The hundreds of mire hounds surging forward across the corrupted landscape towards the city of Cautis Major was a concern. The thing that they appeared to be guarding, however, was of far more interest to Jadis. The massive mobile mound was unlike anything she had seen the Demons field before. It was, at its most basic, a large stone dome. Dozens of hexagonal plates had been carved from granite and fused together into something that approximated a tortoise’s shell, though this structure was perfectly round. Small holes had been placed in the center of each of the hexagons, and the glowing eyes of different Demons could be seen moving in and out of view.
It was, Jadis realized, a siege engine. Not a living Demon who had merged with an inanimate item, not a magic beast that had been possessed, but a mobile defensive structure that had been crafted specifically for the purpose of attack. Other than the eggs which Jadis had taken and hatched under her protection, she had never seen any Demons construct anything for themselves. Ever. They were certainly capable of using the weapons and spells and abilities of the mortals that they possessed or merged with, but never had she ever seen them make something on their own. In fact, she was certain that a lack of creative thought or the ability to construct their own tools and equipment was the whole reason why the Demons had been historically considered non-sapient by the people of Oros. They had always been viewed as little more than clever animals. Dangerous, but not truly intelligent.
Jadis wondered what all the scholars and priests back in Eldingholt were going to say when they heard about this thing…
“I’ll hit the shell, you aim for the horde—”
“You take the horde, I will handle the—”
Dys frowned as she turned to look at Wilhelm. She and the Hero had spoken at the same time, and both had called out commands that were counter to each other. While she couldn’t see his face thanks to his helmet, Jadis got the immediate sense that the man was just as nonplussed as she was about the confusion of conflicting orders.
There was no time to debate who should handle which target, though. Both of them were already diving for the mobile fortress. With a mental shrug, Jadis continued her intent with Dys and Syd diving at the shell while her Jay self flew overhead with Aila and Alex.
While her other two selves focused on the attack, Jay was able to see the full picture of what unfolded over the next few seconds. It was thanks to her birds-eye view that she was able to appreciate the actions taken by others, as well as adjust her own course to work around them. If she had a way of communicating her observations to the others who were in combat, then her role as an overwatching lookout would have been even more useful, though that was not yet an ability that she had.
As Taube dove with Wilhelm on his feline back, Rein, The Lancer, leapt from his seat on the griffon and fell to the ground in front of the horde. Fell was perhaps too passive a word, as the elf’s descent was more like a meteorite crashing to the earth. A literal crater was left in the Lancer’s wake as he landed, destroying dozens of mire hounds who had rushed ahead of the main force. Immediately, the man began thrusting his long-hafted polearm forward with deadly precision. However, each jab was not just a pinpoint strike against a nearby Demon. For every thrust, a lance of silver energy sparked outward, skewering four or five mire hounds at a time before dissipating on the heels of Rein’s next attack.
In a matter of twenty seconds, the elf had slain at least fifty of the Demons.
Not to be outdone, Severina sliced through the northern edge of the mass of mire hounds with her black wing and shining sword. The crackle of Divine power sparkled as the Seraphim struck down her enemies in a swathe of righteous destruction that left nothing but smoldering corpses behind. The justicar had to have killed just as many as Rein by the time she pulled out of her dive and rose back into the air to circle around for another pass. The reckless horde made from sticks and mud was reduced by a tenth from just the actions of those two warriors alone, and for that Jadis was in awe.
However, Jadis didn’t have time to marvel over the prowess of her allies when magic was exploding in her faces.
As her Dys and Syd bodies arced through the air and struck the granite shell from the left and right sides with her Break the Bulwark activated, Wilhelm dove for the front on his flying mount and slashed his golden sword before him. A wave of Divine light sliced through the air and struck the front of the shell just as Dys and Syd made impact. In that same instant, arcane runes flashed into existence all across the hexagonal plates of the dome.
A brilliant light exploded in Dys and Syd’s eyes as they were forcefully propelled backwards by an explosion of arcane energy. Even from high above, Jay winced at the blinding light. Her other two selves were thrown away from the stone shell, tumbling across the ground and crushing several mire hounds who had the misfortune of being in the way. While the damage Jadis took was mostly to her pride, she was still forced to fly back into the air and away from the dome, just to give her eyes time to recover from the light, if nothing else. By the way he was shaking his head as he rode Taube into the sky, Jay could tell that Wilhelm had also been affected by the flash.
What hadn’t been affected was the stone dome.
Jay could not see any damage done to the stone by either the Hero’s divine attack or her own brute force double smash. The granite looked completely unchanged, except that she could see arcane runes flickering in and out of existence around the areas where she and Wilhelm had struck. Otherwise, the shell was completely intact.
It was the first time Jadis could ever remember her Break the Bulwark skill not working. She had not had the ability for long, but ever since she had unlocked it, she had found that it had always been a perfect key to any shield or barrier that got in her way. From what she remembered of the Hero’s own abilities, she was just as shocked that his sword strike had had zero effect as well. Whatever magic was powering those runes was beyond anything that Jadis had encountered yet.
Thinking quickly, Jay angled her flight and dove for the south side of the slowly advancing dome, where her Syd self was hovering.
“Give me a shot of your magic at that dome, Aila,” Jay called out over the rush of wind. “Keep it small!”
“Right,” Aila replied, not needing to be asked twice.
As Jay and Syd met in midair, Aila fired one Force Bolt at the side of the shell. The spell struck a hexagon in roughly the middle and a flash of light burst from the point of impact. The flare was far less dramatic than when Jadis and Wilhelm hit, though there was still no hint that the destructive bolt of arcane power had done any damage.
“Those runes must have some kind of repelling effect that nullifies magic spells!” Aila shouted. “My bolt had no effect!”
“Break the Bulwark didn’t work either,” Jay said as she exchanged her hammer for Syd’s sword staff. “But I don’t believe anything is invulnerable. We might just not have hit it hard enough yet. Or in the right way.”
As her other self spoke, Dys was hovering on the north side of stone shell. Checking to make sure that no one else was nearby first, she hefted her favorite projectile, a large rock, in one hand. Seeing that Wilhelm, Rein, and Severina were all a fair distance away, she hurled the rock as hard as she could at one of the granite hexes.
The resounded crack of stone on stone echoed without any blinding flash of light. Far more encouraging was the fact that Dys could see that some of the shell’s exterior had been chipped away by the thrown stone. It wasn’t much, but it was damage.
As she had expected, the test showed that the runes covering the shell only responded to magic. Or rather, magic and skills. A plain old rock didn’t trigger the defensive reflection. With a growl of triumph, both her Dys and Syd selves rushed at the sides of the stone fortress again, this time swinging their weapons with nothing but the strength of her arms.
The moment her strikes connected, another flash of light blinded the two of her and sent both bodies tumbling back.
“Shit,” Jay cursed as she shielded Aila and Alex from the blaze. “That shouldn’t have triggered the runes! I didn’t use my skills!”
An ink-black hand touched the side of Jay’s helmet as a soft, yet sonorous, voice whispered into her ear.
“Sabina’s… Magic…”
“Don’t use your hammer!” Aila called out at the same time, her strong voice carrying over the sound of fighting far below.
The enchantments. Her weapons had enchantments on them, crafted by Sabina. If the runes reacted to any kind of magic or skill, even something like Break the Bulwark, why wouldn’t they be designed to counter enchantments as well? Even her armor sets had runes crafted into them, so punching with a gauntleted fist would likely have the same effect. If she wanted to break the stone, she would need to hit it with no magic of any kind at all.
“You’re right,” Jay said as she hugged her two lovers. “Both of you. Extra kisses when we get home tonight.”
In the same span of time, Dys and Syd were removing the gauntlets. If they had to break their way through the shell barehanded, that was what they would do. However, before either of her other selves could finish unequipping their armor, another flash of bright light shone from the front of the dome.
At first, Jadis thought that one of the others had foolishly attacked the rune-protected stone shell again. She expected better from Severina, but maybe Wilhelm or Rein hadn’t caught on to the trick like she had, which would be excusable if they hadn’t seen the full scope of her experimental attacks. The light wasn’t a blinding white, though, nor did its origin prove to be from the demonic dome. Instead, the source was the Hero himself, along with his Lancer.
Jay watched in confusion as the two men stood to the fore of the advancing fortification. Wilhelm was slashing his sword in front of him, brilliant waves of golden energy slicing through any of the mire hounds that approached. None of his magic struck the dome, though most of the divinely powered slashes crashed into the ground, cutting deep gouges into the dirt and stone. Behind him, Rein pierced any Demon that attacked from behind with his lance, though every third strike he would turn and thrust into the ground, creating deep holes wherever his magically empowered strikes landed. Great gouts of rubble and debris flew high as the two men tore into the land in a collaborative assault.
In seconds the Hero’s plan became clear as a deep furrow was dug into the ground, directly in the path of the Demon’s rune-protected shell. The hole wasn’t wide enough for the whole dome to go into it, so instead a path was made for Wilhelm and Rein to dash under the lip of the stone hexagons. Neither man even had to duck his head.
“I could have thought of that,” Jay mumbled with a scowl as she watched the dome cease its movement. “I just had a different idea, first.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I didn’t think of going under, either.” Aila said as several bursts of the Hero’s golden light could be seen bursting inside of the structure through the hexagonal peepholes. “Now put your gloves on and go help Wilhelm.”
“Fine…” Jay rumbled as her Dys and Syd selves squeezed under the dome’s edge.
141