Grand Game 583: Transference

Kartara’s words sent a ripple of excitement coursing through me. I’d half-feared her cynicism and distrust would get the better of her, but I’d not misjudged the huntmistress. She knew as well as I did that this was not an opportunity she could let slip by.

The first real chance the brotherhood had in years—or was that decades or centuries?—to slay a void tree. They could not let it go abegging.

 I jerked my muzzle upward. But time was short, and we didn’t have much of it to decide on how to go about killing the stygian Power. Already, the void tree had descended to three hundred feet. He was still screaming in my metaphorical ear, but I’d long since stopped listening.

“What do you need us to do?” Kartara asked.

If I were in human form, I would have smiled. The huntmistress was not trying to take charge. When it came to tackling the void tree, I was the expert, and the tactics we would employ were mine to decide—rightfully so.

“I’m going to teleport onto the tree again,” I replied. ”I will be more effective if I am up close. Unfortunately, entering melee range is also going to help the tree’s own attacks. Dodging all his thorns is going to be nearly impossible. Any way you could help with that?” 

“Did he just refer to the void tree as a ‘he’?” Cait muttered.

Ignoring the nether witch’s interjection, the huntmistress, asked a question of her own. “Hmm. Can you survive one of its—his—thorn salvos?”

“Yes,” I said simply.

“Then don’t bother dodging. My people will handle it.”

“Excellent,” I replied, not questioning her confidence. “Another thing. Can you stop him from rooting himself again?”

“I assume you want to prevent him from healing anew?”

“That’s the idea,” I agreed.

“Cait will see to it. And don’t worry about the flying serpents. We’ll keep them off your back too.”

“Thank you,” I murmured. I wasn’t worried about winged snakes, but I didn’t bother explaining. 

It seemed that while the void tree was dead set on protecting the nagas—all of whom were still fleeing southwards—he had no compunctions about sacrificing the lesser stygians in a bid to delay my slaughter of his creations, and the creatures had already attacked me multiple times during my conversation with the brotherhood. 

None of the flying serpents had come close to harming me, though, nor for that matter, had any of their landbound fellows. The creatures simply lacked the raw power or speed to harm me. I’d grown too strong for them.

Drawing mana, stamina, and psi, I saw to my preparation. “One last thing,” I said to Kartara.

“Yes?”

You have cast seeping shadows. 

“The stygian wolf—make sure she stays alive.”

“You summoned her?” the huntmistress guessed.

You have cast wind daemon.

“I did,” I replied, again choosing not to elaborate. There would be time aplenty to discuss Ghost’s true nature later if it became necessary. “Keep her safe.” I drew psi, preparing to shadow jump. “I’m good to go. Are your people ready?”

“They are.”

The psi spell thrummed in my mind, waiting for release. “Good. Then, you won’t hear from me again—not until the void tree is dead. I won’t risk using the farspeaker link while in melee range.” 

“That’s probably wise,” Kartara agreed, then added more softly, “Good luck, Havick.”

“Thanks. Let’s hope I won’t need it.” Not waiting for her response, I released the spell weave I held and blinked out.

✵ ✵ ✵

You have teleported onto a level 340 young void tree.

“YOU… AGAIN!” the tree bellowed.

“That’s right, I’m back,” I agreed, running lithely along one of the Power’s larger branches until I reached his trunk. 

It was hard to imagine where the tree’s consciousness lay, but at a guess, it was either within his solid center or the mass of roots beneath, and if I wanted to inflict fatal damage, it was against either of these areas that I had to strike. “It’s time we finished this.”

“GLADLY!”

Deigning to reply, I dug my clawed hind quarters into the hard bark beneath and anchored myself in place. With any luck, if the brotherhood did as they promised, this round, the fourth and final round of my skirmish with the tree—or was that fifth?—would go much quicker. Raising a paw, I got to it.

You have grazed your target, afflicting him with shadow. Current affliction: 5%.

My right forelimb a blur, I raked my claws down the trunk before me, barely scuffing the bark’s surface. But that was alright. I was only just getting started.

My left paw flashed out. My right again. Then left. And right once more.

You have stunned a young void tree for 1 second (partially resisted). 

You have grazed your target.

You have grazed your target.

You have grazed your target.

A level 340 young void tree’s shadow affliction has increased to 25%.

Of course, my foe did not stand idly by while I laid into him with my paws. Eight of his branches quivering in outrage, the void tree, launched a formidable salvo of thorns.

Steeling myself for what was to come, I ignored the onrushing missiles and kept slashing at the tree’s bark.

You have grazed your target.

…

…

Fortunately for me, my foe had not concentrated his attack. No doubt, expecting me to dodge, he had decided to saturate the area and make evasion impossible. As it was, he only weakened the effectiveness of his assault. I smiled grimly. It would be a good test case of the brotherhood’s capabilities. 

The tree’s salvo was almost on me. How are they going to stop it?

But the brotherhood didn’t stop it. 

And the deluge of ebon black slivers descended upon me unimpeded. 

A stygian thorn has failed to injure you. The attack has been blocked by your impregnable mind, consuming 0.1% psi in the process.

…

I reeled under the psychic assault and as the seconds ticked by, and one after the other the black thorns struck, each eating away a tiny percentage of my psi, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d been betrayed.

A stygian thorn has failed to injure you.

A stygian thorn has failed to injure you.

…

I didn’t forgo my own attacks, though. If I had been betrayed, I would deal with it after. And there would be an after, that much I was certain of. As deadly as the thorn barrage was, it was not enough to stop me.

Your psi is now at 63%.

A level 340 young void tree’s shadow affliction has increased to 55%.

The black shower ended, leaving me scathed, but far from defeated. My face contorting in a snarl, I broke off my attacks and drew psi. I’d weathered one salvo. But I was not so sure I would survive another, especially not if—

Haskil has cast time lapse, restoring any health, mana, stamina, and psi you lost during the last 5 seconds. Your psi is now at 92%.

I blinked. Haskil. That had to be a brotherhood mage. And that spell… Now, I understood why the huntmistress has asked the question she had.

A voice came through the farspeaker bracelet. It was Kartara. She was not speaking to me, but I suspected she meant for me to overhear. “Cait, is your spell ready?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Release it.”

There was no answering response from the nether witch, but it was only a moment later that I found out what spell the huntmistress had in mind.

Cait has activated a witching eye’s transference buff. 

Cait wishes to add you to a transference circle. Do you accept?

Even though I had no idea what a transference circle was, any doubts I had about the brotherhood’s motives had been assuaged, and I wasted no time in responding in the affirmative.

You have been designated as the center of a transference circle. As its focus, your mana, psi, stamina, and health will constantly be replenished by the other transference participants, draining them in turn. Current number of participants: 12. Duration: unlimited, this buff will remain in effect as long as transference participants continue to channel their energy into the circle.

The connection was instantaneous. One second, I was a single man—or wolf as the case may be—fighting on my lonesome, the next, I was at the center of an enormous confluence of energy as twelve conduits of spirit sprang into being to connect me to the other participants.

A transference circle has fully restored you.

Stamina, mana, psi, and even health gushed into me. It was as if a seemingly never-ending ocean of strength stood by, waiting to replenish my energy wells the moment they dipped in the slightest.

My lips lifted in a wolfish smile. The brotherhood’s aid simplified things greatly. Forgoing all thought of defense, ignoring the winged snakes circling overhead, and even my foe’s sustained and ongoing psi attacks, I stood stall on my hind legs and raked at his trunk like a cat.

The void tree’s fate was sealed. And this time around, there would be no escaping.

✵ ✵ ✵

Transcendence circle still active. Remaining number of participants: 5.

Cait has cast lava pool.

A young void tree is 100% shadow afflicted and its health is at 42%.

My foe’s health dropped quicker than I expected. 

In hindsight, I realized that a large part of the toughness the void tree had exhibited previously was a result of the mists’ restoring touch. But now, unrooted, and bereft of outside aid, the stygian Power was having a much harder time coping.

Which naturally led him to haranguing me again.

“FILTHY… DOG!”

“YOU… WILL… NOT WIN!”

“CALL… OFF… YOUR… HOUNDS… WOLFLING!”

“FIGHT… ME… FAIRLY.”

“NO… STOP!”

I ignored my foe’s feeble attempts at distraction, of course. But given how well things were going, I did take the time to assess the rest of the battle.

We were winning—soundly and on all fronts.

The nagas were still fleeing southwards—and wisely Kartara let them go. If the brotherhood had opted to pursue them, the tree would likely have tried to intervene.

The army of lesser stygians, meanwhile, had lost all cohesiveness. Thanks to Ghost and the brotherhood mages’ efforts, they were largely a spent force. 

The flying snakes were also losing the battle raging in the air. Kartara, it turned out, was a prolific summoner. During the course of my battle with the void tree, she’d unleashed a small army of her own into the sky—mostly flying wind elementals. Individually, each was more than a match for one of the winged serpents. And better yet, the huntmistress saw to it that her summons’ numbers were constantly replenished.

I, too, had made significant inroads. 

My claws had stripped away all the ash-colored bark from the patch of trunk I assaulted, exposing the stark-white wood beneath. The wood wasn’t any softer, but with my forelimbs brimming with shadow and the tree fully shadow afflicted, each swipe of my paws dealt more damage than previously.

A young void tree’s health is at 36%.

Better yet, Cait had forced my foe to reverse his downward trajectory. Time and again the stygian Power attempted to land. But each time he neared the ground, the nether witch transformed the area into a pit of boiling lava that the void tree was none too keen to dip his roots into. 

Eventually, realizing, he would not be allowed to anchor his roots anew, the void tree changed tactics and shot skyward. Perhaps that was in a bid to break the transference circle. But I didn’t think he was going to succeed. From what I understand of Cait’s witching eye spell, it was based on line of sight. And the stygian Power simply didn’t have enough time to escape sight range.

It didn’t stop him from trying, though.

A young void tree’s health is at 25%.

Victory is a foregone conclusion, I thought in satisfaction.