42. Chapter 41
42
Chapter 41
Dacias
Dacias bent forward, landing on all fours as he shifted into lion form. That dreadful smell of decay intensified with his heightened senses, and he snarled in disapproval. If he’d been angry before, the smell of pain and death that lingered in this place made his blood boil with rage. Between the odor and the continuous moaning of the prisoners, he couldn’t wait to unleash the retribution these guardians so dearly deserved.
He started to pace as his fury took over. Klorin’s cougar appeared beside him and nuzzled into Dacias’s mane, a signal to calm down and focus on the task.
Killing as many of these fuckers as possible.
Julen and Souzie stood side by side as the monsters received orders from Iacuora, who, naturally, took it upon herself to be the commander of the Caligonean squadron.
Anjular moved to the front of the group. “This crypt lies at the base of the prison.” She dragged her foot along the dusty floor, making a circle. The group moved closer, and she pointed to a spot on the circle nearest her. “Here’s the prison entrance. The yard is directly in front of it, and that is where the bulk of the guardians are waiting to attack.” She then pointed her foot to the opposite side of the circle, closest to the group. “This is where we are.” She moved her foot just outside the circle to the left. “And this is where the passage leading to the mine is located. You might have noticed the opening of the mine in the prison yard when you entered.”
Anjular continued. “This crypt is flush against that tunnel. I sense that the mine and the connecting passage are currently empty. The guardians are ready for battle.”
She walked to the wall of the crypt just out of reach of the last cell and pressed her hand against it. “The wall is thick, but the passage descending to the mine lies just beyond it. I’ll use my power to create an opening. We’ll exit and ascend toward the tunnel’s entrance, which opens out into the yard. They won’t expect us to exit that way, so we’ll have the element of surprise.
“Iacuora will lead the Caligoneans first. Souzie will come close behind, erecting a wind barrier for protection. Klorin and Dacias will follow and race to the area opposite the entrance. This will distract the guardians while Julen and I emerge and use our enhanced powers for the final assault. Carnufor is out there, and we all know he’s developed chemistries that can severely weaken us. We must do everything we can to avoid him.”
“Our goal is to liberate the prison, but we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that there is very real danger out there. Despite the strength of our collective forces, we are drastically outnumbered. Good luck.”
Dacias growled and whipped his mane in approval. The others made various sounds of affirmation and braced themselves for the attack. Anjular signaled for the group to step back before turning to the wall and pressing her hands against it. A glowing silver light released from her palms, creating an outline of a large arc on the stone. The section within the arc disintegrated, dust and debris spewing from the area, allowing her to walk forward and create an exit to the passage. The group followed, and eventually crossed the threshold into the tunnel connecting the mine to the prison yard.
They silently ascended, the sounds of guardians bellowing orders and clanking weapons growing louder, until they reached the summit, remaining hidden behind mining equipment.
Anjular turned to Iacuora, who responded with a nod. Iacuora released a hiss and slithered into the yard with a speed that caused Dacias’s lion to recoil in shock. The creatures followed. The piercing cries of guardians witnessing an invasion of gigantic creatures ripped through the yard, followed by the whistling of wind projectiles.
Let the brawl commence.
Souzie ran out next, and Anjular turned toward Julen. “Ready?” He nodded. She looked at Klorin and Dacias, who knew what to do.
Dacias charged into the chaos, with Klorin close by his side. The Multarmirus already had a guardian by the throat in each of its ten hands, choking the life out of them. Souzie conjured a wind barrier to protect Iacuora just before she took to the sky. Iacuora flew over the barrier and stretched her tail to a length extending from one end of the prison yard to another. Wind pellets sailed toward her, but she swatted them away, the metal-like scales on her arm protecting her from injury, before lifting her tail and cracking it like a whip. It looped into a lasso, and she wrapped it around a group of guardians and squeezed them like a python. Their bones cracked under the force of her hold, and their faces turned deep red as she crushed their bodies.
Guardians stood atop the wall surrounding the perimeter of the yard. Those who could wield wind as projectiles shot at the creatures, while others created barriers or fired physical arrows.
The Viscura strode to Dacias’s side and tossed him over the wind barrier. Dacias roared in shock but quickly regained his footing as he landed on several guardians on the battlement parallel to the prison entrance. Wasting no time, he thrashed about with his claws, slicing the enemy to pieces. He clamped one guardian in his jaws, using him as a shield from incoming projectiles, while rearing up onto his hind legs. His front claws sliced at the guardians before him.
Dacias found a rhythm, moving with a macabre grace. He kept his head in constant motion to ensure his human shield left no part of his lion form vulnerable to threat. As he charged ahead, he snatched guardians and disemboweled them with rapid ferocity.
The Viscura tossed Klorin over the wind at the opposite end of the battlement. He followed Dacias’s lead, utilizing a human shield while dicing through foes with his front claws. He leaped forward as a guardian fell to his death, then repeated the action. The brothers closed in from either side until they met and devoured the few remaining opponents.
Meanwhile, the sand creature slithered to the far end of the yard and released a sandstorm, consuming the men closest to it. Their agonized hacking mixed with the desperate cries of men being slaughtered by the other Caligoneans. The sand creature then released a dozen different streams of sand that filled the mouths of men nearby.
Lavender vapor covered the area. The mist swirled into a circular formation, gathering in a far corner of the yard. It collected beneath Julen and lifted him into the air. His form floated in the cyclone’s center, and his brown curls billowed as the purple winds intensified. The look on his face revealed his surprise at what he had conjured, but he steadied himself and, with a look of determination, he stretched his arms toward the sky, releasing tendrils of purple smoke that reached for the heavens. They latched onto the clouds above and pulled them into a turbulent torrent. The skies above turned indigo as his powers formed a canopy of ominous clouds that hung over Vinculux. With a snap of his wrist, Julen released a lavender bolt of lightning that struck the prison wall opposite him, creating an explosion of rubble. Anjular, standing near him, stretched out her hands. Stones from the exploded wall levitated and then soared through the air, smashing into the guards with deadly force.
Julen unleashed a series of lightning bolts, striking wildly about the prison yard. The guardians’ once manly hollering turned into terrified shrieks as Julen and Anjular unleashed hell on them. Mayhem ensued as some guardians fled, rushing out of the prison walls toward the dormant volcanoes. Others held firm, letting loose an all-out assault of wind and arrows aimed at Julen and Anjular. However, Julen successfully conjured a wind wall to protect them both.
Lightning struck a cart, and fire erupted, engulfing half the prison yard in flames. The Caligoneans rushed to the opposite side of the fire and sought shelter at the entrance of the mine shaft. Dacias and Klorin leaped off the battlement and joined their creature allies.
Klorin shifted to his human form and called out to Iacuora, who tended to the wounds of Multarmirus, who bled profusely from several arms. “Where’s Souzie?”
Iacuora spoke without looking at him. “I don’t know! She was shielding me, but I lost her in the chaos.”
Klorin shifted back to cougar form and ran out of the mine shaft. He darted about the yard, dodging debris and sniffing the ground. Dacias bounded after him and began sniffing for Souzie, too.
The brothers approached Anjular, and Klorin shifted. “Anjular, can you sense Souzie?”
Anjular kept one hand on the task of wielding rubble at the men attacking while pressing a finger to her temple.
She gasped, and her silver eyes widened. “He has her. Carnufor.”
Dacias’s lion shifted to human form. “Julen! He has her! That fucker has Souzie!”
Julen willed his tempest toward them before commanding it to vanish. He landed with a thud and screamed, “Carnufor? Where?”
Anjular motioned to the stretch of windows overlooking the prison yard. “She’s up there. He’s dragging her along the corridor just above us.”
“Let’s go!” Klorin sprinted toward the entrance to rescue Souzie, but he was struck by a guardian’s wind boulder that sent him hurtling back, crashing into a wall. Dacias and Julen ran to him. Klorin lay there unconscious. He bled from the blow, and his breathing looked erratic.
Together, they lifted Klorin’s body and carried him into the mine. “Go! Help Souzie. I’ll take care of him.” Dacias cried.
“I won’t leave you!”
“You have to! She needs you.”
Julen hesitated for the briefest of moments before kissing Dacias’s temple and then running to the prison entrance.