Chapter 182: The Shield

Marek hefted the steel spear over his shoulder and glanced at the two youths, “We’ll make this quick.”

“I’ll deal with the tall one,” Nokuti pointed her ax at Clypeus.

He brandished his swords in return, “I am the Shield of Veres. Be it monster or man, here I stand proud and I shall not falter!”

“You are a Gale?” Marek said in surprise.

“You know of my House?”

“Of course, House Gale’s ancient legacy is famed throughout all the Ebon Realm. It is an honor to fight one of its warriors,” Marek bowed his head.

“There is no honor in two powerful magi slaughtering two novices,” Clypeus said grimly.

Marek nodded, “...You’re right. Then let me make it more even. I will face you both myself.”

Nokuti blinked, “Marek, wha-”

Marek raised his hand, “They are only novices, still they face us alone while their friends try to escape. Bravery is a trait rarely seen in Hollow Shade’s people, yet one our people value highly. Tomorrow is the summer solstice. I will not stain the most glorious dawn of the year with cowardice and dishonor.”

Nokuti bit her lip, “As you wish, my lord.”

“May Bellum bless you, young Gale,” Marek said. Brown mana flowed through him, the vigor spell arose through his body, a bronze sheen darkened over his skin.

“And may Bellum damn all of you!” Stryg stepped behind Clypeus.

“What he said,” Clypeus grinned shakily.

“Mm.” Marek bent his legs and kicked off the ground, tearing the grass behind him.

The young vampire paled as the hulking warrior charged them. Durability scales of yellow light wrapped around Clypeus’ body as he raised his swords to block. Marek swung his steel spear like a polearm. Clypeus’ blades were pushed back at the force of the strike, the spear’s shaft smacked into his chest.

The vampire gasped in pain, his yellow scales cracked, unable to withstand the blow. Stryg caught his friend from the back and steadied him.

Marek didn’t give them a reprieve. He swung his spear’s shaft down on the vampire’s head. Another spear stabbed out from below at Marek’s thigh. He jumped back, narrowly dodging the surprisingly swift attack.

The spear disappeared once more behind Clypeus. The warlord noticed the little goblin’s piercing eyes staring at him from behind the vampire.

Marek laughed, “A shield and spear formation, interesting.”

“Unlike mine, his spear is entirely made of metal, the force behind his strikes will be much heavier,” Stryg noted.

“I don’t know how many more hit’s my scales can take before I run out of mana,” Clypeus muttered under his breath.

“Remember the plan. I’ll keep him off you, just keep backing to the cliff edge,” Stryg whispered.

“Are you sure you can swim?” Clypeus whispered.

“Something like that.” Stryg didn’t know how to swim, but he was a blue mage, that was enough.

Marek dashed at them and thrust his spear in quick jabs. Clypeus’ blades flashed, he caught the spear’s edge and turned it away. He went for a low lunge, the vampire sidestepped the attack and retreated back a step.

Marek frowned, how is he blocking all my attacks?

“The Gale is a swordmaster! He’s reading your moves!” Nokuti called out.

“Heh, a master at his age? I haven't even managed that. You Gales really are something,” Marek whistled. “Luckily, I don’t need refined attacks.”

He spun his spear like a staff and swung a wide arc at Clypeus. The vampire cursed, he couldn’t divert a horizontal strike so easily. The steel pole smashed into his shoulder, Clypeus stumbled in pain.

Marek closed the distance and swung again. Stryg’s spear stabbed up high in a blur, slicing across Marek’s shoulder. The Cairn chief gritted his teeth and backed off.

Marek narrowed his eyes, the goblin can use agility magic.

“Gods, Marek, stop fucking around and kill them already!” Nokuti yelled.

He smiled wryly, “Where is your sense of excitement?”

“It died when I was forced to take care of you, now end this already!” She scowled.

“Fine, fine,” Marek sighed.

“What’s going on?” Clypeus whispered.

“I don’t know, keep your eyes open,” Stryg whispered.

Yellow scales wrapped over Marek’s bronze skin, he smiled.

“Double enhancement spells? That’s not possible,” Clypeus said in shock.

Marek ran at them. Stryg stabbed at him, the spearhead bounced off the dire human’s scales.

“Shit!” Stryg cursed.

Marek vaulted into the air and landed between them and the cliff. “I know you’re trying to escape. It won’t work.”

“Plan B,” Stryg whispered.

“What’s Plan B?!” Clypeus yelled.

“Kill this fucker!” Stryg snapped.

Marek swung his spear like a club at the vampire. He tried dodging, but the attack was too fast. Stryg kicked Clypeus’ feet from under him, he dropped low, the steel spear flew overhead.

“Work together,” Stryg pulled him back to his feet.

“And kill this fucker,” Clypeus nodded.

They ran at the giant human. Stryg stabbed his spear at his thigh, it bounced off the yellow scales. Marek flung his spear in a circle, the duo split up, ducked underneath the swing, and attacked him from both sides.

Marek tried stabbing at them, but they were too close. He swung his spear in wide, the vampire read his attacks and dodged the swings. The goblin’s skills were not as keen but his agility-enhanced movements were incredibly fast. The durability spell made Marek too slow.

Clypeus slashed at Marek’s scales with short swords. Stryg dropped his spear and started slashing at the human’s scales with his claws.

The durability spell quickly began to drain away at Marek’s yellow mana. The scales began to crack little by little. He roared in frustration, orange flames burst from his hands in a wide ring around him. Stryg jumped behind Clypeus as the vampire’s own scales took the brunt of the heat. They kept backing from Marek, but he didn’t release his flame spell. The torrent of fire breathed down on Clypeus.

“Aghh, I can’t hold this!” Clypeus screamed in pain.

Stryg released his agility spell and threw his arms under the vampire’s shoulders. Flames poured out of Stryg’s palms and spun in an explosion of heat as they clashed with Marek’s flames. Clypeus ducked under Stryg’s arms and rolled out of the way. The torrents of flames rose up as they twirled around each other, illuminating the dark cliff.

Stryg groaned in strain, his orange mana quickly evaporating. Marek stared at the goblin thoughtfully and released the flame spell. Stryg collapsed to his knees and gasped for breath, the last of his orange mana gone.

“I’ve never seen a novice casting adept-ranked flame spells, who are you?” Marek asked.

“Now you wanna know?” Stryg wiped the sweat from his brow.

Clypeus wrapped his arm under Stryg’s shoulder and pulled him up.

Stryg panted, but quickly calmed his breathing, “I am Stryg, sylvan chief of the Ebon Hollow Tribe.”

“A fellow chieftain? Forgive me for not recognizing you. I am glad I cancelled my flame spell in time, I would have regretted burning the chief of my sister tribe from Vulture Woods,” Marek nodded in satisfaction.

“I’d rather die than be a sister tribe to the fucking Cairn,” Stryg spat.

“Do not spit on the name of my people!”

Marek released his durability spell, the yellow scales faded away. Orange mana flowed through him, his veins darkened, agility magic taking hold. Marek dashed at them.

“Move!” Clypeus pushed Stryg away.

Marek punched the ground where Stryg had just been, it shattered and cracked underneath his hand.

“I wanted to honor you! Give the brave a respectable death! And you spat on my face! I will make your deaths long and painful,” Marek seethed. “I am far faster than either of you now. Tell me, how will you dodge my attacks now?”

Marek’s foot smashed into Stryg’s chest, he went flying into the air. His body crashed a dozen feet away.

“You won’t,” Marek snarled.

The warlord took a step and grimaced. Marek glanced at the foot he had kicked the goblin with, several of his toes were broken and his foot was already beginning to swell. “What the...?”

Clypeus ran over to his friend. Stryg was curled in a ball, his hands underneath him.

Clypeus grabbed his shoulders, “You need to get up, Stryg! The crazy dire man is going to kill us!”

“...Not yet,” Stryg grimaced.

Marek bolted at them in a blur of speed, his steel spear swung down on the vampire’s skull. Red wards flared to life, the spear bounced off the magic shield. Stryg raised his hands from underneath him, his fingertips glowed with red light.

“Wards?” Clypeus muttered with wide eyes.

Marek scowled and punched the red dome, the wards flared bright but did not budge. He blasted it with scorching fire, the wards shined, yet did not crack.

“What is this?” Clypeus mumbled.

“A decade of writing in the dirt finally paying off,” Stryg grinned wildly.

“What sort of advanced red magic is that?” Nokuti muttered from a distance.

“The dome won’t hold forever!” Marek smashed the wards with his spear.

The red dome shook. Marek struck it again and again.

“He’s right, my wards won’t hold forever, I’ll soon run out of red mana at this rate,” Stryg whispered.

“I have so many questions,” Clypeus said.

“I know,” Stryg grimaced. “But I can’t hold this for long.”

“What’s the plan?”

“I’m going to try something that’s never worked.”

“And if it works?” Clypeus asked.

“It was your idea, remember? We talked about it after our fight with Tauri. No matter how powerful a mage is, they are still flesh and blood. A stray arrow through the neck kills an arch-mage just the same as it kills a commoner.”

“Yeah… I see, got it. Surprise has always been our greatest weapon, arrogance and lack of caution have always been their greatest weaknesses,” Clypeus whispered.

He released his durability spell and placed his hands on the ground, channeling green mana into the earth.

Stryg recalled Kithina’s words; it wasn’t about splitting one’s will or focus. It was about trying to double it, the rest was on you. Stryg didn’t understand what she meant then and he still didn’t now. All he knew was what he needed right now, it was simple yet the most important desire of all, survival. A single multicast was all he needed.

Stryg stared at Marek and his constant attacks. The red dome flared each time he struck with his spear. This dire human, no matter how large, strong, and fast he was, he wasn’t a spear-master. If Stryg focused, he would be able to see it, a moment, a lapse in Marek’s attack pattern. An opening.

Marek raised his spear high, prepared to stab down on the red dome. Stryg released his ward spell as the spear reached its highest point. Marek froze for a brief moment, shocked at the sudden disappearance of the wards. Stryg’s shadow erupted in a burst of black mana, surrounding the three of them in darkness.

Marek kicked back and tried jumping outside the shadowy dome. As he tried backing further away, vines suddenly appeared under his injured foot and held him tight. His upper body was outside the shadows, but his lower body was stuck inside. He was exposed.

Marek panicked, he quickly released his brown vigor spell and casted yellow durability scales over his body again. Enhanced by his orange agility, Marek swung his spear in front of him in extreme rapid arcs.

Stryg emerged from the shadows with a burst of speed, his body crouched low, under Marek’s spear. He shouted angrily and stabbed down at Stryg. The goblin’s body exploded in a blast of purple dust.

Marek’s eyes widened, Illusion!?

The real Stryg pierced the shadows from above and landed on Marek’s shoulders.

“Try putting scales on your eyes, fucker!” Stryg clawed at Marek’s face and dug his fingers into the human’s eye sockets.

Marek screamed and squeezed his eyes shut. He dropped his spear and tried ripping Stryg off, but the goblin held tight. Stryg released the shadow spell behind him and summoned forth his grey mana. He casted the drain spell over Marek and focused solely on draining the human’s yellow mana.

Marek tottered back and forth. His focus entirely on the sharp claws trying to dig into his eyes, his spells wavered. Marek yelled in frustration and threw all his will and focus into casting stronger durability scales over his face.

“Now!” Stryg yelled.

Clypeus dashed silently behind the struggling Marek and raised his blades. Nokuti’s ax swung down and cut deep into Clypeus’ ribs. He sucked in a breath of pain and coughed out blood. The swords slipped out of Clypeus’ hands, he fell over, blood pooling beneath him.

“Did you think I’d let you kill Marek?” Nokuti hefted her ax.

Stryg’s world fell deaf as he saw Clypeus’ body collapse. The painful screams of Marek faded away. Nokuti’s smug voice stifled into silence. The breeze was choked to a mute whisper. The soft rasp of Clypeus’ lungs as they filled with blood was all that echoed in Stryg’s ears.

Stryg felt numb, his body stiffened. The vines under Marek loosened as Clypeus’s flora spell collapsed. Marek pushed the stunned goblin off him and stumbled away. Stryg fell down motionless, his head banged into the stone with a hard thud. Stryg didn’t notice, all he saw was Clypeus’ pale face. Blood stained his lips. His eyes darted in panic. His breath was short as his lungs drowned in his own blood.

Nokuti stood over Clypeus and lifted her ax once more.

The air vibrated in a deep echo. The tall grass flattened all around them. Strands of Clypeus’ hair curled towards the sky. The blood pooled around him rippled, bright red droplets rising into the air. An inner light leaked from Stryg’s lilac eyes.

The world felt slow as if time had forgotten to run. Stryg’s mind noted the ax that was slowly coming down on Clypeus. He tried grasping at what it meant... Death. Unbridled rage. Pure seething fury. Sound sang into his ears, time rushed back into the world.

Stryg’s scream pierced the air with a vindictive shriek of agony. Nokuti grimaced in pain, her ax missed, and struck stone. Stryg threw himself atop Nokuti with blinding speed. She fell over with a gasp and covered her body in durability scales. Stryg slashed his hands over her chest, his claws sliced through her yellow scales with ease and carved open her rib cage.

Nokuti cried out in pain. Stryg hated her voice, he had never hated something so much. He opened his mouth wide and clamped down on her neck. The yellow scales shattered underneath his teeth. He ripped out her throat in a bloody splatter.

A sudden pain pierced Stryg’s back, his body lifted into the air, spun, and landed in a tumble of limbs. He tried to stand but stumbled. He looked down, a steel spearhead protruded from his chest.

“I’ll fucking kill you!” Marek roared.

Stryg knew he needed to move, to fight back, but his body refused. The strength in his limbs drained away as blood poured over his shirt.

Marek grabbed Nokuti’s ax and swung it down on Stryg. Clypeus dove between them. Yellow scales wrapped around the vampire’s arms. The ax slammed down on his forearm, the scales cracked but did not shatter. He fell to his knees.

Stryg pupils went wide, “...Cly.”

“You’re still alive!?” Marek pulled the ax back for another swing.

Clypeus’ eyes were dull, his body swayed. His head lolled to the side and caught sight of Stryg behind him. Faint recognition crossed his crimson eyes, he smiled, teeth bloodstained.

Clypeus looked up at Marek, “…I…”

The warlord held the ax high above him, yet the look in the vampire’s eyes gave him pause.

Clypeus breathed heavily, he swallowed a mouthful of blood, “…I am… the Shield… of… my friend.”

Clypeus released the durability spell. The last of the yellow mana flowed into his hand. He pointed his trembling fingers at Stryg, a gust of wind slammed into the goblin and pushed him towards the cliff edge.

“No!” Marek screamed.

Stryg watched the grass pass underneath him in a daze, nothing seemed real. Clypeus knelt in the distance, his arms hung limp, and his head sank down to his chest.

The world blurred by, the wind howled in his ears, Stryg tumbled off the cliff.