Riftside 2 - Chapter 50

The next wave, another twelve Crystalkin, tried to flush us out or overwhelm us in the confined space. But without the element of surprise, they were simple targets. 

“As it should always be,” Arclight commented after Eryn put an arrow through the last one’s eye.

Afterwards, we headed into the tunnel we’d used once before, as Scavengers. When Roq had me almost charge the army of crystalkin. Those were… interesting times.

“Should be just through here,” I whispered to Edwin who was right behind me. I wanted to get his opinion on the situation before we committed to anything.

It was a winding section, where the tunnel itself widened, but the crystal formations grew increasingly dense. It didn’t help that I’d grown both in height and width with my breakthrough, and I barely managed to squeeze through. 

“Nearly there, stick-lover!” Roq said to Arclight. “I will be gracious enough to let you know the moment my glorious gaze falls upon our quarry!”

“I am perfectly capable of identifying a target of this magnitude myself, Hammer,” Arclight said, her voice a low purr. “And I should be at the front, not you.”

Then, just as it had happened all those months ago, the narrow passage opened abruptly, and the temperature seemed to drop sharply.

I crouched, my breath catching as I looked out onto the vast cavern below. The scene hadn’t changed from the one seared into my memory. There were countless crystalline figures milling about below us, yet there was a silence in the vast cavern.And then there was the the throne with its inhabitant.

“It’s here, Arclight! The giant! It hasn’t fled before our…I mean my might!” Roq said excitedly, his voice a bellow in my mind. “You should see it! Big like five Strikers stacked on top of one another and twice as ugly! Its fists are the size of boulders and it’d use your arrows as toothpicks!” His voice lowered into a deep rumble. “We are going to have so much fun breaking this.”

Edwin crouched beside me, his helmet removed. 

“Looks like you were right,” he murmured. “Good and bad.” He tapped his eye sigil. “Name’s Quarris. Dark orange for me,” he said, letting out a slow breath. 

“What do you think?” I asked. “Can we kill it?”

“Of course, we can kill it!” Roq declared.

“Anything can be unmade,” Arclight agreed, a rare moment of unity. 

“Especially with two soul weapons. Do not be daft, wielders. We will unalive it!” Roq continued.

Edwin nodded slowly, his eyes still fixed on the colossal figure on its distant throne. 

“We might,” he conceded. “But not in one shot. Not even if Eryn, Isaac, Ming, and Nabeeh all hit it with their absolute best and all at once. They’d hurt it, sure, but I’d rather not risk fighting it and all of those crystal-kin at the same time.” 

He gestured with his chin towards the hundreds of smaller crystalline figures milling about like an army at rest, scattered across the cavern floor below.

“No! We can do it! We MUST!” Roq said. “Just have Alex cast that protective barrier on you, then you cast Smash, I activate Armor Break, and we JUMP! Let me lead the charge, straight onto the top of its big, ugly, jagged head! The Crystalkin King will shatter at our glorious impact!”

I ignored Roq’s suicidal enthusiasm and met Edwin’s gaze. 

The commander was right. 

“We backtrack,” I said, my voice firm. “Find our way down, and figure out how to deal with the rest first.”

Edwin started to move back but I put out my hand, stopping him.

“Commander,” I said, glancing back to the opening through which the others waited. “Any advice for me so far?”

For a moment, he looked at me dead serious, but then he smiled. 

“First thing would be to ask for advice, which you just did,” he said. “And so far, you are doing good. There is room for improvement, but that is to be expected for your first time leading a larger party and one with higher level adventurers at that. There are two things I would point out. Trust that you belong here and focus on the job, not on proving yourself. And the second is to look at the Weavers’ magic. If the giant has something similar, it would be key to understand how it works.”

“Seems to be light and crystal based?” I said. “Do you know the magic from before?”

“You are right, and no, I don’t. But, ask yourself, what else is magic and contains light?”

“That’s easy,” Roq said. “Tell him.”

I just stared at Edwin who gave me a wink and plopped his helmet back on.

“Let me know if you don’t get it,” he said, and headed back to the others.

“Why didn’t you tell him?” Roq asked. “It’s clearly explosions. The bigger the better and more magical.”

“Really?”

“For once, I agree with the stone-on-a-stick,” Arclight said, and my eyes went wide at the apparent new nickname for Roq.

“Stone?” Roq said. “STONE?!”

“Like I was saying,” Arclight continued. “I also thought you’d answer the tribe leader and show your intelligence.”

“But… explosions? Sure, the Strikers detonate when close to death, but that doesn’t seem to be how the Weavers work.”

“I’ll have you know my head is a perfect combination of steelhusk and a magical alloy which I’m not sure even Pa knows what it is,” Roq said.

“What?” Arclight said. “What does explosions have to do with this?”

“My head is NOT made from stone,” Roq said.

“What?” I asked.

“Wielder. I fear your mate is less intelligent than previously assumed. Have you truly made your final decision or is there still time to look for a more suitable one?” Arclight said.

To make the situation even more confusing, Knut popped his head around the bend and asked, “Coming? Monsters wait to die.”

I held up a hand. 

“Thinking. Be there in a second,” I said.

“Based on my current estimate of your intelligence, I perceive you just lied,” Arclight said. “I fear it will take you considerably longer to figure this out. Or perhaps you are simply confused as to the length of a time unit.”

“And my haft is NOT wood,” Roq said. “You are the stick thrower. Find your own damn insults. Oh, and Eryn just told Arclight to behave. You are still mates. I doubt Arclight’d tell you herself, considering her foul behaviour.”

I sighed. 

“Arclight, would you please tell me your thought? On what Edwin asked,” I quickly added.

“Must I share the findings? You could answer the tribe leader instead,” Arclight said, clearly talking to Eryn. “Yes, but— No, but— Yes, fine.”

“That’s right, Eryn! You get your weapon on a leash and make her behave properly, as befits a soul weapon. Like me,” Roq said.

I heard Eryn’s low laughter coming from behind, and Nabeeh asking what’s so funny.

“Lightning,” Arclight said.

“Of course.”

I smacked my forehead.

“What?” Roq said.

“It’s what the commander meant. The Weavers’ magic runs like light through the crystals. Something else which is magic and light is Ming’s lightning magic. Ming might be able to use the crystal network against the Weavers. Maybe it’ll even work on the giant.”

“At least you can find your own whiskers when they are pointed out to you,” Arclight said. “That is something, I guess. Yes, my wielder. He’s figured it out.”

“It’s much easier to just smack them with a hammer,” Roq said. “Both the crystals and the Crystalkin.”

I moved back from the edge and rose, squeezed through the gap, and rejoined the others. 

“Okay,” I said. “Go take a look, one by one, according to levels, so you see what we are up against.”

“Why by level?” Nabeeh asked.

“To avoid everyone trying to squeeze in at once.” Once everyone had taken a peek, we gathered further away to plan.

“Many monsters,” Knut said.

“Too many,” Rowan agreed, nodding at him.

“True,” I said. “We have to do something about the army down there. I estimate there’s anywhere between two and three hundred of them down there in addition to the giant.”

Arclight claimed to have counted them all in a glance and came to two hundred and sixty-nine.

“So, are we calling this off and heading back then?” Ming asked. “Set up a four group raid?” 

She didn’t need to add the ‘led by Edwin’ part. It was implied.

“No,” I said. “Not yet anyway. If we can clear out the smaller monsters and set the battlefield, we are killing that giant today. And you might just be the key, Ming.”

I saw Edwin nod to himself.

“Me?” she asked. “If I was level sixty, sure. I’d clear out that cavern in a flash. But I’m barely twenty-two. That giant is as red to me as it is to you.”

“Your lightning magic may be the counter to the weavers,” I said and she frowned. “And if it is, we’ve taken away their tactical flexibility. All that is left is a lot of low level monsters to grind through. With the Weavers taken care of, the terrain favours us, as it will keep their numbers from overwhelming us.”

“How?” she asked.

“Edwin? You’re the one who pointed it out to me,” I said, giving credit where credit was due. “Care to explain?”

“Nope. You’re doing good,” he said, and I saw the shift in his team as they understood I was indeed working with Edwin, not pushing against him. He was right to point out I shouldn’t focus on proving myself, because it would have me focus on the wrong things. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t a need for it.

“Their magic moves like light through the crystal network,” I said. “If you can cast your lightning spells into their network it might…” I shrugged. “It might shoot all the way to the Weavers and kill them. It might block their spells, meaning you can interrupt their casting. Or perhaps,” I chuckled, “It might blow the crystals straight off the wall.”

Ming pursed her lips. 

“I like it,” she said. “Good observation.”

“What we’ll do is scout this area and find our way down, fighting as we go. Once they send another Weaver at us, you’ll cast a lightning spell into the crystals and see what happens,” I said, holding her gaze.

“Alright. Consider it done,” she replied with a nod.

“If it works as hoped, we’ll fight our way down through the tunnels, pulling monsters in groups until we’ve gone through them.. And yes, Isaac, I see you.” 

The archer was nearly giddy. 

“It is tempting to attempt a kill shot on the giant from here. But not when it may send hundreds of monsters at us at once. Once we’ve cleared the cavern and prepared, it might make sense to open the fight with an attack from above, though I’m not much in favour of splitting the party.”

“What about bringing the roof down?” Alex asked. “I know you are all fond of fighting and hacking and slashing and shooting and casting magic that goes bang, but as the only healer here, no offense to the Storm Warden...”

“None taken,” Eryn said.

“…the giant is simply sitting down there,” Alex continued. “I’d much rather we brought the roof down upon its head. Bury it in enough stone to kill a, you know, giant.”

“Roof too tall and hard,” Knut said, shaking his head. “Can climb. Ash’s hammer good tool. But then? Hang high and throw small rock? Too much risk and low chance to work.”

“What if you carve out a hole in the roof, stuff a Glowcap in, and blow it?” Alex asked, not giving up.

Knut shrugged. 

“Much work, bad risk. Maybe one stone fall. Maybe none. Big cavern. Stone might miss. Giant can move. No.” He shook his head. “Good dream, bad reality.” 

“We really doing this, Edwin?” Alex asked. “If it was just us…”

“You know our rule,” Edwin said. “In the field we are one. Back home you can complain all you want.”

“Fine,” Alex said. “But you remember how I said there’s no more pain medication?”

“No?” Edwin said. 

“Well. I’m telling you now. So if I’ve got to heal you later, it’s going to hurt like a kick to the nuts,” he said and crossed his arms. 

Edwin chuckled. 

“Never mind Alex,” he said to me. “He likes to think he’s the voice of reason in our party, but in reality, he’s a bit of a mother hen.”

The healer glared at him, and before it could escalate further, I clapped a hand to my shield. 

“Enough,” I said. “Let’s test whether this works. If not, we’ll use another approach.”

Without further discussion I led the mini-raid back to the chamber closest to the exit, where I’d made a firebreak in the crystals near the bottleneck.

“Okay, Ming. Please cast a lightning spell into the crystal, but do so on the exit side of the bottleneck. If something…weird happens, we should be protected on this side,” I said.

“And if this makes the crystal explode and the tunnel implode, trapping us with all the monsters and no way out? What then?” Alex asked.

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out, turning to give the healer as friendly a grin as I could. 

“Bonk him on the head. He can heal it,” Roq said.

“No! Listen to him,” Arclight said. “We cannot afford to let ourselves be trapped. Not with a mountain on top and around us!” Arclight sounded afraid, almost desperate even.

“Good point, Alex,” I said. “Let’s do the test from outside, just in case.”

The healer nodded and strode out.

Edwin patted my shoulder as he walked by. “Welcome to management,” he said.

Ming stood in front of the opening, and the rest of us a bit back. 

Everyone stared pointedly at Alex, who smiled easily back at us.

“Happy?” I asked, and Rowan groaned.

“Happy?” Alex said. “Oh, no. I’m never happy when out hunting monsters that want to rip us apart. Let me tell you when I’m happy, Ash. Happy is a feeling best reserved for—”

“Alex,” Edwin said, his tone clipped. “Save it for the Timberline.”

“Fine,” Alex said. “I’m not happy, Ash, but I appreciate your concern for the lives of the team.”

“Finally,” I muttered. “Ming, please go ahead.”

“I will attempt to cast from a distance first,” Ming said. “And see if it enters the crystal.” 

“Alright. Cast at will.”

She raised her staff. 

“Lightning bolt,” she said, and a bolt of lightning jumped from her staff to crack into the crystal just inside the opening, shards spraying everywhere.

“Did that work?” Eryn asked. 

“I don’t think so,” Nabeeh said. “That looked more like it just hit it like a barrier.”

“Agreed,” Ming said. “Next, I will attempt to cast directly into the crystal.” She walked over and touched her staff to the crystal. “Chain Lightning.”

Light filled the crystal to the sound of thunder, and the tunnel lit up as if the sun itself had appeared, the lightning rushing down in multiple streams to disappear around the bend. 

We stood in silence, listening, but no further sound came.

“Pretty,” Rowan said.

Knut grunted in reply.

“Would have expected more destruction,” Arclight said.

“Told you hammering it would do more,” Roq replied. “And explosions! Ba-boom!”

“I believe it is worth an attempt,” Ming said, turning to look at us with a smile. “I can’t promise it’ll kill the Weavers outright, but it might just stun them long enough for you to get to them.”

“Excellent,” I said. “Let's clear this cavern of monsters.”