Brace For the Wolves

by Nathan Thompson

  “They were keeping up with you, advancing faster than you even, but they weren't Rising,” Breena explained. “They were Descending. Parts of themselves weren't stretching to grow stronger. They were breaking down to become something else. Their gear couldn't become something else.”

  “What about the skeletons we fought?” I asked. “They still had magic stuff. Even Virtus had descended a bit, and he's still able to fight with a stone sword.”

  “Actually his sword is something else,” Breena insisted. “I've never seen a weapon that old, absorb magic that well. And the Immortals we fought had Risen before they Descended, so their gear was more durable. And certain enchantments make a weapon get stronger the more something Descends, but they're rare, because usually only monsters Descend. That's part of what make them monsters. And most of them don't use weapons or armor. Their gear would have been even stronger if they had just Risen or just Descended though. In fact, I think part of their problems came from doing one and then the other.”

  “Well, that answers that, I guess,” I replied. “I'll have to work more at getting equipment that can hold up to my new state, then.”

  “Yeah,” Breena nodded. “If you can find someone who knows the right kind of Shaping magic that'll help big time too. Or if you can find weapons that were either enchanted or already have a history of use with Risen warriors.”

  “I'll put all of that on the to-do list somewhere,” I said. “In fact, speaking of to-do lists, we probably have a lot to get done, why don't we...”

  “Uh-uh,” Breena shook her head furiously, enlarging to over two feet again and pushing me back. “Rest, Wes. Remember everything that happened yesterday? The refugees are fine. Everyone's currently fine. There's no one you need to go off gallivanting to save.”

  “Yeah, I get it,” I replied, surprised to find that she could actually push me back a little bit. “But there are still two Pits left, and we need to go check on...”

  She shook her head to cut me off again.

  “Wes, you saved people that got turned into balls. That was incredible and amazing and I'm not buying that your power has a shelf-life here. And the refugees are doing fine. They've found a spot to plant the grain and they still have enough food for a bit. Especially since Guineve is here and can cook if she has to.”

  “What does she need to cook with?” I asked, curious.

  “Mostly? Just Mist. And a handful of other ingredients. She needs to get back to her kitchen eventually but she can actually make some emergency food just from the mist on Avalon. We can at least hold out until the super-seeds you planted finish growing.”

  “That's great news,” I replied. “That's actually really relieving for me.”

  So much so I actually leaned back and sat down on the grass. Wow, I thought. I really am still tired.

  “So what you're saying is we should do...” I began again.

  “Is to finish assigning your skills, let me look over your status one last time, and then go back to bed. Talitha's new mom is going to bring us some food they scavenged. And if you just give Guineve some time to rest, we can retake Avalon completely.”

  “So you're saying...”

  “You don't have anything to really do but go back to bed. In fact, assigning your points can probably wait too,” she assured me. “I think it would be good for you to get a solid rest before making any more decisions. Especially after forming a Flesh and Soul-bond. With like the most dangerous creatures possible.”

  “They're not going to be a problem, are they?” I asked worriedly.

  “Actually it looks like you've always been dealing with the negative consequences of the Flesh-bond, so no,” Breena replied. “And even though he's crazy powerful, your choice for a Soul-Bond seems like a nice guy. As ancient Cosmic powers go,” she clarified. “But more importantly, he feels he owes you a favor, and the fact that he cares at all is a good thing. And we'll keep watch for you. Me and Guineve both.”

  “Thanks Breena,” I said softly, starting to lie back down. “Wait! Val! Kayla! Sam!”

  I wanted to hit myself. I've been putting off talking to them for over a day now.

  “About that, Wes,” Breena hedged. “Guineve and I talked, and we don't think they're ready for you. Let us talk to them for a bit first.”

  “But I'm their...” I trailed off, as my emotions started squirming around in me.

  “Guy that’s probably not ready to talk to them, either,” Breena finished for me. “Just sleep, Wes. We've got you. I'm all rested up so I can handle any problems. And everything else is going to be okay.”

  “Alright,” I replied, giving up.

  Breena led me over to the pile of bedding I must have rolled off of at some point, hovered impatiently over me until I climbed into it, and then she began to sing softly. I felt a drowsiness come over me, and actually started to fight it automatically. Then I reminded myself she was helping, and very carefully lowered my own defenses to let sleep take over me.

  “Good night, Wes,” little Breena said. “Sleep well. I love you.”

  Chapter 16: Brace for the Wolves

  Breena was embarrassed to admit it, but she couldn't remember any spells for the Ideal of Blood. Fortunately, I was somehow able to figure one out anyway.

  Mighty Pump: Empowers the heart in a way that assists recovery of all of a Risen person's pools. Recovery of each pull is increased by the number of Blood magic ranks every ten seconds.

  That would have to do for now. Since the least-trusted voice in my head also shared an affinity with this Ideal, I was really hesitant to gallivant off and explore it some more. But this spell would probably help me avoid over-taxing myself like I had two days ago.

  Breena was far more familiar with the Ideal of Fire, even though she couldn't currently wield it. That was a problem I could tell frustrated her. Except for Water and Air, she'd only gain access to Ideals that the current Challenger had. Afterwards, she'd keep the memory of what the spell did and how it would work, but somehow that wouldn't be enough to grant her the special understanding to the Ideal itself, so she'd be unable to cast spells she still had knowledge of. Furthermore, her power to Rise reset with every new Challenger she bonded with, so her access to Water and Air magic, Ideals she should theoretically always have access to, diminished every time a Challenger went back home. So her Water and Air spells would also have to start from scratch. She said it was the most annoying thing in the worlds, but Stell didn't have a way to fix it and she kept reminding herself that Challengers didn't get to keep any of their super-cool magic when they went back home. And she still wound up being able to travel and Rise more than most other fairies got to, and she got to form the closest bond possible with the Challenger, out of all of Stell's Satellites.

  Still, though, I could identify with losing hard work and having to start from scratch. Which was part of the reason I could tell that she was really happy about having an Ideal all to herself, and especially now that she could Rise on her own. I could also tell because she went and told me exactly that, in the space of three breaths total.

  Furthermore, all of that conversation came from “Hey, Breena, now that I've slept, do you know any Fire spells too? I figure I should get that sorted out now.”

  I guess she was a morning person.

  At any rate once she settled down she gave me two signature spells, one of which I kind of insisted upon.

  The first was another enhancement spell.

  Inner Fire: The Challenger gains a bonus to his Charisma and Wisdom score equal to his ranks in Fire magic. Initiate Bonus: The spell also adds an equal amount of Fire damage to the Challenger's melee attacks.

  Then came the spell every roleplayer loved, unless they were a pyrophobe:

  Fireball: The Challenger hurls a small explosive ball that detonates in an area with a radius equal to five times his Fire magic rank, in feet. Damage is equal to 100 times his Fire magic rank. Initiate Bonus: The Challenger may store a single casting of the spell in advan
ce.

  Still not as much damage as my lightning spell, but it let far more people know up front just how unhappy I was with them. There was also a fire spell that let me shoot off digits of burning bolts that behaved much like my Shocking Digits spell, and another spell that let me manage the amount of heat in a room, and finally a basic spell for starting fires or boiling water. I memorized what they did without paying too much attention to my mind-screen, in the first place because I had already cast the finger-fire spell back when I was having my dragon-man breakdown, and the other two because they were just that simple.

  The next notification, however, wasn't. Simple, that is. In fact, it opened up all kinds of possibilities.

  The Challenger has reached the rank of Initiate in five different schools of magic and also raised his Intelligence and Wisdom Traits above 50. The Challenger has taken a single step on the Path of the Archmage.

  Breena would have to tell me more about what this new Path entailed. I was starting to learn more about Paths, having walked two of them before this. On one hand, they seemed to grant more abilities. On the other, however, they seemed to bring their own complications and responsibilities. In a sense, I felt trapped along the Path of War, where I felt it was becoming harder not to solve my problems through conflict. The Path of Kings made it harder for me to abandon responsibilities, especially regarding other people. I wasn't sure what the Path of the Archmage would do to me, but I guessed that being an Archmage was also going to be a whole lot of work.

  Breena told me I was overthinking these things when I shared my concern, and that if I were on these Paths, it was because they would take me where I needed to go.

  To cope with my new magical tomfoolery, I decided to put most of my Rise points into my Intelligence and Wisdom, leaving only two for Dexterity. Strength, Constitution, and Charisma were all doing fine, thank you very much, and I doubted I'd have even been able to adjust them much as they were all over twelve times my Risen level. That condition would probably make future allocations easier as well. I spent a few more of my skill points to bring my combat and magic skills to 11, but I wasn't willing to try and push into 12, the new threshold of Apprentice ranking, before my Risen level was close to there. Breena said I could probably risk it with one or two skills, but at the rate I was uncovering new powers, it was probably better just to wait. That worked for me, especially after all of the recent 'growing pains.'

  I took another look at my status and verified the changes.

  Wes Malcolm

  Race: Human/Avalonian. Origin: Earth (Dusk Era), Avalon (Challenger)

  Growth Level: Ninth Rise (Flash)

  Strength: 114

  Dexterity: 99

  Constitution: 114

  Intelligence: 97

  Wisdom: 98

  Charisma: 114

  Speed: 125

  Deftness: 121

  Wits: 111

  Will: 152

  21 skill points remaining

  New skills

  Magic:

  Fire: 11 (Increased via salvaged saturation of other Ideals)

  Blood: 4 (Increased via salvaged saturation of other Ideals)

  That done, we got breakfast from the emergency rations and from some kind of doughy bread Guineve had made from mist and a little bit of grain she found from somewhere. I had been worried that she hadn't recovered enough to cook but she explained that it helped her recover faster, as long as she fixed light meals and ate the food as well. I wasn't entirely convinced, but she seemed okay at the time, and had saved my life earlier, so I went ahead and just took her word for it. For now at least. The bread tasted delicious and woke me up better than an energy drink, and afterwards, before my brain could stop my tongue, I had apologized to Guineve for not being smart or worthy enough to marry her yet. Then, when I was about to apologize for my cheesy and unthinking line she just hugged me and told me I was adorable, and that I probably needed to get to work on whatever Breena was going to make me do for the day.

  When it came to women putting up with me, I was a lucky man, all things considered.

  The refugees were still cautiously hopeful. Me being carried back unconscious had severely worried them, but the news that I had rescued the Lady of the Mists and destroyed a Horde Pit along the way brought them a lot of optimism. So far at least, they were willing to trust my leadership and that of my team. Which was good.

  Speaking of my team, everyone was still recovering nicely. We had explained Virtus' presence as an immortal guardian, but for now we still decided to keep him out of sight until I was sure everyone had wrapped their heads around the fact that there was a walking talking skeleton man in town now, and that he was protecting them. Hopefully that would sink in soon. At least they were probably getting used to something crazy happening every time I came back from a trip.

  We still hadn't told them about the people I had rescued from the Horde Pit because we didn't want to get anyone's hopes up until we were more sure of our news.

  Karim, Eadric, and Weylin were about as recovered as Breena was and were walking about too. They looked a little different and I was able to gather that they had all Risen too. And it looked like they were still getting abilities from me, though they wouldn't elaborate on which yet. I found that Virtus had Risen as well, and that when I fully recovered, he would be willing to train me and others further on fighting. He was a long way from recovering the power he had originally lost, he said, but he had Risen several levels when he had taken up my offer, enough to surpass his handful of Descents. Breena sounded torn between the idea of getting me more rest and being absolutely thrilled with the idea of having someone else be responsible for all of my weapon questions and my crazy ideas for training.

  Even with all the Tumults and Trials happening, weapon and magic training was something I expected to keep at. I didn't fully trust my skill points to keep me from getting rusty and I knew every moment I wasn't spending stopping an apocalypse was a moment I needed to spend either recovering or getting stronger. Virtus seemed to agree with that.

  Val, Sam, and Kayla were all still avoiding me. I went ahead and let them for now. Little Gabby still ran up and hugged me whenever she saw me, and she was thrilled with the fact that unlike when I was disabled, she could hug me as hard as she wanted without hurting me.

  Talitha was still fitting in well and had started playing with the other children more, even my three almost-sisters. Next to Breena, she was their funnest playmate, because she apparently could still briefly turn transparent or invisible, like she was a ghost again. It made her a lot of fun during hide and seek.

  Guineve, though, had the strongest reaction to having more people in Avalon. I caught her staring while all of the children were chasing Breena again.

  “Hey, Guineve,” I asked, walking up next to her. “You okay?”

  She didn't answer me, or turn to look at me. That worried me.

  “Uhhh, Guineve?” I repeated. “You still alright? Still getting better?”

  “Children,” she said, without looking at me. “You brought children to Avalon, Wes.”

  “I did?” I asked, not sure if I was about to get in trouble. “I mean, they were already here when I broke out, and it's not like I had anywhere to put them.”

  “Yes, you did,” Guineve said, turning to look at me. “You didn't have to take responsibility for them. You didn't have to risk yourself for them, too.”

  Her face and voice were neutral. I couldn't tell why.

  “I kind of did, Guineve. It was part of the whole 'be a hero' package I signed up for. And I was pretty sure they'd die if someone didn't take care of them all.”

  “They would have,” Guineve replied, and I heard a crack in her voice. “They would have all died hungry and cold, screaming for their mother, or their father, or anyone big enough to make things better, to come and save them. To tell them that everything was going to be okay again.”