaked out of the holes they had burrowed, I could now see their full size. The beasts were almost as large as my sand demons. The worms hissed as they landed with a crashing wave of sand, then charged toward the gathering sand demons.
And then the mighty battle was joined.
The sand beasts let out a mighty cry as the worms hurled their bodies at them. The worms gnashed their teeth at the sand monsters, bit them, and curled around their bodies in an effort to strangle them. The hulking demons roared as they gripped at the worms and attempted to tear them apart.
“There now,” I said as I stopped spinning the God Slayer and slammed it on the ground beside me. The protective dome that I had created immediately flickered away. “My sand demons will be able to handle them.”
With that, I replaced my weapon in my pocket, motioned to Morrigan, and we resumed our sprint to the palace once more. We would be at the palace wall in no time. As we sprinted across the sand the worms’ ear-splitting screeches, the sand demons’ monstrous roars, and the men’s frantic shouts continued to ring in the air.
“Where are Rana and Carmedy?” I queried as we left behind the fray of demons versus sandworms. “They should nearly be in position by now.”
“They are indeed,” Morrigan replied. “They reached the wall not too long ago and are currently making their way along its side.”
“Good,” I huffed as we continued to race across the sand. “Check in with them and let them know our status.”
“Of course,” Morrigan said flatly. As soon as she’d spoken, a series of red markings quickly flashed across Fea’s feathers, and the bird opened her beak wide. We heard nothing but silence for a few moments, but finally, a voice called out from Fea’s mouth.
“Rana and Carmedy, the conquering heroes, how can we be of service?” I heard the fox’s familiar voice yell.
“We have nearly reached the palace wall,” Morrigan said as we approached our destination. As we neared, the sounds of the battle between my illusionary rebel army and the palace guards swelled. Several of the enemy’s corpses were scattered on the sand near the wall’s base while others were slumped over the wall’s side. My copies had performed excellently so far.
“What do you mean you’ve nearly reached the wall?” Rana said in disbelief. “What did you guys do, stop for a picnic and a romp in the sand?”
“That is absurd,” Morrigan said with irritation in her voice but her cheeks flushed. “We were attacked by some mercenaries and their sandworms, but they have been taken care of.”
“Are Master and Morrigan okay?” I heard Carmedy’s muffled voice emerge from Fea’s mouth.
“Of course, they’re alright,” I heard Rana reply. “Now, if you guys are done playing around, maybe we can get back to our mission, if you don’t mind?”
Despite the fox woman’s words, I could sense by her tone that she was relieved that Morrigan and I were safe.
“I have already informed you of the events that caused us delay.” Morrigan narrowed her eyes as she spoke.
“Yeah, well--” Rana started to retort, but the elf interrupted her.
“We have reached the wall,” the white-haired woman said nonchalantly at the exact time that we came face to face with the massive barrier.
“It’s about time,” one of Rana’s snorts sounded from Fea’s open beak.
Upon reaching the massive wall, we immediately turned our direction to run along its side. I could definitely sense the magic that protected this place. Though I couldn’t see it as I did the wall, I could feel the energy of the magical barrier surging, a tingling sensation across my skin. To have crafted a shield so large and so strong… whoever had creat
ed it was no mere novice of dark magic.
The thought excited me, and I looked forward to destroying them.
As we raced along, I focused my energy on uncovering the magical barrier’s weak point. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take too long to find.
“I think this is good,” I heard Rana said breathlessly. “Go ahead and set up here, Carmedy.” I heard the feline’s muffled reply and then her usual mutterings when she went about her work.
“Ask Carmedy how long it will take for her to put together her mixture and how long the delayed reaction will be,” I said to Morrigan. The elf nodded and repeated the message for the others to hear. Carmedy mumbled something in the background, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying.
“She said it’ll take her a few minutes to mix everything up, and it’ll take about one minute for the explosion to go off,” Rana said. “Uh, how exactly are we talking here? I don’t want to get blown to bits.”
“You’ll be fine,” I heard Carmedy murmur.
“Tell her to remember to wait till I tell her it’s time to set it off,” I said to Morrigan as we continued alongside the wall. The magic was still incredibly strong where we were, but I could sense now that we weren’t too far from the weak point. Morrigan relayed the message, and the alchemist assured us that she understood.
In the time that had passed, the moon had gradually drifted out of sight and had been replaced by the early signs of dawn. The sky transitioned from inky black dotted with stars to a horizon stained with vibrant pinks, purples, and oranges. Our cover of darkness was now gone, but we wouldn’t need it for much longer.
“Here,” I finally said and raised my hand to signal Morrigan to stop. We skidded to a halt, and I placed a hand just above my head on the cold stone wall.
The barrier of magic that surrounded it was thin here, and I nodded to Morrigan.
“He has discovered the location of the barrier’s vulnerability,” the elf spoke to the others calmly.
“Finally, some progress on your end.” Rana chuckled dryly. “For a minute there it looked like we were doing all the work.”
Morrigan said something in response to the fox woman’s snide remark, but I had begun to summon my power, wasn’t fully listening. I would need the utmost focus to break the shield that surrounded the palace.
With a deep breath, I pressed my fingertips firmly into the wall and allowed my power to flow through them. Now that I was in direct contact with the barrier, the skill that had been used to create it was even more apparent. Whoever had crafted this defense was truly deserving of the title of master of dark magic.
Still, while they may have been a master, I was a god. Never before had I met with something that couldn’t be conquered by my almighty hand.
The barrier would be broken.
I grunted as I pushed more of my energy out through my hand. Suddenly, the outlines of the stones that made up the wall flickered with a bright green light for just a moment. The magical defenses started to crack beneath my will, but I needed to use more of my power. As I placed my other hand on the wall and channeled more of my peerless might into it, the emerald light flashed along the stones once again, but this time, the light stayed.
“Okay, the wall is glowing,” I heard Rana say. “I’m going to assume that the weird green light is a good thing and that the wall isn’t going to erupt into a fiery inferno or turn into some kind of monster.”
“Tell Carmedy to do it now,” I commanded, ignoring the fox, and Morrigan repeated the order. The feline’s reply was barely audible but I could hear her ecstatic tone and seconds after I heard the loud sizzling sound of her chemicals reacting.
As I poured out more of my strength, the green light intensified as the magic barricade crumbled. Then, all of a sudden, swirling arcane symbols of a similar shade of green appeared on the stones beneath my hands, and a low humming sound came to the air. Then the symbols spread to the stones that were on either side of my hands. The jade-colored runes stretched out in each direction along the wall until the structure was covered in them.
“Master,” Morrigan gasped uncharacteristically, “you are amazing, and I guess you are only using a small amount of your power.”
“Woah, we’ve got some funky patterns popping up,” Rana huffed. “Please tell me that’s supposed to be happening.” From the sound of her voice, I could tell that she and Carmedy were now running toward our location.
“Everything is fine,” Morrigan answered. “The presence of the symbols are an indication that the magic is coming undone.”
With one final push of might, I sensed the barrier collapse from my will. The green symbols etched into the wall’s stones started to flicker rapidly, and with one final, brilliant flash, they slowly faded away.
So it was that, with a whimper instead of a roar, the intricate enchantment had been broken.
“Hey, guys, long time no see,” Rana said, close now. I turned to see the fox woman and Carmedy standing behind Morrigan, both bent over trying to catch their breath.
“It took you quite a while to arrive here.” Morrigan raised an eyebrow as Macha flapped from Rana’s shoulder and landed on her own. “Did you stop to partake in a picnic?”
“Very funny,” Rana said mockingly. “I’m terribly sorry that it took us more than five seconds to run along the wall of a massive fortress. I don’t think we’d be dragging our feet seeing as how we’d get blown sky high if we did.”
“Speaking of which, where is this explosion?” Morrigan frowned as she looked in the direction from which Carmedy and Rana had come. “Should it not be… exploding?”
“Oh, it should be going off right about...” Carmedy’s voice trailed off as she paused for a few moments and bit her lip excitedly. Just then a thunderous boom sounded from the direction of the east wall, and we turned to see a massive mushroom-shaped cloud of orange smoke erupt in the air. Joined by the orange cloud was a flurry of crumbled stone and mortar. Evidently the alchemist’s explosion had taken out a chunk of the east wall.
“Not bad, huh?” Carmedy giggled.
“Yeahhh, and this one of the reasons why I’m glad we’re friends,” Rana murmured as she gaped at the enormous cloud while Morrigan raised an eyebrow in surprise. A series of shouts came from the other side of the wall as well as the sound of running footsteps.
“Well done, Carmedy,” I nodded to the petite feline.
“Thanks!” The cat smiled brightly. “Hey, by the way, what happened to the green pictures?” Carmedy leaned an arm against the wall.
“I’ve managed to break through the barrier,” I said as I gestured to the wall in front of us. “Nothing stands in our way now.”
“Nothing except a huge stone wall, you mean,” Rana said as her eyes roamed up the barricade’s side.
“Breaking down the magical barrier was the more difficult task,” I scoffed. “Destroying a tangible one is child’s play. Now, everyone, get ready.”
Rana pulled her elvish daggers from her robe pocket while Carmedy loaded one of her pouches into her golden slingshot. Morrigan’s still wholly black eyes shone with bloodlust as her red mage markings glowed. My minions were ready to follow me into battle.
I stretched my palm out in front of me and curled my fingertips upward to call forth the power of the lava deity that I’d slain. Fiery magma materialized on the stones in front of me and oozed and poured down the wall in the rectangular shape of a door. The lava easily melted away the thick stones until a hole remained. As I eased my power, the molten rock cooled rapidly and left only blackened slag behind.
“What was I thinking?” Rana said dryly. “Of course you’d melt the wall.”
“Indeed. Now, wait just a moment.” I held up a hand, and my women followed my order.
No one emerged from the opening to challenge us, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone waiting on the other side, so I gestured for my minions to stay where they were as I cautiously walked through the opening. The hole I had created was only just w
ide enough for me to fit through, and the wall itself was several feet thick. As I crept through the small tunnel that I’d created, I kept my ears alert for any sudden sounds nearby and looked through to the other side. All I saw was open ground, but just then, several arrows whizzed into the opening and flew straight toward my chest.
Foolish mortal weapons. I raised a hand to catch the speeding projectiles and snatched them from the air just before they struck my armor, then I snapped them in my mighty fist as I emerged from the opening. With my view unobscured, I could now see several rows of armored men in the courtyard beyond, armed with bows and arrows trained right at me. There had to be at least one hundred of them.
They didn’t hesitate to release their arrows. The storm of projectiles rushed toward me like a deadly cloud, but I raised my hand in the air, tightened my grip, and the arrows immediately disintegrated into ash before scattering in the wind.
Their simplistic weaponry was no match for my magic power.
A series of gasps came from the throng of soldiers, and they began to reload, but they were too slow. I tightened my grip even more and unleashed my dark magic upon the guards.
My death projection started to eat its way through their ranks. The soldiers wailed in agony as their arms, legs, and pieces of their heads started to disintegrate into ash. They looked at their rapidly disappearing bodies in horror, and many writhed on the ground in anguish.
Satisfied that my minions would be safe, I called back through the opening in the wall, “Follow me.”
My minions filed through and joined me.
“How are we going to find out where Alistair is, and Annalíse?” Carmedy said as she winced at the howling soldiers.
“I’ll ask one of them,” I said as I walked toward one of the bowmen. With one hand, I scooped up one archer off the ground by the neck and held him up so that he was eye level with me. Then I momentarily slowed down the process of my flesh eating spell so that I could gather what I needed before the man wasted away entirely, at present there wasn’t too much left of his wretched body.