Blink released a splutter of coughing and dust as he awoke in the darkness of the cavern. The sword was laying by him, the anger and heat that had consumed him changed to the quiet dormant spark that he had not before noticed. Now it flickered like a small flame at the edges himself, present but beyond immediate grasp. He stared at the blade and shuddered thinking of the allure it had held over him. All that rage and anger that came out… I’m not that kind of person. It must have come from the sword… he thought to himself thinking of the intoxication of power and strength he had wielded. He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of movement and groans around him. He begrudgingly shifted his vision away from the sword and scanned the space around him. His head pealed like a hammer against the anvil. He noticed the dried streaks of blood in his hair and down his face. He had been hit on the head by a rock from the explosion. Looking around he saw that his companions had not fared much better. Ra’Handa too was covered in cuts and dust from the debris. She was already awake and helping him to his feet by the time the others found them. It seemed they were all alive if not badly wounded. Nessus was worst of all among them, the wound in their side had reopened and the swirling colours of The Torrent could be seen shifting around their arms as before only now it appeared to have crept higher as the faintest glimmer of colours showed on their clavicle. With what scraps of cloth they could find they dressed the wound and covered the night sky of starts and colour on their arms again. Danu worked too on Nessus; however her mind was far away, and a deep despair had taken over her usually round curious face. It seemed no matter how hard she tried the magic of healing that had helped them before was minimal. She had to turn to using needle and thread from her bag to close the wound fully. She finished by smoothing the same ointment she had used on Blink’s burns. It knitted the flesh before their eyes enough the Nessus could move about gingerly. The feebleness of her efforts at magic weighed heavy on her. She nodded when asked how she was but barely showed presence of mind beyond that. The loss of her staff seemed to have taken something deeper from her, something beyond what Blink could understand. He couldn’t imagine ever feeling this way about the sword being taken.

It was now that Blink realised how little he knew about her, about any of those with him other than Ra’Handa and even she surprised him. Ra’Handa propped Nessus up and carried the brunt of their weight despite her own injuries. She kept careful watch on every move Danu made helpless beyond this to assist. It was not that she distrusted Danu, she just wanted to be there for whatever was needed to help them. Something had shifted in her. She wasn’t the jovial friend of the street he was used to but rather the big sister to all the younglings he knew was at her core. It warmed Blink to see her this way. He felt relief that this of all things had not changed. Above all else she was his constant.

Brigid left them to tend to Nessus, and with Wick in tow, found the remaining villagers of Tory. There were not more than twenty of them in steel cages. One she recognised instantly as Yirranna. Brigid hammered at the locks freeing them and they embraced at once. The woman was plump in places, but it was her muscular arms and hard face that stood out the most. Yirranna’s hair was grey and looked to be shoulder length though it was difficult to tell wrapped up in patterned cloth above her head. The woman was the town healer and, with help from Danu, was able to tend to the remaining wounds of those in the cages. After some time gathering their thoughts and tending to the wounded, they ventured to take a closer look at the remnants of the cavern. Whole parts of it had collapsed in on itself as was the case with the way Blink and the others had first entered. As they moved through the rubble, they found the remains of golgeists that had been crushed in the falling debris, some of them shaggy creatures with little but rags and others clearly members of the town of Tory. Blink did his best to avoid those that he had cut during the fight. Lumps of guilt gripped his chest and throat wherever he saw one. Brigid kept a stoic visage, never allowing herself a single tear for those gone. Wick was not so; he wept freely and could not be consoled at the sight of those around him. He searched for his parents, but it was too hard to distinguish any of the remains as the townspeople. They’re torn clothing gave some clue however it was little comfort to him knowing that none appeared to be his parents. Time and exhaustion eventually took its payment as the boy fell into a deep sleep, and they let him rest.

They came to the tunnel in which the golgeists had been digging and found that unlike the other tunnels this one was clear. The same vines that held them could now be seen coiled around stones and upon closer inspection scratches and grating of stone could be seen where the vines had moved them. The vines disappeared into a curved tunnel of darkness beyond.

‘There isn’t any sign of the golgeists or that disgusting dung-rat Pavreck,’ said Brigid the whites of her knuckles gripped her hammer as she spoke.

‘He couldn’t have survived after that explosion or the cave in… could he?’ asked Ra’Handa.

‘We did. Why wouldn’t he?’ said Blink.

‘I hope he is,’ said Brigid, her eyes fixed upon the path of the tunnel.

‘You’ll not be caving his head in alone love,’ added Yirranna. Blink certainly would not like to be on the receiving end of Brigid’s hammer or the strong arms of Yirranna.

‘Shouldn’t we get you somewhere safe?’ Blink said, caution in his voice. He regretted it as soon as he said it, for both women stared at him as if he had been the one that destroyed the town and locked them in cages.

‘Safe?’ exclaimed Brigid. ‘Do you really think it’s safe in here? Where are they supposed to go you fool?’ she eyed him angrily not giving an inch.

‘I just mean that people have been hurt and we need to get out of here,’ he tried apologetically. ‘Can’t you see they’ve been through enough?’ he gestured to the remaining town-peoples. They shifted about awkwardly, their faces depictions of horror and deep loss. Some looked up as he mentioned them, for others it was as if nothing existed by the horrors occurring behind their eyes.

‘They’re a might fiercer than ya know. I’ll not let ‘em die here in the dark, boy,’ said Yirranna. ‘Oi, all of you. Stand up. Up I said!’ the woman was a force and demanded attention. The remaining folk gradually moved and stood behind Yirranna. ‘Now I’ll not let a single one of you hide down ‘ere you hear me. We are the people of Tory, and we will have our revenge no matter the cost,’ some brightened a little but to Blink’s eyes there was little if any fight left in them. ‘Wendel was it not your wife that foul creature had digging in front of you? Reyan Forwell your family have always been the most stubborn of all I ever met, will you really lose that now? An’ Cotter Briskell… I didn’t set your arm three times as a lad after you kept falling from a tree to have you run away from this fight, ya hear?’ she went on like this chiding each of them in their own way. She seemed to know every one of them and being the only healer in town she certainly appeared to command a great deal of respect among them. Whilst they still appeared terrified, they had at least roused enough to walk, some even foraged for a pickaxe or shovel that had been discarded. Holding something in their hands, even if it were just a pickaxe, had changed them. They stood taller and although the sight of them wouldn’t frighten a footpad they had gained enough to move forward.

‘There… Now if you don’t mind young feller we had better be going,’ Blink stared in wonder at the bedraggled fighters before him.

‘They’re coming with us Blink,’ Brigid added and gave the others a look that dared them to challenge her.

‘Fine… But they stay in the middle, and we’ll take up the front and rear,’ Blink said begrudgingly. ‘Ra will you take up the rear with Brigid and Danu? Nessus and I can take the front. My eyes work the best down here, so I’ll scout,’ Ra’Handa flashed him a smile as he spoke. ‘When’d you become the big bossy ey? Tellin’s us what to do,’ she teased. Someone has to Ra. Do you have to make a joke of it? Blink seethed a little inside. The flame of anger flickered in the corner of his mind.

‘As far as I’m concerned all of you are still under my employ and contract,’ said Brigid frowning hard at them.

‘Well then what do you want us to do?’ snapped Blink, surprised at his quickness to anger. ‘What I mean is someone has take lead and as I said I’ve got the best eyes,’ he said trying to smooth it over before she could react.

‘Very well. You can take point, but I expect you to report back and wait for my signal for anything else,’ said Brigid watching him. It seemed an effort for her to relinquish even that much control. But she still knew the sense of what he said.

‘You two done measuring you proverbials or as we all gunna get a go?’ said Ra’Handa cutting the tension.

‘Give it a rest and just get on with moving everyone out Ra. I wanna get out of this hole,’ Blink said fed up. That flame within licking at him again. Ra’Handa nodded with a wry smirk and went about her task of organising the villagers to moving out. Blink also sensed worry behind that look; he had known her long enough to know her worst jibing at him happened when she was most concerned. She and none of the others had forgotten what he had become. He felt them all avoiding it. He felt them looking at him sideways like dogs recently bitten, but they said nothing. They had other things to worry about for now. He did his best to let it pass and ignore it, but it was impossible. He too wanted to step away from himself, but that seemed the one thing he couldn’t escape. So the party moved forward, slowly at first with torch light to guide their feet. Blink’s vision would do the rest.

Stolen story; please report.

When they first entered the tunnel, they realised it was different than the cavern which they had come from. The tunnel was paved with cracked stonework and appeared to have been built many centuries before. The tunnel went on in two directions and judging by the direction in which the vines trailed they figured they would lead to an exit. Even if they had wanted to try the other way Brigid and Yirranna would not have let them. Above all else they wanted to find Pavreck. They wanted their revenge for what had happened to those they loved. The tunnel was large and had raised paths on either side to walk on and a dip in the floor between them. Water flowed slowly from the middle and had a rancid stench to it.

‘It’s like a sewer down here,’ said Ra’Handa.

‘That’s because it is a sewer. Or at least this far from city they may be connecting aqueducts,’ said Brigid. ‘The stone is similar to the kind used in the sewers of Dayaragain.’

‘Why would it be here, so far from the city?’ asked Ra’Handa.

‘It’s very old here… it may have had a purpose once before the war but most of the texts from then are locked away,’ Brigid said with coldness in her voice.

‘This’ll take us to Dayargain then?’ Ra’Handa asked.

‘It might but I had thought the tunnels leading beyond the city had all been sealed. It’s too easy for golgeists to traverse them and reach the city otherwise,’ Brigid explained, a small treble in her voice. She tried to stifle is, but the tunnel was so empty that their voices amplified about them. The mention of golgeists traversing the tunnels made Ra’Handa steel her focus in front and behind. She touched the daggers at her belt for comfort, reminding herself they were there and ready if needed. She looked to the walls and noticed the vines here acted much like those in the swamp, they clawed along the walls and ceiling but avoided the slow stream of water flowing between.

‘The vines are avoiding the water here too,’ she said finally, ‘D’ya know why Danu?’ she added. As she said her name Danu appeared as if to awaken from a dream.

‘Oh… I… what?’ she said with embarrassment.

‘The vines,’ Ra’Handa pointed.

‘Oh that…’ she said with the weight of loss in her voice. The events that had unfolded were taking their toll on her. She also shifted oddly trying to decide what to do with her hands. Normally they felt so comfortable around the wood of her staff. With it gone she felt like a part of herself had been stolen. ‘I’m not certain… but the vines aren’t behaving at all like they should. I think the blightling… I mean to say… Pavreck…,’ she visibly shrank as she said his name, ‘I think he’s drawing from his connection to The Corruption. It’s powerful but water and even the bog iron carry a strong connection to the Torrent. I think its corroding the Corruption.’

Ra’Handa regarded her with an expression of concern . She did not know the young women well, but they had grown closer in their time together. It pained her to see her this way. Her usual know-it-all confidence stripped away.

‘Blightling? They’re just children’s tales, aren’t they?’ asked Brigid.

‘I’m surprised you’ve even heard of them in these lands. They were beings lost to the darkness, once good and kind, now twisted and tainted. The Faerendal abandoned them, cut them away as a diseased limb that threatened to take the whole tree. Those of Ishtarik were not the only ones that were cursed by the darkness in those times.’ Danu spoke with a sadness as she told the tale, and something else Ra’Handa wondered. Was it shame? But how could that be?

‘Faerendal? More nursey tales for the younglings. How could you believe in such things?’ said Brigid incredulously. She had become sterner and harsher since their encounter in the cavern, if that could be possible given her usual demeanour with the group. Brigid had been short with Blink many times, but not so with Danu.

‘Yes, I suppose they are just stories. Perhaps I read too much,’ said Danu weakly.

‘You best be quiet. There’s light ahead,’ said Yirranna silencing them.

Blink walked beside Nessus at the front, his eyes seeing a mixture of colours in the light of the torch and shadowed greys beyond. The tunnel stretched on for what seemed forever. It was then that he saw it… a light in the darkness. Blink raised a hand to tell the group to slow their pace and be quiet. Gingerly they moved closer. There were no sounds except that of their footfalls on the stone and the dripping and running of water. As they drew closer Blink could see the source of the light, there were two large stone trays of oil jutting out from the stone surrounded by coils of vines that snaked through a great arched doorway that stretched the full length of the tunnel. Blink ordered the group to stay where they were and gestured for Nessus to follow him. As they moved further the floor became a metal grate that took up the full expanse across the flowing water. Vines coiled about gaps and rungs of the iron grating; it creaked audibly as they moved. It appeared to be a room of sorts within the tunnel and standing in the centre was a raised dais with four stone dragons each facing a different direction at its base. In the centre was a board of gold and silver squares. It was lavish enough that if Blink had broken off the smallest piece, he and Ra’Handa could live comfortably far from these terrors they had found. It was the most out of place thing to be found in these dank tunnels and least of all what he expected.

‘It looks like a chess board,’ said Blink with surprise. He had seen these often in his service to Horrog and at times witnessed the game with his guests or rivals. There were often high stakes attached to his games either by great sums of gold or for power and ownership of trades. Blink knew some of the rules from watching but he noticed that this board was different. Where a chess board was eight by eight this was in rows of ten.

‘This is no chess board Blink,’ said Nessus their eyes wide with awe, ‘It is a Numinia Board’.

‘What’s a Numinia Board?’ asked Blink confused by the presence of the board and more so by Nessus’s wonder. It doesn’t look that special to me… other than the gold and silver. Ra would be prying those squares without a thought if she saw.

‘It’s certainly strange to find it in a place like this I suppose but is it that special?’ he asked incredulously.

‘This is a very ancient thing Blink… I have only ever heard of these things in the sharing of the Ghel’s Knowledge, something I have not been welcome to in a very long time. I never believed I would see one.’

‘That doesn’t tell me what it is Nessus,’ said Blink a little annoyed at their answer and still unclear of its value. Why is something like this in a sewer? It looks like it belongs in some lord’s lounge.

‘My apologies. I was lost in my excitement,’ said Nessus as they composed themself. ‘Numinia Boards were used in a very ancient game. It was said that mortals in their frailty envied the power of the Gods and grew distrustful of them. The Gods called themselves Numinia, or Power presiding overall. Concerned their supplicants would turn against them the Gods devised a game of sorts. Mortals with great potential could challenge them and in return would be granted but a modicum of their power should they win. This was how we first learned to use The Torrent and why its expression comes in so many different forms. After a time mortals grew tired of the fragments of power they were granted, and it is said, that several powerful mages tricked the Gods with a curse upon the playing pieces; instead of a fragment of their power they would take all of it.

‘So, you’re saying there’s a bunch of Gods out there walking around without any powers?’ asked Blink.

‘Of a sort. Mortality was punished by those that still held power. The boards and pieces destroyed, and the game lost to time. It is possible the Numinia got their powers back when the boards were all destroyed. But then… this one should not be here if the story tells true,’ Nessus finished. What Nessus had told him sounded more like the tales he heard from pirates and sailors than anything else.

‘How do you play?’ asked Blink curiously. Nessus regarded him quizzically.

‘It is similar to chess I suppose, though in this you must choose a pantheon to plan against another. But that is all I know. As I said this is an ancient game that none have played since the earliest ages of time. If the Knowledge of my people were not lost or forbidden to me I…’ they trailed off and looked away from Blink. ‘Perhaps there is more we have missed,’ they said as if speaking to another.

Looking at the board again Blink noticed that it was covered in dust with the exception of one square in the centre where it appeared a small round-based figurine had once stood.

‘Something was here,’ he said indicating the clean area. They both looked at each other sharing the same thought.

‘Pavreck has been through here. Is this what he was looking for all this time?’ Blink asked.

‘If the last of those pieces held the power of the Numinia then it would make sense,’ Nessus added. They stepped back from the board to inspect the dais more closely.

‘Here! There is something written on the side. Kolkiaravis,’ he said with a look of fear on his face. ‘By Hennaka’s Will this cannot be so,’ he said stepping away from the inscription.

‘What’s wrong? What is it?’ Blink demanded, his voice raising so that it bounced off the stone walls.

‘If there was a numinia piece here with the power of Kolkiaravis then we had best make peace with this life. We must reach the city as soon as possible. Go! We must go!’ they said and walked away from Blink.

‘Nessus wait!’ cried Blink following. When Blink caught up, they were again with the larger group. They all looked worried at the sight of Nessus. Their usual calm demeanour marked with fear of what may come.

‘You were supposed to ask me before running off!’ snapped Brigid as Blink approached. Blink ignored her.

‘What is it Nessus? We need to know what this is all about,’ he implored.

‘Not here… not in this place. When we reach the city, we must speak with Master Innais and alert the guard. Something terrible is coming.’ With that he urged them on hurrying them at every rest. Nothing they said could persuade them to share more.