***===***
Ericka is left alone looking over the cliff where her sister fell, when, from out of the mist, Elina floats back up to the edge of the cliff, stepping on the ground. At first, Ericka is relieved, then surprised. Before she could say a word, Elina tells her she remembered the float spell, and that amulet gave her enough energy to save all three. Tera and Mashaun are on the floor, safe and waiting for the others. Ericka puts her arms around Elina’s neck, and the two of them step off the cliff as a bola wraps around their feet, knocking them off-balance. Sending them over the cliff where they float gently down to the base. Tera and Mashaun patiently wait for her return. Seeing the bola, they realize that they have been found and move the same direction as the path. They hear someone yell “You fool, now go get them,” and then behind them, they hear a thud of a body hitting the floor.
***===***
Mai and Berg double back along the cliff face toward the direction where the three went over the cliff. The smell of rotten eggs makes them nauseous as the fog thickens to the consistency of pea soup, allowing limited visibility and only the sound of bubbling water echoing off the rock wall. They feel uneasy as neither of them are fighters, and if they run into anything, it could mean trouble. They want to hurry along but don’t want to surprise anybody or anything when they see a silhouette in the distance.
As they cautiously approach, they realize that it is not moving. It’s a man within a translucent black crystal statue holding his hands up, protecting his face of sheer terror. The statue isn’t smooth as they might expect but pitted and sharp like old snow that has been in the sun a few days. When Mai touches the statue, black powder brushes off in her hand, turning her skin yellow with a slight burning sensation and smelling like burned lard. After Berg pours some water on Mai’s hand, they quicken their pace as they move along the wall. A little while later, they see a couple of silhouettes in the distance. As they get closer, they realize that it’s the other four.
They quietly greet everybody and exchange stories, deciding that it is best not to linger in one place more than a moment, and head out, keeping the wall on their right. They walk single file with Mashaun in front, followed by Mai, Berg, Elina, Ericka, and Tera in the rear. Soon they pass by a Kaovjs with its wings spread out as if it were trying to fly, a giant human standing fifteen feet tall, and a group of awrks. They are all black, crystalline, with some more pitted than the others, and all with the same expression of horror. Mashaun asks Dalistra if she knows what creature could encase flesh into black crystals covered with ash such as these. She tells him no.
The wall has numerous caves identical to the ones that Berg and Mai passed on the way down the trail. In neatly staggered rows, three high with the bottom one being about six inches from the floor, they form diagonal rows with the bottom of one equal to the top of the next. There is a narrow path leading from the bottom tunnel, angling up, passing another tunnel, and ending at the top one. The pattern seems to continue around the walls. The pitch-black tunnels run straight back, with smooth sides like the cave, as the moisture seems to cling to the walls, turning them black like the statues. Mashaun tosses a pebble down one, and it stops before hitting the back.
The fog begins to fade as night approaches, and the group doesn’t like the options of either spending the night in the caves or out in the open, deciding that they would be safer in one of the upper caves. One by one, they head up the narrow path with Mashaun and Tera up front, finding that the cave has a T intersection about thirty feet back.
Figuring that if they are attacked, it has to come from one of two possible ways, and it is more defensible, but they really don’t want to meet whatever created the statues. They use whatever is available to protect them from the black soot. Even Dalistra feels the burning when she touches the soot.
They awake the following morning to the sound of rain and water cascading down the side of the walls. The light rain dissipates the fog, allowing them to see the silhouette of the distant wall and the floor covered with a sheet of water, with more than a score of statues jetting up out of the water. Some are twice as tall as Mashaun while others are half their size with some of the crystals broken.
The boiling acidic water is just a few inches deep removes the fur on their boots as they trudge across the floor. The group uses the path on the wall that leads to the caves. Dalistra tells him what each is as they pass by Kaovjses, Tsaubs, awrks, orks, and humans. Some are in small groups, but most stand-alone. None of the statues have any weapons, but all have the look of terror, even the Kaovjs. Some of the crystal statues are broken, leaving the inside filled with a yellowish liquid. It takes several hours to reach the far side of the depression where there are no statues and the water boils, releasing a yellow vapor, filling the air with the foul stench of rotten eggs.
The tunnels continue around the wall even over the lake. The rain not only keeps the mist down, allowing them to scan the landscape while it also cools the air. Tera, Mai, and Berg take out a foldable cube with one side open. Tera hands hers to Mashaun. Dalistra tells him that if he stays in front of them, he won’t need that light. Thanking Tera, but he won’t need one, so she offers it to the twins, and Elina accepts. The cubes made of tin hold a small candle that lasts for a few hours and have a small handle that can attach to the back. Tera’s cube has a dial with four triangular slots on three sides with a handle attachment. When Tera finishes unfolding hers, she rotates one of the wheels, and a strong beam of light fills the tunnel. When they ask her about the light cube, she tells them that her mother had it for a long time and gave it to her at the gatehouse when they left.
They all light their cubes and head into the dark, moist tunnel. With all the light behind him, Mashaun has no problem seeing. He thinks that there is too much light, asking if they could put out a couple. Mai puts hers out, and Tera gives hers to Mai, allowing Tera the freedom to use both hands. After a short bit, the tunnel comes to a T intersection, angling up to the left and down on the right. Mashaun takes them to the right, down the sloping passage, only to come to an intersecting passage on the right or straight. Keeping to the right, they return to a cave overlooking the lake. They spend the entire day wandering the labyrinth of tunnels, occasionally finding a small room about three times the width of the caves. Their boots are nothing more than rags on their feet, and they use some cloth from their clothes to mend them.
CHAPTER 22
Chanvin Lake Guard
They spend several days in the maze of caves, occasionally finding their way to an entrance, only to realize that they are going around the lake and that they seldom drop to ground level. It is on the third day they hear rushing water, but it sounds different from before. Following the sound, they find an entrance that the only way to reach it is to cross the boiling water. To the side of them is a stream flowing out of a cave and into the lake. As the rain dwindles then stops. The mist starts to form on the water. Across the lake, they see a human on the rocky shore skulking. Tera tells them that he looks like one of the men that have been chasing them. They stare at him in disbelief, that she can recognize the man at such a great distance.
He is running around wildly when a large snakelike creature exits one of the lower caves with an overall length twenty feet plus, holding its head up like a cobra at least eight feet tall. Two of its four arms wield swords, and the other, two shields. With its tail, it tosses a sword and a shield to the man. Mashaun thinks about shooting it, but Dalistra tells him it isn’t worth it. They’re over two hundred meters away. We can hit the creature, but to what end? He knows she is right. Reluctantly the man picks up the sword and shield and prepares to fight. The two trade blows for a while until the man seems to tire, and then the snake would back off and let the man get a little breather.
They can tell that the snake is just playing with him. It goes on for some time until the man gets tired of fighting and throws down his weapon with a loud clang that echoes in the basin. The snake makes a few more swipes at the man, wh
o instinctively backs away. It makes swipes from each side before wrapping its tail around him so he can’t move in any direction, then a black gas engulfs the man. When the gas dissipates, it has another statue to the collection. Picking up the weapons, it disappears into one of the lower caves.
They watch in horror, wanting to do something but knowing they are helpless and can only witness from afar the game of cat and mouse. Tera is the first to speak, wanting to go after it and kill the creature. The rest agree with her, but the question is how. “It’s fast for its size, and if it gets into trouble, it can just turn us into statues and it’s all over.” Mashaun points out that the group has an advantage. The snake does not know about the group. If they keep to the upper tunnels, they might have a chance. They are higher than the creature. This time when Dalistra questions “Why,” Mashaun tell her that he wants to face it on his terms.
Once across the lake, Tera and Mashaun position themselves in a couple of upper-level tunnels where they can get a good shot when it comes out of the cave. Mai, Berg, and the twins are on the floor, talking loudly about the statues, trying to get the creature to go to them. They keep moving, not staying bunched up, and forcing it to make a choice. They continue for some time before they hear something slithering down a tunnel. They split up, heading for different ramps to the upper tunnels. The creature appears out of the tunnel, ready for battle; atop the snake’s body is a repulsive woman’s head with snakelike eyes. Its scales glisten in the waning sunlight. It moves with lightning speed toward Mai as Ericka creates a ball of energy in her hand and hurls it at the snake, briefly engulfing it in a sphere of crackling miniature yellow lightning bolts. The snake turns and heads toward Ericka.
Tera’s arrows stick but fall out just as quick. While Mashaun’s arrow sticks, but doesn’t faze it, quickly firing a second round with the same results. The snake closes in on Ericka when Mashaun jumps to the floor with a yell and shoots again. Hitting the snake in the shoulder and getting its attention. It turns, charging him with her weapons, ready for battle. With two swords, it attacks with lightning speed, putting Mashaun on the defense early and constantly. Using the statues as cover, he runs from one to another, taking shots when he can, but they don’t seem to do much good, and he switches to the swords. The snake runs over the statues, turning them into dust. Mashaun knows he can’t dodge her forever. With all his bobbing, swerving, and dodging, he barely gets any attacks in, and when he hits the creature, the swords only bounce off as she grins at him as Dalistra tells him to forget the swords and run.
Mai and Berg try to get close enough for a strike, but her tail always knocks them aside, almost into the bubbling water. Tera keeps shooting arrows, and they have no effect. Ericka throws a few more spells before tiring and finding refuge in a cave with Elina. The group continues their attack on the creature, not affecting it in any way as it keeps its focus on Mashaun. Ericka, in desperation, runs out and hits the creature with the staff, creating a bright flash, leaving a red burn on the creature, getting its attention.
When she sees the red staff, the snake lets out a bloodcurdling noise and turns her focus to Ericka. Mashaun hits the snake in the back, but this time, it ignores him as it chases Ericka around the floor. Ericka and Mashaun crisscross, trying to confuse it long enough for Ericka to get into a cave and hide. At one point, Mashaun jumps on its tail, getting its attention, allowing Ericka to hide in one of the caves while the snake shakes him to the ground. Mashaun gets up and continues to use the remaining few statues as cover,
The snake continues chasing him around, eventually trapping him by the water’s edge. Out of ideas and out of breath, he prepares to make one last feeble attempt as he realizes that it had only been playing with him, just like it did with the man before.
He yells at them to get out of there while they have a chance as the creature gets to within a few swords’ lengths. Dalistra tells Mashaun to look at her chest, where he sees a yellow disk amulet hanging around its neck similar to Elina’s red disk. The creature asks if Mashaun is ready to give up its weapons and admit defeat. Mashaun asks the creature her name, and this surprises her. No one has ever asked her name before. “My name is Siguredea, and what is yours?” "Mashaun," he says, moving closer. Dalistra tells him “Now,” and in one last desperate move, like a cat, he feints left and swings around, breaking the chain, dropping the necklace to the ground. A cloud of yellow mist rises, obscuring everything before dissipating, showing Mashaun a barren landscape with Siguredea in front of him.
The rest of the group sees the mist quickly thickening, and the group can’t see their hands in front of their faces. The only thing they can hear is the distant waterfall into the bubbling water and some faint voices echoing off the walls. Slowly they feel their way around, quietly calling out, finding one another but not the snake or Mashaun.
Siguredea looks around and smiles, saying, “I’m home, but this is not right.”
Mashaun asks, “What’s not right?” still holding his swords in case Siguredea attacks.
“The mages that trapped me said that only someone not from this world could take the amulet freeing me,” she says, pulling the arrows from her back with her tail, looking at the arrows in his quiver and the ones in her hand.
“You hit me! I was also told that only the Thesilan Queen could return me home,” she says, handing them back to him.
“What else were you told?” Mashaun asks her.
“Only that she would free me, but you are not her,” she says.
“No, I am not,” he replies.
“Whether you are the queen or Mashaun, I don’t care. I am free at last,” she says enthusiastically.
“Before I take my leave, I would ask one more question. Where are you from? You don’t act, talk, or fight like anyone else,” she finally asks.
“I am not from this world,” Mashaun says, and while looking around, he adds, “Err, that world.”
Siguredea looks at him for some time before saying, “That explains it.” “Explains what?” he replies.
“Usually they just give up and accept their fate, but not you. Why?” she asks.
“I was taught not to give up,” he answers.
Siguredea tells them “You not what to you seek, but listen and remember. Behind eyes that cannot see and a mouth that doesn’t speak lies the salvation of the land.” A yellow mist engulfs him again, only this time, when it fades, he is back in the pit.
The rest quickly look around for the snake. Mashaun tells them that she is gone for good as they ask him what happened. He starts to tell them what happened when an arrow nearly hits him. Tera returns fire at the archers on the cliff. However, the distance is too far, and the group runs into one of the caves. Using the caves’ interconnections, the group moves around the pit across the lake to watch.
They hear someone yelling for Mashaun. At first, he does not answer but decides that the only way he’ll know what they want is to talk with them, and this is a safe place. The person at the top of the cliff introduces himself as Rangier before telling them that he only wants the twins, which Mashaun refuses. Rangier tells them that Magdalenia will pay a good price for them, and he will split it. Again, Mashaun refuses, thinking it is a delaying tactic.
They move to a different cave. They see several archers and swordsmen searching the caves. Mashaun, Tera, and Ericka drop three of them, sending the others back into the caves as Mashaun yells back, “Nice try.” They yell back and forth for a while, finally deciding that what few men he has left may leave if they do so now. Four come out of hiding and scale the cliff face with ropes thrown down, disappearing away from the edge.
That evening, Mashaun tells them about his encounter with Siguredea. They are surprised to find out that it has a name and that it’s from another world. He tells them about the world he saw and the mage that trapped her. Telling Siguredea that only Dalistra could free her but was surprised to find out his name is Mashaun.
Looking at the group, he asks if they have ever h
eard of Dalistra. Ericka tells them that she heard Magdalenia talk about her a few times, mainly telling different people to find her. Elina thinks that she heard a reward of five red for her, but she is not sure to whom or why. Berg flips through his book then reads that Dalistra is the destroyer and the savior of Thesila. He turns to another section of the book reading, “I have put Dalistra in a safe place until the prophecy is ready to reveal itself.” Continuing to another page, it reads, “Dalistra and a stranger will come together and return the ancients and their magic.” He tells them, that’s all he remembers seeing something about her in the book. This frightens Dalistra for the first time in a long time. She is the prophecy, not knowing why scares her, and Mashaun feels her fear. They decide to spend the night in the caves, and they all receive the best nights rest since the cave.
The next morning is clear, and the smell of rotten eggs is gone. They spot a seven-stone path made of circular rocks in the lake, leading to a cave opening that they had not seen earlier. Jumping on the first one, Mashaun finds that it is unstable like a piece of wood floating on the water. He runs across them to the cave allow them to sink a little. They ask Elina about floating them across the water, but she tells them she only knows up and down. Berg and the twins don’t want to go across the stones and look for another way. Tera ties one end of the rope to an arrow and shoots it into the cave, with Mashaun and Tera on each end. Ericka holds on to Elina as they float, pulling themselves along the rope. Mai runs across the rocks, almost slipping once, finding the bubbling water cooler than expected. Berg floats with Elina, and Tera brings up the rear across the rocks.
Thesila Prophecy - The Journey Home Page 20