(38) Waking Stone

"Are you sure it's safe?"

At this moment, Kraton was nervously peering down the massive pit into the crystal cave. Lysine stood at the bottom of the cave, impatiently whacking her tail around the ground as she stared up at the hole in the ceiling.

"Just jump, if worse comes to worse, you'll just die."

"But still..."

"DIOS!"

"AAARGH" Kraton screamed with his descent, the sudden kick from Dios sent him flailing. When he landed, Kraton whimpered like an injured puppy as he clutched his head in pain.

"Baby." Lysine muttered under her breath, but loud enough for Kraton to lower his head and cease his howling.

Kraton immediately stood up and winced in pain, he proudly limped his way to where Lysine stood and looked at the buried crystal block. If the inscriptions beneath it were true, then this must be some sort of coffin. Kraton felt a slight desire, an urge almost to see what was inside. As he neared the crystalline surface the feeling pulled at him, it felt familiar, part of his own self. This would make some sense if the dungeon he had lived in for over 30 years had something to do with this ancient chamber.

However, he felt that this had nothing to do with with the dungeon as the feeling ran through his blood like electricity, it was like the coffin sensed him as well and called him closer.

The sound seemed to dim and the light only focused on the coffin for Kraton. He could hear the vague sound of Lysine talking to him, but the words flew over his head. As if commanded, or by instinct, Kraton slammed his fist down onto the crystal block, recieving a yelp from the shocked Lysine.

Clarity washed through Kraton's mind, clearing all of the muddleness that clouded his thoughts. He stood still, confused, scared by his actions, unable to answer Lysine's questions.

Suddenly the room seemed to change, the silence amplified and the crystals seemed to change. A small tremor, but powerful and unrestrained. The vibrations of the crystal shards which grew on the floor. Everything spoke of life, but all that surrounded the two Bosses were inanimate jewels.

A wind passed by, sending a shiver down Kraton's back. Fresh air, not stale air seemed to ooze out from the crevaces that somehow appeared in the floor. The atmosphere felt suffocating, something about the place seemed to change. Both Kraton and Lysine felt that if they were to die right now, then they would not respawn immediately. Yes, they will most definately come back alive, but only after a few days. It was as if this cave was a cage and that their spirit would need to escape the imprisonment before recieving the liberty of resurrection. This feeling felt... scary.

A cracking, shattering sound reverberated around the room. Crystals dropped from the ceiling, precious gems and rocks slid across the ground as if by a magnetic pull. They collided with one another as they made their way to the two largest crystals stationed on each side of the coffin. Each gem attatched itself to the larger crystal at impossible angles, they seemed to melt into place, giving the two large crystals a pure shine.

Light seemed to be caught and captured within each of the two precious spires. A presence; a soul seemed to materialise, giving life to the crystals. The two Bosses shrunk back, they felt supressed and caught doing something wrong. The two crystals started to twist and grow, they inflated larger and larger like an inflatable, but their density seemed to remain the same. Made of pure crystal, two large Golems started to form. Their hollow eyes saw everything, their skin made of deadly beauty, smoothened and hard, but versatile and ever-changing. The light seemed to move like liquid within them. The liquid light pulsed in certain places, at the end of each limb and joint. These sections exuded power, giving off endless energy to the Golem.

The two Crystal Golems turned and faced directly at the two Bosses.

"ROOAAR"

Kraton and Lysine flinched, the Golems' roar came with a large emptiness. No wind, no breath, just raw sound. The Golems stormed their way towards the two, the ground shattered under their steps. Each motion felt heavy and intense, but at the same time was fluid and natural. It was as if God gave these two creatures the agility of a cat, but the strength of a hundred elephants; an impossible feat in accordance to the laws of nature.

The Golems barrelled their way towards the two Bosses, Lysine quickly used the skill Dash, and abruptly propelled herself upwards, successfully evading the Golem's strike. It's punch carried forwards and embedded itself deep within the formerly impenetrable wall. A small shockwave exploded at the point of contact, shattering the surrounding rocks and freeing the Golem's hand.

Kraton had no evasive skills, nor could he dodge the Golem's attack with his own speed. This left him to only be able to block and grit his teeth. Even with his skill Harden active and concentrated around his arms and body, the Golem's pummel felt like it pierced though his organs. Under the tremendous force, Katon's body flew backwards, colliding with the wall behind him. This collision stole his breath, any human would have splattered into dust purely by the impact against the wall, however this crash merely left a single crack in the crystal wall.

The two Golems attacked again simultaneously, the Golem that hit Kraton charged forward, its legs pulsated with a blueish hue, as the ground seemed to push it forward, like a rapid current carrying a raft with ease.

At the same instance, the other Golem glowed brightly, the green crystals that made this one up resonated with the enviroment. Large vines, made of the same crystallised rocks that the Golems were composed by, pierced out of the floor by its feet. An eruption of debris flew out as the vine rocketed towards the hovering Lamia. Two more vines exploded out of the walls, soaring towarsd Lysine and giving her no room to dodge. The end of the vines changed shape as they grew at an alarming rate, from spearheads to blunt hammers, their shape did not matter as anything hit by these vines would turn to dust.

The blue Golem arrived in front of Kraton, it's fist grew shards that extended backwards like a comet, a beautiful sight unless you were goin to be hit by it. Kraton condensed the Harden skill purely on his arms, aiming to deflect the punch instead of taking it head-on.

As though in sync with the blue Golem's punch, the jade vines neared Lysine, she could feel the enormous pressure behind her as the vines tore through the air.

*BANG*

The sapphire fist detonated against Kraton's arm, unable to fully deflect the strike. A geyser of crimson blood spurted out of his arm, flying across the room. Numbness invaded his senses as he felt the dull pounding of his blood.

Lysine closed her eyes as she anticipated the collision from the vines. She braced her arms and wrapped her wings protectively around herself in order to negate at least a fraction of the impact.

*Crash*

Lysine struck the wall hard, but the pain was not what she imagined. Her back was fine, no numbness, no excrutiating pain. All it felt like was similar to how she crashed when she first learn how to fly; painful, but tolerable.

Lysine turned herself round and faced the scene infront of her. It was as though time had stopped. The jade vines hung in the air, centimetres from where it would have collided with her. The blue Golem towered over Kraton, but its half raised fist dangled before Kraton's defencive hands that protected his shrunken figure.

Unexpectedly, the Golems retreated towards the crystal coffin towards their initial positions. With a faint glow, they froze in place, their Golem-like details faded away to leave only a smoothened crystal spire.

Suddenly, the center of the room blazed with bright, dispersing light. The coffin shone, deflecting the beams of light like a glass prism. The cave shook, another tremor but the wind that came felt like a heavy breath. The wind started to pick up, it spun around the room with harsh gales but ultimately got sucked into the coffin like how water spins around a drain. A sharp shattering sound rang out from within the whirlwind.

"I. Have. Awoken."