Chapter 33

Caleb darted forward with almost blinding speed. The ash floating in the corridor was thrust away in a sonic boom of air, momentarily clearing the hall. But it was quickly replaced as the looming wall of ash filled the sky.

Everything went dark.

An ash snake snapped at him, uncoiling its body like a spring and trying to dig its obsidian teeth into his side. He dodged nimbly around it, leaping and twisting his body in mid air. One claw carved a jagged scar along the length of the snake while his other arm blocked another’s strike. More ash billowed from the snake’s wound, like it were a pressurized canister of soot, as well as dark red blood and stark white bones.

Caleb landed amidst a veritable nest of the snakes. They surrounded him on all sides, hissing and slithering and spitting. More still crawled around the corners of the maze, piling in atop each other endlessly.

They struck as one. And Caleb responded by releasing his Presence.

The force of his will collided with the striking snakes, slowing some, knocking others to the ground as though the wind had been suddenly plucked from their sails, but most were largely unaffected.

Caleb still didn’t understand anywhere close to the intricacies of how Presence worked, but it was becoming clear that overpowering his enemies with its sheer force was not going to often be a viable strategy. That was fine by him. It was more fun to fight when your enemies could hit back anyway.

He did his best to harden his spiritual self around his limbs and chest, blocking all of the snake’s fangs, but a few still found their way through. They pierced into his skin, eliciting a grunt of pain as he ripped them off of himself and flung their bodies against the wall with solid cracks.

Stone bent around him. A wall shot up at his back, blocking a barrage of streaking black. He reached to the top of the wall and vaulted himself into the air, flying up, up before catching on the wall like a spider. For only a moment, he hung there. Then he was off again, darting back down to the maze floor, slashing, cutting, and strangling the sooty reptiles in his titanic grip.

Aether flooded into him as each snake died, building that sweet pressure in his chest, that thrill of the fight. This was no real challenge, but he still drank in the joy of letting his muscles stretch. It was more of a trial for his mind. Dodging so many moving enemies at once did not prove easy. He relished seeing how far he could push himself to avoid every strike, cut every wiggling creature as it tried to wind round his legs. A few still scored hits, but nothing to seriously injure him. Like scratching the paint on a car, just cosmetic, nothing more.

A few snakes managed to sneak by him, strike at the others standing guard in the halls. But their actions spoke true to how long they’d been in this maze. This was not their first time fighting the ash snakes.

Though they were much lower level, Caleb spied glances of them working well together. The front ranks of their fighters dodged back, stabbing or grabbing the snakes to immobilize them, then letting everyone descend upon them like a pack of rabid dogs.

When they finished slaughtering the monster, they just watched him work. To them, Caleb was a maelstrom of death deep within the storm of ash. Streaks of glowing aether, flashing of light, the groan of rock grinding against rock, the hiss of dying snakes, and the joyous shouts of battle as he fought. They must have thought he was insane.

Caleb killed another snake with a slash of his clawed arms, severing it into several chunks that splatted onto the ground. It’s aether was just enough to push him over the top and reach level thirty-four.

He looked around for the next one, eyes wild beneath his translucent mask of spirit. The ash choked the hall in a smog, obscuring everything. Caleb turned slowly, arms held at the ready. But the hall had grown still.

The blood pulsing at his temple slowly began to subside, and he let his arms droop, releasing a breath. He’d killed them all.

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A fun exercise. But he still wanted more. He still hungered for something that would truly push his limits.

Should I try and fight the… He shook his head and slapped himself in the face. He should most definitely not try to fight the wyvern. Some things were a challenge. Others were a death wish.

He shrugged. I’ll come back for it later.

Caleb strutted out of the wall of floating ash, back to the group of survivors waiting near their camp. They stared at him with stunned eyes.

“Donovan,” Caleb said. The man at the front straightened up and, for a second, looked as if he might salute. Thankfully, he didn’t.

“Yeah?” Donovan said.

“Take me to the Hearthfire Drake.”