1 Ymiden 720
Six statues remained on the isle of combat. Statues that seemed to peer into Balthazar's very soul as he looked at them. The statues of Moseke, Edasha, Qylios, Lisirra, Karem, and Chrien still stood. Ilaren, Treid, Faldrun, and Delroth's statues were destroyed. The pattern was impossible not to recognize by now. With each Immortal he killed, the statue of them crumbled... and with each statue that crumbled, the lock on the door at the far side of the shrine seemed to decay a little more. He didn't know when he had realized it, but Balthazar knew now why he had to finish the work. He knew why he needed to kill the rest of the Immortals. They were the guardians of whatever lurked behind the locked door... whatever was waiting for him there. Moseke was the next in line. Balthazar had heard little but good things about her in the waking world but it didn't matter here. No one was what they truly were in these cruel dreams. Delroth had been a fighter even though it fell outside of his domain. Who'd to say the Moseke Balthazar would kill was any different? Perhaps this one would be cruel.
So Balthazar reached out his hand and touched the pedestal her name was inscribed upon. The stone cracked beneath Balthazar's touch and roots began to slowly rise up from the ground, entrapping Balthazar's feet and slowly pulling him beneath the earth. Instinct screamed for the mage to fight back but there was a sense of calm that washed over him as well. Balthazar lowered his arms to his sides so that the vines would have an easier time of pulling him under and within a few trills, the earth had consumed Balthazar. All the remained was darkness. Darkness and the continuous downward pull. But to where?
Well... into the earth. Balthazar fell through the ceiling of what seemed to be an ancient ritual chamber. He landed on his feet and rolled forward, half expecting to be attacked but no immediate strike came when Balthazar came out of his roll. He looked around the vast, open chamber. At the center, the altar, vines seemed to stretch up and wrap around a chair, extending up passed it to almost form a tree- however the roots dug into the ceiling before any foliage could be seen. Sitting on the chair in solitude, was the Immortal herself; Moseke. She sat calmly with one leg folded over the other, relaxing in her chair while she molded a stone between her hands. In one moment it was the shape of a horse and in the next it was in the shape of Balthazar.
"We don't have to fight." Moseke addressed Balthazar with a calm voice and set the little figurine of the mage down beside her altar/throne.
"Do you know how to break the lock?" Balthazar asked, lowering his hands slightly from his defensive stance. Moseke seemed saddened by his words.
"There is nothing worth seeing beyond the lock. Life is precious. Life is beautiful. Don't go seeking the monsters in the dark, Balthazar. Leave this place. Give in. Enjoy your life. Don't seek death. It comes for us all."
"And it has come for you." Balthazar brought his hands back into a defensive position as Moseke stood from her chair.
"Oh, human... you're out of your depth." And with a wave of her hand, seven stone Balthazars rose from the ground around the mage. "Kill him." And the statues charged in. Balthazar was ready. The first clone threw a wild punch. It add all of Balthazar's shape and none of his skill. Balthazar blocked the swing with his forearm, the stone hurt but what Balthazar did to it likely hurt it more. A quick jab, right to the chest, that shattered the stone statue into rubble. The other statues seemed to hesitate at the sight of their ally destroyed with one bunch but then Moseke's command rang in their ears again. Kill him.
Six stone clones rushed in and Balthazar opened a portal beneath his feet. He fell down through it while the clones collided with each other in the middle and then his portal's egress formed beside Moseke and Balthazar shot out with his leg extended. Moseke had adopted a stone armor when the clones first rushed in but it was the shield she was making when Balthazar vanished that blocked his kick. With another thrust of his ether, the shield shattered as well. Balthazar landed on his feet and advanced on the Immortal who'd already conjured another shield. His arms lashed out in blinding speed, striking the shield twice but this time Moseke's shield held. Then suddenly a vine wrapped around Balthazar's left leg, trapping him while Moseke retreated and the stone clones returned.
Balthazar twisted, thrusting his fist towards the vine ensnaring his leg and shooting a stream of blue flames to burn the vine away. The fire reduced it to ash while dancing harmlessly around Balthazar's leg and he was free when the clones arrived. Balthazar caught a punch with his right hand and pulled the clone off-balance while stretching it's arm out. Then Balthazar chopped it with his left, breaking off the clone's arm before turning and shattering it against another of the stone copies who was sneaking up behind him. Three down, four to go.
Two attacked in tandem while the other two watched. Balthazar parried their strikes quickly. He was always able to move faster than them and when they went for kicks, his legs always rose to block them until suddenly vines ensnared his feet again. He took two stone knees to the stomach and then the clones tossed him onto his back. Balthazar's vision was blurred and he couldn't breath but he could feel his ether and the world around him. The clones were moving around, one on each side. One to stomp on his head and one to crush his chest. His legs were still bound to the floor and he could feel vines wrapping around his chest... but not his arms. He thrust his fists out towards where his spark told him the clones were and fire two gusts of wind so powerful they shattered the stone men against the ceiling of the cavern.
Then he hammered his fists against the floor, calling on the heat in his blood and all at once blue flames burst forth from his body, incinerating the vines. Balthazar rolled backwards to dodge the last two stone imitations as they charged and popped up to his feet. He was retreating backwards but it was a trap and the clones fell for it. The first to attack extended his arm to far and missed Balthazar entirely while opening up his midsection. Balthazar called on his mastery of the earth, summoning his ether into his fist before driving it into the statue's exposed midsection and shattering it. Only this time, the pieces hung in the air, sharpened, and flew into the other stone statue, shattering it as well.
Victorious. Oh wait- a stone arrow flew through Balthazar's shin and his eyes widened in agony. He dropped to a kneel and conjured a stone wall to block the other incoming arrows. He quickly broke off the arrowhead an pulled it out. Quickly, Balthazar. Quickly.
Balthazar turned out of his cover, flinging bolt after bolt of lightning towards Moseke, who'd armed herself with a bow and was firing arrow after arrow in return. She hit Balthazar's right side and his left shoulder. His bolt sailed right passed her, his second struck the ground in front of her, and his third struck her forehead. Moseke's head snapped backwards and a loud crack echoed through the chamber. Moseke's body slowly turned to stone and crumbled much like Balthazar crumbled against the floor in agony.
The ground beneath the mage began to tremble- no, not just beneath him. The whole cavern was shaking. Moseke was dead and her domain was falling apart. Large rocks began to fall from the ground and Balthazar crawled backwards to try and avoid them. Rocks crashed to his left and right and Balthazar could do little to avoid it. The arrows sticking out of him had already begun to decay, their master's power gone, but the damage was done. Balthazar crawled and dragged himself but the rocks fell faster and slowly consumed him.
Then he woke up.
