A World With/Out Home

Chapter 21: A Regretful Finale. (Part 3)

"Mercy!" Unai had reverted back to his human form, a far cry from his previous muscular appearance. Emancipated and unable to move he laid on the floor as Edgar stood above him with resolute eyes.

"Looks like we were both wrong," there was no mercy in his eyes, "We took an extra minute."

"Wait please I can-."

With no remorse Edgar crashed the dark sphere beneath his feet, "That was for Orpheus." He raised his foot once more even as Unai began to fade away to goop. "And this is for Riften." Another stamp and the false gods head splashed away into a black mess. With the fight over he sheathed his blade and clapped his hands whispering a silent prayer to his friends now passed.

The fight had been quick but also came at a cost. Each of the six showed their wear as their armour and clothes had been shredded. Estile had come out the worst. With her ability to heal through the most grievous of wounds she had taken a key role to defend them all from the worst. Her clothes and armour were barely holding together revealing the seemingly delicate skin beneath. A cloak was thrown her way and she caught it easily.

Kyle looked away from her, "Put it on before your clothes fall off please. We don't need you making things too adult."

Sephie laughed at his innocence, "What happened to you boys always trying to peek at us?"

"That's a game, this isn't," he replied seriously. "Karen do you think the others are okay?"

"They'll be fine," Estile was the one who answered. Although Kyle's cloak had also been torn, it was much warmer than before. "Those four together are good at stalling. We need to move on."

"Estile is right," Karen nodded and looked towards the multiple exists from the room. "We don't know what is coming and we don't have much time. Arvel I know you're worried but we need you to find the path."

The flaxen haired man nodded, "I'm on it." He bent to one knee and closed his eyes. Several seconds past before he pointed towards one of the passages. "It's that way. The resonance is strongest down that path."

"Then let's move." Together the six ran down the stone corridor. With Arvel at the head they were able to navigate the increasingly complex maze of passages.

As the minutes passed each of them felt the pressure around them begin to heave and flow. Like the breathes of a majestic beast it shook their hearts again and again. There was no telling how deep they had gone but it was clear they were getting closer. A final turn and suddenly without warning they were forced into a grand chamber. The ceiling stood fifty feet tall and radiated a golden light. All across the room, each block of stone was covered in the now familiar story that had been etched previously but now even more so, the touch had become delicate and the details finer. At the end of the chamber a raised stage set itself, and on top an altar was a simple ball of white light delicately flickering.

"That's it?" Sephie questioned for them all. "Is that the Sleeping God?" At that moment another beat echoed throughout the chamber sending shockwaves of energy through their every pore. "You know what that actually may be it."

Arvel shook his head, eyes narrowed towards the white flickering orb of light, "That's not it. I mean, at least that's not the entire God. That's a passage."

"So we go in then?" Sephie looked at them all.

"That's all we can try," Karen nodded firmly. "We can't let the demons continue to kill the other races... and if this really is the source, it's the only way." There was no telling what kind of impact killing a God would result in, or if they even could but from months of fighting the demons and watching the people they swore to protect die... they knew the demons would never stop.