Jade: The Hybrid Mage

Chapter 12: The Tortoise Symbol

"Blooby!" Lydia shouted, her voice cutting through the rising tension as we stood on the brink of chaos. She fiddled nervously with her glasses, one foot tapping incessantly against the dirt. "What are our chances of survival?"

Blooby's copper head tilted slightly, gears whirring as he calculated.

"Bloob . . . I estimate we have a 57% chance of defeating them."

"Fifty-seven?" Butcher's deep laugh rumbled through the group like thunder.

"That's good enough for me!" Не slammed his axes together, sparks flying from the collision.

"Why am I not surprised you think that's good odds?" Gidon muttered, already pulling a smoke flare from his cross-bag. "Thicker mist. Better cover. We can run for it."

Before anyone could respond, he hurled the flare at the orc-monkeys.

"You dumb prick!" Lydia yelled, her voice a mix of panic and frustration. "What makes you think a smoke flare will stop a bunch of orc-monkeys?"

With a sharp motion, she pulled a glowing device from her belt and flung it toward the creatures. A shimmering shield of light erupted between us and them, crackling as it solidified.

"Lydia, you beautiful, crazy genius!" Gidon called, a crooked grin spreading across his face.

"Don't start writing me love letters yet," Lydia snapped. "That magic shield won't hold for long."

The gang's boss, silent as always, stepped forward, his calm presence anchoring the group. Then he changed.

One moment, he was a man-small, lean, and almost unassuming. The next, his body contorted and grew, ripping through the air with a sound like bones snapping and fabric tearing. Fur exploded from his skin, and his face elongated into a muzzle filled with razor-sharp teeth. His hands became massive claws, glinting like steel in the faint light.

The transformation left me breathless, my eyes wide as I took in the werewolf that now towered six times the boss' original size.

"Impressive," Naila purred in my mind. "But we've seen better."

The boss' glowing eyes swept the group, pausing briefly on me. His low growl sent a shiver down my spine.

'He's warning you to stay back,' Naila said.

But staying back wasn’t something I wanted in my nature anymore.

Fire bloomed to life in my hands, wild and untamed. I caught Gidon's purple-flamed sword out of the corner of my eye and thought, 'If he can do it, so can I.'

"Wait—" Lydia began, but I didn't wait for anything.

Flames surged from my palms, colliding with the shield in an explosion of light and heat. For a moment, I thought I'd done something impressive. Then the boss turned, his massive muzzle inches from my face.

His growl was deep and feral, a reprimand that sent my flames sputtering out.

"Good try, kid," Gidon said, vaulting over the shield with a grin. "But leave this to the professionals."

He landed among the orc-monkeys like a blade slicing through water, his sword cutting down anything in his path. Each swing left a trail of purple fire, and he moved with an agility that was almost inhuman.

"Aaaahhh!" Butcher roared, tearing through Lydia's shield with his axes. The flickering barrier vanished as he charged forward, smashing his blades into the closest orc-monkeys. Their heads rolled, their blood splattering across the ground as he laughed in savage delight.

"My turn!" Lydia called, her glasses glinting as she activated some hidden mechanism. A laser contraption on her shoulder fired precise beams, each shot taking down a creature with clinical accuracy.

Blooby was smaller than the rest of us, but his strength was unmatched. His copper fists smashed through skulls with ease, and his sturdy frame absorbed attacks without flinching.

Good idea leaving Peecher and her buddies behind, Gidon!" Lydia shouted sarcastically, her voice barely audible over the chaos. "They wouldn't have been much help right now, would they?"

"What is Peecher?" I asked.

"Not now!" Lydia snapped, her focus on the horde of monsters closing in.

Minutes felt like hours, but finally, the ground was littered with the bodies of our enemies. The stink of burnt flesh and rotting decay filled the air as the group gathered near the massive doors.

A loud roar echoed from within the cavernous entrance, shaking the ground beneath our feet.

The gang's boss, now back in human form, stepped forward, his clothes somehow intact. "Can you get us in?" he asked Lydia, his gaze fixed on the glowing patterns along the doorframe.

"Can I?" Lydia huffed, pulling out a square device from her bag. She scanned the runes, her eyes narrowing as they rearranged into a decipherable pattern. “It isn’t any language we know of, that’s for sure. Looks like Gyrange’s first machine language. He later hated it for its lack of efficiency, so why use . . . Anyway, I think I've almost got it."

“Let’s break it down.” Butcher grunted, smirking at his weapons.

“Bloob . . . good luck . . . bloob . . . breaking down a door made from xylnaziom.”

“Zina-what?” Butcher contorted his face in confusion.

“It’s a rare metal alloy used to excavate potent materials from the earth’s core.” Lydia said, her eyes fixed on the glowing panel of her device, her fingers tapping vigorously on it.

“Here goes nothing!” Butcher bawled out. “Ah! Ah! Aaahhh!” He groaned as he struck his hefty axes on the daunting doors, making out sparks to each dash of their blades on the doors. He stopped and peered closer to see if his strikes had any effect on the doors. “Bloody skys! Not even a dent was made!” His eyes opened wide in shock.

“Told you . . . bloob.”

“Any luck?” The boss asked Lydia.

"Got it!" Lydia screamed, holding her fist to the sky in a gesture of victory.

"What does it say?" Butcher asked, his tone laced with impatience.

Lydia frowned. "If your heart is true to its course, place your hand on the tortoise, and it will let you in."

"Tortoise?" Gidon repeated, looking at the door. "What tortoise?"

"There," I said, pointing to a symbol near the top of the doorframe.

"Of course, it's up there," Butcher grumbled. "How's anyone supposed to reach that?"

"We'll need a ladder," Lydia said. "There's plenty of wood nearby. Let's get to work."

But before anyone could move, my gaze drifted to a smaller tortoise symbol right in front of me.

'I don't know why, but . . . I feel like I should touch it,' I thought.

'Then touch it,' Naila encouraged, her voice unusually gentle.

I pressed my hand to the symbol.

Pain shot through my palm as the symbol burned red-hot, searing into my skin. I yanked my hand back, cradling it as the ground beneath us trembled.

The massive doors groaned, then slid open with a deafening rumble.

"It's opening," Naila said, her tone a mix of excitement and unease. 'It's opening on its own.'

I stared at the mark on my palm—the scar of the tortoise symbol etched into my skin.

"What did you do?" Gidon asked, his voice sharp.

"I . . . I don't know," I admitted, my heart racing.

The open doors revealed a dark corridor stretching into the unknown. The air inside was thick, almost suffocating, but there was no turning back now.

The gang's boss stepped forward, his silhouette framed by the eerie glow of the door. "Let's move," he said, his voice calm and steady.

And with that, we entered the lair of Gyrange's Cave.