//------------------------------// // 671 - Cutting the Strings // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Somehow, Lex managed to remain conscious through the explosion. The force of the blast was enough to tear him out of the winter hag’s grip, though it left him momentarily disoriented as he hit the ground, his numbed limbs not responding as he rolled across the snowy terrain. But although his ears were ringing and his vision swam nauseatingly, Lex knew he was fortunate; despite being at the epicenter of the explosion, his protective items had allowed him to weather the blast without taking too much damage. Or at least, without taking as much as that crone, he hoped, trying to get a hoof under- “LEX!” Thermal Draft’s cry announced her presence only a moment before she touched down alongside him, immediately moving to help him up. “Are you okay?! I can’t believe you actually-” “I told you,” rasped Lex, managing to find the strength to give her an angry look, “to stay hidden-” “No matter what happened, or else you’d put a curse on me to make me stay away from danger, I know,” shot back Thermal Draft, clearly not worried that he’d make good on his threat. “Well I’m sorry, but that’s what it’s going to take if you keep making these self-sacrifice plays!” Master! came Solvei’s panicked voice through his mind before Lex had a chance to reply, the winter wolf still dealing with the remnants of the yetis, now down to barely a half-dozen in number. Please tell me you’re alright! “Both of you, shut up,” muttered Lex, thinking the command as well as speaking it. “We need to confirm-” “Trying to blow me off?” cackled a grating voice from behind him, causing Thermal Draft to go rigid with fright as Lex craned his head around, his eyes widening in alarm. Rising up from the scorched patch of earth where the fireball had gone off, the winter hag – or rather, the puppet she was acting through – drew herself up to her full height. Although she still looked like a twisted lump of colored clay that had been molded into a vaguely humanoid form, her half-melted features were no different than they’d been a moment ago, before he’d triggered the explosion right in her face. Her spell resistance! cursed Lex inwardly. The explosion didn’t get past it! The hag took a step forward, her movements looking far more stable than her mutilated appearance would have indicated, harsh laughter continuing to spill from the broken ruin that was her mouth. “Not taking no for an answer. You’re coming back with me, then I’m gonna-” “SCREW YOU!” The roar stopped the hag in her tracks, twisting the collapsed wreckage of her head around so that her one good eye could peer in the direction it came from…just in time for Valor to slam into her, the two of them going down in a heap. “C’mon, we gotta move!” Thermal Draft leaped in fright, causing Lex to stumble as Shadow Star’s voice came from behind them, the masked mare somehow managing to have crept up on them sight unseen. “Valor’s giving us a chance to get out of here while she keeps that scorched shrew pinned down, so let’s go!” Lex registered the words even as he glanced past Shadow, seeing Spinner carefully guide Mystaria – who, unlike the rest of her friends, apparently hadn’t regained her sight yet, judging from how gingerly she was moving – over to the downed form of Woodheart, Mystaria falling to her knees alongside her friend as she began chanting what was almost certainly a healing spell. But although the druid began to stir as soon as her friend’s spell was complete, Lex could already tell that the retreat the earth mare wanted them to embark on wouldn’t be a speedy affair. Between the foul weather, their collective injuries, and having to direct a blind pony as well, the fight between Valor and that crone would be over long before they’d managed to put much distance between themselves and the remainder of the battle. Of course, all of that was irrelevant anyway; Lex had no intention of leaving somepony behind while he quit the field. Thermal Draft seemed to be of the same opinion, shaking her head. “You can’t be serious! Your friend doesn’t stand a chance against that monster!” Shadow Star grimaced, but refused to relent. “Don’t count Valor out yet. She got a double dose of healing from those two” – she canted her head back at Spinner and Mystaria, who were propping the semi-conscious Woodheart up between them, Littleknight meeping as he circled the trio – “and she’s the toughest mare you’ll ever meet. Besides, she just has to hold her own until that summoned beast of yours finishes off those arctic gorillas, right? There’s no way Valor will go down before then.” As if to prove that she was capable of living up to her friend’s boasting, Valor gave a wordless cry of fury. Straddling the prone form of the mutilated hag, she brought her shield-bearing foreleg up, bracing it with her other hoof for extra power before slamming the edge of it down onto the crone’s neck. Nor did she stop then, bringing her shield back up for a second strike before bringing it down so hard that the resulting crack sounded like thunder. Despite the show of ferocity, Lex had no confidence that Shadow’s faith in her friend was warranted. Although Solvei was viciously ripping the life out of the remaining yetis, there were still enough left to keep her occupied for at least another few seconds, and he doubted the hag would need longer than that to recover and resume her assault, likely slaying Valor in the process. Rather than arguing with Shadow Star, Lex instead took action. Although preserving his remaining spells was a priority, saving pony lives was a far greater priority, which was why he didn’t hesitate to begin chanting, leaning against Thermal Draft to brace himself as he prepared to unleash a disintegration spell- “HEY! Damn it, stop!” Snarling, Shadow Star darted in front of him, forcing Lex to abort the casting. “What if you hit Valor?!” “YOU IDIOT!” seethed Lex. “Move before-” Before he could finish castigating Shadow Star, Valor gave another guttural roar as she brought her shield down for a third time…only for the misshapen fingers of the hag to catch it in mid-motion, arresting the weapon’s descent easily. “Not much for playing with other girls,” she sneered, before kicking one of her gnarled legs up, hooking it under Valor’s chin before jackknifing it back down, effortlessly throwing the earth mare off of her. “Just don’t have the right equipment.” Righting herself, the hag strode forward, looking none the worse for wear after Valor’s assault. “Thinking it’s time to go,” she announced, glancing back at where Solvei had cut the yetis’ numbers in half again, with only three of them still throwing themselves at the armor-clad winter wolf, the brutes only barely managing to keep her from barreling through them. “But not before I finish what I started. Betting one more cold snap will get the job done.” The words had barely left her mouth when she inhaled sharply, preparing to unleash her supernaturally cold breath again. The imminent attack drew varied reactions from the assembled ponies. Valor threw herself to her hooves and charged at the hag again, even though it was obvious she’d never make it before the crone exhaled. Shadow Star cursed as she dug in one of her saddlebags for something. Mystaria and Spinner tried to move back, barely able to make any progress as they carried Woodheart. And Thermal Draft positioned herself directly in front of Lex, all use of her magic forgotten as she moved into the position that Shadow Star had just vacated, rearing up and spread her wings and forelegs out protectively. Lex himself, however, took an entirely different course of action. Then the hag unleashed her wintry breath, sleet and hail pellets carried on the freezing winds that rushed out to envelope the assembled ponies. Just like before, the temperature plunged in an instant, falling beyond the point of discomfort and into the realm of deadly cold. There was no avoiding it, the hag turning her head in order to catch them all in the blast, cackling when the gelid gale came to an end a moment later. But her laughter immediately died when she saw that the ponies hadn’t. Instead, they were looking at each other in shock, realizing that not only had they survived the attack, but hadn’t felt so much as a chill. “What?! How?! Should have been flash-frozen!” The only answer she received, however, was another spell from Lex. Taken by surprise, the hag had no chance to react as he rattled off the necessary words, one hoof making the few necessary gestures, ending with his foreleg pointed outward at his foe. An instant later, an array of five marble-sized spheres of force shot forward from the end of his outstretched hoof, streaking toward the crone. The glowing projectile struck home a moment later, piercing the winter hag’s spell resistance and body alike, her form jerking in place as they slammed into her. The effect was dramatic. Already weakened from the accumulated damage she’d taken, the hag’s puppet body collapsed under the onslaught. The first missile hit her just below her sternum, punching a hole two inches wide through the middle of her belly. The next struck her left shoulder, blowing it apart completely. The third did the same thing to her right leg, her hip shattering into nothing under the attack. The fourth tore her other leg off at the knee, while the fifth and final shot struck her collarbone, breaking it apart and causing her head to come flying free of her body. Still nonplussed by the sudden reversal of fortune, the silence was only broken by Mystaria, gulping as her sightless eyes swept the area in front of her. “What happened?” she asked at last. “Is everyone alright?! I heard that hag breathing out, and then Lex casting a ‘magic missile’ spell! Is that hag dead?” “She’s dead,” answered Shadow Star, sighing in relief as she withdrew her hoof from her saddlebag. “His spell blew her to pieces.” “But…what about that freezing air she breathed on us?” asked Spinner, the curious look she directed toward Lex making it clear where she thought the answer lay. “It felt colder than ice water when she used it before, but I barely felt anything that last time.” Thermal Draft, however, was more certain about who had saved them. “It was you, wasn’t it?” she murmured, settling back down onto all fours as she gave Lex a worshipful look. “You saved everypony, just like you always do.” “I came up with a plan,” admitted Lex. “But Solvei was the one who executed it.” Thermal Draft’s eyebrows went up. “Solvei did?” Looking up as she retrieved Woodheart’s cloak, Valor sent a questioning glance at the two of them. “I don’t suppose either of you would care to tell the rest of us exactly who ‘Solvei’ is?” she asked as she wrapped the bundle of leaves and feathers around the naked mare. Lex had a biting retort prepared, but didn’t get a chance to use it as Thermal Draft spoke up. “Oh, that’s easy. She’s right over there.” Turning, she waved a hoof at where the house-sized winter wolf was ripping the innards out of the last yeti. “Solvei!” Spitting out a mouthful of viscera, Solvei paused just long enough to glance around, confirming that there were no enemies left before she bounded over to the ponies, shrinking down to their size even as she let her armor crumble to dust, ignoring the shocked looks that the earth mares were sending her way. “Master!” she yelled happily, taking Thermal Draft’s verbally addressing as a signal to hold their conversation out loud as she rushed over to Lex, her tail wagging. “I’m so glad my spell worked! When you told me to use my cryomancy to protect everyone from the cold just now, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it! I mean, not that I doubted you! It just never occurred to me to try something like that! And I wasn't sure I'd be able to cast it correctly since those awful-tasting things kept scratching at me! But they couldn’t get through my armor, so I concentrated as hard as I could-” “It was fine, Solvei,” answered Lex, fighting down a grunt of effort as he walked away from her and Drafty, more interested in examining the scattered pieces of the hag’s so-called puppet. But for some reason, he found himself driven to elaborate on his evaluation of her. “You did a good job.” Although delivered casually, the praise made Solvei gasp with delight, as Thermal Draft gave her a friendly nudge. “And here you thought your ice magic wasn’t good for anything.” “You’re telling me ‘Solvei’ is a talking wolf?” muttered Valor, completely nonplussed. “A talking wolf that can use magic?” noted Shadow, sounding dazed. “And has a brand of destiny?” added Spinner, staring at the cutie mark on Solvei’s flank. Mystaria didn’t say anything, only half-listening to what her friends were saying as she cast another healing spell on Woodheart. As fascinating as that sounded, it hadn’t escaped her notice that they had all regained their vision, while hers was still refusing to clear up. Although the immediate danger was apparently over now, the fact that she still couldn’t see was causing her tension to worsen rather than dissipate. I still haven’t learned the spell for curing blindness! Ignoring the quiet conversations taking place nearby, Lex instead looked over the hag’s remains. Her characterization of her body as that of a puppet hadn’t been figurative; he could already see the bloodless body parts losing what little cohesion they still had. But what confused him was what they were turning into: snow. Even as he watched, her dismembered leg lost its coloration, turning white and falling apart into clumps of frozen water, quickly becoming indistinguishable from the rest of the snow on the ground. The same thing happened to her other severed limbs and shattered torso. Only her cranium remained intact- -which was explained as the hag’s remaining eye fluttered open, a quiet cackle escaping her broken mouth. “Erred…on the side…of caution,” she sputtered, her jaw barely intact enough to form words. “Been different…if I’d really…been there….” “Tell me your location,” snarled Lex, “and we’ll find out if you’re right.” Another strangled laugh came from the severed head. “No need to…be impatient…gonna take some…time to regroup…be back in…a while…” With deliberate slowness, Lex raised one foreleg. “Not if I find you and kill you before you get the chance.” “Welcome to…try…” snickered the hag. “By the way…name’s Grisela…you’ll be…screaming it soo-” She didn’t get a chance to finish before Lex brought his hoof down, crushing what was left of her head.