Chapter 59

For all its size, Varkoth was ridiculously fast. Its tail lashed out, sending icicles the size of swords flying towards some of the tankier D.E.D. that had been summoned. At the same time, it rushed forward, it’s mouth agape, spewing frozen death forward in a shimmering, blue haze. Henry watched, awestruck, as Jewel’s form seemed to blur, her body shimmering with the light of a thousand snowflakes, before she instantly reappeared in front of that onslaught. Icy winds swirled around her body, and the breath attack from Varkoth parted around her form, passing harmlessly past her.

Meanwhile, Ares was moving, running full sprint towards the approaching Ascended Ice Drake, as a circular shield glowed to life on his left arm. Or, more interestingly, it seemed to materialize from a leather bracer he was wearing on that arm, ornate runes and patterns swirling on it. He rose that shield in response to something Henry couldn’t see, and a second later Varkoth’s massive claw smashed into it. The giant Warrior buckled slightly under the attack, but managed to push against it, sending the claw away. At the same time, he pulled back with his right arm, spear held angled towards Varkoth, and let rip, sending the deadly projectile flying towards the Ice Drake.

The creature’s eyes narrowed as it viewed the spear, calculating, and then widened as the runes on the spear brightened. It moved its head a moment later, the weapon managing to just barely cut deep into its scales, leaving a gash on its face that was instantly covered in ice, freezing the wound shut. Varkoth growled at the attack, even as the spear flashed, and instantly returned in Ares’ hand.

“I thought that looked familiar.” The Tier 3 Demon said. “Gae-Bolg.” His voice darkened. “How foolishly you carry proof of your sins into battle.” The creature growled again; his white eyes seemed to radiate power. “Though, Curruid was a fool for letting himself be tricked by your kind.”

The Exorcists battling Varkoth didn’t respond with words, but instead actions. Spear once again in hand, Ares threw it again, this time aiming for Varkoth’s massive chest. Meanwhile, Jewel had summoned a D.E.D. at her side, a massive horse, whose mane seemed formed of frost. She’d leapt atop it, and had begun riding around Varkoth’s side, forcing his focus to be split between herself, and Ares.

“Frost Mane too?” Varkoth chuckled as it launched another set of icicles towards the other exorcists on the battlefield, while using a wing covered in thick layers of ice, to defend against Gae-Bolg. The spear, of note, actually managed to penetrate into the ice and webbing of Varkoth’s wing but was stopped before it could reach his chest. “You’ve been busy since last I saw you.”

Jewel’s horse, Frost Mane, left an icy trail behind it, moving rapidly around Varkoth while Jewel launched ice attacks of her own towards the Dragon, but more importantly, seemed to be doing all she could to keep his frozen aura from reaching the other D.E.D. and the exorcists. Henry knew from the battle at the Greater Rift, that it would be a bad day for any of those D.E.D. if it reached them.

“And you’ve not grown at all.” Jewel said in a low tone. It was the first time Varkoth had gotten one of the exorcists to speak, and it seemed to amuse the creature greatly. His calm attitude, of course, was unsettling to Henry. The Ice Drake obviously was powerful. And yet, he seemed to be toying with them.

“When you’ve reached my heights.” The creature said, his body beginning to glow. “It’s rather difficult to amass even more power.” The scales on his body shimmered, and a thick, massive layer of ice armor covered him from head to toe. His claws were covered in elongated, dark blue ice, increasing their size, and appearing wickedly sharp. On his head, an ice helm appeared, giving him an even fiercer appearance, with massive horns of frozen essence glowing dangerously. It was, in Henry’s mind, a much, much more advanced version of the armor he’d seen his Bladed Drakeling utilize.

“Then again,” the armor flashed, and hundreds, no thousands of small ice shards erupted from him without warning, “I don’t need more power to do my task here.” The assault of fist sized hail shards blasted everything, defeating more than a few of the D.E.D. it had been already working on, and actually sending a few of the exorcists running for cover.

Henry winced as he heard a few cries of pain and saw two of the exorcists actually on the ground, gaping holes in parts of their bodies from where the ice had penetrated. Jewel’s own D.E.D., Frost Mane, had surrounded itself in a rotating aura of snowflakes, which seemed to pulse and reflect the incoming attacks. Meanwhile, Ares’s was taking cover behind his shield, the runes on it glowing brightly, reflecting back the attacks being sent towards him as well.

“And what task is that?” Jewel asked as she continued her efforts. Henry realized she was trying to pull Varkoth’s attention away from Ares, to allow the warrior, who was armed with a weapon evidently capable of damaging the Tier 3 Demon, to land a decisive blow. Had the situation not been so intense, Henry would have found the fact Jewel was acting as a support character, slightly ironic.

“Ha,” Varkoth barked a laugh. “So glad you asked.” It frowned for a second, glancing backwards towards the Rift its essence was flowing into. For a split second, red light seemed to flicker through that rift.

“I was tasked with disposing of as many exorcists as I could, before heading through my rift, and paving the way for those who will come after me.” The ice fog around him seemed to intensify near the Greater Rift, before it recoiled against another red pulse. “But it seems the latter part will have to wait till later.” He grinned still, made even more terrifying by his icy armor. “It seems someone has quite the powerful Fire D.E.D. on the other end, which would make the task of actually breaking through all the more annoying.”

“So, I may as well finish what I was supposed to and report my findings.” More hail erupted from him, putting everyone once again on the defensive. Three more of the two dozen exorcists dropped with what appeared to be fatal wounds, while Jewel and Ares continued to stand strong against Varkoth.

“I wasn’t specifically ordered to kill anyone.” The Dragon’s wings beat, once, then twice, sending its aura past the winds Jewel had created, the icy tendrils reaching out to sap the strength of anything they could. “And despair is so much sweeter than death.”

Ares threw Gae-Bolg once more, the weapon rocketing towards Varkoth as the creature’s massive frame began to lift off the ground. The Tier 3 Demon, which hadn’t taken its eyes off of Jewel, didn’t even look away as it caught the spear, mid-air, with a ice covered claw. The weapon’s runes pulsed, and Henry saw the ice armor on its claws begin to melt as the spear shook and shuddered, but Varkoth didn’t release his hold on it.

“I’ll be taking this, along with your defiance, as I leave.” Varkoth laughed again, and the essence that had been flowing into the Greater Rift began to lessen, as Varkoth called even more of its full power back into its body.

Ares let out an inhuman growl and with superhuman power leapt towards the ascending creature. The giant exorcist grabbed hold of the spear, his shield disappearing from his arm as he gripped the shaft with both hands. His feet planted against Varkoth’s wrist, and every muscled on his form bulged as he tried to free the weapon from the dragon, even as ice slowly began to creep over Ares body.

“Predictable.” Varkoth chuckled as he grabbed Ares with his other hand, pulling the giant sized human off of the spear. “I could kill you now, but that’s not fun.” He threw Ares, hard, to the ground. The massive humanoid form crashed into the strange, glowing floor of the dimensional rift, his entire body recoiling from the force. Then Varkoth’s tail lashed forward, sending an icicle into each of his limbs, large enough to nearly sever them from Ares body.

“If you really want this spear back that badly.” Varkoth twisted its wrist, the weapon still seeming to burn away in its grasp. “I’ll give it to.”

The Dragon glanced down at Jewel, its eyes shining with a cruel amusement. “Doesn’t this bring back good memories, oh brilliant Ice Queen?”

And then he threw the weapon towards Ares, on a path that Henry knew would impact his heart. He didn’t know who Ares was, but he had no doubt that weapon would kill the exorcist.

Jewel didn’t respond, but her Frost Mane seemed to respond with her intention. They raced, the spear towards Ares, her form and that of her mount becoming an icy blur, the spear a crackling streak of red and blue. Meanwhile, Varkoth’s entire form began to fade away, even as his tail launched a few more icicles into the exorcists, eliminating another five or six, leaving the count at roughly half of what they’d started with.

“Next time we meet, Ice Queen.” Varkoth’s voice boomed less, seeming more as a cold whisper on the wind. “I’ll kill even more of your companions, and shatter that frozen heart of yours for good.”

His form faded away even as Jewel and her Frost Mane reached Ares. Her D.E.D. had made it in time, but the spear easily pierced through the swirling defenses it had created, punched through any defenses Jewel had thrown up, and drove deep into her stomach.

However, to her credit, and Henry’s horror and surprise, she’d managed to grab hold of the shaft of the weapon, keeping it, just barely, from penetrating into the gravely wounded Ares. As the last remnants of Varkoth’s essence faded, the Greater Rift closing completely, Jewel’s D.E.D disappeared as well, and she fell to the ground, coughing up blood. A moment later, as the exorcists in the area began rushing towards her and Ares, the feed ended, and Emelia turned towards Henry.