Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave stepped through the streets of this Annal of the Universe, isolated from all his companions. The words of the Alchemist ran in his head, making his directive clear.

“We will separate,” the Alchemist had said. “Each of you will follow a predetermined route I’ve calculated to be most efficient. I will bestow upon each of you with a power Almazora gave this spear,” he said, hefting it into the air. “It will allow you to detect the fluctuations of magic in the air. The Lodestar casts a spell every time it fulfills an emissary’s request, and so you must find an area where the pulses of magic come rapidly—seek that out, and you will find the Lodestar. I hope I need not mention… try not to mistake Mozzahr’s rampaging for the Lodestar. They should be easy to distinguish, even for you people,” his grating voice reminded them.

“Try not to take too long,” he said, glancing at the spear. “The gods bestowed this weapon with various powers to aid us in this heist. To manifest them, it eats away at the essence of this spear—the blessing that I ripped from Ingo’s body. In case this cautionary point does not stick, allow me to rephrase: if you take too long, we may not be able to return the way we entered.” His gray eyes scanned them from behind his bony armor. “And perhaps not return at all.”

Argrave put one foot in front of the other, sensing the magic pulsate through this Annal of the Universe. There was much on his mind to distract him—he worried if Orion could manage being disguised, he worried if Anneliese’s Starsparrow had drawn attention, he worried about making a mistake himself, and he worried about taking too long to find the Lodestar and thus needing to leave Erlebnis’ realm in a more unconventional manner. It was stress enough to give him a migraine, but Argrave shelved it all and walked onward.

Even though it was probably a terrible idea, he called upon the connection with Elenore, asking, “How’s the battle going?”

“Aren’t you busy?” Elenore asked.

“Yes,” Argrave replied, glancing from side to side as he passed by emissaries. “Just tell me.”

“Aren’t I busy?” she answered with a sigh audible even through their mental link, then summarized, “Galamon let a small elite force to capitalize on the chaos Castro and Onychinusa caused. They caused a lot of damage and retreated safely, but the casualties on our side weren’t small. Now, our forces endure a siege. Their morale is faltering as Mozzahr reclaims the Emptiness he bestowed upon his subordinates, and we have a decisive advantage. Even still, shamanic magic is nightmarish to deal with.”

“And Anestis?” Argrave pressed. “How is his mission going? He set off, right? The Stonepetal Sentinels are doing their duty?”

“He’s on the road,” she informed him. “Now shut up. I have enough on my mind already, and I won’t endanger you by talking because of some whimsy on your end.”

Argrave managed a smile even despite the stressful situation, and was once again alone in this terrifyingly bleak brown city.

“Hold on,” Elenore’s voice came once again. “Word from Anneliese. She says she thinks that she’s found a Lodestar, but… it’s dangerously close to Mozzahr. It seems to be falling back, but…”

Argrave’s attention focused, and their whole party exchanged information with Elenore as their nexus. After ample coordination, they finally managed to coordinate a meeting spot.

“Thanks for the aid, Elenore,” he told her as he walked upon the rest of his party. “You’re good at this game of telephone.”

“I’m skilled at analyzing situations which I cannot see,” his sister informed him. “But you’re together again, so I’m off. Contact me again when I’m needed.”

Argrave stepped up to his companions, standing together as they waited disguised in their monstrous imitations of the emissaries. The Alchemist was only marginally more horrifying than he normally was, twisted grotesquely like Erlebnis’ servants.

“Go to the roof,” the Alchemist directed Argrave at once, pointing to a set of stairs that were narrow and bendy yet somehow managed to find their way to a roof. “You can see it.”

Argrave took the stairs cautiously, his large feet having trouble with their thin surfaces. When he finally made it to the top, his eyes scanned the cityscape. After a time, he spotted a metallic gleam that was decidedly different from the red metal in the sky, and focused on it.

The Lodestar was a golem made of bronze. It stood taller than most buildings which made it easily noticeable, yet its bronze slightly disguised it in the buildings. It had some peculiarities to it differentiating it from most golems. Its head was constructed in the image of a sun, with sunrays pointing outwards from all directions. Its joints and its eyes were the odder parts—they were three bronze rings of descending size so that they might fit inside each other. These rings had Erlebnis’ strange power which looked like red liquid metal inside them, spinning and turning the rings about as the limbs moved or the eyes turned.

A tremor rocked the building as Argrave watched, and his eyes were drawn to another figure. Mozzahr was also near—definitely a good deal more distant than the Lodestar, but close enough to evoke discomfort. Comprehending the scene, Argrave walked down and joined his allies, looking about for emissaries in paranoia before he spoke.

“I saw it,” Argrave said. “And I felt Mozzahr, too. He’s near. The moment we attack that Lodestar, I’m positive it’ll draw his attention.” He looked up at the Alchemist in his monstrous faux-emissary form. “We can move to another city. No need to risk this.”

“We fight this one,” the Alchemist declared.

“What?” Argrave said evenly. “Am I missing something?”

“You were right in your analysis,” the Alchemist nodded. “But time is of the essence. Maintaining disguises, and these magical-detection blessings… it’s degrading the spear. We would be best taking opportunity when it comes, not praying to find another leagues away.” He looked at Argrave. “Or do you doubt my knowledge of the weapon I made?”

“No,” Argrave shook his head, biting his lip. “Damn it all. No luck.”

Durran patted his shoulder. “You’ve been lucky enough in other areas. Reflect back on this moment when you’re sitting on your throne.”

Argrave looked at him. “Raring to go, huh?”

“Oh, I’m about to vomit,” Durran raised his hands up. “But I already sold my life to that man there, so… it helps take the edge off.”

“I guess I’ll deal with the fleshy ones,” Melanie mused, biting her thumb. “I don’t even have my sword, but if I did… no good against bronze. My blessing from Raccomen can let me slip past their wards, and I’m good enough with these hidden chains I keep.”

“Less talking,” Orion said. “Time wastes.”

“Right,” Anneliese nodded in agreement. “Let’s get ready.”

#####

The members of the heist spread out in the city, slowly taking positions as to surround the Lodestar. As Argrave walked, his careful eye on the golem as it marched through the streets, he heard its monotonous voice echo out.

“Applicant Zeta,” it said in its deep voice that sounded like a metallic whistle. An emissary stepped forth and put its hand on the bronze golem, and when it pulled away, red metallic strands danced out of its body and into the emissary. The whole process took less than a second, and then the golem continued, “Applicant Eta. Applicant Theta. Applicant Iota. Applicant Kappa. Applicant Lambda.”

Emissaries swarmed near the Lodestar, collecting whatever knowledge they needed from it and then dispersing into the streets with the location of the knowledge they needed in mind. Argrave’s steady advance to take an advantageous position went unnoticed and unmolested, but he was acutely aware of Mozzahr’s distant struggle against the emissaries. The Lodestar reached Omega in its list of applicants, and then looped around to the beginning—Alpha.

“All ready,” came Elenore’s voice in his head. That was his cue to begin—and his heart’s cue for nervousness, it seemed, for it beat within his chest as though he was running a marathon.

“In this domain, concentration is limitless,” Argrave whispered, conjuring the Domain of Law. He felt the cost of it wearing at his will, but had the mental wherewithal enough to do his part.

Argrave stood atop a building. He looked up in the air, then mimed drawing back a bow. His blood echoes spread out along the roof—two, four, eight, sixteen, yet finally stopping at a straining twenty-four. He’d hoped for thirty-two, but even with the Domain of Law aiding him, this was his limit.

But then… with a new spell of his make at his disposal, twenty-four would be more than enough for the show starter. This modification had been hellish to figure out, but he was glad that he had.

Argrave cast not a B-rank, but an A-rank spell, and all his twenty-four echoes mimicked him. This had been the crux of his problems—translating the B-rank [Bloodfeud Bow] to an A-rank format had been immensely difficult, but it was the only way to accommodate the scope of the changes he made.

Twenty-five huge bows of blood took shape, pointed toward the sky. As their maroon arrows came to life, they cracked and sparked with lightning, lighting their surroundings in red light of a darker hue than the ambience from the sky. The intensity of the spell made the disguise shielding Argrave dissipate, but he cared not. He listened to the droning of the Lodestar as it listed off applicant after applicant. He watched the silver bracer on his arm wear down, completely honed in on his task.

When he felt the power of the blood echoes reach their limit… Argrave released his personal spell: [Bloodarc Bow].

Twenty-five crimson bolts shot into the air, letting out the roar of thunder from their sheer power. They soared up, up, and up… yet Argrave willed them to arc, and they obeyed. What soared upward with tremendous speed descended again like judgment. Argrave looked at the Lodestar as it turned its bronze head from the noise.

As Argrave stared, the tremendous might of [Bloodarc Bow] rained down upon the Lodestar like divine judgment. A surge of deep crimson light bathed the area as the blood-infused lightning coursed through the Lodestar. Jagged bolts danced from the bronze golem to the hundreds of emissaries nearby, turning them into black and charred masses that were virtually unrecognizable.

Argrave had toiled greatly to perfect [Bloodarc Bow]. It combined the power-scaling of [Bloodfeud Bow], the control over the projectile of [Electric Eel], and the attribute of a third spell: [Chain Lightning], where the site of impact caused other bolts of lightning to jump out at other targets. It was not quite as devastating as its foundational spell, its projectiles were not quite as maneuverable as the eels, and the secondary bolts were not half as numerous as [Chain Lightning].

But the charred site before Argrave stood as personal testament to the strength of his spell. Only the Lodestar still moved, forced to kneel after the tremendous blow it suffered. Its bronze head slowly turned to Argrave, and the rotating rings comprising its eyes seemed like the vile orbs of a demon.

“Temporarily suspending new applicants,” the Lodestar said, voice echoing in the now-silent city. “Foreign hostile presence reported as Disturbance Beta.”

All of the other members of the heist stepped out, their disguises gone. Anneliese and Durran rose up on a roof opposite Argrave. On each side of the street, Orion and the Alchemist blocked it, while Melanie watched from the alleys, watching for more approaching emissaries for her to silently dispatch.

“Local entities notified of Disturbance Beta,” the Lodestar continued, raising its hands up. The Blessing of Supersession surged within its inanimate body, pooling it with unfathomable magic. “Starting combat: Session Alpha.”

Even with the ambush, the Lodestar had not fallen. And after that loud display of power, others would surely come knocking.