by Ian Rodgers
I took a step forward, wobbled, and fell forward, landing on my ‘hands’ and ‘knees.’ The people watching gasped in fear for my life and the Scaled Bear bore down on me like an avalanche of muscles and scaly death.
But it was all part of my plan.
Through my ‘palms’ I could feel the ground around me, as well as the masses that stood atop it. This Earth Sense was thanks to my Familiar Contract with Rosa, and using it I could manipulate the soil and stone around me more easily.
I sent a jolt of mana through the ground and the moment the Urdrai took its next step the earth opened up and swallowed its right foot, tripping it up and causing it to collapse.
Downed, the Urdrai made for an easy target and Yorrik wasted no time leaping forward and plunging his enhanced swords into its back. The Ranger grinned viciously as the twin blades sunk deep into it, cutting through scales and muscles with contemptuous ease.
However, his victory was short lived as an unexpected complication popped up. When he tried to remove the blades, the B-ranker found they were stuck! The Phantom Blade I had bestowed on them had faded far sooner than I had expected, leaving them jammed into its back and no way to remove them.
“Jellik!” he cried, begging for another application of the spell. I tried to cast it again, but the magic failed to even connect and I began to panic.
~Jelly, calm down! Did you forget that I told you the Urdrai’s scales are highly resistant to magic?! That means magic coatings, buffs, and minor enchantments will fade after coming into contact with them!!~ Tara shouted at me.
Before I could retort that having that information would have been wonderful beforehand the Urdrai reacted, recovering quickly from its surprise trip to the ground.
Yorrik had to abandon his swords as the beast below him started to move. He jumped off of it, and that was the only reason he survived the brutal backwards kick the Urdrai delivered. If he hadn’t been moving Yorrik’s stomach would have ruptured from the blow and spilled his entrails everywhere!
However, the angle and force of the kick were both compromised since the Ranger’s reflexes had gotten him further away from the Urdrai. Instead of having his stomach crumpled up into a paste, the strike merely shattered his legs and sent him flying away into the dirt.
“Yorrik!” I shouted. I saw him twitch feebly and a sigh of relief escaped me. I didn’t have much time to do anything else though as the Urdrai rose and snarled at me. It was still some distance away, and was wary about my ability to move the ground as I pleased.
But just when I thought I had an advantage it pulled out another insane trick. It crouched down slightly and let out an earsplitting roar. To my utter shock there was an actual, physical soundwave released from its maw, and what felt like a hundred pounds of vibrating air slammed into me.
I was sent crashing through the tree I had first been smacked into and went tumbling through the undergrowth. As I came to a stop in a briar patch I winced and tried to hold in my cries of pain. The vibrations had agitated my core, and the crack had reopened much to my immense, agonizing displeasure.
‘What was that?!’ I gasped out to Tara.
~A Level Two Sonic spell known as Bestial Roar. It’s just a loud shout amplified with a bit of magic to become a bludgeoning tool to stagger opponents. Many monsters and magical creatures are able to use it, however, because it is just a roar laden with mana, and thus very simple to learn and pull off.~
‘If that was a Level Two spell I will eat a bunch of hats!’ I shouted at her. I had been sent flying ten feet through the air and through a tree! Like Hells that was a lesser spell!
~You should remember that even a weak spell can be overcharged with excess magical energy for more damage, Jelly! Urdrai are S-rank creatures who can fight dragons, so it stands to reason they could do that much damage with just a minor spell!~
To my everlasting shame I had forgotten that little tidbit while trying to come up with a plan against our assailant. My shock and bitterness did not last long, though, as it was immediately replaced with all-consuming fear.
While I had been lying dazed on the ground the Urdrai had had no such problems, and had charged after me when I’d been sent flying. He now loomed over my prone form and I could feel its dank, fetid, gore laden breath waft over me.
I fired off a round of Magic Arrows. They popped like soap bubbles on its scales. I tried to create a pitfall under its feet. It side stepped the hole without even looking at it. In desperation I tried to cast a Calm spell over the towering beast, praying that it would soothe its furious emotions.
The Urdrai laughed at me as the Calm washed over it with no effect. It snorted and raised its right foot to crush me under its heel. I flinched.
‘I wonder what sort of afterlife I’ll be sent to?’ I wondered, girding myself for the end.
(CHARGE!)
A sonorous bellow echoed through the woods accompanying the telepathic battle cry.
The Urdrai glanced to its side in surprise and was blindsided by a charging mass of black fur and sharp antlers.
I stared, uncomprehendingly, at the sight of Rosa brandishing her needle-sword atop the head of a very familiar rampaging Dire Moose as said steed slammed into the Urdrai and sent it tumbling head over heels. It landed in a crumpled heap out in the space between the highway and the Dullwild.
The bear-like creature staggered to its feet, stunned, then glared evilly at the Dire Moose. Rosa’s ride snorted and pawed at the ground, daring the Scaled Bear to make a move.
“Rosa? What in Cynthia’s name are you doing? And is that the Dire Moose from Tywood?”
(I’m here to save you!) she declared proudly. (And yes, this is he. Meet Sullivan the Second, Moose-Prince of the Dullwilds!)
“That’s not really his name,” I deadpanned as I crawled back onto my ‘feet’ and reassumed my Gel Doll form.
(It is, actually!) Rosa stated. (I named him, and thus it is his name! Isn’t that right, Sully?)
The Dire-Moose tossed its head and sent the Carbuncle flying off. She righted herself in the air with a giggle before she darted over to me.
“Alright, whatever, I can accept that,” I said with a sigh before sending her a harsh glare. “But what are you doing here? You disobeyed my orders!”
(You told me to save myself. I did.) she said, arms folded. (So, after I had saved myself I happened across Sullivan and rode him back here to help you!)
Tara let out a chuckle at my Familiar’s logic. ~Technically, she did follow your orders to go away. But you never stated anything beyond that, and she does have more independence than a regular Familiar. Looks like the whole family is back together. Now let’s teach that monster we don’t mess around!~
(Yeah!) Rosa cheered. She then turned back to her newly acquired pet. (Sullivan! Let’s do this!)
“Fine, then,” I said, unable to hide how touched I was Rosa had returned for me despite how steeply the odds were against us. I glanced around the battlefield and took everything in.
Yorrik was groaning where he’d fallen less than a minute ago, while Katherine, aware she was far out of her league, was herding the defenseless travelers into a huddled group with the rest of the adventurers forming a line of last defense among the wagons and carts.
I spared a look at the Urdrai who had charged at the Dire-Moose. To my immense surprise the massive magically mutated moose was putting up a stiff resistance, headbutting the scaled monstrosity before darting away to avoid its claws.
As the Urdrai and Dire-breed fought, I noticed the swords that were still stuck in its back. One had broken, its hilt lying in the dirt. But the other was still embedded, and seemed to have sunk deeper into the wound.
A wild, desperate idea popped into my head and I peered at its chest where the missing scale was.
“I have a plan!” I declared. “Rosa, Katherine, try to keep the Urdrai distracted!”
“Never thought I would someday be the backup for a Dire-Moose fighting an Urdrai!” Katherine grunted.
She ran over to one of the wagons and scooped up a handful of something into a small sack before charging in to assist the dancing ungulate.
“Zaar, zarum, zaruuk! Bone, stone, and home!” she hollered, her people’s battle cry upon her lips.
Rosa flew towards the battle as well, peppering the Urdrai with Earth Shots and Stone Spikes.
(This is for hurting Yorrik!) the Carbuncle cried out as her spells bashed the Beast of Vengeance. It growled darkly and sent a death glare at her before taking a deep breath to unleash another Bestial Roar.
“Not so fast!” Katherine cried, throwing a small lump of something at its face. A tiny pouch burst on contact with its snout and sent its contents, fine red powder, splashing across its muzzle.
The Urdrai let out a pained scream, its magical howl cut off as the pinches of ground up chili pepper she had swiped from the kitchen-wagon irritated its eyes, nose, and mouth.
Screams pierced the air and rattled the eardrums over everyone present as the Scaled Bear thrashed about in agony.
As Urdrai fought to regain control of the battlefield I prepared the first step of the plan. I ran over to an object lying in the grass near where Yorrik had fallen; an intact arrow from his quiver.
I quickly drew a simple magical array in the dirt next to the projectile; a diamond inside a circle with a set of runes in the spaces where the inner shape did not touch the edge of the outer one. I filled in the lines with a trickle of water, using a bit of Earth magic to ensure the dirt would not soften and become mud, thus ruining the array.
Water was a poor substitute for the conductor fluid which would normally be mercury or something else magically treated, but it would do for now. It had to. I then lay the arrow in the center of the diamond and began to chant.
“Bind. Bind. Bind. Thrice I demand this. Seal unto this object the spell I command,” I uttered, pouring mana into the magical array. It glowed weakly, but I could tell it was starting to work. Once the array was primed, I then began to chant the spell I wished to seal into the arrow.
“Draw power unto me. Be as bait for storms. Be a lure for energy and a trap for the heavens. Lightning Rod!” The arrow began to glow a pale yellow, and I sighed with relief as the enchantment took hold. I doubled checked to make sure the enchantment was centered on the arrowhead itself, and not the entire thing, before I grabbed it and ran over to where Yorrik lay.
He looked at me through a haze of anguish with astonishment. He clearly wanted to know how I had survived my confrontation with the Urdrai but he sensed the tenseness of the situation and held off for now.
“Can you still use your bow?” I asked, and he nodded through the pain.
“My legs are broken, but I can still use my hands,” he said and I handed him the enchanted arrow.
“I need you to shoot this into the gap where that missing scale is,” I instructed and his expression turned grim. But he readied his bow all the same as I propped him up with a slab of stone raised from the earth.
“Hawk Eyes,” he muttered, improving his sight with a spell. He aimed at the rampaging monstrosity and took a shaky breath.
“Accelerate,” he uttered, and the arrow fired off fast as a bolt of lightning. It drove into the Urdrai’s chest, right where the missing scale was.
The Beast of Vengeance snorted in distain and snapped the shaft off with a movement of its paw. The attack had barely tickled. He turned then towards the downed Ranger and began to advance on him menacingly, ignoring the blows and strikes from Rosa, Katherine, and Sullivan the Dire-Moose who desperately tried to keep it away from the B-ranker.
There was a feral glint in its bloodshot eyes, and it marched forth towards its prey. When Sullivan rammed into the Urdrai to distract it, the Scaled Bear was waiting for the attack, and grabbed the Dire-Moose by the throat.
With a growl of condensed rage it then shoved the ungulate backwards and struck the side of its head with its paw.
Sullivan’s head flew off of his body from the impact and slammed into a tree, his antlers lodged into the trunk, keeping the severed head aloft.
(NOOO!) Rosa let out a terrible scream and flew to the Urdrai shouting curses and insults all the while. The massive creature had not expected such a tiny figure to even dare to approach it and was caught off guard long enough for Rosa to jam her needle-sword into its left eye.
A howl of pain escaped the Urdrai and it thrashed about. In its wild flailing it managed to smack Rosa to the side. She went careening towards the ground and only Katherine’s desperate dive to catch her protected the Carbuncle from slamming into the hard soil.
After recovering from the blow Rosa immediately flew over to Sullivan’s body, crystal tears flowing down her face into the blood-stained grass.
The Urdrai continued its relentless march towards Yorrik, murder in its single bloodshot eye. It paused when I stepped in front of it, barring its path. It tilted its head and looked at me. Its savage gaze easily pierced my illusion and I shivered at its cold dismissal of me.
I was a mere slime. I was an ant before an elephant. A mortal before a Titan. I would die if I challenged it. It would slurp up my flesh and grind my core into dust.
I would die. I would die!
I took an unconscious step back as the Urdrai’s bloodlust slammed into me. Everyone nearby flinched as well, and a few voided their bowels from the terror that overcame them.
On the edges of my senses I could see Katherine, trying to regain control of her legs after being knocked down by its immense rage.
There was a scared, pleading look in her eyes as she stared at me and Yorrik and I steeled my nerves.
I glanced to the side where Rosa lay, crying over the corpse of the brave Dire Moose who had come to our aide. I saw a man screaming in pain at the loss of an arm. Another man cowering under a wagon blubbered in fear, knee-deep in gory mud. Torren, our caravan’s leader, being held back as he tried to rush to his nephew’s aide. And Yorrik, trusting me with his life. With the lives of the entire caravan.
I raised my hands, heedless of the ragged, torn state of my robes, or the fear that my illusion would break under the stress of what I was about to do next.
“Come! Power of the Heavens, fall unto my foe! Let the sky show its might! Fly! Impale! Destroy! The storm delivers its final justice! Judgement Bolt!” A sudden stillness fell upon the battlefield, yet everyone could feel a tingle of static upon them, and a tang of ozone on the back of their tongues.
In my ‘palms’ a massive white-hot blob of lightning crackled to life, plasma thrashing and pulsing and aching to escape. I aimed at the Urdrai, and at the broken arrow in its chest.
The beast’s eyes widened and it tried to claw out the rest of the shaft, but its claws were too big to remove the enchanted arrowhead in time.
I unleashed the Level Eight spell.
It roared and screamed across the field and slammed into the Urdrai, blasting aside the paw that was trying to pry the arrow from its wound.
The Lightning Rod spell was used to enchant weather vanes to attract and absorb lightning strikes and dissipate the destructive piece of nature. Normally, it would be used in conjunction with non-conductive materials like stone or rubber to keep it from damaging the surroundings.
In this case, however, the massive amount of energy was sucked straight into the Urdrai’s wound and distributed across the entirety of its insides. Organs cooked and melted and exploded. Bones cracked and snapped and splintered. Blood boiled and steamed and spewed.
As powerful as the spell was, it’s dragon-like scales could have survived even a point-blank shot from my Judgement Bolt. But not its internal organs and such. And with two metal swords and a needle in its body the lightning had even more paths to enter its body.
The Urdrai howled in pain and rage for what seemed like an eternity until it fell silent. A single twitch ran through the length of its body before it went still, but remained standing.
People cautiously stared at the body, unsure if my spell had done
the trick.
“It’s dead,” Yorrik gasped after he cast a quick Detect Life on the creature. Cheers erupted from the survivors and I sighed in relief.
It had been a gamble that has miraculously paid off. Since its scales could undo magic with enough time I was praying that my own enchantment on the arrow would not wear off before I’d had time to conjure up and mold my mana for the final spell.
And it had worked! I sunk to my ‘knees,’ weariness overtaking me. My vision was starting to fade, and I saw Katherine rushing to my side. I glanced over at Yorrik.
“I’ll… tell you… my secret… later…” I gurgled before pitching onto my side as darkness overtook my senses.
I passed out, and drifted in shadows laced with silver.
Chapter 19: Upon future tides, we drift
“…And that’s what happened,” I said, relaxing on Liliana’s bed. I skillfully ignored my owner popping me on the top of my head repeatedly as punishment for doing something as ridiculously dangerous as challenging an S-ranked creature.
She was fully aware that if the Urdrai hadn’t had a scale missing the odds of us winning were slim to none. Kine was annoyed as well at my recklessness, but for the most part was content to let Liliana scold me.
The rest of the Stranger Faction was stuffed into Liliana’s room, the number forcing a few to spill out into the hallway beyond. They’d listened intently to my retelling of the battle and offered their approval and admonishments as well.
“How long have you been able to pull off a Level Eight spell?” Crosus asked, impressed by my raw power. The motley collection of Academy students who didn’t fit in with any of the other cliques and groups on campus leaned in eagerly to hear the answer.
“I’ve had enough mana to do so ever since I left the Academy,” I admitted. “But I’ve never needed to use a spell that powerful before so that was the first time I’ve tried to cast one.”
“Simply astonishing,” the skilled barrier mage said with a shake of his head.
