HoN Lore 19: Contact

The hastiness of Pyromancers are famous throughout the lands. Like the flames they wield and command, Pyromancers have a “Burn first, ask questions later” mantra. It is also a major contributing factor to just about all of their mistakes.

And Lina found herself in such a predicament, facing an onslaught of dirt and gravel, too much to be incinerated with a spell. She immediately tried to back up, but with her robes, there was no outrunning the avalanche. She put her teachings to use, trying in vain to speed herself up by levitating through the air, but it only improved her speed by a margin. A force of nature is unforgiving, and a single mistake could prove to be your very last.

But Masamune was not so willing to give up his dear friend. Immediately channeling his own mana into her body, he infused her with additional strength, and watched with anxiety as the added speed allowed her to move slightly faster. But she was not out of the danger yet.

“Do not look back!” he shouted, “Go for higher ground! It can only travel downwards!”

In which she immediately decided that it was true he was an idiot, and if she survived this, he would get a piece of her mind. They were in the middle of a forest, not on a mountain.

“You can fly, can’t you?! Fly up!”

She mentally added another mark to his stupidity. Levitation and flight were completely different. Pyromancers only learnt the art of levitation in order to keep themselves spot clean while they burned things, which tend to spread randomly, even to the ground the Pyromancer was standing on. It was not flight.

“Or…how about climbing a tree? Lina?”

She was about to turn around and snap at him for assuming any Pyromancer would ever be undignified enough to attempt climbing a tree, when the Silencer interrupted with, “You aren’t forced to go in a straight line; just turn right.”

At least two members of this party had SOME intelligence, she thought, as she heeded the advice, and escaped the avalanche.

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“Missed,” commented Pebbles.

“You know,” said the Scout while checking his crossbow, “I’m not sure what I saw, but from my electric eyes, I’d have sworn that one of them was flying.” He checked the sight, making sure the bolt was aligned perfectly.

Jereziah frowned in thought, “Flying? Might have been a Hunter. Humans cannot fly; only levitate.”

“There is a difference?” asked the Scout.

“Yes,” was the reply.

The Scout turned around nonchalantly, checking his things, and put down his crossbow, “Well I don’t think any of it concerns me. I can neither fly nor levitate over to check.”

The Earth Elemental appeared to be deep in thought.

“Scout want fly?”

“I’ve dreamt about it,” said the Scout, beginning to sheathe his daggers, “But they mostly ended with me falling for some reason.”

“Pebbles help,” said the Earth Elemental eagerly.

The Scout was reaching for his crossbow this time, before saying, “Wha…” and the crossbow dropped from his grip.

“What in the…” said the Legionnaire. Nymphora watched with interest.

“Oh my,” said Ophelia.

“What is everyone staring for?” said Jereziah agitatedly, “He is going in THEIR direction! ALONE! AFTER HIM.”

Achievement Earned: Scout learned Fly!

#########################################

Daemons hath no wrath like an angry Pyromancer.

Was the thought of one beleaguered Blacksmith as he did his best to avoid the flaming fireballs that crashed into the ground he was standing on a second before.

“Silencer…HELP!”

The Silencer gave the Blacksmith a look of sympathy. But he was not risking the Pyromancer’s flame either.

“Lina, you’ll burn down the whole Forest!” he yelped.

“Not…until…you…learn!” she said, accompanying each word with another fireball.

The Blacksmith was hapless as he dodged left and right, unwilling to hide behind a tree for fear of a forest fire. Then he shouted, “What’s that sound?”

The Silencer cocked his head to the left, having also heard it. “It sounds like someone screaming,” he observed.

Lina continued her tirade of fireballs, saying, “Yes, this idiot’s screaming!”

And the Blacksmith dispelled the next fireball using a hammer, saying, “But that’s not me!”

“It sounds as though it is approaching,” commented the Silencer.

“It doesn’t matter!” said Lina, pointing at the Blacksmith, “this idiot…”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”

And then a human crashed from the sky right into the unsuspecting Blacksmith, who immediately fell to the ground.

“I was not aware that Pyromancers could summon screaming humans from the sky onto others,” said the Silencer.

“I…that wasn’t…WHAT?!”

##############################################

“He has made contact with the enemy,” said the Keeper.

“Was that a pun?” giggled Nymphora.

“Enough,” said Jereziah, giving Nymphora and Pebbles a stern look, “From what I know of his skills, and the nature of his…entry, we must assume that he has been captured.”

“It also appears that he has taken down one of them,” said the Keeper.

“His sacrifice shall not be in vain,” replied Jereziah. “How many are left?”

“Two.”

Jereziah nodded at the Legionnaire. The Legionnaire hefted up his axe, and proceeded to the front of the group. Jereziah then reached over and pulled Nymphora off of the Legionnaire’s shoulder.

“Stay with Ophelia.”

She seemed to want to be at the front and see the fight, but she nodded.

#######################################

It was unfortunate that both groups were too focused on the other to notice the heavens, where a comet streaked, bright enough to be glimpsed even during the day. But it was getting closer. The gravitational pull had caught it, and it was coming.

It had seen Jereziah during his sleep, and it had come to know his dreams. His hopes, his fears, and his worries.

And it was coming.


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