Author's Note:
Greetings, everyone. We hit 700 views, so thank you very much for that. I estimate that we are somewhere around halfway done with the story, so I'll try to keep going strong for those that are reading this. As always, thank you!
-Tangent
Ean blinked several times, adjusting to the darkness as he followed Elkian into the mines. Jack muttered something as he entered behind him, similarly afflicted. Several elves filed in, with Gavin and Rye bringing up the rear.
"My apologies, all of you. I forgot that you are not used to this. The entrance is dark, but the caves ahead are brighter." Elkian said, lighting a torch that illuminated his pink hair quite magnificently. He had his bow slung over his back, something mirrored by the four other elves that had come with them.
Now that he could see clearly, Ean glanced around the walls of the tunnel they were in. The inside of the mines were mostly a dark blue rock, which gleamed dully in the light cast by the torches. Several wooden beams were placed at regular intervals, supporting the feeling. On the floor, the elf could see a set of rails that turned a corner and vanished into the darkness.
"A lot of abandoned equipment." Rye said, gesturing at a pile of various items stacked inside a minecart.
"Indeed. We will make use of that when we begin." Their guide said. "Is everybody ready?" They all nodded, and the elf gestured to the tunnel. "Then let us go."
To nobody's surprise, Elkian went first, followed by Ean. To his amazement, he felt Vincent press up against his consciousness.
"Here, this should help." At once, the elf's vision brightened so much that everything became crystal clear, even in the dim light of the torches.
"Night vision? When did you figure that out?"
"Just now." Vincent responded. "Also, when you have time, Cigne wants to show us some of the things she remembered." Ean gave him a nod, and the wolf's presence faded.
The group rounded a corner, and Elkian stopped.
"Give me a moment." Gavin raised an eyebrow as the elf slung his bow into the hand, nocking an arrow in the same motion. He raised the weapon, clearly waiting for something.
They didn't have to wait long. A shadow suddenly detached itself from the ceiling, dropping down towards the group, and Elkian's arrow hammered into it, sending it to the ground with a squeak. Jack had jumped in surprise, but none of the other elves seemed particularly startled.
"Cave bat. Not particularly dangerous, but they'll take a chunk out of you." Elkian said, retrieving his arrow from the body of the mammal, and Ean saw that he was indeed correct. The bat was somewhere between one and two feet long, with sharp teeth that protruded from the mouth, and the same color as the rock that surrounded them.
"How did you know?" Jack asked, wide-eyed.
"They like to hide on ceilings." The pink-haired elf said, swinging his bow back onto his shoulder. "You could tell if you have enough experience." The boy nodded, accepting the explanation. "However, the rock crushers are what we'll need to look out for."
"Rock crusher?" Rye asked, scanning the walls and ceilings.
"Big beings of magical stone that live deep in the mines. We call them that because they can crush rock in their grips easily. Actually, I'm glad you four are here to help with that, since there's probably more than normal." They kept moving, rounding corner after corner, following the rail tracks as they wound deeper into the heart of the mountains. Several times, they saw shards of gleaming crystal still embedded in the rock, accompanied by marks that indicated mining.
"We mined everything close to the surface." Elkian said he turned left. "So we went deeper, but we found a cave system that held more treasures than we ever anticipated. So, we explored."
"How long ago was that?" Ean asked, noticing that their tunnel was indeed widening, as well as getting taller.
"Oh, a hundred years ago." The elf said casually, and Rye choked.
"You- How old are you?" Elkian laughed quietly.
"We look young, don't we? But elves live a long time, master Rye."
"And how old are you?" Jack asked politely, causing one of the elves to snicker.
"Old." They muttered, and Elkian shot them a pointed look.
"Older than you, kid. I'm about one hundred and fifty, for your information." Gavin smiled, as did Jack.
"Would you believe me if I told you that me and the boy are older?" The warlock asked, and Elkian raised an eyebrow.
"Before you rescued the nymph? No. But now, I'm not sure what to think about the rest of you." As he spoke, the walls of the mine fell away, and they found themselves standing in large cavern, made of the same blue rock.
The ceiling was forty feet above them, and light seemed to be shining down from somewhere above, illuminating the bridge that spanned a wide gap. On the other side of the sturdy bridge, a cave led deeper into the mountain complex. The walls were lined with crystals, each color glowing brightly in the dim light. Most were out of reach, but some of the gems were at eye level, leading Jack to move over to one of the clusters, studying them with a professional air.
"Jewels were never my thing, but these are of incredible quality."
"You never stole jewels?" Rye asked skeptically, and the boy shrugged.
"I mostly stole property deeds and other miscellaneous documents, if you must know. Gems like this were too easy to track if you sold them."
"Is there water down there?" Gavin said, peering over the edge of the cliff, which indeed fell about ten feet into a pool of black water that was absolutely still. Elkian and the elves were standing near the bridge, bemused expressions on their face. Evidently, they had not expected the group to be this excited about the caverns.
"Indeed." Elkian said, peering over the edge to check the water level. "Some elves like to swim in it, and it's quite safe for drinking as well."
"No thanks." Jack said, casting a look at the dark water. "I like swimming as much as the next person, but I'm not going in there."
"We should keep moving." Ean said, walking towards the bridge which was wide enough for the rail track that lay across it. They crossed over, but the bridge was sturdier than it looked, and did move so much as an inch as they continued deeper into the network of caves. Several times, bats dropped down from the ceilings, and they had to stop to kill them, something that Rye was quite adept at. By the third time, he had become almost as good as Elkian at spotting the small animals, something that impressed all the elves traveling with them.
"Hey, why do we have to go down so far?" Gavin asked. "Wouldn't the carts be faster?"
"They would, but I'd like to see the condition of the rails before we ride on them." Elkian responded. "Hopefully, we can ride them back up."
The jewel deposits grew larger and larger as they descended into the mines, giving them plenty of light to see by as the tracks twisted and turned through the caves. Finally, the minecart rails stopped, right at the edge of another large cavern, which thankfully did not have another pit. Instead, the ground sloped down to another floor, where a small stream was running through a groove in the stone, likely caused by erosion. Several stone pillars, seemingly natural, held up the high ceiling that they could not see.
"It's so quiet…" Jack muttered, listening to the running water that echoed slightly in the large space. Here, jewels sprouted from the walls every few feet, and Ean guessed that the elves had not yet begun to mine this far down. "And we haven't seen any of those things you mentioned…" As if in spite of this statement, the ground rumbled slightly, and two large forms emerged from the ground.
The rock crushers were composed entirely of the same rock as the cave, with several rocks for legs and arms, and a rather large boulder for a torso. There was no head, but the gem-studded creature moved with such intent that there was no doubt of its sentience.
"Rock-crushers!" One of the elves hissed, and Ean saw that most of them had paled slightly, clutching their weapons nervously. He flicked his claws out, flames dancing along the tips as the creatures moved closer.
"Elkian, how do you normally deal with these?" He asked, sensing Jack palming two knives behind him.
"We run them over with the minecarts, or push them into a hole." The elf responded, and Ean raised an eyebrow.
"Well, we have neither, so looks like we're going with the third option. Gavin and Rye, you take the one on the right. Jack, you're with me." Having said that, the four adventurers launched themselves at the monsters, which turned slowly to face this new threat.
The first one swung a massive arm at Gavin, who rolled under it and blasted it with a ball of fire as Rye fired an arrow, which glanced off the stone torso, leaving a small crack. The rock crusher seemed unfazed this as it swung its other arm in arc towards Rye. To the ranger's surprise, the rock on the end came loose, shooting towards him like a rocket. He dove to one side as the projectile slammed into the floor, bouncing off and crashing into a pillar, where it crumbled. As he watched, another rock grew in place of the limb that had just been thrown at him, and he sighed.
"It's one of those, huh?"
Not far away, Ean was dancing around the second rock crusher, slashing at the body of the monster. With every strike, sparks flew as pieces of stone were chipped off the body of the monster.
The ranger dodged the follow-up swing of the golem, moving a few feet away as Gavin fired a lightning bolt from his palms, which slammed into the mass of rock and pushed it back a few feet. When the smoke cleared, Rye saw that a small crater had been made in the chest, revealing a glowing core of gemstones. Before the monster could recover, Rye reached for his quiver and fired an arrow directly into the heart of the rock crusher. The jewels shattered, and the monster let out a rumbling groan before falling to the floor. The life seemed to go out of it, and it became nothing more than a pile of rocks upon the floor.
"Nice shot." Gavin said as he walked over.
"You too." Rye said, turning to watch Ean and Jack fighting the second golem. "Think they need a hand?"
"Probably not." Gavin said, watching as Ean shoved the monster backwards, sending it stumbling as Jack ran forward, a knife in each hand. The elf's claws had opened up a gap in the golem's torso, much like they had, and the boy flung a knife into the gap. The blade barely penetrated into the stone, but it was enough to give the golem pause. Ean came up behind it, and Rye's eyes widened as the elf wrapped his arms around the torso of the rock crusher, muscles flexing as he lifted the creature bodily off the ground. He heard cries from the elves behind them, and Ean let out a shout as he flung the monster across the cave and into a pillar, where it shattered into fragments of rock.
"Told you." The warlock said with a grin. "Didn't think he'd do that, though." Ean gave Jack a high-five as they walked over, breathing slightly harder than normal as he gave them a nod.
"Not too difficult." The elf said, and Rye mock-punched him on the shoulder.
"Alright, superman. Mind telling us your workout routine?" Ean laughed as Elkian and the others filed over, awe written on their faces.
"I've been working on that, actually." The brown-haired elf said, wiping sweat from his brow. "If I can call particular attributes of my transformations without actually having to transform, it could be useful."
"Like the strength of the cyclops?" Jack asked, and Ean nodded.
"Exactly. I can't handle all of it just yet, but I'm improving quickly." He looked around at the scattered rocks where the golems had once been, still breathing hard.
"I was worried before…" Elkian said with a smile. "Not so much anymore." Gavin gestured to the tunnel that spiraled off into the darkness.
"Do we need to go farther?" The elf shook his head.
"No, this is as far as the tracks go, and it looks like they're mostly intact. We'll need to do a little maintenance later, but it could be a lot worse. I wonder, though…" Elkian trailed off, gazing at the cave.
"What is it?" Rye asked. "Is there something down there?"
"That's the heart of the caves, where the rock crushers come from." The elf responded. "But before they took over… the dwarves used to live down there." Ean's eyes widened, as did the others.
"Dwarves?" Gavin asked, his eyes suddenly alive with excitement. "They've been gone for centuries, though!"
"They went underground, according to our records." Elkian said. "I spoke with them on a few occasions, negotiating how much we could mine, since they were here first." Ean had pulled out a book, flipping through the pages.
"Interesting…" He muttered. "I'd like to meet them, actually. Are they still there?"
"I'm not sure." Elkian said. "But you could certainly take a look. I was planning on it, but it seems like there's more monsters than normal. There was a door at the end of the cave down there, but I'm not sure what it looks like anymore."
"We'll be careful." Ean promised, looking at the others. "Down for a little exploring?" They nodded as the group strode across the cavern, vanishing into the depths of the caves.
"If anybody can deal with that, it's them." Elkian muttered before turning his attention back to the elves behind him, giving instructions.
As the group descended further into the caves, they discovered that the passages were quite overgrown, with both plants and gems. The jewels were no longer found in small deposits, but in massive swathes that stretched across floor and wall alike. Several times, the group was attacked by rock crushers, but found it easy to fend off the creatures with their combined might.
"It's like they're… sentient." Rye muttered, glancing at a group of gems that pulsed and gleamed, shedding light onto the group.
"It's a fascinating theory." Gavin said, eyes alight with excitement. The warlock suddenly seemed much younger, and Ean smiled to himself. "Are the rocks the source of the energy for these creatures? Could we harness it too?"
"Well, the golems have jewels in their chest, right? It's not that hard to believe." Jack supplied, and Gavin nodded.
"Perhaps this Gulliver fellow we've heard so much about will know something, if he returns in time for us to speak to him."
"Heads up, there's a room ahead." Ean said, and the rest of the party fell silent as they entered the largest cavern yet.
It was a rectangular room, one that stretched several hundred feet before ending in a rock wall, encrusted with gems and moss. On either side, there was a pit that seemed bottomless, spiraling off into the darkness below. Several pillars held up the area buried deep beneath the ground, but unlike the smooth rock they had seen, the stones were rectangular, engraved with various decorative symbols. However, what caught their attention most was the circular door, cut into the far wall. It too was closed, and Ean could see no discernible mechanism to open it.
"Anybody home?" Rye muttered, taking a half-pace forward. As soon as he did, the ground churned, spitting out over half a dozen rock crushers. Jack gulped.
"I count nine. What's the plan?"
"Jack, stick with me. Rye and Gavin, try to force them off the cliffs if you can . They're big, but slow." The golems had begun to march forward, lumbering slowly across the space. "Ready? And… go!" The group split to either side of the cavern, and the stone creatures divided themselves neatly, pursuing their targets.
Rye rolled beneath a rocky arm, and Gavin hurled a curse at the monster, causing it to stagger slightly. The ranger slammed into it with all his might, sending the golem plummeting to its death in the void. Dodging another swing, he and Gavin lured the other monsters closer, and he fired an arrow at the closest one, causing it to pause while the warlock blasted it to pieces. The rest followed suit, and soon they were left with only bits of rock at their feet. Turning, the pair watched as Jack and Ean engaged in a display of impressive teamwork.
The smaller boy was darting through the group of rock crushers, causing them to turn in confusion as he leapt over the arm of one that tried to strike him. However, they had forgotten about the elf behind them, and Ean's first strike sent a golem over the edge the cliff. The two behind their comrade turned to face him, but he seized them, smashed their heads together, and sent them into the void as well. Jack had lured one to the cliff, and with a deftly placed kick, the golem plummeted into the darkness. The last one hesitated, as if aware that it had bitten off more than it could chew, but Ean was already moving.
His strike was so powerful that the torso of the creature was turned to little more than shards of jewel and rock, which went flying into the abyss and out of sight. The elf shook his hand slightly, feeling the sting of pain that meant he had injured something. Apparently, striking a rock at full strength was not a good idea, especially if your power was enhanced.
"That was.. mildly terrifying." Jack said. "Are you okay?"
"I'm good." The elf responded as Rye and Gavin came over, both looking none the worse for wear.
"What now?" Ean pointed at the door, which had not moved since they had entered the cave.
"We knock, I guess." The group moved over towards the door, which was significantly taller than they were. The elf raised a hand, then rapped on the stone twice, creating a loud thunk that resonated around the cavern.
"Hello? We've taken care of the rock crushers out here." For a moment, nothing happened. And then, as if by magic, the stone began to roll to one side, exposing a space hidden behind the boulder. Light flooded the cave, generated by the several lamps attached to the walls behind the entrance. Ean saw a pickaxe, a few minecarts, a pile of jewels, and the strangest looking creature had had ever laid eyes on.
The man, or dwarf, they supposed, was around three feet tall, but closer to four if you counted the pointed helmet on his head, which was painted red. His grey hair and beard were quite unkept, trailing down past his face to frame the dirty mining clothes worn by the creature. Its fingers were short, and its legs were shorter, barely reaching a foot long before ending in stubby brown feet.
"Hello?" Rye said tentatively, and the dwarf coughed.
"Well don't just stand there! Get in here already!"
The dwarven caves were filled with a such a chaotic atmosphere that they found it hard to concentrate. Their guide, whose name they did not know, had dragged them inside, thanking them for getting rid of the monsters outside. The dwarven home was made of a yellowish that composed both wall and floor, with several lanterns spaced out to provide light.
"The elves used to keep them out, but one day they left the mines." Hearing this, Ean told the creature concisely what had happened since that day, as well as the current state of the world.
"Sounds real bad, kid." The dwarf muttered. "But what can we do down here?"
"I'm not asking for anything." Ean said quickly. "Elkian asked us to come down here and look for you, and I've wanted to meet the dwarfs for a while."
"Hm? Elkian sent you?" The creature seemed to recognize the name, and Rye nodded.
"How'd you end up down here, anyways?"
"That's a long story, that is." The dwarf said. "But to make it quick and easy for ya, a bunch of us left Eredar many years ago in search of new lands, and we ended up here, drawn to the energy of the gems."
"So they are useful?"
"Useful? They're incredible!" The dwarf shouted as they entered a new room, this one filled with forges and dwarves laboring over anvils. Each of them looked remarkably similar to the one that had greeted them, with the same metal helmets and scraggly hair. It seemed that everybody was at work, and only a few looked up to see the newcomers. "They provide the energy for all our research and that whatnot."
"Wait a minute." Ean interjected, cutting the dwarf off. "You said Eredar?"
"That's what I said, didn't you hear?" The dwarf said, annoyed. "There's a lotta dwarves in Eredar… or at least there was…"
"What happened to them?" Gavin asked, a spark in his eyes, and their guide shrugged.
"Don't know. Communications went down centuries ago, and we've heard nothing since." The creature seemed slightly downcast by this revelation, and Ean gave him a sympathetic look.
"Listen, that's part of the reason we're here, actually. We need to get into Eredar."
"Good luck with that, kid." The dwarf snorted. "By now, those cliffs are impassable."
"We know." Rye muttered dryly, and Ean nodded.
"I know you don't have much, but have you ever heard of any other way to access the country?"
"Last I checked, everything was by ground." The dwarf muttered, glancing around at the forges of his brethren. "Sorry about that. Is there anything else we can do for ya?"
"Actually, yes." The elf said, giving him a grin. "Do you have a jewelry kit a human could use?"
"Oh, certainly." The dwarf said, waving a hand dismissively. He called out in a strange tongue, and one of the dwarves ran over with a box in his hand, which he handed respectfully to Ean with a nod.
"I appreciate it." The elf said. "What is your name?"
"Your tongues can't pronounce it." The dwarf chuckled. "You can call whatever you want, provided it's not an insult. Now then…" The creature gestured to Rye's bow, a smirk on his face. "Let me see your arrows, kid." The ranger frowned.
"Why?"
"The dwarves were, or are, master craftsmen." Gavin told him. "He might have a way to improve them." Rye handed them over reluctantly, and the dwarf clapped his hands together with a grin. Snapping the wooden shafts in half, he tossed the pieces into a bucket nearby, leaving Rye openmouthed.
"Right, then. To the forge!" He strode over to an unused forge, which he began stoking to an incredible temperature. Heat roiled through the air, and the group began to sweat as the dwarf tossed a lump of metal into the forge, which began to liquify and pour into a small pot.
When a few minutes had passed, the creature grunted with satisfaction.
"Best stand back for this part." He said, tilting the pot so that the molten metal poured down into a mold at the base of the forge in a red-hot stream. Steam billowed upwards, forcing them to shield their faces. The dwarf merely chuckled, pouring water onto the gleaming metal as he reached for a variety of tools, each used with the utmost precision.
"He's very good." Jack muttered, watching as the metal slowly turned into a shape they recognized, with a cylindrical shaft and razor-sharp point. Finally, after a few minutes of labor, the creature turned back to Rye, holding a bundle of metal arrows that gleamed in the dull light. All of them were razor sharp, and the ranger took them with a look of near reverence.
"Those will never blunt or break, as far as I'm concerned. From what I've heard, you'll need 'em where you're going." The dwarf stroked his beard as Rye bowed slightly.
"Thank you. You truly are a master craftsman. Still, you need some sort of name…"
"How about Boss?" Jack suggested. "The other dwarves seem to respect you, and you'll need some title eventually, if you ever leave here."
"Boss, eh? You know… I like it!" The dwarf said, grinning widely. "Now, don't you have somewhere to be?"
Boss escorted them to the door, where he asked Ean to send Elkian down to them at some point in the near future.
"After all, we need to negotiate a deal with him now that the nymph is free." Ean nodded, then stopped.
"Wait… I didn't say anything about Serendipity. How'd you know?" The creature merely smiled and tapped his head mysteriously.
"Dwarves are resourceful, kid."
"Of that, I have no doubt." The elf said, bowing to the leader of the earth-dwelling creatures. "Farewell, Boss. We'll meet again soon, I'm sure." The dwarf merely nodded before the door rolled shut, sealing the dwarven caverns once more. The party stood there for a moment, still trying to wrap their heads around everything they had learned in the past hour.
"The others are not going to believe a single word of this." Gavin said, and Jack nodded.
"So you're telling me," Ava said, glancing at the four people who had just entered the inn, where she, Iya, and Emma had been sitting. From the sweat still visible upon their faces, they had doing training of some sort. "That you went down into these mines and found some dwarves that split away from Eredar?"
"That's the gist of it, yes." Ean agreed. "They don't know what's happened over there either, but perhaps there is more of them out there that know a way past the cliffs." Footsteps rang on the stairs, and Nicholas appeared, wiping his hands with a cloth.
"Oh, you're back." The prince said dryly. "Find anything interesting?" Rye glanced at Gavin, and both of them laughed.
"We should probably provide more detail." The warlock said, and the ranger nodded. Ean went to sit down, but winced as he grabbed the back of chair. Evidently, the numbness in his hands had worn off, and his digits were quite sore. To her credit, Iya noticed immediately, and her eyes narrowed.
"Ean… Are you okay?" The elf glanced up at her, his eyes wide with something like… fear?
"He punched a rock." Jack supplied, and Ean shot him a glare that the boy ignored. He'd rather face Ean's wrath than Iya's any day of the week. Ava's eyebrows quirked up, and Emma sighed.
"You did what?" Iya's voice was deceptively calm, and Nicholas moved over to inspect the elf's bruised and battered hands.
"It's not too bad." He said. "Give me a moment." He gripped Ean's arm, and white light emanated from his palms as the elf felt a surge of healing magic rush through him.
"Thank you, Nicholas." Iya said. "At least somebody knows how to take care of him."
"To be fair, we were also fighting." Rye said, raising a hand in self-defense. "So you should be mad at him, not us." Ean sighed.
"You guys are going to get me killed by her, I swear."
"I doubt she'd harm a hair on your head." Ava remarked with a smirk, which made Iya blush slightly as her anger began to fade.
"Any other injuries?" Nicholas said as he finished with Ean's hands a minute or two later, and the other shook their heads. Ever since they had rescued the nymph, the prince had been rather cordial towards the rest of the party, something that they hoped was a good sign. "Good. Tell me what happened, then." He sat in a chair next to Iya, and Ean began their story from the beginning.
By the time that Ean finished catching everybody up on the relevant information, the sun had crossed its peak in the sky, and was beginning to set towards the western horizon.
"Ava, can we depart first thing tomorrow morning?" The elf asked. "I know that you don't like sailing at night when we start a voyage."
"Of course." The pirate responded. "The crew is still working on a few items, but they'll be finished tonight."
"So, what should we be doing, then?" Jack asked, and Rye shrugged.
"I'm going to test out these arrows, if you want to come."
"I'll go too." Emma said quietly, and the ranger smiled at her. Nicholas rose from his chair, moving towards the stairs.
"I've got some medicines to finish putting together."
"Need a hand?" Gavin asked, and the prince froze on the first step. He seemed unsure that he had heard correctly, and Gavin frowned. Ava looked between the two mages, ready to intervene, but Nicholas relaxed after a moment.
"As long as you don't get in my way." The two vanished up the stairs, and Ava sighed.
"I really hope they don't start arguing again."
"They seem to get along better now." Iya observed, and Ean nodded.
"I think it's because of whatever happened between you three on the hilltop. If Nicholas really did share his magic, he probably felt yours as well."
"What are you saying?" Ava asked, and the elf shrugged his shoulders.
"Magical bonds are strong things. The spirits didn't like me much when I first absorbed them, but now we get along just fine. I think something similar is happening between them."
"I agree. Nicholas saw that Gavin's magic isn't dark as he thought it was." Iya supplied. "And so now he's trying to apologize, I guess." Ava seemed to think about it for a moment before she stood up, moving towards the door.
"Well, I'm going to check on the crew for now. You two lovebirds have fun." Ean rolled his eyes at her, and the pirate laughed as the door closed behind her. There was an awkward silence, broken by Iya.
"What are you going to do?"
"I need to speak to Cigne." Ean told her, remembering Vincent's message from earlier. "Do you want to come outside with me?" The female elf nodded, and the two of them exited the inn as well, heading for clump of rocks that was somewhat isolated from the path.
"Ava mentioned something about training earlier." Ean said as he eased himself onto the largest rock, leaving room for Iya as well.
"Oh, yes. That's what we were doing." Iya responded as she tucked her legs under her. Her hand brushed her blue hair from her eyes. "Ava was training Emma, but she also made me practice with weapons against her." Ean chuckled.
"That sounds like her. How'd it go?"
"She beat me soundly." The elf admitted with a smile, and Ean grinned.
"I expected as much when it comes to melee fighting." He closed his eyes, concentrating as he always did, but he felt Iya take his hand as he was submerged in his own subconsciousness.
When he opened his eyes, he found four pairs of eyes turned his way. Evidently, they had been waiting for him.
"Welcome back." Amari greeted him. "I see you found the dwarves."
"Yeah." Ean said, turning to look at each of them. "They're certainly something."
"Powerful creatures." Edward grunted. "Eldest, too."
"You know about them?" The elf asked curiously, and Vincent nodded.
"I think all of us can remember some pretty big chunks of our past lives now, and in some detail."
"All except me." Cigne pointed out, and Ean shrugged.
"The memories will return eventually. Vincent has been with me the longest, so his memories are probably the most detailed out of all of us." The griffin shifted uncomfortably at these words. "Nothing about how you ended up in these forms, though?"
"I remember… something." Cigne admitted, and the others looked at her.
"You didn't show us…" Amari began, but the griffin shook her head.
"It returned minutes ago." She turned her head towards Ean, bowing it slightly in deference to him. "May I show all of you?" Ean extended a hand, and he touched the side of the griffin, which was covered with fur. Immediately, he felt himself and the others swept away in a swirl of red light, taken back to the past…
When the elf opened his eyes, he was looking down upon a house in what was now a familiar village to him. However, it was no longer in the state of ruin that Ean had seen last time, but vibrant and alive. Beyond the houses, he could the cliffs of stone that surrounded the valley, and the trees that grew thickly upon the bluffs. The sky was slightly cloudy, and he turned his attention back to the home in front of them. Like the others, it was made of a mixture of stone for the walls, with wooden beams that supported the frame. The building was a good bit bigger than the ones nearby.
"My home." Cigne whispered into his ear. "It was also the hospital of the village." As they watched, the door opened, and a woman wearing long gray robes exited the building, escorting a smaller girl that was familiar.
"That's me." Amari whispered. "I do remember a little bit about you, Cigne, but not much."
"You had scraped your knee." Cigne replied. "I was patching you up." They returned to the vision, where Cigne was bidding Amari goodbye.
"Stay safe, little one." She said with a calm, benevolent smile, and watched as the girl skipped away, eager to rejoin her friend. She straightened up, and Ean got a good look at her for the first time. She was an exact match of the woman he had seen in his visions, the one who had saved him from the vampire. Ean would have placed her around forty years old. Cigne peered up into the sky, and turned to go back inside. However, a voice called out to her just as she opened the door.
"Cigne!" Both the woman on the porch and the spirits turned to see a man running up the road towards her house. He was tall, with well-defined muscles under his clothes. His dark hair was messy, and he looked worried. An axe, the same one he had used to fend off the wolves, was strapped to his back.
"Is that me?" Vincent asked, and the griffin next to him nodded. "I look so much younger."
"As far I know, your daughter was not born yet." Cigne replied, and Vincent inhaled a breath, turning back to the scene. The younger man was gesturing to the west, speaking frantically.
"-And Horace has gone to meet her. He needs both of us, now." The healer opposite him did not speak, but merely stepped back inside her house and emerged carrying a staff carved from white wood.
"Let us go, then, and see what the witch wants." The scene faded, and Ean felt himself tugged to a slightly different point in time.
Now, Vincent, Cigne, and another man were standing in the middle of a small clearing. From the smoke in the sky behind them, Ean surmised that they were on the outskirts of the village. The third person, whom he recognized as Horace, was speaking while Vincent surveyed the area around them.
"She cannot cross the boundaries, and she knows it."
"What if she goes somewhere else, though?" Vincent asked, a hand on the haft of his axe. Cigne glanced at him calmly, her hands resting at her sides.
"She won't." Horace said. "She wants to talk as much as we do."
"And? You can't give her what she wants, Horace. How many times do we need to talk about it?"
"We should hear what she has to say." Cigne said serenely, her brown eyes moving over the forest and sky. The woodsman let out an irritated sound, still searching the trees for any sign of movement.
"Well, she'd better hurry up, then. Natalia's waiting for me, you know."
"She's on her way." Horace said, his hands glowing slightly with whatever magic she was casting.
"I'm already here." The brittle voice whipped throughout the clearing, and the three villagers whirled around to see the witch emerge from the tree line. She looked the same as she always had, with shoulder-length hair and a set of black robes that were popular among her kind. "How lovely to see you all."
"What do you want?" Vincent snarled, and the woman gave him a cruel little smile.
"I see the barrier still holds firm. I wouldn't want any of you to get hurt, you know."
"The Goddess put it there to guard against creatures like you!" The man retorted, and Cigne raised a hand.
"Enough. What do you want?" The witch turned her attention to Horace, who raised an eyebrow.
"You know what I want, Horace. What's your answer?" The wizard frowned, staring at the woman.
"Why do you need such a thing?" The witch shrugged.
"To satisfy my curiosity. Who really knows?" Cigne raised an eyebrow.
"It's more than that, isn't it?" The woman laughed.
"Of course it is. But I'm certainly not going to tell you about my plans. After all, this is as much my home as it yours." Vincent snarled menacingly, but their visitor looked remarkably unafraid. "Point is, I'm giving you a chance to play nice with me. Cross me, and…" She trailed off, and Vincent snapped.
His axe shot towards their visitor, but she hit him so hard that he was flung backwards into a tree. Horace cried out, and the witch made to move forward, but Cigne stepped in front of her, hands raised slightly.
"There's no need to fi-" The healer yelped as the witch lifted her by the throat, teeth bared.
"You want to die so badly?" Vincent was still gasping for breath on the ground, but his eyes were burning with hatred.
"Stop!" Horace cried, reaching for his pouch. "Please, stop."
"They attacked me first." The woman said gleefully. "And you know I'm not a forgiving person. Now, you're going to hand over one of the spirits, or I'm going to kill these two."
"I…" Horace hesitated, eyes moving between Cigne and Vincent.
"Horace." The man rasped, reaching for his axe. "Don't."
"You've got five seconds." The wizard glanced frantically towards the village behind him, as if measuring the distance to get back behind the barrier.
"I wouldn't." The witch warned him. "She'll die first. Four seconds." Cigne's eyes were wide, and Ean felt the griffin beside him shift uncomfortably. Vincent was still trying to get up, but his arms couldn't hold his weight, and he collapsed again.
"Three." Sweat ran down the wizard's brow, and his hands trembled very slightly.
"Please…"
"Two."
"Run, Horace!" Cigne cried out, but she could not free herself from the woman's grip.
"One…"
"Okay, okay!" Horace shouted. "I'll bring one to you." Even as he spoke the words, the witch dropped Cigne upon the ground, and the healer shuddered as she gasped for breath.
"Then do so quickly, before I change my mind."
"No…" Vincent breathed, finally back on his feet. "Why, Horace?"
"There was no other way." The wizard said shakily as he turned and began walking back towards the village.
The witch laughed, and Cigne felt a seed of horror blossom in her gut. A few minutes later, Horace had returned, guiding a young boy by the arm.
"Erik?" Cigne said, and the boy glanced at her, eyes wide.
"Miss Cigne, I…" The witch stared at the boy, and her mouth curved up into a slow smile.
"Very good, Horace. Now, give him to me, and I will leave you alone." With a gentle push, the wizard sent Eric over to the witch, who placed her hand on his shoulder. The boy looked scared.
"Stop!" Vincent roared, and his axe flew from his hand even as the woman vanished in a blast of red light, taking the child with her. The tool embedded itself in a tree, and Cigne slumped to the ground.
"Horace… why?" She whispered, and she glanced at the wizard. There were tears running down his cheeks, and he looked as though he had aged twenty years in a few minutes.
"I couldn't let you die. I-" He was cut off as Vincent punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. The hunter was so angry that he could not speak, and Cigne could see his hands twitching.
"How could you?" He demanded, but Horace had no answer. Vincent turned away, gazing back towards the village with a snarl on his face.
"Vincent…" Cigne said softly. "She would have killed us."
"I don't care!" The man snarled, spinning around to point at her accusingly. "What's she going to do to him, hm?"
"You're right, but…" The healer trailed off, eyes cast down towards the ground.
"We'll figure something out." Horace said quietly." We have to."
"There's no 'we' anymore." Vincent said, just as quietly. "You've seen to that. I'm taking my family, and I'm leaving." He vanished into the forest, leaving Cigne to stare after his retreating figure.
The scene faded, and Vincent let out a sigh.
"Why'd he do it?"
"I don't know." Cigne replied gently. "I really don't."
"It gets worse, doesn't it?" Amari asked, and the griffin nodded.
"It does. There is one more piece of memory to show." She glanced at Ean, who was still staring down as though he could see the scene happening before them.
"Go ahead." He said quietly, and Cigne closed her eyes.
The night air was rent with screams as Cigne threw the door to her hut open. The sky was still dark, but she could the area around her quite clearly, due to the flames that were raging through the village, blue flames that tore through everything in their path. People were running in all directions, and she saw several hulking figures stomping through the town, swords bared.
"So, she's come." Seizing her staff, Cigne sprinted towards the nearby commotion, magic flaring up in preparation to attack. As the spirits watched from their position outside of time, the woman sprinted into a nearby monster, sending it flying away as she jabbed it in the face with her staff. Its comrades soon followed, and Cigne looked around with alarm.
"Horace?" She shouted, but she could not feel his magic anywhere near his own. Vincent had been gone for years, and she knew he could not make it in time to help. "Please, don't tell me she got him already."
"Not yet." A cold voice said from behind her, and she froze. Turning slowly, she saw her most hated enemy standing there nonchalantly, examining her from head to toe. "Cigne. You've seen better days."
"So have you." The healer retorted, raising her staff in preparation to fight for her life. "Why did you come back?"
"Oh, you know. I needed more fallen spirits, and as it so happened, I knew just the place to come. I even brought my army here, from the Land of Man."
"How is that possible?" Cigne breathed, mind racing. "Even your power shouldn't be enough for that." The witch cackled, raising her arms as she surveyed the burning the village with glee.
"You'll never know. Erik, take care of her, please."
"Eri-" Before she could finish, a tremendous force slammed into Cigne's side, and he body was sent flying into a nearby house with a tremendous impact. The woman laughed as the monstrous creature stepped forward, intending to finish the job.
Cigne groaned, getting to her feet slowly as she remembered what had happened. She had been hit by something powerful, and…
She winced as she surveyed the damage she had caused. Her magic had protected her from the impact, but not from being flung through multiple buildings. There was a gaping tunnel that led back towards the witch, and she could see a dark shadow coming towards her slowly.
"Erik?" She muttered, summoning her magic as the shape advanced towards her. It was gigantic, towering well over the houses that it was moving through, crushing them like ants beneath its feet. As it neared, she moved, flinging a blast of power at where the head should have been, but the monster did not slow, instead flinging a blindingly quick punch at her. The woman spun aside, but the force of the blow pushed her back several feet. She heard a laugh, and knew the witch had appeared behind her.
'Try not to die so soon, please." The woman remarked with a smirk, and watched as Cigne tried to attack, but was instead met with a devastating kick to the chest. She was flung to the ground, and the monster moved forward, piling punches down onto the defenseless woman. Cigne cried out for a moment, and the attack continued relentlessly until the woman was lying boneless upon the floor.
"Stop." The witch ordered suddenly, and Cigne groaned in pain as she was lifted off the ground. The healer writhed in the creature's grip, but there was no escaping. "Do you see now, Cigne?" At the sound of her name, the woman managed to look up, getting one last look at the village. The flames were roaring, and her people were being slaughtered by monsters.
"We failed them." Cigne whispered, and the witch laughed.
"You certainly did. Horace may have escaped, as well as that woodmen, but no matter. I'll find them. In fact," And now her smile was wicked, sending a jolt of fear down the healer's spine. "You are going to help me. Say goodbye, Cigne."
Red light filled her vision, and the witch was gone. In her place was a void, filled with the most awful suffering she had ever experienced, and it swept her away in a wave…
"And that is the last of it." Cigne spoke as the memories faded, leaving them in the expanse of Ean's mind once more. "The most recent thing I can remember."
"I assume the same happened to Edward and I, then." Amari said quietly. "I can't imagine she would have spared us."
"It is likely so." Ean agreed, mind racing. "Who was the boy, Cigne? Eric?"
"He was an orphan." The griffin said sadly. "I tried to take care of him for the most part, but Horace handed him over to that witch. He must have been the first to be experimented on."
"You think we'll run into him?" Vincent asked, and Ean nodded.
"I'd bet on it. Still, there's so many things we don't know. Why your village?" They all knew what he meant, yet none of them had an answer.
"If there is a reason, we have forgotten." Cigne said with a sigh. "But no doubt more memories will return. Seeing Horace do what he did… there must be a reason."
"I don't like him." Vincent muttered.
"You didn't back then, either." Amari pointed out. "We should try to be impartial until we know the full story." The wolf grumbled, but did not say anything else. Ean rose to his feet unsteadily, finding that his legs had gone numb from sitting for so long.
"I should go, but…" His eyes traveled over the spirits that gazed back at him, and he smiled slightly. "I promise, I'll find a way to fix this."
"We know." Edward said softly, and Ean opened his eyes.
The first thing he noticed was the fading light of the day, and Iya's head on his shoulder. His elven companion had evidently decided to do some meditation of her own as she waited, and a small smile formed on Ean's lips. He moved his legs outward slightly, the motion letting Iya know that he had finished sorting through memories from the distant past.
"Everything okay?" The elven woman muttered as she stretched, standing up from the rock.
"Yeah." Ean said, eyes scanning the woods around them as he stretched. "A lot to unpack, but we're getting closer to finding the whole truth of what happened."
"I'm glad to hear it. Are you hungry?" The elf smiled as Iya began pulling him towards the inn, a clear indication of her own famished state.
"I suppose so." He said, dusting off his sleeves as they walked. "Have you seen the others?"
"Not in a while." They had just walked past the entrance to the Shivendale Woods when they heard rustling. Ean stopped, turning to face the road into the forest.
"You hear that?" The sounds came closer and closer, and finally, the source rounded a bend and revealed itself to the elves. Ean's eyebrows shot skyward, and Iya let out a small squeak. Ava and Gavin were coming down the path from the forest, both of them looking slightly out of breath. When Gavin saw Ean, he started, but did not say anything as they came closer. Upon further inspection, the elf saw that both faces were quite red, and neither were willing to meet his gaze.
"Where did you guys go?" Iya asked curiously as the pair drew closer.
"A farm." Ava muttered. "Can we talk for a moment, Iya?" The female elf looked surprised, but she nodded all the same. Turning, her and Ava walked away from the two men, leaving them standing in a rather awkward silence.
"Do I want to know?" Ean asked finally, and Gavin's blush deepened.
"Probably not." He seemed to be quite at a loss for words, and the elf grinned at him.
"Now you know how I feel." Gavin opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, sputtered a few times, and then walked back towards the inn. Ean chuckled as he followed, seeing the rigid posture of warlock as he walked. This was going to be an interesting talk.
It was all because of that damned mushroom, or at least that's how Ava felt about it. She had come back from making sure the ship was ready to sail when she saw Gavin speaking to Elkian, and then heading towards the woods. She'd approached him, inquiring as to why he was going into the woods, and he'd revealed that Elkian had informed him that the magic mushrooms had grown back in the recent days.
"Would you like to come with me?" He'd asked, eyebrows raised. The pirate couldn't find it in her heart to say no, so she'd accompanied him through the forest and to the mushroom farm, where they'd found that their elven guide had been correct. There had been mushrooms everywhere, and the field was split evenly between ones that were a light shade of blue, and ones that were a brilliant pink. Gavin, like the child he became whenever he experienced something interesting, immediately knelt down and began studying the fungi. She'd stood there, content to watch as he performed a series of experiments. Of course, she drew a line when he tried to put one in his mouth.
"Elkian said they were safe to eat." He'd said.
"It's still a bad idea." She insisted, but the warlock had taken a bite out of the pink mushroom all the same. He'd straightened up instantly, his arms going slack as he chewed the fungus, and his eyes seemed to glow the same color as the mushroom he'd just eaten.
"Gavin?" She'd called his name a few times, until he finally looked at her, and his face had transformed into one of the softest smiles she'd ever seen. It had made her feel… well, a lot of things. And then, he'd opened his mouth and said something nobody had ever said to her, in all her decades of life.
"I love you." She been struck dumb as the warlock rose to his feet, still smiling at her, and Ava was at a total loss for words. She might have sputtered something incoherent as her face turned redder and redder, but the pirate was shocked back to her senses as the warlock tried to hug her, of all people!
"You're beautiful." He'd slurred next, sending another jet of electricity through her.
"Okay, that's enough." She's said, dragging him away from the farm by his elbow, still blushing furiously. "We're going to have Nicholas or Iya straighten you out." Still, the way he'd said it, the way he'd looked at her… it made her shiver from head to toe in a way that felt very alien, yet not entirely… wrong.
Thankfully, the spell had begun to wear off by the time they'd reached the edge of the woods. Gavin had been nearly as confused as she was, but by the way that his face turned scarlet, she guessed that he remembered what he'd just done. They said nothing as they exited the woods, and that's where the pair had run into Ean and Iya, both of whom looked infinitely more comfortable than the pirate and warlock.
Not knowing what to do, she'd dragged Iya away from the group, if only to get away from Gavin, who she was sure was being questioned by Ean. After all, their faces had likely given away what had happened.
Still, it couldn't have been true. The mushroom probably addled his mind as a bit of a joke, or perhaps it was just cruelty on fate's part.
No man has ever… She didn't finish the thought as she turned back to Iya, who was smiling gently.
"So the mushroom cast a spell on him?"
"Yes." Ava muttered, still not looking the female elf in the eyes. "And he said… he said…" The pirate trailed off, but Iya seemed to infer what had happened all the same. Her eyebrows shot upwards, and Ava glared at her.
"You're never going to let this go, are you?"
"Depends." Iya said serenely. "Do you think he was telling the truth?" For the second time that day, Ava was struck dumb by a simple statement, and she stared at the elf.
"What?"
"Gavin." The elf opposite her elaborated, from where she was sitting on a rock. "Did he mean it?"
"No, he couldn't have." Ava blurted without thinking, before regaining her composure. "I mean… he was quite clearly under a spell."
"Yes, but spells can be influenced by the emotions of the mind and heart." Iya said calmly, round eyes gazing around the forest. "It's possible that he did…"
"He didn't." Ava insisted. "I know, Iya. Okay?" The elf stared at her for another moment before nodding.
"If you want to talk about it, don't hesitate to ask, okay?" She touched Ava lightly on the shoulder before walking past her, back towards the inn that had lights burning in the windows.
"Can I… ask you something?" The pirate said suddenly, the question falling from her lips as quickly as it had entered her mind. Iya stopped, turning back to look at her.
"Of course."
"You and Ean are together, correct?" Iya's cheeks were pink, but she nodded in confirmation. "How did you… realize it?" The elf's eyes met hers, and she felt as though Iya could see into her very soul when she spoke:
"He has feelings for me, just as I do for him." She smiled, and it was a gesture that seemed to contain all the happiness in the world. "Perhaps that is all that matters." With that, Iya left Ava alone at the edge of the forest, leaving the pirate to ponder over what the words had meant.
After all, Elkian had never told them what the mushrooms really did.