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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerulean_Wings" data-source="post: 4067986" data-attributes="member: 55060">How happy am I with this last chapter? Uber-happy, that's how happy I am  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> After you read it, why don't you let me know if you're happy as well? Pretty please?  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Chapter 31Determination and faithThe elven mage, trapped by the entangling roots, could not hope to move away from the pair of fighters in order to cast a spell safely. Out of options, she attempted to conjure her magic defensively, putting extra effort into avoiding getting hit in the midst of the spell. Blue fire manifested on her hands, burning intensely, but leaving the caster unaffected. She finished the spell with a wide arm movement, and the fires intensified.Nothing happened. The fire stayed there, and slowly began to dissipate. Disbelief and panic could easily be seen in the woman’s face as she saw her only means of defense gone. Her companion, the human mage, was greatly wounded due to Gon and Gilliam’s efforts. He did not have the strength to pull off another spell, or even activate his wand, and saw only death forthcoming for him at the hands of the two men in front of him. With a mighty effort, the man clasped his ruby necklace tightly and yanked another ruby free with one hand.“To the Hells with you!” the mage shouted with a hint of madness, right before throwing the ruby at his feet. Everyone in the vicinity knew what was forthcoming, but none could do anything but watch.BoomFrom the point of the explosion, raging flames rushed in a radius of twenty feet with unstoppable power, burning everything in their wake. This included the four warriors, the priest, and at the same time, the other apprentice. The latter collapsed dead from the severe burns she received, unable to draw another breath. The only ones who managed to avoid part of the fireball were Gilliam and Darius; Vincent’s ring once again defended him from fire, and Gon’s reflexes faltered as he did not see the suicide maneuver in time. Hantel was burned as well, but since he had healed his earlier burns the priest did not lose his footing. With the two mages dead, this only left one thing.“Ignus” Darius said with his gaze focused ahead where the giant bat that was Kahleen was being electrocuted by an invisible force. Gilliam was about to dash forward when his sixth sense kicked in, telling him to dodge. He ducked just in time, and the animated whip’s coil cracked an inch above his head. “How do you stop it?” he asked no one in particular.  The darkness gave way as soon as Kahleen focused her senses back into reality. Her animal body had spasms in short intervals, but she could somehow manage to stay in the air. Ignus had not moved from his position, and with her sonar the shaman was able to spot the invisible wizard. With a wild screech, Kahleen swooped down and clawed at him, drawing a pair of gashed in his shoulders, ripping the fabric of the robe in those places. “My, aren’t you persistent” the illusionist observed, not really wounded from the attack. He was about to conjure more magic to bring Kahleen down once and for all, but the sounds of an exploding fireball drew his attention elsewhere. His two apprentices were now dead, apparently due to one’s exploding ruby. The other five threats, however, were still alive and able to cause him harm. Ignus quickly assessed that Gilliam and Gon would be able to reach him in no time, living roots or not, while Vincent and Darius had been caught by the moving vegetation. Putting his own safety above the desire to slaughter the weakened bat-shaman, Ignus chanted a spell swiftly, just as both Gilliam and Gon ran after him. They could not see him, but Kahleen’s attack gave him a general idea of his current position. The floating whip could not keep up with the mercenary, and it was unable to smack him as he moved away. After finishing the spell, Ignus began to elevate from the ground, defying the laws of gravity due to the power he had just invoked. Kahleen had other things in mind, though, and she assaulted the illusionist once more, causing yet another pair of wounds. The trailing blood now began to betray the mage’s invisibility. Gilliam had no clue about what to do. From the looks of it, Ignus was beginning to float in the air, and there was little chance he could catch him once he got airborne. In a stroke of genius, the mercenary dropped his remaining bastard sword as he drew forth two throwing daggers. Gon seemed to catch on, and he drew his own small blade as well. As one, they jumped high as they reached Ignus, their arms up in the air with their weapons aiming forward. For a moment it looked like they were about to fall facedown to the ground, tet both warriors had luck on their side, and their knives cut through Ignus’ thick robes, allowing them to hold onto the mage. They looked as if they were climbing an invisible cliff.Ignus’ ascent was abruptly halted then, since his spell had a limit on how much weight it could lift up. The mage hovered merely ten feet from the ground, with two men hanging from him with knives and hands, and a giant bat stationed right next to him. Things could not have gone any more awry for Ignus.“I’m afraid you’ll have to release me” he informed the two below him as he started to speak words of arcane power. “Or else”. When the spell was completed, a dark pulsating aura coated Ignus’ silhouette from head to toe. Its intended effect became obvious when Gilliam and Gon felt dark energies hurt them in virtue of being in contact with Ignus. “How long can you hold on to me, I wonder?” the arrogant mage said almost to himself. Kahleen would have attacked him once more, if only that dangerous aura was not there, for her current situation was one of rapidly depleting energies. The shaman channeled an amber essence around her in order to heal part of the hurt from Ignus’ shocking grasp, and then stayed afloat next to the mage. “God forsaken roots!” Darius cursed as he hacked several of the impeding vegetation away with a heavy two-handed slash. Still, the things kept growing back rapidly, keeping him and Vincent in one spot, as much as they would have liked to help their companions.Vincent’s spear was not suited for disposing of roots, and the squire felt he would reach the others by nightfall at the rate he was advancing. Ignus, the floating invisible figure Gon and Gilliam clung to, was merely thirty feet away, but with the roots obstructing their movement it seemed like thirty miles. “Han, can’t you do anything about this entanglement?” Vincent asked the priest with trepidation. Hantel had remained behind, weary of approaching the mage, and he, too, had succumbed to the grasping roots. “I’m afraid not, Vincent; I haven’t prayed for a spell to do such a thing this morning”. “If we don’t get to them soon, they’ll die” Darius pressed, not relenting one moment in his rapid hacking of plants that came after him. “Whatever spell Ignus cast on himself is hurting them badly”. And indeed, that was the case. Kahleen still felt too weakened to launch an all-out assault on Ignus, and neither mercenary or rogue could do much from their position, save for preventing him from flying away. That sole action was costing them, for every five seconds the black aura pulsated, sending ripples of negative energy into their bodies. In the end, it was a game of inertia for Ignus, for he would win in virtue of stalling things until everyone around him died. The situation had gone from bad to desperate. But when desperation gets a solid grip in the hearts of brave men, some of them resorted for something beyond mundane, physical means, in order to defeat that which seemed insurmountable. Some call forth determination, while others resort to faith.    Vincent Ender, squire of House Kashtar, had both, and until then he did not know this was the case. He looked at his spear, then at the spot where Ignus floated invisible from sight. The squire turned his head to face the Seer of Berethor, situated right next to him. Hantel was holding the symbol of his deity firmly in one hand, the inverted pyramid with an eye.“Hantel” Vincent called. The priest looked at him and instantly saw the light that was shining brightly in his eyes. “Yes, Vincent?”.“What does Berethor say? In times like this, when everything is about to descend to oblivion, what do the teachings of Clarity instruct?” the squire asked.Hantel placed one hand on his shoulder as he moved the other one to Vincent’s free hand, placing the symbol of Berethor in his grasp. “Have faith, young squire. Have faith in yourself, to see the way of Clarity, and in Berethor, so that He might help you find the path”.  Vincent nodded, his left hand holding the adamantine spear tightly, the right one grasping the holy symbol just as much. Instead of trying to run through the living vines, Vincent pulled his spear arm back, preparing for a throw.“Against all odds,” he said out loud as he assumed the right position “my spear will pierce through the darkness, shining brightly, lighting a path for all to follow”. With a mighty shout, Vincent moved his arm forward, throwing the spear with all his might. He knew full well the chances of the weapon actually reaching its target, let alone hitting it. But as Vincent said, against all odds, his spear pierced the darkness, or rather, the darkness that surrounded the body of Ignus. It went right through the throat of the arcanist, and half its length made it to the other side. For a moment, the spear remained floating in mid air, suspended by invisible forces, but then Ignus’ figure came into view, his face a mask of absolute denial to what had just transpired. “How?” he wanted to say, but only a gurgle came out of his mouth as blood began to pour out. The mage fell to the ground unceremoniously as his flight spell ended, along with his life. Gon and Gilliam let go and landed without a scratch. Kahleen shifted back to her true form and landed as well. All eyes were centered solely on Vincent, who stood there, vines still clinging to his armored frame, a look of fulfillment evident in his face. “That” Hantel said, “is clarity”.</blockquote>

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