Ludere online

The first rays of dawn painted the eastern sky in hues of fiery orange and blood red, casting long shadows across the obsidian plains. Pag stirred from a restless sleep, the chill of the night air seeping through his cloak. Around him, the campsite was silent, the embers of the fire reduced to a pile of glowing ash.

He glanced around, his gaze settling on the empty space where Andromeda had been sitting. A knot of unease tightened in his chest. Her words from the previous night echoed in his mind: “Soohan is a land of shadows and whispers.” Had she slipped away during the night, disappearing back into the shadows that seemed to cling to her?

He rose to his feet, brushing the dust from his robes, and approached the spot where Toula and Maverick slept, their forms huddled together for warmth.

"Toula," he whispered, gently shaking her shoulder. "Maverick, wake up."

Toula stirred, her eyes fluttering open. She glanced around, her gaze lingering on the empty space where Andromeda had been.

"Where's Andromeda?" she asked, her voice thick with sleep.

"I don't know," Pag admitted, a flicker of worry crossing his face. "I just woke up, and…"

Before he could finish the sentence, a soft chuckle echoed from behind him.

"Looking for me?"

He turned, relief washing over him as he saw Andromeda standing a short distance away, her silhouette outlined against the rising sun. She held a small, clay mug in her hand, steam curling from its rim.

"Thought you might enjoy a warm drink before we set out," she said, her voice softened by the morning light. "Soohan blend. Strong enough to wake the dead."

Pag accepted the mug gratefully, the warmth spreading through his hands. The gesture, small though it was, spoke volumes.

"Thanks," he said, meeting her gaze. "And for last night, for…" He hesitated, unsure how to articulate the gratitude he felt.

"No need for thanks," Andromeda interrupted, her voice regaining its usual stoicism. "It's a harsh land, this. We watch out for our own."

"Obsidian grasslands? Ash Mountain range?" Pag repeated, his brow furrowed. "Those don't sound like particularly friendly landmarks." He pulled up his map, tracing the suggested route with a finger. The names alone conjured images of desolate landscapes and hidden dangers. "And we're sure there's no actual volcano involved here, right?" He glanced at Toula, searching for any hint of reassurance in her expression.

Toula shook her head, a wry smile touching her lips. "Not a volcano, no. But the Ash Mountains are aptly named." She gestured towards the distant peaks, their jagged silhouettes stark against the crimson sky. "Volcanic activity from centuries past left the soil rich in minerals, but also prone to… unpredictable bursts of energy."

Andromeda, who had been silently observing the exchange, stepped forward, her gaze fixed on the distant mountains. "The obsidian blades are drawn to these energy bursts," she said, her voice low. "They feed on the chaotic energy, grow stronger."

"Obsidian blades?" Pag questioned, his apprehension growing. "Seems kind og confusing to have the area, the flora and some mobs sharing such similar names. Also, you make them sound like—"

"They are not mere creatures or mobs, Pag," Andromeda interrupted, her gaze hardening. "They are spirits of shadow and anger, given form by the land itself." She paused, her gaze turning distant, as if lost in a memory. "They are relentless, unforgiving. And they guard the passage to Kyrbane with a ferocity born of ancient grudges."

"Wonderful," Pag muttered under his breath, his earlier bravado fading in the face of this new threat. "Just what I wanted to hear."

"We'll need to be swift and cautious," andromedas voice cut through Pag's thoughts. He turned to see her approaching, Morena trotting gracefully beside her. "The longer we linger in the obsidian grasslands, the more likely we are to attract unwanted attention."

"Let's move," Andromeda said, her gaze sweeping over the desolate landscape. "We've lost enough time already."

With that, they set off towards the Ash Mountains and the obsidian grasslands that lay at their feet, the fate of a kingdom hanging in the balance, and the mystery of the crown prince's assassination pulling Pag towards the heart of the Lunar Empire.

The obsidian plains stretched before them like a sea of frozen shadows, the ground beneath their feet crunching with every step. The air hung heavy, thick with the scent of sulfur and something else—a faint, metallic tang that pricked at the back of Pag's throat. The rising sun, a bloody smear on the horizon, cast long, distorted shadows that danced and twisted around them.

"Stay close," andromeda warned, her voice barely a whisper above the wind. "And watch your step. The ground here… it doesn't like to be disturbed."

Pag heeded her warning, his gaze scanning the ground ahead. He could understand why the obsidian blades would thrive in this desolate landscape. It felt steeped in a raw, primal energy that hummed beneath his skin—an energy that was both exhilarating and unnerving.

"Morena seems uneasy," Toula said, her voice tight with concern. She stroked the leprin's sleek neck, her gaze fixed on the creature's twitching ears. "She senses something."

Andromeda, who had been walking ahead, paused, her head tilted slightly as if listening to some distant sound. "We're being watched," she said, her voice barely audible. "Eyes on us, but keeping their distance… for now."

Pag felt a shiver run down his spine, and it wasn’t from the chill wind that whipped across the plains. He trusted Andromeda's instincts, honed from a lifetime spent navigating the treacherous landscapes of Ludere Online. If she said they were being watched, then they were being watched.

"Can you tell what it is?" Pag asked, keeping his voice low. He glanced around, his eyes scanning the desolate landscape for any sign of movement, any flicker of shadow that seemed out of place. The obsidian plains seemed to swallow sound, leaving only the crunch of their footsteps and the whisper of the wind.

"Not yet," Andromeda replied, her voice barely a murmur. "But they move like shadows, swift and silent. They're waiting for us to make a mistake."

A low growl rumbled from Morena, her body tensing beneath Aviva's touch. The leprin's ears were flattened against her head, her gaze darting nervously across the plains.

"She senses them too," Toula said, her voice strained. "They're close."

As if on cue, the ground before them erupted in a shower of obsidian shards, a chorus of guttural snarls splitting the silence. Three figures, wreathed in shadows and bristling with obsidian blades, rose from the heart of the disturbance. They moved with an unnatural fluidity, their bodies seeming to shift and distort in the flickering light of the rising sun."Obsidian blades!" Maverick breathed, his voice a mix of awe and terror. "I've only heard stories…"

"Now's not the time for stories, Mav," Andromeda snapped, drawing her sword in a swift, fluid motion. "Now's the time for fighting! Pag, we need a wall."

The obsidian blades wasted no time in introductions. They charged towards the group, their movements a blur of obsidian and shadow. The ground seemed to crack and groan beneath their feet, as if the very land itself echoed their fury.

"Pag!" andromeda shouted, her voice sharp with urgency. "We need that wall—now!"

Pag didn't need to be told again. He threw himself to the ground, his hands slamming against the obsidian plain. He could feel the raw energy of the land surging around him, responding to his touch. He poured every ounce of his will into the spell, focusing on the image of a blazing inferno, a wall of fire and fury that would hold back the shadows.

The obsidian plain beneath Pag's hands crackled with a sudden, intense heat. Fissures, glowing with an infernal red light, snaked outwards from his palms, splitting the earth in jagged lines. The air itself seemed to thicken, heavy with the stench of sulfur and ozone. Through the haze, Pag could see the flames of his spell taking shape – but these were not the familiar, comforting flames he knew. These burned with a cold, almost hungry light, fueled by the raw, chaotic energy of the obsidian plains. They roared to life, a wall of black fire shot through with veins of molten gold and streaks of ghostly green, mirroring the mineral striations that laced the surrounding stone. The heat was intense, but it carried a strange, chilling undercurrent, as if the flames themselves were drawing the warmth from the air around them.

A wave of nausea slammed into Pag as he poured his will into the spell. This wasn't just the familiar drain on his mana; this felt different, like the land itself was pushing back, testing his limits. He gritted his teeth, ignoring the throbbing in his head and the metallic tang that flooded his mouth, refusing to relinquish control.

The first of the obsidian blades, a creature of shifting shadows and jagged blades, slammed into the pyroclasmic wall with a screech of tortured stone. The flames roared and hissed, their colors flaring as they fought to consume the creature of darkness. But the obsidian blade was no mere beast; it was a spirit of the land, as much a part of this desolate expanse as the obsidian beneath their feet. It twisted within the inferno, its form flickering and reforming, the obsidian blades that sprouted from its body leaving glowing trails as it moved, as if it were drawing strength from the flames themselves.

The second obsidian blade, its form wreathed in shadows so dense it seemed to absorb even the light of the flames, darted around the edge of the wall, its obsidian blades leaving glowing trails in the air. It moved with an unnerving speed, its form blurring, making it almost impossible to track.

"Andromeda!" Pag shouted, his voice hoarse. "Behind you!"

Andromeda, her gaze locked on the first obsidian blade, spun just in time to deflect a blow that would have cleaved her in two. The impact sent a jolt of pain up her arm, but she didn't falter. Her sword, infused with a pale blue light, met the obsidian blade in a shower of sparks. "Go!" she shouted back, her voice strained with the effort of the fight. "I'll hold them off!"

But even as she spoke, the third obsidian blade, a hulking monstrosity with blades longer than Pag was tall, emerged from the dissipating flames. It charged towards Toula and the others, its roar a physical force that seemed to shake the very ground beneath their feet.

The ground buckled beneath Pag's feet as a geyser of molten rock erupted from a newly formed fissure, spraying a wave of heat across the battlefield. Instinctively, Pag threw up a hand, channeling a stream of black fire to deflect the molten shrapnel. The flames, now shot through with streaks of crimson and silver, reflected the mineral composition of the earth itself, their intensity amplified by the volatile energy of the obsidian plains.

Toula and Maverick, their faces pale with fear, huddled behind the remnants of Pag's pyroclasmic wall, which flickered and waned as he poured more and more of his energy into deflecting the geysers. The air grew thick with the suffocating stench of sulfur, making it difficult to breathe.

Andromeda, her movements a whirlwind of ice and steel, danced around the first obsidian blade, her form a stark contrast to the creature's chaotic darkness. Her sword, its blade a shimmering reflection of the moon, moved with a precision that belied its deadly grace. Each parry, each strike was perfectly timed, exploiting the briefest flicker in the obsidian blade's defenses.

But the obsidian blades were relentless. Like shadows given form, they seemed to flow around every obstacle, their movements unpredictable, their attacks fueled by the very chaos they embodied. The second blade, a blur of obsidian and shadow, harried Andromeda, forcing her to remain on the defensive. Each near miss left a trail of frost on the ground, a testament to her chilling touch.

Meanwhile, the third obsidian blade, its massive form momentarily slowed by the geyser of molten rock, lumbered towards the remnants of Pag's wall, its obsidian blades leaving deep furrows in the ground. Toula, her voice trembling, began to chant, her hands glowing with a faint green light as she called upon her healing magic.

"We can't hold them off forever!" Maverick shouted, his voice barely audible above the roar of the flames and the hiss of escaping steam. "We need to get out of here!"

Pag, his vision blurring at the edges, felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He'd poured too much into the wall, into deflecting the geysers. His mana was dangerously low, and the land itself seemed to be feeding on his exhaustion. He knew they couldn't stay here, but where could they go?

And then, through the haze of fatigue and fear, he saw it: a shimmering distortion in the air, a faint outline of trees and foliage just beyond the reach of the obsidian blades. It was a portal, a rift in the fabric of this desolate expanse—and their only chance of escape. Surely wherever it led was better than here.

"Andromeda!" he roared, his voice hoarse. "The portal! We need to reach the portal!"

Andromeda, her face streaked with sweat and ash, spared a glance over her shoulder. She saw the portal, saw the desperation in Pag's eyes, and she knew what she had to do. With a cry of defiance, she launched herself at the obsidian blade that had been hounding her, her sword flashing in the dim light. The blade met its mark, cleaving through the creature's shadowy form, and for a brief, heart-stopping moment, time seemed to stand still.