The two parties rushed without detour through the maze they had thoroughly mapped out. Soon they reached back to the hall, empty, and headed into the sole distinct path lined with carvings and statues of a dragon. The path turned dark and Shin took the lead with prismatic eyes.
For minutes they travelled in the dark but none voiced complaints or doubts and soon they came into a massive semi spherical hall, its floor and walls more intricate than any of the layer thus far, it’s ceiling impossibly high, standing strong without any pillars to support it. The party checked around as they moved but nothing earned their attention than the towering stone gates behind seven dragon statues.
Shin darted back as a myriad of elements surged up, forming a wall of colors. He tossed a rock and it disintegrated in an instant under several effects. Shin and Ti darted around but found no sign of any mechanism to remove the seven colored wall. Suddenly, the wall disappeared and behind it, charged a horde of cultists and dragonborn, hundreds strong.
“Hurry!” The party moved before Yen gave her yell, all sharing the same sentiment. Donny crashed into one side and stomped away more as a firebolt exploded the other wave, but still they swarmed, through the flames and force without fear or hesitation. Shin conjured a spiralling green ball and sent it swirling towards a dragonborn.
It sparked with friction against its iron coating before shearing it away along with the creature’s scales and barreling clean through.
The gyro danced through the air like a playful fairy, boring holes through a medley of cultists before an armored dragonborn swatted it away to shards. An erelim took its place pushing back the dragonborn warrior and others. Grace called forth her own summon, a horned humanoid with hair like fire and molten veins glowing over its skin.
[Fire Ifrit (epic) - Greater Lord]
The ifrit swiped its hand and a giant fireball crashed into the horde but like Yen’s attack, and endless surge of reinforcements took the fallens’ place. The creature raised its hand in anger, flames bursting out and bombarding the horde like a rain of comets. Roots broke through the ground around them and formed two giant walls from floor to ceiling, making a clear path to the boss room.
The five melee types all took out their orbs, Shin and Leon carrying two each as the fastest among them. But as they drew near, the ground split apart below and two distinct creatures emerged, one of red scales, the other bluish white.
[Fire Dragon (epic) - Greater Lord]
[Frost Dragon (epic) - Greater Lord]
They spat out a giant elemental ball, one of fire and frost. Gray fur covered Shin’s body as he swatted away the fire. But unlike his expectations, it burst apart not entirely, searing flames burning his hand through the mana eater trait. To his right Donny had broken the frost dragon’s attack and met an equal and opposite fate, the black goblin shield surface iced over and the skin on his face and neck frostbitten.
Leon burst forward, beheading the fire dragon with a single golden swing. A dense firebolt blasted away at the frost dragon and an eruption at the hands of the ifrit burned it to death through the opening in its scales. Leon leapt back suddenly as the pair of dragons burst into raw elemental mana, walling off the entrance to the boss. The white and red flames swirled together and a new creature emerged.
[Frostfire Dragon (epic) - Greater Lord]
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A hail of frost and flame roared down at the party. Kamala and Ti casts their spells to eliminate the magic but neither found a trace of success, a condensed mana shield erected before the dragon’s breath reached them. Yen held firm but the cracks spread across the shield under its overwhelming force and broke through.
Yen froze for a moment and a dense purple shield appeared before her, warding the ice and fire just out of reach. She glanced back to Kamala hovering behind, her focus strained between the shield and her vines, the breath unceasing. As their advancement stalled, enemies start to hack through the vines around them and more invaded from the end of the path.
“We can’t stay here.” Kamala spoke up first, louder than the party were used to as she struggled to patch the walls of the vines.
Shin glanced around at the frostbitten Donny he was healing and the two casters drained of more mana than they needed. And his face fell a shade below neutral, a sight Grace took some silent surprise at and Leon observed with casual interest.
“We’re going back.” Shin decided.
Some took longer than others but all could read the writing on the wall. This first attempt was a failure. The erelim and ifrit were sent charging back as the spearhead to break the encirclement. The rest followed behind, blasting and striking a path back to the dark pathway. Shin glanced behind at the horde that stopped just at the entrance and back forward, his smile not yet returned.
---
Micah stared in detached horror as the cultists dragged their bruiser to the altar. The proud, strong, reliable brusier he had seen rush head first to danger so many times reduced to crying and begging. They hoisted her onto the stone and a force locked her limbs down as she struggled, her words devolved to barely comprehensible noise. The priests rose their arms and the chanting began again. The altar shone as mana invaded her body to screams of pain and fear and soon the noise and light reached a crescendo.
The barbarian fell limp then rose calmly. Micah’s face fell into further fear and disgust at the draconic top half of her head and zealous smile. A priest placed a mask over her head as the other chanted around him, including the ones holding him firm.
“We follow because he is mighty! We follow because he is all!”
Another pair of cultists dragged Ivan over, barely conscious, blood pouring from his busted mouth. He had resisted more than anyone and that was his reward. They pulled him over the altar just the same and began chanting once more. Ivan spasmed awake, screaming in pain. The altar glowed strangely and a flash of light forced Micah’s eyes shut for a moment and when he opened them, he found a scaled dragonborn in the executioner’s place.
“Praise be to Drogal! Master of All! Praise be to Drogal! Master of All!”
Elation took hold of the cultists as they celebrated the birth of a new follower deemed worthy of receiving the blood of their god. Micah had scarcely time to take it in as the cultists holding him starting dragging him towards the dreaded altar.
“No! This isn’t fair! Don’t, l-let me go!”
Terror spread through every fiber of his being. Terror and bitterness. Why did they reject him. He could be useful. He could be strong. They left him here. They used and abandoned him. Why were they special. Why wasn’t he. Why wasn’t he special. His back hit the hard stone and his limbs pulled down against him. This wasn’t fair. Why wasn’t he chosen. Something else overtook his terror. Bitterness, rejection, envy. Why were they special.
Micah found himself in a dark place, a void he could see no end to, and before him sat a horned demoness with light purple skin. Beauty surpassed by cold unfeeling eyes, her face full of venom.
“Do you wish for power?” Bitter words fell on Micah’s ears, perilous and alluring. “Do you resent? Do you yearn? Does it taste of ash in your mouth?”
Micah stared at the demon, his expression tensing as true feelings boiled to the surface.
“What do you desire?”
“I want to take everything from them!” Power took hold of him as he roared.
The priests surrounding the altar spasmed as dark mana coated over them, and fell dead. Row by row the mist spread, killing all in the room, the cultists, the dragonborn, the drakotaur, and his surviving teammates. Micah rose in silence and stepped through the floor of corpses, his elation taking the reins from his nerves.
He grabbed the head of the treasure guardian and mana surged up through his hand. He rose up and breathed yellow lightning, and mockery found his blackened eyes. A mad laugh overcame him as the souls of the dead absorbed into him. He could be special. He could take what they have.