I floated the fortress out over the ocean and spent the better part of a day cleaning up and repairing the insides. I still had the two damaged runes at the bottom of the fortress that I would need to get to but it could wait for now. My mind was in turmoil but the act of cleaning helped me settle and come to terms with everything. I still kept my emotions locked away, they would get their time.

The main command chair was a twisted mess so I scrapped it. I unbolted one of the other chairs and moved it into place. Just another thing on the long list of items that needed to be replaced.

I collapsed into the chair and wiped the sweat from my face. It was getting hot and stuffy inside the fortress. The air filters weren’t designed to take a hundred-meter plunge into a pit and had been mangled messes. I had spares in the storage rings though and one was running at the moment. It was working to keep the air breathable but it wasn’t comfortable.

I ignored the hot stale air as I looked at the skills I had grabbed during the battle with the dwarves.

Energy Lance: Imbue energy into your next attack to produce a spear of concentrated mana that shoots from the tip of your weapon and explodes on impact dealing Str x .5 modifier explosive damage. Cost 150 mana, cooldown 2 min

It was a skill-based mana cannon. No wonder my leg had been blown apart.

Annihilator Sphere: Conjure a sphere of destructive energy that turns a one-meter sphere around the point of impact into dust. Deals Int x .6 modifier damage. Damage reduced by 2% for each point of Endurance the target has. If the remaining damage is over seventy percent of the base damage, the area hit by the spell is vaporized. Cast time 3 sec. Cost 200 mana, Cooldown 1 hour

I was surprised to have picked up both this skill and the Energy Lance but I wasn’t going to complain. The spell was now one of my most powerful spells.

Overcharge: Overcharge a spell with 20% more mana for a 20% boost to range and destructive power. Cost 100 mana plus 20% of spell’s mana you wish to enhance. Cooldown 30 min

Well… that just made my spells all the more dangerous.

Fuel the Anger: For each point of damage you suffer, your return damage is enhanced by 25% of that value. Lasts for 5 minutes. Cost 75 Stamina 75 Mana, Cooldown 10 min

I felt like this one came from the King, I wasn’t sure I liked the skill, it was another one that required me to take damage and I would prefer not to have to do that.

Resuscitate: Sacrifice a year of your life to revive someone. The target must have died within the last five minutes. Casting time 30 sec. Cost 400 mana, Cooldown 6 months – cannot be multicast

… holy shit, no wonder that healer stuck close to the King. Although thirty seconds is a long time to cast a spell. Plus sacrificing a year of my life was not something I was comfortable with. This skill was going to go bye-bye despite its usefulness.

Clinging Spray: Spray a cone of adhesive gel in a ten-meter area that tangles up and sticks to everything it contacts. Reduces movement speed by 80% for 10 sec. Cost 50 mana, Cooldown 30 sec

It was a nice replacement for the Wall of Thorns crowd control skill, but much more effective.

Shock Arrow: Imbue your arrow with electrical damage that deals Int x .14 modifier damage and stuns the target for 3 seconds. Cost 10 Stamina 25 Mana. Cooldown 1 min

Cleave: Allows your weapon to take on a magical edge for 10 sec that can cut through armor. Reduces armor effectiveness against slashing by 80% and overall armor value by half. Cost 50 Stamina 10 Mana. Cooldown 2 min

The final two were not really anything I was going to keep so I tossed them into Void Lottery.

Boiling Oil: Produce a spray of boiling oil. Deals Int X .05 modifier damage. Deals an additional 3 damage every second for ten seconds. Cost 25 Mana. Cooldown 30 sec

The damage wasn’t great but at least I could use it, unlike the other two.

With the new skills and the cleaning out of the way, I used Reaper to check on my targets' locations. They were steadily making their way towards the Spine. But I sensed that they had come above ground. I smiled as I turned the fortress towards my quarry. I had some new skills to try out and some much-needed vengeance to dish out.

***

It took around four hours to catch up to the dwarves, they were hurrying across the hard-packed Texas ground. I could only assume they hadn’t had time to dig a tunnel the entire way or maybe they didn’t want their tunnel leading all the way back to their new home. Either way, they were about to have a bad time.

The mana cannon mounts were all messed up so I cobbled together a quad barrel monstrosity with duct tape that I was going to fire out the doorway. I would only get one opportunity so I needed to make it count. The fortress was hovering a hundred or so yards away, sitting invisible. I oriented the fortress in the correct direction and set it to hover as I made my way towards the door. I also charged the cannon in my hand.

From what I saw on the remote viewer, there were between thirty and forty dwarves down there. They weren’t all bunched up so I would have to try and clear out as many as I could with the cannons before descending to finish off any remnant forces. My leg had finished regrowing but the muscles were still weak so I needed to pick off the majority before they could respond. Or scatter their forces so I could deal with them in smaller batches.

I threw open the outer door and hefted the cannons, aiming them at the dwarves.

My actions didn’t go unnoticed as the fortress became visible. The dwarves started scattering as a few of the remaining mages tried throwing up shields of magic or stone. Some even threw magic at the fortress but I was a small target. Most of the attacks splashed against the fortress, if they even reached that far.

I fired the first cannon at the largest group of dwarves, sending up a spray of dirt and rocks. I fired three more times, scattering the groups even more.

Recharging would take too long so I jumped down to deal with the remaining attackers. A dwarven mage fired a huge bolt of ice at me that just barely missed. I returned the favor by firing my charged hand at him. I missed as well but unlike his spell my bolt of mana struck the ground and exploded, sending the offending mage flying away.

A couple of dwarves thought they could wait for me on the ground. Instead of floating down, I sped up. I activated my movement skills and my Area of Denial to smash into the ground with massive speed. They weren’t expecting that. The ground around my impact point erupted violently as Seismic Strike did its work. My shield did not survive after absorbing the impact. It seemed my skills were too much for it to keep up.

I jumped out of the crater and slammed my staff into one of the dazed dwarves. Not all had succumbed to the attack and a group of four were rushing at me. I hit them with Clinging Spray, halting them in their tracks. Then I sent an Energy Lance their way.

Going by how their eyes widened they realized now that I was the one that killed their king. Not that it mattered as the bolt of energy struck the closest one with a massive explosion. The one I targeted was blown to pieces but the other three survived. They would probably regret doing that as the Clinging Spray caught fire.

I had to divert my attention as three more dwarves attacked. Their spears jabbed at me in a coordinated fashion, preventing me from returning attacks. I used all my speed to deflect the three spears. I was holding my own but the three were spreading out and making it more difficult for me to counter all of them. I decided not to wait for them to surround me as I activated Time Shudder and closed in on the one to my left.

The dwarf was unable to backpedal fast enough as Flurry of Blows activated, crashing into his upper chest. His armor absorbed a lot of damage but he stumbled back, coughing up blood and wheezing heavily as his armor was smashed in from my strength. I continued pushing, ignoring the attacks that fell on my armor. The armor's shield flickering wildly as the other two attacked. I landed a sweeping blow across the injured dwarf's helmet before I swung around to counter the other two.

I was giving ground as the two worked in tandem to push me away from their downed ally. But that didn’t stop me. I jumped back and fired off an Annihilation Sphere, using Time Shudder to make the casting almost instant. The cost in mana and stamina to Multicast Time Shudder twice followed by the Sphere was tremendous but the surprise had worked. The dwarves dove to avoid the spell but I hadn’t been aiming for them. My target had been their downed friend. Who screamed as the spell impacted his ruined armor.

I let out a Maddening Laugh that drove the remaining dwarves to suicidal recklessness. An Overcharged Frostwave froze them in their tracks. They were still alive but it gave me time to chug two mana potions. Then I touched each on the head, casting Corrupting Touch on one and Calcifying Strike on the other. With them being frozen they couldn’t even scream as their bodies were converted by the spells.

That was twelve more dead dwarves. I recharged my mana and my armor and began my pursuit of the rest.

***

It took me fourteen hours to track down the final dwarf. I knew none had escaped because I had memorized each and every face while I followed them in the fortress. The only thing I couldn’t account for was any that may have broken off before I arrived. Considering the number of dwarves that had gathered here, I figured that was unlikely.

The last dwarf had almost given me the slip as it was one of the earth mages. But unfortunately for him, I had experience with earth magic of my own. He had tried to crush me by collapsing the ground around me when I went after him. My higher attributes and level won out against the level fifteen mage and he ran out of mana long before I did. He would die as he arrived, buried within the earth.

I took a rag from my ring and began to wipe the sweat and blood from my face and armor. Preferring speed over defense, I had stopped recharging my armor's shield after a few hours. I had a dozen new scars on my armor and my exposed body to show that the fighting had not been all one-sided. While the dwarves were all under level sixteen, they fought brutally and efficiently if more than one grouped up.

I could simply wash away the scars with Regenerating Rain but I didn’t. It was a visual reminder that no matter where I was, the world was a cold and unforgiving place, and trying to return to a sense of normalcy was not a guarantee of safety.

I had gotten caught up in the fantasy of living a normal life. With no more visible threats it was easy to forget and I paid the price of my hubris. That being said, life couldn’t be just about surviving. I needed time to enjoy the small things, and those short few months had given meaning back to my life. Before that, I had honestly thought I would run from one fight to the next until anyone who sought to harm me would be crushed underfoot. That goal had turned to a glowing cinder in the background as I turned toward creating something new.

But that was before the attack. Now the fire raged anew and demanded vengeance. I would never let the fire die out. Allies and friends would be required and once animosity cooled down in Houston, I would return.

My projects would continue. I wouldn’t abandon my other endeavors to chase more violence but I would not grow complacent again.

The enemy had made the first move and while I was strong it appeared that I wasn’t yet strong enough to dissuade others to leave me and my friends the fuck alone. So be it, if they wanted to turn me into a monster of biblical proportions I would indulge them. Then we would see who feared who.

***

“We should have gone after him!” Fiona yelled at me.

“We can’t, the mayor is having enough issues trying to disassociate us from Paul. If we went running after him, we would not be allowed back and the work I am doing is too important to just abandon,” Martin replied in exasperation.

They had been going round and round about this since they received Paul’s message. Then The Marshall had come to talk with them and filled in the blanks. Martin wanted to make sure his friends were ok but there were larger matters at hand. The problem was Fiona did not agree with him on this.

“How can you say that as his friend?” she asked while glaring at him.

“I can say that because I am his friend. You read his message, he wanted to keep us from being implicated.”

“So! He’s an idiot and does dumb shit like this all the time.”

“I know, but that doesn’t make him wrong, at least not in this instance. You can tell he is alive right?”

“Alive and ok are two very different things,” she waved dismissively.

“I’m sure if Paul is alive, he is fine. The man may be a trouble magnet but he is also lucky and while reckless, smart enough to know when he bit off more than he can handle. He will contact us when things settle down and we can meet him then. Have faith in our friend.”

***

Fiona wanted to rant and rave but Martin was right. It didn’t make her feel any better though and she stomped out of the room to go think. If she couldn’t go to Paul, she could at least send a message to Ska to inform him of what was going on.