Zao Wu Hai followed a trail of damage, it was the direct path the compass was leading him. "He must not be far, the compass is jumping." Tapping it, he spoke to himself, flying quickly through the air.
The remainder of his forces were stored inside of the Tower City, preparing for whatever should come. Frozen landscapes and strange marks across the battlegrounds have the Emperor a sense of hope for his Brother. The trail came to an end suddenly. Halfway up a mountain, a temple like room filled with the images of blood offerings lined its interior and a shimmering wall of silver stood in the back. Claw marks were on the pillars and all the bodies were gone.
Looking at the shimmering wall, Wu Hai threw a rock and watched it disappear. "Dungeon? Dimension? portal?" He was excited, 'Come on.. let it be a dungeon!' he flew threw the doorway. His speed was an issue when he came through, a wall stopped his advance. It was extremely sturdy and stopped his advance cold. 'Ugggg' Wu Hai shook his head and looked around, the wall was enormous.
He saw an opening that led to another place, the entire zone gave off a feeling that he couldn't shake. He wanted to advance inside, there were vibrations. He couldn't hold himself back any further, curious, he rushed down the open corridor. It brought him to a courtyard, the ceiling was open and pitch black. No stars, no crickets or wildlife in the distance. It was a very peaceful, though covered in designs of brutality, chains of all sizes, collars and bone hung from the walls.
A presence so vast he wasn't sure if it was a good thing started to move in the distance, a crash came out of the inner catacombs, bodies flung into the air with the spray of dirt and stone. Old Corpses, bone and debris flew in all directions as a pair of unique dragonkin emerged, they were both clawing to get away from a creeping black sludge that hung below them, lurching. Breath Attacks. Beams of Gold and Ice battered the sludge. The cutting force burrowed into the dimensional floor, dissipating into a void below.
"YEAH! GET EM!" Wu Hai cheered a bit too loud, it caught their attentions. 'Shit, what if they aren't friendly.' he prepared himself for battle, pulling the crusher out and dipping into the shadows to hide his presence.
It was useless, a voice came from the pair's direction. "You there. Come out, We can hear your heartbeat, you cannot hide. We come to destroy the Undead."
'The Voice,' he knew the voice. He traveled closer along the shadow, as he emerged he swapped into his light elemental form and shock crossed the faces of all three.
A reunion. "Brother? Who.. What?" Wu Hai put the crusher away, but it was premature. The sludge broke through the foundation and started to lash out again.
"After we defeat this.. whatever the fuck it is. You're a light elemental.. get brighter!" Zhan's ice beam made a wall and segregated the three of them from the sludge.
"Just keep getting brighter, look at it, its starting to flee." Wu Hai got brighter then charged his hands with light, they took the shape of sickles and then he grew wing's from his back to increase his light. They served little function, he could fly without them, but their radiance beat the sludge back and away from Zhan's Ice Wall. 'What is this?' Wu Hai scraped some of it off the stone and put it into a bottle. "Focus your attacks center mass, maybe we can disrupt it."
He charged a ring of light and tossed two liquefied lighning balls into it. Holding it in his palm, he charged another ring and encircled the trio with a barrier. "Get ready." He threw it then focused almost all of his remaining energy into a single blast. a great blinding light exploded in magnificence, its light was so strong that closing their eyes did nothing to stop the light from entering their bodies.
-{'TELL HIM TO FUCKING STOP! AHH!'} Ferser screamed, Zhan held his head and collapsed, Khan Ni covered his position.
"What is it?" Khan Ni asked. She could sense his pain, she cried out. "Wu Hai, Stop."
The Emperor pulled his power back and looked at the sludge, it had been reduced to the size of a small bean. He picked it up and stared at it. It reminded him a lot of the Black Spot before it changed. He put it into the container with the scrapings and they rejoined, absorbing each other.
"Intersting." He smelled his hand. 'Ink?' After the sludge stopped moving, they searched the area and looted everything that was not nailed down. There were lots of engraved rocks surrounding the portal exit, when the three of them left the graveyard ruins Wu Hai tried to take the portal as well. He moved some stones to clear its entrance but it flickered then the doorway disappeared. Wu Hai kicked it a little and nudged the rock back where it was a moment ago. "Very Interesting."
"I've found you. Don't you dare leave." Wu Hai turned to his brother, a bit pissed off but keeping his cool. "Don't you dare." He held up his hand in a 'wait wait wait' motion, stopping Zhan and the other Dragon's retreat.
"Come inside. We have a lot to discuss." Wu Hai threw out the Tower City and watched it expand, his ability to shock his brother with his advancements had never ceased.
"You're still the same, you know that." Khan Ni flew closer.
"Yeah. I thought that was you. This.. I never thought you'd give up your Elven heritage. You must tell me everything, but lets do it inside. My people are getting restless, Qu's been letting his aura out to get my attention for the past few days." When the Tower City fully enlarged they strode through the main gate.
Abbi cried out in relief, she hated being stuck inside of the City. It was like being stuck in a prison, the windows were few and far between and all of them showed nothing in the distance.
Wu Hai had an idea to keep her busy. "Abbi, gather the stealth team for a defensive perimeter, and research team for this portal."
"Portal? On it." Abbi walked back into the building and found Qu's avatar, hitching a ride. He didn't mind for important matters, but occasionally the residents of the City would use him as a personal transporter, which annoyed him greatly.
"Gather the Elders." Wu Hai grabbed his brothers side and then Khan Ni and teleported to the Pagoda's Main Hall. He walked up to the Table and started to ask his brother questions, each more complicated than the last, trying to get up to speed and debrief him as fast as possible. The others would slow his gathering of the information with more questions.
After learning what Zhan knew about Xue, Wu Hai asked about their bodies. Zhan produced the Gygax and set them down gently. "Brother, you're much more familiar with these, I was locked into these forms. There is no humanoid tile. Wu Hai picked them up, he could feel their power.
"This should be interesting." He produced the rest of his Gygax and the Cup from storage. Putting them into the cup he passed it over, placing the other two Gygax into the cup. It seemed almost full.
"This.. I do not want to lose this form, not right now. It helps me. Please understand. Khan Ni may be interested." Zhan looked over at her but she shook her head no.
"Okay.. then I'll give it a shot." Mike walked in. He had heard the last few exchanges.
The Emperor looked strangely okay with the whole ordeal. "There's a dragon on each of the new Gygax." he said.
Khan Ni corrected him. "Its a Jiao, I've got both transformations once before. It is a strange feeling, boundless. I never felt more connected with the World."
Mike didn't need to hear any more. Changing his clothes quickly in the corner, he got into a robe and picked out the two new Gygax, placing the others by the side. He didn't want to roll them. Holding the Cup he cast them out.
'Rat, Turtle' Mike's appearance started to warp, he shrank considerably, his scales and wings changed shape, tufts of fur could be seen around his neck and on his face. "What the fuck is this?!" Mike didn't enjoy it one bit, his stomach was doing flip flops. He scooped the Gygax back into the cup and rolled again.
'Hippo, Ox' Changing shape again, distorting, his body grew rigid with fur like needles. His hind legs turned to hooves and his front to flat stumps. Two horns came from the sides of his head, four in total and two of the curled back like tusks near his massive jawline. "This is not fun, I don't like this form." Mike tried to pick up the Gygax with the cup but it was a little difficult to move the paws in the right way, he picked them up with his mouth and placed them in the cup. "Not a word" More were gathering in the hall, the elders watched as he went through transformation after transformation.
'Lion, Rat'
'Tiger, Viper'
'Dog, Centauri' One by one, Mike went through the transformations.
'Mouse, Saberwolf'
'Snake, Sloth'
'Monkey, Sparrow' Mike couldn't help but joke about being a flying monkey for the Emperor and then he rolled again.
The meeting went on while he rolled on the side, playing with his body. Mike felt awkward until his 34th roll. 'Dragon, Jiao' "YES! FINE-AH-LEE!" Mike jumped as the transformation started to take place. His wings grew a fantastic and consuming blue, it was difficult to look at them without staring. His back grew plating and his tail flickered with an ethereal steam like mist that wafted in the breezes. He was much taller than before. His claws were more claw like, his body was longer, rounder, more dragon like.
Ibuwere entered the room and sat down on the floor, stumped. "Wyrm."
Mike looked down at his appearance. "I mean, I guess so.. Hold that thought." Mike picked the size die from the table and placed it into the cup, casting it against the wall. It came to a stop.
'Medium' Mike shrank a bit, He tried again.
'Humongous' Mike cramped the tiny corner and used his nails to grab the tiny die and put it into the cup. "I swear, I'm not doing this on purpose" He cast the die again.
'Tiny' Mike shrank considerably, he was a little shorter than the Emperor and he gave off an aura that made others want to sit down. Ibuwere cringed as he approached.