Introduction

Welcome back to Maledicturs Terra. This is a Chain Story between myself and @lex-zaiya, meaning that we each write the parts alternatively.

If you have not read Maledictus Terra Book 1: Mortis Custos yet, it starts HERE at Part 1 and ends at Part 101 HERE. At the end of the Part 101 post you will find links to all 101 Parts!

The previous part by @lex-zaiya can be found HERE.

Part 33

Sebastian growled. It was not in his nature to step back from a fight or a hardship. Yet he had the feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had no chance at affecting the outcome of the battle that the Wizard was about to take on.

There was a deep seated instinct within Sebastian that lay close to the hunger in his head. Something that could tell something about the danger he would be in. He looked in the direction that the Wizard was crashing through the woods on the shoulder of the massive Stone Giant.

One blast from the Wizard's magic or one blow from the Giants massive limbs would end him.

If there was one thing that Sebastian and the beast within his curse could agree on, it was that he wanted to survive. The Beast wished to continue feeding. While Sebastian wanted to continue living so he could... get better and fix the mistakes of his parents.

He turned and went back towards the camp. The wolf boy did not say anything. He did not look pleased but this feral creature also seemed to understand what would happen if he wouls join in on an unwelcome battle, even as a Dragon.

They were walking at first and then began to run.

They did not get far however until they encountered Mortis Custos and the Blaze Knights.

"What is going on over there?" Mortis demanded.

"We need to turn back." Sebastian said flatly.

Adiran said we must go to Adrain. Derric added.

Mortis half turned. "Is Adrian in danger?"

"Perhaps." Sebastian showed him the small pouch in his hand. "But I was told to give this to Adrian and that the boy would lead us to find Rhys."

"What about the Wizard? We could aid him!" The one Blaze Knight spoke up, the tall male knight. Sebastian did not know his name.

Adiran has placed a barrier of magic in the forest up to that point that we met him and told me I am not allowed to break it. The wolf boy said.

"He told you to not DARE." Sebastian corrected. "There is a good chance that trying to break it would have hurt you or just not worked at all." Sebastian turned back to the Revenant. "We must go to the boy and get out of here and follow the Prince. Adiran said something about buying us time against a foe that we are not ready to face."

Mortis was silent for all of five seconds and then he turned and headed towards their camp. "Let's honour the Wizard then. He's not prone to foolishness... without a reason."

The world was small under his feet from his vantage point. The colossus strode through the trees like little more than knee-high brush.

He could feel the pull of magic as that one was pushing his way through into this reality.

It was time.

Adiran readied his magic. He needed to start building layers of defence around himself and that of this mountain golem that he had constructed. It had an artificial body, yet within it lay a powerful souls that was connected to the world itself. Nameless and worldless, it obeyed him because it knew that what was at stake was the fabric of the reality in which they walked.

The one that was coming was a harbinger of unreality, the perversion of what was natural and pure here in this world.

The force ahead of him was in the next valley over. The barriers that Adiran had erected should stop it from getting through for a little while and would probably cause some damage as well.

It would cause damage on either side. he was so relieved that Derric had not attempted to break the barrier in Dragon form. The result might have killed the Princeling and the Clarpratian King at the same time.

At least he had a bit of sense in him this time.

Additional defenses had been wrought around his own body and around the body of the colossus. He now focussed on attack. He had already brought out that belt brace that circled his chest. It contained jars and pouches of items that he had enchanted and imbued with a variety of powers for many situations. He did not know what he would need this time.

After the previous encounters he had grown his arsenal of attack and defenses to include things he had seen and used and other his opponent had not seen. But the same was often true. It was how he thought after all.

The colossus strode easily into the next valley. He made it stop on the top of the crest of the valley. At the bottom of the valley, there was an unnatural red line spanning from the ground to a mile into the air.

Adiran hoped that the deep valley and the intervening mountains would obscure this sight from the others. Especially if Adrian was leading them away in the other direction.

It is time... again.

The red line seemed to carry an impossibly black edge to it. And then, suddenly the line became flat and it cut the landscape open like a sliding door opening to either side. The line had been a crack and now it opened. Beyond the silhouetted figure was a red maelstrom of flowing shapes. There were shards of blue and green crystals miles high like mountains in the background. It seemed completely unnatural and the colossus of the natural world growled in response.

A massive figure strode out into the natural sunlight even as Adiran prepared his offenses. As the massive form cleared the opening, the portal to the other dimension began to close. The sheer amount of energy needed to create such an opening was massive, he knew all too well how much energy it took to travel dimensions.

This usually put his adversary at a disadvantage, but he was rarely unprepared for an attack. Adiran would however, test those defenses while the other was busy with the portal.

He leveled a hand at the massive creature that had strode into the valley, a construction of sorts of magma, crystals and fluid components somehow suspended in the air making up various forms.

A beam of purple energy shot out from before his palm. It was powerful enough to blast a hole through a hillside and out the other end. He had been preparing it for the last minute.

As the bolt shot towards the unnatural construct, two tendrils reached out from the horrorscape beyond the doorway, even as it was nearly shut. These tendrils separated from the mass that they were connected to and began coiling around the beam before it hit the creature. They absorbed the energy and sped towards Adiran and his colossus.

He slammed one hand on the shoulder of the colossus and a massive crystalline blade sprouted from the giant's fist. It raised the blade and slashed at the tendrils. Still hundreds of yards from Adiran's body, the blade connected with the tendrils, causing them to solidify and shatter. The sword was created to undo unreality.

A laughter filled the air as the door to the other world closed. Low and menacing, the laughter seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.

Adiran could not see his opponent, but he knew that he was here.

Derric and Sebastian came to stop before Adrian as the first explosion rocked the ground, like an earthquake in the distance.

"What happened?" Adrian asked as he looked past the two feral creatures, Mortis and the Blazeknight were hurrying towards them.

"Adiran said to give you this." Sebastian handed a pouch to Adrian and he felt something hard inside. "Only you may touch to stone inside."

Adrian looked inside the pouch. A dark blue stone glinted at him from within the pouch. Casting its own light. An enchantment.

"What is it?" Sebastian asked.

Adrian looked up briefly at his Uncle. "A memory... probably."

He then reached inside the bag to touch the stone.

Over to you @lex-zaiya! You might come up with something amazing with this!

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Mortis Custos

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