149 CXLIX. The Rock Crevice

Karl was terrified and kept back, being careful not to fall off the rocky terrace.

Dag put away the hammer, which returned to its seat, on the belt.

After the injection, his physical abilities had increased slightly and he was able to move nimbly despite the weight of the axe he carried on his back.

It was time to find out if his dark powers had also increased and there was no better opponent than a magical monster of that power.

Reidar looked at Dag out of the corner of his eye, without looking away from the enemy.

He opened his hand, palm facing upwards.

The dark fluid released from his arms slipped toward his hand, concentrating within it.

Dag tried to control it, using his mind: he did not know exactly how, but thinking about the movements the fluid had to make, it moved in the same direction, following his will.

From the palm of his hand, Dag's black liquid began to rise upwards condensing into a small dark sphere.

The elemental turned his head towards him and for a moment stopped attacking his comrades.

"Karl! Hit the metal ring! It's will buy us more time!" said Dag, as he controlled the fluid, loading his next shot.

Karl, without asking questions, took a deep breath, taking courage, and began to run toward the elemental, who noticed the attack.

The monster tried to hit Karl with a slow punch directed downwards and he managed to deftly dodge it, opening an attacking window: he turned on himself and hit the neck of the elemental, who had lowered trying to hit him.

The shield crashed into the metal ring, which detached from the neck and flew away, slamming onto the wall.

"Now it's your turn, Reidar!" continued Dag, coordinating the offensive maneuver, as the dark ball in his hand continued to grow as more fluid joined it.

Reidar took an arrow and charged it, stretching the bow rope.

As he aimed, next to his arrow, two shining arrows appeared, glowing with yellow light and pointing in the same direction as the real arrow, even if they were suspended in the air.

The metal ring began to fly towards the monster again when Reidar fired the arrow.

Along with it, the other two were also fired at great speed, leaving a blue trail behind.

Kjetil's bow had worked, it was enough to stun the enemy, to allow Reidar to load a stealth shot.

All three arrows hit the elemental's large aquatic chest: while the real one pierced it without injuring him, the two luminous arrows lodged in the enemy's body, causing him considerable damage.

The metal ring fell back to the ground and the headless monster began to fidget, sore.

"It worked!" yelled Reidar, looking satisfied at his magic weapon.

Now it was Dag's turn: a dark, fluid sphere floated in the palm of his hand, following his movements.

It exuded an incredible power, ready to be unleashed.

Dag began to walk toward the elemental, while it continued to squirm, unable to see his enemies.

When he noticed that the sphere, due to its high intrinsic gravity, was anchored to his hand, he ran to the elemental, jumping as high as possible.

"Aaaaagh! Die!" cried Dag, as he fell down, through the transparent body of the monster, pointing the sphere to the fracture in the rock.

As soon as he hit the ground, in less than a second, the dark fluid penetrated the rock, detaching itself from Dag's hand and began to drag down with it also the elemental, who placed his hands on the ground, trying to look for some foothold to avoid being sucked.

Dag continued to point his hand down, trying to feel the liquid's movements in the depths of the mountain rock.

He gritted his teeth and concentrated, further increasing the gravity of the dark fluid.

The elemental's hands crawled to the ground, with a grip so strong that it etched the rock.

The monster's torso completely entered the narrow slit, and his arms rose upwards, swirling as if Dag had just flushed the toilet.

As the enemy tried in vain to escape the mighty dark fluid, Dag stood up and walked slowly toward the metal ring, which was there on the ground and vibrated faintly.

He put a foot on it, blocking it.

As soon as the last drop of water of the elemental entered the fracture of the rock, the ring stopped vibrating.

"Did we make it?! Hahaha!" exulted Karl, rising from the ground after being hit as the monster fidgeted, trying to escape the liquid.

Dag picked up the metal ring and tied it on his belt.

"This is just the beginning. Now we need to find out what's really behind that door" he said.

"I thought Asa told you in detail" Karl replied.

"She told me Brann's version. As I didn't know about the elemental we just faced, there could be other dangers. We must never get distracted, be careful" Dag continued as he approached the door.

The runes that were shining a few minutes earlier were back to normal.

Dag lightly touched some of them with his fingertips.

"We could try to push it" Karl said, approaching his friend.

"Karl, that stone door is too heavy to be moved by hand. Besides, I think it didn't 'use' all of its runes, which are the opening mechanism" said Reidar, who had put Kjetil's bow back in its place and was approaching his teammates.

"Asa told me that Brann and his brother Eirik couldn't get in immediately, and when they had lost hope, they turned to go away and the door opened" Dag said, recalling his mother's exact words.

"Maybe we could do the same" Reidar said.

"I don't think it would work. And I'm sick of waiting" Dag continued, unhooking the straps that held the Red Executioner strung up to his back.

Dag pulled it out of the linen towel with which it had been covered and approached it at the door.