Chapter 40

“There has to be some other way to do this, you must have missed something,” Sani protested.

“I know your emotions are saying that, but there just isn’t another way to solve this,” Kraevos replied. “I have spent hundreds of years going over this system, looking for a different way, but I have found no solutions. The only ideas I’ve had would clearly have catastrophic results.”

“So it needs a person to hold the stone, why can’t we just find someone else!” Sani yelled.

“Sani, this isn’t your choice to make,” Vella said, trying to reassure her friend. “This is my decision to make and if you have any faith in me, you will respect that.” There was an uncomfortable silence in the air as Sani struggled to accept what was going on. “I know Kraevos wouldn’t have set this as our course without considering the outcome. If he says I can handle it, then I believe I can.”

Sani took in a few deep breaths and looked at Vella first. She stood with her resolve firm, not a single look of hesitation on her face. Then Sani looked to Kraevos and saw a look of resignation on his face. Vella was right, this choice hadn’t been made carelessly, it had to be the only course of action. At last, Sani sat and shook her head, “Fine, fine, I do believe in you Vella, I just wish there was another choice. You’re right though, this isn’t my decision to make.”

“That is true,” Kraevos interjected, “Nor is it min to make.” He stood up and placed his hands on Vella’s shoulders, locking eyes with the young woman. “What I ask of you is no simple task Miss Vella, that much you know. Many great people have gone mad with the sort of power that you will be inheriting. Good or bad, it does not always matter. Absolute power such as this always has a way of corrupting a person. I have watched bad people become mad gods and good people become twisted and hollow versions of themselves. It has taken truly the best of us to bear this responsibility and still stay true to the individual. I wish I had another way Miss Vella, but I do believe that you have the hope to see this through. You have the heart of a real leader and just maybe that will allow you to avoid the temptation that has led so many others down the wrong path.”

Vella’s gaze did not waver as she spoke, there was a confidence and conviction to her words that carried her intent through. “I know what you’ve seen Kraevos, but this power hasn’t always corrupted. You yourself told me that the Huntsmasters have never given in. You both need to trust that I can handle this as they have. This whole issue started from choosing people with innate talent over those with the right intentions and morals right,? I certainly like to think that my own moral compass can guide me through this and even if I struggle, I have the rest of you to keep me on the right path.” Vella paused, choosing her next words with care. She scrunched her mouth tight, thinking of exactly how to explain how she felt. As she did Kraevos and Sani couldn’t help but be in awe of how she was handling the situation and the burden she was about to bear. The timid girl who’d come from the dragon farm was gone and instead, there was a determined woman pressing forward in her place. “Lie the book has told me and like you did when I first met you Kraevos. Magic is neither good nor bad, it is all in how we balance it and let it flow through us. It is the strength of the spirit and the resolve of our character that tells us which way we will go.”

Tears began to stream down Kraevos’ face as a memory struck him. That final sentence from Vella was words he had heard so many times before from his own daughter. He embraced Vella in a hug, holding her tightly, though his eyes locked onto the book, sitting on the table behind her. He mouthed a soundless “Thank you,” before he released Vella. “It has been centuries since I have heard those words, though they remain as true now as they ever were. I still don’t understand how you have this connection to my daughter, but it brings happiness to my heart to know that in some way it is her spirit, her heart guiding you as she used to guide me.” Kraevos wiped his tears away, oblivious to the rest of the world as he felt his heart beat with the pride of a parent.

“Guys, I’m sorry to break this up, but I’m pretty sure that we have more than overstayed our welcome here,” Sani interrupted. As both Kraevos and Vella looked at her, they could hear muffled voices and other sounds coming from outside the wall. “Pretty sure there’s some company out there waiting for us, so I’d be ready for a fight.”

Kraevos stepped forward, placing his hand on the wall, ready to bring it back down and begin the fight. “Wait,” Vella said, “We don’t need to bother going through any of the other guards. I know how to get to the room that Kraevos needs.”

Kraevos turned around, a look of confusion on his face, “How?” he asked.

In reply, Vella merely tapped her finger on Precia’s book. She stepped forward and placed her hand on the opposite side wall of the cell. “Portios,” she said as a large swirling portal formed in front of her. “Alright guys, follow me,” she said before stepping through the portal.

Both Kraevos and Sai followed through the portal, which dumped them into an unfamiliar room. “Vella, how did you do that? It took me years to master the minor teleportation spell I have and that only works for places I have been.” Again Vella simply tapped the book with a smirk on her face. “I have to figure out how to read that I suppose. Don’t get me wrong, I understand a daughter not wanting her father to read her journal, but at this point, I’m just frustrated.”

“If it helps, the only reason I could do that is because the book seemed to know that we would have to get back here. I don’t think I could have done that to get any place else, besides, that felt weird. I don’t think that’s normally my type of magic.” She was shaking her hand, trying to get the feeling back to her fingers after using the strange magic to open the portal.

The three of them began to look around and noticed that they must be near the end of the hall, close to their destination. Suddenly their attention was diverted by a loud crashing noise as a cloud of dust filled the air. As Kraevos sent a gust of wind to clear the dust Sani gathered one of the plants from her hair, yelling out “Grandios!” as she did. The plant launched roots and vines out and entwined the intruders coming from the cloud of dust. As the cloud cleared there were clearly two figures in the entanglement and as they came into focus they could see that it was Aren and Moren that had been trapped.

“Gods above Sani put me down!” Aren yelled out as a vine tried to wrap itself around his face. With a snap of her fingers, the vines and roots began to retract and Sai placed the plant back into her hair. With a dull thump, Aren fell to the floor, Moen on the other hand landed Gracefully. As Aren began to brush himself off and push up from the ground he asked, “How did you three even get out of the dungeons? Thought you were gettin’ yer brains scrambled an whatnot.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“What does outlook like you lummox, we broke out,” Sani retorted sarcastically. “What are the two of you doing here?” she asked back as she helped Aren up.

Moren dusted himself off and replied, “We were coming to get you. We simply decided to take a straight-line approach, even if that meant breaking a few walls.” Sani leaned and looked past the two of them and saw several broken walls and dust coming from multiple rooms away.

“You are masters of subtlety,” Kraevos said as he rolled his eyes. “I expect this from Aren, but youMoren, you tend to have a little more tact.”

“Well our cover was blown after we punched out the headmaster, so we figured we might as well have a little fun, besides, you did tell us to cause a scene,” Moren replied with a grin.

“Yeah yeah, breaking stuff is fun,” Sani said jealously, “But where exactly is this room we are supposed to be heading to?”

“It’s below the academy actually,” Kraevos replied.

“Umm. Kraeos,” Moren interjected hesitantly, “I’m not sure how the designs have changed since you were here, but we’re already on the lowest floor of the building, there is nothing below us but the ocean.”

“Yes, I know that,” Kraevos replied with a sly smirk, “And that is exactly where we will be going.” Before the others could really understand what he meant, Kraevos placed his hands on the floor and a blue circle began to form around the five of them. “This room allows us to transport well below the academy, to the cavern where we found the most important vein of the stone. Now if you don’t want to get soaking wet or eaten by a sea creature, I suggest you all get within the circle and stay like this for the next few minutes as we travel.” As he finished speaking, the glow from the circle intensified, and each character and symbol began to revolve and spin in a rhythmic pattern. The floor began to shudder and rip away from the room, starting to slowly go down. As the slab began to sink the view changed and everyone could see the ocean below, the rocky cliff edge, and the wavebreakers near the edge. The magic of the circle began to slowly climb, forming a cube-like protective barrier around the five of them as they continued down to the ocean. After a few moments, they could see the mass of rooms that made up the academy hovering above them. To their right was the sheer rocky cliffs of Horath and to their left was nothing but the endless looking ocean.

Aren looked down, gazing at the waves crashing up against the cliffside. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m plenty comfortable with the water an all, but are you sure this actually works, Kraevos? I’m not sure I’m even a strong enough swimmer to get back to a shore that isn’t cliffside.”

“Of course,” Kraevos replied, “At least it worked the last time I used it, though I do suppose that was over a thousand years ago. Hopefully, the cave hasn’t collapsed and no one has discovered the stones down here.” He chuckled a bit too madly for the taste of the other four, but they trusted the mage nonetheless. As he finished laughing the platform began to pick up speed until it hit the water. There was no resistance like there should have been, the platform moved frictionlessly through the ocean.

Vella marveled at the fish that she saw, though they seemed to be terrified of what was going on. As they approached the ocean floor it began to glow and an opening formed in the sand and the platform sank further still. After a few moments of complete darkness, there was a moment of blinding illumination where silver magical lights began to glow all around. The platform had come to rest in a massive chamber under the sea floor.

“See,” Kraevos said confidently, “I told you this would work. We are all perfectly fine.” he turned and smiled back at his allies, though they clearly had not reveled in the trip like he had. “Now if you will all follow me, we can get right to work, after all, the faster we get out of here the sooner Emeria falls,” Kraevos said with a note of excitement in his voice. “This is just the entranceway, large, but nothing truly important by comparison, through this tunnel lies the main chamber and that is where all of the magic truly happens as they say.” As they walked along Vella couldn’t help but catch the infectious enthusiasm that Kraevos had. Getting to this location made all of her hopes seem real, maybe just maybe they would actually be able to defeat Emeria. She couldn’t wait to see the main chamber, because she found this part plenty impressive on its own. The entrance chamber was large, stone was cut from every side and every angle, but unlike any cuts Vella had seen before this appeared to be done through magical force. There were swirling patterns on the stone from the force of the magic that looked like waves.

Kraevos paused for a moment in front of one of the walls. He tried to maintain his smile, but Vella saw a break in his composure. She felt bad for being excited to be here when she remembered that this was where Kraevos had suffered his greatest loss. “Through here, my friends is the main chamber. That is where we will need to do our work. I would however cover your eyes and look at the ground to acclimate a bit. Entering the rooms can be quite blinding, especially if unexpected.” With a wave of his hands, the stone wall in front of him began to disappear and the chamber was flooded with the most vibrant, swirling light that any of them had ever seen. Rainbows cascaded onto the walls, colors swirled together and pulsed in patterns too fast to make out. Despite following Kraevos's direction, Vella still felt the sting of the light on her eyes and it was bright enough to nearly shine through her hands.

Kraevos stood at the front of the five, letting the flow of magic wash over him, taking in one deep, slow breath at a time as he returned to a place that held many memories both good and bad for him. As the others began to acclimate to the light, he began to speak, he pointed to the heart of the room, where the shimmering stone was the most open, the center of the vein. “I will need to perform a ritual to do this, but we need to gather a few of the supplies I have left here first.” he pointed to Sani and Vella, “You two, head into the supply chamber there and grab everything you find in it.” He pointed across the room to a door-size opening, “That would be the supply chamber.”

As the two headed off, Kraevos motioned for Aren and Moren to come closer. He pulled the metal frames from Lazzure out of his cloak and began to affix them to his hands like gauntlets. “What I tell you now, I do not say lightly and honestly I am only telling the two of you because I trust that you will follow through with all of this and won’t stop me. It will be up to you four to see this to the end.” His demeanor had changed, the enthusiasm he had mere moments ago had faded into a stoic seriousness that worried Aren. “After things have transpired here I need you to give this to Sani and this to Vella,” Kraevos said, handing Aren two notes with their names on them. “I wrote these while I was in the academy prison cell. This last one should answer any questions you have after that,” he said as he handed one last letter to Aren, this one titled “Instructions.”

Aren looked at the letters in his hands and made a confused face at Kraevos, “Why do I need to give them these letters, can’t you just tell them what’s on it yerself?” he said, though in his heart he already knew the answer.

With a heavy sigh, Moren said what both he and Aren were thinking, “This means you won’t be around after this will you Kraevos?”

With sadness filling his serious eyes, Kraevos replied, “Perceptive as ever, Moren. As I have always told you, magic is a give and take. There is always a price for power. The ritual I must perform is the same one that took my daughter from me and I shall suffer the same fate as her I believe.”

“You can’t be serious,” Aren said as his heart sank.

“I am sorry my friends that I cannot see this to the end, but I will be seeing my daughter again soon, at least I hope I get to see her,” Kraevos replied calmly. “I have been long overdue for my fate and if this is it, so be it. This ritual requires a sacrifice to balance the charge of magic and that will be my sacrifice to make.”