Bloodflowers Bloom (The Astral Wanderer Book 2), D'Artagnan Rey [essential reading .txt] 📗

“So it possesses bodies in its own world as well?” Farah asked. “Who lives there?”

“Possess?” Wulfsun asked, looked around, and finally noticed the bodies around them. “Aw, hells. Were these some of yours?”

“They were.” She nodded. “Our soldiers and scholars who were deployed here. It seems like the magic possessed their corpses, similar to how ghouls function.”

“I can’t get away from those bastards,” Wulfsun grumbled as he knelt and examined one of the bodies. “Aye, but in the abyssal realm, that only happens if someone falls. They can simply create constructs in different forms to attack, but they all seem humanoid to some extent—although I would say it is closer to demonic.”

“More like the pictures we saw on the way here?” Asla asked.

Wulfsun dropped the body and nodded, “Aye. This probably wasn’t meant to be a real attack. I think this substance simply makes things at random. Although, given that beast and the possession of these soldiers and guards, this could possibly have been a way to defend itself.”

“Defend itself?” Devol asked and turned to his mentor. “Wulfsun, you say that like this is alive and giving orders.”

The Templar shrugged and checked the fit of his gauntlets. “It may not be alive in the traditional sense, boyo, but there’s something to this magic—something that makes me glad it’s not my profession that has to experiment with it.” He turned and nodded to Jazai. “My condolences.”

“I beg your pardon?” the diviner countered before Farah stepped in.

“We need to get the rupture that has enabled this closed,” she stated and put her blade away. “And as quickly as possible. If this…anomaly is reacting to us, it will only continue to escalate so we should deal with it before it gains strength.”

Wulfsun nodded. “Agreed. Fortunately, I think this will be far easier than a trip into the realm itself. It only has a finite amount of the substance to work with but still, it’s best to not press our luck.” His mana flared as he cracked his knuckles “Stay close to me. We’re gonna rush through the rest of this. Jazai and Farah, make sure we don’t get caught in another of those damned illusions aye?”

The two nodded. The boy checked his rings while Farah held a hand out and formed an orb of light, which she cast out in front of them. “That will shine through any illusion, assuming we’re not trapped in one at the moment. Make sure you always stay within sight of it.”

The others exchanged glances to make sure they were all ready. Wulfsun leaped on top of the Temple and gestured for them to hurry. “Let’s get the job done, ladies and gents!”

“Hey, Markus,” a guard by the name of Henry began and pointed behind his comrade. “Are we expecting any more support or new arrivals today?”

“Not to my knowledge,” Markus responded and turned to see what he was pointing at. “Why do you— Who the hells is that?”

Five figures approached from over the hill, all dressed in dark garb, but the one who walked in front had no hood and wore red shades. Their stride was swift and they marched directly to the dome with no hesitation.

“Civilians?” Henry asked.

His teammate shrugged. “Who knows, but they aren’t supposed to be here. Hey, Tobias—incoming!” Another guard, along with several others and a few scholars, looked at the approaching group. Tobias told a couple of guards to follow him. He had planned to simply stop them and tell them to turn back, but something was odd about them. Did he need to warn them about the massive darkness stretching before them?

Unfortunately, Tobias and the guards would not have their chance to question the strangers. He raised a hand to signal for them to halt and the leader of the group did the same. The man pointed some kind of stick with a red crystal in the tip in their direction. A flash emitted from this and the guards were incinerated before they even had a moment to scream.

The other guards snatched their arms up and some scholars ran while others prepared spells. The four beings behind the fire mage suddenly sprinted forward and caught some knights in the front. They used daggers or the unnatural claws on their fingers to pierce through or around the armor to eliminate them with quick strikes.

Salvo grinned as he formed several small orbs of fire that he cast at random targets. Some were able to defend against them with shields, both enchanted and mana-created, and others were able to dodge them. Two fell to the fiery onslaught. He twisted his wand and commanded the flames that now burned the grounds to snake around and envelope more guards as his ghouls continued their attacks.

The swift onslaught and growing fire caused massive disarray amongst the defenders. Salvo noticed a pair of scholars trying to escape on his left side. He flicked his wand toward them, ensnared them in a cage of fire, and held a finger up to tell them to wait as he continued to deal with the rest.

“Someone needs to contact the others inside!” Haldt cried “They need to know—watch out!” He held a shield up and a torrent of fire slammed into it. The flames began to spin and grow to consume him and two other guards beside him. Their armor was quite convenient for Salvo. It meant they could not run away as effectively, which might have been rather annoying.

The fire mage finally approached the dome and stared at it in amusement. “This is only a trial run?” he remarked as he spun his wand carelessly. “I wonder what he has planned for the real thing. This seems nothing more than a novelty.” He looked at the ghouls and pointed to one. “You—go to that cage and fetch me a scholar. Slit the other.” The ghoul nodded and hurried to the fiery cage as Salvo let it fall. When he