Ends of Magic

Nathan walked towards the Grace of the Mists with the rest of the Heirs and Jaus following close behind. He was more aware of their escort's presence than ever since Davion’s warning about the Oligarchs. Of course, Davion had also warned him about the ship he was currently approaching. The rakish vessel had made haste to reach Litcliff, and was commonly involved in Questor business. That meant they were probably there for Nathan one way or another.

In all likelihood, they’re carrying assassins sent from afar. Or the entire crew is after us. Who knows, they might be pirates.

He considered diverting the Heirs away from the ship. But if this was going to come down to a fight, then it might as well happen on their terms. He’d rather face an enemy head-on than be attacked while they were resting.

Of course, it’s always possible that they hauled ass here because they’re on our side. Maybe Brox sent them?

He considered that. It seemed unlikely for Brox to put that much thought into things. The Questor wasn’t a planner - if he wanted to protect Nathan from assassins, he’d come himself. Though Nathan was pretty sure he couldn’t. The terms of Badud’s death meant he couldn’t return to the continent for decades, and the same was likely true for Brox.

As they approached, Nathan heard faint flute music. It was thin and ethereal, like a faint caress on the edge of his attention. The sound stayed the same volume as they came closer to the three-masted ship, indicating there was a skill at play. The Grace of the Mists was longer than The Pride of Davion but with a much narrower hull, more reminiscent of a supersonic aircraft than a castle. Three masts speared up hundreds of feet from the ship's deck, each carrying four horizontal yardarms for sails. But there was a suspicious lack of sails and rigging. The ship was made from a naturally white wood, and the combination made it look nearly skeletal.

Once more Nathan took the lead, noting the pair of gangplanks and heading towards the one closer to the back of the ship. That seemed to be closer to the source of the mysterious music. Just before he set foot on the gangplank the music cut off and a petite woman appeared on the deck, looking down on him with an intense expression.

She appeared no older than Nathan and was dressed in a diaphanous white gown that reached to the ground, cinched at the waist with black ribbons. Her long white hair blended into the ephemeral fabric of the dress, and the skin of her neck and face was similarly pale and pallid. Her auburn eyes and similarly-painted lips stood out in the sea of white like beacons in the fog. A crown of blackened branches topped the ensemble, woven together through her hair. She held a flute in her left hand, made of the same white wood as the ship.

Nathan blinked at her exotic appearance, but the woman said nothing. She seemed happy to let him start the conversation. He looked up to her and opened his mouth awkwardly. “We are looking for the captain of this ship. Eolinne?”

She gently pressed the hand not holding the flute to her chest. “The winds align behind you, for I am known without knowledge of my own. What is your name?” Her voice was breathy and demure, but her presence was imposing enough that the soft voice didn’t diminish her at all.

“I am Nathan Lark, and we are Adventurers from Gemore. We wish passage to Keihonia. Is that something you can do?”

Eolinne raised one delicate eyebrow, the white hair barely visible over white skin. “Nathan Lark has come to my ship.” She said the words as if tasting them. Then her face hardened ever so slightly. “The day is nearly done, and this is not a conversation for this moment. When we meet again, we will both know more. During our next conversation I may offer you passage. I anticipate that time.” She turned abruptly and strode away, quickly disappearing from view.

What? Is that a snub or not?

Nathan almost made to follow her, but a snort from Jaus distracted him. He shot a look back at their escort and the man looked vindicated.

“I told you the captains wouldn't want to take you, and only an idiot challenges a captain on their ship.” He jerked his head back towards the city. “Now come on, there’s a room waiting for you. The Oligarchs don’t want damage, and they’ll take a portion of what you pay for the voyage. That pays for a room at a nice inn.” He turned to lead the way, walking at a more normal pace this time and occasionally checking to see if they were following.

Nathan shot significant glances at his friends, raising an eyebrow to ask if they thought going along with this was a good idea, or if it was time to reconsider their plans. Aarl just shrugged, and Stella rolled her eyes. Sarah was too busy checking angles to the nearby siege engines mounted to defend the harbor. Khachi met Nathan's eyes calmly.

I guess we’re going along with this. Feels like everybody’s dialing us in for a hit. But if we start a fuss then there's That seems like a quick way to get kicked out of the city.

The flute music started up again as the Heirs walked away from the ship. It drifted off the Grace of the Mists in an audacious call very different from the previous calm tune. Nathan felt an edge of magic in the music, and reached out with his aura to bat away the spell. The music faded but he could feel it out there, pressing in against the edges of his aura.

Once they’d reached the end of the dock he retracted his aura and the song returned, just as loud and pressing in against his attention. He reached out with a spike of antimagic, wondering if he could create an interference effect like he’d done with the Grave Tangle.

“Ambush.” Sarah spoke the word just as night fell, sudden darkness covering the world as the sun switched off. The sudden darkness always took a moment to get used to, and it seemed like somebody had used that to try to surprise them.

Khachi’s shield came up like the rehearsed action it was, a wordless shout erupting from his mouth as a golden dome thirty feet across materialized above them. It intersected with Nathan’s antimagic and yet was not destroyed, as Nathan found his desire not to interfere with his friend’s magic translated into action. The shield shuddered a moment later as several heavy blows impacted against the sturdy forward surface.

Nathan spread his antimagic across the street, granting permissions to Stella’s magic and the enchanted gear of each of his allies. Then he turned to face Jaus alongside Aarl. The man had jerked slightly at the first attack, but now he stood still and watched them impassively, his hand on his weapon.

Sarah spoke quickly. “Four ballistas that were hidden in wagons up the slope. I saw movement on the houses to either side. We’re surrounded.” The Heirs answered her in a staccato.

“Finally.” Stella said emphatically, her eyes lit from within by lightning. “I’ll take the siege weapons. Sarah can clear the nearby buildings.”

“I will defend the front.” Khachi declared, though he kept his shield raised to maintain the golden dome that protected them for the moment.

“I’ll cover Jaus and watch for magic.” Nathan said, stepping closer to their escort.

This fight is more suited to the others anyway. Might as well get them some levels.

“Then the rear is mine.” Aarl spoke.

“Ready?” Sarah asked, drawing both pistols and aiming them upwards.

“Ready.” They all chorused. Khachi dropped the shield and raised his hammer, jetting forward in a flash of light. A staccato of gunfire sounded from Sarah, interrupted by the deafening crack of Stella’s lightning. There was another flash of light as Khachi slammed his hammer to the ground, blasting shadowed figures backwards with a blast of divine magic.

Nathan watched the fight out of the corner of his eyes, keeping his attention on Jaus. The man smirked back, staying precisely where he was and drumming fingers on the hilt of his weapon.

“How would you stop me? You are unarmed.” Jaus asked, his words nearly impossible to hear over the sound of combat.

Drain the magic from your armor and leave you imprisoned in it.

"Try it and..." Nathan’s glib reply was cut off by a broad-headed bolt slicing through his neck from the side. Skills and magic gave the projectile the potency to cut through Nathan’s flesh, but the attack bounced off his vertebrae instead of severing his spine entirely. Blood fountained out of the wound towards Jaus, who flickered backwards at high speed to avoid the spray.

Then the man stepped forward with a small smile on his lips, eyes watching as Nathan fell to one knee and raised one hand to clasp his throat. The fighter didn’t draw his weapon or speak, he just watched as blood gushed between Nathan’s fingers onto the stone. His eyes flicked left and right, tracking the other members of the Heirs, all involved in their own battles.

At first Nathan was annoyed that he’d even fallen. He’d healed from being practically vaporized before. This blow shouldn’t even slow him down. But there was definitely some amount of nerve damage, and the injury just wasn’t healing.

Anti-healing skill. I’ve got one of those too in [Catastrophic Blows], but it’s nowhere near this potent.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

The wound continued to resist healing, and a sense of panic rose in Nathan. He crushed it utterly, gritting bloodstained teeth as he threw off the mental skill emanating from the wound and focused his attention on his neck. [Immortal Body] didn't seem to recognize the injury as something it should fix. But that was fine. Nathan had built the Talent off of direct control and understanding of biology. He could manually heal this injury.

He dumped Stamina into the wound, first focusing on the carotid and jugular to restore bloodflow to the brain. Then he fixed up the nerves in the spine before moving to the rest of the tissues. It took orders of magnitude more resources than it should have, and Nathan burned through ten thousand Stamina in as many seconds to repair the damage.

Immortal Body 6 achieved!

He kept his eyes on Jaus the entire time, seeing the man’s satisfied look shift to concern as the blood slowed and stopped. His fingers tightened on the hilt of his club and his eyes flicked around to take in the other Heirs.

Nathan rose to his feet and removed his hand to reveal bloodied but unblemished skin. “Were you going to help?” he asked in an absolutely frigid tone. “Or are you going to drop this farce?”

Jaus scowled for a second, tensing before his face twisted into one of the most insincere smiles Nathan had ever seen. “I was ensuring you were not struck again. By the tide, you seem hale enough!”

A gifted actor he is not. He's definitely rooting for my death.

The sounds of combat were trailing off, so Nathan cast his attention around to the rest of the Heirs. Sarah’s eyes were on the rooftops as she slid new cartridges into her revolvers. She stepped smartly to the side to avoid a falling corpse as it finished its slide down the steep rooftop and fell into the street. The red-clad assassin still clutched a crossbow, despite the hole blown through their head.

Stella’s attention was on the hill above them, where the ballista had been. Now the carts that had held them were burning merrily, sending pillars of smoke into the night sky. They all looked to Khachi as he came back around the corner ahead, blood flaking off his hammer and armor as his magic ensured he looked pristine.

Sure do wish that magic could extend to me. But even [Selective Dispel] won’t enable magic to work on me. Allowing magic in my aura and maintaining it while its in direct contact with me are very different things.

End of Magic has leveled to 733! You have survived a direct assassination attempt by a prepared foe!

Spellslayer has leveled to level 510! You and your teammates have defeated an experienced team of assassins!

Aarl stepped up beside Nathan, cleaning blood off the invisible ax he’d gotten from Archmage Cala dha Drex. “Sneaky muckgrabber. Almost got past me.” He gestured towards Jaus with the ax. “Saw the edges of what happened. Should we kill him?”

Not if we want to stay in Litcliff. If we kill him then either fight the entire city or leave. And he's not actively trying to kill us, just not helping.

Jaus’ brows drew down, and he took a few steps backwards and settled into a ready stance. “If you strike at me, I will slay you all in an eyeblink.”

Nathan snorted. “I’ve fought beside somebody fast enough for that. You’re quick, but you're not that fast. But for an escort, you didn’t seem to protect us much.”

“I’m not here to protect you.” Jaus said with an exaggerated shrug. “The oligarchs know that you’re going to be attacked. They just want to be sure you don’t burn down the city when it happens.” He tilted his head towards Stella. “But you showed remarkable restraint fighting a maw of the deep. These assassins were professionals, and they hid themselves well. You cannot expect Litcliff to prevent such an attack?” Once more the social skill pressed down on Nathan, encouraging him to agree with the guard representative.

He chopped his hand down with a growl in response. “No, but this was too coordinated. You led us down the exact road of their ambush!” He was about to continue when a sound caught his attention. It was the notes of a flute, the same tune that had been playing before the ambush. Come to think of it, the music hadn’t even stopped during the fight, though it hadn’t had any effect Nathan had observed. He wondered if he should expand his aura wide and banish the music from the entire area. But that would be giving away the fact he could do that.

Nathan’s distraction allowed Jaus to rally. “What did their kill-notifications say! These assassins were not minions of the Oligarchs!”

“Assassin of Zhark.” Sarah said with a frown.

Aarl looked back at the red-clad corpse at his feet. “Seminarian of Zhark.”

Khachi’s brows drew together at the word. “A seminary - of assassination? What blasphemous lessons.”

“They didn’t wield magic.” Nathan said. “Enchanted weapons yes, but no magic or blessings.” He met Khachi’s eyes to make sure his point was received.

The wolfman let out a tense breath and gave Nathan a grateful nod. These assassins didn't have divine magic, which meant that Khachi didn't have to worry about them awakening one of the dead gods.

Jaus seized onto the words. “There. Zhark. A city on another continent! Not from Litcliff. Not my station to ask why they’re after you, but you killed them all. Come on to lodging! The guard will deal with this mess.”

“And collect all of the enchanted items.” Aarl grumbled, bending down to rifle through the items of the assailant he’d killed and pocketing a few things.”

They continued following Jaus, this time keeping a somewhat larger distance between themselves and the fighter. The man appeared significantly more nervous than before.

“Didn’t kill them all.” Sarah spoke up quietly and without preamble. “At least three got away, including the one that shot you, Nathan. Grey hood, and fast as a nindine.”

He grimaced at that news. “They had very powerful anti-healing skills, and a mental skill. It was a dangerous wound.”

Aarl shrugged. “Their ambush is spoiled and their team is lost. I don’t think we have much to fear.”

Stella bit her lip. “This entire place is a dungeon. I don’t like staying the night here, especially when I can’t just blast everything that makes me jump.”

“Let’s make a fortress for our room.” Sarah replied idly. “You have earth magic and air purification spells. Forget watching the door. Let’s make new walls.”

“Sounds good.” Nathan said idly. “Can anybody else still hear Eolinne’s flute?”

The rest of the Heirs shook their heads, glancing over at Nathan in confusion. He sighed. “I could hear it following us, some kind of perception magic. It lasted through the ambush, and followed us here."

Aarl grimaced. "If Eolinne's an enemy, we should leave."

"She might just be unsure about us," Stella objected. "Or not want to get attacked by assassins."

"If she knew of the assassins, then she should have warned us," came Aarl's quick response.

Nathan groaned. "We just don't have enough information. All of this seems like a mess in the making. Maybe we should just leave. Is there really no other port we can use?”

“There’s one in Agmon.” Khachi said with a snort. “But the last time we met an orc we killed one of their nobles. My bones say that’s a terrible idea.”

“Might be better than here.” Aarl replied wryly.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Arcane Nullfield 7

Permanent Talent 2: Immortal Body 6

Permanent Talent 3: Airwalking 7

Class: End of Magic level 733

Bottomless Stamina : 58830/74300

Indomitable

The Undeniable Strike of the Antimage

Stamina Burn

Momentum Mastery

Stoneflesh

Arcane Nullification

Galefoot

Close Quarters Mastery

Boundless Aura

Denial of Mysticism

The Ending of Magic

Aura Projection

Selective Dispel

The Living World

Class: Spellslayer level 510

Regenerative Focus: 3791/5200

Catastrophic Blows

Battle Stealth

Mage Infiltration

Forgettable

Sneaky Blow

Antimagic Stealth

Magical Manipulation

Lethal Index

Wizard Resistance

Magic Jammer

Controlled Failure

Utility skills:

Tranquility 1

Inspiration 8

Acceleration 10

Mystical Discernment 1

Alertness 10

Arcane Insight 2

Effortless Dodge 10

Mental Vault 5

Tutoring 7

Parkour 8

Visibility Control 4

High-tier Disguise 5

High-tier Battle Cry 2

Aura Control 3