Argrave walked out into a wide-open valley, alone in spirit but not in fact. Excluding the thousands of blood-infused wind eels soaring above him as a cloud of death, he had the charming company of the Shadowlanders, playing the role of the lurking mountain lion ready to leap down upon him. In the back of his mind, he kept at close attention the blood echo positioned miles away. One of the good fortunes about being in an area where the enemy had no knowledge of him meant that he could call upon old tricks where necessary to gain an advantage.
And considering what heâd volunteered for, well⊠he would need every damned advantage.
Elenoreâs blessing of connections didnât function in this place, but they werenât without methods to communicate long distance. There was a babyâs head on Argraveâs shoulder, and he was doing his best to ignore what it looked like as he listened to what it saidâor rather, what its creator said, speaking through it.
âTheyâre just now starting to take the bait. Youâre far enough away from us that they seem to be willing to try something. The horseman, though, isnât getting any nearer,â Bhaltair said, conveying the details from the other members back at their base of operations.
Argraveâs gaze went upward, scanning the tall mesas cautiously. Their plan was rather simpleâArgrave, alone, should poke out at the edge of the boundary, clearing the dark away to hide his true goal: baiting the enemy to attack. He told himself he was in no more risk here than he was back with allies. Well, perhaps a bit more. Or a lot. Regardless, Anneliese could heal his wounds no matter the distance, and if needed, he could still swap places with the blood echo.
âAbout ten⊠no, about a hundred⊠mmmâŠâ the babyâs head trailed off.
Argrave looked at it, resenting the sight of the peach-colored thing tied to him with leg tendons. It looked like he had a twin brother absorbed in the womb on his shoulder. âWhatâs happening?â he asked Bhaltair.
âThereâs about⊠itâs upward of about half a thousand, Iâd say, and increasing. Theyâre approaching your position in groups of one hundred. Itâs not like that first attack was. Annelieseâs scouting efforts with her bird say these could be considered full military squads, with leaders. They have fliers, some archersâŠâ
âArchers?â Argrave repeated, feeling some fear. Charging beasts he could handleâheâd sparred with Orion enough to be confident in taking a close-quarters foe. Projectiles were another matter, doubly so projectiles coming from these freakishly strong opponents. One blind spot, and he could get a bolt through the back of the head.
âYes. Theyâre taking a position on the plateaus, andâoh. Youâre surrounded. But there is some good news. That horsemanâs come back out. We donât have a visual on him, but Rolandâs confirmed it.â
âAlright. And what does that mean for the plan?â
âIf you can hold out⊠we can cut off their escape back to the darkness, set up the ambush weâd planned,â Bhaltair said certainly. âWeâll help entrap the horseman. But at the end of the day, youâre likely the only one that can do any significant damage to him.
Argrave took a deep breath in this silent valley. âIâll do it.â
âIâll tell everyone.â
Argrave looked around wildly, searching for moving darkness amidst the shades of white and gray. But the darkness was always there right at the edge of his vision, and it was difficult to avoid mistaking the boundaries of what theyâd carved out for a true problem.
âUp and left,â the head said, and Argrave looked. âGood luck. Now, Iâm going silent.â
In one moment, there was nothing there. In the next, an entire squadron of tentacle-faced monstrosities stood on the edge of the mesa, with bows of shadow drawn far. When they all fired at once, Argrave figured this is what it mustâve been like to face a volley of [Bloodfeud Bows] from his blood echoes. Ordinarily, Argrave mightâve conjured a ward, or teleported away. Those two defensive strategies were his bread and butter.
With so much gained over the past months, Argrave wasnât exactly lacking in options.
He called upon an S-rank spell heâd learned from Erlebnisâ vast hoardâ[Perfect Movement]. Wind encircled him, and with will alone he spiraled upward in the air, dodging the attack. The projectiles pulverized the ground. He hovered just below his cloud of blood-infused wind eels, using them as shields. He took note of more opponents, but elected not to attack. Without allies to cover him, heâd have to be far more conservative. If he attacked without receiving energy returned, he could perish easily.
More and more archers took their place, looking down upon the valley. So long as Argrave stayed moving unpredictably, it seemed an impossibility for him to get hit. Then, Argrave heard a familiar roar and looked upward, peering past his constructs. Fully healed of the gaping wound Argrave had caused, the one-eyed dragon of shadow had brought with it several similarly draconic minions. All Argrave saw was a bunch of slow-moving, juicy targets.
He ascended upward with [Perfect Movement], minding his surroundings carefully. He had brought blood-infused wind eels in way of electric eels to use them as partial shields against attacks from blind spots, and he took full advantage of their protection to completely block any attack from the archers as he rose to meet the dragon. Its smaller minions fanned out, casting a wider net, and Argrave was considering which spell could deal the most damage to this huge thing when he spotted strange movement atop its ahead.
When recognition dawned, Argrave frantically stopped his rapid ascent and muttered, âShit.â
The now-horseless black rider walked to the edge of the dragonâs gigantic red eye, and leapt downward with a spear of shadow held out to impale. Argrave moved to the side as quickly as possible, but in response the rider merely took aim and threw his weapon ferociously. Panicked, Argrave threw up a ward. It gave him just enough time to dodge.
The rider landed on one of the lesser dragonsâwhich, now that they were near, were far faster than Argrave had ever imagined. The shadow knight didnât hesitate a moment in leaping forth at Argrave again, conjuring a sword as if from thin air. Argrave used the A-rank [Devilâs Claw], and a black hand with sharp nails took form out of his blood, swiping. The warrior blocked it with his sword partially, but it proved a fundamental notionâin the air, Argrave had the advantage.
He felt one of the lesser dragons behind him and whirled, conjuring his staff with a blade of blood atop it to take a swipe at what came. The blade of blood magic met an open maw, slicing straight through the beast. Moments later, projectiles soared upward from down below, and Argrave cast a brief glance to see the archers had repositioned. In the valley where heâd been, a ravening horde had appeared, waiting for his fall.
Argrave chose to soar ever upward, where the giant dragon lurked aboveânow that he knew his opponent was in the sky with him, it made the decision simple. Heâd go high enough their arrows couldnât reach, stalling. Along the way, the shadow knight continued to hound him with his unrelenting precision and caution. The man rode the lesser dragons up, leaping out at Argrave with either spear or sword.
The knightâs assault was impressively unrelenting. His strength was such that Argrave couldnât actually contest him without sufficient time to prepare, and his skill ensured he kept pace with Argrave as he ascended easily. The only reason why Argrave managed to get by without taking a wound as harsh as their first encounter was because they fought in the air. Whether it was luck or a prudent choice on his part, Argrave was glad.
âWEâRE ALL SET UP!â Argrave heard the babyâs head shout above the wind, just barely.
Thinking of how amazing it was to have competent allies, Argrave took the time to look up at the gigantic dragon. On the low end, Argrave had his wind eels descend upon those that had occupied the valley. On the high end, Argrave diverted his attention to the black knight fully, this timeânot to defend, but to begin his attack.
Argrave played the matador, dodging fearsome bull rushes as he looked for the proper opening. His slowed ascent gave the other dragons time to catch up. Above, the gigantic dragon put some distance between them. Argrave could feel a surge of vitality delivered expressly by Anneliese as his eels dug into the ground troops, yet kept his cool waiting for opportunity.
When the rider came at him with a stab of its sword, Argrave decided opportunity had reared its head. He called to his mind the rather disgusting spell heâd prepared, and then⊠well, he didnât defend. It might be said that he tackled the rider, grasping him firmly. Then, he unleashed [Withering Gift] from both of his hands.
Argrave held onto the rider firmly, and bloody vines erupted from his fingers, seeking purchase in the knightâs steel-hard flesh. They dug in, bit by bit, pushing past that steel-like skin⊠but the rider took Argrave for a ride all the while. He slammed his fist into his face, time and time again. He kneed Argrave, and the spikes dug into his guts. He pulled on the sword like it was a joystick at an arcade machine, slicing up Argrave inside and out continuously. But vitality coming both from the troops on the ground and this knight he held gave Argrave just enough fuel to hang on, and the dulled pain of the Shadowlands allowed him to press past any discomfort to remember his role in this capture.
[Withering Gift] was an insidious spell that, much like [Bloodfeud Bow], grew stronger depending on how much magic and blood someone fed it. It was a parasitic entity that took root in whoever its caster touched, slowly disabling and killing them. Argrave created enough to kill just about anyone a thousand times over, but the knight continued to bash Argrave as they whirled through the air, locked.
It was only when the knight finally pulled his sword free of Argraveâs body, and thrust it toward his head that Argrave swapped place with the blood echo. He collapsed onto the ground in the fortress theyâd made. There, a few people waited.
âPlanted the seed?â questioned Balzat.
Argrave couldnât speak, but he made a vague grunting noise that made him cough blood.
âIf you did, weâll handle the rest.â The man knelt. âBecause together, no one is our match.â
In a few minutes, Argrave felt as right as rain. And in half an hour, Argrave realized that heâd pulled together one hell of a team. Why? The reason was lying right in front of them, crippled by the [Withering Gift]. Everyone had done far more than their part.
With the black knight weakened, marked by Roland, and all avenues of escape amply covered, the people heâd brought had been capable of snatching this man as he and his troops attempted to slink back into the shadows. [Withering Gift] had utterly incapacitated him, and Ghislainâs illusions and Bhaltairâs undead armed with blood magic weaponry mounted an ambush aback the Archchiefâs wyvern. The combined efforts of several amazing fighters had allowed them to spirit this man away. Argrave hadnât even possessed the time to offer help if he wanted to.
âSomehow, you look worse than him,â Felipe noted. âElenore wouldnât be pleased with you. Nor would the man who made your armor, I suspect.â
Argrave agreedâhis coat, his armor, it was all in total tatters. He looked rather like Orion had after fighting the Plague Jester. Perhaps it ran in the family. But Argrave hadnât felt much pain in that battle, fortunately. There were some nice aspects to the dullness of this place.
âWell, heâs the captive, and Iâm the captor. Itâs a victory,â Argrave said. He looked down at the silent knight, then kneeled. Black vines coiled in and out of the knightâs body, yet his white eyes stared ahead firmly. He reminded Argrave of Galamon, if going by eyes and temperament alone. âHello there.â
âWill you try and liberate me?â the knight asked. âYou had best kill me, Manumitter scum. Free, Iâll only finish what I started.â
Argrave smiled, then looked at everyone. They seemed to be having similar thoughtsâthat this might be a conversation worth having.
âYouâre going to enlighten me about a few things,â Argrave said. âDoes that sound fun?â