Unbound

Chapter Four Hundred And Ninety One - 491

Chapter Four Hundred And Ninety One - 491

Felix swam forward, Pit at his heels, but they only made it as far as the edge of the ravine before his team finally caught up with them.

> Toa'ut asked, arriving first with twin tridents held in his meaty fists. He and the other Naga were breathing heavily, the gills at the sides of their scaled necks fluttering with each heave of their beefy torsos. >

He said the last with hesitation, as if he could barely express such a thought. Felix shook his head, amused. >

> Isla hissed, sliding off of Lavix's back and ripping through the Green Shaped vines of her saddle in the process. >

> Pit said, swimming in a circle around the chanter. His magical fish tail lashed the water into near-invisible currents that buffeted them all. > he added, cheerfully.

Isla scoffed. >

> Felix said. He didn't quite believe that, but the woman was deceptive and clever; Felix didn't doubt that she had tricks to try and bring him down. >

> Beef asked. He, more than anyone, looked exhausted. His huge shoulders were drooping as he tread water, requiring Hallow's Multipede form to prop him up from beneath. >

Felix clapped the teen on the arm. >

The Minotaur perked up at that, and his big, bovine eyes widened. >

> Felix let his gaze pass around them all. > He followed Vess' gaze, who was looking at his unmarked skin with a raised eyebrow. >

> Vess asked, her eyes lifting from his torn shirt and jacket to his face. His eyes.

Felix nodded. >

>

>

>

> Pit warbled in annoyance as he swam in a tight circle around the group. >

Everyone turned their attention to the stone monolith, but Isla swam closer to Felix, her skirts swirling about her legs like diaphanous clouds. >

> he asked, leaving his tone low and his Spirit carefully bottled up.

She snapped her mouth shut, lips thinning and jaw clenching as if chewing over what she wanted to say. Yet she said nothing, merely pushing past Felix with another swish of her skirts.

Felix was being petty, he could admit that. Admitting it didn't mean he regretted it, though.

He swam after his team, all of them careful to stay within the deeper shadows of the ravine, where the increasing patrols couldn't spot them so easily. The big stone tower-thing was above and ahead of them, rising up into the open plains above the greenery-strewn chasms. It was very similar to the hundreds they had already passed, festooned with weeds, algae, and a thriving colony of coral. The one difference was a suspicious recess at its base. This may not have been telling to most, but to Felix's Perception it was a red flag he couldn't miss. Among the wild fronds, crimson algae, and vibrant anemones clinging to the base of the structure, he could spot the tell-tale signs of carved metal.

Careful to stick close to the cover of the fronds and weeds, Felix swam past everyone with a few swift kicks and stopped right before the recess.

Green Shaping.

He summoned his Skill, once more refusing to rely on the System itself and plying it with his Affinity and Intent. Using the Chant to access his Skills was the task Zara had put to him so many months ago, and Felix was finally approaching a point where it was almost instinctual. Golden green Mana poured from his palms, bathing the overgrown recess in front of him and taking root. A flex of his Willpower sent all of the plant-life cascading outward, not dying or wilting, but rapidly growing away from the metallic door beneath. In seconds, an eight-foot tall doorway made of carved silver was revealed, glimmering dully in the faint light around them.

> Felix ran his hand across the surface, his short talons clicking against grooves and whorls. Someone had carved the door into beautiful, swirling designs that were dotted with finned shapes and serpentine creatures. There was no handle or latch, no hinges or any apparent way to open the door. >

> Vess asked, looking up. The rest of the stone monolith was covered in algae and rippling weeds, offering nothing to her sight. >

> Beef said. When Isla and Felix looked at him in surprise he all but blushed. >

> Felix said. > This time the Minotaur did blush, a darkening just around his eyes and snout. For the kid's benefit, Felix pretended not to notice.

> Isla suggested.

> Vess agreed. >

Isla was studying the door as she answered. >

> Felix placed his hands against the door, placing himself directly in front of Isla's view. She scowled at him, but he was getting pretty good at ignoring her too. The door didn't have a handle, so Felix was ready to heave the whole thing open with sheer Strength.

A buzzing deep within his chest halted him.

Before he could even think the words "heart attack," a notification leaped into his vision, startling him with the sound of a loud, tolling bell.

Authority Recognized!

Seal Breached!

Inheritor, Autarch Of Nagast, King Of Ahkestria, Lord Of The Leviathan Depths, Be Welcome!

The door before them split in half, releasing a riot of bubbles in all directions as the tarnished silver opened on hidden hinges. Around them, the deep water of the lake surged inward, pulled by an inexorable suction that very nearly yanked Felix off his feet. Instead, he slammed his hands into the six-foot wide doorway and planted himself, grunting as he felt Beef, Hallow, Pit, and all the rest slam into his back.

> Beef hollered in his ear, and Felix only had a instant before every single War Naga came barreling toward them. They were going to be crushed.

Felix let go.

The lot of them plunged inward, a tangle of limbs, claws, and serpentine tails that rolled through the rushing waters. Inky darkness filled the chamber beyond, and before Felix's Perceptions could expand beyond the chaos of his tumbling team, a series of brilliant, golden lights flared into being.

Detecting Authority Bearer...

Manalights Ignited.

Do You Wish To Seal The Door Of Waves?

Yes!

With a boom that vibrated his bones, the silver doors slammed shut once more. Felix whipped around, watching traceries of Mana zip up from the silver lintel and into the flat ceiling, where it split, tracing the outlines of a thousand tiny, four-pointed stars before it hit a wide, circular depression in the ceiling. The Mana filled the depression before flashing a brighter shade of blue, the color of force, and suddenly the water around them went utterly still. Each of his friends slowly righted themselves in the ten feet or so of water that filled the very wide room.

"What the hell is happening?" Beef shouted, water dripping from his suddenly sodden fur. "Did you drop Sunken Ward, Felix?"

"I did." Felix looked around them, tracking more Mana as it flourished all around them. "We won't need it in here. Look."

"Air Mana," Vess said, breathing deeply. "Far more than your Ward generates."

"All of that air Mana was pouring out into the lake, too. Something might have spotted it," Isla pointed out. "Opening this place was a mistake."

Door Of Waves Sealed.

Cleansing In Process.

"Brace," Felix warned, moments before a pulse of force emanated from the circular depression above them. All of them winced as a shockwave hit them all like a dense mattress to the face, forcing Vess, Beef, Pit, and both Hallows down into the water. The Naga flinched but their Bodies stayed afloat, while Isla and Felix ignored the blast completely. More of that light blue Mana raced outward, along the carved stars and down into dozens of discrete points below the water line. Felix spun in place, splashing, as he tracked what they were doing. "It's draining the room!"

It was fast, too, because the chamberthat Felix estimated at around two hundred feet in diameterwas soon empty. Small grates had opened up at the base of flaking buttresses, shimmering with the same force Mana that had activated them, but pulling instead of pushing. Felix walked over to one, squatting to watch it work, and marveled at the design.

Sigils are hidden in the walls, he noticed, flaring his Manasight so that the dense fabric of stone turned at least somewhat transparent. He could make out some of the formation, but certainly not all of it. A lot of it follows the pipeworks extending down from here. Force and water are here, but so is earth, forming the secondary sigil of mud. He watched as the sodden silt and debris was sucked up along with the last vestiges of puddles in the chamber. Damn. This is efficient. It doesn't feel like it used a lot of Mana at all.

"Wonders of the ancients," a voice said from beside him. Felix glanced up to see Lavix looming over him, but her blunt face was tilted upward, toward the stars. They were still faintly glowing, but that was fading quickly. "Another temple of the gods, my Lord. The mighty Nym."

"Maybe," he said, standing up as he rubbed his dirty hands against his trousers. He put a hand on his hooked sword and focused his Intent upon the first glyph in its blade, the one that siphoned power from Nymean Temples. Yet it didn't buzz or flare with light at all, not like it had in the presence of previous Temples. "But I don't think so."

"Then who?" Toa'ut asked, his scales rasping against the now-dry stones. Most of his team had drawn closer, though Isla and Beef were poking at different ends of the room. "Who would dare copy the gods?"

"Who indeed," Isla remarked, loudly enough that her voice carried perfectly. She eyed the ceiling before humming a few notes. The sound thrummed across the chamber, a pitch perfect cascade that was as clear as any bell. "Whoever built this place knew what they were about. The acoustics are impeccable."

"Does that affect the Chant, Lady Isla?" Vess asked.

Isla crouched and ran her hands across the smooth, seamless stone flooring. "Everything affects the Chant, as it is the key that unlocks the mysteries of Creation." She looked up, sharply. "Felix. Do you hear that? Chords keep pressing through the Harmony of this place."

"I hear them." Felix gestured, and another large notification appeared, blue bordered by gold. He spun it, so that it was suddenly visible to his entire team. "It seems this place respects my Authority."

Cleansing Complete.

Do You Wish To Open The Door Of Green, Autarch?

"Whoa," Beef whispered. "The building is talking to you?"

Pit puffed up his chest. "My Companion is very talented."

"Michael is very strong," Hallow said, both of her Bodies clinging close to the sopping wet Minotaur. "And tough."

Pit nodded solemnly. "He is."

Felix smiled at the three of them and caught Vess doing the same. Her smile stuttered, fading. Felix cleared his throat. "Whatever this place is, we should check it out, at least for a short time. Then we can get back on the path toward the Fathom's home."

Toa'ut bowed his head, and the rest of the War Naga followed suit. "If you wish, my Lord."

"Open the Door of Green," Felix commanded. At the far end of the chamber, opposite the Door of Waves, the Door of Green stood twice as tall at sixteen feet high. Sigils flashed in a strange, rapid combination across its surface before opening right down the middle with a drawn out hiss. It too was made of metal, but this one was tinted an emerald color and carved with lifelike renditions of tangleweed, algae, and those orb-like light-plants.

"Door of Green?" Pit asked.

"I dunno." Felix shrugged. "The other one was the Door of Waves. Why name them at all?"

"Strange. Wait here." He trotted through the door, ears perked forward and golden eyes wide. "It's just a hallway." Pit sniffed. "Smells bad."

The team followed, Naga and Multipede included. Luckily the hallway beyond the Door of Green was huge, at least thirty feet wide with ceilings twice that in height. More seamless stone covered the floor and walls, all made of pink stone lightly marbled with white. The ceiling was patterned with groin vaults, pockets of archways supported by rows of thin, rounded pillars along the length of the corridor. Light was everywhere, burning from sconces that looked nothing like the Manalamps Felix had seen in Zara's old mansion. The pillars themselves glowed with a subdued, faintly blue-green light that called to mind the waters they had just left.

"Thematic lighting," Beef said. He was leaving a trail of water and plant-debris with every clopping step he took. "Neat."

"The hall stretches in two directions," Felix said.

"So I noticed," Isla muttered.

Felix ignored her. He was getting very good at it. "So we're just going to pick a direction." He squinted into the distance. "I can't see the end of the corridor. That can't be right."

"I...hrm," Isla planted her hands on her hips. "I cannot see the end either. What is this?"

Just as the words left her mouth, a thick fog rolled through the hallway, rising from the floor itself. It spread, fast, until everything was covered in thick, impenetrable mist. Felix flared his Perception as best he could, but it was like running directly into a stone wall, as if nothing existed beyond the haze at all.

"Great," Felix muttered.