Heretic Spellblade 5, page 28
He knew that they had questions about how he had learned this, but nobody voiced them. Right now, Nathan was their hope of avoiding a second Kurai, even if they disapproved of his reliance on knowledge he gained from other Messengers.
The political aftermath could wait until after he’d stopped Doumahr from being destroyed.
“Which is why you should let us go after her,” Maura snapped, trying to rise from the heap Astra had dumped her in.
Her sister remained motionless, and Maura growled as she threw Laura to the side.
“I’m certain Siv can’t teleport,” Nathan said.
“That’s not what I mean. If you fight her, she’ll level half the fucking forest and burn you to a goddamn crisp. You never—”
He hit her with the equivalent of a mental slap. Enough to shut her up, but not so much to knock her down again.
Maura’s cheeks puffed up and she balled up her fists. “We have a deal. Don’t you trust us?”
“This isn’t the time or place,” he said. “And it’s not a deal. You agreed to serve.”
Omria-dammit, arguing with the Twins and talking about Messengers was the last fucking thing Nathan needed right now.
Before Maura could stick her foot into his mouth any further and ruin relations with Trafaumh, Fyre flexed her wings and stepped forward. Her garnets glowed as she drew her scimitar, which gleamed as if it were forged from gold.
“Bastion Nathan, what happens if the Messenger gets past us?” Fyre asked, her voice somehow both quiet yet booming at the same time.
Despite her penchant for blatantly lying to people that weren’t him, Nathan had to admit he appreciated her ability to control a situation. No wonder she’d been so successful with her cult.
“Ideally, we won’t let that happen,” he said. “But if it does… Best case, everything within a hundred miles is destroyed. That’s if we successfully rally support from the Spires, Trafaumh, and the rest of the Empire. Possibly even Falmir, given their capabilities.”
Nathan remembered Gareth’s ability to teleport using portals. As dangerous as that would be right now, he might be able to prevent a cascade using the Twins.
Assuming that trick worked when the portal had breached into Doumahr. He could already see the black and white tear expanding within the crater in the distance as Siv brought her horde into this world.
He didn’t even know if he could close a portal with that trick if it was the only one Siv controlled. From his experience, Messengers didn’t cause cascades until they had multiple portals under their control.
At times, that had been all that stood between Doumahr and complete destruction in his world. A Messenger might breach, but the damage could be limited to a relatively small stretch of land.
Small being several thousand square miles, generally.
“Worst case, Siv claims multiple binding stones, begins triggering cascades, slips through a gateway, and then terrorizes Soreaux. At the moment, the Empire is in a better place if she heads south, but we should assume she knows that,” he continued.
“We should?” Fei asked. “How?”
“We don’t just drop into this world like some dumb teen who signed up to die in some stupid war,” Laura said as she finally rose to her feet. “If all we did was flail around wildly, we’d be pretty shit at our jobs.”
This would normally be when Sen or Sunstorm responded with a pithy comment, but they were far too worked up to bother.
The succubus clicked her tongue and placed a hand on her hip. “So stoic. Boring.”
Rolling her eyes, Fyre faced Nathan again. “Can we stop her?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Without us?” Maura asked, eyes bulging.
He shut her up with a look this time, and she returned to pouting.
“Lord Nathan, she’s moving,” Reine said. “As you predicted, her horde is immense. Thousands strong already and growing by the minute. I… have never seen anything like this.”
Fortunately, he had.
“Baudelaire, did you bring a portable wireless?” Nathan asked.
She shook her head. “Given we are on the leylines, the local church has one. Will it function?”
“Maybe, maybe not. This isn’t a cascade, but Messengers can knock out the wireless anyway. Fei, Deverese, send units to the church to contact others about this. The Spires might already know, but we’ll still need to advise them that support might be necessary, or to prepare for a potential cascade,” Nathan said.
“Will they come if they expect a cascade?” Deverese asked.
“Given Astra is here and their portal is still primed for a Messenger invasion, they’d be insane to wait it out. If there’s anything worse than one Messenger invasion, it’s two.”
The panic from earlier began to subside as orders began to be issued. Nathan continued forming his plan.
“We need to cut off the demonic advance. Even if we stall Siv, new portals can form if the demons run amok,” he said. “Maura, Laura, I need both of you to focus on the demons. Seraph—”
“I understand,” Seraph said with a wan smile. “I can likely hold one front with assistance, but my gem abilities will be less effective against powerful magic.”
“You’re leaving us to fight mooks?” Maura spluttered.
He ignored her and faced Deverese, who had finished issuing orders. “I want you to focus on the demons.”
“I can fight,” the Bastion ground out.
“That’s the point. I know what your duogems are capable of. They excel at fighting armies, and you’re relatively close to a binding stone. My best horde fighters are trigems, and they need to be fighting the Messenger.”
“Deverese,” Baudelaire said, her tone clearly a warning.
“As you command, Revered Bastion.” Deverese bowed, but it lacked his usual flourish.
That left guard duty. While the knights were capable, Nathan wasn’t so suicidal as to risk leaving Alice unprotected, given what Falmir was capable of.
What if Beatrice was lurking nearby? The thought terrified him.
“Nurevia—”
“Don’t you fucking dare,” she thundered.
“Protect Alice,” he ordered, towering over her. “She trusts you. I trust you.”
“This is the second time you’ve given me this sort of job,” she accused, her purple eyes clearly hurt.
“Because I trust you. If anything happens, get Alice out,” he said.
Not exactly the most uplifting words in present company, but it needed to be said.
With those words, his final orders had been given out. Seraph rushed off, and the Twins glided away after some urging. Nathan kept an eye on the direction they moved in until he was sure they weren’t heading toward Siv.
That left him with a half-dozen Champions, and Fyre.
Ordinarily, he’d say he had too little to defeat Siv with. The grim expressions of the Trafaumh delegates said as much.
Trafaumh and the Empire had thrown almost everything at Siv the first time, and that was after she had torn through Kurai. The reason Bastions like Tharban and Leopold rose to prominence afterward was precisely because of how many died fighting her.
But Nathan wasn’t the Bastion he had been a few years ago. If he couldn’t stop Siv with what he had, what chance did he have of holding Doumahr together when things worsened?
“I didn’t sense her,” Fyre muttered as they prepared to leave and confront Siv directly. “Moments before the explosion, I felt her arrive, but that was it. She says it’s to be expected, but…”
“Messengers are good at deception,” he said. “I’ve always suspected that they adjusted the methods they use to invade to avoid whatever technology we have available. Even the traditional method never anticipated a Messenger attack—sometimes they didn’t accompany the horde despite transforming the portal world.”
“It still bothers me. What use is this power if we’re still standing at the brink?” Fyre’s clenched fist shook.
“Welcome to my life,” he said drily.
Several of his Champions snorted, and Fyre winced.
“I didn’t mean—”
“For somebody as obsessed with Nathan as you are, you underestimate how intense his paranoia is,” Sen said. “This is why he’s the way he is. To him, everything can fall apart while he’s asleep.”
“I can better appreciate the feeling now,” Narime said. “Witnessing how sudden this was… It still feels surreal. As if I am repeating the earliest days of Kurai’s fall.”
“It won’t be that,” he said. “Before we leave, quick strategy meeting.”
They fell silent and all focus slammed into him.
When he’d confronted Thanatos, he’d done so with the full knowledge it could be the last time he saw many of them. Nothing had changed.
Even so, Nathan wanted to believe things had improved.
“Siv’s basically an immensely powerful spellblade,” he said. “She uses the primary natural elements: fire, water, earth, and wind. But her power and spellcasting speed are absurd. The equivalent of a sorcerer casting supercharged sixth and seventh rank spells by snapping their fingers.”
“Ifrit’s warning me that any elemental spells we use need to have disruption magic woven into them,” Sen said.
He nodded. “That’s correct. Siv can and will take control of your spell if you don’t do that. Keep that in mind, Narime. Fortunately, Sen and I are the only ones who rely on spells. I can use ascended magic, and Sen has Ifrit.”
“What if we’re targeted by her?” Fei asked. “I don’t think even my new gem lets me stop the inferno tornado.”
“It won’t, but your flames might work.” He frowned. “You and Narime are likely the trump cards here.”
“My counter ability,” Narime said.
“That’s right. I fought her without you last time, and even then…” He shook his head. The differences between this Narime and the one in his world didn’t matter. “You can counter abilities you understand. The biggest issue you’ll have is raw power. Siv might throw spells as fast as you counter them.”
“I’ll run dry in seconds.” She frowned. “That means I need to be tactical.”
“No, it means we need a source of defense.” He glanced at Ciana, who raised her shield with a smile. “Ciana’s barrier, Narime’s counter ability, Fei’s magic-consuming flames…”
That left himself, Astra, Sen, and Sunstorm to focus on offense, plus whatever Fei and Narime could spare.
It wasn’t enough. Should he recall the Twins?
But for all their power, there was a good reason he kept them away from this fight. Multiple, even.
This would be a demonstration of power to Trafaumh. If it became a Messenger slugfest, then it might alarm them more than assuage them. He also didn’t want to risk Siv slaying either of the Twins, as he was deeply reliant on them for far too many things.
Kadria claimed to be his partner, but the Twins were the sole reason he had a fighting chance against Siv.
The second underlying problem was how easily they might seize the binding stone once Siv was down. Nathan knew he’d have to anger Trafaumh by stealing one of their binding stones, but the risk of either Twin using it against his exhausted Champions right after victory was too high.
“Fyre, what is your defensive magic like?” he asked. “I can guess the sort of combat abilities you use, and I’ve seen some.”
“You’re not making me stay behind again,” she said, red eyes gleaming with anger.
“That wasn’t my idea. Rather, I want you to fight with us, but focus on keeping us alive. That seems both prophet-like and extremely useful. Siv hits hard and fast, but you have a source of power right here, don’t you?”
She blinked, then bit her lip. “I’ll try. The palace was easier because it was tied to me, but I only have indirect connections to everyone here.”
How exactly did her magic work? He didn’t have the time to find out.
“That’s everything,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Rather than cross the canyon by foot, Nathan relied on teleportation. As he could visibly see where he was going, he used a visible portal. Everyone bounded through the shimmering hole that connected them across the canyon.
Once through, the temperature increased immensely. Fei sniffed the air, then shook her head. Nobody had started any fires yet.
“Likely an aftereffect of the earlier spell,” Nathan said.
At least, he hoped so.
Roars from demons filled the air, along with a constant thumping as an endless tide of furious monsters surged forth from the nearby crater.
Where there had once been a fortress was now a blackened crater of stone and earth, above which crackled a black and white tear in reality itself. The binding stone floated in midair, but the dull white glow had changed to a pitch black.
“I’ve read about this, but to think it’s this bad,” Ciana said, staring at the portal.
“Don’t stare at it,” he warned. “It’s not as physically painful to look at a portal in Doumahr as in the portal world, but it’s still disorienting.”
But while their attention resided on the portal, a figure approached them. Her horns glowed with both ice and fire, and she carried a sword as big as she was over one shoulder.
“Well now,” Siv said. “When Beatrice told me this new cycle was full of opportunities, I didn’t think she meant a rematch.”
CHAPTER 22
Beatrice…
Nathan didn’t waste any time on Siv’s words, however. The Messenger was too dangerous to risk that.
“Attack,” he said.
The next few moments became a blur in retrospect. Nine immensely powerful warriors prepared or launched their opening spells and abilities in the space of seconds.
This was why Nathan had sent Deverese away. Even with the latter’s war experience, a battle at this magnitude of power left no room for hesitation. Once a Bastion died, all their Champions went with them.
And Siv could easily kill Bastions.
Her flaming horn surged with a pillar of fire as she hefted her blade into the air from fifty feet away. The air became stiflingly hot. Ribbons of white-hot flames shimmered into existence around her.
Within seconds, everything in front of Siv would be reduced to an ashen wasteland, them included.
Nathan and his Champions weren’t idle, however. His sword flew into his hand as he prepared his mainstay fifth rank spatial attack spell. Fei and Astra darted to either side, the former’s figure obscured by the cloak of blue flames she wore.
Darkness pumped into the surrounding air. A glance back at Sunstorm confirmed she was responsible, as she used one of the rarer effects of her monogem ability.
Fei and Astra left the curtain of darkness almost immediately, and were soon joined by Fyre. The prophet flew into the air above them, before coating herself with a soft golden glow. A gentle but insistent pressure pushed against his mental barriers.
If this were any other circumstance, he’d refuse her. But times demanded desperate measures. He let Fyre in, and her power surged through the mental link, and into the tethers he maintained with his other Champions. Kadria’s fingerprints and mental tethers loomed ominously over the affair, but Nathan focused on the battle.
Both Sen and Narime glowed with multiple pentagons of light as they prepared to unleash their own spells.
All of them were too slow to meet Siv’s first attack, however. Her sword descended. With it came a blazing inferno of destruction that looked and felt like a targeted blast of Sen’s inferno tornado spell.
As if they had planned this all along, Ciana calmly raised her shield. A glimmering barrier of silver light split the battlefield in two.
The all-consuming roar of heat slammed into Ciana’s barrier. She visibly flinched and sweat formed on her entire body instantly. Nathan felt terror lash his mind over the mental link.
But she held strong and Siv’s spell screeched uselessly against the barrier. Fei and Astra had long since outraced the barrier and were turning back around.
A grunt indicated that Astra’s first attack had landed. Her psychokinesis allowed her to land attacks from a distance—damn useful against someone like Siv, who could turn her surroundings into a cacophony of spells and destruction in an instant.
But the inferno only wavered slightly. Nathan knew Siv was trying for a decapitation strike. Mere seconds had passed, despite the intensity of what had happened.
This battle would be over before it started if Ciana’s barrier failed.
He reached out to her mind over the mental link. As expected, her gem reserves were dwindling rapidly. Previously, refilling these mid-battle would be difficult.
But he wasn’t the Nathan he had been even months ago. Using his mental magic, he reached out to her and pumped binding stone magic into her gem.
A gasp escaped Ciana, but her diamonds only glowed brighter. More and more power flooded her gem.
After only a few more seconds that felt like hours, the blaze vanished. Everything between the barrier and Siv was a barren, blackened husk of itself. Grass, shrubberies, animals, leaves, and even the very dirt had been incinerated. The air shimmered with the haze of heat.
Ciana’s barrier dropped and that heat rushed toward them. Nathan winced as scorching hot air blasted his face.
But he and the others had held their spells. Siv’s sword lowered, and she stared directly at him with raised eyebrows, as if showing the slightest bit of shock.
Their counterattack began.
Astra surged toward Siv, sending sticks and stones hurtling through the air with the raw wind force she put out while running. Her arm cocked back, ready to pummel Siv again.
“I’ve had enough of your immortality bullshit,” Siv growled, facing the dark elf.
With an outstretched arm and her ice horn gleaming with an unholy frost, Siv unleashed the equivalent of the inferno spell, but with ice. Nathan barely had an instant to see the landscape turn to ice and shatter, and thick clouds of fog form from ice crystals.
Astra stopped dead, her arms windmilling rapidly as if to obliterate the spell. As they had learned fighting Thanatos, Astra was immortal but not immune to stasis. If Siv froze the air around Astra, the dark elf might be fine, but she’d need to break free.
