An Unlikely Friend. part 1

Chapter 28: The Moltrik Corusnigma

Nero

Nero sets one of his books on the back seat of the prison truck as the royal caravan comes to a halt in the military base at the mouth of the Siroté Mountains. The Gate is being rebuilt with stronger walls and four new turrets with cannons much bigger than the originals.

“I’d like to see the Drebin try that again,” the guard in the passenger seat says when they pass through the wall.

Outside the Gate, tanks and other burly vehicles are set up in a defensive position to provide cover during construction. Nero looks over the number of Borukins stationed during the construction and is unable to count them all. His eyes drift past them and north where he had felt a strong source of Aether when they were fleeing to Kiats many months ago. Was that the Drebin?

The caravan turns south along the foothills and Nero sits up. “Where are we going? Isn’t Sunta that way?” He points west away from the mountains.

The guard in the passenger seat turns around and nods. “We’re going to the Moltrik Corusnigma first. The king wants the prince to pass the trial.”

“Are we going to be able to see it?”

“We’ll walk around the area but I doubt we’ll see him attempt.”

“That’d be great if we could. I’ve heard of the Corusnigmas and they sound awesome. Have you ever seen one?”

Both the guards say no.

“I know it’s really high Aether and stuff, but what makes it so hard to get to the center?”

“It’s the randomness and the concentration of the Aether that’s the tricky part. If you’re caught in just one flare up, you’ll be lucky to survive,” the driver says. “The Moltrik Corusnigma doesn’t have any major physical obstacles but the real danger is the electric forest, the magnetic morass, the molecular igniter, and the spot light.”

“What are all those?” Nero asks.

“They are the Corusnigma’s smites that are a result of the different branches of the Moltrik cast: one for electricity, one for magnetism, one for molecular, and one for light. The electric forest and the spot light will be pretty obvious if you see it, the molecular igniter is the most dangerous as it’ll disassociate molecular bonds in your body and there’s no obvious physical tell. The magnetic morass is the least dangerous as it’s just an extremely high magnetic field and as long as you don’t have any metal on you, the effects will only slow you down.”

Nero looks down the road through the front window. I really hope we get to see it.

*****

“How much further do we need to go?” Seader asked with irritation. His combat helmet hung off his backpack and a steady flow of sweat was pulled from his face by the thick humid air of the tropical forest.

A human excavator stepped over clumps of vegetation and hacked through growth with his machete. “Not much further sir,” he said with condescension as he led us to our destination.

The six of us, which made the first steps on to the island together, had been surveying different finds of the many teams exploring the island for three weeks now. Each new set of ruins was an exciting discovery; some big and some small, but all seemed to have the markings of our Creators. We just needed to catch one break before it all fell into place and we could start to truly understand.

“Patience my friend,” my husband said. “We’ll get there in time.”

“How can you ask me to have patience?” Seader demanded. “If this human is accurate, the new area matches the description of the Last Sacrifice. We may finally be able to put to rest the differences of our teachings.”