As I walked down the tunnel back to the entrance of the cave I threw my cane to the side. While I had a throbbing pain in my ankle I’d have to ignore it, as I wanted both hands free for what I was about to do.

The end of the tunnel had begun to fill up with gnomes as they all pushed in. They saw me, their voices excited as they talked back and forth and motioned threateningly in my direction. Once the ones in the front of the group noticed my lack of weapons in my hands and charged at me.

I held up one hand at the gnomes. “If you don’t want to die, leave now,” I warned them.

There was no response from the little men and instead they seemed all the more eager to attack me. I could only sigh in frustration at that, but it wasn’t much of a surprise. I flexed my hands while I started to draw on the energy inside of me, focusing not on the lightning I’d used so often but rather the energy crystal.

Perhaps it was when I took the step forward that they started to realize something was amiss. The ones in the front hesitated in their charge, a move that caused a bit of a wrinkle in their formation. The ones toward the back shouted at the frontline as they decided to take their eyes off of me.

My right foot stepped forward.

A gnome to the right was impaled with a straight thrust of a golden sword. A gnome’s sword from the left was blocked by another golden blade, while a third sword thrust into the gnome’s chest. As a gnome came in close to the front two short swords appeared, and then like a pair of scissors sliced him in half.

I swung my hands out to the sides and the blades to my front followed suit. They each swept to the side and cut horizontally a gnome of each of my sides, before they flickered out of existence as quickly as they’d appeared.

My left foot stepped forward.

Some of the sharper gnomes started to take a step back, as they’d noticed all of the swords appearing from nowhere. They were too late as a large scythe appeared and swung, their heads arcing through the air as blood spattered all over their friends. The last gnomes closest to me tried a mad dash for me, but large shields covered in spikes formed in front of me and fell on them. Their small bodies were crushed to the ground as the spikes impaled them.

My right foot stepped forward.

Four spears formed over my shoulders and then were thrown forward as though by invisible hands. They pierced through gnomes, all of them going all the way through the bodies and hitting another gnome behind the first. As the gnomes near the newly deceased ones recoiled in horror spikes erupted from the shafts of the spears. Over the course of a few seconds dozens of gnomes were impaled amongst a sea of glowing blades.

My left foot stepped forward.

The gnomes furthest back started to notice what was happening near the front. A few turned, running and yelling in fear, while the frontline of their group simply screamed in terror and tried their best to push back against their brethren. An array of knives formed near their backs and stabbed them all, over and over the golden blades sliced into them until the gnomes collapsed.

My right foot stepped forward.

Axes far too large to be used by a normal human form near the back row of the gnomes. They swing in, their blades biting into the bodies without a problem, and then they push all the way through and continue on into the next gnome. The axes continued forward through the cluster of gnomes as if they were thrown, and soon enough dozens of gnomes had been bisected by them.

My left foot stepped forward.

The blood of the gnomes touched against my boots as I began to walk through the pile of corpses. Ahead of me more swords, knives, axes, and everything else imaginable formed and cut away at the fools who hadn’t already run. Their screams grew quieter with every step I took, and soon I was alone in the tunnel.

“So much for the Thousand Blades of the Sun God,” I muttered sourly to myself, as I glanced at the collection of weapons that still hung in the air.

At one point I had been able to manifest so many, but now I struggled with only a handful. It was a sign that I still had a long way to go with this body. I would also gain a great deal of help once I picked up a suit from the arsenal, as I could draw on the embedded energy source to help supplement any lack on my end.

When I emerged from the end of the tunnel not much had changed outside, though there were far more gnomes on the walkways and bridges. They held their weapons at the ready, aimed in my direction, but I could tell with a glance that they all shook with fear. There was no doubt they’d seen the gnomes running in fright that had escaped.

At the very top of the cliff stood a dark thin figure draped in a cloak. One gaunt hand was pointed at me while a red light surrounded the entire figure. It was a sight that drew a chuckle from me, a reaction that the warlock most likely hadn’t expected. A red light shot from the finger of the warlock, and it served as a signal to the other gnomes who all fired their arrows.

I raised my left hand and then swung it to the right, a thin lattice of energy formed in it’s wake. Everything that had been thrown at me by the gnome forces struck that barrier and fell to the ground. The air around me began to quiver as I pooled all of my remaining energy to my right hand.

A small sphere of pure golden light was formed and I sent it forward, through the lattice that had no qualms with letting it by. It floated out into the gorge and the gnomes could only watch on with confusion, even as some of their friends screamed in terror and continued to run away.

A snap of my fingers was the signal. From the sphere thin shafts of light shot out like spikes in all directions, each shaft aimed to strike one of the gnomes. Even the warlock was not spared as I sent at least three shafts at him so he could not escape, and in a matter of seconds the entire area had grown quiet.

I swayed as I surveyed what I’d done, and then I stumbled backward uncontrollably. My body grew heavy and fatigue assailed me with such ferocity that I almost winced at it. Whether I wanted to or not I had no control over what came next.

I collapsed on the spot.

☗ ☗ ☗ ☗ ☗

I wasn’t sure how long it was before I woke up, but the warmth of the sunlight meant that I’d most likely slept through the whole night. My head was rested on the lap of something soft, and when I shifted my gaze I noticed Kuzu’s ample bosom long before anything else. She leaned forward and smiled down at me.

“How is everyone?” I asked her.

Before she could even answer I heard the giggling of Lisa, along with a few other children, and turned my head to see a group of gnome children and her running around. Beyond them some of the adult gnomes watched with wary eyes, though none of them had any sort of weapons. The fact that they had been the slaves was easy to notice due to the scarring on their wrists.

“Everyone is fine,” Kuzu replied as she pushed a few strands of her hair away from her face, “you missed a couple of guards and one warlock with your last spell but I dealt with them. You shouldn’t have done that alone, you could’ve died.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I chuckled at that, “any clue what we’re going to do with all of these slaves?”

“Adam told me that there’s a small gnome community on the twenty-ninth floor,” Kuzu turned her gaze skyward, “Lance will go through to the next floor first, to make sure they know we’re coming. Adam left to take Row’s parents home, and then he’s coming back and we’ll move on to the next floor.”

“Hah, guess he can probably handle that chore,” I closed my eyes, “wake me when it’s time for us to leave, I’m going to rest some more.”

“Good night,” Kuzu murmured to me so quietly that my elf ears barely heard it. As I slowly fell back asleep for a brief moment I thought I felt a small bit of pressure on my cheek, though that was probably my imagination.

Floor 29

They Who Stop The Darkness

I managed to wrangle in a few more hours of sleep before the brothers were finished with their preparations. Lance moved on ahead of us to make sure we wouldn’t be killed on sight, and then the rest of us went through before the gnomes.

When we materialized on the next floor I had already pulled out my sword and braced for an attack. While I trusted that Lance had gone on ahead to warn them about us, there was still the strong potential for a Shifter or two to have invaded. Or for a guard to not believe him and to still attack us.

Around us was a ring of archers on an uplifted wall made of metal. The archers had their bows out and arrows held at the ready, and with our appearance they prepared to fire. Adam lifted up his right hand and stuck out his left hand, a signal apparently as the archers all relaxed.

A metal gate off to our left opened wide and revealed a column of soldiers armed with spears and shields. They parted down the middle, allowing us free passage, and so we took them up on the offer. Behind us I could hear the sound of the gnomes arriving.

“Grandice wants to see you Adam,” one of the soldiers nearest the gate stated in a loud voice.

“Figures, thanks for the heads up Illius.” Adam rubbed at his eyes. “You three should go rest up somewhere, there are tents all over the place. I need to talk with the leader of the camp.”

Before he could take two steps I clamped my hand down on his shoulder tightly. “Try to avoid talking about us,” I asked of him.

“Hah! Good luck on that one, you’re probably all he’ll want to talk about.” Adam laughed before he shrugged my hand away. “Don’t worry though, I’ll try to avoid talking about anything you’d like to keep quiet about. Head toward the red tents, they’re for visitors.”

I turned my attention away from Adam as he walked away, instead more interested in the tents he had commented on. When I had last gone through this floor it had been untamed wilderness, yet during my absence it had changed into what I could only call a settlement.

A metal wall ran along in a vast circle, and within that circle were a handful of cabins and a lot of tents. The tents were of two colors, one was blue and the other red, and it was at the red ones that the gnomes proliferated. Even from where we stood it was easy to see the families gathered, while their children played openly in the settlement.

As I took a few steps forward Lisa started to dart away, but I managed to grab her. “Hold on a second,” I told her, before I motioned toward the direction of the red tents, “see those? We’re going there first, then you can run all over the camp like a wildfire.”

“Alright daddy!” Lisa exclaimed with a happy face, though it was obvious that she was reigning back a great deal of energy. It seemed that the long time we had spent waiting on the previous floor had allowed her to recuperate.

We walked along a dirt path that led to the center of the red tents. With each step Lisa continued to be on the verge of dashing off, so I ended up holding her hand. I didn’t want her taking off and getting lost, or worse getting into trouble. Obviously she could find us due to the equipment that Kuzu wore, but it was always best to err on the side of caution when possible.

A tall man who looked a bit too thin stood with a clipboard in the midst of the red tents. Every so often he would point people toward different directions in a quiet voice. When we walked up to him he adjusted his glasses and peered at us curiously.

“Newcomers? Oh, a nice family of three,” the man commented, smiling at Lisa.

“We’re here for a tent, not for conversation,” I brusquely said.

The tall man recoiled at my attitude as he adjusted his glasses. “Sorry, uh...you can take one of the open ones in quadrant three,” he said with a wave off to the left, “pick one that’s empty.”

A quick nod was my only way to say goodbye before I walked away. It took us only a few minutes of searching to find a suitable tent to borrow, and so we settled into it. No sooner than had we decided on one before Lisa ran off, shouting that she’d be back in a few hours.

“I remember when I was like that,” I murmured, though with a small smile.

It was a tent that could easily house four or five people, one with a large flap on the front that was left open when unoccupied. I left the flap open while I sat down on one of the simple wooden chairs inside the tent, pulling a flask of water from my bag.

“I wonder how you were then,” Kuzu fluffed her tail out and then pulled a comb from her knapsack.

“A pain in the ass,” I told her with a laugh, “I was just starting to learn about diving and thought I’d be awesome at it. Nearly got killed on the second floor on my first run...but the money I could make, the thrill of the diving. Never could walk away from that.”

“I mostly dove for the others,” Kuzu’s comb continued to work away at her tail, her golden eyes turned away from me, “I’ll never forget their kindness.”

“I know,” I told her in a soft tone, much softer than I normally used with anyone.

The comb paused for a second and Kuzu looked at me. “What are you going to do after you bury Luticia?”

“I haven’t really thought about that,” I admitted to her.

“Maybe we coul-” Kuzu started to speak before I lifted up one hand.

“Don’t,” I told her, a flat tone that was a tad too harsh, “please don’t. I’ve heard too many people say something like that and die. How about for now we just focus on getting through the labyrinth?”

Kuzu’s tail had bristled a bit at the way I’d interrupted her, though she gave a small nod of her head. Once more her eyes turned away from me, the comb working at her unsettled tail, “sorry.”

“It’s fine, I’m just…” I started to explain before I paused. It was far too hard to put into words, perhaps even to understand myself, “anyway I wanted to talk to you about our plans.”

Kuzu’s left ear twitched at that. “Oh?”

“Yes. We’re going to make a side trip on floor thirty-eight.”