The Oblivion Trials (The Astral Wanderer Book 3)

by D'Artagnan Rey

  While the archer complied somewhat dubiously, the swordsman looked back as the warrior who had seemed familiar before picked a large rock up. His ax glowed and the stone soon transformed into an earthen ax. “Rage!” he shouted and his anima flared as his muscles engorged and his skin tightened.

  He charged the asterius as two other warriors activated the giant cantrip and grew to almost double their sides. They held the monster back as the warrior leapt onto its chest and began to slice through it in a fury. The beast rumbled deep in its throat and sparks shot from its horns before lightning appeared to shock the two large warriors while it seized the berserker in one of its hands. The warrior uttered a furious cry as he dug his ax into the beast’s hand and sliced through its thumb. It cried out when the digit was sliced off and released its attacker.

  “Ready?” Devol asked and charged Achroma.

  The archer nocked the dagger-wound arrow. “Whenever you are, kid.”

  The boy nodded and the arrow was fired. As soon as it reached a position atop the asterius, he warped to it, grasped the projectile as he turned in the air, and buried Achroma in the skull of the monster. He held on as it uttered a ragged wail, fell to its knees, and then to its chest. Before it could roll and crush him, he slid off and yanked his blade out of its skull as he heard some congratulatory cheers and some loud shrieks from the hole above.

  Koli watched this all with amusement. The young magi was quite resourceful, at least. After their first encounter, he had thought his ability was nothing more than the magic gifted to him by the majestic. Now, it seemed he backed that up with bravado and some actual skill. He would be a delight to fight in a few years.

  Noticeable hissing behind him made him turn to focus on a trio of flayers that crept up on him. He sighed and removed his eye patch as one lunged toward him, only to be caught in midair and have its top half twisted all the way around and pulled off its body. The other two watched, stunned, as its body fell to the floor and he turned to them and smiled. “Well, are you simply going to stand there or will you make your move?” The flayers, seemingly understanding the taunt, raised their scythe-like claws. “Oh, I wasn’t talking to you.”

  The arms of one of the creatures were severed and before it could shriek, its throat was cut. The other turned but a large hole formed in its head and blood spurted out before it collapsed.

  “Frightening,” the assassin declared and looked at the severed arm. “Still not quite precise, though, my dear Zed.”

  The mercenary leader appeared behind the body of the second flayer and stared daggers at him. “If you could sense me, why let these beasts sneak up on you, Koli?”

  A throwing knife appeared in the assassin’s hand and he balanced it on one finger. “I was preoccupied watching all the fun,” he replied, flipped the knife, and balanced the point. “Besides, something as trivial as a few lesser flayers doesn’t bother me, but it does make me think.” He tossed the knife up again and caught it by the hilt. “I see a good number of lesser flayers around but where’s the alpha?”

  The ground beneath them shook and the earth burst upward as a large alpha appeared, its claws at least two and a half feet long with a spiked carapace. It looked at them and sharpened its claws on one another.

  “You hold it down,” Zed ordered and readied his dagger. “I’ll end it fast.”

  “Will you help little old me?” Koli asked and put the throwing knife away. “I thought you intended to kill me.”

  “I will kill you,” the man affirmed as the creature raised its claws. “But I want the privilege all to myself.”

  “Oh, so controlling.” He chuckled as the flayer attacked. Both bounded back and Zed disappeared into the shadows as the assassin looked at the alpha and activated his eye. The space around the flayer distorted to lock the beast in place and began to spin its claws inward toward itself.

  Large gashes appeared through its body and sliced deep into its heavy carapace as it struggled to free itself before a large wound appeared on its neck. The alpha froze, the head rolled off, and Koli released his hold and watched as its body fell into several different pieces in a heap on the floor.

  Zed reappeared from the shadows and placed his boot on top of the creature’s head as the magi gave him brief applause. “Well done. You’ve certainly gotten better with your malefic in the time since our partnership.” He replaced his eyepatch. “We do make a good team, don’t we?”

  The merc growled and crushed the head beneath his boot. “Don’t try that with me, you cur.” He spun his dagger and stepped back to disappear into the shadows. “I’ll do so much worse to you,” he warned as he faded away.

  Koli chuckled and folded his arms as he returned to observing the various battles and noticed that some rather large winged creatures had joined the fray. “I look forward to the attempt,” he said quietly.

  Rome, the dark mage, formed a ring of fire around him before he let it blaze outward to fry some likan and wurms that harried him. He looked at the results, unsatisfied because he had hoped to immolate some of the other contestants in that blast. Perhaps they were better than he gave them credit for.

  This surprise attack was a farce, of course, a simple distraction. Once he found the council members, he would make them pay for using such an underhanded tactic like this.

  A stinging pain flared in his shoulders as he was lifted off his feet. He uttered a surprised yelp and looked up at the large, winged bat creature that hoisted him effortlessly ever higher. Instinctively, he struggled to free himself, grasped one of the claws that pierced his shoulder, and yelled, “Ebon tendrils!” Dark, webbed tendrils sprouted in the bat’s body and crushed its claws before they twined around its body and wings. It began to fall and released him.

  Damned beast—it dared to lay a hand on him? He would destroy all their kind, he vowed furiously. A screech made him look back. He continued to fall but another creature flew directly toward him with its jaw open and fangs glistening. All he could do was utter the beginning of a scream as the fangs sank into his neck.

  “Well, there goes Rome,” Jazai muttered as the dark mage was devoured by the nocarok. “You know, I should have considered the fact that if there were nocalocs, there would be nocaroks to defend them.” A loud crash nearby caught his attention and he looked to where Asla bounded off the body of another nocarok. “Nice catch. I wondered where you went.”

  “It looked like you were fine dealing with the wurms,” she explained, adjusted her gloves, and tried to shake some of the blood off her claws. “There are so many of them, but we are more than adept at dealing with monsters such as these by now.”

  “Yeah. All those missions were good for something.” He assessed the cavern. “They seem to be dwindling finally, so it looks like this first task is almost over.”

  Her ears perked up. “Then this was simply part of the trial?”

  The scholar nodded. “Yeah, although it’s not like they would kill us all for showing up. It would be kind of a roundabout way to do it, anyway.”

  She looked at Devol, who was helping to clear the center of the room. “If we are almost done, I’ll go and help him.”

  “It’s probably a good idea,” Jazai agreed and pushed off the wall he was leaning against. “We can get this wrapped up quicker unless they have any surprises le—”

  Another rumble in the cavern froze them in mid-step and both wondered if this was another barrage of beasts. No, not a barrage this time, they realized. The two friends gaped as the center of the cavern began to crumble. Devol and a few other magi flung themselves quickly to safety or ported away as the ground fell away and a large, multi-headed, snake-like beast appeared. “A hydra?” Asla gasped.

  “Well, that is certainly a surprise.” Jazai watched as Devol lifted Achroma. The blade glowed ever brighter and caught the attention of at least two heads. “There are dozens of other magi around you. Let one of them be the hero for once.” He sighed and caught hold of the wildkin’s arm. “Come on. We need to
get down there before he gets himself killed.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “There’s a hydra now?” A magi exclaimed as arrows, spells, and knives were thrown at the creature. “I’ve heard of no hydras in this cave!”

  “It must have been summoned or conjured,” another reasoned and formed a fire orb. “Kill it quickly and burn or curse the heads to stop them from regenerating.” One of the hydra’s heads saw him. Its blue scales shimmered and it cast out a stream of mana. The magi fired his orb but it disappeared in the stream that struck him and burned his body to ash.

  “This is no simple beast,” Jett shouted and rounded his men up. “Prepare the gunpowder!”

  “In a cave?” Mara shouted. “Are you daft? Keep beating it down, you pricks!”

  Devol yelled defiantly as he used Achroma’s magic to lengthen the blade and swiped at one of the heads to sever it and sear a trail of light over the wound. He had never faced a hydra but every small child knew the tale—cut one head off and purge the wound lest it grow back angrier than before.

  He watched as the light in the wound turned to fire and cauterized it. Although he smiled triumphantly, he failed to notice that a couple of the other heads had taken exception to his attack. The scales on both began to flicker and they each formed an orb of magic in their maw which they both launched at him.

  The approaching lights caught his attention and he reached for his dagger but an arm caught hold of him and a moment later, he stood yards away. The orbs struck the ground and created large craters in their wake.

  “Nice work,” Jazai congratulated as he released the swordsman’s arm. “Try to stay alive to relish it.”

  “Thanks, Jazai,” Devol said with a nod and looked around. “Where’s Asla?”

  The scholar looked around. “She was supposed to be here.” They both heard a familiar shout, even above all the chaos, and looked up to where she sank her claws into one of the heads. Her anima took on its feline form and she swung both arms to decapitate the head and bounded off as another magi fired a spell that created a rune on the wound and sealed it. The two boys hurried to her as she tried to shake the blood off her garb.

  “Good job, Asla,” the swordsman said as he tried to help her to wipe some of it away.

  “Indeed, but you are lucky that it didn’t have caustic blood like some hydra species do,” Jazai commented as he examined it closely. “But I don’t think this is an ordinary hydra.”

  Devol and his friends backed away. Several heads remained and he winced as one struck at a magi who had slipped over a body and was snatched into the hungry maw. “Hydras are magical beasts, aren’t they?”

  “I’ve never seen one that uses disintegration magic,” the diviner replied and pulled his teammates back. “That is a very advanced technique and unstable too. You are constantly shifting the essence of mana so it is disturbed and destroys any other mana it touches.”

  “Where did they find such a thing?” Asla asked and made sure to keep an eye on the beast as they retreated. “Was it lurking in the caves all this time?”

  “Maybe, but I’m starting to believe they have a summoner or transmuter who they used to bring all these monsters here.” Jazai checked his rings. “It doesn’t matter, though. We need to just focus on finishing this and the rest of—”

  The earth below them began to soften and they started to sink. The scholar reacted quickly, grasped his partners, and ported them to the edge of the cavern. They stared as the area below and around the hydra turned to quicksand and swallowed the beast whole, along with a couple of dozen other beasts, corpses, and even a few magi who couldn’t react in time to escape the mire.

  As the monster was slowly submerged, it fired a few blasts of its disintegration magic at the ceiling, seemingly in an attempt to cause a cave-in. It was enveloped by the quicksand that hardened into rock and transformed into the spiker variant from before.

  “What was that?” Devol asked.

  “A transmuter,” Jazai answered and looked around for the magi. “A very good one too. Whoever they are, we might want to be wary of them if we have to fight. The liquify and solidify trick is well known but on that scale, it's well beyond your average magi.”

  “I don’t see who did it, though,” Asla responded. “And it has become rather quiet.”

  Zed walked up to his squama compatriot and gave him a quick clap on the shoulder. “Good work, Tiso,” he complimented. “It took you long enough, though,”

  The reptilian humanoid narrowed his eyes at his leader. “If I hadn’t prepared properly, I could have swallowed you, myself, and everyone else in that quicksand too.”

  The merc simply shrugged. “It would have sped these trials up.”

  Tiso chuckled and nodded as he slipped his hands into his robe sleeves. “True, and very quickly too. But I think more would have survived than I’d have hoped.”

  A few hundred yards away, Koli lowered his hand from his eyepatch and slid it into his pocket. “Well, I didn’t even have a chance to play.” He leaned back against the rocks. “Oh, well. I’m sure I’ll have another opportunity soon enough.”

  There was both relief and unease in the cave. Bodies, both beast and realmer, littered the area. Some chatted to each other while others maintained defensive stances, prepared for another horde. All were unsure of what came next but their attention focused quickly on the cliff when several dark-robed figures appeared. Mephis clapped as he stood on the edge. “Well done to those who remain.”

  “What in the hells was that?” Furious shouts erupted from the crowd. “Where did you go? Did you bring those beasts here?” Although there were at least a couple of dozen or so angry magi who yelled toward the cliff and some even seemed to prepare spells and weapons, most seemed indifferent or curious.

  “Would you pipe down?” Jett shouted and folded his large arms. “This is the Oblivion Trials. What did you expect?”

  “This was only a taste,” the familiar-looking warrior declared and pounded a fist against his chest. “And I desire more.”

  “So is that all this is then, you lilies?” Zed demanded and pointed his dagger at Mephis. “Merely some monster hunting? I make my recruits go through harsher steps to join my company.”

  The daemoni looked at Karrie and another council member. She shrugged and stepped forward, and when she waved her hands, the bodies in the caves ignited in blue fire.

  “I’m glad you are not yet discouraged—unlike some of you, it seems,” Mephis noted as the other figure stepped beside him and held a hand out. The signets that littered the floor rose and flew to him. He seemed to count them and spoke quietly before they were teleported away. “So, fifty-seven all in all? That leaves seventy-three.” Mephis nodded and dismissed the other council member before he turned to address the trial participants again. “If you’ve calmed enough, I would once again like to congratulate you on making it through all the trials thus far.”

  “All the trials?” Asla raised. “So it wasn’t only the one.” Murmurs through the crowd seemed to indicate that others questioned this.

  “Are you confused? What? Do you believe everything until now was merely a simple journey?” The daemoni gave them a small sliver of a smile. “I’m sure many of you have heard of bandit attacks and muggings in an attempt to steal your signets. Some of you have run into odd beasts or perhaps even evil magi or killers along the way. These may be nothing too surprising given the occupations of some of you, but those events were orchestrated by us as the beginnings of the trial. Those of you who reached the caves through various means and routes were accosted by our personally chosen killers and monsters to weed out the weak and curious.”

  “Merri and Hem,” Jazai realized and looked at his friends. “That’s why they weren’t surprised or bothered before. They were the ones who brought them here.”

  Devol’s fist clenched. “They allowed that? Are they demented?”

  “Given that they are the overseers of the trials, I suppose a couple of them
have to be,” Asla replied and her ears flattened in melancholy.

  “Now, before we proceed from here…” Mephis clapped sharply and blue mana surged in his palms before he pointed them at the floor and a portal appeared. After what had happened, many of those present prepared for another fight, but nothing came through. The image in the portal seemed to be nothing more than a random forest. The daemoni folded his hands behind his back. “Would anyone here like to withdraw?”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  The council member’s offer surprised almost everyone in attendance. No one rushed forward to accept the way out despite the annoyed shouts and threats earlier. A few approached the portal, but it seemed that was mostly to examine it and identify the destination.

  “Take your time,” Mephis offered and focused on the magi near the portal. “Within reason, of course. We still have the next and potentially final part of the trial to get through.”

  “Potentially final?” Zed repeated and scratched his chin with the flat side of his blade. “You puffs don’t even have a schedule for this?”

  “It has more to do with you and the rest of the participants,” the daemoni replied and took a signet from his pocket. “It has to do with these but I cannot explain their purpose until we move on.”

  The man holstered his blade and grunted. “All right, then. If any of you lilies want to go home, get moving or I’ll kill you myself!”

  While this drew a few responses like, “I’m sure,” and, “I’d like to see you try,” it did seem to have some effect. A few of the magi either considered the portal with more seriousness or pairs and teams began to talk amongst each other about going through. Finally, one bowed his head and walked to the gateway. Those who stood close to it moved out of the way and watched as he stopped only a step away and stared into it. He took his signet out and looked at Mephis. “Do you need this?”