Alex Roth, General of Thameland looked over three different scenes.
In one, Merzhin was struggling with the divine ward around Uldarâs throne.
In another, the Ravener was battling his friends in its lair.
And in the third, monsters were spreading across Thameland, bringing chaos and death to the kingdom.
So, he got to work.
Channelling the power of the Traveller, the Mark of the General, his streams of consciousness, and all heâd learned since the auspicious day heâd left Alric with his family, he set about making things right.
Simultaneously, though in three different places, Alex got to work.
In Aenflynnâs castle he teleported to Merzhin, examining the divine ward closely. The Saintâs head was bowed in concentration, while Carey poured power into his soul.
âIâm back,â Alex said.
Carey startled. âWhere are you? What have you done?â
âItâs better if Iâm invisible for now,â he said.
âNo, not that part,â she shook her head. âThough you did startle me. No, itâs more than that. YouâŠwhat didâHannahâs power, I can feel it in you but in a way, it feels differentâŠin her name, what ever have you done, Alex?â
âAdapted,â he said. âIn short, Iâm in three different places right now.â
Within the Ravenerâs cavern, he studied the construct. âAnd soon, Iâll be in four.â
âI am not sure I quite understand what you mean,â Carey said. âButâŠI do feel the energy within youâŠthough, itâs as if you are both here and far away. Itâs quite remarkable.â
âAnd Iâm going to use it to do as much as I can in as many places as I can.â Alex looked at the divine ward. Merzhin was so deep in prayer; he was oblivious to their conversation.
The General of Thameland didnât want to interrupt him, instead, he continued his conversation with Carey. âListen, Iâm going to focus on the ward. I want to see if I can use Hannahâs power to try and teleport some of Uldarâs energy away. Iâm not sure itâll work, but itâs worth a try. If it does, it could weaken the ward enough for Merzhin to get through it.â
âIt might work, I think,â Carey said. âAnd Iâll keep empowering Merzhin, and maybe together, weâll get through.â
âYeah, but weâd better hurry.â Alex listened for explosions outside. âSounds like Baelinâs still got Aenflynnâs attention, but, the bastardâs still dangerous. Iâll focus on trying to teleport away the divine energy as fast as I can.â
âAre you sure you can give this problem with the ward your full attention?â Carey asked. âWe do have a lot to do.â
âI know.â Alex focused on the divine ward, a stream of consciousness channelling Hannahâs power. âIâll give it all I can.â Alex said, dispelling Steel Body.
He needed to have his mana flowing freely for what he was about to do.
âI can also help us by starving the Ravener.â
At the same time that he was channelling power, looking to break through the resistance from the divine ward, the General of Thameland was also floating above a sea of devastation in Thameland. A single stream of consciousness was guiding him in the material world, engaging with a spell.
He cast Army of Heroes over Ussex again, joining it with Hannahâs blessing.
Alex teleported across the land then, searching for settlements and soldiers. Over every group he found, he would cast Army of Heroes.
Courage returned to the defenders of ThamelandâŠwhile at the same time the Ravener was facing new problems within its lair. freÄnovelkiss.com
âSomething is wrong!â the Ravener thought. âVery wrong!â
Channelling its inner energies, it threw magic, monsters, death beams, poisonsâŠeverything it had at the mortals battling it.
And yetâŠthey fought onâŠrefusing toâŠdie!
The Champion of Thameland and the strange interloper with her many arms, stalked and attacked it like a pair of starving wolves.
Both teamed up, their aggressiveness high, not giving it even a heartbeat to gather its thoughts. If it had lungs, it wouldnât have had a single chance to breathe under their onslaught.
The Champion swung Uldarâs sword, cutting through its deadly, protective cage. His every slash grew more precise with each swing. The powerful warrior was learning how Uldarâs construct fought, exploiting any weaknesses, distracting it, doing terrible damage each time its focus left him.
The culmination of thousands of years of combat experience had been brought back to its full potential in Hart, by the General of Thameland.
The Ravenerâs other opponent could never be called a minor threat either.
The six-armed, four-legged entity was quick, strong, and bristled with divine weapons and commanded an inner destructive energy that would punch deep into the construct each time she struck. It could not ignore the way she fought.
As the battle played out, a distinctâŠrhythm appeared in her combat style; it was like she was drawing it into a cadence of violence and carnage that was her ultimate goal, leaving it increasingly vulnerable to her attacks.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Sheâd been struck many times by the searing death beams, butâeven thoughopen wounds and burns accumulated on her bodyâshe simply laughed and threw herself at it with greater enthusiasm, speed and violence.
And yet, as terrible as the two warriors were, they couldnât hold the Ravenerâs full attention.
Nor could the other mortals; as devastating as they were.
The Sage and Chosen destroyed Ravener-spawn by the horde, all while he channelled divinity, healing his allyâs wounds and fighting off the worst of the Ravenerâs magics.
Wizards were using magic, supporting their allies, while warriors were cutting through its servants.
That golem could not be forgottenâits energy was so similar to the Ravenerâs own, yet so differentâwielding its fists, war-spear and fire beams. Apart from a few scratches on its metal surface, none of the spawn had damaged it.
But, neither the golem nor the mortals were the true source of its growing distress.
âI can sense the former Fool,â it thought, trying to find him with its senses. âThat Usurper is hereâŠyetâŠit feels like he is not here. And I sense him elsewhere too! How can this be? Are they using some foul magic to confound my senses?â
It desperately wanted to find himâespecially if he was here in its lairâbut the thrice-damned mortals were not letting up, not giving it a moment to truly concentrate.
And making things worseâŠ
âWhy does it feel like the flow of fear from Thameland is dropping again?â it thought. âSomething is truly wrong. The General must be doing somethingâŠâ
âShow yourself, apostate of Uldar!â the constructâs voice filled the cavern. âShow yourself!â
At the edge of the battleâat the same time that Alex was flying across Thameland, and helping Merzhin in Aenflynnâs castleâthe young archwizard was watching the Ravener battle his companions as it screamed for him to show himself.
But, he simply remained quiet, studying it, using the Mark of the General to analyse its movements, calculatingâŠlooking for the perfect moment, while hiding under the cover of his invisibility spell.
Slowly, he began to predict how the flying orb movedâŠhow it responded to Hart and Asmaldestre, how it tried to respond to the rest of his companionsâŠand in his mind, a plan formed.
Teleporting to the platform with the equipment on itâhe quietly alerted Bjorgrund that he was there and warned him not to reactâthen stealthily slid a device off the disk, one theyâd made to syphon away the Ravenerâs mana, and turned it invisible.
âAlright,â he thought. âLetâs ruin your day.â
Alex turned his mind to the Ravener, calling on the Mark of the General, focusing it on the task of teleporting into the construct.
The Mark brought up images of his previous teleportations as well as images of his brief glimpse into the Ravener when heâd touched it before.
The Travellerâs power welled up.
âI couldnât teleport inside you before,â the young archwizard thought. âBut with access to Hannahâs full power, letâs see you keep me out now.â
Memories of Keldaâs sanctum came to him.
The Fool of Hannahâs time had made it appear in four places at once; Alex was, at the moment, in three places at once.
It was time to be in four.
Calling on Hannahâs energy, he focused.
One body. One mind. One soul.
Three places.
Three different positions.
Multiple streams of consciousness controlling himself in different places.
But, he would go beyond that.
âOne body,â he thought. âOne mind. One soul. Four places. Think. Adapt to the idea. You must.â
Hannahâs power churned inside him as he clenched his jaw, steadying himself, his mind and soul shaking from strain. Getting to the point where he could appear in three places at once had been tough.
This?
This was going to be tougher, considering that the fourth place he needed to be in was inside Uldarâs construct.
It would be tough, but he knew it was possible.
Kelda had proven that an object could be in four places at once.
The sanctum had been in fourâŠ
Alexâs thoughts fixed on a single truth. âWhen I was in the sanctumâŠI must have also been in four places at once because it was in four places at once. Which means, Iâve experienced something similar before. Come on. Use that experience to guide yourself in how to do it. Focus. Focus. Focus.â
He bent his other streams of consciousness to the task, even as two of those streams continued to help Merzhin in Aenflynnâs castle, and move across Thameland, empowering the armies of his kingdom with his magics.
âA mastery of space,â Alex thought. âA mastery of space. Remember: you got through a divine ward that channelled the power of a dead god. You can teleport into the Ravener in the same way. ConcentrateâŠjust concentrateâŠâ
The Mark of the General continued focusing his mind on every experience that had brought him here, and that could get him over the next threshold. Hannahâs power reverberated through him, body and soul, threatening to wrench it apart in some sort of foundational split.
But he wasnât splitting himself.
He was still one body.
One mind.
One soul.
In four places.
Hannahâs power surged.
He opened his eyes as the energy raged within him, granting him more power.
Alex felt the Ravenerâs consciousness shift its attention to him.
âWhere are you?â it said.
âWhere arenât I?â the General of Thameland thought, channelling his power, sending a stream of consciousness hurtling through the space between planes.
Merzhin was bent in dedication in one place, sweat trickling down his face.
While in another, he was above the countryside in his burning kingdom, channelling his magic into a Thameish battalion.
In a third, he saw the Ravener struggling against his allies, shouting for him to show himself.
But nowâŠthere was a fourth place.
A fourth set of eyes watching images from dozens of planes and thousands of locations. And ahead? He felt his destination approaching. The energy of the Ravener built around him, the images of the planes fell away.
Suddenly, up ahead, a towering wall of endless white deadly energy loomed.
He considered it, his eyes narrowing.
âLooks like a divine ward,â he thought. âA defence inside the Ravener; damn, even in death youâre defending your abomination, Uldar. Well, itâs going to take more than a corpse to stop me.â
Concentrating on Hannahâs power, Alex warped the space around himâŠthen teleported.
The wall of white deadly energy was suddenly past him.
But, the death beams were waiting.
Scores of hungry streams of energy shot at him from all directions, trying to fry his soul before he could breach the Ravenerâs core.
âThatâs not going to stop me either,â the young archwizard thought.
Again, he channelled Hannahâs power, teleporting between beams, letting them pass by him like he was only mist.
More white walls sprang up, looking to block his way, but he teleported through them.
Suddenly, in the Ravenerâs cavern, the dark orb stopped in mid-air.
âWhat? What is this? ThisâŠwhat are you doing?â it shouted, its flat voice sounding frantic.
âItâs pretty obvious what weâre doing !â Hart growled, carving another deep channel into its ebon surface.
âNot you!â it howled. âGeneral! Fool! Apostate! Usurper! How are you doing this? It is not possible! Begone! Begone! Begone! You are not to defile the creatorâs work! It is not for your inferior eyes!â
âIâll be the judge of that,â Alex thought, teleporting through the last of the death beams.
The archwizard reached out then, feeling a deep darkness rise before himâŠaccompanied by a towering hatred.
But he was not afraid.
Read đatđst chapters at ÆrÄenovelkiss.com Only.
âHere I come,â he thought.
Hannahâs power bloomed.
And he was through.
One body.
One mind.
One soul.
Four places.
One inside Aenflynnâs castle.
One in Thamelandâs skies.
One in the Ravenerâs lair.
And the final one?
Alex opened his eyesâŠconfirming that he was the first mortal ever to look upon the world inside the Ravener.
His eyes widened. âOh, by the Traveller.â