Chapter 284: Not Frost Wight

The hair on the back of Noah’s neck stood on end. His footfalls echoed through the catacombs, breaking the deathly silence. Even with the faint light from his pipe, the darkness was intense.

It wasn’t the dark that unsettled him, though. Noah couldn’t quite place his finger on what it was, but it felt wrong. The air was stale and heavy, and even though it wasn’t as cold as it had been outside, his breath came out in white puffs.

The scent of – well, Noah couldn’t place what the scent was. It was earthly, but at the same time, it couldn’t have been anything natural. A mixture of moss and something sickly sweet, all covered by old, dank, dust.

Noah arrived at the edge of the hall, right before where it took a sharp turn to the right. He paused, standing on the balls of his feet and keeping Natural Disaster’s power at his fingertips.

Karina said the monster was right beyond this bend. I don’t hear anything. It really seems like I’m the only one in here. I feel like I would have heard if some big creature was sitting right in front of me. Is it small? Or is it just really fast?

There was only one way to find out. Noah burst forward, dashing around the corner. He skidded across the ground, a cloud of molten ash swirling around him, and nearly lost his footing. He’d fully expected to see something down the hall sprinting toward him.

He hadn’t expected it to be standing directly in front of him, as still as ice.

The Frost Wight was huge. Limbs jutted out of its body indiscriminately, many of them ending in icy points. It stood, hunched, head looming far above Noah. There was a general humanoid form to it, but it was difficult to make out through all the pieces jutting out. Its legs were buried in a sea of other feet and hands, all locked perfectly still.

A beard of glistening icicles hung from the monster’s disturbingly human face. Its eyes were two dull pools of red, and its mouth an empty black hole ringed by jagged spikes of dirty, brown ice.

Noah’s burst of motion proved the be the only thing that gave him time to both get a good glance at the Frost Wight and avoid a swift return trip to his gourd. The monster lurched, one of its many hands whipping out.

A scythe of ice carved across the ground, screeching against marble and shattering on one of the walls. Noah unleashed Natural Disaster, sending all his heated ash forward in a drill. It slammed into the unnaturally still monster’s body, grinding against its armor with a roar.

Noah was forced to dodge back as the wight surged forward, its many limbs all sending out individual blasts of ice. A furious howl escaped its mouth as it bore down on him. Noah drove his foot into the ground, releasing his smoke for just long enough to erect a wall of rock.

Ice pummeled it, and Noah dove out of the way as the wight bore down on his wall, shattering it without an ounce of effort. Ice flashed through the air like bullets, crashing down all around Noah. Several pieces cut into his body, leaving painful but non-lethal wounds.

He rolled to the side and shot up, slamming another drill of heated ash into the monster. It staggered, letting out another scream, but not even that stopped the barrage of ice. Noah dove around the corner, and a wave of frost followed after him.

The wight slammed against the wall, sending a rumble through the ground. It barely even stopped, its many feet skittering to maintain purchase on the ground as it ran after him. The monster was so wide that it took up nearly the entire corridor.

Nearly.

Noah lunged – forward. He used Natural Disaster to rip a plate of stone from the ground at an angle. He dove under it, sliding through the small corridor he’d just made. The Frost Wight shattered the stone with a heavy foot and let out a roar of anger.

Hah. Try turning around now, you fat bastard. You can only look in one direction. Should have chosen a monster that actually fits inside the catacombs, Linwicks.

Noah sent another spike of ash into the monster – this time, aiming for its back. To his annoyance, his magic didn’t seem to be doing anything. The plates covering its body were too strong.

The wight’s body rippled. A wave passed through its limbs and it shuddered. Then there was a sickening, grinding squelch. Water poured onto the ground around the wight as its head pushed through its body, popping out to stare straight at Noah. It hadn’t turned around. It had literally just shifted the location of where its head came out. Several loud crunches rang out as spikes of ice erupted from all over its body, scraping against the walls and ceiling.

Ah, shit.

The frost wight lunged, throwing its entire – and considerable – mass forward in an attempt to squish Noah beneath it. A horrible screech echoed through the dark halls as its ice scraped along stone. Even if it didn’t fully crush him with the attack, all the jagged ice jutting out from it would turn him to mincemeat if it grew close.

Noah used a blast of wind to launch himself backward, deeper into the catacombs. Even with the aid of his magic, he just barely avoided getting caught by the wight. He gritted his teeth as his feet hit the ground again.

The wight continued its advance, not slowing in the slightest.

I’m not winning this one without Sunder. I can’t get through the damn things armor, but there’s no way I can get close enough to touch it. I’ll get ripped to shreds.

Noah dodged back, summoning another stone wall from the ground as another torrent of ice hurtled toward him. He only had a moment to dash back before the wight crushed his stone and barreled through it, the screaming echoing from its lipless mouth intensifying.

As good a time as any to use the Fragment of Renewal. I don’t have a Formation to intensify its power, but all I need to do is rot away some of this thing’s armor.

Noah dipped to the side, then drove his hand into the wall, unleashing a significant portion of Natural Disaster’s power. The stone shattered as a violent quake ripped through it. Large pieces of the wall crumbled into the hall, leaving a thick furrow.

The wight charged Noah and he threw himself forward, using a burst of wind to push himself through the gap he’d just formed. A spike of ice carved along his arm, leaving behind a flash of white-hot pain.

Noah hit the ground in a roll, surging to his feet and releasing Natural Disaster. He reached out to the Fragment of Renewal, calling on the Master Rune’s powers. The Fragment of Renewal answered.

I just really hope you can rot away ice armor.

Pressure washed out within his soul, making his other Runes shudder. They pressed back against the strength of the immense Rune, keeping it in check. A small wave of pink mist rolled out from Noah’s fingers in a wispy cloud.

It flitted out and struck the Frost Wight in the back, even as it adjusted to pull its head back out to see Noah. It started toward him, then froze, going completely and perfectly still. Idly, Noah noted that this was probably how it had been so hard to detect. For something as large as the Frost Wight was, it was impressive how quickly it could completely still itself.

Standing still didn’t stop the Fragment of Renewal, though. As the pink smoke roiled across the front plates of the wight’s armor, threads of dark brown and green wound throughout them. The ice warped and started to sag.

But, even as the Fragment of Renewal’s magic wound into the Frost Wight, more ice crept out and tried to cover up the weakening armor. And, worse, the Fragment of Renewal pulled back, withdrawing its powers and shutting itself off for the day.

Noah blurred into motion. It was tempting to use Sunder to finish the monster off, but that would require getting far too close to it for comfort. Ideally, he didn’t want to get himself killed while Karina was standing around outside.

Instead, he ripped moisture from the air around the Frost Wight. He tried to take it from the monster as well, but everything that was actually part of it stubbornly refused him.

That was fine. Noah didn’t need much. He formed a spike of cold water and solidified it into a thick icicle with a wide base. The spike shot out, driving straight into the center of the weakened armor plate.

It pierced through with a thunk, driving into the Frost Wight’s body – but not by nearly enough. Noah wasn’t done yet, though. Even as the spike had pierced the monster, he’d already called on his power again.

Using more of Natural Disaster’s power than he would have cared to admit, Noah formed a hammer of water and frost in his hands. He reared back and, with a roar, swung it with all his might. An additional burst of wind from Natural Disaster behind the hammer’s head accelerated it even further.

It slammed into the spike’s base with a loud crash. The Frost Wight was too heavy to stumble back – and so the spike was sent even deeper into its chest, piercing through it with an ear-grating screech.

It stumbled, the spikes of ice sloughing away as a pained wail ripped from its lips. And, in the moment where its guard was down, Noah drew on Sunder and let his spike of ice dissolve. Greyish blue blood poured down the open wound in the Frost Wight’s chest. Noah’s veins turned black and he lunged, slapping his hand into the wight’s armor, right in the hole he’d just made.

A flash of black carved through the monster. It let out one final pained scream before Sunder ripped through it. The Master Rune’s power traveled through the open wound and through the inside of the wight’s body, splitting it apart from within.

It crashed to the ground before Noah, cold blood pouring out from within it. Noah could feel the Frost Wight’s soul started to gather above its body, but he had absolutely no intention of letting that energy go to waste.

He called on Sunder once more, carving through the power right as it started to move. Magic pulsated and gathered, forming into four Runes. Two of them were unreadable, but the others were far more promising.

Iceborn Barrier n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Piercing Icicle Growth

Both of the Runes were Rank 3, and it didn’t take even a second of deliberation for Noah to start memorizing their appearance. As soon as he had, he pressed his hands against the Runes and closed his eyes, pulling them into his mindspace.

A minute later, his eyes opened once more. Neither of the Runes had been perfect – nor had they been anywhere near full – but two extra Rank 3 Runes to work with wasn’t something he was about to decline.

He let out a slow breath, his stinging wounds bringing themselves back to his attention. His clothes had basically been ruined by the fight and by the blood seeping into them, but he’d won a fight against a Rank 3 monster and hadn’t even died in the process.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Noah adjusted his jacket as best as he could, then headed back down the corridor. The others all stood at its end, concerned expressions on their faces. Moxie let out a breath of relief when she saw Noah emerge. Lee just gave him a small nod, not even slightly surprised by his victory.

“The Frost Wight is dead,” Noah said.

“You killed it?” Karina’s eyes were wide in disbelief. “You? How?”

“I am a man of many talents,” Noah said, trying not to sound as smug as he felt. Adrenaline was still pumping through his veins. The fight had been intense – and, now that it was over, Noah was prepared to admit that it had actually been a little fun. “Now, shall we get going? There’s an artifact with my name on it waiting for me.”