The three of them trudged through the snow towards the iron-banded wood door of the castle. Expecting a trap Eli gently pushed on it, only for it to swing open harmlessly and expose a magically lit stone foyer beyond. With a silent shrug at his two bond mates he moved into the room cautiously, alert for any sort of movement.

What greeted him instead was something that reminded him of a church. Several dozen stone pews were arranged in rows, facing a large stone statue with its hands outstretched. In each of its upright palms it held an orb of magical light that illuminated the room, allowing Eli to see the faded multicolored paint on the statue’s flowing robes.

“Nothing. It’s safe enough.” He announced once he reached the center of the room.

Minerva was the first to speak as she entered. “Wow.” She whispered in awed tones.

“Yeah, it’s something alright.” Eli agreed as whisps of mana floated by his vision. “Don’t touch the statue though, it’s enchanted.”

The two of them nodded as Vespera looked up at the 20-foot tall figure. “Is that supposed to be who I think it is?”

“Yes.” Minerva replied. “Though it’s a far different depiction than the ones we’re used to seeing.”

“Help me out a little.” Eli put up his hand. “I’m guessing that’s the… first one? The one who taught death magic to the masses?”

“And spawned a religion around him.” Minerva added.

“One that caused our ancestors to fight so passionately that they stopped living together and turned into two different peoples.” Vespera reminded them.

“Right.” Eli said, stepping in before the two of them could rehash ancient history. “Does he have a name?”

“Depends on who you ask.” Minerva answered. “His acts have been attributed to hundreds of different names and titles over the years: The First One, The Glorious, The Most Holy-”

“-Dakarion, Davorak, Dazreth, Dalmorath-” Vespera interjected.

“-Light of the World, The Lightbringer, The Utmost-” Minerva continued.

Eli waved his hands to stop them. “I get it, I get it.” He paused, looking at the statue for a moment. “We’ll just call him ‘Dave’, okay?”

“Dave?” Minerva asked, arching one eyebrow as Vespera giggled.

“All of Vespera’s names started with ‘Da-’, so it seemed appropriate.” Eli replied, satisfied that he’d broken the tension with Vespera as he looked around the room. “I don’t see any magical artifacts here though.”

“Nor do I.” Vespera agreed.

“Perhaps we should look further up the tower then?” Minerva suggested, pointing towards a set of stairs leading upwards behind the statue.

While well-intentioned, the search of the upper floors turned up nothing. The second floor of the tower held a room with stone chairs around a circular stone table, and the third floor was completely empty. They spent 30 minutes searching the bedroom on the fourth floor, poking through cabinets and underneath wooden furniture only to find it entirely barren of artifacts as well.

“Well this was a waste of time.” Vespera shook her head as they headed down the stairs from the top floor. “Not only are there no weapons we can use against the Titans here, there aren’t any magical artifacts at all!”

“There weren’t even any books!” Minerva complained. “I was hoping that there would at least be some information about the first ones.”

“It’s been a long time since anyone was here.” Eli consoled them. “And it was worth a shot anyways.”

Even as he said it though, something didn’t sit right with Eli. His bond mates continued to complain as they walked down the stairs, but his mind was elsewhere. It was only when they reached the bottom floor again that he realized what was bothering him.

“Hang on.” He said, pausing as they walked towards the door. “Something doesn’t make sense. If they didn’t have anything of value here, why would this place be so heavily protected by enchantments?”

“Maybe someone got to it first?” Minerva offered, stopping and turning to look at him.

“And left the enchantments intact? No, that doesn’t make sense.” Eli shook his head.

“Maybe they never got the chance to put their treasures here in the first place.” Vespera proposed as she moved next to the angel.

“Seems like a lot of work for an empty tower.” He countered. “No, I think we’re missing something.”

“Like what?” Vespera asked, curiosity piqued.

He turned in a slow circle with his mana vision active, taking in every detail. The fact that the statue was the only enchanted item in the room stuck out to him, leading him to walk slowly towards it. It was only when he was standing directly in front of it that he realized there was a small inscription written on the stone base in a strange language.

“Minerva.” He waved her over. “Can you tell me what this says?”

She floated through the foyer towards him before landing by his side. “It’s a prayer.” She squinted slightly. “Actually, that’s not precisely true. It’s a set of instructions for pilgrims on how to properly pray at this statue.”

“What does it say?”

“Place your hand on the base of the statue, between the feet.” She replied. “Then bow your head in prayer and ask for atonement for your transgressions.”

“I guess I’ll give it a try then.” Eli shrugged.

“Is that…wise?” Minerva asked hesitantly.

“If it goes wrong, I’ll absorb whatever magic gets thrown at me.” He replied as he put his hand on the statue. “Just…maybe get yourselves ready in case something jumps at us.”

Both women looked at each other before turning to face away from him and dropping into fighting stances. Vespera drew her sword while Minerva called forth a shield of light around them. Seeing the stone pews around them he summoned his mana to pull them closer and use them as cover, but stopped when he felt a sudden sharp pain in his hand.

“Ow!” He shouted, withdrawing it quickly.

They turned to look at him as he inspected his hand. “What happened?” Vespera asked.

“It uh… bit me.” He replied lamely, holding up his hand to show a small cut.

“Look!” Minerva exclaimed, pointing.

The two of them turned to see where she indicated only to find a dribble of Eli’s blood floating through the air. It twisted and turned as if it had a mind of its own before pressing itself against the forehead of the statue. A moment later it disappeared into a set of microscopic holes in the stone, leaving the three of them standing there dumbfounded.

A moment later the room rumbled and shook as the statue started to slowly slide backwards. Their eyes went wide and grins spread across their faces when it moved far enough back to reveal a set of stairs leading beneath the castle. As the stone figure finally came to a rest again, a series of magical lights scattered through the staircase flickered to life.

“Well that was interesting.” Eli joked. “A bit on-the-nose with the whole ‘staircase-under-the-statue-that-requires-a-blood-offering’ thing, but I’ll give them points for drama.” Seeing the looks on their faces he raised one eyebrow at Minerva in particular. “Come on. You’ve read more novels than anyone I know. You know that’s a cliché.”

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help the smile that was tugging at her lips. Seeing that he’d successfully lightened the mood he turned and drew his hammer before beginning to walk down the newly discovered staircase. It twisted and curved in a mirror image of the tower above it, ending in a simple iron-banded wood door.

Here goes nothing, I guess. Eli thought to himself as he pushed it open.

Beyond was an enormous hall with several rows of strange-looking shelves on either side. Each shelf held hundreds of 3-inch diameter enchanted glass orbs that swirled with whisps of death magic on the inside. The ceiling, floor, and walls were made of the same black stone as the castle above them, and magical lights illuminated the hallway to its far end.

Eli’s eyes were instantly drawn to the statue seated in the black stone throne at the end. Just like the one in the floor above them, it was covered by a set of multicolored robes, only this time it had its hood drawn to cover its face. In one hand it held a staff that pulsed with magical power, and in its other it had a sword with the tip of the blade resting against the floor. To its side there were dozens of leather tomes stacked on top of one another, each book being at least a few inches thick.

“Look, someone made another statue of Dave.” Eli pointed, chuckling.

Then the statue moved.

“Uh….Eli?” Vespera said hesitantly, dropping into a fighting stance as it stood. “That’s not a statue.”

The figure glowed for a moment before disappearing and reappearing in the shadows behind them. Eli barely had time to swing his hammer to block the creature’s two-handed blow, knocking both the staff and the sword to the side. It deftly spun as Vespera thrust forward with her sword, dancing out of the way before knocking a glass ball from one of the shelves.

As if in slow motion, the heavy glass fell to the floor and shattered into a thousand pieces. The swirling magic on the inside shot up the stairs, followed a moment later by the dark figure. Eli lunged to stop them only for them to disappear once more, teleporting into another set of shadows outside his reach.

Shadow magic. He thought to himself as he summoned his own mana.

Not wanting to be trapped in the basement with a potentially hostile creature blocking the only exit, Eli charged up the stairs with Minerva and Vespera hot on his heels. When they reached the foyer once more they found their adversary hovering several feet above the ground, arms outstretched in the same stance as the statue. Behind them the front doors were flung wide open, allowing the quickly-brewing blizzard outside to seep in.

Eli never took his eyes off the strange creature, deactivating his mana vision as he called out to it. “We don’t want to fight you. Let’s talk this one out.”

In response, the creature glowed once more before pointing its staff at him. A fireball raced out the end of the weapon towards them, banishing the shadows from the dimly lit space around them. Eli instinctively braced himself as it impacted him, absorbing the mana from the spell while allowing the flames to wash over his body.

Well that wasn’t very nice. Eli thought to himself as he triggered a transformation into his orcish form. I guess Dave needs some convincing.

Glancing backwards at Minerva and Vespera, he saw that the former had protected herself with a shield of light while the latter allowed the flames to wash over her fire-resistant body. Satisfied they were unhurt he took two steps forward before swinging his hammer at the nearest stone pew, shattering it and sending chunks flying at the strange creature they were fighting. The momentum from the stone carried it backwards into the wall behind it, causing it to lose control over whatever spell was holding it aloft and crumple to the ground.

“So is this Dave?” Eli asked, narrowing his eyes. “It’s dressed like the statue.”

“No, that’d be impossible.” Minerva replied. “Even especially long-lived creatures would be dead by this point. The only way The First One would still be alive at this point is if…if…” She trailed off as the creature slowly got to its feet.

“If it used death magic.” Vespera finished her sentence as its hood fell backwards to reveal a skeletal face.

As it drew itself to its full 6-foot height, its purple glowing eyes focused on Eli from behind its bare skull. The illusion of it being a living creature was shattered even further when he realized that the hands holding its weapons were made solely of bone rather than with flesh and blood. It dropped into a two-handed fighting stance and pointed its weapons at the three of them.

“Fuck, it’s a lich.” Eli swore.

As if to make matters worse, the eerie clicking of bone-on-bone announced the arrival of more combatants. Skeletons ambled out of the snowstorm outside into the small space, each one wearing a full set of plate armour and carrying an assortment of strange weapons. At first it was only a dozen of them but in moments they were several ranks deep, blocking the entrance and surrounding their undead master.

“Minerva, I’m going to make you an opening.” Eli said, summoning his mana once more. “Get the demons down here and tell them we found them their fight.”

She hesitated for a moment before steeling herself and nodding. “Got it.”

"Seraph! Vraath! Seraph! Vraath!”

A pair of flaming bullets appeared in Eli’s hands before racing towards the entrance, each of them exploding with the force of a rocket. Bones and parts of skeletons went flying in every direction, blown apart by the force of the blast. Minerva was darting through the air even before the flames died, zipping out the door and climbing to get away.

Glad I insisted they wear armour for this. Eli thought to himself.

When the lich scrambled to its feet and raised its staff at the escaping angel, Eli growled with anger and launched himself at the figure. He hit the undead monster with a two-handed strike from his hammer, sending it flying into the snow beyond. For a moment he dared to hope that the move might have destroyed the creature, but those hopes faded as more skeletons emerged from the swirling blizzard outside.

“I didn’t see the lich wearing a pendant or amulet.” Vespera said as she moved next to him, bracing herself for the oncoming horde of undead. “What do you think it’s phylactery is?”

Eli thought for a moment as he readied his hammer. “It’s either the staff or the sword it’s carrying. We’ll have to drain them to kill it.”

“Got a plan to separate it from its weapons?” She asked.

“I’m still working on it.” He replied, drawing an eye roll from her.

The front rank of skeletons reached them a moment later, cutting off any further conversation. Eli’s body glowed gold as ancient orcish knowledge on how to wield a large hammer flowed through him, augmenting his own experience. He crushed the first few skeletons with ease as the blood rage flowed through him, taking advantage of the increased speed and stamina while allowing his Royal Blooded powers to blunt the mindless anger that would otherwise overtake him.

The fact that he and Vespera had fought together before allowed them to fall into a familiar rhythm. He would rush ahead and blast several skeletons apart with his gravity hammer only for Vespera to dart in after him, using her sword and tail blade to deflect any blows which might hit him from behind. He’d then turn as she ducked, sweeping his hammer the other way while she launched magical fireballs at select targets to give them more space to move. Their movements were so in-sync that from the outside it might have seemed like a choreographed dance – one that easily kept the unthinking skeletons around them at bay.

Unfortunately for them, their cadence was disrupted when an enormous shard of rock crashed down on Eli from above, catching him in the arm between two metal plates. It pierced his skin and made him howl in pain, giving the nearby skeletons the opening they needed to leap onto him and try to pin him down. Gritting his teeth he summoned his mana and grabbed Vespera by the shoulder before glancing back towards the tower.

"Síl!”

The two of them disappeared, causing the dogpile of skeletons to suddenly collapse. A moment later they reappeared inside the relative safety of the tower, giving Eli the space he needed to drop the hammer and tear the rock javelin out of his muscular arm. His body glowed gold as he roared in defiance, his orcish magic already working to stitch the wound back together.

“You okay?” Vespera asked, glancing back at him.

“Yeah. Now I’m pissed though.” He growled while picking up his hammer again. “That rock wasn’t a spell, I’m guessing it was thrown using magic. That’s how he got around my mana absorption.”

“That’s four schools of magic he’s used so far.” Vespera said as she refocused on the oncoming skeletons. “That’s more than anyone I’ve ever seen except for you.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’ve got a few extra tricks up my sleeve.” Eli grinned as he triggered a transformation into his Nephilim form while summoning his mana.

“Ledyanaya ravnina! Trahere!”

A field of pure ice spread out from under Eli’s feet, instantly extending through the first floor of the tower and out the door. At the same time the stone pews around them slid across the ice, lining themselves up in front of Eli. The skeletons outside stumbled and wobbled as they entered the tower once more, advancing with their weapons held high.

“Ventilabis Retro!”

The third spell in the trio launched the stone pews across the ice like rockets, slamming into the skeletons with the force of a car crash. Their momentum carried them out the door and into the body of the undead horde, knocking them over like bowling pins. Vespera glanced over at him as the crashing sounds ended, a confused look on her face.

“You know that’s not going to kill them, right? You have to remove their heads to stop the spell.”

“Oh, I know.”

“Then what are you-…” She trailed off. “Oh. You’re about to carry me out of here, aren’t you?”

“Yup.” Eli grinned as he picked her up.

Flapping his quartet of wings, Eli raced out of the tower and into the air. He was moving fast enough that the second javelin made of rock just grazed him, bouncing off his steel vambrace without any real damage. The attack was enough to make him change trajectory, juking and rolling as he darted over the wall and towards the sounds of demons fighting in the snow.