Trial and Flame

by Kevin Murphy

  Though the entrance had been a solid crystal staircase, there was more than crystal in the mines. Whether by stripping away at the visilium to its ends or through whatever magical or geological processes formed the deposits in the first place, stone and dirt were present as well. The floor consisted mostly of crystal and gray stone, though it was gritty and being worn away by the constant scrape of boots. Patches of dirt were clearly visible in the walls, though they were covered by small cage-like metal lattices similar to those used to stow the city’s treasury.

  A woman of at least 60 years, with far more energy to spare on dealing with newcomers than anyone else had, walked over to them from a group of tired women and men caring for infants despite looking like they’d each just taken a turn mining, themselves.

  “What are you all doing down here?” she asked. “Didn’t that fool boy, Osword, tell you that it’s dangerous in the mines?”

  Osword had clearly been in his mid-40s, an age that meant—especially in an isolated community like theirs—he had the potential to be a grandfather already. To call him a fool boy—Dakkon suspected that this had been the pair’s dynamic for the past 30 years.

  “Yes ma’am, he did,” Melee said. With a fleck of defiant confidence in her voice, she added, “But as you can see, we’re here anyway.”

  “Well, then you’re all fools, too,” the lady said.

  “Charming,” Roth replied. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, as well.”

  “What’s your deal, old lady?” Melee asked, off-put by the undeserved cold reception.

  The older woman stood proudly and puckered her lips in a sour expression as she searched for words that contained just the right amount of indignation.

  Sensing the impending mood shift, Mina sought a more cordial route. “What’s your name, ma’am? I’m Mina.”

  Mina’s change in tone seemed to calm the impending storm. Their greeter’s expression untwisted as she looked at the girl who’d just asked her name.

  “My name’s Merelda,” the cross old woman said, then she sighed to relax herself as she rubbed both her eyes with the palms of her hands. “You’ll have to forgive my quick temper. There’s really no good reason to come down here. Osword should have made that clear.”

  “Why’s that?” Mina asked, glancing over to Melee to make sure her friend didn’t rile the old woman up now that she’d been pacified. Rather than unhappy, Melee seemed impressed by how Mina quickly fixed the problem and gave her a little, deferential nod for a situation well-handled.

  “It’s not safe,” Merelda said. She pointed toward one of the metal-latticed barriers placed over dirt in the wall. “Do you see that fencing? That’s to keep critters from coming straight out the wall at us. We haven’t had it happen this high up yet, thank the gods, but sooner or later I fear they’ll come.”

  “Monsters come out of the walls?” asked Dakkon, concerned but grateful for the information.

  “These days they do, and worse, though it wasn’t always like this,” said Merelda. “The tunnels below the mines are a dangerous place. We’ve had many visitors come to explore. Some live, many die, but everyone leaves worse off than when they got here. There’s nothing valuable enough in that hole to warrant the risk, and any effort to clear out the deeper levels is always short lived. The monsters just keep coming back.”

  “From the holes in the wall?” Roth asked.

  “That or from the crystal itself,” said Merelda. “It’s no secret that the crystal has been very good to us. We’re strong, healthy, and safe from staying near it at the surface. Just you wait and see—Oswin’s taken deathly ill, but he’ll be up and fresh in a few days’ time. Still, I suspect that maybe—just maybe—every good thing the crystal gives us up here, it pays in kind down there in evil ways. There are twisted things in the pit that slither and crawl. There are wicked, rock-like bugs with extra sets of legs that look like they were made from the crystal itself. Make no mistake, there’s nothing good below.”

  “Thank you for the words of caution, Merelda,” Mina said. “Is there anything from the tunnels below that you or anyone else needs?”

  “Good job Mina,” thought Dakkon. She was fishing for a quest.

  The older woman sighed yet again, resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t be able to stop the foolhardy youths from trouncing to their doom. “If you must go, then yes. My husband was a proud man. He was brave and wonderful—and a fool. He used to encourage outsiders to seek out treasures in the mines until one group asked him to be their guide. It was as though he’d been waiting to hear those words spoken all along. He happily joined them on their descent, even though he didn’t know full well what was down there save for rumors and what glimpses he’d seen. After a day or so it was apparent that the whole lot of them had died. Then, a month or so later those same adventurers turned back up here alive again. They tried to tell me how close they had gotten to clearing out the tunnels, but I didn’t have a second to spare for the cruel excuses of those gods-damned adventurers. The only thing I knew was that Jacob was gone—and for what?”

  Merelda paused for a moment, her gaze focused down and forward at the ground between everyone’s feet. Her eyes seemed unwilling to look up, as though she might see those same group of players that had led to her husband’s untimely death.

  “That grudge doesn’t do me any favors now,” Merelda said. “It’s been a year since Jacob died. It’s not enough time to forgive those fools—it never will be—but Jacob’s belongings deserve better than to be wasting away in the bottom of some pit. If you could bring me his sword and the metal clasp from his cloak that would suffice. I’d ask for more, but I fear that’s the extent of what may have managed to survive all this time.”

  There was no reward promised, but aside from cracking into the small town’s treasury, it didn’t seem like the villagers would have much to offer, anyway. Given the town’s goal to save up for a better future, they wouldn’t dare to ask for that.

  “We’d be glad to bring them to you, should we find them,” said Melee with a glint of wetness in her eyes. The proud mask she’d worn a moment before had been discarded in favor of sympathy.

  The others nodded in agreement, accepting the quest.

  [You have accepted the quest: Something to Hold on To]

  Merelda never raised her gaze from the floor. She simply turned around then said while looking away, “Keep an eye on the crystals.” Without giving a chance for anyone else to speak to her, she walked away.

  Dakkon looked at the others, then toward the path deeper into the mines as if to ask if they were ready. The resolve each wore on their faces was evidence enough that they were. Collectively, they walked toward the tunnels, but before they could get all the way they were stopped.

  “Adventurers,” said a shaky, though enthusiastic voice. “I heard you talking to my gran.”

  The group swiveled their heads to look at the new speaker.

  “Jacob was more than her husband and my grandpa, he was our leader. He’s the one who made our lives possible out here in the woodlands. He’s the one who found the crystal and discovered that it could heal the sick. He deserved better than he got.”

  The group watched him. The shaking in his voice stabilized with conviction, the more he spoke.

  “I want you to take me with you.”

  [You have accepted the quest: Descend for the Fallen]

  I want you—”

  “No,” said Dakkon firmly as he turned back to the younger man’s plea. The others nodded and followed suit then began to walk into the tunnels.

  “But why!” the man screamed at them. “I want to make those monsters pay! You don’t know how bad it’s got down below. There’s new sounds and smells that ain’t never been there before. You’ll need a guide!”

  The others save for Cline had already crossed the threshold into a downward-sloping tunnel. Before Cline followed his friends onto reportedly unsafe ground, he turned to the man.

  “If you want to honor
your grandfather,” Cline said. “Find a way to help the village prosper. There’s no sense in risking your life for no reward other than catharsis.”

  “Then why are you going down?” the young man asked. “There’s nothing to be gained in them tunnels!”

  Cline faltered for only a moment. “I aim to keep growing,” he said. “Plus, I’ve got friends who need me.” Cline paused, smiling at the thought. “I’m willing to bet you’re needed in town, too.”

  With no more words, Cline turned and entered into the tunnel behind the others.

  [You have failed the quest: Descend for the Fallen]

  As they walked forward, Dakkon connected to Cline through the message system, creating a temporary telepathic link.

  “He makes a good point,” Dakkon thought, transmitting the message to Cline. “We don’t know exactly how dangerous it is down there yet. Sounds like there might be some new monsters lurking about.”

  “I meant what I said,” replied Cline. “If I’m only given one life, I mean to grow strong enough to keep it. That means not having to do reconnaissance every time I walk through an archway.” Then, he severed the link putting an end to Dakkon’s protests.

  \\\

  As the group walked deeper into the tunnels below the mines, they reworked their marching order. While traveling on the road to Klith, they had already decided on an optimal order for a closed-off area like they were in, but that was before they knew monsters could literally pop out of the walls at them. The tunnel was large enough for all five of them to walk side by side, but when considering the massive arc space that Melee required when swinging her trusty two-handed sword, they could only reasonably have two at the vanguard.

  Roth and Melee took to the front line. Mina stuck to the middle with Jinx, guarded by everyone, since her healing was the group’s best bet for survival. Cline and Dakkon stood in the back. Cline’s exceptional accuracy with his bow meant, unless they were caught at a bend in the tunnels, he was most effective from a distance.

  Dakkon’s strength lay in the raw damage output by his dagger. While he’d speed up their progress moving forward if he were out front, their goal wasn’t speed so much as safety. At the rear, he could deal with unexpected arrivals from the floor, walls, ceilings, or behind with the added benefit of his thermomancy skill ‘Thermal Sight,’ which they hoped might give them a few extra seconds notice should something try to burst out from a dirt patch.

  Though vision in darkness was far more forgiving in Chronicle than it was in the real world, the way ahead curved to the right, obscuring the party’s view. Luckily, the suspect dirt patches were few and far between and so were easy to monitor as they moved onward. Roth called back to Dakkon, “Well? Do you see anything with your heat-y eyes?”

  “Not yet. I’ve been panning the walls, but it all seems cold and clear.” Dakkon had been toggling Thermal Sight on and off every few paces to conserve as much mana as possible for the upcoming fights. If he were confined to the back lines, he’d need to utilize his new fire magic to contribute.

  The slow curve of the tunnel continued until it was difficult to determine in precisely how much of a circle they had walked. Unsure of whether they had now turned 180 degrees or closer to 270, they’d lost their grasp on exactly which way was North. Only moments later, their path seemed to dead-end save for a hole in the ground.

  Approaching the ledge with only a bit of caution, Melee leaned over the edge to get a view of what lay below. After a few seconds of panning around she stepped back to report her findings.

  “Looks clear to me. We’re standing on about two meters of solid crystal. Below that, it opens up into a bigger room,” she said. “I didn’t see any other passageways, so I guess we need to head down.”

  “Cline, do you have any rope in those packs?” Mina asked.

  Before Cline had a chance to answer that he did, Roth interjected. “Hold up. They blend in pretty well, but it looks like some hand holds have been carved into the crystal.”

  The others gathered around the edge to see for themselves.

  “You’re right,” said Dakkon. “Looks like someone who came before us had a bright idea about how to get down.”

  “Or someone had no better way to get back up,” Roth pointed out.

  “Well, if that’s the case, then at least they had the luxury of doing so while not being attacked from all sides,” Dakkon said.

  “That actually makes me feel a bit better,” admitted Cline.

  “Want to go first?” Melee asked.

  “What?” said Cline. “I’m a ranger. Shouldn’t the tanks volunteer?”

  “I thought rangers were like scouts,” said Roth. “Don’t you have some sort of advantage to going on ahead?”

  “What?” Cline said again. “I mean, I—”

  “Stop teasing him already, Melee,” said Mina with a smile on her face. “I know you’re itching to drop down there and look around, so go ahead and do it already.”

  Melee grinned and, forgoing the handholds in the wall, hopped backward and dropped feet first through the hole. The fall was a full eight meters, causing Melee to land with a considerable thud. Cline’s face blanched at the thought of what a landing like that might do to his ankles.

  “You’re crazy!” Cline called down after her.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve seen her make a similarly ill-advised jump already,” Mina said, dismissing the feat which might ordinarily snap legs.

  “Everything all right down there?” Dakkon called out.

  “Get your lazy asses down here, already!” Melee called up to the others. “We’ve got more walking to do!”

  Dakkon looked over to the party’s other warrior, Roth, to see if he’d enter in the same dramatic manner which Melee had.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” said Roth while shaking his head. “It would be a disservice to whomever carved these not to use such well-positioned handholds.”

  Melee heard a chuckle from above before Mina called down, “Wait a sec, we’ve got to lower Jinx down part-way. I won’t have him getting hurt for no reason!” Then, after emptying a sack of contents not suited for combat or caves, a makeshift dumbwaiter was created to get Mina’s pet wolf down safely. The others began to descend the slow way. Though Dakkon had already gained a few ranks in his ‘Climbing’ trait, Cline’s agility as he descended left no question about who would be the first one up and out should the need arise. Mina, on the other hand, had quite a difficult time getting down on her own. She swore that the climb would have been easier to do in real life.

  Upon reaching the ground below, Cline scanned the walls and said, “Looks like this is where things get serious.” Seconds later, Dakkon’s foot touched the crystal beneath him, prompting a system message:

  [You have entered a dungeon: Tunnels Beneath Klith.]

  The group found themselves in a semicircular cavity within the mass of crystal. There was no stone nor dirt. Every direction they looked was the dark blue of meters-thick visilium, save for two paths that burrowed right through the crystal walls. The openings were only marginally smaller than the tunnel they had walked through up above. The floor seemed a little rough, but the walls and ceiling were much rougher. Visilium crystal jutted outward like little spears and slanted stalactites, as though the group were standing in the hollow of a massive geode. It was now clear that the smoothness of the crystal that they had seen up above, near the surface, was achieved through meticulous curation by the townspeople of Klith.

  Mina closed her eyes and chanted, head bowed to a string of beads she clutched in her left hand and stroked with her right thumb. Blue light suffused Melee’s body, healing any injuries she might have sustained from her jump down.

  “You didn’t have to go and do that,” Melee began, but Mina simply waved away the comment—unconcerned about maintaining her friend’s tough image.

  The group looked around the chamber. Aside from where they’d come in from, the only two paths looked identical aside from their l
ocations in the crystal wall and the direction that they curved. One curved gradually left, and the other gradually right.

  “Mina, did your sources have any information on which way we should go?” Dakkon asked. “They look pretty much the same.”

  “No mention of that, I’m afraid,” Mina said. “But, we should either take every left option or every right option. That should be the easiest way to keep ourselves from getting lost.”

  “Providing the paths don’t change,” Cline muttered just loudly enough to hear.

  “And why exactly would the paths change?” Mina asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “No reason… I was just vocalizing my inner fears,” Cline said, scratching his head.

  “It all looks like solid crystal,” Roth said, patting Cline on the back. “Everything should be cool.”

  “Cool, huh?” thought Dakkon. “That gives me an idea.” Dakkon walked up to the right-most passage and began using his Dousebinders to create a thick ice seal. “Hopefully this will keep things from flanking us down the path.”

  “I guess that means we’re going left, then,” said Mina. “Can you seal off every non-left path we come across down the tunnel?”