Dragon Mage 3 Chapter 12: Capture (Patreon)

368 days until the Arkon Shield falls

“A taming spell?” Tara wondered aloud. 

A moment later, her head whipped around to study the distant lair boss. She was making the same calculation I had, I thought. “For him?”

“For him,” I agreed.

“Beast taming,” Lance murmured in awe. “Now, we’re talking!”

I chuckled. “I won’t pretend the prospect doesn’t excite me as well,” I murmured.

Arneson’s gaze flickered from the lair boss to the scroll in my hand. “How would that even work?”

“My guess? The spell will create a bond between the caster and the subject the same way the Trials forged a bond between Giselle and Bunny.” I paused. “Although, on reflection, the bond between Giselle and the spider queen is probably sorcerous in nature. This bond will be one of magic.”

Incomprehension still marred Arneson’s expression. He didn’t bother questioning me further, though. “If you say so.”

“But…” Tara began, “if the mages came here to tame the shadowlion, why fight the beast in the first place?”

That bit I was less sure about.

“To weaken him,” Lance said before I could admit to not knowing.

Tara and I turned in his direction.

“Beast taming is one of the subjects I studied extensively in the wiki,” he explained. “It’s a Discipline all on its own and belongs to the crafting school, if you can believe that. The workings of the skill are quite elaborate and not really relevant right now. What is pertinent, though, is that life mages can replicate the skill—sort of anyway.”

Tara tilted her head to the side. “Go on.”

Lance’s voice took on a lecturing tone. “Elemental mages summon elementals. Death mages raise the dead and create undead. And life mages? Life mages can bind living creatures to their service. Monster charming, beast taming, and so on, these are the bread-and-butter workings of high-level life mages. They’re powerful spells, yet not without pitfalls. The most significant being that the chance of success is often inversely proportional to the target’s health.”

I nodded in understanding. “I see, but you said ‘sort of.’ What did you mean by that?”

Lance threw me a lopsided smile. “I don’t rightly know. The wiki seemed to suggest that while life mages can bind beasts to their service, those so bound will behave differently from those tamed through the beast taming Discipline.”

I frowned. “Hmm. Alright.”

Arneson scratched his chin. “As interesting as all that is, you haven’t explained why those mages didn’t bind the shadowlion when they had the chance. They could hardly have expected to lower its health any further.”

“I suspect it’s because they lost their life mage,” I replied.

“What?” he asked, turning to me.

I pointed to the only woman who had been amongst the mages’ ranks. “She was the one carrying the capture beast scrolls, and it’s only her staff that is inset with a life crystal.” I paused. “She was also dead before I got here.”

Unexpectedly, Arneson barked a laugh. “Unlucky sods. They almost achieved what they set out to do and would have except for a single untimely death.” He shook his head. “That’s war for you.”

“We got lucky,” Tara agreed grimly. “This time.”

Arneson nodded bleakly. At a guess, the same question was passing through the pair’s mind as mine: how would we have fared if things had gone differently?

I shivered at the thought. 

Tackling the six mages and lair boss simultaneously would have been… difficult. Our party would likely have suffered losses. Grievous ones, perhaps.

“Well?” Lance prompted, his face burning with anticipation. “Shall we get to it?” 

Clearly, he was not dwelling on maybes and might-have-beens. I smiled in response. “Yes, let’s.” 

I strode forward. It was time to try taming a lair boss.

✵ ✵ ✵

I approached the shadowlion openly. Ash was on overwatch again while the rest of the party hung back. They were still near enough to offer support should it become necessary, though.

The lair boss did not stir as I drew closer.

He was still alive. I could tell that much even from a few dozen yards away. But I didn’t think he would live out the day. My staff in one hand and the lore scroll in the other, I kept advancing.

None of my defenses were raised, not even guarding flames. I could not risk my dragonfire hurting or even killing the shadowlion. If the beast struck at me, I would not retaliate. Ten yards from the injured lair boss, I drew to a halt.

The beast had finally opened his eyes. 

Raising his maned head slowly, as if even such simple movements were agony, the lair boss stared me down. I stared back unflinchingly. Then, I advanced another step.

Lance didn’t know if the capture beast spell was touch-based, and with only two iterations of the epic scrolls in our possession, I was not about to take any unnecessary chances. I would only manifest the spell when I was close enough to touch the lair boss.

A dangerous proposition, indeed. But then again, I had invincible to protect me, something I grew more thankful for every day. 

I closed the distance slowly. 

Eight yards. Six. Four.

The lair boss growled, the sound a mix of warning, pain, and fear. I stopped again. From this close, I noticed details I hadn’t earlier. 

The shadowlion was of size with the shadowcats, if slightly larger, and I judged him to be as big as a large horse. His great, maned head, though, dominated his entire frame. His tusks were bigger than my forearms, and some of the teeth I spied in his open mouth were longer than my fingers.

Hale, it would not take much for the lair boss to kill me. Injured as he was, I doubt he could even make the attempt.

The beast growled again. My gaze darted back to his. The shadowlion’s eyes were riddled with pain. Even so, they swam with fury. He’s angry, I thought. Angry at his impotence. Angry at my impertinence in approaching so casually.

“You can’t stop me,” I whispered.

The shadowlion snarled in response.

“You have only two choices here,” I said, ignoring the warning and pretending the beast understood what I was saying. “Die or accept being tamed.” I held up the scroll.

The shadowlion tracked the movement with his eyes but didn’t otherwise react.

“If it was me,” I went on, “I’d choose death. But this is your choice, not mine.” I paused. “Rest assured, though, if my spell somehow fails, I’ll give you a quick death. I won’t let you suffer any longer than you already have.” 

My little speech was as much for my own benefit as for the beast’s. I took another step. Then another. And another…

The shadowlion tensed.

I stopped. I was close enough to touch the lair boss with the tip of my staff and didn’t need to advance further. But enacting the spell through the Focus now seemed too callous and impersonal. 

I should touch him—hand to snout. Somehow, that seemed more respectful. Dropping my staff, I advanced anew and stretched out my left arm. 

The beast’s head darted forward. 

I was ready for him, though, and activated invincible a split-second before. Instantly, weaves erupted outward from my spirit to shroud my body in a second impermeable skin that was visible only in magesight.

Invincible activated. You are immune to all damage for 30 seconds.

The shadowlion’s teeth snapped closed around my arm—to no effect. Not bothering to free my hand, I let the beast gnaw angrily at it while I raised the scroll in my right hand and ran my gaze over its indecipherable runes. 

I could no more make sense of their meaning than I could of the runes in Cedric’s reanimate dead scrolls, but as my eyes slipped from symbol to symbol, a spell weave took shape in my mind. 

Mana flowed into the casting from the scroll. As it did, the runes lifted off the parchment and vanished from sight, and a few heartbeats later, the spellform snapped into place. Not delaying, I directed the casting toward the shadowlion still industriously chewing on my hand. 

The weaves slipped from my mind, through my hand, and directly into the lair boss. 

Attempting beast capture…

The shadowlion’s spirit recoiled and, gathering together, tried to resist my magic’s touch. 

But it was too late for that. Far too late. My spell was already inside the beast’s defenses, and besides, his spirit was too torn and shredded from the damage the mages had heaped on him to put up much of a fight.

The conclusion was foregone, the outcome inevitable.

Beast capture completed. Spirit signature recorded. 

Congratulations, Jamie Sinclair, you are the first human to have captured the spirit signature of a creature champion. For this achievement, you have been awarded lore.

Lore note: life magic is often considered one of the weaker magic schools, and when it comes to offensive spells, life magic is indeed lacking. However, in the sub-school of summoning, life mages can surpass even death mages with the creatures they can bring to the battlefield. But the power of a life mage summoner is heavily dependent on the spirit signatures they know.

When a life mage casts a summon spell, their magic draws to their aid a creature whose spirit signature matches one known to them. Note, however, that spirit signatures cannot be passed on from mage to mage and can only be learned from live specimens.

A level 140 shadowlion has died.

I rocked back on my heels, surprised and more than a little disappointed as the shadowlion crumpled before my eyes. He had not expired from his wounds, I knew, but from what the spell had done to him.

Waving aside the other Trials messages buzzing for my attention, I focused on the lore note I’d just earned. Its implications were startling. Unlike summoning spells from other magic schools, those from the life magic Discipline appeared to consist of two parts: the summon spell itself and the spirit signature of a creature.

I now had the second part but still lacked the first.

I guess that means I have more spellcrafting ahead of me when we return to Sanctuary.

Sighing, I kneeled before the dead lair boss. The wiki had thoroughly deceived Lance, I thought. The life magic Discipline’s version of beast taming was nothing like the real thing. 

Bolstered by the other mage’s confidence, I’d been all but certain that when we left the lair, we’d do so with a Seasoned ranked creature in tow. Instead, I now find myself wondering whether I’d ever be able to summon such a powerful creature.

I bent my head downward. There was no use speculating over what could have been. The shadowlion was dead, and there was no resurrecting him. All that was left was to learn what I could from the creature’s corpse. 

Running my hands over the shadowlion’s, I began inspecting him carefully.