Four Horsemen: Chapter 37 Part 2 of 2

She looked at him and nodded.

Petor held up his hand and waved it back and forth.

She smirked and shook her head, then stored up more of the elemental.

Mya stepped into his vision holding up a her rifle.

“Not dead yet!” She waved her hand, clearing away more of the elemental and its armor. Items littered the space around the elemental.

Valter arrived next, looking him over.

“Burns suck,” Petor said. He pulled off his helmet

“Take a pain reliever?”

“Heal it out of my system.”

Petor closed his eyes, his hand resting on a piece of leg greaves.

“Water?”

He just nodded.

“I’ll get this cleaned up, then we should do something about the mob at the porticullis,” Mya said.

Desari’s eyes were glowing purple again, wiping her sword absently as she studied something only she could see.

Valter handed Petor a canteen. He drank deep, taking several mouthfuls before he handed it back. Valter stored it away.

Petor stood up, his skin itched but the rest of him was mostly reformed.

He tapped the greaves he had been resting on. “Well, think we could get some new armor out of this lot?”

“You all give me his armor and I’ll make us all new armor, might take me some time, it didn’t warp or melt even while he was using his breath.” Valter tilted his helmeted head in a way that made Petor think he was already thinking about the smithing challenges ahead of him.

“Not to rush things along but our gate crashers are starting to melt through the portcullis,” Mya said.

“Great,” Petor put his helmet down and started undoing his buckles. The leather padding was singed but whatever Mya had used hadn’t burned away like his underlayers.

He made to take off his shirt, ripping it off as there was barely anything holding it together. The scars across his body were going from raw red, back to the natural color and spreading out, taking away the tightness.

“It looks like several dungeons are supposed to feed into this one and then it feeds into another place. Three in, one being the earth dungeon, the others have to be water and air,” Desari said, her sword had been replaced with papers and pencils that floated around her, drawing out diagrams. Valter studied it, his siege arbalest ready in his hands.

“Looks right to me, each of the elemental fonts connected to the elemental planes, that raw power then drawn to her and sent on,” Mya said. She clicked back the hammer of her long rifle.

Petor pulled on his fresh underlayers quickly, the material scratching against his new skin as he summoned his armor. It flared and sealed back together.

He undid his greaves and boots, storing them, his underlayers little more than rags as he dressed again.

“We have two options, kill the creatures at the porticullis or activate the formation in this dungeon and see where it sends us next,” Valter said, his voice rising as he ran for where the last chain connected to the elemental lay on the floor leading to the wall.

“Well lets see what we can do about thinning out their numbers.” Mya moved to a rock outcropping, using it to steady her aim. She cracked off a shot. “Bastard moved.”

Petor walked towards her, resummoning his armor. It entombed him once more.

Potions mostly smashed up, pouches burnt, sling. He picked up the leather and turned it over, singed and warped but not actually burnt.

I’m going to ask for a set of clothes made of this stuff.

“How long you think we have?” Petor asked as he stopped next to her.

“Not long. See them runes at the top, they used to cover it all. I think the elemental was powering it somehow,” Mya said. She fired, hitting a creature of sentient magma. Petor suppressed a shiver.

The runes disappeared up the top of the portcullis.

Creatures of red flame with white eyes drifted through the portcullis.

“Well that’s not good.” Mya traded out her rifle for another and fired. It hit one of the creatures of flame perfectly, gouging out the flames and detonating within.

“Ah crap.” Mya’s usually unflappable attitude became serious. “These creatures are at least Epic level!”

Whoump.

Valter’s arbalest missed one of the phantoms and hit a serpent made of red and black scales breathing on the portcullis.

The creature was smashed back, the arbalest detonating and peppering the others around it. They resumed their attacks with minimal injuries.

“Valter I need you on the pedestal. I need the golem’s heartstone and the elemental’s!” Desari said.

Petor took out the crystallized orb of flame and threw it to Desari, it disappeared into her storage.

“I’ll lay in brambles and thorns to cover the area in front of the portcullis.” Petor loaded up more bramble root balls, spinning them up to speed as he cast plant growth on the first ones that hit the ground among the phantoms, slowly heading towards them.

Rootballs exploded with growth, spreading over the ground, ensnaring the oncoming horde.

A wave of fire ejected from their bodies, charring the brambles before they grew faster.

Mya cracked off another shot, pushing a phantom stumbling back into the brambles. It fell, hurling out a wave of fire into the air. The brambles writhed excitedly.

Valter ran back. Petor threw out hellfire thorns, aiming for the phantoms casting spike growth.

The hellfire thorns hit three of the phantoms, two outside the bramble patch and one inside. They detonated in a spray.

Parts of the phantoms sprayed on the ground, the one in the brambles staggered, the enhanced brambles, twirling around its mid section and tightening.

One in the brambles tore its way free, the brambles shuddered and blackened, the embers flowing into one of the phantoms, the others copied it, the brambles dying.

Mya fired, hitting another phantom ectoplasm sprayed on the ground, it turned towards her moving in its same ponderous manner, compressing itself.

Petor hurled another slingfull of hellfire thorns, hitting two of the nearest phantoms.

He ducked as they went off peppering them.

“How are you looking?” Petor yelled.

“Just a few more changes,” Valter yelled back.

Mya glanced over with her rifle. A wave of fire reached her and washed over the outcropping, her rifle exploded in her hands.

She crashed into Petor, her right hand nearly gone, her face and chest covered in wounds. He shoved mana into her, and tethered to her, grabbing a healing potion from her belt he held her head and poured it on her face.

“We got to get moving now!”

Petor threw the remains of her rifle into his storage, grabbed his sling in his right hand, her belt with his left and threw her over his shoulder.

Lightning shot over him hitting something nearby.

Petor took off running for the dungeon core and threw the contents of his sling behind him.

A wave of heat licked at his back as the thistles went off with their tell-tale tsouhh like a dozen dart guns being blown at once.

“Nearly done!” Valter yelled. He was glancing at a roughly drawn schematic as he cut lines into the pedestal.

Desari stood over him, releasing lightning over Petor and Mya.

“Gunpowder is a mean mistress,” Mya muttered on Petor’s shoulder, he kept sending her mana through the tether, her wound rapidly healing.

Valter withdrew his knife from the pedestal.

Magma flowed into the lines, connecting them.

“Fuck yes!” Valter yelled, he stood, his eyes widening in his visor as Petor reached them. The world turned black and white, then they were in another place, another room. Everything was colorless except a multi-faceted crystal of nearly neutral grey circled by orbiting rings of black and white metal.

It sat in the middle of the flat room, magical inscriptions were carved into the ground.

Petor picked Mya off of his shoulder and set her down. She staggered on her feet, holding her head, healed even if the light collared undershirt was peppered with holes and burn marks.

“No worries,” He patted her on the shoulder. “Not dead,” he proclaimed to the others.

Mya smirked. “Guess I earned that.”

Desari took in a breath, her’s and Valter’s eyes darting around the room. Inscriptions were carved into the floor and mirrored on the roof. One main circled around the grey stone. Then other circles around that, more after that, interconnected like a web.

“A ritual indeed,” Desari said.

“I told yah,” Mya said.

A small vortex of colorless fire, a miniaturized version of the elemental font in the middle of the dungeon they’d been in swirled into being in the middle of the spell circle they stood in.

“This has to be linked to the dungeon we just came from,” Desari said.

“Look.” Vatler pointed away from the center.

Petor glanced back, a crystal hung in a smaller magical circle. “Identical to the one in the earthen dungeon.”

The runes that were black on most of the other inscriptions were lit up around the crystal holding inscription.

“Its filling in.” Valter pointed to the ground.

Petor backed away from the circle as the runes were lighting up and tracing around and towards the center.

“Can we move to the others?” Petor asked.

“I think so? This is larger than anything I’ve seen before.”

Petor took out a random spoon and threw it, nothing happened to it as it crossed the edge of the inscription.

He followed after it standing outside of the inscribed ground.

The other two followed afterwards as Mya pushed herself up and looked around.

“Is that wall moving?”

Petor looked over.

Shadow shifted into light and back again, weaving on a path towards them. Everything warned Petor that he was not facing a normal creature.

“The hell is that?” Valter asked, drawing his hot hammer that glowed in this space.

“We’re in the ethereal plane, a place between all of the planes. That has to be a resident.” Desari moved towards the center of the room and the grey gem there.

“You came from the auxiliary plane connectors, but you do not have the new master’s seal.” The voice came from several directions at once.

“You know about the connections to the other planes?” Desari asked.

The shadows and light blended into a faceless skinny creature, the light and shadow moving over it in swirling patterns, eyes  of white and black crowned its head facing in every direction.

“We are the place between them, should we not understand them?” The creature shimmered forward into a portion of shadow, then seeped into another of light. Petor backed up.

It tilted its head to the side. “Blaze Phantoms and other creatures of the fire plane were transported to the nexus. I will use their energies to power the inscriptions.”

“The nexus, that’s this place?” Desari asked as her eyes roved over the grey stone, its revolving bands.

Petor stopped past her, looking at the creature moving forward and her as she studied everything.

Three other dungeon circles were illuminated with different elemental fonts in their center.

“Yes, the place that the masters stepped between planes.”

“We repaired the connections to the auxiliary planes,” Desari said.

Mya groaned on Petor’s shoulder, nearly completely healed.

“You are not of Aetheria. You are not of the Magisteria.” It turned its head to the side.

“Break the barriers, travel the planes, visit the worlds, kill the gods!” The creature grew larger, its speed climbing.

Valter readied himself. “Desari!”

Petor got ready to drop Mya and rush into the fight if needed.

“Grab a hold!” Desari yelled.

Petor stepped forward and clamped his hand onto her shoulder. Valter jogged over and held the other.

Grey, white and black mixed together creating swirling colors as the creature roared, slipping forward rapidly.

The colors settled into normality as they appeared within an office.

There were drawings on every wall, looking like the notes that Desari, Valter and Mya had poured over.

The stone floated above Desari’s hands, the same purple as her own eyes, the bands, polished silver, gold, a black and white material. Their interiors reflected a myriad of colors as a purple haze hung on the surface of the central multi-faced stone.

Desari stored it away.

Valter moved to one of the windows. Desari walked toward the notes and Petor picked Mya off of his shoulder and set her down, she staggered on her feet, holding her head, healed even if the light collared undershirt was peppered with holes and burn marks.

“Thanks Petor.”

“No worries,” He patted her on the shoulder. “Not dead.” He proclaimed to the others.

Mya smirked. “Guess I earned that.”

“Well we’re on the top of the tower,” Valter said. Turning back from the window.

Mya’s eyes went smoky. “And there is an alarm formation going off.”

“This is notes on the inscriptions in the dungeons. The formations and spell circles in the ethereal plane.” Desari stored the notes she had grabbed and looked out of the window. “Shit—” She turned back to the others. “We’re in the main tower.”

The doors crashed open to reveal half a dozen armored guards and a man in finery.

“Kill them!” he cried out.

Petor pushed back Mya and interposed his shield, a sword cut into his shield, his arm shaking with the attack as he turned it away, his foot driving into the ground as he was forced backwards.

Brown light then the hot light of flame illuminated the room from behind Petor overwhelmed with purple.

The man started to yell as he unleashed a spell Petor interposed his shield and body infront of Desari.

His shield slammed into his chest and head, the force throwing him backwards, pain bloomed along his right pec and shoulder.

Colors slammed together into darkness and light, then disappeared as Petor rolled across an icy surface, coming to a stop. He looked around. They were on an island of ice, complete with plants, vegetation and animals.

He got to his feet, taking out a healing potion with his left hand and drank it, healing his broken ribs, punctured lung and the cut running through him.

There wasn’t even a mark on his armor.

A wave of elemental mana shot out like a wave.

Desari stumbled, looking drunk as she dropped to a knee, head bobbing from side to side.

Valter moved closer to her, checking the area. Mya had a pistol in her hand, the other resting on her blade.

Petor coughed and drank more potions, focusing his mana to knit together flesh and bone.

Desari drank three potions back to back.

“Lets not do that again anytime soon. I feel like I’ve been run over by a dozen carriages.”

Petor grunted in agreement, spitting blood to the side and pushing himself up.

“Fucking spell went right through my armor.”

“What the heck was that at the end?” Mya asked.

“I think the Duke was behind it all,” Desari breathed heavily, storing away a potion bottle, color returning to her face.

She stood up and looked around. “We made it to the water plane at least.”

“This is the water plane?” Valter looked around. “The plants are all different kinds of colors. Shouldn’t they be all blue?”

“Element doesn’t dictate the colors a plant will be. Can be totally random,” Desari said.

“You said the Duke is behind it all?” Mya asked.

“Well, him or whoever owned that office. I got the gem to send me to the last location it transmitted to, faster than coming up with a new location.”

“And this?” Valter waved to the island with his hammer.

“I’ve been here before, a long time ago.” Desari studied the forest. “I knew what the gem would need to teleport again and gave it the information it needed as well as fed it the power from the golem core and elemental heart stone. That and it draining my mana was enough to teleport us. This is Irshon’s domain. The Duke won’t be able to get to us here.”

She stepped towards the forest.

The end.