Phantom Campaign

by Eden Redd

  The skeletons began to march, Noss among them, following the spinning tornado.

  High above, Professor Frost stopped her fireball barrage to see Dax in his whirlwind. Monsters were being thrown to the sides and a small group of skeletons and a kobold following. Her gaze shifted to the burning mana flame in the distance and her heart froze. Instantly her mind connected to the mage, her voice coming out clear.

  “Dax, come back to us. You’re not trained to channel that much mana.”

  Dax ignored her.

  “If we survive, you will be expelled!”

  Dax smiled.

  It will be worth it to save everyone.

  The professor looked down with incredulous eyes before fireballs appeared once again in her hands and she unleashed a volley.

  Dax’s whirlwind moved, blasting away anything too close. When he was reaching the halfway point, the tornado began to weaken just as fireballs decimated the area around him. Monsters were thrown outwardly as the professor laid down suppressing fire.

  The whirlwind died and Dax’s boots touched the ground. He looked through the flames at the horde of monsters and the mana flame just beyond them. The flames began to die and the horde of sea monsters began to advance.

  Must get there at all costs.

  Dax put the cards in his hands away, put his arms out and twisted his wrists. A card shot into each hand and the mage glowed with confidence.

  Name: Troll

  Element: Life

  Degree: 3

  Ability: Damage

  Special Ability: Tough

  Name: Fire Armor

  Element: Fire

  Degree: 1

  Ability: Protective Armor

  Special Ability: Inflict Damage on contact

  Dax pulled up his stats.

  Name: Dax Sage

  Class: Mage

  Health: Normal

  Mana: 800/1400

  It’s going to have to be enough.

  The mage activated the troll card. Mist shot out and slammed into the ground, a large, bulky troll with a club rising up. The mage channeled 600 mana and did it two more times. Before the last troll could even finish forming, Dax channeled his remaining 200 mana into his Fire Armor card. With its own charge and the extra mana fueling it, three sets of fire armor appeared and clamped down on the trolls.

  Noss and his skeletons reached the mage, taking a defensive position.

  Dax looked back to the skeletons and the kobold with a raised eyebrow.

  “We fight together!” the kobold said sternly, a dagger in his hand that looked more like a short sword for his size.

  The mage nodded and looked to the blue flame in the distance. “We march for the mana flame! Stay close!”

  Phantom, skeletal, and real legs moved. The small group marched, weapons at the ready. The hordes of monsters surrounding them looked to them with many white eyes. They snarled and gnashed their teeth, the flames from Professor Frost’s fireballs turning into wisps of smoke.

  Dax twisted his wrist, another card sliding into his hand.

  Name: Air Nova

  Element: Air

  Degree: 2

  Ability: Knockdown

  Special Ability: Stun

  It’s charged and hasn’t been used. I’m at zero mana so this is my ace card if things grow desperate.

  The last flame died and the horde of monsters rushed in.

  ***

  Symon sliced off a creature’s head, blood spurting from the neck. The spellsword pushed the body over the edge before he caught a glimpse of the dying tornado and Dax appearing in the distance. Eyes widened before a voice sank into his head.

  “Everyone who can hear this, meet me on the southern wall. Dax is going to try and channel a mana flame and he needs our help!” Lyla’s tone filled with concern.

  Symon didn’t hesitate as he ran along the walkway. Sword out, he sliced at creatures that climbed up, but his mind was focused on reaching Lyla. Bodies moved along the upper walkway, Vance on the same side as the spellsword. On the other side, Isani and Ressa approached. Everyone looked haggard, having been fighting for some time and their world seemingly coming to an end.

  Lyla stood, hands on the wall edge and looking out to Dax and Noss as monsters swamped them. Their advance slowed, trolls with fire armor bashing creatures with their clubs as large skeletons aided in the fight. The mage could see they still had some distance between them and the flame.

  Symon, Vance, Ressa, and Isani approached the beautiful mage as she stared out.

  “Report!” Symon demanded.

  Lyla looked at the group by her, “We don’t have any time. I can create an air elemental to carry you all to Dax. He’s going to channel the mana flame. If he is by himself, it will kill him. He needs you there to pull him out.”

  The spellsword took in the words and his brow pointed in determination. “Do it!”

  Isani, Vance, and Ressa nodded in agreement.

  Lyla pulled out a card and whispered the trigger word. The air began to swirl and form a rough humanoid shape from the very air.

  “I know we haven’t been on the best terms, but I’ve been in a mana stream from my world. I can help guide Dax, but he needs you to defend him and pull him out before it destroys his soul. Stay with him at all costs!”

  Symon nodded. “We will defend him with our lives. Get us there and we will do the rest.”

  Lyla nodded. The air elemental wrapped wispy arms around Symon, Isani, Vance, and Ressa. The four braced themselves before they were lifted into the air and the elemental bolted forward.

  Several crab monsters looked up at the elemental as it streaked through the air with several people in its embrace. Spines along the creature’s hard shells pointed up and fired. The elemental turned, the spines striking the elemental’s back and scattered into the air.

  Symon kept his hard gaze on the battle and his friend in the distance. They rushed through the air, getting closer and closer. The stench of monsters, burning or otherwise, filled nostrils as the group in the elemental’s arms mentally prepared for battle.

  The elemental weakened and faded away, opening its arms.

  Symon, Isani, Ressa, and Vance landed on the ground as monsters rushed in. The group took a quick inhale before they charged the incoming monsters. Swords sliced and cut, blood splattering into bodies and faces. Spells went off, Vance throwing every bit of mana into his cards and blasting away creatures. Symon kept his shoulders low as he grabbed an incoming clawed hand and drove his sword into the creature’s gut. A twist of the blade and slicing outwards, the monster fell into a mangled heap.

  Isani and Ressa moved like deadly shadows. The pair’s attacks sliced through distended bellies of humanoid monsters before driving those blades into unguarded throats. Boots kicked out and blades sank into putrid flesh. Heads spun in the air, a trail of blood arcing into other monster’s faces.

  “Get to Dax!” Symon shouted as he sliced across hard.

  A head of one creature and an arm of another fell to gravity’s pull. The group of four pushed against the monster tide. A larger monster approached, its teeth shining in the light of battle before spears stabbed into its head. Vance looked up to see Miranda twisting her spear before her legs bent, she and her fellow lancers jumping off. The monster fell away, crushing other creatures with its massive bulk.

  Dax walked, his trolls clubbing and bashing anything close. The fire armor flared when clawed hands and tentacles landed on them. The trolls grunted as the wave of monsters seemed too much.

  Noss sliced and stabbed with his skeletons. The kobold fought with untold fury, knowing these could be his last moments on Ikkudran. Skeletons cut and sliced. One was smashed to scattering bones. Noss pulled out a card and whispered the trigger word. Four more bulky skeletons rose up and joined the fray.

  Dax looked ahead, the flame about a hundred feet away and yet it felt like it was miles away. The flood of monsters slowed them down. If they surged, they would be losing ground.


  Wide eyes looked over at Dax, his trolls, Noss, and his skeletons. Jonas’s mouth hung open and foam fell from his lips. The berserker was covered in gore and he never felt so alive. He watched as Symon and the others pushed to reach the mage’s side, but they all slowed from the horrific monsters, a blue flame dancing in the distance.

  “BERSERKERS! DEFEND THE MAGE!” Jonas screamed like a demon from the underworld.

  Berserkers in the battlefield turned their attention to Jonas and the group struggling to advance. Simple logic crashed into their minds as they obeyed the strongest among them. Like a hive of hornets, they moved with singular purpose, defending the mage.

  Fern’s body blasted through a creature’s eyes. The momentum was enough to burst through the creature’s strange skull and come out screaming. When she heard Jonas’s words and saw Dax in the distance getting swallowed up by the horde, her heart skipped a beat before she blasted toward them like a powerful comet.

  Berserkers rushed through the battlefield, clubbing and cutting anything in their way. Wild laughter rose up, along with grunts and growls. The terror they inspired stunned some of the monsters and they were the lucky ones, their death swift. The others fought tooth and nail to the mad men and women.

  A stinger stabbed into a troll chest, the phantom shattering to mists. The monsters pushed in as Dax readied to use his card. Noss cried out as his skeletons were being destroyed around him. Claws and teeth inched closer, ready to consume the living bodies before they moved onto the feast within the Lighthouse walls.

  A demonic roar touched the air and Fern blasted through, mace in hand.

  Dax flicked his wrist, another card slipping into his hand as blood splattered the side of his face.

  Name: Ice Blast

  Element: Water

  Degree: 2

  Ability: Damage/Stun

  Special Ability: None

  Dax whispered the trigger word and a stream of ice blasted out. Fern moved like a tiny demon, her mace caving in heads and eyes with malicious intent. Ice blasted a hole through the monster ranks, killing some of them before more monsters surged in from the sides. Symon, Isani, Vance, and Ressa closed the distance and a moment later, the berserkers joined them. Madness consumed them with bloodlust as they leapt into the carnage.

  The group solidified their ranks, fighting the onslaught of monsters and creating a hole to the mana flame, sixty feet away.

  Fireballs fell from the sky, striking monsters as they pushed against the group. Berserkers snarled at the twisted sea creatures, striking them down with uncontrolled menace. The bloody dance continued, weapons striking out with deadly accuracy.

  Jonas slammed his club down on a humanoid’s head and laughed before turning his attention to Dax.

  “Do it! Get to the flame and show these monsters what…” the berserker never finished as a pincer stabbed into his chest.

  Dax looked to the side, horror freezing his heart as Jonas struggled. The pincer in his chest opened, expanding the wound and blood pouring out. Symon was to the creature, driving his sword into soft spots along its armored body.

  “Fuck… OFF!” Jonas shouted, drops of blood projecting from his mouth before he raised his club and brought it down.

  The wound poured blood, but Jonas was possessed. The creature’s shell cracked as the berserker smashed down, again and again. The shell cracked open and Jonas slammed the end of his club into the creature’s destroyed head. Meat churned and the crab thing fell.

  Jonas fell with it, his face going pale.

  “I go home,” Jonas whispered and his soul left his body.

  Symon cut away at the horde, seeing that they were getting desperate. “Dax! If you’re going to do it, do it now!”

  The mage bolted forward to the flame as the monsters closed in. Air Nova card in hand, he activated it. Air swirled around him before it blasted out. Monsters were thrown as Dax raced toward the blue flame.

  In a blink, Isani and Ressa were at his sides as more monsters closed in. Swords slashed as they moved like acrobats in a storm. The tsunami of monsters came down and the pair of rogues cut at them in defiance.

  Dax couldn’t look back. His legs pumped as he rushed ahead. The opening stayed just long enough for him to dart into the glowing, blue light of the flame. The monsters around it didn’t advance, instincts telling them flames were dangerous. They writhed with undulating desire to rip the people apart.

  The rest of the group made it to the edge, the last troll and skeletons smashed to nothing. Fern and the berserkers continued to fight the enemy while the rest moved to create a perimeter around the mage and the mana flame.

  The monsters began to defy their instincts, inching closer with gnashing teeth. A large one lumbered, it’s two heads bearing down on the group as its white eyes glowed with murderous intent.

  “No!” came a shout.

  Symon looked up as Skullcut soared through the air. The spellsword landed on the massive creature’s back and began cutting with wide arcs. The two headed monsters roared as its spine was being destroyed.

  “Dax!” Isani said as the rest of the monster horde began to move closer.

  The mage looked at the blue flame just two feet away. It was as tall as he was and it seemed to sing, inviting him to step closer.

  Sebastian Kinarth, guide me.

  Dax calmed his mind as the world fell down around him. His friends were close by, Professor Frost and Lyla were connected to his mind. The mage heard his own heartbeat, a calm and steady rhythm. Time slowed down as a faint memory of Nuria touching the flame caused her to scream her last breath.

  I won’t let the monsters take us.

  Dax’s spirit cooled on command and he plunged his hands into the flame.

  Living energy blazed hot as it lit up every cell of his body. The mage’s eyes widened as they turned a pale blue light. Small thoughts were blasted away as the sun seemed to fill every piece of his form, sinking into his mind, heart and soul.

  The living light blazed into unrelenting pain.

  Dax screamed as the light began to eat away at him. He was being absorbed, the planet taking his soul and returning it to the source. Dax continued to scream, falling to his knees.

  “Dax,” Symon said as he backed up, fear in his eyes.

  The entire group turned their heads to him, seeing him consumed by flames.

  The world had become light and Dax was rapidly losing himself to it.

  “Don’t fight it. Let it consume you as you channel it,” Professor Frost’s words came out like smooth silk.

  “Think of us,” Lyla whispered along his dying mind.

  Dax shifted his very soul, allowing the light to consume him. When it nearly eclipsed his very essence, he thought of his friends, his loves, and his hero.

  A vibration pulsed from the mage. Dax was lifted into the air, living light dripping from his arms and feet.

  “I am a champion,” Dax whispered with almost childlike understanding.

  The monsters moved closer, Dax’s friends holding their ground.

  Dax spun slowly in the air, the air vibrating as his eyes glowed blue.

  Fern shot up into the air, looked to Dax and shouted, “KICK THEIR ASSES!”

  The mage nodded before his arms lifted up and power glowed.

  The atmosphere around the entire island trembled before vast rays of lights blasted out from his aura. Monsters that hadn’t reached the halfway point of the island felt it before light slammed into them, their bodies blasted to dust as their souls were pulled into the light.

  Skullcut leapt off the giant monster before it was engulfed in light. The Counselor fell, his kind eyes and warm smile directed toward the Dax.

  The mage made sweeping gestures with his arms. Light turned from solid beams to glowing tentacles, miles long. They rose and fell, striking large groups of monsters before the same light tentacles swept across the island. Trees remained standing as the light washed over them, destroying misshapen monsters and abs
orbing their twisted souls.

  I shall cleanse the corruption.

  Lyla felt the power vibrating from the mage. Their minds connected, and it crawled into her, wanting to sink into her very soul.

  “Lyla, he cannot contain such power. You and I must channel some of it away or it will kill him in moments.” Frost’s words filling Lyla’s mind.

  Lyla nodded.

  “Dax, I can never wash away the wrong I have brought to your life. I hope this is the first step in helping create a new chapter for us,” Lyla whispered and opened her mind further.

  Energy lashed out, following the mental connection. It drove into Lyla and Professor Frost. Dax, Lyla, and Frost connected, bonding their souls into one. Lyla’s eyes widened as she stood on the wall, light filling them. Professor Frost’s eyes widened, blue light spilling out.

  Lyla hovered up into the air as students looked to her in awe. Professor Frost gave a maddening grin before light blasted out from her hands and formed into writhing tentacles of energy.

  The island shook before light surged and blasted out from them. Monsters looked up in fear before they were absorbed. Dust fell to the ground as monsters tried to run away. Mana craved all, demanding a return to the source. Cowering from the monsters in their dens, small animals were washed in the light, unaffected by its power. But the sea monsters were stripped of their corrupted souls, draining back into the mana streams that crisscrossed the planet.

  I understand… everything.

  Dax smiled as power continued to wipe the island clean of corruption. Lyla and Frost smiled as well, understanding all as the planet’s mana filled them with knowledge and divine understanding.

  Symon looked to his friend, blue light dancing in his eyes. It was then when a darkness touched his heart. Dax’s robe began to be eaten by the light. Cards fell from their places, burning up into nothing. The mage smiled as he was being drawn in.

  “Save…him,” Professor Frost’s word came out in the barest whisper in everyone’s minds.

  Symon looked up to his friend, seeing that he was too high in the air, even for him to jump.

  “Dax! Come back to us! Come back!” the spellsword shouted.

  Dax looked down with a smile.