Chapter 19: An Explosive Revelation

Blue flames erupted forward as the spectral entity regained its footing after being pushed back. Era and Lulith had to leap backward. The being struck forward, seeing me and Dr. Elora as potential enemies. We both narrowly dodged out of the way as spectral flames licked at my leg, the fire searing a bit of skin off. The entity turned its attention to a downed professor with Aurelia hovering over his body, using elven healing magic. I yelled to her, "Aurelia, move!" The entity sent a wave of blue fire towards the girl and the professor. The small girl saw the strike too slowly; however, in the nick of time, a small shield blocked the blow. The green amulet on her neck glowed, shaking the area around her, as a green shield created a small sphere around her body.

I attempted to get the monster's attention by throwing one of my sleep daggers at its large body. It merely fell off harmlessly, but it did turn towards me. I ran away, and so did Dr. Elora. We ran toward Era and Lulith. The entity chased us down as we ran as a group to the back of the room, leading the entity away from the professor. I explained as we ran, "That thing has taken next to no damage! We need to come up with a plan!" Era looked at me with serious eyes, "What do you suggest, Lucius?" I thought on my feet, calling out orders, "Dr. Elora, Lulith, I need you to distract the specter for a moment. I need time to think." Lulith seemed like she wanted to complain but let out an annoyed sigh, knowing that for now, she had to follow my orders.

Dr. Elora nodded, "Very well. You seem more accustomed to battle, so I will let you decide our course of action." Elora always seemed like she kept a cool head, even when one of her friends was cut apart in front of her. She was reliable; that much I was certain about. Both began distracting the giant specter as a unit. Elora threw her bombs and other explosives at the monster, and Lulith seemed to be trying to hit it wherever she could. I watched for a brief moment as they tried to attack this monster; they couldn't do any real damage. Just as I thought that, Lulith seemed to accidentally graze a piece of its armor, and the monster momentarily took a step back.

That was when I noticed it: the piece in the armor she had hit had a small symbol engraved. I had no idea what it meant, but this gave me a thought. I looked toward Era, "I have a plan, and I am going to need your help, okay?" She quirked an eyebrow, saying, "I've seen you pull off the impossible more than once. Hit me with it." I gave her a small smile, "I am going to need you to charge my hand with your life magic when I call forth a new rune." She looked a little concerned, "Last time... your hand..?" I recalled my hand almost being blown to bits the last time we used one of these moves on Samuel. I gave a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, this time it won't involve fire."

I grabbed a marker from my bag and drew a symbol of a triangle with a line through the bottom; this was my eighth rune out of the ten that my grandpa left for me. I pointed my hand at the specter and called out, "Everyone out of the way!" Both girls who had been fighting quickly darted back once they heard my command. Era began channeling her life magic into my arm, and I yelled out the word, "Lithora!" The rune began to glow with a green aura on my hand. I felt an immense tingling sensation like something was growing. Vines shot out of my hand, leaving marks as they shot at an impossible speed toward the construct. The vines wrapped around the giant construct, restraining its steel armor and making the entity freeze in place.

The spectral being tried to resist the bindings, but to no avail. The bindings from my hand wrapped around it, coiling like a snake. The vines began to burn after a few seconds, but we had a window of opportunity. I looked to my right; Lulith was panting like the drugs had taken a lot out of her; it seemed she was spent. I asked, "Well, villain, do you have one more blow in you?" Lulith huffed, "I don't need you to question my abilities. You haven't seen anything yet, human. Let's just finish this already." I pointed at the inscription on the armor I had seen earlier, "Hit that with everything you've got left." Lulith nodded and said, "Don't blink; it's over after this. Consider my contract with you included!"

She dashed forward with a determined expression, hitting the spot on the armor I had pointed out with a powerful blow using her fist. The armor had a giant indent as the shockwave pushed us back; it let out a booming sound through the empty space around us. Lulith jumped back dexterously, and the armor began to sputter, making hissing sounds as the inscription was damaged. The hissing got louder, and I realized what that meant. I yelled for everyone to find cover, and we dashed away. However, Lulith looked stunned, and it seemed like that last attack had burned her out. I decided to take action before my mind even caught up, so I grabbed her in my arms and ran behind a pillar. She was rather light; I had lifted boxes in my shop way heavier than what she currently weighed.

I heard a giant blast as blue fire burned the spot where we had just been standing. I covered Lulith from the blast. My back got burned a little, but I figured it was better than both of us getting burned. Once the explosion had died down, I slowly let Lulith back down. She looked at me with eyes filled with fear. It appeared she was afraid of explosions, but she quickly snapped out of it, her pride on the line. She turned away from me with a pout, saying, "I didn't ask for your help. Why does every human insist on shielding me today?"

I explained, "Humans tend to have protective instincts. I guess it's universal." We both stood up, mostly unharmed. I scanned our surroundings; the specter had been dealt with, its parts scattered along the ground. Era walked over to us again, and so did Elora; it seemed they had hidden behind a pillar further to our right. Elora, wiping off her glasses, stated, "I guess whoever conjured that thing added a self-destruct switch. How kind of them."

I sighed, "Not the most pleasant welcome." We all quickly made our way back to the professor, who was still sprawled on the floor. It was a heartbreaking sight as Aurelia held his body, still trying to heal the professor. Black flames raged on his body, seemingly not going out. She began crying out, "Why won't the flames stop? They keep burning him. I don't get it; the healing should be working." Tears flowed, her face red-hot. Nobody dared say anything. The professor, as much as I hate to say it, looked like a lost cause. I had never really experienced someone dying in front of me like this, and my heart ached for the poor girl. The wounds on him had only gotten worse over time; his face was pale as he took shallow breaths. The previously blue flames now turned black on his body, like a curse that was tearing the last of his life away.

Lulith inched closer, and she sighed, "Out of the way, kid, let me see it." Aurelia looked up at her with pitiful tears in her eyes, "Wah, are you gonna help?" Lulith ignored her and pulled out another blue vial similar to the vial she had tried to use on my rune. She wordlessly poured the blue liquid onto the professor's body. The black flames began slowly dying out; the blue liquid seemed to serve as water, cooling down the flames. After a few moments, the fire completely faded out, and Lulith backed away. She stated, "You can heal him now; with any luck, he should stabilize." Aurelia began healing him right away, and it seemed that with her potion and Aurelia's elven life magic, the wound slowly began to mend. I took the opportunity to chime in, a smile on my face, "Hey, for someone who says they aren't a hero, you sure saved his life, didn't you?" Lulith gave me an annoyed glance, her arms now crossed, "I told you I always collect a debt; well, it works both ways. I hate owing someone."

With our problems currently on hold for now, Elora and Era make their way to the rune from before, the one that caused this entire event. Era remarks, "What now? They were clearly trying to block us from whatever is in this rock." I nod, "Yeah, it stands to reason something is sealed here that someone didn't want to be unsealed." Dr. Elora chimes in, "It could be best to just leave it be, but as a scientist, I hate to admit my curiosity is piqued." I add, "What do you suggest, then? Have you seen this kind of rune before?" She thinks for a moment, "No, but if I had to guess, I would imagine this rune is some kind of seal." I wonder for a moment, "Hey, doctor, so I told you I was a rune caster, right? Well, my grandpa left me a rune. Think it's worth a try?" I show her the symbol for anti-magic in my grandpa's journal I had in my pack.

Elora pondered for a moment, "Anti-magic? Would that work on a rune?" I suggested, "My grandpa told me once that runes store magic, so in theory, yes, it should work." Dr. Elora nodded, "Well, what's the worst that can happen? Sure, give it a try." I would have used anti-magic on the specter, but anti-magic, as I have been shown, is very volatile. Should it explode for whatever reason, we could be caught in the blast. I take out a knife and begin carving the Y shape into the rock next to the rune from before. I tell everyone to back away, noting that this rune will likely explode on contact with other magic. Era picks up the professor, giving him a piggyback ride; he must have been pretty light. I fuel the symbol with a fair bit of my limited magic and back away myself to avoid getting caught in the blast. Once I have backed away enough, I yell out, "Magivara!"

The rune glows next to the seal, and as I expected, it blows up. The explosion scatters rubble everywhere around the cave. I would assume that due to the rock's properties, the explosion was on a different scale than usual. The magic was dense in the rock. I made a mental note to take some of this cave's rocks with me when we left. Once the dust settled, a huge hole had opened in the rock, revealing the contents within. We made our way closer, revealing a chest in the center of the rock. The chest had a red outline and countless seals on it. The entire thing was covered in seals for this one chest. With the explosion revealing a mysterious chest adorned with numerous intricate seals, the party's curiosity and trepidation grew, for it seemed that the true heart of the cavern's secrets lay within.