I meant to have this chapter posted earlier in the month but my work schedule changed and I have been too tired to do much of anything. But, since it is Friday I thought I would bust ass to get some writing done and I am proud of the results. This chapter is REALLY long and I hope you guys love it. I took some creative liberties with it and I hope you all like what I have done. Enjoy!
There comes a time in everyone's life where they have to stop and think to themselves, is what I am doing worth it? It was a pivotal question to be asked when the moment called for the asking of said question because Lyndon couldn't think if whatever these people were doing was actually worth it. He and everyone else had witnessed Li-Ming get tossed around by an ages old spirit like she was nothing but an annoying pest that needed dealing with. Most people (ordinary people) would have taken that as a sign to leave and never come back and Lyndon would have been more than happy to oblige in that desire, mostly because the assailant was not human, or at least not anymore by all appearances.
"Any of you want to explain to me what's going on?" Lyndon asked. He was understandably confused.
"It is none of your concern thief!" Kormac replied.
Leah thought that was a little unfair. Sure Lyndon had already proven that he may not be the most trust worthy person but little did he know how much his life was at risk just for being around them right now. She didn't care too much for the man but any fate awaiting him due to his being a thief was better than any fate that awaited him while he was with them. With the goatmen running wild throughout the land and the cultists that were looking for the sword-just as they were-that were being led by that witch Maghda, things had the potential to get really ugly, and if things did, she knew that Li-Ming and Kormac would be the first to help protect what they could, but even then there was a chance that they could fail not matter how capable either of them were. There was always a chance for something to happen that no one could expect to happen and it was for that reason that when Lyndon left that she would prefer to keep as many people out of their affairs until things were clear again.
"What Kormac means to say Lyndon is that our business is our own. Once we're done here nothing here will would have mattered to you." As much since as that made, Lyndon was still very curious as to what was going on. Sure, once he was on his way, none of this will be of any use to him but it would still be fun to know. "But I will say that you should mind your back. These two have encountered some dangerous people lately and they are after the same things we are."
"Well that's comforting." His sarcasm could not have been made anymore clear. When did it become custom to leave people ignorant when there were dangers involved? At least they gave him fair warning even if he had no idea what these dangers looked like unless they were referring to the Khazra. If that was the case there was no need for a warning, those creatures were hideous and hard to miss. That moment when you smelt the musty odor of stale animal piss and dirt and dust-that was usually the indicator that you might want to turn back before you run into something that may try to kill you.
They eventually came to a ravine where the river flowed through but there was no sign of the aforementioned bridge that Alaric had told them about until four symmetrical, rectangular stone slabs emerged from the river and lined up perfectly for them to pass. Li-Ming's shoulder throbbed and she set her hand on top to help ease it. She could feel the same dark energy she felt in the trail surrounding the festering woods ahead of them. It made the air around her feel thick and heavy. Something was watching them, waiting for them to cross over, she could feel it, it was all around them, and it was the darkness that plagued this land. It had a name too. She didn't know why she knew that but a single word had been in her mind ever since the trail. It was simple but foreboding.
Nemesis.
No matter how hard she tried, Li-Ming could not shake the word from her mind. It hung above her like a dark cloud ready to shower the land in misfortune. None of what Li-Ming was feeling come from this land concerned her. Since her time in New Tristram she had been thrown against or into a few walls and was slammed into the ground and crushed by the mace of the Skeleton King and she turned out victorious every time. This place made her think of a little kid trying desperately to scare someone when they couldn't do anything else. This sentient energy could only hope to instill fear in her but for her there was nothing to fear. She would always come out alive.
They walked across the stone slabs of the bridge, all taking care to mind their footing since the slabs were still wet and covered in slippery moss. Lyndon looked down at the raging water of the river and wondered what it would be like to fall in; not very pleasant most likely. He stared at the very uninviting entrance of the forest that they were about to enter and said, "I do not care for these woods. Must we slog through them?" The trees at the entrance looked like a gaping mouth for a starving monster and they were walking straight into it without a moment's hesitation.
"We don't have much of a choice." Leah replied. "Lives could depend on it."
"Remind me to never die for anything "honorable". It always turns out poorly."
Walking into the forest almost felt like walking into another world. Only this world was twisted and evil. Kormac silently said a prayer for everyone, even Lyndon. This place so was unnatural and alive he feared to know what could happen to them should any of them stray from each other. Kormac had seen strange things in his time and has heard of even stranger, but this was unlike any he had experience before. No matter what direction he stared into, it always felt like something was watching from behind a bush or beyond the trees and sometimes, even above him. He took a deep breath and collected his nerve. He was a warrior and not just any warrior, he was a Templar! He needed to stay composed and collected and he decided that no matter how this place seemed to play with his mind he wasn't going to acknowledge it.
"Li-Ming, please tell me that you know where these temples are. Can you feel anything?" Kormac asked.
"As a matter of fact I can." She replied referring to something other than the darkness that loomed over them. "I have been following a pull I have felt ever since we entered."
"You don't seem the slightest bit deterred by this place."
"Why should I be? As long as I know where we are going we have nothing to fear." Nemesis. "Just stick close to me and you should be fine. I don't think we'd be able to find you if you got lost."
"Oh you don't have to worry about that." Kormac laughed if only to ease his tension.
The forest was unusually denser than what any of them had seen in the rest of Tristram and the sunlight that shined through did very little and made the place look sickly green. Leah remembered why she never wanted to come back to this place. The anxious feeling that she was experiencing deep within her gut like something bad was approaching was the same that she had back when her and her uncle visited the temple the first time back when Leah was a kid. Every time the roots of the trees stretched out onto the trail they were walking on, Leah would step around it because she feared the tree root would try to grab her leg and pull her into the forest. Kormac did the same.
They came to a split in the road and Li-Ming couldn't decide which road to take because the energy she felt pulling her went in both directions. Under normal circumstances, she would have them split up, but the evil that shrouded these woods would try everything it could to consume them. Nemesis. Li-Ming found a stick, picked it up and broke it in half. Everyone else was confused when they saw Li-Ming throw the broken stick in the air. When it landed the broken end of the stick pointed to the trail on the right and Li-Ming motioned for them to follow her.
"What was all that about? Leah asked.
"I couldn't decide which way to go, so I let chance solve that problem for me."
"By breaking a stick and throwing it in the air?"
"Yes. The broken end pointed to the right and that is how I made up my mind."
"Li-Ming, you can be very strange sometimes."
Four pillars stood parallel to each other on the trail. It seemed a little random for these stone structures to just be here, but as they went on they all noticed ruins or broken down structures from a time long lost and was now eaten by moss and other vegetation. They could have been left over from the Nephalem much like the Drowned Temple and the Drowned Temple being the only one of which to remain largely intact. It was almost surreal now. The four pillars stood across one another and looked like nothing more but reflections of each other like in a mirror and the trail ahead of them looked like it would go on forever.
Strange, haunting sounds came from all around them and they got louder and louder. Clouds passed under the sun the woods went dark. None of them could tell exactly when they started seeing them, they just seemed to come out of nowhere but they also seemed to have been there the entire time. Beyond the trees and bushes, they could all see the blackest silhouettes staring at them. Some of them appeared to be human but some had twisted, deformed proportions not possible for anything human.
"Are these Alaric's people?" Leah asked, completely terrified. She had never seen anything like this before and she didn't know what was about to happen.
"No, these are malevolent spirits." Li-Ming replied. Leah didn't know how Li-Ming did it sometimes. Her composure did not waver and she showed no signs of being worried, unlike Kormac and Lyndon who stood back to back with their weapons out and ready.
Nemesis.
Suddenly three twisted, horrible humanoid creatures jumped out from the bushes and attacked. One of them jumped on Lyndon's back and another one tried to go straight for Leah but she jumped out of the way and kicked it upside its head before it could get back up. Her foot had smashed straight into the creatures head and a horrible, decadent smell came from the creature. It was the same smell the undead that attacked New Tristram had, that dead smell and it was still enough to make even the most indecent person faint. The stench was thick.
Kormac was trying to help Lyndon get the ghoul that jumped on him off. It had its decayed, green hands wrapped underneath Lyndon's chin and was tugging like a wild primate. Kormac pulled the ghoul off of him but the ghoul fought back and jumped on Kormac and knocked him on his back and started hitting him like a wild animal. Lyndon quickly pulled the ghoul off of him and kicked it just underneath its jaw and its bottom jaw flew off. The ghoul was still alive and Lyndon quickly shot an arrow through its head and killed it. Li-Ming handled the third one no problem. It tried to jump at her but she casted an arcane missile at it and the ghoul exploded into bits and pieces.
"Are you two alright?" Li-Ming asked.
Kormac put his finger tips to his mouth to wipe away the blood coming from his lip and Lyndon rubbed his chin where the creature claws had scratched the living hell out of him.
"I'm fine, not sure about him though." Lyndon said.
"I'm okay. Little sod just gave me a bloody lip."
"You two should watch out better next time. If this place wasn't so weak I'm sure it would not have hesitated sending something much stronger to come after us."
"I'm sorry?" Lyndon asked.
"This place can only do so much right now. It's weak but clever. The little stunt it just tried to pull was made mainly to scare us so that we wouldn't expect that attack just now but fortunately for us it can only send the rabble of the creatures that lurk here."
"Not to sound like a pessimist, but if whatever is here is as clever as you say then wouldn't it give us the impression that it's weak to set us up."
"Oh bite your tongue, would you!" Kormac exclaimed. "The last thing we need is you jinxing us."
"He makes a good point Kormac but we have nothing to worry about. This energy has heavily dissipated in its time."
"And, you didn't think about telling us this why?" Lyndon asked.
"Because I didn't feel it was relevant and plus it kept you guys alert didn't it."
Lyndon had nothing more to say. Li-Ming was devious and she had manipulated them like a master for their own sakes. He was impressed which was saying something because there weren't many people who could. He wondered how good of a thief she could have made if that was something she fancied. She would have made a very profitable companion in the field. She was intelligent and there weren't many smart thieves now days, unlike the thieves of old and legend who depended on their intellect more than anything else. It was their greatest asset and he tried to profit from the example. He needed to see if you could get Li-Ming to become a thief someday. What could go wrong?
Eventually the found the first of two of their destinations. It was a simple structure with a dome shaped top. It looked like someone once tried to repair the place, there was a wooden ladder and some construction equipment all over the place but gods only knew what became of the workers in this place. Li-Ming walked around the building and realized the dome shape was actually a face. But, it was strange, the face looked horrified, like the look you would have when death was upon you.
"Pretty spooky." Leah commented.
"Indeed. The Nephalem seemed to have a close relationship with death it appears."
"Is this one of the sights?"
"Yes." Li-Ming could see thin threads of black and blue light coming from inside the building. Indicating that one of the keys they needed was inside.
"I don't get it." Lyndon said from the front of the building. "If this was a test meant only for the Nephalem then it seems pretty easy." He was heading towards the entrance until he an uneasy feeling washed over him. Nemesis. What? Why was he thinking about this word all of sudden. He felt very dizzy and his vision became blurry. He shook his head but it did nothing to help him. He heard something metal being dragged against a stone floor. His vision was still blurry but he saw something step out form the structure. There was nothing he could do, he was suddenly drained. He had no energy to move, he couldn't even see. The being that emerged from the sight raised its weapon and swung but barely missed when Li-Ming pulled him away and they both collapsed on the ground.
Li-Ming grabbed Lyndon by the collar and said, "Are you trying to get yourself killed!"
"Of course not!" Lyndon shouted back. Kormac and Leah went ahead and took the initiative and killed the being that tried to kill Lyndon. It was only a skeleton.
"What happened?" Kormac shouted.
"I-I don't know. When I got near the building-I quickly became disoriented and I couldn't move. My legs could barely hold me.
Li-Ming looked him over and thought about what he said. She didn't have any room to disagree with him. This place was cunning and whatever this "Nemesis" was that was guiding its hand wasn't pulling its punches. After it failed to attack them as a group, it singled them out and tried to kill Lyndon and it almost worked. "Okay." Li-Ming said calmly. She got up off of him and pulled him up. She straightened him out and dusted him off. From now on she decided she was going to keep a sharp eye on all of them and their behaviors in case anything like this was to happen again and she had fair reason to suspect that it might.
"Uhh guys!" Leah said suddenly.
They all turned and saw more skeletons slowly walk out from the ruins. They were armored and covered in old rags. Li-Ming saw a spider crawl out of one's mouth and evacuate back inside the ruins. She could also feel another strange magic. Something inside was creating these horrors and this is where the Nephalem's challenge must have come into play. Skeletons on their own were easy to take own but in groups that were a much more fearsome thing and Li-Ming wanted to act quickly before they were over run because whatever was creating the skeletons wasn't going to stop until they were dead.
"We need to get inside." Li-Ming said.
"Go on ahead. I'll stand back here and work on not getting myself killed." Lyndon replied.
"You misunderstand. The source of these creatures is inside. The more we wait to take it out the more time it has to create more."
"How can you tell?"
"It's best to just take her word for it." Leah said to Lyndon.
"I can take out this first group but once were inside I'm going to limited lest you want me to potentially bring the place down on top of us."
"Just do what you need to do."
Li-Ming fully outstretched her arms and her hands were wide open. A ball of purple and black energy manifested itself in front of her. Li-Ming Looked at each and every individual skeleton and ingrained their position on her mind. As soon as she could visualize in her mind where they all were she concentrated as hard as she could to scatter the arcane energy she had gathered and a barrage of arcane projectiles shot forth. Purple light shot out in every direction and Li-Ming had to really focus to make sure a stray shot did not hit the building or her comrades. Each projectile struck home and the skeletons were being obliterated to nothing, one by one.
The skeletons were destroyed and Li-Ming said, "Come on! We need to hurry inside before they make this more difficult than it needs to be!"
The all rushed inside, Li-Ming and Kormac in front and Leah and Lyndon in the back and it wasn't long before they were met with more opposition. Many more skeletons ascended up the stair way and looked as if they were being manifested from the darkness below. The only light came from the entrance and they savored it for as long they could. The skeleton's attacks were sloppy and uncoordinated but their numbers alone made them imposing.
Li-Ming and Kormac unleashed a brutal assault but they couldn't tell if they were making any real progress. Leah and Lyndon provided cover fire as best they could, taking out any stragglers who tried to flank Li-Ming or Kormac, but their shots were limited to head shots alone and the darkness made that an even more difficult task than what it should have been. They slowly made it further into the structure and the more they did the harder it became to see, which made it harder for them to fight.
Kormac was jumped by the skeletons and they dog piled the massive man and brought him down. "Kormac!" Li-Ming shouted. She was about to fight her way over to him but was stopped short when a very sudden and sharp pain literally shot its way through her side. She fell to her knees and held on to her stomach where the pain was. She had been shot by an arrow, the skeletons had archers. She held her breath and pulled, the pain made her tear up and she felt like she had been shot again when she finally got it out. She caught her breath and at the same moment Kormac rose from the pile of skeletons. He pulled them from his back and swung and slammed them into the other skeletons.
"Oh, to hell with this!" Li-Ming explaimed. She sheathed her sword and began firing arcane missiles at the skeletons.
"Li-Ming!" Kormac shouted. She was being to reckless down here. If she wasn't careful she could cause the place to collapse and bury them. She said so herself.
"What is she doing?" Leah asked.
Li-Ming's magic made it easier for them to descend deeper into the ruins but they were all concerned that she will take things too far and risk all of their lives and frankly none of them thought their lives were worth a key to an old temple.
Two purple lights were glittering in the distance and Li-Ming deduced that was the source in which the skeletons were coming from. She could feel them and the skeletons they've been fighting had a smaller trace of that same magic about them. She redrew her sword but continued firing arcane missiles with her free hand. Lyndon had taken to fighting the skeletons hand to hand with a sizable dagger he had since archery was practically useless down here and Leah stood beside him. She wasn't much of a fighter and Lyndon was doing well in keeping the skeletons away from her. Until one cut his arm with its sword and he stepped back to get away from it. The skeleton was about to try and strike him again but Leah ran and jumped the skeleton. She landed on top of it and made a reach for its sword, grabbed it and stabbed the skeleton on the skull.
Two skeletons wearing elaborate helmets and capes stood in the back. One made eye contact with Li-Ming and laughed an evil laugh as it brought its hands together and summoned that same purple light and from it, small wisps came forth and summoned more skeletons. For a brief moment Li-Ming stopped attacking and focused a portion of her arcane power. When the newly summoned skeletons got too close she clapped her hands together and ice shot from her feet and instantly froze all of the skeletons that had surrounded her. She unleashed a wave of force and they all shattered. Now her way was clear. She ran for the one of the summoning skeletons and created an orb of arcane energy in her hand. She grabbed the skeletons head and blasted its head off to dust.
Kormac laid eyes on the second summoning skeleton and the skeleton ran down a flight of stairs. Kormac gave chase and was quickly over run by more skeletons. He jumped down the ramp and rolled when he landed and came face to face with the summoner. He had little time before the skeletons that met him on the stairwell made it down and he ran for the summoner. He rammed into it with his shoulder and pinned it in between the wall and himself. He looked it in the eyes and it screeched at him before he took his sword and cut its head off.
They had hoped that by taking out the summoners they would have also taken out the rest but that was not the case. They still had plenty to put down but now that the summoners were dead, it wasn't long before the rest were defeated. The last skeleton attempted to attack Li-Ming but she quickly put it down with an arcane missile. She took a deep breath and held on to her side where she had been shot. The wound hurt and she could feel that she was bleeding but she didn't think it was anything serious.
"Well that was fun." Lyndon said. "Are you alright?"
"I think so." Li-Ming replied. "How's Leah?" she had been concerned about Leah's wellbeing since they entered the ruins and was hoping she was okay.
"I'm fine." Leah affirmed. "Where's Kormac?"
They all looked around and caught sight of Kormac as he came back up the ramp. He raised his hand and said, "I'm here." He joined the rest of them and said, "Alright Li-Ming, I assume you already know where this key is."
"Right you are." She replied with a smirk. She walked over the end of the base where a large face similar to the one carved into the side of the sight. Its features were carved to a look of horror and despair. In front of it stood a pedestal. Li-Ming walked up to it, placed her hand on top of it and the pedestal lit up with blue energy and, the top opened up and an orb with blue energy swirling around it appeared.
"Wow!" Kormac exclaimed.
Li-Ming ran her fingers around the magical item, taking in its smooth surface and feeling the energy that radiated from within it. She picked it up off the pedestal and the pedestal closed and sank into the floor. Li-Ming and the others braced themselves for a moment expecting it to have been some sort of trap but after a few seconds nothing happened and everything was fine.
"Leah, put this in your bag." Leah reached her hand out and hesitated for a moment. She was nowhere near as comfortable with magic as Li-Ming was and had even deeper reservations about handling items with magical properties. Magic was unpredictable no matter how in control you were and the effects could have very disastrous results. Leah took the key from Li-Ming and placed in her bag as was asked.
"One down. One more to go." Leah said.
"Yes, but let us hope that the coven haven't gotten to it before we have, so we should move out now." Li-Ming doubted that the coven was anywhere in the area. She hasn't picked up any signs of their particular loathsome magic and she doubted that they, besides Maghda, would last in a place like this. They were sloppy at best and weren't exactly the most skilled fighters. This place would have picked them off one by one and they would have all been dead within the day. Li-Ming thought that if it were her she would wait for her opponents to do all the dirty work for them, saving them the effort and the man power.
When they got back outside they all relished having the sun light back but the stink of the evil that lingered was also back and they were all on edge again.
A throbbing pain centered itself in Li-Ming's side and she placed her hand on her bleeding wound. Leah noticed and asked, "What happened."
"What?" Li-Ming replied. Leah pointed at Li-Ming's wound and Li-Ming said, "Oh, I was shot with an arrow. It didn't hit anything important, I'll be fine." Leah nodded, if somewhat doubtfully. She also noticed that Kormac and Lyndon had also sustained several wounds themselves. Kormac had a small cut on his brow that was bleeding and a bruised lip. Lyndon had a deep cut on his arm and his sleeve was stained with his blood. If these were the first of many possible injuries to come, she could only wonder how bad it could possibly get.
Lyndon looked at his sleeve with a toothy sneer and scoffed. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised this had happened to him. Already these people have proven to be anything but dull. In the short time that he has spent with them he has encountered more strange things on this day alone than he normally does in a year and it was a little absurd.
Somehow, everything looked different to them all, like the woods have somehow repositioned themselves when they were inside the ruins. It was only a hunch but everything still seemed out of place. Fortunately, to Li-Ming's delight, the next key wasn't so far away. She was starting to feel sick and she assumed it was because of the evil of the woods and everyone else just wanted to anywhere else but where they were now.
The next building was ahead of them and it appeared to be in much better shape than the last one did. It wore the exact same architecture as the last one and this one also had a large frightened face carved into the side of it. Unlike the last one, they were not greeted with skeletons and the coast seemed to be clear on all sides. If anything was hiding nearby, it was doing a very good job because none of them could see it.
With caution, they walked towards the ruins and down the staircase. Once again it was dark to the point of being unable to see and they all stood close together. None of them knew how far down this staircase went but with a vivid imagination one could believe this was the staircase to hell and they were foolishly headed that way. Li-Ming held her hand up and formed a fire ball in her hand to give them light just as she had done in the crypts in the New Tristram cemetery when she was looking for Leorics crown; only she was hoping there wasn't a large slimy monster that was lurking down here as there was in the crypts.
After what felt like a long time they finally reached the bottom and they were shocked to see that they had walked into a large hollow cavern with only a narrow cement bridge to get them across. It was disheartening to say the least because none of them could see too far and none of them liked that. Who knows what could be lying in store for them on the other side of the bridge that looked like it was on the verge of collapse. Kormac looked at Li-Ming who stood with taciturn expression. He didn't think he would have to remind her the risks of using magic down here especially. Reckless she may be at times but dumb she most certainly was not.
As they were about to cross an arrow swooshed right past Lyndon's head and they heard the clunking of old armor and sounds of footsteps heading their way. "Guys, behind me!" Kormac ordered. He held his shield up and the others stood behind him single file. The skeletons wasted no time attacking Kormac's shield. They pushed, they shoved, they jumped, and they swung their weapons. Li-Ming tired her best to help, but she could only strike down one skeleton at a time when she could. This became their process and it allowed them to slowly make progress across the bridge.
Lyndon was able to see the archers that stood at the edge of the other side of the chasm. Two stood on the left side and one stood on the right. Lyndon tapped Leah on the shoulder and pointed to the skeleton on the right. She nodded and aimed for him as best she could in this darkness. Lyndon readied two arrows himself and took aim. They both fired at the same time, Leah really hoping her arrow would strike true and it did. All three arrows shot the archers straight through the skulls and they dropped and crumbled to dust and bones.
After all of this was done, Kormac was going to have to thank Haedrig for the jewels he gave them. The ruby that he wore around his finger was proving to be of great help otherwise, if he hadn't had it, he was sure they would have been pushed off of the ledge.
They were almost to the other side. None of them could see any summoners and they took relief in the fact that no more would be coming once they destroyed the rest of the skeletons. Their relief did no last though when they heard chirping and flapping coming from their left. Leah looked down at the depths of the cavern and she saw a huge swarm of Plague Carriers flocking their way.
"Guys, we have a problem!" Leah exclaimed.
"Trust me, I think we all know that!" Lyndon responded.
"Well then someone do something!" Leah shouted.
Like a god answering the prayers of his children, Li-Ming did as Leah advised. She raised her hand and a brilliant arch of blue lightning shot towards the oncoming swarm of Plague Carriers. One by one the lighting linked from one pest to another and they dropped like flies. The magic lighting destroyed the Plague carriers indiscriminately, some even caught on fire as Li-Ming's magic killed them. Kormac continued to push forward while Li-Ming was busy and Lyndon followed behind him. There was only a few feet left to go and he pushed the skeletons back with all of his might.
Skeletons fell over, tumbled and fell off the edge and the finally made to the other side of the bridge. Lyndon fought off some the remaining skeletons while Komrac ran towards a pedestal that looked just like the one in the other ruins and slapped his hand on it. A blue orb rose from the pedestal and Kormac quickly grabbed it and ran. He tapped Lyndon on the shoulder as he did, signaling him to get a move on and Lyndon followed.
"Guys, we are moving!" Kormac shouted. Li-Ming stopped her defensive attack, grabbed Leah and booked it. They did not stop running. The Plague Carriers were flying behind them. The stairs back to the surface was the hardest part. Their legs burned but they did not stop they ran and ran. Lyndon was the first to see the exit and he was the first to make it out. Next was Kormac then Leah and Li-Ming. Li-Ming quickly turned around and fired a blast of arcane energy at the ruins and the place collapsed, sealing the pursuing Plague Carriers inside.
"That was…intense." Leah said breathing heavily. Kormac shook his head in acknowledgement. He turned to look at Li-Ming who was hunched over, catching her breath and holding on to her wound. He couldn't believe the extreme risk she had taken while they were down there. If something were to have gone wrong she could have killed them all. But he had to face facts that she wasn't left with much of a choice and that she had little time to think of anything else, hell none of them did. He hoped that wherever they went from now on, caves were not any of them.
"How's your side doing?" Leah asked Li-Ming.
"Hurts, but I'll manage."
"We should take a look at it when we have a chance to stop. You and the other two."
"We'll stop once we have the fragment."
It wasn't too long now. The dark entity that Li-Ming had come to know as Nemesis had seemed to lose interest. The dark energy that surrounded them had dissipated is some way and the sense of being watched was no longer there. The woods actually seemed at peace and it was very serene, which was a drastic turn from when they first arrived. They walked calm and briskly through the forest without as much as a single nasty ghoul or frightening spirit to try and stop them. It was a welcome change of pace and it wasn't too long that they made back to the bridge and back to the Drowned Temple.
"Leah go head to that other pedestal and place the key on top of it." Li-Ming pointed to the pedestal on the other side of the crosswalk next to the staircase where the encountered Alaric. While Leah was headed there, Li-Ming grabbed the other key from Kormac and waited for Leah to get to the pedestal. When she got to it, she and Li-Ming exchanged looks before simultaneously placing their keys on their respective pedestals. Blue light erupted from underneath the pedestals and the pedestal sunk into the ground. The front wall of the temple lowered itself, revealing the entrance inside and everyone descended down the stairwell, where Alaric once again showed himself.
"The temple is open. Enter and remove the thing the fell inside. The longer it remains. The more restless my brethren become." And, he left without ceremony, but Li-Ming could still feel his eyes watching somehow.
"He really grows on you doesn't he?" Lyndon said sarcastically.
"Come on. Let's just get inside and get what we're looking for so we can get back." Kormac urged them.
Upon entering the Temple, they all took a minute to take its glory. "Look at this architecture! This predates the sin war!" Leah said. The bridge they stood upon was solid, smooth concrete, three tiles across. The geometric perfection was a thing of spectacle and would make the most seasoned of archaeologists question how such a task had been accomplished so long ago. A damaged wooden bridge completed the pathway they needed to make it across the chasm. It looked shifty but they saw no other way.
Wood cracked and panels fell as soon as Li-Ming set foot on the bridge. She stopped and held her breath. After a few seconds she relaxed, released a deep breath and continued walking. While she was suspicious, nothing out of the ordinary had happened just yet, but she remained doubtful that will last. It was the expectation she had become accustomed to a long time ago and it helped keep her from getting surprised when something strange would happen.
Coffins that were built into the wall broke open the moment Li-Ming stepped foot on the other side and they prepared themselves for a fight. Ancient corpses arose from their tombs, each wielding a weapon and none looking pleased that outsiders have entered their sacred place of rest. Li-Ming could sympathize with them but her priorities were much more important than the eternal slumber of the dead. Looks like she and the others would have to help put them back to sleep.
Kormac charged at full speed. The ancient nephalem champion rolled out of the way and jumped. Kormac raised his shield and blocked the blow. Kormac swung his ax again and the undead nephalem blocked with his own weapon. Leah fired an arrow through its leg and it fell on one knee. Kormac then bashed his shield into the creatures face then sunk his ax into its skull.
Another nephalem champion busied itself with Li-Ming and was having a much harder time. She blocked every move it made with an Energy Armor spell. She was making it looked like clockwork until another one came up behind her and tried to ambush her but Lyndon put two arrows into the creature's torso and the old warrior went for him instead.
The undead warrior charged and swung his weapon but Lyndon moved out of the way. It swung again quickly and Lyndon blocked with his bow. Lyndon swung the end of his bow and hit the creature in the cheek. It glared at him and roared. It ran for him but was obliterated by an arcane orb. Lyndon looked back and saw that Li-Ming had fired an arcane missile at it and destroyed the monster and Li-Ming went back to focusing the one that was attacking her.
She was still blocking with energy armor spells when she saw an opening she froze the creature's feet to the ground and then sliced its hands off with a spectral blade spell. The undead monster fell on its knees, looked at its hands and roared loudly, causing an echo to erupt around the temple before it fell completely on the ground and died.
There was a moment of anticipation and one last coffin erupted and burst open. The creature that laid within rose to its feet slowly. This one was different. It wasn't some mere zombie or skeleton this once had once been a mighty warrior many centuries ago and was instead mummified. It had a calm and concentrated look in its dead eyes and it looked all of them over. It growled, raised its palm and suddenly everyone became paralyzed.
"What the…I can't move!" Lyndon shouted.
"Neither can us!" Kormac shouted back.
Li-Ming focused as hard as she could to try and break the spell. She focused harder and like a glass cup shattered the mummies spell. The mummy turned to her and pointed at her. She was the one he must fight. He had only a simple sword but he held it up and was ready to fight. Li-Ming drew her own blade and the mummy ran to her. The mummy attacked and they quickly locked blades. Li-Ming quickly learned she was at a disadvantage because the mummy was pushing hard and she was down on one knee. He was very strong. Li-Ming rolled out of the way and the mummy's sword hit the ground.
The mummy charged and landed a blow to Li-Ming's face and then went for a killing blow with his sword but Li-Ming teleported back and out of the way. She rubbed her face with her hand and tasted the blood inside her mouth. He had one hell of a left cross. She spat out the blood and smirked. She had a plan, it was going to work but was going to require a lot of arcane power to do it.
The mummy moved in for another attack but Li-Ming made no attempt to move. She waited and when the mummy was close enough she unleashed a frost nova that froze the mummy in its tracks. It struggled and tried to move and was slowly cracking the ice and Li-Ming gathered a lot of her arcane power for her next attack. Leah, Kormac and Lyndon watched as Li-Ming raised her arms and huge serpent made entirely out of fire shot forth from her hands and surrounded the mummy. It faced the mummy and breathed a mighty inferno. The mummy screamed as its body burned to ashes. Li-Ming's Hydra disappeared and the mummy continued to scream and burn until there was nothing of it left but a smoldering heap.
The others were free of the mummy's spell and Leah immediately ran to Li-Ming's side. "Li-Ming, that was incredible!" Leah exclaimed. "Li-Ming was short of breath and her side throbbed but she looked at Leah and smiled. "How on earth were you able to do that?"
"It requires a lot of arcane power and I used most of it. It really drains me."
"I can imagine." Leah replied.
Kormac came up held his hand out and said, "Excellent job. I've never seen anything like that before that was magnificent." Li-Ming grabbed his hand and shook it.
"Yes, a true marvel of magic!" Lyndon said.
Alaric once again manifested himself before them and said, "You!" He pointed to Li-Ming. "Your strength rivals that of our greatest champion. What now do you think you are?" Li-Ming did not answer. She still did not understand how Alaric could confuse her for Nephalem. There was simply no possible way for that to be true. "You may now enter our most sacred place and retrieve that what has caused much unrest in our temple." Alaric disappeared and the wall behind the opened up to reveal where the second sword shard had landed.
They entered the room and they made their way to the shard and until they had an unwanted visitor appear in front of them.
"The noble hero fought her way here just to die." Maghda taunted with a grin.
"Maghda!" Li-Ming spat.
"And who is this you bring with you? Adria's daughter?" Maghda stopped if only for a second, she looked concerned at first but redeemed her smug posture. "She has…power within her. No matter; your mother will soon share your fate, little one. The shard is mine. Fill this Temple with their blood!" Maghda disappeared and the heard footsteps behind them. Maghda's cultists were running for them, but something wasn't right. There was only five of them and they were not difficult to get rid of.
Lyndon quickly drew his bow and shot one in the head. Leah took aim but hesitated. She had a clear shot buut could not bring herself to shoot. Despite how bad they were, they were still people who felt pain and bled red, warm blood. Kormac noticed her hesitation and cover her. He blocked the cultists attack and slammed his ax right in the man's neck and blood spewed from the wound. Li-Ming had not had the time to recover any arcane power from her fight with the Nephalem and fought with her sword. She locked blades with the cultist. Turned quickly, elbowed him in the face and then stabbed her blade right through the man's stomach. As he fell holding his bleeding gut, Li-Ming did an upward slash and cut the cultist deeply across the torso and killed him.
Two remained and Lyndon shot one them in the chest twice and kormac grabbed the other ones wrist, head butted him, then bashed him with his mighty shield.
Leah felt ashamed of herself for not doing anything. Li-Ming and Kormac rushed to her side to see if she was alright.
"Are you alright, Leah?" Li-Ming asked.
"Yes." She squeaked.
"What happened?"
"I don't know. I should have done something but I-I couldn't."
Li-Ming pulled Leah in for a hug because she figured out what the problem was. "Your fine. Do not feel ashamed of yourself. Killing a man is different than killing a monster. It's an admirable quality." Li-Ming didn't think Leah would ever be able to bring herself to do something like that. It was what made Leah, Leah. She was a softhearted, caring person that admittedly got annoying but was not out of the realm of understanding.
Pulling away, Leah grabbed Li-Ming's arms, looked her dead in the eyes and asked. "But did you hear what Maghda said? What did she mean by my mother sharing my fate? Could my mother be alive after all of these years?"
Li-Ming shook her head and said, "She was trying to torment you. You shouldn't listen to her."
"There's still one more thing that bothers me though. That fight was way too easy. I think she's toying with us. We need to pay my uncle a visit right away!"
"Then we'll head out now." Li-Ming said walking towards the shard and grabbing it.
Ergency had filled their minds, but Tristram was a few days away and Maghda could be scheming her next plan already. If they hurried they might be able to cut the time from there and to Tristram in half but they needed to make haste. When they left the temple Leah was getting the feeling that something terrible was about to happen soon. Something terribly tragic. Lives could be at stake and whatever these cultists would have in mind, Leah imagined no man should have to go through.
Xxxxx
Deep inside the Drowned Tempe Alaric appeared before the obelisk and the other stared at him in confidence. There was no doubt now that the one they had been waiting for had finally come and she was here and she proven her power.
"It is time we beckoned." Alaric said.
"No!" The other said. "We still need more proof. She has proven she has potential but to rid the evil that lies inside the rift gate will take more than what she has. Not even our mightiest have been able to destroy it and if she wants to prove herself to us she needs to destroy something very powerful."
"Like what?"
The other was silent. The evil they locked inside by now knew the time had almost come. He looked at the obelisk and could since the evil laughing at them from within.
Very ominous ending to a chapter, no? I really abused the keyboard on this one. Lol. Anyways I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, a lot happened in this one and I like to think I did a good job with it. After I posted the last chapter I made my goal to not have to make you guys wait for it and I tried my best and I hope I have fulfilled my task.
I would like to think Zooheaded for adding this to their favourites. Really makes me happy and helps me feel like I am still writing what you guys like. I hope I am anyways. Lol.
Well this is where I depart for now and as always I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I will try to return with another one shortly. Peace!