Chapter 255: The Shield

Arwin shifted the shield in his grip, grabbing by the bottom with both hands and swinging it like a bat. A resounding clang ripped through the clearing as the thick chunk of metal slammed into the Wyrm’s head. The shield hummed in Arwin’s grip as vibrations tore down it and into his body.

Black blood splattered across the ground and the Wyrm stumbled past Arwin with a pained hiss. A foot slammed down on the ground just to his side, shaking the earth beneath his feet, and the monster’s massive tail sailed out for his head.

Arwin had time to dodge. He could have dropped to his stomach or flung himself to the side if he’d wanted to — but he did neither. This was a vision. It was a contest of wills, and it was more than that. It was a test. The yet to be made shield was testing him, but he was also testing it.

This goes both ways. If you want me to make you, then show me what you’ve got.

Arwin drove the blue tower shield down into the ground before him and braced his shoulder against it. His muscles tightened and he bared his teeth. Arwin dug his feet into the ground and gritted his teeth, bracing for impact.

An immense force slammed into the shield. Wind roared past Arwin’s head like the howl of the dragon. Bone crunched. Splatters of wet, black matter flew past him and painted across the floor.

Arwin staggered back, nearly losing his grip on the shield, but he just barely managed to keep his balance. His teeth clattered from the force of the impact and his arm ached, but the shield hadn’t moved.

It had taken a direct hit from a Wyrm without so much as budging from the spot that he’d planted it. A grin crawled across Arwin’s features and he lifted the shield, locking eyes with the Wyrm as he moved it out of the way.

The end of the monster’s tail looked like it had gotten caught under a falling boulder. Fragments of bone jutted out from brutalized, weeping flesh. It hung askew and limp. The rest of the tail was still completely functional, but Arwin had actually hurt the enormous monster without an offensive weapon to aid him.

Hatred burned in the Wyrm’s dark eyes. Its tongue ran along the cracked tooth in its mouth and it reared back, rising onto its two hind legs. A hiss rolled from its undead tongue, wet and wheezing from the gaps in its throat.

Oh, shit.

The Wyrm dropped.

He swung his shield up. Two massive paws slammed into him with all the force of a crashing freight train. The air exploded from Arwin’s lungs. His arms screamed and he was forced down to one knee.

The Wyrm leaned harder into the shield. Arwin’s feet dug furrows through the ground and he clenched his jaw so hard that his teeth flared in pain. The shield held strong, but his own body was a different story. There was only so much force he could muster.

His arms trembled as he fought to keep the shield from pressing into his chest. If the Wyrm pushed it all the way down, it would just crush the air from his lungs without even having to finish him off itself.

Black, bloody saliva dripped around Arwin and the monster’s hot, rancid breath stifled his breathing and squeezed his lungs. He coughed. The Wyrm pressed harder. His arms started to press closer to his chest.

“Come on,” Arwin wheezed. The shield ground into his chest and started to bite into the dirt at his sides. His last line of defense wasn’t too far from turning into a coffin. He reached for [Scourge] instinctively, but nothing responded. His magical energy and powers were completely missing. Arwin turned his strained attention to the shield and sent a desperate call down the dull connection running between them.

Give me more than this! Are you just a useless lump of metal? What do you want to be? Show me what you’re capable of! How pathetic is it that you’re going to lose a fight to an undead remnant of your former self?

A crackle of irritation rolled back through the connection. The anger stored within the Wyrm Scale drove into Arwin’s mind like a spike. It wasn’t so easily baited into aiding him, but the response was all that he was looking for.

His hands did not. The shield pulled itself into motion. It used his body as a tool, drawing magic from his soul. Power gathered within its metal. It thrummed in synchronization with Arwin’s pounding heart.

The claw approached.

The shield flashed.

It snapped out, black energy flashing around it at the last instant before the Wyrm’s blow struck Arwin. They connected in the air, and for a brief moment, the world slammed to a halt. Then the Wyrm’s claws shattered.

A scream of pain tore through the air as the Wyrm’s limb snapped back. Its bones crunched and its arm bent back at an impossible angle. The few scales that remained on its body exploded like they’d been struck by a hammer.

It skidded back and lost its footing, falling into a roll that sent it crashing back into the treeline in a huge cloud of dust. Loud crashes followed after it as trees pitched and crashed all around it.

Arwin looked down at the shield in his hand, his heart slamming even harder than it had been a moment ago. He hadn’t even felt the impact. Every scrap of power that the Wyrm had brought to bear against him and been reflected back.

But, even as he knew the shield’s strength, he knew its weakness. Its power — was immense, but its window was thin. He had to use it the exact moment he was struck. If he didn’t, the shield was nothing more than a hunk of metal.

“I can work with that,” Arwin said, striding toward the Wyrm as it struggled to rise again. He felt the shield’s intent pull back, his connection to it fade. It was still present, but not nearly as strong.

The demonstration was over. Now it was time for him to take matters into his own hands. Arwin came to a stop before the Wyrm. He made no move to attack the monster as it found its footing.

It snarled in fury, the noise garbled by all the vile blood welling in its throat. Arwin met the monster’s eyes one last time. The Wyrm seemed smaller than it had been before. It didn’t give him time to figure out if it actually was or not. With a roar, the monster charged.

Its head snapped down, the few fangs remaining in its mouth glistening as it bit down at Arwin. He raised his shield. Magic coursed from his body and into the blue metal. Wind from the Wyrm’s charge blew his hair back, and yet he made no move to do anything but watch.

The Wyrm slammed into him. Arwin brought the shield to bear. Jaws slammed home. Black light flashed.

An ocean of black flame, the same color as the fire that the Infernal Armory had formed a portal to Wallace’s armory with, rolled from the front of the shield. It swallowed the Wyrm whole.

The world shattered.

Shards of the forest sparkled as they fell, glistening within fragments of glass, and rained down all around Arwin to leave nothing but an endless void of black. Then he was gone, and the vision ended.

The shield had chosen who deserved its power.

Now, all he had to do was make it.