Jackal Among Snakes

Erlebnis fought from an incontrovertibly advantaged position. He had already proven that his emissaries were a match to the elven gods. Every second he waited, his presence on this realm grew stronger, allowing him to field more of those potent combatants. If they should bunch around his breach, their strength would rise and rise until it was unassailable. It was low-risk, high reward. Even as the invader, the onus for attack rested on the elven gods.

It was unfair, but then so was the world. But fighting with an advantage inclined one to certain strategies, and fighting a defensive battle, even more so. Recent events had proven Erlebnis was not unpredictable. Indeed, he was quite reactive… and with his point of entry stemming from one breach, he had a location he was inclined to defend.

Argrave and Anneliese stood on the matriarch Ujin’s shoulder, holding the reserves as Ghan, Merata, and Dairi advanced towards the lone emissary standing on the beach. The patriarch led the three of them so that lightning magic might be rendered ineffective. They seemed foolhardy, brash… and they were, trusting Argrave to fulfill his promise so absolutely. But Erlebnis’ emissaries did not disappoint.

The sea roared up into the sky, all the water displaced by a surge of magical power on an unprecedented scale. Hundreds of emissaries stood, holding their grotesque hands out like musketeers prepared to fire a volley. Flames bright enough to melt metal and winds powerful enough to cleave the earth cut out in tandem, seeking to begin this battle with a decisive and humiliating blow.

As the defender, if the enemy overextends, punish them. With a show of overwhelming force to begin a battle, a large portion of the enemy forces could be wiped out, and morale would be shattered. It was brutally effective logic.

But Erlebnis could not know that this strength might be used against him.

Anneliese finished her spell, and her spirits wrapped around Argrave. He was standing on Ujin’s shoulder, and then he was gone, spirited away. His eyes next saw a light so blinding it pained his eyes. The heat set his hair aflame immediately, and the fast-moving winds shredded bits and pieces of his armor, distant thought the spells were. This was a barrage meant to slay a god, and he stood before it alone.

But long before Argrave arrived, the matrix for [Requite] was already complete in his hand. He merely allowed the magic in his body to fill the matrix... and once shamanic magic seized him, he reached deep within himself and called upon all the spirits that had found purchase inside his vessel. They were eager actors.

Incorporeal red and black spirits surged singing out of Argrave’s hands, slipping inside of the burning flames and unstoppable winds that approached ever closer by the second. His enchanted gloves grew hot enough he felt them burn through his fingers, and Argrave lost his sense as he howled in pain… but then, he didn’t need to make sense of that incomprehensible mass of spells—the spirits acted for him at his urging.

Argrave felt the link between him and the spirits break as they fulfilled their task. The intense heat and pressure faded away for half a second… but before he could even appreciate this fact, a concussive force rocked into him. Intense power slammed the whole front of his body as the spells made contact, and though his armor took some of the pressure away he flew backwards through the air from the intense force of the S-rank spells.

Though Argrave’s eyes felt like liquid, he managed to see an inferno raging where the emissaries had been standing. Seawater exploded upwards into the air, making it seem like it was raining for half a minute. The emissaries, the majority of whom had been lying in wait underwater, were exposed to the elements. Many managed a ward against the intense blast, but already seawater from elsewhere moved to fill the vast crater.

lightning bolt, empowering it. Dairi walked boldly into the ocean as the emissaries did nothing—Argrave thought they seemed afraid to cast a spell after what had occurred—and seized

meeting someone. He flinched wildly, his entire body aching. Immediately, serenity spread into his bones, and spirits danced around at the edges of his vision. Anneliese had come to catch

told her, despite wishing to bask in the relief

calling upon the spirits once again to stride

they were elsewhere. They drifted high above the battlefield, and Argrave pushed past his aching bones and tired

proved unassailable. As before, Argrave sent his spirits forth, seizing their spells and making them his own. When Ghan’s blade came next, Argrave procured and dispelled their wards in the same motion, the god’s power finally cleaved through

the ocean as they sought to gain their footing. They tried all they could—attacking Argrave directly, changing their attack patterns… but with momentum in their favor, Argrave pressed the advantage single-mindedly. Any counter they mustered worked only once, and any defense broke before his probing. And soon, it was not only the van upon the

with skill. Lunho, Murgid, and Volgar, all with powers unsuited for combat, used

then… not

she saw his fear and knew what had happened. His mind whirled, searching

go down there,” he told her as the high winds howled

they drifted down through the air slowly. “Given enough

broke past an emissary’s ward, cleaving it in two. Dairi advanced further into the sea, parting the water around them to make way for their charge. The gods’ patriarch fought with primal ferocity, barging into their ranks and dividing where he or his family

be wrong—the emissaries must be lurking somewhere, waiting for an opportunity to descend upon them and end them. But then…

Dairi continued to advance, Erlebnis’ breach revealed itself. The emissaries rushed inside it by the dozen. When they saw their spells were not countered, each and all began a relentless assault, using it to cover their retreat as they headed back inside. Four or five dealt spell after spell towards the elven gods, while the

for the remaining emissaries to head into the breach. The endless metallic red in the land beyond it made Argrave feel quite uncomfortable. He looked at Ghan as the man ran towards the breach, ready to

a crease on fabric. Then only air remained. The breach was gone like it never was. Argrave

over,” Argrave

#####

and Anneliese stood in the spot Erlebnis’ breach had once been. Now, nothing remained but the sea floor. Dairi kept the water

Anneliese said soberly as she tended to Argrave’s