Perdition's Rest

by J. C. Placeres

  Corvul and Lorne remained on point, shortly behind the two of them were Tulinda, Thelais and Sielan, behind the three of them were Zeranidul and Gowinda, lastly bringing up the rear as usual was Vuurbin. The priest of the flesh always remained on the periphery of the light cast by Thelais' glow sphere. Sielan made sure to frequently check behind her and keep an eye on Vuurbin. After their disturbing encounter on the edge of the Dallion Forest she refused to let her guard down for a second. On multiple occasions she could tell he was blatantly staring at her even though his face was hidden in darkness. Sometimes though she couldn't even see him as he had lagged further behind and was beyond the light of the party; ultimately though he stuck to himself. She had no idea what his intentions were, but she wanted nothing to do with him. Even though Sielan believed she was above petty racism, she couldn't help but feel some animosity towards the Tormos which brought her great shame. Vuurbin, a holy man outwardly, was clearly some sort of sexual deviant. Zeranidul was an emotionless barbarian and Gowinda was just a simpleton. Tulinda was the only Tormos she respected and liked. Now more than ever she realized how easy it was for hatred and mistrust to fester as it had amongst her fellow Phlebos, but she pushed those feelings down. The Tormos were culturally different than the Phlebos, but who was she was to judge their way of life? While she may not understand them, she would respect them, and as long as Vuurbin left her alone, all would be well.

  For the first hour or two there was nothing to see but the endless tight tunnel they walked down. On more than one occasion the tunnel branched off into multiple different paths, however which was the correct path, if there was a correct path, was unknown, and Corvul and Lorne would pick a path at random and continue marching. After the first two hours, or what Sielan believed was about two hours, the tunnel they were traversing finally opened into a much larger passage that resembled the more traditional caves she was used to. The space they entered was larger than the glow sphere illuminated. Thelais increased the potency of the sphere and the roof of the cavern, covered in stalactites and about fifty feet above them, became visible. The floor of the chamber was soon peppered with stalagmites and the group had to traverse the forest of rocky protrusions. At one-point Corvul made a snide comment about Tulinda flattening the formations to make their path easier. Sielan saw Lorne lean close and whisper to Corvul, what he said was lost to her, but she had a few guesses.

  After some time traversing the dagger dungeon, a name which Sielan had personally began calling the cave, the path smoothed out and the ceiling got lower. They then returned to cramped quarters much to the despair of the taller Vesnians in the party. Sielan lost track of time until they all began hearing the same noise - the sound of running water. The tunnel suddenly dumped them into a large opening, the ceiling far higher than fifty feet above them. The room was so vast they could not see the far walls even when Thelais once again boosted the power of the glow sphere. From somewhere far above them water poured out of an opening, crashing into the ground and forming a river that sloped downward and headed off into the darkness. Along the portion of the wall that were visible, they saw multiple other openings that came from the same direction they had previously come from. It rapidly became apparent that many of the paths they did not take all lead here to this massive area that was carved out by the roaring river. The group followed the water, the ground around them in the cavernous room largely smooth save for a few stalagmites. The river was not exceptionally long though. After only ten to fifteen minutes of walking the group came to the first obstacle that stopped them dead in their tracks.

  The floor suddenly turned into a ledge and the group was stuck looking into an endless chasm of darkness. The water from the river flowed off the edge forming a waterfall, the liquid free falling into the black empty void. Thelais summoned a second glow sphere and sent it hurtling down into the emptiness. The sphere continued to get smaller and smaller until eventually they couldn't even see it anymore.

  "The spell has ended. The orb got too far from me and the connection was broken. I do not know how far down the floor is, but it's deep, really deep," said Thelais.

  "Does anyone have any ideas on how to get down then?" Lorne asked his question as he turned to face the group. As he stepped away from the ledge, rocks tumbled off into the nothingness due to his movement.

  "How about Tulinda just raises the floor up to us? We get on it and then she lowers it back down," said Corvul, putting his hands on his hips as if the problem had been solved.

  "Do you ever have any useful suggestions Corvul?" Zeranidul stated with thinly veiled contempt.

  "While I could do that," Tulinda began while peering off the edge into the darkness, "it would not be wise. While I can sense the stones all around us and at the bottom of the pit, because I cannot physically see them, as well as the distance between the floor and us, I would be attempting to control them blind. As Thelais would inform you, trying to control something you cannot see can have a very hazardous and random outcome. Additionally, there is a lot of water running through this entire area and it has greatly eroded and damaged the structural integrity of the whole cavern we are now in. I also couldn't guarantee I wouldn't accidently cause a cave in or disastrous floor collapse from manipulating such weakened rocks over such a long distance."

  "What do you suggest then? Also feel free to ignore anything that comes out of Corvul's mouth," said Lorne.

  Tulinda flashed a smile from the darkness of her hood. "Is anyone here afraid of heights?" Some moans were heard from the group, but no one spoke up in protest. "While I can't determine precisely how far down the floor is, I can easily control the rock walls near us in this pit. Although it is a long and deep chasm, the far side of the wall from where we stand now is only a few hundred feet away. I will craft a ledge spiraling down this vertical circular pit; all we have to do is follow my impromptu staircase to the bottom. If you are afraid of heights, just don't look down," said Tulinda with a smirk.

  The group walked to the wall where the edge came to an end. With a graceful wave from Tulinda's hand, the rock began moving, the ledge extending from beyond where it naturally ended. When the expanding stones come to a stop, the walkway was large enough for two of them to stand shoulder to shoulder. The group stepped out onto the impromptu path, stones from the wall continually protruding out before them as if in anticipation of their steps. The walkway was always at a downward angle spiraling deeper and deeper into the chasm. Most of the group hugged the wall as tightly as they could, not wanting to be anywhere near the edge. The command and creation of the walkway didn't seem to vex Tulinda in the least as far Sielan noticed; the geomancer may as well have been going on a leisurely stroll in a garden. The descent continued for what seemed forever, Sielan would look down and see only nothingness, she would then look up and see only emptiness. The historian soon felt as if the pit they were descending into would never end until it spit them out on the opposite side of the planet.

  * * *

  Eventually the descent did come to an end and the group made landfall at the bottom of the pit. The water crashing into the ground was the loudest cacophony Lorne had ever heard. Even if he were standing right next to Thelais and shouting as loud as possible he doubted she would be able to hear him. Millions of gallons of water were hitting the floor and then cascading off into the darkness forming another river leading into the unknown. Soaked head to foot by to the water splashing everywhere from the force of impact, the group quickly moved ahead, following the river into a large sloping tunnel. The Tormos appeared to be fine even though they were soggy from the water, they were after all accustomed to, and largely immune from, the cold. The Phlebos members of the party began chattering their teeth due to their dampness and the frigid temperature. Thelais suggested a fire spell to warm them up but Lorne wouldn't allow it, the last thing they needed was a bonfire casting warmth into the darkness for whatever may be hidden to see.

  For an untold amount of time the group followed the river, the monoto
ny of the stalagmites and stalactites all blurring together into one endless series of images that were indecipherable from the last until something caught their attention. Several hundred feet ahead of them in the endless cavern tunnel was a faint green glow. Upon noticing the unworldly glow, Lorne waved for Thelais to douse the glow sphere. The group was cast into pitch darkness, the only thing visible being the green aura ahead of them. Lorne, in whispers, instructed Gowinda to guard the group while Corvul, Zeranidul and he scouted ahead into the aura.

  As the three warriors crept closer and closer, they noticed that the tunnel, which had previously been largely a straight path, turned to their left. Where the curve began in the tunnel an unexpected sight greeted them, gigantic mushrooms slightly smaller than a full grown Vesnian female. The path widened as well, more than doubling in size from its previous area. The large mushrooms grew on both sides of the river and gave off the green glow, the entire area they stood in now illuminated in a pale and sickly light. They traversed the forest of glowing mushrooms until they were greeted with another ledge, the river cascading off the path and crashing down below them about fifty feet into a large pool. The pool did not form into another river meaning the collection of water had to be incredibly deep leading into other hidden underground rivers. Standing on the ledge, Lorne, Corvul and Zeranidul cast their eyes out across what lay before them. The sight that greeted them left all their mouths agape, even Corvul who had a knack for saying the worst thing at the worst time was speechless.

  Beyond the lake, in a cavern that was so massive the true size of it was incomprehensible to them, lay a sprawling city lost to time. The city must have, in its prime, been the capital of the human empire before it was sunk below the surface due to Juxon's mighty wrath. The city, now shattered and in ruins, was covered in the large green mushrooms. Slowly over time nature was consuming the once proud human buildings. How far the metropolis stretched was beyond Lorne for as far as the eye could see was nothing but ruins. So endless was the city, that the far recesses of it disappeared into the darkness of the cavern. Many buildings, all of them constructed from bricks and wood, still stood, however they were all heavily damaged. Several buildings had completely collapsed and were just rubble. After a few moments of taking in the sight that lay before them, Lorne at a loss for words quietly stammered. "H-how are we going to traverse this? We could wander this city forever."

  More troubling was that there was no clear path, in some sections the streets and buildings had collapsed into sink holes that fell into darkness. Entire city blocks were now lost, having long ago fallen deeper into Nualn. All that remained of some large sections of the city were deep dark pits.

  "Unfortunately," began Zeranidul in a whisper, "we have a much bigger problem than finding our way through this city."

  The Anidul chieftain pointed to what Lorne assumed what was the northern flank of the city, having lost all sense of the cardinal directions deep underground. Even from far away Lorne noticed that the Tormos was pointing towards movement in the shattered streets. The humans, even in undeath, had not given up their city. As Lorne swept his gaze across the endless ruins, he began to notice more and more movement. Shambling corpses blindly wandered the streets, the citizens and their city both nothing but husks now.

  Lorne took a deep breath as the enormity of the task that lay ahead of them fully hit him. "Do we have any ideas gentleman?" Normally he would have never referred to Zeranidul as a gentle anything, but given the fact Lorne was fairly certain the group was about to walk into their own deaths, he figured he had nothing left to lose.

  Corvul nodded his head with a look of frustration on his face, "I don't think we'll be returning home just yet. Look there, to the far south, do you see it?"

  Lorne cast his gaze in the direction indicated squinting his eyes into the darkness. Despite the forest of mushrooms that lay before them in the city below, the cavern was still massive, and the green glow was dim. After searching for a few moments Lorne saw what Corvul was pointing at. Lorne cast a glance at Zeranidul and after seeing the look on his face knew that the Tormos saw it as well. Although the green glow was faint, something was shining in the darkness about a mile into the city, reflecting the glow of what little light existed. A piece of metal was embedded near the cavern floor into the very stone wall itself - a piece of the Heaven's Light.

  * * *

  "So that's the situation," said Lorne facing the assembled group before him as they all stood on the top of the waterfall ledge looking out onto the sunken city. "I unfortunately don't have an easy answer for how we get to the piece of the blade. If we traverse the streets, we will undoubtedly get their faster, but we will be visible to all undead around. If we traverse the ruined structures, we will be out of view, but we have no idea how many undead are in each building or if they are structurally sound. These ancient buildings have been around for thousands of years, the fact they are still standing is a miracle on its own. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm more than open to hear them. I know the initial plan was to move quickly and avoid detection, but it seems like we can't do both now. Unfortunately, we did not anticipate that one or more of the shards would be in an endless city filled with millions of undead."

  At first when Lorne, Zeranidul and Corvul returned to the group, all of them, especially Sielan, were jubilant at the news the Heaven's Light existed. Whereas the endless monotony of the caverns had begun to grow heavy on their spirits, the news that their journey was not in vain caused them all to celebrate. When Lorne led the group to the waterfall though, and they saw the enormity of what lay before them to get to the first shard of the Heaven's Light, the jubilation quickly died down. Most everyone in the group figured they would have to avoid or battle undead at some point to continue, but the concept of fighting through an entire city of endless undead hordes was nothing short of futile. While it was hard to judge, Zeranidul with his superior eyesight in the dark and experience in hunting, estimated that from the lake below them they would have to traverse roughly twenty blocks of city to get to the street that led to the fragment of Heaven's Light.

  "Isn't that your job?" Vuurbin responded to Lorne's question, his words full of derision.

  "Watch your words priest," snarled Lorne as he eyed Vuurbin. "Do not forget the promise I made to you not so long ago."

  Vuurbin snorted in disdain at the high commander.

  Lorne reached forward and grabbed the priest by the throat squeezing hard. Vuurbin grabbed at Lorne's outstretched arm with one hand while the other hand tried pushing towards Lorne's face, but the effort was futile. Lorne was larger, stronger and had a farther reach than the priest of the flesh.

  "I've had enough of you holy man and you will shut your mouth! I have a rightful mind to feed you to our unfortunate predecessors down there!" Lorne shouted at the priest of the flesh as he pushed Vuurbin backwards until the flailing priest was pressed up against the cavern wall.

  "Stop this madness!" Thelais shouted the demand at her husband as he continued to tighten his grip. Zeranidul and Gowinda both unslung their battle axes and took a step towards Lorne which caused Corvul to unsheathe his two short swords and step in front of the two encroaching Tormos.

  "Get out of our way little Phlebos! Vuurbin may be a sniveling weakling, but he is a Tormos! His flesh should not be touched by you filthy bloodlings!" Cried Zeranidul as he stepped closer to Corvul, causing the Phlebos commander to raise his blades higher and ready himself in a fighting stance.

  Thelais glanced at Vuurbin and saw that the priest of the flesh was rapidly losing consciousness from the lack of oxygen. She knew if Vuurbin blacked out the situation would quickly spiral out of control and she quickly began cycling through a series of fire spells she would cast on the advancing Tormos warriors. While her quick casted spells this far beneath Vesnia's surface were stifled, they would still pack a punch against the aggressors.

  "I think I have a plan on how we can get to the shard of Heaven's Light," said Tulinda quietly who up
until this point had ignored the entire exchange and was still studying the ruined city below them.

  Lorne's grip loosened on Vuurbin, but he still did not fully relent. His eyes darted to Tulinda and then back to the priest in his grasp. "What plan is that geomancer?" Lorne asked his question while noticing out of the corner of his eye that Sielan stood aloof from the group. She watched the whole exchange with terror whereas Tulinda seemed indifferent.

  "It's a two-part plan," began Tulinda. "The first part is for all of you to stop fighting amongst yourselves. If you can accomplish that, I'll tell you the second part."

  Glances were exchanged amongst all the parties involved in the standoff. When Lorne looked to Thelais the pyromancer nodded her head to him. Lorne sighed in frustration but saw the wisdom in his wife's decision and released Vuurbin who dropped to the ground gasping for air. Corvul took a step back from the two Tormos warriors and sheathed his short swords which resulted in Zeranidul and Gowinda likewise stepping back and re-slinging their axes.

  "My business with you priest," said Lorne looking down with scorn at Vuurbin, "is not over. But I have more important matters currently. What is your plan Tulinda?"

  Tulinda gazed out across the southern expanse of city that lay before them. "Despite the distance we have to travel there appears to be a clear path that leads straight to the piece of the Heaven's Light. We would need to take the large main road to our south about twenty blocks, then turn west on the connecting street which would lead us a few more blocks straight to the cavern wall where the shard is embedded. While I could potentially create a tunnel for us under the city, it would be extremely dangerous. The ground here is highly unstable due to the underground rivers flowing beneath and eroding the rocks supporting the city. Tunneling blindly could be disastrous; I can't guarantee I wouldn't lead us into a roaring river or that the tunnel itself wouldn't collapse. While my powers are great, even I can't control a large chunk of the continent. As you can plainly see, large segments of the city have already fallen into the depths without me going and shifting all the stones underneath. Therefore, if stealth is not an option, why don't we do the next best thing? We go in loud and fast to recover the Heaven's Light as quickly as possible. Once we have the shard we quickly retreat and regroup back in the tunnels to plan our next move."