Underworld - Book 4 - Chapter 26

Khun had been surprisingly absent during our time in the Master’s Chamber. When he did appear, I couldn’t help but notice his lack of greeting. It was early afternoon, so I half expected him to hand me the list of Arcane Engineering machines and their DP cost when he arrived. Instead, he stood alone facing the wall opposite the dungeon map to our backs. His stillness didn’t last. After a few minutes, he started pacing and only glancing at the wall periodically. Allowing our purple dungeon spirit to express himself had left him acting as if he was having a midlife crisis.

Looking to Aeris, I saw the same concern I was feeling expressed in her face. She nudged me on, encouraging me to speak to him.

Helping someone by talking through their feelings was far out of my comfort zone. If this was Travis, or Russ, that would be one thing, but he wasn’t even human. Still, I couldn’t help but to think that offering the freedom to express himself was a good thing. I’d much rather have him as a friend than just some quirky dungeon AI, or for all practical purposes, our slave.

Giving Aeris a pat on the leg, I was as much a pleading for help as gesturing for her to wish me luck. Her help came in the form as a bust of air that pressed into my lower back. Letting out a sigh, I spoke. “Khun.”

He spun as if caught off guard. “Master.” He replied, bowing his head.

“How comes the mural?”

“It… It is proving difficult.”

I nodded my head, not exactly sure if I should offer advice, or wait.

He didn’t need any prodding. After of a few second of further thought, words started to flow. “There are countless memories I can pull from. But, is it enough to just capture moments from the past? I feel like I should do more. There is so much one can do with colors and lighting. Should they reflect my emotions, and is it even appropriate for a dungeon spirit to express such things? How do I know they are even emotions I’m having and not stolen fragments of emotions I’ve taken from her father and friends?”

His questions left me off guard. I’d expected there to be a semblance of the creature he’d once been remaining, but this was far from that. He was more than simple traces of a long past personality. What would happen if he was given even more freedom? 

Another subtle gust of air pressed against me from behind. It didn’t affect me as a Solar Mage as it would my human form, but I got the point. Turning, I watched as Aeris give me an annoyingly optimistic wink.

Taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth having no idea what I was about to say. “I’ve never been much of an artist, but I think you’re right. Emotions are what makes art matter… Whether the emotions you feel are your own or not shouldn’t matter, I think. What matters is whether you agree with them. If you do, then that’s how you should draw her.”

He turned from looking at me without saying a word. His eyes found the wall he’d been pacing in front of and he continued staring at it for a long while. I was about to turn away, when the wall started to change.

The background was simple. The walls of the Maze framed the image, and perspective was awfully close to the floor. Jala’s little dark elf body came next. He manipulated the stone of the wall to stretch and expand as if she was actually coming out of the wall itself. Little feet in purple leather boots cut low on her ankles appeared in vivid color. The almost teal skin of her calves rose from the wall next with silver undershorts that were fold up and tight under her knees. The silky shorts were baggy enough to allow full movement and were mostly hidden under her black skirt that reached down to just above her knees. Her hands were spread wide for she was in a crouch. Her matching black blouse covered a vest of concealed armor.

It looked simple, but heartfelt. The kind of image that would move a parent but have little effect on anyone that wasn’t as equally in love with their child. That is, until Jala’s face emerged from the stone. Her eyes were large and bright with mischief. They turned down like a dragon’s infant, full of fire and lust for life. Perhaps, I was reading into it, but she seemed to be sheltered from the many crimes and misfortunes of the Underworld. A sincere joy free of worry existed in the girl before me. It was so prevalent in her face that I was left dumbstruck.

“She’s beautiful.” Aeris said as she slipped under my arm to stand next to me.

He wasn’t finished. Fractured pieces of maze started to appear all around her. Each held a separate image from a moment in her life. From the entrance to the Living Quarters to the Maze, his mural continued. All of these images came from moments of play when she had been inside the maze. There were other people, her friends and family, that joined her in many of these.

On the smaller stretch of wall between the Maze and Bridge entrances, another large, live-sized image appeared in its center. With her hands behind her back and gaze downcast, she was frozen in what could only be considered her throwing a tantrum. Strangely enough, my first thought was how human-like it made her. I couldn’t put voice to his reasoning, but Khun covered the rest of the wall in smaller images depicting her anger and teary eyes. I was starting to think that perhaps he wasn’t wrong about borrowing her father’s emotions. Why else would he want to remember such things?

On the final blank wall between the Bridge and Pits entrances, he portrayed her smile. It wasn’t the largest of smiles, but she was wide eyed and looking up much like a daughter would to her father. The fill in images were similar to the large one. Unlike the smirks she had during her play in the Maze, these were void of mischief and malice. She was simply happy.

Aeris and I were silent. Leaving the place we’d been standing, we began to explore. I immediately thought of a parallel the Wraith and Khun. The Wraith had decorated his halls with the images of his people. Khun seemed to be just as artistically capable as he was.

“Well done, Khun,” I said without even turning to look at him. “Feel free to decorate the rest of Sanctuary however you want within the same parameters I gave you. We’ll talk if anything ends up being inappropriate or in bad taste. This isn’t a command, but if you enjoy it, please continue.”

Khun just stared at me unsure how to respond. When he finally nodded, it was all the respond that was needed.

Even before it was nearing time for our meeting, people were stopping to look at what Khun had done as they passed through the Master’s Chamber. Everyone took some time to ask who the girl was and to explore the mural.

The time to eat came. I didn’t eat with the others, though I did sit with them and nursed a cup of tea. My mind remained on our next steps. Khun had produced the list of mana machines and parts that he could create with their DP cost. Testing out the mana cannon, a name which was beginning to stick, looked like it would be feasible to do at least once. I’d leave it up to a vote from the council, but I was sure I already knew what they would choose.

We began to gather after dinner. Aeris and I had arrived first. The others greeted us, but immediately turned their attention to what Khun had done. Many of them had already see it once and were still wanting to explore what they had missed. I wondered if any of them would be interested before they had been kidnapped, or if their appreciation came from what they had been through. There wasn’t exactly a lot of beauty in the Underworld…

As had become our custom, everyone showed up in casual clothing—which meant shorts and t-shirts. I was an exception in my skeletal armor because it kept down the glare of my Solar Form, and Skyler was Skyler. He liked wearing his armor, so he did. 

When everyone had arrived, Richard started us off. “Good evening. Tonight, we are graced by the presence by the queen of the plant people.” He bowed deeply toward Olivia.

She rolled her eyes. “Dork.”

Everyone laughed.

Richard seemed to have expected her answer and wasn’t fazed. “I think congrats are in order on your transformation your highness.”

“Thank you, peasant,” She replied, with a mock curtsey. This time she let some genuine thankfulness slip through.

“I think it’s also appropriate that we thank Khun for the mural he’s created.” He put his hands together and the rest of us joined him.

If I could believe my eyes, Khun, sitting atop his pedestal, seemed to blush a dark purple tone. Once again, he was unusually silent, but he nodded his head in thanks.

“I think we should start with Clarissa and Russ. Can you two give us an update on the Ultra Fantastic Mana Blaster of Succubi Death Beaming?”

“The what?!” Clarissa said, stepping forward. She’d happily adopted our casual dress code.

“Uh. The Mana Blaster Beam thingy,” Richard said. “And congrats on your own transformation,” he threw up his fist before finishing with, “Mistress of Rock.”

She gave a discussed look. “Hey. I’m not a succubi. Don’t call me mistress.”

“You’re right. My bad.”

“You’re forgiven.” Looking to Russ, who stepped up to stand beside her, she got down to business. “Now. Everyone has seen the construction by now and has a basic idea what is going on, but we’ll give you a more in-depth explanation.”

For the next half and hour, she took turns with Russ explaining all that had been done. She’d filled in the Maze completely and had studied the surrounding rock of the area to try to match the density the compression that the countless tons of rock above it had caused. The very idea of a person being able to do the same to rock was ridiculous, but Clarissa said it was actually easy. The reason, she didn’t have to compress the rock, she just created it already in its compressed state.

That wasn’t exactly what she did, but that was her explanation for why it was possible. She actually used the rock she was most competent in and created that compressed and filled the Maze with it. She was sure that it would work and last for a few years, at least.

The two of them went on to explain how they’d used the mana channels that already existed above the Maze and tapped into them, running multiple mana channels of their own to Russ’s giant resister. Russ gave a quick summary of how it would be cooled, then called aloud that Trevon would explain the rest.

At the mention of his name, Trevon strolled through the entrance to the living quarters. It was more of a strut than a stroll. He’d removed his shirt, but it was difficult to see his physique under what had replaced it. A thick layer of ice covered him from collar bone to foot. Unlike normal armor, it fit his form as if it was just an extension of his body. It was semitransparent, so it was nice to see that he had made the wise decision to keep on a pair of shorts. Even his legs and feet were bare, including the soles of his feet. How he walked without slipping was beyond me.

He was looking up and off into the distance as he mimicked a superhero pose. The skin of his neck and face had blued slightly making him look dangerously cold. Instead of freezing to death, he stood their like he’d never been so comfortable. He’d done it. He’d reached the Master Rank. No wonder I hadn’t seen him at dinner. He’d been scheming with Russ on how to make his entrance during the meeting.

Looking to Russ, I watched as he nodded his head in approval. I almost burst out laughing but held myself back. Olivia didn’t. She was bent over at the waist and holding her stomach she was laughing so hard.

Trevon wasn’t fazed. The grin that rested on his face was one of utter confidence.

Richard started mumbling allowed as he searched for the appropriate name. “Iceman. Frosty.” He shook his head. “Nah, that was in taken. Chilly. Chill. Cold. Coldilox and the three bears…”

“No, no.” Trevon said, interrupting him. “Just call me, Master Trev.”

“No.” Skyler blurted out.

Clarissa quickly shook her head.

Travis, who had been mostly quiet until now echoed what Skyler had said. “No.”

“No.” Mel added.

It was suddenly uncomfortably quiet. Even Trevon who had seemingly unshakable confidence a moment ago was starting to feel it. I had to do something.

“Sure, why not.” I said suddenly.

The entire room, including Trevon, turned and looked at me like I was crazy. 

I pushed on. “Come on, Master Trev. Tell us how you’re going to cool that resister.”

Before the others could laugh, he held out his hand palm up. A small blue crystal started to form. Instead of growing in size, I watched as its blue light in the mana realm only intensified. After a few seconds I could feel the power radiating off of it. It was then that most of the room started hugging themselves to fight off the sudden chill. It didn’t affect a few of us, but his point was made. The thing he’d found difficult, if not impossible, before he’d mastered, was now something he had full control over. 

He didn’t exactly condense his mana. Before, he’d been able to control his ice, but there was a limit to how cold he could make it. He’d now broken past that limit and the dime size shard of ice floating in his hand was becoming colder by the moment.

“I will cover the transistor completely in ice and liquid nitrogenize it.” He grinned.

“Okay, Master,” Olivia said reluctantly, but without mocking him as before. “I think we’re now all convinced that you can cool it, but can’t the cold crack it, or something? And will the ice conduct mana and send what we collect to who knows where?”

“Good questions pretty lady.” Russ replied with a wink. “Thermal shock is likely, but that’s why I made the thing so big. Even if it warps or cracks, it’s very unlikely it will disrupt the integrity of the entire resister. As for conducting mana, we’ve been able to test that. Even though water conducts electricity, it does so because its impurities are mobile. When frozen, the same water because a bad conductor. But with Trevon’s ice, you have the best of both worlds. One, it’s ice so the particles aren’t moving, and two, its pure water. Meaning there aren’t any particles at all. Even if his ice was melted, it wouldn’t conduct electricity unless impurities were added. It’s important to add that many of the laws of electricity apply to mana as well, but not all of them. Thankfully, in this case, it does apply.”

They mostly skipped over how Khun would connect the power he received from the Maze to the new mana batteries, because he wouldn’t say, and instead skipped to the last part. It was simple enough. The mana beam worked just as the other mana machines in my experience. The mana wouldn’t flow from them unless someone willed it. It would require a magic user to direct their own mana into a mana channel attached to the machine and to will it to happen. How exactly this trigger worked, none of us really understood. It was one of the main factors that difficilitated mana from electricity. Ultimately, the batteries were hooked up to a number of mana channels that could be directed towards the mana lens at the user’s request. Once the mana hit the lens… Boom.

“Thank you,” Richard said when the explanation was finished. “We will soon discuss our next steps, but am I right in thinking that the beam cannon is done?”

Russ and Clarissa shared a look, before nodding to one another. “Outside of unforeseen issues, it is.” Clarissa replied.

“Very good. So today, if Mistress Nava was to show up, we’d be ready to face her?” He said, turning to look at me. Seeing Russ and Clarissa both looking convinced, I glanced at Aeris. I saw a feisty little Wind Sprite that was ready for a fight.

“It looks like we are.”

Richard opened his mouth to say something when he stopped short. Everyone froze in place. Looking to Trevon, he was just as motionless as everyone else. It wasn’t from chill, or his magic, but everyone felt the same pulse of dark power that had awakened far in the distance. The pulse turned into a steady well of dreadful power. It took only a moment to pinpoint what direction it was coming from.

“It’s her?” Aeris said at a whisper.

I found her looking up at me uncharacteristically still for one who share their nature with the always moving wind. I didn’t answer with words. She knew just as well as I did. Looking around the room, they all knew. 

The others who hadn’t been at the meeting entered the room in a hurry from both the middle perimeter and living quarters. I waited to speak until everyone was present. Those who arrived could sense what was happening and held their questions.

When nearly everyone was there, Richard’s eyes narrowed for a moment before calling out. “Elorion. It’s Master Khaba.”

The old goblin had saved me from having to contact him. I nodded that he could put him through.

The elder goblin’s voice sounded in my head. “Friend Elorion. You feel it, yes?”

“Hello, Master Khaba,” I replied, “I do. Have you received any reports?”

“No, not yet. It will be a few hours before I have any details on her position, but I wanted to make sure you were aware.”

“Thank you for reach out to us. We are ready.”

“Very well. But know that my offer still stands. There may still be time for you to flee with your people. I can teach you to hide and stay hidden.”

“Thank you, friend. I will relay your offer to my people anyone willing will be on their way within the hour.”

“We will be ready to receive them. May the cunning of a thousand dragons keep you whole.”

“Goodbye, Khaba.”

When the conversation was over, I knew from the faces of those around me that they had heard every word. I felt a change that had taken place during the conversation. The dark power that I felt in the distance had started moving. I could already tell that it was getting closer.

I straightened myself as much as possible before saying the only words that remained to be said. “For those of you that wish to flee, you have my blessing. For those of you that wish to stay, I hope that you reconsider.” My eyes swept down to the floor. “Unless I fall, those of you that stay must stay out of my way. I will not allow any of you to participate in the battle.” 

Numerous objections rose from my friends—no, my Sanctuary family. Holding up my hand to quiet them, I wouldn’t hear a word of it.

“I know, despite what I wish, some of you will want to remain. Only after I’ve faced her, and she’s defeated me, will I ask that you fight. Attack her with everything you have all at once and pray that it will be enough.”

“Why?” Russ said. He was bright red in anger. “Why can’t we fight?” 

I’d expected Olivia to ask, but not him. She looked rather thoughtful, but arguably my closest friend here wasn’t having it. 

I didn’t know why I felt betrayed in the moment, but I let my emotion seep into my response. “Because I don’t want to hurt you.”

A chorus of protests came all at once. Their arguments were the same that Aeris had used when rebuking me for always putting myself out there without letting anyone else help. This time though, something was different. It was Aeris that spoke up in my defense.

“Stop it!” She shouted, pressing down on everyone with a heavy blanket of air. “This isn’t Elorion being self-centered this time.” She looked at me and gave me an exaggerated shrug. It helped lighten the mood by enticing a few chuckles. “This time, you must listen. It’s too dangerous.”

“Even for those of us that have gone through our own transformations?” Olivia replied.

“Yes.” Aeris said without hesitation. “Trust me on this. In my Wisp Form I am literally made of air and I’m going to be standing back.”

“You are?” I said surprised. I’d thought I’d never be able to convince her, so I hadn’t tried.

“Yeah. Even Wisps know when to stay back and shot psycho-ladies with giant mana cannons.”

“So what now?” Clarissa said, brining the conversation to a halt.

It was surreal as we all stood there silently thinking of what was about to happen. There should have been more fear, but I had one overarching thought. As much as I wanted more time to prepare, our running and hiding would be over.

“If anyone wants to flee, do so now. We will make sure you have directions. Master Khaba will be waiting for you. If you decide to go, know that no one will look down upon you. It’s probably the sanest decision you could make right now.”

I didn’t mention the main reason I didn’t think fleeing was an option. Mostly, because I didn’t have to. Just as I knew they would, not one person was interested in running from our fight—as ridiculous as that was. Ultimately, I didn’t believe coincidence. Especially not in our current situation. The dark power that we now all felt had appeared literally the moment after I’d said that we were ready. It was as if Mistress Nava had been listening and was responding to our challenge. It was the magical chains that tied us to the Head Mistress that I believed would never allow us to completely hide from her, or someone as powerful as Mistress Nava. 

If she had been listening, she already knew what we had planned. She knew we’d have 8,000,000 MP worth of mana aimed at her head the moment she arrived. She’d also know that its direction was immobile, so somehow we’d have to hold her in place. It was something I highly doubted she’d think we were capable of. I wasn’t exactly happy with her knowing, but there was a reason Aeris and I had never told anyone exactly what had happened after our transformations. 

The dark energy was getting closer. She wasn’t wasting any time. If she really knew where we were, I’d give us a few hours before she arrived.

“Khun. Turn off the Dungeon Aura and shut both the entrance and exit to the Bridge.” I commanded.

“Yes, master.” He replied.

“Everyone, head to the living quarters, but be ready. I hoped there would be more time. Begin planning how to best attack her in one large combination attack in case I fail.”

No one moved.

I found my throat suddenly dry. Was that even possible in Solar Mage Form? “My father died when I was young, and I haven’t had any close friends my age ever since. I didn’t think I needed them. But I was wrong.” I reached over and pulled Aeris close and kissed her on the forehead. Stifling a solar tear, I turned toward the exit and headed for it without looking back.

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Hey all!

Sorry for the chapter delay. I've been recovering a bit from our "vacation". I've also been kind of frustrated because we are nearing the final stretch and more "vacation" is coming. In other words, I know interruptions to the writing process are going to creep in during Christmas and New Years. I'm not really bummed about the holidays. It always messes with my flow of writing though. I don't just generally sit down and write when I write a chapter, but try to feel the flow of the story and the emotion I want you guys to feel when you're reading it. I think it's one of the reasons I've been successful as a writer, that I'm able to feel my way through the story as I'm writing it. So when I'm interrupted, It's harder to just sit down and start writing. 

With that said, I already have the  rest of the book mapped out 10 times over in my head, so I'm hoping to get at least one more chapter out tomorrow. I just don't want to leave you guys waiting with a cliffhanger of any kind.