Chapter 57: Sifting Sands

Toren Daen

Darrin and I rushed back to our party, our steps only a few amidst the endless stamps of the aether beasts. I withdrew Oath and Promise once again, then threw my dagger with all my might at one of the chittering creatures.

The dagger cut a flying scarab beetle in half, then lurched midair to sever another insect's wings.

A small swarm of scarab beetles, each at least two feet long, buzzed around Jared's shield. Every now and then, a stream of fire exited the cover, burning several scarabs and dropping them. They fell, their exoskeletons smoking.

I was reminded of a chittering dome of legs and wings and carapace, making me stutter in my step. Darrin wasn't so daunted, running forward and throwing punches so fast I nearly couldn't see them. Bursts of wind erupted from every direction, taking a scarab with every strike.

I'm not as weak as I was then, I chided myself, drawing my fingers over Oath. The edge turned a light red, my fire spell making the edge sear. Then I rushed forward with a cry, hurling a fireball as an opening salvo.

It scorched a few of the rampant insects, diverting their focus from solely Alandra and Jared. I met them with my blade, using it as an extension of my arm.

Oath reaped vengeance on every insectoid body it neared, cutting through their carapace without resistance and leaving behind two smoking halves. I sidestepped a lunging bite from one of the bugs, bringing my saber down as I moved. The bug was bisected neatly, immediately cutting out its skittering calls.

Another scarab beetle tried to latch onto me from behind, but Promise was still zipping about in the air. My dagger whizzed past my ear, severing the beetle's wings before it could reach me. It tumbled into the sand, all six legs kicking.

I brought my boot down on its shell, the squelch of flesh grounding me.

With more targets to focus on, the small swarm became less concentrated, allowing Jared to act from behind his shield. His warhammer was the judge, jury, and executioner of any aether beast that got too close, swatting anything within three feet of him out of the sky. Alandra periodically sent out streams of flame, scorching any beasts that got past the shield's defenses.

A few mandibles latched onto my arms, sending me slightly off balance. The simple break they caused in my rhythm allowed me to be swarmed, scarabs latching on and slowing me down. Their bites made my telekinetic shroud creak, so many at once quickly siphoning my mana.

Gritting my teeth, I pushed out with an unfocused wave of force. My telekinetic shroud dampened the pushback, allowing me to breathe. The beasts were flung off of me, and the zipping form of Promise returned to cut their lives short.

I grabbed an aether beast as it tried to rush Darrin's unprotected back, my fingers crunching into its carapace. I cut it in half with Oath, then threw the top half to the ground.

The sand had quickly become soaked with bug innards, tainting the grains a nauseating yellow-green. The swarm was quickly being worn down by our joint efforts, our blades, hammers, and spells extracting a deadly toll.

When the battle finally ended, I was sweating heavily. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, and the heat was beginning to burn. We'd fought for nearly an hour straight, slowly whittling down every aether beast that came our way.

Darrin had a few cuts on his arms that barely leaked blood, but he was the worst off of us all. While most of us were feeling exhausted, there weren't any major injuries.

Jared spat on the corpse of one of the scarabs he'd squashed with his hammer. "Stupid buggers," he said, resting his weapon on his shoulder.

"Anyone badly hurt?" Darrin called out. He was stomping on any scarabs that were still moving, finishing them off before they had a chance to bite us in the ass.

"Just my sleep schedule," Jared said, glaring at the scarabs again. "I'll never get a full eight hours with these bastards buzzing around."

Darrin picked up one of the tents from where it was blown away, stashing it in his dimension ring. "We'll have to get moving. The daytime will be the only time when we can actually make progress."

Alandra groaned. "I'm going to have sand in all my robes," she said.

"Told you," Jared said, sounding immensely pleased with himself. "And you didn't believe me!"

I helped gather the rest of our equipment as Alandra and Jared went back to squabbling.

"You did well for your first big battle during an ascent, Toren," Darrin said as I delivered the tents to him. He drew them into his dimension ring. "How are you holding up? Got enough mana to continue?"

I did an internal check of my mana reserves, sitting at a healthy forty percent. It was already refilling quickly. "I'm good," I said, nodding. "This isn't the first time I've fought a swarm like that. This was actually easier. They weren't coordinated by a hivemind," I said, flashing back to that hellish dome.

Darrin Ordin raised an eyebrow. "That does sound hellish. Think you can walk for another ten hours?"

I groaned. "Yeah." I would absolutely hate it, but it wasn't like I had another choice.

Darrin gave me a jaunty grin. "That's the spirit!"

—

I sank my saber up to its swept hilt in the body of the welldraw kantamid, keeping my grip steady on the hilt. It struggled for a moment as I withdrew my blade, but Darrin's wind punch made it finally go still. I stood up from where I knelt on the wide thorax of the dead aether beast, my clothes soaked through with sweat.

I jumped off the giant beast, my feet–which had begun to blister after the long hours of walking–kicking up a small wave of sand.

"That's the third one we've found," I said. The rays of the sun beat down on us from on high, making it difficult to think. Each of these kantamids usually had a bit of hoarded loot taken from ascenders who had fallen to it, as well as miscellaneous gems and artifacts.

Once he was sure that the beast was dead, Darrin turned back to Alandra, who had watched the battle with Jared from the edge of the trap. "How close are we now to the exit portal?"

Alandra was suffering the most from the heat, unable to strengthen her body with mana. As we trudged on for the past day, Jared had taken extra precautions to shelter us from the sun. I found myself wishing I had a water affinity so I could simply dunk myself in a pool. I felt certain any body part of mine that touched water would steam.

Alandra dried the sweat on her brow with part of her mage's robes. She'd taken off the robes to cope with the sweltering sun, revealing tight-fitting clothes underneath. I'd wanted to simply take off my shirt, but Alandra had warned me that I could get a severe sunburn if I removed every layer blocking me from the sun. So I had to suffer through my soggy white shirt anyway.

"We're almost there," Alandra said, her fire compass shimmering in the heat. "Maybe an hour more of walking at this rate," she said. "Thank the Vritra."

Jared peeled back his eyepatch. I couldn't see what was beneath it, but when he shook his head, grains of sand fell from where his eye would've been. "Hate the sand," he grumbled for the thousandth time.

"Then let's get going," Darrin said, going under the searing hot metal plate Jared held over us. We had used it to cook our food earlier, so I knew it had grown to insane temperatures.

I forced my thoughts past the misery of trudging through the sand with my boots squelching and my gloves sticking to my palms. In fact, I preferred this over what might have been. If the Relictombs had taken Lady Dawn's djinnic heritage into account, we could be walking through an actual volcano instead of a desert.

It didn't seem to me like the Relictombs were ramping to meet my strength or treating me in any way unnaturally. That made it easier to fight through the haze and heat.

Sure enough, as we continued to walk, I finally spotted a difference in the unending sea of sand. I small protrusion peered from the dunes. As we got closer, I could make it out better: a cave formed in the dunes, sandstone walls slightly darker than their surroundings. The yawning opening was wide, seeming to beckon us forward. The inside was incredibly dark, making me pause as we approached.

"It's in there," Alandra said, dismissing the spell she's just conjured.

Darrin looked at the cave for a moment. "We stick together going in there. We don't know if this zone will have a boss monster or not, but if it does, chances are it's in that cave."

We all agreed fervently, then slowly walked toward the cave. I felt my nerves begin to build again. This was it. Once I was through here, I only needed to go through a descension portal. 

The cave stretched open invitingly, tempting us with the dark depths. Our steps became more sure as we entered, even though the utter silence and pitch darkness of the cave was a looming jaw seeking to swallow us whole.

If I wasn't so caked in sweat, I was sure the hairs of my arms would stand on end.

Stepping into the cave was an immediate relief from the sun. The temperature dropped considerably: it was still sweltering, but I didn't think I would melt from simply taking a step.

The walls of the cavern were smooth, and a tunnel led deeper in. Darrin took us onward slowly, keeping his eyes peeled for threats. Nothing popped out at us.

"There's nothing here," Alandra whispered, peering around with wide eyes. "It's so much cooler than outside. You'd think there would be beasts in here, sheltering from the sun."

I spoke before the thought was fully formed. "The fact that there aren't means that the beasts outside," I said, looking over my shoulder to the slowly receding light, "Fear whatever's in here more than the sun."

Alandra's eyes hardened, while the set of Darrin's jaw told me he agreed with my conjecture. Something was in this cave.

The cavern of sandstone continued on a general downward slope for a few minutes. I actively suppressed the echo of our boots on stone, earning a curious look from the Unblooded party. I shrugged at Darrin's raised brow.

Finally, the slope evened out. I could see a faint purple glow streaming through the opening, making me pick up my pace. The tunnel opened into a wide cavern, the ceiling several stories above us. The walls were of jagged stone, the divots casting purple shadows from the light of the portal.

The portal was at the far end of the cavern, the runic arch so close yet so far. Jared took the lead, keeping his shield in front of us. My eyes darted over the cavern, searching for movement. I strained my ears, listening for the slightest hint of movement.

And I heard it. The subtle clicking of carapace on stone, the whoosh of wind as something big moved…

"Above us!" I yelled, drawing Oath and Promise quickly. Just in time, Jared pivoted his spell above us as something large and dark whipped toward us.

It slammed into his shield, punching a hole straight through the thick metal. The attack barely missed Jared's head, something glistening on the end.

A stinger, I realized as I conjured a spell. The only light available was from the portal, leaving us in mostly darkness. I tossed my hand up, a dozen will-o'-wisps of fire flying into the air, casting warm light all over the cavern.

I got a look at what tried to attack us in an instant. A huge, armored tank of a scorpion watched us with beady eyes, its deathly sharp stinger embedded in Jared's shield spell and barely missing his head. Thin spikes of dark chitin sprouted from its joints, but they weren't nearly as sharp as the spears the scorpion had for legs. They stamped on the ground incessantly, the armor shimmering with a light purple glow.

But where were the claws–

Sensing something approaching from the side, I whirled at speed, bringing my dual blades in front of me in a cross pattern.

The scorpion's pincer slammed into my steel with a screech of metal. It must have been planning to snatch me, but the scrape of steel sent me hurtling to the side.

Slightly dazed from the impact, I quickly twisted in midair, the soles of my boots slamming into the wall. I fell to the ground, landing with my feet under me. Unfortunately, my lighting spell gave me a perfect view of what had happened after I was flung away.

The other claw had tried to grab Jared, but Darrin had barely gotten in its way. He held each side of the claw with his gauntleted hands, trying to keep it away from his shield with his strength. Alandra was aiming her wand at the creature's head.

She yelled a battlecry as a torrent of fire left her wand, washing over the creature's eyes. It scuttled back, wrenching its stinger free from Jared's shield. It screeched; a horrendous sound like nails on a chalkboard.

"Aim for its eyes!" Darrin called aloud, catching onto Alandra's tactic. His hands were finally free now that the monster had retreated. He fell into his boxer's stance, throwing a few jabs and hooks.

The scorpion tried to flank Darrin, the blows of wind smacking into its shell. Unfortunately, his spells only dented the purple sheen coating the beast.

An aether shroud, I recognized. We'd have to somehow get through that if we wanted to kill it.

I threw Promise, sending the dagger in an arc. I leveraged my telekinesis emblem, making the blade glow white. I sent it toward the beast, trying to cut at its eyes.

My dagger darted in and out like an annoying fly, harrying the scorpion one way as Alandra's fire streams pushed it another.

I launched myself forward, brandishing my saber like a scythe. It hummed with sound mana, the blade vibrating at absurd frequencies. One of the scorpion's legs nearly skewered me, but I sidestepped, bringing the humming blade in a sideways crescent.

My spell-wrapped saber sheared through part of the scorpion's thin aether barrier, cutting a light furrow in its exoskeleton. It didn't go all the way through, however. The creature's natural armor protected it further.

The scorpion spun, trying to trample me under its stomping feet. I dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding being backhanded by a claw.

Backclawed?

I danced back to Darrin's position. "Do you have a plan to deal with this thing beyond 'hit it really hard?'" I asked, feeling the adrenaline coursing through my veins. It was a distinct feeling: the twitchy, hyper-alert buzz as my senses became even more focused was impossible to ignore.

"We've been able to keep it occupied with Alandra's fire blasts and your nifty little dagger, but that won't keep it long. Soon, it'll wise up to our tactics and try and overwhelm us," Darrin said, sporting a breezy grin. "So, are you up for making more of that fireshot?"

I blinked. Fireshot was actually a better name for the spell than I'd thought of. "I can do that," I said.

Darrin nodded. "Keep that bastard occupied. I've got a spell that might break that exoskeleton."

Darrin sat back, focusing on a spellform. I ran forward, concentrating beads of solid fire in my hands–I was going to call it fireshot now–and throwing them with bursts of telekinesis.

They became streaks of orange light as they peppered the scorpion's body, singing small dots into its aetheric barrier. But it only left faint scorch marks on the exoskeleton, the thick armor shrugging off my blows like they were nothing.

But it certainly got the beast's attention. The giant scorpion pivoted, something that shouldn't have been so fast, before lunging at me. I barely deflected the tip of the stinger, the act sending a shudder through my telekinetic barrier. I backflipped to avoid a hooking pincer, simultaneously pushing against the beast in front of me. Its beady eyes seemed to watch me with hatred as I avoided the strike.

That sent me rocketing toward the ceiling but also caused the scorpion to stumble a step. I landed on the roof, using my emblem to lash the soles of my boots to the rock.

Nearby, Darrin seemed utterly fixated on his spell. Mana whipped and swirled around him as his power grew, a look of extreme focus on his face. The scorpion sensed the buildup of mana, trying to scuttle toward the static ascender.

Jared's shield met it midway, slamming his giant shield down like a gate in front of its path. "Try me again, you beast!" he cried, his single eye alight with fervor. His hammer batted aside a deadly sharp leg, the limb whipping to the side from the force. Unfortunately, the scorpion was undeterred, trying to strike him with its tail.

Promise returned to my waiting hand as I hung from the ceiling. I cocked my arm back, squinting one eye and imbuing a decent chunk of my mana into a telekinetic push.

Then I threw my weapon.

Earlier, the scorpion had begun to ignore my dagger's darting movements and Alandra's spurts of fire, instead trying to deal with the immediate threats. Now, it would never ignore a dagger again in its life. My knife shot forward like a missile, seeking flesh. The single-edged dagger embedded itself to the hilt in the scorpion's eyes right before it could flick its tail toward Jared, causing it to screech as purplish blood oozed from its face.

The exoskeleton may have been sturdier than stone, but its eyes were as soft as any monster's.

The beast stumbled sideways on all eight legs, clawing at its eyes with its oversized pincers. Its agonized screeches made dust tumble from the ceiling, its feverish stamping limbs causing the stone underneath to tremble.

Darrin didn't let the opening go. He roared, his green eyes burning with adrenaline. His gauntleted fist was alight with green mana, a ripping vortex barely contained by his gauntlets. He wound up, twisting his hips in a display of physical power as he sent out a picture-perfect right cross.

"Martial Gale!" he cried out, accentuating the spell with his words.

This blow wasn't like his omnidirectional wind blasts. No, this was a simple straight. Except a veritable torrent of power followed the path of his punch, howling toward the dazed aether beast. The shot of wind carved a furrow in the sandstone as it moved nearly too fast to see.

The spell cracked against the scorpion's aether shroud, breaking through with barely any resistance. The beast's noises were drowned out by the crunch of carapace fracturing under Darrin's spell, sending the massive arachnid skidding back over the smooth stone floor. Dust was kicked up in a cloud as it tumbled into a heap, obscuring our vision for a moment.

The leader of the Unblooded party was panting heavily, the sweat on his brow not just from the heat. His shoulders slumped slightly as his spell connected, but he quickly forced himself to adjust his stance. His eyes were tired, but they still failed to miss anything.

I let my adhesion to the ceiling loosen, allowing myself to fall. I landed feet-first on the ground near the ascender, earning a looser version of his usual impish smile.

"Think it's dead?" I asked conversationally.

Darrin groaned. "Never say that, Toren. Now I'm sure it survived."

"Nonsense!" Alandra chirped from the side, miming a cross punch like Darrin had done. "Barely anything lives through Darrin's punches."

Darrin ran a hand over his face as Jared positioned himself in front of us, ready to put a shield of conjured metal between us and the dust cloud containing the best.

"You jinxed it," Darrin said with a note of resignation, just in time for the dust cloud to disperse outward in a wave of force.