There were no more detours on our way to the palace, and by the time we reached the grand doorway at the top of the monumental staircase leading to the palace, I was huffing and puffing.

  Like me, Kitz and Tabby were winded from trying to keep up with the group, but Delen was a complete mess. As he climbed the last few steps, he did so by pushing a hand off of each knee to keep himself upright and moving. When he crossed that final step, he fell to his knees and moaned. “I need a minute.”

  “One minute is all you get, human,” Fela said. “So, make the most of it.”

  While Delen rested, Fela and her Dalari went to the door. From what I could gather from their increasingly heated conversation, there was some sort of puzzle they had to solve to unlock it. The minute they had graciously offered Delen passed. And then another, and another until they were yelling at each other as they fiddled with the door.

  “Screw this,” Mercella yelled. “Back up!”

  They all took a few steps back as Mercella slammed her right and now, only, fist into the massive, elaborately carved gold-trimmed doors of the Forgotten Palace.

  I watched in amazement as the heavy stone shattered around her fist and the colossal doors swung inward, creating an opening big enough for us to pass through.

  Without waiting, Mercella walked into the palace, and the other Dalari followed right after. We humans came in last. As I passed by the doors, I leaned into one of them just to get a sense of the weight of it, and it didn’t budge in the slightest. I doubted they would even move if I hit it with a Devastating Strike. Whatever skill Mercella had used was a majorly supped-up version of what I was working with.

  The inside of the palace was a wonder to behold, and it was difficult not to gawk. Then again, gawking seemed like appropriate NPC behavior.

  Orbs of light floated over sconces decorating the walls. Four pillars, designed as if they were twisting their way up to the palace ceiling, stood in the center of a breathtakingly large room. It was circular, and the ceiling was brightly painted with a scene of gods and goddesses clashing with all manner of beasts. A staircase lined the inner wall of the room, snaking its way up to higher floors.

  The palace was similar to the one in Nessa, but this one was at least twice as large and in immaculate condition. The only specs of dust I could find were from Mercella power-fisting that door.

  Everyone was speaking in quiet tones amongst themselves but were shushed by Fela.

  “Something comes,” she said.

  I strained my ears to hear but couldn’t make out whatever she had heard. I was about to ask her if she was sure when I heard the faintest clank of metal on stone. It slowly grew louder as it approached, the sound seeming to come from a hallway up ahead and to our right.

  We remained quiet, unmoving, waiting to see what our next encounter would be. To me, those metallic steps signaled armor, and my suspicions were confirmed as it neared, and I could hear the clanking of plate upon plate, not just metal boots on the stone floor.

  A guard in full plate armor, painted black, with a tapering pennon adorning the back, emerged from the hallway and into view. It carried a long polearm with a half-moon crescent blade at the tip.

  Next to me, Tabby raised her crossbow, and Kitz pulled out his slingshot.

  The guard’s helmet creaked against the gorget as it turned its head to us. Then it faced forward again, and for a second, I thought it might be blind or unable to see out of its helmet, but then it pulled something from its side, and my adrenaline spiked when I realized what it was.

  “Tabby shoot it,” I whispered.

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  “Now?” she asked hesitantly.

  “Now!”

  Tabby fired, but it was already too late. The guard had already opened his faceplate and brought the bugle to his lips. He blew, and a single somber, resonant note sounded, echoing throughout the room and down the stone halls of the palace.

  Tabby’s crossbow bolt hit and stuck in the armor for a brief moment before falling to the ground. She had barely poked it, and the unaffected guard continued to blow his horn.

  The floor underneath him shimmered, and his arms flailed out as he fell into the floor, stopping at his shoulders when Ersabet cut off the quicksand spell.

  I told her that was smart, and her reply was, “It’s too late.”

  And then I heard it. It wasn’t the sound of another guard approaching or a reply from another bugle – It was the sound of the palace coming back to life.

  The dreary glow of the floating lights grew brighter, making the palace's interior seem lit by sunlight. Gold trim I hadn’t noticed before shone against the lights, and when I looked at the high ceiling, vibrant gems sparkled in the place of all the eyes of the gods and goddesses, while black or red gems reflected the light in the eyes of the beasts.

  The harsh grinding of stone on stone echoed from down the hallway to our left, and I heard a crashing sound from somewhere on the floors above us. When the creaking stopped, it was replaced by the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway. A lot of them, and these were more subdued than the armor-clad knight.

  “Follow me,” Ersabet said, and we ran over to the sunken knight. She yanked his helmet off, and I gasped when I saw his face. His skin was sunken and grey, and in the place of his eyes, diamonds stared back at me. Just like the painting above, this guard had gems for eyes.

  I couldn’t quite tell if he was alive, dead, or undead, but it mattered little. He was dangerous, so I jammed my dagger through his skull. When I did, the diamond fell out of his eye sockets, revealing two dark, rotting holes.

  My XP bar received a considerable bump, and yes, I pocketed the diamonds.

  The sounds of enemies approaching grew louder, and Ersabet ran to Delen and forced the helmet on his head, despite his protests. Personally, I thought it was a good idea considering what was about to happen.

  A dozen or so black-cloth-clad warriors burst from the hallway, many carrying sickle swords. They raised them above their heads when they saw us and screamed as they rushed at us, gemstone eyes glistening in the light.

  Tabby let loose an arrow, taking one in the shoulder, but not out of the game. Kitz went to work with his slingshot, while Delen watched in fear.

  Ersabet tested out her new lightning ability. A bolt shot from her crackling fingertips and hit one of the warriors in the chest before forking off and striking a second. The first warrior collapsed, smoke coming from his burnt clothing. The second warrior seized up and fell to the ground but was only temporarily stunned.

  A different warrior was launched into the air as if he had stepped on a springboard. He screamed in surprise as he flew upwards before crashing back down to the stone floor. Right before the group of enemies was upon us, a blast of light shot from Yurian’s hand. It was so bright and sudden that the warriors had to shield their eyes, which cost them their momentum.

  I heard Tabby’s crossbow fire as a second warrior leaped at me, but Ersabet spun and planted her heel into his stomach. He curled over her leg like he had hit an iron rod before collapsing to the ground. I drove the tip of my sword into his back to finish him off.

  I looked up, but there were no more warriors in front of me. To my left, Latro and Damine cut through the last of them like they were reaping wheat.

  Bodies littered the floor before us, and I was shocked by how easy it had been to dispatch them.

  And then some of them began to stand back up.

  One shifted below my feet and pushed itself upward. I stepped back and swung my sword like a golf club, beheading the guard. It wouldn’t be getting up from that.

  The Dalari went to work on their side, where more and more dead guards were returning to life. We NPCs were positioned furthest from the hallway they had come from, so we had fewer to worry about, but more of those we had killed were returning to life.

  One stood up about ten feet away. It had a crossbow bolt in its stomach, and its head was cracked and bleeding, likely from Kitz and his slingshot. I noticed it had lost the gemstone from its left eye, but the gemstone in its right eye remained embedded and bright. The warrior limped to us, dragging the right side of its body like it was dead weight.

  The sight gave me a theory.

  I hopped to the warrior that Ersabet had kicked. Unlike many of the others, he hadn’t reanimated. He was lying on his face, so I turned his head. Both gemstones had fallen out of their sockets.

  “I think the gemstones are keeping them alive,” I yelled. “Try to remove them!”

  Ersabet darted toward the nearest revived warrior and plucked out both of its eyes before it could wind up to attack her. It collapsed to the ground, dead-dead.

  Once everyone knew the trick, it was easy work to finish them off. Some had already lost their gemstones in the initial onslaught, and the rest were easy pickings as they didn’t all revive at the same time, likely because they hadn’t all died at the same time.

  We had survived the encounter without a scratch, and no, I wasn’t mad that no one gave me props for figuring out how to kill the gemstone warriors for good.