Guinevere didn’t speak to me for the next two days that we rested in the tower. I spent the time working on my enchanting and finding the next path for us to follow.
I sat quietly in the basement below the tower engraving a flat stone. I was working on trying to convert my spell for locating metals into an enchantment that would act like a compass, but I was having limited success. The stone began to shiver and shake, and I tossed it down the hall before it exploded.
Picking up another rock I began to carve another variation of runes onto it. Soft footfalls descended down the stairs and a feminine scent filled the tunnel. She didn’t bother moving stealthily so Voidra hadn’t even bothered to alert me.
“What do you want?” I asked as I kept at my work.
“I just wanted to apologize,” Kisha said. “You’ve been working so hard to protect us and we haven’t been grateful for all you’ve done for us.”
What’s she want Voidra? I asked.
Her emotions are oily, Voidra said sounding disgusted. She’s like a bad cocktail, a mixture of fear, loathing and desire.
“Tell me why you’re really here,” I told Kira flatly.
“I’m afraid,” Kira said her bottom lip trembling. “We might die tomorrow and I….”
“Save your seduction act for your lackies,” I said. “I’m not interested in being in your male harem.”
“What?” Kira asked indignantly.
“Oh, stop it,” I scoffed. “You can try to hide it with all the perfume you want but I can still smell them all over you.”
Kira’s face darkened in what might have been shame or anger.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said her voice like flint.
“If you want me to spell if out for you I can,” I said. “I don’t know what you want from me but you’re not going to get it. I assume it has something to do with Guinevere but whatever problem you have with her I’m not going to help you.”
“I don’t have a problem with Lady Guinevere,” Kisha insisted. “I simply feel you’ve been getting too close with her lately, until the other day at least.”
“I can feel your hatred for her,” I said. “And I’m not telling you anything she told me or that I said to her if you’re here fishing for information.”
“You’re a very unpleasant person to speak with,” Kisha said her hands tightening into fists.
“I’m polite to those who deserve my respect,” I said. “You have yet to show anything redeeming that makes you worthy of my respect.”
She turned on her heel and stormed out of the basement tunnels. I sat down and went back to my enchanting. After seven more hours of work, I created my first successful prototype. The stone spun the arrow on it spinning to face one of the walls where veins of iron could be seen running through the wall. The item itself was useless to me but its proof of concept was invaluable, spells could be converted into enchantments.
It would be hard, but I had a number of spells that could translate into enchantments, if I could modify those spells or enchantments, it would allow me to create weapons with properties that no one else had access to. I set my tools back in my pouch and sat cross-legged falling into my meditative sleep.
--
A blade shone like a star. I stood ragged and bloody with the carnage of battle all around me, my body was riddled with holes seeping blood that glowed with molten fire. The blade struck down, but I couldn’t move, Guinevere lay unconscious under me and moving would lead to her certain death.
The blade struck down and cleaved through my leg to the bone. The swordsman was shrouded in black shadows, he yanked out his sword and struck again. My left leg crippled and I fell to the ground. The sword struck again, I blocked with my clubs, and it sheared through and shattered them. The blade buried itself into my collarbone. I fell backwards and the blade struck down again piercing through Guinevere’s chest.
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Trying to roar in rage, all I could do was spit up blood my body rebelling against my commands for it to move.
--
My eyes snapped open, and my twin hearts thudded like jackhammers moments later the sound of footfalls came down the spiral stairs. Guinevere entered the tunnel and slowly approached me.
“We’re ready to go,” she said.
I stood up and cracked my neck as I did a few stretches. “Are we speaking to eachother again?” I asked.
“My party needs you to survive,” Guinevere said.
“You know I don’t give a fuck about your party,” I said. “Kisha came by here earlier fishing for information. I’d keep my eye on her.”
“Why do you care?” Guinevere asked. “When this is over, we will end up on opposite sides, why do you care what happens to me?”
“Because you’re good,” I said.
“So, because I’m a good fighter that’s why you care?” Guinevere asked disbelievingly.
“No,” I corrected her. “Because YOU are good. You care about your party even though they hate you, your first concern is for normal people instead of gifted. You deserve more than what you’ve been given, and I believe you can make a difference out there if we make it back to the surface.”
“Why do you care about normal people?” Guinevere asked.
“I come from a world filled with people without abilities, in fact no one has them,” I said. “You’ve had them your entire life I’ve only had them for a few months so far, I don’t think of ungifted as different than I am.”
“You’re always talking about how your better than others,” Guinevere said crossing her arms.
“And when it comes to fighting, I am,” I said with a shrug. “But I’ve been through enough shit to know my failings and that I’m just as fallible as others.”
“And what’s your failing?” Guinevere asked.
“That I’m destined to hurt those closest to me the most,” I said. “Come on we need to go.”
--
We set out down the tunnel, three hours later we were beset by another horde of creatures. Hundreds of creatures, some of shadow others of flesh assaulted us from the front. I plunged into the horde and emerged from the bodies when it was done. Wiping myself off I offered Guinevere my cleansing cloth, she hesitated for a moment than took it and wiped her face and armor.
“How much longer do you think this is going to take?” she asked.
“It feels like the trail is getting stronger so not much longer I hope,” I said.
We pressed on for another seven hours. Finding a narrow side tunnel into a dead end with a cave we set up camp and I sat guard. Sitting cross-legged I heard Guinevere come up behind me. She handed me a bowl and I took the food.
“This is new,” I said.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said,” Guinevere said. “Your right, I didn’t think of the Warlord as human, but you are a human. So, until you give me a reason to not that’s how I’ll treat you.”
“But you still believe that reason is inevitable,” I said dipping a chunk of stale bread into the stew.
“Kelesa isn’t going to let you set up a farm, eventually she’ll push you into doing something where I can’t stand by,” Guinevere said.
“Well, that will be an interesting day when that happens,” I said.
--
Setting out again we reached a three-way split in the tunnel. Here the trail we were following frayed and went down each of the three tunnels. I stopped and surveyed both tunnels each one had a trail but which one should I take? Looking down one had a set of stairs carved into it so I chose that one. Signs of human construction were a better sign of development than the basic tunnels that had just been carved out of the stone.
Leading the others down we hiked down the stairs. Gradually the tunnel began to grow wider and wider, making me nervous. We’d been able to hold out against the hordes of monsters due to the close confines restricting how many could come at us at once. If they could just flow around me then I wouldn’t be able to effectively hold them back and Guinevere’s party would start dropping like flies.
The walls began to be transformed, becoming smooth with columns rising and the arched ceiling holding the weight of the world above. The rough unfinished tunnels had been completely left behind leaving us in the ruins of a dead civilization.
I wasn’t sure if my nervousness had spread to the others but soon the whole group was on edge. This spurred us to move even faster. I started seeing changes in the environment, piles of bones of the creatures we’d been killing were piled around us, scratches marred the walls around us from some battle. We moved faster and faster but soon the cause of our dread came.
A deep resonate sound began to vibrate from the tunnel behind us. I jerked to a stop listening to the sound, the bones and ground began to vibrate filling the air with a threatening rattle as if we’d stepped next to a diamond-back.
“How many hundred is it this time?” Guinevere asked.
I shook my head. “We’re not dealing with hundreds this time,” I said shaking my head.
Guinevere paled. “Thousands?”
“At least ten thousand,” I said nodding to her. I turned my back on her and the party. “I’m going to need to go all out to do this,” I said. “You need to keep running.”
“You’ll die!” Guinevere protested.
“I need my spear,” I said.
“Your spear?” Kira asked indignantly. “That’s our loot we won that….”
“Enough!” Guinevere snapped at her. She unslung the double ended spear off her back. She looked it over then slowly placed it in my hand. “I didn’t ask you to sacrifice yourself for me.”
“Hey,” I said giving her a grim smile. “Remember who I am. I’ve got this.”
Guinevere paused then stepped forward and hugged me. My body stiffened in shock as she wrapped her arms around me in quick hug. She pulled away as soon as she made contact.
“Good luck,” she said. Turning to her body she gave a jerk of her head for them to start moving the other way and started running.
The howls and roars grew closer and closer as I turned away from where Guinevere had run.
“Alright Voidra pull out all the stops I need every ability I have if you can get my activation abilities to start working now would be a great time to get that to work.”