The Oblivion Trials (The Astral Wanderer Book 3)

by D'Artagnan Rey

  “You told us so many lies, what is one more?” the man asked and glared angrily at the wildkin, who shrugged and released him. It seemed his fit of rage had subsided enough that he wouldn’t immediately move to attack.

  “I’ll never understand mercs like you.” The assassin sighed and began to juggle the knives out of boredom. “You kill so many with no remorse for it whatsoever, and yet as soon as one of you is killed, you’re surprised that someone may have held your actions against you and wanted payback. Then it’s all about honor and brotherhood and all that nonsense.”

  Zed’s arms began to tremble. “Of course you wouldn’t understand. You are a wretch who has never loved anyone.”

  “True, but I am an assassin,” he responded and caught all three knives. “It comes with the territory—not many strings attached to anyone or anything,” He pocketed the knives and continued to look at the wrathful merc with a whimsical smile. “I told you at the time, I was there to help you. I merely happened to pick up a contract for your brother’s head during my stay.”

  The man drew a long, heated breath, shook his head, and focused on the three young magi. “So, who are the babes, Koli? Are they your apprentices or something?”

  “These little scamps?” He rubbed Devol and Asla’s heads, much to their irritation. “We met a few months back and became fast friends.”

  “So you do have friends then?” Zed scoffed. “I couldn’t imagine who would trust their lives to you of all people.”

  “It is more like an alliance of convenience,” Jazai admitted as he leaned against a wall.

  Koli frowned at the scholar. “I have to say, you are my least favorite.”

  The boy shrugged. “The only reason I’m not my dad’s is because I’m an only child. Although I think that qualifies me as most and least, technically.”

  “Koli, that dagger of his…” Devol began and nodded at the blade. “Is that a malefic?”

  The assassin looked at Zed and nodded. “Are you getting a feel for them now, little Devol?”

  He shuddered as he looked at the animal face on the pommel. “There’s something unsettling about it.”

  “It might be its owner more than the dagger itself,” Koli joked and raised his hand to his eyepatch again. “So Zed, are you here for the trials or did you follow little old me all the way here?”

  The merc rolled his shoulders and looked at one of the ridges above and the figures standing there. “Yeah, I’m here for the trials, but I caught a whiff of your anima a little while ago and had to make sure it was your sorry ass.”

  “Is that so?” The assassin inched his eyepatch up a little. “And what do you intend to do now that you have found me?”

  The squama leaned closer and whispered something in Zed’s ear, which made the merc grit his teeth and shake his head. “Give me a second,” he ordered and looked Devol. “You—kid with the sword—would you defend that backstabber if I attacked him?”

  The boy looked at Koli, who didn’t meet his eyes and simply continued to smile at Zed. He looked at the merc and examined his malefic briefly before he held his blade up. The light glowed slightly brighter. “I will,” he replied, shocked his entire team, and drew a chuckle from Koli.

  Zed sneered, tossed his dagger up, and caught it before he holstered it. “You have a poor taste in allies.”

  “You are still so high and mighty,” the assassin responded. “If I had to guess, you won’t attack me because someone here”—he gestured up above—“has targeted you, probably because you killed someone they liked. You can’t defend against an attack on two fronts, can you?”

  The man turned and walked away. “I’ll send you to the hells myself, Koli, trials be damned,” he promised as he and his group departed. The tension in the air subsided quickly and many of the figures above headed down their paths without challenging the merc. It looked like they chose to avoid a fight for now.

  Devol relaxed and sheathed Achroma. “Jazai, is there another path we can take?”

  “I’ll have a look,” his friend said as he brought the map out.

  The swordsman sighed with relief but stiffened when he felt two hands grasp his shoulders. “I think you are my favorite,” Koli whispered, patted his arm, and walked a few steps ahead. “I look forward to the day we can truly fight one another to the death.”

  Asla directed a small hiss at the assassin and moved closer to Devol as the boy shook his shoulders as if to dislodge the memory of the assassin’s touch. Jazai sighed as he returned his attention to the map. “I think I prefer being the least favorite.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Jazai was able to find an alternative path for the group to take but it was unfortunately rather narrow. As the group scuttled through this tiny ravine that seemed to have been made by the old miners as a possible shortcut through this section of the caves, Devol was surprised that it was even on the map. When he mentioned this, the diviner was quick to inform him that it technically was not.

  “What do you mean?” the swordsman asked as he hunched over to get through a particularly cramped area. “Where are you taking us?”

  “I’m only saying it's not on the official map,” his friend explained. “There are a number of maps and the last one that was officially commissioned was only a few years before the town was abandoned. I found a few others in the library and copied them. This happened to be on one of them. It was probably a personal map of an overseer or miner they gave away in the aftermath.”

  “And it still takes us to our destination?” Asla asked and flattened her ears to slide under a stumpy rock.

  “Yeah. In fact, it lets us cut right through another trail so it should be faster,” the boy reasoned.

  “So this was the plan all along?”

  “Not exactly,” he admitted. “It’s not the most convenient way to travel.”

  “How much farther?” Devol asked when Achroma’s hilt snagged on a jagged piece of rock. “I keep getting stuck on things in here.”

  “Only a little farther. We should soon be in another cavern of some kind,” he assured them. “I’m not sure what we can expect but it will certainly have far more space, at least.”

  “It appears there is an opening ahead,” Koli stated and leaned against the wall so the others could look past him.

  “Well, get moving then so we can stretch a little,” Jazai retorted. “You’re the tallest one here. I would think you would be as interested in getting out of here as any of us.”

  “This is rather nostalgic for me.” The assassin chuckled. “When I was a kid, I would have to crawl through all manner of tight corridors and spaces.”

  “What were you? An explorer or something?”

  The trickster looked at him with a glint in his eye. “No. When I was young, I had to do my work more traditionally. It took longer but was quite rewarding.” With that, he moved ahead and slipped into the opening.

  Jazai sighed and pushed through behind him. “I’m sorry I asked.”

  Devol and Asla followed and the boy took the lantern off his pack and held it up to get a look around them. It seemed to be nothing more than an empty cavern, about half the size of the one where they fought the golems and maybe less. But it had been worked, at least at one point, so there probably was something there that the miners had been interested in back in the day.

  “The other opening should be across the way,” Jazai told them and pointed deeper into the darkness. “If we push ahead, we should find—”

  “Wait a second,” Asla warned in a whisper and her ears flicked. “Do you hear that?”

  The other three stood silently. “What? Is it bugs or something?” Devol asked.

  She shook her head and looked to the north-east. “It sounds like…like crunching,”

  “Crunching?” The diviner glanced around them and seemed spooked. “Like walking on gravel or—”

  “Something eating something else,” Asla clarified.

  He sighed and held his ringed hand up. �
��I was afraid of that.”

  “It can’t be too big, right?” Devol asked and moved his hand to his sword as he took a few steps forward. “The only way in is through those narrow passages, so maybe it’s a—”

  “Do you see that light?” Koli asked and pointed deeper into the cavern. The group turned and sure enough, a dim light, most likely from a campfire or lantern, glowed on the east side of the cave inside a small den.

  “Someone else is here?” the wildkin asked, surprised.

  “It could be another trial participant who got lost,” Jazai pointed out. “Should we investigate?”

  Devol began to feel uneasy and looked at his hands, surprised to see his fingers shaking. He did not feel particularly cold or tired and yet he felt heavy, and he wondered reflexively if he had inadvertently dropped his anima. With a deep breath to steady himself, he checked his hands and was relieved when he confirmed that they had stilled.

  “Hey, Devol,” Jazai said and poked him in the shoulder.

  “Hmm, what?” he responded and turned to him. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

  “Should we see what that light is?” the diviner asked again and regarded him curiously. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” He refocused on the dimly lit den. “Yeah, let’s have a look. We have to head over to that side to leave anyway, right? If we can help another magi, that would be a bonus.”

  “Assuming it isn’t one like the last one we encountered,” the other boy replied as he and Asla followed their teammate toward the den.

  Koli, for once, was not smiling. His lips were pursed as he studied the light and he took a moment to look at the top of the cavern and let his mana flow into his eyes. In an instant, his smile returned.

  When the three friends entered the den, they did indeed find a campfire and a thin man hunched over it, eating something. He appeared to be wearing a jumpsuit with the top half unzipped and falling off his shoulders to reveal a thin, waifish figure.

  “Excuse me, are you all right?” Devol asked. The man responded with a surprised yelp, dropped whatever he was eating, and skittered away, holding his hands up. “Whoa, hey. I’m sorry if I startled you. We only wanted to see—”

  The stranger began to sob— a few small whimpers at first before he howled his grief. His hands covered his face and the boy noticed cuts and bruises on his arms and chest. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” he wailed and shook his head violently. “I didn’t mean to—I know I shouldn’t have but we were desperate. I know they have loved ones waiting but we were trapped and couldn’t get out.”

  “Trapped?” Asla asked and scrunched her nose when she noticed a foul stench, most likely this man. “He knows about the crevasses, right?”

  “If anything, given his size, he should fit through better than we did,” Jazai pointed out.

  Devol took a few steps forward. “It’s okay, sir. There is a way out. How long have you been here?”

  “It was about survival,” he moaned and lowered his head and hands, his face still obscured. “Poor, mad Timothy only tried to survive. But then it…it…I didn’t think…”

  The wildkin looked at the fire and her eyes widened. “Devol, get away from him!”

  Confused, he turned to look at her. The man yanked a pickax from his jumpsuit and when the boy turned back, he stared into the miner’s pale and gaunt face. His eyes were black and blood smeared his lips and chin.

  Shocked by this unexpected development, the swordsman darted his gaze to the fire, the bloody meat that had been dropped, and far behind it near the stone wall, a pile of bones.

  The man smiled and revealed a row of sharp, pointed teeth. “I didn’t think it would taste so good.”

  Asla pulled Devol away as Jazai immediately lashed out with an immolate cantrip. The fire streaked into the crazed man but seemed to have no effect as he held his pickax up and attempted to hack the scholar, who teleported back several yards.

  “Timothy is out, I’m out—I’m out!” he sputtered and swung wildly as he approached the two friends who had yet to attempt an attack. “I need more—I’m out and it’s about survival!”

  Devol drew Achroma and was about to retaliate when Koli appeared in front of him and whipped his eyepatch off. The surroundings around the man distorted, the rocks began to crack, and dust flurried and circled, but the man did not. Instead, he became translucent, his voice grew softer and quieted all together, and the campfire, meat, and bones behind him all vanished. Finally, the man disappeared and evaporated in a haze of blue mana.

  “What did you do to him?” the swordsman asked, shocked at what he had seen.

  “I distorted the mana flow around him,” the assassin explained as he replaced the eyepatch. “If he had been a real man, he would have been bent and broken. But an illusion cannot hold together in my domain.”

  “Illusion?” the diviner asked.

  “An illusion?” Asla looked at where the campfire had been. “But I felt the heat of the fire and smelled the rot. Who created an illusion in this remote cavern? Are they still here?”

  “Not who but what, young magi,” Koli responded, stepped out of the den, and pointed to the ceiling. “Illuminate.” A ball of light formed on his finger and rocketed to the cavern roof. The trio walked outside and saw, dotting the entire ceiling, small, deep-red crystals set into the ceiling—vermillion.

  Jazai was the first to snap out of his stupor and shook his head vigorously. “My father was not working with enough vermillion. That’s probably a good thing.”

  “I…I would like to leave,” Asla stammered, lowered her head, and moved toward where they assumed the exit would be.

  “There is no need to thank me. Although I’m not sure if you were in any physical danger, vermillion can be deadly. It would have been an interesting experiment,” Koli said thoughtfully as he joined the wildkin to help her find the exit to the cavern.

  Devol looked at where the man had disappeared as Jazai stepped beside him. “Are you all right?”

  He nodded and gazed at the vermillion above as Koli’s light began to fade. “When we talked about vermillion at the castle, you said it collected mana from dying miners, right?”

  “It’s possible—or at least the stories I read claimed that,” his friend agreed.

  “If this cavern was discovered by miners…” He looked at the fissure they had come through. “If they were trapped in here, do you think that was an illusion or a reenactment?”

  Jazai clenched his jaw and pushed his friend forward. “For now, let’s focus on the trials,” he said and took one last look at the vermillion as the light finally faded entirely. “And winning them. I don’t want to add my mana or soul to this place.”

  Chapter Thirty

  The group finally left the haunted chamber minutes later and entered another larger hall. This one had a noticeable light several hundred yards ahead. The three young magi, still somewhat shaken by their recent experience, looked at the light with hope and relief. Koli continued to hum pleasantly in an undertone.

  They hurried down the hall but made sure there were no traps or last-second surprises during their approach. As they drew closer, they heard the rumble of numerous voices talking to one another and the crackle of fire. Once they entered, they paused to study a large, circular cavern where dozens of magi had settled all over the area. Torches adorned the walls and a large light orb hung in the air.

  “We made it,” Jazai stated with a contented sigh. “Either that or everyone here is lost. That would be a pain.”

  “It wasn’t such a bad journey,” Devol commented as he stretched his arms. “Outside of the murderers and golems, and that likan… Well, it could have been better, I guess.”

  “Murderers?” Koli asked and rested a hand on the boy’s shoulder, which made him flinch. “Are you referring to me as well, little Devol?”

  “Isn’t that correct?” Asla interjected. She bared a fang and hissed under her words.

  The swordsma
n nodded to her to calm her. “We ran into a couple of killers in town before we entered the cave,” he explained. “In fact, where did you enter, Koli? Didn’t you run into them?”

  “I didn’t enter through Reverie,” the assassin stated, removed his hand, and tapped his chin. “I found a smaller entrance—I estimate around forty or so miles north-west of the town—and came through that.”

  “And you somehow wandered to us while exploring?” Jazai took the map out and attempted to mentally create a path of Koli’s travels. “Man, you were lost, weren’t you?”

  The assassin chuckled and it settled into a friendly smile. “It’s a good thing for me that I ran across you three, isn’t it?” He shrugged indifferently. “It would seem spelunking is not my strong suit. I’ll have to work on it in the future.”

  “New arrivals,” a feminine voice stated, one slightly familiar to the three younger magi. The group turned as Karrie, the female mori from earlier, walked toward them. “So, it is Wulfsun’s apprentices.”

  Jazai pointed at Devol. “Technically that’s only him.” He gestured at Asla and himself. “We’re merely trainees.”

  “I see.” She looked at their new teammate and narrowed her eyes as he smiled pleasantly at her. “And who is this?”

  Devol looked at the assassin. “An acquaintance we ran into on the way here.”

  “Koli. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance,” he said with a small bow. “One of your associates invited me to this party you’re throwing. I’m surprised you are unaware of me.”

  “Well then,” she muttered and looked briefly over her shoulder at someone who stood on a large cliff at the back of the chamber. Devol noticed several figures in the dark robes of the council members but could not see which one she had looked. “On that note,” she said and held her hand out. “Please give me your signets.”

  The group retrieved them from their respective pockets and handed them to her. She closed her hand once all were inside and there was a flash of blue fire. Once she opened it again, the signets were still there but the black color had been burned away to reveal different colored signets with new emblems.