The Tomb of Ambitions

At de Montfort’s command the soldiers formed a shield wall, spiked with swords. Katnir glanced at Satine, hoping this distraction would allow him to free her. She was still being held at dagger point, but her captor was distracted by the new threat. Thinking quickly, Katnir reached out with his arm, and the dagger was pulled out of the man’s hand. Katnir caught it mid-flight and made a pushing motion with his free hand. The man was knocked down before he could react. Satine fled immediately and ran to Katnir.

“Seize them!” – came a shout.

In the blink of an eye, the wizard froze the shackles on Satine’s wrists with his touch. A single strike of his fist shattered them to pieces. Having given the dagger to Satine, he turned his attention to two knights who came rushing at them. Behind them, a pandemonium had erupted, the black beasts tearing into the Brotherhood’s ranks. The chamber became filled with screams and clashing of steel, blood spilling on the mosaic floor.

Katnir got ready to give the two knights a good taste of magical fire, but they were suddenly sweeped by a giant black tail. The serpent had ignored the main rampage and now, having dispatched of the two men, it hissed menacingly, looking down at Katnir with its purple eyes. With no sword, his only defense was his magic, but he lacked confidence. He still remembered his failure to sustain the blizzard spell at Coine.

Now I know my limit. Will it be enough to slay the guardians?

“We should run” – Satine said with anxiety.

“No, you should run. It’s getting too hot for you in here.”

Before she could reply, the serpent lunged at them, baring its fangs, each long as a sabre. Katnir reached out with his hands and the beast stopped almost within an arm’s reach, thrashing furiously with its tail and hissing at him. The scar on his hand started bleeding from the strain.

“Run! I’ll be fine.”

With some hesitation, Satine retreated, leaving Katnir to fight the serpent on his lonesome. On the other side of the chamber, the Brotherhood was already routed, with only a handful of men still hanging on, including de Montfort himself. Their swords did little harm to the monsters that had already mauled at least a dozen, but seemed to keep them at bay just enough to allow for a slow retreat.

The serpent finally wiggled itself out of Katnir’s telekinetic grip and only narrowly missed biting on his leg. The wizard cast an ice spike, pinning the serpent’s head to the floor, but it simply tore itself free, the wound mending almost immediately.

Stretching his hand, Katnir spurred fire at the beast’s open maw. The heat was so intense, the paint started flaking off the walls. The serpent screeched with pain, but withstood the assault.

“Not hot enough for you?!” – the wizard yelled, forming a fiery spear in his hand, blazing white hot. – “Have at thee!”

The spear pierced the serpent’s head and lodged in its brain, burning it from inside. It let out a blood-chilling shriek, thrashing around. Katnir tried to cast another one, but a sudden strike of the snake’s tail sent him flying across the room. He stood back up, but the monster was already coming for him, the fiery spear still sticking from its skull. It was too fast for him to charge up another spell.

“Hey wizard! Catch!” – he heard Satine’s shout and saw his own sword flying at him. He caught it mid-air and swung with all his might, chopping the serpent’s head off just when it was about to sink its fangs in him. The two halves fell on the floor, splashing black blood around. Finally, the tail stopped wiggling and laid at rest.

Breathing heavily, Katnir looked around the chamber. The mangled bodies were scattered on the floor which was now sticky with blood. On the other side of the room, over two chopped up monstrous carcasses, stood de Montfort, a lone victor, his sword blackened and dripping with blood. There was something unsettling about him. Suddenly, Katnir realized he had been emanating a strong aura.

Is he also a wizard? – he thought. – No… he’s something else…

De Montfort shook the ichor off his sword, and made his way towards Katnir, bloodlust in his eyes. Satine stood by Katnir’s side, now armed with her own weapons again. The sapphire ring shone on her hand.

“We’ll take him together” – she said.

The wizard nodded, and they both took a defensive stance, protecting each other’s weak spots. De Montfort had already raised his blade for an attack, when a large black shadow zipped through the chamber and struck at de Montfort’s neck, burying its beak in his artery. Blood gushed from beneath the armor while the corvine monster pecked at him furiously. Finally, the knight commander stumbled and fell on the floor, motionless.

The monster stood straight and morphed into a more human shape.

“Look, I know I promised you no killing, but the bolt lodged in the spine just pissed me off too much.”

“What took you so long?”

“Just waiting for the right time” – Reiny said, shaking the dust off his coat.

“For a second I thought you were a goner.”

“You didn’t seriously think a lump of steel would kill a yaoguai, did you? Actually, never mind that, the tomb waits for you.”

Katnir approached the door, still sealed and waiting for the right answer to its riddle. The runes of old seemed to be challenging him personally.

“De Monfort answered what every wizard of the Isles would have, myself included. But if the answer is not ‘power’, then what could it be?”

He took a walk around the chamber, studying the frescos and repeating the riddle in his mind. Reiny and Satine threw some suggestions at him, but none seemed fitting. Out of the blue, he remembered what Sonia had told him in that inn. After all, Halandir too was away from home.

What wisdom could he have found here?

He gazed at the image of Halandir, now damaged by fire, but still smiling, not with malice or entitlement… but with genuine joy of life. And then it clicked. He understood.

So simple! So simple I would have never thought.

Katnir stormed across the room and stood before the door. He took a deep breath and said:

“Thou art… fulfillment!”

The runes glowed with white light and with a grinding sound, the door slid into the wall, revealing the burial chamber behind. When the dust settled, Katnir peered in and beheld a stone catafalque with an ancient skeleton lying on the top. His heart skipped a beat when he saw a purple khorii crystal between the bones of the right hand, a green one in the left and a blue one lodged in the forehead.

“At last…” – Katnir said, stepping into the crypt.

When he was about to reach for the crystals, he heard a sudden roar of flames and Satine’s scream. When he looked behind, he saw her collapsing on the floor, senseless. Over her, there stood a towering figure, glittering with all colors at once. It had de Montfort’s face and armor, but it was clear he had transformed into something else, something incomprehensibly powerful. His eyes cast a blinding ray of light and threw Reiny against the wall before he could react. The force of impact left a cobweb of cracks on the wall and one unconscious yaoguai lying on the mosaic.

“Behold, wizard!” – de Montfort shouted with an otherworldly voice. – “An Eon’s true form!”

An Eon… – he thought with horror. – But they were all banished in the Calamity!

The sight has awakened something he had never known he even had in him; a primal, unrelenting fear. He felt like an impish puppy about to suffer the wrath of its master.

As the Eon entered the crypt, Katnir fled it, leaving the crystals free for de Montfort to take. He grabbed them from the catafalque, scattering the bones across the chamber. The blue crystal he plucked with a repulsing disregard for the dead, and cast the skull away, shattering it against the wall.

Katnir dashed to Reiny and shook him violently. It took a few agonizing seconds to knock him back to his senses. Finally, he opened his eyes, disoriented.

“Take Satine and run for it!”

“Huh? What about y-“

“Do it!”

Seeing Katnir’s desperation, Reiny protested no more, and, having changed to his winged form, grabbed the unconscious Satine and escaped the tomb. Katnir was now facing de Montfort alone. With the khorii crystals huddled in his fist, the Eon let out a devilish laugh.

“Now my task is complete! I return to you triumphal, master!” – he screamed into the air. – “But first I shall deal with you. You are no longer needed.”

As the monster walked towards Katnir, he slowly retreated to the entrance, his sword raised in what seemed a futile attempt at defense.

Maybe I can push myself far enough to have a chance against him?

Then he remembered his failure at Coine. Even if he had enough power in him, it was clear that de Montfort was far too strong even for the blizzard spell. He recalled the clantales and what they said about the Eons of yore, thought to have been long purged from the face of the earth. If there was even a grain of truth in them, it was hopeless to even try fighting.

So that’s how it ends… With me dead and the crystals seized by an ancient evil…

He was already on the threshold, and felt warm rays of sun on his back.

The moment he steps out of the tomb, all is lost…

He glanced at the seal, still placed in the wall. He realized there was a way out. However painful it was to even think about, he knew that was the only chance. And the window to seize it was rapidly closing. With a heavy heart, he reached out with his arm and clenched his fist. The seal cracked, and the entire tomb flickered as the reality within bent. With horror, the Eon realized what was happening, and rushed to escape the tomb, but it was too late.

“NOOOOOO-!” – his scream of anguish was cut short as the seal broke in half.

With a thunderous crack, the entire tomb vanished, leaving the mound hollow and Katnir standing right at the edge of the void. What was left of the burrow, collapsed into the crater. Nothing remained of the tomb, not even a single stone.