//------------------------------// // 650 - Trump Card // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// We’re evenly matched. The thought crept across Turid’s mind with an undercurrent of anger, frustration, and disbelief. Despite having that creature – Degron, the Red Man had called it – outnumbered four to one, the thing was somehow holding its own against all of them, even with the powers they’d been given. Or rather, we’re somehow managing to hold our own against it, she corrected herself grimly. Although they’d managed to sink their teeth into Degron several times now, leaving bite marks that oozed black blood across its hideous body, it was obvious even at a glance that they’d only inflicted superficial damage to the creature. Despite its frail appearance, the monster’s bones refused to break, no matter how hard any of them bit down on them. Nor did it seem discomforted by the blasts of frigid air they made sure to breathe out when biting it, the ice crystals formed by their exhalations refusing to become lodged in its filthy skin. But the creature had no such impediments when it came to lashing out at them. Skittering about on all fours like some oversized insect, its spindly teeth and slender claws had cut through each of them with only modest resistance, their toughened muscles doing little to turn away the monster’s natural weaponry. But it was the creature’s tail that was its most dangerous feature, being the primary reason why fighting to a stalemate was the best they’d been able to achieve so far. Their usual tactic for bringing prey down was to surround it, with each member of the pack darting in to bite at their target’s unprotected side, trading off attacks as it spun around to face each new threat. But Degron had found a way to turn that strategy against them. Despite appearances, they’d learned the hard way that the creature’s tail was not only incredibly flexible, but its strikes were dangerously fast as well. Each of them had tried rushing in from opposite directions, looking to wear the creature down, only for its poison-tipped appendage to whip around and bury itself in their bodies. But rather than being painful, the poison it had pumped into them had a far more insidious effect, numbing their muscles and making it difficult for them to put their full power into their jaws. Even now, Turid could feel a slackness building in her muzzle, preventing her from biting down to full effect as she moved in, barely managing to slip under another lightning-fast thrust from Degron’s tail and close her jaws around the creature’s back leg, twisting her head to try and throw it off-balance. It was a desperate strategy; there was nothing in the creature’s appearance to suggest that it had any sort of soft underbelly for them to sink their teeth into. But it was better than nothing…or at least, it would have been, if she’d managed to pull its leg out from under it. Instead, all she managed to accomplish was provoking an angry hiss from Degron as it kicked her jaw away, one claw coming out to swipe heavily against her muzzle. Despite the lack of feeling in her mouth, the strike made her head ring, and the taste of blood – her own, she realized belatedly – spilled over her tongue. Dizzy after the hit she’d taken, Turid stumbled, only distantly noting that Degron had turned to face her, jaws opening as the hideous thing rushed forward- “Mother! Look out!” Kaja’s voice cut through Turid’s awareness just in time for her to recognize that it was her daughter who’d interposed herself between her and the oncoming monster. A moment later, Kaja’s pained shriek filled the clearing as Degron sank his misshapen teeth into her wing, biting down hard. Nor did the Red Man’s monster stop there, tail rushing in to sink its stinger into her neck, making her groan as she thrashed, trying to get away. She succeeded at that only because Ebbe and Sten ran in toward Degron’s back legs then, drawing the creature’s attention toward them long enough for Kaja to tear herself free of the disgusting thing’s jaws…though doing so took a good chunk out of her wing as well. Even then, the cost of her freedom was high, as one of Degron’s back legs raked its claws across Ebbe’s face – barely missing his eyes – and its tail hit Sten again, pumping more poison into him. It was with frustrated grunts and pained whimpers that the four of them fell back, eyeing the creature warily. All of this, and it’s not even trying to kill us, shivered Turid, feeling a rush of fear move down her spine. The Red Man just wanted it to keep us from helping Solvei. If he’d told this thing to finish us off… She wasn’t the only one thinking that. “This creature is toying with us!” spat Ebbe, giving Degron a hateful look. “It’s trying to keep us away from Solvei!” “And it’s doing a good job of it,” muttered Sten, his words partially slurred due to how much poison he’d been hit with. “Mother, you should go help her.” Kaja’s words came out around grit teeth, fighting to force them out over the pain her torn wing was causing her. “The rest of us can keep this thing busy.” “No,” answered Turid immediately, forcing her voice to come out strong and confident. “We’re all going to have to work together to kill this thing. Then we’ll go and fight by Solvei’s side together, as a pack.” The words earned smiles from her children, and Turid returned the expression. But she couldn’t help but steal a glance at her other daughter, looking a short distance away at where Solvei – alongside those two ponies – was in a standoff against the Red Man. The sight made her heart ache, wanting more than anything to run to Solvei’s side, even as she felt pride well up in her. Frode, can you see how strong our daughter has become? Just a few days ago, all she could do was cry and run away. But now, she’s standing unafraid against the worst enemy our pack has ever faced. The runt of our litter has grown up to become the bravest and most reliable of all her siblings, just like you did. She just hoped that would be enough to let Solvei overcome the enemy she was facing now. Then there was no more time for worrying about anyone else, joining the rest of her children as they rushed back into battle. “Take him.” The words had barely left Lex’s mouth when Solvei shot forward, moving so fast that her paws tore up the ground beneath her. In a flash, she was right in front of Prevarius, snarling as she leaped forward, her teeth going straight for his face- Only for him to casually bend at the knees, ducking under her and letting her go flying. In a lazy motion, he whipped one arm out – having grabbed one of his many contracts in a single smooth movement – and flicked it behind him, catching Solvei in the air and causing her to cry out in pain as it cut her skin, sending her blood spurting through the air. “Really? Trying to catch me off-guard with a sudden burst of speed?” Rolling his eyes, he gave Lex a look of bemused condescension. “You can do better than-, hm?” He cocked a brow then, feeling a sudden release of magic even as he realized that it was getting harder to see the red-horned unicorn, or anything else for that matter; all around him, mist was rising, growing thicker by the second. “You know, I think I recognize this,” mused Prevarius out loud as he was enveloped in a thick fog, blotting everything else from sight. “Drafty mentioned one of your little girlfriends – Aria, wasn’t it? – trying using this strategy to blind some witch who attacked your village while another pony of yours wore her down. So now you’re having Drafty conjure up some mist with the magic I gave her so that Solvei can do the same.” No answer came, save for a sudden rush from off to his left as Solvei leaped at him again. Despite her jaws coming within a hair’s breadth of his arm, Prevarius again dodged the attack, giving Solvei another sharp paper cut for her effort. “It’s not a bad strategy,” he continued, voice patronizing. “Especially since I’m guessing you enhanced your pet’s senses, in addition to her speed, so that the fog isn’t an impediment for her. Unfortunately for you…” Solvei’s next attack came from behind, but it fared no better than the first, with Prevarius briskly sidestepping her charge, delivering a third slash across her body before she could fade back into the mist. “…all the speed in the world won’t help if I can use magic to track her movements.” To drive the point home, he glanced to his right and flicked the contract he was holding in that direction, causing another pained cry to emanate from within the mist. “You see? I know that same location-tracking magic your Aria pony used. It’s one of several magical reconnaissance tools at my disposal, actually. Which means that this is nothing more than a waste of time.” “It’s not a waste,” came Lex’s voice from outside the mist. “It’s given me the chance-” The mist suddenly vanished, as if it had never been there at all. The sudden return showed Solvei, cut and bloodied but still standing, off to his left. Thermal Draft was opposite her, the concentration on her face making it clear that she’d just cancelled her spell. And Lex was directly in front of him, wearing a dark smile behind his mask… “-to do this.” There was no other warning before the mask suddenly separated itself from Lex, flying directly toward Prevarius. Of all the magical treasures that he’d received from the winter wolves, Lex had quickly determined that the skull mask was the most powerful of them all, layered with multiple magical effects. The least notable of them was a minor transmutation effect, designed to let it change shape so as to fit whoever wore it. The second was a modest aura designed to make itself, and whoever donned it, appear more intimidating. The third was to release a modest amount of negative energy – the opposite of the healing power that restorative magic used – so as to try and injure someone by touch, a power which Lex had used his amulet to channel through his punches in a vain attempt to damage the phistophilus devil. But the fourth and final power of the mask was by far the strongest. Once per day, the mask could release the negative energy it gathered in a single, overwhelming burst. Doing so would unleash a wave of necromantic power that had the power to snuff out even a life force of exceptional potency. It could only affect a single individual, and resistances to harmful magic would still apply, but this was a power that was far, far more difficult to resist than a mere trickle of negative energy the mask normally released. However, there was a catch to that power: in addition to only be able to be invoked once per day, it could only be utilized after the mask had been worn for one full hour. Lex had no doubt that restriction had been put on there as a protective measure. That would prevent someone from stealing the mask in the middle of a fight and using its strongest power against the wearer. And while he’d felt confident that he could override that particular stipulation with a careful application of his own magic – much like he’d done to his floating gems on multiple occasions – he hadn’t dared to try doing so now; the risk of accidentally setting off the mask’s power and killing himself or someone else was too high to take. Likewise, there hadn't been sufficient time to investigate whether or not assuming shadow-form while wearing the mask would count against the timer, or worse, cause it to reset. Instead, he’d simply put it on, knowing that he’d need to find a way to stall for an hour until the limit on the mask’s death-touch had been surpassed. Fortunately, Prevarius had been all too happy to let the time go by while they’d argued over a contract that Lex had no intention of ever signing. As such, when Lex had felt the mask’s restriction finally fade a few seconds ago – right before Solvei’s family had swooped down to join the fight – he’d immediately come up with a strategy for utilizing it. Now, the mask – designed to deliver the death-touch itself, flying under its own power toward the doomed devil – was speeding toward Prevarius, Lex watching with a malicious smirk as the phistophilus’ eyes widened in alarm- -and brought one hand up, fingers splayed and palm held out toward the mask, and Lex could almost feel the concentration of the phistophilus’ magic resistance. As though it had struck a wall, the wooden skull came to a halt in mid-air, hovering scant inches from the devil’s outstretched hand. For a moment no one moved, the struggle invisible and inaudible as Prevarius’ power struggled against that of the mask. The wooden skull almost seemed to vibrate as it hovered in place, as though it were screaming in frustration at not being able to deliver its fatal magic to its intended victim. For his part, Prevarius face had once again lost its easy grin, instead going tense with a look of intense effort as he focused everything he had on keeping the magic item from reaching him. A second later, the contest came to an end. Prevarius let out a relieved sigh as the mask turned away and returned to Lex, its magic defeated. “That was rather dangerous,” he admitted, shaking his hand as though it ached. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d be able to block that.” Lex didn’t react to the banter, silently catching the mask in his telekinesis. A simple glance was enough to let him know that its power had been expended, and he didn’t bother putting it back on, instead tossing it to the ground, hanging his head. “…” The gesture was enough to bring back Prevarius’ smirk. “Don’t be so down on yourself,” he called mockingly. “It was actually a halfway decent plan. Use Solvei and Drafty as a distraction, then use that mask to try and score a deathblow. Sadly, that sort of surprise doesn’t really work when your enemy can see magic.” Chuckling, Prevarius pointed gestured at the fallen mask. “A bit of free advice, just in case you ever try your hoof at magical artificing: safeguarding their functionality is an important aspect of magic item creation. Anti-tampering protocols, unauthorized usage restrictions, and obscurement enchantments so that casual detection abilities won’t reveal all of their powers. If that little mask of yours had possessed that last one, it might have actually taken me by surprise just now.” Radiating smugness, Prevarius crossed his arms over his chest then. “As it is, I’ve been waiting for you to play your trump card for some time now, all so that I could show you how pointless all this struggling is.” When no response came, the devil shrugged. “So, do you need me to cut you and your pet to ribbons some more? Or perhaps you need a few more burns? Maybe I should have Degron kill a few of those other wolves?” Whipping a scroll off of its body-horns, Prevarius held it at the ready. “Or are you finally ready to go with a strategy that works, and do what you need to do in order to save everyone?” “…you’re right,” admitted Lex, lifting his head…and gave the devil a vicious smile. “It’s indeed time to go with a winning strategy, one that saves everyone.” The triumphant look gave the devil pause, and that was all the time Lex needed. “Solvei! Thermal Draft! Do it now!” Acting on his orders, the pegasus and the winter wolf – both of whom had returned to Lex’s side while Prevarius had been bragging – took action. And Lex had the joy of watching the devil’s eyes widen as Solvei pulled several long scrolls, seemingly from nowhere, and laid them in front of Thermal Draft, the pegasus’ brow furrowing as she concentrated on a spell. “You see,” smirked Lex, finally able to give the devil a taste of his own medicine, “I knew you knew what my mask could do. You made that obvious when you mentioned your ability to see magic before. That was why I wanted you to think that Thermal Draft and Solvei were making a distraction for me to use it, when in fact my using it was the real distraction.” “What?!” Prevarius wasn’t grinning now, instead looking at the myriad contracts draped over his horns. Despite how haphazard their placement seemed, they were actually arranged with a great deal of meticulousness, and it took him only a moment to confirm that there were several missing. Nor, he realized, were the purloined scrolls random. They were four very specific contracts. “When did-” “You were half-right before, by the way,” continued Lex, now wearing a derisive smirk of his own. “I enhanced Solvei’s senses, but not so she could attack you through the mist that Thermal Draft conjured. Rather, I boosted her sense of smell to the point where she could not only detect even the faintest of lingering scents, but also distinguish between them. That way, since your contracts require the signatory’s blood to be effective, she’d be able to find the ones which smelled like her family. The mist just made it easier for her to grab them and shove them in an extradimensional pocket without you noticing. That was another power I granted her, inspired by how you taught Thermal Draft to keep her copy of her contract in a similar spatial container.” Even as he spoke, Lex withdrew the wolves’ copies of their own contracts – having collected them back at the den – and added them to the pile of papers on the ground. “And since you dodged the acid attack that Thermal Draft threw at you earlier, despite how weak its magic was, I can imagine what this oh-so-resilient paper of yours is vulnerable to.” The last syllable had just barely left his mouth when Drafty finished her spell, a gout of brackish liquid arcing from her hooves onto the jumbled mass of paper, which sizzled and bubbled as the contracts began to melt. “No, stop!” yelled Prevarius, alarm and outrage etched all over his face as he ran forward. “STOP!” But it was too late. Before the devil had crossed even half the distance to them, howls erupted from behind him, causing him to turn and look at what he already knew was happening. A short distance away, the rest of Solvei’s pack were all crying out in unison, voices raised as they shook uncontrollably, with Degron – not knowing what was happening – backing off in confusion. With each convulsion, a bright red substance arced off of them, as though they were shaking off a heavy coating of crimson dust. But the substance didn’t fall to the ground as they writhed, instead hanging in the air like smoke, curling around them in tendrils that grew thicker and darker as more was added to it. For a moment the red vapors seemed almost to solidify, forming ill-defined shapes around each of them, the outlines of twisted wings and distorted legs and malevolent countenances visible in the roiling auras. But then, just as they reached their thickest, they began to break down. Losing cohesion, the red substance collapsed in on itself, churning violently as it decreased in form and volume, until finally there was nothing left of it, the last of the otherworldly substance breaking apart on the wind. Leaving behind four wingless wolves with pure-white coats. “It worked!” gasped Solvei, watching with tear-filled eyes as the rest of her family picked themselves up, looking at each other in wonder. “It worked!” “Congratulations,” snapped Prevarius, his features tight with repressed rage. The devil’s pleasant demeanor was completely gone now, hands clenched into fists. “I hope you find this little victory satisfying, because now that those curs are no longer carrying the infernal essence I bestowed upon them, they’re even weaker than they were before. And since they’re not contracted to me anymore, there’s nothing stopping me from having Degron kill them all right now.” “There’s one thing,” answered Lex with a smirk, raising his wire-wrapped hoof. Again, he had the joy of watching as the devil’s eyes widened in sudden realization. It was a sight that Lex was rapidly growing quite fond of, stretching his hoof out not only toward Solvei, but toward the rest of her pack as well, invoking the power that the Night Mare had given him – power that the devil’s contracts had prevented from working on the rest of Solvei’s family before, but which was gone now – with a silent roar of triumph. Divine authority!