Chronicles of the Artisan Nomad

Chapter 19: An Explosive Revelation

Blue flames erupted forward as the spectral entity regained its footing after being pushed back. Era and Lulith had to leap backward. The being struck forward, seeing me and Dr. Elora as potential enemies. We both narrowly dodged out of the way as spectral flames licked at my leg, the fire searing a bit of skin off. The entity turned its attention to a downed professor with Aurelia hovering over his body, using elven healing magic. I yelled to her, "Aurelia, move!" The entity sent a wave of blue fire towards the girl and the professor. The small girl saw the strike too slowly; however, in the nick of time, a small shield blocked the blow. The green amulet on her neck glowed, shaking the area around her, as a green shield created a small sphere around her body.

I attempted to get the monster's attention by throwing one of my sleep daggers at its large body. It merely fell off harmlessly, but it did turn towards me. I ran away, and so did Dr. Elora. We ran toward Era and Lulith. The entity chased us down as we ran as a group to the back of the room, leading the entity away from the professor. I explained as we ran, "That thing has taken next to no damage! We need to come up with a plan!" Era looked at me with serious eyes, "What do you suggest, Lucius?" I thought on my feet, calling out orders, "Dr. Elora, Lulith, I need you to distract the specter for a moment. I need time to think." Lulith seemed like she wanted to complain but let out an annoyed sigh, knowing that for now, she had to follow my orders.

Dr. Elora nodded, "Very well. You seem more accustomed to battle, so I will let you decide our course of action." Elora always seemed like she kept a cool head, even when one of her friends was cut apart in front of her. She was reliable; that much I was certain about. Both began distracting the giant specter as a unit. Elora threw her bombs and other explosives at the monster, and Lulith seemed to be trying to hit it wherever she could. I watched for a brief moment as they tried to attack this monster; they couldn't do any real damage. Just as I thought that, Lulith seemed to accidentally graze a piece of its armor, and the monster momentarily took a step back.

That was when I noticed it: the piece in the armor she had hit had a small symbol engraved. I had no idea what it meant, but this gave me a thought. I looked toward Era, "I have a plan, and I am going to need your help, okay?" She quirked an eyebrow, saying, "I've seen you pull off the impossible more than once. Hit me with it." I gave her a small smile, "I am going to need you to charge my hand with your life magic when I call forth a new rune." She looked a little concerned, "Last time... your hand..?" I recalled my hand almost being blown to bits the last time we used one of these moves on Samuel. I gave a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, this time it won't involve fire."

I grabbed a marker from my bag and drew a symbol of a triangle with a line through the bottom; this was my eighth rune out of the ten that my grandpa left for me. I pointed my hand at the specter and called out, "Everyone out of the way!" Both girls who had been fighting quickly darted back once they heard my command. Era began channeling her life magic into my arm, and I yelled out the word, "Lithora!" The rune began to glow with a green aura on my hand. I felt an immense tingling sensation like something was growing. Vines shot out of my hand, leaving marks as they shot at an impossible speed toward the construct. The vines wrapped around the giant construct, restraining its steel armor and making the entity freeze in place.

The spectral being tried to resist the bindings, but to no avail. The bindings from my hand wrapped around it, coiling like a snake. The vines began to burn after a few seconds, but we had a window of opportunity. I looked to my right; Lulith was panting like the drugs had taken a lot out of her; it seemed she was spent. I asked, "Well, villain, do you have one more blow in you?" Lulith huffed, "I don't need you to question my abilities. You haven't seen anything yet, human. Let's just finish this already." I pointed at the inscription on the armor I had seen earlier, "Hit that with everything you've got left." Lulith nodded and said, "Don't blink; it's over after this. Consider my contract with you included!"