Revenge of the Sorcerer King 3 - 26

Good Morning everyone!

Chapter 26

Alessa

In the mist, I could barely see a few meters in front of me. I stood on a large boulder and looked over the area. We should be almost five kilometers into the mountain, but it felt like we’d barely moved a few paces. The others with me were as equally perplexed.

“What do you think?” I asked everyone and I hopped down from the boulder.

“There is definitely some sort of magic spell at work, I’ve just never felt one so powerful… no, I think all encompassing is the better word,” Jade said looking around.

Deldrach kicked a pebble, sending it flying through a nearby tree. “Whatever it is, its affecting the ground. That or we’ve managed to not leave a single track since we entered the mountains.”

“Is that possible?” Jade asked tightening her grip on her bow.

“For mages, I’d say no, but for a shaman. Hard to say,” Deldrach replied with a shrug.

A twig snapped and we all twisted to face the direction it came from. I flexed my fists waiting, but nothing happened. It must have been a normal animal.

A roar came as a wolf the size of a small house latched onto my arm and pulled me to the ground. The beast must be high level as it managed to put gashes into my arm. I cracked my knuckles and reared back before I punched it full in the eye. I expected my hand to go through the beast’s skull but instead it slammed into the skin and while I felt some crunch, most of my force was deflected.

“Don’t press your luck!” I growled before I channeled my mana and forced a icicle to form directly in its mouth. The beast managed to sense the danger and released me before the spell completed thus saving itself. “Oh. Intelligent one aren’t you,” I commented dusting my already healed arm off as I stood up.

With a quick glance, I found that the others were gone. From the quickly fading marks on the ground, they were dragged away like I was. This was bad. If we got separated, I had no way of knowing if they could survive. I extended my hand in front of me and formed a blade of ice over each finger before taking a fighting stance.

The wolf almost seemed to laugh at me before it faded into the mist. “Mother Fucker! Don’t you run from me!” I shouted moving to chase after it, but there were no tracks to follow. It might as well not have existed in the first place. I placed a hand against my temple to try to speak to the others with my telepathy, but like Helena had warned, it was blocked.

Damn it! We should have been right in front of the undead but there was no sight of them. How was that possible? I concentrated and tried to send Helena and Oberon a message but again nothing. I ground my teeth at the situation.

While I looked around trying to decide what to do, I felt a pulse of mana. It was short, but I recognized it as one of Jade’s arrows. I twisted and rushed in the direction it came from. There was one then another one, each time the feeling grew closer. I burst from the mist into a small clearing where Jade was trading blows with one of the wolves.

I took its distraction as a chance and leapt onto its back. Both my hands sank wrist deep as the ice penetrated through its hide. A terrified yelp escaped it as it dropped to its back on ground struggling against me. I held on even as the gravel and stones were crushed against me. After a good deal of blood loss, it finally stopped moving.

Pulling my hands free, I quickly absorbed most of the blood. I left some for Jade, as she had suffered a few starches during her fight. She nodded her thanks before using her magic to drink the rest of the dead wolf’s blood.

“Damn thing was strong. I was honestly worried for a second there,” Jade said once she finished her drink.

I checked my wound to make sure it had closed completely. It was better to be sure than to suffer later if it was poisoned or something along those lines. “The others were dragged away in separate directions. I only managed to find you due to how dense your magic arrows normally are. They managed to partially penetrate the mist, but it was already weak just a few hundred meters away. It won’t be much help to signal the others.”

“I suppose getting back to the army is out of the question?”

I just shook my head. “We should have been right in front of them. Meaning they should have caught up with us when we stopped. It doesn’t feel like it, but something is changing where we actually are in the mountain. Take a breath.”

Jade did as I said then looked at me wide eyed. “The air shouldn’t be that thin! Not yet at least.”

I nodded glad that she understood what I was getting at. Vampires might not need to breath to survive, but we can use it for other purposes. “Exactly. We’re much further up the mountains than we should be.”

Jade threw her hands up in frustration. “This is just great.”

“I’m going to try and fly up out of the mist. I’m worried you might be dragged away so follow me.”

“Yes, my lady.” We both transformed. There was a sudden pressure before I fell to the ground my transformation coming undone. It was even more violent for Jade as she was tossed across the clearing into a boulder. I rushed over and quickly checked, but she was unharmed.

“Looks like something knows that vampires are part of the army,” I said digging my fingers into the boulder as I thought about what to do next. I hated the idea of just wandering until we happened upon something, but that was looking like our only option.

“My lady.” She motioned for me to come close. I leaned in and she put her lips right next to my ear. Her breath caused me to shiver, surprising me. “I have an idea.”

“Go ahead,” I whispered back.

“When another wolf attacks us, we change it.”

I wrapped my arms around her and licked her neck. “That’s an excellent idea. We better invite them in,” I whispered running my tongue over her ear. Vampires had wonderfully long tongues.

“Your… your highness!” Jade moaned whether from my actions or to go along with me, I’m not sure. I nibbled on her ear while my hands played with the rest of her. It wasn’t long before the air changed. I could almost sense part of the mist near us getting denser. If they were smarter, they might realize this was a trap.

Two of the beasts leap out of the mist. Jade hissed in annoyance before she brought her bow up while I was still hugging her. The other wolf came at my leg, and I allowed it to latch on, only this time, my other leg was connected to the ground via terra magic. I didn’t get taken down this time. I quickly latched my hand around the wolf’s neck before it could get away.

“Your highness,” Jade moaned her breath hot on my cheek. Before I could react, she locked her lips around mine. In my shock, I crushed the wolf’s neck. Her tongue wrapped around mine and made its way into my mouth like I owed her something. While I was shocked, part of me quickly got into it.

She broke away, her pale face flustered. “I’m… I’m sorry! Something came over me!”

“That’s fine, but you caused me to kill our future guide.”

“That is fine. Mine is still alive.”

I turned to see the wolf nailed to the ground with over a dozen arrows. I hadn’t even felt her fire that many. It looked like she had grown stronger again. “Good. Now explain,” I ordered tapping my hand on my arm. I did my best to ignore the heat I felt in certain places around my body.

Oberon

“Well. I can’t say I’m surprised,” I commented looking around. While the host of my undead army was intact, the fringes were being picked off. Every few minutes, my follower count would go down by a few dozen.

That pass we were moving through was only large enough for a few dozen to walk abreast. There were still a few thousand outside the mists, it was taking so long to march. It didn’t help that we lost communication with Alessa and her forward party. Helena had managed to stop the rest of her Familia from heading into the mists to find her.

“Can master not make the bad mist go away?” Maya asked. I tried not to get angry at the girl sounding like she was calling me weak, but hell, I was undead. I wasn’t known for my patience.

I slammed the door to the carriage open and got out. “Rachel, watch her.”

“Yes master.”

Now that I was inside the area of the mist, I could tell that it was shamanistic magic. The user might be powerful in their own right, but for something like this, they had to use an idol of some sort. The fact the mountains themselves don’t like undead only served to make the spell more powerful.

“Make a fool of me?” I grumbled walking toward the front of the undead lines.

“Are you sure that is wise?” Helena asked appearing next to me. “I mean you are our commander.”

“If the tree hugging bastards want a piece of me, then they would need the balls to come at me. Instead, they hide behind their water droplets. If they like water so much up here surrounded by stone, then I shall give it to them.”

“Sounds like you’re planning something ridiculous.”

I glanced at her and grinned. “When am I not?”

Snapping my fingers, Lenora, Yunio, Flaira, Xeria moved to each of the cardinal directions. From there I ordered the undead to clear some space. Starting to chant, deep lines were carved into the ground around me quickly transforming into a complex magic construct. The nearly dizzying level of precision drawing soon grow tot eh size of a building. Once the bottom layer was completed, lines made from mana formed around me to create a sphere from magic circles.

The magic and mana continued to build around me. I used the four girls to substitute the missing mana that I need for the spell. Even if the mountains hated me, the mana still loved me it would seem. Like always it rushed to my command. My voice soon started to reach an ethereal level and began to echo throughout the mountains. With my final phrase, a blast of mana shot into the air.

I dropped to a knee, but enjoyed the view as I looked up. The storm that had been dying out as we entered the mountains roared back to life as the black clouds spread over the entire mountain range. Thunder and lightning cracked over head before it started to snow. However, it wasn’t the pure white snow that most people would be used to, this snow was jet black and almost appeared to absorb the light around it.

“Snow?” Helena asked sounding underwhelmed. “They live in the mountains. Even if you corrupt it, wouldn’t they be able to handle a little pile up?”

“This isn’t just any snow,” I retorted with a chuckle. I reached out and grabbed a flack that landed lazily on my palm. “This is a spell I just invented.”

“An original. I didn’t think that was possible anymore.”

“I don’t know about that, but I’ve seen plenty of original magic over the last few weeks, so someone is not telling people everything.” Most of the magic that kept Maya alive might have been rough, but it was new magic. It felt like a branch off from necromancy when I examined it further, but there was enough difference that I couldn’t be sure.

“What are you calling it?” Helena asked reaching out to grab a snowflake. She jerked back before it touched her palm. Looks like her instincts were strong, though she would have been fine.

“Death’s Winter.” Each flake was packed with a spell that would kill most anything under my level. Even if you were higher level than me, it would weaken you and if you sustained exposure to it, you could still die.

Helena pulled an umbrella from her shadows and opened it above her. “How long will this last?”

“A few days. I’m sure that whoever is responsible for the mist won’t wait that long.”

My mana started returning to me from the cut off portion of my mana pool. I stood up and took a deep breath. The miasma from the undead was already gaining strength, but now with my death spell it would soon grow even stronger. Nothing living will be able to enter these mountains for decades.

“I’m glad I’m on your side,” Helena said, tightly gripping her umbrella.

I glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. “Are you though?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked nervously.

“Aren’t you on Siateth’s side?” I retorted.

“I mean. I serve my lord. He is a god.”

“What if there was a new…” I shook my head. “Never mind. I’ll leave it at that for now.” I turned and made my way back to the carriages in the center. I would let the storm rage for a day and wait to see if the orcs attempt to stop it. The snow might be falling on the mountains, but with the winds, it will reach the forests around the base. It would be fun to see how many levels I gain from such widescale death.

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