“My sister, Tabitha, is the antithesis of my mother. Black hair against my mother’s blond, hazel eyes to her blue, cruel where she was kind.”

Chapter 91

Brina leaped off her flying steed, hurtling downwards towards the distracted Lich as she lifted her two-handed maul above her head. The hammer, wreathed in divine mana, was further enhanced as she cast the 4th tier Paladin spell, ‘Staggering Smite’, ensuring that not only would she destroy the Lich physically, but its consciousness would be destroyed as the attack struck body, mind and soul equally.

Every ounce of strength, every shred of mana was sent into the strike as she felt the hammer impact on the Lich’s cloak of black energy.

The force of the blow obliterated what remained of the ruined city. For miles around, great rents were created in the ground. The unleashed mana erupted in a hurricane of fire and radiant energy, disintegrating the crumbled ruins as it spread.

Brina’s Pegasus mount swooped under her as she fell, lifting her back into the air as she looked at her handiwork. The raging inferno below swirled violently, as if hell itself had come to the mortal plane.

Not to be outdone, the transformed Felix inhaled deeply, drawing air and mana into his draconic lungs.

With a roar that shook the sky, he unleashed his dragon breath upon the destructive energies below. Pure white fire sprayed from his elongated mouth, streaking through the night sky before landing on the ground where the Lich was last seen.

It was as if the sun itself was rising from the ground as everything below was submerged in a maelstrom of white fire. Long moments passed as Felix poured more fire onto the earth, before finally being forced to stop when his mana had fallen considerably.

Unwilling to maintain the exhaustive transformation, his human features reemerged. Without wings to support him, he channeled mana into one of his many magical items, his body instantly becoming weightless.

The pair floated silently, watching as the firestorm burned for miles in every direction, even sweeping across the ocean until stopped by the standing section of grey stone wall.

With a quick flicker of light, a sickly green beam of energy shot out of the fire, aiming for the now completely human, mage. One of Felix’s many magical items responded to the attack, sheltering him from harm.

A bronze shield, larger than his body, materialized in front of him. The Lich’s beam fragmented off the defensive item, splintered into hundreds of rays. Brina watched as one ray of light sliced deep into a section of distant wall. Splitting it in half, the stone melted leaving a line of glowing molten rock.

Felix was concentrated on stopping the assault, and didn’t notice as the Lich suddenly appeared behind him, stepping out of the darkness, before placing its bony hand on the mage’s shoulder.

He felt an extreme cold travel through his body as he spun around to confront the Lich. But the damage was already done. Waves of negative energy swept through his body, paralyzing his muscles and limbs.

Eyes wide open in shock, he could do nothing as the Lich’s eyes bored into his own briefly, before the undead turned towards Brina.

Not waiting for the Lich to attack, she urged her mount to fly closer as she gathered her mana around her for another strike. She felt her Core, filled with Azure blue mana, hum and sing as she pulled on its power to fuel her spell.

With a cry, she channeled the divine spell, ‘banishment’. She focused on the Lich, urging the goddess to expel it from this realm. With a faint ‘pop’ the Lich disappeared, ejected from their world. Maintaining her concentration, she stared, unblinking at the empty space where her enemy had floated.

Felix watched on as Brina concentrated. The waves of cold energy stayed in his body, his muscles spasming and twitching as the negative energy paralyzed him.

Finally, after what felt like an Eternity, the paralysis faded from Felix and Brina relaxed. The spell had succeeded, the Lich was banished from the world, hurled into a harmless demi plane, unable to hurt anyone.

Immortal, it would remain there for eternity.

Brina let out a sigh of relief, before urging her mount towards Felix. Hovering in the air, she sent a wave of divine healing towards the mage, watching as his muscles relaxed and the spasms stopped.

“See? I told you Brina, we should have done this years-”

“Planar Shift.”

Felix was cut off abruptly as a voice spoke, and a beam of green light flashed pass the paladin’s shoulder, striking Felix directly in the forehead and burning a hole through his skull before continuing into the distant horizon.

The paladin, reacting on instinct, grabbed his arm, forcing her mana into his body in a desperate attempt to heal him. But it was too late.

Before her horrified eyes, starting from the wound, the mage’s body turned to dust. The arm she was holding crumbled in her hands, and her friend simply ceased to exist, disintegrating in front of her.

Spinning around, she faced the creature, his arm slowly lowering back towards the ground. She could see the amusement in its stance, the joy of killing giving it the greatest pleasure.

“One” It hissed, before blinking out of sight, appearing in front of her instantly. Before she could react, it had placed its hand atop her head.

“Stun” The Lich whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear as the 8th tier enchantment, ‘power word: stun’ left her dumbfounded, unable to respond or move, even her thoughts ground to a halt.

“Two” it whispered, pleased with the results.

The Lich lifted its hand from the human’s head, as a radiant blade of indigo flashed into its eyeline from the right. The cleric’s spectral guardian had taken the Lich’s distraction as an opportunity to strike.

Amused, time seemed to slow down for the undead as it assessed the attack. Turning slightly, it noticed another wave of destructive, crimson energy coming for it from the left as well.

Opening its mouth wide, loud barking laughter erupted from the remains of its lungs and throat. A horrible, hissing, grating sound that sent shivers of terror into the living.

Its response to the attacks was to simply unleash an outburst of corrupt mana from around its body.

Like a black flame, its mana surged into the sky, as a shockwave of negative energy exploded outwards, obliterating the spectral guardian. The energy careened towards Markus, who promptly switched places with Echo, standing next to Kathryn again.

The most unfortunate victim of the attack was Brina.

Stunned, unable to move, the wave of negative energy swept over her like a wave. It coursed through her body, ravaging her flesh and organs. Like a kite with its strings cut, the paladin plummeted to the ground while the Pegasus was consumed by the Lich’s power. Nothing remained of the flying mount save for scraps of blackened, rotten flesh.

Brina collided with the ground heavily, where she lay unmoving. Whether the spell was still in effect, or she had perished, Markus couldn’t tell.

Markus watched as the Lich, finished with playing with his companions, slowly floated towards the pair. He readied his blade, waiting for it to come closer before attacking again.

Looking at his wife out of the corner of his eye, He could see her gripping her holy symbol tightly, chanting fervently to the goddess.

Although she appeared to be defenseless, he could feel the mana surging around her. It was the most power he had ever felt before, the sheer force of the magic she was preparing was nearly equal to the divine presence of the goddess herself.

Whatever she was casting, Markus would need to buy her time. It was why he didn’t dare leave her side to fight, Echo or himself would need to always stay by her side, in case the Lich unleashed its killing powers again. He was the only one who could survive it, by switching places with Echo, leaving the duplicate to take the blow.

His enemy landed gently on the wall, standing only a dozen feet away from the couple. Markus could see deep into the Lich’s hallow, burning eyes, where the remnants of its soul resided in this decayed, undead husk.

While he stared into its soul, the Lich peered into his as well.

Markus felt an intrusion in his mind as a connection formed between the pair. He slashed out with his sword in response. The crimson energy was a horizontal wave as it reached the Lich in an instant. Before it could strike, the undead popped out of existence, before reappearing directly in front of him.

Markus slashed again, this time with the edge of the blade. But the Lich easily stepped out of the way. Again, and again the warrior struck, and each time the Lich moved just far enough to evade the blows.

Knowing it was futile to keep on the offensive, Markus leapt back next to Kathryn, gathering his mana around them both in a shield. He needed to buy as much time for his wife as possible.

“’Detect Thoughts’.” The lich whispered. Its voice carried an otherworldly character, as if it didn’t originate from its tongue, but formed in the air from its magic or soul.

“Such a marvelous thing, reading your mind. Slash, slice, cut…so easy to read, so effortless to avoid.” It continued, standing just outside the reach of Markus’ blade. What remained of the flesh on the Lich’s face was twisted in a condescending smirk as it taunted them. Markus could feel the undead probe deeper into his thoughts, its presence a sharp blade piercing his mind.

“Ah, such devotion to your wife!” It hissed out, triumphant as how easily it could see through their ploy. “You expect your faith in her and Secundus,” It spat out the name of the blue sun with distain, “to shield her from harm? To deliver you from evil?” It laughed at the notion, its horrid laughter filling the air.

“Allow me to…enlighten you from that deluded belief.” It whispered, raising its hand and pointing its bony finger at Kathryn again.

The Lich drew deeply from its fathomless pool of mana, forming eight glowing orbs of pure, black mana around it. With a thought, he launched them at the praying cleric, one after another.

“Magic Missile” It murmured, barely audible.

Markus hardened the mana around him, gripping his blade tightly in both hands as the first bolt struck his shield, pushing him back. Cracks formed in the barrier, but it held. Immediately afterwards, the second bolt struck and shattered the shield.

He managed to stop the third with a slice of his blade, but the next four made it pass his defenses, slamming into his body with enough force to damage even his mana enhanced body.

Each impact hit him heavily, but he remained upright, until the last bolt struck him, burning a hole in his armor and cutting deep into his flesh. Panting at the exertion, he looked back at the Lich, smug that he had stopped the assault.

It was then that he realized the Lich was no longer standing on the wall in front of him. Panicking he spun around, only to feel a bony finger press directly against his forehead.

“Three” The Lich whispered, pushing mana into its forefinger as paralyzing energy flooded Markus’ body. He collapsed, spasms rocking his body as he could barely maintain his consciousness.

The Lich peered down at him, the burning pits in its skulls mocking him for his failure, before turning away and slowly walking towards Kathryn.

Markus used every shred of willpower, every ounce of strength, but he couldn’t move. He could only watch in horror as the Lich stood in front of his wife.

Kathryn ignored the enemy in front of her, still deep in prayer. The blue glow of light shone brightly around her, growing stronger every moment.

“Four.” The lich muttered, slowly raising its hand to finish the goddess’ faithful.

It took joy in knowing that the one who spent so much effort to protect this cleric, would watch her die. Only after he ended her life, would he allow the fighter behind it to join her.

Pulling on the corrupt, necromantic energy around it, he directed it against the cleric with a thought. The priestess would die in agony, and it would enjoy every second of her suffering.