Chapter 18 #2
They rushed ahead. A descending corridor joined from the side, but the sounds came from ahead. They passed through a massive door frame.
A hall opened before them, and Alsen had to push more power into his light to see around them.
They stood in a massive dome. Easily a hundred feet above them, carved from the living rock of the mountain, its entire surface was covered in the most intricate spiral pattern Alsen had ever seen.
The central point of the dome held a six-star formation, each star rendered in precise geometric detail, surrounded by other stellar configurations he’d never encountered.
Concentric rings of text radiated outward from the stars, covering the dome in dense script that continued down the curved walls.
The inner sanctum. The heart of the Spiral temple.
A mote of light floated up ahead, tracking a running person. Luna and the light spell he sent to track her. Chased by a swarm of scorpions, walking statues, and other constructs, she swung Sonja’s spear around to swat them off, running to maintain distance.
An arc of dark purple energy carved a path from the distance, almost hitting Luna, who barely dodged. That was an attack spell.
Had Luna engaged in this fight alone?
The sharp sound of Garrett drawing his sword interrupted him. Garrett spun the sword in his hand. “F-rank my ass.”
“But she’s still a party member,” Theron said, rolling the axe in his hands. “Marena, full buff. This looks like the last fight we’ll have here.”
She raised her staff, teal motes of light flying out towards Garrett, Theron, and Alsen.
“Stick together,” Garrett said. “We are likely to attract some of the constructs. Whatever’s casting the spells is likely the being that has kept charging the gems. They won’t turn off when the being is destroyed, so don’t count on it.”
Alsen pulled on his strength. He felt a bit cold, but he had quite a bit he could do before his body gave out.
They rushed into the hall.
The dome swallowed their footsteps whole.
Alsen pushed more power into the floating orb. The light expanded, illuminating the vastness of the inner sanctum in pale, unsteady flickers. Every surface crawled with carvings, spirals nested in spirals, the entire dome a single, unbroken text written in the language he’d barely begun to decode.
None of that mattered right now.
Luna ran across the far end of the chamber, Sonja’s spear in one hand, his tracking light bobbing above her like a loyal lantern.
She moved the way she always moved, fluid and effortless, weaving between pillars and debris.
As she ran, she sometimes spun to smash the gem of a scorpion that got closer.
Still, behind her rumbled the horde.
Dozens of constructs, some scorpions skittering in clusters, their gems like bright fireflies on the backdrop of darkness. Most were walking statues, the faceless kind with arms ending in weapons, moving in a loose wave. And behind those ran the larger insect ones, scarabs he hadn’t yet seen.
An arc of dark purple energy carved through the air, slamming into the ground a few feet behind Luna. Stone exploded. She didn’t flinch, didn’t stumble, just adjusted her angle by a fraction and kept running.
Alsen traced the spell to its source.
On a raised platform near the far wall of the dome, partially obscured by the horde, stood the caster.
He looked like a statue of a man, except that he moved a bit too much.
He stood seven or eight feet tall, a glorification of a man, with broad shoulders, a glorious robe, strong arms, the perfect jaw underneath a mask that covered the top half of his face, made of a blend of pale and dark stone.
He moved like a man would, joints perfectly smooth, movement natural. Jewelry decorated his robe, an amulet, a belt embedded with gems, a sash over his shoulder covered by ornaments and crystals.
His entire frame oozed a dark purple aura, void energy so intense he could see it with his naked eye. Alsen ran a bit to the side from the rest of the group. This construct, the architect, had yet to react to them.
For as long as Luna kept his attention, Alsen had the opportunity to end this fight with the first move.
Alsen pulled on his power. He had one spell that had both never failed, and took a mere instant to cast. His best spell. Alsen molded the power in front of himself, steadied the energy, had it compress, aimed at the architect, and fired.
Lance of Annihilation.
The lance split the air, annihilating all in its path in an instant.
A blue shield flashed in front of the architect.
The lance hit the shield. Light and force sprayed sideways, carving gouges into the stone floor and ceiling.
The shockwave rolled through the dome, the pressure slamming against his chest in spite of the distance.
The architect stood untouched behind its shield. The shield flickered and faded. With a smirk, he waved a hand toward Alsen and the rest of the group.
Two-thirds of the horde chasing Luna split apart, heading towards them.
Alsen stared. Well, fuck.
The first time he fired the lance, it shot through a mountain and pierced a hole in the sky. He cast the spell much stronger now.
It wasn’t supposed to be possible to block it.
“Tight formation!” Garrett shouted, tearing Alsen from his thoughts.
Right. He had to deal with the statues. Garrett, Theron, and Marena already held a formation, having an opening for him.
No, he couldn’t go there. In the frenzy of a melee, most of his spells weren’t usable. Too explosive to be used near allies.
But he also needed to not get swarmed by scorpions. And he had to help the others.
The memory of Sonja hit him before the constructs did. The low-ceilinged hall. Scorpions bursting from the floor. Sonja stumbling. The sting. Luna holding her. The dagger.
Not this time.
Alsen pulled on his power, not sparing a thought for saving strength. Indirect missile. Times five hundred.
A hundred for the architect, four hundred for the horde.
A missile barrage like none before erupted from him. Curving through all directions, the missiles indiscriminately hit everything in front of him. Explosions thundered through the hall like a machine gun.
The horde kept moving, especially the scarabs simply powering through. The missiles cleaned up the scorpions, but the larger machines required tens of hits before they shattered.
The cold bloomed in his chest. He ignored it.
“Hold together!” Garrett shouted. “Don’t spread out.”
“Without me,” Alsen shouted. He couldn’t get into the formation. He pulled more of his power, gathering motes of wind underneath himself.
Fly.
The wind burst, throwing him up into the air. He almost hit the ceiling with his head. Alsen focused on the wind, stabilizing himself midair.
The remnants of the horde swarmed towards Garrett, Theron, and Marena. Fewer than a dozen constructs remained in that group.
All right, they could handle that.
He refocused on Luna. She had run to the far edge of the room. With a spin, she threw a throwing dagger at the architect. With a flick of his hand, a blue shield flashed in that direction, deflecting the dagger.
He didn’t even look at her, his face in the direction of Alsen.
Over a dozen constructs still chased after Luna, without any scorpions though. She was also going to be fine.
All right, he had to figure out the architect. Indirect missile. Sequential release. Times twenty.