[Omen of the Witchblade] Chapter 93 — Convergence

Charlie Asleton lounged on her floating [Charred Apostate Staff], observing the battle unfold from a place of relative comfort and peace.

It was easy to plot and plan when you weren’t in the thick of things. Vantage points offered an excellent strategic advantage.

She studied her black painted nails thoughtfully, then removed a single skull ring out of many. She replaced it with another. The ring that clutched a tiny green jewel in its teeth offered a minion damage enhancing imprint. The knockback resistance ring wasn’t needed here, and it was a fairly low rarity besides.

To her eyes alone, spindly threads of mana hung like spider silk through the air, connecting the Necromancer to her undead minions.

Most threads were colorless. Those that were in dire straits flashed with the likeness of the aspect she used to bolster the minion.

Below, one of her skeletal minions had its head knocked off by the long-limbed dymrak. It pranced on its delicate hooves, just out of reach of another minion’s repeatedly thrusting spear.

Dymraks were well built to fight groups of short-range enemies. They stood nearly eight-feet tall on slender spindly legs that kept them out of the muck of the swamp–the same reason Charlie was floating on her staff. Their four grasping limbs allowed them to parry and attack simultaneously, and their bony whip-like tail was perfect for striking around a well-placed guard.

The dymrak’s crown of horns above its vaguely feminine features started to glow a putrid green.

Adam shouted something over the splashing in the mire of the swamp, but Charlie couldn’t make it out. She understood a moment later when a beam of green light burst forth from the spot between the dymrak’s antlers and incinerated one of her minions where it stood.

She sighed softly. Each minion was outfitted with an eclectic mix of armor and armaments harvested from various monsters, tombs, and ever so generous competitors. Most were low rarity junk, but some were truly stellar, with unusual imprints.

Concentrating, she arrayed the skeletons into a bracing formation. Shields went out like an angular wall. Glimmering strands of [Faedust Weave] pulled the stragglers in.

Then the wall of shields bristled with spears.

Adam brought up his bladed mace and smashed apart a dymrak’s arm. He waded in with Almace at his side, weaving from one sword form to the next.

The dymraks were strong, but physically frail. As soon as the battle turned, they shrieked and tried to run.

It was never a good idea to run while facing a Necromancer.

Charlie hadn’t been idle the entire fight, though a mundane observer would be forgiven for thinking that she was a haughty Lady unwilling to get her hands dirty.

If they only knew the dirt under my nails, Charlie thought smugly.

As the dymraks turned and fled, a vessel of bladed bones split into two halves erupted from the ground. She had been searching for long-dead bodies that often found their way into swamps such as these. Buried and forgotten, it had taken her a while to summon them to the surface of the muck.

Aspect Skill: [Ferry the Dead]

Three of the dymraks were fatally speared by her vessel, but the other two were faster. They bolted away, back toward her minions, as well as Adam and Almace.

Concentrating, Charlie pulled the vessel inward, keeping the tall dymraks on the defensive while her companions–and her klutzy minions–finished them off.

Without the room to maneuver properly, the dymraks were easily felled. Their breaking bones were like music to her ears.

You defeat (3) [Dymraks (High Copper Rank)].

You gain extra runes of Grave, Fairy, Bone, Life, and Mythic aspect experience for slaying elite monsters.

You gain extra Battle Points for slaying elite monsters.

Just as Charlie was descending from her floating staff to see what she might be able to harvest from this new crop, a flare of power ripped through the sky and tore it open to the west.

Charlie wasn’t the only one looking at the sky above the swamp’s canopy. They had been chasing an interesting lead of another Necromancer that was raising monsters from the dead instead of people.

As a fellow Necromancer, Charlie was professionally intrigued by the prospect. Something that seemed impossible as far as she understood. Normally, monster bodies vanished the moment you looted them.

That interest had waned when the Necromancer always seemed to be one spooky lair away, no matter how quickly they followed their trail.

It was a little too uncanny to not be suspicious, and Charlie loathed to be manipulated.

“The hell is that?!” Adam blurted, pointing at the sky. The rift of magic settled down and became nothing more than a glimmer of light above the treetops.

From her higher perch, Charlie could see the tip of a white-capped mountain glowing with a halo of power.

“Something wicked,” she answered, pushing back her witchy hat. “And our next destination, boys.”

***

Mel watched to see if another flash would happen, but the sky remained blessedly dark. Still, she knew what it was. A rift of magic, a precursor to a manastorm. With enough time, the sky would rip open and the clouds around that mountain would swirl like the eye of a hurricane.

Might be some good monsters there if we can reach it and stake a hunting spot before it manifests fully.

“Wake up, there’s something going on.” Mel nudged Thomas with a boot, studying the clouds that sluggishly swirled with flickering green and purple magic as the first rays of dawn lit the sky.

When there was no response, she glanced over. Her eyebrows climbed.

Oh, he’s awake alright.

“Can’t move,” he wheezed.

Thomas was caught in Gwen’s slumbering vice-like embrace, with the greathammer pinned against him on the other side. With Grade 15 strength, there was no way he was getting out of there unless the werewolf wanted him to.

Mel winced when Gwen subconsciously squeezed just a little bit tighter and his back audibly cracked.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if you had a death by snu snu quest,” Mel said.

“How’d you know!?” Thomas wailed.

She nudged Gwen instead. “C’mon, get up girl. We’ve gotta get a move on!”

Gwen grumbled and swatted her away, which gave Mel an idea. Rather than getting more aggressive, she summoned Hush and whispered into his ear. He snickered and slithered toward Gwen as Mel turned to Heath.

His eyes were wide open. “You don’t need to wake me up,” he said nervously. “I’m up!”

Mel looked at him doubtfully. “I’ve seen you sleep with your eyes open. Maybe a good kick–”

Heath hopped up. “See? I’m up!”

Mel still looked unconvinced. “Pay me.” She held out her hand.

“You…are you bullying me for my money?!”

She pulled her hand back and grinned. “Good, you are awake.”

Heath followed after her. “How was that supposed to be proof that I was awake?”

Mel looked over her shoulder. “Because if you were half asleep, you’d probably give me anything I wanted. You’ve got some proper backbone when you’re awake though.”

While Heath tried to digest that, Mel watched as Gwen awoke with a snarl and flailed her arms and legs, letting both the hammer and Thomas go at the same time.

The Magi was quick to get up and out of Gwen’s reach. Once there, he stretched out the painful kinks in his limbs and back.

Gwen cupped a hand over her ear protectively, panting and staring at Hush, who snickered and rattled his twin tails.

“Good boy, Hush,” Mel said, kneeling and extending her arm for him.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Gwen said, rubbing her ear.

“He only tickled you with his tongue. You act like he bit you.”

“That would have been better!”

Mel rolled her eyes. “You’re awake, aren’t you?”

Gwen looked at the sky, then Mel. “The question is…why am I awake? It’s barely morning.”

“I saw something.” Mel pointed. “Over there, on that distant mountain.”

The Berserker squinted blearily. “I can’t see–oh.”

“Feel it now?” Mel asked, looking around.

Thomas and Gwen both nodded. Heath looked flummoxed.

“What am I supposed to be feeling?” he asked.

“It’s a kind of fluttery feeling in your guts, like you’re about to go on stage but just forgot everything you were going to say,” Mel explained.

“I feel like that all the time.”

Thomas patted him on the back. “Your senses are nascent still. You’ll get used to it. It will take time for your brain to filter out the background mana.”

“Is that what that is?” Heath asked skeptically.

“Could be gas,” Mel offered.

Heath shook his head.

“Then probably.” She clapped her hands. “C’mon, people. We got a mountain to visit!”

“How do you know we’ll find something there?” Heath asked as they gathered up their things and headed through the thermal spring plateau.

Gwen patted the greathammer affectionately before making the thing disappear. “C’mon, big Sammy, get inside me.”

Thomas grimaced.

“Anywhere there is a great confluence of mana is where you’ll find strong monsters, strange wild magic effects, and other nastiness. Normally, you’d probably want to avoid it,” Mel explained. “However, in this case…we’re actively seeking out the most danger we can handle. It’s all about them points, baby!”

“What position are you in now?” Heath asked. “In the ratings, I mean.”

“Eight,” Mel said proudly. “I can nearly taste the first spot!”

Heath frowned. “Huh.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t see how you can be eighth, when I’m in eighth place.”

Mel spun around. “How the fu–” She paused and looked at her status again, just to be sure.

Sure enough, it said she was in eighth place. “If you’re screwing with me,” Mel said, “I promise you I will get nasty with my vengeance.”

Heath raised his hands innocently. “Honest! Look at the rating list!”

“He’s not the only one,” Gwen admitted. “Though, it’s curious. Heath hasn’t been with us that long.”

Thomas laced his hands behind his golden locks and leaned back to look at the sky. “Interesting. It would seem we’re counted as a single entity. Perhaps because of our repeated escapades?”

“Then that means…” Mel’s face fell. “That I wasn’t pulling ahead all this time?”

“I don’t know when it happened,” Thomas admitted. “But if it means that we’re pooling all our points and we’re still only in eighth place, we have our work cut out for us.”

“Look at the ratings,” Gwen said, eyes wide. “Nobody is solo.”

“You think it’s something unique to the top ten?” Thomas asked.

Mel pulled up the standings for the Convocation. It was something she hadn’t bothered to do in a very long time. There just wasn’t much need.

[Convocation Standing]

Time Remaining: 80:12

(1) Yok’sal + Semthra + Nymasolth + Shae’kathoth

(2) Jacob/Fenris + Camilla + Shrubley/Smudge

(3) Kolkab + Urkath + Cesseli

(4) Charlie + Adam + Almace

(5) Sylvie/Komachi + Miranda/Sose + Cal + Hal

(6) Lilith + Thorne

(7) Ashera + Solomon + Victor + Aegis

===(8) Mel + Gwen + Thomas + Heath===

(9) Bertram + Alexander + Bocar + Karim

(10) Louis + Jean-Luc + Claudette + Simone

Mel swallowed hard. She recognized a lot of those names. Aside from the obvious ones from Aldim, or her two friends from Brookmoors, she recognized one other name.

Shae’kathoth.

How the hell is that possible? Hal not only killed him, he absorbed his very soul.

It was a wonder that the face-taking eldritch abomination hadn’t immediately killed Hal. Then again…maybe he couldn’t. If he was like everybody else, then each person would be reset to their weakest level.

It’s an even field, Mel realized.

Gwen grumbled sourly. “Miranda, Charlie, and Jacob are above us? That figures that the Countess, Miss Perfect, and the golden boy are in the way!”

“Are all of those people Magi?” Heath asked.

“Yep, we’re up against mostly Magi,” Gwen said. “At least we don’t need the top spot. Jacob’s sword and shield mastery is nigh unstoppable. And Charlie would be nasty to fight against.”

“How are they all so far ahead?” Mel asked, struggling not to be infuriated.

“Exact Battle Points aren’t listed,” Thomas pointed out. “The difference could be slim.”

“Most Magi probably had it better than us,” Gwen explained. “To put it into perspective, even Thomas and I were picky about our aspects. I passed on Spider aspect for example.”

Mel shuddered. “Ew.” Then she remembered she still had other aspect gems in her inventory. She hadn’t found a use for them now that she was full up on aspects, and everybody she met was either trying to kill her or were friends who already had all their aspects.

“Yeah. Imagine Wolf and Spider aspect together? Actually, don’t. Just forget I said anything.”

“There is such a thing as a wolf spider,” Heath added unhelpfully.

“Yeah,” Thomas whispered, “that’s not what those aspects would make when combined.”

Heath’s eyes widened in horror. “Ohhh. Gross.”

“Yeah.”

“Come on!” Mel urged, jogging ahead. “Get the lead out! We only have eighty hours left until the trial ends and we need to get past at least five teams. We don’t have time to waste!”

Thomas tilted his head to the side. “You don’t know how long eighty hours is, do you?”

Mel’s face reddened. “At least I’m not second fiddle to a hammer!”

“What?!” Gwen shouted.

“It is a nice hammer,” Heath muttered softly.

Thomas grumbled and broke into a trot. “You do know, if our group breaks up because you’re being a dick, your place will drop in the ratings.”

Mel thought about that for a moment. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take. Now hurry up you slackers! I want to get to that mountain before it explodes with juicy point-giving power!”

Only one thing kept repeating in Mel’s mind as they jogged at a steady pace that was more akin to an Olympic runner’s fastest sprint: I need more points!