“Are you mental?!” Kate snapped at her as they climbed out of the river onto an unknown embankment. The river was longer than she anticipated, finishing with a small waterfall and into a surrounding lake where her and Kate had to pull themselves out.
“Kate, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”
Kate gave her a flat look. “I don’t have time for your nonsense Mia, there’s no way we’re going to make it back. It’s pitch black out here.”
Mia flashed her a grin. “Where’s that can do attitude you always have?”
Kate rolled her eyes. “I know we can do nothing about being lost right now.”
Mia laughed. “That’s the spirit.”
Rocky cliffs and hills surrounded them, along with the outspreading of the forest. The climb up the waterfall looked steep, but they needed to make it back to Lily. Mia nudged at Kate after doing their best to dry off their wet armor, still managing to hang onto their short swords. They started to climb a cliff face that wasn’t saturated with the water from the waterfall. There was a large space in the middle of the steep and barely climbable rock. Mia and Kate did climbed to the center, Kate almost falling as they reached the break. Mia rushed helping Kate the rest of the way, holding onto a small tree for leverage.
Suddenly, Mia flew into the air, her leg caught in a hidden rope that dangled from the tree.
Kate’s sword flashed and Mia dropped instantly.
“Ok so there’s that” Mia said as she landed feet first in a crouch, her landing graceful. Mia shook her head, then looked around for more hidden traps. “Who would have placed something like that here?” She thought out loud
“And why.” Kate said putting her sword away and searing around as well. “Bandits?”
“Probably.”
“Hopefully we don’t run into anything else.” Kate said as they both started to climb the cliff again.
***
Lily turned and sped through the trees, the getting stronger as she neared where she left Mia and Kate.
“What in the world?” She said to herself as she saw the blood splatters and the wolves strewn over the wooded grove. “Either they’re highly impressive, or they’re super lucky.”
She twisted her face and followed the footsteps the two left in their battle with the wolves. She stopped as the footsteps vanished and she noticed a small drop in the forest floor that led to a river.
“Bloody hell…”
***
The top of the cliff led to a path where rock walls looked mountainous on both sides of them. Trees were scattered throughout the narrow pathway. As they walked, Mia allocated her stat point into wisdom, so she could get a better handle on her magic, or so she was told by her Akasha Vision. She felt her mental connection with her magic increase as she decided to try it out. She channeled her jin and cast her fireball spell, but instead of shooting it out, she focused on it staying in her hand. Her fireball became as small as an ember, lighting their path in the dark. She smiled, then turned her head as the faintest of cracks caught her eye.
“Is that a cave?” Mia pointed at small hole in the middle of the rocky walls, the opening barely visible.
“Do you think we should check it out?”
Mia shrugged. “It could be a place to rest until daybreak.”
Kate smiled. “That’s the best plan you’ve had all season.”
Mia gave Kate a sarcastic look as they entered the cave.
Akasha Vision Alert: You have entered a Temporary Dungeon.
“What the…?”
Mia and Kate didn’t have time to react as rock monsters attacked them from all sides, binding them and knocking her out.
***
“Where are we?” Mia felt the cold sting of chains around her arms dangled in the air as she sat on a hard stone floor. The stench of death permeated the air making her gag out of reflex.
“You had the brilliant idea of going into the cave to wait for daybreak.” Kate retorted as she shook her chains against the stone wall. One torch light lit adorned to a metal facet in the wall gave her a dim view of her surroundings. They were in a cell. Heavy metal bars with a thick lock in the center was in front of her as thick stone walls with large chains held them in place. No one was in the cell with them except for scattered mice and bones. No guards stood on the outside of the cell either, which she found even more odd.
Mia shook her head.
“What’s that noise” Kate said as she started to look around the cave more intently. Mia listened then strained her body to see as far outside the cell as her chains would allow. She gasped, finally noticing the multiple cells containing multiple prisoners.
“My Akasha Vision told me we’re in a temporary dungeon. We need to see if we can get out of here.”
“How is my world suddenly becoming all about magic now?” Kate huffed as she struggled with the chains.
Mia looked around and noticed one of the bones looked thick with a sharp edge. She struggled to grasp the bone that was just outside her reach. With a final shove, Mia grabbed the bone with a slight yip in glee. Mia used the bone to unlock her chains, then unlocked Kate’s.
Akasha Vision Alert: Sleight of Hand has reached level 2
Akasha Vision Alert: Escape the Dungeon
Unknown forces occupy the Dungeon of Lost Souls, escape the dungeon or defeat the Dungeon Master.
Quest Level: Epic
Success Conditions: Escape the Dungeon of Lost Souls
Reward: +500 exp
Quest Failure or Refusal: Capture by unknown forces
Accept? Yes/no?
Mia mentally selected “Yes” and the white screen vanished from her view.
“You know, I always did wonder where you learned how to do that.”
“You’d be surprised by what you can pick up when you fear for your life every day.”
Kate shrugged. “Fair point.”
Mia used the bone shard on the metal lock, but it wouldn’t budge. Mia took a deep breath and channeled her jin, releasing her word of power as a small fireball shot into the metal, melting it away.
“Why do you make that look easy?” Kate sighed.
Mia smiled as they cautiously exited the cell, turned to their left and right to make sure no one after them was coming. The cells were built into the walls of the stone cave. The path out of the cell led either to the left or right, Mia turning to head towards the closest cell she could spot.
“Please don’t kill us!” Came the cry of an exasperated woman. She held a small child in her arms as a man lay dangling next to her, his body lifeless.
“What in the world.” Mia used her fireball to break into the cell, unchaining the woman as the baby lay still in her arms.
“May the gods bless you.” The woman cried as she ran from the cell.
“How many people do you think here?” Kate asked exasperated.
Mia shook her head. Her eyes were wide with horror as they continued to unlock cells. Most containing dead that still lay shackled to the walls. The people she was able to release cried as they ran in terror, each one going a different direction.
“This is insane.” Mia said, her face a mix of horror and panic.
Kate shook her head as they continued down the hall.
“What the blazes is going on down there.” a voice boomed down the hall. Mia and Kate finally reached the end of It came from behind a gate made entirely of bones. The gate opened, and a giant of a man walked through with a torch light in his hand and a short sword on this hip.
He stepped close to Mia.
The only other lights in the cavern came from the torch lights by each cell.
Mia sprang into action and shot a fireball in his direction, his face wide-eyed as the spell struck him in the torso. Mia’s face grew wide as the man got up slowly, his hand holding rocks that spun around it. This man was an Akasha too.
The man roared, launching the rocks in quick movements as he rushed at Mia. She narrowly dodged but quickly followed with a swift kick to the back. He turned and charged at her. She undercut his wasteful attempt to tackle her with his apparent brute strength and took his short sword with one fluid motion. The man stood back, dazed. Suddenly his face grew hard.
“This one is an Akasha.” The man bellowed as more footsteps were heard approaching them fast. Mia took the short sword and struck the man in the face, blood spattering as he yelled. Mia twisted and used the hilt to hit the man on the back of the head, knocking him out cold.
“We need to get out of here,” Kate said as she grabbed Mia by the arm, dragging her in the opposite direction of the oncoming footsteps.
“What about the rest of the cells?” Mia panted as they ran past more cells filled with people.
“We can’t free them now Mia, we have no idea what’s around us, who is doing this nor what they want”
Mia shook her head, and Kate threw her hands up. “Fine” Kate huffed.
Mia had just managed to unchain the last prisoner when a dozen guards appeared in the hallway, their weapons raised.
“Time for fun.” Kate’s face contorted into a wolfish grin.
“Run Kate!” Mia looked at Kate incredulously.
“Run where?”
“Away from the guards obviously” Mia retorted.
“I don’t think that’s going to be possible.” Kate said as she pointed towards the bombardment of rocks that were hurling their way.
The original set of backup guards finally caught up with them, their anger turning to rage as Mia used their advance as a training session. She glid between the large beasts of men that seemed to only like using their strength as their weapon. She shot a fireball, knocking the first two off their feet. Mia then used her short sword to slice off the heads as she made her way through the handful.
“Kate, catch!” Mia yelled, then threw a sword from one of the recently fallen guards.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Kate caught it midair, then turned and swung the sword upward on one of the rapidly approaching guards. The sword caught him in the chest, which made him grab it and stagger backwards.
Another guard lunged at Mia. She dodged and sliced downward across his back. The last guard left roared, then barreled toward them. His speed and momentum were gaining as he shot more rocks at her. The onslaught pelted her, making it impossible for her to advance further.
Kate yelled as the rock pellets took her down. Mia ran to help as the guard sliced at her with his sword. Mia caught his swing and used his momentum against him, knocking him off balance and using that to cut his torso and neck.
“They went this way!” A voice echoed off the cavern walls.
“Plan D, follow me!” Mia stated as she helped Kate to her feet.
“I’m officially done with magic.” Kate groaned as she hobbled behind.
Mia put a hand over her face and sighed.
The dungeon they were trapped in was intricate. There were massive tunnels which seemed to just lead to more tunnels or dead ends.
Shouts could still be heard behind them and they rushed in the opposite direction.
Most of the dungeon was dark. Random torch lights littered the hallway. There were mostly shadowy areas which made up most of the space, making it almost impossible to tell where they were going. They ran down one tunnel and came upon a large room with more guards. They decided not to engage and ran down a nearby passageway. More tunnels and more rooms that led to more dead ends. The exit was nowhere in sight. Luckily, the guards did not catch up with them as they tried to make their escape.
“We need to think” Mia said after swearing they were going in circles.
“I don’t understand these tunnels or where they lead” Kate shrugged in response.
“They don’t seem to be natural.” Mia placed a hand on her chin, trying to remember where they spotted guards and where they hadn’t. They needed to keep moving though. There was no telling where there would be more.
“Who do you think they are?”
“Who knows? What I do know is that we can’t keep going down the same paths.”
Kate snorted.
“Look at the ground, do you see all of the footprints they left behind. They are big, and they’ve left dents where they have come in and out of. It’s hard to see in this light, and they have done a good job trying to cover up their tracks. Look closely though. You can see where there is a slight lowering in some areas, and even lower ground in other areas.”
“So, we need to follow the lights and check whether the ground is dented or slightly dented?”
“More or less” Mia sighed. “Let’s go.”
They followed the trail of light down a raveling set of tunnels that had more impacted dirt than the other choices nearby. The pair turned down another set of tunnels and came face to face with a contingent of brawly looking soldiers.
“Run!” Mia shouted, but it was too late. The other contingent that was following the two finally caught up with them.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” A feminine voice came from behind the stack of burly men. She slowly approached them to being within a hairs distance. “Looks like a couple of shurkas.”
“If you’re going to answer your own question, why bother asking?” Mia said with derision.
The woman smacked Mia across the face, blood spattering on the ground after the hit impacted. Mia wiped what remained on her sleeve and smiled.
“You mock me child, but your life is in my hands.”
Suddenly, a bright white light appeared, and the woman was knocked back by a brutal force. The guards attacked what appeared to be the source of the light and there stood Lily. Mia’s face widened. More light shot out of Lily’s hands as the guards rushed towards her, the woman struggling to get up. Mia and Kate sprang into action, Mia using Lily’s distraction as a way to take down some of the large forces. Mia used her short sword to puncture guards that were close to her then dodged out of the way as Kate finished up the attack. Lily used bombardments of light while the guards approached her in waves.
Mia’s face grew wide as the guard numbers started to dwindle, until the woman stood up and let loose a spray of rocks from her hands that buried all three of them underneath.
***
Mia awoke in a large metal cage. She groaned as she felt around. No chains, yet no weapon either. Mia sighed then ran to the bars of the cage, gasping as she took in the full sight. She was dangling dozens of meters in the air on thick metal chains hanging from the ceiling. A large murky black pit loomed beneath her as a narrow bridge led from one side of the cave walls to the middle of the pit. The room was lit with torches hanging from the walls. The light was not that bright, but it allowed her to see the multiple people scattered in the hanging cages. The noise from them was loud. Various moans and pleads from the prisoners reverberated off the walls.
Mia squinted her eyes as a hole opened in the rock wall and a different woman, one with straight black hair and brown robes walked down the bridge over the pit. The room grew eerily silent as the woman stopped. Mia could hear Lily’s voice as a cage started lowering. The woman’s voice cut through the chamber like ice.
“Fancy meeting you here, Lily,” The woman said cheerfully.
“Tess.” Lily sneered back at her.
“When my team said they captured an Akasha, I just had to hurry down and find out who would be foolish enough to enter this dungeon. Turns out the answer was better than expected.”
Lily grunted. “I always knew you to be scum, Tess, but this place is exceptionally low.” She spat.
“Watch your filthy mouth.” Tess sneered.
“Cheer up Tessi, why don’t you let us out and we can talk about it.”
Tess and Lily laughed mockingly in unison.
“I just wanted to come and see the face of the person next in line.”
“In line for what?” Lily asked, no longer suppressing her anger.
“The sacrifice,” Tess said with a grin, “You’re next in line to be fed to Horven,” she added with a smile.
“Horven?” Lily questioned, but Tess laughed without responding.
Tess turned and left the room the same way she entered. The noise grew louder as she exited. Rattling chains echoed around the room as the prisoners shook their cages in anguish. Lily’s cage started to ascend and she roared in anger. Tess laughed as the walls of the door formed back into solid rock behind her.
“We need to find a way out and Tess blocked my jin.” Lily’s voice rang over the chaos.
“I didn’t even know that was possible, but I can make it to you.” Mia responded as she channeled her jin and cast her fireball, melting the lock on the cage door.
“How?”
“I think they thought you were the only Akasha because I can still use my magic.”
Akasha Vision Alert: Low Jin
Using more jin could lead to loss of consciousness
Mia looked over the notification before a splitting headache made her crumple to her knees. She shook it off, standing then carefully gripping the bars of the cage, pulling herself to the top.
Mia cursed to herself as the cage rocked in her attempt to climb. The top of the cage was a slick, making it hard to grip and pull herself up. With a final shove, Mia hosted herself to the top of the cage, making the cage swing in a side to side motion. Mia steadied herself as the cage finally settled, giving a clearer picture of the cages hanging on all sides of her. The cages were close to each other, making an off kilter pathway for one who dared. Mia noticed that getting to different cages was the easiest part of the task, the main obstacle was getting down from the steep height and onto the narrow bridge below.
“Kate!” Mia shouted.
“Over here,” Kate’s familiar voice rang out as she noticed a hand waving from a cage near Lily.
Mia held her breath and jumped onto the top of the cage as it swung fiercely. Her foot slipped, causing her to nearly topple over the side but she was able to grab hold of the cage bars as she fell. She hoisted herself back to the top of the cage and held onto the large chain in the middle until the cage settled.
“That could have gone better,” Mia said to herself as she leapt to the next cage. Each cage she landed on began to swing, sending the prisoners inside tumbling back and forth. Mia shot out apologies as she looked at their petrified faces. The prisoners screamed for help. Mia looked at their broken bodies, then shook her head.
“I’ll try to free you if I can,” she whispered against their pleas.
Mia backed up a bit, still in a crouching position. She let out a burst of speed and aimed for what Mia thought was the center of the next cage. She landed nearly in the middle, stabilizing the movement. She did the same for the next two cages, finally arriving at Lily’s.
“Neat trick,” Lily complimented.
“Thanks,” Mia gave her a brief smile, then used her fireball to unlock Lily’s cage.
“You never cease to amaze me.”
Mia turned towards the general direction of Kate’s cage. “Kate, shake your cage until the chains rattle. We make sure where you are...” Mia said as her and Lily made their way to the top.
In a moment’s time, she heard the chains as they shook in a melodic pattern.
“She’s a few cages down.” Mia said turning to Lily. “After we get her, we need a plan to out of here. There’s no way down and most of the floor is a pit full of gods-know-what.”
“There’s always a way out,” Lily said, turning to her. “You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
Mia and Lily jumped from cage to cage, finally settling on top of Kate’s.
Mia climbed down and used her fireball to unlock Kate’s cage as her Akasha Vision alert flashed red. A searing headache took over as Mia groaned in pain.
“Your jin low?” Lily questioned as she looked over Mia.
“Yep,” Mia grunted through the pain.
Lily reached her hand into thin air, just like when she pulled out the white crystal to unlock her powers. She took three pieces of rope and a small vial full of dark blue liquid from her dimensional storage space. She handed the liquid vial to Mia before handing each of them a piece of rope.
“Oh great, more magic stuff,” Kate replied sarcastically. “How are you doing that anyway?”
“A dimensional storage space.” Lily said smiling. “One thing Tess can’t find.”
Mia looked at the piece of rope that seemed short and ordinary. She shrugged, then downed the vial Lily handed her.
Akasha Vision Alert: Jin potion has restored +50 jn.
PL modifier: +50% jn restoration.
Jin: 100/150
“Jin potion?” Mia asked, scrunching her face, as the foul tasting liquid left a bad taste in her mouth. Mia felt her body tingling as her strength returned and her headache subsided. She sighed with relief.
“Jin potion.” Lily responded, as she started to climb to the top of the cage. Mia and Kate followed, Mia trailing behind as she took a better look at her surroundings. As they reached the top, Mia looked down at the dark murky water, something large moving underneath the almost still surface caught her eye. Mia shook off the thought as the water stopped rippling.
“How do we get down from here? These ropes don’t seem long enough.” Kate said looking between her and Lily.
Mia shrugged then turned to Lily who sighed.
“They have been enchanted.” Lily said to both. “They get longer as you climb down. The only caveat is if you take both hands off of it, you fall off…so don’t take both hands off of the rope.”
“Ok, so even if we do get down, how do we get out of this place? We’re locked in with these rocks and no doors.” Kate stated, still annoyed.
“That’s what magic’s for,” Lily smiled.
Kate shrugged. “Ok mistress wizard, guess it’s time we get going then. I’m sure you’ll figure out the door thing.”
Lily smirked as they tied the ropes around the large chain at the top of the cage. Luckily, Kate’s cage hung right above the bridge, making it a straight shot down. Climbing down the rope wasn’t difficult. The rope expanded just as Lily said it would. As Mia propelled down, her hands felt like they were glued to it. Finally, without any issues, they landed directly on the bridge.
“Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.” Kate commented as she glanced up at the long distance they traveled to get down. “Now what?”
“Now, we get as far away from this place as possible.” Lily said as she ran towards where Tess had left them behind.
Mia turned to follow Lily as a giant tentacle swept out of the water and wrapped itself tightly around her, dragging her into the depths below. The smell of rotting flesh was overpowering as she plunged into the darkness. She didn’t have time to scream as her body was dragged deeper into the water.
“Mia!” Lily screamed, but it was too late. Mia tried to let off her fireball spell, but it was ineffective in the water. She started to panic. Was this it?
The tentacle wrapped tighter as Mia struggled to break free of its grasp. She couldn’t see anything around her as her lungs started to burn from holding her breath for so long.
Akasha Vision Alert: New Quest – Destroy Horven - Dungeon Boss - Level 10
Quest level: Epic
Your instinctive nature wants you to save yourself from the clutches of death.
Success Conditions: Destroy the dungeon boss.
Quest Failure or Refusal: Death
Reward: Unknown
Accept? Yes/no?
The tentacle still held her tightly, pulling her deeper into the pit. This was it, she thought to herself. Her body felt like it was on fire. Searing pain radiated through every fiber of her being. Do I accept? Mia thought to herself as hope tried to escape her core. Yes, she mentally thought as her consciousness faded to black.
Akasha Vision Alert: Skill Master Activated – New Skill unlocked Spirit Mode
Your spirit element can use your jin in physical form.
Spirit Mode – Novice- Level 1
Jn cost: Can use up to maximum jn
Cooldown: 24 hours
Effect: Use your jin to cause physical damage
Dmg: 60-90hp per 10 jn
PL Modifier: +50% dmg
Akasha Vision Alert: Absorb Jin Ability Activated
Your spirit element can absorb the surrounding raw jin.
Absorb jn – Novice- Level 1
Jn cost: None
Cooldown: 24 hours
Effect: Use your jin merge with the raw jin around you, boosting your jin up to +50% maximum
Dmg: None
PL Modifier: +50% jn absorption
Bright purple light exploded out of her, blasting the tentacle that wrapped around her into pieces. The monster screeched in agony, as more tentacles wrapped around her, sizzling as they made contact with her physical jin. Mia’s body shivered as it absorbed the raw jin the monster was giving off as she destroyed the tentacles attempting to bind her. Her body glowed brighter as she absorbed jin. Mia dived deeper into the water, her body almost controlling itself as purple beams of light penetrated the rest of the monster’s tentacles, then shot directly through its core killing the monster instantly.
Mia felt like she was watching herself from the outside looking in. Most of her consciousness was lost as her absorb jin ability took the rest of the jin the monster gave as it died. Her mind was foggy as the jin of the monster was many times in excess of hers. Akasha Vision alerts started to come in red waves as she turned her head upwards and erupted out of the pit. Mia barely noticed the astonished look on Lily and Kate as she landed on the bridge, running toward where Tess had exited before. Her body still glowed bright purple as she used purple light beams to blast through the thick chamber walls. The rocks crumbled and disintegrated as she made her way through, Kate and Lily following closely behind her.
“Someone’s escaping!” Mia heard someone shout before guards and rock monsters ran down the hallway in their direction. They didn’t stand a chance as Mia fired purple light beams in their direction. They screamed as their bodies disintegrated in front of her.
“Mia,” She heard Lily faintly whisper.
Mia couldn’t respond as her absorb jin ability, kept feeding her jin as she killed the magical beings. The increased jin kept her mind too fuzzy to respond, but clear enough so that her faint consciousness was screaming for her to stop. She didn’t. Mia kept blasting her way through the tunnels, killing anything that stood in the way. The light blasts and the sound of crushing rock didn’t phase her as she kept making her way directly out of the tunnels.
With a final blast, trees emerged in front of them and finally they were out. Mia saw an Akasha Vision alert pass through her view before she ignored it and grabbed Kate and Lily.
“What are you doing?” Kate said exasperated.
Mia just looked at her, then wrapped the three of them in a bubble of purple light, flying them off into the distance. Mia watched as trees and rock hills looked like blurs of light as she flew past. Finally, Mia landed in an open patch in the middle of the forest.
“Mia…are you ok?” Kate asked looking over at her friend who was still glowing.
Mia turned to her, but didn’t respond.
“Mia…” Lily whispered.
Mia looked at them both as if trying to say something, then collapsed.