Super awesome battle time! I hope you like my fights, I'm open to suggestions if there's anything anyone thinks I could do better. Feedback is the best tool for improving as an author.
Note: This chapter could possibly be subject to severe revisions, pending on how much Currygom intends to screw with me by only partially revealing the mechanics of Death magic. It's driving me insane.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kubera
Chapter 11: Skirmish
The forest exploded, and the ugliest Ananta Upani Yama had ever seen emerged with a roar, flinging trees into the air. Following close behind it was a falcon-like Garuda, attacking from above, and a thickly armored Kinnara rhinoceros charging from the forest opposite of the Ananta. The humans added to the chaos by immediately panicking and running around like a kick anthill.
Caile was the first to act.
"Hoti Indra, Hoti Indra, Hoti Indra, Hoti Indra, Hoti Indra, Hoti Indra!" she cried out, casting each spell in rapid succession. A bolt of lightning hit each of the three Suras's eyes, blinding them and stalling them for the moment. But Yama could hear more moving through the forest. A lot more.
"We're surrounded!" he cried. "We need to keep them away from the refugees!"
"On it!" Rodrick said. He clambered up on top of a nearby outcropping and shouted, "Hoti Suya!" A wave of light burst from his head, sweeping across the newly blooded battlefield. He cast the spell twice more, then called out, "Hoti Agni!" Balls of fire fell from the sky, striking certain parts of the forest, each blow eliciting an agonized howl.
"Cheonjae!" Ernest yelled, "Help Caile take down the ones that make it out of the forest! Athol, you're with me, let's get these people away from here; before they're killed by the Sura or each other!" The two Wind magicians ran off, grabbing random bunches of people and teleporting off with them. Yama turned and pointed at the Garuda, which was regenerating. What was the spell? Right.
"Hoti Yama!" Yama declared. He managed to conform his Transcendental pretty well to the form the spell took. A veil of black mist twisted around the Sura, and with and agonized shriek the Garuda dropped death, life ripped from it. Yama killed the Kinnara and turned to take care of the Ananta, but it had already recovered. With a roar, it chomped down on Caile, swallowing her whole. Yama cursed and prepared to strike it down, but its head exploded with a burst of wild lightning. Caile stood unharmed, wrapped head to toe in the golden light of Hoti Kubera, with the last traces of the Bhavati Indra she had used to kill the Sura flickering around her. The Ananta thrashed for a moment before flopping to the ground. More Sura poured out of the forest, mostly Mara led by more Upanis, some of which were recovering from burns. Caile dived right into them, more Bhavati Indras blasting their ranks apart.
"Rodrick! I don't care if you have to set the whole damn planet on fire, keep them in the forest and away from us and the refugees! Hoti Yama! Hoti Yama! Hoti Yama!" Yama shouted, taking down more Garudas and flying Asuras coming down from above. He managed to hit them before they were directly over the clearing, causing them to fall on top of their comrades below.
"Teach your grandmother to grow old!" Rodrick shouted back, and light flashed across the battlefield again, followed by new waves of falling fireballs.
Yama couldn't have replicated Kubera's magic if he'd wanted to, so he just shouted the spell, hoping no one would notice the lack of golden glow in the heat of battle.
"Bhavati Yama!" he shouted next. He distinctly remembered how this spell was supposed to work; the time he'd seen the Death Priest of Thanciel use it during the War of Dust was one of his clearest memories of his past times in the Human Realm.
Black mist leaked from his body, shrouding him in a cloak of pure death. Though watered down, using this Transcendental brought back fond memories of kicking the crap out of Surya. Yama leapt at the nearest pack of Sura, landing of the head of a frog-like Gandharva. The shroud flowed across the group of Sura, and wherever it touched, things died. Flesh rotting, fur fell out, chitin cracked, organs putrefied, until the entire pack simply crumpled to the ground, dead. Yama leapt towards the next group of Sura.
A Yaksha Mara tried to eat him, but Yama's magic let him melt right through the back of the lion's mouth. An Asura that seemed more on the ball than the rest, a giant centipede with eight red compound eyes that wrapped around its head, attack with Transcendentals, firing lasers from its eyes. Yama dodged behind another Sura, and darted beneath it while the creature took the brunt of the Transcendentals. He leapt on top of another Sura, and used it as a springboard to launch himself at the centipede. His hands punched holes in the creature's uppermost eyes, and it screamed as his magic spread through its body. But Yama could see the Sura in the rest of the clearing advancing towards the refugees, so he yelled, "Hoti Yama!" and ended the wretched thing's life.
Yama leapt around the clearing, leaving piles of dead Sura in his wake. He circled the whole perimeter, narrowly missing Caile when he passed where she was fighting. She swore at his a lot more coarsely than he would have expected from someone who seemed as refined as she did.
"Hey! Brigand! Come here!" Yama heard. He looked and saw Athol waving at him over by the center of the clearing, were the Refugees had finally stopped running around and were huddling together. Yama leapt over to him, dismissing his Transcendental, firmly holding in his desire to kill the fool.
"What do you want, windbag?" he asked. Athol snarled at him, but didn't rise to the bait. He pulled a long blue rod with a circle on the end off his back.
"See this? This is a god-level item, made by God Vayu, known as –."
"The Staff of Mass Transport." Yama finished. Athol blinked at him.
"Yes, that's correct. As it seems you know, I can use it to drastically increase the area in which I can transport people, beyond just those I'm touching. Ernest has run out of daily uses of Hoti Vayu, and is helping hold off the Sura," Yama glanced to the opposite side of the clearing, where Suras were keeling over as soon as they left the forest, "but since you seem to be the master of Death magic here, I'll need you to guard me and the refugees as I activate the Staff. If you can do that, I think I can get us all out of here in one transport."
"Good," Yama said. "Lets do it. The sooner we're out of here, the better." Athol nodded, and turned to walk into the group of refugees. He hesitated.
"You know, you're the only person I've met who hasn't asked about the weird name." he said.
That was because Yama knew about the Staff's origins: Vayu had been playing waaaaaay too many RPGs around the time he'd created the Staff. Yama thought it would be best for all involved if he didn't bring this up, though, so he only said, "I think there are more pressing concerns than why Gods name their items what they do." Athol nodded in agreement, and ran into the center of the refugee group. Soon Yama could hear him chanting. The activation spell was yet another legacy of Vayu's RPG phase. He didn't know why the humans didn't just alter it so they could use it more efficiently.
Yama watch the edges of the forest. The entire thing was ablaze from Rodrick's magic. Over the roar of the flames, Yama could here the cries of Sura, full of rage and pain. Likely the combination of pain, confusion, and disorientation caused by the fire had broken down the different clans' temporary alliance, and natural enemies were turning on each other.
Athol continued his chant. A few Garuda and Asura came down from above, but blinded by the smoke, they were easy prey for Yama. Far few Sura were attacking. Roderick had slumped down on his rock, breathing hard from the exhaustion of using so much Vigor so quickly. Caile and Ernest were pulling back to the main group.
Everything got silent. There was no sound except for the flames. Yama's skin crawled. He could definitely still feel Sura life forces out there. Then the sounds started again. Wailing. Roaring. Shrieking. They built and combined, forming a wall of sound that surrounded them on all sides. Yama felt the Sura surge forward, in a massive, unified charge.
"They're coming!" Yama yelled in warning, just as the Sura exploded from the forest on all sides, and fell like rain from above. Caile and Ernest were swallowed beneath the tide of muscle and rage, and there was no way Rodrick could scramble to safety in time. They would be crushed, and nothing could stop that many Sura at once.
Except, maybe, a God.
Yama hesitated. If he acted, he not only risked revealing what he was to the humans, but if any of the Sura got away, the Nastika that was supposedly out there might figure out who he was too.
I'll bring every one of those people back without a hair on their head harmed. His promise to Chaya echoed in his head. Yama squared his shoulders. He had given his word; he had a responsibility to these people now. And Yama never, ever, shirked in his responsibilities.
Yama raised his hand, palm to the sky. Black power swirled around him, gathering and forming a sphere in his palm. Yama breathed deep; savoring the feeling. When he'd killed those Sura, he'd hadn't felt like this. When He'd toyed with that Upani, he hadn't felt like this. Not even when he'd battled Surya had he felt like this. Not since the War of Dust had he felt this way, full of the power that was his birthright and ready to unleash it.
Since he'd felt like more than a divine paper pusher.
Since he'd felt like Death incarnate.
Yama flicked his wrist, and shouted "Hoti Yama!" just in case that helped his disguise in any way. The sphere exploded, releasing a blast of lethal power in all directions. It washed over the Sura charging from the forest and swooping down from above, and every cell in their bodies died instantly, and the raging assault was instantly turned into a harmless cloud of dust.
Rodrick stared around at the dust that had just moment ago been trying to kill him, and looked at Yama.
"Great Gods." He whispered. Then Athol's chant, which he had admirably kept up despite the chaos, was complete, and a soft blue glow and a gentle breeze came from the Staff of Mass Transport. Then the sensation of Vayu's magic, multiplied by ten thousand, came, and suddenly everyone was somewhere up in the mountains instead of in a clearing surrounded by Sura dust.
Yama's first act was to fall to the ground and start wheezing pathetically. He was very glad that he could blame this on the magic he had used.
"Magician-nim, are you all right?" Several concerned people asked, reaching out to help him.
"I'm fine!" Yama snapped. He kicked at them weakly. "Don't touch me! I'm fine!" He managed to prove it by staggering up right.
"Hey windbag!" Yama called, shoving his way towards Athol and Rodrick. "Did you bring Calie and Ernest with us? I didn't see if they survived those Sura."
"Anything that was in that clearing and alive after that parlor trick of yours is here with us now." Athol said with sniff.
"Here I am!" Caile called. She seemed completely uninjured, though her clothes were another story. They were torn to ribbons, though she seemed to have gathered and wrapped them around enough that they covered the essential bits. They were drenched in blood, so much that it stood out on the originally red cloth. Green swirls of light surrounded her.
"I-I don't think Ernest made it though." she said. "I haven't seen him so far, and I only survived because I activated my Kubera-Visnu fusion magic in time. I don't think Ernest was ever really good at those spells." There was a moment of silence between all four magicians.
"Who's in charge then?" Rodrick said.
"I should be, for now." Athol said.
"Why you?" Yama snapped.
"Because I doubt that you have an ounce of Vigor between the three of you, and I do." Athol snapped. "Unless you actually have energy to spare after turning an army of Sura into ferocious dirt piles?" Yama hesitated. He decided not to push his disguise any further; he would have enough explaining to do as it was.
"Right. You're in charge." he said. "What do we do now, boss?"
"Okay. First, once I've rested a bit, I'll go back down and look for Ernest's body…"