Sadoul's eyes blinked open as his wounds healed just enough for him to sustain life. "About bloody time," he spat, propping himself up on his elbows. "What in Vay's name did you think you were doing?"
"Preventing us from getting into any more trouble than we already have," Ghaleon replied evenly. "We already have one nation out for our heads. We don't need any more. As it is, I've gotten the young king to help us. His friend lead us to the cave with Krager's library. And he promises to send a messenger to talk some sense into Jeal. If anything, they may at least delay him enough for us to search this place."
Sadoul barked out a laugh. "And you believe him!" The blond wizard sat up and chuckled. "Well, I suppose you would." He snickered. "But then neither of you have any reason not to trust each other; not like with me, eh?"
Ghaleon didn't reply, nor did Sadoul expect him to.
The blond wizard glanced at the ceiling above him and then down at the cavern walls. "Yep, this seems to be the place all right. Well, I suppose I'd better lead us in." He vaulted to his feet with an effortless movement, surprising for one who had been incapacitated only a moment before.
Kazyr looked back towards Sadoul. "Lead us? I'm amazed you even want to hang around us."
Sadoul shrugged and answered with a smirk before striding down the tunnel past Kazyr.
Kazyr sighed and met Ghaleon's eyes. But the silver-haired mage's face betrayed no emotions. And Ghaleon wordlessly followed Sadoul down the tunnel.
"Great," Kazyr grumbled as they proceeded ahead of him. "I never should have even come near this planet."
He whirled to head after Sadoul and Ghaleon when he heard Sadoul shout. A thunderous crash and a barrage of low moans followed his words. Kazyr doubted the two really needed any help from him, but just in case... Besides, it would be nice to know what's going on anyway. He would have to take this path to the library sooner or later, with or without them.
Kazyr's amulet flashed as he took his werewolf form. He bounded down the tunnel with the additional speed afforded him from running on all fours. Ghaleon and Sadoul couldn't have gone far.
He sprang through two sharp bends in the downward sloping tunnel before finding Sadoul and Ghaleon battling a variety of undead in a small chamber. Kazyr sniffed distastefully, the stench of the zombies made even more acute by his canine muzzle. Maybe he could avoid fighting those anyway as Sadoul seemed intent on charring them to kingdom come with his fire spells.
While Sadoul stayed near the rear, having not fully recovered from his death, Ghaleon had barreled into the nearest cluster of skeletons and used his combination of sword and magic skills to his best.
Kazyr crouched on all fours, although his werewolf form was perfectly capable of standing up straight. He thrust his tail a little bit, wondering if he should get involved. Sadoul was filling the room up with smoke just fine. Kazyr's fire spells wouldn't be needed. Fighting zombies and skeletons with tooth and claw didn't look very appealing either.
He began to dig through his magic pouch when he heard Sadoul yell, "Hey! Dogboy! Get over here and help us out!"
Kazyr growled, ears turning towards the back of his head. Sadoul's insult would be tolerated for now. In the meantime Kazyr found what what he needed. He pulled out a sling and several glass flasks of a blue liquid. This ought to do the trick without getting himself into such a messy situation.
He stood up and loaded the flask into his sling. Kazyr sighted a zombie near Ghaleon that the silver-haired mage was to busy to engage. The werewolf curled his lips into a semblance of a grin and whirled the sling above his head. Then he launched the flask at the undead creature.
It shattered against the exposed bone of its rib cage, splattering not only the zombie, but a few of the other undead around him. The zombie moaned as its flesh seemed to shrivel. The others splashed by the blue liquid likewise expressed their discomfort. After a moment, the zombie toppled over, and Kazyr was already in the process of hurling a second flask.
Ghaleon kept clear of the sizzling sound produced wherever Kazyr struck a cluster of undead. As long as the white-haired mage did his part, Ghaleon couldn't care less what he threw at them. It worked, which was enough for now.
"You'd think we'd somehow attracted all the undead in this cave at once!" Ghaleon griped as his Dragon Cannon wiped out the last of the undead.
"No kidding," Sadoul agreed, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Kazyr nodded, putting his few remaining flasks back into his bottomless pouch. His amulet's eyes glowed, returned Kazyr to human form.
"Say, what were you chucking at them anyway?" asked Sadoul.
Kazyr shrugged. "Just some holy water. It always does the trick for the undead on my world, so why not try it over here?"
"After seeing some of the items you used for your spells at the Star Dragon's tower, I wouldn't have been surprised if that was just plain drinking water," Ghaleon sourly remarked.
"Do you think all those undead might have been sent here to stop us?" asked Kazyr.
"Hmph. Perhaps," said Sadoul. "They weren't much of a challenge though. I would think this Maker could find something better to throw at us than some dead corpses."
Ghaleon smirked. "I thought neither of you worried about the Maker."
"If it affects my health I'm concerned," Kazyr retorted.
"Same here," agreed Sadoul.
The blond wizard jerked his head towards the other end of the chamber where the tunnel continued on its way. "Let's go."
They ran into a few more batches of undead, but between the three of them, the shuffling corpses didn't stand a chance. Charred bones and dismembered limbs littered the path the trio left behind them. At last they rounded the final bend and the vastness of a gigantic library opened before them.
Kazyr, and even Ghaleon, gaped at the sheer volume of books which stacked the cavern from top to bottom several stories tall. Though the papers were no doubt ancient, the dry air of the inner cave system preserved them well. And Ghaleon and Kazyr had no idea where to begin their search. That is, had there not been a figure waiting for them.
"Long time no see, Ardor, Magician of Fire."
Sadoul's eyes narrowed at the sound of his original name.
A figure parted itself from the shadows of a stony alcove. His tanned skin and dark brown hair marked him as a denizen of the desert in the southern country of Penan. He appeared to be in his mid twenties, but magic radiated from him that could be every bit as strong as Sadoul's own aura.
"I see you're alive," the man continued darkly. "What's wrong, Ardor? Wasn't dying to pay for your crimes against Elynthia enough? You swore you'd protect her a thousand years ago! Or have you forgotten?"
Sadoul shook his head. "No, I haven't," he said quietly, meeting the man's accusatory gaze from beneath his tousled bangs.
"Then why? Why? Because of your crazed intent she's now dead. I thought you loved her!"
"I did ."
But the man overlooked Sadoul's comment in his fury. "Because of that I surrendered myself to a sleep I thought would be eternal. Now I awaken to find her dead and you a madman! If I had been the one to win her love those years ago perhaps she would still be alive now!"
"There's no changing the past."
"It's a pity for you there's not. Of all the elements you could have set yourself against, you had the lousy gall to choose me! I am Solon, Magician of Water! And I shall avenge Elynthia!"
A flicker of regret passed over Sadoul's face, for a moment almost erasing the hard features that had worn into it. "So be it. Fire versus water. I bear no enmity against you, Solon, but I warn you that you will not find me so easy to defeat even if you possess the stronger of our elements. I have not forgotten what's passed between us and Elynthia. And if a part of me still can regret, I assure you it does now. I never meant for Elynthia to die."
Sadoul drew his sword and lifted it in a solemn salute.
"Liar! You've forgotten everything!" spat Solon. "Your oath to protect Vay! Your love for Elynthia! All for this insane scheme of ruling the world and 'making' it a better place! To what end, I ask you, Ardor? It was not for Elynthia!"
Sadoul slowly swung his sword out to his side, completing his gesture of respect. "The technology I learned was meant to give back to this world what the Vay Armor had taken from it. I had lost the means I wished to use when I spent my long years in Danek, but I have not lost my dream. I have not forgotten."
Solon nodded, but his eyes remained hard with a smoldering anger. He curved his hands before his chest and a cold blue light formed between them.
Sadoul lifted his free hand, conjuring up a fireball.
Each of them hurled their respective magics. Flames melted ice, snow smothered fire. Magic shields were erected and attacks deflected. Sadoul lashed out with his sword only to have it frozen so coldly he could not longer bear to hold on to it.
Ghaleon and Kazyr took refuge from the battle in the alcove that Solon once used.
"Ever notice that they never seem notice us?" asked Kazyr.
"So it would seem," Ghaleon agreed.
Kazyr sighed. "I can't believe how many powerful enemies this guy's made! I mean, it seems like the only people who aren't out to kill him are you and me!"
"Speak for yourself," said Ghaleon, "I already have."
Kazyr frowned, remembering. "Oh yeah. You aren't going to kill him again are you?"
"Not unless I have to."
"Are you going to interfere with this fight?"
"No. This is Sadoul's own personal affair. He can settle this one on his own. I won't interfere with matters of the heart."
Kazyr nodded, turning his attention back to the fight in time to see one of Sadoul's fireballs incinerate a bookcase. "I think we'd better do something to preserve those books though. Even if we don't get involved in their fight, I do want to find Lucia's tower."
Ghaleon chuckled softly. "Then let us hope what we needed was not in that particular bookcase."
The two mages each teleported to the books nearest to the fight, bringing up warding spells to form almost an arena of magic energy around the combatants. The entire cavern shook from the sheer amount of power the warring wizards released, and Ghaleon and Kazyr's spells served not only to protect the books, but to prevent the cave from collapsing in on itself as well. Sadoul and Solon, each intent only on the other's actions, paid the other two wizards little if any attention.
Sadoul grimaced as Solon's ice shards shattered against his barrier. The many splinters scattered before him, but several of them still managed to strike his limbs if not his torso. He was weakening. Solon's ice shields proved difficult for his fire spells to melt through. And Sadoul's fire barriers were ineffective against the speed at which Solon hurled his icy projectiles. They would strike him before they had a chance to melt. Sadoul had been forced to use a non-elemental shield instead, which drained him far more than one of his own element.
"How does it feel, Ardor?" Solon demanded. "How does it feel knowing that your death is slowly but surely coming towards you? There are no surprises this time! No Vay armors, no extra help, just you and your magic versus I and mine."
Sadoul weakly raised his head, casting a spell just in time to deflect an ice crystal into the arena barrier. "Solon, I've told you," he rasped, voice harsh from the blood in his throat and mouth. "I have no reason to fight you other than you have forced me to. But if you insist on escalating this battle, I will match you spell for spell!"
Solon smirked, even as Sadoul began the gestures of his next spell. "You're drained. You won't be able to draw enough magic to you to accomplish anything even remotely dangerous." Solon paused, realizing that Sadoul had begun speaking an incantation. None of the Five Magicians of Vay needed verbal components to any spell that fell within their elemental domain.
Sadoul shouted the final word and hurled a massive bolt of lightning at the Magician of Water.
Solon blinked, and erected a wall of ice in front of him. The lightning crashed into it, but the shield held. Although much of the ice had melted, the air around the it hummed with electricity.
"Fool," spat Solon. "Didn't your technology teach you that water is a good conductor? A lightning bolt in the sea does not destroy the ocean! Just like any metal, if it's strong enough, it shall survive!"
Solon roared his last few words and hurled the entire wall at Sadoul.
The wall broke against Sadoul's barrier, but it was not enough to save the Magician of Fire. He screamed as the large blocks struck him, discharging their energy. Sadoul collapsed to his knees, panting.
"Face it, I've won," said Solon, steadily walking towards the fallen wizard. "Elynthia will be avenged."
"She doesn't need to be," Sadoul gasped, eyes catching sight of his sword only a few feet before him.
Solon noticed Sadoul's glance as well, freezing the weapon even as the weakened mage reached for it.
Sadoul squeezed his eyes shut in pain, but opened them again. The blade was wreathed in fire, melting the ice around it.
"What good will that do you, Sadoul?" Solon asked maliciously. "Your powers may grant you immunity to the fire, but the indirect damage from the heat of the metal will affect even you."
"Indirect damage is all I need," whispered Sadoul. And he uttered the words to a another spell.
Solon laughed when the lightning arced towards him but fell several feet short of its target, striking Sadoul's sword instead. "You're drained now," he mocked. "That was your final spell."
Solon paused and raised his hand, forming another wall of ice. "Apologize to Elynthia if you happen to see her on your way to the underworld!"
"Just as the heat of the metal will hurt me," Sadoul whispered harshly, propping himself up as Solon raised the slab of ice above him, "electricity will harm you as well!"
Sadoul gathered all his strength left to him, and scrambled to his feet. He screamed both in pain and anger as he snatched up his sword. The blade had not yet cooled, and still ran fresh with the lightning he had endowed it.
The ice above him dropped. He could feel the cold already numbing his blood. He wouldn't have enough time to get clear.
But Solon wouldn't have enough time either. His magic had been completely directed at the wall.
Sadoul flung his sword even as Solon realized his danger. The superheated blade passed easily through the fragile beginnings of the ice shield Solon attempted, embedding itself into the wizard's chest. And what remained of its lightning discharged easily through one who was aligned with water.
You're not completely made of water, Solon. Your element won't save you. I'm sorry.
The Magician of Water collapsed to the ground only a second after Sadoul fell beneath the slab of ice.