Chapter 28:
As we crossed that first platform towards our end goal, the staccato beat of arrows striking Boones’ shield was horrendous. The first shield didn’t last more than a second, but he already had a second up before the next volley hit. For the first time, we were able to see what was firing at us. Not, as we thought, a whole unit of archers, but instead only three. But instead of bows, they were holding bulky, complicated crossbows with box magazines on top. They had a crank handle on the side and each crank would send a new arrow arching our way.
The weapons were deadly, yes, but with smaller numbers came less use for multiple projectiles to fight back. As we hit the midpoint if the platform, I met Boones' eyes where he was being carried against Mias’ chest and flung the charged brick over his swiftly collapsing shield. Boone caught it with his mind and pushed it forward with as much mental force as he could muster.
The brick turned into a blur as it reached out and struck the bridge the three skeleton gunners were standing on, and the force added to the unstable energy of the Wood 2 Foxfire Imbuement caused the brick and a lot of the bridge to detonate. Shards of stone and gouts of flame burst from beneath the skeletons’ feet, and two of them went tumbling below to disappear into the darkness. The third sprawled across the bridge, not gone, but at least out of the fight for the time being. We ran - across the platform and up a set of stone steps, to a series of thin platforms above a pit full of spikes. They were easy for Mia to leap with her upgraded dexterity, even with Boone being carried in her arms, but I had to use my tail for balance, and my claws to grip the walls where I was able to. However, we crossed without much trouble, and landed in the next area.
I knew this one would be problematic. The platform looked like a castle foyer, all heavy stone and arched recesses, with another corridor directly across from us and the Great Brass door just beyond there. That wasn't the problem. The problem was the ten foot tall, four armed skeletons standing to attention on either side of the door with large spiked maces held in two of their arms each. As we touched down in the room, they were just beginning to animate.
“Boone! Try and shield us as best you can, Mia, just dodge them, run as fast as you can - I'm right behind you!” I yelled, and when Mia nodded, she vanished. Her Adrenaline Surge moved her at a speed no mortal could match - but only for a few seconds, and she’d be weakened after, but she could leap through the skeletons’ waiting arms and disappear through the entrance on the other side.
I was always going to have more trouble. I couldn't use Adrenaline Surge without an Unlocked Body Attribute. I wasn't as strong or as fast or as dexterous as Mia. I couldn't shield like Boone. But I had two Abilities that helped amazingly with Climbing and Balancing, and the two skeletons were very large, and thankfully quite slow. Fear turned my insides to liquid, but I wouldn't let it show, not this time.
The two skeletons lumbered towards me, and slow and ponderous, but with a weight that was already cracking the stone beneath them with each step. Each reverberation shook the floor to such a degree that I was being bounced into the air.
The one on the left swung its massive mace into the air and with agonising slowness, it started to descend, its weight alone building furious momentum as a steel mace head bigger than me leapt down towards me. I got ready to leap to the side, planning to roll away from the mace and then leap onto the arm of the skeleton.
My muscles bunched…and Mia was there before me. “Always, Anywhere, right?” She grinned, grabbed me under the arms, and the world blurred. Before I knew it went were passed the skeletons and I was next to Boone, my regrown hair a wild mess and every fibre of my being quivering with sudden fright. Behind me, the mace came down with an ear shattering boom, and the skeletons began to turn, slowly, but exceptionally deadly, towards us. Mia let me go, and slid to the floor, her eyes unfocused and blood coming from her nose: Essence exhaustion if I had to guess. She wasn't unconscious, but she was damned close. Using the Surge talent a second time must have used up most of my sisters’ reserves, and I wanted to scream at her for being reckless - but this was neither the time or the place. I grabbed her by the Armour, threw her over my shoulder, and began to run down the long corridor, the skeletons wedging themselves into the high corridor to follow. Boone ran alongside me, and if my face mirrored his, we were both absolutely terrified.
What I hadn't said to Mia was I had Identified them:
Skeleton Colossus: Wood 15
I don't know if Mia had as well, but when I had seen their level I was utterly terrified. Sending Mia away with Boone was the only way I could have possibly had enough concentration to even attempt what I had been attempting, and even that had been a gamble. But as it stood, Mia was a far better candidate for Kintsujis’ favour than I was anyway. Without the effects of fear keeping her down, she was braver than me, a better fighter than me, smarter and whittier as well. The only thing I had to my favour is that I remembered dying and she didn’t. Still, thanks to her, I was here, and she needed me.
The corridor was long enough that I couldn't imagine this kind of chase wasn't planned, with skeletons chasing us towards a dramatic finish. It fit the storyline of an epic tale perfectly. Something out of a storybook to make the magic work.
Worse for us, but I suppose better for this narrative that Kintsuji was trying to foment for the System, as we raced past the half way point down the corridor, with lumbering skeletons chasing us and gaining on us with their giant strides, the great brass doors began to swing closed, as they should in any story of the plucky kids attempting the impossible challenge.
“Because of course they bloody do!” When I had lived for a year in an Adventurer Boomtown, I had learned some truly atrocious, and truly blasphemous, curses and swearwords. I thought i was running as hard as I could. I discovered I could run faster. Somehow, I also found the breath to let out a constant, angry, and unrelenting stream of invectives, mostly aimed at Kintsuji, no matter what she may think of them.
Boone was faster than me, and I mentally urged him on. If we didn't make it I couldn't face him getting trapped and killed with us - it would break my heart before the skeletons broke my body. Forty feet, thirty feet, ten feet - Boone reached the door long before me and had turned back to me in the middle with fear in his eyes. “Hurry, Arcadia, please!” He yelled, and I could feel telekinetic force push into my back, urging us forward but still too weak to lift even just me, let alone me, Mia and all our gear. When we were ten feet away and closing, the doors were barely three feet across. Boone, bless his blue heart, erected a shield between the two and his body began to burn with blue fire and strain. The shield began to deform and the doors began to strain, but it was pretty obvious which would give first. The fox hunkered down, growling, straining, his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to reinforce the shield. At five feet, I threw Mia, and leapt after her. I ran right into Boone and we went careening across the floor in a tumble, with an unconscious Mia along for the ride. We stopped at the same moment that, with a tremendous bang, the doors slammed shut behind us, and left us in complete darkness. Mia had slid, boneless across the apparently smooth floor beneath us on her back, and while I'm sure it would have hurt her if awake, as a rag-doll, she had done well. I had grabbed Boone close to me in the tackle, and tried to keep his smaller body safe from the tumble with my own body as a shield. I could feel his panicked breathing raising and lowering the cage if my arms as he lay on my chest. My head and shoulders had come to rest on Mias’ stomach, and likewise that moved me up and down with the movement of her diaphragm.
In the pure darkness of wherever we ended up, I just lay there, and let myself breathe, as my heart rate reduced to something approaching normal. That was, until Mia woke up with a jerk, shooting into a sitting position with a slurred ‘wassat!?” And sending Boone and I sprawling.
I couldn't help myself, what started as a small chuckle grew and grew, until my guts.were clenched as I laughed harder than I had in years. Boone joined in, wheezing, and soon, when she realised she was alive and safe, Mia did as well. We just lay there, in the dark, laughing and cheering until we could just barely breathe.
Boone turned to me in the dark, laid his head on my chest, and spoke up in possibly the most plaintive tone I have ever heard from him; “please tell me you kept some bacon and eggs, and some ham? I think I deserve them now.”
I started laughing even harder, and held my friend to me as tight as he'd let me.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------
The laughter finished eventually, and for a time, we just lay there, breathing. Boone got a bowl of as much bacon, eggs both raw and fried, and gammon as he could stomach, and I filled it every time he asked for more. We kept to the dark, as I really did not want to deal with whatever set piece came next, and Mia and I huddled close across from my Glutonous fox, and ate whatever we could stomach. As the vast majority was converted to healing energy for me, I was still famished when we finished. But eventually, we knew we had to move. We weren't through yet, and Kintsuji and Minos had said there was still one challenge ahead - the Chimera of the Chimera temple. Using my tail, I summoned my [Dawnslight] globe to hang above it, and lit up the space we had found ourselves in.
The room lit up with a sphere of golden light, but one that didn't reach to all the corners. It was a huge Atrium, done out with a fresco of a blue sky, and faux Roman columns, with painted forest and plains in between.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
I knew this place. I hadn't seen it in a few days, but I knew it. It was the Atrium where I had first fallen, where I had first fought skeletons, and where I had picked the first of three doors.
Those doors shone then with brass, depicting the three masters of the Trials and the trials titles. Now, they were stone, not brass, and the image that was depicted was a horrendous creature, spread across all three doors. It had the body and the head of a lion, but also a tail that was a serpent, a head that was a goat, and a head that was an eagle. Something in me told me that image was wrong, but there was a hole in my memory in the shape of a Chimera. I didn't know exactly what they were meant to look like, I only knew that that wasn't quite right. It's heads stared at the place we lay from the three doors, looking disapproving at our presence here.
The other things on the giant room was a chest, placed conveniently five feet away from where we had landed, and at the entrance where I had originally fell into the dungeon, was the statue of Kintsuji, carved in white and gold marble on her throne. Between us and it was a large empty space, demarcated by a huge circle of stones set into the floor.
As we became aware of where we were, the light Runes above the room began to glimmer and glow, the gold inlay of the strange Runic alphabet not only beginning to produce a rich, golden light, but also the scent of a summer meadow, filled with wildflowers and fruit trees. I could almost feel the breeze and hear the rustle of trees upon an idyllic hillside. Now that I knew more about illusion, I didn't trust it in the slightest.
“Congratulations, Aspirants. But for one last act, I would name you my champions, as you have succeeded at the impossible. Children, completing a task of the chosen of Gods. You have done more for this world than any single man or woman of this world in many ages.” The voice started out as booming and hollow, coming from all around, but gradually reduced in volume until it came only from the statue, that stood up and walked its way toward us, wings spread and hair flowing, in a wholly unnatural way for stone to move. “Children, I am so unbelievably proud. The challenges you have faced have shown you to be mighty in body, mind, and courage. Here, you will find the only element of this ordeal that matches your rituals on this planet. Here, in this arena, you will form your fourth Constellation, and you shall face the Guardian of this Temple to form your class.” Kintsuji wasn't acting in any way like she usually did. It was more as though she was reading from a script; Or a ritual.
“In the chest before you, you will find you rewards from the last trial. Please, take up your stones and complete your Quickening, so you may be finally reforged as one of my Children, to walk Axis in my name.”
At her gesture, the chest mounted on a small marble dais opened itself, revealing an interior that shone golden in the light, matched with a purple velvet cushion. Upon that cushion were several items. The first and most notable were a pair of sparkling, luminescent Constellation stones that glowed more brightly than any I had ever seen. The second thing were twelve Ability Crystals, gathered into two groups of six. The final item on the cushions was a simple, thin stone bracelet, made from gold veined white marble.
I looked at Mia, she looked at me. Boone poked both of us in the backs of the knees to push us forward with his cold wet nose. That last worked. We both stumbled forward and ended up reaching for a Constellation Stone. I picked up mine and it seemed weightier than others, as though it held more meaning. With a blown out breath to settle my nerves, I placed the stone against my chest. The pain started immediately and grew. It raised like a lava flow from deep below ground, and rose into me, burning everything it touched on its way through. My eyes lifted to the heavens against my will, and I felt something shift as in the South, a fourth Constellation lit up in my soul. The pressure and the pain was so sharp, so all encompassing, that I couldn't help the scream that bubbled out of me. In the centre of the four Constellations in my mind, something was forming. A gem of pure, compressed essence that seemed to also be a black hole, a tunnel to somewhere deep and dark. It was hot and cold, glorious and terrible all at the same time, and it spoke to me. Is it finally time to wake? Let me Rage.
I couldn't see her, but I could hear Mias’ answering yell as she went through similar, twisting and turning under the effects of finally having her constellations and
Celestial Constellation stone of the Taurus consumed. This Constellation stone will bond with your Body attribute. As a Celestial Grade Constellation Stone, the stone is also marked by the blessing of a God.
Body Attribute Unlocked. The Body attribute governs your physical strength, balance, speed, flexibility and overall health. As you gain levels in the body attribute, you will find yourself healthier, stronger, more acrobatic, and can look forward to a longer lifespan.
Additionally, Unlocking the Body Attribute grants you the Innate physical ability, Adrenaline Surge. When activated, this Ability grants you a severe boost to physical strength, durability, and reaction times, but concurrently you will suffer a period of extreme weakness when the ability fades.
Taurus Passive Ability unlocked: Earthshaker Hooves.
Taurus Constellation stone is attempting to unlock an inborn Talent. [ERROR] Inborn Talents already unlocked. Reviewing: Divine Intervention detected, applying override. Redistributing essence to Perception abilities.
Taurus Constellation Stone has unlocked its 1st gate. Rolling Thunder has been unlocked from Body Attribute at level Wood: 1. (1 / 4) Abilities unlocked to Body Attribute.
Celestial Influence grants you the Constellation Boon: Broken and Reforged. This Celestial Boon is IMMUTABLE and will be hertofor marked on your soul.
Earthshaker Hooves. [Wood 1 0/3]
* Transmutation ability. Ability may be activated to summon a physical transformation. You may summon the steel shod Hooves of the Taurus, the Sacred Bull. These hooves may be used as a natural weapon, with damage commensurate to the level of this Ability, and automatically improves stability and speed while connected to the ground, improving all Body Attribute checks related to these abilities. Additionally, while summoned, your hooves may be used to channel Earth Essence as though you had a natural affinity for it. Magical clothing will adjust to accommodate the Hooves and legs, but mundane clothing may be destroyed.
* Once summoned, the Hooves require minimal essence upkeep to remain summoned.
Rolling Thunder. [Wood 1 0/3]
* While you have an Earth essence related Ability active, you may stroke the ground with a weapon and cause the ground to shake in a localised area. You will always remain stable during this effect, and you may affect one ally per level of this Ability.
Celestial Boon: Broken and Reforged. [IMMUTABLE]
* You have cast yourself into the fire again and again, and been put back together stronger each time. Your mind is unchanging, and you will never lose your memories even through multiple lives. Items you create will share this state, and once broken, will always return to their origin in time.
[ERROR] Soul linked status of companion Boone has deific override applied. Higher order rules of reality overwrite local restrictions. Executing Override: A Mirror And Reflection.
Inborn Talent Soul Companion Increased. [Wood 5 (0/11)] > [Wood 6 (0/13)]
As I seized up, Boone did too, and his body was thrown into shaking and painful contortions as his level was forcibly increased by the Deific override that Kintsuji had tied us together with. If anything, his change looked even more painful than mine as his whole body swelled and grew in size.
With the pain fading and the shards of crystal spilling around me, the next thing I took were six of the Ability Stones, which I immediately began to stuff into my mouth. Each Identified as:
Ability Crystal: Wood 10
Each was worth a fortune, but it wouldn't matter if I wasn’t alive to enjoy them. I crammed the first one between my teeth, clamped a hand over my mouth, and with Kintsuji watching me squirm at the uncomfortable feeling, allowed one crystal after another to pour into me. Across from me, Mia was doing the same, looking shell shocked by whatever her fourth Constellation was. I noticed mine was another transformation ability and I was genuinely scared to try it out. I could already feel the information download seeping in and integrating with my mind.
Ability Crystal Detected. Applying Upgrades. Inborn Talent Resilience level Increased: [Wood 2 0/5] > [Wood 3 0/7].
Ability Crystal Detected. Applying Upgrades. Perception Attribute level Increased: [Wood 2 0/5] > [Wood 3 0/7].
Ability Crystal Detected. Applying Upgrades. Perception Attribute level Increased: [Wood 3 0/7] > [Wood 4 0/9].
Ability Crystal Detected. Applying Upgrades. Mind Attribute level Increased: [Wood 2 0/5] > [Wood 3 0/7].
Ability Crystal Detected. Applying Upgrades. Perception Ability Foxfire Imbuement level Increased: [Wood 2 0/5] > [Wood 3 0/7].
Ability Crystal Detected. Applying Upgrades. Mind Ability Tail of the Serpent level Increased: [Wood 1 0/3] > [Wood 2 0/5].
“The last item there will officially mark you as my Champions, should you pass the final combat. Wear it openly and wear it proud, for you will be the ushers of a new age upon the completion of this right.” Kintsuji said, still in that stilted, formal way of speaking that sounded more like a rehearsed speech than a normal conversation. I gave her, and it a dubious look, but attached it to my free wrist anyway. It adhered to my skin without being uncomfortable, and left me with a white and gold coloured band in my wrist.
The voice that was coming from the deep pit in my spirit called to me again when it looked at Kintsuji. She is strong. Let me Rage. Let me show her our strength. That voice made me uncomfortable. Boones’ voice, when he spoke in my mind felt like an old friend and a warm hug. This was jagged and hot and angry. It pulled and twisted at my mind and my soul and it hurt. But it also felt powerful and raw and hungry. I wanted desperately to let it loose and was at the same time scared to do so. In the spiritual sky inside my mind, the gem at the centre pulsed and twisted and fought with whatever was holding it back.
I looked at my sister and Boone. I saw in her eyes a similar hunger to my own. She had something she needed to release. Her new wings were sparking and glimmering, and motes of light and Shadow were dancing around her form. Her hands tightened and loosened from fists to claws and back again, and she looked at Kintsuji like a hunting dog being held back only by a masters’ hand.
“It appears you are ready. Your final battle awaits. It is time to face the final test of your Quickening: the Sacrifice. Raise the Cage!” Kintsuji yelled, and flashed back to her throne as the circular ring of stones began to lift. A whole section of the floor began to lift into the air and move towards the distant ceiling. Beneath was a dark and shadowed space. I heard coming from within the clinking of chains, the scrape of claw and scale, the hiss and growls of animals, and there was a shape. A massive shape with many pairs of eyes. As the lift raised into the air and met the ceiling, the voice inside me saw what was in that sunken cave and it only had one, grating demand. Let. Me. Rage!