Peter and the Kuroneko (War of Contractia)

by Dixon, TJ

  Fortunately elves can see just as well as I can in the dark and Lucy is sitting on my shoulder. I am still carrying Elucia on my back. I used earth magic to create ropes that tie her in place on my back, so my hands are free. Dairon is carrying Peter in the same way. Peter seems to be drifting in and out of consciousness, but even when conscious he is completely out of it.

  The tunnel is suddenly lit by a large fireball. I look back and see the spiderflies have been reduced to ash. Not unexpected, although I am surprised they didn’t seem to fight back. A pyroconder is now darting through the hole and others are around it, waiting to get through too.

  We are a fair way down the tunnel now, which turns out to be fortunate. I sense the fire magic of the pyroconder explode as if hit by lightning. Perhaps the enemy didn’t realise what it was, or perhaps they are just unfamiliar with how it reacts to lightning. Using lightning against a pyroconder is a good way of creating a massive explosion, and that is exactly what happens now.

  “Get down!” I shout to Dairon and jump into the shallow water, throwing up an earth shield behind us. Thankfully it holds as flames race past us to either side of and above the shield. Then there is an almighty crash and looking back I see the tunnel behind us has collapsed. If we had been a few feet closer to the explosion we would have been buried under the fallen rock shards and boulders that now block any possibility of returning the way we came. The enemy could certainly break through, but unless they sensed us they are unlikely to try, and I certainly hope they didn’t sense us.

  “At least all the pyroconders seem to have been killed.” Lucy says as she floats back down onto my shoulder. “This better not be a dead end though.”

  “Don’t worry, it isn’t.” I say with a smile. Since the pyroconders are now dead I create my white light so we can walk quicker. “I remember my father’s directions exactly as he told them to me.”

  “Let’s hope he didn’t forget and give you the wrong directions then.” Lucy says with a grin.

  She’s just teasing so I don’t reply. Instead I lead the way through the now empty waters focusing on where I am walking and keeping my senses open, mostly for monsters. As we continue I realise the water is getting deeper until it is up to Dairon’s knees. My father didn’t say anything about this water. I hope it doesn’t get too deep, or we may need to use water magic to proceed. As he is an elf I am sure Dairon is able to use water magic just fine, but the more magic we use the easier it will be for monsters and enemies to detect us.

  “Wait a moment.” I say as I feel something soft under my left foot. I am watching where I’m going so it is quite a shock to step on something. I put my left hand on Dairon’s shoulder to steady myself and lift my left leg. I hold it up with my right hand and turn my foot upwards so I can see what is under my brown leather shoe. To my shock there is a small white blob with dozens of little white tentacles. Each tentacle is no more than the width of a strand of hair but as I watch they are slowly reaching towards my leg.

  I use magic to create a flexible black stone glove on my right hand and using it try to tear off the blob. I manage to get the blob off my shoe, but the tentacles quickly wind around my shoe. No matter how much I pull they don’t come loose and instead continue to creep towards my leg. Desperate I tear off my shoe and thankfully the tentacles now just seem focused on my shoe. I try to burn them with fire magic but they resist and I don’t want to strengthen the flames, because if I use too much magic it will draw attention to us. Besides if I burn the shoes as well there is no point.

  I sigh and use earth magic to form a new shoe out of the same flexible black stone as the glove I created. It is heavier than my leather shoe but unless those tentacles lose interest it will have to do. We can’t just stand around waiting for them to lose interest either. If the enemy did sense us we will need to reach our destination quickly. I don’t want to step on another one of those creatures though, so now I look even more carefully where I am going.

  “What was that?” Dairon asks.

  “No idea.” I say shaking my head. Lucy remains silent.

  “Stop.” Dairon says with a frown. “We’re going to need to use water and wind magic to create an air bubble.”

  “Why? The water is still only just above your knees.” I ask confused. The tunnel doesn’t dip dramatically either.

  “There’s a lot of water heading this way fast.” Dairon says and closing his eyes he forms a layer of water and wind around us. The water below us is pushed away and we are now walking in the dry. I can tell it would take a lot to break that thin layer.

  I sense the change in the tunnel walls before I see the wall of water racing at us. It would be rather scary, but I know there is no chance of it breaking the elven magic that is protecting us. The wall of water just gives way to the thin layer around us and we are now in a large air bubble. The surrounding water gives the whole place a bluish green tint and there are a few small rocks floating around. Other than that though there doesn’t seem to be anything in the water.

  “We’d best stay close. I can’t extend the air bubble too far with this much water around us.” Dairon says and holds out his right hand.

  It feels odd but I take his hand with mine and we walk forwards holding hands. A half dwarf holding hands with an elf! Elves and dwarves have rarely gotten on, and even less so since the elves were conquered by the Fallen Angels. Dairon is an enemy of the Fallen Angels so I am confident that the dwarves will accept him, but they are still not going to like him.

  I can’t sense far past the air bubble, because it interferes with my senses, but fortunately the route from here is mostly simple and it doesn’t block my senses completely. We walk through the winding underwater tunnel in silence and the time passes slowly but we continue without any problems until we reach the first split in the tunnel.

  “We take the left tunnel.” I say remembering clearly my father’s instructions. Sure enough after a minute or two it comes to a dead end. There is an uneven wall ahead with lots of rock sticking out as if it was still being carved when the dwarves abandoned this tunnel.

  “What did I say about dead ends?” Lucy says sounding concerned now.

  “Don’t worry. It just looks like a dead end.” I say with a smile. Then when we reach the wall I crouch and find what I am looking for. “There’s a hidden lever here. Dairon, lie down there and be ready to slide through quickly. Lucy, go through first so be ready too. We aren’t going to have long to get through and I don’t fancy drowning or getting cut in half just because either of you were too slow. Also don’t let the water through the hole when it opens.”

  “Ok, but I can’t maintain the air bubble for too long if we are that far apart.” Dairon says sounding worried.

  “It shouldn’t take too long.” I say and wait until he is in place.

  The lever looks just like part of the wall, sticking out only slightly and would easily be missed if you didn’t know exactly what you’re looking for. Especially since the wall is so uneven, with lots of parts sticking out far more than the lever. Even this lever does nothing unless you use it correctly.

  I pull it, twist it clockwise three times, push it back in, twist it anti clockwise twice, pull it out again and twist it anti clockwise once. Then I use earth magic in the very subtle pattern my father taught me. Sure enough a small hole opens in the wall.

  “Hurry!” I tell Dairon and get down on the ground near the hole as he slides through it with Peter still on his back. I then follow him as quickly as I can and get through just before the stone wall section comes crashing down filling the hole again. I am grateful it is high enough to fit two people at once, but it was designed for dwarves to carry baggage on their backs so I was fairly sure it would be.

  The stone on this side of the wall is a little darker. Although still grey it is definitely getting closer to black now. It will be completely black by the time we reach the dwarven city. That shouldn’t take too long now. It is a straight tunnel from here to the main city gates, th
ough the gates themselves are completely hidden and very easily missed.

  “We should expect to find monsters in this tunnel. The dwarves keep them here to deter intruders.” I tell Dairon and Lucy.

  “What sort of monsters?” Lucy asks floating in front of me.

  “There are stones enchanted to attack non dwarves. There are all sorts of giant insects too. There are probably other monsters too, and if we miss the city gates and go too far we would reach the nests of some really powerful monsters. I don’t know what they are because my father didn’t know. We really don’t want to miss the gates and end up there.” I tell her.

  “Perhaps we should wait for Peter to recover.” Lucy says sounding worried.

  “Don’t worry, we can deal with anything before the gates and I don’t plan on missing them. It would be better to get into the city quickly. If we hang around here we’ll attract the attention of more monsters so it would be better to get moving right away.” I tell her.

  “Then make sure you don’t miss those gates!” Lucy warns and floats down onto my shoulder.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t miss them.” I assure her with a confident smile.

  Chapter 18 (Multiple)

  (Dairon)

  The tunnel’s colour is darkening the further in we get. If it continues to darken it will soon be completely black. Kai still lights the way with her faint white light though, so we can see where we are going. We haven’t met any monsters yet despite walking for a while now.

  As an elf the thought of walking into a dwarven city is more than a little intimidating. There is no way Kai hasn’t considered the history between our people, especially since she said she had been told a lot about dwarven history. Before the Fallen Angels conquered my people and forced the dwarves to hide, there were two great wars between the elves and the dwarves. There were many skirmishes too, but compared to the great wars they were like children bickering.

  The first war we won, but in the second war the dwarves were victorious. That war left us weakened and is one of the main reasons we were conquered. At the height of elven power even the Fallen Angels could not have beaten us. Even weakened we were not easily conquered, but conquered we were and few elves would forgive the dwarves who weakened us. I certainly don’t, but now I must beg for their protection from my own kind. It is humiliating to say the least, but I have no choice.

  I sense an enemy ahead and hold up my right hand in warning. Kai notices immediately and stops. I don’t speak because I’m not sure what the enemy is yet. I just sense magic in the air and it feels dangerous. Kai seems to sense and recognise the enemy after a moment. She grins.

  “Just a few enchanted stones, nothing to be overly worried about. I’m surprised you noticed them before I did. I know how to deactivate them whilst we pass so just wait here until I tell you it’s safe. They shouldn’t attack me, because I’m a half dwarf. Lucy, wait here with Dairon.” Kai says and walks ahead as Lucy flies over to me and lands on my right shoulder.

  “Good luck.” Lucy calls out to Kai.

  “Thanks!” Kai shouts over her shoulder. It only takes a minute or so and Kai is back. “It’s safe for now but we should hurry.”

  I follow Kai at a brisk pace. There are a lot of stones in one big pile, but I’m not sure which the enchanted ones are. I suppose they could all be enchanted. If that is so I definitely wouldn’t want to fight them. We are soon past the stones though.

  “I’m glad that worked.” Kai says breathing a sigh of relief.

  “You weren’t sure?” Lucy asks indignantly.

  “I wasn’t certain if it would work with an elf.” Kai admits. “They might have made them so they always attacked elves even when deactivated.”

  “You should have told me! I’d have sat on your shoulder instead!” Lucy complains.

  “There’s something up ahead.” Kai says and we all switch our attention to the possible enemy. Sure enough, now I know it is there I can sense it.

  “It feels a bit like a Tree Ent.” I say confused. This is really not their natural environment.

  “It is similar, but this is a bit different.” Kai says with a frown. “This is a Fungi Ent. Basically it looks like a giant mushroom, with normally about twelve legs that attach themselves to and slide along whatever it is walking on, whether that is the ceiling, floor or walls. It has three mouths and will eat you if it gets the chance, but what is most dangerous is its spores. They can easily put you to sleep and keep you that way even whilst it eats you. Wind magic can prevent them affecting us, so it would be worth creating a strong wind or an air bubble. It is weak against fire so I will attack it.”

  “I’ll just create a strong wind. It is easier than maintaining an air bubble. Will your flames be ok in the wind though?” I ask.

  “My flames are dwarven flames.” Kai says with a smile. “These things are weak against fire so that isn’t going to be a problem.”

  “Should I create the wind now or when we are closer?” I ask.

  “Can you create the wind and then fly us closer?” Kai asks.

  “Yes.” I say with a nod.

  “Then please do.” Kai says.

  I pick us up with flight magic and create a strong wind. Then I fly us straight along the tunnel and with the wind racing through our hair I feel almost like I am outside. That would be nice, but it may be a very long time before I see the outside world again. We are almost on the enemy when I bring us to a sudden stop. I maintain our position with the flight magic so we float completely still despite the strong wind. I am ready to dodge the enemy if it gets a chance to attack us.

  Kai’s flames rise up even before I see the enemy and it is instantly turned to ash. They are powerful flames and even the strong wind doesn’t cause them to waver. They only last a moment though, because Kai doesn’t waste power maintaining them once the creature is ash. I drop the wind and gently lower us onto the ground.

  “We should wait here for a few minutes to let any spores settle.” Kai tells us and sits at an angle on a bit of rock sticking out from the wall. It doesn’t look too comfortable sitting like that with Elucia on her back, and the rock looks really hard. There is only space for one person to sit, so even if it looked comfortable I would still have had to stay standing. Lucy flies over to Kai and sits on her right shoulder.

  “It should be safer to stay with you.” Lucy says. This is really comforting, but not as much as her next words. “If the dwarves decide to roast Dairon alive I don’t want to get killed too.”

  “They’re not going to do that, are they?” I ask nervously.

  “Don’t be silly, I was just joking. Dwarves prefer to skin their prisoners and feed them to the war dogs.” Lucy says.

  “She’s still joking.” Kai says shaking her head in amusement. “Dwarves generally behead their prisoners if they are going to execute them at all. It is rare though to execute prisoners who haven’t actually done any harm.”

  “Just rare?” I ask cautiously.

  “Very rare.” Kai says.

  “But not unheard of?” I ask nervously.

  “Not unheard of, but it really is rare.” Kai says.

  “I hope this isn’t one of those rare times.” I say with a wince.

  “We really don’t have any choice now.” Kai reminds me.

  “I know.” I say.

  “Peter?” Lucy asks with a gasp. I turn my head and see Peter seems to be awake and more or less with it now.

  “Could you let me down, I’m about to vomit.” Peter says with a coarse voice.

  “Ok.” I say quickly releasing the rope with magic and using flight magic to float Peter down to the ground. I really don’t want to be vomited over.

  (Peter)

  I feel a little weak so I hold onto Dairon’s left arm. I stand there regaining my senses for a few moments and then look up. Dairon seems fine. Looking to the left of him I see Lucy and Kai. Kai is glowing with a dim white magical light and on her back is Elucia.

  “So we did it then?”
I ask. Seeing Elucia with us would certainly seem a positive sign.

  “Yes, David is dead, unless he managed to beat the Spirit of the Mountain, but I doubt that very much. Everyone on our side survived. Hinata and Ara Kii went back to Contractia with the Kuroneko.” Lucy says.

  “Wasn’t it the Kuroneko who was meant to beat him?” I say confused. My memories from the fight are very vague. Yet another gap in my memory! Just what I need… If we won and everyone survived though, that is all that really matters.

  “Sorry, but sometimes to fool your enemies you must first fool your friends.” Lucy says with a grin as if to say that is just an excuse. Perhaps it is or perhaps it isn’t, and she really doesn’t look sorry at all, but I don’t care. It is her plan that worked, so it is thanks to Lucy that we won. I would have had no idea how to defeat David.

  “So where are we now?” I ask.

  “Close to the gates of a dwarven city. We’re heading there in the hope they will shelter us from the enemy, rather than behead or enslave us.” Kai says.

  “If they try to enslave me I’ll fight until I am free or dead.” I tell Kai, staring into her eyes.

  “Don’t worry. I was mostly just joking about that part. I’m half dwarf so they should help us, though we are a little worried about Dairon because he’s an elf.” Kai says.

  “Would it be better to go somewhere else?” I ask worried.

  Kai remains silent with a frown on her face, but Lucy answers me. “We don’t have that option. The way back is blocked and even if it wasn’t there are too many enemies searching for us.”

  “Didn’t you have a plan to return?” I ask.

  “Yes… The portal, but we’ve used that already, remember?” Lucy says glaring at me as if she is actually annoyed now and not just teasing me.