The Celestial Forge
By: Schin Ka'Tharos
CHAPTER 15
(Part 3)
We had exited the base of the ravine while I had still been helping Adeon with the propulsion early on in our trip and subsequently had been traversing a more open desert terrain common to the Unending Wastes. The Celestial Forge was starting to filter through the wastes' shrouded night skies providing more ambient light with which to navigate. We maneuvered through an eclectic mix of rock formations and plateaus for a while without incident while edging closer to the tower. I could sense we were getting closer but our progress was slower than I had liked.
Eventually we came upon the edge of a ridge emptying into a vast open canyon below us. A slight haze covered the land below and where sand and stone had dominated the landscape behind us plants and organic life abounded ahead. My sense of the tower heightened and I caught a glimpse of it far off on the horizon.
Despite their inability to see the tower when I pointed it out Ciara and Adeon continued to heed my directions. We made our way down from the plateau we had been on through what seemed like a natural narrow fissure in the side of the cliff face. As we emptied out of the bottom we entered a forest of thin rock formations that towered above us, as if Onak the Divine Blacksmith himself had hurled a quiver of stone spears into the ground. Gnarled trees grew out of the sides of the stone columns which gave the impression of vines but on a much larger scale as each tree was well over 40 feet tall.
I was distracted by our environment and gazing up into the giant stone and tree forest when I heard Ciara shout.
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“Damn,“ she cried as she broke her trance and sprang to her feet. “Incoming!”
A screech announced the creature right before it dove down from a branch above us. Ciara pulled her arm back and threw a ball of essence at it while it descended. Moments before reaching the creature the ball of essence exploded out like a net around the 3ft long beast as it slithered through the air. I was able to get a good enough look at the creature while it dropped to the earth below and before the constricting net squished it to pulp.
“It's an Abyssal Worm.” I said. “It looks really young though.”
“Which means it's not alone. I felt others” She replied with dismay. Her eyes searched the world above us.
A myriad of screeches bubbled up out of the night's silence.
“Ashes! We must have stumbled on a fresh hatching. It sounds like the brood got our scent. They'll be coming for us.” Ciara said. “Adeon, get us out of here as fast as you can.”
“Working on it but I'm almost spent, Sis. If I push much faster I won't have enough essence or willpower to keep us going at all. Sis, almost everything is used up.”
He finished the last of his words with pointed meaning behind them. Ciara let out a long sigh in understanding.
“Watch out for their bite,” I warned. “ They inject a toxin that causes mild numbing and euphoria. More than a couple of bites can become an issue.”
“I was about to tell you that.” Ciara said over her shoulder as she turned and partially resumed her sensory technique. “Adeon you'll have to be on your own for now. I don't see any major issues at the moment beyond what you can see. Just keep us heading towards Schins tower or whatever he says he is leading us to.”
“I’ll do what I can. Just keep them off me.” Adeon said and reached into his robes. “Here Schin, I took this off of my dead Guild friend from above the cave. Maybe you can use that little trick of yours to help Ciara out.”
I snatched the pouch full of Rendings out of the air and nodded in thanks. I was grateful for the additional tool in the upcoming fray but this wouldn't be enough. I was too weak.
Grandfather's voice rang in my head.
“You must know yourself first. Your strengths. Your weaknesses. Then you must know your enemy. Their weaknesses. Their strengths. This is only the beginning to assessing a battle and building a strategy. But, it is THE beginning.”
I was too weak. I barely knew my allies strengths and abilities but I knew they were currently at their limits. Whatever those were.
I was too weak.
Next Chapter....
Chapter 16