Resistances – Unknown
Named mob. Boss tag. Fire-based. Finn’s mind began mentally listing the data in front of him as the wave of heat from the creature’s body struck him, physically forcing him back another few feet. Sweat immediately began to bead on his skin as his body struggled to shed the warmth. He could feel a tremor of fear ripple through his thoughts, overcoming the fire mana that already simmered in his veins.
Some fights were simply unwinnable.
And this looked like one of them.
“It has been a long time since I was summoned,” the creature said, his voice a crackling maelstrom that spoke of flame and metal and mountains. He peered at the group, his flaming eyes centering on Brock. “Who are you? You hold a supervisor token, but you are neither the Director nor one of the section heads.”
Finn struggled to respond, finding it difficult with the rising heat in the room. The superhot air rushed into his lungs, burning his throat. His teammates were in a similar state. Kyyle had already dropped to his knees, grasping at his throat and struggling to breathe. Julia’s body was erratically flickering as she tried to absorb the ambient heat that the creature was putting off, barely able to stay on her feet.
As the group failed to respond, Nar Aljahim’s eyes went distant, and the surrounding walls of the chamber flared powerfully. A massive pulse of light mana swept through the conduits in the room’s walls before crashing through the adjacent sections of the facility.
“What has happened here?” the creature asked a moment later, his voice sounding almost aghast. “Is this your doing?” he demanded as he rounded on the group.
Unable to speak, Finn gestured feebly at Daniel, where the AI floated nearby, unperturbed by the heat and staring at the creature in front of them in awestruck wonder. Fucking answer him, he thought, hoping the fire elemental would understand him.
“We… we, uh, didn’t attack the facility,” Daniel began tentatively, realizing that the rest of the group was struggling to breathe. Even the stones of Brock’s body were beginning to heat, and the occasional molten droplet now dripped against the floor. “That happened more than a century ago. We were exploring this place and were able to access this room after we recovered a supervisor token.”
Nar Aljahim’s eyes centered on Daniel, hesitating as though he was weighing whether the AI was telling the truth.
Then, finally, “Interesting. Thank you, young one.”
Daniel flashed once in response and then pivoted toward the rest of the group. Kyyle and Julia were now both on the ground, their skin beginning to blister. For his part, Finn had sunk to his knees, gasping for air, his fire mana seeming to grant him at least a minor resistance to the heat – although it wasn’t nearly enough. It felt like his lungs were on fire.
“Um, could you maybe tone down the heat? You’re sort of killing my fleshy companions,” Daniel tentatively asked.
The creature’s eyes centered on Finn. “You are bound to this one?”
“Uh… well ‘bound’ seems kind of formal, and I’m not really sure we’ve defined the relationship yet—” Daniel began but cut himself off at a glare from Finn.
“I mean, yes. Definitely. We’re… err, bound, I guess. Could you please reduce the temperature? We’ve come a long way and gone through much to make it here. We don’t mean you or this facility any harm.”
“Hmm,” the creature hummed in response, the fires making up his body crackling erratically. Then, mercifully, those same flames dimmed and began to recede… and, with them, the oppressive heat that rippled through the room.
Finn sucked in air like a fish on land, the coolness sweeping through his blistered throat and seeping into his lungs even as his natural health regeneration struggled to heal the injuries. Yet he couldn’t afford to wait for that – not with Daniel negotiating on their behalf.
By pure force of will, he forced himself to his feet, wavering slightly, but managing to stay standing by leaning against Brock’s torso, the stones of the elemental’s body scalding his hand. In his peripheral vision, he could see his teammates struggling to rise as well.
At least they’re still alive, he thought, sparing a thankful glance at Daniel.
“What Daniel said is the truth,” Finn croaked, ignoring the pain in his throat as he forced out the words. “We didn’t attack this place. More than a century has passed since the assault on this facility.”
“Then why are you here?” Nar Aljahim intoned.
Finn chewed on his answer for a moment and abruptly decided that honesty might be their best option. The creature in front of them seemed far, far more powerful than anything they had confronted before, and it seemed safe to assume that Nar Aljahim would be able to access the facility’s logs. If he lied, he’d be found out quickly.
“We’re facing a demon who has taken control of Lahab – a city to the northeast. We had heard rumors that this facility held technology that could aid us in that fight.”
“Does this demon have a name?”
“Bilel,” Finn answered.
The flames of Nar Aljahim’s body flared once again, his eyes flashing with what Finn could only assume was anger. “I know that name. Although, when I last laid eyes on him, he was merely a man. A man that sought to mislead and steal from this facility.” The fires abated slightly as the creature saw the group stagger under the fresh wave of heat.
Finn tilted his head. It seemed Bilel just made friends everywhere he went…
Although, he might be able to use that.
“He has since become a demon by absorbing other affinities. He’s taken control of Lahab and has been harvesting mana from other unsuspecting mages.” A grimace as Finn considered his next words. “Bilel now holds a god’s relic… a weapon that can drain a person’s passion and convert them into a hellhound.”
“A relic…” Nar Aljahim murmured, his eyes going distant and dimming slightly.
He rounded on Finn then. “What does this relic look like? Is it a staff?”
Finn’s brow furrowed. “Yes, with a gem set in the top.”
A wave of superheated air washed across the chamber once again, and Finn raised his arm to shield his face and eyes. As he looked up once more, Nar Aljahim was staring at him, the fires of his body roiling and snapping, barely contained.
“I know of this relic,” the creature said, his voice now carrying a weight that Finn recognized – that was loss. Sorrow. A trace of despair. He knew those feelings well, even if he couldn’t understand why the staff would elicit such a reaction. “And I suspect I understand your purpose in coming here. You hope to find a way to neutralize the relic’s power?”
“Yes,” Finn replied, not bothering to be circumspect with his words. They were facing some sort of fire creature that could kill them with his aura alone. It was time to lay all their cards on the damn table.
Even as that thought crossed his mind, it was accompanied by a question. “If you don’t mind me asking, what… what exactly are you?” Finn asked.
The creature’s body flared for a moment, and the flames crackled with renewed strength. Finn took an involuntary step back, and his companions reached for their weapons. It took Finn a moment to realize that this being was… laughing at him.
“Is it not obvious?” Nar Aljahim asked. “I am an ancient fire elemental. One of the oldest of my kind. I was there at the birth of this world – when the other spirits of earth, wind, and water formed the valleys and ocean and mountains.”
“A fire elemental?” Daniel echoed, his light dimming. “But how did you get so… large?” A pause and then, “Can you teach me?!”
Another laugh rippled through Nar Aljahim’s body as he replied, his voice not unkind, “Indeed, you and I are one and the same. With time and access to a plentiful source of fire mana, you can also reach this level of power. It may only take a millennium or two.” The creature’s flaming eyes turned to inspect Finn. “Binding yourself to this one was a good first step. His flame blazes brightly.”
Daniel
floated next to Finn’s ear. “Did you hear that? If we just wait a few thousand years, I could take out Bilel myself,” he whispered.
Finn let out an amused snort. “I’m not certain we have that much time.”
“Indeed, you do not,” Nar Aljahim interjected.
Finn’s eyes whipped back to the elemental. “I know of this relic… intimately.” Nar Aljahim paused for a moment as though mulling on his next words. “That gem set into the top of the staff is the heart of another of my kind – my mate.” The flames of his body dimmed until they were only a flicker of their former strength.
“I don’t understand,” Finn murmured in reply. “Did the Seer somehow coerce or force your mate to help create the staff?”
“Force an ancient fire elemental?” Nar Aljahim replied, his body crackling with laughter once more. “Even the gods do not have such power. No, no, that is not possible. It is simply the way of my kind. We are born into this world as a mere spark and spend our lives growing that flame, tending to it, feeding it. And, eventually, that power grows far too great to contain,” he explained, waving a flaming hand at the walls of the chamber.
Finn’s eyes widened, a few pieces suddenly clicking into places. The wards that mechanical voice had mentioned weren’t meant to prevent entry to this room… but to contain Nar Aljahim? The same could likely be said of the hexagonal pattern drawn on the floor around the elemental’s pit.
Which led to a final, inevitable question.
Just how much power did this elemental hold?
Nar Aljahim followed Finn’s gaze. “I normally reside within this planet’s core until I am summoned, bathing in the glow of this world’s hearth. Without the wards imbued in this chamber’s floor and walls and the combined power of the pylons, my flames would crash through this facility and wipe it clean, likely melting down most of the mountain range around it in the process.”
Finn swallowed hard. It seemed his initial impression had been right – they couldn’t defeat a creature like this. He immediately resolved to try and stay on Nar Aljahim’s good side for as long as he possibly could.
“As for the relic… my mate sacrificed herself willingly.”
The elemental’s attention shifted to Daniel, watching the fledgling fire elemental. “Once our power has grown too great to control, we must commit to re-entering the Cycle. Our flames condense and harden, forming a gem of incredible power. A heartstone, we call it. That gem contains enough power to create stars and planets. It is our kind’s purpose to accumulate such power and then release it back into the universe – to be reborn and create new possibilities.”
The elemental’s eyes swept back to Finn. “Or help to power a relic.
“The Seer enticed my mate with promises that she could help others. Free them of their pain and suffering – those passions that cripple their hearts.” Another crackle of flames and a wave of Nar Aljahim’s hand at the facility looming around them. “That was also the purpose of this place once. And it was what she wished for herself – what we wished to do with this existence. To help others.”
Finn could only stare. Nar Aljahim had spoken to Daniel about binding himself to a mage. Had the elemental bound himself to this facility? Or the Director? Perhaps to help with the research that was once performed here? And more importantly, could he help them now – especially with how his mate’s heartstone had been stolen by Bilel?
“Can you help us then? Your mate’s heartstone is now being held by a demon – by Bilel. And we have no easy way to counter its effects. We… we were hoping that we would find something within this facility that could help us.”
Nar Aljahim stared at Finn as the seconds ticked past. Finn could hear his teammates shuffle nervously behind them.
“I will help you,” the elemental said finally, and Finn let out an involuntary sigh of relief. “However, our time grows short,” Nar Aljahim continued, his voice grim. “I have finished my scan of the facility and reviewed its logs as we’ve spoken.”
With a wave of his massive, flaming hand, a large-scale map of the facility sprung into existence nearby, outlining the entire Forge in much greater detail than the previous maps. As Finn inspected the image, he immediately realized why. The ancient fire elemental had taken administrative control of the Forge, which gave him access to a nearly infinite source of the six affinities. He was constantly pinging the entire facility with light mana and using the energy to examine the occupants of each section carefully.
“The staff is dead. All of them, including the Director,” Nar Aljahim said, his flames flickering softly. “I’ve also detected an unusual anomaly in the fire section.” Dozens of red dots were suddenly highlighted within the section, the corrupted clustered along the blast door leading into the central chamber. However, Finn could see that many had peeled off, returning to the dense clusters of energy surrounding the backup crystals and the conduits leading to the other sections.
“Damn it,” Julia muttered as she and Kyyle approached to stand beside Finn and review the map. She spared a glance at Finn. “They’re attacking the storage crystals again.”
His daughter’s gaze darted to the glowing walls surrounding them, her fear painted clearly across her face. What would happen if the fire section’s energy failed? If the wards containing Nar Aljahim failed?
“You are familiar with these creatures?” the fire elemental asked.
Finn frowned. “We entered this chamber through the fire section. Those creatures were originally the facility’s security mechs. But we believe a bug or virus affected them during the attack on the facility. As they began to run out of mana, they started harvesting and incorporating the bodies of the human staff members. Now they are mindless amalgamations of metal and ruined flesh that hunger for only one thing… mana.”
“We are calling them the corrupted,” Daniel chirped helpfully.
“Hmm… well, the fire section’s logs confirm your explanation,” Nar Aljahim said, his voice sounding slightly distracted. “It appears that the supervisor for that section decided to sabotage the main conduits, shut down the fire pylon, and lock the creatures inside. A smart move, yet it only delays the inevitable.”
A brief pause as the ancient fire elemental continued reviewing the system logs. “If these corrupted manage to access the other sections, this anomaly will only continue to spread.”
“And if they take out the storage crystals in the fire section, the wards on this room might fail,” Kyyle offered in a dry voice. “If what you said is true, that these wards are the only thing containing your power… then I’m guessing you would likely obliterate everything left in the facility – including us.”
Nar Aljahim’s head tilted slightly. “The wards are designed with a failsafe for such emergencies. Emergency storage crystals are embedded just outside the walls of this chamber. Though your point is valid, those crystals can only hold a charge for so long. Once they are depleted, I will be forced back into the pit and will be unable to assist you or prevent the corrupted from spreading through the facility.”
“Well, then can you contain them now that we’ve restored the power?” Finn asked hopefully. “It seems like you could probably destroy them singlehandedly.”
“No,” Nar Aljahim answered immediately. “I am bound to this room and cannot act directly – not without killing you and your companions, anyway. The security mechs in the other sections also appear to have been powered down and will take time to recharge. With nearly all of the attendants offline, that process will be slow. I can access some of the other automated defenses such as the beam turrets but given the logs of your previous encounters with these so-called corrupted… I suspect that will not be enough.”
“Uh, I hate to be that guy,” Kyyle interjected. “But what exactly are you saying then?”
“That I may need to consider initiating the facility’s self-destruct sequence to contain this threat,” Nar Aljahim answered, his eyes flaring as he spoke. “I cannot let the corrupted access the other
sections or allow them to escape this facility. That would leave the pylons vulnerable to possible third-parties and may unleash a plague upon this world that would make your conflict with Bilel pale in comparison.”
Finn chewed on his lip as he imagined what that would look like, guilt curling in his gut. They had caused this problem by disturbing the facility. If they had simply left the Forge alone and hadn’t attempted to access this central chamber by powering up the fire pylon, they wouldn’t have woken the corrupted or started this cascade of dominos – or, at least, this process might have taken a few more centuries. In short, they had damned this place.
Yet they had also come here for a reason.
His attention drifted back to the elemental. Finn was beginning to suspect that this fire elemental was the most important entity in the entire Forge. There wasn’t a terminal or storage room in this chamber. There was only Nar Aljahim. What better place to house the designs and technology that had been developed inside the Forge? What could be more secure than placing your secrets in the head of an impossibly powerful fire elemental?
“Can you help us then? Before the corrupted access the other sections of the facility?” Finn asked, staring at the elemental.
Nar Aljahim met his gaze, flames spiraling his form as he pondered that question.
“I can help you. The issue is time. It would take days or weeks to teach you what you need to know to neutralize the relic effectively. I could even theoretically teach you how to reverse the affliction that affects the hellhounds.”
The elemental let out another sigh, and a gust of superheated air billowed across the room, the group shielding their faces as best they could. “However, with the corrupted making their way through the facility, the risk is too great. I cannot afford to let them escape this place, even to recover my mate’s heartstone…” The elemental trailed off, his eyes going distant once again – likely mulling on their problem.
Finn’s conversation with the Seer returned in earnest. Had this been the choice she had alluded to – the possibility of greater knowledge versus putting those he cared about at risk by potentially unleashing a corrupted plague upon this world? That seemed possible given the goddess’ fixation on the future. After facing the corrupted, Finn could only imagine what they would do once they had unlimited access to other residents and travelers – much less this world’s native creatures.
Awaken Online: Inferno (Tarot #3) Page 31