by Wolfe Locke
“Don’t!” Colubra shouted, racing toward the skeleton with her spear at the ready. “He’s mine!”
The skeleton did another dance, looking right at Tetraites as it summoned a vicious-looking icicle and threw it at the Gorgon. Tetraites had had enough. He used his ice wall ability and summoned a sheet of glacial ice in front of Colubra, stopping the ice spear. She drew up short with an angry howl and jumped backward as the ice spear managed to penetrate most of the glacial wall before stopping.
“This imitation is mine and mine alone,” Tetraites announced.
Notification: The ability “Ice Wall” has evolved into “Glacial Fortress.”
Increased durability of ice and is no longer limited to only single walls.
Evolved ability? Let me put that to good use. In a rush of power, Tetraites reached into himself and summoned glacial walls. Completely surrounding himself and the other skeleton. They were trapped and hemmed in on all sides. Only one of them would leave the circle alive. This is my fight. They have done their part.
The two identical skeletons circled each other with sword and spear, red eyes burning. Tetraites struck out just as the other skeleton did. Each dodged out of the way of the other’s weapon, moving in tandem. Again and again, they lashed out with their weapons, and again they both evaded injury.
Eventually, they came together in a flurry of blows. The other skeleton was the most skilful opponent with a sword Tetraites had ever faced, in this life, and his last. The skeleton seemed to know exactly where Tetraites would strike next. For every attack Tetraites made, the other skeleton’s blade was already there to counter it.
Neither had the advantage, and both swordsmen backed off. Tetraites hurled an ice bolt at his opponent—and immediately had to dive out of the way of an identical ice bolt thrown at him. He growled in frustration, sounding a bit like the Werewolf he and his team had killed earlier. The other skeleton cackled in response.
“What’s wrong, Tetraites?” it said in Zekant’s voice. “Getting angry? You’re only getting angry with yourself.”
Tetraites lashed out with a flurry of blows, but the other skeleton continued to counter him. This is useless. What is it that Zekant wants from this? None of his other foes had ever spoken before in this manner, much less taunted him as the skeleton was doing now. What made this different?
“This fight is going nowhere!” Colubra hissed from outside the wall of ice. “I’d have finished this by now! Dismiss this ice and move aside!”
Tetraites tuned her out. Not likely, you couldn’t take me in a fight. But there must be a secret here to win. What did Zekant want from him in this battle?
What had impressed the Dark Lord in Tetraites’ previous fights? Not swordplay, certainly. Yarrl would have been a better swordsman. No, it was raw power. The most pleased he’d seen Zekant had been when he’d unleashed an uncontrolled whirlwind in the Arena and immediately passed out.
He sent an experimental icicle flying at the skeleton, which countered it easily. Then, Tetraites sent a smaller volley, testing, and probing. Again, the skeleton countered, turning his ice to harmless power. It laughed in Zekant’s voice.
“So tentative, Tetraites? So frugal.” It laughed. “Have you lost your nerve?”
It was clear what Zekant wanted him to do. I must evolve beyond myself. Tetraites reached within himself and grasped a large strand of the innate glacial power Zekant had planted within him. He could feel its roots in the source of his strength. He shaped the magic with his mind, honing its edge to razor sharpness. Then, he unleashed it at his opponent.
Notification: The ability “Storm of Swords” has morphed into “Razor Frost.”
Razor Frost causes a mist of powdered snow to spawn and rise in a vortex in a small area. Anything caught within this vortex must endure the sharped edges of the flakes of Razor Snow.
I can feel the changes. It was more overwhelming than he could have anticipated. He laughed as a rush of intoxicating power rushed through him. The other skeleton had just a split second to look down before the barrage of icy particles slammed into it, knocking it to the ground and pummelling its body with deadly force. Flake after flake cut into its bones, cracking them into dusty pieces. The skeleton never even had time to scream.
Unlike before, when Tetraites had first unlocked his magic, he retained complete control of the power within him. Through the glacial ice, he looked directly at Zekant as he summoned another wave of Razor Frost where the skeleton’s motionless body lay. It was overkill, but Tetraites didn’t care. The Dark Lord had wanted his power to grow. Tetraites would revel in that.
He called off the Razor Frost only after the imposter. The skeletal imitation had been totally and completely destroyed. To Tetraites’ surprise, he still had reserves of power left over. He was getting stronger. I should check how much my magic has increased when I get the chance.
The skeleton’s bones lay scattered around the Arena. Deliberately, Tetraites walked over to his opponent’s skull and crushed it into dust under his bone foot. Then he curled his hand into a fist, causing the walls of his Glacial Fortress to collapse. He turned to face Zekant’s viewing box and bowed theatrically low.
“Are you not pleased, my master?” he asked an arrogant edge to his voice.
“Easy,” said Selesius, trotting over to him. “We’re not done yet.”
“Well done Tetraites,” the Dark Lord boomed, smiling. “This bodes well for your future. Some of the other Lords have grown very interested in you. Your third foe approaches. It will be the most challenging of the three.”
Colubra scowled as they once again assumed battle positions and hissed at Tetraites. “The skeleton was mine. You took it from me. I wanted to destroy it.”
“The Dark Lord wanted me to do it,” Tetraites said. “It has forced me to evolve my abilities.”
“You don’t know that. You just took over and took the kill for yourself.” Colubra responded hotly.
“And defeated the enemy. As usual.” Tetraites responded cooly.
“The next one is mine!” Colubra said.
“Stop it!” The Centaur hissed. “It does not matter who makes the kill. What matters is that we are victorious, as a team, and survive to meet whatever challenges await us next.”
Tetraites turned to the rising elevator growing tired of the argument. He would be the one to destroy the enemy. His would be the power and the glory. Colubra would not get satisfaction. The Dark Lord will acknowledge me.
Chapter 19: The Armored Demon
The lift ground to a halt with a screech as the platform struggled with the weight of its burden. On it stood a strange and eerie creature even by the standards of the Nether and Great Empty.
“A suit of armor…?” Tetraites muttered. What matter of trick is this?
The armor was twice the height of a man, and its body was made of molded iron. There was a dark emptiness between its helm and the chin guard where its face should have been. An enchanted armor?
“This is my iron golem,” Zekant said, answering the question on everyone's mind. “I have chained a demon duke to a suit of my own glacial armor. It will never stop fighting until it is destroyed. For my fellow Lords, this is a foe comparable to an Infernal.”
The demon moved its head stiffly, scanning the Arena. It rattled with every motion the iron golem made. Its every step caused the ground to vibrate underneath its weight.
“The demon inside is enraged at being forced into this form,” the Dark Lord added. “I have convinced it that you are to blame for its captivity. It wants nothing more than to kill you and feast on the essence within your souls. Good luck, and do not disappoint me.”
The Dark Lord sat back in his seat and motioned for the battle to begin. The Champions waited, unsure of how to proceed, thinking the golem would start by sprinting toward them as some of their other foes had done, but it did not. Instead, it moved slowly, with a lurching, stiff-legged gait, as if it was just learning to walk.
“I
t moves awkwardly,” The Centaur said. “The armor must be hard for the demon to manipulate.”
They watched the enemy stagger forward as Colubra pondered their strategy.
“Let’s try the same tactic as with the scorpions,” she said finally. “Selesius, you can try breaking a hole in its armor with your enchanted arrows. I don’t know if it will hurt the demon, but it’s worth an attempt. If not, Tetraites’ ice magic might be helpful.”
They circled the golem, with Selesius hanging back out of its attack range as usual. Colubra went in first. She called her orb of stone magic into her hands and launched a massive boulder at their enemy.
It slammed into its armored chest with great force—and bounced harmlessly to the ground. The golem stopped its relentless forward advance and swiveled its helmet around, trying to find the source of the attack.
“Selesius!” she said. “New strategy!”
Her voice had given her location away. The golem turned toward her and clanked forward again. She fell back, firing rocks at the creature as she retreated. It didn’t stop. Her stone magic ricocheted off the golem’s impenetrable body. It didn’t even seem to notice she was attacking it.
“It can’t see well with all the dust your rocks are making,” Tetraites said, “and your magic isn’t hurting it. Stop fighting it and see if it can find you without a storm of rocks telling it exactly where you are!”
Colubra stopped attacking and, moving quietly, crept around behind the creature. Slowly, as if it was having trouble controlling its own body, it clanked to a halt. It scanned the Arena again, trying to see what had happened to its foe.
“It has some perceptive abilities,” Selesius said. “But they’re poor. The demon isn’t used to this body. We can use this to our advantage.”
Tetraites remembered the trick he’d used with the goatman he’d blinded in his first battle. “If Colubra and I stay on the move,” he said. “We can keep it from knowing where we are. Attacking it from multiple sides at once will confuse it.”
Colubra nodded. “It may not be vulnerable to earth magic,” she said. “But my stone fist ability might be able to distract it. If Tetraites has issues seeing through the dust, maybe it might as well. It will be a good distraction, as will your arrows, Selesius.”
The centaur nodded. “This will buy us some time. We need to figure out what it might be vulnerable to.”
All three Champions went on the attack, each of them firing their ranged magic at the golem as they raced around in circles. The creature spun around, trying to figure out where they were and which of them it should attack first. It bellowed in distress.
“It’s not that tough!” jeered Colubra as she launched a barrage of stone bolts at it. “All it does is walk around!”
This was true, but their magic wasn’t having much effect on it, either. The rocks and arrows just bounced off the golem’s metal body. Tetraites’ ice magic was a bit more effective—it flinched whenever an ice shard hit it—but only a bit. Even Tetraites didn’t seem to be doing any noticeable damage to it.
“We can’t keep running in circles forever!” boomed Selesius. “Eventually, we’ll run out of magic and energy, and that monster will finish us off.”
“Think!” Tetraites said as he shouted at them. “The Dark Lord said it was made of iron. Does iron have any weaknesses?”
“How would I know?” hissed Selesius. “I was a doctor. I dealt in healing and in death!”
“My soldiers fought with iron weapons,” Colubra said. “None of them ever complained to me.”
Tetraites sighed. This was no use. He didn’t know the answer either. This is a riddle Zekant wants us to solve.
The air above the iron golem bristled with power, the battlefield growing chaotic with magic as they continued to attack it relentlessly. Arrows and darts flew past each other over the creature’s head, as did Tetraites’ icicles and Colubra’s stone bolts.
Then, suddenly, their respective ice and stone magic collided and merged together in a flash of darkness.
Notification: You have learned the duel ability “Frozen Lance.”
Details: Combining the powers of “Storm of Swords” with an Earth magical ability allows a second damage type of “Ice” to any Earth-based attack.
Covered in a layer of jagged ice, the boulder slammed into the golem’s back and crashed to the ground. It left a large dent in the golem’s iron armor, and the beast roared angrily. The very first sign they’d been able to damage it.
“It doesn’t like the cold!” Tetraites said. We can do this. “Colubra, if we attack it together—”
“Already on it,” she said, sprinting over to his side of the Arena. Working in unison, they cast volley after volley at the golem. Tetraites directed his ice at Colubra’s stone bolts as she threw them, the power of their duel ability freezing their respective magic into deadly projectiles.
Her stone gave his icicles additional power, and his ice allowed her bolts to pierce the golem’s armor. Slowly, the golem fell back toward Zekant’s end of the Arena. They were winning.
But it was taking too long. The effort required to sustain a constant barrage of attacks was draining all four Champions’ power quickly. Colubra’s scales were dark with sweat. She had started breathing hard even as she continued to launch bolts at the golem. They had to finish the fight soon before they ran out of magic completely.
“Any ideas?” Tetraites yelled to Selesius.
“Fresh out,” he panted, using his own ability to keep up Colubra’s power. “Can you do something like you did to the skeleton? With all the icicles?”
Razor Frost? Could Tetraites do it again with his power this depleted? He probed the source of his magic, his core, trying to figure out how much was left and how much he could demand of himself.
“I don’t know!” he said. “I can try. It might be ugly. This is the closest I’ve come to draining my magic reserves since the fight we lost the manticore.”
“Ugly’s better than dead!” Colubra shouted, shooting another flurry of rocks at the golem. “We may have injured it enough that whatever you do will destroy it!”
“All right,” he said, backing away from the golem. “Keep attacking the golem. But fall back, don’t let it get close to you.”
The Champions did as he asked. Tetraites narrowed his eyes and focused on the golem, trying to tune out everything that wasn’t the enemy. It was dented from his and Colubra’s barrage of attacks but still very much alive.
Tetraites would need to make full use of all the power remaining to him if he wanted to win. After three consecutive battles, his reserves of magic were running dangerously low.
He dug down deep within himself and tried to summon Razor Forst. The power rose and crested within him like a wave—and then fell back again. He didn’t have enough left. He couldn’t do it.
Muttering expletives to himself, he tried again. Again the power rose, and again it fell. The other Champions looked at him expectantly. They thought he could save them. But he couldn’t. Wondering how he was going to break the news, Tetraites made one more attempt. This time, when the magical wave reached its height, he felt everything else fall away.
The other Champions were gone. The Arena was gone. This was between him and the golem. Feeling a calm he hadn’t experienced since before Zekant had resurrected him, Tetraites grabbed the flow of magic and twisted it, molding it. He envisioned it wrapping itself around the golem’s body like a vine. Then, he released it.
It wasn’t Razor Frost, it was something else, and that something else was enough. Frost raced across the ground toward the golem as Tetraites sucked all the heat out of the air with a rush. Ice shards rained down around the creature as all the water in the air froze solid in seconds.
Selesius quickly threw up a shield to keep Tetraites’ attack from instantly killing the other Champions. The golem barely had enough time to turn its head toward its attacker before it was covered in ice. Tetraites reached his skeletal arms out toward
the
Golem and clenched his fists, letting the essence of his ice magic flow.
With an awful cracking noise, the golem shattered into a thousand pieces. The enchanted armor was completely destroyed.
The demon duke escaped from its armored prison and turned on Tetraites, shrieking with hundreds of voices at once. It was a nebulous black cloud of shadow that fashioned itself into rough shapes, which dissolved just as quickly as they had formed. It flew above Tetraites’ head, it formed a great sharp-toothed mouth with a long and lolling tongue.
“You have freed us,” it hissed, reaching its shadow-tongue out toward Tetraites. “And it shall be the last thing you do. We will crush your bones and feast on the marrow within!”
Tetraites reached out to his well of power, but found it completely empty. At least I didn’t pass out this time. He was tapped out. Resigning himself to his fate, he raised his sword high in a final salute and waited to die.
A low voice boomed out across the Arena. The voice of absolute power. “Enough!”
The demon turned toward the Dark Lord’s box. “Who speaks?”
“I, Zekant, a Lord of Pandemonium and ruler of the Great Empty. It is I who raised you from the depths of the Nether and I whom fastened your spirit to this form. The undead skeleton is not to blame.”
Fury rising, the demon raised itself high into the air. It tried to fly toward Zekant, but a wall of scorching glacial fire drove it back. Tetraites blinked, impressed. The Dark Lord was more powerful than he could have imagined. The other Dark Lord’s appeared amused by the turn of events. The scarred man, most of all.
