Chapter 134: Skolguls

  As the group walked down the tunnel, Nokuti bowed her head and whispered a prayer.

  “You keep doing that, who are you praying to?” Grim asked.

  Nokuti smiled up at the 10 ft axlean, “I was just praying to Stjerne. But, I have been praying to all four of my gods while we’ve been down here.”

  “The ebon gods?” Grim lowered his head.

  Nokuti proudly lifted up her bracelet with four small dangling talismans, “The star talisman represents the god of stars, the Traveler, Stjerne, patron of dark elves. He blesses the brave who venture out on dangerous quests.”

  She pointed at the next talisman, “The crescent represents the goddess of the moon, the Watcher, Lunae, patron of goblins. She watches over us all. I pray to her so that she may guide us on the right path.”

  “The eye talisman represents the god of the deep earth, the Mystery, Caligo. He is the patron deity of none, but I pray to him anyway because he blesses those who seek unresolved mysteries and the unknown.”

  She grabbed the last talisman gently, “This is the sword talisman, it represents the patron deity of all vampires. The goddess of war, the Guardian, Bellum. She will protect us.”

  “And you believe they will help us?” Grim asked calmly.

  Nokuti smiled wryly, “You doubt their power? I thought you were a devout follower of the gods, too?”

  “I believe in the azure gods, not the ebon gods,” Grim said.

  “What’s the difference? Gods are gods.”

  “Just as Nokuti said, gods are gods. They’re all imaginary assholes who, if they existed, don't deserve anyone’s worship,” Lysaila shook her head.

  “The difference is Grim’s gods are actually tangible. Not that you’d ever wish to get that close to them,” Crow shivered dramatically.

  “What?” Nokuti furrowed her brow.

  “The axlean people worship giant sea serpents,” Crow opened his arms wide.

  “You worship snakes?” Nokuti frowned.

  “Sapient snakes,” Crow added.

  “Do you have a problem with snakes, vampire?” Lysaila hissed.

  “I’m just saying sea serpents aren’t divine beings. They aren’t even magical,” Nokuti said.

  “Oh, and your unseen ebon gods are more worthy of divinity?” Lysaila pointed at the vampiress’ talismans.

  “Don’t insult my gods,” Nokuti gripped her ax.

  “You’ll lose,” Lysaila lifted her long sword.

  “Oh, this I’ve gotta see,” Kyriil grinned.

  “I have to agree with Nokuti here. While there are a few sea serpents out in the deeper parts of the Ebon Sea, none are worshiped as gods,” Marek stepped in between the lamia and vampire.

  Grim placed his hand on Lysaila’s shoulder, “There is no need to shed friendly blood over this.”

  Lysaila hissed and bared her fangs, “Fine.” She turned away without another word.

  “Thanks,” Marek smiled.

  Grim ignored him and looked at Nokuti, “People worship gods not because of who they are, but what they represent, power. Unreachable heights of power. The power to save the doomed. The power to destroy the unbreakable. You speak of your ebon gods as if they hold true power. Perhaps they do, but I am certain that mine do.”

  “What are you saying?” Nokuti asked.

  “Make no mistake, the sea serpents you have in this Realm, as divine as their blood may be, are not the same as the ones on the Azure Realm. Yours are young and while the Azure Realm has young sea serpents as well, my gods are nothing of the sort. The azure gods are as ancient as the Realms themselves. Did you know that sea serpents never stop growing?”

  “...I didn’t,” Nokuti swallowed.

  “How large do you think my gods have grown? The azure gods have destroyed entire fleets, sunken cities, and even wiped an entire island from existence. That is power. True power. Can you say the same about your gods?”

  “Sorry to interrupt your little divinity squabble, but as one of the few atheists in this group I feel I should say something,” Crow placed his head to the cold tunnel wall.

  “As a fellow atheist, I agree,” Lysaila chuckled. 

  “What is it?” Nokuti groaned.

  “Lysaila, you may do the honors,” Crow nodded but kept his attention on the wall.

  “Something’s coming, I can hear it,” Lysaila closed her eyes.

  “What!?” Kyriil screamed.

  “Shut up, Kyriil. Everyone, battle formation!” Marek lifted his spear.

  Everyone huddled together, weapons drawn, their backs all faced the center.

  “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Crow grumbled.

  He was the only one who stood in the center.

  “You’re the only one who knows where the weapon is. We can’t afford to lose you here,” Marek said.

  “Plus, you’re the weakest of the bunch,” Nokuti winked.

  “Why do I even bother?” Crow sighed.

  Vaughn’s hands glowed red and he began to write in the air. Red sigils appeared around them and formed into a ward spell in the shape of a red dome.

  “Grim, you’ve got my back?” Lysaila drew her blade and eyed the stone walls beyond the ward shield.

  “There is no water down here. I can only create so much water before my mana is depleted,” Grim said quietly.

  “Looks like you're not as useful as we thought,” Kyriil laughed.

  “It’s here!” Lysaila yelled.

  Marek narrowed his eyes, “I don’t see anythi-”

  A wide armored black tail smashed into the red shield. The wards flared bright at impact. A tail smashed above them, another behind them. The wards shook, but held strong. The tails rattled away and blended back into the darkness.

  “They’re still here, careful,” Lysaila warned.

  “I can’t see them!” Kyriil scanned around.

  “They’re using elemental dark magic to hide themselves,” Crow warned.

  A long elongated body slithered from the bottom of the dome and began curling itself around the entire dome. The skolgul’s underbelly was burnished gold. Its body was segmented into dozens of parts, each with a pair of sharp-bladed legs. Red compound eyes enshrouded a black carapace face stared down at them from above.

  “What the fuck is that thing?” Nokuti muttered.

  “A predator,” Crow said.

  The skolgul’s body tightened around the dome, the wards burned bright.

  “Shit, what do we do?” Kyriil asked.

  “My wards will hold,” Vaughn said calmly.

  “Then we wait,” Marek said.

  “I can slice its underside from right here. It’ll be one clean-cut,” Lysaila’s tongue slipped out and tasted the air.

  “No. If you attack from within the dome you’ll destroy the ward spell entirely,” Dawn said.

  The skolgul’s fangs opened wide, a glowing blue slime dripped down on the dome, and began to sizzle. The wards shined bright and began to grow fuzzy.

  “Is that supposed to happen?” Nokuti tightened the grip around her ax.

  Vaughn frowned.

  “No, no it’s not,” Crow said.

  “Get ready to fight,” Marek raised his spear.

  The ground underneath the group shuddered and broke apart. Two other skolguls sprang from the earth and shot the blue toxin at the wards. The red dome collapsed. Before Marek could yell for them to move, the group had already dispersed.

  Vaughn’s arm shot out, grabbed Crow’s feathered cloak, and pulled him away. Lysaila’s blade sliced at the skolgul’s underbelly. The golden carapace screeched as the blade scraped across, but failed to pierce. The skolgul’s head snapped out and bit at the lamia. Lysaila bent low and dodged with the swiftness of a snake. Grim created a massive ice club and smashed it across the beast, pushing it back.

  The two other skolguls closed in on them. Marek spellcast an agility and vigor spell through his entire body. His veins grew dark and his skin shined a faint bronze. He dodged the skolgul’s toxin and stabbed his spear with the force of dozens of men. The skolgul moved with blinding speed and curled around the shaft, the spearhead cracking the ground behind it.

  Nokuti screamed a war cry, jumped above the beast, and swung down with her ax right at its face. The ax sank deep into the skolgul’s eye. It screeched and spat its blue toxin at Nokuti’s torso. She shouted in pain and slammed into the hard rock floor.

  “Nokuti!” Marek ran towards her.

  She laid limp on the ground. He pulled her into his arms. The armor around her stomach had corroded away. Yellow scales glowed softly on her skin, but the blue toxin still burned.

  “I’ll be alright,” Nokuti grimaced.

  The third skolgul rose from the shadows behind them and opened its maw wide. Arcs of lightning blasted the beast away. Blue electricity curled around Dawn’s arms. The skolgul stood up, its carapace smoked, but it seemed fairly unharmed. The other two skolgul crawled up next to it.

  “Eat shit!” Kyriil hollered.

  A massive orb of light burst above everyone. The skolguls screeched, the inky shadows around them melted away. They chittered angrily and burrowed away into the ground.

  “I knew it! Those monsters are sensitive to light,” Kyriil laughed.

  The elf’s hands were raised high almost as if he was physically carrying the orb of light above him.

  “Well done,” Marek sighed in relief.

  “I didn’t expect their shell to be so strong,” Lysaila skimmed her finger at the edge of her blade.

  “Don’t beat yourself over it, not even the archmage’s storm spell could break through,” Grim said.

  “Not yet at least,” Dawn said. She pulled off her boots and socks and rubbed her bare feet on the cold earth.

  “How long can you hold that bright spell up, Kyriil?” Crow eyed the ground.

  “Why?” Kyriil tilted his head.

  “Because they’re not gone,” Crow said.

  The earth shattered, a stone spear swam through the air and tore away at Kyriil’s torso. The elf’s body spun on impact and skidded on the floor in a bloody mess.

  “They can use earth magic!” Crow shouted.

  A skolgul sprang from beneath Crow and dragged him away. He tried struggling, but the beast’s sharp legs tightened around his body. 

  Vaughn’s veins darkened, his agility spell flared to life. The archmage moved in a blur. The skolgul swiped at him, but he jumped up high above. Vaughn kicked off the ceiling and landed on the skolgul’s head. His hands slapped at the creature’s eyes.

  “Die,” Vaughn whispered.

  A blinding light pierced the cavern, illuminating the tunnel. Kyriil’s orb seemed like a small ember in front of the searing storm light that flared around them. Everyone closed their eyes and looked away, still their eyes burned. Yet just as quick as the light came it disappeared.

  The skolgul’s head was gone, in its place was a charred stump. Its golden legs went limp and the body tumbled over. Crow rolled from underneath before he was crushed.

  “Are you alright?” Vaughn asked.

  “Lucky for me, my cloak is sturdier than most,” Crow dusted himself off.

  Another skolgul appeared from behind Lysaila. The lamia ducked under a spray of its blue toxin and slashed her sword out. The skolgul’s legs blocked the blow and counterattacked. Lysaila blocked each swipe from the dozens of sharp legs. The purple magestone in her belt glowed bright and her body blurred for a moment. Three identical copies of Lysaila appeared next to her and attacked.

  Marek watched with wide eyes at the sword grandmaster’s battle against the skolgul, “Remind me to never anger Lysaila.”

  “Noted,” Nokuti coughed weakly.

  The blue toxin was still burning her skin.

  “Vaughn, Nokuti needs healing!” Marek screamed.

  “If I don’t heal Kyriil now he’ll die,” Vaughn said. He placed his hands over the unconscious elf. 

  The third skolgul, one eye blind from Nokuti’s ax, rose from the earth and sprang at the vampiress and warlord. Marek grabbed his spear. A bolt of lightning struck the skolgul into the wall. It shook its head and clicked and buzzed its fangs at the hybrid archmage.

  Dawn narrowed her eyes, lightning coursing through her hands. The skolgul’s dozens of legs slammed into the ground, the earth shuddered, and a stone spear flew at her. Dawn’s foot turned, green mana flowed into the earth. A stone wall rose in front of her, blocking the spear.

  The skolgul screeched. Another blast of lightning struck it. Lightning curled around Dawn and condensed into her hand, forming a spear. The skolgul backed away and burrowed itself into the ground. 

  Dawn kicked the floor, the earth burst open, and pushed the skolgul out into the air. Dawn arched her back, lunged forward, and threw the lightning spear. The spear shrieked through the air and exploded on impact, obliterating the skolgul’s neck. The skolgul’s body fell, still twitching from the electricity.

  “Now!” Lysaila lunged at the final skolgul.

  Grim’s hands shot forward, a surge of ice wrapped itself around the beast. It struggled to break free, the ice cracked. But, Lysaila only needed a moment. The four lamias stabbed at the skolgul’s head, but only one blade hit the monster. The skolgul tensed for a moment, then lay still. Blue toxin dripped from its open mouth.

  Lyaila took a deep breath and looked around, “That should be the last of them.”

  “Great,” Nokuti finally closed her eyes to rest.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t help,” Marek caressed Nokuti’s warm cheek.

  “You’re not the only one,” Crow grumbled. He sat down and rested his back on the wall.

  “I’m just glad my friends can handle themselves,” Marek smiled half-heartedly.

  “You got that damn right,” Lysaila winked.