20
The Geomancer
Krystal fired a Smart Bomb into the looming horde of demons that came at them, straight up. It took out about ten of them, but more just kept pouring up from the depths of the volcano. Panic rose up in her, but she beat it down and kept diving. She saw another explosion, Fox's Smart Bomb taking out more demons.
"Fox, they're gaining fast, and they'll rip us to shreds. Fire a Smart Bomb on the walls on my mark… mark!" She thumbed the Smart Bomb button, and heard it zip out and over to her right. She saw Fox do the same.
Almost simultaneously, the blasts hit. Rock fell from the walls, boulders twice the size of an Arwing. She felt the shock wave just after she saw the light. She thought she felt a sensation of heat, though the Arwing's shields and hull would have negated that.
Breathing slightly faster, she zoomed down the volcano, now free of anything, save for her, Fox, and the falling rocks and pulverized demons in free-fall.
"We're coming up on the bottom of the volcano. Get ready," Fox told Krystal. As with any scouting mission, Fox was a bit anxious to find out what was down there.
He looked at his sensors, indicating that the air was hot down here, but not enough to kill you. Also, breathable air was down here too. That'll be good, considering we may have to bail out. Hopefully, it doesn't come to that.
The bottom of the volcano was coming up fast. Fox hit the forward maneuvering thrusters, which sent the Arwing from a nose-down position to a horizontal position. He hit the bottom maneuvering/landing thrusters to slow his descent.
The circular tunnel ended, and Fox looked around at the cavern they were in. For miles around, empty space filled the area, lit up spectacularly by the vast lava lake below. The magma was bubbling, slightly tinged by black spots in areas. Fox was in awe over the underground cave, and how it could have gotten so big… "Whoa."
"I'm picking up strange brain patterns, Fox. Follow me," Krystal said.
"Roger. I'm your wing."
As they flew over the sea of magma, a thought tugged at Fox's mind. He keyed the com to the Great Fox's signal. "This is Fox to Great Fox. Great Fox, do you read me?" Static answered him. "Great," he mumbled.
"Krystal, I can't contact the Great Fox. Can you?" Silence answered him for a few seconds. "No," came the reply, "All the rock must be jamming the signal." "That's not good." "We'd have to go to another crack in the rock that leads to the surface for any communication."
As they came up on an island on the edge of the cavern, Krystal dived. Fox followed, and questioned, "What do you sense?"
"A powerful presence… we've got to land," she said finally. Fox acknowledged, and then started the landing cycle.
Fox took out the machine gun from the gun compartment and jumped out of the Arwing. Well, this place needs redecorating, he thought to himself. And air conditioning. He was already sweating slightly. He saw Krystal get out of her Arwing, blaster drawn. "It's this way," she told him. He now noticed that under an outcropping of rock, there was a tunnel big enough for a Landmaster to go through. Krystal walked toward it, Fox following. She liked that blue top and shorts, he noted.
"What are we looking for?" asked Fox as they walked through the tunnel.
"A being of great power. The person's mind is very advanced, and knows much of magic. Unfortunately, that doesn't bode well for us, because he's probably on the demon's side…"
"So tell me, why are we looking for him again?"
She looked back at him. "So we can destroy him." Fox nodded, still a bit unsure.
About fifteen minutes and five thoughts on why Krystal might have a death wish later, the tunnel opened up into another cavern. Fox looked around, machine gun at the ready, sweeping the room from right to left. When he got into the middle of the cavern, he stopped, and lowered the machine gun. "Is this our being of great power?" asked Fox tensely. Krystal just nodded, and looked up at the figure before them.
A figure twice the size of them loomed in the middle of the cavern. Just from looking at him, you could see an aura of command and power that radiated from him. His skin was purple with a tint of red, his eye yellow and pupil-less, glowing. He had black robes on that did almost nothing to hide his muscular figure. His face was concealed by a hood from the robes, but his eyes still glowed of power and hate. The figure was looking to their left, seemingly concentrating on something. Whoa. That's one big baddy, thought Fox. He glanced at Krystal, seeing shock on her face.
The figure moved, and the room grew warmer. "Who disturbs me?" the figure asked. "Is it you, lackey? What orders from the master now?" It looked over at Fox and Krystal. "Ah," it said, its voice deep and booming, "Visitors. Come in, come in, I won't fry you yet." It waved a hand, beckoning and laughing slightly at its own joke. Fox walked in slowly, Krystal close behind. The room was even warmer, and Fox had been sweating before. Fox's mind raced, trying to find a way out of the situation. "I am the Geomancer," it said, "and you are Fox and Krystal." Fox nodded, seeing out of the corner of his eye Krystal nod too.
"You are here not just to see me, yes?" it stated. Definitely not a question. "Well, you'll find that my master wants me to bring you both intact to him, and you have not angered me yet, so I will give you the choice." He held out a clawed hand in front of him. "Come with me now," he closed the hand, "or I will make you."
Fox was at a loss of what to do when Krystal raised her blaster, pointing it at the thing's face. "No," she said, "I don't know who your master is, or what he wants with us, but we will not go with you." Fox raised his machine gun similarly. "You have a plan?" he asked, voice low. "No, I was hoping you'd have one," she whispered back. The creature chuckled, amused at the vulpines.
"You have a fiery spirit, young one," it said, "but that will not help you here." Uh oh. The thing raided its hands at them. "Goodbye, then." Red spots hovered in front of his palms. Fox reacted quickly. He dove to his right, rolling on his shoulder and coming up on one knee, just in time to dodge the fiery blast that came from the thing. "Krystal!" he yelled out, adrenaline pumping.
"I'm over here, Fox!" came a voice in his ear. He'd forgotten about his earpiece. As the flames blocking their entry point lessened, Fox could see Krystal on the other side. She dodged the other way. The creature was bringing his arms to point at the two of them, and, almost as one being would react, they ran around the thing, dodging fire blasts along the way, until they were at the opposite end of the cavern together. Another tunnel! he thought, wishing the thing hadn't blocked his sight before. Another voice crackled through his earpiece.
"Fox – transpo – ike down. Ge – ready," it said. Tigris! A bright light appeared next to him, and he saw his motorcycle appear next to Krystal. It was coated in a sporty green paint, and had a side car that was more a gun turret than a side car. It had a swivel seat-and-machine-gun emplacement (coated in the same green) for combat. The whole thing looked smooth and aerodynamic, terribly out of place underground. The pyro-creature looked at it, confused.
"Hop in the side car," Fox said as he got on. "I'm driver, I'll drive. You're gunner, you shoot things."
"You will not get away from me!" Fox heard the thing yell. Shots rang out from Krystal's turret, but he had no time to watch her. He started up the motorcycle, its engine humming, and he took off, making the engine roar…
That's the end of chapter 20, and we finally get to meet the Geomancer! I will pick up on the romance aspect of this fanfic, not quite yet, but soon.
"So go right, you'll be left at a big hotel,
You'll meet the devil at the bottom of a wishing well,
You know you'd better give him something, give him something good,
Like everybody else he's misunderstood," –Five for Fighting's "The Devil in the Wishing Well
A song that inspired me. Oh, and I do not own Five for Fighting, the song "The Devil in the Wishing Well, the lyrics, or anything. Thanks.
Black Swordsman342