“Before I tell you… I just have a question.” Ignis looks out into the distance and the sound of the running water nearby fills the silence. “If you knew someone wasn’t going to be around for very long, would you still risk getting attached to them?”

Ah, so that’s what this is about. He mentioned that returning to his home was still a possibility and that he was still pursuing it, but I’ll be honest, I’ve still never considered it to be possible. Does he really still intend to leave? “I would not. It’s a tragedy I’ve already faced numerous times due to my ageless nature. In this hypothetical though I assume you do not mean death?”

The elf is still staring at the trees across the river, but now with a far off look in his eyes. I’m not even sure he heard me until he slowly nods. “I had talked to Force about this, but she was of the opinion that I should be selfish. Pursue whatever I want to pursue regardless of what the future might hold. Initially I agreed with her, I made up my mind to just make the most of everything I have here until it’s time to go. But… I’m scared Luna. I’m not sure I’ll be able to abandon this world if…”

“You feel forced to choose. Either way you’ll be giving up something dear to you. Choosing between two burdens.” His head hangs low now, staring at the ground. “It’s an impossible choice, Ignis. I’m sure the possibility is far off in the future though, no?”

His hands rush up to his forehead and he grabs his hair. “It’s right now, Luna. If I wanted to test it I could possibly go home right now.” I feel my breath catch in my throat and my heart rate spikes. “I could cast Banishment on myself right now and if everything works correctly it’ll return me to my home plane. I wanted to at least wait until I learn the Plane Shift spell before I test the possibility. With Plane Shift I can use a tuning fork that’s been attuned to this realm and return back here, but even if Banishment returns me back to my world there’s no guarantee that Plane Shift would bring me back here. There’s no record or tales of this place in Faerun and they’ve documented an untold number of realms.”

His breathing quickens and he raises his voice a few decibels. “Even then, that’s not where I want to go. I don’t want to go to Faerun! I want to go back to Earth, but that seems much more impossible at this point. The idea of using Banishment has come up several times, but I always distract myself. I don’t know what to do, Luna. The choice is already too hard, too much is uncertain. I’m-”

His voice cracks and he stops speaking. I move closer to him and pull him into me with my wing. I was unaware that Ignis has gone on this whole time without properly processing his situation. The fool has just bottled everything up for weeks, now it’s even more clear as to why Nightmare was able to latch onto him. “Ignis, we’ve only known each other for a few weeks. If you can go home then you should.” I don’t want him to go, but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I’m the reason he traps himself here. Just seeing him in this state hurts my heart. “If it’s already this hard for you then you should just do it now. You can learn your other spell in your homeland and come back if you’re able to. Do you already have the tuning fork?”

I hear a muffled sniffle before the elf pulls himself away from me. “No. It has to be worth 250 gold pieces, and I couldn’t find one that expensive in any of the shops.”

“I can send you back to Canterlot with a written order for the castle staff to procure a mana infused tuning fork. The metal required for the forks is quite uncommon and is very resistant to mana, so the process of forcing mana into one should give it the necessary monetary value. Another option is that we can wait until the sun has risen and I can ask Tia to find one.”

Ignis looks up into my eyes. His eyes are glassy and his face is a mess. “No. Let’s just wait until we get back.”

“Why? The longer you wait the harder it’ll be.”

“Because if Banishment works the way I think it works it’ll just send me to Faerun, and I’m not even certain if I’d rather be trapped in Faerun or here. I might have the memories of Ignis, but that’s just it, it’s only memories. Plus,” He leans back into me and buries his face in my fur. “I rolled high enough to know that you were lying when you told me I should go home. So, let’s just enjoy the rest of this trip.”

“It’s not healthy for you to keep bottling this back up, Ignis. We need to work through this. It’s true that I want you to stay, but I would be guilt stricken if I’m the reason you don’t go home.”

He pulls away again and stands up. “Okay then how about this. In order for banishment to be permanent I have to stay banished for the duration of the spell, 1 minute. I’ll cast the spell and then regardless of what I find, I’ll end the spell early and return. Maybe it doesn’t even work and there’s no need for us to even go through all this grief?”

I can’t help but to frown at him. “Okay, but if it doesn’t work you still need to properly process your emotions. Bottling things up will only lead to ruin, and I refuse to see you do that to yourself any longer.”

“Alright, we just need something that I find distasteful and then I can give it a try.”

I scan around until I find a web attached to a branch near the top of one of the nearby trees. Reaching out with my telekinesis I tear down the entire web and feel something moving around in the ball of web, surely that’s a spider. I float the web down and hold it in the air behind Ignis. “Okay, turn around! I believe this should qualify as something that you do not enjoy.”

He glances behind him before jumping back a few feet and pulling his hands up to try and form a wall with his hands. “What the fuck, Luna?!”

“You said you don’t like spiders, yes?”

“Yeah I guess I did. Alright just hold it there.” He holds his hand over the web and mutters a few indecipherable words. An instant later he disappears with a pop.

A few long seconds pass by in silence. He reappears with a pop and I release a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. His back is turned to me and without seeing his face I can’t tell if it’s a good result or not. After a few more seconds he turns to me and lets out a somber chuckle. “It was a pure white void. It didn’t work.”

A conflicting set of emotions storm in my chest. Elation, grief, pity, and doubt. I start to open my mouth to ask him if he’s telling the truth, but he speaks again before I can. “But, the quest is still in progress. We’re right back to square one, Luna.”

“I’m sorry, Ignis. Truly.”

“It’s alright, let’s just head back to camp and pack up. We’ll need to eat our rations while we move, this took up too much time.” I frown at him again, “Just let me bottle it up for tonight… you can meet me in my dreams during the day and we can talk about it again there. Please?”

All I can do is sigh. “That is agreeable.”

Ignis 1st Person POV

It’s been 3 quiet days since we had our race. Moving during the night seems to have worked for the most part, aside from the giant praying mantis on day 2 we haven’t ran into anything dangerous. Since then I’ve learned Glyph of Warding and Aganazzar’s Scorcher. Right now it's an hour or so after sunset and I’m finishing up learning Identify.

Looking up at the night sky I can’t help but sigh in relief. The “therapy dreams”, I’ve come to call them, with Luna have been immensely helpful the last couple of days. I’m still burdened with a choice, but everything is more clear now. I won’t return to Faerun if it’s the only option, and the romantic tension has essentially disappeared. At this point it’s safe to say we’re both vaguely aware of how we feel, but there’s an unspoken agreement that we’ll keep things as they are until the future is more certain.

I hear the tent open behind me, so it seems like she’s up. I turn around and am surprised to see she’s back to her normal mane. “Did something happen? Your mane is back to normal hair.”

She glances to the right, “So it is. It’s likely because I haven’t moved the moon in a few days, if you remember a few weeks ago, when I was still recovering my strength from the banishment, my mane temporarily went into its ethereal state while I was turning day to night. We’ve never really investigated why our manes do it, but I can say for sure it has something to do with the ritual. Perhaps it’s because of how much mana the ritual requires and the excess mana seeps out of our manes?”

“I’ll admit I was a big fan of the starry mane, but now that I’ve seen it for so long this is a nice change of pace. Are we close to being out of this forest yet? I know you said the last leg of this trip is going to be in snowy mountains.”

She teleports in two plates of pancakes and sits next to me. Oh, after the first night our Luna talked to Celestia and managed to arrange some meals to be prepared for us. The only reason she couldn’t do it before was because she was unsure what our schedule would be, but we are pretty consistently waking up at 8PM and setting up camp at 11AM. “We have been making progress faster than I initially anticipated, but we still likely have 3 or 4 more days until we reach the mountains.”

“Ready to give me some mana lessons?”

“I suppose we can begin your magic training today. After breakfast though.”

“Oh of course!”

Four pancakes and 30 minutes later, we’re back on the road. “Alright I’m going to stop suppressing your presence now. Your first task is to maintain this suppression on your own, I’m sure it’ll actually be quite easy for you to do. However, maintaining it at all times, unconsciously, will be the challenging part.”

Luna ignites her horn and a second later all the branches around us vibrate and bounce as all the birds nearby take off into the sky. “So how do I do this? My mana feels like a blazing fire, do I just need to tame it?”

“That’s an interesting phrase, I’ve never quite heard it described like that. The easiest way for me to describe it, is think of yourself as having 2 bodies. The first body is the one you’re familiar with, it has all your organs and blood. The second body is much more formless, it’s almost like a jar around your body. If my sister were here she could show you your mana field, but alas she isn’t.”

“She actually did that for me the same day I had my argument with her. So you’re saying my mana field is that cylinder of mana around me?”

“Exactly, and the simplest way to suppress your presence is to keep all of the mana inside your physical body. That’s the simplest but for beings like my sister and I, and you to a lesser extent this simple method is impractical. We just have too much mana. You can still try this method, but I recommend the second method. Your fire analogy is actually surprisingly accurate for the second method. Your mana field is likely very rough and it flickers and whips about, and if Tia allowed you her sight you’ll know what it should look like.”

“Her mana field just looked like smooth solid walls around her. Okay, I think I get it.”

“You’ll find one of the methods much easier than the other depending on how you instinctively use mana. If you’re able to direct it in a precise manner then you’ll find the second method easiest. If your mana seems to “flow on it’s own as you need it” and it feels like it’s completely out of your control, then the first method will be easiest.”

I remember in the changeling hive I was able to precisely direct my mana through my veins and embed it into my muscle fibers, so it seems like the second method will be easiest. I was going to try the first method to start with, but if the second method is easier for large mana pools and my instincts favor the second method, then I might as well just do the second method.

I picture the blazing fire in my head and imagine myself removing oxygen from the surrounding area. Starve the fire. In response the fire shrinks but starts to move and whip about even more violently, like it’s desperately fighting to stay alive. “Whatever you’re doing is wrong, Ignis.”

I let it return to normal. Maybe picturing a fire is a bad idea, I can’t really imagine a fire that is shaped like a smooth cylinder. Unless… okay take a step back. It’s not a campfire, it’s a bonfire, much larger than me. Now I just need to limit the area of the fire. Picture the bonfire from the top down, and draw a circle around the maximum range of the fire. Now place rocks where the circle is, and then shrink the circle. Move the rocks inward, just a few inches.

It’s so violent and aggressive because it’s being allowed to expand however it wants, but I’m limiting its horizontal range. If it wants to maintain the same strength it has no choice but to adapt to the new shape being forced upon it. Now replace the rock circle with an inverted Magic Circle spell. An unbreakable cylinder of force that allows no fire to exit its range.

Now the bonfire is exactly how I want it, from the outside it just looks like a perfect circle of fire. Inside the magic circle however, the fire is still theoretically burning with the same strength, though. Just because I’ve shaped it correctly doesn’t mean I’ve actually brought it under control and eliminated the aggression and violence from it. “Luna just to confirm I’m still not doing it, correct?”

“You’ve somewhat done it, I was to walk a few feet further away from you, I wouldn't feel your presence anymore. I’m not sure how you’ve managed to reduce the effective range while still maintaining the same potency.”

Hm, I wonder… I try to feel the mana flowing through me, and I actively try to will it to slow down. I think the aggression is a side effect of how fast it’s flowing. The mana slows down and sure enough I hear Luna, “You’ve done it. Now open your eyes and maintain this for the rest of your life.”

“When you say it like that it sounds much more daunting.” I open my eyes and instantly lose my mental images.

“Wow, that didn’t last long.”

“I swear this normally never happens to me.” I can’t resist the urge to make the joke. The only response I get is a slightly louder and more forceful burst of air out of her nose.

“Which method did you end up using?”

“The second method, I imagined a large fire and constructed a circle around the fire to force it to maintain the shape I wanted. Then I had to consciously will the mana circulating in and around me to slow down. After it slowed down, that's when you let me know it had worked.”

“Were you doing both of those at the same time or did you try the large fire and then try slowing down the mana?”

“I just did both at the same time, why?”

She gives me a soft smile, “Good news, you don’t need to picture the fire. If you can slow down the flow of your mana then that’s all you need to do. When you slow down the mana and constrict it, that cylinder shape is its natural state. That should make it a bit easier for you to do with your eyes open.”

While we continue to walk forward I try again. Slow down. A calm and barely perceptible stream of water. I think this is it, but I can’t even ask Luna. This is taking so much more focus than before. Why does having my eyes open make this so much harder?

“You need to relax, Ignis. Your posture is stiff and your jaw and hands are clenched tightly. You’re doing it, but it’s not sustainable if you're forcing it this hard. Remember, second nature, it needs to just come to you.”

This went on for hours, anytime I had to speak or was surprised by a sudden noise I’d lose the thread. It was only when we started setting up camp and Luna mentioned that it shouldn’t take as much focus as I’m using that I started to get concerned. “Maybe my mana is just wilder than all of you? Or, maybe it has to do with your horns? Perhaps the horn allows you to focus on it in a similar way as it helps with runes.”

“Nay, it has nothing to do with the horn. It’s almost like something is influencing your mana… could it because you’re still in your Summer form? You said your people are the living embodiment of summer and you in particular are associated with fire. Perhaps your mana is burning like a fire. In fact maybe that’s why your presence was surprisingly potent for how much mana you have. Your pool is considerable but we thought it was strange how aggressive your presence was.”

Arcana.

20 + 13 = 33.

That’s it. She’s nailed it, it makes perfect sense. I just don’t understand why I’m still like this, once my anger died I should’ve reverted, no that’s not right. During the fight my hair became this color, but it went an extra step and actually became fire once I was enraged. It’s not on fire right now, but it’s still resembling the colors of fire. Perhaps there is no way to get my silver hair back? No, I just need to suppress the mana even more.

I stop walking and Luna turns towards me and gives me an inquisitive look. I close my eyes and slow the mana. Even slower than before, to almost a complete stand still. Constrict the channels, smother the flame. Kill it.

Suddenly I feel extremely weak and dizzy. “Ignis whatever you’re doing you have to stop!” No, I'm almost there, I can feel it. Just maintain this for a few more seconds. An image of an ocean appears and 1 drop hits the water. Ripples go out for a few inches and suddenly the entire ocean is calm, no waves, no ripples. Luna’s voice sounds like it’s being muffled by a wall of concrete. I open my eyes and find myself laying on my back. “You can’t just stop your mana, Ignis! It’s like stopping your heart! You’re lucky I was able to stimulate it to start circulating again, you cannot- no you WILL NOT do that again!”

I look to the right and see my hair splayed out on the ground, it’s silver. “It worked, though. I just needed to turn it off and turn it back on again. Tried and true method for any problem.” Her glare doesn’t soften at all. “Okay! I’m sorry! I didn’t know it was dangerous, I won’t do it again.”

Finally her glare softens into concern. “Are you okay?”

I’m able to stand pretty easily and I don’t feel any of that previous weakness or dizziness. “Yeah I’m good, I think.”

She looks up into the daytime sky. The sun only rose a couple hours ago. “We’re setting up camp. It’s a bit early, but we’re far enough ahead of schedule that we can afford it. You can only set up the tent if your presence is suppressed. If it leaks for even a second you restart. That’s your punishment for today. I’ll handle the perimeter and security setup.”

52 times. I had to restart 52 times. It was easier to maintain after calming down my mana, but still took a considerable amount of focus. It felt like it was 50/50 on if I’d knock myself out of the state when slamming the stakes into the dirt. Laying down in the grass I let out a sigh.

“All things considered I’d say you made good time. I thought it’d take you another hour at least.”

“You know me, always aiming to impress. Please tell me I can relax until we sleep…”

“You’ll need to keep maintaining your suppression, but otherwise yes you can relax. It’s only 9am so we have a few hours. Do you have any stories from your world?” She asks and then immediately cringes, “I apologize, I didn’t think before I spoke.”

“What kind of stories? We’ve got some pretty dark ones.”

“Could you give an example?”

“Yeah so there’s this guy right and he’s been in a war for almost a decade. The whole time he hasn’t been able to see his wife and kid. They do this brilliant plan to get a large number of soldiers inside the city walls without detection, and they take over the capital city. But, the ruler of the people that lost has a son. One of their gods, Zeus, tells this man that if the son of this ruler grows up, he will kill him, kill his family, and bring ruin to his kingdom. So, this soldier has to make a choice between killing an infant or losing everything he loves in 15-20 years.”

“Well surely he chose to nurture the child and give him a positive upbringing that would prevent the tragedy?” Her tone is quite conflicted.

“No. He dropped the infant from the top of the city walls.”

She gasps and brings a forehoof up to her mouth. “No… he’s a monster.”

“I can understand your sentiment. He probably thought the same thing, but to me he was just doing whatever it takes to keep his family safe.”

“Well, let it be known, do not kill a foal to save me. I do not approve.” I let out a short chuckle, but don’t say anything. “Don’t just laugh and lay there, promise me you won’t do something like that.”

I can’t help but think back to the conversation I had in the royal dining hall with Celestia. I would find a way to save everyone. Even if it kills me. “I promise, Luna. I will not kill or sacrifice a foal to save your life.” I’ve already failed to live up to that mantra, but I promised Luna in the carriage that I would never fail like that again. Then there’s the hydra situation. Once we found out about its existence we did keep everyone alive, but before that… there’s nothing we could’ve done.

“You haven’t lost your suppression since you finished setting up the tent. Do you think you’re ready to try casting spells while suppressing?”

“No, but I wouldn’t mind learning the meaning for the different runes. Does that go against the plans you had for my “foundational” lessons? You mentioned wanting to give me a more advanced foundation.”

“It’s a small deviation, but it shouldn’t have any impact. Before I go over the runes I need to go back to the origins of that magic system. It was actually quite common for spells back then to actually have incantations, similar to your magic. My mentor and his colleagues theorized and implemented the rune system we use today. They disliked the variance and instability of incantations, so they broke down all sorts of spells to their fundamental components and researched how to recreate that component with a rune. That’s the basis of the runic alphabet, fundamental components of everything that can be combined to produce most of the spells we have today. I know you haven’t seen one yet, but there are still spells that require incantations even now in the modern era. It’s for spells that have niche elements that were never standardized into a rune. Did you get all of that? I know your focus is slightly divided right now.”

I slowly blink my eyes that started to get heavy during her lecture. “Yeah I got everything. Has anyone ever tried just channeling mana while thinking of the fundamental forces? Like if I just channel mana while thinking about friction, oxygen, and burning material could I just imagine fire and the mana responds to my will?”

It's her turn to just stare at me with a blank look. “What is friction and oxygen?”

“Eh? What fundamental components do the runes for fire bolt stand for?”

“Flint, wood, and air.”

“I’m pretty sure those aren’t fundamental forces…”

Fuck it, I hold out my hand and point my palm at the ground in front of me. I imagine friction creating a spark igniting gasoline and expanded by oxygen and channel the mana out of my palm.

Nothing happens. “Well that sucks.”

Luna tilts her head and perks up her ears, gods that’s adorable. “What is it?”

“You’re right, that doesn’t work. I think I’m onto something though, but I’ll explore it once I get a better grasp on magic.”

She gives me a smug smile. “You dropped your suppression.”

“FUCK.”

(A/N: This is where I’d have ended the chapter normally, but since I haven’t released anything in 3 days and I still have a few hours of sunlight I’ll keep trucking.)

It’s been a couple of hours since our impromptu rune training, and I learned most of them. It’s been interesting to learn which combinations make certain things, the system is super weird in my opinion. Anyways, onto the present. I’m currently laying down with the Moonblade grasped in my hand. Luna and I are going to try entering the realm of the ancient elven soul that resides in the blade. We need a hint on what’s going on with the sword so we can fix it.

Within a few minutes sleep takes me and I find myself in a familiar forest. Only the ground has scorch marks all over it and the trees are charred. How in the world did my mana cause this? I hear a tearing sound and looking up I see Luna enter the dream. She voices the same thing I was thinking. “How did your mana cause this to happen?”

“I’m not sure, but we need to see if we can find the elf. Let’s go to the hill where she normally rests.” A short walk through what used to be a field and we arrive at the hill, but the only thing here is a massive tree trunk. Embedded into the wood there’s a large teal… gem? It’s very smooth and opaque and it feels hard like a gem.

I knock on the gem a few times. “If I had to guess she’s in this gem. This might just be a problem that only time can heal. Unless you have any ideas?” I look at Luna.

She’s in her own world looking at all the damage in this space, but she notices me staring at her and asks me to repeat myself. I do and then she hums in thought. “Hm, the sword is technically an artifact under my domain right? Maybe I can supply energy to speed up the recovery?”

“I think that’s worth a shot. Can you transfer mana into the ground through your hooves?”

She chuckles, “Yes, that is the signature ability of Earth Ponies. Since I represent all of the pony races I share their abilities as well.” She stands there silent for several seconds.

I’m looking at the ground directly beneath her but I can’t see any changes, wait no. There’s the tiniest patch of grass right under her. It’s ever so slowly inching outwards. “Can you transfer…. Faster?”

“I’m actually offloading a significant amount of mana right now. I could probably only do this for another 45 minutes or so.” As if to prove her point, a few seconds later her mane returns to its starry form. She continues to transfer mana for another 35 minutes or so before she stops. She actually seems a bit tired, but her efforts didn’t amount to much. She restored a circle that’s probably 10ft in diameter. It’d take her weeks to repair the realm at this rate.

“I would have continued until I ran out, but I don’t feel comfortable completely exhausting myself while we’re out here. We’ve been lucky to avoid any significant problems, but that could change any moment.” A second later her eyes widen in surprise. “Wake Up!” I’m shoved backwards through the air, as soon as I impact something I wake up with a gasp.

“What’s happening, Luna?!” Looking around, the tent is empty. I bolt out of the tent and find Luna zipping through the air and sending a blast of magic at… a giant bear that’s see through with stars and constellations inside its body? It’s literally the size of a mountain, what in the fuck is this thing?

“Ignis! It’s an Ursa Major! Physical attacks do nothing but go through it, you’ll need to use magic!” As she finishes talking she ignites her horn and a set of wings sprouts from my back. These are the same as the ones I had on the date with Force.

I activate Shadow Blade at 5th level and launch into the air.

Roll for Initiative

11 + 5 = 16

As soon as time unfreezes I realize I left the Mizzium Apparatus in the tent but it’s too late now. The bear stands up onto its hind legs and swings a paw towards Luna. Trying to bat her out of the sky. It’s surprisingly agile for its size, but not agile enough. Luna pulls up and avoids the swing. It goes for a second swing that she also dodges. The alicorn then arcs over the monstrosity and hovers under its chin/neck. Once she’s under its chin her horn is enshrouded in aura, and after a second the aura gets brighter. She throws her head back and the aura gets even brighter again.

Finally she points her horn at the bear and I watch in awe as all the stars in the sky one by one zip through the sky and into the tip of her horn. Within another two seconds the entire sky is empty and Luna opens her eyes to reveal they’re pure white with light shining through them. A massive beam of white light slams into the chin of the Ursa Major and the bear starts to slowly rise into the air.

The beam channels for what feels like minutes, but in reality was only a few seconds and when it ends the bear is roaring in pain, 40ft in the air and flailing. It’s my turn, I zip into the air and while the bear is still falling I hold my shadow blade out to the side ready to give it a slash all the way up its side.

Attack with Advantage (Elven Accuracy.)

8 and 3. Reroll the 3 with Elven Accuracy.

Natural 20. Critical Hit!

Expend Level 4 Divine Smite.

Total damage: 9d8 + 5 + 72 (Crit)

54 + 77 = 131 Psychic and Radiant Damage.

I shoot up the creature's body, from its head down to its tail. The shadow blade is embedded along the entire strike, and as soon as I finish the strike a silver line of light appears along the path I traced. The silver line glows bright and explodes from the smite.

The bear lands on its back with a boom, crushing at least 40 trees under its body. It lets out a pained groan, and I look at Luna to see if we should continue the battle or see if it’ll lick its wounds and run off. She gives me a stern look and ignites her horn again, seems we’re still going.

I’m out of movement, but I still have one more attack. Pointing my finger gun at the Bear I unleash a Fire Bolt. Technically it’s prone and I’m using a ranged attack, so I should have disadvantage. If this were under DM discretion though, I think most DMs would let me have a neutral roll here because I’m directly above the creature and it’s sprawled out. Literally a sitting duck.

Attack with Disadvantage.

3 and 13. 3 + 9 = 12.

Okay, fuck you too system. The Fire Bolt launches and just before it hits the bear it dissipates completely. Wait, did I have disadvantage because I’m more than 120ft away? Ok I take back my fuck you for now. The bracers activate, but it seems the Shadowblade from before initiative still counted as my bonus action for this turn.

The bear heaves itself over and stands back up on all fours. Luna and I both watch with bated breath to see if it’s going to flee or continue to fight. We don’t have to wait very long, the bear rises up on its back legs and swings at me. It’s only then that it occurs to me, I’m not hasted and I’m not in Bladesong. I have no AC bonuses right now. I can’t dodge it in time, why is it so fast?

“SHIELD!” AC: 23.

I hold out my empty left hand in front of me and conjure a shield. The shield might as well have been paper. My entire body fits in the center of its paw as it feels like I just ran into a brick wall at 100mph. The paw swing follows through and I’m flung backwards, but that is also interrupted as it swings its other paw straight down at me.

HP: 47/75

Concentration Check with Advantage (War Caster.) DC: 14.

13 and 7. 13 + 2 = 15. Shadowblade maintained.

The shield still re-materializes right in front of me, but it’s once again useless. For a few painful seconds all I see is darkness as I feel a rush of wind at my back. My body leaves the paw and
HP: 20/75

I’m able to see again, but that does little to improve my situation. I’m currently rocketing towards the ground at an alarming speed, and I already used my reaction on Shield. I squeeze the sending stone in my pocket. “I fucked up Luna, I went into the melee without bladesong. I’m probably going to lose consciousness when I hit the ground.” Time slows down and I’m 10ft away from the ground. Think, what can I do? “CALLISID! There’s 4 health potions in by backpack in the tent, give one to me once-”

Fall damage: 6d6.

I’m surprised I get to see the dice roll for this.

It’s 20 damage exactly.

Everything goes black.

HP:0/75. Death Saving Throws.

Author's Note

I feel like I was all over the place this chapter, but hopefully I conveyed everything I wanted to convey. I'm really enjoying depriving information from the reader by abusing perspective changes. If we're ever NOT in Ignis 1st Person POV it's for a reason.

For anyone curious about the Ursa Major, it has an AC of 17, 640HP, and its paw swipes do 4d8 + 7.

Thanks for reading!