BK1 Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Something blurred my vision, I tried to wave it away, but my hand wafted straight through it.

Vishka's Guidance System

Quest Received!

Obtain the knowledge of Albus.

I blinked at the box in my face as it refused to let me sleep. Then, a groan beside me told me I wasn't alone, and that's when I remembered the Horned Baildon. With a start, I sat up, my head ringing, making me clutch it with a moan.

Rian was lying beside me, facing similar disgruntlement as she rubbed her temples. Our legs were tangled together in the dirt cavern we had fallen into. We carefully separated, both of us aching from the fall. I was fairly sure I was bleeding from my forehead by the blood on my hand.

"Where are we?" Rian grumbled, clutching her arm gingerly. It was bleeding from the looks of it.

"Looks like a cavern," I said, pulling up on my feet by grabbing a stalagmite sticking out of the hard stone floor. Water dripped onto my cheek from a stalactite above. Small black bodies cuddled between them. The smell of stagnant water and animal musk filled my nose. Our only light was a small stream from a hole in the ceiling, the tunnel we had fallen into during the Horned Baildon's attack.

"I don't think we're alone", I whispered, pointing to the black bodies above.

Rian saw them and held a finger to her lips. "Craven bats", she answered my thoughts silently standing. So, more demonic beasts, I guessed from her nervousness. They shuffled slightly, and we stilled until they settled again. We had been lucky they hadn't woken up when we fell.

We looked around very slowly, stepping on the stone floor to try and prevent any echo we may make. The cave we had fallen into was cramped, one side was a dead-end, but the opposite had a narrow but long corridor. We had no other option but to follow it. Unfortunately, neither of us had the skills or ability to get back up through the tunnel. It was too high up.

I used the bumpy stone of the walls to support my feet as a sharp jarring pain began to spike in my right thigh. I must have landed on it when we fell. Rian was being sensitive about her arm as she took the lead in the narrow corridor, so we were both injured and alone in an unfamiliar place. My unease increased. If the craven bats attacked us in such a narrow place, I doubt we would be able to defend ourselves.

We walked the length of the cave, ever mindful of the craven bats above. They did not lessen in number as we proceeded, which only worried me more as to their number. As we walked further away from the tunnel we fell through, the light became less. Soon, we were in darkness, and I had to use my hands to feel a way forward. It was difficult, and I tripped a few times, stubbing my feet on rocks that I couldn't see. We hitched our breaths every time we made a noise, but thankfully, the craven bats did not respond.

It felt as though we walked in silence for hours before a small light filtered ahead of us. Picking up speed, we both rushed toward it, the cramped claustrophobia of being unable to see driving us. As we reached the light, we were welcomed with a bizarre blue glow from thousands of small mushrooms that lined the walls. Continuing on our path, the corridor grew wider until, finally, the cave opened up, and we could stand side by side.

We both gasped, navigating around a large broken boulder at the scene before us, basking in the light of the mushrooms.

Inside this underground cave were the ruins of a temple.

It was hard to think of it as anything else, as broken statues of the gods were circled around a fountain at the centre of the cavern. Crumbled Pillars of stone hinted at an archway once existing, runes carved into the stone faded and brittle. I saw Vishka's statue, placed not at the edge of the circle of gods like it was in modern temples but at the forefront of them all.

"What is this place" Rian whispered in awe, gently tracing a rune with her fingers.

"It looks incredibly old" I approached Vishka's statue staring at the worn features of her bandaged eyes. "The arrangement of the gods is different here than the temple in Talbour."

"You've been to the temple?" Rian said surprised

"Once. Just before we left," I lightly touched Vishka's hand and felt the stone threaten to crumble, so I quickly pulled away.

"Maybe this place is from before the age of Carosel" Rian pulled out a scroll and began to etch some of the runes from the archway. "I have never seen these runes before."

"The age of Carosel? You think it could be that old?" I asked, leaving Vishka's statue to explore further.

The age of Carosel was the beginning of the Zopan empire; It was a story often read to me by Cassandra as a child. Long ago, the gods blessed a number of people, and those blessed joined together to unite the land and the clans that inhabited it, led by God's chosen child, Carosel. They ravaged the demonic beasts, created safe heavens for the people, and united all tribes to create the Zopan Empire. The God chosen was a powerful and exalted being, the ancestor of our royal family. Ever since peace had settled onto the land and as long as their ancestor reigned, we would remain in peace under their watchful eyes.

I had always believed that story to be somewhat of a fairy tale, a story more meant to prop the royal family for the masses. The royal family were draygon, a race with the power of lightning, God blessed as many called them. However, it was also true that aeons ago, there was magic now lost to us, such as the plant magic which had built Ingalham, Teresa's hometown. If the story was true, it was possible that such magic was lost when the God Chosen formed the Zopan empire.

"It's possible. These runes aren't in any of my textbooks" Rian studied them carefully, etching copies onto her scraps of rolled paper.

"I wonder why if it has been found before" I bent down to the floor, inspecting one of the glowing mushrooms that grew on the temples rotting walls. They clustered together tightly in pockets all around. A weird purple moss dotted between them stood out against the pale luminescent blue of the mushroom heads.

"I wouldn't know" Rian's pencil scratched loudly in the chamber.

"I think this is angel shroom," I said, pulling out my dagger and covering my hand with the cloth of my dirtied black cloak. I lightly wrapped my hand around a cluster, being careful not to touch it with my bare skin, and cut it with my dagger.

"And?" Rian said impatiently.

"Don't touch it. If it is Angel shroom, it can paralyze you for four hours."

"That's likely why there aren't any craven bats in here then," Rian said, coming over. "Why are you touching it if it's so dangerous?"

"I'm not", I raised my clothed hand. "It only affects you if it touches your skin."

"So why are you gathering it?"

"It's rare. It may be useful" I ripped a section of my cloak with my dagger and created a small bag from the cloth by tying the ends. Carefully I placed the Angel shroom inside and went to gather some more. In truth, I had never actually seen Angel Shroom in person before. I had only read about it in books, so I wasn't completely sure that this is what this was.

"How do you know about this stuff?" She raised an eyebrow quizzically, watching me work.

"Herbology skill, Adept", I answered, seeing the shock on her face.

"You, the Crazy Cerue, are Adept in Herbology?" she clearly didn't believe me.

"Yes," I said, a little snippy "Do you find that hard to believe?"

"Incredibly so", she sighed ", but I will trust you. We only have each other here, and I have nothing to lose."

"True enough" I bit my cheek, filling my cloth bag to the brim. I placed it in my backpack before ripping another section of cloth from my cloak to make a second bag. This time I filled it with the strange purple moss. I wasn't sure what the moss was. It could have been one of three I knew of. It was difficult to identify something you had never seen before.

"What's that?" Rian's question pulled me out of my gathering task. She was looking at a small glinting metal on a pedestal at the back of the temple.

I finished stuffing my cloth bag with the purple moss and stood beside Rian as we tried to figure out what it was. The metal was shaped peculiarly. It had many pointed angles and resembled a star. It was coloured a solid black similar to the onyx stones that had once lived in my bracelet. A series of runes were etched into the pedestal around it. It looked ominous.

"Try picking it up", I hinted, looking at Rian

"You pick it up", she replied, crossing her arms.

"You found it, so you should pick it up" I took a step back

"You're the one who wants it. You should pick it up" She stepped back further than I had.

We both stared at one another.

Laughter broke our silence in this oddly serene moment.

"Seems we both don't dare go near that thing" She smiled, readjusting her twin serrated sabres.

"Probably best we leave it alone", I agreed too soon.

Vishka's Guidance System

Pick up the memory shard

Ah, crap.

Seriously Vishka? Do you want me to get this thing? It seriously screams trap. Those runes surrounding it could do anything. I mentally chided Vishka and her demands.

"Okay, I'll get it", I sighed, trudging toward the ominous memory shard

"Your seriously picking that thing up?" Rian tried to stop me as I outstretched my hand.

"Yeah, it seems too valuable to just leave here", I lied. I couldn't say it was because Vishka told me.

"No, stop" Rian pulled me back away from it, looking at me gloomily.

"I'll get it," she said, swiftly turning towards it. "If either of us has a chance of understanding what those runes do, it's me. I'm the best choice" She hesitantly approached the onyx-pointed star.

"Rian, let me do it" She reached for it as I spoke, and suddenly a force erupted from the pedestal; flinging Rian across the temple, she crashed with a thud into one of the walls.

"Rian!" I ran over to her limp body. She was crumpled in a heap. I gently shifted her body and quickly pulled off my cloak, scrunching it into a makeshift pillow for her head. She was knocked out cold.

My heart quickened as I checked for her vitals; they were there, just. The blow to her head on the stone wall must have been what knocked her out. I felt a growing bump at the back of her head. Taking off my backpack, I rummaged through it until I found the comfrey I had purchased back at the market in Talbour. Grabbing two loose stones nearby, I did my best to grind the comfrey into a paste. Without a proper pestle and mortar, it would have to do. Using my metal camping cup, I poured in some of the remains of my water and mixed it with the pulped comfrey.

Gently lifting Rian's head, I poured the mixture into her mouth and was relieved to see her body was able to react enough to swallow it. That should help with her inflammation. Hopefully, it won't be too long until she wakes.

I leaned against the wall beside her, glaring at the memory shard. If I went to get that thing, the same would likely happen to me. The runes must be a defence preventing anyone from taking it. So how the heck was I supposed to get it?

I was puzzled about this conundrum for some time until I heard Rian stir.

"Lynette?" she groggily awoke, shifting her body.

"I'm here" I nudged her boot with my foot, and she turned to see me sitting beside her.

"Ow", she hissed, sitting up and rubbing the back of her head. "Did that thing chuck me?" she asked, glaring at it too.

"Yeah, pretty badly, I gave you some comfrey to help with the swelling, but I think you will live" I smirked, and she looked at me grumpy.

"Live is an overstatement. My head is screaming," she winced

"It should settle down soon, hopefully. I have a little comfrey left if it gets worse," I said, shuffling to help her stand.

"Thanks, I may take you up on that", she sighed. "You still want that thing?"

"Yes," I shook my head, not really wanting it. "Got any ideas?"

"No, it's obviously a defence rune structure from that force it emanated. I'm surprised it still had so much power left, considering its age" She frowned. "Runes decay with time, and the power inscribed with them, they must have been a lot more powerful than the force that hit me when they were first made."

"You know a lot about runes?" I asked, slowly edging my way closer to the memory shard.

"Yeah, my family are rune experts. Did you not know that?"

"Not really", I shrugged, stepping closer. I hadn't come up with anything to get past the runes, but one wild idea struck me. Vishka wouldn't intentionally put me in harm's way. She was acting as my guidance system so I could actually survive this life, unlike my last three. Maybe, just maybe, there was something Vishka did to me that allowed me to get passed them or would do something. She had before when I got my blood sign.

"Did you live under a rock? Hey, wait, what are you doing?" Rian saw me getting closer to the memory shard. "Are you crazy!? You saw what just happened!" she hollered, trying to pull me back again, but I was faster.

My hand stretched out and touched the memory shard, and everything went blank.