Faster than it had arrived the second sight faded and Dalen’s mind cleared but it took a moment for his lungs to work again, “I- I saw-” Dalen panted trying to tell them what he saw but Jaliete was way ahead of him.
“He saw through Kalum Lesta’s eyes! He is at Serpent’s Rest, with the cells of The Third Tower,” Jaliete said in a rush with a hint of concern Dalen hadn’t heard before.
Dalen tried to ignore the skin-crawling feeling that came with knowing that Jaliete had just sifted through his mind with him noticing a thing but he had to admit it had made explaining what he had seen easier but he didn’t know how she had figured that part out.
When his lungs worked again Dalen rasped, “How do you figure that? All I saw was that gross-looking guy and a dark room.”
“I have seen the man before. He is Hemdal Ireth, a lesser prophet of Uton. Newly appointed but still very dangerous, he is the Keeper of the Third Tower within Sceleti,” Jaliete explained.
Volan nodded in agreement, “Yes my contacts with Sceleti have told me of him as well. He holds the epic class Sanguine Keeper. They haven’t been able to tell me much about the man but it's safe to assume he is stronger than many within The Order.”
Dalen shook his head, “Well fucking great! But if you’re right at least we know where Kal is. Could one of the surviving space mages get us there?”
Jaliete frowned, “No. Even if those who could manage the task were able to cross that distance with a sizable group the city will have anti-teleportation arrays in place. We would be redirected to outside the walls and into a fight we couldn’t win.”
“Then how did they do it?” Dalen asked, frustration leaching into his voice.
“They likely didn’t. They simply would have been redirected and allowed to enter the city,” Volan replied.
Behind them walking against the flow of evacuating people Leo and Melisia navigated their way to stand beside Dalen. Melisia looked pale and not weak exactly but Volan was right when he said she had been shaken by what had happened.
Dalen nodded at her with as much of a smile as he could muster, “Glad to see you back on your feet.”
Melisia nodded in thanks but turned to Jaliete, “Could they send a smaller group? Perhaps we could get into the city?” Noticing Dalen’s expression she continued, “Jaliete relayed everything you were saying.”
“Creepy…” Dalen muttered internally, careless of whether Jaliete was listening.
Jaliete’s lips formed a line, “Possibly. Though in any case, it will not happen today, the survivors may not have received the damage Elendria has but they are still deeply exhausted from the ritual. Let us leave The Vault behind and move toward Serpent’s Rest.”
“Damn it. Fine,” Dalen turned to leave when his eyes fell onto Leo again and that strange sensation flared up again.
ERROR: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ERROR: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dalen spun as the hairs on his neck rose and a chill came over his heart, “Gods not again!” His eyes darted between the people moving past but nothing stood out to him. For a moment he had sworn someone was watching him and like the last time he had received those notifications a sense of dread had washed over him.
“Dalen?” Leo said and Dalen could hear the combination of concern and readiness in his voice.
Dalen steadied himself and turned back to the group, “I’m fine,” Jaliete looked as if she was about to say something but Dalen cut in, “Say nothing. And from now on stay out of my head unless it's really fucking important. We can talk about it later.”
The heat in his voice must have surprised her because her neutral expression flickered for a moment and her mouth snapped shut, “Of course. I understand.”
Melisia and the others didn’t look overly impressed with his tone but took the hint and remained quiet. There was more than one reason he had been so willing to lock himself away for a couple of days and grind away at the cauldron. He had things to think about, things to plan for, and things he had to do before they left.
He looked back at the notification that had done nothing but amplify his paranoia.
ERROR: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Warning: Umbral Entity present.
ERROR: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
----------------------------------------
The Order left The Vault less than an hour later and at Elder Jaliete’s command, they began to travel south-west. Dalen had wondered at first whether Jaliete would allow them to simply travel by land instead of by teleportation. He had figured that only a lack of knowledge of where the place was on a map had been the only thing keeping the place hidden, he was wrong.
No more than a few hours of travel later he had already lost his bearings and the forest of tall pines became infested with the jungle-like trees and shrubbery of Sceleti. The now much larger collective of The Order was forced to form a single long and narrow column as they wound their way through the strange terrain.
Dalen was walking alongside Volan and Jak of all people. The man was in a sorry state even after a couple of days of healing. His left arm was gone from the elbow down and his face was drawn and pale. His arm showed signs of regeneration from the healing he had received but regenerating limbs was never fast. “What is going on here? Is it some kind of array or more of The Order’s illusionary skills?”
Jak shrugged, “I barely understand it myself. Elder Volan can explain it.”
Dalen hadn’t really been expecting Jak to be the one to answer. The man honestly freaked Dalen out with his sudden change of behavior and that didn’t help Dalen’s nerves in the least considering the strange notifications he had been receiving.
“It is neither. The area surrounding The Vault is as strange as The Fractured Path if only in other ways. We stumbled upon The Vault while investigating a strange anomaly at the edge of Sceleti and Alkadian territory. In those days I worked with The Seventh Tower and work of that nature was fairly common though I was more of an assistant in those days since my skills were not particularly research-focused,” Volan looked out into the surrounding mix of jungle and pine forest, “We haven’t reached the truly difficult part yet but I suspect you are experiencing the confusion by now?”
“Ah, Yeah. I keep feeling like I am being turned around even though I following everyone else,” Dalen said the old man’s words not doing anything to break his confusion.
Volan smiled, “The first thing we discovered upon arriving at the forest was that only those with a blessing of the gods were affected by the lesser effects of the forest. Judging by your class and nature am I correct and guessing that Dhoerin is your patron deity?”
Jak frowned and he looked Dalen up and down with a look Dalen didn’t like but the man said nothing.
Dalen ignored the crazy man’s stare and thinking he had no reason to hide it after everything he nodded, “Yeah. Got it when I was a kid, running the streets of Vandarra.”
Volan nodded sagely, “Yes, I am also aware of Leo and Melisia’s blessing with Quotz. The Order’s people are from all corners of our world many were once followers of any one or all of the gods. Though none remain so for long once they join The Order it is intriguing that the three of you remain blessed by your gods.”
“Yeah, well I’ve said it before. I don’t really care either way. Dhoerin can shove it if he has a problem with what we are doing,” Dalen said flatly.
Jak’s frown vanished and he burst out into a great belly laugh that turned the heads of at least a hundred other followers. When he got his breath back he leaned in closer to Dalen, “Oh! You will do fine in The Arm Dalen. Perhaps once we have The Bearer safely amongst us we can visit and show The Bone Breaker what real strength is!”
Dalen was taken aback by Jak’s sudden outburst but he plastered on his best propheteering smile and replied, “Of course. Something is telling me Kal won’t turn down a fight.”
If it was even possible Jak’s smile widened and Dalen caught a weary look from Volan, making Dalen feel like he had just made a mistake, ”Oh the fighting won’t be for the bearer alone. There are even more pock-marked alchemists that need a good maiming!”
“Great… I’m guessing I just made some kind of pact-” Dalen’s thought was both interrupted and confirmed as Jak hammered his remaining fist into his chest before pointing it toward Dalen’s heart.
“I will spread the word, Friend of The Bearer. My people will be honored!” Jak announced before moving back through the lines of men and women.
A sick feeling fell over Dalen and he turned to look at Volan who was smiling, “Did I just stumble into one of those culture differences?”
Volan smirked, “Yes. I believe that in the ways of The Bloodied Arm, you have promised yourself to join a civil war. But I suspect you could wiggle your way out of it assuming Kalum Lesta refuses to go.”
“Shiiiit…” Dalen grumbled internally but tried not to let it show on his face. It’s not like it was going to matter anytime soon, “Well if it makes them happy for now I won’t say anything. His fighters are in pretty rough shape.”
Volan nodded, “Kalum Lesta’s skill has shown them a side of themselves they didn’t realize they had. It may be worth taking the opportunity to speak with them all again while the experience is still fresh in their minds.”
Dalen agreed but at the same time, he didn’t feel the urgency behind keeping on task like before. Kalum was back in their world now. Was it really his problem now? He felt guilty the moment the thought came to him but that didn’t mean it was far from the truth. Dalen was qualified for this shit. He was a bloody alchemist, not a cleric, priest, or bloody prophet and everything he had been speaking of had been affirmations of Kal’s character and the need to bring him home but now he wasn’t sure how true the things he was saying were.
He had seen the bodies.
And The Order had felt his wrath.
“Kal is back now and until he is safely away from wherever the fuck he is in The Third Tower I want everyone focused on getting him back. No more dragging our feet. No more waiting. The moment we can teleport we are sending people to find him. The people know what happened and if I was them I would be grateful that they weren’t all slaughtered like the empire’s soldiers for allowing traitors among them.
There was a little more heat in Dalen’s words than he had intended but fate or the system itself seemed to be working against them at every turn.
Volan’s expression didn’t change and he nodded, “We are a small people against the will of the gods Dalen. Perhaps you are right in that would should have expected such dangers even at The Vault but I do believe things are changing for the better, though our future is still uncertain.”
“What makes you say that?” Dalen scoffed.
Volan’s smile returned, “I received word via Message Stone only moments ago from a contact in Vandarra. The city is in quite the uproar,”
That had Dalen worried for a moment, “What? Why? Has Kal been moved?”
Volan ignored Dalen’s questions and continued, “We are not alone in our blindness of the world. The prophets are silent in the castles and towers, their priests panic and squabble, fighting among themselves when unity is most needed.”
A deep smile fell across Volan’s face, “Our time on the run is at an end. The gods are blind.”