Mark of the Fool

Chapter 866: An Old Miracle

“What is it?” Thundar raised his weapon. “What’s coming?”

The party readied themselves for battle, all watching the ceiling.

Was it Alex’s imagination, or was there more stone dust falling all of a sudden?

“Hold on.” Prince Khalik went to the nearest wall, closing his eyes and pressing his hands to the stone. With a twitch of his muscles, he cast a spell. “I am sensing the earth shifting, and tremors around us…yes, Ravener-spawn are tunnelling from above!”

“How many?” Alex asked. “And what kind?’

Khalik frowned, his eyes still shut. “There are several large ones. Very large ones. Perhaps the insectile creatures that blast air…yes! From their erratic movements, I think that is what’s tunnelling.”

“Anything else?” Isolde asked.

“Smaller ones…likely those Ravener-spawn that accompany them, the ones that resemble knights.” Khalik continued. “I don’t feel any others.”

The earth elementals groaned, telling Alex of a great heat approaching.

He swore. “That’s not all, from what the elementals just said, I think there’s a fire cloud with them.”

Khalik tensed. “A fire cloud, those air blasters and an enclosed space would make for a very bad combination. Orbs of air can aid us when the fire burns away all the air we can breathe, but the heat and the pressure will fry us.”

“What…do…we do?” Claygon asked.

Alex turned to Merzhin. “Do you think you could deal with that fire cloud?”

The Saint frowned. “Perhaps I can. There is a miracle that will take care of it, but it will take time to set up.”

“And can it deal with them without blasting the rock?” Alex asked.

“Yes,” Merzhin continued. “It should destroy them without damaging the stone.”

“Alright, that leaves those air-blasters,” Alex said. “We could—”

“Open a channel through the stone.” Asmaldestre’s voice slashed at their ears. She pointed her ranged weapon. “They will not make it to us…”

“No, but the swarm could…wait…wait! I have an idea!” Alex shouted, his eyes focused on the ceiling. “Khalik, can you tell which part of the ceiling is directly under those Ravener-spawn?”

The prince moved from the side of the tunnel to the middle, just behind the machine, then pointed up. “Right there.”

Alex rubbed his hands together, turning to Thundar, “Alright, can you spare some illusion magic?”

“Oh yeah, sure.” The minotaur cackled. “I’ll be able to recover mana from a single illusion spell in no time.”

“Perfect,” Alex looked at Isolde next. “Think you could give me some lightning?”

“Whatever you need,” she said.

“And Khalik, I’m going to need you to make clay. The kind that sticks and dries really fast.”

“I have just the spells,” The prince smiled.

“Perfect,” the General directed the earth elementals to stop digging. He had somewhere else for them to be.

Alex spoke to the rest of the group. “Alright, let’s get the machine out of the way. We’re going to open a channel under those Ravener-spawn; one about three feet wide.”

“I do not need it to be that wide for what I wish to do. My precision is the envy of deities,” Asmaldestre’s words scraped his ears.

“I know, but if the opening is any smaller, those knights won’t be able to fit through it,” he grinned.

“An’ why would we want ‘em t’fit?” Cedric asked.

Alex grinned. “For the same reason I want all of our warriors to stand in a circle under the hole we’re about to make.”

The party first looked at each other in confusion.

Then with dawning understanding.

Then to share evil grins.

Three Gale Makers tore the earth apart with blasts of air, churning the debris away with their immense legs.

Behind them came dozens of Spawn Knights, scraping their legs together.

And above them? A Skyfire Swarm waited, crackling, emitting intense heat into the tunnel.

Their tactics would be simple.

Tear open the tunnel the vile mortals were making.

Smash them with air blasts, pack the tunnel with the Skyfire Swarm; the Gale Makers’ air blasts would feed the fire cloud, destroying everything inside.

Simple.

The Ravener-spawn hissed their pleasure and anticipation; where so many of their kin had failed before, they would achieve victory. They would be the ones to drag the enemies’ charred corpses to the Ravener.

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They would—

A strange sound started, causing the Gale Makers to pause.

Beneath them, the ground suddenly ripped open.

Opening in a perfect circle—revealing a tunnel wide enough for a Spawn-Knight to crawl through with ease—forming in front of the Gale Makers. It led deeper into the earth…and through the opening, the Ravener-spawn caught glimpses of movement.

The mortals!

But why had they—

There was a sudden, deafening crack.

A projectile ripped through a Gale Maker, blasting a massive hole through its head and upper body. The projectile kept travelling, severing a lower limb from another one.

The Ravener-spawn froze, they hadn’t expected what had just happened.

Another crack.

And another.

The wounded Gale Maker was mangled by two more missiles, and the last of the trio flinched back, trying to scramble away from the hole.

Another crack.

A projectile ripped through its side, spilling its insides.

Recovering their wits, Ravener-spawn screamed, rallying their number, spawn-knights surged ahead, leaping into the hole. Their many bladed legs bit stone, letting them clamber down at horrifying speed.

Chitinous weapons were scraping together in anticipation; spawn sped closer to the mortals.

Before them, the path was clear.

Or at least it seemed to be.

The first of the knights to pass through the illusion learned otherwise.

Recoiling in surprise, the creature found its sharp legs no longer biting into stone, but sticking to clay. The thick substance clung, interfering with its balance.

It struggled to right itself, but the knight behind it prevented that, dropping on its back, and the next one met the same fate. Sticky clay bound them, tangling them together.

Screeching frantically, the monsters plunged straight down.

And below them, as they tumbled through the air, all they could see was light. No sign of the morals, just a wall of prismatic light, filling the tunnel.

They plummeted, hitting the brilliant wall of light, meeting magic that sliced through them.

Within them, their mana suddenly raged, tearing at their insides, devastating their bodies.

They kept tumbling through the light wall, and at last, landed in a heap at the bottom of the tunnel…surrounded by the enemy.

The spawn-knights could not even offer resistance, bound as they were, shattered by mortal magics, and only able to watch as nearly a dozen weapons fell on them as one.

It was a simple plan, when all was said and done.

First, Alex’s earth elementals would open a channel to the pursuing Ravener-spawn through the stone. Next, Thundar would place an illusion part way down the channel, making everything below it appear wide open and safe. That’s where the trap would lie: Alex had placed a Wall of Roiling Magic beneath the illusion, while Khalik had lined the channel’s walls with a layer of gummy, quick-drying clay.

Next, Asmaldestre would fire precise shots through the channel, killing the giant, air-blasting spawn, and luring either the fire clouds, or spawn knights down to attack.

If the swarm came, they would stick to the clay and be devastated by Alex’s Wall of Roiling Magic. If the knights came, they would become tangled together, plunge through the wall, to be wiped out.

The knights had been the first ones to take the bait, falling in flailing heaps through the tunnel, where magic and waiting warriors swiftly finished them.

“Things are working well,” Isolde said, watching as another heap of spawn- knights fell to their waiting deaths. “It seems you might not need me for this.”

“No, we will,” Alex said. “If the swarm starts coming through before Merzhin’s miracle’s ready, your lightning will help hold them at bay.”

“I suppose.” The young noblewoman glanced at the Saint of Thameland, who was praying behind Claygon. “But at this rate, we will get rid of them before—”

“Swaaaaaarm!” Thundar shouted.

Flickering light, as bright as the sun, suddenly filled the channel.

“Nevermind!” Isolde shouted, flying up to the hole. With a few twitches, she released a spear of lightning.

Then another.

And another.

Tiny Ravener-spawn began dropping from the hole in the ceiling; once-blinding light now reduced to flickering embers as they died.

“There are still more coming!” Isolde shouted.

“Not for long.” Merzhin stepped forward. “I am ready.”

He raised his hands.

“And lo, did Uldar will the lush realm of Thameland to His people upon His ascension. At last, His people no longer suffered from hunger. They wanted for naught and they did have plenty even in the icy abyss of winter. And so did the seasons pass, and His people bore proper pride for their god.”

A white light poured from the Saint’s eyes. A blinding white light. “While His enemies knew only to fear Him. Season, after passing season. For Thameland is His domain. And He rejects all those who encroach therein.”

Divine might poured into Merzhin like a river.

“This tunnel is hallowed by my blessing,” he pronounced, looking up at the monstrous horde. “In the Name of the Traveller.

Intense radiance built, surrounding the Saint of Thameland.

The air began to shimmer.

Merzhin raised the symbol of the Traveller. “These grounds are hallowed,” he repeated, and his voice seemed to echo from every stone. “And they reject you. Begone.”

“Oh, by the Traveller, this miracle,” Cedric murmured.

Then the world changed.

Heat suddenly spiked above them, as if it were the height of summer. A heartbeat later, chill spread through the air. The air chilled further, bringing with it winter’s embrace. Another heartbeat later, warmth returned, and the air smelled of fresh rain.

Then the heat came again. Then the withering. Then the ice.

“This miracle.” Drestra’s voice crackled. “Yesssss…the seasons do change quickly, Ravener-spawn.”

Through the tunnel, the fire cloud withered as clay covering them froze and thawed a dozen times in as many heartbeats.

As the seasons changed with ever increasing speed, Alex saw the ravages of time fall on the creatures, bending their backs, withering their flesh, and stealing their strength.

At last, they fell.

Thousands of Ravener-spawn plummeted to the ground, reduced to withered shells as the ages passed in mere heartbeats.

The passing of seasons slowed.

Temperateness returned.

The Ravener’s monsters lay dead where they fell, reduced to dried out corpses.

“In the Traveller's name, we pray,” Merzhin bowed his head.

“That was…holy shit!” Thundar shouted.

“You aged them to death,” Alex said. “That was amazing!”

“Good job,” Drestra’s voice crackled with warmth as she complimented the Saint. “That was much faster than I have ever seen you use that miracle before.”

“Thank you. Both practise and the ascension of my Mark gave it far greater speed.” The Saint bowed his head, then gave Drestra a sad smile. “When I last used this miracle, you complained bitterly about my speed. You said I had taken too long. I…must admit, I agree.”

“Well, we weren’t really working together back then. Not properly,” Hart rumbled.

“Aye, well that’s all changed now.” Cedric beamed, wiping Ravener-spawn blood from his weapons. “Good job everyone.”

“Yeah, I’ll say.” Alex looked up at the channel, finding no signs of life among the Ravener-spawn. “You detect anything up there Asmaldestre?”

“Only the remnants of our perfect violence.” Her voice cut the air. “There is nothing left alive that would wish to do us harm.”

“Good.” The General said. “That went even better than I’d hoped. Alright, let’s get moving again. Khalik, could you help the earth elementals close up the channel?”

“Of course,” the prince said.

“Good, then prepare yourselves, everyone,” Alex said. “We’re damned close now…and Merzhin, judging from the welcome we just got, I don’t know if you’re going to get a chance to have that conversation.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” the Saint said. “But, we shall only know that in one way.”

The ground rumbled as the earth elementals and Khalik closed the channel.

Then, they started digging again.

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