Val was awed to sense the crackling currents of electromana power emanating from Chris's armor, spotting pieces of Dominion and dwarven armor used in concert, overlapping pieces shimmering with blue ribbons of oddly magnetized Elementium strips running the length of his arms before melding into chestplate geometric designs eerily similar to the warding rings now seared upon Val’s mind.
Greater Artifice skillcheck made! Val’s smile widened, and he suddenly understood. Chris had somehow used his Cybermancer class to forge himself gear that would turn away most arcane energies like a repelling magnet. He might never be able to cast spells, but he had made excellent use of his gift to level the playing field should he be forced to forgo fancy high-tech toys and rely on his deadly sword alone.
Before them stood several angry-looking Christos mages, still exhausted and shaken from all that had occurred, and just a hairsbreadth from inviting tragedy yet again.
“Julia! I’m here!” Val cried, as much to put her at ease as to make it damn clear to his suddenly sheepish-looking mages, who were now quickly lowering their wands and bowing, that these were welcome additions.
Julia’s eyes crinkled in a relieved smile before widening in horror. “Oh Val, Val!” She raced to his side and Val couldn’t help but wince as trembling hands stroked his scarred cheeks, tears streaming freely from her beautiful eyes. “Talk to me, Val, what happened?”
Val smiled and squeezed her hand. “It’s alright. Let’s wait for our friends to catch up.”
To his credit, Dirk gave no greater tell than a quick blink even as Yin gasped in horror before lowering her madly flushing cheeks.
“Damn, son. I hope you got the bastard who did that to you twice as good," Dirk said.
Val flashed a darkly bemused smile. “I’d say old goat-face is probably kicking and screaming in hell as we speak.” His smile turned cold. “And I mean that literally.”
Dirk burst out in approving laughter, not hesitating for a second to give him a fierce hug as Julia swallowed and stepped back. “Good to see you, kid. I was afraid, well, hell. I’m just glad to see you in one piece. If a couple of scars were what it took to break that damn curse, good on you, boy. You’re a braver man than most.”
Chris nodded, fist-bumping a bemused Val. “Looking more badass than ever, my friend. And I don’t have the slightest urge to kill you! If some exotic scars and tattoos are what it took to break that bastard Highlord’s curse? Hell, you and my mercury eyes are now in good company.”
“Damn right, Chris,” Val said, still wincing after having caught a glimpse of his face in his dash out the tower. “And believe it or not, they’ve actually healed some. Before, I looked a horror, with my face nothing but mismatched burn tissue. Now I just look like a dude who went way too hardcore with the scar tattoo thing.”
Julia squeezed Val’s hand. “I want to hear everything, Val. And I do mean everything.”
Val winced but nodded. “No problem, though I’d love to know what made you guys decide to pop up here in Greengrove out of the blue. Good guess that it was open to you but, well, I hadn’t exactly advertised it, so much was going on so quickly.”
Dirk smiled. “The situation just got serious, kid. If there was ever a time we need you with us, it’s now. Julia had a really strong hunch, said she had dreamed that you were here, of all places. And since we’re the party members with the juice, we thought it best to explore an area not known for being tech-friendly, forming up as our old party once more. Hell, Chris was smart enough to use the last three days with his more than impressive Cybermancer skills to forge armor that might actually give him a fighting chance here in magic central. Unlike our Arcane Mech-warrior, here, his battle-mech isn’t mana compatible at all.”
Yin gave a firm nod. “You wouldn’t believe what I can do in my mecha now, fearless leader!” Her grin turned to a wry smirk. “But one thing I can’t do is get it through a portal that small.”
Val chuckled ruefully. “I would love to see what you could do, Yin. Unfortunately, I only have one territory point to my name at the moment, and I plan on using that real soon to take out some very annoying pests.” With those words, Val quickly regaled his friends with everything that had happened since he had arrived.
Yin’s earlier embarrassed winces were quickly replaced by looks of wide-eyed awe. “Jeezus, Val. I knew you were strong, but throwing down meteors atop of demonic horrors? That takes the cake! Just how freekin’ powerful are you, and where can I sign up to learn everything you know?”
Val smirked, sensing the hunger just underneath her teasing grin. “You’re my friends. Of course I’ll teach you everything I can. But Starfall’s out, I’m afraid. You can only learn that spell if you walk the Path of Kings, and are casting it within your own territories.” His bemused smile turned hard, catching Dirk’s golden eyes with his own. “Now enough pussyfooting around. Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on, Dirk?”
Dirk, however, just lowered his head. “I know how important it is to you. I’ll let Julia explain.”
Val grimaced, a cold jolt of fear slamming into his racing heart. “Julia, please tell me what’s going on?”
Sad eyes gazed into Val’s own. “It’s the Dwarves, Val. The Dominion’s found them.”
Fear turned to unmitigated horror. Val’s ears roared with the blood pounding through his skull as visions of mad, unspeakable vengeance roared through his brain. “I’ll end them. I’ll end them all,” he whispered.
Julia’s gaze widened with horror. “No, Val. Don’t! Don’t even think that! It’s not your wife’s clan. It’s the other one we found!”
Julia stilled in sudden horror at what she had said.
The entire gathering of friends and mages going stock still.
Val slowly turned around, catching Alwin’s horrified gaze, Zelawin and Telvarin falling to their knees.
+60% potency increase to all aggressive actions! You have embraced your wrath!
Val could hear Yin’s terrified whimper as she pressed tightly against a protective Dirk who was scowling at Val, Chris’s gaze utterly unreadable.
“Please don’t kill us, my lord,” Alwin whispered, Val only then noticing his crackling Psiblade held in furious hands.
Val took a slow, deep breath, ignoring the battlefury screaming for release.
Sheathing his Psiblade, his eyes locking upon Alwin’s terrified countenance. “All mages present will swear never to reveal what you have just heard, on penalty of instant death.”
“Done, my lord!” declared a relieved Alwin, his terrified fellows immediately following suit before hurrying off with panicked bows.
“Val… I’m sorry,” Julia whispered.
Val angrily shook his head. “What’s done is done. If any of our enemies find out, though...”
“Never!” Julia fiercely swore. “We would never reveal it! And the Oathbinding we gave you right before that god-rod atomized our home will tear all memories of anything having to do with dwarves, should any inquisitor actually manage to capture us or crack our defenses.”
Yin, fear abating at last, was gazing at Val with awed disbelief. “You have a dwarven wife? When did that happen? How did that happen? And wait, there’s another clan of dwarves?”
Val sighed, catching Julia’s apologetic gaze. “Please, just break it down for me, Julia?”
Julia grimaced and nodded. “Let’s Spirit Link. That way we can keep our thoughts, well, more private.” She glared at a sheepish-looking Yin. “And no questions until we have a plan and we're on our way. Seriously, okay?”
Spirit Link successfully forged! Your party will enjoy a 30% bonus to all offensive actions!
“Not a bad bonus,” Dirk allowed with an approving nod.
“Chilling with our favorite Overlord. The only way to level up in style,” Chris quipped, giving Val a thumbs up as they proceeded to the tower, both trying to put Val at ease in their own way.
“It’s the Skogur tribe! After the surviving townsfolk turn
ed back into faeries and fled for the forest, the Dominion was desperate to get the processing plant back in order, but the technology was utterly beyond them.” She snorted. “Not surprising, considering that all that steampunk equipment was probably based on Faerie magics, and it seemed the Dominion had given up on the mine. Then out of the blue the property was snatched up by a third party who immediately brought in a flood of mercenaries, battle-mechs, and an inquisitor. And do you know who's now claiming that territory, as well as all the dwarven secrets buried within?”
Val’s heart was racing with an emotion beyond mere fury. “Tell me who.”
Julia curled her lip in an angry snarl. “Kentric! How the hell did he know, Val? How did he get men there so fast? I swear, Val, everything went crazy after we pulled you back, our last night interfacing with VR helms before we came here for real. But we didn’t leave until after the dwarves had given thanks and, well, hid themselves so well Dirk and I didn’t have a clue where we were until we were suddenly beside our veli. Then we parachuted out soon after. But this? This is crazy! No merc or inquisitor should have even been able to find it, let alone capture living dwarves and put slave rings around their necks!”
Val squeezed the hilt of his blade so tightly he feared it would break if it were made of anything other than the exotic alloys it was. “How do we even know this?”
Dirk flashed a grim smile. “Guess.”
Val blinked. “Dauda.”
Julia tentatively reached out, clasping his hand in her own. “They reached out to Yin. I’m sorry, Val. So, so sorry. When my dream jolted me out of my sleep and I ran to get Mother… Yin was already there, and oh, the look on Mother's face. It’s like she was terrified you’d do something really, really… rash.”
Val didn’t say a word, mind racing at a furious pace, flashing a mirthless smile.
He turned to Julia.
Her eyes widened.
“Val… that’s madness!”
Val nodded. “It is. But the secret’s out, even if Kentric is keeping his cards covered. There’s no way we can hide that territory, but if my plan works...”
“… it won’t matter.” Julia shook her head. “Shit. I can’t believe we’re going to do this, but why not a double blitzkrieg to save the day?” Sad eyes gazed into his own. “Any limits as to how far you’re willing to take this?”
Val’s eyes flashed. “None.”
She swallowed and nodded. “Alright, Val. You know I have your back. As always.”
Val gazed at her tenderly, stopping to give her a fierce hug. “I’m so grateful to have you. So glad you’re okay! I was worried, but somehow...”
Julia flashed a sad smile. “It’s okay, Val. I could feel you too.”
Val flushed. “Pretty fucking complicated, huh?”
Julia shook her head. “More than you know, Val. But we’ll talk about that another day. For now? Time for us to play hero. Even if we’re covered in blood by the time we’re done.”
Chris chuckled. “Now you’re starting to sound like Val.” His brow furrowed slightly as he gazed at the ruined chateau Christos mages were busy repairing with the help of earth magics Val would love to study if he had time, before turning to peer at the massive craters of destruction marring the once pristine gardens, the stink of burnt alien flesh still hanging heavy on the air. “Looks like we missed quite a party.”
Val smirked. “It was as hot as hot gets.” He turned to Yin, making a conscious effort to ease the intensity of his gaze. “Can you break down exactly what happened?”
Yin nodded. “I was just getting back from training and my god, Val, you wouldn’t believe how sneaky those Dauda are.” She suddenly flushed. “Sorry, that was stupid. Anyway, here I am, taking a break by Christine’s gardens, taking the attitude of stopping to smell the roses totally literally, and I feel this tapping on my shoulder and what looks like a freshman in college smiling at me, and before I can say a word, he hands me one of those cubes people use here instead of stick drives and I just blink once and the kid is gone!”
She flashed a self-effacing smile. “That’s when I finally put two and two together like I actually have a clue, and dashed back to Christine’s lab as fast as my 12 Vitality could take me, and boy did Christine’s eyes go wide after she took a look. I’m just glad you and Julia talked to her, because I was so afraid she was going to be ‘off with her head’ when I first interrupted whatever super important meeting she was having with her scientists before she blinked it away and became sweet Dr. Petrovsky again. Too syrupy sweet, really, but, well, I’m not complaining!” She stuttered to a stop, coughed once in embarrassment and shrugged as her friends gave her bemused glances. “I’m running on like a nervous idiot. Sorry.”
Dirk squeezed her shoulder gently. “You’re fine. You trained your heart out today, impressing even our friend Chris here with your Arcane Mech-Warrior skills, only to be caught completely off guard by an unfamiliar face who could have been anyone, and next thing you know, we find out that new friends hidden for centuries have just been discovered and captured by our greatest enemy.” He flashed a wry grin Val’s way. “And then we find our good buddy Val kicking warlock ass without us, looking about as savage and scarred as the hero of any Arnold movie, if not quite so tall...”
Val smirked. “Hey now...”
Yin grinned. “Then Christine shooed all her assistants out of the room, going chalk-white after using her computer to scan whatever was on the cube. I still don’t know what she saw, exactly, because the moment I thought she would let me look, Julia dashes into the room half-dressed with Bethany two steps behind her, saying she just had a terrible nightmare involving you, and next thing you know, here we are.”
Dirk nodded. “And now that we’re here, we really need to get our asses in gear.” He looked towards the direction so many of the gathered wizards were heading toward, gazing in awe at the grand edifice now clearly visible through the redwood treetops, as much sparkling palace as central-most tower soaring high above everything else.
The former soldier turned Arcane Highlord couldn’t help whistling in wonder. “My god, Val. The rabbits you pull out of your hat.”
“You just know that has to be an arch-mage’s fortress!” gushed Yin, absently wrapping a suddenly embarrassed Dirk’s powerful arm around her, snuggling against him. “Oh, I can’t wait to explore it! I can only imagine the treasures inside.” She blinked, collecting herself and grinning sheepishly as she unwound herself from her obvious beau. “That is, after we play the heroes and rescue the dwarves.”
Val quickly nodded, sparing a single glance for what really was a magnificent wonder, just knowing that it hadn’t seemed quite that big when he had first brought it back from the brink of oblivion, frowning as he realized that it hadn’t grown so much as having been deceived by distance. As if the massive edifice, once far off, was now here in truth in all its grandeur. “It’s formally called the White Tower, even though you can clearly see there’s a lot more to it than that, though the tower certainly does dominate. And the magical garden and mushroom grove are no small prizes earlier.” He grimaced and shook his head. “Damn. We have to move, now, and I’m almost completely out of healing potions!”
Julia squeezed his arm, Val’s eyes lighting at the leather satchel she passed him, holding no less than two dozen reds and purples. Val blinked, smiling in appreciation. “Gregor?”
Julia nodded. “Sten and Elise picked up on what’s going on, and next thing you know, Gregor is passing me this, saying you had left hundreds for emergencies, and he had no idea if you even needed them, but was certain we would. We all have several on us, now, but since you’re the one with a storage bag so big it would be considered a hack in most games...”
Val smirked, putting the vials within storage. “You’re just jealous your belly button hasn’t leveled up, so you don’t have your own personal pocket dimension.”
Yin was gazing at him, dumbfounded. “You can do that?”
Val winked. �
��Only if you’re really, really special,” he said, wincing when Julia hit him. “Okay. I have my bike, but that’s not going to carry more than two, and we need to get moving.”
“No worries,” Dirk said. “I have a couple of velis stashed about the property. One should be right outside the house.”
They wasted no more time, a grinning Dirk soon gazing with horrified awe at the smoking wreck that had once been a sleek, shining chrome velimobile before racing to his backup some distance from the central manor. Though this one looked as perfect as the day it was assembled by men or drones or who knew what, it wouldn’t start worth a damn.
“Damn. Must be all the electromana surges. We’re at wizard central at this point,” Chris sympathized. “Looks like it’s going to be horses for us.”
Val smiled. “Not necessarily.”
Greater Dominion Catalyzation successfully cast! Your velimobile’s now as sleek and shiny as the day it was built! Good thing you don’t have to worry about random spells blowing out your electromana couplings, right Val?
Val winced even as his friends happily got in the once more functioning veli. “Hop in, Val. We’re good to go!” Dirk said.
Val crossed his arms. “And what happens when the first enemy mage we face throws a spell at us? Or a ward trap? Hell, I think we could benefit from having a few Christos mages back up our play, and they certainly aren’t big on the Personal Resonance Mastery skill tree.”
Dirk frowned. “Alright, Val, what the hell do you suggest then?”
Val gazed at his tower thoughtfully, noting the bustle by the entrance. “Hold on, I just might have an idea.”
“You wish to learn a summon steed spell?” Alwin, presently next to the front entrance of the now massive academy, blinked in surprise at Val’s request, half a dozen of the surviving wizards quickly bowing to them both before darting off on whatever tasks Alwin had just assigned.
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