by Ross Buzzell
The stones pass Konner and he trains his ears on them. He hears the unmistakable sound of one of the stones slamming into a rock wall and stopping but the other keeps sliding. The grinding noise of the second stone screeches to a stop and is replaced by airflow. This catches his attention as the rumbling footsteps continue to grow louder and therefore closer. Konner darts his vision over to where the stone had stopped making noise and sees a faint orange glow up ahead to his right. Konner leans that direction and begins to sprint toward the source of light. As he grows closer to it, the air around him begins to heat up and change rapidly, from the cool crisp of the initial cavern to a scorching humid pocket. Konner catches a glance of what is chasing him in the shattered blade. A wall of moving stone flies toward the young prince who decides to leap with all of his might. His leap closes the twenty meter gap between him and the hole to which he slides into. But just as his head passes the surface of the ground, the rocks slam down plugging the hole as they bury Konner deeper within the planet.
Konner slams into the far wall of what he wrongly believes to be another chamber but instead is a chimney for scalding air rising from the lava pits of the planet. With both hands occupied with weapons, Konner grips the ledge tightly with his elbows while he pushes his chin against the ground as hard as he can to prevent from slipping. In a split second movement Konner places the broken blade on his belt. A sheath forms from the silvery waste band and holds the blade fast. This frees Konner’s hand to grasp the rock’s ledge. With a firm grip, Konner plants his feet inside two small crevasses in the hollow column’s wall. Konner releases his other elbow and leans back. He looks down the three hundred meter shaft to see a river of molten orange rock flow beneath him. The heat rising from the river is intense and Konner feels it bombarding his skin. The hot air distorts Konner’s vision slightly as he thinks through what to do. The prince looks up to see that the mouth of the column is now unblocked but whatever was out there could still be waiting for him to surface. He could not jump down as he did before for the landing zone would surely devour him and if he stayed he would surely perish. With a deep breath, the stench of sulfur fills Konner’s burning nostrils and the hot air heats the boy from inside as it fills his lungs. Konner begins to descend the rock face. He holds Starfall in a reverse grip which frees up three fingers to grasp the wall, more than enough to support his body weight.
As Konner descends the heat from the river beneath him intensifies to near scalding levels. The rock begins to heat up as well to the point where he can feel the intensity of the fire through his boots and body suit. Never once does the thought of turning back enter his mind as he descends into the fiery belly of the planet. Konner finally gets to the final stretch only to see that the sheer heat from the river of lava has burned the surface stone to brittle black pumice, incapable of supporting the young prince’s weight. The column’s mouth opens at the base but his entire field of view is covered with orange. Sweat finally begins to bead off Konner’s brow as he stops moving. In the brilliant glow of the lava Konner hardly realizes that Starfall’s flame is beginning to rapidly grow less. Konner squints and focuses his eyes on any ledge that he can grasp onto to drop the final fifty meters. This will hopefully result in landing on a lava bank of some sort. No such luck. Parts of the rock face shifts. The prince notices this as he puts his attention to the large boulder that had fallen down the hole before him. The boulder had embedded itself ever so weakly into the cliff face and was finally beginning to let go. Only a ten meter jump across the mouth of the chimney, a jump Konner could easily make. Konner grasps the wall with both hands. Slowly he climbs the rock face so that his feet are planted firmly between his hands. Konner tightens his muscles as he prepares to jump. The heat from the lava begins to burn the nape of his neck. The intensity of the fire begins to elevate Konner’s discomfort to pain and rapidly, with a single powerful thrust Konner launches himself from the rock face. He soars through the air, gradually rotating as he does. Just before he comes in contact with the stone, Konner flips which causes him to land feet first on the rock.
The force of his landing pries the rock free from its resting place and in a moment both Konner and the rock are in a free-fall toward the river of lava. In the midst of the fall Konner scans his surroundings, the mouth of the river lay a few hundred meters to his left as the planet oozes its molten core in a violent fit of heat into the passage. To his right a little ways closer is a drop off where the river recycles itself. Konner notes that behind him is no safe shelf for him to leap and across is just as treacherous. An intense shock reverberates throughout Konner’s body as he slams into the rock after it lands within the river, here the heat is unlike any Konner has experienced, far hotter than he’d anticipated he could handle. His lungs begin to burn with agonizing torment as they are set ablaze from the inside due to the temperature of the air. Konner tries to cry out in agony but is unable to as his suit bursts into flames; at last the thought that this may be his end as well enters his mind. In a last ditch effort to find an escape; Konner closes his eyes and focuses himself. As he does he feels himself inexplicably begin to cool. The heat slowly subsides. The burning in his lungs seems to absorb into him; he opens his eyes to a new world, one of heat. Konner looks at the corridor through the angle of radiation sight. Everything around him is brilliant red, yellow and orange, Konner looks down at his hands. They are black, as if devoid of heat. He looks back up and sees the same black void ahead of him on the far side of a rock wall. Konner’s vision slowly flickers back to normal as he realizes that the stone is beginning to sink into the river of lava. Konner crouches once more but this time it’s different. Instead of the sensation of his muscles tightening; he feels heat flow through him like a wave from his head to his feet. Like the electricity years before, Konner does not fight the sensation but rather allows it to take its course. As the apex of the wave reaches Konner’s feet he unleashes every last bit of heat energy from within him. The initial blast emits such pressure and heat that the stone he stands on shatters into dust, the pervading shockwave that explodes from him cascades throughout the cave, with the amplified heat energy that Konner emits turning the entire tunnel to glass and diamonds. Konner holds Starfall by his side and places a single fist ahead of him. As he blasts across the river of lava, he collides with the wall with such a great force that it submits to his will and allows him to pass through it into the cavern on the far side.
Konner slams into the ground and slowly rolls to a stop. He stands up and dusts himself off as he looks back through the hole that he had made to the drastic change caused by his leap and the channeling of the lava’s intense heat. The sight was intriguing to him but Starfall’s flame was waning even more dramatically to the point where it was barely a flicker. Konner’s need to find the vault outweighs his need to discover the truth behind his leap. Konner turns his attention ahead to see that he is once again in a large cavern but this time he is not the only source of light. The cavern is a large parabola and at the bottom in the center a large box glows with a blue light that illuminates the entire inverted dome. In awe Konner looks at the magnificence of the ‘forger’s’ armory’ that holds the forging hammers. Konner slowly walks around the edge of the parabola to find a stairway that leads down toward the armory; the young prince looks around cautiously. “There is no way this can be that easy.” He thinks to himself. Ever so slowly Konner takes the first step. As his foot touches the crystalline stone nothing happens, only the soft gurgle of the lava pit in the previous chamber. With a steady hand, Konner grasps the hilt of the shattered blade and draws the broken weapon. Crouching, Konner descends the steps. His eyes locked in a scan around the entire cavern with only his footsteps to echo sound around the bowl.
Not keeping his eyes on the steps, however, proves a mistake for the young Boronian. Half way down the flight of stairs the step his foot comes in contact with sinks a few inches and locks into place. A rumble echoes out from either side of the step around the circumference of th
e room. Konner looks up and frantically darts his vision around the cavern until the noise meets itself in the middle on the far side. The room falls silent and for the first time Konner allows his thoughts to become audible.
“That can’t be good!”
The entire ground shakes under Konner’s feet as lights begin to glow into visibility all over the room. Forest green, ice blue, lava orange, dozens of them seem to begin to glow right from the rock. Konner looks at the flame on Starfall. It begins to flicker. The sound of rock breaking from rock echoes throughout the chamber as the armory’s light illuminates the scene that transpires. Men and women of stone and crystal begin to break themselves from the ground standing at similar heights and with comparable builds to the average Boronian but comprised completely of stone. Cracks are formed all around them, head to toe. The energy light emits from those cracks with two epicenters that glow far brighter than any other place on their bodies, the chest and the eyes. Konner’s head shoots left as the stone from the cavern seems to jump to life. A clawed crystalline hand shoots from the rock face and slams into the ground, visibly exerting itself it shoves against the ground with enough strength to break a sleek stone back. A second hand breaks free from the ground and plants itself on the rock face as it begins to push as well; with jagged jerks the stone breaks the clearly defined torso of a woman from the ground. Her knees are bent beneath her as the top of her head still sticks into the stone. The lava orange energy courses through her from the earth; it travels throughout her body as she rips her head free from its imprisonment. Shock grips Konner as he sees this stone woman pull herself from the ground. Her head rises; between her stone breasts emanates a pulsating orange light. Her eyes open, they too glow with the same lava orange. The stone woman stares at Konner. Never before in his studies had he come across anything like this. He was frozen in intrigue. Her mouth opens revealing sharp crystalline teeth only visible from the light that emanates from her chest and out of her mouth. A blood curdling screech of unearthly proportions tears through the air as it emanates from her throat and cuts Konner to the core with fear.
His training kicks in and with a single, powerful downward swing Konner brings the shattered blade down on the stone monster’s head causing her to shatter into pebbles accompanied by the flash of a soft orange light. Konner turns to face the armory only to see his path is blocked by dozens of the monsters, all of which open their mouth and let out a chilling howl before they charge at Konner from all sides. Swiftly Konner turns the shattered blade around in his hand; he holds it backward as he charges down the cavern’s steps toward the armory. The first stone being he encounters attempts to grab him. He retorts with a swift upward swipe of the broken sword which shatters the being’s arm. It falls back. The second is met by Starfall who is slashed across the green energy stone beings chest. The blade comes in contact with the brighter light of the chest the stone being does not crumble but rather explodes outwardly in a wave of forest green energy. This kills a number of other closer monsters but it hits Konner with the force of a Titan’s punch and sends him flying back into the steps. A sharp pain shoots throughout the young soldier’s body; he pushes the pain from thought as he draws himself back to his feet. The rock monsters also correct themselves from the blast and begin to move in on Konner once more.
Konner is faster and dashes at them. He cuts them down in flashes of blue, green and orange. The young warrior uses all of his speed and dexterity to keep ahead of his foes. While they do outnumber him, Konner notes how fast they are for being comprised of stone. Konner continues to fight his way to the armory as fiercely as he can. The rock monsters get a few lucky shots in with their claws but his bodysuit protects him from damage. Konner responds with deadly force. After a few brief moments of fighting, Konner finds himself at the armories door. He turns to clear some room for himself but the stone creatures do not follow onto the illuminated steps. They step away from Konner and the armory. Usually Konner would welcome the reprieve but not this time. Something deep within Konner’s gut screams at him to turn around but he does not. Konner dives and roles forward down the steps. He feels a rush of wind at his feet. He catches his footing and looks up to see a large stone guardian imbued with a golden energy. He stands head and shoulders above the others, which were considerably taller than Konner to begin with. The stone guardian leans down and rips a rock from the earth; with a guttural roar he throws the stone at Konner. The young soldier dives and rolls out of the way. As he catches his footing Konner throws the broken blade at the guardian. The shattered sword bounces from the guardian’s chest.
The stone guardian’s response is to charge Konner. Having the lower ground against such a large opponent was good for Konner. He had trained for these kinds of scenarios. He charges the rock golem as well; Starfall ready for battle. The golem swings at Konner who blocks the attack with Starfall. This causes Starfall’s blue flame to flicker out briefly. As the flame flickers out; Konner is bombarded with images of war, of death, of the Titans. He hears a single word echo through his mind that emanates from the blade, ‘Xero’. The flame flickers back and the images stop. Konner sees the massive stone hand flying at him and is not fast enough to dodge it. The impact by the golem rattles Konner. He had not been hit so hard in a long time. The sensation of Konner’s body bouncing from the armories wall before falling to the ground brings Konner back from the golem’s blow. Konner looks up to see the golem try to step on him. Instead of rolling to safety, Konner holds up Starfall. The flaming blade penetrates the golem’s foot which causes it to howl once again. It takes a step back freeing its foot from Konner’s blade only for the blades flame to flicker out once again. Konner’s mind is filled with agonizing visions yet again but this time it is of a Boronian with no hair who stands head and shoulders above the rest, distorted by darkness and a blade made of bone. The giant turns and faces Konner as if able to see Konner. He holds his blade to Konner’s throat as his voice echoes in the darkness.
“You will fall.”
A sharp pain in Konner’s chest snaps Konner out of the vision. The sensation of weightlessness grasps him before being slammed into the armory wall. Konner drops Starfall and grasps the golem’s hand that had his thumb imbedded inside Konner’s right pectoral. Konner sees his own blood oozing onto the golem’s hand before the pain of the injury shoots through him like a lightning bolt. Konner howls in pain as the golem draws his fist back to finish the young prince. The golem lets its fist fly but Konner catches the being’s fist with his left hand. Through the pain in his chest Konner feels heat begin to rise within him once more. With his right arm he attempts to free himself from the golem’s powerful grasp but is unable to. Konner yanks and pulls as the fire within his body begins to grow with more intensity. The golem begins to exhibit pain, Konner looks up to see the other golems have backed to the edge of the chamber. The shattered sword at the golem’s feet glows red as it begins to melt. Konner shoves the golem’s fist away and places both hands on the wrist that holds him in place. Konner begins to pull the heat from the rest of his body and focus it into his hands. The golem’s wrist begins to break apart gradually before melting into a tiny pool of lava and being completely separated by the heat Konner emits. Konner drops to the ground and pulls the hand from his chest as the golem guardian falls back conceding the battle. Konner looks at Starfall whose flame is completely extinguished. With his left hand Konner removes his belt and sets it on the sword. A sheet extends from the belt and onto Starfall before Konner draws the belt back to him and buckles it on his waist once more.
Konner holds his right arm near his body as he pulls himself to his feet. A grinding of two stones from behind Konner catches his attention. He whirls around ready for anything but immediately relaxes when he sees that it is the armory’s door has opened. Konner walks into the armory, his body sore from the fight, as he enters the armory he sees five stone pillars about waist height, on the top of each pillar stand a hammer with a wrist strap at the end of each handle. Kon
ner approaches the first hammer. It has a broad almost square head with a three pronged knot engraved on the side, the pillar below it has a note that looks like a lightning bolt on it. A flash of the Training Grounds emerges from Konner’s memories; he passes that hammer. The second is a hammer with a rounded back. Konner looks at the symbol beneath it. It is the symbol of earth. The young prince passes on that one too as he glances out at the golems returning to their slumber. The third hammer has a grip much longer than the others with a cones shaped head that is flat on one side with a spike on the back. The symbol on the pillar is that for water, Konner stops his hand from grasping the forging weapon when his eyes catch a beautiful silver hammer whose head is rounded and flat with an axe for the back, the symbol on the pillar is for wind. Bypassing the fourth hammer comprised of wood all together, Konner immediately grasps the wind hammer and lifts it from its pedestal. To Konner’s surprise the hammer is far lighter than any weapon he had previously wielded. The stones from the top other pedestals grip the other four hammer heads holding them in place. A faint ‘whoosh’ of flame fills the air as the pillars retreat into the floor encompassing the other weapons in the earth and leaving only the wind pedestal upright.
Konner turns and faces the chamber behind him. The glow of the golem are gone and in their place, floating orange flames that lead up the side of the parabola. Konner’s eyes follow the lights and notices that at the top of the chamber they go right while the hole he created is left. Konner’s grip tightens around the handle of the hammer as he prepares himself to leave the safety of the armory. Silently Konner creeps from the armory, every muscle in his body ridged as he readies himself for attack. His eyes dart from left to right, up and down. His ears are perked up, listening for any movement that could cause him harm. Three steps out, nothing, “So far so good Konner, keep it up.” Aside from the occasional pep-talk Konner’s mind stays clear as he remains alert. Gradually he climbs the steps growing closer to the chambers edge. Upon reaching the back wall Konner turns his back to it. He keeps his eyes trained on the chamber below and rotates the hammer in his hand so he holds it in a reverse grip. The young prince favors this grip with many weapons. Although his teachers and friends repeatedly tell him there are some weapons not suitable for this grip, Konner finds it easier for an initial deflection prior to engagement. Konner’s eyes follow the flames as they seem to hover in the darkness. A few meters ahead they seem to disappear as if they enter the wall. Silently Konner takes a deep breath before he swiftly moves with the flame. As he approaches the dancing ball of lights disappearance; Konner notices that a corridor is available to him. Entering the corridor Konner allows his eyes to follow the path of light as it begins to ascend. The young prince takes a few steps forward and looks up as the light swivels upward revealing a spiral stone staircase.