The next week or so consisted solely of hunting, training, and recovery. Ryke was forcefully confined to the cave by his party, left to enjoy his time with the strangely friendly Shie while the rest took turns resting, hunting and guarding the cave. It gave him an incredible amount of time to not only heal his wound but also meditate. It helped that most of the meat brought back by the hunts was Fera meat. Knowing it would be hard to bring anything back, the group ate as much as they could without saving anything.
His vitality had gotten so close to breaking through, he could even feel it tingle beneath his skin whenever he cycled it. Surging beneath the surface and threatening to break out at any moment. It would be one of his fastest breakthroughs in the last half a year, and the dire circumstances were to blame. Ryke could do nothing but smile ruefully when he thought about it. The only thing the golden eyed boy could do other than meditate was observe his teammates, but even though he said he’d try to help them, he didn’t know where to start. He was no martial arts master, no god of fighting, nor some reincarnated immortal. He stumbled into a Vitus Scripture of matching qualities, he didn’t look for one that suited him beyond what he thought was cool.
He sat up from his cot with a sigh, doing his best not to scare the growing Fromir from his sleep and made his way out of his tent after freshening up. He spent an hour practising the body exercises Sigmar forced into him and then the next hour meditating to recover. Only after that did he dress himself in his armour and make his way to the main tent, where his group had taken to conversing and hanging about over the last few days.
“He’s tossed you in a well?”
“A few times, yeah. He always helped me out of it, but-”
“Can you.. swim?”
“Not the first time.”
He could hear Caius’ shock and the resulting chuckle of Lycus, prompting a shake of his head as he stepped into view. He hadn’t worn his armour the entire time he was here, so the difference immediately caught their attention. The embarrassment on Lycus’ face from being caught telling their stories though couldn’t be hidden. Ryke ignored it instead.
“Who went out for the hunt today?”
“The twins did, brought Ofrir with them. Kievra is watching the entrance with Maximus.”
“Good. We’ll eat all of it before we head out this afternoon.”
“You’re.. Healed?”
“Enough.” Ryke nodded, the wound now just a minor pain whenever he moved. Nothing that could hinder his movements in the grand scheme of things. It was no different than the pain of swinging a hammer. “I have a bad feeling about not returning with the herb soon. They sent us out for a reason.”
“That’s not our job to worry about though.” Lycus spoke up, petting the panther beast in his arms quietly. It wasn’t just Fromir that had grown, each of their respective companion beasts now well past their knees in height. “We’re just kids..”
Caius nodded his head along and the duo grew quiet, leaving Ryke to think about what they said. It didn’t take long for him to think of a simple answer, his golden eyes shining like fire. The weight of his glaive pressed down on his back, and the warmth of the Aurelius Flame in his chest spread. The look on his face nearly stunned the other two.
“Don’t forget. We’re Centurions now.”
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It didn’t take long for the trio to return, both with a myriad of smaller beasts and the corpses of Two Fera. The thought randomly occurred to Ryke as he was cutting the beasts apart, but how did they get stronger? The instructors drilled into their heads that they were scaled by the number of ‘rings’, but what was a ring and how did they get more?
One Ringed Fera was equivalent to an Ignitio Centurion, whilst a Two Ringed Fera was equivalent to an Ardor Centurion. But how? Are Devils also scaled by Rings, or do they have their own path like Centurions?
And what about the Elysians?
The thoughts plagued his mind well into their preparations to leave the cave for good, not even noticing the slight movements in and around his bag before they left. Walking with Fromir by his side, he led the group out of the cave while doing his best to maintain their position relevant to the third location. Maximus carried the massive sack of materials they felt could be valuable, while Lycus kept an eye out for any odd sounds. The rest simply stayed alert.
Two days passed by uneventfully, camping at night and moving during the day. Any small disturbances were dealt with easily, while the route remained clear of anything that would need their full effort. Some of them felt odd about it, while some just took the quiet for granted. No one could be blamed for that. Even Ryke tried to wrap his head around the fact that a bunch of fourteen year olds got tossed into Aenebra, alone.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Misfortune.
The heat slowly increased as they approached the third location in search of the Ignar Peony. Less trees scattered the surroundings while the ground got harder. The air grew bitter and off, whilst smoke clouded their visions. Ryke found it hard to remain calm as he motioned to put their masks on. The sleek, steel grey masks slid over their face and adhered to the skin without any straps, the seemingly black spaces for eyes perfectly see through like one way glass.
“Cover all your skin. Wear your helmets or your scarves. Do not inhale, do not expose any flesh.” Ryke took out the picture of the Ignar Peony, making sure they all memorised it’s nine leaves and flowing patterns. “We are looking for these. Spread out into groups of two or three. At dusk, meet here.”
Seeing his friends nod in understanding, he quickly separated them into groups. Ryke and Maximus, Caius and Drisnae, Kievra and Ravi, and finally Lycus and Ofrir. He did his best to separate the groups and match them by weapon.
Finally, the groups left the stone tree line of the Saorla Forest and into the Talerca Mists. The purple grass was overcome by a similarly vibrant red grass that hid the earth beneath it in vast plains. Whereas previously it had been rivers of water, now they saw rivers of liquid rock flowing ever so slowly across the plains, scarring the landscape. The toxins formed a thin gas over the field that only got thicker and thicker further in.
“Retribution.”
Ryke turned to hear Kievra’s mumbling, but she entered the toxic mists with Ravi before anything could be said. The rest of them simply looked at eachother, as if looking for support, before they too stepped into the unknown lands. Even as he breathed through the Runic Mask, the air felt wrong. Lifeless. He wasn’t sure how or why, but he felt his Aurelius Flame flicker the moment his lungs came into contact with this air.
He turned to Maximus to make sure he felt the same and relaxed slightly when the massive Centurion Candidate affirmed his feelings. Slowly making his way forward, they walked with careful steps. The heat grew worse the closer you got to the liquid rock and the Ignar peony was often found, according to Sigmar, in places that sat between two different streams. Not only that, but they weren’t sure what or who lived here. He didn’t forget how the Lanista mentioned potentially eating an Ignar Peony.
Hours had passed when Ryke finally stumbled upon the Ignar Peony, a patch growing amidst a small area of dirt coloured slightly different than the rest of the Mists. Without hesitation he started running for the flowers-
Only to be stopped by Maximus’ large hand on his shoulder.
“What-”
Maximus stood still, looking straight at a point in the ground some feet away from the patch of herbs. Ryke could only remain standing in place as he followed the other boy’s gaze, his hand slowly reaching for the glaive on his back.
“The dirt is disturbed. Not from above.”
“Hell does that mean, Maximus?”
“From below. Something is below it.”
He watched as Maximus’ gaze slowly moved, apparently following a hidden trail in the dirt that slowly circled the Ignar Peony. Maximus drew his Warhammer as he released Ryke’s shoulder, standing tall behind him and leaving Ryke to think idly.
“What seems the most recent?”
“The dirt to the left.”
Ryke nodded and drew his Glaive fully, holding the polearm in one hand and cradling it within his armpit. Explaining a plan quickly, the duo set it into motion. Neither felt Sigmar would send them on an impossible mission, so they decided to take a chance on whatever this was. He didn’t think it could be more dangerous than a Devil.
Maximus walked forward, hardly hiding his steps as he approached the invisible ring around the herbs, his grip tight around the Warhammer. Ryke dispersed his vitality to his legs and focused on following behind as quietly as he could, the glaive poised to strike at a moment's notice. The ground shifted beneath Maximus as he stepped over the invisible line, and something flew out from beneath the earth in a blur.
Ryke’s glaive flashed through the air as his stance switched. The blade cut through the air and then met a hard substance no different than stone yet he felt it rend whatever it was in half, leaving two pieces to soar through the air past Maximus and land harmlessly on the ground. The duo’s bodies relaxed within moments as they released the air trapped in their chest.
“Fuck.”
“Right?”
Chuckling, Ryke stabbed the glaive into the dirt around the Ignar Peony a few times before he finally decided it was safe, giving Maximus the time to go grab the two pieces of whatever creature he had cut through. A snake-like creature with stone brown scales protecting soft red flesh, the serpent was easily half a foot wide and as long as Maximus was tall. It’s vitality didn’t even feel like a Fera’s when Ryke held one half of its corpse.
Finally, Ryke knelt down beside the Ignar Peonies and gently plucked them from the earth, depositing them in a specially prepared bag given to them by the Stone Lotus Guard. Another sigh of relief escaped him as nothing happened. The flowers didn’t come to life and try to eat him, nor did the ground swallow him up to reveal a giant vine monster.
His good mood didn’t last long, however. Quickly moving on from the first patch of peonies, the duo found another patch similar in size that was guarded by a similarly sized serpent. And then another patch with another serpent. And another. When Ryke was picking the fourth small patch of peonies, watching Maximus pack away the snake corpse in his periphery, his mood had hit rock bottom. There was more than enough proof now that every patch had its own ‘guardian’.