Then an explosion rocked the parade grounds behind them, and everyone started moving at once. A second giant joined the first, and together they lifted the big portcullis fully, holding it long enough for the last of their people to race through.
"Thank you," Loquis whispered, as he passed the first giant. The bearded warrior looked surprised before frowning.
"Grmm."
"Move people! Move!" Lord Darius shouted again, and Loquis picked up the pace.
Gods, but it's hot.
The captain's sword skittered off of Felix's now-scaled skin, and he looked up in horror as the wave of transformation lifted Felix until he was head and shoulders taller than the man.
"What in the light are you?" Gregis asked.
"Annoyed."
He swiped his talons across the captain's greatsword, shearing the steel of it in half. For his part, Gregis immediately dropped it and punched forward with a spike of incandescent light.
"Spear of Radiance!"
Chthonic Tribute!
The Skill vanished as it burst free, yanked into Felix's channels as Gregis stared in horror. Then, without warning, the guy ran.
"Hey!" Felix shouted after him.
Gregis moved with a series of bounding leaps, his low Agility proving to be less of an encumbrance than Felix would have thought. His Strength alone propelled the tin can forward like a ballistic frog, and in a few short jumps he was going to reach Felix's team.
Adamant Discord!
At the apex of his jump, Felix crashed into the man, and they smashed up and onto the balcony above the gates. Felix rolled free of the captain, the both of them shattering through a set of double doors and barreling through the cozy furnishings of some sort of office. He flared Relentless Resolution and flowed to his feet as nimbly as he could, only to find the Paladin fetched up against the far wall.
He was on fire.
"You...you're no spy," he rasped. Blood flowed down across his face and the left side of his breastplate was crumpled in. A sword made of shimmering flame slowly coalesced in his hands. "You're an assassin. Kaldis sent you to...what? Disrupt the Knights? Surely he knew the Hierocracy had occupied this Pass, surely he knows what would happen to his little Princedom in the Hills. So why? Tell me!"
Felix said nothing, only lowering himself and bracing for whatever the Paladin might do next.
Gregis spat a mouthful of blood onto the carpeted floor. "Fine. Then I'll simply end you, creature...but not before you beg me for the Pathless' light!"
The sword in his hands bloomed, igniting the air as waves of Mana flashed outward in concentric rings of destruction. Fire and light obliterated everything in the room, ripping apart tables and chairs and scorching the carpets to nothing. Even Felix's Garment couldn't withstand the heat and radiance, burning away from his body as fast as it reconstituted itself.
Relentless Revolution!
Flaring his movement Skill, Felix rushed forward, ducking under the man's guard and grasping his armor at the elbow. The captain struggled, and the man was surprisingly strong and incredibly durable. Felix couldn't afford to be delicate. He thrust his arm into the man's armored elbow, snapping it the wrong way and ripping a howl of pain from the captain. Gregis' blade fell from his hand, but he was not unarmed. In his pain, he lunged forward, snapping his head into Felix's own.
Felix met him, head to head, a sharp report filled the burning room.
You Have Defeated Captain Gregis Noxum, Paladin of the Pathless!
XP Earned!
Finally.
Adamant Discord had him up and out of the fort, slinging his Body over the battlements in a single movement. Arrows followed him from a clutch of Squires that were hiding atop them. Several shattered against his scales, but a wash of fire magic burned the rest of their shafts to ash. Atar, on the rear of the wagons, stood with his hands upraised and a crown of flames atop his head.
Felix grinned.
He caught up with the wagons easily, landing about halfway in a dazzling crackle of electricity. The company was afoot and legging it through the Pass ahead. Soon we'll be well out of range of these Paladins, he mused.
The Paladins weren't giving up through. Already, Felix could see that they had broken through his sandstone wall and were gathering atop mounts. Ready to chase after their group into the desert.
So Felix did what he had to do.
Stone Shaping!
Stone Shaping!
Stone Shaping!
He yanked rock from the mountains beside them, his Mana reaching and spreading out in a net gossamer-thin and steel-cored. A wall, twice as high and thick as the battlements themselves, rose just ahead of him. This one, however, had no stairs or doors, no way to bypass it without breaking it apart. And it was made of the Tier III Stone of the mountain itself. Though it cost him almost his entire store of Mana, Felix figured it was worth it.
And stay out, he thought, a headache already clawing at him.
Stone Shaping is level 75!
Adept Tier!
You Gain:
+15 INT
+15 DEX
+15 END
They rode off into the night, with wrathful, frustrated screams the only thing following behind.