Unbound

Okay. Okay, not so bad. You can handle one giant snake, Felix reassured himself. Pit?

Ready. Always. The tenku's feathers rustled, sounding like a hundred papers being shuffled.

Let's take it easy for a moment. Maybe we can avoid a fight, Felix sent. Pit rolled a dubious eye at his back, which Felix promptly ignored.

"Hi there," he said, voice echoing in the expansive chamber. Water streamed from pale Naga's face and neck as it jerked its huge head to look at him. "We're just traveling through, not intending to disturb you."

"Yet disssturb me you did," Jadorak hissed. It—he?—swayed slightly, sloshing water in surprisingly large waves. "Here, in the holiest of lakesss. My lake."

"Haestus is the name of a lake near the Ghreldan border," Zara whispered out of the corner of her mouth. "We are in the right place."

"Who speaksss, but not at me?" Jadorak shouted. Felix wasn't entirely sure how he was forming words with his snake-mouth, but they were perfectly clear if overly sibilant. "I claim dominion over these Halls of Stone. I alone am chosssen by the Godsss above, chosssen in might and purified by their very touch! NONE SHALL IGNORE ME!"

The Naga's voice ripped into the vaulted ceiling, loud enough that even Darius winced. Felix however, watched as light from some ancient source high above lit against Jadorak's scales, illuminating them with a pearlescent brilliance. Then his eyes fixed on the source, and realized it was a crystal fixed in the eye of a statue so massive he hadn't noticed its features in the gloom. Nymean features. He'd noticed the robed figures around the periphery, but not the three huge faces of stone carved into the apex of the chamber, nor the crystal clear gemstone that sat in one of their faces. Belais Crystal, but it's emptied of power.

"Ah, listen, man we're not trying to disrespect you, but you gotta give us a minute. You're coming on hot and heavy here," Felix said without thinking. He snapped his mouth shut, but the damage was done. Jadorak's red eyes flared and his Spirit roiled with a gleeful rage.

"Give me one reason why I should not devour your entire party, little whelp," the Naga hissed, dropping his face low enough that they could feel his hot breath. It smelled of rotten fish and blood. "Ssspeak one word awry, and I will not hesitate to end you, even before the Stone God'sss eye."

Stone God? He thinks that's a god? "We are traveling to the south and had to stop here by necessity. It was not our intention to disturb you or your...gods," Felix said. He wasn't worried about himself, not really, but what of the dozens that followed him? Would they survive an attack by the giant snake monster? He had no clue, and he wasn't interested in finding out. "If you let us pass, we'll gladly go on our way immediately."

"Go? You desssecrate our holy temple, lie to our god'sss chosen, and you wish to simply leave?" Jadorak laughed in the back of his throat. Around him, the waters sloshed and rippled as more Nagafolk rose from the dark depths, all of them dark blues and greens. "I do not care of your intentionsss. My people are not onesss to give up a meal, no matter how pretty they talk."

"Don't do this," Felix warned, feeling his two cores spin within him. The branches of his Vein of Divinity rustled and flexed. "It's not gonna go how you think."

"My brothers! To me!" Jadorak screamed, lunging at the same time.

Sovereign of Flesh!

In a burst of incandescent pain, Felix's fist and arm quadrupled in size, erupting in black scales even as his fist rocketed into the snapping jaws of the albino snake. The impact was an explosion, the force of it sending water hurtling away in a shockwave as Jadorak's entire skull was thrown back and into—through—a set of unattached columns.

"Jadorak! Halt!"

A new voice ripped across the vast chamber, this one far more Human sounding. Another Naga, but with the torso of a massively muscled humanoid and a face that approached something of the sort. He was covered in brown and tan scales, and slithered in atop the water as if it were dry land. "All supplicants are to be brought before the Deepking. You know this, child."

The huge albino serpent wrenched himself free of the tumbled architecture and fixed Felix with a gimlet eye. The scales along his jaw were broken and bleeding. "This one ssstruck me, Garox. I would have sssatisfaction!"

"You are denied," Garox the snakeman said, in a tone that brooked no argument. Jadorak clearly wanted to however, from the way he undulated toward Felix's team. "Jadorak. I shall not say it again. Leave us."

The white snake's red eyes burned bloody crimson, and hate boiled off him in waves that Felix needed no Affinity to sense. With a frustrated yowl, Jadorak dove back into the dark waters and was gone...as were the dozen or so Nagafolk that had joined him.

"That was new," Vess murmured in surprise. Her eyes tracked the ripples in the water where the Nagafolk had disappeared, hand on her partisan. "I have never witness your Body do such a thing."

"Not new, just haven't had the chance to test it yet," Felix said through deep, steady breaths. He'd shredded the sleeve of his Garment, which was now tugging at more of his Mana to repair itself. "And I don't think I'll get a chance here, either. Looks like diplomacy is still on the table."

Vess flashed him a grin, moving her gaze to the new, calmer enemy. "My favorite. He seems...reasonable."

Garox approached them slowly, both of his hands raised away from the curved blades at his waist. His snake body lashed at the water, moving across it in a winding manner that recalled any number of snakes Felix had encountered back home.

Voracious Eye.

Name: Garox, the Bladeless

Type: Spirit Naga

Level: 297

HP: 15495/15495

SP: 18772/19278

MP: 4569/4569

Lore: Nagafolk are extremely agile swimmers and have the Endurance of a creature an entire Tier above them, no matter their level. Aggressive, territorial, and cruel, these monstrosities kill by crushing their foes or by injecting them with a deadly venom. Garox has evolved beyond the base form of the Naga, to its most common secondary evolution: Spirit Naga. It sacrifices sheer mass for proficiency in Mana Skills, among other changes.

Strength: More Data Required

Weakness: More Data Required

Bladeless? Pit asked. He has two.

Felix sent back the mental equivalent of a shrug.

"Mortals," it said, halting only ten feet away; close enough that Felix could reach it, but its weapons could not reach Felix. Curious. "You are to come with me."

"Whoa, wait, why?" Evie said. She at least had the grace to flush when Zara and Harn both turned frustrated glares on her.

"I have heard your reasons for coming here, and perhaps you speak the truth," Garox said with a calm, measured tone. He sounded nothing like Jadorak, though his face wasn't exactly Human. Enough serpent remained through his jaw and nose that it made more than a few in Felix's company nervous. "But that is not for me to decide. That is the sole domain of my Lord. I shall bring you to him, as guests, to offer you the chance to bow before the Deepking."

"The Fiend don't bow to no one!" someone shouted from behind, and was just as quickly silenced by a whipcrack of air Mana.

Garox looked among them. "The Fiend..." a tongue tested the air and it oriented on Felix. "This is you?"

"Yeah, that's me," Felix admitted. He realized that was the first time he'd ever done so; he was thrilled. "This Deepking...he is Nagafolk, like you?"

"The Deepking is nothing like me," Garox said, and for the first time Felix felt something from his Spirit. It was pure, unadulterated devotion. It hit him with the same intensity as Jadorak's hate, unvarnished and raw. "He is above all but the Stone Gods themselves."

Felix desperately wanted to trade concerned gazes with Zara, but instead held Garox's own. He nodded. "Then let us meet your Lord. I would...like to exchange greetings, for ah, intruding." With Vess so close—no matter how he shuttered his Affinity—he would have felt the wave of approval from her Spirit regardless.

"Very good," Garox said, and Felix got the distinct impression that this Spirit Naga would have dragged them to his king no matter their answer. "Fiend. Allow me to escort you to my Liege Lord. If you would all follow me."

The Naga slid over the water, rippling it but otherwise leaving its depths undisturbed. Felix frowned. "Garox. I will need to use magic to get my people across. Is this acceptable?"

Garox looked behind them, at the arc of ice bridge still visible. He nodded. "This is allowed. But have a care. I would not have you wake my brethren below."

They all looked down into the black depths, most nervously. Pointed out, Felix could distinguish large shapes he'd taken for fallen columns, many of them dozens of feet in length or more. A stressed, mad giggle tried to force its way out of him but Felix shoved it down. "Of course," he said, evenly.

This time, instead of spending a bunch of Mana on a massive pathway, Felix set to work fashioning a set of ships for him and his people. Yet the Mana had barely unfurled from his channels when Zara placed a gentle hand on his wrist.

"What?" he asked.

"You do too much yourself," the Naiad murmured, low enough that few would hear.

"I can handle it. My Mana will regenerate before we get halfway across this chamber," Felix said.

"That's not the point, Felix. You devalue your people," she said. Her ice blue eyes flicked back toward the company behind them. "If you do everything for them, then what are they to think of their purpose? Why should they grow strong if you fight their battles for them?"

"What? I'm not, I'm just using my resources as wisely as I can," Felix protested.

"She is right," Vess said from his other side. She looked back at the Legion, Dawnguard, and Frost Giants, all of them watching Felix or the waters or Garox. "Leading is as much about delegation as it is taking responsibility for the welfare of others. They are your resources as well, and providing them a purpose, a task, especially in situations like this? It will hold them together."

"And hold them to you all the more," Zara said, flashing her sharp teeth.

Felix frowned. He could see the sense of it, had even been doing exactly that back in his Stronghold, if only because he literally couldn't do everything at once. Not that he hadn't wanted to..."Alright. Point taken. Battlelord Ari," he said.

"Yes, Autarch?"

"I will need your people's help," he said with a smile. The Battlelord's stoic expression never changed, but he nodded and listened as Felix described what he needed. All of them had the passive Mantle of the Long Night as he once had, which could generate ice in a field around them, but was entirely too broad for his current needs. However, over half also had access to some form of Rime Shaping. Together they built a large barge out of shaped ice and some tangled roots Felix grew from the mossy walls. The roots sank through the ice, reinforcing what was basically a big, flat rectangle with a railing around it.

All in all, it took them perhaps five minutes of concerted effort to fashion the barge, likely double the time it would have taken Felix alone. Yet the jangling notes of pleasure and approval from the Frost Giant's Spirits was enough to convince him he had done the right thing. Moreover, Ari himself had shaped the hull, adding far more of a draft to it. When Felix had asked why the shape mattered, the Battlelord had only muttered, "Stability."

He had left it at that.

As his team climbed aboard, the whole thing bobbed a bit but was so wide it accepted their weight easily. When the giants climbed up, it sank considerably, as when Felix and Pit had boarded, but the deep draft kept it from sinking too far. It felt steady and solid as a rock. Felix met Ari's eyes and nodded. "Stability."

The barest flash of white shone through the Battlelord's blue lips, easily mistaken for a grimace, unless you could hear someone's Spirit. Satisfaction and approval thrummed across the giant's emotions...and not just the giant's. Vess and Zara looked on, their Spirits almost a match before the Naiad clamped control over her own.

Felix strode to the prow while the Frost Giants moved to the sides, oars of shaped ice in their hands. Yet before they began to move forward, the water roiled before them. Two Naga rose from the depths, sending a spasm of fear through literally everyone; they were both giant serpents, though lesser in size than Jadorak. Garox gestured to them, a bit impatiently.

"These two will tow your vessel in our wake. Come." He turned and began winding across the chamber. "We will waste no more time."

Fashioning a set of vine-ropes from the bare hints of plant matter in the ship, Felix handed them over to the Nagafolk, both of which took them gently in their mouths before swimming forward. With a lurch, they were off.

"Oh, shit," Felix said, turning. He anchored his feet, even forming a quick Rime Shaping to hold him to the barge.

Adamant Discord!

A flash of blue-white lightning surged across the chamber, hitting the far doors and pulling, hard. The barge and the Naga both jerked to a sudden, hissing halt. Felix flared his Skill and yanked the heavy, warded doors shut with a muffled boom. The wards flared blue, sealing shut automatically. The two Naga looked at him, irritation clear on their snake faces.

"Sorry. Left the front door open. We're good now."

Confusion and annoyance swirled on both of the serpents, but they cast it aside. If they happened to jerk them all a little harder than necessary in their rush to catch up to Garox, then Felix didn't blame them, though one of the Legionnaires almost fell off.

"Can't have him touching that Gate," Felix muttered to the others.

"Wise," Atar said, eyeing the water and giant snakes. "I don't trust these things."

"They're big snake people," Evie said, leaning against the railing languidly. "What's not to trust?"

"Don't lean. Unless you want to fall in," Harn warned her. Evie stuck her tongue out at him, but she straightened up.

"So...we're going to meet a king," Alister said. "And none of us are dressed properly."

"A scandal," Evie said, lips quirking up. "We'll never show our faces in snake society again."

Alister nodded, sagely. "Mhm. Though in all seriousness, do we know the protocol for meeting a Nagafolk king? I haven't even heard of their monster Type, let alone knew they had royalty."

Felix looked to his Chanter mentor. "Zara?"

She shook her head. "Little is known, other than they claim dominion over many of the deeper bodies of water in the Ghreldan Hills. I did not know their kind were so organized, however, nor their claim of royalty. I can only surmise that one of their kind evolved beyond all the others and took control of this Temple. It would certainly appear attractive as a den, especially to creatures that are not known for building anything for themselves."

"The Deepking is strong, at least stronger than Garox," Felix said, working out what they knew. "Some of those serpents down there are huge, but Garox was smaller. So perhaps this king will be smaller still, more Human?"

"I do not know the evolutionary stages for their Type, and based on Garox's reverence, this Deepking could very well be something far from the norm," Zara said.

"You think you could take em?" Evie asked. "If we have to?"

Felix considered a moment, running down the details he knew. He even threw a quick Voracious Eye at their escorts. They proved far weaker than Jadorak, leveled in the high one hundreds. "I think so. My concern is for everyone else."

"They'll be fine," Evie said, waving her hand casually. "Probably."

Vess snorted, then blushed. "Should conflict erupt, we shall prioritize keeping them from harm so long as we can, Felix. You and Zara are by far the strongest individuals here and are better spent focusing on the larger threats."

"Hm," Harn grunted in agreement and Felix smiled.

They were led through chamber after chamber, all huge, all twisted and broken as if they had fallen a great distance. Yet, somehow, they endured as whole structures, and even exuded a palpable sense of power. Zara commented she could feel the water now, all around them. They had to be several hundred feet below the surface. That made Atar very uncomfortable, but honestly no one was happy about it. Pit least of all. The poor tenku's wings were sagging the longer they remained in the sunken ruins, and there was a steady thread of yuck, too much water, too wet, too low from him. Felix extended what comfort he could, if only emotionally.

In each chamber they traversed, Felix could sense more of the Naga. Many were resting on ledges, and more still were below the waters, coiled in great piles of scales and fangs. A nightmare, but one that was quiescent at the moment. He hoped. Felix couldn't feel much from the sleeping Naga, though the ones pulling him were clear as day, their Spirits unguarded and remarkably uncomplicated. Flitting emotions of pride and irritation, mild discomfort, even a thinly-veiled hunger when one of them caught sight of Felix's company.

Garox was different. From him came nothing but a calm certainty, his Spirit a placid well of tranquility so utterly unlike the naked hostility of Jadorak that it was like Garox was an entirely different species.

I suppose he is. A Spirit Naga, whatever that might mean.

While his allies spoke quietly among themselves, Felix made a point to study the Nagafolk. How they moved, their bodies, everything he could glean. According to the feel of his Voracious Eye, most they encountered hovered around Tier II, but there were still many, Garox included, who were Tier III. Tier III was the equivalent of a Journeymen combatant, and probably on the stronger side too. Monsters usually were, according to everyone he'd ever met. They also seemed as agile as their Lore suggested, but their scales weren't as dense on their bellies. If they were to fight, he surmised that he could conjure ice spikes up into their undersides, putting them out of commission in rapid order.

Yet again, Garox was another thing entirely. He may have only been Tier III—and that made him a match for most of his company—but he wasn't just a serpent. With humanoid arms and the weapons sheathed at his waist, he had all the deadly grace of the serpent form Nagas but with the added versatility of a bipedal warrior. He would require a substantial investment of power to defeat. Felix, Zara, or even Darius (maybe) could manage it without much issue, but it'd take them from the fight of the literal hundreds around them.

No. Fighting wasn't the way he wanted to get out of the sunken Temple. He could only hope the Deepking actually wanted to talk, and this wasn't a drawn out ruse to eat them.

At the end of a long, winding passage, they reached a wide set of doors made of an ivory material. Eyeing it, Felix was surprised to find it was bone, and made far more crudely than anything else they had seen. Garox moved in front of it, still atop the water, and traced his long-fingered hands across its surface. Sigils ignited sepia and dark blue in an array that lifted the bone door straight up into the ceiling, revealing a relatively small chamber fronted by another bone door. Garox gestured them to follow, and they proceeded to cram themselves into it. Once inside, the rear doors closed again and sealed.

"This is...unnerving," Alister said.

"Those sigils are just a sealing ward, to prevent entry or exit," Atar said. "But why have us all in here?"

At the far end, the bone doors flashed with light and slide upward, and suddenly the water roared and the barge bucked upward. Everything began moving far faster, and Felix had to clench onto the ice-railing to keep his footing. They drifted forward, faster and faster, until they hit the point where the doors had been...and the roaring and drop was made clear.

Below the river-like passage turned into a spiraling set of cascading rapids, set with fallen stones and roaring spray.

"Brace!" Harn and Darius shouted at once, and the barge dropped into the chaos.

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