Furious Scribe
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50. Hull - Brothers
🕑 Added 2024-11-03 03:05:34 +0000 UTC
Chapter 50
Brothers
We were in deep shit, and I knew it. I ignored the fact and swung my Vampiric Blade through another one of the damned, grinning demons. A single extra point of Nether damage was enough to kill it, but it didn’t sparkle into nothing like Souls did; instead, purple sludge mucked up our treetop platforms, making the fighting that much harder. Another one climbed on my back and raked its claws against my Iron Maiden Plate. It held up, not letting any damage through, but I had to dance away from two others to keep their talons off me – combat damage stacked per turn even in unstructured melee fighting like this, and if I took another hit any time in the next five seconds or so, it’d go straight through.
My clawed brass knuckles took another one in the face, and once it was down I pounded it again, leaving its head a misshapen mess. I’d gotten used to some ugly mugs during my months as a Nether Summoner, but I was getting tired of this one after having it in my face despite breaking it so many times in the last few minutes. I swung from left to right, trying to dislodge the one on my back without sending myself over the edge of the platform. “A little help?”
Afi sent her Nüwani toward me, its blade flickering through the thing’s neck. It slumped away, tumbling off the wooden planks and plunging to the forest floor some fifty feet below. A quick glance showed that ground to be teeming with movement like an anthill. There were dozens more of the endless demon thing down there. Hundreds, maybe.
“We need to get out of here!” I bellowed, swinging my Blade through another one as soon as the Relic would let me. “There’s not enough room to summon up here.”
“Speak for yourself,” Gared said cooly, taking the head off an opponent with his massive sword. “Most of us are doing fine.”
“Don’t be an ass!” Anya snapped at him from her platform some ten feet to our right. “We need to go.” The rope bridges connecting the summoned elf Relics had all given way under the weight of so many demons, and she, E’lal, and Paytr were stranded on theirs, as were A’cia and Esmi on the third – three overwhelmed islands of wood facing each other from adjacent trees but too far apart to reach without a Jump Spell or some ability like Gale’s. Where is that son of a bitch, anyway? Isn’t he supposed to be our captain?
A fierce, roaring cry overhead louder than the aura-muted chaos around me drew my eye, and there he was as if drawn by my thought. The sun was behind the circling griffon, so I couldn’t see if Basil was still on its back, but I waved it away frantically. Go get help, I thought at them. I’d have yelled it if I’d had any hope of them hearing, but all these demons were hooting, cackling, and shrieking as we mowed them down. Somehow there were even more than when we started.
“Everyone gather in the middle,” Qi’shen cried.
“There’s nothing in the middle,” Afi said, her voice just this side of hysterical.
“You will have to jump,” the elder elf said. “Remember that you have seen my soul, and trust me.”
“Hold on just a second,” I said as soon as I understood what he meant. “I’ll gain us some space.” I looked at my hand of cards floating in front of me, extremely glad I’d added a few of the dead Spell Drinker’s cards to my deck. “Brace yourselves. This’ll hurt a little, but it’ll be worth it.” I devoted 3 Nether and popped off two Spells in rapid succession.
Everyone shed a few cards out of hand, but no one grumbled about it – expanding twin rings of fire left demon sludge raining from the canopy on all sides and gave us a moment to breathe. Qi’shen and several of the others gave me nods of grateful approval. The mass of demons beyond the range of the Spells immediately started swarming up the trees again.
Gared didn’t give me so much as a glance. “They’ll be on us again in moments. On the count of three, people, gather your courage and jump. One… two… three!” He flung himself off the platform into the middle of the empty triangle of air separating the three matching Relics.
“Shit shit shit,” was all I had time for, and then I threw myself after him. I didn’t trust that asshole as far as I could spit, but this time I knew he had the right idea. The ground was coming up fast, and I screwed my eyes shut, hoping everyone was close enough for this to work. I imagined Qi’shen’s soul card and prayed for Fortune to favor us.
I felt a wrenching in the pit of my stomach, and suddenly I was standing on the ground, perfectly upright and stock still. The change was so sudden my vision went black and my mind convulsed as if I’d taken a brick to the head. I groaned and swayed. Someone nearby threw up noisily. It could have been any of us. It was several seconds before I was sure it hadn’t been me.
“Pointless,” came an echoing voice, detached and amused. “So much effort just to gain a few extra breaths.”
Shaking my head and willing my vision to clear, I cast my eyes around to see who had spoken, and my heart dropped into my stomach like a rock. We were standing in the forest some unknown distance from where we’d been, but there were copies of that Twins-damned demon on all sides ranging through the widely-spaced tree trunks. They were clumped together thickly off to my left, but I could see at least a few in any direction I looked, and they were quickly converging on us.
Qi’shen was slumped on the ground, breathing hard. “Hold them off for a minute and I can jump us again,” he panted.
We jumped to it as the demons closed in, forming a rough circle as we summoned, swung our weapons, and otherwise tried to keep ourselves alive. Gerad was on my left, and I kept half an eyeball on him even as I fought, worried that he might take the chance to turn on me. A scan of the faces left me cold – the young paladin Wenden wasn’t with us. He must have been too far away from Qi’shen for the elf’s ability to grab him when we all jumped. I thought of the poor kid plummeting to the forest floor after watching us disappear. If the fall hadn’t killed him, the demons on the ground certainly had. Worry about the dead later. I heard the others yelling to each other as they cast Spells and summoned right over the top of each other, everyone making sure the others knew what they were doing. Gerad, that son of a bitch, said nothing and did his own thing.
I felt my used cards flowing back into my Mind Home with each swing of my Blade, and I spared a glance for my hand. I hadn’t had the free source to summon my Talisman yet, and had it not been for the single Ravening Hatchling I had in hand I’d have been taking a point of damage from my Iron Maiden Plate every twenty seconds or so. I had my third Wildfire in hand, but there was no point in using it until I re-drew one of the ones I’d just used. As soon as my source let me, I brought out a couple of my big Souls to add to the mayhem.
Any second now Qi’shen would yank us away, hopefully far enough this time that we’d get beyond the range of the furthestmost copies of this insane demon. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Qi’shen staggering to his feet.
“Ah, ah, don’t go!” the demons said in unison, their voices echoing quietly together as one. “You have yet to pay for the insult you gave me.”
Anya squawked as no less than ten of the demons piled into her at once. They weren’t attacking her; they just climbed right over the top of her, no less than half of them dying at the hands of her summoned Paladin Souls and her own Relic Hammer. They didn’t care; they were just trying to breach the circle… and they did, snatching at Qi’shen’s arm and hauling him out into the waiting, seething sea of identical demons. The elder elf growled a curse in his native language and cast some Spell I couldn’t see – there’d been no time to put on my glass eyepatch – which vaporized three of the copies at once. It didn’t help. More of the damned things were trampling over Anya, and no less than a dozen taloned hands pulled Qi’shen out of our reach before I could get to him.
“No!” the elf roared in quiet rage, his aura leaving it all eerily soft. The demons swarmed him like ants no more than ten feet from our circle, a tangle of writhing limbs and flashing talons hiding him entirely from my sight. I cursed and swung my Nether-enforced brass knuckle claws at the copy in front of me, trying to edge us toward Qi’shen, our only escape.
Right at that moment wind buffeted us and Basil dropped to the ground in the center of the circle, one of his Master Shieldbearers at his side to absorb the damage of his short fall. Halifax swooped overhead, his cries still furious despite the quiet as the griffon took a demon’s head in his talons and twisted it right off the shoulders.
“Why didn’t you go for help?” I grunted over my shoulder at Basil.
“I couldn’t leave you all to die!” he shrilled, sounding terrified.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him he’d likely just sealed his own fate alongside us. It was an endless number of this infernal demon on all sides of us now.
I was suddenly assaulted by noise – the cries of the fighting demons, the shouts of the others, and the shrieks of Halifax over it all. My guts clenched as I realized what that meant.
They’d killed Qi’shen. None of us were leaving here alive.
“Have you got an Equality in hand?” I shouted to Basil.
“Won’t work,” he said, his winged knight swooping down to engage with the demons. “These aren’t summons – they’re all the same creature. It’s some kind of soul ability.”
“We have to find the original,” Esmi called from the far side of the circle.
Gerad grunted at my side, his head jerking over to her for just a moment before focusing back on his deadly work. Half a moment later he stepped back. “Take over for me,” he said to me.
I jumped into the gap he left behind with my claws extended, scoring a demon across the face and making it jump back. “What do you mean, take over?” I howled. “If we don’t all fight, we’re dead!”
“If one of us doesn’t start thinking, we’re all dead,” he snapped back. He was digging in a deep pocket frantically. I couldn’t look away to see what he was doing without getting overrun by demons.
Basil sucked in a surprised breath. “The foe finder!”
My mind scrambled to make the words make sense, and after a long moment it came to me: he’d pulled out the Artifact our father had forced on him back when we’d started War Camp, the one that let him see enemy Summoners.
“Did he know?” I heard him mutter. “Father, are you watching?”
“Where?” I called to him.
“A thousand feet, that way,” he said, sounding angry.
I couldn’t see where he was pointing. “How do we get there?”
Basil shouted louder than I’d ever heard him do before. “Gale! Have Halifax pick up the Prince and fly in the direction he’s pointed!”
My other Wildfire pulled back into my hand. “Me too!” I screamed. I had an idea, but it would only work once. I could feel Gared glaring at my back, but I didn’t care. If I could have saved everyone else and let him die, I’d have done it, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
I heard an indistinct yell from Gale, and then Halifax shrieked directly overhead. Wind washed down around me, and demons scrambled back on all sides as his beak snapped savagely at the air where heads had been only a moment before. I felt a deep pressure on my Plate right over my shoulders, and then I was lifted bodily into the air. I looked over and saw Gerad dangling right beside me, looking every inch the angry, vengeful Prince of Treledyne. He had the round Artifact in his hand and kept checking it.
“Go!” he bellowed. “Straight ahead!”
We skimmed over the top of the demon horde, taloned hands reaching up to snatch our feet, falling short by mere inches.
“Tell us when,” I heard Gale say from above.
“Angle left a little,” Gerad yelled back up, checking his Artifact. “That’s right. Drop us on my mark.” Then he fixed me with a dagger stare. “Don’t fuck it up.”
“Back at you,” I grunted.
He gave one last look at his foe-finder. “Now!”
There was another sickening lurch as I fell. That’s twice today. I really hate this shit.
As I fell, I devoted 3 Nether once again and let fly the same double-Spell combo I had before.
I crashed to the ground, shedding cards from the Spell and maybe from the fall. I went flat on my back and my heels went up in the air. Demon sludge got in my mouth and nose, and I retched, rolling over as quick as I could. Gerad was already on his feet, damn him, pelting with all his might toward the sole remaining body.
The original demon looked shocked as the Prince closed in on him, and in a sudden flash of insight, I knew this bastard was used to walking around in a huge crowd of body doubles, invisible in plain sight. He had no source circling him or cards in hand. That seemed like rank idiocy at first, but as I scrambled up, I realized it was a fantastic strategy. Using only his soul ability he could make an army of thousands – maybe tens of thousands – and without any visible marker to set him apart, he could fade into the background no matter what happened with no one the wiser. Except, of course, if your enemy had access to a foe-finder and a big damned bird to drop him at your feet.
“Wait!” the demon shrieked. More copies were already budding off him, and I knew if we didn’t finish him soon, he’d simply disappear into a crowd again within a handful of seconds. Gerad ignored his plea and brought All-for-One down on his head, sending cards shredding in all directions. Four more copies were already scrambling to get in between them, and even the copies were making copies. Five more seconds and we’d lose him.
Keeping my eye firmly fixed on the original, I scooped up a handful of purple demon sludge the consistency of thick mud and hurled it at him. It splatted right across a sharp cheekbone, and he cried out as if he’d been struck again. Yeah, this one’s a spider. He’s used to sitting back and letting his doubles do the dirty work. He hasn’t been exposed like this in a long time.
The demon dove into the group of the copies, and they twisted around each other in an eye-bending pattern meant to confuse and dizzy us.
“There!” I snapped, pointing. At the rear of the group I saw one with a smear of vivid purple on his face.
“Got him,” Gared grated, summoning a Soul.
I was far enough back that I couldn’t come to grips immediately, so I dug out my eyepatch, holding it to my eye to see what he’d done.
“That’s a Legendary? He’s a glass cannon,” I grumbled. “He’ll die at the first hit.”
“He’s supposed to,” Gared said with grim satisfaction. “Didn’t read all the text, did you?”
I wasn’t about to admit he was right. Hilbrand leapt into action, shearing through the first copy effortlessly, but the second in line plunged its claws into his belly, and he shattered into shards immediately.
“Idiot,” I sighed. I had my other Marauder in hand; it was time to summon as big a force as I could before we were overwhelmed and the slippery bugger got away.
“One of us is,” Gerad said, standing back and folding his arms with a smug, satisfied air. “Give it a moment and even you’ll figure it out.”
Hilbrand’s sparkling motes coalesced in the air instead of dissipating, zipping toward the rear of the rapidly-multiplying host. Once there, it turned back into a card and circled overhead like a Source.
“There you are,” Gerad grinned nastily. “Enjoy the gift.”
A bolt of lightning thundered down out of the thin canopy overhead, striking directly where the card was. I heard a panicked scream and saw card shreds bursting from the spot like mushroom spores. The copies all turned toward the sight, mouths agape and eyes wide. The circling card started moving away from us fast. Very fast. The demon had panicked. He was running, and all his copies didn’t know what to do with themselves.
Running didn’t help. Before he’d gotten to the edge of the trees another bolt fell, and every last copy of the damned thing turned to dust. No purple goop, no bodies, nothing. Their creator was dead, and there was nothing to support them.
Gerad hissed in satisfaction and threw his head back to the sky. A wave of force burst out of him, pushing me back and rattling the leaves underfoot. “About bloody time,” he sighed, smiling.
The sudden silence that followed was deafening. The rest of our group was far enough away that I could only just make them out through the trees, and Halifax was out of sight. I heaved a deep sigh of relief.
Then I saw Gared staring at me. He’d just elevated another step through Epic, and we were all alone.
“I could do it right now,” he said. “No one would know. They’d think the demon got you.”
I tightened my grip on the sword. “Try it, asshole.”
He cocked his head. “Not until he knows I’m the better man.” With that, he walked toward the distant heap of the fallen demon.
He meant Hestorus, and I understood what he meant the second he said it. His father had threatened to replace him with me, and until Gerad knew for certain that our father had rejected me completely he wouldn’t feel safe in killing me.
It wasn’t a truce, not by any means, but it was a reprieve for the moment. I helped you win, you piece of shit. He’d never admit it, not even to himself. I followed him to the fallen body, curious what we’d find.
The demon’s corpse was a smoking ruin, blistered and burnt. Gared was pulling card after card from behind what remained of an ear, scowling hard.
“Trash,” he said, throwing them in the dirt as he inspected them. “Bog Imp. Demon Hatchling. Root Imp. Nothing but Commons.”
“He just wanted a full Mind Home for the damage they could absorb,” I said, kneeling beside the body. “His whole thing was hiding and using his copies as an army.”
“Nearly worked,” Gerad admitted, still pulling cards.
I nodded. “I doubt he had more than a few source. I’ll lay money on it that he never even used them.” I went straight for the mouth. That was where the prize would be. I had to be careful reaching past the jagged teeth.
“Stop that,” Gared said.
I ignored him, pulling out the card.
My breath caught. I knew the second I touched it I’d never let it go. “We just took down one of the demon Mythics.”
Gared held out his hand. “I killed it.”
I popped up, holding the card away from him. “You can’t use it, but I can. We need every weapon we can get our hands on, and now he fights on our side.”
He clenched a fist. “I can break it down for shards. It’s mine.”
“Take the whole Mind Home,” I countered. “I helped with the kill; I get part.”
“That’s the whole part,” he said. “What is twenty Commons against a single Mythic?”
I heard a shout and saw Gale running toward us. “We’ll ask our captain and see what he says.” Basil’s brother would take my side, I was certain of it. Besides, I had the right of it: we needed more strength, and I was the only one who could use the card.
When Gale reached us, though, his face was pale, and when he opened his mouth I knew our argument had to be tabled. “The elves,” he said, sounding sick. “They’re leaving.”
Comments
Myrdin
And he still didn’t elevate even to a measly uncommon. I bet that it is done, because he is going to defeat (maybe kill) his mother and regain his old card and rank, but it still doesn’t make sense. Why would he need to protect anything in order to elevate? That title of the protector is not necessarily the path that he must follow for elevations
iridium248
I do feel that Hull hasn't had much of a chance to protect anything that was meaningful during the war, so to speak. This is more a case of survival - I would say that saving Gale's Soul Card from his mother was more personally significant than the fighting he's been doing.
Myrdin
Why do you think that any intent is needed, or that the title is the direction that a soul must develop in? It is rather struggle and challenge that is the requirement. It is not like Hull’s protector title can’t be changed to something else along the way of the elevation, and protecting things is not the only way for him to elevate
Sharrif
Except he didn’t do it with intent, or reflection. Basil elevated when he actually made the effort to stand up for himself. Hull elevated when he reflected on how he wanted to make sure no other kid died in the Lows. Gerad has had an extremely narrow focus in intent to surpass Hull and gain Hestorus’ favour. Once Hull starts honing in on his desire to protect, and *why* it’s so important to him, I think then he’ll just start elevating really quickly; assuming he keeps up doing similar feats.
Myrdin
Killing orcs to protect the city fits well enough that it should elevate his soul. And elevating from common to uncommon is surely not as difficult as going from epic to mythic. Hull made big contributions to killing off the epic spell drinker at the mythic yveda, not to mention a lot of orcs killed off screen. His deck is becoming way too powerful for the rank of his soul
Furious Scribe
That's correct. Arrival only triggers when played from hand.
Sharrif
I think it just goes to show how difficult it is to elevate one's Soul. I'm fairly confident that Gerad finally elevated within his Epic tier because he was focused on the goal of being a better, more powerful, more worthy man than Hull is - at least, to his Dad. Plus he did the final blow. While Hull... hasn't really been moving forward as a "Protector", and hasn't had a clearly defined goal or accomplishment to reach. At least, not yet. My hope/prediction is that this entire event - where they've lost Qi'shen and Wendel, and also the rest of the elves - will be part of his driving force/goal to become a better/stronger Protector to ensure none die. Maybe even narrowed down to ensuring Basil, Esmi, Afi, and Gale specifically don't die, as his first genuine relationships and connection. Ahhh, can't wait to see how the next few chapters go!
Sharrif
Only ways that make sense to me would be stuff like Incapacitate, a Spell like Retreat used offensively (maybe it'd be called something like "Intimidation"?), or Sneak Attack. If Spells/Abilities that reduce an Opponent's Damage would reduce Hilbrand's Dying Breath Damage, then that could be viable as well. Pretty much requires a deck designed to be *against* him though.
iridium248
Kill your opponent first, presumably.
Evin
Chaos' Mind Swap, which exchange hands, perhaps?
Novice Reader
How do you even counter Hilbrand?
thisisniall
Incredible card, great both short and long term for Hull’s deck
Hailhound
Also, the dupes aren’t tokens, so do they stick around forever? We know epics can stay for weeks, so mythics are for all practical purposes just constant. If hull summons it, is there any way for him to stop them from duping or do they just go until killed. Some interesting practical war applications/problems.
Myrdin
I think it is high time for Hull to elevate. It is ridiculous that he is still common after everything he has done recently
FiveBoxes
I think they meant if the dupes trigger the Arrival ability then there would be thousands in a single moment. It can go infinite but it ramps each turn, not immediately. Perhaps the Living version can activate the ability with a thought on a short cooldown instead of having a full turn's cooldown, like how Basil has a cooldown on his ability. The Soul version is a whole lot weaker than the Living version too. It doesn't have the additional deck health and it can get hit by all kinds of board wipe that don't hit Summoners like Equality. Hull's Wildfire combo destroys it easily too.
iridium248
That's one hell of a Mythic! Wonder what Demon Hatchling does, though.
FiveBoxes
It would be weird if the elves stayed. They aren't even getting much from this but they've lost so much already.
Chirag
We have to assume 'create a card' doesn't trigger that token/card's Arrival ability.
Sharrif
I think that’s the whole point. It does grow infinitely, if not removed from the board quickly.
Hailhound
Mechanically how does that card work? I assume the arrival doesn’t trigger for the tokens? Becuase as written it seems it be immediately infinite. Also sidenote, noticed a few times in this chapter and some previous Gerad was (seems like the work of autocorrect lol) spelled Gared.
Isaac B
Great chapter. I really hope Hull gets to keep the card.
