All of a sudden, the darkness was cut through by the intense fiery light coming from the end of the hallway, and seconds later, a wave of fire gushed at the entrance at the table, burning down a number of the creatures. A decent number of the creatures fell to the ground, still moving and slashing, but their legs and arms burned to a crisp, while others continued on their feet, moving slowly.
Seconds later, a ball of light appeared, following the girl in loose clothing and a bandana on her face, as she jumped over a row of creatures with ease, slashing at their necks while in the air. The girl shot a look at Eloken and his crew, who were standing in the middle of the chamber in a tight circle, moving back slowly from the newly transformed Lorien, who was trying to attack them.
Eloken, unsure of what to do with Lorien, grabbed some rope from his backpack and, using his enchanted speed from Vis, tied up his student's arms and legs so he wasn’t able to attack them. “Do not touch him,” Eloken exclaimed. “We will deal with him later!” He said to no one in particular.
The girl looked at him, seemingly acknowledging his increased speed, before turning towards the creatures. The light above her head was the same as Lorien’s but it shone a bit brighter. Eloken observed her closely, her movement, her stance, the ease with which she moved. As she prepared to attack the creatures, she raised her free hand and waves of light started shooting from the ball of light above her head.
She sent the streaks of light at the creatures in relentless waves, the light seeming to damage the creatures as they let out painful screeches. She then gripped her sword with both hands and attacked the dazed creatures with precise strikes at their necks, beheading one after another.
Eloken didn’t wait or hold back anymore. He tapped into his reserves, drawing large quantities of Vis, Vit, and Tem in active states, and did a quick set of spells enchanting his speed, strength, and letting Vit run actively, hoping in case he got scratched, he could avoid the destiny that befell his student Lorien.
Eloken gripped his large Imperial Sword and started wreaking havoc. The rage overtook him, and his blade danced through the air, a silver streak against the dark backdrop of the encroaching horde. Each swing was a symphony of destruction, each step a ballet of death. The monsters swarmed around him, but he was a storm of destruction, unyielding and relentless.
As he moved, his mind was clear, focused only on killing monsters. His heart beat in rhythm with the clash of steel, his breath synchronized with each pivot and turn. He used everything at his disposal, kicking monsters with his feet, using one monster to jump in the air and slash two more. He was clearing the hallway ahead of them alone, leaving the rest of the crew and the girl who arrived as onlookers.
Eloken was seeing red, not paying attention to anything; it was just him in the dimly lit corridor and the horde of monsters that he needed to eliminate. As he danced with his sword between the monsters, weaving and dodging their claws, he noticed that he couldn’t get a good grip on the floor anymore.
Eloken looked at his feet and momentarily snapped out of his frenzy; he had slain so many monsters that he was standing on a pile of their headless corpses. He lifted his head, and there were only two more monsters slowly walking towards him. With one slice of his large imperial sword, he beheaded both creatures.
The silence that followed the chaos was unsettling, broken only by the distant, ominous growling that seemed to emanate from the tomb's unfathomable depths. Eloken looked back only to see his companions standing in the chamber, lit by the newly arrived girl's light spell.
Upon returning to the chamber, he was met with gazes that held a tumult of emotions - awe at his valiant fighting, fear for the horrors they were facing. The girl looked up and down at Eloken; he was now panting as his Vit and Vis spells were wearing off.
Lorien's condition cast a pall over their brief respite. The boy who had just moments ago stood by their side was now succumbing to a curse that threatened to erase the person he once was. Eloken’s heart clenched at the sight; his student was disappearing before their eyes, and he was the one who had brought that boy to the quest.
“He is gone,” the girl said in a soft tone. “There is nothing you can do to help him; it’s only a matter of minutes before he fully turns into those monsters we just fought.”
“Who… How do you know that?” Eloken couldn’t see the girl’s expression under her bandana.
“I’ve lost someone to a similar curse,” she said. “Believe me, I know.”
“There has to be a way to help him using Vit,” Eloken said.
“Vit? You mean the healing source?” The girl asked, her eyes scanning everyone in the room.
“Yes, the healing source,” Eloken said, looking at his student, or what remained of him.
“Look, I have access to that,” the girl said, her tone softer now. “I’ll try to heal him, but you will see that there is nothing there, nothing is left inside, his soul is gone.”
Eloken just nodded, and the girl, with a determination shadowed by a hint of resignation, stepped forward to face Lorien. As she drew upon the Vit, her hands glowed with a soft, ethereal light, casting a serene glow over the grotesque transformation that had claimed Lorien. Her fingers wove through the air, intricate patterns of healing energy flowing towards him. Despite the potency of her spell, Lorien's reactions were far from hopeful; his growls intensified, a primal response to the magic that sought to undo the curse ravaging his body.
The silence of the chamber was punctuated by the growling of the creature that Lorien was becoming, a stark contrast to the calm focus and demeanor of the girl. Eloken stood as a silent sentinel, his gaze locked on his student, the pain of a lost young life slowly overtaking him.
As the spell reached its crescendo, it became painfully clear that the Vit was having no effect on him. Lorien's growls grew stronger and louder, his humanity slipping further away with each passing second.
The girl lowered her hands, her spell over, the light fading from her eyes as she faced Eloken. “I am sorry,” she whispered, her voice keeping a soft tone. “We really need to leave this chamber before more monsters show up. My friends are clearing our way towards the exit.”
Despite the girl's protests, Eloken could not—would not—abandon Lorien. “He is still one of us,” Eloken insisted. “We must find a way to save him, to bring him back.”
The girl's response was more determined now, her patience slipping away. “Some fates are worse than death. To let him become one of those… things… would be a cruelty beyond measure.” Her words hung in the air.
“Let me do it,” the girl said. “I will release him, and we leave; you don’t have
to watch it.”
“No!” Eloken exclaimed. “It’s my responsibility. I brought him into this. I should be the one to end his suffering and I will have to live with the consequences.”
The girl, sensing the depth of Eloken's anguish, stepped back, allowing him the space to make this harrowing choice. She understood all too well the burden of such a decision, having faced a similar loss herself. Her gaze shifted from Eloken to Lorien, then to the rest of the group, signaling it was time to prepare for what was to come.
Eloken approached Lorien with heavy steps, the weight of his decision pressing down on him like the darkness of the tomb. He drew his sword, the blade gleaming faintly in the light cast by the girl’s spell. His hands trembled not from fear, but from the agony of the choice he was forced to make.
“Forgive me, Lorien,” he whispered, his voice barely audible over Lorien's growls. With a swift, decisive movement, Eloken brought his sword down, ending the suffering of his student, a young boy, his friend.
As the head rolled down and hit the floor with a thud, the chamber fell silent, the act of mercy leaving a heavy pall over the group. They knew there was no time to mourn; the tomb was not kind to those who lingered. Eloken sheathed his sword, his gaze lingering on Lorien's headless body for a moment longer before he turned to the others.
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“We must move on,” the girl said, breaking the silence. “My friends are securing our path to the exit. Don’t let us turn into this.” She pointed to Lorien.
Eloken nodded and gestured to his crew to follow him. As they walked through the hallway, stepping over the creatures’ corpses at the place of Eloken’s massacre, the girl approached Eloken, walking side by side.
“Who are you?” Eloken asked, his voice emotionless. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” the girl answered, still wearing her bandana, Eloken couldn’t read her expression. “But as far as your reputation and description precede you, I would guess you are the famous Eloken.”
Eloken nodded, and the girl continued. “My name is Evie, and as for what I am doing here, we can maybe discuss it later. But only if you are willing to share your side as well,” Evie said, looking at him, but Eloken kept his gaze straight.
“Let’s focus on getting out alive from here first,” Eloken said, and Evie nodded.
They walked the path towards the exit, stumbling on a few dead creatures along the way, but nothing at the scope of what they encountered in the chamber. Evie said her party was of five, two of her friends and two people they stumbled upon. Eloken was surprised to find anyone on a path he was on, but there were many more people around the continent that were on a similar quest.
“Can you hear that?” Eloken asked.
“What?” Evie said, unsure of what he was referring to.
“That sound, it's like swords clashing…” Eloken tried to concentrate, but Evie held her hand out.
“Wait, I can enchant my senses,” she said and concentrated for a second before mumbling a set of words Eloken hadn’t heard before.
“Shit,” Evie said. “You are right, we must hurry. Run towards the exit!” The girl said and took off at inhumane speeds. Eloken momentarily enchanted his speed and gestured to his crew to follow before he took off after the girl.
As they neared the last corner, Eloken could clearly hear the clanking of swords and shields loudly. He was sure they weren’t fighting the monsters as they used no weapons. So multiple scenarios played in his head; they were either attacked by someone from the outside, or his and Evie’s friends were fighting between each other, but nothing could prepare him for the scene as he rounded the last corner.
Evie’s friend, an older man with a bun and sword, a guy no older than Eloken with an axe, and two boys in heavy winter clothing were all swinging their weapons and fighting skeletons. Eloken had to almost physically rub his eyes to double-check what he was seeing. Yes, he just fought an undead army, but this, this looked ridiculous to him. A group of several humanoid skeletons, with remnants of armor, shields, and broken weapons were engaged with Evie’s group of friends.
They moved fluently, too fluently for skeletons, and wielded their weapons with masterful precision. Before Eloken could fully comprehend what he was seeing, Evie took off to aid her friends. He didn’t waste any more time and followed her with his Vis-enchanted speed.
Eloken barely kept the pace with Evie as she ran toward her friends. The hallways were lit by Evie’s light spell, a few torches on the ground where the scuffle was happening, and the sun coming through the entrance.
The four of Evie’s friends fought shoulder-by-shoulder in the hallway, and the skeleton creatures slowly pushed them back. There was no room for Eloken and Evie to fight beside them, and as Eloken started to think about it, the girl had already leaped into the air, leaping over them. The hallway was high but not high enough for the girl to jump straight over them, so she went head first like she was jumping through a fire ring at a festival. Eloken copied her.
They landed seconds apart on the other side of the scuffle. As they were flying over them, Eloken counted seven of the creatures. Evie didn’t take even a second to gather her thoughts but rushed straight at the creatures. Eloken watched as she moved with her enchanted speed and strength from the Vit, unlike him, she moved with grace and elegance as she was flowing, gliding through the air. Her hits were precise, she dodged the skeleton creatures' attacks with ease, but the creatures were relentless and precise themselves as if someone had taken the best warriors and gotten rid of everything except their skeletons.
Eloken charged as well, using his enchanted physical abilities to brute force everything. He was taught in the art of sword and duels, but he couldn’t hold a candle to the girl and her skill. Eloken engaged with one of the three creatures that had turned in their direction, the rest of them were still engaged with Evie’s friends. He struck, the creature dodged, he struck again, and the creature parried with its shield. With a corner of his eye, he saw Evie able to go through their dodges and hit the creature at its ribs, but the sword clunked like it hit a wall.
“Fuck this shit,” Eloken said under his breath. “I have an imperial sword.” He thought to himself and instead of dueling the creature, he went for an all-out brawl.
He took in more of the Vis from his reserves and enchanted his strength and speed to the fullest of his capabilities. He planted his feet and swung his sword with both hands with all the force he could muster
, aiming not for the finesse of a precise strike but for sheer power. The creature, taken aback by the sudden change in tactics, barely managed to raise its shield in time. The impact of the Imperial Sword against the shield was like a clap of thunder, sending shockwaves through the narrow hallway. The skeleton, despite being able to raise its shield in time, could not withstand the brute force of the imperial sword’s strike. The shield shattered into fragments, and the creature's arm, unable to bear the force, snapped off, clattering to the ground alongside its weapon.
With the creature momentarily defenseless, Eloken did not hesitate. He drove his sword forward, piercing through the ribcage of the skeleton and then downwards with such force that the tip of his blade scratched against the stone floor. The skeleton, its structural integrity compromised, crumbled into a heap of bones.
Without a moment's pause, Eloken leaped back into the fray, helping Evie who was fighting one versus two. He continued to leverage the sheer might of his enchanted strength and the weight of his Imperial Sword. Each swing was designed not only to disarm but to dismantle. Bones flew in every direction.
“Enchant your strength to the fullest,” he said to Evie as he dismantled another creature.
“I am,” she just answered and managed to take an arm off her foe.
Eloken took a mental note; her full strength was much lower than his. In ordinary situations, she would probably never admit it, but now she must have spoken the truth. He watched her for a second as she fought with the grace that matched the lethal precision of her attacks. Her movements were a dance of death, each step, each leap, each thrust of her sword orchestrated to perfection.
As she dismantled the creature that was attacking her, they jumped on the four remaining creatures that were engaged with her friends. Now coming from behind, it was easier to fight the creatures who tried their best to fight back but were now outnumbered and surrounded.
As the last of the skeletons clattered to the ground, a silence fell over the group, broken only by the heavy breathing of the living. Eloken sheathed his sword, his gaze meeting Evie's. There was mutual respect, a recognition of each other's strengths and skills. But there was no time for conversation; as all of a sudden, a cry echoed from the outside.
“Shit,” he exclaimed, quickly pulling his sword once again. “Dalamir!” He said and dashed towards the exit.
As he jumped out of the tomb, he saw a scene of a battle, dozens of Haraz’s soldiers lay dead on the ground, and dozens more fought several skeletons.
“Dalamir,” he yelled at the top of his lungs. “Dalamir!”
“Up here,” his friend answered, peeking out of the stone structure. “We have managed to kill one of those things, but I didn’t want to risk the kids’ lives.” He said, pointing to the remaining students Eloken had ordered to stay outside. “So I took the kids up and thought I would wait for you. Who’s the girl, and why the fuck are those two wearing winter coats in Azarim?” He said, looking at the two guys that looked completely out of place in the desert.
Eloken looked at the two of Evie’s friends and for the first time actually noticed what they were wearing. “Smart choice,” he said, smiling back. “And I have no idea,” he said, looking at the two boys who looked like they had fallen from the moon. “That might be the weirdest thing we saw today."
“Yep,” Dalamir said as he jumped down.
“Let’s get rid of these fuckers,” Eloken said. “But first, let me close the door so we don’t get flanked from behind.” He took out the stone he had placed into the stone door and said a quick chant in an unknown language, and the huge stone door to the tomb crackled and slowly closed. “Let’s go,” he said, and the rest of them nodded and charged to help Haraz’s soldiers.
Taking on the remaining skeleton creatures was not an easy task, but with their tactics already worked out, they managed to destroy the creatures in just a few minutes without losing any of their members or Haraz’s soldiers.
“This was insane,” Dalamir said, wiping off the sweat from his forehead. “Fun, but insane.” He continued as he scanned everyone who stood around him. “Wait, where is Lorien?”
Eloken's expression darkened at Dalamir's question, the weight of the loss momentarily silencing the victorious atmosphere. He glanced towards the tomb's sealed entrance, the reality of what had occurred inside settling heavily upon him.
"He... Lorien didn’t make it," Eloken finally said, his voice tinged with sorrow. "He was cursed or infected, or I don’t honestly know. But he was turning into one of the creatures we fought inside. There was nothing we could do to save him." He looked at Evie instinctively, and she nodded, reassuring him there was nothing he could have done to help his student.
“What happened inside, Eloken?” Dalamir asked, his smile gone, his tone serious.
“I’ll tell you everything, as always,” Eloken said. “But first, we need to leave and regroup.”
“I don’t think you are telling me everything lately,” Dalamir said. “But you are right, we need to get the hell out of here, then we will talk.”
Eloken nodded to his friend and then turned toward Evie and her small group. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but I feel like you and I need to talk.”
The girl looked at the older man and then nodded back to Eloken. “I agree.”
“I believe we should all go to my Academy,” Eloken said, addressing the whole group. “Except you, Haraz.”
The Azarim native, still shell-shocked from all the things he saw, shook his head to wake himself up. “What do you want me to do?” He asked.
“You stay here and bury this site. Pay your men to keep their mouths shut about what they saw.” Eloken said, scanning the paid soldiers. “And then continue looking for other sites in the region; you still have the original map I gave you?”
“Yes,” Haraz nodded.
“Good. Then let’s go,” Eloken said, looking over the group, his eyes lingering a little bit longer on the girl and the two boys.