Chapter 25

Chapter 25 - LOT - [Unedited]

Jack fell more than leapt off a set of loose, sliding rocks as he descended the mountain, being careful with his steps. In his Slowed State he was able to control where his feet landed with ease, but even he couldn’t tell which rocks were secure and which weren’t. The mountain contained a mix of loose and solid stone.

The clatter of the stone golem’s running about had faded into the background. Jack had left them far behind, circling all the way around back to the place from where he had originally been teleported.

Jack caught his breath as he looked at the familiar valley. Besides the fact that it was missing around three dozen of its largest boulders, it looked identical, dull reds, grays, and blacks painting the ground. Several dozen of the large crimson trees dotted the valley. The sun beat down overhead, crawling past morning to afternoon. Jack had been running for so long he hadn’t even noticed the transition. The crimson sky in the Magma Lands kept everything lit to some degree, even at night.

As he returned to the first place he had been, Jack felt a very faint tugging sensation, one pulling him towards the valley from which the stone golems had risen .

Jack frowned as he saw this. He examined the valley for a few moments, scanning for enemies. After a couple seconds rest, he shrugged and walked forward, holding his sword at the ready, just in case.

As Jack descended into the valley, he felt sweat begin to form on his body despite the layer of Spirit protecting him. The heat inside the valley was greater than on the surrounding mountains.

The odd boulders and rocks crisscrossed the valley, leaving a trail of stone fragments. Jack could see a few well worn paths, the usual routes the stone golems took when they did… whatever it was they did. Jack was unsure if they counted as actual beasts.

Deeper and deeper into the valley Jack trekked. He passed a few of the large red trees, taking a moment to study them. Each tree had a very rough texture, unpleasant to hold. Jack tapped on one a few times, noting its impressive sturdiness.

Finally, Jack felt the tugging sensation reach a crescendo as he walked into a spot just to the left of the center of the valley. A place where a large, half buried boulder was just barely visible, sticking out of the ground.

Jack stopped just in front of the boulder, looking down. The tugging sensation was coming from directly inside the boulder.

Jack activated the Clan Leader’s Imprint in his soul, and watched with curious eyes as the boulder in front of him began to shift, a broken, chipped doorway forming before his very eyes.

..

..

“We’re almost there!” The middle-aged man called as he and his charges came within a mile of Jack’s location. They stood on the slope of the neighboring mountain, atop a small stone ledge. A faint layer of Spirit covered each man, protecting them from the sweltering heat. The man turned to face the blonde haired boy.

“You’re up, Liren. Take charge” His tone warm, but commanding, his eyes cool as he nodded.

“Yessir, Uncle Lee.” Liren bowed to his uncle before turning to his comrades.

“Bale you will be on my left, Evan you’re on my right. We will approach the mountain as we discussed, let’s fan out.” The young man’s voice carried a unique edge of authority, one that seemed to be infused with the Spirit energy he was covered by. The two muscular teenagers by his side instantly nodded and spread out, following Liren a few meters back.

“Let’s go!” The boys set off towards the mountain, while Liren’s uncle stayed behind, watching them go. After a few moments, the he turned from watching his charges leave, looking to the top of the mountain they were heading towards with a frown.

Abruptly his body shimmered and vanished, disappearing as if it had never been.

..

..

Jack pulled open the chipped door, feeling it tug slightly before releasing. As it creaked open, an awful tearing sound rang out. The door seemed to collapse in on itself, falling backwards into the chamber. Jack was left holding an aged wooden door handle, staring at the room in surprise.

Unlike the scarlet world outside, the space inside the Time Sealed chamber was made of pure, white stone. The doorway was at a bit of an angle, so Jack had to walk carefully as he stepped in, avoiding the wooden shambles of the now broken door.

As Jack took a full glance around the room, his eye opened wide.

“What?! This room… It’s too big?” He stuttered.

The boulder where the door was found was half submerged in the ground. Any regular chamber would only be a few meters wide at most, unable to stretch any farther.

The room Jack was looking at, however, was easily two dozen meters wide and long, with several desks and chairs, similar to the chamber he had found in the Spatial Gate room. The room was dimly lit, light creeping in from outside.

Jack took a few steps forward, scanning the room closely. He saw a few desks off to the side, and what looked like a cabinet full of paper, but nothing else of note. It appeared to be another office room of some kind, probably a basic one intended to help keep track of the various shipping routes the Space Clan engaged in.

As he was finishing his scan, however Jack saw something that caught his eye.

At the corner of one desk lay a small, red gem that was giving off a very faint light. This gem rested atop an aged sheet of paper, covered in strange markings that gave the crystal a unique edge.

He walked over to the desk, carefully picking up the gem. As he picked it up, he felt a slight warping feeling, as if the gem changed the space around his hand slightly. He had felt a similar feeling when picking up the various documents scattered about the room, a feeling he recognized as some type of preservation method. This one seemed slightly different, however, in a manner he couldn’t understand.

As Jack held it in his hand, he felt lightheaded for a brief moment. The world around him seemed to tremble, for a split second. Abruptly, everything became normal, as if nothing had occurred.

Jack stopped in confusion, looking around the room warily. A few tense moments of silence passed.

“That was… weird.” Jack muttered, pocketing the gem in his Space Sealed Pouch, next to the Spirit Crystals and two medicine pills he had left.

Jack continued to look around the room for a few more moments, looking through several of the papers. Most of them were exactly what he expected. Trade and shipping information, stored and scattered about.

One paper, however, was very different.

The paper the faintly glowing red gem had been resting on.

Dear Taraborn,

I apologize, my friend, I will not be able to attend our yearly meeting. I doubt we will meet at all in the future, but I hope this letter finds its way to you.

The attacks on our Clan have been brutal. The First Conclave has already fallen, as has the Second and Third. I have journeyed towards the Fourth Conclave in the Land of Fire in the hopes of escaping the Void trackers, but I have failed. If I head to the conclave now, the trackers will find it, and raze it too, along with our clan brothers.

I have been mortally wounded, and do not have long for this world, so I have decided to accept my death.

Five of the Seven Great Spatial Treasures have already been destroyed or captured by the Void, and the Corrupted Ones. Only the Space Rending Blade and the Spatial Gauntlets remain. I have managed to escape with the Spatial Gauntlets, while the Fifth Conclave still holds the Space Rending Blade.

I have decided to hide the Space Gauntlets deep within the Land of Fire, in the deepest depths of the Etherion Lake.

Thankfully, one of the survivors of the Time Clan, Dale Iyorn, has escaped with me. While his talent falls short of that of a Lord of Time, it is enough to help me seal the Space Gauntlets in Time, hidden away from the Void.

I have left behind this letter in the hopes that it will find its way to you, should our Space Clan rise again. To prevent the gauntlets from falling into the hands of someone by chance, I have removed one of the two Spatial Gems, and left them with this letter.

To the survival of our Clan, and of humanity,

Berrick Gwyntr

Jack’s eyes were wide as he read this letter. A feeling of loss washed over him as he realized the struggles that this letter represented, the terrible slaughter that happened so many years ago. He memorized the names mentioned, deciding that while these warriors had already fallen, their names at least would live on.

He looked at the gem in his Space Sealed Pouch, making sure it was secure. It seemed to be part of a very important treasure of the Space Clan.

At that exact moment, however, Jack spun around, looking out the entrance of the transport chamber.

Outside, somewhat in the distance, the sounds of combat began to ring out, and the shouts of other humans rang clear.

..

..

“Take this!” Bale, the one with the weak chin, yelled aloud as he leapt forward, directly bashing a stone golem in the chest. Small black spatial cracks appeared in the air with the impact, and the boulder like skin of the stone giant split apart, knocking it backwards, its chest slightly cracked.

Standing next to Bale were Evan, the teenager with the hooked nose, and Liren, the leader of the group. They were standing on the slope of the
mountain Jack had just been on, atop one of the many stone outcroppings.

A horde of stone golems were currently surrounding the trio, moving forward menacingly. The trio seemed supremely unconcerned, however, treating the stone giants with little worry.

“Nice one!” Evan yelled to his comrade, jumping up to clap Bale on the back. The two grinned at each other, and then looked at the other incoming golems.

“Bale, Evan, we’re going to punch through and move out of their range of sight, through the central valley. Our mission isn’t to kill these Crimson Golems, but to investigate the source of spatial distortions. Remember, no Spatial Manipulation.” Liren took charge, directing Bale and Even to his either side. The young warriors obeyed his orders, standing next to him.

“Let’s move forward!” Liren jumped off from the outcropping, a blue glow of Spirit covering his arms as he landed directly in front of a towering Crimson Golem. He snapped out with his right hand, landing a solid punch on the stone giant's chest.

*CRRRCCK*

The entire stone giant exploded into stone shards, small cracks in the air visible from Liren’s punch. Bale and Evan grinned as they saw this, jumping forward as well. They let loose their own blows, blasting back the stone golems that began to charge in.

With a few more small explosive punches, the trio burst through the stoney encirclement, and fled towards the inner valley, moving at a very fast pace. The Crimson Golems began to give chase from behind, but gradually lost sight of the trio.

A few hundred meters up the mountain, a large, red wolf with a glowing red gem set on its chest watched the trio escape the golems with curiosity, wagging its red and black streaked tail. The air around the wolf trembled for a moment and it abruptly vanished from sight, moving forward blurringly fast.