Bonded Summoner

Bree’s hooves and the song of her auril heart beating thundered through the cavern, as she weaved a lance made of auril vines. The auril flowed through her body and lance alike, as she moved faster than something her size and weight had any business to.

The lance easily pierced deeply through her golem’s core and exploded, and she smirked, watching the weak Alliance members struggling to manage such a weak monster. Another one fell from the ceiling a distance away, and she veered toward it to take it on.

Satisfaction and praise flooded her strange new connection, Hestia’s Champion both proud and intrigued at her capability. Bree couldn’t help but feel proud, even if her feelings were conflicted.

Being praised by such a vastly weaker entity as if she were some sort of pet was demoralizing, and had Ainora and Isolyn been awake, they would sneer and chastise her for enjoying it for even a moment.

However, in this vessel with his brand, he was now her master, and she couldn’t help but start warming up to the idea. She felt the strength of his will, his impressive talent. But now, with the branding and bond, Bree could feel the warmth of his heart and his hearth–the flames of his family.

She had only felt such warmth and love from Mother, and she hung on every feeling he sent her over the bond. Her sisters had love for her too, but it was definitely closer to comradery, the three of them being so similar to one another.

When Bree originally received the odd branding, she had underestimated the child of the void, and the magics that made up his Hearth. The combination of the divine hearth flames and Qi, Auril, Holy Light and Holy Dark, mana, the void, and his will, shockingly overpowered even the remnants of her early divinity.

Her odd vessel was limited, sure, but her early divinity was not something so easily overpowered. She could use such divine essence to enhance her mind and will, even while restricted. So the idea that he managed to overwhelm her immense will was enough to make her more than a little excited.

She and her sisters had long since sought a powerful enough mate within their Tier, and they hadn’t been defeated by anyone but Mother or other Divine, or strictly unfair odds coordinated by Tartarus.

They had long since agreed to mate with any male of the same or lower Tier that defeated them, even if they faced them with lower Tier avatars or vessels. But none could quite achieve victory, and they were convinced they would have to wait until they made their Eternal Essence and achieved godhood before they could find a suitable one.

Her body had reacted on its own, and she couldn’t help but be abashed at her display. If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, when she returned to her shared body with her sisters, they were absolutely livid with her.

They weren’t the ones defeated, so why must they share her branding? They denied that they too would have been conquered, blaming her for letting her guard down.

Isolyn and Ainora were disgusted with her, and if it was possible to actually disown her when they all shared the same body, they would have. Just how could she have been defeated by a first Tier whelp?

Ultimately, they were right. Had she given it her all from the beginning, she would have easily stomped the fledgling Champion in his first attempt to overpower her will alone, especially if she drew in aid from her sisters.

She suspected Isolyn and Ainora were just waiting to do this to him, and Isolyn certainly baited him with her interaction.

But a win is a win, no matter how it came about–a hunter must only catch his prey unawares once. She had underestimated him, and victory was his.

Her two sisters wanted to erase the branding of her future mate, but she defended it and fought them with teeth, tail, and flame.

The fight between the three of them lasted for days, only Mother’s intervention managing to break up the fight. A fight with three sisters sharing the same body was not a pretty scene–their epic struggles had destroyed many forests over the ages, and this one was perhaps the worst.

She smiled with nostalgia, remembering the first time she piloted Jake’s otter to stretch her legs for a bit of fun. Their Mother mentioned there was a prospective summoner they could enjoy some fun fights with, which was shocking.

Finding resonance with a 0th Tier Summoner across the multiverse, not even in their home Sector, was completely unheard of. So when they had the opportunity to fight through challenges such as the Trials or even enemy Champions, they leaped at the opportunity–and fought for who fought next among themselves.

Piloting the badgerdillo as if it were a stripped down avatar was immensely satisfying and nostalgic as they remembered when times were much simpler and more enjoyable. Then, helping destroy the enemy Apophis summoner as Bree used the sharkgoblin and Isolyn used the turtle was a blast.

Bree and Isolyn would fight one another the most, fire and ice like oil and water. Normally, Ainora would keep the peace when Bree fought with Isolyn, but when Bree got branded by Jake, the two actually ganged up on her!

Mother brought herself down to the peak of the fourth Tier and fought with them just to put them in their place, forcing them to keep the branding rather than eliminating it.

If she had fought them from her original strength, the two girls never would have accepted Mother’s punishment and intervention, and the fight would have merely resumed the moment they finished healing. Mother was proven to be the strongest once more, and forced the angry daughters to accept her resolution–might made right, after all.

Mother then used her divinity to help separate out both the brand and Bree’s soul, and focus it more on Bree and enhance it. The three were still loosely connected, but Echidna’s divinity helped them transform into something slightly different.

It cost Bree and her sisters much to make this happen, but they were all too much in a hurry to be rid of her when presented the option. Isolyn and Ainora were currently almost comatose, and likely would shy away from Jake’s call–even if they were willing.

Bree lanced the next golem, even as another two landed nearby. Rolling her eyes at Tartarus’s machinations, she formed a tail and ball of vines that resembled her weighted tail on their original body, and slammed it into one golem, sending it flying toward the Asian-armor attired warriors to take out.

The encounter was supposed to have golems fall from above randomly, but it was obvious to her that it somehow tipped the scales in its favor whenever convenient.

She missed her tail. This boar avatar had a strange tail that tended to coil, which was completely useless for combat. Otherwise, she much enjoyed the auril heart, even if it was connected to a strange entity, and heavily limited by this odd construct.

The beastkin and the world of Highlands were certainly powerful together, so she couldn’t help but respect the special nature of the connection. The odd Heart of the World’s song was welcoming, sending a loving embrace of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth over it. Something about it too attracted her, and she desired to explore this resonance.

The oddest thing about this heroic boar’s body was the small amount of divinity from Brigid. When Bree birthed her avatar into the vessel, the two merged into one another. It was like she was reborn, but also not, at the same time. Normally, Bree thought such a thing was impossible.

One would overwrite the other, and one could not contain the faith energy or divine energy of two divine at the same time. That the Hart family was able to have clergy classes and become another’s clergy was mind-boggling. Was this the power of the void, or the power of the hearth? Bree knew even Mother respected Hestia and Odin’s strength and cunning, so it could be either one of their plots.

But something special drew her and her sister’s gaze to Jake. His special resonance was before either of those things. There was something bestial there, the essence of something that doesn’t belong in humans at all, that made their body react. They could not decide if they wanted to eat him, or mate with him. It was infuriating.

Then, Ainora was pissed that she received a lioness vessel for her avatar. Unable to access her lightning and instead the power of summer or the sun, in addition to being forced into a feline of all things, was infuriating for her. Cats were the only things they hated more than birds.

Isolyn was smugly quiet, getting the vessel closest to their original visage. She didn’t tease Ainora at all, but that alone made Ainora even angrier, having nothing to take her frustration on. She hated her avatar so much, she could barely enjoy fighting, and that said a lot.

Bree was mostly happy with hers, but she wanted something with a more useful tail. The vines were a useful stopgap, but would much rather have the real thing. If she got a chance to recreate her avatar, she would take it.

As it stood, her future mate would not desire to mate with her, lacking a humanoid body or avatar. Just what should she make, if provided the opportunity? Brigid’s divinity would make a wolf or hound a poor match.

She looked over the child of the void’s mates with a frown. Each one had wings, except for mother’s other descendant–was that what he found attractive? Birds were the lamest of all predators, fighting them being the most infuriating, and she refused to become one.

The pace the Battlegroup was lowering the health of the boss was respectable. The Champion’s current mates all brought interesting skills and abilities to the pack, and she couldn’t help but be envious as she watched them.

They got along together well as sister wives, their pack led by a powerful mate. She could tell they likely rarely fought, getting along well despite their obvious differences. Perhaps, she was all-too-similar to her sisters, and why they were so prone to fighting one another.

The dragoness empowered herself with draconic might, and burned the boss deeply with the flames of Bastet mixed with the kitsune. Then, she attempted to merge those flames with the fires of creation as she waved her fan, but this was something far beyond her ken, even if she was a dragon.

Bree and her sisters had fought a few dragons, and they were strong. But their pride would always get in the way of true strength, and her and her sister’s three heads would bite, crush, and tear right into their precious scales as they released the power of three elements.

Her sisters loved to fight, but as they reached the peak, a lonely emptiness pervaded all three of them. Mother said they had eternity to seek a mate if they ascended, but they all knew something was missing.

All three of them realized there was more to life than survival of the fittest, but if they formed their eternal essence, they would be stuck with their essence for thousands of years. Unless they found a means of shifting it by winning a special treasure from a War Trial or other event, anyway.

As Bree spent more time in this avatar, she couldn’t help but feel Brigid’s eternal essence felt more…right to her. Mother had told them that if they kept their hearts open and were willing to give something up, they just might be able to have the opportunity to find what they were missing.

Following the child of the void into battle for ownership of the Sector was bound to lead to endless conflict, and possibly treasures that would make even their own mouths water. There would be epic struggles for ownership, and the Hart’s pack could be involved with more than one.

However, Bree was not seeing her sisters willing to submit just yet. If Bree somehow found the opportunity by herself, she would take it. Thanks to whatever Mother had done, she thought it was a real possibility for her to be reborn in truth.

If she did that, then she could enjoy growing strong once more–and this time, with a mate. The many battles and conflicts required to reach the peak were more than a little challenging.

Getting there was exciting, but once her sisters had reached it, it was kind of boring. Fighting at the peak was all about subterfuge and posturing. She and her sisters never lost a fair fight, but Tartarus and its Evil Divine always skewed the battle into their favor.

Then, despite being a Tier 1 whelp as her sisters would call him, Bree could feel that she could count on her future mate to lead her pack into battle and find victory.

Bree didn’t know what would happen to their body in her home if she took her special chance when it finally came, but Mother would take care of it. Probably. Then, she would do her best to convince her sisters to join her–though, like her, they were stubborn. Perhaps, they would try to fight her instead?

She couldn’t help but grin at that. She would love to put that snooty Isolyn in her place, and she knew with her future mate’s help, she just might succeed. Either way, she was filled with anticipation.

Bree lashed out with her vines, piercing the core of another golem and shattering it. She had killed over a dozen golems, her kill count nearly keeping up with their many allies combined–except for the Ravenwolves. Their powerful arrows and spears easily shattered the golems, each of them helping cover for the many allies within the Battlegroup.

The Divine Reinforcement provided by her future mate and this auril energy flooding her body was beyond special for their Tier, empowering her in amazing ways.

She and her sisters had access to bestial essence and flames, ice, and lightning, but this auril energy had a special quality.

Mother’s other wayward descendant cleaved deeply through the Frost Giant King’s back, finally reducing the health below fifty percent. The crystal above her stirred, releasing a slowing aura powered by frost.

The siren’s song stirred the auril inside her, enhancing her ability to fight back against it. The frost aura had a vague similarity to Isolyn’s, but Bree roused her will and shoved the effect from her body with the flames of her vines. She saw other beastkin accomplishing this, and she was amazed at the effectiveness of the beastkin against the Raid mechanic.

Often, damage and movement would be significantly reduced, making it a challenge to face and defeat the encounter. But the beastkin’s auril had trained their wills and improved their spirit even from a young age, making them strong and filled with vitality.

The boss was entering the next phrase, her future mate calling out his orders. One thing was for sure, she enjoyed the thrill of the fights from tagging along with him.

Having five Champions in a party was bound to attract incredibly difficult challenges. If she and her sisters worked well enough with others, they just might have tried it before.

Bree sighed at the challenge of communication. Her knowledge was beyond what was available in this Sector, so the Framework was heavily restricting her. Even if she was reborn into a new vessel in truth, she worried that she might be unable to speak at all to her future mate, and those that would become her new pack.

Waiting until the third Tier when things became more open for them would be excruciating, but she would have to be patient. There were other methods besides rising in Tier, though becoming high enough Noble Rank would be difficult and time-consuming too.

It was for this reason, that she decided to try to enjoy these fights to the fullest. The Hart pack would be an opportunity for her to enjoy a thrilling experience in more ways than one.

***

Tanda continuously fired her bow, retrieving arrows from her storage bracelet each time she let go of the bowstring. Empowering the arrows with her will, the deathly wolves bit deeply into the boss.

She marveled at Bree’s charge, crushing the frost golems nearly as quickly as they spawned. Something had changed about that creature after Jake branded her, but Tanda couldn’t learn anything about Bree from her song.

It was as if the song from her heart was being filtered, and she guessed it was from the Framework. Bree unable to even partially communicate with Jake beyond combat, led Tanda to believe that this was the case.

After the Umbral Decay was applied to the boss, Jake had spent his time recuperating. The priestesses and dryads too conserved their mana, drinking mana water and awaiting the next phase.

Bone shields were added to protect those fighting the guardians, and sometimes the dryads restricted the golems when they managed to spawn in difficult locations. Jake had only needed to use a wave of force twice, to shove golems away from the fragile priestesses and druids and allow those designated to take care of the additional enemies, or adds to have more time to arrive.

The boss reached fifty percent, and the encounter stirred. The crystal from above released a frost aura, and it slowed everyone. But Jasmina’s song reached the beastkin, and they were easily able to push away the effect.

The Emberborn were hardly affected as frost was their domain, and Clan Hart had no problems shoving away the effect with Purifying Flames. It was only Warrior Brotherhood that was unable to easily withstand it, but talismans quickly activated to protect them from the effect.

Tanda continued firing her bow, preparing herself for the final phase. Her clan mates did most of the work for now, but her Cyclic Resonance continued to build. She was holding off on using her avenging flames, for when the fight shifted to the final phase.

As the Frost Giant King swung his weapon now, blades of ice formed and lashed out at allies. Shards of ice flew everywhere and cut into those in melee range, even when Ophelia blocked the King’s attack with her shield.

It was like an explosion of ice shards with every swing, piercing the flesh of those nearby, the frost spreading across their bodies. The auril heroes healed themselves with their auril, and Bloodberri’s Dark Siphon and Maul of Hestia-Echidna kept their health high through this effect.

Tanda helped Jake to shift into the state of the Guardian, to shift the focus toward protecting the Battlegroup. Ophelia’s Hearth Guardian was enhanced by her and Fhesiah within its floating shield with some additional flames, and Jake began working on his Tier 2 spell.

Morwen and her priestesses along with the dryads and Warrior Brotherhood were preparing for a different spell, so Jake and Tanda would prepare their own without their assistance. His and her runes rapidly coalesced, and their Tier 2 spell was completed: Faerie Lights.

Dozens of multicolored lights appeared, like faeries drifting through the air. Several sought out targets to heal through the icy explosions, but many lingered in the air, waiting to heal those that took significant damage.

Tanda continued firing her bow, taking out spawned golems or contributing to defeating the boss. Each of her high-powered shots would destroy a golem, or take off nearly a percent of health off the boss.

Ophelia continued keeping the focus of the boss, but the undead giant pulled its weight there as well. The undead giant and Bloodberri used their large bodies to send the boss staggering, to help Ophelia and Valora with maintaining their positioning.

She kept her momentum high, zooming around and taking multiple passes at the enemy. Her Hearth Guardian helped fill in the gaps, her shield interposing itself in front of the weapon when others weren’t able.

Tanda was happy to see Ophelia and Valora in their element, and could tell the two girls were both buzzing with excitement. Meanwhile, Fhesiah had grown in size and power, consuming much of the flames from her torch. The remainder of the flames went towards maintaining her two fiery curses, the Sun and Moon Hex constantly burning into the icy armor of the boss.

Her powerful draconic claw attacks cut deeply into the boss’s armor, Fhesiah primarily conserving her Qi for the final stages of the fight. Her torch mainly added flames as her mana regenerated from the Energy Vortex skill, allowing her to keep adding powerful blows to the boss.

Tanda’s mother and father swept around the battlefield, even as Timone’s ravens peppered the boss in his deathly flames. Empowered by Jake’s Heavenly Aura, they appeared to join Fhesiah’s Sun Hex, burning further into the boss’s armor and withering it away.

Dahlia was bathed in golden light now, as her hunt continued. The huntress blurred through the air, mixing powerful leaps with flaps of her winged cape and movements from the flaps Bloodberri created for her. She was nearly as mobile as her father now, as they swooped together against the golems. With each one they defeated, new frost golems fell from the ceiling.

So far, those hunting the golems have kept pace with the damage they were dealing to the boss. This encounter was unique in that it required each group to maintain a certain pace. Too much damage to the boss, and a difficult number of golems would fall from the ceiling.

If they were too slow in killing the boss compared to the golems, it was known that the ceiling crystal would eventually attack too, pushing the Battlegroup even closer to failure. The frost giant king would be especially difficult to deal with beams of frost freezing allies.

Following Jake’s instruction, Tanda prepared another of her special arrows. Her Cyclic Resonance was nearing the peak, so now the auril pulsed into the area even more rapidly as her heart beat powerfully. Activating Avenging Flames once more, she drew back the bolt-like arrow.

Filling the arrow to the maximum and empowering her bow, she launched her charged attack. A golden explosive wolf bit deeply into the boss, taking down an entire percent of its health. She continued her barrage, firing another arrow every few seconds.

Ophelia activated her Valkyrie Champion ability, while Jake prepared a spell of his own. Shifting his state to the Sage, he drew up the flames of his hearth into is staff.

Bloodberri completed a buff on themselves, the Einherjar spell layering itself onto them. She cut powerfully into the boss with her large axe, knocking it down below 25%. A wave of frost echoed out as the frost giant king leaped into the air, ready to bring its large polearm weapon down on their magic circle, where Jake stood in the center.

But Jake pushed out a powerful flaming barrier–even greater than the Sacrificial Barrier that he would normally create, using his Hearth Control. The state of the Sage granted a prodigious control over the flames as he found resonance with Fhesiah, him sending out an immense amount of flames.

The giant shield not only blocked the creature’s massive body and shoved it back to fall down and away from the magic circle, it engulfed the boss in powerful flames, adding onto Fhesiah’s Sun and Moon Hexes.

The Hart family broke out of their frozen prisons, Ophelia blazing into the boss with [Intervene]. The beastkin weren’t far behind with the help of Jasmina’s song, their prisons shattering in small groups.

The frost giant king roared as the crystal fired a beam from above and filled its polearm and body with powerful frozen energies. It was time for the final phase of the battle.