“He’s coming.”
Farmas pushed off of the flat surface of the boulder he’d been leaning on, glancing at Syrlia as he did. At Light’s announcement, a pretentious name that he nonetheless – albeit grudgingly – had to admit fit the Human’s abilities, he knew that their plan was finally coming to fruition. “It’s about time,” he said in frustration, though he was secretly pleased that things were finally coming together.
“You know that the speed at which the half-breed responded to the Calamity wasn’t something they could predict, Farmas,” Syrlia admonished him, but all he did was grunt in response. “Besides, they were correct in the fact that he did end up coming, right where we can put an end to his dangerous practices.”
“As had been observed, he isn’t alone. It’s difficult to get precise numbers with the weakness of the dawn’s light, but based on individual illumination sources within their flying vessels, I put the number between 18,000 and 22,000 individuals. They’ve coordinated an assault upon every section of the Calamity and are currently heading straight toward the subservient Apertures. I detected over 100 vessels breaking off and targeting the Bone Wraiths hordes, as had been expected. If they maintain the current speed of their advance, I put their arrival at the center in just over 3 hours.”
It had never been a particular focus for him in the past, as he hadn’t really bothered to learn much about the leadership of the Unspoken Response group, but the last couple of days had taught him something: There were abilities out there that he didn’t understand. The way the half-breed could create Fusions, for example, was something that neither Humans nor Gergasi could replicate – but that was only the beginning.
Take the Human member of the Unspoken Response council of leadership, Light, for instance. The woman had a unique relationship with the element of light, as she was able to wield it as if it was connected to her on a level that was unexplainable; even Syrlia was stumped at how effortlessly Light could simply attach her vision to any light source and observe things even hundreds of miles away. That wasn’t all she could do with light, though, as he’d witnessed the Human form a long bar of bright light and manipulate it with a thought, using it to slice through a horde of undead without seeming to struggle at all. It was as easy for her as smashing a head in would be for Farmas, and it wasn’t done by a spell or something similar that could be copied.
Of course, that specialty with the element of Light came with a hefty drawback. While wielding Light as if it was natural to her was easy, it was almost impossible for her to cast any other type of spell. Even a simple Fireball spell would dissipate before it was fully formed, though many of those “simple” spells could be replicated with light, to different effects.
The same seemed to be true for almost all of the Unspoken Response leadership team. Their pretentious names, such as Fire, Earth, Water, Nature, and Air were descriptive of their particular strengths, all of them prodigies in their chosen element, unrivaled even by the strongest Guardian. Except for the Grand One, of course; they were extremely powerful, and nothing could dare to touch their greatness. To think otherwise was blasphemy.
The only exception to the rule was in Prime, the nominal leader of the Unspoken Response. That particular individual came the closest to rivaling a Guardian in their expertise with all the elements, though the Human didn’t have quite the breadth of abilities that someone with a focus on a single element had. Overall, he was the strongest of them, though that was purely subjective; Farmas or Syrlia could kill him if it came to a fight with the man, as he didn’t have a Martial’s body or speed to defend himself.
In other words, the two Guardians could kill him before he even knew they were attacking.
“Are we set up?” Farmas asked, looking toward Prime. The leader of the Unspoken Response was technically in charge, and rather than contest the position, Farmas and Syrlia were content to let him believe that. It made working with them easier, as he didn’t have to waste any energy Dominating them – especially since it was taking most of his concentration right now keeping his presence hidden from the half-breed. Syrlia was handling tamping down her presence better, though there was nothing they could do about the constant Aetheric Force that leaked out of them and into the central Aperture, fueling its expansion, but that was perfectly fine – because it was exactly what was needed to lure the half-breed to their location.
“Shadow had extended our camouflage and is expanding our pocket of safety so we can get into position when it’s time,” Prime answered, referring to the key member of the Unspoken Response who made all of this actually work. The unusually quiet Human was dressed in a dark robe that would blend into the very shadows that he was a prodigy in manipulating, and while Farmas didn’t see him actually do anything, he saw the impenetrable darkness that surrounded them begin to roll back, expanding the space they had been camping out in over the last few days. It was also Shadow’s ability to manipulate the darkness and everything that came with it that had allowed them to repel the aura of death that filled the rest of the Calamity, leaving them relatively free to simply wait out their stay in their position near the central Aperture.
The Human’s control over shadows was so great that he’d even been able to push the surge and expansion of the Calamity to advance ahead of its normal process, doing something to the undead monsters that he didn’t understand completely. All he knew was that it also kept any of the undead from attacking them; even though he could tell that there were giant hordes of undead roaming around past the boundaries of their camp, not once did they ever approach them. Not that it would’ve been a problem, of course, as the undead couldn’t stand up to the might of the two Guardians, though some of the higher-evolved undead would be a tiny bit of a challenge if they just happened to be discovered.
Thankfully, that hadn’t happened, nor was it likely to happen any time soon. They weren’t the ones that would be discovered, after all; the half-breed and his group of abominations, those with both sets of potential like a Guardian, would be falling into their trap in the next few hours.
It took all of Farmas’ restraint not to fly off right now and take the fight right to the so-called Fusionist, as he was tired of waiting in one place, but he managed it somehow. He was experienced enough that allowing his anger and bloodlust to dictate a fight was a recipe for disaster, so he held himself back until it was time to strike.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
When the one known as Shadow spoke, it was soft and sibilant, sounding almost like a snake hissing, and rather than being a strange affectation, it suited the dark-robed Human. “All of them are using those Fusions again to absorb the death aura; its disbursement will affect our camouflage here, but it should still be thick enough to do its job.”
That was the surprising thing that they’d learned about the night before last. Light had informed them that a light source had infiltrated the Calamity, and surprisingly, it had been their target – all by himself. They had nearly abandoned their ambush and attacked him right then and there; but as the half-breed was right up against the border, it was ultimately decided that they would continue waiting. The Calamity would only do so much to hide their presence from Vilnesh’s spawn, and coming up on him when he was specifically on the lookout for threats wasn’t the best use of their trap.
They were ultimately glad that they hadn’t attacked, as it allowed them to see the use of additional Fusions that the half-breed had somehow created, including one that absorbed the aura of death inside the Calamity and condensed it into a solid. Light had relayed the events that occurred when a Bone Wraith – which was pulled toward the condensed death aura orb like iron to a lodestone – absorbed it.
Somehow, it had rapidly evolved the monsters that Light observed absorbing these orbs, which was thought to be an impossibility. It was yet another tidbit of information that they would bring back to the Enclave, because if a death aura was able to be pulled in and condensed, what else could be?
A visibly shaken Light recounted the half-breed’s battle with what sounded like a third- or fourth-tier evolved undead monster, which only served to prove that this Fusionist was a pitiful fighter, as he clearly hadn’t used any spells or Battle Arts… or he couldn’t. If that was the case, then taking him down would likely be easier than they thought, though—again—arrogance could be deadly, so they wouldn’t be taking him lightly.
What surprised Farmas was that the half-breed had not only come back with that death aura-condensing Fusion, but had somehow created enough of them to pass them out to thousands of other Humans in their assault on the Calamity. Of course, that was only from the observations of Light and Shadow, and not a firsthand account, but by this point he didn’t know why they would lie to him.
They wanted him dead just as much as the Guardians did, after all.
“Have you located our target?” he overheard Prime ask Light.
The woman nodded. “Yes; his particular flying vessel is unique among all the others. He’s steadily heading toward the center, but the vessel is staying back so that it doesn’t leave the others behind. Speaking of them, their first attacks on the Apertures have already begun, and they’re absolutely slaughtering the monsters down below. They aren’t stopping as multiple vessels are bombarding the monsters from the air, wiping them out with an unanticipated speed. I’m recalculating their advance to the center… I think we can cut off another 30 minutes or so. Oh, they’re leaving a single vessel to handle reinforcements. Shouldn’t change the timeline, however.”
As much as he hated the half-breed and the abominations he’d created as poor copies of Guardians, Farmas had to admit that the organization and expediency that the Fusionist had brought with him was impressive. It was exactly what they needed to finally clear the Kingdom of these damn Calamities, in fact… but not at the expense of letting him get away with what he’d been doing. The half-breed would have to die, of course, but Farmas was sure that the other Humans could use this type of strategy to safeguard the rest of the Kingdom after the half-breed was gone.
Well, after all of the faux Guardians were wiped out and those with Fusions preventing Dominion magic from working on them were executed; they couldn’t allow these dangerous precedents to continue. Besides, it would probably be much easier to take back control of the remaining defenders in the Kingdom once these Calamities were closed; it was their presence that forced the Guardians to pull back completely in the first place.
Time seemed to crawl as they waited for the efficient slaves to work their way through the Calamity toward the center Aperture, with Light keeping them updated on their progress. To think that this Calamity had been such a problem before this, and yet it’s being absolutely destroyed by a force of Humans working together. It just shows that they weren’t trying hard enough before. Lazy slaves, as usual.
It would all be undone with their upcoming ambush, of course, but that was their problem; they’d figure out how to do it again afterwards. Why? Because with the two Guardians inside the Calamity, the central Aperture was essentially invulnerable. Their simple presence was enough to strengthen it to the point where it would take weeks of attacking it to whittle it down enough to close it, which was why none of the Guardians had taken responsibility for closing any of the Apertures and the Calamities. They were simply too powerful; besides, they had slaves to do it for them.
“They’re eliminating the last of the monsters around the remaining subservient Apertures now,” Light announced, which was the signal for them to really prepare. Farmas hefted his Onyx Bone Warhammer onto his shoulder, as he got ready to lift into the air with Syrlia by his side. It was their responsibility to take out the half-breed, while the others – including the two useless hanger-on individuals who had accompanied the Unspoken Response leadership – would be handling the people he brought with him.
Should be easy enough.
“They’re strafing the undead hordes attempting to block their way,” Light went on. “I count approximately 200 vessels wiping out the Bone Wraiths, Spectral Ogres, and Flesh Abominations attacking them in a swarm.” Farmas recognized her listing off the first-tier, second-tier, and third-tier undead that comprised the main defenders of the Calamity, though there was no mention of the fourth-tier monster that directly defended the central Aperture. He’d seen it shortly after arriving, but it hadn’t bothered them; he wasn’t sure how much of a challenge it would be for the arriving forces to kill it, but he supposed it didn’t matter. They wouldn’t be alive long enough to try.
Prime was watching Light as her sight was centered on something only she could see, so as soon as she held up her hand, he announced, “Alright – to your positions!” He turned to Farmas before he could take off. “As soon as our own targets are eliminated, we’ll be able to help you finish off—”
“Won’t be needed,” the Guardian cut him off rudely, but he didn’t care. The restrained bloodlust was starting to surface at the thought of the fight ahead of him. “We’ll take care of our little problem from here. Just do your job, and we’ll be out of here before you know it.”
With that, Farmas and his partner shot into the air, heading for the patch of shadow that would hide them from the approaching forces – and he was out of range of the trap they had laid. Syrlia enhanced the darkness around them with a quick spell, deepening the shadows hiding them, even as he detected his first hint of the half-breed approaching. The magical signature wasn’t nearly as strong as it was before, as if it had been altered, which let him know why it had been almost impossible for them to find this Fusionist bastard. It was only because the half-breed was heading straight for them and he was stretching all of his senses that he was able to detect the signature in the first place.
“Ready?” Syrlia murmured softly by his side, and he acknowledged it with another grunt. That was the only communication needed between them; they didn’t need much more than that to take down the half-breed that had been a thorn in their side for too long.
It was time to obtain their revenge on the only individual to kill a Guardian in a thousand years.