754 - White Wraith
“How much longer are they going to make us wait?”
Solvei’s irritated growl almost earned a shrug from Akna, the adlet lifting her shoulders only to pause and then lower them gently, realizing at the last moment how much strain that would have put on her top. “It’s only been a few hundred heartbeats. They’re probably still trying to figure out whether or not everything we said is true, which might take a while if they’re using magic to verify-”
“Of course it’s true!” Giving Akna an incredulous look as Lex registered indignation coming from the winter wolf, Solvei huffed loudly. “The Night Mare is a goddess, and this is her territory! No one would be crazy enough to come here and lie about being her champion!”
“You can misrepresent the truth without ever telling a lie,” snorted Akna. “My tribe has no idea that I worship the Night Mare, or that I can transform into a winter wolf. That’s not because I lied to them about either of those things, but because I kept quiet and gave them no reason to think they were true in the first place.”
“That’s not the same!” contested Solvei hotly. “The things we said about Master-”
“Something’s happening,” cut in Lex, his eyes focused on the top of the wall, causing both lupines to quiet down as they looked upward.
Sure enough, there was a commotion breaking out among the guards who’d been positioned atop the defensive structure. Prior to now they’d remained fairly quiet, murmuring amongst themselves as they kept their crossbows at the ready, stopping short of pointing them at the trio. Now, however, they were chattering animatedly, and more than a few were turning around to peer back into the town.
“Looks like we’re about to find out if they believed us or not,” murmured Akna. “Someone’s coming, and they’re important enough that the guards are all taking notice.”
“I bet it’s whoever’s in charge here!” grinned Solvei, turning her head to give Lex an adoring look. “They’ve realized that you’re someone great, Master, and are coming to greet you personally!”
“Even if you’re right, that doesn’t mean that we’ll be welcomed,” replied Lex flatly, turning his eyes toward the gate. “Be ready in case their reception is a hostile one.”
Her grin fading into a troubled look, Solvei nodded as she focused her attention on the entryway, Akna doing the same.
The gate itself was no simple egress in the wall. Rather, it was a small keep built directly into the massive barrier, having a portcullis and a massive set of double doors built into the front and back end of it. To Lex, the tactical nature of the design was self-evident: by having two fortified entrances that needed to be passed through, the town’s defenders could not only delay an attacking force that much longer, but by allowing an invading force to pass the first entrance unchallenged and then slamming the portcullis down behind them, they’d be trapped. Judging from the vertical slits in the upper portion of the keep’s stonework, the guards would be able to pepper them with crossbow bolts – or spells – with relative impunity, inflicting severe damage while their enemy had little method of retaliating.
Between the wire spires, the spell-laced wall, the regular patrols of guards, and the strategic construction of the keep built around the entrance, it was clear that this locale was one that placed a premium on security. Which suggested to Lex that the ponies who lived here would likely be disinclined to trust an unknown group that had wandered in from the wilderness that this place was apparently designed to defend against.
And that was before taking into account the religious nature of this entire realm. The Keeper might have welcomed them to the Shrine of the Starless Sky, but Lex knew that at least part of their being allowed in was due to Akna’s vouching for them. Even then, the Keeper had made no compunctions about demanding restitution when Lex had challenged his authority by slaying Ganas. Which meant that even if whoever ruled here believed the claims he’d had Akna and Solvei make, they might very well perceive his unexpected arrival as a threat to their own standing.
Just beyond the outer portcullis, the two guards who’d initially challenged them snapped to attention as the bars rose. Further in, a second such grate was also lifting up, the massive double doors beyond it swinging wide to reveal...
A single pony.
Lex narrowed his eyes as the newcomer strolled forward. By all appearances the approaching pony was an earth stallion, but rather than the solid frame and broad hooves characteristic of most members of that tribe, this pony was lean and limber, being tall enough that his legs were almost gangly in appearance.
By itself that would have been unusual, but that wasn’t the end of the stallion’s odd appearance. His coat was a deep purple, and seemed almost to shun the lights overhead, as though the nearby shadows were reaching out to enfold him in their grasp whenever he moved near them. Stranger still were his eyes, his irises a shade of white that was only slightly darker than the surrounding sclera, making his pupils seem as though they sat alone in blank orbs.
His mane and tail were similarly pale, the vivid white matching the hue of Akna and Solvei’s fur, albeit without the latter’s blue highlights. More notable was the way his hair seemed to move of its own accord, making Lex think of Celestia and Luna. But a moment later he realized that, like with the newcomer’s eyes, his mane and tail weren’t what they seemed. Rather than continuously blowing in a nonexistent breeze, they were instead reacting to his movements...but with exaggerated slowness, as though they were caught underwater.
But the stallion’s looks concerned Lex less than his magic.
Using his circlet to look into the magical spectrum, it was easy to see that the pony approaching them now was absolutely covered in magical auras.
Several of them were bound to his outfit. The breastplate he was wearing was ensorcelled with a better version of the same enchantment as the guards’ armor, and Lex could also make out protective enchantments on the pale cloak that he wore and the bracelet that were akin to what he was wearing himself. There were also several freestanding auras clinging to him – suggesting that the stallion was either a spellcaster himself, or had one among his subordinates – though with the multiplicity of magic he exuded, it was harder to make those out. Several were defensive in nature, and Lex could barely glimpse what looked like a low-grade personal force field amid several spells designed to improve hardiness and durability.
All of them, however, paled compared to the aura surrounding the hammer that he carried across his back.
With a haft that was as long as Akna was tall, and its head being the size of an anvil, the weapon looked ridiculously oversized compared to its wielder. Its coloration was likewise in sharp contrast to the pony carrying it, the wrought-black iron that it was forged of standing out against the stallion’s pale appearance. Nevertheless, he seemed unencumbered by it, his steps light and easy as he strode past the outer portcullis.
As he stepped beyond the edge of the gate, both guards gave a crisp salute. “Captain White Wraith, sir!” they barked in unison.
They weren’t the only ones to speak, as Akna gave a choked gasp. “Breakdown!”
With the whisper-spell that he’d cast on her in the forest still being active, her exclamation went directly to Lex’s ears. “What?” he whispered back, even though he could guess what she was referring to.
She proved him right a moment later. “Breakdown!” Akna repeated, her eyes wide and her chest heaving, threatening to spill out of its flimsy container at any moment. “The hammer he’s carrying! It’s one of the Umbral Regalia!”
Solvei cocked an ear, but didn’t let Akna’s revelation disrupt her focus. “Is that a good thing?”
“We’re about to find out,” answered Lex quietly, seeing the stallion – White Wraith – come to a stop ahead of them, standing almost twenty feet distant.
For several moments no one said anything, both sides staring each other down.
White Wraith was the first one to break the silence.
“When they told me a high-ranking member of the Night Mare’s clergy had arrived at our doorstep,” he began abruptly, is voice deeper than his slight frame and wispy appearance would have suggested, “I have to admit I was surprised. Usually, when we have an important visitor, there’s quite a bit of advanced notice. Itineraries are discussed, security measures are cleared, meetings are planned. To show up without any sort of announcement is rare indeed. And then I was told about our visitor’s retinue.”
Turning his head, he made a show of looking over Solvei and Akna – his eyes lingering on the latter – before fixing his white eyes on Lex. “Usually, when we have a member of the priesthood show up, especially one who claims to be some sort of royalty, they make a big show out of their arrival. They have servants and soldiers and exotic creatures under their command, and if they haven’t simply used magic to transport everyone, they come in conveys of carriages and chariots with baggage trains that stretch behind them like a snake’s tail.”
He raised a hoof then, gesturing to the dark woods in the distance. “And they never, ever come crawling out of the wilderness, having their hounds bay for food and shelter, saying that they’re a prince despite looking like a pauper.”
“How dare you!” seethed Solvei, her hackles rising as she bared her teeth. It was only a telepathic command from Lex that kept her from lunging forward, and even then she couldn’t keep her tongue in check. “My Master is the Night Mare’s Chosen! He bears-”
“The Charismata,” answered White Wraith, his tone bemused. “Yes, my subordinates mentioned that, and I have to admit it caught my attention. You see, we had a visitor from Everglow a few months back; a fellow by the name of Grim Darklight. You ever heard of him?”
Akna and Solvei both cast uncertain looks at Lex then. But when his only answer was stony silence – not knowing who the pony in question was – White Wraith kept speaking.
“He’s the head of the Night Mare’s temple in a place called Viljatown, the capital city of Everglow’s Pony Empire, and also sits on that nation’s Holy Council, which advises the Empire’s ruler. So you can imagine that it was kind of a big deal for him to show up in a place like Eigengrau” – he canted his head back then, indicating the settlement behind him – “which is so close to the edge of Darkest Night.”
“The point being?” snapped Akna, her eyes still locked onto the hammer on White Wraith’s back.
Looking amused at the interruption, he paused long enough to give the adlet another lingering glance before returning his gaze to Lex. “The point being that Grim Darklight was quite the memorable figure, considering that he has the Charismata, rather than some stallion no one’s ever heard of called Licks Lickits.”
His curled lip and derisive chuckle were enough to make Solvei seethe, her limbs shaking as she struggled to restrain herself. “My master’s name is Lex Legis!” she hissed. “And if you can’t recognize that he’s the Night Mare’s champion, then I doubt she’ll care very much when I’ve ripped you to shreds for daring to insult him!”
“That’s enough, Solvei.”
“But Master-”
“I said that’s enough.”
Striding forward, Lex didn’t spare the winter wolf a glance as he moved past her, coming to within ten feet of White Wraith. Up on the wall, several of the guards readied their crossbows once more, but Lex gave them none of his attention either. Instead, he kept his gaze focused on the willowy stallion.
“You said your name was White Wraith,” he noted calmly, “and this place is called Eigengrau, is that correct?”
The pony nodded, mocking smile still in place. “Exactly right, Licks.”
Ignoring the insult, Lex didn’t break eye contact with the pale pony. “And based on what your subordinates said, you’re the captain of this town’s guards, yes?”
“Nice to see that you were paying attention. Anything else you’d like to know?”
“Just one thing.” Glancing at the weapon on White Wraith’s back for a moment, Lex allowed a thin smile of his own to cross his lips. “Given that you’re a mere captain in a place that is, by your own admission, far from the center of power in Darkest Night, it’s clear that you’re not important enough to have earned a weapon like Breakdown on your own merit. Which means that someone loaned it to you, likely because they knew that if you came out here to face us with nothing but your own power, you couldn't win.”
The smile dropped off of White Wraith’s face immediately.
“So my question,” continued Lex in an easy tone, “is this: what will happen to you, captain, when you manage to lose even with Breakdown?”
This time White Wraith was the one who answered with silence, and Lex let that continue for several seconds before speaking again. “Stand aside and let us enter this place, and I will permit you to keep your dignity. Persist in your interference, and you’ll lose that and more.”
Slowly, White Wraith reached back, taking Breakdown in hoof. He didn’t actually grasp the weapon, the hammer instead floating securely a half-inch from the side of his foreleg. It was only because he was still examining the stallion in the magical spectrum that Lex saw one of the spell auras around him flare slightly, identifying a spell designed to allow for a limited version of a unicorn’s telekinesis.
“I’m going to give you one chance, right now, to turn around and slink back into the forest with your tails between your legs,” answered the pale stallion, his voice light despite the jovial expression being gone from his features. “Because if you don’t...”
Then White Wraith, still using just one hoof, casually brought the hammer down to strike the ground.
The vibrations of the impact were heavy enough that Lex, Akna, and Solvei all needed to steady themselves, with even the two guards at the gate lurching as they tried to remain upright.
“...I’ll show you that I’m more than capable of handling a nut, a mutt, and a slut.”
Straightening up, Lex gave a mirthless chuckle. “Prepare for the end of your tenure, captain.”
Then he teleported Solvei – already in mid-leap thanks to his telepathic instructions – directly behind White Wraith.
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Well, I'll admit that I never wondered how Lex would fare in a fight against someone wielding one of the Night Mare's Umbral Regalias before but now I'm curious at how well...or poorly Lex will do in this situation.
Objectively speaking, Captain White Wraith has better gear overall so he'll pack quite the punch and likely take just as much but Lex has faced foes who had more often than not overwhelming strength before and that was before he has help from others so Lex should be able to defeat White Wraith soundly with the right strategy. Especially if he's the type to rely only on brute force like so many others that faced Lex before.
Still, we've seen what Severance was capable of so even if White Wraith isn't all he's cracked up to be, Breakdown will likely be the one to make the fight more difficult for Lex and with a name like that...yeah, getting hit by it ain't gonna be pretty to say the least.
Three way split to cause the Captain problems, Lex is going to treat Breakdown like Severance , distract the Captain with Solvei, until Lex can physically contact the item, then Mentally subborn it?
I expected politics, because even in death politics are never far, wasn't disappointed. On the other side I have to give kudos to Akna for giving fan service in these trying times even if none of the ponies will ever care for it.
Silliness aside, as said before Lex Legis is a behemoth in combat but even a giant can die from enough paper cuts. Where do the limit of Lex lies I keep wondering - and how bottomless is his repertoire of spells I find myself asking multiple times -. Emotionally we saw him breakdown multiple times with the latest being the biggest one and the one that cost him the most but never in a fight that he was ready for or even ones he wasn't ready for, He always prevailed or at least clutched in some way and I think that he have no intention of disappointing now.
11360422 As much as Lex knew that picking a fight wasn't the way to go, after what happened during the Rite, he's also aware that simply laying down and letting other ponies walk all over him isn't the answer either. Even with having lost faith in virtually everything he previously believed in, it's simply not in his nature to let others boss him around. Which is probably for the best, since I doubt the Night Mare would reward such submissiveness in one she recognized as her champion.
Of course, now that means that Lex is about to face off against somepony who seems like they can not only hold their own in a fight, but also is wielding a weapon on par with Severance. So this could get bad in a hurry. Ideally Lex has some sort of strategy for this, but with the shape that he's in, both personally and in terms of combat prowess, not to mention that there's no way he could have anticipated facing a weapon like Breakdown and he doesn't know White Wraith's fighting style...yeah, the odds are stacked against him.
But then, that's been true plenty of times before, too.
11360512 That might work, but it's hard to say if he's currently in a state to exert his will over a weapon like that, considering his own state of mind. The best he could do against Severance was telekinetically hold it back, and that took some fairly intense effort on his part (though he was able to do so while fighting Celestia and Luna, which is more a testament to the difference in power between him and the alicorns than anything else).
11361084 No matter the genre, and quite often regardless of the circumstances, boobs makes things better.
As for how this is going to shake out...well, Lex didn't pick this fight, and in fact tried not to let things get to this point, but White Wraith wasn't willing to budge, and while he might be physically exhausted, emotionally battered, and magically depleted, Lex is never weakened to the point of giving up. Even if he needs to reevaluate what it is he's fighting for, he's still willing to fight if someone else tries to push him around. White Wraith looks like he has an overwhelming advantage in Breakdown, and the stallion likely isn't a captain of this place's guards without good reason...but Lex isn't deterred by that in the slightest.
It'll be interesting to see if (and how) he can pull off a win here.