A limb emerged — a hand, bloodied and disfigured, with the bone twisted in horrifying ways.
My eyes widened. Oh god.
Soft footsteps approached me. “Get off,” Freya said.
I was about to protest, but the look in the elf’s eyes told me not to. I jumped down from the top of the pile, and landed at her side.
She thrust her hand up and a gust of wind came forth, striking the pile of white. Dust went flying away, and another thump sounded. A red hunk laid on the dark surface now.
I rushed up to it, with curiosity building through me.
A bloodied body laid there, disfigured beyond recognition. My gaze rose up to its head, and then I froze. I turned to Freya. The elf had her hand over her mouth, with her eyes wide and her body shaking.
My chest tightened as I looked back at the hunk of meat, at the pointy ears jutting out of what used to be a head.
Whatever this thing was now, it used to be an elf.
A dark elf.
Ijyela’s brethren.
***
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Drops of red slithered down my fingers. My nails were soaked in blood, just from touching the mass of disfigured meat before me.
What have they done to you. I averted my gaze from the body. Piles of white dust lay around us, some in neat mounds, most of it just scattered around. I walked over to the large mound a few yards away—the remains of another skeletal giant.
I turned to Freya, and the elf nodded, thrusting her hand up from where she stood. A gust of wind spurred, blowing the specks away and revealing a mass of meat underneath it as well. My gaze rose up to the head of the form.
I clenched my fists. Another elf.
“Why are all these elves inside these skeletons?” Nyx asked.
I don’t know. I eyed the messed-up form. This one was worse than the previous. Other than for the head, nothing else made it look humanoid. Its body had been crushed up, and blood trickled down the mess that remained.
I pulled my gaze away. I couldn't even stare at these things for more than a few seconds. I didn’t want to.
Footsteps approached. “What do you think is going on here?” The Death Lord stood beside me now.
“I don’t know. But it’s inhumane.”
“It seems like the skeletons were using these beings. Power sources maybe?”
“I can see it happening. But I’m not sure.”
The Death Lord knelt down, and his hooded head leaned close to the elf’s. “No breathing.”
“They’re all dead.” My tone was cold. “What did you expect?”
“Nothing.”
I glanced back at Freya. The elf still shivered, with both her hands at her side, and clenched into fists. I walked up to her, but her eyes never looked up to me. She was fixated on the being before her.
“Freya.” I touched her shoulder.
She jerked back, and glanced up at me. Her eyes trembled for a second, and then she calmed. She blinked, and exhaled a long breath of air.
“Listen,” I said. “If you feel—”
“I’m fine.”
I paused. “Are you sure?”
“It’s okay. We can’t stall here.”
I stood silent.
“Diablo, I can’t find anything about these things.” The Death Lord walked up to us. “Their cause is mysterious to me.”
“I didn’t expect much,” I sighed. “I couldn’t tell anything about them either.”
“What do we do then?” Freya asked.
“We move forward.”
“To where?”
“Though what happened just now wasn’t ideal, it confirmed what the Dark Lord said, that there is something going on in these ruins. All we can do now is trust his words a little more.”
“Meaning?”
“If he said I should visit the Hexel Ruins, he meant the chamber that he’d used before.”
Freya’s eyes widened. “You mean the mountain?”
I nodded. “I know stuff happened the last time we were there…”
“Zoran.” She looked right at me. “I can take it. I’m not afraid.”
I paused for a moment. That had not been what I’d expected from her. I smiled. “You’re stubborn.”
“I’d like to think it’s one of my more endearing qualities.”
“Alright.” I looked up. Acnologia, you ready?
The Dragon spread its wings and descended down to the battlefield. I quickly jumped onto its back, with the Death Lord and Freya hopping on behind me.
“The delta?” the Dragon asked.
I nodded. The delta.
He flapped his wings and surged into the air, rising high into the sky. The wind kissed my face again, just as it had countless times before, but now every instance was like a fresh of breath air. I glanced down at the sea of white dust, and my eyes involuntarily searched for the two spots of red we’d uncovered.
Why did that happen to them?
“I’m not sure,” Nyx said. “Some kind of forbidden sacrifice?”
I frowned. Possible, but I’d have expected runes on the body then.
“True. Although such a thing could be done without a rune.”
Maybe. What else could it be?
“If I were you, I would be more curious about what the rest of the Dark elves are doing,” Acnologia said.
I am curious. But not as much.
“The Dragon’s right,” Nyx said. “It would be helpful for us to think about what the Dark elves are up to. They had a massive army the last time we came here. We haven’t seen a single one–a single LIVE one–yet. It’s like they all just got up and ran from this place.”
Well, if the skeletal army was any indication, that IS a good possibility.
“I don’t know. Heslia isn’t the kind to back off that easily. Remember when he tried to take you out? That happened even after he found out you were the Phantom Lord?”
Yeah. I smiled. Ijyela had to come by to actually make him stop.
“And now he’s not even here.”
I glanced down to the dark lands underneath. The Dark Lord was right. There IS something weird going on here.
“Or he sent you here so he could kill you,” Nyx said.
Oh please, do you really not trust him either?
“Whoa there. You actually ‘trust’ the guy now? Are you okay?”
I rolled my eyes. You know what I meant. Trusting his words.
“Well. I trust his words a little more than I trust him. Mainly because I recognize the circumstance both he and we are in right now. But even then, I don’t take his statements to be our guidelines.”
But we don’t have any other source of information to go on.
“I’m not saying it’s wrong to listen to him. But don’t put your faith in his words. That isn’t a clever thing to do given the situation we’re in. You’ve already been betrayed once before.”
My chest tightened. Ouch, Nyx.
“Hey, I just tell the truth.”
The air heated up, and the dry breeze now sucked moisture from my skin.
“We’re close,” Acnologia said.
The temperature turned higher with every second that passed. Sweat collected inside my armor, weighing me down. The metal plates themselves didn’t heat up, but I certainly felt the toll for still wearing them.
“Why do you have them on anyway?” Nyx asked.
Reasons. I looked towards the horizon.
A sole mountain emerged before us. A large line of smoke rose from its top, climbing up to the stars.
I frowned. “The volcano is active now.”
“It wasn’t that way the last time,” the Death Lord said.
“Either way, we need to be prepare. We can—”
Heat washed over my face, and I glanced down, at the new land coming up beneath us. The original delta had been formed by two rivers of red and blue lava cutting through each other.
That delta was now gone.
A lake of blue and red lava
sat before the volcano, with streams of the colors twisting and turning within the body. Small specks of land stood amongst the lava, but each one was not more than ten yards wide, and most likely not stable either.
“This place has seen better days,” Nyx said.
I nodded. Weirder things keep happening.
Freya pointed down. “Zoran!”
I followed her finger down to the lava underneath us. Two dark silhouettes flowed through molten rock, lifeless. Red flames covered the bodies, keeping them on a slow boil as their still forms flowed to the whims of the lava.
More death, I sighed. What the heck is going on in these ruins anyway?
“Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to be any good,” Acnologia said.
I scanned the surface, searching for anything else. I spotted five more dead bodies making their way through the flow of the molten rock. There were probably more. But I had no reason to search for them all.
A glint of light caught my eye. I turned to it, staring at the source. It was on one of the small specks of land down in the lava lake, but that wasn’t going to stop me from going up to it. I pointed. “Acnologia, land there.”
“Eh?” Freya asked. “What’s going on?”
“I might have found something useful.”
The Dragon glided down to the speck of land. Heat rose around us as we flew over the molten lake. The plates of metal on my armor were now warm, and grew warmer the more we descended.
“This is far enough,” I said at about fifty yards up. The Dragon spread out its wings, and flapped gently, hovering in the air.
“What?” Freya asked. “What do you mean this is far enough?”
“Having all of us go down to that piece of land is not a good idea,” I said. “Plus, Acnologia won’t fit on it.”
She looked down at the lava, and then back at me. “Zoran, you can’t go alone.”
“It’ll only take a moment.” I swung my leg over the Dragon and jumped down. I dropped the distance and thudded into the floor, sending a few pieces of rock into the air. The land shook for a second, and then stabilized.
Phew, okay. I exhaled.
“I actually thought this was going to break apart,” Nyx said.
Same, I grinned. I turned around, looking down at the ground. Now, where are you?
A flash of green shone into my eyes again, only this time it was much less intense. I quickly ran to the middle of the mini-island and knelt down. There was a green light coming out of the pores in the surface. I scooped up the soil with my hand and tossed it away. The light grew, shining brighter from the bigger gap. I dug with both hands now, and it took me less than a few seconds before I hit something hard.
I dusted the soil, and a structure emerged underneath. A large crystal disc laid there, with one green rune in the middle, drawn in large, bold strokes.
I don’t know what this is, but it can’t be good.
“I don’t sense any odd powers coming from it,” Nyx said. “I can’t tell what it is either.”
A whoosh sounded. I perked up, and glanced around me. A body slowly flowed through the lava, with its meat and bones burning from the heat of the molten rock. But that wasn’t what had made the sound.
Another whoosh sounded behind me.
I pulled out Dawnbreaker and held it against my back. A force thudded into me, and the sound of metal on metal rang through the air. I flicked outwards, and turned around.
My attacker slid to the edge of the mini-island. He held a long sword of rustic gray in his arm, and a dark robe covered him from head to knee, with the hood atop it hiding his face from view. He wore a normal set of pants underneath, with the fabric torn and charred in many places.
I stepped forward, and pointed the weapon at him. “Who are you?”
No response.
I used my Analyze skill.
DING!
Warning!
Object cannot be analyzed!
This guy is an object? I frowned. What the hell?!
My Analyze skill did two things when it couldn’t analyze something. If it was a person or some living thing, it called it the subject. If it was a non-living thing, like a weapon maybe, then it called it an object.
This man before me was clearly a living thing.
Isn’t he?
“This is weird,” Nyx said.
I held my sword up. I don’t trust what the Ga’em says most of the time, but this not one of them.
“Tch,” the man clicked his tongue and shot forward. I pulled out Dearthsoul and brought my blades into an X-formation. “Sword shield!” I yelled. A layer of light covered the weapons, forming the shape of a shield.
The man’s sword scraped against my defense, and I pushed back at him. He backflipped, and slid to a stop. Multiple whooshes sounded now and many more hooded figures emerged on the other pieces of land around us.
A gentle mental pressure entered my mind. I smiled. They’re Eternals.
“What?” Nyx asked. “These are the people the Time Lord summoned?”
Probably.
“Zoran!” Freya yelled from above me. She was trying to jump off, but the Dark Lord was holding her back.
Acnologia, take them away.
The Dragon looked down at me. “Are you sure?”
Not too far, but far enough so she can’t jump down. I turned around.
The elf yelled out to me once again, but her voice disappeared quickly this time, and I presumed Acnologia had done as I’d asked. I turned my attention to the man before me. There were four other hooded figures around us, all on the island-like structures in the lava. If I wanted to take them out, it would probably be a struggle.
Then again, if these Eternals aren’t too strong, it might not be that hard.
A whoosh sounded and in a flash, all five enemies rushed at me. I leapt up into the air, heading to one of the empty lands. However, the men altered their path and leapt off the floor, surging up to me.
Your bad. I thrust my hand up in the air. “Tritus Oceanus!” I yelled.
A blast of water surged from my palm, striking the men. Their momentum cut off and they dropped to the molten magma, plopping right in.
But nothing else happened.
I landed onto the empty piece of land, and turned around. The men were simply wading up to me now, and their clothes weren’t even on fire. A green tinge emerged around them as they walked, one that I hadn’t noticed before. The Time Lord. My fists clenched. He’s protecting them.
“Fine,” I muttered. “If that’s how you want to play.”
I charged forward, pulling Dawnbreaker out. I shot up from the edge, right to the cluster of men. A spark of darkness flickered from someone’s palm. I came at them before they could attack, and my sword swung hard.
The blade went through one man’s neck, cutting it clean and dropping it into the magma. I pushed off from his shoulders, and leapt over, onto the second man. He thrust his palm out, and a blast of fire shot from it.
I brought my hands up, letting my armor bear the attack. I dropped through his beam and caught his head with my free hand. I twisted my body, and used my momentum to snap his neck. He arched back, the strength in his legs now gone. I placed my leg on his chest and leapt, onto the three other men. A blast of darkness now shot at me, much stronger than the other one.
I lifted Dearthsoul out, with its purple jewel glowing, and slashed through the beam, splitting it into two and diverting it to either side of me. My momentum took me down and I slashed through one skull. I stepped onto the man’s shoulders and used it as a launch point to the next target.
I switched things up and swung down the next man’s shoulder now, cutting into his heart. His body went limp, and I turned around, looking for the last one.
But he was gone.
A blast of darkness hit me from behind and I was thrown forward, towards the lava.
Damn it. I put my hand forward. “Tritus Oceanus!” I yelled. A blast of water surged from my palm, and into the lava. The reco
il force pushed me back, and onto the island the last man was on.
He thrust his hand up, following my motion.
Oh no, you don’t. I pointed my hand at him. “Oskis!” A blast of fire surged down, just as he summoned his darkness. The two attacks cancelled out, and an explosion blast from the contact point.
I fell through the smokescreen, and right for the island. I pulled out Dearthsoul as well, and held one sword in either arm. I broke through the smoke screen a second later, and down to the man.
He wasn’t even glancing up at me, and was looking around the lava, as if I was going to come up from there.
Bye bye. I spun, slashing into his chest as I came down. I thrust my sword into him, and the blade cut right through his chest. I gripped the handle with both hands and twisted. A silent gasp left his lips and he slumped on my sword.
I pulled my blade out, and he dropped to the floor, his body limp. I knelt down before him.
“What are you doing?” Nyx asked.
“The other heads all vanished under the magma, so I might as well look at this one when I still can.”
I tugged at the hood and lifted it up.
Long blue hair flowed out, falling down to the man’s chest. His face was colored the black of the night, and two pointy ears emerged from either side of his head.
I froze.
His eyes of navy blue stared at me, dead, and eternally open.
No, no, no, no. My arms shook, clasping his hood between my fingers.
This wasn’t an Eternal. This was a Dark Elf.
Worse. A Dark Elf I knew well.
I’d just killed Heslia.
Ijyela’s brother.
***
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“This can’t be good,” Nyx said.
Strands of blue hair stuck to my hand, wet with blood, and traced a line of red across my wrists.
You think?
Winds pushed down from above. Acnologia descended the air, and hovered beside the mini-island. Freya jumped down from his back, and landed next to me.
Her eyes were already wide open, and her lips trembled before she even spoke. “You killed him.” Her voice was soft, and yet I could sense the faintest hint of anger within it, an anger that was subdued and restrained.
The Eternal: Hellbringer - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 5) Page 14
