The Fusionist Book 3 -- Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“I don’t know what it is, but there’s something coming,” Verne said in a rush, nearly out of breath as he came to a stop in front of Larek and Nedira. “Something powerful enough that everyone can feel it; even the Professors we passed on the way here are freaking out!”

Larek quickly slid off his bed and snatched up the axe which was always propped up nearby in easy reach in case he needed it. This seemed like a time when he was going to need it.

“Has the Dean announced anything?” he asked, even as he felt the incoming pressure mounting. Now that he was focused upon it, he realized that he had been sensing it for a while now, but had been ignoring it while talking to Nedira. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to be harmful or debilitating; instead, it was more like an irritating presence just out of sight.

“We’ve heard nothing,” Verne answered even as he grabbed a wooden amulet from his desk and slipped it over his neck, followed quickly by Norde as he did the same. Larek recognized the Repelling Barrier Fusions he had made for them months ago, a defensive precaution he was happy enough to provide for them in case something like this happened. Ideally, keeping it on all the time like the one Larek wore would be safer, but the risk of something inadvertently triggering it as they moved around the Academy was too high to risk hurting someone else. Rambunctious boys will be boys, after all.

The same went for Nedira, who had a Repelling Barrier amulet in her own room instead of on her person, so Larek opened one of his own desk drawers and pulled out one of his identical copies of the Fusion he had lying around and handed it to her. “Just in case,” he said, and she slipped it over her head without another word.

“Let’s go see what this is all about.”

Larek led everyone out of the room and down the hallway to the exit, joined by dozens of others as they also departed their domiciles.  He recognized many of the students among the crowd that had departed Crystalview with him and his friends, as they were still living in the same rooms that they were given at their arrival; their frightened faces reminding him of the attack at the Academy that led to the deaths of students and Professors – including Fusionist Annika.

Soon enough, the much-larger group streamed out of the exit doors and into the interior yard of the Academy and Fort – only to be nearly bowled over from the cacophony of loud, scared, and questioning voices of thousands of people wondering what was going on. Unlike the Scission attack that occurred in his first year at Copperleaf, a time that Larek didn’t like to think about often because that was when Ricardo had imprisoned him below the Academy, the panic was heightened because this was a complete unknown. The pressure everyone was feeling was vaguely similar to a Scission opening but altogether different in a way that confused the people milling about the yard, and they didn’t seem to know what to do with themselves.

In short, it was utter chaos as Larek and his friends joined the panicked crowd. With those in authority – otherwise known as the Professors – all seemingly as shocked and scatter-witted as the students, there was no real place to turn to for answers.

“What is going on?” Nedira shouted at Larek, the only way to be heard despite them standing next to each other.

He shook his head in answer, not wanting to speculate or even say anything out loud at that point, even though he was beginning to suspect he knew. As the pressure he was feeling grew, it started to resonate within something buried within his mind and body; he attempted to pinpoint where it was coming from, but was unable to track it to its source. The only thing he was fairly certain of, however, was what it was that was resonating within him.

His Dominion magic.

If he was correct, then whatever was coming closer to them also possessed Dominion magic, though in a much greater quantity and strength than anything Larek could produce. If his Dominion magic was like a candle’s flame, then what he felt was like a raging wildfire.

Based on what he’d been told, and he didn’t have any good reason to doubt it, then there was only one thing that possessed Dominion magic in such massive quantities that it could be felt from a distance.

The Gergasi. Or the “Great Ones,” depending on who he talked to.

Larek could think of only one reason why one of them might be making an appearance there.

“Settle down! Be silent! Answers will be forthcoming soon, as long as you don’t panic!” Dean Lorraine’s voice rang out over the entire central yard of the Academy and Fort, enhanced by a spell that he was able to see traces of wisping through the air. It took nearly a minute for everyone to stop running around and talking, though it helped when a column of stone approximately 10 feet across suddenly shot up from near the arena, extending 50 feet upwards so that everyone could see it no matter where they were. On top of the stone column were two people, whom Larek immediately recognized as Dean Lorraine and Vice General Whittaker, the head of Fort Pinevalley.

“There is no cause for alarm,” the Dean continued once the majority of the noise settled down. “We are determining the cause of this disturbance, but there should be very little danger—”

The Dean’s speech was interrupted as something suddenly shot across the sky above, burning trails of flames coming off of it, and moving so quickly that it was almost impossible to make out any details. That changed as it seemed to bank abruptly in the air, making a turn that brought it down toward the Academy and Fort building. Panicked screams rang out as it seemed as though whatever it was coming toward them would crash into the walls, causing incredible damage to the structure, but the object narrowly missed the tops of the walls and instead shot toward the center of the yard where the stone column the Dean had constructed was located.

As the object closed in on the column, its speed slowed down to the point where it could be made out a lot more clearly than before.

It turned out that it wasn’t some sort of flaming projectile, which he and many of those around him had thought it might be, but a figure. This figure was unlike anyone he’d seen before, though there was a familiarity to it that resonated similarly to the Dominion magic he sensed emanating from it. Completely bald, the powerful figure was clothed in a simple dark purple tunic with bright white trim, belted at the waist by a golden rope; black leather pants covered their legs down to their shins, but there were no shoes upon the feet, giving the person a deliberately unfinished look. It was almost as if it didn’t need any shoes, or disdained them, to complete its outfit – and Larek had to admit that it worked.

That was probably be because he and everyone else was distracted by the giant sword the figure was firmly wielding in its hand, which he estimated had to be at least 10 feet long and a foot wide, larger than anything he’d ever seen before. It was a dark black color that seemed to suck in the light around it, reflecting not a single thing from the sun overhead, and while Larek couldn’t see its edges, he could only assume that they were very sharp.

If everyone wasn’t looking at the massive sword the figure wielded, then they were probably staring at its wings.

Yes, wings.

They emerged from the figure’s back and extended at least a dozen feet outward, shining with a transparent, prismatic glow that outlined their otherwise delicate-looking construction. If he had to describe them, they were more akin to a butterfly’s wings than the leathery kind employed by dragons, and they barely seemed able to lift the figure by themselves.

As the sword-wielding person delicately alighted upon the stone column, the wings on its back suddenly disappeared into a rain of sparkles that evaporated within seconds, which told Larek that they weren’t real – they were likely some sort of spell. While he hadn’t been a Mage for long, and was quite ignorant of the types of spells available to learn as said Mage, he hadn’t heard of anything remotely like these wings before. It was just further proof that this was one of the Gergasi, and its strength was obvious even if it wasn’t for the pressure pounding down on everyone in the yard.

While the figure was a bit of distance away from him, he could tell that it was much taller than the Dean and Vice General standing next to it. If he had to guess, it was at least 8 feet tall, possibly nearing 9 feet; so, even taller than Larek, himself. It was also completely devoid of any features that – at a distance – indicated whether it was male or female, as its baldness and lithe form could be either.

It was only when it started talking with a deep voice that he had a hint that it was male; of course, it was the subject of the speech that made him certain.

“WHERE IS MY CHILD? YOUR REPORT INDICATED TO ME THAT THEY ARE HERE.”

Oh, no. Is that… my father?

He was distracted by staring at the figure that towered over the Dean and Vice General, but he tore his gaze away when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Not understanding what it was at first, he quickly realized that hundreds of students that had been nervously milling around the yard had suddenly frozen in place, their gazes locked on the Gergasi on top of the column. It didn’t take him long to realize that these were Nobles, or at least Nobles with a higher station, who had been directly influenced by one of their “Great Ones” and were now reacting to the Dominion magic that already bound them as slaves.

The shock of what could potentially be his biological father being there nearly made Larek want to speak up and meet him; the desire to announce his presence and meet his long-lost parent was almost physical in nature and he found himself just about to take a step forward. However, before Larek could move, the sight of the enslaved Nobles reacting to the presence of this stranger snapped him out of that ridiculous thought, and he held himself still and silent. The way the students seemed to have their free will taken from them in an instant further reinforced his desire not to have anything to do with Dominion magic – even if it came from his father.

This is wrong.

“Your child? What do you mean?” the Dean asked, audible even over the murmuring crowd despite her not enhancing her voice with a spell.

“DO NOT PLAY WITH ME, SLAVE. BRING THIS STUDENT TO ME NOW!”

Even Larek felt the command fall upon him as his father spoke, but he easily shrugged it off. Looking at his companions, they seemed to struggle with it a little bit, but he could see them visibly relax after a few seconds. I wonder if it has to do with their proximity with me and my Dominion magic. Have I influenced them enough to help defend against my father’s magic? He didn’t like the fact that his despised magic had led to them resisting the command Larek felt in the words just spoken upon the stone column, but he would deal with that later. At the moment, all he could think of was fleeing.

Of course, that was easier said than done, given that everyone around the four friends seemed to have been caught by the commanding Dominion magic the powerful Gergasi had used upon not just the students and trainees of both the Academy and Fort, but the Professors and Instructors, as well. Eying the closest ones around him, he could see that they physically struggled to resist the command, but none of them were strong enough to break free from it.

Larek’s mind rapidly evaluated the strength of the Dominion magic that was acting upon them, his instinctual use of the hated power coming to some use as he made some determinations. While it was undoubtedly stronger than anything that he could produce, he could also tell that the command wasn’t as powerful as a slave bond. He suddenly remembered something he learned from Ricardo during Larek’s interrogation about each Gergasi unable to enslave more than a certain number of people; he could only assume that this enslavement was something permanent, while what he was witnessing here was only temporary. It was more than likely that anyone without a slave bond – such as what he saw with the hundreds of Nobles among the students – would be freed from the Dominion magic after his father left the area.

He also determined that there was absolutely no way for him to break someone out of that magic while his father was nearby, unless they were already freed for another reason. That reason was likely because Larek had already affected him with conflicting Dominion magic, for good or ill.

That meant that escaping was going to be difficult, because while no one was looking at him right now, as no one but the Dean and Shinpai knew he was likely the “son” that the Gergasi was talking about, those caught in the Dominion magic would likely see him running as a target of interest. Glancing at Nedira, Verne, and Norde, all of whom looked around with wide eyes and appeared on the verge of bolting, he shook his head slightly and then demonstrated looking up at the scene playing out on the stone column. Thankfully, the abnormality of the situation was enough for them to understand, and they mostly stopped fidgeting as they stared up at the Gergasi making demands of the two most important people at the Academy and the Fort.

“I am sorry, Lord Vilnesh; I was unaware that you had any of your children here with us, or I would have ensured that they would’ve had all the courtesy demanded by a Great One—”

“LIES! YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHO IT IS. PRODUCE THEM NOW OR I WILL FIND THEM MYSELF!”

The Dean was on her knees now, joined by the Vice General, bowing to the Gergasi. Lord Vilnesh? Is that my father’s name? Ultimately, it wasn’t important, but Larek found he was distracted by the smallest things as he fought against the Dominion magic he could feel emanating from the Gergasi with invisible waves of force.

It was at this moment that his mind reviewed all the words that the Gergasi and the Dean had exchanged, and he felt a surge of rage bubble up as he realized that the Dean had given him up to his father in some sort of report she had sent. But that rage was stymied by confusion as it seemed as though the Dean was fighting against the slave bond to protect his identity for some reason. Whose side is she on?

The question was still unanswered when she spoke up again. “I swear, oh Great One, that I don’t know—”

The attack was so quick and sudden that he missed it entirely. It was only when Dean Lorraine’s head went sailing off into the air to land among the students below, that Larek realized the Gergasi had decapitated the head of Copperleaf Academy with his sword, too fast to follow. Even as her kneeling form collapsed on top of the stone column, blood fountaining out from her headless body, Larek’s father turned to the Vice General.

“I SURE HOPE YOU HAVE A BETTER ANSWER THAN THIS ONE, SLAVE. WHERE IS MY CHILD?”

Larek’s vision was locked onto the horrific scene so he was able to see the visible gulp that Vice General Whittaker took before he answered.

“I believe that the one you’re looking for is—”

The head of Fort Pinevalley was abruptly cut off, in more ways than one, as the sudden emergence of a massive Scission appeared in the middle of the yard, slicing through not only the neck of the kneeling Vice General but entirely through the stone column they were standing on. The column abruptly split in half, both halves inexorably falling toward the gathered students below, who began to scatter upon the appearance of the Scission, the Dominion magic controlling most of them overridden by their innate sense of preservation.

As for the Gergasi, his wings suddenly appeared again on his back as he lifted off the falling stone column, the Scission just missing bisecting him as well. He roared in frustration even as he stared at the rapidly strengthening portal that would spew out monsters soon, his sword out in front of him defensively.

“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU FOOLS! IF YOU HADN’T DELAYED ME, THE AETHERIC CORRUPTION WOULDN’T HAVE LOCKED ONTO MY SIGNATURE OUTSIDE OF THE ENCLAVE!”

Aetheric corruption? What is that? Larek was plagued by a hundred questions by that one statement, but now wasn’t the time to pursue them further. Instead, it was time to run, because the yard had been thrown into chaos by the appearance of the Scission, so their movement wouldn’t be noted now.

As he began to move, intent on gathering his friends so that they could start running, a hand closed over his arm, stopping him in place.

Book 3 Chapter 17