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…their project opened the door to the Heavens for everyone.
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He shook his head and looked back at the others. “How…” He began. “How are these trees still alive? They look like someone has tended them. Where do they get water?”
Vic said something, but Matt didn’t hear. He knew plants, and he knew what they needed. A tree didn’t just grow into a beautiful tree, a flower didn’t just appear. And…
“Where are the insects?” He asked and pointed to a nearby rose. “I’ve never seen flowers without insects. There should be insects everywhere to pollinate the flowers. And look,” he pointed to a tree with small, white, delicate flowers. “That’s a magnolia. And that’s a rose. And…” He pointed to a third flower breaking up from the damp ground. “That’s a tulip. How do they grow at the same time? This isn’t possible… It just doesn’t make sense.” He shook his head in incredulous confusion and looked back at the others. “I don’t understand.”
Vic snorted, then laughed.
“What,” Matt said. “What’s so funny?”
Vic answered, “Matt. You are standing in a cave lit by magic crystals, carrying a weapon that can emit a cloud of sharp blades and wearing a robe that just screams violence. You are in the company of people that can wield fucking magic, walking around in an ancient city with buildings that could have been built yesterday, except they could not have been because nobody knows how to build like this.” He grinned, throwing his arms wide. “And this is where you draw the line–that tulips and roses grow at the same time?”
Pete and Thor were also chuckling now.
He grinned abashedly back at them. “Yeah… you are right. But still. How? Why? There must be some kind of magic that preserves everything in the caverns.” His thoughts caught on a stray memory, and he bent down to inspect a blade of grass. Picking it, he brought it up closer to his eyes. Delicate threads of essence wove together familiar symbols, wrapping the tender plant in a pattern of magic. Squinting as he peered closely, he studied the filaments. He recognised more and more of them. That symbol always connects to that one, with the blue essence running through it at a sharp angle to a thin yellow line that intersects with… That’s the same pattern as Vic’s tunic, or Pete’s shield! Why would the same symbols work for a shield as for a blade of grass? Perhaps–
Matt bent down to look at a flower, seeing the same patterns, when Mia touched his shoulder gently.
“Let’s keep going,” Mia said. “Somehow, I think there are more wonders waiting. Do you hear the water?”
She pointed to a small, simple building that was half hidden behind some trees, where, almost like small bells, the sound of babbling water could be heard faintly. It was the first sound other than themselves they had heard, and they walked eagerly towards its source.
A small house nestled serenely in green surroundings, overlooking a small pond. Its structure was simple and elegant, the roof sloping gently downwards to curved eaves. A simple wooden platform extended from the house to hover over the pond, and Matt walked out to look down at the water. And again, his breath caught in his throat.
He paused for a moment, and then simply stared down into the pond, where a large golden fish was swimming around in lazy circles. A fish? A fucking fish? He stood transfixed by the sight when he suddenly heard Vic shouting something.
“What?” he began, but as he turned, he saw what Vic was pointing at. Five large white lurkers were running towards them from a corner of the square, their bodies low to the ground as their arms and legs scurried across the surface. At the same time, their high-pitched screeches hit Matt like a sonic wall, nearly causing him to stumble.
Matt just had time to bring his guandao around to face the monsters when a thin arc of blue shot out from Thor’s hands, striking one lurker and freezing it to the spot. Pete was already running towards the monsters, shield up and sword drawn, and Vic had moved over to protect Mia.
Steeling himself, Matt ran forwards to join the battle, finding himself in the middle of it sooner than he expected when one monster veered towards him and jumped. He remembered how the lurker in the farming cave had avoided his spear point at the last second, and he pushed essence into the guandao as he swung it towards the monster. As before, the monster avoided the direct strike of the blade with an impossibly quick dodge, but this time, the unseen blades of the magic weapon connected. A large chunk of the monster’s shoulder spun off, blood pouring out of the wound a moment later as the monster shrieked its bone jarringly high-pitched scream.
Grabbing the opportunity while the monster was still dazed, he spun in place and brought the guandao down in a hard cut, which went through the monster’s back, killing it instantly and cutting off the scream. He registered a strange feeling of controlled strength in his movements that was new, noticing his new robe glowing more brightly.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Looking up, he saw Pete locked in battle with two of the monsters; his Cleave having wounded one of them severely. While he watched, Thor froze the wounded one just as the other monster struck out for Pete. Pete lifted his shield, and… Did the creature’s movements just slow down? Matt didn’t have time to observe for longer when he heard a scream from Mia. He spun around, and his spine ran cold. “Vic!” he shouted, “hold on, I’m coming!”
Vic was on the ground, desperately trying to defend himself against the vicious slashes of the last monster. He was flickering in and out of sight as he tried to engage Hide, but something in the relentless assault prevented him from staying hidden. Every time he disappeared, a claw would find him a split second later and make him visible again in a small shower of blood. Running as fast as he could, Matt knew he was too far away to help as the white lurker swung first one clawed hand into Vic’s side, before the other raked down his scalp. Mia was nearby, her hand already glowing with green as she rushed forward to help Vic, disregarding the danger to herself.
Vic was as good as dead, and then Mia would fall moments later. Matt shouted in anger, hoping to distract the monster, but received no reaction. Running flat out, he was desperately trying to figure out how to save Vic and Mia when a series of strange flashes filled the area, blinding Matt with their intensity.
A strange quiet fell over the area, and when he regained his sight moments later, he gaped in confusion as the monster lay dead next to Vic. Mia skidded to a stop next to him, her hand already extending to the wounds. Bewildered, Matt spun around to find Thor and Pete standing over more dead monsters.
What the fuck just happened? He wondered. “What was that? Mia? Is he ok?”
“Hush,” she said. “I don’t know what it was. Find out, and let me work.”
His hands were gripping the guandao hard as he turned in a slow circle, trying to figure out what had just happened. He replayed the events in his head without coming to any sensible conclusion: he had been running; the monster was about to cut Vic open, and then the cave had flashed with intense light.
Then a thin voice broke the silence.
“Humans.” The voice was so faint that for a moment, he thought it was just the wind.
Then the voice spoke again, sharper this time. “It has been such a long time. Yet evidently, not long enough.”
Silence filled the garden as small pinpricks of light flashed into existence all around them. The wondrous display started with just a handful of glowing wisps, then a few more, and then a cascade of colour rippled into existence. Tiny specks of blue and red and orange and green and every other colour in between bathed the garden in kaleidoscopic colour. Small motes of sparkling energy that hovered in the air, or buzzed from place to place, or lazily traced arcs as they flew around.
Watching the spectacle in amazement, Matt tensed as a grouping of a dozen specks of intense, fiery orange light flew in formation straight towards him. He shifted his balance slightly as he gripped the handle of his guandao more firmly.
“Why am I not surprised that your first reaction is to grasp for your puny weapon. To attack, rather than to talk. Aggression, rather than reason. Calm yourself, human. We will not hurt you. Today.”
Today? He had a moment to wonder what that meant before a glow of orange approached him rapidly. Somehow, he knew the voice that had spoken had come from that tiny orange glint, and he fixed his eyes on the approaching glow, unable to see what kind of creature it was.
He tried to make his voice steady. “Stop,” he said, holding a hand out. The other hand gripped the guandao firmly, and as the wisp halted two strides away from him, he squinted at the strange glow and could make out… Crystal? He could vaguely see the shape of a small, brightly orange crystal with wings. No larger than the tip of a finger, he saw small, delicate arms, legs, a torso, and a small head. Fantastically thin wings of translucent crystal beat rapidly, their blur-like flutter producing a soft, humming buzz.
“What… Who are you?” Matt’s voice broke slightly. He had seen nothing like this before, and so far, everything in the caves had tried to attack him.
The small creature drew itself up before bowing deeply.
“You have the honour and the pleasure of meeting Mariant, First Squire to Queen Clarabelle of the Crystal Fae. It is my duty, unpleasant as it may be, to welcome you back to the Caverns of the Lost.” The tiny creature paused a beat before lifting its small head, staring straight back at Matt. “Welcome, human.”
“I…” Matt started, before shutting his mouth again. He had no idea what to say. Crystal Fae? The creatures were obviously intelligent, and they spoke their language. What… Who is that Queen? Are they dangerous? They can talk, and… he looked around in apprehension. Hundreds of brightly shining pinpricks of colour hovered around them. There are so many of them. Do they live here? There are hundreds of them, and the colours… Do they have magic?
His eyes focused on the corpse lying on the floor. They killed the white lurker, just like that. The creatures were no pushovers. How did they do that? His thoughts were racing, throwing more and more questions at him.
Mia poked him gently in the side, jolting him back to the present. He shook his head to clear it before making an awkward bow back to Mariant.
“Greetings, Mariant. I am Matt. This is Mia,” he gestured to her, and then introduced the others as they came forward. “I must admit, I’ve never met anything… anyone, like you before. What, if I may ask, is a Crystal Fae?”
“So, not only are you stupid. You are ignorant. And you do no not think before asking questions. Why am I not surprised? If I were to ask you; what is a human, what would you answer? Would you point to yourself and simply declare that you are a human? So, let me do that. I am a Crystal Fae.” The creature gestured to itself.
“Or perhaps you might refer to yourself, to humans, as a more intelligent animal? Well, so can I. I am more intelligent than you, and that makes me Fae. Regardless, your question should not even be worthy of consideration, but I will make allowances if it speeds this conversation towards its end. We are the Crystal Fae, and we have come to conclude our pact.”