The Mage reveals his tricks

The mage did his best to defend himself as Fuu charged at him, firing off a barrage of emergency confusion spells directly at her as she closed the distance, quickly followed by yet another concussive blast.

While Fuu noted the flurry of spells, she lacked enough familiarity with the arcane to identify exactly what he was doing. What's more, they weren't exactly the sorts of spells that would project energy blasts for her to jump out of the way off. From her perspective, he was mostly just glowing strangely, muttering strange words and making hand signs. Her inability to avoid such attacks could have been disastrous... if it weren't for the divine protection she held against mind altering spells.

The confusion spells cast by such a powerful mage and enhanced by the twisted power of the labyrinth would likely be enough to send the most rational of men into a stupor, but it couldn't find any purchase on Fuu's mind. When the spells reached out, it felt almost as if she wasn't there, as if there was simply nothing to latch onto.

The concussive blast, however was a different matter.

A wave of pure concussive **** was invisible, and the spellcast was almost entirely imperceptible without a trained eye. The second wave slammed into Fuu just as forcefully as the first throwing both her and the attacking Kiera back several feet, interrupting both attacks. With Kiera's body already worn down, Fuu was the first to rise. With a face that betrayed almost no emotion, she continued forward. She was gaining ground, even through his spells, though the blasts did seem to be taking a toll on her.

"Enough of this nonsense," the mage scowled as he drew a small cube of obsidian and charcoal from beneath his robes. He pressed it between the bare palms of his hand, crushing it with all the **** he could muster, even as the shards of it cut through the thin skin of his hands.

The box crumpled to dust, but the few shards that fell from it's shattered remains to the ground below found purchase even in the solid stone. They nestled themselves gently beneath the surface of the rocky ground and began to softly vibrate. And grow.

The scattered bits of stone grew and grew until they were the size and shape of massive pitch black eggs, each etched with a pattern of scales or fur. Fuu leapt back as they shuddered, quaking more and more violently until they each split open.

Rather than hatching like a normal egg might, though, the stony spheres simply unfurled into the fully grown bodies of the mage's new animalistic servants. One stretched out a pair of wings, lifting itself of the ground and into creation with one heavy flap of stony power. It's body unrolled into that of a miniature dragon, with a pair of antlers and a long, deer-like muzzle complete with keenly sentient eyes.

The other three were very much the same. One of the fur etched stones arched itself out, proving to be in the shape of some sort of wild mutt with wickedly sharp teeth while the other unfolded into the much more lithe and confident shape of some sort of large jungle cat. The fourth and final egg spread wings as well, taking on the shape of a pitch black eagle stretching it's stony talons.

"They are bound with the souls of demons," the mage said with a sneer. As he spoke, his face twisted, a perverted mirth taking over from the look of disgust "It's a shame you **** me to waste them on just a couple of women, but... I've been down here so long. I'm betting you'll be worth it."

***

This chapter was co-authored by Mapron01(https://chyoa.com/user/Mapron01) Please check him out!