Unbound

The monstrosity raged, the sheer force of its voice alone enough to make Alister's bones ache. Others aboard the skiff fell back, and not for the first time. Blood ran down the ears of those whose eardrums hadn't already popped, and others abandoned their grasp on the straps and ropes to hold their stomachs or else vomited on the deck. It was a heinous sound, but it only intensified as the mages attacked.

Bastards. They need to leave!

The Tower mages swarmed aboard their Manaships, attacking relentlessly despite Atar’s incendiary offensive. His boyfriend speared through ship after ship, the white flames of his Urge burning hotter than any of their wards—yet more arrived, hot on the heels of the fallen. They charged inward, bypassing Atar to bring their power to bear on the Beast below.

They paid the price.

Arms of purple-flesh and midnight scales met each and every ship that came within reach. Blue-white lightning danced across prow and mast while red-gold flame devoured hulls by the handful. Manaship after Manship burst between the indelible grip of the Beast, leaving cracked debris and bloody remnants as the only reminders of their charge. Until even that turned to smoke and was consumed.

Passengers yelled and Alister stumbled as the skiff tilted back. They came close to the Beast’s claws, but as always Elowen somehow managed to keep them just ahead of its grasp. The ship groaned, sails snapping as they billowed with conjured winds that spun in cyclonic circles around the thing’s malformed head.

Alister peered outward again, channels aching and ears ringing as he tried to find some trace of his friend. There was little definition to its head, just a pair of burning blue eyes like foglamps settled atop a screaming maw of endless teeth.

We can't get close enough. He gestured, pushing Mana out of his left palm. “Greater Force Shielding!”

Sheets of blue force rose up around the starboard side just as a series of stone blades slammed into them. Mages in dusty brown robes drew abreast, their Manaship dwarfing Tern’s skiff as they hollered the names of their spells into the sweltering sky. Alister didn’t bother to listen; the fools had designated them as much a threat as the Beast itself, and it was pissing him off.

Attacks rained upon them, this time in the form of boulders rocketing through the air. Alister tilted his shields, altering the angles just as the projectiles hit so that they were deflected aside. He’d learned that lesson a great many times during their climb up the Violet Tower, and it paid off. A direct hit diminished his Mana stores far faster than a glancing blow, and the boulders were sent careening off toward the ground or, if he were lucky, into other ships.

“Carmine mages!" one of the Violet Adepts shouted.

Alister twisted, holding the starboard barriers even as he released a second set to port. Mana spooled from his feet, rising up in a sheet that thickened from translucent blue to a solid cerulean—just as a torrent of fire hit them. Heat poured across the skiff, searing skin and hair of anyone within a dozen paces. Men, women, and children screamed before their voices were snatched up by the oppressive blaze.

The pattern for Greater Force Shielding screamed in his core space, rattling the pale machinery at his center and setting a great many gears turning in new, uncomfortable ways. Work, blast you!

Linked Hands Beneath Burning Stars.

Worlds Within Worlds Bound By Choice.

Let Sing The Bonds Of Fellowship.

The Fiend Grants His Aid.

Felix?!

Attempting To Establish Sympathetic Link...

Link Established!

Essence Redirection Allowed.

Tier II Link Advanced To Tier III!

A rush of potency shot through Alister’s core space, spinning gears and moving slabs of white-enameled machinery with sudden frenetic force. Lightning arced between pieces, charging the dark blue with an incredible luminosity that crackled with each driving piston. Alister gasped, suddenly and irrevocably understanding. Force Mana compacted, losing a measure of size as it gained another dimension. Flame splashed across his shields and for once the liquid potency of his Skill blunted the heat. It was blocked just as effectively as the physical impact…and all it cost Alister was a massive chunk of Mana.

Even with the help, I can’t keep this up. He pulled the cork out of another Mana Potion and threw it back. The potent mixture restored a bit of his power, but not enough. My Skill isn’t strong enough.

Greater Force Shielding is level 88!

…

Greater Force Shielding is level 95!

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That helps! Newfound power rolled through the mage, easing the burden of holding multiple shields of such strength. Maybe we can—

A Manaship careened toward them, their hull hollowed out by a massive, midnight claw. The deck lurched beneath him, nearly sending Alister overboard as Elowen evaded its approach just in time for it to hurtle headlong into the Carmine mages. Wards flashed as they collided, sigils overloading into cascading explosions.

Debris smashed into the skiff, overwhelming Alister’s shields and sending a frission of pain up his limbs as the power fed back into his bones. He screamed, skidding backward across the deck before fetching up against several of the refugees, while the skiff itself was hurled sideways. Alister gasped for breath as people were thrown into the air…and launched off the skiff entirely.

"No!" Alister slid again, hitting the railing chest first, driving the breath from his lungs. "Tern!" he gasped. "Do something!"

The old Elf was strapped near the helm, barely holding on himself, but he twisted his thin elderly arms and magic poured into the deck. The wooden railings on the far side ripped themselves from the deck and into the air, snagging the falling passengers.

"Force mage!" Elowen cried. "Hold the rest!"

Alister strained himself, pushing out his Mana and hardening it through the pattern of his Skill once more. The remaining people around him grunted, shouting in outrage as they slammed into the deck, but he didn't care.

Elowen gestured and the lines pulled back, twisting the sails into strange new shapes before she hauled on the wheel. They twisted, the entire skiff going into a full barrel roll as the railing was reeled back in and every single lost passenger slammed against the deck once more.

They leveled out and Alister dropped his shields in disbelief as people groaned. "Elowen, you're incredible!"

The Theron mage grimaced. "Not for much longer." The tome above her head flickered in and out of sight and Alister's stomach clenched.

Her Core Manifestation was running out.

"Zara, you need to make your move!" Alister turned. "Zara?"

Zara fell through the air, but it was not without purpose.

Water flared around her like a surging tide, guiding her descent through curtains of swirling Essence and the blows of erstwhile mages as they fought against her friends. The roar of the Beast below shook through her, sending shivers across her magic that threatened to disperse it entirely. But by then, it was too late.

She landed atop its broad back and crouched low, hands grasping onto lumpy spikes that protruded between sleek scales. She climbed forward, unwilling to stop for even a moment to assess the situation. She could not hesitate.

The Beast bucked, malformed body twisting as it swung toward a new slew of mages, but it was merely an opportunity in disguise. Zara vaulted forward, hands reaching for the next series of spikes, and then the ones after that.

She reached its neck in short order…but the Beast was cunning. It sensed her, and its gleaming arms came down against its own ill-wrought head. Claws slashed through purple-flesh, tearing furrows that spewed red-gold ichor. Zara rolled away, robes heavy with vile liquid, and slapped her hands down. She released her banked power.

“Challenger’s Sea!”

An ocean of water surged through her channels, swirling outwards from every Gate she had. It congealed into an orb that completely immersed the Beast's head. Talons clawed at it, but the rushing tides were enough to redirect its immense power and Strength fruitlessly.

Zara’s Mind spun inward, rushing along the flow of her own power, back toward the center. A sea rose up, deep and unknowable within her chest—save for the islands that filled its expanse.

Lightning struck down, searing into her visualized form and hurling her back to reality. Zara hissed, becoming aware of herself just in time to see blank eyes twist across the Beast’s shapeless head. Blue-white lightning speared out again, seeking her heart—but her water swirled close, dispersing the blast.

"Lightning will find no path in purified water!”

This Was Never Lightning.

Blue lines sprung up from her own barrier, turning to steel that shoved her upright and against her own sphere of water. Binding cords held her fast, locking down chest, neck, and limb with crushing force.

She couldn't speak. She could barely breathe. And somehow the Beast's power was overpowering her very channels, stopping her Mana at the source. The water stalled out, its flow halting around her, collapsing.

Interesting.

The brightest of the blue lines was one that speared from her very chest down deep into the Beast's form. Zara tracked the creature’s Intent, and her eyes widened when she spied a struggling figure far below.

Felix!

Your Faith Will Be Tested, Magus.

All at once the blue connections dropped and Zara fell to her knees. Her power surged back.

Do Not Fail Him.

She didn't bother to ponder the creature's words, but let Challenger's Sea rise once more. She sent it coursing into the conjured flesh and into the cavity in its chest where Felix still fought. Zara guided it, her Mind riding across great swells as monolithic pillars shot up out of the sea that she visualized. She was there, astride the winds as the waves roared and midnight descended upon the spotless day. The figure within it, however, glowed as bright as the sun.

Zara forced him back between the monoliths into a cage of stone.

She snapped it shut.

A bellow of pain ripped Zara out of her visualization, thrusting her back to reality where she scrabbled for purchase on the Beast's neck.

"Felix," she shouted, "awaken!"

Gleaming purple flesh sundered before a black fist. Ten talons gripped tight before heaving outward, tearing through muscle and scale—before it all burst into radiant vapor. Scale and spike dissipated into purple shadow, flickering lightning, and the gleam of red-gold flame.

Felix was free.

For a moment, he was suspended, chest heaving as tiny black scales crawled up his neck along with jagged striations of red-gold light. He screamed, and Zara’s power was very nearly wrenched aside. She held tight however, weaving her water around them both with exacting care.

His eyes blazed electric blue, but she had a feeling he was not seeing her at all.

They guttered out, and together they fell.

"No.” Zara’s Mana rolled around them. “I have you, my boy."

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