Chapter 18

The Mineshaft

“Ahhhh…the Renegade. I almost forgot you existed,” Caleb said with a snicker. Inside the webbing, Meredith tried to move, but even with its creator vanquished, the sticky substance kept her glued to the wall, looking down at the proceedings. “Come to kill me, have you?”

Rico brandished his spear, holding it high at Caleb’s lopsided grin and suggestion. He gripped its end with a second hand. “You aren’t capable of much rational thought; else you’d have realized you’re still living.”

Caleb’s grin slipped off, the insult cutting into him. Cario whimpered, gazing up at his master, and backing up. Tempest Squad readied their own weapons for the battle brewing between Renegade and Beastmaster. With a spit, Caleb addressed Rico. “You’re all so alike…As if you know what’s better for the world…Think you know me. Just like that scum I once called parents, or a family.

“Tell me, Renegade, how much is your family worth, when they’re dead like dogs?!”

Caleb’s wicked leer stretched across his face, the freckles upon it twisting while his arms went out wide. A wave of black ash rose up, prompting Amelia to leap away from it before it could carry her. Tempest Squad were less lucky, already ankle-deep in it before they retreated along that first ring. Once outside of the mist, the aerosol took form, solidifying in the shape of many beasts that kept Tempest Squad from reaching the edge of the platform, or from interfering in the showdown. Amelia kept her cool, nodding to Rico when their eyes met. Rico twirled his spear around.

“You’re not listening, are you?” the man said, undaunted by the crazed expression Caleb wore. “I said I didn’t come here to kill you, beast. I’m here for more than just your soul.”

“You’re nothing against our mighty emissary! Our chosen one, guiding us to a future of glorious light! A world where we are all chosen by the great will that is the Reaper’s!” Caleb sounded even more insane than usual. More mist traveled from his body, a line of the same black dogs that Cario stemmed from creating a barrier between Rico and the Beastmaster. Meredith wondered if Caleb’s seeming composure the day he had been freed was all an act for himself, and if he was breaking now that they were close to the end.

Rico was silent at his ramblings, holding the spear as the dogs came close. With a single thrust, the snarling, malicious canines were impaled, disappearing into wisps of shadow. There was no anger on Rico’s face, but there was that solemn vow to his family, and he ran for Caleb. Amelia worked in tandem. Her arms were flung behind her, creating lances of wind that rained down on the Beastmaster. He snarled at her approach, and put his hand up high. A bird, similar to the one that had attacked them above, was manifested, taking the brunt of the attack to defend him.

The distraction allowed Rico to close the gap.

His spear snapped out, the blunt end striking Caleb in the side before Amelia twirled around to kick him in the face, driving him near the edge of the platform. Farther down the ring, Bruce was protecting the rest of Tempest Squad as they held back the wave of monsters coming for them. It was a tight situation, one made worse when Meredith started feeling that faint tug on her soul starting up again.

“O’ Living Blade, come forth!” Caleb cackled. The black mist appeared, becoming two blades, quivering with the power of life. They were creations that Meredith knew too well.

“Watch out, Rico! Those things will eat your spear!” she shouted. Next to her, Vivian had stuck a leg through a small gap in the webs. Her foot was slamming on it, attempting to bust the netting wide open to let them slip through. It was a good idea, and one that Meredith immediately adopted.

Careful to not hurt herself, Meredith looked to see that Rico had heeded her advice, backing off of Caleb’s assault. Amelia had, as well, resorting to her magic by forming an orb of wind and shooting it off. The Beastmaster took both blades and swung them down, chewing through the magical attack with a grin. His eyes were set on Amelia, whistling. Cario bounded for her, and she sent it flying off the edge with a flick of her wrist, the gale she’d stirred up pushing it out of her reach.

Rico pressed the distraction to slice at Caleb’s side. The Beastmaster grimaced and made a horizontal slash. This time, Rico had no choice but to block with both hands on his spear. The metal that comprised it instantly began to rust, forcing Rico to spin the weapon, breaking himself out of Caleb’s hold. Amelia jetted towards their enemy’s behind.

Meredith could see interference coming.

“Commander, from below!” she shouted. Amelia broke off her attack, and was able to recover while lightning surged through the metal of the platform. It twisted, distorted in a familiar form before the metal fist tried to hit Amelia on the jaw. She avoided it and negated the source of attack by shattering it with more of her wind lances. The perpetrator soon revealed themselves.

“Raymond…I was never expecting you to be so on the offensive against a former comrade,” she spat. Meredith worked her hand around, finding a way to grab at the web and pull. The more she did, she started to realize that her chest was constricted, making it harder to breathe or speak. She raised her voice, nonetheless.

“It’s not Ray! It’s-”

The smirk appeared wide on fake-Ray’s face. More of the platform was twisted, this time as a javelin that aimed to pierce Meredith and shut her up. It was an act which Amelia deemed as filthy. While Meredith connected her soul to Vivian’s, a shield expanding to block the strike, Amelia had clapped her own hands together and began drawing them apart. Between the palms was an orb, tiny at first, but growing. The sheer aura of the magic within it was on-par with all Marcus had exhibited, or even what Terrill had shown in his duel with the man.

“Hold yourselves down. No further warning.” She clapped together again, breaking the orb in two.

It started as a mild breeze, fluttering the robes of Tempest Squad and Caleb’s bowl-cut. Rico saw the threat before it grew, kicking away from Caleb to back himself against the edge of the shaft that was bordered by the wall. Caleb yet advanced on him, only to find his footing being lost. The windspeed had increased, turning to a harrowing gale and then a mighty hurricane.

Pieces of the platform that had grown even moderately weak snapped off, banging into some of Caleb’s beasts and forcing Tempest Squad to huddle together. Meredith felt some of the webs being ripped away from them, but not in their entirety, leaving only their top halves free. Fake-Ray was thrown backwards, unable to stay rooted before he hit Caleb and the two bounced along the platform, indenting the wall when they were slammed against it. They fell down, and fake-Ray’s form dissolved to the snarling face of Maria’s. Rico and Amelia approached the two.

“Of course, you’d rely on dirty tricks. I should have expected no less from the snake.” Amelia rolled her sleeves up, her hair lifting in its newfound menace. Her body glowed green, the wisps of air that threatened to choke Maria filling the upper ring of the mineshaft. “I hope you don’t mind, Rico, but I’m not showing mercy to your former comrade.”

“Mercy is for those that want it. I’m offering none to either, as well,” Rico confirmed, whipping his spear to his side. Caleb rubbed at his jaw, irked by the treatment he’d received. Maria dropped the scowl, starting to smirk in her usual fashion.

“All friends together, then, is it? When did you become so spineless, Rico?” Maria flicked her earring back, their infuriating jangling resounding inside the cave. Above, the dull roar of Caleb’s dragon and the rat-a-tat of the skyships’ fire echoed. Maria’s arm was wreathed with water, thrown out before she blitzed towards Amelia. She jabbed at her, cutting the commander’s cheek before Amelia retaliated with a wind-laced punch to the gut. “You were Rico the fearless! You were against the tyranny of the Corps and the Guardians, raging against the world that had done you wrong!”

The women collided, their fists meeting and pushing each other back. Meredith bent down, desperate to pull the bindings off of her. A cry from Emily took her attention away for a second, watching Tempest Squad attempt to make their way through the merciless tide.

“Now that he’s thrown his lot in with them, it would seem he’s become just like them,” Caleb said. His snicker was evident, and Meredith sought his form again, watching as it changed, the remainder of the black particles not belonging to a monster being summoned to him. Rico was on the defensive, wincing as Amelia and Maria traded blows. “Just another pawn, adrift against fate. Oh, how you wanted to kill me, but alas you did not succeed!”

Caleb stomped forward, the new heavy armor which he had adorned himself with causing the platform to rattle. Rico took his chances, jabbing his spear forward, only for the armor to shine purple and send him flying backwards. The Beastmaster’s laugh overtook the other sounds of battle. As Amelia sent Maria flying upwards, Rico stood. “Living armor, is it? That which protects its user by feeding on its lifeforce. How long do you think you can stand wearing it, Beastmaster?”

“For as long as it takes for our Reaper to craft his new world! You’d have to kill me to end this now!” Caleb took pleasure in it, believing he was needling Rico, reminding him of his failures. He wanted to drive Rico into madness that he wouldn’t come back from.

“But Rico won’t break…” Emil said. He and Vivian were almost free, though tangled up in the sticky strings. Meredith chose to pursue her own freedom. “He was lost, like we all were. Left behind by the Corps. But he still sought something better, even if it was full of rage. Now that he’s let go of that anger, and seen the clearer picture, I think he knows what he has to do, and that rage won’t let it happen.”

Caleb’s swords swung back and forth, each slash followed by a cackle. Each became successively higher pitched. “Come on, Renegade! Do as your creed says! Protect your family! Slay your foul Beastmaster! Or do you lack the strength? It’s typical of your kind, those not chosen by the goddess, as I was! Those not freed by her emissary. But don’t worry, you’ll become one with us soon.”

“One with you?” Rico said. His hand clenched on his spear, the rippling muscles of his arms visible. His ponytail lifted up with the indignation his soul felt. “I would never be one with you unless it was together in death!”

“There it is! The eyes of madness!” Caleb zoomed forward, right in Rico’s face as he swung his twin blades wildly. “You have no power here and must resort to your rage! No magic! No strength! Can you strike me down?! I want you to do it!”

Rico ducked, avoiding the razors, before his leg soared out to hit the one part of Caleb that was unprotected: his head. The Beastmaster stumbled back, his nose bleeding and looking all the more demented. Rico puffed his cheeks out. “Yes, you and Marcus are mad. I shudder to think the kind of world that would create. A world where my life is null and void. What is that but being forgotten if you don’t serve the greater whole?”

“How do you not understand, Rico?” Maria’s shouts came from the wall where she had landed. Amelia pounced for her, the woman barely avoiding the blow that broke stone. Whips of water entangled themselves within Maria’s hands, crashing upon Rico. He held his spear, allowing the stinging wash to break upon him. “You were left alone, never cared for by the Corps! We all were! Our suffering meant nothing if we weren’t just another part of the crowd! This fixes that! I know you can see that!”

Amelia had reached Maria in her tirade, a gust powering her kick while she soared into the woman’s back. The former Renegade was chucked down. Rico, recovering from Maria’s blistering waves, gave Caleb no quarter. He rushed him, slapping the butt of his spear into Caleb’s face before kicking him straight into his comrade. They collided, crumpling to the surface of the platform.

“Fixes? I see you only creating more problems,” Rico declared. Amelia landed atop the platform, approaching the pair of priests. “I dreamed of a world that looked after the lost ones. I dreamed of a time where we wouldn’t have to fear destruction. I lost myself in that vision, because I was so twisted up by my own pain, I couldn’t see the greater whole.”

“Marcus does see the greater whole,” Maria said. She sounded unhinged, her voice deep and guttural as she stood. Her limbs sagged, and her brown hair fell in front of her face with her earrings. “He picked us out of our horrors, taught us to be more. He led us, just as he leads the world.”

“And what happens when he loses sight? What of his sanity?” Rico shook his head. Amelia readied herself for another attack. “I don’t want to imagine that kind of world, Maria. Nor, I think, do you.”

“Then don’t imagine it, Rico. Die before that vision is revealed. You’re not worthy. Not chosen.” Maria drew herself to her full height. Immense magic power came from her body, gushing as a geyser around her entire figure. Meredith struggled to break free, getting one of her legs out. “I’m more than a shadow. We’re more than villains. We’re all saviors. Our magic was made to be for this moment, standing between you and Marcus.”

“Rico, move unless you want to be hurt!” Amelia shouted. She fired the orb of wind, its sheer surface ready to bowl over the pair of priests. At that moment, the geyser collapsed, a great wave rising up. It swallowed Amelia’s attack whole, washing over the platform. Rico defended himself, and Amelia crossed her arms before the tsunami hit. It threw them away, sweeping them up in the great tide.

“We will see this world reborn from our pain!”

Meredith saw it approaching, her mouth moving to shout a command to Vivian. There was no clue about whether she was successful, but as the tsunami broke against the wall, there was no pain on their end, just a cutting of the last threads around their legs. They fell.

As they dropped, Emil lightening the loads on their bodies, they saw Tempest Squad swept up in the flood with the other monsters that besieged them. Rico struck a wall, while Amelia was carried over the first rung, holding tight to the edge to prevent her fall. In the nexus of it were Maria and Caleb, the former wading through the water so she could stand over the commander.

“You underestimated our conviction, commander,” the woman said, her smirk contorting her otherwise beautiful features. “I was born a shadow and did nothing but steal, kill and lie to live. I stole magic. Helped him steal souls. But there were a few moments…those precious moments when one of my targets was near death, where my magic felt like more. I kept wanting that more, just like him. I wonder how it will feel to finally have your magic, when I string you up like a rag doll! Let’s find ou-”

Amelia’s hand had slipped, the water reducing itself to a trickle. Meredith could sense her commander’s soul slipping for a second, but not towards Marcus.

It was towards Rico.

His spear, imbued with wind, cut through the air to stick itself in Maria’s side. The woman screamed, her deluge coming to an end, and Caleb cried for his wounded comrade. Amelia pressed her advantage, flipping up and through the air until she thrust down to land a devastating kick upon Caleb’s head, driving him into the platform. The recovering groans from the two priests gave Meredith and her two friends enough time to land on the platform.

“Finally! I thought we’d never get out of that stuff!” Emil complained, still picking some of the webbing off his clothes.

“Yeah, super gross…”

Meredith bit back a chuckle at their whining, and grabbed for her blade.

The ground suddenly shook, sending everyone to the floor, including Tempest Squad, clear on the other side of the ring. Meredith’s knees hit the platform, the tingling shock going right up her spine, forcing her to grit her teeth. Something had gone terribly wrong, and she looked to Rico. They knew the same thing: Marcus.

“What’s going on, Mera?!” Emil shouted, gripping to Vivian before she shoved him off of her. Meredith focused her mind, her Soul Vision peering straight at the center of the shaft, where light was pulsing. She crawled forward a little, only to find a familiar dog snarling up at her, reforming within the black wisps. Screaming, Meredith backed up before the creature could bite her. Amelia appeared, blitzing to their side and punting Cario right into Caleb as the man attempted to stand.

“Childs, I think it’s time you about get a move on, what do you say?” She didn’t offer a hand, remaining ready to spring on the recovering priests before they could attack. Rico was up again, sharing in silent conversation with the commander as his body shifted towards Maria. The woman’s arms looked to have become water as she snarled.

“Marcus’s attempts to control the world’s soul may be successful, but it’s clear he’s ripping apart the planet to do it. Before long, this entire mineshaft may cave in,” Rico said. Meredith understood, drawing herself on her feet, and dragging the other two with her. “Stop him before then.”

“We’ll meet you down below as soon as we can, but you’re our ace in the hole. Marcus can’t take your soul without great harm to himself. Either way works in our favor.” Caleb was snarling now, glaring at Amelia for having hurt his precious companion twice over. His sword sprouted sudden wings, and with venomous alacrity, he tossed it. Amelia didn’t miss a beat, drawing her weapons at last and throwing them out with a wall of wind to rebuff the blade, knocking it back towards Caleb, where the sword ate at the armor. Amelia smirked. “We’ll be fine up here. Now, go, or risk everything we’ve done to this point being meaningless!”

Meredith wasn’t one to refute her commander.

She sprinted right for the edge, water still trickling off its surface and down to the depths. Her eyes flicked over to Tempest Squad battling off Caleb’s renewed monsters, doing their job of holding them back. That brief second away prevented her from seeing Maria disappear into water, teleporting in front of her.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

“Out of our way!” Meredith screamed, Vivian and Emil shouting alongside her. Emil was the first to fly forward, his punch missing as Maria multiplied herself. He soared through the copy, righting himself in the air before he could fall down the center. One of the copies began to ripple with water.

“You’re showing your hand, Maria!” Rico’s statement was followed by the man lunging forth on a wave of water. Maria dropped to her knee before her former comrade jabbed right into her side with his spear. She, too, acted, taking a knife out and stabbing it straight into his gut. “Are you so worried for your leader that you need to stop a few children? Are you so desperate to be saved?”

“Get…off!” Maria grunted. She withdrew the knife, grimacing as Rico pulled his spear out and blood pooled beneath her. No matter his wound, Rico punched her across the face, driving her away from the edge and back towards where Amelia was whirring with her blades.

“You’ll never be saved this way, Maria.” The woman screamed at him, her whips of waters beating down on his frame while he walked towards her slowly. Meredith kept running, nearly at the edge. “You’ll always wonder if there’s more. You’ll always wonder if there was something better, something different. Being part of one consciousness will not save you.

“You can only save yourself.”

Maria’s scream made Meredith smile. Hearing her own words said by the man who’d been so tortured they wouldn’t break through to him gave her hope. The souls could still be saved.

As she reached the edge, bending her legs to make that jump, Meredith turned back. Amelia’s weapon, rusted as it was becoming, had wrapped around Caleb’s blade, swinging it around to clash with the Beastmaster. Chunks of his living armor were taken off at a time, never regenerating. With Amelia’s wind power, Rico also drove his fist into Maria’s face, blasting her over to her wounded comrade with a cyclonic force. The path was clear.

The trio took the plunge and leapt off the edge, right for the depths of the world’s soul.

Leaving the din of battle behind, they fell, Emil’s magic taking hold of them while they did so. It slowed them a little, careful to not snap their necks on the fall. Water from Maria’s attack continued trickling down, but Caleb’s beasts were nowhere to be seen. The sounds of their allies colliding with the Order vanished, too. The shaft rocked with either their attacks or that of Marcus’s actions, and in Meredith’s peripheral vision, she could see pieces of the different levels starting to break off.

They’d made it past about two more levels deep when something clear, but very, very solid made itself apparent. Meredith fumbled in midair, grabbing to Emil’s arm and squeezing for him to ease up. Their bodies slowed and then were released, faceplanting them on the slab of ice separating them from the lower levels. Footsteps told Meredith they weren’t alone.

“Did you honestly think we’d let any survivors pass on through?” Cynthia’s steps came to an end, but the cricking crinkling of her ice expanding, raising her above them in the harsh lights, had just started. The cold seeped into Meredith’s skin and she looked up. All she received was an icy glare. “Freeze.”

Cynthia snapped, and the slab they were on started to grow, beginning to encase their legs. The woman was wasting no time, wanting them dead sooner than they could breathe her name. Meredith yanked her leg, bringing it out of the ice but feeling the strain brought on from previous trauma. Vivian was just as stuck as her.

Emil wasn’t.

“Sorry. Gravity Pull!” His cry was strained, giving his all. His hands rose up, and there were snaps and cracks while the chunk of ice was wrenched away from the current level they were on. It broke the supports, breaking half of the platform into a lopsided shape, barely hanging from the walls. Emil’s entire body started to look gaunt as it was wracked with the effort of lifting the ice, slow at first, but gaining in speed as it flew towards Cynthia.

He must have expected her response, for Cynthia waved her hand, and the ice broke apart, freeing them from its confines.

“Nice work, Emil. Octa-robus!” Their bodies glowed green from the enchantment. Meredith felt a heat pooling in her as she flailed about in midair. As soon as the enchantment was done, Meredith faced Cynthia, only to feel Vivian’s foot make contact with her chest.

“Viv, what the hell are you-?”

“Go.” She wasn’t receiving argument. She wasn’t inviting dissent. This was an order, silent and effective. Meredith knew what she and Emil intended to do. They weren’t wasting their last chance. “Kick his ass, Mera!”

Her kick held far more force than Meredith expected, aided by Emil’s gravity driving her. Before she could stop Vivian, floating above her, the force rippled through her chest and sent her flying down. Her two best friends moved further out of her sight, facing an opponent that far outclassed them, in a battle from which there was no return. She wanted to grant some of her soul to them, allowing them greater strength, but knew they wouldn’t accept it. They were buying her time and the chance to do what needed to be done. She just had to trust in them.

Not wishing to watch the ice that was set to impale them, Meredith twisted in her freefall to face the burrowing hole. More levels passed, the width growing smaller the deeper she went. The platforms almost vanished, becoming a more concrete, spiraling pathway, with smaller walkways in between that spanned their distance. Cables hung down in order to carry crates and carts of ore up to the surface, too, connected to an upper lift. For this, Meredith tried to swim through the air, latching on to one of them.

The rope burned at her hands, chafing them as their friction slowed her descent. Eventually, her body stopped, and she hung, a few floors above her ultimate destination, right in front of a center walkway. The outer rim was covered in shadow, cast by the light of the giant soul below her. She could see it so clearly here, that giant ball of light containing the amalgamation of souls, each one that had passed through their world. It covered up any others, obscuring them from her sight, magical or otherwise. It meant she was close.

It also meant she knew who was waiting for her.

Putting her weight into it, Meredith swung until she was able to deposit herself on the platform, turning her eyes to the shadows. Her hand found her blade, and expanded it without hesitation, waiting for him.

He didn’t take long to appear, his own sword drawn, a stoic and grim frown accompanying it. Meredith matched him, and her brother stepped on to the platform, standing in her way.