Awaken Online: Inferno (Tarot #3)

by Travis Bagwell

  Then the blast wave finally burnt through the doors guarding the reception area. Finn saw a rolling wave of fire streaking down the entrance hallway, and the ground began to shake more violently, dust billowing out of the tunnel ahead of the avalanche of flame.

  “Here it comes!” he shouted.

  The group hunkered down behind Kyyle’s wall, Julia hovering protectively above her teammates. Fire spewed from the opening in a rolling wave of destruction that stretched at least a hundred feet out of the tunnel, molten scraps of metal and stone crashing into the nearby shrubs and vegetation. The mixture of flame and shrapnel burnt and cut into the forest surrounding the entrance to the Forge, carving a deep furrow through the vegetation. Trees were torn from the ground, their limbs and leaves burned to ash in mere moments. The flames were so hot that the center of the blaze glowed a blinding white.

  The energy exploded past Kyyle’s stone wall, the material shifting and cracking from the force of the blast wave. The stone only partially blunted the heat, and the group felt their skin begin to redden and blister from the nearby inferno. Yet they couldn’t afford to move – not until the torrent abated. They held their position, each watching their health dip precariously in the corner of their vision.

  The wave of flame soon melted the rock and crystal around the entrance to the Forge, droplets of molten stone dripping down the walls and ceiling. The structural integrity of the tunnel couldn’t handle that sort of energy for long, and it soon began to crumble. The ground shook even more violently, and large cracks arced out away from the entrance. One of those long lines speared outward toward their position, threatening to destroy Kyyle’s wall. Brock acted quickly, scooping up Kyyle as Julia yanked at Finn’s arm, pulling them farther back from the entrance to the Forge.

  With a final massive tremor, the tunnel collapsed – the combination of rock and crystal bowing and then snapping with a thunderclap that echoed off the nearby mountains. Hundreds of tons of rock crashed down into the tunnel, abruptly cutting off the stream of fire. A second blast wave of kinetic force jetted forward, carrying with it a mixture of dust, rock, and crystal. As soon as that wave escaped the tunnel, it fanned outward. That collection of shrapnel blasted apart the remaining vegetation surrounding the entrance and caused the remaining trees to bend and crack.

  In the face of that oncoming avalanche, and without Kyyle’s barrier to protect them, Julia whirled and raised her shield. “Get behind me!” she cried.

  The surface of her shield shimmered with air mana, and then a blast of air jetted forward, cutting through the blast wave and creating a small pocket of clear air as the debris hurtled past and around the group. Julia cast Air Blast again, and again, using all of her shield’s charges in the span of a few seconds.

  And then…

  The world began to calm.

  The ground stopped trembling. The dust began to settle. And as they regained their view of the Forge, the group could see that Nar Aljahim had decimated the facility – ensuring no one would ever return. The entrance was destroyed. A mountain of rubble now rested where that stone portal had once stood, and a large crack radiated up the side of the mountain for hundreds of feet. Finn could only imagine the damage inside was worse. Likely, the heat had caused the interior sections of the facility to crumble, hundreds of thousands of tons of rock and stone finishing the job, and sealing the facility closed… permanently.

  “Holy shit,” Julia muttered, slinging her shield over her back as she surveyed the damage with awe shining in her eyes.

  As Brock helped Kyyle back to his feet, the earth mage grumbled, “Does anyone else feel like this happens to us a lot? You know? Blowing the hell out of whatever place we’ve just explored? I’m starting to sense a pattern is all I’m saying.”

  “He does have a point,” Daniel chirped. “We’re two for two on blowing up the dungeon as we leave. Technically, three for three if you count that column of fire in the Mage Guild when Finn received his class.” A pause. “Although, I really fail to see how we’re going to top this one…”

  Finn let out a weak chuckle. As he surveyed the scope of the destruction, he was inclined to agree. The chances of finding some sort of super-advanced underground laboratory that housed an ancient fire elemental again seemed unlikely.

  “It seems you lot know how to make an exit,” a familiar voice chimed from the woods.

  Finn glanced over to find Silver emerging from the ring of ruined vegetation that encircled the former facility entrance. Ash still drifted down through the air, streamers of smoke curling from the stumps that riddled the area. Her packmates circled behind her, their eyes wide as they took in the destruction before them. For once, the surly shapeshifters seemed at a loss for words. And perhaps just a bit wary of the group that had just blasted apart the side of a mountain.

  Although, Finn wasn’t going to point out that that had been Nar Aljahim’s doing.

  “We try,” Finn replied. Yet he hesitated as he watched the druids, his brow furrowing in confusion. Something felt off.

  Why hadn’t they been closer to the entrance?

  Not that he was upset that they had retreated farther into the forest – that move had likely saved their lives. But it seemed unusual from a tactical standpoint. He also noticed that their blowguns were gone – as were their packs. And Silver kept glancing furtively at the surrounding trees, some of her typical feral fire having given way to… subdued anxiety? Even the other two shapeshifters at her side looked browbeaten. With his Mana Sight, Finn could see a worm of fear and doubt weaving through each of their energies.

  Moving discreetly, Finn dug into his pack for another two orbs, his former spheres having been lost amid the chaos. He nudged Julia with his elbow and made a quick gesture. His daughter’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly, and she reached slowly for her lance. Finn held his hands behind his back, mumbling the incantation to Imbue Fire under his breath.

  “We’re glad to see that you’re alive. And it appears you upheld your end of the bargain,” Silver continued, watching Finn with an unwavering gaze.

  “We did indeed. Although, I’ll admit I was expecting a warmer reaction after we rid your territory of this potential danger,” he replied slowly. His eyes were on Silver, but his attention was focused on the remaining patches of forest behind her. The ash might obscure the treeline from Kyyle and Julia, but that didn’t stop him. His brow furrowed as he detected no obvious signs of mana.

  Silver’s hands went wide. “Well, you see, there’s the thing. We’ve been rather preoccupied in your absence,” she said, practically growling out the words.

  As she finished speaking, Finn felt Julia tense beside him, and he swiftly switched to Short-Sighted. Nearly two dozen wraith-like figures materialized from the ash rain, weaving around the ruined trees, the trunks still smoldering. The group fully ringed the clearing around the entrance to the Forge. Dark eyes peered at them through slits in masks, covering their faces. They were robed in familiar cloth wraps, daggers held in hand. Finn also hadn’t missed the fact that they had been invisible to his Mana Sight, which could only mean one thing…

  The Khamsin.

  One man strode forward out of the group, pulling the cloth wrap from his head. Scars riddled the rough skin of his face, and stubble coated his chin – the hair a motley mixture of gray and brown. A thin cloth bandage was draped over one of his eyes, obscuring it from sight. Yet behind that barrier, Finn could see a glowing cluster of air mana.

  A magical eye? he wondered. The energy is dense. Something powerful, most likely. It seemed Finn wasn’t the only person in this world that had undergone some experimental body augmentation.

  “Who are you, and what do you want?” Finn asked bluntly, although he could already anticipate the answer. His teammates were eyeing the Khamsin warily, and Finn had brought his two orbs online – the dark metal suspended behind his back, flames licking weakly at their surface as he maintained heat rank level 1. Once they engaged, he wouldn’t be able to
use Short-Sighted, but he was already highlighting the location of the Khamsin in his UI.

  “My name is Thorn,” the man grunted in greeting, his lone eye drifting to the bandage across Finn’s face – his expression unreadable. It was safe to assume that Eldawin had communicated Finn’s abilities. “I was sent at the behest of the Order.”

  “The Order?” Finn asked, feigning ignorance. “Sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Meanwhile, his mind was racing. This must be the organization that Aerys had alluded to – a splinter group of Khamsin devoted to destroying magic.

  A faint smile tugged at the man’s lips. “In that case, we’re here at the request of Eldawin – a name I suspect you will remember.”

  “I do seem to recall meeting a gentleman by that name before we left the Hive. Nice guy. Just a touch of senility if I recall,” Finn replied smoothly, noting the way Thorn’s shoulders tensed involuntarily.

  Good. Finn could use that anger right now. It seemed Eldawin had finally decided a dead prophet was more useful than a living one. And Finn and his companions were at a disadvantage. Outnumbered, surrounded, exhausted, their mana and health depleted, nowhere to run. His only play here was to cloud Thorn’s judgment and hope to get the jump on him. He sensed that words alone weren’t going to sway this stoic, severe man.

  “And what exactly can we do for Eldawin? As you can see, it’s already been a rather long day…” Finn trailed off as he waved at the destruction behind him.

  “That depends on what you have to show for your efforts,” Thorn answered immediately – seemingly unaffected by the destruction of the Forge and the surrounding area. “Did you recover a weapon to fight Bilel?”

  Finn nodded. “Yes.”

  The man simply stared at him in response, as though waiting for something. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t take your word for that,” Thorn replied. “Do you have any proof?”

  “And why the hell should we prove anything to you?” Julia snapped. “You threaten the Seer’s prophet, imprison our allies, and now stand here, barking orders at us?”

  Thorn smirked at Julia. “Trust me, if it were up to me, there would be far less talking. However, Eldawin has always been a pragmatist. My orders are clear. If you managed to recover a weapon to fight Bilel, then we’re to calmly escort you back to the Hive. If not, well… it will be unfortunate that the prophet was unable to survive his journey. Perhaps our people were too quick to assume that Finn had the Seer’s blessing, after all.”

  “I’d love to see you try and take me out,” Julia said ominously, taking a step forward.

  Thorn’s figure blurred, the man flashing forward with incredible speed.

  One moment, he stood beside Silver, and the next, he was in front of Julia. Despite his speed, Julia was still able to react, anticipating his movement and her lance telescoping outward toward the man’s head. However, Finn saw Thorn’s eye flash with a pulse of yellow light, and he dipped under the blow smoothly – almost like he had seen it coming. An instant later, he held a blade to Julia’s throat. She swallowed hard, glaring at him above the dagger.

  Finn grimaced. That eye was trouble. There were only so many applications of air mana – particularly for a permanent ocular augmentation. The man’s reflexes and form were incredible, but that move spoke of foreknowledge. Finn’s guess was that the eye let him glimpse a few seconds into the future. Although, he was also well acquainted with the game’s augmentation system. They were powerful, but they also came with limitations.

  You can’t anticipate what you can’t see coming.

  Finn’s fingers twitched, and his two molten orbs compressed into two thin spikes before slithering into the ground surreptitiously. Kyyle caught sight of the movement and took a careful step forward to help cover for him.

  “Stay where you are,” Thorn snapped, that lone eye shifting to Kyyle. Then his attention drifted back to Julia. “So, what were you saying again?” Thorn demanded of Julia, his voice perfectly neutral and his blade not wavering an inch.

  “I suggest you take a fucking step back,” Finn said forcefully, his mana flaring, heating the metal embedded in his eyes.

  Thorn glanced at him, that amber gem shining again. “Or what? Please, give me an excuse to put the so-called Prophet in the ground. I’d like nothing better than to rid this world of another mage, particularly one that has allied himself with the Crone.”

  Finn just smiled grimly in response. “Says the man with a magical eye,” he retorted. “If you ask me, the hypocrisy is a little hard to swallow.”

  Thorn’s good eye widened slightly, and he let out a low growl. But Finn’s fingers twitched behind his back, and two lances of metal rocketed from the ground. Within less than a second, the blades were hovering at the back of Thorn’s neck. The man froze, pressing his blade a little more forcefully against Julia’s neck.

  “Didn’t see that coming, did you, asshole?” Finn asked.

  Thorn grunted. “I still have a blade against your daughter’s neck.”

  “Just kill him,” Julia croaked, her eyes never leaving Thorn’s face.

  “See? No fear. That’s the thing about being a traveler. We respawn,” Finn said.

  A pause and Finn continued, “Now, how about we have a calm conversation, absent the posturing. We recovered the weapon we were looking for. We have a way to fight Bilel and defend the guilds against the relic he wields. If you were telling the truth, then that means you’re obligated to return us to the Hive.”

  “There’s still the matter of proof,” Thorn bit out.

  “Unfortunately, you lack the ability to confirm what I’m saying,” Finn replied. “You’re going to have to accept my claim on faith.”

  Thorn stared at him for a few seconds longer. Then he seemed to reach a decision, withdrawing his blade. “You’re different than the other travelers,” he said, grudging respect entering his voice as that lone eye watched Finn. “I may even regret the moment the Emir’s head rolls, and the Order no longer has a use for you.”

  “I suspect I will too,” Finn replied under his breath. Then he let out a sigh and withdrew his own blades, keeping the weapons floating beside him. He doubted he’d get the jump on Thorn twice, but they were more for show than anything else.

  “Now,” Finn said, glancing at Silver and her pack, “Free the druids. They have no stake in our conflict with the Emir.”

  Thorn frowned, eyeing Silver and her group. “This woman and her kind were not part of my orders – yet they still seem to use magic. Of a sort anyway. I saw this one manipulating the plants, and these three appear to be some sort of shifter,” he said, eyeing the group distastefully.

  Finn could see Silver’s hands clench, and her gaze shifted furtively to her packmates. He didn’t want a conflict here – not only because the druids had helped them. Thorn might use the resulting chaos as an excuse to kill Finn and his companions. The man was already clearly unhappy with his instructions. And despite Finn’s cavalier attitude, he most definitely did not want to risk a respawn if he didn’t have to.

  “This woman and her pack helped your so-called Order,” Finn said, Thorn’s gaze whipping back to his face. “They assisted us in destroying that facility,” he said, waving over his shoulder. “The Forge was once used to craft powerful magical tools and weapons. Now that technology can no longer harm anyone – Silver’s people or the Khamsin.”

  Thorn eyed the destruction looming behind Finn, his brow furrowed as he mulled on Finn’s words. “Fine. So be it.” He waved at his men, and they pulled away from the druids.

  Silver shot Finn a questioning glance. “Go. Now. We won’t bother you or your people again. Do not venture farther north into the desert sands,” Finn said curtly.

  The woman met Finn’s gaze one last time, and he saw appreciation shining in her eyes – for once overshadowing the suspicious glare that seemed to be her default. Then she nodded and waved at her group. They started for the tree line, and, within moments, had disappeared. Finn
could only hope that their camp was well hidden. He couldn’t be certain whether their type of magic truly fell within the Order’s purview, but they hadn’t done anything to justify an attack by Eldawin and his lackeys.

  Finn breathed a mental sigh of relief. Although, judging from the severe expression on Thorn’s face and the way the man glared at Finn’s glowing metal orbs, he doubted that his group was entirely out of the woods.

  “Now, how about that escort back to the Hive?” Finn said, approaching the Khamsin and meeting Thorn’s gaze evenly.

  As Finn neared, Thorn darted forward in a flash of movement. In an instant, he was standing beside Finn, his hand snatching one of the molten lances from the air. As Finn looked on, he saw the fire leak away from the metal – the mana drained in mere seconds – which left Thorn holding plain metal lances. His eyes never left Finn’s as he crumpled that dark metal barehanded and then dropped the slag, the metal striking the ground with a dull thud.

  Finn noticed two things in that moment.

  Thorn’s hands were completely unharmed by either the flame or the jagged metal.

  And deep fingerprints had been embedded in the slag resting along the ground.

  Which led to one obvious conclusion. This man was not to be fucked with. Finn might have gotten the jump on him, but Thorn had never truly been at his mercy.

  “Good. I see you understand your situation. You live by my will alone. Remember that,” Thorn snapped. Then he simply turned away from Finn. “Come along,” he called over his shoulder. “We have a long way to travel.”

  As he strode away, Julia and Kyyle glanced at Finn. He could see the same thought reflected on their faces. Who the hell was this man?

  Finn just shrugged, grinding his teeth. It seemed they had little choice but to follow Thorn’s instructions – at least for now. The only silver lining was that with Thorn and his men escorting them, they were likely at less risk of getting attacked by the native wildlife or ambushed by Bilel’s soldiers out among the sands. Assuming, of course, that Thorn didn’t change his mind and decide to crush their skulls bare-handed.