//------------------------------// // 724 - A Matter of Focus // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Lex had long since stopped bothering to count the number of times that his plans had gone awry. With how often some X-factor had disrupted his carefully-laid arrangements and stratagems, it made more sense to count the instances when something hadn’t gone wrong. And those times were few and far between. So much so that it had become easier to simply presume that, no matter what task he was undertaking – whether it was fighting for his life against a body-snatching devil or planning a reception for rich ponies from Las Pegasus – something would somehow, inevitably, go wrong. This time, that “something” was named Sissel. Having faced Grisela and Paska in battle before, as well as having seen Blat and Vidrig fight, Lex had been ready to encounter those four again. And initially, things had gone in the manner he’d predicted; indeed, after realizing that their enemies were using Littleknight to spy on them, everything had fallen into place. Feeding them information designed to lure them out, combined with tactics designed to bypass and minimize the techniques that they’d previously employed, had put Grisela and her monstrous brethren at a marked disadvantage. But Sissel’s presence had been beyond his ability to plan for. While Lex had anticipated that there might be more than just the four foes that he’d previously encountered – their repeated references to someone they called “Mother” had made it clear that they were working at another’s behest – he’d hoped that any reinforcements they’d bring would utilize the same combination of invisibility and anti-tracks/scent that the others had previously, since he’d already come up with countermeasures for those. That Sissel had instead concealed her presence and subsequently made herself known using completely different methods than her siblings – once Lex had figured out that the giant was projecting both her image and her magic from somewhere nearby – made it clear to him that he needed to come up with an entirely new strategy for defeating her. Rescuing Woodheart, however, took priority over that. It had been in service to that goal that Lex had returned to corporeal form while negotiating with Sissel. Doing so had painted a target on his back, of course – he was far more vulnerable in his physical body than if he’d stayed in shadow-form, having initially turned incorporeal when they’d sprung their ambush on Grisela and the others – but that couldn’t be helped. He was the one those monsters were after, which meant that he needed them to stay focused on him rather than his companions. If, once the fighting resumed, he was in a state where his enemies’ attacks were largely ineffective, there was a very real chance they’d direct their ire toward the others. Solvei and Akna could stand up to the level of aggression their foes could bring to bear; the other ponies in their group, however, would likely be killed in short order. But again, Sissel had overturned that plan. That she’d put Thermal Draft’s life in danger – via directing Paska to lay some sort of lethal but slow-acting curse on the pegasus – after he’d rescued Thermal Draft had been bad enough. But once he’d made it clear that he could not be controlled through hostage-taking, Sissel hadn’t simply focused on him the way he’d hoped. Instead, she’d immediately cut loose with a killing spell, one with an area large enough to target not only himself but also Spinner, Mystaria, Woodheart, Littleknight, and Thermal Draft as well. Fortunately, both the dragon he’d fought outside of Tall Tale and Xiriel had made use of similar magic, and just to be safe Lex had made sure to prepare a means of dealing with such things when he’d renewed his thaumaturgical spellcasting during the recent equinox. While he felt confident he could have survived Sissel’s “cloudkill” spell, as Mystaria had called it – if nothing else, he could have turned back into a shadow to avoid the poison – the narrowly-averted deaths of the ponies around him had been a sobering reminder that the pale-skinned giant was a spellcaster whose prowess far eclipsed that of her allies. But that hadn’t been all that Lex had realized as they’d begun their magical duel... Unfortunately, it had been that moment when the vulnerability that he’d voluntarily assumed had been taken advantage of, with Grisela managing to strike him from behind. The hag had put all of her strength into the blow, and through the sickening haze of pain and nausea that the strike had caused him, Lex remained cognizant of the irony. He had just called Solvei to his side because he’d realized that making himself a target was wasted against a spellcaster using area-effect attack spells, but the wolf hadn’t arrived in time, leaving Grisela free to take advantage of his having deliberately left himself open just when he’d realized the futility of that strategy. But the hag hadn’t moved to follow up on her attack, and through the ringing in his ears, Lex had heard the voices of his companions raised in anger, with Grisela’s sneering reply following a moment later. Whatever they were doing, it had given him enough time to push past the sickening pain, concentrating as he put a new, desperate idea into play. If this worked, it would swing things back in their favor. If it didn’t, then Thermal Draft and the others would likely be killed. Around him, Lex could hear Akna and Solvei shouting, registering intense guilt coming from the latter for some reason. But that changed as Sissel finished another spell, causing the adlet and the winter wolf to both start screaming in pain a second later. The sound – as well as the sudden fear and agony coming from Solvei – was a dagger through Lex’s heart, and he found himself paralyzed by sudden indecision, overcome by a powerful urge to drop everything else and protect the winter wolf. He knew that was the wrong decision, that doing so would give away his chance to potentially turn things around, and yet Lex found himself hesitating anyway. Although heat resistance had been one of the powers that Solvei had gained as a result of their bond, that protection had its limits, and right now the fire she was enveloped in exceeded them. For a creature like her, whose natural body temperature was far below freezing, even a slight burn was intensely painful and deeply frightening. And right now Solvei was- “Won’t take long,” came Grisela’s cacophonous voice from right above him as he felt a foot come down on his hip. Lex knew he was out of time. Solvei, bear with it a little longer! I swear I’ll save you! I...understand...Master...! came her telepathic response, her mental voice laced with agony. Please...don’t worry...about me...! “Just gonna-” Not waiting for Grisela to finish as she kicked him over onto his back, Lex immediately turned his head, calling on his dark magic as he lashed out. But not at the hag. Instead, his gaze was locked onto Sissel. “I found your weak point!” he snarled, spite overcoming him as he made black crystals erupt at her feet. The giant wasn’t really there, which meant that the crystals had no chance of harming her. Nor were they supposed to. Instead, if he was right- “KYAAAAAAAAAH!!!” The terrified scream that rang out then came from where Sissel was, but it wasn’t emitted by the giant. Instead, a flicker of surprise crossed Sissel’s face, only for the expression to become unreadable as her image became laced with cracks. Then her projection flickered, like a filmstrip that had lost its frames, appearing and disappearing in rapid succession. Then she was gone completely, her spell broken. And where she’d been was a tiny creature – looking like a winged cat with a thick, nubby tail and a vaguely simian head – holding a small mirror, one which was shattered thanks to the black crystal that had pierced it, very nearly striking its bearer, who was whimpering and backing away in fright. But Lex couldn’t have cared less about whatever that creature was, momentarily seized by a rush of relief. It had worked! That Sissel had been able to send and receive audiovisual information through her spell had clued Lex in that it operated in a manner similar to scrying. But that she’d been able to cast spells through that link – powerful ones such as her “cloudkill” spell – had made it clear that there was more going on than a minor modification to the remote-viewing spell he was familiar with. His own spell required a specialized mirror to act as a focus for the spell to operate from, stabilizing it enough that it allowed for very, very small amounts of additional magic to be threaded through the sensor it created at its destination. But what if there was another focus being used in a similar manner? One placed, not at the spell’s point of origin, but at its terminus? That would still allow for only a short range of transmission – even if the end points were bolstered, the connection itself was still entirely made of magical energy, and so would quickly degrade if made to convey large amounts of power across an extended distance – but in theory would allow for spells of considerable magnitude to be cast through such a projection. But only as long as the focus at the endpoint was intact. Just like when he’d smashed the mirror he’d been using to spy on Adagio back in Vanhoover, the spell wouldn’t be able to maintain itself if its anchor was destroyed. That had all been conjecture on his part, of course, but Lex hadn’t been able to think of any other way that Sissel would be able to cast such powerful magic via a conduit. But that didn’t mean he’d been willing to leave things entirely to chance. During the brief interval when Thermal Draft and the others had kept Grisela distracted, Lex had pushed past the pain from the witch’s sneak attack and channeled magic through his body and into his circlet, forcibly expanding its ability to let him see into the magical spectrum. After that, it had taken only an instant to surreptitiously glance in Sissel’s direction. The last time he’d looked her over that way, he’d been able to deduce that he was speaking to a projection, but little else. But with his circlet enhanced, he’d been able to spot that which had escaped his notice before. The image of Sissel was itself an illusion, reconstructing her appearance and voice from wherever she was hiding. But overshadowed by that aura were signs of other spells – conjuration as well as transmutation – suggesting that something had been created and subsequently reshaped before being brought to where Sissel’s image was now emanating from. He’d caught hints of weaker illusions as well, as though to hide whatever had been brought there. That those weaker illusions had apparently been concealing a living creature – the thing looked like a tiny, ugly rendition of a sphinx, of all things – had been only somewhat unexpected. Presumably she’d been tasked with bringing the focus for Sissel’s spell there. That the form of that focus was a mirror, however...that had confirmed everything Lex had guessed at. And now that it was broken, Sissel was effectively out of the fight. At least, unless she decides to put in a personal appearance, Lex knew. That was a very real possibility. Grisela had apparently decided that this was important enough for her to be here in the flesh – the ice wall around Sissel’s poison cloud, near which lay Thermal Draft and Littleknight, both shivering, made that much clear – so the odds that the icy giant would do no less were high. If they were as desperate as they seemed to have him kill that dragon, Hvitdod, for them, then Sissel wouldn’t let a setback like this keep her from trying to force his hoof. But at least now, when she arrived, she’d be vulnerable. And more than that, by the time she gets here, swore Lex as he flipped over onto his hooves, dodging a heavy strike from Grisela as the hag brought her staff down on where he’d been a moment ago, shrieking in anger. This will all be over!