by Matthew Peed
“Work?” I asked, leaning my head on his shoulder.
“Yes. We must free the true master of this world,” he said, then clapped his hands.
The cavern in front of us exploded into light as a castle made from flames formed in front of us. Spots started rising from the flaming road that led to the castle. What looked like thousands of soldiers formed lines upon lines.
“Anything for you, beloved.” I followed behind him but paused after a second. The sight of my dress brought to mind the metal man again. I looked up to see my beloved walking ahead of me, but it felt like something cold and hard was clamped around my heart. I took a step forward, trying to clear the thoughts and saw a gear on my handcuff. “Regan?” I mumbled without meaning to. Why did that name bring such mixed feelings to my mind?
Chapter 37
Regan
I grasped my chest as a pain grew inside me. I only got a vague idea of what was happening before my senses were overloaded by the intense surge of mana that flooded through the gates. The gates hadn’t been activated purposely. It was more along the lines of them being forced open due to the mana in the area.
I dropped to the ground of my prison as my body grew hotter by the millisecond. It was soon as hot as the sun. Each breath I took released large amounts of steam. Finally, I’d had enough.
I started flooding my adamantine parts with the mana. I knew that if my body gave out here, the chance of my main core surviving was slim to none. I could already feel it cracking more as I struggled to contain the mana gushing through my body. More and more kept flooding through the gate.
Ultimately, it wasn’t my core that gave out, but my gate. It had never been built to handle such intense levels of mana, and the frame of the device melted to the point that the magic was interrupted. For a brief moment, I thought I would survive the event, when I felt my gateways in both the north and Steel Spire connect to the one in the fort.
More mana than I could fathom poured into my cores, all of it being fed back to my main core. At least with the buffer of my subcores, the pain had subsided a bit. I don’t know how long this state lasted. It felt like months to me, but was likely only a few seconds.
The moment my core shattered I knew it. I thought that was the end. I was going to die after all. Images of the people and of the things I still wanted to do in this new world flashed past my eyes, Alara and Louella flashing the most, with a few other people making an appearance more than once. I realized that I had grown quite attached to this world.
I thought quickly. I didn’t want it to end like this, but I needed to be present at my core to save it. There was the hope that my soul would transfer to one of my subcores if the worst happened, but I didn’t want to test that like this.
I observed everything in my dungeon with an awareness that likely could only be achieved when one was about to die. I looked for everything and anything that I could use to break free of this prison. I was able to scour every centimeter of my massive dungeon in only a second.
Finally, I found something I thought I could use. In the corner of my dungeon, one of the creatures that was trying to get to my core was forming. Wherever it was coming from, I could feel the crack cross through my aura and even my prison. I didn’t hesitate.
Latching on to the signature, I flooded everything into it. The crack widened to the size of a house, and my avatar was violently thrown from the opening. I slammed through three or four houses and vaguely noticed people scrambling out of the way. I came to rest halfway through a pub’s bar.
“An advanced body is great and all, but I wish I didn’t feel pain,” I mumbled as I pushed myself up. Something suddenly formed a shadow over me, right before a foot at least two meters wide crashed down on me, forced me back to the ground, and formed a pit around me.
I groaned as I struggled to push the foot off, but I was feeling the effects of my core currently shattering. I had maybe two minutes before it reached a point of no return. I went to dismiss my avatar but found I couldn’t for some reason.
The foot suddenly vanished as something collided with the giant above me. Glancing around, I found a stone golem had slammed into the giant’s chest and caused it to collapse backward. I reached for my staff as I struggled to my feet. I didn’t have time for this.
Pouring mana into my arm, I threw the staff and caused a shock wave of air as it left my hand. It only had to travel five meters. The top half of the giant vanished, vaporized as my staff went flying into the atmosphere. Hopefully, I would be able to recover it later.
Not wasting any time to check on the people around me, I teleported to my core room. My defense orb had been ripped apart, and magic of all kinds was playing out in the core room. Ignea stood to the side, unable to get close, but injuries on her body told me she had tried.
“Father! What’s going on?!” she shouted when she saw me appear.
“I’ll explain in a minute!” I replied, then strode forward through the mini maelstrom.
The magic meant to keep people from getting to my core was activating randomly. If my body had been any weaker, I would likely have been vaporized already. Rays of magic meant to disintegrate anything they touched struck my shoulder, carving a chunk from it.
I suffered several such wounds before I stood in front of my core. Small pieces that had already broken off the crystal floated around the main structure as if caught in orbit. Cracks continued to grow by the millisecond, giving me little time to decide what to do.
To my knowledge, dungeon core crystals were a unique material that even differed depending on the core. I couldn’t just repair it with glue. I needed something that could handle the amount of mana that was coursing through it. Thankfully, I had just the thing.
I wrapped my hands around the crystal, which was close to a meter in diameter at this point, and started pouring my adamantine metal through my body onto the core. With the gaps filled, I worked on actually fixing the problem. I concentrated and worked to move my core to tier four. That was the only way it would be able to handle all the mana coursing through it.
Unlike with the previous tiers, my core didn’t automatically go to the next one. I was missing something. It was also the reason I needed to be consciously here for this tier. I began flooding my already overflowing mana ocean with adherent mana. Up until this point, they had been in two separate pools. Now, they responded like a chemical reaction.
The adherent mana changed my normal mana at a rapid pace. My overflowing ocean was drying up faster than I could insert adherent mana. Soon, all that remained was a small sea of new mana. The power radiating from it was so dense that I felt like I could create a planet with it.
I pulled my consciousness out of my ocean and looked around my destroyed core room. “Going to have to remodel again,” I said with a sigh. I waved my hand and removed the last of the malfunctioning magics. “Ignea, it’s safe now.”
Ignea flew over and we both looked at my core. It had shrunken to just about half a meter in size. Lines of the golden-pink adamantine continuously shifted as the core’s crystal flowed along the now orb-shaped core. Blue energy similar to plasma leaked streams from the sun. In fact, the more I looked at the core, the more it reminded me of the close-up images of the sun, only blue.
I looked deeper into the core and found the universe that was growing inside was still intact. I didn’t want to know what Creation would do if I accidently destroyed it. Though, Destruction might have praised me. However, I wasn’t sure I wanted to see those two for a while.
With the immediate threat to my life over, I fell to my back on the floor and stared at the ceiling. Phantom pains were flashing in spots of my now mortal-sized body. I tried to leave my body and found I could do so now. I was glad when the sensation of feeling went away.
“Father, are you alright now?” Ignea asked, looking between my avatar body and my core with concern.
“For the moment. It was dangerous for a second there. Looks like there have been some fun things going on while I was aw
ay,” I replied without any energy. I went back into my avatar so I could move it to a more dignified place.
“That’s right! You’re not allowed to risk yourself anymore! You’re a dungeon, not an adventurer! Stop leaving your dungeon!” Ignea scolded, pointing at me with her tiny finger.
I could see she was truly upset and smiled at her concern. It felt good to have people who worried about you.
“Sorry for all the trouble, Ignea,” I said, patting her head.
She couldn’t take it anymore, and tears started to stream down her cheeks. “I was really scared when I saw your core start to crack,” she cried.
I pulled her into a hug and allowed her to vent for a few minutes. “I wish I could rest, but it looks like there is still work for me to do,” I said, pulling her back a little and wiping the tears from her eyes.
She nodded, then flew back a bit. “The portal system is currently useless. Even before the fire mana surged through, we were having trouble with it.”
I nodded, as it made sense. “I thought as much. I couldn’t teleport straight back here and ended up going through hell because of it.”
I was about to head for the station when I felt something enter my mind. It was barely a whisper. “It was fun. Hopefully, this isn’t my end.” I paused, sensing that the message from Louella was several hours old.
“When did the first wave of fire hit?” I asked Ignea.
She tilted her head in thought. “Roughly four hours ago. That was when the valley-wide-barrier activated,” she replied.
“I need to take a walk. I’ll take Nova with me just to be safe,” I said when I saw her glare. That seemed to calm her down.
I moved to Nova’s lair. He and Morka were curled around piles of gold, with their heads lying next to each other. They immediately opened their eyes when I appeared in the room.
“Father, you’re back,” Nova said, lifting his massive head from the ground.
“Yup. I need to borrow you.”
“Very well,” he replied and got fully to his feet.
I hopped on his back, then moved us to the very edge of my dungeon aura. It had recently just gotten past the valley walls, so we could circumvent most of the mountains.
With heavy wing beats, we took off into the air. With the speed we hit, it would only take us ten minutes to reach where Louella had set up her border fort. I didn’t know what we would find, but even from the mountain, things weren’t looking good.
Charred land stretched out before my eyes. The once glorious forest that claimed this area had been reduced to ash with only the oldest and most powerfully endowed trees managing to survive whatever had taken place. As for living creatures, I didn’t see any.
Ten minutes couldn’t have passed any more slowly, but we finally arrived at what remained of the fort. Only a single two-dozen-meter stretch of wall that had been directly behind the fort still stood, though it was completely black from soot. Farther past the fort, a hole that appeared to descend to the depths of the planet was the dominating feature of the ruined battlefield.
I could sense tremendous amounts of fire and terra mana radiating from it. Fire and terra elementals ranging from tier one to tier three wandered the area. I debated heading into the hole to investigate, but the last time I’d done something like that, I’d ended trapped in not one, not two, but three different places. No, I would need to make preparations before I investigated this mystery.
Turning from the hole, I cast my mana around until I located the particles of the bracelet I’d given Louella. I directed Nova to the spot, and we set down. Elementals started rushing toward us as soon as we touched the ground. Nova roared and a white light washed over everything in front of him, vaporizing anything that it touched.
I hopped from his back and moved to the spot the sensation was coming from, then bent down and scooped up the ash. With a thought, the particles pulled themselves back together. Some of the material was long gone, blown away by the wind, but there was enough to reform a ring.
I concentrated on it and was able to view the last thing she’d done before the ring turned to dust. With some effort, I was able to get a lock on where she’d sent her people. It was deep in Lecazar, not far from the dead scar. From the sensation I was getting, I thought it was her childhood home.
Putting that on the top of my list, I reestablished the link it had with Louella, expecting her to be with her people. What I got instead was very faint and many hundred kilometers underground. I narrowed my eyes at that information and tried to reach out to her mind. Nothing happened for a few minutes, then I felt a wall block my attempts.
I curled my hand around the bracelet-turned-ring. “Nova, I want to be back in the dungeon in half the time.”
He nodded and bent his neck down for me. We were about to take off when I felt a strong electrical surge from the distance. My curiosity piqued, we moved over to the spot and came to a boulder that had been partially reduced to slag. With a hand, I easily lifted the boulder.
I blinked when Gulv shot out and wrapped around my neck. He had barely enough mana to sustain his form. He must have risked everything to emit that pulse, hoping I would find him. I quickly channeled him some lightning mana, and his form solidified.
“You wouldn’t happen to know what happened here, would you?” I asked as Gulv chirped, reenergized.
He unwrapped from my neck, then nodded.
“Then I guess we need to get back so I can build something to understand you.”
Chapter 38
Ezal
“Ezal . . . Ezal! Lady Ezal!”
I slowly blinked against the flashes of light making it hard to see what was around me. Giving up, I closed my eyes, as I suddenly felt more drained than I ever had. I couldn’t even feel my body. A surge of adrenaline filled my veins as I thought about my child. My eyes shot open again, the pain from the light not hindering me, and my hand flew to my stomach.
It rested there for a few panic-filled moments until I felt a kick. Overcome with relief, I collapsed back as my breathing calmed down. That was when I realized that I was on a cot in a building that looked like it had seen better days. Parts of the ceiling were cracked, and the wall to my right looked like it was about to crumble at any minute.
“Lady Ezal!” I heard again.
I turned to see one of the White Fist crew next to me. She had a relieved look on her face.
“Wa . . . ter,” I said, a sudden dryness filling my mouth. The woman reached behind her and handed me a glass of water. I gulped it down but didn’t fail to notice the lack of taste. Conjured water created by a Water mage. “Where are we?”
“We’re in Ferias. Or at least what remains of it,” the woman replied. “I am Sister Terao.”
I got up with the sister’s assistance. After a few steps, I felt much of my strength return and was able to walk without any more of her help. Outside the building, soldiers were taking care of tasks, while squads of them appeared to be patrolling the streets. I spotted Bruce at a tent with a few of the other officers.
Everyone quieted down when I entered the tent. I looked around but couldn’t find Louella. “Where is the queen?” I asked when no hints were displayed.
“We . . . she . . . she didn’t come through the portals. We . . . we can only assume the worst,” Major Seiro said, rubbing the back of his head.
“Bruce, report,” I ordered, taking a seat before my legs gave out.
“Yes, ma’am. After you completed your spell, we eliminated over half the enemy. The dwarves rendered assistance and drove the enemy back temporarily. During their retreat, something triggered by the spell caused the queen to order a full retreat. The gateway was inoperable, so she opened portal. The fact that she put us out here leads me to believe that Vaihdetta was inaccessible.”
I nodded at the explanation. “How long have we been here? What attempts have been made to contact home?”
“Two days as of an hour ago. All our sending stones are inoperable. A large amount of
mana is disrupting the spells. One of the queen’s tablets was found, but it also is not working. Several of the mages are trying to find a way to get a message to the airships since they would be our safest route home.”
“That is a good idea. I will help them in a bit. What is the situation here?”
“As you can imagine, we have undead present. Their numbers were low when we arrived, but they have steadily increased every night and are coming from the north. It is still within the limits of the soldiers, but we will likely be overrun in a week. If exhaustion doesn’t set in first.”
“Damn. It’s not looking very good, is it?” I asked with a tight smile.
“Morale is certainly lower than it could be, but the soldiers are holding out hope. They know the powers that helped them get to where they are today do not leave their people behind lightly.”
“Very good! I am glad that everyone is in at least partial good spirits.”
“I have another piece of news. Sadly, I was told to keep my mouth shut,” Bruce said with a large grin on his face.
I narrowed my eyes at what he could mean when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Valamar standing behind me. He was completely changed, but I would know his face no matter how different it was. Tears welled up before I could compose myself, and I jumped up and flung my arms around him. “VAL!”
“Ezal, how I’ve missed you,” Val said, embracing me with not two arms but four. Surprised, more by the fact that I didn’t mind than the fact that he had four arms, I laughed as I embraced him tighter. I vaguely noticed all the officers leave the tent to give us privacy.
“Why you are here?!” I asked, pulling away slightly.
He cupped my cheek with a tender look on his transformed face. “I heard about the army marching on your home. My quest for revenge will always be there. You might not. Thus, the choice was obvious,” he explained.
“I’m so glad to see you. How did you find us?”
“When I arrived, portals had been opened throughout the fort. I went through, as I sensed you from the other side. I regret that action now. I had no idea that Lady Louella would get left behind.”