The darkness of the ritual chamber fades behind them as Emeric, Savi, and Keyon stride confidently towards the shadowed light of the dark clearing the temple resides in.
“Something’s ahead,” Keyon’s warning is more a hushed growl than anything else, the fear in his voice apparent. Emeric frantically weaves intricate sigils in the air, bolstering his vision to see what is ahead of them. “Goblins, lots of them. Look like religious leaders and chieftains. Something accompanies them, something dark, I cannot perceive.” Wordlessly, the trio drew together, and Emeric weaved with the very fabric of the air once more. As the air rippled around them, the trio vanished from sight, blending seamlessly into the darkened stones of the temple walls. Guttural growls and harsh footsteps echoed off the tunnel walls, growing louder with every passing moment. The unmistakable sound of goblin chatter filled the air, accompanied by the low chanting of shamans and the deeper, more ominous tones of an unknown presence. Emeric’s heart pounded in his chest, his arcane shade straining to maintain its hold as the gathering neared their position in the tunnel.
Savi’s breath caught in her throat as a cruel, twisted staff emblazoned with glowing runes came into view, clutched in the wrinkled, hardened skin of a goblin chieftain adorned in furs and bones. The procession continued to file past their hiding place, each member of the warband more bestial and vicious-looking than the last. Grim determination etched itself onto Emeric’s face, his jaw clenching in silent defiance as the foul creatures continued past them. All of a sudden, as quickly as they arrived, the goblins were gone, with the shadowy presence Emeric sensed passing with them. While this being was not seen by the trio, the effect of its pure malice was felt, if the tremble of Savi’s fingers, and the strained look on Keyon’s face were any sign to go by. As the darkness of the temple swallowed the vile forms of the last of the goblins, Emeric exhaled a shaky breath, his power spent. The trio emerged from their hiding spot, glancing uneasily at one another. They all knew they only escaped discovery by the barest of margins.
“We… we can’t stay here.” Savi’s voice trembled, her hands shaking as she clutched her holy symbol tightly. “This place is tainted by an evil long cast out… but not yet banished.” Her eyes downturned, Keyon reaches an arm out as if to comfort her, but stops just shy of her shoulder. Emeric turns towards the outside world once more, “I know of someone who may yet help us. Aria’s sanctuary is said to lie deep within these woods, far from prying eyes. Keyon, have you any insight on this location?”
“Might be so. We’ll need to hurry,” he growled, already formulating a plan to outrun the goblin warband that had returned to the temple and avoid any further detection. As the trio slipped away from the accursed temple of Zartek, the malevolent aura that permeated its depths clung to them like a foul stench, refusing to be shaken as they ventured back into the treacherous wilds of Stel. They knew their only hope lay with deciphering the fragmented clues they had discovered, and the reclusive sage Aria with their cryptic prophecies may be their last change to save the realm from the encroaching darkness.
The journey to Aria’s sanctuary was again fraught with peril; the very land itself seemed to twist and writhe against them, the creatures of the forest just as wary of the trio as they were of the sinister presence creeping across their homeland. Keyon’s senses were honed to a razor’s edge, every muscle coiled and ready to strike at a moment’s notice. Emeric and Savi remained close behind for support, their magical reserves running dangerously low after their excursion in the temple. Days blurred into nights as they pushed onward through the forest, their progress slowed by the relentless presence of goblin raiders and the native forest beasts that had been stirred by their intrusion. They sky above churned with angry, ominous clouds, the very sunlight filtered through a crimson haze, casting the world in an unnatural, bloody glow as the fourth day of travel came to a close. Finally, in this ominous evening light, they stumbled upon the most serene glade any of them had ever laid eyes upon. The air stood hushed and unnaturally still, as if the very wood itself held its breath in anticipation. Keyon’s instincts screamed at him to flee, but Emeric’s insistence and their dire need for answers drove them forward.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
In the center of the clearing, seated upon a fallen log, was a figure wholly unknown to their eyes. Unable to discern its age, nature, or even the humanity of the being before them, the trio was on guard, ready for any eventuality of this encounter. The being regarded the bedraggled trio with an unnerving serenity, their ageless features seeming to shift and change in the dappled light filtering through the canopy above.
“Seeking wisdom, are you?” They intoned, their voice seemingly a whisper on the breeze, almost part of the air itself. “Wisdom comes with a price, travelers.” Emeric straightened at this, weariness evident in every fiber of his being. “We’ve come to learn what threatens our realm. What we discovered… it defies comprehension.” His gaze rises to meet the being’s clouded eyes, “we seek the wise sage Aria. Is this you, in your serenity?”
The being’s inscrutable gaze settled on each of them in turn, lingering on Keyon the longest. They appear to laugh, their chest shaking as a sound as pure as music flows from their mouth. After a time, they calm, and gaze once again upon the travelers. “Awakened, yes. A darkness stirs, born of blood and betrayal. A god long thought dead stirs in slumber, his minions flocking to his call.” Savi gasped, her hand flying to her heart. “Zartek… but how? We thought he was dead, defeated ages ago, that the darkness of this realm was merely a vestige of the power he once held!”
“Defeated, not destroyed,” the being that must be Aria corrected her. “His essence, shattered. His followers, scattered. But legends, like fire, have a way of resurging when the time is right.” Keyon’s patience wearing thin, he surges forward, arms raised towards Aria, “we need answers, not riddles! What do you know of Zartek, and how do we stop him?” Aria chuckled once more, a sound like dead leaves rustling in the wind. “In my time, I’ve seen empires rise and fall, heroes emerge and perish. Zartek, the Dark One, the patron of the deathless, will not be easily vanquished, even by those who wield the primordial forces of our world.”
“Then, what hope do we have?” Emeric asked, desperation creeping into his voice. Aria’s gaze met Emeric’s, their eyes wells of timeless knowledge. “Vanquishing Zartek is only half the battle, mage. And the latter half, at that. Seek your triumph before it is needed,” Aria responds, their eyes clouded still, but as they reach out to the travelers, beckoning them forward, Emeric can see the swirling histories of a thousand generations come to pass within their murky depths. Grasping hold of the traveler’s hands one by one, Aria passes a twisted vision into their consciousness, a river of blood flowing through Stel, northbound, to the capital city, Fortis Keep. The blood-red tide flows unabated, washing over streams, hills, whole villages swallowed in its wake, until it gathers around the capital, seeping into the very stones it was raised on. Seeing the capital encircled and struck through its very center with the tide of blood, the trio is nearly brought to their knees with grief for what’s to come. When all seemed at its worst, the castle fortifications crumbling to the earth, a wave of darkness explodes from the ruins of Fortis Keep, washing over not just Stel, not just Terane, their current enemy, but the whole of the land, leaving not a shred of light to be seen.
With this cryptic sight, when the traveler’s vision begins to return, Aria’s form began to flicker, dissolving back into the living wood of the tree. “Fare thee well, champions of the realm. The world, and all within it, relies on your success.” Aria’s last words echoed on the breeze as the magical grove receded, leaving the trio standing in an ordinary clearing. The weight of their newfound knowledge weighing heavy on their shoulders, they exchanged one last, determined look before setting off on their perilous quest to stem the flow of destruction threatening to topple the very natural order of the world.