Reign (Land of the Elementals Book 4), page 39
Arbor caught another of the massive blows on his glaive, feeling his arms straining to hold back the sheer power being dropped on him. Another attack like that, and one of them might actually give out. As the elf pulled back for a third attack, Arbor knew he had to act. There was something he could do. He could turn the bladed end of the glaive at the elf. The problem with that, though, was that the elf’s momentum would not be arrested.
Even if he died instantly, Arbor would take nearly the entire attack on his chest and even with his armor and toughened body, that kind of power would definitely break bones. Still, it was either that or allow this elf to wear him down to the point where he couldn’t defend himself.
The elf lunged with a roar, and Arbor swung his glaive around to meet him head-on. Right before the elf landed his attack, a swirling twister of burning gray and crimson slammed into his chest, tossing him back and burning a hole into his chest.
Arbor reacted immediately, slamming a palm into the ground and ejecting a bust of black creation magic. The stone splintered and cracked as vines sprouted all around him, snagging the legs of the two elves who’d already been moving in to attack. They staggered, off-balance, and Arbor struck out at knee-height, his glaive streaming through both elves at the knees.
Blood sprayed in the air as they both toppled backward, screaming in pain, their legs still locked in place by the vines. The fast elf tried to retreat, but two blasts of power, one from Shelderoth and another from a purple Elemental, halted him in his tracks.
The condensed twister of gray and red, and the jagged bolt of black and purple, arced in the air before the elf Mage, but he managed to avoid them both by skidding to a stop. He tried to turn in place and run, only to feel a painful impact on his back. When he looked down, over a foot of glittering blade poked through his chest, his own blood dripping off the tip.
He tried to turn, to glare at the man who’d killed him, but Arbor injected a small burst of Origin magic into the blade and the elf was torn apart, blood and gore showering his surroundings.
“Good work,” Arbor said, looking around to the Elementals, who were finishing off the last of the elven Mages.
He noticed that one of them was missing, and Shelderoth explained before he could ask.
“Naritar was banished by a combination attack from three Mages. She’ll pull herself together in a couple of days. Look out!”
Arbor whirled, his Perception Field flaring a warning as the massive, muscled elf came charging in. In all the confusion, he’d completely forgotten that the elf was still alive, and now, he was too close for Arbor to use his glaive. He’d been keeping his Perception Field contained to just a couple of feet from his body to conserve power throughout the battle, trusting that he would be quick enough to react to any attack within that time.
The elf loomed over him, eyes wide with rage and pain. There was a nasty burn in the center of his chest where Shelderoth’s attack had hit, but clearly, it hadn’t been enough to finish the brute off. Not having much choice, Arbor dropped the glaive, bracing himself and twisting into an attack of his own.
His open palm slammed into the elf’s chest as both his arms came down on Arbor’s head. Arbor’s Origin magic flared, and a spiraling beam of white power blasted through the elf’s back. Arbor winced as his legs were driven into the ground, his shoulder creaking with the strain of the impact.
He’d been afraid this would be a crippling blow, but as the elf’s blood fountained out of the hole in his chest and the man was hurled back, eyes rolling up in his head, Arbor realized that Shelderoth’s attack must have done more damage than he’d realized. The elf’s power had been greatly lessened. Though even with that, Arbor’s shoulder still hurt.
He grimaced, rolling his shoulder and feeling at it gingerly. Nothing was broken, but it would definitely bruise. His armor was great against bladed weapons, magic, and even blunt attacks, but the force of those attacks would still be felt by his body. He was sturdy, but with power like the elf had, there was only so much damage he could mitigate.
“Let’s keep moving,” Arbor said as Shelderoth handed him back his glaive.
The elf was unmoving, so he was confident he was dead. Soldiers were closing in on all sides, and as they moved forward, they had to begin fighting their way through. Arbor’s glaive flickered back and forth, stabbing, hacking, and slashing as he butchered any soldiers in his way.
The Elementals were equally as brutal, their magic tearing through enemy ranks as they tried to force their way deeper into the city. His army was all around him by now, their soldiers intermingled with those of the enemy as they fought their way onward, some with reckless abandon as they tried to avenge the fallen.
There was a roar from his right, and Hord, covered in more blood and gore than Arbor had ever seen, came tearing through the enemy ranks to join him. His armor was dented and his helm was missing, but the mad dwarf was grinning from ear to ear.
“Thought we’d lost you for a minute there,” Arbor said as the dwarf shattered a man’s kneecaps, then crushed his head with a swing of his hammer.
They’d gotten separated pretty quickly after entering the city. Arbor hadn’t thought the dwarf was dead, only that they’d be meeting back up once the battle was over. If there was an after.
“Just had some business to take care of,” Hord said with a wink.
Before Arbor could ask what he meant, the ground rumbled and shook, giving him pause. The tide of soldiers had considerably thinned around them as they’d plowed through to the other side. For a moment, he suspected another trap, but he soon realized that it was far worse than that. The sky, which had been mostly blue and clear, took on a distinctly red tinge as a massive beam of light shot upward from the center of the city. The sun turned crimson, and the air began to grow noticeably hotter.
The battle paused for a moment, everyone, friend and foe alike, all turning toward the center of the city as the beam of red continued firing into the sky, dying it a deeper and deeper red until it matched the color of the blood on the ground. All color seemed washed out now in comparison to that red, the very air beginning to feel oppressive and heavy.
Arbor, though, could feel what was happening. At the center of the city, a portal had been activated and something was trying to force its way through. They still had a little time, but not much.
“Come on!” he yelled, slamming his glaive into the ground and unleashing a truly massive blast of destruction.
The ground buckled and was then blasted away, chips of stone and mortar tearing themselves up and flying in all directions. Enemy soldiers were not immune to this either, being tossed into the air with broken and shredded legs and finally clearing a path out of the melee. Hord and the Elementals were right on Arbor’s heels as he ran, making for the center of the city and the portal where a Demon from the Lower Realms was trying to emerge out into their world.
59
Kya leaped back with a squeal of terror as a beam of condensed water shot through the space where she’d just been. It slammed into the opposite wall, carving a thin line in the stone before petering out.
“Thanks for that,” she panted, giving Karria a grateful half-smile.
“Just watch where you’re stepping,” Karria said, her eyes scanning the area once again and seeing if they’d accidentally set anything else off.
They were about a quarter of the way through the room, Karria having forged a detection device to try and sense out any hidden metals. It was only proving to be partially successful though, as some of the traps were magical in nature and didn’t have any metallic components. She could have made a sensor for that as well, but she’d need to find an intact one and examine it first.
Then, she’d have to experiment with something until she found a tool that could sense them, and a process like that could take hours. According to Kya, Sylvester already knew they were here – how could he not, with all the noise they were making? – and they needed to get through here as quickly as possible.
Worse, Kya said that something outside felt very wrong, which Karria took to mean that the portal they were afraid of was now working. They had to get Sylvester as quickly as they could, then rush to help Arbor. If he was going to be fighting some hellish demonic being, then he would need all the assistance they could offer.
“This is becoming extremely tedious,” Ramona said.
Karria could detect a hint of sourness in her voice, and it gave her the utmost pleasure. Ramona was likely upset that her magic wasn’t doing anything for them at this point, what with how many traps had gone off. It had been impossible to block all the noise, and thanks to that, the enemy was aware of them.
Karria knew it was petty to feel this way, but she just couldn’t help it.
“Hold,” she said as her construct began vibrating.
It reached a certain spot, and the construct confirmed that another trap was buried here.
“I wonder if there is a faster way through here,” Ramona commented as Karria marked the area by dropping some forged ink on it.
“Sure,” Karria said, stepping around the big X on the ground. “You can always just run through and see if you blow up.”
“If they know we’re here anyway, why don’t you just build some construct and roll it through the room? It’ll clear our path and save us the hours it’ll take to get through here otherwise.”
Karria was about to snap back at the woman and tell her that it would be a waste of energy, but after a moment of thinking, she realized that Ramona was probably right. Even if it did take up some of her strength, the time they would save would be invaluable. It was especially important with Demons on the way.
“Just so you know, I’m doing this because I want to,” Karria said, turning her back on the woman.
She could feel the smugness practically radiating off Ramona in waves. When this was all over, she was going to kick that bitch’s ass from here to the other side of Laedrin.
Karria ground her teeth together, fighting down her anger. Her temper always got worse in stressful situations, and having someone like Ramona around didn’t help.
“Just breathe,” Kya said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Karria felt a calming pulse of power run through her, soothing her frayed nerves and helping her concentrate on the task at hand.
“Thanks,” she said in an undertone. “I needed that.”
“I’m here to help,” Kya said.
Karria could feel Kya’s hand trembling on her shoulder though. Despite outward appearances, Kya was barely keeping her own rage in check. Sylvester was right behind that wall, just waiting for them, and she couldn’t wait to get her hands on the bastard who’d killed her parents.
“Here goes nothing,” Karria said, letting out a long breath.
The wagon formed in her mind’s eye. It wasn’t big, nor tall, standing around their height and two feet across. There was nothing special about it, with its four wheels and a light base so it would move across the room with a single push. Karria knew that she would probably have to forge several of these as they took the brunt of the traps, so she tried to waste as little energy as she could.
Her magical source might be infinite, but how much she could use before dropping was an entirely different story.
The wagon formed in an instant, colorful lights spiraling out of her body and condensing into the shape she desired. It was a bit more draining than she’d have liked, but this was the fastest, most efficient way across.
“You might want to brace yourselves for this,” she said, then shoved the cart forward.
The destruction that rained down on it was far more than Karria had expected. The cart had barely moved ten feet before a gout of acid blasted up from the ground, melting half of it in an instant. Several jets of water sliced into it, two explosions went off, tearing the wheels from the cart, and a blast of fire incinerated the construct to motes of light.
The entire group stared, slack-jawed, as the construct was completely wrecked.
“What the hell are they protecting?” Karria exclaimed.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure we’re going to want it,” Ramona said. “Make another cart.”
Karria glared at her, then pointedly turned and made another one. It took seventeen carts to make it to the other side of the room unscathed. Karria could feel a headache coming on as they finally made it to the far side, leaving the sheer chaos behind them. The warehouse had been obliterated, for lack of a better term. The only part that still stood was the section of building that Sylvester was supposed to be in.
The roof had been torn off, revealing a red sky to their group. Both of the Elementals with them looked very worried. One of them was trembling as much as Kya, though this wasn’t rage. It was terror.
“Knock, knock,” Karria said, slamming a glowing sphere of Mythic magic into the wall.
She wasn’t going to be polite about entering this room, and everyone needed their minds set back on their goal, rather than on the potential Demon coming into their realm.
Karria’s ‘knock’ blasted a ten-foot hole in the wall, ripping a hidden door from its hinges and sending it tumbling and clattering down a long corridor.
“How rude. That door was quite expensive, you know. Uncle Zir won’t be happy.”
Sylvester’s voice, flat and emotionless, echoed down the corridor toward them. Karria couldn’t see him just yet but had a feeling that it opened up into another room. From the outside, this part of the building shouldn’t exist, but she could see the floor sloping downward, which meant that they would soon be underground.
“Guess you should have built a better door,” Karria retorted, holding an arm out to stop Kya from directly charging in. “There might be more traps,” she muttered, already preparing to conjure another cart.
“There are no more traps,” Sylvester’s voice echoed out. “Why don’t you all come in and greet me properly? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”
“Either he’s the best liar in the world, or there are no traps,” Kya grudgingly said.
Karria still wasn’t sure how much she could trust Sylvester, so she forged a ten-foot pole, then slowly began inching forward, tapping the ground with it. She couldn’t have risked something like this in the big room, as a trap going off could have thrown her to the side and set off another one, but in here, where the walls were only six or seven feet apart, she wasn’t too afraid of that.
She had to wonder how Sylvester knew it was her. Perhaps he had some sort of viewing construct, or one of the Mages with him could see what was happening outside the room. Whatever the case was, she found that she was glad he knew it was them. Revenge would be sweet indeed.
There was an explosion then, and Karria’s pole was wrenched out of her grip and tossed to the ceiling. A series of powerful blasts went off down the corridor, one after the next in a chain reaction, making Karria very glad that she hadn’t trusted Sylvester.
“You bastard!” Karria yelled, feeling her anger flare.
“You’re still alive?” Sylvester asked, his voice floating up to them. “Shame.”
“I guess he’s a pretty good liar,” Ramona said as Karria imagined all the ways in which she’d torture the bastard before she killed him.
It seemed that any information Kya got from his mind would be unreliable though, so getting the truth out of him might be a bit difficult.
“Let’s keep moving,” Kya said, placing a hand on Karria’s shoulder. “The sooner we get to the end of this tunnel, the sooner we’ll get our answers.”
Karria nodded, taking a deep breath and forging another pole, just in case. They continued on down the dimly lit tunnel, their group now moving much slower because they knew there would be more traps. Once more, the pole was jerked from Karria’s hand as a series of explosions went off.
Sylvester’s voice floated out once again, but this time, Karria didn’t respond.
“I know you’re not dead,” his voice came a moment later. “I was just being polite.”
Karria ground her teeth together, but didn’t respond to his comment. That seemed to only encourage him, and Sylvester continued talking. They ignored him, walking down the corridor until it finally opened up into a sprawling underground chamber.
However, instead of being made of stone and steel as she’d expected, they emerged into a jungle. The air was damp, the ground soft and covered in grass, shrubbery, and snaring tendrils of vine. Trees swayed in an invisible breeze, the leaves touching the ceiling, which was also covered in grass.
Sylvester was clearly visible, sitting on an elaborate chair made of twisting vines on the opposite side of the room. Around him stood a squadron of human guards, with the Mages slumped in stools and leaning against the walls.
“How lovely to see you all—” Sylvester began.
Three guards whirled on him, detaching themselves from the group and charging with their spears lowered. Sylvester clicked his tongue, and with a single gesture, the ground before them writhed, coming alive. Thorny vines shot from the earth, wrapping around the soldiers and hauling them into the air.
They struggled and thrashed as the thorns bit deep, the vines twining around their throats, pinning their arms to their sides and holding their legs together. Kya abandoned those soldiers and seized ahold of two more, but with another gesture, Sylvester snared them up as well.
“Please! We can’t breathe!” one of the soldiers yelled, now free from Kya’s control.
However, Sylvester didn’t let them go, meeting Kya’s eyes with a blank stare as the vines tightened, thorns digging deeper and deeper into the soldiers’ bodies. Karria wasn’t surprised in the slightest at the display, but the other soldiers watched in horror as their comrades were slowly strangled to death, the thorns only adding to the pain, but not making it come any swifter.
Eventually, the bodies went slack, the corpses hanging limply by their throats and their blood slowly dripping down to patter onto the grass below.
