Author's Note: The longest chapter yet! I hope it's not TOO insanely long to read, but I wanted them to be out of the Everfall by the end of the chapter. It's a lot of action, so it should go quickly. Also, this chapter wasn't previewed as well as normal, so I apologize for any mistakes. As usual, please review! :)
Some of the outer sides of the pillars had white triangular stone wedges with lamps hanging from the tips of them. The reflection from the stone created large pools of light that partially covered the walkway, but lanterns were still necessary. Strange tapping and squealing noises like metal on metal floated through the air now and again, but no more growls for the time being.
Ceileigh was grateful that the walkway curved gradually so she could see farther into the distance, rather than having to deal with sharp blind turns. She ran her hand along the rough stone wall, noting the cobwebs and dust that had built up over it for who knows how long. A sharp squeak and flutter brought her hand back down her dagger. She relaxed when a few bats flew harmlessly around their heads, then winged their way crookedly across the open space of the Everfall.
Tall metal doors with no handles punctuated the wall every so often. Ceileigh wondered if something horrible was being held inside. Crates and random coin purses were scattered on the ground. The group gathered coins, healing agents, arrows, and other materials that looked useful as they went. Leandor stood watch while Ceileigh and Hannah gathered items they'd found stacked against the wall. He wondered if they were left behind by someone who'd met their death down here. He did not intend to let the Arisen share that fate. He looked down from scanning the area.
"Why do we need that, master?" he asked in puzzlement. Ceileigh held an old, brittle bow up toward the light, examining it from all angles. She could hear the doubt in his voice though he tried to hide it. He was wondering why she would weigh herself down with so much junk.
"We can sell it when we get back," she said. "As long as we don't pick up so much loot that we can't move properly, we should gather what we find and make some money! We might not be in the city forever. This will help us save up for when we have no income, you know?"
"That does make sense," he admitted. "My apologies, master. It is not my place to question you." Planning ahead as usual. An admirable trait, he chided himself.
Ceileigh breathed a small laugh. "I don't mind hearing your input," she shrugged. "That goes for all of you, about anything," she said, looking around at the whole group. "Discussing things together can only make us stronger as a team and augment our plans. One of you might think of something I don't, or stop me from doing something stupid."
Leandor was surprised to realize that her words, which seemed inappropriate for her station, didn't diminish her authority in his eyes at all. In fact, they inspired more loyalty and made him eager to serve her as a person, not just an Arisen. He glanced at the other pawns and could tell they felt it too. All pawns were compelled to serve the chosen one and found fulfillment in it, but many Arisen treated them like soldiers at best, expendable instruments of battle, or slaves at worst. This Arisen treated her pawns like she would treat her own kind. Leandor knew that in some ways this could be unwise, but he would broach that with her later.
They moved along and soon found their way blocked by a thick metal grate. "A lever opens this gate, Arisen. Here it is," said Hannah softly, walking to the right of the grate. Ceileigh followed her and pulled it down. The grate groaned and shrieked as it slowly lifted, raising a thick cloud of dust.
That growl sounded again in response. It was a lot closer this time and they all glanced at each other. Ceileigh drew her bow and led the way forward. They crept around the bend and saw another metal grate not far ahead, with another lever beside it. Something big, brown and furry was grunting and moving in the dark space behind it.
Ceileigh stopped short and drew her weapons. "Okay. Killian in front, Leandor with me. Hannah, go pull the lever and run back behind us. When the grate opens and that thing runs out, the three of us will surround it and attack, hopefully. Hannah, get ready to heal in case it's more than we can handle."
The little mage nodded. She paused for a minute, then darted forward to pull the lever. The grate creaked slowly open as she ran back to the group. As soon as there was enough room, the creature ducked under the grate and charged with alarming speed. Killian ran to meet it with a battle cry. He slashed deeply across the creature's torso and spun away as it threw up its arms, roaring. It was a semi-upright creature with a swayback, stumpy back legs and long, muscular arms. A long face with short triangular ears, beady black eyes and a wide mouth full of sharp teeth sat on a thick neck.
Ceileigh and Leandor ran to form a triangle around it. "'Tis an ogre, Arisen!" Hannah piped up from the background. Ugly son of a bitch! Ceileigh thought as she fired two arrows into its back. It swung to face her and her heart skipped a beat as one of its blocky fists slammed into Killian's chest. Amazingly, the large pawn only stumbled back a few steps instead of flying over the edge. Close call! Warrior pawns are sturdy! Ceileigh thought in relief. She put another arrow into the monster's arm and it went into a frenzy, pounding its fists on the ground and hopping with its back feet.
Ceileigh loosed a fourth arrow into its chest just as Leandor sprung forward and drove his sword twice into its ribcage and Hannah loosed bolts of lightning over its head. The creature screamed in pain and began twirling up and down the walkway, swinging blindly. They dodged its fists while landing whatever blows they could, until the ogre suddenly galloped away around the curve and was silent.
"Is it gone?" Ceileigh panted. An angry roar was her answer as the ogre came running back at them even faster than before.
"Leave it to me, master!" Killian yelled, pushing her behind him. He ran at the ogre again and they collided with a crunch. They stumbled a few steps together before Ceileigh could see that Killian's sword was buried to the hilt in the monster's stomach. He was trying to pull it back out but the creature's thick arms were wrapped tightly around him. Blackish blood covered the fronts of both of them. They staggered dangerously close to the edge, then one of the ogre's feet slipped off.
"Killian!" Ceileigh yelled, stretching her hand toward him helplessly. They teetered on the brink for a moment, then slowly tipped and plummeted through the air. Ceileigh rushed to the edge, her heart pounding, but she could no longer see their forms through the fog or the tears welling in her eyes.
Leandor hurried to pull her away. "That pawn has left us, master. Please, take care."
"I - I can't believe he's dead," she said, trying not to cry. "Just like that! I should have helped somehow, I'm responsible for him!"
"Do not distress yourself, master," said Leandor, still holding her arm. "When a pawn's form is too weak or damaged to be repaired, it ceases to exist in this world and returns to the Rift. While the process appears similar to a human dying, the pawn yet lives and can be recovered by means of a riftstone."
She sighed in relief. "That's good, but is Killian lying injured in the Rift right now? One of the mages there will help him, right?"
"Returning to the Rift heals us, completely and instantly. If we are ever ailing and without a healer, we need but access a riftstone to become well again. Killian is no doubt already fully recovered. Did Barnaby not tell you these things?"
"No, but I didn't ask him either," she shrugged, smiling as she wiped her eyes. They began walking again. "I'm sure there are still lots of things I don't even know to ask about yet. So…I can enter the Rift and find any pawn I've lost? Can I call for them specifically?"
"Yes, master. You can find any pawn you have previously contracted with, or call for pawns according to things like experience, certain skills, or gender. You simply announce who or what you desire and fitting pawns will heed your call." Leandor paused. "Please ask me anything else you would like to know at any time, master," he offered.
"Thanks," she replied, smiling at him and once again thankful for his support. "I'm sure I'll need to."
They made it down several more levels without incident, until they came to a large pile of crates that had five badly decomposed bodies strewn around them.
"Beware, master. Whatever killed those people may live in the area," said Leandor, readying his sword.
"They may also be undead," Hannah spoke up. "I know not how, but sometimes after a human dies, their corpses can be animated. They become as beasts on the hunt, and it is their living brethren they crave."
"That is disgusting," Ceileigh whispered, now afraid of waking the possibly undead bodies. "Let's stop talking and tread quietly just in case, and perhaps we'll make it through unscathed." They picked their way through the bodies carefully, stepping softly and placing their feet so as not to jostle them.
Suddenly Hannah let out a yelp. "Arisen, I am wounded!" she cried, limping forward quickly. One of the bodies, a woman who was more skeleton than desiccated flesh, had reached up and clawed the back of Hannah's leg with sharp finger bones. Blood gushed down her leg from very deep wounds. All around them, the undead were waking, cracking and squelching as they tried to stand up.
Ceileigh and Leandor stomped two of them into pieces before they could rise, but the other three got to their feet in the meantime. Off to the side, Hannah hurried to heal herself as the pair turned to defend themselves. As the mage cast her spell and the green ball of light appeared, the undead seemed to wince in pain and slow down.
"Healing spells weaken the undead, Arisen!" she explained. "Strike now!"
Ceileigh whirled at the nearest one in a flurry of slashes and kicks that continually knocked the corpse back and dashed its head and one arm from its body. Leandor chopped off another corpse's head and threw the body over the edge. The last one grabbed at Ceileigh and they struggled for a minute, its rotten face snapping at her with the few teeth it had left, before she was able to push it away. Pretty strong for someone with no muscles left! she thought, laughing, then was shocked that she'd laughed during a fight. I guess I'm getting pretty comfortable with this. To be honest, she actually felt exhilarated.
Leandor caught the undead man as it stumbled back and held it immobile while Ceileigh planted a foot in, or more accurately, through, its abdomen and ripped off one leg, then an arm. Then she stuck both her daggers into its chest at an angle and pulled down, breaking all its ribs in succession. Leandor let the corpse fall to the ground where it snapped its jaw once and stopped moving.
"Don't look at me like I'm crazy just because I had fun with that," Ceileigh laughed, breathing heavily. "I like to be creative, and its not like it's human, or alive for that matter." She walked away with a smiling glance over her shoulder, to look through the crates while Leandor raised an eyebrow at her.
"Hey look!" she said after a minute. She held up a sturdy black glove tipped with metal barbs on each finger. "I'm keeping this thing." She stuffed it into her belt pouch.
After several more minutes the walkway turned into a staircase and finally met the floor. Piles of broken stones and other rubble covered the floor all around it. The rest of the floor was relatively smooth except for a few areas where the stone had buckled up. Bright blue light shone out of the cracks. A concave disc sat on the floor, slightly askew, surrounded by a circle of pillars like the ones holding up the walkways. A design of four circles intricately woven together decorated the face. Heavy chains ran from rings on the pillars to the floor, where it looked like they used to be attached to the disc.
"Is this some kind of seal?" Ceileigh wondered aloud. Before anyone could reply, the ground rumbled and shook.
"What the hell is happening?!" Ceileigh shouted, stumbling toward a pillar to steady herself against it. Hannah said something from the other side of the disc but her voice disappeared in the rumbling. Leandor crouched to keep his balance, looking everywhere while trying to keep his sword level.
Thick red tentacles shot up out of the ground around them, one after the other, flailing and writhing, reaching for whatever had invaded their space. Even worse, the ends of the tentacles had no eyes but chomped at the air with round mouths full of long, sharp teeth. Leandor dodged a strike from one, then struck it so the top half hung alongside the bottom. Ceileigh spun to kick another one and it wriggled back below the ground. Hannah sent out cold white trails of magic to several of them, freezing them solid for a time. She staggered around the disc and put her lips to Ceileigh's ear.
"We cannot defeat this enemy, master! They are too many! Where one falls another takes its place, never ending," she yelled.
"We have to retreat!" Ceileigh shouted across to Leandor, waving him toward the stairs in case he couldn't hear her either. The three of them ran back up to the walkway as fast as they could. More tentacles burst from the ground all around them, filling the walkway ahead of them as for as far as they could see. They ducked and skidded their way through the monsters successfully until a tentacle knocked Hannah to the ground. Ceileigh ran back to help her up, nearly getting bitten by another one in the process.
Ceileigh felt a burst of relief when she finally saw the opening to the Guild. She pushed Hannah in ahead of her and was about to follow when a tentacle clamped down on her shoulder. She felt muscle tear and teeth scraping her bones. The pressure alone was unbearable and she screamed, her legs going weak as the monster yanked her off the ground. She felt her feet go straight up in the air and then she was slammed to the floor, her head bouncing off stone. She was struggling to keep conscious when she felt something wet slap onto her face and the monster's jaw loosened.
Leandor had sliced through the tentacle with two mighty hacks of his sword, and he pried the jaws off of Ceileigh the rest of the way before throwing her over his shoulder and following Hannah up to the Guild. He laid her down on the floor as soon as they made it up the stairs and Hannah knelt beside her with a green ball of light already floating in the air. Ceileigh was completely limp and her eyes rolled back in her head.
"Hurry!" Leandor yelled, even though the light was already sinking into Ceileigh's body. It took a few minutes, but soon her eyes focused and she cried out in pain. Her bones snapped back into place and her muscle mended so rapidly it felt like she was getting torn apart again. Her head pounded as injuries there healed too. Soon that feeling of being better than new rushed over her and the pain was completely gone.
She sat up with a stunned look on her face and put her hand on top of her head like she was holding it on.
"That was crazy," she said, laughing. "Thank you Hannah, I feel amazing." The little mage beamed.
Leandor helped Ceileigh to her feet. "And thank you," she told him as she wiped monster blood from her face. "You saved my life, again. What would I do without you?"
He glanced away and shifted his feet. "Oh, what? Did I embarrass you for once?" Ceileigh laughed, enjoying his discomfort.
"When I put you down, I thought you were dying," Leandor replied, looking everywhere but at her.
"Well I didn't, thanks to you two, that's what's important," Ceileigh said seriously, and shivered at the close call. "Now if both of you are okay, let's report to Barnaby."