Ryünda

Chapter 6: Darkness is Free

Darkness is Free

For all intents and purposes the capital of the Sira power looked like a normal city from afar, though we all knew the true city was hidden in the shadows and hiding underground, waiting for the unsuspecting to fall into its trap. We walked in through the main gate and saw that the people of the city walked through the city with zombie-like stiffness and without looking at anything but the direction they were going. Dom called out to one person to ask a question but the man walked on like he hadn't heard him. Terra caused the earth to move slightly like a small earthquake, but still everyone moved on like nothing was happening.

"They must be under some kind of spell created by the Sira." Roche said, "The only way to snap them out of it is to destroy the Sira's power source." He pointed to a tall, black spire in the center of the city, "I would bet you anything that is the top of the citadel. We need to get there and destroy it fast before anything else finds out we're here."

As one we ran through the streets, dodging spell-bound citizens left and right, sometimes having to shove past them in order to get through. The tower grew over the tops of the houses until it hurt to look at the top, and all at once we came into the citadel courtyard. We stood for a second in awe to stare at the monstrous building in front of us. It was like someone had taken everything good from a church and turned it evil. The arches didn't flow but rather twisted in ugly snarls and the wonderful artistry had been replaced by hideous depictions of the netherworld and bloody battlefields. Even the general shape had been corrupted until the entire building hurt to look at for very long.

I tore my eyes away from the abomination in front of me and said, "We need to get in there and destroy the power source. Standing here staring isn't going to help."

The others forced their eyes off of the structure and onto me, "You're right Cassandra," Dom said, slapping his cheeks, "we have more important things to do than sight-see."

Terra and Roche nodded, and together we walked into the citadel, feeling the air lose all of its heat and light as we crossed the threshold. The inside was open and filled with mystical instruments, with some showing the signs of recent use. Terra gagged on the smell of blood in the air and as one we covered our mouths and noses to hold off the smell. Roche and Terra moved off to the left, inspecting the apparatus in that area, while Dom looked to the right. I went up the center aisle until I stood in front of the altar, a solid obsidian slab on top of a lava rock base. Beyond that was a small alcove that had no light at all, so it was hard to see anything. As I moved closer I could feel the dark magic inside the alcove and knew I had found the Sira power source.

"Guys!" I yelled, "I've found the power source!"

They came running up and looked around in confusion, "Where is it?" Dom asked.

"It's right there in the alcove." I said, pointing, "It's absorbing all the light so we can't see it."

"Then we will have to trust our magical senses rather than our physical ones." Terra said, "Should we just blast the alcove and hope it works?"

"That seems like the best option to me." Roche said, "What do you think Dom?"

"Seems like there are no magical protections, though I think we will need to be wary just in case." He said, fingering his chin.

"Then let's blast this thing to pieces and get it over with." I said, "No point in waiting around all day."

We thought about what we could do to destroy the power source, but before we could think of anything, a man with crazed eyes and blood covering his face came screaming out of the hall to our left, brandishing a pair of twisted daggers in his hands. On instinct I blasted the man with a spell, knocking him back and into the wall. I thought I had only stunned him, but a closer look showed a broken back and his dead, staring eyes locked on us.