Alex noted the cold, stoic faces of his clanmates. They’re going to have nightmares.
It occurred to him that now might be a time to use the Dark Druid’s spells. Alex retrieved his spellbook. This heavy tome levitated above his palm, surrounded by a glowing defensive sphere. Alex lifted the book up, reading all the spells written within.
Alex chose the Mankurt Warrior curse-spell and cast it at random at one of the ghouls. A magic violet appeared above him, instantly transforming the zombie into the Ice Vigors’ ally. The most positive effect of this spell seemed to be that the rest of the horde paid no attention to their former associate, even as he tore at them and ripped them apart with his claws.
Alex cast the spell again, this time over a wider area. It worked, but realized after several attempts that only seven individuals could be transformed for each cast spell.
Within minutes, a large number of undead fought alongside the Ice Vigors, allowing them to take a breather. Alex paced back and forth, admiring his handiwork. Cool ability! I might even be able to increase the spell’s range at some point.
Okay, time to move on to the second spell – the Dark Summon ‘Rise and kill’, which applies to plants.
Alex pointed at a large maple tree in the distance and bellowed, “Rise and kill!”
A palpable weakness swept over him. His legs nearly buckled, his hands shook, and he lost all sensation in his fingers. Thankfully, it passed within moments, no doubt chased away by the reservoirs of strength provided by the Intellectum-filled rain.
Looks like the Dark Summon has drained my mana and decreased my life force. I’ll have to remember that.
Along with being an exorbitant waste of resources, the spell’s results were thoroughly unsatisfactory. It looked unpresentable and very slow. Something similar to a blot hit the tall maple, which bent at a strange angel and began to blacken and swell.
The crew ceased firing, staring in shock as multiple branches on the maple grew long whips. The tree bent low to the ground.
The tree pulled itself out of the ground with a crash, scattering huge clods of soil in all directions. It sped toward the undead, beating them with its crown at incredible speed.
A stranger appeared on the roof of a nearby building, screaming heartrendingly over the battlefield noise, “Hell! This is hell! A-a-a-a! This is hell!”
Alex fought to stay calm. Watching the undead flee, he opted to try another spell. To no avail. Second and third attempts proved equally fruitless. He threw up his hands in frustration. “Enough! AK-47, bring him to me! And for the love of all that’s holy, gag him!”
With a nod, his friend made his way swiftly toward the bellicose stranger.
The man on the roof continued to babble incoherently about hell and sins. Meanwhile, the detachment had received several dozen levels and, accordingly, several lives. The gloomy Alex paced among the crippled Mallorns, whispering and touching their lifeless trunks. Alex reproached himself for coming late to the assault.
Something strange met his ears. He raised his hand, calling asked for complete silence. A minute later, embracing Shardy’s trunk, he discerned a quiet rustle. “Help the sprout, help the sprout.”
Excited, Alex glanced around but saw nothing. He whispered with dry lips, “No blades of grass, no weeds, nothing. There is nothing alive here.”
He recalled the ‘Rise and kill’ Dark Summon, which he cast in the last minutes of the fight. The spell was listed as a combat spell, but it turned out to contain some kind of bio-application. Alex cast the spell again and again, pointing at the ground in different places. Nothing.
Alex traversed the battlefield like it was a minefield, closely watching his feet. He came across a small dark sprout, almost buried in the dust and mud. He touched it, and was not at all surprised at the description that popped up.
.
Dark Mallorn Sprout
Cultivator — Dark Druid Phoenix
.
“Bingo!” Alex smiled.
How can I help you? How can I help you? he mentally addressed the sprout, which unsurprisingly did not answer him.
Alex retrieved another bio-compactor and set it next to the plant. Like a baby octopus, it uprooted itself from the ground and crawled onto the compactor. Before Alex’s eyes, it grew a foot and a half.
Within an hour, seven Dark Mallorns had been found.
Chapter 10. Hunting
On the outskirts of the solar system, in the shadow of Neptune, a small area of space twitched.
The appearance of the dull black ship, despite the high density of spacecraft in the system, went unnoticed. Wide, wedge-shaped, and smooth, it bore no identification markings or marker lights. No one who might have seen it would have attributed it to any of the known civilizations.
Four aliens inhabited the spaceship, seated in power chairs opposite a huge holographic sphere displaying a detailed image of the solar system.
“Well, here we are,” a Homo-3 with a sleek face said. “We’re running out of time, and renting this spaceship is expensive. We must justify the Admins’ confidence in us as quickly as possible.”
Another of the Homo-3s growled like a beast. This was Supreme Arkh, Tekot Smul the Many-Faced, of the Homo-6 civilization.
“Oh, stop thinking about the money. I am here for vengeance and at the call of my brothers. No one, no one will leave unpunished for the murder of the Supreme Arkh!” he hissed through his teeth. Arkh’s face was covered with ritual tattoos that turned scarlet when the Many-Faced was angry. Which was nearly all the time.
No one dared interrupt him as he continued his poisonous rant. “I don’t intend to rush.
