Chapter 29:
The Culmination of Ra and Apophis's Battle
Izuku and Isendra stood, crouched down, at the top of the staircase as they peered down at the horde below them.
The snake men crowded around a table like an altar in worship. It held the insignia of the Egyptian eye of Ra; yet another strange case of panspermia this world seemed to hold from his own. A wand with a pointed tip stood embedded in the center of the eye. Upon the wand, as held by fierce claws was a circular amethyst crystal. above even the wand was a glowing pendant hovering in the air, one that perfectly matched Cain's drawing of the pendant they were after.
Most of the claw vipers prostrated themselves before the altar or amulet, Izuku couldn't tell which, in waves. Like a crowd at a concert being conducted by an unseen rock star. A small group of them, the ones closest to the altar and amulet, were performing a ritual of sorts, casting some kind of spell.
Isendra tapped him on the shoulder and motioned for him to retreat with her. They snuck back up some of the stairs until they were out of sight and earshot of any of the vipers within the chamber, there they planned together in whispers.
"Ice has proven useless, but will be doubly so with all the heat of the sun in that chamber." Said Isendra. "So I shall use fire. My fire magic is greater than yours, even with Ashes Bane, for my staff also amplifies my fire magic. So I will be relying on you to keeping the many smaller vipers distracted with chain lightning, which you are excellent at despite your reluctance to use it."
She was right. He still had a hesitance to use lightning magic, out of fear and respect of electricity and its danger. You grow up in the modern world surrounded by deadly currents of power and you learn to respect it, even though with the rules of magic that danger need not apply to the caster or his allies. It does not arc and electrocute through the path of least resistance as it ought, only where he commands.
It was still a difficult concept to separate science from magic.
"I shall focus on the viper magi, the ones performing the ritual. You handle the crowd and sneak around behind the magi so that we may flank them, I can hold them off that long but I am not certain if I can defeat them by myself. Do you understand?"
"Yes mistress." Izuku said solemnly.
They sneaked back down the stairs and surveyed the battlefield a second time. It had not changed since they had backtracked, but he looked at it with new eyes all the same. He scouted out a path through the maze of stalagmites to remain unseen and several points where he could peak out and hurl chain lightning until he reached the far side and could flank.
He pointed out the route to Isendra, drawing it in the air soundlessly, and she nodded her understanding. She then held up three fingers with one hand and formed a zero with the other.
Thirty seconds until she would go on the frontal assault. Plenty of time.
He was off as soon as she indicated the time he had to work with, crouch-sprinting along the stairs and hugging the wall. He dropped down into a crevice between the stalagmites and continued on around the winding path formed by the gaps between them. He peeked out to find himself at the edge of the amassed worshipers. He was already in a prime position to let loose a chain lightning that would stun and stall most of the gathered snake men.
He stood there waiting patiently for Isendra to make her first move, which she did seconds later with a bang. Her fireball exploded just outside of the inner circle of magi, far enough not to damage the altar and pendant, close enough that the force of the blast would knock over the trio of viper magi. The heat may have even killed some of them.
The focus of all the praying vipers shifted to the top of the stairs where Isendra was hurling a storm of flames down upon the magi. Each of them drew a weapon, from slings and bolas to short bows and spears. Izuku waiting for them to be halfway through the process of drawing them before letting loose his own destructive elemental magics.
Bolts of lightning erupted from each of his fingertips as if he were a Sith lord. Each arc struck a different claw viper, and from each one that was struck a new bolt of lightning erupted towards the next nearest one. Thus the lightning chained between them, hence the name chain lightning, linking them all together and electrocuting them.
As he had planned, many of them dropped their weapons as their bodies spasmed and cooked from the lightning passing through them. The too tight grip of drawing a weapon was a bad habit that the lovely ladies of the sisterhood of the sightless eye had beaten out of him early on.
With his job done he ducked back into the safety of the stalagmites. He'd bought his mistress at least ten seconds of time before the crowd recovered and could pick their weapons up to shoot at her. That also gave him ten seconds to circle around to the very back of the chamber where he could blindside them with the same spell again. It cost a decent chunk of mana, but he would get it back in time.
Isendra used those precious few seconds well by the sound of the hatred she was laying down upon their enemies. You'd think it was world war one out there! Her constant fireball sounded like a constant artillery barrage.
He came to where he thought was the back of the chamber and made his way forward until he got a good view of the crowd again. They had all rearmed just as he did so and Isendra retreated back up the stairs to avoid the onslaught of pointy things being hurled at her.
He withdrew a mana potion, the last of his watered down ones, and put it into his mouth before casting another chain lightning at the backs of his enemies. This time he did not stop, he continued to cast it, even after they were sufficiently cooked as to be useless against his mistress. He drank and continued to cast as they cooked from the inside out and the smell of fried snake, a delicacy he had quite enjoyed, After one bit him several days later the snake finally died during the trek across the desert with Wharriv.
Isendra returned during his relentless lightning chain and resumed her own onslaught. She and he both caught sight of one of the magi spotting Izuku and turning his staff upon him.
He unleashed an ice storm upon Izuku's location and he ducked back behind the stalagmites. The storm of ice magic passed through the stone and into the cavity Izuku had cowered into. He felt his skin harden and go numb as ice coated him.
He released a half formed fireball directly on himself, making certain not to affect himself with it. His own magic pitted against the magi's was a close call, but he won. His heat drove away the cold and warmed his own body back up, at the cost of the exposed skin that was nearly frostbitten but was now split open by the rapid cooling and heating. Even in the adrenaline of battle, he felt that. It was not pleasant by any definition.
With the residual heat of his spell still protecting him he ducked back out from cover to see Isendra had cast a lightning bolt directly upon the ice magi, leaving her open to the lightning spell of another. Izuku cast a second fireball directly on him. The explosive force of it sent the serpent flying somewhere to the left and into the stalagmites, but not before dropping Isendra in the spasm of electrocution.
The ice magi recovered from his own spasms, but Izuku was seeing red after hearing his mistress scream in pain and was charging at him before he could even stand. He rained fire and lightning upon him and he created a great ice wall… behind himself? Oh, the third magi was still performing the ritual upon the altar and talisman. They were only fighting to protect him.
This ice magi was made of sterner stuff than the average claw viper, because he tanked three fireballs and lightning bolts while maintaining the focus necessary to erect an ice wall while being hit. He would have been impressed were he not currently so enraged.
With his work on the ice wall finished the magi turned his efforts back onto Izuku, flinging ice spike after ice spike in his direction. Izuku, in his rage, lost track of his footing and tripped over one of the dead claw vipers, saving him from an ice spear through the chest.
Before he could stand back up he threw a hail mary fireball at the magi, who was surprised to be hit by the fire spell and it exploded on his chest sending him flying like his lightning-focused friend had earlier.
A second fireball struck him midair sending him back to the ground, motionless. Izuku did have the frame of mind to be impressed by Isendra's layup on that one. He didn't take the time to compliment her, instead advancing upon the circular ice wall around the altar. Isendra sprinting down the steps to join him in tearing it down.
She need not have bothered. Several beams of perfect, white like erupted from within the circle, vaporizing the ice instantly. Where it touched the walls, stalagmites and stalactites of the chamber it left deep scorch marks. No, it outright melted the stone, temporarily creating lava which then solidified almost instantly, and cutting gashes into the stone five meters deep.
These serpents had not only stolen the sun, but weaponized it into a death laser, akin to a child with a magnifying glass. A very big magnifying glass.
The three death lasers then became six, slicing up the chamber aimlessly. The magi wielding the small star in his hands clearly had no control over it, for the lightning magi returned to the fray from somewhere in the stalagmites and was vaporized by a wayward beam.
Dodging them proved easy, and yet he still felt himself being burned by the intense light and heat of the mini sun. When his clothes actually caught fire he resorted to an ice wall of his own, focusing it on the entire area around the stone outcropping that the altar stood atop. The idea was for it to melt and vaporize from the wayward heat and provide shade. It worked briefly, as even when not hit with a direct beam it rapidly melted and steamed forming a large plume around the last magi.
He followed it up by casting a frozen armor spell on himself and ducking back behind the stalagmite after spotting Isendra doing both things herself. Then they waited, clearly both having the same idea. An idea that turned out to be correct when the light faded and the sound of the death beam tearing through the chamber subsided.
Izuku peered from behind the stalagmite to see the steam and ice had completely dissipated, replaced by smoke from the many claw viper that were burnt to a crisp. The altar was obscured by the black fumes so he edge closer. Spotting Isendra doing the same he moved faster until he came upon the altar and the sun magi.
He was a single, snake-shaped chunk of charcoal. He was scorched down to the bone, some of which was clearly visible where the burned flesh had crumbled and fallen away.
"Magic like that is not meant to be wielded by mortals." Isendra said. "And even most immortals."
Izuku was struck dumb at that, that there were immortals out there
"What is going through that mind of yours apprentice?" Isendra interrupted his train of thought. "You have stopped with the muttering, which is good."
The thought of mages that had an eternity to hone their craft was terrifying!
"I was thinking about the strangeness of the eye of Ra being on this altar." Izuku half-lied.
"Eye of Ra?" Isendra asked. "I take it that is the name your people call of this eye symbol here?"
"Yes ma'am. It is a famous symbol… from my world." Izuku told her. "It shouldn't be here."
"I see. And what does it signify to you?" Isendra asked.
"I'm… not certain. I know it is from an ancient culture from a culture called Egypt. They mainly worshiped a sun god named Ra. I don't know all of the mythology but Ra was a member of a big family of gods and had a rivalry with the serpent god Apophis." Izuku explained.
"Hm. The mystery of how the symbol got here will have to wait for later. For now I would set your mind to the more immediate task of how to safely destroy this altar." Isendra said.
"Define safely?" Izuku asked.
"In such a way as to avoid being on the receiving end of a magical backlash that may or may not kill us as it did its misbegotten wielder." Isendra explained.
He was worried that's what she meant.
"We are sure it is the altar, not the talisman or wand?" Izuku asked.
"We are." Said Isendra.
It couldn't just be a simple matter of removing the wand and talisman, could it?
"Well, I guess we should just do it the old fashioned way and just smash it." Izuku said. "Do you think Strom can make it down those stairs to make use of that hammer of his?"
Isendra shook her head and stood off to the right of the altar, raising her staff to point it down on the slab. Izuku took the left and mirrored her actions. This kind of magic was always so tricky, channeling mana into plain kinetic force to crush or cut something.
He stabbed down with his staff at the same time she did, as if spearing the slab, and the altar cracked in two as if it were made of old plaster. They probably could have just kicked the thing honestly.
For a moment the room went dark, then hundreds of orbs of light appeared around the room. They danced like little sun sprites all about them, circling around the central hill where the pair stood. They continued to circle them as they rose towards the ceiling in a whirlwind shape, and one by one they disappeared until the room was dark and the ever present heat wave from the sun was gone.
Isendra cast a light spell on the tip of her staff.
"Oh good. Everything is undamaged." She declared, as if oblivious to the wonder they just witnessed.
She knelt down and grabbed the amulet, pocketing it, before turning her attention to the wand. She grasped it, turned it over a few times and nodded in satisfaction before handing it to Izuku.
"This will be your weapon for the foreseeable future. It is a heavensent find." She declared.
Izuku grasped it in his hand. Power. It felt like power and emptiness.
"It is an infamous wand, its name is Oculus. In addition to being able to store mana as a second pool, it can amplify the power of your spells and casting speed. If that weren't enough, it also offers you more resistance from elemental magic." Isendra explained. "As I said earlier it is a heaven sent find."
Izuku held the wand up with a bit more reverence. If a wand was legendary enough for Isendra to not only know its name, but all of its properties, then it must have a truly impressive history. He would have to look into how it wound up down here.
"There is one downside." Isendra added. "It can randomly teleport the wielder to where they are looking whenever they are injured."
"That sounds potentially dangerous. Has it ever killed anybody like that?" Izuku asked.
"Well, there was the mage Zalfuin who stubbed his toe during a wake and was teleported directly into the middle of the funeral pyre. His fashionable clothes caught fire and, in his panic, he tripped over and broke his neck. His apprentice managed to save the wand." Isendra explained. "Or so the legend goes."
Izuku carefully pocketed the wand.
"This is an acceptable risk, all things considered. There are few wands or staves superior to this or my leaf staff. Death's Fathom and Eschuta's temper are the only ones that come to mind. Do not tell anybody about this find. Not even Cain or Drognan. Above all else, keep it hidden while in town." Isendra ordered.
Right. He'd seen people show a willingness to kill for coin, let alone such a famous item.
They limped back up the stairs, every inch of them sore or outright bleeding. They re-entered the chamber where they had left Strom and Cassia to find them exactly where they'd been, with the latter fussing over the former.
Strom's leg was not bandaged into a splint and Cassia had somehow created a cushioned surface for him to lay it on from the clothes and bedding from one of their packs. The man was propped up against a piece of rubble in as comfortable a position as was possible given the circumstances. She really was going all out for Strom.
As soon as Strom caught sight of them he broke into uproarious laughter before wincing at the pain it caused him. Cassia turned around and started laughing herself.
"You appear to have found our missing sun, based on how overcooked you look." Cassia told them.
Izuku looked at Isendra in the better lighting of the torches and saw what they meant. The two of them were sun-burnt to hell and back. And he thought he'd looked like a gyaru gal before! Isendra had his old look beat. He couldn't wait to get his hands on a mirror.
"Come. We only need to make it back to our horses and then I can make us a town portal home." Isendra beckoned.
Cassia put her pack back on before helping Strom with his. From there she slung one of his enormous arms around her far-too-small shoulders and helped him stand. The two then began the long hard limp towards the exit, leaving the bed things behind for Izuku to collect.
The trip back up through the levels of the temple were uneventful, but dreadfully slow. With each of them so battered that they limped the entire way. Not a word was spoken, only groans of pain. They did eventually reach the service to discover it was nearing dawn. Even in the crevice between the cliffs the glorious navy blue in the sky was unmistakable.
The return trip through the fissure was similarly painful to the one through the temple, if a bit more spirited by the wide open sky above them and crisp morning air. They found their horses exactly where they left them and they were exhausted as they leaned against them, practically hugging the beasts in relief. Their journey was as good as done.
Isendra withdrew a scroll from her breast pocket and held it out. It burned a bright blue light as she cast her own town portal through it and a similarly blue oval of light appeared in front of it.
"Casting the spell into a scroll beforehand allows anyone to cast it by simply channeling a miniscule amount of mana into the preformed spell." Said Isendra. "I will teach you this soon. For now, let us all go home."
The portal exited just outside the main entrance to Lut Gholein. They quickly returned the horses to the stables and approached the guards.
"We need to have a missive to be delivered directly to lord Jerhyn." Isendra told the guards.
One withdrew a quill and parchment while the other proffered a coin purse, which Isendra filled.
"The sun's disappearance was caused by a cult of claw vipers two hours north of El-Fruija. Cassia, Strom, Isuku and I cleared it out and restored the sun. We will be available for a full debriefing in two days. For now we have recovering to do." Isendra dictated.
The man wrote it down and sprinted off to deliver the missive.
"We part ways here." Said Strom. "Wish I could say it was a pleasure, but it wasn't. Despite that, I am more than happy to work with you two again sometime."
"Off to go get patched up?" Izuku asked.
"Nah. Sell all this crap first." Strom said.
And then the two limped away. They sure had their priorities straight, didn't they?
Izuku and Isendra, for their part, made a beeline for Cain. They reached the house of the Horadrim minutes later. Isendra reached up to knock on the door, then seemed to think better of it at the state of her burned and cracking knuckles. She instead tapped it with her staff.
A few moments later Deckard appeared in the doorway and gaped at them. Then he gaped at them some more. Then he let them in.
"Please, sit. Have as much water and wine as you require." Deckard invited.
They both poured themselves a gratuitous glass of wine before slightly freezing it with barely a thought of directed mana.
"Which of the objects have you retrieved so far?" Cain asked.
"All of them." Said Isendra as she put her pack down and began rummaging through it.
"All of them? But it's only been a few days!" He exclaimed.
"Yeah, we would have done it all more quickly but we lost track of time after the sun went out." Izuku said.
Only after the words came out of his mouth did he realize how full of himself he sounded. The disapproving stares both of his masters gave him at the unintentional hubris silenced him.
Isendra withdrew the amulet from inside of her top and the cube from her bag, placing both on a table between them. She then got back to work nursing her cup of wine.
"We found the Horadric cube first, followed by the staff, and the amulet was being used by a Cabal of viper magi to harness all of the power of the sun. They are the reason we are in our current state." Isendra regaled.
"I see. Firstly, it is not THE Horadric cube. It is A Horadric cube. THE Horadric cube was designed by the mage Zoltun Kulle. It was far too dangerous and corrupting to be used safely, so these lesser ones were developed. If THE Horadric cube ever came into your possession I would be very concerned." Cain told them. "Secondly, where is the staff?"
"Oh, we already inserted it into the cube." Said Isendra.
He opened the device and withdrew the staff. He examined it, saw that it was the real artifact, and put it back inside. He then made a display of adding the amulet into it as well before closing the device. He then pressed a hitherto unnoticed button on one of the cube's faces.
The device glowed a faint light, akin to moonlight, which then faded. When he opened the cube again it was to withdraw a new staff which bore no resemblance to either of the items originally placed inside. Whereas the original staff was bent in places and seemed to be made in the shape of a snake, this one was perfectly straight and was of wood, with carved floral patterns. In place of the large orb of amber, it now boasted two golden wings which flanked the amulet that had been placed inside at the tip and an upside down lotus flower at the bottom.
"Wow." Said Izuku.
"Indeed," Said Cain. "With this, the path forward is open."
There was a knock at the door.
Cain stood up and went to open it, before stepping aside and allowing Drognan entrance. He sighed in relief at finding them there.
"We received your missive, and are pleased to see you alive and well. But we require your services already." Drognan said.
Isendra and Izuku both felt themselves double in weight at the bad news.
"What happened while we were gone?" Isendra asked.
He took his own seat and wiped his mouth with a hand.
"Some time ago now an old Vizjerei ally of mine, Jazreth, had wandered back into town after returning from Tristram while visibly troubled. He had been looking through the old palace archives for something when he disappeared. Soon after that, the dark wanderer passed through." Drognan told them. "In short order after Jazreth disappeared, demons began spewing forth from the palace cellars, killing many of the local brothel girls and many guests. Lord Jerhyn had been forced to order all of the palace and town guards to the battle to keep the demons at bay, and in doing so saved the city. We have lost so many good men that we had to resort to employing Greiz and his mercenary company to keep the peace."
Izuku had been on the edge of his seat, thinking this story was a recent event before he mentioned employing Greiz.
"When did this happen?" Izuku asked.
"Nearly two years ago now, and the palace has been sealed ever since. And things keep getting stranger." Drognan told them. "This has all been kept secret until now, for we have been sending adventurers and mercenaries like yourselves capable of dealing with things like the purge and worthy of trust, and many of you have proven your worth. We are now preparing to reopen the cellars and dungeons beneath the palace to lead an all out assault to cleanse our city of demons. We request your aid."
They both leaned back in their chairs at the explanation and request.
"We, as well as Strom and Cassia, are in no condition to be doing anything for at least a day, possibly three." Said Isendra.
Drognan nodded.
"I can see that. We have gone two years waiting for this offensive, we can wait a few days, but Lord Drognan is expecting you tomorrow for the debriefing on your restoration of the sun at which time he will give you and the others all of the details on the cellars and dungeons." Drognan told them.
He stood up to leave and they did the same, bowing respectfully as they saw him off. Isendra then turned to Cain.
"I will keep the cube and completed staff here for safety. It seems the universe is conspiring to keep us from our self imposed mission a little while longer." Cain told them. "Go now, you look like you have some recovering to do."
They left, and Izuku was glad to see they were headed in the direction of Elzix's inn. He was prepared for a bath and bed and change of clean clothes.
They made a stop at Fara's stall where Isendra had Izuku hand her his mage plate. Before they left she whispered something into Fara's ear before handing her more coin than the basic repair job warranted. Izuku was suspicious but didn't voice his concern.
When they finally got back to the inn Isendra delivered him more bad news.
"We are only dropping our things off and collecting a clean pair of clothes. Then we leave for the public baths." She told him. "There they will treat our wounds properly."
He couldn't stop himself from groaning.
"Can't we just take a bath and take a healing potion here before crashing?" He pleaded.
"No. Healing potions like the kind we buy in bulk are general purpose. Imperfect, but work for most injuries. A proper spa has potions more suited to every type of injury. There are healing potions specifically for sunburns, or frostbite, or skin ripped from cooling and heating. Using these properly takes time, but ensures the healing is more complete and leaves no scars or permanent damage that a regular potion might miss." Isendra explained. "Many warriors find their ability to rotate their arms or grasp weapons diminished after using regular healing potions instead of doing he hard work to heal properly. Tendons, muscles and nerves not quite as they were before an injury."
Oh! Yeah, he did already kind of know that, didn't he? And the spa did make for a relaxing time. They certainly deserved it after the few days they'd been through.
He went to his room and tossed his things aside, grabbing a clean pair of his down time clothes that Myr had left folded on his bed. But then he paused when he noticed an envelope next to it.
He picked it up, worried it was a love letter from Myr, but then blinked at the name signed on it.
Esu? The name rung a bell. Wasn't she the ruler of Isendra's clan?
This story was Cowritten/Beta'd by
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