Chapter Sixteen: Xolumbrandir Part One

As I entered through the vast doors that made up the entrance of my tower, I couldn't help but feel a prickle of apprehension of leaving behind Black Tusk to face the Knight Descendants alone. All it took was one thing to go wrong and the entire plan would fall apart. Although calling it a plan may be giving myself too much credit. The truth is that it was the best of a bad situation. Hopefully I could finish here fast and make sure that no harm befell them.

The main reason for my worry was the Descendants themselves. At least two of them must have been personally trained by my Knight's and the other two will have been extensively educated in the fighting styles of their ancestors. I could only hope that they weren't quick learners. If I pitted those girls against one of my Knight's I was sure they would be soundly defeated, never mind four.

I believe that it would come down to teamwork. From what I'd seen Black Tusk were capable of fighting as one, single organism. They complimented each other in battle and knew that to be alone was weak, while together they were strong. From what Leigh had told me, the Descendants were from different countries and, if I was correct, didn't have the time to work together for very long. That would be the deciding factor in their battle.

As I entered the tower, the first thing that popped into my head was how completely untouched it was by the destruction that had ravaged the city, especially the marketplace.

The doors opened straight into my grand hall, where I would hold court, six pillars lined the red carpeted floor, leading to a large, high-backed chair that served as my throne. Carved into the back of it was a the image of an 'R' on a shield, thorns wrapped delicately around it. The symbol of the rebel court.

The murals on the wall hadn't changed. I was always depicted in gold so I was easy to pick out, while my Knight's were always cast in obsidian. From left to right it showed us fighting numerous battles, nearly all of which were exaggerated to some degree. For instance, it showed the battle of the Bay of Bellow, which drew me standing alone atop the water with a whirlpool gathering around me. Facing off against a thousand ships as my Knight's stood on the shore nearby, kneeling in praise of my power.

That had never happened. I had been on a ship during that battle and it was only thanks to Faral's tactics as a pirate that had won us the day. Honestly, I was pretty sea-sick at the time, something the others never let me forget. When Drogna had made these murals it was to showcase our power and he had said that seeing me about to obliterate the enemy struck much more fear and awe into people than me leaning over a ship and dry heaving.

I have to agree with him there.

I could thank the enchantments placed upon this tower for the longevity. I had placed them myself and they seemed to still be holding up. I would need to examine them before leaving. It would give me a better idea on how long enchantments lasted for, invaluable information for any future experimentation. However, before I would be able to indulge my scholarly side, I needed to deal with the problem at hand.

Which were the hundred constructs that stood between me and the stairway on the other side of the throne room. The only way to continue upwards into the tower.

“So, you've got your shit together, have you sword? Shall we play for real this time? Or are you going to try and run away again? No matter, either way, I'll be up soon, your toys can't slow me down for long. You know that” I said with a bloodthirsty grin appearing on my face, mana began to swirl around me as I drew it in, but not to the fullest of my capabilities. I didn't need a war hammer, I needed a razor.

The screams that answered me would have reduced any normal mage to their knee's. An ability of Xolumbrandir to amplify it's emotions using sound. A great way to incapacitate an enemy before it moved forward for the kill.

It knew it wouldn't work on me, but wanted to try anyway, just to be safe. It was not truly intelligent, like any sentient weapon it could feel basic emotions like pain, fear and anger, but it was magical in it's origin and still a weapon, not mortal, not organic. I suppose it had more in common with Vitriss than it had with me.

The screams reached a crescendo, filling the room and causing the floor beneath me to shake slightly under it's might. As it reached this fatal high note, the constructs dashed forward, faster than the one's I had fought outside the tower. It seems that Xolumbrandir had made some improvements, even it understood that it had failed to destroy me with it's basic models, now it pulled out it's best.

These constructs looked almost identical to the one's that had chased Black Tusk, but instead of being created from anything that was lying nearby, these one's seemed to be almost entirely made of metal. Their arms, legs and torso looked like they had been forged from some armour found in the guards barracks located on the second level of the tower. The black smoke that connected the metal limbs seethed and raged as they drove themselves forward faster and faster, wanting to rip and tear into my flesh.

I dashed forward, activating aspect of air as I went and threw everything I had into raw speed. I shot across the room, seemingly disappearing before the constructs field of view before appearing again in the centre of their formation.

Suddenly coming to a stop like I did caused the air around me to erupt violently and lash out at the abominations, knocking many off their feet and send them flying across the hall, their screams becoming louder as panic overtook them.

One of the nearest constructs had managed to avoid the wind explosion and lashed out at me with one of it's club like hands. I swept my head underneath the wild hay maker and followed up with one of my own, aimed at it's torso. My fist connected at the speed of sound and the sweet melody of tearing metal filled the room as the construct shot away from me and connected with one of the pillars with tremendous force.

It exploded on impact, it's metal frame ripped to shreds as the essence began to crawl away desperate to get to the stairs and return to it's master. I grimaced and I made to follow it, but was stopped suddenly when two large steel arms wrapped around my body and pulled me upwards into a forced hug, trying desperately to crush me to death.

I savagely laughed and commanded my mana to coat me in flame. As I did, I heard the screams of the construct that had tried to kill me become shrieks of terror as it tried desperately to let go, but such was the heat I was releasing that it's arms had fused with each other and began to rapidly melt as they glowed a cherry red.

While I was dealing with the one who had caught me, several other constructs attacked from the front, ignoring the heat that I was letting off and began to throw punches into my head and body, beating me bloody as I activated aspect of earth just in time to stop my head from being caved in by one of their metal fists.

The effect of aspect of earth made me much denser and I fell from the crying monster's arms with ease as I rushed forward to engage the others, each step now cracking the hidden stone under the red carpeted floor.

I moved with grace and skill, my arms and legs weapons in their own right as I used aspect of metal to coat my feet and hands in a deadly Garalthum, the strongest metal in Vita. They threw themselves at me and I pummelled each one to pieces, their fists and feet finding me often but I didn't care, they couldn't permanently damage me so what was the point it worrying?

Their numbers began to dwindle as I worked my way through them, magic pouring out of me with precision. Frost erupted from within their steel carapaces, lightning was thrown forwards and used to turn their bodies in puddles of liquid metal, any who got close were quickly dispatched by my blade like hands, cutting through them as if they were made of butter. But there was one problem.

They kept on coming.

There were so many of them that I didn't have time to stop and pour mana into any of the parasitic slivers of Xolumbrandir's essence and each time a body was destroyed they would retreat and look for materials to build another, and another. Fuck, where were they getting all these resources?

I could almost hear the snicker of laughter from the sword every time one of them regenerated and attacked again with renewed vigour. While I had no major injuries, these creatures were much stronger than the ones who had attacked Black Tusk and, given time, they may be able to bring me down. I needed to end this and I needed to end it soon, but how was the key question.

As I thought, I somersaulted over one of the beasts and let fire consume it's shell, before sending my metal coated fist through another. When three new recruits came dashing down from the stairs I summoned the air and sent a wall of wind into them, smashing them against each other and the walls of the throne room.

That's it!

Excitement began to rise in my stomach as my grimace of frustration became a grin of glee. I began to draw in mana, much more than I had been using before, and called for each of the elements to aid me.

For a moment, the air was still and a calm settled over the battlefield. I noticed tiny details that you wouldn't notice in the middle of a fight. The glistening of my own blood on the fists of the constructs, the perspiration running down my cheek and even the thumping pressure in my ears of my own heartbeat. I took everything in and closed my eyes, preparing my spell to the utmost. This would require concentration and, most of all, complete control. If I messed up, I could destroy the tower. Perhaps even kill myself.

With a roar that drowned out even the screams of Xolumbrandir I released the spell that had built up inside of me and, in an instant, the hall became a place of savage destruction.

The large roof of my throne room was suddenly covered in dense fog that flickered as streaks of lightning rumbled through it, filling the hall with the sounds of thunder. Then the rain came. Not a drizzle, not a shower but a drowning flood that hit everything in the hall and brought the creatures to their knee's or swept them backwards, away from me. The water was so thick that I could barely see, it choked me, cutting off my breathing as I gritted my teeth and focused. I could complain about this later.

At my command, the storm that had appeared within my throne room began to circulate, whirling around and around as lightning continued to appear more often, each time it struck the exact centre of the formation of clouds and held there, becoming a gem of self-contained destruction. I wrapped more air magic around the lightning, commanding it to stay in place as it complained and pushed against my bonds, begging to be released.

Not yet.

The winds in the room picked up as the clouds whirled faster and it ripped through the room, tearing everything apart, including my throne, but I couldn't thick about that now. I needed to end this.

I felt it pull at my hair, rip at my clothes and even my flesh felt like it was about to slice open under the pressure of those blades of wind. I called for more lightning and more lightning came, it struck the centre of the formation with rapid precision, draining more and more power into the golden sun that seemed to forming above my head and I felt the pressure increase ten fold, veins rising as my body contended with the might of controlling a natural disaster.

“Now!” I slammed my fist into the ground with terrific force, shattering the stone and ripping up the carpet as a small ripple ran through the earth.

There was a blinding flash of light as the lightning, now released from it's imprisonment, rushed down and connected with the floor of my tower, an explosion erupted from the spot it connected with and I felt the huge charge run through the water slicked ground and into the constructs that had been helplessly coated in the liquid.

Unfortunately, I had as well.

I screamed as I felt a thousand swords pierce my body, roasting my flesh and sending me into shock. The pain destroyed my knowledge of everything around me and I fell forward, barely holding onto consciousness as Xolumbrandir's essences were eviscerated, totally destroyed and unable to return to a cohesive form.

For a long moment, there was silence. The storm above my head began to dissipate onto nothing as I lost the ability to pay it's upkeep, my control of the elements slipped away and I lay on the floor, releasing a sound that appeared to halfway between a cry and a laugh.

“Fuck... you... sword.” I wheezed.

After a moment's rest I pulled myself to my feet and began to heal myself with mana, the water element soothingly running through my body as the burns faded to reveal pink and slightly sensitive skin.

The grin on my face never once faltered.

Looking around the throne room, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret. There were no signs of Xolumbrandir's constructs. They had all been destroyed in the created storm, unfortunately, that also seemed to include many of the murals and my old throne, which I counted among the casualties.

When I had created a storm earlier in my rage against Valant, that had been easier because I just let the storm do it's thing, I merely forced it into being with the elements and the right conditions were already present. Here, I had created my own storm and controlled it completely, requiring the aid of all the elements to effectively pull it off. It was a dangerous feat I had attempted. That much power would have destroyed any normal mage, obliterating their body along with the constructs.

Thankfully, my new body was more than up to the task and had already began to heal itself when I started using healing magic. I was glad I had managed to stay conscious though, if I hadn't, there was very real chance that the excessive injuries could've put me in a early grave before I had managed to heal naturally... as natural a as super enhanced Erralith body could be, I suppose.

With a chuckle, I made my way across the remains of the throne room, to the staircase that was directly behind my ruined throne.

I had no doubt greatly weakened Xolumbrandir by taking out so many fragments, but there would be more waiting for me above. I needed to get to the armoury and pick up a few things before I headed to where I knew it was waiting.

I grinned.

Now the real fun begins.

* * *

“So... you're the thieves?”

Following his statement, there was a moment of silence as Ada looked to Bell, wanting to see if the commander wanted her to start talking yet.

The plan had been an easy one to get a hold of. It was Ada's job to make sure that the four Knight Descendants fought them four vs four. To give them an 'advantage'. Although, after getting a good look at the group arrayed in front of them, the girls weren't exactly feeling confident.

The four in the lead were simple enough to identify, the pretty elven body who led them was obviously the prince, Mahalis. The handsome rogue with the sharp smile and scimitar had to be Lor, prince of the sea. So that made the other's Dran, descendant of Drogna, with his huge axe, and Kara the Descendant of Heilvol, who wielded a longsword that was an exact replica of the one on the statue behind them.

“Are you going to speak? Or are you mutes as well as criminals?” asked the Prince, a sneer appearing on his lips.

Ada sighed, this guy obviously took himself way too seriously.

The Archer once again turned her gaze to meet Bell's and saw the almost imperceptible nod that meant she was up. Beneath her mask, Ada grinned.

'time to have some fun' she thought.

“Excuse me, good sir, princely boy, muthafucka. Who the fuck are you? Why the fuck are you here? We don't deal with trash, this is our spot. You want to steal something, you got to go somewhere else.” Ada said, her tone dripping with disdain as she raised a hand and dismissed them with a flick of her wrist.

Even from this distance, Ada saw the vein suddenly appear on the forehead of Mahalis as his grip on The Angelis grew so tight, she was afraid that he would break it.

“What- who do you-” He stuttered, his rage getting the best of him.

'Seriously? Is he that fucking mad already? That was just a warm up, I was going to get him so worked up he would be foaming at the mouth' Ada thought mournfully at the prospect of being unable to use her best material.

“You should just go, little man, take your friends with you.” Ada made to turn but suddenly looked back, cupping her hands to front of her mask “And you can tell your friends that just standing there and holding weapons isn't very intimidating! You look like a bunch of fucking kids who got into their parents weapon stash and are playing soldier, just leave before you get hurt!”

Ada turned and began to make her way towards the steps, the other members of Black Tusk immediately followed her lead and made to leave as well.

“HOW DARE YOU!” came an earth shaking roar from behind them.

Turning, Ada saw that it was the dwarf who was shouting, trying desperately to run at them but the girl, Kara, was holding him back by the neck of his armour with a tired expression on her face.

“I am Dran, son of Dro, son of Draako, son of-!”

“Son of no one gives a shit! Go back to your mountain, dwarf. And by the way, why no beard? Don't all dwarves have beards? you should fix that, your face is pretty fucking ugly. Bye!” Ada said cheerily and, with a spring in her step, began to make her way towards the tower with the others following behind her.

“Stop at once, or we will be forced to attack with deadly force!” shouted Mahalis as he raised his hand, ready to give the order for everyone to rush the group of black-garbed thieves.

“Ah, I see. You don't believe you can beat us alone. That's fine, I suppose. But I would have expected more from the Knight Descendants of the Rebel Court. Aren't you guy's supposed to be trained by the Knight's or whatever? Surely you can handle little old us with only the four of you?”

Fuck yeah we can, you little bitch!” snarled the partially dressed half elf with his scimitar already drawn.

Ada could only burst out laughing “ What- I can't-. I'm sorry but I've just been challenged to combat by an elf wearing nothing but a fucking vest and satin trousers. Can I speak to someone seriously? Or is that too much to ask?”

Lor's face turned to a deep red as anger came to the forefront, he took a step forward, as if to start to battle and Ada felt apprehension rise in her heart as she took a step forward also, ready to meet his charge.

“Enough!” shouted the ice princess standing in the corner as she took a step forward, standing next to the elven prince, who didn't take his eyes off of Ada.

“I can see what you're doing, criminal. But we won't be so easily manipulated as to-”

“Oh you can shut up as well. Seriously, the men are barely dressed and expect me not to laugh when they threaten me and now I have a little girl claiming she's 'figured me out'. You're a bit too young to be telling me about the ins and out's of manipulation, ice princess. All I want is a proper fight, but you want to hide behind that little elf there and put on a brave face. Just shut the fuck up and get back in line. The men are talking.” Ada cried, soundly exasperated but secretly jumping with joy as she saw the twitch above Kara's eye.

As expected, this was the one that would be the most troublesome. She put on a face in front of everyone but deep down she just wants to be taken seriously. By dismissing her as brutally as Ada had, she had effectively removed her as a serious player in her eyes. Something that her ego could not allow. They were still young, still inexperienced and far too proud for their own good. Kara knew exactly what was going on, but she would fall for it anyway, to prove a point.

'Stubbornness will be the death of her' Ada thought, examining the girl.

“Fine, you want a fair fight, so be it.” hissed Mahalis, clearly upset by what Ada had said to Kara “Hilin! Stay out of this battle, we will crush these lowly thieves ourselves!”

There was a rumble of approval from the dwarf and half-elf, while Kara appeared to be conflicted for a moment. She joined them soon after though and they began a slow and steady march towards Black Tusk, their weapons drawn.

Black Tusk immediately formed around each other and waited for the commander to give her orders, what Ada saw however was tiredness in her eyes.

“Ada, did you really have to rile them up so much?”

Ada giggled “They were too easy to rile up! The only one who knows it's a trick is the girl and she's still going to fight. Idiots.”

Bell shook her head “Fine, thanks to Ada their going to all focus on her, so we need to separate them”

“How do you propose we do that?” asked Ursula doubtfully as she cast her eyes back over the group of stoic looking Descendants.

Somehow, all three of them could feel the grin beneath Bell's mask “We'll scare the shit out of them... Leigh, you ready?” The shy girl nodded quickly, the long curved sword she always carried clutched tightly to her chest. “Ok, we support Leigh and work as one unit. These guys aren't as experienced and, hopefully, it will take them time to adjust to our tactics. Break!”

“Aye!” shouted the other three as they turned to face their enemies

The Knight Descendants had already covered half of the distance and didn't show any sign of slowing, so Black Tusk put themselves into formation. Leigh stood right at the front, shaking and holding her blade with a white knuckle grip. Ursula and Bell took up her flanks as Ada stayed at the back and drew an arrow.

Then they began to move. Walking at a steady pace towards their enemies.

“What the fuck is this? That girl in front is shaking like a leaf? Are they that scared that they hide behind their weakest member?” Lor mocked as he sped up and overtook his allies.

“Lor! Back in formation, we need to strike them as a-” Kara shouted

“Gods, will you stop complaining? I'll deal with these small fry by myself. How tough can they be?”

Unfortunately, Lor found out just how tough they can be.

He dashed forward, mana running through his body as he moved with a practised grace, his scimitar already held out in front of him as he prepared to activate the technique his mother taught him so long ago, the one that had allowed her to fight on par with Corus himself. The Song of the Seven Swords.

With one strike Lor landed an additional six every time he attacked by manipulating his aura and using it as a physical weapon. It was his trump card, his greatest weapon when fighting an enemy with access to a greater amount of magical ability. He may be a rather sub-par mage but, besides his mother, he had no equal in the sword.

So he was surprised that, when he brought his sword down onto the shaking girls head, she disappeared.

“What?!”

“Here I am” A voice attracted him from his right side, emotionless and calm, it was the voice he imagined death would have. Detached and without mercy.

Lor barely moved out of the way before a curved blade almost split his skull open and immediately began to move backwards even as the spectre of the shaking girl chased him. He desperately avoided her slashes as he moved back, unable to utilise Song of the Seven Swords because he couldn't focus enough to use it.

All he could do was bob and weave. His style of combat had always been aggressive, but this was insane. The girl didn't let up for a second, seemingly knowing where he was about to be before he did. Even avoiding her he couldn't escape completely and it wasn't long before dozens of cuts covered his body.

“Just stand still for a second, so I can cut off your head, please.” Leigh said, her voice polite as she continued to pursue the annoying half-elf.

This was Leigh's battle meditation, something that her old master had taught her after it became apparent that she was much gentler than most. Battle meditation allowed Leigh to slip into an emotionless state and fight with perfect clarity. For someone as shy and emotional as Leigh was, it was an invaluable tool. Bell, always thinking with a military mind, thought to utilise the talent. It scared even her, and she had grown up with Cinder.

As Leigh chased Lor, she suddenly felt danger to her left and ducked just in time to avoid the snarling dwarf called Dran as his axe passed inches from her face.

Off balance, Leigh tried to move out of the way but a well timed kick from the Descendant sent her skittering across the ground.

Before she could jump to her feet, Lor moved and brought his sword down on her head, only to find it had been batted away by a rather large fist. Surprised, Lor tried to counter but Ursula was much closer to him and needed less preparation to attack, unleashing a flurry of bone breaking punches on the prince of the sea that sent him hurtling backwards.

Dran went to help his companion but found himself blocked by another black garbed creature, this one wielding an axe in one hand and a dagger in the other. With a roar, the two met in battle, their weapons meeting at speed, causing sparks to ignite between the two.

Bell immediately made the assessment that while she had more skill, the dwarf had a larger weapon and greater strength which put her into a defensive stance, searching for an opening, while Dran continued to almost foam at the mouth as he gave into his berserker rage, allowing it to consume him completely.

Kara and Mahalis finally caught up with the pair and were about to join the fight when Leigh suddenly shot forward, bringing the fight to them and engaging them both in combat, her sword a blur as it whipped back and forth, blocking their swords from cutting her in half.

She couldn't keep it up indefinitely however. They were both skilled and extremely well trained in the ways of the sword and magic. Even as she thought this, Mahalis drew in mana and unleashed a gust of wind designed to knock her off balance. It succeeded.

Leigh flailed as one of her feet was displaced and Kara brought Furela down in a swift action, ready to take the head off the elf.

But Furela was knocked off course as an arrow hit it with pinpoint accuracy, throwing Kara off balance and allowing Leigh to regain her footing, shoving against the human and giving her more room to breath.

Kara's eyes found The Archer, the one who had dismissed her as nothing and ground her teeth together.

“You take her, I have the annoying one!” Kara shouted as she dashed towards Ada, leaving Mahalis to deal with the recovered Leigh.

“So, the little girl thinks she can take me alone! How cute!” Ada laughed as she launched arrow after arrow at the Descendant who managed to avoid most of the projectiles as others shattered on her enchanted leather armour.

“I'm going to tear you apart, bitch!” seethed Kara as she approached with swift steps, both hands gripped on Furela.

“We'll see about that!” snarled Ada as she too dashed forward, her bow spinning like a staff, ready to bash in the princess' skull.

All the while, the combatants didn't notice the swirling maelstrom of darkness that was forming at the peak of the tower.

Xolumbrandir was preparing.