FVN Book 6: Chapter 98: The Nature of Sacrifice
Book 6: Chapter 98: The Nature of Sacrifice
Book 6: Chapter 98: The Nature of Sacrifice
Elijah raced forward, already shifting into the Shape of Thorn, but he knew he wouldn’t get there soon enough to save Dat. Even as a huge, lightning bolt-shaped staff appeared in Yloa’s hand, Elijah’s body twisted and transformed. As the staff fell toward Dat’s head, Elijah let out a scream of primal frustration. The world felt like it was moving in slow motion, yet as strong as he was, Elijah couldn’t force himself to go any faster.
He was destined to fail.
The staff – which, with its sharp end, functioned more like a spear – connected.
A bright light flashed, nearly blinding Elijah, but when he blinked free of the dark spots in his vision, he realized two things. First, his transformation was complete, and the additional Strength drove him forward with vastly increased speed. Second, Dat was unharmed. He still wasn’t moving, but he showed no wounds from the attack. It only took a moment for Elijah to recognize that both Sadie and Lamar had thrown their respective shields on the Witch Hunter, and that had been just enough to protect Dat from Yloa’s blow.
The Lightning Emperor was not deterred.
With a look of annoyance twisting his expression, he reared back, ready to repeat the attack. But now that Elijah had adopted the form of the Thorned Sentry, he had more options available to him. He used Bestial Charge. Nôv(el)B\\jnn
Before the second blow could fall, Elijah rammed into the Lightning Emperor. It felt like running headfirst into a wall. And though Yloa didn’t move more than a few scant inches, he did move. More importantly, his attack was once again fouled, and the bladed end of his staff tore into the floor, plunging almost a foot deep.
At the same time, Ron shouted, “Heals aren’t working!”
Elijah didn’t need to be told what was coming. Ron was extremely open with his capabilities – he claimed that it was necessary so his companions knew his limits – and so, Elijah knew what the Healer would do as a last resort. He recalled the description of the man’s most potent heal:
Healer’s Burden
A powerful heal that far exceeds the effect of any previous spells, both in terms of scope and potency. Use of this spell requires the Healer to take on the wounds of his patient. Potency based on Core Cultivation and Ethera attribute. Will not result in the Healer’s death.
As noble as that potential sacrifice was, Elijah would not have advised its use. For better or worse, Ron was far more valuable – from a tactical standpoint – than Dat. In fact, if Ron went down, as the description of Healer’s Burden suggested he would, then the group would have little chance of winning the battle. The only potential benefit was that it might get Dat out of the immediate line of fire so that the rest of their allies could figure out how to combat the situation.
But as much as Elijah wanted to scream at Ron to hold it back, he knew it would fall on deaf ears. It took a very specific sort of person to dedicate his life to healing others, and Ron had done so twice. Once, as a surgeon before the world had changed, and then again when he’d chosen the Healer archetype. If there was one person in the entire world who would sacrifice himself to save a patient, it was Ron.
Regardless, Elijah’s opinion on the situation didn’t matter. His inability to get through to Ron aside, he had other things to worry about. Like a four-armed ta’alaki he’d just tried – unsuccessfully – to tackle.
Even as a ridiculous amount of ethera surged around Ron, Elijah grappled with the Lightning Emperor. As he did, he discovered that, despite the clear weakening effect of the bane weapon, his attributes were far inferior to those possessed by the Lightning Emperor. Elijah hammered his foe with punches, tried to rip the ta’alaki to shreds with his sharp, thorn-like claws, and even attempted a few bites. Some of them drew blood, but they were no more than flesh wounds.
By comparison, Yloa’s every attack hit like a freight train. If Elijah hadn’t evolved Shape of the Guardian into Shape of Thorn, he never could have stood up to the barrage of blows. Even with his increased Constitution and the ability to cut all damage by fifty percent, Elijah felt his bones creak with every attack. Soon enough, they would start breaking.
However, he did manage to endure those blows for a long enough period that one of Oscar’s dogs seized upon the opportunity to drag the recovering Dat free. At the same time, Elijah sensed that something was happening with Ron. Predictably, the man had collapsed the second he’d cast Healer’s Burden, but he was still alive.
Sadie and the other Healer were both hard at work trying to help him recover. But even from so far away, Elijah could sense – via One with Nature – that they were fighting a losing battle. Their paltry heals were like pouring a bucket of water into a drought-stricken lake. As noble as their intentions were, it wasn’t going to refill the metaphorical reservoir anytime soon.
But Elijah couldn’t focus on that. Instead, the fight against the Lightning Emperor demanded every ounce of his attention. So, he leveraged every facet of his Jade Mind to the task at hand. And for a while, he gave as good as he got. Then, tendrils of electricity snaked around the ta’alaki’s limbs, and suddenly, Elijah could no longer keep up.
With two hands, Yloa pinned Elijah’s arms to his body while he raised his other set of arms, clenched his fists together, then brought them down in a devastating blow that sent the sound of cracking bone echoing through the chamber. Pain lanced through Elijah’s shoulder as he felt his collarbone snap and the shards of bone tear through the delicate flesh surrounding it.
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Sadie didn’t get a chance to finish before Elijah flapped his wings and launched himself into the air. He knew he didn’t have much time before the heals started to wear off, so he gained altitude as quickly as possible. The Lightning Emperor could obviously see something was going on, but with the continued onslaught of spells bearing down on him, he couldn’t stop his lighting-whip shield tactic long enough to do anything about it.
Besides, Yloa could obviously see that, for all its impressive looks, the Shape of the Sky was not a combat form. It was meant for travel, which he likely interpreted as Elijah looking for a means of escape.
But that was the opposite of Elijah’s intention.
Once he’d built up a little speed and established the right angle, he dove directly at the embattled ta’alaki. When he was only fifty feet away, he did three things. The first was the only reason he’d chanced the tactic in the first place.
For months, he’d kept an ability in his pocket, and rightly so. It was single-use, and once it was gone, it was gone. Still, having a few seconds of invulnerability was incredibly useful. With a flick of his mind, he activated the ability associated with the Armor of the Boar King.
Armor of the Boar King (set)
Composed of eight pieces (Bracers x2, Gauntlets, Chestguard, Pants, Footwraps x2, Headband). Total attribute bonuses (from individual pieces):
+15 Strength
+25 Dexterity
+15 Constitution
+10 Ethera
+20 Regeneration
When wearing the entire set, gain the ability, Bulwark of the Boar King: Wrap the wearer in an impenetrable shield. Duration: 3 seconds. Single Use.
Three seconds of invulnerability. He knew good and well that the system’s interpretation of invulnerability was just as flawed as its description of his old Guardian’s Renewal ability. Just like the aforementioned spell, it could best be described as meaning what it meant in normal circumstances. So, against the sorts of things he should have been fighting, invulnerability could be taken at face value. However, with what he had planned, he knew it would fall short of that literal definition.
It didn’t matter.
It would just have to do. And if not, then it could maybe give his companions the opening they needed to finish Yloa off.
Those thoughts flitted through Elijah’s mind as he felt his scales harden and take on a metallic sheen. Even his wings looked like they’d been cast from particolored steel.
The second he felt the ability take hold, Elijah embraced another ability.
Lightning Rush
Transform into a bolt of lightning, increasing speed accordingly. Duration (and subsequently, distance) dependent on Core Cultivation. Current: 1.9 Seconds. Cooldown based on Ethera. Current: 2.21 Hours.
His body became a bolt of lightning, but that was the last thing he felt before everything went black.