Chapter 283 - Red Heat

Had a version of this finished yesterday but decided to rewrite it. It's also now 800 words longer so I hope it was worth the wait!

Remaining calm after touching the spirit of the earth was almost impossible. Hump still felt its touch in his core. The bliss of that moment where he and the essence of the world were one.

At his hip, his spellbook shook, causing Hump to glance at it curiously. What’s that about? I haven’t even cast the spell yet.

As Celaine loosed another arrow, he forced himself to concentrate on the battle at hand. She directed him to get moving. Hump carefully navigated the stone platform created by Ashera, balancing with his staff along its narrow length. Celaine was just ahead of him, moving quickly and gracefully toward the steps.

On the roof, barely a foot above his head, his spell formations gleamed bronze and radiated intent. The roof had all but collapsed. All that was left was an application of will to bring it all down. Well, that, and to get out of the way of the explosion that would follow. They needed to reach the tunnel fast.

There were just a few thousand problems in the way.

Even as they moved, the battle raged on below. Ashera and the others held the stone pathway that ran around the rim of the cavern as a host of undead swarmed to reach them. Nascal stood at the front, his shield wall of ancestral warriors allowing none to pass. The blessing was even more spectacular now than before. The spectral warriors fought at his side like heroes of old, shouting and roaring as they fought. They glowed with cold, green light, and in many ways looked just like the lich’s spectres. For now, the shield wall held.

Finnian stood just behind it, hurling blasts of wind over their heads that threw undead from the path. But it wasn’t these lesser undead that would be the problem. No matter their numbers, Hump and the others could probably find a way past. Non-sentient creatures, while numerous, lacked the power or intelligence to take down Chosen of the fourth circle working together. The trouble came from the more powerful beings amidst their ranks. Skeletal overlords worked their way forward, radiating essence that empowered those around them. Fleshy abominations towered over the ranks, standing ten feet tall with thick muscles and terrifying jaws.

Time was not on their side.

“I hope this works,” Celaine said nervously. “I can’t see another way through.”

“Neither do I,” Hump agreed.

His eyes found the lich’s apprentices far beneath them, their presence setting him more on edge than any number of lesser undead. The power of their spell was still growing. The air thickened with the stench of undeath essence, flowing from their formation as powerfully as the magic wielded by the warlocks in Sheercliff City. Their chants were constant. Echoing words of ancient power that rose even over the cries of battle.

Hump and Celaine reached the stone steps quickly. A few winged creatures flittered up to their layer in search of a feast, only for Celaine to shoot them dead with arrows of shadow, conserving her ammunition.

“You first,” Celaine said. “And don’t slip, Hump. I don’t want to have to fish you out from down there.”

“Not helping!” Hump snapped, though he did as she said, leading the way as she provided arrow support, warding off any foes that came close.

He took the stairs as quickly as he dared, circling around the cavern back toward the stone platform that led back to the tunnel. Celaine was close behind him, her essence flashing silver and shadow in his periphery as she continued to loose arrows at the enemies below.

Just as they reached the walkway, Hump sensed something change. Power came from below, drawing Hump’s eye back to the bottom of the cavern. The strength was beyond even that of the spell formation and the lich’s apprentices. His skin crawled at the sensation, like thick sludge clinging to him.

A shape burst free of the shadows below, floating upward through the middle of the cavern. The figure spun slowly as she rose, tall and noble, her face pale as the moon and her eyes gleaming like twilight. Her skin was stretched then across her cheekbones and around her eyes, while her black hair was streaked with the darkest purple.

Irila, the Lich Queen.

Nothing could have prepared Hump for the sensation of her presence. She had not even looked at him, but already he felt he was barely in control of his own body. His legs wouldn’t move. His mind was frozen in panic.

Everything in the cavern seemed to slow down. The undead came to a standstill, and soon, Ashera, Finnian and the others stopped fighting to watch. Irila was above them then, staring at the formation on the roof with curiosity.

Then her eyes fell on Hump. “You did this?”

Her voice was soft and hypnotic, and Hump felt the urge to answer. He pressed back, forming a wall of will against her, keeping his mind his own.

“I did,” Hump said, barely keeping the tremor from his voice.

A smile touched the lich queen’s lips and her aura rose around her like violet flame. On instinct, Hump manifested his soul and barely remained on his feet. Behind him, Celaine fell to one knee. Her breath became erratic, but Hump didn’t dare turn away from the foe before him.

“You cannot resist me,” Irila said. “You are weak. Your essence is not yet honed. But this…” she raised her arms at the formation on the roof, her bonestaff in hand. “This is potential. Potential that I value highly in my ranks.” She held out her free left hand, palm open. Her blood red lips broke into a radiant smile. “Let me show you the way, young wizard.”

“You want me to join you?” Hump asked.

“It is people like you I wish to help. The stain of the gods must be removed from this world so that mortals may once more rise.”

It was a goal Hump had heard before. One so many seemed fixated on.

Hump glanced to his left. Ashera was watching him. He caught a glimpse of a faint silver glow rising from beneath her shirt—she was trying something.

“You should not have looked away,” Irila said, smiling. “Now it is too late.”

Irila levelled her staff of ancient bones toward Hump. The purple gemstone focus erupted with light like spirits trapped inside. Hump stared into it and saw his death. There was no surviving such power, it was simply beyond him to resist. He could feel it in his bones. Fear froze him uselessly in place. There was nowhere to run and no help to come.

Warmth sparked in his soul. Far away, he sensed Nishari calling out through their bond, her own fear reaching him. She must have sensed something happening to him.

In answer, Hump’s dragon blood roared, surging with the will and instinct to survive of a dragon. Whatever hold the lich queen had on him was broken. Distantly, he heard Nisha’s roar, then the sound of other dragons joining it. No, he didn’t hear them. He felt them, and their desperate fight above. Flashes of battle and fire appeared in his mind. The sounds of iron and steel, and the pained death cries of one of their own.

Hump took his spellbook from his hip, the pages flying open. Irila’s staff glowed brighter. He couldn’t defend against this spell, but that didn’t mean he could do nothing.

“Focused Blast!” Hump roared.

He didn’t aim for her. He aimed for her staff and the building power. The beam struck hard and sent the lich’s aim off course, causing an eruption of dark energy around her.

The lich stared at Hump’s spellbook with wide, hungry eyes. “What is that?” the calmness in her voice was gone now. The cavern shook, her aura exploded even stronger than before.

Yet before she could unleash another attack, a second power rose nearby. Bronze exploded from Ashera and she tossed aside a glass vial. Around her neck, a necklace of silver leaves glowed brightly, pushing back the darkness, and further weakening the lich’s hold on them. It poured through the cavern as if Owalyn herself had arrived.

“Run!” Ashera roared.

The earth churned beneath her, launching her into the air on a boulder of stone, coming to a stop between Hump and the Lich Queen. Silver light mixed with the bronze of her earthen blessing. Owalyn couldn’t come with them. Whatever had happened to the goddess, it had sealed her inside her domain and left her weakened, yet she lent them her power even now. Power that could face the lich, at least for a time.

Below, the sound of fighting came again.

“Come on!” Finnian shouted. “We can't hold them much longer.”

Hump didn’t need a second reminder. He grabbed Celaine and helped her to her feet, the two of them racing to the others together.

“You will not leave!” Irila roared, but Ashera was there to stop her, hurling empowered stone at the lich and weaving a den of spikes from the walls.

They neared the others quickly. Nascal’s shield wall screamed and chanted as the spectral warriors fought, their spears and shields smashing at the undead and stemming the tide. Varesha loosed arrows at the more powerful foes, assassinating the spellcasters amongst the ranks. While further back, more spellcasters manipulated the bones of fallen skeletons to expand the pathway and create more footing to slowly expand the fighting line. It wouldn’t be long before Nascal and Finnian were overwhelmed.

Glys was already in the tunnel, the shaman using calling upon her manifested forest to keep create a zone of nature that fought back against the undead. The moment Hump stepped within it, he felt strength flood through him. He and Celaine followed her inside, joining the defence as Finnian and Nascal slowly retreated until they blocked the tunnel path.

Above, Ashera and Irila fought on. Devastating rays of death fought meteors of stone.

“Do not hesitate!” Ashera roared after them. “Activate it! Activate it now.”

Hump sprinted for the safe formation he’d created earlier, rushing to insert the second transmitter stone and then placing his staff in the activation rune. He called upon his essence, pouring it into the formation until the tunnel shone with bronze light.

“Come on, Ashera!” Finnian shouted.

He got no answer, and Hump didn’t wait for one. Ashera had given her instructions. She wasn’t escaping the lich now—not without sacrificing the rest of them. The only chance they had was to bring down the roof and summon reinforcements from above. The dragon keepers would come, they only needed an opportunity. An opportunity Hump would give to them. Ashera would need to find a way to survive alone.

“Be ready with your locator pendant,” Hump said to Celaine.

“What?” she asked.

“Activate it the moment I destroyed the roof. I will call the dragons.”

“We need to wait for Ashera!”

“She gave us our orders,” Hump said.

Finnian left his post and stormed toward Hump, a white wind of essence forming a cyclone around him. “Don’t you dare!”

“Don't let her sacrifice be for nothing,” Hump snarled back. “You know, this was what she intended. If we don't do this, all of us are dead. The war be lost and the Lich Queen victorious. Even Owalyn will fall without the dragon keepers to help protect Drakalyn.”

“I won't let you,” Finnian said. “We shall not abandon our own.”

Celaine stepped forward, blocking Finnian’s path.

“Celaine…” Finnian said, suddenly unsure.

“Hump is right,” she said. “If you want to stop him, you will need to get through me.”

“I need help,” Nascal roared from within his Shield Wall. The man was covered in blood and wounds. His armour was damaged in many places, skin and cloth showing through steel.

“Finnian, we need you,” Glys called.

“Remember our objective,” Celaine said. “We knew this was a suicide mission coming here. Do not blow our only chance.”

Finnian made a pained face. For a moment, Hump thought he would challenge him further, but then the dragon keeper turned and went to help the others.

“Brace yourselves,” Hump called, barely able to control his voice with the amount of essence flowing through him. The runes along his staff erupted. Tendrils of light exploded from his focus, bronze bubbling in the crystal core of the Tree of Damnation. As the strain got too much, he manifested his soul, drawing in essence from around him and pouring it straight back into the formation.

On the other side, he sensed his other formations, the four of them connected and primed for activation. He envisioned the many layers of stone above begin to crack as earthen essence rumbled through them. The power built, weighing down on the roof and filling it with energy that only had one place to go. Once more, he felt the Winds of Essence. This time they came to him like an old friend, eager to interact with his own power, waiting for him to unleash them.

Hump heaved his staff up in both hands and took aim at the cavern. Tendrils of bronze exploded as he moved it, lashing at the walls and floor. The wind stirred, blasting at his robes and cloak. He breathed out, essence misting in the air.

“Quake before my will.” Hump’s voice resonated in the tunnel. “Crumble at the touch of my essence. Fall to the depths and crush my enemy. Rockslide.”

A soft rumble shook the ground beneath Hump’s feet, building fast until the whole world was shaking. Then an explosion beyond anything he’d had ever experienced shook the air. Thunder boomed. The earth quaked as if the gods of old had woken and risen from their tombs, until it seemed as if the very fabric of the world might unravel. Dust and debris filled Hump’s view, obscuring the essence of Ashera and Irila’s battle.

At the front of the tunnel, Nascal roared and summoned a ghostly shield of cold, blue essence, blocking the entrance and protecting them. It took the brunt of the impact as crumbling stone collapsed. The undead swarming the entrance were swept away by the avalanche—gone in less than a blink.

Hump stabilised himself on his staff and against the wall. Ahead of him, Celaine watched the tunnel ceiling with wide eyes. He could read her mind in that moment. Please don’t collapse.

The rumbling continued for what felt like a minute, until finally it slowed. Crashing rock continued to hammer in the cavern. Dust blocked their view of everything beyond. They all stared… watching. Waiting for Irila to appear, but there was no sign of her or Ashera.

“Did it work?” Hump asked.

“It did,” Celaine said excitedly. She breathed deeply. “There’s a breeze.”

A few seconds later and Hump felt the cool breeze too. Which could only mean they reached the surface. As if in confirmation, his spellbook shook at his hip. Two new gains in just a few minute, but it would wait.

Celaine took out her locator pendant and shattered it. If the keepers were out there, they would sense that and come for them. They had to.

Hump closed his eyes, sinking into the roaring of his dragon blood. He’d felt the potential in it—in the imprint Nishari’s mother had left in his soul, and the power of his soul manifestation. In the past, while fighting in the forest dungeon, he’d reached out to Nishari and Aurora. When he was blooded, his mind had touched the wolf dragons gathered outside and the true dragon, Skyfire. And when the lich had attacked, Nishari had reached him along with the other dragons. Now, he would reach them.

Come to us, he willed.

When he got no reply, he expanded his soul to its limit. The world turned violet and his blood boiled in his veins. Once more, he heard the Drums of the Hunt beating in the core of his being—the last wisp of power Owalyn had lent him.

The lich is here. Come and fight!

A dragon roared above. Others joined its cry, filling the cavern with the bone chilling sound. Deep in his core, he felt Nisha’s roar too, and his soul resonated with it. The dragons were close. He could feel it. They were coming. They could hear him. His dragon blood roared.

Come to us! he willed again, more sure of himself this time. His heard pounded and his blood cried out with his thoughts.

Then he felt the thrill of the pack. They were on the hunt and they were coming for them. Greatest of all, he sensed Itris, a mighty soul beyond any of the others.

Ignarok, he heard them call back in his mind. Suddenly, an image appeared, just as if he was speaking to Nisha. He stared down upon fire and earth. Rivers of lava flowed around him as far as he could see. Through the haze, he saw a figure at its centre, small and alone. A green cloak rested upon its shoulders and a staff shone red and bronze in his hand.

And then Hump was back in the tunnel. The roars came again, closer now.

“The dragons!” Nascal shouted. “The dragons are here.”

Hump envisioned a rain of fire and the undead below. He sent that through whatever bond he had, sharing it with the others willing them to understand.

Dragon breath engulfed the cavern entirely, obscuring everything from sight. Hump’s answer had come in the form of red heat.