The warrior mage closed his eyes, breathing deeply, gathering and circulating mana for the spell. A spell to call upon the shadow of the fires of creation and destruction, fires ruled over by Geire of Light and Dark. A shadow that had been called by the Summoned-
"
Outside the shield, a great gout of fire burst from the middle of the undead. It rose and spread, thundering through the zombies, shattering protective spells and armor alike. The undead writhed and tried to flee, their jaws moving in silent screams for a moment before the flame engulfed them and they collapsed into ash.
Elmerin waited a moment to see if there was any other movement in the room. A check with Echo showed Drysia was handily dispatching her opponents in the hallway.
Wait… was that aura? When had Drysia started using that? Was she hiding it from Falchan and the Cothmores?
Later. Elermin dismissed the shield and observed the remaining ash and bone, then bowed his head.
"May you rest and find solace in the arms of Idalin and Vikesh." Elmerin made the gesture of peace, hand upright, thumb against his sternum. "May those who cursed you face Aquet and Searis upon their ends." He raised his head and sighed. "Summon card."
As expected, the zombies were recorded among his kills. One was marked "zombie captain" -he'd missed that when using Analyze. It was a sign the monster had evolved.
Zombies didn't evolve easily -at least, not without help. There was some old research on the matter, back before necromancy had been banned. The guild would have a fit.
"Return." The card disappeared. Elmerin looked around, searching again, then headed in the direction of the toxic energy seeping from the back of the room.
There.
At the base of the stairs leading up to the dais holding the count's chair was a stand. On it, as large as his hand and with a sickly grey-steel light, the crystal rested. Surrounding the stand were twelve steles, the sides facing the crystal engraved with symbology -corruption, gathering, enhancement. Amplification.
"Elmerin."
He turned to look at Drysia as she approached. "Get all of them?"
"Yep. If they'd been adventurers, I'd say not one was above Ruby." She came up beside him. "That feels nasty."
"I need to purify it and dispel the energy. Then you shatter it, then I'll do any further purifying of it and the area if need be." Elmerin dug into one of his item bags. "While I'm casting, put these CAP glyph papers over the symbols on these steles. That should hold them until the guild teams can get here.
Drysia took the papers. "What are those symbols on the steles and how long before the dungeon activates?"
"The symbols help collect and maintain the pool of corruption and feed the seed. Dungeon activation-" Elmerin took a good look at the crystal "-an hour, maybe less."
"Then do it." Drysia slapped the first paper in place.
Bolat's crystals not only possessed concentrated energy, but resisted cleansing and purifying spells, sometimes aggressively. More force was needed to neutralize Bolat's energy than an equal amount of corrupted magic, and to offset backlash or splash damage. Elmerin, held his hands in front of him, one over the other, and began.
"With the Light of Idalin in my hands
I call upon Rherion and Khedia.
Cleanse this place of this corruption
These things of their poison.
I am Elmerin the Spearmaster
In my name, Purify!"
As he spoke, the light grew between his hands, glowing and pulsing. As he finished, it launched, arcing through the room and landing square on the crystal, the energy gathering around the crystal and pulsing outward.
As he spoke, the light grew between his hands, glowing and pulsing. As he finished, it launched, arcing through the room and landing square on the crystal, the energy gathering around the crystal and pulsing outward.
Bolat's crystal pulsed and shook. Waves of dark-steel energy fought the light, trying to push it back or disrupt it. Grimly, Elmerin kept pushing, overwhelming the toxic silver waves and forcing the spell's energy even to the heart of the crystal.
The spell ended, leaving the crystal a much lighter shade of grey and the area around the stand much less contaminated. The steel fires within it still flickered, showing they weren't completely banished.
"Drysia. Now."
Drysia raised her sword and brought it down edge-first against the facets of the crystal. Her aim was perfect; the crystal shattered into dozens of pieces, pulsing and releasing energy as it did so.
"Good job. Finish placing the glyphs."
"That energy release is why you wanted to purify it first."
Elmerin nodded. "If we'd just shattered it, the wave would have been more powerful and very painful. Even with a barrier or shield, we would have both needed treatment and detoxing."
Drysia shook her head and kept placing the papers. Elmerin closed his eyes.
There was still a lot of contamination in the area, contamination that could still be coaxed into a dungeon seed if not cleared. Unlike the previous spell, this next purify spell would have to clear the entire area between the steles, and ideally a good chunk of the room beyond, where Bolat's energy still lingered in weaker but still dangerous amounts.
"By the Light of Idalin,
As expected, the remaining Bolat's energy fought, if weakly. Elmerin pushed back, overwhelming and dispersing it, removing the taint to allow it to reform as normal, clean mana. All that was left was some corrupted magic that the guild should be able to deal with.
"That's done-" Elmerin suddenly found himself on one knee, barely supporting himself with the opposite hand and feeling incredibly dizzy. "What-?"
Drysia appeared beside him. "Mana potion, now."
All Elmerin could think of was the paper glyphs. "Are you d-"
"Mana potion, now!"
Grumbling to himself, Elmerin took two mana potion tubes out of an item bag and knocked them back. After a few moments, the weakness and dizziness eased.
"Yes, I finished placing the glyphs," Drysia snapped. "Holy Dark, didn't you notice how low your mana was?"
"I'm usually fine after only casting this few spells." Elmerin got to his feet and brushed himself off.
"Usually you're rapidly throwing out low-level spells. Not high-level Purifies, twice."
Drysia had a point, but Elmerin wasn't about to admit it.
"Too soon for the guild-" Elmerin hissed.
"This way,"" Drysia gestured toward the area behind the dias. "Cothmore has their own maps of the labyrinth, I've seen them." She led the way to a small door behind a pillar by the 'throne'.
Once they were through, she opened a panel in the wall via a hidden switch and pulled a lever inside. Horizontal bars came from each side of the door frame, sealing the door shut.
*******
Characters in this chapter, information as shown on guild card:
Elmerin
Drysia
Spells used in this chapter:
Hellfire: A intensely powerful fire and heat spell that can burn anything. The caster can decide the intensity, from "stop this threat" to "nothing is left"; the more destructive range costs more mana. The caster must be at least Level 7 in Fire to even try casting it, and most magic users can't unless they reach Level 9. Being of at least Wind Level 7 helps, though most people don't pay attention to why.
Purify:
-spell with caster's name: The strongest of the purification spells, it can be cast with either Dark or Light magic. The caster must invoke at least three deities of the required aspect, state what they want the spell to do (it doesn't need to be terribly specific), and identify themselves with at least one of their names and titles. According to legend, Meinz of Acorath could cast the spell using both Light and Dark magic.
Note: The name does not have to be the caster's birth name. The names and titles can be given by others or taken by the caster themselves; what matters is that the caster feels this name is theirs, and identifies them as a person inside and out.
-wide area: Can be cast with either Dark or Light magic. Covers a designated area with purifying magic. Range depends on the strength and level of the caster. Effectiveness depends on their mana level. Usual formula is to invoke one deity of the desired aspect.
Items, magic:
CAP items:
-crystals: Crafted items infused with magic by the various temples. They purge corrupt magic and other negative effects from the area and prevent them from re-entering. Length of effectiveness depends on the crafting; a high class one can protect for years.
-glyphs: Writings and symbols that purge corrupt magic and other negative effects from the area and prevent them from re-entering. They can be painted directly on the wall or other surface, or be inscribed on paper, stone, or other material and set in the area. Length of effectiveness depends on the substances used to draw or the substances they are carved in and the environment they are set in. Portable glyphs are often spelled so only authorized personnel can remove them.
Gods:
Aquet: Neither Dark or Light. Or both, depending. Domain Bisexuality, justice, and the sky.
Idalin: Light. Domain: Sun, motherhood, and interest in female sexual partners.
Khedia: Light. Domain: Health and cleanliness.
Rherion: Light. Domain: Volcanoes and flame.
Searis: Dark. Domain: Punishments and penalties.