“I’m here too, Earth. I won’t let River do anything stupid.” Autumn argued the next morning. We stood before a group of onlookers in the tower with each of us carrying our weapons as well as a pack full of things Wind forced upon us.
“I can’t say your own track record has been pristine.” Earth snorted.
“I know. You lectured us thoroughly.” An annoyed rumble came from deep in Autumn’s throat. “I’ve learned my lesson. We will turn back at the first sign of danger. We will not touch or interact with any inscriptions or objects even if we think they are harmless. We will only observe and report.” She tapped her notebook and charcoal pouch for effect.
“I find myself unconvinced.” Earth said, matching Autumn’s glare. “But I find myself outvoted by the others.”
“Our work could save the expedition months of effort.” I said.
“I never questioned the potential benefits, just your judgment.”
That’s enough Earth, let them go.” Rain sighed. “Be careful you two.”
“Good luck.” Wind nodded.
“Don’t spare the details.” Wolf said.
“Kick their ass!” My sister shouted from the back.
I merely sighed and, with a nudge from Autumn, stepped through the strange barrier. In the silent darkness of the stairwell I drew a fist-sized lump of impure quartz from my pocket that I’d carved with the arcane rune for light with Wolf’s direction. I pressed a trickle of mana into the base to activate the inscription, and the entire stone began to glow with an inner blue light, illuminating the narrow stairwell.
Warning, you have entered a region of high ambient mana.
Mana regeneration increased by 2.1x
“This isn’t foreboding at all.” Autumn said, but I could see the excitement working its way into her eyes.
“Don’t touch the walls.” I warned. “There are inscriptions on everything.”
Autumn snorted. “That’s what I’m supposed to say to you.”
The light of the stone sliced through the silence of the stone tomb as I led our descent down into the rock of the plateau. I paused for a moment at the edge of the tunnel to strain my ears in the silence.
“When you said ten paces earlier, I didn’t quite appreciate how large this would be.” Autumn’s voice echoed into the darkness. “Where do you think this passage leads?”
I pointed back up the stairs behind us. “North is that way, so this must lead from the edge to the center of the plateau.”
“The edge? But it’s just rock.”
“So was the stone slab above us.” I pointed out. “Only one way to find out.”
I stepped out into the center of the passage, forgetting for a moment the rope-like lines of runes strung out like wires across the floor. My claws clicked against the stone grooves and I felt the faintest pulse of mana beneath my paws. When I glanced down, I didn’t need my mana perception to see a faint wave of purple light spread out along the runes. It traveled down the hall and up the walls to the sconces where the yellow crystals began to glow with warm light. Then the next pair of torchest lit up, extending our vision into the tunnel. More and more followed until the entire passage glowed and flickered. One end terminated in a wall of rock while the one leading towards the palace ended at another chamber.
“Wow.” Autumn hummed, stepping out to join me.
“I swear I touched nothing but the floor.” I preempted the anticipated scolding, but instead she pulled along the tunnel to where the passage met the rough outer wall of the plateau. She stopped at the barrier, prodding the stone with her finger before shoving her entire head through the wall. I joined her.
One moment the wall rose before my nose, and the next I breathed in the crisp autumn air. A vista of rolling foothills, green forests, and hidden ruins spread out beneath me.
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“There was another entrance right here all along!” I said, laughing at the sight of Autumn’s disembodied head sticking out of the rock beside me.
“This isn’t exactly what I expected to see when I heard your voices.” Wind’s voice carried down from above. I craned my neck up to see him standing atop the ramparts far above our heads.
“Sorry Wind! Just looking, see you soon!” I yelled back before slipping my head back inside.
“Onwards?” I asked as Autumn joined me in the stale silence of the tunnel.
“Yeah. Let’s see what’s in this place.”
We turned and retraced our steps. Torch by torch we walked, stopping when the walls bowed outwards to where a pair of massive wooden double stone doors were set into walls on each side of the passage. These too were covered in complex swirls of inscriptions crisscrossing their surface. For once I wasn’t stupid enough to test my luck.
Well, maybe not. I could think of no logical reason why anyone would booby trap an inside door of a secure facility beneath a palace. Even if something did happen, I could figure it out.
I stepped towards the door, a distant part of my brain screaming to not be an idiot, but the rest of me ignored it. I did feel more confident down here away from the prying eyes of the expedition. I could handle a little inscription magic. My arcane mana pool pounded in my chest. The air thrummed around me.
Warning, you have entered a region of high ambient mana.
Mana regeneration increased by 3.9x
“I’ll go first and see if I can open it.” I said, reaching out for the door handle. I grasped at the stone handle only for my fingers to slip through as if it were just another arcane barrier. Raising my quartz light, I shoved my head inside.
Faint blue light spilled across a wide stone chamber. Half a dozen statues bearing fain resemblance to vul’heli and sek’heli stood in the center of a much larger room. Each stood some fifteen feet tall and were built with rounded limbs of stone and shimmering gold. Intricate interconnected runes ran up and down their every appendage, each converging on a spherical gap in their chests where a head-sized chunk of pure crystalline quartz filled the cavity.
Battle wounds marred every statue. Chunks of stone were carved from the torso as if by a sharp blade, while the metal on their limbs was charred, twisted and melted. I focused my gaze on the closest one when some familiar silver text appeared in my vision.
Royal Heli Protector (Golem).
Estimated Level: 413
Status: Damaged
Four hundred and thirteen! I swallowed. I didn’t really know what that meant, but it sounded powerful. Far stronger than anyone in the expedition.
“Wow.” Autumn whispered, her head poking through the barrier beside me. “Don’t give me that look. I saw your tail start wagging so I figured it was safe enough.”
“Ah yes, wearing my emotions on my butt. Such is my life now.” I sighed in mock exaggeration, stepping all the way through the door. I walked over to the damaged golem and ran my hand over the rough surface.
“Maybe these were palace protectors or guards?” I mused. “I wonder if they used golems like this throughout the city.”
“Or on the battlefield as a front line combatant.” Autumn agreed.
The rest of the chamber extended into a wide, wedge-shaped room that might once have stored many dozens of the golems, but now remained mostly empty. Arcane mana shimmered through a grid-like pattern of runes across the floor, coalescing in rows of divots shaped like golem’s feet. I imagined them as charging stations with rotating squads of ‘protectors’ defending the palace grounds.
“This place is so fascinating.” Autumn said as we returned to the main tunnel. A brief look through the other door had revealed a second room much the same as the previous. “I can’t help but wonder how much of the magic here has been forgotten.”
“Probably most. Wolf and the other inscriptionists don’t even know how to examine most of this work, let alone recreate it.” I said, only to pause in my tracks as I heard a strange squelching sound from the tunnel ahead. I met Autumn’s eyes and nodded ahead.
We crept further down the tunnel, pausing as it ended in a T-intersection with another tunnel of similar size and character. Instead of a straight passage, this one curved out of sight in each direction, ringing what I assumed to be the center of the plateau. I could taste the mana in the air here, thick and heavy. It Infused my every breath and coursed through my skin, making me feel light and powerful.
Warning, you have entered a region of high ambient mana.
Mana regeneration increased by 8.2x
I glanced at the notification. It had the word 'warning' on it, but I felt fine. Better than fine actually.
Then I heard the squelching sound again and I glanced down to see a small purple blob bouncing across the floor.
Arcane Slime: Level 1
Level 1? I thought, walking over to the small… thing… and poking it with my toe-claws. The slime’s membrane ruptured at my touch, splashing out a purple ooze across my paws that evaporated into a purple mist. Then that too dissipated into the air. Strange.
“I wonder if these are related to the thicker mana here?” I wondered, eyeing the new tunnel where several more slimes bounced around. “I remember something about mana spawning monsters.”
“Maybe there is a way closer. Let’s keep moving.” Autumn pointed onwards and I nodded.
The new tunnel formed a small donut around a central circle of stone. Every quadrant a new passage broke off like the spokes of a compass rose. Double doors, much like the ones to the ruined golems, were set into the space between them. Autumn and I ignored them, instead stepping on slimes and scouring the inner wall for any sign of a door.
Halfway around we found the bent remains of what resembled a three foot silver dragonfly complete with four gossamer wings and sharp thorny limbs designed for grabbing prey. Much like the golems, runes criss crossed its surface, each inscription pattern originated from a large quartz crystal set into its back. It lay awkwardly against one of the ethereal double doors with its tail sticking through the barrier
Royal Heli Dragonfly (Golem).
Estimated Level: 137
Status: Damaged
Unable to stop my curiosity, I poke my head and light inside. Instead of an open storage area for the large Protectors, I saw rows of stone shelves, each composed of hundreds of beehive-like hexagonal storage cells. Most lay empty, but some still held the dragonfly constructs within them. They glowed with the light of arcane mana.
Status: Operational
This time my tail wasn’t wagging when I retreated. As good as I felt today, I wasn’t going to mess with an active system like that.
We kept walking past the Eastern tunnel towards the south where at long last the symmetry of the tunnel changed. Instead of a southern spoke, a wide staircase descended deeper into the stone beneath us. We ignored the staircase for now, instead focusing our attention on a set of double doors set into the inner wall.
A way into the central chamber.
Unlike the other fake ‘doors’, this one actually stood ajar. Purple light seeped through the cracks to mingle with the flickering yellow of the crystal torches. I could taste the strength of the mana that flooded from the chamber. Autumn and I shared a grin.
“Shall we?”