Chapter 16

At the moment I felt myself being in some sort of emotional twilight zone between peace and crushing anxiety. I can’t accurately say what exactly I was feeling. My mind was clear, but my heart was pounding.

“Only half an hour!?” I asked uselessly, as if Lucian might give me a better answer this time.

“Unfortunately so. I’m not a mage by any means, but my mana should last us that long, unless we manage to find some potions around here.”

Judging by how thrashed this palace was, even if there were any useful potions, I doubt they were still intact. Still, I refused to give up and searched for other solutions.

“Can we switch? I mean, can we take turns wearing the necklace? I don’t know how much mana I have, but it should last us longer that way.”

Lucian shook his head. “Good idea, but the instant the mana supply is cut off the barrier falls as well. Besides that, the artefact is especially tailored to my magical signature. Nobody else can use it.”

That was unfortunate, but I still tried to find more solutions. “Can I transfer my mana to you? Is that possible?”

“It is.”

“Great! Then we just do that.” I was overjoyed. If I acted like a battery for Lucian we could potentially buy ourselves a lot more time.

“No.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t swing that way.”

“...”

“...”

It took a whole ten seconds for my brain to reboot. It did so just in time to feel all the awkwardness in the air.

“W-what does that have to do with-”

“In any case, it’s best we make use of the precious time we have to figure out how we’re going to escape. We cannot afford not to inform captain Gaul of what has happened here. There has to be something we can do to get out in one piece.”

So he’s just going to completely ignore my question then? Fine, whatever. I’m more than happy to forget that part of the conversation anyway.

I shakily stood up, carefully balancing myself so I didn't fall over. My body was not in the best of conditions, but nothing worse than what a hangover would do, I think. I picked up my fallen sword as Lucian kept rummaging through what was left of the rodentia’s laboratory.

I saw him taking samples here and there, but I refrained from commenting. Instead I too looked around for anything that might inspire me to come up with some kind of genius escape plan.

Unfortunately, glass shards and wooden shelves were not the best muse. With a small sigh I turned and walked towards the exit.

I wanted to know what the situation looked like at least. Honestly I was harbouring some hope that the earlier fire we caused was enough to prevent any form of organisation. Even so, I kept a realistic point of view and prepared for the worst.

And I was right to do so.

The barrier was quite simple in design. A transparent wall of white light with a shining cross right in the middle of it. It looked frail, but felt solid, as weird of a description as that is.

On the other side though was exactly what I feared. An entire horde of dogmen formed a half moon around the exit. Some of them were throwing rocks at the barrier, while others lost patience and simply hit it with clubs or daggers.

The distance between me and them was less than ten meters. For a few moments I felt as if I was looking at a different world through a window. Then reality came crashing back down as I realised I would have to go against all of them if I wanted to survive.

I resolutely turned and walked away. It was useless to stare, fascinated by my supposed demise.

Unfortunately, as motivated as I was to get out of this alive, I still had no idea what to do. I pondered deeply as I returned back. Should Lucian use that flame attack of his and we ran away after surprising them?

No, that won’t work. The incantation took too long and who knows if he even has the mana anymore.

Should we just charge through? If I was covered in full metal armour and not wearing just a flimsy shirt and a pair of jeans I might. There was no way in hell an amateur like me could fight his way through. Even if the kobolds were not the most dangerous opponents, there were hundreds of them. A scratch here, a bite there and before you know it we’re overwhelmed and soon after dead.

It just so happened that when my annoyance reached its peak I arrived at the crossroad. That’s when it hit me. We weren’t alone in the cave.

I quickly made my way back to Lucian only to find him sitting in front of a few intact test tubes. There were two of them lined up on the table. Their content was bloody red and, if you looked closely, a weak light emanated from it.

“I take it the situation outside is bad as expected?” He asked

“Yeah, they formed a perimeter around the exit and are waiting for us.”

Lucian sneered, but then his eyes turned to the test tubes and his face turned reluctant.

“There are about twenty minutes left, judging by my mana reserves. I may have found ourselves a solution, albeit a risky and stupid one.”

I also glanced at the test tubes. I was smart enough to form some connections in my mind.

“This is something akin to a berserk potion. Simple really, it doubles your strength, takes away the feeling of pain, fear and anxiety. Everything at the cost of your sanity of course.”

“I take it this is what the kobolds from yesterday were juiced up on?”

“Indeed. Even if the effect is temporary, a berserk potion is capable of making even the lowliest creature much stronger. That is, of course, if it manages to survive enough to do damage.”

“And I take it you want us to drink those if it comes to having to fight our way out?”

“Don’t look at me like that. The rodentia, annoying creature that it is, managed to achieve a high level of purity with, what I assume was, its latest batch. It might kill a kobold a few hours after drinking it, but our immune system should let us get away with only a few days in a coma.”

“That is, of course, if we survive the fight…”

“Unfortunately…”

Call me a coward, but I was less than enthused about that particular plan. Even if, and I mean IF, we somehow break through the encirclement, what then? Would we be lucid enough to make our way back to the keep? Would our bodies even handle the injuries we would surely sustain while fighting like wild animals?

Fortunately I had a better idea.

“Sir, there may be something in this cave that can help us.”

Lucian looked curiously at me, obviously just as displeased about those berserk potions as I was.

“Right, there was another section to the cave. I can’t believe I forgot about that. So then, what is it?”

“A Gorilasaurus.”

“Pardon?”

“There’s a fully grown Gorillasaurus chained up like torture victim in the other side of the cave. And was still alive last I’ve seen it.”

Lucian’s face morphed through a variety of different emotions until it finally settled on a single one. Hope.

“Take me to see it! We may have found our way out of this conundrum.”