Shards of Old

-Gmyo fi geksu!

I used the same spell as I dealt with the weird living roots a while back. It definitely worked, although not as well as expected. The leeches screeched and fell on the floor, burning and convulsing, but were still alive.

They were pretty smart - some of them immediately started puking water all over themselves, trying to douse the flames. I increased the output a little bit and seared them again, this time letting them cook a bit longer. I had to make sure that I wouldn't go overboard, I was standing in the middle of a very flammable room after all.

Luckily, it was enough. About thirty seconds later, they finally stopped moving, smoking on the floor, like oversized grilled eels. Also a bit overcooked. I even managed to not set the room on fire.

-See? Not hard to kill them, although it's a poor matchup for me. Since they are mostly water, I wanted you to use your magic instead, but…

-Yes, yes, I know, my bad. But what now? They are still coming.

-And I am gonna wait for them here. I don't feel like starting a forest fire. So either get up or move.

I could've just used other magic myself anyway, but I would like to avoid that for as long as I could. Although this was not the worst place to use it… not too many witnesses…

I did not have time to think about that though, right after I finished complaining, the hole in the wall cracked even more and then opened completely, revealing the horde of leeches.

It was a sight to behold. Every visible square of land was covered with a glistening dark green carpet of those snakelike creatures. If they were a bit different color you could easily mistake it for a large body of water. Even their movement somehow reminded me of those of the waves, weirdly in sync, jumping above each other, just to get faster to the tree.

-Gmyo fi geksu, lupfipto!

This time I didn't want to take any second chances, I launched the spell full power but reduced the size to minimum, effectively making a condensed flamethrower. A bit basic, but still good enough.

The first bunch that managed to sneak through turned into ash instantly. They were a bit bigger than the first three, but still not as large as those I saw first. The spell had its negatives though, this time I did not manage to not set the base of the tree on fire.

-Careful! - yelled Bert, covering his face from the heat I was unleashing towards the incoming flood of leeches - You are gonna burn me as well!

-That's why I told you to get back! - I yelled back, through the roar of flames and the screeches of leeches being burned alive - If you didn't waste mana you could've just used your ice to shield yourself!

Well, even saying that I was pretty sure that would be impossible. Extinguishing some of the forest fire, maybe he would be able to do that, but stopping my flames like this? I doubt that. Even if he had not depleted his mana.

-I said I am sorry! Wait, is it just me or it's suddenly gotten a lot quieter?

Indeed, the only sound was coming from me, blasting fire through the opening. There was no screeching or the sound of leeches trying to get in. I couldn't see much through the flame, so I dialed down my spell a bit, and the sight was definitely unexpected. The whole sea of leeches stopped and was staring at the flames.

-Did you hypnotize them or something?

-No. Did you?

-With what? I'm out of mana.

I reduced the spell to the point where it was just a small flame, like a candle on my palm. I waited for the moment they started attacking again, but they were still, even then.

-What the hell is going on?

As he was asking that question, I saw a movement in the sea of leeches. In a few places actually.

-Something's coming. Multiple somethings. Be ready.

-Not like I can do much - he grumbled, but conjured an arrow and notched it, ready for a fight.

Soon I realized what was coming. It was a bunch of those bigger leeches that I saw attacking Bert and our camp before. They were moving as a group, fast, right towards us. The other, smaller ones, were moving aside as they were making their way here. It sort of looked like a boat making its way through the sea of green.

-Bigger ones. Great… - Bert noticed them as well. - Any plans?

-If it's not broken, don't fix it. - I said, expanding my spell back again.

The small leeches almost instantly backed down, although I managed to sear some that were too slow.

When they got close enough, the new group of leeches stopped. They were close enough for me to distinguish about ten of them, although when I was in the middle of counting they suddenly started to move again. But this time, it was not forward. They started flailing around wildly and…

-Are they attacking each other?

He was right. The large leeches opened their "mouths" and started sucking in the smaller ones surrounding them. What was more disturbing was that the smaller ones didn't run away. Quite the opposite. They were going towards them, just to be swiftly devoured.

Whatever was that they were trying to do I was sure that would not be any good news for us, so I started the offensive. Without hesitation I started burning those that I had in range, to prevent them from being eaten. Although they were fast, I managed to get quite a few of them. Funnily enough, I don't think that helped much. The large ones started devouring the burned remains of their brethren as well. That's when I got an idea.

I condensed my spell to a singular streak of fire and aimed it at the group that I had still in range. I managed to burn a bunch, but that was not what I was aiming for.

-Bert, shoot ice at those!

-Why?

-Just do it! Just enough to extinguish the flames!

-Okay?

He let loose a few frost arrows, which almost instantly melted when they approached the pile of smoldering remains. But that was enough. The melted ice extinguished the flames so I could easily approach and take a look.

Some of them were still alive. My fire burned and cut through them, leaving them sliced in half, with a smoldering open wound.

I found one that was still alive and mostly untouched. Well, I am overestimating, it was alive at least. It had a wound like others - it got cut in half - but my fire didn't go through all the way, so the flesh was still connected. As I tried grabbing it to cast a spell on it, it tried running away, but thanks to the wound it was slow enough so I managed to touch it briefly. It was enough.

-Geksu, vsinqo do voy lmophu, gosi itvet tmutomu, muyfis itvet izqmufu lek mocisohu, nus.

It immediately ran away to the bigger ones, and got devoured, but my spell took hold, so I relaxed and started observing the situation.

-What did you do? What's going on? - asked slightly panicked Bert.

-I set a trap. Should be enough to wipe it whole.

-So what are we waiting for? Trigger it! Before it notices us!

-What do you mean before it notices us? It is solely here for us, why would it suddenly forget about that?

-I mean, they did start to avoid us again, maybe it…

-Hah, no. I don't think that is even remotely possible. Before, maybe, now it's just defending its territory. Also I am not gonna trigger the spell before it consumes all the leeches in the area, that way we kill two birds with one stone. Or a massive cluster of leeches with one spell.

-Are you sure about that?

As we were talking, the leeches finished eating the smaller ones and the silence filled the air. They started fighting amongst themselves, biting on each other, although without teeth it just looked like they were trying to swallow one another.

-Is it me or are they bigger?

He was right. I guess that made sense, all the small ones had to go somewhere, they didn't just turn into mana and vanish. All this was alarming but within the expected result.

As I was contemplating if I should trigger the spell already, another revelation happened. One of the leeches, the biggest one, apparently fed up with his compatriots, screeched, breaking the silence and… started bloating.

-They ARE getting bigger! Come on, fire already!

Before I even thought about it, the leech was already two times its length, and at least four times the girth. The other ones didn't even have time to react, they got absorbed right away and disappeared under the rapidly growing "fat".

As soon as it managed to cover all of its companions, it stopped bloating. Instead now it was starting to glow, its skin dark glistening wet, started being see-through. We could see its insides… and all the other leeches squirming around its body.

-Disgusting.

As if it heard his remark, the whole creature started trembling. And glowing even more. To the point that I could not look right at it without hurting my eyes. The light started pulsing and finally stopped a second later.

Before us was now standing a completely new creature. The only similarity with its form before was the body type.

Its body now reminded me more of a snake than a leech by this point. And a massive one to boot. It was two, maybe three people's size in width and the length I couldn't really tell, because part of its body sunk into the ground. It now had some dark blue patches on its body that were slightly glowing that appeared to be moving. Its head was now a lot more slender and snakelike, although still eyeless and toothless, as it promptly demonstrated, opening its mouth and screeching towards us. The sound it made was a lot more guttural, but still was similar to one from before.

-You really think you can wipe this thing in one spell?

-Well, no time like the present to find out!

-Gosi!

The spell activated without issue. I started having my doubts about it even triggering since it just transformed into something else, but apparently for nothing. Somewhere in the middle of its body we started hearing sizzling. The spell worked, and the flames started spreading inside the creature - the glowing blue patches started turning red - from the middle of it and towards its head. It definitely started feeling the effects, because it screeched once more. As it opened its mouth again I could see flames raging inside, but that was not what caught my attention. The patches that still had its original color, near where eyes normally should be, suddenly flashed bright blue, and from inside of its mouth bursted a gush of water that promptly turned into a massive stream.

-Look out ! - yelled Bert and jumped away.

But the monster did not aim towards us. Instead, it slammed its head into the ground and stopped moving.

-Get do... wn? - he stopped in the middle of trying to cower from the immediate water blast that never arrived, confused. - The hell is it doing?

-I am not so sure myself - I replied - but my spell worked, it is definitely getting burned from inside.

-Yeah, I can see the flames - he pointed towards the red patches on its skin. - This thing has a weird body. It even started smoking! And I doubted your spell.

-That is steam, not smoke… - I noticed, worried.

-Whatever, makes a little difference. At least we know it's working! Die already, you overgrown…

He didn't finish his insults, because the whole body of the creature suddenly moved. And again. And again. It started pulsing, almost like a beating heart. The blue patches started glowing even more.

It started fighting back my flames. I could feel my fire spell inside being pushed back.

-This thing is clever. Instead of attacking us, it redirected that water spout towards itself, into its own body.

-What are you even talking about?! That's… How do you even know that?

-You saw the flames inside. Can't you see the water as well? - I pointed to the blue glow. - It's currently a draw, but my fire is slowly losing.

-Fuck, you are right… Can you up your firepower? Cast the same spell again or something?

-I can't manipulate something that has already exploded. I basically made it eat a bomb, remember? Also we don't have time for that, it's already almost done extinguishing!

The red patches were almost gone, there were only some on its rear end that were still visible, all others were already completely blue.

-Stop gawking at it and do something then!

He was right.

When I saw my spell getting pushed back, I did try thinking about something else I could do, but being constricted to a singular element vastly narrowed my options. Wasn't much I could do besides dumping more mana and hoping for the best.

-Get back!

I made up my mind, and decided to at least try while the creature was still busy.

I again busted out my flamethrower, aimed right at the head of the creature. This time I did not even try limiting my flames, I let it run wild.

-SHIT, CAREFUL!

The result was a bit over the top. The flames were so wide, the whole creature got swallowed instantly, along with a small patch of forest nearby. And Bert's pants.

-Why did you not use this thing in the first place! Worked like a charm!

Indeed, the creature caught fire awfully fast. It even stopped moving, lying on the ground like when it got hit for the first time by the bomb.

It even worked a bit too well. The fire almost instantly spread towards the tree, including the massive one where I found the leader in.

-We better get moving. I think I burned a little bit too much.

-Towards the lake!

We left the forest fire to its devices and started quickly moving as close to the shore as we could, but not as close as to start stomping in shallow water.

-Gotta say, you red mages can pack a punch. Fire is scary.

-Mhm.

-You saved my life. Again.

-Mhm.

-I'm scared to ask, how can…

What interrupted him was a loud roar.

The creature was still alive. And pretty angry, judging by the noise it made.

No big deal, I thought. It had to be burned pretty badly, it shouldn't be a problem to finish the job. You could even call it a mercy killing.

How far I was from the truth…

What stood up from the ground was a massive serpent, burning with blue flames. It still had its green tint, but now the patches on its body were burning with an actual open flame. I didn't know why it was blue, but I was confident that it was not good news.

-Usc fi geksu, gmyho!

I instantly threw a fireball towards it, without even thinking twice. My spell was pretty hasty, so the orb was less of a ball and more like an uncondensed blob. Still, I packed quite a bit of mana, so it was decently large, maybe of the size of my head. It didn't matter though. As it flew closer to the creature, it got surrounded in the blue flames and promptly disappeared into them, not even leaving a mark.

Bert also was preparing to cast something towards it, but when he saw what happened to my attack he just turned around and yelled:

-RUN!

I couldn't agree more. Even if that was not a massive beast barreling towards us, to try and fight some of those weird flames I would have to prepare a decently sized spell, not those peashooters I was using, and I did not have time for that.

Luckily, along with gaining the size and new look, the creature also lost its speed. Or rather the ability to "spring jump", or however you want to call that. It actually tried to compress itself and launch from the ground towards us, out of habit I guess, but all it managed to do was to brighten its flames a bit and fall onto its sine, that's all. It quickly corrected itself and started slithering towards us. Although it was considerably slower than the jumps, it was still decently fast. Especially with its size, it started gaining on us alarmingly fast.

-Any emergency plans? - asked Bert, still running, almost tripping over some branches on the ground.

-Why it's always me, maybe you try something this time!

I did have an idea, but I wanted to save it as a last ditch effort, hoping that we can somehow resolve the issue without that.

-Well, I have one but I don't think I will be conscious after that. Also, its flames might be problematic.

-You don't know if you won't try!

-Ok, but don't blame me if you'll have to carry me after!

-If you don't try, then there won't be anyone to carry anyway!

-Fine!

He turned towards the creature mid run, and pulled out his bow again.

-Visinqo lyp hmedou. Lsitlepve nemjimohot tehu-sivu.

This time, he did not conjure an arrow, it was more like some gnarled mass of ice with a dull end. If it was made of wood, I would've said that he just pulled some half dead branch off a tree and tried notching it on the bow. I don't know if it was on purpose, or just because he was spent, but he fired it anyway, almost straight up.

-Mocisohu!

As he lobbed the spell towards it, the "ice branch" spread into a thin layer of icey net that covered the sky above us and fell down towards the creature, which was still barreling towards us. I expected it to instantly melt when it got close to it, but to my surprise I was wrong. It fell directly on top of the creature and started wrapping itself around it, slowing it considerably.

-Holy shit, it actually worked - he said surprised - and I am still sta… - and fell face first onto the wet ground.

-Ouch.

He was not kidding about carrying him, but at least he was still conscious this time. That actually was not the best scenario I was expecting, but was far from worse.

The creature was wriggling, trapped in the icy web. It was the best opportunity to finish it, so I started slowly getting closer. Or so I said to myself, really I was curious how such a weak frost spell managed to bind a creature that was literally on fire.

-What are you doing… - I heard from the ground. - Help me up and let's run… - he turned towards me, trying to pick himself up with moderate success.

-If we won't finish it, it's gonna go after us. Be quiet and don't distract me.

I positioned myself the way that he wouldn't see the spell I was gonna use and got even closer. I expected to be hit by heat any second now, but I was surprised again. The air that was supposed to be hot, coming from those blue flames, was freezingly cold. Well at least I solved the mystery of "how didn't this ice net melt". It did not explain how the hell a fire can be cold though. It also made me second guess myself. If it's now imbued with ice, wouldn't fire be superior against it? The second I thought that the creature replied to me with a guttural growl and the flames suddenly shifted color, from pale blue to crimson red. The frost spell that was holding it in place vanished instantly, followed by a sudden burst of heat and a groan from Bert behind me. I didn't even have to look to know that he got knocked out once again.

There wasn’t much time before the creature would attack, so I dropped all the pretenses and focused up. There were no more witnesses. I could finally try something new against this thing. Something that might actually work for once.

-Usc fi geksu. Usc fi hmedou.

I summoned two orbs, fire and frost one. Made them extra large this time around, so they would be actually a threat for the creature, and launched an attack from a frost one first.

-Gmyo.

It was a combination of the flamethrower I used earlier and an orb spell, pretty basic, but easy and effective. The stream of ice that shot from my orb staggered the creature at first, extinguishing a bunch of flames on its body and even managed to reach the skin itself. Unfortunately, as soon as that happened, the creature turned blue again, and the flames that were extinguished got replaced by the cold fire that promptly swallowed the spell. I replied in kind, switching focus to the other orb, creating an actual flamethrower. Like before, at first it was very effective, but the creature adapted quickly, turning back to red.

I should've guessed as much, it used to be a mana leech after all. Hell, for what I know it still might be. Out of all our experiments we did not attempt to find ways to kill those creatures, but it shouldn't be that complicated, right?

-I guess it's time for some field experiments.

Since it adapted quickly to both fire and ice, how about hitting it with both at the same time? Should work, right? Well, I thought so at least.

-Gmyo!

I launched a wave of fire and ice from my orbs, trying not to cross the streams, to not waste mana. Still, the spells were big enough to meet in the middle and parts of the elements just turned into steam. Maybe it was good, because I hit the creature with three streams simultaneously.

Again, at first it appeared to work. The creature reeled back, confused, and started switching between both blue and red flame chaotically. It sort of looked like a broken RGB light, which was hilarious. It was no time to laugh, because even though the creature was stunned and couldn't move, focused on the adaptation to my spells, it was still barely taking damage. My spells were hurting it partially, whenever they hit a part that was not attuned properly, but at the same time, where the same elements clashed, it was absorbing the magic of the spell and actively healing it. Even the damage from the hot steam was getting healed thanks to that, even though the magic from that part of the spell was not getting sucked by the creature. I could've waited there for, maybe like an hour and the creature would most likely finally get exhausted and finally die, but that is only if I was gonna endure that long and not get tired myself. For a second considered fully merging the orbs and only blasting it with steam, but instantly realized that would be a bad idea. It would've just switched to any of those flames and overpower me easily.

So why not blast it with something else?

-Usc fi gymnu.

I added a third orb to the mix - lightning - above the other two. I made this one especially large, since I wanted to end it quickly, before this thing adapts again. The creature instantly felt a new magic in the air and started writhing even more, but was preoccupied enough with both fire and ice, so it didn't have time for anything else.

-Lsitlepve nemjimohot tehu-sivu, mocisohu!

I borrowed the incantation from Bert for this one, to minimize the risk of the spell going wild, hoping to create a similar net out of my lightning orb, but the result was a lot different anyway. Instead of a branching net of the electricity, it started sparking and distorting for some reason. Every time it changed its shape, it was reaching farther and farther, like it was looking for something. It finally touched the fire orb and then in the blink of an eye all the electricity suddenly focused, creating a stable line between the two. The flamethrower that I had going all this time changed as well. In the red stream of flames I could see electric sparks flying all over. The electricity suddenly flashed red and fused with fire, creating something akin to plasma.

Instead of a stream of fire, I was now emitting a branching stream of this weird… substance, I guess? That was not the end though. The spell was still going and started looking for another target to connect to. And it found my ice orb. Again, the electricity jumped instantly and started fusing with ice. This time the effect was a lot more regular, if you even can call it that. Neither the lightning nor the ice changed colors, instead the ice started looking more like a crystal, with cracks inside that were pulsing with electricity. Apparently that was enough for the spell, because it started to calm down a bit and its shape stopped changing wildly. I had now a reversed V made out of my orbs and electricity formed in front of me.

As it formed, my flamethrower suddenly stopped, and the lightning orb, that was the only one that did not change its form, flashed suddenly. The other two, like in response, shook and from the lightning orb, it released its power towards the creature.

It was strange. At first, it looked like just a stream of that electrified ice, crystalized and colorless, just to almost instantly change color to red, and inside, along the sparks of electricity, appeared the weird substance. It was closer to liquid now, trapped inside, like some strange combination of lava lamp and those lightning spheres you’d often see in random thrift stores.

It was also effective. Very effective. At the first moment when the stream touched the creature, it roared even louder, to the point where it was hard to not cover my ears. It started flailing so much that even the ground below it started to give way. I was glad that the place was not on a hill, because the landslide would've been massive. It almost looked like it was trying to bury itself under ground, but the shocks prevented it from digging correctly, so it was just there, writhing in pain. After about a minute of struggle, the creature finally gave up. It stopped wiggling and shut down its flames. Even the roar stopped, instead replaced by only a silent screech.

-Poor creature.

It was sad, really. Shame I couldn't do much besides ending its torment. Shame that people do things like this without much of a thought. Shame…

In this lack of resistance the lightning finally did the job and surged through the whole body of the creature. In one moment, it reached from its head to the ends of the tail, now visible, dug out from the ground.

I canceled the spell.

It was over.