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334. In The Heart of the Stone Rose
🕑 Added 2025-03-16 14:00:04 +0000 UTCIke stepped through the hole they’d punched in the wall and walked into the darkness. His footsteps echoed in the still air. It was as though he walked into an empty cathedral. A vast, dark, open space spread before him, as silent as it was still. Dust softened his footsteps, and the wind he dragged with him as he moved was the only motion in the air. The light that streamed in the hole they’d punched was the only light in the space, and Ike frowned. Was there no route in here? Was this not the prize at the center?
Or was it the prize, and it had simply been completely sealed so that no one could find it? Was there some secondary ‘prize’ at the end of the maze, meant to trick those who pursued the treasure locked within the shards? He raised his brows. Had he overcome the ‘trick’ to this maze by simply being bull-headed and smashing his way through the wall, rather than actually engaging with the maze mechanics?
“Whoaaaa,” Wisp said, dragging her voice out when she realized it echoed in the quiet, enclosed space. “How’s it so big in here? It looked so small from outside.”
Ike glanced back at her. She was dimly lit, little more than a silhouette against the doorway. “What an interesting thing to say.”
“Huh? Is this some human thing?” she asked.
“Very much so.”
“Fuckin’ humans. Hey, is there anything in here? Or is it just a big, open space?” Wisp asked, bounding by him.
Ike chuckled to himself and followed her in exploring the space. She was right. He shouldn’t just be standing here, thinking about might-bes and could-possiblys. He was right here, in that hidden space, so he ought to explore it. Whether this was the prize at the center of the maze or not, there was no downside to exploring it, only potential gains to be made.
He expanded his aether outwards, sensing the space around him. It was large, but that was all the more information he got from it. There was something repressing what he could sense with aether. It felt like peering into a foggy day, like there was something just before his eyes, clouding anything important he might have seen. Ike squinted, frowning. This wasn’t just a random space. There was no reason to add some kind of perception-dulling layer to an empty room. There was definitely something here.
Wisp stepped deeper into the room ahead of him. As she moved, the darkness seemed to swallow her up, thicker than ordinary darkness, and harder to pierce through despite his levels and skills. Whoever had created this area really wanted to prevent anyone from seeing any further into the area.
“Wisp, be careful,” Ike advised, drawing his sword.
“I know, I’ve noticed too—”
The ground cracked open under Wisp’s feet. She leaped backward as the earth heaved and broke apart, and a massive beast climbed to its feet.
“Whu-oh,” Ike muttered.
Wisp landed beside him, raising her fists. Mag rushed up on his other side, puffed up in rage. The three of them watched while the beast rose out of the earth.
It had a broad stance like a large dog, a barrel chest, a long, thick tail, and a low, heavy head. Large bulls’ horns splayed out to either side of its thick skull, huge but razor sharp. Its face was somewhere between a dog’s and a bull’s, with a big wet nose, sharp teeth in a long muzzle, and vicious, dark eyes.
“Been a while since I hunted a good, old-fashioned monster,” Ike said, smiling.
The beast snarled at them. Its fangs glistened in the low light, ropes of spittle dangling between its jaws. It lowered its head and pawed the ground like a bull about to charge.
“Watch out!” Ike warned the other two.
Wisp shot a thread of spider silk up and caught the ceiling. Mag took directly to the air. Ike watched them go, then sighed deeply. What did I expect? I’m the least mobile of the three of them, and that’s saying something.
The beast charged. Dust flew behind its massive paws, and its claws dug into the earth. Ike activated Storm Clad and dashed to the side, dodging its mad rush. It dug in its paws and caught itself before it struck the wall, then whirled around. It shook its head at Ike and snorted. Hot, wet breath steamed out, blowing the dust into the sky.
Ike rushed in. The beast bellowed and charged to meet him. As the two of them closed in on one another, it lowered its head and turned it to the side to gore him with its sharp horns. Leaping into the air, Ike landed on its forehead and ran for its neck.
The earth buckled underneath him as the giant monster shook its head. Ike was thrown into the air. The horn smashed toward Ike, as huge as the wall of a house. It filled his vision, rushing in at him.
Ike twisted his body in midair and slashed back, parrying the monster’s horns. The massive horn and Ike’s almost laughably-small Hungry Sword clashed. The Hungry Sword squirmed to life, and bits of horn flew everywhere.
And then the horn-blow hit Ike, as his singular sword strike failed to parry a mass hundreds of times his weight, and he was sent flying across the dark space. He tumbled across the dusty floor and bounced to his feet, skidding to a halt just before he reached the far wall. The beast’s lowered head immediately loomed, as it charged him once more. Ike’s eyes widened. He leaped again, but to the side this time. The monster struck the wall, then turned, its maddened eyes still locked on Ike.
“How’re you doing down there?” Wisp asked. She dangled from the ceiling, swinging from a length of spider silk.
“Oh, I’m fine, I’m doing just fine,” Ike replied sarcastically. The beast pounded toward him. Ike raced away, juking it to the side, but the beast lashed out with a paw and sent him flying again. Once more, he rolled, accumulating bruises and scrapes. They healed quickly, but it still hurt.
“You uh, need some help, or…?”
“You know, help would be awesome,” Ike allowed.
“But do you need it? Because I’m enjoying my front row seats to the rodeo.” Wisp swung on her seat, grinning like a madman.
The beast lunged. Ike expected a sweep of its horns, but it snapped at him instead. He hopped back, barely dodging its teeth. “Get your ass down here and help!”
“Oh, fine, fine. If you insist.” Wisp leaned forward to hop down.
KRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! A sharp tone rang out from the entry point, sharp as nails on a blackboard, and for a split second, everyone froze. They turned to face the single point of light, and Ike narrowed his eyes.
“Not again.”
Comments
PoeticSaint
Jangly-bits must have come to join the fun lol tftc
