by Jack Crosby
::Cut Scene::
Gibraltar Castle
“Good news, my lords,” the knight said as he approached. “Nagano Nation has fallen.”
With the four around me, the entire Council of Five smiled and nodded. “Excellent news General Scrivens. With the last kingdom of this land to fall, prepare the ships. We set sail towards the Southern Continent within the week.”
“Yes King Victor.”
With a bow, he left, leaving me with my most powerful followers. “Typhon, Ifrit, Shiva, Scorpius – the time has come to free Balthazar from his prison and continue to grow in our powers.”
“That’s why you chose the Southern Continent,” Shiva said knowingly. “Balthazar’s temple is hidden there.”
Hidden, but not for long. “I’ve collected the foremost scholars in the ancient ways of the summoning spells. His temple will not go undiscovered.”
The ones around me looked like men and a woman, but they were far from it. These were summoned creatures, ones so grateful for releasing them from their astral prison that they joined with me. O no longer had need of human leaders; with me at the helm and my Council, the entire world would soon be under Gibraltar rule.
It’s a shame the previous regime didn’t see things my way.
Oh well, one couldn’t complain from beyond the grave.
The fiery Ifrit spoke up. “We mustn’t forget Odin. With his spear, the added destruction we can bring would be tenfold.”
“Odin is a priority, yes, but the time to free Balthazar comes first. I do not want to miss a window of opportunity that we might not get again. As I’ve discovered with Tiamat, there’s only a slim chance to convert one to my vision and if we miss that, they might as well be gone.”
“Tiamat’s time will come again, my Lord,” Typhon spoke up. “Even the Devil Dragon can’t escape the cruel chains that have been placed upon us.”
Unlike the others, Tiamat’s summon window was ever changing. I had a special group of mages on call for when the stars aligned. “Enough of this talk of forces we cannot control. Once we make land on the Southern Continent, there will be much to do.”
All four saluted me. “Hail King Victor.”
::Cut Scene::
Gibraltar Dungeons
“Are you ready, Rex?”
The Skylonian soldier acknowledged. “Whenever you are, Kira.”
Okay, this time we would succeed. With no sounds of soldiers near, I geared up: Sweep kick, Uppercut
More of the brick loosened up. Enough that one of the blocks actually fell out on to the ground. I quickly scooped it back up and slid it into place. That made three bricks we could now move.
Rex gave a small smile. “It’s taken some time, but we’ll get there. Once we’re free, we find Dante and go back into hiding.”
We quickly stopped talking as two guards came down. “Did ya hear, Fredo, Nagano has fallen.”
The words hit me like a bucket of ice water. “Not a survivor if I heard the story right,” the other guard said.
Rico, the bearcat, nuzzled up against my legs. Rex looked over out of the corner of his right eye. My heart dropped, but I remained calm as the guards walked over. “I reckon when they hang this pretty little blonde number, we’ll never need to worry about those infidels again.”
The guard smile at me, his yellow teeth and rank breath too close for comfort. But, I didn’t move.
“You’re not going to rile her up, Jess. Those Nagano wenches don’t have emotion; that’s why they’re such good sluts.”
My hand shoot through the bars and wrapped around the fat one’s neck. “Watch your words,” I snapped as I let go.
Both looked at me before turning tale and leaving. “Once they’re out of earshot, we break out tonight,” I barked, harsher than I meant to towards my friends.
Rex just nodded while Rico sniffled, his own sadness overtaking him.
****
The cold, it took your breath away some days. Today was one of those days. As I sat with my back against the cold brick wall of the tower, I couldn’t help but to think how I got here again.
“Dante, are you asleep?”
“No, I’m quite awake, Alex.”
Alex, my neighbor and one of the few people that I could talk to. “What’s going on?”
“As strange as this sounds, I think one of the guards may have left my cell door unlocked during the last sweep.”
The guards did that from time to time, giving us a little bit of hope before swarming anyone stupid enough to try to leave. “Are we stupid enough to try to leave again?”
I heard a chuckle. “The tenth time’s the charm, right?”
We were currently in the Ice Needle, Gibraltar’s only presence on the Frozen Continent. It was an island covered in snow and ice, obviously. From what Alex told me, they saved this place for those who they wanted to have a fate worse than death.
I knew what I’d done (being born a Skylonian prince) to get here. When I’d ask Alex what he’d done, he always said the same thing; “Sometimes who a person was is actually more of a crime than what they’ve done.”
The non-answer semi-annoyed me, but he was too good a friend in these hostile conditions to let it get to me much more than that. As I heard the rattle of the lock on my door, my excitement grew. Each time we tried to escape we’d gotten a bit further than the last. We were beginning to know the corridors well and the strengths of our enemies.
Plus, Alex was a white mage with mad healing skills.
The door popped open and the blonde hair, blue eyed prisoner smiled. “I have a good feeling about today.”
“You said that last month,” I reminded him.
::Alex joined the party::
As we turned the first corner towards the staircase, we encountered our first group of guards.
At level twenty-four, Alex was always the first person to go: Holy
The man was a spell-casting machine. The bright white of the spell engulfed the first of the three guards and instantly put him out of action. The problem with the Holy spell was how much mana it took. Alex couldn’t use it forever.
The next two guards each attacked, both hitting one of us with a physical attack. The second, which was aimed at me, triggered a counter-attack: Face punch
Kita would be so proud of my boxing skills. I followed up the counter with my other fist-based skill: Straight left
It didn’t knock out the second guard, but his health bar was drastically reduced. Alex finished him off with his own physical attack: Front kick
Two guards down, one to go. The guard attacked us again, my health bar dipping just below three quarters. We were just fine: Face punch
Blest
The minor holy based spell ended the battle for us. The experience we received almost pushed me over the edge to level twenty-two. I was getting stronger with each passing battle.
We continued to roam the top floor of the tower until we found the stair case. We hadn’t run afoul of any more guards, yet. “Dante, was this door ever unlocked before?”
Alex was twisting the knob of the door adjacent to the stairs. “No, that one’s usually locked.”
We both gave a nod on he pushed it all the way open. Standing inside was a Gibraltar soldier, no not just any soldier, but a high ranking one! It was Alyssa, the traitor!
“Attack!”
“Dante wait!” she cried, but it was no use. The battle began.
Alex saw the Gibraltar crests on the armor and didn’t even bother hesitating: Holy
Alyssa withstood the attack pretty well. “Shit, she’s aligned with white magic,” he growled.
“No problem, we’ll see how she likes fists.”
Straight left
The punch whittled away some of her health, but the most satisfying part was seeing her visor cracked. She couldn’t hide behind that anymore.
When her turn came, she did the most cowardly thing: Defend
“Fight you coward!”
“Dante,
I’m here to talk, please…”
Talking was for friends; we weren’t friends. Alex’s turn came back around. “We’re still on the attack, right?”
“Take no prisoners.”
Knowing his holy spells were useless, he resorted to his physical attack: Front kick
Her defenses were too strong for him to break through. As my anger grew, I felt a swell of power I’d never noticed before. The next command came naturally to me: Shadow flare
I pushed my fist into the sky and the world above us opened up and a blast of the purest black energy came crashing down all around the Gibraltar lieutenant. She was completed swallowed up by the magic attack, only seeing her once it finished. She’d fallen to one knee, surrendering the fight.
I eclipsed level twenty-two and Alex leveled up to twenty-five, but there were no drops. Nope, the two of us surrounded Alyssa, demanding answers. “Why shouldn’t we kill you?” I snarled.
“I was the one who unlocked Alex’s cell and made sure most of the guards were taken care of. I’m here to rescue you, Dante.”
I laughed while Alex looked perplexed. “I’ve only heard your name as the one who betrayed Dante to General Victor. I can’t imagine that this is altruistic.”
She tried to get back up and stumbled back down. “I only did it in the hopes Victor would give up this mad quest, unleashing more summoned creatures upon our world.”
“Who has he freed?” Alex asked with force.
“Besides Tiamat and Typhon, he’s unleashed Ifrit, Shiva, and Scorpius. The Nagano Nation has fallen and he’s conquered the Central Continent.”
I could tell there was more. “That’s not everything, is it?”
“He killed the King of Gibraltar and has named himself The Warlord of the Gods. He’s planning on invading the Southern Continent next.”
“Balthazar,” Alex mumbled.
“What?” I asked.
“Balthazar, he’s going after the demon summon. This can only mean he has one end game.”
“Spill it, man!”
“Dante, he’s planning on freeing Bahamut.”
I was familiar with Tiamat, but Bahamut? “I’m guessing that’s not good.”
Both Alex and Alyssa shook their heads. “Bahamut’s attack, Apocalypse, is just that. With Tiamat free, time is running out to save this world.”
When I was older, Rex had given me the horrible details of that night. “Blackest Night, it ruined all of the Floating Continent, making Skylonus a barren wasteland above us.”
Skylonus was only visible at the most southwestern part of the Central Continent, a floating continent where peace was the most important mission and technology was shunned. That was our ultimate undoing, being unprepared for the paratroopers of Gibraltar and being naïve enough to think no one would ever try to use the power of the summons.
“What can we do?”
“Killing Tiamat is one choice. Bahamut can’t be here unless his queen is here. She’s the beacon that will guide him when the summoning occurs.”
Why did I feel this need to say no? Maybe it was because I secretly wanted the power of Tiamat to destroy Gibraltar like they had destroyed my home? Hmmm…
Alyssa was still at our mercy. “You’re still a traitor,” I spat at her.
“I don’t expect you to understand, Dante. I wanted to avoid all of this war and if sacrificing you to Victor stopped all of this, it would’ve been worth it.”
Alex stepped in-between us. “While your motives make sense, a man like Victor will never be stopped. He’s a scion, of something. His lust to destroy this world proves that.”
“You’re the scion of the great summon Alexander, aren’t you?” Alyssa asked with awe.
My friend immediately took two steps back. “You’re too perceptive for your own good.”
It was becoming more and more apparent we weren’t going to kill her. “We should look you in here, for the next round of guards to find.”
“You could, or you could open the chests behind me and the three of us could escape this place. I know where Victor’s going and I can lead you there.”
Reluctantly, we took her up on choice two. In the two chests I opened I found a sword and a set of armor.
::Equipped Ice Storm – Plus 42% Attack, Ice Element, and Icy Death::
::Equipped Rugged Armor – Plus 58% Defense, Cold Resistant, and Evade::
Not a bad way to start what hoped to be our final excursion through this place. Alex received new armor and a staff with a big old blade on the end. We just might do it!
::Alyssa joined the party::
We ripped through the next few sets of guards as we went down the staircase to the next level. When we reached the platform, the door to the second floor was locked. “Looks like we’ll need to find the key here,” I sighed.
The third floor was more cells. Unlike the top one that Alex and I were stuck in, this one seemed to be full of weird crossbreeds and the like.
“Just as I feared,” Alex said calmly.
“This is the Professor’s level,” Alyssa explained to me.
“What does that mean?”
“With some of the low-level prisoners, the Professor splices genes to create monsters in the hopes that one day Victor will have a genetically engineered army.”
Gods above! The thought of this made me sick. “Where is this scum bag?”
“Probably at the far end chamber,” Alyssa pointed. “He’ll be the one who has the key to the next level.”
I began to storm off in that direction until Alex caught my arm. “Careful! This floor is booby-trapped. One wrong move and you could let out some of these things.”
I looked down and realized I came precariously close to stepping on a floor tile with a trigger on it. Beside us was some sort of half fish, half human monster. The last thing we needed was unnecessary conflicts.
We skirted around that one, safely making it to the next set of cells. Off to our right was a minotaur and to our left was a human sized cyclops; both looked quite hungry and we were dinner. The tiles on the floor were moving forward, each had a weird rune engraved on them.
“Any ideas?” I asked.
Alex stepped forward and examined the markings. “We have a choice. If we choose the wrong path, both doors will open. However, choosing the right path, only one will randomly unlock.”
I don’t know how he got that from what we were seeing. I was willing to go with it. “How do we know which one?”
“My guess is there’s a certain order, either phonetically or numerally. “Alyssa,” he startled her. “Can you sing?”
That was a weird question to ask. “A little bit, why?”
“Can you sing me a basic line, from bottom to top?”
She looked at me and I just shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t like her looking at me. “Doe, rae, me, so, fa, la, te, doe.”
The runes began to glow, darker closer to us and brighter at the end of the path. “I’m glad your useful for something, after all,” I remarked snidely.
She looked hurt; oh well. She’d learn to live with her betrayal. With the right way lit up for us, I carefully stepped on each stone in the order from darkest to lightest. As soon as I stepped on to the last stone, the door to our right opened and the minotaur charged.
As soon as the battle started, the minotaur went into rage mode. His entire body turned red and steam discharged from his nose. I’d only seen creatures go into this state when they were close to death, not as the first turn in a battle.
“I’ve learned a new skill, scan, if you’d like me to use it.”
There Alyssa was again, trying to act like she was part of our group or something. Still, it’d be wise to use her and whatever skills she brought until I could get rid of her properly. “Go for it, let’s see what we’ve got.”
She placed her hands in front of her chest in a praying motion: Scan
The spell circled the minotaur like a homing beacon. Once it locked in, key stats were revealed to u
s about him. He had a weakness to ice, he was susceptible to blindness, and his speed and strength stats were all the charts. My new sword took care of the ice weakness, but as for the other two, I’d hope Alex had an answer.
The mage got to go before me, so we’d see what he could do fully equipped. “This bladed pole has just the thing we need,” he said.
He attacked: Deaf, dumb, and blind
Alex jabbed at the minotaur three times, once for each status effect. Deaf and blond each held, ensuring his physical attacks would miss and whatever spells we used caused double the damage. This was how you started a battle!
Excitement built as my turn just beat out the minotaur’s. I couldn’t wait to see what skills I’d been given now that I had a sword back. Double attack, Quick step, Wind blade, Shadow flare, and Bane of Gibraltar were listed under learned with Doom listed under weapon. I didn’t want to waste any mana yet on one of the big skills, so I went small at first: Double attack
This was a new one. Not only did I swipe hard at the beat and connect, but immediately I brought the sword back up in an upwards slashing motion. The second attack got a critical, just adding to the minotaur’s pain.
Getting back into the fighting spirit was a lot easier fully equipped and having a party of three. With our chances going up for success, we continued to batter the minotaur with our attacks as he constantly missed us with his, thanks to Alex’s blind attack status.
Holy
Scatter shot
Double attack
Mixed in with some physical attacks and mana boosters, thanks to Alyssa, the beating continued. As the creature was down to its final health, the blindness finally wore off. It was just a bit too late.
My turn had just come around again: Doom
Darkness fell over the battlefield as the skill was initiated. A rush of cold, worse than the frigid conditions outside hit us all. From my blade, the Reaper himself crawled out and floated above us all, a trail of ghastly smoke behind him. He pointed at the minotaur and laughed, a bone curdling laugh.
Over the minotaur’s head, three choices appeared: Instant death, Karma, and Scythe. As the Reaper continued to howl his unholy laughter, the words began to spin, going faster and faster until the came to an abrupt stop.