“Welp, this looks like a bust…” Dalen muttered as the three of them scanned the now utterly pitch-black pile of rubble in front of them. The moment the sun had fully set they were plunged into darkness. Dalen had figured if somebody was around you’d be able to tell from the look of it the place was bloody empty.

Leo nodded,” It does look grim.”

Melisia frowned,” I don’t believe the captain would have sent us here for no reason. Let’s just look around and make sure. She is a space mage. If she is in hiding we shouldn’t expect it to be easy to find her.”

All of their perceptions were high enough to manage with the small amounts of moonlight so they moved through the shoots of bamboo and ferns before reaching the clearing with the obelisk. Dalen looked at it closely for a moment and was certain it was made of the same stone as the one in crossing but when he Identified it the skill simply fizzled.

Melisia activated her Comprehend the Astral Threads but shook her head,” I don’t see any skill or array remnants. It either never had any or they have faded over the centuries.”

Leo had continued towards the collapsed portion of the ruins so Dalen just shrugged and continued as well. If Melisia couldn’t figure out its meaning he certainly wasn’t going. He was an alchemist, not a mage dammit.

As they moved Dalen kept a hand on a flash bomb just in case but honestly, he was starting to feel like it had been a waste of time coming here. Dalen hadn’t had any visions of Kal for a few days which worried him. He didn’t think Kal was dead or anything, he was pretty sure the mark would have reacted somehow if that had happened but he was worried about his friend’s trial.

For all he knew Kal could have already finished it and gone back to doing whatever it was he was doing before he saw him on the Fractured Path. Or he could be fighting for his life in a position where the summoning or whatever space magic crap could save him but Dalen had been too slow.

It was also just as likely Kal was simply still stuck in the trial and Dalen had all the time in the world to prepare to rescue him. Still, Dalen hated it.

There were half a dozen crumbled buildings in the area so they split up and began to search through each of them. Dalen was strong enough not to be killed by a simple jungle beast at this point unless a million mosquitoes decided they wanted his and only his blood all of a sudden that would probably kill him with disgust.

While they searched the building Dalen found several old stacks of tablets, scrolls, and other bits and pieces of equipment that you would normally find in a library or maybe an academy. The place was big enough to count if it had fallen over for whatever reason. But the weird thing was that none of the things he found were identifiable or readable. Everything was at least intact enough that when he picked it up and passed his eyes over them he could see words but his eyes simply slid off them.

Identifying them resulted in a fizzle just like the obelisk,” This place is weird…”

“Hey, you two! You finding weirdly unreadable stuff as well?” Dalen called out as he moved deep into the remains of a large ex-multi-floored building.

“Yes! It is very interesting. I will store some for later,” Melisia replied from behind a wall.

Leo said something as well but Dalen didn’t make it out.

Climbing over what was left of the probably the second and third floors Dalen looked across the ruins from the higher vantage. And he saw nothing.

Grumbling to himself he turned to walk down the opposite side of the rubble,” This was a waste of time. The elf with the pretty sword fooled us-”

Dalen’s foot slipped out from under him as a piece of the rubble moved and with a shout, he tumbled down the pile cursing with each bounce on the hard stone. Just as he reached the bottom and relief began well up in his chest as the clumsy fall was about to end, he kept falling.

The darkness of the outdoors became a dimly lit tunnel that angled down sharply and only accelerated his tumbling. Another several seconds of painful bouncing and rolling finally he came to a rest at the bottom of a long stone shaft.

“Oh…Gods that sucked!” Dalen groaned. The groan turned into a growl when he felt the wet patch on his trousers and realized several stamina potions had shattered on his embarrassing tumble, “For fuck’s sake…”

Muffled cries from above just barely reached him and looking up the slope Dalen realized he had actually fallen a pretty long distance, “I’m down here!”

Dalen took a step forward and the world around him twisted sickenenly and he found himself standing at the top of the rubble pile again but the step he had just taken landed on nothing and the disorientation sent him into another tumble. As he fell he saw Melisia at the corner of his eye before he was suddenly in the shaft again.

Another several seconds of tumbling ended up with Dalen in the exact same place as before. He didn’t get up straight away. The disorientation and the tumble made him want to fill the tunnel with vomit but with sheer stubbornness, he held it in.

He knew what was going on here,” Do you treat all your guests this way?”

“He, he, he. Oh, You are not my guest.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Before Dalen could figure out where the voice had come from he was once again bouncing down the side of the rubble, desperately trying to grab onto anything he could. Everything he touched simply slid from his grasp,” Fuck! Not again!”

Just as Dalen left the pile and vise snapped around his ankle bringing his endless fall to an end.

“Oh thank the gods!” Dalen breathed as Leo lowered him to the ground.

“Are you ok Dalen?” Leo asked. Looking the opposite of concerned.

“Yes! I’m fine thanks,” Dalen muttered as he climbed to his feet,” Did you see the old hag-”

Without any kind of warning a tiny old hag appeared in front of them. Her hair was wispy and so thin that her scalp was clearly visible. She leaned hard into a wooden cane and was so hunched over that she appeared to be less than five feet tall. Her eyes were both milky white and unfocused.

“Boy! It appears you have pissed yourself!” she half snickered half cackled as Dalen looked down to see another potion had broken open and left a stain on his crotch.

Dalen growled but when he looked up the bloody woman was gone and even Leo was looking around in an attempt to spot her. Dalen was about to spew some of his best curses but Melisia glared at him first.

“I take it you are Elendria Farstep? We have been looking for you,” Melisia said, calling out across the ruins.

“Don’t care! I wasn’t looking for you!”

Suddenly Melisia was atop the pile of rubble and spinning her arms to regain her balance.

She failed.

Her tumble was even less graceful than Dalen’s and she was lucky enough to be caught by Leo before she fell any further. When Leo put her down Melisia’s face was bright red and her eyes burned with embarrassment and rage, stalling Dalen’s comment before he even got a chance to say it.

“Ooooh, you’ve got a strong one with you… Take the scrawny one and leave. Big, strong, Brightwing can stay!”

Leo’s jaw fell open and his face reddened even worse than Melisia’s. Dalen couldn’t hold back the laugh this time. This woman was clearly insane but there was doubt about it. She was a space mage. Each time she spoke it they could hear it coming from another location sometimes changing mid-sentence.

“So how about it Brightwing? Will you carry me away?” The hag's squeaky voice followed by a long-winded bout of cackling and wheezing buried then stomped on any ounce of appeal her words had.

Leo grimaced but Dalen spoke up first,” Look we have something that you would be interested in. We just need your help.”

It was hard to get the words out between holding back his case of the giggles but he managed it. Barely.

She cackled harder, “You’ve got nothing I want, Scrawny! I know what I want…”

Leo shivered and Dalen wanted to laugh again but it was time to be serious.

“Elder Jaliete of The Order of the Crimson Dawn said you would want to see it.”

“Bah! That girl has not a clue what I would want to see. She knows nothing!” The hag snickered.

Dalen frowned, “What a pain in the arse…”

“She said it was something new!”

Dalen waited for the replying jab but there was only silence for several seconds. Then she appeared no more than a foot away from him and poked him with her stick.

“She said it was new did she?” She poked hard.

“Let’s see it then!”

*poke*

*poke* *poke*

“Ow! Stop that! You can see it after you help us!” Dalen said, taking a step back.

[Elendria Farstep | Warden of the Ways 126 | Elf]

She poked him harder, “No deal! Scrawny! You could be talk’n out your arse! Besides, how would you know that mind witch anyway?”

Dalen held back a growl, “Melisia here is an ex-member and we have been traveling with them for some time because they believe a friend of mine is the one they are looking for.”

The little psycho poked him one last time before stepping back to peer into his face even though he was sure she could see with her milked-colored eyes. She stared at him for several uncomfortable moments.

“Hmm! You have the Liar’s smell about you Scrawny but I can tell you aren’t lying. Fine, show me proof of your claim,” Elendria said, her tone becoming just slither more serious.

Dalen grumbled internally. At least she didn’t poke him again. Dalen scrolled back through his logs to once again produce the notification that he hoped would be enough to convince her. It appeared in its same crimson lines and text altogether different from the others he had seen.

Mark of Wrath

Your core has been marked by Kalum Lesta the Slayer of Fate and Exemplar of Defiance. May you overcome your limits and sunder that which binds.

Elendria’s eyes widened slightly at the notifications. Apparently, her apparent blindness didn’t prevent the display from being visible. She bit at her wrinkled lip and frowned as she read it over and over again.

Eldendria’s eyes looked into Dalen’s face,“ This mark… It is crimson as well?”

He nodded, “Yes.”

“How did you get this mark? It is not like anything I have seen before.”

Dalen shrugged,” I would rather not discuss it further unless you prove that you're truly willing to help us.”

Elendria grimaced. She muttered something under her breath that Dalen didn’t quite catch before she looked back into his face and said,” Why do you need my help?”

Dalen didn’t let the grin he felt building show. He had her now,” We need you to get us and Elder Jaliete’s people to The Vault and work with them to bring Kal back from the realm of demons, or wherever it is he has ended up. In return, you may learn all you want from the mark.”

Her face paled. To an almost porcelain white as he continued. She worked her mouth several times before finally speaking,” It is clear that you don’t truly know what you are asking me to do.”

Dalen frowned,” Are you saying you can’t do it?”

Elendria shook her head,” No. What I am saying Scrawny is that you should know the risks before asking someone to reach beyond the firmament and defy the gods.”