Kastori Restorations (The Kastori Chronicles Book 4) (4 page)

“You take my power, and we will both perish. You have not recovered from your wounds enough, and you will suffer death.”

Typhos, frustrated, pushed ahead. On both sides of his pathway, still entirely sand, he saw numerous active machines in a sort of pumping motion. He saw tanks connected to each of the machines, and inside those tanks, he could sense great magic. The tanks didn’t appear to hold any physical substances but instead contained the magic of the planet itself.

“And you would let the humans pilfer your magic for their own needs,”
Typhos sneered, his hand going to his sword as he slowly pulled it out, ready to destroy the machines.

“The humans take what magic is needed to survive the elements here and just a little bit more for experimentation. They are not a threat to my extinction.”

“You haven’t had the humans here long enough. They are like parasites who will suck you dry, leaving you as nothing more than a giant sand rock. You will lose your magical powers.”

“That will only happen because of you.”

Typhos ignored the words of the world and swung his sword down on the machine.

But the recoil from hitting the machine was so strong that it ran through Typhos’ forearms, causing great pain and making him drop the sword.

“What?!?” he cried in frustration.

He crouched down and examined the machine further. A simple sword swipe could not do the trick. He focused on casting an electric spell, but every time he reached the moment of execution, something blocked the spell.

“Nubia!”

“I will fight you, Typhos. You will not destroy me.”

“Nothing stops me! Nothing!”

Typhos grabbed his sword, so angry now he could barely keep a clear mind, and processed further down the hall. He ignored the ugly reminders of humanity and the horrible things they had done to the power of magic, knowing it would all disappear as soon as he took the planet for himself.

When he had descended down a slope about two hundred feet, the cavern opened up. In the middle of the cavern, a giant rock with the symbol of magic rested.
My target.

“Nubia, I have found your core. I know it lies on the other side. And I will take your power.”

“If you can.”

Suddenly, a giant pillar of fire came rushing at Typhos. Typhos immediately threw his hand up, no longer limited in his magical power, and froze the fire, turning it into harmless ice which shattered upon hitting the ground.

Two fire pillars came roaring at the destroyer of civilizations, but knowing what to expect, Typhos calmly dispelled the pillars. Though he could not sense anything from the planet, he had a strong sense of victory, and when the planet threw one last fire at him and he eliminated it, he laughed maliciously.

“Not even the power of Nubia can stop me in my weakened state!” he yelled. “Behold! The greatest power in the universe shall become even more powerful!”

He walked over to the core and observed it. The outer casing was sweltering hot and solid. He put his hands up and, with a great deal of difficulty, used his red magic to create an opening. He stepped inside and the wall closed behind him. But when he looked around, he recognized the room immediately from his visions.

“You’re mine,” Typhos said.

“Not if the Orthrans have anything to do with it.”

Typhos laughed and sensed for them, and the laughter dropped.

They were about to descend down the shaft toward him.

6

“No time to waste, let’s go.”

Celeste didn’t wait for Cyrus to give his approval of the plan as the two sprinted toward the giant black complex. As they ran, Celeste sensed Typhos walking through the complex. She sensed an unyielding sense of focus toward destroying the planet for its powers, and she began to reconsider her no killing without cause rule. She could try and let the other Kastori live, and then they would all die in the process, or she and Cyrus could kill the Kastori and maybe save the planet and future planets from certain annihilation.

She saw the opening and sensed about seven Kastori on the other side.

“Cyrus.”

“Ready to fight.”

“Hold your sword at the defensive. Don’t go on the attack until we—”

But the sound of a Kastori rising silenced her as she raised her sword to reflect spells.

“Don’t!”

Celeste, confused, slowly lowered her sword.

“Celeste,” Cyrus whispered through his teeth. “Are. You. Insane?”

“We don’t want to fight!” a weak voice came from the approaching Kastori wearing white robes. “Typhos drove us into the ground and told us we weren’t allowed to eat or sleep until we healed him entirely. Then he sensed the two of you and told us to… he told us to fight you with our lives. We’re healers. The extent of our black magic is to cook food.”

Celeste sheathed her sword as she approached the Kastori, short, somewhat plump but clearly ragged.

“We only served him because we lived in fear of him. If we rebelled, we were dead instantly. I swear it, I swear it, please.”

“All of you, come forward,” Celeste said firmly.

The six other Kastori came out, their hands raised. All of them looked like the one in front of her had said—like they hadn’t eaten or slept in days, if not weeks. They all moved in an uncoordinated fashion, and a couple looked on the verge of passing out.

“I need to know something. We had a man come to Monda and nearly kill one of our allies. He said he was—”

“Phylus,” the man at the front said. “Yes. He never wavered in his support for Typhos. He was also the only one fed and given a chance to sleep. But you can look at the rest of us and—”

“And are there any others that may have been ‘the only one fed and given a chance to sleep?’”

“Cyrus,” Celeste said firmly. A quick sense glance confirmed that they were alone, aside from Typhos, who had now reached a giant room—presumably the operations room—and was walking toward an open wall. “We don’t have time to discuss things. I’m going to send you back to Monda. You need to make it clear immediately that you surrender and provide information to anyone who requests it. Some will call you magicologists and want to hurt you, but they will not kill you. Clear?”

“Yes,” the Kastori said in unison. “Thank you.”

Celeste closed her eyes and quickly teleported them outside the temple on Monda. The whole process took no more than three seconds, and as soon as she opened her eyes, she motioned for Cyrus to follow her.

“I have a feeling your sympathetic approach is going to get someone killed,” Cyrus said as the two carefully made their way through the darkened hallways, lighted only by imbuing fire spells on their swords and the occasional sparks shooting out of a long-destroyed machine.

“Did you look at them? Cyrus, they need help more than they need to be attacked. They are no more a threat than a human without a gun.”

Cyrus coughed and swore in response. Celeste ignored him while also trying to ignore the foul stench of death and, she suspected as her foot bumped into softer objects, bodies on the ground.
Just keep moving forward. Don’t stop. Don’t try and imagine what’s below you. It will only make things worse. Nothing you can do for these people.

After a few minutes of navigating, they made their way into a giant room. Numerous screens still functioned, and when Celeste approached one, she saw what looked like a formula for turning magic into an actual substance which could then be used to enhance different machinery.

“Cyrus,” she said, her eyes never leaving the computer screen. “Look at this. The humans here… they figured out how to combine magic with technology.”

“Hah, next thing you know, they’ll be making us fly and oh, wow, you are totally right.”

The two examined numerous screens. One showed how a human could enhance firepower with different magic spells, much as Pagus and Reya had for the two Orthrans during the great battle with Calypsius. Another showed how to control for extreme temperatures, allowing them to adjust the temperature in the compound in a flash.

“We need to take this data,” Celeste said.

“At the expense of stopping Typhos? Who, may I remind you, is probably about to destroy this planet and us all?!?”

“Two minutes,” Celeste said. “Two minutes. Take everything you can.”

She rummaged through all of the computers, taking every device she could physically fit in her had that contained data. She stuck it down the sides of her boots, having nowhere else to put it, and hoped that whatever she collected could help them later.
If we combine magic with our technology, we’re not just two sides fighting a battle. We’re integrated. We’re better protected against Typhos and whatever he creates. Or, if, somehow, there’s something else out there, we can be better prepared. We can equip fighters with magic. We can protect ourselves with barriers. All possible.

“Celeste,” Cyrus said, his voice sounding like a warning.

She noticed it too. The extreme rise in heat. It was coming from the opening on the wall, presumably where Typhos had gone.

“We got plenty,” Celeste said. “Should be enough for smarter people on Monda to figure out what to do with it.”

I hope.

She ran to the edge and saw an empty elevator shaft. There were no ropes, and the darkness prevented her from seeing how far down she had to go.

“You need to come down here, now.”

Celeste did not recognize the voice and struggled to understand.

“I am Nubia. Come down before Typhos destroys us all.”

Celeste nodded and grabbed Cyrus’ hand.

“What the, you can’t, OH!”

The two jumped down, with Celeste’s magical instincts kicking in. She managed to slow their fall down enough that once they landed, they gently bent their knees but suffered no damage. Ahead, the young girl felt an energy vastly greater than anything she had ever experienced. She didn’t wait for Cyrus to rise as she sprinted down the hall and down the slope, in pursuit of Typhos.

She came to it immediately. She saw a thick core, with the magical symbol from Anatolus on it.

Then the core split open, and she saw Typhos’ back to her, his sword raised.

“Typhos!”

But her scream went unheeded. Her brother plunged his sword into the planet, and the whole place began to shake violently.

“I am absorbing the power of this world!” Typhos yelled with cackling laughter, loud enough to be heard even over the tremors of Nubia. “I command the power to destroy entire planets!”

“Typhos!” Cyrus yelled as he charged, his sword aloft. Celeste, fearful that he was running into a death trap, screamed for him, but to her surprise, Typhos had gotten so wrapped up in the spell that he did not pay attention to Cyrus until the last possible second. He ducked under Cyrus’ sword, but Cyrus’ momentum tackled Typhos to the ground. Celeste ran over and grabbed the sword out of the ground. The tremors stopped, but she heard a great groan from the planet.

“The triumvirate of magical planets is the greatest force in the universe,”
Nubia said.
“The spirit of Typhos seeks evil things. Conquest. Chaos. Death. Celeste, you must stop him. If not, you must go to the other two worlds.”

“Typhos! Stop this madness!”

Typhos shoved Cyrus off him with a powerful red magic spell, sending him sprawling across the room. To Celeste’s shock, when he extended his arm, he yanked his sword out of her hand, and it flew through the air into his hand.

“You two have caused me so much aggravation!” he yelled. “Did you think I would be stopped by you two? Do you think your presence will prevent me from absorbing all that this planet has to offer?”

Six giant fireballs appeared from different spots in the room, the planet fighting back. But with shocking ease, Typhos cast a sudden ice spell that not only froze the fireballs, it also turned the entire room into a sheet of ice.

“He has already absorbed much of my power. Celeste… Take your brother and go.”

“It’s over! I control the elements of this planet! Die!”

He cast a powerful fire spell at Celeste, one which the girl barely managed to dodge. He cast another one, and it caught the backside of Celeste. The girl felt the heat on the back of her neck as she tried to deflect it, but so great was the spell she could only deflect part of it.

“Waste of time,” Typhos said. “I will destroy this planet and you with it.”

He lifted his sword once more and swung it into the planet. The shaking resumed, and Celeste sensed the planet collapsing on itself.

“Unlimited… power!” Typhos yelled.

Cracks formed in the ground, and Typhos laughed as he withdrew his sword.

“I need to do no further damage. This planet is beyond saving. You will die with it. Farewell, pests.”

He grabbed his sword and seconds later disappeared.

“Cyrus!” Celeste yelled. “We have to get out of here!”

“
Monda… go… there,”
the planet said, on its last gasps. “
He… Anatolus… go.”