Chapter 625: War In Heaven (1/2)
Ring the bells and call the roll. Find the souls, who know the rage. Find the souls, who can be made. Become the beings who break the rings.
Speak the oath and bend a knee. Embrace her. She is one with thee.
Ring the bells and call the roll. The Halo born shall wage the war. The Halo born, pay the price. The chosen few, do give their life's.
Speak the oath and bend a knee. Embrace her. She is one with thee.
They know not, what they ask. They know not, the price we pay. They only know what we do. Break the Rings and smash the tube.
Join me partner. There's work to do. Don the suit to make the day. The Ravens word is all they'll say.
--Legend of the Ring Breakers, Stellar Metal Album ”Triumph of Warsteel”, Lead Singer: u/Kudamonis
The great beast roared, pawing the ground with one great hoof, snorting around the heavy bronze ring in its nose. Its hands opened and shut, reflexively seeking out the trident that was broken into pieces and cast away. It glared with baleful red eyes at the target of its ire, who shifted their feet and adjusted their sword stance.
It had already been cut, deeply, several times. Painful deep slashes across its sides and a deep stab wound into its abdomen that made breathing difficult.
And it had landed nothing in return on its foe.
It shifted and narrowed its eyes, stopping its involuntary movement, and tensed.
Its foe shifted slightly, looking perfectly relaxed, even as beaded sweat slid down their rich mahogany skin. The beads and charms in their hair clicked slightly as they snapped their head to the side to whip away the sweat running down their head. Sweat dripped down their chin and neck and ran across the bare tops of their breasts till it hit the copper decorated and edged cups of the leather bustier they wore.
Behind them, the mouth of the cave showed a clear blue sky, without a trace of a cloud. Seagulls could be heard calling out and the sound of waves from a far off shore could faintly be heard. Another possible foe leaned against the mouth of the cage, watching silently.
The beast knew that the one against the wall was the real threat. They didn't know how, but they knew it was. It had a strange oblong box on its back and the beast could not sense what was inside the box, which meant it was dangerous.
But the one in front of it had a sword and that made it even more of an immediate threat.
With a bellow the beast charged, lowering its head, intending on gutting its foe with one of its great horns or even grabbing them with one hand to pull them close and crush the life from them. It intended on rushing past the opponent armed with a sword and crush the other one against the rock wall with its heavy brow.
Their opponent held still, as if frozen, then whirled even as they ducked down. Their skirt lifted, the hammered copper strips on the leather pleats shining in the sunlight, their boots turned smoothly on the stone floor.
Their smile was a flash of ivory as the sword swept out, behind the beast, the blade chopping into the meat just below the knee with the sound of a melon dropped on pavement as the bone beneath the meat snapped from the power of the blow.
The beast roared in pain, going down on one knee, raising its head to the heavens to cry out its agony.
The beast's opponent shifted, grabbing the hilt of their sword with both hands and bringing it back over their head.
With a sharp cry of victory the sword flashed down, there was a sudden silence as the great beast's roar suddenly ended, and the great head rolled off the shoulders to land on the floor. The windpipe whistled as the body continued the cry of agony till the lungs emptied. Blood sprayed across the cave floor as the body went down in a heap.
The opponent moved forward to the great beast's head, which was staring at them, glaring.
”You fought with heart, beast,” they said. They pulled a cloth out of a hidden pocket in the pleats of the skirt and slowly cleaned the blade. ”Until anon,” they said.
”Nicely done,” the other one said, pushing off the wall and moving forward. Like the female, he moved with a certain grace that spoke of training and predatory instinct.
”Thank you,” the female said. She smiled again, a bright white flash in a brown face. She gave a sweeping motion with her blade toward the back of the cave and the single tunnel leading deeper into the mountain. ”Shall we?”
Major Acharya nodded. ”We shall,” he said. ”After you, milady.”
Her Grace Khoonkeenadee, the Arch-Duchess of Relflagen, Lady of Magic and Beauty, the Arcane Will of King Nganto, She Who has Birthed a Hundred smiled at the Terran and began to move forward, the tip of her blade beginning to glow with a soft pale amber light and her eyes shining like a cat's eyes.
”I thank you for not interfering,” Lady Keena said as they moved through the tunnel.
”Looked like your kind of fight,” Acharya shrugged. ”Looks straight out of a Tri-Vee.”
Lady Keena grinned again. ”It told me a lot, that fight.”
”Such as?” Acharya asked.
”That is not a more recent version. Its square cubed was still off balance, its reflexes were slowed and then augmented, meaning it reacted the exact same as it would every time, and it was incapable of doing much more than flash the trident around,” Lady Keena said. She gave a low laugh. ”Any LARP world that fielded such a beast would have complaints across SolNet for using cheap open source creatures.”
Acharya nodded. ”OK, makes sense.”
”To be honest, I have never seen a model so old. I will be able to tell that tale in taverns and courts for decades, that I faced an ancient paragon beast and emerged victorious as a fair blushing youth swooned with fear and delight at my defeat of the terrible and ancient beast,” Lady Keena laughed.
”Blushing youth? Me?” Acharya laughed.
”It's my story,” Lady Keena said. She slowed and lifted the tip of her sword. ”Quiet.”
Acharya stepped against the wall, folding his arms over his chest and waiting.
Lady Keena moved forward slightly, revealing an intersection. She sniffed the air, stuck her tongue out several times, then got down on all fours to sniff the stone and even taste it. Finally she stood up.
”This way,” she said, motioning with her blade.
Acharya nodded.
The natural tunnel gave way to carved stone, which gave way to cut stone with patterns on them. Twice they passed large mosaic murals of men and beasts fighting with weapons. Once Acharya held up his hand.
”Hang on,” he said. He put his hand against the wall and frowned slightly as he concentrated.
Light spread out from his hand in complex swirling patterns, lighting up the wall. A flowery appearing door's edge lit up with runes around the edges and a set of sigils in the middle.
”Good eye,” Lady Keena said.
Acharya just nodded, still concentrating. Lady Keena glanced around then stared into Acharya's blue eyes, able to see the thin lines of code scroll buy on his iris. After a second there was a click and the door opened.
When Acharya moved his hand the glowing pattern slowly faded away. Lady Keena moved up to the door, sniffing the air.
”Fresh,” she said. ”I can smell sorcery.”
Acharya leaned forward sniffing the air. ”Ozone, hot circuitry. Tech smells. Must be a maintenance corridor. We're close.”
Lady Keena smiled. ”Indeed we are.”
Acharya took the box off his back and held it by the straps as Lady Keena pulled the scabbard off her back and held it one hand. The two squeezed through the doorway and down the hallway, turned sideways. Twice Lady Keena had to exhale and lift up slightly on her toes, the copper and bronze edging of her bustier scraping on the stone. Finally it opened up into a room, the hidden hallway terminating at a balcony.
The two looked down and both of them smiled for different reasons.