- Writing Levels
- Adaptable
- Genres
- I'm wary of magic with lots of rules.
The hapless Nocturne shivered on the ground. No one was around, nothing to bear witness. A hand was placed on the Nocturne's head. He wailed, a thin cry, knowing, feeling, beyond a doubt what was about to happen. There was nothing left to delay it.
Execution.
The fingers went white against his head. The skin rippled, and the hand plunged into the head of the Nocturne, flesh and bone parting like a pool of water. Tendons on the forearm writhed as the hand momentarily fished around before pulling out from the Nocturne. Grasped between forefinger and thumb was a glowing white mote, strands of blood and mucous still clinging to it.
The Nocturne collapsed glassy eyed to the ground. The glowing aux floated above the palm of the hand. Six spell circles emerged from the palm to cage the pearl in a cube, the old hieroglyphs glowing, ancient mantra flowing. Almost at once the ground below it shifted. Ice liquefied, snow condensed from the air, and both flowed in a vortex around the cube until it resembled a humanoid shape.
The hand placed a piece of wood inside the cube.
"Retrieve the Dragon's eggs from the Northern Archon."
Execution.
The fingers went white against his head. The skin rippled, and the hand plunged into the head of the Nocturne, flesh and bone parting like a pool of water. Tendons on the forearm writhed as the hand momentarily fished around before pulling out from the Nocturne. Grasped between forefinger and thumb was a glowing white mote, strands of blood and mucous still clinging to it.
The Nocturne collapsed glassy eyed to the ground. The glowing aux floated above the palm of the hand. Six spell circles emerged from the palm to cage the pearl in a cube, the old hieroglyphs glowing, ancient mantra flowing. Almost at once the ground below it shifted. Ice liquefied, snow condensed from the air, and both flowed in a vortex around the cube until it resembled a humanoid shape.
The hand placed a piece of wood inside the cube.
"Retrieve the Dragon's eggs from the Northern Archon."
"You are right to trust him," Arktus still smiled, "but you must consider all the possibilities. There is no reason to believe that Medwick is able to resist the corruption of a Divine Weapon, considering how little we know of its maddening influence."
"Furthermore .. "
The wall behind them ruptured. "Medwick?" Arktus turned around, the piece of wood in his hands glowing. "Why have you retur -- "
A mass of water flowed from the cracks, reassembling itself around a fragment of wood which glowed brightly at its center. The piece of wood creaked, as if under great stress; shimmering spell circles phased in and out around it, forcing it to obey some higher will.
Arktus was the first to act. He backed to the opposite wall, placing his hands on a set of symbols inscribed into the cave wall. The trap-spell immediately triggered, and razor stalagmites burst from the cave floor, impaling the golem. But the vicious flow of magic was all for naught, as the golem liquefied itself and moved beyond the spikes. Arktus moved to activate a second set of circles, but the ice elemental surged forward, casually throwing him into pile of crates far beyond from which he did not move.
It refocused its attention. Only the anima stood between it and the eggs. Anchored to the ground as a trunk, it reformed its roots into a pair of legs and stalked forward, both arms elongating into blades.
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