Chapter 240: Eye of the Storm (1/2)

Touch of Fate mobius_factor 53210K 2022-07-24

Sera managed to make it to the top of the keep just in time to witness the attack. In unison, the swarm of undead birds turned and fell on the encampment from every direction. The droning buzz, created by the flapping of millions of mummified wings, grew to almost intolerable levels as the wall of rotting bodies fell down upon the camp's defenders.

It reminded Sera of her most recent venture into the open ocean, when Mike managed to awaken some kind of primordial sea monster whose mere arrival created a wave capable of shattering full ships. While they were radically different encounters, the sheer size of the hostile presence was similarly overwhelming. So much so, in fact, that she'd largely discarded the idea of helping with her bow. No matter how many arrows she shot, it wouldn't make a difference at this point.

Instead, she was struck by a sort of fatalistic apathy as she watched the approaching swarm. The threat had fully transcended the point where she could even help, and all she could do was pray that Mike had a solution.

She finally managed to break her gaze away from the approaching wall of doom when the encampment's defenders unleashed their last, desperate barrage. The flashes of various energies, combined with the perspective skewing spell the Marshal had used before, gave her enough of a reason to look at her party member.

Mike was seated near the center of the keep's roof, brow furrowed in deep concentration. The stone around him had been painted with dozens of strange runic markings, arranged in a chaotic and spiraling pattern. As she watched, a floating blob of ink began applying itself to the floor, quickly morphing into another of the symbols.

[I'm not really sure what he's doing, but I guess its something that will help. Can he finish it in time?] She thought as she moved to stand near him, careful to not step on any of the already painted runes. While she quietly waited for him to take notice of her, Sera couldn't help but marvel at how calm she was, all things considered.

Part of her felt that the undead birds weren't as dangerous as they appeared, even given their unnerving numbers. She'd never received a vision about them, so her instincts told her they weren't a real threat at the moment, all evidence to the contrary.

The rest of her, however, was beginning to come to a realization about her party's leader. After surviving a long series of increasingly life-threatening scenarios that Mike managed to resolve with a combination of his ridiculous abilities and bizarre luck, she was starting see a pattern. It was almost as if some god or a simliar entity was altering events in a way that forced him to undergo progressively more difficult challenges.

This of course made sense, when considering the destiny he'd inherited. The gods who had bestowed it on him would naturally want him to grow into a more powerful champion, and there were few better ways to do that then to throw him into battle. However, she doubted that they'd force him to take on anything he wasn't able to handle. They wouldn't want to risk losing him before his destiny played out fully. Which was why, on some instinctual level, Sera knew that things were probably going to be alright here.

Intellectually, however, she understood that her life was in danger, and only something on the level of a miracle would be able to save them at this point. Speaking of which, as she was engaging in this round of introspection, a pale blue dome of energy formed around the camp.

Harnik had evidently succeeded, but she could tell that his efforts only bought them a little more time. Already the light of the shield was beginning to fade, as continuous waves of undead birds pummeled into it, exploding in the process. She estimated that there were only a few minutes before it broke down completely.

”Alright, that should do it.” Mike muttered to himself while standing. He took a moment to survey the situation, and noticed Sera as he did so. A look of concern flashed across his face, ”Didn't see you come up. You alright? Did something happen? Where's Tal?”

[Is there something wrong with my facial expression right now?]

”I'm fine, and Tal was also fine the last time I saw her. To my knowledge, she's still down by the walls, helping the rest of the mages. But do you really have time to be worrying about us right now? Weren't you in the process of doing something important?”

He frowned, but nodded. ”I am, but that doesn't mean I can't be worried too. Anyway, I'm still focusing the mana I need to use this formation. Can't really speed this part up.”

[Formation?]

”What exactly is all of this? What's it supposed to accomplish?” She asked while gesturing at the symbols inscribed on the roof.

Mike grinned at her. ”I'm about to do something pretty damn epic, is what.”

Sera suppressed a sigh. Couldn't he take this a little seriously?

The air pulsed suddenly, as the presence of an overwhelming amount of mana made itself felt. So much so in fact, that she was having trouble breathing and her vision was narrowing. Not that Mike seemed to notice.

”Alright, here I go.” He said gleefully, before starting to chant.

[What in the hells is he doing?! This is almost as bad as the time the Cabal nearly summoned a Demon Lord. If he ends up killing me by accident with his stupid spell, I'm definitely haunting him!] She complained silently as she fell to her hands and knees, no longer able to keep herself upright. It took all of her strength just to gasp for breath, let alone call out to the idiot who was still focused on his spell casting.

While in a desperate situation, Sera still had enough presence of mind to realize that he was using an extremely unusual chant. Unlike the lilting and lyrical language of the High Elves that she was used to hearing from mages, this sounded guttural and primal. Something about it resonated deep within her soul, making her feel even sicker in the process.

After suffering for what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, Mike finally finished his spell with a thunderous exultation. ”[Kark mor na gant!]”

The symbols, starting with the ones at his feet and continuing in a spiral pattern around him, began to glow. A bank of mist formed along the edges of the roof and began to swirl in a circle, creating a ring-shaped cloud with Mike at its center. It was small and slow at first, but gradually gained both speed and mass. Pretty soon the keep was at the center of a spiraling column of tempestuous clouds, that continued to grow as more of them streamed in from outside of the shield.