by Aaron Oster
It had all the force of her momentum behind it, and when she increased her density right before the blow struck, the attack’s power doubled.
There was a loud crack as the elf’s ribs gave way under the blow, and he let out a cry of pain as he staggered back. Grace followed up, throwing her arm out in a punch and allowing it to stretch. Just as the blow impacted, she used her newly upgraded Air Pulse, which was now called Siren Scream.
Her muscles vibrated for an instant, and Grace could feel the feedback traveling up her arm. Then, the blast of sound exploded from her fist in a condensed cone, releasing a horrible screeching sound as it did. The elf screamed in pain, his hands flying to his ears as the attack assaulted his inner ear, destroying his balance even further.
Then, a half-second later, the cone of sound slammed into him, the waves punching into his already injured ribs and shattering them completely. The elf was sent flying, soaring a full three feet back before slamming into the ground and lying still, two pools of blood leaking from his ears, and his eyes staring out blankly.
Grace didn’t stare at the corpse for too long. Instead, she dashed for the tunnel as Lumia had instructed. Her newly upgraded skill was far more powerful than the last and had cost her a whopping 50,000 energy. But the marked increase in strength, as well as the secondary effect of disorientation, was well worth it.
She was still only at rank 10 and judging by how much damage the cultist had taken before going down, Grace guessed he was about the same, if not even a bit higher. These were not the types of people she could easily best, so the wisest course of action was to just let Lumia handle it. She knew, though, that just because she wanted Lumia to do all the fighting didn’t mean she’d get her wish.
Another cultist, this one a dwarf, came charging at her from the side. She wielded a massive two-handed ax, glowing with red runes, and was clearly intent on taking her head from her shoulders. As Grace turned to face her, she couldn’t understand why they were going for the kill now. They’d gone through the trouble of taking her prisoner. Didn’t that mean that they wanted her alive?
Grace would have to contemplate that later, as the dwarf’s ax came whistling through the air on a collision course with her head. She stepped to one side, allowing her body to lighten as she did. She wasn’t nearly as smooth as Morgan, but she felt a distinct sense of pride as the ax swished past.
That pride lasted exactly a second, before the ax slammed into the ground, literally blowing it to pieces and sending her flying. She gritted her teeth as shards of stone tore through the less-protected sections of armor, leaving dozens of small cuts in her skin. Luckily for her, she was light, and when she landed, the impact was only about half as hard as it would have been.
One of the best things about her density shifting was the fact that her speed wasn’t hampered when she became lighter. In theory, her being less dense should have meant more wind resistance, and thus, a slower-moving body. However, unlike when she became heavier, Grace had no resistance whatsoever. When she became lighter, she was able to move faster and attacks hit with less force than they normally would have otherwise.
Still, the power of the blast was more than enough to leave injuries, and as Grace rose, seeing the dwarf already coming at her again, she knew that if she took a direct hit, she was a goner. Lumia was busy torching the others as they tried to fight or flee, so she was on her own.
No problem, she thought, tilting her neck from side to side. You’ve got this.
The dwarf let out a battle cry, then leaped a few inches into the air and swung down with all her might.
25
Morgan’s eyes twitched as he felt something approaching at high speeds. He’d been sitting on his own now for the better part of an hour, ruminating about his failure to come up with a better solution to ending the war and not finding any answers. The building shuddered as the object slammed into it, smashing through whatever stood in its way as it sped toward him.
He didn’t have to see what it was to know what was coming. The silver spear, the one crafted from Godsteel, a metal powerful enough to kill gods, was answering his summons. It had actually taken it longer to get here than he might have guessed, and he sincerely hoped it hadn’t slaughtered a whole bunch of people on its way over.
His eyes snapped open as the silver streak smashed through the wall, shattering the cage of reiki surrounding him and coming to a stop just inches from his face. The spear seemed to be humming, vibrating softly as it rotated in the air before dropping onto his lap, then going still. He was still amazed that that spear had made it all the way here, and if he had had any doubts as to Ivaldi’s skill, they were immediately banished.
Morgan could feel the spear’s consciousness, flowing a bit more quickly than usual as it brushed against his mind. He went to grab it but found his arm halted by one of the chains. Morgan began to pull harder, exuding more and more strength. The chains held at first, showing just how much they could contain, but as Morgan began to ramp up his effort, they began to slowly deform.
Even once he was exerting all of his strength, he was unable to fully break them. It seemed Elyssa had been right, and these chains really were that tough. But not being strong enough was hardly a problem when you had a skill like Maximum Increase. Morgan felt strength flood his body as the skill activated, and with a sharp tug, he shattered the chains with ease.
He then wrapped his fingers around the manacles binding his wrists and plucked them off as though they were made of paper, rather than metal strong enough to keep almost anyone else locked in place. His hand dropped to the haft of the spear then, running slowly over its length as he felt the consciousness surging upward.
It felt familiar somehow, but alien at the same time. It was as though he knew it, but at the same time, did not. Once more, he felt as though the spear was trying to tell him something, and this time, there was no one here to disturb him.
“What do you want to tell me?” he asked in a lowered voice.
The spear’s consciousness seemed to clear up at that, sharpening and becoming fully lucid for the first time.
“Morgan.”
The whispered word seemed to echo up from the spear itself, sounding in his mind as though spoken directly into it. It was faint, though. So faint that he could just barely make it out.
“I’m here,” he replied, excited that he was finally making contact with whatever was inside. “What do you want to tell me?”
He waited, not even daring to breathe as the spear hummed beneath his fingers, but, before it could answer, he was once again disturbed as the door on the far side of the room crashed open to reveal Elyssa and the elf with the bandaged leg.
He wanted to scream as the spear’s consciousness dimmed, returning to its earlier placid state and once again, leaving him with more questions than answers.
“What do you want?” Morgan asked, looking up to the queen, who was staring at him in open-mouthed shock. “Have you made a decision?”
“How did you…?” she began, then shook her head. “I guess that’s not important. The more immediate question is, why didn’t you run?”
“Why would I?” Morgan replied. “I’m still waiting for an answer.”
“I see,” Elyssa said, looking around at the destruction of her precious cage. “Well…I uh…think we have an agreement,” she continued, her voice growing firmer as she did. “The fact that you didn’t run leads me to believe that you are sincere in your wishes to see this war prevented at all costs.”
“Good,” Morgan said, rising to his feet. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d really like my clothes back. Also, my companions need to be found and brought back here. I’m assuming you have a way to transport them quickly.”
“Yes,” Elyssa replied, averting her eyes as Morgan stretched. “I’ll send a patrol back to the area where you were picked up. What exactly should I have them say to get them to come?”
“Tell them that I need a haircut,” Morgan replied.
&nbs
p; “You need a haircut?” Elyssa asked, looking up to his hair.
“Yes,” Morgan replied. “They’ll understand. Now, my clothes?”
“Right. I’ll have your clothes brought right away. A room has already been prepared, and as soon as you’re ready, I’d like to get the details all taken care of. You’ll also need to provide me with a ring, one suitable for someone of my station. I’ll need something to wear to the meeting to show our formal engagement, though the announcement will not be made public until we have chosen a date for the wedding.”
“And just where am I supposed to get this ring?”
“I’m sure you can manage something,” Elyssa replied. “I’ll send someone for you when the meeting is all set up.”
“Who exactly will be attending this meeting?” Morgan asked, trying to prepare himself as best he could.
“Everyone,” Elyssa replied, already turning to leave. “I don’t know how you are with statesmanship, but please, try not to be rude. Some of them – the gnomes, in particular – can be very touchy.”
“I’ll do my best,” Morgan said dryly, watching her sweep out of the room.
The elf accompanying her gave him a silent glare before stomping out after, leaving the door wide open. It didn’t take long for his clothing to be returned, and once he was dressed, Morgan was led to his room. The journey through the palace was quite an interesting one, as the architecture was nothing like in the Five Kingdoms. The floors were sleek, the walls smooth, and far more color was worked into almost every facet of the place.
While all Five Kingdoms were different, the same architecture seemed to hold true for pretty much all of the palaces and manors. Here, though, things were different, and Morgan found that he quite liked it. His room, contrary to what he’d been expecting, was quite bare. It contained just a simple bed, a chest of drawers and a nightstand. There wasn’t even a chair or sofa on which he could sit.
He didn’t mind, as he saw all of his confiscated possessions on the bed and quickly moved to look them over. The first thing he did was remove the pendant Katherine had provided and slip it over his neck. He depressed the side, trying to get her attention, but, for some reason, she didn’t answer.
Checking the time, he realized that it was just about five in the morning. Perhaps she was asleep? Though she didn’t actually need it and missed out more than a few nights, he knew that just like him, Katherine liked to get at least a little rest. Even if it only served to shut her brain off for a bit and allow herself to reset mentally. Morgan really wished he could get some sleep, but seeing as he had to come up with a ring for his new wife, he couldn’t afford to.
Blowing out a long breath, he slumped onto the bed, pushing his back up against the wall and reaching into his Spatial Bag to see what he had. Several minutes later, the contents were spread out before him, all items separated into near piles. There were a bunch of beast cores, all of which he stashed back in his bag. There was also some spare armor and clothes, which he put away, as well as some medicine, should Grace suffer an injury.
Aside from that, he had a handful of platinum coins – which he now knew, thanks to his Earthen Shift, were only made of about 80% platinum – a couple of scraps of parchment and some field rations.
Dropping everything but the coins back into his bag, Morgan took up the handful of coins and began turning a few over in his fingers. There was once a time when holding this much money would have left him awed beyond words. Money meant almost nothing to him now, though. It was simply a means to an end. Besides, what value did money have, when he could simply pull it from the ground if needed?
Well, there’s an idea, Morgan thought.
Using his Earthen Shift, Morgan reached down into the ground beneath his feet. He’d already realized he was on the ground floor when the spear had busted through the wall earlier. Though he hated to ruin the floor, which seemed to be made of some foreign material that he couldn’t identify, it would be impossible to pull the correct minerals from the ground otherwise.
The floor trembled for a moment, then hundreds of small cracks appeared as tiny glittering particles of dust seemed to flow up into the air and began collecting above his upraised palm. Morgan’s focus tightened as he continuously reached deeper into the earth, pulling more and more all while exerting tremendous pressure in the area above his hand.
At first, the shapeless mass of glittery dust did nothing at all, but as he continued to add to it, pushing down harder and harder, something finally seemed to be happening. Ever so slowly, something began to take shape – a clear, lumpy object that continued to grow as more dust streamed onto it. The entire process took nearly half an hour, but by the time he was done, Morgan was left with a fist-sized chunk of stone that was so clear, he could see his hand through it. There wasn’t a single speck of dust or debris to be seen, which, apparently, was what women liked.
Morgan knew this after having endured hours upon hours of Sarah talking about what she’d like her ring to look like and how big she wanted the diamond to be. Looking down at the rock now, he didn’t think that she meant the words ‘fist-sized rock’ literally. In his mind, Morgan tried to picture the description she’d given him.
He’d seen some jewelry in his time, and though his memory was excellent, he’d never actually paid close enough attention to pick up on any detail. However, as he thought of the description, Morgan began to work, cutting sections off the massive diamond and allowing them to drop to the ground.
Another few minutes of work, and he was left holding a much-more manageable sized stone. Holding it above his finger, he wondered if this would still be too large for Elyssa. Then, he shrugged to himself. He had no idea what these things cost or what a clear rock could possibly be worth. But, if she didn’t like it, he could always make her another. The next part was easy, as he simply pulled the pure platinum from the coins, leaving a few traces of the steel that he worked into it to maintain its shape.
The band was formed, and Morgan tried to remember the size of Elyssa’s fingers. She was quite small and petite, so it would likely be smaller than he thought. But, as with the size of the stone, he could easily make adjustments as he went. He made a small mount on top of the circular piece of platinum and placed the diamond within, then fused the two with a small effort of will.
After looking at it, he realized that it looked quite plain. He still had plenty of diamond to work with, so he set himself to try to make it look a bit prettier. An hour and a half later, Morgan was left with something that even a master jeweler would envy. If Elyssa still didn’t like it, he’d just have to assume that she had different tastes than Sarah.
Looking at the ring pinched between his fingers, Morgan once again felt a profound sense of sadness and guilt. This was something he was supposed to have given to Sarah, but instead, he was handing it over to a foreign dignitary to make peace. Worse, he was not only going to have to marry her, but he’d need to give her a child as well. This was something he’d never even dreamed of doing.
Though it was already light out, no one had come for him just yet, nor had he heard anything about Grace or Lumia. He wasn’t really worried about them, though he would have liked for Lumia to be here. Talking to her about this would have made things much easier. It wouldn’t alleviate his guilt, but he’d have loved to hear her wisdom and insight, and Grace would have been a welcome distraction.
Seeing as no one was here, Morgan pushed himself further back onto the bed. He didn’t lie down, per-se, but leaned back against the wall and allowed his eyes to drift shut. Perhaps a bit of sleep would help him come to terms with what had to be done. And, if not, it would at least give him some time in which he didn’t need to think.
26
Grace stepped back quickly and threw an arm out to use Expand blows. Her fist doubled in size, stretching farther than it should have been able to, and slammed into the flat of the ax blade. Since she had no weapons and didn’t want to be hit, her best bet was to throw the blade off course.
She also didn’t want it smashing into the ground as it had earlier and risk injury, so this was her best option.
The dwarf cried out in alarm as she was sent staggering, completely off balance as she was thrown off. She landed on one foot, twisting her ankle, and lost her grip on the ax. It flew off into the air, then clanged to the ground and bounced several times before coming to a halt. The dwarf toppled to the ground with a cry of pain, her ankle giving out beneath the force of her landing.
Grace capitalized immediately, shocked at how effective that single attack had been. The dwarf had made a huge mistake in jumping like that, but if her timing had been off, she could have been seriously injured or killed.
One of her arms pulled back, and the other shot forward, doubling in size and density and coming down hard on the dwarf’s head. Grace grimaced as the blow connected and she felt the vibration travel up her arm. When she pulled it back, the dwarf was still very much alive, forcing Grace to punch again.
Her Siren Scream was activated on the third punch, blasting through the dwarf’s eardrums and brain, leaving a bloody smear on Grace’s fist as she pulled it back. One more punch finally did the job and finished the dwarf whose face resembled little more than a pulpy mess at this point. Grace felt like she was going to be sick, but she managed to hold in the urge and turned to continue on to the tunnel. This time, no one got in her way, and she made it without any trouble.
“I’m in the tunnel!” she called, letting Lumia know she was safely out of the way.
Several of the cultists turned at the sound of her voice, and a couple even started to move toward her, but Lumia’s next attack assured that none of them would make it that far. She beat her powerful wings, gaining several feet in altitude, then unleashed a storm of liquid fire. Black and blue light flashed as the drake rained down fiery destruction from above, burning every cultist to ashes and even melting some of the crystal as well.