Lomir spoke a sharp word under his breath, something Aiden guessed was not meant for polite conversation.
“This abomination is why she was exiled,” Lomir explained through gritted teeth. “You must leave here by the end of tomorrow and never return.” He glared meaningfully at Gwynne, then released Sayana and stormed out of the room.
“What the hell was that all about?” Robert growled. Gwynne appeared to be disturbed at the sight of the markings, yet held her emotions in check as she spoke.
“Sarissa had already ventured outside of Acadia acting as our agent, having spent many years amongst humanity, when she became pregnant. We have no quarrel over mixed race couplings Sayana, for we are an enlightened people, but for reasons unknown to me, your mother broke into the reliquary and stole the means to instil those eldritch markings onto you, her newborn child.”
“To use magic of the enemy is forbidden in the strictest sense, and to this day I cannot fathom why she did so. Lomir was tempted to execute the child as soon as he found out, though I managed to persuade him into exiling you both from Acadia.”
“He was planning to kill a baby?” Pacian asked in disbelief.
“His concern was for when the child grew up,” Gwynne replied, giving Sayana a look tingled with fear.
“Back to this again,” Sayana whispered, her distraught emotions evident upon her face. “Lomir wants me gone before I destroy what remains of the city, am I correct?”
“Yes, and I see you already know of your true nature. The only reason you were not immediately expelled is that we have made a deal with you to exchange services, and Lomir is beholden to it,” Gwynne said. “You will have to head into the old city immediately if you are to aid us before your time runs out.”
“Perhaps I don’t want to help you anymore,” Sayana muttered, glaring at her counterpart.
“We bear you no ill-will, Sayana,” Gwynne tried to assure her, “but we have to protect this city. Proving to Lomir and those like him that you are not simply a disaster waiting to happen would go a long way towards generating trust between us.”
“Okay,” Robert said, wiping his mouth with a napkin and pushing his chair back. “I think it’s time you explained to us exactly what it is you want done.”
“Of course,” Gwynne nodded, regaining her composure as she started to speak. “Acadia is old, even by our standards. When it was constructed over three thousand years ago, it was never intended to be a city in the conventional sense, but rather a secret location to store the wonders of our civilization and to continue researching the most advanced magic and science ever devised. This was at a time when the human civilizations of the south were still very primitive.”
“You have seen the tapestry of light in the ruling chambers — it depicts the destruction of our old civilization at the hands of our enemy, and the beginnings of Acadia. But that was not the last time we crossed paths with our terrible foe.”
“This is the same foe that created the Ironlord, this gauntlet and Sayana’s arcane tattoos, correct?” Aiden inquired thoughtfully. He had always loved learning of history, but none of the books he’d ever read covered anything like Gwynne was telling them now.
“Indeed,” the Archmage confirmed. “It was one thousand, four hundred and thirty years ago when the factions controlling Acadia had a falling-out. The scholars wanted to keep the city safe behind the barrier you encountered when crossing into our lands. The warriors who guarded this place tired of our reclusive nature and wished to use the power stored here to strike back at the enemy, perhaps destroying or crippling them once and for all.”
“Part of the city was a massive citadel, constructed in such a way as to be completely sealed off from the rest of the world, if need be. The warrior faction had secretly been augmenting it so the citadel could actually lift off the ground and take to the skies.”
“Bullshit,” Pacian blurted, then quailed under the stern looks of everyone around him. “… Sorry, go on.”
“If you have issues with the exotic nature of this account, you had best cover your ears for the next part,” Gwynne advised archly. “The power of the artifacts secured in the old citadel was enough to tear it from the ground, whereupon the warriors of Acadia soared into the heavens to meet with our old foe on equal footing. Or so they thought.”
“A day and a night of the most terrible fighting imaginable lit the skies, occasionally sending chunks of searing rock hurtling down onto the forests below. When it was over, the shattered Acadian citadel crashed to the ground, utterly destroying the western half of the city in the process.”
“Is that what all of those artificial caves are?” Aiden asked, fascinated beyond measure.
“Some of those are of old Acadia, yes,” Gwynne confirmed. “It has long since been covered by the growth of the forest, but I digress. The consequences of the battle in the sky fractured what remained of our unity. Fearing a reprisal from above, many of our people fled Acadia and sought refuge with our cousins in Arebec, far to the west. Others, paranoid of the horrors that awaited us, descended deep into the earth and collapsed the tunnels behind them, so eager were they to escape retribution.”
“It was left to us, the last guardians of Acadia, to deal with the aftermath,” Gwynne continued, sipping from a delicate cup in her equally delicate hand. “Our enemy did come for us, but the irony is they were greatly weakened from the conflict and had our people remained united, we might have finished them off once and for all. Instead, a year-long siege ensued, where our two peoples were locked in a struggle for control of Acadia.”
“This is all fascinating stuff, I’m sure,” Robert sighed, trying to hold his impatience in check. “What does it have to do with this task you have for us?”
“I beg your indulgence a moment longer sir, for all I have said leads me to that very topic,” Gwynne replied. “The siege was broken when our reliquary master and his apprentices went into the ruins of the city and activated an ancient device, capable of bridging the gap between worlds. What monsters were unleashed into this realm I cannot say, but they drove off our enemy, killing the only people capable of understanding the enemy’s devices in the process.”
“Sounds like a happy ending,” Robert grunted. “I don’t see why you need us.”
“Not ‘us’, Robert, me,” Aiden said quietly, the magnitude of the situation becoming starkly apparent. “They never turned off that bridging device, did they?”
“But… that was centuries ago,” Nellise protested. “Are you saying it’s still open, after all this time?”
“I’m afraid so,” Gwynne nodded soberly. “The artifice of our enemy is such that even after one and a half millennia, their relics still function. Your gauntlet, Aiden, is an example of that. The only downside to their devices is the language used to operate them. It is complex enough on its own, but additionally all known texts also appear to be encoded in a crypic cypher, one we have never been able to break.”
“Hang on, if this ‘bridge’ is still working, why aren’t we being eaten by monsters right now?” Pacian asked.
“Although we pale in comparison to the arts of the old enemy, our magic is still formidable,” Gwynne explained. “We erected an arcane barrier around the old city, to hold back the scourge within. The demands of maintaining this barrier have consumed our society ever since.” Gwynne leaned forward to gaze directly at Aiden with her penetrating eyes, lending weight to her next words.
“We are a dying people. The few dozen wizards who maintain the barrier are old, and I was the last of our people born in this city, over four centuries ago. When we are no more, the barrier will fail and the scourge within will be unleashed upon the world. Somehow, you have come into the knowledge of how to operate their devices, Aiden, and you already know what I am going to ask of you.”
“You want us to go in there and turn off the bridge,” he surmised without enthusiasm. Gwynne simply nodded once in silent reply.
“If we do this — and there’s no gu
arantee that we can, mind you — your wizards and guardsmen will come to our aid, yes?”
“The demands of maintaining the barrier are the only thing holding us back,” Gwynne confirmed, her large green eyes having never left his despite the tumult.
“When Spartan returns from his hunt, you will take us to this barrier of yours and give us every single piece of information you can about that part of the city,” Aiden instructed firmly. “Do you have any idea of the conditions beyond the barrier?”
“None at all, but the area is not large, and I can provide you with maps showing the original layout,” Gwynne answered.
“Anything could be in there,” Nellise remarked quietly. “Is there any account of the creatures that were brought through this device?”
“Only that many of them were large, and possessed great claws and teeth that could chew through iron.”
“Well, sure they did, otherwise it would be too easy,” Pacian growled sarcastically. “This is a really bad idea.”
“It needs to be done, though,” Aiden reminded him. “What good would it do to defeat the Ironlord if this place comes apart in a few years?” Criosa nodded, but her silence spoke her true thoughts louder than that simple gesture could convey.
* * *
It was some time later when Spartan returned with the faintest hint of blood on his fangs. Aiden and the others made use of the time to gather their equipment and their courage. Sayana was subdued, and didn’t respond to any attempts to engage her in conversation. It was understandable, Aiden supposed, considering the information revealed about her mother, but the implications had given her more questions than answers. Despite her treatment, he had finally agreed to assist, more to help her friends than the elves of Acadia.
Gwynne ignored her brooding and spoke with Spartan nearby in a manner that led Aiden to believe they knew each other quite well. The feeling of being manipulated danced on the edge of Aiden’s mind, but he knew the reasoning was sound. In a few years, the city would have fallen, and whatever awaited them on the other side of the barrier would be unleashed upon the world.
“I shall teleport us to the barrier site, to save time,” Gwynne explained to them when they were ready. She then incanted a series of obscure gestures and words culminating in the entire room vanishing. The effect was similar to that which Salinder had used back on the highway south of Culdeny — the same sense of being nowhere at all permeating all of Aiden’s senses. A moment later he found himself on solid ground once more, standing in a dimly lit artificial cavern.
The ceiling of the chamber was easily twenty yards above, and only barely visible in the light of small magical globes dotting the area. Stalactites hung like inverted columns from above, and the steady drop of distant water could be heard. One wall seemed to consist of crumbling old buildings mixed with rock and soil, while the other was clearly the remains of an ancient fortification, leaning ominously over the area.
They stood in the centre of a circular stone platform, covering most of the open area of the cavern floor. Intricate designs were etched into the smooth surface, arrayed in circular patterns. Around them, roughly two dozen elven men and women of advanced age sat in simple chairs, their eyes closed and their attention focused elsewhere.
Like most of the other people of Acadia, their garments were thin and ancient, and Aiden pondered the thought their society was so far gone that they could not even produce new clothing.
The coterie of wizards, as Gwynne had described, were ancient. What was more disturbing though was the number of empty chairs, easily outnumbering the casters two to one. Near the perimeter of the barrier itself stood half a dozen elven guards, armed with the finest equipment Aiden had ever seen. What they lacked in quantity, they made up for in quality.
“Is that the barrier?” Nellise asked, staring out across the cavern. Turning to look, Aiden saw what she was referring to — a reflection of the platform and all who stood upon it, only darker and distorted. It completely closed off the western side of the chamber and was similar to looking upon a lake of water.
“I can scarcely believe it has stood for so long,” Criosa remarked, her voice joining the faint chants echoing in the huge space. “Incantations like this generally last a few days, at best.”
“It exists only through the sacrifice of our people,” Gwynne explained. “We all take turns in maintaining the incantations, on twelve-hour shifts. We used to do eight-hour shifts, long ago, but our numbers have slowly diminished with time. If you are successful tonight, our long vigil will finally be over. Come, let me give you some idea of what you will encounter.”
The arch mage led them to a nearby marble table, upon which sat neatly organised sheaves of parchment. Gwynne selected two and carefully spread them out over the table’s surface.
“These are copies of the originals, which have long since faded,” she said as they crowded in for a closer look. “The device was on the ground floor of the old librarium, where such relics were stored. That building resides in the centre of the protective barrier, which is itself a hemisphere one hundred and twenty yards in diameter.”
“That’s only sixty yards we have to cover in order to get to this thing,” Robert surmised, examining the map closely.
“It has been a source of some frustration on our part,” Gwynne said, “knowing how close we are to it physically, yet worlds away from being able to close it.”
“A lot of houses were built around the tower,” Robert continued, “although I’m guessing they’re all ruined by now.”
“Our construction methods have stood the test of time, Robert, even if the method of design has long been forgotten,” Gwynne replied. “Once, when I was younger, I was bold and foolish enough to try and see beyond the barrier to what lies beyond. I created an aperture ten inches across and peered into the gloom.” A haunted look crossed her timeless features.
“What did you see?” Aiden prompted when she didn’t continue.
“Total darkness,” she said, snapping out of her reverie. “More than that, while I was peering inside, I felt something was looking back at me. Something… terrible. A brief moment of darkness came over me and I shut the opening before anything else could get out.”
“Something got out?” Aiden asked incredulously.
“I believe so, though I never encountered anything strange around the city afterwards,” Gwynne answered. “Needless to say, I counted my blessings and resolved to never do that again.”
“Okay, so we get to this portal device,” Aiden surmised, “then I see if I can figure out how to switch it off. If, at that point, we have company, the rest of you will come to our aid, yes?”
“Yes, you have my word,” Gwynne promised.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take to make the translation,” Aiden warned. “We might need to hold the portal device for half an hour or more, and there’s no telling what’s going to be coming through in the meantime.”
“After fifteen hundred years, the thing is probably like a bloody highway to these monsters,” Pacian muttered.
“Has there been any indication the residents have been trying to break through the barrier?” Nellise asked of Gwynne.
“Yes,” Gwynne confirmed. “It is rare that a week goes by without a challenge to the strength of our magic.” She turned and spoke to one of the guards, who replied with a brief comment in elvish. “Yes, thirteen hours ago there was a disturbance in the barrier.”
“They may be surprised at our incursion,” Nellise surmised, “but that won’t last long, and we have no idea of how quickly they will be able to gather their forces.”
“Can you teleport us anywhere inside the area?” Sayana asked of Gwynne.
“That would be dangerous, as I have no idea of the current layout beyond the barrier,” Gwynne warned. “My plan is to open an aperture large enough for you and Spartan to fit through
“We’ve two options, then,” Robert surmised. “We attempt to use stealth and sneak through to
the portal, and hold it while Aiden does his thing. Or we can send through all the explosive power you can muster and blast our way forward. They both carry risks.”
“I say we fight if we have to, not because we can,” Nellise suggested. “Stay quiet, keep low, and guard Aiden while he does his work.” Everyone seemed eager to avoid a fight where possible, and agreed with this plan.
“I defer to the judgement of my knights,” Criosa informed Gwynne. “When you think the time is right, open the aperture and we will get started.”
“As you think best, Princess,” Gwynne replied with a slight inclination of her head.
You will not be required to accompany us, Criosa, Spartan said, catching her off guard. Your value is to your Kingdom, and it would be a waste of your potential if you were to fall in this fight.
“You think my capabilities inadequate to the task?” Criosa countered.
Compared to many of your companions, yes, the dragon replied bluntly. Abide here with our friends, until we return victorious.
“Thank you for your concern, but in spite of your repeated statements of command, I am the one leading this expedition. Nothing you can say will dissuade me from my task.”
“With respect, are you sure you want to be in charge for this?” Robert said, adding his concern to the conversation. “I don’t think you’ve had much experience commanding in the field. Let me be your sergeant on this one, Criosa. I’ll keep everything together if we come under pressure.”
“That’s a sensible suggestion,” the princess agreed. “But when I give orders, I expect them to be obeyed. This means you, dragon — don’t let your seeming arrogance prevent you from acting as part of the group.”
As you wish, Spartan purred in their minds, seemingly unperturbed by the confrontation. Aiden joined the others as they drew their weapons and checked their equipment.
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