A Legacy of Blades - An Epic Tower Fantasy

Anilith faced her foe, the most personable monster she'd ever met. At a snap of Pip's fingers, the flames that tickled the walls grew long, smokeless, and burning with an intensity that made her glad to have her belt.

"Not too late to give up, child," Pip said, not a drop of sweat on him in the sweltering room. "You choose your path, and you choose how far it goes. You're fast approaching a point of no return; no shame in choosing peace."

"I…I can't do that, Pip," she responded, shaking her head. "If I turn around now, I might never push on. There's too much riding on me to walk a broken, doubtful path."

"There always is, child," Pip sighed. "Thank you for entertaining this old fool. Regardless of who claims victory, rest assured that I'm glad to have met you. What comes next, that isn't personal."

"Back atcha," Anilith replied. "Glad to see you aren't all monsters."

"Oho," Pip exclaimed with a glint in his eyes, "don't be making any assumptions there, child. I may not be mindless, but I am an old monster, nonetheless. Don't expect my comrades to be as forthcoming, either. They're less…patient than I am."

Anilith stood and bowed to the goblin, a formality from her days training with Temperance that she hadn't observed since she'd entered the Tower. As strange as it was, it felt right.

This would be a duel, even if it would only end in death, and her opponent had earned her respect.

Pip stood from his chair, banishing the obstacles from the arena with a wave of his hand. Straightening himself to his less-than-intimidating full height, a series of pops resounded from his small frame.

"Oof," he grunted, "it's been too long since I did that." He stretched a moment, releasing what may have been Ages of tension, spent lying in wait for a challenger. "You are honorable, Ani," he replied, returning her bow. "That may not always be the boon you hope, but fight to stay that way, if you can. There is too little honor in the world, and the generations to come will always need an example. Now, if you're ready, let us begin."

As two pairs of eyes met, each warrior planned their attack.

Anilith was reluctant to draw upon her skills too soon, eager to see what Pip might have in store for her. She eased the supernatural power from her body, keeping it near enough at hand that she might draw upon its strength at a moment's need. There were other abilities she needed to hone, and Pip seemed as good an opponent as any to uncover their secrets.

She was still leery of using Blade Weaving, but, fortunately, Pip did not seem to be a martial practitioner, so she doubted it would be needed. She knew she had grown too accustomed to using all of her abilities to end fights as quickly as possible, and there was a time when that was necessary, but her Master had always stressed that the true mark of skill lay in using only the necessary force, and no more.

"Don't underestimate me, child. The brutish casters you've doubtless faced have surely been lacking in control. The fire that burns the biggest does not always burn the brightest."

While he spoke, he conjured several small orbs, each no bigger than her fist, each containing a flame so intense, she had to squint to look at him. They began to rotate around his torso, dancing around him like light bugs in the summer heat, building speed as they cycled. With each cycle, they grew smaller, the flame within more solid and powerful.

"I know they're dangerous," Anilith shot back, "I can feel it from here…but they're about the most beautiful tools of death I've ever seen."

"Oho, yes. Death is a beautiful thing, when you see it from the proper vantage. Live long enough, and eternity becomes a daunting prospect. Death is a beautiful end to a terrible problem, and a world without it would collapse under its own weight. Nothing can exist forever, child," Pip said with a sad smile, "even if I still fear the end."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

An orb shot towards her, moving inevitably and giving off shockwaves as it rotated through the air. The attack closed quickly, but she'd learned to think faster, constantly training herself with the wind, and her body had recovered. Drawing upon the first of her magics, she unsheathed a blade and drew it across the orb's path, willing it to be knocked away.

Each combatant let out a shocked breath, as neither anticipated the result. The orb, rather than launch back at the goblin, veered off, arcing into the wall. The orb didn't detonate, but burned its way into the wall until the energy dissipated, expanding as it went and leaving a charred wound. The small hole of its entry gave way to a cavernous expanse, hidden in the shadows.

Anilith tsked in annoyance as Pip remarked, "Well, now, that was unexpected! Quite the…unusual talent you have there. Most people just, you know, dodge. Obviously didn't go as you wanted, though. Sorry about that," he finished with a grin, as he launched two more orbs, more forming and joining in the incendiary dancing movement the moment they left Pip's orbit.

Despite her best attempts to suppress it, a matching grin crept onto Anilith's face. Drawing her off-hand weapon, she blocked with one hand and parried with the other, testing the results. The parry went much the same as last time, hollowing the wall out in another spot above the dancing flames. The orb she blocked, however, pressed against her weapon, threatening to throw her from her feet. She brought her pain blade over, batting the burning orb aside as her magic battled the intense power in the spell, and her blade began to grow warm in her hand.

The orb, while still uncontrolled, didn't fly as wildly as the other two had, flying nearly straight away from where she'd contested its path. The resulting impact was also less bright, less dramatic than the others, some of the orb's force evidently lost in the struggle for supremacy.

That isn't to say the attack wasn't still devastating.

Pip looked at the blast zones, still controlling his dancing lights. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you, Ani?"

"You don't know the half of it, Pip," she fired back. "Quite the impasse we're at, eh?"

"Don't be thinking I'm all out of tricks, child," Pip laughed, "I've been practicing mine since before the gods imagined your family lines. It's too bad I'm shackled by the rules, or I could show you some real fun!"

The interweaving orbs danced more intricately than ever, moving up and down as they orbited the creature in a display of magical dexterity that dropped Anilith's jaw. Even as the coordinated movements grew increasingly complex, an entirely new component of the step revealed itself. New orbs that burned less brightly began to orbit the creature in the opposing direction.

Even through the gifts imbued on her belt, the room seemed to cool dramatically with the advent of these new spells.

"Interesting move, Pip," Anilith remarked, "Seems kind of strange for a fire mage to cool things down, though."

"Ah, but it is the fool who thinks all fires burn hot," Pip retorted. "Heat is a product, not the essence of Fire. I've spent lifetimes exploring the possibilities; Some of the deadliest flames burn cooler than you'd expect, child, but that doesn't lessen their danger. Fire consumes as it burns. Hot, cold, neither matters in the end, only that everything in its path is reduced to nothing. That is the essence of fire. Remember it, child. It may serve you, one day."

Pip fired off two opposing orbs, and as Anilith prepared to block them, she realized that they weren't meant to hit her. She braced herself, infusing her blades with magic and crossing them before her, just as the orbs collided. The resulting impact was far more dramatic than those that she'd blocked, as the opposing forces seemed to resist one another, releasing a shockwave of air and force that washed over Anilith like a tidal current, only held at bay by her magic's resistance.

She didn't have the power to push back against such strength, and she knew the time for observation was over. Pip was no slouch, not that she'd ever doubted it, and he'd end her handily if she continued to act so defensively.

When the force subsided, she saw two more orbs already on a collision course and stepped in to intercept them. "As if I'd stand still and let you take me out with that combination! You'll have to do better than that, my friend."

The two orbs impacted the walls, the new type expanding rapidly and leaving a crater, so unlike the first spell. The wall didn't even seem burned in the wake of the orb; it had simply ceased to exist.

Anilith made a careful note not to let that one touch her. Somehow, it seemed far more dangerous than the intense, hollowing orb, and the cold light it emitted took on a menacing undertone.

"Child," Pip jibed with a smile, "we're just getting started."