The Wandering Spire

Jeze feared that Eclipse would kill her, and her only hope was to keep the dragon talking. She felt so much rage coming from the beast. Would he even listen to me? Jeze wondered as she frantically searched for something to say.

"You made a promise," Jeze gasped out.

Eclipse chuckled. It sounded like the rumbling thunder of an approaching storm. His head snaked down to come within a few feet from Jeze's face. His lips pulled back into a snarl.

"Promise? Why would a dragon keep a promise to you? A human? You are insignificant," Eclipse hissed.

"What of my brother?" Jeze asked.

She needed to keep the dragon talking as she focused on the Affliction energy that filled the chamber with its red, greasy light and hovered above and around Eclipse. Ziplocke instructed her that the Affliction aspect, once Summoned, needed to be Shaped or Controlled, or it would inflict a curse on whoever was in contact with it. But why was the energy not dissipating? Jeze's eyes went wide with realization. It was Affliction energy native to this realm! It was much harder to Shape and control an Aspect that was not Summoned from another plane of existence. Native Aspects of the material plane were almost impossible to Control. That was how the curse was able to last for thousands of years! The ones who placed the curse on the dragons used a native Affliction aspect! What did that even look like? Jeze wondered as her heart sank. It would require a tremendous amount of Will to Shape, and that was not an option for survival. Jeze needed to buy more time as she searched for another way to escape this situation. Her question about Daverius gave the dragon a moment of pause.

"You respected him! I know it!" Jeze probed further.

“Respect?” Eclipse roared.

He pushed more weight on her, and Jeze grimaced with pain. Deep within her chest, her anger blossomed, and it started to burn away her fear. Viel betrayed her! Jeze glanced around the chamber and found another way she could survive. If only she could escape out the metal doors and into the Core Tunnels! Eclipse was too large and would be trapped within these two chambers.

"Your kind feared us! As you should, you puny, pathetic creatures! You trapped us in your pathetic forms with all of your emotions and feelings. You would never comprehend what it feels like to be a dragon trapped in such a weak body for thousands of years! Now that I'm free, I will take my revenge upon the humans!" Eclipse cried and he snaked his head closer to Jeze and hissed, "I will start with you."

The rage within Jeze's chest burst out. "You are a coward!" She cried.

Eclipse tilted his head and she felt the pressure release somewhat. Jeze took the moment to breathe but she was still trapped. The dragon chuckled.

"Coward?" He asked.

"I was coming to help you! Because I thought we were friends and instead you ambushed me," Jeze growled with fury in her eyes. The anger was real and she added, "That makes you a coward."

"Friends? How arrogant of you to think that you, you insignificant bug, could be friends with a dragon?" The chamber echoed with Eclipse's laughter.

"If I'm so insignificant, then why ambush me? Why betray me? Is it because you are afraid to fight me?" Jeze demanded. She would only get one chance at this.

The dragon's laughter subsided, and the beast glanced down at Jeze. A snarl appeared upon his reptilian lips, and his eyes narrowed.

"You dare insult me, so?" Eclipse hissed and he snaked his head higher. "Such arrogance to think that you can demand a duel? Very well, then. I was going to give you a quick death, but not now. You will suffer, Jeze Zanchi, for your insults," the dragon promised.

The dragon lifted his claw off Jeze's chest. This was it! She thought and sprung into action. Jeze drew her enchanted sword and plunged it into the palm of the dragon's rising hand. The sharp, magical blade pierced the scales easily as if they were flesh, and Eclipse roared in pain. Even as Jeze turned to sprint out of the chamber into the darkness beyond the steel doors, she saw the dragon's wound smoke and heal itself. There was no way she could ever hope to defeat Eclipse! But she didn't need to. The dragon couldn't fit through the large steel doors. Even if it could, it wouldn't fit into the corridors. Eclipse would be trapped inside the Core Tunnels forever.

"I should have known! Your kind are crafty and full of lies!" Eclipse roared.

The dragon slammed his claws to the ground in hopes of crushing Jeze, but she ran fast and dodged in between the attacks. Jeze barely escaped through the double steel doors just as Eclipse's giant maw snapped shut and missed her by inches. Without the Core, the dungeon was no longer powered, and Jeze found herself in darkness. With her hands, she scrambled into the chamber, felt the pillars, and hid behind them. The only light came from the greasy Affliction energy that still hovered in the other chamber. From beyond the doors she could make out the shadowy form of the immense dragon and its glowing red eyes as it glared out at her. She heard Eclipse chuckle.

"You think you have escaped me?" The dragon asked.

The red eyes disappeared, and a shadowy human form exited the chamber. Eclipse shaped shifted back into a human! But how? The curse was removed! Jeze frantically thought to herself.

"Surprised? The irony, right? The curse your kind bestowed upon me is now a blessing. You see, with my sister's heart, I can change shapes between both forms without restriction. Imagine that? I can blend in within your human cities and revert to my true form at will to wreak death and destruction!" Viel growled.

This was not him! Jeze realized. He didn't sound like Viel, or was it all an act? No, this had to be his sister's heart. The Hold Core! When Viel consumed it it must have filled him full of his sister's fury. Jeze couldn't believe that Viel could betray her in such a way. They adventurered for a short time, but they became friends. He was friends with Daveirus! Jeze couldn't believe any of this, but she needed to focus. Eclipse in human form was a more realistic fight for her, but still one she could not possibly win.

"Come out, Jeze, and face me! Isn't that what you wanted? I will fight you in human form, but I promise you this. Your death will be filled with pain!" Viel hissed in the darkness.

Jeze only had one hope to win this and that was with the red glowing Affliction energy within the other chamber. As Viel talked, Jeze wasted no time and tapped her Channeling tool. She shaped the Runes in the air with her fingers to Control the Affliction aspect.

"I can smell your fear!" Viel stated and added, "You can only hide for so long, but I will find you. I will also find your teammates. Maybe I might even pay a visit to your family. Where were they? Narcardia was it?"

Jeze ignored his taunts and gritted her teeth as she prepared her Will to touch the shimmering Affliction aspect. The strain she felt was enormous, and she nearly fell unconscious from the pain in her temples. Her nose bled, and her head throbbed. She felt like she was being crushed by a mountain as she tried to Control the native Affliction energy.

"I found you," Viel said as he drew his two-handed sword.

Jeze got a hold of the Affliction aspect and with shaking hands she formed the final glyphs in the air. A tendril of the red energy moved down and out through the double steel doors.

"What did you hope to achieve?" Viel asked.

He suddenly loomed before her. Jeze forgot how fast the man could move, but it didn't matter. With a flick of her finger, the red energy snaked its way into Viel's back. In the dim red glow from the Affliction energy, Jeze saw the man's eyes go wide.

"What?" Viel gasped as his body tensed as if he was shocked with immense electrical energy.

A cascade effect followed as all the red tendrils in the other chamber poured into Viel. The tall man spasmed and gagged. He fell to his knees and vomited up the Hold Core, and it rolled over toward Jeze. Viel continued to shake, and he fell to his side in a fetal position as his body was wracked with pain as more and more of the red energy entered his body. It was all one curse! Jeze realized.

"I just defeated a dragon," she said quietly to herself.

Jeze picked up the Hold Core and placed it in her pack. Viel stopped trembling and laid still. But he was still alive. How do I kill a dragon? Jeze wondered. I could stab him through the heart with my sword, she reflected. Or, I can chop off his head with my axe, Jeze thought. She readied her weapons and took one step before her body gave out, and she collapsed from exhaustion.

"Or, I could fall flat on my face," Jeze mumbled. She felt the cold stone of the floor pressed against her cheek.

Jeze had pushed her Will too far, and her body was shutting down. She tried hard to stay conscious, but it was a losing battle. Blackness consumed her, and she was drifting to sleep. Jeze was barely able to arch her neck slightly to see that Viel remained unmoving. The chamber was growing darker as the red, greasy energy continued to pour into the tall man's body. Maybe I didn't win, Jeze thought as the inky waters of unconsciousness consumed her. Especially if Viel wakes up first and kills me. That thought horrified her, and it was enough to hold back the dark waves of sleep.

“Jeze,” Viel rasped out. The chamber was now completely dark.

"Bugger off and die," was all she could mumble.

The tall man tiredly chuckled. "I'm sorry. I'm bloody sorry for that." Viel apologized.

Jeze couldn't hold back the rising tides any longer, and as she drifted off into unconsciousness, she briefly imagined Ziplocke laughing at her when she fell on her face. Jeze wondered how the Goblin and her teammates were doing.