Instead of stepping off, the more appropriate term here was to drop down, because the glass road was six feet above the ground, held up by nothing but magic and miracles. Only when he jumped into the darkness, nearly twisting his ankle, did Daniel realise how massive the tentacles were. Some rose for more than ten feet, and they all tangled together like a bed of ravenous snakes.
The next hour was uneventful, save for a monstrosity towering forty feet above ground, gazing down at them. A horrible crunch of bones and piercing red eyes followed them for a distance, but that bothered none except Daniel.
The further they went, the harder it was to breathe. Mana here was so dense that even a child could conjure a miracle by dreaming, but he didn’t dare to harness it. A vague sensation told him it wanted to be shaped, to be made into something more, but anything carelessly cast in these cursed lands would only cause evil.
“Stop here. Double-check your gear before you venture into the Vael, for the slightest mistake could cost you your lives,” Kel’Tharia said, looking at her pupils.
“The staff for constant light. Keep calm in case it gets extinguished. You may yet survive for some time even if you get engulfed by darkness,” she waved her hands and conjured the ringed staff, holding it high above her head.
Daniel’s left hand followed the motion without his input, bathing him in a fierce white light.
“Make sure your amulet is bright. Yours should last for a day before needing to be recharged. Keep in mind - even if it protects you from any magical temptation, it won’t protect you from beguiling words. Never, under any circumstance, take yours off. That’s how most Kel perish.”
He looked the amulet over. Blue metal twisted into itself, forming a diamond shape around a white gem, the corner of which was slowly being extinguished. One of the girls let out a yell, finding that hers was almost completely dim.
“B-but... I recharged it when we left the city,” she stammered over her words, looking up at Kel’Thalia.
“I know. Remember, Vael is always watching, scheming our downfall. It must have targeted you along the road. That’s why I always carry a backup,” she said, gently taking the amulet from the apprentice, replacing it with a new one.
“The road’s supposed to be safe,” muttered another girl, her tongue split in three.
“For regular folk? Yes. For ten inexperienced Kel? No,” she glanced at Daniel meaningfully, as if expecting him to speak up. He kept silent.
“Lastly, check your robes for any tears. They will prevent you from being corroded or being attacked by phantoms.” Daniel did the best he could without a mirror.
After everyone was done, she once again beckoned them forward. Just a few minutes ahead was the boundary. At first glance, it was still the same ever-present darkness, but when Kel’Thalia moved next to it, her light stopped in its tracks, frozen only a few feet past an invisible border. The darkness here was defiled. Even a thousand words would not be able to describe the sheer wrongness of what was ahead.
Beyond this point, the darkness came alive and wraiths and phantoms reached out for the students, their gloom-woven limbs stopped by an immovable wall.
“We’ve reached the Vael. From this point on, I’ll be testing each of you on how you perform the Ritual of Sanctity. You’d be wise to treat this as more than a lesson - a single misstep and your soul will forever be gone.”
She stood before the boundary and looked each apprentice in the eye. No one dared to look away.
“A Kel’s job is to be the last bastion against the Vael. Our purpose is to stand tall against the encroaching darkness, to reclaim and reincarnate the souls of everyone who has fallen to it. Take pride in what you do, but never grow arrogant, lest you end up joining their legions,” she said, her voice booming.
“Now, Kel’Shatel, what does the Ritual of Sanctity do?” Daniel breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her point at his friend and not him.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“It allows us to spread the boundary and drive back Vael?”
“Only partially true. The ritual also allows a Kel with a Rhys Gate to draw in any souls that pass through it. The only reason the wraiths are blocked by it is because Vael is clever. It won’t let them do so,” the boy nodded along, listening intently to her words.
“Now - rules. You must complete the ritual individually. That means no working together on a single ritual, even if it is bigger. Second - you must be finished in half an hour. Any longer and you risk attracting true horrors. Am I clear?”
A chorus of yes’ signalled the start of the test. Some of the apprentices glanced at Daniel, but seeing that he made no move, they began to spread out and headed into the darkness. He hesitated for a very simple reason - he didn’t know the ritual.
His friend stepped forward, and Daniel followed after, trailing behind a few steps. The moment his foot crossed the border, he was enveloped in a world of darkness. Brilliant light, which once paved the way forward, was now muted, reduced to an area an arm’s length away.
Every ragged breath sent shivers down his body, piercing his lungs with a bitter chill. An arm of shadows wrapped around his neck, its fingers groping for Daniel’s face, but before it could do any harm, it dissipated into his white robes, adding another star to their pattern. A deluge of whispers and sweet voices spoke, pleading for him to join them. Looking down, he began to see his amulet dim more and more.
How were they supposed to find their way back? A single wrong turn and he could be lost forever. Still, he trusted that he hadn’t been turned around and started sprinting forward. Daniel’s friend was his only chance at passing the damn trial.
“Why wouldn’t she repeat the steps of the ritual?” he grumbled.
Fortunately, after a few seconds, he burst into the sphere of someone’s light, nearly knocking them over. Both yelled in surprise before Daniel’s friend recognized him, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Kel’Val, don’t scare me like that. I thought you’d be the first to go in,” Kel’Shatel hastily said, looking around. “You heard what she said. We can’t work together.”
Daniel let out a slow sigh, feigning indifference. “I know. But she said nothing about just watching. I’ll tell you about any mistakes you make after the fact.”
He watched the apprentice’s face flash through several emotions, ranging from uncertainty to fear, then acceptance.
“Well, fine. Kel’Tharia can't watch over everyone all at once, and it’ll be safer with the two of us,” he said, looking like he was trying to convince himself..
“So, where will you place the ritual?” Daniel asked, tilting his head.
“Normally, you’d link the rituals to create a unified barrier somewhere nearby, but this is a test. In that case, the best thing to do is to place it where the mana is less concentrated,” his friend looked up for reaffirmation, but Daniel simply shrugged.
“Remember - can’t help you with anything.”
“Right.” With that, they both stopped talking.
The mana in the air was too thick for him to properly sense anything, but a peculiar spot three minutes away seemed to satisfy his friend. Daniel respectfully stepped a distance away, but still close enough to observe what Kel’Shatel was doing.
From inside the robes, the boy pulled out three things. A stick of ghost-white incense, an obsidian dagger, and a vial of luminescent fluid. Placing the incense on the ground, Kel’Shatel breathed out a cloud of flame, lighting the wick. Immediately, a shrill wail emanated from their right as a phantom rushed in, circling around them.The surroundings took on a lighter tone, darkness mixing with the smoke to chase away the shadows.
Undisturbed, the apprentice uncorked the vial and poured the liquid on his obsidian dagger. Instead of dripping to the ground, it clung onto the blade, rippling with every action. One by one, Kel’Shatel began carving symbols into the air, the droplets on his blade illuminating the runes. Never before in his life had Daniel spent this much focus trying to memorise something. By the time the Kel had finished it, twelve different runes formed a perfect circle, staying perfectly still in the air.
“O Dreadful Lord of Death, The Guide of Souls,
I claim this land in your name.
To chase away the fake prophets,
And all those who shun your faith.
Let the souls live once again,
Beyond the gates of Life and Death. “
The chant was in a different language, but his strange talent persisted even here. Daniel looked on with wonder as the twelve symbols scattered in every direction, leaving behind a trail of luminosity. Kel’Shatel stabbed the dagger into the air, and when the blade disappeared, he twisted the handle, like he would a key.
A vague outline of a gate, flickering with iridescent colours, materialised from the grey smoke. The phantasmal figures let out screams of utter horror as the gate began devouring everything non-living, purifying the world around them. Like a hearth during a winter night, it warmed up his body, banishing the chill and chasing away everything that was wrong.
When it was done, the darkness remained, but that was an unchanging fact. If he died here, his soul would be at peace, reincarnated to live a better life.