He sprang to the first block. It held firm, the rune-light blooming around his boots and shutting out the furnace wind.
“Stay on my heels, one stone at a time. Whatever you do, don’t slip.” Flaxseed drew a steadying breath and followed, inching forward with the care of a man crossing glass.
A low roar drifted up from beneath the magma, something enormous rolling in the fire below and scraping at ancient nerves the way fingernails scrape old wood.
They were three stones from safety when a molten wave exploded upward. A creature clad in night-black scales burst from the lake, jaws yawning wide enough to swallow a cart, and lunged straight for Flaxseed.
“Heads up!” Jared yanked Flaxseed against his side, drew the Dragonslayer Sword, and chopped at the monster‘s skull.
Steel rang like a struck bell. The sword energy rebounded, the scales hadn’t even scratched. The beast roared, its tail snapping like an iron whip, shattering the stone beneath their feet and showering sparks into the air.
“A magma lizard…” Flaxseed recognized it in a single heartbeat. “The ancient records say it feeds on lava. Blades and fire do nothing to it!”
“Then we blind it,” Jared said, looking on the twin flames burning in the creature’s eyes. “Mr. Flaxseed, hold it with your charms, I’ll aim for the target that matters.”
Flaxseed snatched a handful of talisman paper, poured spiritual energy into each slip, and flicked them into the air.
Mid-flight, the slips blossomed into lattices of golden light that wrapped the magma lizard’s torso. The beast roared, ignited, and burned the mesh to ash, yet the brief restraint bought them a heartbeat.
Seizing that opening, Jared blurred forward like an arrow loosed from the string. Every drop of his strength gathered inside the Dragonslayer Sword, which flashed as a gilded arc and drove straight through the creature’s eye.
The blade struck true. The lizard screamed and thrashed across the lava pool, hurling molten rock skyward in a stinging red rain.
“Move!” Jared shouted. He yanked Flaxseed upright, vaulted to the far bank, and glanced back just as the lizard convulsed twice, slid beneath the lava, and disappeared.
Both men collapsed, gasping, their clothes pasted to their backs with cold sweat.
“Every step in this abyss is a deathtrap. Keep this up and the demons won’t need to kill us, we’ll die of exhaustion,” Flaxseed panted, wiping grime from his face.
Jared rose and studied the darker tunnel ahead.
“Once we cross that pool, we’ll reach the heart of the ruin. One last push…”
He then handed Flaxseed two restorative pills. “Take these. The road ahead will be worse…”
Flaxseed accepted them but paused, polishing the dust from the clan leader’s token. “With my forefathers’ legacy beside me, I feel invincible. No matter the danger, I’m seeing this through.”
Jared read the certainty in his friend’s eyes and nodded. The shameless rake of old was gone, in his place stood the true heir of the Flaxseed clan’s will.
After a short rest, they pressed on, following the tunnel’s winding spine.
The passage ended at a colossal stone gate. A snarling demon head sprawled across the slabs, its eyes glowing red and radiating palpable dread.
“This must be the entrance to the core area,” Flaxseed whispered.
Jared traced the relief with a frown. “A powerful aura surrounds this area. There must be a restriction guarding it.”
Flaxseed pressed the token against the gate.
Light from the token clashed with the demon’s crimson glare and hissed in the air. Stone trembled, the carved eyes blazed brighter, as though the head might tear free of the rock.
“No good… Even the token won’t open it,” Flaxseed said, withdrawing his hand. “The restriction was cast by demons, it repels my ancestors’ charms…”
