The crystal spirit turned and started for the wall, carrying a struggling Nova and clearly intending to jump off with her.
“Get off her, you bastard!” Terra screamed as she shot a hand out. “Chains of Shadow!”
A thick black substance streamed from her palm and surged around the spirit, forming shackles and chains that bound it to the ground. It strained against the bonds, and one of them broke almost immediately.
I’d almost reached them when Terra rushed at the crystal spirit, drawing a hand back. But instead of casting a spell, she punched it square in the face. “Let go!” she cried, trying in vain to pull the creature’s arms loose. She rammed another fist into the crystal creature’s side, to no apparent effect.
There was no way in hell I was letting this thing drag Nova to her death. I held out a hand and focused everything on a last-ditch effort to stop it. “Control Undead!”
For half a second, I was convinced Elizabeth would tell me that the monster wasn’t a valid target for the spell. But then, black oil poured forth and blasted into the crystal spirit, covering it completely with a gleaming black film. The darkness absorbed into the crystal, turning the red glow that infused it to a deep violet black.
The creature pivoted to face me, motionless and waiting.
As Terra stumbled back a step with her jaw hanging down, I pointed at the crystal spirit. “Let her go.”
The crystal arms opened immediately, and Nova tumbled to the ground.
“Nova!” Terra cried, rushing in to drag her sister clear of the monster. “Oh my God, are you okay?”
“Fine. I’m fine,” she said a little breathlessly, and looked up at me. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” I looked back at Crash, who was still fighting the spirit he’d bound. “I’ve got you, Crash!” I shouted as I stepped back. “Watch out, I’m sending reinforcements. Kill it!” I said to the controlled spirit, pointing at the crystal statue across the platform.
With an outraged scream, the blacklight-glowing spirit took off at a run. Crash glanced back, his eyes widening as the creature approached, and sprinted out of the way just before the spirit I was controlling tackled the other one, grabbing it around the waist.
There was a brief struggle, but the controlled spirit got the upper hand as it dragged the other one to the wall, climbed up, and jumped off still clutching its prey.
Crash shook himself and headed for us at a run. “Something actually worked? What was it?”
“Control Undead,” I told him, grinning. “It was a crazy guess — I thought since these things whooshing around are spirits, maybe the crystal things could be tombs. And the warning said no force on earth could affect them, but Undead spells aren’t forces of earth.”
“You rock, boss!” George said as he huddled against my ankle, sending nervous glances skyward.
Terra stood and helped Nova to her feet. “Nice work,” she said, in a tone that was almost pleasant. “So, you’re a necromancer, huh?”
“Sort of. Mostly,” I said as I watched the remaining six wind spirits above us circle and swoop in an angry frenzy. “Okay, I think we can take the rest of these guys down all at once,” I said. “I can control up to three Undead at once. So, we bind all six of them into the statues, and then I’ll take over three of them and send them after the other three. They have to kill themselves taking them out, because it’s the only way to destroy them.”
“I vote for your plan. That’s way better than taking these things on one at a time,” Crash said with enthusiasm.
“Yeah, that works,” Nova said as she drew her copy of the crystal key from the pocket of her robe. “Let’s hurry, though.”
We scattered around the platform, each heading for a statue. With just a few near misses as the swarming spirits moved faster, trying to avoid their fates, soon all of them were bound into the crystal forms. We drew back toward the center of the platform and grouped together as they roared toward us, three from one end and three from the other.
“Control Undead!” I shouted, thrusting a hand out toward one of the advancing trios. Black goo gushed out like an oil well and splattered the crystal creatures, covering them completely. As the black film absorbed and the spirits glowed a dark, angry purple, I pivoted and pointed at the other three. “Kill those assholes!”
The spirits complied with splintering, crystalline screams as they thundered across the platform, grabbed their fellow monsters and leapt to their dooms.
26
No more enemies spawned after the crystal spirits, but we didn’t get a portal off this rock either.
For the moment, we sat in the center of the platform waiting for everyone’s health and mana to regen. George had plopped down in Nova’s lap again, and she idly stroked his fur as she stared off into the distance. Crash and I lounged across from her, and Terra sat cross-legged a few feet away, ignoring everyone in favor of her HUD.
Nova shook her head slightly and looked at me. “Looks like my wind buff wore off, so yours must have too. Might as well refresh everyone,” she said as she raised a hand. She cast Wind Resist on me, and then Crash. “You too, George,” she said, smiling as she placed a hand on him and cast the buff.
George shivered in pleasure as the soft white glow surrounded him. “Ooh, that is good,” he said.
“You’re welcome.” Nova scratched behind his ears, then twisted slightly toward Terra and cleared her throat. “Hey, heads up. I’m buffing you.”
Terra nodded absently, her gaze remaining unfocused as Nova cast the spell.
“Speaking of buffs,” I said as I watched her, “what’s up with all those Warrior buffs you keep casting on Terra? Those things are beast.”
“Yeah, they’re pretty strong, but they can only be used on players with a Warrior class,” Nova said with a shrug. “It’s a spell set they gave me when we came in. All the supports for the Elite Eight get a Class-specific set to work with.”
I laughed and shook my head. Must’ve been nice for the government-sponsored players to have all these extras when they got thrown into this place. All I got was my brain in a jar and a warning not to die. “So, all the Elite people get sidekicks, huh?” I said.
“We get partnered with a support,” Terra said as she focused back on the world and gave Nova a side-eyed glance. “Looks like you leveled ahead of me,” she said. “How’d you manage that?”
“She’s been kicking ass through this whole place trying to find you. That’s how,” I said, tired of all the little digs Terra kept throwing at her sister.
An angry expression edged across Terra’s face, but then she relaxed with a sigh. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know I’ve been a bitch. It’s just … I need you, that’s all.” She gave a crooked smile and shook her head. “That’s not easy to admit, you know? Mostly because I’m really mad at Wynn, not you. I wanted to show that son of a bitch up.”
“Yeah, I get it,” Nova said. “I still don’t know what happened with you guys. Did you—”
“Never mind about that,” Terra said as she shifted and stretched her legs out, and then looked at me. “You two aren’t friends of his, are you? Wynn, I mean.”
I shook my head. “Hell, no. We don’t even know the guy.”
“Besides, there’s that bounty Wynn put on Kahn,” Nova said. “Why would he be friends with somebody who’s trying to get him killed?”
Terra frowned at her. “What bounty?”
“Oh, crap,” Nova blurted as she glanced at me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about it. Terra was already in here when the system message went out, so she wouldn’t know …”
Terra laughed and waved her off. “You know what? It doesn’t matter,” she said. “Any enemy of Wynn’s is a friend of mine. I guess that makes you guys cool.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure it’s cool that some guy I never met wants to kill me,” I said with a smirk. “What’s his deal, anyway?”
Terra and Nova looked at each other, and for a minute I wondered if they had
some kind of telepathy skill or something. “You know he’s the leader of the American guild, right?” Terra said.
I nodded. “That’s about all we know.”
“Besides that, he’s Dark Heart’s brother,” Crash muttered. “The lying bitch.”
Terra raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Dark Heart?”
“Nobody,” I said, shooting Crash a look. “Anyway, you were saying about Wynn?”
“Yeah, about him. I hate that prick. Even talking about him pisses me off,” Terra said as her hands clenched into fists. “I mean, he’s good. He has a lot of skill, I’ll give him that,” she said. “But the problem is that he knows it, and he lords it over everybody. Thinks he can take anything he wants and no one’s going to stop him.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “He’s also a ruthless bastard. The guy that was assigned to him for support, his name’s Blitz, he vanished a few days ago, when Wynn’s team went out on a raid. None of them will say what happened, but there’s plenty of rumors. Most of them say that Wynn either let him die to save his own ass or killed the guy himself.”
“Wow. This asshole sounds like a real prize,” Crash said as he stretched his arms out and yawned, and then pushed to his feet. “I’m gonna take a walk. I’ll shout if anything tries to kill me.”
“And I’ll listen. Probably,” I said, waving him off with a grin.
George stirred in Nova’s lap and picked his head up. “We’re still here?” he said as he arched his back and looked around. “How are we supposed to get off this rock? Learn to fly or something?”
“The rabbit has a point.” Terra stood and bounced on her toes a few times. “There’s no portal, so there must be something else to fight.”
Nova made a small, irritated sound. “There’s not always something to fight, you know,” she said. “I wish you’d stop rushing into everything. In case you forgot, if you die here, you’ll actually be dead.”
“Will you stop fussing so much? Seriously, you’re acting just like Mom,” Terra shot back. “I don’t need a babysitter anymore. And I don’t need you looking for a ‘peaceful solution’ when there isn’t one.”
“You don’t have to fight everything, either!” Nova shifted, and George jumped from her lap just before she stood. “You just attack first and ask questions later. I know that’s how you play everything, but this isn’t a game!”
Terra rolled her eyes. “I don’t always attack first.”
“Oh, yeah? Then why’d you try to kill that deer back in the Fields of Solitude?” Nova snapped.
“Because it was looking at me funny!” Terra said. “And it tried to head-butt me.”
“It was a deer. They can’t look at people funny. And it was just sniffing your pockets for food—”
“Hey!” I called as I got to my feet. “Fighting isn’t going to get us anywhere, especially off this rock. What’s the problem, anyway?”
“The problem is that she sucks,” Terra said, gesturing sharply at Nova.
Nova shook her head. “The problem is that we’re sisters. Fighting is what we do.”
“Whatever,” Terra muttered. “I still say the stupid deer was trying to head-butt me.”
“Guys, you’d better get over here,” Crash suddenly called from near the edge of the platform. “I think I found a way off, but … well, see for yourselves.”
I headed toward him, happy for the distraction since it seemed to stop Terra and Nova from arguing about a deer. As everyone gathered near the stone wall, Crash stepped over and pointed down. “Right there,” he said.
“More of those floating stones?” I guessed as I leaned over for a look.
It was floating, but it wasn’t stones. It was a flying carpet.
“Don’t know about you, but I’m not all that thrilled about getting on that thing,” Crash said as Nova and Terra looked over. “I mean, have you seen the flying carpet level on that old Aladdin game? It’s impossible.”
“Good thing this is Ruul, not Aladdin,” I said, trying not to think about the genies. “Well, if that’s the way out of this place, we’re taking it.” Figuring that no one else was in a big hurry to board the flying carpet, I boosted onto the wall and jumped down.
The carpet dimpled slightly beneath my weight when I landed, but it straightened out again after a few seconds. “It’s not too bad,” I said. “It’s kinda like standing on a mattress.”
“Dude, if we get crushed by a falling boulder, I’m going to be very unhappy,” Crash said as he turned to help the ladies up.
I wouldn’t be thrilled about that myself, but we had to keep going. If this level followed the general pattern of the others so far, we were headed for the boss fight.
27
“Doesn’t this thing have any brakes?” Crash shouted over the hollow rush of air created by the flying carpet as it streaked through the sky at somewhere around warp speed.
George was curled up in Nova’s hood while the rest of us clung to an edge of carpet, trying not to fall off. So far, the ride hadn’t been that bad, except for the speed and a few banking turns that probably weren’t as steep as they felt when you were given a sudden view of the absolute nothing below. The idea of falling forever through endless black was not comforting.
“Yeah, I didn’t see any flying carpet controls anywhere,” I called back as I readjusted my grip on the thick rug. “But there’s something out there now, and I think we’re heading for it.”
The something was a pale speck against the starry black sky that slowly got larger as we rushed along. Soon the speck had swelled into a massive, rocky floating platform similar to the one we’d just left. But instead of crystal statues, this one had four stone columns rising from the edge, arranged in a cross.
Finally, the flying carpet slowed down and floated between two of the columns over the platform. Below us was a large area shaped like a shallow bowl, with a flat bottom and concentric ledges up the sides. It kind of looked like a gladiator’s arena straight out of ancient Rome, with the ledges serving as seating. There were also a bunch of floating stepping stones hovering in the air at various heights that looked almost randomly placed.
The carpet drifted down into the bowl-shaped arena, weaving around stepping stones before it came to a stop, hovering about two feet above the ground.
“Looks like this is where we get off,” I said as I slid to the edge and hopped down.
Crash was quick to follow. “I guess that could’ve been worse,” he said, taking an unsteady step away before he turned back toward the carpet. As I helped Nova down, he held a hand out for Terra.
The dark elf warrior ignored him and jumped to the ground herself.
“Ouch. That was cold,” he said as he watched her walk past.
I grinned and clapped his shoulder. “Better luck next time, man.”
Now unoccupied, the flying carpet lifted into the air and shot off, rapidly disappearing from sight. As Nova ducked down to let George jump out, there was a flash of light overhead and everyone looked up. The tops of the four columns were surrounded with sparkling, crackling electricity.
System message: Your party has initiated a boss battle.
As the words flashed across my screen, lightning bolts shot simultaneously from each of the four columns and collided in the middle, creating a huge plasma ball that showered sparks everywhere. The ball of crackling light solidified into something huge and green and scaly that unwound itself and started floating around the top of the columns on the inside, coasting on enormous wings.
“Oh, great,” I said as I grabbed for my sword. “It’s a dragon.”
Terra moved a few paces away, watching the monster’s slow, circular drift and inspecting the random floating pedestals. “Actually, it’s a winged serpent. Dragons have legs, and that thing doesn’t.”
“Who cares what it is? Let’s kill it!” George said, bounding as high as he could.
I tried not to laugh at him. “Yeah, I really don’t think you can jump that far.”
“Well, it�
��s got to come down here sometime, right?” George said as he turned toward the concentric ledges around the stadium. “We should totally get to higher ground.”
Just then, the dragon that was technically a winged serpent flapped its massive, leathery wings, creating a huge gust of wind that filled the entire arena and knocked everyone flat. My health drained by five percent when I hit the ground. As I struggled to get back up, the huge wings flapped again, and something spiraled through the air, heading straight for us.
The thing that the dragon had spawned touched down in the center of the arena as everyone was getting up. It was a dark, swirling funnel of dust and air with ghostly, skeletal arms and a glowing yellow face like a jack-o-lantern in the center of the wide part of the funnel. Basically, an evil tornado.
I immediately hit it with Star Scream. Unfortunately, it didn’t die in one hit, but at least it looked like it had taken some damage. The vortex of air seemed to slow down a little.
“What the hell is that thing?” Crash said as he struck a fighting stance. “Spectral Blades!”
As his attack flashed out and struck the tornado thing, slowing the force of its rotation a little more, it screamed and rushed straight at Terra.
“Shield!” she cried, throwing a hand out. But before the spell could take form, the evil vortex reached out with its spectral arms and grabbed her, then tossed her into the top of the funnel. She dropped down screaming in outrage, and the shape of her bounced around inside the swirling cone like a pinball.
“Put her down, you stupid bag of wind!” Nova shouted as she ran at the thing, her staff extended. “Ice Lance!”
A blue bolt shot from her staff, crystallizing into a huge icicle that rammed through the cyclone and pinned it to the ground. For a few seconds the thing stopped spinning as it spat Terra out. She flew up and out a few feet, and while she was still in the air, Nova shouted, “Feather Fall!” and threw a hand out.
Soulstone: Oblivion (World of Ruul Book 3) Page 17