719 - Ransom Where
“Meep! Meep meep MEEP!”
“L-Littleknight! Calm down!” sputtered Thermal Draft, wings flapping in agitation as she struggled to hold the frantic almiraj, the horned rabbit’s eyes locked onto its mistress as it continued trying to escape from the pegasus’ grasp, intent on making a beeline for Woodheart.
The creature’s frantic reaction was enough to momentarily capture Lex’s attention, his eyes flickering to where it was thrashing before returning to the unresponsive earth mare held firmly in the grip of the pale giant. Woodheart’s friends had been certain that the druid’s familiar was key to finding her, purporting that it would be able to sense when she was nearby. But with how her kidnappers had been using the almiraj to spy on them, it was no surprise that they’d taken pains to prevent the creature from homing in on their captive.
If their enemies could shut down his link to Solvei, even temporarily, Lex had no doubt that they could do the same to Woodheart’s connection to Littleknight.
But that bothered him less than how such a large creature had managed to avoid being detected until now. No tracks, noted Lex silently as he glanced behind the giant, seeing that the snow was unmarred. Which means she’s likely using the same scent-blocking spell as the other freaks. A mental query to Solvei confirmed it, with the winter wolf telepathically replying that she couldn’t smell anything from the newcomer or her captive.
The fact that Drafty hadn’t been able to see them with her anti-invisibility spell likely meant that the creature simply hadn’t been invisible in the first place, he decided a moment later. It wasn’t as though there weren’t numerous other ways to avoid being seen; the thick grove of trees she’d emerged from offered a goodly amount of concealment as it was, despite the newcomer’s height. Even without magic, her alabaster skin would have blended in with the snow quite well.
More concerning was how Thermal Draft’s hostility-sensing rod hadn’t picked her up. Was it because the tall humanoid had some sort of protection magic? Or had she simply been out of the rod’s limited range? Or maybe it was even simpler than that; while Lex had no skill at judging the facial expressions of others, the giant was giving him a fairly neutral look at the moment, neither snarling nor smiling, but simply regarding him coolly.
Perhaps she simply had no hostility to be detected.
But if that was the case, then Woodheart’s companions had more than enough of their own, as Shadow Star turned and immediately bolted toward the giant. “Let Woodheart go you pasty-faced bitch!”
She wasn’t alone in her fury, as the black bear that was Valor roared in anger, bounding toward the towering humanoid. Spinner didn’t join the other two in their charge, but immediately began to play her lute louder, practically shrieking the words to a speed-boosting spell, causing her friends to immediately rocket forward. But Lex could already tell that they still weren’t fast enough; the giant would be able to close her grip, likely popping Woodheart’s head off, long before the other two ever reached her.
Which, he knew, was entirely part of their plan.
Master, Mystaria wants you to know that it’s a trick, came Solvei’s mental voice. The other three are-
Serving as a distraction, replied Lex silently. I’m aware.
It hadn’t escaped his notice that while the other three were yelling and trying everything else they could think of to draw attention to themselves, Mystaria had quietly withdrawn a scroll from her saddlebag. Spinner had even moved slightly so that she was standing between the towering humanoid and the nun-in-training, giving her friend as much cover as she could. Heedless of the fact that Paska and Vidrig were less than two dozen feet away – though neither seemed inclined to interfere, as the former was keeping his eyes on Akna and her small army of elementals, the adlet watching the drama unfold with an uncertain look on her face, while the latter was leaning on her axe and groaning as her head finished regenerating – Mystaria read the words off the paper as quickly and quietly as she could.
It was his mystic senses as much as what he could hear over her friends’ yelling that informed Lex that Mystaria was casting a paralysis spell, making the earth ponies’ strategy clear: Mystaria’s spell would prevent Woodheart’s captor from making good on her threat to end the druid’s life. Once she was immobilized, Valor and Shadow – thanks to Spinner’s speed-boosting spell – would then be able to reach the giant and pry Woodheart from her grasp before Grisela, Paska, and the other monsters realized what was happening.
Despite his disdain for his traveling companions, Lex found himself mildly impressed at how seamlessly they’d put their plan into action. Distract, quicken, paralyze, and rescue; whether because they’d been in a situation like this before, or because one of them had an unexpected flash of insight and shared it with the others over their telepathic link, the ponies of Fail Forward had actually come up with a halfway-decent strategy.
Unfortunately, it was one that Lex knew was doomed to fail.
And a moment later, he was proven right.
Mystaria’s paralysis spell went off then, but rather than freezing in place, Woodheart’s captor simply glanced at Mystaria before returning her gaze to Lex. “Given that my siblings are often quite hard to manage-”
That was all she got out before Valor crashed into her, the bear leaping upward into a flying tackle as she hit the milk-white giant just above the waist.
...and went right through her without making contact, landing hard on a snowbank behind her.
“-I won’t hold the actions of your underlings against you-”
Having been right behind Valor, Shadow was unable to react to her friend’s passing right through their enemy. Instead, her own leap sent the blade of her dagger across the wrist of the hand the oversized humanoid was using to hold Woodheart’s neck, only for its edge to find no more purchase than Valor had, passing through the giant as though she were made of mist rather than flesh and blood.
Which, Lex knew, was essentially the case.
“-but I’d appreciate it if you reined them in, before I’m forced to demonstrate that I wasn’t making an idle threat,” finished the giant, bringing her free hand up and closing her fist around Woodheart’s foreleg. “Unless, of course, you’d prefer to recover your mare one piece at a time.”
Spinner bristled at that, her hoof falling away from her lute as she finally lost her composure. “You cowardly piece of sh-, HEY!”
No one needed to ask why she’d suddenly yelped, as the black crystals that shot up from the ground around her then were starkly visible against the snow-covered ground. In an instant, they’d curled around her legs, locking her into place and sealing her movement. Nor was she the only one so ensnared, as Mystaria found herself similarly captured, with Valor and Shadow both being bound a moment later, the two of them snarling and struggling futilely within their respective prisons.
“I trust you’ll find that sufficient?” Lex’s voice was cold as he returned to physical form, never having taken his gaze off of the large biped.
Analyzing how she’d managed to sneak up on them hadn’t been all that Lex had been doing in the seconds after her arrival. He’d also used his circlet to peer into the magical spectrum, looking the newcomer over for magical signatures. Although it had taken several seconds to sort through the active spell effects cluttering the area, the powerful illusion surrounding the giant had quickly come into view, making Lex discard his previous suppositions as to how she’d appeared so suddenly, the answer being far simpler than he’d initially thought.
She wasn’t actually there at all.
It was entirely likely that she was still somewhere close by; while Lex wasn’t familiar with whatever bit of magic she was using at the moment, his limited familiarity with scrying magic made it clear that bidirectional transmission of sight and sound was enormously complex; to be able to manage a spell that could manage that while also projecting an image of the caster in real time suggested that this was either a spellcaster of staggering power – in which case, there was little reason for them to try and force a dialogue like this, rather than simply attacking – or that the spell had a shortfall in another area to reduce how much energy it required...quite possibly by limiting the range it could operate at.
If that was the case, then it would explain why they’d have taken pains to blunt Woodheart’s connection to Littleknight. The almiraj would have immediately realized, through its connection to Woodheart, that the druid wasn’t actually there, leading them to whatever nearby position the giant was broadcasting from. But since the giant had anticipated that and taken measures accordingly, there was no easy way to track her down, at least not without tipping her off as to what they were doing.
Which meant that the best course of action was to keep her talking and see if an opportunity could be found.
Glancing around at where the remaining members of Fail Forward were all struggling in place, the pale humanoid paused for just a moment before looking back at Lex and nodding, releasing Woodheart’s foreleg, though she kept her other hand around the mare’s neck. “I’m glad we can be reasonable. While I know this might be difficult for you to believe, we’re not here to fight.”
“NO!” came a sudden howl from Vidrig, her head finally having restored itself fully. “They crushed my head, Sissel! It hurt! I want blood for that!”
Frowning, the giant – Sissel – gave her hideous sibling a flat look. “Your pain is irrelevant, Vidrig. We’re here to cut a deal, not satisfy your impulses.”
“Are you kidding?” spat Thermal Draft, still doing her best to keep hold of Littleknight. “After ambushing us twice, all of a sudden you want to work things out?”
“It’s true that Paska was supposed to capture you and bring you back,” answered Sissel, directing her words toward Lex. “But you proved too powerful to be taken alive. As for Grisela” – she shrugged, glancing at the winter hag, who had circled around to put Blat, the manticore literally licking his wounds, between herself and Solvei – “she was simply looking to gather food for the yetis. She was no more expecting to run into you than you were her.”
Akna’s ears perked up at that. “So it’s true?! After everything my people went through to annihilate the yetis, you resurrected them?!”
“There was no resurrection,” corrected Sissel, again directing her answer at Lex. “Mother knew we’d need shock troops for the assignment she gave us, and the yetis were perfect for that. They’re strong, stupid, and easily led, so she made sure we had enough of them to get the job done. Until you wiped our younger brothers out while they were procuring supplies.”
“Their ‘supplies’ were people,” intoned Lex darkly. “MY people. And since you’re part of whatever cabal those monstrosities you call kin belonged to, and had foreknowledge of their crimes, that makes you culpable for the slaughter they perpetrated.”
Sissel shrugged. “Be that as it may, the fact remains that without them, we can’t complete our task. But by that same token, you should have more than enough power to make up for their loss.” Her eyes flickered to Solvei then, looking the humongous armor-clad wolf over for a long moment before turning her gaze to the elementals surround Akna, waiting to be commanded. “Even if your magic is supposedly running dry, your servants – the non-pony ones at least – should be more than up to the challenge.”
“And in exchange, you’ll return Woodheart,” sneered Lex.
A faint smile crossed Sissel’s lips. “I’m glad we understand each other.”
Thermal Draft leaned close to Lex then, Littleknight finally having tired himself out. “I don’t like this,” she muttered, wings still unfurled in anxiety. “The last time I tried to cut a deal, it didn’t work out so well, remember?”
The reminder made Lex frown, but he didn’t dwell on it, instead keeping his attention fixed on Sissel. “And this so-called assignment of yours is for what, exactly?”
“Nothing that you should find too difficult,” answered the snow giant easily. “We simply need you to slay the ancient dragon, Hvitdod, that lairs north of here.”
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Okay...I knew Grisela's family was doing something pretty big if they were using so many yetis but even if I have barely any knowledge on Ponyfinder, I can clearly see that they're aiming for way bigger than what I had imagined(which was either the capture or destruction of an enemy fortress/city)
Even if Lex agrees, I somewhat doubt Lex willing to do what Sissel demands of him, especially with something this risky. Still, with Woodheart's life on the line and no way to rescue her, it seems that they'll need to play along for the time being.
Someone pulled a Total Recall distraction?
The illusion wouldve failed if there had been any visible snow flurry, dust cloud, level 1 vermin swarm interacting with it? Or was it the level higher than that?
As for the classification of the last mentioned, are those the sort of experience level that dropping the mountain on them Doesnt work?
Oh yeah, go slay a dragon, simple.
At least Lex has experience there, but going by the word 'ancient,' this one's probably a lot more powerful than the last one.
11250435 Bear in mind, this isn't quite new information with regard to what Sissel and her siblings want. They talked about needing the yetis to help them attack Hvitdod's lair back in Chapter 672 - Dissension in the Ranks, though at the time there was no explanation of who or what Hvitdod was. It was only in Chapter 707 - Suffering in Silence when Silla (an adlet, in conversation with Yotimo) casually mentioned that Hvitdod was a creature whom the tribe's elders had spoken of before.
To that end, it's clear that they're betting that Lex, having wiped out their yeti shock troops, will be able to take on the dragon in their place...and perhaps without any backup, since I can't see Sissel and the others working alongside him after what's happened leading up to now. Of course, why they've been assigned to kill a dragon all on their own is a question in and of itself. More immediate, though, is whether or not Lex will agree to their demand, and if doing so will save Woodheart's life.
11250510 Wouldn't that be more of an "Escape from L.A." distraction?
As for the illusion Sissel is using, there's a bit more to it than what's currently been presented, but I'll hold off on going into further details at the moment...though as always, it's based around Pathfinder mechanics, so people familiar with the game rules might be able to figure it out. As for more information about Hvitdod...maybe we'll get that in the next chapter?
11251828 That does seem to be the implication. Moss was a green dragon of modest power, but while we don't know anything about the dragon Sissel name-dropped, it's likely not some young adult who'll go down nearly as easily...not that it was easy for Lex!