Book 5. Chapter 32: Bree and Tanda - Transition

Book 5. Chapter 32: Bree and Tanda - Transition

Brees hooves and the song of her auril heart beating thundered through the cavern, as she weaved a lance made of auril vines. The auril flowed through her body and lance alike, as she moved faster than something her size and weight had any business to.

The lance easily pierced deeply through her golems core and exploded, and she smirked, watching the weak Alliance members struggling to manage such a weak monster. Another one fell from the ceiling a distance away, and she veered toward it to take it on.

Satisfaction and praise flooded her strange new connection, Hestias Champion both proud and intrigued at her capability. Bree couldnt help but feel proud, even if her feelings were conflicted.

Being praised by such a vastly weaker entity as if she were some sort of pet was demoralizing, and had Ainora and Isolyn been awake, they would sneer and chastise her for enjoying it for even a moment.

However, in this vessel with his brand, he was now her master, and she couldnt help but start warming up to the idea. She felt the strength of his will, his impressive talent. But now, with the branding and bond, Bree could feel the warmth of his heart and his hearththe flames of his family.

She had only felt such warmth and love from Mother, and she hung on every feeling he sent her over the bond. Her sisters had love for her too, but it was definitely closer to comradery, the three of them being so similar to one another.

When Bree originally received the odd branding, she had underestimated the child of the void, and the magics that made up his Hearth. The combination of the divine hearth flames and Qi, Auril, Holy Light and Holy Dark, mana, the void, and his will, shockingly overpowered even the remnants of her early divinity.

Her odd vessel was limited, sure, but her early divinity was not something so easily overpowered. She could use such divine essence to enhance her mind and will, even while restricted. So the idea that he managed to overwhelm her immense will was enough to make her more than a little excited.

She and her sisters had long since sought a powerful enough mate within their Tier, and they hadnt been defeated by anyone but Mother or other Divine, or strictly unfair odds coordinated by Tartarus.

They had long since agreed to mate with any male of the same or lower Tier that defeated them, even if they faced them with lower Tier avatars or vessels. But none could quite achieve victory, and they were convinced they would have to wait until they made their Eternal Essence and achieved godhood before they could find a suitable one.

Her body had reacted on its own, and she couldnt help but be abashed at her display. If that wasnt embarrassing enough, when she returned to her shared body with her sisters, they were absolutely livid with her.

They werent the ones defeated, so why must they share her branding? They denied that they too would have been conquered, blaming her for letting her guard down.

Isolyn and Ainora were disgusted with her, and if it was possible to actually disown her when they all shared the same body, they would have. Just how could she have been defeated by a first Tier whelp?

Ultimately, they were right. Had she given it her all from the beginning, she would have easily stomped the fledgling Champion in his first attempt to overpower her will alone, especially if she drew in aid from her sisters.

She suspected Isolyn and Ainora were just waiting to do this to him, and Isolyn certainly baited him with her interaction.

But a win is a win, no matter how it came abouta hunter must only catch his prey unawares once. She had underestimated him, and victory was his.

Her two sisters wanted to erase the branding of her future mate, but she defended it and fought them with teeth, tail, and flame. nove(l)bi(n.)com

The fight between the three of them lasted for days, only Mothers intervention managing to break up the fight. A fight with three sisters sharing the same body was not a pretty scenetheir epic struggles had destroyed many forests over the ages, and this one was perhaps the worst.

She smiled with nostalgia, remembering the first time she piloted Jakes otter to stretch her legs for a bit of fun. Their Mother mentioned there was a prospective summoner they could enjoy some fun fights with, which was shocking.

Finding resonance with a 0th Tier Summoner across the multiverse, not even in their home Sector, was completely unheard of. So when they had the opportunity to fight through challenges such as the Trials or even enemy Champions, they leaped at the opportunityand fought for who fought next among themselves.

Piloting the badgerdillo as if it were a stripped down avatar was immensely satisfying and nostalgic as they remembered when times were much simpler and more enjoyable. Then, helping destroy the enemy Apophis summoner as Bree used the sharkgoblin and Isolyn used the turtle was a blast.

Bree and Isolyn would fight one another the most, fire and ice like oil and water. Normally, Ainora would keep the peace when Bree fought with Isolyn, but when Bree got branded by Jake, the two actually ganged up on her!

Mother brought herself down to the peak of the fourth Tier and fought with them just to put them in their place, forcing them to keep the branding rather than eliminating it.

If she had fought them from her original strength, the two girls never would have accepted Mothers punishment and intervention, and the fight would have merely resumed the moment they finished healing. Mother was proven to be the strongest once more, and forced the angry daughters to accept her resolutionmight made right, after all.

Mother then used her divinity to help separate out both the brand and Brees soul, and focus it more on Bree and enhance it. The three were still loosely connected, but Echidnas divinity helped them transform into something slightly different.

It cost Bree and her sisters much to make this happen, but they were all too much in a hurry to be rid of her when presented the option. Isolyn and Ainora were currently almost comatose, and likely would shy away from Jakes calleven if they were willing.

Bree lanced the next golem, even as another two landed nearby. Rolling her eyes at Tartaruss machinations, she formed a tail and ball of vines that resembled her weighted tail on their original body, and slammed it into one golem, sending it flying toward the Asian-armor attired warriors to take out.

The encounter was supposed to have golems fall from above randomly, but it was obvious to her that it somehow tipped the scales in its favor whenever convenient.

She missed her tail. This boar avatar had a strange tail that tended to coil, which was completely useless for combat. Otherwise, she much enjoyed the auril heart, even if it was connected to a strange entity, and heavily limited by this odd construct.

The beastkin and the world of Highlands were certainly powerful together, so she couldnt help but respect the special nature of the connection. The odd Heart of the Worlds song was welcoming, sending a loving embrace of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth over it. Something about it too attracted her, and she desired to explore this resonance.

The oddest thing about this heroic boars body was the small amount of divinity from Brigid. When Bree birthed her avatar into the vessel, the two merged into one another. It was like she was reborn, but also not, at the same time. Normally, Bree thought such a thing was impossible.

***

Tanda continuously fired her bow, retrieving arrows from her storage bracelet each time she let go of the bowstring. Empowering the arrows with her will, the deathly wolves bit deeply into the boss.

She marveled at Brees charge, crushing the frost golems nearly as quickly as they spawned. Something had changed about that creature after Jake branded her, but Tanda couldnt learn anything about Bree from her song.

It was as if the song from her heart was being filtered, and she guessed it was from the Framework. Bree unable to even partially communicate with Jake beyond combat, led Tanda to believe that this was the case.

After the Umbral Decay was applied to the boss, Jake had spent his time recuperating. The priestesses and dryads too conserved their mana, drinking mana water and awaiting the next phase.

Bone shields were added to protect those fighting the guardians, and sometimes the dryads restricted the golems when they managed to spawn in difficult locations. Jake had only needed to use a wave of force twice, to shove golems away from the fragile priestesses and druids and allow those designated to take care of the additional enemies, or adds to have more time to arrive.

The boss reached fifty percent, and the encounter stirred. The crystal from above released a frost aura, and it slowed everyone. But Jasminas song reached the beastkin, and they were easily able to push away the effect.

The Emberborn were hardly affected as frost was their domain, and Clan Hart had no problems shoving away the effect with Purifying Flames. It was only Warrior Brotherhood that was unable to easily withstand it, but talismans quickly activated to protect them from the effect.

Tanda continued firing her bow, preparing herself for the final phase. Her clan mates did most of the work for now, but her Cyclic Resonance continued to build. She was holding off on using her avenging flames, for when the fight shifted to the final phase.

As the Frost Giant King swung his weapon now, blades of ice formed and lashed out at allies. Shards of ice flew everywhere and cut into those in melee range, even when Ophelia blocked the Kings attack with her shield.

It was like an explosion of ice shards with every swing, piercing the flesh of those nearby, the frost spreading across their bodies. The auril heroes healed themselves with their auril, and Bloodberris Dark Siphon and Maul of Hestia-Echidna kept their health high through this effect.

Tanda helped Jake to shift into the state of the Guardian, to shift the focus toward protecting the Battlegroup. Ophelias Hearth Guardian was enhanced by her and Fhesiah within its floating shield with some additional flames, and Jake began working on his Tier 2 spell.

Morwen and her priestesses along with the dryads and Warrior Brotherhood were preparing for a different spell, so Jake and Tanda would prepare their own without their assistance. His and her runes rapidly coalesced, and their Tier 2 spell was completed: Faerie Lights.

Dozens of multicolored lights appeared, like faeries drifting through the air. Several sought out targets to heal through the icy explosions, but many lingered in the air, waiting to heal those that took significant damage.

Tanda continued firing her bow, taking out spawned golems or contributing to defeating the boss. Each of her high-powered shots would destroy a golem, or take off nearly a percent of health off the boss.

Ophelia continued keeping the focus of the boss, but the undead giant pulled its weight there as well. The undead giant and Bloodberri used their large bodies to send the boss staggering, to help Ophelia and Valora with maintaining their positioning.

She kept her momentum high, zooming around and taking multiple passes at the enemy. Her Hearth Guardian helped fill in the gaps, her shield interposing itself in front of the weapon when others werent able.

Tanda was happy to see Ophelia and Valora in their element, and could tell the two girls were both buzzing with excitement. Meanwhile, Fhesiah had grown in size and power, consuming much of the flames from her torch. The remainder of the flames went towards maintaining her two fiery curses, the Sun and Moon Hex constantly burning into the icy armor of the boss.

Her powerful draconic claw attacks cut deeply into the bosss armor, Fhesiah primarily conserving her Qi for the final stages of the fight. Her torch mainly added flames as her mana regenerated from the Energy Vortex skill, allowing her to keep adding powerful blows to the boss.

Tandas mother and father swept around the battlefield, even as Timones ravens peppered the boss in his deathly flames. Empowered by Jakes Heavenly Aura, they appeared to join Fhesiahs Sun Hex, burning further into the bosss armor and withering it away.

Dahlia was bathed in golden light now, as her hunt continued. The huntress blurred through the air, mixing powerful leaps with flaps of her winged cape and movements from the flaps Bloodberri created for her. She was nearly as mobile as her father now, as they swooped together against the golems. With each one they defeated, new frost golems fell from the ceiling.

So far, those hunting the golems have kept pace with the damage they were dealing to the boss. This encounter was unique in that it required each group to maintain a certain pace. Too much damage to the boss, and a difficult number of golems would fall from the ceiling.

If they were too slow in killing the boss compared to the golems, it was known that the ceiling crystal would eventually attack too, pushing the Battlegroup even closer to failure. The frost giant king would be especially difficult to deal with beams of frost freezing allies.

Following Jakes instruction, Tanda prepared another of her special arrows. Her Cyclic Resonance was nearing the peak, so now the auril pulsed into the area even more rapidly as her heart beat powerfully. Activating Avenging Flames once more, she drew back the bolt-like arrow.

Filling the arrow to the maximum and empowering her bow, she launched her charged attack. A golden explosive wolf bit deeply into the boss, taking down an entire percent of its health. She continued her barrage, firing another arrow every few seconds.

Ophelia activated her Valkyrie Champion ability, while Jake prepared a spell of his own. Shifting his state to the Sage, he drew up the flames of his hearth into is staff.

Bloodberri completed a buff on themselves, the Einherjar spell layering itself onto them. She cut powerfully into the boss with her large axe, knocking it down below 25%. A wave of frost echoed out as the frost giant king leaped into the air, ready to bring its large polearm weapon down on their magic circle, where Jake stood in the center.

But Jake pushed out a powerful flaming barriereven greater than the Sacrificial Barrier that he would normally create, using his Hearth Control. The state of the Sage granted a prodigious control over the flames as he found resonance with Fhesiah, him sending out an immense amount of flames.

The giant shield not only blocked the creatures massive body and shoved it back to fall down and away from the magic circle, it engulfed the boss in powerful flames, adding onto Fhesiahs Sun and Moon Hexes.

The Hart family broke out of their frozen prisons, Ophelia blazing into the boss with [Intervene]. The beastkin werent far behind with the help of Jasminas song, their prisons shattering in small groups.

The frost giant king roared as the crystal fired a beam from above and filled its polearm and body with powerful frozen energies. It was time for the final phase of the battle.