Land of Ashes: Chapter 7
Imported from SF2 with no description.
I'm releasing this early because I'll be occupied tomorrow and will be away from my laptop.
Krivkris and his party members severely underestimate the size of the stairs after falling from the first step, so Ashereth and Lyera combine their magic to carve an appropriate path for them to navigate down. After the fifteenth step, they descry a door to a chamber with an altar in the middle. There's also an unfamiliar script above the entrance. Glancing at one another, they walk forward with the echo of their footsteps replacing the room's silence.
The new cell has three different doors that are currently shut, and as the people tread inside, the middle section of the altar depresses in a square, and it slides left, revealing a book as it arises. Above the ingresses are smooth, stone statues of the upper body and head of an unknown creature. The only feature they have is one giant eye in the center of the forehead with vertical eyelids. On the ceiling, the members notice seven pictures of cataclysmic events though only three are intact enough to discern the features. A shadow figure and its army, dragons clashing, and plague are the events while the remainders have gigantic gaps, and the pieces are tiny chunks on the floor. Lyera coughs from the dust she displaces by flipping the book pages a single page at a time due to the size. Aiding her are pictures and diagrams, she can extrapolate the denotation of the script, and she locates a section she postulates to be the exorcism ritual.
"I believe I've found the instructions for the exorcism."
"Know how we do it?" asked Takasato.
Lyera shakes her head. "Not a hundred percent certain due to the unknown script, but there are pictures and diagrams, and there's one showing one person drawing out a black entity from another I'm assuming is the one we want."
“Tôhit ólî épsa od hoûma, oligramo humîs án pathamo ed nûthé epólthem," the three statues spoke in unison.
"Anyone know what they said?" asked Rakiri.
"Do you know an individual that can fully comprehend an unfamiliar language from a fugacious speech?" asked Lyera sharply.
"No."
"Then, we possess zero cognizance."
"No need to be a bitch about it," Rakiri mumbled under his breath.
"I'm assuming they warrant us to enter the three doors to actuate them," Ashereth spoke. "It's logical to presuppose challenges are awaiting us."
Krivkris nods in agreement and adds, "Or traps." He issues an order to the entire party, "Let's try the doors carefully. If they open, we proceed with caution. If not, we'll figure out a different strategy."
To the group's surprise, the door divides in half diagonally from top left to bottom and automatically opens as if it's a message from the voice pursuing their theory further. However, they presume a trap when Ashereth and Rakiri enter first before the door reseals itself and declines to locomote despite their pressure. The statues speak again.
"Ôhte epólthem uppet."
"It's a fucking trap," Lyera exclaimed. Both she and Takasato frantically hammer their fist on the barrier. "Ashereth. Rakiri. Can you hear me?"
"We can hear you," Rakiri replied. "We also heard the voice."
"Are you injured? What's happening on your side?"
"We're completely intact and safe for now," she heard Ashereth from the other side. "I assume they intend to separate us for the ritual.
"Since there isn't an option to open the door without agitating the statues and possibly the dragon, we'll obey their command until otherwise," Krivkris ordered. "Both of you will continue ahead, and the remainders will split between the other two doors." He, Lyera, and Takasato ultimately decide that he will complete his ordeal solo while the females complete their's together, and they cautiously step into their door of choice.
"Alkin epólthem uppet," the voice spoke as one gateway sealed Krivkris's fate. "Hûs uppet," it said as Lyera and Takasato as it closed theirs with a thud.
On edge, Rakiri starts to insert his bullets into his rifle's tubular magazine through the side loader, stopping when the twelfth round can't fit and pulls the bolt back. A mechanism catches the exposed bullet, lifts it, and he shoves the bolt forward to chamber it; a part of the next bullet's brass cartridge reveals itself through the side loader.
On the exact wavelength, Ashereth unsheathes his longsword. His elegant blade nearly as tall as he radiates light blue as the metal itself, which adds a contrast to the dull colors of the room around him. A sense of pride fills him as he stares at an insignia of a pack of inflamed canines and a word I?tani engraved beneath it.
The ensuing room beckons the two males with a glimpse of a button in the location of a Cylosian's eye. Before it, two scimitars form a cross in protective mode.
"I need to talk to you before we proceed," Ashereth said to Rakiri.
"What is it?" asked Rakiri.
"I apologize for my speech a few days ago about you not suffering calamities. That was impertinent of me."
Rakiri waves Ashereth's apology aside. "I've buried the hatchet hours after our ruckus."
His forgiveness surprises Ashereth. "You don't harbor any resentment towards me?"
"And why would I," Rakiri answered. "People that hold even a fraction amount of grudge will eventually lose their heart. Even the worst offenders I've encountered, I don't contain grudges toward them in my heart. There's a certain Wood Elf I know that can use my advice."
Ashereth assumes it is himself and nods before realizing it's not about him. "Takasato mentioned an example in defense of you, sort of."
The Ki'Tsun's ears twitch. "What was it? I bet it dealt with Horokita or the Qi'Qari."
"Not positive," Ashereth said. "She mentioned the tyrannical government, your capture, and joining a resistance."
Rakiri nods his head at the connection between the points. "Ah, Takács Botond then."
"You answer this question in any detail you please or none at all. What betided you from your internment?"
Rakiri doesn't seem vexed by the question. "I was whipped repeatedly often, done backbreaking labor, and barely ate. But the worst was solitary confinement."
The insouciant nature in Rakiri's details of his capture perplexes Ashereth. He's so nonchalant about his asperity. He's most likely the same way with the others. "How do you manage to not have a breakdown?" asked Ashereth. "When Takasato revealed the details, she nearly did."
Rakiri smiles. "I met an individual during my captivity named Yashime, and not once have I observed him with a frown no matter how hard the captors attempted. I asked him one day how can he be so cheerful, and he responded, "The Tree of Life will present you multiple ordeals and tragedies. It always will. Do you accept the fruit it will present in exchange for it to cease knowing that the quality is substandard, or do you ascend further and seize the best fruit, Rakiri?" It had an impact and still does to this very day and will exist till my death. I also developed my reason to be cheerful."
"And what is that?"
Rakiri stares at Ashereth. "Each tragedy I suffer eventually fuels my effort to better myself and my environment and increases my appreciation for things I already have, such as you, the party, and my future family. If I focus on what I possess, then it lessens the tragedy's impact. It doesn't eliminate the pain, but it aids enough to not fall into despair."
Ashereth decides that it is time to explain about his events. "Remember Esaal?"
"Yeah, from Krivkris. I assumed that was the reason for your speech about my lack of tragedy. You don't have to relive the experience. I can imagine it was horrific."
Ashereth continues anyway. "To be laconic, Esaal was a lawless nation, and multiple organizations formed and committed massacres. During the mission of Krivkris and I, I witnessed some of them, including a marketplace where numerous children were part of the casualties. That same mission ended in fiasco, and I lost some dear friends."
Rakiri places his hand on his right shoulder. "Sorry to hear that."
"Let's see what trouble we find ourselves in.
"I'm locked and loaded."
With Ashereth in front, the duo enters the room. Out of obscurity is a pool on both sides of the path with black sludge that appears to have some activity resembling life and a statue behind the double scimitars. It is disparate in the design and material than the figures outside the locked door. Whereas the outside statues are carved out of the same material, it composes of random rocks that only exist alfresco, and the interstices suggest magic as the binding force. Instead of one eye socket, there are three with the eye socket on the forehead dwarfing the other two.
By their combined weight, Ashereth and Rakiri depress the platform marginally into the ooze and produce a fulsome, saturated sound. On random occasions, there is a sharp hiss.
The statue becomes animated when the pair step foot on the other side. Bright, white light materializes in the eye sockets and projects onto Ashereth and Rakiri; they shield their eyes from the sudden rush of light to their retinas. Slow initially, the limbs move to reveal the actual size of the behemoth. They glance at each other with a concerned expression.
"Alkin lacna," the voice said. "Aldamo án kaltoû." To convey its point, the button glows blue, and the sludge swallows the only means of escape.
Without giving Ashereth and Rakiri time to process the information, the statue advances towards them and sends them soaring in the air from the flat side of its scimitar. Ashereth staggers to his feet, pausing to regain vision, and charges at it. Its response knocks him back farther than the first time. Maybe my agility will get me past it, Rakiri thought. For the first three seconds after passing Ashereth's distance, it does. Then he ends suffering the same fate. They both attempt again to only end up even farther back.
"Wind Nature: Compressed Air Cannon!" A massive sphere of visible air materializes above Ashereth and compresses into a dense ball suitable for standard cannons. The effect it has on the statue results in a gigantic hole in its left arm to the point of almost severing it entirely off. Boulders crash violently to the ground before an invisible force levitates them back to it, regenerating its injury. He and Rakiri strive for the button, but it repels them backward even closer to the sludge.
A cloud of white smoke appears suddenly, preceding a thunderous boom as Rakiri fires his first shot at the ginormous eye on the forehead. The statue recoils as the effulgent, white light disappears from the bullet impact. The empty casing ejects vertically while rotating as he pulls and pushes the bolt to chamber another round. Time around him begins to slowly crawl as he inhales deeply and aims at an increasingly demanding target. An additional plume of smoke mixes with the lingering cloud, and a stentorian bang drowns out existing noise from his next shot at a different eyeball resulting in a second hit.
"Wind Nature: Air Shot!" Ashereth's left fingers form a gun symbol, and he proceeds to fire miniature, compressed air shots at the last remaining eye. The task is arduous to perform because of the statue's erratic movements. Shots one, two, and four miss entirely the face while the third and fifth hit it in the general area, and the statue is unfazed. I wish I possessed a Ki'Tsun's proficiency in marksmanship right now, he thought. His final shot lands the closest to the target, and he witnesses Rakiri finish the job. Their belief of an advantage erodes apace, and they land in a parlous spot closer to the black pool from a shockwave blast. The tips of Ashereth's long hair corrodes instantly on contact with the sludge. The dark eyes relit, extirpating their progress.
"Wait, Rakiri," Ashereth ordered.
Rakiri obeys. "What is it?"
"We need to formulate a strategy, or else it will send us to the acid pool momentarily." Ashereth points at the statue. "Notice how it refuses to budge from its spot and charge at us?"
"I do," Rakiri answered and rubbed his chin. "Perhaps we only provoke it by walking past a certain boundary."
Ashereth nods in agreement with the hypothesis. "And as long we stay here, we can plot to our hearts' content."
"Right now, we aren't capable of running past it. We can't blind it, and the rocks float back to their original spot."
"Considering we can use ranged attacks without repercussions, it's safe to assume that it regenerates faster that we can damage it or else it would be on our asses right now. Nonetheless, there is a window that you can squeeze through if we deal sufficient damage for it to regenerate."
"Your air cannon dealt significant damage earlier. Maybe that's the key."
"In a different circumstance, I wouldn't hesitate to expend more mana on that spell, similar, or higher. Since we're not, it's wise to conserve until we reach Rahymna."
"I agree. Can you use a powerful spell one more time to disjoint one of its legs or decapitate it?"
"Not a terrible idea. Let's give it a shot. Wind Nature: Compressed Air Cannon!"
Ashereth targets the narrowest spot on the statue's right leg, collapsing more than the arm, and Rakiri charges forward during the rapid regeneration window. Just as he is about to reach the objective, he yips it latches onto his tail and sends him skidding across the floor to now where the next setback would end him up in the sludge, and the statue repairs itself shortly after that.
"I thought it would work," Rakiri said, frustrated. "I'm empty of ideas."
Ashereth proceeds to alternate glances between the ooze and the statue. "I do have one."
"I'm listening."
"I can conjure wind, suck up some sludge, and hurl it at the statue. Maybe the caustic nature will cause longer regeneration time, and I'll even summon the additional wind to boost your speed. If only Lyera was here."
"I'm game."
"On my command." Commencing his plan, Ashereth creates a mini vortex in the ooze pool. "Wind Nature: Mini Vortex!" The clean, visible air turns dark as it vacuums the viscous liquid, and he hurls it onto the entire statue. Hisses and steam appear as it erodes the stone, weakening it enough to collapse the figure and the regeneration is the longest thus far, but still rapid. "Now!" ordered Ashereth and Rakiri charged. "Wind Nature: Blustery Wave!" The improvised speed boost provides sufficient propulsion to Rakiri that he presses the button just before it grabs him again, and it releases him halfway into its throw as it deactivates.
"We did it!" exclaimed Rakiri, and he winced from his injuries.
"Are you ok?" asked Ashereth.
"I'm sore, but alright." The sunken platform floats from the corrosive pool, and there's a blue light above the locked door now."
"I'm positive we're allowed to leave now," Ashereth said.
"I believe you're correct," Rakiri replied, and they ambulated over to the exit.
Don't forget to favorite, vote, leave a comment, and spread the word. I greatly appreciate you reading this chapter and thank those that clicked the Watch button. I'll post another chapter next Sunday unless I end up busy again. We're near the end, folks.