Curselock

Chapter 274: Slab

“So it’s like fire-slime?”

Elin blinked a few times. “I guess…”

“That’s kind of cool, actually.”

She looked at Leland. “You made a pillar of purple fire that reached the clouds—”

“It went further than the clouds,” Gelo added helpfully, frost forming a few inches in front of her snout. With a flash of teal and a blistering cold swirl of wind, she let out a rousing growl, firing off her magic.

All eyes of those standing on the battlement watched as a gust of frost whipped straight into the sky. As if Gelo had created a hot ember made entirely of ice, the overhead dark clouds caught fire as if they were made of cotton. In reality, all the spell did was flash freeze the already cold, thick droplets of rain just waiting to fall. The resultant section of frozen cloud then became Gelo’s, the Witch who originally made the clouds already dead and on Leland’s soul necklace-cloak.

Gelo’s eyes widened in satisfaction as if she had suddenly grown an extra limb. Magic was as much a part of her as she was a part of it, at this point. And while she still had a long way to go to become a true Ruler of Ice, like her mother, controlling a blizzard was nothing. Sleet fell before the hail, but soon the battlefield was riddled with chunks of hurtling ice.

But, unlike a natural blizzard or hailstorm, the one above the bastion released its icy payload in brief small sections. A unit of Witches approaching a flank? Gelo unleashed the sky on them. Monsters pushing a group of defenders? Suddenly, they had the choice of rushing through hail or retreating to fight again later.

But most importantly, Gelo let everything fall on the Witches standing in the far, far back, the ones orchestrating the corrupted strategy Seer had started. Unlike the hail falling nearby the bastion’s defenders, Gelo made no motions for safety. Even at the range most would have to squint to see, she manipulated falling shards of ice unlike any other – well, unlike any other except one.

Spatial magic mixed and churned inside these chunks of hail, growing them from the inside out. What was once a fist sized lump of ice turned into slabs of chiseled frozen crystal. Like raw marble before being turned into a beautiful statue, these slabs fell flat and wide, blanketing the landscape in death.

By the time Gelo ran out of steam, she was panting her way to a vicious smile. Thousands of individual pieces of hail had been expanded and dropped one on top of the other. The result was a mound of ice the size of a true iceberg.

“R-ridiculous!” shouted Elin. “What—” She looked down at the grinning bear, an uncontrollable shiver tingling up her spine.

“Now remember Gelo. Mages of actual caliber are going to have wards and spells to defend themselves from that,” Leland explained, doing his best to mimic his fathers voice when he was taught this same lesson years ago. “And some warriors are going to have enough speed or raw strength to survive. As impressive as that spell is, I don’t want you to be caught blind one day. Otherwise, I agree with Elin. That’s a ridiculous spell.”

Gelo preened like a bird on its perch.

Which reminded Leland of Zeke. He looked to the air, spotting the crow circling high above, the cold air from Gelo’s blizzard not so much as making his feathers ruffle. Mentally, Leland gave the crow a few commands, namely finding targets or areas lacking defensive positions.

“Glenny?” he asked the open air beside him, knowing that the young rogue had been standing there minutes earlier.

Glenny reappeared from the shadows, ending the subtlety effect of his ring. “Jude looks like he’s having fun.”

Together they watched as Jude battled his way through guts and gore. Monsters, literal waves of them, fell by his hand and his mirage’s hands, as the thrill of battle roused his blood. Every jerked slash, every executioner's swing, the Judes ripped a hole through the main monster forces like an arrow tearing through a target.

Around him other warriors joined his charge, his frozen war cry like music to their ears. Arrows and magical blasts set these defenders up for success, adding an arsenal of protective fire to their already deadly blades.

It was then that Jude Two broke from his original twin, taking a step back from the action. With a flourish of fingers and a lack of responsibility, Jude Two began to play his guitar, strumming a fast-paced song that was as improvised as the ever evolving battle. He stayed one step behind Original Jude, adding a beat to the course of action.

Maybe it was subconscious, maybe it wasn’t, but Jude stepped to the rhythm of the song, timing slashes and dodges to fit the chord progression. Every strum, every beat, the tempo increased, lodging the killing into a strange fit of surrealism The Judes were, like the very song Jude Two played, unstoppable, the music in their veins just as much as the rage of battle.

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After Jude shoved his whole fist into the carapace of a giant-ant monster while also decapitating a strange, blue, bulbous monster with his battle axe, Leland looked back to Glenny. “Yeah,” he said. “Jude’s having fun.”

“He’s stupid, that’s what. How can he be playing music at a time like this!?” Elin screeched. “How does—”

Leland, Glenny, and Gelo gave her a look that clearly spelled “zip it.” She did.

“Itching to get into battle?” Leland asked Glenny. “How about some assassinations?”

Glenny looked intrigued enough. “What did you have in mind?”

“See Zeke up there?” He pointed to the circling crow. “He’s going to find targets. You kill them.”

“Easy enough—” The word died on his lips as shadows took over, teleporting him into the fray.

Everyone watched as Glenny appeared from darkness, slit the throat of a Witch, looked up to the sky, and then faded into the shadows once again only to reappear somewhere else down the pipeline to restart the pattern.

In a matter of minutes, Glenny racked up several key assassinations. “H-he really is the best rogue here…” Elin muttered to herself.

Leland gave her a wry smile before turning to Isobel. “What about you?”

“What about me?” she asked.

“Going to join the battle?” Momentarily Leland glanced down below, finding his Wildfire still rolling along like sewer goop. “By the way, that is the strangest spell I’ve ever seen.”

Isobel looked at him incredulously. “Uh huh. And to answer your question, no. I’m staying right here.”

“And firing bolts down to protect the people on the ground?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because look at them. Do they look like they need my intervention?”

Looking down, Leland begrudgingly had to agree. Even without his and the others’ added assistance, the bastion’s defenders had the victory long secured. Even though outnumbered by human and monster alike, the defenders had one thing the Witches, and definitely the monsters, didn’t have.

Discipline.

Commands were being called out by the military’s higher ranked, shuffling troops around like the battlefield was one massive stage dance. A particularly troubling monster appearing to the right? Orders were instantly spread, shifting not only the on-foot defenders, but also the ones on the battlement, overwatching.

Leland and Gelo watched as a battle scarred soldier stepped in to parry a deadly pincer attack, saving his comrade’s life at the expense of putting himself in a dangerous spot. No less than four seconds later another soldier appeared, picking up the slack and removing one of the monster’s limbs for even threatening her friend.

But of course sending two extra soldiers to protect one meant a weak point in the defense, right? Wrong, a hail of arrows and oil pots flew down from the wall, coating the weakened area in aflame black oil. Even monsters weren’t stupid enough to wade through roaring flames.

“Just… be on the look out if someone needs a quick hand, okay?” Leland told Isobel. “No need to risk someone dying if you could prevent it with just a raised hand.”

Isobel stared at him, begrudgingly nodding.

“I just think it’s unlike you,” he continued. “Since when don’t you want to kill monsters? Kind of strange if I’m being honest.” He gave her a sly look. “You feeling alright?”

Leland’s attempts to liven the moment crashed and burned when she continued to stare blankly at him.

“Don’t you get it?” she asked.

“Get what?”

“I am working. I’m on guard duty for a very, very high priority mage.”

Leland looked around, finding only Gelo.

“You,” she cursed, “you idiot.”

“Me? I don’t think I warrant your undivided guardianship. Didn’t think I needed it when we first met, still don’t now.”

“Wow. You really don’t get it.”

Again, Leland made a face at her. “Get what?”

Isobel leaned in so that only Gelo and him could hear. “You’re betrothed to the Queen, pioneering a type of magic, or something that deals with magic, that will shift the tide of all commonly taught magic, have the ability to contact every Lord, and most recently, created a Lord.”

Leland blinked slowly a few times, glancing at the cub standing beside him. “I’m not engaged to Sybil.”

Isobel leaned back while giving him a withered stare, making a big showing of the motion. “That’s what you got from that? Okay. Yeah. Leland, the oblivious, Leland the—”

“Yeah, yeah, cool it, would you? I get that my life is strange and unconventional,” he said, “but even if I’m the most important person in the world, I’m still going to help everyone I can.”

Leland paused a moment, looking around the battlefield. While the defenders were, without a shadow of a doubt, going to win, there were surely still going to be a few casualties – if there weren’t already…

Experimenting with Wildfire was a fun break from ripping souls, but that was what he was good at. If one more life could be saved because of his actions today, then today would be a good day. Not to mention, to talk to the Lord of Curses again, he needed to rank-up his Legacy.

Leland stepped up the railing of the battlements. “I’m going to take a more active role in cleaning up this mess. If you think I need protection, better come with me, eh?”

Isobel reached out to grab him. “Don’t you dare—”

He was already in the air, black and white wings carrying him through the carnage.

“Kneel before me!” he bellowed, holding nothing back, encircling groupings of Witches and monsters and taking their souls.

Rather quickly, his soul necklace-cloak had new additions.