Book 4: Chapter 51

Book 4: Chapter 51

The point of the golden lance passed over Kay as he ducked under it and rolled away from the reptilian beast Glowl was riding. The Blood Guard attacked while Glowl focused on Kay, a range of melee, ranged, and magical attacks lashed out at Nelams king. Most of the attacks bounced off his heavy armor, but a few of them elicited a response from the king. His gauntlets expanded, forming massive plates. One deflected a heavy axe that grew in size as it started coming down, and the other caught a burst of magic that resembled a pulse of ripples that caused the gold plate to shake rapidly.

Glowl shook out his hand as his head panned, looking around at the Blood Guard. I dont think I want an audience for this one. Go away, all of you. The tone of the air spinning about them inside the golden storm changed, and giant hands began reaching out and grabbing Kays detail. Kays guards were dragged out into the storm one by one by the golden hands on the ends of featureless shining arms. Glowl just stared down at Kay from on top of his mount while multiple fortunes worth of gold separated Kay from the people who were supposed to be protecting him. Now to deal with you, Glowl sneered, and the beast charged again.

The golden lance became a broadsword and slashed down several times at Kay, who ducked and weaved to avoid it. Glowls mount snapped at him with its sharp teeth and clawed at him while Glowl attacked, the pair obviously having worked together for a long time. Kay was at a disadvantage with Glowl having a mobile high ground against him, but Kay didnt have any experience with mounted combat, so even if he made himself something to ride on, it wouldnt change much. Three figures in blood-red armor charged back through the storm, and Glowl turned to look at them as more arms emerged from the goldstorm to grasp at them. Kay took advantage of the distraction and started creating simulacra to change the numbers game of the fight. The storm of gold dust spinning rapidly around them began to thicken after Glowl once again removed the Blood Guard, and the dust began to combine into larger shapes. Massive sheets pushed out of the storm to form circulating walls that interposed themselves between the fight and anyone trying to join in. When Glowl turned back to Kay after making the changes, he found several identical figures charging at him.

Ha! Your little blood golems are a fun trick, but they arent going to stop me! Glowl crowed. He battered aside each attack with his heavy weapon, transforming it from a hammer to an axe to a sword and back while he beat off the attackers.

Kay stood some distance away, more and more blood flowing out of him into his armor, then up his arm and into his hands. A ball of blood shrunk smaller and smaller, compressing together into the size of a marble. Under just the laws of physics, compressing a liquid took an insane amount of pressure, which made it unfeasible to attempt. With magic in play, it became much easier, although Kay still needed the distraction of his simulacra to make time to complete it.

Glowl saw Kay charging a powerful attack and scoffed. He flung out his arm, and his incredibly thick gauntlet detached from his armor and flew at Kay like a rocket punch. It avoided the simulacra that threw themselves at it to stop it and aimed itself at Kay, flying at high speeds at his head. At the last second, a streamer of blood wrapped around Kay, looking like a giant water slide, which redirected the flying fist up into the air. At the top of the stream, the blood gathered around the gauntlet and began solidifying. Moments later, a red sphere dropped onto the ground and rolled to a stop.

With another scoff, as he pulped simulacra with a brutal upswing with his hammer, Glowl nudged his mount with one foot and started slowly moving toward Kay. I thought youd have to waste whatever that is to deal with my fist. He held out his bare hand, and his armor began growing over it, forming another gauntlet in a few seconds. Its interesting to fight another manipulator with an unusual material. I usually only run into the common ones, like earth or fire. Theyre simple to deal with because they all do the same things. They didnt have to work to figure out what could be done or what was an option because they had the experience of those who came before them to draw on. People like us with rare Classes, we have to think for ourselves and figure things out. We dont slow down when we hit the edge of what others have learned for us because we never had anything like that to rely on in the first place.

Kay just stared back at him, continuing to compress the blood between his hands while he let the other man speak.

The golden weapon pulled back to Glowl, who smiled triumphantly. Now then- He froze, the words in his mouth dying to nothing as he stared forward. The body in front of him melted into a pool of blood, leaving only empty air behind.

Sorry about that, Kays voice called from behind him, That was all he had.

Glowl spun about to find a completely fresh Kay standing behind him at the edge of the goldstorm.

He was only a simulacrum, you see; theyve only got a fraction of my actual Skills. Kay slowly looked Glowl up and down, taking in his injured form. King of Gold, huh? Thats a bit of a lofty title for you to give yourself. And all that talk about gold being a better material than blood? Please. Kay turned his back on Glowl, adding insult to injury while he returned the original psychological attack back to him. I dont really care about the value part or people coveting it; thats not important. What is important is that your material is limited. You have to dig gold up, refine it, melt it into shape. This storm you have here represents decades of work. Kay raised both arms, and a red tide began to rise within and around the storm of gold flakes, stilling their movement. The walls made to keep Kays allies stopped as they were wrapped up and held in place as a seas worth of blood that Kay had called from within his body while Glowl fought simulacra rose up and consumed the goldstorm. My body makes blood. I dont have to mine it or do any real work for it other than staying alive. Its always inside me, so Ill never run out. He looked over his shoulder at Glowl. I wonder what will happen to you once Im done taking all your gold away? The dam was released, and millions of gallons of blood rushed in.

Edric Ravenhome swore as he dodged around yet another corner, narrowly avoiding a passing patrol of guards moving through Avalons streets. The army made out of blood appearing on the battlefield was a distraction to everyone, including Avalons defenders, and it was easy to slip over the wall and into the city while the defenders gaped at the sight. Edric hadnt planned on invading the city, but some of his people had slipped through early on, and he wasnt going to let them charge in alone. His head was racing with doubts after listening to the Crusader Generals' reasons to ask for a parley, and hed settled them down by focusing on the moments ahead and the negotiations that were going to occur. But everything went wrong when someone attacked Stonegnawer, and now he had to make a decision.

He had to figure out if he believed that his daughter might still be alive or if the impossible hadnt happened, and there was now a monster running around looking like his daughter, a monster that needed to die. He had to figure it out before it was too late, and he had to catch up to his subordinates before they made his decision unnecessary. The note theyd left behind had told him their objective, to take out what was left of Alice so that he, as her father, didnt have to deal with that burden and didnt have to look his wife or other daughter in the eyes and tell them hed killed Alice. But the hunting team was significantly ahead of him, and he didnt have much time to decide.

Decide if he was stopping his subordinates or helping them.