Chapter 21
The northern winds swept off the snow-kissed mountain peaks, bringing a biting chill through the valley as the last rays of sun dipped behind the summit. Silas stood at the edge of a cliff face on top of the steep switchback trail they had been following for the last day as they made their way to the ancient ruins. He looked out over the long, stretching forest below, wrapped in the furs of an evolved dire wolf.
Antony had spent the last week preparing the hides for the harshness of the growing cold, and his timing could not have been more perfect. A frigid storm had blown in with the morning sun, bringing heavy rain and sleet mixed with bursts of light snow the higher they climbed. With his limited supplies, he had been able to fashion three long coats and six thick blankets for them to help combat the sudden drop in temperature. Silas was shocked to learn about his secret passion for tailoring, and they were all grateful for his skill.
Silas turned as he heard the soft crunch of footsteps behind him.
“Anything?” Kara asked.
“No, the path is clear for now. There is a pack of Thistle Wolverines off to the east that we should be able to avoid, and a lone Two-tailed Leopard is stalking them, but we are far too high for it to be a bother. How much longer until we reach the ruins from here?”
“Hmm,” she said, looking out over the valley. She stepped over to Silas’ side and lightly leaned into his shoulder as if searching for something. She uncrossed her arms and dropped her hand to her side, brushing over his with a smile. “We could be there in two hours if we continued this pace. Or we could camp again for the night and start fresh in the morning since we are not in a rush. We could do some… scouting. For the other’s protection, of course.” She said with a devilish grin.
“Oh, of course,” he laughed, “for their protection. Hmm. Why don’t we do this? We continue down the path since we are so close and camp there to escape this weather. We need to… scout… the ruins, after all. For their protection, of course.” Giving her a nudge.
Kara looked back over her shoulder, where the sounds of wheels and thumping footsteps came from around the bend. She quickly leaned in and kissed him before nodding and stepping back. “We shall scout the ruins then when we arrive.”
Antony turned the bend in the trail fifty yards away with a wave while guiding Yuki. Kara waved back as he turned around, looking like he was arguing with someone.
Silas chuckled, “How’s Xavi doing?”
Kara rolled her eyes and shook her head, “The cursed imp hasn’t stopped complaining since you left. Antony took on a small pack of the Thistle Wolverines by himself a few hours ago just to escape the little nuisance. I understand why you wanted to scout ahead and refine your abilities in private, that little shit is mind-numbingly annoying when he wants to be.”
He let out an exasperated sigh, “I’ll talk to him.”
They waited and talked together as Antony made his way up the path. When they arrived, he stopped Yuki and jumped from the cart, “Deal with the over-dramatic demon before I kill him. He’s been driving me crazy all day, and if I have to hear his insufferable whining any longer, I’ll end up strangling him with his wings.”
As Silas reached the back of the cart, the pile of pelt blanket. “Master, is that you?” a muffled voice said.
“Xavi, you know it’s me. Stop being melodramatic.”
The imp adjusted the heavy pelts, showing his glowing yellow eyes in the depths, “End my suffering, master. Burn me with your fire so I may feel the warmth of life once more before I die.”
Silas pinched the bridge of his nose, “Xavi, just stop. I’m not going to kill you, and you are not going to die. It’s just a little chilly. We will be at the ruins in roughly two hours, and when we arrive, we will build you a fire once we have found shelter.”
His familiar pushed his face partially out of the pile, his large green ears held back, emphasizing his yellow globe eyes and needle-filled smile: “A pyre would be wonderful, master. It would be nice and hot so that it would end me quickly.”
Silas groaned at the imp, “I said a FIRE, not a PYRE, Xavi.”
Kara walked up, seeing his frustration, and loo. “Aww, look at him. He looks like a little disfigured puppy. How can you say no to that face?” She leaned forward, hands on her knees. “Xavi, can’t you just use your fire magic to keep warm?”
Xavi gasped as his face lit up with realization. He sucked himself back under the blankets, covering the area in fire mana. The next moment, steam began to rise off the pelts, and the smell of burning fur followed lines of black smoke from underneath.
“Xavi! I swear by all the gods you find holy; I will rip you out of there and leave you in the cold to suffer if you damage a single pelt!” He yelled, full of panic. “And stop antagonizing him!”
Kara and Antony laughed as she walked away from the cart.
The fire mana settled as he popped his head back out of the mound of pelts, “Stupid master thinks he knows what’s best for Xavi! I’m doomed, and all you care about are these dead wolves. All you do is tell me the things I can’t do: don’t steal the shiny, don’t tease the human male Antony, don’t eat human flesh. It’s no fun, master! I’m going to leave an offering to your god in your bedroll tonight, stupid human,” then closed the pile back over himself while mumbling unintelligible curses underneath.
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Silas rolled his eyes as he climbed into the driver’s bench of the cart. Antony laughed while he fed Yuki a treat before climbing into the back, followed by Kara.
They made their way down the final stretch of the rough, winding path. After an hour, they reached the peak and began their dark descent into the ancient lost valley. The clouds were thick in the night sky, deepening the darkness even further under the dense canopy of the trees. Antony and Kara took turns leading the way with their mage light to keep the path. Silas kept his sense extended fully as he drove, an ability that had become second nature at this point in their journey.
“There is very little life in this valley, even down to the smallest insect. It’s not at the level of the keeper, but it’s close enough. As soon as we passed the tree line, everything vanished. It’s strange,” Silas said as they leveled out on the valley floor.
Kara nodded from further down the path, “I noticed that last time we were here. My sense is not at your level, but it almost feels like a void here. Though, I suppose it’s lucky for us.”
“Wait, what is that? Silas interrupted. “I just picked up a strange mana concentration that I can’t make out. It’s thick with flavors that I can’t quite differentiate. It is up ahead, off to the left of the trail a few hundred yards away.”
Antony sat up and flared his keen eye skill with a smile, “That, my good man, is the entrance,” patting him on the shoulder.
Kara lingered on the trail ahead, “The ward glyphs are self-healing after a time. It is a marvel and a testament to the skill of the ancient civilization that resided here long ago. Even with the current advancements in glyph working, no one has been able to replicate that effect anywhere on the continent. Their abilities are a true modern mystery. On our last visit here, I hoped to research the glyphs, but we ran out of time, and I was unable to do so. I look forward to unraveling their secrets while we are here. There are other locations across the continent with similar glyph work, but they are heavily guarded by the Crown.”
“Like everything else on the continent, whoever controls the knowledge controls the power. Typical,” Silas scoffed.
The twins nodded without a word, and they continued forward. Antony took the reins and guided Yuki from the ground while Silas and Kara took the lead. After a time, they broke the trail following Kara’s direction, making their way over the rough terrain. Twenty minutes later, they arrived at a small clearing roughly thirty yards across. The soft blue glow of their mage lights covered the area, revealing two thirty-foot tall, round pillars composed of large, pristine white stones. In between sat a square stone box made from a single white stone that sat fifteen feet tall and perfectly even on all sides. It was utterly devoid of all markings with no sign of tooling or seems for a doorway. The amount of mana that emanated from the stone was so intense he had to cut off his senses to see.
“Another hidden entrance? I’m really getting sick of hidden doorways,” Silas said.
Antony nodded in agreement, “I second that. But we have a key this time, so don't worry.”
“A key?” He asked curiously.
Antony tugged his head towards Kara with a glance as she produced a tool roll from the cart.
“He means me.” She laughed.
Kara knelt next to the left side of the stone and unrolled its contents. She pulled strange-looking items of various shapes and sizes, laying them out in a semicircular around her. One by one, she poked and prodded until she got a reaction from the inert material. Bright runes of all colors of the spectrum flickered in and out of existence over the smooth surface. Once they steadied, she pulled a palm-sized orb from her belt and placed it on the edge.
Knowing the question tumbling in Silas’ mind, she answered before he could ask, “This is a mana battery for those who don’t have access to mana. It is used to power glyphs, as one might assume from the name. It’s a costly tool that I take pride in owning and is the core of glyph work. This device stores ambient mana that it absorbs over time to function, but it drains quickly and takes long to charge, so this could be a while.”
“What if I pushed mana into it? Would that help?” Silas asked.
Kara thought momentarily, “I’ve never heard of anyone with that level of mana manipulation, but it’s worth a try if you go slow. Just be careful not to push too much and damage it.”
He sat down next to her and held out his hand, feeling for a connection to the mana battery. Once he found it, he slowly trickled his mana into the object. Nothing. He tried a couple more times with varying intensity to no avail. He pulled the soul stone from around his neck on a hunch and held it above the battery. Again, he felt for the connection, finding it quickly, and pushed. The mana battery started to pulse with energy, causing Kara to let out a small gasp. After thirty seconds, he released the stream and looked down at the item. It hummed with unreleased energy as the wall it sat against lit up even brighter.
“Holy shit, you did it.” Awe dripping from her voice. The wall let out a hiss of air, and a twelve-foot section slid open soundlessly. Kara looked over at him in shock.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing. I’m just thinking of the possibilities of you being a personal mana battery.”
He laughed and shook his head, “Let’s move inside and set camp for the night. We still have a long way to go.”
Dust and stale air permeated from the open doorway as they looked down into the blackness. Silas ran his hand across the stone wall leading into the earth as the clouds broke, releasing a long stretching beam of moonlight directly into the open maw of the ancient tunnel. He stole a look back at the moon, basking in its light, knowing it would be the last he’d see of it for many days. With one last lung full of fresh air, they entered the ruins.
Thirty feet down the sloping corridor, they found a set of large rooms wide enough to accommodate Yuki and their supplies. Antony and Kara pulled the Muskox inside and began to unhook her for the night.
Time-worn shelves lined the walls of what Silas assumed was an ancient guard post. Dilapidated armor and weapon racks straddled the white stone doorway, long plundered of their wares. He moved to the opposite side, where the shattered remains of a door stood guard over what looked to be an office of some sort. Before he could enter the secondary room, he noticed a glint at the end of the hallway. He moved forward curiously to the light. A strangely familiar shape had been carved a handwidth above the ground. As he drew closer, green lines and purple curves bloomed with a faint wisp of mana. He crouched down and ran his fingers over the lines. As soon as he touched the center, a glyph appeared, matching the spell array etched into his dark leather paldrons. He smiled as he removed his hand, and the symbols disappeared. Looking down the hallway into the darkness, he whispered to himself with an eager smile, “There’s power to be had here, and it’s time to find out just how much. You will be mine shortly.”