The gnomes that fled went running and screaming down the tunnel careful not to run into Ben, Ungo, Thoris, Sarella, and Agar. It was a strange sight to see. Gathar and the group were used to the demons with red eyes attacking without mercy or any care for themselves. The gnomes fleeing felt like a warning more than a victory, a warning that something far worse was lurking nearby. Buun shook before he asked Gathar, “Sir, what do you want us to do next?
Shall we pursue?”
“No. We must find the others and get the crystal back. Follow the light,” Gathar said slightly out of breath.
“Very well, sir.” Ptolemy, Buun, Reznek and Rigel started down the path. Risaldora hesitated. She didn’t feel right about the situation. Her gut told her that going back into the catacombs was a dangerous move, yet she knew the importance of retrieving the artifact. Gathar touched her hand and she jumped ready to attack.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“We must go.” Risaldora pushed her uneasy feeling aside just enough to get herself moving, but it crept back and rattled her nerves. Her eyes were wide and her senses were sharpened. She didn’t want to be caught off guard in the catacombs, deep underground where no one could find her.
They rushed on to catch up with Ptolemy, Buun, Reznek, and Rigel. They all had weapons in hand as if expecting another attack. Risaldora swallowed hard and it felt like a solid rock dropping in her belly. Her connection with nature told her that danger was near. Extreme danger. She felt a bead of cold sweat drip down the back of her neck. A strange smell filled the air. Risaldora flared her nostrils. She recognized the smell and looked to Gathar. He had the same expression on his face and he recognized the scent too. He called out to Ptolemy, Buun, and Rigel, “Worms! Look out!” Only he was partially correct.
The smell was followed by a slithering sound down in the tunnel where they could not yet see. They were familiar with the noise all too well, much more than they wished. This time it was slightly different. They could hear a crunching sound that accompanied the slithering. The steady crunch, slither, crunch, slither reverberated in the tunnel. They couldn’t see anything coming. Gathar felt the same heavy rock fall in his gut as Risaldora did. He knew something was amiss. “Everyone stand together!” he called out. His voice was becoming raspy from all the yelling and the strange cold air in the tunnels. The group followed his command with their backs to each other watching and waiting. The noises grew louder and they still could not see anything. Risaldora started to conjure up a fireball for light. A deathly scream came from down the tunnel. It was Sarella.
Chapter Eleven
Ptolemy cried out to his father, “They’re in trouble. We need to help them.” He started running down the tunnel without waiting for Gathar to tell him to. There was no time to waste and he knew it. In midstride he transformed into a bird and followed the dimly lit torches much farther down into the tunnel that Sarella had left behind the first time. She screamed again. Ptolemy felt the blood rush to his head. He flew faster, pounding his black wings as quickly as he could. He dodged stalactites left and right as he went still hearing the steady slithering and crunching sounds. Gathar, Buun, Rigel, and Risaldora tried to follow, but they could not keep up with his speed in flight.
Gathar began to feel a crushing pain in his chest. He was breathing hard and sweating more than usual. The catacomb air seemed to be suffocating him with every breath he took. He reached up and grabbed his chest. His fingers were tight and clenched from the excruciating pain. He dropped to his knees. Risaldora and Rigel saw him collapse and rushed to his aid. He forced out an order in a half pant, “Keep going!” Risaldora stopped, looked at him sadly, and knew he was not going to accept her help. She grabbed Rigel and pulled him back.
“He isn’t going to accept our help when others are in danger,” she cried to Rigel. Rigel knew by her tone that she spoke the heartbreaking truth. General Gathar did not want their help to tend to his own needs. He waved them on and curled up on the cold, hard ground.
Buun had already disappeared around several turns before Gathar went down. He was doing his best to keep up with Ptolemy and passed many stalagmites, pulsating crystals, and tunnels going off in multiple directions, and slimy walls. To stay on the right path he followed the lights and Sarella’s screams. He quickly caught up to Ptolemy in a large open cavern where the rest of them were being attacked by what looked like giant worms but much more horrific. These worms had heads larger than their bodies and large pincers in front, chomping angrily at Sarella who was trapped between two giant orange crystals. The creatures were slimier than the giant worms he had seen before, leaking goo from all over their bodies as they slithered and snapped. Sarella screamed again and threw up her arms over face when the carrion crawlers spit at her.
Buun joined Thoris, Ben, and Ungo at the opposite end of the cavern. They performed melees around the carrion crawlers, stabbing their weapons into them. Their attacks were leaving gaping wounds but were not enough to distract them from the trapped Sarella. Buun noticed, a few seconds later, gnomes riding on the backs of each carrion crawler. He cursed them under his breath and stabbed the nearest crawler with his longsword while withdrawing his dagger. Instead of pulling his sword out he stabbed his dagger higher up on the crawler’s immense body. The slime was very slippery and he slid across the creature’s body. He withdrew his sword and stabbed higher than the dagger. He kept repeating the pattern until he reached the gnome atop it. The gnome had his back to Buun and never saw him coming. Buun pulled his dagger from the crawler and stabbed it through the back of the gnome. He withdrew the weapon quickly and watched the body fall. Instantly the carrion crawler stopped snapping at Sarella and started to whip around madly, throwing Buun all over its back. Buun kept his sword in the crawler’s back and held on tightly.
Thoris, Ben, and Ungo noticed what he had done. They copied his strategy and took on a carrion crawler each. Thoris still had parts of his pole-arm and an axe. He made his way up a crawler’s back but was met with resistance from the gnome riding it. They struggled as the crawler snapped and wiggled. Thoris ran his hand over the top of the crawler’s body until his hand was covered in purulent slime. Then he threw the slime into the gnome’s face to give himself a few unguarded seconds to strike the enemy. After Ben and Ungo took out the remaining gnomes, Sarella ran from her cover. She was unable to cast magic between the two crystals for a reason she did not understand.
The fight was not over. The group still had four carrion crawlers to finish off. They were whipping around the cavern madly, crushing the gnomes’ bodies and spraying ooze and spit all over the place. Thoris was sprayed from head to toe in the foul-smelling bodily fluids. He took his axe and ran toward the great pincers of one of the crawlers. When the creature snapped at him, he ducked, and swung his axe into a pincer making a loud crunching sound. His strike had penetrated the hard shell of the pincer enough to make the crawler let out a high-pitched shriek. The crawler made way for a tunnel and the other three followed. Realizing that the crawlers were leaving, Ben, Ungo, Sarella, and Thoris stopped attacking but remained on the defensive. Thoris caught his breath before saying, “Well, that was exciting!” He coughed afterward and spat.
Sarella spoke next, “Thank you. Thank you so much. Are you okay?” She looked around the group with a very concerned expression on her face, “Where’s Agar?”
Ptolemy was still in bird form chasing the gnome that stole the crystal they came for. Agar had taken pursuit of the gnome that Ptolemy followed. When Sarella was trapped in the cavern between the two orange crystals, Agar tried to defend her but was whipped by one of the carrion crawlers into a tunnel he couldn’t climb up from. Agar then decided to remain in pursuit of the thieving gnome. Shortly after, Ptolemy caught up to him, but Agar did not recognize the bird as the young boy. It was dark and he thought it was Rigel’s bird flying behind him. Agar couldn’t see clearly in the dark but well enough to continue down the unlit path chasing the gnome at a de
cent pace.
Frendel, the thieving gnome that used to have bright green eyes, went down the wrong path and met a dead end. Panic-stricken, he reached down and blew into small whistle from his pocket. The sound carried through the tunnel like a soft song from a sparrow. Agar and Ptolemy stopped. Ptolemy decided to change back into his human form and it surprised Agar when he did.
They approached Frendel and demanded, “Give us the crystal back. We need it. You either give it to us freely, or we will take it from you by force; we are not leaving without it.”
Frendel laughed and replied, “You will not leave at all.” He stared at them with his crimson red eyes and he let out a demonic chuckle. Ptolemy thought to himself, Not again. He had faced many demons over the past few months, both good and bad, and he was getting quite tired of them. Ptolemy attacked Frendel with his bare hands. He grabbed the gnome by the throat with both hands and squeezed. Frendel continued to laugh between breaths. Then his body became hot to the touch. Ptolemy held tight until the gnome burst into flames. The voice of Lord Emalf came out of the gnome’s mouth, “I told you, you will not leave at all.”
Ptolemy braced himself and told Agar to take cover, but it was too late. The flames around Frendel’s body grew hotter and became blinding white bright. Ptolemy covered his eyes and waited for the explosion to burn him alive.
Thoughts rushed through Ptolemy’s head as his life flashed before him. He remembered the night he ran away, the demons that attacked him in the woods, the ritual they performed to turn him into a demon, the sadistic laughs, battles against humans, Sherson’s sacrifice, the attack on the Plateau, and falling. His thoughts kept going back to the Plateau after dancing around in his head. Somehow he was able to slow the images down as he relived the experiences. He remembered having a sharp pain in his back when he was watching the battle in the Great Plains from the Plateau. His thoughts bounced around and came back. He wanted to see more and he struggled to stay focused on the Plateau incident. When he turned around he saw his mother’s face. Her lips, her hair, her shoulders, her cheekbones were all the same. He looked into her eyes and focused his memory there in slow motion. They were closed. Her eyes were hidden from view. He forced himself to remember. Everything around them became a blur. He felt her hand against his chest. He stared into her eyes. They opened when she pushed him away. Her eyes were crimson red.
Ptolemy heard a loud explosion and felt a slight tickle. He opened his eyes with his arms still up and saw a green aura around him. A magical barrier surrounded him. He turned to Agar and saw him protected as well. Risaldora was standing several feet behind Agar with her hands up, palms facing forward. She had saved them. Ptolemy felt a rush of gratitude and relief sweep over him. He knew, at that moment, why Sherson had loved her ever so much.
Agar stood beside a boulder bracing himself with his eyes closed as well. Ptolemy swore that he heard the dwarf praying softly. Risaldora placed a gentle hand on Agar’s shoulder and waited for him to open his eyes. When he did, he looked around skeptically, and said, “Oh, lordy, ya did it. Ya saved our butts.” He gave Risaldora a tight squeeze and she blushed.
“This isn’t over yet,” she said and the rest of the group showed up behind her including Gathar with a very pale face.
Gathar said, “We have to get out of here. Ptolemy, did you recover the crystal?”
Ptolemy looked back past where Frendel once stood and saw the crystal laying near the back wall unscathed. It had bounced off the wall in the explosion but had remained intact. He picked it up, showed Gathar, and tucked it away in his robe. The group moved as quickly as possible through the tunnels with Sarella lighting the way once again. They could hear the footsteps of the gnomes splashing through cavernous puddles and pursuing them. The whistle Frendel blew was the gnomes’ version of a war horn. Ptolemy let his mind wander to the spells he knew how to cast that might become useful in the catacombs with little risk of harming those around him.
Sarella led them down a path that brought them back to the exit that overlooked the lagartos’ hidden city. Although it was a steep hillside, the group decided it was time to get out from underground and risk climbing down instead of venturing back in. As they climbed down, Risaldora waited at the opening to the catacombs. She could hear the gnomes getting closer. She told the rest to continue on and she would catch up soon. Ptolemy was the second to last going down and heard Risaldora chant some words. She started to laugh. The sounds of the gnomes faded. Ptolemy paused in his descent. Several moments later, Risaldora appeared over the edge of the cliff and started climbing down with a huge grin on her face.
Chapter Twelve
The autumn sun shone bright over Salidon. People were gathering in the markets and courtyards to celebrate the season’s festivities. Nathan sat at a window in the bakery and watched the other children play up and down the alley. He sat there watching and thinking. He thought about Rebecca, her beautiful long hair, silky skin, eyes full of life, and the smooth way she floated around as if not having a worry in the world. He thought about the many things he would tell her if he could work up the courage to speak to her like any of his other friends. Each time he even thought about practicing it, a warm sensation spread through his body and made his mind go blank.
His friends kept trying to encourage him to just do it and teased him relentlessly whenever a pretty girl was in their presence. Nathan was a very creative young boy. He could come up with things that nobody else could dream about. He wrote poems, made artwork, and loved to play imagination games with younger children because he could just let his mind go wild without caring about being judged.
A couple of dried leaves brushed across the window when the wind picked up. The leaves came from the Dark Forest that was drying up and getting hotter than usual. The air was crisp and smelled of fresh baked bread. Nathan’s mouth watered from the delicious smell. He sat and pictured a loaf sitting in front of him soft and warm. He turned to his mother by the oven and said, “That smells really good. Will it be ready soon?”
“Yes, dear, it is almost done. We have some butter and jam to go with it if you’d like.”
“That sounds terrific!” he exclaimed.
“Very well. I will set out a few plates so you can enjoy it for lunch. What would you like to drink? We have fresh squeezed orange juice, spring water, and goat milk.”
“Orange juice, please.” Nathan sat in the chair and turned back to look out the window. His mother tended to the oven and bread to make sure it wouldn’t be overcooked. It was quite a skill to bake bread just right. As the town’s baker she took much pride in her skills and it showed in the results. The townsfolk would wait outside daily at 6 a.m. for her fresh loaves.
Most days Nathan didn’t get to see her till nightfall.
A group of young kids ran by the bakery chasing leaves blowing in the air. Nathan jumped up and wanted to join them but quickly sat down because he wanted to spend time with his mother as well. He watched the kids disappear down the alley and out of view. His heart sank. He got a heavy feeling in his gut that something awful had just happened or was about to happen. He wasn’t sure what the feeling meant, or why he felt that way.
Nathan’s mother checked on the bread in the oven and it was done. She put on her oven mitts, grabbed the baker’s peel, and scooped up one loaf of bread at a time and carefully set them on a cooling rack. Nathan became very excited as the air thickened with the delicious smell. Fresh baked bread was one of his favorite foods, possibly because his mother made it.
Nathan turned in his seat to face his mother and watched eagerly. Two other bakers came out from the back room carrying plates of butter and jam. They set one plate of each on the table next to Nathan and greeted him because it was the first time they met that day.
After the bread had cooled for a few minutes, Nathan’s mother sliced a loaf, placed several pieces on an antique plate used only for family and close friends, and set the plate down next to the butter and jam. Nathan picked up a slice of b
read and silverware already on the table to prep his first delicious treat for lunch. He took a few bites and was enjoying the savory goodness before dark clouds filled the sky and a strong wind started blowing outside. The wind blew so hard it made the window by Nathan rattle. He stopped eating and stared outside. Kids were running for cover as the winds picked up. More dried leaves whipped through the air. Nathan was perplexed. Just a moment ago, it was sunny and now it was dark. The clouds moved in faster than he had ever seen before. He decided to take a step outside and check out the sky. The wind pulled the door out of his hand as he exited and it snapped forcefully against its hinges. Crack. The door whipped around again and broke. A dog ran past barking frantically, the nearby chickens clucked hysterically, and horses from the stables neighed. Chaos broke out all around as a funnel cloud appeared in the dark sky above. A purple vortex materialized in the swirling mass. It grew and grew in size until it was as wide as the castle of Salidon. Demons started falling from it and landing in random places across the city. They fell in courtyards, on carts, atop roofs, over piles of hay, and even a horse was crushed by a falling demon.
Nathan gasped as the horrors around him developed. People started screaming in the streets and from windows, doors slammed shut, locks clicked, and a war horn blew a warning call out to the entire city. Nathan’s blood was pumping hard and fast and his senses were amplified. The world looked magnified. Nathan started to panic. He did not like the feeling of his senses being so sharp nor was he used to it. Butterflies filled his stomach and his head started to spin. It was overwhelming and he sat down and leaned against the outside wall of the bakery. His mother came out and screamed. The demons were running toward her and Nathan. She bent over, grabbed Nathan’s hands and pulled him up to his feet. “Get inside! NOW!” she screamed.
Rise of Centuria: Fall of Centuria Volume 2 Page 11