Soulstone: Oblivion (World of Ruul Book 3)

by J. A. Cipriano

  Nova hesitated for a split second, and then ran toward the next platform and jumped. She landed near the center of the second stone disc, and as the first one started to sink back down, the one she was standing on started to rise.

  “Just keep going! Jump as soon as you’re even with the next stone,” I called out, and then turned to Crash. “We need to get moving fast, try to keep up with her,” I said. “Do you want to go next? I know how much you hate going last.”

  “Not this time, I don’t. But yeah. I’d rather have you behind me — maybe you can catch me if I fall,” he said with a quick, nervous smile, moving back in preparation to jump.

  As Crash ran and leapt onto the stepping stone, I looked up and saw that Nova had made it to the third platform. It was already rising, and Crash’s stone was going up as well. I watched him stagger slightly with the motion, and then jump to the next one, and I got ready to start heading up myself.

  The first stone took about fifteen seconds to begin moving up, but the rest of them started rising the instant they were landed on. It didn’t take long to find the rhythm of the shifting platforms, and I noticed that both Nova and Crash were making the jumps easily as I settled into the pattern. Within ten minutes after I jumped off the cliff, we’d all made it to the big, stable floating platform.

  The surface was a rough oval, about the size of a hockey rink. Most of it was flat, smooth rock, but there was a piled stone wall about three feet high around the edge. And at regular intervals, mounted on short pedestals just inside the wall, were glittering crystal statues of creatures — roughly humanoid except for the massive wings on their backs, with pointed faces and mouths frozen open to reveal teeth complete with vampire-like fangs. Some kind of demon, I guessed.

  “Well, those look like fun,” I said as I moved toward one of the statues for a closer look. “At least they’re not attacking us.”

  “Yeah. Not yet, anyway.” Crash glanced at Nova, who was letting George down from her hood. “So we made it up here. I guess you were right again,” he said. “Now what?”

  I shrugged, still checking out the statue in front of me. There was nothing else up here, so I figured we’d have to fight these things somehow. I looked into the crystal statue’s frozen, leering face, the outstretched arms with taloned hands, and the muscled chest. There was a dark, narrow slot in the center of its chest about an inch long, the only flaw in its glittering surface.

  “Damn it, where is she?” Nova’s voice carried through the air as she moved around the perimeter of the wall, as if her sister was hiding behind one of the statues or something. “We need to keep going,” she said, breaking off suddenly to head toward me and Crash. “There’s nothing to fight here, so how do we get off this thing?”

  “Boss, look out!” George shouted suddenly. “Above you!”

  I looked up fast in time to see a figure made of wind and shifting smoke with glowing red eyes, rushing down at me from the star-strewn sky. I dove for the ground, feeling a rush of air like a cold blade pass over me just before I rolled onto my back and shot a fireball at the apparition.

  The attack went through the monster like it wasn’t even there.

  “Goddamn it, there’s more of them!” Crash said as he looked up and took a step back. “Spectral Blades!”

  As I got to my feet, I saw the ethereal blue blades pass right through another wind-shrouded creature that was dive-bombing Crash. He whirled aside, barely missing a collision with the monster.

  “Cone of Ice!” George called out, bounding into the air to pelt the first wind creature with a hail of ice. But like the rest, his attack had no effect. The spray of ice moved through it and burst from the other side, headed for the sky.

  Nova was crossing the platform at a run, her staff upraised. One of the insubstantial monsters was right behind her and closing fast. “Get down!” I shouted, preparing to blast it with Stun Shock and maybe slow it down, at least.

  But instead of diving for the ground, she jumped and spun around whip-fast to point her staff at the creature. She said something I couldn’t make out, and the end of her staff glowed with a ball of light.

  That was when the wind monster collided with her and immediately burst into a swirling vortex of smoke. It spun in the air and collapsed in on itself — and Nova vanished along with it.

  “Nova!” I screamed as two more wind creatures shrieked down from the sky, joining the one that was currently going for George. I sprinted for the rabbit with a quick glance at Crash, who’d cast Firewall and once again narrowly dodged the monster when it burst through the wall of flames unharmed. “George, you need to move!” I shouted, casting Stun Shock at the creature headed for him.

  But before I could see whether the attack did any damage, the world vanished as a screaming tunnel of wind closed in around me, tearing at me and peppering my exposed skin with grit. My feet left the ground, and I began to spin and tumble around like a lone sock in a dryer. As my gut churned and rose into my throat, there was an incredibly loud popping sound. And everything went black.

  23

  The next thing I knew, I was on my back in a dimly lit space with a throbbing headache, feeling dizzy and nauseous and completely hollowed out. I groaned and blinked, trying to force my eyes to focus. Eventually I realized the flickering blur above me was a ceiling lit with torchlight.

  I rolled to my side, pushed up, and immediately spotted Nova lying motionless in a heap a few feet away. Not sure my jelly-filled legs would hold me up yet, I crawled toward her, grabbed her shoulder and rolled her face-up. Her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted and her skin too pale, but she let out a shuddering breath when I moved her. At least she was alive.

  There was another loud pop somewhere behind me. I turned my head just in time to see George materialize in mid-air and fall limply to the floor. “No!” I said breathlessly as I forced myself to my feet and staggered toward him. Before I got there, his hind foot twitched and his eyes blinked open, and I sagged in relief.

  The popping sound filled the space again. This time Crash appeared a few feet above the ground, a little bit past George. He dropped down, landing hard on his knees as his eyes rolled back and he slumped sideways. “Uuurgh,” he moaned as he lay there, twitching.

  Suddenly, George bounded into the air, twisting and contorting like he’d been shocked. He came down on all fours and stared at me, blinking as his head bobbed down slowly. “Why’s all this rainbow on the grass? I can’t smell any blue,” he slurred thickly, sounding like he’d just downed a twelve-pack. “You gotta lady, fluff? I bent she’s on that airplane. Whoosh! Whee!” He took a few staggering hops and collapsed again.

  “George!” I made my way over, sat down hard and picked him up. His entire little body was shivering, but he gradually stilled as I held him.

  Finally, he started breathing easily. His nose twitched as he turned his head to look up at me. “You know what? That sucked,” he said.

  “Yeah, it did,” I said. “You scared me. I thought I’d lost you.”

  “Pfft. Like I’m gonna lose to a bunch of windbags like that,” he said. “I’m way too awesome.”

  * * *

  “YEAH. AWESOME, AND ALSO CRAZY,” I said as I grinned at him. “You went nuts for a few seconds there.”

  The rabbit shot me a look. “What are you talking about? I’m totally sane.”

  “Really? Because you were babbling something about rainbows and airplanes and you couldn’t smell any blue,” I said as I smothered a laugh. “You sounded like those kids in the YouTube videos after they got drugged at the dentist.”

  George wiggled his nose. “What’s a YouTube?”

  “Never mind. Long story. I guess you’re going to be okay, then,” I said, laughing as he wiggled in my arms and hopped down.

  “Of course, I am. I don’t know about these guys, though,” George said as he headed for Nova, who was still lying there with her eyes closed, but breathing. “Hey, are you awake? I bet this is like a princess thing
, and she needs a kiss to wake up. Don’t worry, I’ve got this one,” he said.

  I looked around to see how Crash was doing. He’d gotten to his hands and knees and crawled a few feet away with his back turned. “You okay, man?” I called.

  He replied with a choked retching sound. “No,” he gasped. “I’ll live, though. Just make sure Nova’s all right.”

  By now I was feeling a little more in control, and a little less like I’d just been through the world’s largest blender. I stood and tested my legs, making sure they’d hold me before I headed for Nova.

  She was starting to stir when I reached her and knelt by her side. George was across from me with his paw on her shoulder. She moaned softly, and then her eyes flew open and she gasped. “What happened?”

  “Apparently, we got transported by a bunch of wind monsters to … uh, here,” I said as I really looked around for the first time. We were in a large room with no doors or windows, but there was an opening in one wall leading to a long, shadowy corridor with a few guttering torches on the walls. A light breeze blew from the corridor and filled the room with gentle puffs of air. “But I have no idea where here is,” I finally said.

  “Well, that’s encouraging,” Nova said weakly, trying to smile. “Did we lose anyone?”

  “Not yet,” I said as I reached down to her. “Need a hand up?”

  “Thanks,” she said, slipping her hand in mind. I helped her to her feet, and she wavered for a few seconds before she steadied herself, blinked and looked around the room. “Hey, Crash … are you going to make it?”

  Crash was more or less standing, propped against the wall and leaning forward with his head hanging and his hands on his knees. “Oh, yeah. I’m fucking great,” he rasped without looking up. “Except my guts feel like they’re on a Tilt-a-Whirl, and have I mentioned that I hate rides? I can’t even go on a stupid carousel without feeling queasy.”

  I started toward him, but he waved me off and straightened on his own. “Just give me a minute. Really,” he said.

  Nova was heading cautiously toward the opening leading into the corridor, her head cocked slightly to one side. “So, I guess that’s the way out,” she said, squinting into the dimly lit space. “And we should check for traps, right? Detect Trap,” she said as she held an arm out and sent a burst of emerald light spreading down the hall. Alternating squares on the floor remained lit with green, showing the exact path not to take.

  About halfway down the corridor, the green light of the spell passed over a dark, huddled shape on the floor.

  “Oh my God. Did you see that?” Nova said breathlessly as the traps continued lighting up down the hall. “Light!”

  A soft white glow filled the space and illuminated the shape. It was a dark-haired woman, slumped sideways with her head down, legs sprawled, one limp hand resting palm-up on the floor with her fingers slightly curled.

  “Terra!” Nova screamed as she took off running, avoiding the green squares.

  “Shit, we’d better get down there,” I said to Crash. He nodded and started forward, and I went down the hall after Nova with George right behind me.

  When I reached them, Nova was nearly hyperventilating as she propped the other woman up. “Terra? Oh, no, please…” she said, gently moving her sister’s hair back over her shoulder and revealing a pointed ear, the same as hers. So Terra had taken an elf avatar, too. Nova cried out when she spotted the dart embedded just above Terra’s collarbone and yanked it free, then placed two fingers along her neck. “She’s alive,” she whispered. “I can feel her pulse. She’s alive!”

  I crouched at the unconscious woman’s other side as Crash reached us and stood back with George. “Check her for more darts,” I said, realizing that the walls of the corridor were riddled with murder holes. “I’ll try to cure her.”

  Tears spilled from Nova’s eyes as she nodded and started searching her sister carefully. I held a hand over her heart. “Cure,” I said, pushing hard to drive the healing energy.

  As I kept up the spell, my mana drained faster than I’d ever seen it. I stopped when it hit fifty percent, and there had barely been any change in Terra, except maybe her breathing had quickened a little. “I don’t think I have enough mana to cure her,” I said.

  “I’ve got it,” Nova said as she plucked a second dart from Terra’s thigh. She threw it down the hall, and then reached up and pulled the vial of white Cure Potion from her inventory. “We’re not through this level yet, so I’m just going to use this and save the mana,” she said, pulling the cork from the vial. She held it to Terra’s slightly parted lips, tipped the unconscious woman’s head back slightly and poured the potion down her throat.

  Terra moaned, and her eyes moved behind her closed eyelids. One hand twitched slightly.

  “Damn. Looks like that’s still not quite enough,” I said as I called up my inventory tab. “I’ll give her mine, too.” I selected the vial, and when it appeared in my hand, I uncorked it and tipped the glowing white potion into Terra’s mouth.

  She coughed and drew a huge, gasping breath, and her eyes snapped open. They were an incredible shade of green, and they were looking right at me. Her delicate eyebrows rose, and she blinked and licked her full lips.

  Finally, she said, “Who the hell are you?”

  “Terra!” Nova threw her arms around her sister, sobbing once. She hugged her tightly and pulled back with tears sparkling in her eyes. “I found you. I finally found you,” she whispered. “I thought …”

  “Nova?” Terra said hoarsely. “Is that you?”

  “Yes, it’s me,” she said as she took Terra’s hand. “I’m here.”

  Terra gave a slow blink, and one corner of her mouth turned up slightly. “Good. Because I’m gonna kill you.”

  A quick flash of anger moved through me that she’d react that way, after all we’d been through to find her — but then Nova laughed, even as tears spilled down her cheeks. “Come on, let’s get you up,” she said as she pulled Terra’s arm around her shoulders.

  I supported her from the other side, and together we managed to help her to her feet. She leaned against the wall, breathing hard for a minute, and then brushed me away and took her arm back from Nova. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “Just give me a little space here, okay?” She closed her eyes for a second, and then looked at Nova and smiled. “Thanks for coming after me. Even though you should’ve just come with me in the first place.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry,” Nova said as she stared at the floor.

  Once again, I found myself getting a little irritated at the way Terra was treating her sister. I also had a better look at her, now that she was on her feet. She wore a skintight leather suit with a crossed black belt at the waist, knee-high boots, black leather half-glove gauntlets tooled with silver and studded with thick silver spikes on the knuckles, and a green hooded cloak over it all. Her hair was pure black, darker than Nova’s, and threaded with beaded silver chains. Her long, slender fingernails were painted black.

  So, she was an elf Goth chick. That was super hot.

  “I take it you’re Terra?” Crash said, staring at her the same way I’d been.

  Terra lifted her head slowly and looked at him. “And you’re some guy who’s hanging around my sister, like your friend here,” she said as her gaze darted to the floor. “Also, you have a rabbit.”

  “Actually, he’s my rabbit,” I said.

  George fluffed himself up. “I ain’t nobody’s rabbit, unless I feel like it.”

  “Oh, my God. It talks,” Terra said as her mouth fell open.

  “His name is George, and he really doesn’t like people calling him ‘it,’” I said before George could inform her in less friendly terms. “By the way, you’re welcome.”

  “Uh-huh,” she said slowly, narrowing her eyes at me before she turned to Nova. “Okay, who are these guys?”

  “They’re with me. Well, actually … they’re with us,” Nova said as she met my gaze, looking slightly embarrass
ed. “I invited them to our party, so they could help me find you. I had to do it.”

  “Great. Just what we need, a couple of newbs and a talking rabbit. Well, come on, then,” she said as she stepped from the wall and faced the far end of the corridor. “We’ve still got three levels to beat once we get out of this one.”

  “Hey! You need to stop and listen for a minute,” I said.

  Terra faced me slowly and folded her arms. “Why, exactly, do I need to listen to you?”

  “Because first of all, we already beat the earth and water levels,” I said as I glared right back at her. “Second, I’m pretty sure you’re not at full strength yet—”

  “Nova can heal me,” Terra cut in, looking annoyed. “I can’t believe you played through half my instance already.”

  “Well, you were kind of almost dead!” I said loudly. “We didn’t know where you were, and we had to start somewhere. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who was so ungrateful for having their life saved.”

  She opened her mouth, closed it again, and managed to calm down a little. “Fine. If I’m stuck with you guys, I might as well know your names,” she sighed. “Besides George the rabbit.”

  “I’m Kahn, and he’s Crash Overdrive,” I said, adding in Crash’s last name just so she’d get it right away. After all, Terra actually played Titan Gate, and Crash and I were both champions. I figured she’d be impressed when she recognized us.

  But she just looked at me. “Fantastic. I’m Terra. Let’s go now.”

  “Uh, didn’t that mean anything to you?” I said. “Kahn and Crash, Titan Gate World PVP Champions?”

  “Yeah, I don’t really follow PVP,” she said, shaking her head as she turned back to Nova. “Can you heal and buff me, so we can finish this bullshit wind area? I’ve been in here long enough already.”