Resurgence of Ancient Darkness (41 page)

“
Brace for impact
,” I sent. I knew there really was no way to do that, but it was the best expression I could think of at that moment.

All four pods slammed into the ground at high speed and ruptured, sending us flying free. “
Is everyone okay?
” I asked as I teleported to the ground before gravity took over and slammed me down.

Of to my right I saw Spectra gracefully land on her feet and try to shake off the feeling of the goo. “
Ugh! Hate that stuff!”
she sent as she continued to try to brush off nonexistent goo.

I could not see Darkstone and Cymeion at first, but soon they both came running over. The pods were completely destroyed by the impact. The only possibility for a return trip was Spectra’s gate.

“
Dusty, bind here, just in case,
” sent Spectra.

“
Good thinking,
” I sent back. Once that was done, I wrapped our party in shadows and we began to move out. “
All right, everyone: this is no different to the command-and-control games we have played. We infiltrate the sorcerer stronghold, deposit the antimatter, and slip away. A win is defined as all of us surviving and the table being destroyed.
”

“The only difference is that I’m not usually on your team,
” sent Cymeion, clearly still nervous.

“
That's okay. Think of this like the rescue operation we ran for Grandmaster Vydor’s friend,”
sent Spectra.

We continued to move quietly through the forest, moving towards where we expected to find the caves that housed the table. We could have simply gated in, but there was too much risk of gating into a trap since we would not be able to see through the gate to the other side.

“
If our maps are right, we should be at the caves in a few minutes. Master, do you think they saw our landing?
” asked Darkstone.

“
A blind, deaf, and dead dog could have seen that so-called landing,
” sent Cymeion.

“
Yeah, they could have, but I am hoping all their attention was on the big fight in orbit and the attacks on the other tables. The landing was violent, but fast. They could have missed it,
” I sent.

“
Either way, our best bet is to move quickly. Time is not our ally today,”
sent Spectra.

As we approached the mountain we started coming across large anti-spacecraft batteries. “
This is a good indication that we’re on the right path, at least,
” I sent. The defenses that this mountain had were incredible. All of the weapons were state-of-the-art, but appeared to be powered down. I figured the fight was still out of range, and they would not expose these guns until it was too late for any invaders to retreat. I desperately wanted to get a message back to Master Shadow about them, but there was no way to pull that off without exposing our position.

We continued through the woods until we reached the base of the mountain, then we used basic telekinesis to assist a rapid climb up a sheer wall. About three-quarters of the way up was a cave entrance which we hoped would lead us into the heart of the mountain where the table was.

As we climbed, I looked up at the night sky. I tried to see the battle that I knew was going on over our heads, but I could only see the pinpoints of stars. The rest of my crew were risking their lives right now to cover our approach. If we failed, they would have to face the sorcerers without my help, and that bothered me more than anything else on this mission. I should have been with my crew, protecting them, but destroying the table was the whole reason we had come to this planet. I could help them best by doing my part here; at least, that’s what I kept telling myself as we climbed.

As we entered the cave, our visors’ night vision mode failed to find enough light to operate. While we were outside, the stars and moonlight gave us enough light to work with; however, that light did not penetrate at all into the cave. So we had to risk some low-powered infrared light to see. While using light was risky from a stealth standpoint, it would be more foolish to move through an unknown cave without some way of seeing if the floor suddenly dropped away.

“
So far this has been too easy,
” sent Cymeion.

“
I know what you mean. Keep your eyes open,
” I sent. I didn’t really expect any trouble yet. I knew they would have to wait until we revealed ourselves before they could do anything, but I had expected there would be more obstacles for us to get around before we got this far.

We traveled for a while longer and had to backtrack several times before we found what looked like a well-used corridor. Oil lamps lined the walls, and the floor seemed to have been worn smooth by a thousand boots walking over it.

Before we could move into the corridor, I heard something moving. “
Douse your lights!”
I sent.

As we waited, four foul-looking dogs came loping down the hallway. They stank of sulfur, and their eyes had an eerie glow. Their bodies seemed to have more bone armor than hair, and their teeth looked like they could chew through metal.

“
Steady. I don’t know what they are, but they can’t see us. Just let them pass, and we will press on,
” I sent.

“
Master, that will put them between us and the exit when the time comes to get out,
” sent Cymeion.

“
Yes, it will; but if all goes well we will gate out, and they won’t be a problem,”
I sent.

After the dogs passed we moved on, following the corridor, reasoning that it must lead somewhere important. After a while, we came on a series of doors. “
Any guesses?
” I asked.

“The table is in that direction, so maybe try that door first?”
asked Spectra.

“
How far?
” I asked.

“
Still quite a bit. I’d guess at least another thirty minutes at the pace we have been moving,”
she replied.

“
Won’t opening the door blow our cover, Master?”
asked Darkstone.

“
Yeah, but I don’t see that we have a choice, so let’s move through quickly and hope no one notices the door opening and closing by itself,
” I sent.

We slipped through the door as quickly as we could. On the other side of it there was another long hall with many side passages leading out of it, but no one was in sight. “
So far, so good. Let’s move,
” I sent.

As we moved through the twisting and turning passages, searching for the table, we came across many more of those dogs.

“
All these dogs will make escape hard,
” sent Darkstone.

“
They won’t matter. Remember, we will be gating out,
” I sent. Darkstone was a bit nervous now, too. It was taking too long to find the table, and stress was building.

“
We are getting close,
” sent Spectra. She could tell where it was, somehow, by our binding to it. I didn’t know how to do that yet, at least not here in the physical realm. In the Spirit Realm it came as naturally as breathing.

We pressed on through the corridors. I was beginning to tire under the strain of holding a cloak over such a large group. It didn’t help that we were constantly passing through various detection spells and alarm fields. I hoped Spectra was right, because I was not confident how much longer I could keep us hidden.

A chill went down my spine as we turned a corner and saw a large room with a massive door along the back wall. The door was open, allowing us to see into the room, but all I could make out was an indistinct figure by a large table.

“
The table is just through that door, and he is here,
” sent Spectra

“
The area is lit well enough, so keep your lights off and let’s do this,
” I sent.

We slipped into the room and could see the green-hooded sorcerer staring intently at the surface of the table. The liquid that was normally still was spinning and hundreds of images were flashing by.

“
He’s searching for us,
” sent Spectra.

I looked closer at the images in the table and saw they were of the caves and surrounding forest. “
He must have seen our landing, but my cloak is holding.
”

That was a big relief, mixed with a new concern. We had to get the antimatter canisters in place and get clear without him noticing us. It would be highly preferable for him to be caught in the explosion.

“
What’s the plan?”
asked Darkstone.

“
You and Cymeion place the canisters. I’ll keep you covered in darkness, and Spectra will provide cover fire if that fails. Once you have the canisters in place, fall back here.
”

“
Yes, Master,
” sent Darkstone.

We quickly transferred all the antimatter canisters to Darkstone and Cymeion, and they slipped them under the table. I kept watch on the images as they flew past in the viewing pool. My guess was that he was hoping I would make a mistake and show myself. He must have missed the door we’d opened, because he was searching far and wide throughout the entire complex. I was relieved to see that my cloak was as good as I thought it was as the table room flashed by in the pool without showing us at all.

“
All set, Master
,” sent Darkstone as they returned.

“
Give all the proximity detonators to Spectra. We will fall back to the hallway and Spectra will gate us out,”
I sent.

“
Surely he will detect the gate,
” sent Cymeion.

“
I’m counting on it. I will slow him down while you two get out. Spectra will then close the gate and we will spirit-walk to the Spirit Realm. My hope is that he won’t be thinking about retreating but casting an attack spell when we leave; that way, he will be here when the antimatter is released,”
I sent.

“
Why don’t we all go through the gate?
” asked Cymeion.

“
Because then he might follow us through and end up on the bridge of the Shadow Fox
,” I sent.

We moved into the antechamber to execute my plan. The key to it was the proximity detonators, which I always felt were misnamed. As long as the detonators were close to the bombs they would stay inert, but the moment the detonators passed out of range the bombs would detonate. In this case, that would release their antimatter package, which should be sufficient to destroy the table and probably the entire mountain with it.

As we moved into the hall and Spectra got ready to open the gate, I took out one of Shea’s illuminescence potions. I chugged it down, knowing I would need as much strength as I could muster to slow this sorcerer down long enough for Spectra to get the gate open and for everyone to get out.

“
Darkstone, close the door to this room as soon as Spectra starts to cast. We don’t need his pet dogs adding to the fun right now
,” I sent.

“
Good thinking, Master,
” he replied.

“
Ready?”
asked Spectra.

“
Do it,
” I sent. I could feel Shea’s potion flowing through me and revitalizing me. I wasn’t sure I was ready, but I was sure that waiting wouldn’t make me any more ready.

As Spectra cast her gate spell, several things happened at once. Darkstone slammed shut the door to the antechamber, and Cymeion cast a wall of stone in front of the door, further sealing us in. The green-hooded sorcerer called out in anger and cast a spell that blew the doors off the walls to the room with the table. I had my back to Spectra and quickly cast a force wall between the sorcerer and our position as Spectra finished the gate.

“
Go!
” she sent.

Darkstone and Cymeion sprinted for the gate as my force wall started to crack under the power of the sorcerer’s attacks. “
They are clear,”
sent Spectra.

“
Okay, let’s go!”
I sent. I turned back to her and grabbed her hand as we spirit-walked out of there.

Once safely in the Spirit Realm I sent, “
Did it work?
”

In response, Spectra pointed to a brilliant glow in the distance. “
Yes!
” she sent.

“
What’s that?
” I asked.

“
All the spirits that were trapped are pouring out. If those six are still there, they will have their hands full soon,”
she sent.

“
Why would that be?”
I asked.

“
The spirits won’t be very happy about being trapped, and I understand it’s very pai … LOOK OUT!
” she sent and knocked me down.

As I rolled to my feet I saw her swing her staff up in an arc and send a wave of power at someone just out of sight. I moved to her side just as the green-hooded sorcerer blocked her attack.

“That was a nasty trick you played on me, but don’t worry, I’ll gladly repay the compliment!” he said as he started casting mage bolts at us.

I dodged out of the line of fire, but Spectra crouched and blocked with her staff. She had her eyes locked on him and mirrored his every move. Eventually the two of them were so focused on each other they seemed to forget I was there.

I slowly moved around until I was behind the sorcerer’s right shoulder, and then I began to cast Spirit Drain. It worked as I had hoped: he was so focused on his fight with Spectra that he didn’t see me casting until it was too late and the power began to flow out of him. Given enough time, it would kill him, but I just wanted to deplete his power level a bit.

“What?” he called out and spun towards me, raising his staff to cast.

As soon as he took his eyes off Spectra she sent spirit bolts flying towards him. They hit him hard and sent him flying past me. I kept the drain going while Spectra charged in and cast again. This time, instead of Spirit Bolt, she cast a spell I did not recognize. From each of her fingers power arced something like lightning bolts into his body. He screamed a mighty, ghoulish scream that almost lost me my focus on the spirit drain.

“
Keep it up, Dusty! As long as we are both concentrating on him, he can’t counterattack
,” sent Spectra.

“
I’m trying, but I’m not sure how much longer I can cast without tapping the realm for energy
,” I sent.