Hope you like the chapter! Sorry for the delay. Felt like it was missing something last night and gave it another edit. Added 500 words to it and feeling much better about it now.
The first fragment they arrived in was a world of lava.
The gateway temple stood precariously atop a towering needle of soot-stained rock, rising like a spike from an endless ocean of molten fire. Lava churned below in slow, violent currents, glowing rivers of orange and red stretching to the horizon in every direction.
The heat struck them instantly, as did the noise. A constant roar coming from beneath them.
Hump flinched, raising an arm to shield his face as a wave of scorching air washed over him. It was suffocating, the kind of heat that pressed against the lungs and threatened to strip the moisture from his skin in seconds. The sharp stink of sulphur filled the air, thick enough to taste.
Before he could muster up a defence of his own, Heart of Frostfire erupted from Bud, encompassing them all. An icy blue sheen filled the air. The oppressive heat dulled slightly, though it lingered enough to feel like a threat.
“It’s too hot for me to hold this for long,” Bud shouted.
“I’ll find something,” Hump replied quickly.
He pulled open his spellbook, the pages stirring on their own, reacting to his need.
Heat ShieldWarding | Ritual | Tier 2 | Range: Short
A defensive spell that forms a thin barrier of controlled essence around the caster and nearby allies, regulating temperature and dispersing excess heat. The shield does not block fire directly, but instead reduces thermal transfer, allowing the wielder to endure extreme environments or sustained proximity to heat-based attacks.
Hump poured his essence into the runes on the page, using utilising Compact Formations to directly cast the spell from the book. A soft shimmer spread over everyone, forming a thin, barely visible barrier that dampened the worst of the heat. The difference was immediate. The air became survivable. Bud withdrew his blessing—no, not a blessing. His ability.
“That’s much better,” Celaine said. “How long can you sustain it?”
“A couple of hours I expect,” Hump said. “As long as we don’t move around much. A bit more with Dylan’s support. My book is doing most of the work.”
With that problem temporarily handled, they moved toward the edge of the temple.
Dylan took one look over the side and immediately stepped back, shaking his head.
“Nope. I’m staying in here,” he said. “The world is on fire.”
Hump ignored him, stepping closer to the edge. The sight below was hypnotic. Lava surged and cracked, waves of molten rock crashing against one another in slow, unstoppable motion.
Beside him, Nishari leaned forward with equal fascination, her eyes reflecting the glow of the magma.
“Don’t even think about jumping,” he told her.
She gazed up at him, a goofy grin on her face.
“How do you think the rock beneath us doesn’t collapse?” Celaine asked.
“Who cares?” Dylan said irritably. “Everyone back away from the fiery doom!”
Celaine glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow. “I thought you of all people would be interested. You usually love figuring this sort of thing out.”
“When it’s all that’s standing between us and falling into that?” Dylan gestured wildly at the lava below. “Not so much.”
“We better get started on the gateway then,” Emilia said. “I’ll go first. You and Bud should sit this one out.”
“I can help,” Bud offered.
“Better to keep you in reserve in case Hump needs a break,” Emilia said.
There was no grand marker here. Nothing to distinguish this fragment from the others they had passed through, beyond the obvious fact that the entire world was ablaze. Still, it was more alive than the empty stone wastes they had crossed before.
They didn’t stay there long.
***
The next fragment was uneventful. A desert plain with a night sky filled with stars. Hump appreciated the emptiness. They took their time getting their essence back and empowering the gateway for the next jump. While they waited, they trained.
Bud took the opportunity seriously. His new power demanded control, and for the first time since it had changed, his focus seemed to change. He experimented with the changes. The abilities themselves were largely the same, but there were some subtle differences. The purging, fear inspiring edge that once defined his power had faded. It was still there, but diminished. What remained felt more refined.
More Bud.
When he manifested his Wings of Frostfire, there was a clarity to it now. Steady and resolute. Less a force of righteous destruction and more like what he had always shown himself to be.
A knight.
An unbreakable bastion against the dark.
Chosen or Forsaken, it didn’t matter. His values hadn’t changed. Live with honour, protect those that need it, and purge evil where it lurked. That radiated from him stronger than ever.
Dylan, on the other hand, remained uncertain. He had yet to decide whether he would forsake Krioc’s blessing. She was not one of the Twelve, and unlike Bud, his connection to her had never been shaken. He had met her, and she had offered him strength in exchange for little. For now, that was enough.
Hump, on the other hand, didn’t have much to work on outside of trying to help Plague Zombie Tom and practice a few new spells. With enemies like Godfrey becoming a very certain threat that they might have to face, he needed a way to actually survive those battles. That meant both a better defence and offence.
For that, he focused on two things. First, his Shield spells were inadequate. It was simply impossible to reliably defend a large space against foes with such power. Instead, he found a Tier 5 variant that concentrated essence into a small area in front of his staff. In many ways, it was similar to Parry Shield, only it required far denser essence, to the point that it could only be sustained for a second or two at a time. Still, it might let him stop those golden spears of Godfrey’s.
As for his choice of offensive spell, he focused on the idea of dealing with foes that was both fast and sturdy. Essentially, he needed a way to both land a hit and ensure it was powerful enough to actually hurt them. For that, he combined the homing nature of Rock Missiles and the power of Titan’s Wrath, creating homing obsidian needles that could pierce magical defences by disrupting their intent, while being sharp enough to actually cause harm.
How effective it would prove, Hump would need to test to find out.
***
An ambush.
They arrived through the gateway, ready for a fight—and that was exactly what they found.
They had made four jumps without any trouble. Enough that they had all begun to wonder if they were being overly cautious in their slow approach to the gateways. It had crossed Hump’s mind that perhaps the Path to Heaven had been closed to everything, not just people.
That changed today.
They stepped through the portal to find demons already waiting.
The creatures clung to every surface of the gateway chamber like fleshy molluscs. They were deformed things. Most had no limbs at all, only mounds of flesh with too many eyes and a gaping mouth, dragging themselves forward as they slunk toward the group. Their bodies made wet, glooping sounds as they moved. They chittered and screeched, filling the chamber with grotesque, grating cries.
Hump didn’t need to say a word. Everyone pressed in around him as planned, tightening their formation, and he threw up a Fire Shield.
The blazing barrier roared into life, and those hungry, eager sounds turned instantly into shrieks of agony. Flames consumed the creatures as they hurled themselves against the barrier, their bodies bursting and collapsing into charred ruin.
The chamber filled with the stench of burning flesh and rot.
Hump’s stomach churned as the pain-fuelled howls echoed around them.
It took only seconds.
When the last of the creatures had burned away, all that remained were blackened heaps scattered across the floor.
Silence fell.
They stood there amid the smoke and stench, Hump maintaining a barrier to keep the worst of it at bay. Beyond the chamber, through the open doorway and whatever world lay outside, more distant cries echoed.
“They don’t sound friendly,” Bud said.
“We planned for this,” Emilia replied. “Nothing changes.”
They were at full strength and ready for a fight. While the rest of the group moved to defend the chamber, Dylan went to the essence stones at the rear.
“I’ll take first shift,” he said. “Shout if you need me.”
“We’ll check outside first,” Bud said, already moving toward the door. “Follow me.”
The temple door was no longer sealed by the Three Eyes. The runes had long since drained of power, leaving it open for anything to enter.
Outside, there was no sun.
Instead, a cracked sky glowed with raw magic, as if something beyond it was bleeding through. Mana storms drifted overhead, and pulsing clouds lit the world in flashes of blue, purple, and red.
Floating masses of stone hung suspended in the sky.
Strange growths covered the landscape—if they could even be called plants. They rose from the earth in jagged clusters, resembling crystalline fungi, yet their surfaces pulsed and shifted. Colours bled through them in slow waves, like essence beneath the skin.
The moment they stepped outsides, nearby vines stirred. They uncoiled from the surrounding growths, long and sinewy, their surfaces slick and almost wet in appearance. They drifted toward the group, tasting the air with thin tendrils before snapping forward without warning.
Bud cut them down without hesitation. His blade carved through the nearest vines in a sweep of Frostfire, severing them before they could reach the group. The cut ends writhed briefly before collapsing into stillness.
Whether it was the noise or the presence of essence, creatures nearby responded. The ground appeared to shift. Shadows moved. Hump sent light forward from his Osidium Ring illuminating hundreds of creatures.
They crawled on dozens of limbs, their long bodies rippling like centipedes, only their flesh was raw and slick, covered in coarse, spiked hair that bristled as they moved. One reached the edge of the group, its body coiled upward like a striking snake. Eyes opened along its length—dozens of them, blinking and focusing all at once. Its mouth split open at the front of its body, stretching far wider than it should have. Fangs lined the circular maw in tight rows.
Hump took aim. “Scorching Ray.”
A beam of searing heat lanced from his staff, punching straight through the creature and burning it from the inside out. It collapsed in a twitching heap.
The death only seemed to spur the others on.
It was a slaughter that followed. The demons of this world were nothing like those he’d become familiar with, even compared to the previous demonic fragment. These ones seemed more like insects. They didn’t seem to think and lacked the capability to project magical power. There was still some danger to them. Their bodies were enhanced, living off f essence. Their blood burned the ground like acid, and a few of them spat venom that would certainly cause some damage.
While they fought, they rotated shifts, taking turns to fuel the gateway. With them rushing, it didn’t take more than a couple of hours, but during that time they dealt with intermittent attacks constantly. They would deal with one pack, only for the scent of blood and sound of battle seemed to draw demons from all over the fragment.
Fortunately, everything had come at them from the ground. It seemed this world had no flyers, which made it all the stranger when Hump felt he was being watched once more.
He turned to face the sky.
There was a dark spot—a figure floating in the air.
It looked like a bird from so far away, but there was something way with the way it moved. It didn’t glide like a bird but instead hung there with deliberate stillness. A second passed and its position shifted, turning away and flying away.
“I think that thing is watching us,” Hump said.
Celaine didn’t answer. She loosed an arrow at the demon’s back. It dropped for a moment, only to flap its wings hard and regain altitude.
“Bring it down!” Bud shouted.
Celaine was already shooting more arrows. A volley of shadow arrows followed her own Eclipse Shot, silver and shadow spiralling through the air like the trail of a comet.
There was a burst of light. A barrier around the demon. The impact of the arrows sent it flying and then it was out of range, disappearing into the essence filled sky.
Before Hump could react, Nishari snarled and bolted forwards, launching herself into the air.
“Nisha, no!” Hump called, but she ignored him, giving chase.
Hump’s heart raced as she vanished into the sky, pursuing the creature. He willed her to turn back, but he felt her intent through their bond.
The hunt was on.
A moment later, she sent him a vision.
He saw through her eyes as she gained on the creature, closing the distance with terrifying speed. Closer and closer she drew until Hump could finally make it out.
Its wings were long and uneven, stretched too thin in places like those of a bat. It had two arms and two legs tipped with claws, horns curling from its head, and a vaguely humanoid face, but its lips were pulled far back, revealing rows of jagged teeth.
It turned and saw her, eyes widening.
Then Nishari struck.
They collided in midair. Hump felt it all. Pain. Exhilaration. The fury of the clash.
Fire flashed in the distance as they tore at each other, claws and teeth meeting in savage struggle. Locked together, they tumbled from the sky, twisting and coiling as they fought.
Then, with a final surge, Nishari overpowered it. She hurled the demon to the ground and bathed it in flame. The last image she sent him was of its corpse—a charred husk lying broken below. She stood over it, wings spread wide, triumphant.
When she returned, she landed before them proudly, a few jagged wounds marking her body. Dylan moved to her immediately, hands already glowing with healing essence.
“Nisha, you don’t go off like that,” Hump said, trying to sound stern. Then he sighed. “But… you did good.”
“She did do good,” Celaine said, “but you need to do good with the pack.”
Nishari lowered her head slightly, but through their bond Hump could feel her pride burning strong.
There was movement from Celaine. A sharp twang as she loosed another arrow into the sky. They all turned to follow its path, but Hump saw nothing but empty air and the shifting haze of the fragment above them.
“Damn it,” Celaine muttered. “There was another one.”
Nishari tensed instantly, wings spreading as she prepared to launch again.
This time Hump was ready. He reached out, grabbing hold of her and anchoring her in place. She strained against him for a moment, eager to give chase, but he held firm.
“No,” he commanded firmly, empowered by his intent.
It was enough for her to settle, albeit reluctantly.
“It got away,” Celaine added, lowering her bow.
“What do you think it wanted?” Bud asked, glancing up into the sky.
“It may have been drawn to the fight but intelligent enough to know it couldn’t take us,” Dylan suggested.
“I don’t think so,” Hump said. “This isn’t the first time I felt such eyes on me. Just before I stepped through the rift in the last demonic fragment, I sensed something watching me. I think that was a scout.”
A brief silence settled over the group.
“I can think of a few possibilities,” Emilia said. “Inhabitants of these fragments would naturally want information about the arrival of powerful figures. That seems obvious and not exactly a problem we need to deal with. Alternatively, our enemies may be looking for human travellers in the abyss.”
“It could be Karlac,” Celaine said. “That devil would have the resources to search for us, and he knows about the Book of Infinite Pages. He could be trying to reach us.”
“Either way, best we don’t stick around long.” Hump turned back toward the temple. “Let’s get this rift open and leave.”