Warrior of the Void Book 1, Chapter 46

Almost as if her shout was the cue they had been waiting for, the dozen of floating balls smashed into each other. A flash of dark-light and a rush of sand-laden air forced the adventurers to raise their arms to shield themselves, blinding them for a split second.

As soon as the moment had passed, they looked beyond their limb to see a black vortex hanging in the air. More darkness, more rot, spilled out of it in long ribbons, “Twelves preserve us…” From behind, the wayward noble whimpered and prayed as best she could.

“How did they even– No, that doesn’t matter…” Readjusting her stance, Kofle prepared herself for what was about to come.

The gate pulsed like a heart once, causing a wave of aether to wash over the Au’Ra and Miqo’te, and then… something reached out.

Dark ooze sputtered out of the rip in reality as a massive tentacle lined with spikes burst out of it and impossibly wrapped itself around the edges of it as if they were a physical boundary. A disgusting squelch filled the air as the creature pulled itself out. It was almost an octopus, as it certainly shared the general shape of it.

Eight limbs, two inhuman eyes that gleamed with an alien intelligence, and a massive beak located underneath their body. But that was where the similarities ended. First, it lacked the distinct ‘balloon’ head of an octopus. Instead, the eyes were set in a small bump atop its saucer-shaped body. Second, only six of its limbs seemed to be meant for locomotion as two of them grew from right behind its eyes and were arrayed like horns– or maybe wings? 

Those same limbs were also covered with bone-like spurs and protrusions that shivered independently of the tentacles they were growing out of. Next, while octopi had some sort of ink-spraying ‘mouth’ hidden away, its own was on full display… and so were all of the others. Muur could count two rows of three or four wedged between its front tentacles, a pattern that repeated itself all around its body.

Surprisingly, the beak was the most normal part of it. Oversized and dripping with liquid as it was, it was ‘only’ a massive beak as large as a lalafell.

The creature let out a low moan while it shook itself, revealing that its back coloured skin was actually painted a vibrant, and toxic looking, green and orange, “Not if I can fucking help it, you slimy Voidsent piece of–”

Muur didn’t let her finish, because the Thaumaturge was just done filling her lungs with as much air as they could take and her body and staff with as much aether as they’d hold. Her reserves were being refilled by Dynamic Ice, of the same polarity as what the Voidsent used. It was a long shot, likely to outright backfire, but… “HIMIKO!”

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Somewhere in a place beyond the confines of a world beset by threats and horrors of its own reckoning, and from afar, was a being. In that place that was so very far from the Star that housed the lands of Eorzea– yet so very close to it –this being, one that most knew it was most unwise to displease, was in fact rather displeased.

Twice, mayhaps even thrice! Had a most scrumptious morsel slipped it notice. Wetting its appetite with its mouth-watering aether and bubbling emotions, only to escape from under their beak each time!

The being was normally not one to succumb to such base feelings. Annoyance was oh, so beneath it. As was the hunger the Void’s denizens experienced at all times. Oh, it certainly experienced it, none that delved here was free of it, but her palate was a refined one. The being had learned to ignore and endure the endless gnawing of it, better to experience it than feed on the rancid, stale aether of voidsents.

No, what angered it so was the morsel’s utter gall! It had bestowed upon it a name! They, who had remained nameless save for their numerous titles, was now named! By a thing that ought to be nothing more than their dinner to boot! And this was not even counting the apparent taunt it had directed at them!

The morsel’s presence had been fuzzy, indistinct, but the being had recognised it none the less. It had first thought it to be a leftover, an imprint left by the mortal– one of those had been meandering through the castle after all. Yet, upon approaching the space where it ought to have been, there were no means to reach it… A bit of an annoyance, but this castle was hardly the most… What was the word? Euclidian? Of places, so it had chosen to move past it.

Then, the taunting knocks began!

The being wasted no time in doing everything in its power to access the space beyond the wall. But to no avails… This alone would be rather frustrating. But then, the so called ‘rulers’ of this decrepit ruin had dared to refuse answering its questions when it had graciously offered to spare them in exchange for the information.

The Steed, The Hound and The Devourer, weaklings on their own. But whatever bonds of camaraderie they shared would have made the being’s victory an hollow and pyrrhic one had the battle gone on for long, and so the ruins’ status quo had remained.

Three ‘rulers’, too weak to evict their uninvited ‘guest’, whose pride refused them the decision to seek a feast somewhere else. All four seeking to consume the morsel so that they could–

“HIMIKO!”

A sourceless shout pulled the being out of its reverie. Tilting its head, it looked into the distance, towards an atoll outside of the ruined palace’s sphere of influence. Something there had called out to her. Which was in itself an impossibility– it was too far, too distant for the being to feel anything there.

And yet…

Humming, she reached into her plumage of silver wings and plucked three of her feathers. The being was unsure why she was doing this, but before she realised it, the feathers had become a living sliver of herself and taken off to investigate…

She had ever been a curious one after all. But perhaps not curious enough, or mayhaps Himiko would have noticed the faint, shimmering words that hung in the air around her and guided her actions for just a moment before crumbling away…

-[||]-

Absolutely nothing happened as Muur’s call drifted out of the small battlefield spreading in front of the Sultantree. The lizard could only imagine the sort of confused headtilt her friend would be giving her, if the remaining seven Gargoyles weren’t doing their best to mob the gladiator at least.

To the Miqo’te’s credit, she was managing to keep them at bay quite efficiently. Whenever one lunged at her, blade or shield would meet the blow and turn it away. Unfortunately, before she could even try for more than literal scratch damage, another of the fliers would assault her, forcing her to respond to it rather than push any advantage.

She would win, that much was certain. Even with this tactic, they were failing to inflict much arm, or even tire Kofle. She seemingly enjoyed a bottomless fount of energy, rather than combat fatigue. The problem came from the fact it would be a slow, drawn out affair.

One that prevented her from supporting her dear friend, Muur. A friend that was currently relentlessly targeted by the newly arrived abomination against the gods. 

-[||]-

Muur had unleashed a torrent of ice, lightning and fire against it. But the creature proved itself to be shockingly agile, mainly thanks to its ability to contort itself in truly bizarre ways to avoid her spells.

Worse, the few times that she managed to hit the damn thing, her magic simply splashed off of the slimy, wriggling limb. Cornered by the slowly advancing monster and with nowhere to go that didn’t involve leaving the cowering lalafel as lunch for these things, all Muur had left in her repertoire was an explosive bash of her staff. Unfortunately, the result was almost the same. She’d hit, but without leaving any sort of mark, and now that she was this close to it?

There wasn’t much that she could do about the tentacle wrapping around her torso and pinning her arms down– by the fortune of the Gods, and smart purchase decisions, the only thing that got shredded by the tentacle’s teeth was the thaumaturge’s robes thanks to the chainmail she’d worn underneath.

Of course, Muur didn’t let her position of being slowly dragged towards the giant beak stop her for a second, and with a vicious bite, sank her teeth into the monster’s flesh with the full intent of letting a deluge of Lightning aether pour from her throat.

Now that caught the Voidsent off guard. For the first time since it’d gotten here, it tasted pain and from how it tightened its coil? It hated it. Unfortunately for it, its opponent was Muur, who, upon seeing a sign of weakness, ruthlessly doubled down by biting down harder even as her vision blurred from pain.

The monster tried to get her to stop by smashing her against the ground, but all that did was make her puke out even more thunder directly into the quickly charing flesh. There was only one question now; what would give out first? Her, or the Voidsent?

The disorientation of wind rushing around her told her that something was happening. But between the mild concussion she was dealing with and the fact the doujin reject had almost choked her out, she wasn’t able to tell what exactly.

The sudden lack of pain in her rib, and blooming of it all along her spine as she smashed into something told her that she’d won… Though, perhaps it was a pyrrhic victory. Especially if she was hearing the worried noises her girlfriend was making through the sound of flapping wings.

…Wait, those didn’t sound like Gargoyle wings.

Nor did that scream of pain belong to her, Kofle, or the little lady, “Twelves what is happening!?” A small voice shouted from right beside her as a bottle was clumsily mashed against her lips, “Drink, I’m begging you! Please be okay!”

The instant that the contents of it touched Muur’s tongue, EVERYTHING entered focus. She felt no ache, no pain, no fatigue. Only an urge to drain the entire thing in a single go. With every gulp, the Thaumaturge could feel her wounds close, her crushed bones weld themselves back together, her pulped flesh change from a soup held inside her by her skin back into what it was meant to be.

More than just her physical body healing faster than kudzu reclaiming a parking lot. Her astral self recovered just as quickly, the aches of overtaxing her aether? Gone. Her reserves? Overflowing.

“I am now. What’s–” Before Muur could finish her question, her eyes answered it for her as she saw a massive silver crow tear into the octopus. Although, rather than a crow, it looked more like the idea of one, fashioned from feathers of metal and animated through wisps of darkness. 

What it was wasn’t so important as to what it was doing. Namely: ripping apart the creature that had made a mockery of her spells. Talons sliced open the skin that had turned away her magic, its beak tore strips of Voidsent flesh with every peck and its wings carried it away from its prey's attacks, only to bring it back for its own.

A ballet of violence if ever there was one. One that didn’t last for long. The bird glanced her way and soared high in the air to perch itself on one of the Sultantree’s branches. It crowed lazily before starting to preen as if nothing had been going on.

“Thanks for the assist, Himiko.” Muur said as she climbed to her feet, wincing as her overflowing aether crackled as garlands of lightning across her hair, horns and every spine of her tail. Soul-deep pain, the usual. “Kofle, you may want to step away for a second.”

She knew the most expedient way of dealing with imbalanced, overloaded aether.

“Kof–? What? Your companion is still battling foes over–” The confused speech coming from nearby turned into a panicked squeak as a corona of power began to surround the Thaumaturge. Oh, so it had been the civvie who had saved her. She’d have to do something nice for her later.

Especially since the little lady was smart enough to scurry back to the roots of the tree and get away from the clearly still concussed mage and her blast radius. Attagirl.

“Right. I’m not even going to bother balancing this thing.” Muur muttered under her breath, simply taking her aether raw and churning and shoving it through her staff. Under normal circumstances, it would’ve been an oversized Scathe.

These weren’t normal circumstances, Scathe required for a balanced aether and she had no such thing right now.

Which made the fact an actual Scathe spell came out all the more baff– “THAL'S BALLS WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUU–!?”

Muur stood corrected. That wasn't a Scathe. It had been a marker, meant to tell the massive pillar of unstable aether currently engulfing the Voidsent where to manifest itself.

Nearly as tall as a yurt, the veritable storm of magic was composed of ice one moment, only to turn to fire that became thunder, that became ice that became thunder. there was no controlling that hungry maelstrom as the transposition sped up. The magic flickering between the three elements faster and faster until it was impossible to tell which it was.

At that point, all that was left of the Voidsent was a thrashing shadow, bathed in the light of Muur’s torrent of aether. She could see its shape crumble, bit by bit, until there was nothing left of it… but still far too much power within Muur. The pillar split into tendrils and crashed into the three Blangas that Kofle had yet to put down, vaporising them on the spot– and forcing Kofle to dodge an errant strand of runaway magic, “Muur!?”

“Sorry!” She yelled back, doing her best to wrestle the deluge into the only thing resembling a safe outlet for it at this point.

The portal.

It was a struggle. One that Muur barely managed, if you could call it that. Yes, strands of the pillar were being sent through. but for each that she could wrestle, two more would burst out of the aetheric mass.

And with each, Muur could feel her body and aether wither slightly.

Her salvation came in the form of the crow. With a single beat of its wings, it dove at the portal and bathed itself in the storm. Unlike all of the other Voidsents though, it endured. More than that, it fed.

Slowly every strand was funneled into it, leaving it glowing with power. No matter how much spilled out of Muur, it absorbed it. But that wasn't enough, not to stop Muur’s worsening balance, not to satisfy its hunger.

It beat its wings a second time, and shot itself like a bullet at Muur. Before she could react, it pierced her with its beak and everything became light….