Grand Game 574: The Opening Gambit

You have taken the form of a level 267 elder wolf, gaining primal resistance (+30% against all damage types) and health regeneration (2% per second). Your nether resistance has reached 100%. You are now immune to all hostile nether spells and effects.

Your current nether regeneration rate is: 20%.

You have cast engine of war, increasing your Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity by +20 ranks for 30 minutes. 

You have trigger-cast quick mend. 

You have cast doppelganger, transforming your form into that of a level 301 stygian harbinger, and concealing all your Marks.

I not only shapeshifted, I disguised my form thereafter, too. 

It was not to mask my elder form from my allies that I used doppelganger. My shapeshifting ability was no secret amongst the forerunners.

No, the real reason I transformed myself into a harbinger—using a basilisk-dog chimera from the mature tree’s nest as a subject—was to confuse the stygians. How long they would stay confused was anyone’s guess, but initially at least, my form should give me the element of surprise.

Ideally, I would have preferred to assume a more anonymous guise—like that of a random hydra—and if I was fighting alone, I would have. But doing that in the midst of a raging battle risked my allies mistaking me for the enemy, or worse yet, hesitating to strike for fear of hitting me, and that I could not have.

Adriel has cast undead’s champion (+100% damage inflicted) and warrior’s boon on you (+20 to all physical attributes). Duration: 20 minutes.

Safyre has cast aether grace (+50% chance physical evasion) and aether protection on you (+50% reduced nether damage). Duration: 20 minutes.

Farren has cast lich’s aid (+25% to the effectiveness of all your skills and abilities) and reaper’s shield on you (+75% death magic resistance). Duration: 1 hour. 

Ceruvax has cast healing wolf (doubling your health regeneration rate) and ancient’s protection on you (+20% to all resistances). Duration: 20 minutes.

“All done,” Ceruvax said, lowering his staff.

Nodding, Safyre glanced at Algar. He was the last of the four commanders to return. “I’ve received confirmation from my captains,” the high captain reported. “The Bane Wolves stand ready.”

“That’s the final piece in place then.” Safyre spread her arms to incorporate all four commanders in the gesture. “Go. Take charge of your people. It begins.”

Saluting, Regus, Duggar, Zekiel, and Algar hurried off once more. 

They would not return to the basin again, not until the battle was concluded. It was only the initial meetings that Safyre insisted be done face-to-face. During the battle itself, the four would communicate with Safyre through the forerunners’ farspeaker network. 

The four couldn’t use the bracelets themselves, of course, for which reason, they each had a player assigned to them. Nyra was with the wolves, Anriq kept the wolfmen company, Terence was with the Bane Wolves, and Shael was accompanying the nagians under Zekiel’s command. 

That left only Teresa and Ghost to consider.

The blade priestess was already with the water mages, and would act as Lucius’ second, while the pyre wolf was with Elise’s small band, which had its own mission.

Safyre turned to Lucius. “Do it.” 

Bowing from the waist, the nagian elite wove mana and vanished. I knew where he was headed—to the water mages positioned beneath the river. Soon, the valley would be flooded. 

And that meant it was time I, too, took my position. 

Turning about, I began scaling the basin’s eastern side. The slope was steep, but my paws found easy purchase and I flowed up the sides of the basin. 

Ceruvax’s gaze tracked me, his stare hard and appraising. “You make a good wolf, boy,” he whispered, his mindvoice tightly controlled and likely imperceptible to anyone else. “So, why do you wish to give it up?”

“I wish no such thing,” I growled. The old envoy was almost certainly referring to my determination to forge the forerunners into a single House. Someone had obviously let something slip while I was away this morning. 

“That’s not what I heard,” he said, confirming my suspicion.

“I will not renege on my oath to Wolf. Far from it. What I do will only make Wolf stronger.”

“How?” he demanded harshly.

“This is not the time for this conversation. Like I told you, we’ll talk—but after the battle.”

“Tell me,” he insisted.

I gnashed my teeth in frustration. But despite my annoyance I did not order Ceruvax to silence like I knew I could. It would not do to ill-treat him so. 

“Fine,” I snarled. “If you want the truth, I think Wolf has walked its own path too long. We cannot do so anymore. To overcome the new Powers, we must unite under one roof. We must become one House.”

“So, you will bind Wolf to the other bloodlines?” he snarled. “To Death? To Pestilence? Will you subject us to their rule too? Make servants of once proud wolves?” 

“No, old man,” I snapped, my patience at end. “I will bind them to Wolf. Wolf will be subservient to no one!”

Silence.

“Are you satisfied now?” 

“I am,” he replied, his voice serene and unruffled once more.

My eyes narrowed. “Was all that a test?”

“It was.” He hesitated, then added softly, “It is the bloodline I serve first and foremost.”

It was an apology of sorts—but only of sorts.

I bit off another growl. “Do not forget, I do too.” Cresting the basin, I leaped onto the flat plain beyond. The river was half a mile to the east, and beyond that the nest awaited. “Now can we leave off the tests, and just win the goddamn battle—please?”

 “As you wish, Wolf Lord.”

✵ ✵ ✵

A few minutes later, Ceruvax, Adriel, Keros, and Farren—minus their new pets—followed me out of the command post. The battle was about to begin and the need for secrecy had passed. Safyre, though, did not leave the basin.

Of all the forerunner leaders, the aetherist—supported by Sedgwick, who was acting as her second—was the only one who would remain at the command post. It fell to her to monitor and direct the battle from afar using her scrying spells and the farspeaker network. It was arguably not the best use of Safyre’s talents. Especially considering that she was the only other ascendant player in our ranks.

But someone had to serve as our reserve. And if the worst befell, someone had to survive to pick up the pieces. And given that Safyre was the only other Power in the forerunners, that person could only be her—something Safyre herself hadn’t failed to recognize. 

So, in the end—with more grace than I could’ve managed under the circumstances—Safyre had acceded to her role.

“Do you see anything yet?” she asked, only the faintest hint of strain peeking through her mindvoice.

I shook my head. “Not yet,” I replied, feeling the same tension she did.

Our entire battle plan hinged on Lucius and the water mages being able to accomplish what they promised, and while we had more than a few contingencies lined up, they all involved considerably higher causality rates.

Turning my head from left to right, I surveyed the nest anew. The stygians’ numbers and deployment had changed little since my last visit. The void tree was in the center. Behind it was the black rift, and on either side of it were the two grounded overlords. There were no nagas—a welcome relief—nor had the void tree replenished the lesser stygians’ numbers.

Courtesy of Ghost, Elise, and my own efforts, there were now a little under eight thousand lesser stygians in the valley, leaving our own forces outnumbered nearly three to one. But those were odds I’d take any day, especially considering that we had more than a few surprises in store for the void. 

I scanned the valley anew, searching for the first such surprise. C’mon, Lucius, where are— 

My eyes narrowed. Was that a wisp of steam I saw in the distance?

“I see something,” Ceruvax reported on the farspeaker link.

“I do too,” I added.

“Well, I don’t,” Keros muttered.

“That’s because you lack wolf eyes,” Sedgwick said primly. He, too, was on the communication network.

“Shut it, dwarf,” the windknight growled, but the words lacked any real animosity. Keros’ gaze was also fixed on the distant nest, and he was bouncing lightly on his feet. 

He’s looking forward to this, I thought. 

“Michael?” Safyre asked, ignoring the pair’s commentary.

“Something is definitely happening,” I told her. I could pick out at least six different trails of steam rising from the valley now, and more were appearing every second. The stygians had begun to stir as well. They, too, realized something was amiss. 

“But will it be quick enough?” Safyre asked worriedly.

“I think—”

I broke off as a geyser of water and superheated steam exploded out of the valley.

A second followed in its wake. Then a third. And a fourth.

“By damn,” Keros whispered aloud. “I don’t believe it, those creepy bastards actually did it.”

My lips curled back in a doggy grin. Lucius and the water mages were certainly delivering on their promises. 

The nagians had discovered a large network of tunnels and caves beneath the valley and had hit upon the idea of creating an underground lake—which they had done easily enough by siphoning water from the river itself. The next step had been sealing the lake and heating the water—this had been the most tedious and time-consuming part. The mages had been certain that once the underground lake had been heated sufficiently, its waters would explode upward at a prodigious rate, flooding the valley in no time. 

The rest of us had been more skeptical.

Events were bearing out the water mages, though.

Over a dozen spouts had appeared all over the valley, each sending an incalculable amount of water gushing into the valley.

And more geysers were forming by the second.

I didn’t have to report what was going on to Safyre, of course. She could see for herself what was happening. Many of the stygians were already ankle deep in water. And the nagians were not yet done.

“Lucius reports stage one complete,” Teresa relayed tersely. “Moving on to stage two.”

No one said anything. Instead, we watched with bated breath.

The ground rumbled. 

And a second later, the previously quiescent river grew choppy. I knew what was happening, we all did. In the far distance, I spotted a mound of soil sink. 

It was only the beginning.

As if that mound was the first domino, a ten yard stretch of ground to the south of it collapsed. Then the next bit did. And the next. And the next, until all along the river’s horse-shoed shaped perimeter, the eastern bank… vanished.

Sending frothing water surging into the valley.

“Stage two complete,” Teresa reported unnecessarily, and with more than a little glee in her voice. “Valley successfully flooded.”

“Give Lucius our thanks,” Safyre replied gravely. “Sending brotherhood message now.”

On the tail end of Safyre’s words, three roiling balls of lightning flew out of the command post, and arcing across the sky, sailed through the black rift.

It was the promised signal. Seeing it, the brotherhood would know to launch their own assault. It was my cue too. Drawing psi, I began my final preparations.

You have cast engine of war, wind daemon, and trigger-cast quick mend. 

“Begin stage three,” Safyre instructed.

It was the command everyone had been eagerly awaiting and was the order to commence the assault-proper. 

✵ ✵ ✵

Almost before Safyre finished speaking, portals started opening along the newborn lake’s northern, western, and eastern shores as the nagians under Lucius and Zekiel’s joint-command began ferrying our people to the water’s edge. From there, the individual companies would unleash havoc on the lesser stygians.

But it was not to join in the main battle that Ceruvax, Adriel, Farren, Keros, and I had gathered on the basin’s rim.

My gaze drifted to the two distant overlords. Neither had moved yet, but it was only a matter of time before they did. 

“Opening portals now,” Ceruvax and Keros reported in unison. The pair had the aetherstones I’d etched yesterday and would be leading the strike force against the overlords. Although it would have a very different composition from the one I’d envisioned yesterday. 

Instead of a mixed force of nagians and forsworn, strike team one would consist of Ceruvax and Farren, and team two of Keros and Adriel. They alone would be taking the battle to the overlords.

Reaching into his pocket, Farren removed a pair of remote triggers—my triggers—and placed them under my clawed feet. I glanced from the triggers to the patiently waiting four. 

“Go ahead,” Adriel said quietly. “We’re ready.”

Inhaling deeply, I pressed down on both triggers.

You have activated 30 tier 4 traps. 

You have activated 30 tier 4 traps. 

60 tier 4 traps are no longer dormant.

“Bombs primed and ready,” I reported. 

“Do it,” Safyre instructed.

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied and pressed down on the triggers again.

A trap has been triggered!

A trap has been triggered!

Light flashed, and in the distance, the overlords shook. I wasn’t done though. Pressing down gently again, I triggered the remaining traps one after the other, and in quick succession.

A trap has been triggered!

A trap has been triggered!

…

…

You have injured a level 325 stygian overlord!

You have injured a level 321 stygian overlord!

My mouth dropped open in a doggy laugh.

“It worked?” Ceruvax asked, correctly interpreting my expression.

“It did,” I replied. “By goddamn it actually did!”

“Well, hells,” Keros said, “now, isn’t that something.”

“Enough dawdling people,” Safyre ordered. “Go!”

The four went.

The strike teams were numerically inferior to the originals, but they more than made up for that lack in raw power. Ceruvax, Farren, and Adriel’s blood memories alone would carry the day, I expected. 

Assuming, of course, that the third Power we faced didn’t interfere.

Which was where I came in.

“I’m going in, too,” I reported to Safyre.

“Stay alive, Wolf,” she whispered.

“I’ll do my best,” I replied, and shadow jumped into the distance.