The Mother of Monsters

Azrael dove out of the way of yet another swing, Teyva not far away. The two of them moved in tandem, one diving in to attack while the other retreated. The five skeletons dipped down to four, then three, each of them crushed beneath the overwhelming strength of the pair. When the last of them fell, Teyva and Azrael turned to eachother and grinned. Azrael was the first to speak, “I was worried all that cushy living in Osan would have made you soft,” She said, sheathing her weapon after peering into the hall beyond the door to make sure no more were coming.

“I don’t want to hear that from you, princess,” Teyva said, shifting her arm back and brushing the powdered bone off her new gear. The fight hadn’t been enough to truly put her new equipment through its paces. She quietly hoped that something at least a little tougher lay beyond that doorway. It was a morbid hope and one she realized was probably instilled by the Titan stone. It had awakened a craving in her. She thought back to what Deshan said and frowned, or she’d always had that craving and she just hadn’t realized it.

Azrael was oblivious to her friend’s thoughts, walking up the steps and getting a better look at the hall beyond the door, “Perhaps I should start calling you the same? Father said he wanted to take you in as one of his own as part of your deal, right?” 

Teyva winced, “I already don’t like it when you call me ‘lady’ I don’t need princess thrown onto it,” she said, following Azrael up.

“Now you know how I feel,”  Azrael countered. She turned and gave Teyva an amused look before nodding into the dark hallway. “It’s deserted.”

Teyva stepped inside and a prompt appeared.

Teyva hesitated and then turned to Azrael, “You might want to see this.”

Azrael canted her head and stepped forward into the hallway with her. She blinked when the prompt appeared for her and she glanced over at Tyeva. The two of them shared a long look before Azrael barked out a laugh, “Well, Father did say it wasn’t going to be easy.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Teyva said, a bit grim, Raids were something that were handled by large groups and with extraordinary coordination. Not a pair of individuals just a few levels higher than the recommended level. What the hell kind of place was this anyway? She’d played games where raids would be located under major cities but that was for convenience and a splash of lore. Powerful monsters like that would stay there because they were programmed to. Orum wasn’t a game, though, and it confused her how this place had gone untouched for so long. Did the King know it was some kind of raid? If he was such a high level why didn’t he and the Four clear it out to protect their citizens above?

“Nephral,” Teyva murmured, “Does the King know what kind of place this is?”

“It is possible,” Nephral admitted, “The Azar Monarch has unique abilities that put him on par with an individual like yourself, though I cannot speak to what they are.”

“Teyva?” Azrael asked, listening in.

“Just trying to figure out why the King didn’t clear this place out sooner,” Teyva said.

“We’ll ask him when we get back,” Azrael said thoughtfully, “You’re right though, it doesn’t make sense. I’m sure there’s a good reason.”

“Yeah,” Teyva murmured and stepped completely inside, bypassing the prompt. Azrael followed her glowing form in just as she cast [Eyes of the Labyrinth]. In an instant, the darkened hallway was filled with detail. Teyva turned her attention to the walls and scanned them for signs of the Labyrinthian language. While there weren’t any words, pictures and reliefs similar to the ones from her tomb back the Balthin Sea lined the walls stretching all the way down to the end of the passage. Teyva approached the wall and ran her fingers over the dark stone, the white images carved in stark relief to their surroundings.

“Anything interesting?”

“Nothing I can decipher, no writing,” Teyva said, “There’s some around the base of the statue outside, I saw a little of it.”

“What did it say?” Azrael said, starting to wander toward the end of the hall.

“Knowledge, Wisdom, Creativity, blah blah blah,” Teyva grunted, “The kind of thing you’d put under a statue to make it seem even more self-important.”

Azrael chuckle cut out halfway and Teyva turned to see the woman with her hand on her weapon. Teyva peered past her into the end of the hall and saw a pair of blue, glowing eyes staring at them in the gloom. The figure stepped into the range of her darkvision and she froze. It was a little bigger than the ones they’d fought at the gates. It also wore more clearly defined armor and carried a wicked-looking sword with a hooked blade. It looked like an inverted khopesh, with the bend facing the wielder. Teyva pulled out her journal and checked its stats.

“Level five,” Teyva said, “Elite though, probably way tougher than the guys at the gate,” she stood and walked slowly towards Azrael, Nephral letting out a low growl from her shoulders. In her satchel, the Mockeries trembled with anticipation. She sent them a gentle affirmative, easing their growing bloodlust until the time was right. That was when another pair of blue eyes appeared, and then another. Azrael flicked her gaze in Teyva’s direction and exchanged looks with her. Teyva rolled her jaw and shifted her arm back into its whip form. 

“Can you make some walls to funnel them?” Azrael asked.

Teyva nodded, “They’ll probably charge as soon as I start, though. Can you keep their attention until it’s ready?”

“Back me up with the mockeries?”

“Of course,” Teyva said, sending a stand-by signal to her darlings, “On three.”

“One, two, three!” Azrael shouted the last number, stepping forward and whipping her sword out, “Rip, terrible wind, lash and fly!” She called, releasing a rippling blade of wind from her weapon in a horizontal attack directly down the hall. Teyva dove in behind Azrael and held out her hands, casting [Create Wall]. A line of walls began to rise slowly up out of the ground, filling the passage while leaving a small angled opening wide enough for one of the skeletons to pass through with little trouble. From behind Teyva, a cloud of glittering gold erupted from her satchel, along with the angry hum of her Mockeries joining the battle echoed around them, their tiny bodies hurtling in the direction of the skeletons who had gone from stationary to a full run towards the rising wall.

Soon, Azrael and her sword were dancing at the narrowest point of the opening, the single skeleton that had made it to the end struggling to get a decent hit on the woman with the movement of its sword restricted by the wall. It jabbed and swung with horizontal slashes, giving Azrael plenty of room to bob and weave. Azrael, on the other hand, attacked with abandon. Her blade sliced against ancient bone while Teyva’s mockeries went to work on the armor plates, their acidic teeth melting through the metal with ravenous hunger. Teyva, behind Azrael, whipped her razorchain out when she saw an opening, striking against the skeletons behind the first, trying to whittle them down for Azrael.

The first one went down when Azrael managed to wedge her sword between its jaw and its neck bone. With a twist she popped its head off and it collapsed into a heap. The second Skeleton came in without hesitation, stepping over its fallen brethren. Unlike the first it snapped its arm out and tried to grab at Azrael who backed away enough to give it more room to swing. Teyva moved in at this point and struck it in the chest with her chain, phantom chains rising up out of the ground to wrap around its legs and slow its movement. Azrael dipped back in, shoulder-checking the monster and forcing it back into the wedge before resuming her attacks. 

As the fight went on, Teyva came to a realization and a scheme began to form in her mind. The truth was, they didn’t have to explore the entire dungeon and fight room to room. Not really. If they could just draw the skeletons up here then it was possible they could cut them down one at a time. Between the two of them a single one of these elite monsters was a pretty easy fight. It was the sheer numbers that Teyva was more worried about, and without her death magic she was less useful than she would be otherwise. More importantly, she thought with a grin, this was a chance to grind. They had a long way to go if they were going to get anywhere near catching up with the Four, but at the very least they could use this place to squeeze out a few levels before actually exploring the place.

Teyva decided she’d bring the idea up to Azrael as soon as the last Skeleton was down.