Chapter 223: Villain

Chapter 223: Villain

Tala stood before heavily reinforced doors at the far end of a fake swamp within her first ether hold.

Her feet squelched in muck as she shifted back and forth, considering the barrier to her path.

-Oh! Could we reduce our downward gravity enough to make the surface area enhancements on our feet sufficient to hold us up?-

Tala blinked several times. Wellrust me to slag. That would have been a useful idea about ten minutes ago.

Alat conveyed a shrug. -Just thought of it.-

Tala almost put her face in her hands in resignation, but then she saw how filthy she was.

Yeah Well try that next time.

Now, the big doors.

Well, lets try the easy way, first. She walked up and pushed.

The gates didnt open.

With a shrug, she drew Flow, and cut upward between the doors.

She felt the slightest resistance, followed by loud thuds.

When Tala pushed again, the doors slid open, though it still took some effort to get them to move.

She stepped up onto the smooth, clean stone, and briefly aspect mirrored her clothings self-cleaning onto herself.

With a few bounces as she moved forward, all the sludge fell free.

As she landed from the final bounce, she cut back behind herself and to the right, cleaving a not-zombie in half, shoulder to hip.This chapter's initial release occurred on the n0vell--Bjjn site.

Its steps had been utterly silent, and without her mirrored perspective, shed likely not have noticed it until it was fully upon her.

The thing had been charging at her from behind, coming through the gates shed opened. One last nasty thing from the swamp. Unless more spawn on their own

She had no idea where the creatures actually came from. They seemed physical, while also seeming too magical to be real.

-That makes no sense, but yeah, I agree. I dont think these could ever exit, but that tracks, considering they stayed in.-

Yeah. I suppose the holds that send out creatures make more real ones? Somehow?

-Maybe well find out further in.-

As she scanned the room around her, it was obvious that the fighting was far from over.

She was flanked by the two halves of a crossbar that had held the doors against her.

Beyond them, near the edges of reality, assuming it hadnt changed shape or size past the wall, statues lined the periphery of the space.

The smallest appeared to be little more than half her height, while the largest was close to twice as tall as she was.

They were made of a variety of materials, everything from simple granite to steel, from clay to wood.

As she looked around, every one of the statues began to move.

In addition to the mobile statues, pale bipedal creatures were scattered throughout the space.

They looked vaguely human, but their features were wrong.

Their skin was too pale, their features not quite where Tala expected them to be.

They moved on silent feet, shifting towards the edges of the space.

Tala sighed.

Her mage-sight gave no good information. Everything looked uniformly the same color, orange.

The specific magic of the creatures, of the place in general, was a nonsensical jumble to her eyes, so she put that sight from her mind.

It was time to get to work.

Crossing most of the space was laughably easy.

The statues were mostly harder substances, which cracked and crumbled under hits from her tungsten rod and sphere.

Her discs deflected attacks and warded off opponents, helping to stagger them and keep her from being overrun.

The pale creatures hung back, seemingly hesitant to engage.

Wise of them, I suppose.

Then, one of the big metal statues reached her.

The first was half again her height and had four arms.

Flow removed two in quick succession. Tala ducked under a third, but the fourth caught her in the chest.

The defenses on her elk-leathers flared, protecting her from the blow with ease, but even so, she was flung backward and out of the building.

-Reduce weight!-

Tala did so even as she skipped across the surface of the rancid sludge.

She was able to catch the surface with a hand as she flew, flipping up and landing on her feet.

She left her gravity fairly high, so she could still move, bent low, and sprinted back across the surface of the not-gravy. Each step sunk a few inches into the muck as she pushed off, but no more.

This is way, WAY easier.

The all-pervasive power in the air, combined with the odd linkage that everything seemed to share, meant that to try to target anything, shed have to overcome the magical weight of everything. At least, thats how it felt the few times shed tried.

With all her strength, she built up speed, covering the remaining distance in great leaping strides.

She passed through the open archway, and the hall passed in a flash before she slammed into the metal statue glaive first, breaking the offending thing in two.

Gotcha. A smug smile pulled at Talas lips.

As the two halves fell away, though, another fist used the pieces as cover to slam into her from the side.

A second giant statue, this one granite, had joined the fight.

Tala slammed into the side of the combat hall before shed even registered being struck, and the edge of reality was sufficiently hard for her to break bones against.

She slumped to the ground with a groan, her skeletal system snapping back into place, and back together, before healing with audible pops and cracks.

In her moment of lowered capacity, the first of the pale creatures lunged at her. It had been near where she had landed to begin with, so it covered the distance between them quickly.

Talas tungsten rod moved to smack it aside, but the metal passed straight through the being.

What the rust?

Its outstretched hand landed on her, and she felt a titanic PULL on her magic.

Her body was completely drained in less than a second of contact.

What?

For the first time in Talas life, she was utterly without magic.

Her gate was still there, trying to refill her, but every iota of power that came through was immediately ripped from her with a feeling reminiscent of her fingernails being pulled.

It had bypassed her authority?

What?

It had ignored her aura.

How?

-Thats my Tala. Lets see what awaits!-

Tala reached out and pushed, putting her strength behind it.

There was a cracking sound, like a lock breaking, and the entire mirror swung away from her.

Beyond, a large circular room awaited her.

The floor was truly level, seeming to simply be the edge of reality rather than any material.

-Nothing is ever true level.-

What are you talking about?

-There are always imperfections.-

OhI mean, sure? I guess so.

Overhead, a half-sphere of the same material completed the space.

At the center, a single figure sat on a throne.

Should I be concerned that that throne looks an awful lot like mine in Kit?

-Probably just a coincidence.-

Your sarcasm is reassuring.

The figure looked to be one of the pale creatures, but it wielded a sword that was as black as the void.

It looked like a two-dimensional cut-out of a sword, except that the dimensions seemed to shift as the blade rose and fell, tapping against the creatures hand.

Can it talk?

-How am I supposed to know?-

Can you speak?

The beast shook its head almost ruefully as an arrogant smile spread across its face. Blah, blah. Blah blah!

-What the rust?-

What the rust?

The thing continued, seemingly giving a speech with the single, nonsense word.

-Why would it be trying to give the impression of speech?-

Tala grimaced. Because bad guys always monologue in stories.

-yeah, that tracks. What is with this place?-

Pallaun will tell us when we get out. Shed insist upon it.

Nevertheless, Tala wasnt about to let a villain monologue, real or false.

She charged forward, closing the distance in three bounding steps.

Flow met the void-sword and was turned aside.

Tala rolled with the motion of her weapon, striking again from a new angle, but the second attack was spoiled as well.

Each of the two blocks had been the smallest of movements, causing her strikes to just miss.

Still, she used the minor distraction to whip the rod through her opponents chest.

The tungsten passed harmlessly through the rusting thing, and she did not want to risk the tungsten or discs in a clash against that sword.

She let her momentum carry her past the throne rather than stopping to slug things out.

So, blade against blade, eh? No other tools.

-Well, if it touches you, that would be bad.-

Fine, so its blade and touch vs Flow. I can work with that.

The pale figure stood, uncaring of its doll-like nakedness.

A distorted mouth opened too wide, and it screamed at her, clearly incensed.

Tala stepped back under the force of the scream.

Once it finished, she shook her head to clear it. Did you really want to monologue that much?

BLAH, BLAH!!!

This is ridiculous. Id be laughing if the thing werent so creepy. She would bet gold that it could drain her dry with a single touch, too.

No telling what that sword will do if it cuts me.

She loosened her shoulders and gave a small smile. Well, this did turn out to be a challenge after all.

-Pallaun does seem the type to enjoy this sort of thing.-

Tala closed more deliberately, never fully engaging.

Neither of them were able to land a meaningful hit on the other. Even so, after three more quick exchanges, Tala was grimacing. I cant win in a contest of skill.

-Tali?-

Not fully, no. I think Tala reached back, trying to pull on Talis experience instinctually.

Her gaze firmed, and she lunged backward.

Flow morphed into a glaive, and she threw it with all her strength.

Her opponent almost seemed to sigh in disappointment, flicking its sword up to knock the glaive aside.

When the void blade was about to hit her weapon, Tala altered its form.

Flow became a knife, and the deflecting sword passed just in front of it.

White eyes showed an instant of shock before the blade buried itself in the pale forehead.

-Huh. That was much easier than fighting blade to blade.-

Truer words.

The creature dissolved, just like its weaker brethren had, but the sword remained behind.

Yeah, Im taking that.

She bent down, and as she grabbed the hilt, she felt a deep hunger from the weapon. It wanted power, and Tala couldnt possibly supply it with all the power it needed. Strangely, there was almost no physical sensation from the weapon in her hand, just a somehow tangible ravenousness.

Hmmm Well see what Thron has to say about this.

-Or Pallaun.-

The obsidian Eskau might want it for himself, but that didnt quite align with what she knew of the man.

So the throne is the core?

-Thats what it looks like, from the way the magic flows.-

Tala took a moment to examine the zeme herself and concurred.

Well, Kit,Tala pulled the pouch off her waist. A small smile tugged at her lips as she looked at one of her longest-held toolsare you hungry?

The pouch did not respond.