When the light faded, I half expected to appear buried beneath a snowbank or battered by some cutting arctic breeze.
I didn’t expect to suddenly be in freefall, plummeting toward the marshy ground with snow-swept willows standing vigilant over the grey swamp.
“Oh, you’re kidding me!” I shouted as I fell, slamming into the branches of a tree. I quickly began to bounce about, each subsequent impact with a new branch knocking the wind out of me. Before I could fully slam into the swamp below, I managed to snag a branch, holding tight so that I hung over them rather than sink into the cold-looking mud below.
“Fun.” I spat out a frozen twig, tasting blood in my mouth. “So much fun.”
I glanced around, searching for my cat. Further up in the tree, my cat was tentatively testing each branch as she approached me.
Must have abandoned me the moment we began falling.
I stared daggers at my cat, but she ignored me, seating herself on the branch I hung from, grooming herself a moment later.
“No point hanging around.” I hauled myself onto the branch, seating myself next to my cat as I took time to investigate my surroundings.
I was in a swamp. That much was obvious, but unlike most wetlands’ typical warm association, this swamp was cold, fitting in with the theme of the entire dungeon. The willows were speckled with ice and snow, and the mud below was thick and almost blue from how cold it was.
Nothing struck me as out of place about the swamp. There were no strange flowing currents with patches of ice floating upon them or riddle-giving enigmas.
“So now what?” I questioned, letting the question hang in the air as no one appeared to give me the answer.
Now what indeed.
I examined the mud for a while, and with unease, I noticed patches where the earth seemed to move, almost as if things were sliding around within the frozen swamp.
Wonderful.
For nearly half an hour, I remained on my perch. Still, my hopes of deciphering some hidden riddle within my surroundings were eventually dashed as I shook my head with a frustrated sigh.
“Nothing here,” I grumbled.
I very much doubted that the frozen swamp was entirely devoid of purpose, which meant that there was simply something I was missing.
Maybe that’s the point?
I weighed the idea, testing its logic.
If there is no purpose, find one?
It seemed like a logical enough reason to me, so with a shrug, I stood up upon the branch. Years of flexibility and balance training paid off. The uncertain perch beneath my feet felt as secure as solid ground.
Without another word, I began hopping between trees, traveling to gods and lords above knew where. All I knew was that standing around without a clue what to do wouldn’t help move my situation along. Jumping between trees, I settled into a rhythm of sorts. Hop, step, land, repeat. Occasionally I needed to catch a hanging vine and swing between some of the more significant gaps. Still, otherwise, my journey remained uninterrupted for some time. It was strangely cathartic, with no thoughts; my head remained empty as I jumped and swung about.
That was until, nearly two hours later, I heard something.
Not a growl. Not a roar, not any sort of sound one would expect from the dangers of a dungeon.
No, I heard a melody.
That’s probably something terrible waiting to lure me in, but not like I had anything better to do.
Directing myself toward the source of the sound, it wasn’t long until I found a small hut of all things with a tiny deck jutting into a nearly frozen pond, the first pool of water I’d seen that wasn’t thick with mud.
And there, humming to themselves, was a woman, her legs dangling from the edge of the tiny pier.
“Come now, y’all must have learned manners before.”
I was surprised to see the woman instantly turn to face me, even though I’d been silent in my approach and hidden by the branches of the frozen willows.
“Yes, you. Does it look like there anyone else ‘round here?”
“Are you going to eat me if I go over there?” I spoke up; no point in hiding myself.
“Well, you don’t look like ya’ got much meat on yer’ bones, so not sure it’d be worth the effort. ‘Less you want me to?”
“I think I’ll pass,” I said before leaping through several more trees and finally landing on the pier behind her.
“So ‘yer the Sage.” The strange woman eyed me up before shrugging. “What should I be calling ‘ye, else you decide to blow my home up from the ‘disrespect’ I have done did you.”
Her accent intrigued me, one I’d never heard before, but I shook my head, trying not to let it distract me.
“Just Rook is fine.”
“Just Rook? That’s a strange one.”
“No, I mean-” I shook my head, figuring my words out before she took them literally. “My name is Rook.”
“Your name.” The woman stared at me like I was some strange beast. “Your actual name? Not your consecrated name?”
“Consecrated name?”
“Ya’know the fancy and gaudy names all ye’ Sages like to take.”
“Oh, I mean, technically, I guess I got one. Just haven’t thought about it for some time.”
“Huh. You are a strange one, then.” The woman stuck her hand out toward me. “Name’s Rana.”
“Rook, but I said that already.” I met her grip with my own. “Are you a vestige? The Dungeon Will?”
“Vestige, sort of.” The woman nodded. “But ‘fraid I can’t say I’m the Dungeon Will. They are down a few layers.”
“What is this place?” I gestured around us before gesturing at her. “And how did you know about me?”
“I guess you could ‘ssume that I’m somethin’ of a ‘floor guardian’ here in these lovely swamps.”
I shifted my weight, the woman’s admittance to being a floor guardian putting me on edge.
“Relax. Not all floor guardians are looking to fight ya’. Though, the last group to come through fought me anyway.”
“And?”
“Took me weeks to recover after my essence was scattered.” The vestige shook her head. “I can see yer’ just as strong as them individually, plus ‘yer a Sage, so I bet you have a tricky bag of tricks.”
“So, then what?”
“Well, I don’t wanna fight, so I guess I could share some companionship until I’m allowed to send you to the next layer.”
The woman gestured next to her, so with a shrug, I sat down on the soft willow pier, letting my feet dangle just as hers did.
“I remember once upon a time, we had visitors much more regularly. Then one group cleared this here dungeon, and ever since, no one else has come through.”
“Doe it ever get lonely?” I questioned, curious about the strange vestige.
“Course it does. Most days, I stay incorporeal at this point, but occasionally I take shape and let my feet hang.”
“Like right now?”
“Well, this be a special case.” The woman pointed at me. “When I sensed ye’ on this floor, it was the first time any come here in ages. Course, I had to be here for that. Plus, yer’ a Sage. There hasn’t been a Sage here since ‘fore we was even a Dungeon.”
“Wait, you knew the Sages?”
“Not personally, aside from the one runnin’ this place, a friend of ours. I was merely the assistant of my father. Now he knew some Sages.”
“Your father?”
“The Dungeon Will.” She pointed downward like she was indicating her father was somewhere below. “With the fall of the Sages, friends and company of those Sages were just as likely to be hunted down. We’za had nowhere else to go, so with the help of our benefactor, we turned this place into a Dungeon.”
“Are you supposed to be this forthcoming with information?” I raised an eyebrow at the woman, but she merely shrugged.
“Wa’sa harm in it? Yer’ a Sage after all, plus this be a cleared dungeon, we don’t get visitors. It’s a boring un-life, I tell you that.”
“Un-life? Aren’t you a vestige?”
“I said I was sort of a vestige.” The woman shook her head sadly. “Me and my father, we’za what happens when ye’ fuse with your vestige.”
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“Fuse with your own vestige?” My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “That’s possible? Don’t you have to die to be a vestige?”
“No, spend enough time around a place of power, and anyone will start to develop a vestige. But that’s ‘side the point. With the fall of the Sages, we’za had to make this dungeon our home. ‘Cept, dungeon’s ain’t an exactly friendly place for people without power.”
“So you formed a vestige, tied its essence to the dungeon, then fused with it?”
“Exactly.” The woman beamed. “Father and myself, we were just researchers stationed here. We had nowhere to go as sage friends.”
“Who was the sage you were friends with?”
“The Sage Who Sits.” The woman seemed distant, remembering things from long ago. “He died shortly into the eradication war, so his former master did us a favor and made this research station a dungeon.”
“My condolences.”
“No need.” She waved it off, brushing it aside like she was brushing aside a lint pile. “That was thousands of years ago.”
“So, you’ve just… been here ever since?”
“Yep.” She nodded. “For a while, we continued our original research, hoping maybe the sages would prevail, but when no one returned….”
“I’m the first sage to return since then, right?”
“Aye.” She confirmed. “May I ask, how have ye’ come to be?”
“Here?”
“No.” The semi-vestige shook her head. “A sage. Your kind should have died out with the betrayal.”
“Betrayal?”
“I see you don’t know much of ‘yer own history.” She shrugged as if it were to be expected. “Not my place to talk ‘bout it. I was nothin’ more than an assistant researcher at a sage’s research station.”
“Right…” I frowned, curious about this ‘betrayal’ but it wasn’t pressingly essential to learn of. “Well, a few years ago, a sage we reborn. Or, technically, two. Just, one of them didn’t come out right.”
“Oh?” She seemed surprised, a delighted expression replacing it a moment later. “Well, which sage? Rebirth, reincarnation, would be something only a Great Sage could achieve. Even the master of our friend wasn’t a Great Sage. Was it the Sage of Wisdom? I heard he was a kind man who was also incredibly intelligent.”
“I’m unsure if ‘kind’ is the right word,” I muttered, recalling the vestige of the very same Great Sage. “But no, it wasn’t the Sage of Wisdom. It was the Sage Above All.”
Instantly the delight on her face soured.
“Is something wrong?” I questioned, taken aback by how quickly her attitude had changed.
“The Sage Above All, she is at least partially responsible for the fall of the era of the sages.” Rana scowled.
“She was?” I felt my curiosity piqued. Information about the Great Sage was preciously sparse.
“Indirectly, if I must be fair in my judgment.” She said. “She was the greatest sage to have ever lived. At least, that’s what I heard. Rumor has it she was so powerful she managed to not just slay a True Dragon, but Solarus the Hateful Sun. They said where he flew, the world trembled and shook under the might of his wings.”
“Yeah, a real prick there,” I grumbled.
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing.” I amended. “So, what did The Sage Above All do that made her partially responsible?”
“It’s what she didn’t do! Only three or four Great Sages were alive at the time, and it was their responsibility to stop what was happening! The Sage who Revels, they were the initiating spark. I still remember hearing the Sage who Sits talking ‘bout how the old Great Sage had died. A great sage he was, but even for those gods in human flesh, they could not escape the call of the void, so it was assumed he died of natural causes. Such was not the case. One thing led to another, and soon a civil war had broken out amongst the sages, a section of their order turning to work with those who had come to hate what the sages represented. Order, knowledge, stability!” The woman was shouting with impassioned anger, shouting I did not interrupt. “Nothing is infallible, and the sages were far from peace-loving humanitarians. They were so above mortal problems that they saw no reason to belittle themselves by stooping so low. Or so was the case.”
“So, some of the sages turned on other sages, worked with their enemies, and eventually, it led to the eradication of the sages entirely.”
“Precisely. I’sa don’t know what happened to the Sage who Breathed. He was another of the Great Sages living then, leaving only the Sage of Wisdom and the Sage Above All. Perhaps if the Sage Above All had taken any action during the eradication war, the Sage of Wisdom could have done more. However, he was still only one person, so he eventually vanished after seeing the writing on the wall. The Sage Above All, she thought herself so far above the rest of existence that she ignored the events until they eventually managed to claim her life too. Shortly after that, my father and I’sa were made a part of the dungeon, so I don’t know how the final parts of the war played out. Still, with the absence of any Greater Sages, I’sa bet that the enemy was emboldened and swiftly ended what remained of the order.”
“That’s heavy,” I said.
“Indeed.” Rana nodded. “Hearing that the Sage Above All was reborn… yes, I think I can make a guess what happened. She let herself be killed. But you mentioned a second sage was reborn as well?”
“Yeah. Me.” I snorted. “Apparently, I was supposed to be her reincarnated apprentice, but, well, something went wrong, and I was just an ordinary person, or at least compared to her.”
“So she took you back under her wing?” The semi-vestige asked.
“No. She ditched me after about ten minutes spent with me.” I laughed, remembering how quickly she’d disappeared. “And I haven’t seen her since.”
“So, how did one learn of being a sage?”
“The help of a rather rude Void Mane,” I answered. “He showed me how to be a sage or at least the basics; the rest has basically been touch and go.”
“A void mane? Can’t say I ever met any myself. They preferred to stick to the far corners of the world, the dark places where human eyes rarely saw. For one to not just appear but to take you under his tutelage is quite the story.”
“Tell me about it.” I laughed. I was enjoying our conversation; it was more pleasant than fighting some grisly monster, at the very least.
“What brings you here then, Rook?” Rana questioned, her legs no longer kicking about. “Where you perhaps searching for secrets on the sages? Because unfortunately, there aren’t any relics of the past to be found here, aside from the memories I’sa just shared with you. This was only a minor research station of an average sage, the Sage who Sits was, as a seventh ring, not exactly a Great Sage.”
“No, I came here for something much less grandiose than that,” I answered. “Since this dungeon was cleared, it has been considered docile, but apparently, magical and seismic tremors have been detected originating from here. I was sent to investigate.”
“Oh?” The woman furrowed her brow as she stared with sudden intensity at the pond beneath her feet. “So it has?”
“What, you didn’t know?”
“No, I am only the guardian of a mid-floor. My father, the Dungeon Will, would likely know the reason.”
“And he hasn’t spoken to you of it?”
“Well, it has been thirty years since we last spoke.”
“Thirty years!?” I felt my eyes bulging in surprise.
“Do not look so shocked. We’za been alive, un-alive for thousands of years. Thirty years to us is nothing but a few days to you.”
“Guess that’s fair.” I conceded. “So, can you go check then?”
“While I would love to do you a favor, the firstborn sage of a new era-” Rana smiled as if she enjoyed being able to say as much. “- unfortunately, I cannot. Tied to the dungeon as I am, I can only traverse it when no outsiders are within its bounds. Only the Dungeon Will has such freedom.”
“So I have to go check myself.”
“Precisely.”
“Of course.” I sighed as I began hauling myself to my feet. “So, I should probably get a move on. Could you tell me where I should go from here to find the monolith?”
“I’sa can do you one better.” Rana smiled. Clapping her hands, I heard a faint whoosh as the air behind me was displaced.
Whirling around, directly behind me, was now a floating white obelisk, presenting itself to me like it had been waiting for the opportune moment.
“Normally, upon the scattering of my essence, the voidalisk would erect from the spot I’sa was defeated, but I’sa can also willingly summon it should I’sa please. For any other, I’sa would not grant such a boon, but as a sage, you are elected favor within these walls.”
Voidalisk. So that’s what they’re called.
“Before I go then-” Now that I didn’t have to spend an ungodly amount of time searching for the voidalisk, I felt several questions burning at the back of my mind. “- can I ask a few more questions?”
“I’sa don’t see why not.”
“First, you never did explain how you knew I was a sage.”
“Oh, that’s an easy answer.” Rana tapped a finger on the pier as she spoke, reverberating as if it was a boulder crashing and not a finger tapping. “I am part of this dungeon. I can sense the life force of those within its walls. And I recognized you, recognized the essence of a sage. Which reminds me, may I see how many rings you’ve obtained?”
Thinking about it and seeing no harm in why not, I raised my arm, dismissing the wrap covering my arm and revealing the rings below.
“Five rings.” She nodded as if she’d expected something along those lines. “In the time of the sages, you would be one ring from no longer being considered an apprentice, though some apprentices elected to remain with their mentors for upwards to their seventh ring if their mentor allowed it. The fact that you have five rings yet have such a diminutive reserve of mana intrigues me.”
“Sort of a condition,” I said with a hint of self-consciousness. “Because I was a failed rebirth, I never was able to develop a proper mana core.”
“And yet you’sa have come as far as reaching the fifth ring.” Rana was clearly impressed, giving me a once-over. “What I’sa would give to follow your journey, but alas, I’sa am stuck within the dungeon.”
“You can’t leave?” I asked, knowing it was a stupid question the moment I asked it.
“No, my vestige is intrinsically tied to the essence of the dungeon, which is now woven into my very being. Theoretically, it is possible to undo the process, but it would require someone with exceptional power and finesse; only a Great Sage would suffice. And even if such a process were to be successfully completed, I’sa am well past the age of what an ordinary human can live. Without the support of the dungeon and the vestige fused to my soul, my mind would collapse inward, unable to withstand the pressure of thousands of years of knowledge and memories.”
“That doesn’t sound pleasant when you phrase it like that.”
“No, it does not.” Rana smiled, amused. “If you had asked me a thousand years ago if such release sounded favorable, I would have instantly agreed, but having lived, un-lived for so long, my Id and my Ego, my very sanity, have shattered and reformed enough times that I’sa am now impervious to the fears and thoughts of death or life, be it for another hundred, thousand, or hundred thousand years. Plus, I’sa reckon that my time in utter isolation will finally be lifted.”
“Meaning?”
“You are a sage.” She said simply, gesturing at me. “And one thing every sage shared in common was a draw toward knowledge, and with that knowledge, showcasing that knowledge. As the first of a reborn people, given time, I’sa am certain you will find yourself compelled to share that knowledge. Soon after, I’sa will find these halls, walls, once more occupied.”
“No, no, no.” I instantly refused. “I have no desire to rebuild the sages. All I want to do is live a simple life. I’m nothing but a schoolteacher who-”
“Hah!” The floor guardian laughed, her voice booming. “And there is all the solace I need. You, more than any, will one day find the desire irresistible.
“Bah.” I shook my head, too stubborn to give an inch. “Anyway, everything I’ve heard about the sages was that they were far from upstanding individuals.”
“That is because they were individuals. They never set out to be pious. They simply were mages of power beyond what others could grasp. Yet, they brought about knowledge, peace, prosperity, and happiness. Only those of envy and short-sighted thinkers felt the sages were a blight.”
“Aren’t you perhaps a bit biased, given you were friends with a sage and worked under one?”
“I’sa suppose there is some degree of bias, yes.” Rana agreed. “But I’sa was also a researcher, I’sa saw, I’sa understood more of the world than many others. I’sa was a nobody, my family was nobodies, but the sages gave us a chance to be more.”
I didn’t feel like arguing semantics or emotional reasoning any further with a being who had lived my lifetime hundreds of times over. So I shrugged, opting to change the subject.
“You mentioned your father is two layers ahead. Is there anything I should know going forward?”
“Someone of your strength shouldn’t be overly worried; these walls have already cleared of their strongest defenders. As part of the dungeon, I’sa can’t divulge the specific details about the layers ahead of you. Instead, I’sa shall tell you of my father. My father is much less inclined to idle chit-chat than I’sa, so there is a reasonable chance you will have to beat him into submission first. He does have his pride as the Dungeon Will. After that, well, you should get your answers.”
Then I can finally see Rosalina.
“Thank you.” I bowed my head to the floor guardian, meaning every word. “You’ve given me lots to think about and helped save me considerable time.”
“Hmm.” She was silent for a moment before winking at me. “Well, in return, you must visit again until the sages are re-established.”
“No promises on the sages.” I snorted. “But I will see about returning sometime in the future.”
“Good, then go.” She waved at the voidalisk, then disappeared with a pop.
Well, all in all, that could have gone plenty worse.
Looking around for my cat, who’d decided to nap nearby, I gently nudged the feline.
“C’mon, time to go.”
Roused, she arched her back, fluffing her tail before hopping onto my shoulder.
Really, who does she think she is?
Content I’d achieved far more than I had set out to achieve, I pressed my palm against the voidalisk, the standard column of light surrounding me an instant later.
“Let’s see where to next,” I said to my cat, rubbing her neck, before vanishing to the next layer.