A Prologue
“Why are we always constantly being assigned jobs from the Archaeology Guild?!” Kara muttered loudly to herself.
“Because we’re the only team to have a psion,” Jaden grinned as he climbed down the flight of rusting ladder.
“Because the Archaeology Guild is cheap. And our team is the cheapest. And we can get the same results as Ewanna’s team.” Jaden replied cheerfully.
“I dont think our resident warrior’s ego can handle failure.” the darked haired mage gave a small laugh, which earned him a friendly punch from Kara.
“You got that right!” Kara climbed down after Jaden. “And some light would be good too!”
Jaden snapped his right hand, and instantly a of spark of violet light materialised a few inches to the left of his head, lighting the dark and damp tunnel, and causing squeaks of alarm from the rats that scattered for safety. With a slight beckoning, he caused the orb to move a few paths ahead, hovering higher as to create better illumination. He grimaced as he glance around their surroundings.
“We are in the sewers after all,” Jaden reminded him. “And are you going to float all day?”
the mental voice hissed.
“I don’t get why psions have to wear white! White is such an impractical colour!” Kara snorted. “Now… black or brown… that is the colour of choice!”
The Empire of the Kosett was founded on the principles of discipline and order several thousand years ago to combat the chaos that permeated after the War of the Divines, which left the lands utterly battered and rife with unpredictable wild magic. Dangerous creatures roamed about, consumed with madness while plants, mutated by the energies leftover grew to monstrous proportions and even achieved limited sentience and mobility.
Ever resilience, the humans of Kosett took to task to heal the environment, even as the elves, dwarves, centaurs and nagas retreated back to their homelands, and set about establishing a set of routine that would give them purpose again. In order to differentiate the skillsets the early Kosetteans have, the first King of Kosett had them colour coded. Elemental mages of Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Darkness and Light would wear colours of their respective elements, while warriors, with their physical toiling on the field combating against fierce untamed abominations, were assigned a deep ebony shade. Clerics were allowed to wear the colours of their deities, and thus provided a colourful contrast to the uniform colours of the mage and warrior class. And then there were the psions, a very small number of the population who were born with mind abilities, who were highly feared due to their powers, were assigned white colour, perhaps in direct contrast to the warriors.
“That’s because warriors have no sense of style,” Jaden gave a bark of laughter.
“To be fair, that’s because you lot can read minds,” Kara said bluntly as she took the lead, moving ahead, followed by Jaden, with the spark of flame always moving ahead of them. “By the way why are you speaking to us like this?”
“We’re in the old sewers of Hisarc! There is nothing here but rats and roaches!” Kara interrupted. “You think any normal sane bandit would be hiding here in the smell?”
“Not that I am taking her side, but Vee… aren’t you wasting energy on these frivolous usage?” Jaden asked.
“How about floating?” Kara asked.
“Well, we really have no idea how far our objective is, save for this ridiculous filmsy map the guild gave us,” Kara took out the parchment from her waist pouch, and held it before the light which burned steadily without flickering unlike a normal flame.
Jaden looked down at his footwear which already bore dark patches of red against his outfit of deep violet that bore his signature magic. “Well that’s because unlike you, the rest of us have no choice but to actually walk on foot!”
“Okay boys, let’s get there as quickly as we can then,” Kara interjected smoothly from her experience with the two.
The tunnel before the trio stretched into a seemingly endless pitch darkness beyond. Moving with practised familiarity, they moved in relative silence, with only the sound of flowing water in the drains next to the pathway they were on.The sewer was a system of complicated tunnels that was originally the streets of the old city that had been destroyed, and buried thousands of years ago in the War of the Divines. The survivors of Hisarc simply rebuilt over it, and over time it became the dumping ground for waste matters of the modern capital city.
“I must say, having a psion in the team really makes life pretty easy for us,” Kara said suddenly, breaking the silence.
“How so?” Jaden inquired
“We’re down here walking through a bloody maze, and we have no need to lay any guiding precautions to get us back.” the warrior said, as she turned to the left tunnel. “It’s but impossible with my previous teams. I have never understood how you do that, Vee.”
the psion explained.
“Is this the worst place that you have been to?” Jaden asked Kara
Kara, or Lady Karatia Lucrecia Pentaghent, is the daughter of Lord Chancellor of Commerce, and the late Duchess Kathryn, who was a member of the royal family, being a first cousin of the ruling King. As the only child of the Lord Chancellor, and the Duchess, Kara had grown up in the castle where she excelled in the art of martial prowess, much to the disappointment of her father who had hoped she would follow in his footsteps instead.
By her fifteenth summer, she was formally inducted into the Warrior Guild where she trained further, eventually graduating as a master of swords. She had then joined the Adventurer Guild which is an organisation of a variety of skilled warriors and mages that specialised in matching up the needs of the Guilds in the city to any situation.
She had been a member of the guild far longer than the two and were assigned to two other teams prior before she made the request to be assigned to a new team with Jaden, whom she had known as a child, though their paths diverged significantly while growing up. Upon learning that he had just been accepted to the guild, she made the switch as she was having difficulties with the fire mage of her team. She was then introduced to Vvruvrivvn, a psion of a unique combination of mental abilities, who was a childhood playmate of Jaden, and also his bond-brother.
“Smell aside, no.” Kara replied. “I was almost waist deep in the swamp once while on assignment for the Traders Guild in Aramanthine a couple of years back. I was supposed to scout out a new route for them, and they somehow “failed” to inform me that it cuts through the swamp. And my team had a dwarf cleric.” she chuckled.
Jaden laughed. “By the gods that must have been really bad for him! Waist deep for you would practically be neck deep for him!”
“He was half swiming at some point. It was really a lousy assignment and once we completed it we demanded for extra compensation from Dolye. Fortunately the Traders Guild is not cheap like... the Archaeology Guild, and we got what we wanted.”
“Or maybe… Dolye let it slipped that the daughter of the Lord Chancellor of Commerce is scouting for them,” Jaden said slyly.
“That has crossed my mind before,” Kara admitted. “And of course, having a cleric in our team helped in securing the mission.”
“We need a cleric in our team! But its not going to happen.” Jaden reminded. “Most clerics do not want to be associated with a Darkness Mage.”
“Oh poo! Dark is not evil!” Kara rolled her eyes. “I have met plenty of really bad Light mages. And as well as fire. Like that bitch Lysanna.”
Kara’s hand went to the hilt of her sword at once as both mage and warrior stopped in their tracks. she asked mentally.
In the yawning darkness beyond the light, something seemed to be moving slowly. “Something is in front!” and Jaden reached within himself, and flung forth a bolt of dark violet energy ahead. “Heads up!”
The shadow bolt hit something in the slight distance, beyond the glow of Jaden’s orb, which exploded with violent energy splatters that briefly for a split moment illuminated the target.
Kara stood ready with her now unsheathed sword, in her combat ready position. In the dimness of the area, she could not risk charging ahead into the darkness. “Can you tell how many in front?”
“Not until they come within our sight!” Jaden threw forth another bolt of shadow energy randomly ahead. “I’m at a disadvantage too when it comes to the undead! That’s why we need a bloody cleric!”
“We are about three quarters to our destination. It’s a plaque, remember what Dolye said. Palm sized,” Kara took a quick look at the map. “It’s a record of the duties of the priesthood of Aiona, the Goddess of Wisdom and Secrets.”
The unmistakable sounds of shuffling could be heard now ahead as the nearest undead moved into visible sight. It was a skeleton of a human, and it carried with him a rusty sword and a shield. Almost immediately, three more appeared in the light behind him.
“Argh it’s skeletons! I need time to unbind them,” Jaden bemoaned in frustration as he began a series of complex gestures and incomprehensionable arcane words. “Hold them off me while I cast my spell!”
Animated entirely by magic, skeletons are the first line of attacks or defenses that most Darkness mages will employ as bones of corpses are easiest to find. They do not do a lot of damage but can easily swarm a group without an elemental mage or a cleric. Ironically against another Darkness mage, they are relatively effective as most of Darkness spells are useless against a being without flesh and mind. The skeletons can be turned though if the magic binding them are undone, though it will take time to cast, by a Darkness, or Light mage, or a cleric.
At least five columns of skeletons can be seen clearly now, moving en masse towards the trio, taking up the whole walkway, intended on their target.
“Dammit we must have triggered some silent ward,” Kara cursed.
The skeletons were suddenly swept backwards by something invisible, and they fell beside each other. Vvruvrivvn landed next to the deep in concentration Dark mage whose eyes were closed as he gestured in a series of intricate patterns as he chanted in the arcane language.
“Just how many are there?” Kara asked again. “We need to let them get closer to him. I know from past experiences with my cleric that these spells are proximity based.
“I also don’t want you to do so because the bloody map does not give any indication of distance! Who drew this map in the first place?!” Kara snarled.
The fallen ranks of skeletons got up, with more behind them moving steadily forward. Again they were swept backwards by an invisible force.
“Dammit,” Kara swore as the waters next to them started to ripple and more skeletons began rising out. “I didnt realise they are in the water too!”
Both front and side skeletons were flung backwards this time.
“No don’t. There will be backlash from the spell!” Kara said in alarm. “Can you allow them to come nearer to us? I want them all to be affected by his spell.”
Clustering themselves right next to Jaden, the two of them took up positions on his sides, Kara with her sword out but knowing bladed weapons are useless against bony undead, even enchanted ones like hers.
The relentless undead kept moving forward, and this time while they got nearer than before, they can approach no further, as if barred by an invisible wall; tt was the psion’s telekinetic shield, halting their progress. While the skeletons have no mind of their own, having encountered a barrier, they raised their swords and shields, and begun swinging their weapons in front of them as if hacking away a physical wall.
Kara glanced at the psion who had beads of perspiration beaded on his forehead as he held the undead at bay. Meanwhile rows and rows of skeletons started to pour out from ahead of the tunnel and from the waters, and they started to surround them, unceasingly hammering away at the invisible wall that kept them from the living.
Slowly, the psion started to sway on his foot and Kara quickly supported him. With each passing moment, the skeletons seemed to inched closer as the invisible wall got smaller and smaller. Kara tried her best to hold onto Vvruvrivvn as he cried out in pain with each successive swing of the sword or shield.
“Jade, he can’t hold on much longer!” Kara called out urgently. “Do it now!”
As if by cue, the Dark mage opened his eyes. “Infermius!” he shouted and flung out a web of shadow energies around him. Swirly dark energies coalesce onto each skeleton and sunk into the joints and bone. Within moments, there was nothing standing but a pile of human bones in a heap around the trio.
“It’s about time,” Vvruvrivvn whispered tiredly.
“Vee!” Jaden cried out. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Just a splitting headache. I may not be getting hit physically, but I can “feel” each blow mentally. Thank Astana your spell did not take long! I couldn’t hold for much longer. Too many of them attacking at the same time.”
“Ok the both of you take a rest now. I will keep watch for anything,” Kara said and she was going to help the psion take a seat when he brushed her off.
“Not on the ground. I’m wearing white.”
Both Jaden and Kara burst into laughter. “I swear you are more vain than Astana!” Kara exclaimed.
“I’m fine. That was not a major spell itself. It only takes time to cast it and I need to amplify it to encompass more than one. Now let’s take a look at the map and find out exactly how long more we are to continue for,” Jaden said. “I don’t get why we are assigned such a task with so little information.”
“Just let me rest for a while,” Vvruvrivvn said leaning against the mage.
“Right. Hand over the map, will you?” Jaden continued, and looked at it carefully. “So according to this garbage, there are no distance written? Alright then how about direction? Northwards it seems mostly. Going by pace, I say we should be currently below the central market square in the Trade district. And we should be going towards the docks area if we continue north. And if I remember my history lore correctly, that area was formerly a temple district to the various gods of old Hisarc.”
“So the guild may be right about this relic being there. How did this map get drawn without anyone setting off the ward? I don’t see any traces of this place being disturbed.” Vvruvrivvn mused. “I can’t imagine those idiots from the Archaeology Guild coming down here when there is nothing to dig here.”
“From what I gathered from Dolye, the guild pierced it together using clues from fragments of old poetry and song.” Kara recalled.
“Which is why there is no distance on this map, only direction.”
This is ridiculous! It could be miles away anywhere!” Vvruvrivvn scowled.
“No it couldn’t be. We are next to the docks,”
“We are also underground and limited by the layout! It may be next door up there but we can’t tell for sure with these tunnels! It could loop for a while before going north!”
“Boys!” Kara interrupted. “I suggest we return back to the surface, and arrange a meeting with Dolye and someone from the Archaeology Guild this time to give us more information! We are so not heading ahead blindly again!”
“I want to wring Dolye’s neck,” Vvruvrivvn growled.
“After I inflict some sores on him!” Jaden laughed and then his tone grew serious. “We should have not came here unprepared. We might need food supplies, weapons, and a bloody cleric!!!”
“That bloody Dolye said this would be an easy peasy task. Go down, go in, grab and go,” the psion said angrily. “MY ARSE!”
Jaden laughed heartily. “And you have to walk now!”