“And you were scolding me for being reckless.” Illume chuckled.
He gripped a rusted bar of metal with a flattened end. Scraping away at dirt in front of him, he was careful not to pull too much into the small tunnel behind to give Nari time to move the pile behind her.
“Because this is reckless,” he added. “Probably the single most reckless thing any of us have done.”
“Maybe, but nobody else offered any suggestions on how to get to this viral point,” she called up.
Sweat drenched the Cryomancer. The burlap clothes he wore were covered in mud, sweat mixed with blood where he’d been cut by rocks over the last few hours.
“We have a phoenix, or a dragon; we even befriended a troll or two,” Illume countered, pulling another mound of dirt past himself. “Or we had Josh. He could’ve punched a hole in this thing all the way to the enteral chamber and just waltzed right in.”
“Again, that wouldn’t have worked,” Nari countered. “This node is the backup, meaning no Reds because it’d affect the unique characteristics of this place.”
“I know, but how do you think they were talked into holding the node in the first place?”
“They may not have been. From studying the coding of the first one I overrode, it looks like the nodes were already in place for the fast travel system. Like the Palantir, once one was infected, the corrupting influence stretched to the others.”
“And how sure are you the firewalls you’re putting up will be able to prevent them from getting infected again?” Illume asked as he grabbed a rock in his way and slid it down.
“Positive. The virus may be complex initially, but once you get past that first difficulty spike, it’s rather simple to be sure.”
Illume paused. He took several deep breaths. His lungs burned as his muscles and joints ached. They’d been digging for hours, and it was starting to wear on him. He attempted to open his menu. It was greyed out and read, Unavailable in your location.
“At the very least, we could’ve marched the army here and taken this facility by force,” Illume relented.
“This deep into Red territory?” Nari asked. “We’re the first line; we go in, take care of the source of the Reds and our military moves in after to clean them out. Lowers the risk of our people from being overwhelmed or infected and bringing it back to the capital.”
With a defeated sigh, Illume gave the dirt in front of him one more scrape. Mud fell away, revealing a keyhole of light. Hope caused his heart to skip a beat. Quickly, the Cryomancer dug at the opening, making it larger.
Once it was big enough, Illume started to crawl through into a dark passage, illuminated by torch light. His shoulders cleared the breach. A large, armor-covered hand reached down and grabbed the Cryomancer by the collar.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” he muttered.
Illume was ripped out of his tunnel. Picked up off the ground, he was slammed into the wall, sending a mighty shock through his back. In front of him was a man in muted, intricate armor. His skin was like darkened ash as his blood-red eyes glared at him from behind slits in his helmet.
The guard snarled, showing pointed teeth as his partner knelt, reached in and grabbed Nari as well. Illume noticed the lacey wings on their back weren’t armored but tucked into small protective sleeves where the Dark Fae could unfurl them and start flying at a moment’s notice.
“Prisoner one-one-seven, what are you doing out of your cell?” the guard snarled.
His voice didn’t match his appearance. It was high-pitched, almost squeaky. The Cryomancer pursed his lips to stop from laughing as Nari was pinned against the wall as well.
“Is this thing on top of a helium mine by any chance?” Illume asked.
“You don’t ask the questions,” the guard snarled. “We do!”
“Did you accidentally get a hold of your dog’s squeaky toy?” Illume teased. “I’m not here to judge. It’s okay if it got lodged in your throat; it can happen to the best of…”
BAM!
A sharp pain shot through his cheek, cutting him off. Illume’s head whipped to the side as his health dropped by nearly a third from a single punch. The taste of copper filled his mouth.
“Answer the question!” the guard snarled.
Claws grew out of the tips of his fingers like five stiletto knives. Illume wondered why he’d never seen the Dark Fae guards with swords or other offensive weapons.
“I wanted to see you,” Illume replied. “Thought you two would like to have dinner with the wife and me for a lovely double…”
BAM!
Another fist to the face, knocking his health just below half. The metallic taste now permeated his mouth. Illume cracked a smile. Spitting the pooling blood in his mouth at his captor, it struck the Dark Fae in the eyes.
A shout of confusion and discomfort rose from the guard as his grip loosened on Illume. The Cryomancer tossed his makeshift shovel at Nari, who immediately drove it into her captor’s throat.
Illume struck his guard in the inner elbow. Grabbing his wrist, the Cryomancer twisted the Dark Fae’s arm externally before kicking one of the guard’s feet out from under him. Jumping, Illume fell with the guard, wrapping his legs around his opponent to put him in an arm bar.
Both men slammed into the ground. Illume placed a foot on either side of his guard’s throat and squeezed as hard as he could while bending the elbow joint to an unnatural angle. The Dark Fae’s claws swiped at Illume’s leg. With a twist and groan of the captured arms joints, the swipe’s aim was thrown off.
After several seconds, the guard fell limp. With one mighty twist of his legs, the sound of snapping bone filled the corridor. The Dark Fae’s life bar appeared then vanished. As it did, his body and armor shimmered, breaking apart and turning to dust.
Illume rubbed his jaw from the pain of both punches. Turning over in the dirt, he saw the other guard vanish in the same way. Pushing off the ground, he sat at his knees for a few seconds. Nari picked up the makeshift shovel and offered it back to Illume. He took it.
“You ready to keep pushing on inmate 1-1-7?” she asked.
“Give me a sec to catch my breath, inmate 2-6-7-8-2-6-2,” Illume replied. “What’s with the numbering system? Shouldn’t you be 1-1-8?”
“Don’t ask me to delve into the innerworkings of the Dark Fae’s numerical complexities,” Nari replied. “According to the map, if we go this way, we’ll be able to progress to the next level of this prison.”
Nari pointed behind her. The corridor stretched seemingly endlessly with torches lit on the walls every few yards. She grabbed Illume’s elbow and helped him to his feet. The pain in his jaw started to dissipate as his health regenerated.
“I can’t believe you’re taking advice from a man named Stabby Steve.”
“He hasn’t let us down so far,” Nari replied. “Besides, he’s been in here for decades now, he knows how this place works better than anyone else.”
“Hey, stop right there!” a voice shouted behind them.
Illume turned to see another guard pointing at them. The guard charged them. Making a finger gun, Illume extended his hand and pointed at the charging guard. He dropped his thumb to take his precision ice shot.
His mana bar dipped; blue energy flew from his fingers accompanied by a flash of green from the walls. His magic was pulled out of him and drawn into strange runes that lined the support beams of the prison.
“Oh, come on!” Illume grumbled.
“I can’t believe you keep forgetting that,” Nari mused.
“Yeah, me either,” the Cryomancer said in frustration. “Let’s do this the hard way, then!”
The guard drew back to strike at Illume with his razor-like nails. In a singular, fluid motion, the Cryomancer delivered a powerful spinning heel kick with all his might. Making contact, the Dark Fae collapsed under his strength.
Following through, Illume slammed the guard into a wall finishing off what little health bar existed after the initial kick. The Dark Fae hit the ground and dissolved like the others. Illume gritted his teeth and shook his head.
“I hate that they do that,” he muttered.
“Prevents escaped inmates from getting armor or weapons,” Nari replied. “You mind telling me how you were able to do that, by the way?”
“This place may nullify magic, but I maxed out my strength back in Valka,” Illume replied. “And thankfully, that means I at least have one advantage in this place.”
“Then why am I letting you keep this?” Nari asked, snatching back the rusty piece of metal. “You get god-like strength, I get rusty shard of metal for defense!”
“Sounds like a trade,” Illume replied. “So, where was it Stabby Steve wants us to go again?”
“This way,” Nari said, turning back around.
Both jogged down the hallway. Illume reached for a torch. He pulled on it; it didn’t give way.
Item unable to be added to inventory.
Come on, did you think it was going to be that easy?
Releasing the torch, he tried for the next one. Once again, he was rudely informed it couldn’t be retrieved. After a third failed attempt, he stopped trying to arm himself.
“Where, at least is our gear?” Illume asked.
“If Stabby Steve is right, it’ll be in the confiscation hold,” Nari replied.
“And where is that?” Illume asked.
The elf stopped at a stairwell that spiraled upward. Next to the doorway was a plaque that read Level 0 on it.
“It’s on level four,” Nari replied.
“And did he say where Ingrid and Josh are being held? Couldn’t they be in another block down here?”
“The more dangerous the prisoner is considered, the higher level they are,” Nari explained. “Ingrid and Josh are at least on level three. At least that’s…”
“… what Stabby Steve says, I get it,” Illume finished her sentence. “You know, that’s kind of insulting.”
Both started up the stairs at a steady pace.
“No offense, but I thought I’d be a little higher up at least,” Illume added. “I mean, I have single handedly taken down entire armies before.”
“I’ll be sure to take a gate, then,” Nari replied as they took steps two at a time. “I get why you’re lower. You’ve done some amazing things, but it’s been with magic enhancing you. Ingrid’s a born warrior who’s strong enough without powers to hold her own against god level opponents and Josh… well, he’s a bit of an enigma. I’m not really sure what he’s capable of and, at this point, I’m too scared to ask.”
“You may be right. It’s just still hard not to take it personally,” Illume replied.
The stairwell came to an end at a door. Next to it was a plaque that read Level 1. Nari motioned to the wooden barrier.
“Be ready, these guards are going to likely be a little tougher. It’s a two-hundred-yard sprint to the next stairwell,” she said.
“Which direction?” Illume asked.
“Doesn’t matter. The building’s round and the stairs are directly opposite us,” she replied.
Nari tightened her grip on her rusty shard of metal. Looking at Illume, she nodded for him to proceed.
“Okay, then, let’s take out some Dark Fae and hope they actually come with some equipment that doesn’t vanish when they die,” Illume said, lining himself up with the door.
Illume planted his right foot. Leaning forward, he kicked the door with his left, right next to the latch. The wood splintered as the door flew open. Stepping into the corridor, he looked either direction.
“Here’s Illume!” he called out.
Nari entered right behind him, shaking her head.
“You’ve done that one before,” she said, turning and walking down the hallway to their left. “I’m disappointed in you. You could do better.”
“Cut me some slack. I just found out that I’m considered a level zero threat. It threw me off my game a little bit. I’m rethinking my life choices.”
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