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As West Gondor was preparing for invasion, Michael was preparing for his own assault. Mongo was healed, everyone ate, and a short nap was taken so the healers could recover their magics. Zippy floated around and practiced moving and bracing the stone shards that circled it. Everyone was on edge; nerves crackling with anticipation and fear of what other unknown dangers awaited, like the Leapers.

It was only after their rest, and a brief snack after, that Michael took time to focus his magic and reach out once again to establish a wide net with the flows of earth all around. Countless numbers of skeletons and zombies roamed the tunnels, and now that he was looking specifically, he could spot dozens of the leapers interspersed throughout the mix. Focusing on the darker-than-dark feeling which he’d associated with Megan’s movements, yielded no results at this moment, but he did notice a strange disconnect with reality.

His magic told him there was a large stone deposit below the caverns and tunnels of the tombs – and yet, many tunnels led up to this solid stone mass and simply ended against it. Even more oddly, he could sense the dead walking the tunnels, and they would walk to the dead ends of the tunnels and then simply disappear. Or else the dead would simply appear from nothingness at the end of those tunnels. The only thing that made sense to Michael was that it had to be a magical ward of some sort which prevented his magic from probing into that area. Someone or something didn’t want anyone to know what was hidden within the darkness.

Which made Michael all the more certain that he wanted – even needed – to know what was there. With a firm destination in mind, the doors were flung open and Nature’s Wrath was unleashed upon the dead which had amassed outside. Waiting for Mono and Crystal to lead the way, the group was strongly moving forward once again.

Heading down the corridors, Michael kept sensing the earth all around them. The tunnels were like a maze, and simply finding and staying on the proper path was a challenge sometimes. When the dead began to get too close to the rear or sides, he’d lose track of the way by having to concentrate more of his power and focus into the battle itself. Nature’s Wrath pulsed forth, scattering stone fragments in bursts of power, powdering the skeletons which it impacted, and leaving holes riddled throughout the zombies.

Mongo strongly took the lead, and with his new armor turning away all attacks upon him, he quickly became a fearless striker and focused only on offense. Lashing out, he slashed, punched, and kicked his way into ever increasingly larger numbers of dead – often wading into a group of skeletons even before Heartblade’s aura destroyed them. Fearlessly rushing into the midst of the heaviest concentrations of opponents, Mongo paid no attention to the few zombies or skeletons which may escape to the side; those were left for Crystal to slice through and pick off as their attention was drawn to his back.

Zippy fluttered erratically left and right, sometimes wandering down tunnels on its own. The dead were drawn to the strong forced of life contained inside the inner orb of Zippy, and would lash out and try and devour the little creature whenever they got close enough – for all the good it did them! Zippy’s spears constantly rotated and spun around the small orb, and any arms or hands that tried to reach through his revolving wall were quickly broken and scattered, shattered into dozens of pieces.

Those that may have been lucky enough, or quick enough, to grab the orb through the rotating wall, fared no better. Moody and temperamental, Zippy didn’t like to be touched, except by a very select few such as Jess or Tiffany. When the dead managed to reach the central core, and touch Zippy directly, lightning flared out and the spears were pushed back and away with an incredible force, burning and shattering all the dead anywhere nearby.

Yet, for all his inherent curiosity and innate destructive power, Zippy always came running like a loyal dog to its master whenever Tiffany or Jess called out to it.

Which, left Michael free most of the time to focus on finding the best path, and to watch and try and guide the team away from any leapers which might be wandering the tunnels. It was only when the frontal assault was slowed down due to the sheer numbers of opponents, that he had to concentrate and work on keeping the rear and sides clear.

And thus, the group slowly descended ever deeper into the bowels of the earth. The tunnels slowly changed over time; from rough-hewn granite, to smooth black-polished stone covered in some kind of luminant polish. The light stones which the girls held aloft seemed to grow dimmer over time, as if the darkness was closing in around them, and Michael ended up having to take a moment to almost double the magical power inside them, and increase their output.

More and more often, dark-boned dead were appearing intermingled amongst the weaker skeletons and zombies, and the overall numbers of opponents were getting thicker with each passing moment. As they were nearing the edge of the “dead-end that didn’t end”, as Michael was now beginning to think of the spot, the number of leapers increased dramatically. “Guys,” Michael warned, “we’re going to have to face some more of the big nasties! They’ve been closing in on us as we’ve been approaching our target, and they’re going to be here soon. We need a defensible position.”

“And just where the hell do you suggest we find one of those?” Mongo yelled from his position at the front, strain and exhaustion obvious in his voice. “It’s been nothing but bone-heads, rot-faces, and black-asses for the last hour!”

“I think the next tunnel to your right is our best bet,” Michael yelled forward. “I believe it’s a dead end, and we’ll only have to deal with the dead from a single direction there!”

“Let’s hope so!” Gritting his teeth against the exhaustion, Mongo surged forward, hacking and slicing, starting to push forward as quickly as possible. Crystal moved up as close as the stragglers would allow her, so her blade’s aura would help weaken and destroy as many of the dead as possible, hopefully lightening Mongo’s heavy load.

“Zippy! Back here with me!” Michael called out to the little orb, and it deliberately ignored him, floating instead up towards Crystal.

“Zip! You get back there and listen to your Uncle Michael,” Tiffany called out reproachfully, causing the orb to flush a bright pink a moment, almost as if embarrassed or apologetic, and then it slowly drifted to the rear.

“Zippy, you’re going to have a really important role to fill for us, and it’s going to be up to you to help keep both your mothers safe once we rounf the next corner. Can you do it?”

Turning a bright blue, and then flashing a deep red, lightning arched off the spears and crackled along the walls as if the orb was showing off its determination.

“Good!” Michael couldn’t help but laugh lightly. For all its power, the little thing did seem to act almost childlike from time to time. “You stay back here with me then,” Michael commanded, “because the moment Mongo and Crystal start clearing down towards the dead end in the next tunnel, we’re going to go from being the rear guard to being the front line. If the dead get past you or me, they’ll end up hurting your mothers and making them cry!”

Lightning flashed out once again as she spears were pushed back from the inner core by Zippy’s anger, and then the little thing flew forward and crashed into the nearest group of dead. Fire flew, bones cracked and were shredded by the spears endless rotations, and the smell of rotten flesh burning filled the air.

Seizing the opportunity, Michael rushed forward past the two healers. Pulling in as much fire energy as he could in a moment, he unleashed Nature’s Wrath in a shotgun blast of flaming stone that hurtled past Mongo and blasted down the front tunnels. “NOW!” He screamed, pointing to the passage ahead and to the right. “While Zip has the rear, run!”

Fighting the natural impulse of the fragments to return to his staff, Michael instead forced them around the corner at high velocity, to help clear the way. Mongo surged forward, trampling or brushing past the dead, and ignoring them as much as possible, intent on his destination. Crystal rushed close behind, slicing or kicking any in her path. Michael paused so Jess and Tiffany could run past him again – it was his job to bring up the rear, after all.

Looking back, Zippy had the path behind them blocked completely. A leaper had caught up, much as Michael had expected it to, and the beast was trying to force itself past the little orb. Thunder echoed, spears arced back and forth, flung about by Zippy’s temper-tantrum, and fire and lightning was ricocheting wildly in all directions. The massive leaper was stopped dead in its tracks, and was slowly burning and melting away from the onslaught of raw power that Zippy was bombarding it with.

“Zip!” Michael screamed to get its attention, and then ran forward to the intersection. Mongo and Crystal was fighting forward, crushing their way towards the end of the passage – Michael was glad to see that this dead end was one that actually seemed to end, and wasn’t an opening to a different area which he wasn’t currently prepared for.

“Zip!” He yelled again, but the little orb was either ignoring him again, or lost in its own anger. Perhaps it couldn’t hear him? Whatever the reason, Michael couldn’t just leave it behind. It had to help protect this intersection, not the tunnel behind them! Growling in frustration, Michael zapped forth a ball of fire to get the little orb’s attention. Zippy simply absorbed it like a snack, without even seeming to notice.

“Fine then, dammit!” Turning his attention to the bone fragments scattered all around, Michael forced a gust of air to pick up and hurl a bleached white skull at Tiffany. Slamming into her back, she stumbled forward and cried out. “Yeeooaaaaa!” Instantly, the leaper exploded – along with half the tunnel behind them – and Zippy came hurtling up the tunnel, and rushing to check on its ‘Momma’. Flashes of blue, red, and yellow lights flared all around as Zip tried to express his concern and worry.

“They did it,” Michael said, trying to hide a smirk, as he pointed back at the dead now starting into the tunnel to try and destroy them against the wall at the dead end.

Bright red flared for a moment, before turning to a blazing white luminance, as Zippy rushed past him and back to the intersection. Fire and destruction rained all around, with the stone spears being shot like Odin’s Javelins up and down one tunnel after another. As quickly as they’d return, Zippy would catapult them forward again. Created in a storm of wild fire, Zippy was a creature of wild fire – and it was releasing a raging inferno of fire and destruction in every direction.

Those that would hurt its Momma, must perish!

Looking back to see that the fighting had stopped on the other side of the hall, Michael sat down to watch the fireworks. “Teeheehee!” He wasn’t an evil overlord at all…