Icarus Awakens

Peering through what turned out to be a hole in the wall, Daniel gaped and Evalyn stared when they saw the space ahead of them. The mountain had been broken here. A vertical passage, like the one they had just fallen through, pierced through the rock with a perfectly cylindrical shape. Plant life crept on the sides near the top where light would best reach. With it now being late evening it was dark twilight, only just brighter than the tunnel behind them. It wasn’t just that this hole extended all the way to where the mountain met the sky, it was its width as well. Daniel estimated it was a kilometer wide, maybe more. “How did no one know this was here?”

Evalyn shook her head and pointed away from the space, towards the ground below them. Gadriel, hand reached out to accept his returning sword, was dueling on a rock shelf overlooking the giant chasm. Blood stained his armor in places, an understandable exception to the near flawless fighting style Daniel had observed due to how outnumbered he was by both the dead and the living.

The trail of corpses showed Gadriel had fought a retreat from the edge overlooking the cylindrical chasm, though there was no sense as to how long the Hero had been fighting. As for the opponents that still breathed, it only took Daniel a second to identify all of them. The majority of the thirty odd monsters were level one or two. Though Gadriel was technically on par with half of that number, Daniel had learned the Hero was worth far more than his level would suggest.

Gadriel was moving through the enemy mass like a harlequin, flinging his sword almost as soon as it touched his hand while doing ridiculous acrobatics. The man’s kicks and punches impacted the various monsters as if they had been delivered from a steady fighting position, instead of towards the end of a backflip. There was an odd grace to his movements, likely sourced from his Balance feature, but there were times that Gadriel seemed to float for a few extra seconds.

Whatever powers he was using, Gadriel was a terror to the monsters. In less than ten seconds, Gadriel kicked off of an adult burrower skab, landed two punches on yet another mole that sent the poor level one flying with only half its jaw, brought a foot down hard on an insectoid creature Daniel identified as a shiver spider, and flung his sword out again after it cut a large section of flesh off of the original skab.

Only one creature had died from that exchange but Gadriel had gone nearly untouched, even with his shield on his back instead of on his arm. He’s moving that way to juke them out, Daniel realized. What could he do if he didn’t have to defend himself? The Hero’s display was so impressive it had taken Daniel a second to register the other mortal in the space. Thomas, miraculously alive, huddled away from the brawl. Despite his apparent vitality, the Cleric wasn’t doing much to help Gadriel.

The third participant in the battle noticed the two in the wall gawking and yelled at them as she flew by. “You going to fucking help or what?” Tlara was gliding around the space, taking care to avoid the other flying creatures as she seemed to do nothing to help Gadriel. But then again, every so often a monster about to strike at one of the Hero’s blind spots would recoil in sudden pain. She was wise to avoid a direct fight. Two of the flyers were young skyshock wyverns, no doubt drawn to the brawl from above. Without beasts to help her out, Tlara would… Wait a minute. “Those wyverns are level three, Tlara!”

For the first time, Daniel said something that made the avianoid smile. She looked at the wyvern Gadriel’s sword had been focusing and her beak almost bent upwards with joy. “Oh. Oooh fuck yes,” she trilled. “Those two are mine!” she declared to the world at large. “Let me at the injured one. If Kob ever gets down here, tell them to tie up the second one like they promised!”

Tlara swooped towards the injured wyvern as Daniel looked up. By their auras, Kob and Khare were still hundreds of meters up. For whatever reason, Kob was having trouble. Their speed wouldn’t be a factor for falling, but the collapsing rock could be hampering the gestalt’s descent.

“Well?” Evalyn’s voice drew his attention. She was smiling too, expectantly even. “Are you going to go down there and be a hero or am I going to have to push you?”

Daniel peered over the edge and eyed the drop. It was about two stories up, more than he would have braved before his experience with falling out of the sky. Twice. Still, he would have preferred sniping from the elevated position. He wasn’t Gadriel, he couldn’t wade through monsters. Evalyn probably guessed as much and insisted. “I need the space.” Daniel looked between the horde of death and the beautiful woman asking him for a favor. There wasn’t a choice here, even if he was already in something romantic with Claire.

At least he nailed this landing. Daniel held his crossbow up with one hand, using the other and his feet to break the fall. Above him, Evalyn was standing on the lip of the tunnel with instrument in hand. A brief light glowed across it, a tell-tale sign of some abilities, and then played.

Alert: You are under the effect of a friendly Ability: Valor Song*

She was still playing a metallic accordion, but the sound that echoed across the battlecliff was, well Daniel couldn’t quite place it. Alex was the virtuoso, not him. The closest he could place it was what he thought was called a woodwind instrument. Not a flute, the sound wasn’t that high-pitched. Though honestly, Evalyn could be playing the triangle and it wouldn’t matter.

Lightfoot Song had opened Daniel’s eyes to the power of a bard. Valor Song opened his heart. It was everything the background music his gaming groups used tried and failed to capture. Brushing away his fear was the least this anthem was doing. It resonated with Daniel’s desires to survive, to protect his friends, to overcome these enemies, and to someday go home. With this song, he felt he could hold against any siege and break through any defense.

Evalyn shouldn’t have asked him to jump down, her song would have done it for her. That being said, the exhilaration was still tempered by common sense. Charging into the mosh pit with Gadriel, who was now fighting even harder, would be death. Even if Daniel longed to summon the talons and leap into battle with a spray of feathers.

What? The music faded into the background as he took stock of that alien desire. The talons made sense, but feathers? What just happened? Wait, damnit, I need to focus. The distressingly long list of things he needed to investigate lengthened as Daniel braced the crossbow and sighted toward the side of the monster pack closest to Thomas. They were among the most damaged and most threatening to the Cleric.

Evalyn’s song played on as he cast Scatter Shot on the ammunition and took aim, activating Snap Shot a moment later. The sequence was necessary as there was a limit on using abilities at the same time. Most, but annoying not all, abilities that required constant mana consumption couldn’t be combined. It was kind of confusing and even Lograve had said most people had to try out combinations before figuring out what was and wasn’t possible at the beginning.

Thankfully, Snap Shot and Scatter Shot could be used together so long as he staggered them. Whether it was because one was a spell and one was an attack, or if the magic of the two powers just decided they liked each other, it meant he could use his most powerful attacking ability without needing to rely on unassisted aiming. Whatever power affected his hands was the opposite example, preventing him from using Snap Shot or Scatter Shot while the change was manifested. Not that Daniel would ever want to fire his crossbow while his hands were all weird.

The only downside was that the feeling from the Bard song was dramatically decreased after the sobering mental jolt of imagining something related to feathers. That deeply saddened Daniel. Bardic inspiration was a classic fantasy staple and now he felt like he was missing out. If he’d somehow broken his ‘receptiveness’ to the ability, he might never have that feeling again. Though if it was any consolation, three monsters would never feel anything again. Two shardrock moles and one of the spiders that seemed to always be vibrating were the closest to the burst of ghostly crossbow bolts. Others were injured and turned away from the Hero to retaliate against he who had freshly struck them.

Daniel looked first to Gadriel, then Tlara for aid. Neither would be much help. The Hero was busy solo’ing everything else, and Tlara was now latched onto the injured wyvern and glaring intently at it. Beyond gliding, the assailed wyvern was motionless. She must be taking it over, Daniel guessed. The Beastmaster needed to hurry. Ten monsters, three of them level two, had broken from the main pack.

On the upside, Gadriel would finish off the rest of the ground monsters around him. On the other hand, Daniel had drawn aggro. Spiders twitched side to side, still loping towards him at a fast pace. The surviving moles were slower but had dug into the ground to avoid another ranged attack. Churning earth aimed for his position, as well as the auras outlining the creatures underneath, were the only signs they were still in the fight. A shock runner was in the group as well, oddly bereft of other lightning-attuned kin in its pack.

I need more crossbows, Daniel thought as he desperately reloaded. In situations like this, there was simply no time to use the ranged weapon effectively. Experience had cut down how long Daniel needed to replace the bolts, though now he was at the point of diminishing returns. Even with improved strength, there was a minimum amount of time needed to perform the necessary actions of pulling back the string, drawing the bolt, and casting Scatter Shot. If there was a pile of loaded crossbows by him, or better yet a readied firing line of them, that would be different.

Oh, thank God. Daniel sighed with relief as his second shot either killed or incapacitated the alpha shiver spider in the horde. Arachnophobia wasn’t his, but no one looked forward to fighting a jittering spider twice as tall as them. There were still three spindly things with prominent jaws intent on ripping into him, though they were only his height. Just before he had to summon his talons, Daniel killed two of them with Snap Shot and his two daggers. He charged towards the last one, changed hands spread outwards.

After sliding under the last shiver spider and lashing out at its legs, Daniel had to wonder if Valor Song was still affecting him subconsciously. The initial high was gone but he hadn’t frozen or hesitated at the thought of power sliding under a giant spider with talons outstretched. He’d just done it, and it worked! Granted the spider was only level one and already injured, but Daniel was still just Daniel. A young guy from Earth whose life had imploded right before it took off had severed seven of the eight, no wait, nine legs of a spider monster with his hands. The reverie was broken when a shock runner, scurrying on the wall containing Evalyn, zapped him in the back.

The moles prepared to capitalize on the momentary seizure of Daniel’s muscles when Evalyn got to him first. Valor Song, either in its second stanza or the first repetition, was interrupted by a four note refrain that sounded different from the rest of the music. There was harmony in them like the resonance of an incantation. Are all Bard powers music-based?

Whether that was true or not, the short burst of sound freed Daniel before returning to the previous song. Scattering rocks marked the Shock Runner’s retreat from him. In its flight, it had taken notice of Thomas. The Cleric was still slumped by the wall, unresponsive to the threat. Dead? No, he’s breathing and I can see his aura. The shock runner was looking to change that. The moles would probably follow him, but he should ask. “Evalyn, I’m going after Thomas. Will you be ok?”

“Yep!” Her vibrant voice bounced around the space as if alive itself, adding another layer to the music. The Bard had one leg up against the cave wall while she played, watching both Gadriel and Daniel with a look of deep concentration.

The trails of upturned earth followed Daniel as he took off after the shock runner. It was clear by now the moles moved faster below ground than they did above. Daniel was faster but the shock runner was the fastest. He briefly considered throwing a crossbow bolt at it before an idea struck him. Oh, I’m an idiot! It was something so simple, so basic, he should have been doing it ever since he’d gotten the ability.

Hunter’s amplification of Daniel’s identification feature was an exemplary display of how discovering combinations in powers could vastly improve their function. In the face of that, this idea wasn’t as impressive. It was more common sense, though it solved a major problem. Daniel didn’t have enough time to stop, reload his crossbow, and shoot the shock runner before it reached Thomas. Even if he tried the moles would fall onto him. What he did have time for was to pluck his daggers from the corpses of the shiver spiders with Telekinetic Reach, then hurl them after the beast. Both landed squarely in the same leg but didn’t explode with the effect of Scatter Shot. What was the point? They’d only hit one target. That annoyed the shock runner but wouldn’t kill the level two creature outright.

Removing the daggers with another twin use of Telekinetic Reach caused blood, sickeningly purple, to spray out. Some of it flecked onto Daniel’s arms from the carried momentum as he caught the daggers. Daniel ignored that, at least he tried to. Then, he hurled one dagger after the other at the creature, again at the same leg. Snap Shot was ever the saving grace allowing him to pull off otherwise difficult throws.

The mana cost of Telekinetic Reach meant Daniel couldn’t do this all day, especially with the penalty from the shock runner technically possessing them. However the daggers were light, the distance not too far, and the effect worth the effort. This was exactly what he had been asking for, a rapid ranged attack to use when he couldn’t reload his crossbow. The knives arced back and forth between Daniel and the shock runner, almost like Gadriel’s sword juggling which had been the inspiration for the idea. The latter was a clean, fast arc through the air whereas Daniel’s maneuver was a more pointed motion with a delay to the return.

It wasn’t like the shock runner cared how its back right leg was steadily hacked off. It tried to resist by skating across the wall in a snakeline motion while firing lightning behind it. Daniel could feel the work Valor Song was putting in as he dodged each one mid-stride without breaking in determination. Danger meant nothing to him right now. There was what needed to be done, and what he had to do to make it so. The shock runner needed to die and Daniel was going to kill it.

The beast fell off of the wall as Tlara screamed. It didn’t sound like a pained scream so Daniel ignored it. Instead, he recalled his daggers for the tenth time and fell on the wounded animal without any hint of remorse. Nothing about the resulting melee was fair. The shock runner relied on its speed to build up its electrical attack and was practically helpless delimbed.

Daniel didn’t stop until the purple blood drenched his hands. It was darker than the lightning spines but reminiscent of their color. That wasn’t the sight of that which made Daniel pause. It was the feathers, sharp as knives, which peppered the corpse that fully sobered him. Tlara was the only feathered creature nearby, but these were primarily red and auburn. Not hers, they couldn’t be. Where had they come from?

Then the moles broke the surface of the ground, saw the butchered shock runner, and fled. Had Daniel noticed, he would have wondered why they’d chosen this moment of all times to run. Their kin still crowded Gadriel even as the throng lost members every few seconds. The Artificer did look over to that battle and saw the conclusion minutes before it would happen. The monsters were just outmatched. Very much so, now that Tlara had dominated one of the wyverns. She was using it to weaken its twin, no doubt bent on capturing that one too. With the primary threats in the sky otherwise eliminated and the tempo of Valor Song driving Gadriel’s deadly blows, it was over.

Gadriel didn’t need his help, but Thomas might. The Cleric was crumpled into himself and deathly pale. His toughened robes were torn, though there should have been a pool of blood from the wounds those tatters implied. It was almost like how Daniel had looked after Regeneration had healed the wounds from his fall from the second sky island, but Thomas didn’t have that power and what healing he did have didn’t work if he was unconscious. “Thomas, are you ok?” he asked, kneeling by the Cleric. He couldn’t help but notice that the red of his hair had become white in a few places, though only at the very end of the strands.

“Guy, ya made it.”

“You need to heal yourself,” Daniel chided, noting with concern the weakness in the voice. This wasn’t like finding Hunter after the root core. Thomas wasn’t on death’s door, he was just in the neighborhood.

A hand fraily clutched the symbol hanging from Thomas’ waist. It was his Focus, but it was cracked. A jagged line ran through from one side to the other, intersecting the cupped hand in the center. “Can’t, my Focus’ out.”

“Did it break when you fell?”

“Y-yeah.” That was a lie. Thomas didn’t have the strength to be convincing. That being said, Daniel didn’t have the abrasiveness to call him on it. He asked the more pressing question instead.

“Where’s Lograve?”

Thomas winced and mulled on his answer for a few seconds before simply saying, “I don’t know.”

The rock was illuminated by a flash of lightning. Daniel turned and saw Tlara manically firing her wyvern at the other as it tried to flee. Daniel didn’t blame it. Not only was the one trying to dominate it laughing dementedly, she was using that inflict pain ability on it as well.

“Does she always fight like that, Guy?” Thomas asked behind him. He sounded just as skeptical towards the avianoid’s sanity as Daniel.

He wanted to commiserate. The fate of the last missing member took priority. “What do you mean you don’t know? What happened?”

Thomas grimaced. Not in physical pain, but distress. “When I woke up after the explosion it was just Gadriel. You’ll have to ask him.”

What happened? Daniel wondered. The monsters around the Hero were now dead or fleeing. He’d have the chance to ask soon. Maybe Gadriel had some healing power or an item Thomas was sworn to secrecy over. Healing wasn’t rare in itself, and there was a level two ability Hand Clerics could get that provided a massive, one time heal. Rarer, more desirable powers did exist, like ones that bypassed the restriction on use above the caster’s level.

Valor Song ended when it became clear the battle was over. Tlara was still chasing her prize, though Gadriel was now unopposed. Daniel was the one he addressed first. “Sir Artificer! Your arrival here is fortuitous!” The Hero was still bleeding in several places, not that that would slow him. “Does Sir Kob accompany you?”

Daniel glanced towards the auras and saw they were still a third of the way from the bottom of the tunnel. Moving, so Kob wasn’t stuck, but slowly. “They’re here! Tak warned us about what happened but he’s been badly hurt. Sigron and Khare too but-” Daniel shook his head. Too much to explain. “Where’s Lograve?”

“Ah.” Gadriel turned towards the cliff. “I believe he’s at the bottom. When-“ The Hero paused and exchanged a glance with Thomas that only Tlara missed.

“I guess it’s a good thing we have a Hero then.” Evalyn lightly landed on the rock shelf and addressed Gadriel in an almost mocking tone. “You should go get him and let us clean up your mess.”

“Would you prefer to strike me from your retelling of this day entirely, then?” Gadriel challenged evenly.

“Heh, never fails,” Thomas wheezed. Daniel blinked at him as the two behind him started arguing. “Bards and Heroes. They can be like that.”

“What do you mean?” Both had been working so well together during the fight only to turn on each other the instant it was over. Evalyn and Gadriel were both good people, it didn’t make sense. Well, to be fair Gadriel did have some flaws. And did he know Evalyn that well?

“You know how cats and dogs can get? It’s just like that. It’s just a class thing.”

Wait, there are pets here? In all this time Daniel had yet to see anything resembling a domesticated animal. And no, tamed monsters didn’t count. Even if Hunter tolerated petting, it didn’t count. There was a pause in their conversation, and then he asked, “So, Lograve fell over the edge?”

“I think.” Thomas shrugged. “He was gone when I came to.”

“What about the monsters?”

“Oh, they’re new. The earth shook and they came swarming out of the hole a few minutes before you showed up. If he was still down there…” Thomas trailed off, lowering himself back as the implication was left to speak for itself.

“I need to know.” Daniel stood and started walking to the edge. He had to know. Lograve had survived a dragon. He could summon ice from the air and make anyone smile with his ridiculousness. He had taught Daniel about the world and welcomed him into his home. He needed to be sure.

The spat between Gadriel and Evalyn was dying out when he reached the edge. Night was truly falling now, enveloping the borehole through the mountain in darkness. There was no way to see to the bottom, not without Hunter’s senses. There shouldn’t have been. But something at the very bottom of the world registered to Daniel, tickling an unfamiliar sense. Not only that, it reached out to him.