Whatever the case was for that revelation in question, however, I didn’t have the time to pursue it as the shield that the orcs had sacrificed at least one of their own to restore finally began to take shape. Shimmering high above us, I saw the air thicken once again with a familiar black and purple haze that marked the barrier’s presence, causing an immediate drop off to the magical barrage that had pinned us in place on the siegebreaker’s spine. Whether it was due to the speed that the orcs had recast their spell or because it lacked power, the shield was only somewhat effective in blocking the oncoming spells and ballistae bolts, allowing a portion of them to still slip through.
But with the majority of the spells blunted or redirected away from us, it was enough to cause Carver to rise from his crouched position and begin to sprint towards Amaranth and me, the man intent on resuming our battle. But this time, it was more than just him and his spirit companion charging towards us, the shaman triggering whatever ability it was that his corruption powers gave him to summon four of the same corrupted shades that he had during our battle at Valor’s Point. Taking shape, two each from a pair of black spheres that he threw from his hand as he ran, they manifested themselves mid-sprint on either side him as a quartet of mid-sized bestial humanoids with antlers on their heads and a vaguely wolfish maw.
Biting down a curse as I saw them rapidly close the distance between us, I pushed myself back to my feet with Amaranth following suit beside me, the both of us falling into a defensive stance. Managing to ready ourselves right as the group arrived, we were promptly forced to give ground, lest we end up simply trampled by their combined assault. Backpedaling as fast as our feet could take us, we then dodged, blocked, and parried what felt like an endless avalanche of sweeping claws, biting teeth, and thrusting spear strikes, barely managing to stay ahead of the endless attacks. It was only due to our comparatively better equipment and the battle potion adding to our strength that Amaranth and I managed to survive the initial contact relatively unscathed, suffering just a few minor injuries from the shades that Carver had summoned.
At least until our battle potions started to get close to expiring and we found ourselves pushed back onto the siegebreaker’s head where we’d originally landed without anywhere further to retreat to.
Damn it. Where are Janus and the others? Because we could really use some help here! I asked myself as a warning flashed across my vision, it telling me that I had fifteen seconds left before my enhanced strength wore off. Mentally cursing at how fast time had flown, I made the most of the battle potion while I still had it, reaching up to block a high slash from Carver with my vambrace and stopping his spear cold. But no sooner did I do so, I was promptly forced to twist and avoid a bite to the knee from Valefor, the wolf spirit suddenly moving to join Carver and lunging away from Amaranth to attack me.
Eyes widening at the unexpected switch, I shoved back against the spear that I’d blocked, pushing its tip just far enough to deliver a half-hearted backhand to its haft, striking the weapon hard enough to knock it wide and away from where it could threaten me. This bought me the few seconds I needed to turn my focus fully on Valefor, bringing Savagery up before me, getting ready to strike at it as it prepared to pounce towards me. But as I committed myself to intercept the spirit’s attack, I opened myself up to another one that I only saw coming after it was too late, Carver abruptly adjusting his grip on his shield and sending a spray of pale white magic in my direction. Arriving too fast for me to do anything to avoid it, the next thing I felt was a potent exhaustion falling me followed by what felt like thousand searing bug bites all across my body.
“What’s wrong, Lyrian?” the man taunted as I let out a loud curse from the spell’s effects, two of the shades managing to land glancing hits on me immediately afterward. “It looks like you’re starting to slow down!”
“Oh, don’t worry about me, Carver, I’m just catching my second wind here,” I replied somewhat breathlessly as I did my best to push aside both the crippling magic’s effects and the corruption the shades’ attacks had left, preparing my own spell in response.
Throwing my hand forward the instant I finished speaking, I left Carver with no opportunity to take advantage of his spell, bathing not only him but also Valefor and the shades that had attacked me with a point-blank Cone of Cold. Bursting outward from the center of my palm, the breath of ice washed over the group and sent them all retreating a step with a thick layer of frost forming on their skin and armor. Up until this point, I’d tried to play it a little safely with my mana use, relying on Alacrity and Shocking Touch to give me the edge that I needed. But with Amaranth and me being pushed back to the brink and with no help in sight, I felt it was time to change my tactics, shifting them completely to the offensive and hoping that it would be enough. So it was with that thought that I leapt forward directly behind my spell, focusing my attention on both Carver and the shade immediately beside him before they could recover.
Appraising them in a heartbeat, I saw that the shade had caught the worst of the spell’s effects, the creature having stepped forward to partially shield Carver during my cast. So it was with a Shocking Touch-charged Savagery that I lunged to attack it, the sword landing a vicious slash across what passed for its shoulder and chest, splitting the shadow that was its body as if it were paper. But that single blow was all that I was able to manage before I had to shift my attention back to Carver, the half-orc recovering quickly from the chilling frost that had actually managed to hit him.
“Oh-ho, now there’s the spark that I’m used to seeing!” he exclaimed approvingly as he retaliated to my attack against his shade with a thrust of his spear, its tip beginning to glow with emerald magic. “But I have to say it’s a little too late, Lyrian, because as amusing as this is, I think it’s time that we—”
A bolt of lightning from high above suddenly interrupted Carver before he could finish speaking, its path taking it directly into the shade that I had just wounded. Cracking loudly with power, the missile lanced straight through the bestial shadow before pinning itself to the ground behind it, the impaled creature writhing in agony as it sparked brightly. Staggering backward from the sudden attack, I was able to see Carver’s eyes widen in shock as they shifted upwards to where the bolt had come from, his mouth dropping open in surprise just in time for a voice to reach my ears.
“Sorry we’re late, Lyrian!” I heard Janus shout a second before an armored figure slammed into the ground beside me, his arm reaching out to reclaim the spear that now protruded from the siegebreaker’s skin, the shade that it had impaled now dissipating around it. “We hit some traffic along the way!”
“But you’re here now!” I exclaimed, feeling a surge of relief shoot through me as I saw another pair of spellswords that I didn’t recognize by name land similarly on Amaranth’s flank, both of them immediately attacking the shades with a burst of fiery magic. “And just in time, too! Things were starting to look a little dicey.”
“I can see that!” Janus replied as he pulled his weapon free of where it had stuck and in one smooth motion used it to send a threatening stab towards Carver, catching him square on the shield as it was his turn to take a hurried step backward. “Hey! I know you! You’re the pain in the ass that started this whole mess!”
“Oh, you don’t know the half of it,” I said dryly to the other spellsword as I pressed after the retreating shaman, feeling more confident now that help had arrived. “But in any case, Carver, meet Janus. If you haven’t been able to tell, he’s a bit of a fan.”
Unfortunately despite his earlier chattiness, Carver suddenly seemed at a loss for words to answer me, the man doing little more than letting out an angry grunt in response. Though in his defense, it may have been my sword stabbing into his bicep that prevented him from fully articulating himself, or if not that, then the sudden death of another one of his shades under the hands the other two spellswords. Regardless of what it was, however, the man quickly lost his opportunity to say anything in
response as I was able to use my superior speed to not only pace his backward retreat but also trap his spear with Savagery. This allowed for me to dart in even closer to the man before he could react, his shield coming up far too slow to block my electrified fist as it struck him across the jaw in a vicious left cross, promptly sending him flying backward and off his feet with a brilliant flash of lightning, the sky above thundering loudly at the same instant that my strike landed.
“Good hit!” Janus exclaimed as Carver then bounced head over heels down the length of the siegebreaker before eventually coming to a stop a dozen or so feet away from Zhul and the other orcs.
“Thanks. I’ve been waiting a hell of a long time to do that,” I replied as I flexed the hand that I’d struck the man with, still feeling the tingling effects that the Ring of Force’s magic left after I’d activated it. But as I shook it off, my attention was then yanked back towards the battle around me, Carver’s spirit companion belatedly coming to his rescue.
Snapping out with a bite towards my arm that I narrowly avoided, I was able to slash at the creature with Savagery, drawing a line not only through the crimson spirit’s shoulder but also its snout. The result had the creature growling with pain as it leapt back away from me, suddenly realizing that it was outmatched as another of the shades that Carver had summoned was slain by Amaranth and the others.
But that realization came far too late to save the spirit.
Forming around it just as it began to turn to flee, thick lengths of azure chains abruptly manifested around the crimson wolf, wrapping themselves around its body before anchoring themselves to the muddy ground beneath. The result pinned the hapless spirit in place just long enough for Amaranth and me to fully turn our focus towards it, leaving the remaining two shades for the others to finish off. There was little grace or skill in what followed afterward, the two of us doing what we needed to in order to rid ourselves of the threat that the spirit posed, it eventually losing shape and dissipating into a red mist of energy.
Followed, of course, by a loud scream of pain from Carver.
Glancing up at the sound of his voice, I saw that he was still in the process of rising to his feet after my punch, the blow combined with the loss of his spirit companion leaving him visibly dazed. But as I watched him struggle to rise, I heard Zhul’s voice call out to Carver, prompting my eyes to shift towards its source. Spotting him right where I’d last seen him by the violet orb, the orc warlord had turned his attention away from the sphere of magic to focus on the shaman, his words carrying just far enough for us to hear.
“Your effort disgusts me,” he said in a savage, yet calm tone to the man. “These people have bested you and your tribe time and time again, and now you allow them to do so once more. Perhaps you do not have a place among the horde after all.”
“I allow them nothing!” Carver growled in response as he staggered fully back up to his feet.
“Then prove otherwise by making better use of the gifts that Riius has given you, and kill them before we do,” he said while turning his gaze towards us, the very air around him suddenly growing darker as thick shadows began to rise from his body. “Because we have grown tired of watching you fail.”
With his words hanging in the air, Zhul began to stride forward, stretching out his hand out beside him as he did so, causing a stream of the living darkness to flow towards it. Morphing and undulating as it moved, the shadow then shaped itself into the form a massive double-sided axe, gaining a visible hardness to it the instant the warlord grabbed a hold of its haft. But as the darkness that formed his weapon took shape, so too did the rest that billowed out from his body, flowing over his armor as if it were a second skin. It even went as far as to cover his exposed face and head, forming itself into a helmet made of pure shadow, its surface completely featureless, save for two bright grey slivers to mark its eyes. Then, with his transformation seemingly complete, Zhul lunged towards us with a sudden burst of speed.
“Whoa! Look out!” I shouted while flinching at Zhul’s abrupt charge towards us, the warlord having exploded into motion faster than I had thought possible, managing to cross nearly half the distance separating us in the blink of an eye. Seeing that I only had seconds to get out of the way, lest I end up on the wrong end of his massive axe, I instinctively leaned to my right in preparation to dodge.
Only to have the entire world around me turn abruptly dark and silent just as I was about to move, followed by the nauseating feeling of corruption clawing into me.
I exclaimed mentally, feeling my heartrate skyrocket as I tried to process my sudden loss of sight and hearing, the presence of the siegebreaker, Zhul, and the battle beyond having completely replaced by pitch-black night and complete silence. Panicking as I realized that the warlord was still charging towards me, I did the only thing I could do and immediately activated True Sight. Reacting instantly, the ability—to my intent relief—pierced through the darkness that had fallen over me and restored my vision as it had been a second earlier, except with everything cast in an azure hue of magic.
And, of course, with Zhul being much, much closer, his axe already in the process of swinging towards me.
Realizing that I’d lost my window to evade him as I originally intended, I quickly shouted a mental warning to Amaranth as I abruptly changed tactics, taking the only remaining option that I saw before me.
I ducked.
Practically faceplanting with the speed that I threw myself downwards, I just barely managed to avoid being struck by Zhul’s axe as it swept over me, the orc warlord lunging forward at the end of his charge to sweep his weapon in a mighty horizontal cleave. Had I not avoided it, there was little doubt in my mind that the powerful blow would have likely chopped me in two—or failing that, sent me flying straight into the air like a human-sized baseball.
Whoa, too close! I thought, glancing back up after I felt the weapon pass over me, seeing Zhul’s helmeted face glare down at me with what I was sure was contempt, his foot lashing out in a kick a second later. Rolling to my right in response to the attack, I retaliated with my own, managing to land a sweeping slash with Savagery on the armored leg as I dodged by it. The blow did nothing in terms of actually managing to injure Zhul, simply striking across the thick metal shin guards that he wore. But my intent, at least besides letting the warlord know that I wasn’t toothless, was to double-check if I heard anything from the hit, the silence around me still complete. It was then as my blade scraped across Zhul’s armor soundlessly that I figured out what he’d done, the magic I saw all around me suddenly becoming familiar. He dropped the same cloud of corruption that Carver dropped on me the last time we fought. Except this cloud silences everything within it too, so we can’t see or call on one another for help. At least everyone other than Amaranth and me.
Realizing that I had to do something about the spell before Zhul could take advantage of it and scythe or corrupt our entire group, I pushed myself back up onto my feet, while sending a pair of cuts towards the man. Catching them easily on the haft of his axe, the attacks caused him to shift his focus towards me just long enough that I could cast a point-blank Flameburst at his helmeted face. Exploding out from my open palm, the torrent of fire and ash was enough to check the warlord’s attack and allow me to leap backward and out of range of his sweeping axe. The movement happened to place me directly where I wanted to be for the next step of my hastily cobbled together plan.
Which was to activate Mana Torrent directly in the center of whatever spell that Zhul had dropped on us.
Instantly, I felt my hunger leap out from within as I called on it, the mysterious magic reaching out to grab hold of all the mana around me and yank it sharply towards me. Taking only a second to do so, I felt a verita
ble torrent of power flow into me, restoring all of my mana, along with a potent surge of pain and nausea, my stomach twisting as the ability came to an end. Wincing in response to the twin sensations, I was promptly rewarded for my efforts by the sounds of battle returning all around me and the magical hue that was the darkness Zhul had cast vanishing from my vision.
“Rah, what the hell was that—oh, shit!” I heard Janus exclaim as everything returned, his voice abruptly breaking as he spotted Zhul bringing his axe back for another swing.
Already moving in anticipation of the attack, I pushed through the effects of the corruption surging through me and once again dodged under the sweeping cleave, this time throwing myself into a roll that put me on the warlord’s flank. As I did, however, I heard the sound of something heavy hitting metal, followed by a loud pained scream ringing out from where I’d last seen the two spellswords. Regaining my feet quickly from my evasive maneuvers, I came up swinging towards Zhul, slashing out with Savagery at his open side. But as my sword reached out towards the orc, a portion of the shadow emanating from his body abruptly darkened, forming itself into an inky black tendril that shot out to block my attack before it could even reach him.
Followed by two others lashing out towards me in immediate retaliation.
“Hrm,” I heard him muse as I spun away from what I soon discovered were razor-sharp tendrils, one of them managing to draw a line across my chin and face, just narrowly missing my throat. “So you were the one with the reaving touch that they spoke of.”
What the hell? Where did those things come from? I exclaimed with a mental hiss of pain, barely processing Zhul’s cryptic words as I completed my spin and found myself forced to defend against even more of the tendrils the second that I came to a stop.
Glory to the Brave (Ascend Online Book 4) Page 89