Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

669 - Never Alone

“What’s going on?! Is someone else here?!”

“I think it’s that guy from the inn, with the skull mask!”

“Woodheart! Valor! Say something if you’re okay!”

Lex watched with forced dispassion as the downed mares called out to each other, unable to take in their surroundings visually. That they were blind wasn’t surprising; from what he’d observed, the blast of supernatural cold that disgusting humanoid had unleashed had been so frigid that it had frozen the water in their eyes.

What concerned him more were the two who hadn’t answered. Woodheart – he’d heard the five of them call each other by name often enough over the last several minutes that he could match their names to their faces now – was unresponsive, though the glowing rod curled around her hoof provided sufficient light to show that she was still breathing. But given how pale she looked, that was the best that could be said for her.

Valor, however, was in far worse condition. Her ursine transformation had ended only a few seconds prior, and her insensate form was once again that of an earth pony, albeit one that was completely drenched in blood from head to hoof. But while Lex was sure that some of that was the blood of those yetis she’d been fighting – he’d seen her down three of them before she’d been forced to retreat – he was certain that the majority of it was her own. That much was evident from how the deep laceration she’d taken, right where her left shoulder met her neck, was pulsing blood in rhythmic spurts.

Even if hadn’t read each and every one of the medical textbooks that House Call had loaned him during his ill-fated trip to Las Pegasus, Lex knew that a ruptured artery was fatal if not treated immediately.

Which meant that the time for watching the battle from concealment was over.

Striding purposefully toward Valor’s fallen form, Lex kept one eye on the old crone that was standing amidst the defeated ponies, ready to react if she tried to prevent him from reaching the earth mare before she bled out.

But rather than attacking, the disgusting biped seemed content to leer at him. “Kill me, it says!” she hooted. “Funny! Looking forward to seeing you try.” She paused for a moment to look him over, a wicked giggle escaping her chapped lips. “And looking forward to peeling your clothes off. Gonna have lots of fun with you before dinnertime.”

The lewd comment earned a sneer of revulsion from Lex. “In a few moments, you’re not going to think I’m much fun at all,” he spat, reaching Valor’s side, barely a dozen feet away from the hag. “And then you’ll never think anything ever again.”

He didn’t wait for a reply before he began casting the weak healing spell that was one of the few divine spells the Night Mare had given him, chanting the requisite liturgy even as he prepared for the crone to try and interrupt him.

But to his mild surprise, she made no move to do so. Instead, she barked a laugh as she circled around him, moving opposite to the wall of ice that she’d conjured. It was only when she called out in the language of the yetis that Lex realized why she wasn’t going on the attack: because she didn’t have to. She still had fifteen of her so-called brothers to do it for her, the shaggy beasts lumbering forward now that their last distraction – the white tiger that Woodheart had summoned – had been dealt with, the animal having winked out of existence a few moments prior.

Placing a hoof on Valor’s side as he discharged his healing spell into her, Lex regarded the earth mare long enough to confirm that the healing spell had worked, watching as the worst of her wounds closed. She was still in dire need of medical attention, but for the moment her life was no longer in danger.

Which meant that he could turn the bulk of his attention to the slaughter that was about to happen.

“L-Lex,” came a frantic voice from behind him, which he belatedly recognized as belonging to Spinner. “Can you see Valor and Woodheart?! Are they still alive?!”

“If they are, please get them out of here!” begged Mystaria. “And the rest of my friends too! I swear I’ll do whatever you ask if you save them!”

“Damn it, Mysty, that’s probably what this guy wants!” snarled Shadow Star, rubbing at her eyes and squinting at the glowing band around her hoof. “He was the one who told us these things were coming, remember?! That means he deliberately hung back while we were getting our asses kicked!”

“Something which wouldn’t have happened if you had agreed to follow my orders instead of stupidly charging out here without a plan,” shot back Lex, not taking his eyes off of the horde in front of him. They were still moving into position, and it didn’t escape his notice that the old woman was directing them to spread out rather than cluster together. It was, he knew, as much to cover any available paths of retreat as it was to make sure they weren’t close enough to all be hit in case he used any area-affecting attack magic.

“Your recalcitrance, along with your inadequate preparations and lack of information prior to engaging in battle, is to blame for the sorry state you’re in now,” he continued, the rebuke coming easily as he continued to analyze the situation. “Using your recklessness to determine what these creatures are capable of was the best tactic available to me under the circumstances.”

Shadow Star started to say something else, but was cut off by Mystaria. “Woodheart and Valor-”

“Are still alive,” interrupted Lex. “I staunched the latter’s bleeding, and the former is unconscious but still breathing.” A soft meeping drew his glance to the side, where the horned rabbit had limped over to Woodheart, nudging her in a futile effort to wake her up.

That seemed to calm the others, three sighs airing almost simultaneously. “Thank you,” breathed Mystaria.

Lex didn’t bother answering, more concerned with the unfolding situation than with their gratitude. Specifically on how there was still one possible fallback point: the hole in the ice wall behind him. But the crone was apparently unconcerned about that. Which means, he decided, that she thinks I won’t use it, or that I won’t have a chance to. Either option was plausible; he’d made no effort to hide that he was coming out here to save the other ponies, and with two of them down and the other three unable to see, there was no way they’d be able to fall back with any appreciable speed. Something which won’t matter if she can conjure another wall anyway.

Of course, two could play that game. He had more than sufficient stamina to create a wall of black crystals between himself and those monsters. But the relatively open layout of the village meant that they’d have little trouble circumventing it if they were willing to circle around the block. And that was presuming that their leader didn’t have sufficient magic to simply dispel it or force her way through the way Starlight Glimmer had.

Not that Lex had any intention of adopting such a defensive strategy to begin with.

“Giving you one more chance,” called the hag, cackling. “Come along without fighting, and you won’t go into the stew pot as long as you keep me happy. Otherwise” – she threw her arms wide then, indicating the yetis behind her – “their strength. My magic. All at once. More than you can beat by yourself.”

Lex answered her taunting with a dark laugh of his own. “What makes you think I’m by myself?”

He had just enough time to appreciate the confused look on the hag’s face before he waved his left foreleg in her direction. Go, Solvei.

And then the winter wolf – already having grown to gigantic proportions and surrounded herself in black crystal armor – appeared directly in front of the assembled yetis in mid-leap, plunging into them in a whirlwind of devastation.

Monitoring the flow of the fighting hadn’t been hard. One of the magic items he’d gained from the winter wolves had been a steel rod which detected animosity held for the wielder. While Lex had been concerned that it wouldn’t work if the creatures in question didn’t know who the rod’s user was specifically, that hadn’t been the case. Either because these creatures had come here with murder on their minds, or because they held hostility toward ponies in general or this village in particular, they’d registered to the item’s detection capabilities.

That had turned out to be a potent boon indeed. Thermal Draft had been able to perch above the battlefield on a cloud – easily plucked from the mass of them which were blotting out the sky – and use the rod virtually undetected, taking note of the numbers and position of the monsters invading the village. After that, it was a simple matter for her to use the whisper-spell she’d cast earlier to report her findings back to Lex, along with whatever she’d glimpsed on the few instances when she’d disobeyed his orders and had peeked over the cloud’s edge. Thanks to her, he’d been able to realize that the creature leading the invasion was present at all, hiding under an invisibility spell and whatever it was that allowed the hag to avoid leading tracks in the snow.

That had allowed him to use his circlet to examine the magic auras surrounding her without being detected himself. Unfortunately, that had been largely a wasted effort; there had been some sort of powerful illusion aura on her that had overshadowed almost everything else. Presumably that had been the invisibility spell, along with whatever was keeping her from leaving footprints, but there had been no way to be certain without feeding additional energy into the circlet, and Lex hadn’t wanted to potentially injure himself before going into a fight.

More importantly, Thermal Draft’s monitoring the situation meant that he was free to interrogate Solvei as to what else she knew about their bond that he didn’t.

The fact that she’d known that the two of them could borrow each other’s senses had come as a shock to Lex. Not only was it another uncomfortable expression of how closely the two of them were joined now, it was also an ability that had completely escaped his detection, despite several days of testing – albeit reluctantly – what the practical effects their connection had.

In hindsight, that reluctance had an oversight on his part, since he’d cataloged only the most obvious effects before moving on to what he’d considered to be more pressing issues. As such, he’d simply had Solvei confirm what he’d already known, rather than asking her if she was aware of anything that he wasn’t. It was a mistake that Lex had rectified a few minutes prior, ordering her to tell him everything she was aware of regarding ways that their bond could be exercised, leaving nothing out.

To his relief, other than being able to share their senses, everything she’d told him had been what he’d already known…with a single exception.

Apparently, he had the power to summon Solvei to him whenever he wanted.

It didn’t work in reverse; he couldn’t travel to her position. Nor could she will herself to appear by his side as she pleased; he had to be the one to bring her to him. A similar restriction applied to bringing passengers with her; only Solvei, and a modest amount of nonliving matter directly on her person, could be summoned that way.

But distance was no factor. Solvei could have been anywhere, anywhere at all, and with a thought he could teleport her to him. Nor did it require him to use divine authority; he could call her as often as he wanted, with no drain on the power the Night Mare had given him. And he could place Solvei exactly where he wanted her, so long as it was within roughly thirty feet or so of his own position.

He didn’t even require her consent. If he wanted her to be there with him, she would be, regardless of her wishes. Of course, the thought of resisting his summons hadn’t even occurred to her anyway. He’d registered her surprise when he’d asked about that, saying “Why would I not want to come when you called me, Master? I’m your Solvei, and your Solvei will always be with you.”

Despite how uncomfortable he was with his connection to the winter wolf, he’d found that oddly reassuring.

Then again, watching as the yetis howled as Solvei began to tear the life out of them, her jaws easily shredding their flesh even as their claws skittered uselessly against her armor, that sense of reassurance somehow didn’t seem quite as odd as it had before.

Author's Note:

Lex begins his counterattack!

Having learned that he can summon Solvei whenever he wishes, he brings her forth right in front of the enemy horde! Will that be enough to break them, or does the hag leading the yetis have a plan of her own?

Comments

[Not so New Brony]

Yes! The ability to summon Solvei, which I had been anticipating for, is here! Though the fact that Lex can summon Solvei to him and have her appear anywhere near him is pretty handy since I imagine that he could pull her back to his side or reposition her in an instant.

And since their thoughts are linked, there's less disorientation involved and at seemingly no cost(to the divine powers the Night Mare granted to him at least), and coupled that with Solvei's new powers, Lex and Solvei can be a truly terrifying force in battle(though Lex is already formidable on his own), as evidenced by Solvei tearing through the yetis, both figuratively and literally. Though the one aspect of Solvei's summoning that intrigued me the most is the fact that she could bring something with her when she's summoned, which could be very handy in certain situations...

p.s: Just imagined a scene where some hapless thugs are trying to mug Lex in a dark alley only for Lex's eyes to start glowing followed by Solvei appearing behind Lex, her eyes also glowing as she steps out of the shadows, her fangs bared. Granted, it's overkill and something that Lex would probably never do unless absolutely necessary but it's a fun scene nonetheless.

[Booster Spice]

Is the amount of material related to caster level or loading of the summons, and what materials are permitted given the whole physical, organic and inorganic chemistry triumvirate taught?

What's the fastest Lex can cast Blink and Summon back to back?

[Alzrius]

11095546 I admit, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this particular development had been anticipated. This is part of the suite of powers that the Night Mare granted Lex, which he's only now coming to understand and appreciate. As the goddess's Champion, he's able to bring his devoted servant to his side whenever he requires her. Along with the mental communication, permanent awareness of each other's status, and ability to share their senses, that means that Solvei is essentially always with Lex, regardless of her physical distance from him; hence the chapter name.

And that's not even taking into account how Solvei is not only much stronger now, but can also be enhanced with divine authority. It's another demonstration of just how much the Night Mare has given Lex, though he's taken quite the long time in figuring it out. Hopefully it will be enough to see him through this particular crisis; Solvei seems to be making short work of the yetis, but there's still the winter hag to deal with.

Having said all that, yeah, woe to whomever thinks they can get the drop on Lex now, lest they find an angry winter wolf being summoned to deal with them!

[Alzrius]

11096498 While there are abilities that can reduce the time required to utilize a particular ability, Lex doesn't (currently) have anything that can allow him to use his rapid-shifting between his corporeal and incorporeal forms, or summon Solvei, at an accelerated rate. In game terms, both are standard actions.

The amount of inanimate materials that Solvei can bring with her when she's summoned is, unfortunately, fixed. I say "inanimate" with some hesitancy, simply because the d20 System game rules have a few corner cases where the difference between an item and a creature are blurred. Undead creatures, for instance, are still creatures, and so couldn't piggyback on Solvei's summons regardless of their weight. However, intelligent magic items are trickier, since the rules flat-out say that they can be treated as creatures of the construct type (since they have Wisdom and Charisma scores, which is the in-game denomination of what constitutes a "creature"). But at the same time, it's awkward to say that means a sentient sword couldn't be teleported, since most people would classify that as an object. If that ever comes up, GM fiat is needed.

On a tangential note, it's worth noting that Lex's ability to summon Solvei is still a teleportation effect, and is subject to various effects that block, redirect, trace, etc. such things.