Chapter 53: Hands Dirty
The leader of Charon’s skeletons crouched down to give his master a boost, pressing him over the edge so he could grab onto the dirt.
Emerius was already up there, scanning the perimeter with mild amusement.
"Those charge packs truly made a mess of things."
Holding his back, Charon looked up and saw they were in a huge crater. Pieces of wood and stone were strewn about, evidence of the palace that once sat in the center of town. A few buildings lingered on the side of the hole, tilting precariously as if uncertain whether to collapse or hold firm.
Multiple bony hands pulled themselves up from the starcase to join them, the wooden structure luckily remaining intact, at least to the point of reaching the surface.
Distant shouting slowly approached, but there was little in the way of combat noises. No laser zips, no streaking spells, and certainly no explosions.
’The battle should be over, then.’
Not wanting to be caught, the duo began to run up the side of the crater, using the direction of the staircase to head back the direction they had entered the palace from.
Scaling the cliffside, they sped down the streets as fast as they could, their injuries and tiredness making it far more difficult than expected. Charon barely even noticed when they passed the corpse of the earth mage, his mind lost in thought.
He was busy considering the implications of owning a Colossus, the power that rested in his soul.
’I’m a one-man army now, all I need to do is call it forth and have it wreak devastation.’
Rounding a corner, they came face to face with a detachment of mages. Their robes were torn and frayed, and blood dripped from their blades. The one at the front stepped forward, his eyes studying the duo up and down before he slowly lowered his sword.