They left the following morning at first light, the dew still heavy on the ground. As the villagers had already seen Light in her full form, they saw no reason to try and hide their departure, and making sure they were a safe distance from the buildings, they took flight. A few of the villagers saw them off, the rest, while somewhat grateful that they hadn’t lost more in the battle, wanting to ignore what had happened and get back to their normal lives. As for most villages, all that remained here of those with magic were a small number of shardlings, the competent and/or more powerful magic users having long left and likely now members of the Guilds. Those left behind wanted no part in that world.
As Izen had two dragons now, the party was split between the two. Myne and Kyla travelled on Light with Izen, taking the lead, while Ashling, who was not happy about having to carry passengers and would rather have been one and slept the journey, carried Alice, Laphir and Shino. Myne found it a little odd, riding behind Izen on Light, rather than the other way around as it had previously been when they had travelled on Vel’nas. Before she had met Izen she hadn’t really had any passengers at all, too caught up in the Riders world to even think about it, her focus purely on herself. So it was doubly odd. But it was also nice, and she was indifferent to Kyla’s presence as she leaned into Izen, enjoying the closeness and comfort. Myne was really happy that Izen had found the earrings, and put them on. It had confirmed that the feeling was indeed mutual, that she was now hers, and she had seen the loving expression clearly on Izen’s face when she had managed to break her free from Zorthac’s control. Her blood was so good too. She knew she had fed while she had been under the Demon Kings control, and while she recalled little of it, it was nothing compared to Izen’s blood. It tasted divine, soothed her hunger, and for better or worse, woke other feelings in her. She had acted on those feelings after they had caught up, and while she could have resisted them, she hadn’t wanted to. Even now the tryst played over in her mind, making her want Izen even more, and want her now, as inappropriate as the timing was. She would make the most of opportunities that were certain to come up, eager to experience it all over again, be one with Izen. They had confessed their love to each other as they had lay together, exhausted from intensity of it all, the embrace very familiar but the circumstances not. She had toyed with the earrings, telling Izen how cute they looked on her and how they complemented her beautiful face, and she had blushed the brightest red, the words having tumbled out amongst the declaration that Myne was the most important thing to her. Myne had replied in kind, though much more matter-of-factly, as if it had always been so and trying to mask how good those words had made her feel. Being wanted and loved was not something that she had had much of in her life up to this point, and she wasn’t going to lose it. Even though this kind of relationship did crop up in the Clans from time to time due to the fact that all Riders were female, she certainly hadn’t expected to end up in one herself. She wasn’t entirely sure what she thought of that, but then, before meeting Izen she hadn’t really had any interest in anyone else at all in that kind of way anyways, and to some degree it made sense. There was a deep connection between the two of them, and Izen was, well, Izen, and Izen was hers, and she was happy that it was so.
What Zorthac had done to her also heavily weighed on her. Izen had been very accepting of her, even in this changed form, it certainly had its benefits, and to some degree she quite liked the changes, especially the draconic features. As far as she could make out, the true nature of her power required a form like this in order to fully manifest, so for that she did have to thank him, but she still hated him deeply for doing it to her in the first place. The cost had been quite high, and not just paid for by her by the death of Vel’nas, but also by all the lives that had been ended while she had been under his control. She would make amends for that by making sure that Zorthac was stopped, but that would not be something she could do by herself nor just with her power, nor did she know exactly how they would do so, given they knew so little about him. But Izen also possessed a strong power, if the dream was anything to do by, and she had started to gather some trustworthy allies, so they were moving in the right direction. And then there was the thirst, but thankfully Izen was there for that.
The journey was pleasant enough as they travelled to and then along the edge of the Sentorine Forest, the brownness of the hills turning into a sea of green as the landscape flowed quickly by underneath them. They stopped mid morning by the edge of the forest to have a break from all the sitting, Myne taking the opportunity to see if her compass would be able to pick up the ruins, assuming that it was within her range, and was happy to discover that it did and she was. Alice was very curious about the magic, so Myne gave her a brief rundown on its core principles. Given that the alignment required of the magic was something that was fairly unique to Myne’s former gem and self developed, she wasn’t sure if Alice would be able to do anything with that knowledge at all, but given her curiosity about it she couldn’t refuse.
The remainder of the trip passed quickly, and by the time the sun was at its highest they had reached their destination, the ruins not coming into view for most of the party until they were almost right on top of it, the spires catching the suns rays as they burst into view and making them glow in the light. The dragons landed one at a time, Light first, changing to her small form once Izen, Myne and Kyla had dismounted, to give Ashling the space he needed for his descent. The ruins were just as impressive to the rest of the party had they had been for Izen and Myne when they had first arrived, Shino not holding back in his admiration as they entered the structure, and Alice commenting on how powerful the rituals must be in order to keep it out of view. Once they had confirmed that the ruins were still secure, Izen and Myne gave the rest of the party a brief rundown of what they had managed to find and repair during their previous time at the ruins, and then led them to the central rooms on the upper floors and the murals contained on their walls.
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Izen sat with Myne on the floor against one of the central room’s walls that told the earlier parts of the worlds history, leaning into her as they both watched the rest of the party examining the murals and trying to make sense of them. It felt good to be back at the ruins, as while it had been short, it had been their home for a while, and they had gotten to know each other during that time. It was also sad as well, as Izen kept expecting to see Vel’nas there, but he was gone. Myne was holding up well, but Izen knew that the loss had torn her up. It had always been nice sleeping against him as well, snuggled up with Myne. They were officially a couple now, Izen mused to herself. She found it a bit odd, but also perfectly normal. She was a female now, but she had been a male before, and her tastes there hadn’t changed. So what did that make her? She wasn’t sure, but she didn’t really care either. She was herself, and just happy to be with Myne, who did accept her as she was. This was her first relationship as well. Farm life hadn’t afforded her the opportunity to get close to anyone, not that she had really tried, her entire focus having been on learning and surviving, especially after her adopted family had all died off. She was determined to do her best in it, although she knew there was going to be a lot of difficult times ahead, not because of themselves, but because of the Demon King and the threat he posed to them and the kingdom in general, and they were caught up in the middle of it. She just wanted to be with Myne, no matter what.
Izen caught herself in her thoughts, realizing that she had been thinking of herself as a female in her past even though she had been physically male then.
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‘You’re getting comfortable with who you are,’ Light stated to her, with a little shrug of her small draconic form. “Don’t worry, you’re not losing who you are, you’re just adjusting.’
Izen was about to complain, wondering if Light had only been telling her part of the truth when they had last talked on the matter, but realized that it didn’t really matter. Her main concern last time had been about Myne, and there was no way that her feelings for her were ever going to change, even if hell froze over.
‘That you’re certainly right on,’ agreed Light. ‘The connection you two share is very deep.’
‘But don’t worry, the love you feel for each other is natural and not being forced by that connection,’ she added as reassurance.
Izen wondered if there was an extra bit to that statement that Light hadn’t said, but she didn’t really mind if there was, and she wasn’t going to pry. She also thought that it was a little strange, that Light, being a product or her magic, was also a separate individual and actually seemed to know a lot.
‘It’s very complex, and we don’t understand it either,’ Ashling replied, briefly waking from his slumber on Myne's lap to remind Izen that he did still exist.
Izen swept some stray hair that had fallen across her face back behind her ear, brushing past her earrings as she did so, the touch sparking another realization in her. While she had put them on in a moment of need and desperation, she really liked them. Liked them because they were from Myne, and because she liked how they looked on her, how they complemented her face. That was certainly a feminine taste. Myne had a number of pairs, that she changed out every so often. They were often hidden behind her hair, but Izen had always noticed them even though she had never complemented her on them. Her current pair sported black opals, a tiny flame of her magic dancing within each gem. Now that was an awesome touch, though quite possibly a subconscious one. Izen wondered if she’d end up doing anything with her horns, not that she needed to, as she looked really strong and cute with them just the way she was.
‘And boy did you blush when she said that you looked cute with the earrings on!’ Light teased her, Izen blushing again in response. She had felt really happy when Myne had said that to her.
Izen snuggled more into Myne, Myne responding in like and holding her tight.
“Love you,” she whispered softly to Myne. She felt good inside, happy and secure, and she hoped that it would last forever.
“Love you too,” Myne replied quietly in her ear.
“How much of the ruins have you explored?” asked Laphir, after having spent some time with Alice trying to make some sense of the story of the murals and how that related to the mission that Charles had given them. Alice had taken from it a similar understanding as what Myne and Izen had, albeit without the additional details on the heroes, and while Laphir was certain that this indeed was the place that they had been asked to locate, he was also certain that they hadn’t yet found what they were meant to. At the very least, Charles had deliberately not given them any details on how to contact him once they had ‘completed’ his assignment, so Laphir knew there was still parts of the puzzle still missing. They knew they’d know what it was once they had found it.
“We did a preliminary sweep of the accessible parts of the ruins, but I am sure that there is much that we haven’t found. Most of our time here was spent training and recovering,” Myne answered, to which Laphir nodded.
“They hid this place for a reason, and it would have been for more than just these murals, even if they were once its focal point,” Laphir stated.
“We have time on our hands,” Alice continued for him. “Well at least for the moment. We should get ourselves comfortable here, and then for the next few days at the least do a more thorough investigation. We have more people than you had here last time, so hopefully our chances are better at locating what we are looking for.”
On that there was no disagreement.
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The next few days were spent doing a thorough investigation of the ruins, poking into every nook, cranny and crevice, trying to find the secret that they were sure it held. Alice spent more time studying the murals in the upper central rooms, while Shino and Kyla investigated the middle levels, alternating their time between searching for clues and starting on some basic combat training for Kyla. Laphir took to scouring the upper levels, including the collapsed portions, shifting the rubble as needed to make sure that he had a look at every area. Izen and Myne went back over the lower levels, going through every room trying to pry the secrets that were surely hidden within, as well as making more repairs to some of the utility rituals that were present there. Myne and Izen were also in charge of the hunting and foraging, as there was no game inside the boundary of the magic on the ruins, and if the others went out, there was no guarantee that they would be able to make their way back in again.
It wasn’t until the third day that they finally had a breakthrough. Myne and Alice were on the lowest level, trying to figure out what one of the older utility rituals did before they attempted to repair it. Quite a number of them were now operational, even though it was a small portion of all of the ones that they had found, but the purpose of most of them was still foreign to them. At first Alice couldn’t put her finger on to what was prodding at her mind, till it suddenly dawned on her what it was.
“The flow of the natural magic that pools in the ruins is off,” She stated excitedly, realization showing on her face. “It feels like some of it is being fed elsewhere. And not just for the concealment magic. It’s flowing… down.”
Myne concentrated, sending out her sensing magic, focusing on the ebb and flow of the natural magic. “You’re right! It’s not just a small amount either. I’d say that the bulk of it is being used elsewhere, and what we can feel is just a small portion of it.”
She probed down further, her magic encountering a barrier that concealed everything under it.
“There must be an entrance somewhere,” she declared, bringing her magic back up and scouring the lower level in detail. It didn’t take long to find what they were after.
In the central chamber of the ground level there was a circle of magic sitting just below the surface, forming a lock on what they assumed was the door of the passage down, but to the naked eye looked just like a normal piece of the floor. Gathering the rest of the party to them, they spend the next few hours poking around the room trying to find what triggered the door, or if there was any bypass, but with no success. Myne continued to probe it with her magic, and while this close there was also something familiar about it, she couldn’t quite place what it was either.
“Perhaps we need some form of magic key or signature?” Alice queried, trying to send out her magic in the way that Myne did but only getting a faint and reading response from doing so.
“Of course!” Myne groaned to herself, before muttering to herself that it shouldn’t be that simple. She formed the signature out of her magic, shoving it into the centre of the lock.
The room lit up in response, a glow emanating from the ceiling as there was a loud audible click, a circular section of the floor sliding open to the sound of ancient gears finally being brought back to life, Shino and Kyla leaping clear of the revealed stairs that descended beneath the ruins.
Myne scowled, and motioned for the rest of the party to follow as she headed down, the passage light in an iridescent white light the flickered every so often. The fact that that signature had worked was making her very nervous.
They walked down in silence, the passage spiralling deep down into the earth till it terminated at a pair of silver doors with a pulsating light on one side of it. Giving it a push to see if it would open, and finding that it did not, Myne formed the signature again, sending it into the light. The door gave a hiss and slid open in response.
“We’re here,” stated Myne, as they stepped into the room.