by Darkbringer
Dark-boned skeletons melted under the onslaught of raw power, even their flame resistant strength not being sufficient enough to withstand the force erupting down the hallway now. Lightning crackled between me and the storm of fire, as I continued to hold it tightly and moved it further down the hall to consume the next rune and absorb its power as well. The sound of the rune exploding was lost under the already deafening howl of the magic, and effortlessly, its force was absorbed into the storm within the hall.
Turning my attention, I let the other half of power which I had split at the entrance, drift down the right hall and consume those runes as well. Both sides of the hall were now engulfed in a raging inferno of power, and I stood in the midst of it, struggling to keep it from spiraling out of control.
Controlling fire, I was good at. Had the traps been nothing more than plain fire magic, I could’ve taken control of them and had a large pool of power to draw upon. I would’ve used the boost in unexpected strength to help us surge forward and try and catch up to where I last felt Megan’s presence.
As it was, though, the corruption and the weaves of death energy were intermingling with the fire and air. I had a surprising amount of power here at my fingertips, and I felt as if that’s how I had it – by the ends of my fingertips alone! At any moment, I could lose control and true hell would break loose all around.
Desperate for some way to contain the magic, before I lost it, I kicked open the door opposite the room we had been trapped in and began to force the magic in there. If I did lose control of it, at least there’d be an extra set of walls between everyone and the explosion that I was so certain would happen!
As the energy cleared the hall and filled the room, it grew darker. Denser. By the time I had the energy all out of the hall, I was beginning to think I’d made a mistake in judgment. The dead were now starting to wander out of the rooms and into the hall, and there I was – standing helplessly in the middle of it, lost in my own battle with the magic trying to go out of control!
‘Don’t worry, Mu Lord! You have us!’ Crystal’s mental shout was an immense relief, as she pushed herself out into the hallway and turned to face the dead on the left. Mongo was just a step behind and boldly moved to the right. I wasn’t certain how badly the explosion had hurt them both, or how well the healers had patched them up, but it was a relief to know that they were there, between me and the dead. Tuning out the battle in the hall between them and the stragglers who wandered out of the rooms, I focused my whole attention on fighting the wild power before me.
The problem, as I pictured it, was two-fold. First, the energy was too large and too wild. With an effort of will and a large expenditure of my own energy reserves, I forced the magic to compact itself. Brighter and hotter the fire burned, as I forced the energy into an ever smaller space. In the beginning, it filled the whole room. Then it filled all but a hand’s width of the room. Then several feet around the edges of the room were free of the storm’s influence.
I imagined a star imploding, all that energy and force being turned inwards like a neutron. Denser and tighter, I packed the energy, forcing it to the point where it was eventually no larger than my hand in the center of the room.
With the size of the problem contained, I then focused my attention on the second part of the problem as I was it – too much death and corruption within it. By turning the fire inwards, I could consume the corruption and destroy it, so cleansing the taint from the energy was a simple enough task. Trying to maintain control over that much death, though, wasn’t something I was built for. Death is not one of the magics which I have the best control over to begin with!
Stretching my imagination to the limits, I finally focused on a desperate – if simple – plan. Life was the natural counter to death, just as death was the natural counter to life. If I couldn’t control the death energy, perhaps I could balance it!
Using the barest amount of power to maintain control of the now-tiny storm, I began to channel the energy of life into the mix. Had we been in the forest, this wouldn’t have been a difficult process, as there’d be a large amount of life to draw upon and use. Down here, surrounded by the dead, however, I must secretly admit – I took drastic measures.
I pulled directly from the strongest sources of life in the immediate area and ripped energy directly from my comrades. Tiffany and Jess were both healers. Both had made a point of steeping themselves in life energy. Both were excellent sources of power for my current needs – so I ripped the energy out of them forcibly.
I’m sooo going to hell when I die!
Borrowing their strength, I wrapped life energy into the mixture and watched as the black-blue fires now began to swirl with streaks of white as well. After a while, the ball of power looked like a child’s oversized marble, and a balance of energy was formed inside it.
Slowly, I began to release my own magics and watch the orb as it floated in the center of the room. It now seemed self-contained, showing no sign of exploding or instability. As I finally released my grip on it completely, it simply sat in mid-air and hovered.
And then, it blinked.
Just like an eyelid closing, the darkness clicked down over the swirling light and then clicked back up. Slowly, curiously, the orb began to move and hover around the room. Sluggishly, it inspected the room it was in, and then it turned its attention to the doorway and blinked once more in my direction.
May the gods have mercy on my soul – I think I’m a father!
Regaining Lost Ground
Glancing left and right down the hallway, it appeared that the immediate threat had been settled. Tiffany was over near Mongo, healing away on his wounds, and Jess was tending to Crystal’s. I could tell from a slight burning in my own arm and side that those were the places Crystal had been hurt, but the stinging pain was subsiding and going away with each moment’s healing from Jess. Dino was…
Just what the heck was Dino doing anyway?
Looking around, it took me a moment to locate him – still standing in the room where we’d been, while all the rest of us were now out in the hall! Grumble, grumble, mumble, mumble. The things I wanted to think about him weren’t something that I’d want Crystal to hear me thinking, so I censored myself before following that train of thought too far. What was done was done. I’d just have to keep in mind his bravery and dedication to staying behind and watching the group’s rear. Someday, I’m certain, there’ll be a chance to make use of such selfless dedication.
The little orb was now starting to try and flutter its way out into the hall, but it was either having trouble bouncing into the doorframe or else it was just having fun tapping itself back and forth at the entry like a yo-yo. Reaching out a slight tendril of magic, I was going to try to identify whatever I could learn about the thing, but it lashed out and zapped me! A small bolt of electricity arced back along my flow of probing magic and sent a jolt of current through my body that made my hair stand on end and my teeth tingle in my gums.
‘My Lord! Are you all right? Are we under attack?’ Crystal’s thoughts came quick and clear to my mind, and she was spinning and checking up and down the hallway looking for any danger; her sword at the ready.
‘I’m fine. Our new friend – if you want to call it that – was just letting me know to keep my fingers to myself, I think.’ I must say, it’s odd to share thoughts with someone but mighty convenient. I believe this is one side effect of our souls merging that I’ll come to enjoy and find a lot of uses for in the future!
“Guys,” I spoke loud enough so everyone could hear me, “we should probably get back in the rooms. I know from previous experience that staying out in these hallways isn’t the least bit safe. The dead will trudge another wave down these passages before long, and we don’t need to stay out here and fight them for now. As long as everyone can move, let’s move inside and get those doors shut.”
“And what about this room?” Dino asked, drawing attention to the center room which he was still in. “You went and
blew the damn door to smithereens showing off back there!”
Showing off?! I blinked a few times as my brain couldn’t sort out what he was accusing me of, and then I had to blink a few more times. I swear, if he wasn’t a teammate and a roommate, I’d probably melt him where he stood! Luckily for him, I simply bit the side of my cheek so hard that I could taste blood rather than say anything and argue with him.
Unluckily for him, Crystal didn’t bother to show the same level of restraint. Striding down the hall, into the room, she faced Dino eye to eye – and then proceeded to slam her fist into his face. THWACK! The sound of muscular knuckles pounding into the meaty softness of his nose was so loud it carried plainly all the way out into the hall for everyone to hear.
Blinking once, Dino staggered and then flopped backward to fall on his ass. Blinking again, Dino reached up with both hands to stop the blood that was now gushing from both nostrils. I was pretty certain from the solid sound of the impact that Crystal had completely broken his nose. Dino mumbled something which sounded like, “Wahb dab beld!”, but it was hard to make out what he was saying with his hands in the front of his face and his nose flattened and gushing.
“My Lord was not showing off, you pompous pampered pussy-posing prick!” Glaring down at him, Crystal looked like she was ready to kick Dino to death, if he so much as blinked at her funny. I suppose as a leader, I should stop it – but I wasn’t going to.
“The bitch with the magic,” Crystal continued on, apparently not caring about my own inner debate about stepping in. “The one whom you whined over not letting him torture and torment – set a gods be damned trap at the entrance! If it wasn’t for My Lord and his quick use of magic to shield us and reflect the magic, the explosion probably would have killed us all. I’m certain it would’ve killed you, you whiny little prick!” Completely unladylike, Crystal spat on him to show her total disgust.
“You’d best hope that it’s never up to me to save you, or to risk my life standing in front of your pathetic pussy-ass! You might find me moving much slower than you’d prefer if it ever comes down to it.” Glaring, she stood there defiantly serious, arms crossed and face twitching with obvious anger.
“That’s enough Crystal,” I said gently. “You’ve made your point. Stand down; we don’t have time for this.” Already I could sense the presence of the dead marching across the ground as they pressed back in towards us again.
Ignoring Dino’s pathetically bleeding condition, I eased into the room and walked past him and Crystal. Passing by, I smacked Crystal lightly on the rump – and then half jumped as it felt like I’d almost smacked myself as well! Talking mind to mind, I could enjoy and get used to. Touching myself as I touched her? That was…. Weirdly disconcerting is the only way I can describe it. I don’t think I like that side effect at all!
Trying to push my own squeamish thoughts aside, I strode back to the far side of the room and worked my magics upon the stone bars which I’d hastily erected when Megan had unleashed the dead to swarm in on us. Just as constructing them was a simple enough task, deconstructing them was just as easy. Earth is my specialty, and I personally prefer to work it over all other magics; though fire is a close second. With a wave of my hand, I shifted the bars and floated them over to the entrance and used them to replace the door that had been splintered by the explosion.
Easing through the gap on the left, I could tell that Crystal was doing a quick check of those two rooms. It was at this point that I was stuck by a certain oddity – Megan had opened the doors and let the dead in. The only thing was, all the doors were closed in the hallway. Had she shut and trapped them, just on the off chance that we might fight and try and escape out one of those rooms first? Was the dead not fully under her control? Did she need to seal them in to keep them from wandering off, or following her life?
I honestly couldn’t say. I suppose it’s just one more mystery that I have to add to my list of “Whys”. Maybe someday, I’ll get an answer to some of the things I don’t know. Funnily enough, I don’t even know if I ever will! ‘Why can’t I learn the answer to my whys?’ might end up becoming one of those eternal questions that echo endlessly in my thoughts.
“It’s all gone or destroyed, My Lord.” Crystal came back into the room, shaking her head sadly from side to side. “My armor is gone. So is the Lord Mongo’s. Your carvings have been shattered and destroyed, and our packs, clothes, and all are missing. Apparently that bitch wasn’t taking any chances of us escaping; she stole or destroyed all our stuff.”
“All the healing supplies and medicines are gone as well,” Tiffany told us, coming back from the other side with Mongo. “Megan’s really turned into a meanie-weenie,” she pouted.
Glancing around, Jess was over tending to Dino, and the odd little floating orb was hovering near Tiffany, playing with her hair as it slowly sent currents of electricity to make single strands stand on end. Much to my amazement, rather than being scared or frightened, Tiffany seemed to find the little thing quite amusing. If she wants to take it, figure it out, and deal with it, that’s fine with me! One less thing for me to worry about.
For now, I had more than enough to worry about. We’d cleared the rooms again, retaken our lost ground, but gained nothing from it. Crystal was still dressed only in her bare skin and jewelry. Mongo was wearing shorts and was shirtless. He had his sword; Crystal had hers; otherwise, we were more or less defenseless except for the magic we could bring to bear down here – and even for me, I had my limits.
Sighing deeply, I slowly nodded towards Crystal. “You’ve got a lot of work to do, I’m afraid.”
“Work, My Lord?”
“Aye. I need you to destroy the walls between these rooms.”
“Certainly.” Without even bothering to ask why, Crystal turned and sliced deeply into the wall separating us from the room Mongo and Skeet had been staying in. I have to admit, it’s nice to be trusted.
I was hoping that we could retake the rooms, gather up our old gear, and then move out and try and stop the darkness and save Ghost. Unfortunately, Megan had thrown a cog in those gears. I was only going to rest long enough for everyone to get their magic back before moving on.
Now? Now I was going to have to stay here long enough to get a few more pieces of armor and weaponry before leaving.
I suppose Heartstone Enterprises is open for business once more. I wonder if the dead with like my Creations as much as Le’Nara claimed the living did?
The Marble Knight
The next period of time all blurs together in my mind. The others slept while Crystal carved large chunks out of the wall, which I then purified and shaped into various objects with my magic. We were on a deadline, and I could feel the clock counting down relentlessly on us, so I pushed myself repeatedly to exhaustion. Melt stone. Purify stone. Enhance stone. Strengthen stone. Shape stone. Harden Stone. Refine Stone. Pass out. Wake up. Eat tasteless food. Piss in the corner, if I didn’t forget and piss on myself – I truly did enter one of those mindless stupors of completely exhausted labor.
A blade for myself, so I could fight up close if need be. Then a stone breastplate for Mongo to protect his heart and vital organs – dreaming up a way to hold the breast piece and the back piece together, and also maintain flexibility was almost beyond my imagination.
Oddly enough, the design I settled on to hold it together was made similar to the hinge on a door. Two circular sections of stone overlapped each other where the front and back plates met at the side, and a simple stone rod slid through those holes to hold the whole piece together. It was crude, but it worked to hold the two halves together.
The flexibility of the armor was maintained by layering the stone in strips about two finger’s width square, with stone links over them to hold it together. In the end, what I’d created was a pure white, marble looking suit of chain-plate! And, unfortunately, it was heavy!
Which added even more work as I had to alter the stone to reduce the weight. Another stage of refinemen
t and enhancement was added, where I enchanted the armor to almost float by itself – effectively making it almost weightless – and then I added a natural resistance to heat and fire to the armor. It looked to me like it’d be hotter than hell to wear, so I had to add a minor enhancement to help pull the users excessive body heat outside the armor so it’d stay cool.
In the end, after who knows how much time had passed, I’d created a breastplate that was stronger than steel, as light as air, resistant to heat and fire, and basically had a built in air conditioner! And, I was exhausted.
Exhausted, and with a seemingly impossible workload before me!
Time lost all meaning for me. I honestly couldn’t say if it was day or night; if I ate breakfast or supper. I pushed myself to the brink of exhaustion so many times; so often; that I went to sleep exhausted and woke up the same way. The constant nagging feeling that time was against us drove me to push myself mercilessly.
The others did…
Honestly, I don’t have a clue what the hell they were doing during this time. I had the vague impression that they were talking from time to time, or that they were eating, or trying to thin the dead through the bars in the hall, but I was so tired that nothing truly registered. I think I participated in a few conversations and helped make some plans, or talk about what I was going to do with my life when I got out of this place, but I wouldn’t swear to it.
I was simply lost in a daze. Greaves, boots, gloves, and helm – one by one, I slowly made a whole suit of Heartstone Crafted armor for Mongo. It wasn’t fancy. I didn’t take the time to engrave it or make it look pretty. I cut corners and I rushed the process as much as I possibly could. Strength, durability, and usability was all I cared about – and even then I worked myself into a stupor.
