Spell Weaver [Book 2 Complete]

There wasn’t any time to process what was happening.

Jonathan stalked forward, no room in his enraged mind for words. Even without his weapons, the way his muscles continued to grow and bulge, his physical height gaining several inches as he covered the few yards, Alex knew the man was deadly.

“Mark, you’re up,” Alex called. “Sam.”

“Got it,” they said in unison. Mark had already removed his shield and was positioning himself between their new opponent.

Alex wove a spell circle over his hand and changed his mind even as it formed. Glancing again past Jonathan, he saw the sect member wriggling free of her bonds. Thinking she was in the clear, she had no chance at all to dodge his spell. Even if she had been aware, he wasn’t sure she could have dodged, as he used the new targeted spell circle base that he’d developed. The spark rune from within the circle caused her to crumple back to the floor after the shocking effect had finished. He noticed with a grim sort of satisfaction how her clothes smoldered.

Olivia entered back into the cavern and took in the chaos. Simultaneously, Jonathan met Mark’s shield and his overwhelming force and Strength sent their tank sliding across the ground. Despite the power behind the blow, Mark remained on his feet and held his shield in position the entire time, prepared to adjust as needed.

“Dang, dude. He’s not holding back,” Mark said.

“Olivia,” Alex called. “[Shadow Step] and get her out of here and bound. Now.”

She cast him a single glance before doing exactly that. The result was a confused Jonathan, spinning in circles and calling out in anger.

“Mark, take another one of those.”

A grunt was his only response, but he resumed his defensive stance. Alex saw vines of thorns wrap around their tank.

“Sam, can you use [Purifying Bloom]?”

“I can try, it’s a slow cast. It’ll be hard if he’s moving too much.”

“All right, I’ll see what I can do.”

Jonathan was charging toward Mark again, his shoulder leading the charge again. Just as he’d done before, the bulky man collided with the metal surface of the shield and lifted with his shoulder, intending to shove Mark back with force.

The difference this time around was Alex’s anchor spell. He used the targeted spell on Mark, causing Jonathan to collide with what felt like a brick wall. Mark still grunted from the force, but held his ground. Thorns dug into Jonathan’s skin and drew blood, but as his momentum began to rebound from the shield, Alex cast his barrier spell behind the man.

He pinballed back and forth twice, giving Alex enough time to cast the anchor spell once more, this time on the barehanded warrior.

Sam responded with perfect timing, and through his mana sight, he could see the bulb of green mana bloom into existence over Jonathan’s head. His anchor spell ran out just as the purifying skill ended, and Alex breathed a sigh of relief.

That was, until Jonathan let loose with another savage yell and gripped the edge of Mark’s shield. He yanked it forward and launched his forehead at Mark. The crack of bone to bone was audible and seemed to echo in the cavern.

Mark stumbled, and his back leg seemed to lose all sense of strength. At the same time, Jonathan ripped the shield from his arm and tossed it aside.

“Fuck,” Alex had really wanted to avoid hurting the man, as there was truly no bad blood there. But if he did something to hurt Mark, there wouldn’t be any coming back from that. Just as the spark spell was coming together, a scream from the entrance to the cavern caused them to pause.

“Jon?” Sarah’s voice was heard clearly over the grunts and shuffles of the frantic melee. “What in the world is going on here?”

“Sarah, stay back!” Sam called, frustration clear in his voice.

Her head scanned the area, attempting to decipher what could have caused the current situation. When her eyes landed back on Jonathan and his clearly enraged state, she reached out a hand toward him. She didn’t say anything this time, just held her hand out while walking forward and removing her flute from her pouch.

The berserker stalked toward Mark, shoulders rolling with each step, only to stop dead in his tracks. He stood there for several long heartbeats, unmoving and looking down at Mark.

Visibly, his shoulders sagged, and his muscles began to shrink. Alex watched, astonished, as the transformation began to reverse itself, and it wasn’t until he heard several long notes from a flute that he realized what was happening.

Mark scrambled clear, even though the danger waned with each second that passed, it was clear to them all that Sarah’s music was having an effect on the rage that Jonathan was in. It felt like making any noise, interrupting the performance, might ruin everything.

When Jonathan sagged to the ground, he seemed drained, but not so much so that he passed out again. Instead, he looked around in confusion and shook his head. Even as he did so, he winced and touched some of the cuts on his arms that had healed partway.

“What—what’s going on?”

“Jon,” Sarah said, pulling her flute from her lips. “Are you okay?”

“You stopped me? How?”

“I… I just used my trait and a skill. I didn’t know it would work,” she said, stopping a pace or two away from him. “Are you okay now?”

“I think so?” He grabbed his head. “I’m so confused. I was over there, and when I woke up, I was with that tied-up girl. She said we were prisoners, and all of you were wearing dark robes and carrying weapons.”

Understanding dawned on Alex. “Illusions.” When the group looked at him, he explained further. “The Shadow Sect is great with illusions. Not all of them, but some of them are. I got my [Mirage] skill from them after all. When that woman came into the clearing earlier, when we were checking on you, she looked like Olivia…” he trailed off as he played the scene back. “Now that I think about it, she looked like Olivia, but her illusion wasn’t showing any mana. Not like my Mirage does. She still looked like a totally normal person. I bet she did some sort of illusion technique to make you think we were dressed differently or the situation appeared different from what it was.”

“That makes sense. But still… how did you stop me?”

“I used the [Aura Adjustment] skill that I’ve used with you in sessions before. But I’ve gotten another skill since we’ve been here training, [Soothing Pulse]. It seemed to have a really strong effect on you in that state.”

“Wait, so you can just pull me from {Rage} whenever you can use the skill?” His eyes grew wide, and the need in his eyes was startling to Alex.

“I guess so? It would probably take a few tests to see if it works like that.” She smiled at Jon then, and some amount of understanding passed between them, as she knew what he was thinking.

Just then, Olivia came back into the cavern while pulling along the bound and gagged woman. She was struggling to stay on her feet as she was roughly repositioned. “Well, that was a shit show,” Olivia said.

Sam checked on Mark and healed his broken nose, both standing and joining the group when the bleeding had stopped.

“Sorry about that,” Jon apologized. “Really, I thought I was fighting for my life there.”

“So-kay. Don worry abou it.” Mark’s voice was nasally, and he smiled at the way it sounded.

Alex looked at the woman thoughtfully. He saw the calculating look in her eyes and realized when she made her next decision. Her facial features changed, not through magic or techniques used, just through acting.

Her features softened, with both eyes widening slightly. She ducked her head slightly, causing several strands of her black hair to fall over her tan skin.

They made eye contact then, and she realized that he’d been watching her. She had the good sense to look somewhat embarrassed, but stuck with her look of meek and nonthreatening. “Liv, will you take her over there again and watch her for a few minutes? If she starts using any magic on you, feel free to let Nox siphon some mana from her. He doesn’t have to be gentle.”

Olivia smiled, and Nox growled from her shadow, causing the woman’s eyes to grow wider as she was pulled away.

“What are you up to?” Mark asked. “I know that look.”

“I need to charge the amulet up and ask Maelis some questions. I think I have an idea of how we can get her cooperation without needing to go so far. This might let us be confident in what she’s telling us, too. I just need a bit of time. You guys stay away from them. Check on Jonathan and Sarah feel out his mood. I know he is high up in the HA. I don’t want him to report us to his superiors for going after one of the aspects. If it seems like he’s going to be a stickler, we’ll need to figure out how to handle things. Please don’t give him more information than he needs.”

She looked conflicted, but nodded anyway.

Alex grabbed her arm. “I mean it. Please, Sarah. You know that Nox and Olivia need this. There are plenty of other Aspects. Letting Nox consume this one won’t close the Rift.”

Nodding again, she, Mark, and Sam joined Jonathan, who sat on the ground still recovering.

With that, Alex moved to his spot and began channeling mana into the Runic Apprentice. He closed his eyes and reached out to Valtherion for some help. His bond had taken to spending time in the hatchery in the lower caverns, near the spinner queen.

It had seemed childish at first, a form of protest over the last couple of days since he was now too large to reasonably hide during scouting missions. However, it had become apparent to them all that Val found the interactions with the smaller spiders entertaining and cared for them greatly.

Val, can you come up here? I could use some help waking up Maelis.

“Will you give me some mana?”

“Of course. And actually, I have something else I’ve been meaning to give you. It’s a gift from Edwin.”

He felt the sense of curiosity come through their bond, and with the ability to generally sense his companion’s location, he could tell that Val was already moving.

Smiling, he continued to dump his mana points into the amulet while removing the [Taste Refinement] skill book from his bracer.

He spent more than two hours alternating back and forth with Valtherion to charge the Runic Apprentice amulet. Once Maelis was awake, Alex had pressed him for more information and learned a great deal. With his plan set, he asked Sarah to lead Jonathan out of the main cavern for some privacy.

“I really don’t think he’s going to like that,” Mark commented as Sarah walked out with the Crimson Warrior.

“I know, but I can really only deal with one problem at a time. He doesn’t need to know everything I’m doing in here. For now, I need to handle…” He paused and scanned their captive again, having forgotten her name.