The Grand Archavist:
The golden pyramid was the origin point for the dark tendrils of the abyssal plane. They seeped out of the cracks between the huge blocks, joining together to create the thick branches that wound their way through the caverns towards the city of the dwarves.
Upon closer inspection, Konrad saw that the water that gushed from the hole in the cavern ceiling far above wasn’t actually as golden as he had first thought, but it held the reflection of the pyramid deep in its heart as it thundered down through the opening in the top.
"You came prepared," Edward said, with a nod to the rope in Konrad’s hands.
"Only until this point, I don’t know what’s after this."
Edward appeared to appraise Konrad properly for the first time. "They say you came in five times, but I didn’t believe them. Thanks for coming back for me. Tell me what happened to the boy."
As Konrad explained his deal with the harpy, Edward's eyebrows rose. "What will you do if the dwarfs refuse to honor this deal and give him a title?"
"I'll come back down here and free Idier," Konrad stated.
Edward nodded as if that had been the correct answer.
"What do you know about these black tendrils?" Konrad asked.
Edward held his mace close to the darkness, and the weapon glowed with a light, sickly green hue. "It’s from the demons' world. They are always looking for ways to break through to us, searching for fools to make deals with them, sending beasts to torment us. You can find them all over Parthanea, though I’ve never seen one this strong before."
Konrad knew even less about the abyss than he did the Faelen; although he had traveled with Serena for many weeks, she hadn’t ever wanted to go into detail. He smiled inwardly at the image of her stern face, telling him that he had asked too many questions and that the answers were "for the witches."
"Are they all monsters, like those creatures back there?" Konrad asked.
"Indeed, some are beasts that will turn your insides to pudding just for looking at them; mindless and bent on destruction they are. They can't be reasoned with, only defeated. If you have the stomach, you could ask a witch to tell you more, but those hags are as bad as the demons."
Konrad nodded along while Edward spoke, but the description of Serena couldn’t be further from the truth. The harpy too, seemed like an intelligent enough creature, nothing like the mindless beast Edward had described.
"There’s an entrance at the back of the pyramid; we can’t see it from here, but it’s there. I don’t know what’s inside, but the door opens when someone approaches," Konrad explained.
"How do you know that if you haven’t been past this point?"
"I had some help." Konrad pointed to the base of the pyramid, where the shadows coalesced into the form of Spirit. She ran up and put her front paws on Konrad’s chest, licking his face, then stood by his side, her dark eyes resting on Edward. Her shadow hounds took up flanking positions, their red eyes blinking.
"Your dog does not like me," Edward stated.
"Don’t worry, she does this with everyone. Spirit, can you take us in?"
Spirit lead Konrad and Edward to a stone door to the pyramid that swung open noiselessly. Inside, the roar of the waterfall felt like a physical barrier pushing against them, and a fine mist settled on Konrad’s skin, making it tingle gently.
"Can you feel that?" Konrad asked.
"Some say the waters are transformational and can remove any curse. Hard to see how those can exist in the same place," Edward said, gesturing to the black tendrils that were thick as tree roots now and covered most of the wall and floor. They lay so thick on the floor that it was impossible not to step on them now, and each footfall caused the same dull red glow deep inside.
The inside of the pyramid was one vast open space, and the waterfall pounded through the open hole in the top and exited through another wide hole in the floor. There were no bridges to bring them closer to the water, and leaning over the chasm meant risking being swept down into the churning darkness below.
The raw power of the cascade of golden-tinged water was mesmerizing, and it took a nudge from Spirit for Konrad to notice a movement on the other side of the curtain of water.
"Who’s there?" Konrad called.
A woman stepped out, twenty paces away from. The tattered fabric of her robe covered a skeletal thin body and black veins crawled from her neck, across her gaunt face towards her sunken eyes.
"This looks to be a task for you, champion; hold her off while I search for the Archivist," Edward cried out. The big adventurer was already on the move, sprinting to the far side of the chamber to a set of stairs that descended into the gloom.
Spirit growled a warning and disappeared into the shadows as Konrad felt a chill at the base of his neck, as if a cold hand had rested there momentarily, even though the witch had not moved towards him.
"I am Rhendra. What are you?" Rhendra asked, her voice dry and rasping.
"My name is Konrad. I’ve come to search for the Grand Archavist and to stop whatever causes this darkness to grow here."
"I know who you are; she said you would come. But what are you, some kind of priest?"
"I’m a champion of the gods."
The witch gave a dry laugh. "God's taking champions? You lie; they wouldn't know how, and the Faelen would never allow it."
"It’s true; I was chosen by the small gods. There are many champions, mostly for the Mother and the Father, and there’s no Faelen any more. No-one knows where they have gone."
Rhendra appeared to be thinking, though her eyes never left Konrad's, and then she spoke. "Then I have been here for a long time."
"How did you stay alive?" Konrad asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"The Wikkan Seat and her sycophants grew jealous of my creations and sealed me in here; ignorant fools who feared that which was beyond their understanding. For a time, my waters sustained me."
Rhendra reached out a long, pale hand, and the falling water flexed and surged toward her like a dog greeting its master. Where the liquid touched her, her hand became youthful for just a moment before returning to its original puckered form.
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"What life is there when everything has been given to preserve it?" Rhendra whispered as she stared into the water.
Konrad had no idea what the witch was talking about, but if it gave Edward enough time to find the Grand Archivist, then all the better.
"Why doesn’t the water help you any more?"
"The waters are transformational; they cannot stop the passage of time, so I was forced to seek aid elsewhere."
The red lines in the darkness under Konrad’s feet started to pulse gently.
"What do you know of demons in your time, priest?" Rhendra asked.
"I know you have to be prepared to make bargains; is that what you did?" Konrad replied, beginning to prepare his shadow armor and rouse the cold bite from its slumber somewhere at the back of his head.
"I did, long ago; perhaps it is time to renegotiate. You would be a fetching prize if the link works as I think it would. You would have to be the sole champion, though; do your gods have any others?" Rhendra tapped her chin with a long finger, as if Konrad were a plump bird she was considering how to prepare for dinner.
Konrad didn't answer, still concentrating on drawing the shadows ever tighter around his body. The staircase wasn't far from him; he should be able to make it.
"I said, are you the only champion of your god?" Rhendra intoned.
The command pressed down on Konrad’s senses, compelling him to answer, the words escaped his throat even as he tried to stop them.
"I am."
Konrad knew his time was up, wreathed in his black shadow armor he began to back away towards the stairs.
"I’m not done with you, champion of small gods." Rhendra pulled a small stone from a pocket and dropped it to the floor. An invisible force impacted Konrad and made his armor ring like it had been struck by a gong. He staggered back, winded, and looked down in shock to see his armor much more etherial than it had been. He would only survive one or two more of those.
Instinctively, he threw out an illusionary wall of ice and darted to the side, narrowly avoiding a golden lance of power that shredded the rock where he had been standing.
Konrad whistled, and although he couldn’t see Spirit, two shadow hounds raced around in a tight circle and jumped straight through the illusion. Konrad heard Rhendra’s gasp of surprise and flung himself after them through the wall of ice.
Rhendra swiped her clawed hand through the air and four silver blades swiped one of the hounds from existence. The remaining beast stalked her warily, its red eyes glowing.
"The gods have extended their party tricks to you, boy, but I will show you the true power of Rhendra's falls."
A circle of fire four feet wide appeared on the floor, and streaks of fire darted inside it, outlining complicated symbols. Konrad pulled the Cold Bite to the tips of his fingers, and the ice crept up his forearms.
A monstrous demon flopped down in the circle. It was mostly made of slime and a gross jelly-like substance and inside large bones and organs floated freely.
"Behold my creation, the curseless demon, loyal only to me. It does not bargain; it only obeys."
Konrad was momentarily stunned as he watched two bulging mismatched eyes, a sneering mouth with cracked lips, and a split nose float up to form a patchwork face that was wracked with a harrowing, tortured expression.
"What will my waters make of you I wonder? Such potential," Rhendra mused.
Konrad’s very soul rebelled at the thought of being turned into such a creature, and the Cold Bite pounced on his fears. On Mir the power had exploded from him like a bomb, blasting in all directions, but now it used Konrad as an anchor, freezing his feet to the floor and pouring its power down his arms. Wherever his fists pointed, a howling insanity of ice and wind battered the interior walls of the pyramid. The demon's eyes met Konrad's, and he thought he saw a hint of a smile on its face before the cold hit it straight on. In moments, it froze solid with a sickening cracking sound. Rhendra screamed in frustration, and the sound roused the Cold Bite to her presence. It paused to sniff the air, then it and hunted her down.
Konrad existed as a spectator to his own body, waiting for the power of the Bite to ebb before he could wrest back control. The roaring of the waterfall continued unabated, but the inside of the pyramid was covered in a fine layer of ice crystals.
"I didn’t want to fight you," Konrad said, approaching the witch.
Rhendra shivered violently. "It is not me you have to worry about; it’s better than I could have dreamed. Your display will be enough to trigger his interest, and I will be free."
The ancient witch, Rhendra, reached out a desperate hand to the dark tendrils on the floor, and they began to draw together. The deep red light began to pulse with more force, and the blackness from the abyss slowly gathered and coagulated into a humanoid form. With a sound like a sharp intake of breath, the transformation was complete.
The figure was around eight feet tall, with skin the color of silvery charcoal. Horns wrapped around his head twisted elegantly at the back, and his angular features hid eyes that glimmered with a pale red light. This prince of darkness brushed some invisible dust from the shoulder of a long coat richly embroidered with black and red lace.
"Rhendra, what have you brought me?" His voice was a drawl.
"Persecus, he says he is a champion of the gods; see their power in him," Rhendra said, her voice wavering slightly.
"A champion of gods, with a very murky fate." Persecus, the demon, inhaled, and Konrad felt the remains of his armor fade away. All he had left now to fight with was his short steel sword.
"Take him—" Rendra began, but at a gesture from the demon lord, her mouth snapped shut.
"I must say, Rhendra, that I am impressed. You have been down here for along time, and still you manage to find the exact thing that I have been looking for," Persecus said.
"You’ve been looking for me?" Konrad asked.
"I have been instructed to keep an eye out for you; as distasteful as it is to be given orders, we all answer to someone."
"Does this mean you’ll take away the darkness that’s been spreading here?" Konrad asked.
The demon lord pouted slightly. "If I assist you, there will be a cost."
The voice of Konrad’s friend Serena, the witch, screamed in his mind, but he silenced the protests. This demon was offering him a deal, and there might be more to be gained. Konrad cast a glance at Rhendra and licked his lips.
"First, tell me this: Rhendra said that the Faelen would not allow gods to have champions; what did she mean?" he asked.
Persecus gave a wide smile, showing a row of immaculately white, pointed teeth. "Answering your question will be a show of good faith yes? Very well, the Faelen discovered a way to bind living creatures to the ley lines, when they left, the gods stole their secrets and used the same principle to bind you to the power of their divinity. The ritual is cyclical; it is possible to reproduce it every five of your mortal years."
Konrad felt a small bundle of worry in the pit of his stomach, but he had to ask the next question. "Why did she say that the Faelen would not allow it?"
"Someday I will require a service of you; in the meantime, I will answer your question and close this portal to the abyssal realm. Do you accept my offer?"
"I accept," Konrad replied, his mouth dry.
A harsh sound came to Konrad’s ears and seared into his memory. He didn’t think that this was the demon's true name, but instinctively he knew that he could use it to call to him.
"It is no great secret; those who can touch the ley lines naturally are conduits and thus can cycle what power they need. The Faelen experiment bound beings to a force they could not filter; each of them died, poisoned by the magic."
Konrad opened his mouth to speak, but Persecus held up a finger. "You have no more questions, but I will tell you that I do not know the effect of divine bindings on mortals, nor do I care."
The remaining tendrils of darkness in the chamber drifted back into the demon, and he turned to exit through a doorway behind him.
"Wait!" Rhendra cried, evidently wresting back control of her mouth. "Take the champion in my place; think of what he can give you! Let me free of my oath."
"No, he stands outside of fate, and this interests me. Your oath stands, Rhendra, but you have pleased me; I will let you leave this place and complete your service at my side." The demon lord stepped through the dark portal, and Rhendra stared at the waterfall for several moments before seeming to make up her mind.
"Know this boy, being bound to demons was frowned upon in my time, but no-one would tie their spirit to a god. At least demons have rules." With that, the witch stepped through the portal and Konrad was left alone.
"Where did the witch go?" Edward called.
The adventurer led a short figure wearing a dirty cloth hood on their head. Heavy manacles bound their wrists and ankles.
"This is the Grand Archavist?" Konrad asked.
"Certainly is; she’s not much to look at, but she managed to get his place open."
"Well, untie her; we have to take her back to the dwarfs."
"We aren’t going back up there; the dwarfs will take all of this and give us some gold sure, but you and I are adventurers, and the Grand Archavist knows the secrets of the continent, she can take us to treasures you can only dream of."
Next to him, the Grand Archavist struggled against her bonds and gave a muffled protest through the dirty hood that had been placed on her head.
"I don’t think the Archavist wants to go with you, Edward."
"Why don’t we ask her?" Edward pulled the hood off of the Grand Archavist, and even dressed in rags, her hair filthy from a dungeon, Alice’s eyes still sparkled with silent laughter.