[Fsh] B2 Chapter 46: Bladefrog

Shiver peered out at a circular clearing. She watched entranced, as she glimpsed one of the true wonders of the world of Fearshaping.

Even after all she had seen in the Gloamshores, nothing trumped this.

“Well I’ll be Feardamned.”

She watched as two small frogs danced in the centre of the clearing. Each wielded long, straight blades as they lashed out at one another.

Wielding literal blades… of grass. The same metallic grey grass that covered the Thundervale.

The frogs, were sparring with one another.

As their blades clashed, Shiver could hear the peals of metal all the way from her perch on the cliff.

She watched the movements of the frogs, and she drew her Phobia into reality. The long, curving blade of ice was far more imposing than the blades of grey grass that they held.

Yet, they made her look like a child in their bladedance.

The reason she had sought out the ebonwood daggers that Solastra had so generously provided, was because she was still hopeless with her Phobia. She had much preferred the twin daggers of frost, before they had so rudely morphed into the unwieldy, if beautiful blade that she now possessed.

She began to understand Highlady Solastra’s rationale in having her hunt them.

Shiver turned to the undead revenant beside her.  

“You must have done this too, as a Fearshaper of blades. I’d better hop to it then.”

Bladey wordlessly met her gaze, his ivory grin gleaming in the flashes of pink-red lightning.

“I always knew you had an excellent sense of humour.”

Shiver’s initial plan had been simple.

To conjure a plane of ice beneath them, and to drop them into the sky, letting gravity do the rest. If it worked once with the anglerwhale, why wouldn’t she resort to the same strategy again?

Especially seeing as her personal gravity well was currently having tea. It was all dreadfully inconvenient.

[Shard of the frostwolf]

[Mirrordance of the spiritfox]

Shiver discarded her initial plan.

Instead, she called forth a plane of ice before her, and stepped out into the clearing surrounded by trees that shifted in the silent winds that preceded a thunderstorm. Lavendar leaves from the canopies of the trees surrounding the clearing swirled around the pair as they danced.

Shiver came to a halt before them, watching as their blades flashed. She flinched, as a streak of red lightning struck the clearing, and watched with wide eyes as the frogs weaved around it. The force of even the heavens above had not so much as interrupted their battle, the bolt of lightning easily rendered a minor inconvenience.

As she strode forward, the frogs finally relented in their bladedance, coming to a standstill before her.

Ever since Virgil had begrudgingly shared information about creatures’ Alarum, killing them as she did the anglerwhale was out of the question. Letting gravity do the work would hardly maximise the invocations she stood to receive.

She recalled her fight with the spiritfox, and how throughout the fight, it had employed more and more of its powers, allowing her to elicit more of its Alarum for herself.

More of the creature’s own terror.

Besides, she was certain that these frogs wouldn’t so easily fall to mere gravity, especially when they danced around lightning like it was a passing leaf in the wind.

Shiver drew her Phobia into reality and called her Fear.

[Frostglide of the spiritfox]

She flashed forward, and quickly realised the first flaw in her plan. The frogs, for all of their might, were tiny. One of the pair, flowed around her sword, landing effortlessly on her shoulder.

Then, it raised a hand, and slapped her across the cheek.

Shiver stood still, stunned for a moment, as her head rocked to the side, the force of the frog’s slap making it head ring. She watched, as the frog leapt off her shoulder, and motioned for the other to join it in the clearing.

They resumed their sparring, ignoring the gaping interruption that was staring at them.

“You intervened in their battle. That was a warning.”

Shiver she stared at the strange creature that approached her.

It looked like a cross between an elf and a fox. The creature reached up to her chin, and was dressed in long, flowing robes bearing some similarity to Knight Severim’s. It was bipedal, and walked as elves did. To describe it as such however, was to do the creature a disservice.

Just like the frogs locked in battle before her, the creature glided as it walked, effortlessly betraying movements as graceful as flowing water. Yet despite its strange appearance, Shiver was drawn to something at its side.

A long, curving blade like her own.

“So, there you are, old friend.”

The creature looked past Shiver, at something behind her. She turned and stumbled as the realisation hit her. She called Idriel’s resonance to her, and the words carved themselves into her vision once more.

Stage of Fear: Trepidation

Guide burden: [Unquantifiable]

Fearcore integrity: [Critical]

Progress to Fearcore consolidation: [100%]

Retrieving generic resources in your proximity:

·        Bladefrog [80% compatibility]

·        Thundermare [40% compatibility]

·        Lightning wyvern [20% compatibility]

Retrieving named resources in proximity:  

·        Voltroth [Severe]

Shiver’s eyes lingered on the undead Fearshaper of blades behind her.

“It looks like you haven’t reached your final rest, yet. Has she turned you to against your will?”  

Shiver felt the edge of a blade come to rest at her throat, despite the fact that the creature had not made a single motion towards its sword. The undead Fearshaper of blades stared wordlessly at fox creature, and it eventually let out a long sigh.

“So, you still wish to be redeemed. You never changed, even in death.”

The creature smiled, pointed teeth emerging from the edges of its mouth. The undead Fearshaper of blades turned to regard her. The sensation of a blade at her throat removed itself.  

“You were his guide.”

“A long, long time ago. Thank you, for giving him a chance at redemption. My name is Voltroth. With Idriel’s return, you must know that already.”

Shiver gulped, and she heard the splatter of blood. One of the frogs that duelled in the clearing, fell to the ground.

Dead.

A single, elegant cut across its throat. The victor pronounced in blood.

“Fearshaper of ice, you come to the Thundervale in search of invocations?”

Shiver nodded.

“Although, I’m unsure how my Fear of ice resonates with blades. Then again, she did say that we could stretch-”

“You’re dumber than you look.”

“Does that mean I look intelligent? Thank you- Oh.”

Her eyes traced where the guide pointed. Towards her Phobia that she gripped in her hands.

“Ice is elegance, and its whisper heralds death, just as easily as the blade. Your Fear intersects naturally with the Bladefrog’s abilities. Your Phobia reflects as much, Icewing.”

“My name is Shiver.”

“Shiver, then. I am the keeper of the Thundervale. If Flora has sent you to awaken a new dimension to your Fear of ice, you have come to the right place. The Bladefrog awaits.”

“Hold on a minute. When Bladey died, you lived? How is it that you’re here when he’s…”

Voltroth smiled, and as his lips moved.

Idriel screamed.

Shiver felt the resonance emerge from the midst of her Fearcore, blocking out the guide’s words as her ears began to ring.

“Unpleasant, isn’t it. Discussing aspects of our natures is forbidden. But you have bigger things to worry about. Or should I say, ‘smaller’.”

Shiver reeled from the scream that had originated from her Fearcore. She stared with wide eyes at the guide, before shaking her head, attempting to register his words.

“Hmm?”

“They fight to the death. Don’t hold back.”

[Shield of the frostwolf]

The frog shattered the ice shield that she called forth, as Shiver barely reacted to its meteoric approach in time. Before the frog could land a second blow, Shiver invoked her Fear.

[Howl of the frostwolf]

The frog sliced through the blizzard winds that tore towards it and lunged towards her once more, in a second leap.

“If you don’t use your Phobia, you’re never going to properly wield it.”

“Even when this thing is trying to end me?”

Voltroth laughter echoed in the clearing as he watched Shiver burst backwards on her skates of ice. Then she yelped as another bolt of lightning touched down next to her.

Before she could recover from the flash and sound, the frog leapt towards her, closing the distance.

Shiver summoned a plane of ice in front of her, which the frog flew into. It emerged far above her from another plane that she called forth. She summoned a trio of shards and directed them towards the frog as it hung in the air, unable to manoeuvre itself.

The bladefrog effortlessly slashed the approaching shards apart.

Shiver watched with wide eyes as it shot downwards just as fast as the lightning that danced above them.

Unlike the lightning, it only left silence in its wake.

It ended with a ring of bladegrass against frost, as she raised her Phobia just in the nick of time to intercept its strike. Shiver wracked her brain for strategies as she attempted to retreat, the Bladefrog hounding her relentlessly.   

“Well done, you’re making it call its Fear. Ending the fight prematurely would be a waste.”

Shiver watched as the frog’s slashes tore open wounds across her forearms.

[Woundstill of the frostwolf]

 Not that I could end it prematurely anyway.

The frog was sending slashes through the air at such a rate that it prevented her from strategising.

“You’ll need to do better if-‘

Shiver tuned Voltroth’s words out, when she noticed the hairs on her arms raise.

She grinned, a plan taking shape instantly.

Then leapt backwards.

[Interlude of the spiritfox]

The bladefrog froze in its path, and she watched as the lightning bolt meant for her speared downwards, slamming straight into it. She watched in relief as the frog fell to the ground, its muscles twitching. She felt her hair rise again, and she grinned, realising that a second lightning bolt was forthcoming, which would finish the creature off.

As the red lightning speared downwards, she watched as the bladefrog parried the bolt with the bladegrass in its hand, even as its entire body twitched violently from the first bolt.

What in Insanity.

Shiver didn’t waste a second, and she called her Fear.

She realised she had made a mistake, in underestimating her foe.

It had to be corrected.

[Shield of the frost wolf]

The Shield blinked into existence over the creature, encompassing it in a bubble of frost. Unlike before, the bladefrog lacked momentum, and it would take time to shatter the shield.

If the frog was too dexterous for her blade to reach it, she would just have to rely on her Fearshaping, the guide’s words be damned.

She would rather be alive, and worse with the sword, than dead for having vainly tried to battle it with only her Phobia.

Shiver realised the wisdom of Virgil’s words – to end the fight as soon as possible. The moment that ego entered the battle, it was as good as over, and her throat would be slit by a blade of grass.

Ironically, she would never be able to live that down if it happened.

[Desolation]

She called her strongest invocation born from her Anhedonia within the sealed bubble, and the bladefrog experienced the full force of her-

Shiver’s eyes widened, as her shield exploded outwards, the bladefrog’s slashes hurtling in every direction-

Imbued with the frost of her very own making.

“Shit!”

Even as Shiver leapt into a roll, she felt slashes sink into the skin of her forearms and legs.

Having survived two consecutive lightning bolts and her most powerful invocation, concentrated within the bubble of her [shield of the frost wolf], it was a miracle that the bladefrog was still standing.

But the wounds from its resilience were written across its body.

Checkmate.

[Woundstill of the frostwolf]

The smaller the creature, the more effective her invocation would be in locking up its body. The bladefrog went rigid, as frost covered its wounds, restricting its movement. Shiver thrust her Phobia forwards, ending the fight for good as the tip of her Phobia found the bladefrog’s chest.

She collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, staring up at a stormy sky tinged with the red-pink hue of lightning that danced above her. Her chest heaved as she greedily lapped up the air that the fight had denied her, the bladefrog keeping her on her toes every second of the way.

Shiver felt an itch at the side of her neck, and when she held her hand up to it, she realised, that it had come away slick.

In the moment she had lunged forwards, to kill the bladefrog, it had broken free of her frost, and delivered a final blow in exchange.

She coughed, as blood gurgled in her mouth.

[Healing touch of the Trippany]

Shiver spat the blood from her mouth as her wounds closed. She sat down in a heap, casting a grateful look at the Dreadwalker who approached with Virgil in tow. Lady Velra nudged Virgil as they approached.

“They always underestimate the bladefrogs. Shiver, I’m telling your friends that you almost died to a frog wielding a blade of grass.”

For once, Shiver was too exhausted to deliver a witty riposte. She bit her lip in frustration, realising that even when regaling the full force of her invocations, she had almost fallen to a Feardamned frog.

Lady Velra interrupted her thoughts, as if reading her mind.

“Oh dearie, why do you think I came here in the first place? It’s the unassuming creatures you should watch out for. The same can certainly be said about Fearshapers. We could have left you to bleed out, but we’re short on time, unless you would like to spend another few days in my niece’s Mansion? Go on now, absorb its Alarum before it dissipates.”

Shiver took a deep breath as she focused from the haze of Alarum that had emerged from the bladefrog’s body.

She winced as she drew it into her Fearcore, the shape of the frog’s own Fear of blades cutting into her. With the Tranquillity withdrawals still at their height, she watched her Fearcore stretched to accommodate the bladefrog’s Alarum, creating the beginnings of a new dimension to her Fear. One which resonated with her Phobia.

[Intuition of the Bladefrog]

[Slash of the Bladefrog]

[Parry of the Bladefrog]

---

Caledon watched helplessly as the massive Thundermare rounded on him. The herd around it watched impassively, trusting the veteran to deal with the interloper. They had faced much worse predators, living in the Thundervale.

“Feardamnit…”

Caledon’s eyes passed over the other Thundermares lapping at the water from the river, and an idea formed in his head, even as the massive creature before him steadily approached. Vigilant to any hidden threats Caledon concealed.

He had tried to subdue it with [authority of the wyvern], but his invocation had barely given the creature pause. It seemed to have a strong sense for who the lords of its domain were, and Caledon did not number amongst them. [Bloodlink of the Vampress] had slowed the Thundermare by a tiny degree, empowering Caledon with an equal measure of speed, but it had called forth lightning onto itself to replenish its energy immediately.

He gritted his teeth, as he called forth the first invocation.

[Nectar of the Osepria]

The water which the Thundermares drank turned golden, and Caledon could feel as the horses lapped up the liquid. The invocation did not have an immediate effect on the horses. In fact, it did not have any effect on them.

But Caledon quickly became aware of its purpose.

It was a receptacle. One for his Fear.

His shoulders shrunk, as he called the very first invocation he had sworn never to invoke.

[Corrupt]