Mark of the Fool

Chapter 864: Once More, Red Eyes in the Dark

Alexander Roth, General of Thameland, couldn’t help but feel a familiar unease creeping inside.

Walking through the earthen tunnels being carved by his earth elementals, he remembered the journey from Alric with Theresa, Selina and Brutus, when they’d first entered the Cave of the Traveller.

Then, he was a lowly baker’s assistant with a single magical spell to his name, and the Mark of the Fool newly branded on his shoulder. One magical light from a crimson forceball had lit the path for them, while danger seemed to lurk in every crevice, hiding, wanting to crush them.

Brutus was in the lead, padding ahead, sniffing the air and scanning the dark with all six eyes. One of his heads had looked back from time to time, making sure his little family had been close and safe. Whenever his canine eyes flashed, Alex was reminded of the old folk stories of cerberi being born from the netherworld long ago.

He and Selina had been in the middle of their little formation, while Theresa had taken up the rear with a small lantern burning at her belt.

They’d crept along as quietly as they could, fearing silence-spiders and other monsters watching in the dark.

Now, things were very different.

Instead of only his little sister, his childhood friend, and her cerberus accompanying him, he was with a half dozen astral engeli and more than that number of air elementals, flying through the wide tunnel.

To his right, the dungeon stabilising machine hovered on its floating platform. Drestra, Merzhin, Prince Khalik—with Najyah on his shoulder—Isolde and Thundar floating on his left side.

Beside them—rounding off the group’s left flank—was Claygon, holding his war-spear, and Cedric, with Uldar’s battle axe and his morphic weapon at the ready. On their right flank was Hart and Bjorgrund, keeping their giant weapons close.

Ahead, Theresa, Brutus and Grimloch, moved stealthily, scouting the path with their sharp senses. Behind, followed Asmaldestre, guarding their backs.

Alex was well protected, unlike in the Cave of the Traveller some three years earlier.

He was no longer the defenceless baker’s assistant he’d been back then. Now, he was equipped with the sort of power that had devastated armies on the way here; he no longer bore the Mark of the Fool on his shoulder, the Mark of the General had replaced it, with its full power unleashed.

He, Theresa and Brutus had long traded roles with silence-spiders and hive-queens. Now they were the ones giving the creatures plenty to fear unlike in the Cave of the Traveller…yet, worse monsters had been turned loose by an even greater enemy: the Ravener.

When they were escaping Alric, the four of them had no idea a hive-queen was waiting at the bottom of the dungeon.

Now, this group expected it, they knew the Ravener was somewhere below them, murderous and vengeful. They knew it would not be alone, and its lair would be crawling with the kind of monsters that had been used to intentionally cull the entirety of Thameland.

And their small group would have to face them.

Unease kept gnawing at Alex and he swiftly scanned the tunnel for anything crouching in nooks among the rough stone walls, dug by his earth elemental helpers.

He expected lurking monsters.

But, so far, there’d been none.

He didn’t doubt that would change when they reached theupperpassages of the Ravener’s lair.

“How much farther?” he asked the earth elementals.

They answered in their tongue.

Alex relayed the answer to his companions. “The elementals are saying we’re just a few minutes from a “large hollow space” in the earth, as they called it.”

“How big of a space?” Theresa asked from up ahead.

“They couldn’t be specific, but pretty big, like a cavern, is what they said.” Alex glanced at the ceiling. “Bigger than this tunnel.”

“That could mean a lot of monsters down there waiting for us,” Thundar pointed out.

“That’s right,” Alex agreed. “Hmmmm…” He frowned. “If there’s petrifiers up ahead, only use disintegration on them, that way we can get rid of their detonating organs safely. If we blow them up, that could cause a cave-in.”

“Right,” the wizards heeded the caution.

Silence fell over the group, and once again, that unease nagged at Alex.

He felt, in many ways, like he’d come full circle.

He’d begun his journey slipping through a dark tunnel in the ground in Thameland, leading to a monster’s lair. And now, here he was, ending the journey creeping through another dark tunnel in the earth, leading to the monster that had created the creatures in the Cave of the Traveller.

That monster would be waiting for them, filled with the sort of power that ended kingdoms.

Were they ready for it?

Uncertainty gnawed at one of his streams of consciousness as he moved forward, re-examining every decision he’d made that had led him and his companions to where they were.

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Had he gathered enough power?

Had they trained hard enough?

The fire cloud attack had caught them by surprise…was this the best way to respond?

Would things be any different if they had another few months to train? What if his cabal had gotten to seventh or eighth tier spells.

What if Hannah had come back before this battle? He would’ve had more power by now, more than enough teleportation power to go directly into the heart of the Ravener, likely ending its menace by now.

Did Professor Jules and the others have enough time to prepare?

Would the mercenaries he’d hired help Thameland’s army enough?

What about Alric, would it still be standing when he got back…if he got back?

A feeling of doom washed over him, and for a brief, terrible instant, he was convinced that none of their preparations would matter: Aenflynn had outmanoeuvred them once…couldn’t this lair be another trap, set up between him and the Ravener?

Maybe they would all die here, and leave the Ravener free to destroy Thameland.

Even Baelin said he wasn’t sure if he could defeat Uldar’s power…so what would happen if they lost?

Alex’s gut twisted at the thought.

Alric would be destroyed along with Cedric’s clan, Drestra’s home and all those who Merzhin and Hart were close to. The university would be left without the chancellor, and who knows how many would be lost at Greymoor before a retreat was called.

Khalik’s parents would lose a son.

Isolde’s family would lose a daughter.

Thundar’s clan would lose a proud and powerful member.

Bjorgrund, Grimloch, Kybas and Harmless would lose their lives.

Then there was Mr. and Mrs. Lu…they would lose their daughter and her beloved cerberus.

And Selina? Once again, her family would be destroyed. He could imagine her at a memorial service in Generasi, with Theresa’s family beside her. She would place flowers at a gravestone carved with names of those she loved.

Then she would…

…by the gods, what would she do?

He hoped that she would grow, learn to take control of her own life and move on. She could do great things as she grew older.

But he had a feeling it would go another way.

He could see her growing older. Angrier. Turning to fire for vengeance.

Then crossing to Thameland one day, alone or with companions…ready to fight and die at the hands of a crazed construct and a bastard of a fae lord.

He took a deep breath, steadying his nerves, going to his meditation techniques. He acknowledged the thoughts and let them pass.

There was only one way to stop such a future.

His hand wrapped around his sword-staff, his knuckles turning white.

Ahead, the earth elementals rumbled something in their elemental tongues.

Alex nodded. “Get ready, we’re within thirty seconds of breaching whatever’s ahead of us.”

The others raised their weapons.

“Twenty-nine…twenty-eight…” Alex lifted his staff, conjuring a swarm of Aervespertillos in front of them.

“Fifteen…fourteen…” he counted.

The earth elementals kept tunnelling.

“Ten…nine…”

The groan of shifting dirt and rock grew louder.

“Three…two…one…”

A tremendous crash erupted as stone ripped apart. Ahead, rock and soil fell away, the tunnel breaching a larger chamber. Red light from his forceballs illuminated the dark, yet the passage they were now in was so vast, he couldn’t make out what was on the other side.

“Forward!” he directed the Aervespertillos.

The creatures screeched, flying straight through the breach.

A volley of light beams split the dark rays lancing into the summoned monsters; some held the creatures in place, while others instantly sent them back to their home plane.

“Down!” Hart shouted. “Petrifiers are in there!”

The group, including Alex’s other summoned monsters dove to the ground, taking cover as the petrifiers’ beams streaked through the tunnel.

“Shit! That’s a lotta beams!” Thundar snarled.

“What now?” Drestra shouted.

“Someone cast haste on me!” Theresa yelled. “I’ve got this, but I need more speed!”

Alex hesitated for the briefest of instants.

Then he lifted his staff. Haste magic infused Theresa.

“You’ve got it!” he called. “Be careful!”

“I will!” she shouted. “As soon as I say, teleport in there and start disintegrating any petrifier that’s still moving!”

“Got it!” he called back.

With a quick prayer to the Traveller, the huntress leapt to her feet. The shimmering phantom blades appeared as she darted ahead.

Theresa slashed and whirled, all steel and phantom swords; charging forward, six blades blurring around her. They parried the petrifiers’ beams, deflecting them into the tunnel walls as she kept speeding ahead.

She paused at the mouth of their tunnel, surveying the space, checking for what was waiting on the other side, then raised all six swords.

Beams struck the shining blades, deflecting back to their source.

A heartbeat later, terrible screeching rang out.

Most beams died.

“Now, Alex!” Theresa shouted.

The young archwizard teleported past her, floating just ahead of their tunnel.

A dozen petrifiers waited in the chamber beyond, some slowly turning to stone, struck by their own magics.

The eyes of the rest were already turning to him.

With a single twitch, he cast Mass Disintegration.

His own deadly beams lanced out, striking the remaining Ravener-spawn, turning them to dust.

He glanced around, calling to Theresa. “All clear?”

“All clear,” the huntress said, her sharp sight piercing the darkness.

She hopped out of their tunnel, floating down the side of the passage they’d broken into.

“What the hells is this?” Thundar gasped as he and the party followed.

With the petrifiers now dead, Alex had time to take in the magnitude of the tunnel they were in.

The chamber was titanic, so massive that one of the Ravener’s titans could easily make its way through while crouching and crawling on its hands and knees. Alex was sure he could fit most of Shale’s Golem Works inside the tunnel. Perhaps even all of it.

“This is tremendous,” Isolde said. “I have to wonder how long it took to craft a passage such as this.”

“The Ravener can alter its lair to a far greater degree than a simple dungeon core could, at least according to the historical accounts,” Merzhin said. “This could have taken days, weeks or even hours…we do not know the full capabilities of the Ravener, when it is acting at its full strength.”

“You could pass an entire army through here,” Prince Khalik said. “And still have room for more.”

“No doubt,” Alex agreed. “Which means it could surround us with an army.”

“Good,” Asmaldestre welcomed the possibility.

Alex chose to ignore that, instead looking at his astral engeli tracker. “Do you still feel that divine energy trail?”

She nodded, pointing down one end of the tunnel. “It is this way, archwizard.”

“Alright, then,” Alex said. “You heard the powerful celestial: this way’s the way we go. Oh, and one more thing: be on the lookout for more petrifiers. Remember, their screams can shatter stone, and we don’t want them collapsing tunnels on top of us.”

The young archwizard took a step forward.

“Wait a minute.” Bjorgrund held up a hand. “This doesn't seem right to me.”

“You mean like because we're probably walking into a trap?” Drestra’s voice crackled as she reverted to her true form. “Which would only make sense?”

“Yeah, and that’s my point,” the giant looked at the General of Thameland. “Remember when we lured the hidden church into Kelda’s sanctum?”

“How could I forget?” Alex said.

“Doesn’t it feel like we’re the hidden church right now?” Bjorgrund asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you lured them into our lair and we got to lead them around by the nose, letting them get butchered by our armies and traps,” the giant pointed out. “Now it feels like we’re going into the Ravener’s lair, ready to get butchered by its armies and traps!”

“Yeah…” Alex said. “But I think we’ll be able to beat it.”

“But we don’t have to.” The giant said. “We’ve got options the hidden church didn’t. I’ve got an idea.”