Jax and his companions had arranged to meet with Calis and her guards the morning after he finished gathering gear from the markets. They had sold their wagons and horses, each carrying only a small pack on their shoulders. Jax's pack held a bedroll and enough food for two weeks of travel. The gongs each carried similar provisions along with a large metal club mace that Jax had managed to purchase for next to nothing. They had also managed to get a breastplate for Jerg to match Durgs and a set of matching red robes to go beneath them. Apparently robes were the standard clothing item for well to do Gong.
As they stood in the market, Jax fidgeted with the seax he had taken from Gelkrin’s corpse. It was a fine blade with a bleeding enchantment—wounds inflicted by it would bleed profusely and, over time, could drain the vitality of those they cut. Nia had warned him that for those unskilled in manipulating spiritual energy, such wounds might never fully close.
Jax wasn’t used to handling knives, and a seax was essentially just a large, single-edged knife. It was about the length of his forearm, slightly larger than most daggers but nowhere near the length of a sword. Until he mastered his abilities—which required him to slay an opponent—he had decided to rely on this seax and a few other daggers he’d scavenged from the battle a few nights prior.
As he stood there, Jax took stock of himself. He was doing well—better than one might expect. Things had happened quickly, but he’d managed to make good allies, and he trusted that they had his best interests at heart. He glanced over at Jerg and Durg standing vigil, with Nia slowly floating around them in circles, and he smiled.
After about twenty minutes, Calis arrived with five of her troop. She had ten people in her squad, including herself; today, she brought four others, two level 5s and two level 4s. She nodded to them and said, “Newbies, stick close to the gongs—they’ll guide you. The rest, form up around our young lord here. Make sure he doesn’t get lost in the dark.”
Then she turned and began walking briskly.
As Jax followed he fell into line and looked at the woman on his left flank. She was strangely proportioned, with long arms, short legs, and a slightly bulging forehead where a third eye sat in the center. He said, “Not one for talking, is she?”
The woman—at least, Jax assumed she was a woman—glanced at him with her third eye as she watched her captain walk away. Then she said, “None of us are, boy. There’s a job to do,” and motioned for him to follow. And follow he did, thinking to himself that at least they were professional.
The group moved quietly yet rapidly through the town, their steps softened by the early morning mist that clung to the winding streets. Few townsfolk were out at this hour; those who were gave them wary glances before retreating indoors. The distant murmur of river water against the cliffside was the only sound accompanying their steady passage. As they neared the cliff’s edge, Jax could see the morning light stretching over the landscape, bathing everything in shades of pink and gold.
Ahead loomed the gatehouse, a towering structure crafted from black obsidian that shimmered even in the dim light. Its polished stone gleamed with hints of violet and deep blue, as if the gate itself were alive. Ancient runes—glowing faintly in crimson and silver—ran along its walls, each one an intricate ward of protection and binding magic. This gatehouse was a boundary marker, a line that separated civilization from the chasm beyond.
They provided their papers to the guards and were allowed through with a wary eye. As they passed the gatehouse, they were forced to walk down a long narrow pathway that snaked back and forth alongside the edge of the pit. They followed in this fashion for two hours as they descended into the earthen maw.
The view was simply breathtaking. Many times Jax had been stunned by the sights back on earth, long drives up and down the sierras and weekends in the national parks had been his favorite way to spend his time, yet here was something on entirely different of a scale. He could see so far across this chasm that he was sure the entirety of the Grand Canyon would be able to fit in it twenty times over. The far wall appeared as if a hazy cliffside some three miles in the distance, and below them he saw only distant platues that eventually fell of to darkness. Yet the platues themselves were something else entirely, some low down looked to be 200-300 meters at the width, and longer than he could see as they ran along the walls. He saw trees, and even small rivers running through some he could see.
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After a time they came to one such flat stretch of ground that platued out. It was a small one maybe 20 meters across. On it were five people around a campfire, they ranged from level 6-16 and all were humans. Jax nodded at the, but they paid him no mind. Simply standing and walking as Calis said "Come". She began walking along the platue quickly.
Then she suddenly stopped, Jax exhaled slowly, savoring the possibility of a small respite, but a prickling sensation crept along his skin. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he noticed Calis was scanning the surrounding shadows, her face tense.
And then they appeared.
Some twenty spider like creatures emerged from the shadows like phantoms, their eyes glinting a feral yellow in the dim light. They were large—larger than any spiders Jax had ever seen, with matted, dark fur and gleaming, exposed fangs. They clicked menacingly as they attempted to spread out around the group. TAs they moved their legs made small clicks agianst he stone underfoot.
Jax’s hand instinctively moved to the seax at his side, but his grip was unsteady. He had not often used such a weapon and he was unsure.
Calis didn’t hesitate. She dropped into a fighting stance and drew her twin blades, signaling her assassins to spread out and flank the monstrosities. Her command was immediate and wordless, the precision of a well-trained unit. The assassins moved like shadows themselves, blending into the surroundings even as they closed in on the advancing beasts.
Jax thoguht out and the Gongs surrounded him, they began to creep forward as a trip, he could feel Nia casting a protective barrier over him and knew she would do the same for his companions.
They were slightly outnumbered, yet the mismatch was not so much an issue. Slowly the two groups marched at one another, until finally the tension was broken by Durh, who threw his mace forward smashing one of the creatures like he was simply dealing with one of its smaller cousins.
Jax rushed forward and reached a hand in his pocket as he approached one of hte spiders. Its display read [Level 5: Spider huntress]
he rushed at the hairy arachnid and then at the last second stopped, flinging forward a handful of sand as he rolled to the right, it flew past him with a hiss as it clawed at its face trying to free its eyes. Jax acted quickly, stepping forward and hitting the beast with a swipe of his Seax, and activating Sneak Attack and chopping away two legs as he did so.
The monster swiped at the spot he had been standing in but he moved deftly to the side and then lashed out with his offhand, throwing another round of sand in the creatures face. Yet again it thrashed out, and Jax was able to cut off another leg. He felt the creatures lifeforce entering the area around him, and as he stepped back he felt comfortable enough to survey the area. He was the last one dealing with his creature, and as he did the others watched him silently. Jax turned, and held out his free hand, speaking as he did. He was unsure why he choose the words... They just felt right. "Join us or face oblivion" He said, and felt the power leave the body of the spider and enter his left palm. Then a notification took his vision away, it read [New skill: Soul absorption] (Uncommon)
Jax noted that his quest had updated as well during the small scuffle. he turned and walked to Calis, the woman levied a look at him and then turned to start the march again.
Jax had marched in his time in the corps, in fact it was a common occurrence, they would do forced rucks at least once a month. However he had not marched in years, and they did not stop for even a moment as the day went on. The sun rose and set as they marched without stop. Eventually around evening time they came to a stop. Jax was panting slightly, yet he felt as if he had made a good showing of it. Calis then finally spoke out "Not bad, how is your night vision?"
Jax thought about it and replied "I'm not sure, I recently had magic used on my eyes and got a new item. I think ill be able to function but I haven't put it to the test."
She frowned at his response, as if it was unsatisfying and turned her head to him. "May I see the item?" she asked evenly.
Jax saw no reason to not show her so he provided the glasses to the woman. Her eyebrow rose and she said "Pretty nifty, I'm sure you'll be fine" before walking briskly into the cave that was in front of them.