New Horizons (Emerilia Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

  The bone lord was pushed back three feet. Its head turned to find Anna, the Fire in its eyes burning brighter in anger.

  It was nearly three times her height, but Anna didn’t seem to care. Suzy swore that she saw the wolf Beast Kin smiling as her movements blurred, too fast for Suzy to follow as the bone lord was rocked back on his heels. It tried to fend off Anna’s attacks as the wind howled with her blade’s fury.

  They can handle it. Now I just have to get them the time that they need to deal with that ugly bastard.

  “Come on, you lazy creations. Let’s see what you can do!” She channeled some Willpower to Steve. He groaned and pulled himself to his feet.

  “Well, seems that you’re a pretty good opponent.” Steve laughed. The lobby shook as he rushed forward. “Didn’t you know! I love being the center of attention!”

  Anna jumped clear as Steve, filled with new energy and power, smashed his axe into the bone lord. It didn’t have enough time to recover from Anna’s attacks and was hurled backward into stairs that led up and into the second floor.

  Steve leaped after the bone lord, finishing the destruction of the stairs as it was the bone lord’s turn to be stunned as Steve fought with newfound anger and vigor.

  Anna and Deia raced in to help him as Suzy finished off her preparations. Air creations waited at the mouth of the hall. The rest of it was covered in various strong metals. Behind Suzy, her latest creations outlined her body. They were Light creations.

  “Malsour! Drop the wall!” Suzy called out, holding out her staff. She had fifty creations at her call. The most that she could have, normally. With the staff controlling them, it seemed to turn barely contained chaos into precise destruction.

  The Mana fled the area as Malsour used it somewhere else.

  Suzy didn’t need to wait long before the wall came apart and undead of all manner surged forward, baying for her death and the rest of her party’s. They made it halfway from the now broken wall to the mouth of the corridor.

  “Blades!” Metals lashed out and formed themselves into destructive weapons that rose out of the walls and floor. The undead’s natural movement drove them through these weapons and tore them apart.

  The metal creations weren’t done, forming into spears and other weapons, any form that could hurt or harm the undead that came through their domain cut outward.

  Undead harpies rushed through. Their agile bodies escaped the tunnel, only to be met by the Air creations’ blades.

  All the while, Suzy watched over the destruction.

  One of her Light creations fired, hitting an undead that was about to attack Dave’s side.

  “Thanks, Suz!”

  “Just find that box!” Suzy only needed to give a glance to different undead for her creations to attack them. Having her consciousness linked to the creations made them similar to an extension of her body: she thought—they reacted. It had taken her some time to get used to it instead of just using word commands. With her higher Willpower and the staff, it gave her a larger range where it would work. Her spoken instructions would work over a larger area but it wasn’t as controlled.

  Her control now showed. As soon as she saw an issue, her creations rushed to solve it. It was like multiple minds working as one, thinking the same way, but able to act independently of one another.

  “I think I might know where it is, but we’ve got some problems,” Dave said.

  “Where is it?” Deia panted as she jumped out of the way of the bone lord’s sword. Multiple fireballs attacked its face, blackening the bones that made up its helmet and making it stagger as Steve landed a monstrous hit.

  “All the way at the top of the library, and there are three more bone lords guarding it. Seems all the undead are down here with us, though!”

  “Figure out a way to get us up there.” Deia dodged a frantic swipe by the bone lord.

  “How am I supposed… Okay, I might have an idea!”

  “What?” Anna asked.

  “Reverse underworld!” Dave sounded as if he were smiling.

  “The hell is that?” Deia asked.

  “We need to work on your movie knowledge! Malsour, I’m going to need your help.” Dave crashed through four undead as Suzy shook her head.

  Dave might be an inventor, but he was fiercely loyal to those he called his friends. He was always looking to become stronger and making those he cared for as strong as possible. Deia wondered whether he knew just how strong of a fighter he was as he fought off the most undead by himself.

  Suzy and Induca could keep the undead at a distance but Dave was right in the middle of them, conjuring spears from the ground or slamming a shield into his opponent’s face.

  Chapter 15: Watching From Afar

  The Aleph Council was silent as they watched the Stone Raiders fight their way through the college. There were the sounds of pain, of weapons clashing, and spells being unleashed. The Stone Raiders were deathly silent, their ears plugged and their mouths moving but nothing could be heard or read from their lips.

  “How are they communicating?” Koza asked.

  “They are using a system of chats, for their party, their different groups that they are part of when they come together to fight bigger groups, and the guild chat, where the guild leaders talk to one another, and important information is brought up and orders given,” Shard said.

  “Why so complicated?” Sela asked, a puzzled expression on her face.

  “Three reasons. First, so that they don’t fall under the thrall of the harpies that are there. They also don’t know how much power the Arch Lich has over his domain. If he can hear what they are saying, then he might be able to figure out their plan. Finally, because they’re acting and reacting, having just one chat between people would turn into absolute chaos.”

  “Aren’t they going to fall back? They’ve lost a third of their forces,” Hamdir interjected.

  “Within six hours, those forces will be back. Right now they are at their strongest. They might drive their way to the Arch Lich or pull back to a defensable position.” Shard cocked his head to the side. “It seems that they have found the location of the Arch Lich’s phylactery.”

  “Where is it?” Ela-Dorn looked to Shard.

  “It is located in the grand library at the highest floor. Dave has sensed that there are three bone lords in the room with it.”

  “Are we sure that the Stone Raiders are sound in mind?” Meda shook her head, as if not believing what she was seeing.

  “I have deemed that they are perfectly sane. Why do you ask?”

  “Shard, have you noticed that most of them are smiling?”

  “Councilwoman Meda, it is indeed hard to understand the Stone Raiders’ mindset, but this is what they love the most. Say you have a problem in front of you. It looks impossible to overcome, yet you and your friends don’t care how hard it looks. You’ve taken on a dozen other challenges; all of them seemed impossible at one time or another, but you kept at it. You drove yourself and your friends, so that you solved that problem. That is the same thing with the Stone Raiders. They’re a group of friends who have done the impossible time and time again. They know that they’re going to beat this Arch Lich. They have faith in themselves and in one another. They might die one time, or a hundred times. Each time they will come back, more powerful than the last, better prepared and ready to defeat their enemy.

  “The Stone Raiders have two things on their side: trust and time. They have trust in one another to do their best and help one another to complete their mission. They have trust that they will complete this raid no matter what. They see this as fun. They’re excited and happy because this is the most challenging fight they’ve had to date!”

  “You said that they have time,” Hamdir reminded Shard.

  “Correct. They might die, but they come back every time. While this in itself is a huge advantage, death is no longer the end to them. It is an opportunity. It also makes their lives slightly boring. There is no fear of dying, bu
t there is the fear of failure. They call themselves the Stone Raiders as they love going on raids with one another. Fighting the biggest things they can find for the sheer challenge of it. Death holds nothing on them, but failing—to them, it’s worse than death.”

  Silence fell over the room, each of the council members lost in their own thoughts.

  Hamdir changed the different views, looking at a different preset. His eyes went wide as he watched Party Zero fighting. Suzy, Dave, and Induca were hammering undead with everything in their arsenal. Malsour stood out of the way.

  Hamdir changed views, looking at all of the walls that were keeping the different undead out of the lobby.

  “How do they have that much power?” Hamdir talked to himself as he switched back to the view that looked over the three who were fighting the bone lord.

  With its natural resistances, strength, and armor, it was already a hard opponent. Instead of having a full army to fight it, there were just three people.

  Anna and Steve moved out of the way of Deia as flames ignited around her body; her eyes glowed with power as a dozen Fire lances erupted out of thin air and rammed the bone lord.

  It stumbled backward with the impact. Some of them broke through its armor and made their way inside, leaving holes in its body.

  Anna moved in first. It had crossed the fifty percent threshold and it looked as if she was going to do everything in her power to stop it from activating its powers. She wasn’t fast enough. It pulled itself together and swiped at her, giving it enough time and room to complete an attack of its own.

  A magical circle appeared under its feet as it let out a howl. The undead around it seemed to reciprocate the howl.

  “Shut UP!” Steve’s hit smashed the howling Bone lord into the ground. Anna and Deia were there to ravage it with their attacks as Steve hacked its leg off.

  The bone lord’s Legendary move took effect.

  The undead redoubled their efforts, going into a frenzy, and pushed back Dave, Induca, and Suzy.

  Hamdir’s eyes found Malsour. His body seemed to distort for a moment. He let out a yell that seemed to pass throughout the entire library. The undead took pause at the roar that Malsour had let rip.

  Hamdir’s eyes went open. He had only heard his roar, but his blood chilled with the power in it. It seemed to cancel out the bone lord’s yell as Party Zero redoubled their efforts, yelling their defiance.

  “You. Shall. Not. Pass!” Dave yelled, before he devolved into childish giggling, while still killing undead.

  Hamdir noticed fighting styles that he hadn’t seen in years and others that had been imprinted onto him from fighting since a youth. Dave moved from reaping wheat to cleaving tree and bending willow through to morning rise, back down into dragon’s wings and whirlwind’s mercy.

  The blending of the styles so completely was an art form in itself. Dave’s weapons changed as needed to create the most damage, adding extra weight in the downstroke to get the most out of the attack and then reducing the weight while he pulled back, so he could counter-attack faster.

  As the others of Party Zero did a dance of magic, Dave danced with a multitude of weapons. He was second only to Anna and Deia. Each of their attacks were made to inflict the most damage: Their weapons an extension of themselves. Their powers an enhancement of their weapons and their movements. Their dance was a deadly one.

  Steve was a brawler. There were hints that he was coming to learn more about fighting, yet brute strength ruled with him.

  Hamdir couldn’t even try to attempt to understand the powers or art that Malsour, Induca, and Suzy were using, but he could tell from his own adventures and experiences that they were no simple mages.

  Hamdir found himself smiling, remembering how he had once seen such fights as a mere challenge. I wonder, if none of my friends ever died from those adventures whether I, too, would have the same smile on my face?

  ***

  “Master, the Demons’ progress is on schedule. There has been consistent fighting between the Demons. It seems that their aura has grown stronger than we thought. There are no creatures left in the wilds for them to fight.” Boran-al’s eyes focused on his master’s back as the Dark Lord overlooked a glowing orb that moved and changed. It was showing a real-time view of Emerilia.

  It specifically looked at Per’ush, moving from one area to another rapidly.

  “What of their strength?” The Dark Lord’s voice rumbled through the room. Although he was interested, it was clear he didn’t care for the well-being of his creations.

  “They have started fighting among one another more to sate their hunger for souls. They grow in strength by the day. A few have even shown a talent for magics. It is limited and uncontrolled but it is there.”

  “Good, so long as they have the strength needed. Once they get to Devil’s Crater, then they can hunt the dungeons and creatures in the area. The surrounding towns and cities have forgotten their fear and their master. Send envoys to their cities, looking to convert them to our cause. Those who do, shall be spared. Those who do not, we will convince or destroy, so that no one else in the Pantheon might claim them.”

  “Yes, my lord.” Boran-al bowed, taking that as his dismissal.

  ***

  “I’m so BORED!” A woman swung her feet back and forth on her throne as she pouted. She had white hair and porcelain-smooth skin. Her lips were pink and her face would make many men and women of all the races lose their ability to think straight.

  “My lady, you just played a prank on the King of Isa and made Queen Farun and Emperor Talis think that he was weak and start preparations to go to war,” Venfik, her advisor said, not looking out over his scroll.

  He was an Elf. His hair had long turned to white, while his eyes had been turned white by coming into the Lady of Air’s service. She did not have Champions; instead, her Creatures of Power were dotted all over Emerilia, garnering respect for their power, or spite for their trickery.

  “But that was last month!” She kicked her heels against her chair. “What about something with the mage’s guild?”

  Of the other lords and ladies of the Affinities Pantheon, most advisors held them in respect and even if they were about to make a bad decision, they kept their tone light, trying to convince them through other means.

  Venfik’s tone was like beaten steel.

  “The Lady of Fire has made it clear that while you are welcome to come to her college and make use of her guild, if you mess with either of them she will destroy all of your Creatures of Power. It seemed she wasn’t that happy when you started all those rumors of her return. Or sent the guild on a wild-goose chase for a magic well, in the middle of the Dark Lord’s maze in Ashal while she was saying good-bye to her Dragons four hundred years ago. Add to that, she is, if not in an alliance with Water, at least on amicable terms, so it would be best to stay away from them.”

  “But we could always mess with the Lord of Water?” Air whined, much like a child might when asking their parent whether they could go outside to play, pretty please with a cherry on top.

  “At times, you are the smartest lady I know. At others, I don’t know what is going on in that mind of yours. Answer me this. Do you care for the People of Emerilia?”

  “Well, yes, of course. If I didn’t have them around, how would I have my fun? Also, it’s not like my pranks hurt anyone. Like Farun is going to give up on her idea of a war because she wants to get her best people into the Dwarven tournaments next year. Talis might call himself an Emperor but he’s really just got two cities and while he’s an idiot, he’s not stupid enough to attack Isa, without at least one more person in the fight. He wins by playing in the shadows and swooping in once victory is assured. Also, the Prince of Isa, and Aevstrra, the Princess of Raolor, daughter of Farun, are interested in each other.” Air had a pleased smile on her face.

  “I’m guessing that you had a part to play in that?”

  “Well, of course. All that war is getting really annoyin
g and I don’t like Talis much. Having Raolor and Isa come together would join two decent-sized Ashal kingdoms. Also, might have given the two of them a Mirror of Communication after giving them plenty of time to talk to each other at one of the ‘peace treaty talks.’” Air smiled at her own brilliance.

  She missed Venfik’s smile. It was not too dissimilar to the smile a parent might have when their child had done something to make them proud.

  “Well, then, how about instead of sowing chaos, we sow alliances?”

  “Why would we do that?” Air frowned.

  “There is a war coming, Air. Dark, Light, and Earth are massing their forces. They have more Champions than ever and if they don’t have Creatures of Power out in Emerilia already, they are working on them as quickly as possible. If we are to sow the seeds of alliances, we could bring the People of Emerilia together. It is much harder to build something than it is to play a prank on them. I don’t know if you would be up for the challenge,” Venfik said in a dismissive tone.

  “I see what you’re trying to do, making me want to take it because I want to show you that I can do anything that I put my mind to and show you why I am the smartest of the Pantheon!” Air had an excited expression on her face.

  “So, you’re not going to do it?” Venfik asked.

  “I didn’t say that! This is my home as well and I’m not going to let those other lords and ladies get all the headlines! I accept your challenge/not challenge.” She looked confused at her own words.

  Venfik laughed and shook his head. “Very well, my lady, what shall we do?”

  “I don’t know! Let’s go and ask Bob!” With that, the two of them disappeared from the room. The others who lived within the Lady of Air’s hall smiled; a few laughed and rolled their eyes. For the most part, there was an anticipation and excitement in their eyes.

  Much like their lady, they hated just lounging around.

  ***