Chương 119: Chapter 118- The Pulse

The cavern fell silent, the labored breathing of the men and women of the squad was only broken by the faint sounds dripping water in the distance and the low moans of a few cultists who were slowly succumbing to their injuries. As the final figures fell silent they glanced around the room, and a single unspoken question lingered on everyone's mind.

A flutter of wings came from above as Tia swooped low and, as she touched down beside him, asked the very same question with a characteristic bluntness that only Eli was able to enjoy. So did we get them in time? Elias chuckled, letting out a sigh and he dropped one hand to gently stroke her spine, as he spoke in an exhausted voice, " I'm not sure Tia, I hope we did, but I'm not the expert here. That flash at the end definitely didn't look good."

At his words every eye snapped to the center of the ritual circle where the bodies of the final suicidal cultists lay in a pool of their own blood. The crimson energy had faded somewhat, but was still visible and pulsing, even if the pulsing was no longer spreading beyond its current bounds. The group was still and silent as they all watched for any sign of further activation, but after a moment, the silence was broken by Astra." We will check it over in a moment. First things first, how is everyone?""

I saw more than a few injuries, and while I am sure you are running low Ms Farrier I would like you to do what you can for now." She gestured to the rest of the cavern and the bodies that surrounded them, " Once you have been cleared for further duty, secure the cavern and search the bodies for any hint of what their goals were with this… thing." Astrid started checking over the squad members, beginning with Astra first, as Cooper cleared his throat before speaking, " And if we find any survivors?

Want them held for questioning?" Astra's gaze grew hard as she grimaced, " A swift end. Better than any of these bastards deserve, but I would hardly trust anything they told us anyways." Glancing around, Elias caught sight of the still smoking figure of the Viscount and strode over to look down at the headless corpse for a moment, smirking as he remembered the brief moment of shock on the man's face as Astra shot him before he could even get his monologue going.

Probably not where you expected to end up today, eh buddy? If you're going to be an asshole you shouldn't be surprised when someone blasts you into next week. He crouched down and began patting down the man's clothes. The Viscount was wearing a rather nice three piece suit under his robes, with a few odds and ends in his pockets, a small pouch of coins, a small folding box containing a pen and a capped inkwell, a small set of keys, an ornate dagger sheathed on one hip, and so on. Jackpot.

When Eli's hand brushed over the front of the suit under the robe he found a small rectangle in one breast pocket, and when he fished it out he was greeted with the sight of a small notebook. Standing, Elias began thumbing through the pages, initially hopeful, but growing more disappointed by the moment. Mostly resource counts and creepy ramblings, like some kind of unhinged accountant.

I don't really have enough of a foothold in this world to know what's important, but hopefully someone else can make something of it. A familiar knot of emotions approached from behind with silent steps, and Eli turned. A smile was already growing on his face as Astra approached, stopping to stand beside him and look down at the body of the viscount. The ripple of affection that had been flowing through the tether during her approach dimmed, her emotions churning as she looked down at his corpse.

Eli was silently thankful the towering rage from before was absent, or at least diminished as melancholy, disappointment, and a half dozen other emotions simmered beneath the surface." Penny for your thoughts?" Astra looked up, " Hm?" She thought for a moment, before sweeping her gaze across the cavern with a sigh, " Just that this all seems such a massive waste, and one for little gain from what I can tell."

Eli nodded his agreement, giving her some time to gather her thoughts before he asked, " Are you going to be ok?" Her gaze jumped back to his, giving him a sharp look as she began to speak before pausing as he arched a brow in her direction before sending a quiet wave of understanding down the tether. Astra's gaze softened as she sighed, and thought silently for a moment before glancing back to meet his eyes, " I am not entirely certain, if I am being honest."

She continued, " I have never encountered something like this before, and unfortunately I do not have much time to dwell on it, but I hope so." She gave him a soft smile, " We were pretty great out there, were we not?" A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Eli grinned as he reached over and gave her hand a quick squeeze, " Hell yeah we were." Astra smiled before clearing her throat, " So. Did you find anything?"

Eli handed over the small book, " Not much in there that seems important to me, but I figured you might be able to puzzle something out." Astra took a quick look at the notebook, before kicking a small bucket upside down and dropping down on it to examine it further. Eli reached down to give Tia scratch behind her head as she whined. Brother please! You're getting blood all over my scales! He laughed and stripped one glove off before pulling out a rag to clean the back of head, crouching to check her over.

How about you, you ok? Yeah, there were too many ceiling-spikes so I couldn't get close enough, I barely did anything this time! Eli smiled at the slightly petulant tone, as he took a consoling tone with her. Tia… You do plenty already. You have plenty of time to grow big and do all the fighting your heart desires, you can leave it to me in the meantime. I know, I just don't like not being able to help. You can help plenty. How about this, you keep an eye on Astra while I check on the circle all right?

Astra has like a hundred guards she doesn't need any more. Eli laughed, yeah, but could a hundred guards ever measure up to one dragon? I don't think so… The ripple of amusement through their bond told Eli that she had seen through his flattery, but as the chitter translated to an amused huff she didn't seem to mind. Apparently neither did Astra as Tia crawled up into her lap and coiled herself up for a nap with the aloofness of a rather large dog who does not know it is no longer lap sized.

Astra glanced his way, and nodded as he sent a spike of curiosity through the tether and nodded towards the circle. A ripple of contentment drifted down the tether as she slowly stroked Tia's scales and slowly flipped through the small notebook. Eli clapped Taylor on the shoulder as he and Franklin passed the other way, taking up stations on either side of Astra, keeping an eye on the cavern as she worked.

The rest of the squad was spread throughout the cavern, picking through the bodies that littered the place, patting each down before moving on. Given how crazy the bastards had been so far, and not wanting to leave anything to chance, anyone not already sporting a polearm had picked up a spear and was poking holes in them at a distance before approaching. The only one who was not moving through the bodies was Sasha.

Eli found her crouched staring at the core of the ritual with a laser focus, and he angled over to join her. The center of the ritual was a bit misleading as the whole thing was dozens of feet wide, probably around a hundred total, but the center, the focus that they were rushing to complete was only a little shy of fifteen feet or so.

The outer rings were massive but there were whole swaths that were incomplete, runes still outlined in chalk or grooves that were still unfilled, a frightening amount had been completed, but with at least five to ten percent remaining unfinished Elias hoped that they had arrived in time. When he approached, Eli realized his initial estimate was wrong, Sasha wasn't looking at the ritual but at a single pebble, her eyes boring into it like her family was starving and it was the last elk in the herd.

He strode over, but she held up hand before he spoke, hushing him. He crouched to join her, looking at the rock for a moment, confused as to what the hell she was doing. After a moment she spoke, " I'm watching, just wait." Eli shrugged and sat, settling in cross legged next to her, about a minute later she swore." Well, shit." Eli arched a brow as he looked between her and the pebble." Did ya see that?"" Uh… No?"

Sasha rolled her eyes, grumbling about blind scholars who think they are hunters and grabbed another pebble. She waited for a moment until there was another of the faint pulses of crimson that emanated from the core, before pushing the pebble with one end of her bow until it sat at the exact spot where the pulse had stopped. The hairs on the back of Eli's neck rose as he grew uneasy by the implications of her actions, and after a minute a pulse spread out again, this time just a little further, maybe an inch."

Fuck." A shiver of dread ran down his spine, and he could feel Astra's attention on him as her and Tia started walking over to join them. Eli spoke to Sasha in a low voice, " How long has it been doing that?" Sasha gave him a meaningful glance, " Since the last cultist fell." Eli bolted to his feet, " And the speed?" Sasha grimaced as she rose to join him in standing, " Only an inch or two, but maybe farther, that's not the problem though." She leaned in, " It's getting faster.

Only a little, but every pulse comes a little sooner than the last. Pretty soon they won't be pulses anymore." Astra spoke up from behind Eli, " What's getting faster?" Her eyes dropped to the pebbles on the ground at the feet as a pulse drifted through the formation. She drew in a sharp breath as she took a step back. Astra froze as she stared at Sasha, " How long." Sasha shook her head, " I'm sorry my Lady I don't know for sure." Astra narrowed her eyes, " Ms Fletcher, I asked you a question.

I would be very surprised if you did not already puzzle out the answer." The rest of the squad began gathering around as they heard the raised voices. Astra asked once more, " Ms Fletcher, how long." She glanced around, " I'm not sure, it's just a guess." Astra rolled her eyes, " Come now, a guess from you is about as certain as the new dawn rising." Sasha winced, " About six hours, my Lady."" And if it keeps accelerating?"

"... Less."