CHAPTER 90: FYRA, GODDESS OF FIRE, HEED MY CALL!

Liam blinks rapidly, his eyes struggling to adjust to the sudden pitch black that envelops him. Just a few meters ahead, an eerie green and purple glow begins to pulse, faint at first, then stronger.

There’s a silhouette of a woman standing in front of it, the glow outlining her figure like a strange backlight.

Slowly, the eerie glow expands and twists, forming into a six-meter-wide, twelve-meter-tall gate.

Arthur and Liam watch in frozen silence as the glowing arches take shape.

"That’s... a gate! There’s really a gate here!" Liam finally exclaims once he snaps out of his shock.

Arthur frowns. It’s good news, but also very bad news. If a gate is here, it could be the source of all the disappearances. But something still doesn’t sit right with him.

"Wait." He lifts a hand slightly. "Something doesn’t add up."

"What more proof do you need, Arthur? Everything she said so far is true!" Liam shoots back, annoyed. He thinks Arthur is still doubting Aldriana.

Arthur sighs. "That’s not what I was trying to say."

"So you trust her now?" Liam presses.

"For now, yes. Like you said, everything she said so far is true. So for now, I trust her." Arthur doesn’t hesitate to admit it.

Aldriana walks back toward them. The moment her hand leaves the gate, the pulsing stops, and darkness swallows the clearing again.

A single small light orb appears above their heads. Liam and Arthur blink hard, adjusting to the sudden shift in brightness.

"Tell me. What doesn’t add up?" Aldriana asks.

"Okay. First, the gate itself. It’s invisible? That has never happened before. Ever. Second, the glow. Gate symbols are usually one color, green, or blue, or purple. This one has two. Green and purple."

He takes a breath and continues. "Third. When a gate opens, the surroundings get pulled in. Humans, objects, anything. It stays open for a certain period, but that duration has never been consistent. No one knows what determines it. It seems random."

"Fourth: once a gate closes, it can never reopen unless the dungeon is cleared. Meaning the Dungeon Kin or Haelion King is dead. If the people trapped inside die before the dungeon is cleared..."

Arthur sighs, voice tightening. "The gate will open again."

He looks toward the faint outline of the gate. "It’s pulsing. Usually that means it’s open. And if it’s open, and Julian was inside... following the usual rules... it means... he’s... already—"

"Stop." Aldriana cuts him sharply. "Stop. Don’t go there."

Arthur falls silent, staring at her.

Liam gently pats his shoulder.

"Like you said, ’usually.’ And it’s obvious this gate is not ’usually.’ It’s not a normal gate. Agree?" Aldriana presses, trying to stop Arthur before he spirals.

He nods, but slowly, as if he’s not fully convinced.

"Arthur, I need you to stay focused on our mission. We’re here to rescue people. There are only three of us. We can’t afford to have you unfocused. We need you focused." Aldriana says it firmly, staring straight into his eyes.

Arthur nods again, this time with more certainty.

Liam hits him gently on the shoulder. "Hey, right now there’s only three of us. We need you, man."

Arthur nods a few more times. "Yes. Yes, both of you are right. I’m sorry."

"Don’t worry, it’s understandable. It’s always the hardest when it’s our own family," Liam says firmly. He knows that if Claudia were trapped inside, he’d lose it too.

"How do we know Julian is trapped inside or not?" Liam asks, trying to bring the focus back to the mission.

"We don’t," Arthur answers. "It’s only an educated guess. The signal from his watch stopped tracking him a few hours ago, and the last known location was around here."

He points his chin at Liam. "You read the lab’s report. You know that."

Liam nods. "Yes. You’re right. It was around here."

"Okay, then it’s safe to assume Julian is in there. Should we enter now? I’ll go check if it’s really open or not," Aldriana says.

She walks back to the gate without waiting for their response.

Arthur and Liam follow her.

Aldriana touches her palm to the invisible surface. The gate begins to pulse again, and the arch reappears.

"It’s open," she states. "But it’s not pulling anything in. Another anomaly." She looks at Arthur and Liam one by one. The message is clear. This dungeon is more dangerous than any they’ve ever seen. Possibly even more dangerous than the Beachwalk one.

All three nod together.

And they step into the dungeon.

------------------------------

"Julian! What do we do now?!" Maeve asks, panic clear in her voice.

"The Aegis is holding. It should hold," Julian says, but his voice wavers.

A horde of horse haelions has forced its way into the cave and is now slamming into the barrier he set up earlier.

The barrier is their last line of defense. If it breaks, Julian and Maeve are done. The horse haelions are smashing into it with everything they’ve got. They don’t care if they trample over each other. Dozens of hooves kick the barrier relentlessly, each hit shaking the air.

"It will hold," Julian says, half praying, half trying to convince himself, eyes locked on the barrier. But he’s not frozen in fear. His hands are already moving fast, preparing his heartstone rifle and the smaller sidearm.

After around five minutes of constant kicks and slams, the barrier begins to show hairline fractures. At first, it’s just a tiny crack. But the attacks keep coming, wave after wave, kick after kick, slam after slam.

The tiny fractures start to spread like wildfire, branching out in jagged lines.

"Julian!" Maeve screams in horror.

"Stand behind me," Julian says, voice tight but determined. He hands Maeve his smaller gun. "Use this. You don’t have a weapon. Just aim and shoot. But stay behind me."

The sound of the assault and the barrier cracking is deafening.

Julian’s grip tightens on his rifle. He lifts it, settling into shooting position. He looks through the scope a few times, then decides against it. He’ll shoot faster without it.

CRACK!

The Aegis finally shatters.

The haelions surge forward, galloping at full speed toward Julian and Maeve.

Zing! Zing! Zing!

Julian starts firing his rifle with deadly accuracy, each shot precise, each impact clean. But he can only take down a few. The haelions keep coming, pouring in like a stampede, unstoppable in their numbers.

Soon, their backs hit the cave wall, with the haelions closing in front of them.

Julian doesn’t give up. He keeps firing even though his spine is already pressed against rock. Maeve is beside him, firing her own weapon, refusing to stop. But strangely, she’s shooting with her left hand. Not her right.

She’s right-handed... right? Julian thinks.

He doesn’t know why his brain is noticing details like that when he’s literally seconds away from dying.

The haelions suddenly stop trampling. They halt about four to five meters away, forming a tight semi-circle. Shoulder to shoulder. No gaps. No escape.

They just stand there. Silent. Completely still.

"What are they doing?" Julian asks out loud.

Four haelions break away from the formation and trot forward before stopping at the front.

"What is this? Execution?" Julian asks again. No answer, just silence and heavy breathing.

It seems he’s right.

The four haelions rear up on their hind legs and strike down, trying to trample Julian and Maeve.

Julian fires and dives left, barely avoiding the hooves.

From the corner of his eye, he sees Maeve doing the same on her side.

Now both Julian and Maeve are fighting four haelions at once, trapped inside an "arena" of monsters. Every time Julian manages to kill one, another haelion immediately steps forward to replace its fallen comrade.

Humans are amazing creatures with amazing capabilities. When they are driven into a corner and their survival instincts take over, they can become the most annoying and hardest to kill creatures in existence.

That philosophy is exactly what’s happening with Julian and Maeve right now.

If twenty-four hours ago someone told Julian that he would be firing his rifle at massive horse haelions two times bigger than a regular horse, running around inside an arena made of those same monsters, beside an attractive ginger woman... Julian would’ve said that person was mad. Freaking mad.

But here he is, running, rolling, diving left and right while shooting, trying to take down the haelions. If even one of them manages to trample him, he’d be dead in seconds. And he’s been doing this for what feels like hours, when in reality it’s only been around fifteen minutes.

Julian keeps monitoring Maeve while trying to survive. She’s actually quicker than him, but her shots aren’t accurate. Julian ends up firing for her too.

Unfortunately, humans have limits. The same goes for Julian. His body starts to feel sluggish. His vision begins to blur. He’s sweating like a pig and needs to rehydrate. He rolls to his right side and lands on a sharp, large rock.

"Ugh!" He keels over, his forehead hitting the ground as his rifle slips from his hand. He ends up flat on his back, his right arm immediately covering his left abdomen where the rock struck him earlier.

When he looks at his palm, it’s smeared with blood.

"Julian!" Maeve screams.

He looks up and sees two massive hooves above him, about to crush his chest.

He gasps and shuts his eyes tight, bracing for death.

"Fyra, Goddess of Fire, heed my call.

Come forth and ignite.

Fyraball!"