Chapter 28: A Black Day
Magikuser
Sleep is for the weak
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Chapter 28:
A Black Day
A Black Day
Izuku didn't know how long they hiked through the desert to the third destination on Isendra's list, but they'd all caught up on their sleep during the trip. Without the passage of time taking the extra time to get enough rest seemed harmless even though they ought to have known better.
"The constant night time is making us slothful. Groggy." Said Strom.
"Lethargic." Izuku said, remembering the word Strom was looking for.
Yeah, lack of sunlight and vitamin D was even worse for the mind that Izuku had been told growing up. But they would persevere. And they did, arriving at El-Fruija to find the fruit-growing village utterly destroyed. Some of the buildings were still smoking.
They all sighed.
"I specifically saved this one for last because the town elder was liable to just hand it to us." Isendra groused. "It was supposed to be a relaxing pit stop to refill our waterskins, get some good food and begin the trip home."
She was rubbing her eyes as she said this and they all empathized.
They wandered through the town in search of survivors. To the surprise of none of them, they were wandering around with telltale empty gazes of zombies. The fresh undead didn't even attack them, but they quickly put them down all the same.
Izuku and Isendra went about striking them down with ice spells while Strom and Cassia collected them near the edge of town. When that was all done they cast a series of magical, floating flames around the bodies to provide light.
"You were right to make me wear those spare gloves, dear." Cassia told Strom as she removed said gloves and threw them away.
As they looked at the bodies they noticed with good reason not to touch them bare handed. Each and every zombie was covered in boils, appearing pox ridden. Some also had what looked like bite marks to go with the signs of disease.
Strom removed his own pair of gloves and threw them onto the nearest body.
"Well, I think we should play it safe and not search these ones for anything useful. Shall I dispose of them by burying them with a fissure?" Strom suggested.
"That seems wise, as finding enough fire wood for a funeral pyre seems unlikely, and we are already low on mana potions." Said Isendra.
Strom demonstrated his devastating power once again, as he had done when he leveled a small city he now created a great fiery fissure. It broke open the earth the bodies lay upon and into the new chasm they fell. The new wound closed back in on itself and the burial was done.
Izuku felt it deserved a headstone or memorial, but Strom settled for striking a spear to mark the location. He suspected that the plan was to alert any people in Lut Gholein who had relatives out here to provide a proper service to lay their spirits to rest.
After that they made their way to the center of the village where a well stood open. Their wineskins had grown low, even without the beating sun to make them sweat. When they lowered the bucket to the bottom it clunked against the dry bottom, and when they drew up it was empty.
"Probably for the best. The odds are good this water would have made us sick." Cassia reasoned.
That was just rationalizing. They were out of water and needed more. Boiling it clean with magic was no difficult task for them.
"Alright Izuku. You go ahead and create more water for us in your usual way while we search the houses." Said Strom. "Hope against hope that what we're looking for is still here."
Izuku got to work freezing water from the air into a sharp icicle and putting it into the bucket from the well. Only then did he recall how chilly it was out and that it wouldn't melt from the non-existent sunlight. From there he created a small fire from the discarded remains of a nearby house.
Isendra and Cassia returned as he finished refilling the wineskins from the bucket.
"I found the town elder. His home was ransacked and the prize was not there." Isendra told them.
"I didn't see any more signs of sickness in any of the other bodies. All valuables are already gone. I hate to be the one stating the obvious, but these people were murdered and pillaged." Cassia concluded. "And the attackers covered their tracks well. Ours are the only footprints."
Well, a few of the zombies had left tracks in the sand, but he didn't feel like being the pedantic asshole to point that out.
Then they heard it.a low howl that was from Storms wolf summons.
"Strom!" He and Cassia said as one.
The three of them sprinted towards the sound, past the northern edge of the town where a gap in the rocky shelters that failed to protect it lead outward. Strom was there, kneeling beside a track in the ground with his wolf.
There was a wavelike texture to the tracks, as if water had flowed over it in both directions. They led off towards the cliff wall. Izuku recognized them as slide-pushing, like the marks by a Mamushi snake. An excessively large Mamushi.
"They appear similar to the marks snake make as they travel through soft terrain like mud, but significantly larger. Only one thing that could be." Isendra declared.
"Claw vipers." Strom agreed. "A large contingency of them laid waste to these people and took everything."
"Is it possible that the snake-themed item we are after was their target? Or just coincidence." Cassia asked.
They all merely sighed again. They were getting good at that.
They followed the trail with Strom leading the way. Not that they needed his superior tracking skills, said trail was hard to lose. But it was his job, so they let him lead.
Sometime during their trek the temperature dropped yet again. The usual frigidness of the night desert was now well below freezing and they were bundling up in their cloaks as they rode. It must have been two whole days of night by now and a thin layer of frost was growing upon the dunes.
"I will die of the cold before I even SEE one of these cobra-faced bastards!" Cassia cursed through chattering teeth.
She did seem to be taking the worst of the cold out of all of them, though Isendra had been shivering horribly herself. From what Izuku understood she came from a place that was hot and humid, while Isendra came from a place that was hot and dry. Izuku? Living in Japan you get used to hot and humid summers with cold and dry winters. He was good to go in the snow, and by the looks of Strom, so was he.
"You are right. Come to me." Isendra demanded.
To all of their surprise, Cassia's most of all, Isendra guided her horse over to Cassia's. She put out her hands and created between them a hot ball of fire to warm them both up. Izuku and Strom allowed the two women to take point, falling behind by a few meters to give them some privacy.
"Any more advice on women you want to give me?" Izuku whispered to Strom. "Solicited, this time."
"Well, you should know that when they are awake they are cold blooded, like lizards, but when they're asleep they turn into little furnaces. Should you share a bed with one, even in winter, you are liable to die of heat stroke." Strom told him.
Izuku regretted asking.
Their trip continued for another hour after which they came upon a tall series of cliffs which towered over these parts and had appeared much closer than it was from the destroyed town. There, the trail disappeared behind some rocks.
Cassia dismounted and slowly moved around the section of rocks while they remained behind ready to back her up.
"There is a camouflaged path behind here." She declared. "Through a fissure in the cliffs. I don't think the horses can fit."
Naturally, they decided to follow the hidden trail. But first, they had to find a place to tie down and hide the horses. Less than half a kilometer down the cliff they found another pile of rocks hiding a cutout in the cliff. There, they staked the horse reins to the stone where they would be safe from the wind and, hopefully, prying eyes.
They walked back to the hidden path and descended into it. They didn't have to follow it for long before they found their target.
A hidden entrance to what looked like a temple, based on the snake reliefs and statues enclosing it. As soon as they were within a few meters of it the cold was blown away by a warm draft coming from said entrance. Strom examined the stone around the entrance, in a way that reminded Izuku of how he himself feels around for magic. Was he sensing their invisible watcher?
"The warmth coming out of it, the air itself, feels like sunlight." Strom said. "Or am I crazy?"
Izuku, Isendra and Cassia approached and indeed, the air itself felt like sunlight directly on their skin.
"We are getting ahead of ourselves, but with luck on our side perhaps our two problems are one?" Isendra said. "The missing headpiece and missing sun may be related."
"But we are under supplied." Said Izuku. "It might be wise to head back to Lut Gholein first. To unload and to restock. And with the risk of snake bites and whatever disease we saw those zombies suffering from, some antidote, antivenom and disease resistance potions sound vital."
They all nodded along with his reasoning.
"Very well. Take our things, portal back to town, resupply, tell word of what we have found, and hurry back. You have one quarter of an hour." Isendra ordered.
Izuku stood there gaping like a fish.
"That may not be enough time to do all that you requested."
"Then do what you can with prioritizing the potions and antidotes"
Izuku couldn't argue with that. When she put it that way it did sound more feasible.
And so, he closed his eyes and focused on creating the portal upon its creation he went through.
Lut Gholein was even colder than the distant wastes. The sea, now starting to ice over, was pelting the entire city with freezing air. Small fires, lamps and extra wind breaking panels were set up all along the roads.
He'd never seen the city so warm at night, but by the hustle and bustle he presumed it was actually closer to noon.
He made a beeline to Warriv's wagon on the far west side of town. He found the man keeping warm beside an open fire that he was keeping enclosed by stones and his caravan carts with rugs covering some of the open areas between them.
"Warriv!" Izuku hollered as he approached.
The man looked up and smiled as he approached.
"Back in time for winter are you? Your mistress sent you on an errand to me?" He called out.
"Yes! And I have to be quick! Here, take all of this, give me your rate for it all. I have to go to Lysander for potions and be back through the portal in fifteen minutes. We may have found the source of this lasting night." Izuku said quickly.
Warriv took the two packs full of gear that Strom and Cassia had filled and dumped them out as he began filling them. Izuku dumped his own pack of contents out beside it. Including the Horadric cube.
"Get this into Cain's hands IMMEDIATELY. Or else send somebody you trust who can." Izuku ordered.
Warrive took the cube nodding as Izuku turned heel and ran away.
"Oh! And we found the cause of the darkness. Tell everyone we're dealing with it, but that the source is in a temple hidden in the cliffs two hours north of El-Fruija!" Izuku yelled over his shoulder as he ran.
He found Lysander by his own stall and handed him the list.
"Okay! Wow, thirty two healing potions, half as many mana potions, half as many still of anti venom, antidote and disease resistance potions. Would you like the elixir of life to go with that?" Lysander read off sarcastically.
"Only if you can bundle it and everything else in five minutes or less!" Izuku said, more seriously.
Lysander got to work on his order immediately, filling Izuku's back with all of the potions he listed. Talking as he did so.
"So you guys are heading out to try and find the claw vipers responsible?" Lysander said.
"Claw vipers?" Izuku asked, wondering how he could possibly know.
"Oh yeah! Lord Jerhyn dragged Drognan, Cane, Greiz and them up to the palace and they put their heads together. They seem rather sure that this sunlessness is because of those snake folk creating an altar of some kind. They're preparing parties to send out in all directions in search of the source." Lysander explained.
"Oh. Well tell them not to bother, we already found those serpents temple and I just portaled back here to get some supplies before we kick the door down." Izuku told him. Tell any and everybody that Strom, Cassia, Isendra and I are handling it and we are just north of the town of El-Fruija, and that it's been wiped out." Izuku said as he picked up all of his new potions.
He ran as fast as he could back to Warriv. He sighed a breath of relief at the sight of Can standing next to him, Horadric cube in hand.
"I will get word to Lord Jerhyn as soon as you leave." Said Cain. "Do you need anything else?"
"No, master… Cain." Izuku said, faking the slip-up as taking a breath from the running. "I just have to get Strom and Cassia's bags and go."
"All emptied and new, full, coin purses thrown in there." Warriv said.
"Excellent!" Izuku said, before running off back to the center of town where the portal was still open.
He'd been feeling its presence in the back of his mind the whole time he was in the city. He charged through it and dropped the spell. He caught his breath, the warmth of the serpentine temple divine after those few minutes at Lut Gholein.
"The city is nearly frozen over!" Izuku told them as he handed the packs back to their rightful owners.
"The ice on you kind of told us that." Said Strom. "But that means we must hurry. Quickly, distribute the potions you purchased between us all and we can go on."
They did so, each downing a disease resistance potion and socketing antidote potions into their belts or the sides of their packs for ease or reach. Sufficiently resupplied and prepared, they entered the temple. Cassia once again led the way.
And so their war began, and it was a war. Izuku didn't know what they were expecting, beyond snake people definitely being there. But he was fairly certain they weren't expecting every snake on the planet. They just kept coming. Hundreds of them, as soon as they descended the staircase into the depths it was a nonstop bloodbath.
With Cassia and Strom taking the front they butchered them upon her trident and his maul. Just turned them into giblets of quivering meat before Izuku or Isendra could get at them. But they were given their chance to fight as well, for the single-file tunnel soon split into a crossing where four tunnels met, and then they had foes to the front and either side. Strom and Cassia remained focused on the front while Izuku took the left and Isendra the right.
He threw his all into an ice nova, now no longer pleased with the sweltering heat and brightness of this temple, and coated even the ceiling of the tunnels in thick ice. To his surprise, the few claw vipers in front of him continued charging towards him despite his ice nova. They bared their fangs, their human claws, and their scorpion tails as they charged. Izuku simply switched to fire and dropped a fireball right in the middle of them, and when it exploded out he was pelted with charred scales and meat instead of stingers, venom and razor sharp teeth.
"Ice doesn't seem to affect them!" Izuku yelled back. "Fire works!"
"So does lightning!" Isendra called back.
The new working strategy of lighting them ablaze and electrocuting everything in their path as their two muscle-bound friends ripped them apart was a winning one, and so they kept it up. Picking tunnels at random they followed the lovers down, shooting their devastating spells directly through them to soften them up before the tenderizing began.
It was beginning to feel a lot like that "maggot" cave, and Izuku had to wonder if these creatures were even remotely as sentient as their appearance would indicate. They were organized enough to plan a sneak attack but not a resistance to an intrusion by four schmucks? Four absurdly powerful schmucks, sure, but despite their shields, swords and poison spitting they couldn't form a single defensive line? Even though with magic perhaps offense was the preferred option.
Having to pause to all take an antidote or healing potions from the constant poisoned gas clouds from traps they left around also wasn't great. They eventually just settled on drinking the health potions and suffering the poison when they ran out of the former.
They finally reached a large open chamber on what might have been the second story down. It was empty, save for the pillars and inexplicable sunlight emanating from every stone. They advanced to the door on the opposite side of the room, being extra careful to avoid setting off any more traps now that their healing potions were all but spent.
Strom made to kick on the door, as was his style, only to have his thunder stolen when something big and orange kicked it in from the other side. The shattered stone of the doorway flew into the room, hitting all of them, save Strom who received the foot from the other side.
What emerged looked like a sumo wrestler crossed with one of those over the top, steroid using body builders. It was a giant, yellow man of sorts with a head far too small and chains wrapped around its neck, wrists and waist. Izuku flinched at the implications of slavery
The beast stormed past them all as it trampled Strom while Izuku and Isendra took aim with their fire and lightning and Cassia charged forth with her trident. Izuku, for his aid, was rewarded with a slash to the back of his head starting at his ear down to his shoulder. The blade was so sharp he barely felt it dig into his flesh until after the sensation of blood running down his neck and back in what felt like a river of blood.
He turned to find more claw vipers storming in from behind the roided up giant. He changed his focus appropriately, scorching the bastards as one before they could sink their blades into him. They exploded as gloriously as all of their counterparts had thus far. By the time he finished he turned around to discover the battle won, as the yellow giant was beheaded and crumbled beside a nearly identically crumbled Strom.
He'd never seen the man that beat up before, so he felt real panic when he ran up to see it up close. He was no doctor, but he knew legs ought not to be bent in that direction or look like gelatin in parts.
"I don't suppose you're all out of health potions too, are you?" Strom asked between pained breaths.
Izuku checked and blanched. How had he run through eight of them already? He'd only just now received his first actual injury!
"What do we do? Send Izuku back?" Asked Cassia.
"No. We cannot yet. If we retreat now, the enemies here may run off with the amulet and, assuming it's something else, whatever means they are using to blot out the sun. We must risk our lives to prevent the latter." Isendra said.
"I can stay here and protect Strom, try to patch him up, while you two continue on." Cassia offered.
Yeah, if they left Strom alone he would be a dead man. They had to remain in groups of two at the very least.
"Wait. I can try holy bolt!" Izuku declared.
"No! Save yourself, I can wait" Strom refused. "I suggest you focus on bandaging yourself up first."
Izuku reached a hand up to where he'd been stabbed to find his fingers coated in drying blood. So the wound hand already stopped and was congealing, he dropped his pack to the ground and retrieved his bandages as Cassia did the same with her pack. He wrapped his head up while she cut off a piece of one of the snake men's spears into the right length for a splint.
"You two get a move on. If you do not come back within thirty minutes we will come in after you and finish the fight." Cassia ordered.
Izuku and Isendra turned tail, descending the staircase down into the third level. Izuku suspected Storm didn't want Izuku to see his moment of weakness as Cassia set his leg into place, but he still heard the scream all the same.
The final layer of the temple was more akin to a cave, a wide open one where nearly a hundred more claw vipers all stood or sat around in a circle about an altar. The stone about the altar was blood-stained, and a strange wand was embedded within. His eyes were inexorably drawn to the glowing amulet floating above it all, and the glorious heat rolling off of it.
This story was Cowritten/Beta'd by NonsensicalRants You can hire NonsensicalRants to write your stories, all you have to do is provide him with a rough outline and contact him on his patron.
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