-Callen-
With the ability to process the wood into arrowheads, the rest of the chips of wood didn’t last long. It was the process of completing the arrows that took up what little time we had until it was time to call it for the night. I stored the arrows away and reached out for Callia again only to get met by continued silence. I looked over the void space and immediately noticed large amounts of material missing. I can almost be certain she got in some kind of trouble, but what is really bothering me is the fact it seems she has been out cold. Even the most grievous nonlethal injuries should have regenerated long ago. Her ability to bounce back and dive back into training regardless of exertion is something I am more than familiar with. Even something deeper like mana exhaustion shouldn’t have kept her unconscious for what seems like two or three days.
Despite my worries, I had no means of investigating other than confirming her unconsciousness. Instead, I focused back on my present mission. Yana had dug a personal grave as well as a mass grave for the rotting soldiers. With her goodbye completed, she rejoined the rest of us inside my mobile shelter. Summoning the building had actually been far harder than I remember. I hadn’t properly tested the changes now that my affinity was reduced back to its original state, and while it didn’t seem to be a burden on regularly recalling materials or goods from the void, the burden of large objects had returned, meaning my summoning couldn’t be used instantly. I’ll have to reconsider my role in future fights now that I couldn’t follow in the wake of the queen while prioritizing collapsing veils.
It seemed everyone had one thing or another on their minds as the night passed in contemplative silence, but with the return of morning, our focus on the mission was restored. Wellman found the tracks of the elves returning along the path they came from, which was a northeastern direction. Tracking the elves gradually started to become a bit trickier. They had split from one concentrated group into countless teams of three to four and spread out while withdrawing in a similar direction. In pursuit of the elves, I noticed the forest open up, giving way before the towering peaks of the Kal’Ren Mountains. Just like everything in this world, it was like someone turned on some kind of amplification to the natural wonders of the world. The “hills” in front rivalled the largest mountains on earth, but behind them, the greater peaks of the true mountain range pierced through the clouds and climbed even higher into the heavens beyond sight. While taking in the sight of the peaks before me, a voice snapped me out of my reverie.
“Baron, look!” Luther, having kept his composure, immediately spotted on the side of a distant mountain a band of elves locked in combat with a humanoid made purely of stone. Without the trees to blind my mana sight, I immediately put my other eye to use scanning the area. The seemingly empty expanse lit up with concentrations as hidden forms of countless other golem-like creatures dormant in the hills illuminated. However, while I noticed that the hills and mountains were also crawling with life, just a kind less apparent than the forest, I also noticed that the elves fighting the golem were truly alone.
“Move with me; the hills are covered in hidden monsters, but this is the perfect chance to capture and interrogate one of the elves.” I darted forward, and the others trailed behind me. The distance between us and the elves fighting narrowed quickly as I got closer; it became apparent that while the elves were outclassed by the stone monster, it wasn’t adapting to their immortality. Piece by piece they chipped away at the monster, but they weren’t fast enough. I decided to forgo stealth entirely since the terrain was open.
“Luther, the giant is yours.” He slipped past me, sending himself barreling into the giant and shattering its leg with a swing from his hammer. I signaled for two more to support him while I rushed the elves. A quick check of the surroundings confirms that the blunt impacts from the golem hadn’t severed any pieces of the elves, meaning I couldn’t get any free kills. The elves reeled around to face us but were too slow. A rune formed in front of me, sending an arc of lightning that jumped between the weapons and bodies of the elves. It stunned them while Polo and Yana rushed forward. Yana’s sword swept straight through the mundane weapon placed against it, severing the elf in two, while Polo mercilessly employed his agility like my sister, creating openings for him to mercilessly sever tendons. The last elf charged me, but before he could even reach me, I expanded my mana zone and flooded him with void energy. He dropped to the ground as the charring from the lightning and the lethal hits from his earlier fight became real.
I pushed forward past the fallen elf and over to the one Yana was thoroughly dicing into pieces. A burst of energy left nothing but a mulched elf. Leaving only the last, which Polo was doing an excellent job of disabling. As I arrived, the elf tried to flail his weapon towards me but collapsed as Polo inserted a knife into his spine. With the knife left behind, the elf flopped to the ground, unable to move. I moved next to the elf and scanned his condition beneath the veil. Multiple crushed organs, including his heart and lungs, dozens of small cuts along key joints, and a dagger that was still sticking in his spine. If I broke his veil, the elf would immediately perish. Behind me the sound of someone crying out along with a loud thump of stone hitting the ground echoed over.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Keep this one down; I'm going to help the others.” I turned around and assessed the ongoing fight. Luther was in close, using his strength to barely contest the stone giant by deflecting his attacks while Bellam was lying unconscious nearby. Wellman was rushing to move him, and the others were darting in and out, slicing bits and pieces of stone from the giant. I rush forward while summoning my hammer into hand. As I got close, I activated an air compression rune beneath me, launching me upward in a super jump. As I crested from my launch, I adjusted my posture and repeated the runes, launching me back down. “HA,” a war cry slipped from my lips as the impact of the hammer made my arms numb. The loud shattering of stone as the stone giant's head cracked and shattered from the impact rang out. I had no time to brace my body as I also slammed into the stone giant, causing its torso to crack.
I coughed lightly as I pulled myself from the dust of the impact. The runes of my armor were significantly faded, meaning I would likely have to replace it again before I tried a similar stunt. Even with the magical protection, the impact left a severe aching in my body. However, considering the enemy was now a pile of rubble, I suspect it won’t cause any more trouble. The others rush over to check on me, but I push them aside to get to Bellam, who is coughing up blood. Immediately I got to work fixing his collapsed lungs, shattered ribs, and bruised heart. Any harder or longer, and Bellam might not have been saved. I look at the others for any immediate medical needs and let myself relax as the team seems to be fine.
“Now, let's see what we can get our prize to say.” I shift the group's attention back to the crippled elf whose head is squirming in resistance despite his paralyzed body.
Nokin's Sanctuary
The disgraced paladin Nokin was cast out for trusting his senses more than the fraudulent orbs that the priests held in such high regard. Most paladins spent their free time training or fulfilling various duties in the citadel. Once upon a time Nokin had been the same, but his duties had been to secure the archive. A quiet task in the dullest place in the entire citadel, but he took care in his work and even enjoyed browsing the old records. That was where things went wrong for him. In the diary of Pope candidate Edward, he found an odd case of revision that didn’t correct previous sentences but capitalized words that shouldn’t be capitalized. It drew Nokin’s attention, and in time he dug up a massive list of letters that he would’ve struggled to interpret had he not been an archivist for several years. The letters formed reference numbers for a variety of ancient tomes secured in the lowest levels of the archives. The very levels that he was stationed to deny anyone access to. It felt that perhaps this document had been placed specifically for him to someday find.
He couldn’t help himself as curiosity led him to uncovering the secret that the encryption was set to draw him to. Records of demons who could deceive mortal instruments and senses. That appeared as an angel of light while bringing words of deception and destruction. Histories of deceptions against tools that were eerily similar to the holy orb. Then it led to a record that left him shaking in confusion. The entry form of Helod indicated that he wasn’t one of the chosen. Then it led him to reports of Helod’s actions in the field as an inquisitor, and while individually they failed to condemn him, each report built on the last of someone very dangerous. Then he started noticing that certain archived files were missing. Everything pertaining to the cult of greed and the sudden strong fixation of the Inquisition on Helod was missing from any direct reports; only the documents that weren’t related held any record of those investigations. While he learned the truth in those files, he finally felt the sticky evil presence of the greed demon everywhere in the citadel. Just as he noticed it, it had noticed him.
Despite his long time as a guard for the archives, Nokin was still a paladin. Secretly he stashed the vital document in a safe house, and then a pair of vault guards came to arrest him. With prayer and blade he struck them down, destroying the corrupted. Immediately he went into hiding in his sanctuary, well prepared with the foresight he had been given. However, he never got the chance to rally others or to share the truth. Instead, his name and face were plastered across the citadel for having fallen to corruption by reading the forbidden archives. He was declared a murderer of two vault guards, and the pope leveraged the issue to have the archives destroyed to prevent another such tragedy. In the years that followed, Nokin used his earth affinity to secretly tunnel through the fields of the citadel, watching and waiting, hoping that the citadel would awaken to its corruption.
He looked down at the girl that had somehow managed to break free from the vault despite all the odds against her. Despite the promising start, his heart mired in suspicion needed more proof than what may have been some act to gain his trust. He carried the girl back to his sanctuary and set her up on a drip of sleeping potion. He needed to investigate first before he would risk having an unknown active. Carefully he pulled out a holy orb and touched it to her, recoiling as the orb shattered as it burst with light. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. The only other person who ever got a special reaction from the orb had been the pope, whose deal with greed had deceived the entire citadel.
Psalm 75:3 NIV - When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm.
Somehow Callen and Callia landed on the exact same XP (Callen is a level behind but they both have exactly 8050)
