Spear of Destiny by James Baldwin (little bear else holmelund minarik .TXT) 📕

She flung herself out, already transforming. I waited breathlessly until I saw her wings stretch out, and only then jumped out after her. As I fell, her back lengthened and widened, and my breath caught... but then I landed on her, rolled, and found myself right at the base of her neck as the spell completed.

Down below, I heard Suri roar a battlecry. She charged across the bridge, axes in her hands, as Hopper and Lovelace bounded alongside. The pikemen at the front leveled their spears. The soldiers behind them raised bows, aiming past them, and fired. Meanwhile, Karalti and I streaked toward the terrace at high speed, our shadow cast away from the commotion. All eyes were on Suri and Rin as the footsoldiers flowed around Uttapsu like water, surrounding the magic circle, then leaving him, the junior vampires, and the dirty dozen Mata Argis. I bunched up, then sprung out, aiming for the bullseye: Uttapsu’s stupid wrinkly little head.

The vampires spotted me first, heads turning skyward as the Spear flared with brilliant white and black light. The lich continued scribbling. He didn’t even react as I hit his mana shield like a thunderbolt. The thin field of energy absorbed the kinetic impact, turning from clear, to blue, to white as the Light damage overcharged it. The lich’s form vanished as his shield spat sparks of hot plasma, then shattered with enough force to send me flying. The vampire bodyguards were thrown back from the blast, swords in their hands.

“Surprise, motherfuckers!” I leaped back into the air, burning a third of my AP to rain hell on all three of them. Twelve lances of pure darkness warped from the air around me, slamming down into the trio of undead and throwing a cloud of dust into the air.

“Hey, Mata Argis creeps! Remember me!?” Karalti broadcast as she landed on top of the agents, crushing one, and scattering the rest in all directions. As the dust cleared, I saw the vampires snarling, their faces bestial masks of rage. I ignored them, angling for Uttapsu—except the lich was gone.

“FUCK!” I got that one word out before the spell hit me—from above. A line of fireballs ripped up my back and slammed me into the dirt. I hit the ground hard, desperately rolling away as the next barrage struck the ancient stone and blew chunks out of it, flinging them into the air.

[You take 430 Fire damage! You are Burned!]

One of the vampires rushed me, his metal fangs bared. I snarled back at him, feeling my lips pulling back over my own fangs, and boosted myself with Mantle of Night. Accelerated, I pivoted and knocked his next sword stride to the side, then rushed him with a Spear boiling with black flames. He managed to block one, two, three of the strikes from Blood Sprint, but his guard gave way before I did. The next blows in the combo landed, ripping him apart.

[You deal 8248 damage to Vampire Fledgling!]

[You have destroyed Vampire Fledgling!]

The other vampire was behind me, supernaturally fast. I could either dodge him, or the next round of magic. I chose the magic, vanishing as a bolt of lightning lanced down in the spot I’d been standing. The vampire’s sword met my gut, thrusting deep… into the armor. The chiton scale buckled around the tip of the blade, turning attempted disembowelment into a really bad bruise. I used Blink Strike to vanish and reappear behind him, ramming the blazing spear in under his armpit. The vampire screamed as dark energy engulfed him like a pyre, boiling his flesh off his bones before ashing him completely.

“Ashur’s ill-begotten child.” Uttapsu’s reedy voice sneered behind me. The lich hovered with his toes barely hanging over the ground, his arms loose by his sides. He was so old that he resembled a brittle skeleton—but the points of glowing light in his eyesockets burned with malevolent will. “Was it fate that guided you here? Or your destiny to serve Napath as our slave?”

“Do you know what I hate? Villain speeches.” I whirled the Spear into position and faced off with him. “Shut up and put up.”

“As you wish.” Uttapsu gestured with a mummified hand, and several discs of magical glyphs appeared around his feet. “Die in silence.”

I Jumped as the circles discharged bolts of static—only to strike against an invisible ceiling. I nearly broke my neck, crashing back to the ground on my chest. Knocked prone, I took Uttapsu’s next spell full-force: a waterblade that seemed to punch right through my body and blow out the other side. I screamed as hot agony tore through my nerves… and passed, having dealt much less damage than it should have.

[You take 469 Water damage! x2 Damage! (45% Water resistance)]

Uttapsu almost looked confused as I closed in with him. He threw up a shield of energy just before my weapon smashed into his frail body, holding it against my strikes as I transmuted the Spear from Dark to Light and slashed the barrier a dozen times. The shield turned bright blue, but it held –so I teleported behind the lich and struck with Blink Strike, white flame transmuting to black. The blow sent him reeling through the air.

[You deal 1015 reduced Darkness damage to Uttapsu! HP: 12,858/13,873]

“You’ve got protection against Darkness magic, huh?” I circled him, quick-spamming a couple of potions as he drew a pair of knives from his belt.

“The only reason that surprises you is because you lack intelligence.” The lich sounded calm, tracking me as I moved around him. “You are a half-breed whelp, barely a puppy. Young. Foolish. Pathetic.”

“Dude, seriously, I don’t care about your fucking poetry slam.” I lashed out with Black Lotus, but before the noose could reach Uttapsu’s neck, he lifted a hand and it withered away. “I AM curious how you cast magic without a spell glove or