Chapter 705 - The First of Seven Temples

Talia stood at the head of the boat, her stomach twisting in knots as she saw Zeke disappear into the void.  She knew he would come out just fine, but still, she worried for his fate.  After all, he was on his way to challenge a greater god on his own turf.  That wouldn’t end painlessly. 

That was why her mission was so important.  So, she looked back at the kobolds who’d filed into the boat next to her.  There were two dozen of them, then many times more waiting for Iris to summon their conveyance.  Any second now, they’d set off.  From there, they’d descend through the void and onto the planet belonging to Simeon, God of the Sea, and attack the temples that maintained and enhanced his domain. 

A simple plan, at least on the surface of it – but one that could go wrong in a number of different ways.  Her eyes shifted from one kobold to the next.  They were the best rangers the tower had to offer.  Each one a well-established lesser god, they could hold their own in just about any situation. 

She knew they wouldn’t be enough.

Instead, they were only the tip of the spear, meant to establish a beachhead so that the rest of the army could land in relative peace.  Once there, they would batter the temple with sheer numbers until it crumbled before their collective might.

Meanwhile, six other armies – led by Silik, three of his generals, Pudge, and Tucker, respectively – would attack the other temples.  Seven targets, and they needed to fall virtually simultaneously.  No easy task, but Zeke was depending on their success.  Talia knew she wouldn’t be the weak link.  Even if it killed her, she would ensure that the temple fell. 

Iris gave the order, and five boats pushed off from the deck and into the void.  Talia felt it all around her, that oppressive power that threatened to strangle her very soul with each passing moment.  She ignored it, but not without difficulty.  It was always the same, too.  No matter how often she’d braved a trip through the void, it always felt the same sort of suffocating.

The kobolds felt it too, she was aware.  They were just good at hiding it.  So, the black-scaled creatures remained stoic as they parted the grey mist and plunged into the void itself.  Thankfully, their vessel was cloaked in the same stuff, which prevented them from seeing anything.  Talia suspected that if that hadn’t been the case, they all would have gone mad. 

Others had.

She had even met one once.  A lesser god who’d been on the verge of taking the next step, her mind completely gone.  She spent her days in the Nexus babbling gibberish under the protection of the Waymaster.  A cautionary tale meant to convey the consequences of stepping out of one’s lane.

Talia couldn’t help but think that she’d ignored that tale.  Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been on the verge of challenging a greater god in his own domain.  Even if it was by proxy, with Zeke standing between Simeon and her, it was still a bad idea.  Nobody else in the realm would have considered such an action.

Nobody but Zeke.

And that was why Talia loved him. 

She could admit that much, at least in her own head.  By comparison, if she’d dared to utter it aloud, she just knew that the illusion that something was possible between them would shatter into a million pieces.  And she’d rather live with the fantasy than have her hopes dashed so thoroughly. 

Her fist tightened as she pushed such frivolous thoughts to the back of her mind.  Talia knew they’d never go away.  They’d remained nestled there for decades, influencing her every action until she scarcely knew how to separate her own motivations from those associated with what she thought he’d want. 

In this case, she believed those two were one in the same. 

She remained silent as the vessel slid through the Void.  Any sound would risk discovery by the creatures who lived out there.  Fortunately, the trip was a short one, and before she could dwell on the situation for more than a few moments, they burst through into the planet’s atmosphere. 

That was when the first shockwave spread across the surface of the world.  Waves, tall and impossibly fast, raced across the seas below, washing over villages and submerging whole islands.  In the distance, Talia saw the origin precisely where she’d expected. 

It was Zeke and Simeon.  A primordial and a greater god, duking it out in a way that would level entire cities. 

She jerked her attention away when one of the kobolds shouted for her to look ahead.  She did so just in time to see a flying manta ray cutting through the air and heading in their direction.  The denizens of Simeon’s world – his worshippers – might’ve been ocean natives, but they could fly just as well as anyone.

Fortunately, so could Talia.

She leaped free of the vessel, then activated [Angel of Rot].  Wings of bone and rotting sinew leaped free of her back, holding her aloft.  Meanwhile, she used [Fingers of Death], and claws ripped free of her hands, extending from each finger.  Finaly, she activated [Form of Death], and she transformed into a hulking skeleton. 

She should have used all of those skills when she’d attacked Simeon, but she’d underestimated him.  After, she’d vowed to never make that mistake again.  So, in the form of a twenty-foot-tall skeleton with rotting wings, she swooped down on the manta ray.  Its flesh parted easily, sending its passengers – forty of them – plummeting toward the sea far below. 

Talia didn’t pursue. 

That was not her purpose.  Instead, she beat her wings and headed toward the first temple.  It was only forty miles from where they’d entered the atmosphere, and the vessel containing the kobolds followed close behind.  She reached it in minutes, then descended upon the island with single-minded fury.

The welcoming party had already been assembled.  Tens – perhaps even hundreds – of thousands of semi-aquatic lesser gods awaited, each one howling in a bloodfrenzy.  Talia ignored them, slamming into the ground and throwing hundreds aside with the impact. 

That’s when she activated the full suite of skills, each one adding grace and speed.  Then, she attacked.

The creatures never had a chance to fight back.  They could scarcely even perceive her.  With her sharp wings and even sharper claws, she ripped through them with deadly grace. 

She’d only been going for a few moments when the vessel landed, its keel biting into the sand as the kobolds leaped free.  In their own way, they were almost as deadly as Talia.  Not nearly as fast.  Nowhere close to as graceful.  But where they lacked in physical abilities, they more than made up for in sheer cooperation.  They struck as one, ripping into the lesser gods with unmatched teamwork.  Never did one set of claws tear into a foe.  Instead, hundreds found the mark, rendering the natives entirely incapable of defense.

Of course, there weren’t nearly enough kobolds to defeat the entirety of the opposing army.  Even Talia fell short of that capability.  However, for an initial salvo, it was more than sufficient. 

The kobolds appeared and disappeared at will, throwing the army into confusion.  Meanwhile, Talia struck fast, then retreated, only to come back from an entirely different direction.  The knowledge that if she stopped – even for a moment – she would be torn to shreds kept her going. 

Then, the other vessels began to arrive.  Four or five at first, then dozens.  Thousands of kobolds leaped free.  These weren’t the stealthy rangers, either.  This was the legion.  Armed and armored with the best gear the tower could produce, the hulking kobold legionnaires made even disciplined armies look lax by comparison.  They moved as one, unified in purpose and, to an outsider, seemingly of a singular mind as well.  They struck with glowing spears, searing through the amassed lesser gods. 

One-on-one, the kobolds were no match for their foes.

But no kobold was ever alone.  That was their strength.  That was how they had taken over the Eternal Realm.  And it was how they would do the same with the Ethereal Realm.  Simeon’s worshippers had no chance, and though the battle lasted more than two hours, the outcome was always inevitable.

Once the army was routed, Talia found herself strolling into the temple, where she found herself face-to-face with the most powerful foe she’d yet seen. 

Except for Simeon himself, of course, and the less she thought about that greater god, the better.  Zeke would deal with him in time.

The temple itself was a short, squat structure made of molded seashells.  And at its center floated an enormous ball of water, which stood floating only a few feet above a pedestal. 

Before that pedestal was one of the sea god’s followers.

Blue-skinned, with stripes across his rubbery chest, he carried a shield and a trident.  The tines of the weapon crackled with lightning. 

“You dare defile the Temple of Sundered Waves?!” he shouted, his voice oddly high-pitched.  “You will be punished!”

Then, he aimed his trident at Talia, shooting thick ropes of lightning in her direction.  But even before he’d managed to point the weapon in her direction, Talia was already gone. 

When the lightning cleared, the first wave of rangers hit him – not in melee, but with arrows fired from the short, recurved bows they carried on their backs.  None of the strikes carried much in the way of impact, but they hit hard enough to at least scratch the temple guardian. 

And that was the point, sending toxins coursing through him.  He stumbled, recovering his balance just in time for Talia to dart in and cut deep with an outstretched wing.  He wheeled around, trying to respond, but he was far too slow.

That was when the legion arrived.

The first wave slammed into him with their shields, throwing him backward into the closest wall.  It cracked under the impact, but it didn’t shatter entirely.  They pressed in, repeatedly ramming their spears into his body with machine-like precision – at least until he activated some skill that sent them skidding backward. 

The next flight of arrows hit him then.

Talia lanced in a second later, this time using her claws to rip a good portion of the meat from his hamstring.  He stumbled again, clearly off-balance.

But it was too slow.

Talia knew that they didn’t have time to stretch the fight out.  Elsewhere, everyone else was fighting to conquer their temples.  And she refused to be the one who lagged behind. 

In her mind, if she did, Zeke would know she wasn’t strong enough to keep up.  She couldn’t handle that.

So, she called for an increase in pace, and the cycle continued, albeit much faster than before.  That got a few legionnaires injured, and a couple of the rangers were incapable of dodging when the temple guardian finally mounted an attack.  More importantly, many of the rangers began to run dry of mana. 

But the rapidity of their attacks bore fruit, and by the time Talia stepped back, their foe was nothing more than ragged strips  of flesh.  His bones were exposed, his organs falling out of his torso, and his body covered in almost clear blood. 

He still stood, though.

Talia wasn’t going to let that go on for much longer.  So, she activated her most potent skill, [The Death of All Things], and a robe of pure midnight appeared around her.  She advanced, extending a single finger to the man. 

None of Talia’s other skills remained active.  That was the cost of [The Death of All Things].  It was too costly to use in conjunction with anything else.  Indeed, it could only remain active for a few precious seconds.  She moved so slowly that she was certain that she felt certain that he would avoid her extended finger.

But then, it grazed the guardian. 

Mana surged out of her in a torrent, slamming into her foe.  The skill was simple enough, though with its limitations, it was only useful in a handful of situations.  Against a weakened and nearly immobile foe, it was perfect.

The guardian fell, lifeless before he hit the ground.  Talia crumpled as well, every last drop of mana having left her body.  She knelt there for a long moment as she felt the kill energy enter her body.  Then, one of the kobold legionnaires lifted her to her feet, where she stood, wobbly and off-balance.

“Destroy it,” she said, raising one trembling arm to point at the roiling globe of water.  “Whatever it takes.”

She watched as they obeyed her orders, lances of pure light slamming into the ball of liquid and burning it to vapor.  Still, it took almost five minutes for them to finish the task.  Once they were done, the world shook, and Talia ordered a retreat just in time to escape the crumbling temple. 

With one last look back as she boarded the vessel that had brought them to the planet, she hoped that the others had been just as successful in their endeavors.

More than anything, though, she worried for Zeke.