The darkness inside the cave welcomed him in. Frederek continued to hold up a lantern to make traversing through here a bit easier. There were glowing mushrooms every now and then that they came across, but the lantern did a much better job of providing illumination.
He stepped through a wet puddle while noticing their shadows dancing around the cave’s walls.
It became more and more constricted inside. The air and atmosphere itself felt thicker the further in they went.
The sound of water dripping from far away made itself known as they entered a more spacious part of the cave. A familiar presence or energy motioned by them being drawn towards that chamber with the woman and altar inside of it.
He did not currently see the energy, he merely felt the subtle presence of it. If he wasn’t somewhat attuned to sensing it, he doubted he would’ve noticed it until reaching the main chamber. Nonetheless, he felt it passing by and through him.
The butterfly flew ahead of them all. He got the impression that they were quite eager to have them all here. They had only taken him here previously, but now they had much more. Unfortunately for them, only he could see or sense them.
It must be quite lonely for them. They could be around others, but it was as if they didn’t exist at all to any other being. What a sad existence. I wonder if I’m the only one capable of sensing them. If that is the case, then that would explain their willingness to visit me whenever they get the chance.
He began to spot the chamber they were interested in up ahead. The light coming from that chamber didn’t quite reach them, but as they got closer, the walls of the cave became increasingly illuminated by the light.
The presence of that energy grew more intense. Even the hairs on the back of his hands could in some way sense it as it motioned by him. We’re almost there. The cave was quite large so it took them a fair bit of time to reach this chamber. Now that they were here, he was feeling just a tad bit nervous.
He’d be a liar to suggest otherwise. There was even a bit of a lump in his throat and he truly had a concern over them getting caught. No matter what happened, he knew they were taking a major risk coming here. At the same time, there weren’t many other choices for them to take.
Since this new life of his began however, he had been willingly putting himself in dangerous situations and in many ways, found himself embracing them. This world required it from people like him. If he was to ever make things better for himself and others, he had to set aside the fears that emerged and walk past them including the fear of what they may uncover within this cave and how it may affect things going forward.
“Are you alright?” Lar said as she walked right behind him. She must’ve noticed him being a little on edge. If anyone would, it would be her. They were both pretty good at telling how the other felt after having their souls bound to one another for quite a while.
“Could be better, could be worse,” he said nearing the opening to the chamber. “What about you? How are you feeling about this?”
Lar made a pleased sound with her mouth. “We’ve got nothing to worry about. We’ll be fine.”
“Lar’s becoming quite the optimist,” Frederek said.
“Nope, I just don’t see the point in overly worrying. There’s enough of it going around already. I don’t want to add on to it if I don’t have to.”
Frederek pounded his fist into the palm of his other hand. “You’re absolutely right. Let us put aside such fears and dissuasion. We must tackle this issue head-on without any regrets.”
The path in the cave began to widen nearer to the opening. His eyes were forced to adjust rapidly lest he become blinded by the brightness inside the chamber. As they stepped foot directly at the opening, he saw the chamber filled with arcane roots, and at the very center lay an altar with a black-haired woman in a white dress laying atop it. She had been asleep there back then and even now.
Their friendly butterfly guide flew up and around the chamber as everyone, other than him, found themselves a bit astonished with what all they found within.
“My goodness,” Yorais muttered aloud. “Look at all of the arcane roots gathered inside of here.”
They protruded around the altar. They gathered along the walls and ceiling of this chamber. Their sizes varied, but many of them were as large, tall, or wide as a human being. Some were even larger than someone like Frederek who was a fair bit larger than the rest of them.
The energy he had been feeling since his arrival at the cave appeared much more visible as it found itself drawn to the many arcane roots. It was still faint and fairly transparent, but he could see it much more clearly in this place compared to the areas outside of it.
“Take great care,” Yorais said, “to not touch any of these arcane roots with your direct hands. These appear to still have a connection to the root itself.”
“How can you tell?” Silvy asked.
“Do you see how each arcane root in here has a faint white glow exuding off of them?”
“Now that you mention, yeah, I do notice it. But if I may, how is it that this woman can lay on that altar if it appears connected so to speak to all of the arcane roots around it?”
“In order for me to answer that question, I will need to examine the altar more closely.”
They approached the altar with Yorais standing more closely to it. They kept a safe distance away since the last thing any of them wanted to do was accidentally touch any of the protruding arcane roots that apparently—if Yorais was correct—were connected to the root itself.
“Kiran,” Yorais said.
“Yes?”
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“Do you have any idea who this woman is?”
“Not really. I just know she looks like the two maids who serve Lady Meredith.”
From where they stood, the woman’s feet were pointed towards them. She kept her hands clasped together on top of her body and breathed calmly as she slept peacefully.
“At first I wasn’t sure but now that I’ve examined it more closely, this altar appears to be an arcane root in and of itself.” It didn’t exude the same glow as the arcane roots around it. Its rectangular surfaces were immaculately smooth and fashioned by a true master of their craft.
“How is she not dead then?” Silvy asked.
“It must have something to do with all of these glyphs etched onto the altar itself.” He examined the glyphs and found himself unable to decipher any meaning from them. He remembered drawing some glyphs from one of his memories as Raelle but the meaning or purpose behind it was unknown to his current self. “Whoever etched these glyphs must’ve been a Glyph Master.” Before anyone could ask what the heck a Glyph Master was, Yorais grinned a little as she put up a hand in the air. “A Glyph Master is someone—as the name suggests—who uses magical glyphs. It’s for the most part, a lost magical art. Even I am not capable of using them even in a novice capacity. It was once a special kind of magic that was solely practiced in the most elite circles. Sadly it has fallen out of favor since the fracturing as those who know how to practice it seem to have gone extinct along with the knowledge of it as well. Perhaps someone out there knows how to use glyph magic, but I’ve never encountered anyone capable of it myself.”
His mind thought that whoever had fashioned this large arcane root into an altar somehow and then etched glyphs onto its surfaces, must’ve done so many centuries ago. That meant that this chamber was quite ancient if that were truly the case.
“What do you make of all of this then?” Kiran asked.
Before she got a chance to respond, the butterfly flew away from him and flew towards the woman on the altar. The butterfly flew down to the woman and hovered just a few inches away from their body so that the orb that surrounded them wouldn’t touch her.
“My educated guess is that this woman on the altar clearly has some kind of connection to these arcane roots. For what reason or purpose, I cannot say. It is profoundly odd and interesting however if I say so myself.”
Frederek muttered something under his breath. “Do you think this is the primary reason behind this domain’s faltering conditions?”
“It would explain a lot,” she said. “A ton of energy is being drawn here. I imagine even the least magically inclined amongst us right now can tell given all of these particles motioning by us.” She placed a finger to her chin continuing to observe the altar and their surroundings. “There’s only one way for us to know whether this woman has anything to do with it or not. We will have to take her off of the altar and see what happens.”
“Is it safe enough for us to do that?” Silvy asked.
“If we’re careful.” She began to pull out some gloves. “Kiran, would you help pull her off the altar with Frederek’s assistance?”
“Are you sure that’s the right decision for us to make?” Kiran asked.
“Do you have something else in mind?”
“Not really. It’s just I’m concerned about what might happen to her if we just take her off.” There’s more to this than what meets the eye. If we’re careless, things could get worse. Yorais likely knew this, but like himself, they could only learn more by trial and error. They didn’t have years to study things and contemplate such matters. They had to take action and do so knowing the risks involved.
Nonetheless, he felt frustrated knowing he had hardly any information to go on. So much of what they thought was nothing more than mere speculation.
“I’d like for us to be able to speculate further,” Frederek said approaching Yorais, “but I see no other choice than to do as you suggest.”
Yorais handed them both some gloves that would protect their hands in the instance that they accidentally touched a bare arcane root or experienced some kind of trouble with the woman and the altar itself.
Kiran began to go onto the opposite side of the altar. He stepped foot onto a raised platform that surrounded it as he made sure to not touch any of the protruding arcane roots. Frederek stood at the opposite end appearing ready to hoist her up by her legs.
I hope this doesn’t screw anything up or hurt her in any way.
He eyed Frederek who gave him a stern nod. As they both prepared to grasp onto the woman, he stopped what he was doing as he spotted several people suddenly appearing at the wide opening leading into this chamber from afar.
“Get away from her!” Evelyn’s voice etched itself into his brain. Sweat trickled down her brow and she breathed heavily in as it appeared she had likely sprinted in order to make it here in time to prevent them from interfering with the altar.
Beside her stood her sister Aphelia and Lady Meredith whose gaze was immensely frightened with what she witnessed within this chamber of hers.
Both he and Frederek pulled away from the altar. Kiran walked over towards the rest of them feeling a sick feeling deep in his gut. There’s no keeping this from Lady Meredith at this point.
Any hopes of keeping good relations with her side were likely impossible from this point on. Not only did he consort in some capacity with Lucias who she deeply hated, but he also came to this cave that she undoubtedly intended to keep a secret from everyone besides her and those she trusted.
Both Evelyn, Aphelia and Lady Meredith stopped their approach standing a comfortable distance away from the five of them. Even though they stood far enough away from each other, there was only so much of a gap between them that either side could attack each other at a moment’s notice leaving only a second or two of reaction time for either side to defend themselves.
While Evelyn maintained a furious expression, Lady Meredith’s was strangely kind and regretful. “Why have you done this Kiran? I have helped you and even made further preparations to try to help you and your people. I gave you my protection. I even sent these two with you to help you find those of whom you lost. Yet here you stand before me after all that I’ve done for you, with a dagger in hand, ready to shove it into my back with a simple twist and pull.” She began to furrow her brows as she tightly tugged the hem of her wide black dress. “What you’ve done is nothing short of a betrayal of not only my trust but of what is good and right in this world.”
Her words cut through him. He had betrayed her trust. Much of what she said was true. But are you deserving of my trust?
Yorais took a step forward being the closest to the three of them out of their entire group. “Don’t even begin to act innocent on all of this.”
“Excuse me? Who are you?”
“Yorias Dumiar. I am an adept sorceress and I have many questions and concerns over what I am witnessing here.”
“My lady,” Evelyn said cutting in. “Let me smite these vermin down for you so that they can no longer disgrace your good name and honor with their putrid presence.” Each word she uttered aloud was filled with venom. She was eager to bite into them and remove their heads from their bodies. He could tell just by the look in those frightening eyes of hers.
For the moment, silence took hold between their two opposing groups. The power disparity between them was somewhat unknown. Yorais couldn’t use magic so she wouldn’t be of much use in a fight. The rest of them could fight, but truthfully speaking, he wanted to avoid them from having to fight each other.
I don’t get the impression, that we’re going to avoid conflict. Things have escalated too much and I can tell just by looking at Lady Meredith, that she is very much desiring our blood to be spilled which is unsurprising. We have intruded upon her most sacred secret. We have trampled upon it and gladly ushered ourselves in proudly pronouncing to her, that we will tread all over her.