I was trying to ignore that little tidbit of information to ensure that those who missed it would CONTINUE to miss it until it was brought up in more concrete terms.

I shudder to think what momma will do when she finds out that her dead daughter has been soul-bound to the beast. I wonder if SD will have anything to say about the matter as well - ONCE Charity has figured out what is happening (I do not believe that SD is unaware of what is going on right now, at all).

 

In the case with Storm Dragon: you can all too easily imagine what might happen.

 

Next Chapter will be up around Wednesday or Thursday.
Thanks to all who continue to read and enjoy the Chronicles.

 

₰₰ Book One: Chapter Thirty Two ₰₰


​

As columns of steam ascended from the heated waters Elsa gently swam. A sigh of pure contentment escaped her lips, and she closed her eyes, turned onto her back and allowed herself to float along the surface. For a time, all that mattered was this opportunity to wipe off the accumulated grime, grit, cares, concerns and worries that had accumulated on this journey.

She opened her eyes and marveled at the amount of magic and engineering skills, not to mention the audacity and ingenuity, to pull it off.

She muttered to no one in particular, “I wonder what secrets remain to be found in the outpost? What great wonders and treasures may await us?”

She gave off a small, derisive snort and then continued: “Any treasures we find are going to be guarded equal to or worse than what we have already found. I wish one thing above all, aside from getting to the gateway and past the Guardian. Who built the Labyrinth, or specific parts of it; what purpose or purposes does it serve?”

Elsa swam a short distance towards the far end of the pool and again considered the wondrous pool. Heated baths are one of the few luxuries that she will go out of her way for. She rolled, dove deep to the bottom and surfaced just as quickly. Five more times she repeated this, and on the last leaped up with such force that she bodily porpoised out of the water.

She did a complete twist and turn, and sliced back through the surface with nary a ripple to mark her passage.

A trail of slowly ascending bubbles caught her attention, behind which a large, furry rodent tail scythed the water in twain. Her melodious laugh, akin to the winter wind and a bird’s song in one, echoed long and far.

Via her mind-to-mind link, she reached out to her spirit-companion Chipper, and laughed a second time. She said to him via their link: “Chipper, I know you can use magic to breathe under the water. But if you decide to imitate a shark in its natural environment, do better with your tail, no one will believe it to be a shark’s fin in the least measure...”

₰

​

In the level above Elsa and Chipper, Nelson sat before an old, moth-eaten, time-worn sheet. He held his hands over it and uttered a simple prayer to his patron power. Moments later, he smelled, and beheld, the fruits of his request: fresh bread and fruits, nuts and berries, plus sliced meats, cheese and two large pitchers of steaming tea. He took up a slim, sharp knife to begin the meals preparations, and paused.

He looked at Sparkle, who looked upon the entire banquet with hunger-filled eyes, and asked: “So should we ask Elsa what she wants for dinner? Oh, and Chipper as well…”

At the mention of Chipper the little dragon rolled her eyes and warbled to Nelson: “Tell Mama-Elsa, she likes good stuff. Chipper-who-complains-too-much, do not bother with Papa-Nelson; I go and heat water up to catch his attention then drag him back by his tail to dine with us…”

Nelson stopped Sparkle before she could run off and said: “No Sparkle, I have an idea how we can catch the attention of Elsa. If it works, that is. Let me explain to you what I am going to do…” He did so, and the little dragon burst into exuberant laughter.

Sparkle warbled to him: “Mama-Elsa will be thrilled.”

₰


​

Elsa paused, for Chipper had come to a halt in the water. She quietly cast a magical spell to reveal foes that are invisible, insubstantial, camouflaged or the like; yet detected nothing. Her preternaturally keen senses told her of an approaching foe; one almost on top of her location. She reached out to Chipper and asked: “What is it and where is the blasted thing?”

Chipper responded via their shared link: “Close, too close by far. As much as I hate to say this, get Nelson and Sparkle here on the double; we may have a major fight on our….EEEK!!!”

Elsa winced at the force of Chippers mental scream of absolute terror and screamed: “Sparkle, Nelson, get in here now!”

Then her own scream of absolute terror arose as the waters in front of her erupted in a great detonation nearly fifty feet in height. She watched in wide-eyed, slack-jawed horror as a twenty foot high wave rolled towards her, and beheld the massive cloud of writhing, lightning-filled mists which had formed at the epicenter.

Her mind froze in absolute terror, and left her unable to anything but cringe and cover her face and head when the wave arrived with bone-crushing force.

The maelstrom of tidal forces pulled her under, forced the very air from her lungs and threatened to hold her on the bottom until she drowned. Then, she felt a great scaled hand gently take her into its grip, and lift her with all due speed to the surface and life-sustaining air. Once clear of the water, Elsa rolled onto her stomach and took long, desperate gasps of badly needed air.

Moments later she took in her surroundings and noticed first of all the great hand, larger than she stood tall, was attached to a much longer, thickly-muscled, green-scaled, water-drenched arm. She gulped, unable to pull her terror-filled eyes free of the massive torso the arm connected with; and then to the great green-scaled, horse-like head with six curled horns. The beasts’ eyes, twin pools of pure nothingness, looked at her with little more than passing curiosity; almost as if she were an insignificant flea or an ant deemed worthy of capture, freedom or casual destruction.

Her heart lodged in her throat and she struggled to keep her calm as she reached out to Chipper, desperate to learn his fate. When she made contact via their mind-to-mind link, she gasped, unable to comprehend why her spirit-companion would be laughing so blasted hard…

Then the creature before her grinned and winked, its eyes now filled with pure mischief.

She face-palmed herself and swore up such a blue-streak in sixteen languages. “Of course, it’s a thrice-blasted illusion. Nelson, you feather-brained lummox, I’m going to so get you for this…”

₰


​

Nelson looked over at Sparkle and said: “It worked, it actually worked. I need to see what Elsa thinks of it and her dinner request. Hopefully it will not be something too far out of my ability…”

He focused his mind, and reached out to her via telepathy and said: “Elsa, want do you think?”

He cringed as he beheld the depths of her anger focused upon him and him alone. Moments before she was simply terrified, now she was simply furious as a female feline could be. “Uh oh, I guess it didn’t work out as planned…”

₰


​

Elsa carefully ‘listened’ through their link as to his original, heart-felt intentions; how he had cast the spell; and then, most critically for her, where and how he believed he had goofed. Her anger dissipated almost instantly, for he had meant no harm.

She focused her mind and spoke back along their link: “The illusion was to be akin to the infernal one you crafted, and then terrified the gargoyles with, soon after we entered the Labyrinth?”

She sympathetically cringed when Nelson savagely berated himself and sent to her: “Not quite, let me show you a mental picture of what I had expected, and had hoped, to occur…”

Once she beheld in her mind Nelsons original intentions she gave off a wild, heart-felt laugh that banished any lingering trace of her anger. He had desired to create a huge water-born beast with a massive scroll in its hands, upon which glowed fire-lit letters that asked what she and Chipper desired for dinner.

Elsa replied to him: “I have no problems with this Nelson, now that I understand what you actually intended. In this region of the Labyrinth, illusions almost come to life; they are given form and substance, greater than we have really understood.”

She looked the illusionary-creature over and softly whistled. “No wonder it fooled me so well; it’s so close to life…it’s just amazing, your abilities are increasing faster than I had assumed possible for any student of mine.”

Elsa then gave a firm order to Nelson: “Now then, release the magic endowed in the illusion. There is no need to take a chance on anyone getting hurt. But first of all have it put me back into…”

The image vanished from beneath her, and Elsa screamed as she landed, rump-first, into the waters below.

She broached the surface and shouted, “Blast it Nelson, next time do as I tell you, and have the things put me back into the water! Honestly, what does it take to get any stone-dense brained man, to understand something so simple, that any female magician can so easily grasp?”

Nelson replied with a telepathic image so raw, lewd, and immodest that Elsa giggled in consternation; cheeks flushed and hands flew over her lips. Both feline ears flared high, completely at attention.

She asked of him via their telepathic link: “Honestly Nelson, do you think that is even possible? I mean, I know I can do that, and much more, yet you are of human stock; I don’t ever recall of any human or mixed-blood doing THAT, and surviving more than an hour afterward!”

Her mind raced with possibilities as her inner desires flared forth with volcanic intensity. Through the telepathic link, she returned images. Images so blatantly erotic, so intense, and so unrestrained, that she felt Nelson cringe in the realization she meant to do each and every one of them to the fullest.

Her giggle returned in full measure, as she spoke to him again: “Oh yes my love, I intend to hold you to your offered amorous activities; and afterward conduct a few dozen others of my own creation with you. Now get on with making our meal; it may as well be the finest you can create with magic, for it may be the last you ever have if you cannot keep up with me tonight.”

He solemnly replied that he will do his best, both with the meal and the activities for that night.

₰₰


​

Soon afterward, Elsa returned to her favored means of relaxation. She rolled onto her back and let the gentle flow of the water carry her along.

She gazed upward upon the great reliefs carved into the ceiling, of creatures from a thousand worlds which did wander through fields lit by golden suns. The true marvel here was that each ‘sun’ actually shed a soft, warm light that gently illuminated the pool area and much of the outpost. With a shake of her head, she laughed at the memory of how Nelson discovered, and relit, the lighting system.

She giggled and said to herself: “He goes to light a second cook fire near the pool. Instead, it turns out to not be a cook fire, but the means of illuminating the entire complex. Or I should say, illuminate and increase the heat to the areas we can easily access. The magic and engineering of this place is incredible.”

Chipper swam past her and mumbled: ‘I know, lover-boy did it by accident. His luck is immense, and it was by such good fortune we managed to avoid being completely surprised by those animated iron-statues. How could anyone have imagined such brutes could move so silent, and yet retain their absolute deadliness in battle…”

Elsa shuddered and cringed at that memory, for the battle had been closer than even Chipper would admit.

Four days ago Chipper discovered, and explored on his own, a previously undiscovered passage. It ran parallel to the bathing pool and connected to a fair number of empty chambers. One contained what appeared to be a cooking hearth; yet when Nelson sought to fire it up, it activated the means to illuminate, and further heat, the outpost to truly comfortable levels.

Unfortunately, in the meantime, Chipper had taken it upon himself to continue his explorations. Contrary to the squirrel’s rampant and rabid claims of denial, he triggered a magical alarm, and caused the regions defenders to activate. Two score of magical creations: hulking, mindless, magically-impervious, all-but-indestructible automata of iron called golems has silently closed upon them.

In an hours long battle they, bruised and battered, emerged victorious.

Beyond the now-destroyed automata, Chipper found a second hidden passage; one protected by the deadliest and most cunningly set traps they had encountered to date. At the end they chanced upon a cunningly hidden door, breached it, and beheld the treasures beyond: gems, jewelry, old coins, and many items of powerful magic. Some of the last were so strange in appearance or usage; they remained mysteries to be examined at a later date; one was a magical vest, mask, gloves, and bracers endowed with protective magic – these she gave to Nelson along with a belt of undetermined abilities.

Chipper grinned, knowing exactly what Elsa had thought of and stated: “And there are other such caches in the area; one of which I am sure is the outpost armory. If we can find it, there is no telling what other arms and armor, or more, we can obtain!”

Elsa sighed, longed for Nelson and Sparkle to join them already, and said to Chipper: “Enough already, I know you want to find that cache worse than anything. Remember, it’s the squirrel side of your personality; impatient as anything. We’ve been here little more than ten days, and managed to explore three of the portals so far, plus learned that two do not work anymore.”

Chipper circled past and said: “I know, and we nearly got killed by what waited for us on the other side of those three. Twice lover-boy led us into regions infested with the living-dead. Then he dumped us into the worst of all. Never walk into a party of ice devils having a festival and that decide you would make a fine snack. We’re very fortunate Elsa that you figured out how to get us back to this place.”

Chipper continued: “That large treasure cache is nearby, I can sense it! The place is filled with magic, very powerful magic. At the least, in that first cache, I found a nice new coat and bracers that conform to my size; I can only imagine the magic within them that waits to be found!”

Elsa looked at him and said: “Give me a break Chipper, we’re near the third shrine; and past that is the gateway. I still sense that malevolence deeper in this icy hell; and I want to be as far from it as possible. Remember, that blasted creature, the ‘beast-within’, wants for us to go near the ruins, and hence…”

“Hence we do not want that to happen. That malevolence indicates a great monstrosity is there, one akin to the creature inside of you. We must ensure at any cost, whatever it desires, never comes to be!” Chipper said as he swam to the pools stairs and climbed out to dry himself off.

“Exactly,” Elsa quipped back at him as Nelson and Sparkle entered the pool area with a armful of magically created food and drink. She waved to them and telepathically sent to Nelson: “I’ll be there in a minute; I want to have a bit more of a swim. It’s been too long since I could swim and get clean…”

Nelson replied: “I know that, I’ll take a dip in a little while if you don’t mind. Relaxation at last; it’s nice to have one area of the labyrinth where we can actually relax for a bit. Especially with our nocturnal activities that are to come along in about an hour…”

“You so have that right! It’s nice to just relax for awhile! The outpost walls are endowed with some form of defensive magic that bars hostile creatures from entry; so we have a fairly secure operations base, so long as we are careful about any defenses within…such as moving iron-statues and the like.” Elsa executed a head-first roll and dove deep under the waves. In mere moments, with speed and grace that belied her cat-folk heritage, she reached the bottom.

She beheld the tiled bottom, a massive mosaic that must have taken years to create. Though the water distorted the light, she recognized many creatures of the sea, and some of the celestial realms. In one spot something caught her attention, a lone structure detailed in exquisite detail, which marked it different from all of the rest.

With a push off of the bottom she broached the surface, gasped a lungful of air, and called out a magical word of power. Endowed with the ability to breathe water for a short time, she returned to the bottom and swam back to the lone, detailed image. Once there, she called forth a small orb of white light, and beheld the wonder of wonders represented by that structure: a shrine, the third of three, beyond any doubt, as it once was before the hellish realm of ice encompassed it for eternity.

With a touch of her hand, the image shimmered, shifted, flowed and ebbed away. There, in glowing letters and characters, the language of the angels, she beheld a great time of history: how and when the shrines were made, who made them. On a hunch, she uttered a prayer to her patron power, asking for a revelation of the deeper mystery…

It was granted to her, and in a way she never dared to dream possible…

Elsa beheld herself among the creators of the shrines and understood that they, as with the labyrinth, were crafted untold eons in the distant past. Time seemed to halt, and she walked, interacted with, held discussions and discoursed with the great angelic beings large and small involved in all of this. She learned great and truly terrible secrets, magic long thought lost or yet to be discovered, and knowledge so vast as to encompass a hundred lifetimes.

Above all, she had opened before her the reason for the Labyrinth: to test all who sought the knowledge and power held in such great artifacts as the seven tigers. In this testing only the most dedicated, wise, cunning, and truly dedicated to their cause and their friends, would make it through to the gateway and the Guardian. The many shrines, double-doors and other such structures linked one section of the labyrinth to another across a thousand worlds and realities.

One angel came to her, and delivered a prophecy of dire fortune to come. She knew it matched her recent most nightmares. Her past and present would at long last come together, and her world would be turned inside out and upside down. The angelic being said to her: “Elsa, hold onto whom you love above life itself. That bond you two share will be all that sees you through, never give up hope, never do so or all will be lost for you. Solve the song within the song to speed you all on your way…”

As the magic expired, she returned to the mortal world, still in the watery depths, she beheld the shrine had returned to its old form. She shook the last dream stuff from her mind, and understood she retained all the knowledge and lore told to her, though she wondered why she was blessed with this incalculable abundance of riches?

“Elsa, are you coming or not? Our lunch is growing cold…uh, make that colder than before. You’ve been down there for some time and Chipper is in a hyper-state of panic…” Nelson said via telepathy.

Elsa shivered in trepidation. She knew just how close they were to the third shrine, where to find the ‘hidden path’ within the old ruins, and how to use it to reach the third shrine. She even knew how to deal with the Guardian; much to her surprise, what she had learned confirmed the discoveries Chipper made in the old tomb and then some.

She also knew that there was another path to the third shrine, hidden in the outpost, or so she hoped. If they could find it, the ‘song within a song’ then their journey would be concluded all the faster.

As she began to swim for the pools stairs, she telepathically answered Nelson: “Tell Chipper to calm down, or failing that, have Sparkle torch his tail. I have some news for all of us…”

 

Snow, thought I'd let you know you have another avid reader.
Truly enjoying the tale so far.
Wondering if you have, or plan to, publish this in book form.

 

Glad you are enjoying it so far: as for a book, no plans as of this post.

 

Why can adventurers never remember that the enemy of my enemy is my friend?

What would be the natural predator of Iron Golems but rust monsters? All mages with the ability should have available a conjuration spell or two.

 

Believe it or not Darthel: you hit upon the one consistent gripe people have with the latest chapter. That the battle-scenes did not go into more depth (such as the actual carnage wrought) or 'how did they get past the traps, ice-devils, etc.'

Besides, if there are silently-moving iron golem's, you might have some indication of what a 'rust monster' might be able to inflict.:mrgreen:

 

Hi
I really enjoy reading your story. My favorites are sparkle and chipper. Looking forward to the next chapter.

greetings from europe ;-)

 

Thank you, I am glad you enjoy the story and the mischief of Sparkle and Chipper.
The next chapter should be up this weekend.

 

Old Sparky: first moves

₰₰ Book One: Chapter Thirty Three ₰₰


​

The magical cook fire softly crackled, hissed and popped as its light gently cast a living tapestry of light and shadow on the walls, floors and ceiling. Scattered across the stone floor were masses of discarded clothing; of costumes great and small, of all coloration and fabrics, for men and women; crumpled blankets and discarded bottles of strong drink showed here and there, intermixed with great furrows clawed into the very stone itself.

Within the bedrolls she normally shared with Nelson, Elsa slowly stirred from the depths of a troubled dream. Slowly, steadily, the gentle mewls and rustles of the covers grew as she returned to the edge of awareness from the nights activities. Finally, Elsa issued a series of moans, stretched out her lithe body, and then halfway opened sleep-filled eyes.

The first movement she made to sit up dragged her back down, hands to her head, and she cursed the chorus at play between her ears. She groaned and said to herself: “Never do that again, I keep saying it, and never keep the promise. I should have remembered, and not taken Nelson up on his amorous desires…at the least, this time I did not open myself so much and inadvertently kill him. Though I have to admit, that assassin had it coming: death when he was on the edge of reaching his moment of glory...”

Elsa reached out with a hand to touch her beloved, and desired nothing more than to hold him in her arms for a time. They had so many plans for the days ahead; she was not sure how much time for romantic intimacy the two would have. Instead of touching his muscled frame, she only discovered his empty bedroll. Startled, she opened her eyes in full, and looked around in a state of near-panic that her thundering head could not prevent.

“Nelson, where are you Nelson?” she called out on the off chance he may be in the hall or a nearby chamber.

She noted that little Sparkle was missing, along with his enchanted robes; but his rams-headed staff lay secure on their collective gear. She nodded her head and said: “Good, nothing is amiss. If his staff is here, then I can take my time and get my head to stop thundering…”

A few minutes later Elsa slipped on a discarded shirt, looked over the carnage she and Nelson had wrought in the evening past and giggled.

She said: “Have to admit, he managed to hold his own and even surprise me. I definitely have to remember that one when we were up on the wall and then on the ceiling…man, I have to remember not to partake of strong drink again, not like this...” Her cheeks flushed and she squealed and shivered as the memory came to the fore.

From the hall the scampering of feet caught her attention. In her current befuddled state, she dared not attempt to cast a magical spell, and so, having anticipated such a need some days back, she took out a wand hidden in her bedroll and willed its magic to come to life. With her other hand, she reached into the same hidden fold and drew out a second one, and hoped they would not be needed…

Her relieved sigh echoed far and long as Chipper ran into the room, screamed at the sight of both wands pointed at him. He threw both forepaws high over his head and called out: “Elsa, don’t shoot, don’t shoot, I surrender already! I come back and halfway expected you two love-birds to still be making the next generation or ten of youngsters for your family…”

Elsa returned the wands to their hiding place and shook her pain-filled head, wondering if she should fireball Chipper for his inane protests. She fell upon her arms and knees, clutched her head in her hands and said: “When am I going to learn, I keep doing this to myself every time I fall in love with someone and wind up abusing myself when the mating time comes upon me…”

Chipper scurried over to her, indicated his glowing fur and said: “It could be worse, look at me; I’m a four-legged furry source of light! And that's not counting when that insane runt of a dragon is using my tail for a torch!”

Elsa laughed at the sight of his fur as it shifted in coloration from blues, to gold, silver, and then a tartan plaid. She asked: “I see you’re still changing coloration; any closer to figuring out how to be rid of that curse? So far my own efforts have failed completely, and I am at a complete loss on the matter…”

The squirrel shook his head and let his shoulders slump: “No, nothing new on how to get rid of it for good. And it’s not doing me much good on my explorations of this place. I have a theory as to why it’s not able to be broke by usual ‘get rid of curses’ countering magic.”

Chipper held up one forepaw to fend off her coming questions as he said: “Before you ask, yes I have been at large to find that cache of magical goods. I have an idea of where to look, but I’m not sure if this is even close. There may be some more information in the journal. Oh and while I’m thinking of it, especially as Nelson did survive your tryst last night…I have no idea how…he’s down by the heated pool to practice with his staff…’

Elsa scooped him up in her hands and asked, in a near state of panic: “Don’t tell me he’s going to create some illusion-based foes? Is he?”

“Yes, he has set up some opponents for his practice, I don’t see the…” Chipper face-pawed himself and gave off a great groan as he declared: “Nuts, nuts, nuts, he’s going to get himself killed. Put me down and I’m off to stop him. Catch up after you get your armor on and are armed.”

Elsa nodded and put Chipper back on the ground and the squirrel bolted as if chased by a pack of frenzied wolves. Within the minute, Elsa followed, and hoped she could get there in time.

₰


​

Bare to the waist, Nelson closed his eyes, breathed deep and concentrated to focus his mind and body. The heat flowed into his body, and soon left him gleaming in beaded sweat; the steam grew ever denser and hotter, and left the stone floor so slick that it gleamed in the light. Nelson still ignored all of this, and sought to deepen his focus, and heard the soft rustle of his robes and shirt as Sparkle settled upon them.

Moments later, he stretched out his arm, clenched his fist, and called for his rams-headed staff to appear. With a barely audible pop, it complied and he felt it flare to life; the sentient spirit within waited, anxious to please.

Nelson sensed the spells he had cast earlier, ones which waited his silent command to activate. Each one would call forth a single creature from elsewhere in the cosmos; and for a brief time, the creature would fight against Nelson to its fullest abilities, save for delivering any lethal blows.

Sparkle warbled at him and he replied: “Yes, the creatures get to pound me into the ground, hence the reason for me having cast the stone-hard-skin protection. This, and hopefully some other defensive abilities I can use, will make it harder for them to hit me; after that, comes the next step in the saying ‘to avoid a blow, never be there in the first place.”

Nelson concentrated, and a moment later his outlined blurred, bent, twisted and shifted as it suddenly appeared a few feet to one side. Next, he drew upon his mind magic: for a few minutes, his summoned foes would have a harder time focusing their attention upon him; a minor but vital edge he will need against the most formidable of his foes.

“My foes, fine then…” he said to himself. He hoped to improve his close-quarter fighting skills, something that left a lot to be desired. He knew the adverse heat, mists, and near fatal exertions from last nights ‘activities’ with Elsa, would press him to his physical limits.

The memory of the fun he and Elsa had caused him to grin, and to blush, but the amount of hard liquor she had consumed still troubled him.

“Focus, focus, don’t lose your focus no matter what,” he said to himself and then called his staff into his hand from atop his gear. When it appeared a moment later, he brought the staff horizontal before himself, and balanced upon the balls of his feet.

He spoke to little Sparkle: “Keep watch for any trouble to come this way. It’s not likely we will have any kind of intruders or dangerous foes, yet we cannot be sure. So if you sense it first, call out and then blast it. IF it comes in here by surprise, blast first and then call out.”

She responded: “Papa-Nelson will be safe while Sparkle watches. Intruder come in I give big blast of flame and more until it cooked real good and fall dead steaming with delicious odors.”

Nelson opened his eyes, and then silently commanded the spells to activate.

Twelve great blasts of golden fire flared into existence, only to dissipate a moment later. In their place stood twelve diverse, powerful, and horrendously appearing monstrosities so strange and alien he could only give name to a few.

His eyes locked upon the first creature, a gigantic twelve-headed hydra, and grinned as it reared on its hind legs, and its entire head’s roared. He shouted: “Let’s do it!” and battle was joined.

From the corner of his eye he saw the shadowy form of a great bat-like creature descend. With a roar of pure glee he whirled and struck, the magic of his staff unleashed a tempest of fire, frost, electricity and shattering sound upon the beast. He delivered three more strikes in as many heartbeats, and the beast vanished in a blast of gray-green smoke. Next he performed a backward summersault to avoid the great snow-white shelled, beetle-like, ice-devil which had charged, and nearly impaled him upon its great spear.

The devil whirled around and brought its spear horizontal and above its head, to block the anticipated blow by Nelson. It failed, for Nelson smashed the rams-head of his staff into its legs, hip, and then chest in a tempest of poetic motion. Defeated, the ice-devil vanished in a fiery blast of blue-green mists that reeked of brimstone

One by one, he brought each opponent to battle, and defeated them in detail. He gave off a cry of triumph and held a clenched fist in the air, then turned to the pool and considered taking a quick dip. Then he felt the touch of his warning instinct: danger was at hand, close, and absolutely deadly.

Nelson heard Sparkle scream a warning, followed by a blast and popping sound a moment later.

He ignored Sparkles panicked cry, for a short distance away appeared a creature of that consisted of white-hot flame wreathed in an aura of ice. He shook his head, all fear or concern gone, for he realized how outmatched he was, but would not back down. He leveled the staff at it, and said: “Shape of fire.”

The creature paused and then bowed its head at Nelson, proud to be recognized by a young mortal it was sent to exterminate.

Shape of fire, each was a former minion of a great power, some divine, others mortal, who had failed in some great task and thus betrayed their solemn duty. So great was their crimes, that they arose from death into unlife as beings consumed by hellish fires and ultimate cold, condemned so for eternity unless enslaved by magic to the whims of a powerful magician or priest.

Among the deadliest of the living dead, Nelson knew he was outclassed. Yet he would give it his all. He only had to figure out how and to avoid any touch of the beast – one hit and he would be felled forevermore.

Nelson shouted a quick cabalistic spell and summoned into existence a dozen diamond-blue gold-edged facetted ribbons of sacred fire. Their sacred purity caused the creature to scream in pain and despair, and then Nelson knew how to beat it.

₰

​

Elsa heard Chipper howl in terror, and then heard the Shape of Fire roar as a great blast engulfed the entire area of the heated pool. A searing, blazing, roaring wave of holy power flowed down the passage and swept her up in its grasp. She screamed as the fantastic energy burned and slashed at her flesh, her mind, and her very being. In the depths of her soul, the beast-within roared in absolute pain and terror, and fled for the deepest recesses it claimed as its own.

Though the maelstrom lasted but an instant, Elsa screamed and mewled in pain so severe she could, for a time, only roll about, curled up on the floor.

She struggled through the blinding pain, regained her feet, and staggered down the hall to the entrance, axe in hand, determined to aid or avenge Nelson as she could…

But beyond the entrance she stood, and stared in uttermost disbelief; for she beheld another part of her vision from days past…

Nelson stood unharmed, bared to the waist, encompassed by an aura of golden fire; around him danced the dozen sacred ribbons of fire that hummed with power and hunger. He kept his rams-headed staff leveled upon the smoldering remains of the Shape of Fire ready to blast it again at the first stirring of its remains. He then said to no one in particular: “Guess my late mentor’s notes were wrong on one thing; divine power, blessed, holy and sacred could destroy them for eternity. Good riddance then, now, Sparkle, what did you try to warm me of earlier…”

Elsa hissed and winced in pain, leaned back against the wall and felt the first wounds begin to heal. She made a fist and grit her teeth, knowing the regenerative power of her heritage was up to the task. “At the least that blast has forced the ‘beast-within’ back for a couple of days; it’s only a matter of time before it strikes out again…”

Nelson whirled about when he heard Elsa hiss, and barely avoided unleashing his staffs deadliest of attacks. He cringed at the sight of her scorched flesh and fur, the pain she displayed and how much effort she expended just to stand against the wall. He rushed over, set his staff aside and carefully held her in his arms and said: “Blast it, I’m sorry Elsa, I never meant for that Wrath of the Divine spell to do you any harm; if I had known you were close enough to be affected I would have done something else…”

Elsa looked at him and smiled as Sparkle warbled a warm and fond greeting to her.

With one hand she scuffed his hair and asked: “What would you have done?”

She flinched in pain as a shattered rib began to mend, and she stated again: “Honestly, what could you have done Nelson? Even if I had been here, I probably could have stopped the thing in one-on-one battle. Not making any guarantees, for to be touched by one is to suffer burning to the soul and life-force of the mortal body. You lose a portion of yourself forever more as I did to that blasted life-drinker.”

Elsa asked: “Now then, where is Chipper and Sparkle?”

When Nelson gestured off to one side she shook her head in pure bemusement. Her spirit-companion was confined inside a magical bubble of force, in which he stood on his hind legs, impatiently gesturing and arguing with the others to release him; of course, due to the nature of the bubble, no sound escaped.

Sparkle looked at Elsa with a look of intense satisfaction. She mind spoke to Elsa: “Mama-Elsa, Chipper-who-glows-in-darkness confined for his own good. Monsters attracted to him, come at calling of magic bound to him. He not tells you this?”

Elsa shook her head, and then, after a brief conversation with Chipper via their mind-to-mind link, rolled her eyes. She said: “An enchantment of monster calling and chaos-bringing. No wonder we cannot undo it, it’s not a curse at all but a completely different bugger altogether. That explains how the beast managed to appear…”

She paused, for the look she beheld in Nelsons eyes told her that estimation was completely wrong. “What else could it be…” she weakly said, her words trailing off into nothingness.

Nelson shook his head and said: “Not in this case Elsa. In this practice of mine I did not use any illusion-based magic; I know the dangers inherit with that from the other day. The dozen beasties which were called became sparring partners and nothing more…”

Elsa gasped as the reality of his words sunk into her mind.

She touched his cheek and asked: “Then how did that Shape of Fire breach the outpost defenses? They should have prevented any other non-spell summoned monsters from appearing; even the enchantment on Chipper is not powerful enough to overcome them…” Her words trailed off as genuine fear filled her heart, for she reached the same conclusion as Nelson had.

Nelson held her close and gently kissed her on the brow, and said: “I’ll wager a hundred fine gemstones that it was the one called ‘Old Sparky,’ the recharge magician, whatever that is, the journalist wrote about. I doubt he can breach the outposts defensive magic. Yet the summoning magic I used could have, in theory, provided a means for him to sneak one of his creations inside.”

Elsa secured her axes to her belt, adjusted her cloak and bracers, and asked: ‘It that is the case, then we must use no more monster calling magic unless the situation is dire beyond measure. We have the creatures of the Far Realm, demons and devils galore, and the living dead in immense numbers. ‘Old Sparky’ may lead or command a portion of them, all of them or none of them. Right now we have too many questions, too few answers and even less information. Let’s get the outpost secured, and then get together for breakfast. If this was engineered by 'Old Sparky' then we are in more trouble than we anticipated.”

They found no more monsters waiting within the outposts known chambers, but wondered what else was still hidden away, ready to spring forth at a moments notice?

They did not know that the time of discovery had long past, for one had been watching for some time. "Old Sparky' malevolently chuckled in a desiccated voice: "Now for the next part of the fun to begin..."

 

oopsie, does Nelson have TWO staves or did he just summon the one twice?
well, back to the story

 

To all readers, events have come up to which I am leaving the site for good.
Thank you for following the story to date.

Sincerely,
Snow.

 

To those who are following this story, I have received the completed works (or at least I believe that they are complete at this time) and have also received permission to continue posting the story for your enjoyment as well. If this thread happens to disappear, I will recreate it with the chapters which have already been posted as soon as possible.

 

good evening

ireally enjoy reading this story.im a little sad that you are leavig this site. there are not many writers that write so good stories like you do. i wish you all the best. maxbeyou find your way back here some time.

 

Due to the support of many, especially Darthel, I am going to stick around: the Chronicles will be my main effort.

Thanks to all for their kind PM's and support.
Snowleopard

 

₰₰ Book One: Chapter Thirty Four ₰₰


​

During their evening meal, a dinner of bread, meat, cheese, and hot tea, Nelson and Elsa continued their studies of the ancient journal. In this systematic study, they examined references to specific regions of the icy hell and the outpost in particular. Soon enough, as they compared page with page, reference with reference, a pattern began to emerge from the thousand or so pages.

The pattern involved dated entries, each repeating in a pattern of the first seven prime numbers.

Elsa excitedly explained to the others as they ate: “Look here, the pattern of sevens. Prime numbers at first, and then used in combinations of one, two, three, five, seven, eleven, thirteen. Prime numbers, the same pattern that brought us to the outpost; seven prime numbers, but what secret is concealed within them? What is with these notations around them, notations that seem almost musical in scale and effect?”

Nelson looked at Elsa and asked: “Musical in scale? Maybe akin to the musical melodies which taught us the magic of the second shrine?”

As Elsa and Nelson discussed the relevance of this Chipper and Sparkle climbed onto her shoulders, and began to examine the open pages of the journal. Chipper used his magic to gently move from page to page, and held an long talk with Sparkle, whose knowledge amazed Chipper to no end, and led him to wonder if she was more than a recently-hatched dragon.

Finally, her patience exhausted, Elsa picked Chipper up, and held him before her face upside down as she asked: “Okay what have you two experts decided it means?”

Chipper squirmed out of her hand and landed upon her lap. He sat down and held his forepaws out to her as he said: “This is going to take some hours to explain in detail…”

Sparkle shook her head in denial of the squirrel’s statement and sung a haunting little melody, a melody she had learned in the second shrine. She hit key notes, inflections, phrases and such in the song, the thousand and more pages flared with golden flame. When they were finished, roughly half of them had been transformed into new and concise accounts of the outpost, and the journalist’s exploration of it.

Elsa gasped in shock, while Chipper shrugged his shoulders and said: “Or we could just sing a little song and have it revealed first hand…”

Elsa looked at Sparkle and, with a giddy-filled voice, asked of the little dragon: “Do you know any melodies that will transform the rest?”

Sparkle nodded, sat on her haunches and sang six more melodies. Four times more the melodies triggered the abrupt transformation of pages into condensed, marked, referenced areas of information, but not akin to the first section. These detailed areas beyond the outpost, and that lay beyond the mysterious ‘song within a song.’

Nelson shook his head and declared: “We keep forgetting the lesson of the Labyrinth, secrets within secrets, layers hidden in layers within deeper layers. You speculated the journal holds yet deeper secrets within the pages; what if it’s something more…if the author of it discovered the seven tigers, and did in fact leave this as a means to find them again; could certain portions of it be keyed to specific areas of the quest?”

Elsa face-palmed herself and nodded, then meekly said, “Yup. That’s been the most blatantly obvious fact I have completely missed. Talk about being a complete idiot…”

Chipper piped in and harshly declared: “Elsa, you’re not an idiot. Your emotions are going topsy-turvy at this time due to natural cycles of life. We need you two love-birds to help out one another and end this constant, no benefits achieved, berating of yourselves. If I can get along with Sparkle the miniature self-igniting torch once in awhile, you two can easily live with yourselves.”

Nelson and Elsa gasped at Chippers audacity, and the squirrel continued: “We are a family, each of us are truly unique in and of ourselves, and yet compliment each other. You Elsa, you yourself stated that one purpose of the Labyrinth is to test us in all aspects of friendship; consider all we have been through and it has tested us even further – it challenged us to become a true family, otherwise why would we have raced pell-knell to battle the beast which came after Nelson.”

Elsa nodded, understanding what Chipper had said, but which she had denied for so long.

She secretly feared a long time relationship with Nelson, and feared his death would come about due to her presence or a mistake she may make. Her hand encompassed his, and she gave him a loving, lust-filled look that caused his cheeks to flush redder than ever.

Nelson smiled back at her then returned to the journal, “Let’s go over this. Sparkle sung a total of seven songs and only five of them worked. So at the least, we have more secrets to puzzle out, decipher and such, while we figure out what this new information holds to our advantage.”

Chipper quipped up, “At the least, let’s get this information examined in concern to the outpost. I want to find that large cache worse than anything. But at the same time, the other four areas revealed need to be looked into so we can be ready for whatever is beyond the ‘song within the song.’ If we have four more gauntlets to run between here and the gateway, we need every edge possible, for the challenges are growing ever deadlier in this hellhole.”

They all agreed, and over the next seven days they studied, debated, speculated and concluded all matters of the five revealed journal areas. Some of what they found was disturbing, others interesting beyond measure, but relevant for a future date.

In the end, they concluded they would have to find the ‘song within the song,’ and proceed along that path. The journal clearly revealed that the larger magical cache could not be accessed from the outpost. The portal that allowed such to happen had been destroyed long before, and for that matter the one to the ancient ruins which Elsa dreaded so much.

One section went into detailed explanation of the ancient ruins, and provided many maps of key areas. Of more pressing usage was exacting information on their current foe, the one who ruled this area of the Labyrinth, the recharge mage ‘Old Sparky.’ Even worse, from Elsa’s perspective, was the revelation of that undead being having been magically bound to the will of Primus, one of her creators, which she assumed had perished long ago by her own hand.

In the end she was not sure which she feared more, death, or being enslaved again by the Primus.

₰₰


​

During one shared meal a couple of days later, the companions discussed plans, courses of action, and many other matters regarding their safety in the outpost. They now knew how vulnerable they would be to an all-out assault from Old Sparky’s minions; and they were determined to ensure any battle, large or small, occurred on their terms and not its own.

Chipper was the first to speak: “Okay, the alarm spells are fully emplaced; each one has three backups ready to sound off, on the off chance of one being negated or bypassed. The four of us can pass them freely, but anything else, from a ghost to a golem, will trigger them off by its mere presence…”

Nelson quipped up, and said: “Good, there are a few other surprises in store as well.” He held up the remains of seven wands, and gestured to his medallion. “I’ve drained those setting magical booby traps. Most will deter, decoy, frighten, and confound any opposition, including the living dead and even automata. Others will create walls of stone or iron to confine them in small areas. Each of those areas are further defended by spell-endowed gemstones that will detonate moments later.”

Nelson went on, and explained each one in such detail and with such skill, that Elsa grinned, Chipper stood in slack-jawed awe, and Sparkle chuckled in amusement.

At long last, Chipper asked of Nelson: “How did you ever learn to do these things Nelson? Some of the traps, decoys and the like are intricate to say the least. Elsa comes from a background of military service and training, such traps are easy for her; nearly as easy for me. Yet…”

Elsa laughed so hard she fell on her side, and explained as the tears flowed: “Blast it Chipper, talk about being able to miss the blatantly obvious. Nelson has an angelic spirit guide who teaches him many things in the dreams he has each night; more than that, he is a master illusionist, and one part of their training is the art of deception, and of deadly traps even mightier than he had crafted.”

Chipper stood there, mouth hanging open, one forepaw on his hip, the other held out in mid-air. His tail swished back and forth, then he asked Nelson: “So why did you never tell me this before now you whippersnapper? You could have saved us a lot of trouble and kept me from being repeatedly roasted.”

Nelson grinned, as did Elsa, as he explained: “I told Elsa, who already has the same training. Besides that, even an illusionist hates to reveal all of the tricks he has up his sleeve…”

Chipper looked at him and jestingly warned: “No way lover-boy; I know you well enough that you are playing some prank on me right now. I’ll not fall for it this time…” He paused, suddenly aware of eyes that gazed upon him en mass. He whirled about and looked upon the thousand squirrels that mimicked his every movement and gesture.

Chipper shrugged his shoulders and looked at Nelson, then said: “At least you have good taste in your illusions; though the fake squirrels do not come close to my natural beauty…” The squirrel smiled as the others gave off a collective groan.

Nelson spoke up afterward: “So how are we going to deal with Old Sparky, and for that matter what is a recharge mage? I want to have something in place when he comes after us in force.” He looked at Chipper when the squirrel presumptuously dismissed that probability, and sternly said: “It can happen, consider the beast it sent after me, and tell me otherwise.”

Chipper prepared to hold a lengthily discourse to answer Nelsons questions, only to be interrupted by Elsa’s upheld hand.

She explained to Nelson: “The recharge mage is a specialized kind of magician, one in which sheer speed and power is emphasized in all aspects. Understand the differences Nelson: you command magic by word, gesture, and willpower to create the desired effect. So do Chipper, and even little Sparkle. In my case, my own training is centered on key words of power, and pure willpower. Each a different means to the same ends, and we have a physical and mental limit as to how much we can handle without rest.”

She continued, “A recharge mage is capable of unleashing barrage after barrage of magical spells, without cease, and without any known physical or mental limitations. They never become exhausted, no matter how many spells they hurl. Hence one of the reasons the blasted things is so dangerous. Even more so if ‘Old Sparky’ is a member of the living-dead as we suspect.”

Nelson shook his head and sighed in total despair, then said: “Great, just great. If it’s lich, how can we defeat it? They are formidable on their own, and if ‘Old Sparky’ is one, then it will be that much more deadly if we have to stand against it.”

“Not if, but when,” Elsa corrected him. She sipped her tea and then continued: “Not only do we need to figure out how to destroy it, but to do battle with the abomination within the old ruins, just in case it awakens. Right now, let’s discover the location of this ‘song within a song’ and hope that from there we can reach the magic cache. I think the key to ending Old Sparky’s reign of terror is in that place.”

“One thing though, and this goes especially for you Chipper,” Elsa sternly informed everyone, “When we go after that magical cache, let me take the lead. I can survive a lot more abuse than all of you; and if what I think is within that cache, only I can open the final door. Mind you, that is if my guess to the gate leading to it is right and it has not been destroyed after all...”

“Why you Elsa,” Nelson asked.

She answered: “Remember the one passage concerning the cache. Of that which has riches untold, living but hidden, only one who can command that which is spoken and willed will find what is manifest before all. The key to the hidden path lies within, if one but sings a counter part and then but asks.”

Elsa continued: “This fits my style of magical training. I suspect we have a living vault within the cache, or that it contains the entire cache in and of itself. A living vault is a creation of magic and engineering. It exists in a multitude of dimensions and times all at once; many hold ancient wonders beyond imagination, but mind you that these blasted things do have a degree of self-awareness, and command formidable magic they use against any unwanted guests or interlopers.”

Nelsons curiosity piqued, and he asked: “You’ve been inside one of the things?”

Elsa nodded as did Chipper. "Yes," she said, "there is one I have command of in Nesme, a rather unusual town we will need to visit at some point. I never should have left the armory behind..."

The squirrel spoke up: “A long time back. That is how Elsa gained many of her magical goods – the armor, cloak, vest, axes and other things. Some she no longer retains or had used up in the years since then. What concerns me the most though, is this vault may hold items, as indicated by the journal, that are claimed by the Sojourner, as may the treasures detailed in the old ruins. We have no information on that being, and thus need to exercise considerable caution.”

Elsa shuddered and hesitatingly piped in: “I know of the Sojourner, and just how powerful it is. Recall that the Duke of Hell I tangled with? Malevolence was one of its servants; and one of my creators, the Primus, fears the Sojourner.”

When pressed, Elsa told detailed accounts of her explorations of a half-dozen worlds rendered to lifelessness by the awesome magic of the Sojourner. The others agreed, they needed to avoid that creature’s attention at all costs; though Nelson could not shake the feeling a day of reckoning will come when they shall face the beast.

Nelson said: “Has anyone considered where we go once we reach the Guardian and the gateway? Or do we just go on random chance?”

“I think all of us do Nelson,” Elsa said as she kissed him on the cheek. “Besides, you and I still have our own intimate honeymoon to conduct when we have the opportunity…”

Everyone laughed as Nelson choked on his tea, and agreed with Elsa’s suggestion that they try to decipher more of the journals revealed secrets over the next two or three days. In that time, one of their number came up with a plan to deal with Sparky when the final battle was joined in the outpost; a battle not long in the coming…

₰₰


​

Deeper in the icy hell, the recharge mage ‘Old Sparky’ grinned as he watched the companions in a field of glowing fire. It said: “You shall soon depart the labyrinth young lad. Powerful you may be due to your angelic heritage, but you are no match for me, nor are your most unusual cat-girl playmate. Contrary to the feelings of the Primus she is no threat. Even the squirrel and little dragon are nothing compared to my power. While I may not be able to directly enter the outpost, I can send some of the deadliest of minions in my possession…”

With that, it dispatched several powerful devils and the living dead, knowing they would be destroyed by the companions. This was little more than to harass and test them, so it could devise the inescapable trap for their ending.

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Alas, another chapter ends.
More coming soon, YES? ........

I wish I could read it all again, like it was 'the first time'.
Remarkable story!

 

With Snow's permission, I am continuing the tale as he wrote it.

₰₰ Book One: Chapter Thirty Five ₰₰
​

As he leaned over the stone-shelves edge, his tail twitched hither and yon in nervous anticipation of uttermost disaster, he looked around the small storage chamber. Long-vacant, dust-covered, black-stone shelves lined the walls, and a dust-covered stone fountain lay in one corner. His eyes gleamed in the soft light and revealed his concern, anticipation, excitement and pure dread in equal measure as Elsa went about her self-appointed task.

He quietly whispered to her: “Elsa, are you absolutely sure we have another concealed door? Or are we seeing a decoy and booby trap at long last? Maybe some legendary beast of the nether worlds or someone’s mother-in-law waits beyond to destroy all of us with contemptible ease? Or is this another decoy designed to incinerate us as the Labyrinth is all too prone to do?”

Elsa grinned at the nervous words of her spirit-companion. She pulled her cloak tighter around her body as she took a wand of spun crystal from a cloak pocket, and then gently ran fingertips across the stone. One of them caught her attention, so much so that she examined it in detail not once, but three more times before she said to Chipper: “I’m going to make sure.”

She tapped the wand to the stone, and smiled as it momentarily flared with a soft blue light. She looked up at Chipper and said: “We’ll know in just a bit. It’s becoming a pet gripe with me; so much divination magic is limited in this icy hell. Even my mind magic abilities along that line are being hindered; yet Nelson is able to use his without many problems.”

As the wand returned to its slumber, she softly cursed and said: “I only have so many of these wands; you know the kind that allows me to locate or detect doors, creatures, hidden pathways and such. Five of them have been expended already, and this one is well on the way to joining them; we still are no closer to locating that magical cache, and there is no telling what other secrets this outpost has hidden away…”

Her ears twitched here and there, a faint sound being heard. She quickly discerned it to be Nelson at work in another side chamber. “Good then, at least by splitting up and remaining close to one another, we can cover twice the ground as normal. Though I have to say, if a certain energetic squirrel will not stop running through small tunnels and heating pipes, I cannot discount him running into more creatures we failed to detect…”

Chipper flattened himself out on the shelf, one paw being the only portion visible to Elsa, as he responded to her: “Elsa that is so true, but here is the question: what good does it do any of us to learn where any of the living dead are located, such as the ghostly apparitions we have clashed with five times today, eight times yesterday and so forth? Especially when the magic of your wand or the spells that manage to work tell you ‘they are here’ as they emerge from the walls and floors?”

Elsa was about to snap at her overly nervous and excited friend when a thunderous retort caused great clouds of dust to fill the room. “Honestly, what is it with those two? How many times must I tell Nelson do not open a door with a lightning bolt or thunder clap…”

Another blast followed; then a third and a fourth as she heard Sparkle shout a battle challenge to some unknown foe. Elsa opened a telepathic link to Nelson and said: “Oh no.”

She sensed the two were then hip-deep in trouble. Five quick, intense, decisive blasts shook the chamber, to be followed by unending silence. She telepathically called to Nelson: “Nelson, what happened, and do you need me and Chipper there?”

He quickly responded, gasping and choking on clouds of brimstone. “No need to come here, the matter has been taken care of. We had a minor problem: two score iron-coated, scimitar-wielding, skeletons appeared behind us and charged to do battle. Sparkle took down six with a lightning strike; the rest have been dispensed with since and are no longer a threat. I was examining the locking mechanism on another concealed door, the sixth found to date, when the things appeared out of nowhere behind my back.”

Elsa followed along with his conversation as she went back to the curious stone, tapped it once with her wand, and grinned as the stone momentarily flared with an aura of soft blue light. Her preternaturally keen hearing caught the sounds of Chipper retreating into a shelf corner, clearly prepared for the worst.

Nelson continued: “That’s twelve times in six days we have been so entertained by unwanted guests. I think we are being harassed and tested by ‘Sparky.’ The concealed door is gone, no more than kindling, from that last lightning strike, too much magical oomph. I and Sparkle found nothing but another empty alcove beyond…”

Elsa sensed his pause, as he mulled something over and over, and listened attentively as he continued: “I find it curious, six empty alcoves, concealed but untrapped doorways, as if they were designed for rapid egress or ingress. I’ll wager that there is another one behind the door you told me of in that storage chamber…”

Elsa’s eyes flared wide in incredulity, as she grasped what he was saying, then spoke back on their telepathic link: “A means to rapidly reach the hidden caches and other areas of the outpost? Hidden in plain sight with only a minimal amount of deception? Or am I making more out of this than is actually there?”

Nelson replied: “No, I think we have at least part of the answer. Remember that the author of the journal did mention, in seven specific locations, about ‘that which is hidden well by what is not; count clear and determine well for within such means the path to the hidden does dwell.’ We found the references, the first layer of clues, now we have six alcoves, the second. The third is to puzzle out, if they are means of magical travel, is how they work and to use them correctly.”

Elsa considered this over and nodded, as it sounded quite rational. She sent back on their link: “You and little Sparkle need to get back here. I want all of us together when this door is opened. I have an idea, that if we are hit again by ‘Sparky’ we can twist back upon him…”

She briefly explained to Nelson what her plan was, and heard his mental laughter of pure delight; soon enough she heard his whisper quiet footfalls as he and Sparkle returned.

When he came in the two embraced. She examined the new look of his robes, which had, once again, altered its appearance. This time they had become a snuggly-fitting midnight-black long-sleeved greatcoat with a fur-lined hood. Combined with the magical vest, belt and bracers they had found not long before, it made him look good indeed, at least to Elsa’s eyes.

Nelson gave off a casual snort of disgust, a reaction which confounded her, until, he turned around and said: “How many great and evil magicians have a set of magical robes, which, upon transforming, decide a double skunk stripe down the back is appropriate?”

She embraced him in a bear hug as he said: “I would love to see the look on that things face…”

₰₰
​

Unknown to the companions, in the unexplored piping systems used to transfer water and heated air; they were being observed and overheard by the ghostly minions of ‘Sparky.’

Seven fist-sized glowing orbs of blue-white light danced about, flashed, flared and changed coloration in a wild display of communications. Soon, consensus having been reached, two of their count sped off down the pipes to where they can inform their master of what the companions planned. The other five continued to watch, and if the opportunity came, to strike and kill.

They anticipated an easy victory, for they were the ghostly and alien life forms known as: Will o’ wisps.

Moments later, unobserved by the departed pair of their number; the remaining five were enveloped in a field of black life-draining, flesh-consuming necromantic force, and pummeled by mind-crushing psychic energy. They did not even have time to be astonished or scream as they were wiped from the greater cosmos for eternity.

₰₰
​

Elsa looked upon Nelson with some trepidation, unable to determine if the plan had worked or not. He sat not far from her, yoga-style upon the ground. His rams-headed staff rested in the crook of his elbow, his eyes were closed, and his breath was steady and untroubled. She shook her head, leaned in close and whispered: “Has it worked Nelson, did you get those blasted things?”

He opened one eye, grinned, and turned his head to kiss her on the cheek, “Yup, they are gone save for the two who are enroute to old ‘Sparky.’ Let’s get the next part going…”

Elsa helped him to his feet and smiled as she said: “Amazing, I’m trained in the art of warfare and yet the plan you came up with, including the deception the Will o’ wisps heard, I would not have even contemplated.”

Nelson kissed her on the forehead and cautioned her as he said: “Don’t expect it to go as planned Elsa, even you know that. You and Chipper can improvise on the fly faster and better than I and Sparkle. We have our plans set and hopefully old ‘Sparky’ will not learn of the rest.”

Nelson danced in the silent language that Elsa had taught him over the last few weeks, to tell her that ‘Sparky’ or its other minions were listening in. She nodded, and the two grinned as their plan continued to unfold.

Elsa shrugged her shoulders and said: “Speak of the devil, Chipper is on his way…”

Chipper ran through the doorway and leaped high into the air, to land snugly upon Elsa’s shoulder. He said to the two of them: “Everything else is at the ready for you two love-birds to begin the pandemonium. I took a small detour in the pipe-system and eliminated a couple of ‘Sparky’s’ minions. You’re idea has worked like a gem Nelson: illusions are so real in this place, if we use them to duplicate other types of magical forces, they become those very same forces.”

“Yes, illusions become reality and take on force of their own,” Nelson said, laughed and then continued: “That is our edge in this fight; make illusions into reality, and interlace them with real battle magic, they will not know what hit them. Now, its just about showtime...”

₰₰
​

At the heart of a twisted maze of tunnels and chambers of stone and ice, the recharge mage “Sparky” cackled with glee, having at last found the opportunity to strike. Unknown to the companions, it sensed the final demise of the Will o’ wisps.

It had other minions, ones of living shadow, already in place, to learn and report all they could without doing any harm to the companions By this means ‘Sparky’ had learned of the companions trap, their deception plan, and so much more, that the final onslaught will be nigh unstoppable.

‘Sparky’ turned to its gathered minions, gave them his commands, and then magically dispatched one band after another into the outpost. It expected victory to come within the hour, or two hours at the most, incase some unforeseen turn of events occurred.

No matter what, its trap for the young human, whom it regarded as the greatest threat, was in place. To be on the safe side, it decided to expend a considerable amount of its magic to call forth and bind to its will another entity that the human magician cannot defeat.

 

A note for those who are following this story.

I received the completed books 1-5 with Snow's permission to continue sharing the story and will be posting them in the manner that Snow has made his own while proofreading them prior to publication. Once I have finished proofing the first chapters (those already published), I will create a new thread designed to be read in threaded mode instead of linear mode (the default on the forum). This will allow new readers to access the first post and then find the individual chapters with more ease and also to skip comments which might include spoilers for them.

Once a book has been completed, I will also post it in its entirety on the story side (no individual chapters to load)