When she saw him casting again, a longer spell this time, she frantically began one of her own. She did not know what horror the Bloodstone was about to unleash on the world, but the powerful woman would do whatever was necessary to protect her son and all of the innocents present. Casting a quick spell, golden lines of light extended from her left hand to the hearts of every sprite and freed prisoner. Then she did something that she had promised herself never to do again. She drew upon the mana of others without their express consent. The Hearth Mother did not hesitate. Her son would live!
For the second time in a day, Hisako cast a spell unique to her Mastery of three Powers, Brilliant Earth. A thin dome of rock rose around her and all of the sprites and captives. A second later, it was covered by a layer of living plants, then the sunlight itself created a lattice of light to protect those within. She triggered the next rank of the spell, and three more layers of Earth, Life, and Light covered the first shells. Each triple layer bound together to make a shield powered by three Basic Elements. It was the strongest protection she could muster. The mana levels of everyone present began to be drained quickly. Before she could trigger the third rank though, the Bloodstone finished its spell.
<<… damiho ani mordas damna sangcor vest!>>
The Dread Harvest commenced.
Every dead body in the valley, over a thousand goblins, trolls, human, sprites, elves, gnomes and dwarves burst, and the blood rose into the air. The black, green and red ribbons snaked through the air, going higher and higher until they hovered fifty feet above Richter’s head. Then they swirled downward like a cyclone, funneling into the Bloodstone.
And so Richter stood, an ancient relic of scarlet power hovering before him, the blood of hundreds circling above his head. An army of screaming goblins ran to reclaim their item and slaves, and his scant two dozen allies cowered in their bunker. A dragonling and adder stared at the walls of Hisako’s spell. Each yearned to rejoin their master, but both obeyed his last command to protect the Hearth Mother.
Richter was barely aware of any of this. While the Bloodstone feasted, feeding upon the blood of two armies, his consciousness was compressed to the smallest corner of his mind. Not even Alma’s frantic cries could reach him. He just floated in the black abyss of his own netherspace, screaming for the light.
That’s why it shocked the piss out of him when he heard a voice.
<<The woman was right. You do not have much time.>>
“Who is that?” he cried out in his own mind. It sounded like the Voice that had hurt him so badly once, when he touched the Bloodstone, but slightly different. It was hard to think. He knew that the Voice had been asking him… something. He couldn’t remember. He only remembered the pain it had caused when he said no. That was the last thing he remembered before the Voice had forced him into this dark place. Richter feared the Voice coming back, but not as much as being left in the dark place for all eternity. “Who are you?” he cried out again. Even torture was better than the countless years he must have spent in the abyss.
<<I understand now. Your mind has fractured. I will fix this, but prepare yourself. There will be pain.>> Oh no, Richter thought! It was going to hurt him. It was just a different Voice! He shouldn’t have… All thought went away as the abyss was replaced by PAIN.
<<… hear me. Can you understand me?>>
“What?” Richter asked.
<<Can you hear me? Your mind should be restored. There is not much time left. We can both be free if you will work with me.>> “What time could I have?” Richter cried out. Memories of his interminable exile in the abyss were flooding back. “I have been trapped alone for centuries!” Everyone he knew must be long dead. A different, and somehow worse, pain kindled in his heart.
<<No. It only appeared that way. Even now, your friends and allies are struggling to live.>> It showed him the truth.
The world that the Bloodstone saw was binary. Things were either blood or “other.” Far from being limited, it could see the capillaries in a mouse through miles of solid rock. The blood from dead bodies had lost some of its power, but the sheer quantity was enough for the Bloodstone to get Dread Harvest to the next spell rank. It could now extract blood from the living.
Richter could feel its irritation at the protective spell Hisako had erected. Her shield had resisted the power of Dread Harvest so far. The blood it had collected from the dead might be enough to destroy the sprite’s dome, but why should it worry about two dozen meals, when there were hundreds of blood sacks running towards it. The Bloodstone smiled to itself and directed its attention towards the goblin army. The first bodies began to explode.
The softer voice spoke to Richter again, <<It is distracted for the moment, but soon it will turn its attention to your friends. Do you want to see them harvested as well?>> “No!” Richter shouted. Or he thought he did. This form of communication was different from the telepathy he shared with Alma. He wasn’t even sure what he was at that particular moment.
<<Then we must work together. The two of us can stop it.>>
“Then let’s do it now.” The goblins were bursting by the score, and their blood joined the funnel that fed the Bloodstone’s power. Some tried to run, but they were well within its power and range, both of which increased as more blood fed the relic.
<<No. We will need their blood to fuel a spell. I will cast it, but you have a decision to make. I can protect your mind from its influence. I can give you control of your body again, and the ability to save all of your friends and the prisoners.*
Enough of Richter’s awareness had come back that he understood this would not come without a price, “And in return?”
<<For one year, you will keep me safe. You will not let the sprites destroy me. You will give me a home.>> “You expect to come home with me? To my village, near my people? You are evil! Why would I ever allow you into my home?”