The archmages tried dissuading Hazelmere for a long time. However, with Heartwell firmly on her side, she had no intention of making any compromises. One could even say she was stubborn, to the point of arrogance.
In the end, Hazelmere evoked the privileges given to her by the Emperor himself: submit to the will of the royal subject or face the consequences of defiance. Seeing that the devil has claimed the joke, the mages fell in line.
The party had two days to prepare. Peratha, despite her many protests, volunteered to go. Four other, regular mages went with her, together with twenty soldiers. Getting the soldiers on board was very easy once Hazelmere declared that any riches found which aren’t deemed useful for their current mission, will be given to those who explored the ruins. Kortan also volunteered to go, but Heartwell refused his request, saying that his large frame would easily get stuck in a narrow tunnel.
So, the party descended into the ruins, with little ceremony.
---
Two days have passed since then. The days were very slow, with almost nothing to do besides observing the portal. The lack of Peratha’s outgoing personality made the camp feel empty to the other mages, there was much less conversation going on, and the topics became dull. That made Hazelmere realize Peratha wasn’t that bad, even though she always found her to be annoying on some level, mainly because she never cared if she hurts the people’s feelings with her lame jokes. Yes, she was annoying sometimes, but she knew how to carry on an interesting conversation and, most importantly, she had a natural gift for grabbing people’s attention when necessary.
“Oh gods, listen to what I’m saying,” she thought, “she had? I’m talking as if she’s dead. Talking to myself, no less.”
As soon as that idea crept into her mind, Hazelmere felt something tighten in her chest. It was something she has never felt before. The idea that someone may get hurt because of her wrong decision hit her suddenly. She didn’t hesitate when it was necessary to make that decision but now, when she had no idea what was going on down there, the idea started tormenting her mind.
She tried all kinds of rationalizations to deal with it: “Peratha is the best combat mage in the entire Empire, her skill and combat experience are legendary. There’s no way she’d get hurt by some lowly monsters. She has explored the dungeons before. It’s nothing new for her. She knows better than anyone what she’s doing. She’ll keep both herself and everyone else safe.”
However, no matter how laughable the idea was, it was always present in the corner of her mind. The idea that she may be the one who has sent the Empire’s best offensive mage to her death.
And many others with her.
Hazelmere shook her head to get the thoughts out of it, making her canine ears swing left and right as she did so. She stood up from her bed and went to see Mizette, who was observing the portal at the moment. During the last two days, she realized that the best way to get those dark thoughts out of her head was to keep herself busy. The conversations with the other people were especially useful. Even if the conversation was dull and not engaging at all, it would help get those thoughts out of her head.
In a twist of irony, this caused her to talk with the peasant soldiers more often, especially Heartwell. And, while he wasn’t a good conversationalist, he did prove himself to be a good listener and a surprisingly welcome distraction. Unlike the other soldiers, he didn’t try to impress her with useless feats or over-exaggerated stories of his fictional achievements. He was content to just … listen. And it was a welcome change.
“Have you seen anything new?” She asked Mizette as she approached.
Mizette straightened up and started rubbing her eyes.
“I saw something that looks like a wolf today, a whole pack of them. They just walked past the portal, didn’t care about it at all.”
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“Are the nights still chaotic?”
“Yes, they follow no rhyme. When it is day in our world, it could be either day or night out there. This morning it was as dark as midnight, but now their Sun is already up.”
“Yes … Sun. Do you think they have another Sun out there?”
“I don’t know how there could be anything but eternal darkness otherwise. Without Sun, the darkness would swallow the world.”
“But, how can a good god like Sun exist in hell?”
“Maybe their Sun is evil? I mean, life can’t exist without the energy, so I guess even the hell must have its Sun or his equivalent.”
“And yet, he can’t melt the ice. Maybe their Sun is also good but is just too weak to affect the hell.”
“Or the evil on the other side is just too great for Sun to deal with. It would make sense if we are talking about the hell itself.”
“Some would consider that idea blasphemous.”
“I am very eager to hear their explanation. Oh yes, there was another strange beast. I saw it just before you came. It looked huge, but it was among the trees, so I am not sure. Maybe it is still out there, let me see.”
Mizette closed her eyes so she could see clearly, placing the fingers of both her hands on the big stone.
“Oh, it’s still here! Come, take a look at it.”
Hazelmere approached the stone, putting her fingers on the other side of it.
In a few moments, the icy wasteland filled her vision. It took her some time to orient herself in the featureless landscape. First, she saw the line where the ice ends, and the normal ground begins. It didn’t take her long to notice her own camp in the distance. Then, she realized the portal must be right behind her.
And right on its edge stood a huge beast.
Yes, stood. Unlike the other beasts, this one didn’t walk on all four. It stood tall, leaning its back against a tree. Like all the other beasts they saw on the other side, this one was also covered in thick fur. And, like the weird, monstrous deer, this one was also bizarre. It was massive, both in its height and girth. And yet, its head was way too small. It was completely disproportionate to the rest of its enormous body.
Hazelmere noticed that the beast was moving in place. Its legs stood still while its back moved back and forth.
“Oh, it is scratching its back on the tree,” Mizette realized, “it almost looks cute for a murderous monstrosity.”
“Just look at those massive paws! How would we even stop that?”
“It is huge so, hopefully, it is also slow. Besides, the fur should be very easy to set on fire.”
Mizette felt the mood dampen without opening her eyes.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to …”
“It’s ok. You said nothing wrong. Fighting it with fire makes perfect sense.”
“If anyone can survive the ruins, it’s Peratha.”
“I know.”
“Oh, look! It has friends.”
Looking through the stones, Hazelmere saw three more beasts emerge from among the trees. These were of the same kind as the one near the portal, but they were much smaller.
“Cubs, perhaps?” Mizette asked.
“I guess even the beasts have their young.”
Shortly after, the big beast laid on the ground, clearly unbothered by the freezing ice in the slightest. Meanwhile, the small ones ran around, sometimes even wrestling each other.
“Yeap! Definitely cubs!”
“Aww, look at them. They are so cute when they aren’t murdering something,” Hazelmere did her best to over exaggerate the sarcasm.
With nothing better to do, Mizette and Hazelmere watched the beasts run wild. That lasted until the big beast stood up on all fours and looked directly at the portal.
“Oh, no. Don’t you dare,” Mizette uttered the meekest threat of the millennia.
“You think it wants to cross?”
“It’s looking this way for too long.”
“Just because it is looking at it doesn’t mea … oh, nail me!”
“No! No! Go back!”
But the beast didn’t listen. For a moment, it stopped right in front of the portal, as if it was wagering something.
And then, it took a step forward.
“Do you think it’s through?” Mizette asked.
However, there was no reason for Hazelmere to respond. As soon as the beast has stepped through the portal, its small ears perked up. It stood up on its back legs, clearly alarmed. After looking confused and frightened for a few moments, it turned away and ran back into its world.
“That’s the most relief I’ve ever felt in my whole life,” Hazelmere said while clasping her hands in prayer towards Sun.
“Hazelmere, do you know what this means?”
“What?”
“It means that our hypothesis is most likely true. The creatures on the other side can’t move into our world without getting hurt, just how we can’t move into theirs. Their energy is conflicting with ours!”
Hazelmere looked at Mizette, who had the purest expression of happiness on her face.
“We’re safe! Just how we can’t get into their world, they also can’t come into ours!”
Mizette ran into Hazelmere with full force, almost knocking her down, giving her the tightest hug she could.
“Even if there are demons on the other side, there’s no way for them to come here!”
It took a while for her to break the hug. Hazelmere just stood still, like a statue.
“Quickly, we must tell the others! We must send a messenger to the palace, let everyone know there’s nothing to be afraid of!”
But instead of happiness, Mizette found only grief on Hazelmere’s face.
“Are you … are you telling me I’ve sent Peratha and the others into the ruins for nothing?”