Lanterns and the light of Nythis's staff did little to banish the oppressive darkness of the stone passageway. A curve in the passage took them away from the remaining daylight, leaving Jade on edge. At any moment she expected them to be ambushed by more shambling monsters, or at least hear some sinister sound from deep within the structure. But there was nothing. Everything was silent and still.
"Try to relax." Vamir murmured. "Alert is good, but tense will harm you more than it helps."
The elf walked beside her, his posture projecting a sense of calm. Her first instinct was to snap that she knew what she was doing, but Jade held her tongue. Ignoring advice from teammates had cost her in the past, and she suspected Vamir had more experience in these situations than she. Instead, she took a deep breath, settling her nerves.
Vamir gave her a reassuring nod, which she returned. He wasn't wearing any armor, which Jade found curious. The elf was clad in loose fit flowing clothes that rippled when he moved. The only equipment he carried at all was a single sword belted to his waist.
"Where are they?" she asked, keeping her voice low. "I thought this place would be filled with monsters."
"I don't know, but it's a bit of a letdown." Nythis sighed, holding her staff up high to extend its illumination. "I'm getting bored."
"I'm sure we'll find them soon." Aylin said dryly. "If they don't find us first."
"Naomi, maybe keep things quiet for now." Jade suggested. "If whatever's in here doesn't know about us yet, we should keep it that way for as long as we can."
"Good idea." The bard replied, shifting her guitar to hang across her back. She drew a shortsword from her waist, a recent requisition from the growing pile of random equipment Jade carried in her pouch. "Maybe I'll give that new talent a whirl."
Naomi swallowed nervously, and Jade guessed she was hoping that wouldn't be necessary.
"Stop." Fenrin held up a hand, halting in the middle of the passage. Everyone stopped behind him. He pointed ahead at something on the floor. "Does that look a little off to anyone else?"
Deep shadows obscured whatever he was indicating. Jade leaned around him, retracting her wings as she shifted into an elven form. The darkness receded substantially, and she regretted not doing so earlier. This was much better, and the increased awareness of her surroundings helped lessen the pit of anxiety curdling in her stomach.
Her vision enhanced, Jade took another look. There was a protrusion in the floor some twenty feet ahead of them. The worked floor tiles were quite even and uniform, which made the oddly elevated one stand out. Still, it was easy to miss in the gloom.
"Some kind of trap?" She asked. The sight brought to mind some of the old Indiana Jones movies she'd watched as a kid.
"Probably."
"Should we disarm it?" Luis asked, taking a careful step closer and shining a lantern on the area.
Fenrin looked back at the rest of the group.
"Does anyone know how to disarm traps?"
Everyone shook their heads.
Well… This was an oversight.
"We can just walk around it." Jade suggested. The passage was more than wide enough to avoid the odd tile.
"Let's mark it first. That's dungeon crawling basics. Don't want to step on it on the way back." Luis said, digging around in his bag. "Anyone have some chalk? I knew I forgot something at the store…"
Aylin produced a stick of chalk from her pouch, handing it over to Luis, who promptly passed it to Jade.
"Why me?" She gave him a dubious look.
"Because I'm big and clumsy, and you aren't."
She couldn't argue with that. Jade cautiously approached the suspicious tile. A closer inspection revealed that it was attached to some sort of mechanism, which she had no doubt would trigger something unpleasant if stepped on. Having no desire to find out what form that unpleasantness took, Jade carefully drew a wide circle around it with the chalk. Then, for good measure, she added a few giant arrows pointing at it.
"Happy?"
He gave her a thumbs up. Everyone gave the pressure plate a wide birth, slipping past in single file. Once they were all on the other side, Fenrin resumed leading them deeper into the structure. They remained as quiet as possible, speaking only when necessary. For some reason, Jade found the continued lack of opposition more unnerving than actual monsters would have been.
It didn't take long for them to reach the end of the passageway. It opened into a larger room, equally as dark as the hall. As soon as Fenrin set foot in it, however, a series of torches in wall sconces burst to life, illuminating the space with flickering green flames. Jade tensed, ready for an attack, but again none came.
After a moment, they advanced into the chamber. It appeared to be some sort of gallery. The walls were covered in faded mosaics that depicted disturbing scenes of death and gruesome rituals involving remains. To Jade's surprise, the subjects were human. The center of the chamber was dominated by a large plinth atop which rested a strange object. It had a fractal shape and was comprised of some sort of dark crystal. Although the surface looked reflective, no light shimmered off its faceted surface. The strange crystal hovered above the pedastal, slowly rotating, orbited by smaller motes of the same material. The sight was unnerving, although Jade wasn't sure why.
"No one touch that." Aylin said, eyeing the crystal. Nythis, who had just stepped forward to take a closer look, made a pouting face and backed away. "That's… that's elemental death energy."
Aylin said this last part slowly, surprised.
"What is it?" Naomi asked hesitantly.
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Aylin's warning was hardly required; The crystal was exuding a distasteful aura of chilling energy. Jade didn't need her fledgling magical senses to detect it, the temperature of the room was noticeably lower than that of the hall.
"It's a divine splinter…" Aylin said slowly, taking a hesitant step closer and inspecting it.
Divine…?
"Are you sure?" Fenrin gave her a sharp look.
"Certain, I've studied similar items in the guild vault. The aura imprint is unmistakable. This is a relic of Tharrezen, a tiny sliver of divine power." She took another look around the room. "Could this be a temple to him?"
"Hold up." Jade raised her hand. "Divine? A temple? Are you saying that's some sort of holy…" She searched for the right word. "Artifact?"
Jade knew the wood elves worshipped some sort of nature goddess, and apparently there were more temples in the cities. With everything else going on, though, she hadn't spent much time considering what that meant. Now, faced with the palpable power emanating from the relic, she was forced to revisit the idea.
If magic is real… Are gods?
A month ago, the question would've been absurd. But now? Her understanding of the universe had undergone so many changes in the past few weeks that she was surprisingly open to the idea of divinity.
"I assume you have religion on your world?" Aylin asked.
"Lots of them." Luis shrugged.
"Let me guess. Many of them are present from your earliest histories, and your cultures have fantastic stories and legends of divine miracles. But, in recent times, none have occurred?"
Jade blinked in surprise. She exchanged looks with Naomi and Luis.
"I… suppose that's not far off."
"It's the same everywhere." Aylin explained. "There are conflicting accounts, but it's widely accepted that once, many gods reigned over the cosmos. Then, a couple thousand years ago, roughly around the time the cataclysm ended and the demon armies were defeated, divine beings, and their servants, disappeared."
"What do you mean 'disappeared'?" Naomi asked.
"They vanished. Or at least, their presence did from history. No more manifestations, no more miracles. The powers of the cosmos remain unchanged, but without wills behind them."
That explanation raised more questions than answers, but this wasn't the time for an in-depth discussion on the theological history of the universe. Fenrin must have reached the same conclusion, because he spoke up before Aylin could enter her full 'lecture' mode.
"We can go over details with them later." He said, gesturing towards a door set into the far side of the chamber. "But we still have a job to do."
"Context is relevant." Aylin insisted. "This is a divine relic. The people and monsters present in this temple will likely wield related powers."
"What was Tharre-what'sit's domain?" Nythis asked, eyeing the crystal with distaste. "I've never heard of him."
"It's 'Tharrezen', and his aspect was Death." Aylin replied. "I just want to know where the Labyrinth obtained a splinter of his power… Could it be related to how strongholds are formed…?"
"Does it change what we should expect to face here?" Jade asked, more interested in the practical impact of this development.
"It might. Tharrezen was worshiped in several worlds, including a human one called 'Grasha'. The Labyrinth may have taken or replicated this temple from there. If it did, then it's probably populated it with priests as well as undead."
"You mean, living people?" Luis asked with a frown.
"In a sense. All Labyrinth-born creations, monsters and people, are just manifestations of its spirits given form." Aylin spoke to everyone, not just Jade and her group. "Remember, they aren't the same as us. The spirits are alive, but the forms they take are just that: Forms. They're transient, ephemeral. The only purpose they have is what the Labyrinth imprinted on them on their creation. If they die, the Labyrinth will just reform the spirit somewhere else."
Jade wasn't sure how she felt about that, it was more than a little disturbing. It also didn't matter. It didn't change what they had to do.
"Let's keep moving." Fenrin said, approaching the closed door. "If our quests are right, the missing people are trapped in here. We need to save them."
"Agreed." Aylin nodded. She took one last look at the divine relic, which continued to swirl with wisps of cold, dark energy. "I'll take a closer look at this later."
They moved to the door, which was made of heavy, dark wood. Fenrin took a moment to put his ear to the door, and then gave a small shake of his head. He quietly lifted the latch and opened the door, revealing another dark hallway. This one was shorter, covering only about thirty yards before opening into what looked like another, even larger chamber.
While the passage itself lacked torches, more green light spilled into it from whatever room lay on the far side. It was hard to tell for certain, but Jade thought she could see shadows moving around in the distant chamber. The group made to move together down the hall, but Jade stopped them with a raised hand.
"I'll check it out first." She suggested. "We're too loud as a group."
Luis's armor was an especially big offender, every step accompanied by a soft 'clank' of creaking straps. Aylin, despite only wearing robes, wasn't much better. If there were monsters ahead, Jade wanted to get a good look at them before they were noticed.
No one protested, although Naomi did touch her on the arm.
"Just a look. Don't do anything crazy."
"Just a look." She agreed.
What kind of reputation have I built…?
She slipped into the dark passage, creeping softly towards the next room. While she lacked any specific training in concealment, Jade knew how to stay light on her feet. Crossing the distance silently took only a couple of minutes and, as she drew near, she could make out clacking and scraping sounds coming from up ahead. The room the hall opened into was lined with large pillars. Jade ducked behind the closest of them, crouching in its shadow and peeking out to survey the area.
The room was larger than she'd expected, with a high vaulted ceiling and passages extending from the center of each of the four walls that comprised the square chamber. A tall stone statue dominated the center of the space, lit by more eerie green torches. It depicted a man clad in flowing robes holding aloft a dark staff. The figure was mostly human but possessed four sets of twisting arms, which bent in strange, unnatural ways.
More importantly, a group of figures were making their way across the far side of the room, heading towards the hallway opposite the one Jade had entered from. Four people garbed in similar robes as the statue led a quartet of frightened elven prisoners. The elves, a man, two women, and a younger looking boy, had their hands bound and were being pulled along by leads. A group of a dozen-odd skeletons shambled behind them, their bone feet clacking against the stone floor with every step.
"You should be grateful." One of the robed individuals was saying. The voice was male, high pitched and raspy. "It is an honor for your lives and bodies to be dedicated to the eternal embrace of the Everlasting."
Jade couldn't make out the next few words, but she'd already heard enough. Part of her wanted to jump out and save these people right now, but she was greatly outnumbered. Holding her breath and praying that she wouldn't be seen, Jade took a quiet step back in the direction of the hall to retrieve her companions. Before she could take another, one of the prisoners ruined everything.
In retrospect, Jade couldn't blame the man. In his position, faced with whatever unpleasant fate these creepy priests had in store for them, she would've fought back too, no matter how futile the gesture. But in the moment, as Jade watched him lunge at his captors, she cursed him for his terrible timing. One more minute, and her whole party could've ambushed them together.
While the elven man had his hands bound, his target was facing away from him. He managed to land an impressive blow right to his captor's head, knocking him to the ground.
"Run!" He shouted at the others, kicking at one of the skeletons as the other robed figures whirled towards him, drawing wicked looking daggers. Jade could see their faces now, men and women with gaunt, sunken features and hollow eyes.
There was no way any of them were going to escape, not surrounded like they were. They would either be recaptured or killed, and the latter was looking more likely by the moment. Still, Jade hesitated. What could she do against so many enemies? Die a quick and painful death, most likely. No, it would be best to…
Her gaze fell on the young boy, whose eyes were wide with terror. He tried to back away, but there was nowhere to go.
"Sorry Naomi…" Jade whispered.
I can't let this happen.
Jade had no idea how dangerous the robed men and women were, and it was too late to examine them. With a silent curse she drew her blades, shifted into her demon form, and charged into the room.