Chapter 98: Sparks on ice.

Chapter 98: Sparks on ice.Lee anticipated Slivax might want to attack the village with his squad directly, but he never expected for them to get through the narrow passage so easily. While it was only the result of the surprise attack, the few people who slipped in, created a complete chaos in the peaceful place.

But that was all they were capable of, though.

The eight feel tall local warriors managed to stop the advance and cut the advancement off, leaving most of the Slivax’s squad outside the village, struggling to get through the entrance.

Seeing the natives were not going to give up without a fight, Slivax’s squad accepted the challenge. While they were fewer numbered, majority were seasoned treasure hunters, with the ability to wield the power of two elements.

The problem was – even though the tall and thin villagers didn’t or couldn’t use any sparks, their fighting abilities were remarkable. The arsenal of the spear skills they displayed was incomparable to what Lee learned in the fortress.

Despite their own and the size of the weapons, they nimbly poked, slashed and blocked, and sometimes even used the spears as oversized hammers. It was still fine when the attackers managed to avoid the hits – only loud booms shook the place when spears hit the ground. But on occasion when the native managed to hit someone, the guy’s head directly exploded like a water melon, despite him wearing a helmet.

Natives skillfully kept the attackers at bay, at the same time not obstructing each other, and didn’t flinch when the uninvited guests began to show the superhuman abilities. There were losses on both sides, and even though more local defenders were killed, they managed to eliminate the few invaders who barged in.

From the looks of it, the following fight continued at the entrance, and Lee, after quickly analyzing the fight in the distance, pulled Mirax towards the cave.

It was as dark as Jiraxa said, but Lee fished out the two stones he got from Klavax and lit up the crude torch he prepared earlier. Under the weak torchlight it became much easier to rush along the stream, although it was impossible to tell how deep the cave went.



"How can they fight against our people with sparks?" Mirax’s mind was occupied with the images of the earlier fight.

"If they are capable of killing birds with sparks, don’t you think they should be able to deal with few people with sparks?" Lee said.

"So you think Slivax has no chance?" Mirax was surprised.

"No idea." Lee said, "I only know we don’t have much time either way."

The rushed for at least thirty, maybe forty breaths, but when at some point the stream disappeared directly under the cliff, the passage ended soon after. At the first glance it looked like a dead end, but from Jiraxa’s story Lee expected that.

Under Mirax’s confused eyes, he began to inspect the wall, touching every protrusion and dent, and it didn’t take long until he found a loose part, a stone in the size of a palm neatly embedded two feet above his head.

Apparently for the tall locals it was a practical height, but Lee didn’t care – the sound of moving stone at the side made his heart beat faster. He hadn’t done anything like this in few lifetimes.

It was exactly as Jiraxa said.

After another short passage they arrived to a cave hall, the tomb where the locals kept their deceased predecessors. It wasn’t that big, probably double the size of a large living room and there weren’t that many mummies either, not more than thirty. It was obvious that the remains of the most important villagers were preserved at this place and the rest were buried outside.

The interesting part was that the bodies weren’t resting on the ground or on the walls. They were inside the walls, as if hidden behind a thick layer of glass, displayed like precious items in an archaeology museum. And the whole place was illuminated by dim, green light, coming from small lamp-like objects in the walls, one between each two mummies.

"How come it’s so cold in here?" Mirax asked, noticing the fog coming from his mouth as he spoke.

"It’s strange." Lee said, "The walls are basically thick layers of ice. But I have no clue how it’s formed. And the dead are kept inside of it, that way guaranteeing their preservation. But it shouldn’t be as transparent ... normally ice is cloudy ..."

"But these are the wind sparks, right?" Mirax asked, knocking at the thick wall.

"Looks like it." Lee said, "Let’s get them, and get the fuck out of here!"

He pulled out a knife he confiscated from Thorax after gifting his own away yesterday, and began to poke the wall. It was surprisingly soft, softer than normal ice, but hard enough that it couldn’t be cut like a butter.

Splinters flew as Lee energetically attacked the wall, and after few moments he held the first spark in his hand. It was still inside of a clump of ice, but it looked like the green spark Lee found on the way to the underground pyramid back then.

"What are you standing there for?" Lee noticed Mirax standing motionless, observing his efforts. Without a doubt the guy did most of the work while they were climbing the cliff, but it would be nice if he lent a hand here too.

"Aren’t we being disrespectful towards the ancestors of these people?" Mirax asked.

Turns out the guy was battling some kind of inner ethical conundrums, but he could’ve picked a different time and place. Lee wasn’t angry, though. Once upon the time he also went through this stage, but for him it was an easy and quick decision.

"Dead are dead." He said, "Disrespect is only an outlook at ones actions. Someone might think it’s disrespectful, someone – it’s profitable. Neither is right or wrong – it’s a matter of a perspective. We’ll ... and law. We’re probably breaking one now, so hurry up!"

Mirax wasn’t thrilled by the answer, and began cutting the wall halfheartedly, but still helped. While Lee gathered over twenty wind sparks, Mirax cut out only half a dozen. But it didn’t matter – when the last spark was in Lee’s hand, they were done.

The darkness in the tomb clearly indicated there was nothing left for taking, and Lee rushed out, holding a spark in each hand. The rest were in the waterskin bag he adapted for the occasion, although the whole squad protested when he earlier mercilessly cut it and washed at the lake.

"How do you think the natives killed the birds?" Mirax wondered.

Lee did find it slightly upsetting that he was almost running, but the long-legged companion effortlessly strolled behind him. Obviously it was his own lack of ability, and once again Lee was forced to realize he lacked training.



The guy belonged to a race with natural advantages it speed and agility, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t practice more and harder to not seem like a lump in comparison.

When the exit was in sight, Lee hid the two wind sparks in the bag and slowed down. He could hear the sounds of battle somewhere outside, and didn’t want to jump out of the cave right next to it. Mirax, on the other hand, was an inexperienced thief, and his first impulse was to run, even though everyone would immediately notice him.

Lee didn’t manage to stop the guy when he brushed past him, in fact, he never guessed Mirax was completely stressed out and claustrophobic at the same time. And unfortunately, him openly running out was noticed by some natives who were not engaged in the fight.

They were leaning to the wall, as if trying to stay out of danger, glancing around in panic, and Mirax suddenly appearing didn’t escape their eyes. They weren’t warriors, though, only several women and children, but seeing Mirax leaving their sacred place caused them to scream in panic.

It looked like the locals had been pushed back over half of the grassy field and there were not that many left. But Slivax’s squad had also thinned out to less than ten men. Everyone was giving their all, especially the desperate natives, but the attackers were either out of juice or unwilling to use their sparks more, and it had become a battle of attrition.

Turns out that in the eyes of the natives the sanctity of the tomb had priority. Ignoring the ever worsening situation on the battle field, two of the warriors left the encounter, and dashed towards the two thieves. They didn’t roar, scream or wave the spears, but even Lee felt his hear stand on end, sensing the resolution in their quick step.

"What do we do?!" Mirax cried out, looking around in panic, as if there was a place he could hide.

"What do you think?" Lee said, and came out of the cave, measuring the distance to the cliff with his eyes. He knew he was going to make it that far, except the next part was not what he was looking for.

"Jump!" He said, and darted towards the edge of the waterfall.

For a split moment Mirax froze, but after throwing a glance at the two quickly approaching natives, and then another one at Lee’s back, he rushed towards the cliff’s edge as well. In few steps he overtook Lee, who could only observe the speed of the long-legged squad member with envy.