Plamus opened his arms wide, his fingers were stretched to the limit, his head raised to the ceiling, and his face flushed with ecstasy.
The calm lake was rocked back and forth by the waves created from the formless pressure he was exuding, for once the locals weren't eagerly lying in wait to attack, they were backing off, just like the rest of the humans.
Kassan covered his mouth, he whispered to himself with a serious expression, something barely audible.
Marquis Gomon listened in, but couldn't get a single word from his mumbling, nonetheless, what he was sensing from Plamus was a sudden increase in rank...
'Rank four?' he shivered, something that has and will remain a myth for most mages, no matter their age or talent, a feat so unattainable, that there hadn't been news about such a breakthrough for the entirety of his life.
'Impossible! No!' Gomon's face contorted from rage, 'I don't believe it! It can't be this effortless!'
'What have I-... what have we been doing wrong for decades?! A boy that could be my grandkid surpassed me, and is attaining my lifelong dream... unbelievable...'
'Has His Majesty...?' he shook his head, 'Never mind. What kind of ties could the Starhelm family have, to leverage this utmost secret out of our king? Or perhaps the royal family... ha... is it them? The candidates for the throne? Is the most coveted secret a bargaining chip to them?'
"We have to pull the dagger out!" Reyna shouted, a wake-up call for those that still had the will to resist.
"The dagger?" Marquis Gomon snapped out of it, was this not Plamus' own attainment after all?
"There is no time to explain!" Reyna glared at Frey, he knew by far the most about this artefact, but was keeping quiet about it.
"Will that save us?" Kassan joined the conversation.
The cracks in the glassy floor beneath Plamus continued to spread, "Haha... Save you? It's about time you kiss your ambitions goodbye." he chuckled, "Not even if the 'king of humanity' came in person would he be able to change anything."
"His Majesty?" Kassan growled, "You are growing conceited, that sudden amount of power seems to be getting to your head!"
Plamus rubbed his chin, "Ho? Was that enough to rile you up? I understand that the king is supposed to be some kind of perfect human being, but honestly, besides his position, there is nothing extraordinary about him. Just an old man who's nearing the end of his days, with his successors looking to milk as many benefits as they can, before he passes away."
"But enough talk." the smile vanished from his lips, "I am going to starve if we drag this out any longer, let's settle our dispute."
The veil of darkness that surrounded him streamed outwards, it rolled along the floor like mist, spreading aimlessly in every direction.
While the soldiers evaded the dark fog, Kassan, Marquis Gomon, Winny, Daren and Reyna stood their ground, as did Frey and the flower-woman, only a distance away from them.
A nigh invisible barrier erected itself around Kassan's group, a spell of his creation, keeping the invasive mist at bay.
It resorted to welling up along the walls, slowly climbing them, until all of it was submerged.
The lights reflected throughout the cave dimmed, the soldiers' space to evade was shrinking with every second, the exit had been cut off, they were pressing into each other, trying to create room that did not exist.
When the first of them was shrouded in the mist, a frantic pushing and shoving ensued, a prickly and stinging feeling crawled up from their legs, the affected areas were rapidly swelling and heating up.
Those that were already lacking in strength fell first, the swelling clogged up their throats, and made breathing the already limited air impossible, wretched noises and helpless gasps were the last sounds they gave from them and made the silence that followed all the more oppressive.
Marquis Gomon averted his gaze, there was nothing they could do to help them at this point, the mist was an unknown spell, Plamus' power was growing with every second, while theirs depleted in the process of defending themselves.
He closed his eyes, the silence weighed heavily on him, he wasn't nearly as altruistic as Kassan, but even he felt pained, having to watch on helplessly, as those weaker than him were robbed of their lives.
Gomon held his forehead, they needed a plan, a strategy, anything really, Kassan couldn't see, relying on him to do the thinking would backfire, no matter how experienced he was, and he certainly couldn't put this responsibility on the kids… Winny on the other hand, while he deemed her reliable, she was the type that followed his orders, and rarely voiced some of her own.
He grumbled, he was annoyed, and exhausted, and tired, and there really was no good reason for Plamus to be doing this!
"Pah!" he shook his fist, it was too late to feel regretful, the die had been cast, now it was time to live with the results.
"Can you buy me a minute?" he looked to Kassan for reassurance, then shook his head, rethinking his wording, "I need you to buy me a minute."
Kassan's face scrunched up from the pressure his spell was under, "Not a chance!" he gritted his teeth, "But I'll find a way."
"Did you think of something?" Winny was sceptical, one minute was a long time in which Plamus would keep ramping up the pressure, still, they hardly had another choice but to take a gamble.
"Nothing surefire. Though I might be able to stop his spell, if only for a brief moment." Marquis Gomon answered, then eyed her, "Do you think you can squeeze out another spell yourself?"
"I'll have to try." she turned away.
Cracks snaked along the surface of Kassan's barrier, his outstretched arms were shaking, his forehead wrinkled, 'One minute… one minute…' he repeated those words to himself like a mantra, attempting to tune out all other thoughts and noises, but his body reacted instinctively as something was sent flying across the cave!
Kassan ducked, his hairs stood on end, but whatever that was, it wasn't coming for him.
The flower-woman and Frey were lifted up into the air by the long and sturdy vine, quite a distance above the deadly mist, a second vine was reaching below them, where the remaining locals had gathered, who were enduring the effect of Plamus' spell to the best of their abilities.
The vine wrapped itself around one of them, lifted them off the ground, and threw them with full force!
Daren stared with a wide-open mouth, what he was witnessing seemed so insane, but at the same time incredibly smart… there was no way the locals could manage to reach Plamus in time, if they tried to attack, and if they just waited, they would end up like the human warriors… but slinging them like a catapult?!
"They are crazy!" his eyes darted to Frey and the flower-woman, then back to the local's trajectory, the pitches were accurate, homing in on Plamus' position.
Plamus slapped his hand against the empty air, like swatting flies, black particles materialized around them, shooting them out of the sky, few managed to come within ten meters of him, but they were enough to divert his attention.
The mist stopped its expansion, large quantities of darkness particles swarmed to the base of the vine, he lifted his hand, then closed it into a fist.
Pitch black lines gripped the vine as if they were strangling it, the lush green was vanishing from their touch; not just this one, but all the vines looked like they were affected.
Their grip on Marv, the infected girl, and the local that was preparing to be thrown loosened, all of them racing towards solid ground from a lethal height!
Frey's chest tightened, he pointed his finger at Marv, but the flower-woman's petals stormed towards the infected girl, prioritizing her safety over that of a regular human, but on the other hand, she was completely abandoning the rank three local.
He took a breath, then leaped off the flower's bud, earthen particles were all around, he snapped his fingers and chunks of rocks formed around his feet, but even then, he wasn't catching up with Marv!
Frey aimed for the floor, he made a pulling motion, and a pillar of rock heeded his call, it smashed through the crystal coating and kept expanding, growing taller and taller, it was reaching for Marv's unconscious body.
More particles were drawn towards the pillar, they were pulled in from its surroundings, like moths to a flame.
The upper end of the pillar formed into a hand, nearly, instead of five fingers, there were only three, each of them requiring precise control, together they swooped in to rescue Marv.
All three of them closed at once, catching his body out of the air, and trapping him in their embrace.
Frey sighed in relief, but he was still falling; he saw what the mist below did to the warriors, landing in it was not an option, but he also couldn't expect any help to come his way, with Kassan's group focusing on their own survival.
He racked his brain, then the rocks from his feet spread all over him and turned him into a ball.
A stream of black that contained red sparks flashed from one side to the other, with the flower-woman above, and Frey being its targets; Plamus watched the round stone-ball get knocked back, crashing into the three fingers, splinters shot into all directions.
'Two for one.' he sighed and rolled his eyes, as the flower-woman wasn't taken care of just as easily.
He raised his eyebrow and turned back to Kassan, an ominous feeling had been creeping up on him for a while now, he clenched his fist, "Hah..." another wave of bliss washed over him, "It's pointless, I don't care what you are preparing, it won't matter, but I also won't sit around and wait for you to finish!"
Plamus grabbed a fistful of dark particles and hurled them at Kassan's barrier, each of them taking the shape of a wailing ghost.
They slammed into the barrier of light, leaving behind ripples that were soon smoothed out, but despite his obvious failure, Plamus' smile grew.
The ghosts ceased with their mindless attacks, and instead pressed their hands and faces against it, trying to force their way inside!
"How much longer Marquis?! How much longer?!" Kassan sounded off; Daren was well aware that the mist was greatly pressuring him, yet what difference could a bunch of ghosts do by pressing against their defensive globe?
But when the first hand managed to pass inside of the layered barrier, he held his breath, the hand turned illusory, even more so than before, and grey wisps slithered out from their wrists.
Marquis Gomon was utterly silent, there was no change in his expressions, like he didn't even hear it, completely engrossed in whatever he was conjuring.
Plamus swiped his arm, again a black and red bolt was unleashed, striking the barrier from outside, while the ghosts were sifting through it from within!
Over and over, they struck, the bolts were unceasing, a nigh infinite supply was waiting for Plamus to utilise it, to suffocate his enemies and their chances.
He observed his outstretched hand, while the feeling of excitement overshadowed all else, it wasn't enough to keep him from noticing the horrifying peculiarity that was unfolding on his body, his entire arm, it was basically skin and bones, all semblance of flesh was gone.
Plamus stopped for the first time since entering his power-trip, he looked at his other arm, its condition was the same, then his legs, both were meagre, all the muscles he had built over his youth… gone.
A faint numbness spread in him, "W-what?"
He pulled his torn clothing to the side, the wound on his stomach was gone, he had noticed the absence of pain from there, but what were these… black veins?
Plamus swallowed hard, the lines beneath his skin, they were moving, and wherever they chanced across, they would leave behind a sickly-looking spot with all vitality drained!
"What did you do to me?! What have you done?!" he shouted, his voice getting increasingly delirious, his fingers trembled, "REYNA!"
Particles swarmed to Plamus' outstretched fingers, all rational thoughts were drowned out, the only thing left within was a desire to retaliate.
Meanwhile bubbles surfaced on the pool of blood, a shape was rising, it grew taller, wider, blue and red moved fluidly on its body.
At the end of the long form was a head, then at its base sprouted another, and another; six serpentine heads were created and controlled by Marquis Gomon, each identical in size, opening and closing their mouths, revealing rows of sharp teeth, and acting independently like a sentient species.
Plamus turned, another eyesore was seeking his attention, looking to prevent him from reaching Reyna…
The particles were launched from the tips of his fingers, black flashes blew holes into the creature's hide, but it didn't care, the holes closed on their own as new patches of water streamed upwards, defying gravity.
Despite his attacks, the monster ignored him, the six heads aimed in different directions, their mouths opened wide, blue circular disks appeared before them, then with a sonic boom, continuous beams of water emerged, and blasted the dark fog that surrounded the survivors.
Kassan's tense expression finally began to ease, he managed to spare a moment to give Gomon a grateful glance, but the Marquis was fully absorbed in his spell, cutting apart the veil that was pressuring them.
Plamus glared at the creature, it was ignoring him, taunting him, tearing away at his magic, and when he turned back to Kassan's globe and his ghosts, they were also getting dealt with, slowly.
He looked back and forth, the itchy feeling in his head was getting stronger, travelling from the top along his forehead, behind his eye, down his throat.
His skin was torn open from scratching the side of his neck, but no more blood was coming out.
"Hah… hah… Fighting back… fighting… back…" Plamus clutched his head, "Good… keep fighting… show me how you fight… when you have nothing left!" his expressions darkened, the corners of his mouth twisted with malice, darkness surged around him, what remained of the fog was pulled back towards him in droves.
Kassan breathed easy, after much effort the ghosts were expelled from his barrier, but only because the constant danger the fog posed had been removed, and yet he could not let his guard down, Plamus wasn't stopping, quite the opposite, masses of energy were solidifying near him, his presence was growing, becoming more terror inducing the longer this went on.
Kassan only ever met one person that made him feel this way, "Your Majesty, what is going on?" he mumbled, all hope of escaping this plane was draining from his mind.
Marquis Gomon slumped to his knees, his eyes reflected a myriad of colours, all of which were pulled into Plamus' spell, "Merciful gods… May we escape this place alive…" a prayer was the last thing he could think of, before an uncomfortable emptiness overcame him.
Plamus was teetering on the upper edge of rank three, they were witnessing a miracle in the making, but none of them could feel the least bit of happiness about it.
Winny knelt next to them, she was reading their faces, hers was unchanging, still.
Plamus stood beside the lake, the fog, the particles, the corpses, the water, the six-headed creation, everything was getting tugged at, pulled upwards, where a massive ring of distortion was absorbing the nearby colours.
A low humming sound hung in the air, interrupted only by the irregular and heavy thumping of the heart.
The flower-woman tightened her grip on the infected girl, whose face was plastered with worry and fear… her limbs were shaking and her glowing eyes glued to the spell.
Blood came streaming down from the corners of Marquis Gomon's mouth, his nostrils and eyes; the six heads of his monster tried to pull away, to save themselves by retreating into the lake, but the pull was inescapable, they were stretched, until the long necks that connected them were severed.
The humming turned into a loud whirring, the rotations got faster, more and more colour drained from the vicinity; Plamus opened his arms, unaffected by it all, it was calming, soothing even, suppressing the awful itch inside of him.
The ground was pulled up, and the ceiling, along with the heart, were pulled down towards the ring, space seemed to warp around it, consuming everything.
The construct grew denser, tons of energy welled up; Kassan was sweating profusely, "He'll kill us all… including himself! What is he doing?!" Daren and Reyna watched him, but they did not understand the magnitude of power that was unfolding before them, this was their first time encountering anything of the sort, but he, he was familiar with it.
An explosion of this scale would level most cities, 'His Highness is right to limit the number of rank four mages… humanity would destroy itself.' Kassan nodded to himself while drawing in as many light particles from the bottom of the lake, and the suction force of the distorted ring, as he could, to bolster the barrier.
Swelled up corpses littered the ground next to Plamus, bloated throats and grim visages speak of their untimely demise, but he wasn't paying them any heed, his spell was reaching its limit, the distorted air rippled, cracks ran along the crystal floor, spreading through the entire cave, the loud heartbeat had ceased, like someone holding their breath, waiting for the inevitable…
The corpses twitched, the muscles beneath their skin spasmed, dim lines led back to Kassan's bubble, and as Plamus' ring was detonated… so were they.