. “Most of my weapons went down with the ship,” Dainix says quietly as they watch the dragon glide away, “And if I transform–”
. “We could have a serious Void problem,” Falst finishes. “And it’s a long way down to the shore. The Spellbirds will intercept us first if we can’t thin them out–”
. “We need a distraction,” Erin mutters.
. “I can harry them. They’ll never spot me in the trees if I’m–”
. “Absolutely not!” Dainix snaps.
. “I agree. That’s not what I had in mind,” Erin says. “They won’t waste time scouring the rest of the island if they think they already know exactly where I am. They don’t want to believe I’m in control of my own actions. They expect me to be serving the Void Dragon’s will. And if I were doing so, there’s only one place I’d need to go.
. “I propose we find the nearest entrance to the Singing Caves– and blast it open.”
. “You reaching the Adamant Prison is their worst-case scenario,” Falst says. “They won’t be able to risk leaving it alone.”
. “Yes, exactly! And we can use that cover to regroup and find a way off the island!”
. “Are we standing right on top of the entrance?” Dainix asks.
. “N-no, I can sense it’s further west–”
. Dainix whips out a hand crossbow, resting one hand on the other as he shoots. The bolt speeds into the sky, punching through a Spellbird descending on them and evaporating it.
. Dainix turns, stepping on a fallen branch and snapping off half of it into a makeshift spear. Falst crouches, wary. Erin tenses, still on his knees, hand sliding up to touch his Water tattoo.
. “Then it’ll have to wait,” Dainix says grimly.
Stick.
You are fire.
No, I am a stick.
But you COULD be fire. Don’t you want to be fire?
No. I am a stick.
Please! be fire!
…I am a stick.
BE FIRE!
STICK.
If you get this reference I like you
I learn “the thing at the bottom of all of them is exerting gravitational attraction on the fabric of his soul for apocalyptically nefarious purposes, and when the pull gets stronger he can feel it”
Ugh. Don’t you hate it when your Eye of Ender breaks just before the Stronghold?
Dainix’s gear, Erin’s bag, numerous mundane supplies, I seriously hope Alinua’s new friends can salvage some of that from the boat’s wreckage. I’m not sure what their resupply options will be like on Helm either, either being too remote to have everything they need, or the Paladins sussing where they’re heading and scouring the land.
Yes, this plan could work! When the Paladins see the cave entrance recently opened, they’ll swarm inside thinking Erin is on his way there; they’ll also waste time dismounting then remounting the dragons in a potentially limited space.
From what we’ve seen of Tam he is, fitting as Erin’s counterpart, prone to making wrong decisions based on his own assumptions and bias.
Predication for next week: Enemy contact, and it looks like they need to fight before they can fly. The boys are more than a little worse for wear, and we have no idea what the capabilities of the rank and file Paladins are, nor how many are on each dragon.
Hmm, maybe fighting now is the best option in the long run; Dainix, the tactician, could learn from this bout for future engagements.
Wow! Erin actually being the smart guy is so good, he figured out how info the paladins must have , understood their mindset and came up with a plan to distract them on the spot! I really missed him all these months……
I know right, I love it when he’s the team Smart Guy and not just the team Drama Queen (although that is also fun). If they learn to work together and respect each other’s ideas, perhaps via another “put the boys in a cave” incident, Erin and Dainix could become a formiddable duo when it comes to tactical maneuvers.
Do the Paladins know VD’s plan?
They know Erin is useful to him and are “striking down VD’s tools” per 1-14-22, but I don’t know if they realise the details yet. In any case they’ll figure it out from this plan, but I’m interested to see what they conclude if Erin successfully distracts them and then they realise it was a distraction.
I mean, Erin getting to the Adamant Prison (is this the first use of that phrase in the comic, by the by?) is everybody’s worst case scenario. I suppose Erin is feeling confident because VD knows his channels are blown, so he likely doesn’t have the control needed to break the prison…and he’d be defenseless against the crawlers.
I still like the original plan of “quick, chuck Erin in the water!” XP
As a proper noun, yes. 1.7.19 and 20 say things like “cocoon of Adamant”, you know, a prison and made of Adamant, but never The Adamant Prison until today.
I’m not personally clear on what Erin’s soul channel issue is, though. Best I can figure out, damage to his sealing tattoos should mean he can’t safely CLOSE his channels after opening them—which means he’d better keep them closed, therefore he can’t cast. If that’s the case, busting open the Adamant Prison is still a possibility, as VD doesn’t care if Erin dies horribly in the process. But it may be that his injury affects his control or access in some other way. Or maybe “breaking” the lock means he can’t open the channels at all.
The impression I get, from all the hints that have been dropped through the comic (especially “Fire and Stone”), and some lore Red’s dropped on Tumblr, is that Erin was born with malformed/incomplete soul channels, which made him very sensitive to the elements (and thus sickly as a child), but unable to actually do magic. That’s why he went to the Soulshaper Monks, to fix his soul channels so he actually could do magic. It wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t know for sure if he was an Elemental Magus before then. Anyway, as Erin reveals in “Fire and Stone”, he got impatient before his soul had finished healing and accessed his power too early, which seems to have permanently damaged his soul channels to the point that he can’t control how they open/close without sealing tattoos.
It sometimes comes in handy when dealing with the Void Dragon, though!
That’s my understanding as well. But I’m not sure what that means, practically speaking, for damage to Erin’s seals and his ability to cast while possessed.
But we’ve also seen him completely lose control recently. He can only open the seals without touching the tattoos, but he does need the sealing tattoos to control what he’s casting.
Kendal! Alinua! Tess! Now* would be a really good time to swoop in and crash the party—
*”Now” = in about 6–12 pages, after an appropriately tense encounter
They will probably be the next chapter. With Erin not having his communication magic available I have feeling the gang might end up with a ships in the night situation. Red temporarily solved the “damned phones” trope while also turning it back on them, which is fun. My prediction is that this trio will go to helm by the caves. After trying to lure paladins in and promptly getting trapped. The rest of them could get a some form of transportation from the merfolk and decide to look on Helm. Where they meet at the soul shaper monks monastery, conveniently both groups have someone who has been there before. That or this has been a drunken rant.
when it was said that tess went to helm? i mean its definitly possible but i dont think it was ever stated
also i doubt kendal tess and alinua would want to leave rakhn without erin, ESPECIALLY now that the paladins are here (also it is still a long way to Helm, the Boat was FAST, Tarren said in ripples that could cover a 2 week sail in less than a day so helm would still be very far on foot, Falst and Dainix are not making to helm on foot to helm throught the singing caves at the same time as tess, alinua and kendal much less making it into helm without anything like cave corruption
I think it’s that we know Tess has spent most of her time travelling since she got chosen by the sky, so the odds are high that she’s been to Helm before, but there’s no hard confirmation.
I just noticed that Dainix is missing his gauntlet thingies as well…he looks so incomplete. Also: Is Erin planning to bury the Paladins alive somehow? Or drive them into a volcanic environment? That’s…uhh…dark. Probably too dark to go according to plan, but…that could say something about Erin’s moral compass.
It’s probably more of a distraction, I bet that the paladins have a stone mage with them. So burying them alive would be pointless, also he doesn’t have access to stone magic.
I thought the plan was just “make them pay attention to the explosion, maybe go in the caves looking for Erin, while we make a dash for the water” but I’m not the designated Smart Guy of the comic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That’s not what he’s planning at all. He said it was a distraction. Meaning, they blast open the cave, the paladins go “oh no, he’s going into the caves to break the adamant prison!” And rush in to look for him, meanwhile, he and the others book it to the water where they can use his water magic to hide where the spell birds can’t reach them, making them infinitely harder to find. No where did he say bury the paladins alive or even harm them in anyway. Just distract them so they can run away.
I completly forgot danix had an eyepatch. I was looking at this page and was wondering why “why is one of danix’s eyes not showing?” and because his stupid sexy hair is blocking the strap it just looks like a weird void over his eye. Had to go back to https://comicaurora.com/aurora/2-6-15/ to see the strap and finally piece together that “OH hes wearing an eyepatch!”
oh golly me it’s dainix
oh golly me it’s falst
oh golly me it’s a spellbird *fwit – pow!*
Oh golly me it’s a stick
Oh golly me, but it could be fire…
Oh golly me, but I think it would rather be a stick.
Oh golly me, but it could have all this light in exchange for being fire
Oh golly me, but have you considered being Fire?
Oh golly me, I will not be fire. I am a stick. And perfectly happy with a stick, thank you very much random person
This was delightful lol (“this” including also the three fifth-level comments before mine)
Clarification: I have now learned that this thread is a reference. I have never read the source material, but it was delightful anyway.
Oh golly me its a dragon
oh golly me it’s Erin
Oh golly me it’s Er-damnit
why are so many people doing this?!?!
No idea. It’s just a thing that happens. Somebody probably started doing it at some point and then it just stuck.
oh golly me i’m not sure
Who knew danix was that good of a shot?
Daix, presumably 😛
*Dainx (wish you could edit posts)
How was Dainix misspelled thrice in one thread three different ways? (No hate, I’m honestly impressed)
It is extremely funny that the name is spelled wrong in all three of the comments in this chain, even the correction.
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: great plan. anyway roll initiative
Image source: wait
Tumblr text: everything is fine and chill
Bluesky text: the 3 AM update time is never better for me than on days when the insomnia hits just right
. “Most of my weapons went down with the ship,” Dainix says quietly as they watch the dragon glide away, “And if I transform–”
. “We could have a serious Void problem,” Falst finishes. “And it’s a long way down to the shore. The Spellbirds will intercept us first if we can’t thin them out–”
. “We need a distraction,” Erin mutters.
. “I can harry them. They’ll never spot me in the trees if I’m–”
. “Absolutely not!” Dainix snaps.
. “I agree. That’s not what I had in mind,” Erin says. “They won’t waste time scouring the rest of the island if they think they already know exactly where I am. They don’t want to believe I’m in control of my own actions. They expect me to be serving the Void Dragon’s will. And if I were doing so, there’s only one place I’d need to go.
. “I propose we find the nearest entrance to the Singing Caves– and blast it open.”
. “You reaching the Adamant Prison is their worst-case scenario,” Falst says. “They won’t be able to risk leaving it alone.”
. “Yes, exactly! And we can use that cover to regroup and find a way off the island!”
. “Are we standing right on top of the entrance?” Dainix asks.
. “N-no, I can sense it’s further west–”
. Dainix whips out a hand crossbow, resting one hand on the other as he shoots. The bolt speeds into the sky, punching through a Spellbird descending on them and evaporating it.
. Dainix turns, stepping on a fallen branch and snapping off half of it into a makeshift spear. Falst crouches, wary. Erin tenses, still on his knees, hand sliding up to touch his Water tattoo.
. “Then it’ll have to wait,” Dainix says grimly.
Stick.
You are fire.
No, I am a stick.
But you COULD be fire. Don’t you want to be fire?
No. I am a stick.
Please! be fire!
…I am a stick.
BE FIRE!
STICK.
If you get this reference I like you
the struggle to soulcast, sigh, our little radiant has come so far since that book. Also I love you for making that reference
there’s always time for a last panel badass team pose
And Erin.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo thats an ok plan that has a chance, however slim, of working
Noooo, we need the party back together before getting in the next crazy danger aaaaa
Another poster-worthy panel! We eat good today!
Oh no, Dainix doesn’t even have his SPEAR
roll initiative team, and god willing falst will have advantage on stealth attacks PLEASE-
Do I hear a chase theme it the background starting up?
Nice shot from Danix.
Can’t help but notice that Dainix is casually carrying around a loaded hand crossbow in his backpocket.
Hope that thing has some sort of safety on because that sounds like a very embarrassing discharge injury waiting to happen
How can he sense it?
Well he is a void mage. Sort of
Dragon wants to go there?
I learn “the thing at the bottom of all of them is exerting gravitational attraction on the fabric of his soul for apocalyptically nefarious purposes, and when the pull gets stronger he can feel it”
Ugh. Don’t you hate it when your Eye of Ender breaks just before the Stronghold?
Dainix’s gear, Erin’s bag, numerous mundane supplies, I seriously hope Alinua’s new friends can salvage some of that from the boat’s wreckage. I’m not sure what their resupply options will be like on Helm either, either being too remote to have everything they need, or the Paladins sussing where they’re heading and scouring the land.
Yes, this plan could work! When the Paladins see the cave entrance recently opened, they’ll swarm inside thinking Erin is on his way there; they’ll also waste time dismounting then remounting the dragons in a potentially limited space.
From what we’ve seen of Tam he is, fitting as Erin’s counterpart, prone to making wrong decisions based on his own assumptions and bias.
Predication for next week: Enemy contact, and it looks like they need to fight before they can fly. The boys are more than a little worse for wear, and we have no idea what the capabilities of the rank and file Paladins are, nor how many are on each dragon.
Hmm, maybe fighting now is the best option in the long run; Dainix, the tactician, could learn from this bout for future engagements.
No, Erin, don’t say your plan aloud! Now we know it can’t happen!
The good news is that we have to wait, so there’s plenty of room for shenanigans to get in the way. The core of the plan might still work!
Wow! Erin actually being the smart guy is so good, he figured out how info the paladins must have , understood their mindset and came up with a plan to distract them on the spot! I really missed him all these months……
I know right, I love it when he’s the team Smart Guy and not just the team Drama Queen (although that is also fun). If they learn to work together and respect each other’s ideas, perhaps via another “put the boys in a cave” incident, Erin and Dainix could become a formiddable duo when it comes to tactical maneuvers.
Only problem is, Erin is doomed by his monologuing <3
Do the Paladins know VD’s plan?
They know Erin is useful to him and are “striking down VD’s tools” per 1-14-22, but I don’t know if they realise the details yet. In any case they’ll figure it out from this plan, but I’m interested to see what they conclude if Erin successfully distracts them and then they realise it was a distraction.
Nice shot Dainix!
I mean, Erin getting to the Adamant Prison (is this the first use of that phrase in the comic, by the by?) is everybody’s worst case scenario. I suppose Erin is feeling confident because VD knows his channels are blown, so he likely doesn’t have the control needed to break the prison…and he’d be defenseless against the crawlers.
I still like the original plan of “quick, chuck Erin in the water!” XP
As a proper noun, yes. 1.7.19 and 20 say things like “cocoon of Adamant”, you know, a prison and made of Adamant, but never The Adamant Prison until today.
I’m not personally clear on what Erin’s soul channel issue is, though. Best I can figure out, damage to his sealing tattoos should mean he can’t safely CLOSE his channels after opening them—which means he’d better keep them closed, therefore he can’t cast. If that’s the case, busting open the Adamant Prison is still a possibility, as VD doesn’t care if Erin dies horribly in the process. But it may be that his injury affects his control or access in some other way. Or maybe “breaking” the lock means he can’t open the channels at all.
The impression I get, from all the hints that have been dropped through the comic (especially “Fire and Stone”), and some lore Red’s dropped on Tumblr, is that Erin was born with malformed/incomplete soul channels, which made him very sensitive to the elements (and thus sickly as a child), but unable to actually do magic. That’s why he went to the Soulshaper Monks, to fix his soul channels so he actually could do magic. It wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t know for sure if he was an Elemental Magus before then. Anyway, as Erin reveals in “Fire and Stone”, he got impatient before his soul had finished healing and accessed his power too early, which seems to have permanently damaged his soul channels to the point that he can’t control how they open/close without sealing tattoos.
It sometimes comes in handy when dealing with the Void Dragon, though!
That’s my understanding as well. But I’m not sure what that means, practically speaking, for damage to Erin’s seals and his ability to cast while possessed.
Thing is, VD has consistently been shown casting normally without using Erin’s tattoos, so IDK if that would stop him
But we’ve also seen him completely lose control recently. He can only open the seals without touching the tattoos, but he does need the sealing tattoos to control what he’s casting.
man i love this littel trio. they’re so cool. im so excited for this jungle chase scene/fight scene/whatever it ends upu being
Kendal! Alinua! Tess! Now* would be a really good time to swoop in and crash the party—
*”Now” = in about 6–12 pages, after an appropriately tense encounter
They will probably be the next chapter. With Erin not having his communication magic available I have feeling the gang might end up with a ships in the night situation. Red temporarily solved the “damned phones” trope while also turning it back on them, which is fun. My prediction is that this trio will go to helm by the caves. After trying to lure paladins in and promptly getting trapped. The rest of them could get a some form of transportation from the merfolk and decide to look on Helm. Where they meet at the soul shaper monks monastery, conveniently both groups have someone who has been there before. That or this has been a drunken rant.
when it was said that tess went to helm? i mean its definitly possible but i dont think it was ever stated
also i doubt kendal tess and alinua would want to leave rakhn without erin, ESPECIALLY now that the paladins are here (also it is still a long way to Helm, the Boat was FAST, Tarren said in ripples that could cover a 2 week sail in less than a day so helm would still be very far on foot, Falst and Dainix are not making to helm on foot to helm throught the singing caves at the same time as tess, alinua and kendal much less making it into helm without anything like cave corruption
I think it’s that we know Tess has spent most of her time travelling since she got chosen by the sky, so the odds are high that she’s been to Helm before, but there’s no hard confirmation.
I just noticed that Dainix is missing his gauntlet thingies as well…he looks so incomplete. Also: Is Erin planning to bury the Paladins alive somehow? Or drive them into a volcanic environment? That’s…uhh…dark. Probably too dark to go according to plan, but…that could say something about Erin’s moral compass.
It’s probably more of a distraction, I bet that the paladins have a stone mage with them. So burying them alive would be pointless, also he doesn’t have access to stone magic.
I thought the plan was just “make them pay attention to the explosion, maybe go in the caves looking for Erin, while we make a dash for the water” but I’m not the designated Smart Guy of the comic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That’s not what he’s planning at all. He said it was a distraction. Meaning, they blast open the cave, the paladins go “oh no, he’s going into the caves to break the adamant prison!” And rush in to look for him, meanwhile, he and the others book it to the water where they can use his water magic to hide where the spell birds can’t reach them, making them infinitely harder to find. No where did he say bury the paladins alive or even harm them in anyway. Just distract them so they can run away.
I love when we get to see Falst exercising his strategy skills! This is a great planning trio when Erin’s hubris isn’t getting in the way.
And has Dainix just been…carrying a dart gun/slingshot thing in his waistband this whole time? Did I miss something?
FINALLY. AFTER FOUR DAYS AND HUNDREDS OF PAGES I’M CAUGHT UP.
it was absolutely worth it, i love this damn comic
erin why are u so beautiful. mam so beautiful it makes u cry. perfect stupid little guy.
I like team poses and all, but seriously do it after big boi elemental magus is on his feet again
I completly forgot danix had an eyepatch. I was looking at this page and was wondering why “why is one of danix’s eyes not showing?” and because his stupid sexy hair is blocking the strap it just looks like a weird void over his eye. Had to go back to https://comicaurora.com/aurora/2-6-15/ to see the strap and finally piece together that “OH hes wearing an eyepatch!”
Oh Dainix looks SO good in that last panel
this plan is totaly going to work!
Why is Erin glowing?
I realize the helmets are probably dragon inspired but all I can think is Batpaladin.