Author's Preface
The Wanderer slowly drifted back down to the earth. The crackling blue aura of the Spiral clung to his skin like a second coat of armor.
He looked around the quiet clearing to find the brave Valorian soldiers laying lifeless in the dirt.
The Wanderer gently laid the unconscious captain beneath a tree. He leaned over, pressing his ear to Zeek’s armored chest.
Thump... thump... thump...
The captain had a pulse, faint but there. The crushing weight of the boulder would have been instantly fatal to a lesser man, but Zeek’s will to live was keeping his soul anchored to his body.
"I won't be needing this anymore," Skida's voice rang out.
The Wanderer stood up, his right eye locked onto her. Skida was unbuckling her silver armor, letting the Moon Dew plating clatter to the dirt.
She stretched, rubbing her bare wrists. "You don't have much time if you want to save your captain. He’s bleeding out."
The Wanderer glanced over his shoulder toward the towering walls of the city. High up on the battlements, the massive barrels of the Mortal Cannons were glowing brightly, shining like newly born stars in a moonless night.
He looked back at her and calmly said. "Looks like you don't have much time either."
"We had better hurry up, then," Skida hissed. She raised a hand, gesturing to her remaining elite guards. "Go. To your positions. Now!"
The soldiers saluted and sprinted toward the city walls.
Left alone in the clearing, Skida’s eyes flared red like burning coal.
Slowly, her skin began to ripple, turning black as it shifted into steel.
The Wanderer unleashed his full awakened magic, his five mana circles grinding against each other as they spun in opposite directions.
Curling her fingers, Skida conjured a volley of razor-sharp steel blades, launching them directly at his chest.
The Wanderer manipulated the air currents, forming a vortex that redirected them back at her.
Skida blurred forward, charging through the oncoming storm. The blades clanged against her hardened skin. In a fraction of a second, she was in his space, throwing a fist at his abdomen.
The Wanderer conjured a high-pressure wind barrier. Her metal fist collided with the dense wall of air, creating a concussive shockwave that shattered the surrounding dirt.
Without breaking her momentum, Skida unleashed a relentless barrage of reinforced steel strikes, her fists moving in a lethal blur.
The Wanderer used his wind magic to deflect and block her devastating attacks.
Using an opening,she caught him slipping.
Pivoting on her heel, she spun a kick from his blind side.
Sensing the shift in air pressure just in time, the Wanderer conjured a sudden gust of wind beneath his feet, throwing his body backward to dodge the blow.
"Too slow!" Skida screamed.
As she missed the kick, her metal leg suddenly extended, morphing into a long steel spike that chased him through the air.
The sharp metal point drove into the Wanderer’s already injured leg.
A painful grunt was ripped from his throat as he crashed back to the earth, the steel spike pinning his thigh. Regaining his composure, he gritted his teeth and grabbed her metallic leg, channeling a massive current of electrical magic straight through her metal limb.
"Agh!" Skida’s steel-plated body shook violently under the devastating voltage. Her jaw clenched so hard her metal teeth grated together. With a scream of sheer effort, she ripped her extended leg backward and slammed her hands into the dirt, dispersing the current into the ground.
The thunderous boom of the first artillery strike rolled across the valley, shaking the forest to its roots.
The ground trembled beneath their feet as a series of blinding flashes lit up the horizon. They both turned their heads toward the northern valley. The massive Draemiran army was being obliterated. The Mortal Cannons were raining down like falling stars, tearing through shields, armor, and earth alike.
The Wanderer looked back at Zeek's pale face, then locked his eye onto Skida. "Your plans have failed, Skida. You've lost your army. You better run while you still can."
But Skida didn't look defeated, a chuckle escaped her throat, expanding into a manic laugh. "You naive, stupid little soldier. Everything is going exactly as planned."
Suddenly, the sound of swirling mana began to echo from behind the clearing.
Through the dense trees, he saw the surviving Draemiran elites. They were standing in circles, pouring immense streams of raw mana into three massive, bird-shaped wooden and metal chassis.
"The catapult was just a decoy," Skida sneered, her steel skin reflecting the distant artillery fire. "And all of you fell for it beautifully."
"No!" the Wanderer roared.
Ignoring the agony in his leg, he unleashed a burst of wind, rushing toward the elites.
"I don't think so!" Skida screamed.
She slammed her hands together. Massive rods of iron came down from the sky, slamming into the dirt like a cage to block his path.
Using the wind to launch himself, the Wanderer shot up into the air, clearing the top of the metal barricade. He thrust his hand forward, sending bolts of lightning raining down on the bird-shaped vehicles. But his aim was off.
The bolts that came close were absorbed or deflected by the magic barriers of the channeling elites.
Before he could adjust his aim, a massive rod was hurled horizontally from the side, striking him in the chest.
The force sent the Wanderer flying backward along with the rod, crashing through branches and snapping tree trunks. He desperately dismantled the metal rod mid-air to stop it from impaling him, but the momentum was too great. He rolled across the dirt, coughing up dust and blood.
He barely had time to look up before Skida was on him again.
She rained metallic spears down upon him, in a relentless pursuit. The Wanderer scrambled, using his wind barriers to desperately push the spears aside, his focus was on trying to reach the channeling elites before it was too late.
But Skida would not let him. She pressed her assault, her metal-plated fists and conjured weapons driving him back until a pair of metallic spears pierced through his clothes, pinning his shoulders and legs to the dirt.
The Wanderer gritted his teeth, pulling against the metal, but his body was screaming in protest.
Skida approached him slowly, with a triumphant smile. "You know, I must thank your friend Kuma for this. His underwater vehicle inspired the aerodynamics of this design. It turns out, adapting it for the skies was remarkably easy."
As if on cue, a screech echoed through the clearing as the three giant birds began to rise.
Skida smiled, the birds soaring behind her face in the sky. "Say bye-bye, Valoria."
The metallic birds ignited, transforming into roaring phoenixes of flames, tearing through the sky and disappearing high behind a layer of clouds.
Suffocating silence fell over the forest.
The artillery fire from the city seemed to quiet down, the soldiers on the walls watching the sky in terror.
The Wanderer stared upward, his breath catching in his throat.
And then, suddenly, the clouds shattered. The sky above Valoria turned apocalyptic red.
One of the roaring phoenixes descended, it grew larger and larger, a mountain of fire mana plunging toward the earth.
Before the vessel even struck, a torrential rain of liquid fire preceded it, pouring over the battlements. The screaming of the Valorian soldiers on the walls was cut short as the fire seared through their defenses, boiling their flesh beneath their armor.
Then came the impact.
The bird crashed into the northern district of Valoria. The entire northern section of the city was instantaneously engulfed. The sheer heat of the blast melted granite and iron alike, turning the grand architecture into a glowing river of liquid lava.
The shockwave that followed rattled the remaining districts of Valoria, sending colossal fissures tearing through the streets. The tremors felt as though they shook the entire Avaris.
The Wanderer stared blankly at the rising cloud of ash and fire, his breath catching in his throat.
"Serenya..." he whispered.
A tear sliced through the soot and blood from his remaining eye.
Suddenly, a mechanical voice vibrated inside his skull. The voice of the Spiral within him rang out.
[ WARNING: THE HOST IS IN MORTAL DANGER ]
[ INITIATING EMERGENCY CONTROL ]
His body violently convulsed as a torrential geyser of blue mana exploded from his chest and shattered the metallic spears, blasting them into dust.
[ RECONSTRUCTION OF LOST ORGANS IN PROGRESS ]
"No..." the Wanderer gasped. "Not this time, asshole! I can't... I can't lose control!"
With a guttural scream of desperation, he drove his right hand over his heart, grabbing the skin as if he could physically hold the Spiral back.
His single eye glowed with a blue light.
Skida, stepping back through the dirt, watched him in shock. The density of the magical pressure rolling off him was suffocating, flattening the grass for yards around them.
[ SYSTEM ERROR: THE HOST IS RESISTING... ZZZT... ]
"I must save her!" the Wanderer roared, his teeth grinding.
He threw his head back, screaming in pain as his left eyelid was forcibly wrenched open.
[ WARNING: THE HOST IS TAPPING INTO MORE ENERGY THAN THE VESSEL CAN HANDLE ]
The Wanderer’s left eye flew fully open.
There was no human pupil. In its place was a swirling spiral of energy.
He stood up, the pain in his leg entirely gone, his body hovering inches above the earth. He looked at his hands, then locked his mismatched gaze onto Skida.
And the general… looked afraid.