Chapter 43 - Mountain and Gate (Patreon)

The trio made their way to the mountain range known as Reachview. So called because from the peaks one could see over The Holy Wall and to the main port that serviced the region, Empire’s Reach.

The mountain range was large – but not as large as the Duskfall Range which the two monsters had easily conquered a few weeks prior.

Rose turned to the two, “Detect Life won’t help us at all here. Any ideas so we aren’t going all over this mountain?”

Echo nodded, “Yes.” He continued out of the tree line and up the escarpment as the two others followed – Rose struggling here and there but assisted by Fumi who acted as a handhold with her new Ability. Once they reached the rock face itself Echo breathed deeply, placing his palms on the rock face.

Time to see what a nearly doubled Magic Potency does.

“Sonar Pulse.” The silver Quintessence flowed down his arms in a torrent – much more than he had ever used in a spell – and the red sparks cascaded like an enormous firework bursting in the sky.

The sound wave pulsed into the rock and spread throughout the entire monolithic span. Echo closed his eyes as he read the wave – instantly identifying the location of several caves higher up on the mountain.

However, one stood out. There was an opening that led into a deep chamber with several carved stone tables…and an enormous door that did not resonate with his sound magic. He frowned as he pulled his hands away.

“What is it?” Fumi asked as she put a hand on her sword’s hilt.

Echo shook his head, “I think I found the right cave. That way,” he pointed up and at an angle. “About fifty meters up, hidden behind a bunch of lichen.”

Rose coughed slightly as the two monsters looked back at her, “Do I look like a mountaineer?”

Echo chuckled and walked back to Rose, easily lifting her with his strength. Thanks to Wallwalk, he just ascended the vertical surface with Fumi closely behind.

Rose hung onto his shoulders for dear life, and Echo just chuckled, “I have you. Don’t worry about falling.”

Fumi smiled as she walked directly below the two, “And if you fall, I’ll catch you.”

Rose shook her head, “Next time you’re making magic items, make me one that lets me fly or something.”

Echo pondered the thought on the ascent. It would be a good idea to have flight at will, even for a short burst, that didn’t rely on Fumi.

They crested a small ledge and scraped away some of the lichen that had affixed itself. The stone behind it was slightly off-color from the remaining rock face. Echo pulled back one fist and punched inwards, shattering an arm-sized hole into the hidden tunnel. He used his grip strength to rip out chunks until there was enough space to set Rose down.

“Why not use a spell?” Rose asked.

Echo smirked, holding up his arm and flexing, “I wanted to test my new physique.” He reveled in his newfound power. He could feel his muscles corded under the skin, waiting for exertion. And, punching a hole through a rock wall without effort was very satisfying.

Fumi crested the ledge and nodded, overhearing the conversation. “I’m strong, too,” She commented as she delivered a swift kick to the exterior of the mountain, causing a large crevasse to open.

Rose shook her head.  She led the way down the short tunnel.

Echo grabbed Rose’s shoulder and pointed up at a muddy, brown line hovering in mid-air that formed a lattice covering the space. “That looks magical.”

Rose nodded, “It’s a ward – stationary spells left in place waiting for a specific condition before triggering. If we activate it, it will notify whoever cast it.”

“Tiberius,” Fumi muttered.

Echo nodded, “His spells did come off as brown.”

“Hmm,” Rose put her hand to her chin. “And there’s more beyond it. This whole place is covered with divination Affinity spells meant to notify the user.” She turned to the two monsters, “There’s nothing I can do about that. Dispelling spells is extremely risky.”

“Why?” Echo asked. “Shouldn’t you be able to counterspell and dispel magic if you can do something opposing it?”

Rose nodded, “Sort of. Any mage can dispel another mage’s spell if they know what the spell is.” She tapped her head, “That’s where being well-learned comes in handy…”

She turned back to the grid of magical tripwires, “Tiberius is wily. There’s no way to know which divination spell he used. If I guess wrong, it’ll go wild – just like if he cast without a staff or incantation.”

Echo nodded, “Makes sense. What about countering spells as they are being cast?”

Rose shook her head, “You can’t shut down a spell in progress if that’s what you mean. You can negate it with an appropriate application of sufficient opposition. For example,” She held up her scepter as a cool mist cascaded off it. “If I threw a shard of ice at you, you could melt it with a fire spell, transmute a barrier to intercept it, or use your water Affinity to destroy the hardened water.”

Fumi nodded at this, “My space Affinity is sort of a universal counter.”

Rose smiled, “Yes. It’s an excellent defensive option.” She turned back to the grid in front of her, “There’s no way around this. We should just activate them.”

Echo nodded, “Let us do that. We have Fumi.”

Rose nodded and stood aside as Fumi spoke. “Unseen Predator.”

She vanished from view.

Thousands of kilometers away, far off in the Krekyo Dominion, inside the Soju Clan’s stronghold, Tiberius’ spine tingled.

"Ah, one of my wards.” He waved a hand next to him, “Grant me sight beyond sight, Greater Seeing.”

His face mottled into frustration as the invisible sensor popped into existence at the target location – one of his first lairs when he arrived on Heimfold. No one was there.

“Perhaps it was-” he felt the tingling in his spine again and again as more divination wards were triggered in the same location.

“What in the name of Malvir is happening?”

His sensor scrambled across the space as he willed it to move throughout the cavern – but no creature was there to be seen. He turned his gaze towards the cavern entrance and saw, to his surprise, the tunnel entrance was open…and White Rose, the Lich Queen of Kaad was standing there. Along with one of his two wayward monsters. Echo.

“What are you doing there?” He muttered.

Fumi ran through the whole cavern – triggering every single one of the spell tripwires. He glanced up and saw the muddy-brown sphere floating about and rotating in several directions.

He can’t see her.

Echo looked over at Fumi, “I think we’re in the clear.”

Fumi nodded, going back to stand next to Rose. The mage nodded and pointed directly at the sensor, “He can see you and me, though.”

Tiberius cursed under his breath.

Why is she seeking my lairs?

The only reason he could think of was that she was trying to get revenge for the monsters he left in the Deathroot tunnels.

But he also knew that if Echo was there, Fumi had to be there too…somehow invisible to his sight.

He shook his head.

It does not matter why she brought them there. I must return to my work.

One, singular thought shot through Tiberius' mind as he remembered a key detail about the Lich Queen.

She’s a Prime Human…that means-

“I think can open this vault,” Rose stated bluntly as she stood in front of a large, metal door.

Echo looked all over the object before putting his hands on it. “Identify Material.” The knowledge filled his head instantly.

• Material: Prime Steel

• Creator: Prime Mortal (multiple      contributors)

• Properties: Acts as steel,      unless touched by a Prime species. Can only be manipulated by Prime      species. Various properties depending on the intent of use.

He looked over at Rose, “This is from your era? Before The Void?”

Rose nodded, “Who knows what secrets lie within this plain-looking wall.”

She held her hand up to the seam, and the metal warped to become a palm-sized sheet. It beeped.

Silently, the metal doors slid apart.

Echo stared down the steel corridor that ended after about ten meters. “It’s kind of small.”

Fumi unsheathed her blade and took up the front of the trio. “It’s covered in dust.” To emphasize, she stomped her foot as a vast amount of the powder puffed into the air.

Rose nodded, “Heimfold was founded upon magic – not technology. But we had visitors from other worlds. Perhaps they left this behind.”

As she touched the surface, the steel warped and changed shape. The walls sprouted railings, and the trio felt the floor move downwards.

“It’s an elevator,” Echo commented. As both women looked at him quizzically, he shook his head. “It’s a way to go up and down without stairs.”

There could be all kinds of cool future tech.

But he knew that if he found such things, he’d just store them in the pocket dimension. Bringing science fiction into a fantasy world always turned out overpowered. And he was enjoying this medieval life.

He turned to Rose, “Some worlds developed with both technology and magic, right?” Rose nodded and he continued, “Why didn’t Heimfold develop along both?”

“Technomancy – as the practice was called – was not in Caelum’s vision for his world. Simple as that. I can’t claim to know the mind of the Arch God of my era.”

The elevator continued down several hundred meters over many minutes.

We must be incredibly deep.

Echo tapped his hand on the railing.

Wish there was some elevator music.

Tiberius was glued to his sensor as it followed the metal tube down into the depths.

What could be down this deep?

He was not able to activate the strange device when he had set up his lair there.

And so, his curiosity kept him staring at the illusory panel, ignoring the shivering masses of flesh surrounding him.

Down, down, down they descended.

Fumi shuffled her feet into various ready stances, holding her blade – on edge.

Echo reached over and put a hand on her shoulder, “It’s okay, we’re not being attacked.”

Fumi shook her head, “It doesn’t feel right. Something is off.”

As soon as those words left her mouth, the metal container came to a halt, and the doorway that had initially let them in opened once more.

Echo quickly passed Rose and walked into a cavernous space. “What in the hell is this place?”

They were in an enormous cavern – much like the space under the ziggurat concealing Kaad – but instead of a city, two structures were set up in the space. On the far end of the cavern was an archway – easily two hundred meters in radius with a flat bottom flush to the floor.

The arch was constructed from some black and purple material that swirled under the surface as if the stone was just a container for liquid inside.

Rose slowly walked past Echo, her face showing curiosity…but under the curious façade, Echo could tell…she was horrified.

Tiberius recoiled in fear at the sight in front of him.

I have to tell someone!

Echo and Fumi walked up next to Rose. “What is it?” Echo asked.

Rose shook her head in disbelief, “A Void Gate.”

Her pale face normally - not betraying any emotion - distorted into sheer panic. She immediately ran back to the elevator doors, grabbing Fumi by the hand as she passed, pressing her hand against the pad…but they did not open.

“What’s going on?” Echo asked as he readied his weapon, facing the Void Gate.

Rose, the panic rising in her voice, nearly shrieked in terror. “We have to get out of here!”

“What’s coming?” Echo asked as trepidation formed a pit in his gut.

Rose slammed her fist against the doors. “Damn it! Open already!”

Behind them, at the far end of the cavern. A noise drew Echo's attention. A deep hum, as if some ancient engine was awakening.

And the gate began to glow.

Tiberius leaned over and caught his breath.

How did they miss one that large?

He shook his head and sagged in his chair – not minding the pile of viscera surrounding him.

They were all supposed to be destroyed.

He recalled the teachings of Malvir, who had studied The Void extensively and passed down the knowledge in his holy texts. But Tiberius was there with him. He experienced the horrors firsthand.

When The Void conquered The Universe, it was not a dumb, brute force. Some intelligence lurked within. And it created gateways – fixed portals that allowed for instantaneous transportation across vast distances.

Caelum created the Artificial Gods and reconquered Heimfold, but they did not know that several Void Gates were placed deep underground. The Void used that to reinvade, and Caelum went missing.

Umbra and Lux drove The Void out once more while their siblings held back the miasmic corruption at the edges of their creation. The duo and their forces then went about destroying all the Void Gates they could track down – but even then, some of the structures escaped notice.

The New Gods found more scattered in far-off places and destroyed them – sometimes at great cost.

And, when The Arbiter of Souls ascended to the Last Light Temple, every trace of The Void seemed to vanish.

Tiberius shook his head. He sobbed in a panic, gripping his temples, feeling memories grip him as the terror rose in his chest. Having faced the horrors of The Void alongside Malvir once in the past, he knew the havoc it could wreak. If whatever was in that Gate came out, not even the Mimic Cube could keep him safe should it come for him.

He retrieved a notepad and pen, scrawling a hasty message along with instructions on how to get to the location, and walked over to a brazier. He muttered a prayer to Isaac, the Guildmaster, and tossed the letter into the flames.

Eventually, he’ll get that message.

He returned to his project, his gruesome work calming his mind. “It’s not my problem now. I did my part."

But he couldn’t keep away, and his eyes glued themselves to his sensor, floating, hidden, high in the cavern above the trio.

I need you two.

He held the Mimic Cube, preparing to use it if necessary. But doing so would certainly reveal that he had been spying on them.

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