Blistering heat surrounded the boy as he tried to focus on the dwarf before him. The towering forges around him blazed as the various craftsmen stoked them ever hotter.
"Now this is the hard part." the gruff dwarf said as he pulled a billet of heated metal from the flame. "The basic shape is made, so now it's time to give it some life!" The dwarf's hand took on an ocean blue glow as he called on his magic. A moment later, the red hot metal took on the same glow. "Now back in!" the dwarf said as he quickly transferred the metal back into the forge's oppressive heat.
"Can I help?" the boy asked timidly. "I learn better by doing."
The dwarf laughed heartily. "That's the spirit, boy! I'll tell ya what, if you can lift my hammer, you can help with the shaping." he finished, pointing to a bulky, metal hammer resting next to one of the many anvils in the space. The tool was almost as large as the boy himself.
Narrowing his eyes in determination, the boy approached the hammer. He grasped it with both hands and pulled as hard as he could. Even still, the hammer didn't budge.
The dwarf watched on with a smile. He had known the small human's muscles would be inadequate to lift his beauty, but he would need to be strong enough to lift it before he started attempting to shape the exotic metals they worked with here.
The boy grunted in exertion, still trying to raise the hammer. Gritting his teeth, the boy's eyes flashed green and he screamed.
Slowly, and much to the dwarf's shock, the hammer began to rise into the air. Soon it was up to the human's chest.
Sweating and shaking under the effort, the boy's magically enhanced muscles finally gave out, causing the hammer to slam back into the ground, making a sound like that of a stomping elephant as it struck the soft floor.
The dwarf stared open-jawed at the child before him, though none who looked would be able to tell through his thick beard. Shaking himself from his shock, the dwarf began to laugh once more.
"That's the spirit, boy!" the dwarf cheered, clapping the young human on the back. "Never let it be said I'm a liar! Grab that small hammer and get ready to shape some magic!"
Exhausted though he was, the boy couldn't fight the triumphant smile that wormed its way onto his face. He ran to get the hammer and quickly retrieved it, eager to learn from the great artificer before him
The dwarf watched the boy's enthusiasm with a wide smile. This kid was something else.
XXX
For the third time today, I found myself flat on my back staring up at the ceiling.
"Best of seven." I grunted as I pulled myself to my feet.
Vali just smirked and fell into a fighting stance.
A dozen copies of myself charged towards him, but Vali's eyes never left the true me.
I came at him with punches, kicks, elbows, a headbut, but nothing I had connected. Vali was too fast, and now that he was able to see through my illusions, I couldn't cheat my way into landing a hit.
Eventually, probably more out of boredom than anything else, Vali struck me with an open handed strike, sending me back to the ground to stare at the ceiling some more.
"Best of nine?" Vali said in a humorous tone.
Sitting up so I could properly glare at him, I said, "Why did I agree to no offensive magic?"
"Because the last time you used it you nearly died and had to waste a week recovering." Vali added in an infuriatingly helpful manner.
"Oh, right."
Pulling myself to my feet once more, I leveled Vali with an appraising look. "How can you see through my illusions so easily? I may not be the best illusionist around, but I am damn good. Too good for you to see through everything so casually."
"I'm not." Vali said. "Albion tells me which one is the real you and I only focus on that one."
If nothing else, his admittance built my wounded ego back up a bit. An ancient dragon so powerful that he could rival big 'g' God seeing through my illusions was much easier to accept than Vali spotting me without difficulty.
"Do you two talk often?" I said as I nursed my latest bruise.
"Only when Albion feels like talking." Vali grew distracted for a moment, then looked at me curiously. "He says he wants to talk to you."
Blinking in confusion, I said, "Um…. how does that work?"
"He says he'll be able to talk to you if you enter my mind." Vali said, seemingly unconcerned with letting me run around in his head.
Wincing slightly at a rather unpleasant memory, I said, "The last time I was in your head he ejected me with violent efficiency. Do I understand correctly that that won't happen this time?"
Vali nodded. "So long as you don't attack me or go anywhere we don't want you he'll leave you be."
So stay at the surface level. Got it. "Alright. Here goes nothing."
Gently reaching out with a mental probe, I entered the lowest level of Vali's thoughts and started feeling around.
Hello? I greeted.
A vast presence greater than the sky descended over me, and I suddenly felt like a small ant standing alone on a picnic blanket. This being could crush me easily should it so choose.
Greetings, human. I am Albion. A voice I'd heard once before said politely. A stark contrast to our last meeting.
It's a pleasure. I'm Xarion. I said in reply. If I may, why did you ask to speak with me? Something so powerful would not be impressed by my small tricks, so there had to be something else.
You defeated us. Albion said plainly. That alone would have been enough, but I sense something else in you.
That sounded like it could either be good or bad. Good as in 'You're someone I want to know.' Bad as in 'You're something I want to eliminate before you can become a problem'.
Doing my best to maintain my composure, I said, If I might ask, what do you sense?
The deep voice was silent for a moment, as if thinking of what to say.
I do not know the best way to put it. Albion finally said. There is a spark of potential in you. It is something I have never seen before; something that makes me curious. I have lived since the dawn of creation. There are so few new experiences.
When the dragon said the word 'spark' I froze, only passively hearing the rest of his words.
There was no way, right? I couldn't…. No. It had to be something else.
Is that why you wished to speak with me? I asked, forcing fantastical desires out of my mind.
I wished to feel that presence once more, and to say this; grow powerful, human. As strong as you can. You have the potential to elevate my host as you elevate yourself, so your growth is of paramount importance. Seek out every opportunity available to you. Let nothing be forbidden. Become someone worthy of standing beside my host or we will leave you in the dirt. Without giving me a chance to respond, Albion's expansive power pushed against my mind probe and ejected me from Vali's mind, though this time he was much more gentle. I only had the beginnings of a headache rather than a splitting migraine.
"That was…. an experience." I said, not knowing how else to classify my meeting with the ancient dragon.
"Don't be intimidated." Vali said. "He's never that proper. He was just putting on a show to knock you off balance."
That was easy for him to say. He didn't have an eons old dragon staring menacingly down at him.
"Wait, you heard all of that?" I paused, then quickly added, "Don't answer that. Stupid question. We were in your mind so of course you heard everything."
Smirking, Vali said, "Now that that's over with; best of nine?"
Before I could respond, Azazel threw open the doors to the training hall. His eyes shot around the space until they fell on Vali and I. "You two!" he said, pointing at us. "Come with me!" he turned and left without another word.
I exchanged a questioning look with Vali before we both followed after Azazel.
We had to pick up our pace to catch up with the Fallen as he hurried through the halls and opened one of the several meeting rooms in the base.
As Vali and I walked in, we were greeted by four figures already waiting for us.
The first was a bulky Fallen with black short hair and a full beard. The second was also a Fallen. He had long black hair that fell down past his waist and sharp pointed ears. The third, once more a Fallen, was thin and had silvery hair that fell down either side of his face to his chin. The last figure was the only human, as well as the only woman. She was wearing a simple red dress and had luscious blonde hair and blue eyes, and she had a parasol resting over her right shoulder.
"Everyone, Xarion and Vali. Xarion and Vali, that's Baraquiel, Kokabiel, Shemhazai, and Lavinia." Azazel quickly introduced us, his finger flying around the room to point everyone out. "Now that that's out of the way, we've got a problem. Apparently the devils took our warning as an invitation. We have a research facility in Germany that's being attacked by two full peerages."
"Whose peerages are they?" the burly man I was pretty sure was Baraquiel, Azazel went from one person to the next incredibly fast, asked as he crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing as he mulled over the news.
"I don't know." Azazel said, frustrated. "Our communications were cut off which means they somehow found the sending stone."
"That is not possible." the Fallen introduced as Shemhazai said. "The vaults are secured so that only our people may enter them."
"Then there was a traitor who sabotaged communications." Azazel said quickly. "The fact remains that we need to send a team now. We can't let this go."
"We should slaughter them all!" Kokabiel said a little too enthusiastically, his angular features becoming accentuated as a twisted grin split across his face. "If it is war they want, it is war we shall give them!"
"We cannot act drastically." Shemhazai said, glaring at Kokabiel. "We need to-"
"No!" Kokabiel cut him off. "They attacked us! They have all but declared war! We need to-"
"Everyone, shut up!" Azazel bellowed, his power shocking the area as he stared down Kokabiel. "We will not march to war unless we are left with no other option! If that is your only counsel, feel free to get out." Turning his back on Kokabiel, Azazel focused on Vali and I, as well as Lavinia. "You three are here because I want you to deal with this. Attempt to get them to leave peacefully, but if they don't, annihilate them." he finished, seething. I had never seen Azazel this angry.
"Should I summon the rest of Team Slash Dog?" Lavinia said, accepting Azazel's command immediately.
"No. Don't recall them. They have their own task, and I want to humiliate the devils. Two of their peerages will fall to three of my subordinates, none of whom are Fallen Angels. Lavinia knows the base's location. Now get going. The rest of us have to work on preparing for the fallout." Finished speaking, he turned around to consult with the other Fallen once more. As he did, Lavinia stepped forward.
"Is there anything either of you need to retrieve before we go?" she said, her gaze switching between Vali and I.
"Yes." I said immediately. "Give me thirty seconds." Without another word, I turned and sprinted from the room, making for my lab. While I hadn't really practiced with it in combat, I'd feel safer having it if Azazel really wanted me to be part of a three man team to, as he so eloquently put it, 'annihilate' two devil peerages at the same time.
Throwing open the door of my lab, I ran up to one of the shelves and pulled my bracer off its stand. I slid it over my forearm and felt the silver bands lock into place.
"Are you ready now?" a calm female voice asked from behind me.
I turned around to find both Lavinia and Vali in the doorway. With time of the essence, it made sense that they would follow me to my lab so we could leave as soon as possible.
"Yes. Let's go." I said as I walked over to them.
A teleportation circle spread out from beneath Vali's feet - Lavinia must have told him where to go as they were following me - and the three of us were pulled from my lab in a flash of light.
We reappeared on a gravel road leading up to a small building surrounded by tall green trees. The road behind us wound down a few miles to a fairly large city, but the building in front of us was the only nearby structure.
Looking at the building itself, I saw a gray exterior the color of a timber wolf's coat. A large hole was present in place of what I assumed to be a doorway. It was a little hard to tell with all the destruction around.
"There are four devils approaching." Lavinia warned Vali and I.
Reaching out with my mental magic, I felt the devils in question. They were walking side-by-side and walking straight towards us. They would exit the hole in the building momentarily.
Using what time I had well, I stepped backwards out of an illusory copy of myself - casting an invisibility spell over myself as I did - that I simultaneously crafted to appear just as I had when I'd met with Sona Sitri and her two peerage members; my 'insane necromancer' look as I'd come to call it.
"What have we here?" a cocky male voice called as the speaker, along with his three companions, stepped through the hole in the building out into the open air. He appeared to be the leader if his over-opulent burgundy robes and thousand-dollar flowing hairstyle that fell down past his shoulders were any indicator.
The three at his sides were far less imposing. A teenage boy with green hair who was staring at my illusory copy in terror. A brown haired woman who sneered down her nose at Lavinia. And another, smaller woman whose face was hidden behind an onyx mask.
"Despite your great offense, we offer you this one chance; leave now or die." Lavinia called out to the devils. I felt she was being a little too theatrical, but then again I'd never interacted with hostile devils before.
The devil in the lead doubled over in laughter. "You have no idea who I am, do you?" he said in arrogant humor. "I am Morrel Oriax, second in line to the lordship of the great Oriax name! You have no hope of stopping me. Kill them." he ordered his underlings dismissively as he turned to walk back into the building.
"We offered them a chance." the echoed voice of my illusory body said. "May I kill them now?"
Lavinia's eyes narrowed. "Annihilate them."
"With pleasure." my double said in elation. He raised its arms, clenching both of his fists as he did.
Meanwhile, I, the real me, had maneuvered myself so as to be five feet away from the devils. As my duplicate clenched his fists, I cast a devastating curse on the devil nearest to me, the boy with green hair. My bracer pulsed on my arm as the magic passed through it, and, after sampling the energy of my spell, duplicated my casting on the pompous woman. Both curses connected at the same time.
The boy and woman fell to their knees screaming in agony as their own shadows leapt up towards them, sharpening into a thousand tangible tendrils, and speared into their arms, legs and midsection.
My duplicate threw his arms wide and, following my command, the shadows impaled into the two devils latched around their necks and were violently yanked at an unnatural angel. With two loud cracks as if the world's largest wishbone had been pulled apart, the devils fell lifeless to the ground, their necks broken at a unnatural angles.
The masked girl jolted backwards as her companions fell. Even through the mask covering her features I could sense her fear. Just as she turned to run, she was pulled down from behind.
Vali, having used his speed to close in on her before she could react, slammed the girl into the ground and brought his foot down on her neck. With another loud snap, the third devil's neck was broken.
The leader, whoever he'd introduced himself as, turned around in shock as his subordinates fell like dominoes.
"Disappointing." my duplicate echoed. "I was led to believe devils would pose a challenge." and as much as my declaration was an act, I was disappointed. These two went down like poorly balanced scarecrows. They were devils! They were supposed to be powerful.
Shrieking like a newborn who'd just soiled his diaper, the wannabe lord's wings emerged from his back as he flew as fast as he could into the hole in the building.
"Xarion." Vali said as he idly watched the fleeing devil, seemingly unconcerned he was getting away. "Can you raise the devils?"
"We shall see." My duplicate said as both he and I approached the bodies. I could have dropped the act, but it was possible we were still being watched so I was herring on the side of caution.
As I approached, I examined the bodies. I could sense that the devil's magic was still present though it was fading quickly now that their lives had ended. I honestly wasn't sure if I could pull this off, but there was only one way to find out.
With both my illusion and my true self only a few feet from the corpses, I reached out and pulled.
My magic slipped off of them at first, but I forced it right back to its target and dumped more mana into the spell.
"Rise!" my illusion and I commanded as one.
Sickly green arcane lines of energy raced over the corpses of the three devils and in a pulse of unnatural magic I felt a connection lock into place.
Groaning, three mindless drones rose to their feet, their heads still bobbing in an unnatural fashion due to their broken necks. The risen devil zombies lumbered over to my illusion and knelt at his feet, awaiting orders.
"Follow." my illusion commanded them unnecessarily. I did not need to speak to command my constructs, but if I was being watched, the theatrics would pay off.
My illusion turned to face Vali and Lavinia and said, "Shall we continue?"
Lavinia looked incredibly uncomfortable, but Vali seemed to be impressed.
Choosing not to say anything, Lavinia turned around and led the way through the hole in the building after the fleeing devil.
Vali stepped between myself and my illusion and quietly said, "Well done. Raise the rest if you are able."
That is the plan. I responded mentally, quickly leaving his mind after my message had been delivered. I wasn't willing to tempt Albion by staying longer than necessary.
With a mental command, I ordered the devils to shoot out their wings. And so it was that three flying, zombified devils floated lazily after us as we made our way through the halls.
There were bodies everywhere; mostly humans. Several sections of ceiling had been torn down, leaving pieces of brick, drywall and ceiling tile to litter the floor.
"They are gathering." Lavinia said out of the blue, her eyes fixed on a point beyond a nearby wall. "I sense twenty-five of them; all devils. None of Azazel's researchers are still alive." she finished with a hint of sadness, but when next she spoke, the steel had returned to her voice. "We must not give them a chance to prepare for us. Vali, hit them with everything you have. Xarion, I was briefed on your spar with Vali. Act as support for both of us and only kill if you have a blatant opportunity, otherwise leave the main combat to Vali and I. Also raise anyone who falls." The last part was added with a shred of hesitation. It was apparent she was uncomfortable around my zombies, but she was able to recognize how useful it would be to turn our enemies' numbers against them.
"Very well." Vali agreed easily.
"Understood." my illusion replied.
I wasn't sure when Lavinia was declared the leader of our impromptu group but neither Vali or I seemed to have an issue with it. So long as she didn't make stupid calls I wouldn't have a problem, and Vali only wanted to fight.
"Follow me." Lavinia said as the temperature rapidly lowered around us. She held up an arm and a torrent of ice launched out of it in the direction of the wall she was staring through.
The ice met little resistance as it crashed into the wall, easily tearing through both it and the one behind it.
The moment Lavinia cut off her stream of ice she sprinted through the opening she created with Vali hot on her heels.
I mentally commanded my zombies to charge after them with my illusion while I made a much more cautious approach.
The sound of explosions and magical blasts washed over me as I stopped right before the second wall Lavinia's ice had breached.
The hole led into a vast, stone courtyard that opened to the clear blue sky above us. It seemed this was where the devils had gathered to meet us. Just as Lavinia had said, there were twenty-five of them. Since there were supposed to be two full peerages here, I'd expected a total of thirty-two devils, but even with the three I'd raised, this only made twenty-eight. That meant there were members here who had taken multiple pieces to reincarnate. Interesting.
As the battle truly began, I watched as Vali actually got serious. A translucent set of blue wings sprouted from his back as he was enveloped in a pale-white suit of armor. He shot into the air to engage the airborne devils.
Lavinia, for her part, remained on the ground. She made several well-practiced motions and an icy behemoth appeared in the space before her. It was nearly ten feet tall and made entirely from ice. Lavinia worked in tandem with her creation to blanket the entire area with icy death.
Not wanting to miss out on the fun, I crept into the courtyard to survey the area as I mentally commanded my zombies to engage any airborne targets. Lavinia and I were landlocked, at least I thought Lavinia was landlocked, so it made sense to send the extra help Vali's way.
I grinned to myself as I watched the zombified, brown-haired devil cast a devastating spell, knocking one of her former allies. The devils let out cries of alarm as they saw their deceased ally summon the power she had in life and bring it to bear against them.
Something people who were not knowledgeable in necromancy rarely grasped was the concept that the corpse's former powers would transfer over to its undead body. Most people assumed zombies were just shambling corpses that were capable of little more than grabbing and biting an enemy. Most people were wrong.
So long as the necromancer was accomplished enough, they could raise the body with all of the powers of its past life. Some necromancers were even powerful enough to raise gods as their faithful servants. Necromancers of that caliber were exceedingly rare though. I'd only ever been in the presence of one necromancer of such power, and if I never faced her in combat, I would die a happy man.
"Cover me!" a young devil called as he began to cast a spell, his voice pulling me from my absent-minded musings.
Three other, sturdier looking devils immediately surrounded him, taking up defensive positions to buy him time for whatever he was attempting.
While I was curious what he was trying to do, this was a situation where curiosity was perfectly capable of killing the cat.
Holding out a hand, I dismantled his casting circle with one of my many counterspells.
"You are weak, boy!" I had my illusory copy taunt him as it strode into the courtyard. "Bear witness to true power!" Perhaps it was a little much, but the character was actually starting to grow on me.
My illusion raised his arm as I snuck around behind the devil who had just attempted to cast as well as his three bodyguards who were now all squaring off with my illusion.
My illusion's eyes flashed green as I unleashed a spell I'd been preparing.
A wave of black, noxious vapor burst out from me, swallowing all four of the devils around me.
The devils immediately began coughing, all but one of them fell to their knees grasping their throats as they tried to shake off my spell.
As I moved in to finish them off, I felt another large gathering of magic.
Turning my attention from the mostly neutralized devils to the explosion of mana, I saw a woman who looked closely-related to the man who'd fled us at the entrance. Her eyes were alight with a dangerous orange glow while her wild hair danced behind her. She let out a scream and threw her arms toward Lavinia.
A loud hiss accompanied her action as her spell conjured a gargantuan serpent. The snake was easily three times as long as Lavinia's ice golem and thick as an oak tree.
That was an interesting ability.
"Go, Rajah! Devour her!" the woman commanded, a victorious tone coloring her voice as she saw Lavinia flee behind her icy summon.
Taking advantage of the distraction of the gigantic snake joining the fight that everyone turned to look at, I walked up behind the snake's master and quietly drew my dagger. Running my palm up the blade, I cut my hand and used my blood to channel magic into the knife.
"Die, Grigori scum! You can't win agains-'' The woman's triumphant roar was cut short as she grasped at her throat.
Before she or anyone else could create a miracle and save her life, I twisted the knife, opening the wound wider and activated the spell I'd stored into it, an instant death spell that could only be activated when the blood of the caster and the victim was united. Our blood was mixed together on the knife spearing through her throat, there was no way to save her.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, the woman fell to the ground, dead before her body hit the stone.
"Rise!" My duplicate called across the courtyard, causing all eyes that were previously on the snake to shift to him instead.
Once more using the lack of attention to my advantage, I reached out and gripped the fallen woman's body with my magic.
The corpse let out a ghastly groan as it clambered to its feet. My newest zombie turned towards the conjured snake - who as evidenced by the fact it was still here, was summoned rather than conjured - and said, "Rajah, kill them." The woman's voice was stained by her newfound undeath, but the creature seemed to only be semi-intelligent, as it immediately followed her command, breaking off its attack on Lavinia and moving to strike at the devils who just moments ago felt the euphoria of victory swell inside their veins.
"Sister!" a truly horrified voice cried.
I looked up to see the man from the entrance staring disbelievingly at my newest undead. His gaze shifted to my illusion and his demeanor shifted from horrified and lost to unfiltered loathing.
"I will destroy you!" he screamed as he flew down towards my illusion.
My illusion just smirked up at him as his fist connected with the illusion, triggering the contingency spells I wove into it.
The moment the enraged devil's fist made contact with my false body, his entire form locked up. At the same time, an unholy black energy latched onto his form in the wake of my scattered illusion.
The devil slammed into the ground, his body still not moving, still locked in place. It was as if a statue had slammed into the ground, then rolled until it had enough points of contact with the ground to remain stable. The black magic from my trap wormed its way around the devil's flesh as he lay there completely helpless.
"My lord!" a woman's voice called. A red haired woman with a spear flew towards the frozen devil only to be intercepted from above by Vali. The White Dragon Emperor slammed his white gauntlet into her spine, sending the woman flailing into the ground, her spear spinning from her grasp.
Vali landed directly above her and held a hand downwards. A demonic spell circle appeared, and before the woman could so much as groan in pain, she was swallowed by a pillar of fire. When Vali let up his assault, the woman was dead, her body lay charred on the ground.
Flexing my magic once more, I raised every devil that I had yet been unable to. Three that Vali had killed in the air in addition to the one he had just burned, four that had been impaled by immense icicles, and the four who had inhaled my black smoke who had finally succumbed to the deathly vapor's embrace.
When we first entered the courtyard, we were outnumbered. But now, mere minutes after battle was joined, we now outnumbered the devils.
With the addition of my new zombies and the devil woman's snake, we made short work of the remaining devils. Soon, all were dead save one; the man who met us at the entrance. He was still frozen in my spell, my curse so far unable to kill him.
As one, Vali, Lavinia and I walked towards the frozen devil, my horde and new snake following behind us. Though he could not move, I could feel the complete and utter panic that had gripped him. He was struggling so desperately that I received an imprint of his mind without even looking.
The devil came free from my spell with a gasp, and started crawling away from us. "Please! Please don't kill me! I have connections! My father is powerful. He can-"
Whatever else he was about to say was cut off as I ordered one of my zombies to drive a spear through his chest. He went limp immediately. His regeneration had been overclocked fighting off my curse, so a spear to the chest was enough to end him.
"Are we done here?" Vali said, sounding disinterested and more than a little disappointed.
With a flick of my wrist, the last devil joined the rest in my horde. "I can't feel the minds of any survivors." I said. "The devils are dealt with. I say we leave."
Lavinia had a frown on her face, but she nodded along with my assessment. "Yes. Yes, let's go."
With a nod, Vali extended a teleportation circle out from beneath him. Our party disappeared with a flash of light.
We reappeared in the hall outside the meeting room Azazel had summoned us into, my new horde spilled away from us to avoid crushing us against the wall. The snake especially took up a lot of room, but with a mental command to its summoner she sent it back to wherever it came from. I really needed to figure out a way to classify my new minions. Was it inconsiderate to name them after numbers? I'd worry about it later.
Lavinia walked forward and pulled the door open. "It's done." she said as she walked in, silencing the deliberation of the Fallen within. "There were no survivors."
"What of the devils?" Kokabiel demanded, practically frothing at the mouth.
Lavinia and Vali parted, allowing me to walk forward.
"They're dead." I said in humor. "And more." I moved to the side, and the Fallen's eyes panned past me to the door I'd just walked through.
Baraquiel and Shemhazai both went slack-jawed when they saw the animated devils obediently awaiting my orders. Kokabiel started laughing like the maniac I was starting to realize he was. Azazel, though, had the most interesting reaction.
The leader of the Grigori's eyes were contemplative as he beheld the zombie devils before him. Surfacing from his thoughts, he turned to his generals and said, "Cancel our emissary. I have a better idea." He turned to me with a truly evil grin upon his face. "So, Xarion, do you want to meet a Satan?"