Centum Malediction

Chapter 6-11

The musty scent of mold and mildew filled Alexander's lungs as he progressed down the dark shaft. Light was becoming an issue, forcing the group to use their cellphones to illuminate the way. The craggy walls were covered with mold and moss. It seemed to thrive in the damp atmosphere. There were even some snowy white mushrooms growing between the rocks. Alexander enjoyed seeing secluded parts of nature like this. It was a closed ecosystem that had been undisturbed by humans for a long time. Even though the cave was small relative to him to insects and other creatures this was their whole world. Him stepping through would be the same a giant space monster stepping through Earth. Of course a being of that size would probably break some laws of physics. It would also have its own gravitational pull which would mess Earth far more than simply leaving a giant footstep. He wondered the effect it would have on the atmosphere as well.

"Look!" Fiona snapped Alexander from his thoughts, bringing him back to the very real, very dire situation he was in. She was pointing to a liquid silver puddle on the ground. The goop reflected the light beautifully, but at the same time it was clear that whatever it was didn't belong here. "It looks like it is part of the Auranite Golem." She explained to herself.

"That's the same stuff I took a sample from in geothermal plant." Brianna agreed.

"It's strange. Did any of you damage it?" Fiona asked.

"I was the only one who encountered it." Alexander replied. "I have no offensive magic. Actually at the time I had no magic at all. I barely escaped alive."

"For it to fall apart like this, it's become unstable." Fiona explained. "Maybe someone else attacked it?"

"There may be another explanation. Visceria told me that spells become more unstable the longer they exist in this world. We've seen that before with Xkaein as well." Michael suggested. Abigail was still hanging on Michael's back. She was silent, but paid attention to everything that was said, a studious look on her face.

"That's mentally unstable. This looks to be physically unstable." Alexander commented.

"I'm sure we'll find out for sure what's going on when we get there." Heather shrugged it off.

"Just don't step in it." Fiona unsheathed her sword and held it forward. They were getting close now.

"Can it hurt us?" Brianna asked.

"I don't think so." Fiona shrugged unsure. "But it's kind of gross." She held her sword up pointing to some electrical wiring running along the ceiling. "It looks like there were lights here at some point."

"I may be able to power them with Visceria." Michael offered. "But I would need to drain power from our cell phones."

"Not yet. We don't want to alert the golem to our presence." Fiona replied.

The group continued down the mineshaft. The further they traveled the more numerous the silvery piles of goo became. Whatever condition this auranite golem was in was getting worse.

"This is beginning to get dangerous." Lom pointed to the wooden beams that prevented them from being crushed. They were rotting from years of neglect. Up ahead some of the right wall had already caved in, crushing half of the beam. The further they went down, the worse it was getting.

"We should hurry up then." Fiona suggested. The thought of turning back didn't even cross her mind. The group had to squeeze through one by one to get through the partially collapsed tunnel. It was beginning to feel very claustrophobic. Alexander's instincts were to either phase through the walls or put up a shield to push the others away. To make things worse Heather clasped her arms around one of his pretending to be scared. Alexander knew better than to fall for that.