62. The Tower 13

Topaz had watched all of this happen and had let them be hurt just to get herself into the perfect position. Now she was in an internal debate. Did she let the lich cast the fire spell and get Novum and Rurik loose or distract him now and hope that she could survive until the rest of them got to her?

Topaz was about to launch her attack when she felt like someone was looking directly at her. She looked around and saw that Novum seemed to be staring into her eyes. As she watched she saw his shake his head back and forth just a little bit and knew that he was telling her to hold her attack. She was not even sure how he knew that she was there but she knew that he knew. She quickly stopped her motion and waited for the lich to make its move.

Novum had been one of the first to notice that Topaz was missing and her knew that she and Berry had made up some crazy plan before things went crazy. He was not sure what the plan was but he did know that Topaz would be trying her hardest to get into position behind the lich as quickly as possible. She had probably been aiming for the vampire as her first target but changed when it died without any direct action from her. After the ice balls and the frost on the ground he had noticed a few small foot prints on the ground. Not even full prints but the edge of a foot that right could not quite miss stepping in it.

Based on those prints he knew that Topaz was right behind the lich and was about to make her move. But his concern was that if she made her move, he could not be able to get free and that she would not be able to hold off against the lich without them. He was not positive on her exact location but based on the steps he had a good idea and stared at that area. After he was sure the she knew he was staring at her he shook his head just enough for her to notice. He knew that it was going to hurt but he could not take the chance that she would die before he could get free.

The lich was in the middle of casting its spell and did not notice the motion. Crystal did and she was a little confused but she also knew that Novum was not the type to do things without a reason. She also knew that if Erica was right, she was about to be needed in the worst way. She adjusted her position to make it harder for the lich to get at her and then got ready to run. As soon as the lich cast its spell, she was going to send all of her divine power out in a wave as she rushed the abomination. She might not be strong enough to turn it but she could use the energy to hinder it.

Rurik saw everything but Topaz and knew that while it was going to hurt it would not be enough to kill him. As a dwarf and a forger, he was not even that worried about the steam. Very seldom would it be hotter than the air around a forge. He just lowered his head and got ready to run as soon as the ice was gone.

The lich released the spell and it exploded in a ball of fire that was a lot stronger than anyone of them expected. It was still not enough to kill them but it was enough to hurt a lot worse than any of them realized. Erica, who was relying on only her gear, was hurt a lot worse than she expected as the fire was half-again as strong as it should have been. He must have learned a way to make it more powerful just like with the ice spell. She screamed in pain but quickly pulled out a healing potion.

The lich heard the scream and gave out a smile of pleasure. It was almost like it was feeding off the pain. It knew that the combined spells would hurt all of them but he was not sure if it would kill any of them. It quickly started to cast a third spell. It would use one of the few necromancer spells that it had learned through its change and put the melee fighters into a state of fear causing them to run away and give it time to deal with the rest of them. It was about to release the spell when it saw something moving within the steam and knew that it had underestimated the fighters. Just as it was about to release the spell it felt like someone hit it in the back with a hammer the size of a horse. Pain like it had not felt since it had crossed over assaulted its body.

Topaz heard the spell and was not sure what it was going to do and she wanted to attack the lich right now but again her instincts were screaming at her to hold her attack. She was almost in tears over the decision but she listened to her instincts and held off for a few more seconds. Just as she heard the lich's spell reaching the end, she saw Novum coming out of the steam and knew that it was time to act. She gripped the wand that Berry had given her earlier and struck forward into the lich's back. The second most powerful healing wand that she knew of hit the lich in the back. Normally a healing wand would repair wounds to a certain extent and making a person stronger. The key to that is it was divine or positive energy. The lich on the other hand was made of and used negative energy. What would heal a normal person caused severe damage to the undead lich.

Novum saw Topaz the moment she attacked and made sure that she was out of the way of his sword as he rained down a tremendous blow on the distracted lich. His sword cut through the shoulder and all the way down into the chest of the lich. To a mortal being this blow would have been fatal in an instant but since the lich did not need to breath and had no real vital organs the fight was not over yet. The lich tried to reach out and use one of its innate abilities as an undead and touch Novum but right before he made contact Rurik and Crystal came into range. Crystal hit the creature with her raw divine aura and the change in environment shocked the lich for just a moment and Rurik used that pause and landed a blow on the shoulder of the working arm and tore it clean off.

The blows from Novum and Rurik along with the shock from Topaz and Crystal were to much for the undead lich and it collapsed to the ground. Crystal felt the negative energy leave the body and knew that it had retreated to its phylactery. "Its retreating. If we don't finish it now then in the next few days it will show up again. Erica, Berry how are you guys?"

"I used a potion on myself and a spell on Berry. We are fine for the moment. Go do what needs to be done."

"Okay. Novum you and Rurik come with me. Topaz you keep an eye on the other two. I should be able to find its vessel it we are quick about it." She reigned in her holy energy and concentrated it into a small area in front of her and used the clash of energies to follow the lich's spirit. The group quickly passed through the door that the lich came out of the first time and into a large room that looked like it was set up for a meeting. Novum picked up one of the pieces of paper on the table as he walked by and saw that it was another sales pitch for his miniature farm.

Crystal led them to the next room where they discovered a large room that had several mirrors on the wall and a huge desk in the middle of the room. Well, it looked like a desk but it was covered with crystals of all shapes and sizes. There was also a book shelf that had a series of books that were set up in order. They were the instructions on how to operate the miniature village and even tips of proper farming and weather control. Novum spoke up. "This is the control center for the farm. Each and every crystal here does something to the surrounding farm lands. This is pretty crazy."

"Novum that big purple crystal in the middle of the table is what contains the lich's soul. It needs to be destroyed. I am not sure what will happen to the farm and the tower when that happens."

"Okay, Crystal go and check on the other's and have Erica burn the bodies beyond recognition. We have at least a day before it can come back and it needs a body to do it. If we make it harder, we have a better chance of delaying the return, and it took a lot of holy damage so it should slow things down. Then bring everyone in here and grab a book. We need to find out what happens when certain crystals and gems are destroyed. With a series of books this long about its operation, I seriously doubt that there is not something in one of these books that will not help us out."

"I can do that. Should we take care of the bodies outside or just the ones in here?"

"Just the two that are in here for now. Oh, you know what all the vampire bodies. The zombie ones were pretty much destroyed. The worse the condition of the body the more energy it needs to repair and control it."

Novum grabbed a book off the shelf and found a spot against the wall and sat down the read. Rurik shook his head and then grabbed a book as well; he was not a fan of any literature that was not a guide on making a weapon or armor that he was not familiar with but he understood that sometime desperate times called for desperate measures. A few minutes later Berry and Topaz joined them as Crystal and Erica were finishing up the bodies. Before long all six of them were sitting around the room reading.

Berry was the first one to find out something interesting. "Novum, get this. According to this book all of the buildings in here can be taken out and made full sized. It also shows that if you put all of the animals in the proper building when you do it, they will return to full size as well."

"That means when we are done here and I can turn this building into my manor house and all of these buildings will save me a huge amount of time and money. Does it say anything about the fence or walls?"

"Yeah, it can be done with them as well. They are easy to take down but a lot more complicated to put up. But all of the instructions are here."

"Outstanding Berry. Please mark that book so that when we make it out of here we can use that to set everything up."

Before Berry could reply Erica let out an excited scream. "I found it. This is the chapter that tells you about replacing all of the gems in the event that they break and the consequences of when they break."

Crystal got excited and ran over and it took all of her restraint to not take the book off of her. "So, what about the big purple one?"

"Okay, according to this, the big purple one is the pain stone in the table. When it is broken all the gems and crystals will stop working and it will continue to run on the last cycle that it went through until a new one is installed and linked. In other words, this crystal is the most important and also has the largest failsafe."

Novum nodded his head and picked up his sword. "Well, that settles that." He walked towards the table.