The First Lich Lord

Chapter 29

Damien remained behind to secure the pyramid. With his ability to raise more troops, it would be an easy task for him now that the stronger monsters had fled. Ilore and I returned to the battleship and followed the fleeing dragon-ogres.

They wound around several floating islands and mountains before they approached a larger one looming above us. This one baffled me. It looked like an upside-down volcano in the process of erupting. Lava spewed out of the bottom and was pulled, from our perspective, upward, to then land on the island forming pools and rivers of lava. The dragon-ogres entered the mouth of a large cave near the base of the volcano.

Should we investigate? I asked.

We should, Ilore agreed. It would be a good idea to get a feel for what kind of monster well be fighting. Though I dont think we should go near that cave. Lets land as far away from it as possible and see what monsters confront us.

I agreed with her sentiment. Without Damien and a solid plan for engaging what was quite possibly a cave full of dragon-ogres, that would be a deadly encounter. We flew the battleship to the edge of the island, the hellish landscape floating above us. Unfortunately, it was impossible for our cannons mounted on the bottom of our converted island to target it, and the heavy fire based cannons mounted on top of the battleship would likely be ineffective.

Ilore and I flew up to the island. When we were about halfway between the battleship and the island, gravity changedwe suddenly found ourselves falling, and the battleship was now undoubtably above us. Fortunately, we had time to correct our flight paths, landing softly on the ashen soil.

The island was blisteringly hot, almost unbearable, and the air was dry. I was glad to be a skeleton. Ilore had taken a deep breath of air only to start coughing uncontrollably from the bone-dry air hitting her lungs.

The volcano at the center of the island was an imposing place.

I dont remember there being a volcano in my mindscape before, I pointed out. How is it here now? Different things appearing in the mindscape often represented different attributes of a persons psyche. So, a new feature such as a volcano was rather strange. Then again, I did have floating islands.

It is strange, Ilore agreed. Ive never heard of a mindscape having an active volcano. My guess is somewhere in your far future you will develop it. I cant even begin to determine what it represents. For now, all I know is that its a problem. This is clearly the home of one of the corrupted emotions and, Im getting a feeling it is a much more powerful one.

What happened to love being the most powerful emotion? I asked jokingly.

Whoever said that did not understand emotions, Ilore said. By that argument, hate is just as powerful as love. It all depends on the person though. Some people are full of rage, some have a deep seething angereverything here will be represented differently depending on the person.

I can see how that makes sense, I agreed, spotting a figure approaching.

It was a small flying lizard with blazing eyes, and it attacked without hesitation, unleashing a gout of blisteringly hot flames sprung from its small mouth. The attack wasnt particularly powerful, and I was able to dodge aside and rush in, cutting the lizard in half with a downward blow.

We continued to explore the area, coming across several other types of creatures.

I gotta be honest, I said, pushing an imp Id impaled off my blade. These creatures may be more dangerous, but I much prefer fighting them than those annoying blobs.

I agree, Ilore said. Her magic ensured easy kills with each beast we came across. Especially the faster creatures like this imp.

We found that as we pushed closer to the volcano, the creatures were rapidly becoming more powerful.

I think we should head back to the pyramid now. I glanced to the battleship. We learned what we needed to, and we should make adjustments to our battleship before we return. It would be nice for the cannons to be facing upward more to help fight these fiery devils.

That indeed would be nice, Ilore agreed. Though they wont be able to help when we enter the cave.

By the time we made it back to the pyramid, it was covered in undead under the control of Damien. Theyd also begun construction of a small fortification at the top of the pyramid.

Whatd you find? he asked.

A big, active volcano covered in firebase creatures, I said. Is everything secure here?

Mostly, Damien said. I just need to create an undead controller minion to keep the rest of the undead in line. With the number we have here, there should be very few things that can threaten it now. Tell me more about this volcano, you think an emotion is there?

Yeah, Ilore thinks its a pretty strong one, I said. We need to refit the battleship some so a few of our cannons point upward though. The island is above us, which makes it hard to fire down at it. In all honestly, this is something we should have thought about.

Youre right, Damien agreed. Well have to redistribute the cannons so some are facing up and some are facing down. Its strange we cant find a place where gravity isnt all messed up.

Just imagine if we ever reconnect the mindscape and somebody tries to invade, I chuckled. They would be so baffled about what was going on, I dont think wed have any issues.

There is some truth to what you say, Damien agreed with a chuckle of his own. Though we will want to make sure defenses are rebuilt before that happens. Even if it is strange, its better to be safe than sorry.

Im going to go down and work on your focus room for a little bit, Ilore said. I should be focusing my attention on reestablishing your emotions, but since were here, I can see what I can do to stabilize it some. If I can improve any of the focus tables, which would you prefer?

Skills related to my staff, I said. Im not really using magic right now, so boosting those skills is important. Due to the way focus tables worked, sacrificing long-term gains by prioritizing magic or weapon skills over the other isnt an issue. Considering where Im at outside of the mindscape, my skills with Mercy are far more important.

I will keep that in mind, Ilore promised before shrouding herself in a magical veil and heading down to the pyramid.

I worked with Damien on the pyramids defenses for a while before returning to the real world. Opening my eyes brought me back to my cabin. The room was dark, night having fallen. I now had some simple furniture I purchased from Derek. While I couldve made my own, it wouldve been much rougher. Raven was curled up next to me, happily sleeping.

Things were looking up for my secluded little sanctuary.

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