NOVEL NEXT (Vol 5) Chapter 34: Arrayed to a Purpose
Sammy scoffed a bit at Ash’s words, though chuckling simultaneously from her hilarious curse. “I also fucking killed him, so don’t worry your pretty little head. Also… buttfiends?”
“Fiends that crawl out from the butt,” Ash muttered absently.
“That’s not real, though, right? Like, not literally real?”
“No.” Ash cleared her throat after the completely ambiguous answer. “Anyway, I’m glad that he’s dead. That is usually the best way to stop Witchkillers if you have the privilege. They’re tougher than golems, though certain high-level spells can banish them. Otherwise, they don’t have a lot of weaknesses.”
“Aside from being groundbound. We probably should’ve just flown away.”
“While leaving Beltrand alive? They’d follow until their duration ran out. Up to eight hours a day.”
“I could’ve led them away if they were following a signal from him through the mirror.”
“That is not how they’re trained. One or two would’ve gone after the others they saw leaving. And they can track better than a bloodhound. No, the best thing was to kill him which is what you did. Now they are aimless and morose and don’t have a definitive mission to complete. I believe they’ll fade more quickly than the normal duration. For the last time, no less, guarding the closest thing to his body or grave.”
“Right… the Systemic place of his death.” Sammy gave that a long pause before she declared, “Let’s turn to the north and slightly east, dragon boys. I want a bit of distance before we move Ash to the other… shit. It’s smashed.”
“Not to worry, my cheerful goddess!” Porthos called boisterously. “I happen to have a mirror as well!”
“Wow, you lugs both have brains?! Who knew!”
“Like you’re such a genius,” Dart muttered balefully, but Porthos just laughed as always.
Ash sighed. “After all that, I’m almost relieved to go into one. Almost.”
“There, there, Ash,” Sammy consoled. “You did really well back there, though. Nice to fight with another veteran, though you didn’t get to see what I can do.”
“I’m sure that would be quite a sight indeed, Your Majesty. As for me, well… combat is not exactly my specialty, but I suppose I’ll do in a pinch.”
“And what is your specialty?”
Ash opened her mouth and closed it once, clearly doing her ‘choose words carefully’ bit again. “Informational and creative, you could say. I’ll give you the full details when we are safe. It will make more sense that way.”
“As you say, then.” So secretive. How much was she on the run from? If she was just an independent, she wouldn’t be so deep into Dominion territory. This is dangerously close to the Capital.
In the distance, the faint sound of canine howls could be heard. It was eerie and sad. Poor doggos. They didn’t deserve such an owner, nor what was done to them. They’re not the monsters, not by a long shot.
When Sammy was satisfied the party was far enough away, she called for a stop and they landed. Dart continued scouting around to make sure all was clear. Porthos polymorphed to his big, bearded human form and produced his hand mirror from a large jacket pocket.
Taking hold of the mirror via her control powers, Sammy floated it over to the waiting Ash. “Ready, Ash?”
Taking a deep breath, Ash nodded. “Ready as I ever will be, at least.”
Sammy Mazed her bodily once more, this time placing her in a cabin on a wide prairie, with sunshine shining down. Ash appeared on the porch where she could see the outside. She was a bit startled but smirked as she took stock of things, taking the steps down to the grass immediately and looking out.
“How’s this?” a voice asked from the sky.
“Comforting,” Ash replied with a shrug. “I’m sure it will be fine, Goddess. Not much longer, hmm?”
“That’s right!” After a pause, Sammy added, “I made a hot tub in the back, already ready and steaming — if you’d like to indulge, to relax a little.”
Ash’s brow furrowed. “Hot tub?”
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Deep in the wilderness of the Everwood there resided a hidden fortress cloaked in a hundred layers of secrecy, which some said not even the Seven knew the location of. It was the center of a particular power over the lands with some of the greatest reach, as its members even were entrenched beyond the borders of the Dominion.
Who governed and directed them was yet another secret, but most suspected the Inquisition. Others claimed they were simply another branch of the Heaven Knights.
Regardless, they were the finest non-wizard agents, assassins, and investigators of the Dominion. It was an open secret they were the face behind the mask of the Shiners in the Southlands. They were the exorcists of ghosts, the executioners of spirits, the eradicators of the fae.
They were the Witchhunters.
The vast majority of that fortress’s brood were elsewhere, and though this was common normally, the depletion due to the war made it worse. In just the last two days it had been even more extensive. Nothing more than a skeleton crew was present, and even very few sentries on the vine-covered walls — at least of the human variety.
Packs of dogs were everywhere inside and outside, black with red-tan marks, pointed ears, and long snouts, known as the nightrunner breed. Along the walls, their dead cousins patrolled, giant red phantoms keeping an ever-watchful eye on all that transpired. In the trees, largely unseen, black-feathered hawks waited, too.
Nothing aside from insects got anywhere near the walls, and the earth itself underneath was enchanted with ancient wards never broken. Wildlife had long learned the locale taboo and avoided it like the plague.
In the middle of the night, suddenly all the phantom canines stopped where they were and raised their heads to howl mournfully and long. Soon, all their living cousins raised their voices too, in support.
Some sleeping within woke and cursed, stuffing their pillow over their head to try and sleep through it. It wasn’t common, but it also wasn’t rare, or unexpected. Agents died, and the hounds mourned. That was life.
One man did not. He shot out of his bed in his private quarters — the quarters of the Deputy Marshal and an accomplished Grand Commander. A man young to it all, yet far exceeding in excellence any in his family since his great, great grandfather, who once led the entire order. Merit was merit within, though, and those who took the greatest risks and survived were those who led.
Listening to the cry of the hounds, the man closed his eyes briefly, cocking his head. Then he pulled a knife from a sheath ever ready even while sleeping, and cut himself over the point of his finger.
A single drop of blood congealed and fell, and some ensorcellment caused it to turn to steam. The man took a deep breath, clenched his fist, and opened his eyes.
“My idiot father finally got himself killed,” he declared softly. “This matter might be more intriguing than I thought…”
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Travel by birds of a swift feather high, high over the southern Everwoods went exceptionally well. They made a beeline for the river and all remained on schedule. The ship took a slightly slower speed so their arrival would be while still traveling to the large city. This avoided potential extra eyes noting birds coming down or the like. A small risk, but minimizing it seemed wise.
Ash did in fact partake of the hot tub with squealing glee, which in and of itself was a joy for Sammy to see from the otherwise reserved young woman. Her words of exclamation included ‘Like a hot springs!’ and, after settling in, a sigh of contentment with ‘Oh, it’s even better! And certainly better than a mere hot bath. Are those… jets of water hitting me?!’
They certainly were.
Sammy opted to give her some semblance of privacy, as she was content to remain quiet and soak.
The mirror was ultimately no burden to the birds or their speed, as they realized they could just reabsorb it when they shapeshifted without issue. The only disadvantage was she didn’t have a mirror to look through, but vision translated from the eyes of the birds was good enough.
For the other ‘tainted’ mirror, they first melted it down into a glob with dragon fire — and a spell for good measure — then Dart stowed it in a dimensional pocket and took it in a different direction south and more westerly. Once more, it was likely overkill and paranoid, but it was not going to be left to find in Dominion territory if she could help it. It had perhaps permanent aural stains considering what it was tied to.
Backup muscle to take the place of Dart met up with Porthos fifteen minutes into his flight, in the form of the Faerie Dragon Winter. A level shy of maximum and not a fighting specialist, but other core Servitors such as Athos and Constance were tied up with other things — figurative rather than literal, which definitely wasn’t always the case with one particular member of the crew.
Probably more than one! Ha.
Sammy crammed in a few odds and ends while waiting for the riverboat handoff. As something she’d been tinkering with here and there as well as being basically decided already in purpose, she decided to finish her level 2 free custom spell.
Ozra needs her ‘ammo’ or she’ll be giving me the stink eye next time I summon her.
So she squeezed as much as she could out of level 2 to get a multi-attack, thinking carefully about how Ozra could most easily mod it to different ends. Unsurprisingly, she had to factor in Specialized FE to get persistence benefits on top of other things, since when she’d used Double-barreled Repeater Magicannon in the vision quest, that was the power added from level 3.
Mirror Array (12 MP, 1 Mirrors FE, 1 Pneuma FE, Optionally 1 Light FE)
You summon into existence (1 x caster level) number of small mirrors that form an Array in an arc above your head. You may only have one Array-type spell cast on you at any given time. Duration is 1 minute plus 1 minute per 2 full caster levels.
Each mirror can form its ‘image’ into a reflective, quasi-metallic dart and fire at high speeds as a spell attack, at a target within (100 meters + 5 meters per Caster Level). You have +6/+4/+2/+1 to Effective Caster Levels within 10/20/30/50 meters, for accuracy purposes only.
The attack counts as a physical projectile by magically-enchanted ammo, with Armor Penetration 2. Lethality Grade is equal to Effective Caster Level. Base level is [Wizard]. One additional class may add as normal, providing (level/3, rounded up) to the base class — this only includes certain special classes (Note: [Goddess] adds). An individual dart can only deal up to a [Minor Wound].
After a mirror is used, it turns into an opaque gray color and is expended. Up to two mirror-attacks can be used to attack in a 5-second period that includes a casting, or three mirror-attacks without a casting.
Alternately, six mirrors can fuse together into a larger one and attack at Lethality Grade +1, Armor Penetration 3, -1 to accuracy, while allowing greater wound severity. This requires 1-2 seconds to arrange.
Recharging ‘expended images’ can be done at half the normal MP and no FE cost. Fusing or un-fusing a large mirror can be done during a recharge for no additional time.
Alternate Effect (Light Laser): By expending 1 Light FE in addition, the wounding type can shift from (Missile) to (Beam — Burning), which has 100 meters more range and +1 accuracy out to 100 meters. This can be switched every ‘volley’ but not between individual attacks.
There we go, Ozzy! That should do ya. You’re rubbing your hands together somewhere like the troublesome gremlin you are, aren’t cha?
Patreon Link — 69 Advance Chappies!
Nice.