by J. Carrarn
"Don't worry, Pebble. Although I am weak now, while you are here, no harm will come to you."
As he approached her, Solus held back from raising his hand. He felt a great need to touch her, to make sure she was real and actually there.
"I am not real, at least, not in any way that you could understand," the elemental said.
She moved her hand, and a plant grew behind her from the ground, growing into a tree within moments. Two branches circled from it, one behind her and one behind him, creating a small bench. She sat down on it, the leaves shaping into a chair from behind her back.
"Who are you?" Solus asked as he stared at her.
A low rumbling came from all around as she laughed, and the ground seemed to join her. The grass waved, and the branches bobbing up and down caused the leaves to rustle.
"I am the world elemental. At least that is how you've known me. What you've spoken to was a partially sentient projection. As weak as I am, I can no longer truly move, not without great consequence. My body, my real body, has almost died. Only a flicker remains, buried deep inside the core of the world. Barely enough to keep the wolves at bay."
A stream of images of furry animals loping through shadowy forests played through Solus's mind. Clear and sharp, he knew the images didn't originate from his status window or the gift from the first sphere.
"I am Viridi, the last of the elementals. World elementals, the humans called us. A gross oversimplification and avoidance of the truth, as were so many of the things that they did."
A sad look washed over her face, and a cloud passed in front of the sun. Solus wanted nothing more than to go to her and hold her. Then the cloud passed, and Viridi smiled at him again.
"Now that you are here, I can show you more. More about what once was, and how you can form the present into something similar. If you wish. If you survive."
Solus saw an image of the stone forest that he had made, stretching far and wide. Only now did he realize how much of a poor mockery it was compared to a real forest. Like a rough image, without details or finesse. It lacked the smell, the sounds, and the vibrance of life.
"No!" Viridi said. "You see only what it lacks! Instead, see what it is compared to what was there before you came!"
An image of a large flat plain of dead stone and dirt appeared. The wind played across it, sometimes moving a little dust here and there. Time sped up, and nothing changed. It stayed the same, forever. The sun above the wasteland rose and fell so fast it seemed to blink, but nothing changed until suddenly a forest of stone shot up into the air. Time slowed, and the sun stopped its raging travels across the sky.
"Do you see? It is rough, yes, but there is promise! Long ago, life came from chaos, and life built marvelous things. Now out of entropy, you undead have come. Who knows what you are capable of or what you will accomplish!"
The image of the wasteland disappeared and was replaced by a destroyed city. Kaots roamed its ruined streets, fighting and ending each other. In the distance, a large group of undead followed a fat yellow zombie as they fled away from the ruins.
Borl! Solus thought, his eyes growing large. From the direction, he knew the undead was heading toward Skulltown. He hoped he would make it, but it would be rough. They had to fight off the Kaots that attacked them every so often, and their numbers whittled down.
The image shimmered, and a dense forest of white bone appeared. More lifelike than the stone forest, it was filled with movement. Undead and Kaots were hunting each other in its depths. Enormous flying monsters constructed of bone filled the skies overhead and were battling flocks of Ygdra.
"Perhaps life as I remember it," Viridi waved her hand about, "will never return to this galaxy. But that does not mean that there cannot be something else!"
Solus stared at her, stunned and silent. "How… why?"
Viridi turned to him, the energy she had shown diminishing. She seemed tired. A few leaves and branches curled around her shoulders as if to soothe her weariness.
"How, little Pebble? By first surviving your current predicament. The undead energy has surged to this galaxy from everywhere, trying to fill the massive void left when the life energy of one of the most populated planets in this quadrant disappeared. There is no balance, only chaos. But from chaos comes life, be that undead or otherwise! You need to stop more rifts from appearing. If you don't, this world will be doomed."
Looking around at the beautiful blue sky and the green fields and trees, Solus shivered. Did he have to stay below ground, after having seen all of this? For a thousand years? Even if he wouldn't be alone, he would probably lose his mind.
A soft laugh came from Viridi, soothing his mind and washing away the fear and anxiety.
"Don't worry. Although you will never be a world elemental, there is a path for you, for both of you! And if you follow it, staying down here for a thousand years, or even ten thousand, will not be a chore."
Looking into the burning green eyes, Solus tried to regain some of his usual self. Being here had somehow unbalanced him, and he knew it wasn't because of Viridi. It was because he had always been unsure, afraid of his goal, and what he saw around him woke something inside of him which had long been suppressed.
Closing his eyes, he took deep breaths, trying to still his mind. He focused on the sensation of the wood below his legs, the leaves in his back, and slowly his turbulent emotions subsided. When he finished, he opened his eyes and saw Viridi quietly observing him.
"You show so much promise… you would have made such a wonderful elemental."
She smiled at him, and Solus felt a new emotion surge into the calm he had created. Love. He had never felt it, and as it filled him for only a fleeting moment, he shuddered. He knew friendship, and he knew loyalty, but those were nothing like this. When it left, he felt an empty void inside him, where it had been. He stared at Viridi in panic.
"Don't worry. It will return in time. It is one of the few things you will need to learn for yourselves, all of you will." Viridi got up and stepped toward him, her hand gently stroking the side of his face.
"It is time, Pebble. Speaking with you like this has made me weary. You need to go. Absorb a mana-core so your essence will be purged from the inconsistencies and flaws it has accumulated from all those mana-orbs you've absorbed. After you have done this, don't absorb mana-orbs anymore. Alright? Let your strength grow on its own, it will take longer, but it will result in a stronger foundation."
The world around Solus began darkening, turning grey. The color drained from everything: the trees, the sky, and the ground, until only Viridi remained. A beacon of green and deep brown in a world of grey and black.
Solus felt an immense sense of loss as he looked upon the once vibrant world, but a powerful desire filled him as he stared at what had been. A desire to create, to remake what was lost, as best as he could.
"Yes... go Pebble, go and join your friend!"
As he felt himself being pushed away from the world, Solus shook as a realization hit him.
"We have only one mana-core!" he roared, hoping she still heard him.
"Don't worry, Pebble, more are coming… just make sure you survive," a soft voice replied as if shouting from a distance so vast it was immeasurable.
Solus's mind was sucked up and away, and he felt the stone and ground flash past him before reaching his body with an explosive force that made him stand in one motion.
Taking deep breaths, he realized the platform was moving erratically while Tirella stood at the edge, staring at him.
"What did you do?" she asked, stepping forward as if wanting to examine him to check he was alright.
Closing his eyes for a moment, the memory of the green world with blue skies blazed brightly in his mind, and he tried to etch it into his memory so that he would never lose it. After taking a deep breath, Solus took control over the platform, propelling it forward.
"I spoke with the elemental… and we don't have much time left. We need to get to Skulltown and a
bsorb the cores."
Tirella moved beside him with an odd look.
"What do you mean, cores? Wasn't there just one?"
Solus grinned; he felt elated.
"Aye, but apparently more will be provided! We might have to fight a bit, though."
He laughed, drawing deep from his quickly regenerating mana-field and increased the speed of the slab until the walls were blurring past them.
"Let me explain what happened," he said, while wondering how much he should tell her.
Run ragged
Grav scanned the dark city. Nothing moved, which served his goal well. Examining the wyrm tower at the other side of the square, he saw the thick solid stone door that sealed off the entrance. He missed being able to phase through solid matter. It would have made infiltrating the tower simple. He still thought of himself as the shade, even though his form had changed. Regardless, soon he would regain the ability. He had already found the perfect pattern. It had been locked away in the vault below Drys's chamber, along with a bunch of other rare and unusual patterns. Remembering the effort and stress involved in copying them line by line and sneaking them back to his hideout made him shiver.
Almost ready. Now all he needed was the thing inside the tower.
According to the information he had been able to glean from Reesh's constant babbling and gossip, there was an enormous mana-orb hidden away inside. Drys and Solus didn't know how to absorb it, but he did. Long ago, he had witnessed a battle between two powerful Kaots. The victor of that battle had torn open the other's head and retrieved an immense orb from it. The shade had been hidden in the shadows, watching as the powerful Kaot enveloped the orb in its mana-field. The change this strange giant orb had wrought on the Kaot had left the shade awestruck.
Now, how to get in?. He had already tried to move the thick stone door, but that had proven impossible.
The dull thud of a sudden series of deafening explosions shattered the silence, and a bright blue light shone down upon the square. Unperturbed, the shade looked up at the glowing blue dome that spanned over the city. Blasts of energy crackled against it as Ygdra flew overhead, letting loose a barrage of crimson shots at the barrier. They disappeared after a few moments, the sound of their onslaught fading in the distance.
Running out of time and options, the shade thought. He was already impressed at how well this city had held out against the Kaots, but its fall was inevitable. If he didn't evolve quickly and create a balancing rift, the Kaot Lords would come through, lured by the sweet scent of a new feeding ground. He had only witnessed them once before and had just barely managed to escape through a rift as they had begun to devour the free undead and Kaots alike.
Looking around at the city, he weighed his options. Should he revert back to his previous form and flee once more?
He hesitated for a short while, his gaze locked on the tower, before turning around and retreating back into the shadows of the city.
No, no more running, he thought, moving purposely in the direction of the most popular building in the city. He would speak with Drys and trick him into giving up the mana-core. Then once he had closed the rifts, he would end the other. He meant to rule Skulltown, and it would not do to have such a powerful enemy around. Especially considering where Drys's loyalties lay.
—
Tatjie and Derin crested the hill and sped down the other side, sucking in huge gulps of dusty air as they went. Ahead lay Skulltown, Ygdra flying above it, firing bolts of red lightning that crashed into the translucent dome. The crackling energy dispersed over its surface, revealing its shimmering blue contours.
"Bile and bone! Looks like they've started the fun without us! The barrier is up. How are we going to get in?" Tatjie rumbled between ragged breaths.
The fighting was thickest near the gates of the city; the defenders of Skulltown were faced with a vast army of Kaots, and it was difficult to see which side had the upper hand. It did seem as though the defenders were holding up quite well. There was a constant stream of fresh troops coming through the opening in the barrier. Derin wasn't sure how long they would be able to sustain this, though. In the sky, above the rage and madness of battle, dozens of Ygdra unleashed their bolts of energy at the protective barrier that cloaked the city. It held firmly against the onslaught, barely shaking from the assault.
"There is a way, but if Solus ever finds out that we used it, don't tell him how we got inside," Derin said, barely getting the words out in between his labored breathing.
"I promise," Sam said matter-of-factly. It was the first thing she had said since they had arrived inside the hills.
"Bile and puss, who cares about that now? Just get us inside. My arms hurt!"
Derin made no reply. It wasn't worth the effort. Instead, he turned away from the city, toward an unremarkable hill nearby.
"Where are you taking us now?" Tatjie asked, struggling to turn and follow him.
"Just never tell anyone we went this way. I'm not supposed to know about this," Derin said, hoping that Solus hadn't removed the hidden entrance since the last time he had been here.
The trip took them longer than he wanted, and their speed slowed to a walk. Arriving at the foot of the hill, Derin groaned as he looked up at the steep incline. Even when fully rested, it had been an arduous climb, but now?
"You do not expect me to lug this thing up there, do you?" Tatjie groaned, coming to a standstill. She was swaying precariously and looked as if she was about to fall over from exhaustion.
"At the top is a hidden staircase that leads to the catacombs below Skulltown. We can go through them and then come out in the middle of the city…"
"There are catacombs below the city?" Tatjie muttered in disbelief.
Derin sighed and climbed up using his hands and feet. Every few seconds he had to stop as his arms and legs cramped up.
"According to my calculations, that barrier should hold for a long time. I am looking forward to meeting this Drys fellow. If he managed to create something as powerful as that with such limited resources, he must be quite brilliant," said Sam.
Neither Derin nor Tatjie replied, as both barely heard the AI. It took them longer to climb the steep incline than it had taken them to cross the plain to the hill, and when they finally reached the top, Derin let himself fall to the ground, spent.
"That... entrance…had better… be… here…" Tatjie said, her breaths coming in ragged gasps.
An explosion rocked the ground below them, and Derin shot up, turning to face the city. A cloud of dust and debris hung in the middle of the battlefield. Undead and Kaots alike had been knocked down in a large circle. A gigantic, hulking white skeleton, its blazing green eye sockets visible even from this distance, stood in the center, roaring.
"I think they've angered Skull," Tatjie muttered before turning and grinning at Derin.
"Well, I guess that means that the battle is over!" Derin said, with a sarcastic smile plastered on his face. "We should have waited a bit. We would have been able to just walk through the gates without any trouble."
"If you think that you can get me to climb back down now, I'll throw you off of this cursed hill! Tatjie said, staring at the other undead.
Derin shook his head, laughing. "Well, just in case Skull can't destroy all of those Kaots by himself, we'd better just play it safe and find the entrance to the catacombs." He got up and moved further up toward the top of the hill. Large outcrops loomed above him, their jagged rocky edges testimony to the power of the one who had ripped himself free here. The ground everywhere was littered with rocks and debris. Below the nearest outcrop, almost perfectly in the center of it, was a large oval boulder. It seemed inconspicuous enough, but Derin knew better.
He focused, and the blue patterns on his body lit up.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to draw them all here?" Tatjie hissed, quickly moving between him and the city to block the glow.
Derin ignored her, and the energy tentacles exploded from his skin and wrap
ped themselves around the rock. With a tug, he moved it aside, revealing the shadowy entrance.
"Wait, what?" Tatjie said, staring inside. "Where is the stair?"
Derin grinned and shook his head. "There isn't one down, only one up. Now go inside and slide to the bottom. I'll come after so I can close the opening again."
Tatjie's eyes widened, and her arms wrapped tighter around the machine that she was still holding.
"You are afraid?" Derin asked in surprise before nodding. "That's an interesting emotion! Savor it, but don't let it hold you back. Now let's go!"
With a scowl, Tatjie moved to the edge and sat down. "If I break something on the way down, I'll hold you responsible," she said before closing her eyes and disappearing inside the opening with a soft cry.
Derin took a last look around. He didn't see anything, and he hoped that no one had seen them enter. He smiled evilly. Not that it would matter. Anyone entering the catacombs without knowing where to go could be lost down there for a million years before finding a way out.
He sat on the edge, drawing the boulder closer to him before dropping into the hole, dangling from his tentacles. He dragged the boulder above the opening, shutting out all the light from above. Only the blue light from his tentacles illuminated the tunnel.
"Let's see if I can drop on top of her," he said to himself, grinning. He retracted his tentacles and extinguished their glow before plummeting down into the darkness.
—
"Skull, I told you to hold back!" Drys said, staring at the enormous skeleton.
"Me no listen to you! You no Solus!" Skull rumbled, stomping his feet before walking away.
The defenders of Skulltown sitting and standing in small groups by the open gate laughed softly. Drys looked at them sternly until the laughter stopped, then he pointed at the gate.
"Get back inside, and remember what I said. If you've found any mana-orbs from those Kaots, hand them over to the bonemenders. Absorbing them will turn you into one of those brainless things."
"A skeleton, you mean?" a female undead shot back, followed by a muted laughter.