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Siberian Taiga[1998]
–Damian Hawthorne–
Unlike on the way here, he did not keep his magic in a loose sphere all around him. That would just function as a beacon to anyone sensitive to magic. He had no frame of reference, but it would be prudent to assume that he had a good amount of magic, and throwing that around like this, in an inefficient manner, would certainly draw the attention of an older magic user.
With Kinetic Damping active on his feet, he was as silent as he could be, as he moved deeper into the forest, on the other side of the mountain. There was a huge mountain, visible straight from his cave. It was actually a rather picturesque view, with a lake in front of the mountain.
He wondered why he never made any effort to explore past this mountain but then again, he had his hands full with his newfound love for experimenting with his magic, and secondly, getting ready so he could leave this place, however big it might have been.
Suppressing his breathing, he kept his magic tightly wound around himself, tightly holding onto multiple exploding pebbles. He stalked forward, his instincts guiding him as he found a path through the trees and the soil that he found disturbed around him.
It was night, but the subtle glow from the moon, along with whatever enhancements this body was given, made sure that he could make out a few details in the night. Many people had used this path, repeatedly, and the way his senses tingled when he followed it, all but told him that he'd found his prey.
Armed with explosives and a forcefield that had been found to be impenetrable until now, he moved with confidence, right up until he felt as if he was in front of a wall of magic.
He froze, moved immediately to the side, and climbed up a tree right next to what felt like a wall of magic, similar in principle to the one he felt around that Demon seal, but much different when it came to the aura it gave out.
There was a risk with what he was about to do, but his curiosity over enchantments won out in the end as he poked and prodded at the wall of magic with his own magic, nearly vibrating in excitement as he saw an entirely new set of instructions, different from what he had seen until now, flashing on the shield for a moment before disappearing.
He repeated the process a few more times, keeping the duration between flashes long enough for him to process the information, until, finally, with a single poke with his Shaped Forcefield enchantment, he made a small hole in the wall of magic.
When he did that, however, he realised his folly. See, the barrier was set up in a way that the formula to create an opening would change for every location in a set amount of time. He couldn't go down again and do the process once more, so, bracing himself, he jumped through.
His physique, child like it might have been, had more than enough power for him to cross through the small hole, right onto a tree branch of the next tree, rustling the branches around him as Shaped Durability came into play once more, allowing him to stab his hands into the tree, allowing him to get a strong footing.
Leveraging his strength, he found himself standing on top of the tree, overlooking what was the most sketchy scene he had seen, in both his lives.
A large clearing lay ahead, with seven concentric circles, with seven lines criss crossing the entire structure, passing through the centre.
Slightly ritualistic symbolism aside, he saw something more alarming. Seven people standing, each on one of the circles, the entire thing glowing a sickly red, illuminating the otherwise dark clearing.
Now he might not have had a structured education about magic but even he knew that the number seven was sometimes revered as a significant number in multiple schools of magic. The red colour was also reserved for darker magics, related to blood and death. All in all, it was clear that these guys were not about to use the ritual to cure cancer or something.
What really drove the point home was the abomination in the centre of that ritual circle. A deep feeling of repulsion, disgust, and rage came bubbling forth, kept at bay only by the Calm Mind enchantment, and even then, he knew it to be a close call.
A floating altar, right on top of the centre of all those circles, housing two beings, one of whom was hooded, just like all the other seven who continued to move about their circles in an oddly synchronised manner, with the other being…
He clenched his teeth, a wave of rage so overwhelming, that he found himself activating the Shaped Durability perk on instinct, stabbing his extremities into the poor tree. Only for a brief moment, however, as Calm Mind came roaring back and pushed back all that rage, keeping it pressed down, yet he felt its presence all the same.
A unicorn.
Not just that, a baby unicorn. The purest of the pure beings, held down by chains that dug into the poor thing's hide, making it cry out in pain, as tears, shimmering and full of pure magic, fell on the altar, making it glow even more.
He found himself getting more and more restless, the rage threatening to break Calm Mind's already tumultuous hold. Something told him that the results of that happening would be pretty.
So, he began to plan.
From this far away, he could not make out the enchantments on the altar, or on the chains, so that was out. He had his very heavy ordinance of exploding pebbles but that would not ensure the unicorn's safety. Rather, it might just disrupt that ritual and do untold damage to everyone involved.
While the others could go, the unicorn could not. He felt it deep within his magic. Letting a pure being like that die on his watch, when he could have done something, would doom him for eternity, for magic itself would weep upon its death, and as a willing bystander, he would have to pay the price.
Just the fact that the information was somehow seared deep into his mind scared him out of his mind, bringing a chilling clarity to his mind, the rage momentarily pushed back by the fear of the consequences of not acting.
No, he could not stay still.
All of them were chanting something unintelligible, likely some magic, with the leader just standing there, staring at the unicorn as the altar's glow continued to increase as the unicorn's pure tears continued to fuel it in some way.
Ultimately, the choice was taken out of his hands, as the hair on the back of his neck stood up, with the person on the altar taking out a knife, which seemed to drop blood.
"No!" He reacted instinctively, jumping from the tree, right to the altar, only he could not reach it, only managing to find himself on a direct collision path with the person on the outermost concentric circle.
His shout clearly alerted all of them as all eight of them snapped their heads toward him with alarming speed. Clearly, these were not the run-of-the-mill wizards.
With haste that could only come from sheer desperation, he shaped his entire body forcefield into one giant knife, with each and every portion of it capable of cutting through wood as if butter, as he took out the exploding pebbles from his pockets and threw them in a scattered manner.
Some of them blew up mid air, illuminating the entire surroundings, as he jumped forward, his vision drawn in towards the altar, as the seven beings, now cloaks removed from their heads, jumped in his path.
His surprise at the red eyes, elongated fangs, and pale skin only lasted a moment, as his mind finally identified these beings.
Vampires.
Vampires. Ritual. Unicorn. Baby Unicorn.
All that rage came roaring back, as he suddenly found himself in no mood for mercy, as he moved ahead, with all his speed, even going so far as to dig his hands in the ground for added leverage.
Within seconds, he crashed into the first vampire, who didn't even get a chance to gurgle before he passed through the vampire, his entire body now a giant sharp knife, as his legs cut through the circles, one by one, their glow dimming.
Thankfully, the same seemed to happen to the altar as it slowly began descending, the person on top of it finally turning around, as he only grinned at what should have alarmed him.
All the while, he continued to slip explosive pebbles to the ground, primed to explode two seconds later, as he heard explosion after explosion behind him, illuminating the entire area in front of him, as the irritated face of the vampire was revealed to him, still holding onto that accursed dagger.
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