“Zoran, are you okay?” Acnologia asked.
I looked through the bars. Why do you think something like this is happening now?
“What do you mean?”
The Eternals coming up. It’s not something that’s supposed to happen, right?
“Ah,” Nyx said. “That’s true. It’s still not clear how those two beings came to this world, to this time, in the first place.”
I didn’t even break through a damn seal this time.
I glanced at the walls once again, and ran my hands along their surface. Dust collected at the tips of my fingers. What was I even trying to find? I wasn’t sure. I just wished there was something.
I touched the indentations in the walls but they were nothing more than unrelated dents. Nothing significant. Nothing groundbreaking.
Not what I needed.
CLOP!
I froze. The sound echoed through the stone walls, and bounced around the cell. I looked around. Where is it coming from?
CLOP!
What even is that? I stared into the darkness, but saw nothing.
“Zoran, I don’t sense any presence around us,” Acnologia said.
“Neither do I,” the spirit said, but with a tremble in his voice. I hadn’t heard him speak like that before.
And now that he did, it didn’t make me feel any calmer.
CLOP! CLOP!
The sounds hastened.
Footsteps.
CLOP!
They were coming from ahead of us.
CLOP!
And then they stopped.
I peered through the bars, hoping to catch something I hadn’t seen before. A whoosh sounded, bringing a strong breeze along with it, and the wind flowed into the cell. I stared through the gale, my eyes watering. And then I regretted it.
A form emerged before me—a man in armor.
Damn. My fingers curled into a fist.
He stepped out of the dark haze. “How wonderful to see you again.”
My teeth clenched. “Hello, Azmuth.”
***
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Well. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t half-expect it.
The Dark Lord’s form flickered before me, and the haze around him floated into my cell. He now wore a proper set of golden armor, with only the chest piece missing.
“So, Diablo,” Azmuth chuckled. “How do you feel?”
I raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t get enraged that I called you Azmuth,” I said. “Did you finally get over whatever your phobia was?”
He stared at me, and my words were left hanging in silence.
Did he just realize I’d called him Azmuth?
He grasped the stone bars of my cage, and cracked them with his grip. “I do not think you are in a situation to make jokes, Eternal.”
I grinned. You just set me free, you idiot. I stepped forward and hurled my fist, smashing it into the cracked bars. The structure buckled easily this time, and the door split in half at the breakpoint. I thrust my other hand forward and yelled. “Uher!”
But nothing happened.
A fist smacked into my face and I crashed into the back wall of the cell, slumping to the floor. “That felt good.” The Dark Lord stepped into the cage.
“You got stronger,” I muttered. My fingers ran over my bruises and I lifted myself back up.
“I was always strong,” he said. “It’s just that now I actually get to use my strength.”
“You’re using your full strength against me?” I asked. “Why? You can’t get rid of me, Azmuth.”
“Get rid of you?” he asked. “That isn’t what’s going to happen here.”
I frowned. “What kind of game are you playing?”
He turned around. “Come.”
The Dark Lord simply walked away, and vanished into the darkness. I blinked, What the heck was that?
“We should probably follow him,” Nyx said.
I looked into the empty darkness. Or we could run. I rushed out the bars, and put my hand in the air, trying to summon my Shadow Travel skill.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Azmuth called from ahead.
My hand dropped immediately, like a young child caught stealing.
“Come,” he said. His form was nowhere to be seen, but his voice floated from ahead of me
I stepped forward, and then stopped, gazing into the darkness once again. Do I really want to do this?
Footsteps echoed further ahead, and then paused. “Don’t make me force you.” Azmuth’s voice turned deeper.
“Yeah, yeah.” I muttered and followed. I activated my Night Vision skill but the darkness didn’t clear up, and just lingered in my vision. The Dark Lord had disappeared within it, but his footsteps still rang clear, as his metal boots struck the stone floor.
My muscles tightened. How much stronger do you think he’s gotten?
“No clue,” Nyx said. “I couldn’t tell from that punch you took.”
I touched the reddened patch on my face. Yeah. Wouldn’t want to take many of those on.
“Let us focus on doing what he says for now, Diablo,” Acnologia said. “Remember, there is a lot that just happened that we need answers to.”
I nodded, and strode forward, with my footsteps landing heavier and faster. An instant later the darkness around me vanished, with the haze pulling away.
“Good. You listened.”
Azmuth stood before me, and his golden armor reflected the dull light in the chamber. The metal plates reflected images of the carpets over the floor, with the red streaks acting like the armors makeshift decor.
“What do you want from me?” I asked. “You’re being awfully nice.”
“Are you saying I cannot be nice?”
“Hard to justify that you are.”
He chuckled. “I do applaud you, Diablo. It must have taken quite a bit of self-control to stop yourself from attacking me.”
I clenched my fist. “Oh, it did.”
“Unfortunately, I am not the same way.” He snapped his fingers.
The shadow I was casting jumped at me, and before I could blink, my vision turned to darkness. My chest clenched, my lungs constrained, and air rushed out of my body. My limbs were frozen, unable to move and all sensations left my skin, robbing me of the last sense that I had.
Seconds later, the black vanished from me and I dropped back to the floor, my chest against the stone, heaving for air.
Claps rang into the chamber. “That was splendid, Diablo!” The Dark Lord knelt beside me now.
I twisted my palm to face him. “Uher!” I yelled. A Dark Phoenix broke through the ground and shot to him.
Azmuth simply waved his hand and the Phoenix disappeared, disintegrating into dark smoke that was then sucked into the corridor I had exited.
“So, how did that feel?” The Dark Lord touched my hand.
I slapped it away weakly, but spoke no words.
He chuckled. “That was a spell you use often, Diablo,” he said. “I wonder how many people you put through hell when you used Shadow Capture.”
“A lot less than you did,” I muttered. My hands still trembled, but I clenched them into fists, squeezing the tremors out.
“I see.”
I glared at him. “What do you want with me, Azmuth?” I asked. “If you have no reason, then what are we even doing here?”
He snapped his fingers, and two shadows flickered beside him. Their forms quickly emerged into the light—a lady in silver robes and a man in black ones.
The Eternals.
How could I have forgotten? I looked at the Dark Lord. “They’re Eternals. So?”
Azmuth laughed. “So?” he asked. “Two more of your kind show up and you’re not impressed?”
“The last two of my kind who showed up were a spy from the past and a Dark Lord,” I said. “More Eternals? Not a fan.”
“These two are quite impressive actually. Got them as a gift.”
“Hey!” the lady said. “We’re
still people you know”
The Dark Lord glared at her and her eyes turned to the floor.
I frowned. Well, this is clearly a functioning relationship.
“You still haven’t answered why you brought me here,” I said.
“Well, for one, you were too close to my base for me to sit comfortably and do nothing.”
“What? We never came close to you—”
I froze.
“Ah, yes,” he chuckled.
I placed my palm against the stone floor. The air in here had felt warmer than I’d expected, and yet I hadn’t known why. “The volcano,” I whispered.
“Indeed,” he said. “And when you intruded, I had to have you taken out.”
I blinked. “Why is your base even here?”
“So many questions,” he chuckled. “Why does anyone move bases? I have an operation going on.”
My eyes widened. “The Dark Elves.”
“Huh?”
“You’ve been attacking the Dark Elves, haven’t you?”
“What?”
“Azmuth. What have you been doing to the others who walked into the delta?”
He stared at me. “What others?”
“Are you telling me all this while not a single person has crossed this place?”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with you, Diablo, but I was back in the Empire until a few hours ago,” he said. “We fought there, remember? Big battle? You ran away?”
The image sparked my mind. That had been literally six or seven hours ago.
“What actually happened to all those missing Dark Elves then?” Nyx asked.
“You seem perplexed,” the Dark Lord laughed. “This is odd. I had not expected you to become this way from just a few words.”
“This operation,” I said, bringing back the conversation, “what does it have to do with me?”
“Why does it have anything to do with you?”
“Considering I’m here being held captive by you, I’m assuming your operation involves me in some way.”
He chuckled. “You came here searching for an oddity, did you not?”
I blinked. “How did you…”
“One learns of things quite easily. This oddity that you are searching for…What if I told you I had found it? What if I told you I would tell you where it was?”
My eyes narrowed. “And why would you do that?”
“Mutual benefits.”
“Zoran, this is the Dark lord,” Nyx said. “There are no—”
“I’m listening.” I stared right into those blue eyes of his. If there was a hint of hesitation within them, I was going to find it.
“The oddity is being shielded by a sort of…presence. It isn’t something normal folk can get through—even Eternals.” He pointed to the other two. “All three of us have tried and failed. We need someone with a tendency towards…spirits.”
This is where I come in, I thought. “So, you want me to go track this oddity?”
The Dark Lord chuckled. “First of all, Diablo, the oddity that you noticed isn’t a Spectral Spirit.”
I froze. “What are you talking about?”
“I know what your plans were. Get a Spectral Spirit and defeat the oh-so-strong Dark lord. Unfortunately for you, the oddity isn’t a Spectral Spirit.”
Damn it. He knows everything. My fists clenched. “What is this oddity then?”
“A weapon.”
What? I blinked. What good is a weapon to me?
“Wait, ask him about it,” Nyx said.
“What kind of a weapon?” I asked.
He chuckled. “That is not necessary for you to know.”
“Well, considering you want me to get it for you, I think it’s better I do.”
He stared at me. “I supposed telling you won’t hurt,” he sighed. “It is a weapon dubbed the Infinity Sword.”
My eyes widened, and my heart shivered in excitement, just from hearing the name. Sure, the oddity wasn’t a Spectral Spirit like I’d thought—an assumption this entire quest had been based on. But the phrase Infinity Sword made me feel like finding this weapon instead of a Spectral Spirit would not be that bad of a trade-off either.
“What’s wrong with you?” Nyx asked. “A sword instead of your Spectral Spirit? A weapon is nothing compared to breaking a part of your seal!”
“Diablo, the spirit is right,” Acnologia spoke. “Focus your thoughts. We must concentrate on your Spectral Spirit first.”
I looked at Azmuth. “Why do you want this weapon?” I asked.
“Such a question is not of your concern,” the Dark Lord said. “Just go and get it for me.”
“This is the mutual benefit? I see your benefit. What’s mine?”
He chuckled. “Your life.”
“I don’t die, you idiot. Death does not exist for people like us.”
He smiled at me. “You think Eternals live forever, don’t you?”
I froze, and my eyes turned bloodshot. I’d heard those words before. I’d heard them from the Time Lord.
My shoulder’s tightened. Why is Azmuth uttering them here?
“If trying to win back your own life isn’t motivation enough, I may have something else for you.”
The Dark Lord snapped his fingers, and a chuckle echoed from behind us.
Screams burst into the air, and the cries of pain were riddled with sobs. The sounds echoed repeatedly, and with each instance they seared through my heart. Then it got worse.
I recognized the voice.
“FREYA!” I yelled.
A blast of darkness shot at me, and threw me down to the floor. The Dark Lord placed a foot on my chest, and pinned me to the surface. “If you don’t come through with the sword we’re just going to end up playing a fun game of ‘How long can the elf scream?’” He leaned in and whispered. “Personally, I don’t think she can take much longer.”
“Stop it.” I trembled now, and my clenched fists did nothing to stop my shivering fingers. “I’ll do it. Just stop it. Don’t hurt her.”
The Dark Lord snapped his fingers again, and stepped away from me. “Excellent choice.”
The screaming stopped, and I exhaled, with my heart still quivering. I looked into the darkness, but saw nothing other than the black. The screams still rang in my ears, beating against the walls of my heart.
“We don’t have much time to waste,” Azmuth said. “The faster you get the sword, the faster we can get this done with.”
That’s what you think.
“Fine,” I said. “Just tell me where I need to go.”
The Dark Lord slid open his Ga’em menu and tapped on it a few times.
DING!
You have obtained a new location: The Hexelian Plateau! Location has been added to your map and will be accessible.
“A Plateau?” I asked. “That seems relatively easy to find.”
“The Plateaus is the landmark, not the location,” Azmuth said. “There is a crevice before it that you will have to enter. That is where you will find the sword.”
“And you’re fine with sending me all by myself. That sounds suspicious to me almost immediately. What’s your gain in sending me alone?”
“Getting the Infinity Sword is not my prime focus now, Diablo,” Azmuth said. “Which is why I handed it to a weaker being such as yourself.”
I chuckled. “Weaker? You said this was a place you yourself couldn’t get into.”
“There is no place for childish squabbling here. You have one day to get the sword here.”
“One day?!” I frowned. “That’s far too little. I don’t even know how much time it’ll take me to find the—”
“You will get it to me in one day.” He glared at me. “Of course, you can bring it to me later if you wish. However, the elf may not survive those extra minutes that you take.”
My fists clenched. “You monster.”
“You knew I was like this, Diablo. We’re all like this.”
Don’t rope me in with you. I g
rit my teeth. “Fine,” I said. “I’ll get it here in a day. How do I leave?”
“Allow me.” He snapped his fingers.
The scenery around me whooshed away, and the next thing I knew, I was falling from the sky, with the wind rushing past me.
NYX, GET ACNOLOGIA!
The spirit didn’t speak, or if he had I hadn’t caught his words, but either way, he needed to get the Dragon out. Now. The ground came into view about a mile beneath me, and I was surging down to it.
“Anytime now!”
A burst of light shone around me, and in a second the Dragon of shadow-black emerged beneath me. I dropped onto its neck about halfway down my descent, and the beast shot forward.
I gasped, holding onto its scaly skin, and letting warmth return to my fingers. “That guy is crazy,” I muttered.
“We’ve set course to this plateau,” Nyx said. “Not sure how long it’ll take.”
“Based on what you told me, maybe an hour,” Acnologia said.
“Fine, that sounds good.” I exhaled, and tried to calm my heart down.
“Are you okay, Eternal?”
“Well, I had a Dark Lord capture me, threaten me with two of his Eternal Mercenaries, and then force me to take up a quest because he’s back there torturing Freya. So yeah. I’m definitely okay.”
The voices remained silent, and the rushing air was the only thing that replied.
I sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, Diablo,” Acnologia said. “The situation is tense. An outburst of emotions is to be expected. It is normal.”
I nodded. “Let’s go finish this quest.”
“By the way,” Nyx said. “We’re not ACTUALLY going to give Azmuth the Infinity Sword, are we?”
I grinned. “Not on your life.”
***
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
How am I going to get through this?
The Dragon surged through the sky at top pace, cutting through the air like a sword through molten lava. The Hexel ruins sat beneath us, dark and dry as it had always been. I couldn’t see any plateau yet though.
The Eternal: A Boxed Set (World of Ga'em Book 6) Page 88
