[Will]
As Will moved, coming up on the third day of constant moving, he was concerned. The wave of magic he had built up was altering reality in its vicinity. The only saving grace that Will had was that he was moving so fast that the reality-altering effects didn't have a chance to take permanent hold. As he moved, pondering this and how he should deal with the potential effects when he assailed the Keep that was rapidly approaching, Will felt a mental touch from someone he knew, smiling and accepting the offered psychic communication.
"You," Trina said, her tone filled with a sense of awe and appreciation, "are a monster of unprecedented proportions."
"It's good to hear from you as well, Trina? Still cooking? And how is Julian?"
"Julian is fine; he is cooking for the army we accompanied to Gor'An Wat. Turns out when bandits defile Orcish holy ground, it gets quite the response." Will could hear the laughter at the understatement that was implicit in Trina's voice. "You are roughly a day out at your current speed, which is insane, but I could finally contact you. I have tried to reach Illicia, but the Fortress prevents it."
"Good, I will not be stopping. Let the Fortress stand and test itself against me. Trina, I need a favor."
"I will clear a path. Just run straight for the gates. And I will contain the strange anomalies that your mana is generating." Trina said, "You really are a monster, Will. Fight well, and fight hard."
With that, Trina cut the link that she had established with Will. Will smiled and, bracing himself, poured on the coals, gaining more speed.
[Trina]
"Your grandson," Trina said to the leaders of the Gob'Ran in the command center they had established to siege the Keep, "is a monster."
"I could have told you that," Got'Ro grumbled, remembering even his first spare with Will.
"No, you do not understand," Trina said, her tone holding a no-nonsense tone, "I am not a powerful Goddess, but I am of the divine. Will is terrifying, and he is on the way here with a wave of mana that is bending reality to his thoughts. He treads on the path of the divine in a way that I have never seen. But he comes, he will be here within the day, and plans to slam that magical wave he is riding straight into the Keep. I get the feeling that he is not intent on anyone surviving except for Illicia."
"Do you know where he will strike?" Yilan asked.
"Clear a route to the gates; I will hold off any ill effects of the magic he brings," Trina said, and Got'Ro bowed to the Goddess and then turned to start giving orders.
[Illicia]
As Illicia finished her fight for the day, she felt something massive approaching. And judging by how his head jerked up, Mardok felt it as well. She walked back to her room with two guards following warily behind her. She was trying to feel what it was when she overheard a call to go out through the Fortress.
"To the walls! Something is approaching the gates!" A voice called out.
"The Orcs are clearing a path! It's going to hit the gates!" A second called out.
The guards tossed her into a storage room and locked the doors behind her before sprinting to arms.
Illicia realized what the feeling was, and her eyes widened; it was Will's mana.
She smiled as she heard men screaming, asking what was approaching them.
[Will]
The gate was in sight, and were it any other day under any other circumstances, Will would be impressed with their sheer presence. But Will was on a mission and had untold vast quantities of mana backing him. To him, the gates looked no more imposing than a single man would be to him normally.
Will watched as he neared, and the bandits who had taken up residence in the fort deployed some sort of magical barrier in his path. Will simply smiled, lowering his shoulders amidst the cheers of the troops of the Gob'Ran, and slammed into the shield, shattering it like sugar glass and then hitting the gates, which groaned an ungodly ugly sound and held for the barest moment before shattering into little more than dust.
Will skidded to a stop, but the wave of magic washed over the Fortress, and at that moment, many of the weakest on the outer walls died. In the interior of the Fortress, the ancient walls absorbed enough of the mana that no one died, but everyone was aware that something of colossal power had just appeared.
Will began to stroll casually through the Keep, and each man or woman who stepped forward to challenge him simply perished. As he worked forward, his magic was searching. And as he entered a simple hallway. Will felt two things happen.
Firstly, he felt Illicia and his heart sang in relief. He had been so worried, wondering if he would be in time. Secondly, he felt another strong-ish mana signature activate something that caused the doors and windows to the exterior to fill with pitch-black mana that Will felt was dangerous.
[Mardok]
Mardok knew that the mage who had just entered the Keep was someone sent to recover the princess, and he figured it was the strange beast of a man that he had been warned about by others. So when he felt the origin of the searching waves of magic pass into the hallway, he triggered the only of the ancient defense of the Keep that he had been able to bind to his will.
When he felt the magic slam into place, isolating the interior of the Keep from the exterior, he smiled and then used magic to broadcast his voice. "Welcome to my kingdom. I am Mardok, King of the Thieves. Come to the throne room. I would love to talk to you, though I must say, the damage you have done to my Keep is just rude."
[Illicia]
Mardok suffered from what many would call justified confidence. She had seen him fight and train and had to grudgingly admit that the man was talented at fighting and incredibly powerful. But he was no will.
Where Mardok was a storm of slashes and quick sword strokes, Will was a hammer-shaping metal to his will. Where Mardok was a sneaky bastard likely to stab you in the back, Will was a titan of integrity and fully capable of taking any hit you dish out. Where Mardok was powerful, Will was a monster. Illicia smiled at these thoughts, Will was a monster. "Will is my monster."
She smiled as the door to the storage room opened, its lock simply breaking at the forces exerted on it. Illicia locked eyes with Will, and he smiled, his true form making the smile seem arcane in itself. "Hello, Princess."
Illicia said nothing and leaped forward to kiss him deeply.
