The Adept Archives: Volumes 1-3

by Darren Hultberg Jr

  Chapter 10

  Survive the Night

  The Valemorrow, the wilds of Eon

  A chill wind swept through northern plains of the realm, filling the air with loose petals from the inky black wildflowers that populated Eon’s fields. To the East, a dark cloud hung over the once-great city of Shadowreach, it’s winding streets now serving as a stronghold for the forces of darkness. But to the West, beyond the windswept plains lied a vast swamp... a place known as Valemorrow.

  Stretching for countless miles, the massive wetland was a breeding ground for some of the realm’s strangest spiritbeasts, dangerous creatures that had adapted to the twisted trees and murky depths of which they inhabited. However, they weren’t the only ones currently occupying Valemorrow.

  Making its way across a particularly deep stretch of swamp was an old, wooden boat. With sides stained green with muck, the vessel coasted through the Valemorrow at the slowest of paces, rocking side by side with each passing gust of wind. At the front of the small rowboat sat three of its passengers, a pair of displaced adepts and their vocal feline counterpart. And at the back of the boat, their grisly ferryman...

  “Are you sure this was the only way to go?” Roy asked as he dipped his fingers into the water, covering them in a thick, green film that seemed to cling to his skin. “We couldn’t have taken a nice mountain path or-“

  “This was the best option available!” Zyr, the chimera adept replied, using his spidery appendages like paddles as he churned the water and propelled them forward. After fleeing into the sewers, Roy, Kimoura, and Jakki had stumbled upon the crafty adept, Zyr and his contingent of lizard warriors. Though Zyr initially sought to defend his subterranean turf, the overwhelming scourge of darkbeasts quickly forced them out.

  And so, with the mighty rokari lizards covering their escape, the adepts fled. Using a makeshift wooden boat held together with builder’s runes, the group made their way through the vast sewer system. Steering clear of their nightmarish pursuers, the foursome traveled down one of the many dark tunnels, following it until emptied into a shallow river.

  From there, the group followed the stream through the delvewood, using the trees and doing little else to try and prevent the darkbeasts from picking up their trail. Eventually, the ground around them softened, transforming into a deluge of muck as the delvewood forest gave way for the Valemorrow, the vast swamp with which they now inhabited. Unfortunately, traversing the expansive wetland was proving to be a slow-going challenge.

  “So... what the Hell is the pinnacle, anyways?” Roy said, begrudgingly changing the topic to keep his mind off their sudden cathartic pace.

  Kimoura sighed, glancing upward through the twisting branches as if she had a view of the open sky. “The pinnacle is a bit of an enigma in Eon. As far as I know, it’s a sort of... citadel located somewhere upon the highest peak of the Heaven’s Gate mountains.”

  “You mean, you’ve never been there?” Roy asked, his tone incredulous.

  Kimoura merely shrugged. “I don’t know many who have. The pinnacle is located over a thousand miles to the west, beyond the dread lakes, the savage shores and at least a dozen other death traps... not to mention the everblooming presence of the veil. Frankly, travel isn’t a huge thing in Eon...”

  “Yeah, I already miss the airship...” Roy replied, leaning back and resting his head on Jakki’s furry body. The felyne immediately began to purr, lending a brief moment of calm to Roy’s frayed nerves.

  “So, why is it that your counterpart requests that you meet at the pinnacle?” Zyr asked, breaking the brief silence that had set in. “And just how do you know exactly where this place is? Last I heard, the pinnacle was merely a legend told to young adepts about a mysterious castle housing godly treasures… not exactly a place you can just point to on a map.

  Kimoura turned, shooting the chimeric adept a look of concern. “He didn’t have a lot of time to explain, but it’s a place that he’d mentioned before… and when he spoke of it he was damned sure he knew where it was. It was something to do with plans that his father once had... something to do with the great guild alliance and the dragon gods and vanquishing the powers of the veil once and for all.”

  “How very noble of him,” Zyr mocked as he pulled his hood a bit tighter over his head. “And you presume they survived? Your friends?”

  Kimoura’s voice seemed to catch in her throat but Roy quickly sat back up, shooting the grisly adept a glare. “You’re damn right he did. They all did...”

  Zyr let out a soft chuckle, lending doubt to the void adept’s statement. But rather than retort his claims, he let it pass.

  Once again, a peculiar silence settled over the swamp, one interrupted only by the sway of Zyr’s spidery limbs in the water. In their moment of strife, Kimoura had been the one to lead them out of Shadowreach. However, her doubts were quickly beginning to settle in, and Roy felt it was his duty to keep their spirits afloat. And yet, even he wasn’t sure if he believed his own words. Could any of the others really have survived that ordeal? He had no way of knowing, but if he was alive he had to believe that they were too.

  “We’re going to get to this damn pinnacle and Rem’s gonna be waiting there with one of those smug looks on his face... I can already see it.” Roy said, shaking his head is if it had already happened.

  “Interesting,” Jakki interjected. “I didn’t know a human of the void domain could obtain the power of future sight.”

  Roy sighed. “Shut up, cat.”

  ****

  After a day of traveling and another few hours of sailing, the quartet of travelers found themselves facing an approaching blanket of darkness. Once again, the worldstar was making its descent through the red sky, making way for a fog that brought with it creatures of nightmare.

  “We need to prepare for nightfall,” Zyr said, withdrawing his elongated spider-arms from the muck and settling himself into the boat. “The veil... I fear it is coming stronger than in nights previous.”

  “What’s that mean for us?” Roy asked as an uneasy feeling began to grow in the pit of his stomach.

  “Bloodshed...” Jakki whispered, unable to contain himself.

  “Precisely, you vile little creature,” Zyr continued, withdrawing his limbs until he fit perfectly within the rear of the boat. “The stronger the veil, the more likely the darkbeasts that it spawns will detect our presence. That’s why we need to mask our auras quickly before...” Zyr trailed off as he noticed the look on Roy’s face. “Wait, don’t tell me you don’t know how to mask your aura?”

  Kimoura gave Zyr a grim nod. “We didn’t quite cover that in our training.”

  Zyr let out a low grumble, causing his mandibles to click together. “You blasted backroads adepts are going to get me killed. Perhaps I should’ve tested my luck back in the sewers.”

  “Just teach us then, dammit!” Roy growled, his gaze lingering on the quickly darkening sky.

  Zyr sighed, causing his oversized body to shift within his cloak. “Masking your aura isn’t a terribly complex technique but it’s something that can be done without practice.”

  “What choice do we have?” Kimoura reasoned, trying to hide the underlying fear in her voice.

  “Fine,” Zyr said. “But we need to move quickly, and you must do exactly as I say. Now, draw your spirit aura in as tightly as you can. Envision it as a tiny sphere at the center of your body.”

  The veins in Roy’s neck bulged as he followed Zyr’s instructions, compacting his mighty aura into a single, spherical point.

  “Continue to withdraw your power,” Zyr said, drawing in aura of his own. “Make it as small as possible... Now, here comes the difficult part. You need to mask your aura. Envision your body as a tomb and seal your spirit away from the senses of those around you. Allow the tiniest bit of spirit energy out and wear it like a guise. Mask your true power!”

  Roy clenched his fists and focused his power inward, compacting his aura into a tiny sphere at the center of his b
ody. He could see it in his mind’s eye, a black orb of pure power swirling with tiny lines of violet and icy blue energy.

  Using every last bit of his focus, Roy allowed the slightest bit of spirit energy to escape the sphere swirling at his core. He let it filter through his body, creating a cloud around his spirit, masking its true strength! From there, he felt his spirit scan take over, regulating his movements as the information imprinted itself into his muscle memory.

  //////////

  Skill acquired: Mask spirit

  /////////

  Roy’s gaze flickered over to Kimoura, who sat cross-legged and stone-faced just inches away. She’d never admit it, but with her discipline, Roy assumed she was born for this sort of thing. And perhaps she was, for her spirit was now all but undetectable with his spiritual sense.

  “Amazing!” Zyr said, wide-eyed as he studied the two adepts. “You’ve caught on remarkably quick, but now the real test comes. Night is upon us! Now keep your spirits masked and whatever you do... remain still!”

  Suddenly the chimera adept flung his tattered cloak into the air, allowing it to settle atop the small boat and sealing the group of four in a blanket of darkness.

  A tense silence fell over the adepts after that as the covered boat drifted across the Valemorrow, moving ever-so-slightly with each shift of a tense muscle or cramped limb.

  Then came the sounds...

  Screeches and howls seemingly straight from the depths of the underworld began to fill the air around them, causing Jakki to whimper and sending a shiver down Roy’s spine.

  “By the gods...” Kimoura whispered, drawing a silencing glare from Zyr. The night had come, surrounding them in a thick miasma of dark power and despair, one that would feed on their spirits given the chance. Once again, they were lost in the veil... trapped with no escape in sight.

  THUNK!

  Something smacked against the side of their boat, nearly causing Roy to unmask his spirit in shock. A breath later, an unearthly wail began to permeate the air, filling his soul with a lingering sense of dread.

  Seconds passed and the group remained motionless, listening intently as creatures treaded nearby in the muck. Roy knew that one wrong move could spell their end, that even allowing the slightest bit of spirit energy to escape would draw a swarm of darkbeasts. And yet, this spirit masking technique was no easy feat. To him, it felt like he was constantly flexing a muscle, constantly straining to keep even the slightest bit of spirit energy from slipping free. And when he did eventually falter, well...

  “R-Roy...” Kimoura whispered, her voice barely audible through gritted teeth. “I can’t...”

  His gaze immediately flickered over to the light adept who seemed to be under immense strain. Sweat poured from her brow and her fists shook at her sides, hovering just inches above the boat's wooden floor. Dammit... he hadn’t even considered the strain attempting a new technique would put on her. At least he had his spirit scan to provide a sort of spiritual blueprint for learning new skills. But she was masking her spirit on mere force of will, and clearly it was taking its toll.

  “Hold, girl!” Zyr hissed, causing a nearby creature to let out a low grumble. “Hold, or we’ll never survive the night!!”

  “I... I...” Kimoura muttered, squeezing her eyelids shut. “I can’t!” Her spirit mask fell, allowing a wave of light energy to cascade from her body, out of the boat and ripple across the swampy surface...

  A breath later came the roars.

  Zyr was the first to leap into action, ripping his cloak off the top of the boat and tossing it back onto his shoulders as his spidery appendages extended to their full length. He stood tall and rigid, baring his fangs as if he were a predator attempting to defend his territory. Unfortunately, the creatures surrounding them were all too familiar with fear. In fact… they were born of it.

  Roy’s eyes went wide as he got a glimpse of his own, rising to his feet as he no longer had a reason to mask his spirit aura. As he rose his gaze met the eyes of a massive, reptilian darkbeast. It’s body loosely resembled that of an earth alligator, though it was bipedal with curved claws attached to its forearms. On its snout sat an outer layer of bone that covered its flesh like organic armor. The bone also lined the creature’s back, providing it with a rigid line of spikes down its spine and ending in a point on its sinewy tail.

  //////////

  Bog Thrasher

  Darkbeast

  Ecology: Lurks in all levels of the veil and often makes its home in semi-aquatic areas such as swamps and marshlands.

  Nature: Predator

  Vulnerabilities: The creature’s underbelly is the only portion of its body not covered in thick scales or portions of exterior bone.

  Notes: Bog Thrashers are known to latch onto their prey and drag them underwater. They get their namesake by thrashing smaller creatures about in their powerful jaws, often ripping off limbs in the process.

  //////////

  “Don’t let them get a hold of you!” Roy growled, taking a defensive stance as he eyed another three thrashers approaching from all sides. Kimoura nodded, raising her fists into the air. Zyr clicked his mandibles together and extended his claws. Jakki put his tail between his legs.

  The bog thrashers moved in closer, coming so close that Roy was certain he could feel their hot breath on his skin. An eerie silence followed the creatures sized them up and their bony mandibles parted. Then moving with a savage intent... the thrashers launched their assault.

  Murky water flew into the air as the darkbeasts slammed into the rowboat, nearly capsizing the watercraft as they snapped their jaws at the adept’s outstretched limbs. Roy responded first, unsheathing his void blade and swinging it into the bog thrasher in a single, violent motion. The unorthodox weapon cracked the creature in the snout, slamming its mouth shut and sparing Roy from a bite.

  Behind him, Kimoura unleashed some violence of her own, striking down a thrasher with her devastating palm and sending the darkbeast spiraling into the dark waters. However, even greater than both their attacks was the response from Zyr.

  The chimera adept roared as his spidery appendages went to work, slashing away at the closest darkbeast and rending its scaly flesh. A pair of spidery limbs clawed at the bog thrasher while another pair of elongated arms reached for his waist, retrieving a gleaming hand-ax in each palm. A breath later, the axe blades found their home in the thrasher’s chest, creating a spray of blood and gore before sending the beast to its watery grave.

  After catching a mere glimpse of Zyr in combat, Roy wished he could’ve taken a moment to sit back and marvel at the Chimera adept’s deadly skill. Zyr’s six elongated arms moved around him like a storm of blades and blood, cutting away any darkbeast that crept to close. Hell, he found the adept’s fighting style downright fearsome… something he’d surely have to study more once they weren’t knee-deep in muck clawing for their lives!

  On and on they fought, staving off the swarm of bog thrashers until the last of them sunk into the Valemorrow, its lifeless body surrounded by a murky cloud of its own blood.

  “Is that it?” Roy said, foolishly asking a question he already knew the answer to.

  “Hardly,” Zyr replied. “The veil releases its horrors in waves. Soon we’ll have much more fearsome creatures hunting us down. We need to keep moving if we are to survive the night.”

  “Excellent idea!” Jakki said, stretching out of his defensive curl before clinging onto Roy’s shoulder.

  Almost immediately, Zyr plunged his elongated limbs into the water and began churning them furiously, propelling their simple little boat forward through the swamp. And yet, no matter how fast the chimera adept moved the veil seemed to catch them.

  Thick, grayish mist quickly engulfed the watercraft much as it had before, this time bringing a chill with it that Roy felt in his bones. Then, much like it had before, came the roars...

  “What in Eon was-“ were the only words that Kimoura managed to get out before something slammed into t
he back of their vessel, nearly capsizing them with a single blow. Roy spun around, only to find himself going wide-eyed as he stared down the veil’s newest creation.

  Slithering through the muck mere feet away was a massive serpentine darkbeast. Its slimy body spanned several feet in diameter and its length was so great that its tail seemed to disappear from view into the misty veil. Worse though, were the rows of jagged teeth lining its serpentine maw and its hooked tongue used to draw in prey... prey just like them.

  /////////

  Bladefang Serpent

  Large Darkbeast

  Further information unknown...

  //////////

  “Run!” Zyr growled. “Run for your lives!” A breath later the serpent came crashing in, slamming its maw into the side of the boat and smashing it to splinters.

  Time seemed to stand still as Roy Skyworth found himself propelled into the air, mere inches away from plunging into absolute darkness. His gaze flickered to the right and to the left, catching glimpses of his companions as their bodies flailed through the mist. He even caught a glimpse of the massive creature circling the pieces of their boat, waiting for them to fall into its grasp. Then the longest second of his reincarnated life came to an end and he plunged into the swampy water.

  Chapter 11

  The Great Chase

  The Valemorrow, the wilds of Eon

  Water and chaos.

  Those two elements encapsulated Roy as his body sunk into the swampy depths. His vision, his equilibrium, even the air from his lungs had been taken from him, replaced by the choking black waters of the Valemorrow and the surmounting sense of dread.

  The void adept flailed about for what seemed like an eternity, searching for something, anything to latch onto in the endless black. However, the more he moved the more he found himself sinking into the watery abyss. But how? How could he still be sinking in a swamp that should not have been more than just a few feet deep?