Day of Reckoning: Dawn II

Chapter 119: Day of Reckoning: Dawn II

/The Hunter was born ordinary, back in the day. A beastkin child with six eyes, related to a rare kind of spider, but nothing that was beyond reason. They grew up quickly, as most kin do, learning to walk and speak at an earlier age than most humans. Soon, they began to go out with their parents to travel, and provide for the village.

They learned to till soil and farm crops, to stitch travelling clothes back up, and even to fletch arrows. In essence, they were being raised as a truly self sufficient child, able to take care of themselves in the future.

It was normal to do so for beastkin. After all, quite many of them were taken with the desire to roam, rather disliking being bound to one place, and it was only customary to teach one's child anything they needed to know about travelling in preparation for such. Traditionally, the children would set out after they came of age, yet tradition and practice are often quite different from each other.

Thus, being an impatient child and with accepting parents, the Hunter set off as soon as it was deemed largely safe. Travelling could never truly be done with guaranteed success, but at the age of twelve, the Hunter had learned a good chunk of things. They were strong and could most likely provide for themselves.

With a pack on their back, and nothing else to their name, they hugged their parents goodbye and went off, into the wilderness. There was something there drawing them. It was clear, so very clear, a string that tugged at their very soul, it felt. It had been there since the first time they'd hunted, an ethereal connection to somewhere.

The location of the call always shifted, moved around, rested in place only rarely. Whatever there was on the other side, the young Hunter yearned to see it, or to meet them. And it was only additional motivation that on the way there, they'd be hunting quite a bit./

(Legends: The Hunter - 1; Wilderness Calling)

- - - - - -

As soon as Scarlet had fended off Lucia's first arrow, a second and third arrived, each of them smashing through a few barrieres, only to be stopped in the end. The fire-clad woman stretched out her missing arm in exchange, and a torrent of flame began to rain down from her position in the sky, towards Stormbraver's city walls.

Lucia grit her teeth at this. She had hoped to remain on the walls for a little longer, but this would force the mages to put up even more shielding, expending resources they didn't have. Quickly, with a wave of her hand, the radiance within her condensed into a thick pane of glass before her, pushing the flames away, and she used more of it to create steps in thin air.

Stepping from one circular platform to another, each barely wider than her feet, she jumped into the air, glimmering fire below her feet, until she stood eye to eye with Scarlet, removed further from the wall. She drew a deep breath as she pulled back the bowstring, watching the other woman's mouth turn into a sneer.

Surely, she was going to start spewing mockeries again if Lucia let her, but today, the priestess was in no mood for jests. The fire within her reached out, condensed in her hands and formed an arrow. It bubbled up further, more and more of it spilling out, as though boons from a fountain of infinite wealth. The heat was beginning to distort the air around Lucia, yet she already saw Scarlet knit more and more shields in front of her.

After a few more moments, Lucia let go of the arrow she had pulled back, and it drilled forward with a torrent of flame. It wasn't a move, not quite yet at least, but it was certainly powerful enough to set the scene, since she felt it would not be stopped easily.

That much was true. Very quickly, the arrow shot through multiple shields, making the plates of magic shatter like glass, before the vortex of fire around the arrow consumed them whole, devouring them as though fuel. It destroyed each and every last one, before it reached Scarlet, but the madwoman was unperturbed, instead opting to grab the arrow with her intact hand.

Her flesh bubbled and seared at the contact. Even though she had clad her hand in her own fire, Lucia's radiance still managed to burn it, almost effortlessly. The sneer on Scarlet's face widened.

"Such a fearsome ability those flames are, and yet you release them only so carefully," she mocked. "Go on then, turn to me to ash. I dare you, priestess."

No answer came.

"Keep your piece, then," Scarlet frowned, "and I shall give you mine. <Rain of Cinders>."

This was why Lucia hated fighting Scarlet. Most of her Skills and moves had extreme reach, working everywhere in a specific area around the caster. She quickly took her own fire and wove it into a shield above her head, as she saw the glimmering sparks begin to form.

Crimson flames compressed to fill only a tiny area, looking more like fireflies than flames, yet as soon as they touched, their precious balance would be offset, the magic wrapping them broken, and the fire would spill forth. Lucia felt the heat increase around her, and gazed at the shields down below, watching as slowly, the fireflies drifted down, impacted and rocked the barrier, as everything above it was soon hidden behind a complete wall of magical fire.

It got worse. The Skill would only end with Scarlet cancelling it, and she surely wouldn't do it out of the kindness in her heart. Loss of concentration, lack of mana, or death. Those were the conditions. Until then, the cinders would continue to rain down, and Lucia had to end this battle before they consumed the shields.

Her own defense held, for now, but she already saw Scarlet cast her next Spell, and she felt as though she could hardly allow that. Quickly, Lucia summoned her own magic. "Judicial flame, may you consume the cruel one before me, end her life of sin and let her ashes fuel peace. <Sleep, Sinner>," she gave the magic a quick chant meant for combat, rather than the full version, but it was still enough to help direct much more of her mana into it.

The cinders summoned by Scarlet were blown away and torn apart by the roar that followed. White flames spewed forth in front of Lucia, gathering as her magic power lit itself aflame, devouring the fuel given to them as they surged. Scarlet could see it grow, and her face darkened a little, watching the flames intertwine as they began to take shape.

Immediately, she conjured a gust of wind, moving as many of the cinders as she could in front of the forming flame, before she herself began to cast another Skill. Her missing arm drew glyphs in the air at terrible speeds, while the one she had left was instead used for gestures to help her focus, like a director's baton.

She spoke not a single word, working the magic with her mind alone, a smaller zeyjn dedicated to keeping up the rain of cinders, while her main self began to tie knots and expend magical power. Before Lucia's huge weapon finished taking shape, a magical circle lit up in front of Scarlet, one meant to support the spell taking hold and create the fire she needed for it, rather than immediately immolating her magical power.

"Burn this, you bitch! <Incinerate>!" Scarlet screeched, hoping her voice would reach louder than the roaring fire in front of her. The radiance had almost finished assembling, crafting itself into a spear that seemed ready to stab through even a god. Licks of flame covered it up and down, as it began to glow, almost ready to fire.

Scarlet bit her lips, to the point where she tasted a little blood, but she still had faith in her own magic. Having finished the call for it, the system guided her mind through the final steps, finishing it up as the noise grew even more deafening. Her fire crackled and screeched, the sound akin to nails on a chalkboard, as a bowl of crimson fire began to take shape.

It seemed the kind a statue might hold, if it weren't the colour of blood. Scarlet's flames burned bright in it, and the moment it appeared, Lucia's spear already besieged it, grating against what Scarlet had summoned. Both of them were already knitting further spells though, their mind at work. Luckily, with her zeyjn still keeping up the rain, Lucia's spear was being consumed, bit by bit, as the flames intertwined and eventually became one, dissolving into orange, almost mundane looking fire.

But with the sparks still raining down and burning at Lucia, the priestess was the one pressed for time. Scarlet hoped it would mess up her casting, and perhaps it was the thrill of the moment, but she thought she could see the barriers erected around them fade a little.

Outside of it, Esmeya was sweating. "Maniacs," she whispered under her breath. "Complete fucking maniacs."

Akuhl beside her hardly even found a voice to speak, and most mages felt the same, their figures rocked by the continuous explosions of the cinders against their magic. The gathering arrays were working at full power, and still they were actually popping cores and crystals to refuel their reserves, some even already drinking full fledged mana potions.

It hadn't even been three minutes!

The tower master grit her teeth and renewed her determination, plunging her mind deep into her magical reserves and drawing out even more power to fuel the barriers. Such large scale operations were usually inefficient, and she could feel the horrid drain from that fact now, but it wasn't as though they had a choice, unless they could block every cinder on its own.

Esmeya wagered that even one of those sparks had enough power to take down a half dozen guards, maybe more if it landed in the right spot. If the price for saving those lives was a little exhaustion and mana on her side, she would gladly pay it. She just hoped that the mages wouldn't be missed enough on the ground for the battle to be lost.

Unlike Esmeya, Lucia was not yet running out of mana. The reserve of the flame within her drew on it, sure, but she could supplement that with other fuel as well, stamina, mental strength, even agner and fury. It was a flame made to consume, and that was why she couldn't release it properly. It might consume the barrier as well.

Still, she looked at Scarlet, or rather the wall of fire in front of the madwoman with grim determination. She allowed her anger to flare up just a little, the flames within her to burn slightly brighter, and then summoned them upon her bow again. By now, the air inside the barrier was scorching, hot enough to melt away the skin of a regular person, but the fire in Lucia was hotter still.

As it manifested onto the bow, she could see Scarlet perform gestures. It seemed as though her replacement arm hadn't been as much of a waste as she though, since the fire, being her own, did conduct her magic at least. Having found that out, Lucia decided to blow it away again, just as she had done before, and so, she began to cast the magic that would make her arrow soar.

It consisted of a call to the flame within her. A request, rather than an order, yet angry as it was, it listened gleefully, wrapping itself more densely around the arrow with the fury of law. Her fire was one of purity and order, and this little trick made full use of that fact. The more chaotic the system it touched, the easier it would devour it.

In short, the fire fed off of entropy. Not entirely, but somewhat, of course. She had used it to smash through all of Scarlet's flames before, and she was more than certain it would work even better now, with her missing arm making even the magic in her body more chaotic.

To keep it hidden, she chanted nothing, only quietly calling out its name. "<Arrow of Order>."

The deafening roar of the fire quieted a little as the attack shot forth. Without a chant, it came out before Scarlet had prepared her next move, breaking through the cinders and the kiln without any issue at all. It looked almost slow as it pierced through it all, yet that slowness still didn't give Scarlet a chance to react.

Her eyes opened wide as she saw the arrow come ture. Her insides twisted, and she felt as though she might throw up just looking at the thing. It went against her very nature, against the fire she cherished so much, and now it was coming for her again? She had hoped it was a last trick up the priestess' sleeve, thought it took all of her mana to conjure something so blatantly stupid, and now she had lost the gamble.

Of course, the arrow struck true. There was nothing, not a single thing Scarlet could do to stop her. And it hit her arm of flame at the shoulder joint, digging away even more of her flesh as anything even around the arrow was devoured. The stump Scarlet still had was gone now, alongside her shoulder. It had ripped a chunk out of her back and the pain was so incredible, she vomited on the spot.

'Shit,' she thought. 'Shit. Shit! SHIT!!' Scarlet cursed herself as fury ran through her veins. Her legs had buckled and she was kneeling in the sky. Perhaps she would have frothed at the mouth if her spit didn't evaporate the moment it left her body.

The crimson queen clenched her teeth so hard they almost shattered. "You," she ground out through the pain, gazing at Lucia. She cared no longer for killing the priestess. "I'll take everything you love from you!"

And Scarlet began to make true on her words. Still acting defeated, kneeling on the ground letting out sobs that were swallowed by the crackling fire, her mind began to knit spells. The cinders slowly faded as she released the zeyjn, instead using everything she had left on three more spells. She used a function of her title, turning wrath into magic through a special binding.

Lucia looked down and knew she won.

It was Scarlet's acting that let her have some semblance of victory this time.

Three spells. The first one roared forth and smashed the barrier.

Lucia was stunned at this display. Where had that power come from?! immediately, she began to cast more magic, firing another arrow at Scarlet, but that was too late. With the barrier broken, the fire fell, and began to leak out onto the battlefield below. Soldiers screamed, and seekers were burning at the moment.

Yet, Lucia was not allowed to think on that. The second spell was headed for Iris.

She didn't hesitate, her mind made up. The barriers keeping her in the sky disappeared, and she used as much magic as she could to propel herself in front of her attendant. Her friend. Her everything.

Iris' eyes opened wide as she saw the display, and she attempted to run. Not away, nothing like that, but throwing herself in front of the spell to save Lucia. She had always been faster than the priestess, surely she could do it this time again-

It wasn't meant to be. Seeing Iris' attempt, Lucia redoubled her efforts and landed in front of the pale woman, shortly followed by the sound of skin being pierced and burned.

Blood leaked from the priestess mouth. Iris gazed at her stomach, fire burning through the woman in front of her. The crimson flames licked at her skin, having broken through the back and front of her armor, and a sickening sizzling rang out from the wound.

"Raise your gaze," Lucia called, looking into Iris' eyes. There was blood on her lips. "I wish to see you. Please."

"D- don't do this to me," Iris whimpered, slowly meeting the eyes of Lucia. "Please don't go."

The priestess smiled, turned her head, and spit a little blood before looking back at Iris. "You've taught me much," she said.

"No."

"I'll hold those teachings in my heart."

"No!"

"I love you," Lucia said, and laid her lips on Iris' before she could scream a third time.

Her eyes were closed, and tears began to stream down Iris' face. After a few long moments, Lucia withdrew, wiped away one tear with her thumb, and gazed at Iris.

"No, please, someone, anyone, please..." her voice faded into a whimper, and her legs buckled as Lucia fell onto her, the flames in her stomach gone, leaving only a gap there.

The priestess eyes were open, only love reflecting in them. Love and a pale glow.

What was that? Iris gasped for air, holding onto this last strand of hope.

"Lucia," she shook the priestess. "Lucia!"

A hint of life returned to the priestess' form, her heart beating as the one she loved requested it.

And she saw it. A lifeline, an opportunity to give more of herself, to spend just a second more with Iris. She would give anything for that.

[Your have found a path forward for <Inner Flame of Order>!]

[Checking Qualifications. Path found. Maximum level long since acquired.]

[<Inner Flame of Order> has met the necessary qualifications for evolution. Evolve?]

Yes. Please, yes.

[A strong emotional reaction has been detected. The Skill will follow the path laid out for it by the individual.]

[The individual has acquired the Skill <Inner Blaze of Order and Love> through Skill evolution.]

U- us-...

Her mind was too cloudy, she couldn't quite focus enough to use it. Slowly, her eyes grew hazy again, the hopeful smile almost wiped from Iris' face. It made Lucia so sad, she wanted to see her happy, she truly did...

[The Skill reacts to the individual's desire.]

A small spark lit up in Lucia's chest. A spark inspiring hope of good, hope of betterment.

If only there wasn't a third spell Scarlet cast.

Because of that third spell, Stormbraver burnt.