Poli and Ulon trapped the broken man in powerful magic while healing him so he didn’t die straight away. Daku flipped around and passed the wards of the island without issue while behind he was followed.
Brooke, Meeka and Tohka knew something was very wrong immediately as Daku roared and the dragon’s redoubled their run and sat a man down on the beach who was soaked in blood. They shrieked as one, thinking their man was broken till Daku slammed a fist on the man and pulverized his lower half beyond repair. Ulon spat out a dark mass of meat and the tribe backed far away as none had ever seen a mad dragon.
Now there were two and they roared at the screaming man under Daku’s bloody fist. “WHERE. IS. HE?!” Daku yelled.
Tohka shook in great fear with every person of the tribe. Not one of them dared approach the three giants or their prey. She managed to ask “What happened?”
Brooke, who had been watching the whole time realized the situation. “That magic man took our mate!” and charged with murder on her mind.
Meeka felt rage of her own, gripped her daggers and followed as fast as her athletic legs could carry. Tohka’s own anger surfaced and she followed. Warriors of the Utala were right behind when they overcame their fear.
Poli started using magic and an oval panel of silver swirled. She poured all her strength into it and growled “Ulon!” He immediately stopped growling and added his power atop hers. “White King! We cannot locate him!”
Brooke quivered as she stopped and looked at the man punched into the beach. All she could see was his head and shoulders beneath Daku’s fist. “What did you do to my man!” she shrieked, wanting to sink her tomahawks in his skull, but unable to get close enough.
Daku’s growl was worse than any dragon as he said “Where is he, Raul! You couldn’t have beaten him one on one and I still live. That means so does he! Tell me and I’ll kill you now!”
Ulon conjured another sight mirror to demand aid in search of Cage. Rex Gralla stopped her interrogation on the enemy humans and commanded the entire colony under her rule to do so with a colony wide message. She asked no questions, she saw the blood boiling anger of the guardian to know this was of greatest priority.
Raul coughed more blood and Poli sent her healing magic to clean the lungs, but not the pain. Knowing it was over, he dropped the façade to boast “The warlock…” he coughed blood and the pain made him almost delirious. “will die along with the troublesome griffin. You will never be able to reach where I’ve sent… him. No more will my empress’s plans… be foiled by one man.”
“Where?” Daku growled and put more pressure on his fist.
“The Deep!” Raul revealed and cackled at Daku’s expression.
Daku threw his head back to release a shrill roar and reared. In his complete anger he balled both griffin fists and began pounding the fool deep into the beach. Tohka reacted as she saw what was about to happen and threw her arms around her loves and jumped back, stumbling along the way, but pulling them from the greatest danger as sand flew dozens of feet with each mighty blow. He didn’t stop till the man was pulp, far beyond repair of any magic. Afterwards a crater twenty feet deep was made from the unleashed power of the ancient king.
Spent, Daku fell, his furry knuckles bloody, some being his, as Ulon grimly translated his Rex’s sad words. “All the power of our colony was ineffective. There is one place on this world that can hide him beyond our power. He has truly been sent to The Deep.”
Realizing he had to do something Daku demanded “Then send me there as well! He cannot survive, none has since it was destroyed. I will better the chance!”
Then suddenly over a hundred dragons Jumped just outside the island. At the heads flew Rex Gralla with Theresa carrying Zikon, Megdline and Frill. Gralla sent a roar and half the Blind Mountain dragon army flew away to surround Cage Island. The rest landed and approached, Megdline yelled before Theresa went first. The skull appeared and vanished, allowing the purple dragon entrance. Rex Gralla followed and six others were right on her tail, using Megdline’s access phrase.
Megdline’s voice demanded “Where is the traitor?!” Poli pointed to the hole.
Daku demanded he be sent to The Deep, only for the great Rex to shake her head. “Cannot be done, White King. The pass is closed. So long as he lives, your warlock binds old magics from passage. The exit location was lost to time and the planet’s power binds it shut. Not even if all mana was molded could such wards be undone. White King where would you want your body graved?”
“There is a chance, Old Friend.” Daku grew till they looked eye to eye. Sadness and hurt filled the great female, but he didn’t answer for she knew he wouldn’t die without a fight. This one was unwinnable, but he didn’t bend.
“Will someone tell us what happened to Cage?!” Meeka yelled so loud all heads turned to her and the tribe. Never had any of the tribe seen so many dragons and they all felt miniscule in their presence. It was clear they came to protect them due to Daku’s place as a last of a species.
Sadness in Megdline’s eyes began to water as she created a golden board to fly down off Theresa to explain. Her grey eyes locked on Brooke’s, Meeka’s and a woman she never met before, but by the way they stood together she realized another lover had joined their trio. Frill leapt off as she landed and gripped her staff tightly “Cage was Jumped to The Deep, a place less than twenty living humans know about.” She told the tribe and knew the children were safe inside the children’s tree. “It is a place deep of mystery only the greatest criminals of the world are sent. He is beyond reach of everyone.”
“You did this! You’ve conspired against my man!” Brooke snapped.
“No!” Megdline snapped back, her tan features reddening. “That traitor is responsible for everything!” She pointed to the hole. “He took away my friend! A boy I began to see as a grandson! We’ve been searching for the bastard all day when he failed to appear to the council! Recent suspicious behavior warned us only too late that he was the one responsible for much death in the Empress’s name… We were too late when Rex Gralla summoned us here. All of you know I would put my life on the line for Cage!” Her heated words eased the tribe’s anger, if slightly. “The Deep is a place where only the most vile criminals on Raliea are sent for redemption.”
“So there is a chance?” Meeka asked in the following silence, placing a calming hand on Brooke’s tensed shoulder.
Megdline looked down. “For millions of years it has been used against criminals as the worst punishment, but none have ever survived. Death is a mercy compared to that place…”
Tohka fainted as Brooke’s knees collapsed and Meeka stumbled.
Heads swerved to Daku as all the muscles in his body tensed and he sent a shrill roar of impotent anger before shrinking down and curling around Cage’s mates.
For once in all of history, they witnessed a griffin king cry.
Chapter 10
Warm gray light suddenly disappeared as black fire roared forward and impacted a stone wall. Cage tried putting the brakes on his board, only to run headfirst into the same wall, but just before connecting, his wards flared and surrounded him in darkness, safely allowing him to stop on the wall.
Sulfur bitterly assaulted Cage’s sense of smell the moment he took breath and as the ward to lessen a fatal impact from going too fast began to vanish, a blast of heat oppressively engulfed his whole being. His ears popped from greater air pressure and wasn’t pleasant for an experience.
Not taking the time to consider his location Cage grinned as he would teleport back and kill the mastermind. Then he began to focus, imagining returning right back to the island and get much needed answers.
Something’s wrong! Cage thought in the next instant. “Oh shit!” he yelped as the weightless feeling spoke of falling. Wards flared again as he fell thirty feet and he stood unaided a moment later on a stone floor. A pungent sulfur smell was gagging, but Cage controlled the reflex. Barely. He closed his eyes to figure out why his conjured board sudde
nly vanished.
All became clear as he could no longer tap into his personal mana to mold spells. He remembered the feeling for the mild disorientation acted much like the blue Floranna flower petals that, when burned, caused mages to be unable to delve into their mana and cast magic.
Next he looked at his hands to sent awareness out of habit, but his mystical senses were unable to extend. Raul sent him to a place where he was unable to intentionally cast spells. He was no more than a simple man, but one sense remained. But he knew he still stood on Raliea. It was a standard teleportation. No runes of Draconian were made to be shot to another entire world.
A strong tingle of magic made his skin crawl.
Strong spells are at work. He figured as he took stock of his surroundings.
It was obviously miles deep underground as he touched his ears from a trickle of blood that seeped from them. The cave was about a hundred feet high and flickered orange and yellow as two hundred feet away flowed lava like a waterfall out of the ceiling. Sense of direction was effected as Cage couldn’t determine an appropriate heading. It was a dead end he found himself in and as he turned around it led to a semi-dark tunnel. The floor wasn’t even and unnatural gouges showed Cage wasn’t the first visitor to this place for some of the markings were done by enormous claws only a dragon carried. The heat of the room was almost unbearable, but not so much his failsafe wards felt the need to activate. Nor was the air deadly enough to require filtering.
Something on the far wall drew his attention and carefully he managed to leap over the dangerous floor till he got a clearer angle. It was six sets of writing, one being Draconian and the other was seen being common human. The other four was beyond comprehension. By the comparative sizes and length of the writing he could accurately assume they said the same thing. Still unable to read Draconian, Cage could only hope something in the message he couldn’t understand wouldn’t be detrimental. The human side said:
‘So begins the path to cleanse the taint. Thee who are worthy will find your way. Taint awaits both near and far, allowing no true rest. No help will come till the end. Save the lost to save yourself for The Deep must be traveled to escape. Luck will not be an asset for only the strong shall succeed.’
“Well isn’t that a cheerful welcoming.” He said sarcastically. Not one to give up till all resources are depleted he raised his left fist and commanded “Phone call, Meeka!” a single diamond twinkled for a moment before dimming back. The spell should have worked so he tried Brooke, Tohka, Rena and Sean, but the communication spell couldn’t bypass the magic of this place aptly named The Deep. Adrenaline continued flowing as he tried dozens of commands that would contact the outside world or at the very least, allow another to pinpoint his exact location. Molten rock continued to pour into a glowing pool far away, and his hearing cleared after popping when he was teleported here. He now knew he missed a ward that would prevent another from Jumping him against his will, but at the least he didn’t need to worry about being sent to a place where he was to reappear where another solid object occupied.
As a last effort to call out, Cage settled down, closed his eyes and probed for the link to his Familiar. He knew where to find it, but a mind-link couldn’t be established. It was like trying to hold a slippery eel covered in the slickest slime. Touchable, but impossible to hold long enough to get anything accomplished.
Before taking a step down the tunnel he pushed a hand down his robe pocket and said “Banana.” and a single piece of the sweet fruit slapped to his hand. He put it back and smiled. “Good. Magic still works, but only the automatic, preset kind.” He mused. “Got enough food for six months and fresh water for six weeks. My diamonds have plenty of mana and only they are still drawling a fair amount. Can’t adjust them till I get out.” His eyes roved the room one last time, making sure he didn’t miss anything as training to escape an enemy compound took over. “This is going to be fun.” He grinned at the thought of leaving this place and what he’ll do to Raul when he got his hands on him, if Daku didn’t already do something to the idiot.
For certain, Cage knew that where he was sent there would be no aid, as the welcome sign said. Ulon and Poli would have already have done something and Daku wouldn’t rest till they were together. His women especially would dive headfirst into a snake pit to be with him. Since there was no contact in the past hour, he was on his own.
“Torch.” Cage said as he stuck a hand in a pocket and pulled a three foot long torch from the space altered pocket and approached the lava flow. When it got too dangerous he felt a different tingle of magic and his diamonds twinkled with energy which automatically shielded from the greatest heat. One molten droplet splashed away from the bulk of the flow and was plenty hot enough to ignite the oil and resin soaked rags. He backed away quickly, knowing the less time he spent sitting the sooner he could get out. Away from the lava, the heat shielding dropped and total darkness pulled back as torchlight burned into the tunnel.
Hearing sharpening even more as the blood stopped flowing, Cage picked up more than the crackling of the torch burning to his left, just behind his peripheral vision to maintain best possible sight. The lava flow constantly roared behind and the moaning howl of wind faintly came from far overhead in the giant tunnel elder dragons could navigate. Ancient scorch marks on the wall and floor showed some not so happy dragon’s fire breath. That was one organ Cage wished he had since it could use magic intentionally.
The pungent smell was slowly adapted to, but never went away. Cage knew sulfur couldn’t keep him from doing magic, but it masked another scent which allowed the person to retain all mental faculties, just without the use of tapping into their mana or have gems do it. The only magic available were keyed to words, sound vibrations they responded to.
Nevertheless, Cage felt more prepared than ever compared to living on Earth. He had more than a convoy’s worth of supplies near at all time.
The tunnel didn’t branch, but it did curve and go up and down. More than once he had to climb a short cliff.
Just as the constant dark and wind moaning began to annoy after a good three hours, Cage noticed a change in the still air of the tunnel. A hot breeze blew his soaked hair off the back of his neck and against his bare chest. His pace was forced to cautiousness instead on speed to get out. Fools would get themselves killed at not knowing what lay ahead or what lurked, hiding behind the wind to disguise their own sound.
Carefully Cage leaned the still burning torch, that had another two or three hours of life left, against the wall. His stealth training took over as he walked without sound along the wall. The breeze blew into the tunnel so he knew his sweaty scent wouldn’t give him away. Darkness consumed him, but his night vision picked up the faintest traces of light and his hearing alerted him that the wind whipped through a huge area.
Tentatively an eye came around the tunnel’s corner. Holding absolutely still Cage took in a vast underground canyon. It reminded him of his visit to the Grand Canyon on Earth as a teen when learning how to repel off a cliff for his elite unit. Only this place was twice as large, where walls grew bioluminescent algae and fungus where no light ever touched this place. The ceiling was well over a mile above and also glowed like patches of starlight. A thin stream of sulfuric water bubbled and flowed along the ground between the walls, but was over a hundred feet straight down.
Still not moving incase it was a trap is when Cage spotted what looked like bleached pillars some distance away, only to look more closely at the plants growing on them to realize they were gigantic ribs.
In his head he calmly analyzed it. Clearly dragon remains… the body position indicates it died by the river. Given rigor mortis’s movement it must have drank the water and died… painfully. The torn ground is evidence it settled quickly in the system. All the plant life growing around it became food in decomposition. I’ll need to be careful. But no tooth marks on the bone say no animal lives down here.
Another hour passed and the only muscle to move w
as the eye. When nothing came or shrugged and only a single rock falling from strong wind currents was enough for him to return to his torch. It had burned down, leaving another hour to go, but once he left, the strong wind would blow it out in an instant. He buried the fire in a patch of sand to snuff it and return what remained back into his pocket. His robe was refastened and commanded to go stealth, forming to his body like a glove.
In his search, he noticed a single tunnel on the other side, half way up the canyon wall instead of heading along the watery path. For some reason his gut said to go there and not follow the boiling water. He slowly climbed down the sheer hundred foot cliff without any need for rope, but went slow, keeping three points of contact at all times.
It was much like climbing the cliff at the island, only much hotter. The radiant heat of the ground said he was either in a volcano or so deep below the surface, the planet’s molten core made it so hot. Given the likelihood, it would be the latter.
Cage cautiously approached the carcass and found the bones were somehow petrified without being buried and absorbed minerals over thousands of years. Shrugging off the idea The Deep’s magic petrifies its victims, Cage climbed the spine of the long dead reptile and skillfully used it to walk over the bubbling water as if it were a bridge. It was the only way to cross safely.
He leapt from a rib and rolled before springing to his feet and walked to the wall while the wind wasn’t pleasant, blowing constant hot air. Before even considering to climb the cliff he took out a canteen and drank half, relishing in the coolness the manipulate space offered to keep everything chilled. An egg and wedge of cheese later, Cage wiped his hands and began the climb, two ice axes now dangling from his wrists. Made of metal, he was glad he made them, even if they were to be a present for Brooke in a few weeks her the twenty fourth birthday.
Ascension of the Warlock (Book 4 of the Death Incarnate Saga) Page 31
