Many were knocked over by the force of the wave, some demons and priests left broken by it. Even the golems were left trapped within the muck. The enemies were like insects trapped on sticky tape. Our side took the opportunity to attack, taking down those near the edge of the mud with a combination of Augmentation and long weapons.
I was running low on Vigor and needed to find a safe spot to catch my breath and recharge. The golem was a great place to fight from, but every moment standing on its shoulder was a battle between balance and gravity. Imitating one of Vesma’s favorite moves, I sent some of my remaining Vigor into an Untamed Torch that I directed down, using it as a jet to give me extra power as I leaped from the golem’s shoulders to one of the palace’s outer towers. I landed on the edge of the sloped pagoda roof and grabbed hold of a dragon statue.
My heart was racing, and I drew ragged breaths as I tried to regain my equilibrium. I’d pushed myself hard already, and there was still plenty of fight left to go. We weren’t even through the doors of the palace yet.
“Well done, my sweet man,” Nydarth said. “You never cease to entertain.”
“Now. bring us back into the fight,” Yono said, her voice filled with yearning. “I want to show these monsters the true power of water.”
My mud attack had given my allies the opportunity they needed, and they were making the most of it.
The golem was still the most formidable part of our lines. Arrows glanced off its stone skin. Sandstorm attacks didn’t move it an inch. Rocks thrown both by hand and by earth Augmenting bounced off it without doing any harm. It advanced unflinching into the shallow pool of mud and flattened opponents or sent them flying across the battlefield.
From the golem’s back, Mahrai was taking out enemies with her staff wherever she could. I also noticed that every time an enemy managed to wound the golem, she would scuttle over to it and use an arcane art to heal it.
Tahlis appeared from the ground beside the golem and shot small, focused Sandstorms that knocked individual combatants from their feet and left their skin shredded and bloody. Larger, less focused Sandstorms forced back enemy formations to create openings that the golem and those around it could exploit.
The human parts of the enemy force recognized Mahrai and backed away from her powers and her golem. When they’d flee, Tahlis would be there to appear from the ground behind them and take them down with his spear. The trio were fighting an ever-dwindling force of demons and lesser golems as the supernatural creatures took on an opponent that they didn’t know to fear.
The mud I had summoned created an opportunity for Kumi. Though the sea provided the best medium for her powers, any water could be used, and the mud was rich with it. She swayed and chanted to unleash the Song of the Sea and direct the mud to do her bidding.
She flung some of that mud at the enemy, just as I had done with my Crashing Wave. But where I’d scattered the mud widely across our opponents, Kumi was more controlled. Gobbets shot from the swaying sea of mud into the faces of golems, demons, and priests, blinding them long enough for our soldiers to catch them off guard.
Kumi also sent the mud out to heal our own side. Strands floated up and stroked the wounds of injured men and women like the hands of an attentive nurse. Beneath the muddy smears, bruises healed, flesh knit shut, and blood stopped flowing.
I didn’t want to be out of the battle for long, but I mediated while watching from my perch so that I could regain my Vigor. I wouldn’t be out of the fight for a second longer than I needed, and when Saruqin showed his face, I would be ready.
As my Vigor replenished, I kept watching the battle, looking for where I could do the most good. Vesma and Kegohr were tearing through a pack of stone golems, Flame Shields on their off-hands. Each, in turn, would launch an Untamed Torch against a cluster of mud-covered golems. The heat of the flames baked the mud dry, forming a tough clay shell that kept the creatures from moving. As a golem strained against its restraint, Kegohr’s mace or Vesma’s spear would dart in and hit it precisely at some mud-encrusted joint. Stone arms, legs, and even heads tumbled into the ooze, leaving their owners broken and out of the fight.
The demons remained our toughest targets. The clinging mud made them less effective, but my allies without Augmentation still could not harm them. Bands of Pathless and soldiers fended off troops of demons with polearms and long-handled maces, desperately holding them back in hopes that someone would come to the rescue. Even as I watched, one small group was saved from certain death when Drek and Onvar arrived just in time to slow the demons with Sandstorms.
With my Vigor restored and my breath back, it was time to get back into the fight. I jumped from the rooftop straight into a pack of mud-covered demons. I landed on one with both feet, knocked it over in the mud, and sliced its head off with the Sundered Heart. Before the others could react, I thrust with the Depthless Dream Trident, its prongs coated in magical ice, bringing a second demon down.
“That’s it,” Yono said. “Let the power flow through you. Destroy those who stand in the way of the Path of the Swordslinger.”
A demon lunged at me with both clawed hands. Its movements were slowed down by the mud it was half-sunk in, but
