by M. Coulray
Special: Grants monochromatic vision in low light or darkness
[Ring of Power]
ATK: 0
DEF: 0
Durability: N/A
Quality: Normal Enchanted
Special: 10% increase to Mana pool, max +25 points
“Those are all pretty useful,” I said.
“Would they improve your effectiveness?”
“I think so. The armour’s great, and it’ll help me out a lot. The rings are even better; being able to see in the dark like the people do is something I’ve been envious of. Also, the other ring will give me enough mana that I can shield three people at once, so that will improve our chances.”
“Take whatever you need,” said Krees. “But it is for you, not the Scaleless Mika. Until you know we can trust her, I do not wish to empower her.”
I spent the rest of the evening wondering how best to prepare. Together in her house, Votess and I discussed our options while I struggled into the leather armour.
“I believe we should go as soon as possible. Tomorrow morning at sun’s dawn. What are your thoughts, Denel?”
“I think… unf… that this damn armour is going to take some getting used to.” I got everything strapped on, but it felt strange and restrictive. Hopefully a few hours of walking and fighting would get me comfortable in it, but at that moment I felt like I was wearing a leather straitjacket.
“There is no better way to learn the use of battle gear than in battle,” said Votess, helping me adjust a strap that I couldn’t quite reach. Her taloned hands were surprisingly dexterous.
“How large is the temple?”
“Our histories tell us that there are three floors. No expeditions have ever descended beyond the first. The nave is filled with undead, and they are led by something with intelligence. We should prepare for at least three days. Food and water and the like.”
“You’ve never been in there, though, right?”
Votess stopped her hands. “No. My father went in three times. He returned twice. His companions told us he fell to a skeletal abomination, commanded by one of our own, and they refused to go in ever again. He told me that within the temple were carvings of our people in a language he could not read. It lit my imagination on fire. When he did not return from his last exploration, I tried to go in myself, but I had not yet earned my Name and so was refused.”
Votess fell silent. I removed the armour and watched her as she sat. “Are you sure you want to go in there?”
Her eyes lit with a fervour I’d never seen in them before. “Yes. I will finish what my father and the others before him started. We will purify the temple together. Nothing will stop us but death, and not even that, for you.”
“I won’t let you die down there, Votess.” I reached out and touched her hand where it rested on her thigh. She placed her other hand over mine, smooth and cool to the touch.
“We will return. Together.”
23
We collected up Mika at first light. She had stayed at the camp over the evening, and complained of a sore shoulder from sleeping on a rough bedroll. Then she grinned, lit her hand with yellow healing energy, and patted herself on the back. “All better!”
After explaining that we would be down for at most three days, she nodded and stuffed a whole lot of rations into her inventory. I asked if I could do the same, and Mika pressed her lips together.
“Joenn, how are we doing for food?” She turned to me. “You understand, right? I need to keep these people fed, and..” She trailed off, looking embarrassed.
“Fine, with Jin and Nuln assisting us,” said Joenn. “We’ve got our people learning swamp tracking and hunting, and Joenn helping with the cooking is fantastic. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he learned from a human. Uh, no offence, Mika.”
Mika ran a finger along her long, pointed ears. “None taken, Joenn! It sounds like we can pack as much as we need, then.”
I loaded my inventory with four days worth of food, just to be safe. Votess watched as wrapped bundles disappeared into thin air.
“That magic is amazing,” she said. “Does it not weigh you down?”
“Not even a bit,” I said. “I can only load so much into it, though, and only things that I could fit in, say, a decent sized satchel or backpack.”
“Then you can carry my food as well,” said Votess with a chittering laugh. She handed me some warm bundles wrapped in thin leather. “Jin has done well in preparing these dishes. I am glad Reath was such a nuisance to you.”
I had to grin at that, and Votess bared her teeth too. The effect wasn’t the same as human smile, but it was the thought that counted.
We formed up in front of the tilted temple door. I was wearing the armour and the rings that Telix and Krees had loaned me, which meant I was packing a full 264 points of mana. I immediately cast full strength Physical Barriers on each of my companions, and then myself. I was left with a meagre 23 mana, which wasn’t near enough to use my Sense Vulnerability knife fighting technique. However, I wasn’t a front line fighter here. Votess was a total badass and I was guessing that Mika knew how to use that sword on her hip. My own role was support and I was fine with that.
The guards glowered at us. Two Scaleless entering their temple was way over what they could tolerate, and I had a suspicion that if Telix and Krees weren’t here to see us off, they wouldn’t have let us pass regardless of permission. With the two wise ones here,, they didn’t interfere.
Krees approached us, her tail swinging in a twitching motion that I knew signified nervousness.
“Daughter. Be careful. Nothing down there is worth your life.”
“Mother, I will return and you will be proud of me.”
“Foolish. I am already proud of you.”
The two lizard folk didn’t hug or anything, but you’d have to be an idiot not to sense the bond between them. I gave them their moment. I whispered to Mika a quick translation of their words.
“That’s her mom?” Mika’s mouth hung open. “So she’s like, a princess?”
“She’s a warrior, and yeah, I guess kind of a princess.” I knew that things didn’t work that way in swamp folk society, but Votess had earned more than my respect since we’d met. I immediately pictured her in a tiara and gigglesnorted.
“Go then. Return with what you discover. May the Goddess guide you both. And may your God guard you, Scaleless Mika.” I translated Telix’s words and Mika waved at her and then bowed.
“Thanks! We’ll do our best!”
As one, we crossed the threshold. Immediately the light of day disappeared, and behind us a swirling wall of dark energy appeared. Before us, a hallway paved with cracked stones appeared, leading into darkness. My Ring of Vision flared magic energy into me, and I was able to see, but then I realized that Mika would be blind.
“No problem,” she said when I voiced my concern. She worked her hands in a series of movements and then a light appeared over her head. My vision returned to normal and Votess hissed in interest.
“Nice,” I said. “Votess, you’re vanguard. Mika, you’re behind her. I’ll take the back row. If, or I guess when we fight, please support her. She can’t come back if she dies.” I flipped between common and lizard language, giving both people the understanding of what I intended.
In the light, the dungeon looked rather ominous. The stones that were laid in the floor and made up the walls were once white and clean, but now they were anything but. The hallway we were in was arched at the top. The floor stones were damaged by time and the shifting of the earth when the temple had sunk, and in places the walls were caving in. Dark stains covered much of the floor, and I knew deep down that many of the swamp people had died in these halls. Wisps of red mist licked our feet, but they seemed to have no effect on any of us.
Here and there, where the walls were undamaged, carvings told stories of lizard folk doing great deeds, but I was unable to translate the words carved alongside them. I pointed some of the figures
out to Votess.
“They’re obviously pictures of the people, but they look different somehow.”
“Yes. We were once more like you, and less atavistic. Our people changed in many ways when we lost the Goddess.” She turned away, unwilling to say more.
Hallways branched off from the one we were in, but invariably we would go down one only to find it ended by a collapse, or what appeared to be an intentional cave-in. After several such experiences, I called a halt.
“There’s no way this place is this big, is there?”
“The temple was enormous, almost a city unto itself. This is not outside my understanding of the scope of it,” said Votess.
“We’ve gone over a hundred yards in a straight line, though.”
“Then we must be approaching the nave.”
“What’s with all the hallways being blocked or collapsed?”
“Many prior expeditions closed off areas of no interest or too dangerous to fully explore. The last several expeditions have attempted to subjugate the abominations in the nave, but to no avail.”
We continued, and no longer bothered with the side hallways. The light cast by Mika’s spell lit the ten yards or so surrounding us quite well, but past that radius it stopped like it was hitting a wall of impenetrable darkness. Then, after perhaps thirty more yards, her illumination revealed a pair of closed, heavy doors made of a metal that I couldn’t immediately identify.
“The nave,” said Votess. I translated for Mika. “Inside will be a number of undead, and the mind altering mists will be at their full strength. Be aware.”
“You’re up, Mika. You said you have some kind of purifying magic?”
The priestess looked concerned. “Yes, but I don’t know what exactly this ‘mist’ is. What if my magic doesn’t work against it?”
‘Then heal Votess if she gets hurt. I’ll keep you both shielded. Ready?” A hiss of acknowledgement from Votess matched perfectly with Mika’s excited and nervous nod. “Then let’s see what we’re up against.”
Votess shouldered the heavy metal doors open. They didn’t make a sound, not even a whisper of metal on metal. When they were fully open, I immediately saw the mist was thick in here. Heavy and low to the ground, it curled around broken wooden pews that filled the space. Here and there, skeletal figures knelt in prayer, never having moved from when whatever catastrophe struck them ended their lives. Ghost lights similar to what I knew from Goddess Watch lit the room from their positions at the low ceiling. It was a scene of ancient destruction and despair.
At the front of the nave, a dais rose up and held a shattered altar. The mist flowed down from the dais and filled the room, like a river of crimson fog. Dust covered everything, and I couldn’t see the limits of the room.
The mist didn’t seem to bother Mika and I, but when Votess moved in tendrils of red mist curled up her strong body. I watched her shake with effort, and I wondered what she was going through. “Mika! Cast your purification spell!”
Mika, pale and strangely illuminated by the lights filtering and reflecting through the mists, nodded and raised her left hand. “Nullify Poison!” Her voice was incredibly loud, but the effect was worth it. Yellow light shot from her palm and hit Votess in the side, then encompassed her scaly figure entirely.
In a moment, she stopped the shivering that had wracked her body and nodded at Mika. “Tell her thank you, please,” said Votess. “I am able to fight. My mind is fine.”
“What about healing?”
“Until I am injured, I will not know.”
“Guys, I think we woke them up.” Mika’s voice shook slightly and she drew her sword. Pale yellow light dripped from it, burning like ignited oil. Where the light hit the ground, the red mist retreated.
Throughout the nave, the skeletal figures were rising up. They bore remnants of some kind of garment that I hadn’t seen among the swamp people, but it was rotted to shreds. None of them carried a weapon, but the talons of the lizardman skeletons were doubtlessly as sharp as those of their living descendants. Baleful light glowed in their eye sockets and every single one of them seemed to be staring directly at us. Some few of them looked more humanoid than others. I realized I was looking at the risen corpses of previous expeditions. I prayed that Votess’ father wasn’t one of them.
Votess shouted a battle cry and closed with the two nearest skeletons. Her spear techniques were as skillful as ever, but the weapon was almost completely ineffective against the fleshless horrors. Here and there a bone chip flew off, but the undead were largely unaffected. She was forced into a retreat as the skeletal claws slashed relentlessly at her. She changed her motions, but the spear was not very effective as a bludgeon. With every movement, she was forced back slightly.
“Ascension of Heaven!” shouted Mika. She thrust her sword to the ceiling. From it, a beam of light rose, then opened up above us in a wide dome. It descended over Votess and her enemies, as well as two other skeletons that had gotten dangerously close. Where the glow touched the skeletons, ghostly flesh appeared over their bones. Their bodies became semi-corporeal.
“Votess! You can hurt them now!” I wasn’t sure, but I was willing to bet that I was right.
The powerful warrior switched her spear use from defensive to offensive, and immediately started seeing results. The thrusting blows struck home, and the undead received terrible injuries. Somehow the ghostly flesh could be wounded, and Votess was once again in her element as attacker. In a flash, Votess and taken one down, where it crumbled to dust. The other one advanced single-mindedly and Votess faced off against it.
Beside her, Mika was engaging the two other skeletal enemies. She turned in place, trying to keep both of them in front of her, but they had some cunning in their attack. One advanced while the other attempted to flank her. I shouted to her. “Take the one in front! I’ll get the other!”
Mika stopped spinning in place and advanced to meet the first attacker. Its claws scraped off her breastplate and into the cloth over her shoulder, but the barrier that protected her held. I hoped I would be as lucky. Behind her the second enemy had focused entirely on her. That was its mistake.
There was no indication of Sense Vulnerability working, so I closed the gap in three steps and drove Excruciator deep between its shoulder blades, into where I could see its spine through ghostly flesh. The undead thing stood unnaturally straight for a moment and then fell forward, bones falling apart as soon as it hit the ground. I stared at the knife in my hand in awe. Apparently there was some benefit to picking the best spot to stab someone!
Mika’s opponent didn’t last much longer. Her magical blade carved through it like nothing, and in two quick strokes she had it laid out before her. We glanced at each other to make sure we were OK, ad then looked for the last member of our group.
Votess had dealt with her enemy by now, and was already closing on the next trio of skeletons. These ones were untouched by Mika’s spell, but Votess had learned her lesson about fighting them. Instead of her spear, she wielded a four foot piece of heavy lumber retrieved from one of the broken pews. Mika and I watched her smash one skeleton to pieces before closing with the second. However, once again, they were using some underhanded tactics, and she was being flanked.
“Help her!” shouted Mika. She was already running, leaping over broken pews. I did the same, enjoying the Agility bonus of my armour. By the time we got there, though, Votess’ back was bleeding from four angry gashes that the undead had opened up in her thick scales.
“She’s not regenerating!”
My words reached Mika. She pointed her sword at Votess and shouted, “Heal!” Yellow light channeled through the blade and hit Votess full in the back. Where she bled, the light flowed into her body and sealed her wounds in the blink of an eye. As soon as the spell was cast, Mika was already charging the skeleton that had flanked our friend. It fell before her onslaught, cut in half and then stabbed into the floor for good measure. The golden yellow energy that enveloped her blade
seemed to be anathema to the undead.
The remaining undead were few in number, and none were grouped. We dispatched them one by one, Votess watching with great interest as Mika’s sword destroyed them.
In less than two minutes, the fight was over. No other skeletons rose from the corrupted house of worship. Votess and Mika panted together, and I walked over to them.
“Making it look easy, folks,” I said to the pair of them, translating as needed.
“You killed one,” said Mika. “I didn’t know what to do about the one circling behind me.”
I nodded, but there was no time to talk. Votess hissed at us. “Be ready. The priestess comes.”
Priestess? I glanced at Mika, but of course she couldn’t understand what was said between Votess and I. I quickly told her to be alert and we stood back to back, the three of us watching the entire room.
At the front of the nave, where the altar lay desecrated, a pale light began to flow. The red mist was thicker there, and seemed to emanate from the floor. A body rose up, rotted and ancient, with glowing red energy oozing and dripping from its eyes. It was a lizardman, but not not skeletal like we’d seen already. This one wore full regalia, and although its clothes were dusty and dirty, it was clear that it held some kind of authority. In its hand it held a short staff, which bore a red gem at the tip. It pointed the staff at us and hissed a word.
Immediately Mika raised her sword and shouted “Nullify Corruption!!” The yellow beam of her magic struck the red light that shot from the priestess’s rod. The two energies battled over the steps leading up to the altar, splashing power in sparks and fire. Mika’s face was a mask of concentration. She held her sword two-handed, keeping its tip perfectly steady as she channeled her magic through it. The undead priestess hissed in fury, twisting her rod to try to work an angle where she could bypass Mika’s beam of holy light, but there was no chance of it happening.
When the battle ended, it was the undead priestess that came out the worse for it. The rod exploded in her hand and she screamed out a shrieking hiss of frustration.