The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

WM [98] Island Fever

Bjorn barely had time to prepare before the Spinefang Striders were upon him. Each of his heads gathered energy in quick succession. The rightmost one unleashed a torrent of high-pressure water, slicking the jagged ground beneath him. The island turned into a treacherous battlefield, its rocky surface now coated in a slick, unstable layer of moisture. Some of the creatures faltered, their claws scrabbling against the wet stone as they fought for traction.

His second head exhaled a golden glow that quickly dimmed into a dull, sickly grey.

Aetheric Disruption Breath

Primana Cost: Variable

(I) Low cost, 10 Primana. Release aetheric energies that boost allies and poisons enemy active spellforms. Boosted attack spells gain a poison; weakened spells become unstable and harder to control, spreading instability to future castings. All effects last for five minutes. (II) Medium cost, 15 Primana. Expand the breath’s range, affecting multiple spells. Poisoned spells are even harder to control, while boosted spells deal stronger poison damage. All effects last seven minutes. (III) High cost, 20 Primana. Target spells to cause backfire, turning magic against its caster. Boosted spells gain potent venom, and poisoned spells spread instability to future castings. Effects persist for ten minutes.

The moment the Aetheric Disruption Breath took hold, the creatures shrieked. Their bodies convulsed as their own shadow magic betrayed them, twisting against their forms in chaotic backlashes. Some outright collapsed, their limbs locking up as uncontrolled magic ravaged their insides. Others howled in agony before dispelling their failing spells, finally revealing their true forms to Bjorn.

Failsafe had severely understated their hideousness. Their bodies mimicked the sleek frame of a jungle cat, but everything about them was fundamentally wrong. Their flesh seemed to writhe, as though countless worms crawled beneath the surface, shaping the muscles and sinew into something unnatural. Their faces were obscured by writhing black tentacles, the ends of which bristled with jagged, bone-like spikes which were perfect for puncturing and tearing flesh apart. Worst still each was his equal in size meaning this would be a fight determined by whose magic would last longer.

“Trues above,” Bjorn muttered, his stomach twisting in revulsion.

“Yeah, I didn’t expect them to look that bad,” Failsafe admitted.

The creatures didn’t give him time to dwell on their grotesque forms. They lunged as blurs of twitching muscle and gnashing tendrils, closing the distance in an instant. Their speed was a problem but Bjorn had a plan for that. He let out a roar.

Intimidation Roar

Primana Cost: 1

Infuse Primana into your roar to paralyze anyone that hears it. Your roar can paralyze humanoid magic constructs as long as they are connected to a magic caster. Paralysis duration depends on distance and level disparity between you and the target. Those bound to you are immune to this effect.

The sheer force of his bellow froze the Spinefang Striders in place, their bodies locking up mid-motion. One of the closest was already airborne, its leap carrying it helplessly past him. Bjorn twisted, narrowly dodging its flailing limbs as it skidded across the slick ground—momentum carrying it straight over the edge of the floating island.

Bjorn was not idle. Knowing the paralysis wouldn’t last long, his leftmost head exhaled a thick, roiling Poison Cloud, the mist crackling with condensed Primana. The air turned toxic, filling the lungs of the frozen creatures with searing venom that attacked them from the inside.

Then, he cut the water flow from his rightmost head. Bjorn felt heat rise in his throat, his body channeling raw Plague Fire in its full destructive Aetheric Form. White fire bloomed from him engulfing the creatures in an inferno of pain and poison. Even so, these creatures were tenacious. 

As soon as they could move they dodged the fire or charged through if they were already ablaze. Many died from the combination of poisoning methods overcoming the unnatural vitality of monsters. However some pushed through with their only goal being to rip him apart.

Bjorn’s claws crackled with toxic energy, the poison within them potent enough to melt the rock beneath him. His muscles tensed as he braced for impact.

Then they were on him. The first Spinefang leapt at his side, its tentacled maw snapping open, only for one of Bjorn’s heads to whip around and clamp its fangs into the creature’s throat. He ripped, tearing its windpipe apart and tossing its twitching corpse aside.

Another lashed out, its spiked tendrils whipping at his scales. The hardened magic of his Chaos Scales resisted the strikes, the bone-like protrusions scraping harmlessly across his armored hide. They were relentless. The sheer number of attacks began to wear on his defenses, their jagged appendages hammering the same spots over and over. Cracks started to form.

A third one pounced, claws aiming for his throats, Bjorn spun around his tail’s thagomizer hit the monster's side, piercing flesh and impaling the monster. The force sent it crashing into another creature, sending both sprawling. His toxins do their work in slowing the monster's reaction and speed. Bjorn couldn’t focus on them; he needed to focus on the more immediate threats.

He turned, only for a fourth monster to finally break through. Pain lanced through his side as jagged tendrils pierced a weak spot in his scales, sinking into his flesh. Bjorn snarled, but instead of retreating, he lunged into the attacker, snapping his fangs around the creature’s face and crushing its skull.

Bjorn found that he was at his limit with his natural defenses. He activated his armor in the same manner that Laxy had taught him. Black metal covered his form. He had become a harbinger of death. Each head produced a different effect as again he cast spells.

The battlefield was chaos. Monsters slipped on the wet, uneven terrain, their bodies coated in layers of poison and fire. Some collapsed outright, the combination of toxins ravaging them from the inside out. Others kept coming, even with half their flesh burned away. The vitality of monsters was truly a thing to fear.

Bjorn’s breathing grew heavier. His Primana reserves were burning fast. He needed to finish this.

His claws shimmered, the toxic energy now radiating with a deadly, acidic glow. He met the next charging Spinefang head-on, his talons tearing through its chest and yanking out a spray of blackened, venom-thick blood. 

The last Spinefang didn’t hesitate to charge, monsters didn’t fear death, its instinctual aggression and hunger overrode any potential fear Bjorn’s lethality could ever pose. Bjorn took a deep breath, his many eyes gleaming with primal fury.

“Come on,” he snarled, baring his bloodied fangs. “Let’s see which one of you bastards wants to die next.”

“It can’t hear us, you know.” Failsafe said.

Bjorn didn’t care. He met the beast in a blur of motion, his massive form slamming into the Spinefang like a battering ram. The impact sent shockwaves through Bjorn’s body. His jaws clamped around its writhing tentacles, crushing bone and flesh with the sickening crunch of snapping cartilage. The creature thrashed wildly, clawed limbs flailing against Bjorn’s armored hide, but its attacks barely scraped his armor and magically-hardened scales.

Then he felt it, a sharp, searing pain at his side. One of the Spinefang’s talons, slick with corrosive venom, had found a weak point. His blood sizzled as it met the poison, but Bjorn only growled through the pain, tightening his grip. With a final, brutal twist of his necks, he ripped the monster in half, scattering its remains across the ruined island.

Then, silence. Bjorn stood victorious among the broken bodies of his foes, his breathing heavy, thick plumes of steam escaping from between his fangs. The battlefield was nothing but blood, scorched ground, and the lingering remnants of his own toxic energies. His muscles tensed, waiting for more enemies to come, but none did.

Instead, the world itself shifted. The ground beneath his feet trembled, a deep, unnatural hum vibrating through the ruined island. Bjorn took a cautious step back as the cracked, muddened earth suddenly pulsed with new life. Lush vegetation exploded from the ground, sprouting unnaturally fast, twisting into thick undergrowth, towering grasses, and massive, gnarled trees that stretched toward the sky. Vines slithered like living serpents, coiling around jagged rocks and the bodies of the fallen Spinefangs.

Then came the heat. It slammed into Bjorn like a tidal wave. The air thickened as if the entire island had been tossed into the heart of a raging inferno. The trees burned, their leaves curling into embers, only to regrow in an instant, evolving at an unprecedented rate. The cycle repeated, faster and faster, the flames licking hungrily at the sky until the very plants themselves became immune to the fire.

“We have to get out of here!” Failsafe said as Bjorn let him retake control of the right head.

“Not yet with all this mana one of these trees might evolve.” Bjorn said as he ran through the forest.

“If we survive long enough for it to appear.” Failsafe said. “We don’t have heat resistance, remember?”

Bjorn cursed under his breath. He could already feel the intense heat seeping through his magical armor, a biting sensation against his flesh. Even with his thick hide and natural durability, the rising temperature was becoming unbearable.

He turned sharply, scanning the shifting terrain for an escape. His eyes landed on the edge of the island, where the land crumbled away into nothingness. He sprinted toward it, his claws digging into the rapidly heating stone, only to skid to a halt.

He didn’t have time to think, the heat continued to rise faster and faster. Failsafe used his water breath to spray over Bjorn as they ran. The water steamed nearly as soon as it touched the quickly scorching Familiar. He ran until he saw something ahead and a few dozen feet down. It was a smaller rocky platform with an odd obelisk formation on one side.

Bjorn didn’t hesitate. With a deep, rumbling growl, he lunged forward at full speed, his muscles coiling before he launched himself into the air. The world blurred around him as he plummeted, wind howling in his ears. The new platform rushed toward him, but so did the realization that he was falling too fast.

His claws slammed into the rocky edge.

For a brief, terrifying moment, his grip faltered. His talons scraped against stone, carving deep gashes into the rock as he struggled to hold on. His body jerked downward, scales grinding against the cliffside as he slid dangerously close to the edge.

He roared, forcing his muscles to strain, his limbs burning with exertion.

With a final, desperate push, Bjorn wrenched himself upward, dragging his massive frame onto the platform. His chest heaved as he lay there for a moment, his many eyes darting toward the strange obelisk.

Failsafe let out a shaky breath. “That was too close.”

“Let’s just lay here for a while.” Bjorn said as he let out a low growl. “This place sucks.”

“Agreed.” Failsafe said.