Chapter 8.85

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Chapter 8.85
Torishi slayed Nokha by Lanrae.jpg
Torishi slayed Nokha by Lanrae
Published
May 3, 2022
Word Count
26,962
Link
Chapter 8.85
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Chapter 8.84

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Chapter 8.85 is the 104th chapter of Volume 8.

Synopsis[edit | edit source]

Chieftain Torishi Weatherfur falls through the ground to the buried Kingdom of Gnolls, breaking an arm on impact. Eight of her bodyguards fall with her, one of them breaking their neck on impact. In the darkness, the group of Gnolls is picked off by the Raskghar that fell just before them and Raskghar that bred underground, until Torishi is the last. Nokha stabs and chokes her, initially winning, but Torishi calls a ray of powerful sunlight and grabs hold of Nohka, eventually ripping her arm off and decapitating her. As Torishi requests, Belavierr takes Nohka's head to show the Gnolls above. Torishi goes into the darkness and kills Raskghar until she dies.

On the surface, Belavierr shows Nohka's head to Mrsha and the Weatherfur Tribe. As Belavierr pontificates, Az’kerash denounces her and attacks through Kerash, managing to make her bleed. As Belavierr attempts to tell everyone of the Necromancer's survival, she's attacked by Saliss Oliwing, Lehra Ruinstrider, Reynold Ferusdam driving Magnolia Reinhart's pink carriage, and Moore. Mrsha and Vetn enter the pink carriage and Reynold zigzags away.

Xherw and his bodyguards charge at Cetrule, Krshia Silverfang, Akrisa Silverfang, and Satar Silverfang. As Ulcreziek aims at Mrsha, Rasea Zecrew steers the Illuminary to run over him, running over lesser Plain's Eye [Shamans] on the way. Ulcreziek holds back the ship with one hand and retaliates, causing the ship to tip over. The passengers spill onto the ground and assemble, and Doubte leads the charge into fighting. Amerys and Valeterisa meet in the sky and work together as Oteslian [Pegasus Riders] attack Fissival.

Wall Lord Dragial teleports away from Ilvriss Gemscale and picks up the Blade of Mershi after it was torn from Lehra by Belavierr. He fails the question asked by Saturniel Cometscale and is rejected by the Blade. As Lehra recovers the Blade, the Halfseekers break through into the area and pursue Dragial.

Perorn Sadiluc meets Geraeri as Ierwyn uses her skill [A Fraction of My Experience] on the Woven Bladegrass Tribe Gnolls. Dragial watches as the Centaurs, together with Alked Fellbow, trample the Fissival [Mage-General] Qeuse to death. Soon after, Dragial is caught by Moore and squeezed to death. Looking at the Wall Lord's ruined body, Lehra Ruinstrider is struck that Izril will never be the same again.

Elsewhere, Fetohep rides through the battlefield, armed with a halberd. He watches as Iraz Steelfur is killed by Luciva Skybreath and his tribe loses their steel fur, leaving Adetr Steelfur as the only remaining Steelfur due to his class. One of them is immediately cut down, and Fetohep watches Sharkcaptain Femar kill Chieftain Reizet of Az'muzzare. Khelta tells Fetohep that Xierca is dying and Chandrar is lost. Wavering and unsure of who to fight, Fetohep charges his forces with protecting every Gnoll civilian.

Qwera and Wer stand together as Tesy draws arrows and brick walls into reality. As Qwera shoots a bow at Plain’s Eye Warriors, Tesy is shot in the leg. Ysara Byres swordfights a Gnoll and is tossed off her feet. Yelroan saves her by tackling the [Shamanic Warrior], but another approaches and stabs Ysara through the shoulder. Yvlon Byres and the Horns of Hammerad show up on the back of a Frostmarrow Behemoth and save them, just in time for Belavierr to destroy the Behemoth with a giant needle. The Horns chase after the pink carriage, which is carrying Mrsha.

Vetn and Mrsha are in the pink carriage, driven by Reynold Ferusdam, which is attracting others. Manus' army marks the carriage and Oldblood Drakes began dive-bombing it. As Reynolds is parrying a sword thrust, Klbkch lands on it and beheads three Drakes. Mivifa Selifscale sees Klbkch and starts attacking him, misreading the situation. Vetn leaves the carriage with Mrsha and Belavierr casts [Your Mortal Doom, Returned] on Reynold, causing the carriage to run into metal wire and flip over.

Vetn carries Mrsha into a box formation prepared by Manus. Saliss Oliwing quickly approaches and threatens the surrounding Drakes. Milka, a supreme [General] of Manus, deploys a barrier skill in return and is squashed by a falling Wrymvr in the middle of speaking. Saliss pushes Vetn and Mrsha aside and throws a vial that sucks part of Wrymvr into a vortex. Vetn is then stabbed in the shoulder by Lulv, who grabs Mrsha. Reynold finds them as Klbkch, Mivifa, Wrymvr, and Saliss all turn from fighting to threaten Lulv, who drops Mrsha.

Mrsha is again picked up by Fals, who carries her through the fighting, getting shot through the leg in the process, and reaches the Antinium. A [Templar] heals Fals and Garia Strongheart takes Mrsha. The Fellowship of the Inn, the Antinium, and Mrsha's Gnoll protectors close ranks. Numbtongue and Bird come to Mrsha.

Manus' elites, led by Lulv, come to attack them, and General Sserys leads the Liscorian Army into them. "Erin" is recognized by several characters as Sserys charges for Dragonspeaker Luciva Skybreath. Lulv kills his horse and a [Blademaster] cuts off his arm, which he regrows using the Potion of Regeneration. Lulv then stabs him through the stomach, which he heals, but Relc Grasstongue appears and grabs Lulv's spear before Lulv can follow up. Flos Reimarch steals the Potion of Regeneration and rips off his bandages, fully healed.

As Relc and Lulv fight, Relc drops his spear and wrestles Lulv's spear away from him. As Lulv goes for Relc's dropped spear, Relc uses [Recall Weapon] and gives chase with both spears. Lulv runs and Relc throws Lulv's spear to Infinitypear and Rasktooth for safekeeping, then follows Sserys.

Sserys gets close to Dragonspeaker Luciva and tells her The Necromancer is alive and killed Zel Shivertail, having already told two other high-ranking Drakes. When Sserys takes Ilvriss Gemscale off his horse and tries telling him the same thing, Ilvriss responds that he already knew. Sserys reveals that Zel told Sserys about him. Sserys tells Ilvriss the locations of all fallen Walled Cities, which he learned from talking to the ghosts of great Drakes.

Xherw is killing Silverfangs now, with unlimited luck. Belavierr edges away from the Antinium [Crusaders] and [Weapons of Faith]. Doubte, the Quarass, and the Vizir Hecrelunn fight Belavierr, occupying her.

Xherw fights towards Satar Silverfang, blaming her for the revelations. Cetrule fights Xherw for a moment, drawing blood, before Xherw kills him. Cirediel appears and breathes acid on Xherw and three others, but Xherw shrugs it off and buries an axe in Cirediel's chest, which does nothing to Cirediel's true body. Cirediel flies a dozen feet, carrying Satar, before Xherw throws an axe through one of his wings, grounding him.

Doubte has made Belavierr bleed, but she is opening a portal where something is waiting. Nalthaliarstrelous attacks her in his bestial form and ceases her ritual. Plain's Eye Warriors begin to have doubts when Xherw commands them to fight through Salazsarian Drakes, Wild Wastes and Weatherfur Gnolls, Antinium, and Goblins to kill Mrsha. Xherw himself attacks Oteslian forces to reach Satar and Cirediel.

Lyonette du Marquin, using [Flawless Attempt] and [Silverglow Enchantment], which allows warriors to battle spirits, cuts at the Daemon of Luck and draws Xherw's attention. Flos Reimarch backs up Lyonette and shows her how to use her class and aura to cut the Daemon before throwing back the approaching Xherw. At Flos' command, Gazi Pathseeker and Orthenon attack Plain's Eye while Flos cuts the Daemon. Realizing that they won't be able to kill the Daemon before Xherw reaches them again, Flos and Raelt Leysars fight him together.

Jecaina Leysars approaches Lyonette and the Daemon and begins to speak to it. The Thronebearers of Calanfer and Shriekblade protect the pair as Jecaina calls upon the rulers, chieftains, and [Hero] on the battlefield to pass judgement on the Daemon's captivity to Xherw. With their collective judgment, Jecaina is able to break the bond tying the Daemon to Xherw. His luck and that of Plain’s Eye Tribe disappears, and the thousands of dead white Gnolls that make up the Daemon momentarily appear on the battlefield, returning their luck to all Gnolls, Fetohep, and Khelt, before fading away.

In Khelt, the magical ritual designed to the specifications of dead [Archmages] finally works when a dog trips a helper carrying a basket of magicore stones, which fly in improbable curves to the exact locations needed.

On the Gnoll Plains, Flos strides toward Xherw to fight him, but is stopped by Akrisa Silverfang, who tells him it is the tale of Gnolls, not him. Chieftains Akrisa, Eska, Orelighn, Mrell, Adetr Steelfur, Gireulashia Ekhtouch, Merish, and more race up the hill where Xherw stands. They are unable to kill him, until Merish grabs hold of a knife that Xherw is drawing from his belt. Xherw speaks to Merish, trying to convince him, but Merish denies him and Xherw loses his satisfaction.

Merish slowly wretches the knife from Xherw and they roll down the hill. Merish stabs Xherw in the throat and slashes the knife left, but Xherw throws him back and yanks the knife out. He turns and stumbles, searching for his people, until he falls dead.

Flos speaks to the assorted Gnolls and all their allies, making them his [Army of the King] for a single battle, and leads them against the armies of Zeres, Fissival, and Manus. Amid the charge, Lyonette reunites with Mrsha.

As Ulcreziek despairs for Xherw's death, he calls to Belavierr, who reveals that she is controlling living and dead Plain's Eye warriors to fight like puppets. Ulcreziek agrees to give his magical eye, passed from [Shaman] to [Shaman], to Belavierr, in exchange for her saving his tribe from the doom they brought upon themselves. To save them, Belavierr turns all surviving Plain's Eye Gnolls fur white, and Ulcreziek, now totally blind, is struck by arrows and run through by Drakes. He hears the Drakes talking and understands what happened before dying.

As Belavierr fights Wrymvr, she asks him how he "severed [his] mortal strands", before being distracted by the ritual activating in Khelt, which emanates from Fetohep and reaches around the world. Belavierr teleports Wrymvr into the ground and begins to walk away, passing the allies and Gnolls who now stand together, the fighting finished.

She passes Teriarch, totally invisible to all but a few, and does a double take, beginning to speak with him and nervously reaching for her greatest artifacts. Teriarch claims they fought before, but Belavierr doesn't remember. Before she can do anything, he breathes dragonfire on her, igniting a thousand feet of the Gnoll Plains. As he walks towards the Dragonspeaker of Manus and Belavierr starts to pursue, he pauses and bows to a skeleton approaching Belavierr, causing her to hesitate in curiosity.

The skeleton reveals itself to be Califor, and through eye contact she forces Belavierr to relive her death and burning alive. As Belavierr returns to her body, experiencing the pain of burning and dying, she swears to make Califor pay, but is stopped by the last coven of the greatest [Witches] of every age-Yithiuqess, Somillune, Barsoijou, Vexcla, and the Mischief Witch-who now inhabit bodies like Revenants, thanks to the magical ritual performed in Khelt. The witches judge Belavierr and burden her with the knowledge of a debt of witches and an oath older than her.

Thanks to Khelt's ritual, all the dead of Kasignel are able to temporarily inhabit dead bodies like Revenants, possessing all their levels and magic of life. The last ghosts of Chandrar fade away, including Queen Xierca of Khelt, and Khelta begins summoning Erin's soul from Terandria to Izril. Fetohep encounters Sserys, in Erin's body, and learns who he is. Khelta thanks Sserys for preserving Erin's body.

Sharkcaptain Femar swings his spear at a skeleton containing Nerrhavia's soul, who slaps his bloodline with his aura in retaliation. He staggers, and in Zeres, his mother, father, and two siblings feel the same slap. In rage, Femar prepares to attack her, only to have Nerrhavia cause enforcement scrolls to appear before leaders in Nerrhavia's Fallen, Baleros, and Terandria, forcing all nations to declare war on Femar and Zeres in perpetuity if Femar hits her. Nerrhavia uses a skill to prevent Femar from leaving her presence, and contemplates what terrible fate she will bestow upon him.

In terror, Femar calls for Asale, the levelless Admiral of Supply, to overcome Nerrhavia's skill and contracts. Asale does so, but Nerrhavia summons a monster to occupy them and communicates with Az'kerash through Kerash, seeking protection in his soulprison. For one of the first times in death, Az'kerash feels uneasy as a number of the afterlife's greatest souls communicate with him to avoid oblivion.

Kasignel grows empty. In Kasignel, on Terandria, Tamaroth gouges out one of Razia's eyes. Erin Solstice is called by Khelta to Izril, and Cawe and Gerial, the last mortal souls on Terandria, sacrifice themselves to Tamaroth to allow Erin time to be transported. Now on Izril, Erin summons from memory the Hangman's Rope, Emerrhain's gift, and looks for someone to give it to.

On the Gnoll Plains, Dragonspeaker Luciva of Manus begs Sserys to stay in Erin's body or wait until they can find another vessel for him, but Sserys refuses in disgust and asks Khelta to return him to Kasignel and Erin to her body.

The dead bodies around the Gnoll Plains start to become possessed by Seamwalkers, their true forms bulging out of the corpses. The Vizir Hecrelunn and a revenant Half-Giant kill the first, but more begin to appear. As Fetohep approaches one, Flos finds his strength failing against a dead Drake with eyes under each scale, and Gazi freezes when she makes eye contact with it, her eyes dripping blood. Flos promptly destroys the corpse. Sserys, standing in the center of the ritual that will return Erin Solstice to her body, calls Liscor's army to kill the Seamwalkers coming through.

Fifteen paces away from Erin Solstice's body, Tamaroth sits up in a skeleton. He starts announcing his return, but Fetohep interrupts him. Tamaroth backhands him across the ground, and Ierwyn's magic sword breaks upon meeting him. He runs her though with a sword and makes for Erin Solstice's body. Fetohep and Doubte meet him halfway as Tamaroth parries a point-blank arrow fired by Alked Fellbow. Pisces snaps the skeleton's neck and sends Tamaroth back to Kasignel. As Fetohep looks for his blade, the Horns begin killing the Seamwalkers coming through.

In Kasignel, Kasigna has been unmaking her domain. Terandria and Baleros in Kasignel have disappeared, and the border of Kasignel has shrunk down to the High Passes, which even now are beginning to vanish. Kasigna tells the other three gods that they are not welcome in her domain, but before leaving, they want to consume Erin Solstice.

Every Dragon left in Kasignel burns Cauwine, causing her to scream, before Kasigna consumes them all. The last rulers fight Tamaroth, and Queen Merindue, half consumed, plunges Excalibur into his chest, causing it to shatter, and dealing him a wound that would not close. She then fades. Norechl, lunging for Erin, is picked up and slammed into the ground by Razia, her warform exhausted.

Razia takes the noose offered by Erin as King Dolenm of Khelt is consumed by a Seamwalker. A Seamwalker reaching for Califor, who is still talking to Belavierr, is struck down by Empress Sheta, diving out of the sky. She's accompanied by a last brigade of flying ghosts, including Garuda, Djinni, Harpies, and flying Gnolls.

Fetohep gives the order for the [Mages] of Khelt to destroy the ritual circle as three last Gnoll ghosts enter bodies. The first, Chieftain Seru'nial, who took her tribe beyond the clouds, has the air whispering around her, and her feet hover above the ground. The second, [Archmage] Kishkeria, lifts a staff conjured from the dust and ground and cries tears of magic. The third and final Gnoll ghost inhabits Ulcreziek's body, and he is the Oldest Gnoll Shaman in history, who speaks the original Gnollish language.

The three ghosts join paws, and the coven of greatest [Witches] approach with hats removed, offering their magic for the ghosts' use. The oldest [Shaman] is the first to act, and he splits Izril in half with one foot, causing the oceans to rush into the divide. Chieftain Seru'nial points everyone to the home of her tribe, a gigantic cloud in the sky that would never vanish. Her act is then to call the ruins of the sixth continent to fill the new gap between the two halves of Izril. Kishkeria spreads the grass she created across the new land and explodes the Fissival network used to steal Gnoll magic. She names the Waning World over, and names the new age the Journey of the Living. The three fade from the world together.

In Kasignel, Erin hangs in a blazing network of magic, but Kasigna has caught Khelta's arm. She can't finish the spell, but Teriarch, disguised as a white Gnoll, and Az'kerash stabilize the spell. Khelta turns and strikes barehanded as Kasigna, harder than Nerrhavia could have dreamed, and is consumed.

As Empress Sheta, the last Harpy, flies into the void past the edge of Kasignel, one last group of the oldest ghosts congregate on Rhir. Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, the oldest Humans, and other species descend towards the sleeping demigod, with [Priests] and [Clerics] warding each step. As they approach the sleeping demigod, the Antinium fall back, and the last ghost salutes them before vanishing.

Erin is being revived as the Great Plains shrink inward. There are only a few ghosts left in the whole of Kasignel. Xarkouth and Razia have persisted. As Tamaroth and Norechl go for Razia, who has the hangman's noose, Zineryr appears and causes Tamaroth to recoil in surprise. Razia catches Tamaroth and hangs the noose around his neck, then lashes the other end to Xarkouth's tail. As Tamaroth struggles to resist vanishing due to the noose, Razia lifts Norechl overhead and runs up Xarkouth's back. Xarkouth flies into the sky of Kasignel, carrying the two gods.

Sserys, returned to Kasignel, fights Cauwine with a grin until he is consumed. As Erin is being pulled into her body, she clings to the vision of Sserys nodding her goodbye. Zineryr leans down and tells her to open her eyes.

Characters[edit | edit source]

( * = First Appearance)

Ghosts Characters[edit | edit source]

( * = First Appearance)

Gnoll Tribes[edit | edit source]

Locations[edit | edit source]

Vehicle[edit | edit source]

Undead[edit | edit source]

  • Khelt’s undead skeletons
  • Frostmarrow Behemoth (Destroyed)
  • Zombies

Golems[edit | edit source]

  • Sand Golems

Creatures[edit | edit source]

Plants[edit | edit source]

Items[edit | edit source]

  • Blade of Mershi
    • Armor of Stars
  • Plain’s Eye
  • Fencer's Golden Bell
  • Heavens’ Arc
  • Serkonian Lance
  • Magic Throwers
  • Demas Metal flail
  • Graven Passage
  • Fang of Manus / Parentkiller
  • Lulv's Adamantium-tipped Spear
  • Erin’s severed arm
  • Potion of Regeneration
  • Relc’s Anti-Magic Spear
  • Fencer's Silver Bell
  • Magicore
  • Quarass’s poison
  • Seven League Boots
  • Enforcement Scrolls
  • Erin's Materialised Memory Items
  • Bow of Avel (Memory Copy)
  • ? - Axe that was drenched in the blood of Gods = Can be used by Ghosts, and harm Demigods.
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