by J. J. Egosi
“We shouldn’t be far. If my hunch is correct, they brought her down from the volcano and are now keeping her at their temple. Since we have our magic back, those lizardmen will have to think twice before attacking the creator god.”
“Great! Let’s go!” Michael said.
The four of them nodded and smiled. They continued their flight toward the sacred temple of the lizardmen, set on rescuing Ursula from the trauma of her primeval past.
Chapter 4
Blasphemy At The Golden Temple
T
he fields were long past Michael and the girls and the sticky air of many trees and swamps now permeated around them. They searched for a sign of the temple through the thick jungle floors from above. Out of the corner of Alexa’s eye, she noticed a glimmer of gold.
“There it is! Razortooth Temple!” She pointed ahead.
“That’s their temple? It’s humongous!” Isabella said.
“Not to mention very ostentatious.” Julianna declared.
“Yes, they say the lizardmen discovered gold and, thus, present their accomplishments accordingly,” Alexa explained.
“Fascinating culture, indeed. I can see why you wanted to leave the steamcraft behind. Something tells me they’re the covetous type.”
“Yes, we may as well have been the ones with the bounties written on our heads if we chose to bring it along.”
“You think it’s safe in the jungle without us, though?” Isabella asked. “What if other lizardmen found it?”
“Given the fact it takes the shape of a foreign vehicle from a potentially hostile world, they’d see it as a difficult capture,” Alexa replied. “Let’s not worry about that. We need to find Ursula and tell her it’ll be alright.”
Michael looked at the resolute look in her eyes and smiled. She’s really passionate about her friend. Though her exterior is cold, her feelings toward those she cares for are genuine. I wish she wasn’t always so afraid to show them.
Lost in his trail of thought, he heard screaming from below, followed by the sight of blue hair among the gold. He then saw a face.
“Hold on, I think her see her!” Michael shouted.
“Where?” Alexa replied.
“Down by the entrance.”
The girls looked down and located Ursula tied to a center pillar just outside the temple’s entrance.
“There seem to be no guards,” Michael whispered. He looked around in all directions but the temple grounds appeared to be vacant. Ursula was a lone figure struggling to break free from the ropes.
“What fools. Let’s teach these lizardmen who the apex predator is,” Alexa said.
The group nodded and descended to the foot of the temple.
Ursula’s screams and frustration came to a sudden halt at the sound of beating wings and footsteps. Through the mist, she saw them standing there. Her eyes lit up with relief.
“You made it!”
“Of course we did. You didn’t think we forget about you, did you?” Isabella said.
“Never,” she responded, sharing smiles with the group.
“Well, let’s untie you already before any more lizardmen arrive,” Julianna said, running with Alexa up to the temple.
“No, wait!” Ursula urgently replied.
A lizardman popped up from behind the pillar and blocked Alexa’s path. It stood much larger than the one she had previously encountered, heavily armored and armed with a shield and sword. The group stood back, intimidated by its stature.
“That’s a big lizard,” Isabella said.
“Big or small, it won’t slow me down!” Alexa summoned her hammer to her side from her shadows. She charged at it with full force. Before she could strike, however, the lizardman parried with its shield.
Pushed back slightly, Alexa looked at her opponent and smiled. Unshaken.
“You deflected my attack quite successfully. Too bad you made the fatal mistake of fighting me alone.”
The lizardman took its shield and slammed it on the ground in a series of syncopated beats as if sounding off the drums of war.
“Is it already admitting defeat?” Michael asked.
“I don’t think so,” Julianna said, nervously. “I think it’s trying to say something.”
Suddenly, they heard the roaring marches of enemies heading toward them—several of them rustling through the trees.
“This can’t be good,” Isabella said.
From out of the jungles, two towering dinosaurs with militarized-tank–like bodies appeared: one with a flattened body and spiked tail, the other much thicker with horns. Each of the beasts was ridden by a lizardman. They marched in on either side of the temple’s entrance, snarling and dribbling saliva.
“I recognize those two. They were around during our last encounter with the lizardmen. Seems they want a piece of the action now,” Alexa said, charging toward the one with the spiked tail.
“Stop! You’re not thinking rationally,” said Michael.
“Remember what you were saying before about doing this for Ursula’s sake,” Julianna said.
“Huh?” Ursula said with bewilderment.
“That’s why I’m doing this.” Alexa bit back her fear and looked straight at her enemy. “I’m terrified, even with all of you and my magic now.”
Wait, did she say she has her magic back? Ursula thought.
“But, I want to make it up to Ursula for bringing her here. For allowing such danger to before her out of my utter carelessness.”
“Alexa.” Tears began to roll down Ursula’s face.
She reflected on Alexa’s attendance at her first performance and seeing her in the crowd in that colosseum. The smile on Alexa’s face filled Ursula with warmth—she felt the same way at this moment.
“More than anything else, I want to show her she can do this. She can stand up to whatever happened in her past. No matter the circumstances. Because she’s strong. She has heart. And she has all of us now!”
Alexa struck her hammer toward the cavalry with a cloud of shadows spreading from the ringing collision. The armor absorbed much of the blow as the lizardmen upon them struck back with their swords. They hit so hard Alexa was tossed on her back.
“Alexa!” Ursula screamed.
“It’s fine.” Aching, she picked herself back up. “I’ll do this all on my own.”
“There’s no need. We already forgave you,” Michael said. Julianna and Isabella nodded. Ready to ignite their magic.”
“This isn’t about that. This is about proving to Ursula that being alone doesn’t have to be a frightening ordeal.”
She raised her mallet high again in readiness to strike Ursula’s memories of torment down into a mass of scales.
“I’ll show you there’s nothing to be afraid of anymore. You can rise above”—
“I don’t need you to do this!”
Alexa’s eyes widened. She turned toward Ursula to see a warm smile on her face.
“But”—
“I’m terrified, yes. That’s alright because it means there’s something to lose,” Alexa said.
“Something to lose?”
Alexa thought back to when they first met in their collision and when their paths were bound in that courtroom.
“You don’t have to overcome my past for me. Because I’m not fending this jungle on my own like when I was a child. Like you said, I have all of you this time. And that’s something I don’t want to ever lose.”
Ursula tightened her fists. Shadows swirled from her hands and arms, melting through the ropes that bound her until they could no longer contain her.
“Not now and not ever!”
She jumped forth landed so hard she quaked the ground. Her blackened aura coursed across her like a contagious cloud.
“So, let’s overcome this together!”
Alexa smiled as tears of joy fell. The others looked at her with the same happiness before nodding.
“Yes. Let’s.”
Julianna summoned a sword i
n each hand. Isabella called forth her ax. Michael summoned his scepter. Together, as shadow and lightning enveloped the temple’s foot, they were ready to battle as one.
“Allow me to make the next move, then.” Ursula raised her fists as she locked gazes with the armed beast before her. “Starting with the lizards that knocked my friend down.”
Alexa said, “Careful. Those are purely defensive units. Your fists might not be enough to penetrate.”
“That’s right. Even her unholy relic couldn’t leave a dent.” Michael said.
“I’ll just smack them down until they die. Simple as that.”
“Ursula…” Alexa spoke with a mystified look on her face.
Ursula dove into the fray of battle. She began her assault with a fusion of fists and shadows. She hit the beast to her left with such force the ground beneath her cracked. The beast landed and a crack ran through its shell. It groaned in pain before toppling over. The lizardman on top of it was thrown to the ground on the impact, left to fight on its own.
“I don’t think so.”
Julianna dove in and slashed both her swords across the lizardman’s chest, dropping him to the ground.
“Nice one! There’s more where that came from.” Isabella jumped in with her ax slung over her head. “Especially if shadows can amplify attacks.”
“That, they can,” Julianna said.
“Then, take this.” Isabella slammed her ax down on the other armored beast carrying a lizardman. She cracked straight through its shell and spilled its blood across the ground. The dinosaur growled in pain before retreating, taking with it the lizardman on its back.
“Great job, everyone.” Ursula smiled.
“Thanks.” Michael stared down the towering guard with malice. “And this is for taking her captive.”
With a swing of his scepter, his lightning danced. It spread across the floor like a wildfire, connecting with the guard and electrocuting him. He groaned helplessly as his body turned into a blackened char before collapsing.
“Don’t give in, guys.” Alexa looked around, hearing the sounds of reinforcements. “Not until there are none left.”
Everyone nodded in agreement and continued their battle against their reptilian foes.
After what felt like an hour of never-ending combat against their cold-blooded enemies, Alexa could feel herself wearing down, even as the reptilian beasts put up very little fight.
“Now, these are some powerful defenses,” said Alexa, looking up at her enemies and the thick golden armor they sported.
“Not tough enough, as no shield can withstand the swords of Excalibur and Durandal!”
Julianna charged her swords with her shadow magic, swinging away with ferocious speed as the thick exterior chipped
Ursula grinned. “I told you if you just hit enough, you’ll beat them.”
She and her group smiled with nods of accomplishment through their fatigue when they heard something from behind the doors: the familiar sounds of stampeding roars.
“Looks like there even more,” Julianna said, as the temple doors flew open.
The growling creatures stampeded out, raising dust. This time, it seemed as though they sought help from something more powerful—a lizardman far taller than the guard or the swordsman. He emerged from the shadows inside with vertical yellow eyes. The gargantuan-rex–like creature stomped its way out, wearing thick armor. The lizardman atop it was also large than the guard. It carried two swords and ornamented itself in gold jewelry.
“This must be the king of this jungle,” Alexa said.
“Let’s finish it off quickly so we can collect payment on these scaled bastards,” said Michael.
“Right.”
The five of them dove into the new battlefield at once with their attacks at the ready.
“I don’t know how it happened, but we wouldn’t have stood a chance if didn’t get our magic back,” Ursula said, kicking a raptor out of her path.
“You can thank Michael for that,” Isabella said as she sliced the head of a snake off with her ax. “That’s god magic for you.”
“He restored all of our magic by altering the dimension’s very nature,” Julianna said with a smile as she pierced the armor of three lizardmen at once with her swords.
“Very impressive. I’m not surprised.”
“It certainly makes fighting these things easier,” Michael replied, blasting the jungle king with his lightning magic.
“That, it does.”
“Are you alright over there?” Alexa asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be okay.”
Michael rushed across the slick golden floor; evading the blades of the jungle king as it struck down. He formed into a ball in hopes of moving quicker before countering with his golden scepter, a sight that had the eyes of his enemy widening.
“Probably wasn’t a good idea to use that scepter,” Isabella said.
The dinosaur beneath the jungle king grinned at the sight of gold. Michael grinned back before igniting his electricity.
“Alexa said they were the covetous type. Well, that’s about to come back and bite them.”
Michael spread his wings and launched himself forward and toward the jungle king and his cavalry. This time, he had webs of his lightning to act as both his shield and his ammunition of bolts.
The girls all watched in awe even as they still fought their own enemies, while he combated the king.
He perfectly maneuvered around the massive body of the cavalry and the twin blades of the king. The bolt he unleashed weakened it further. With the agony taking hold in the form of screams, Michael’s adversary was on the verge of collapsing.
“Alright, time to strip this king of his throne.”
With one final swing of his scepter crashing down, Michael brought an immense storm of lightning that struck both the king and its cavalry. The girls shielded their eyes and screamed from the blinding intensity.
“What unbelievable strength,” said Alexa.
“That’s our Michael.” Ursula smiled.
The storm came to an end. The light dissipated into the battlefield which was now littered with many stumbling beasts. His electricity spread to many other targets; leaving them hardly strong enough to stand. With one final sway, the king and his beast collapsed with agonizing groans.
“That’s regicide at its finest,” Julianna said.
The four of them cheered. Michael nodded and dusted himself off before walking over to them.
“Looks like we’re done here.”
They all looked around at the piles of lizardmen bodies. Every enemy was slaughtered, motionless, and bloodied.
“Now, we can collect their cores,” Alexa said.
Michael’s eyes widened. “Do you mean”—
“That’s right.” Alexa smiled. “We’re going to collect them and make these beasts our familiars.”
He gasped. “Are you guys serious?” he said.
“You mean they’ll be fighting on our side?” Ursula asked with bewilderment.
Alexa nodded. “As it should be. You won’t ever have to run away from these lizards again.”
“Now, let’s get collecting,” Isabella said.
Ursula nodded with a reluctant smile. Together, they did as she instructed—entering the carnage and scavenging for the golden marbles that were their cores.
“Thanks for coming for me. We really did it. We killed all those lizards. And so quickly, too!”
“Well, they didn’t stand much of a chance against our magic,” Alexa replied.
“You’ve got that right.” Ursula grinned.
Alexa congregated with the rest of the group. She looked back at the temple, curiosity forming inside of her.
“Hey, let’s say we add insult to injury and rob this temple of everything it’s got!”
When Michael heard this, he nearly stumbled over a corpse. It was as tenacious as it was sudden.
“Don’t you think that’s a little unnecessary? Not to mention, a littl
e offensive to their gods?”
“They’re savages, but they still have a culture we should try to respect,” Julianna added.
“To hell with that.” Alexa sneered. “These bastards traumatized Ursula and they deserve to pay with more than just their lives.”
“That’s true.” Ursula clenched her fists. “They won’t get away with the torment that easily. Let’s suck them dry to the bone and leave this chamber of violence utterly empty.”
Michael sighed. “I suppose there’s no convincing you, otherwise.”
“There isn’t. Now, let’s go.”
Alexa made her way through the doors with Ursula by her side. Michael and other others reluctantly trialed.
They stepped in and were met with a lavish chamber. The architecture was intricate. The ceiling was higher than any they’d ever seen, as gold statues of reptilian royalty and various paintings covered the walls.
The temple was dimly lit with torches along the hall and the overall design was sophisticated beyond their imagination.
“This place is breathtaking,” Isabella said, looking around at the statues.
“My thoughts, as well,” Alexa replied. They walked toward a wide and upward spiral staircase at the end of the hall. “They should keep their vault down here.”
“How do you know for sure?” Julianna asked.
“Take a look at this.” Alexa dug into her pocket for her steamdroid. It had a scanner and a golden dot blinking closer. “It can detect high concentrations of gold. We just need to follow this and we’ll have our prize.”
“Are you certain you want to do this?” Isabella asked. “I love fancy things more than most girls, but not if it means pissing off a swarm of reptilian giants.”
“Yes, let’s just take the cores and report the deceased, so we can be on our way with our bounties.”
“Don’t forget this isn’t just a quest. It’s an adventure to another world. So, why rush things now that we’re all back together when we can have a little fun?” Alexa walked up the staircase.
“Because your definition of fun is robbery,” Michael said. “Sometimes, I worry you don’t understand boundaries.”
“I’m sorry for pouncing on you earlier. Just come on. This’ll be fun. Besides, I know how excited you were about the bounty.”
