Ascension Chronicle: The Tower Of Calamity

Chapter 20: The Fall of a Friend



 A chill, heavy, unnatural air welcomed Liam, Clara, and Nyx into the vast chamber. The silence was remarkable in the audience, the only sound being the faint dripping of water echoing from crevices that were not visible. Dimly lit up by flickering torches that lined the walls, the chamber felt like some strange illusion because of the intricately carved stone pillars.
"This place... it's just wrong," Clara murmured, clutching her celestial bow. A steadiness of tone, with a certain edge, spoke instinctively to danger lurking about. Nyx, huddled on Liam's shoulder, growled lowly, fur bristling out.
Liam surveyed the surroundings while the Darkfang Sword rested, drawn and ready. "Stay close. This is not good." They moved cautiously, their footsteps echoing as they went deeper into the chamber. Until suddenly they saw it-a massive stone throne caked in the greyness and shadow across the center of the room and sitting on it was a female figure draped in serpentine elegance. Her lower body coiled and uncoiled rhythmically, scales glinting like obsidian in the low light. The upper body appeared human, garbed in flowing but tattered robes. Snakes writhed where her hair should have been, their eyes glowing faintly in the dark.
Medusa.
Her face was shrouded in shadow, but so thick was the menace of her presence. The snakes hissed as her voice slithered through the air like poison.
"Thus, you have come." Medusa's voice hissed concocting a fake bribe, "More pawns sent to die."

Liam stepped forward, sword raised, and said "We're not pawns, and we aren't afraid of you".

Medusa laughed-the cold chilling sound echoed down the walls of the chamber. " Brave enough words, indeed, from those who know not yet despair. And do you think you can resist my gaze? Do you think you can survive me?"
Clara stepped up beside Liam, her bow aimed. "We are going to do more than survive."

Medusa hissed gleefully. "Then look upon me, and meet your end."

Before Liam could react, Medusa's eyes flared with power, and her face emerged from the shadows. The gaze-horrific yet glorious-cut like a blade through the chamber. Liam and Clara instinctively averted their eyes, breaths ragged with tension.

"Don't look at her!" Liam shouted. He swung his sword blindly, relying on his hearing and Nyx's growls to guide him.
Nyx leapt from Liam's shoulder, darting through the darkness and snapping at the snakes in Medusa's hair. The creature screeched, her attention diverted, if only for a short moment.
Clara took advantage, firing a glowing arrow directly at Medusa. The shot sailed through the air, striking true in the creature's shoulder. Medusa's voice rose in fury, her serpentine form thrashing across the chamber.

"Fools!" she shrieked, her voice a venomous snarl. "You think you can harm me? I am eternal!"

Medusa lunged, her clawed hand swiping toward Clara. Clara dodged to the side and nocked another arrow but in her haste--just for an instant--her gaze met Medusa's.
Time slowed to a crawl.
"No! Clara!" Liam shouted, but it was already too late.
Clara froze mid-motion, her face marked by shock and then realization. Her body stiffened, and her movements came to a complete stop as a pale, gray sheen crept across her skin. In mere seconds, her entire form was stone-a lifeless statue in the process of drawing her bow.
Liam's heart stilled. "Clara!"
Furious and wild in vision, he turned to Medusa. Medusa grinned; fires lit up in her eyes while she coiled her body around Clara's petrified form.
Sneered she, "You should never have come here."
Then, before Liam could stop her, Medusa smashed Clara, the statue, into dust, while her bow clattered to the ground with a hollow, final sound.
Liam's scream tore through the chamber. It was of rage, grief, and disbelief. Nyx howled in anger; his small body faintly glowed with power as he leapt toward Medusa.

Dark, fierce determination and an awakening surge of unacknowledged strength inside him swelled within Liam.
"You... you killed her!" roared Liam, launching himself at Medusa with sword bared.
Medusa hissed and lunged to meet him, her claws outstretched. But there was no stopping Liam; driven by overwhelming rage, he struck again and again, sword slicing through serpent-bound form. Nyx fought to keep him company, his tiny body moving with impossible speed as his fangs sank into her scales.
Medusa screamed in agony as Liam proved to be the killing stroke. With a primal yell, he plunged Darkfang into her chest, piercing her heart. Her body thrashed wildly, screams reaching their height as the heads of her serpents screeched, and her own form began to shred into ash.
"You... will... never... win..." Medusa gasped, crumbling as her voice faded away into nothingness.
Silence fell over the chamber.
Trembling, that boy stood while the echoes of grief pounded in his chest. He turned back to the place where Clara had fallen, only dust and her bow remaining. He dropped heavily to his knees, his sword clanking to the ground. Nyx rubbed against his arm, offering a soft whimper.
"She is gone..." said Liam in a hushed tone; an echo hollowed out his voice.
Alone, he sat there for hours, crushed under loss, Clara—his friend, his ally, his hope—no longer with him. Where laughter filled the air, there was shattering silence; where courage flourished, hopelessness grew.But loss turned to grief and grief transformed itself into something different: determinedness.
"A place to stop isn't here," Liam said quietly after he'd stood up and clenched his fists, the hardness of his eyes now even more intense. "That's not what Clara would have wanted."
He lifted the bow of the deceased and slung it across his back. He turns toward Nyx, who gazes at him with wide, understanding eyes.
"Then, we head onwards," Liam said, his voice solid with emotion, "for her. And for everything she ever fought for."
With a determined growl, Nyx turned toward the next leg of their journey with him. While his steps were heavy, for his heart still bore that sorrow's weight, his resolve would not be shaken.
Clara was no more, but her spirit lived on in his fight. And, stepping into the darkened archway, he swore to him that he would honor her memory.
Whatever it took.
To be continued...


Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.