Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

651 - Weapons and Words

Lex held nothing back as he poured power into Solvei’s family.

While divine authority wasn’t magic unto itself, it was still capable of interacting with outside forces. That had been how Tlerekithres – the kraken who’d led the invasion of aquatic monsters against Vanhoover – had initially resisted his trying to force it back, activating some sort of magical tattoo that had increased its resistance to divine authority. But Lex, perceiving the interaction between magic and deific energy, had responded in kind, channeling magical power through his body and augmenting the strength that the Night Mare had given him.

It was that same combination that Lex called upon now, pushing magic through his body and into the barbed wire wrapped around his left foreleg as he pointed it at the winter wolves. This was his last strategy for overcoming Prevarius; as strong as the devil was, Lex felt confident that an entire pack of winter wolves enhanced by divine authority would be more than the devil could handle. Even so, he had no intention of leaving anything to chance, intent on giving them as much power as he possibly could.

And in doing so, became aware of what he’d overlooked before.

Now I understand, realized Lex. I knew that divine authority was the ability to overwrite an eligible creature’s reality through willpower alone, with the scope and scale of the changes being directly proportional to how much divine energy was required to enact them. But that divine energy doesn’t operate in a static state; the intensity of my own focus affects the efficacy of each application. Adding my own magic to it is simply the natural extension of that.

Fighting down the urge to chastise himself for not having come to that conclusion sooner, Lex pushed that thought away, knowing that it would only dilute his concentration. Instead, he bent all of his awareness toward the winter wolves, pushing everything else out of his mind.

The results were dramatic.

---

“What…what is this?” panted Kaja, almost dizzy from how the pain in her torn wing was not only gone – along with her wings entirely – but had been replaced by a sudden rush of exhilaration so forceful that it was almost heady. “What’s going on?”

“Solvei did it!” yipped Ebbe in unabashed delight. “We’re back to normal!”

“This isn’t just normal,” murmured Sten, his voice brimming with awe as he looked himself over. “Our wounds are all gone, and I don’t feel numb anymore.”

“It’s that pony,” answered Turid breathlessly, looking at the unicorn Solvei had befriended. He was standing rigidly at attention, as still as a statue as he pointed his hoof at them all, eyes shining a solid green as the purple flames from the outer corners flickered brightly. “I think he’s giving us all the same power he gave-”

She didn’t have a chance to finish as Degron darted toward them.

Turid wasn’t sure if the creature had simply recovered from its surprise, or if the Red Man had given it some unseen signal to continue fighting, or if it had simply been unable to resist rushing in while they’d all been distracted. But either way, she belatedly turned her head as the skeletal monster made a beeline toward Ebbe – the wolf closest to it at the moment – with its tail raised, mouth open as it hissed aggressively. It was on him in an instant, claws and teeth and tail all lashing out toward her son.

But none of them came close to striking him.

It wasn’t speed that let him avoid the creature’s strikes. Nor did he shrug them off with simple toughness, the way the Red Man’s power had allowed them to do. Rather, Ebbe simply bobbed and weaved around the strikes in a manner that was almost casual, lazily lifting a paw above a swipe of Degron’s claw before ducking his head beneath its bite and leaning to the left to avoid the creature’s scorpion tail. It was as though the entire sequence of attacks had been rehearsed beforehand, with the winter wolf having known exactly where not to be in order to avoid being struck.

No one looked more surprised by this than Ebbe himself. “Oh, this is too good to be true,” he murmured, laughing in disbelief.

Degron apparently thought so as well, snarling in anger as he swung his claw toward Ebbe’s face.

This time, rather than avoiding the attack, Ebbe countered, catching the creature’s spindly forearm in his jaws. Clenching down, he was rewarded with a loud cracking sound that was immediately followed by a pained shriek from Degron, its spindly bones fracturing as Ebbe bit down harder.

“No way,” muttered Sten, jaw dropping. “We could barely put a scratch on that monster before, but now Ebbe’s-”

“This is no time to be amazed!” yelled Turid, shaking off her own sense of surprise. “Let’s finish that thing off so we can go help Solvei fight the Red Man!”

She didn’t wait for Kaja and Sten to reply before rushing at Degron’s unprotected side, sinking her teeth into the thing’s ribs and biting down hard. Just like with Ebbe had done to the monster’s arm, she felt the bones – which had felt more unyielding than stone before – strain and begin to splinter in her jaws. The monster’s tail lashed out at her immediately, but avoiding it was trivially easy now, rearing back and letting the strike sail harmlessly over her head.

Nor was it able to try and hit her again, as Kaja snagged the monster’s tail in her teeth, the thick plating along its sides no longer a match for her as she bit deeply into the heavy limb and dragged it down, clearing the way for Sten to move to the creature’s other side and bite down hard on Degron’s back leg.

Thrashing wildly as the prey that it had been toying with suddenly overpowered it, there was little that Degron could do. It snapped its jaws at each of them in turn, its unhindered claws lashing out wildly at anyone within reach, but it was in vain. The wolves’ situational awareness registered each attack long before it reached them, giving them ample time to avoid or turn aside each blow. In turn, their own were becoming increasingly difficult for the monster to avoid, the damage that it had shrugged off before now inflicting grievous wounds across its spindly body, reducing its ability to fight back as its injuries grew.

It wasn’t long before Turid moved in for the kill, her maw closing around the monster’s neck and biting down as hard as she could.

A rush of ichor filled her mouth, and the screech Degron emitted then was nothing like any sound she’d ever heard before, making her ears ache from the jagged cacophony. But she didn’t pull back, instead thrashing back and forth as she worked her jaw to the side, seeing to inflict as much harm as she could. After a second she felt a heavy shudder go through the creature, and its resistance suddenly ended, but she didn’t cease her efforts, not wanting to take the chance that it was playing dead to get her to lower her guard.

Then her jaws shut completely, and Degron’s head hit the ground a second later, rolling away from its now-motionless body.

“Heh, that thing wasn’t so tough after all,” snickered Ebbe.

“Tasted terrible though,” complained Kaja, rubbing a paw over her bloodstained muzzle.

Sten nodded. “It did, but I bet the Red Man-, huh?!”

But Sten’s exclamation of surprise didn’t prompt any questions from the rest of his pack. They were too busy struggling with their own shock over what had just happened:

Degron’s body had disappeared.

There was no other word to describe it. One moment his mangled corpse had been laying there, and the next it was completely gone. His severed head, thrashed body, and even the blood that had been spilled across the ground – as well as the wolves’ maws – were all nowhere to be found. Even the creature’s scent had vanished, as though the entire fight had been nothing more than a dream which they’d all just woken up from.

Turid was the first to recover. “Forget that thing. We need to go help Solvei.”

“And if that monster’s not really dead?” muttered Ebbe nervously.

“It won’t matter,” replied Sten. “With how strong that pony seidrmadr has made us, even if it’s still alive it’s not like it’s a threat.”

“Besides,” added Kaja, “we’d smell it coming anyway.”

The four of them shared a nod, before turning and bounding across the clearing.

It was time to pay the Red Man in full for what he’d done to their family.

---

“Shouldn’t we be helping?”

Lex shook his head in answer to Thermal Draft’s question. “No. The battle is almost over now.”

Thermal Draft bit her lip at that, not wanting to contradict someone who was, she knew, both smarter and more experienced than her. Even so, she couldn’t help but feel nervous; from her point of view, the fight between Solvei and Prevarius didn’t seem to be anywhere near a conclusion.

The phistophilus was lashing out at Solvei with everything he had, his jovial countenance replaced with a look of grim determination as he swung razor-edged contracts in both hands. The papers had been whipping around so fast it was almost a blur, slicing through the air with such precision that they seemed like extensions of the devil’s own arms. Nor had Prevarius limited himself to physical attacks, interspersing bright red beams of magical heat and thrown handfuls of flame as well, trying to take advantage of the winter wolf’s inherent weakness to fire.

But unlike before, Prevarius had little to show for his efforts now. Although he’d managed to land several hits on Solvei with the contracts he was using as weapons, in every instance the wounds had closed almost as soon as they’d been dealt. Each time she failed to dance around a strike – something that was much rarer now than it had been only a few seconds ago – the winter wolf’s injury seemed to vanish in an instant, leaving her white coat unblemished.

Nor were the devil’s flame attacks faring any better; just like with his attempts to cut her, Solvei simply refused to stand still long enough to be burned. And even when he did manage to connect, the intense heat seemed simply to wash over Solvei’s body without injuring her, inflicting little more than a few welts that quickly sealed themselves over.

But while Prevarius’ wild offense wasn’t wearing Solvei down, it was preventing her from inflicting much damage to the devil. So far she’d managed to land only two bites to the phistophilus, one on his arm and another on his side, just above the waist. Every other attack had been deflected by the whirlwind of cutting paper and fire magic. Worse, Drafty knew the devil wouldn’t get tired, having stayed up all night talking to her without so much as a yawn to show for it, whereas Solvei would eventually become winded. Assuming that whatever Lex did to her doesn’t wear off first-

Her thought was interrupted as a hideous shriek rang out across the clearing, dragging her eyes over to where the other wolves were fighting the monster that Prevarius had summoned.

Or rather, where they had been fighting it. Thermal Draft’s eyes widened as she watched Degron’s head hit the ground, the sight leaving her queasy.

Lex had a markedly different reaction, smirking at the creature’s death. Why became apparent a moment later as the wolves paused only for a moment, apparently conferring among themselves, and then raced toward where Solvei and Prevarius were still fighting, both of them having ignored Degron’s death cry in favor of continuing their battle.

But there was no ignoring the rest of Solvei’s pack once they joined the fight.

Prevarius was clearly aware of their approach, half-turning in place to whip the papers in his grasp at the other wolves, but it was clear from the moment they joined the battle what the results would be.

As Drafty watched, the wolves moved in concert, Solvei mixing in with them seamlessly to surround the devil and move in. While they earned several slashes across their bodies for the effort, it was easy to see them creating openings for each other, and it didn’t take long for their efforts to bear fruit.

First Prevarius’ left arm was grabbed, one of the wolves biting down hard just above the wrist, preventing him from swinging the contract in his grasp. Then his right leg was grappled in a similar manner, keeping him in place. A third wolf got his right arm when he brought it around to try and bring fire down on the one biting his leg, jaws sinking in above the elbow so hard that it caused his hand to spasm, dropping the paper he’d been holding as he clenched a fist. A fourth grabbed one of the thick horns protruding from his back, and the devil grimaced as the protrusion was wrestled down, bringing him to one knee, overburdened by the relentless attackers.

And then only Solvei was left, coming to a stop in front of Prevarius, who was now unable to fight back.

“We beat you,” she panted, her voice thick with emotion. “After everything you did to my family…getting Bolverk to kill my father, infecting the rest of my pack with your sickness, trying to set us against the ponies so you could help them kill us…it’s all over now. Your lies, your seidr, your monster…we beat all of it.” She looked at each of her packmates then, before looking back at Lex and Draft. “Together.”

The sight made Drafty smile, and she nodded at the winter wolf. Solvei returned the gesture before returning her gaze to Prevarius. “And now, you’re going to get what you deserve for everything you’ve done,” she began, bearing her teeth as she slowly advanced on the helpless devil, clearly intent on tearing his throat out. “This is for my f-”

“Wait,” interrupted Lex, stepping forward. “Don’t kill him yet.”

The order caught Solvei by surprise. “But-”

“I said no.” Lex’s tone brooked no argument as he stepped forward, moving until he was standing alongside Solvei in front of Prevarius. “He said before that ponies were turning up on those ‘soul markets’ of his, and that they were coming from this area. I want to know more about that.”

Prevarius snorted, the first sound he’d made since the fight had turned against him. “And if I tell you, you’ll let me go?” he asked, his tone making it clear that he already knew the answer.

“What you should be asking,” replied Lex easily, “is what I’ll do to you if you don’t answer my question.”

Prevarius lowered his head at that, but rather than looking intimidated, a lopsided smile wormed its way back onto his face. “You know, there’s no way you could know this – us just having met and all – but before I made it to the rank of phistophilus, I was an osyluth, just like Degron.”

The non sequitur made Lex frown. “I have no patience for stall tactics,” he rumbled. “Tell me about the pony souls! Now!”

“I really enjoyed my job,” continued Prevarius, as though oblivious to what Lex had said. “Don’t get me wrong, soul collection is fun, but most of the time it’s almost too easy, the way it was with Drafty.” He smirked at the pegasus then, before looking back at Lex. “But the enemies I fought before? Matching tactics and strategy in a lightning-fast battle of wits? It was sublime. Or at least, it was when they were strong enough and smart enough to make it worthwhile.” His grin grew wider then. “And in that regard, you’ve been one of the best. I’ll remember this battle for millennia.”

“I’ve heard enough,” growled Lex. “Solvei, kill him.”

“Happily,” answered the winter wolf, already making for Prevarius’ neck.

She’d just put her jaws around it when the devil opened his right hand, revealing a glowing ball of light in his clenched fist.

Drafty blinked, not sure what she was seeing, but before she had a chance to ask she was airborne, yelping as she was flung backward by Lex’s telekinetic aura. “GET BACK!” he roared, diving away from Prevarius. “GET BACK N-”

“But in the end, I always win,” laughed the devil.

Then everything exploded.

Author's Note:

Lex and Solvei bring Prevarius to his knees, only for the devil to reveal that he still has an ace up his sleeve!

Has he managed to turn the tables with his last trick?

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Vurrrry Interesssting.

Just hope Lexs reaactions and setup can handle te devils endgame.

I suspect this guy will try other areas next time? Especially given Griffins greed?

[Not so New Brony]

Of course a devil like him would try to get the last laugh in.

Regardless, I did not expect Divine Authority to power the Winter Wolves up this much. Hopefully it will be enough for them to survive Prevarius last trick, especially Solvei since she likely took whatever it was point-blank.

[harts fire]

well poop.

[Alzrius]

11034892 Well, Prevarius is after pony souls, since they're apparently the current fad on the soul market, so if he wins here he'll presumably go looking for more. Of course, he wants Lex to sign his soul away, so it's iffy if that last attack was meant to kill him. Of course, Prevarius' own life was on the line there at the end, so it's not clear; when it's you or them, sometimes you have to cut your losses.

[Alzrius]

11034931 Fortunately for Lex, he had a bit of a breakthrough here. Up until now, he was operating under the assumption that divine authority granted a set amount of power. In fact, it doesn't work like that; a god's ability to overwrite reality exists in a quantum state by definition, since its application will vary depending on the standpoint from which the user observes that which is to be changed (i.e. observing the thing causes changes to said thing, a principle which gods can manipulate directly). Since Lex has been granted that power, the intensity with which he focuses on using divine authority alters how adroitly he uses it, and thus how much power he can grant. Adding his own magic to the mix simply takes that to its logical conclusion.

There are still limits, of course; he only has a fragment of a god's essence, and he still has to use that power through a mortal medium (i.e. his physical self). But now he knows it's even more flexible than he first thought. As such, he was able to give the winter wolves more power than he'd anticipated.

Hopefully, that's enough to let them survive Prevarius' attack there at the end.

[Alzrius]

11034950 It looks like defeat has been snatched from the jaws of victory. But we'll soon see if that's how things shape up.