Lightning slashed down through the sky, in vicious lines of white hot primal energy. Thunder reverbrated through the air and rain fell in driving sheets. The dense woodlands below swayed under the howling force of the wind and everything within dripped with water and smelled of wet earth and loam. Two figures pressed through the undergrowth, undaunted by the elemental forces that were at work that night. One wore a black cloak and hood, the other had on a tight fitting body-glove of green and black and carried a light pack and a plain wooden staff.
"Are you sure it's here?" Garrett said as he pushed through a patch of bushes. He had been able to get some supplies for their expedition with a portion of Galen's funds. He had a set of lockpicks and a dagger, as well as a coil of rope and a hook, a compass, a short bow, and a quiver of twenty broadhead arrows. The cloak Galen had lent to him from her extensive wardrobe and though it was a little small, it would do. Galen's outfit looked very fashionable and functional as well and Garrett had actually found himself staring at her figure for an extended period on one occasion. The rain had soaked Garrett to the bone and gotten into much of his equipment, despite his best efforts to protect it. "Yes. I am sure it is here" Galen said . Her crimson hair was tied back in a long pony tail and the rain seemed to slide off her clothes and skin. "Remember Garrett, surprise is the most important factor when dealing with these creatures." Galen said, and leapt a rotten log that crossed their path. "So you've told me." Garrett said with a hint of exasperation. "This is vital! When the Raknesh are taken by surprise, they have no time to enhance any of their combat abilities and so are easily killed." Galen said scoldingly. Garrett chose to remain silent.
They travelled for another twenty minutes through the forest, not speaking unless it was to discuss a change in direction. Then, a bright light appeared further ahead between the tree trunks, unquenched by the rain that pierced the forest cover. Garrett crouched low, indicating that Galen should do the same. He pulled out his short bow and fitted an arrow to it. The rain had not touched the string, thankfully. With his bow ready, he slunk forward in a crouched position, Galen following with her staff gripped in both hands.
They came upon the edge of a large clearing. The area was strewn with the remnants of some ancient structure. Crumbling walls and pillars extended up from the generous covering of rubble that blanketed the clearing. Free-standing torches had been placed at various locations around the area. Their fire was magical in that the rain could not extinguish it.
Garrett was about to step out into the clearing when Galen grabbed his arm and yanked him back. He was about to say something but Galen put a finger to her lips and slipped quickly behind a tree. Garrett forgot his retort and melted into the shadows of a patch of undergrowth. From his position Garrett could see the second story of a collapsed rampart of some sort. A Raknesh appeared atop it, the rain dripping off the beast's features. Another flash of lightning tore across the sky, illuminating the creature in stark relief. It peered about the area for a moment and then turned and moved out of view.
Garrett moved out of the undergrowth and quickly moved back to the clearing edge. Galen appeared beside him and after indicating what he was going to do, Garrett dashed out into the clearing, head low and bowstring taut. He leapt piles of rubble and practically floated across the trecherous ground with no more sound than a mouse. He reached the ruined wall in six seconds and pressed his back to it. He peered around the corner of the wall, through a half collapsed archway into a broken stone courtyard. A shattered fountain was in the center and the whole area was surrounded by low ruins. He saw no signs of movement in the courtyard and turned back from the corner, motioning for Galen to come to him. She crossed the ground quickly and joined him at the wall.
"Do you know where the entrance is?" Garrett said in as low a whisper as the storm would allow. Galen nodded. "There should be a stairway leading below ground somewhere beyond that courtyard." She said. Garrett didn't like it, the square was to open, it offered no concealment. "Isn't there any way around the yard? It's too exposed." Garrett said. "No, the entrance is through the square and beyond a building on the opposite side. We'll have to climb to the roof and down the backwall to reach it." Galen said. Garrett sighed mentally. "Ok, follow my lead, were going to try and stay close to the courtyard walls and slip past quickly." Garrett said and slid over to the corner again. He checked the courtyard once more. There was still no sign of any Raknesh. Garrett quickly slipped around the corner and moved out into the square, staying close to the shattered building walls and broken garden fences.
As the pair passed an open doorway, they heard movement directly behind them. Garrett didn't want to find out what it was and rolled himself over the short stone wall just beyond the doorway, yanking Galen with him. He landed on his back inside an overgrown and ruined garden with Galen lying on top of him. Both lay absolutely still and silent, holding each other tight so as not to slip. Through the spaces in the bushes that they lay behind, Garrett could see three Raknesh enter the garden through the tall rusted gate and move amongst the growth, conversing in their hissing language. They wandered the garden for a time, talking with each other and poking around. Garrett knew he and Galen had to move before they were discovered. He communicated this to Galen through signals and whispers. She nodded and with perfect care, rolled off of him. Garrett wriggled around in the bush until he could see the positions of the beasts. Two were on the far side, looking past a tall iron fence into the wilderness beyond and talking. The third was near the doorway into one of the attatched houses, leaning on the doorframe and looking across the garden.
Garrett motioned for Galen to follow him and silently crawled out of the bushes and across the wet grass of the lawn into another patch of bushes, with a tree standing out of it. Galen was right behind him. From there, they crawled towards the house to their right, keeping low amongst the brush. They reached the broken wooden doorframe and crawled inside.
The house was barren except for a generous covering of rubble. It's ceiling was partially caved in and the rain pelted in through the gaping hole past the second floor and into the basement. Garrett went into a crouched walk and moved over to the hole. After examining it for a moment, he grabbed onto a crooked metal pole hanging from the roof and began shimmying up it. He stopped at the second floor and looked back down to Galen. She tossed her staff up to Garrett and began her climb, having no more difficulty than he did. Garrett led the way through a gap in the second floor wall and down a short drop the the roof of the adjacent building. From here they made their way parallel to the courtyard across the building roofs and down the backwall of a building at the far end. Several times they stopped and crouched fearfully behind whatever cover was available as Raknesh passed through the courtyard.
They were in another overgrown garden past the courtyard. Galen picked her way through the shrubbery and over the short stone wall at the back, with Garrett following quickly behind her. The area behind the house was a cemetary, the crumbling headstones were worn with age, their epithets barely discernable. In the center was a small mausoleum. Its stone door was wrenched back on its heavy rust-covered hinges as though some monumental force had smashed it open. Garrett and Galen moved quickly past the gravestones towards the crypt. "This wrecked town used to be a small farming community of one of the ancient civilizations. The great leader of this civilization did something to offend the gods and so they thought to kill two birds with one stone, and chose this place under which to build their prison for the Raknesh… and the rest of the empire. The Raknesh had some slight enjoyment for the first hundred years of their eternity as they…interacted…with their guests." Galen explained as they reached the crypt door. "But why chose an outlying community? Why not strike the capital?" Garrett asked. "I've no idea how the gods think, if that is what they even do. But, this was ancestral home of the leader, I assume that by destroying his roots, the gods destroyed his seed entirely." Galen said as a particularly large clap of thunder rent the air.
Galen looked up at the inscription above the doorway. Garrett could not read the runes but apparantly Galen could. "It says: This door is the seal that shall keep a great evil from this world. Should the portal be opened and the seal rent asunder, then the wrath visited upon the earth shall be thy punishment." Galen translated. "Well whoever opened it doesn't seem to care much for that." Garrett said and stepped lightly over the threshold. The inside had room enough for the single sarcophagus within and space to slip around it. The lid was shattered and thrown aside. Galen tapped her staff twice and a blue light glowed softly from it, yet it seemed to reach even the darkest corners. Garrett peered inside and recoiled quickly. There was no body, but rather a large hole in the coffin's center that seemed to eat up the light that reached it and threaten all who looked upon it. Garrett could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he looked at the pit, like someone had blow a chill breath across his skin. He turned to Galen who looked back at him with wide eyes and a staring expression that chilled him to the bone. "There is an inscription." She said after a moment. Her voice was oddly distorted. Garrett's eyes flicked over to the plaque at the tomb's foot:
The emperor of the five lands,
His kingdom gone and fell,
For defiance of the gods
His punishment here tell,
The beasts of yore were caged
To keep their evil from the lands,
The emperor unsatisfied
Did, with mortal hands,
Offend the gods of protection,
Forfeit his life and soul,
And now he lies forever
With the caged ones deep below
He looked back up at her slowly. "What does it say?" He asked. Galen read aloud, her voice ominous.
The emperor of the five lands,
His kingdom gone and fell,
For defiance of the gods
His punishment here tell,
The beasts of yore were caged
To keep their evil from the lands,
The emperor unsatisfied
Did, with mortal hands,
Offend the gods of protection,
Forfeit his life and soul,
And now he lies forever
With the caged ones deep below
Galen finished, her lips trembled and her staff shuddered in her shaking hands. Garrett heard the soft moaning of a person, like a child. It seemed far away at first but then it was as though they were whispering right next to him. He whirled around…but there was nobody there…
Suddenly a roar rose up that drowned out the storm. Galen screamed and grabbed Garrett tight, her staff going out as she did so. He yanked her with him behind the coffin as the noise got louder. He sat with his back against the plinth under the coffin and clutched Galen tight. She was crying hysterically and her fingers were digging into his skin. As they huddled together the noise rose to such a level that Garrett thought his ears would pop and his brain would burst. Then abruptly, it stopped, and the only sound was the storm outside. Garrett heard a flapping sound from the other side of the coffin which was replaced seconds later by the clicking of claws on the smooth stone floor. Garrett leaned around the plinth and saw a Raknesh standing in front of the tomb. It was facing the doorway and its short wings were extended. The creature strode out into the storm a moment later and they were left alone in the burial chamber.
Galen had stopped sobbing and her face was buried in the folds of Garretts cloak. He slowly lifted her head up with his hands. Her features were tear-stained and her eyes were red. They looked at each other for several moments, their eyes seemed locked. Then Galen let go of him and stood up. "I believe that this place is sensitive to magic. It is most likely caused by the intersection of so many powerful entities, past and present. My use of magic is apparantly tying me into a web of power that I am not yet ready to tap. I believe my powers will be of little use here." She said, picking up her staff. Garrett simply nodded and leapt up and into the coffin. His fear of the opening in the coffin seemed to have stopped now that Galen's magic was no longer in use. "How do we get down there?" He asked. "I don't think my rope will reach down that depth." He said. "From what I know of this place and of the Raknesh, we shouldn't need to climb. The wings on these creatures would not be strong enough to carry them such a distance either. I believe that some device has been erected to aid their ascent and descent, so we should probably just be able to jump." She said. "You first." Garrett replied. Galen gave him a dark look and stepped into the tomb next to him. After looking down the hole for a second she held her staff above the hole and released it. The staff hovered in mid-air above the hole for a moment and then shot downwards. Garrett listened for the sound of it hitting bottom but no noise came up from the darkness. Galen stepped out over the hole before Garrett could say anything. She hovered for a second and then rocketed downwards. Garrett again waited for an indication of impact and again there was nothing. He stepped out over the hole.
He felt as if a hand had been clenched around his waist as he floated above the pit. Moments later he felt as though he was being dragged by his feet straight down, with the hand still around his waist. The speed was incredible but there was nothing to judge that by as Garrett found himself travelling in complete darkness. There seemed to be no end to the shaft that he was in until he suddenly and abruptly found himself stopped. He was floating lightly once again and was gently dropped on the floor.
The room was dimly lit by a single oil lamp hanging from the ceiling. Rubble lay strewn about in the same fashion as the ruined town. Garrett was standing on a platform made from an odd feeling substance that seemed to shift and compress under his feet. Galen was standing in the room's center under the oil lamp, her staff was in her hands and she was examining the far wall of the chamber. Garrett stepped off the platform and moved to join her. "This is the door into the labyrinth." She said. "But I don't see any way to open it." The wall's face was decorated with carvings of some sort. There was a large circle carved into the wall that was about the size of a tall man from top to bottom. Inside, the circle was a mess of runes, drawings, geometric shapes and slots and notches of various shapes and sizes. Garrett traced his hands across the front of the door, his hands feeling the protrusions and dips in the mosaic. Then it came to him.
He reached into his cloak and removed the completed Vestrius. He ran this along the wall, trying it in every slot he could find. It would not fit. Galen reached over and held Garrett's hand. She lightly took the Vestrius and flipped it around so that the head piece faced outwards. She smirked at Garrett and released his hand. He remained silent and retried every hole. Then, at the exact center of the carvings the piece slid smoothly into a slot. It fit all the way up to the head piece…but nothing happened. Galen moved up to the wall. "You usually turn keys." She said and twisted the Vestrius in its notch. As it clicked, the blue stone in the headpiece shone painfully bright. Garrett and Galen stepped back, shielding their eyes from the glow that lit the room with a blue light. Energy shot out from the stone in every direction and lanced out across the wall shape. As the energy touched a carving it would enter into it and the carving would glow blue. This happened all over the door until its entire surface was alight with glowing carvings. Then at once the lights all dimmed and the door ethcings glowed a soft blue. The circle encompassing the door turned bright white and there was a loud cracking sound. The door started to move slowly inwards until it was completely open. Garrett and Galen removed their hands from their eyes and stared into the darkened passage before them.