Carthus' spear flew through the air and smashed into his target, clattering to the stone floor as it ricocheted. A sharp crack instantly formed on the crystal where the spear had hit. It slowly tilted and began to fall from atop its podium. Carthus dropped to all fours unable to put weight on the broken leg, desperately glaring up, afraid for Tassos. The crystal crashed down against the hard floor and shattered into a thousand shards, each brilliantly glowing.
Just as suddenly, the golem froze in place and began to crack and splinter, slowly turning to dust as pieces of it fell off. The hammer-like hand held above it dropped on its own head, and the stone figure exploded in a wave of gravel and rock. Bits of it hit Carthus where he was, and he fell from the impact, blood instantly dripping down his forehead.
"Tassos!" the young Maad shouted, wiping the blood from his face and clenching a hand over his dreds where the pain was pulsing from. He fumbled in place for a moment, pushing himself to his feet as best as he could and hopped on one leg across the room to where his spear lay. He stumbled and fell beside it, cutting his hand on a shard of sandy-orange crystal. A light suddenly blinded him, and he dropped to his back, afraid to open his eyes.
Even with his eyes closed, all he could see was white. Everything was gone in the light, everything except for the faceless shadow standing over him. It reached down, and he blinked and opened his eyes. Tassos stood over him, reaching down to pull him up.
"Let's go," the swordsman said. He helped Carthus up, and handed him the spear, looking around as the chamber rumbled, "seems like this place won't stand for much longer."
"Listen, Tassos! I thought you were dead...if this place comes down on us...leave me and go" Carthus began. Tassos simply shook his head, pulling Carthus' arm over his shoulder. His face was blank for a moment, but that was quickly replaced by either anger or determination. Carthus could not tell.
"We leave here together...or we die here together!" Tassos replied. He began at a slow walk, pulling his commander along.
Carthus nodded and hobbled along as best as he could, Tassos on one side and his spear on the other. They stepped as quickly as they could for the only way in and out of the circular stone chamber, hoping that the dead were now actually dead. Carthus didn't want to risk another one of his Spears and knew that if the dead still walked, they would not get out with his injury.
They kept on quickly, each step filled with pain and agony for the Maad. Despite it all, he chose this path and accepted the pain. The hallways were quiet, except for the occasional rumble of the earth around them. It came and went, and at times, some distant reverberation grew loud, shooting dust into the air in a shock wave. They both knew the caves under the tower were collapsing, and soon it would fall in on them.
They turned a corner on their way back and stood face to face with a big empty chamber, with burial slots carved into the walls, and the pillars that they had used to climb over the dead. This time, the bodies were lifeless and lay where they dropped when the magic of the crystal was destroyed. Carthus couldn't help but grin, they had succeeded.
"It worked!" Tassos said with disbelief. He shrugged, pulling Carthus up higher on his shoulders, and they began down the stairs into the lower part of the chamber. The stairs were the worst, launching pain up the Maad's leg with an intensity he hadn't felt yet. He winced with each step, but made it down regardless, eager to escape this place. They carefully crossed the room, stepping around or over the dead that littered the floor and began their way up the other flight of stairs.
The caves rumbled more violently than before, and several of the pillars behind them shook and fell, crushing the bodies underneath. Boulders collapsed from the ceiling, and Tassos pulled Carthus along quicker.
"It's all coming down..." Tassos said as they left the chamber in a hurry.
"I think the smaller tunnels should hold better...we have to keep moving," Carthus replied. They followed the hallways until they reached another opening. The shaking didn't seem as strong here, once again coming and going in bursts, but now they stood facing the large crag over which they had burned the bridge.
"What now? How do we get past this?" Tassos asked. They stepped closer to the edge and glanced down into the dark depths.
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Spears of Redriver
الخيال (فانتازيا)Carthus, a young orphan trained to be a warrior like his father before him, is considered to be one of the best Maeli in his clan. However, he is forced to run for his life, along with two of his closest friends, for winning a sanctioned duel. They...
