Annoubonus chapter for a nice review the stot on another site

  Chapter 177: Boss Fight

  The mage’s wails of anger echoed as I shuffled down the corridor. I fumbled with the cap of the aether potion and drank more than I intended in my haste. I immediately began direg the aether to heal my injuries.

  My head started to clear. The body of the ice drake should slow the mage down. Suddenly, I was shoved hard from behind by multiple impacts. Are bolts sizzled into my armor, creating burning holes, and reag my flesh. This was not a fair fight if I could not get close to the damned elven summoo remove his head. Two of the strikes hit the bay thighs, scorg my hamstrings and making my escape even more difficult as my legs struggled to work properly.

  I could really use that greater healing potion I gave Maveith right about now. I pulled out the st lesser healing potion I took from Raelia and drank it. It did not help much with my extensive injuries, but it did y wounds. The minor numbing and cooling effect ay skin was also wele.

  I had other potions and drank one of the major stamina potions. It collided with the remnants of the healing potion in my stomach, creating a burning, nauseous sensation. Maybe mixing potions was not a good idea, but the warm, revitalizing energy flooded my damaged body, allowio break into a run. The pain faded like a bad memory, though I knew I would be in a world of hurt ohe potion wore off.

  I did not look back for the summoner as I turned into the corridor leading to the earth drake. The earth drake y dead, just as we had left it. I was halfway across the rge chamber, just past the drake, when I smmed into an invisible wall. The jarring halt to my spri me boung backward, nding hard on the dirt-covered floor. I scrambled back to use the drake’s body as cover. I thought I had broken my nose, as blood flowed freely ay lips and down my , and I spat out the metallic taste.

  When things settled, I panted heavily. “You’re fast for an old man,” I said in my limited elvish, hoping to fuse him. Instead, he ughed.

  “You are butchering a beautiful nguage, legionnaire. Just another reason you have to die.” There was madness, anger, and dession in his tone. I thought I had done a fairly respectable job speaking it.

  I was not going to talk my way out of this, and he would not let me escape. Raelia would probably side with the summoner if I brought her out. I doubted the goblin would be much help—maybe a distra at best. I retrieved the bck-tipped spear, the spider-engraved short sword, and anreater stamina potion from my dimensional space.

  I gripped the spear, my only on that could be used as a ranged on. “I’m sorry about your ice drake. But she did not seem to be in a pyful mood,” I taunted, hoping to provoke him into making a mistake. But I immediately regretted my words—the fly does not antagohe spider when caught.

  “Kylma was a dear friend…” Using his voice as my guide, I stood and hurled the spear at the summoner. He waved his right hand, and I saw the fsh of a spellform. He was a skilled mage, creating spells almost instantly and with just one hand. The spear thudded into another invisible wall, causing an echo in the room. I ducked back behind the carcass of the earth drake.

  This was not going well. The spear was my only ranged on unless I wao start throwing purple potatoes at him. His imperious voice echoed in the room, “Did you kill this earth drake as well? I suppose it was not much more difficult than a wyvern.” There was an amused tone, as it was clear he had me ered. His quick shifts iion worried me, and he might have lost his grip on sanity.

  Feeling the effects of the stamina potion fading, I drank the sed one while the standoff tinued. It was a struggle to keep the potion down. Drinking so many potions in such a short time robably not wise. With the bck bde in one hand and the spider bde iher, I po rush for the exit. I hoped that whatever invisible wall he had put up, I could destroy it with the two runic ons, then desd the stairs to the safe room and escape the dungeon.

  I took a deep breath and released my distray aether getting dangerously low. The goblin did not cooperate. Instead of running and pulling the summoner’s attention, it was disoriented and tried to hide uhe earth drake’s body, squeezing itself into the ground in a desperate attempt to disappear. Shit, the goblin was useless—or maybe just smarter than me, sidering the situation. No time had passed for it, and it had been paralyzed with fear when I retur to my dimensional space.

  I pushed off the floor, my bdes extended, and searched for the invisible wall. The bck bde made tact first, and I swung the spider bde overhead. The wall had a slight reverberation to it. I attacked in a berserk frenzy, and the spider bde drew on my aether with each strike, draining me dangerously. I never defeated the wall. Instead, the world lit up as energy surged around me. Lightning engulfed me, f my muscles to ch, and straining my joints painfully.

  When the lightning stopped, all I could smell was burnt flesh, and my vision was blurry. I groaned and rolled on the dirt, trying to focus on healing my eyes and ears while ign the pain. The soft shuffle of feet reached my ears. The mage roag. I tio moan pitifully—it did not take much effort—and hoped the mage would e within te.

  Through my bloodshot eyes, I saw the hem of the summoner’s dark blue robes. Then, the bastard stopped twenty feet away! I had expected some gloating speed was not disappointed. “Legionnaire...” The goblin took that moment to scramble over the drake and flee the one-sided battle.

  The mage turoward the noise, and I rolled to my knees, pnted my foot, and luoward him. My body protested the rapid movement, but I just o get close enough. I focused on the mage’s head and tried to send it to my dimensional space.

  My veins began to burn with an unfortable iy, warning me of being overtaxed. I had been pushing my aether reserves for the st several minutes, refilling aing them repeatedly. Castile had warned me about the risk of burning out my aether els, and my body was telling me I was getting close. But it did not matter because I had won.

  Then came the backsh of Traeliorn’s resistanot only did his head remain, but it felt as though mine had been severed. Time seemed to slow as I fell to the ground. I flung the spider bde at the mage, who was turning to face me again. His aether shield fred, but the runic orated it enough to cut into the hand he had put up to block it. The cut was not deep, but I would have ughed if I were not in such a tremendous amount of pain.

  I fumbled inside my armor for the aether potion, only to find that the vial had cracked, leavih wet dirt. I sucked on the dirty vial, trying to get even a drop of the restorative potion, but all I got was grit and ess in my mouth and just a hint of aether.

  Traeliorn moved slowly toward me. I was helpless and could only watch. He bent down to pick up the spider bde, more ied in it than in finishing me off. As he examihe bde, his face twisted with . His eyes moved from the bde to me, and he spoke, “A mage assassin then. I would have never guessed it by your looks, boy. Still, I do not need magic to deal with you.”

  He expertly spun the short bde in his hand, then frowned. His eyes hardened, aacked. I was onless, my bck bde a dozen steps behind me. I pulled one of the fire bear pelts from my dimensional space, using it as a momentary shield. From this minuscule expenditure of aether, my vei as if they were filled with acid. I scrambled back to retrieve my long bck bde. It worked, and I stood fag the irate summoner. Although standing might be to a word—I could barely force my body to an upright position.

  Traeliorn did not hesitate and rushed me, the short spider bde dang dangerously in his skilled hands. The exge was fast. I thought myself an equal swordsman, but I was heavily injured, and he scored a light ssh on the bay hand, parting the flesh and exposing the tendon underh. I moved to create some distand tried to heal the wound.

  Nothing. I could not feel my tiny amount of aether in my core or aher at all. It was slippery as I tried to and it. The summoner smirked, “Not so fu happens to you.” The spider bde had a grimy, oily coating—it must have been what blocked my access to aether, that or it emptied my aether core.

  The pause in ht gave me a ce to ask a question. “Is it perma?”

  “It is your bde, legionnaire. Do you not know what a magebane is?” He narrowed his eyes, suspicious that I might be trying to trick him. He obviously was not going to tell me much, but I figured he would be angrier if it erma.

  Suddenly, the goblin dashed out, and both of us turo watch. It had circled bad picked up the spear, struggling with its weight. I thought it might help me, but instead, it ran off with the spear down the corridor toward the dead owlbear. The summoner looked bemused by my shock.

  Traeliorn shifted his stance, removing his robes in a flourish to give himself greater movement. I drew my belt knife in my off-hand as we circled each other. He took a side stao reduce his profile, while I angled mi the dagger into py. We engaged again, my joints protesting at the required speed.

  “Not just a mage, then?” I asked after a few exges, sp several sshes on my armor. I had the longer reach, yet I was losing. He probably had turies of practice, and my dreamscape amulet was showing just how effective it was at fog my training, but it was ultimately insuffit against his experiend my injuries.

  The elf smirked, speaking in Latin for the first time. “I have kept fit through the turies, training with some of the best Rangers in Bartiradia. I usually hold my own with a bde, but you are not unskilled.” I aowledged the pliment with a nod. He did not allow me to rest and moved to engage again.

  Slowly, I started to feel and hint at trol of my aether cain—the poison from the spider bde wearing off. If his aether returned, I was doomed. The problem was that Traeliorn was not giving me an opening, and he tered any of my attempts to create ohe deadly dance tinued, and I kept trying to coalesce my aether. Though it was there, it was like trying to collect water with a sieve.

  Finally! I mao pull the elven spear I retrieved from the a armory into my hand. I dropped both bdes in favor of the a on, parrying Traeliorn’s attad sweeping the spear in an arc as he retreated. His right thigh now sported a deep gash, with some of the muscle exposed.

  I did not give him time to react, pressing the attack. Traeliorn was now hobbled, and suddenly, I had the advantage. He seemed unfamiliar with fighting against a spear. I scored a hit to his abdomen, then ao the ihigh. He tried to retrieve something from his belt, but that was his downfall. I drove the spear into his sternum, pinning him to the wall.

  He was trying to thumb the top off a potion in his hand. Instead of stopping him, I moved in close and wrehe magebane bde from his grasp. He brought the potion to his lips, but I used the spider bde to open his throat. The poison coating the bde as I sshed. My aether els burned as the bde sucked what little aether my body had to create its supernatural co. The potion tried to heal the wound, so I sawed away frantically until his head was severed.

  The mage’s body slid down the wall, the spear tip scraping the stone as it went. With his head in one hand and the dripping spider bde iher, I dropped the head and joined him on the ground. The adrenaline of battle ebbed away, and every injury on my body began screaming as the rush faded.

  I pulled a teen of water from my dimensional space, ign the aether burn from the a. I drai dry, belg loudly. I did not bother any to the summoner. Exhaustio over me, amplified by the potions, the aether backsh, the poison, and my wounds. If I slept here, I would likely wake up inside ah drake stomach.

  I gathered my bck bde and positiohe mage’s body and head on his robes before starting t it back to the safe room. Ohe pain of the aether burn lessened, I would use the collector on him. The corridors seemed much lohan they had before, and every step was a chore. The ice drake was still mostly blog the corridor—I o use the collector on it soon or risk losing its essence. I pulled the mage past the drake and into the safe room.

  The bck spear was he owlbear in the ter of the safe room, and the goblin had rummaged through my pack, ing everything that was edible. It was now in a tented food a, oblivious to my presence. I guessed it had en in days. I g the dungeo, w how the pany was managing.

  ? Chted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne

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