Mark of the Fool

Chapter 304: Dark Allies and Operation Grand Summoning Ascension

Chapter 304: Dark Allies and Operation Grand Summoning Ascension

The monster crouched at the edge of a copse of trees as something stirred in the distant landscape.

Something that gave the Raveners Hunter concern.

There were few mortals in this land who could call upon mana to wield like a weapon. Yet, the ones it was sensing, blazing so brightly with magic, were far from few. This was troubling. The threat was thick in the air, and the Hunter could feel it deep in its core. Where were the two dungeons? They should be near, secretly building armies for their master. It sent its senses out again, searching for the dungeonsbut, nothing answered. Were they destroyed by the Heroes, or these wizards? Were they eliminated by these hostiles now dwelling here?

A growl escaped its throat.

Where had these magic wielders come from and why were they here? Wizards amassing here was not natural and unnatural elements were unpredictable. They must be managed. They must be eliminated. Like the usurper. But, there was no trace of them near or far. At least none that it could sense. Troubling. The words of that priest in Ryeford might be worthless.

The Hunter would have to learn more.

Yet, it was impossible to scout the area ahead with the sun so bright and little cover to hide in. No overgrown places to conceal itself.

Daylight was restrictive. It would be best to wait until darkness fell. With a low growl, the Hunter called a pair of silence-spiders down to it. The soundless creatures crept through the trees on their blade like-legs. Deeper in the wood, the rest of the horde waited, far from prying eyes.

When dark falls, go, see who invades these lands. Find out who these strangers are, it commanded. The poisoned priest said they were foreign wizards, but I want to know more.

The silence-spiders noiselessly brought their scythe-like front claws together in acknowledgement, then crawled back into the trees to wait, hidden until time for their mission. The Hunter sent out a ping with its senses, and detected mana nearby.

It flinched.

Two new sources of mana reached it.

The first blazed from the wizards camp with a crushing brilliance like the suns rays. It hadnt been there earlier, but seemed to have simply materialised from thin air like a vengeful ghost. The Hunter clicked its teeth together. It was an awful power. Was it the usurper? Nono it didnt have a usurpers stink.

But still, whatever it was could be a great threat. Its master should be told.

The Hunter called ten worker spiders to it, sending them to inform the Ravener of what it had sensed.

Go to our master with word of this new threat. Move swiftly. It is more powerful in magic than the Sage and the Chosen combined. Go, so that our master can prepare.

The ten dipped low in response, then scurried away between the tree trunks, hurrying to their masters lair. There. Now if anything stopped the Hunter, its master would know of the coming threat.

For now, though

What was that second source of mana?

It was close. Very close. Three together, perhaps only a brief march away. Scouts of these foreign wizards perhaps? They could be a valuable source of information if captured.

With a quick bark, it brought several silence-spiders and venom walkers to its side.

Come. We hunt.

The party of monsters moved through the trees, keeping to the shadows between trunks, creeping closer to their prey. As always, it relished the thought of the coming capture and kill. It did not gain power from mortal fear like the Ravener or its dungeon cores did, but it did enjoy seeing fear consume its prey.

A screech from above brought it from its thoughts.

Its head snapped up with teeth bared.

A crow. A simple crow, taking flight from a branch.

Nothing to concern itself with.

As it slipped between trees, low voices reached it from ahead. The air was filled with the tang of magic. Spellcraft was present, but of what sort, the Hunter could not tell. Cautiously, it moved toward the magic wielders.

Then a voice cut through the woods.

One screaming words of power.

Mana blazed in the Hunters senses. Mana that crackled.

It leapt aside, shouting a warning to its forces.

Crack!

A blue tongue of lightning flicked through the trees, catching both a silence-spider and venom walker in its path. A searing flash, and the stink of boiling venom filled the air. The dull thud of two bodies hitting the forest floor followed.

But the Hunter didnt spare its dead a single glance. It charged through the treesas agile and swift as sudden deathweaving between trunks and toward the magic casters.

Our servants see you, Ravener-spawn! a withered, inhuman voice croaked. Begone! Begone from our lands!

My land! another voice shrieked. My land, sister!

Crack!

Bolts of lightning struck.

More silence-spiders dropped, but the Hunter burst from the woods and into a clearing. Three humanoids, having the appearances of aged female mortals, confronted him. They resembled humanity at first glance.

But, their nature was more monster than human. Each stood taller than any humanmaybe close to eight feet and their blue skin had the grey cast of burnished iron. Long scraggly hair fell to their hips in a tangle, hanging atop robes made of a patchwork of animal skins and coverings.

Long, iron talons capped each twisted finger, while blackened fangs jutted from slavering misshapen lips shrieking spells. Around the trio, a pack of monsters milled about; mounds of vegetation with whirling tentacles, and beast goblins with vines growing freely from their bodies.

The Hunter snarled.

Blue annis hags: local monsters. Were they bound to the wizards?

It would find out.

Kill them! one of the hags snapped, in her robe of bird feathers. Kill the interlopers!

Beast-goblins and plant monsters surged toward the Hunter, with flailing tentacles and gnashing jaws.

It answered with a roar.

Silence-spiders poured from the woods, soon followed by venom walkers. Spells roared from all three hags: lightning, wind, and dark curses aimed at the Hunter, but the Ravener-spawns reflexes had been honed by experience.

It weaved past lightning.

Slid beneath wind blasts.

And used the hags own servants for cover against the curses. Vegetable-matter boiled and withered where dark magic struck the shambling plants. The Hunter waited for a pause in their spells then struck the witches. With a quick twitch of finely-tuned muscle, it soared over the hags horde and onto a giant, tentacled creature.

Another twitch shot it toward the hag in the feather robe.

Claws swept out.

She snarled, slashing back.

Schnk!

A high-pitched shriek replaced spellcasting: part of a blue arm spiralled through the air, then dropped, tumbling along yellowed grass. With a single sweep of its claws, the Hunter had slashed through the hags tough hide, relieving her off a forearm.

She reeled back, clutching the severed limb in disbelief. Then, it struck again, raking its claws deep into her face.

She slumped lifeless to the ground.

Her shocked sisters turned, looking to escape.

There! There was the terror. Now to use it.

You! the Hunter roared at them. How do you serve these wizards? Who are they?

The surviving hags looked back at the Ravener spawn.

Wait, wait no! one answered in terror, her eyes drifting to her dead sister. We do not serve the outsiders! Interlopers, they are! To be killed or driven from my land!

The Hunter snarled. You do not serve them? Lies will not save you, witch!

No, Ravener-spawn! the other hag cried, backing away. We are enemies to them not allies, no! Wait, wait! She waved her hands, halting the attack of their horde of plant monsters and beast-goblins. Stop! Stop attacking us! We have no quarrel with you if your enemy is our enemy! We are only protecting our land!

My land! the first hag snapped at her only sister.

The Hunter considered what the hags had said. Enemies of the outsiders?

A barking cry to its own forces called off their attack.

Silence-spiders and venom walkers abruptly fell back. Relief washed the hags faces.

Yes, good! one growled. Her robes were made from the skins of reptiles and amphibians. Her sisters were of deerskin. Good, good! Why fight each other when we can help each other!

She talked fast; fearand something else was apparent in her voice. The Hunter thought on what it had learned while watching humans: was that excitement? Hope?

Help, how? it asked the hag.

You are enemies to these wizards? the deer-robed one asked.

Yes, to all wizards. the Hunter said, omitting mention of the usurper. It had not confirmed whether the usurper was with those wizards, but it would. Information would be needed, and the interlopers would have to be dealt with. They were dangerous enough without a usurper among them.

Good, good! the reptilian-robed one said. Why waste lives killing each other? Will you move into these lands and drive me away?

No, the Hunter said. You kill mortals. I have no reason to kill you.

Good, then better we unite our claws and use them on our enemies flesh, than on each other! Yeees! she said quickly, her face relaxing. We will tell you what we know of these interlopers! My sisters and I use spells to observe them through the eyes of birds. We can watch and listen to them.

So thats how they saw him and his forces.

We can tell you all that weve learned. And then, we can join forces and kill every one of them! Yes?

The Hunter thought about her proposal. It had been made by the Ravener for assassination. To this purpose, it was given the power to subjugate creatures not spawned by its master and twist any local monster into shield or fodder.

But these blue annis hags had intelligence.

And had offered an alliance out of fear, but also of their own will.

It considered what to do. When it was first created, it lacked understanding and experience and would not have hesitated to attack these witches and kill, or bring them under its control. But now?

It had learned how mortals gained strength through cooperation.

Why not adapt and try this alliance? It could easily kill these two if betrayal was their goal. Its chest swelled with pride.

Experience had made it wiser.

That was why it was one of the greatest of the Raveners living servants. Perhaps even the greatest.

Yes, the Hunter growled. We will fight together, as long as we get what we want. Betray me, and I will kill you.

No, no! We wont! the hag in amphibian robes said. To the Hunters surprise, she spit on her sisters corpse. I didnt like her anyway! So, no hard feelings! And more help for each of us!

She paused. But we must take great care. Two dungeons tried to kill these interlopers, but they destroyed them! These wizards are very dangerous.

The Hunter clicked his teeth together. Tell me more about them. How did they fight? Who destroyed the dungeons?

The hag dressed in reptile skins growled. The wizards were with three of the Heroes. They had vast amounts of power. Some could fly. There was a big minotaur and an even bigger fishman. The fishman didnt seem to have mana, but he did have unnatural strength. The minotaur used magic. A mortal female wizard rode on the head of a giant tortoise that sprayed a thick flaming liquid on Ravener-spawn, and not only that, but it could fly. It was as big as a young dragon. There was another one who controlled a large clay man that shot fire from its head and hands. He and all of his companions are very dangerous!

A growl slipped from the Hunters throat. Tell me more about these wizards, especially the ones that controlled the tortoise and the man made of clay.

Its new allies and its army of monsters, would need to prepare.

###

Far across land and sea, the wizard who controlled the man made of clay was in the middle of building an army of monsters. A pile of books with second and first-tier summoning spells were spread out in front of him, all borrowed from the library as soon as hed returned to Generasi.

Summon Viper-Devil.

Summon Ice Elemental.

Summon Taranea: a type of celestial spider.

Summon Hellhound.

And more.

Monsters for combat, for help, for scouting and for other things. Theyd each help him increase in strength and power, and also provide more helpers for other tasks.

But, these werent the spells he was focused on at the moment.

The spell-guide in his hands was for Summon Elemental Sprite. And he wasnt the only one looking at it.

So, this spell is going to be a little advanced for you, Alex explained while Selina leaned against one of his muscular arms, peering at the book. But spell arrays are broken into different parts, and if you look at enough of them, you start to figure out which parts do what before you even cast a spell.

He cleared his throat, putting on his best Baelin impression. A Proper Wizard can tell what a spell does just by seeing the spell array alone, he said. But thats not always the case. Most wizards just learn enough about spell arrays to cast the spell, they dont really break down all of the details if they dont have to.

Cooool, Selina reached down, tracing the spell array with her finger. And youre going to summon a sprite?

Oh yeah, Alex said. Once I learn the spell at least, which hopefully will be fast.

Selina looked at him sharply. Howre you going to do it so fast? Miss Sutton said it takes a long time to learn spells.

Yeah, well Alex smiled. Ive got a lot of confidence in this one. Trust me. Lets just say I have a trick or two up my sleeve.

Today would be the first time hed be testing The Travellers power with a new spell since the day hed first summoned Bubbles. If things went well, he could probably learn the new spells on his list in under a week. And that was only one step in his plan to advance to third-tier spells and progress in other ways, including physically and financially. Fighting alongside the Heroes had motivated him. Hard. If he wanted to take on dungeons and get dungeon core remains without needing a massive force with him, hed need to get even stronger.

He cracked his knuckles, looking down at a detailed plan with the title circled at the top of the page.

Operation Grand Summoning Ascension was about to begin.