Soulburned: The School of Souls

Chapter 19 (Part 2): Widening Cracks

Magnus led Thale into the depths of the wall. The light of the barrier shone through the few arrow slits that were indented into the outer wall, illuminating what would have been an otherwise dark passageway.

"What's the plan?" Thale asked.

"Marelda built more than just a bomb." Magnus said, "Catch." he threw a small amulet over his shoulder.

Thale caught it easily in the hand that wasn't holding the Shrive Blade.

It was made of copper, and stamped with the Thymos glyph. The Thymos mark was in turn flanked by two identical glyphs. Thale recognized the rune for transport, the rune of duplication, and the rune of destruction. He was unable to parse the amulet's function.

"What is this?" Thale asked.

"Marelda called it a 'Thymic Resonator', it's supposed to allow us to pass through the barrier."

Thale's eyes widened in shock.

"Pass through? Isn't the shield impenetrable? The Kovites have been trying for weeks."

"Not for Marelda, apparently," Magnus replied. "But be aware that these came with some pretty significant warnings..."

The duo came to a stone wall, which was inlaid with an archway carved directly into the mountain, where the base of the Brow met the Wall.

Magnus pushed Eros into the archway, and the framed stone seemed to melt away. They stepped through, and the stone re-solidified behind them.

Thale could hear the Horrophant's assault through the stone wall, the extreme vibrations made his teeth chatter slightly upon each impact. They were close.

And what are these 'warnings'," Thale prompted.

"The Resonators can only pass through the banner twice. One in, one out. After that, they disintegrate."

"Makes sense..." Thale said, his voice now echoing in the widening passage. "If someone carrying one of these was killed, or captured. The Kovites would have a hall pass through the barrier... What else?"

"Well... They might just flat out not work." Magnus said, "We'd just immolate ourselves against the Barrier as tried to walk through. "

"Oh." Thale said, "Is that all?"

This man is going to get me killed, Thale thought.

"No," Magnus continued, "it's not. She said that they were charged by the Thymos present in the barrier, and there's more than a non-zero chance that our Mage bodies will reject the Thymos outright. We'd be poisoned by it. We'll know the moment we put them on if that's the case.

"Great," Thale said, then slipped the leather cord over his neck.

He didn't die.

Magnus laughed, then wrapped his matching amulet over his head.

"Glad we don't have to worry about that possibility."

Eventually, they arrived in a circular chamber.

"Is this the Crystalrium?"

"No, this is a scrying chamber. You saw the Horrophant, but that's not our target. At least, not exactly."

Thale frowned.

"Alright, show me."

Magnus pulled a stone from his cloak and dropped it into the small dish of water.

A birdseye view of the valley appeared.

Magus dipped a finger into the water, and the image zoomed in.

"This is the Kovite encampment nearest to where the Soul-Eaters and Horrophant are excavating... And this," Magnus said, pointing at a specific building. "Is where we believe they're housing their summoning crystals. This is the target. Marelda insists that her weapon would destroy the Soul-Eaters, but we're not going to take that risk by engaging them directly. Frankly, I don't like our chances."

"So, what are the crystals?"

"They're what's tethering the Accuresd to our plane. If we destroy the crystals, we banish the Soul-Eaters without ever having to fight them, or their murdered elephant... Marelda would prefer we trial her first batch on the Soul-Eaters directly, but between you and me, lad, the woman is insane."

"O-kay..." Thale said.

His apprehension of this whole situation was growing rapidly.

"We won't be able to fend off a single Soul-Eater, let alone two. We're completely outclassed here, so this is a stealth op...Do you know 'Chameleon'?"

"No, it wasn't part of the Warder Vocation," Thale said.

"I'll show you. It's not invisibility, that's a fairly high-level wizard Wizard's spell, but it works in a pinch. Watch."

Thale focused on Magnus's Eros. The man was pulling large quantities of his Eros to the outermost layer of his skin, then twisting it around, braiding the energy into thin cords.

"Chameleon." Magnus intoned.

Magnus's skin shimmered, then began bending and reflecting the light around his body, making his silhouette appear to blend with the tank cavern wall.

Thale agreed, this wasn't quite true invisibility, but in the dark, this would be just as good.

"There are some drawbacks," Magnus said as he blinked back into observable existence. "You'll be unable to speak, or cast a spell without reappearing, and due to how the amulets work, we won't be able to be camouflaged while going through the barrier."

"Why me, Magnus?" Thale asked, "Surely one of the veteran Guardians would be more suited to this... I can't even use the Blade properly, I'm a liability."

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Magnus nodded.

"Yes, you are." he said, "But, how many of my men have squared off with a Soul-Eater and lived?" He arched his eyebrows at the younger mage, "Just you Thale, and you did it even after you were completely drained!"

"Yes, but-"

"But nothing, lad!" Magnus shouted. "If you're not up for it, fine! But just let the sword take ye, and I'll give it to Sylane. Otherwise, cast the spell."

Thale tried, pushing the Eros he'd received from Sylane that morning to the edge of his skin, just like he'd seen Magnus do.

He failed.

''Again," Magnus said.

It took him four more tries, and an Eros infusion from Magnus before Thale finally managed to cast the spell.

He blurred out of focus.

"Yes!" he exclaimed.

He popped back into view.

"Again," Magnus said, "You need to have this down, we'll be casting under duress."

Thale cast it again.

And again,

And again.

"Magnus..." Thale said once he'd mastered the spell. His Eros throbbed with the exertion.

"Boy, if this is more self-doubt, I swear-"

"No, no. It's not that. It's just...this," Thale gestured at the scrying pool "is a lot. It's not just me and you going out there... right?"

"No, me boy. It's not. You're going to be the one running point of this, though. Think of it as a... belated audition."

"Excuse me?"

"What I'm saying, is that I hope you've got a wizard you can trust, lad. You're putting together a team."

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The boulder melted away from the tunnel's entrance, and then, like the passageway in the Wall, it rematerialized behind them.

Thale was outside the walls. The barrier stood a little over a hundred yards away, across a rocky field strewn with boulders and the debris of long abandoned guardhouses. It shimmered brightly in the cold night air.

The Horrophant trumpeted, but it wasn't quite as loud here. Magnus had taken them to a secret exit about a mile away from the Accursed's probing. It would take the Sclerians time to creep closer to the Kovite operation, but they would be less likely to immediately stumble into an enemy patrol.

The plan was simple. Use the amulets to exit the barrier, activate their camouflage spells, then creep into the makeshift Kovite Cammp.

Plant the explosives, then get out. If everything went the way it should, they'd be back in their beds long before the sun came up.

Thale crept out into the night, slowly weaving towards the barrier. Declan padded silently behind him, a dark eyepatch covering one eye.

Thale had been surprised at how quickly Magnus had accepted his suggestion to bring Declan since the wizard was injured, and just as green as Thale.

"It's important to have a team that you trust," Magnus had said, "If that's Captain Mornstag, it's Captain Mornstag."

Thale had been even more surprised by how readily said newly-minted Captain had agreed to the mission. The wizard had leapt at the assignment instantly, clearly tired of lying around.

And now, they were here. Magnus, Thale, Declan, and two others from Thale's old squad. A simple foot soldier named Barlow, and a woman by the name of Ryandra.

"Just like one of our ruin runs into the First District, eh Cap?" Declan whispered.

"I'm not your captain anymore Declan, and be quiet!" Thale hissed.

Declan winked at Thale, somehow managing to make the distinction clear, despite the eyepatch.

" Sorry, Lord Guardian,", he said through a smug grin. "I did not mean to offend."

"Guardian Vesper, do not make me regret approving your choice of subordinates. Once we are through the barrier there will be no speaking. All directions will be given over Pulse Stone. Simplified Scleran Pulse code.

Barlow, Ryandra, and Declan all wore the standard-issue Quickwood, and each was equipped with a short bow and an arming sword. All wood and steel had been blackened to eliminate reflections.

Thale and Magnus both wore their Shirve Blades on their backs, slung inside a special half-scabbard that would still allow them to draw quickly.

They both wore a full suit of Void-Plate, just as much for stealth as it was for protection. Thale had requested permission to only wear a partial suit of Void-plate, but Magnus had insisted on him wearing the full regalia.

"These are Accursed, lad." The Guardian Commander had said, "I'll be near to top you off if needed, so there's no reason to compromise on safety, besides, the sooner you get adjusted to the plate, the better. I can't afford to have one of my Guardians side-lined much longer."

Everyone in the party wore a pair of amulets, the Thymic Resonators the Artificer had made, and a standard issue Pulse Stone. The Pulse Stones were just made of simple rocks with a glyph transfigured onto them. If one were to press on the glyph, all nearby Pulse Stones with a matching glyph would vibrate for the same period of time that the glyph had been pressed. They had once been the preeminent form of long-range communication on the continent but were made largely defunct by the advent of Sending spells.

Now, the Pulse Stone's only real application was military operations.

The group reached the barrier. The white energy of the shield hummed ominously.

Declan silently cast a spell. He'd concealed his Mark beneath a black bandana, but Thale still saw it flash green as the spell completed.

"I'm not picking up any nearby Logos, besides ours." Declan said, "No signs of intelligent life for a few hundred feet, at least."

"Good." Thale said, "Activate your Resonators and pass through. No speech from this point onward. Pulses only."

Thale channeled some Eros into the Thymic Resonator.

As it activated, Thale was flooded with a sudden rush of emotion. Everything he had already been feeling was suddenly amplified as the Thymos in the amulet mixed with his own. Not being a sorcerer, he was blind to whatever was actually happening to the Thymic portion of his soul, but that didn't mean he wasn't aware of something happening.

Excitement, apprehension, self-doubt... nothing alien, just his own emotions bolstered. He didn't like it.

If someone wasn't in a good head space... these things could be dangerous_ he thought.

The sudden influx of emotions faded, leaving Thale feeling only slightly more aware of his emotions than usual. It was still uncomfortable, and for some reason reminded Thale of the night he and Magnus had had to carry Adler down into the Sanctum...

He walked through the barrier.

Thankfully, he didn't immediately burst into flames.

Another win for Marelda... he'd have to properly be introduced to the Artificer at some point.

Passing through the barrier was an odd sensation. For starters, it was unexpectedly cold, and it clung to his skin as he forced himself through. It felt like he was swimming upstream against a particularly rapid river.

He broke through. The barrier snapped back into place behind him, leaving only a vague blue outline of his body where he had breached the surface. The outline was faint, but it didn't fade either. He made a mental note to tell Magnus since testing these amulets was a major objective for their mission.

Half of the amulet crumbled into dust, and Thale breathed a quiet sigh of relief to find himself standing on the outside of the barrier.

Chameleon.

Thale's body blurred and blended with the snow and rocks of the Mountainside. Beside him, he heard Declan cast a similar spell over himself and the Soul-Blind Barlow and Ryandra. Declan's spell seemed to also fall short of true invisibility, but at least it had the added benefit of being able to work on more than oneself.

The Pulse Stone around Thale's neck vibrated.

Dash, Dot, Dot.

The Pulse Code for the letter 'L', which, in Simplified Scleran, was used to say "Left."

The group merged on Declan's left.

"Prolonged Quiet." the wizard cast.

All sound of their footsteps and shifting armor was muffled into near silence as the illusion spell took effect. It wouldn't allow them to speak, and any sound louder than a clap would bypass the spell entirely, but as long as they moved slowly and stuck to the shadows, they'd be ghosts.

They moved, beginning their assault on the Kovite camp.