Altiris Knights:The Fall

Chapter 15: Unveiling the Secrets

Reaza, Rokal, Irma and Akron went deeper into the temple, down a wide hallway. The walls, floor and ceiling were littered with markings of all kinds. The torches lining the walls enveloped the hallway in an eerie glow, that was not strong enough to see anything distinct. Thus, Irma and Reaza provided illumination with fire and light. Rokal used floating ice sheets as mirrors, enhancing their efforts.

But aside from the ancient markings and different smaller hallways and adjacent rooms, the lighting showed something far more horrifying. Pieces of art started appearing, many of them quite grotesque. Some depicted the creation of uriaks, and the many deeds performed by the ancient Nairo Wizards, a humanoid species known for its dark and sinister magical practices, including horrific experiments on other living beings, where through sacrifice, horrifying creations arose.

A chill crept into their bones, as in the adjacent rooms, they caught glimpses of remains; mostly long expired, but some were more recent, and still they reeked of the last shreds of decaying life. And in some rare cases, some organisms moved around them. Their sense of dread was exacerbated, when a hissing, looking more corpse than living creature appeared in their way. Irma drew her sword from her cane, and held the weapons out in front, while a halo of light and dark disks rotated around her. The creature was unimpressed.

It pounced, and Irma's elemental disks dealt only superficial damage. Akron struck the creature with an earth stump, and Rokal cut it on the shoulder with his saber staff. Before it could attack again, Reaza drove her energy blade through its chest, and unleashed a torrent of fire in its face, finally taking it down. They quickened their pace, until they saw a larger room, into which they ran swiftly, eager to get out of the hallway.

The room was filled with what could only be described as an altar city. Sparkling clean altars lined the walls, complemented by different cutting equipment and drinking cups. Any remains were neatly put away in several piles in the corners, and aside from those, the entire chamber was completely clean, suggesting it had been visited only recently. In the center of it all, on a giant podium, stood a large basin filled to the brim with dark green liquid, that had a strong smell of sulfur and some other substances, the typical stench of an uriak. Dozens of small pipes ran from the bottom of the basin into hidden places.

"So this is how they are created. We have a chance to destroy their source once and for all", Reaza said. "Then let us finish this now and be done with it", said Akron, wielding earth.

"Wait. It can not be this simple. There has to be a trap of some sort", Irma said, holding him back.

"Everyone back away", Rokal said, sending an ice shard into the basin. "What are you doing?" asked Irma. "Look", Rokal replied, gesturing at the liquid, which started bubbling. Then, the motion disappeared, and the liquid settled as before. Reaza added a burst of fire. This time, the reaction was far more violent. Some of the liquid evaporated into mist, and threatened to swallow them, though Irma dispelled it with a wave of dark energy. About a 100th of the basin was now emptied.

"Now that's interesting. If we go at it long enough, all of that liquid will disappear", said Akron. "It can't be the only basin in this temple. It would have long been dried up. This means that there is a complex network of these basins, and that they are all being supplied from somewhere, but with what", Irma said.

"Now we know. Look", Akron gestured to the basin, and watched in frustration, as more liquid poured in from the pipes, once more filled to the brim, before the flow stopped to avoid exceeding the capacity.

"We can not fight off that army and escape through the tunnel. Our only option is to somehow burrow our way through the ceiling and come back to the surface that way. Then we pummel away at the opening from orbit", Reaza said.

As they prepared the operation, a deafening clang reverberated through the chamber. They looked at each other, and around the chamber. Another clang sounded, and everything silenced. None of them dared to breathe, as the deafening silence wore on. At last, as they thought the danger passed, the hallways around the chamber exploded in a cacophony of noise. Within seconds, the shrieks of the uriaks reached them, as the sounds of their running feet and flapping wings progressed down the hallways, toward the chamber.

"Barricade the doors!" Akron shouted, conjuring a massive slab of earth, and pushed it against the doors. With his help, they moved the nearest altar tables over, and piled everything they could reach in the same place, and not a moment to soon, as the tsunami of uriaks slammed against the doors, desperate to break through and slaughter them all.

Meanwhile, Akron put more and more earth slabs in place, until he was on the brink of exhaustion.

"That should hold them for now. Let's get this done", Irma said. She and Reaza combined fire, light and dark energy, and directed the power into a single stream, towards the tall ceiling. Some chunks of rock broke off, and were pulverized by the energy, but the progress was slow going. And meanwhile, the barricade was slowly eroding.

"We are going to have to engage them eventually. But doing so on the floor would be suicide. We can use the temple against them. Get as high as we can, and bombard the rest from a safe distance. Then we shall only have to worry about the winged ones", Rokal said.

"How do you propose we get up there? I can hardly stand straight, much less move boulders. I could maybe throw some small rocks that would only annoy them at best, but not much else", Akron countered. "Did you forget I am an ice wielder?" Rokal joked, and pressed his hands against the walls. A sheet of ice began spreading over the surface, all the way to the top.

"I miss being able to do this in a friendlier environment", he said, as his hands and feet covered in ice. He seemed to glide on the wall, and touched down on what looked like a platform from below. Before anyone could question him, they felt ice around their hands and feet.

"Try not to fall!" he hollered, as they felt themselves rising, as the ice covering the wall lifted them like a massive blanket. The process was slow going, however, so they attempted to climb on their own as Rokal did. "Don't bother! Only those who can wield water can even attempt this! Just enjoy the ride!"

"Alright, show off. Enough with the sass", Reaza said, as they continued rising, eventually reaching Rokal's platform. "Now what?" Akron asked. "Here they come", Irma said in a gravely tone, gesturing to the hundreds of uriaks that had broken through the barricade, and flooded into the chamber, their yellow eyes focused on them. They began climbing, as Irma, Reaza, Akron and Rokal prepared to defend their position.