"But how?" Serenya asked, staring at the unfamiliar limb. "And how did you get an arm back?"
"They gave it to me," the Wanderer said quickly, brushing off the question. "Forget about that for now. I need you to scream as if I am actually trying to kill you. We need to force them to open that door."
Serenya raised an eyebrow. "Why would they care? If they want me dead, why would they stop you?"
"Because for some reason, they aren't allowed to harm you yet," the Wanderer replied. "I think Timothy has something to do with it."
Serenya gasped, her eyes widening. "My uncle?"
"There is a lot to explain, but now is not the time," he urged. "Scream!"
Catching on, Serenya drew in a long breath and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Help! Someone help me! He’s trying to kill me!"
The Wanderer instantly drew his blade, and positioned himself behind Serenya, laying his sword against her neck.
The sounds of panicked shouting and rushing footsteps came from the hallway. The iron key rattled violently in the lock, and the wooden door burst open.
The leader of the guards stepped forward, his eyes locking onto the blade pressed against Serenya’s throat. "My lord, please! Put the blade down!" he yelled.
"Clear the way," the Wanderer snarled from behind his mask, "or I will kill her right here, right now."
The leader looked at his men, gesturing for them to lower their weapons, then turned back to the Wanderer. "And then what? You plan to cross the scorching desert back to Valoria on foot without us tracking you down? Or will you move toward Hosar, where another one of our platoons will butcher you at the gates without hesitation?"
A shadow of doubt flickered in the Wanderer's eyes. He hadn't planned his escape route further than getting out of this room.
Serenya leaned back slightly, and whispered to him, "He's right..."
The Wanderer masked his hesitation with a fierce shout, tightening his grip on his sword. "That is none of your concern! Clear the way now!"
Seeing no alternative, the leader reluctantly stepped aside. The Wanderer began to move out of the room, walking down the rocky corridor while holding Serenya tightly as a hostage. The rest of the soldiers moved slowly around them, keeping their distance but never breaking formation.
"Trust me, you won't get far from here," the leader called out, his voice dangerously calm as he trailed them. "Come back to your senses before someone gets hurt."
A zapping arc of energy tore through the air from behind. The Wanderer never saw the rogue soldier sneak through the shadows of a side tunnel. The blast from the glowing spear struck him squarely in the back.
The Wanderer collapsed to the stone floor, his body seizing violently as the blade slipped from his hand.
"No!" Serenya shouted, she fell to her knees beside him, wrapping her arms around the twitching warrior.
The leader stepped closer, kicking the fallen sword out of reach. He looked down at them. "So... you two know each other."
The brutal current finally faded, leaving a lingering pain radiating through the Wanderer's muscles. Gritting his teeth, he pushed his hands against the dirt, desperately trying to force himself back up to his feet.
Before he could stand, the glowing tip of a spear dropped into his field of vision, pinning his chest down.
The leader stared down at him through the gloom. "Who the hell are you, and how do you know about the Owls?"
Before anyone could move a muscle, a soldier came sprinting from the entrance, with a pale face. “We are under attack!” he shouted.
The leader’s head snapped toward the intrusion. He immediately gestured to a nearby guard. “Lock them back inside the room! The rest of you, to battle positions now!”
The hideout erupted into chaos. The soldiers scattered across the main hallway, leveling their glowing spears in a defensive formation toward the entrance. Beneath their boots, the ground trembled violently from the brutal screech of the heavy stone slab being forced open by massive, metallic mechanical limbs.
Seeing the distraction, the Wanderer surged forward, lunging at the soldier assigned to throw them back into the room. Using his new arm, he launched a heavy punch straight into the guard's jaw. The impact sent the man crashing into the stone wall, knocking him instantly unconscious.
The Wanderer quickly pulled Serenya behind him, his eyes locking onto the widening gap at the entrance. The giant stone door cracked open, and a bizarre armored mechanical tentacle peeked inside. Mounted directly in the center of the limb was a pulsing Nullstone, which began charging an absolute torrent of energy.
"Fire!" the leader roared.
The soldiers unleashed a volley of magical blasts from their spears, the concentrated energy lighting up the dark tunnels as it slammed into the intruding limb. But the metallic tentacle moved inward completely unharmed, the Nullstone effortlessly absorbing the magical residue of the blasts. As the smoke cleared, the monumental scale of the warmachine revealed itself as it forced its way into the hideout.
"Stop right now, or I'll tear this whole damn place apart!"
Zeek’s booming voice echoed through the chamber. A second later, the Captain stepped out from the shadow of the massive machine, his face lingering exhaustion but filled with anger. Behind him marched a dozen of armed soldiers, their weapons drawn and ready.
The leader of the hideout stared in utter shock, he raised a hand to his men. "Hold your fire! Stop!"
Zeek stepped forward, stopping directly beneath the glowing tentacle of the warmachine. He bypassed the enemy entirely, his fierce gaze locking onto the Wanderer. "Do you have any idea how incredibly hard it is to mobilize a warmachine?" Zeek growled in fury. "We had to beg a general just because of your utter foolishness!"
The hideout leader looked between the Wanderer and the furious Captain, a mocking chuckle escaping his lips. "So... you all came here just to play the hero and save the princess?"
Zeek snapped his glare to the man. "Shut up, scum. Your turn will come later."
"You could have saved her days ago!" the Wanderer shouted back, stepping forward as his new features twisted in anger. "You knew exactly where she was! You left her out here in danger just so your political plans could continue!"
Zeek roared back. "You are the one who put her in danger by breaking out! These idiots wouldn't have harmed a single hair on her head!"
Seeing the fracture between the two allies, the hideout leader boldly stepped directly between Zeek and the Wanderer. He looked up at the towering warmachine and smirked. "You are right, Captain. But you wouldn't harm her either.
I dare you to blast this place. Fire that weapon and see who dies in the collapse."
Zeek stared into the leader’s eyes for a tense moment, before his fingers violently clamped around the hilt of his sword.
But the leader was faster, he rammed the hilt of his weapon directly against Zeek’s waist, stopping the captain from drawing his blade. "Not so fast," the leader said.
The Wanderer lunged, driving a punch with his mechanical arm toward the back of the leader's skull.
Anticipating the blow, the leader threw his weight into a tumble, narrowly dodging the fist as it whistled through the air.
Scrambling back to his feet, the leader raised his hand and roared, "Kill them all!"
The Owl soldiers unleashed a relentless volley of magical blasts from their spears. Zeek’s infantrymen, lacking anti magic armor or range to compete, were torn apart by the raw arcane energy before they could even bridge the gap.
"You heretics!" Zeek growled, his face twisted in fury. He rushed the nearest Owl soldier, and severed the man's head.
Another guard spun and shot a blazing arc of energy directly at him. Zeek raised his Nullstone blade absorbing the impact. "Take her out of here!" Zeek bellowed over the roar of the conflict, his eyes locking onto the Wanderer. "Go!"
The Wanderer nodded. Slamming his left arm around the shocked Serenya, he hoisted her over his shoulder and bolted for safety, ducking behind the reinforced structure of a far stone wall.
From their cover, they watched the absolute carnage unfold. The Owl soldiers dismantled Zeek’s front line, their magic keeping the soldiers at bay. High above them, the massive warmachine’s limbs flailed wildly, its heavy steel appendages squishing anyone unfortunate enough to step within its range. But the machine was too massive to move forward. Every time it tried to force its way further into the cavern, structural cracks webbed across the ceiling, threatening a total collapse.
The violent noise finally snapped Serenya out of her shock. "Uncle Zeek, watch out!" she screamed.
The Wanderer snapped his head toward the Captain. Zeek was completely surrounded. He was a whirlwind of steel, desperately blocking magical projectiles from every direction while hacking through the overlapping Owl ranks. But the sheer volume of the endless blasts was a tidal wave no single man could withstand, no matter how brave he was.
A bolt of energy clipped Zeek’s leg, buckling his knee. Another blast struck his back. Gasping, the Captain fell heavily to both knees, his Nullstone blade slipping into the dirt.
"Zeek!" Serenya cried, breaking away from the wall to run into the crossfire.
The Wanderer lunged out, his mechanical hand locking around her wrist. "We need to get out of here before the chaos settles!" he said, trying to drag her toward the darkness of the rear tunnels. "If we stay, we die!"
He pulled her hand, bracing his boots to run, when suddenly she gasped, "No!"
The air around her shifted, as warm light flooded the space.
Before the Wanderer could react, an immense wave of raw magic flared outward from Serenya’s body, violently throwing him back across the stone floor.
He crashed into the dirt, looking up in sheer disbelief, he could still feel the grip of the Nullstones locking his magic.
Serenya’s eyes were glowing in yellow light, her irises completely vanishing into a sea of radiant energy. Her hair floated around her face as she channeled a power she had hidden for so long. Lifting her hands toward the center of the cavern, she unleashed a torrent of light that manifested into a barrier around Zeek, perfectly encapsulating the fallen Captain just as dozens of enemy blasts converged on his position.