"We're gonna die!" Asaad screamed.
"Shut up and run!" Osyk shouted right back. The normally collected Henaari was grim-faced as he carried two other children, while Geir thundered at the rear with six others in his arms.
Magical forces slammed into one another, the likes of which Loquis had never before seen. He had caught a glimpse of the Fiend's battle against the usurper DuFont, but this was on an entirely different level. A Master and two High Adepts against Zara on her own...yet there was nothing Loquis could do to help. So he focused ahead, leading his Talon through the servants gate and out onto the wide, sun-baked streets.
Only to find rank upon rank of armored Knights leveling heavy crossbows at them all.
"Shit!" The other Talons were close behind, but they wouldn't be there in time. "Fulminat!"
Before Loquis could mobilize his Mana, each and every Knight gasped in sudden agony. Crossbows fell, several discharging into each other, before the Knights too fell to the perfectly smooth street. In their midst, a lone Human woman with bright blond hair and some sort of crown stood, fairly glowing with ripples of green-gold Mana.
"Where is Zara?" she asked.
The tunnels at the base of the chasm were far colder than elsewhere, owing perhaps to the ceaseless winds that tore down their length. The walls of the tunnels looked to have been originally natural caves, but over time had been eroded to smooth tubes of stone, with only the occasional craggy pit and textured abscess where the wind and sands could not readily reach.
It wasn't a pleasant walk, that was for sure, and had Felix been less hardy than he was it would have torn him bloody after the first five minutes. But both Unbound were made of sterner stuff than the average person, so the worst thing to contend with was sand in his eyes and the ceaseless keening of the relentless wind. That, and his sudden misgivings.
"Karys, you available?" Felix asked.
His Inheritor's Will buzzed to life as the connection with his chancellor came to life. He could hear the words as if they were right in his ear, regardless of the noise all around them. "Of course. Just give me a minute to handle a matter."
"Uh, sure," Felix said, but the connection went dead before he finished. What was that about?
"Did you just say something?" Beef asked, his voice loud.
"Hm? Oh yeah. I can speak with my friend back at my Stronghold," he explained, just as loud.
Beef grinned. "Stronghold? What! That's so cool. What's that like, ruling a Territory?"
"It's not really ruling, exactly. More like" His sword glowed with green-gold Mana. "Ah, gimme a sec."
"Sure!"
"Karys? You good now?" Felix asked, his voice much softer.
"Yes, of course my Lord. I apologize for the delay."
"What brought that on?" he asked.
"Strife between the Henaari and Frost Giants. There is some debate over how far we should explore in the Foglands. Reclaiming the ruins of Shelim is hotly contested. Both wish to claim the accomplishment and expand your power base," the Paragon explained. "I have given my ruling, which is to refrain from exploration beyond the mountains until you return. That will only hold them for so long I fear. Are you returning soon?"
"As soon as I can," Felix confirmed, before giving his chancellor a run down of events since they last spoke.
"Exalted Ancestors, sacrificed? It is good that you left their retrieval to this new Chanter, and better still that you have found the other Unbound."
"I'm not happy about being left behind, but I see the...necessity," Felix said. "I didn't just call you for a chat though. What do you know of a royal tomb in Ahkestria?"
Karys paused. "A tomb? Hm. I...recall that the royal line was interred within a tomb beneath the waves, a symbolic burial no doubt. Nothing more than that comes to mind, however."
"Alright, that's more than I had before," Felix said. "We're going to a tomb now, and I wanted to make sure it actually existed. Could be it's this royal burial ground."
"Now? I thought you were to wait? Aren't you injured?" Karys asked sharply.
"I'm fine. More or less," Felix said, brushing off his friend's concern. "Besides, the Paladins want this tomb for some reason. That's gotta mean something, right?"
"I suppose it would not do to let these vile lackeys get what they desire. Just...please, Felix. Show some caution. We Nym were not the only ones to protect our valuable spaces with traps to catch the unwary."
Felix grunted as a gritty patch of sand hit his cheek. "I'll keep it in mind. I'll reach out again soon."
"I await your orders, my Lord."
The connection cut, and the keening howl of the winds assaulted Felix's ears once again. Beef strode ahead, having gained a sizeable lead during Felix's conversation, and he flared his Relentless Resolution a bit to catch up. Moving through the gale-force gusts was far easier with the Skill active, even with Felix's incredible stats. His Body was in better condition after the Panacea he'd drank, but it was still a wound that wouldn't quite heal.
I suppose fighting a Grandmaster has consequences, he thought. The memory of the grey-skinned bastard's smirk was galling. The easy, almost casual defeat at the hands of the Grandmaster made Felix burn. His cores spun faster within him, tossing off arcing flares of jarring melody. Pit, nestled within him for the walk, let out a commiserating cry. The best he could do now was kick some sand in the Paladins' faces, maybe even stop them from reaching this tomb.
He sped up.
The tunnels twisted and folded over themselves, but soon they had reached the outside world once more. Sand all but buried the opening, turning what was a several hundred foot wide cavern into a mouth perhaps a mere three dozen feet. The wind tore through that opening, filling its edges with crimson sand that was immediately eroded by its passage. Felix could see flashes of yellow lightning and twisting, burning air.
"There it is! Just have to get through that opening there, and then put your head down!" Beef shouted. "It hurts a lot, but I can take the lightning for you!"
Stone Shaping!
The sands liquefied before them before collapsing into a deep, tunnel that burrowed straight through the clogged cavern.
"What? You can do that?" Beef asked.
"Get in!" Felix shouted, before walking through himself. The passage he'd made was wonderfully quiet in comparison, though not particularly wide. Beef crowded the space behind him, and Hallow... "I don't know if I can fit your friend through here with me."
"Oh, Hallow is fine. The storm doesn't target him, for some reason," Beef said.
"Why?" Felix watched as Hallow burrowed into the sand as well, heading straight for the stormwall. "Because he's undead?"
"Probably not. I've seen it blast apart some of those Dustwights before. Pretty nasty."
"But it strikes out at you?" Felix asked.
"Every time. I've been hit by more burning rocks than anything else. Even got zapped once or twice by the lightning," Beef said, almost proudly. "The lightning only hits the strongest creatures that come through. Did you know that?"
"Huh. I didn't." Felix kept walking, pushing onward through his tunnel. He kept it below the surface, at least twenty feet down if his senses were right, but just beyond the edge he could feel a chaotic churning. Heat and fire and earth Mana boiled through the sands as well as the air, and it was likely they'd be no safer underground than above. But at least below ground he provide some level of reinforcement. "Get ready to move when I say, alright?"
"Uh, sure. We're underground though? We should be good, right?"
"Unlikely. I doubt this protective storm is that easy to fool," Felix said. "Stick close to me and we'll be fine...probably."
"I told you, I go through this all the time," Beef started, but Felix pushed his Stone Shaping forward, liquefying and then hardening a path forward. Immediately bolts of blinding, yellow lightning crashed into the tunnel, shattering it into pieces. "Holy balls."
"Ready?" Felix asked, calling up his Stone Shaping again.
"Uh, that was a lot of lightning, Felix. I think maybe"
"Go!"