1.3

I focused on the last two men on the ground, creating concentric green circles around them. I concentrated harder, ignoring the mental fatigue that plagued me, and the circles began to spin. A few meters to the left of me, an identical set of circles emerged, spinning in a similar fashion. With one final effort, the men disappeared from my vision and appeared to my left.

All twelve of us were now standing at the entrance of Khepri's tomb. The structure was a massive pyramid that hung in the sky, suspended by a magical amulet at its center. The entire structure was perhaps as large as the Summoner's Institute back at Piltover was, except even taller.

The effort that I had spent taking the twelve of us up onto the pyramid's entrance was quite considerable, and we hadn't even entered the tomb yet. Luckily, there probably weren't going to be many magical traps in the pyramid. It had something to do with the fact that Khepri had slain most of the other magicians in her rise to power.

According to local tradition, using magic on one's own tomb would prevent one from entering the afterlife, so Khepri was left with the weakest mages at the time to protect her tomb. All she had contributed to the tomb was the funds for its construction, the massive magical amulet, and her own body.

In front of us was a massive marble door, the white sticking out among the sandstone walls. Sivir pointed at it, and spoke several Shumarian words that I didn't catch. Several of the mercenaries walked up to the door, and tried to push it open. When it didn't budge, and no opening mechanism could be found, they raised their weapons.

The one on the far left, called Zino, empowered his pike with a shout. The others beside him copied him, and their weapons glowed with magical energy. They charged forwards, ramming into the door with all their strength. Cracks appeared where the weapons met the door, gradually spreading into a complex lattice until the door shattered.

I peered into the tomb's entrance, seeing a dark corridor with multiple paths branching off of it. Several torches were lit, and we proceeded inside together. My Summoner's Orb was out, and I expended some energy to search for traps. There were no signs of millennia old latent magic, and I trusted that Sivir and the others would find the more physical traps.

We continued down the corridor, ignoring the paths that branched off, until we were about a quarter the way into the tomb. There was a dead-end here, with a branch leading to the left and a branch leading to the right. Up until this point, the structure had looked decidedly barren and boring. However, to my left and right were artistic wonders, beautiful paintings of ancient art lining the walls of the tomb.

I whistled appreciatively, and several of the mercenaries copied me, mocking me. Sivir placed an arm on my shoulder, placating me, and I pulled out a piece of paper and a quill, quickly tracing the rough designs of some of the art. The others waited, not wanting to venture on in the case that there were any magical traps, and I finished up as quickly as I could.

As soon as I finished tracing a portion of the wall, to my horror, Zino and the mercenaries that had opened the door empowered their weapons again. They slammed their weapons into the wall, carving out large portions of it and dropping them into various sacks. Monuments from the tomb to be sold for later, I supposed.

"What you trace, we assume to be worthy of keeping," Sivir explained, and one of the few mercenaries that spoke English nodded.

We ventured onwards, finding not much more than paintings until we hit another split in the path. The one to the left led to a smaller circular room, while the one to the right was another long passageway. I touched my orb, extending my magical senses outwards. I was blind to the world now, but would be able to sense any magic as a vivid flash of color. I felt a familiar dull blue glow from Sivir, several red ones from the weapons the mercenaries carried, and a periodically winking green light in the circular room. Unfamiliar with the particular spell, I probed it further, only to discover that it was a magic sensor.

"Run, get back," I shouted, gesturing towards the corridor, and our party took off, sprinting down into the longer corridor. A few seconds later, a large rumble and crash was heard, and a plume of dust headed our way. I quickly established a stabler connection to my Summoner's Orb, wanting to dispel the dust, then decided against it. It would be better to conserve my strength for more potentially lethal traps.

The wave of dust washed over us, and the group of us coughed, hacking out the thick mixture. A few seconds later, the dust cleared, and the group looked at me. I hadn't been able to detect the magical signature of the amulet through this expedition so far, and I had no clue which way would be the correct one. Acting on a hunch, I pointed towards the circular room.

We walked into the circular room. I was scanning for magical traps, not really paying attention to the physical reality but the magical one instead, and I walked straight into a hole that had released the dust. I switched back into regular vision the instant my feet left the ground, but one of the mercenaries reacted quickly, grabbing the back of my shirt.

I looked down, and gulped. It seemed that the hole in the pyramid went all the way down to the surface of the desert. The mercenary called for help, and several strained and reached, getting a grip on me, before gradually lifting me upwards. As they pulled me up, I noticed that there were looks of concern, rather than annoyance or humor on their faces.

"Shi Gu Lam," I said, saying the only words I knew in Shumarian.

They replied in kind, although why they thanked me for saving me was beyond me. Some cultural custom, I supposed. I skirted around the hole, and we pressed onwards. I struggled to maintain my concentration, jumping between magical and physical vision. I couldn't really focus on either, but I hoped it would be enough to be able to notice any anomalies.

At the other end of the circular room was another corridor. It was quite narrow, only large enough for us to walk in double file. As we padded down the corridor, I noticed in my magical vision wells of magic just behind both walls. We hadn't triggered the magic yet, and I identified it to be some sort of heating spell.

"Stop," I called out, and Sivir quickly relayed the instructions.

Everybody stood stock still while I examined the corridor. There, by the end of it, a tiny silver line of magic that ran across it. A metaphysical tripwire. I pointed vaguely gestured towards the area, and explained that there was an invisible tripwire there. Sivir translated, and I demonstrated how to safely get over it.

The others who followed behind me greatly exaggerated the movements, not wanting to get caught at all. We got through the corridor safely, until I when I stepped forwards, the tile beneath my foot sunk down slightly. I was still viewing the world through magical eyes, and I didn't see anything happen. Switching back into physical view, there didn't seem to be anything either.

"Careful, Ezreal. I would back away from that tile if I were you," Sivir urgently spoke.

I got the message, hopping off of the tile and running back towards the group as quickly as I could. Several long seconds passed, and nothing happened. Several more seconds passed, and still nothing happened. Convinced that nothing had been set off, I began to step forwards again, but Sivir put an arm on me. The other mercenaries patiently waited, watching the tile intently. I switched back into magical view, but nothing had changed.

"I don't see anything magical," I said, but Sivir shook her head.

We continued to wait. I thought that it was perfectly possible that any potential spot over that tile could have potentially malfunctioned, if there was a trap on it, or simply that there was never a trap in the first place. However, it seemed that nobody agreed with me. I respected the others' opinions, since they had been doing this much longer than me, but I grew frustrated.

A small hourglass sat in Sivir's palm. As far as I could tell, it was not magically enchanted or enhanced in any way, so I presumed that she was using it to determine when it would be safe to move on. The grains of sand in the hourglass moved agonizingly slowly, spelling out the time in the dullest way possible.

Everybody watched the hourglass, not daring to move, until the glass grain of sand plinked against the glass bottom of the hourglass. Sivir nodded, apparently fine with moving on, and we walked forwards. Walking over the tile, nothing happened, and I tried to stifle my annoyance. No traps, nothing had happened. It was pretty clear to me- why hadn't they listened?

I let Sivir take the lead, given her greater experience, and focused on my Summoner's Orb again. Reaching out my magical awareness, I noted that there was a large well of magic that suddenly popped up beneath us. Was it the amulet? There was something magically precious down there, of that I was sure. The magical signature was not one of a trap, given how it was arranged in the shape of a perfect sphere.

Trapped energy that could be set off was wild and volatile, but this energy was perfectly shaped, indicating that it was bonded to some item. Furthermore, I had never seen golden magic harm anyone before. Gold indicated consciousness and summoning. Summoning could potentially be a problem, but summoning took time and a magical power source, of which there were none nearby.

"There's something magically valuable beneath us," I said.

After a quick translation from Sivir, the men got straight to work. They cleared a large area, and then empowered their weapons, rapidly striking the ground. The floor was probably made of magically reinforced sandstone, as their progress was decidedly slow. After several minutes of chipping away, they finally reached a distance about half a meter deep.

The mercenaries kept clear of the hole they were digging, in case they fell down into a room and got injured, so the rate at which they dug at the hole was slower than it should have been. Suddenly, when a piece of sandstone was chipped away, a shaft of bright light came out of a gap in the floor.

The men gasped and Sivir smiled. More of the sandstone was quickly removed, and a rope was tied so that we could get into the lower chamber one by one. I went down after Sivir, finding that the room we were in was similar to the circular one from before, but much larger.

Behind us was a large coffin, with multiple jewels and other valuables embedded in it. Various riches adorned the walls, including silk carpets, golden goblets and beautiful sandstone carvings. All of this was easily worth several lifetimes' pay for me, I guessed. In the center of this sepulcher was a floating amulet, the source of the room's light.

The amulet was bright blue, spherical in shape without any designs on it. Something drew me to it, and as the mercenaries around me looted the spoils of this room, I reached out and touched the amulet. Shivers instantly ran down my spine.

At long last... a voice echoed in my mind. Not sinister in sound, but distinctly feminine.

I withdrew my hand, surprised at what had just happened. I looked around, and instinctively knew that nobody had heard the voice. The amulet would be the only thing that Khepri would have been able to place in the tomb. Was the voice hers?

Curious, I touched the amulet again. Just hold on a minute, it will soon be over, the voice said. "What will?" I thought. Then, a searing pain ran through my arm, and I felt it stiffen. The pain spread through the rest of my body, and I began seeing stars. My whole body stiffened, and I fell to the floor, rigid.

Cries of alarm came out, and I still clutched the amulet in my left arm. Not much longer now, the voice continued, and my left arm burned in pain. The amulet sunk into the flesh of my palm, destroying the center of my hand and embedding itself there. More pain rippled through my body, and I screamed out.

The others could do nothing as they watched me on the floor, thrashing about. Red and black flashed through my eyes, and then the pain intensified more. Relax, your hand is healing now, the voice said soothingly.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

To my surprise, the voice replied, Healing hurts, but do not worry, the worst is over. I groaned, but true enough, the pain quickly began to lessen. Within seconds, I was back to normal, save for the amulet embedded in my palm. It continued to shine with explosive light, and I tenderly touched the amulet.

It didn't move or budge as I touched it. The mercenaries began to surround me, anxiously looking at me in fear. Their eyes drawn to my glowing hand, I uncomfortably lowered it. Sivir watched from a distance, eyes thoughtfully watching. Unsure of what to do, I said: "I'm fine, no need to worry."

The mercenaries listened to my calm tone and visibly relaxed. They all believed in the supernatural, but they weren't about to believe that I was possessed. You better take cover, the voice called out, and I looked around the room in confusion.

"Careful," I said, and Sivir quickly translated. Suddenly wary, we all jumped in fear when our stomachs lurched.

Without the amulet, the pyramid falls. I will do what I can to ensure your safety, but no guarantees, the voice said.

"The pyramid's falling. Take cover, make your last wishes, oh bloody Void," I cried out, realizing that the voice spoke the truth.

There was no time to translate, and we hit the ground. The jarring impact knocked me out, and I watched helplessly as my vision faded.

Ezreal... Ezreal... wake up Ezreal... EZREAL! the voice cried out, and my eyes snapped open. From the amulet's light, I could faintly see through the darkness, and knew that I was surrounded by rubble. Ruins of the fallen pyramid surrounded me, encasing me in a dark tomb.

"What happened?", I asked the voice, "How am I not injured? Where is everybody else?"

We've got time, and I'll start with an introduction. I am a fragment of Khepri's soul, placed in this amulet to live on for all eternity. She chose the politicking, seductress elements of herself to inhabit this amulet, so here I am. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do in this amulet except communicate with the bearer and make certain things happen. Oh, and you can call me Pearl.

"That sounded pretty scripted," I said drily, unsure of where Pearl was going with this.

Hey! I had a couple thousand of years to think of something to say, just let me have my moment, will you? Pearl harumphed indignantly.

"That doesn't make what you did any better," I replied, chuckling internally.

Anyways, I'll move on with my 'scripted' speech. This next part might be slightly disorienting, but I'll do my best to keep it quick. I'm just going to scan the contents of your brain, so we're on the same page, okay? Pearl said.

"Wait, how did you know my name if you haven't scanned my brain?" I wondered.

Well, I can easily pick up surface thoughts. If I really tried, I could probably pick up the surface thoughts of people other than you. But that's besides the point. Just hold on a second, and don't panic if things start seeming weird...

Suddenly, my vision went dark. A faint light swung back and forth, haunting in nature. It grew closer, and I instinctively backed away from it. Then, it consumed my vision. I was an infant, loved dearly by my parents. I was still an infant, slain by the Dark Lord Voldemort.

Void. Things that I do not remember, things that should not be remembered, a black evil that stretched across the world. My soul, drifting, fleeing, panicking. A light, a gap in this deadly reality, an escape. Light filled my vision again. The rest of my life played out, certain moments- killing, graduation, slowed down. Events didn't play out in temporal order. They jumped around.

The events accelerated, the moments blurring and flashing faster than I could keep track off. How fast could Pearl do this? What was Pearl even doing? Key moments flashed up, slowed down and examined. She zoomed into random details, elements that I couldn't follow showing up, and then it was over.

I felt slightly woozy, nausea washing over me. Several minutes passed, before I realized I was still trapped beneath a pyramid.

"Pearl, how in the world am I supposed to get out of here?" I asked.

There was no response. I looked down, and saw that the amulet on my left palm was still glowing. What had happened? The rubble around me completely trapped me, leaving me no way to escape, or even move very much. I tentatively tried to push against various pieces of sandstone, but nothing budged.

There was no way I could move all of this with magic. I had already pushed myself to the limit with the teleportation, and it would be hours before I would even be able to attempt something similar.

Sorry, Ezreal. I am still trying to process everything that you just showed me. Saving you and the others from certain death when the tomb fell made me even weaker than usual. I think there may have been some permanent damage done when I overextended myself there. Pearl finally responded. Her voice was halting and uncertain.

"So I'm just supposed to wait here and die while you think about my life?" I asked, growing frustrated.

Again, there was no response. I sighed, and tried to relax. Ever since my experience in the sewers of Piltover, I had become mildly claustrophobic. Now, I felt the consequences of that as I tensed up. The walls seemed to close in on me, the air becoming unbearably heavy. I wheezed, trying to take in air.

I knew there was nothing wrong with the air (or at least, I hoped I did), and that this was all a mental reaction. Magic was all about controlling reality with one's mind, but I couldn't even manage my own body. There was no way I could get myself out of this situation until I got myself sorted out, or Pearl decided to help out.

I am trying to help, Pearl muttered, but I need to get this done first. Just be patient, will you.

The last words echoed in my mind. The sounded like honey, so sweet. Her words intoxicated me, and I felt myself gradually relaxing. Was this the seductress element that she had talked about? I found myself not caring at all.

Just a few moments later, I felt Pearl stir. It was awkward, having somebody who could read your thoughts, and being able to read somebody else's thoughts. Of course, I still hadn't quite mastered that, and while the division between Pearl and I was pretty stark, I couldn't help but feel creeped out by how much Pearl knew about me.

Eventually, Pearl seemed to finish up with whatever she had been doing. She turned her attention towards me, and spoke.

Ezreal, the amulet that is now permanently attached to you has the ability to solidify magic, given a well or power source. All you need to do is focus on the magical aspect of the amulet and your end-goal, and the amulet should do the rest. Pearl said.

I wasn't quite sure how this would help, but I tried it anyways. It was difficult maintaining focus on two abstract concepts at the same time, and I struggled for several minutes to pull it on. Pearl didn't seem to have any advice for me on this.

Finally, I stumbled on the way to do it. Although my concentration wasn't perfect, I managed to produce corporeal white matter that fired off in a thin line towards the wall. It bored into the wall briefly before running out of energy and dissipating.

That's the way to do it, Pearl said approvingly, but I'm afraid that you'll be in here for several hours if you don't find a more efficient way to clear the rubble. Try this.

The image of a bolt composed of mystic material flashed into my head. Mystic material in physical form was grey, powerful and extremely hard to create. However, the amulet would supposedly take care of the creation aspect. Once again, I focused on the dual concepts.

It took just slightly less time this time, and a grey shot formed in my hands. I formed it into a lengthier object, and then fired it. The shot was just wider than my arm, and probably as long as I was tall. It created a significantly larger hole in the rubble, and I nodded, satisfied with my work. Then, I noticed that my magical reserves, or mana as most called it, were running low.

"How in the world do mages even fight? I always seem to run out of mana after two or three spells." I asked, hoping that Pearl would have an answer.

When I was Khepri, I initially ran into the same problem. The only real way to fix it is to use more spells. You'll gradually gain larger reserves with experience. I'm guessing you haven't done a lot of practical work, huh? Pearl replied snarkily.

I ignored her, and waited for my reserves to come back. The entire process took several hours, as I intermittently blasted holes in the rubble, crawled forwards, and waited. Pearl seemed content humming away, but she had waited for millennia. I didn't really have quite the same patience as her, and was bored out of my wits.

Oddly enough, I didn't feel any signs of hunger or thirst, despite the long amounts of time that I had spent without food or drink. Suddenly, after one of my mystic bolts penetrated through more sandstone, I saw another tunnel. The markings on the side of the wall, deep ruts and gouges, reminded me of something, although I couldn't remember what. No monster could feasibly have entered the pyramid since it crashed, right?

You've got a mighty bad eye for a Grand Master Explorer, Ezreal. Those markings match the ones made by the mercenaries when they were carving down the doors. I'm guessing that since I unintentionally separated everybody from you, they got out this way, Pearl admonished.

I continued down the passageway, glad that I no longer had to carve out a path for myself. Hopefully, everybody else would be alright, and I trusted that they would be able to handle themselves. However, I still had to find them. Without Sivir and the rest of the mercenaries, I could easily wander the desert until I died of dehydration. Hopefully, this path would lead me to them.

As I traveled down the passageway, a light appeared. Gradually, the light at the end of the tunnel began to brighten. Sunlight.

A/N: There will be more frequent updates soon (around Christmas), since I'll have more free time.