Chapter 10 Fight to Survive
After a full day of traveling the party arrived at the portal. The Sacred Barque descended just inside of the Sect's sacred hunting grounds. It was a heavily forested area near a lone and isolated majestic looking mountain.
As Khyree and the others disembarked from the vessel they could hear the sounds of numerous essence beasts from all around them. Clearly the natives were aware of their presence.
The inner students Antwan and Jaylen did not seem bothered by the noises in the least. In fact they actually ignored the beasts and instead made their way directly to the portal deeper in the woods.
Khyree and Kendrick followed along near the rear of the group. They were not interested in being the first ones in the portal. Khyree did not even want to be there in the first place. He would much rather be back home at the Sect, working his normal rotation of daily jobs. He hoped brother Kendrick realized how much he valued their friendship.
He did take some comfort in being in the forest. It reminded him of being back home in the Northern Wilds. The trees here were not as aged as back home but they did come in a nice variety. He even recognized the sound of some of the essence beasts in the area.
They had only walked for minutes before they came up on the portal sitting in the middle of a small clearing. The portal presented itself as a wavy distortion in the air. It had the appearance of liquid metal. The portal emanated so much energy that it was visible even to the servants.
Khyree and the rest of the servants were instructed to enter the portal first, while the inner students stood guard. Khyree was the last to enter, just behind Kendrick. He watched as the other students easily stepped into the portal and disappeared to the other side. He really hoped that this would not be a one way trip for him.
The closer that Khyree got to the portal itself the more he felt a suction like force grabbing him and pulling him forward into the portal itself. Not only that, but he also felt the exhaustion of the last day of traveling gradually leaving his body. The portal felt surprisingly cool against his skin as it pulled him in. He had expected that it would be burning hot to the touch. This was one of the times that he was glad to be wrong.
Inside the portal, Khyree found a vast expanse of desert stretched out in all directions. There was a bright red sun that hung overhead. Khyree could literally see the heatwaves as they rose up from the desert sands. It felt like it was at least thirty degrees hotter than it was outside of the portal. He marked the large group of servants as they made their way to the only structure in sight. It was a gigantic pyramid seemingly constructed out of a crystalline material. The size of the pyramid was mind boggling. Khyree had never seen a single structure that was as big as the pyramid was.
Feeling a ripple behind him, Khyree turned and watched as the two inner students came through the portal. Great, guess I really have to go through with this, he thought to himself.
Resolved to the situation or at least as well he could be, Khyree turned and headed to the pyramid, following in the footsteps of those before him.
After only a few minutes of walking, Khyree came to a decision. He hated walking in a desert. He hated the way that with every step it felt as if the sand was pulling at his feet. The strong suction made walking a pain and a half for him.
Then there was the heat. It was so hot. He could feel the rivers of sweat coursing down his body. Not that the moisture stayed around for long in the intense heat.
Along the trek he found himself frequently glancing back in disgust at the Immortals that trailed behind him. Those bastards had the nerve to be strolling along, looking as fresh as daisies as they occasionally sipped from water jugs they had brought with them. They were laughing and conversing amongst themselves as if the heat was non-existent.
Covered in dried, sticky crusted sweat and sand Khyree hated Immortals more than ever. He found himself wishing that he was strong enough to rob the Immortals behind him for their water jugs. But he knew that was just wishful thinking on his part. He could tell just by watching them that these inner students were of a much higher level than the Immortals he was used to tormenting.
It was hours later before he finally came up to the entrance to the pyramid. Desperate to get out of the heat, he quickly hurried through the entrance doors that the other servants must have entered. As soon as he stepped inside of the entrance, there was a flash of light and the next thing Khyree knew he was standing alone inside of an empty chamber.
He was surprised to note that it was cool inside of the chamber. So cool in fact, that goosebumps had already started to breakout on his skin. He wondered where everyone else was. Did they all get transported to different places? With no answers readily available, he decided to explore.
The chamber was built along very straight lines. There was only one exit from the chamber and it was sealed by a heavy looking metal door. The walls were free of any ornament or murals of any kind. There was a small amount of light in the chamber, but he was unable to detect where it came from.
The only other thing in the chamber beside him was a lone pedestal made of stone, upon which rested a very intricate looking hourglass made of glass and a silvery metal. The bottom of the hour glass was filled with glimmering sand that sparkled in the dimly lit chamber. With no other direction at hand, Khyree approached the pedestal and grabbed the hourglass. The instant he did there was a small jolt of electricity that went through him. He gasped and dropped the hourglass in surprise.
Khyree took several deep breaths before he once again reached for the hourglass. Just as he thought, the current appeared again. But he was ready for it this time. The hourglass firmly in hand, he flipped it upside down and watched as the sand began to trickle down. A voice echoed out in the chamber in deafening tones. “Survive.”
Immediately, ghostly specters rose from the floor in the chamber and formed into a number of corporeal ghoulish like figures, dressed in linen rags. As soon as they formed, they rushed in to attack Khyree.
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Khyree dodged past the first ghoul and struck another in the chest with his hardest punch. The ghoul staggered back in response, and Khyree immediately grabbed another ghoul and with a quick spinning motion he threw the ghoul at a group that was incoming. The ghoulish projectile served its purpose well and tripped up the group of five ghouls.
Khyree spider climbed onto the back of a nearby ghoul and launched dozens of strikes at its skull. Rotten flesh and noxious bright green ectoplasmic fluid sprayed in copious amounts. Skull brutalized and caved in, the ghoul finally dropped. Khyree glanced back to see the rest of the ghouls were nearly on him.
He quickly rushed to the side of the downed ghoul and with a vicious downward kick, separated its right arm from its body. Khyree reached down and snatched up the fallen limb. Now he had a weapon. Immediately he waded into the group of ghouls and he swung for the fences as he dodged nimbly away from diseased and disgusting encrusted talons. As he was circled he was unable to completely dodge all of the attacks, but he felt that he was giving way more than he was getting.
Khyree fought with an animalistic fury as he vented his rage on the ghouls before him. A fierce grin could be seen on his face as he fought with every fibre of his being against the fiendish foes. He separated limbs, and removed heads as he pulverized the ghouls in his path. Whenever a limb that he had been using as a weapon broke into unusable pieces, he would simply pick up another in the heat of the battle and continue his onslaught.
At some point he had noticed that with every downed ghoul, some piece of them, a force of some type would enter his body. At first he had thought it was some type of poisonous fume, but then he realized that his energy was being restored by the fumes. Indeed his stamina felt like it was becoming unending as long as destroyed more of the ghouls. Which he was sorely in need of as he watched new ghouls being formed every other minute or so.
Khyree glanced back at the hourglass, and noted that the sand in the top chamber wasn’t even halfway empty yet. He knew that that meant the fight was a long way from being over. Still he did not let that knowledge stop him, as he continued to attack. He just kept envisioning the faces of all the Immortals he hated as fought and destroyed one ghoul after another.
Varnan Covenmoon. Ardeth Swangrove. Rion Lowsinger. Darnell Solidthorn. Khyree made sure to include the names of the inner students as well. Antwan Darras. Jaylen Stone. Every name uttered was followed by a punch, a kick, a stomp, a swing of a limb club or a body toss. Khyree was determined to survive, at the expense of all of his enemies.
By the time the last drop of sand had fallen to the bottom of the hourglass, Khyree had lost all track of time. It could have been minutes, hours, or days later. The last ghoulish corpse slowly dissolved at his feet. He stood there, breathing heavily as he looked at the sole chamber door as it began to open.
He was covered in open wounds, his blood dripped down freely onto the chamber floor. His left eye was swollen shut, and every single one of his bones ached. But Khyree felt better mentally than he had in a very long time. He had been challenged. His will to survive, his tenacity for life had been weighed and measured and he had been found worthy. It was with a determined smile on his face that he limped out of the chamber.
Over what felt like the next couple of hours Khyree made his way through a series of passageways. The long empty hallways gave him plenty of time to think. He wondered what happened to brother Kendrick and if he was even still alive.
He thought the challenge he had completed and wondered if Kendrick would have been able to summon up enough of his warrior spirit had he been locked alone in a room full of ghouls that endlessly respawned.
In the months he had known the senior servant, he had come to learn that while Kendrick was quite muscular from his time performing various daily physical jobs for the Sect, that Kendrick really preferred to spend his time reading cultivation manuals and the like.
Khyree had no doubt that the inner students would have survived a similar encounter, even if the danger level was scaled up for their levels. Immortals were damned tenacious bastards.
After a while Khyree finally reached another chamber. The door immediately sealed itself shut the moment he walked in. He had already expected that to happen, so he was not surprised.
This chamber was different from the last. The chamber he now found himself in was circular in construction. The eastern, western and southern walls in relation to him were bare and free of any adornment. The northern wall, on the far side of the chamber had a hieratic script burned into its surface.
Khyree felt a great sense of trepidation as he read the large words printed on the wall for him to read. The words in and of themselves were simple, but he felt like the spirit of the words were extremely domineering in nature.
"For those who would choose to truly live, they must first fully embrace death."
In the center of the room was a raised platform. It's floor was covered in mystical symbols. On top of the platform rested a narrow stone table and to the side of it an open sarcophagus.
Khyree braced himself and climbed on top of the platform and approached the table. On top of the table he found a selection of items. There was a short handled dagger with a wicked looking blade. A stoppered vial of blackish fluid with tendrils of blood red swirling throughout it.
A bucket of water that emanated with energy. Two large crystals. One of which radiated a fierce heat and casted a nimbus of flame. The other crystal was different as it looked to be covered in a flickering field of electricity.
Khyree then looked at the sarcophagus off to the side and noted that the bottom of it was in constant motion of red and black, and soft chittering noises. Khyree recognized the many creatures that scattered along the bottom of the sarcophagus. They were known as Apocalypse Scarab Beetles.
A type of essence creature known for always moving in huge groups but also for their tendency to consume the flesh and blood of any living animal they came across. He had hoped that he would never see the creatures outside of the Northern Wilds as they were quite vicious and notoriously difficult to kill.
Khyree shuddered as he looked at the creatures. He had always felt a disturbing creepy crawling sensation whenever he got too close to bugs. Or rather anything that slithered or crawled.
Khyree looked back up at the words on the wall. He was about eighty to ninety percent sure what this trial was asking of him. Still, it was not a simple ask, not for anyone. What living creature would not fight for its right to survive. All loving things from the bugs that crawled in the earth, to the Immortals that flew in the heavens, they all had a fierce will to live.
Khyree was no exception. If anything he felt the will to live stronger than anyone he knew. That's why he hesitated. He spent a few minutes going over the chamber room. Searching. Searching for anything other that might show him another way, but he knew even as he had began that it would be a fruitless search and indeed it was.
"For those who would choose to truly live, they must first fully embrace death."
The words on the wall echoed in his brain as he looked down once again at the items on the stone table. "So it looks as if I have to die in order to pass this trial. But then if that's the case, then the trial must have a way to bring me back to life.
Though I imagine if only for a brief instant that I will be truly dead. What mad man would dream up such a test? I can't imagine too many people leaping forward to even attempt such a trial. But with the chamber sealed the only other possible option is that if someone else completes all of the trials then everyone would be granted safe passage to the outside.
But there is no guarantee that anyone will pass all of the trials, or that the others would be allowed to leave if someone did win. Well I can't bank on someone else to save me. I have to save myself," Khyree thought to himself meditatively.