Champion, Chapter 43: Billow of the Dark

YsbailThe RealmsSecondday, 4th week of the 9th month, Age of the Chosen 1One Hour Past DawnCeallach Macht, Mistvale Highlands

Ysbail scrutinized her new team one by one as they assembled at the entrance to Caer Macht. Labhruinn passed inspection, as she knew he would. He was covered head to hoof in armor made of overlapping steel plates, a warhammer in one hand and a massive shield in the other. Ceirios was ... passable. The newly-minted Councillor fidgeted in place, constantly checking pouches at her hips and flanks. She was as overweight as ever, but that should not prove a problem in the short term.

Anwn trotted up, her eight-foot long war bow carried in one hand, two wolves flanking her. She wore reinforced leather armor, although her companions had only their fur for protection. Two quivers stuffed full of arrows rested at her hips. Ysbail nodded to her and got a nod in return.

That was four; they were only missing Wulfryn, the harpy support mage. Ysbail frowned and shifted her weight. "Cynehild promised she would be on time," she muttered to herself.

A shadow passed over the party, then something slammed into the ground in the middle of them. "Presenting the great—ack!" A youthful feminine voice started to proclaim before cutting off as Ysbail, Labhruinn, and Anwn all pointed weapons at the woman who stood between them, raven-dark wings spread dramatically.

Ysbail relaxed a fraction, bringing her sword up onto her shoulder, and asked in a dry voice, "Wulfryn, I assume?"

"The one and only!" the harpy chirped, recovering quickly from her surprise. "Wulfryn of the Shattering Shadows, cloaked in mystery, shrouded by secrecy, she whose very presence makes her foes tremble and allies take heart! An existence so sinister, the sun hides behind clouds at her arrival! A heart so pure, even women fall in love with her at first sight!"

Ysbail ignored the torrent of words coming out of the woman's mouth and inspected her. Wulfryn was young, perhaps even younger than Sunnild, and her skin was deathly pale. She wore a lighter version of the standard Sisterhood military armor made of hardened leather strips covering a padded cloth-and-leather undersuit. A bandolier crossed her chest, filled with a dozen identical throwing daggers. Her wingfeathers were a deep, dark black, but her crest was a deep blue-purple.

"You will do," Ysbail grunted, interrupting Wulfryn's continued patter, and started walking into Caer Macht.

"Tremble before me—hey, wait up!" Wulfryn scrambled to catch up as the others followed Ysbail's lead. She jogged up to Ysbail's side and asked, "Um, you are Ysbail, right?"

"Yep," agreed the Adventurer.

"Oh, good. Ah, I mean, of course you are! Wulfryn never misses her mark!"

Ysbail had to chuckle. "I will hold you to that." Then she eyed the girl and asked, "You know this is not a game, right?"

"Of course!" The way Wulfryn's cheeks puffed out when she was annoyed was adorable. "I am a veteran of a dozen missions, O enormous leader! Neither duty nor peril are strangers to me! Ah, if I may ask, what did Major Cynehild tell you about me?"

Ysbail held back from ruffling the harpy's crest, but only barely. "She said that you are 'a unique individual,' but that you follow orders well. She also gave me a brief description of your specialties, but no details. Care to fill me in?" Ysbail was pretty sure that Wulfryn would never turn down a chance to wax grandiloquent about her capabilities.

"Of course! You have the honor to be joined by the Sisterhood's number one support mage, as skilled with enhancing her allies as she is with impairing her enemies! As a Metal Mage, I specialize in temporary equipment enchantments. I can sharpen weapons, modify the density and flexibility of both arms and armor, and even turn ordinary steel into mystical materials for short periods. And as a Darkness Mage, I have spells to hinder, hobble, and harm all manner of foes! I can sap Strength, Speed, and Stamina, cause a target's shadow to turn against it, bind enemies in place, and even deprive them of sight and hearing!"

Ysbail was suitably impressed; assuming she wasn't exaggerating, Wulfryn's repertoire of magic was quite robust for a girl her age and a perfect mix for her role. Her combination of boons and banes would act as a significant force multiplier in small-unit fighting, which is exactly what they were headed into.

"But wait!" Wulfryn continued. "That is not the end of Wulfryn's magnificence! In addition to being an Apprentice Metal and Darkness Mage, none among the Sisterhood can surpass me in skill with Glyphs and Incantations! I specialize in combat casting and take pride in my ability to adapt my spells to fit any situation. Indeed, you are fortunate beyond compare to command Wulfryn the Great!"

Ysbail smiled. She could understand why the Sisterhood might have problems with Wulfryn; her bombastic presentation would grate on the ears of a society built on discipline and interchangeability. She wasn't that different from Sunnild in that department. That individuality was something that resonated with Ysbail, though. She knew that she had a reputation of her own among the Starchasers for being free-spirited and scorning tradition where it got in the way of what needed to be done. Wulfryn didn't follow quite the same path, but they were kindred spirits.

"Yeah," Ysbail said aloud, "I think I might be. I will introduce you to everyone else once we get to the portal." Wulfryn beamed at her.

YsbailEarly MorningThe Labyrinth, First Stratum: Viridescent Treetops

The party emerged into a towering, twilit forest. "Gonna need torches," came Labhruinn's grunted assessment. "Unless one of you mages has a light spell?"

Ceirios shook her head; Wulfryn scoffed. "What need have we of light when Darkness heeds my command?" She began to move, her hands and all four wings making gestures in the air around her. A chant rose from her throat, echoing oddly in the confines of the tree-trunk room. "Shadows flow through me, and from me, into the world. Though the day be black as night, midnight bars not my sight, for darkness parts at my command. Spread from me, O Shadows, to the eyes of my companions and share with them the Darksight Boon."

At the conclusion of her chant, the sphere of glyphic lines expanded out from Wulfryn, washing over the entire party in the span of a heartbeat. Ysbail blinked as her vision changed from one moment to the next. Before, she could only make out a dozen feet of the tree branch ahead of them with any clarity, but now, it was as if every surface in the forest glowed softly. Colors were still muted, but Ysbail could see the trunks of great trees that must be thousands of feet away and make out the individual leaves in the canopy.

"Damn, lass," Labhruinn whistled. "That earns you a spot in any team I make all on its own."

"Agreed," added Ysbail. "How much of your Concentration is this taking up?"

Wulfryn shook her head and grinned. "Like I said, darkness flows through me. Darkness Magic spells hardly cost me anything to maintain. Metal Magic is trickier, which is why I described those as temporary enhancements."

"Well, well. I may end up owing Cynehild for sending you my way. Good job, kid." Wulfryn beamed at the praise; Ysbail could see the enthusiasm and happiness welling up inside her. She was practically vibrating with it. Ysbail gave her a moment to bask in it, then addressed the group as a whole.

"Alright everyone, gather around. I have a map provided by Lord Aidan that covers a little more than half of the expected area of the first level. Our goal today is to complete that map and make it down to the next floor. The enemies here should not be a major hindrance to us, but we will pretend they are. Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer, and I do not intend to let it take root within us. Enemies here can come from all around us, so while Labhruinn will be our vanguard, as the second-sturdiest, I will take up the rearguard. Anwn, I want you just in front of me, and the wolves just behind Labhruinn. Ceirios, Wulfryn, you will be safest in the middle, but pay attention regardless."

Each of them took their place in the formation. Looking over them from the last position, Ysbail nodded once and said, "Alright, we have a Dungeon to explore. Our first stop is to check out the treasure orbs Lord Aidan's party found to see whether they are party leader-specific like the shortcuts."

YsbailMid-Morning

A horizontal swipe of Ysbail's greatsword sent a Blade Beam scything through the horde of scuttling insects swarming across the branch. Each of Ysbail's attacks killed dozens of the Swarmlings, but hundreds were attacking from every angle. Wulfryn already proved her worth with the group Darksight spell, but her current performance made a strong case for making her a permanent addition to Ysbail's future plans.

As soon as the living wave of monsters scuttled up from the edge of the branch, Wulfryn sprang skyward. Holding out one hand toward either side of the party, she manifested two zones of writhing shadows without needing an incantation. Any bugs that passed through those spaces were locked down and crushed by tenebrous tentacles, securing their flanks and creating an artificial chokepoint. And, as if that weren't enough to put her in Ysbail's good graces, she rattled off a rapid series of chants, bolstering her and Labhruinn's weapons and armor.

Ysbail grinned. This was what she loved! A group of competent people working together to watch each others' backs, working as a seamless group towards a greater goal. An arrow flew over her shoulder, skimming the seething tide of insectile menaces before detonating, sending dozens of them hurtling off of the branch. Ysbail heard another explosion behind her as Anwn spread the love around. Even Ceirios contributed, her golem standing behind Ysbail to catch the trickle of bugs that managed to skitter past her.

In a few minutes, all that was left of the horde was a sea of crushed chitin and severed legs. Ysbail ignored the experience notification—even coming in their hundreds, these things wouldn't get her noticeably closer to her next level, and that wasn't what she was after here anyway—and looked out over the carnage. "Too bad we do not have an expanded-space container like Lord Aidan," she mused. "All these materials are going to go to waste."

"I cannot do anything to help with that." Bless her heart, Wulfryn looked crestfallen at not having a spell for every situation. Ysbail shook her head and smiled.

"There will be more where this came from, and better. This is only the beginning of our adventure!" That brought another eager smile from the raven-winged harpy. "Well done, everyone, but we still have a long way to reach today's goal."

YsbailEarly Afternoon

"What is that?" Ceirios asked, taking a step backward. The party had just emerged from a tree-trunk tunnel onto a new branch when Anwn pointed the monster out to them. The path they were on made a T intersection ahead of them, and there was a patch of leaves to their right as they emerged from the tree. In the far corner crouched a creature none of them had ever seen.

It looked like an unholy cross between a worm, a spider, and a mud elemental. It had a long, narrow body around thirty feet from tip to tip, with a constant width from its gaping, leech-like maw until the final five feet that tapered off into a tail. Several pairs of insectile legs clustered near the creature's front, the knee joints above the monster's back, but the rest of its length lay atop the leaves. Making its appearance even worse was the copious amounts of slime dripping from its body in thick, lumpy sheets.

Its appearance was hideous enough, but Ysbail could feel its Aura bearing down on them. Aura-related Skills were quite rare in the Highlands, so she knew that none of the others could tell what was making them so uneasy. Even she didn't have Aura Reading, so Ysbail couldn't tell anything concrete about the monster's capabilities, but she knew one thing for sure. "That," she said, "is bad news."

As if drawn by her words, the creature swayed, its maw spreading wide as it swiveled around, searching for prey.