Chapter 50: Hidden Bunker

Emerius moved over and cupped his hand over Charon’s mouth while whipping his head around, scanning for new threats. "Are you crazy? We have not yet escaped! Someone could hear you!" Charon bit the hand, causing Emerius to jerk it back with wide eyes. "My skeletons are dying! They know we are here!" Emerius’s eyes somehow grew wider. "Oh no..." They ran down the hallway, not stopping even as they began to hear heavy thumping beneath them. Turning corner after corner, they soon caught sight of the stairwell and sped down it. Arriving back on the first floor, they skidded to a stop as they saw dozens of Clayton men charging at them. At their head was a man much like one of the Panoplians, but far less sleek. Cracks and patches of rust ran up and down the mech suit, and long spikes extended from the shoulders. The wrist-mounted guns were strapped on with rope, jangling loudly as the man charged. Part of the helmet was removed, exposing long black hair and a single bloodshot eye. Thinking quickly, Charon grabbed Emerius and began to pull him further down the stairs, heading into what he assumed was the basement. They passed one landing, then another, as they went deeper and deeper below the palace. The heavy thumping continued above them as Charon understood they would be pursued. ’Shit! I hope we are far enough...’ With a thought, he ordered the skeleton he had left behind to enact his will. He felt the assent through their bond, followed by something akin to a goodbye. Something far above them cracked and broke. The staircase began to shake violently, and the duo lost their footing as they fell to the next landing, the sturdy wood breaking their fall. A wave of heat passed over them, dust and wood chips slamming into their back as the force of the explosion carried itself wherever it could. Charon pushed himself up before collapsing down, the loss of over twenty summons at once slamming into his psyche like a battering ram. Emerius recovered first, grabbing his friend’s shoulder and lifting him to his feet, the three surviving skeletons and their leader moving to help. "We need to get to the bottom! This entire thing may collapse!" Slowly regaining his bearings, Charon pulled himself away from Emerius and continued his descent without aid, preferring to fight through the mental anguish. ’I need to get used to it. If I want to have armies of thousands of undead, I need to know how to handle the loss of hundreds at a time. This is nothing compared to my future, compared to the legacy I will leave behind!’ His legs ached, both from all the running and climbing. It reminded him of his back, which also throbbed, but was more muted, despite being the worst of his injuries. ’I need to see a healer after this. The fight with the earth mage has to have left me with multiple issues.’ Although the staircase felt endless, it eventually had a bottom. Charon almost kissed the ground when they found it, if not for being distracted by the material the landing was made out of. ’Steel?’ It was a stark contrast to see it go from the brown wood of the stairs to the gray, shiny interior of the bottom, made all the stranger by the tunnel it was connected to. Dim lights hung from the roof, their bulbs flickering. Emerius was more perplexed than anything, running his hand along the metal as they walked. "This is reinforced steel. Perhaps they built a bunker for emergencies?" At the end of the corridor, they found a large round door with a ring of blue lights set into the center. Just in front of it was a raised terminal, already turned on. A series of words ran across the screen, blinking rapidly. Leaning down, Charon read it. [Press Enter to disengage lock.] Looking at the keyboard beneath it, he found the referenced key and pushed down. The ring of lights flashed green, and then the entire structure shook. Hydraulics activated, hissing as they retracted from the other side of the wall, pulling the door with them. Emerius’s frown deepened. "Something like this should not be down here. It may be wise to wait for the officers to arrive and inspect it. This could be what they were hoping to reclaim the town for." Charon ignored him, moving forward without a second thought. ’If the High Elders want it, then it must be valuable. It could make it easier for us to win the war, so we can get home. Both sides would win.’ He still intended to honor his deal with the Fort, helping to regain their lost memories by being their connection to the living world, but he would need every advantage he could get. ’I’d still be a hero. They would get what they want most. I’m just satiating my curiosity, that’s all.’ Inside the next room, everything was dark, except for another terminal sitting in the center of an open space. Looking up, Charon had the vague sense that something large was looming over him, but the shadows were too deep for him to tell. Emerius drew his swords with a ring, his expression hard. "There is a strong mana source here. This is dangerous, Charon. We should get out of here. I am sure we can climb out of whatever pit the explosion made." Charon sighed and tilted his head. "We have come this far, we might as well figure out why the High Elders want this place, right?" His friend didn’t respond. Instead, Emerius slowly began to turn around, scanning every angle he could. Shrugging, Charon approached the terminal and read the text on this one. [Select Feature] [Engage (Disabled)] [Repair (Disabled)] [Charge (Disabled] [Lights] Seeing that there was only one feature that was still enabled, and it was a useful one, Charon clicked on "Lights". Bright floodlights lit up the cavern, causing them both to cover their eyes. Once the spots vanished, Charon craned his neck back to peer upward, his breath catching. Metal scaffolding a dozen stories high was connected to a colossal frame. Two stocky legs with layered plates of an unknown alloy extended from a torso with a dim, lifeless core. Connected to the shoulders were two arms, one ending in a large cannon with eight barrels, and the other having been broken at the halfway point, wires and pieces of metal dangling in the air. The headpiece was also damaged, half of it sheared off in some unknown conflict. Emerius gasped somewhere behind him, his blades falling to the ground and clattering. ’A Colossus Machine.’ It was majestic, a creation of incredible intelligence and perfect engineering. The pinnacle of war. His robes pulled him forward, the Warden urging him onward. Obeying, Charon walked to the scaffolding and began to climb, his pains and aches gone when compared to the beauty of the machine he was standing before. He vaguely heard Emerius calling after him, but he couldn’t have cared less, his focus completely encapsulated by the Colossus. As he rose, he felt something building up inside him, calling him to reach out to the souls resting in his core. At first, he tried to ignore it, assuming it was nothing more than another distraction, but it refused to go away. The intensity increased the more he climbed, until it was screaming in his mind when he was face to face with the giant head. The Warden’s voice boomed in his thoughts. ’Touch.’ His robe wrapped tightly around him as he extended his bare hand, resting it on the cool metal of the Colossus’ chin. Charon’s eyes went wide, his mouth dropping in a scream as his blood began to boil inside him. His mana lurched forward, rocketing up his spine and roiling in his brain. It spun like a hurricane, condensing and refining itself until it burst forward, shooting from his eyes and spreading across the Colossus like a new skin. His vision changed, the world fading away as darkness overtook his world. Shadowy hands extended from all around him, clawing at his flesh. A ball of black mist, similar to the one he saw during his element trial, shot past him, brushing against his arm and changing his sight once more. The sands of the River Acheron were beneath his bare feet, the waves slowly lapping at his toes. The sun was setting, its light vanishing in the distance as the promised night took hold. A million weapons clanged together behind him, prompting him to turn around. An army as endless as the universe stood in ordered rows, each carrying a sword and shield. Their skeletal frames stared at him with reference, the fire in their eyes burning like a miniature sun. Great beasts of war stood just beyond them, undead dragons and dark phoenixes flapping their ancient wings in rhythm with the drums of war. Further back than even these were machines so tall they touched the clouds. Twisted and vile, their cores thrummed with purple energy that threatened to be unleashed whenever called upon. Weapons coated in terrifying tendrils and jagged spikes hung from their shoulders, dripping with fresh blood. What caught Charon’s attention the most was the feeling it all gave him. Not fear, nor respect, but something else entirely. Something he recognized. Pride in his creation. The visions vanished, and he stumbled back on the scaffolding as his world shifted. A chill set deep into his bones as he panted, his body so sore he felt like he would puke. Fighting the urge, he looked up and froze. Two purple orbs the size of cars stared back at him.