Ancient Ruins (Ancient Dreams Book 1)

by Benjamin Medrano

  Sighing, she finally asked in a soft voice. “Are any of you hungry? We can get food for you before bed if you’d like.”

  Most of the others looked at her in shock. After a moment Sapphire asked somewhat angrily. “I don’t think that’s the main concern most of us have! Why aren’t you more upset about this?”

  “I’m not as upset because I unfortunately went through this a few weeks ago myself. I had my name utterly stripped away as well. I can’t remember what it was at all.” Topaz told her in a mild tone, shrugging as she added. “I’ll add that if you worry over your name and try to remember too hard, you can cause yourself to black out and lose the older memories of your name faster. Mine is entirely gone. And I’m also not certain that my mind hasn’t been warped slightly by the experience either. I’m sorry, I’m just trying to be practical and to help you try to get comfortable as I reasonably can. There’s nothing else I can do.”

  “Ah. That makes sense of a sort. Though your advice will be hard to follow.” Diamond replied slowly, shaking her head. “Trying to not think about something is difficult.”

  “I know. Believe me, I know.” Topaz’s voice grew quieter as she sighed. “I’ll try to help as I can, though.”

  “We’d best eat something, no matter how unpleasant our situation is.” Diamond decided, looking at the others. “Come on.”

  “Yes, high priestess.” Opal said in resignation.

  “Follow me, then.” Topaz told them, heading down toward the dining room for Jared. She’d initially thought it was odd when he’d added a large table and more chairs to the dining room after her arrival, but now there were eight of them. It certainly explained why he’d decided to expand the dining room. Leading her way in, she slipped into the kitchen to order a light dinner for them before returning to find the others sitting down.

  “So what does the Adjudicator have planned for us?” Amethyst asked, nervously playing with a fork. “Besides...bedding us, I mean.”

  “I honestly don’t know. He rarely has me do anything, and I’m often at his side as little more than a status symbol during the days.” Topaz told her as she took a seat, considering what to tell them, then sighed. “But he has also had me practicing a particular form of magic that I’m...well, I was less than pleased with. For some reason it’s not as unpleasant anymore.”

  “And what might that be?” Opal asked suspiciously.

  “Put bluntly? Sex magic.” Topaz told them without flinching. On the other hand, they all blanched slightly as she continued. “It’s primarily a method of gathering additional mana and storing it, but it also allows a few other things, like controlling fertility and a few unique spells. I also believe it may be addictive, but I’m not certain.”

  “Oh.” Emerald’s eyes were wide, and she was pale. “Does...does it hurt?”

  “The magic doesn’t. Your first time, well, he tried to be gentle with me. He doesn’t actually mistreat me.” Topaz told her with another sad smile, shaking her head again. “However, we are his slaves. He wants what he wants. If you don’t argue and do what you can to please him, he won’t give additional orders to constrain you. Try not to upset him.”

  “Just lovely. Goddess preserve us all.” Diamond muttered, and Topaz couldn’t help but smile as she and all the others murmured in response.

  “May she hear and shed her light upon us.”

  * * *

  Archon Ulvian Sorvos managed to wait until after Serel had left the room to laugh. His laughter slowly built up in his belly, then began to bubble forth. He slowly chuckled, letting it slowly grow into full-throated laughter as he threw his head back, grinning in ecstatic joy.

  The sarcophagus containing Medaea was resting on a broad steel plate that hung from the ceiling by a pulley and chains. Below it was a pair of doors that could be opened to lower it into a chamber below them. But for the moment he walked forward and gently caressed the wood, his laughter slowly dying away. He could feel the magic flowing through the sheets of wood, inscribed by his own hand, and he smiled broadly.

  “Hello, goddess. How the mighty have fallen, no? Here you are, at the heart of my power, and yet you still sleep. The chances of success were oh so faint, and yet Serel did not fail me.” He smiled gently as he patted the wood again. “But don’t worry. She’s not going to tell anyone about what occurred. And neither are any of the other Enforcers. They may be valuable, but you? You are more important than any of them.”

  “On the other hand, it’d be a waste to just eliminate all of them, so I’ll tell you what...you’ll have company for a while. I wouldn’t want you to be lonely.” The Archon smiled broadly, giving the wood one last stroke before stepping over to the lever to open the pit. And as he began the process of slowly lowering the goddess down into the laboratory he’d prepared for this specific project. “Don’t worry. I’ll attend to you soon enough, my goddess.”

  * * *

  “Your Excellency.” Serel gave a bow as she saw the Archon enter the small party that he’d thrown for the Enforcers. It was just them and a handful of slaves at the moment, but even she had been startled by how many delicacies had been supplied for them, and all of them had eaten well as they relaxed after their mission. They were safely back in the heart of Kelvanis, and few Enforcers ever dared lower their guard anywhere else. The fear and hatred that they inspired throughout the region was almost incalculable, and that meant that assassination attempts were depressingly common.

  “Ah, Serel! Are you all enjoying yourselves? I wanted to come sooner, but I needed to re-brand the angel with a more potent crest.” The Archon replied with a broad grin. “She was exceedingly unhappy with me, more’s the pity.”

  “You have no need to explain yourself, Your Excellency.” Serel demurred, shaking her head and pleased as always by his easygoing manner. A part of her thought that perhaps the leader of their nation should be a little more professional, but he had the power to afford such familiarity. “I expected that you had many other things to occupy your attention. We’re honored to have you here.”

  “Perhaps so, but your little gift is going to change everything.” Taking a glass from a nearby table, the Archon twirled it in his hand, grinning as he spoke. “It will definitely require more work from me over the coming years, but your success means immeasurable things for Kelvanis’ future!”

  “You honor us, Your Excellency.” Adam replied, bowing his head slightly, but his cheeks slightly rosy from drinking some of the brandy.

  “Still, I must toast all of you. To success!” The Archon exclaimed, raising the glass before them, then taking a deep pull of it. Everyone else also smiled and took a deep drink of their chosen beverages.

  “Thank you, Your Excellency.” Serel spoke softly, bowing her head before him, almost shyly this time. The gentle warmth spreading through her body was making her feel far more relaxed than normal.

  “You shouldn’t thank me, Serel. You have done me a great service, and one that I can never properly repay.” The Archon replied seriously, setting his glass aside. “But I imagine you must have questions of your own. Are there any I can answer?”

  “I must say that I’m curious about what you’re going to do with the angel.” Serel admitted, then hesitated before asking. “Also, do you think my next mission will allow me to go attempt a delve into the new dungeon? I’m curious to test myself against such a place.”

  “Ah, the angel? She is going to help me with dealing with our new subject.” The Archon smiled broadly as he smiled at it, shaking his head again and chuckling. “That should speed up the process of converting Her markedly. As for the dungeon, I don’t know if you’ll be able to pull yourself away for some time. The project I have for you is going to be difficult to deal with.”

  Serel was opening her mouth to inquire further when a crash came from behind her. Instinctively she spun to look, but the world didn’t stop spinning when she stopped. As she swayed unsteadily, she saw that one of the other Enforcers, a man named Eric, was on the grou
nd with one of the servants crouched over him. She couldn’t see well, though, and she saw a second Enforcer fall, and then a third. She was barely holding herself upright as her thoughts moved sluggishly.

  Poison, Serel realized. She was poisoned. She slowly turned her head toward the Archon as she teetered, then fell to a knee, trying to keep herself conscious. She gasped out. “W-what? Why?”

  “Because you know. I told you, Serel. No one can know about her.” He replied with a sad smile. “I didn’t want to do this. But don’t worry. I’m not going to throw you away. You’ll be able to help me further the power of Kelvanis. You will simply be in a different role than before.”

  She felt anger surge through the confusion, but the deep, numbing blanket that was seeping through her thoughts overwhelmed her, and she instead slowly fell to the ground as darkness enveloped her.

  Chapter 25

  Evansly looked at the incoming column of regular army soldiers, civilian workers, slave labor, and wagons of building supplies and shook his head, feeling more than a little chagrined. He’d never expected the request he’d made for additional support to be instead turned into being in charge of building a damned town!

  At least the Adjudicator had given clear instructions on the basic structures he wanted to be built, as well as sending an architect to help design the structures. Otherwise Evansly would have been utterly lost as to what needed to be done here. Well, maybe not lost, he admitted to himself, but he certainly wouldn’t do terribly well. Commanding a company had taught him a lot about how to lay out a camp and assign tasks, so he wouldn’t have made a complete mess of things, but it wouldn’t have been pretty. And designing the buildings would have been rough as well.

  Still, this was also an opportunity for him to prove himself to the Adjudicator. Looking toward the unassuming cave entrance, he smiled slightly at the source of the opportunity. The cave looked so simple, and yet he would have sworn that it had changed slightly since they’d camped in front of it. Spotting a particular soldier watching the entrance, Evansly frowned. The man was off-shift, which made his presence a bit odd. The human’s name was Daniel if he remembered right, and he’d been part of the first group sent to scout out the dungeon. He had to wonder why the man was so obsessed with dungeon.

  After a moment Evansly shrugged and put it out of his mind. He had better things to do than to worry about a single soldier.

  * * *

  “Hello, Master Graystone. It’s a pleasure to have you here.” Evansly told the dwarven architect warmly, offering his hand to the brown-haired man.

  “Hmmph. It’s a pleasure to be here, I suppose.” Graystone harrumphed, but shook Evansly’s hand enthusiastically, looking around in obvious interest. “So, this is the place, eh?”

  “Indeed. It’s not the best location I’ve seen, but you can see the dungeon entrance right there.” Evansly explained, pointing out the cavern. “We’d like to get basic fortifications around it eventually, but it hasn’t proved dangerous to anyone outside as of yet. I wish it was in a more convenient spot, but I doubt that the dungeon gives a damn what I want.”

  “Heh. You’re right about them not caring what we think. Though it’s definitely a strange one from what I’ve heard about dungeons. Most of them tend to go for more obvious entrances than that.” The dwarf mused, staring at the entrance, then shrugging. “I suppose it’s no matter. I’ve got the floorplans of dozens of buildings worked up, so what do you want first? I’ll have to choose spots for all of them eventually, but priorities would be nice.”

  “Well, let me think for a moment.” Evansly replied with a frown, considering the matter. He hadn’t been given a priority, but it didn’t seem too difficult to work out, so after a minute he spoke. “I’d say a barracks and basic guard tower of some sort, closely followed by an inn and tavern. The troops would be happier to not be camping, and the most vital things to have available are fresh food and lodging. Would you like to go over the list of what the Adjudicator wanted in the town as a start? I may be in charge of security and building the town, but I’ll freely admit that this is not my area of expertise. I expected to be scouting caverns, not building a town out of nothing.”

  Graystone stared up at Evansly for a moment, then grinned broadly, slapping the elf heavily on the hip as he chortled. “I think I like you, elf! That sounds like an excellent idea. Look, how about we just take a look at this list, and we can discuss the best order. I’ve heard winter comes early and hard hereabouts, so we need to get as much done this summer as possible.”

  “That sounds like good idea to me.” Evansly agreed after a moment, rubbing his hip with a wince.

  “Right. I’ll get my assistants to get my tent set up and start surveying the area, and we’ll figure out what we can get done.” Graystone laughed again, and then strode away, his pace brisk and surprisingly quick for his short stature.

  Evansly simply shook his head, wondering about the strange man for a moment. Dwarves were definitely odd.

  * * *

  “So you’re sure someone found a dungeon out this way?” Darak asked in annoyance, looking at the rolling fields of Alcast disdainfully.

  “I wasn’t the one to say that one was found out here. That was guildmaster Kettle.” Joseph retorted, and Nirath was amused to see the cleric roll his eyes disdainfully at the dwarf’s grumbling.

  “So where is the damned thing, then? I thought we’d be there by now!” Darak demanded, gesturing around them. “This place is one of the most worthless excuses for a kingdom I’ve seen! They don’t even have good beer! Just that sorry excuse for grape juice!”

  “The wine is decent, Darak. There’s no need to take out your annoyance on us.” Penelope spoke mildly, the tall, muscular woman glancing toward their dwarven friend with a level glance that contained just a hint of warning, Nirath thought. “And as to that, where do you think it is, Nirath? You have the seerstone.”

  “Let me double-check again.” Nirath agreed, reaching into her belt pouch and pulling out a silver chain with a teardrop-shaped crystal at the end, the point hanging so it’d be able to rotate in any direction. Nirath glanced at the sun, then threaded a trickle of mana into the chain. The crystal glimmered and slowly rotated to point south-west. Checking the exact angle carefully, she nodded after a moment. “Based on what I’m seeing, it’s past the nearby mountains. From the way the angle has changed since the morning, it may be near the Godsrage Mountains.”

  “Bloody lovely.” Darak grumped, shaking his head. “Those mountains haven’t produced anything but nasty monsters to my knowledge. Hope that stone isn’t busted. Or that Kettle hasn’t sent us out on a lark.”

  “That is a far too likely possibility for my comfort.” Joseph admitted with a scowl of his own. “The guildmaster has a warped sense of humor.”

  “Remember, Darak, you asked for something more interesting than delving into the Cerulean Dungeon yet another time.” Penelope retorted, her voice growing sharp. “So Kettle sent all of us. This is your fault, not ours.”

  “That’s not-” Darak began to protest, but Joseph cut him off.

  “It’s true. I wanted to try to get one of those interesting healer crystals that occasionally drop down there, but no, you wanted something new.” The cleric looked at the dwarf meaningfully. “I hope we don’t end up needing one of them.”

  “Perhaps, but I’ll admit that we were growing a bit on the powerful side for the dungeon there, and used to its dangers.” Nirath interjected, looking at the others with a gentle smile of her own. “New experiences will do all of us good, and you all know it. If we stop learning and get used to the same challenges every time, we’ll die when we try to challenge the Great Labyrinth.”

  They all shut up at her point, she noticed smiling in faint satisfaction. But finally Darak spoke again, grudgingly. “Alright, I’ll admit it, I was getting a bit bored. Plus, water isn’t my favorite element to begin with. I was hoping we’d be given permission to delve into the First Gate, honestly, not
sent off on a wild goose chase down into some backwater still recovering from the Godsrage.”

  “Ah. Actually, that much I can agree with.” Penelope looked thoughtful and sighed. “First Gate is rumored to be quite rewarding if you can survive it. Trying to get to a higher rank, hmm?”

  “Well...yeah? I’m not getting any younger, and we have to finish Third Gate to qualify for the Great Labyrinth, don’t we?” Darak replied, and blinked in confusion for a moment as the two humans chuckled.

  Nirath smiled herself as she shook her head, but let Joseph handle it instead. The cleric smiled as he said. “You’re going to live twice as long as Penelope and I, Darak. Don’t worry, we intend to get there too, and inside of two decades, so don’t worry.”

  “And a new dungeon, if it exists, could be even better for us than First Gate.” Penelope added, smiling. “Heck, they might count it as qualifying us for a higher rank, depending on how potent it is and how well we do at clearing it.”

  The dwarf’s eyes brightened at that and he grinned. “I suppose so! Well, no time at the present!”

  With his renewed enthusiasm the group of adventurers continued on the winding road heading south through Alcast.

  Chapter 26

  “Are you ready to set out, Your Highness?” Desa asked, then waited for a response for a few moments. When no response was forthcoming, she frowned and called out again. “Your Highness?”

  Desa hesitated only a moment before opening the door to Phynis’ chambers. The possibility that someone had managed to break in flickered through her, growing as she looked inside. The room was dark and the curtains were drawn, and she frowned, drawing on her magic and whispering the words to create a crystalline orb of glowing ice over her shoulder to allow her to see more easily. Desa quickly looked in one room, then the next, finding each unoccupied. It was when she looked in the bedroom that she found Phynis. Phynis was in her nightgown still, her arms wrapped around her knees and her back pressed against the headboard, pressing her head down against her knees.