Thrashing his legs around, Chuck woke up to something trying to suffocate him. He pushed up and away, which released some of the pressure—a few seconds of panic later, he spit out the sand he’d inhaled during his sleep. Brytha laughing didn’t help.
Red-faced, he turned. “Find that amusing? I coulda died or something.” He pouted.
“Awww, poor thing. If you had, you’d be the first person I’ve ever heard of drowning in sand during their sleep. I wasn’t too worried.”
Chuck stood with his meaty hands on his hips and looked up. “You haven’t been a whole lotta help either you flying divot.”
Glyrgaph paused, then floated over to Chuck. “I am not a divot. It would be closer to call me a division, but even that is not entirely correct. As far as you sputtering sand, I agree with Brytha’s assessment.”
“Fine bunch of friends,” Chuck muttered, then laughed. “I probably looked pretty ridiculous, didn’t I?”
“That might be a slight understatement.” Brytha walked over to Chuck and brushed off sand stuck to his back.
Could it be possible that—nah—she’s being nice. What would someone like her see in a lump of meat like me?
Chuck brought his focus back to the situation. The dome's interior glowed with a soft blue light, casting long shadows across the sand. Outside, the swarm still hovered, their buzzing a constant, maddening white noise that penetrated even Brytha's magical barrier.
“How long was I asleep?” Chuck asked. “I see the bugs have stuck with us no matter how long. Any new ones?”
“Well,” Brytha continued to brush sand as she spoke. “You were asleep about six hours. I slept about five. Glyr didn’t sleep any. He didn’t see anything new come at us.”
“I had some fun taking a few out that were in range of my roots, while I stayed on the safe side of the wall.”
“I noticed they were a little further away. Anyone got an idea how to get rid of them?”
“How’s your magic points?” Brytha asked.
“Let me check.” Status check.
<< STATUS
Health: 45/80
Magic: 67/108
>>
“I’m at sixty-seven points.”
“A hair over eight points an hour. So rest for roughly five hours longer, and you should be fully charged. How much does it take out of you to cast one of those bug-killing fire attacks?” Brytha stepped back as Chuck turned to face her.
“Dunno. Never watched that part. Still learning stuff, you know. Let me see if the Structure will tell me.” How many magic poi…”
<< INTERACTION — I heard. The points are variable depending on how big you make the fire attack. Standard fare is about five to ten points. You went exponentially higher for, as you named it, the fireblast. The exact points can not be provided.>>
So, are you back? You sounded like the old you there. Is that you, Spi?
<< INTERACTION — The Structure can only interact as needed. You asked questions, and the Structure responded within the parameters allowed. Now that the question is answered, the Structure will leave you to cast your fireblast. We may need to contact the component after six hours once your rest period is over.>>
I’m grateful that the Structure deemed to answer me, even if I didn’t get the answers to all my questions.
“I think I have it all sorted out. Based on some of my math, I did cast a bigger attack than that before, guessing around thirty to thirty-five points. If I spend that now, can we stay in the dome resting for another six hours?”
Brytha pursed her lips and stared at Chuck. “Six hours more would really shorten our time left.”
“I know, but I think we all need to be at our best before we go any farther down the road. We all think the was a resource drain to get us ready for the big bad. We’d be thwarting their plan if we could take the time to be at full charge.”
“True, though I’m afraid resting could bring more problems.” Brytha stated.
“We run that risk.” Chuck nodded. “Are there any other power or time constraints?”
“None, to my knowledge at least.” Brytha shook her head.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
“Then, at least to me, I would think we’re getting close to the end. Though I have to admit, I don’t really know what I’m talking about.” Chuck shrugged his, slightly lopsided shoulders.
“You know, Chuck, your ability to bolster my confidence is…um…well, unique.” Brytha rolled her eyes.
“I have an idea. I remember something from my few rpg sessions years ago. There was some sort of fire finger or fan of fire type of spell. That would be less explosive and easier to limit and control. Let me give that a try!”
Chuck placed his hands side by side, his stubby fingers splayed wide. From three fingers on each hand, flames erupted like miniature blowtorches, he left his thumbs and pinkies untouched by the fiery display. The air shimmered with heat as he directed his blazing fingertips toward the swarm of bugs. He focused intently, feeling the warmth crawl up his arms and the acrid smell of burning. He flicked his wrists directing the flames to surge forward, ensuring the fiery jets reached every last buzzing insect in their path.
“It’s working. Some are flying away, but you’re crisping most of them.” Glyrgaph called out from above.
Chuck separated his hands and sending streams of fire fire going two different directions, catching to bugs that had flown out of the way. He sent a baseball sized explosive fireball towards the remaining tank, smiling as the flames engulfed the monster. It fell over, not curling up. Giant scary roly-polies eliminated.
<< STATUS UPDATE — The spells you called fireblast and fire fingers were forms of Create Fire. The casting and practice of these versions of Create Fire advanced your Fire Mastery to level 7.
STATUS
Component: Charles (Chuck) Williamsyn
Class: Duplicemist
~Class Note: Rare/Unique class, does not comply with standard Structure guidelines; Class is considered fluid - most attributes will shift based on component usage; Not all information is available, will need to be discovered by component
~~Structure Note: Acclimation steps 100% complete, component responded favorably
ClassLevel - 5
Health: 45/89
Magic Pool: 42/108
STATS
Strength - variable
Reflexes - variable
Endurance - 65
Resistance/Willpower - 45
Charisma - 10 (can be variable)
Intelligence - 50
Wisdom - 45
ABILITIES
Manipulate - Level 5
Absorb - Level 4
Concoct - Level 3
Fire Magic Mastery - Level 7
Control Fire
Create Fire (Fireblast, Fire Fingers)
Fire Flight
Dampen Magic - Level 4
Spatial Leap - Level 3
Stone Walker - Level 2
>>
Seems to have gone up fast.
<< INTERACTION — When you absorbed from the taachu, you where close to another level. What you’ve done with fire recently brought you the rest of the way. Also, you are unique and you can advance beyond class level—and you came by Fire Mastery in an unusual way. Spatial Leap increased earlier when you carried Brytha across the path.>>
Got you. Looks like I was right about the magic points used being reduced if I did that.
Chuck waited through a few seconds of silence. “That advanced my fire ability. Looks like we got them all. Only dropped twenty-five magic points. So, maybe only four hours rest?”
“I’m more comfortable with four hours.” Brytha replied.
Chuck and Brytha sat down, backs against the stone wall of the ravine, Glyrgaph floated down to their eye-level.
Ten minutes passed before Brytha broke the silence. “I’m not sleepy, doesn’t look like you are either. You have to sleep or meditate to recharge, or does it just happen? I don’t have much magic and it recharges with time—nothing I do to make it happen.”
“So far, that’s how it worked for me, too. I did plug into the gateway to this chasm, charged faster. So, I can affect it, but it’s passive recharge.” Chuck answered.
“Something’s happening.” Glyrgaph rose as he spoke. “The wind is shifting and increasing in velocity.”
Chuck stood up a fraction of a second before Brytha. They ended standing shoulder to shoulder.
“Guess I was mistaken about being done.” Chuck mumbled.
“And a few other things.” Brytha let her laugh soften the blow.
“Ouch! Right at the heart, if I had one, that is. Then, of course, you’re right, as usual.”
Brytha's laughter erupted, sharp and piercing, cutting through the sudden, ferocious howl of the wind. But as the wind escalated into a violent tempest, her laughter faltered and died, swallowed by the roaring chaos.
“Glad the dome is in place that would rip my skin right off.” She raised her voice to be heard over the sound of rocks crashing into the stone walls around them, and the screeching wind.
“Skin’s overrated.” Chuck shouted, forcing a smile.
“Without your protective shell. We’d not stand a chance.” Glyrgaph floated down to be heard. A slight shudder worked through the grass that made up his body.
“The walls on this dome will last for a few more days, right?” Chuck asked.
“Yes, but if this storm lasts that long, we’ll run out of time.”
“At this point, I don’t know if we have any better ideas than to sit and wait. Maybe whatever is doing this will see the futility…” The sudden silence stopped Chuck mid-sentence, “That’s unnerving. Are they listening?”
“I don’t think so. Maybe a short burst was all it was supposed to be? Or maybe they’re trying to lull us to bring down the dome?” Brytha’s head swiveled as she spoke. “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.”
“Most of the sand is gone. Now the floor is primarily stone. Looks like water or sand has left its mark behind.” Chuck pointed at the shallow grooves in the stone. “Reminds me of an overhead view of a rocky area with dried up streams.”
“The sand isn’t gone, though.” Brytha pointed to drifts of sand against the stone walls, the dome, and against the open space at the bend behind them. “Looks like the bend marked a new section.”
“Out of the sinking sand? May be why I didn’t sink when I rolled away from the wall earlier.”
“Hmm, maybe this ravine is split up by encounters and once we’re through the segment or conquer the threat, it’s done?” Brytha wondered out loud.
“Makes as much sense as anything else. Question is, do we risk dropping the dome and moving forward?” Chuck asked.
“We still have to rest for a few hours, lets tackle that question then.”
Glyrgaph and Chuck sounded their agreement, and they settled back down to rest.
