"So, care to explain?"He takes a torch made of wood with a s.h.i.+ning stone at the tip, illumination the dark corridor as we walk one at a time, his back turned towards me.
Before he could explain anything, however, the place shock again, making the opening we came in close and locking us inside.
"This is a safe pa.s.sage I discovered without their knowledge, preparing for the possibility of needing a way in without their permission. That rune back there was made before my time, when the castle was built I supposed, when the runes knowledge wasn"t so far and scarce as it is now. The only thing I did was reactivated it, being the only one able to even recognize it in here."
"If it was that used in the past how it ended up as a rarity?"
He gives me a side look over his shoulder, his golden eyes framed by the darkness beyond.
"It has too much information, too much to learn, and most aren"t even able to make sense of it at all, nor have the patience to cultivate it. Furthermore, it is a long term investment, and many are not willing to learn it with so many other quicker ways to cultivate."
"What is it used for then?" I ask after a while, since it seemed we would walk quite some time inside the walls and into these hidden dusty halls.
"Many things, depends on what you specialize in, but mostly protection or pa.s.sive effects. The stronger the rune, the more mana it would cost though."
Well, forget it then, didn"t want to learn it anyway.
After more turns, ups and downs; can we travel through the entire castle like this?; we finally reach the end were another rune is activated, leading us into the fancy part of the castle once more.
I blink a few times, letting my eyes adjust to the sudden bright environment, but once it does I take my time looking the place up, and knowing for sure that this opulence wasn"t me style at all.
First of there was a red and gold carpet stretching out all around, the floor beneath made of monogamy wood, polished until it shone. Then there were the walls that were divided in the middle; the lower part was made with white wood squares, and the upper part had a red and golden wallpaper, both holding detailed drawings made by hand with gold, making every inch of wall a masterpiece to be appreciated.
Those, however, were the outer walls, the inner part of this grand chamber held pillars made of marble but in the form of statues; some were made resembling a very toned man holding the ceiling with his back and strong arms, other had a woman with a delicate veil over her features, seemly smoothly supporting the ceiling up with the palm of her hand.
There was even two strong horses in the back, their hooves high in the air.
Cool.
Beyond this open s.p.a.ce, however, were the mountains of golden coins, chains, jewels, cups and all stretching out in front of us in an almost uninterested and carefree way.
Never thought it to be a very organized way to keep your treasures, laying around like that, but who I"m to judge right?
We advance into it and look at the same time as one of the mountains starts to move, coins rolling down like waves, giving pa.s.sage for a creature to emerge.
"The Guardian." Says Leo, going for his weapon, but I hold it down, inside the holster, and with a c.o.c.ky look I say:
"Hey, that"s my prey, why don"t you stay and watch the adults fight?"
He raises an eyebrow at that, but with a smirk he says: "Do you realize that I"m older than you right?"
I ignore his commentary and walk down the final steps inside the chamber, a golden, red and white palace filled with opened arcs and domes, the high curved celling"s made of golden gla.s.s, letting the moonlight s.h.i.+ne throughout the treasures, all the gold making it look like it was bright outside, not in the middle of the night; though a silver glint still made its way through the golden gla.s.s.
Gla.s.s on top of your treasure room? Maybe it was enchanted or something…
I looked down at the moment the Guardian surged, and it wasn"t something I would expect protecting a treasure; like, usually is dragons, gnomes, stuff like that right?
So why there was a freaking moving tree there?
He had a humanoid form, except he was taller and had longer members. His whole body was made of wood, branches growing here and there, especially on his head like horns, with some leaves covering him like fur.
But instead of eyes on his face there were holes in it with a bright green light s.h.i.+ning inside, some of it escaping through the gaps on his face. With a raspy voice, as if it had a sore throat or an elder voice, the thing spoke with unmoving lips:
"My name is Oakspur, little thief who dare to come, you shall now face my wrath!"
Really? A wooden creature? Against a fire creature like me?
Pff, to easy, come on, you shouldn"t have!
But instead of coming close to fight, the creature steps back, making me aware of the environment we were in beyond the golden treasure; plants and vines that grow all around, but mostly over the pillars and the walls on the far corner, as well as some metal armors hidden behind bushes.
The creature catches my attention once more as its feet turn into roots, or rather, it dismantles the format of a feet as the long tiny roots had intertwined themselves to make his form.
As a pond of water his roots expand over the floor until he reaches the plants around, and once he does the strong and thick trees start to stretch and crack their limbs out of the ground and wall they were attached to.
They were hollow sh.e.l.ls of the creature before me, attached by his roots like marionettes. I stood with my hands on my hips, looking kind of bored by the display, waiting for them to come closer.
It would be very easy I thought, but I should put up a little show for my watcher now, shouldn"t why?
It was my turn to make him watch on the sidelines. I pull my sleeves up, crooking my face sideways, smiling as I a.n.a.lyze my enemy, starting to focus on the fight.
The closest tree throws itself on me, so slow that I had enough time to step back when it hit the floor face first. Poor thing, almost made me laugh… Until I throw a Black Fire Ball at it, the wood burning quickly and nicely, especially with my Black Shadow Fire.
A mix of elements if you may.
How they h.e.l.l a fire can be black is beyond me though. The Oak…something? Stays behind his little army, unsure what to do as I start burning up his trees while avoiding their attacks; because, let"s be frank here, how hard is it to step aside a slow tree? Though if it falls on someone is another story…
Anyway, for me it was very easy, and one hit was enough against them.
Unable to move from his spot, the Oak makes his roots grow larger until they reach the ends of the room, making me realize, as the last tree burned, what he was reaching for.
The armors.
Instead of controlling them as he made with the trees, however, he activates something on them as they start to move on their own.
Different from the trees, however, they were pretty fast, enough so that I could only have a good look at them once I jump out of a lance way and duck below a dagger slash.
The armors were pure white on the metal, looking as if made of marble, with some golden cloth sticking out between the joints, as a s.h.i.+rt would do. They, however, did not have humans inside them, their hollow helmets staring me down with a strong grip on their weapons.
There was 12 of them, 6 in each side, made in pairs so there was always one equal to another, meaning that there were two lancers, two dagger/sword holders; the fast freaks; and two s.h.i.+eld holders.
Lovely.
I steal a side glace at Leonel just to see him watching the fight closely on the sidelines, eyes focused on me with a knowing smile on his lips, almost making me lose focus.
I turn back around only to see that the armors were closing in upon me on the hall, the s.h.i.+elds up and at the front as the lancers held their weapons high behind it, obscuring my vision of the other two.
That"s actually a little better, I was starting to think that this place had no defenses at all.
I lick my dry lips, a smirk curving my lips as my blood boiled with adrenaline. I wasn"t going to wait here for them to trap me against a wall or something, so I quickly change into my hound form and throw myself as a cannonball on one of the s.h.i.+elds, faster than their lances, making the armored fall back, bringing the lancer with him.
I immediately burn both on the ground, the Black Flames coming quicker than the sword that pa.s.sed over my head a second later.
I jump back, watching the melted metal make a puddle on the side as the others lost their formation from before. I stand tall, stealing a look at the tree thing, and he doens"t seem happy.
And he shouldn"t be. Adults h.e.l.l Hounds were a thing to behold. We were bigger, stronger, in my case carrying a dark fluffy fur all over with enormous paws and fangs the pecked out from my lips like a sabertooth.
I discovered that male adults hounds had something similar to the lion"s mane, our short Doberman fur grow into a fluffy one, similar to a wolf, and thick over the throat to protect the area, making us look bigger and to impress the ladies with our cuddle potential.
Cough cough.
With no time to show off I duck as the armors seemed unfazed by the loss of two members, the dagger holders coming forth and striking with speed and coordination, giving me no break nor room to run.
They really seemed like decent foes, deadly even for most… but not for me.
Once one of them advance again, trapping me against a pillar, I change back to my human form and teleport to a shadow higher than where I was, making me appear over them as I kick the head of an armor off, only to see it empty insides.
Not questioning I simply throw a Fire Ball inside, making a blast of metal that took the limbs of the other with it.
Only a s.h.i.+eld and a spear left.
I turn to them, playfully enjoying this exercise, and mocking them to come closer. Of course, as mere magical puppets, there was no reaction from the armors, but I wasn"t putting a show for them.
With their fast attackers gone the two remaining were fair easy to take out; as they tried again the combination s.h.i.+eld/spear, I got closer enough for an attempt attack from the lance, dodging it sideways as I grabbed it"s ledge and pulled, making both stumble before the armor let go, enough time for me to kick the s.h.i.+eld back.
Bending the metal inwards I kick again, this time making on fall over the other, at the same time that my fist when down on top of them covered by black snake-like flames, making a hole in their middle as if cutting through b.u.t.ter.
I smirk, stainding up and dusting my clothes off, locking eyes with the tree-thing.
"That"s all you got?"
~~~~
Author: Bad Thilgon, getting too c.o.c.ky for your own good.
Thilgon: Is not c.o.c.ky if is the truth, I"m far stronger than them, that"s all.
Author:… Is that so? *wiggles eyebrow*
Thilgon: *thinking* I have a bad feeling about this…
Heyo!
I have a quick question this week, hehe:
Would you guys want a heteros.e.xual/GL story in the future? Or pure BL for life?
See ya… you know!