Chapter 168: Dr Thorne’s Dungeon!!
There was no time to celebrate. General Ironwood’s urgent order made them move quickly. One moment, they were staring in awe at their newly born creature, Atlas. The next, they were gearing up, the triumph replaced by the harsh reality of the mission ahead.
The loud noise of the military VTOL’s engines shook Jonah. The inside of the plane was tight. Jonah, Seraph, Draven, and Vanessa sat strapped into their seats as the powerful aircraft flew through the stormy night sky at a high speed.
In the middle of the cabin, a map glowed, showing the dangerous land of the Shattered Peaks. It was the data Ariana had given them.
"This is a dead zone for a reason," Seraph said, her voice loud and clear over the engine noise. She pointed to several pulsing red areas on the map. "The land is full of wild, unstable magic. It breaks our communication signals and causes problems for most of our tracking tools. That’s why Thorne chose it. No one would ever guess a lab with new machines is here."
"So we’re going in blind," Draven grunted, checking the power cell on his huge sword.
"Not completely," Vanessa said, tapping her datapad. A new layer of information appeared over the map, showing energy patterns. "Ariana’s network is different. Her nation uses a form of magic that’s more... in tune with the natural world. Their long-range sensors can see things ours can’t. They confirmed a massive, artificial energy shield covering the facility."
At that moment, a silver phoenix sign flashed on the glowing screen. One line of text showed up beneath it. It was a message from Ariana, sent only seconds ago
[Shield is at full power. Once you are on the ground, I will lose contact. You will be on your own. Be careful.]
As Jonah read the words, a weird feeling of being linked to her came over him. "She’s our remote support," he said to the team. "Our eyes in the sky, until we go under the shield."
The VTOL suddenly tilted hard, and the pilot’s voice crackled over the intercom. "Approaching the drop zone! Five minutes! The magical interference is getting stronger. It’s going to be a rough landing!"
The back door of the plane started to open with a loud noise. A rush of cold air rushed into the plane.
Jonah looked out into the darkness. The land below was like a bad dream. Sharp peaks of shiny rock reached for the stormy sky. A light gray ash floated in the air. Weird, crackling lightning bolts of purple and green, the wild magic Seraph talked about, jumped between the mountain tops.
Thump!
The VTOL landed hard, the metal making groaning noise.
"This is as close as I can get!" the pilot shouted. "Go, go, go! I can’t stay on the ground here for long!"
The team moved. They unstrapped and ran down the ramp. The moment they were clear, the VTOL’s engines started loudly, and it lifted back into the sky, disappearing into the dark clouds within seconds.
The silence was more frightening than the engine noise had been. All they could hear was the quiet wind and their own footsteps. A strange power in the air gave Jonah goosebumps. This place felt angry. It felt alive, and it did not want them here.
"Okay," Seraph said, her voice low. "No communications. No support. We’re on our own. Jonah, you’re our eyes now."
Jonah nodded. He was ready.
"Trace, deploy," he whispered.
Trace dropped from his sleeve. It quickly moved to the side of the small clearing. Its head, a group of bright blue lenses, spun around, looking everywhere.
Jonah shut his eyes and connected his mind to the Progeny. His vision went black, but a rush of new images filled his head. He saw the world in a hundred ways at once: he saw heat from bodies, paths of magic, and a full circle view of where they were. He could see the heat of little animals digging under the ground and the dim, magic light of dangerous plants that protected their space.
"There are monsters everywhere," Jonah reported, his eyes still closed. "Rock-lizards to the east, a whole group of them. And something big is sleeping in a cave to our west. But there’s a clear path. It leads up that ridge." He pointed, still with his eyes closed, his finger perfectly aligned with a barely visible path.
Draven just shook his head, suprised. "That’s still creepy as hell. But useful."
They started to move like a team that knew what they were doing. Draven went first, his big body like a shield. Seraph was right behind him, with her weapon out and ready. Jonah and Vanessa were in the middle, because they were the important "brains" of the mission.
They walked around the edge of a deep valley where a huge, bird-like animal with sharp, stony wings was in its nest. They were quiet as they went by a field of weird, glowing mushrooms that let out puffs of poison air if you came too near.
This place was a dungeon. A high-level, end-game zone.
Finally, Jonah stopped. "We’re here," he said, opening his eyes. His own vision felt blurry after being connected to Trace.
They were standing on the edge of a high, windswept ridge. The ashy ground dropped away into a massive, bowl-shaped hole.
In the center of the crater was a mountain. A dead volcano. And built into the side of that dead volcano, like a cancer made of black metal and dark magic, was Thorne’s fortress.
It was a terrifying sight.
It was massive, far bigger than the reports had suggested. Its walls were made of smooth metal that seemed to absorb the light, giving it no reflection. Sharp spikes and weapon towers dotted the walls. A faint, ugly purple shimmer, the energy of the shield, clung to it. It was a military stronghold. This was the perfect hiding place for a rogue scientist who dreamed of building an army.
The team stood on the ridge, the wind whipping at their clothes, and stared down at the impossible fortress. They had found the heart of the Genesis War.