[TLQ-B2] 9. Descent (Patreon)

IX

Descent

They’d been descending for a while. That’s what it felt like to Nerya.

‘Are we too late?’ That thought couldn’t help lingering in the back of her head.

There was no light beyond what was coming from the guard’s torches, but it was enough to reveal that the path was untreaded. Not so much as a speck of dust had moved.

“Do you think there’s another way in?” Jaeger’s voice didn’t echo, their reverberations swallowed by the walls.

“That’s what I’m starting to think, too.” Nerya grimaced.

Who could tell where this path lead? They could be headed towards an abandoned prayer hall for all they knew.

‘We just have to see it through.’ There was nothing else to it. Her prayers had opened this path up, so she’d believe in it.

Their steps slowly evened out. There was no light at the end of the path, and the darkness expanded instead. Widened, so the firelight from their torches cast out over a greater area.

Warm hues fell on the base of a statue. Jaeger and his men angled their light. Standing on a block of solid ice was the depiction of a giant and a woman. The giant knelt like how a knight would before their king and let the woman place a crown on its head.

The woman was draped in flowing robes. A hood shielded most of her face but showed the icy-blue eyes within.

“Do you recognise them?” Jaeger asked.

“No,” Nerya breathed. Though she got the feeling that she should.

Jaeger frowned. “Let’s search the area. There may be demons hiding around.”

As the guards advanced, their light showed the remainder of the room. Halls extended into the darkness beyond. A cold breeze blew from one, which ruffled the bottom of Nerya’s robe.

“Split into three groups,” Jaeger said. “We’ll each take an entrance.”

Dividing their numbers didn’t sit well with Nerya, but they were low on time. Levi may already have been handed over to the demons.

Jaeger took a squad of his men towards a hall to their right, which had a gate at the end. The others turned to the path with the low breeze.

“Should we wait for them to return, Princess?” Botan whimpered. They’d be going down an entrance by themselves.

“I’ve got a golem to help us out if need be,” Nerya sighed. More than one, actually.

But evidently not enough to keep the village guard from swallowing and staring down the hall like he was seeing ghosts.

They passed the statue. Their hall was different from the others. For one, the walls reflected.

Nerya’s frown grew as they approached the entrance. “That’s ice.”

“Is that a good or bad thing, Princess?”

Her lips pressed together. “I don’t know.”

No stray gust sent her robe fluttering. However, the moment they set foot in the hall, the cold bit down on her face, its teeth sharpened to a blade’s edge.

The image of a young, fair-skinned woman wearing a blue muffler fell in step beside her. Nerya side-eyed the reflection. Her hood covered most of her face. The cap she was wearing was a gift from her grandfather and—like most of what she wore—lined with fur. The earflaps were big enough to shield part of her cheeks, too.

She stared in her own eyes, which distorted the image. The dark intent behind her gaze did not warp.

Her index finger rubbed the frost. Not a lick of condensation.

Was this the result of a spell? The hall was tall enough that the ceiling above them wasn’t visible, so it’d cost quite a bit of mana.

‘No regular sorcerer could’ve done this.’ Many of them working together, perhaps. Nerya would rather ascribe this feat to a mage.

“Another entrance,” Botan pointed in front of them.

The gate, strangely enough, wasn’t made of ice. But then it also wasn’t as big as the rest of the hall. About Nerya’s height.

“Stay behind me, Princess,” Botan said.

That drew a faint smile to her lips. ‘Weren’t you scared of going just now?’ Deciding not to undermine his masculinity, she kept her quip to herself.

“I appreciate your offer, Botan. However, I need to check it for enchantments. Stand guard at my side?”

“Princess!” He levelled his spear at the entrance.

She regulated her breathing, then closed her eyes. A transparent version of the hall expanded in the darkness. Mana drifted through the walls, its hum low and muffled. It was dormant. No surprise, given how old this place must be.

She turned her attention on the entrance…her forehead scrunched up. ‘There’s nothing there.’

Not a single signal. The mana passing through the walls converged on the entrance, where it seemed to fall and vanish into a pit.

Her fingers dug into her forehead. ‘No, wait. That may not even be that off.’

If this place was so old that the mana going through the walls was close to dormant, it was no great revelation that the enchantments on the entrance would be broken.

The enchantments were good, but no craftsmanship could save a rune from degrading over time if it wasn’t being powered.

She opened her eyes. “It’s safe.”

Botan hesitated and fixed her with a look. Nerya inclined her head to affirm her conclusion. Only then did the guard step towards the exit and pull on the handle. It didn’t budge. Botan rested his spear on his shoulder to free his other hand and tried again. Shards of ice clattered on the floor, but importantly, the entrance didn’t budge.

“Is it bolted?” Botan asked himself. He inhaled sharply and flexed as hard as he could—

“Hold on,” Nerya said. Brute forcing it may activate some kind of alarm. Though she doubted this place had the mana to do so.

She crouched in front of the entrance. Again, she didn’t notice anything off about it. ‘Maybe it is bolted.’ Some things were too valuable—

Her fingers touched the entrance.

She ripped her hands away like she held them in a fire. “Earth-Father be damned.”

“Are you alright, Milady?!”

“I’m fine.” Touching the gate had activated something. ‘Strange.’ Nothing had happened when Botan did. Why did it spark for her? Did it react to mana? She’d been careful to keep a tight lease on hers.

Whatever it was, the entrance swung open. Botan glanced at her, then himself, and turned over his arm.

The frost continued from the hall into the room beyond, where it shaped into a dome. The ice took on a stained glass design and depicted giants carrying an assortment of weapons. Their poses were dynamic. Some swung double-handed swords, others shot arrows high into the sky. However, whatever they were fighting wasn’t painted alongside them.

A pounding began in her head the longer she looked at the drawings—the curvature of the room combined with the display was hard on the eyes.

Her attention turned to the basin in the middle of the room.

She stepped up beside it. ‘The water inside isn’t frozen.’ Clear and fluid, like it’d recently been refilled. Had they not found it underground like this, she would’ve been certain that it was fit to drink.

Nerya’s chin edged out past her shoulder. The entrance hadn’t shut by itself, so the room wasn’t a trap. That said, she had no idea what this place was supposed to be. Why would anyone put a basin here at random?

Botan paced around the chamber and raised his torch. He stopped in front of a particular drawing. “Princess, over here.”

Her brows touched each other as she approached. Her brows touched each other. A cluster of giants surrounded a cloaked woman kneeling beside a vessel. Since the giants were facing away from her, they must be a contingent of guards.

“Is that the same bowl?” Botan asked.

“I doubt it.”

The woman was as tall as the giants. If it was the same, the basin should dwarf the both of them.

However, it was modelled after it. Nerya peered. ‘She’s praying.’ The woman’s eyes were closed, and her hands linked.

Nerya turned back to the chalice. Prayer was what had let her enter this place…

“Watch our surroundings, Botan.”

He saluted.

She mimicked the woman’s posture and recited the prayer to Lord Grisha again. Her words resounded through the room clearer than usual. Was it because of the room’s shape? Her voice was more sonorous than it’d ever been.

An exclamation of surprise exited Botan’s throat when her prayer finished. Nerya knew why. She didn’t need to open her eyes to feel the mana thrumming to life within the chamber. It stirred like a raging whirlwind which’d been supressed for millennia. A glow suffused the room, making Botan’s torchlight obsolete.

“Nerya!” Jaeger shouted from the back of the corridor. “What’s going on? The entire—” he trailed off.

Mist rose from the clear waters in the basin. The shapeless gas tightened and formed into the image of a being that loomed over her kneeling figure. Its face resembled that of a human, but the eyes were colourless. Transparent hair tumbled down the side of the shoulders and the back, giving the man-thing a timeless appearance.

The spirit was nothing but an image, yet mana radiated from it like a wave and pressed down on their shoulders.

Nerya lowered her head. “I greet thee, Honoured Elder.”

The spirit surveyed the chamber—Botan quickly went to his knees as well—then looked down the hall. Its mana flexed.

“Wait!” Jaeger yelled. “Nery—”

Her heart skipped when the entrance slammed shut. ‘Calm down.’ The spirit had answered the prayer of the Earth-Father. It was benevolent.

…Was that guaranteed, though? If the tales of her ancestors sacrificing people were true…she swallowed a lump.

The ambient cold hanging in the room doubled in weight. Her breath turned into clouds the instant it escaped her airways.

“Raise your head, child.”

Nerya did so but didn’t look the spirit in the eyes.

It spoke again.

“Tell me, how did gain access to this temple?”

‘So it was a temple.’

That reveal of that fact didn’t ease the drumming in her chest. “We found an empty chamber below the surface. When I prayed to the Earth-Father, a path opened that lead us here, Elder.”

“A path opened?” Nerya could hear the frown in the spirit’s tone. “From you praying?”

“Yes…Elder.” Now Nerya was frowning, too. “Was that not how it was supposed to work?”

The spirit remained quiet for a moment, then asked: “Are you one of Icebrand’s gets?”

Before Nerya could answer, the spirit continued: “No, that shouldn’t be possible.” Light hurled behind its transparent eyes as it struggled with the specifics of a situation only it understood. “I suppose it is of no matter,” it said finally. “Child, my time here is limited. What is your request?”

Her head tilted. ‘My request?’ Wheels spun in her head. This was a temple and she’d prayed to activate the basin. Now the spirit was taking her request. Could she ask for it to save Levi? Perhaps. However, from her mentor had told her, no spirit brokered a deal for free. What could she even offer a being like this in return for such a service?

…but a single answer came to her.

“Honoured Elder, are you aware of the demons in your territory?”

“Yes.”

She took a moment to regulate her breathing. “They captured a friend of mine. He couldn’t have entered this place more than a few hours ago. I’d like to request that you save him.”

The echoes of her voice slowly fizzled out. The spirit hovered above the basin but didn’t answer.

Nerya’s nails almost bit into her palms through her gloves. “I’m willing…to pay with my life.”

Botan jerked but wasn’t foolish enough to speak up. His startled gaze burned through her all the same.

‘This is fine.’ It was Varrick who’d brought Levi in danger, so it was only fair that one of their own paid with their life to save their mother’s benefactor.

Her heart slowed. The rumble building in her stomach lessened. The pressure on her nerves lessened.

Yes. This was how it should be.

“What would I do with your life, child?”

Nerya looked up. The spirit was tilting its head at her.

“I sensed the entry of a few human signatures a short while ago,” it continued. “The demons captured all of them.”

Her eyes went wide. “Captured, Elder? All of them?” That meant Varrick…

“They’re almost at the demon stronghold.”

A pit appeared in her stomach. Then they were lost. There was no way their tiny force could breakthrough a demon base.

The horror must’ve dawned on her face.

“It may yet be possible to stop them, child.”

“You will help us, Elder?” Her voice almost broke.

“Not personally,” it said. “However, there are others here who may be able to help you. A mage of considerable prowess and a man reeking of death. Should you negotiate well enough, you may even—”

She only half listened after she heard about the mage.

‘A mage?’

Wait. That must be…

Back in the insulated frost chamber, Leah sneezed and rubbed her nose. Damn it. She really hated the cold.

“If you catch a cold,” the Crone said, “you’re staying outside.”

Leah refrained from rolling her eyes. She wasn’t sure whose grandma this woman was, but she really was a stick up one’s ass.

‘No wonder you’re here all by yourself.’

“I’m grateful living by myself, thank you.”

And that! The way she could read your expressions like she was mind-reading you. Goddamned creep! Leah huffed and turned away. The sharp movement made her clench her abdomen. It’d be a while until she was fully operational again.

‘If only that useless woman would come and get me.’

She glared at the orc, who was still sitting in a corner of the chamber without moving an inch.

“How long are you planning on sleeping for!” she thwacked the orc on the head with the butt of her staff.

“Oy,“ Circe snarled. “Be careful! What if it attacks us?”

“I dare her to,” Leah snorted. “Worthless scrap of meat.”

Circe stared the deranged mage down and merely shook her head. “Youngins’…” she muttered.

The echo of a plate boot crushed the vibrations of her softly-spoken words. Leah aimed her staff at the entrance. Circe reached for the amulet hanging from her neck and cupped the pendant.

Another footfall followed. Then another.

‘It’s getting louder,’ Leah thought. She frowned and glanced at Circe. ‘I thought this chamber was hidden?’ her face asked.

Circe shrugged. ‘Not my fault you keep yelling at the undead.’

This time, Leah didn’t stop her eyes from rolling.

Turning back to the entrance, she licked her lips. ‘This could be bad.’

Facing a single demon or orc wasn’t a problem even in her wounded state. The issue was what came after that. Killing a demon would alert others to their position. An orc going missing would leave a gap in the patrol routes and be equally alarming.

The footfall echoed from but a metre away now.

Mana burned through Leah’s channels. Whatever crossed that boundary, they’d need to leave this place quickly. But could she run as she was now?

‘Focus. First thing’s first—’

A black boot entered their field of view, then the head of a blade coated in swirling, black energy peeked past the corner.