Eliax was the type of person who liked to think she saw most things coming. Usually she noticed connections easily, calculating their importance before the rest of the world even realized they should look for them. But with that ability came a startling amount of tunnel vision.
As the musician burst through the door to the bed and breakfast carrying a sack of apples with some type of stringed instrument slung across her back, Eliax reflected that she really should have noticed that the musician had the same facial marks as Alsen.
Eliax looked up from her breakfast, stared at her for far too long, and then resolved to ignore the issue. Chewing on the Reasle meat with a bored expression.
Illila didn’t seem to like that idea though. She centered in on Eliax, made a kind of shrieking noise, and was at her side a moment later, vibrating from ear to ear. “You’re staying at the Lazy Dryad! This is my aunt’s place!”
Eliax set her fork down and tilted her head at the musician. “Huh.”
She sat down across from Eliax before she could properly object to the idea. “So I was right! You aren’t from around here.”
Illila had never voiced that suspicion before. She seemed to want something from Eliax with the statement though, uh…what did people usually respond with? Right… “I’m from Ceruleia.”
The older girl whistled slowly, “That explains the weird accent.”
Eliax scowled.
Illila grinned, “So how long are you in town for?”
“Just a month or two, I’m investigating something personal.”
“Nice nice! So I can show you around then? Are you free…right now?”
Aaaah.
Eliax liked having warnings before this type of thing. Especially if she didn’t have much of an idea of what to expect. She contemplated saying no, she was rather busy. Besides, a properly done tour would probably need stronger mental shields than what she currently had up, there was no telling what she might encounter.
But at the same time, she got the feeling that being on Illila’s good side would be helpful in the long run. For one her aunt owned this inn, so she would most likely be around the area often, for another, she had a rather obscure skill set and could probably get Eliax into some otherwise unattainable places.
Setting her fork down, Eliax felt a hesitant smile spread across her face, “Alright, give me an hour.”
--
“You know where we should start?” Illila asked. Her arms were spread wide as if embracing the air. “The Palace, it’s a pretty interesting place.” She nearly tripped as the instrument on her back wobbled, but she caught both herself and the device smoothly. The way she walked reminded Eliax of a dancer in some ways.
“Sure.”
“What do you know about it already?”
Eliax shrugged, “The Last King lived there? He had like a million children, right?”
The musician nodded, “Yeah. But no one really uses it for anything anymore, it just sits there and looks nice, cause you know, failed succession wars.”
“Seems like killing the king wasn’t the smartest thing the Hero did.”
Illila grinned, “Nope, definitely not, but it’s still cool to see the ruins.”
Eliax frowned, “Don’t they at least chase off squatters or something?” That seemed like a disaster waiting to happen…If anything, the rich people would complain.
Her smile faded, “Most of the soldiers were ordered away by Her Majesty a couple of years back and their families simply moved to the new capitol to compensate. What we’ve got left is barely enough to keep the walls safe at night.” That Eliax understood. Reiaran was used to being the capital city of Melor, it certainly wasn’t structured to lose protection in favor of a more important city.
They were silent.
Eliax slowly watched the towers and sweeping lines of the palace move closer with every step. Before she knew it, they were on the palace steps, walking through the enormous doors.
I remembered this. I remembered walking through these very same doors, they were cleaner though, and they opened smoothly beneath my hands. Guards lined up along either side of the path forward, inadvertently guiding me toward the king. My mind was filled with anger, fear, and a touch of anticipation. I would have my peace, one way or another.
Blood in the sand.
It was all paint. The blues and reds mixing together were nothing but paint. Eliax let out a long breath, feeling the tension in her chest rise as she forced the memory to the back of her mind. Later. She would process it later.
Illila didn’t notice her unease as they continued onward, passing through doors, entering the servants’ halls, peeking through tiny peepholes at the throne room as memory after memory poured through the gaps in her defenses.
The throne room was locked from every avenue of entrance, they probably didn’t want looters to strip the four golden pillars of their leaf or to pull the gemstones out of the walls. It was truly a sight though to see the lonely crown resting on the throne, the empty suits of armor resting on their swords, the stained glass windows depicting Gium’s gifts.
If I could make a gate, we could go in there. The thought was unbidden, but Eliax still heard it. Perhaps…in the future.
Illila motioned her to keep going, leading her through the servants’ halls once more.
They stopped above the main ballroom, Eliax gawked at the sheer size of it and Illila let her. “I used to come here as a kid and just explore. It doesn’t have the best rap thanks to all the squatters around, but usually they keep to themselves.”
Eliax found her hand straying to her belt knife, which she took everywhere these days. Traveling alone in an unknown region as a young woman, even if she had some weird advantages? Well…it was always best to have several backup advantages.
Illila grinned, pointing at a particularly sturdy door, “You want to check out the dungeon? I heard it’s haunted by the ghosts of everyone who was ever executed by the Last King!”
The younger girl blinked at her slowly, “Really?”
“Oh, definitely. My cousin was in the dungeon just last week and heard some weird noises.”
Eliax felt like this cousin was just spreading rumors, but she wasn’t about to claim as such just yet. It was more than possible that the souls hadn’t been exorcized properly. “Hey, do you know any light spells? We could probably check it out.”
The musician grinned, “Nope! We could find a torch though, I think there’s one somewhere around here…”
Eliax handed her the one she’d been eyeing and Illila blinked at it for a moment before casting a utility warming spell a couple of times before it caught on fire. After a moment to make sure all was well with the light source, the two relatively young Tuvei worked together to pull the rusted hinges away from each other. It was rather damp in this area, corroborated by the faint scent of stale mildew that wafted up from the dark interior.
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The temperature changed noticeably as Eliax followed Illila down the stairway. The walls were cool to the touch, almost icy the further down they went. The stairway felt longer than it was though, Eliax had an excellent sense of the space around her and distance was just another facet of that. Besides the ceiling being a couple of times thicker than the rest of the palace, she could tell that they were essentially just underneath the ballroom.
“This place is enormous.” Illila explained helpfully, “It goes under every part of the palace and it has a second level below that. In some places, it even goes deeper.” She gave Eliax a sideways look, “You uh…you’re good at navigation, right?”
“I’m a Dimensionalist, Illila.”
“Oh! Perfect! No chance of getting lost then. Can you teleport or anything?”
“Ehhhh, not yet?”
The musician grinned, “Well, as long as you can guide us back to this door, we’re fine.”
They walked in silence for a long moment, Illila seemed a lot more bothered by the place than Eliax was, she flinched every time she heard a noise, even if it was just Eliax tripping over a loose stone.
“So uh…You’re here for Starsbane then?”
Eliax blinked at Illila’s back, “What?”
“I mean, there’s not many places to get dimensionalism training. I can’t see anyone coming all this way just for that though. There’s got to be qualified teachers back in Ceruleia.”
Eliax simply shrugged, “I’m not here for that.”
“Oh, come on, what is it then?”
“I told you already, it’s personal.”
“You and I both know that-” Illila stopped in her tracks, “Did you hear something?” She whispered.
Eliax sighed, “No.” She said back, quieter than before. “I couldn’t hear it over you digging into my personal life.”
Illila sent her a hurt look, but they both silently listened to the sound of nothing for several heartbeats, simply standing in the darkness.
Eventually, Eliax sighed, “Sorry I was being defensive about it, my actual reason just bugs me because it’s not working out as quickly as I’d hoped.”
Illila shrugged, “Well, I’m really pushy, sorry about that too.” She frowned at the ground for a moment and started walking again, Eliax behind her. “So are you going to share or do I have to keep guessing?”
“I…would need to think about that. I told someone the other day when I was frustrated and I’m still waiting for that to backfire.”
“What, are you a secret grandkid to the Last King and don’t want anyone going after you?” Illila guessed, “I swear that’s half the city at this point.”
Eliax snorted, “I’m pretty sure I would hate that more. No, it’s not some weird lineage thing, I have no idea who my parents were.”
Illila smirked, “Ohhhh, so maybe you’ll find out and then be a secret grandkid to the Last King!”
“I would rather die.”
“You’re right, we can’t all be as cool as me.”
“Ahh, so you have some weird lineage thing.”
Illila sighed, “It doesn’t really mean anything since there are so many of us, but it sure makes a girl wonder what life would be like had things been different.”
“I’ll just have to call you princess from now on.”
“Princess of spooky dungeons. That doesn’t seem very fun.”
Eliax shrugged, inhaling slowly, catching a slight stench of rot in the stale air.
I remembered darkness. Pain. anguish. I remembered the burning desire to destroy all that had destroyed me. I remembered his face, pleading for salvation as it faded away into nothingness. The stench of rot throughout it all. The sorrow on the battlefield as every living thing except for me vanished without a trace, leaving nothing but the dead behind.
Eliax closed her eyes, letting out a long breath as she pushed the memory aside. So far, she hadn’t been able to look through all of them, just a couple of the easier ones. There seemed to have been some event in the memories. The closer they were to that event, the more difficult it was to watch them.
And so they were covered with paint and buried beneath the sand. She would have to try and fix that soon, it was probably why she was making so little headway.
Illila made a choking sound. “Elie…do you smell that?”
Elie? That was interesting. She nodded though, not hanging onto the strange feeling that getting a nickname warranted. “Something died down here.”
“Do you think we should leave? I think maybe we should leave, right?” She kept on walking though.
Eliax frowned at her, sparks this woman was terrified. “Yeah, we can turn around if you want.”
The musician relaxed marginally and the two of them stopped. Eliax took the torch and examined the walls for a moment, letting Illila calm down for a second. After a bit, she found a second torch and lit it with the first one, giving the new one to Illila. If they somehow got separated, it was better for the terrified one to have light for longer.
Illila was staring down the hall as she accepted the torch. “I didn’t notice before since I was right next to the torch,.” she said, her voice trembling slightly, “but there’s a light that way. Do you think maybe it’s an exit?”
Eliax didn’t feel like explaining that they were still underground so unless the ceiling collapsed somehow, it wasn’t an exit. She simply shrugged, not seeing much of a reason to not check it out. Besides, if it was somehow a way out, she could leave sooner. “Sure. let’s see.”
And so they kept walking.
When Eliax finally spotted the light, it seemed more like a lantern than the sun, it wasn’t steady enough. They turned a corner into a room that Eliax assumed had been some sort of guard breakroom or something. It had a very worn round table and a couple of suits of armor at any rate.
What the two of them focused the most on was the young man sitting at the table. He was tuvei, but his skin was the darkest that Eliax had ever seen, it was still gray, but it almost looked ebony black in the lighting. Strewn across the table were pages and pages of notes, several empty inkwells, and two broken pens.
The guy himself nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the two of them, which was fair since Illila did exactly the same thing, with the addition of a small yelp, which she cleverly covered with a cough.
Eliax just sort of stood there, holding her torch and examining the room for anything that might be lethal. The whiff of rot was stronger over here, which wasn’t a great sign.
“I didn’t do anything! Did Raendus send you? Tell him I didn’t forget about the game on purpose! I-”
“Who’s Raendus?” Eliax asked calmly. Staring straight at the stranger.
Illila seemed a lot less anxious now that she had someone to allegedly blame for her earlier terror. “Never mind that. Who the heck are you?”
His eyes went wide, glancing between the two of them as if wondering how long he was going to live. “I’m Niun? Are you…not here about me missing the game?”
Eliax sighed, “That’s Illila, I’m Eliax. We were just exploring the dungeon. If neither of us is going to kill each other, we can just go our separate ways and pretend this never happened.”
Niun nodded vigorously, seeming relieved at the idea.
Illila simply narrowed her eyes. “What are you doing down here?”
Eliax sighed but didn’t interrupt her. Niun looked distinctly as if he’d rather be anywhere but here.
“What? Are you planning a murder?”
It seemed like Illila did this to everyone…
“What no! I don’t kill people!”
“Alright…alright…so you’re not going to murder anyone. What about sabotage?! You’re planning on ruining someone’s life!!”
“That is entirely unrelated to my presence here. I’m literally just studying.”
Illila planted her hands on the table, standing across from the strange man. “So you are planning sabotage.”
“Well yes, but that’s none of your business.”
Eliax continued to watch, marveling as slowly, Niun broke under the pressure and told her everything.
“Who’s life are we ruining? Don’t worry, I’m on your side.”
“It’s just one of my classmates. You know Starsbane, it’s all competition there-”
“It’s more than that. What did he do?”
“Well he’s dating the girl I like-”
“Ah that would do it. What’s his name, maybe I can spit on him.”
“Jiuehn. He’s an empath and he’s like…one of the Last King’s grandkids-”
“Oh yes, I hate them,” Illila said, nodding wisely. There wasn’t a hint of deception in her bearing. “But full disclosure, he’s my cousin.”
“-and he- wait really?”
“Yeah, green eyes, taller than the forgotten sage, acts like a stuck-up dragon kisser. Anyway, you said there was something else illegal you were doing down here?”
“Oh, yeah I-” He clamped down on his mouth, “I never said that.”
“But it’s true.”
He threw his hands up into the air, “I’m a necromancer. Happy? Do you need me to tell you about my childhood now?”
Illila shook her head, “That’s all I needed.” She glanced at Eliax, “We can go now. I just had to make sure I could still do that since you’re immune to it.”
“I’m not telling you my secrets until I make sure it’s not going to bite me in the butt,” Eliax said lamely, making a quick note in her book about the earlier resonance now that she had time.
Niun was simply staring at Illila, having no words, “Usually when people hear about the necromancy bit they react.”
“At this point, I just want to go home. Eliax! Lead the way!”
And…so they left.