by Zack Finley
“No, but we must remain vigilant for the few that are. When we are lucky they kill each other,” Argon said. “Demons aren’t the worst, but they are in the top tier.”
We reached another fork. This time our tunnel continued and the fork was to our left. No sounds or scents provided any clue. We kept going straight with Argon placing trip wards in the left fork and behind us as we continued in the tunnel.
“I have too many wards out,” Argon sent. “Now if one trips, I won’t know which one went down until we get close to it.”
At least we’d get some warning if something was moving behind us. Not ideal but better than nothing.
The tunnel wasn’t as well lit now. Something or someone had destroyed a number of the magic lights leaving large tunnel areas pitch black. Whether it was random vandalism or tactical destruction wasn’t clear. Coming upon a demon in the dark was something nightmares were made of.
I nearly tripped over the remains of something. It had been dead a while. We didn’t want to risk a light just for curiosity. The smell of death filled the tunnel, pushing out all other scents. With visibility limited, we clung to the right-hand wall as we crept forward into the darkness. Discarded armor and weapons littered the tunnel floor, making it more difficult to maintain our silent approach.
“Both gates must have had serious incursions this time,” sent Argon, narrowly avoiding tripping over a shield.
“The demons wiped out the little guys,” I said.
“It looks that way,” Argon said. “I don’t think they stood a chance.”
“Have you ever talked with any beings who came through the gates?” I asked.
“No, I’ve seen some who just seemed curious, but they were speaking a different language. If they come through and attack our sentries, we don’t talk.”
The huge fireball that hit Argon was the first hint we were in trouble. It knocked her to the ground. She vanished immediately from our mental combat bond. I didn’t know if she was alive or dead. Suddenly I was on my own. I put up a shield wall to protect her from further blasts. I sent up a light spell, but it sputtered.
Another fireball launched from the blackness of the tunnel splashed against my shield wall. I still couldn’t see the demon in front of us, but now I had an approximate location. I launched a series of lava blasts back in its direction. I still couldn’t see it. The next fireball came from my left. I dived out of the way, catching only the edge of the blast. I put up another shield wall to block future blasts from that direction. I was just glad he’d targeted me and not Argon.
Now I was getting mad. And desperate. I wanted to teleport Argon to the guardhouse, but I didn’t know how. If I tried and only succeeded in teleporting myself, I’d leave her in the kill zone, alone. I had to put this demon down, quickly. Before other demons came to see what all the commotion was about.
I knew I could launch lava bullets all day. That was a start. I sprayed them around the area, dialing up the heat to get as much light as possible. I added to the shield wall, boxing us in. I hoped it was enough to protect Argon even if the demon flanked us.
I flooded the floor in several inches of lava in an arc around us. Between the lava pool and the non-stop lava bullets, I hoped to finally spot the demon. I underestimated the turbulence caused by the lava interacting with the scattered battlefield remains. The sputtering and erupting gouts of steam and smoke had me jumping at shadows. It was getting hot and smoky in the tunnel.
Despite the many distractions, I continued my lava barrage. I maintained my vigilance, looking for disturbances
I spotted him just before he launched another fire blast directly at me. I’d been ready and entombed him in a stone block, while diving behind my shield wall. I was slightly singed but ready to take the fight to the enemy.
He was already starting to crack the stone shell when I reinforced it. I then banished the top third, exposing his head. Alternating force blasts with baseball-sized rocks to his head seemed to be making progress. I’d tried and failed to stun him. Clearly, I needed more instructions on how to do that. My attempts to recreate Argon’s technique of stacking force blasts around sharp stones nearly got me killed. I learned the demon could still launch fireballs even while encased in stone. I was lucky, the fireball hit me in the left shoulder, not the head. I knew my head was still woozy from the being knocked out earlier.
My shoulder was on fire, and the force of the blast slammed me into the tunnel wall. For several moments I couldn’t breathe, struggling to suck in air. My alternating barrage of force and rock blasts barely faltered. I knew I was hurting, but I doubted I could survive a second fireball. I was the only hope Argon had to escape. The demon couldn’t win. I wouldn’t let him win.
I dug deep into my competitive core. The core that made me stay on mission even when my body wanted to shut down. Pain was instructive, but it was irrelevant now. I had to kill the demon, or he would kill me. I didn’t know if Argon was dead already, but if she wasn’t, I was her only backup. I might die, but I wouldn’t break. I’d been here before.
Just when I began to seriously worry the demon was immune to force and earth magic, his head exploded in a blast of ichor and tissue.
I won. But now I had to count the cost. I ignored the screaming pain in my left shoulder and arm. There wasn’t anything I could do for it but endure.
I immediately checked on Argon. She was still breathing but not well. I knew the heavy smoke and heat weren’t helping. Her face was blackened. I had no idea where to look for a pulse. The crackling and sputtering of the cooling lava all around us was too loud to hear any heartbeat.
I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight against my chest and triggered my emergency teleport. I didn’t know for sure it would teleport us both, but I had to try. Even if I failed, she should be safe within the shield wall until I raced back to her side.
It worked. We were back at the gatehouse.
“Medic,” I shouted. “Medic!”
Within moments I was surrounded. Some were gently pulling Argon from my arms, and others seemed intent on looking me over for wounds.
“Help Argon,” I insisted. “I’m fine. Help her.”
I let myself be moved away from Argon to avoid impeding the medics’ access to her. I was reluctant to let her go.
Someone handed me a cup of juice and an energy bar. Someone else handed me a full canteen of water. I must have finished the juice and energy bar, but I don’t remember either.
Argon was still alive. One of the medics stood beside her holding a container with tubes coming out of it; another was busy poking her arm with a needle to start an intravenous drip. I wondered how he breached her force shield.
One of the medics was washing her blackened face with a purple liquid that bubbled and frothed on her skin. I reached out with my combat bond but no one was home. I felt helpless.
Capt. Jamal knelt beside me. “How far did you get?” he asked.
I drew a quick map of our route in the sand and grit that covered the floor.
“No others have ventured into the main yard,” Jamal said. “I suspect there are only a few stragglers left, but the only way to know is to go look.
By now the medics were washing my left arm with the purple bubbling liquid. It killed the pain enough to allow them to remove my armor. The blast had blackened the under-armor cloth across my shoulder and into my chest. Within minutes the medics cut away the burned clothing. They laved the damaged skin with the purple wonder liquid. I don’t know what was in that stuff, but my arm and shoulder felt ready to get back in the fight.
Argon still lay unmoving on the stone floor. Her breathing was easier, and she still had an IV in her arm. They’d removed her helmet during treatment. Her blonde fur was tangled and singed at the edges.
I tried to get up, but my legs weren’t up to the task. I scooted across the gritty floor to be next to her. The medics were now helping other wounded lying in groups nearer the walls. I took their absence as a positive si
gn that Argon wasn’t critically injured.
It was hard seeing her like this; knowing I should have been the one in front. I didn’t realize how difficult magic was to execute. It seemed so easy with Argon directing the assault. I was too cocky. It nearly cost us everything. My brute force technique had barely been enough against a single demon. I had a lot to learn.
The purple wonder liquid must be magic. Argon’s face now looked nearly normal, with only a few areas showing signs of the earlier charring. The fur on her head was still frizzed from the flame, but her skin was healing rapidly.
I looked at my shoulder and arm and saw the same rapid healing taking place.
My magic levels were still near half in force and fire and rising slowly. Earth magic was still more than half full. My mind magic was nearly untouched. I’d learned that mind magic stunned and force magic paralyzed, but I realized I didn’t know how to apply either one.
Argon’s breathing was no longer labored. I missed her presence in my mind and really wanted to make sure she was okay. Not knowing what else to do I held her hand and lay beside her to rest. It had been a tough morning.
A gentle nudge and I was wide awake, disoriented but awake. I sat up abruptly, and my body’s numerous aches and pains protested vehemently. Argon was squatting next to me, handing me a new under-armor shirt. She was already decked out for battle.
The under-armor was off-white and quilted. The inside layer was soft and absorbent, and the outside was a tougher canvas-like material. It was designed to minimize chafing from the rougher armor. As I pulled it over my head, Argon placed my singed armor next to me. We were going back into battle.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, struggling into my armor.
“My head aches pretty bad, but the burns are gone,” Argon said. “We need to get back into the tunnels. If we don’t get them all, they may have time to send for reinforcements. Did you kill the demon that tagged me?”
If Argon was ready to go, I certainly wasn’t going to delay us. I cinched my armor into place and stood up.
“Yes, I killed him, but it wasn’t pretty. Once you went down I struggled with casting several spells. Before we go back into the tunnels I need you to show me again how they work,” I said.
I felt our combat connection return. I was relieved to see Argon was really okay. Wounded but able to continue.
“Which spells were a problem?” she asked.
“Light, stun, and the force layer around the rocks,” I replied.
“Then how did you kill him?” she asked.
“With great difficulty. Mostly rocks and force balls. It was really hard to spot him. There wasn’t any light in the tunnel, so I had to use lava to expose him,” I sent.
“Let’s get in the courtyard, and I’ll show you those spells again. You can practice a few minutes before we go back into the tunnels,” Argon said, starting toward the barred door into the courtyard.
“I use a force spell for light, but that is only because I don’t have fire magic. You should use a fire spell. Imagine a glowing white ball of fire. Start small,” she said over her shoulder as we entered the court.
I conjured a small ball of fire in my hand and attempted to change it from the normal red-orange. It sputtered a bit but stubbornly stayed orange.
“We will have to work on that, but for now suspend it in the air rather than launch it,” Argon said.
I could steer the ball, but it required a lot of my focus. I found when my attention shifted it sputtered out.
“Practice will help you launch these and nearly forget them,” Argon assured. “We just don’t have time for that today. Please try wrapping force magic around your rock missiles.”
For this Argon slipped deeper into our combat weave.
“Conjure a wedge-shaped rock, then conjure a force ball around it,” Argon sent.
It took a few tries, but I finally succeeded in conjuring a rock wedge. But no matter what I did the force ball just wouldn’t form around the rock. I either had a rock or a force ball, but not both.
Argon showed me several times how to wrap the force ball around it. But I just couldn’t do it.
Sensing my growing frustration, Argon suggested that sequencing the force and rocks was nearly as effective.
She then formed a stun spell and urged me to copy it. I did my best, but we wouldn’t know if I was doing it correctly until we had an enemy to try it on.
“Let’s take down the rest of the demons,” Argon urged. “I’ll key up a shield wall and stuns for our first volley. If it is dark, we need a shield wall and light. I’ll use my force light for now.”
This time we walked toward the far-left tunnel.
“My wards have all dissipated,” Argon sent. “I thought we’d start with a new section of tunnel.”
It didn’t matter to me. We needed to check the whole tunnel complex anyway. I was still itching to take point, but Argon would not consider it. With my poor performance after she went down, I couldn’t really argue with her reasoning.
We entered the left tunnel. This tunnel still had the lights working in it. There were no signs of the demon invasion.
The left fork came within a few feet of entering. This time instead of taking that path Argon posted a ward. “We are going to make sure the interior corridors are clear first,” Argon sent. “I suspect the remaining demons are in the outer ring, near the world gates.”
“What if I plug the tunnel with rock?” I asked.
“Great idea, that would be better than a ward. The demons can knock the wall down, but it would take some time and make a lot of noise,” Argon said.
I went back to the left branch and conjured a two-foot thick plug for it. The next branch was to our right, connecting to the central and right tunnels.
“Go ahead and block this one, too,” urged Argon.
I looked down the branch and could just make out where it tied into the central tunnel. No signs of the demons. I plugged it with stone and caught up with Argon.
This tunnel was still well lit. Though we crept around each bend, nothing was waiting to pounce on us. The first sign of conflict came with the next left-hand branch. Most of its lights were smashed, and there was a rank odor coming from it.
“Block this branch,” Argon sent. “This is the closest branch to where we ran into that last demon.”
I followed her direction. The next branch connected to the central tunnel to our right. It was full sized and well lit. You could see the tunnel entrance in the distance. No sign of any demons. I blocked it.
When we first entered the tunnel, we crept along, expecting a demon at every turn. Our pace increased as we failed to encounter any opposition. Argon was still using air magic to mask our footsteps.
Despite our pace, Argon remained poised to act as we rounded the curve. She spotted a demon poking his head out of the side passage ahead before he saw us. She targeted it with a stun and followed up with a series of force wrapped rocks. I belatedly put up a shield wall, which we ducked behind.
The demon wasn’t moving. I suspected it wasn’t dead, but we needed to get closer to tell. Argon grabbed the demon, dragging it into the bigger tunnel using her force magic.
“Target its head with a series of heavy rocks,” Argon sent. I complied, eventually pulping its head until it was definitely dead.
Argon went around the shield wall with me on her heels. We looked down the darkened left-hand passage but couldn’t spot any other demons. “Go ahead and block this passage,” Argon sent. “We’ve only got one more entrance into the outer ring to block.”
I did as instructed. Even though I had monitored her stun, I didn’t think I could do it on my own. The lights in this part of the main tunnel were still providing plenty of light. There were no demons visible between us and courtyard. I blocked the minor tunnel to the right which led to the central area and then the left-hand tunnel leading to the outer ring without issue.
With the final passage blocked, Argon said, “Let’s wra
p this up. They can still bring in reinforcements from the gate, but we should be able to keep them bottled up in front of us.”
“I’m ready,” I sent. “All my magics are at half or better.”
“My force magic is still lower than I’d like, so plan to cycle your force and rocks quickly until we confirm the demons are down from my stun,” Argon sent. “We’ll start on the opposite side, going by the non-demon gate first. Once we pass the non-demon gate, I’ll have you plug the tunnel behind us, and we’ll be able to rid the tunnels of the rest of the demons.”
It seemed as good a plan as any. We swept through the outer tunnel past the first gate without encountering any demons. Argon had me launch several red-orange light balls whenever the tunnel got too dark. They weren’t very bright, but they did the job. After placing about 20 of them, I no longer had to spend as much attention to keep them hovering. I didn’t know how long they burned after we left the area but that didn’t matter.
The rest of our search was anticlimactic. No demons remained in the tunnels. That just left the cleanup. I had to banish the tunnel plugs and shield walls. Capt. Jamal had his troops join us. They gathered the remains of the slain guardians before beginning the cleanup.
Once that solemn procession concluded, we turned to hauling all the demon carcasses to the demon gate. We tossed them through the gate into the demon world. When we had built a wall of carcasses, Argon had me push the demon remains farther from the gate using force magic. That left enough room to send the rest of the demon remains back to where they came from.
While I was helping dispose of the demons, other guardians had returned the remains of the invaders from the other world gate. We didn’t know if they came out of curiosity or to invade. I suspected returning their demon-gnawed remains might give them pause in the future.
I was dragging by the time we were finished. I was ambulatory, but my left shoulder, right knee, and right hip were on fire. Every step was a struggle. I followed the guardians back to the guardhouse for water and another energy bar. I spotted Argon and Jamal talking. Neither looked happy.
“Are you ready to go?” Argon sent, wrapping up her conversation with Jamal. “I could definitely use a shower.”