Chapter 28 - Y
There was no light for a few minutes. All there was in the darkness was this heavy feeling of despair… The air was thick with inescapable dread. Then there was a purple light on top of a very large stone in the distance. There were floating platforms and the place seemed to lack gravity. You could be upside down and never know it. It threw me off balance. Everything was warped.
"What is this place?" I asked mostly to myself.
"Yurick?! Why did you come with us?" Zael took a step forward like he was going to hold me, but Dagran's eyes were sharp and we knew we weren't supposed to let our emotions get in the way… and I had… again… which to be honest is very rare with me, so I deserve props, yes?
"I don't know, really. I took a step forward and I kind of got sucked in," which was pretty much true, but I look a few more steps, leaps really, but I was sucked in. I'd meant to pull him back out, not get myself pulled in.
"That's a good question though," Zael looked around. "Where are we?"
"I know it's inside the castle," she started walking around the edges of the platform we were on, seemingly surrounded by endless abyss, "but that seems impossible."
"Yeah, I can't get my head around it," Dagran added.
We started forward down the only path we could have possibly taken. When we'd almost reached the first curve, a dark shadow with red eyes flew over us and back under what we were calling the ground.
"What was that?!" I jumped.
Mirania put her hand on my shoulder, "Oh my! An unpleasant spirit is flying around. I think it's guarding something."
"That's great to hear," I tried to shake off my fear.
"You're the one that jumped in after us," Dagran stated.
"You shouldn't have come," Zael finished the conversation and continued to the end of the path, dodging spirits as he went.
What's that supposed to mean? I didn't do anything really wrong.
"There's a man over here!" he called back to us. "Look at his robe. Is he a mage?"
He started walking towards the robed man. I shook my thoughts and squinted at the man. Black Robe… that aura… NO! I started running towards him.
"NO, ZAEL! Don't go near him!" Mirania ran out to him as well.
He stopped and looked back, but when he did, the man rose up and started charging, injuring him slightly. He ran back to us and stood next to Dagran in front of Mirania and myself.
"This is no normal spirit! Something's wrong!" she yelled. I could feel it, too, but the whole feel of the place was dreary, so it was hard to notice at first. "It's as if it's something from another dimension entirely! We have to fight it!"
In a second I was already charging my attack. Mirania had already started a heal circle and the guys were prepping for close combat. Be careful…
He charged and I hit him with fire, then Zael and Dagran slashed at him a few times, but he turned into black mist every time. Soon the area was covered in a thick dark fog.
"Where is it?! It's totally invisible! How?" Dagran yelled as he slashed his sword.
"'Enemies that cannot be seen without the Outsider's power'…," Mirania muttered. I understood immediately.
"Zael, use that power of yours to make him solid again," I shouted in his direction, hoping he'd hear me. "What the hell is that?" I looked up and saw a giant skeleton with a sword. "Oh god, not more skeletons…"
Dagran chopped away its legs. "This battle keeps getting weirder…"
"I think the mage is controlling these dark spirits," she said as she cast her Leaf in his direction.
"Oh great, so like a necromancer?" Zael jumped back into her heal circle, he was too out of breath.
"Just what we need," I whined, "A bloody necromancer," I cast another fire circle.
"Take out the big freak now, leave the mage for later," Dagron ordered.
As soon as the big skeleton disappeared, Dagran charged for the mage and took a few swings at him.
"No good, I can't touch him," he groaned.
"What? Are you serious?" Zael looked over at his brother.
"Maybe only the one with the Mark of the Outsider can fight on their level," he shrugged. "It's worth a try."
He sighed. "Fine, you guys cover me and I'll see what I can do," he ran towards him and swatted like he was trying to kill flies with a large sword.
"Watch out!" Mirania yelled. My head jolted in Zael's direction just in time to see him barely dodge a hit by that giant sword that the skeleton was wielding. He's going to get himself killed! Why'd I have to fall for a guy with a bad habit of near death experiences?
"How is that thing back up?" I threw a few fire balls at the re-reanimated undead… thing…
"He's a rather tough fellow to put down. The mage is putting him back together after you damage it," she commented after casting Leaf again to silence it, or keep it from using magic attacks.
Dagran ran back in to help his brother but only enough to take the skeleton down again before Zael charged again at the black mage. "Sadly, we can't pick our fights right now. We just have to follow the Count's orders."
"I don't like this trial!" Zael grunted as he spun quickly to get passed the magic defence. You and me both. He swung a few more times and finally hit the side of his neck, decapitating him in one swift blow.
"Don't worry. I'm sure there'll be plenty more fighting to do. Chin up, baby brother," he smirked and leaned against a pillar to catch a breath.
"Oh yay," I cheered sarcastically, turning my back to them.
"He's right. But take care not to hurt yourself," she tapped them both on the shoulders, doing a quick repair of any serious surface wounds.
I froze. "Um, do you see this?" I pointed to the glowing purple mark in front of my feet. "Please tell me you see this."
"See what?" Zael came up next to me and took a step forward to look at it. It started flashing. Mirania and Dagran joined us and we started getting higher… what? I looked behind me and there was NO FLOOR. I jumped and almost fell off, but Zael caught me and pushed me towards the middle of the floating platform.
"Have I ever mentioned that I'm scared of things like this? Because I am. Shaking in my boots, actually," I mumbled the last part to myself.
"The outsider's mark grants some unusual powers," Mirania was looking around like it was the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen.
We reached the top where four paths all went in very different directions. I mean up down and sideways in all four directions… "What the-," I looked up to see the path to my right turn upside down and to the left.
"Who designed this place?" Dagran's confusion matched my own.
"It's so weird. It's all upside down and topsy-turvy!" Mirania put a hand on one of the straight up paths.
"A dead end, I guess," Zael checked each path, but there was no way to climb any of them.
"Or not," I pointed up.
Mirania joined me in the middle and followed my finger. "A door? No, it's a gate. Well, something is up there." She put a hand on her hip. "But I think we might have some difficulty getting to it."
"There's got to be a way. We'll find it," Dagran reassured us.
Zael paced a bit with a hand to his chin. "Hmm."
"Idea," I pushed him back onto the platform and pointed at his hand. The other two came over as he reactivated his power and the room began to spin.
"This room!" Dagran shouted.
Zael was wide-eyed and less freaked out than I was. "It's amazing! It's rotating!"
"How did you know that would work, Yurick?" Dagran asked as the spinning came to a stop and the gate was now right in front of us.
I scratched my arm. "I didn't. I thought it would probably take us back down, but I honestly had no idea if it would even do that."
Mirania shrugged. "At least now we can reach the gate."
We walked towards it with caution. It looked like another portal of sorts, just smaller. A lot smaller. We walked through.
"Careful!" Mirania screamed as she pulled me out of the way of a sword to the face, which Zael's blocked with haste. "Please watch out! Those swords are covered in poison! It will kill you at a nice, gentle pace."
"And that's why you're here, Mirania," Dagran smiled at her then ran his blade through the side of the soldier's rib cage. "Zael, you stay with her and I'll take care of them."
"Sound's good to me," He kicked the now kneeling soldier's body to the ground.
"Why is it always skeletons?" I whined.
There were only three of them, so they were easily defeated, but the fact that they came out of nowhere had me a bit worried.
Dagran threw one of the skulls off of the edge. "I don't see what this trial proves."
"I think the dark spirits are trying to test us in some way," she suggested.
"Well, all we can do now is move on," Zael said with a hint of a sigh.
"But there's nothing else here? So does that mean we went through the wrong door?" I pointed to the edge of where we were standing. There was nothing but dark abyss all around us.
Dagran walked back towards the portal. "That does seem to be our only option." We all followed him to the central point of this topsy-turvy platform.
"Zael, try it again. Maybe it'll take us to the next door," I paused. "I wonder how they built it so strategically…"
He did as I suggested and activated the centre circle. It spun five times and had me as dizzy as I ever had been. There wasn't a better way to lose your balance. Finally, it came to a stop. Straight ahead was another archway. As soon as he stepped off onto the path a set of glowing stairs appeared.
"I guess that's the way then," I muttered. This is definitely strange. There was this feeling in my gut. I didn't want Zael to have to lead us anywhere. I wanted him at the back… or not there at all. I didn't want any of us there. This place was weird and know Mirania felt it too.
"Looks like if we overcome the trials, the path will be opened to us," Dagran was being the best captain Obvious he could be.
I mumbled, mostly to myself, "Oh aren't you clever. Figure that one out all on your own, did you?"
"Yurick," Mirania scolded lightly. "Now is not the place for that." She gave me a stern look that I would have scowled at if it were anyone else.
We walked through the black hole.
As soon as we came out the other side, there was a group of archers… skeletons… again… ugh.
"Archers? What a pain," Dagran sighed and ran a hand through his hair, his other on his him. "It could be worse though. Zael, if you'd do the honours," he gestured in front of us.
"I'm on it," he said quietly before dropping behind a broken pillar. He was about to shoot when he looked back over his shoulder. "There's another necromancer. We might as well go straight in."
The three of us shrugged then we ran with Zael into the centre of the fight.