Rotten Æther

The wooden fortifications are a bit sad compared to the walls that we’ve left behind. Hundreds of trees have been roughly hewn into sharpened logs and thrust into the earth, forming a rudimentary wall that should be enough to stop any lesser beast and would be enough to discourage even a crimson-streaked bear. It wouldn’t be enough to stop the bear, if it wanted to charge through a stone wall it probably could, but you’d have to really piss it off to make it push through this.

Even crawling into my own old home, in the cracks of a broken hill, was usually enough to make them give up on me after about half a day. The ones that wouldn’t leave and tried to dig me out would put their heads in so deep that they couldn’t pull away when I would strike back.

There’s a reason even monsters like them would be afraid of tearing down walls like this. Even the strong can die if they’re not careful.

As the guards heave the doors open for us, at the researcher’s insistence, they reveal the glowing stones of the ancient ruins within, and the campsite built around them. There’s less here than I expected, a few tall towers, and scattered stones, all glowing white, the largest of which is nearly the size of a carriage. What even is there to explore here? Is it all buried under the ground like in Cildr?

Nadia is a step ahead of me, her eyes shining in the light of the white stone. Her knuckles pale, as she tightly grips her axe. Her jaw is just as tense, it’s as if she’s seeing something more than a stack of old, glowing rocks.

“So many secrets,” she hisses, glancing back at me before stepping back and resting a hand on my shoulder. Her grip is soft, she’s not as easy with physical affections as the others, even if she’s nothing like the other elves. “Our elders have kept so many secrets from us, even after finding out that someone is killing us for something in Cildr, they refuse to tell us why.

“It’s sick that we have to rely on some foreigner digging up our history, just to learn the things that our elders should be telling us.” Her gaze flickers from stone to stone as if expecting the stones to come alive and share those secrets, they remain silent. There’s nothing but the bones of a place long dead.

“Why won’t they tell us?” I ask. “The past is dead. Why is it so important to keep it secret? If it can help save people today, then that’s more important. If the vampires keep coming for us…”

Rea had to forget me just to protect me from Aldramdore, but if he comes for us anyway… I won’t let myself die. If he really is after Cildr, then he can have it. I’ll find some way to convince the others to leave it alone if I have to. We need to be stronger before we pick a fight with the people in that tall castle.

“That’s what I want to know,” Nadia shakes her head, sneering and showing her canines in an almost animalistic way. “If we knew what it is that they’re after…”

“Are you sure we can’t just go beat on an elder until he tells us?” I smile, adjusting my grip on my sword. After everything that’s happened, and the enemies that we now face, I’m prepared to take that next step if I have to. If we know what our enemies want, then maybe we can find a way to get out of their way. The only reason that Theo is getting involved is to protect the people of Snowspring. “There was that older elf I fought before, I think I could beat him now.”

“No,” Nadia focuses in on me. “We’re not torturing an elder.”

Torture? If I kill him I can get him to tell me anything and everything.

Adeleya chuckles, watching us from the side.

“Our Syr certainly doesn’t change, does she? Still better at clubbing monsters than anything else. Investigations aren’t so easy as beating someone up and getting the answers out of them, you know?”

“I know that,” I grumble, shifting my adamant sword around on my shoulder. “It’s just… sometimes, it would make things easier.”

A few strangers approach from the tents nearest to the ruins, drawing my attention like how a wolf will steal your eyes from the deer and the rabbits. It’s the way they hold themselves, it makes them seem dangerous. Like you can’t turn your back on them.

“You’re the mercenaries who found those new ruins that you wanted us to open?” The leader asks, rubbing at his short moustache. “And you’re here to help us clear out our problems?”

“That’s right,” Theo says, Lothar by his side. “There’s trouble in the city, and the roads are going to be dangerous for a while. If we can move in the next few days, we could have the Falchion guild’s protection, and we will need it.”

“Expecting trouble, are we?” the moustache man holds out his hand. “I’m Georgio, leader of this research operation.”

“I’m Theo, and yes, there’s trouble,” he looks about the camp. “A whole district of the city would have been put to death by vampires if it weren’t for some mercenaries in the area, and those behind the killings are likely to strike again. We’re expecting that the people fleeing the city will be slaughtered in the same way, so we need to move carefully.”

“We aren’t entirely without support of our own,” Georgio says while lowering his head. “But I see no reason to doubt you. We’ve looked into your team and company, and if you wish to escort us to this new site then we would be willing to contract you for the work.”

“That’s… better than we were expecting.”

“You were going to work for free?” Georgio huffs, with a wide smile.

“I can say the same to you,” Theo shakes his head at the man. “Someone has been attacking villages and slaughtering people too close to the ruins. We want to know why so that we can put an end to it, and we’re hoping your research could help us.”

Even though we know that it’s the vampires, and the people in the big castle that are behind all this, we can’t kill them. This is like dealing with an animal you can’t fight outright. You have to find some other way of dealing with them, baiting them away or finding somewhere to hide, but until we know what they want in Cildr, we don’t have anything to work with.

The real problem will be Nadia. I’m not sure that she’ll be satisfied with hiding from these enemies, she wants revenge for what they’ve done, but she’s too weak for that fight.

“If our work were so useful, we’d know who it is that’s been hunting our own people down,” Georgio spits, glaring up into the sky. “Business for another day, for now, let’s formalise this, and get to work.”

“I might have a few things to share in that regard,” Theo replies. “But first, it’s nearing night and your defences aren’t nearly enough. Your walls, do you have lights set up through the night?” Theo asks, the sky is starting to turn towards dusk already. “We need fire and light. If any of you have anyone with divine magics, they’d prove invaluable as well, in case of an attack.”

“I can ask around,” the man replies slowly, holding back questions of his own.

“There’s a monster infestation in the ruins?” Theo asks.

“It’s been delaying our work,” Georgio nods. “We have powerful guards, but they aren’t hunters or mercenaries, they don’t have any magics that can burn out the nests in the walls.”

“Understood. Nadia, you’re leading the team down to check on the monster infestation. We might need to retreat into the ruins if we’re attacked in the night, make sure to consider that as you work. Also, do everything you can to assist the researchers, we want to be out of here quickly.

“While you work on that, I’ll ensure that the camp is properly prepared for tonight. We’re going into this assuming the worst,” Theo orders. “Can we have someone familiar with the ruins show them around?”

“Right away,” Georgio nods, pulling at his moustache. “Garth! Get over here, we have some mercs ready to deal with the infestation.”

“About time,” a tall, muscular man says, jogging over to join us with a wide smile on his lips. “I was about to lead a group down there myself.”

“Not that I don’t trust you, but please rely on our friends for this,” Geogio groans before Theo rushes him away with questions about the camp and its defences. They don’t have any real lights up, and only small campfires, which is going to have to change before nightfall.

I feel sick thinking of what could be coming. We still don’t understand why an entire section of the city was slaughtered, but I don’t think they got what they wanted from it. If they are willing to do that, then what about Snowspring? What about the smaller villages? How many others will they kill?

“Gather up,” Nadia orders, shrugging awkwardly and looking between the members of our smaller group. Her eyes are cold but determined. “Lothar, you and I are at the front, Syr up the back. Adeleya and Garth, centre of the formation.”

“What are we fighting?” I ask, looking at the new, temporary member of our group. Garth. A weird sounding name, like someone trying to cough and heave at the same time.

“We don’t know what they’re called,” he says. “They dig through the earth where the walls are broken down, and they’re stealthy little buggers. Won’t do much as long as you see them first, but if they catch you by surprise, they can bite you pretty hard. We haven’t seen them up on the surface, either.”

“Adeleya, you think you can burn out a nest?” Nadia asks, and our mage nods resolutely.

“It’ll be difficult to use wind, but I should have enough power to deal with anything that isn’t especially resistant to fire,” she says as we head up to the collection of glowing stones that mark the centre of the ruins.

There are no doors, only more unusually bright stone, which is also rather warm to the touch. My longsword probably isn’t going to be much use here, but I don’t want to leave it behind either; I don’t know these strangers well enough to trust them with my weapons.

“Just a second,” Garth says, fiddling about with some of the markings on the stone floor, spinning little disks around until they all line up. “This door is one of the heavier installations I’ve worked with, and it takes some time to line up the switches.”

I churn out some more æther, glancing down at the sheet that I got from Vael. The numbers still haven’t changed from the last time that I checked.

I know that getting results from training is meant to be a slow thing, but it still bothers me. I’ve been pushing myself all this time and it’s worth nearly nothing. That’s how it feels, even if I know that I have to be more patient. I lived out in the wild for so long, suffering and growing just to return and pick a fight with the local bandits.

I was patient then, and I didn’t lose that patience just because I met people and forgot what it’s like to be lonely.

“Here we are,” Garth says, waving us back to the stone floor which is slowly rising from its setting. It hovers slowly upwards, the air humming all around it, somehow holding it up. Finally, the square door, two feet thick, rests to the side, revealing a set of stairs heading down into the ruins.

“I’ll lead,” Nadia says, grabbing the young man’s shoulder as he tries to walk down into the earth. “You can tell me where we’re going.”

“I’m not that delicate,” Garth whines, but after she glares at him for half a moment, he backs away.

“The door back in Cildr opens like this?” I ask, drawing a shortsword in one hand as I rest my longsword in the other. Fighting in these tight halls won’t be the same as fighting outside. I’ll be best at thrusting and retreating, or dropping the longsword and making a few quick slashes with my shortswords.

“I don’t remember seeing any spinning disks on it,” Nadia replies, “but I’m sure one of the researchers here could explain it for us. After they take a look at it, anyway.”

“A ruin protected by an elven village?” Garth asks, already aware of Cildr. “I’m excited to check it out. Shame that you’ve had trouble out there, because of it.”

The tunnels ahead of us glow faintly, the stone itself providing enough light to see by. Running my fingers along the wall, it feels strangely warm, almost like we’re delving into the organs of a living thing. What secrets are buried down here that are so important that people would kill for them?