Thirteen and half years ago in a forgotten forest of the Wildlands. Scarlett was sitting in a tent looking over documents.

It was hot, almost unbearably so.

Scarlett had thought that the further you went north, the colder it gets. Yet, it felt like it was 40C (105F). She was covered in sweat and felt gross. It was times like these that she wished she was a cryomancer.

But, as miserable as she was, she still couldn’t be entirely displeased. Years of research had paid out, and led her to the potentially greatest archaeological discovery of the century.

Scarlett had managed to combine a bunch of old research papers and ancient records to find an ancient location. It led her to an ancient pyramid-like structure which laid just outside her tent.

image [https://i.imgur.com/Mvnud8r.jpg]

The structure was well over 300 meters (1000 feet) tall with an erratic design. Stone stairs were built into the side, leading to a chamber at the top. The chamber was a singular room with a runic circle carved in the center. Many tests were run on the circle in the chamber, but nothing could be determined about its function.

The structure origins and purpose were unknown and its architecture defied current construction methods.

The structure was too large and various major support pillars were too thin. Certain features of it twisted in such a strange way it should have collapsed in on itself long ago. Yet, it was in pristine condition and perfectly stable. Time and even nature was unable to reclaim this place.

When Scarlett had found the structure in the forest, the tree line only came up to sixty feet away from the building. They first believed that it was a sign that other people must be living near-by. Both scarlet and her disciples looked around the area, but weeks went by with no signs of other people.

It was common knowledge that no humans lived in the Wildlands, and it seemed to be holding true.

The Wildlands are a vast stretch of uninhabited and unclaimed territory, residing in the northern part of the continent. There have been countless stories of communities trying to settle the territory before, only to face ruin by strange phenomena and horrible monsters. This has led to many superstitions about the place, causing people to actively avoid it.

However, if that was true, who was maintaining that pyramid, who was cutting down the trees so they don’t encroach, could it be something not human?

Those were the questions that were plaguing her mind at the time, and she currently had only one hypothesis to explain them.

Days prior, Scarlett had used her eyes of truth to examine the pyramid. It was like looking directly at the sun for her. There was so much aether infused into the structure that it overwhelmed her eyes. It left her blind for an hour. From there, she concluded that it was probably being maintained and held together with powerful unknown magic.

Now she is currently trying to determine the function of the building. Which was proving difficult.

Upon further examination, there were no additional rooms to the structure, only the one at the top. The few artifacts that were found near the site proved that people once lived here, but nothing else. There was no writing on the structures or any of the artifacts that would give her a clue about the nature of the ziggurat. Even the runic circle at the top didn’t reveal any useful information.

Scarlett needed to know.

“Was this a site of worship, a tomb, or a place to conduct lost rituals?” The question ran through her mind.

The records she was reading only indicated that this place was of great importance, and nothing else. It was vague and unhelpful in her current pursuit.

Young Female student: “Um, teacher, are you ok?”

Looking up from her paper stood her disciple Chelsie.

Chelsie was a bright brown eyed young girl with similar red hair as scarlet. She was the least magically talented of all her disciples, but her enthusiasm and dedication were both infectious and admirable.

When they first met, she had pestered Scarlett for weeks to take her on as a disciple. At the time, Scarlett was only looking at peoples arcane potential to determine whether she took them on. Chelsie was from the shroom pact college and had little arcane potential herself, so Scarlett didn’t bother considering her, but as time went on, Chelsie would demonstrate her skills and contributions to the archeological field.

What she lacked in magical prowess, she made up in every other way. Her knowledge and determination in the pursuit of recovering lost history was unmatched. Time after time, Scarlett would be impressed by Chelsie. Eventually out of respect, Scarlett would relent to the stubborn girl's desire and take her on as her eighth disciple.

Scarlett: “Yeah. Everything is fine, well not really. These documents are not giving me any clues as to the purpose of this place.”

Chelsie: “About that. I've managed to uncover more artifacts that we would like you to look at.”

As she said that, she pulled out a shard of clay that was carefully wrapped in some white cloth. The shard in question looked to be a part of a larger clayware, but the details would be impossible to tell from a single shard.

Scarlett delicately picked up the shard and held it close to her face. From others' perspective, she seemed to be just examining the artifact, in reality she was using her eyes of truth on the object.

Ever since she was taught about the abilities of her eyes, she had practiced using them and developed a new function to the power. Her Teacher, Cinder, had the ability to see a glimpse of a person's future, she however developed a different power. Hers was the power to see a glimpse of an inanimate object's past.

After a few seconds of focusing on the object, scarlet received a vision.

She saw humanoid shadowy figures sitting around a blurry stone like table with a plain empty clay bowl on it. The vision was too distorted and only lasted a few seconds before Scarlett's consciousness was brought back to reality.

Scarlett sighed in disappointment.

She couldn't make out any useful information from that vision. The shard was likely part of that clay bowl she saw, as it was the only thing from her vision that wasn't distorted. The more intact the object was the clearer the visions she could receive. Sadly, the shard was too small and damaged to receive any useful visions. She needed artifacts that were less damaged.

Scarlett: ”I'm afraid it’s just a piece to a bowl.”

Chelsie: “How can you tell?”

Scarlett: “Just a gut feeling.” She said as she shrugged.

Scarlett's eyes of truth had been extremely useful for her archaeological work, but she had kept the ability a secret from everyone. Anytime she made a claim about the history of an artifact, people would ask how she knew, she would then chalk it up to instinct.

Scarlett: “Also, look here. The shard is slightly concave. So, it was likely a vessel of some kind.” She said as she held out the shard to her disciple to show her.

Chelsie: “Ah. I see, you're right. This further proves that people once lived here.”

Scarlett: “Well, that was a given. We’ve already come across other artifacts like this one," she said dismissively.

Chelsie could sense the disappointment in her teacher and spoke up.

Chelsie: “Come now teacher. We shouldn't discount any artifact we find. It might not be the most exciting thing, but it’s still part of our history.”

Scarlett: “You're right. Please catalog this and store it with the other artifacts we uncovered.” She said as she handed the shard to her student.

Chelsie: “Ok. Before I go, how has the research gone on the ziggurat?”

Scarlett sighed again.

Scarlett: “I'm afraid I'm no closer to discovering its purpose now, than I was a week ago.”

Chelsie: “Don’t worry. I'm sure you’ll figure it out soon."

Scarlett: “I hope so. We only have a week left before we have to leave.”

Chelsie: “Do we really have to go so soon?”

Scarlett shook her head.

Scarlett: “We only brought enough food to last us a month and we’re two and half weeks in already. We also need to make sure we have enough food for the journey back, and it would be too dangerous for us to forage for more. No, we’re going to have to finish the dig this week.”

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Chelsie: “In that case, can I look over your research with you? I might be able to help you figure out the ziggurat faster.”

The roar of creatures and the yelling of Scarlett's disciples interrupted her response.

Scarlett: “Hold that thought.” She said as she rushed out of her tent toward the noise.

Scarlett looked around and saw off into the distance near the tree line a large white furred gorilla creature with a scorpion tail. It stood over 14 feet (4.2 Meters) tall on all fours. Her students were surrounding it while keeping their distance. They fired all kinds of ranged spells at it and when it got too close, her disciples would use mobility magic to quickly get away from it.

Their attack unfortunately didn’t seem to be doing that much damage and was only annoying the creature.

Off in the corner, away from the combat, were more of her students looking after another that was injured and bleeding from the arm.

Iwan: “We can’t keep this up!”

Jere: “Go get master Scarlett! I’ll hold it off.”

The one who shouted out was Jere Idowu. He was the most talented and combat capable of the group. He however, had never seen or fought such a creature before that was capable of taking so many hits from his spells. His experience and instinct told him that he didn’t stand a chance. Knowing this, he opted to keep it distracted until his teacher showed up.

The monster began to charge toward Jere as the other began to retreat.

He then quickly released a bolt of lightning from his hand onto the creature. As soon as it hit the energy arched off the creature and exploded, turning up a bunch of dust and obscuring his vision. Jere could see the outline of the creature through the cloud of dust, and it was still moving towards him.

He then clapped his hands together and a wall of ice burst through the ground. With the ice wall interposed between him and the creature, he then encased himself in electricity and shot himself away from the wall without turning his back from his foe. He then landed 100 meters (110 yards) away in seconds.

The creature then effortlessly smashed its way through the ice wall and continued to charge towards Jere.

Jere: “Shit!Shit!Shit!”

Nothing was working. The spells he used didn’t damage it or even slow it down. He had the fastest mobility magic, but couldn't be continuously used. It was only a matter of time before the creature would catch him and tear him limb from limb.

He did the only thing he could do. He turned his back to the creature and began to book it. He needed just a minute, then he could use the flash jump spell again to put more distance between them.

After running for a little bit he turned his head and saw that the creature was almost upon him. It then reaches out its hand to grab Jere.

“Oh shit. I'm so dead.” Where his last thoughts before something painfully hot grabbed him by the waist and forcefully pulled him out of reach of the creature. He was then pulled through the air hundreds of meters towards scarlet with rope made of fire.

Scarlett had used the flame whip spell to wrap around Jere and pulled him towards herself. This was an offensive spell and was not used to save people in such matters, but she was careful not to burn Jere too much.

Jere landed on his stomach beside Scarlett with his clothes slightly singed. He then quickly got up to address his teacher.

Jere: “Thank the light. I thought I was a goner there.”

Scarlett: “Not now, Jere. Stand back and let me handle this.”

The gorilla creature stood there and glared menacingly at scarlet with its bloodshot eyes. It wasn’t charging at scarlet with reckless abandonment like it did with Jere. The creature was being cautious, its instincts warning of the danger Scarlett posed. The gorilla wiped its scorpion tail against the ground and roared while banging its chest like a drum.

The act seemed like some sort of primitive way of announcing a challenge, or maybe it was a call for help, either way, Scarlet wasn't going to wait to find out.

Quickly, and without announcement, Scarlett snapped her finger and a pillar of fire burst out from underneath the creature.

The monster screamed out in pain, surprising Scarlett.

It wasn't the scream that surprised her, but the fact it wasn't already dead. Her flame pillar was hot enough to turn steel into liquid in seconds, and kill people quicker still, yet the creature was still whole and could scream out in pain.

The gorilla ran out of the fire pillar, rushing towards scarlet.

Scarlett barraged the creature with a variety of fire based spells. Unlike her students, there were noticeable signs of damage from her attacks. Fur was being burned away and its skin was blistering and turning black in places. Her attacks were managing to slow it down, but not completely stop it.

Scarlett: “Tch. Fine you're tough, I'll give you that, but how tough are you on the inside?”

She waved her hand and a stream of fire shot forth towards the raging creature. The spell zigzagged through the air and left a trail of fire that looked similar to a snake. It flew directly into the gorilla's open mouth and stopped its advance.

It grabbed its throat and would have screamed in pain again, but the fire had damaged its vocal chords. It’s stomach started to bulge and glow an ominous orange. Before anyone could analyze what Scarlet had done, she snapped her finger again and the creature's gut rapidly began to expand in size. It disturbingly looked like a balloon that was filled with too much gas, and just like that it popped.

A spectacular explosion occurred. Blood and guts were sent everywhere. At the center of it was the gorilla creature with a void where its abdomen used to be, collapsed right in front of Scarlett.

Jere: “Holy shit. I know I've said this before, but you're scary as fuck sometimes.”

Scarlett: “Thanks? I'll take that as a weird compliment. Now, does anyone care to explain to me what happened?” She said as she turned to Jere and her disciples that were gathering around her.

Jere: “Don’t look at me.”

Iwan was the first to step up and explain.

Iwan: “It was Rana. Her and Tamara went into the woods and that thing chased us back to the camp.”

Rana: “Don’t put this on us. It was your idea Iwan.”

Iwan: “Only because you pushed me into it.”

Scarlett: “Enough. Before this turns into a he said she said argument, tell me exactly from the beginning what happened.”

There was a pause as Scarlet student's looked between each other.

Rana: “Iwan said he saw some strange lights early in the morning in the forest. The three of us decided to go and see the cause.”

Scarlett: “You went by yourselves, without telling anyone?”

There was another awkward pause before Rana spoke again.

Rana: “Yes. You were so focused on the ziggurat, we didn’t want to trouble you.”

Scarlett: “That's no excuse. You should have told me.” She said as she shook her head. “So, what happened after that?”

Rana: “We explored the area, but didn’t find the source of the light. As we were looking around we were ambushed by that creature.”

There was look of concern from scarlet

Scarlett: “Did any of you get hurt when it attacked you?”

Rana: “Not seriously. Just a few minor cuts on Tamara arm. We then tried to fight it, but nothing we did worked, so we ran back to the camp. From there Jere and the others tried to kite the creature until you showed up.”

Jere: "So you're telling me, you guys wandered into the woods without telling anyone? Do you know how insane that sounds?"

Tamara: “It’s not like we went that far.” She said in protest while holding her injured arm.

Jere: “Did you forget where we are? This is the Wildlands, the most dangerous place in the world. Anywhere else in the world and I might have agreed with you.”

Tamara: “So we should just sit around twirling our thumbs without even trying to solve the mystery of the place? How many weeks have we been here, yet we're no closer to understanding the history of the place.”

Jere: “So you're going to throw away your life…” He was interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

Scarlett: “Enough.” She said sternly. “I get your point Tamara. We’ve made little to no progress and that fault ultimately lies with me."

Jere: “Teacher… “ Jere was about to defend his teacher.

Scarlett: “But, Jere is also right. It’s dangerous here and your lives are more important to me than any artifacts we uncover.“

Her students that had wandered off the site had their heads down in shame.

Scarlett: “There won’t be any punishment, but no one is to wander off site. Is that clear?”

Her disciples present all nodded their heads.

Scarlett: “Good. I can’t protect you if you're too far away from me.”

She then turned towards Jere, examining the burns around his waist where she used a flame whip to pull him.

Scarlett: “Can someone get me a first aid kit?” She yelled out to her other disciples.

Her disciples scattered at her command to get what she asked for, leaving Jere and Scarlett by themselves.

Jere: “Don’t worry. It’s not…OW!” Scarlett had interrupted him by poking at his abdomen.

Scarlett: “No, it’s pretty bad. You might be permanently disfigured.”

Jere: “What, really?!” He said in a panic.

Scarlett: “Nah. Just wanted to get you going.”

Jere: “Come on. Why are you trying to make me worry like that?”

Scarlett: “To give you a sense of what I felt when I saw you running from that creature.”

There was an awkward pause between them after Scarlett had made that comment, before she spoke again.

Scarlett: “Why did you try to take it on by yourself?”

Jere: “Nothing we tried worked and we needed to keep it distracted.”

Scarlett: “You would have had an easier time distracting it as a group than alone.”

Jere: “Sure, but if someone makes a mistake the whole group dies.”

Scarlett: “So rather than risk the whole group, you would just risk yourself. You're such an idiot. It’s what I like about you, but it’s also what's going to get you killed.”

Jere: “Yeesh. Why ya gotta say it like that.”

Scarlett: “Because it’s true, and maybe it will get you to stop and think every once in a while. Jere, you have a little sister and brother waiting for you back home. How do you think they’ll feel when their big brother doesn't come back.”

Jere lowered his head with a pained expression on it.

Scarlett: “Starting to sink in now, isn’t it. Jere, if you learn nothing else on this trip, I hope you learn to rely on and trust me and the others.”

Jere: “I-I’ll try.”

Scarlett: “Good.”

They sat together with Scarlett looking at his wounds for a few more minutes before Rana came back with a first aid kit. Scarlett would then go on to treat Jeres' burns with Ranas help.

After Jere's burns were treated, the day went on as normal.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Later that night.

A strange light appeared near the top of the ziggurat. Both a beacon and trap. The workings of a ravenous beast.

Its hunger went unfulfilled. A hunger that was becoming malevolent and murderous. Something or someone would soon die to satiate this desire.

This would continue to go unnoticed by the archmage Scarlett for three more days.