Chapter 14: To Move a Mountain Part 1!
Next Morning - The Makers' Forge.
Chris, Alito, and Death arrived at the Makers' Forge just in time to see Alya placing the final touches upon the Makers' Key. The redhead Maker hammer upon the Key's hilt thrice, with each hit giving off a strong, blue glow.
Valus placed the heated Key in a bucket containing the Tears of the Mountain, and shortly gave the item to Elder Eidard.
The Key's hilt glowed blue as a golden wristband wrapped around its hilt. A hexagonal handle resided on the top of the hilt.
"It is finished, then. At long last." said Elder Eidard as he received the Key. "Death, Chris, and Alito, this is a Makers' Key, and you had best take it now...before I come to my senses."
"Thanks, Elder Eidard." Chris and Alito bowed.
Death chuckled. "You seem more likely to lose them, old one."
"A problem, aye. Nevertheless, there is also a solution. The Guardian, meant to be our greatest weapon, capable of clearing the forest around the Tree. However, an earthquake drove us from the Foundry and, now, I fear something else roams within. The Guardian was never finished." Elder Eidard sighed.
"If the Guardian is your masterwork, how are we to complete him after the earthquake claimed the Bridge connecting the Forge to the Foundry?" Death wondered.
"Yeah...There must be someone who can restore the gap between the Forge to the Foundry, yes?" Chris wondered.
"In the forest lies another construct, one of the few remaining who have not fallen to Corruption. He is not as vast as the Guardian, but his heart is strong. Seek him out, and he will guide you to the Foundry. There, you may activate the Guardian using the Makers' Key." Elder Eidard explained.
"What are Constructs, Elder Eidard?" Alito wondered.
"They are beings of boulder and stone, animated by a Maker's life force stored in a special blue stone. Most possess but a fraction of a soul. Just enough to drive them, and give them purpose. We used them to help us in work such as defeating enemies that are greater than us, traversing chasms and gaps, activating platforms and lifts, and even clearing off obstacles that our hammers or swords could not crush. But through others course the whole of a maker's being; his memories and emotions...a story half-remembered. They are called Wardens. Life weighs heavy on us all, not even stone can bear it." Elder Eidard replied.
"The constructs are awakened...by a Key?" Death wondered.
"Aye. Constructs do not have a soul, like you or I...not until that soul is given. This key unlocks the blue stone, and prepares it for the ebb and flow of a maker's life force. In fact, it will bring to life most any construct you find in the realm." the Elder nodded.
Death chuckled sarcastically. "And what makes you think I have a soul, old one? What makes you think that both women here have that too?"
"Isn't that what troubles you?" the Elder simpered.
"Hang on, if the Wardens are capable of clearing off Corruption, why aren't they used to cleanse your realm?" Chris wondered.
"We do come close but sadly, the Wardens were called when the seals were broken, the maker's toll to be paid at the End War. This Warden, resided by the Lost Temple in the middle of the Forge Lands, is all that remains." Elder Eidard replied.
Chris's eyes lit up.
"Wait...the seals broke? Then why did War get punished for his crimes?" she wondered.
"What do you mean?" Elder Eidard wondered.
"The Wardens trudged forth when the seals broke, yet the Council accused War of riding forth when the seals were intact. Don't you think there's some conspiracy involved?" Chris wondered.
"What do you mean?" Death wondered.
"Someone has broken six out of the seven seals, tricked War and the Wardens into thinking that all of the seals broke, and restored the seals before the Charred Councils checked to see if all of them were broken when the hoo-hah occurred." Chris theorized.
"With the evidence that the Wardens trudged into Earth when the seals broke, we can prove War's innocence to the Councils!" Alito clicked her hands in anticipation.
"No...Not yet." Death sighed.
"Why?" Chris wondered.
"I came here without the Charred Councils' permission. If they found out that I had gone to the Forge Lands, they would most certainly kill me for defiance. Besides, I do not have the Power of the Seals in me yet." Death replied.
"Back to square one...I suppose." Chris huffed.
"No. We just have to revive humanity to erase War's crime. Once the Councils were convinced that humanity is still alive without knowing what we are doing, they will order us to find the two conspirators that tricked War and the Wardens. By then, we can have our way with those offenders." Death frowned.
"Well, at least it ain't left to waste after all..." Alito shrugged.
"Good luck! You all may have restored the Fires and the Tears, but our realm still threads by thin ice...It's all, or nothing." Elder Eidard nodded.
"We will!" Chris and Alito simpered.
"You have our words." Death nodded.
The Elder and Alya could see Chris and Alito holding hands with simpers upon their faces. Elder Eidard could also sense that there were no traces of Corruption left in her wounded areas.
The elder maker stroked his beard and chuckled.
"Elder Eidard?" Alya wondered.
"It's only a matter of time for them..." Eidard chuckled.
The Lost Temple...
The door of the Lost Temple burst open as Chris, Alito, and Death surveyed the Lost Temple.
The temple had moss decorated around its walls. Crumbled walls could be seen everywhere as huge stalks of vines wrapped around the temple's rooks and staircases. The walls were made of brown instead of the usual grey.
"Okay, that's pretty dull for a Lost Temple." Death crossed his arms.
"Why do you think so?" Alito wondered.
"The temple is nearly destroyed thanks to monsters and even Corruption in here. One wonders why the temple blends so well with the mountainous surroundings of the Forge Lands. I was expecting more." Death shook his head.
"Well, too bad. Let's get going, the Construct awaits us." Chris sighed and shrugged.
"Not as if we have a choice." Death raised his right eyes in amusement.
Chris, Alito, and Death ploughed through the Temple like butter on a hot knife, chatting along the way.
"So you have an interest in necromancy I suppose?" Chris wondered.
"Are you interested in my skills?" Death wondered.
"Certainly, Pale Rider. It will certainly be good if I can bring home some useful spells after we destroy the conspirators, right?" Chris replied.
"I'm certainly not one to impart skills, but since you have earned my respect...I suppose I could teach you about the basics of summoning ghouls after we are done with the Tree of Life." Death nodded.
"What do you use your ghouls for, aside from being useful little troopers that slashed in trios and goes 'boom' after a few seconds?" Alito, as Lifebane, wondered.
"Building houses, and that's about it. I have two types of skill trees. One set for necromancer and the other for harbinger. I go for the latter, since I'm for the 'killing is an art' motto of mine. The ghouls used for distraction and adding an explosion wouldn't hurt either." Death grunted.
Chris, Alito, and Death set upon a sleeping Construct with a Makers' Sphere as its feet. Fragments of rock floated upon its retracted head and crown.
"The small Construct that Eidard must be talking about. The soul given is enough to fulfill its basic purpose." Chris mused.
Death used the Makers' Key and turned the keyhole in the Construct's belly. The Construct gave a deep rumble as its body rearranged itself like a robot and formed two stone-like hands, a spherical body with white inscriptions around its body, and white eyes around its head.
Death climbed to the top of the Construct's head and commanded it to move towards the Corruption Crystals.
"They always say, nothing beats a solid with extreme brute force. Let's see if this theory is just nothing but a lie drilled into our heads." Death grunted as he commanded the Construct to unleash a cleaving smash upon the crystals.
The Construct's arms successfully crushed the hard, green, corrupted crystals. Its diamond-like body crushed into smithereens and all that remained was a pile of black goo.
"Well, it certainly is true. Constructs indeed are anti-corruption weapons until Corruption did a pre-emptive strike by cutting the Fire and Tears off." Chris concluded.
"Oh, I'm gonna have fun clearing this place up..." Death snickered.
Chris's eyes became squiggly. "Something tells me we're gonna be here for some time. Not enough to waste a lot, but still..."
Thirty Minutes later...
Death cleared the path off the Corruption Crystals with the Construct's hard, rocky palms, smashed crates and treasure boxes, and picked up loots in the form of glits.
"Glits?" Chris wondered.
"Currencies used in the realms of angels and demons." Death summarized.
The Construct, Death, Chris, and Alito reached a lifting platform, where another Construct lies in the second level.
Death manoeuvred the Construct to the lift. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Hand me the key, I know what to do." Chris nodded.
Chris swiftly climbed up to the second level through the vines on the walls. She activated the construct with the Makers' Key and commanded it to move into a hole. Chris's Construct attached itself into the hole as it glowed and activated the lift's mechanisms.
"Well, that's something." Death chuckled.
After smashing through several Corrupted crystals upon the way, the team reached onto a huge gap. A door was seen on the other side of the huge gap with a circular lock that glowed blue.
Commanding the construct to attach its right arm into the lock itself, the team traversed through the chains extended from the constructs arms and successfully reached the other side of the gap.
The team reached onto a open area filled with waterfalls, trees, and a calm and relaxing soundtrack of the falling water. Birds were chirping as a faint glimmer of sunshine pierced through the cloudy atmosphere. Over the other side of the open space is a door.
Slaying past the Corrupted Warriors and the Tainted Small Golems, the team wall ride and climb side ways through the walls with ease to the other side of the open area.
A door guard shut the door as a pack of Prowlers leapt into the platform. Death quickly summoned three ghouls to lure the Prowlers. The Pale Rider quickly buffed himself with a powerful arcane magic and unleashed several charged shockwaves on the Prowlers. Chris and Lifebane unleashed flurries of ice javelin shots, with the ghouls' explosion enough to kill the pack off.
However, two portals opened up as two red-skinned stalkers spawned out and roared.
Morphology: Savage Stalker
Description: Stronger version of the stalker, this version possess higher agility and packs a lot of punch. It also possess thicker armor, proceed with caution.
Just as Chris was about to remind Death, the latter summoned three ghouls once more to lure the stalkers; one on the right, the other two on the left.
Sensing the time is ripe, Death quickly unleashed a shockwave towards the stalker on the right and threw a his Possessed Scythe in a boomerang style attack. The attack froze the monster, to which Death promptly kills it with a flipsaw attack.
Chris managed to freeze the left Savage Stalker, giving Death enough time to unleash another flipsaw attack, finishing the stalkers once and for all. The door guard opened up.
"Well...I guess the extra armor for them didn't cut it." Death shrugged.
"Nice pun, Death..." Chris gave a disinterested face.
The team finally reached the end of the temple itself where a few staircases were all that separated the team and the sleeping Warden itself. Parts of a construct scattered throughout the room.
"The Warden. This is it, everyone..." Chris exhaled deeply.
Before they could take another step, a green orb glowed as Corruption began to ooze. The orb rose into the air, attracting the scattered pieces of rock and stones, reconstructing them like a robot. The orb attached a construct sentinel head into its body, forming the Construct Hulk with two cannon-like arms and two huge axes upon its big, strong arms.
"Time to rock its world alight..." Chris frowned.