Celestial Storm: Blazing Eye

Chapter Nine: Death Tomb

Ethiza, Tamira and I made our way down a winding corridor that appeared to lead around to the back of the building.

Ethiza lead the way down the hallway. She seemed to be very cautious and moved at a slow pace as though she was trying to spot or hear something that was concealed or hiding.

The hallway we were walking down was badly damaged as though a fierce battle had taken place very recently. Windows were shattered, wall were bashed and had holes in them, the floor was chipped in such a great number of spots that I did not bother to count, and the ceiling was damaged in a manner similar to the walls.

"Why are you walking slowly? Is something wrong?" I asked in whisper.

"I don't know...," Ethiza answered in a whisper. "There is something strange that happened here... The damaged hallway looks as though somebody was trying to hit something that they could not see."

"What do you think it means?" I asked.

"I think it means that somebody from Mummy Dust uses a form of blinding magic or darkness magic," Ethiza answered quietly.

"I wonder if one of our companions bashed up the place looking for whoever blinded them?" Tamira wondered aloud.

'That is a possibility," Ethiza answered softly, "But I can't be sure..."

We took a few more steps and suddenly found ourselves walking in absolute darkness. Although Tamira was behind me, I couldn't see her. The sound of swords ringing against one another suddenly sounded in front of me as Ethiza starting fighting with someone.

"Tamira! Lucina, back away!" Ethiza shouted.

"Ohoho! I got a perceptive one," an unfamiliar male voice cackled.

I felt a sudden gust of wind blow past. It seemed that Tamira had aimed a blast of wind in the direction of the unfamiliar voice. I didn't hear any shuffling feet or falling body, so the enemy must have shifted position causing Tamira's spell to miss.

"Aha! Missed me!" the voice mocked slightly to the left of Ethiza.

"I can't blindly throw spells at him with Ethiza in front of us," Tamira muttered from behind me.

"I have just the thing," I said. I pulled out a signet from my bag. "I summon thee, Selene the Moon Mistress!"

A new voice next to us said, "I probably don't need you to ask me what you want. I assume you want me to bring some moonlight so you can see that foul man over there?"

"Yes, that will do quite nicely," I replied.

The darkness was illuminated by a dim, white orb that was hovering in the air above our heads. Now that there was some light, I could see that Ethiza was fighting a man wearing a long black coat decorated with hieroglyphs with a bunch of pockets that presumably held a lot of weapons. The man's hair went down slightly past his hips and was decorated with a variety of gold ornaments depicting vultures, snakes, falcons, jackals, lionesses and scorpions. He was fighting Ethiza with two katanas.

"Good! You guys aren't weaklings like all the other guys were! Now I can fight someone worthy of recognition," the man said.

"Hmm, looks like a darkness invoker," Selene said from my side.

"Such perception is expected from a celestial spirit," the enemy mage said.

Tamira had her hands held up, and she unleashed a spell when the darkness invoker spun around Ethiza. The darkness invoker looked like he was consumed by darkness as he disappeared from the spot. Tamira's spell blasted into the floor, and the darkness invoker reconfigured himself on Tamira's side.