Book One – Chapter 13

The lizardkind rushed downward towards the Snowtrail, its six jointed limbs scuttling with eerie fluidity as it cut through the web of terrain that should have belonged solely to the mountain but now adhered to the orich’s will. Its six feet were a complex interplay of fingers adorned with lizard-like suction cups, and equally numerous claws sprouting just above them. The claws, sharp and independently articulated from the suctioned fingers, gripped and released with great flexibility, allowing the creature to navigate the icy rock with unnatural ease. The lizardkind flowed across the mountain’s surface like water, claws biting into stone and suctioned digits gripping onto even the smallest patches of ice.

His energy continued to transfer to the golem below, which now burst free from the thick pillar of ice encasing it. While the beast-wizard descended in frantic-fluid haste, the golem surged up the mountain with speed that belied its monumental size. With a torso rotating ceaselessly, stone arms reaching upwards with relentless purpose, and fingers supple yet unyielding, the golem found purchase even on the most challenging surfaces. Where its stone flesh met the mountain, it appeared to meld with the rock; a grotesque illusion of a massive boulder falling not down, but upwards. Each thrust of its powerful legs sent it hurtling skyward in aggressive defiance.

Yet, even amidst this display of raw power, Midnight discerned the spell unravelling. The wizard’s Rothar had faded entirely — She realised that it was now his very essence that bled into the artefact. With each moment, his life diminished, feeding the golem but depleting the beast-wizard’s own being.

Meanwhile, the orich had transformed the mountain into a weapon of devastating potential. Midnight, now closer to ork magic than ever before, perceived the exhaustion of the frosthearts through a lens of intricate, alchemical transmutation. She recognised the orich’s magic not as the simplistic process of energy harnessing, but as a form of transmutation so profound it bordered on evisceration. The frosthearts were not merely depleted like spent energy crystals; they were being altered at a fundamental level.