Marching came to a halt when it felt like the whole of Motholo was shaking beneath their feet. Half the soldiers fell over, and the others were only saved by the narrow tunnels. Following the world-shaking tremors was a cloud of dust that filled every tunnel.

  Yu started to help clear the air in the tunnel with her wind magic while the others found their footings.

  “Umm, Captain, what was that?” Zuls had a sliver of worry in her tone.

  “I have no idea. I’m guessing Synexus and Kumo refused to become a meal for our foes.”

  “That’s a hell of a way to say no.” Prith broke his silence with pure excitement burning in his eyes. “We need to hurry and join them or there won’t be any fighting left for us.”

  “I agree we do need to hurry, but caution is still a priority. For all we know, that was the Skinwalkers response to our friends.”

  “No. That was Synexus.” Gene said while looking deeper into the tunnel. “I believe we are getting close.”

  “How do you know it was Synexus?”

  “I felt fragments of his mana in the force we felt. Whatever caused that tremor originated from him.”

  “Alright. At least we know they are okay or were a few seconds ago. Let’s keep moving.”

  The royal guard captain caught up to them after brushing himself off.

  “You all go ahead. We will follow the trees and catch up. Something tells me your friends need you.”

  The party nodded and ran forward down the tunnel. Element and Zuls burrowed around the trees instead of cutting through them which was slightly faster. Whatever caused that shockwave made them worried and curious. They needed to get to their friends.

  ***

  Synexus and Kumo were hiding in their cave when the explosion detonated. A deafening noise was released along with a force that nearly blew them back up the tunnel to the surface. Their ears were ringing, and they had several cuts from debris that had made its way into the tunnel.

  The only way that they knew it worked was from the shrieks of pain and anger that rang out from the survivors of the Skinwalkers. There was no way of telling how many had survived without looking at the damage the explosion had done. For that to happen Kumo had to clear the thick cloud of dust filing the air and their lungs.

  She stumbled to the tunnel opening and activated Gale to blow the dust into the tunnels opposite of them. She nearly stopped when the damage became apparent.

  A tremendous hole that was double the size of the crater at the bottom of the room now made up the ceiling of the room. The crater was filled with jagged rocks and numerous types of ore. None of the half-formed Skinwalkers were visible, however, there was a thick black liquid flowing through the rocks like magma coming from a volcano.

  Hundreds of thousands of them had been crushed, and neither of them were going to count the notifications they received.

  Minutes after the explosion they saw movement in the rocks as a couple of half-crushed Skinwalkers climbed from the destruction. When they reached the surface and saw the destruction, more pained shrieks and screams escaped them. Their forms started shifting through countless humans, elves, dwarves, and animals as they screamed in sadness and fury. Synexus wasn’t concerned with a few, however, he was concerned when their screams were answered from the tunnels surrounding the cavern.

  “Synexus, what did you create? That was insane!”

  “I did not think the explosion would be that big. I miscalculated a bit. I hope the city didn’t feel that.”

  “Well, it sounds like more are coming. We need to check on the prisoners. My air cushion winked out as soon as I was blown away.”

  That shook Synexus into action and they made their way down to where the cage had been. A rock had clearly smashed it and there were wood pieces everywhere. Worry started to fill them until the rubble started shifting from beneath and several people emerged.

  “Are you all okay? I apologize. We tried to protect you, but the explosion was much bigger than expected.”

  “HA! Are you kidding? That was incredible!” A dwarf with a long red beard said.

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  “So, no one is hurt?”

  “I’m sure we have a few scratches, but nothing serious. We are all class chosen and miners at that. Our resources were being sucked from us, but when the explosion went off, it was like our strength returned. Not enough to use skills to completely evade the impact, but enough that we were able to minimize the damage. You two saved us! Incredible!”

  “Don’t look at me. That explosion was all him.”

  “Ah, don’t sell yourself short lass. We saw you use your wind magic to help us.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re alright. We need to get everyone out of the rubble and into a tunnel though. It sounds like more are coming.”

  “We can stay and help you fight. This infestation threatens our city. If left unchecked, they will rebuild.”

  “No, you have been through enough. Let us handle the stragglers. If you follow that tunnel there and follow the trail of trees, you should get back up to the surface.”

  “Alright, lad. I’d rather we fight, but I suppose a little rest would do us some good. We will direct some help down here when we get to the surface.”

  It took nearly twenty minutes to get the survivors into the tunnel and on their way. In that time several Skinwalkers ran into the room and started congregating with their brethren atop the wreckage of their nest.

  Once the last survivor was down the tunnel far enough to be out of sight, Synexus and Kumo turned back towards the stragglers. They were both tapping into their mana to launch another offensive when something strange happened from within the pit. It sounded like a deep heartbeat followed by another. It continued until one of the survivors inched close to the thick black liquid and touched it.

  To Synexus’ surprise it started to be absorbed into the Skinwalker. Then the other dozen survivors melted into black ooze and melded with the one drinking the dead.

  “What are they doing?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m not giving them the chance.”

  Immediately after Kumo finished her sentence she launched a barrage of cloud blades, but they hit an invisible forcefield harmlessly.

  She tried again with even more cloud blades and summoned a storm above. Even the lightning strikes were deflected. Whatever was protecting the creatures was powerful magic. That’s when a flash of purple made them look up.

  The teardrop-shaped stone was alive with mana and they knew it was the source of the protective barrier. All they could do was wait, which made Kumo’s blood boil. Synexus on the other hand took the time to properly inspect the stone.

  A Heart of Vlidask, the Illusion (Divine): This gem was crafted by Vlidask to give life to creatures of her domain. She imprinted knowledge of the Skin Walker mythos from the legends of old. Her magic runs through the heart and when at a certain threshold will give birth to another of her children. Deceit, trickery, and betrayal give her dormant mana the opportunity to replicate within the heart.

  Warning: If destroyed, Vlidask, the Illusion will be notified

  “Any chance you know who Vlidask, the Illusion is?”

  “Nope. Another Ullashtt maybe?”

  “No, the System normally says something about them being a fabled beast when it’s one of them. The rarity is also divine.”

  “Are you suggesting she’s some sort of god?”

  “I believe she thinks she is. This gem gives birth to the Skinwalkers, and it calls them her children.”

  “Can we destroy it?”

  “It says we can, but that she will be notified.”

  “Well, if it is protecting them then we should anyways.”

  “I’m not sure it will be that easy. You see that ring of magic surrounding the gem?”

  “Yes. What is it?”

  “Those will pathways are a powerful enchantment protecting the gem.”

  “Can you destroy the enchantment?”

  “I’m not sure. I believe that would be similar to blocking a skill which I’ve been looking into in order to reverse what was done to Yu.”

  “What if you overwrote it with different will pathways? Like an enchantment that blocks that enchantment.”

  “Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. The only way I could think of it working would be to burn a new will pathway into the existing one with my own mana that simply throws off the balance, so mana gets wasted, blocked, and then causes the enchantment to destroy itself.”

  “Do that then!”

  “I’m working on it. Each will pathway can be read like words in a book. I’m trying to find the perfect place to add an extra letter or word that would completely throw the enchantment off balance.”

  While Synexus was working on the enchantment, Kumo kept an eye on the Skinwalkers. The same one was still absorbing all the dead. It didn’t look like it was changing in any noticeable way, but she was sure that would change. She knew it was doing something, and that at this point it was a race against the clock or really a race between the Skinwalker and Synexus.

  Twenty minutes passed before Synexus came out of his meditation with good news.

  “I believe I have it. It’ll take some time though, so you’ll have to cover me while I gather the mana required.”

  “I’m not sure you will be getting that time.”

  He looked down at the lone Skinwalker. It was finally done absorbing the dead. There was no movement except for the vibrations of its limbs. Then its whole body started to convulse violently.

  “Is it dying?”

  “That is not how our luck works, Synexus.”

  Suddenly, its body started growing. Smaller bodies could be seen forming on the body.

  When it stopped it was a truly horrifying sight. A titan-sized Skinwalker formed from hundreds of thousands of bodies. Faces of humanoids, and animals alike met their gaze when looking at any part of the body. Synexus had even seen his face several times over. Kumo’s body could be seen in only a couple of places as well.

  Each face had a dead look in its eyes and drool was leaking from every open mouth. That same black ooze coated the monster and filled the two big eyes on its true face.

  Its mouth opened and the stench of dead and rot became unbearable. Then it shrieked and their eardrums almost burst. They had lost the race.