Meridias

  Tanis focused on his breath. He could feel the energy humming beneath his feet. That was a good sign. Now what did he do? He needed to use this energy to channel the Light but how did he channel the Light? He concentrated as hard as he could but nothing seemed to happen. “Don’t try so hard. Just relax and let go…” Those words came unbidden to Tanis’ mind but he’d felt he’d heard them before. He relaxed and as he did, something changed. There. It seemed far away but he felt it. It was powerful. It filled him with strength and… light? He wasn’t sure how else to describe it. He was ready though. He let this power permeate his being and opened his eyes. He felt something guiding him and he took his sword and stabbed it straight into one of the conduits. He drew in Elunduil and Tim’s magical energy and changed it. The color of the circle changed from blue to gold. All he had to do now was activate the field and expand it.

  He took a breath and directed the energy into the activation circle Tim had created. Light suddenly filled his vision yet he didn’t close his eyes. Odd… normally it would blind him yet he could see fine. He drove more energy into the field and the light enveloped them. Faster. Further. They had to remove all of the taint from this land! He felt the light move past him and realized that he had created something like a wall. The wall expanded outwards and down into the earth around them. As it did the black and red landscape changed as the light purged it. Before he realized it the light faded and he fell to his knees with exhaustion. “Did we do it?” Tanis asked.

  Elundul looked up. He and Tim had fallen to their knees from exertion. His vision was a little hazy but as he looked around he could tell that the corruption was gone from the land. Only brown earth remained “Yeah. I don’t see anything,” he answered. Tanis let out a drawn out sigh. “Good. I’m beat!” he said. Tim shared the sentiment.

  “Job well done children,” Melony said. The trio looked at the knights. They’d been so engrossed in their work they’d forgotten about them. “Let’s get out of here. Alicia should be here soon,” Elunduil said wearily and got up. Tanis and Tim nodded and with the knights they returned to the Terminus and went back to Ragnarok.

  They sat in the main lobby for several minutes and recuperated from their adventure. Elunduil thought about what had transpired. The light that Tanis has used was different than light element or holy magic even though it looked the same. It had felt like there was more to it. More substance or something else that he couldn’t quantify with words. It had felt as if it had a will of its own. “So Tanis how does it feel to be one of us now?” Tim asked. Elunduil looked over at them. “Awesome! It’s about time I could do something!,” Tanis answered excitedly. Tim wearily agreed. “Anyway, Elunduil about that vision. I asked Scott while I was waiting and he said that if someone dies they would reappear in the lobby.” Tim frowned.

  “What did Elunduil see in his vision?” he asked. Tanis told Tim that Elunduil had seen Maria die. “Hmm, I’m guessing that this vision caused Elunduil to change his plans and ultimately saved Maria.” He glanced over at Elunduil who nodded.

  He then noticed that there were footsteps approaching. He looked up and was taken aback for a moment. Alicia was standing there wearing clothes that he’d never seen before. She wore brown leather boots that had a buckle near the top to hold them in place. Her pants were made of some black synthetic material that fit snugly to her form and had a tan belt that wrapped around her waist. Her upper torso consisted of a white shirt and around the waist it opened up in a sort of half skirt that was open in the front. The end of the skirt near the opening came out a few inches from the rest of it in a thin triangle. Underneath the shirt she appeared to be wearing a blue garment. On her hands she wore a pair of elegant brown gloves that went halfway up her forearm. Altogether her appearance was quite appealing.

  “Uh, hi guys,” she said nervously. Tanis was the first to speak.

  “Where did you get that? That doesn’t look like something from our world!” he said excitedly as he got up from his seat. Alicia chuckled. “Well I found out a couple of days ago that there is a shop in the city here that makes clothes and armor that are tailored to each individual’s tastes. I wanted to keep my outfit a surprise so I didn’t say anything.” Tanis looked back to the Elunduil and Tim and then back to Alicia. “Can you show us where? I really want something cool like what you’ve got.” Alicia agreed to take them there. Tim noticed Elunduil’s gaze and said, “So what do you think about her outfit Elunduil?” Tanis and Alicia turned to look at Elunduil. Alicia couldn’t meet Elunduil’s gaze and fidgeted.

  “Interesting. They were careful with the design. It’s practical and doesn’t restrict your movements any but at the same time it’s fashionable. It suits you,” he finally said. Alicia seemed pleased by the praise. “Anyway I’ll show you where. It just opened recently but I think that word has started to get out about this place now.” Elunduil and Tim got up wearily and together with Tanis they followed Alicia out of Tel’kedar.

  The shop in question turned out to be off to the left of the tower and a little past the community center. There was a sign next to the sliding doors that read: Elrik’s Emporium – Custom Outfit Designs! Elunduil wondered if Elrik was the name of the person that ran this place as they went inside. The first thing he noticed when they entered the building was that there were rows of holograms on the inside that displayed various outfits. Each one was distinct and managed to look fashionable and practical. Near the back by the counter some of the holograms were displaying armor, and there were also a couple of people going around looking at the holograms. “Oh ho ho! If it isn’t Alicia!” Elunduil’s attention was drawn to the owner of the voice who was a man with wavy blonde hair and a cheery smile. The man’s deep green eyes appeared happy to see them.

  Alicia went up to the counter and the others followed her. “Oh, are these the friends you talked about? Did you guys like the design?” he asked. Elunduil and the others nodded. “Excellent! I’m sure you’re itching for me to make something for you as well. Who would like to go first?” Tanis volunteered and the man motioned for him to come closer. “Now what are we looking for. Clothes, armor, shoes perhaps? I can create many things.” Tanis thought hard about what he wanted made. “Well armor would be cool. Though I don’t know if I’d be able to wear an entire suit right away…” Elrik nodded.

  “Mmm yes armor will weigh you down a bit. You look as if you’ve been training though so I think you’ll get used to it quickly. Now then I like to get a feel for the person who I’m designing for so I’d like to ask you some questions. I’ll start by asking you if you can use magic or not.” Tanis frowned.

  “Well it’s similar to magic I guess. It turns out that I’m a Champion of the Light and I can use the Light… well I only just found this out yesterday so I don’t really know what I can do yet.” Elrik seemed greatly interested. Alicia on the other hand was confused.

  “Wait, Tanis you can use magic now?” she asked. Tim looked over at Elunduil.

  “You didn’t tell her about yesterday, huh?” he said. Elunduil ruefully admitted that he hadn’t. Quite honestly he hadn’t wanted to worry Alicia about what had happened and their plan to eliminate the rest of the corruption so he had intentionally avoided mentioning it. Tim seemed to understand his friend’s thoughts. “I see. Well then let me bring you up to speed Alicia,” he said and went on to tell her the story.

  By the end of the tale Alicia had a look of disbelief across her face. “Why didn’t you say anything?! I would’ve come sooner and helped you guys out!” Alicia sounded a bit angry.

  “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you. We barely held our own against the Cerebus and if they had shown up again there’d be a fight,” Elunduil retorted. Alicia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I could’ve still helped-” Elunduil cut her off.

  “No.” He looked off into the distance with an intense gaze. “You’re not a fighter. You have no way of defending yourself if you got separated.” Alicia didn’t like it but he was right.
Not to mention he had that stubborn look in his eyes that meant he wouldn’t be dissuaded by anyone. She sighed. “You could’ve at least told me…” she said in a soft voice.

  “Nnh,” he replied. They stood there awkwardly for a few moments until Elrik spoke up. “My what a compelling story. I’d already heard about it but didn’t know the finer details. Now Tanis I would like to ask you some other questions.” Elrik asked Tanis various things such as his favorite color, his likes and dislikes. When he was done he nodded and said to himself, “I see, I see. I have an idea that I think will work. Come back in a few days and I’ll have something made for you.” Tanis thanked the man and Elrik turned to the others. “Would any of you like something? Perhaps The Firewall Flower would like a new pair of pants?”

  Elunduil started and looked around. He noticed that the shop was now empty and sighed. “No I’m fine. This robe is all I need,” he said. Elrik smiled.

  “Ah yes that robe is finely woven. The elves are masterful people.” Elrik turned to them. “What of you?” he asked. Tim thought it over.

  “Well I wouldn’t mind more of a battle robe,” he said. Elrik clapped his hands together.

  “Yes! A good idea. Let me pick your brain for a bit so I can make something suited to you!”

  The group left Elrik’s shop a few minutes later. There was an awkward silence in the group as they walked away. “I guess it wouldn’t have hurt to fill you in,” Elunduil said after a few moments. Alicia looked at Elunduil in surprise. Was he trying to apologize? “I guess if I’d just told you why just I, Tanis, and Tim would be going you would’ve probably accepted it.” Alicia pursed her lips. “Yeah, if you’d just told me how dangerous you felt the situation was I would’ve been ok with it. That doesn’t mean I would’ve liked staying behind though!” Elunduil snorted like something amused him. “Yeah and when nothing happened we would’ve probably stayed there for a while just to make you think something went wrong,” he said.

  “Hey that’s just mean!” Alicia complained. Elunduil chuckled. Alicia couldn’t help smiling. “Anyway do you guys want to do anything?” she asked. Tim and Tanis looked to each other. “Not really. I don’t think the three of us will be doing using more magic today so I think we’ll just rest for a while longer and then leave.” Tim said. Elunduil agreed with a nod. They decided to hang out at the community center for a while and talked about various things. After about an hour they decided to call it a day and took the portal back to their world. Alicia had a lot on her mind to think about. Maybe she should learn to fight. That way she could be there to heal her friends if something went wrong. She decided to bring the subject up with Cooper sometime and see what he thought.

  ***

  “Ha!” Joel shouts as he lunges at his opponent. James grins. His blonde hair and muscular body are wet with perspiration. Joel’s blade clanks against James’ as he blocks. “You’re getting better! But not good enough!” he shouts. James strikes with his own blade at Joel. Joel unexpectedly sidesteps the strike and with his sword he sweeps at James feet. Not expecting the attack James takes the blow to his shin. Thankfully they were using dull blades and padded armor or James would be missing a foot. “Ah! Well done I wasn’t expecting that!” he said. Joel panted. He was finally able to keep up with the others and was starting to figure out how to counter them. He still lost more often than he won but progress was progress. “Shall we call it a day? The sun will sink beneath the horizon in a few more minutes.” Joel nodded and he and James made to return to the camp with the others who had been watching the duel.

  “Say what’s that in the distance?” James asked as he looked behind them. Joel and the others followed his gaze. A group of about four creatures appeared to be heading straight for the camp. Draxus swore and turned to the others. “Everyone grab a weapon and prepare for battle!” he shouted to the rest of them. Joel and the others dashed down the small dune and to the armory tent that was on the far side of the other ones. Joel grabbed a handgun and a sharpened sword while depositing the dull blade into its place. He heard the sounds of people cocking their guns and checking their ammunition around him. Joel did the same with his gun and popped out the clip then popped it back in once he saw it was full. He followed the others out of the tent and back out into the sand.

  They saw Ashblade atop the dune looking out into the distance and rushed across the camp to his position with Bryce trailing behind the rest because of his leg injury. Ashblade was waiting for them with an automatic rifle in hand and blade sheathed at his side. He waited until everyone had gathered before speaking. “Alright men listen up! These creatures that are on their way are fearsome beasts but not nearly as bad as the Krel. However these ones coming at us are merely hunters. If we let any of them leave alive they’ll return to the others and bring a swarm to us. Watch out for their claws if they get too close. As long as we gun them down before they get to us we’ll be fine. Let’s move out!” The group gave out a battle shout and took up a firing line atop the dune.

  Joel saw a cloud of dust and sand being kicked up in the wake of the creatures as they approached their position. Unfortunately he could barely hit a target 50 feet away so taking up anything more than a hand gun would just be a waste of bullets. He felt confident that the others could gun the creatures down though. He took note that there were four of the creatures bearing down on them. The sound of their footfalls carried over the desert breeze. Once they were within a couple hundred feet Joel could make out their form.

  They ran on two hind legs that had two claws on each foot. Large red eyes peered at them and terrifying mandibles protruded from either side of the mouth. Around their head they had a mane of hair and their mouths had rows of razor sharp teeth. Rising up from their sides they had large, mantis-like claws that looked like they could shred a tree in half. Their bodies were covered with a thick brown fur. “Fire on my mark!” Ashblade called down the line. Joel sensed his companions tense up around him and readied his sword.

  When the creatures came within about 100 feet, Ashblade gives the command and a hail of bullets rain forth from each gun. The creature in the lead takes the brunt of the attack and quickly falls under the onslaught. The three that remained realize that their prey is attacking them and surge forth with far greater speed than before. “Reloading!” someone calls out as a second creature falls. The remaining two were within about 30 feet when a third one fell. Joel feels something different from the fourth one. The creature has something up its sleeve. Joel’s instinct proves right a moment later as the creature leaps high into the air. Joel leaps back as the creature lands a few feet from him and its claw sinks into the sand where he had been standing.

  The creature strikes at Joel again and he rolls to his left then steps back just in time to avoid the creature’s claw. However it is fast and before he can move out of the way it swings again. Joel blocks with his sword and staggers back a few steps. His muscles scream for a moment. “Huh, I can block it?” he says as he ducks under another swing. If that is the case then he has a few tricks for it. The others raise their guns to help but Ashblade stops them. “Let him. He can slay it on his own,” he says. The squad give him a questioning look but lower their weapons as Joel parries another blow. The creature attacks him from above with its right claw and he steps to the side.

  With a deft overhead swing he steps in and dismembers the creature’s forearm. It lets out a deafening cry and stumbles back a few steps. Now that Joel can have a good look at it he can see that it is riddled with bullet holes and oozes black blood from its wounds. Joel senses the end is near. The creature screeches and charges at him. It swipes with its remaining claw and Joel parries it, then with all his strength he thrust his sword through the middle of the creature’s head. Its eyes dim and it falls down into the sand.

  Joel panted heavily. It had taken all his strength to block the creature’s claws but he had won! “Damn. That wasn’t half bad!” Jerome said.

  “Hey there’s more of them!” Draxus shouted
. Joel grabbed his sword and pulled it out of the slain creature before joining the others. He looked to where Draxus was pointing and saw that in the distance there were more of these creatures. He squinted to try and see them better and noticed that these creatures were down on all legs rather than standing. “Tch, gatherers!” Ashblade said with disgust. The creatures let out a piercing call then turned and started marching away. Kali brought up her gun but Ashblade held out a hand to stop her. “You aren’t going to hit them from here with that. Draxus, take Kali, Nadir, and Jerome and see if you can’t take them down before they get too far.” Draxus nodded and motioned to those named to follow him. “As for the rest of us, let’s burn these carcasses. They’re no good for eating,” he said. Joel and the others quickly moved to follow their commander’s orders and within a couple of minutes the bodies were ablaze.

  The bodies didn’t produce much smoke and burned quickly. By the time they had burned away the others had returned to camp. Ashblade went to meet them. “They got away. We tracked them for a bit but they’re faster in these sands than we are,” he said. Ashblade let out a drawn out sigh. “I see… unfortunately we can’t relocate. We don’t have the kind of manpower to leave people here at the portal site to fend off the Antlion swarms that will come. We’ll have to take the fight to them.” Draxus looked confused and Joel was right there with him.

  “This happened before?” he asked and Ashblade nodded.

  “Yes. We even managed to figure out that their nest was almost directly east of us. We were able to call reinforcements but since the portal won’t open until the month is up we don’t really have a choice but to take out their Queen.” Draxus nodded like he understood.

  “We observed them for a while back then and figured out that they operate much like a colony of ants. Of course we never verified the existence of a Queen but given what we saw it’s a safe assumption. If we can find and kill the Queen it could put the entire colony into disarray. I want you to take Kali, Revais… and Joel and hunt down the Queen.” Draxus looked shocked but Joel was even more surprised. Him? Track down the Queen. “Joel? Are you certain? He may have felled that… Antlion but it was already wounded. Plus he’s still pretty green,” Draxus objected. It was only to be expected.