Icarus Awakens

They’re doing it. Gordon is not happy, but he agreed. Hunter is inside Khare now.

Got it Tak. Take care of them. Thanks. Daniel was standing on the ground outside the Spire, closer to the main entrance and the break in the storm. Qess, and the people with her, had made their way to them and were now standing on the opposite side of the barrier. Taloran was the only one among them giving Daniel an encouraging smile, the others just looking with some disbelief at Evalyn on the other side.

Then, Daniel’s hands changed, and the Shroud became visible as he tore at it. Daniel guessed he didn’t need this specific power for it to work, but it was the most convenient one at the moment. His mana rapidly began burning away as the strange power within was diverted. Keeping it open long enough for everyone to come through took about a fifth of his reserves. If they didn’t have two mana potions between them, and if those potions didn’t provide a small regeneration after the initial bump, he couldn’t consider doing this for everyone outside.

“What kind of Artificer are you?” Qess asked, now that they were able to talk to each other.

“A very tired one.” Holding the breaches open for prolonged times was as physically draining as it was mana intensive. He’d had to let Hunter take over his arms towards the end. It didn’t give him additional strength but another’s willpower to shoulder the burden and a few snide comments about how weak he was. Through his new, hazy understanding it felt like wrestling the Spire itself. At least it wasn’t intelligent, and stopped resisting when he stopped challenging. In fact, he could still hop through the Shroud without an issue so long as his intent was only on himself. “You’re sure there haven’t been any items you couldn’t swap.”

“No, we can do just about anything someone else isn’t holding onto, but the most we can do is about 10 kilograms. But won’t this hurt people?”

“My arm got caught in the Shroud earlier and it went right through.” The Ranger stared with raised eyebrow at the one she knew had Regeneration. “No, it was fine, I just couldn’t move.”

“Guess we all hope this works then.”

“Yeah.”

Everyone waited for a few torturous minutes until Daniel got the mental notification that the other team had fought their way through. Daniel swapped Claw Strike for Construct Shield, Hunter grumbling at having to figure out a new power on the fly. See, this is why you should have at least tried all my powers before now, Daniel thought towards Hunter, still inside Khare’s Mobile Armory.

Nag later. I am trying.

But this is important! If you don’t think you can do this, we’re screwed.

I can do this.

Yes, you can. He waited on the wrong side of the Shroud as Hunter acclimated to the power Daniel had given him, this one for the first time. You’ve got the shape right in your head? The floor part has to be completely flat and parallel if this is going to work.

Yes. I can do this, Hunter curtly replied. So much mana.

You hardly use it anyway. Hopefully, we’ll just need one section to get the point across. While talking in his head, Daniel stared at Qess, waiting for her signal. The plan he’d come up with was that they’d wait for Gordon’s group to get close to where the spire guard was fighting outside of the main entrance before committing their strike. What they were doing wasn’t foolproof, and could be undone if anyone figured out how they were doing it. Aside from that, Daniel had been astounded to find both parts of his idea worked when they’d tested a small stone they’d hovered mid-way into the Shroud. Alright Hunter. Make this count.

I will. Hunter waited a brief moment for Daniel to provoke the Spire, causing the strange mana drain within him to begin. Taking over, he then spoke aloud in Daniel’s voice, “Bulwark.” It was the first time he’d ever spoken an incantation. Despite it being Daniel’s power and Daniel’s voice, the echoing quality all spoken powers had carried a different reverberation compared to when it was actually Daniel using the ability. It had a feral, growling quality below the initial sound that Daniel was sure Hunter’s own incantations would have whenever he awakened one.

Some of the sand in the storm around them stopped, flowing together into a thin sheet. It was similar to the wall of sand Daniel had summoned to protect Khare from the thieves but bigger and far thinner. Hunter’s mana pool, drained somewhat by the multiple uses of Flash Jaunt he’d needed earlier this night, lost a good portion due to the size of the creation. On Daniel’s side he had to will the turbulent mana into the creation to produce the desired effect. Unlike when they mimicked dual-channeling, this process didn’t naturally draw his mana together with Hunter’s. Fortunately, he’d found a workaround.

Daniel, back in control, pushed the newly created shield and opened a large hole in the Shroud. Covered by the storm as they were this went unnoticed, but would offer a far easier way to let people in than by physically holding a gap open. The Spire very much did not like this intrusion, judging by the feelings he was getting off of it, but this part of the Shroud was now ‘his’ until the power broke, which could be done by destroying the sand construct. As that construct was now a level 2 shield, it should prove resistant against incidental damage despite the flimsy construction. While Hunter’s mana drain was over, Daniel still had to provide some of the wild mana within him to sustain it.

This, beyond anything else, was what Daniel enjoyed the most. Even though he didn’t fully understand the effects of this new pseudo-power, he had managed to improvise and turn it into something that could, theoretically, trap anything. In that moment he felt he’d barely scratched the surface of what powers could do, counting having pulled formulae from thin air and practically everything related to Hunter’s bond. Manipulating the mana flow of a power consciously, rather than just using it outright, seemed a way to alter their very identity and effect. As he prayed the plan would work, he asked himself two questions.

What exactly was mana? If there was an answer that wasn’t just ‘magic’. Secondly, why did it feel like one of his first power had been set up to intentionally blunt his ability to feel it?

…

Item Swap, like all powers, had its limits. They couldn’t make an item appear in someone, or they’d just use it to phase swords and arrows into beasts. This worked for inanimate objects as well, in general. One exception was when they attempted to swap an item in an easily displaced material. If it didn’t work that way, and the deserts somehow flooded, then water would block the effect. Or, Gordon supposed, it wouldn’t even work above water because the air would get in the way.

This was an important distinction as they’d finally gotten close enough to the spire guard to trap the majority of them with what Gordon had been assured was an undefeatable snare. Though Marky had calmed somewhat, reserving his anger after coming to realize he might have been wrong, Gordon still hesitated. People knew who they were, on both sides, and the only reason they’d gotten this far was that his group hadn’t done anything overtly aggressive. This plan would put a lot of attention on them, and if it didn’t work at least one side might focus on them.

He frowned as he noticed the Knight from before had recharged her barrier power, which was currently shoring up the flank directed toward him. There was at least one Martialist armed with a crossbow firing into the crowd behind a wall of armored figures, most with levels. The normal city guard had a hard time recruiting Blessed, one of the reasons his team had stepped in to help, but the Spires with their wealth and influence could poach promising candidates from the Hunter’s Guild. Against such a foe the crowds would normally disperse, but they were past a breaking point the entire city had been building to for months.

Stopping the carnage required bringing at least one side to a halt while words won out. Doing so against the hundreds of everyday people nonlethally was beyond Gordon’s level, save for very specialized powers none of them had. Even that Knight with their projected barrier couldn’t handle all of this herself. Arresting the spire guard came with its own problems, namely that they represented the strongest contenders in the area. Frankly, Gordon may have decided to cut his team out of here earlier if this wasn’t his home on the line.

Which brought his thoughts to sand as he knelt. The plaza had a good coating of it from the storm, even if the area was now somehow calmed. This was heavily disturbed sand, both from what it had seen and the blood pooling in places. Gordon wouldn’t have tried placing one of his traps in the ground here since the stone street underneath wouldn’t give room to make space. This, however, wasn’t his trap.

He sent his stone back to Qess and waited. All he had to do was keep his hand outstretched, and it would work, or it wouldn’t. His partner didn’t keep him waiting long as the sensation of his hand being too occupied to receive the item occurred. “Fuck.”

“It’s not working?” Doran asked, already eyeing ways they could break towards the edge of the conflict. In the back of both of their minds was the option to leave and enter the Spire alone to find Bennar and knock sense into him. It would damn everyone else here, though one ideal common to both professions was knowing when to give it your all, and knowing when your efforts were being wasted.

“Give it a second,” he grunted, shifting his hands to a slightly different position. He was decently sure this would work, but only if there wasn’t anything getting in the way of what they were trying to shift. With so many feet, blood, and bodies in the way, it would take a miracle.

A minute passed as nothing continued to happen. The others were doing well in securing the area, only other people with levels or drawing total hostility could threaten to move them. Doran, with far fewer people, had managed to hold out for longer back when the undead were still a significant issue. However, neither were people blind. “Hunt leader, that captain keeps looking your way.”

Gordon took a moment to realize he was being addressed. “It’s just Gordon. We’re working on it.”

“How long do you-“ As Doran was asking, it finally happened. Sand was thrown up as a solid floor was placed just above the ground. It rose amidst small columns a few centimeters in width, running into an invisible barrier made by the captured fragment of Shroud. As Daniel had experienced before, it completely locked down anything within the field which, at ankle height, effectively immobilized everyone caught.

Most of the spire guard froze, along with anyone else nearby. Gordon winced as one man, in the process of running forward as the trap went down, fell forward while one of his legs remained frozen. The rest caught struggled, some trying to break whatever was holding them, but they all failed to pierce the unbreakable barrier. Before the spire guard could be stormed in this moment of weakness, Gordon ran up and got in position, another wall of sand now appearing from his hands to block off part of the advance. Between that and the very confused Knight still channeling her barrier, the direct approach for the majority of the civilians was blocked off.

With the rest of their team inside the barrier, Doran took the lead toward the ranking officer he’d spoken with earlier. He wasn’t immediately attacked, although every ranged weapon in the group was trained on him. The leader of the spire guard didn’t struggle in place but raised his sword. “What is this?”

Doran took a moment to observe what parts of him weren’t covered in blood. “I am relieving you of command. You, and the rest of the guard here, are to stand down.”

The other man shook his head sadly. “The Mirage got to HURT. What, is the rest of your team riling up more rebellion? I didn’t want to think you were responsible for-” He jerked as Doran squared up, trying to lash out with his sword. The Shroud impeded his movement, and the power the man put behind it to speed up the strike didn’t stop Doran from just ducking and transitioning the movement into an uppercut.

“Have you lost your minds!?” He yelled, as Gadriel moved to block a small fire spell and Gordon cut a bolt out of the air. “Do you see what you’re doing? Look at them!” He pointed at one of the citizens who’d been caught in the Shroud, now trying their best to lean away from the guard. “I don’t care if you answer to the Council. If you get an order from the Council to commit a massacre and actually follow it instead of kicking them off the Eye, you’re the traitors.”

“We were supporting you you fucking idiot!” one of the spire guard without recent facial trauma shouted. “Reinforcements came from the guardhouse and they turned on them! They’re trying to take the plaza.”

Doran had guessed this misconception had been at the root of the spire guard’s actions, though he didn’t cool his temper one bit. “The enemy hit the main guardhouse and used whatever Crest-damned power converts our people to take them over. They were killing innocent people and instead of stopping them, you decided to join them!”

The spire guard leader recovered by this point and grunted, “Say what you want, Doran. You’re still a traitor trying to turn my men.”

He didn’t directly address that but turned to the crowds who, at this point, were watching with apprehension. “Drag over some of the guard bodies!” When no one moved, he added, “We’ll get you into the Spire, but we need to deal with this first.” There was a tense minute of waiting as the converted guardsmen hadn’t reached this far with their push. The trapped spire guard were still trying to break out, but held off on more overt action as it became clear that the crowds could rush them while they were trapped if the momentary peace was broken. Soon enough, half a dozen were moved through the crowd and thrown to the ground in front of the barrier the Knight was still maintaining. “Take off their armor.”

“You’re a disgrace,” the captain in front of him growled. The one holding a crossbow leveled it at the people unlatching straps before a pointed glare made them lower it. The rest of the spire guard were still either defending themselves or trying to find a way out of the trap at this point, the handful not caught in it pulling at their friends or stabbing the ground to no avail.

Finally, a breastplate came off and the man holding the body jerked back as he saw the hole in the chest. There were other injuries of course, but this one couldn’t possibly have been made without damaging the armor above it. Everyone silently watched as the same wound was revealed to all the others. The Knight’s barrier wavered for a second as she looked back. “Sir?”

“Don’t listen to them! Obviously they mutilated the remains after killing them!”

“Captain, I say again I am relieving you of your command and placing you under arrest. I don’t care about authority or protocol, you’ll be lucky if you don’t hang after this. The rest of you have a choice. If you think we’re traitors then we’re knocking you out and tying you up. If anyone actually cares about the people of this city and, in case you’ve all forgotten, the enemy actively invading it, then you’re with me. We’re going into the Spire and seeing just what the hell the Council is thinking.”

“The siege ward is closed,” the Knight protested, though she seemed to be coming around. “How are you suggesting we get in with the Shroud in the way?”

“The Shroud? Ma’am, what do you think we’re standing on?”

…

They’re surrendering! At Tak’s message, Daniel slumped to the side of the Spire, and then gave everyone a thumbs up.

Can I get out of here now? Hunter asked.

No, you should probably wait until there are fewer people, Tak answered after a beat, perhaps expecting Daniel too. Gordon does say to wait for a few minutes so Gadriel and Doran can finish beating up the ones resisting.

Ok, Daniel replied, through his headache. All this time, he’d been in what felt like a staring contest with a lighthouse. No, four lighthouses with a lens between them to focus all of their rays on his corneas. Nothing he’d ever done had been this mentally taxing. Sustaining other kinds of powers had just been a drain on his mana with the requirement of light focus. Sure, the more advanced enchanting he’d been getting into could be boring because of how attentive he’d needed to be, but this was different. Something had been fighting him to release the sections they’d torn off the Shroud. It continued to lose, surprising him. Hell, this was all too much. We were supposed to be done with disaster.

“Everything alright?” Evalyn asked softly, clearly aware how painful sound currently was to Daniel. Daniel just nodded to which she whispered, in a completely serious tone, “As your team captain, I have to ask that you tell me about all of your powers from now on. We could have really used this before.” Daniel just groaned, sensing the hidden sarcasm, and she added, “Also, I’ve decided what our team name is.”

“Wha-” Daniel’s headache was forgotten. “What? It’s not Golden Wing right?”

For a second he was sure Evalyn would keep it secret just to mess with him, but she took pity. “Close. You still gave me the idea. Starting today, we’re the Wings of Craft.”

He thought for a second. “Doesn’t that imply we’re all Craftsmen or something?” Evalyn flicked him on the forehead. “Ow!”

“We’re going to stop overthinking this. Honestly Daniel, you’re the smartest non-Lograve person I know, but there’s a good reason we ended up with me as the leader.”

“You got me alone in a tent to convince me?” Daniel bowed his head, acknowledging the point and avoiding another flick. “At least Tak will be happy with it.”

Evalyn chuckled. “It’ll grow on you. Although, again, as team leader, I’m going to have to insist you make those flying boots for everyone.”

“Someone’s learning to abuse their power. I can, once I refine the formulae. Although I don’t know if Khiat would be able to use them until she reaches level 2 or… actually, how does that work with her not having a class?”

“The important thing is we’ll have time to find out.” Evalyn looked up. “We’ll have to go in there, you know. Find Thomas and try to put a stop to this. With Willow, maybe Bennar will listen more, although I don’t really get politics. I’d say it was a shame we didn’t also have Tlara but…” she trailed off as Qess walked over.

“Hey. They’re almost ready to move.” She plucked at one of the strings of her bolas. “And, sorry about, well, sorry. To us it looked like you were part of what was going on. Shit, I still don’t know what’s going on with that ringcat but I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt now.”

“I always thought it was a terrible idea!” Taloran shouted from where he was animatedly chatting up the songbird. Despite being in the middle of that, he still managed to wink at Evalyn.

“Taloran, shut up! Anyway,” she sighed. “Sorry.”

“Sorry? You were going to kill Hunter!” Daniel objected, rising back to his feet.

“We weren’t going to kill him.” She waved dismissively. “Marky would have if we’d let him though. Crest, it’s going to take some talking to get him around. Look, we were just trying to get you to talk before taking you back to the guild.” Daniel folded his arms and when she looked to Evalyn there wasn’t a hint of support. “Fine, I guess it’ll just be this way for now.” A stone appeared in her hand. She just nodded at Daniel and he did feel a bit better as the mental pressure was relieved. “We’ll get a drink or something after this, talk this over. I get a feeling Wings of Craft isn’t a team I want to be on the bad side of.”