Blade(Part 4): Midnight

Chapter 7: Maisa

Marcus led Drogbel and his passengers through the air above the middle ring of the Furnace. Isylinor had said that the curse Ametrasa had laid upon him must have connected him to Ember somehow, and could find his way around rather easily. It seemed to Maisa that Drogbel knew that as well. Anorae and Cytheris had their doubts, but Drogbel didn't seem to. They flew above a wide, blue lake, and Marcus began to fly downward. They must have been close to the temple that Xyhra told them about. Marcus landed on the shore on the other side of the lake, and Drogbel did the same, shaking the ground with his feet and the bends of his wings.

"Are we close?" asked Queen Anorae.

"We're about a mile away," Marcus answered. "And that's about the range of Skaolan radar. I didn't want to set down to close to the temple in case they were guarding it."

"Good call," Maisa complemented, sliding down from Drogbel's back. Isylinor did the same, then Anorae, then Cytheris.

"Come on," Marcus urged, and he led them into the forests of the middle ring. Maisa drew her two sickles as they went forward. Marcus had his spear, now with a large radiant crystal below its blade instead of three different kinds of crystals. That must have been part of his curse.

"So, you can tell where the temple is," said Queen Anorae. "How do you know the exact distance?"

"It's a bit of a guess," Marcus admitted. "But I know we're close."

"So, there's hardly anything else you can tell us, is there?" Cytheris hissed.

"Pretty much," Marcus answered. "I'm still new to this curse from Ametrasa. She didn't really tell me what I could and couldn't do."

"I see," said Maisa. "It just proves that the gods work in mysterious ways, doesn't it?"

"Something like that, I guess," Marcus agreed. "But it makes sense when you think about why it happened in the first place."

"No, I understand," Maisa assured. "How old do I look, Marcus?"

"I don't know," Marcus answered. "Maybe twenty, or twenty-one?" Maisa almost chuckled, but compared to what a human at that age looked like, she couldn't help other than to understand that she actually did look like a twenty-year-old human woman.

"You're short," she corrected. "By about a thousand one hundred and eighty years. I'm epsilon, remember?"

"I do remember," said Marcus. "And I was so wrong." Now, Maisa chuckled.

"There is much about the epsilon that are still unknown to humans, Marcus," Maisa reminded. "Including that we could be thousands of years older than we look. Despite that, we are still mortal. You, however, might never physically change. A curse from a goddess is much different than natural aging. Ametrasa also gave you a big responsibility, Marcus."

"I know," Marcus sighed. "I'm supposed to protect Zenartha from darkness."

"As I said, a big responsibility," said Maisa. "And I should remind you that it was the same one Alexius had."

"I know," Marcus assured. "I'll make something good of this curse, for him." Maisa could sense a feeling of sorrow from him, and she knew why. Alexius and Zoya were just eighteen when they were killed. Zabaia was even younger, at the age of sixteen. As far as Maisa could tell, he was ripped to pieces by the cerberus that guarded the Spark's reactor. They died as Guardians should, though, and they were the ones who disabled that particular Spark installation. Maisa was hurt by their deaths, but would continue fighting against Aziz in their names, as would Marcus. A little under an hour later, they arrived before a cliff. Marcus raised his fist to stop Maisa, Anorae, Cytheris, and Isylinor. Anorae then rubbed the end of Drogbel's snout, telling him to stop. Marcus then began to crawl up the cliff on his stomach. Maisa, Isylinor, Anorae, and Cytheris did the same until they reached the edge of the cliff.

"That's it," said Marcus. Below the cliff was a small encampment of Aziz's dark-armored soldiers surrounding a silver doorway in the side of a small plateau.

"Are you sure?" asked Anorae.

"I'm sure," Marcus answered. Maisa closer at the encampment. There were less than a hundred Skaolan soldiers there, but still too many for four of them to fight through. There was also the fact that if Drogbel attacked, whatever soldiers inside the temple might also know he was there.

"I'll sneak into the temple and bring all of you inside," Maisa declared. "Drogbel will have to stay here."

"Be careful," Anorae warned.

"I will," Maisa promised. She went down the side of the cliff, creeping up to the camp's perimeter. She made sure that she wouldn't be seen by moving only when she was absolutely certain that none of the soldiers were looking her way, but with less than a hundred soldiers in the camp, it was rather easy. Maisa cast Alear glyphs and warped to them between tents and vehicles before arriving at the doorway that was being guarded. She was behind a crate to hide from the two Skaolan spearmen guarding the doorway to the temple. If she killed them, there would be suspicions that the camp had been infiltrated, so she cast an Alear glyph far enough behind the doorway to where she wouldn't be seen and warped to it. The only thing beyond the doorway was a small, circular platform. Maisa prayed it was a gravity lift that led deeper into the temple, and cast an Alear glyph on the ground in front of her, and another one to the cliff. Marcus came through first, then Isylinor, then Anorae, then Cytheris.

"Shh," Maisa hushed, and she led them to the platform. A holographic control panel then appeared on the wall adjacent to the doorway. The language of the words that it held was likely the Ancient Tongue, but there were also two arrows, one pointing up, and the other down. Maisa pressed on the button that was shaped like an arrow pointing downward, and the gravity-lifted platform began to move.

"A gravity lift," said Cytheris, once they were far enough down to where no one on the surface could hear them.

"We might be in the right place after all," Isylinor added, pulling his trident off his back. Maisa drew her sickles again as the lift stopped, and they stepped off, at the top of a chamber with silver walls and pillars that all had strange white lights lining them. There weren't any of Aziz's soldiers in the lower chamber, giving them a rather easy path to the lower chambers of the temple. Marcus formed his plasma wings and leaped down the ledge, and into the lower level of the chamber.

"What do you see?" asked Isylinor.

"Nothing, so far," Marcus answered. "I don't know what you want me to look for."

"Probably a door or another lift," Anorae enlightened.

"Or some kind of warp pad," Maisa suggested. Suddenly, a dark presence began to show itself, and grow above them. Maisa, Isylinor, and Marcus could sense it.

"Hurry, Marcus," Maisa urged.

"I'm hurrying," Marcus snapped. He began to rush to every corner of the chamber, looking behind every pillar and closely at every wall. Whatever darkness was growing above them began to grow stronger and stronger.

"Marcus, any time now!" Isylinor shouted. He jumped down into the lower chamber with Marcus as the entire chamber suddenly shook.

"That wasn't you, was it?" asked Marcus.

"I don't think so," Isylinor hoped. The ground then shook again as the darkness hanging over the chamber grew stronger, still. Maisa cast an Alear glyph on the wall and one in the lower chamber, then she, Anorae, and Cytheris stepped through it with their blades drawn. The ground shook again as a huge crack appeared in the wall adjacent to the gravity lift. Maisa could feel her heart racing as the crack widened with another crash against the wall. The wall then crumbled, and a roaring nightmare came through the giant hole left in its wake. Marcus instantly fired a beam of white light from his spearhead, landing a hit right to its chest. The demon then looked at him with a growl from between its teeth and stomped towards him. It raised its fist to crush him. Marcus pointed his spearhead up to impale the fist, but the weapon fell from his hands, and he was crushed. Maisa felt Marcus' light fade.