A Bored Lich

The barrier obscured the outside view, imprisoning the group with a ravenous cellmate, the flames. Even though Frey stood at the barrier\'s edge, the heat clawed at his back. His every breath beckoned it closer.

Kilot pulled out weapon after weapon, practically throwing his creations against the barrier. However effective their runic imbuements were, the damage seemed to heal within moments.

Olpi poured her mana into magic circles. They shattered.

Elero paced about, muttering ideas to herself.

Only Thomas and Frey knew better, or to be more precise, knew not to know better. They both looked to Doevm.

\'I\'ve tried doing things my way time and time again…\' Frey thought. \'And time and time again, I proved myself a fool. Not this time.\'

"Everyone, calm down," Doevm said. "We have ten minutes left, plenty of time. Elero, when you flew up, did you see anything?"

"Only a glimpse," Elero explained. "There were over a dozen surrounding the barrier, maybe more. They went invisible as soon as they saw me."

Doevm nodded: "Nonetheless, enemy information is always vital. That said, we only have one way out of this. It isn\'t even much of a plan but Frey, you\'re up."

\'Here comes some crazy plan,\' Frey thought as he stepped forward. \'Well, whatever it is, it\'s likely better than running headfirst into that barrier.\'

Doevm pointed at the barrier. "I need you to run headfirst through that thing."

Frey chuckled.

Doevm wasn\'t laughing: "There are several spikes that continuously transmit energy to one another. With your aura, you can force your way outside. Remove one spike and the barrier will fall like a house of cards."

Frey paused, expecting something more. "That\'s it? Just go out there, kill whoever I see, and pull a spike out of the ground?"

"You are literally the only one who can do this," Doevm assured him with a smile. "No pressure."

\'Welp, here goes nothing,\' Frey thought. He drew his shield and kopis and took a deep breath.

"Wait," Kilot said as a dull, metallic weight pressed into Frey\'s back. "Take this, boy. It\'s a bit small for you, but you\'ll need it."

Frey turned to see a kite shield in Kilot\'s hands. He took it, noting a jagged line down its front, which split a symbol of the goddess. Scorch marks, nicks, and scrapes; the shield had seen better days, yet the runic sigils along its back were somehow untouched, even by time. "This is my grandfather\'s," Frey said.

"Was your grandfather\'s," Kilot clarified. "It was one of his older shields. After a certain bag of bones broke through it, I had to do some pretty intensive repairs." He shot a glance at Doevm.

"So you never got the chance to give it back?" Frey asked.

Kilot shook his head. "I was saving it for memory\'s sake but it apt to be used by someone capable. Anyway, it\'s got more enchantments than you\'ll ever need. It\'ll serve you well."

"Kilot, thank you…" Frey hesitated. "but I\'m not used to a shield like this."

"You idiot," Kilot sighed. "Your mercurial shield is liquid metal. It can take any shape." He took both shields from Frey, slapped the mercurial shield on top of the kite shield, then handed the result back to him.

"I didn\'t know it could do that," Frey gasped.

Kilot rolled his eyes: "Better?"

Frey did a couple test movements and nodded with satisfaction. \'It\'ll take a bit to get used to the weight, but now it\'s the shape I\'m familiar with.\'

Kilot slapped Frey on the back. "Good, now hurry the hell up before we burn to death. Doevm, how much time is left?"

"Eight minutes," Doevm said. "Plenty of time, as long as he doesn\'t alert them all."

Olpi waved Frey off. "Good luck."

"Thanks, but I won\'t need it," Frey assured them. He called upon his aura and stepped into the barrier.

Energies grated against one another. He slid back and winced. A tingling pain ate away at him, like his entire body had fallen asleep. He took a breath and threw himself at the barrier once more. The overwhelming energy dove into his aura as he pushed through to the other side. If he had a single lapse in concentration…He didn\'t even want to imagine what would happen.

He emerged. Daylight filled his eyes and in that moment he realized two mistakes.

One, he had no cover.

Two, the barrier, and thus himself, was surrounded by enemies.

Arrows whistling out of thin air. The hum of blades leaving their sheathes. He braced behind his shield, waiting to take the full brunt of it all.

Then, there was light, radiant light. The impacts didn\'t deflect off his shield, they reflected. He nervously peered above his shield. Blood painted the immediate area as three corpses, clothed in black leather and hoods, lay in a gory mess. They began to melt away.

\'Just like the year-long war, they\'re using slimes to erase the evidence,\' Frey thought. \'Any others?\' He focused his aura around his eyes, finding the last remaining person standing just below the tree cover. Invisibility hid the physical, but not one\'s soul.

Frey glanced at the corpses and laughed. "Still…Oh yeah. I love it already, Kilot." He condensed life essence around his legs and kicked off the ground. As his kopis hacked into the last survivor\'s chest, a bolt flew into the air. \'It was like he wasn\'t even aiming at me,\' he thought.

The bolt reached its pinnacle and exploded in a thunderous boom, echoing throughout the forest. Frey cursed and kicked the melting corpse to the ground. \'It\'s a signal, not an attack. I\'m going to have to fight all of them at this rate. I only have six minutes.\'

Frey leapt down and found the nearest spike. He needed both his hands to lift. Reluctantly, he dropped his shield. Life essence poured into his entire body as he lifted, veins bulging around his arms. It was as if the barrier itself fought against him. \'Come on. Come on. Come on. I can do this. I have to do this.\'

An arrow whistled into his thigh and he let out a pained groan. They were coming from the left. Another whistle made him dodge back, releasing his grip. \'From the right side as well? Are you kidding me?\' He leapt back on the spike and lifted up again. \'I don\'t have time to fight them all.\'

Another arrow hurtled towards him.