Chapter 112: Chapter One Hundred Twelve

Callie looked mostly unamused at the question. "We go in obviously, before the fight attracts even more of these damned undead and we end up ass deep in a skeleton army." I snickered slightly. In her defense I had known that, there wasn't really another valid move after all this, but I felt like poking fun at her for checking in with us all the time, even if I did appreciate it. I knew from her smile she didn't take the ribbing too seriously though, and with her eyes still blazing a now fading emerald green from Jessie's ability she was more than up to leading the way.

Everyone gathered up in front of the door to the crypt. The entrance was, despite being ten feet if it was an inch, ludicrously small in comparison to the rest of the massive marble building. The iron double doors were thick and dark, with intricate scroll work displaying screaming faces and huge skeletal figures. It was literally the most morbid piece of decoration imaginable, and the pair of cold blue torches on either side of the doors were yet another chilling touch that made it clear how absurdly creepy this place was.

Luckily the doors were just normal iron. With our Might stats opening them was child's play. We could have ripped them out of the marble if need be, so we were able to open and close them quickly enough not to have to worry about the undead swarming us. Once we were inside, I expected to have to find some light, but sure enough, those same creepy blue torches flickered eerily down the length of a dimly lit marble corridor the split off just ahead of us in three different directions, all headed into the building at a downward angle.

With the door closed we were able to relax a bit and stare into the depths of the very large building. Sarah nodded unhappily. "Like I thought. This is the tip of the iceberg. We're standing at the peak of a massive underground complex." She bit her lip uncertainly. "I was really hoping it was just a few underground tunnels, but this is a full on complex, which means we're probably looking at real city of the dead. Maybe even a kingdom." She turned to Callie." This isn't going to a short trip. Is this really a good use of our time?"

My girlfriend sighed unhappily. "I think so. There are only a few death aligned materials on the list true, but if this place is that big the undead may have been collecting materials of their own. Even if we don't find the exact things we need, we can stumble on a treasure trove we could trade or sell. We might lose a few days or even a week down here, but in the long run this is going to be the best way to get ahead quickly. Solomon, can you find the right way for us to go to get deeper into this place?"

I'd been expecting that, and I triggered Seek Hidden. Finding the 'right way' was pretty amorphous, but since there were only three routes it was less of a strain than it could be. Despite that though, it was a strange experience searching for a path. A cloud of red mist drifted up off the marble floor down one hallway, hanging at about waist height to demonstrate where we should be heading. It was almost as difficult as straining the skill to show me two things at once to change the input like that, and I stumbled slightly before Callie caught me.

I gave her a nod of thanks and pointed down the hall that was marked. I relaxed my hold on the skill and managed to keep a faint tracery of red active. Letting it fade helped the strain a bit and after some rest I was able to continue. "That's the way. Can't see much besides general direction but that's where we need to head. Keep an eye out for any other undead we might come across, I won't be able to watch for them and pathfind at the same time."

Jessie's hand on my arm was accompanied by a rush of energy as she pushed life force into me, helping me get back into fighting shape from the initial drain. It was a nice pep in my step. We started forward down the tunnel, eyes peeled for wights or skeletons, or even new types of undead we'd never seen. The death knights were probably out because of the horses, though it was hard to say if they could walk around without them. I decided to ask Sarah, our resident expert on all things undead. "Hey, are those bone horses part of the death knights?"

She shook her head, clearly happy to have something to focus on other than the creepy marble hallway lined with ghostly torches. "No. They can walk normally, though the ones summoned as cavalry tend to be slightly stronger in exchange for the loss of their ability to dismount. We might run into some down here though, so we should keep an eye out. Bone archers are common in confined spaces like this too, and that's going to be a big problem if we come across it. Do you have some way of dealing with projectiles?"

I just pointed at Benny, who held up his arm triumphantly. Callie rolled her eyes. "Yes, we can shield, it's much more effective than using one of our party members limbs as a long term pincushion for foot long shafts of wood." She curled her fingers the shadows rose up off the floor, washing up in front of us in a sort of translucent dome. It was like looking through black glass, and I was shocked to see she'd mastered yet another use of her power when I wasn't looking. I was really starting to lag behind. I needed to get with the program.

We walked like that for about two hours before I needed to take a break. We decided to stop as a group in one of the few alcoves we had seen off the main hallway, stepping into the side room and slumping down in exhaustion. Well, mostly that was just me. Flexing my skill like that, even minimally, for hours, was exhausting. The others had pretty much just been walking around so they were fine, but it got pretty banal walking down the same stretch of corridor for that long so the change of scenery was nice.

You are reading story Wish upon the Stars at novel35.com

Jessie, angel of mercy that she was, came over to charge me up while we rested and I sighed with relief as my body flooded with life energy. With her this close, even through the mask, I was able to spot some tell tale signs I think I'd been ignoring until now. Given how busy everything had been, I hadn't been as focused on my team as I should have been. I put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you doing ok? You seem tired. If this is wiping you out you can say so, we don't need you to top us off every five minutes."

She gave me a small smile. "No. It's not that. I just haven't been sleeping well. My lifeforce comes from inside so I can't really energize myself by putting it back. I've just been having trouble getting rest. Even with Vitality like mine you need SOME sleep. It'll be fine though. I'm figuring it out." Despite her confident words, her tone sounded...off. Sad and beaten down.

I reached up to remove her hand from my chest where she was pumping in the energy. "Hey. Talk to me. I know it hasn't been that long since you lost your brother. No one expects you to pick up everyone's slack. You don't need to work so hard all the time." She looked surprised at that. "Please, like I haven't noticed how much you've been doing. Callie is the leader but I do pay attention. You've been working your ass off. I guess I just hadn't put it together how tiring that must be for you. I'll talk to the others, ask them to lay off a bit."

She grabbed my hand tightly. "Don't!" I tilted my head, the universal sign for being confused in a mask, and she let go of me, sighing. "I...I need to get stronger. I've been trying for a while now. At first it was to be useful, and because it helped take my mind off things, but now...I can't stop thinking about an idea I had. My powers...they let me give life to things that aren't alive, they heal and animate, and they're still so weak in the grand scheme of things. If they can do this now...then maybe-"

I swallowed as her question hit me like a speeding train. "Maybe you can use them to bring back your brother someday." It sounded crazy. Dead was dead. Everyone knew that. But...was it really? In a world where you could bend and break the fabric of reality was dead really dead? "I...want to try to talk you out of that. To convince you to move on. But I can't. Not really, not in the world we live in. So all I can say to you is that if you do manage it, and I believe you will, he would want you to be happy. To be safe and healthy. He wouldn't want to come back to find you a shell of yourself."

She bit her lip. "I know. You're right. But it's just...it's right there. Every time I close my eyes I see the next step. The training I could be doing. Relaxing feels wrong. Like I don't deserve it. It feels like I'm betraying his memory every time I stop to smell the roses so to speak. I have so much to do, so far to go before I can even think about fixing this, but I know if it was him here, he would move mountains to bring me back if he could."

I couldn't argue that. But I did dispute one point. "You still need to live your life. You can't just pour yourself completely into this. Have you even talked to Maria lately? I know how much you look forward to those talks." It was only now dawning on my how oblivious I'd been to my teammate's suffering while I was worrying about my own problems. Jessie had been hurting all this time and I hadn't seen a thing. Like her pain just magically went away for some reason. I felt like an asshole. "Plus you're acting like this is all on you. Like you're alone here. We're a team. Trust us to help, to have your back. If you can't get this done with your powers we can do it with mine."

Her eyes widened in realization. I had never actually considered a resurrection wish before, but it seemed like it...should be possible. Probably not anytime soon granted, but if trying helped Jessie realize she wasn't in this alone than I was all for it. She looked at me with a flicker of hope in her eyes, and seeing it there after not noticing its absence broke my heart a little. "I wish my brother was alive again." Her voice was rough, as if saying it out loud like that was almost too difficult for her to bear, but she did it anyway.