//------------------------------// // 661 - Level of Experience // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// “So, um…is it too late to apologize for what our idiot did to your lady friend?” Spinner’s weak chuckle hung in the air, the only thing breaking up the tense atmosphere as she and her friends regarded Lex warily. Before, the enraged stallion had seemed like he’d be a tough customer to put down; not unreasonably difficult, but enough to be a pain. But now – with the way his every movement had become jarring and abnormal, along with the skull mask he’d donned – what had started as just another barroom brawl looked like it was about to become something much worse. But Spinner’s question, only half in jest, went unanswered as Valor – never one to let the enemy take the initiative if she could help it – threw herself at Lex with a roar. Her shield lashed out, the edge of it catching Lex right between the eyes…and going through him, as though he were nothing more than a phantom. Nor did her follow-up do any better, the flat of her shield passing through his body with no resistance. “I can’t hit him!” she snarled, rearing back to try again anyway. “It’s like he’s some sort of gh-” Her warning was cut off as Lex’s hoof shot out, catching her directly across the muzzle, a pained cry escaping her lips as his punch brought Valor to her knees. That was enough to spur Shadow Star to action. She’d seen ponies break chairs over Valor’s head without the earth mare so much as grunting, and while Lex’s first strike might have caught her friend off-guard, she’d taken several follow-up hits from him without flinching. For her to be in so much pain now, after what seemed like just another punch, meant that something was seriously wrong. “Mystaria!” she yelled as she vaulted over a fallen stool and moved to Lex’s back, hoping to distract the flickering unicorn as she discarded the baton she’d tried to brain the stallion with in favor of the dagger strapped to her hoof, a flick of her foreleg making it snap out to a ready position as she swiped at his unguarded side. Fortunately, that seemed to get his attention, but Shadow knew better than to celebrate, twirling her dagger in a defensive pattern as she waited for his retaliatory strike. “Figure this out and come up with a plan! Fast!” It took only a single touch of her holy symbol and a silent prayer to Luminace for Mystaria to activate the goddess’ munificence, calling upon the power that allowed her to speak to her friends mind-to-mind. Everyone, listen carefully. I’m not sure what sort of magic he’s using, but that stallion is somehow shifting back-and-forth between solidity and incorporeality at an accelerated rate. That’s how he can let your attacks go through him and still hit you with his own. That’s not the only thing that’s different about him, reported Valor, rubbing her jaw as she stood back up. That last punch hurt worse than the ones he was throwing earlier. He didn’t hit any harder, it’s just…more painful, somehow. Knowing that Luminace’s grace allowed each of her friends to communicate with her, but not with each other, Mystaria quickly repeated what Valor had told her, letting the rest of her teammates know. That’s probably because of that mask he’s wearing, she added once she’d finished relaying what Valor had said. It’s design suggests necromancy, which means that his attacks are probably damaging your life force directly as well as inflicting physical injury. Wonderful, so now we can add “necromancers” to the list of people Valor’s started a fight with, came Spinner’s sarcastic reply. And here I was thinking that she’d never graduate from the likes of bounty hunters, crooked guards, or corrupt magistrates! Despite the danger they were in, her friend’s good-natured complaining made Mystaria smile, knowing it was Spinner’s way of whistling in the dark. I know this looks bad, but I have a plan. Shadow, if you time your strikes right, you should be able to hit him in the instants when he’s solid again. Valor, you too. That will put pressure on him to stay immaterial as much as possible. Spinner, help them out with your ghostbane dirge; since that spell makes incorporeal creatures partially solidify, I’m guessing he’ll respond by pushing back and going fully incorporeal. Woodheart, that’s when you’ll cast your purge spirit spell. He might not technically be a ghost or a specter or anything like that, but if he goes fully incorporeal, it should affect him. Understood, replied Woodheart, Littleknight still circling her protectively in case their enemy targeted the naked mare. And what’ll you do? Preparing my paralysis spell in case it goes the other way, and he returns to full corporeality, answered Mystaria. Everyone ready? A chorus of affirmative responses sounded in her mind, and Mystaria nodded briskly, feeling a thrill run down her spine. As much as she knew this entire confrontation was a mistake, one that was their fault, she always felt a rush of excitement when she and her friends were able to work together as one. Believing in each other, working together to overcome obstacles that none of them would have been able to handle alone, was an experience akin to how she felt when praying to Luminace. It was knowing that she was part of something greater than herself, something personal and profound, built on trust, respect, and faith. As long as she had her friends at her side, and her goddess watching over her, Mystaria knew that things would be alright. Okay, then let’s- That was when everything went black. Master, please! begged Solvei over their psychic link. If you’re in trouble, let me help! Lex snarled, as much as from the flurry of shield bashes and dagger swipes as from the winter wolf’s continued pleading. For the last time, stay where you are, Solvei! I have the situation under control! It was no idle boast on his part, as he sent a surreptitious glance at Thermal Draft, who had retreated behind the common room’s bar counter as soon as the fight had started. “I’m ready,” came her whispered response, her spell carrying the hushed words to his ears over the din of the fight. That she was capable of using his whisper spell at all hadn’t come as any real surprise to Lex, even though he hadn’t known that she’d figured out how to use it until he’d heard her voice in his ear after the fight had started, asking how she could help. It was one of the simplest spells he knew, after all, and Thermal Draft’s aptitude with ritualizations – so long as their structure was relatively uncomplicated – meant that it was well within her ability to master. All the more so since she’d been quite keen on expanding her capabilities during their trip toward civilization. What had surprised him was the level of perspicacity she’d shown. As soon as the fight had started, she’d not only taken cover behind the most defensible position in the room, but she hadn’t subsequently put herself at risk. He’d half-expected her to do something stupid, like throwing minor magical effects at those other mares and making herself a target or attempting to tackle one of the spellcasters; instead, she’d used the whisper spell to let him know that she was putting her powers at his disposal, waiting for his instructions. Of course, in his furious state, Lex had very nearly told her to shut up and stay hidden. But when anger drove him to fight, it didn’t rob him of his wits; quite the opposite, rage bent all of his thoughts toward how to overwhelm his enemies, putting all of his intellect into processing the available data and how it could be most effectively utilized. In that regard, Thermal Draft’s abilities were no different, and it had been easy to incorporate what she could do into the plan he’d come up with after it had become clear that these mares weren’t so weak that he’d be able to simply bludgeon them into submission, whispering it to her as quietly as he could over the last few seconds. And now that Thermal Draft’s preparations were ready, as well as his own, Lex put his plan into action. Instantly, black crystals spread over the front of the fireplace – the only source of illumination in the room – covering the flame-filled recess at its center and plunging everything into darkness. The five mares immediately panicked, exactly as he’d been hoping. “What’s happening?!” yelled the blue-haired one – Valor – from in front of him. “It’s the fire!” shouted back the one with the lute. “He doused it!” “Stay on him!” yelled the one in the half-mask. “His eyes are still glowing! Aim at them!” “He’s moving!” This time the cry came from the one who’d doffed her robe. “Mystaria! I think he’s heading toward you!” The exclamation made Lex smirk as he heard hooves rushing away from his position. In fact, he hadn’t moved at all. The only thing he’d done had been to shut his eyes – keeping their green glow hidden from view – and laying a foreleg across the bridge of his muzzle, hiding the purple contrails from their outer edges. Of course, the image of his eyes was still clearly visible in the dark room, thanks to the minor illusion that Thermal Draft had cast. And right now she was leading it toward where the last pony – the one whom the masked mare had called out to for tactical advice just now, and so who was the one he most needed to incapacitate – was standing. And those two idiots who’d been harrying him were following after it, cursing and stumbling as they rushed through the pitch-black room, heedless of the fact that what they were chasing was far more phantasmal than he was at the moment. Dark Streak might have possessed magic that allowed her to see in the dark, but these mares apparently had no such resources. An instant later there was the sound of a heavy impact, which was immediately followed by a pained grunt and the sound of something hitting the floor. But the feminine nature of the voice gave away who had been on the receiving end of whatever blow had just been delivered, and Lex had to bite back a dark chuckle as he heard Valor’s voice cry out a second later. “Mystaria! I’m sorry!” “Ow…” moaned Mystaria. “This is what I get for not preparing a light spell today…” “He’s trying to trick us into hitting each other!” cursed the masked mare. “No one attack!” “If we don’t attack, we’re sitting ducks!” replied the lute-wielder. “Meep! Meep meep meep! Meep meep!” “You guys! Littleknight says he hasn’t moved at all! He’s still where he was before!” That last line, delivered by the unclad mare, made Lex frown. He hadn’t identified what that horned rabbit was, but it apparently possessed not only the ability to see in the dark, but the situational awareness to realize what was happening and communicate salient knowledge to the others. Or at least, to the mare who’d translated for him. But if it could do all of that… Raising his left foreleg toward the creature – having made sure to use his dark magic to heighten his senses to the point where he was able to pinpoint everyone’s location via their hooffalls before he’d covered the fireplace – Lex called upon divine authority. “Attack the naked mare,” he murmured, not worrying about his voice giving his position away now that his ruse had been spoiled. He smirked, triumphant as he felt the bands of power wrap around the creature, binding it to obedience despite its struggles. Except…nothing happened. For a moment Lex paused, confused as he tried to figure out why it wasn’t obeying his order, despite not being able to resist his commands. Then the obvious answer came to him, and he repeated the order in the same language that the creature’s owner had used – Ciltach, he knew – when she’d tried casting a spell on him earlier. “Ionnsaigh an each rùisgte.” The creature shrieked at the command, but was powerless to stop itself as it turned and dove at its mistress, driving its horn into the meat of her back leg, causing her to cry out as she stumbled backward. “Littleknight! What are you doing?!” “Woodheart!” yelled Valor, fumbling her way toward her friend. “What’s happening?! Are you alright?!” “I think he’s taken control of Littleknight somehow!” the mare with the lute yelled back. “He told it to attack her!” “Damn it, we need light!” snarled the masked mare, and Lex could hear her digging through what sounded like her saddlebags. That was enough to convince him that it was time to bring this to a close. Given the combat savvy that they’d demonstrated so far, these mares were likely “adventurers” – the popular term on Everglow for tomb-robbers and monster-slayers – which meant that they were likely used to dealing with various difficult situations. Snuffing out the only source of light had caught them by surprise, but they were already starting to recover; better to end it now before they were able to coordinate a counterattack. Murmuring the words to a spell, Lex made the requisite gestures and telekinetically dug the requisite focus out of his saddlebag as he conjured an extradimensional space into being in the form of a pit set in the ground, placing it beneath the hooves of Valor, the mare named Mystaria, and their masked friend. He’d used a spell like this back when he’d fought Lirtkra, the sahuagin warrior, back in Vanhoover, except that one had been filled with acid at the bottom. In this case, the hole was dry the entire way down, but that was likely little comfort for the trio judging from the way they yelled as the floor suddenly disappeared beneath them, plunging thirty feet down before hitting the bottom hard. “Valor! Mystaria! Shadow Star! Are you guys okay?” yelled the lute-toting mare, venturing timidly toward where her friends voices had emanated from. When they didn’t answer, she turned toward where the other one was still struggling with her pet. “Woodheart, hang on! I’m coming to help!” No, answered Lex silently. You’re not. Another brief spell was all it took to conjure up the miniature tornado he’d used several times before. Invisible in the gloom, it was easy enough to direct it around toward where the musician was staggering about, the sudden wind easily buffeting her into the hole. Like her friends, she screamed as she fell, only to stop abruptly as she landed on the others. A moment later, “Woodheart” and her pet joined them. A thought was all it took to complete their capture, causing black crystal bars to form over the mouth of the pit. Only after that was done did Lex remove the crystals from in front of the fireplace, allowing the light to come back. For a moment, the only sound filling the interior of the inn were the collective groans of the mares – and whatever “Littleknight” was – as they struggled to untangle themselves at the bottom of the hole Lex had conjured. Then Thermal Draft slowly made her way over to him, letting out a low whistle as she looked at the grate-covered hole in the ground. “Can you teach me how to cast that spell next?” Lex didn’t have a chance to answer as Solvei’s mental voice made itself known again. Master- I told you, I have the situation under control, snapped Lex irritably. It's not that, Master! answered the winter wolf, even as Lex registered that her disposition had become "agitated." There are a large number of creatures headed toward the pony settlement right now!