With a roll of her eyes, Sari gestures to the barbarian’s left. Following the motion, Timoran jumps away from the large emerald that is sitting on the heavily dented pedestal. Beneath its facets is an ebony fog that reveals demonic faces as it churns. Steeling his nerves, the barbarian leans closer and sees a white mist drifting along the edges of the jewel. He runs his finger along the face of the emerald and a shock of energy makes his hand tingle.
“This is what the titans and geyser giant were fighting over,” Sari says. Her body still aching, she stands with the help of watery hands that sink back into the puddle. “That thing is making my gut twitch. There’s a chill of evil coming off it, but an undertone of comforting warmth. I can’t explain it.”
“Perhaps it involves the living curse and the guardian,” the barbarian suggests, scanning the tower for his great axe. He notices the weapon on the far side of the roof and hurries to reclaim it. “We know that the guardian gave the emerald to the geyser giants and it was stolen from the titans by Trinity. I have talked with Nyx about magic enough to have a theory. This is the source of the species of living curse that we found within the Garden. Why else would our enemies return it to its home?”
“So they turned the Garden of Uli into an elaborate trap,” Sari replies while adjusting her skirts and making sure all of her daggers are in place. “I’m trying to act surprised, but that makes a lot of sense. They never really tried to stop us from getting here. All they had to do was steal the emerald, corrupt it, and send it home.”
“What should we do with it? Do you believe Nyx or Fizzle can purify it? For that matter, what is it really?”
The gypsy limps to the gem and circles the pedestal like a curious cat. “It’s a magic emerald and I’ve no idea what we should do. I know what I want to do since this thing is so shiny. I don’t normally get enamored with treasure, but I’ve never seen a jewel this big.”
“You realize it has been corrupted by a sentient curse, right?”
“Pretty things tend to be the most dangerous.”
Before Timoran can stop her, Sari snatches the emerald off the pedestal and turns it in her hands. She can hear a rumbling from the jewel as the black fog turns into an angry storm. As the infection churns and froths, the white mist runs along the edges in an attempt to escape the corruption. The gypsy violently shakes the emerald and juggles it for a few seconds, causing her friend’s heart to leap into his throat. The movement within the gem slows down as if the sudden motion has made the fog dizzy.
“That is how you help?” asks a faint voice from the emerald.
“Put it back,” Timoran cautiously whispers, his eyes locked on the jewel.
“Maybe we should bring this to Luke and it’ll cure him,” Sari excitedly says, the gypsy practically bouncing on her toes. “Are you still there?”
“The barbarian is right,” the voice answers as a pair of narrowed, blue eyes appear in one of the facets. “I am too weak to be of any help. Bringing me to the champion would either be pointless or the Meraphor will absorb me for more power. That monster is dangerous enough and it is not even whole.”
“So you are the guardian,” Timoran states, ignoring the laughter that comes from the emerald. “You must know something that can help us.”
“I know many things, but this curse is attuned to the champion. Not the part of him that has been passed on through the ages, but the part that is unique to this specific incarnation. All I can suggest is that you gather the others and go to his side. I can sense that he is about to face the source of his darkness. It is something he must fight alone, but should face it with the other champions.”
“How does that work?” Sari curiously asks.
“It means watch and do not get involved.”
Timoran chuckles and takes the emerald from the gypsy, gently placing it on the dark gray pedestal. “It would appear this guardian has some attitude. At least it explains its advice. I am curious to see what happens when Nyx meets this mystery being.”
“I really hope I’m around for that,” Sari declares, moving to the edge of the turret to look at the garden. All she sees are various monsters swarming among the dying plants. “Where do you think Nyx and Delvin went?”
The tower shakes when an explosion of combat spells erupts from the small shed on Sari’s left. Fireballs, lightning bolts, and bursts pure energy lance into the horde, many of the attacks taking out multiple creatures. The air crackles with raw power that shreds the wings of the flying beasts that screech and hiss. Each corpse dissolves into black mist and swirls around the ground like a lake teeming with ebony eels.
“I believe we found Nyx,” Timoran whispers.
16
Stephen and Trinity stand at the bottom of the wooden stairway while three chaos elves rest behind them. The pair squint into the distance to see the barely visible glow of the Compass Key, which hangs in the blackened cloud covering. Flashes of lightning course through the sky and a rumble of thunder shakes the cliff, rattling the silent pillars. Stephen yawns and bends down to pass his hand through the stairway, the wooden steps shimmering like a fading illusion.
“Maybe it’s only the first part that is fake,” he wonders out loud.
With a roll of his wrist, one of the chaos elves appears in Stephen’s hand and his grip tightens around his victim’s neck. The struggling young man reaches out for Trinity, who is knocked back by a slap from her ally. The callous nobleman hurls the chaos elf at the stairway and he passes through, his body plummeting to the ground. Stephen is already looking away when Trinity leaps over the edge and draws an ebony bullwhip. She swings and lashes it around the flailing man’s arm, a surge of crimson magic tearing at the cobalt flesh. Casting a burst of force, the caster launches them back to the cliff where she lands on her feet and catches her injured follower.
“I’m so sorry about this,” Trinity apologizes as she quickly unwraps the whip. The flesh is torn to the bone and bleeding rapidly, so she encases it in a cast of fiery aura that cauterizes the wound and protects it from infection. “Get some rest and I promise to bring you to the priests as soon as we’re done here. Again, I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay, my queen,” the chaos elf weakly whispers, reaching up to touch his ruler’s cheek. “I prefer wounded to dead.”
“How sw-” Stephen begins to say before a fist of ice knocks him from the cliff. He reappears a second later only to get driven into the ground by a boulder from above. With a hearty laugh, he throws the chunk of stone through the stairway and dusts himself off. “Thank you for amusing me, dear Trinity. I was getting bored.”
“You know our deal. I will defend my people if you try to hurt them,” she growls while the other chaos elves help their injured ally to the far side of the cliff. “Do what you want to me, but leave them alone.”
“An interesting idea,” Stephen says, licking his lips. He lunges at Trinity and catches her by the wrist, twisting her against his body. “Save as many pawns as you want, but I’ll do as I want. I wonder what your people would think if they witnessed what we did in private. Do you think your people would lose faith in you? It would be delicious to see the look on their faces as I humiliate you.”
An explosion of light erupts between them, knocking Stephen through the stairway and slamming Trinity against the white pillar. He is back on solid ground and about to charge at the vulnerable chaos elf when he sees that another of their allies has joined them. The naked woman with black and white skin looks around, her green hair whipping in a wind that nobody else can feel. Even Stephen refuses to attack the Chaos Goddess, her raw power emanating from her pores until she taps her nose and her aura vanishes.
“I’ve come for you,” Yola Biggs says while pointing at the injured chaos elf. The man tries to scramble away, but disappears with a snap of the goddess’s fingers. “Baron Kernaghan’s will has been done.”
“What did you do to her!?” Trinity shouts, leaping to her feet and rushing to grab the naked goddess by the hai
r. “Tell me where she is, Yola!”
The deity falls to her knees bawling like a scolded child, a sudden increase in her weight dragging the caster to the ground. “You said you wanted him to be helped and the Baron was listening, so he told me to get him and send him to the Ambrosine temple for healing while I told Stephen to behave himself and he will have to answer to his father if he keeps killing off our forces while he hides in the shadows and plots to control a dangerous channeler who will probably be the death of him, but he’s too arrogant to listen, so let my son do whatever he wants because if he has not listened to me in all these centuries then he is not likely to do it now.”
“I’m not sure what she said, but I’m certain my father is disappointed in me,” Stephen says with a shrug. The sight of several stars appearing in the sky makes his skin itch and he snarls at the cosmic lightshow. “I believe you’re being observed, Yola. I suggest you return to my father’s side before your family comes to take you away.”
The goddess stops crying and jumps to her feet, hovering a few inches off the ground. She waves at the sky with a hand that grows to the size of a small horse. The enormous extremity fires off her wrist and spins into the heavens where it explodes in a crackling display of light. For a brief moment, everyone can see large silhouettes shielding their eyes. As the fireworks end, the suspicious stars fall below the horizon and everyone in Windemere swears they hear a chorus of muffled curses.
“Is there another reason you’re here?” Trinity asks, nervously watching for more signs of the gods. She takes some joy in the fact that Stephen is looking equally unnerved by their ally’s actions. “I don’t want to face one of your kinsmen.”
“You’re safe since you’re mortal,” Stephen mentions as sweat forms on his brow and vanishes before it can drip past his eyebrows. “I’m not really sure if I count and killing a god would be more trouble than it’s worth. Speak quickly, Yola, or things will get messy.”
The goddess opens her mouth and a garbled mess of noise comes out for several ear-wrenching seconds. She proudly stands with her arms crossed and nods her head. Her companions rub their eyes in frustration, stopping and glaring at each other when they notice the shared action.
“Speak clearly and stick to the point, Yola,” Trinity groans.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on the Dark Wind as you requested since I can smell through the barrier. The Meraphor has merged with the mirror you had me slip into the chair room, which cost me three kidneys and two-thirds of my second brain. Many of the infected have been killed and the survivors are continuing their suicide runs. The emerald vanished for a few minutes, but it’s back to where it needs to be for whatever you’re planning to happen.”
“Then we should get in position to greet any surviving champions,” Stephen says with a cruel grin. He removes his gloves and flexes his fingers, the nails becoming clean and finely manicured. “You can stop paying attention, Yola.”
“Doing what?”
He glares at the goddess as she innocently smiles at him. “Go away.”
Sticking her tongue out at the scowling man, Yola casually walks off the cliff and plummets to the ground. Trinity is the only one who bothers to watch the goddess splatter on the base of the Widowhorn and slowly drag herself through the dirt. The chaos elf is still watching the odd sight when a low grunt catches her attention. She unleashes a swarm of acidic lances that pulverizes the incoming boulders, coating the cliff in a layer of hissing dust.
“We will defend the Garden of Uli!” shouts one of the titans from below.
“Not these things again,” Trinity groans, blasting a thrown tree out of the air with a lightning bolt. “All these idiots do is hurl the landscape at us.”
“We are in need of our own stairway,” Stephen casually says as he passes his foot through the wooden steps. He scratches his chin and glances at the one-armed giants below, his eyes settling on a cowering form behind the titans. “Can you handle that geyser giant in the back? I never get any fun out of those. If you’re going to argue-”
“I don’t care about that sniveling creature.”
With her enhancer gems glowing, she creates a solid orb of dark green aura. She enjoys the palpable fear of the titans, but notices the geyser giant is already slipping away. Before the creature can escape, Trinity hurls the spell and adds a wind burst to make if fly faster. Striking the misty skin of its target, the orb creates a vortex of shredding energy that engulfs its terrified target. With a screech that mixes with the geyser giant’s dying screams, the spell implodes and sucks the wispy remains of the creature into oblivion.
“Thank you,” Stephen says as he runs a finger up Trinity’s spine. “I’ll handle the rest of them. It never hurts to stretch before the main event.”
With a chilling spark in his eyes, Stephen jumps off the cliff and hurtles toward the roaring titans. The sounds of breaking bones and tearing flesh echo throughout the area as the side of the Widowhorn is bathed in blood.
*****
Timoran’s battle cry echoes throughout the castle as he leaps off the crystal tower and lands on the head of the giant creature. He drives his great axe into the limbless monster that is composed of sticky Dark Wind, but he cannot tell if he has done any damage. Red eyes appear in front of the barbarian, so he punches one of the orbs and hangs on as his enemy thrashes in surprising pain. It bends backwards in an attempt to smash the warrior against the ground, but it is frozen in place by a blast of ice from Sari, who is standing in a nearby pond. The gypsy continues pumping freezing magic into the creature while Timoran dislodges his axe and drops to safety. He charges and shatters his enemy with a swing that carries his weapon completely through its frozen skin.
“Are you okay?” Sari asks as she hurries out of the pond to help dig her friend out of the icy shards. “Some of these look sharp.”
“I am fine, my friend,” he replies with a grin. He tackles Sari out of the way of a lightning bolt that blasts a hole in the ground. “We should find a way to stop Nyx’s magic. There are no more monsters, so I do not know why she is still casting.”
“I’ll flush her out.”
The gypsy spins and flips back to the pond, dodging the combat spells that seem to follow her. A fireball hits the water and fills the air with steam, which is split by a spiraling geyser that rushes toward the shed. It strikes the barrier and becomes electrified, forcing Sari to stop her attack and leap out of the water. The jolt of energy catches her right foot and knocks her into a frost-covered bush.
“Well I’m out of ideas,” she says as she crawls out of the shrub. She frowns at the scratches on her arms and ducks a blast of force. “This is getting ridiculous.”
“We need to get their attention,” Timoran states as he bats several spells away with his great axe. “Stay behind me and we will make an approach.”
“Are you going to knock on the door?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
The barbarian marches forward and knocks the incoming magic out of his way. Their progress is slowed down by several swarms of smaller spells, causing both adventurers to dodge around the minor explosions. Sari tries to put a barrier around them, but Nyx’s stronger aura shatters it within seconds. When he only has a few steps to go, Timoran rushes forward and presses his axe against the door. The barrier sparks and surges against the deflector weapon while cracks appear from the constant pressure. He puts his shoulder against the axe and braces his feet, several spells flying inches above his head. Sari helps him push by pressing against the barbarian and tries her best to redirect the close range spells.
“The monsters are gone, fire sprite! Sari and I took care of the last one!”
With a small pop, the barrier vanishes and the door swings open. Timoran and Sari crash to the wooden floor, but catch a brief glimpse of their friends jumping away from each other. The gypsy quickly notices Nyx wipe her mouth and massage her jaw. A dazed look on Delvin’s face leaves no doubt in her mind what the pair were doing. Sari is
about to hug and congratulate her friend, but the half-elf sprints out of the shed.
“What happened?” Timoran asks in confusion.
“Nothing,” Delvin calmly answers, rubbing his injured shoulder. “We were talking about Stephen and Isaiah possibly knowing she’s a channeler to keep her angry. That helped keep her spells going and I guess we went too far.”
“Guess you two . . . talked so much that Nyxie’s jaw hurts and you ran out of breath. I love conversations like that,” Sari interjects with a grin. Her face changes when the warrior flashes her a stern glare of warning. “I’ll go check on her while you two figure out how we can find Luke and Fizzle.”
Sari backs out of the shed while Delvin talks to Timoran and she bolts after Nyx once she is out of view. She finds the half-elf hiding behind a thick, leafless oak, her fingers pressed to her lips. The caster is not crying, which Sari considers a good sign, but the bouncing on her toes puts the blue-haired girl on edge. When she gets close enough to be noticed, her childhood friend yanks her out of view of the shed.
“I don’t have to ask what happened, but I really want to know,” Sari excitedly whispers. She catches Nyx by the cheeks to stop her friend’s head from moving randomly. “We have until Delvin and Timoran make a plan, so talk quickly. You’re clothed and your hair isn’t a mess, which means-”
“I kissed Delvin. Oh by the gods, I kissed him and loved it and I have no idea what I’m supposed to do now,” Nyx rapidly rambles. The half-elf is trapped between terrified and giddy, only calming down when Sari mutters a relaxation spell. “Our auras merged and swirled, which was so . . . I don’t know the right word to use. If we weren’t in danger, I don’t know what I would’ve done to him . . . or is it with him? It was just so intense and nothing like I ever imagined.”
Curse Of The Dark Wind (Book 6) Page 33
