Pretimeskip
"No! Wait! Don't leave me hanging, I'm just getting to the best part!"
While facing down a massive horde of undead, summoned by a cold and efficient necromancer with orders to kill him, Ferrin took a moment to reflect.
On the bright side, this is not the most insane thing I have ever done. Nor is it the most reckless. Actually, thinking on it, these situations are pretty typical. I seem to have a knack for getting myself into trouble. Either it finds me, or I stubbornly blunder my way into it.
Maybe I should have been a doctor instead.
The zombies grew closer, their physical and magical smell nearly overpowering Ferrin, despite his mental barriers he had up.
Nah, scratch that. Ceteris paribus, all other things being equal, I'd probably end up with some criminal coming to me for help, and then I would help them and end up on the run from the law. Face it, I was born for trouble.
Child, while interesting, your ruminations are distracting you from the task at hand.
The Voice spoke in Ferrin's mind.
Oh, great. Now the persona non grata speaks. Pardon me while I quake in fear of your awesome power.
Oh wait, you have none. Freeloader.
I believe the aid I have given over the years you would qualify as...rent.
You only 'aid' me when it serves your own selfish goals.
Yet my aid is the only reason you still yet live.
Quid pro quo, my generosity is the only reason you still exist.
There is a word in this language for such a relationship. Symbiosis.
I am pretty sure you classify as a parasite. Or a lacrima salesman who talked his way in for a demonstration, and just won't leave. I do not see much of a difference.
There was a mental sound that mimicked a sigh. Always a quick tongue, always the last word. I believe what I'm experiencing can be called 'frustration'.
Doesn't matter what you call it, it will never come.
Maybe if you called loud enough...
"...grasps humor well enough." Ferrin muttered aloud.
Of course. Humour is, in fact, very logical. Just suggesting the most unlikely thing to possibly happen is often viewed as a form of humour. Such as you surviving this.
"Haha, very funny. Oh my sides." He muttered to himself.
Since this exchange happened literally at the speed of thought, it was mere moments after the first undead were raised when Ferris raised two fingers and pointed toward the Necromancer. "Fusus Ignis!" He shouted.
There was a explosion of hot air in the still cavern, and a nearly solid wall of flame burst into existence in a semicircle around Ferrin. The charging undead couldn't stop fast enough; Ferrin had timed it too well. Those in the vanguard were carried into the flames by the press of those in the back, and the magic flames eagerly consumed them.
"There, that should buy me some time, and shead some light on the situation. Now, I need a plan..."
The Necromancer, seeing her soldiers burning in droves, telepathicly ordered them to halt and surround the wall of fire. A smile touched her lips, but not her haunted eye. If he wants to wait, then let us let him. Time is not on his side.
The magic circles on the floor pulsed and glowed with purple light. Soon. Very soon, the first step to fulfilling her master's wish would be complete.
Not far away, a man, more metal then flesh, sat bent over a table, his gleaming hands folded in thought. His pensive gaze was focused on what looked to be a human skull, empty eye sockets glowing with a violet light. It rested on a table in front of him.
The first step, the opening Act, starts here.
Ferrin took a deep breath, and slowly let it out again, stilling his mind and redirecting his emotions. He blocked out any form of pain or discomfort and banished irreverent thoughts. Suddenly his perception changed. Time seem to slow and everything come into crystal clarity. He gazed outward passed the wall of dwindling flames, into the zombies and undead without fear, taking in every minute detail. The stench of burning rotted corpses washed over him, but he did not react. A faint smile touched his lips as he raised his gloved, non-metal hand, put his thump and middle finger together and snapped his fingers, producing a disproportionatly loud sound.
There was none of the customary flash of light that usually accompanies a requip. Instead, one instant there was nothing, the next, a vicious-looking curved sabre with an unusually long hilt appeared in mid air. In one smooth motion Ferrin grasped it, and fell into an easy stance, the sword held out, pointed at eye level, and his claw held at his waist, facing upward. He stood like that for moment, completely still.
Then suddenly, he took a step.
In the blink of an eye, Ferrin was among the undead, slicing, spinning, chopping, hacking. He had already cut down a dozen before the necromancer even realized that he had attacked. Snarling an order, she set the mindless undead to charge him, and buring him under sheer weight of numbers. But they weren't very effective. Ferrin moved in blur of motion, his sword, a glittering arc in the dying firelight, cutting rotted flesh, bone, and even steel with equal disdain.
He fought like a whirlwind, always in motion, yet every movement was precise and efficient, a slash set up a sidestep that flowed into a counter, which in turn lead to a slash and thrust. Undead fell to his blade, like wheat to a scythe.
But they didn't stay down. Something grabbing his boot made Ferrin look down. A bisected zombie with most of its head missing wrapped its rotting arms around his leg. For a moment, he was pinned and vulnerable. Still deep in his calm state of mind, Ferrin made note of the zombies incredible resilience as he calmly swung his sword through the offending arms, severing them cleanly. He kicked the disarmed body away and lept out fron under a descending greatsword right into another corpse. He reacted immediately, swinging his Gauntlet into a massive backhand. He glimsed a headless torso before the blow connected, shattering it like a rotten melon.
Covering him with a grusome spray.
Ick.
Even deep in the Heart of Steel, he grimaced a little at the gore.
He found that he had been surrounded by zombies he had thought disabled. He changed tactics, using powerful blows and blaster of fire from his gauntlet to shatter and push back the undead so he could assess the situation. He had been aiming for their heads, because that was what you freaking did when dealing with the undead, but he saw several headless corpses, like the one that grabbed him, pick themselves back up. He noticed, however, that there were several unmoving bodies that had their torsos destroyed.
This necromancer was a tricky one, he realized. Instead of anchoring her magic in their heads, she must have put it in their chests. Which made sense in hindsight. Everybody goes for the head, but the body is much better defended, and not the obvious target. Ferrin couldn't help but admire the idea. He mentally filed the idea away before returning his attention to the fight.
As if it ever left.
He lifted his Gauntlet and let loose with a barrage of aetherthic blasts from the cannon set in the palm, streaks of radiant energy cutting a path through the undead.
Away, the necromancer noticed, from her.
What is he planning...? She wondered. She had expected him to try to rush her head on instead of dancing with her puppets.
Ferrin purposely kept his distance, dancing around the fringes of the sea of undead. And like a sea it was, they moved as a whole with waves of them crashing on Ferrin. Directed by the necromancer, they closed in Ferrin, surrouding him and pressing forward with calm, mindless swarm tactics, intent on cornering him. Some would deliberately throw themselves at him, just so the one behind it could get a hit in. And all the while, they closed in like a noose, slowly tightening. If they cut off his room to manuver, they could crush him with sheer weight of numbers. Ferrin knew this. In fact, he was counting on it.
Although, dispite how carefully he fought, he couldn't totally escape harm. He earned a cut on his cheek when he misjudged the reach of a zombie, and he got several bruses from blows and arrows that fell on his enchanted coat. One particularly bad one was from when a club-wielding zombie blindsided him, swinging its club of wood in a wide, savage arc that ended on his rib cage. It knocked him off his feet and almost certainly cracked a rib. But in the Heart of Steel he didn't feel any of the pain. He simply picked himself back up, and kept fighting.
Eventually, he found himself with his back against the wall of the cavern. In the dim purple light of the magic circled, Ferrin saw the hideous, blank faces, and creepy glowing eyes of the undead looming out of the darkness, surrounding him on three sides, pressing in. The necromancer, sensing the end, brought all of her summoned undead to bear.
Ferrin looked out and saw that all of the horde surrounded him in a sea of rot and death.
Perfect
Ferrin broke contact with his foes, leaping back to clear ground. He landed in a crouch, and put his mechanical palm to the ground. As he did, he cast a quick spell that caused the stone beneath his feet to eject outward. Using the rock like a spring board, he pushed off the pillar in a truly impressive leap, soaring through the air. With a wordless shout, he raised his sword over his head to a two-handed grip, wrapping in aether, and to brought it down with all the force he could muster on the necromancer's barrier.
The barrier lit up in a brilliant flash of colors. It absorbed most if the blow blow, but the force was so great, it overloaded the barrier, causing it to detonate with peal of thunder.
His little tactic of luring all the undead away had bought him only seconds, but in a battle, seconds might as well be days.
Unfortunately, he spend several precious seconds recovering from the destruction of the barrier.
He staggered to his feet, the seconds ticking by. He broke into a full sprint, his sword flashing as it caught the light. He threw himself forward, with every ounce of speed he could muster in a slash ment to put a swift end to the necromacer. But he was too late.
She had used that few seconds the barrier had bought her to get over her surprise, and desperately call upon a different zombie. As Ferrin rushed toward her, sword outstretched, it was met only with a pair of meaty arms held together. Running on pure reflex, Ferrin finished his attck, scoring a deep cut across them both that cut to the bown. But he might as well have hit them with a feather for all the reation the creature gave.
And what a creature it was. It stood nearly eleven feet tall, and it appeared to be made out of the remains of several different kinds of animals, coblled together in a haphazard, but dedly fastion. It bore the heavy arms of a gorilla, and its body was a patchwork of several large animals that Ferrin couldn't identify. Its biceps bulged and its torso was a great barrel shape. It stood hunched on a pair of equine legs, and it had a long, muscular tail that might have come from a crocodile. Its head was feline, with tuffs of a once luxurious golden mane, but with two ginormous tusks jutting out from its lower jaw. Its after mentioned jaw was lip-less, giving Ferrin a lovely view of a mouth full of mismatch teeth. Dispite being mostly rotted, it was covered in layer on layer of muscles, many simply grafted on in a revoltingly unnatural way. Unlike the other zombies, this one wasn't quiet. It lifted itself up and roared at Ferrin, beating its chest, much like a gorila would.
At that moment, the magic circle brightened considerably.
"You're too late! The ritual is almost complete!" The necromacer shouted at Ferrin. "Soon, you shall face the ancient wrath of a dragon, roused from centuries of Death, and given new life!"
Welll that confirms my theory... Ferrin noted with little surprise.
The undead patchwork beast loomed over Ferrin, who gazed back at it with impassionate eyes, conscious of every second that ticked by.
He stood there, factig down the monster, summoning even more of his magic. As he did, his lithe form started giving off a strange steady silver mist, and the air around him wavered like on a hot day.
"I don't..." He growled through clenched teeth. "Have time for you."
He raised his Gauntlet, then clenched it in a tight fist. More of the stange mist coalesced around the zombie.
"Aether Nebula."
The zombie only had a moment to tilt its head in puzzlement before the mist flashed a brilliant gold with strands of other colors, then it erupted in blindingly bright flash of light, heat, and force. The sound was indescribably loud and the shockwave knocked zombies sprawling and sent cracks though the rock floor, ceiling, and columns.
When the dust cleared, nothing but cracked, scorched earh remained.
Wothout missing a beat, Ferrin dashed over the massive uneven scorch mark. In a few steps, the she would be within his reach. He crossed the remainer of the distence with rapid, swift steps, his sword held out and ready. The necromancer staggered back, eye wide with disbelief. She stepped back in preperation to avoid the blow, but she found that her other leg wouldn't move.
Desperatly wrapped around it, was the the arms of the Twin, who had managed in the chaos to free their arms, and uncover their mouth.
"Ferrin, her necklace!" Colt shouted.
The necromancer was already summoning undead, skeletal arms were bursting from the ground around Ferrin.
From this close, Ferrin could see a detail that had escaped his notice earlier. An errie amulet around her neck, hidden by her cloths. It was gold set with a massive red stone that was almost certainly a lacrima.
He was almost there, just a few more steps.
Skeletal arms clawed at his feet, trying to trip him.
Step. step. step.
Clutch
One of the hands, by sheer luck or some skill from life, managed to grab his boot. The speed of his run shattered the grip immediately, but the damage had been done. He began to tip forward. Guided by instinct, he extended his sword in a slash.
Not now, so close
If he fell here, the zombies would undoubtedly swarm him, and though he could probably fight them, it would not be in time to stop this deranged lunatic from accomplishing their ritual.
He drew his sword across, agonizingly slow. Equally slowly, the necromancer leaned back to avoid the blow.
His sword whisled as it passed though empty air.
Ferrin hit the unforgiving ground with a heavy thud, knocking his sword out of his hand. It when skittering away and vanished. The next moment, he felt a screaming pain run up his ankle. In his haste he had lost focus and dropped his Heart of Steel. All of his other injuries started clamoring for attention too. He ignored them and tried to get to his feet. But more skeletal hands sprung up and held him down.
The necromancer's eye gleamed with triuph as she grinned down at him.
"You missed." She hissed.
Ferrin grinned back. "I did?"
In the silence that followed, three things happed:
A tinkle of falling metal was heard.
A cut opened up.
And someone's pants ripped.
There is an perfectly legitimate explanation for all of these events.
Firstly, the tinkle of metal was the severed amulet hitting the ground several feet away. Secondly, the cut opened across the necromancer's chest.
And finally, the pants ripped because a certain
Law of Retrogression spell that kept the Twin's body in a younger form was suddenly broken, causing them return to their original form.
They grew rapidly, aging several year in a few moments. Their rapidly becoming too small clothing was quickly torn to shreds by them to make room for their explosive growth. They went from looking like a young kid to young adult.
On the bright side, this is not the most insane thing I have ever done. Nor is it the most reckless. Actually, thinking on it, these situations are pretty typical. I seem to have a knack for getting myself into trouble. Either it finds me, or I stubbornly blunder my way into it.
Maybe I should have been a doctor instead.
The zombies grew closer, their physical and magical smell nearly overpowering Ferrin, despite his mental barriers he had up.
Nah, scratch that. Ceteris paribus, all other things being equal, I'd probably end up with some criminal coming to me for help, and then I would help them and end up on the run from the law. Face it, I was born for trouble.
Child, while interesting, your ruminations are distracting you from the task at hand.
The Voice spoke in Ferrin's mind.
Oh, great. Now the persona non grata speaks. Pardon me while I quake in fear of your awesome power.
Oh wait, you have none. Freeloader.
I believe the aid I have given over the years you would qualify as...rent.
You only 'aid' me when it serves your own selfish goals.
Yet my aid is the only reason you still yet live.
Quid pro quo, my generosity is the only reason you still exist.
There is a word in this language for such a relationship. Symbiosis.
I am pretty sure you classify as a parasite. Or a lacrima salesman who talked his way in for a demonstration, and just won't leave. I do not see much of a difference.
There was a mental sound that mimicked a sigh. Always a quick tongue, always the last word. I believe what I'm experiencing can be called 'frustration'.
Doesn't matter what you call it, it will never come.
Maybe if you called loud enough...
"...grasps humor well enough." Ferrin muttered aloud.
Of course. Humour is, in fact, very logical. Just suggesting the most unlikely thing to possibly happen is often viewed as a form of humour. Such as you surviving this.
"Haha, very funny. Oh my sides." He muttered to himself.
Since this exchange happened literally at the speed of thought, it was mere moments after the first undead were raised when Ferris raised two fingers and pointed toward the Necromancer. "Fusus Ignis!" He shouted.
There was a explosion of hot air in the still cavern, and a nearly solid wall of flame burst into existence in a semicircle around Ferrin. The charging undead couldn't stop fast enough; Ferrin had timed it too well. Those in the vanguard were carried into the flames by the press of those in the back, and the magic flames eagerly consumed them.
"There, that should buy me some time, and shead some light on the situation. Now, I need a plan..."
The Necromancer, seeing her soldiers burning in droves, telepathicly ordered them to halt and surround the wall of fire. A smile touched her lips, but not her haunted eye. If he wants to wait, then let us let him. Time is not on his side.
The magic circles on the floor pulsed and glowed with purple light. Soon. Very soon, the first step to fulfilling her master's wish would be complete.
Not far away, a man, more metal then flesh, sat bent over a table, his gleaming hands folded in thought. His pensive gaze was focused on what looked to be a human skull, empty eye sockets glowing with a violet light. It rested on a table in front of him.
The first step, the opening Act, starts here.
Ferrin took a deep breath, and slowly let it out again, stilling his mind and redirecting his emotions. He blocked out any form of pain or discomfort and banished irreverent thoughts. Suddenly his perception changed. Time seem to slow and everything come into crystal clarity. He gazed outward passed the wall of dwindling flames, into the zombies and undead without fear, taking in every minute detail. The stench of burning rotted corpses washed over him, but he did not react. A faint smile touched his lips as he raised his gloved, non-metal hand, put his thump and middle finger together and snapped his fingers, producing a disproportionatly loud sound.
There was none of the customary flash of light that usually accompanies a requip. Instead, one instant there was nothing, the next, a vicious-looking curved sabre with an unusually long hilt appeared in mid air. In one smooth motion Ferrin grasped it, and fell into an easy stance, the sword held out, pointed at eye level, and his claw held at his waist, facing upward. He stood like that for moment, completely still.
Then suddenly, he took a step.
In the blink of an eye, Ferrin was among the undead, slicing, spinning, chopping, hacking. He had already cut down a dozen before the necromancer even realized that he had attacked. Snarling an order, she set the mindless undead to charge him, and buring him under sheer weight of numbers. But they weren't very effective. Ferrin moved in blur of motion, his sword, a glittering arc in the dying firelight, cutting rotted flesh, bone, and even steel with equal disdain.
He fought like a whirlwind, always in motion, yet every movement was precise and efficient, a slash set up a sidestep that flowed into a counter, which in turn lead to a slash and thrust. Undead fell to his blade, like wheat to a scythe.
But they didn't stay down. Something grabbing his boot made Ferrin look down. A bisected zombie with most of its head missing wrapped its rotting arms around his leg. For a moment, he was pinned and vulnerable. Still deep in his calm state of mind, Ferrin made note of the zombies incredible resilience as he calmly swung his sword through the offending arms, severing them cleanly. He kicked the disarmed body away and lept out fron under a descending greatsword right into another corpse. He reacted immediately, swinging his Gauntlet into a massive backhand. He glimsed a headless torso before the blow connected, shattering it like a rotten melon.
Covering him with a grusome spray.
Ick.
Even deep in the Heart of Steel, he grimaced a little at the gore.
He found that he had been surrounded by zombies he had thought disabled. He changed tactics, using powerful blows and blaster of fire from his gauntlet to shatter and push back the undead so he could assess the situation. He had been aiming for their heads, because that was what you freaking did when dealing with the undead, but he saw several headless corpses, like the one that grabbed him, pick themselves back up. He noticed, however, that there were several unmoving bodies that had their torsos destroyed.
This necromancer was a tricky one, he realized. Instead of anchoring her magic in their heads, she must have put it in their chests. Which made sense in hindsight. Everybody goes for the head, but the body is much better defended, and not the obvious target. Ferrin couldn't help but admire the idea. He mentally filed the idea away before returning his attention to the fight.
As if it ever left.
He lifted his Gauntlet and let loose with a barrage of aetherthic blasts from the cannon set in the palm, streaks of radiant energy cutting a path through the undead.
Away, the necromancer noticed, from her.
What is he planning...? She wondered. She had expected him to try to rush her head on instead of dancing with her puppets.
Ferrin purposely kept his distance, dancing around the fringes of the sea of undead. And like a sea it was, they moved as a whole with waves of them crashing on Ferrin. Directed by the necromancer, they closed in Ferrin, surrouding him and pressing forward with calm, mindless swarm tactics, intent on cornering him. Some would deliberately throw themselves at him, just so the one behind it could get a hit in. And all the while, they closed in like a noose, slowly tightening. If they cut off his room to manuver, they could crush him with sheer weight of numbers. Ferrin knew this. In fact, he was counting on it.
Although, dispite how carefully he fought, he couldn't totally escape harm. He earned a cut on his cheek when he misjudged the reach of a zombie, and he got several bruses from blows and arrows that fell on his enchanted coat. One particularly bad one was from when a club-wielding zombie blindsided him, swinging its club of wood in a wide, savage arc that ended on his rib cage. It knocked him off his feet and almost certainly cracked a rib. But in the Heart of Steel he didn't feel any of the pain. He simply picked himself back up, and kept fighting.
Eventually, he found himself with his back against the wall of the cavern. In the dim purple light of the magic circled, Ferrin saw the hideous, blank faces, and creepy glowing eyes of the undead looming out of the darkness, surrounding him on three sides, pressing in. The necromancer, sensing the end, brought all of her summoned undead to bear.
Ferrin looked out and saw that all of the horde surrounded him in a sea of rot and death.
Perfect
Ferrin broke contact with his foes, leaping back to clear ground. He landed in a crouch, and put his mechanical palm to the ground. As he did, he cast a quick spell that caused the stone beneath his feet to eject outward. Using the rock like a spring board, he pushed off the pillar in a truly impressive leap, soaring through the air. With a wordless shout, he raised his sword over his head to a two-handed grip, wrapping in aether, and to brought it down with all the force he could muster on the necromancer's barrier.
The barrier lit up in a brilliant flash of colors. It absorbed most if the blow blow, but the force was so great, it overloaded the barrier, causing it to detonate with peal of thunder.
His little tactic of luring all the undead away had bought him only seconds, but in a battle, seconds might as well be days.
Unfortunately, he spend several precious seconds recovering from the destruction of the barrier.
He staggered to his feet, the seconds ticking by. He broke into a full sprint, his sword flashing as it caught the light. He threw himself forward, with every ounce of speed he could muster in a slash ment to put a swift end to the necromacer. But he was too late.
She had used that few seconds the barrier had bought her to get over her surprise, and desperately call upon a different zombie. As Ferrin rushed toward her, sword outstretched, it was met only with a pair of meaty arms held together. Running on pure reflex, Ferrin finished his attck, scoring a deep cut across them both that cut to the bown. But he might as well have hit them with a feather for all the reation the creature gave.
And what a creature it was. It stood nearly eleven feet tall, and it appeared to be made out of the remains of several different kinds of animals, coblled together in a haphazard, but dedly fastion. It bore the heavy arms of a gorilla, and its body was a patchwork of several large animals that Ferrin couldn't identify. Its biceps bulged and its torso was a great barrel shape. It stood hunched on a pair of equine legs, and it had a long, muscular tail that might have come from a crocodile. Its head was feline, with tuffs of a once luxurious golden mane, but with two ginormous tusks jutting out from its lower jaw. Its after mentioned jaw was lip-less, giving Ferrin a lovely view of a mouth full of mismatch teeth. Dispite being mostly rotted, it was covered in layer on layer of muscles, many simply grafted on in a revoltingly unnatural way. Unlike the other zombies, this one wasn't quiet. It lifted itself up and roared at Ferrin, beating its chest, much like a gorila would.
At that moment, the magic circle brightened considerably.
"You're too late! The ritual is almost complete!" The necromacer shouted at Ferrin. "Soon, you shall face the ancient wrath of a dragon, roused from centuries of Death, and given new life!"
Welll that confirms my theory... Ferrin noted with little surprise.
The undead patchwork beast loomed over Ferrin, who gazed back at it with impassionate eyes, conscious of every second that ticked by.
He stood there, factig down the monster, summoning even more of his magic. As he did, his lithe form started giving off a strange steady silver mist, and the air around him wavered like on a hot day.
"I don't..." He growled through clenched teeth. "Have time for you."
He raised his Gauntlet, then clenched it in a tight fist. More of the stange mist coalesced around the zombie.
"Aether Nebula."
The zombie only had a moment to tilt its head in puzzlement before the mist flashed a brilliant gold with strands of other colors, then it erupted in blindingly bright flash of light, heat, and force. The sound was indescribably loud and the shockwave knocked zombies sprawling and sent cracks though the rock floor, ceiling, and columns.
When the dust cleared, nothing but cracked, scorched earh remained.
Wothout missing a beat, Ferrin dashed over the massive uneven scorch mark. In a few steps, the she would be within his reach. He crossed the remainer of the distence with rapid, swift steps, his sword held out and ready. The necromancer staggered back, eye wide with disbelief. She stepped back in preperation to avoid the blow, but she found that her other leg wouldn't move.
Desperatly wrapped around it, was the the arms of the Twin, who had managed in the chaos to free their arms, and uncover their mouth.
"Ferrin, her necklace!" Colt shouted.
The necromancer was already summoning undead, skeletal arms were bursting from the ground around Ferrin.
From this close, Ferrin could see a detail that had escaped his notice earlier. An errie amulet around her neck, hidden by her cloths. It was gold set with a massive red stone that was almost certainly a lacrima.
He was almost there, just a few more steps.
Skeletal arms clawed at his feet, trying to trip him.
Step. step. step.
Clutch
One of the hands, by sheer luck or some skill from life, managed to grab his boot. The speed of his run shattered the grip immediately, but the damage had been done. He began to tip forward. Guided by instinct, he extended his sword in a slash.
Not now, so close
If he fell here, the zombies would undoubtedly swarm him, and though he could probably fight them, it would not be in time to stop this deranged lunatic from accomplishing their ritual.
He drew his sword across, agonizingly slow. Equally slowly, the necromancer leaned back to avoid the blow.
His sword whisled as it passed though empty air.
Ferrin hit the unforgiving ground with a heavy thud, knocking his sword out of his hand. It when skittering away and vanished. The next moment, he felt a screaming pain run up his ankle. In his haste he had lost focus and dropped his Heart of Steel. All of his other injuries started clamoring for attention too. He ignored them and tried to get to his feet. But more skeletal hands sprung up and held him down.
The necromancer's eye gleamed with triuph as she grinned down at him.
"You missed." She hissed.
Ferrin grinned back. "I did?"
In the silence that followed, three things happed:
A tinkle of falling metal was heard.
A cut opened up.
And someone's pants ripped.
There is an perfectly legitimate explanation for all of these events.
Firstly, the tinkle of metal was the severed amulet hitting the ground several feet away. Secondly, the cut opened across the necromancer's chest.
And finally, the pants ripped because a certain
Law of Retrogression spell that kept the Twin's body in a younger form was suddenly broken, causing them return to their original form.
They grew rapidly, aging several year in a few moments. Their rapidly becoming too small clothing was quickly torn to shreds by them to make room for their explosive growth. They went from looking like a young kid to young adult.
"Feels good to at least be at the proper size." Colt said, stretching their body out, blue eyes flashing.
"I've got this.Awww come on, let me do it this time!" Claire pleaded, their eyes turning red as she spoke. "No, sis. If you do it, you will end up killing all of us.Poo! I wanted to let loose after being cooped up for so long.You will get your chance, I promise.I had better."
"Now, Glacier Magic: Ice Age."
The tempature in the cave suddenly plummeted. A wave of cold rolled out from the lone figure, coating every surface with frost. The bones holding Ferrin stiffend, and the zombies closing in aruptly became some very gross ice sculptures. The necromancer bore the brunt of the sudden cold spell. Before she could do mire then look surprised, she was swiftly frozen in a layer of solid ice.
The light from the magic circle dimmed and slowly went out, plunging the cavern into pitch darkness.
With a heave, Ferrin pushed himself up, the now frigile bones giving way easily. He got to his feet, and took the chance to catch his breath. With a muttered word, he conjure up a little ball of light that flew up to light a small area around them
Colt frowned down at their hands. "That didn't quite feel like full power." He muttered, puzzled. "Nah, you're just a wimp." Claire told him through the same mouth. Colt prepared to fire back.
Ferrin, familiar by now with the Twin's bickering, scrunched his eyes and held up a hand.
"Enough, please." He said.
The Twin, one or both, shrugged.
Ferrin lowered his hand and gave them a scarred smile. "If you have enough energy to argue, I suppose that means you two are alright." He took a shuddering breath. "I am relieved." He said simply.
Blue eyed Colt smiled. "Thank you Fer--Its not like we asked you to save us." Claire interrupted her brother, taking over their shared body.
"Uh, sis, I distinctly remember asking him for help.But we didn't ask him to actually save us.Technically, we did something at the very end there, so it wasn't all him."
Ferrin sighed.
"Hey. Do you think its a bit cold in here?" He said, with a meaningful glance.
The Twin looked confused. "Yeah, a little why do you...oh uh..." they looked down at themselves. Their sudden growth from the breaking of the Retrogression magic had caused their clothing to become ill-fitting rags.
They tried in vain to wrap some of the larger pieces together and hold their arms to preserve some modest.
Ferrin chuckled, and swiftly shucked out of his coat. He held ot out it to them. "Here, wear this until we can get you something better."
Colt greatfully reached for it, only to have his hand close on empty air. Ferrin snatched it back, saying "On second thought, I'm cold too."
"Ferrin, you ass!"
He gave them a cheesy grin and a he-haw like a donkey, before tossing them the coat.
They caught it with an grunt and staggered forward a little.
"Omph, what the heck is in this?"
Ferrin shugged. "Oh, this and that. I like to be prepared."
Grumbling, they put it on.
"Now let get going." Ferrin said, suddenly feeling the exhaustion from the battle pile on him like a ton of bricks. He turned to go, with the Twin in tow.
But the crackling sound of ice breaking brought him up short.
Laugher, cold and vicious emanated from behind them.
"Touching reunion, but its too late. You're too late." The necromancer said.
And with a wordless cry, she threw her arms out as the circle's glow was restored, brighter than ever. The entire cavern started rumbling and shaking.
Ferrin spat an acidic-sounding curse as he spun on his heels to face the necromancer, brought his Gauntlet up, and fired.
The bullet took her in the bottom right of her torso, but she didn't even flinch. Nor display any other reaction, save to let out a contemptious laugh.
"Ferrin! The far wall!"
Ferrin's head snapped up and the Twin gasped at what they saw.
Bathed in the eerie purple light shining up from the circle was a monstrous shape. Hidden before in the darkness was a massive fossil embedded into the wall.
Ferrin had never seen one before, but he couldn't imagine it was anything else. They were seeing the remains of a long-dead dragon.
"I've got this.Awww come on, let me do it this time!" Claire pleaded, their eyes turning red as she spoke. "No, sis. If you do it, you will end up killing all of us.Poo! I wanted to let loose after being cooped up for so long.You will get your chance, I promise.I had better."
"Now, Glacier Magic: Ice Age."
The tempature in the cave suddenly plummeted. A wave of cold rolled out from the lone figure, coating every surface with frost. The bones holding Ferrin stiffend, and the zombies closing in aruptly became some very gross ice sculptures. The necromancer bore the brunt of the sudden cold spell. Before she could do mire then look surprised, she was swiftly frozen in a layer of solid ice.
The light from the magic circle dimmed and slowly went out, plunging the cavern into pitch darkness.
With a heave, Ferrin pushed himself up, the now frigile bones giving way easily. He got to his feet, and took the chance to catch his breath. With a muttered word, he conjure up a little ball of light that flew up to light a small area around them
Colt frowned down at their hands. "That didn't quite feel like full power." He muttered, puzzled. "Nah, you're just a wimp." Claire told him through the same mouth. Colt prepared to fire back.
Ferrin, familiar by now with the Twin's bickering, scrunched his eyes and held up a hand.
"Enough, please." He said.
The Twin, one or both, shrugged.
Ferrin lowered his hand and gave them a scarred smile. "If you have enough energy to argue, I suppose that means you two are alright." He took a shuddering breath. "I am relieved." He said simply.
Blue eyed Colt smiled. "Thank you Fer--Its not like we asked you to save us." Claire interrupted her brother, taking over their shared body.
"Uh, sis, I distinctly remember asking him for help.But we didn't ask him to actually save us.Technically, we did something at the very end there, so it wasn't all him."
Ferrin sighed.
"Hey. Do you think its a bit cold in here?" He said, with a meaningful glance.
The Twin looked confused. "Yeah, a little why do you...oh uh..." they looked down at themselves. Their sudden growth from the breaking of the Retrogression magic had caused their clothing to become ill-fitting rags.
They tried in vain to wrap some of the larger pieces together and hold their arms to preserve some modest.
Ferrin chuckled, and swiftly shucked out of his coat. He held ot out it to them. "Here, wear this until we can get you something better."
Colt greatfully reached for it, only to have his hand close on empty air. Ferrin snatched it back, saying "On second thought, I'm cold too."
"Ferrin, you ass!"
He gave them a cheesy grin and a he-haw like a donkey, before tossing them the coat.
They caught it with an grunt and staggered forward a little.
"Omph, what the heck is in this?"
Ferrin shugged. "Oh, this and that. I like to be prepared."
Grumbling, they put it on.
"Now let get going." Ferrin said, suddenly feeling the exhaustion from the battle pile on him like a ton of bricks. He turned to go, with the Twin in tow.
But the crackling sound of ice breaking brought him up short.
Laugher, cold and vicious emanated from behind them.
"Touching reunion, but its too late. You're too late." The necromancer said.
And with a wordless cry, she threw her arms out as the circle's glow was restored, brighter than ever. The entire cavern started rumbling and shaking.
Ferrin spat an acidic-sounding curse as he spun on his heels to face the necromancer, brought his Gauntlet up, and fired.
The bullet took her in the bottom right of her torso, but she didn't even flinch. Nor display any other reaction, save to let out a contemptious laugh.
"Ferrin! The far wall!"
Ferrin's head snapped up and the Twin gasped at what they saw.
Bathed in the eerie purple light shining up from the circle was a monstrous shape. Hidden before in the darkness was a massive fossil embedded into the wall.
Ferrin had never seen one before, but he couldn't imagine it was anything else. They were seeing the remains of a long-dead dragon.
But it seemed that it wasn't going to stay that way for long. Even as Ferrin watched, the skeletal remains quivered, and peeled itself off the wall. The bones collapsed in a heap. But then the mound wobbled, and the bones begain to knit themselves together, with bones from other sources abruptly flying through the air to join them.
Ferrin snapped out of his awe. "Don't get distracted!" He shouted. "Focus on the caster, and the thing will never be revived!"
"Like I said, you're too late!" She snarled, drawing out from the ground a strange sword that appeared to be made out of some kind of bone. As she did so, even more undead broke through the earth, these had complete or mostly complete sets of armor, and each had a gleaming weapon. They were definitely more powerful then then ones from before. "But I welcome you to try." Her single eye gleamed.
Ferrin and the Twin stepped back to back as the armored undead pressed in.
"I think Corps R Us had a clearance sale." Ferrin said, nonchalantly, tring to cover his his exhaustion. "Doesn't matter to me, the more there are, the bigger the blaze!" Clare shouted with glee. "Sorry, sis, but you still gotta hold off on your magic. If you let loose, we might all died." Colt chided. Predictably, Claire fired back, and they were arguing all over again.
Ass-deep in alligators, and they are still going at it. Ferrin thought, shaking his head with a touch of admiration. I wish I had half their spirt.
"Listen up you two." He said, tersly "Your job will be to keep her boneheads off me. When I say the word, hit them with a freeze. I'll follow up to clear a path, then I charge her directly to take her down stat. You keep them off my sides. If I can hit her hard enough p, I can break her concentration and stop the spell. Its actually quite remarkable that she had been holding something like that together and still fighting at them same time. But. We don't have time for mistakes. One chance. That's all we get. Otherwise, we have to deal with thing." He gestured with his sword toward the rapidly forming skeleton. "Which might take all night. I'm not sure about you, but I value my beauty rest." He finished with a small grin at his younger companion.
"Wait, don't you want your coat back?" Colt asked.
For a moment, Ferrin was sorely tempted. He wasn't proud of it, but he was. That coat had seen him though many difficult scrapes in the past, and without it, he almost felt naked. But he couldn't take it from them he has no idea how well they could handle themselves in a fight.
Nah, hang on to it for me, kid. Can't have you dancing around like an exhibitionist." His words were lighthearted, but slightly forced.
Colt didn't look too convinced. "Okay...if you say so." He said hesitantly.
Ferrin took a deap breath and let it out, feeling the familiar feel of sinking into the Heart of Steel.
"Ad victoriam." He said.
Colt blinked. Ferrin elbowed him.
"Oh, oops." He raised his hand up. Then brought down, palm facing the necromancer. Lets do this! Absolute Zero!"
Once more, a near-invisible blast of arctic air howled through the cavern. This time it was far more concentrated, as the ambiant temperature only dropped a little. But in its path it left a frozen wasteland of undead.
Seeing this, the dark wizard shielded herself by putting her minions between her and it.
However, hot on it's heels was Ferrin's own attack.
"Pulsar Wave!" Manifested as a silverly cresent of pure force that shattered the recently frozen undead and anything else in its path.
The necromancer aruptly found herself barfit of any bodyguards. She barely got her bonesword up in time to deflect Ferrin's charge follow up. Metal met bone, and chips of bone went flying. She staggered a step back from the force. Ferrin didn't let up, his sword sweeping in fast, compex patterns.
Desperately she tried to bring more undead to the fight. "Bury him!" She shouted.
Ferrin just smirked.
She looked over his shoulder. Colt was bringing forth ice spikes from the ground, skewering zombies by the score. Some of them were smashing the spikes, but he was continually replacing them even faster.
"By the expression on your face, I would say the kid is pretty good." Ferrin said, bringing his sword down in a crushing overhand blow.
She parred, and tried to counter but Ferrin was too fast. He leaned in and planted his large metal fist squarely in her face with a crunch of impact.
She cried out as the powerful blow sent her flying though the air, out of the center of the magic circle, to slam into one of the pillars. Her skull mask fractured with the blow, then shattered on the subsequent impact, pieces flying everywhere.
The colossal skeleton stopped, shuddered, then fell apart with a roar.
Grunting, she pushed herself to her feet. Her face hidden in shadow. Ferrin paced toward her, wary of any tricks. As he approached, she looked up, and it was his turn to be surprised.
Where her left eye should have been was nothing more then an empty eye socket. In fact, the upper left side of her face was a nightmareish amalgram of flesh and bare, white bone. Part of the way agross her face, her flesh just stopped and bone began. The surface of the bone was lower, giving her a sunken, emancipated look. Still, her one blue eye burned with determination.
Ferrin leveled his sword at her. "Give up, you are through." He stated, matter of fact.
"Not. Yet." She whispered. "To me, spirits of the dead."
There was a shimmer around her, but nothing else was visible. She calmly gripped her sword with both hands and stettled into a stance that Ferrin recognized as a vaguely kenjutsu in orgin. Ferrin narrowed his eyes, but attacked anyway, his sword arcing through the air, in a seemingly negligent, but fast and strong one handed slash.
However necromancer contempiously stepped back, and his slash whistled through empty air.
Ferrin only had a second of warning before she launched her own attack. Her form blurring with speed, seemingly from multiple dorections at once, her bone sword cut through the air faster then even his had a moment before. Its was all he could do to stay alive, using his sword and Gauntlet in conjuncture to ward her off.
Where the hell did this speed come from?!
Off balance, he leapt back in an attempt to gain some space, but she followed him, her sword moving in a piercing thrust.
I have you! She thought.
Only to be stopped cold when Ferrin grabbed the blade with his Gauntlet.
"What did you do?" He asked.
She sneered at him. "Oh please. Like I'm going to stand here and monologue about what I can do."
Ferrin shrugged. "Worth a shot."
And they rejoined, swords clashing. Now that Ferrin knew her speed, he tighted his defense, countering it with efficient movement and foot work. He at least had a greater reach and weight then her, and he abused that to the fullest. Occasionally, he would lash out with his fist, but mostly to keep her guessing rather then trying to finish her.
Meanwhile, Colt was having trouble of his own fighting off the zombies. He summoned waves of ice and more ice, but they kept coming. All the while, in his mind, Claire was insisting to be let in on the fight. "No means no. Now shut up for a moment, you are distracting me!" He shouted.
Suddenly, he had an idea. He kneeled down and laid a palm on the cold stone. "Glacier magic: Creeping Ice!"
A solid layer of ice crawled alonge the floor in every direction, covering a decent part of the cavern. Suddenly deprived of traction, many of the undead went slipping and sliding to fall over.
Colt and Claire couldn't help but laugh at the sight of a bunch of single minded undead falling on their faces, then trying to get to their feet, only to fall again.
But with every fall, they fractured the ice more and more.
Mid laugh, the Twin was suddenly cut shot by a massive impact to their back. When felt like a fastball pitched by giant bounced off right between their shoulder blades. They looked back to see a javelin bonce away as they fell forward, and disappeared under a mass of zombies.
"Colt! Claire!" Ferrin shouted, helplessly. He couldn't go over to them, as he was still fending off the necromancer.
But then the smell of burning meat hit his enhanced nose.
There was a flash of red light, then a loud, annoyed shout "LAVA MAKER MAGIC: LAVA LANCE!"
The pile of zombies erupted in piller of rock and fire that reached the ceiling, then came raining down in great gobs of molten rock. The Twin emerged unharmed, with Claire's red eyes glowing. "ABOUT FUCKING TIME YOU LET ME LET LOOSE!" She bellowed. She flung her hand out to point at the rest of the zombies, stray bits of liquid rock flew from her hand. "Now COME AT ME, YOU FLABBY PIECES OF MINDLESS ROTTEN GARBAGE! I'LL MAKE A BONFIRE OF YOUR REMAINS AND DANCE ON YOUR ASHES!" She howled in defiance.
Even the necromancer took a moment to be impressed.
Ferrin let out a low whistle. "That girl is intense."
I just hope she doesn't include our ashes in that fire.
Then it was back to fighting.
Ferrin and the dark mage were pretty evenly matched, her edge in speed was countered by efficient movement from Ferrin, but he knew it was a losing battle. Somehow, she fought with the skill, strength, and strength of a master swordsman. And while Ferrin was quite proficient with his sword, she somehow was better. In a fair fight, he knew he would lose.
But when did he ever start playing fair?
He held her off with his sword as he prepared a spell in his other hand.
"Aether Comet!" He shouted, throwing the fury contained in his fist. A silver and multicolored ball of light streaked from his palm, trailing a tail of magic. As expected, the necromancer dodged it.
"Hiya!" Ferrin shouted, snapping his metal fingers. The ball detonated mid air, in a bright flash of pure power. The explosion left a small creater in the stone blow, and more cracks spider webbed outward. The explosion was so unexpected and large, it caught the necromancer sending her sprawling.
She rose unsteadily to her feet, but this time, Ferrin wasn't going to give her the chance. With another primal shout, he swung his sword in a horizontal cut. Quickly recovering, the necromancer interceeded her sword. But on impact, Ferrin's blade of enchanted steel sheared through her bone blade. It altered the course just slightly. Which saved her life. Ferrin's blade passed within centimeters of cutting her in two. Instead, it only cut through most of her.
Strangely, no blood flowed. She staggered back. Her legs gave out on her, and with a cry she fell to the ground. There was that same shimmer around her, and this time, Ferrin briefly glimpsed ghostly figures dissolving away. The remaining undead she had summoned dropped limply, like puppets whose stings have been cut.
Not far away, a certain skull cracked.
For a moment, the was true silence. Ferrin gazed down at the woman, who was still alive, and struggling to sit up. She pushed herself up with her arms, panting hard, in fear or exhaustion, Ferrin couldn't tell.
He stepped forward.
Her blue eye snapped up, still glittering with defiance, but there was something else in them. Resolution. She knew she had been beaten.
Ferrin stared at her.
She glared back.
Silence.
"What is your name?" Ferrin finally asked.
"What does it matter?"
"I will remember it, long after you are dead and gone. I like to know the names of the people I kill, if only so I can have them haunt my dreams."
"Then I hope this one give you nightmares. Its Kumori. Yuura Kumori."
"Yuura Kumori. A beautiful name." He mused. "Well Kumori, it has been an honor. But your Story ends here. Requiescat in pace."
And he thrust his sword through her heart.
He watched her die. He didn't look away, or advert his steady gaze. He stared deep in her eyes, and saw in slow, painful, detail the shock, anger, desperation, sadness and finally, acceptance, as the light left her eye.
To do so would be to shameful to her death.
A skull shattered into dust.
The light from the circle faded and went out.
Ferrin snapped out of his awe. "Don't get distracted!" He shouted. "Focus on the caster, and the thing will never be revived!"
"Like I said, you're too late!" She snarled, drawing out from the ground a strange sword that appeared to be made out of some kind of bone. As she did so, even more undead broke through the earth, these had complete or mostly complete sets of armor, and each had a gleaming weapon. They were definitely more powerful then then ones from before. "But I welcome you to try." Her single eye gleamed.
Ferrin and the Twin stepped back to back as the armored undead pressed in.
"I think Corps R Us had a clearance sale." Ferrin said, nonchalantly, tring to cover his his exhaustion. "Doesn't matter to me, the more there are, the bigger the blaze!" Clare shouted with glee. "Sorry, sis, but you still gotta hold off on your magic. If you let loose, we might all died." Colt chided. Predictably, Claire fired back, and they were arguing all over again.
Ass-deep in alligators, and they are still going at it. Ferrin thought, shaking his head with a touch of admiration. I wish I had half their spirt.
"Listen up you two." He said, tersly "Your job will be to keep her boneheads off me. When I say the word, hit them with a freeze. I'll follow up to clear a path, then I charge her directly to take her down stat. You keep them off my sides. If I can hit her hard enough p, I can break her concentration and stop the spell. Its actually quite remarkable that she had been holding something like that together and still fighting at them same time. But. We don't have time for mistakes. One chance. That's all we get. Otherwise, we have to deal with thing." He gestured with his sword toward the rapidly forming skeleton. "Which might take all night. I'm not sure about you, but I value my beauty rest." He finished with a small grin at his younger companion.
"Wait, don't you want your coat back?" Colt asked.
For a moment, Ferrin was sorely tempted. He wasn't proud of it, but he was. That coat had seen him though many difficult scrapes in the past, and without it, he almost felt naked. But he couldn't take it from them he has no idea how well they could handle themselves in a fight.
Nah, hang on to it for me, kid. Can't have you dancing around like an exhibitionist." His words were lighthearted, but slightly forced.
Colt didn't look too convinced. "Okay...if you say so." He said hesitantly.
Ferrin took a deap breath and let it out, feeling the familiar feel of sinking into the Heart of Steel.
"Ad victoriam." He said.
Colt blinked. Ferrin elbowed him.
"Oh, oops." He raised his hand up. Then brought down, palm facing the necromancer. Lets do this! Absolute Zero!"
Once more, a near-invisible blast of arctic air howled through the cavern. This time it was far more concentrated, as the ambiant temperature only dropped a little. But in its path it left a frozen wasteland of undead.
Seeing this, the dark wizard shielded herself by putting her minions between her and it.
However, hot on it's heels was Ferrin's own attack.
"Pulsar Wave!" Manifested as a silverly cresent of pure force that shattered the recently frozen undead and anything else in its path.
The necromancer aruptly found herself barfit of any bodyguards. She barely got her bonesword up in time to deflect Ferrin's charge follow up. Metal met bone, and chips of bone went flying. She staggered a step back from the force. Ferrin didn't let up, his sword sweeping in fast, compex patterns.
Desperately she tried to bring more undead to the fight. "Bury him!" She shouted.
Ferrin just smirked.
She looked over his shoulder. Colt was bringing forth ice spikes from the ground, skewering zombies by the score. Some of them were smashing the spikes, but he was continually replacing them even faster.
"By the expression on your face, I would say the kid is pretty good." Ferrin said, bringing his sword down in a crushing overhand blow.
She parred, and tried to counter but Ferrin was too fast. He leaned in and planted his large metal fist squarely in her face with a crunch of impact.
She cried out as the powerful blow sent her flying though the air, out of the center of the magic circle, to slam into one of the pillars. Her skull mask fractured with the blow, then shattered on the subsequent impact, pieces flying everywhere.
The colossal skeleton stopped, shuddered, then fell apart with a roar.
Grunting, she pushed herself to her feet. Her face hidden in shadow. Ferrin paced toward her, wary of any tricks. As he approached, she looked up, and it was his turn to be surprised.
Where her left eye should have been was nothing more then an empty eye socket. In fact, the upper left side of her face was a nightmareish amalgram of flesh and bare, white bone. Part of the way agross her face, her flesh just stopped and bone began. The surface of the bone was lower, giving her a sunken, emancipated look. Still, her one blue eye burned with determination.
Ferrin leveled his sword at her. "Give up, you are through." He stated, matter of fact.
"Not. Yet." She whispered. "To me, spirits of the dead."
There was a shimmer around her, but nothing else was visible. She calmly gripped her sword with both hands and stettled into a stance that Ferrin recognized as a vaguely kenjutsu in orgin. Ferrin narrowed his eyes, but attacked anyway, his sword arcing through the air, in a seemingly negligent, but fast and strong one handed slash.
However necromancer contempiously stepped back, and his slash whistled through empty air.
Ferrin only had a second of warning before she launched her own attack. Her form blurring with speed, seemingly from multiple dorections at once, her bone sword cut through the air faster then even his had a moment before. Its was all he could do to stay alive, using his sword and Gauntlet in conjuncture to ward her off.
Where the hell did this speed come from?!
Off balance, he leapt back in an attempt to gain some space, but she followed him, her sword moving in a piercing thrust.
I have you! She thought.
Only to be stopped cold when Ferrin grabbed the blade with his Gauntlet.
"What did you do?" He asked.
She sneered at him. "Oh please. Like I'm going to stand here and monologue about what I can do."
Ferrin shrugged. "Worth a shot."
And they rejoined, swords clashing. Now that Ferrin knew her speed, he tighted his defense, countering it with efficient movement and foot work. He at least had a greater reach and weight then her, and he abused that to the fullest. Occasionally, he would lash out with his fist, but mostly to keep her guessing rather then trying to finish her.
Meanwhile, Colt was having trouble of his own fighting off the zombies. He summoned waves of ice and more ice, but they kept coming. All the while, in his mind, Claire was insisting to be let in on the fight. "No means no. Now shut up for a moment, you are distracting me!" He shouted.
Suddenly, he had an idea. He kneeled down and laid a palm on the cold stone. "Glacier magic: Creeping Ice!"
A solid layer of ice crawled alonge the floor in every direction, covering a decent part of the cavern. Suddenly deprived of traction, many of the undead went slipping and sliding to fall over.
Colt and Claire couldn't help but laugh at the sight of a bunch of single minded undead falling on their faces, then trying to get to their feet, only to fall again.
But with every fall, they fractured the ice more and more.
Mid laugh, the Twin was suddenly cut shot by a massive impact to their back. When felt like a fastball pitched by giant bounced off right between their shoulder blades. They looked back to see a javelin bonce away as they fell forward, and disappeared under a mass of zombies.
"Colt! Claire!" Ferrin shouted, helplessly. He couldn't go over to them, as he was still fending off the necromancer.
But then the smell of burning meat hit his enhanced nose.
There was a flash of red light, then a loud, annoyed shout "LAVA MAKER MAGIC: LAVA LANCE!"
The pile of zombies erupted in piller of rock and fire that reached the ceiling, then came raining down in great gobs of molten rock. The Twin emerged unharmed, with Claire's red eyes glowing. "ABOUT FUCKING TIME YOU LET ME LET LOOSE!" She bellowed. She flung her hand out to point at the rest of the zombies, stray bits of liquid rock flew from her hand. "Now COME AT ME, YOU FLABBY PIECES OF MINDLESS ROTTEN GARBAGE! I'LL MAKE A BONFIRE OF YOUR REMAINS AND DANCE ON YOUR ASHES!" She howled in defiance.
Even the necromancer took a moment to be impressed.
Ferrin let out a low whistle. "That girl is intense."
I just hope she doesn't include our ashes in that fire.
Then it was back to fighting.
Ferrin and the dark mage were pretty evenly matched, her edge in speed was countered by efficient movement from Ferrin, but he knew it was a losing battle. Somehow, she fought with the skill, strength, and strength of a master swordsman. And while Ferrin was quite proficient with his sword, she somehow was better. In a fair fight, he knew he would lose.
But when did he ever start playing fair?
He held her off with his sword as he prepared a spell in his other hand.
"Aether Comet!" He shouted, throwing the fury contained in his fist. A silver and multicolored ball of light streaked from his palm, trailing a tail of magic. As expected, the necromancer dodged it.
"Hiya!" Ferrin shouted, snapping his metal fingers. The ball detonated mid air, in a bright flash of pure power. The explosion left a small creater in the stone blow, and more cracks spider webbed outward. The explosion was so unexpected and large, it caught the necromancer sending her sprawling.
She rose unsteadily to her feet, but this time, Ferrin wasn't going to give her the chance. With another primal shout, he swung his sword in a horizontal cut. Quickly recovering, the necromancer interceeded her sword. But on impact, Ferrin's blade of enchanted steel sheared through her bone blade. It altered the course just slightly. Which saved her life. Ferrin's blade passed within centimeters of cutting her in two. Instead, it only cut through most of her.
Strangely, no blood flowed. She staggered back. Her legs gave out on her, and with a cry she fell to the ground. There was that same shimmer around her, and this time, Ferrin briefly glimpsed ghostly figures dissolving away. The remaining undead she had summoned dropped limply, like puppets whose stings have been cut.
Not far away, a certain skull cracked.
For a moment, the was true silence. Ferrin gazed down at the woman, who was still alive, and struggling to sit up. She pushed herself up with her arms, panting hard, in fear or exhaustion, Ferrin couldn't tell.
He stepped forward.
Her blue eye snapped up, still glittering with defiance, but there was something else in them. Resolution. She knew she had been beaten.
Ferrin stared at her.
She glared back.
Silence.
"What is your name?" Ferrin finally asked.
"What does it matter?"
"I will remember it, long after you are dead and gone. I like to know the names of the people I kill, if only so I can have them haunt my dreams."
"Then I hope this one give you nightmares. Its Kumori. Yuura Kumori."
"Yuura Kumori. A beautiful name." He mused. "Well Kumori, it has been an honor. But your Story ends here. Requiescat in pace."
And he thrust his sword through her heart.
He watched her die. He didn't look away, or advert his steady gaze. He stared deep in her eyes, and saw in slow, painful, detail the shock, anger, desperation, sadness and finally, acceptance, as the light left her eye.
To do so would be to shameful to her death.
A skull shattered into dust.
The light from the circle faded and went out.
In a daze, he withdrew his sword, again, no blood. He called up a small ball of magic light to see by. Going through motions, with a practiced hand, he produced a rag and wiped down his sword, cleaning it of the grisly remains of the hell it just went though. He lost himself in the steady routine, trying not to spill forth the emotions within him. Once it was clean of most of the grim, he dropped it, and it vanished into the pocket dimension that stored requipable objects. Next, he stood there, and took the rage to his Gauntlet, doing his best to clean what he could off of it.
After this, he was going to take a very long, hot bath and have all of his clothes thoroughly cleaned...or possibly burned. The zombie stink was making him nauseous.
Or maybe it was him.
During this, the Twin wandered over, Claire using a handful of glowing rock to provide light. Glimpsing the look on Ferrin's face, Colt spoke with concern. "Ferrin...are you...alright?"
"No." He said honestly. "But give me a few hours and I will be."
They gazed back at Yuura's corpse. "You killed her, didn't you?"
"Yes."
Claire peered at him.
"This isn't the first time you've done this."
"Sis!" Colt cried, appalled.
"No." God help him, no.
She just looked down and nodded.
Silence.
"Um...lets go. Alright, Ferrin?"
"Yes. Lets. This way." He lead them toward the tunnel he entered from. Their footsteps broke the silence, crunching on thr remains of battle. And the occasional frozen kibble of iced zombie.
The Twin stepped in something that squelched.
"Ugh!" Claire screeched, hopping away. "This is absolutely disgusting! The stench is revolting, I'll never get the stink out of my nose!" "Wow, Sis, I never imagined you knew so many large words." "Quiet, you! Nobody likes a know it all!" "I knew you'd say that.""See?! Ferrin agrees with me! Right?"
Ferrin gave a little laugh. "Thats the worst part about dealing with the living dead. The smell." He said, mostly to himself.
"Bah! His mind is far away.""Then its your word against mine. We are at an impasse.""Ha! Except I'm older, so I count as two. There.""That doesn't even make any sense.""It does so, you should lisen to your older sister.""Older--! We are twins!""But I came first, so I'm older.""By a few seconds!""Still."
And so on.
Ferrin, meanwhile reflected on this whole incident.
As they were about to enter the mouth of the cave. There was a rumble. Both Ferrin and the Twin spun around.
To a horrific sight.
The circle had activated once more, Kumori had dragged herself to the center, and with her last breath, activated it.
"I...must...complete...the mission...for...h...i...m."
Arayed behind her, agaimstnhe far wall was a complete fossilized skeleton. The skeleton of a dragon.
It held there, as if suspended on invisible strings.
Thump-thump
Thump
Thump
The beating of a massive heart could be heard.
Thump
Thump
Thump
The skeleton grew muscle.
Thump
Thump
Blood.
Thump
Skin.
Thump
Scales.
It was completely still.
Thump
It opened its eyes.
Its head tilted downward. Toward Ferrin. Toward Colt and Claire. Toward Yuura.
It opened its great mouth, showing its great teeth, set in mighty jaws.
Its throat flexed.
NO.
It said.
Then there was an burst of galeforce wind that kicked up all the debris and nearly sent Ferrin flying, the Twin had to cling to him to avoid it.
Poor Yuura wasn't so lucky, she was tossed like a rag doll into the wall not far from them, and pelted with shards of rock, ice, metal and bone.
When the dust settled, their was nothing but a skeleton left.
And even that began to dissolve, disappearing like a ghost.
Silence. Broken by the occasional falling piece of rock.
"What...was that...?" Ferrin breath in awe. Dragons...what fearsome power...just like that day...
He snapped out of it, and ran over to check Kumori. She was...not a pretty sight. As he approached, he was shocked to see her eye flutter then open.
"I...I don't understand...was it...for not? Was I...doomed from...the beginning?" A tear trickled down her cheek.
Ferrin nelt. "Thats life for you." He said sadly. "Sometimes you struggle and struggle, only to find you are chasing the impossible. And there is nothing you can too about it but pick yourself up and move on."
She laughed weakly. "I don't think...that will be an option for...me."
Ferrin sighed.
"No. I guess not. Life is cruel, and so it seems am I."
But Kumori was still.
Ferrin carefully willed his face blank as he stood.
"Dragons." Claire said in wonder.
"Dragons." Colt said, shocked.
"Aye, dragons." Ferrin sighed again.
"Let that be a lession to you. Wizards. Don't mess with forces you don't understand." He muttered.
"That was"AWESOME!""...Terrifying. I thought we were dead for a moment.""Hey, brother, do you think I could fight one of those?" Colt looked shocked. "Of course not, you saw that thing. It just broke her spell by sheer will. It would squash you--us-- like bugs." Claire wasn't convinced, and made her opinion known.
Smiling slightly, Ferrin lead the way out, with the Twin still bickering behind him.
After this, he was going to take a very long, hot bath and have all of his clothes thoroughly cleaned...or possibly burned. The zombie stink was making him nauseous.
Or maybe it was him.
During this, the Twin wandered over, Claire using a handful of glowing rock to provide light. Glimpsing the look on Ferrin's face, Colt spoke with concern. "Ferrin...are you...alright?"
"No." He said honestly. "But give me a few hours and I will be."
They gazed back at Yuura's corpse. "You killed her, didn't you?"
"Yes."
Claire peered at him.
"This isn't the first time you've done this."
"Sis!" Colt cried, appalled.
"No." God help him, no.
She just looked down and nodded.
Silence.
"Um...lets go. Alright, Ferrin?"
"Yes. Lets. This way." He lead them toward the tunnel he entered from. Their footsteps broke the silence, crunching on thr remains of battle. And the occasional frozen kibble of iced zombie.
The Twin stepped in something that squelched.
"Ugh!" Claire screeched, hopping away. "This is absolutely disgusting! The stench is revolting, I'll never get the stink out of my nose!" "Wow, Sis, I never imagined you knew so many large words." "Quiet, you! Nobody likes a know it all!" "I knew you'd say that.""See?! Ferrin agrees with me! Right?"
Ferrin gave a little laugh. "Thats the worst part about dealing with the living dead. The smell." He said, mostly to himself.
"Bah! His mind is far away.""Then its your word against mine. We are at an impasse.""Ha! Except I'm older, so I count as two. There.""That doesn't even make any sense.""It does so, you should lisen to your older sister.""Older--! We are twins!""But I came first, so I'm older.""By a few seconds!""Still."
And so on.
Ferrin, meanwhile reflected on this whole incident.
As they were about to enter the mouth of the cave. There was a rumble. Both Ferrin and the Twin spun around.
To a horrific sight.
The circle had activated once more, Kumori had dragged herself to the center, and with her last breath, activated it.
"I...must...complete...the mission...for...h...i...m."
Arayed behind her, agaimstnhe far wall was a complete fossilized skeleton. The skeleton of a dragon.
It held there, as if suspended on invisible strings.
Thump-thump
Thump
Thump
The beating of a massive heart could be heard.
Thump
Thump
Thump
The skeleton grew muscle.
Thump
Thump
Blood.
Thump
Skin.
Thump
Scales.
It was completely still.
Thump
It opened its eyes.
Its head tilted downward. Toward Ferrin. Toward Colt and Claire. Toward Yuura.
It opened its great mouth, showing its great teeth, set in mighty jaws.
Its throat flexed.
NO.
It said.
Then there was an burst of galeforce wind that kicked up all the debris and nearly sent Ferrin flying, the Twin had to cling to him to avoid it.
Poor Yuura wasn't so lucky, she was tossed like a rag doll into the wall not far from them, and pelted with shards of rock, ice, metal and bone.
When the dust settled, their was nothing but a skeleton left.
And even that began to dissolve, disappearing like a ghost.
Silence. Broken by the occasional falling piece of rock.
"What...was that...?" Ferrin breath in awe. Dragons...what fearsome power...just like that day...
He snapped out of it, and ran over to check Kumori. She was...not a pretty sight. As he approached, he was shocked to see her eye flutter then open.
"I...I don't understand...was it...for not? Was I...doomed from...the beginning?" A tear trickled down her cheek.
Ferrin nelt. "Thats life for you." He said sadly. "Sometimes you struggle and struggle, only to find you are chasing the impossible. And there is nothing you can too about it but pick yourself up and move on."
She laughed weakly. "I don't think...that will be an option for...me."
Ferrin sighed.
"No. I guess not. Life is cruel, and so it seems am I."
But Kumori was still.
Ferrin carefully willed his face blank as he stood.
"Dragons." Claire said in wonder.
"Dragons." Colt said, shocked.
"Aye, dragons." Ferrin sighed again.
"Let that be a lession to you. Wizards. Don't mess with forces you don't understand." He muttered.
"That was"AWESOME!""...Terrifying. I thought we were dead for a moment.""Hey, brother, do you think I could fight one of those?" Colt looked shocked. "Of course not, you saw that thing. It just broke her spell by sheer will. It would squash you--us-- like bugs." Claire wasn't convinced, and made her opinion known.
Smiling slightly, Ferrin lead the way out, with the Twin still bickering behind him.
