Warlord Arcanist (Chapter 5)

This chapter is being posted early as an apology for the wrong rewards being listed on the $10 tier (honorary journeyman). Apparently, it had the rewards of the higher tiers (including signed books, both soft and hardcover) which never should have been there. 

I've fixed the issue, and here is more story early! (If you were on the $10 tier, see previous post for a more thorough apology and a way I want to make it right).

Otherwise, enjoy the chapter!

CHAPTER FIVE

WORLD SERPENT EVOCATION

Gallus rushed down to meet me, never giving me a moment’s rest. This time, I didn’t have another opportunity to slash him with my blade. He punched me and then darted away, keeping his distance and only attacking when he had an opening.

Terrakona!

I sensed my eldrin above, struggling to deal with the plague-ridden kraken. He was preoccupied. Gallus manipulated the waters again, dragging me deeper into the ocean. Through the murky darkness, I spotted a second kraken.

Wait, a second kraken? Impossible! How could—

I silenced my internal panic and shook my head. No. Focus. I knew the answer. It had to be Zelfree and his mimic, Traces—but they were so far above me, I doubted they even knew I was drowning. The second kraken was Traces mimicking Gallus’s eldrin.

Unable to reach anyone, I had to handle the problem in front of me: Gallus himself. I had dealt with plague-ridden arcanists in the past. If I wanted to help Terrakona, or even breathe again, I had to fight my way to the surface.

Just as Zelfree had said… Losing wasn’t an option.

With superior movement, Gallus slammed another punch into my side. Sharp pain shot through my chest and throat.

I concentrated and forced my magic through my body. For a brief moment, I had forgotten I was even bonded to Terrakona—I held out my free hand as though to evoke knightmare terrors. Instead, my body felt hot. Not from a lack of air…

A wave does not drown. A rock cannot breathe.

On instinct, with Terrakona’s voice ringing in my head, I took a deep breath, ready to feel the sting of salt water. Instead, the cold liquid filled my throat and lungs, but it felt… refreshing. Like taking a drink after a long day in the sun. With my heart pounding, I exhaled and inhaled again, elated.

I could breathe underwater.

It wasn’t evocation, but an innate ability—those were typically acquired much later in arcanist’s training, yet here it was. Perhaps the first of many?

My momentary celebration cost me. Gallus shot through the water like a pistol shrimp. He punched my kidney, taking away my new “breath” just as fast as I had acquired it. An innate magical ability wouldn’t save me here. I didn’t know what I could evoke, but I knew I either had to do it right now or I was going to die.

And I refused to die.

So, when I focused on my magic a second time, the ocean suddenly began to boil.

Heat ripped through the water so quickly and so intensely that Gallus’s smile twisted into a grimace. The water shifted and bubbled. My hearing underwater was bizarre, but it sounded like the waves were crashing near me at an ever-increasing speed.

What had I invoked?

My palm hurt. I pulled it back and held it close to my chest. A pillar of bubbles—superheated and painful—circled around my fingers. I gasped for air and found the water provided me with the breath I needed. I was one with the water.

Whatever I had conjured with my magic, it was destructive. I gritted my teeth and waited until Gallus shot toward me. With as much energy as I could muster, I reached out and grabbed his arm with my burning hand.

Gallus opened his mouth and screamed, the gurgling loud, even underwater. Then he shot toward the surface. I kept my grip tight on his arm, and for some reason, it was easy to hook my heated fingers into his flesh. Gallus dragged me along with him.

He couldn’t breathe. He needed to get to the surface.

Together, we burst out of the water and sailed through the sky. I coughed up water as we dropped toward the waves, but I knew I didn’t have time to second-guess myself. I swung with Retribution. It was a terrible swing, barely any power and no aim behind it—but I managed to clip Gallus’s neck. My sword sliced through him without any resistance. Blood wept from his injury, and as we fell, he smiled.

I let go of him.

“Your magic belongs to me!” Gallus shouted just before crashing beneath the surface.

I hit the water at an odd angle, my shield arm under my body. It hurt as though I had fallen onto packed dirt, but it wasn’t enough to rattle me. I swirled through the water and then angled upward. When I broke the surface, I caught sight of Terrakona fighting with the plague-ridden kraken.

“You’ll die here,” the kraken said, his voice more a deep rumble than anything else. “I will be a god in your stead!”

The kraken slammed Terrakona with four tentacles, and when the world serpent lunged forward to bite, the monster used its other tentacles to shove Terrakona away. To my surprise, venom leaked out of Terrakona’s massive fangs. The purplish-black liquid splashed into the ocean and a harsh sizzling rang up around us.

For the second I could focus, I noticed Zelfree had used his kraken powers to scoop up the last of the merchants and sailors stranded out in the water. Captain Devlin distracted the pirates with his roc magic. Chills overcame me, and I knew his hurricane aura was building. The sky darkened with his powerful master magic.

The giant atlas turtle, Gentel, had moved close enough that Eventide was able to evoke barriers over the sailing merchant ships. She protected them from the pirates raining down bullets and cannonballs. The balls of metal slammed onto her shimmering barriers and crashed into the water, never harming a soul.

Gallus leapt from the waves and headed in my direction, sliding across the surface of the water, propelled by his storm-style winds. As he evoked a gale-force gust, it added to the building hurricane aura, creating winds so powerful that it felt like my skin might tear. I dropped beneath the surface to avoid the attack, and Gallus plunged in after me.

Without thinking, I used my magic again. Scorching heat erupted from my entire body, causing the water to boil. Gallus flailed and twisted and then retreated. What was I evoking? I swam to the surface. Then I brushed my dark hair out of my eyes and stared at my palm.

Molten rock oozed from the creases of my hand. Black rock—obsidian?—had sprouted from my knuckles and the point of my elbow. It startled me, and I tried to rip the rocks from my body, but I couldn’t.

What was going on?

Gallus slammed into my back, and I almost dropped Retribution, but I kept my grip on my weapon tight. Then the master arcanist got close. He grabbed my throat and squeezed. Even though I could now breathe underwater, I was once again struggling for air.

I couldn’t remember what kraken arcanists could augment with their magic—I could barely keep my attention on my surroundings—but I felt the sting of Gallus’s sorcery altering my body. In desperation, I used my evocation again, even though I had no idea what I was doing.

Blazing heat unlike anything I had ever felt before flared all around us. The ocean boiled and steamed, my skin oozed with molten rock, and more obsidian sprouted out of my body. I burned Gallus with my sorcery, far worse than I had expected. Not because I had touched him… but because he was touching me. My entire body had the temperature of a live volcano, and all of my clothes above the waves burned away, leaving me with one sleeve, half a shirt, and my trousers.

“Damn you,” Gallus said through gritted teeth.

He waved his hand and manipulated the waters to drag his body away from mine. His injured hand was seared to the bone. He couldn’t uncurl his charred fingers, and he glared at his useless limb for a long moment. When he smiled at me, ice flooded my veins.

“Such power. Wasted.” Gallus snorted.

I bobbed with the waves, my body more… jagged… then I remembered. “Fight that madness!” I shouted. Ocean water splashed in my mouth, and I spit it out as I said, “We have someone who might be able to heal you.”

“I don’t need healing,” Gallus shouted back. “I’m more powerful now than I’ve ever been. And once I take yourpower, and Eventide’s pure magic, I’ll be able to survive the trek to the abyssal hells.”

What?

The battle with Gregory Ruma spun in my head. Ruma had been twisted by the plague, and unlike mystical creatures, who became monsters after becoming infected, arcanists lost their mind. Ruma had attempted to resurrect his dead wife by feeding the plague to her phoenix eldrin. Now Gallus the Gray wanted to survive a trek to the abyssal hells? He likely had an irrational reason for his desire for power.

The clouds darkened and gathered overhead. A chorus of roars echoed throughout the area.

Then I saw it.

A gargantuan creature emerged from the waves. It had three heads—one a turtle, one a roc, and one a bulging ball of flesh that resembled a squid.

It was a chimera. One at least half the size of Gentel, perhaps more. Traces? It had to be. This was the power of a mimic arcanist’s chimera aura. The mimic and their arcanist would gain the magical abilities of three nearby creatures, all combined into one giant monstrosity.

The chimera had a body made of all three creatures as well. It had a twisted shell, flat and cracked in half to allow for two golden wings to sprout from its back. It also had four tentacles jutting from its underbelly, and a tail that was a mix between a lizard’s and an eagle’s.

Gallus took note of the chimera as well. He kept his good hand on his neck, stifling the blood spilling out into the ocean, while his charred hand remained close.

I needed to act.

If I’d had my shadow manipulation, I could’ve used the darkness to wield my sword and slash at Gallus, even though we were a good twenty feet apart. My new evocation wasn’t capable of long-range attacks. It seemed localized to my body, radiating from my pores and creating both obsidian and magma.

It gave me an idea.

“You’ll never have my magic, Gallus!” I shouted. “I’m far more powerful than you!”

In the stories, Gallus the Gray never turned down a challenge. And even in his crazed state, Gallus slowly turned his full attention to me. Blood soaked the collar of his shirt, but he didn’t appear to be concerned.

“My sword can cut through all magic.” I held up Retribution. The blade shone in the building storm. “You felt its sting on your neck. Soon I’ll have your head.”

Gallus chuckled. “Your heat saved you once before, lad, but it won’t do you any good this time.” He submerged himself in the brine and disappeared from my sight.

I clenched my jaw as I remained above the waves. His tactics wouldn’t take me by surprise. I knew what was coming from all of the many tales I had read. So, when the tides yanked me down, I didn’t fight back. When Gallus positioned himself between me and the surface, I didn’t attempt to move. And when he reached for my sword, I didn’t bother swinging—I kept it close and then wrapped my arms around Gallus the instant I could.

He was faster underwater, but it wouldn’t matter as long as I kept a hold of him. I evoked my molten magma, and everything burned. I tightened my grip on Gallus as he fought to escape. Obsidian rocks jutted from every joint on my body, like they were extensions of my bone fighting to escape out the pores of my skin.

The superheated waters, and my contact with Gallus, cooked him right in front of me.

How hot was my evocation? It stung me slightly, but I was obviously immune to the worst of the effects. Perhaps I was just getting used to the heat.

Gallus thrashed and manipulated water and even evoked his winds, which caused whirlpools to form in the ocean, but nothing separated us. My very touch melted his skin and muscles, and the harder I squeezed, the faster Gallus peeled away.

The waters became murky with scarlet clouds of blood. His “chum” unnerved me, but I refused to let go. I closed my eyes and continued to focus on my magic coursing throughout my body. Gallus didn’t stand much of a chance. In a matter of seconds, half his body had been liquified by my evocation. I released him only once he stopped struggling.

Then I headed to the surface, the heat in my chest subsiding. A blast of stormy winds greeted me once I made it above the waves. Luckily, I managed to concentrate.

But I didn’t even have time to celebrate my victory over Gallus the Gray.

Terrakona and Zelfree’s chimera had both engaged in combat with the pirate rocs, the hippogriff, and the twisted kraken.