Part 1
- JULIE BLUESCALE’S POV -
My brother, leisurely standing atop the corpse in the exact same position I found him the first time I came back to the meadow, was now making jokes as he dusted off some filth that got stuck on his hat. Yet he was the only one laughing. No one else did. I was utterly confused, listening and trying to make sense of the story he was telling about how he killed the rhino. It felt so strange. So wrong. He wasn’t supposed to laugh. Not while covered in blood, both his and the monster’s. His eyes were bloodshot with two thin trails of blood falling down their corners like tears. His nose was also full of blood along with his clearly bite-marked lips.
“Ya can’t move, can ya?” Were the first words Ballarak said after coming back to the clearing. His tone was cold. His glare filled with guilt. It was an easy matter to understand who the dwarf blamed himself for my brother’s injuries.
[If only I didn’t speak-] I thought with regret as I unknowingly clenched my fists so hard that my nails bit into my skin [- If only I hadn’t told him to help!]
Yet I had not the guts to speak those words out loud. What if he was to hate me? What if he was to blame me? What if he was to leave me alone? I couldn’t stand the thought.
“I’m fine-” Raphael replied in a suddenly cold and chilling voice. His laughter had ceased and his expression, previously a mask of joy, was now covered in a dark shadow where only his blue gem-like eyes shined “- I used a little more magic than I should have. I only need to rest”
“Then what about ya twitching and shaking, uh? Is that a side effect too?” Asked Ballarak in an almost shout as his voice took an angered tone.
“...I am fine-” Replied my brother in a completely emotionless tone. A void. Simple nothingness. His voice didn’t even seem his own as he spoke those words…it sent chills down my spine “- drop the subject”
An uncomfortable silence fell over the three of us. None spoke but the wind as each of us moved, though Raphael more slowly, to gather our lost belongings and burn the carcass. We moved away from the glade, but no further. The moment we lit the fire and ate, even though much sooner than the dusking hours, Raphael collapsed into his bedroll. Or so he tried to make us think. In truth, he waited until he thought I was asleep, slipped away from the camp when Ballarak was looking away, and hid behind a cluster of trees. The mortifying sounds of his retching along with his frequent grunts of pain kept me awake as they echoed through the empty woods. Ballarak was not heedless of them but rather than speak up or help, he simply hugged his hammer and kept guarding the camp…I cried myself to sleep that night.
I knew it…deep down. I just didn’t want to speak, think, or linger on those thoughts, but I knew…I was killing him
Part 2
- RAPAHEL BLUESCALE’S POV -
Three days went by after our fight with the bullfrog rhino. Little did we achieve in terms of our goal. There was no other encounter such as the bullfrog, only the occasional wolf, fox or treant would come to bother us, still, we veered towards a safer pathing. It wasn’t until lunchtime of the fourth day that we discovered something.
It happened when no one expected it. I was busy preparing a stew with some edible mushrooms I found that morning along with wolf meat. Ballarak was refilling our water and washing some of our stuff in a nearby stream while Julie, bored of doing nothing, played by throwing pebbles at rocks. Neither I nor Ballarak were paying attention to her, immersed in our actions and thoughts as we were when suddenly the loud, booming sound of falling rocks and a high-pitched scream caught our attention. Before we knew it, both of us were standing at either of Julie’s side, weapons in hand.
“That’s a hole” Bluntly said Ballark as he bent over the edge.
“Clearly looks so” I replied in the same blunt manner.
“A normal hole?” Asked Julie in a copied version of our bluntness.
A few seconds of silence followed in which our gazes traveled between us and the hole. What most intrigued me was the simplicity of it all. A normal-looking hole in the shape of a perfect circle. So normal yet so out of place. It bothered me for reasons unknown to me.
“Soo…we diving?” Asked the dwarf with a single eyebrow raised, a slight smirk of excitement, and a glint of curiosity in his eyes.
“Shall we eat first? I’d rather not waste all that meat” I replied as I began walking back to camp to stir the stew not before hearing Ballarak laugh after Julie whispered about how she’d rather I waste the meat.
Once we ate and cleaned the few cooking utensils we had, we began gathering and trying some ropes together. In total, it came at about twenty to thirty meters of rope. Using a bunch of heavy rocks as the anchor, we lowered the rope into the hole and began our descent. It seemed like a normal descent at first with me opening the line and Ballarak closing it. Yet, not even five meters into it, darkness engulfed us fully. It was as if a black, gooey liquid washed over us from the bottom and dragged us down. My sense of direction couldn’t catch up and the world- though dark as it was- began to spin in my head. Then, just as suddenly as it all happened, it came to an abrupt end marked by my butt hitting the hard stone tiles of the floor. Behind me were Julie and Ballarak who seemed just as confused and disoriented as I was.
“Fucking hate magic!” Cussed the dwarf as he caressed his aching butt.
“Sure you do you grumbling old fart-” I replied as I sighed, checked my gear, and took an unlit torch from a wall before lighting it up with some of the matches I had in my backpack “- Now get serious and keep your wits about you. See the stone tiles? This is no cave or hole… It was made”
“Ya saying it’s a labyrinth?” Replied the dwarf now dropping all his crassness and donning a serious face as he took weapon and shield in hand.
“Afraid so” I answered as I felt beads of sweat falling down my neck and face the moment the memories of my last labyrinth dive resurfaced.
Julie seemed to have some words of her own on the matter but lost the ability to speak the moment the word “labyrinth” showed up in the conversation. Her eyes were darting from side to side, open wide and full of fear. No doubt she was comparing this long, dark hallway made of stone tiles to the undead city. There were some differences, no doubt, yet it all felt familiar in a way that made my skin crawl. I shrugged it off as I grabbed another torch, lit it up, and gave it to Ballarak who proceeded to tie it in front of a small helmet he took out of his backpack in a curious way.
Deciding to focus on the hallway in front of us rather than the curious way dwarves carried their torches, I began leading our trio through the long, straight hallway. Each step forward was taken with extreme caution as the empty layout seemed to point at the presence of traps. No words were spoken or conversation engaged until, after almost an hour of walking in a straight line through the empty hallway, the very same rope we used to descend appeared before us. More than half of it was lying on the floor like a mass of brownish snakes. The rest was hanging from the ceiling, disappearing into a perfect disk of darkness I had failed to notice before.
“Now that’s freaky-” Commented the dwarf as he picked up a piece of broken tile, threw it at the dark disk, and noticed how it didn’t disappear or sink into it like the rope but rather bounced off of it “- Got any bright idea, magic boy?”
“... Kind of” I replied while simply standing under the disk and staring at it.
“Well, that’s disheartening-” The dwarf replied “- How do we get out then?”
“Do you know how to feel mana, Ballarak?-” I asked as I began to pick up all the small rocks I could find. A shake of the dwarf’s head was the answer I was expecting “- Then Julie, even if it was short, let us test your ability”
“Sorry?” The girl answered confused with a puzzled look painted across her face.
“Close your eyes, feel the walls around you but not just the stone surface. Think of them like walls of water and dive into them. Tell me what you feel” I replied as I gestured for Ballarak to approach me and leave Julie some space.
Still in a state of confusion, my sister closed her eyes and followed my orders. The hallway, now robbed of our voices, fell as silent as a tomb. For several minutes she remained there, in the center of the hallway, still as a statue with her eyes closed. Once she opened them, the frustration painted on her face was as easy to see as the moon in the sky.
“So?” I asked as I approached her.
“...So nothing” She replied with a grit of her teeth.
“Nothing at all, uh?-” I mused as I began poking her on the face, neck, shoulder, sternum, and abdomen unconcerned about her continuous comments on how improper that was and yada, yada, yada. Once I was done with my inspection I ordered her once more: “- Do it again, this time try to keep your focus where I throw those rocks, okay?”
“But how can I know where you throw them if I don’t see?!” Replied Julie with frustration whipping in her voice.
“You’ll know-” I replied shrugging “- Now less bitching and more focusing!”
Huffing and side-eying me with malicious intent, the girl closed her eyes and calmed her breathing. I waited a few seconds, studying her expressions, her movement, and the feel that her weak mana emitted. Even in my weakened state, I was still able to sense it, though not as precisely as I used to. Her face suddenly lit with surprise as I picked up a piece of tile, granted it a small fraction of mana, and threw it at the wall.
“What was that?” She asked as her eyes shot open towards me.
“What was what? I can’t understand if you don’t describe it” I replied with a satisfied smirk.
“That thing!-” She shouted suddenly. The frustration of not being able to describe the sensation she felt with words was eating her “- The thing you did! Come on! It was like…I don’t know! I can’t describe it but you know it!”
“I know nothing-” I replied shrugging “- Now back in position. Again”
This process of throwing mana-clad pebbles and trying to grasp the feeling of them clashing with the walls went along for more than forty minutes with Julie becoming more and more frustrated with each attempt. Finally, as I got halfway through my pile of rocks and was about to send the clearly bored Ballarak to get me some more, Julie’s eyes shot open and she pointed at a seemingly random spot on the wall.
“There!” She said proudly.
“Yes, that is a wall. Good job, Julie” I replied with purposeful sarcasm heavy in my voice.
“Shut up, Raph. You know what I mean!” She answered with a stern look in her eyes and arms crossed in a solid representation of her iron-clad intent.
[Mother’s spitting image it seems] I thought with a mental chuckle as I recalled the times when father would screw up bad enough for mother to get seriously angry at him.
“Sorry to disappoint but I can’t possibly know what you mean if you don’t describe it to me”
“*Sigh* It’s…that point over there, right? That’s where the waves stop…It’s like a wall, but it doesn’t exist. A nonexistent wall…Every time you throw a rock some kind of waves, very small and fragile like those made from a drop of water falling in a lake, start going around the whole hallway” Julie said with much gesturing of her hands.
“Do go on” I replied with interest.
“The waves, they…they emitted a sort of hum and flowed around the whole hallway. Walls, ceiling, floor and deep inside all of them but…that place-” She continued her explanation by pointing directly at the wall “- That place blocks them. No matter where ta waves come from, left or right, up or down, or even from within the wall. They all just disappear when they touch it…It’s hard to explain”
“As it should be-” I answered satisfied with a slow clap of my hands “- You’re a bit slow when it comes to magic sense but you’ve only been studying for a week so I can kind of understand. Still, you had a lot of time prior to meeting Alarick and after your awakening to gain familiarity with mana. Anyway, dear sister, what you just described is a magically locked barrier”
“A what?” Asked Ballarak who, most certainly, had grown tired of sitting still in silence.
“A barrier inside a barrier…Think of it as wearing two helmets. No matter how capable the archer is, how heavy and sharp his arrow is, or how close he is to the soldier, he will never pierce the soldier’s head. You get it?” I answered as I began filling an empty pouch from my backpack with the pebbles.
“A bit, yeah. So ya saying we’re in this barrier in a barrier?” Asked the dwarf confused.
“Not exactly. This place seems a bit more complicated than that since the number of barriers seems much greater”
“And how many exactly? Julie asked.
“Let’s find out!” I answered laughing…sadly, I was the only one that did.
The following hours were the epitome of boredom, so much so that after the first two went by as slowly as one could ever dream, I stopped counting altogether. Our routine, as we walked seemingly aimlessly in the neverending hallways was rather simple. Ballarak was there to defend us, ready with his hammer and shield like a true dwarven warrior. My task was to throw rocks clad in my mana all around the room at even intervals while Julie’s was to follow the waves caused by my rocks and discover the focal points of the barriers. We had decided to share the tasks this way since it was easier to “feel” the clash of two mana’s different from one’s own. While not impossible, it simply was less time-consuming. Furthermore, I felt like teaching a bit about the finer art of sensing mana to my sister now that she had finally awakened as a mage. Though on my shoulders rested the task of unraveling first then undoing the many barriers filling that place.
It was no simple matryoshka effect like I hoped it would. Alas, it was either the work of a very careful mage, an old and scrupulous one, or some ancient being keen on weaving magic in ways unknown to me. At times, four barriers encircled a smaller one, thus forcing us to discover first all the four barriers and then the fifth one. Sometimes, two or more barriers would intersect, at times creating a set of tens of rings like those of chain mail, with a smaller barrier hidden inside the intersection. In the end, even with Julie keeping careful note of where the barrier’s nodes were precisely placed, the day came to an end. We lit a fire, ate, and slept inside that hallway close to the rope. It wasn’t until another half a day went by before the last barrier broke down.
“...and this makes it the last-” I pridefully announced as I took my hand off the wall and, in doing so, cutting the connection to the now fading barrier holding who-knows-what hidden behind “- How many of them does this make?”
“Three hundred twenty-two in total” Replied Julie with a sigh of resignation as if to point out the height of that number.
“So now what happens? Treasure comes outta nowhere and we strike gold or does that damn black disk disappear and we leave this shitty place?” Grunted Ballarak trying but ultimately failing to hide that relieved smile on his face.
“Now it’s a gamble” I replied bluntly as I gestured the two of them to come closer in the very center of the hallway.
“Explain” Grunted the dwarf.
“Either those barriers were like pillars supporting the magic filling this place and thus, by getting rid of them, we just caused this whole thing to collapse over our heads-” I said without the need to look at my companions' faces to know they were outraged or fearful about this outcome “- Or, as you said, the seal on the disk gets lifted and we can leave”
“Ya know I’d like to smack ya in the head with my hammer, right? Fucking hate all this magic nonsense” Once again grunted Ballarak as he grasped even more firmly the handle of his shield.
“Are those the only options?” Asked Julie as she retreated into a supposedly safe place behind Ballarak’s shield.
“Why the question?” I asked feeling genuine surprise as I had expected her to rejoice in the fact that we could leave that neverending hallway.
“I mean-” She began to say tentatively, her eyes meeting mine for the briefest of moments “- It doesn’t make sense to place such complicated magic just to trap the first unfortunate souls down here… In the stories I read, those kinds of traps and places were built to…well…to hide something precious. Right?”
“...Curiosity is a great tool for growth-” I replied, averting my gaze in an effort not to show her my face contorted in a grimace filled with grief and shame “- but just as much, it’s a poisonous blade at your throat”
“What does that-”
Julie didn’t make it in time to finish her question before the ground began shaking. Truthfully, everything began shaking. Walls, ceiling, floor, the very tiles we were standing on and the air surrounding us. It all went on for several seconds, with dust and chunks of tiles falling from the ceiling. When it stopped, a sense of vertigo filled me. My vision became white for as long as a blink lasts. Once over, I found myself standing in the very same hallway, this time, though, in its true form.
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“I see-” I mused as I quickly explored the place with my eyes “- Either an incredibly detailed illusion that fabricated a sense of space and three dimensions inside our heads or an impossibly complicated magic capable of bending space…Either way, this is outright absurd”
“That’s a door, ain’t it?” Asked Ballarak as he pointed at the now clear end of the hallway right in front of us.
It almost felt like a joke seeing the hallway’s true shape. Its full length couldn’t have been more than a hundred meters top. Right behind us was the bundled-up rope and the dark disk. After that, was a plain wall made out of the same stone tiles as every other wall. In front of us, at the end of the hallway, was a double door but, before I could make out its finer details, the torch in my hand and on Ballarak’s head died out. Darkness suddenly engulfed us and Julie, caught by surprise, yelped a little.
A pale white light began filling the place. The unlit torches affixed on the walls lit up as if by magic. Pale white flames danced in the darkness as the torch in my shaking hand fell. Memories…Memories of that place…of what I did…of who I met, began to fill my quickly panicking mind. My hands, now visibly trembling, went to my eyes, rubbing them, scratching them in hopes that what I was seeing was an illusion. A dream…or rather, a nightmare. Knowing it was not, my breath became uneven and labored. It was so quick that it felt as if even my lungs were shaking. My heart painfully pounded on my ribs and, if not for the last shred of self-control I had, I almost fell to my knees.
“Oy boy!-” Shouted Ballarak as he rushed to my side and ripped my hands off my face before grabbing it with his callous hands and fixing his eyes full of shock on mine “- What happened? Speak to me!”
“R-Run” I managed to say with my unhelping throat as it suddenly became as dry as the desert.
“What?-” Asked Julie with an audible tremble in her voice “-No, we can’t run! Something’s wrong with you, what happened?”
“GODDAMIT-” I shouted as I grabbed the dwarf and my sister by their necks and, in an incredible fit of strength, threw them towards the rope “- I SAID RUN! FOLLOW MY FUCKING ORDERS AND RUN AWAY FROM HERE! NOW!”
Without hesitating, Ballarak pushed Julie toward the disk and gave me an understanding nod. Julie didn’t seem to understand and began to scratch at Ballarak’s arm before the dwarf was forced to drop his shield, pick the girl up, put her on his shoulder, and climb the rope with one hand only. Though his physical prowess was nothing to scoff at, it was short-lived. The disk was as impenetrable as it was before. Now, I truly fell to my knees.
“So what now?-” Ballarak asked after the half hour of silence in the corner it took me to calm down and think clearly “- The disk’s still blocking us so there’s no going out of this hellhole. I’d say door’s our only option but ya reaction freaks me out”
“*Sigh* Yeah, sorry about that” I replied without raising my head from my knees.
“Mind telling what was that ‘bout?” Further pressed the dwarf.
“See those white flames?-” I said pointing at one of the many torches lighting up the walls and sending long, cone-shaped shadows on the floor below “- They reminded me of something I saw back in the labyrinth…Seems like I’ve yet to really heal from it”
“Seems to be a lot more than that but I’d wager I better leave it. Think there’s another way out other than the door?” Continued the dwarf as he offered me his help in standing up.
“Doesn’t seem so-” I said as I took his hand and stretched my back for good measure “- But I’d welcome any other way if you found one!”
No matter how hard we looked at every nook and cranny, every broken tile, every little hole, the door at the end of the hallway was the only option. A simple double door slightly taller than I was and made out of a greyish wood. The handle was made of solid gold and, while the craftsmanship of the door was of fine hand, the style in which the door was built was utterly simple. There wasn’t the faintest trace of embellishment or refining. With no other option in sight and the piled-up feeling of being trapped finally reaching its boiling point, Ballarak and I opened the door, using our bodies to shield Julie from whatever was behind them.
Nothing came running at us sword in hand and screaming to leave their premise nor traps sprung and threatened our lives. Instead, a pale pinkish light flooded our vision. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust from the dimness of the hallway to the brightness of the room hidden behind the door. It was a large room with a tall ceiling. Its walls were of the same materials as the hallway just more cared for, cleaner, and much less in ruin. The same torches lit by white flames hung eerily on the walls and from a large, silver chandelier hanging from the center of the room. All sorts of books filled the rows of bookcases fitted to the walls along with the many piles of books and papers lying around. A large white marble table, dirty with what looked like dried blood, stood mostly empty at the center of the room, right below the chandelier. Two more tables with as many chairs hung around the room. One stood in between two bookcases and was filled with books, papers, ink, and quills all over. The other was on the opposite side and had all sorts of strange instruments like that of an alchemist along with empty bottles dirty with pinkish liquids emitting ling.
Yet, by far, the most curious thing in the eerie room stood lonely in a corner far away from everything. It was a large glass cylinder encased in two likewise large iron holdings, one at the top and one at the bottom. Glassy yet floppy tubes were connected to both iron ends and seemed to transport to and from that pink liquid that filled the cylinder. That was the source of that pink light. I could feel the palpable sensation of mana being moved from within those glowing tubes. As if a spell was continuously cast from within them. Sentient beings using mana as their speech. It was an odd feeling, one I had never felt or could ever think of. Yet in that moment, the notion of someone using mana as a way to communicate seemed so real. So right.
Floating, hovering inside the large cylinder was an everchanging shape ball of black light. Or rather, an everchanging shape ball that seemed to lack light and instead absorbed everything around it. It spun around and contorted, changing shape as it moved, becoming more complex or simpler seemingly by its own will. It was mesmerizing yet eerie at the same time. There was something odd, something conceptually wrong with that ball of blackness that compelled me to stay away, an animalistic need to escape its presence, yet I could not figure out the reason or the origin. I simply knew not to approach.
My sister, alas, had no such sense.
“Raph!-” She shouted as she pulled on my arm in an attempt to make my body move out of the way for her to step inside the room “- We have to help him!”
“Help who?-” I asked utterly confused and moving slightly away from the door to make her space “- What are you talking about?”
“HIM!-” She replied frustrated while pointing at the glass cylinder “- He’d drowning!”
I looked at her puzzled, unable to understand what she was saying. My eyes darted between hers and the cylinder of pink liquid in the corner. Seeing as I was not keen on helping, Julie began sprinting towards the cylinder at full speed with a crazed look in her eyes. I couldn’t seem to understand so instead I tried to resort to Ballarak for answers but before I could even open my mouth, I understood how futile it would have been. The dwarf was outright flabbergasted. His jaw was hanging wide open while his eyes, focused solely on the glass cylinder, were almost popping out of his skull.
A shift of the mana contained inside the cylinder made my skin crawl and cold sweat began running down my face and neck. The dark mass shifting inside the liquid was moving, changing its shape into something else. Something more humane. If Julie had noticed either the surge in mana or the swirling of the black blob, she just ignored them, instead aiming for a metallic pole that she wielded like a bat. I felt something was wrong and my muscles moved before I could speak. Alas, I was too slow to notice the danger. By the time I had covered half our distance, my sister’s swing had already been set in motion. The last I saw of the cylinder was the very second the metal pole shattered the glass, when a wide, sly slime opened up on the black blob’s surface.
Suddenly, the breath was knocked out of my lungs and I found myself gasping for air as I clutched my chest in a fetal position on the floor. A loud ringing filled my ears and my sight lost all notion of colors. The world had turned grey in my eyes. All except for one thing only. That one thing that still held on to the concept of colors scared me the most yet marveled me more than anything. Yet, more than marvel or fear, what I truly felt, buried deep within, was longing. Longing for the slender figure slowly walking with a sway of hips towards me.
It…or rather, she, had taken a physical form. It was the shape of a young woman not much older than my own sister. Her soft yet messy hair fell down to her waist in waves of raven black and stripes of red at even intervals as if she had purposefully painted them that way. Her yellow eyes, not quite close to gold but rather pinkish in a strange way, were fixed on me and half-lidden as if had just woken up from a long afternoon nap. The kind that messes with your perception of time. Her soft and strangely enticing lips were of a hearty red at first yet turned black the moment she pressed a thumb softly upon them. A long white towel-like piece of cloth appeared as if summoned over her naked body, covering her most important bits yet leaving ample skin around the hips, thighs, belly, and bosom.
“You…-” I said in a voice that sounded more like a wheeze or a deathly rattle as recognition struck my hazy mind “-...That girl….that day”
“...I truly am surprised-” The girl said in a soft, soothing and melodious voice. Her every word felt like a caress on my skin sinking deep until it grasped at my soul and tugged it out of me. With each movement of her lips, with each sway of her hips towards me, with each moment her gaze studied me, I felt my grasp on my consciousness slip a little “- Not even in my wildest dreams had it occurred to me that you could remember me. This is quite…-” The woman said as she took another step towards me, her lips were almost in touch with mine so much that I could feel her hot, uneven breath on my skin. Then, as if to realize there were other people in the room, she retreated from my face with a soft, girlish cough “-...ehm, quite surprising, I would say”
“I could never…forget-” I replied feeling that those were perhaps my last words before consciousness would leave me for good “-...I felt watched…but I could never tell. I thought it was my mistake…I thought I had imagined it. Now I see I was right…Why do you harbor hate against me?”
“Hate?-” The woman asked expressing genuine surprise with both her voice and expressions “- No, no, Raphael my dear. I could never hate you, perish the thought. However, I do understand why you would think so. My actions that day and all those that followed were not the most becoming of me, I admit…I fear it is you who will hate me after today. Know that I do not wish harm upon you, my dear. What is about to transpire is beyond even me…I cannot possibly ask you to forgive me but I wish to thank you for coming to my aid…I pledge to you, my dear, sweet Raphael Bluescale, that I am indebted to you and I will repay you for this day-” The woman said solemnly yet her expression was sad, almost as if she was holding back tears. Her eyes held such a mysterious glint. I had seen it once before, perhaps more, yet in my hazy state of mind, I could not tell its origin. With one last soft sway of her hips, the woman was upon me and I was on my knees without the knowledge of ever moving. She closed her eyes and her black lips made contact with my forehead “- I am sorry for this”
Suddenly, as the girl’s lips made contact with my skin and her hands rested lovingly on my cheeks, my mind shattered as if torn apart from the inside. Every muscle, bone, organ, and fluid seemed to burn up in the process as what I thought was my “soul” got dragged back and forth between places. Colors, sounds, feelings, thoughts, emotions…everything passed me by at an impossible speed, crashing into me every once in a while as this “mass” of concepts bounced around. Then, before I could really tell how much time had passed, if any did truly pass, my body and mind settled into one but I was in the room with the woman and my companions no more. Instead, I stood in front of a very familiar double door carved in stone…beside me stood my now-deceased brother in full health.
[No…No, no, no…please no!-] I thought in a shout as the scene played before me, unable to move my body as I willed [- PLEASE NO!]
Part 3
- JULIE BLUESCALE’S POV -
He stood there on his knees, his eyes wide and full of fear with his pupils hidden inside the eyesokets and his mouth agape. He was whimpering and moaning in pain, making the same exact sounds as the ones I heard from those who tasted Raphael’s blade. I was petrified.
[Again…It’s my fault again] Was the only thought running through my mind as I watched the woman send my brother into that state with just a touch.
“I cannot bear to hear you suffer to this extent-” The woman said as her knees visibly shook and a pair of lonely tears began to mark a glittering trail over her pristine skin “- but I cannot help you, dear, for watching you unable to help or ease your pain is my punishment”
The piece of metal I was holding in my hands was now rolling on the ground. The noise was what made me realize I had just fallen to my knees, as did Ballarak apparently. His eyes were as wide as my brother’s but stuck in place out of fear. They never left, not for one single second, the woman’s movements. For the first time, then, the woman’s eyes turned towards Ballarak first and then to me with no little show of how bothersome our presence was to her.
“Right-” The woman said as she eyed my brother once more before fully turning her body towards us and slowly walking in our general direction since, by the time she had escaped the cylinder, Ballarak had tried to follow Raphael’s rush and was now not far from me “- He was indeed supposed to come with others, though it is hard to know for sure in his case…Now then, the bothersome little sister who does nothing but cause him more trouble than he needs and the curious dwarven blacksmith looking for the spark hidden behind Raphael’s strange sword style to ignite his passion once lost. Do not bother tell me your names for I care not…I shall simply call you ‘girl’ and ‘dwarf’”
I couldn’t refute her words. I had no strength nor will to and I was in no place to do so. Her words were spot on. What was I helpful for? All I did was cause trouble. It was because of me that mom died. Because I didn’t let him kill those thugs I was kidnapped in Blackwall. Because of me, Raph was forced to fight that monster head-on and injure himself more than necessary. I was a burden and I knew it. If shame allowed me to, I would have lowered my gaze and crawled into a ball but something was keeping me still. A power I knew nothing about yet I could feel seep into my skin and mind. I was powerless under the woman’s gaze.
“Worry not-” She said as she studied me, the closest one to her previous position “- I mean neither no harm, he would not forgive me. Alas, I do not feel compelled to spare any kind words towards your behavior. Especially yours, girl. The dwarf is plain in his wishes and pulls his weight for what little his body allows. You, on the other hand, are utterly useless…You hold a fate-given gift, the ability to freely converse with spirits, yet you keep it hidden? I have encountered my fair share of fools throughout my time, yet you reached the very height of foolishness. As luck would have it, you seem to hold an average amount of talent for said branch of spiritmancy. My only hope is that, in your mortal foolishness, you do not waste such gift”
“...Who are you?” I managed to ask with no little effort and weight added onto my already tiring mind.
“Foolish and dumb it seems-” The woman replied with an overly long and overly loud sigh “- It appears I must spell it for you to understand! I am the one who spoke to you during the ritual. My aim was to speak to Raphael but his mind is…well, you need not know that”
“Wait…you are that spirit? The female spirit?” I questioned, only now connecting the strangely familiar voice to the one I heard during the ritual.
“Indeed…Though it takes no genius to figure that out-” The woman answered with a great show of how she rolled her pretty, yellow eyes “- Now then, I believe it is time I-”
“This trap was ya doing, right?” Suddenly asked Ballarak as he jumped up onto shaky feet and brandished his hammer in front of him. Slowly, he moved between me and the now backing away woman who simply seemed curious at the sudden sprout of courage of the dwarf.
“I assure you this was no trap-” She replied coldly “- And I do not appreciate being interrupted”
“Sure-” Snarky replied Ballarak though the paleness of his skin spoke volumes about the nature of this fake cocky attitude “- tell that to the dying Raphael! Not a trap my ass!”
“...I shall take your poor language and that awful personality as signs that you do not know my name nor essence and that you feel only a fraction of the power I am supposed to possess thanks to my recent weakening-” The woman explained as she cleared the nearby table with a single flick of her wrist before sitting regally on top of it “- Regardless, it is true that I mean you no harm, to all of you, Raphael included. What he is now going through is a punishment meted out by a higher power. I am simply the conduit for such punishment, regrettably…Oh and, he is not dying nor will he suffer permanent physical damage”
“Then what is happening to him? Why is he like this?!” I shouted almost in a cry.
“Girl, you should not ask about things that you don’t want to know-” The spirit replied coldly “- I believe he told you so himself, curiosity may lead to dark paths at times. He knows that better than anyone…Be that as it may, what little I can, and am willing to, tell you is that he is currently experiencing again and again and again the worst time of this life of his…By the look in your eyes, dwarf, you may have an inkling about what that means, do you not?”
“...I do-” Ballark answered with a sense of sadness and guilt more than palpable enough in his voice “-...Will he be alright after this? Mentally, I mean”
“...He is resilient…he will survive” The woman replied as he eyes darted toward Raphael and sadness could be seen clearly shining behind those sun-like gems.
“Was the whole business ‘bout Dragon tears just a rouse to lead us here?” Pressed Ballarak after a couple of seconds of silence in which he seemed to be heavily lost in thought.
“I would never-” The woman replied indignantly “- I would not dare trick him with false information regarding his health. No, that mana-drug will work wonders on his weakened frame. It just so happened that I was in need of help and held close to my cage the key to that shady deal he was forced to make”
“Wait!-” I jumped “- Does that mean you have the cu-”
“Shus now, girl-” Said the woman as she flicked her wrist in my direction and knocked the wind out of me and Ballarak “- I tire of your questions and the more I linger on this plane, the longer his suffering will last…Freeying me is no small feat, something that deserves praise and repayment. Since I do not feel the need to praise those who weigh down on my dear, I shall give you both a gift…Let us start with you, dwarf-”
The woman, now sitting on the table with one knee across the other and kicking her higher feet playfully as she tapped her chin, gazed at us thoughtfully for a few minutes. Neither Ballarak nor I uttered a word and the only sound filling the room was my brother’s painful grunting. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and a small smile pursed her lips-
“- I know what to give you-” She declared exuberantly “- Your forge will be useless for your goals once this adventure of yours comes to an end. To that end, seek a man who lives alone at the foot of ‘White Spear Peak’ and inquire about the mountain. I trust you shall know what to do next”
“I know nothing of what ya speak about-” Answered Ballarak between heavy gulps of air “- Why should I trust ya? I don’t even know what ya are and what ya want with him!”
“That is indeed a fair point, even though I do not enjoy the accusation-” The woman replied thoughtfully “-Mhhh, in eight days head to the adventurer’s guild in Bolton. You will receive a letter along with one belonging to Raphael. The letter will be from your king and it will state that your son has been kidnapped and will be executed for treason if you do not pledge yourself to your king once more…Do not trust it for it is all lies. Your son has not been kidnapped. Rather he is currently spending most of his, or perhaps your, money on a…shall we say, not-so-reputable woman. One that is keen on disrobing frequently, if you pardon my vocabulary…Five days later you will receive a second letter, this time the sender will be the dwarf Belluth. He knows nothing of his king’s plot against you and the only reason for his letter is to share with you the news of the premature death of your king. The plot against you will then be forgotten”
“This…-” Replied Ballarak speechless “-...This is absurd…I know my king was desperate but to go this far…No! No, I can’t possibly trust ya!”
“Then doubt me all you want, dwarf, but once you read those letters you will know the value of my words and trust will follow…-” The spirit said solemnly “- Now for the girl…Tch, I have no sympathy for you and it displeases me to aid you in any way but he needs your power…What to do?”
[T-This is awkward…and hurtful, honestly] I thought as I tried to refuge slowly behind Ballarak to escape the woman’s gaze.
“Mhhh, yes that seems like it could prove useful. Very well-” She said probably more to herself than for our ears “- Listen well, girl, for I will not repeat myself. Pick up a stone of glass and reach the lake once crystal now dark as the night. Hear the whispers and speak your wish in the language only you know, then offer the stone and you shall receive one in exchange. Trust me, it will aid you greatly”
“I-I don’t understand-” I stuttered taken aback by confusion “- Stone of glass? A language only I know? What are you talking about? Can you, ehm, please speak a bit more clearly?”
“I refuse-” The woman replied as she crossed her arms and exchanged with me a gaze of disdain “- Simply because I do not like you. Figure it out yourself. It is a gift much greater than that I granted the dwarf so try to use that brain of yours for once and pull your weight”
“Oh…I…I didn’t mean to…ok” I said meekly.
“I have lingered here enough…Raphael will be in a state of shock once he wakes up-” The woman said suddenly disappearing and reappearing with her arms hung around my brother’s neck in a hug from the back “- He will be weak and frail of mind. Have him eat and rest, then walk south and south only from here. You will reach the city by the morning of the fourth day-” Then, in a loving whisper followed by a soft kiss under the ear the woman said to Raphael “- Be well, my dear. I will be watching you…Always. Farewell”
Wind began rushing into the room. Books began to fly and pages torn to pieces. The flames of the torches dwindled but never died, only changed color from the pale white they were to a more normal-looking orange. Then, as suddenly as the wind appeared, it left the room, leaving us alone and in complete silence among the mess it created and carrying with it the strange woman. In the place where she sat, on top of the empty table, was now a cube emanating a pulsing purple light.
The very cube we were tasked to look for.