Blessed Time II - Chapter 5

“Esther!” Micah shouted, thrusting his spear through the hard shell of an emerald scarab and pinning it to the burning sand.  “When you dodge its breath attack, make sure to keep your spear up.  More importantly, keep yourself between the monsters and Eris.”

He planted a foot onto the scarab’s carapace before ripping his spear free and dancing to the side.  Micah skimmed across the sand, intercepting another scarab before it could close in on the two girls.  Earlier in the battle, Micah had cast flight on himself, using the spell to hover a hair above the uncertain footing as he kicked off of the loose desert sand.

“Remember, Esther,” Micah hooked a toe under the carapace of a scarab before kicking upward, flipping it onto its back.  “The spear is a stand-off weapon.  You can use it to pierce a foe’s armor, but unless you can confirm a kill, you should rely on it to keep an enemy at bay.  Hamper your enemy’s movements and create an opening for your strikers to collect the kill.”

The chitin of the scarab crunched under Micah’s sandal a second before he planted his spear in its prone form, stilling its wriggling legs.  He grunted, casting wind blade as another scarab scurried toward the three of them.

A greenish blue crescent of magical energy sailed through the air, catching the incoming bug in the side.  It screeched, vomiting up toxic bile as the spell cracked and shattered its exoskeleton en route to bisecting the monster.

“Now Eris,” he called out, planting the butt of his spear in the sand to free up his hands for a spell.  “Esther has it off balance.  Swing in from the left and you should be able to clip off a couple of its legs.”

The girl nodded, leaving puffs of sand in her wake as she sprinted in a broad arc around Esther.  Both of her blades flashed, tracing smooth, fluid patterns as they scissored together, cutting off one leg and then another before Eris backpedaled away from her foe.

Esther lunged past her friend, spear skittering off of the scarab’s shell before she planted her shoulder in the creature’s uninjured flank.  With a grunt, she flipped the off-balance bug onto its side.

Without any visible signal, Esther stepped to the side and Eris darted in, her swords carving wide gashes into the scarab’s unprotected underbelly.  It spasmed, remaining legs stiffening before they slipped into the slackness of oblivion.

Micah nodded in approval before returning his focus to spellcasting.  His guild was finishing off the last of the scarabs which meant it was almost time for the mirage shades to storm down from the handful of palm trees ringing the oasis.  Unfortunately, the shades were magical creatures so Poison Fog wouldn’t do anything.

He grunted, marshalling more mana as his hands moved through the complicated patterns needed for the more complex spell forms needed to cast Vacuum.  Micah could cast his lower tiered spells with little more than a triggering phrase or a swipe of his hand, but for truly advanced magic, both chanting and intricate hand movements were still necessary.

Micah finished the spell, and a tree detonated.  One second the palm tree was standing tall, and the next it shattered into thousands of splinters that were dragged inward by surrounding air as it rushed into the void created by Micah’s magic.

Fluttering scraps of multi-colored light sparkled in the afternoon sun, slowly dissipating as the magical energy that kept the remains of the mirage shades together faded with their deaths.  All around the oasis, the remaining trees shook, emitting a mournful, keening screech.

Glittering streams of prismatic light flowed down their trunks, taking on the form of two dozen roughly man shaped silhouettes.  Micah motioned with his free hand, shooing the rest of the guild back.  He took a deep breath closing his eyes as he prepared himself.

An Explosive Thicket erupted from the sands, creating a snarl of razor sharp roots that sprang upward, impaling and rending a half dozen of the mirages.  Pulsing light oozed from hundreds of holes punched in the spell’s victims as they slumped, only held aloft by the wrist-sized spikes of wood driven through them.

Even as the original victims began to fade, their animating magic exhausted by the damage inflicted on them, a second Explosive Thicket burst from the sand, catching another four of the charging mirages.

Micah didn’t even bother to confirm that his targets were dead.  He turned his attention to the three closest monsters, summoning another Explosive Thicket.  Two shades slithered around the barricade, meeting a pair of Pressure Spears as Micah dispatched both of them with an effortless flick of his wrist.

The mindless creatures repeated their unearthly howls, swimming their way through the forest of magically generated roots that Micah had erected between the oasis and the rest of the guild. He began slowly walking backward, picking them off one by one with Pressure Spear as they struggled to approach him.

Finally, Clearwater Oasis lapsed into silence as the last mirage faded.  With a wave of his hand the mess of sharpened roots shriveled, turning brittle.  Even as he watched, parts of the plants began to fall off, carried away by the dry desert wing.

“I still can’t believe how much mana you have,” Drekt remarked, trudging through the sand as he approached Micah.  “There are plenty of magic users that can cast that many high level spells in a row, but I’m not sure I can think of any that can manage it without the drain taking a toll on them.”

“I do have the best class on Karell,” Micah replied, slinging his spear over a shoulder.  “Once you combine that with the amount of fighting I’ve done, I probably have one of the highest mana totals on the planet.”

“Uncle Micah!”  Eris pranced forward, a giant grin on her face.  “Did you see that!  I cut off the scarab’s legs and finished it off, that was so cool.”

With a smile, Micah tousled the girl’s curly hair, not caring that she was almost the same height as him.  She beamed back at him.  Esther walked up behind Eris, a slightly disgruntled look on her face.

“And that right there is why we have you two girls training to fight as a pair,”  Micah replied, tossing a smile at Esther.  “Emerald scarabs aren’t terribly high level opponents, but I doubt that either of you could win a one on one.  That said, using one person to distract an enemy and limit their movements?  That’s a strategy that can earn you a victory against a more powerful foe.  You just have to be careful.”

“Micah is right,” Drekt agreed.  “But fighting individually is a very different skillset than fighting as a team.  On your own, the goal is simple, kill an opponent before it can damage you.  In a pair, it is all about defense and counter-strikes.  One person occupies the opponent.  That person’s job is to stay mobile and create openings for the other fighter that lies in wait.  If the monster tries to disengage, then they can strike.”

“But serving as the vanguard is awful,” Esther pouted.  “I’m not allowed to line up a truly powerful attack, and I have to spend all of my time just poking and jabbing at an enemy without really doing anything.”

“Then you switch roles,” Micah suggested to Esther.  “Your situational awareness makes you ideal for a protectgive position, but Eris’ martial art has amazing defensive potential.  Really, it’s an amazing skill.  Its only real weakness is how hard it is to learn.”

“Fighting isn’t supposed to be fun little one,” Drekt consoled Esther, patting her on the shoulder.  “Trevor and I often have to fight in pairs in order to keep up with Micah.  It is nowhere near as satisfying as triumphing over a foe in one on one combat, but together we are able to accomplish much more than we could ever dream of apart.  That is why practicing your teamwork is so important.  Soon we will be venturing forth into the unknown, and the two of you will need to be able to take care of yourselves.”

Trevor sauntered up to the three of them, his spear over a shoulder and dripping scarab ichor onto the sand.  Eris turned and sprinted toward him, dropping her swords before throwing herself into the air and forcing him to catch her.

“Daddy!” She squealed.  “Did you see me, I killed a scarab!”

“Good job darling,” he replied with a chuckle, twirling her in a circle as he clutched Eris to himwith his left arm.  “Both Esther and you are really coming along.  Already the two of you can best almost anyone in the company except Adam, but he’s only about ten levels lower than Drekt and I.”

“That reminds me,”  Micah remarked.  “Has someone talked with Adam about us leaving?  He’s going to be in charge of the guild while we’re gone.”

Drekt glanced meaningfully at Trevor.  Micah’s brother cleared his throat uncomfortably, avoiding his husband’s gaze as he set Eris back on the ground.

“Where are you going?” Esther asked, looking around the circle of adults speculatively.  “No one told Eris or I anything about the three of you leaving us behind.”

“That’s becuase-” Trevor began only for Micah to silence him with a meaningful look.

“We’re going to Red Sand,” Micah said with a smile.  “Trevor, you should let Adam know that all of us will be meeting at mom and dad’s shop to explain the situation to them before we head out.  We’ll let everyone know once we get there.”

Ravi loped across the sand, wings flaring playfully behind her as she slammed her head into Micah’s hand.  He scratched her behind her ears while the cheerful panther purred appreciately.  Telivern stepped its way gingerly through the thick sand, snorting in displeasure as the windborn grit dyed is snow-white fur brown

“Are you seriously going to leave us in the dark?”  Esther asked unhappily.  “You can’t seriously let a major secret like that slip without telling us more.”

“Don’t worry,” Trevor replied.  “You’ll know in time, and don’t worry.  The four of you are coming with.”

The next couple of days were a flurry of activity.  Drekt worked with Adam to get the guild packed and traveling back to Red Sands.  Trevor tried his best to keep the girls distracted, but they still peppered Micah with questions about the ‘big trip,’ while he repeatedly cast Weave of Fate to guide their path around bandits and the frequent desert sandstorms.

After three total days of travel, they arrived in Red Sands.  Micah provided proof of the bounty to the local government and collected their reward.  Drekt and him distributed the attunement earned by their rank and file members amongst the guild before releasing them to relax and spend their free time in the casinos and brothels that lined the Leel river.

Finally, once all of their administrative tasks were handled, Micah found himself huddled around the crowded table with his mom, dad, Esther, Eris, Adam, Trevor and Drekt.  An hour later, soup and roast chicken long finished, Micah leaned back in his chair and addressed the room.

“For those of you who don’t know,” he hedged unformotably, “part of my blessing gives me some limited knowledge of future events.”

His mother and Adam’s eyes widened, while Esther and Eris began chattering excitedly.

“I don’t want to get into the specifics as I am very aware that the details have the potential to get me in a lot of trouble with the powers that be,” Micah continued seriously.  “Just know that although I am not an oracle, from time to time I have ways of knowing things that could potentially come to pass.”

His mother began to say something, only for Micah to raise a hand to silence her.

“At this moment.”  He looked from person to person sitting around the dinner table, his voice grave.  “A chain of events has started that has the potential to destroy the entirety of Karell.  In a distant location, an evil power has awakened, and at this time, no one is capable of challenging and defeating it.”

The room erupted into a hubbub of whispers and concerned looks.  Only Drekt and Trevor were silent, Drekt with his usual taciturn look, but even the usually cheerful Trevor maintained a stern and severe expression.

“The good news,” Micah continued once the room had quieted, “is that I am aware of certain objects of power that could give me the edge I need to defeat this entity before it consumes the everything.  Unfortunately, it is half a world away, and time is short.”

“Tomorrow at midday,” he finished, “Eris, Esther, Ravi, Telivern, Trevor, Drekt and I will be boarding a skiff to travel down the Leel river.  From there, we will be chartering a vessel and crossing the Emerald Ocean.  I have no idea when exactly we will be back.  Rest assured, we will hurry.  Both because we are needed back in Sandrovok and Pereston, and because I have no real desire to spend time away from everything we’ve established.”

“But sir,” Adam, a mountain of a man sporting an unruly beard and a spiked flail at his waist, interjected.  “What will the guild do with you gone?  Who will run things?”

Micah flashed him a quick smile before reaching into the backpack at his feet and removing two thin books.  He pushed one across the table toward Adam while handing the other to his father.

“You will be in charge Adam,” Micah responded, nodding at the book that the big man was picking up.  “As I said, I have ways of catching glimpses of the future.  That book contains a list of level appropriate dungeons for the guild as well as two or three dungeons that will appear in the next year.  Perhaps more importantly, there are a list of sporting events and dog races as well as their results.  A number of strategic bets should provide the guild with enough attunement to fund a major bout of expansion.  Just be aware that your knowledge of the future has the potential to change outcomes.  If you start winning too much, a local power might… intervene and fix the race.”

“I’ll be careful,” Adam replied seriously, nodding before before he palmed the notebook and shoved it into a pouch sewn into his armor.

“As for mom and dad,” Trevor cut in with a wink.  “Trade throught he Emerald Ocean is about to shut down for months.  Micah made a list of trade goods that are about to increase in price.”

“It’s a mixture of products what will be in short supply and trends in clothing material and design,” Micah agreed, shooting his parents a thin smile.  “If you pay close attention to it, you should make enough attunement to provide for yourself comfortably indefinitely.”

“Any questions?”  He asked, looking around the table.

“What should we pack?”  Esther asked excitedly, stars in her eyes.  “I’ve never traveled across the ocean before.  Will I need any special food or clothing?”

“Yes,” Trevor responded with a chuckle, “but don’t worry about it too much.  We’ll be picking up more supplies when we reach the coast.”

“Wow,” Eris muttered to herself, a gigantic smile on her face.  “Finally, an adventure.”