51 Japhet's Folly Assault pt. 3

(Right after Rictus collapsed the gate)

Rictus was impressed how little mana he needed bringing down the gate and wall. It worked out for their benefit since he was the one doing the attacking, but he would later investigate how larger cities protected themselves from such an attack.

Watching his followers attack was quite glorious. He was itching to enter the battlefield and make his presence known, and he could tell his guards were thinking similar thoughts. Despite this, something held him back from participating. He started getting a bad feeling when looking at the keep. Whatever it was, it worried Rictus. Even though he desired joining his men in battle, he knew it was not the right move.

A bottle of thick red liquid appeared from his storage. It was a simple vial of blood belonging to Reysera. He had gotten a bit of blood from her and Ken so he would always be able to find them. While holding it in one hand, he cast his clairvoyance spell to find the most direct route towards her. It was aiming downwards and towards the east side of the island, under one of the towers. Based off the positioning, it seems she had found a secret entrance. His gut was telling him he should make haste to join her.

-----

(Miruma POV)

She was not surprised when they had discovered a hidden entrance into the base. Rictus had told them there was one, and criminals always had an escape plan, at least the smart ones did. It was cleverly hidden by ice and rocks, but the movement of water gave it away if one got nearby.

They had been lucky so far. The only guards had been 2 pirates and a few mudcrabs loitering about, but the mage had been able to spot them easily. They were dealt with quickly and quietly. Supplies were stacked against the walls and a small boat only big enough for maybe 4 was in the entrance cavern. No one even bothered a second glance at the loot around them as they continued further into the base.

The first areas they were in had been rough stone and ice. They had to pass a couple of different areas until they finally found what had to be the entrance to the base. A hole in a wall made of stone bricks showed the way they needed to move forward. Thankfully, the one guard in the storeroom did not notice them and she easily snuck up and slit his throat. There was no one else in the storeroom, and everyone entered without a problem.

Miruma had been selected along with 8 other restored for this mission. The mage may have been the appointed leader, but she was the second in command. She wasn't sure what their leader saw in the Dunmer, but it had to be something special. A bit of jealousy creeped into her heart when she thought of Reysera. The way she had been looking at Rictus and the glow on her face when they had learned about their mission said a lot. Miruma had also been one of the original Restored and had been chosen as one of the 12. She still fondly remembered traveling with Rictus when it was just the two of them, and Roluth. Then some Dumner hussy came along and was placed in charge of the mission. It was unfair.

Shame filled her, and she quickly got control of her emotions. She was better than this. No more was she the weak little girl who had hidden in the slums doing anything to feed herself and those she cared for. She had experienced pain, both physical and emotional. She had been disfigured. She had lost her first friend and lover. All that she had been before was no more. She had been Restored. The old her was left behind in the slums of Winterhold.

Looking around her, Miruma discovered the uncomfortable and shamed looks on the faces of the other Restored. Before she could get a better look, two different lights were projected from their two mages. A green light giving off feelings of calm were coming from Reysera, while a comforting golden light was being produced by the Vigilant of Stendarr. The looks on the faces of those around her instantly improved. Reysera spoke softly while the Vigilant observed something carved on the wall they had just passed.

"Some kind of illusion magic was coming from that rune. I don't know the exact details, but it does something to make people uncomfortable. Probably a deterrent aimed at weak willed pirates trying to sneak out of the base."

Miruma blushed a little in embarrassment. Despite staying focused on the task at hand, her thoughts had been disrupted by the magic. It was not something strong enough to distract her from the mission, but it hurt her pride that she felt anything from it at all. Maybe it was a good idea for the more experienced mage to lead them.

Reysera took the lead as she slowly led them through the bottom levels of the pirate keep. Miruma could see her concentration, and the glow on her hands gave away some kind of spell was being channeled. Hopefully, it would be something useful for detecting enemies. It was strange they had not come upon any serious resistance just yet. Hopefully, the pirates were all distracted by the battle.

After climbing a large flight of stairs, they entered a large circular room. They were in the base level of one of the towers. They were a scouting force, but, if possible, they wanted to find the entrance to the keep and launch a surprise attack at the back of the pirate forces. As everyone made their way fully into the room though, their eyes widened.

Cages lined the walls around the room. A large, bloodied table was in the center with a variety of worn looking tools laying upon it. There were several other nasty look devices arrayed around the middle of the room so that whoever was in the cages could watch what was being done to the unlucky victims. Strangely enough, it was also completely empty. There was a strong smell of burnt flesh and fresh-looking blood stains, but that was it. Slowing down even further, they cautiously continued making their way up the stairs.

They eventually came to another large circular room. This room was sparsely filled with various chests and boxes around the edges. It was also the first room they came across which was brightly lit by torches. Still, there were no enemies in sight. They could see another room through a large arch which most likely held a hallway to the rest of the keep.

Once they made it halfway across the room, Reysera froze. The sounds of someone loudly clapping their hands rang out as a figure moved into the room in front of them. A tall and gaunt looking Altmer wearing black robes stood across from them. A cruel smile graced his face as he stopped clapping his hands. Miruma could see Reysera visible recoil at the sight of him.

"Ah my dear sweet Reysera. Soo glad you could join me here. It's almost like old times. You must have passed through my little work room. I can smell the sweet smell of burnt flesh from here. Nothing better really."

Reysera's face screwed up in disgust as she looked at this mage.

"What are you doing here Naris? I thought I left your disgusting stench back in Morvunskar."

"I believed in the words of your new employer about how poor a decision staying there would be and decided to try and ply my trade elsewhere. I found some likeminded souls and came here. I find it agrees with me."

The cruel look on the mage's face never left although a crazed look started appearing in his eyes the longer they focused on Reysera.

"The others still always die too quickly. You my dear should be a much better subject. I always wondered how your sublime looking flesh would smell. Although your friends will have to wait their turn. Don't worry, I also have some friends here that will keep them entertained."

As he finished talking, a loud shuffling noise alerted them to more enemies. A large group of zombie looking undead came running around the corner. There were 2 big pirates standing behind the horde wielding large deadly looking cutlasses and cruel smiles. Their armor appeared to be made of bones with sharp looking spikes stabbing out from it. No more words were shared as the fight started.

One half the room was filled with fire and clashing spells as Naris and Reysera began dueling. Both seemed to prefer fire spells as their main method of attacks which kept them isolated from the rest of the people in the room.

The rest of the Restored began battling the undead as the pirates waited for attacks of opportunity on those distracted by the zombies. The pirates' attacks were fast and vicious. Each strike seemed to land in the gaps of armor and the wounds quickly started piling up despite the armor and skill of the Restored. The Vigilant performed valiantly at keeping the undead off balance while providing healing to those who needed it. Unfortunately, this made him a high priority target for the pirates.

A couple zombies threw themselves at the healer. One of the Restored tried to intervene but was stopped by the sword of a pirate. While the Vigilant was distracted by the zombies, the other pirate put on a burst of speed and was able to land a thrust into the Vigilant's throat. His death was the turning point of the battle for the Restored. They were fighting a losing battle at this point. Their only hope was Reysera wining and coming to their aid.

Despite knowing she was the more powerful and experienced mage, Reysera was struggling. She had burned away portions of Naris's robe which revealed his own bone armor. It seemed unusually resistant to her flames and had saved her opponent's life a couple times already. The death of her allies proved to be a turning point for her battle as well. Somehow, after each person's death, Naris would seem to perk up and his spell power would temporarily increase. It was like he was gleaning mana from their deaths. If something didn't change soon, they would not make it out alive.

Miruma took a nasty attack on her left arm as she was kicked backwards. They were down to just her and two other Restored which were being toyed with by one of the pirates. She had been able to defeat the last zombie but left herself open to attack in doing so. Her arm felt as if it had been frozen as she noticed what looked like frostbite on it. Seems she had failed to notice the pirate's sword had a powerful ice enchantment on it. Despite the pain, she tightened her grip on her sword and rose to her feet. She would not die laying down if she had anything to say about it. The pirate stared at her with a cruel and lustful look in his eyes as he allowed her to stand. Miruma knew that look and knew she would die before letting the pirate capture her.

Miruma blinked the sweat from her eyes as she gathered her last remaining bits of strength and will. She was surprised as a warm liquid sprayed across her body. A large menacing looking ax dripping with blood was inches from her face. Her eyes widened in shock. It was not the ax inches from her face which drew her attention though. It was the man standing in an opening of the stone wall which surprised her.

-----

(Finally, back to Rictus)

As the stone parted like water before him, Rictus only took a couple seconds before he started acting. His ax flew from his hands towards a large pirate looming over one of his Restored as he sent a metal spike from his vambrace at the other pirate battling two more of his armored warriors. The ax broke through the pirate's skull and stopped right in front of the face of his Restored. A lesson on why proper head gear could save your life. Surprisingly, the other pirate was able to somehow detect and deflect his attack with their sword.

The group of heavily armored Restored behind him wasted no time flowing into the room and charging at the last remaining pirate. Rictus believed his people would be able to handle the pirate but cast a quick burden on the fighter's sword just to play it safe. He quickly turned his attention towards the mages duel.

He launched himself with Jump and telekinesis right at the mage fighting Reysera. His opponent noticed him heading his way and started shooting an intense beam of fire at him. Rictus countered with a wave of his hand and dispelled the attack. The mage's eyes widened at the casual dismissal of his spell but could do nothing more as Rictus's was already upon him. Rictus barely slowed as he tackled the mage and slammed into the stone wall. A crack was heard from his opponent's body as they contacted the wall. Taking no chances, Rictus created spikes from the wall which impaled his opponent through the heart and back of the head. The man had no chance for retaliating.

Looking back over the room showed the final pirate falling with Roluth's blade through his chest as a dagger was stuck into the gap of armor at his stalwart defender's arm pit. Rictus began quickly casting basic healing spells triaging the worst of the wounds. He looked on in sadness at the poor state of his infiltration squad. Reysera was singed and tired from the fight, and there were only 2 others still alive from that group as the last pirate had managed to kill one of the already wounded Restored.

As the survivors were being helped by their rescuers, Rictus took a quick glance at the room. One of the larger chests shook for just a moment. The rest of his group was surprised to see the large chest fly from the edge of the room towards Rictus. The top of the chest was blown off and something was dumped onto the ground before him.

"What are you doing here?"

The rest of the party looked on in shock as a strange lump was being suspended in the air before Rictus. The Restored were shocked when they realized it was a body. The legs and arms had been removed and roughly cauterized. Surprisingly, one stump appeared relatively healthy. The face was a relatively youthful one, but he had been aged beyond his rough treatment. He was quivering as tears rolled down his face.

"I didn't know! It wasn't my fault I swear! Help me please! I didn't take part in their rituals! I am a prisoner here I swear it by the Nine!"

Sobs continued to wrack the wiggling body held before him. Rictus took a hard look at the young necromancer he had spared in Hob's Fall cave. He was almost completely unrecognizable from the youth he had seen before. Rictus flexed his magical power similar to what he had done with Korir.

"Explain. Now."

The boy started off slowly, but soon words were pouring out of his mouth as he explained everything which had happened since Rictus left him in the cave.

The boy had been able to escape the cave before Faralda and the other mages from the College got there. He had wandered around near the coast for half a day or so before stumbling upon a ship. It naturally was the Blood Horkers. The leader of the ship had happened to be an extremely strong, good-looking, and young Nord. After talking with him for a bit, the Nord offered him a new place to call home. The boy had jumped at the chance without a second thought. It did not take long for the Nord to confront the boy about being a necromancer and what he had been doing before now. The boy was still reeling from the whole experience and the loss of his arm, so the Nord easily got the information from him. After hearing the boy was part of a group making black soul gems, the Nord took a lot more interest in him. It wasn't long till the boy shared his knowledge about the dark ritual. He did not really want to share it and warned that he was not 100% sure of its accuracy. The Nord did not care though and threatened him till the boy gave him all the information.

Once they were back at the base, the boy met Haldyn. Apparently, the Nord and Haldyn had become partners and coleaders of the Horkers. The two of them were a perfect fighting team with Haldyn's magic and the Nord's ability with a sword. The two of them made the boy recreate the ritual as soon as he could. They had apparently already been dabbling with black soul gems as they were so much easier to fill than the regular grand soul gems. It had provided them extremely strong enchantments which they used to great effects. Their problem was with supply. They had more regular soul gems, just not black ones.

He had been left in a room for awhile as he was given time to recreate the ritual in full. Every moment he delayed, he lost a bit more of himself, literally. It took a long time, but he finally had finished created it to the best of his abilities. Once the Nord and Haldyn had reviewed it, they had no need for him anymore. They gave him as a gift to the twisted mage called Naris. He was eventually thrown in a large chest and left there after being mutilated. The boy would have died too, had he not known a spell his Master had created.

The spell allowed him to see through the eyes of an undead and command them like his own body. The boy did not want to draw notice, so he had only been able to revive a baby skeever. He had his undead bring him food scraps and water, but it was only enough to barely keep him alive. He spent most of his time inside the rat and snooping around the keep, else he would have lost his sanity at being locked inside a chest.

He discovered Haldyn and the Nord had not actually used the ritual just yet. Eventually, the Nord had persuaded the pirate leader to embrace the ritual and use it to strengthen themselves. All was not good though. The boy discovered mistakes on the ritual. It was not as neat and tidy as his former master's and there were some errors in his drawing which had been slightly smudged by the pirates. This was what led to the downfall of the Nord.

The boy didn't know what was being said, but he could tell what was going on. They had powered up the ritual. He found it a little weird only the two leaders were there since he had told the Nord about needing a sacrifice, but he soon found out what was planned. There was a fight between the Nord and Haldyn. It was brutal. The Nord had stabbed the pirate leader in the chest with what looked like a sword made of pure ice, but Haldyn was able to completely fry the Nord with lightning spells. The Nord died first. When his blade slid from the pirate's chest, Haldyn collapsed to the ground and floundered around for something to stop the bleeding. He did end up grabbing something and pushing it towards his chest as he was rapidly bleeding out. It was the soul gem for the ritual.

A pulse of mana had destroyed the boy's summon, but not before he saw the gem turn dark purple almost black and sink into Haldyn's chest. He thought he saw something else in the ritual area which looked like a flash of a purple gem, but he could not be sure.

From then on, the Horkers had taken a darker turn. Black soul gems were prized and those leaders which retrieved the most filled ones underwent some kind of twisted ritual that gave them incredible skill with the sword and able to weird some kind of bone armor. The boy didn't really know much more than that since he had gotten too scared at being caught after a close call. Despite being a necromancer, he did not want to have his soul absorbed in a black soul gem.

"I don't know how exactly, but the ritual I made for them contacted something. I didn't hear anything, but I know it reached out to something in Oblivion. A deal was struck. These people are more cultist than pirates at this point."

Rictus looked down upon the pitiful boy as he finished his story. He felt bad for the boy. After hearing his tale, it showed how much little actions could change things. Rictus had let the boy go, and the boy had been one of the catalysts for making the Blood Horkers into what they are now. He thought he would have felt guilty at that knowledge, but he didn't. He did not force anyone to make their decisions. His actions may have influenced it, but he did not force the Blood Horkers to resort to these kinds of methods. It made him think about how in movies and books the bad guy would tell the protagonist it would be the protagonist's fault if the bad guy killed someone because they didn't listen. Those sorts of situations never made any sense to him.

Regardless, he had wasted too much time here. He was glad to know a little more about what had happened here since it would prepare him a little for the trials ahead, but it was time to finish this.

"I know you are all tired but form up behind me we continue pushing forward through the base. Reysera, do what healing you can manage as we move. I must make all haste to the other tower."

Rictus quickly turned and started making his way as the rest of them fell into formation. No one questioned him as they faithfully followed their leader. Reysera had been too busy to notice it before, but she was getting a bad feeling coming from that way as well. She was a little envious the others did not feel the wrongness which was permeating the air as they made their way closer to the source. No one even spared a second glance at the whimpering wiggly body of the necromancer they left behind.

There were some small skirmishes as they made their way closer, but Rictus and his elite guards easily dealt with them. Other passageways led to other parts of the base, but Rictus wasted no time on them. It was not normally a good tactical decision, but he didn't care at the moment.

They eventually reached the stairs for the second tower. By now, even those without magical abilities could feel something was off about this place.

A group of 5 pirates were waiting for them and blocking their passage. They were all heavily armed and armored. One on the edge had snow and icicles flowing around her hands. In the middle was a huge Argonian man with two swords and covered in bone armor. His armor had sharp looking bone spikes protruding from the elbows, shoulders, helm, and along his tail. Defeating all of them would be tough without using a decent chunk of mana.

The Argonian started talking, but Rictus wasn't really listening. He felt the disturbance was around two floors above him. Instead of bothering talking to the walking corpses in front of him, he cast out his magic to the stone around him. The ceiling fell upon the pirates as the stone beneath their feet shifted and made them unbalanced.

"Finish them."

Rictus left without another word as he jumped through the hole in the ceiling and left the dazed pirates for his followers.

---

The top level of the tower was surprisingly bare. The main circular room was completely empty. Only fine dust, scorch marks, and dried blood decorated the floor and walls. Rictus could feel there had been many a ritual and sacrifice done in the room. His main attention was devoted towards the occupant in the smaller room opposite him.

"Hmm you must be the one who removed the mist. You and your companions have been making quite a stir on our island."

Rictus took a good look at the man. He was a burly looking Redguard with greying hair cut close to his scalp. Despite his overall muscular build, his face looked gaunt with sunken cheeks and eyes. The armor he wore was quite unique. The breastplate was a dark ebony color overlayed with ivory covered bones. Two small troll skulls served as shoulder pauldrons, while a human skull sat directly in the middle of his chest. The eye sockets of all the skulls shone with a dark purplish energy pulsing from black soul gems. Additional black soul gems dotted his chest and stomach below the skull and connected the rib looking bones along his armor. His arms were covered in bone armor which looked like the skeleton of a snake and had additional bone spikes jutting where the creature's spine flowed from his shoulder and stopped right before his hands. His lower half was covered in armor similar to his bone studded breastplate, but with additional black soul gems around his waist. A large scimitar with a large black gemmed pommel was sheathed at his waist.

It was definitely a major upgrade from the armor Korir had described. Rictus thought Haldyn looked like an unholy death night. The intimidating looking armor and the cold feeling of death he exuded was impressive. Rictus could not help but be distracted by a slight feeling of jealousy about that armor, especially compared to his relatively simple looking robes. He quickly shook of the feeling as Haldyn started speaking again.

The attack was a surprise. Most would have been too fearful to attack, and those who had the bravery and forces to contend with us have been too caught up in the civil war to bother with some pirates."

Haldyn slowly walked towards one of the windows in the tower overlooking the rest of the island.

"Pity about all those souls going to waste. It will provide an opportunity for testing out the soul trapping ritual though, so not all will be lost."

The eyes of the skull seemed to grow a little brighter for a moment. Haldyn's eye color started changing into a bright purple color. The pirate turned a critical eye back at Rictus who had remained silent and still the whole time.

"What is your name?"

Rictus would go along with the conversation for the moment. His desire of destroying the man before him remained strong, but he thought more information about his enemy could prove useful. Besides, it would be the last conversation Haldyn would have before death.

"Rictus."

Haldyn got a thoughtful expression as he stroked the glowing skull on his chest.

"Hmmm…. you are obviously very powerful. Strange we have not heard of your name before. You must be one of THEM."

After he said this, the man's body shook for a moment as a hand covered in purplish magic smacked the skull on his chest. The skull dimmed in color just a bit as Haldyn's eyes changed color again into obsidian.

"Doesn't matter. I have a proposition for you."

Rictus was thoughtful as he watched the strange interaction. Seems Haldyn was not all there and someone or something was messing with his mind.

"You will pledge loyalty to me. I will bless you with a strength beyond what you thought possible and magical powers not seen in this land for generations. Your other option is dying and having your soul stripped from your body and sent to the Soul Cairn."

Hearing the offer, Rictus set the pommel of his ax on the ground and cast a bit of magic behind his back as he started preparing for a fight. The action did not go unnoticed though. Haldyn noticed the change and his eyes fluctuated between obsidian and purple as lightning started circulating around him.

"So, you have chosen death."

A huge stream of lightning shot out of Haldyn's hands towards Rictus. He had been prepared for such an attack though. He discerned his opponent's proficiency in destruction magic specifically lightning spells. The lightning struck his ax which acted as a lightning rod and allowed the magic to disperse across the stone floor as he Jumped towards the other side of the room. He then began his assault.

Two blindingly bright magelight shot from his hands. One of the lights landed directly on Haldyn's chest while the other landed in the floor near him. They did a great job disorienting his opponent and hindering his sight. Rictus kept his eyes closed and channeled detect life and magic so he could still easily discern Haldyn's location.

The magic he had casted behind his back was his storage spell. He had dropped a pile of arrow heads from there to use as a method of attack. He lifted 4 of them with his telekinesis and shot them at his enemy. The force of their impact caused a grunt, but it did not sound like they penetrated armor. While they were in flight, he cast a spell called Leaguestep which would greatly enhance his speed.

The light of his mage lights abruptly cut out and revealed Haldyn with a drawn sword. There was a cut in the floor which indicated he had been able to cut and disperse the magical light. Ethereal looking skulls blasted out of his left hand and headed directly towards Rictus. Each of these were countered with a condensed ball of force from the force bolt spell Rictus had been practicing with recently. Upon contact, the skulls exploded in a green eldritch looking fire. While still casting the exploding flame skulls, Haldyn attempted closing the distance with Rictus as his sword was coated in lightning, but he was unsuccessful since Rictus was so much faster and Jumped away to maintain space. Rictus knew he would be at a disadvantage if they were in close combat. Haldyn was the Skilled of One Handed. He did not want a physical fight with the man, especially with the difference in armor.

The back-and-forth fighting continued between the two mages. The air had become saturated with expended mana and burning ozone from lightning spells. Still, no one had gained a definite advantage over the other. Rictus was superior in magical skills and was able to counter or dodge all the spells cast at him. Haldyn was superior in armor and physical skills. He would allow his armor to absorb hits while his sword could deflect and even dispel spells.

Both men had taken damage though. There were burn marks along Rictus's robe from the exploding skulls and lightning bolts. Haldyn had some cuts on his face and was covered in bruises under his armor from the telekinetic attacks. The armor even looked rough in places where Rictus had tried casting corrosion on it. It was clear though that Rictus had an advantage of more stamina and magic than Haldyn who had been slowing down as the fight dragged on.

Taking a bit of risk, Rictus did not dodge away from the latest lightning infused sword swing and raised his arm to intercept it as he prepared an attack. Haldyn had been caught up in the flow of battle and was not prepared for the sudden change. The sword ripped through the sleeve of Rictus's shirt and lodged itself into his arm. Both men were surprised by this. Rictus was surprised the sword managed to penetrate as far as it did since he had focused his dragonhide spell on his arm. Haldyn was surprised the blade did not complete remove the arm as it should have done.

Fortunately, Rictus quickly recovered as he had been prepared for such a blow. Taking advantage of the distraction, he punched out and shot the ebony dagger he had hidden up his right sleeve. The pirate captain tilted his head and threw himself backwards, but it was too little too late. The dagger ripped apart the entire left portion of his neck and throat as he fell backwards. Rictus called his executioner's ax to his hand as he did a mighty overhand swing aided by increasing its weight to finish off his foe.

Somehow, the quickly dying man was able to put his left arm up to block the blow. Due to the greatly enhanced weight, the ax completely ripped through the arm at the elbow and slammed into the ground with tremendous force.

A burst of raw magic emanated from Haldyn's chest and threw Rictus backwards. He landed on his feet as he prepared for whatever would come next. Gurgling was not what he expected. A foreign magical energy started coalescing around the nearly dead pirate.

Haldyn stood up straight with a look between madness and fear filling his eyes. The gurgling noise was him laughing and getting choked on his blood. Blood was pouring from his neck and arm stump towards the floor. A croaking noise started replacing the gurgling though, and Rictus's uneasy feeling increased. He tried sending out an attack, but more tainted mana blasted outwards stopping Rictus's projectiles from impacting his still standing foe.

The bones resting on the armor started moving as smoke poured from the ominously shining black soul gems. The bones on the cut off arm slithered downward and clamped over the stump and stopped the bleeding. The bones along his chest moved upwards and wrapped tightly around his throat. The skull on the middle of the chest started expanding as it made its way further up the body revealing a large black soul gem on his chest. The fear in Haldyn's eyes became more pronounced as the skull finished crawling up his face and encapsulating his entire head. The previous noises and movements of his foe completely stopped as the skull settled into place. Once it was in place, the black soul gem on his chest seemed to sink inside and lodge itself further within his flesh. Dark purplish smoke continued pouring from the other gems and circulating around the body. As a bone encased stump was lifted in the air, 5 large black soul gems came flying from the small room.

Each one slammed into a different part of the body. The hands, knees, and head each were impacted. Booming thunder and cracking lightning sounded simultaneously at the impact of the gems.

A huge buildup of magical energy exploded outwards. The wave of magic tore through the top of the tower and blasted apart the walls and ceiling. Stone was blown away by the power of the explosion. The dust caused by the explosion was moved away by the increasingly strong wind and rain as the top of the now ruined tower was revealed.

Rictus stood looking slightly worse for wear after the explosion. He was sweating and breathing hard from the large mana expenditure he had used to dispel the magic coming his way. He only had time for the one spell and was only able to dispel the mana coming directly at him. Even that little bit had taken a good portion of his mana pool.

He stiffened as a large shadowy figure was revealed opposite him on the tower. Haldyn was no more. In his place was a hulking monstrosity of bone. It appeared as a massive skeletal warrior with think thick bones acting as amor and a deathly pale green light seeping around the slight openings between its ribs. Spikes abounded as it seemed every inch of the creature was made to kill even without a weapon. The skull had a large black soul gem on its forehead. There were even spikes studded around the cranium in such a way it gave the appearance of a crown. Dark, deathly magical energies coursed around its body like a cloak, while a brilliantly bright sword which seemed to have been forged from lightning was held in its right hand.

Rictus took a deep breath as dust start trickling down his robes. His hidden stash of mana stones was depleting itself as his mana started skyrocketing. He had been saving those for a rainy day, and by the Nines a storm was brewing.

He let go of the tight leash he had been holding over his mana. This was not the time to hold back with careful mana expenditure. If he failed, Rictus knew what would happen to the rest of his forces. They were strong, but this thing was not of this plane. He could tell it was not at its full potential either. The longer the battle lasted the worse things would get. He needed to finish the fight as quickly as possible.

The world around him began distorting as his mana started running rampart. The air around him grew heavier as gravity was enhanced. Disorienting cracks started appearing as space itself started cracking. He had only recently figured it out, but Rictus was able to manipulate space and gravity in a very limited space around him. His cloak of spacial distortion would counter the deadly magical energies pouring from his opponent.

A huge bolt of lightning split the sky. As if by some prearranged agreement, Rictus and the goliath before him charged as their magical energies clashed.

The stone flowed under him as it boosted his speed and height. Pure magical energy coated his ax as it was brought forth in a mighty swing. The goliath moved its swords in a counter swing as the two weapons collided in an explosion of magic which sent Rictus backwards.

The stone of the tower flowed upwards and arrested his movement. Rocks and metal began pouring out of his storage. He Willed the materials to follow his commands and desires as he threw his arms forward. The rock and metal seemed to come alive as they formed into great big tentacles of rock with sharp metallic tips. They speared towards the goliath as it produced a second blade of lightning in its left hand to combat the new threat.

Manifested lightning blades continually thundered against manipulated tentacles of rock and metal. The mighty blows shook the ground and destroyed the surrounding area. Stone was vaporized by the super-heated plasma, but the destruction of the keep around them only provided more loose materials for Rictus to throw at his opponent.

Flaming Skulls started appearing around the goliath and shot towards Rictus, who flowed along the moving stone and sent blasts of force bolts impacting the exploding bits of magic. The goliath made a sweeping gesture with its swords, sending arcing bolts of lightning towards him. Metal spikes rose from the ground dissipating the attack as Rictus launched himself at his opponent.

The world seemed to scream as the two fighters neared each other. Each one's magical aura fighting for supremacy. Powerful swings of the sword were countered by rising stone spikes. Each counter bringing Rictus closer and closer. Once in range, he cast an overpowered corrosion spell at the leg of his opponent. The bone started deteriorating at a visible rate. Rictus dodged a hastily thrown sword strike as he moved in closer. His ax buried itself deep into the weakened bone leg. He was not able to move fast enough though as the goliath landed a kick which punted him away. Had it been its sword, he would have died.

The ground surged forward like a hand and halted his flight. The beast was damaged, dark smoke pouring from the cut and plethora of scrapes across its body. The lights coming from within it had begun to dim. Rictus was not untouched though. His mana was nearly depleted, and he was covered in wounds.

Using the last of his mana stones, Rictus called upon the storm raging around him. Thunder boomed out as the winds picked up. Lightning began crashing down around the goliath. It tried using one of its swords to absorb the hit. The sword brightened considerably after the first couple strikes. The third bolt caused it to explode outward in an extreme amount of force and energy. The goliath was rocked as its left side became blackened from the explosion. The beast was still standing though.

Rictus took a calming breath as he prepared his final gamble. The goliath was still defending as the last couple bolts of lightning fell. He took one second to summon his trusty familiar. Billy was in its original form of a large goat since he did not want to waste mana altering that aspect. Rictus reached down and petted his faithful companion. If this didn't end it, then he would probably not live much longer. He couldn't help but smile at his actions though. He never imagined himself being the one fighting to his final breath against a mighty foe. Maybe he had hung around the Companions too long. Maybe his Restored made him feel Invincible. Maybe the world was altering him more than he thought. There were lots of maybes he could think of, but there was no more time.

A stone pillar launched Rictus and Billy at their distracted opponent. While in the air, Rictus flung Billy faster with his telekinesis while scales started appearing around his right arm due to his depleting mana. He really hoped this worked.

The final lightning bolt impacted goliath's left side and immobilized it. Billy impacted the chest of the goliath right after. The goliath turned down its head in confusion when Billy let out a mighty bleating noise. Then exploded in a torrent of fire.

Rictus had cast flaming familiar to summon Billy. He had altered the spell to only increase the explosive power while diminishing every other aspect. The goliath staggered backwards even further as the portion of chest armor Billy had impacted began crumbling.

Rictus was flying right at that spot. A quick corrosion spell was cast on top of the spot to weaken it further. The goliath noticed him and tried slashing his sword at him. The sword missed his vitals, but completely chopped off his left arm which had been channeling the corrosive spell. It did not stop his forward momentum as he crashed into the goliath arm fist and knocked it to the ground. His armored and taloned hand had pierced directly into the chest of the monster.

Utilizing every last drop of his mana, Rictus localized his special distortions in his hand. It felt like pushing a giant stone up a hill. Rictus felt his magic struggling against an opposing force as the goliath used its corrupted mana to oppose him. The monster knew this was the final moment as the last dregs of its magic tried expelling the foreign mana. The ground began breaking apart at the intense flow of mana as dust billowed into the air.

A loud cracking noise pierced the area. Then silence and stillness.

The people who had retreated from the massive brawl waited in bated breath for a sign of the victor in the slowly settling dust.

After a minute, they slowly began making their way towards where the final attack took place. After advancing towards the where the figures were last seen, a lone shadow was seen as the dust finally settled.

Ken caught the stumbling Rictus before he could fall. Rictus slowly raised his head and looked him in the eye. A faint smile graced his face, and a hoarse chuckle could barely be heard as his eyes slowly started closing while leaning heavily upon his second in command.

"Though I stumbled, I never fell."

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[AN]: And Done. This concludes the pirate arc. That was a wild ride, at least for me. I had made this all one chapter and it got away from me in length for sure. I could have easily split it up, but I didn't want to do that. Besides, I promised three chapters, and that's what I did. This was easily the longest chapter I have ever written.

I hope that you liked the battle and how everything played out. I thought it was fun personally. It probably could have been written better, but I don't get paid enough for that kind of detail. Or paid at all really.

Let me know what you guys think about it though. And yes, I know there was probably some mess ups with either lore or things I had said/done earlier but lets just pretend everything meshed really well.