They were just whispers in the jungle, hissing through it as the occasional tusker ran past in the other direction, any noise lost in the bellowing tumult and thuds of bone-breaking that were ringing out from the tusker civil war going on. Their target certainly wasn’t looking for them, had no idea they were there, and had other concerns on his mind as he suddenly saw his pet fake Bobo trapped by an armored Tremendous Monuga, of all things, perhaps even the one the real Bobo had driven off in the past.

  Only this one was armored and wielding a flaming Weapon, as well as girt with at least a half-dozen Buffing spells!

  Mudmouth, his shell of tusker flesh scarcely bigger than a goldenback despite all his power, shuffled forward a step, weighing the risk of getting involved and aiding his idiotic minion. Bobo had only beaten the monuga back then at the cost of his right paw. Mudmouth had no confidence in his Dark Bobo being the equal of Bobo at all, and facing a monuga who actually had armor and Buffs up? That, that was an impossible fight, even if there wasn’t an Isparian Caster helping him out!

  He could hear his minion’s throaty howls of pain and rage, as could all the tuskers, and it was driving the Summons berserk as they tried to come to his aid. Unfortunately, that only left the idiots completely exposed to the invading forces raining fire on them. They were dying off in screaming throngs and droves, while the biggest and best of them were being torn away from Bobo’s control completely and going over to the other side!

  It was incredibly effective, dangerous magic, and Mudmouth was not aware of the principles it worked on, because no such magic had ever been used in the past. But magic had changed, and his masters had made it plain that magic was very different in different places.

  Could he even save his minion? The unwhite fire was very disquieting, a new force he was utterly unfamiliar with. He could only see that it was Burning away the corpses of all the dead Summoned tusker spirits with incredible speed, and swathing the field of battle in shining whiteness and ground-hugging mist as it did so…

  The attackers came in on either side of him, just whispers of motion he ignored until he saw the flames ignite like suns, the motes of Lost Light turn into stars, and they slammed into him from either side with Breaks the Tide.

  He didn’t know the name of the Ocean Dragon Form, of course, but he got to feel it all as, powered up by Child of Waters for the opening charge, the Mick and Princess Kristie Rantha hit him full force.

  He heard only one word. “TREMBLE,” the dark-haired female swore at him, pale violet eyes blazing with killing intent, and two Notes rang out that seemed to thrum on his body and soul.

  Ding! Ting!

  Armor Cleaving ripping through his admittedly thin hide, triple damage Power Attack, multiplied by Leap Attack, multiplied by One Striking, multiplied by Valorous Charging, Shadow Slayer doubling it, multiplied by Crits going off Biting Strike, multiplied by Crushing Blow.

  The first two swings were the hugest physical attacks Mudmouth had ever suffered. His Health Qi boiled off him in a flood of black and purple lights, flames searing bright paths across his sides and instantly sticking to him as Curse magic fouled them up and didn’t let him Fast Heal.

  “All the world waits for you.”

  He realized he was really in trouble when both Blades came back equally fast, and cut again, and then came back again, even faster this time, and cut again!

  “All your time has come due.”

  Unable to move except to flail wildly and pivot in shock, the streaks of fire came in even faster, cut deeper, building on one another in a crescendo of violence that was painting the area around him.

  “All your magic comes to its end.”

  He tried to Cast, to get spells off, but the mana in the air seemed immovable, inflexible, and wouldn’t come to his call like it should have.

  “Aerbax’s folly, off we’ll send

  “You to tremble, and Feed the Land!”

  When the streaks of fire in the air somehow gathered into a flaming rose, he didn’t know what was going on, but something seemed to turn in time and probability itself, and it all went bad.

  “TREMBLE!”

  The attacks going off on him all crit, and they crit explosively, tearing at his flesh and Health Qi raging across and through his system with greater speed than any two swordsmen should possibly be able to execute. The two of them were circling him smoothly, attacks trading back and forth from openings that flowed into being as if he was choreographed with them.

  “Death bursts forth, and knows it’s time!”

  He had been hit hard by the Weapons of many Isparians in the past, usually after they had softened him up with magic he could Counter or Dispel as he wished. Usually it was half a dozen or more of them, backed up by their own spellcasters tearing into him and covering for those he blasted with his own magic.

  “Fires will feast on this life a crime!”

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Deal with this!” he screamed at the interfering Isparians, scarcely able to believe that they’d reached his contingency limit in under twenty seconds, and his shadow Tusker-Imps flashed into being around him.

  The spell seemed stronger now, there were an even dozen of them for these foolish attackers to deal with, coming at them from every side-

  He thought they’d been hitting fast, but that all faded as the world became streaks of razored flame.

  “Against Nature, aberrant Tainted thing!”

  Slices of the sun cut through his Imps, exploded, blowing them into white wisps of energy, and Mudmouth flinched as he felt the enslaved souls vanish from his grip, never to be Summoned again.

  “A Blood Rose shines, a thousand Dooms now sing!”

  And then the woman cut right into him, Cleaving through them, and it felt like she took the power of their deaths and carved right through him as the Imps tried to swing at her, missed, and she reaped them.

  “Seven Dragons roar their rage and

  “Tremble! You will FEED THE LAND!”

  And for every Imp she reaped, she cut him again as she circled Mudmouth, and he screamed as his Health Qi covered him in flames now, no chance to even be quenched before more was riding on him, eating at him…

  ---

  It was the first time the Mick had seen Finish and Hew at work, or really felt the utter dread being brought to bear of a master Heartsinger screwing with the head of a target.

  The Shadow Tusker Imps didn’t have a chance. Maybe 500 Health, walking into an absolute firestorm of crits, Slayer effects, Power Attacks via Breaks the Tide and all the multipliers involved with that, Sneak Attack damage coming in as they lost initiative and were caught flat-footed, and so the Imps just died as soon as the first one took a swing at Princess Kristie, missed her, and the Attacks of Opportunity from Riposte and Sword beats Fist just exploded.

  He couldn’t use Finish and Hew, because they were a Spear and an Axe Feat respectively. Finish was a Spear Feat, where if you dropped someone you could instantly perform a coup de grace on them. It was designed to stop things that might Heal up, going right to death, no lingering, no more cards to be dealt.

  Hew was an Axe Feat, where if you dropped something and Cleaved to another target, you added all the excess damage of that blow to the next swing.

  He actually did take all the Attacks of Opportunity on the little blighters that he could, but he didn’t kill any of them. No, no, that would be wasteful. Instead, he and the princess administered six attacks each as the Imps flailed at them, and then he basically just focused on Mudmouth as Princess Kristie ignited and overkilled the shit out of those Imps with her second swings.

  Her Bladedancing was impossibly graceful, gloriously beautiful, and fantastically deadly. Every motion she looked like she was posing just to be admired, and yet he knew he was only seeing after-images of cuts and strokes that had only passed by as they built upon one another.

  All Mudmouth was seeing was death coming for him. The Mick was pretty sure the thing in a tusker’s shape hadn’t even been designed to feel fear, but like the undead, a Threnodic Song was slamming on to his heart and soul, and it was SUPPLYING the fear to him, enabling Mudmouth to experience all the helpful terror he never wanted to, and the damn thing didn’t have any idea on how to deal with it.

  He was panicking and flailing, not thinking clearly, trying to flee via magic or foot and unable to do either, not having any calm or direction or concentrated focus at all as he shook in the throes of the Trembling Song.

  Gods damned, the Princess Rantha was fucking nasty when she opened her pipes and let that Song fly.

  “TREMBLE! TREMBLE, WE COME!” Mudmouth’s eyes were near bulging out of his head, wild and crazed, and all he was doing was screaming frantically and trying to get away, to live, and neither he nor his little Imps had a bloody prayer.

  The Imps were down under a hundred Health, and likely the bleed damage would have killed them off, but when the second attacks came through with Seven Dragons Rampaging, crits igniting from the Blood Rose dissipating around them, then all those crits +coups carried over into Mudmouth in a dozen slashing strokes as the two of them circled the brute, Princess Kristie killing all the Tusker Imps in one unearthly violent and overwhelming flowing series of impossibly fast-to-follow arcs of golden Wrathfire and motes of Lost Light that hit like tiny meteors, detonating continuously and blindingly against the cunning not-a-tusker.

  “A Blood Rose blooms in Hell tonight.”

  Constitution attacks. Strength damage. Bleed damage. Burn damage. Flurries of blows of terrific violence that only fed barrages of Attacks of Opportunity going back and forth as Mudmouth alternately tried to flail at them, tried to flee and Stand Still sheared through his legs and stopped him immediately, and Cast spells that went nowhere and fizzled horribly in Kristie’s Null.

  “Drags you down despite all your might.”

  Mudmouth’s Health Qi was venting wildly dealing with everything, especially nullifying the Ability Damage in horrid and painful gouts that drew screams from him. Vivus was eating the stuff happily, and ichor that wasn’t blood or even really liquid was pouring out of the corrupted virindi-shade thing Aerbax had made all those years ago.

  “Your vigor, your vitae, a balm so sweet.”

  The Mick knew he had never moved Bunita’s Kiss so fast, and that included when under Haste. He and the Princess had set up a resonance of attacks and openings that was just driving the engine of Fire and the power of Ocean faster and deeper. The two of them were doing more work than two full Fellowships tearing into this bastard with crazy intense speed.

  “To the lips of the Land, passing fleet

  “Where you quaver, and FEED HER WELL!

  “TREMBLE! TREMBLE, SHE COMES!”

  Sidesteps of Hotfoot, the Fire-style lightfoot, drove them around the not-a-tusker as it frantically tried to keep up with them, tried to land a telling blow, and couldn’t. They danced around it constantly, Fire Dancing, Ocean-Flowing, and the fires of their Blades bit in with monstrous speed, accuracy, and exploding crits.

  Sixty percent, fifty percent in under a minute! He never imagined that would be possible with just two people. This bloody thing had 300k of Health Qi, but the stuff was venting madly with every cycle and step of their dance.

  “Summon your servants! Call your slaves!”

  Another contingent Summons of the barely-visible Shadow Tusker Imps came up, Whirlwinds went off, none of them died, and then six seconds later they were all dead, and 40 percent Health Qi was down to 30 percent as they blew apart and their deathstrokes all ended up carving into their shrieking boss.

  “It’s not your life they’re going to save!” The fact her voice was totally comprehensible no matter how loudly Mudmouth screamed or how crazily he flailed about was near as terrifying as the Heartsong itself.

  Hew and Finish goes all the way back to Book One. Summon in some minions? Great! They'll help me kill you when they die! The Mick can't use them because they are not Sword Feats, but he sure can feed them!

  ============================

  For those who would like to support me and my daily updates, my Patreon Link is at:

   Ebook Series: The original Power of Ten: The First Day, The First Week, and finally The First Month, Vol Five and Six!