13 - Reaching the Citadel
Chapter 13
Air magic from Aurelius' slippers swirls around him akin to a small tornado. His own winds cut through the howling winds of the cavern, splitting them before they have a chance to reach him or slow him down. Additionally, they wrap around his feet, lifting him off the ground and allowing him to glide across the ground at an incredible pace.
From the rear, the Barrghest watches Aurelius zip across the wall, slide up to the ceiling and then leap downwards through the stream of running water to pivot 180 degrees and land on the ground.
'That magic of his must be extremely powerful. I would have to teleport at least three times to reach the ceiling from where i stand and he managed to zip across the entire distance in a matter of seconds. It's no surprise that he was able to chase away the trio of mage hunters. I should really ask him about what happened there.' The Barrghest thinks to himself as he flickers through a strong gust of wind before blinking to a spot a few hundred feet ahead of himself.
The duo travels for a good few miles through this empty, cavernous landscape before coming across the main stream where their branch had broken off from. The already large cavern widening until it breaks out into one massive channel. A portion of the river can be seen flowing at a steep angle upwards, upstream, and the rest flowing downwards at a much more manageable angle.
The Barrghest teleports to the corner where their current passage connects with the larger one. He looks downstream to find that off in the distance more channels break away from the main hall to form caverns of varying sizes.
'Are all of the caves inside this place connected?' The Barrghest ponders through their mind-link.
'Some of them are and others are not. There are a number of wider systems like the one we have come across which act as main channels to the upper floors. We should be on the second of at least four known layers.' Aurelius communicates back.
'We are getting closer then. I will follow your lead.' The Barrghest responds before blinking a portion of the way up the steep main branch. Aurelius follows closely, at points getting ahead of the barrghest before looking back to ensure his friend is keeping up.
The pair travels upwards at a forty-five degree angle for some time before the channel turns upwards again to a sixty degree angle. All the while the stream flowing through the center rushing at an increasing intensity. After about thirty minutes of travel, the pair makes it to the zenith of the stream.
The cavern comes to a plateau covered in a slick layer of saltwater. The stream connects to a waterfall that crashes through the stream, slams against the plateau, and then falls back upwards into the river. The branch that the pair has come from extends across the plateau and downward into a whole different cave system. At the topmost point of the cave, where the waterfall originates from, is a hole leading upwards.
'There. That passage directly upwards is where we need to head. Will you be able to climb the walls?' Aurelius asks as he lands on the plateau. Water droplets flow across the stone to its edge and then rise upwards to fall back into the stream.
'I have self levitation and a secondary teleportation ability as innate magic. Between those two and the abilities i have accumulated up to this point, i should be able to reach the hole in the ceiling.' The Barrghest replies, enabling itself to hover off the ground and cause numerous droplets of water to rise with him and fall upwards into the stream.
The pair looks upwards at the waterfall towards where it comes out of the stony ceiling. The barrghest begins to calculate the distance as best he can and estimates that he will require four jumps, three of which he can make in quick succession, but the fourth will be difficult as he will need to physically vault off the waterfall somehow to reach the top.
'I have an idea. If I can make it high enough then i will use my abilities quickly enough to reach the top. If you can fly with your trinket, watch out for me in case i start to fall.' The Barrghest communicates through the mind-link and allows his determination to manifest all throughout his form.
First he enlarges his form, growing until he nearly doubles in size. Next he enhances his physical strength with his innate magic. He then angles his body to travel close enough to the waterfall to use it as an anchor point for his levitation but far enough away as to not get swept up into the stream. Finally he tenses up his muscles to give himself a powerful leap upwards...
'I wouldn't want to try and use the waterfall as an anchor point after having used all of my teleportation. Hopefully this works.' He thinks to himself and then launches himself skyward.
The strength from the jump sends him a good fifty feet into the air, the levitation kicking in and catching him, causing him to rise higher over the next few seconds. 'Good it works.' He then vanishes from the spot, appearing a few hundred feet up. He then quickly uses his second teleport, to make it half the distance up the waterfall.
His third step through space brings him up to roughly three quarters the height of the waterfall, where he begins to slow down. Luckily he is caught by his levitation magic, giving him a moments respite before he can activate his ability once more to step through space and appear on the wall leading upwards.
From down below, Aurelius lifts off the ground and jets upwards into the air, appearing next to the Barrghest in a matter of seconds with a smile. 'Good job. Let's continue.' He communicates before flying upwards.
The Barrghest begins to follow, making short teleports upwards in hopes of reaching the top and ascending into the next space that will lead them back to their homeworld.
The Barrghest teleports to an open hole in the side of the waterfalls cavern. He almost pays the offshoot no mind but he spots movement a short distance away from himself. Adrenaline courses through his veins as his fight response kicks in .. but nothing happens.
He takes a few steps forward to discover the remnants of a cacoon. A putrid smells crosses his nose as he nears, the winds from the main chute greatly dampened due to the water and position of his space. From within the cocoon he can make out decaying bodyparts from what looks like a humanoid creature.
'Where did you go.' Aurelius' voice suddenly sounds in his head. 'I have stumbled upon something strange. A cocoon full of bodyparts, something has been hunting and leaving its catch in strange places.' The Barrghest replies.
'Leave it be, but keep a mental note. We need to move, the longer we stay here the less chance i have of breaking this curse over myself.' Aurelius reminds.
The Barrghest backs out of the cave and then begins ascending the main chute once more. He reaches Aurelius shortly, crossing the threshold into the upper level.
The Barrghest sees a massive open space, easily seeing for miles. There are even dots of light in the distance that catch his attention. The most notable part is that the winds here are not as powerful as the ones in the lower passages.
Aurelius draws attention to a massive structure off in the distance, one with numerous sources of light emanating from it. "That is the citadel of planes, and that is our destination." He says aloud, dispelling his bubble of silence and allowing the echoes of the cavern to fill the air once more.
