A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

The sun was now fully sunk beneath the horizon, only lighting the room in a slow, descending dark orange fade. Everyone prepared to zip up their jackets, and head over to the rift, strategically placed in each lounge for easy transportation.

It was located near the entrance, on the right and left side of the doorway. Two large oval handles were stitched to the outer layers of the doorway, making it seem as mere decoration. They all split into a group of four going on the right, and a group of three on the left, waiting for Faibel to signal their leave. They already knew they would be traveling to the town of Salem. A small town with the Tetrad mountains seen from a distance.

Faibel looked at everyone making sure they were ready, "Alright. Let's Go. Salem!"

One by one, they all quickly fell into what seemed like an empty room. The rift was located on the floor, with the same oval handle forced on the ground. The room was painted in a dark brown tint, with a black wooden door placed on the side with two circular windows revealing the outdoors.

The seven of them headed over towards the door, with Leo opening it only to be struck with a freezing gust of wind right in everyone's face. It didn't take long for them to quickly zip up their jackets and cover their mouths with warm, cotton scarves.

As they huddled out of the door, the first step on the ground sunk Leo's foot into a 2 foot high pile of snow. A few yards away a pathway was made onto what seemed like the main street of this town. There were small, medieval looking houses with simple architecture and streets to connect each house together.

Leo unzipped his jacket, realizing it wasn't cold for him at all. In fact, he was sweating a bit with so much clothes on. He received a few confused looks from everyone but it didn't bother him in the slightest. After stomping through the thick snow piled on the ground, Leo noticed a rather larger building standing to the right of the small hut they walked out of, notifying everyone else still struggling in the cold, "Hey guys! Look over there, It seems like a guild hall!"

Everyone glanced over to their right, seeing what Leo was pointing at. There was still some light left from the sunset before it completely vanished, using it to their advantage to hustle towards the Guild hall.

There were no signs of a name for the building, which was unusual at the start, but as they approached closer and closer music was easily heard from the inside of the building. Leo was still in the lead due to the cold having no effect on him, so he opened the large doors as everyone else piled in behind him to get into the warmth of the indoors.

The inside didn't seem like a Guild hall at all, more like it used to be one a long time ago. Now, it seemed like a bar, with dozens of tables occupied by old folks, hooded individuals not wanting to be seen and men with many regretful decisions written on them. On the opposite side of the entrance stood a tall man, dressed in a fine manner with his sleeves rolled up, polishing a tall glass with a small towel.

He had a dark mustache, with crescent edges pointing towards the ceiling and a well groomed curly haircut combed to the side. His gaze quickly locked onto the people at the front door, along with almost everyone else in the surrounding area, which wasn't many anyway.

Leo and everyone else approached the man, taking a seat on the stools across a curved table which the man was standing behind.

His voice had a slight british accent, but firm and polite, "How can I help you folks? You don't seem to be from around here."

Rina decided to be the spokesperson from their group, "Hi! You're correct, we're not from around here. We're looking to get to the Tetrad Mountains." As she finished her sentence, a few heads turned her way from the nearby tables. The looks she received were not friendly in the slightest.

The barkeep laughed, "Now why would a group of kids be looking to go to such a dangerous place at this time of day?"

"We actually prefer to keep that private sir, Is there any type of way to get there?"

"Ahh, I see," He smiled wide, pointing towards a hooded man sitting at one of the corners of the bar, "That's who you might want to speak with."

Everyone turned around, seeing a small table for one, occupied by someone wearing nothing but a black hood with rigid robes. Before they could say their thanks, Cartuja turned back towards the barkeep, "Yo you got anything to eat?"

"We have mushroom soup and rabbit stew, you choose my friend."

Even Cartuja wasn't hungry enough to eat such mischievous objects, passing on the offer immediately.

Rina decided to walk over to the man herself, "You guys stay here, I'll ask him."

The barkeep handed out glasses of water to everyone remaining, saying it was the only thing he can offer.

"Uhm.. Excuse me, sir?" She tapped him on the shoulder as politely as possible. The man instantly swung one of his hands from underneath the table, grabbing her wrist faster than she could react in defense. His hand was old, covered in scars, and had dirty black fingernails stretching 2 inches long.

He let go of her hand, saying in a very foggy old voice, "Do not touch. I take you to Tetrad. But not free."

Rina still couldn't see his face, not wanting to at this point regardless, and taking a step back before trying to engage in a conversation again.

"What do you want?"

The man seemed to laugh a bit, but it was hard to tell by his obnoxious coughing in the process. He turned his head, unleashing his hood to reveal his face. The scars only seemed to get worse over his facial structures. No hair, missing teeth, and lots of wrinkles signaling his age to be well over 80. His lips were deprived of any circulation of blood, and eyes as pale as the moon.

"I ask for your soul. If you die, 24 hours," A horrific grin filled his face, sending Rina back towards her friends in disgust.

Atlas wasn't the only one to notice her shivering in fear as she walked back over, "Is. Everything okay?"

"He said he wants my soul if I die. How is that.."

"The soulkeeper," The barkeep interrupted, "That is his name. He doesn't ask for money, but only your soul if you die at the place he takes you to. It's an old form of witchcraft."

"Witchcraft?" Rina claimed with confusion, only hearing rumors and tales about such magic.

"Don't worry dear. He'll only take your soul if you die tonight, you're free of charge 24 hours after your deal. This goes for all of you as well of course," The barkeep smiled as to not give off a hostile essence.

They all looked at each other, deciding that they have no other choice at this point. Based on the current time, Calvin would have noticed their departure by now, and there was no way out of this one for them.

After a few more sips of fresh water, they marched toward the soulkeeper at the corner of the bar.

"I reckon you go, yes?"

They nodded, signaling him to respond in a devilish smile once again, "Follow." He proceeded to lead them outside into a pathway cleared from snow. The sun was now set, replaced by the tip of the moon in the dark sky. Stars filled the empty abyss of black above their heads, and the snow shined delightfully in the cold winter breeze.

The soulkeeper raised his hands parallel to the ground, telling them to link a circle around him, making sure they were all connected.

His eyes were closed, but once he felt the essence of everyone link, he swung them open yelling, "Soul Transfer!"

Within a blink of time, the group was standing dead center of the mountains, without a single trace of the soulkeeper. Snow was falling hard, and it didn't seem to be close to stopping anytime soon. As they looked around, they noticed they were on flat land, covered in even deeper snow than before. The ground elevated in all directions just a quarter mile away towards the skyscraping peaks of the Tetrad Mountains.

The snowfall sprayed like gunshots from the clouds above. The peaks glistened with ice and snow, each having a slightly different color tint as they pointed towards the open sky. The longer they stood in the open, the colder the air seemed to get. Triggering Faibel to take the lead into a place they had no idea existed.

"Quickly," his voice was beginning to shiver, "W-we need to f-find an entrance to something, a c-cave or anything-g."

The air was beginning to get so cold that even Leo had to put on his jacket. However, during this time, Rina's eye began to hurt once more, notifying her they're at the correct location.

Ignoring the pain, staying calm, she chanted the words she remembered by heart as her eyes began to glow brighter than flames, "Something sturrs in the depths below. Glass will break, so enter slow. Darkness crafts the gate of snow, Deep within, the walls will show..."

Out of nowhere, the ground started to rumble beneath them, causing everyone to stumble off balance. Once the earth beneath them stopped shaking, everyone managed to get back on their feet to look for the cause of such distortion.

Leo was the first to notice the snow had stopped, considering he still wasn't wearing a hood. He looked up, and it seemed as if the snow didn't stop falling, but something was blocking its path towards the ground.

He signaled for everyone to look up, seeing the snow start to cover their vision of the sky, roughly 10 feet above their heads. It was a sheet of glass, stretching further than they could see in the darkness of the night.

Leo took his hand out of his pocket, and snapped his fingers like two rocks clashing to make sparks. It took him a few tries but he managed to muster up a small flame emitting from his hand, quickly making it larger for a field of view around them.

It seemed like a tunnel of glass was formed around them, with the snow quickly creeping up on the outer edges of the walls. They had no other option but to move forward, hoping the answers they searched for would soon be revealed.

The further and further they went, the walls would diminish until the borders only resembled a small glass doorway.

Cartuja had to slightly crouch the appropriate height to be able to stand in the narrow hall with everyone else. The tunnel was only wide enough for two people to stand side by side at a time. Taking time for them all to analyze the scene.

The door had no handle, neither a view of what's behind. The only thing that was visible was the mellow snow piling layer by layer, and the darkness of the night.

"Should we break it?!" Leo jumped to conclusions quite rapidly in the heat of the moment.

"No," Faibel responded from behind, "But it might come to that in the end. 'Glass will break, So enter slow,' does not signal any sort of peaceful entry."

"Oh I know!" Atlas shouted from the front, being the closest to the door, "Let's try knocking!"

"Are you stupid?" Faibel raised a brow beneath his glasses.

"Why do you have a better idea?" The silence he received in response signaled that the answer was no, and that he was free to give a small knock on the plain glass door before him.

As soon as his cold hands tapped the thick wall of glass, it shattered into pieces, sending everyone a chill down their spine. The snow and the free nightly air was gone, and an entrance to a poorly lit hallway was in place.

One by one they shuffled in, stepping into a large, stoney hall filled with empty torches mounted on the walls and the hollow whispers of voices from what seemed like miles away creeping within the walls.

Leo snapped his fingers once more, lighting all the torches from side to side with lightning speed. This maneuver revealed even more detail to the mysterious scene. Rats dashed across the rocky floor, hissing at the intruders that just stumbled on their precious home. The walls trembled every few seconds, as if a massacre was happening from within. The whispers continued to echo through like victims of torture, and Rina's eye began to agonzie in excrutiating pain.

The rest turned around by the sudden scream she let out and by clasping her hand on her precious face. After letting everyone know she was fine, she let go, ready to unravel the secrets within this mischievous cave, "I swear I'm fine! I just… Doesn't matter now. We're here, and we came here for answers. So let's go."

And just like that she marched forward, taking the lead to the depths of the unknown.