Unbound

Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty One - 261

Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty One - 261

Felix outlined the gist of his Quest. He told them they were looking to reach an ancient ruin before a powerful adversary. And that said adversary was potentially at large in the Foglands.

So were walking into an enemy territory? Kylar asked. His mustache twitched. How many? Levels and Temper?

Tier II and III from what we've seen, but there are some unknowns, Felix answered. The swordsman clenched his jaw at his answer. As I said, it's dangerous. I believe the bulk of their force is familiar to all of us. Many of the Reforged were killed but many more remain.

Wait, Nevis said, an edge of excitement in her voice. The ice warriors that attacked the city?

Yup, Evie said with a languid stretch. Big bastards. Ice armor. Used to be Frost Giants.

The ice mage's eyes shone in the waning light. Her compatriots were less enthused.

We Vyne choked a bit on the jerky he was eating but muscled through. we are from the Setoria branch of the Guild, sent months ago on a transfer to Haarwatch. We ended up assigned to a merchant caravan to make the journey, only arriving after the Inquisition barred the gates. We didnt experience the fighting first hand. He shuddered. "But we saw the aftermath."

A true shame, the Dwarven mage asserted. The little Ive seen of their corpses was remarkable. I'm eager to truly experience their power this time.

You're in the minority on that, Atar said with a grimace. Theyre damn strong, and whatever ritual they performed during the Bloodmoon made them stronger.

Felix nodded. We killed around two hundred of them during the battle, which means there are close to three hundred left. That is not a battle we want to walk into without preparations.

Three hundred, Alister breathed. Blighted Night.

Not to mention the wurms, sundry other monsters we can only guess at, and the Arcids, Vess added. And the one leading them all.

The Archon, Felix said with a quiet intensity.

There was silence for a time. Word had spread of the Apollyon and its conversation with the Blue Eyed Fiend. Even the Haarguard seemed aware of the name.

"This Archon seems...trouble," Davum said, sounding the words slowly. "He seems a bear in his cave."

Kylar pointed at his friend. "I agree. Why're we going to poke him?"

"Because the alternative is to let a known hostile power seize control of magical secrets," Atar said. He sounded scandalized. "What other option is there?"

"Running away seems a solid option," Evie said through a mouthful of bread. She swallowed with a swig of water. "I hear the desert is great this time of year."

"No it isn't," Atar said with a frown. "My home is wracked with storms in the summer months."

"Right right," Evie said and snapped her fingers. "It always sucks."

Atar sputtered.

The Archon is stuck in his Domain. He cannot escape, Vess said. She cut off the squabbling and gave Felix a searching look. They all knew how Domains could break given the right circumstances. "Correct?"

Felix smiled and hoped it at least appeared confident. Right. The worst well have to worry about are his forces, which hes clearly able to send outside the Domain. Hes searching for the ruin same as us and is closer to it. Well have to pass by his Domain on the way to it.

Yet Felix knew the Archon might soon escape, could have already, in fact. He refused to voice it, at least at that point. It was a bit superstitious, maybe, but he could hold out hope for a little while longer. The Archon was locked away, even if his forces weren't. They had to be the one's driving out the monster hordes they'd seen. What else would put such fear into them?

The conversation thankfully moved onto their projected path, with Harn taking the lead. He had the most experience with the Foglands, Mind altering mist or no, and knew many of the dangers. Many, but not all. The lack of fog had revealed the Foglands to be a changed landscape; where the paths were once dizzying and misleading, and the flora and fauna rotting and vile, now it was green and fecund. But no less hazardous.

The going would be slow, by necessity, unless they wished to die. Between Nymean Temples to ancient cities and divine shrines, Felix was increasingly certain that the Foglands held far more than anyone knew. A small part of him was excited to explore it all, while the rest of him considered the cold worry that nestled in his heart.

Would they all survive what they found?

Karp was certain they were going to die.

"Keep to the Path!" Zara commanded, and her voice was like a whipcrack. "Eyes forward! Do not stray!"

Entering the Dark Passages had been a trial, as each and every one of their blindfolded mounts had bucked the instant of arrival. It took some doing, but calming touches and a firm hand kept most of them in line, enough to keep anyone from losing a bird. When that chaos cleared, however, Karp had found out why the avum had gone a bit mad.

They had emerged into a darkened...chamber, of sorts. The area ahead of them was barely illuminated in a ghostly green-blue light, centered on the Sorcerer herself. The Naiad was practically glowing with it, as if whatever spell she'd wrought were creating the very floor they walked on.

She had quickly led them forward, through twisting tunnels whose sides they couldn't even see, just the stone and wood they trod. All of it glowing with Zara's magic. The Dark Passages weren't real, or they were, Karp was a bit confused on the matter. Zara and Vivianne called it a lima liminah, screw it. Something about being "between Realms" whatever that tripe meant. All Karp knew was that if the Passages had a face, he'd have put an arrow in its eye hours back.

Those dark and twisty pathways continued as they led their mounts deeper and deeper. He could barely see his own two feet, and what he could see around him made Karp regret waking up that morning. The shadows around them writhed in a way that was both unnerving and nauseating. Things were in that darkness, and no matter how often Zara told them not to look, Karp couldn't help himself.

It was too faint, even with his Journeyman eyes, like shapes in smoke. Forms danced in and out of focus, color and distance so hazy as to be impenetrable. Fleshy, wobbling appendages slid past, mottled things covered in hooks and barbs. They undulated, Karp thought, twisting up, over, even under them. As if...as if the path were nothing. As if

The ground opened up beneath him. A yawning tar pit. It pulled at him with dark, clawing hands. Karp howled, clutching tight to his mount's reins, but his Strength was not enough. He fell.

"Karp!" A soft but unyielding hand gripped his chin and forced him to look away. "I said, eyes forward."

Karp gasped, finding himself standing once again on solid ground and his reins torn off in his hands. The path had become stone once more and he ran his calloused fingers across it's polished surface. Stone. Marble. He pressed it, and found it firm, even to his strong Body.

"What...what in Avet's name was that?" he asked.

Zara knelt before him, arranging her black skirts outward and glowing with that soft, ghostly light. "Avet has no hand in the Passages, no god does. We walk between worlds, Karp, and the path does not always move how we expect." She stood again, drawing him up with her. "Keep your eyes forward, off the dark. Focus on the way ahead." Zara turned to the rest of the company, and Karp realized everyone had halted to stare. "That goes for all of you! Watch not the shadows! They will lead you astray!"

Karp felt the urge returnto flick his gaze, just for a momentbut he mustered what little Willpower he possessed and tensed his neck muscles. The wordless whispers clung to him for a prolonged moment, before fading. It was a compulsion, truly, encouraging him off the path.

"What are they?"

Zara looked into the dark, ignoring her own advice. "They are remnants. Pieces of the Realms, caught in the nothing between."

Vivianne hustled from the front, grabbing Karp's cuirass to help him remain standing. "The nothing...?"

"The Void," Zara said simply, before turning back to the front. "We move. There is not much to go."

They walked. On and on, one foot in front of another. Karp felt the Void calling to him again, scratching at his Mind, but he shut it out. He practiced a trick he'd used on the battlefield, a simple technique to keep his mind busy instead of worrying before a fight. Karp broke down his bow in his Mind, the wood, the horn, the lacquer, all of it. Then he thought on the craft to build it once again. On his father, who had made his first bow when Karp had been no more than ten years old. The memory brought peace as well as grief, as his father had long since passed into the Ethereal.

But it kept his Mind busy, noisy, too preoccupied to pay much attention to the scraping tentacles of the creatures.

Time passed.

Karp was unsure how long they had been down there, but it felt like days when the ghostly green turned to brilliant, blinding white. Then, with a rush of wind and sun and air, they had emerged. A green forest greeted them, and beyond that a blue sky touched with soft oranges and yellows along the scudding clouds.

They had made it.

"We ride a short distance, perhaps ten leagues, but then we make camp for the evening," Zara said, already atop her ugly avum. The bird snapped repeatedly at a large buzzing fly, unable to catch it. "On the morrow, we make our attempt."

"Camp? There are still hours of daylight left," Kelgan argued. "We already lost days on your route, we can't afford"

"Lost, Lieutenant?" Zara said with a raised eyebrow. She smiled, and Karp shuddered at her sharp teeth. "We've lost nothing."

Karp looked up, sighting the sun through the emerald canopy. It was a touch thinner here than further down the slope, and the terrain was dense and uneven as anywhere else in the Verdant Pass. He sited the sun, its position, and the mountains looming north and south of them.

"Blind gods," Karp said, loud enough for the rest to overhear. "We're nearly at the Tin Gate."

"What?"

"Impossible."

"The Sorcerer already told you all. The Dark Passages are a shortcut," the Hand said with a sneer. "That vile jaunt was for a purpose, fools. We've spent perhaps six hours to travel a hundred leagues."

Zara's smile was thin lipped and her eyebrow raised at the Hand, but Karp saw her nod imperceptibly. "So we have. A few more leagues and we'll be at the Gate, where we can attempt to cross into the next section of the Pass."

"Attempt?" Kelgan asked after he picked his jaw up from the ground. "The Gate is simply that. There is no chance of failure in riding through it."

"In normal years I would not argue the point. But this has not been a normal year," Zara said, before putting her heels into her mount. The ugly bird squawked and took off at a light canter. "We ride. Now."

Karp checked his bow and climbed atop his bird. He took the time to truly look around him, appreciating the forest for what might have been the first time. Karp glanced back, at the low mound covered in unbroken grass. No evidence remained of their passage, no cave or crevasse.

Karp rubbed at his temples and shuddered.

They rose early the next morning, well before the dawn. Both Harn's and Felix's senses could detect no roaming beasts nearby, and in fact it seemed most nocturnal predators had gone to sleep. And no wonder, as Felix had spent much of the night listening to their terrifying roars and howls. Some sort of battle had even occurred just below their cliff-face, and when they emerged the next morning it was to find a pair of gigantic claw marks on the stone itself.

Now without their mounts, they made faster time along the rocky terrain. They had covered many miles before the sun even started to light up the sky, in fact, with not even the mages putting up much of a fight at the pace. The forest and ravines of the day previous had become rocky foothills in short order, and soon even those were left behind as they ascended the shortest of the mountain peaks before them. Forests covered the slopes, but as they neared the top it became rockier and filled with tangled vegetation.

Frankly, Felix didn't miss the mounts. The avum were capable creatures, and would have likely helped his friends, but the exertion was an excellent way to push their Body Skills. Not to mention, it was easier to prepare for the inevitable attack by roving monsters. He wasn't ashamed to admit he was a bit biased, he'd never earned a Riding Skill. Even on top of Pit it always felt more than a bit awkward.

Pit, however, continually bemoaned the fact he wasn't allowed to fly.

You'll be a target, bud, Felix explained for the tenth time that morning. You have to walk, just like us.

Pit warbled in a decidedly sulky tone and stomped ahead. Felix could only sigh and roll his eyes.

"Kids, huh?" Evie said.

Felix gave her a half smile. "Hey Evie."

"Damn, did I make noise that time? Step on a stick?" Evie looked behind her where the path of tumbled stone and exposed roots comprised their ascending path. The majority of their compatriots were struggling with the terrain, though Vess breezed through it gracefully. Kikri and Kylar were moving well enough too, the both of them having apparently invested moderately in Dexterity.

"No you didn't step on anything. You're just not good enough to beat me," Felix said with a grin.

Evie scoffed. "Just you wait, cheater. I'll get you when you least expect it."

"I'm sure you will," he said. Something shimmered ahead. It seemed like a reflection, but...the sun hadn't yet risen above the horizon. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Evie said. She squinted where he pointed. "I dunno. Your Perception is better than mine. If you can't tell..." She shrugged. "Let's go look though. Atar!"

The words were more stage whisper than shout, but Atar heard her nonetheless. He had progressed well ahead of them, closer to Harn surprisingly, and when he saw where Evie pointed his gaze immediately sharpened.

"Oh highest flame, that is intriguing," Atar gestured and held up a wrist. It was a common enough Skill called Mana Gauge, allowing folks to get a rough estimate of the types of Mana prevalent in a small area. Atar had learned it from Portia only a few weeks back. "Earth, shadow, air, yes yes," he dragged his hands across his wrist and the collection of colors there. "Oooh, higher than anticipated metal Mana. Either there's a powerful vein nearby, or that's made of refined ore."

Felix's interest was only increased and he hurried up the path, Atar and Evie close behind. The incline steepened, but that didn't stop him. Felix merely vaulted the last thirty feet, landing with both feet atop the sharp tip of the lowest peak.

Beside him, now gleaming in the newly risen sun, was a blade.

Three blades, actually, and not real blades. They were ten feet long and angled so they stuck out of the mountain at a forty-five degree angle to the west. Each one was bronze and the wide, leaf-shaped blades were covered in a dense, inert script. They were lined up next to each other, same angle and everything, but one of them was snapped off halfway up. It was a clean cut, as if something had sliced through it at some point.

Voracious Eye!

Name: Essence Relay

Type: Structure (Enchanted)

Lore: Built to accompany the Essence Anchor, the Relays work to amplify and spread the true purpose of the Anchor.

Heavy breathing behind him followed by the clatter of stones announced Atar's presence, but Evie had slipped up beside him only moments later.

"Twin's teeth, those are big...things," Evie ran her hand over the discolored bronze. It wasn't pitted or damaged, simply a bit dirty. "What're they for?"

Atar gasped, having hit his shin on a boulder, before he gasped again at the sight of the devices. "They are beautiful!"

"Essence Relay," Felix said, noticing the distinct similarities between them and the massive Essence Anchor he'd once thrown himself upon. They were a fraction of the size, but even some of the script seemed the same. "It's like we thought, Atar. The Essence Anchor I destroyed, the one responsibly for the fog array here, it was being amplified by these."

Atar wiped sweat from his brow and put his hands on his hips. He took several long, shaky breaths. "There must be more. An array that affected nearly the entire Territory had to have been supported by dozens of these." He held out a hand and after checking Mana levels, he placed that hand onto the Relay. There was no reaction, and tension bled from the mage's shoulders. He began tracing his fingers along the carved sigils on its surface. "Remarkable."

Evie glanced over the side of the peak, and saw Harn and the others gathering where a narrow trail moved around the tip. "As much as I'd like to stay and watch Atar fondle his blade," she snickered and Atar turned beet red. "I think Harn's movin' on."

"Yeah, go down and tell him. We'll be down in a few seconds," Felix said. Evie nodded and hopped down, likely reducing her weight and floating. "Atar? You have paper and charcoal?"

"Hm? Oh! Yes!" The fire mage fished both items out of his bag, and the two of them quickly made rubbings of the sigils on the Relay. Each of them had the same series of sigils, so they only bothered with the one. Still, that took them several minutes to fill up and annotate each page.

Felix didn't necessarily need to make rubbings; he'd remember the pattern and layout of the sigils with little effort. But this wasn't just for him. If he wanted to talk to someone about all this, he needed his friends on the same page, as it were.

Just as Atar was spritzing some alchemical liquid on the pages before packing them up, Felix saw something else. This time it was in the distance, to the west. The forest stretched onward for endless miles, even to his acute vision, but this was close. Located between the blunted peaks just a mile or two down, there was a structure. A man-made structure, as close as he could tell.

And from the top, smoke was pouring out.