Tale of Eldramir

The air was tense as the [Will] of two titans clashed.

It was the day after Wendy’s revelation to Ezekiel, and everyone he knew had been forced to do everything they could to hold him back. But the urgency and need to break free and go stop his sister from being taken away was almost enough to make him push past his limits. Potentially harming his friends in the process.

It was only thanks to Shine, who literally shook-up Ezekiel’s soul through their bond, that stopped him, and made him think things through. As well as the sight of his terrified sister.

He had learned not long after that his element was manifesting as a chaotic storm in the real world due to his outburst. Something that was unique to Tier fives.

“You need to speak with Wolken. You must understand that it’s not just your fight anymore. We can also use this time to interrogate the Shroud family and find out more about the Twin Peaks Fortress.” Fiana played the voice of reason after Shine.

Ezekiel settled for waiting at least a day, which resulted in him storming into Wolken’s tent at one of their bases. This one was well away from any city, which meant that he and Wolken could express themselves freely.

It was sparsely decorated. The fact that Wolken often moved between bases on the border meant that there was no point in making the tents more comfortable or personal.

Only a map with specific points marked on it was visible on the desk that Wolken was seated at. While chairs lined the sides for meeting purposes, most of the people that had accompanied Ezekiel were standing, though it was clear from their hunched figures that it was difficult for them.

The weight of the world pressed down on all the Hunters within several kilometers of the central base of the Prime Guild’s forces in Morathi. Every Legendary worked overtime just to keep the Adepts functioning. Any thought of pushing back was almost non-existent, barring the most exceptional and peak Hunters.

“Absolutely not,” Wolken said with an earth-shaking echo to his voice. “I feel for your position, I swear I do. But this is a trap, and there is no point in springing it now. Not when our situation is still so precariously balanced on keeping the boundary from expanding further.”

Ezekiel’s teeth ground together as he glared at Wolken.

“I wasn’t asking for permission.”

The two met only a few minutes ago, but for the ones nearby, it felt like it had been hours.

High in the sky, darkened clouds that crackled with energy as Tempest met Void gathered ahead. What should have been a sunny day was nearly as dark as dusk. The light was so faded, that some of the Hunters that were experienced with the Desolate Lands began to wonder if they’d been forcibly moved to the other side of the world.

“I was simply informing you of what I was going to be doing next.” Ezekiel’s eyes glowed with power as he stared down at Wolken’s seated figure. “If you don’t like it, too bad. You and I both know that there’s nothing you can do that will stop me. Not without making you one of my enemies as well.”

Wolken remained silent, though several twisters touched down just outside the camp.

Thundering booms could be heard in the sky, and lines of pure black and white light flickered in and out of existence as Ezekiel forced his mana to fight against Wolken’s increasing pressure.

“We are under contract.” Wolken held up a hand. Around his wrist a black and gray binding shone brightly. A similar one appeared around Ezekiel’s, but he ignored it.

“Turning the Kindled family’s trap against them grants us a chance to take out one of the Exalts. Greatly increasing our chances of winning.” The band on Ezekiel’s wrist faded after he spoke. A solemn truth was infused in his words. It wasn’t just an excuse, which Wolken immediately took note of.

“Your mind must truly be warped if you believe that. Perhaps, if you were an Exalt, then it would be feasible, but you’re not.” Wolken’s stance on the matter was firm. He refused to let Ezekiel go without a fight. “How do you know that she’ll even be there when you arrive? They could’ve leaked this information with the intent of moving her away once you get close.”

“No, they won’t,” Ezekiel said with a shake of his head. “Harras is aware of my premonitions. At least, he has an idea of them. Similarly, the connection between my sisters will help. I already used my own magic, which allows me to connect two anchor points together, to peer across this bond and get a general sense of Ellen’s location.”

Ezekiel pointed at a spot on the map in front of Wolken. He then drew a circle with his finger. Within it was the Twin Peaks Fortress. No other bases, towns, villages, or places of habitation were there. Thus, it was reasonable to believe that the Kindled family really had taken up residence there for this trap.

“I’ll humor you, and let you explain, but it’d better be good,” Wolken muttered as he let up a bit of the pressure. Ezekiel lessened his own in response, and the other Hunters in the area could breathe more freely once again.

After taking a moment to calm down, Ezekiel remained silent while he stepped to the side and gestured to a man with the Shroud family insignia on his cloak. It was Thadeus Shroud.

After they had figured out what was happening with Ellen, Ezekiel’s group had gathered several people with the intention of gaining information on the Twin Peaks Fortress.

Much to their surprise, Thadeus and several other Shroud family members were more than willing to give up the information they were seeking.

Their excuse at the time was that it was better than letting the Kindled family continue to control it, or worse, let the Empire take over in full.

The Flurent family had also supplied information but had simply given it to Thadeus to explain. Their territory was about to try and push to destroy a few more bases. Since it was a delicate time, they couldn’t supply any Hunters for what was about to happen.

“Greetings, Exalt Wolken. As you know, I am Thadeus Shroud, and with me I have several reports and schematics from both the Flurent family and my own regarding the Twin Peaks Fortress.” Thadeus bowed with sweat dripping down his brow. “Given the situation, we believe we know what they intend to do. Which is to use a special formation to trap Legend Ezekiel, to keep him separated from you, so that their Legendaries can swarm him while he’s been trapped.”

“All the more reason not to go through with this plan,” Wolken declared. “You’re not helping your case.”

Thadeus shook his head while Ezekiel ignored Wolken’s words.

“Usually, you would be correct, but the only way to activate the barriers that they inevitably want to use as a trap, is to have either the two of the big three family’s ancestors activate it or have at least one ancestor and one Exalt. Of the appropriate elements. Since the Kindled family’s ancestor has fallen to Tier four, he will be a weak point we can exploit. Especially if we can get in and activate the booby traps that the Shroud and Flurent family included in the designs when our families first created the fortress.” Thadeus held out several scrolls and schematics.

Wolken took his time to look over them. When he was finally finished, he leaned back and sighed in frustration. The brands on his wrist flashed for a moment before fading away.

“Won’t the Kindled family realize that your and the Flurent families put back doors into the enchantments? I have little doubt that they wouldn’t have done so as well.” Wolken pointed out the one flaw that Ezekiel had been worried about, but Thadeus had already reassured him that it wasn’t an issue.

“Due to the complexity of the enchantments, the most these backdoors can do is sabotage the other families once. Best of all, since they don’t have the Flurent family’s key, all they can do is activate the formation. They can’t access the secret features. I will use my family’s back door enchantment to strike against Exalt Harras, while the Flurent family’s back door enchantment will be used to strike against the Kindled family ancestor.”

Wolken looked far less reluctant at their current plan. But he still held his head in his hands and let out another massive sigh. Leaning back in his chair, his Spirit coiled around him and nuzzled up to his face. The Exalt let out a chuckle at whatever his Spirit had just said to him.

“You’re damned lucky that the best we’ve been able to do is create a stalemate when it comes to conquering land,” Wolken said with a grunt as he stood up. “Come here.”

Ezekiel stepped forward, drawing Shine as he did. Wolken’s Spirit also reared up and hissed in a threatening manner. Both the Exalted Hunter and the Exalted Spirit gazed at him with glowing eyes.

Ezekiel’s eyes glowed even brighter than theirs, and he felt his will actively clash against their combined might. He was barely holding on, since in the past, Wolken had gone against him by himself. His Spirit hadn’t participated in the battle.

“[What are you?]” Ezekiel didn’t see Wolken’s lips move, but he heard the man’s words all the same. But this wasn’t a spell, or a [Domain] ability. This was something else. This was like a judgment on his soul. One that made his own roar in fury.

“[I am a Pathfinder!]” Ezekiel said back with the same weight to his words as Wolken’s. But it felt like there was something missing. Like his statement was true, but not complete.

Whatever Wolken was looking for, he seemed to find it, even if Ezekiel could tell that Wolken wasn’t entirely pleased. It seemed like he had understood something that Ezekiel hadn’t. Something that Ezekiel could instinctively tell that he wouldn’t understand until he broke through to Tier five himself.

“That will have to do. But you will need to find out what you really are, not just most of it, if you want this plan to work. So, you’d best pray to the Ancients that you can figure it out while fighting for your life at the fortress.” Wolken broke eye contact with Ezekiel and stepped around his desk.

He glared at the Legendary Hunters and Scholars that had accompanied Ezekiel but didn’t say a word until he was at the entrance of the tent. “Ready yourselves to spring their trap first thing tomorrow morning. Since the enemy’s Exalts will be occupied, all our forces will have the chance to push forward. So long as we can claim at least a few hundred kilometers of territory, the Exalts of the Empire will lose the right to defend what they’ve lost. Though, hopefully, that won’t be an issue we’ll have to deal with.”

Ezekiel gave a bloodthirsty grin at Wolken’s words, as did Thadeus and the other Hunters. They and the others, Scholars and Hunters alike, rushed to prepare themselves to strike against the enemy fortress. Every one of them could feel it in their bones.

This trap would be the greatest chance they had to truly turn the tables in the war.

But for three Hunters in particular, all they truly cared about was getting Ellen back.

----------

On the eastern border of Morathi, Patriarch Howlend was lying on the floor. His Spirit was bound by the combined efforts of the Kindled family elders, and the Kindled founder and ancestor was standing above the downed Legendary Hunter.

“You are overstepping your boundaries. You may be the nominal leader of the family, at least among the riffraff who know nothing about true power, but you have forgotten who truly rules the Kindled family.” The Kindled ancestor raised a hand, and a construct of light in the shape of a hammer took form. With a mighty swing down, Howlend let out a scream of pain as both his knees were broken.

The ancestor allowed Howlend to roll around in pain for a little bit but did nothing more when he tried to heal himself.

“My plan... does nothing that would lead our family to ruin. In fact, I would even say that it would buy us more than a little bit of goodwill among our allies. Enough to gain more than a few concessions when our bloodline sits on the throne of the Willowbrush Empire,” Howlend gasped in pain, even as his magic slowly purified his body of his wounds.

However, regardless of his words, the Kindled ancestor said nothing. Instead, he simply turned to walk out the door. The other elders released Howlend’s wolf Spirit and followed.

“Your plan only buys us favor if it works. There was a reason we were allowing the Empire to fight on the front lines. Now, if we fail, the deals that I have made with the Cult of Light will fall through. So, you had better hope that this plan of yours works. Else You will fall first.”

With those parting words, the Kindled ancestor and the elders left the room. Howlend remained on the ground as his Spirit comforted him. It took a few minutes for him to compose himself and finish healing. When he did, he stood up and brushed himself off. His appearance returned to that of the immaculate leader he presented himself as.

“Damn him!” Howlend slammed his fists into the floor. They cracked under the might of the magic that he had infused into his strike. “When Mara’s plan succeeds, we’ll see who’s really the leader of the family.”

His eyes flashed an oily red for a moment, before turning gold once more.

“Wait... this was my plan... wasn’t it?” Howlend’s confident smirk faded as he started reaching for his head. “What... what is...”

Before he could say anything else, the door to his room opened once more. A familiar girl with red eyes walked in. “Howlend, my lord!”

Mara rushed to Howlend’s side. She kneeled to put a comforting hand on her back. Another girl walked in behind them and went over to his Spirit. “What did those ungrateful wretches do to you?”

The moment Mara’s hand touched Howlend, his body immediately relaxed, and his eyes went cloudy. “They rejected my authority... but the plan will go through...”

Mara smiled, and Howlend smiled along with her.

“Good, good. That is a cause for celebration! Your enemies are all going to die.” She guided Howlend to a nearby chair, reached into a Void Pouch on her hip and poured Howlend glass of oily red wine. He reached forward and drank it without a second thought.

The moment he downed it his eyes slowly shut, as did his Spirit’s, and the two fell asleep in the arms of a pair of now pale skinned women.

“It seems like the [Will] of the Kindled family patriarch is stronger than we expected,” the woman tending to the sleeping Spirit proclaimed. “Is there any chance of the plan falling through?”

Mara shook her head. A wisp of reddish energy leaked from her fingers into Howlend’s head.

“It is his anger that is strong. But such wrath can be directed far more easily than an iron [Will],” Mara whispered something in a harsh and guttural language composed of sounds that a human couldn’t have been able to make.

“We are lucky that Howlend’s reputation has already taken a hit. Else he wouldn’t have been able to bring his two newest concubines with him to this fortress.” The other woman finished what she was doing to Howlend’s Spirit and pulled away.

“Indeed, but we need not worry. Our lives were forfeit from the moment we were assigned this mission from the Broodlord.” Mara let out a sigh as she also finished what she was doing. “Alas... So long as the Void’s Herald dies, our mission will be a success. Taking out one or two of the other Exalts will be nothing more than a delectable bonus.”

Reaching over to the wine bottle once more, Mara poured two glasses and handed one over to her partner. She took it with a bow before drinking in tandem with Mara.

Plans within plans were taking form, and an aura of destruction and despair was slowly forming over the Twin Peaks Fortress.

Just one more day, and everything would fall into place.

----------

Hidden in an artificially made cavern, Ezekiel and his group were gazing into the distance at the massive fortress standing between two mountain peaks in the distance.

“Are you sure that your sister is in there?” Wolken asked from the back of the cave. “If not, there’s no reason for us to be here.”

Beside him was Wendy, who was holding Ezekiel’s hand. The two focused on their magic, with Ezekiel reaching out across the bond that the Kindled family had created between his sisters.

Closing his eyes, Ezekiel could see five lights in his surroundings. Shine, Wendy, and Kare, were directly beside him. While two more lights shone in the fortress just a few kilometers away.

“Yeah, she’s there...” he trailed off as he felt the weight of two Exalts restraining themselves. “The trap is ready, so we’ll need to head out soon.”

Wolken grunted and stepped away from the wall. Several Hunters approached Wendy as the Exalt walked away. “Get her out of here. This will be too much for an Adept to participate in.”

Ezekiel placed a hand on Wendy’s shoulder when she looked like she was about to say something. She fell silent and turned to Ezekiel.

“I’ll get her back. But I need you to be safe as well. Okay?”

Wendy nodded after a moment of thought. A Lightning Hunter with a bird form Spirit stepped forward. “Don’t worry, vice-leader, we’ll get her back behind the Alliance's front lines within minutes of our departure.”

Nodding in approval, Ezekiel gently pushed Wendy forward. The group that would be getting her out of here left swiftly and silently. They would make some distance on foot, so as to not gain attention, before taking to the skies once Wolken began his assault.

“Everybody ready?” he asked his companions. Each of them nodded, and they all pulled out replicas of the Void amulets that he had made for fast travel. “This might feel strange at first, but it’ll let us get close enough for me to [Jump] us into the fortress.”

Flexing his magic, Ezekiel covered all the Hunters and Scholars with a [Shroud] that kept them all hidden. Only the amulet’s that focused his magic allowed them to know where they all were.

“Let’s get things started then,” Wolken said as he stepped out of the cave. He donned his Spirit Armor and rose into the sky. A massive construct of twisting wind took shape, and he crossed the distance to the fortress in an instant.

Explosions rang out, and the forest seemed to come alive as Endaria formed an equally massive construct of flora. As the two titans began fighting, Ezekiel and his group rapidly [Jumped] toward the fortress. Upon entering it, the fortress immediately lit up with violet and gold Runes that lined the walls.

The sound of battle from the two Exalts disappeared. A heavy pressure weighed on them all as the enchantments restrained a great deal of their mana.

The trap had officially been sprung.

----------

Earth shattering strikes were exchanged as Wolken and Endaria rushed each other. Spiraling tendrils of winds turned the ground and much of the forest into nothing but sand and sawdust.

“I’m somewhat surprised. I didn’t think you’d be foolish enough to fall for this sort of obvious trap.” Endaria’s construct smiled with a jagged wooden grin as she struck with a series of thorny vines.

“It’s only because it was so obvious that we bothered to spring it. After all, a trap as obvious as this was clearly a horrible attempt that would lead to failure.” Wolken’s voice reverberated through the sky and shook the earth. “It was simple enough to figure out how to turn this trap into our own.”

A wave of sharpened petals and leaves flew toward Wolken, but he simply flew higher and got out of the way. Two massive fists of solid air slammed into the ground.

The Life Exalt bent beneath the blow but stood firm as Wolken whirled around in a typhoon that ripped up even more of the land around them.

Yet through it all, none of the efforts made by the Exalts did any damage to the now dome covered fortress. The power of the enchantments created by three Mythic Hunters easily withstood the indirect blows of the Wolken and Endaria.

“There’s no possible way for you to get out of this. The Anathema will die under the combined efforts of my fellow Followers, the Imperial Hunters, and the Kindled family.” Endaria retained a confident posture as she avoided another hammer blow from Wolken. “Not even that monster’s magic will allow him to get out of there alive. So long as the barrier is up, there will be no way for him to escape.”

Wolken frowned and glanced at the dome that was protecting the fortress.

“Be that as it may, you have no idea how much Ezekiel has progressed, nor do you seem to know about the efforts that the Shroud and Flurent family have gone to in order to eliminate the Kindled family, and your wretched cult!” Wolken’s words rang through the world, and he began moving even faster as he stepped up his efforts to kill Endaria. “This plan of yours was decent. But you underestimate the abilities of that young man.”

Endaria simply smiled again. But this time, a hint of crazed mania filled her eyes.

“No... we know exactly how dangerous that boy is. Ever since he killed one of our Lights. Which is why I gave several of our members a special gift. One that not even the Kindled family or Imperial forces were made aware of,” her words sent a chill down Wolken’s spine.

“What did you do?” Wolken whispered as he glared at Endaria. Even across the great distance between them, his words were heard loud and clear by his enemy.

Nothing was said in return, however, and Wolken formed several blades of wind that began grinding and cutting up Endaria’s construct. But it simply regrew faster and faster.

Wolken’s attacks became more refined, while also growing more frantic as he did everything that he could to kill the Exalt before him.

----------

Making their way through the large corridors within the fortress, the [Shrouded] group flew as fast as they could without setting off any alarms. The defenses in the fortress meant that they were safe from the battle happening outside, but they also meant that they would be unable to get out before they sabotaged the formation.

‘That way. I can sense something coming from that direction,’ Shine said to Ezekiel while directing him toward the central dining area of the fortress.

The Void Spirit was focusing on the connection that Ezekiel had formed and was currently expanding their senses to reach out for Ellen across the layers of space that they could just barely grasp.

In the meantime, Ezekiel was focusing on keeping his companions hidden.

So far, they had run into several patrol teams, but it seemed like they hadn’t been caught yet. Even though the forces they were maneuvering past were on high alert.

‘Good. We’ll get to the Shroud family’s back door enchantment first, so that Thadeus can get ready to sabotage it. Riley will then go to the Flurent back door with the key they gave us and get ready. When I send the signal, it means that I have my sister and we’re ready to get out of here.’

This was the plan they had come up with earlier. The amulets he had made would allow his team to remain [Shrouded] outside his range for up to an hour and could be activated up to three times if their [Shrouds] broke.

They reached a particular hallway that had been marked off on the map they had looked over before, and Ezekiel could feel Thadeus break off with his team to head to their objective.

A few minutes later, Riley broke off with Fiana, George, and a few other Hunters to head to their objective as well. This left Ezekiel and Shine alone to progress to the area where Ellen was being kept. Given the enemy forces, Ezekiel was confident that he could break in and get Ellen before too many reinforcements caught up to them.

He just had to give the other teams enough time to get ready. His Com-Slates were also active, just in case something came up and they needed to alter the plan on the fly.

‘There! She should be just behind that door,’ Shine exclaimed as Ezekiel turned a corner.

In front of them was a massive wooden doorway with several enchantments engraved into it.

A team of guards stood outside, ready for anything as Ezekiel approached, utterly invisible to them all. Donned in Spirit Armor, there were half a dozen Hunters in total. Watching warily as they raised shields and weapons to defend against anything that might come around the corner.

Neither Ezekiel nor Shine recognized these Hunters. But they could tell that they were a mix of all three forces. With the Kindled Hounds being the most obvious opponents due to the cloaks that they wore with the Kindled family emblem emblazoned on them.

‘Can you tell if there are any other Hunters behind that door?’ Ezekiel asked as he spread his senses outward. A faint hum of mana from behind the large doors seemed to indicate as much, but he wasn’t sure.

‘... Probably at least two... maybe three more Hunters behind that door.’ Shine replied with an uncertain voice. ‘They might use Ellen as a hostage if they think you’re going to win.’

Ezekiel stopped to think for a moment. A plan to get past these guards and draw out the ones behind the door slowly took shape in his mind.

‘Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do.’

Shine remained silent as Ezekiel explained his plan. It wasn’t the best plan, but it would probably work. They also didn’t have anything better to go with right now.

When everything was said and done, Ezekiel began charging Shine’s blade with his mana. The Void Spirit joined in while keeping them covered by their [Shroud].

Step one of the plan was to kill the guards in one strike, so that meant that he couldn’t afford to hold back right now.

So, once he charged his spell with as much mana as he could without breaking his [Shroud], Ezekiel swung with all his might, and hell broke loose.