AEONS: THE GODS ARE DAMNED

Chapter 33

Chase woke up to a bloody battle; Screechers had surrounded them and they were now fighting the monsters off, but it seems like their number is every increasing; 
He spins the sword and stabbed the screecher, pinning it to the ground; the screecher vaporized. As the sreechers are killed, more took their place. Haemir seeing this as dangerous quickly improvised. He looked around for chase and saw him afar off, he was fighting off 6 screechers on his own and was doing badly; the screechers were trying to tire him out, and with the midland sanctum down, it meant that Kelpas was disrupting Chase’s magic, weakening him and making him vulnerable.
He weaves a slash and swats the screecher away with his hand; he fought his way towards Chase.
“you need to get out of here” he shouts over the chaos as he got close
Chase shouted back, “The screechers are increasing, we can’t leave without opening ourselves to attacks”, one of the screechers slashed him badly and he drops the sword.
“No!” Haemir’s eyes glowed and he weaved his hand forward and a magic circle appeared just in front of his hand; everything stopped, literally. With a shout, he reversed the attack to when the screecher hasn’t wounded Chase.
“…the screechers are too much, we can’t leave…” he stopped, “What is happening?”
Haemir slashed the screecher that was trying to attack Chase and they both stood back to back.
“I reversed time”
“You can do that?”
“You have lots to learn” they both fend off more screechers before hearing huge wings; they all looked at the direction and saw Aranor in Drengrin form, he had someone on his back and his roar struck fear in Chase’s bones.
He dived closer to the ground and released a blast of energy, countless screechers vaporized and the person on his back was Aelene, she jumped off.
As her feet hit the ground she stretched her hands towards Eldrin and he took it, she showed him the dangers of allowing Chase to stay around for longer. Eldrin released her hand and ran towards Chase; Chase was now standing with Hycis and they were both liquidating the stubborn screechers that still went for Chase.
He couldn’t believe he was going to do it but he needed to; he stretched his hand and the two of them were covered with a mist; as the mist disappeared they were gone.
Aranor landed on the floor in his human form and quickly killed the last of the screechers with a blast of lightning. He turns back to face the inner circle, or what is left of it.
“We have to stay here, we need to keep him at bay”
“Who?” Ralnor asked 
“Me” a voice replied and they looked towards it. Walking towards them was Itham, he gave them a sinister smile.
“Impossible” Haemir said, Ralnor was dumbstruck, Eldrin looked angry
“Yes, yes, he is dead…” Itham’s body melted off and Kelpas stood in his stead, “But I am not”
“Kelpas” Haemir said surprised; Ralnor dashed for him but was thrown back by a force that could kill any other mortal. He lands in a crash and stood pissed off.
“You sent him to No-man’s land” he said walking towards them, “I might not be able to find him easily there but I will still fish him out”
“Well, you are going to need one Azrott of a hook” Ralnor said jokingly
Kelpas smiled, “You all have failed, the brotherhood, sisterhood, the Drengrins…you all are nothing, and you all will remain that way” he said. With a stretch of his hands he enclosed them within a huge shield, his hands pulled closer to each other and the shield shrink; But before the shield could collapse completely on them they all teleported. Kelpas roared in anger as they escaped.
*
They land roughly against the sand, Chase on the ground and Hycis right on top of him; they quickly parted awkwardly.
“Sorry” He said and Hycis nodded.
“I really need to warn Eldrin about teleporting us without prior notice” Hycis complained as she dusted her clothing
“Where are we?” Chase asked looking around; they seem to have landed not to far from a town located beside a dock.
“No-man’s land, the land for thieves, murderers, pirates and more; keep your neck intact around here or someone can slit it just for a coin” Hycis said and Chase rubbed his neck subconsciously. Hycis started walking away and he quickly followed
“So you’ve been here before” Chase asked as he caught up with her
“Once, Twice; I come to these areas alongside the Drengrin brothers if we need to get something done”
“where are we going exactly?”
“To find a place to stay till the eclipse passes us”
“And where do you have in mind?” Chase asked 
Hycis stopped walking, she faced him and spoke, “An inn will be nice, but if we get more unlucky than usual, then we might end up sleeping under a tree”
“Do we need to talk about it now?”
“There is nothing to talk about” She replied and walked away, Chase reluctantly ran after her.
“Look I am sorry about what happened”
She stopped again, “I don’t need your apology, I don’t need your pleas and I certainly don’t need a session of discussion”
“Fine, ok then” Hycis continued walking as he said those words; he could almost kick himself.
Hysterical laughter could be heard as they entered the inn; Chase could see men and ladies drinking and having fun; the men were certainly pirates or just dirty drunk. Hycis walked to the counter and spoke with the attendant.
“How much for the night?”
The attendant stopped and faced her, “Depends on the room…” the man’s eye spotted Chase, “…for a dual or master bedroom, 30 aurum coins”
“What?! That is robbery” Hycis shouted and Chase came to her side
“What happened?” Chase asked her
“He wants 30 aurum coins for a single room…”
“Single master room” the man interjected
“Whatever” Hycis was clearly annoyed
“What about two smaller room?” Chase asked the man
“That could be arranged for 30 argenti” the man said, not caring
‘Seriously?” Chase couldn’t believe it.
The man leaned forward, “I recognize royalty when I see it, tell me, are you from the midlands? Well I know you are from the midlands, since your accent proves it, but where from? The attire shows Erevale?” 
Hycis brought out her dagger and leaned towards the man with the blade pointing close to the man’s throat, “If you plan on anything…”
“It will be unwise to try anything M’lady” the man said with a smile; Chase looked around and saw the men around closing in on them; Hycis also knowing the gravity of the situation withdrew the dagger. The man nods his head to the side once with a smile.
“Any problem Flit? Aarrr! Or do ye need help?” a man said moving his hand towards the hilt of his sword.
Flit shook his head and the men retreated and the inn returned to its previous liveliness like nothing happened.
“Are you going to pay me or do you need something else?” Flit said
Chase checked his money pouch and sighed, “look, we don’t have much on us, ok? How do 10 sounds?”
“10 aurum?” Flit asked
“argenti”
Flit points to the door, “Please shut the door on your way out” he turns to return to his chore but Hycis held his hand
“What about 40 argenti to keep your mouth shut as well as get us a room?” she asked stretching her hand which held a pouch of coins. Flit smiles and collects the pouch.
“Come with me then M’lady and Lord” he said and they followed; Chase and Hycis walked cautiously after him.
*
Ralnor grunts as his body hit the ground; he turned on his side and stands; he looked around. He was in Sivseria and he was standing in the midst of corpses; the Western sanctum was still standing but not for long; huge giants were climbing the castle and trying to get to the top. Ralnor had to squint his eyes and to call on his draconic eyes; he saw the king and most of his council standing on top of the castle. He ran forward and spurt out his wings; he flew for the castle.
*
Haemir and Aranor collided with a rock; they both rolled to the ground and stopped with their collision with the stony Eastern ground. They both stood and looked around; they were in the Eastlands.
“Do you know where this is?” Aranor asked Haemir
“Yes” he walks forward looking around, “but this is wrong, where are the rest?” he turns back to face Aranor.
“I felt a force throw us apart as Eldrin teleported us away”
“You think Kelpas intercepted the spell?”
“No, I think the absence of the midland sanctum did; we are all vulnerable now, Kelpas can kill us now and he is now powerful enough to face the gods; we don’t stand a chance against him” Aranor said walking past Haemir
“We need to get to Chase, we have run out of time and we need time, with the sanctums down, we are already weakened; only the northern and western sanctums still stand, if we can stop their destruction…”
“This is a lost cause Haemir, we cannot stop what is coming”
“We can at least try, you are the king, and this is your responsibility”
“Yes and I have not failed at it, not yet; let Kelpas believe he is winning, we cannot stop the inevitable, no, but we try to slow down the inevitable for as long as we can”
“How?”
“When the Eastern Kings saw that they were losing the war…” he brought out a stone from his cloth, “They sent this to me”
Haemir marveled, “the god stone”
“One of it, without all the god stones, Kelpas cannot gain access to the godly realm; our mission is to keep this out of his grip for as long as possible”
“And how long will that be before he finds you” a voice said from the rocks and they both turn around to see Corym Aelasar, sitting on a rock, looking away from them; his face was calm, his white pupils watching the red sky; it was just sunset in the East.
“Corym” Haemir said, Aranor returned the stone to his pocket as they walked closer to the blind ancient sorcerer.
“You can keep that away from him but he will still find it”
“How are you here?” Haemir knelt beside him
“Mind projection, my…body is too weak to power an astral form except I wish to die faster than I am already doing; my…body is” he points towards some nearby rock formation, “…within the caves there, do not get close to it; the disease…it’s, eating away my energy, my magic, I am fading, even faster still” Corym said all the words slowly, tiredly yet calmly; his white hair dancing in the cool eastern breeze.
“The midland sanctum is fallen” Aranor said and walked to his front, “Kelpas is winning, for now”
“You need every help you can get then Aranor; I am sorry that I cannot be of any help, not in this state”
“We can cure you” Haemir stated
“How sure are you of that?” Corym asked
Haemir brought out a tiny vial filled with a golden liquid
“Ah! The elixir of life, brewed from the philosopher’s stone and enchanted to grant immortality…or in my case, cure even the most notorious disease” Corym said; he could certainly see everything even though he was blind.
“Itham has been working on it since we found out you were infected” Haemir said, “but we will need to get to your body first”
“If you do, not even your powers will save you from the contingency of…”
“Let us worry about getting infected too, for now, we are getting you back” Aranor said and Corym faded away from their presence.
“We need to get in there” Aranor said pointing to an opening blocked with a round stone. 
They both walked to the base of the huge elevated ground; Haemir returns the elixir to his pocket and they faced each other, with a nod, Aranor shot his hand towards the entrance and the boulder blasts open; warm air shoots out of the cave in a howl; Aranor held his hand for Haemir to hold and Haemir did. A solid projection of Haemir appeared in front of them, holding the elixir; the projection walked up to the cave and entered.