The Imysion led by Duxus Aegeus drew closer to the mouth of what was once the Magisterium building. The remains of the gate’s doors lay shattered, flesh and stone grown over it. The entrance - an open wound within warped stone, the raw edges of which twitched with the slightest contact with the elements. Still invisible to the Daimons surrounding them all, the soldiers carefully followed the Leucrocottas. More of the possessed beasts had congregated here, all burdened with people donned in the patterns of the D’Luminarii and the Res Publica Magisterium.
The interior was brightly lit with violet light. There were many vessels that pulsed at varying speeds through the hallways and the rooms contracted to them, each causing the walls to contract at different intervals whenever ultraviolet crackled along their cords. Ichorous fluid could be seen flowing through transparent parts of the walls.
Some of the wearier-looking Leucrocttas and other Daimons migrated to certain areas, particularly in places where remnants of the original building could be seen, as if fighting a losing battle against the corruption. Once again, the soldiers witnessed the Daimons unravel and fuse to the building, but this time the purpose for this seemed clearer. Most theorised that they were spent and so gave up their flesh to make it whole - what that whole would look like couldn’t be determined. None wanted to know what the end product would like at the very end.
But under the layers of corrupted flesh and otherworldly impulses, the overall structure remained vaguely the same. The Magisterium building of Lidantium wasn’t too different from the one some of the more esteemed soldiers were used to back in Lumis, with the exception of the observatory that floated over Lumis’ Grand Magisterium like a second Morning Star. So long as they kept a mental note of any obstacles and blockages, navigating the corrupted building wouldn’t give them much trouble.
They had been following those creatures for some time, spread out in formation and sticking close to the walls to avoid the Daimons that travelled uniformly through the middle of those wide hallways. Several other Daimons passed by, attaching some of their appendages to the sleeping soldiers before leaving, looking rejuvenated. It was as if they were taking something from the Scholari. Or perhaps feeding on them.
Adonis noted the looks on the sleeper’s faces. Like the other soldiers he saw in the Crafts District, they seemed engulfed in various strong emotions. Good dreams. Nightmares. All completely unaware of the sensations that should have woken them from their slumber.
It was difficult to tell the Daimons apart from everything else when the entire building made their sealed eyes strain restlessly. This place made his head throb. He wasn’t alone. The other Draekslanni were in pain too, despite the numbing spell given to them by the Tribunus, even if they couldn’t show it thanks to the Soothing spells. But where the others had been given additional help from the Healers to further numb the pain, Adonis made no indication.
He reasoned he’d been managing just fine on his own, why waste anyone else’s Focus? Besides that, he sensed that he needed this particular pain. As irrational as it seemed at first, this wasn’t the first time that he felt this guiding pull. He visualised it as a thread amidst a bundle of other senses. As to what lay at its end, he was still in the dark.
“Are you sure you’re alright, Ado?” he heard Rufinus say in his mind.
Adonis silently nodded. Rufinus hated it when he did that. He was about to call the nearest Healer to help when Adonis added, “I’m fine, Rufus. Please, trust me on this.”
“But the pain-”
“I’m handling it,” he lied.
It was hard to tell with him, especially with emotional blocking charms in place. Rufinus relented but he kept a careful eye on his friend.
The Leucrocottas led them to the massive tower section of the Magisterium. Usually, lifts and Teleostium would have helped people traverse the tower with ease. But all of these structures had disappeared, replaced instead with steep, narrow walkways made of warped stone that wound through the tower in an ascending spiral with smaller branches that cut through, reaching the central structures in segments.
With the line of Leucrocottas becoming more densely packed, the soldiers were forced to split in two lines. The luckier ones got to remain close to the walls. The rest had no choice but to balance along the edge. A few soldiers on that side started widening their path with a similar dark-reddish stone in slow increments. Any faster and the Daimons would surely notice.
Rufinus struggled to focus on widening the pathway whilst keeping away from the Daimons. Though the growing width of the path gave him enough leeway for his feet, his broad shoulders were close to brushing against the beasts. He shifted his position to a less balanced one, angled facing towards the Daimons and shuffling along the edge as quick and as quietly as he could.
Meanwhile, Adonis walked steadily behind, focusing on the ground beneath his friend. As he proceeded along, he felt like he was getting closer to the end. Like seeing the world around him through partly-opening eyes, the Daimonic presences around him seemed to grow slightly sharper.
He lost his footing, and with it, the thread of pain. The world, a blur of motion. There was a raised bit of ground he failed to see. He let out a quiet gasp as his body began reeling over the edge, too far for him to stop himself from falling over. Forcing himself to blink, he stopped himself from over-extending the path. His mind raced. He could form a platform to save himself. Not just yet - he couldn’t give away the position of the others. If he could break his fall just a bit further down he could keep the Daimons attention on himself whilst the others got to safety. He’d sustain a few broken bones from that height and his likelihood of surviving would be extremely low, but as long as the others didn’t suffer for his misstep.
Rufinus lunged forward and gripped his arm tightly. The spell in his amber eyes flickered brighter, and the path underneath them jutted out wider. The sound of sliding stone cut through the clacking of hooves and the heaving of flesh.
Everyone froze in place, including some of the Leucrocottas in the line. The Daimons turned to the source of the noise. To them, there was a strange growth in the spiral-shaped rib of this tower. One crawled close to the space. Its tendrils and eye stalks twitched closer towards the head of the legion, edging closer to Adonis. He held his breath, showing no sign of emotion, not even daring to make the slightest movement of his eyes. But they were ready with a spell - the glacial outline of one that would freeze the beast in place appeared faintly in his dark eyes.
After what felt like an eternity of held breaths and sustained focus, the Daimon finally went about its business along with the other Daimons.
He winced slightly as he heard Gallus’ voice in his head, “Are you trying to get us killed? Watch where you put your damned foot, half-serpent!”
The Cohort began to relax and resumed following the Leucrocottas. Regaining his composure, Adonis followed along at the same pace.
“Are you alright?” Rufinus said between blinks. “And be honest.”
Adonis hesitated to answer for a moment - he was caught up in focusing on moving carefully and thoughts of shame.
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“No.”
“Then let us help you.”
Adonis let him call for a Healer. It wasn’t long before he felt the pain in his sealed eyes go numb. He would have to put that thread aside for the moment, at least until he was on stable ground. The Imysion moved onward, following the Leucrocttas without much trouble. They stopped at one part of the rib, crossing over into one segment of the spine.
They entered a vast room covered with pods full of people - it was one of the lesser Centumviri courtrooms, repurposed into a horrific nest. As the soldiers streamed in, they spread out, watching the Daimons. The Leucrcottas unloaded the civilians into empty crevices, covering them in membranous flesh. Several of the exhausted Leucrocottas collapsed in between pods, forming more stone and tissue-like substances to support the pods. The ones that were still active left one other end of the room to a rib leading down the tower. Once the room was filled, the Leucrocottas lessened until all that was left was the Imysion and the sleeping people in pods.
The Imysion uncloaked themselves, taking their time to recover Focus whilst the Duxii spent time trying to unpack what they were witnessing. Whilst resting, the Cohorts were ordered to keep the room secure, whilst keeping a lookout for Daimons. Meanwhile, the Duxii gathered in a circle, eyes closed; they decided to discuss their next move in private.
“Any sign of Valerian?” Rufinus said as he scanned the room. His eyes were sharper, particularly in the darkened spots, but it was always good to search with another set of eyes.
Adonis shook his head. Rufinus sighed in response. If the other rooms along the spine were like this, there was a good chance that Valerian was somewhere here. His attention fell back on the Duxii. It had been a few Minor Chronocycles too long since they entered Roya and Rufinus was beginning to get restless.
“They’ve been sitting there for a while,” Rufinus said. “Why haven’t we started waking these people yet?”
Adonis stepped forward and sat cross-legged, facing the circle of Duxii. The pain had still been numbed and he started to see the advantage it gave him now.
“Ado, what are you…? Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
His friend looked up at him with those dark eyes, “You asked first. We won’t find the answer if we wait.”
“But what if you get caught?”
“I won't.”
He closed his eyes before Rufinus could dissuade him more. In Roya, he saw a circle of Mindscapes intersecting each other. As a boy, an Alumnus just at the start of his Collegium days, Adonis had found himself in one such occasion. After some convincing, Valerian had taught him a secret spell that would get him to pass into a congregation of minds without being seen. With that, he was able to stop a group of other boys that had been picking on Valerian from sabotaging his duel.
The spell cloaked him, making his mind-self appear like a shimmering mirage that blended with the closest thoughts close to it. So long as he kept his own thoughts under control, he would remain cloaked. Once he was fully enveloped, he stepped into the intersection. He found himself in a misty-looking version of the courtroom. He slowly drew close, sticking to the fog-white thoughts that floated around the room. In a circle of chairs, the Duxii sat in conversation.
“... But be cautious when waking them,” Duxus Aegeus told the rest of the Duxii. “They appear to be closely connected with the Princidaimon. We’re in no position to deal with it if it’s alerted to our activity.”
“How do you suppose we do that?” asked Duxus Clamatorus. “If we wake them at all, wouldn’t that alert the Daimon to us anyway?”
Aegeus replied, “We will only wake some and see what happens. Should the Princidaimon come for us, we will remain hidden. If not, we will secure this room and wake more in the other rooms.”
“But if we wake all of them, surely the Princidaimon will notice? And we have so little time. Even with our combined forces, we can’t possibly wake them all and sneak them out of Lidantium undetected and before we get trapped in here.”
“I didn’t say we would wake them all, Duxus. Prioritise saving people from Lumis and important figures.”
Gallus stepped in, “I thought we were here to save these people, Aegeus.”
“We are saving people, Duxus Gallus. With all due respect, will you all let me finish.”
When the Duxii quieted down, Aegeus continued, “Once we wake these people, we will teach them the spell to free the others. The experienced and well-learned ones should be able to grasp it much faster. That should quicken the time it takes to wake everyone else. Our only challenge will be sneaking them out…”
He and Gallus gave a short glance. Gallus’ face became like stone, knowing what he’d say next. Before they parted from the Crafts District they had discussed in private what they had planned. Gallus nodded for him to continue.
“... Which is why some of us will provide a distraction for the others to get out.”
The other Duxii looked at each other grimly. The courtroom turned a shade of grey.
“By some of us, who do you mean?” asked Duxus Enicurus.
“Gallus has already volunteered. We need another. And if the Princidaimon is involved, we all must do what we can to save the ones we came for.”
Chatter and thoughts flooded the space. Meanwhile, Adonis remained hidden, eyes narrowed as he Focused past the fog of thoughts. The decision made sense to him, although it struck him as strange that Gallus or Aegeus had waited this long. Neither did it sit right with him that the Duxus made the decision behind the rest of his soldiers’ backs.
“B-but that’s suicide!” Clamatorus exclaimed. “We all fell to the Princidaimon in mere Minori’cycles with a single spell. We don't even know what it's fully capable of!”
“You're surprised?” Gallus smirked mirthlessly, “What did you expect when you decided to march with us, Clamatorus?”
“Watch your tongue, Gallus. You weren't there when we were attacked. I at least thought that we'd save the important few and sneak out undetected. This isn't what I agreed to, Aegeus. I say we save the Magisters and prominent scholars and leave. If you continue with this hairbrained plan, I'm taking my Cohort back.”
“Getting cold feet now? Don't be a fool. It's too late for that.”
Their bickering continued. Like fire to oil, it spread to the other Duxii. It was difficult for Adonis to listen in, not that anything important was being said. To him, this was a waste of time - even if it was all happening a lot faster than it seemed; time in Roya moved strangely. They had already come so far.
“That's enough!” Aegeus stepped in. “You all knew the risks when you decided to come here. And don't forget, the soldiers that followed you willingly came here with the hopes of saving lives. If we turn our backs on everyone here now, it will all be for nothing.”
‘Finally,’ Adonis relaxed.
The rest of the Duxii were silenced. Adonis could see thought-clouds of guilt and agreement filling the space again.
“I shall ask you all again,” Aegeus spoke, “Which of you will assist Duxus Gallus?”
One Duxus put her hand up.
“I will do it,” said Duxus Lophura of the 10th Cohort.
“Very well. Is there anything else?”
None had anything else to say. And with that Adonis pulled out from Roya. His eyes opened to see Rufinus pulling him upward. They went to a space away from the Duxii and acted inconspicuously.
“So? What did you find out?” Rufinus asked, voice low.
“They plan to save everyone trapped here. Magisters and important scholars first. They'll help with rescuing the others.”
“That’s a relief…”
Adonis continued, “But if the Princidaimon comes, the 13th and the 10th are expected to sacrifice themselves to buy time for the others.”
Rufinus went quiet.
“I suppose…” His knuckles whitened, eyes briefly alight with determination. His thoughts going back to memories of the sobs of people on the streets of Lumis. All of them flooding the specialist Collegiums dedicated to Paradis and Roya to contact loved ones, only to be met with silence. An even more distant hope crossed his mind - longing for the embrace of people far from reach.
“If it means ensuring their loved ones will see them again. Be it in Tirra or Paradis.”
Adonis said nothing. He gave him a slow nod, though it didn't mean that he had any intention of letting his friends die.
Not long after, they heard Gallus’ order. They wasted no time preparing the spell. They each went to light-marked pods containing Scholars; marked for the experience shown on their clothes and the slight signs of a long and experienced life. Like before, Adonis and Rufinus used the counterspell and cleansed their minds. Once the sleepers awoke, they were each given a whole vial of Focus potion to drink, and the spell was hastily taught to them. Once the Scholars were given a quick brief, the two moved on to find more people to awaken.