Reunion

Chapter: 33

Reunion

Meanwhile, Rodolfo's group was not having the best time. After they had rested for the night to recharge their energies and heal themselves, they went on to search for the plant.

Going through the opened-up wall, and keeping on walking for hours on end, the surroundings did not change at all. Frustrated with this situation, Kellam could only curse out loud.

"Damn, how long does this path lead us around. All looks the same, no matter how far we are going. Everywhere we go are the same stones and walls. Can we do something else? Any ideas?"

Rodolfo had the same trouble and was no longer as cautious as before. Thinking some time for any ideas, he suddenly stopped and decided.

"We cannot go on like this, this is likely a trap to exhaust ourselves. I guess it's better to go back and search anew from there."

Kellam agreed with his decision, therefore the group turned on their feet and walked back.

The only thing they had not expected was that even after running all the way back, they could not find their old starting point. Running a few more hours to confirm this, they then slowed down and wore a serious look on their faces, except the guard who wore the mask and seemed more like a puppet than a person.

"It looks like this is also not helping us. We need to force our way out of here through brute force. Let's destroy this wall and look if we find another way." Rodolfo said while he pointed at the wall next to them.

The time in this underground system took its toll on their minds and exhausted them greatly.

Getting to the wall after unsheathing his two swords, he slashed at it with all of his physical strength.

"Clank"

A dull sound could be heard resonating throughout the surroundings. Rodolfo was taking some steps back to shake off the backlash of his attack, since the wall has not given way. Frowning at this outcome, he could not believe how strong this stone wall was.

When he tried it earlier while running away from the rolling stone, it was much easier to penetrate through the wall. From this, he could only conclude that the density of the stones around them got much stronger, as they went on.

Kellam calm expression on his face faded away after he looked at the result of Rodolfo's attack. He exactly knew just how powerful his brother was and was shocked that even he could not dent the wall.

They gave it their all and attacked together. This time they also circulated their blood energy and let it flow into their weapons.

The guard was the only one who went on guard duty, in case of some unknown trouble, and Kellam and Rodolfo got into an attacking mode.

This time, only the weapons of the vampires glowed. They let loose attacks on the wall. All in the same area to strike through, but also with some energy to spare. They did not want to end out of energy this time around. They also did not need to stake their lives on the line for cutting through some stones.

The wall in front of them was under constant attack, and the powerful strikes chipped away on the stones. Rumbling sounds could be heard since pieces of the wall kept falling onto the ground.

Seeing that this method worked, the two brothers got much more eager and attacked now with renewed vigor in their attacks.

Sounds of clashes from stones and metal could be heard all over the cave.

Suddenly, there was a change in the surrounding area. The dark cave lit up all over the place and glowed in a menacing red light.

Feeling the change of the cave, Rodolfo and Kellam stopped their attacks at a moment's notice and got into a defensive stance, while Rodolfo asked in a concerned voice.

"What is going on? All the time, this damn cave is darker than the deepest night and now it decides to light up? It looks like something doesn´t want us to dig around here.

At least it looks like we are on the right path."

Kellam nodded at this and looked around. The lit cave was undergoing quite a few changes and small holes appeared all over the place.

"Wooooshhh"

All three of them were in a defensive stance, and Rodolfo heard a swooshing sound right next to the guard. He screamed at him.

"Watch out." But it was already too late and a strange projectile flew at the guard, it came out of one of the holes.

The guard acted in time and could make out what was flying at him, but he was having no time to evade it. He could only hold up his shield and try to deflect it. A piercing sound could be heard, and the projectile pierced right through the shield, but it had no power left and got stuck into it.

All eyes were on the shield, and what they saw, stunned them. It looked like some kind of metal piece. It had a sharp head, not quite like an arrow and more like a knife, and was about 5 centimeters long. It had a round but sleek body. On the tip of the head could be seen some see-through liquid, which was dropping down.

"Sizzzzlllleeeee"

Sizzling sounds could be heard from the ground, and fumes went into the air. It was obviously poison. All of them could only gulp at the power of this projectile. The shield that the guard had, was not a normal shield. It was one of the best shields in the whole Everlasting City. To be penetrated almost instantly, by this object was a show of the power behind it.

Their faces fell, they now wore a grave look. Not wanting to imagine what was awaiting them, they looked at the uncountable holes. More swooshing sounds could be heard, and many more of these objects kept shooting out of the ground.

Being able to do nothing else than to defend themselves, a gruesome time started for the three vampires. Rodolfo and Kellam had had no defensive items, like shields, and could only use their weapons to deflect them. Not wanting to try out what this poison could do to them, they could only hope that this situation would not hold on for too long.

Their bodies began fully glowing in blood-red light and their abilities went up to their peak. They were dancing through the hail of projectiles and kept evading what they could and deflected the rest of them. Kellam was having a bit of a hard time because he had not yet adapted to fight with only one hand and could only give it his all.

The only one who was not that good at evading was the guard. He had forever had the absolute belief that nothing could penetrate his shield and he was at a disadvantage. His whole body was also shrouded in blood-red energy. It was not as dense as that of the other two but nothing to scoff at.

He was trying to evade what he could and defend the rest with his shield, but as the seconds went on, his shield resembled more and more like a porcupine. Tens of metals were stuck on it and he had to discard it when it was on the verge of breaking apart.

Not knowing what to do now, he picked up two of these metals and started to use them as weapons. That seemed like a good idea, and it only took him some time to get used to them.

This went on for quite some time, and all they could do was to try to not die. It took immense strength to evade this many tiny metals, and they soon saw that the only place with no holes in it was the place they had attacked earlier.

Realizing this, Rodolfo took some evasive maneuvers and was now standing with his back against this particular wall. He now had much more breathing room, since he was not attacked from all sides anymore and searched for a way out.

Kellam and the guard also saw this, after Rodolfo got there and repositioned themselves.

Rodolfo found out that these strange metallic objects had no trouble penetrating the wall and found many of these objects lying on the floor. These resulted from them being deflected by the trio.

He could not think of any other way out and yelled at his companions. "I need you two to shield me for some time. I might have found a way out of this."

Hearing this, the guard positioned himself in front of Rodolfo without thinking, and Kellam could only follow along.

They now could not evade all of them anymore, as they would hit Rodolfo in the back and it was getting much harder for them. Rodolfo could do nothing about this and picked up two of these metals and attacked the already damaged wall with them.

He was elated when he saw the result. Although only on the front of them was sharpened, they cut through the stone like nothing and soon he carved out pieces of the wall.

The onslaught went on and sweat was constantly falling down from all unwilling participants. The ground was now full of many new holes. This resulted from the metallic objects piercing into it. It was a good thing that all of the holes were not shooting their projectiles at the same time and needed time to reload. Had this not been the case, all the vampires would be dead since long ago.

Making some leeway with his attacks, Rodolfo chipped away at these stones like no tomorrow. His whole body was dripping sweat down onto the ground.

The guard and Kellam had it much worse and could not go on for much longer. Kellam could only bellow back.

"Hurry, we are almost at our wit's end." Kellam could only thank himself for training that hard every day. He was sure that without that, he would be dead already. However, his body was getting near its limit and he was not able to hold on for much longer.

Rodolfo heard this and could only grit his teeth and attack the wall with all he had. The wall gave way at a slow but steady pace.

It took him some more time, but he saw the end of the stone wall.

Seeing a little hole that connected to nothing but darkness was all he needed. He shaved away a hole big enough for them to get through in a burst of blood-red light and charged out of it while shouting.

"I am through, get out."

Kellam and the guard had their backs to Rodolfo and were elated when they heard his shout. Kellam evaded another volley of attacks and smashed his ax against an incoming projectile. With the force now working for him, he backed up and went out.

The guard did the same but was too late and had now not only the usual load to bear but all attacks. He was stepping back at a slow pace and stood now next to the hole. The attacks were now only coming at him from the front and it was much easier to evade in this self-made tunnel.

At the moment when he got out of it and stepped into freedom, he did not see one last object and got pierced right through in his left shoulder.

Getting away from the hole in the wall and joining his 2 leaders, he sat down on the ground and inspected his wound.

The object went through his armor and flesh like it meant nothing and got out of his other side. The flesh wound was not the problem, but the poison was working its way deeper inside.

Rodolfo and Kellam were elated when they got a safe distance away and collapsed onto the floor while breathing loudly. They had smiles all over their faces since they had lived through this.

Hearing a thud beside them, they looked at the guard. He looked no different from before. He held his shoulder with his right hand, it was apparent that he had been hit.

It took them some time, but Rodolfo could get back up and went to the guard to examine his injuries.

Not being able to see any reaction of the guard, when he asked him how bad it was, he got closer and could only find out that he was already dead. The poison worked far better than they had expected and he succumbed to its fierceness.

Telling his finding to Kellam, he got back beside him after he picked up these strange weapons that were lying all over the floor and put them away.

"I do hope that we find a way out of here, soon. I really do not want to die in here, without seeing if my son is ok."

Kellam could only nod at this, and both rested on the stone-cold floor for a few hours to restore their spent energy. After they restored their energy, they then got up and went to search for a way out of here.

That was now the same time after Richard, Sniffy, and Kyle got out of the crater.

Unnoticeable changes took place all over the mountain and the trapping array was now wholly focusing its attention on its supposed purpose. Everything else was not worth its attention anymore, since the reason for its existence was now trying to get out of it.

Not knowing how lucky they were, Rodolfo and Kellam were searching for a way out of this mountain cave.

／(^ x ^)＼

After Richard and Co had rested for the night, they then packed away their belongings and went on their way out of the giant cave.

Richard had this mysterious map in his mind and knew exactly where to go. The walk to the cave wall was unsurprisingly smooth. As they were headed towards the corner of the pentagram, they encountered nothing that troubled them.

Stopping in front of the wall, Sniffy and Kyle looked at Richard with confusing looks on their faces. Sniffy was the one who asked. "Do you really know a way out of here?" She was looking at the tall wall in front of them and was not seeing anything that would help them get out of here.

Richard heard this and could only thank Inorim for this map. He stood in front of the wall and used his magic to write something on it. It looked like some kind of language, but all three of them had never seen something like this.

The words magically went into the wall, and the ground under them shook two times.

A platform formed under their feet and was now slowly floating up with them. The trio was stunned at this outcome and could only ask Richard.

"What was that? What did you write on the wall?" Richard could only explain that he also did not know what he had written and that these were the instructions that were written on the map inside his mind.

"This map is something else. When I researched it earlier, there was only an arrow pointing at this wall. These instructions suddenly appeared when I stood in front of it. A marvelous piece of magic." Richard could only say with a yearning expression on his face. He could not wait for a day when he could understand all of these underlying principles.

Coming to a stop at the same height as the platform beside them. They went down from their floating one and were now on one of the five corner platforms again.

Seeing nothing but a wall in front of them, Sniffy and Kyle looked with curious looks at Richard and what he would do now.

Seeing their faces, Richard could only let out a chuckle and was walking to the front of the wall while he was saying. "Our earlier conjecture was quite right. These five corners are focus points where the magic is fed into the array and they support it with power. I am also quite interested in what will happen now."

He observed the map in his mind, and the instructions changed again. This time, a picture of the wall appeared alongside a handprint that was in the middle of it.

"Oh, that's a pleasant change," Richard said and put his hand on the supposed place.

At the same moment, a strange ripple formed at the same place, which spread outwards and enveloped the entire wall in front of them.

The wall was now glowing slightly, and some formless ripples could be seen all over it.

All three stared at the strange wall in curiosity. Kyle then asked. "What happens now?" Seeing nothing but these strange changes in the wall, he was stumped and asked Richard.

"That's easy. We just have to step through it and are out of here. I don´t know how that works but it should be quite the experience. Ready?"

Richard explained and asked his friends. Both of them nodded and got in front of the wall. Sniffy grabbed Richard's hand, and he took Kyle's and jumped ahead.

"Ahhhh" Sniffy was startled at the sudden action of Richard and could only let out a startled sound.

All three of them went through the wall as it would not exist and appeared in another place.

Over their heads could be seen the sky. The sun was greeting them with her rays. Behind them was the mountain, they stepped into and in front of them, they saw the forest in all its glory. They now stood on the no-man's-land, where nothing was growing.

Startled by this sudden change, all three needed a moment to reorganize themselves. "Huh, that was a strange experience. It felt like we went into some kind of place full of nothingness and at the next moment, we appeared here. This did not feel like teleportation or apparition at all. It was much smoother."

Richard spoke in a curious voice.

A strange feeling enveloped the trio, and they looked for the source of it.

They saw Rodolfo and Kellam appear beside them. It was like they went out of some kind of shimmer. However, it was more like they were deposited there and landed on the ground in an ungraceful manner.

Both men were startled. At one moment they were just walking normally in a cave full of stones and stalagmites, and in the next moment, they fell out of something and landed on the ground.

Standing up fast, they immediately got into a defensive position. Only after looking around did they relax, and smiles started appearing on their faces.

The trio looked at this in amusement and started laughing. It was just too hilarious seeing them fall onto their asses, only to stand up and get serious and then to break out into smiles.