Chapter 10: The Moment of Truth

  The group continued along at a fast pace. No longer did they stop to admire the reliefs or the carvings along the wall. They knew this place was not one they were welcome in, and extending their stay only meant increasing the odds that they would perish.

  “Are you fine?” Corin asked Zhi. He heard her breathing grow heavier and more labored.

  The truth was that he felt the toll on his body from their trek in the structure. They had been inside for a long time now, had traveled long distances, escaped near-death situations, climbed steep stairways, traversed rooms with floors covered in sand, fought against bloodthirsty sirens, and had to climb a tall wall to progress through a room. They made it out thanks to Simeon, who had climbed the wall and had thrown down a rope for the group to climb.

  Climbing the wall had been exhausting and had left all of them gasping for air. Some required more effort than others, and Nanaua required the entire group’s help to be able to climb the wall.

  “Do not worry about me, Corin. We will continue until we find the artifact,” Zhi said in between breaths.

  “No, we will take a quick rest. We have been traversing this structure for a long time. In our current condition, we might not fend off another attack,” Simeon said.

  “I can fight even when I’m at death’s door!” Nanaua boasted.

  “But we’re not all you, Nanaua,” Simeon retorted.

  “I agree with Simeon. I can barely continue,” Corin said, and the group agreed.

  Simeon volunteered to keep watch while the group rested.

  Livia sat next to Corin and placed her head on his shoulder. Corin was taking bites of dried meat and sharing it with Livia.

  “I could fall asleep right here,” she said as she closed her eyes and kept chewing.

  “You and me. Warm torchlight, hard stone floor, the occasional murderous siren. The ideal date location,” Livia said.

  Corin laughed at his wife’s remark. “But no space for you to tinker with your toys.”

  “I’m trying to be positive here, love,” Livia replied while poking his side.

  Livia kissed Corin and went back to resting on his shoulder.

  “Did you ever imagine finding yourself in this position?” Livia asked.

  “Did I ever imagine traversing an underwater palace that belongs to a murderous titan with some strangers that fell from the sky?” Corin replied.

  Livia laughed.

  “The answer is no. But if you had told me that I would find myself in such a situation, I would only want to know if I had you by my side. As long as I knew you were there with me, then I would not mind,” Corin said.

  Livia smiled, Corin kissed his wife’s forehead. She grabbed his arm and held it tight.

  “I also know that you feel the same way,” Corin said.

  “Of course. I would get lost in about ten minutes without you,” Livia replied.

  She picked up her head.

  “I think ten minutes is a bit too generous,” he laughed as he looked at her.

  They stared into each other’s eyes.

  “We’ll weather the storm together,” Livia said

  They kissed. No matter what situation Corin found himself in, he knew he had his wife’s support.

  “All right, young rascals, that’s enough rest. Let’s keep moving,” Simeon said.

  The group quickly gathered their supplies and continued moving. The amount of time the group spent traversing long hallways became much shorter, but now they spent more time climbing stairs. It seemed they were moving up the structure at a faster pace.

  In one instance, they found themselves at the top of a large room. The only thing they could see in this large room was a narrow bridge with deep chasms on either side. Although they could not see the bottom of the room, they could hear random grunts.

  “Seems like our position is not a secret,” Zhi said.

  The group hurried along.

  Past the bridge, they came upon a massive set of stone doors. Nanaua began pushing on them, and they slowly opened. Beyond the stone doors they encountered a set of long stairs. They went up so high that they could not see where they ended.

  “Agh more damned stairs!” Zhi grunted in frustration.

  “My love, take it one step at a time.” Nanaua replied.

  “My dear, let me be frustrated for one second,” she balled up her fists and shook them at the stairs. She then brought her hands to her side, took a deep breath, and started climbing.

  Halfway through Corin felt winded.

  “One step at a time, young lad. You don’t want an old timer like me catching up to you!” Simeon said to Corin with a smile. He moved up the stairs with no issue.

  Nanaua was the first one to complete the climb.

  “This is it!” Nanaua shouted in excitement.

  Her announcement quickened the group’s pace. The end of their search was near. They all hurried and reached the top.

  As soon as Corin got there, he saw for himself that Nanaua was right.

  This room reminded Corin of the one he had first seen Nanaua in. It was large and cavernous on the inside. It was large enough that it could fit over one hundred people with only one thing of note. A large stone pedestal in center. On the opposite end of the room there was a lone door.

  “Is that it?” Livia asked.

  “Yes, the three pieces of the weapon were described in dragon script as a hollow pyramid, a hollow cube, and a solid sphere. This must be the sphere!” Zhi gasped as she went to the artifact.

  “Wait!” Simeon called.

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  Zhi stopped in her tracks.

  “Practice caution, young one. We do not know what will happen as we near it,” Simeon said.

  “So what are we supposed to do?” Livia asked.

  Simeon took a bundle of rope and threw it near the stone pedestal. Nothing happened.

  “I will approach the sphere. Corin, Nanaua, follow at a distance,” Simeon said.

  He walked carefully, and Corin and Nanaua followed, each with their weapon readied. Each step that Simeon took, Nanaua and Corin would follow exactly.

  Simeon reached the sphere. Corin and Nanaua where a short distance away. Nanaua moved to the opposite side.

  As he stood over the sphere, Simeon looked around him. He studied the sphere from every side, but there was nothing he could see aside from the round stone.

  “Does anything stand out?” Livia asked, holding her rifle.

  Next to her, Zhi kept looking behind them to the large set of stairs.

  “Not quite," Simeon replied, frustrated. “There has to be something I am not seeing.”

  “There’s not much else we can do,” Corin said.

  Simeon looked straight at him.

  “Right you are, my boy.” Simeon slowly went to grab the sphere. He lifted it up.

  Nothing happened.

  “Seems like we were concerned over nothing,” Corin said.

  Suddenly, he felt his feet begin to get wet.

  Corin quickly looked down, but at that point the water was already at his waistline. He looked over to Nanaua and Simeon. The water was shoulder high for them, Corin already had water up to his nose. They were entombed in a sphere of water that had manifested around them.

  Corin looked out of the sphere. He saw Livia and Zhi begin to panic and run toward them.

  But they were stopped. A giant figure crashed into the floor in front of them. It looked exactly like the sculpture of the metal knight that they had seen previously in the temple.

  The metal knight impacted the ground with violence, shaking the ground so forcefully that Livia and Zhi were thrown off balance.

  The knight had one objective, to eradicate the intruders. He brought his massive sword to the side, preparing to swing it across.

  As the knight swung, Zhi created a large wall of ice between themselves and the blade.

  The wall of ice stopped the impact but shattered. Large chunks of ice blew all over the room. A large chunk of ice hit Livia, throwing her down the stairs. Zhi stood by herself, facing the large metal knight.

  Corin tried to scream out for his wife, but as soon as he opened his mouth, water rushed down his throat. He tried to push outward to leave the prison of water, but it was no use. He could not puncture the wall of water that separated him from the outside.

  The knight stomped the floor in front of him, spreading shockwaves outward. Zhi collapsed onto the floor. As she struggled to get up, she shot a bolt of lightning straight at the knight. The electricity fizzled across his body, but it did not seem to affect him.

  He lifted his sword.

  “Cover your eyes and ears!” Livia shouted as she threw a small metal cylinder on the floor.

  Zhi did as instructed, and the small metal canister exploded. A bright light and a loud noise filled the chamber. Even inside the water, Corin was blinded by the explosion and felt his ears tingle. The knight reeled, caught off guard by the explosion.

  Livia hurried to Zhi’s side.

  Zhi was frozen in place. She looked at the sphere that entrapped Corin, Simeon, and Nanaua.

  “Zhi, I’m here,” Livia said as she kneeled next to her.

  Zhi looked at her then the knight, who finally regained its balance.

  “Let’s fight together,” Livia said.

  Zhi finally snapped out of it and stood up.

  The metal knight roared. Before, it only wanted to eliminate Livia and Zhi because they were intruding on its domain. Now it was raging with fury.

  “His armor, try freezing it!” Livia shouted.

  Zhi erected a large wall of ice that encased the knight. He was temporarily frozen in place. The knight twitched until it broke his left arm free. With his free hand, he broke the ice that encased him, freeing himself. The armor around his body still had slabs of ice protruding from it.

  Livia brought out her rifle and took a shot at the center of the knight’s body. The armor cracked, and the knight recoiled from the impact. Livia hurried as she readied another shot. The knight began to charge at them, and a second shot hit him in the armor. This time, the armor shattered into pieces, exposing a large fleshy torso. To Corin it seemed as if the monstrosity was created from many small creatures working together and holding the suit of armor and weapon together.

  The knight lifted his arms to swing his blade down, but Zhi reacted faster.

  A large fireball erupted from her hands, as big as his torso, and it flew directly at him.

  The fireball hit the knight and exploded in a spectacle of fury. The knight’s upper body scattered around the room, as the rest of the body fell apart.

  As the knight crumpled, the force holding the water around Corin, Nanaua, and Simeon dissipated, and the water splashed to the ground. The three of them fell onto the floor spitting out the water that had been choking them mere moments ago.

  Livia ran to Corin and Zhi went to Nanaua.

  “My dear, you were amazing,” Nanaua said in between breaths.

  “It was not only me,” Zhi answered.

  “Are you alright?” Livia asked Corin.

  Before he could reply the ground beneath him began to shake. Corin looked at the room around him.

  Fractures formed around the walls holding the palace in place.

  “What is happening?” Nanaua shouted.

  A large chunk of the ceiling fell on the floor. Water seeped in from the various cracks and crevices that had formed.

  “We need to leave! Now!” Simeon shouted as he spat out water. His fur was wet.

  The group turned toward the stairs they came from, but as they approached, a large portion of the ceiling crashed down, blocking their entry point.

  “Damn!” Corin shouted, looking around the room.

  He spotted the door on the opposite side.

  They ran toward it. Beyond it was a long hallway. As they ran through the hallway, it narrowed.

  The end of the hallway approached. At the end was a spiral staircase bathed in light.

  Corin was the first to reach it. He looked straight at the top.

  “A way out!” he screamed with excitement.

  “I’ll go ahead!” Zhi shouted.

  She hurried up the stairs with a speed that Corin had never seen from her. Upon reaching the top, she created a sphere of air around herself large enough to encompass the group. They were now back in the sea, at the top of the structure, but their way out was at the bottom.

  “We’ll have to jump. All at the same time!” Livia said.

  “You are mad!” Nanaua shouted.

  The ground beneath them shook as the structure continued collapsing.

  “We have no other choice!” Simeon yelled out.

  “Before we do, Nanaua, hold me!” Zhi shouted.

  Nanaua did not question her lover’s request. Zhi needed all her concentration to hold the wind barrier in place while they fell.

  “Three, two, one! Go!” Simeon shouted.

  They jumped. Intermittently, the wall of air would fracture, and water seeped in, but Zhi would rebound and expand the wind cage as they fell down.

  “Tell me when we’re about to land,” Zhi shouted. She held her eyes closed as she concentrated on the wall of air.

  “Now!” Corin, Livia, Nanaua, and Simeon shouted in unison.

  As they were about to hit the ground, an upward current from the wall of air pushed them up, softening their landing.

  “You can put me down now, love,” Zhi shouted in triumph despite her weariness.

  “Look, our vessel!” Simeon shouted.

  The group turned to see it awaited them near the entrance to the crumbling structure.

  The group ran toward it when a loud roar stopped them. The roar shook the ocean around them, even the ground they stood on. It was mighty and it stirred a fear deep within Corin that he had not felt in years. He looked up to the source.

  “Arandu,” Corin muttered.

  The leviathan hovered over the crumbling structure. Despite only seeing Arandu once, Corin recognized the massive creature above them. This was the first time he had ever seen the creature’s true face.

  Corin saw large eyes, black with bright golden irises bigger than any of them, glaring down. He could feel the creature’s anger, its rage. It had large mandibles spread open, revealing a black maw. It screamed at the furtives, raging at them, those who dared steal from him, a titan. Its body was as large as an island, with a massive carapace that covered the top of his body like armor. On its bottom, it had five rows of massive legs, and a pair of tentacles it could wield like whips.

  Around the behemoth, maelstroms began to form, the creature’s wrath taking physical form.

  The wall of air around them started to collapse. They had come this far only to be thwarted at the very last moment. Large pillars of ice formed around the creature. It would smite these furtive vermin where they stood, an example to any creature who thought they could challenge a titan.

  “Do not stop!” a familiar voice shouted from outside the air.

  “Nishandra!” Livia called.

  “Go to the vessel! I shall take you to safety!” Nishandra implored them.

  Arandu’s roar ceased. Multiple flashes of light exploded around the titan, followed by thundering explosions. The group took off as fast as they could.

  Arandu roared. Corin saw the vortexes around it dissipate and a protective wall of ice form around the leviathan. He saw two figures darting around the leviathan, causing more explosions. These kept the large creature in shock as it dealt with the sudden barrage that overpowered its senses.

  Corin and the group made it inside the vessel and sealed it tight. A loud ringing permeated through the vessel, alerting them to the arrival of Arandu. Zhi instantly collapsed, and the vessel jerked, throwing them all around.

  “Did we make it?” Zhi moaned.

  “Not yet," Simeon replied, struggling as the group was thrown around the small confines of the vessel.

  The vessel lurched forward, dashing through the water in a frenzy.

  Arandu roared once again. Several loud impacts crashed around the group as the vessel jerked from side to side. They were thrown about like toys inside the vessel.

  “I could have been in my house right now, if it wasn’t for you mad people! Why did I listen to you?” Simeon shouted, shaken.

  “Too late for regrets now, old man!” Nanaua wailed.

  The vessel picked up speed. Corin looked to the front. Three sirens pulled it toward a large underwater mountain.

  “Are they about to crash us into it?” Nanaua asked in bewilderment.

  The sirens quickly pulled the vessel downward, a small hole visible on the side of the mountain. The sirens went into it. Once inside, the vessel rocked side to side as it impacted the insides of the cavern they maneuvered through.

  The group held each onto each other, no idea where they were being brought, placing all their trust with the sirens.

  As quickly as they had sped up, the vessel came to a halt. The vessel undulated gently as the group waited with bated breath.

  Several moments passed in dead silence. They waited for the next impact to rock their vessel, but none came.

  “What happened?” Simeon asked.

  Tapping was heard on the side of the vessel, and the entrance opened. The group could see the inside of a large cavern, the walls glowing brightly with luminescent moss.

  “Are you dead in there?” Gavlin asked, concerned.

  “Did we do it too roughly?” Genno asked.

  The group inside the vessel looked at each other in stunned silence.

  Simeon roared, “We did it!” He hoisted the round stone.

  “We did it?” Zhi asked weakly.

  “My love, we did!” Nanau said as she held her.

  “Yes!” Nishandra shouted in excitement.

  “Come, there is some dry land inside this cavern,” Genno urged the group.

  The group promptly left the vessel, swimming with whatever little energy they had to the dry land. They all collapsed the instant their feet hit the ground. All that could be heard was the heavy panting from all involved, the sirens and the adventurers.

  “How did you know?” Simeon asked.

  “Livia’s device alerted us to Arandu’s movement. It coincided too well with your arrival at the structure. We didn’t know if your new device would work on him, but we knew we had to try, we couldn’t leave you to die there,” Gavlin said.

  “Surprise was on our side. I don’t think Arandu ever imagined such a weapon could be wielded by furtives,” Genno added.

  “You risked your lives for us,” Livia replied.

  “We did. But we would not be here if it were not for your device. Our debt is repaid,” Nishandra responded.

  “So what are we to do now?” Corin asked.

  The sirens were silent.

  The escape was too fresh in the other’s minds to think about that, but this was only the beginning of their troubles. They were stuck in an underwater cave, did not know how to leave, and still had to reach Khorsor.

  “From Arandu’s reaction, it seems your endeavor was successful,” Genno said.

  Simeon held up the stone sphere.

  Gavlin, Genno, and Nishandra all looked at it. Their reaction was unanimous.

  “This is the artifact Arandu guarded so fiercely?” Gavlin asked.

  The group’s silence answered his question.

  “Tell us now.” Genno began. “These artifacts you are collecting, there are more of them on Khorsor?”

  “That is correct,” Corin answered.

  “And their purpose. Do you mean to use them against the titans?” Genno continued his questioning.

  “We do,” Zhi replied. She was being propped up by Nanaua.

  “Furtives striking back at leviathans. In our long history, we have never heard of such a thing. What are you willing to risk for this?” Genno continued with his questioning.

  “Everything,” Zhi replied again.

  “Then we might have a plan to get you to the continent,” Genno replied.