Taking a deep breath, Cassius enjoyed the distinct smell that came from the entrance of the labyrinth. The wind was blowing strong, and a light rain had begun to fall after the ritual, but to his enhanced senses, they were only minute abstructions. Easily overcome by his new abilities. The entrance had a very stale and earthy smell that was very unlike the rot and death everyone had expected. A welcome sight for Cassius, who had suddenly felt a connection to the hidden order with the chaos this whole farce of a situation had become. Someone had planned well, but entirely against their own nature. For that he was ever grateful; this gave him a source of power he could take advantage of.
Opening himself to it, he let the white, black, and gray energies hidden from sight into himself. His smile grew even more maniacal, and a clipped burst of laughter escaped his mouth. The power he had received from the god, and those now available to him because of the connection. “S-Sir,” called a short dwarf with a massive double-bladed axe and a long beard that flowed out of his full-plate armor. “Crap,” the dwarf mutter under his voice, but still loud enough for everyone to hear, as Cassius swiveled his head around, a fiery aura escaping him. Gritting his teeth, he stared at the incompetent dwarf who shook under the pressure.
“I-I mean your G-Gracefully Enhanced and Chaotic O-Orderness,” said the dwarf as he fought to keep standing. His voice stuttering as a result. For a while, Cassius did not relent until he felt he had driven his point into the thick skull of the dwarf and hopefully anyone else that approached him. Then again, how much could he expect from such lower life forms? “Yes, incompetent dwarf, what is so important that you need to interrupt me from my meditation?” Said Cassius, his voice and tone oddly reminiscent of Zenama. Maybe, even too much so.
Clearing his throat, the dwarf looked over his shoulder to where the strike force had gathered to watch intently as their elected representative spoke to their commander. “Well, you see,” started the dwarf, but quickly stopped as he watched Cassius's right eye began to twitch in irritation. “Damn, I forgot again,” muttered the dwarf again in his not so whispered whisper. Waiting for another outburst, he shut his eyes and lowered his stance, he did not want to embarrass himself by falling over. Yet, nothing happened, cracking his closed eyes just a bit, he saw Cassius with balled up fists and taking deep breaths all the while mutter different curses that left him blushing.
Gulping, he looked back at the group that was watching intently then again towards the impatient Cassius. “Your Gracefully Enhanced and Chaotic Orderness, the, umm, the commanders have been waiting for our assault to begin for the past few hours, and umm, they are getting a bit… mind you, just a bit, upset,” said the dwarf with a nervous chuckle as he scratched the top of his helmet with gauntleted fingers. Releasing a bit more of his aura, Cassius began taking deep breaths to calm himself down. He wanted just one, intelligent subordinated, was that too much to ask for.
“And all of you thought it wise to only tell me now? Hours later?” Asked Cassius in a low and harsh whisper in between his deep breaths. “Yes, your Gracefully Enhanced and Chaotic Orderness. We had to, umm, elect a representative to be your second,” said the dwarf, grumbling as he said the word elect. Sighing heavily, Cassius began massaging the bridge of his nose.
“Okay, just get into formation, I am almost done,” said Cassius as he turned away from the dwarf. Reaching into the top of his burnt breastplate, he took off the amulet Tomusir had given him. Sneering, he looked at it with disgust. “Damn animal thinks I need its trinkets,” said Cassius as he tossed it away from the entrance. Watching it fall, it glistened in the air for the duration until with a clink, it fell off to the flatter areas around the mountain. “Filthy animal,” he murmured to himself as he picked up his helm from the ground. Putting it on, he turned towards the strike force that had gotten into formation.
“Let us show those necromancers what we are capable of” he screamed at the top of his lungs. Closer to the entrance, the actual army began moving as well as they saw the strike force gather. Beating drums kept everyone in lockstep, and in the right direction. Waiting for a bit, Cassius watched as the army began rushing in as planned, following the path set up by the Vanguards before them.
A bright red flash of light, rose in the sky, the sign that it was time for them to advance. Lowering himself, he raised his right hand straight up, then let it fall in the direction of the entrance. The first group of augmented warriors blasted past him, within three seconds of time after, a second and third had already left. Nodding to those around him, he started to run with the fourth group. The first three were meant to clear a path from him, and those behind to keep any unwanted reinforcements from helping the necromancers.
Quickly, the darkness of the cave eroded any light that had broken past through the storm clouds outside. But, the darkness was not a hindrance to the strike team. Their eyes were sharp enough to pierce the darkness. Eventually, well-placed torches gave way to a flickering light. Introducing the stalactite-filled cave that was narrow but had a ceiling that was very high up. The constant booming of the drums made dust that had gathered shake in place, and even some of the stalactite to shake in their spots.
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Pushing on, past turn after turn and bend after bend, they finally made it to a point where the army had widened the tunnels to continue in large numbers. Past those, an opening that shone a bright blue color from inside stood waiting for them. Rushing into the light, they found themselves in a steep area, heading directly into the middle of a massive round room that had hundreds of golems split down the middle by ingenious tactical movement. Cassius had to admire Gregorius for such strategic ability, though begrudgingly.
Rushing through the middle, most golems were too preoccupied with the army to chase after them. And those that did were quickly dispatched by the army; their switch in attention their demise. Getting to the other side, the ran up another steep incline towards a darkly light tunnel. As they continued running for a good part of an hour and a half, they encountered the same thing, over and over again. The winding paths that were widened as they neared the entrance to a massive circular room. In each place, the situation was all but the same, the golems split down the middle into two groups. They passed almost twenty-seven chambers like this, the effort put into this must have been incredulous, or absolutely fanatical. What crazed mind would work for so long on such an arduous task?
But eventually, they made it to a room unlike before. In it was nothing but a massive door that had been broken down by the first few waves of the strike force. Slowing down, Cassius felt the entire mountain shake. They needed to hurry, or they would be too late. Getting closer to the door, they heard cries of pain and what seemed to be a great struggle. “Let's hurry,” commanded Cassius as he began moving towards the door. But as they moved closer, a nervous air began to permeate around them. The closer they walked towards the door, the more pressure they felt on their chests.
By the time they reached the door, some had blood dribbling from their nose. Cassius, being the most powerful felt much less, but it was still a horrible feeling. It was like someone was sitting on his chest. Walking towards the door with gritted teeth, he pushed the massive door a bit wider so they can all pass. In front of him was a scene he had not expected. On the floor, some passed out and others screaming in pain as the clutched their chests, were the first waves of the strike force. Looking down at his feet, he could see a transparent divider that made it clear that they were in the domain of something much more powerful than them.
“Muhaha,” laughed a deep voice from far above. Looking up, Cassius saw a roof that was open to the sky. And above that, in the middle of dark swirling clouds was a black ball of shadows that shot energy all over the place. Connecting to it was countless tunnels of energy from all the necromancers and a few massive mana stones. In a large circle, the necromancers were all placed around the room in equidistantly from one another. They had five circles going around one person in the very middle. The man in the middle and it was a man with a distinctly authoritative voice was the only one covered by a dome of light that seemed to channel all the excess energy escaping from the mana stones and ritual to one point then back up towards the ball of laughing energy. He was screaming in a language unlike any of the origin languages. Something more guttural and wild, not belonging in the realm of the civilized.
Cassius stepped past the threshold, there he felt a massive increase in pressure on his chest. He felt his knees shake, and bones grinding against each other. At that moment, he felt a fog escape his mind, eyes widening he almost stopped his forward momentum, to turn around and apologize to those he had wrong so greatly. He… He didn't even feel anything for Relaki in that span of time. That in itself was the most frightening thing he had ever experienced. “We need to get to the person in the middle. He is clearly the most important person,” said Cassius as he picked up his pace with a groan of struggle and pain. Biting his lip to keep himself grounded he continued to get closer, but the pressure kept increasing.
He pushed and pushed himself until he felt something snap in his chest. Pain began to bloom around his heart, but he was determined to stab his sword through the lead necromancer. As he got about ten meters from the man, he looked back only to see the last person from his entire strike force - the dwarf that had spoken to him earlier - falling forward as blood dripped out of his mouth. “Damn it,” he muttered to himself as he turned around and pushed against the pain. Screaming, he got to only a few meters from the lead necromancer, just to feel a massive boom of energy push him to his knees.
“Muhaha! You are too late. My return has been guaranteed!” Said the voice from above. Similar to Zenama, the voice seemed to reverberate from everywhere. But unlike him, it was intense and so obviously filled with past wounds. A voice that needed revenge to survive. Crawling forward, Cassius heard a pop in his back... Eyes widening and blood crawling down from his mouth, he made a last ditch effort to push his, soon to be limp, body at the necromancer. But Cassius fell short, over a foot away from him. Extending his hand, it passed through the dome of energy. Hand shaking from the pain, he reached out as far as possible, yet he knew deep down he wouldn't make it.
If only he had kept… If he had kept the amulet, Tomusir had given him instead of throwing it away with disgust. Why did he even feel that way? Was it something he got from Zenama; the hate for all beastkin? It didn't matter anyway, he was going to die. Cassius looked up with great difficulty, groaning as his head felt a million needles run through it. But all he met was a wicked smile from a face that spoke of great evils. Looking up to his shaking hands, a shining ring caught his attention. Silver with gold inlays, and was shaped to look like the skeleton of a snake. The one thing he remembered the day his mother passed. Tears began slowly crawling down his face, his heart rising up to his throat, and anger unbidden passed through him before his head and hand fell, lifeless.