"Why are we heading back there again?"
Spyro asked as he walked along side Avenger and Ulysses towards the colosseum. Avenger rolled his shoulder allowing Ulysses to answer.
"That place holds human history. It may be the resting place of an ancient power."
Spyro tilted his head as they approached the door to the colosseum. Avenger cringed as he moved his waist, feeling the wounds sting.
"You mean like an artifact?"
"No, more like the remnants of human civilization. Ulysses has a bit of an obsession with the symbolism behind nations and such."
Ulysses grunted in response to the jab. Avenger smiled jokingly as he climbed down a ledge. Ulysses and Spyro followed as they were unable to remember the way to the colosseum.
As they reached a circle shaped area overlooking the cavern abyss, a rumbling erupted from the ground.
Avenger grimaced as the rumble agitated his wounds. Ulysses swiftly prepared his riot shotgun while Spyro's fire breath flared in his mouth.
Four Golems rose from the orange stone of the ruin floor, growling at Avenger while they collected their bodies from the rock.
"Guys, I'm kinda defenseless here!"
Ulysses pulled back the pump on his shotgun while Spyro snorted fire.
"We are aware."
Avenger deadpanned as the two lunged forward into battle.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Avenger gently tapped a Golem corpse with his foot, then shoved it off the edge of the area.
Avenger backed away from the edge as the body fell, letting out a sigh while he walked back to the two fighters.
"So, you two let off that steam?"
Spyro and Ulysses nodded as they caught their breath. They had gone all out on the first few Golems, then began to deteriorate into rage as more Golems appeared.
Avenger provided little help due to his weakened body, only able to summon small swords of ice to defend himself and provide Ulysses with a melee weapon.
Avenger glanced at the area around them, recognizing the halfway point between the camp and the colosseum.
"We only have about a thirty minute walk from here-"
Both groaned as they messaged the fatigue from their muscles, dreading another encounter with Golems or worse.
Avenger sighed, resigning himself to waiting for his lazy and non-athletic party to recover.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The group marveled at the newly sorry state of the colosseum. The viewing stands were in crumbles and the corner of the colosseum was still missing.
The overall structure seemed to have deteriorated, showing signs of erosion and forcible damage. Many holes and large cracks lined the walls of the structure.
"Wow, you really did a number on this place didn't you?"
Spyro said as he looked around the damaged structure. Avenger waved the comment off, pushing over a piece of rubble with his foot.
Ulysses moved over to the area under the viewing stands, running his hand along the surface of the wall.
A click was heard and a brick slid into the wall. A slab of stone moved backward and ground it's way to the right, revealing a secret passage.
"Hmmm... You two! Come over here."
Avenger and Spyro walked over, inspecting the passage. It was narrow and the walls were lined with pillars.
The stone of the walls were more ornamented than the ruins, sporting deep engravings in a mint blue color and many red colored drawings.
Avenger took a step inside, inspecting the walls further. The engravings depicted a plague with many dead human bodies and a purple fog.
Avenger patted Ulysses on the shoulder and motioned to move inside. The three walked slowly through the passage, inspecting the images and engravings in the wall.
Ulysses stopped, gazing at a set of words in a foreign language chiseled into the wall.
"Courier. Can you translate this?"
Ulysses asked, promoting Avenger to look at them as well. Spyro also joined them, but failed to understand what they were interested in and moved elsewhere.
"Uhh... Jeez this is a mouthful."
Avenger said, as he trailed the words with his finger. Ulysses crossed his arms, switching his gaze between the words and Avenger.
"Hallah, mc'nah con'tach sallayh, falleni contacu forna sulltah."
Avenger's words sounded as though he had a golfball in his mouth. He also took long pauses between words to pronounce them right.
Ulysses simply squinted his eyes in confusion as the foreign words left Avenger's mouth.
Avenger backed away and shrugged.
"No idea. Probably ancient human or something or other."
Ulysses nodded as Avenger led him further into the passageway while also retrieving Spyro from staring at some jewels.
After a small amount of time the group reached an inner chamber. A stone pillar stood in the middle of a spherical library.
Many of the books were misplaced and leaning on their sides. A few pots and containers sat on the ground around the wooden bookshelves.
Avenger stopped and motioned to stay still. Ulysses peeked over Avenger's shoulder while Spyro gazed around the room.
"What is the matter?"
Avenger gazed at the room suspiciously before his eyes narrowed.
"There is extremely powerful magic in this room. Nearly enough to fuel a..."
Avenger's eyes widened in understanding before he rushed towards the pillar in the middle of the room.
Avenger grabbed an object from a pot and swung at the pillar. The pillar shattered, sending pieces of a debris across the room.
Avenger looked down at the object in surprise. It was a rusty weapon that mirrored an Egyptian khopesh but bore many spikes and serations on the blade and stretched out to nearly forty three inches.
"Huh. Didn't think that would work..."
Avenger looked back at the now destroyed pillar. The inside was hollow, revealing another pillar structure made out of solid glowing water.
Inside the water a woman floated. Her clothes resembled that of a scholar or librarian, with a long black robe and baret with purple accents paired with glasses.
Ulysses and Spyro joined Avenger in staring at the woman as he investigated the column of water.
"What magic is this?"
Ulysses asked as he watched Avenger inspect the floor around the water. Avenger gripped his new weapon tightly before sheathing it on his belt.
"Suspension magic. The equivalent to suspended animation. This explains the damage outside. The spell was draining the Aether around the colosseum to fuel the suspension."
Spyro marveled at the woman as Ulysses began to search the bookshelves for anything readable.
Avenger continued to inspect the water, muttering many random facts and figures about how the spell worked.
"Is this a human from this world?"
Avenger nodded as he glanced at the mesmerized purple dragon. Avenger stood and began to circle the pillar.
"Seems like it. The last remaining humans must have put her in suspension to procure the survival of their race."
Ulysses spoke as he inspected a book.
"This tome confirms that theory. I can't read it, but it has images detailing how to release the spell when the extinction factor disappeared."
Avenger set a hand on his chin as he processed the information. Spyro continued to stare at the water and the woman inside.
"The extinction factor must have been the fog from the wall. That's how the force of Aether destroyed them."
Spyro narrowed his eyes before moving over to Ulysses. The book had many pictures of mechanisms and effects needed to release the spell.
"Can we free her?"
Spyro asked as he looked over Ulysses' shoulder. Avenger paced around the room while Ulysses and Spyro looked over the book.
"It doesn't seem so. The levers and buttons for it may not even exist anymore."
"I have another idea."
The two looked over just in time to see Avenger slam his fist into the water. A sizzling sound rang through the room.
The markings on Avenger's skin began to gain the blue color of the water and crawled up his arm.
When the color reached his face, his veins glowed blue through his skin. His right eye turned blue and Avenger shut the eye tightly.
The water began to lose the bright magical color as it was drawn into Avenger's right arm. What was left was normal looking water that began to drip downwards as the magic left it.
Ulysses and Spyro rushed over, watching in awe as the magic was absorbed into Avenger's markings.
After the last drops of magic left the water, a shockwave sent Avenger flying backwards and sliding across the floor.
The water collapsed, leaving the woman unconscious on the floor. Ulysses ran over to Avenger while Spyro checked on the woman.
Avenger groaned as the marks on his right arm faded back to a black color.
"Shit, that hurt a lot more than I thought it would."
Avenger let his arms and legs go limp and sprawled out onto the floor. Ulysses swiftly checked for injuries, but found none.
Avenger lifted his head and reopened his eye which had returned to it's crimson color.
"She breathing?"
Spyro looked up and down the woman's body before noticing the slow movement of her chest.
"Yeah, but not very fast."
Avenger relaxed and let his head hit the floor. Ukusses left to check on the woman while Spyro switched with Ulysses.
"What did you do?"
Avenger sighed as the pain in his wounds faded completely. He moved his limbs and they responded with a satisfying crack.
"I drained the magic of the spell to deactivate it."
Avenger sat up into a crossed legs position. Spyro glanced at the woman who groaned and moved slightly.
"Then I used it to recharge my powers."
Avenger finished the sentence with a cocky grin. He lifted himself from the floor and moved over to the woman who showed signs of stirring.