Curselock

Chapter 254: Webs

Fueled by the Lord of Chameleon’s contract, Leland’s sight enhanced. The rising sun muted in color, the dark sand deepened to near pitch black. In the distance, the trees and life brought on a white tinge, but he hardly cared about any of that. Instead, he trusted in the contract to show him the way.

And it did. He found her.

Sprinting through the sand, a dark dust cloud formed behind her. She moved across the flat landscape in mere minutes compared to the hours it took Leland and the others. She’d soon arrive, which meant no time for preparation.

Landing with a dull thud, Leland didn’t have time to mince words. One of the twins, Knight Grain or Giant – he didn’t know nor care which one – was the only member of Sand Castle present, the others currently off duty.

“Get your captain, now!”

Whether or not the soldier knew the urgency of his command or was simply retreating to let his superior deal with him, Leland didn’t know. But as the seconds ticked on after the Knight rushed into the fort proper, a tingling appeared across Leland’s back.

“There is no time. Stop its approach,” Lodestar whispered, his voice silky but covered in the shade of malice.

Moving to do exactly as the parasite said, Leland paused, considering. Was it a trick or was Lodestar actually concerned? The question rang in his mind, stalling his feet like they were made of stone.

“Move Leland!”

He did, but not toward the advancing enemy. Instead, relying on his crow wings, Leland jumped from the side of Sand Castle, landing before his friends in a cloud of sand.

“We’ve got to move,” he told the others. “She’s moving fast.”

“Who?” Glenny asked, two crimson daggers forming in his hands. Each pulsed with wicked streaks of organic white lightning, the power of the Void now flowing through his conjured weapons.

It was a technique he had been working on these last few weeks, merging the Primordial power from the Sightless King with the power of nothingness from the Void. And while the technique was still only a fledgling idea, the effects spoke for themselves. As Glenny waved his daggers around, reality split. Like the wake of a boat or the slipstream of a diving bird, the world parted as he sliced the open air.

“A parasite that won,” Leland answered. “Female, young, I don’t know, twenty-five maybe? That doesn’t matter. She’s sprinting across the sand faster than any of us could.”

His last sentence sent a literal chill through the air. Between Jude and Gelo, each donning frozen armor and frosted weapons, the campsite dropped like a night in midwinter.

Jude whipped his battle axe to his shoulder, Floe’s incarnation blessing transforming his chest, shoulders, and neck into a protective wasteland of ice. Where skin should show, a thick layer of off blue crystal spread. Within moments, he was raring to go, his weapon glinting with anticipated rage.

“Let’s put her down,” he uttered, white hot breath coming from his lips.

For a brief moment, Leland stared at Gelo’s magic. Situated directly upon her head was a crown made of blizzards and hail. The crown hid many secrets, most of which delved into the hole that was the newly created Legacy of Dungeons and spatial magic, but there was no time for her to explain. Instead, she looked up at friends and growled, her crown swirling.

She was ready.

They all were.

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“I’ll head her off, come as fast as you can,” Leland said, pressing his palm into his grimoire. With a shock of magic, a pair of angelic white wings meshed between his obsidian black ones while scaly red Draconic wings grew from his skin. All at once, they flapped, sending Leland across the flat sandy battlefield.

Not even the Huntress could match his speed as he appeared before the parasite in seconds. Surprise met him in two forms. First, his own: she was closer to Sand Castle than he wanted. Second, the parasite’s: Leland was faster than it expected.

They clashed, magic pumping through Leland’s veins as the parasite tried to kill. Crows dive bombed from outside this reality, the whole murder solely on target. Zeke was also in there somewhere, his talons and beak no doubt dripping with blood already.

“Fracture!” Leland screeched, feeling his magic take. Beneath the howling wind generated by his flapping wings, he heard no crack of bone, but he didn’t need to. He had faith in his curses.

The parasite’s speed slowed, all muscles in its host’s body clenching with imbued power. It struck with a punch, the air surrounding its knuckles all but warping.

Leland felt the effects before he saw them. His crows, half of them, dead. Swallowed by whatever transcendent force the parasite commanded. The loss twisted Leland’s insides, scaling power to his lips.

“Kneel before—”

He threw up his arms, guarding against the attack by sheer instinct. He didn’t see it in time, the parasite’s fist. His forearms snapped, his elbows shattered, the shockwave from the punch sent him sailing backward.

“—me!”

The curse left his lungs along with all of their air. He tumbled through the air, wings and appendages flailing. He slammed into Sand Castle, breaking a corner off like a hammer to a brick. The world spun as he came to a stop, but the ever familiar violet flames of Circle of Souls flumed around the parasite.

“Get up Leland. That thing is no longer a soul.”

The voice of Lodestar made him crawl. Surrounded by black sandstone, he peered at the parasite, finding no leaking green mist.

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He coughed, blood splattered on the ground. His grimoire swirled around him, flipping to the pages he needed. A mangled hand pressed into the page just as his other hand cast four spells. His blood changed first, then he felt his mana top off at the same time his bones began to realign. Unfortunately it was sunrise, so the effect of Moon Bones and Sun Skin were halved. Whatever healing it provided was negligible compared to Imbue Life.

Webs of mist connected Leland to the world as warmth spread from his forehead to the rest of his body. Snaps and pops sounded like cannon fire in his mind, each echoing against his skull as his inflamed brain slowly deflated.

Any other day, he might relish the feeling of such intense healing. But not today. Not with his friends fighting.

Jude and Glenny weaved in and out of melee combat, dodging or parrying most of the parasite’s blows. Almost taking turns, they attacked once it was safe, freeing each other to move as the parasite recovered itself. This, paired with artillery fire from Gelo, slowed the monster down.

Across the parasite’s thigh, a thick chunk of ice was slowly growing in size from an impaled icicle. The sky above also turned, clouds full of hail ready to fall at any moment. As the parasite kicked, warping the world again, Gelo’s magic burst. From the ice on its thigh, spatial magic enlarged.

The icicle multiplied in size until it was the length of a flagpole. The parasite snapped it in half instantly, but the damage was already done. It hobbled, its leg only attached by half a bone and some skin and muscle.

Jude and Glenny took the chance, attacking at will.

Only just now getting to his feet, Leland decided on a course of action. His wing contracts were all used. They’d be available soon, but for the moment he couldn’t fly. He could switch off of his script healing spells, but if the need for them arose, he’d be found flatfooted. He couldn’t risk someone else getting punched like he did.

A quick check of the sun, Leland decided. Moon Bones and Sun Skin just wasn’t important enough to keep right now, not with sun rise being a limitation. Instead he activated the Lord of Erupting Skies’ contract, Erupting Steps. With a kick, he rushed back into battle, lightning bursting in his wake.

Brigadier Dis appeared in the sky, leaping from Sand Castle, his fists aflame. Arrows came raining down as well, Bulldog making her appearance known by way of an arrow to the parasite’s chest. Sand shifted around Jude and Glenny, hardening with their every step – no doubt Knight Grain trying his best to assist. Lastly, an amalgamated blob of flesh and magic appeared at a distance, standing far behind the parasite like a waiting guard.

Leland scowled when no black beams of magic split the sky. It seemed Captain Tar wasn’t going to help.

Btoom!

Space warped after a flaming fist connected with the parasite’s jaw. An explosion rang out, sending Glenny and Dis sprawling to the ground. Between the both of them, blood and mangled flesh fell from their bodies in heaps, both desperately crawling away.

His ice armor taking the worst of the blast, Jude continued his assault, the pain of his seared skin only adding to his destructive force. After an overhand chop, Jude Two appeared from a shimmer of air. The mirage entered the battle in the exact same state as the original – enraged.

Blood splattered against their chests and instantly froze into armor as the pair barreled down on the parasite. Both were aiming for its nearly amputated leg, but the warping effect of its attacks left little room to be precise. They took hits wherever they could, most superficial, but all potentially deadly.

A final strike of lightning announced Leland’s return to the battle. Without thinking twice, he pumped Glenny with his script spells. Without Prepare Body, the effects were somewhat dulled, but it was more than enough. As skin stitched itself back together and Imbue Life created new blood, Glenny’s pigment came back. He stopped crawling and instead flopped to his belly, preparing to stand as soon as he had fingers to push off of the sand with.

While Glenny’s body healed, Leland appeared beside Brigadier Dis. The same effects poured through the pugilist, but surprise took front and center.

Between the unique aura of the Heartgem radiating from the young man and the misty webs of life that branched from him like he was some sort of Guardian Spider Beast, Dis floundered in action. He gaped and gawked, remembering the keynote speaker at his graduation ceremony after basic training.

He remembered the crowd. The heat. The itchy formal uniform. He remembered feeling proud. But most importantly, he remembered the Commander and the aura of pure confidence that heated the whole ceremony like a bonfire.

Dis was just a scarred and scared kid from the streets destined to be another pit fighter. But standing there that day, listening to the Commander speak, he no longer saw himself as a kid but as a soldier ready to put his life on the line for his kingdom and comrades.

That was the man Dis felt heal him. A man who could move armies and reforge aspirations and dreams.

But no.

The Commander was half a kingdom away pushing papers and organizing. The man in the field, the man who had just healed him, was a kid. Leland was the one who stood over him, the one reforming his broken body and saving his life.

“Get up,” Leland said, pulling Dis to his feet. “If your captain doesn’t help kill this thing, I’m killing her.”

He pushed Dis toward Sand Castle but there was no need. A block of black magic tore across the battlefield, shearing into the monster’s thigh and removing what little bone and muscle held it together.

The parasite fell to its arms, no longer able to stand. The Judes took the chance, both slashing like an executioner.

Space warped around the parasite’s neck, a shock wave forming from the Judes’ attacks. Both were launched into the air, each recovering with ease. They dashed back into the fray, ice and arrows leading the charge.

It was then the parasite held up a hand, warping space into a shield. It then found Leland’s eyes, staring at him like a hungry hawk.

“Your magic interests me,” it said, its voice taking the form of its host. “I’ll be back to claim it.”

“Yeah, no—” Leland’s words were cut off when a voice appeared from his back.

“He has already been claimed,” Lodestar said, an otherworldly chime sounding from his vowels and a haunted drum from his consonants.

The parasite twisted its head to the side like a dog hearing a new sound, no doubt breaking the dead host’s neck in the process. “How interesting. You are like me… but not. I ask you, brother, why do you not take control and live free?”

After a long moment, Lodestar’s words came out a muted, crushed whimper, “Is your existence not more of a prison than mine?”

The parasite tapped its chin with a bloody finger, the gesture wildly jerky and agitated. “No.”

“You are more monster than person… do you even remember your real life? Before your soul was forged into something different?”

“No—”

“A shame. Kill it, Jude.”

Lodestar’s command made everyone flinch other than Dis, who stared blankly at Leland. The Judes acted a breath later, their axes falling from the sky with enough force to shatter stone.

They missed, space warping just as their blades cut into the parasite’s neck skin.

Everyone looked around, but the monster was gone, teleported somewhere far off to lick its wounds.

“Leland,” Lodestar whispered. “It will return for you. That magic you discovered… it is like a beacon for my kind.”

“Your kind or that thing’s kind?” he asked nearly instantly. “Because I’m seeing quite the difference.”

Lodestar was silent at the question.

“Talk to me, Lode. We can be actual partners. There is no need for this cloak and dagger personality—”

“You don’t understand.”

Leland almost laughed. “Maybe I don’t. But then again, who does? You’re kind of unique, as far as parasites go. We can put you abandoning me against Ashford behind us. We can restart and be friends. Jude and Glenny would be your friends if you asked them. Allies, even. People who would go to the ends of the world to try and help you. Just look at what they’ve done for me.”

Lodestar didn’t reply.