Champion Revised: A Songs of War Novel

Chapter 12

Thalleous stepped through the portal and was disoriented from its effects. The swirling purple mist surrounded him for but a moment before disappearing. He steadied himself and looked around.

All over was a hard, red stone forming caves, cliffs, and overhangs. Lava poured from the roof, and disturbing undead roamed the area. Strange noises assailed them, hisses and screams from the distance.

"Those undead are infected piglins," Aggrennall yelled. "They won't bother with us if we leave them alone!"

Thalleous looked over at the zombified piglins and shuddered. Skin peeled from their faces, revealing rotted bone.

"Fan out, look for any dangerous geography," yelled Criordian.

"We should be good here. This area seems safe enough," Thalleous whispered to Sarrettus.

Sarrettus glowered at the lava-coated hellscape before him. "Nothing in or from the Nether is safe, Thalleous. This you have yet to learn."

The lieutenant signaled to a group of soldiers, beckoning them over.

"On me," he ordered. Thalleous kept his grip on his sword as he led the squad on an impromptu scouting mission. Other than the easily avoidable one-block lavafalls, nothing seemed harmful. The Nether was quiet, it seemed dormant, almost dead.

"The Nether Armies have set up a camp near here," Acchilean yelled, pointing to a few storage units and valuables, along with some curious-looking blue wood. "But it seems that it's been abandoned for some time! It was probably just a single patrol!"

"They can't have sent out patrols very far, it'd be too risky," Aggrennall muttered. "We're near a base, I'm sure of it."

As the legion of troops moved forward, Thalleous observed several gigantic red plants.

"We're coming to a forest and the boundary of our search," Acchilean yelled.

"You mean to tell us that those huge mushrooms are trees?" Criordian shouted.

"Crimson Wart trees!" Acchilean yelled. "Be watchful for hoglins. We're near our assigned radius' border, but you can never be too careful."

They stalked through the forest, wondering what exactly a hoglin was.

Thalleous tapped Acchilean and Aggrennall on the shoulder. "How did you gain your experience with the Nether?"

Acchilean and Aggrennall both raised their eyebrows.

"I was sent here on stationing back when the invasion first began. I spent a lot of time in the wastes."

Acchilean exhaled. "I was on a patrol in the Nether about the same time. I got plenty of experience in the different biomes in those months."

"You two stayed here for months?" Criordian asked incredulously. "I don't know how someone could be here for a few days without going mad."

"We all thought we were, Lieutenant," Acchilean said. "This place...there's something about it, like we're not supposed to be here, like nobody should be here."

"Like this realm was meant to be left alone, and someone forced it open," Aggrennall added.

They trudged on in silence after that.

Two Ardoni walked down a small, cramped stone hall. Each came from opposite directions. The hall was deep underground, found underneath a base jointly commanded by their two tribes. In the middle of the hall was a door, modified to compensate for the Ardoni species' tall stature. One entered a few seconds before the other. In the room were two chairs and a desk, with a single torch on top. The Mendaris and Kaltaris masters sat down and nodded briefly to each other.