Osipheus

Osipheus sat in an opulent Grand Study encased in glass on all sides, placed directly in the center of his Library. He stared out at his massive Realm, the size of most large planets, with none of its real estate wasted.

Standing, he appeared over at the far edge of his study with a simple thought, he watched the thousands of copies of Bel’s cloaked forms, doing different tasks as they performed their duties as a synchronized ballet.

Filing detailed reports on each matter Osiph was currently investigating, running experiments in each of his Laboratories, even a team of dozens that had been working on creating a prototype Mana Fluxuator that siphoned the ambient Mana from one location to feed it to another, for the last few epochs.

After completing its final preparation, he dismissed the Avatar he had on the boy’s homeworld. If he had kept it active for much longer the solar system would have ceased to exist, in order to fuel the clone after the Mana batteries powering it ran out.

Osiph currently had thirty-seven similar Avatars conducting across several universes, all tasked with high-priority incidents such as the one on the unnamed world the boy was from, though they were all on planets that had the Mana necessary to trickle-charge the avatar's Mana batteries.

Osiph moved his hand through the air, a short chilled glass materializing in his palm. Inside was a purple liquid that hissed and released a gaseous carbonation that smelled sweet like tropical fruit.

Bringing it up to his lips he paused, the moment he came into contact with it, the liquid immediately started losing color and its carbonation throughout the glass, turning to ordinary water.

“How many times must I tell you not to do that? Do you know how hard it was for me to find an Inquklarian Queen to make that brew?” Osiph said turning to face his former mentor.

On the other side of his mahogany desk stood a Dragonkin with light blue scales and piercing yellow eyes with slanted irises. His purple and gold robes floated around him in his Divine Aura.

“I have younglings in the deeper floors, turn your Aura down Sedrith, you’ll kill the poor bastards.”

Contracting his Aura, his robes fell under normal gravity, as he took a seat in one of the chairs beside him. He grumbled under his breath before speaking up in his gravelly voice.“Such toxins are a crutch for the weak, boy.”

“It helps me deal with the giant pain in my ass Branch Head, that pops in from time to time,” Osiph said, walking over to take his own chair, while Sedrith did not appear amused.

“Why have you called me here boy? I was in the middle of an assignment given by the Director. You know how insufferable he can be.”

“How insufferable?” A monotone voice asked, as its owner appeared to the side of the pair several feet away.

Tekka, the Director of Pinnacle Hall was a Second-Era Deity making him one of the oldest and most powerful entities in the multiverse apart from the First-era Aspects. He stood in a kempt three-piece suit with a pink kerchief folded in his breast pocket. He appeared as an ordinary Elf, undistinguishable from any mortal, were he to walk amongst them once more.

They both stood abruptly, placing their hands over their chest in salute.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice, Director,” Osiph said. “I have urgent news for Knowledge regarding Project Augendus. They must be informed at once.”

Turning from Sedrith, Tekka looked at Osiph with his pale white eyes, as a presence washed over them.

All three were second and third Era deities, capable of tearing through galaxy clusters like cloth, but all three genuflected, falling to their knees as they were graced by the closest thing in the Multiverse to an actual God. The supreme being known only as Knowledge, one of the First Era beings along with the Aspect of Death and the Aspect of Devotion, who backed the Cirice Pantheon and their followers.

Osiph sensed the touch from Knowledge in every atom in his Library and felt as the being absorbed every memory and piece of information Osiph had collected over eons, in mere moments.

“Well done, Lichkin,” a melodious voice said in his mind. “Very well done indeed.”

***

Cassieus Hinari

“What kind of little things?” I asked Kira as she stood, picking up her odd staff.

“I can’t see them,” she said. “I feel their movements through vibration, I’m not a Seer.”

“Why don’t you tell us what you can while we begin exploring the area?” I said. “We should stick together anyway, being this close to the temple.”

“I can tell you that they’re underground and there are a lot of them. There are far too many for me to get anything like patterns or nest density from this distance.” She explained, as we began walking around the edge of the biodome, finding that there were more concentrations of Mana crystals closer to the structure, as we collected a handful of Water and Death affinity crystals almost immediately.

“Based on the environment, and the fact that it’s a non-flying swarm-type Death affinity monster, my money is on either Runsak Goblins or Getra Numliques,” Isamaar said.

“What’s a Numlique?” Fras asked.

An image from a Beasteriary on common Summons in the Deserts of Jrak came to my mind. The creature had a bark-like skin and legs that had three separate joints in each that bent in different directions, giving it a wrongness that defied words. Each limb had long branches extending from them and ended in a growth of tendrils that it used as hands. An orange mane surrounded a humanoid skull that held sunken glowing red eyes and a mouth of sharp fangs.

It was truly the stuff of nightmares.

“Horrifying creatures if you ever run into them. Not nearly as depraved as goblins, but they are extremely dangerous. They are about four feet tall and use their bodies as flexible weapons to immobilize you while you are devoured.” Isamaar explained. “ The Numliques are servants to the Getra Queens that birth their broods. They do not think for themselves and are extremely territorial, fighting with instinct over strategy. They will break off into packs to search for food and maintain their territory. The Queen will be intelligent and once she is aware we are there will coordinate her troops as a hive mind.”

“What about the Goblins?”

“The Runsak variety are larger than their cousins that you would find as normal land summons and are Death affinity Shamans, usually of the necromantic sort, as they worship death as if it were a god. They are semi-intelligent beasts who only care about killing, praying, and fucking, and prefer to take hostages alive for later…entertainment. They mainly use traps and ambush tactics to whittle down bigger groups and are not very strong in direct combat alone, but they are fast and will not try to fight without reinforcements.”

“Foul creatures,” Kira spat with deep hatred in her eyes.

“How do we tell which of the creatures we will be facing?” Trennel asked.

“Usually, it ends up being whichever one is more dangerous, so Numliques most likely,” Isamaar said, letting out a dry laugh. “Lass? As we get closer, keep an eye out for their patterns, if the seem clustered into small groups, or if they are moving as more of a single force with only a few broken off from the main group, let us know.”

Kira nodded, tightening her grip on her staff.

“Goblins will be more organized. Sending patrols of only a few scouts out regularly in their territory. That has its own problems, as their Dexterity is above average, and their senses are abnormally high, able to sense Mana even in small traces. So once we are found by one, they will escape and alert the entire clan.”

“So sneaking in is out of the question?” Fras commented, looking my way.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Everyone looked at me, Isamaar answering. “With your condition, evading detection will be next to impossible with either option. Even with a masking item, the item itself would have a Mana signature capable of tipping off the Goblins.”

“And if it’s not Goblins?”

“With how the Numliques patrol in large packs regularly, I couldn’t see us getting very deep before they found us just by running into us.”

Gathering another cluster of Death crystals, I placed them in my ring, wiping the soil off my hands. “Let’s finish collecting everything we can, then get started. There is no point in speculating further. If it’s Goblins, we’ll stay together and have Kira and Trennel's spiders scout for ambushes and Fras for their traps. If it’s the Numliques, we find a defensible location and lure the creatures into Fras’s traps while the rest of us pick off the stragglers until it’s clear.”

“Will that work?” Fras asked, avoiding a grouping of trees in his path.

“For the Numliques yes, but for the Goblins they will catch on quickly and adapt accordingly, so it won’t work for long,” Isamaar answered. “But you can’t plan for every possible outcome, so it will do for now, and we can improvise if the situation calls for it.”

“Alright, let’s pick up the pace and get in there,” I said, as we increased our speed around the undergrowth toward the far side of the oasis.

***

An hour passed before we climbed the stone steps, approaching the entrance to the Temple, an enormous square entryway over fifteen feet tall. The stone that the Temple had been built from was limestone with fading red clay paint, revealing the rough surface beneath. Walking in, the temperature dropped rapidly as we moved into the shadows of the wide hallway. The beam of sunlight let in by the entryway, illuminated fine murals and detailed reliefs over every inch of the wall space on both sides. They depicted a large body of water with a metropolitan city built on rafts.

I pulled out a Mana torch from my ring and infused Mana into the Runes. The enchanted firestarter ignited the tip creating light further into the hallway, revealing the curvature of the hall several paces ahead, leading to the left. Following the story further, I stopped when I recognized the temple in which we were currently standing.

In the center of the raft city floating in the air above was a stunning crimson temple, decorated with statues of gold at the end of the long staircase that led to the metropolis below.

Atop the structure were five pillars of light shooting toward the sky, each emanating from a small stone gazebo with an Altar placed inside.

“The Altars?” Trennel asked, coming up behind me, also studying the right side of the wall.

“I’m assuming so,” I said.

“That was easy,” Fras said, joining us. “Just find the Relics, and bring them to the top. Piece of cake.”

“I have a feeling it won’t be that simple,” Trennel responded.

“Kira? Any signs of their movements?”

“They are all grouped together in different areas, most of them are still below us.”

“Numliques then?” Fras asked.

“Most likely. Based on the size of the temple, and how the path curves almost immediately, my best guess would be that this is a maze or something similar,” Isammar agreed. “We are probably meant to navigate the path underground while searching for these Relics, which have no doubt been taken by the creatures inhabiting the area. My advice would be to antagonize the creatures into following us outside, where we will have more mobility and access to paths of retreat. It will also help keep any individual from getting singled out and separated from the group.”

“Sound idea,” I said, thinking it over. “We should have Fras set up traps leading out to slow down reinforcements, and we need to do something to funnel them into more manageable groups.”

“I can handle that,” Isamaar said. “It won’t last forever, but I can create sheets of ice to divert some of the traffic exiting the temple into a small enclosed area, where Fras can set up more traps. We should set those up first before I start as the heat will quicken the ice melting.”

Directing Fras out of the temple and back down the stairs, Isamaar showed him an ideal spot to begin setting up, the rest of us following to keep watch out for danger while they worked.

“You there, boy,” Fras said, pointing at Trennel. “Tunnel.”

“It’s Trennel,” he corrected.

“Right, sorry. Trennel,” Fras apologized. “You said you have the Spatial affinity, yes? Can you move some of this dirt for me? I have a pit spell, but the efficiency leaves something to be desired, and it will only work for a certain volume of earth.”

“How large do you need the hole?”

“Fifty square yards, and ten feet deep,” he responded. “Start from twenty paces away from the temple doors and extend it south. I’ll start on the traps in the entrance first.”

Nodding and turning to face the temple, Trennel began circulating Mana in his body.

Holding out both arms, a large disk appeared hovering in front of him, ten feet in diameter. He slowly rotated his arms clockwise, the disk spinning faster and faster until it whirred and hummed at intense speeds.

Trennel lowered it into the mud, the spell sinking in like a mill blade, and began steadily walking backward, the disk following underground.

The soil that the disk passed through, vanished, before being deposited out of a matching disk in the distance, leaving a deep crevice in the earth.

He made it fifty paces before turning and dragging it back towards us, widening the trench further. After about fifteen minutes he stopped to take a Mana potion before he made the last few passes, leaving a massive pit with small pools of brown water at the bottom.

“This will do nicely. Thank you… Trennel.” Fras said, clearly trying to use repetition to help remember the young boy's name.

“Give me forty-five minutes to set this up with some shifting wire traps and a coal bed. Then about fifteen for the impediment traps leading in from the hall.”

“Someone will have to stay behind to entice the creatures to voluntarily throw themselves into a trap. Numliques will be easier to trap, but they will not attempt it if there is nothing to gain from entering the area,” Isamaar said.

“If you construct a dome of ice that starts at the edge of both the left and right side of the trap, and create ice spikes across a section on either side, the creatures may believe they can cross using those, and if you make the ones in the middle brittle, it would plunge them into the hole.” Fras offered. “Also, leave a section missing at the top to let the heat escape before it melts the ice.”

“That could work, but creating that many spikes will take a decent amount of time. Once I begin shaping the walls, they will be on a timer this close to a heat source. It may not be worth it. The dome would be ideal as it would prevent them from escaping over the walls to join the rest of us, but I think we should just use it as is and discard it once it has served its purpose.”

“Could we move the walls further back,” I asked. “Then block the path with some more Ice walls?”

“It would slow them for a bit, but they will eventually overcome it. It will be better to leave no room on the edge and just deal with the time crunch. If someone is going to play bait, I’ll leave an opening at the back of the pit for an escape.”

“Isamaar,” I asked. “Would you mind staying here as the diversion and then rejoining the group once we have whittled down some of their numbers, or until they stop going into the trap? You’re probably the most adept at close combat if things go south and you have to get out of there.”

“I’ll do it,” Trennel offered. “You don’t need to leave an escape since I can just teleport out. This will trap those remaining inside once we regroup. Will you leave some room for me at the back of the pit, Isamaar?”

“Not a problem,” he replied.

I looked at the young noble with a questioning glance, but he gave me a short shake of his head. I decided he knew what he was doing more than I did, so I resisted the temptation to ask.

“How will we lure the creatures out of the temple?” Fras asked, pulling out an assortment of Mana crystals and two worn scrolls that he consulted before exchanging two of the crystals for smokey black ones.

“Kira?” I said, looking toward the young woman. “You’re probably going to be the best at drawing their attention.”

“I’ve got a taunt spell that will work,” she said. She looked toward the temple entrance and then back at me. “Or we can just make a lot of noise. That will probably do it.”

“Alright, it sounds like we have a plan,” Fras said, hopping down into the pit and walking over to the far corner, placing down the crystals and holding up one of the scrolls.

In my mind I asked Mel, Can you keep all my senses open while I’m in the Library?

Mel walked into my vision, rather than popping into place like normal. “I’m still getting used to seeing out of human eyes on my own. When you see something, your brain processes that image before I see it, but when I control it during your meditation, it takes focus and it feels odd. I can practice with your ears and try to build up, but as of now, no, it is still just sight.”

“Isamaar, can you block off the entrance until we are ready to enter? I’m going to meditate for an hour while Fras finishes up with the murder hole,” I asked, glancing over at the section the large man was working on.

The wet soil hissed and sputtered against the bed of unquenchable coals that Fras was creating over an area in the far corner.

A cloud of steam filtered over the lip of the pit and caught in the warm breeze that ran throughout the oasis.

“It’s not a murder hole, it’s a carefully devised trap,” Fras called out over his shoulder.

I saw Isamaar grin as he walked over to the entryway placing his palms on the stone just inside of the temple. Blue-white Mana surged from his hands supercooling the moisture in the air. It crystallized into shape, forming an anchor on the stone to create a stronger foundation for the entire structure. It extended out slowly retracing the helix patterns, thickening them with each pass until it resembled a single sheet of ice as tall and thick as the Dwarf, three paces long.

Taking a seated position a short distance away from the pit, I relaxed my breathing and sunk into my Meditation Ability, appearing in my luxuriously soft bed.

I walked over to my wardrobe and opened it up to several outfits of my own design hung from display racks. I picked a purple and blue set of comfortable robes and willed them onto my body.

“You ready?” Mel’s voice came from behind me.

I turned to see her in a matching blue gown with velvet trim, and a purple headband holding back her short hair.

“I’ve been putting it off for too long,” I said, resigned. “Let's go to the Vaults.”