Chapter 289 - Laughter in the Face of Death

Important chapter. Needed a bit of extra time to get it right :)

The runes of Hump’s staff smouldered orange, smoke hissing from the shaft as essence poured through it. The chamber was suddenly bright as the ball of white flame expanded, fire seething before him. Sparks of energy lashed out from it, as blinding as Wizard’s Light.

The process took only a fraction of a second, but Hump felt every part of it. Essence rushed up from the depths of his soul, flowing to the rest of his body and exploding out with his manifested soul, before joining the fire before him. His dragon blood boiled with excitement and Wizardfire rushed through his veins. Essence stormed through the chamber in great, spiralling clouds.

Already Hump could tell this spell would be different. A darkness tinged it. There was energy granted to it by the spirits that had suffered all these years, fuelling his magic with essence and intent unlike any he’d felt before. All around him, the screams of fallen souls joined the roar of the fire—all the hate, anguish, and pain they’d experienced over the countless years trapped in the lich’s chamber unleashed at once. It made Hump’s heart burn with fury. Such evil could not be left unavenged.

Fire bloomed before him, a fog of light expanding around it as the intense heat warped the air. Sparks lashed from it, striking the ground in brilliant flashes, the sphere flaring as if about to burst. As Hump reached the limits of his strength, white-hot essence bellowed forth from the sphere of fire—not just a column of power, but a roaring flood of destruction.

It engulfed Irila in a moment. Somehow, she’d managed to form a shield spell in time to block the worst of the raging fire. Spirits flocked to her from the walls and air, pouring out in a thick ethereal mist and forming a barrier between her and Hump’s power. The spell broke upon it like a wave over rock, white fire billowing out on either side. Irila’s intent pressed back, full of hate and fury, the apparitions in her aura howling.

Hump roared back as he threw more and more of himself into the spell. He wouldn’t lose. They wouldn’t lose. This was the penance for binding all the souls here with her power. This was the product of hundreds of years of suffering and hate, and that hate made his spell burn hotter than ever before. Hump basked in the residual heat as it scorched his face. He stared wide eyed into the brilliant bright light before him, like burning magnesium.

And Irila’s shield faded. Bit by bit, he felt her intent falter. Her soul manifested aura shrunk back defensively, until it wrapped around her like a veil, but Hump could already tell it was too late. Just a little more and it would give.

Yet every second was a battle. Cold clutched at Hump’s extremities, climbing his arms and legs like icy tendrils, sending waves of cold shooting through his veins. He pushed on, driven by a singular intent—to kill Lich Queen Irila. With that focus, everything else fell to the side. He was one part of a storm of burning will, and they would win.

The barrier burned beneath his fire, essence shrivelling up and disintegrating like paper, until silently, her shield spell broke.

Fire swallowed her left side. The roar of flame gave way to the lich’s inhuman scream of agony. She threw back her head, thrashing and howling as she burned within. Her skin blistered and blackened. her flesh charred. She fell to the ground, consumed by fire.

Pain filled Hump as the cold of essence overuse started to hit him in full. He pressed on, not relenting for even a moment. To stop was to die. It was all or nothing. But no amount of Wizardfire and desire was enough to last forever. His strength faded, his spell came to an end, until once more they were left in the dim chamber. After such bright light, Hump’s vision was spotted and dark, but he could still see enough.

Irila lay in a heap upon scorched black stone. Her body didn’t move. Her left arm was gone, along with much of the left side of her torso. Blackened ribs protruded from scorched flesh, purple light leaking out from within.

Hump sagged with fatigue, too weak to even hold himself to his staff. He fell backward, landing on the floor. Not even the warmth of the stone beneath him could do anything against the painful coolness that washed over him over so much essence drain.

“Did you get her?” Walt asked.

“Don’t know,” Hump whispered.

He sensed essence behind him as Celaine leapt forward, dagger in hand. Shadow trailed from her, streaked with green and silver light, so fast she was a blur. In less than a blink, she was above the lich, plunging toward her chest with her dagger.

To Hump’s horror, Irila’s right leg twitched. She was still alive.

There was a spark of essence, then the lich let loose a furious wail and sent out a blast of power in all directions. Celaine yelled as it struck her, sending her flying back where she hit the ward behind Hump and landed heavily on the ground at Hump’s side where she wheezed for air.

Irila rose. Her robes were in ruins and her face unrecognisable, the left side melted so badly her eye was missing, while the other was charred shut. Yet somehow, she stood.

“No,” Hump whispered.

She roared as she unleashed her will at random, blowing holes in the stone walls and floor.  Celaine grabbed him then, pushing him aside in time to narrowly dodge a flash of purple light shot in their direction.

Hump barely saw it move. He was too tired. His body was cold and sluggish. He couldn’t dodge if he tried, let alone raise a Shieldstrong enough to defend against it.

Light shone through her eyelid which had melted shut. She used her remaining arm to force her eyelid open, revealing a purple glowing eye that stared at Hump with unbridled fury. Her rage descended in a wave of pressure, crushing Hump to the ground until he screamed. He had no essence left to fight her. No strength left to push back against the weight on his soul.

She lived. He’d struck with the best he had, and it still wasn’t enough.

Essence pressed against him, thick and solid. Irila let loose a furious howl and raised her good arm. The essence crushed in tighter, then lifted him into the air, throwing him against the wall behind him. Tendrils of purple energy exploded from her, scorching his skin and piercing to his soul, stabbing at him with icy cold. Hump screamed. His vision went white as pain consumed him. There was nothing left but the agony.

***

Celaine was poised on all fours, Bloodshadow in hand. She gasped for breath, still recovering from the blast of the lich.

What do I do? The lich had Hump in her clutches. Her rage so pure and powerful it pierced at Celaine’s soul like a knife of ice. Mother help us.

She pushed herself fully upright and glanced at the dagger in her hand and then the lich’s back. Irila’s body was half destroyed, yet still she had the strength to dominate them both. A knife to the back wouldn’t change anything, so what could she do?

Their goal hadn’t been to kill Irila like this. She glanced at the ward, watching as Hump’s spell sent rippling waves of bronze essence across the lich’s barrier. It was already thinner than before, but that counted for nothing if…

Celaine’s thought trailed off as she noticed a tiny hole closing up near the base, just above where the obsidian spikes pulsed. A gap. A gap Irila had made herself when she had lashed out in all directions. It closed quickly, the misty barrier reforming, but the weakness was there. She could still see the reformed spot in the ripples like a scab over a wound.

They were almost through.

Hump’s agonised screams drew Celaine’s attention back to him. He gasped and groaned in pain, wheezing for breath. His eyes wide with pain as his legs kicked, flailing to get away. The lich was in his face now, soaking in his pain.

Celaine forced her eyes away. Fight. Have to fight.

She was like a wild animal as she searched for her bow, moving without even a thought. There was only one option left to her. The lich’s ward had weakened, and given time Titan’s Wrath would break through. But they didn’t have time. Which only left Celaine. If she could get through, maybe she could do something to the phylactery.

She picked up her bow silently, her heart racing, the sound of Hump’s suffering a constant companion. Only when she searched for an arrow did she realise she had none left.

Of all the times to run out of arrows.

Without them, she wouldn’t be able to focus as much of her blessings into her attack, but it would have to be enough. She breathed deeply, calling upon Way of the Shadow Archer and plucking an arrow out of the shadows of the chamber. It was a weak, frail arrow, fuelled by her distracted mind. Hump screamed again and she felt tears of fury in her eyes.

Come on, focus, Celaine. Come on!

She cleared her mind, imagining a river throughout her body as Hump had always told her. Her concentration returned to her and she threw more essence into her arrow, strengthening it until it was solid enough to contain her blessings. Then, she called upon everything. Predator’s Intent and Power Shot flowed through her. Essence came easily to her, as if Owalyn was with her in that moment, granting her strength. The world turned dark to Relentless Pursuit as her eyes fixed on the singular point in the lich’s ward. A red spot on a wall of white. At this range, there was no way she could miss.

One shot. One quick shot, too fast for the lich to stop.

Her blessings ready, she released them into her arrow. It shone silver and black, filled with power to the point of bursting. She pressed it tighter, using the shadows to help contain the force within. Silver light streaked from the arrowhead.

She heaved it back, straining against the weight of her blessings, and she let it fly.

***

Hump’s pain stopped and a moment of reprieve came. He was still held up in the air, but the lich stood face to face with him now, her hideous, melted face glaring into his eyes.

“You… will regret that wizard,” she hissed, voice shuddering and pained.” She breathed in deeply as if tasting his agony. “Few will… understand my wrath… like you.”

Hump caught his breath for a few moments, his vision hazy and his mind sluggish. He could see her teeth through her melted cheek. The hole where her left eye had been was blackened and full of gunk. He smiled at her. “Seems my own wrath hurt you quite a bit.”

The lich didn’t seem to know what to say. Moments passed, and then she burst into a sickening, broken laugh that sent her into a coughing fit. She wheezed for breath. “This is nothing compared to what I will do with you.”

She touched Hump’s head with her index finger, pressing her sharp nail against his skull. Instantly, all fogginess left Hump. He was entirely awake and alert, his senses fully heightened. He looked at her with wide eyes and her lips broke into another smile.

“That’s right, little wizard,” she whispered. “No sleep, no unconsciousness, and no losing of sanity. There shall be no end to your torment.”

It was over. There was nothing left he could do. No fight left in him. A wizard had to be logical, though he supposed he failed at that when he first agreed to take on such a powerful lich. One couldn’t always win.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and relent to his fate, he glimpsed silver light behind the lich. There, he saw Celaine, her body taut and perfect, an arrow of shadow and silver rested on her bowstring. Green stars danced in her eyes and her red hair billowed in a wind of twisting silver. He followed her gaze to the ward and realisation struck Hump as he noticed a weakness to the barrier, right at the bottom.

Hump felt the lich’s hold over him slacken as she turned to Celaine, dropping him to the ground. Irila was too late. The arrow was already flying.

Hump grabbed at the fragmented stone on the ground, thrown up from his Molten Pit. He grabbed a handful and reached into his inner robe pocket, taking out Walt.

“Good luck,” Hump said to the spirit, willing essence to his fist and filling the stones with bronze. Cold lanced through him, but he could manage this much at least.

“Good luck? What do you mean good luck? What are you doing? Hump! Oi! Answer me, Hump.”

The lich screamed, unleashing a blast of essence that blasted Celaine into the wall. It didn’t matter though. The arrow struck perfectly, exploding with sharp silver light that shattered the barrier into a million sparks of dissipation essence.

Irila must have sensed something as she turned back to Hump. “What are you—”

“Rockshot,” Hump whispered, his voice weak.

The spell shot past the lich, Walt mixed in amongst a dozen other pieces of rock. Irila didn’t even bother to block such a weak spell.

Stone bounced off of her body harmlessly.

“Is that it?” She chuckled. “Have I not proven there is nothing you can do to me?”

Hump smiled. Amidst the bronze and shining stone was Walt. He shot through the ward, crossing the span of the chamber in less than a second, striking the back wall and bouncing backward to land upon the altar beside the lich’s phylactery.

Walt’s soul stone exploded with a wave of ethereal light, rising like blue flame in the form of the little spirit. His essence filled the room, more powerfully than Hump expected, and then as if sucked up, he was absorbed into the shining orb that housed Irila’s soul.

The lich’s eyes widened in panic, then she turned on Hump, rage descending. This time though, it was Hump’s turn to laugh.