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Flashbacks involving an arrogant kitsune and a timid fox. A mage half-assing an apology for rendering an entire village homeless after some shenanigans involving baysplosions and a mountain. And a visit to a temple that does not at all go according to plan. Yep. That summarizes this latest chapter up pretty well.
Note: Icon is © to Valiant
FIRST , PREVIOUS , NEXT
Chapter 22
“…Overall, I’d say the whole rendering an entire village homeless nullifies the good done by destroying the relic,” Morgan plainly stated.
“Oh surely to hell the two don’t just balance each other out. Ridding the world of that thing has to at least outweigh ruining the livelihoods of a couple dozen people, by a marginal amount anyway.”
The raccoon rolled her eyes as the human argued his case. “I’m willing to acknowledge that you did some amount of good that day. That still doesn’t justify the end result that came about.”
Russo sighed in frustration as he narrowed his gaze. “Do you seriously think I knew that would happen?” He grit his teeth as he prepared to engage in the painful act of swallowing his pride. He sighed again deeply in frustration before continuing. “Look, I didn’t have the faintest idea that me telling that damn thing to destroy itself would have such disastrous results for the people nearby. I fucked up, okay? I didn’t mean to, but I did.”
“If that’s your attempt at an apology, it’s not a very good one,” Morgan replied as she raised her eyebrows and looked away in disinterest.
“Fine!” Russo replied exasperatedly. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I lacked the psychic foresight to know that telling an all-powerful relic to destroy itself would not only level a mountain but an entire village as well. I’m sorry that we were all labeled as pariahs and that we forced to get the hell out of dodge when we were clearly in no condition to do so. Shit, if that apology doesn’t do it for you, maybe the fact I was beaten to the point between dead and dying on my way back home will!”
“W-what?”
Russo’s tone became more shushed and reserved as he dwelled back on his injuries. “On the way back to Tedrah, Jem and I, we were ambushed by some highwaymen. I ended up getting strangled and having my chest carved open.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” The raccoon replied with genuine concern in her voice.
“What about your friend? Is he okay?” Tyridia timidly inquired, finally working up the courage to ask a question.
“Jem’s fine. I’m not quite sure how, but he got me out of that mess.” Russo rubbed the back of his neck uneasily as his thoughts drifted and began dwelling upon the surreal dream that followed his savage beating.
Tyridia ventured to ask another question. “And what of the robbers?”
Russo merely shrugged. “No idea. I’m assuming Jem killed them or dispatched of them. I doubt either of us would be alive if he hadn’t done so otherwise.”
“Well… you may not have made the best of impressions, but I am glad that you are alright.”
Russo smirked as he looked to the raccoon. “Well that’s encouraging. You dislike me, but not enough to wanna see me dead.”
Tyridia chuckled as Morgan nodded her head side to side. “Apologies aside, why are you even here?”
“…It’s kind of a long and convoluted story.”
“If it’s anything like your last story, I’d like to hear it!” Tyridia spoke up, much to Russo’s chagrin and Morgan’s pleasant surprise.
“When I say it’s a long and convoluted story, that’s supposed to discourage you from wanting to hear it,” the human groaned.
“You might as well just come out with it. You don’t want to tell the story, do you?” the raccoon cheekily prodded the human.
“No, I don’t. Now quit asking,” Russo replied annoyed. “I just came here to drop off a letter and tend to some personal business. *Sigh* And maybe try to set things right with you,” the mage quietly trailed off.
“I suppose that’s the closet thing approximating an apology I’ll get out of you,” Morgan thought out loud as she rubbed an eye.
“So… Russo. You briefly touched on it during your story but uh, what kind of mage are you?” The orange fox dared to ask as he slowly got more comfortable in the human’s presence.
“Hmmm? I’m a, well, I’m a… huh. I’m not really sure how to describe myself to be honest. I don’t adhere or specialize in any one given magic. I like dabbling and learning all sorts of spells to be frank. I have some fire, lightning, ice, earth, wind, and teleport spells all at my disposal.”
“Teleportation spells? I thought the proper name for those were Blink spells?”
“I don’t care what they’re supposed to be called, I just know that those are some of my favorite spells. Hell, I even know some bare bones defensive and healing spells as well. A jack of all trades, at least with regards to magic, is the best self-description I can come up with. What about you?”
“Ah, I’m a summoner!” Tyridia said with some pride in his voice.
“Really now? I’ve never actually run into a summoner before. So what kind of spirits do you summon? Do you call forth animal or elemental spirits or something like that?”
“No, those are for small fry. Anyone can summon simple spirits like those. All you do is just attune and gather some magic that will draw them in like a magnet. From there you just hand out simple commands and they do as they’re instructed. Problem is, if you’re fighting someone who is even the slightest bit knowledgeable about summoning basic spirits, they can just as easily gather and attune magic that the spirits will find even more appealing and those spirits can turn on you in an instant.” Morgan looked on contentedly, smiling to herself as she watched most traces of the fox’s shyness disappear.
“So, wait. What does that leave you able to summon then?”
“What most summoners strive for, and what I’ve been able to achieve,” Tyridia said smiling gleefully, “is a contract with an individual spirit. I mean, the ones that are intelligent and capable of thought and speech specifically. Those spirits always tend to be the strongest and if you can form a contract with them, they’ll be loyal to you and only you.”
Russo raised an eyebrow in confusion. “So how’d you luck into that? It’s not like you can just walk up to a spirit and ask if they’d like to agree to an exclusive summoning pact with you.”
Tyr smiled goofily as one of his ears began to twitch. “Heh, well… kind of like you said, I did end up lucking out. When I first joined this guild a couple years back, there was a senior member who was a fantastic summoner. He had formed contracts with multiple spirits and could call on any of them at a whim. At his disposal he had a kitsune, some crazy feathered serpent, and something he called a kelpie.”
“A what?” Russo replied dumbfounded, arching a brow.
“Kelpie. I saw him summon it once. It was a white horse that was translucent and made entirely out of really heavy water. Anyway, when I joined the guild that summoner was about to retire. I was pretty disappointed when I realized I wouldn’t be able to train under him since he wasn’t going to stick around. So, I resolved to ask him for as many tips as I could before he left. He imparted a great deal of knowledge to me, as well as one of the spirits he had formed a contract with!”
“Right place at the right time huh?”
“Pretty much. Though uh, the old guy was much nicer about it than the kitsune was…”
…OH DAMN ANOTHER FLASHBACK. CRAP I FORGET TO INCLUDE THE MEDICAL DISCLAIMER. PLEASE DON’T SUE ME
Standing nervously before the elder summoner and his summoned spirit, Tyridia felt his stomach sink as the kitsune’s piercing otherworldly eyes stripped him bare. Deep within the confines of the Yash guild’s preposterously large library, Tyr struggled to establish his first contract with a spirit. “S-so what do you say? Would you like to form a contract with me?” Tyridia shyly asked.
“You CANNOT be serious,” The towering eight-tailed kitsune indignantly stated as he glared down at the orange fox standing before him. Walking upon all four paws the spirit stood at an imposing near fifteen feet in height, his head high enough to easily see over the majority of the bookcases in the subterranean study. The kitsune’s white fur contrasted strongly with red lines that traced all along his body. The lines turned and intersected all along his chest, back, and legs to form acute cutting patterns. The spirit’s concentric red eyes angrily darted to his side as he felt a furred hand pat against a leg.
A tired old anteater whose fur was rapidly graying received the brunt of the kitsune’s obvious displeasure. “I’m more than willing to release my contract with you so that you may assist this young fox here Xis.”
“Again, I must reiterate. You CANNOT be serious.”
“I am quite serious Xis. You’re well aware that I’m hanging up my mantle soon. I’d rather not my hard work die with me. Why not leave a legacy and impart some knowledge and power to the newest generation?”
“This is not your power we are talking about Laurec, IT IS MY OWN. I am the one who ultimately decides who and who is not permitted to draw upon it, not you. You suffered and toiled to earn my trust and the right to wield my power.” Xis angrily gestured his pointed red and white maw towards Tyridia, “This little two-legger has not.”
“Then why not give him the opportunity to do so?” The old anteater softly asked.
A low and frustrated growl emanated from the kitsune’s throat.
“Come now Xis. Why not lend your power to someone who you know will make good use of it? You know that I will rarely if ever be calling on your assistance from now on.”
“You do not know that for certain,” Xis replied as his eyes drifted towards Tyridia. His muzzle remained planted firmly in front of Laurec. “You haven’t the faintest idea about what his capabilities are.”
“You’re right, I don’t,” The old anteater replied with a chuckle. “Even so, I’m still willing to give him a shot. Look at him Xis. His stature and appearance aren’t all that impressive but do you sense any ill will in him?”
“No… I do not. What I do sense however, is weakness.” Xis turned his muzzle towards Tyr and pushed into his chest, forcing the timid fox to retreat a few paces. “You are a soft, insecure, and ignorant child. If I were to grant you my power, I am absolutely certain it would be squandered in your incapable hands.”
“Xis. You’re mistaking his inexperience for incompetence,” The anteater sternly chastised the kitsune in defense of the young fox.
“Is there a difference?”
Laurec remained silent as he stared down his ethereal partner.
“Oh don’t look at me like that,”Xis replied contemptuously as he turned his attention towards the anteater. The two remained squared down in a stare off for a good minute or so before Xis finally relented. He snorted angrily as he turned back towards Tyridia, dragging one of his paws against the ground, his claws tearing up the stone floor in the process. Xis harrumphed before he spoke, making his distaste and displeasure about how events had played out very clear.
“Very well little two legger. You may not have earned it, nor do you deserve it, but I shall accept your offer.”
The tip of one of Xis’ tails became consumed by a smoky purple and black flame. The lit tail snaked its way towards Tyridia and lightly tapped the timid orange fox on the nose. Tyridia winced at the painful burning sensation. The pure orange fur upon his muzzle began to pale. A diamond shaped patch of pale white fur appeared upon his snout. Tyr clasped his hands over his burning hot muzzle and did his best to save face in front of his new summon. While doing so Tyr noticed that the pattern emblazoned upon his snout was strikingly similar to a set of concentric red diamonds traced upon the kitsune’s chest.
“I permit you to summon me wherever or whenever you desire. However, I reserve the right to refuse any of your commands if they conflict with my own coded morals. Or if they are outright moronic.”
“I, I… thank you.” Tyr quietly said as he looked up to the kitsune with earnest admiration. Xis narrowed his gaze at the diminutive orange fox.
“Hmph.” Xis turned towards Laurec one last time. “This is most certainly NOT the way I would have liked for us to end our contract.”
The anteater smiled warmly at the four legged fox before responding. “Would you prefer our contract be ended by the permanence of death?”
Xis remained silent as he gazed at the anteater wistfully. “…I suppose not. Do try to take care of yourself Laurec.” With that, Xis vanished in a puff of wispy purple smoke.
“Congratulations on establishing your first contract Tyridia!” Tyr couldn’t help but smile as the anteater approached him.
“I doubt it could have happened without your help sir. Thank you.”
“Not a problem my boy. Now that the hard part is out of the way, would you like some basic pointers about summoning him?”
“Yes please!”
“Good. Now summoning a spirit that you’ve formed a contract with is different than anything else you’ve ever done before. You don’t simply channel and then manifest magic, attuning it in such a way so as to draw out any nearby spirits like a magnet. What you want to do is not only gather magic, but refine it as well.”
“Hmm?”
“This could be difficult to explain… Ah, I’ve got it. Say for instance, you were trying to summon a fire elemental spirit. What would you do?”
“Well… first I’d gather some magical energies and then attune the magic so it takes on a fire element. I usually just try and act out the first few steps of casting a basic fire spell. Just imagine that the magic gathered in my hand is like a miniature red hot inferno and energy is radiating from it. I don’t actually do anything further from there. I just do my best to contain it within my hand and in time fire elemental spirits are drawn to me.”
“Very good. Summoning Xis, or any other contracted spirit at that, follows a similar process albeit with one significant difference. Instead of attuning the magic you’ve gathered you try to purify it.”
“I… think I follow you?”
“It’s a tricky process. The first step, as you already mentioned, is to gather magical energies. From there you want to clear your mind. You want the gathered magic to become as purified as possible, so that the mass of energy you have concentrated in your hand is literally nothing more than pure magic. If you let your thoughts drift for even a moment your gathered magic could easily take on even the slightest fire, water or electric attunement. Your will shapes your magic and your thoughts are one of the primary ways that is done. If you can’t keep your thoughts under control then your magic can become easily tainted.”
Tyr’s ears flattened against his head. “Not thinking at all sounds pretty tough.”
“It’ll take some practice, that’s for certain. Once that is done, you offer your purified magic as a toll of sorts. It’s kind of like a payment you make to Xis to justify dragging him out of the spirit realm into ours.”
Tyr stared blankly at the anteater.
“It’s hard to explain I know. Why not give it a shot? Trying to get a feeling for it will be much more productive than trying to decipher what I’m saying.”
Tyr bit his lip and arched his brows in response as he began to gather magical energy. Once a palpable mass of magic had been gathered in his right hand he closed his eyes and actively tried to suppress his thoughts. He had limited success as stray thoughts randomly began to bounce around in his mind. He let out a sigh in response as he struggled to even to begin to think of a way of drawing Xis out. He then promptly slapped himself on the forehead with his free hand. “*Sigh* Dangit, not thinking at all is hard…”
He threw himself into the routine once more, doing his best to actively stifle any thoughts. Again he had limited success, but this time he also felt a burning tingle upon his snout, right where the pale diamond patch of fur had cropped up. Tyr let himself focus on the physical tingling and in an instant the magic gathered in his hand vanished. Tyr’s eyes tore open as he gawked at his now empty hand. “D-did I do it? Did I summon Xis?” He asked excitedly. A tiny patch of white fur at the edge of his vision immediately demanded his attention.
“I did ittttttttttoh boy,” Tyridia rapidly trailed off as he pursed his lips.
“WHAT DID YOU DO!?” Xis screamed at the fox.
“I uh… summoned you?” Tyr responded meekly as his ears flattened against his head.
“YOU INCOMPETENT IGNORAMUS! LOOK AT ME!” Xis cried out in a livid rage as he was forced to look up at Tyridia. The orange fox laughed nervously in response as he looked down at the knee high one-tailed kitsune he had just summoned.
“Ah that’s right. I may have neglected to mention that Xis’ strength is dependent upon your own power now. The quality of the magic that you offer to draw him out directly impacts how powerful he is once summoned,” Laurec sheepishly chimed in. (The number of tails a kitsune possesses reflects the amount of power they wield. 9 tails max. 1 tail minimum. Bluh bluh random fact somewhat relevant to this.)
“NOW YOU TELL HIM THAT?!” The lividorable (Livid + adorable) kitsune barked at the anteater.
OH GOD I HOPE THE MAJORITY OF YOU THINKING ABOUT SUING ME WERE KILLED OFF BY THOSE NASTY FLASHBACK SIDE EFFECTS. JESUS I’M A HORRIBLE PERSON
Tyridia sighed as he finished reminiscing. “That ethereal know it all still hasn’t forgiven you for that has he?” Morgan asked.
“No…” Tyridia replied somewhat downtrodden.
“Glad to know I’m not the only screw up around here,” Russo morbidly thought to himself.
“It’s not all bad though. I do like donning a kimono, which is the traditional wear for kitsune summoners.” Tyr happily swished his loose fitting kimono to and fro. “And I’ve gotten much better over time too. Just a few weeks ago I finally managed to summon him forth with four tails!” Tyr chirped in with gleeful pride. “Heh, and he even complimented you on it! Granted, in an arrogant and backhanded manner.” Morgan noted.
“Judging from the way you two are able to addend each other’s sentences I’m guessing you two are a team?” Russo asked as he pointed a finger at the raccoon and waved it back and forth between her and the fox.
“Yeah, you guess right” Tyr confirmed sheepishly with a grin. “Morgan and I, and well Xis too, we work well together.”
“You and Xis dish out the damage and Morgan keeps you running strong with her healing magic? Seems like a pretty sound strategy.” Russo casually noted as he recalled that Morgan was a white mage.
“Close but not quite,” Morgan was quick to correct the mage.
Russo arched an eyebrow in response.
“I’m not just our team’s healer. I can fight when needed to.”
“Oh? And how do you manage that?”
“Maybe I’ll show you sometime,” Morgan replied as she shot the human a smug grin.
Russo rolled his eyes and decided not to press her any further on the subject. He had managed to patch things up enough that she was no longer actively hostile towards him. No need to get into an argument with her and undo his minor gains.
“Well as nice as it was chatting with you two and reminiscing about my past screw ups, I think I’ll call it quits for now. Nadie woke me up pretty damn early this morning and I wouldn’t mind getting a nap in,” The human replied somewhat truthfully, as he rubbed his somewhat heavy eyelids.
“Ehhhhh I’d advise against that,” Tyridia tentatively informed the human.
“Why’s that?”
“Master doesn’t like for people to sleep their day away. She thinks it’s an awfully lazy thing to do.”
“So?”
“…I’m guessing you’ve never been scolded by her before for being lazy have you?” Tyridia asked nervously.
“N-no. I only just got here yesterday. What’s so bad about receiving a scolding from her?”
“If she catches you being lazy like that, she drags you along for one of her daily workout routines…” Tyr grimaced painfully as he uttered those last few words.
Russo’s eyes went wide as he realized the implications. “Oh dear god that kind of strenuous physical activity could kill a man.”
“It probably wouldn’t kill a guy. Just leave him bedridden and unable to walk or even lift a book for an entire week…” Tyr weakly said as he rested his head against the table and tried not to remember that horrific day.
“What the hell does she do on a daily basis? Bench press houses?!” Russo asked horrified as he dwelled back on how ripped that huge fucking panthress was.
“Oh lord and to think she’s had to lighten her load as she’s gotten on in years…” Tyridia fearfully remarked. “Just imagine what one of her daily workouts might have been like in her prime.”
In Russo’s imagination a mental image of Nadie punching apart mountains came to mind.
“Rumors around the guild are that back in her youth, Master could kill people with a single punch or kick,” Morgan plainly stated. “In her old age her strength has waned though. Now her punches and kicks only tend to cripple people for life as opposed to outright killing them.”
“Regardless of whether or not that’s true, I suddenly don’t feel like napping anymore.” Russo stated with suddenly acquired energy and vigor.
Morgan began laughing to herself as she observed the men’s fearful reactions. “So what are you going to do with the rest of your day then?”
Russo shrugged as he mentally drew a blank. “I don’t know, stay out of trouble I guess.”
“I… suppose you could tag along with Tyr and I for the day,” Morgan replied hesitatingly. “We were planning on attending a nearby temple today and offering up some prayers to the god of light. Think you can manage to not bring the temple crumbling down on us?”
“It’s not like everything I touch turns to shit,” Russo curtly replied.
“I’d really prefer it if you could give me something more reassuring than that.”
“*Sigh* Fine. I promise not to inconvenience you or anybody else by simply being with you two at the temple. I’ll try my best to insure that my very presence doesn’t cause any trouble.”
Morgan grit her teeth as she stared at the human worriedly. “I… guess that’ll do. I’m bringing along a couple teleport crystals synched with the guild’s location just in case…”
In tandem the human, fox, and raccoon rose from the table and slowly made their way out of the guild’s front entrance. “Hey Tyr, do you wanna lead the way?” Morgan inquired as both she and Russo flipped up their cloak hoods upon exiting the warm guild hall. Tyridia nodded his head as he shivered slightly in his loose fitting kimono.
“When you said we were going to a temple, I assumed we were going to one that was actually still in use…” Russo trailed off as they stepped into the main chamber of an abandoned temple dedicated to the god of light. Nearly as tall as it was wide, the main chamber was a stark and open room. Traces of sunlight filtered through gaping holes in the roof and hairline cracks could be seen all along the walls. “I’m starting to understand your concern about me bringing this place crumbling down. All it would take is a powerful sneeze to turn this place into our early grave,” Russo wryly observed. His feet kicked up dust clouds that sparkled in the sunlight as he followed behind Tyr and Morgan. Walking in a group, the raccoon, human, and fox made their way towards the back wall. A small pedestal was situated against the wall, right beneath a giant picture of the sun etched into the wall. The top of the pedestal was covered in wax, dozens of burnt down candles crowding for space atop the pedestal. A dirty and torn mat was placed on the ground before it.
“So it’s a little run down. That doesn’t mean we still can’t offer up our prayers here.”
“Surely there’s another temple around here that you could hit up that, you know, isn’t falling apart?”
“…Surprisingly there isn’t. To be honest there really aren’t that many temples around here. Deific worship isn’t too big around these parts for some reason.”
“Huh, that’s kind of strange.” Russo cocked an eyebrow as Tyr and Morgan kneeled before the pedestal upon the mat.
“Aren’t you going to offer up any prayers Russo?” Tyridia asked surprised as the mage shoved his hands into his pockets and stared down at the duo.
“Nah, that’s not really my thing. I mean I acknowledge gods exist, and try to show them the proper respect, but I’m not going to throw myself onto my hands and knees begging for their favor. And I’m sure as hell not going to fake a compliment to whoever this god is, oohing and ahhing about this shoddy temple of theirs.” Russo gestured to the walls, the floor, and the ceiling to reaffirm his point.
Morgan sighed as she closed her eyes and scrunched her eyebrows. Russo rolled his eyes at the raccoon. “Oh relax, I’ll just meander around for a bit while you two get in this god’s good graces.”
“Don’-“
“I won’t touch anything.”
“Thank you.”
Russo smirked to himself as he slowly began to circle around the chamber. A door at the far right corner of the back wall caught his attention as he completed his first lap about the chamber. He shot a glance towards the fox and raccoon, both of whom appeared to be lost in their prayers. With a shrug of his shoulders Russo turned his attention back towards the passage. He peeked his head inside and found part of the wall had collapsed and completely prevented exiting on through to the other side. Peering through the rubble, Russo saw that there was another large chamber behind it. “Well I wouldn’t technically be touching anything…” Russo thought to himself as he readied magic at his fingertips. He cast a teleport spell and in a flash of blue light appeared on the other side of the rubble.
The chamber he found himself in was just as dilapidated as the last. Granted it did differ in one significant aspect. At the center of the room, leading down into the darkness, was a large stairwell. Arching an eyebrow, Russo once more channeled magic into his fingertips and cast a weak illumination spell. Keeping his hands to his side, he descended down the stairwell in silence, intent on not drawing Morgan nor Tyridia’s attention quite yet. “This seems a tad out of place in a temple dedicated to THE god of light.” The mage mentally remarked as he furrowed his brows and stepped out onto some level ground. He found himself in a lightless room of… uncertain size. The gentle glow of the light surrounding his body was nowhere near powerful enough to illuminate the entire area. Russo took a few steps forward and heard his footsteps echo across the caliginous void. …Alright, so chances were he was in a dark room of cavernous size if it was god damned big enough to have the acoustics necessary for his steps to echo. “Ehhh, I think that’s enough exploring for now,” the mage meekly thought to himself as he took a few steps back and began to climb the stairs. He disengaged the illumination spell and turned back towards the void behind him for one last look. To his surprise, an inconsequential sliver of white light could be seen piercing the darkness from what he assumed was the opposite end of the room.
“Must not have noticed that when my illumination spell was active...” Scratching at some stubble on his chin the mage weighed his options. “So long as I look with my eyes and not my hands, it should be fine,” he rationalized as he became more and more intrigued by the lightless subterranean chamber beneath the temple. He recast his basic illumination spell and shuffled his feet along the floor, carefully making his way towards the opposite end of the cavernous chamber. Every so often one of his feet would kick against some refuse and send it rattling across the floor. He grunted as he nearly tripped upon some rubble and stumbled forward. “Gah! Shoddy piece of crap,” he mumbled to himself as he attempted to regain his balance. He grimaced when he felt another piece of debris crumble beneath his feet after only a few steps. Russo glared down at the ground to further bitch about the poor upkeep of the temple when his heart caught in his throat and his stomach sank. In the poor light cast by his spell, a crumbling humanoid rib cage could be seen underfoot, Russo’s foot resting on the spine.
“W-what in the actual fuck?” Russo worriedly uttered as he lurched his foot off of the skeletal remains. He whipped his head around to look behind him at the rubble he had nearly tripped over. Two skeletons that had calcified into the floor stared back at him. Russo gulped as his eyes went wide. Turning his eyes back towards the perceived direction of the sliver of light he had seen before, the human resolved to explore just a teeny bit further before proceeding to flip the fuck out and haul ass out of there. As he slowly shuffled his feet across the floor he began kicking and nearly tripping across significantly more ref- er… bodies.
“Okay, fuck this. Ten more steps and then I am gone. This is not the kind of shit you are supposed to run across in temple dedicated to something like the god of light.” The sliver of light in the distance failed to grow brighter as Russo slowly counted out each step forward. “Why am I even still down here?” Russo whined to himself as he counted off step number four. “Any sane person would’ve hauled ass at first sight of the skeletons. Do I just a have some sick fascination with the macab-“ Russo’s countdown came to a halt at step nine as his progress was impeded by what was thankfully a massive pile of rubble as opposed to a pile of bodies. He tentatively peeked through cracks in the rubble and saw light straining to pour through. “This is the sort of thing you’d expect to find in a temple like this. But still, given the circumstances…” Russo looked back nervously to the darkness behind him, and all the bodies hidden within it.
The mage took a deep breath and steeled his nerves as he readied magic at his fingertips. “Just a quick peek. I’ll see what the deal with that radiant light is… and proceed to never set foot in this place again.” Russo disappeared in a flash of blue light, the burst of magic briefly illuminating about a dozen or so skeletons crowded around the collapsed doorway. Every skeleton was facing away from the door, all of them seemingly trying to claw away from it.
Reappearing on the other side of the debris, Russo squinted as he slowly made his way towards the brilliant light at the end of the tunnel. He was forced to shield his eyes as he emerged from the tunnel. He found himself in a painfully bright room and his eyes darted around as he observed that the walls, the floor, and the ceiling were all made from the purest marble. A brilliant and massive orb of light hovered in the center of the room. Russo trepidatiously stepped towards it until a smidge of darkness at the edge of his vision caught his eye. He glanced towards the wall adjacent to the entrance and his heart ceased beating. Burned into the wall was a jet black silhouette of what appeared to be a human. Russo’s eyes drifted down to the ground as he became aware of black blemishes that stained the ground. Those turned out to be silhouettes as well. The outlines of multiple furs and humans had been burned into the ground immediately surrounding the sides of the open passageway he had just stepped out from. Russo’s body began shaking as a nearly identical image of what he saw back in Peccamen flashed in his mind.
“I-I shouldn’t be here.” He breathlessly uttered in a panic as he ran back towards the passageway. As he neared the exit a barrier erected itself and prevented his escape. Russo hurriedly forced magic into his fingertips and attempted to teleport behind the barrier. The spell immediately rebounded and a searing wave of heat washed over Russo’s body as he was knocked back from the barrier. A loud and ominous rumble began to bellow from the orb of light.
“You dare to defile my domain with your presence?” A feminine voice angrily accused.
“N-no it’s nothing like that!” Russo fearfully replied as he backed away from the seething mass of light.
“You’re no different from the rest of the trash. All of you, abominations, a plight upon my world.”
Russo looked on horrified as the orb began to rumble and concentrate insane amounts of holy magical energy at a single point.
“Disappear.” The feminine voice coldly stated as a massive blast of magic rocketed towards the human. Faster than he ever fathomed he was capable of, Russo channeled, gathered and managed to acquire the magic necessary to teleport. He disappeared in a flash of blue light that was quickly swallowed up by a wave of white. He reappeared behind the orb on the opposite side of the room.
A low rumbling emanated from the orb as Russo attempted to circle around it, his eyes wide and filled with fear. Once more it concentrated an insane amount of energy at a point and fired upon Russo an instant later. Barely managing to disappear in a flash of light before having every fiber of his being burned into the walls, Russo praised every god he knew for having the sweet fortune to still be alive. He reappeared by the passageway he had emerged from, the barrier still in place. The human quickly forced an attempt to teleport back to Tedrah, any place but here, but there was no effect. “Oh god I… I’m trapped in here. I… I need to get that barrier down if there’s any hope of getting out of here alive. Maybe, maybe if I fire off a shot or two at that thing I can disrupt it,” Russo bit his lip as he channeled magic into his left hand. Arcs of lightning gently leaped between his fingers.
“Your continued defilement is absolutely unforgiveable,” The feminine voice decreed with barely restrained anger.
Russo uneasily locked his eyes on the orb and slowly aimed his left hand towards it. “Just so you know, I’m not that great at doing what I’m told. I have no intention of disappearing,” he shot back, completely unsure of himself.
“Such arrogance.”
“It’s what’s kept me alive so far,” he quietly stated as he fired off a bolt of lightning at the orb. It was simply absorbed into the orb and before Russo even had time to blink it was reflected directly back at him, albeit thousands of times more powerful. Russo’s left arm was consumed by a flash of white light. An unfathomable pain and searing heat dominated his senses as Russo fell to his knees and began sweating frigidly. He slowly craned his head down towards his left arm once the light had faded. All that remained was a stump connected to his shoulder, the exposed flesh cooked black. He collapsed onto the floor entirely and began screaming.
“Hmph. Not even your ashes shall remain, filth,” The voice contemptuously remarked as it readied for the kill. Russo chose not to face his death head on, his body shaking and tears streaming down his face as he lay on the ground.
“As much as I love a good bloodbath, I think I’m going to have to cut you off there Light,” a male voice chidingly stated with a chuckle. The energy the radiant orb was concentrating immediately dissipated.
“YOU,” The feminine voice hissed with contempt. “How DARE you trespass upon my domain. How did you even force your way in here, there is no way for you to manifest yourself!” The orb angrily demanded.
“Heh, come now. Have you already forgotten I can manifest myself from ANY source of darkness? Now I know you’ve always been so good about keeping me out… but lately you’ve been slipping.” The male voice cheekily replied as black tendrils erupted forth from Russo’s shadow, the sole source of darkness in the room. The human struggled to keep pace with what was happening as his body grew heavy and his vision began to blur due to the physical shock and immediate blood loss.
“BEGONE,” the orb screeched as it fired off a beam of searing light at the human. The black tendrils extending out of Russo’s shadow protectively wrapped themselves around the human and managed to withstand the brutal affront.
Sheltered within the tendrils embrace, Russo found himself in pitch black darkness. “You’re coming with me mortal. You and I need to have a little… chat.” Too weak and confused to resist, the human found himself being dragged down into the darkness, unsure of his fate.
Wave after wave of searing holy magic assaulted the gathering of tendrils. Mere seconds separated one attack from the other, the dark writhing mass quickly disintegrating and crumbling into nothingness. “Another time then, Light,” The male voice replied cockily as the last fragments of darkness were swallowed by another wave of white. No trace of the human or the other trespasser remained; it was as if they had never been.
“Never return,” the feminine voice hissed as the orb ceased rumbling. An eerie quiet filled the chamber as a blinding light bathed every inch of the chamber once more, unimpeded by any obstructions.
FIRST , PREVIOUS , NEXT
Note: Icon is © to Valiant
FIRST , PREVIOUS , NEXT
Chapter 22
“…Overall, I’d say the whole rendering an entire village homeless nullifies the good done by destroying the relic,” Morgan plainly stated.
“Oh surely to hell the two don’t just balance each other out. Ridding the world of that thing has to at least outweigh ruining the livelihoods of a couple dozen people, by a marginal amount anyway.”
The raccoon rolled her eyes as the human argued his case. “I’m willing to acknowledge that you did some amount of good that day. That still doesn’t justify the end result that came about.”
Russo sighed in frustration as he narrowed his gaze. “Do you seriously think I knew that would happen?” He grit his teeth as he prepared to engage in the painful act of swallowing his pride. He sighed again deeply in frustration before continuing. “Look, I didn’t have the faintest idea that me telling that damn thing to destroy itself would have such disastrous results for the people nearby. I fucked up, okay? I didn’t mean to, but I did.”
“If that’s your attempt at an apology, it’s not a very good one,” Morgan replied as she raised her eyebrows and looked away in disinterest.
“Fine!” Russo replied exasperatedly. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I lacked the psychic foresight to know that telling an all-powerful relic to destroy itself would not only level a mountain but an entire village as well. I’m sorry that we were all labeled as pariahs and that we forced to get the hell out of dodge when we were clearly in no condition to do so. Shit, if that apology doesn’t do it for you, maybe the fact I was beaten to the point between dead and dying on my way back home will!”
“W-what?”
Russo’s tone became more shushed and reserved as he dwelled back on his injuries. “On the way back to Tedrah, Jem and I, we were ambushed by some highwaymen. I ended up getting strangled and having my chest carved open.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” The raccoon replied with genuine concern in her voice.
“What about your friend? Is he okay?” Tyridia timidly inquired, finally working up the courage to ask a question.
“Jem’s fine. I’m not quite sure how, but he got me out of that mess.” Russo rubbed the back of his neck uneasily as his thoughts drifted and began dwelling upon the surreal dream that followed his savage beating.
Tyridia ventured to ask another question. “And what of the robbers?”
Russo merely shrugged. “No idea. I’m assuming Jem killed them or dispatched of them. I doubt either of us would be alive if he hadn’t done so otherwise.”
“Well… you may not have made the best of impressions, but I am glad that you are alright.”
Russo smirked as he looked to the raccoon. “Well that’s encouraging. You dislike me, but not enough to wanna see me dead.”
Tyridia chuckled as Morgan nodded her head side to side. “Apologies aside, why are you even here?”
“…It’s kind of a long and convoluted story.”
“If it’s anything like your last story, I’d like to hear it!” Tyridia spoke up, much to Russo’s chagrin and Morgan’s pleasant surprise.
“When I say it’s a long and convoluted story, that’s supposed to discourage you from wanting to hear it,” the human groaned.
“You might as well just come out with it. You don’t want to tell the story, do you?” the raccoon cheekily prodded the human.
“No, I don’t. Now quit asking,” Russo replied annoyed. “I just came here to drop off a letter and tend to some personal business. *Sigh* And maybe try to set things right with you,” the mage quietly trailed off.
“I suppose that’s the closet thing approximating an apology I’ll get out of you,” Morgan thought out loud as she rubbed an eye.
“So… Russo. You briefly touched on it during your story but uh, what kind of mage are you?” The orange fox dared to ask as he slowly got more comfortable in the human’s presence.
“Hmmm? I’m a, well, I’m a… huh. I’m not really sure how to describe myself to be honest. I don’t adhere or specialize in any one given magic. I like dabbling and learning all sorts of spells to be frank. I have some fire, lightning, ice, earth, wind, and teleport spells all at my disposal.”
“Teleportation spells? I thought the proper name for those were Blink spells?”
“I don’t care what they’re supposed to be called, I just know that those are some of my favorite spells. Hell, I even know some bare bones defensive and healing spells as well. A jack of all trades, at least with regards to magic, is the best self-description I can come up with. What about you?”
“Ah, I’m a summoner!” Tyridia said with some pride in his voice.
“Really now? I’ve never actually run into a summoner before. So what kind of spirits do you summon? Do you call forth animal or elemental spirits or something like that?”
“No, those are for small fry. Anyone can summon simple spirits like those. All you do is just attune and gather some magic that will draw them in like a magnet. From there you just hand out simple commands and they do as they’re instructed. Problem is, if you’re fighting someone who is even the slightest bit knowledgeable about summoning basic spirits, they can just as easily gather and attune magic that the spirits will find even more appealing and those spirits can turn on you in an instant.” Morgan looked on contentedly, smiling to herself as she watched most traces of the fox’s shyness disappear.
“So, wait. What does that leave you able to summon then?”
“What most summoners strive for, and what I’ve been able to achieve,” Tyridia said smiling gleefully, “is a contract with an individual spirit. I mean, the ones that are intelligent and capable of thought and speech specifically. Those spirits always tend to be the strongest and if you can form a contract with them, they’ll be loyal to you and only you.”
Russo raised an eyebrow in confusion. “So how’d you luck into that? It’s not like you can just walk up to a spirit and ask if they’d like to agree to an exclusive summoning pact with you.”
Tyr smiled goofily as one of his ears began to twitch. “Heh, well… kind of like you said, I did end up lucking out. When I first joined this guild a couple years back, there was a senior member who was a fantastic summoner. He had formed contracts with multiple spirits and could call on any of them at a whim. At his disposal he had a kitsune, some crazy feathered serpent, and something he called a kelpie.”
“A what?” Russo replied dumbfounded, arching a brow.
“Kelpie. I saw him summon it once. It was a white horse that was translucent and made entirely out of really heavy water. Anyway, when I joined the guild that summoner was about to retire. I was pretty disappointed when I realized I wouldn’t be able to train under him since he wasn’t going to stick around. So, I resolved to ask him for as many tips as I could before he left. He imparted a great deal of knowledge to me, as well as one of the spirits he had formed a contract with!”
“Right place at the right time huh?”
“Pretty much. Though uh, the old guy was much nicer about it than the kitsune was…”
…OH DAMN ANOTHER FLASHBACK. CRAP I FORGET TO INCLUDE THE MEDICAL DISCLAIMER. PLEASE DON’T SUE ME
Standing nervously before the elder summoner and his summoned spirit, Tyridia felt his stomach sink as the kitsune’s piercing otherworldly eyes stripped him bare. Deep within the confines of the Yash guild’s preposterously large library, Tyr struggled to establish his first contract with a spirit. “S-so what do you say? Would you like to form a contract with me?” Tyridia shyly asked.
“You CANNOT be serious,” The towering eight-tailed kitsune indignantly stated as he glared down at the orange fox standing before him. Walking upon all four paws the spirit stood at an imposing near fifteen feet in height, his head high enough to easily see over the majority of the bookcases in the subterranean study. The kitsune’s white fur contrasted strongly with red lines that traced all along his body. The lines turned and intersected all along his chest, back, and legs to form acute cutting patterns. The spirit’s concentric red eyes angrily darted to his side as he felt a furred hand pat against a leg.
A tired old anteater whose fur was rapidly graying received the brunt of the kitsune’s obvious displeasure. “I’m more than willing to release my contract with you so that you may assist this young fox here Xis.”
“Again, I must reiterate. You CANNOT be serious.”
“I am quite serious Xis. You’re well aware that I’m hanging up my mantle soon. I’d rather not my hard work die with me. Why not leave a legacy and impart some knowledge and power to the newest generation?”
“This is not your power we are talking about Laurec, IT IS MY OWN. I am the one who ultimately decides who and who is not permitted to draw upon it, not you. You suffered and toiled to earn my trust and the right to wield my power.” Xis angrily gestured his pointed red and white maw towards Tyridia, “This little two-legger has not.”
“Then why not give him the opportunity to do so?” The old anteater softly asked.
A low and frustrated growl emanated from the kitsune’s throat.
“Come now Xis. Why not lend your power to someone who you know will make good use of it? You know that I will rarely if ever be calling on your assistance from now on.”
“You do not know that for certain,” Xis replied as his eyes drifted towards Tyridia. His muzzle remained planted firmly in front of Laurec. “You haven’t the faintest idea about what his capabilities are.”
“You’re right, I don’t,” The old anteater replied with a chuckle. “Even so, I’m still willing to give him a shot. Look at him Xis. His stature and appearance aren’t all that impressive but do you sense any ill will in him?”
“No… I do not. What I do sense however, is weakness.” Xis turned his muzzle towards Tyr and pushed into his chest, forcing the timid fox to retreat a few paces. “You are a soft, insecure, and ignorant child. If I were to grant you my power, I am absolutely certain it would be squandered in your incapable hands.”
“Xis. You’re mistaking his inexperience for incompetence,” The anteater sternly chastised the kitsune in defense of the young fox.
“Is there a difference?”
Laurec remained silent as he stared down his ethereal partner.
“Oh don’t look at me like that,”Xis replied contemptuously as he turned his attention towards the anteater. The two remained squared down in a stare off for a good minute or so before Xis finally relented. He snorted angrily as he turned back towards Tyridia, dragging one of his paws against the ground, his claws tearing up the stone floor in the process. Xis harrumphed before he spoke, making his distaste and displeasure about how events had played out very clear.
“Very well little two legger. You may not have earned it, nor do you deserve it, but I shall accept your offer.”
The tip of one of Xis’ tails became consumed by a smoky purple and black flame. The lit tail snaked its way towards Tyridia and lightly tapped the timid orange fox on the nose. Tyridia winced at the painful burning sensation. The pure orange fur upon his muzzle began to pale. A diamond shaped patch of pale white fur appeared upon his snout. Tyr clasped his hands over his burning hot muzzle and did his best to save face in front of his new summon. While doing so Tyr noticed that the pattern emblazoned upon his snout was strikingly similar to a set of concentric red diamonds traced upon the kitsune’s chest.
“I permit you to summon me wherever or whenever you desire. However, I reserve the right to refuse any of your commands if they conflict with my own coded morals. Or if they are outright moronic.”
“I, I… thank you.” Tyr quietly said as he looked up to the kitsune with earnest admiration. Xis narrowed his gaze at the diminutive orange fox.
“Hmph.” Xis turned towards Laurec one last time. “This is most certainly NOT the way I would have liked for us to end our contract.”
The anteater smiled warmly at the four legged fox before responding. “Would you prefer our contract be ended by the permanence of death?”
Xis remained silent as he gazed at the anteater wistfully. “…I suppose not. Do try to take care of yourself Laurec.” With that, Xis vanished in a puff of wispy purple smoke.
“Congratulations on establishing your first contract Tyridia!” Tyr couldn’t help but smile as the anteater approached him.
“I doubt it could have happened without your help sir. Thank you.”
“Not a problem my boy. Now that the hard part is out of the way, would you like some basic pointers about summoning him?”
“Yes please!”
“Good. Now summoning a spirit that you’ve formed a contract with is different than anything else you’ve ever done before. You don’t simply channel and then manifest magic, attuning it in such a way so as to draw out any nearby spirits like a magnet. What you want to do is not only gather magic, but refine it as well.”
“Hmm?”
“This could be difficult to explain… Ah, I’ve got it. Say for instance, you were trying to summon a fire elemental spirit. What would you do?”
“Well… first I’d gather some magical energies and then attune the magic so it takes on a fire element. I usually just try and act out the first few steps of casting a basic fire spell. Just imagine that the magic gathered in my hand is like a miniature red hot inferno and energy is radiating from it. I don’t actually do anything further from there. I just do my best to contain it within my hand and in time fire elemental spirits are drawn to me.”
“Very good. Summoning Xis, or any other contracted spirit at that, follows a similar process albeit with one significant difference. Instead of attuning the magic you’ve gathered you try to purify it.”
“I… think I follow you?”
“It’s a tricky process. The first step, as you already mentioned, is to gather magical energies. From there you want to clear your mind. You want the gathered magic to become as purified as possible, so that the mass of energy you have concentrated in your hand is literally nothing more than pure magic. If you let your thoughts drift for even a moment your gathered magic could easily take on even the slightest fire, water or electric attunement. Your will shapes your magic and your thoughts are one of the primary ways that is done. If you can’t keep your thoughts under control then your magic can become easily tainted.”
Tyr’s ears flattened against his head. “Not thinking at all sounds pretty tough.”
“It’ll take some practice, that’s for certain. Once that is done, you offer your purified magic as a toll of sorts. It’s kind of like a payment you make to Xis to justify dragging him out of the spirit realm into ours.”
Tyr stared blankly at the anteater.
“It’s hard to explain I know. Why not give it a shot? Trying to get a feeling for it will be much more productive than trying to decipher what I’m saying.”
Tyr bit his lip and arched his brows in response as he began to gather magical energy. Once a palpable mass of magic had been gathered in his right hand he closed his eyes and actively tried to suppress his thoughts. He had limited success as stray thoughts randomly began to bounce around in his mind. He let out a sigh in response as he struggled to even to begin to think of a way of drawing Xis out. He then promptly slapped himself on the forehead with his free hand. “*Sigh* Dangit, not thinking at all is hard…”
He threw himself into the routine once more, doing his best to actively stifle any thoughts. Again he had limited success, but this time he also felt a burning tingle upon his snout, right where the pale diamond patch of fur had cropped up. Tyr let himself focus on the physical tingling and in an instant the magic gathered in his hand vanished. Tyr’s eyes tore open as he gawked at his now empty hand. “D-did I do it? Did I summon Xis?” He asked excitedly. A tiny patch of white fur at the edge of his vision immediately demanded his attention.
“I did ittttttttttoh boy,” Tyridia rapidly trailed off as he pursed his lips.
“WHAT DID YOU DO!?” Xis screamed at the fox.
“I uh… summoned you?” Tyr responded meekly as his ears flattened against his head.
“YOU INCOMPETENT IGNORAMUS! LOOK AT ME!” Xis cried out in a livid rage as he was forced to look up at Tyridia. The orange fox laughed nervously in response as he looked down at the knee high one-tailed kitsune he had just summoned.
“Ah that’s right. I may have neglected to mention that Xis’ strength is dependent upon your own power now. The quality of the magic that you offer to draw him out directly impacts how powerful he is once summoned,” Laurec sheepishly chimed in. (The number of tails a kitsune possesses reflects the amount of power they wield. 9 tails max. 1 tail minimum. Bluh bluh random fact somewhat relevant to this.)
“NOW YOU TELL HIM THAT?!” The lividorable (Livid + adorable) kitsune barked at the anteater.
OH GOD I HOPE THE MAJORITY OF YOU THINKING ABOUT SUING ME WERE KILLED OFF BY THOSE NASTY FLASHBACK SIDE EFFECTS. JESUS I’M A HORRIBLE PERSON
Tyridia sighed as he finished reminiscing. “That ethereal know it all still hasn’t forgiven you for that has he?” Morgan asked.
“No…” Tyridia replied somewhat downtrodden.
“Glad to know I’m not the only screw up around here,” Russo morbidly thought to himself.
“It’s not all bad though. I do like donning a kimono, which is the traditional wear for kitsune summoners.” Tyr happily swished his loose fitting kimono to and fro. “And I’ve gotten much better over time too. Just a few weeks ago I finally managed to summon him forth with four tails!” Tyr chirped in with gleeful pride. “Heh, and he even complimented you on it! Granted, in an arrogant and backhanded manner.” Morgan noted.
“Judging from the way you two are able to addend each other’s sentences I’m guessing you two are a team?” Russo asked as he pointed a finger at the raccoon and waved it back and forth between her and the fox.
“Yeah, you guess right” Tyr confirmed sheepishly with a grin. “Morgan and I, and well Xis too, we work well together.”
“You and Xis dish out the damage and Morgan keeps you running strong with her healing magic? Seems like a pretty sound strategy.” Russo casually noted as he recalled that Morgan was a white mage.
“Close but not quite,” Morgan was quick to correct the mage.
Russo arched an eyebrow in response.
“I’m not just our team’s healer. I can fight when needed to.”
“Oh? And how do you manage that?”
“Maybe I’ll show you sometime,” Morgan replied as she shot the human a smug grin.
Russo rolled his eyes and decided not to press her any further on the subject. He had managed to patch things up enough that she was no longer actively hostile towards him. No need to get into an argument with her and undo his minor gains.
“Well as nice as it was chatting with you two and reminiscing about my past screw ups, I think I’ll call it quits for now. Nadie woke me up pretty damn early this morning and I wouldn’t mind getting a nap in,” The human replied somewhat truthfully, as he rubbed his somewhat heavy eyelids.
“Ehhhhh I’d advise against that,” Tyridia tentatively informed the human.
“Why’s that?”
“Master doesn’t like for people to sleep their day away. She thinks it’s an awfully lazy thing to do.”
“So?”
“…I’m guessing you’ve never been scolded by her before for being lazy have you?” Tyridia asked nervously.
“N-no. I only just got here yesterday. What’s so bad about receiving a scolding from her?”
“If she catches you being lazy like that, she drags you along for one of her daily workout routines…” Tyr grimaced painfully as he uttered those last few words.
Russo’s eyes went wide as he realized the implications. “Oh dear god that kind of strenuous physical activity could kill a man.”
“It probably wouldn’t kill a guy. Just leave him bedridden and unable to walk or even lift a book for an entire week…” Tyr weakly said as he rested his head against the table and tried not to remember that horrific day.
“What the hell does she do on a daily basis? Bench press houses?!” Russo asked horrified as he dwelled back on how ripped that huge fucking panthress was.
“Oh lord and to think she’s had to lighten her load as she’s gotten on in years…” Tyridia fearfully remarked. “Just imagine what one of her daily workouts might have been like in her prime.”
In Russo’s imagination a mental image of Nadie punching apart mountains came to mind.
“Rumors around the guild are that back in her youth, Master could kill people with a single punch or kick,” Morgan plainly stated. “In her old age her strength has waned though. Now her punches and kicks only tend to cripple people for life as opposed to outright killing them.”
“Regardless of whether or not that’s true, I suddenly don’t feel like napping anymore.” Russo stated with suddenly acquired energy and vigor.
Morgan began laughing to herself as she observed the men’s fearful reactions. “So what are you going to do with the rest of your day then?”
Russo shrugged as he mentally drew a blank. “I don’t know, stay out of trouble I guess.”
“I… suppose you could tag along with Tyr and I for the day,” Morgan replied hesitatingly. “We were planning on attending a nearby temple today and offering up some prayers to the god of light. Think you can manage to not bring the temple crumbling down on us?”
“It’s not like everything I touch turns to shit,” Russo curtly replied.
“I’d really prefer it if you could give me something more reassuring than that.”
“*Sigh* Fine. I promise not to inconvenience you or anybody else by simply being with you two at the temple. I’ll try my best to insure that my very presence doesn’t cause any trouble.”
Morgan grit her teeth as she stared at the human worriedly. “I… guess that’ll do. I’m bringing along a couple teleport crystals synched with the guild’s location just in case…”
In tandem the human, fox, and raccoon rose from the table and slowly made their way out of the guild’s front entrance. “Hey Tyr, do you wanna lead the way?” Morgan inquired as both she and Russo flipped up their cloak hoods upon exiting the warm guild hall. Tyridia nodded his head as he shivered slightly in his loose fitting kimono.
“When you said we were going to a temple, I assumed we were going to one that was actually still in use…” Russo trailed off as they stepped into the main chamber of an abandoned temple dedicated to the god of light. Nearly as tall as it was wide, the main chamber was a stark and open room. Traces of sunlight filtered through gaping holes in the roof and hairline cracks could be seen all along the walls. “I’m starting to understand your concern about me bringing this place crumbling down. All it would take is a powerful sneeze to turn this place into our early grave,” Russo wryly observed. His feet kicked up dust clouds that sparkled in the sunlight as he followed behind Tyr and Morgan. Walking in a group, the raccoon, human, and fox made their way towards the back wall. A small pedestal was situated against the wall, right beneath a giant picture of the sun etched into the wall. The top of the pedestal was covered in wax, dozens of burnt down candles crowding for space atop the pedestal. A dirty and torn mat was placed on the ground before it.
“So it’s a little run down. That doesn’t mean we still can’t offer up our prayers here.”
“Surely there’s another temple around here that you could hit up that, you know, isn’t falling apart?”
“…Surprisingly there isn’t. To be honest there really aren’t that many temples around here. Deific worship isn’t too big around these parts for some reason.”
“Huh, that’s kind of strange.” Russo cocked an eyebrow as Tyr and Morgan kneeled before the pedestal upon the mat.
“Aren’t you going to offer up any prayers Russo?” Tyridia asked surprised as the mage shoved his hands into his pockets and stared down at the duo.
“Nah, that’s not really my thing. I mean I acknowledge gods exist, and try to show them the proper respect, but I’m not going to throw myself onto my hands and knees begging for their favor. And I’m sure as hell not going to fake a compliment to whoever this god is, oohing and ahhing about this shoddy temple of theirs.” Russo gestured to the walls, the floor, and the ceiling to reaffirm his point.
Morgan sighed as she closed her eyes and scrunched her eyebrows. Russo rolled his eyes at the raccoon. “Oh relax, I’ll just meander around for a bit while you two get in this god’s good graces.”
“Don’-“
“I won’t touch anything.”
“Thank you.”
Russo smirked to himself as he slowly began to circle around the chamber. A door at the far right corner of the back wall caught his attention as he completed his first lap about the chamber. He shot a glance towards the fox and raccoon, both of whom appeared to be lost in their prayers. With a shrug of his shoulders Russo turned his attention back towards the passage. He peeked his head inside and found part of the wall had collapsed and completely prevented exiting on through to the other side. Peering through the rubble, Russo saw that there was another large chamber behind it. “Well I wouldn’t technically be touching anything…” Russo thought to himself as he readied magic at his fingertips. He cast a teleport spell and in a flash of blue light appeared on the other side of the rubble.
The chamber he found himself in was just as dilapidated as the last. Granted it did differ in one significant aspect. At the center of the room, leading down into the darkness, was a large stairwell. Arching an eyebrow, Russo once more channeled magic into his fingertips and cast a weak illumination spell. Keeping his hands to his side, he descended down the stairwell in silence, intent on not drawing Morgan nor Tyridia’s attention quite yet. “This seems a tad out of place in a temple dedicated to THE god of light.” The mage mentally remarked as he furrowed his brows and stepped out onto some level ground. He found himself in a lightless room of… uncertain size. The gentle glow of the light surrounding his body was nowhere near powerful enough to illuminate the entire area. Russo took a few steps forward and heard his footsteps echo across the caliginous void. …Alright, so chances were he was in a dark room of cavernous size if it was god damned big enough to have the acoustics necessary for his steps to echo. “Ehhh, I think that’s enough exploring for now,” the mage meekly thought to himself as he took a few steps back and began to climb the stairs. He disengaged the illumination spell and turned back towards the void behind him for one last look. To his surprise, an inconsequential sliver of white light could be seen piercing the darkness from what he assumed was the opposite end of the room.
“Must not have noticed that when my illumination spell was active...” Scratching at some stubble on his chin the mage weighed his options. “So long as I look with my eyes and not my hands, it should be fine,” he rationalized as he became more and more intrigued by the lightless subterranean chamber beneath the temple. He recast his basic illumination spell and shuffled his feet along the floor, carefully making his way towards the opposite end of the cavernous chamber. Every so often one of his feet would kick against some refuse and send it rattling across the floor. He grunted as he nearly tripped upon some rubble and stumbled forward. “Gah! Shoddy piece of crap,” he mumbled to himself as he attempted to regain his balance. He grimaced when he felt another piece of debris crumble beneath his feet after only a few steps. Russo glared down at the ground to further bitch about the poor upkeep of the temple when his heart caught in his throat and his stomach sank. In the poor light cast by his spell, a crumbling humanoid rib cage could be seen underfoot, Russo’s foot resting on the spine.
“W-what in the actual fuck?” Russo worriedly uttered as he lurched his foot off of the skeletal remains. He whipped his head around to look behind him at the rubble he had nearly tripped over. Two skeletons that had calcified into the floor stared back at him. Russo gulped as his eyes went wide. Turning his eyes back towards the perceived direction of the sliver of light he had seen before, the human resolved to explore just a teeny bit further before proceeding to flip the fuck out and haul ass out of there. As he slowly shuffled his feet across the floor he began kicking and nearly tripping across significantly more ref- er… bodies.
“Okay, fuck this. Ten more steps and then I am gone. This is not the kind of shit you are supposed to run across in temple dedicated to something like the god of light.” The sliver of light in the distance failed to grow brighter as Russo slowly counted out each step forward. “Why am I even still down here?” Russo whined to himself as he counted off step number four. “Any sane person would’ve hauled ass at first sight of the skeletons. Do I just a have some sick fascination with the macab-“ Russo’s countdown came to a halt at step nine as his progress was impeded by what was thankfully a massive pile of rubble as opposed to a pile of bodies. He tentatively peeked through cracks in the rubble and saw light straining to pour through. “This is the sort of thing you’d expect to find in a temple like this. But still, given the circumstances…” Russo looked back nervously to the darkness behind him, and all the bodies hidden within it.
The mage took a deep breath and steeled his nerves as he readied magic at his fingertips. “Just a quick peek. I’ll see what the deal with that radiant light is… and proceed to never set foot in this place again.” Russo disappeared in a flash of blue light, the burst of magic briefly illuminating about a dozen or so skeletons crowded around the collapsed doorway. Every skeleton was facing away from the door, all of them seemingly trying to claw away from it.
Reappearing on the other side of the debris, Russo squinted as he slowly made his way towards the brilliant light at the end of the tunnel. He was forced to shield his eyes as he emerged from the tunnel. He found himself in a painfully bright room and his eyes darted around as he observed that the walls, the floor, and the ceiling were all made from the purest marble. A brilliant and massive orb of light hovered in the center of the room. Russo trepidatiously stepped towards it until a smidge of darkness at the edge of his vision caught his eye. He glanced towards the wall adjacent to the entrance and his heart ceased beating. Burned into the wall was a jet black silhouette of what appeared to be a human. Russo’s eyes drifted down to the ground as he became aware of black blemishes that stained the ground. Those turned out to be silhouettes as well. The outlines of multiple furs and humans had been burned into the ground immediately surrounding the sides of the open passageway he had just stepped out from. Russo’s body began shaking as a nearly identical image of what he saw back in Peccamen flashed in his mind.
“I-I shouldn’t be here.” He breathlessly uttered in a panic as he ran back towards the passageway. As he neared the exit a barrier erected itself and prevented his escape. Russo hurriedly forced magic into his fingertips and attempted to teleport behind the barrier. The spell immediately rebounded and a searing wave of heat washed over Russo’s body as he was knocked back from the barrier. A loud and ominous rumble began to bellow from the orb of light.
“You dare to defile my domain with your presence?” A feminine voice angrily accused.
“N-no it’s nothing like that!” Russo fearfully replied as he backed away from the seething mass of light.
“You’re no different from the rest of the trash. All of you, abominations, a plight upon my world.”
Russo looked on horrified as the orb began to rumble and concentrate insane amounts of holy magical energy at a single point.
“Disappear.” The feminine voice coldly stated as a massive blast of magic rocketed towards the human. Faster than he ever fathomed he was capable of, Russo channeled, gathered and managed to acquire the magic necessary to teleport. He disappeared in a flash of blue light that was quickly swallowed up by a wave of white. He reappeared behind the orb on the opposite side of the room.
A low rumbling emanated from the orb as Russo attempted to circle around it, his eyes wide and filled with fear. Once more it concentrated an insane amount of energy at a point and fired upon Russo an instant later. Barely managing to disappear in a flash of light before having every fiber of his being burned into the walls, Russo praised every god he knew for having the sweet fortune to still be alive. He reappeared by the passageway he had emerged from, the barrier still in place. The human quickly forced an attempt to teleport back to Tedrah, any place but here, but there was no effect. “Oh god I… I’m trapped in here. I… I need to get that barrier down if there’s any hope of getting out of here alive. Maybe, maybe if I fire off a shot or two at that thing I can disrupt it,” Russo bit his lip as he channeled magic into his left hand. Arcs of lightning gently leaped between his fingers.
“Your continued defilement is absolutely unforgiveable,” The feminine voice decreed with barely restrained anger.
Russo uneasily locked his eyes on the orb and slowly aimed his left hand towards it. “Just so you know, I’m not that great at doing what I’m told. I have no intention of disappearing,” he shot back, completely unsure of himself.
“Such arrogance.”
“It’s what’s kept me alive so far,” he quietly stated as he fired off a bolt of lightning at the orb. It was simply absorbed into the orb and before Russo even had time to blink it was reflected directly back at him, albeit thousands of times more powerful. Russo’s left arm was consumed by a flash of white light. An unfathomable pain and searing heat dominated his senses as Russo fell to his knees and began sweating frigidly. He slowly craned his head down towards his left arm once the light had faded. All that remained was a stump connected to his shoulder, the exposed flesh cooked black. He collapsed onto the floor entirely and began screaming.
“Hmph. Not even your ashes shall remain, filth,” The voice contemptuously remarked as it readied for the kill. Russo chose not to face his death head on, his body shaking and tears streaming down his face as he lay on the ground.
“As much as I love a good bloodbath, I think I’m going to have to cut you off there Light,” a male voice chidingly stated with a chuckle. The energy the radiant orb was concentrating immediately dissipated.
“YOU,” The feminine voice hissed with contempt. “How DARE you trespass upon my domain. How did you even force your way in here, there is no way for you to manifest yourself!” The orb angrily demanded.
“Heh, come now. Have you already forgotten I can manifest myself from ANY source of darkness? Now I know you’ve always been so good about keeping me out… but lately you’ve been slipping.” The male voice cheekily replied as black tendrils erupted forth from Russo’s shadow, the sole source of darkness in the room. The human struggled to keep pace with what was happening as his body grew heavy and his vision began to blur due to the physical shock and immediate blood loss.
“BEGONE,” the orb screeched as it fired off a beam of searing light at the human. The black tendrils extending out of Russo’s shadow protectively wrapped themselves around the human and managed to withstand the brutal affront.
Sheltered within the tendrils embrace, Russo found himself in pitch black darkness. “You’re coming with me mortal. You and I need to have a little… chat.” Too weak and confused to resist, the human found himself being dragged down into the darkness, unsure of his fate.
Wave after wave of searing holy magic assaulted the gathering of tendrils. Mere seconds separated one attack from the other, the dark writhing mass quickly disintegrating and crumbling into nothingness. “Another time then, Light,” The male voice replied cockily as the last fragments of darkness were swallowed by another wave of white. No trace of the human or the other trespasser remained; it was as if they had never been.
“Never return,” the feminine voice hissed as the orb ceased rumbling. An eerie quiet filled the chamber as a blinding light bathed every inch of the chamber once more, unimpeded by any obstructions.
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Category Story / Fantasy
Species Unspecified / Any
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File Size 377.9 kB
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