Skinner was the least of their worries. The Antinium had killed nineteen Flesh Worms in the tunnels so far, even if none of them had built up so much flesh as he had, or the gems of [Terror]. No, the real threat was deeper, darker.
The deer were clustered around the skeleton, swiping with their horns, heedless of the heat which somehow didn’t set fire to their own thick hides when suddenly, as one, they turned and fled. Toren lay on the ground, bones still smoking, and stared at the herd as they raced away across the plains. He’d nearly forgotten about the gem of [Terror], but it had its uses.
The gem of [Terror] had worked. Toren scrambled through the snow, towards the herd of Corusdeer, knowing he wouldn’t get another chance to use it. The warrior that was alive-and-not-alive had only paused when he’d used it, which meant he was probably resistant.
He couldn’t see, or even breathe that well in the hot, vaporous fumes. But Toren had memorized the man’s position, and now he unleashed his gaze of [Terror] as well.
He scared the Shield Spiders off with his gaze of [Terror] and then turned it on the girl. She screamed and peed a bit, but when she realized that Toren could turn the effect on and off, she ran to each spot. Toren jogged after Lyon happily, enjoying the screams. He mentally marked the spider nest for later, and wondered what he’d kill today.
Still, if her idea worked they wouldn’t need to fight any Humans. And if they did…Rags patted at her pouch. She still had the gem of [Terror]. She hadn’t had much call to use it against Goblins—it was ineffective—but it could give the Humans a good scare.
Rags rode back towards the Human women, ignoring the mounted warriors who spread out, encircling her. They might have tried to pull her off her mount—in which case Rags had the gem of [Terror] clutched in one sweaty hand ready to use—but the adventurer called out and stopped them.
The flaming insect-bird burned as it struck the monster, but the searing heat seemed to do nothing to the monster’s thick hide. Rags pulled the gem of [Terror] from her belt and held it up. Only briefly—it would affect her Goblin warriors too. But though they shuddered as the effects struck them, the crawling thing only dragged itself forwards again, ignoring the magic.
“A change in leadership, Councilmember. You may recall that Senior Guardsman Klbkch was thought dead during that time. His replacement elected to prioritize the Hive’s safety. When Klbkch was…returned, he immediately led the counterassault. Frankly, that situation was caused by the [Terror] effect by the Skinner guardian. If the Watch hadn’t fled the walls rather than raising the alarm or closing the gates, we would have held the undead attack off easily without them.”
However, it didn’t work on Relc for a few reasons. First, he had [Indomitable Will], a Skill that could beat off a [Terror] spell. Second? He was a veteran of battles where enemy illusion spells messed with perception and had recognized one working on him.
But that was all they had. Tkrn didn’t freeze or panic. He could move, even run to Ekhtouch as his boots tromped through soggy grass and splintered arrow shafts, because he’d looked [Terror] in the eyes.
Auras—as any [Lady] or Order of Seasons [Knight] knew—were made up of three stages. Simply manifesting the aura like the King of Destruction was akin to a second instinct. A powerful commanding presence. The ability to withstand [Terror] spells and so on.
The Great Chieftain’s eyes flashed with fear, mortal [Terror]—until his mind realized what he was doing. Then he stared at the red gemstone Rags held aloft.
If I had that, I would have been able to kill Skinner…maybe. Again, Yvlon realized it wasn’t that simple. He could have ripped off her skin and armor and maybe even her metal arms. He truly had been dangerous in his own way, especially with those [Terror] gems. And in that sense, that was Yvlon. She was Level 44. She could destroy an ordinary foe quite, quite fast, but a single arrow when her Skills weren’t up would kill her.
