((Book 1 if this is your first time here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZZBHBMF
Book 3's finished version:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CK72L912))
The nearest door was a level 50 at the very edge of the camp. Clio and Shadow took shelter from the rain in one of the trailers, as Nyt and I did the grim work of dragging the bodies through the mud and tossing them into Efra. I take a pair of boots that look like they'd fit from the feet of a man before tossing him into the blackness. The sloshing of mud and gore through my toes had churned my stomach something awful. Lightning Step was a good gap closer when I needed it, or a good, 'get away from me,' spell, but I really wish it didn't have the effect of destroying my shoes. We pulled the wallets of each out, stripped them of cash, and tossed the rest into the void. No trace.
How many of them were husbands? Fathers? Sons of fathers? No, don't start thinking like that, Lawrence. I slap myself with my cupped hand and rub my temples. This is war. More will die. Hundreds. Thousands. Possibly by your hand. This was the inevitable outcome as soon as humans began to turn their back on Earth.
"What next?" Nyt says as we wait out the storm inside one of the trailers.
Beds line the walls, and small footlockers lay at their feet. Nyt sits on the bed closest to the door, while I dry my feet with one of the towels I had found inside one of the foot lockers.
"Can you keep an eye out here? I'm going to go and close the door. We tossed a lot of bodies in there, and I'd rather none of the apostles back at the compound find out about this. Especially not my brother."
She taps her pointed chin with one of her claws.
" 'Close the door,' is a pretty funny way to put it."
"Yeah, yeah."
"I'll keep an eye out, and keep these two safe, Don't worry."
"Thank you."
Perhaps she knew that I needed some time alone. I grabbed the glass bottle I felt at the bottom of one of the footlockers, laced my new boots, and headed out with my staff. I take the first swig before I even push through the large red door. As I twirl through the black space between worlds, I make sure to hold tight to both the bottle and my staff.
As I step into Efra, I land on the pile of corpses that Nyt and I had tossed in just an hour or so prior and stumble into the face of one. A young man, by the looks of it. No older than 18 with a small red tuft of hair sprouting from his chin, and his jaw unhinged in a perpetual scream. I push myself away from him, and to my feet; nearly stumbling over the stiff arm of another; an older, grandfatherly-looking figure. I glanced back to the pile of human remains; their dead eyes stared their hate at me, and I unscrewed the cap on the bottle of whiskey and down a burning swig so I could conjure the courage to tear my gaze away from them. I screw the red cap back on and stumble through the room. Now, where was I?
The air was heavy a damp; and no wonder; the ceiling was made of packed earth, and the room was cramped; especially so with the pile of bodies behind me. Beyond the earthy dampness, there was a tinge of salt in the air. A single set of stone stairs leads upwards to a hatch. I take the stairs push the hatch open, and step into a small hovel.
Perhaps for the first time while in an Efran residential abode, I don't feel the risk of bumping my head against the rafters of the slanted ceiling above me, as if it were made for something of roughly human height. A single double bed sat against a wall nearby, and the center of the room was taken up by a round fireplace with long dead charcoal in a bed of white ash.
By the bed was a chest with an old, rotted lock. I tear the lock off with a yank and pull open the chest. Flowing robes of various colors sit within the trunk and beneath a thick layer of dust that had seeped into the chest somehow. They look rather large. Did I need new clothes? No. Would I take them? Yes. I shove a couple of the robes in my backpack and take another swig of the Johnny Walker. Pale light bleeds in from the gaps between the rotting thatch, and from beneath the wooden door on the wall opposite the bed, with that light I stumble around the small room, exploring my space.
On the various tables, countertops, and over flat parts off the floor — on pretty any surface, there was a variety of half-finished sketches on pieces of canvas. Sketches of vulpine-like figures standing tall and proud, others of a family of these same type of creatures.
Was I in a place other than the large Ir city? Perhaps I would finally face something other than the Rat and Dogmen and the occasional Rabbit. I take another swig of the whiskey before setting it down on a nearby, dust-covered stone countertop. My head begins to swim. Wow. When was the last time I drank for it to be affecting me already?
"What is the goal of thish…" I shake my head to get rid of the dizziness. "This dive?"
Kill the priest.
Easy. I'm so, so good at killing things. I move to the wooden door and push through it. The rusted hinges shatter at the lightest touch, and the door falls outward onto the small patch of grass just beyond the door. Beneath the grass, small ruts in the earth betray an ancient, long unused path. I step forward over the wooden door and come to a stop as a blast of wind blows the smell and taste of salt at me.
Before me; behind a chest-high stone wall nearly covered completely with grass and moss, was a cliff that led to a sheer drop into the foamy peaks of a great sea crashing into the stony cliff. The remains of ancient ships cling onto the larger rocks that jut out from the sea like the pointed teeth of some great beast lurking beneath. My eyes trail the coast and then move to the horizon.
In the distance, through the fogwall, I can barely make out the silhouettes of great monuments on some distant shore. Great, headless statues standing like giants watching the rolling tides. Temples dedicated to long-dead gods, and homes for countless thousands, all as dead as those gods.
Along the cliff, I spot the figure of something stirring from within the tall grass. It stands to a height of at least double the building behind me, with a pair of thick, black horns on its head, and a pair of glowing eyes. A minotaur. That would be the best way to describe it. Its white and black spotted fur bristled as it spotted me. It pushes itself off the ground; a pair of white tassets with red outlines cover its tree root-sized thighs. It lifts a long, single-edged axe from the grass beside it and charges; frothing foam around its mouth.
Before my drunken mind can react, it is upon me, swinging across my body with its axe. I throw myself onto the ground. The axe turns the ancient stone wall that guarded against the careless falling to their dooms to dust. I plant a solid kick on the creature's solid flank, hoping to topple it. It feels like kicking solid stone.
Earthen Spike.
Packed earth drives upwards and smashes against the creature's side. The points flatten; unable to pierce the thick, ropy muscles of its abdomen. The minotaur slams its hoof down onto my chest and drives me to the ground. I feel a couple of my ribs snap at the force. It raises its axe above its head, ready to deal the finishing blow.
"A volley, oh djinn."
Ten arrows of red hot flame and braided wind form above me and slam into the creature's face. It roars in pain as the arrows break and burn its fur. It drops its weapon to its side and tries to pat away the flames with its large hands. I pull the dagger out from my sash and jam it into the creature's ankle. It pierces through its thick muscles and hide like a hot knife through butter. It lifts its leg temporarily as I pull the knife out, and try to stab it in again. The knife bounces off of its hoof, and out of my grasp into the grass near the door of the slanted stone house.
There. It's off balance. I grasp in the grass for the staff and point it at the broad chest of the minotaur.
"You that bind the all, move for me."
Coalesce aether slams into the bull-man's chest. It stumbles backward and is pressed against the remains of the stone wall. Two more Earthen Spikes slam into the creature and push it further back. It swings its axe wildly into the ground and nearly takes off my arm. To stop it from swinging again, I reach over and wrap my arms and legs around the creature's arm, as thick as the trunk of a birch tree. There. It's pinned, now I can actually do somethin— It lifts me from the ground. All 280~ pounds of me, and pivots its huge body so that its massive arm reaches out over the chaotic blue. Fuck. It tries to shake me free, and I cling on for dear life.
I extend my legs and land a solid kick on its face. Not that it does any good. How high is its Strength? Its Endurance?
"Oh you ruler of Olympus, lend thy power to my steps."
Thunder crashes as lightning surges through my legs and out of my foot. The rubber soles of my new boot melt and meld onto the minotaur's face. Its head jolts backward, and the recoil rips my grip off of its thick fur; taking chunks of its flesh off as I hurl toward the rock-strewn sea.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
I twist my body in the air and aim toward the cliff walls. As soon as my fingers brush against it, I conjure an Earthen spike beneath me. It breaks apart as I collide against it, but it slows my fall. Another, and another until the spike doesn't shatter beneath me. As soon as I stopped falling, I cast a round of Lesser Heals on my groin and nearly passed out from the pain. By the time I was safe, I had fallen three-quarters of the way down.
The highest of the foamy splashes now brush against my legs hanging off of the spike. The remains of the shattered spikes formed a near-perfect rock wall. I pull myself up and up. After I had climbed about half the distance that I fell, a shadow above caught my attention just in time to see the large boulder falling down from the cliff to smash my head in. An earthen spike juts from the wall and knocks it aside; though it still clips my shoulder on the way down to splash into the great sea. A bruise is already beginning to form where it had hit, and a moment later, the minotaur reappears holding a chunk of the stone fence above its head. It tosses it down at me. I sent another earthen spike to intercept. The large stone crashes against the spike and skitters off its surface to fall into the waters beneath.
I glanced up, and the minotaur was already gone. On the ledge it stood, I see something; a large boulder that connected the earthy shelf to the land. I pull myself up onto the large spike I had used to deflect the stone, a plan forming in my mind.
"Bombard my enemies, O' thou servants of Gob, the magnomious."
I send the threads of mana up through the cliff face wrap them around the large boulder and any other stones surrounding it, and hold the spell there. As soon as the minotaur peeked its head out to throw the next stone down at me, I let loose the spell. The boulder flings out into the air and the earthy shelf the minotaur stands on collapses under its weight without the support. It tries to turn and grasp at the roots and loose earth, but both fall away, and he is left without purchase.
The large bovine creature falls down toward me, but three quick Earthen Spikes jutting from the wall and slamming into it push it further and further away. I breathe a sigh of relief. Finally. I reach up and begin pulling myself up once m—
Two heavy hands reach out from the air and grab hold of my shoulder as the minotaur swings into me to stop itself from vanishing into the sea.
"Are you FUCKING kidding me. Fucking tenacious bastard."
I slam my elbow back into its meaty flank, as its fingers dig into my shoulders. How heavy is he? I had an easier time picking up that truck. I try to pull myself up the wall further; hoping it would fall away, but it begins to pull me off the wall.
"I can survive the fall, Earthean. What about you?" It spoke in a deep, mocking voice as it doubled down on its pull.
I raise my leg press it against its groin area, and kick back, and grit my teeth. I'm going to need new boots again.
"Oh you ruler of Olympus, lend thy power to my steps."
My knee rockets forward and cracks the cliff, as all the force of a lightning bolt flows into the sensitive areas of the giant bull. It sucks in a sharp intake of air and seizes up; its fingers and heavy hands letting go of me as it falls away into the blue sea below. I begin climbing once more before I hear the splashing of the water.