Grey Vivium 8

There were too many of them, and they left me few openings between their combined spell attacks to go on the offensive. As I pivoted to stay out of the gusting cyclone, I considered my own capabilities. I needed to maximize my mobility and rebalance the scales.

Sensing Regis following along with my thoughts, I prepared my maneuver, condensing aether into my fist until the bones began to ache.

God Step flared, and I was standing across the room, just inside the arched entryways.

The aether blade vanished, as did my connection to Regis and the Destruction godrune.

Extending my arm, I released the blast.

Ulrike and the braided Wraith, Ifiok, vanished in a cone of roiling purple aether. It engulfed the long-range teleportation portal beyond them as well, and the portal frame shattered with a sound like a thunderclap. The hard stone came down in a fluttering wave of glowing confetti as it dissolved. The opaque liquid energy of the portal itself swirled with the turbulence of its failure, then hissed and faded away.

At least they wouldn’t be bringing in any reinforcements that way.

Ulrike lowered her shield, which was pockmarked and burn-scarred from Destruction. Scarlet runes burned brightly across its dim metallic surface. Ifiok stepped out from behind her, his braids smoking and one horn cracked. The flesh on the side of his face was torn and bleeding.