The Lost Chronicles Of Pangea: Apocalypse

When David woke up, it was like a gasp for breath. It was strange really, because he had felt himself waking up, and due to a sudden fear of paralysis or you could say an uncertain future of not being able to move, he shot up quickly from his sleeping position in a bid to prove to himself that he still had control over his body.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

He heard Lilith ask with a tone of voice that sent a wave of warmth through him. Of course David did not have a nightmare, but how could he tell her that he moved that way because he was scared his body was still weak.

"Um yes I had a nightmare, a very terrible nightmare. It was so, so scary I was afraid I couldn't move."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

David blinked his eyes, and looked at Lilith closely. Then he secretly pinched himself to make sure he was not sleeping. Lilith was not the sharing type, they had been in positions where they had to b.a.r.e their emotions to each other, but that was not her default setting. This woman was built like a vault, all of her emotions were kept in a water tight and airtight environment. So it was weird that she wanted to talk about his nightmares.

"I rather not, it was a really scary dream."

"Are you sure, talking to someone might help you get over it."

"Um no, I'm fine. It's okay."

"Alright then, 'sigh' it seems like you're back to normal, which is good. We're clearing out the tunnel with the undead. Minerva has gone ahead to scout out the other tunnels. So get some breakfast and put your game face on."

David nodded and got to his feet. He moved his body left, then right. He squatted down a few times, then did about a dozen push ups for good measure. Then he placed his hands on Vidi who was sleeping close by, he was able to get through to his feelings of hunger and horses. Wait what?, David looked perplexed at the thought going through Vidi's head, did someone feed him a horse, or did he eat one when no body was looking. Strange.

David could not have a bath, but at least he could wash his face, brush his teeth, and have a change of clothes since the battle suit they were given at the arena was now nothing more than rags for both him and Lilith. After he changed into new clothes, David took a deep breath, and his body suddenly became a little bit more heavier, he could move just as normal, but he felt as if there was a pressure on his skin.

His molecular restructuring abilities seem to be functioning fine, along with his guns and battle blades, it seems everything was okay.

"Everything seems to be fine with you, except of course your left eye."

David was horrified almost immediately when he heard those words from Lilith who was leaning against the tunnel wall in a nonchalant pose.

"What happened to my eye?"

"It's blue."

"Huh"

None of them had a mirror of any sort with them, so the only thing David could use to check his reflection was the pair of silver daggers he has not had a chance to use yet. And just like she said his eyes were blue, and not the blue that was normal and could be seen on normal people, it was a deep and dark blue that made his eye seem so eerie and scary.

He saw just as normally as he did, so which meant his eye color should he nothing more than just a reaction from when Veni was able to expel Ahmevid's mind controlling parasite from his body.

David recovered from it very quickly as he prepared for what could be said to be a dungeon dive, fascinating.

As soon as he was done David got on his hover bike and followed right behind Lilith as they got to the place where the tunnel branches into six different directions. Minerva was there was waiting for them, though she did not seem to have been waiting long. David moved his gaze to the first tunnel to the left and could not help but shiver at the thought of mass of corpses waiting for him at the end of that tunnel.

"It's good to see you're okay David. You're okay right?"

"Yes Minerva I'm fine."

"Cool."

And then they all lapsed into an awkward silence, it was suffocating really, and even more so when David had no idea what was causing it. He was sure it did not have anything to do with pseudo declaration of love last night, that did not count considering Minerva had to be the mouthpiece for both Lilith and himself, but even then that should not warrant this suddenly thick atmosphere of an awkward awkwardness (that doesn't even sound right).

David was about to say something like 'why did the chicken cross the street' or 'knock knock, who's there' just so that he could be saved from this situation he now found himself in. But thankfully Minerva saved the day, again.

"So the tunnels are actually a puzzle of sorts, at least that's what I think."

David was glad for the save, and so he hurriedly grasped onto it.

"What do you mean?"

"Well all six tunnels have different types of undead, and each of them from a different circle of necromancy spells. None of them are biologically made, so we can rule out any sort of virus, and over the entrance of the tunnels if you look hard enough, you will see series of wards and boundary circles etched onto them.

I'm not really conversant with wards since that's a branch of magic that's almost extinct. So I can't identify them, but I think their effects is to keep the magic of the undead contained within each individual tunnels. Which is why those undeads have been in the tunnels instead of roaming around the main tunnel we came from. Those wards keep them contained."

It was quite a lot of information to digest, but the very idea that each of these tunnels had scores of undead within their confines sent an eerie chill down David's spine. He really did not relish the thought of facing anymore dead body.

"You said the tunnels are a puzzle, how?"

Lilith asked with that look in her eyes, that spoke of how much she was currently concentrating and analyzing their current situation.

"From the first tunnel there's the first circle necromancer spell create Zombie, the second tunnel has the summon skeleton soldiers, which included and are not limited to archers, pike men, and ordinary cavalry soldiers with swords. The third tunnel is quite tricky since it's filled with skeleton mages, summoning them can't be exactly considered a third circle spell, but it's to strong to be a second circle spell. So its stuck between the second circle and the third circle.

The fourth tunnel is filled to the brim with draugrs, those leather skinned dead guys are faster, stronger, and smarter than your average zombie. They are also more durable than the skeletons and require a lot of Mana to control, hence why they're fourth circle spells. Their claws and teeth are poisoned, one scratch or bite from them, and you will become a zombie in under six hours if you don't receive the proper treatment on time. So I'm not really relishing the idea of fighting those things.

Tunnel number five is huge, like humongous, which makes it ironic because there are only five undead knights and their massive horses in there. I have no idea how to deal with those guys or what they're capable off, my memories about fifth circle necromancer spells are somewhat sketchy. And the final tunnel has one undead from the sixth circle necromancer spell, and it's the most dangerous. Lily, I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about."

David turned to look at Lilith who had her hand between her brows and had her eyes closed. She massaged her forehead with her fingers looking as if she had a headache, before she let out a whisper that would not have been heard in the tunnels were not so silent.

"A wraith."

David could not help the shudder that went through his body. Necromancer's were a known scourge on Pangea, they were feared and hated above any magical class that existed. And it was mostly because of a host of rather sinister spells and their love for the dead. One of those spells, was the creation, nurturing and summoning of a wraith.

Contrary to popular beliefs, not all necromancy undead spells ate about summoning. The first circle spell create Zombie was used on dead bodies, it needed a physical material to work, and corpses of dead people were more than enough. However the wraith spell is by far the most sinister spell to have ever existed on Pangea. For a wraith to be made, the necromancer had to torture, break and twist the mind of a pure soul.

So what they did was steal young kids from the age of seven to eleven, choosing them at the part of the lives that they're not tainted or affected by the world, when they were still innocent and happy. And then the necromancer would take months, some years at a stretch to torture and instill deep feelings of hatred, anger, despair and vengeance. Then the child would be placed in a magic circle and sent to whatever plane of existence the necromancer was summoning his undead from.

The process of sending that child there would mist definitely kill them, and it's not a pleasant experience as the children would be forced to feel pain the likes of which they have never experienced before. They will arrive in the plane as ghosts and vengeful spirits. And then over a period of time, which differs from soul to soul, the children's souls or spirits will get corrupted by the energies of the plane, becoming wraiths. And then the necromancer could summon them back into his servitude.

The exact powers of a wraith have not been properly doc.u.mented, as most people who tried to do so always ended up dead. But what was know, was that wraiths are immune to physical and psionic attacks.

The only thing that can damage them is light magic, or any sort of banishing magic. Wraiths could sick out the vitality, and souls of anybody they touch, and when they possess a person, there's a 99.99999999% chance that the person will go insane from terror, and dying not much long after. Wraiths are the omens of bad luck, and David really wanted to turn back and get the hell out of here. In that regard he had to tell this ladies that they were in too deep.

"We can't beat a wraith Lilith."

"No we can't, but we will deal with it once we get there. If we get there."

David opened his mouth to say something, but nothing could come out, at this point he truly emphasized the point of being stuck between the devil and the blue sea, or was it the other way around. They could not go back into the waiting fangs and claws of dozens if not hundreds of evolved monsters. Which meant the only thing they could do was go forward into the darkness and into waiting embrace of the worst of death's children. Today just seems to be all kinds of sunny, what could possibly go wrong.