ULTRAMagic Babel - Chapter 4

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    “So we have the evil dragon herself on the prowl, lovely…” Odo groaned as the elevator calmly rattled down the shaft.

    “Well, it could be worse,” Tusk remarked, getting a glare from Odo. “I mean you could…”

    “Stop.”

    “Right…” Tusk said with a sigh.

    There was a moment of awkward silence as Odo pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sorry, Tusk, I’m just on edge is all.”

    “Aren’t we all, am I right?”

    Buster glanced out towards the shaft, watching occasional light-filled openings pass by. “And here I thought all dragons were good, or at least neutral…”

    Serjiel patted his shoulder. “There are the bad ones.”

    “Am I too late to the party to say I wish Leif was here?” Yoshihiro innocently asked, despite never having met Leif in person.

    “Not at all, Yoshihiro,” Tusk replied. “I wish he was here too-Gudrun was probably near the top of his to-do list…” There was a slight jolt as the elevator came to a stop, with the doors opening up into a cavernous-yet-structured part of the tower. “Ground floor: Water, rocks, damp air, and columns,” Tusk joked as everyone stepped out.

    The water ways did what the name implied, serving to make sure that fresh water made its way to every corner of the tower. It was an expansive cave with rivers and waterfalls everywhere, lit by a strange light that acted similar to a sun obscured by clouds. Some of the flows even defied gravity and went upwards into great stone pipes. And it was certainly chilly in the cave, allowing one’s breath to be faintly observed. Despite the dank nature of the cavern, the almost-brutalist support columns amongst the colossal stalagmites and stalactites made all of it a majestic and breathtaking sight to behold. The cacophonous-yet-melodic sound of the flowing water as far as the eyes could see would have made the water ways a relaxing place to rest and gather one’s thoughts were it not for the intruders in the tower.

    “A minor setback…” Adriana noted as she looked around, feeling the moistness of a rock wall with her fingers. “Serjiel, Tusk, what do the maps say?”

    “My apologies, Captain, but I did not anticipate us coming down here,” Serjiel answered.

    Tusk pulled out his paper map, which had become bent and creased. “And I lost track during the scuffle with Valdemaras. I could try to look around and figure out where we came down from, but it might take too long for our business.”

    Adriana sighed, taking a sip from her canteen. “Fine. I’d like to resume the search for Lia as soon as possible, but I suppose we’ll just have to wait for the all clear, then collect our bearings…”

    “Would you like me to see if there’s anyone nearby?” Yoshihiro asked. “I have a pretty handy technique for that…”

    “Go ahead.”

    As Yoshihiro assumed a meditative stance and floated in the air, a curious crow landed on Tusk’s shoulder. “Buddy, my days of being a tree in the ground ended a couple of years ago…” The crow gave a light caw to Tusk, making the others chuckle.

    “A crow?” Odo questioned. “Wait, hold on, Ensio?” The crow cawed in confirmation.

    “Brother, that must mean Waramunt is nearby,” Buster deduced.

    “We’re in luck, as there’s two people not too far from us,” Yoshihiro said as he ended his stance, the pulsing aura around him calmly fading.

    “Good, let’s find out just who this Waramunt is then…” Adriana declared as she led the group forward.

    Making their way down an incline, the group saw two people standing on a bridge waiting with anticipation. One was a brown haired, beautiful woman in rugged traveler’s robes. This was Lia Ascher, but she looked like she had seen better days on account of sleepless nights and being on the run. Her dazzling blue eyes had bags under them and there was the impression she had been crying a lot in recent times. To say she was a far cry from the proselytizer Tusk had encountered during the Droomopolis incident was fully justified. As for her company, the man accompanying her was dressed in a black tuxedo and had white hair with scarlet eyes. He was quite handsome, despite looking close to middle aged.

    “Ah-ha, so that’s who you were sensing, Ensio,” Waramunt commented as his familiar returned to him and perched on his shoulder. “Greetings, everyone. My apologies we couldn’t meet somewhere more favorable.”

    “Buster, Odo!” Lia cried as she rushed over to the brothers, giving Buster a hug. “Buster, are you okay, sweetie? Those nasty rats didn’t hurt you, did they?”

    Buster chuckled, recalling the encounter they just had. “Don’t worry, Lia, I’m okay.”

    “Odo, how are you holding up?”

    “A few close calls on the way here, but no worse for wear,” he said as he rolled his shoulders. “What about you, Lia?”

    She took a breath to compose herself, but was still a little on edge. “I’m fine, thanks to Waramunt here,” she said with a smile towards him, causing him to give a slight bow.

    “Lia Bonnibelle Ascher…” Adriana announced as she stepped forward. “I am Captain Adriana Lesley Hawthorne of the Blades of Dunja and I am here to escort you to The Iron City for questioning and protection.”

    “Oh my goodness, you’re the one Dunja wanted to actually replace Torunn after she joined Sten, aren’t you? What happened to you?”

    “Andelin sent me on a wild goose chase…” she answered with a hint of resentment in her voice.

    Lia gave a guilty chuckle, even though she had nothing to do with it. “Oh my, that’s certainly something she’d do… Goodness, I have so many things to apologize to Dunja for…”

    Tusk calmly exhaled, as his feet were tired. “Well I’m feeling a little wilted, so I’m going to go get a quick drink…” He then stepped off of the bridge, sat on the edge of the stone floor, and let his feet hang. The cool rush of the water felt amazing on his sore appendages.

    “Tusk, there’s probably faeces in that water…” Yoshihiro pointed out with a slight grimace towards the inbound stream.

    “Eh, it’s all fertilizer to me,” he replied with a shrug, receiving some incredulous looks. “Besides, I probably shouldn’t stick my dirty feet in the outgoing stream, you know what I mean?” Yoshihiro gave a concessionary nod to that reasoning.

    “Tusk, a minute please?” Lia said as she walked over.

    “So, you ever get that recliner?” he inquired with a cheeky grin.

    Lia had to hold herself back from groveling, preserving the shred of dignity she had left. “I am so sorry for all of that…”

    “I know, Buster told me.”

    “And I mean it, Tusk. All of that was mindless bravado and huffing and puffing and…”

    Tusk held his hand up as he got up, followed by a pat on Lia’s shoulder. “I told Gratiana this and I'll say it here too: Water under the bridge. We trees don’t hold grudges… unless you’re The Eternal Order, which you’re not now.”

    Lia gave a quiet sigh of relief with a smile. “Thank you, Tusk. You’re a good tree and I promise I’ll make it up to you someday.”

    “Tell you what; If you stick to the straight and narrow going forward, come with me to the forest and have dinner with me and my family sometime.”

    “You’d just let me into your home like that?”

    “I don’t see why not. Besides, Dad and mom are great cooks and you need to try their cooking. I mean, come on, Lia; you’ve come this far to help us and stab The Eternal Order in the back. It’s the least we can do for your troubles.”

    “Most excellent, Tusk,” Serjiel complimented. “It pays to bury the hatchet, especially in trying times like these. Now, Waramunt, a pleasure to meet you,” he said as he shook his hand. “I suppose you cannot tell us who you actually are?” The others were certainly intrigued by this.

    Waramunt froze for a second, but then settled down once he realized Serjiel could not have possibly known who he truly was… or did he? “Ah yes, haha, very observant of you, honorable Serjiel. Alas, I cannot reveal my true nature right now…” This warranted a soft groan from Adriana. “For now just know that I am Waramunt Wolfgang Cuyler, a wandering pyromancer fiercely dedicated to foiling The Eternal Order’s dastardly plans wherever they arise.”

    Serjiel nodded in acceptance, even though he had a good idea as to who Waramunt actually was based on what he had through hearsay from sources the group was not aware of. “Fair enough, as I sense no ill will from you. And now that we’re all here and seemingly out of harm’s way, I would like to reveal what the letter I handed to Ozymandias was about…”

    Adriana gave an audible sigh. “Better late than never…”

    “So what’s the dealio, Serjiel?” Tusk wondered. “I know for a fact that it’s serious if The Vermilion King is involved.”

    “Indeed it is, Tusk. Everyone? As impossible as it seems, his majesty wishes to move the tower to his kingdom in Somnium.”

    “Pardon me?” Adriana interjected. “How exactly?”

    “In each of the four great libraries representing the elements, there is a special beacon. When all four are activated, they will stabilize the tower, anchoring it in place. As you can imagine the tower appears to be quite leery of his majesty given his clashes with The Eternal Order and his questionable-at-times past. It stands to reason the tower would attempt to flee if his majesty just showed up out of the blue. And ideally all of this should scare off Gudrun and Valdemaras.”

    Tusk nodded, liking the sound of the idea. “The tower would be a lot safer in the Dream Realm, given The Sepulcher God’s fear of the place…”

    “We can’t do that,” Adriana asserted. “That’s not our mission.” She was receiving mildly incredulous looks from her squad, indicating she was the minority in regards to her stance.

    “What’s the matter with helping out though?” Yoshihiro questioned. “We found Lia and Buster…”

    “Our mission is to secure Lia and get Buster into hiding,” she reminded everyone as she straightened out her uniform. “We’re not here to help move the tower.”

    “Look, soldier girl; the elephant in the room here is that we don’t have Odo’s spell yet,” Tusk pointed out. “We might as well use this side mission to search the libraries for it while we’re at it…”

    “Tusk, we would be putting Lia and Buster in great danger!” Adriana countered. “Truthfully we should head back to The Iron City right now to get reinforcements at least!”

    Buster stepped forward to address the issue, looking concerned about the tower itself. “Adriana, I’d like to help his majesty before I leave The Unlight.”

    “But Buster, the mission and your safety…”

    “But nothing. Besides, I’ve heard that the books Odo and I need are in the wind library, which is pretty far up the tower.”

    “And I also want to help,” Lia added.

    “Not you too,” Adriana lamented.

    “Adriana, I’ve done a lot of bad things and I need to keep paying for them. If this is the last thing I do then so be it.”

    There was fight in Lia’s tear-stained eyes and Adriana could not say no to that. She sighed once again as she knew Brigadier General Dryden would get on her case for being inflexible. And her days as an ENCOM captain taught her that level of determination was not to be stifled. “I see… Odo, Waramunt? What are your thoughts?”

    “Whatever it takes,” Odo assured. “My blade is not dulling any time soon.”

    Waramunt summoned a small fireball. “You have my flame and the flick of my cards. I shall protect Buster with my life and keep lovely Lia safe, as her intel is invaluable in the fight against The Sepulcher god.” Lia could not help but giggle, causing Odo and Buster to shake their heads with a smile on their faces.

    “Fine, you win, Serjiel,” Adriana conceded. “But the minute things get too hairy we are retreating to The Iron City and coming back with an army. And NO splitting up under any circumstances, understand?”

    “Your terms are more than acceptable, Captain,” Serjiel replied, only to be interrupted by the sound of bells ringing somewhere.

    “I’d dare say that’s the all clear signal,” Waramunt noted, indicating for everyone to follow him across the bridge. “Right this way…”

    As they approached a different elevator, a thought crossed Adriana’s mind. “Lia, I would like to address the fact that Gummi has stated that Gudrun enhanced Milosh’s beast blood. Can you confirm this?”

    She paused, then pulled out a thick, glass vial of a metallic orange fluid from her robes. “That fiend super charged it with her gold blood and you know the rest. I was even given a vial, but something told me to hold off, and I’m glad I did… you know, given the poison.”

    Tusk was amazed, taking the vial for a moment to inspect it. “Small world after all… Maybe you should take it to Lord Driskoll to have it purified,” he remarked as he handed it back. “If anyone could do it, it would be him…”

    “Oh no, Tusk, I couldn’t do that…”

    “Why not? Clearly you were meant to do something special with it given that you still have it,” Tusk stated as the elevator could be heard coming down the shaft.

    “I mean… Do you really think so?”

    Tusk nodded as they all stepped into the cabin once it was firmly planted on the ground. “Gummi saved his blood and injected it into himself, turning him into a beast like Barna and Weaver.”

    “Goodness…”

    “Yup. His beast form is a giant Moose with a knack for soul magic. It was quite the camping trip I’ve been told.”

    Lia looked at the vial and thought about it, with something deep down telling her to foster a potential she always had. “Well maybe… Oh, how is Gummi doing?” she asked as the elevator began to move upwards with a slight jolt.

    “Fantastic. Aside from the little shindig that was his beast form, he’s almost done with his ULTRAMagic and will join the guild as soon as he’s ready.”

    “How wonderful!” she complimented. “I’d love to see him again… I just hope he isn’t too mad at me…”

    “Don’t worry, Lia, I’m sure he’ll be happy to know you’ve come to your senses,” Waramunt assured her. “A rushed man has a lot to prove, but a late man always has something to bring to the table.”


Next: Chapter 5

ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)

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