Resurgence of Ancient Darkness

by Vincent Trigili

  “Indeed? You never told me. After all this is over, I would love to hear that story,” he said.

  “Maybe you can tell me while we are wandering around lost among the dead?” I sent.

  “Oh, Master, it is not really worth telling,” she said.

  “Regardless, I am very interested. Is there anything I can do for you before you go?” he asked.

  “Yes, Master. If we do not make it back for some reason, give everything we own to Shea, please. She will know what to do with it,” I said.

  “I will note your request, but you are under strict orders to return alive and well,” he said.

  “Master, we plan to do what we can to comply,” I said.

  He stood up and said, “I am proud of both of you; you have come so far in such a short period of time. Understand that, while this information is important, it is not as important as you both. If something goes wrong, abort the mission and come back here. Understood?” he said.

  “Yes, Master,” we both said.

  After some parting words, Spectra and I traveled to our binding point in the Spirit Realm. Once there she sent, “Follow me,” and she opened a gate. We came out on the other side of the gate in the trade hub that served Alpha Academy. “Okay, bind here.”

  “Sure,” I sent.

  Once that was done we returned to the Spirit Realm, and she opened another gate, this time to Alyeeron Prime. We repeated this half-a-dozen more times and then returned to the Spirit Realm.

  “There, that’s better. You have many ways home now, but I must rest. Gates still take a lot out of me,” she sent.

  “Where’s a safe place?” I asked.

  “This way,” she sent.

  We traveled for a long way across the realm. I could not reliably judge time in this strange place so I didn’t know how long it took to reach the safe spot. There was ground of sorts, but I was not sure what it was made of. After a while we came to a place where the ground was a different shade of grey to the surrounding area.

  “Here. This is blessed land. We can rest here so long as we take turns at watch,” she sent.

  “Okay, you rest. I will watch,” I sent.

  Once she had lain down, I pulled darkness around us. My concealment powers seemed to work just as well here as back home, for which I was very grateful.

  As far as I could see in any direction, the bleak landscape just stretched on and on. Spectra told me that once we got out of this region we would find mountains and valleys where there would be ample food and water for us. She figured that the sorcerers would have taken up residence there also, so she did not want to gate right into there. Instead we gated out into this area that she called the plains.

  Until then, this would probably be the most boring honeymoon ever.

  Chapter Eighty-Two

  “Okay, it’s time to move on,” sent Spectra as I got up from my turn at rest.

  “How long has it been?” I asked.

  “Back on the Nevermore? Roughly twelve hours,” she sent and pointed to the computer that was part of our body armor.

  “How does that relate to here?” I asked.

  “It doesn’t. Time really has very little meaning for the natives of this realm,” she sent.

  “It must have some meaning. After all, we rested for some period of time, right?” I asked.

  “Yeah, but our time measurement is based on the movement of stars, planets, and other objects that do not exist here. So time still flows, but there is nothing to judge it by. Look around. Does it look any different now to any other time we have been here?” she asked.

  “No, I guess not,” I sent.

  “Exactly,” she sent.

  I thought about that for a while as we walked. She led us across the featureless plain with her unerring sense of direction. Somehow we both knew what direction we were walking in, although there was nothing to judge it by. She told me it was impossible for Spiritualists like us to get lost here, but I didn’t understand how that could be.

  She had to be right, though, since I knew how to find every place we had ever been to in this realm. I knew that many days walking in the opposite direction would take us to the place where we had worked to seal the tear between the physical realm and this one. And far away to my right was the first place I had ever transported myself to here. I could not imagine how it worked; it just did.

  “If we have been here for twelve hours, that means it’s been at least fourteen since we have eaten. So why am I not hungry?” I asked.

  “Your body needs less food here. We will probably eat our first meal in a few days,” she sent.

  “But our bodies use food for energy. There’s no way we could have stored that much energy,” I sent.

  “The only reason to eat here is for the raw materials your body needs, such as vitamins and minerals. Your body gets all the energy it needs directly from the environment,” she sent.

  “What if Shea or Master Shadow came with us?” I asked.

  “Master Shadow, I’m not sure about. Spellweavers are an odd bunch. Shea would need to eat as normal, but she would be under constant attack, so I doubt if she would hang around long enough to get hungry,” she sent.

  “It still amazes me that they don’t attack us,” I sent.

  “As Spiritualists, we look like those here. For us it is even a bit deeper than that. We are essentially natives. The only reason I had you cast Night-Wraith form when we first came here was to disguise you. I was never in any danger, at least not until we attacked the tear,” she sent.

  “Will any of those come looking for vengeance?” I asked.

  “Maybe, but it’s highly unlikely. The natives here tend to have poor memories for that kind of thing,” she sent.

  According to my armor’s computer we traveled for two more days until the mountain ranges came into sight. It was another day after that before we reached the edge of the forest.

  “Now we eat,” she sent. She reached up into one of the trees and pulled out some roundish objects that I hadn’t known were there. “These are some kind of fruit, I think. They could be seeds; all I know is that they taste nice and are very nutritious.”

  “If you don’t know what they are, how do you know they are nutritious?” I asked.

  “’Cause they were all I ate for a long time, and I stayed healthy and strong,” she sent.

  I bit into the round thing, and she was right: it tasted pretty good. It was very sweet and had a soft, moist texture like I would expect from a fruit. She showed me how to find them and tell when they were ripe.

  “Why were you here all that time?” I asked.

  “It was better than suicide,” she sent.

  “What?” I exclaimed.

  “Living here, and learning how to survive, took my mind away from the horror that was my life,” she sent.

  As we walked into the forest I remembered her story about how she was abused and homeless for most of her pre-wizard life. I decided that I would not ask about that. “Why did you decide to return?” I asked.

  “I don’t know, really. I was happy here, but I felt called to return,” she sent. “When I returned I had sufficient magical skill to protect myself, so things were better. Eventually I learned of Alpha Academy, and got married to a goofy fish.”

  “You certainly have mastered the concept of telling the short version,” I sent with a chuckle.

  We walked a bit further and then she sent, “We’ll have to be more careful here in the woods. I’m not the only one to choose to live here for a while.”

  Somehow I knew that I didn’t want to meet any of her former neighbors. “How do we search for the sorcerers, then?” I asked.

  “When someone binds a specific object in the way they did with the tables, it leaves an image of itself here at the binding point. We will have to hunt for its signature. Once we find one, I expect the rest will be nearby,” she sent.

  “Is that like when I use my magic sens
e to look for traps and hidden objects?” I asked.

  “Yes, exactly like that. In fact, can you look for both? It might shine brighter in one spectrum or the other,” she replied.

  We walked for a while, moving deeper and deeper into the forest; constantly scanning around us not only for a table, but for any residents of the woods who might not take kindly to our presence.

  “In a few days we should reach the foothills, and then a few days more should bring us to a mountain range. It’s the most likely place for them to hide in this area,” she sent.

  “If I recall my survival training right, where there’s good shelter, there’s bound to be something else using it,” I sent.

  “Yeah, the mountains are filled with caves, and some will definitely be in use. I lived in a different region, far from here, so I don’t know what we will find up there. All I know is that there were no ancient master sorcerers where I lived, so it’s not worth checking there,” she sent.

  Chapter Eighty-Three

  “I still wish we could fly or that we had brought some transportation instead of having to walk all this way,” I sent.

  “Dusty, we have been over this already. Any expenditure of energy like that would stand out here and draw attention that we don’t want,” she sent.

  We had reached the foothills and would soon be at the base of the mountains. “So far we have seen nothing but natives. Maybe this area is empty?” I suggested.

  “Not likely. We can travel freely through this realm, but most physical beings are not welcome. Any living people here would be in places they can make secure, such as those caves up there,” she said.

  I thought about that for a bit. It seemed to make sense except for one detail. “Why would those people live here?”

  “Some are banished here, some traveled here and were trapped, some are in hiding; and there are many other different explanations. Each has his own reason, and no one ever asks,” she sent.

  We walked a little bit farther while I thought that over. Eventually we reached the base of the mountains. They were tall and steep, but had many different trails cut into them, which I thought should make exploring them much easier. “Do we just pick a trail and climb?”

  “No, let’s follow the base for a while and see if we notice anything from down here,” she replied.

  As we walked, scanning the mountain, I wondered what it would be like to live here. There was no daytime, and it was eerily quiet. There were no stars or moon in the sky. All you could see when you looked up was the same unremarkable grayness that could be seen in any direction in which you had a clear view. Anything that had color was very bland and drab.

  We walked on for days and found nothing of interest. The natives would sometimes fly by and follow us, but they soon got bored and moved on. I lost track of time after a while, but the unending mountains continued to roll on. It was very peaceful and, in an odd way, relaxing.

  “You sure we shouldn’t climb one of these trails?” I sent.

  “If the table was as close as the top of the mountain we should be able to spot it. It’s faster and safer to stay down here,” she sent.

  As she sent that, I head a faint rustle. I touched her arm and sent, “Hold.” One thought was running through my mind as I spun towards the sound: Natives don't make sounds when they move.

  I could see nothing, so I pulled darkness around us and guided Spectra back to where I had heard the sound. As we slipped around, two dog-like creatures came into view. They were frantically sniffing the air, trying to locate our scent. My cloaking spells were complete, and there was no way they would be able to find us by smell alone.

  “Dusty, those are usually employed as scouts. We should kill them and get out of here,” she sent.

  “We can slip away. They will never be able to find us,” I sent. “We should turn back and travel to the last trail we saw going up, then go over the mountain and continue our search on the other side.”

  She hesitated there for a moment as I tried to lead her away, then she seemed to shake herself. “Okay, but we need to move fast. Their master may already be on the way.”

  “It doesn’t matter. They won’t find us either, but we are losing search time,” I sent back.

  As we worked our way back down the trail we came across a human magus holding his staff up high and chanting. With my magical awareness spell I could see power flowing all around him. “Go wide, just to be safe,” I sent.

  “Wait; we should talk to him and ask if he has seen the sorcerers,” she sent.

  “Isn’t that really dangerous?” I asked.

  “Yes, so only I will show myself. If things go bad, then you can cloak me and we’ll leave,” she sent.

  “If it’s an active fight, I might not be able to hide you in time,” I sent.

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure we can take him if need be,” she sent and then stepped out of my cloak. “Greetings, I come in peace …”

  “I don’t!” he said and pointed a wand at Spectra.

  Before I could react a mage bolt was flying towards her, but she calmly blocked it with her staff. “I will only warn you once: stand down,” she said. “Stay hidden in case he has friends,” she sent to me.

  He did not respond. Instead, he began casting, and as a wall of fire appeared between them, he pushed it towards us. I had to move from my position to prevent being hit, but Spectra stood her ground. As the wall approached she called out a command word and swung her staff in an upward arc. Power leaped from it and slammed into the wall of fire, breaking it apart. She then moved forward quickly and snapped out a sidekick.

  The magus fell back and threw up his staff to block the blow, but was too slow. The kick caught him squarely in the chest, sending him sprawling across the ground. He tried to get up but cried out in pain and fell back.

  “Now, all I wanted to do was ask you some questions. Are you ready to talk?” she asked.

  He rolled over and drew two wands. He fired them together at Spectra, who blocked them on her staff. He kept firing, hoping to catch her off balance and slip in a shot, but Spectra was too experienced for that.

  She waited until he had to catch his breath from calling out the command words so fast, then she sent her own mage bolt back at him. It slammed into his chest, and he fell back a few feet.

  I couldn’t see what happened next because the two dog creatures came charging in to the clearing and leapt for Spectra’s back. I used my staff to fire multiple mage bolts into each of them, blasting them off course and sending them skidding across the ground.

  “Are you all right?” I sent.

  “Yeah, they’re dead. We’d better get out of here fast. All this casting will draw the wrong kind of company,” she sent.

  I wrapped us back up in shadows, and we headed up the trail into the mountains. From behind us where we’d left the bodies came the sounds of fighting and brilliant flashes of power.

  “Scavengers are fighting over the remains. Keep moving,” she sent.

  Chapter Eighty-Four

  We continued to travel up the mountain until we reached a place where the path separated. One way appeared to lead down the other side, and one continued upwards.

  “Let’s head to the peak and see what we can see from up there,” I sent.

  “As long as you keep your cloak up, sure,” she sent. “It would be best if no one knew we were here.”

  “Absolutely,” I replied.

  As we continued up the trail, we saw more and more indications that the area was inhabited. There were various piles of trash and cleared areas that had been used to prepare food.

  “Messy folk,” I commented.

  “People come out here away to cook and clean away from wherever they’re hiding their homes so that they don’t draw attention back to where they sleep,” sent Spectra.

  “How many people do you think are up here?” I asked.

  “It’s hard to say, but not too many, judging by t
he number of cooking fires. Maybe a dozen,” she sent.

  “How come we haven’t seen any of them?” I asked.

  She gestured down the way we had come. “Our little interruption down there will have brought out some of the more dangerous types, so it’s likely that everyone will stay in hiding till they feel the danger has passed.”

  “Why did he attack you?” I asked.

  “There is no industry here of any kind. You can’t farm, nor are there animals to hunt, so the only supply of fresh materials, such as clothing, for those trapped here is to kill other people who have it and take it from them,” she sent.

  “I see,” I sent. “So he died trying to steal your clothes?”

  “Yes; a pointless death,” she sent in disgust.

  Eventually we reached the peak of the mountain, and from there we could see for a great distance in all directions. On a normal planet back in the physical realm this might have been a breathtaking view, but here it was just gray. The mountain range stretched as far as I could see without a break, and at its base there was that same bland forest stretching out in all directions.

  As I swept my eyes over the area I saw something, briefly, “There! Did you see that?”

  “No, what?” she asked.

  “Three peaks away, a glow of power, wait … there it is! It’s on the third peak, about halfway up.” I remembered then that she could not cast magical awareness, since that was a concealment line spell. “For me to see it from this distance, its power must be massive.”

  “Could that be our table?” she sent.

  “The power is steady. If it were a fight, or merely someone practicing, it would spike and fade. Since this is constant, it’s a permanently enchanted object or place,” I replied.

  “Three peaks? We will never make it in time,” she said.

  “I can conceal a feather fall from here so that we can glide most of the way undetected,” I sent. “It won’t be enough to make it all the way, but we can get pretty close.”

  “Are you sure? If we make a mistake it could bring the entire realm down on us,” she sent.