Back in the Woods

There’s only slight comfort in knowing that none but the biggest, most dangerous of darklings will come after you because you are traveling with an Everburn lantern in your hand, as are your companions.

Piers and I led the way, quickly finding Zac’s trail as we had before. Both of us held weapons at the ready, ignited with silver and red light.

Though he never put any words behind his complaints, it was easy to tell from grunts and groans that Eon Maganti greatly regretted his decision to go with us into the woods. Every few feet his wheels would get stuck trying to cross over a protruding root, or through a dip in the path. His rings would activate to lift his chair enough to keep moving, costing him just a little more energy stored up in those golden relics. He might have decided instead to ride a horse through those woods, utilizing a saddle which would strap him firmly in place, were it not for the fact that horses were terrified of darklings and would spook all too easily.

Benji walked at the back of our group, his bulky body snapping tree branches as he tried to follow our path. Now and then he’d swing his axe, chopping down the obstructions in his way so he could more easily keep up. Every time his axe’s blade hit a tree branch I heard darklings flee further into the shadows.

After hours of travel, our group finally reached the stone bridge where we’d previously encountered Mr. Muk. I raised my lantern high, trying to extend the reach of its light.

No sign of him.

Not even cloven tracks on the ground.

“Zac?” I called out.

“Dad!”

When Zac’s voice rang out, it was not as it was before, where I felt I could just look a little further into the darkness, and I would see him. No, the sound came from everywhere at once, resounding off the trees. The others with me looked up at the branches above, which told me they too had heard his voice come from everywhere at once.

“Zac, where are you?” I called out.

“Here… it’s dark!” Again, his voice came from all directions at once.

I walked further across the stone bridge, until I came to a clearing on the other side. The ground beneath my feet was flat, the first piece of level ground I’d found in the whole forest. The soil under my boots was soft and moist, but there was something solid underneath.

“I’m coming to find you!” I said. “Don’t worry, Dad’s here.” Following my instincts, I knelt down close to the ground, set my sword down, and brushed away the soil with my hand. Once the thin layer of soil was removed, I felt metal under my fingertips. “Elora! Put your hand here, see if you can sense Ancient ruins underneath this spot.”

Elora hurried over and I rose to get out of her way, picking up my sword in the process.

Eon rolled up closer and strained his neck to see what Elora was doing.

Benji, Jeseka, Piers, and the other soldiers kept their eyes on the shadows.

Elora splayed her fingers on the metal ground and closed her eyes. Tiny, red lac stones woven into the fabric of her gloves began to glow, and she said, “Yes… definitely Ancient ruins under us. Looks like a vault.”

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“A vault?” Eon intoned.

“The Ancients used to store their wealth in places like this,” I explained as I started clearing more soil, searching for the entrance. “Anyone who had the right set of keys and passwords could get through without a problem. Burglars would face deadly traps designed to keep them from getting through.”

“Is it impossible to get through without the keys?” Eon asked.

Elora started clearing more soil away as well. Jeseka soon joined her.

“Not impossible,” I said. “The traps were usually designed by master thieves, who would then, in turn, sell the secret ways through to prospective burglars. For a price. Survival was not impossible by any means.”

“And this outfit I’m wearing--” Elora chimed in, “--was designed for thieves. It should allow me to bypass most of the locks, but there are blindspots down there preventing me from seeing the traps.” She glanced up at Eon, her white eyes gleaming in the low light. “Of course, something like this isn’t without side-effects.”

My fingertips found a circle carved into the metal ground beneath us. “Found it!”

Elora crept over and pressed her gloved hand over the circle. Her lac stones glowed again and I heard a series of latches snapping and gears turning. Both of us backed away as part of the ground opened up, revealing a long staircase leading downward.

A snarl from the shadows caused us all to jump. I pointed my silver-edge toward the sound, the white light revealing shapes moving in the dark.

Eyes glowed in the blackness, some appearing in pairs and some in far greater numbers. The forest was alive with hisses, snarls, and growls.

Benji raised his lantern and his axe and stomped toward the darklings. One of the pairs of eyes drew closer to him, and I saw a flash of its white teeth, like two rows of daggers pointed toward one another.

The creature’s black shape leapt from its hiding place and latched its claws into Benji’s shoulders. The impact knocked him back, causing him to drop his axe.

Benji’s lantern barely illuminated the creature, which appeared to be some sort of large cat with two snake-like tails. The monster opened its jaws and moved in to bite Benji’s neck.

But before it could reach his throat, Benji’s hand palmed its face and his fingers wrapped around its skull. The strongest man alive bellowed in pain and fury, before squeezing the darkling’s face.

The monster yowled, and we all heard a crunching noise. Violet ooze poured from under Benji’s palm, and the creature went limp, its claws released from his shoulders.

With a painful grunt, Benji hurled the beast’s corpse at the other creatures lurking in the darkness. At first, they scattered from the spot where the body fell, but in an instant they were back upon it. Slurping and tearing noises ensued as they feasted on the fallen darkling.

Eon held out his hand and aimed his palm at the place where the creatures feasted. One of his rings glowed and a beam of golden light pierced the shadows and scorched the creatures and the trees around them. The darklings fled, howling as they trailed embers through the woods.

Jeseka sneered at Eon. “I’ll thank you not to set things on fire while we’re IN THE FOREST!”

Eon shrugged. “These woods are too wet to catch fire easily.”

“And too thick for us to escape in a hurry if we need to,” said Jeseka.

“I see,” said Eon, smugly folding his arms, “And at what university did you study?”

“No university,” Jeseka said. “All my learning was done in the actual wilderness.”

“We have more pressing matters at the moment!” I shouted over them, waving my hand to get their attention. “Zac, can you still hear me?”

“Yeah,” came his reply, his voice surrounding us.

“You say it’s dark where you are. When Mr. Muk took you there, did he take you down stairs? Could you tell?”

“I… I couldn’t tell…”

“Still our best bet,” I mumbled. “We need to get down there. Eon, I’m assuming your chair doesn’t do so well on stairs?”

“It doesn’t,” said Eon. “But I’m not going to let a little thing like that stand in my way. Private Vinter, Private Leynthall, you two will carry me as we descend into the Ancient vault.”

“Yes, sir,” said both soldiers.

Jeseka grunted her displeasure at Eon’s command and rolled her eyes.