Twenty-seven people had been implanted with those gods damned worms. Dalen had managed to save twenty-three of them with his anger-infused cleansing potion. The soldiers kept thanking him for his quick thing but it didn’t really feel like a victory to Dalen.
If a tear could be opened here even briefly, what was stopping more demons from getting in through other crossings? He didn’t want to think about what would happen if one of those shaped ones managed to find its way into a city full of low-level people. A single-shaped one was enough to put down nearly thirty level seventy to eighty trained soldiers. It was an ambush but Dalen didn’t see that kind of demon attacking any other way. He doubted it would happen that way again, now that they had experienced it firsthand.
The order was able to quickly heal the survivors after their worms were cleansed so they were quickly ready to continue moving. The elders hadn’t been gone long and once they returned they immediately set off towards the strange building.
Dalen, Melisia, and Leo were at the head of the order with the elders. Now Dalen was forced to be on foot after losing his horse along with several more so now the horses were used exclusively by the children.
Melisia had already given him a quick rundown of what they were about to do. She had said she had used them before when she was a child but Dalen could see clear as day that she was just as apprehensive as he was.
“Don’t worry Dalen, I will guard you as I always have. Let us see what this fractured path has in store,” Leo said, his voice as even as it always was.
“Yeah…Well, I’m still not a fan,” Dalen grumbled. The whole fractured path plan hadn’t turned out great so far and they hadn’t even started. Too bad they didn’t have a choice now. Not that Dalen would have been willing to waste the time it would take to travel across the continent without using the fractured path. He just would have liked to have the option.
The elders stopped them at the now-open black doors of the building. Dalen actively avoided looking at the strange water-like wall. Melisia had warned him it would be disorientating and that was with her crazy high perception, if he looked at it he would probably pass out, power spew, or probably both.
Elder Jaliete turned to address the order while flanked by both Elder Traya and Hedrik, “We are about to pass through the threshold to the fractured path. We will pass through in a single file. The passage is very disorientating but passes in short order. Once it has passed, make space on the platform for the rest of the order. Do not leave the platform until all of us have entered. Do not activate any skills with a space affinity or time affinity. And finally do not attempt to sleep once we are past this point. The repercussions of performing any of these actions will be dire for us all.”
“Great… At least we don’t have to worry about Leo falling asleep,” Dalen thought as the forward guard formed a line. The elders were next followed by the three of them.
The remaining horses were clearly just as impressed with the idea that they would have to walk through the watery wall of light as he was, judging by the sounds he could hear as his turn to step through approached. Leo was in front of him and didn’t hesitate as he stepped through and the light of the wall consumed him.
There was no sound when he stepped through and absolutely nothing to say that he had been there at all. He just vanished.
“If Kal can fall into a tear in reality you can walk into a nice calm portal to an unknown location that just recently displayed it could possibly contain demons,” Dalen muttered to himself.
Melisia giggled from behind him, “Gods damned high perception.”
Dalen didn’t let himself hesitate, practically throwing himself through the wall. He immediately wished he hadn’t as the world exploded into vomit evoking spirals of light and dark. He felt his body melt like he had suddenly turned into half-melted butter or sludge he scraped from his fermenting barrels. He wasn’t in pain but that just made the lack of physical uniformity even stranger.
It felt like hours passed as his body stretched and contorted while his mind tried to comprehend the twisting of the space around him. Then it was over and Dalen found himself face down on a hard flat surface.
Dalen felt sick, very sick, and judging by the sounds around him the rest of the people who had entered felt the same way. The sound of retching nearby nearly made Dalen go himself but he did his best to hold it in. He just lay there for a minute, remaining very, very, still. Just as he felt like the world had finally stopped turning he was dragged to his feet by familiar but unwanted hands.
Leo chuckled, “You have to move, Melisia is coming in now.”
Now that was bullshit, first, the prick doesn’t need to sleep and now he is immune to getting his guts turned to jelly. Dalen was about to voice his disgust when Melisia appeared next to them before falling to the ground.
Her skin looked as green as Dalen felt and she groaned in clear discomfort. Just looking at her made Dalen’s guts twist again so he looked around at the others of the group. They all looked ill and some may have even looked worse than he felt. Some of them were still bent over retching. That’s when Dalen noticed his surroundings.
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They hadn’t left the strange space of light darkness. As far as he could see was an endless gray, well it sure looked endless but Dalen had nothing to use to judge distances. Above was a churning storm of bright colors and an occasional flash of bright white light followed by a thunderclap that seemed to make his entire body vibrate. They stood upon a giant gray platform, it seemed to be perfectly square, and from what he could tell it was made out of one piece of material.
Over the edge was nothing but more gray. One of the recovered soldiers dropped an arrow over the edge and Dalen watched its descent. It continued until it was out of sight. Dalen didn’t like that at all.
“Oh gods… that was… horrible” Melisia groaned as Leo helped her to her feet.
Leo smirked, “Was it?”
Melisia just frowned in response while Dalen grumbled under his breath. Melisia straightened herself and patted down her riding dress before summoning her journal and started writing notes.
It had been a while since Dalen had seen her use it. The sight was actually quite relieving. It was good to see her do something other than navigate the order. They stayed quiet while the rest of the order stepped onto the platform.
Nearly everyone reacted to the entry the same as he did, badly. The only people who didn’t look like they had just woken up with the worst hangover his old brews could provide were the three elders. Jaliete, Hendrik, and Traya.
Dalen assumed it was because they had been here before but that didn’t explain Leo’s resilience, maybe he was just faking it.
“From this point forward we remain on guard. Walking the fractured path can be… confusing at times but is relatively safe as long as we do as I instructed.” Elder Jaliete said addressing the order after they had mostly recovered from the disorientation. “If a tear was possible in the crossing it is also possible here. That is our main concern. Now, let us begin.”
When Elder Jaliete simply turned around and walked towards the empty gray Dalen could suddenly see a path. He was certain it wasn’t there before but there it was. When her first step brought her onto the path a dull thud shook the platform and a flash of white light drew Dalen’s gaze to the door they entered through to find it had vanished.
Dalen knew that going forward was the only path now but something whispered in the back of his mind, he wasn’t supposed to be here.
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Lazareka knew this day would come ever since he saw the monster his master had sent him to destroy. Lazareka stood with the other conjurers while the horde around them scrambled as garghound royal guards were attacked by the fear skill he knew too well. Lazareka sympathized, he wanted to run before it arrived but his master would see that his felheart would never return to the First Felflame if he did.
Not all was lost. His master may be able to defeat the monster but there would be collateral damage. Lazareka just had to hope he was not one of those sacrificed to the scion’s skill.
“Lazareka, the master has blessed me with his conveyance,” Lazrathian said. The fellow conjurer had become a favorite of the master’s since he had returned with news of the mortal early on during the event when one of his imps had come across the monster by chance.
“What are his commands, brother?”
“The strongest of us are to leave this mess of a defense and assist him once he arrives. A deal has been struck with the foul-bonedrinker.”
He wanted to run before it arrived but his master would see that his felheart would never return to the First Felflame if he did.
Before Lazareka could reply he felt his felheart die in his chest. It was here. He was not the only one affected, every single conjurer's flames suddenly dimmed at the horrible presence that fell upon them.
His sixth sense exploded, he could feel the domineering presence behind him, he turned and his perception was enough to see the lone figure walking towards them. The battered cloak of the shadow it had slain hung eerily still as it made its slow approach. Its sword was gone but it instead was an arm with burning crimson claws.
Lazareka couldn’t make out the monster’s face from this distance but the way it moved disturbed even his felheart.
“Let us leave this place then brother, let the lesser demons die in our place.”
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Kanraxet cackled as more of his pathetic kin fell beneath his claws and he sucked the bones from their flesh. Each devoured empowering him to new heights. The mortal would join the consumed in his gullet soon enough.
The tyrant Vorayx would command him now more and once he destroyed the mortal he would return to devour the Lumixet himself. The mortal was close, Kanraxet just needed a little more time. Let the mortal kill his kin, it was irrelevant as long he got the final bite.
Kanraxet cackled as he drank the next kuroxet. But growled as a flash of green light disturbed him from his food. It was the irritating felfame scion, the heat radiating off of him started to burn the flesh of the dead kuroxet in Kanraxet’s claws.
“Are you prepared beast, I will not allow you to go back on our bargain,” said the scion, his tone making Kanraxet want to tear his head off.
But he didn’t, instead, Kanraxet turned and scowled at the scion with its stupid burning eyes, “No, five more will be enough,” Kanraxet held the blood lust back, he would kill the scion later. For now, he had a contract to uphold.
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The horde stood waiting to die as his fear aura washed over them and the allowed palpable fear multiplied. The conjurers he had spied from the spire simply fled behind the conduit and back into the maze of spires.
Images continued to enter his mind but their meanings were hollow in his better state but he couldn't help but pause as a voice echoed through his mind as he activated Wrath Incarnate.
“I’m sorry that I could not be there to help you Kalum, but I will do what I can in my final moments and rebuild what I can. Now go, show them your wrath.”