Icarus Awakens

Zolyra was out of options. Her stockpile of scrolls was down to scraps, reduced after a long a furious battle. It hadn't been for nothing, the cloud titan's body had been halved in mass despite the ongoing healing they received from the dwindling river. Zozar had absorbed so much from it that they might have permanently disrupted its flow, no doubt seen as a worthy sacrifice to keep Soraso alive.

With unlimited resources she had no doubt she could win, but Zolyra had gone into this knowing her magic would run out eventually. Now, the last runes of Freescribe burned off her body. The transmutation on her would last a little bit longer, but Spelleater was close to running its course. That she had avoided major injury at all was thanks to the earth gestalt which were even now continuing to expend themselves to divide Zozar's attention.

Freeing the city was no longer an option. Her forces below were too worn out to contest all those the Origin Beast had converted. Aurus' defenders were engaging both fronts, but that was a false hope. The monsters would retreat as soon as she was out of the fight, leaving Zozar free to assure their defeat. There was only one move left, a truly all or nothing play. Soraso had to die. The Spiritualists may find a replacement figurehead, but not without a hit to Threst's reputation. Zozar might have been able to salvage the situation themself, though ironically as they were a monster now they couldn't control a region without ensuring its destruction. Plenty would question why the strongest 'mortal' in the region allowed its leader to die only to refuse taking his place.

Soraso had to die. He was somewhere in the titan's body, a place she hadn't been insane enough to go yet. Ashier's demise was reason enough to avoid getting in close contact, but she didn't have a choice. Zolyra removed the last iridium scroll and activated it. Her opponent immediately grew defensive, expecting a massive, last-ditch attack aimed at Aurus itself. None came. Instead, Zolyra's body shimmered for a moment with pale mana. The aura shrank into her draconic form, leaving no obvious change.

None save for Zolyra's determination. Roaring, she flew headfirst into a lightning bolt and ignored the scales blown off as it scored a direct hit. The cloud titan created a vacuum next, forcing air apart right in front of her to force her off course. She didn't change course, despite the magic in the ability beginning to pull her apart as well. Zolyra used nothing to defend herself. She couldn't.

Breaking through the cloud barrier, the necrotic energy Zozar began infusing himself with bled into her, starting with all of the newly opened wounds. The outer layers of her body began to die, though soon enough she found the Regent within. He was otherwise indistinguishable from Zozar, save for his mana signature. Zolyra prepared to breathe, but Soraso was too quick.

With a flick of his sword he summoned a portal to escape, only to be surprised as Zolyra managed to follow him through. The tear in reality had originally been too small, but by adjusting her mana flow appropriately Zolyra had hardened her front claws to resist the cutting edge and widen it. Not an ability but a trick one learned as part of controlling attributes so you didn't have to tipclaw to avoid causing earthquakes.

She appeared over a kilometer out from Aurus, surprised not to find herself within the cloud dome Zozar had created at the start of the siege. "I told you, didn't I?" Zozar said, facing her down with his sword at his side. "You couldn't beat Zozar. As much as I'd hoped to avoid this much death, I see it was inevitable." He sounded so tired when he said that it took her by surprise, but she kept her guard up.

"Surrender."

Soraso threw his head back and sighed. "You know I can't do that. So, how do you intend to kill me? Your breath? Or is it whatever was scribed to that last scroll? Hmm." He held the sword out in front of him, the flat of the blade lying on his other hand as if he were offering it to her. "It's not going to work. My life is tied to Zozar now, the Tyrant saw to that."

"That so?" It'd been what she had feared given the magnitude of the mana burst released after Soraso had nearly died. It could have been a bluff, but her intuition was telling her the Regent wasn't lying. "Fine. If I can't kill you, then I challenge you for the right to lead Threst."

"Bold," Soraso laughed, breaking from his previous posture. "I think the region's public will might be weak enough for that to work. There's no way you get out of this without becoming a Tyrant, though. Is that what you want?"

"It's a burden I'd carry." Saying that she began to charge a breath attack, knowing that she had no spell available to enhance it. In the distance, the cloud titan busied themself with the earth gestalt first. Now that Zolyra wasn't pressuring them it appeared they were doing their best to contain rather than kill. Once they were done with that, there was no doubt they'd move to secure the rest of the city. There was only one move left. Forsake her class for the good of everyone.

Zolyra dismissed True Polymorph, returning to her natural form. In a duel against Soraso it would only offer him an easier time cutting her apart. Instead, she activated two items she'd saved for when all else failed. Soraso reacted by blinking his cloud eyes, and then smiling. "Well, you don't do half measures, do you?"

Maintaining her place in the air effortlessly, Zolyra held the sword and shield of the former Artificer-Tyrant Armafus. Both were level 6, just like her. "Let's find out."

…

Daniel, Shuni, and Sigron appeared in the skies above Aurus and almost died the moment they appeared. A gout of flame lit the air nearby, catching a patch of the Artificer's hair on fire. "What-"

"Area Denial!" The fire energy around them subsided, though Sigron's shield arm began to heat at the same time. Daniel activated Moment of Clarity as soon as he'd regained his composure, though what he saw only horrified him. Framed perfectly in his vision were two nearby monsters fighting to the death, with Aurus in the background. Smoke rose from the mountain, and he saw no sign of Zolyra. Instead what had to be Zozar stood over the peak, and he could barely make out what looked like a giant earth gestalt fighting them. Somehow, the auras Identify Creature placed on the two in front of him were worse than that sight.

Rorshawd - (Young Fire Dragon (5), ~Converted~)

...

Claire Elsemar - (Young Plains Truewyrm (6), Arcanist - 2, ~Converted~)

If Quala hadn't warned him ahead of time, the sudden reappearance of the women he'd last seen in the Thormundz would've destroyed him. An old part of himself tried to return, blaming him for all that he saw, but he took a mental breath and pushed past it. Knowing that he had Hunter in his head, and Shuni by his side, made all the difference.

Still, they had an immediate problem. The two were in a fight to the death, and the monster Claire had become was formidable. It had the basic appearance of the Eastern variant of dragons from Earth, a long body with many limbs and no obvious wings to sustain flight. Colors of wheat and blooming grass ran across the scales from the tail to the head, which was far more snake-like in appearance than draconic. The point in time he'd slowed showed retractable fangs aimed at the neck of Rorshawd, who was barely dodging the attack. The former Totem Warrior did have more powers suited for flight, though he appeared to still be losing.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Vengeance bond, Daniel thought, remembering Jeras disintegrate into dust after killing Casia. Was that about to happen here? Should, or could he stop it? Would Claire target them instead if she realized he was trying to kill the leader of her Sojourn? He briefly thought about turning the Arcadian's railgun on Rorshawd first, wondering if by stealing the kill he could save Claire, but Zozar had to be the first target while they had the element of surprise.

What is wrong? Hunter thought to him as time continued to stretch.

We teleported right on top of Claire and Rorshawd.

Didn't she-

Yeah.

So is she…

Yeah. We're in trouble if she tries to stop us.

Told you you should have taken me, Hunter complained, clearly trying to cut the tension with humor. Padri came back with Spinner. They're doing something with the other weapon.

Her webs? If that works that's genius. Damn, ok, he definitely deserves his class. Daniel focused on Zozar again. If she's anything like Jeras I doubt she'll attack us off the bat. I'm willing to risk figuring out how long target designation takes. If we can quickly swap between Zozar and Rorshawd, I'd feel a lot safer about doing this.

What about Claire?

He felt the guilt within him rise again. She might have chosen this, but she's still a victim. Of me if nothing else. We're giving her a chance, regardless of what she is now.

Hunter thought on that before he got the mental sense of a nod. Good. I liked her too, before she left. Would be bad to see her die. But not as bad as feeling you die.

I won't, Daniel promised, and with that resolution he canceled his power.

"Fuck!" Shuni exclaimed softly, having the presence of mind to do so while under muffle sound. The two monsters directly in front of them twisted away as Rorshawd narrowly escaped Claire's fangs.

The truewyrm seemed to notice them distantly, but only shouted, "I don't care who you are. Leave! He's mine."

"I'm not with the Spiritualists!" Rorshawd roared in turn desperately. "They… you." He stopped mid-plea as the dragon took a closer look at who had appeared, able to identify each of them. "Wait, it's him. The one who-"

"Shut up and die!" Claire spat back, chasing after him. Treacherous bastard that he was, Rorshawd kept circling Daniel's position. He must have either hoped Claire would notice him and give him a chance to slip away, or that they'd get provoked by him and enrage her by interfering.

The three kept their heads, Daniel moving the targeting reticle over the distant giant of an air gestalt. He let out a sigh of relief as it instantly turned green. Hunter?

It says, 'target acquired'. But… hmm.

What's wrong?

'Compensating for dimensional interference, ' the ringcat read back. There is a spinning thing under the words.

Oh fuck me. Tell me the moment it's ready and I'll put Rewind Shot in the combo attack. Padri should only load one shot in the other one if it works how we hope it does. Rorshawd broke in to their conversation by attempting to bathe them in fire. Sigron's defensive potential was formidable, but he'd seen that flame break Kob. They were saved as Claire once again struck, knocking his head away.

"He's here, it's-"

"Shut up!"

An invisible hand tapped his shoulder. "Please, please tell me the plan is working," Shuni said.

"Hit a snag up top but there's nothing we can do but hold out." Theoretically their part was done so long as the Arcadian could maintain target lock, but if they moved out of the cover Sigron was giving them they'd be in far worse shape. There was simply nowhere else to hide.

At least Shuni kept some good humor. "That's really you're ex?" Daniel nodded, trying to spam the fire button in spirit. "I don't think she took the breakup well. Then again she did get to level 6."

"But if she kills that dragon, she could die too." He grimaced with that, and Shuni gave him an odd look. "I've seen it happen."

"So you still care about her?" Shuni asked carefully, then flinched as the dragon began flying directly at them. Claire used the opportunity to slam into him, trying to coil to lock him down, but Rorshawd managed to barely slip out. "Not that I'm threatened or anything, it's just…"

"Crazy. I know. It's more that I can't help but feel responsible."

"You didn't kill her brother." They both looked at Sigron as he said what might have been the most complete they'd heard from him. "Heard about it. I was there, but…" He raised his shield arm for emphasis, speech faltering.

"So what we do?" the Rogue asked, looking at Claire with about as much conflict in her eyes as when he'd been wearing the hybrid body earlier. "One wrong move and either or both will be at our throats. What happens if we fire that thing and provoke them?"

"It's Daniel! He's here!" Rorshawd yelled when he had a moment to speak, causing both of them to flinch, but the only thing Claire did was try to kill him harder. It didn't seem like she was hearing what he said anymore. "Hrah! She'll kill you when she's done with me!" He mixed it up then, using the Construct Projectile power he'd stolen from Daniel to make a spear from a nearby cloud. Claire was his target this time, his bid to drag the three of them into the fighting had only led to further injury on this part.

His improved attributes allowed him to do far more with the power than Daniel could at his level. He'd practically abandoned it at this point since his blast bow represented better damage potential, but the cloud bolt Rorshawd threw showed him not to completely ignore the ability going forward. The attack came from behind Claire, who hadn't been expecting it. She tried to dodge but, unused to a body far lengthier than her normal one, it struck her dead on.

Claire snarled in pain, the lance breaking through her scales. Rorshawd's maw twisted upward in satisfaction, but that quickly changed as he finally provoked the Arcanist into using her powers. "Oh damn," Daniel cursed as he saw something begin to take form in the air. While he hadn't forgotten, it didn't register until she used it that Claire's power to summon monsters could grow with her level. Just as Rorshawd had benefited from heightening Regeneration to level 5, so did Claire find some use out of Summon Monster.

Veteran Rippermaw Hawk - (5, Summoned)

Only one monster appeared, though it still made Rorshawd's eyes widen in fear when he saw it. The faintly avian monster was two-thirds his size, but its mouth was larger. It could close to give the illusion of a normal beak, but it continued to open down the main body to reveal a fanged pit where organs would be in a normal creature. Either the cost of bringing this nightmare into being was great or Claire wanted as little interference as possible, because it was the only one that joined her hunt.

Rorshawd immediately bathed the summoned monster in flames, a move Daniel faintly approved of just given how it looked, but the rippermaw hawk was durable enough to fly through and straight at him while Claire flanked. The dragon escaped once more, though this time a sizable patch of one wing was torn out as it managed to get a hold of him. "She's got him," Daniel said plainly. "That power he used to wound her has a minute cooldown, and for some reason it doesn't look like he's healing right. Maybe she got some of her venom in him earlier and it's suppressing it somehow."

"And then?" Shuni asked, voice as low as she could get it. "She's a Spiritualist. We can't fight her if it comes to it. I know when I'm outmatched, at least in power. I think I could get out of here, but…" Her hand closed over one of his wrists. "No way you can. So, since I'm stuck here, any bright ideas?"

No way the railgun works if it takes this long to target something, he thought. It'd been about a minute and Hunter hadn't given him an update. But I still don't want to kill her! If there's no choice, then we will, but how do we deal with someone who can create that thing out of thin air?

Sigron coughed into his free hand. He looked unsure, and then nodded. "Have an idea. Stupid, but possible? Need an opening. Distract her."

"I could do that," Daniel said slowly. "She's ignoring me, but I haven't said anything to change that. What exactly are you planning?" Sigron raised a hand, and while the other two understood what he meant, only Daniel realized exactly what he was going to try. It was extremely bold, but worst case it was Sigron putting himself in the most danger. If it did work, there was even a chance they could stop Claire from making a fatal mistake.

Just then, Hunter chimed in. Thing finally stopped spinning. Took forever. Padri couldn't get his plan to work. Well, says it could if he had more time, but the web keeps getting pulled off of the wood. Do it?

The city in the distance warred with the combat raging nearby as he weighed his options. In the end, it was the earth gestalt still struggling in the distance that decided it. He could distantly see Zozar pulling the massive collection of vines apart even as it tried to fight them. Khare had to be somewhere in there, if they weren't already dead. The same could be said for all of his friends around Aurus. They had all been holding out, depending on his team to intervene should all else fail.

Though it might bring Claire's wrath down upon them, he couldn't keep watching and do nothing. Daniel gave Hunter Rewind Shot to combine with Lion Charge, as well as one word. Fire.