by Billy Wong
"And neither will their friends!" Derrick's voice yelled.
The scholar and Loreen came into view on their horses, and the lovers regarded them with surprise. "You too?" Finn asked. "I thought you were against this crazy mission."
"We are," Loreen replied. "But we couldn't just leave our foolhardy friends to live or die without having any say in the matter. The four of us will be able to do whatever we need to faster than only you two. So let's do what we must and get out of there."
"Besides," Derrick added, "I really want to see spellcasting reappear in Kayland's hands too. Though it might be a scary trip, I'm sure we'll have great memories of it in the future. I trust in our ability to do this, together."
Rose looked gratefully at them. "Thank you so much for sticking with us. I couldn't ask for better friends. So let's finish this journey together, the way it ought to end."
"A big aye to that," Finn beamed, to the wholehearted agreement of all.
#
Reaching the Tower, Loreen, the only one among them who'd never seen the thing before, stared marveling at it. The cylinder of gigantic stone blocks stood five hundred feet high, a monumental testament to the power humans wielded in the Old World. "This looks just the way I'd imagined a place where the greatest of ancient secrets to be found. How did nobody figure it out before?"
"When you get used to something, it's easy to take it for granted," Finn said with a brief apologetic look at Rose. "That trap can catch you in many aspects of life."
Derrick contributed a more concrete bit of wisdom. "The key to finding whatever's hidden here probably lies in the ability to detect magic, which I doubt previous explorers had. So there, we have an advantage over the ones who came before. Let's look for anything magical in the readily accessible parts of the Tower, and hopefully we'll find entry to the hidden places from there."
They found their magic aura on the very first floor of the tower, in the central room. In the middle of the circular chamber stood a raised lamp that radiated magic. Derrick tried lighting it with his torch, but the flame would not catch.
"How about putting oil inside first?" Rose suggested, and smiled at the scholar's embarrassed blush. But the oil somehow wouldn't burn, and the group frowned at the magic lamp.
Derrick's turn came to make a suggestion. "Try lighting it with magic, Finn."
He summoned up the smallest spark inside the lamp, and the oil lit. The entire room started rumbling, and felt as though it was going downwards into the earth. When the shaking finally stopped, the friends left the room, and looked out the exit to realize the entire tower had burrowed down deep below the surface of the ground.
"The power of the ancients truly is astounding," Loreen breathed, and despite the others being somewhat more jaded, they too were impressed. They walked out into the tunnel which lay before them, and entered the depths of the earth.
A huge head set on stubby legs with a massive fanged maw and a single red eye covering a third of its front confronted them as soon as they stepped out of the tower. The creature shrieked deafeningly as thick drool dripped from enormous teeth. But Rose shot an arrow directly into the eye, and her guess that the brain resided behind the orb as a human's did proved correct as the shaft disappeared completely into its body and it fell dead.
The friends followed the winding tunnel deeper into the earth, and soon found themselves ambushed by a hulking humanoid with its heart beating on the outside of its chest. Rose rushed to fight it and took a vicious punch to the face, but Finn avenged her with a mace blow which burst the exposed vital muscle and dropped the monster lifeless to the ground.
"Whatever manner of abominations you are," he announced as he wiped blood from his eyes, "I'll pay you back tenfold for any harm you cause my noble love!"
Rose laughed as she massaged her jaw, only slightly hurt by the attack. "They're poorly designed guardians, to be sure!"
Derrick pondered their strangely ill-adapted opponents. "I'm not sure if that's what they were made to be, or if they're simply natural underworld inhabitants which have suffered some adverse effects from being exposed to old, unstable magic."
A shudder ran through Rose as she took in the scholar's theory. "If that's the case, I've no desire to stay here any longer than we have to. Let's get going."
Their journey took them through miles of tunnels and pitted them against dozens of grotesque abominations. Fortunately, most of these had glaring weaknesses which begged to be exploited, and fell easily once the initial shock of their appearance faded. If they were guardians that the man-dragon had expected to give them "death," perhaps they had degenerated over generations. Still, their good luck could not hold forever. After many battles, Loreen was gored deeply in her side by a scaly biped with a horn so large, it threw off its balance and forced it to walk perpetually bent like a hunchback.
Though Rose dispatched her attacker shortly thereafter, the damage was done and Derrick forced to help her walk, though the tenacious Loreen continued to fight alongside her friends despite being barely able to stand. Eventually, the four came to a great underground river, a light shining from upstream. Derrick lowered the injured woman to the ground, allowing her much-needed rest as they pondered their next move.
"What do you think? Are we supposed to go toward the light or what?" Derrick looked dubiously at the rushing current. No way could he stay afloat in those waters, let alone swim against them.
Loreen craned her neck to see, too weak to get up. "If I wasn't bleeding like a stuck pig, and had both my arms, and was five years younger—no, I still couldn't go up that monstrosity."
Rose and Finn looked at each other. "Do you think," Rose asked worriedly, "they'll be okay if we leave them here?"
Finn was already taking off his armor as he waved dismissively. "They'll be fine. What could happen, another bug with a shell so thick it can't move drops in on them? Let's go."
Rose knelt next to her fallen friend and touched her pale face. "Will you be okay, Loreen? You're hurt bad—how do you feel?"
"I'm fine," the tough woman said, "I just need to catch my breath. You remember how I looked after the fight with Wilner—pretty damn bad, but I came out okay."
"You never got pierced so deep there, though, and you can barely walk. Are you still bleeding?" She didn't wait for an answer, but looked herself and saw that indeed, blood still oozed from the gaping wound.
"Don't worry," Derrick reassured her. "I'll take care of her, patch up that nasty gash. Just go. Finn needs you."
"No I don't," Finn joked.
Rose stared with mock anger at him and growled, "I guess I'll have to prove you wrong, then. I trust you, Derrick. Watch our stuff for us too, okay?"
The scholar promised he would, and taking off her armor Rose joined her lover as he dove into the water. Few could have withstood the powerful current, but the two were among those few and swam steadily against the flow, their mighty muscles happy to meet the challenge. After a time, they spotted a ledge protruding from the side of the cavern, and saw there the source of the light—a glowing silver doorway on the cavern wall. But the ledge was high above the river, and the wall below it slippery and sparse in handholds.
"Race you up, Rose?" Finn offered, and each strained to complete the difficult climb first. Rose would have won the close contest, except that as she made it to a height with the ledge and prepared to step neatly onto it, Finn, who was a little behind, threw himself at the ledge and caught its edge by his fingers. "I win," he declared, "since I'm the first one on. Now help me up!"
Rose laughed and pulled him onto the ledge. "I wonder if the ancients foresaw the games we'd play in search of their secrets? But no more games now. This is, if not the end, a turning point at the least. Let's be careful." Warning her playful love, she grabbed the shining handle of the silver portal and pulled.
The gigantic room they revealed seemed to belong to a different world, a beautiful hexagonal chamber with every perfectly smooth crystalline wall, each a different
color, radiating silver light, and a jet-black ceiling and purest white floor. However, it did not contain their goal. What it did contain were a half dozen massive figures that resembled the type of monsters they had faced on the way here, but with no anatomical flaws, perfect versions of said abominations if such a contradiction could be. The least of them stood twenty feet, and others towered over it. Still as statues, they did not move; but they looked so, so lifelike. Beyond them floated a twelve foot winged male humanoid with eyes closed, great sword clasped to his breast, and beyond him, was a golden door.
"How much would you bet that when we go in, they come to life?" Finn asked.
"Who would I bet against? We're both thinking the same thing. They must be the original guardians..." Rose sighed. "Two humans with no armor, no tactical advantage or special gear, and little magic against six giant beasts and what looks like an angel, or something in the shape of an angel. What do you think?"
"You know what I think."
They clasped hands briefly, then readied their weapons. "To our sweet shining tomorrow!" they cried, and charged together.
#
Some time later, the four adventurers floated down the Lucin where the underground river emptied out on a raft made from the bookshelves Rose and Finn had found after conquering their foes. The couple bore quite a few wounds, but Finn was as happy as could be. Rose just felt glad the "angel" had really been a powerful construct. They had stuffed what magic texts they could into sacks waterproofed with a spell by Finn, and burned the rest for fear of the Sevrians finding them. It was a shame having to destroy that knowledge, but the ancients had started from nothing too. What they'd lost, humanity could learn again.
"We really did it," Derrick marveled. "I can hardly believe I'll be part of the revival of magic!"
Finn folded his arms over his chest and made a haughty face. "Was there ever a doubt?"
Rose poked the giant, a wide grin on her face. "So how does it feel?"
"It feels great!" Derrick said, exuberant.
The lovers gave their agreement to that, and they continued down the northward-flowing river. As the city of Dunwal came into view, Loreen asked, "So where are we going to go?" and cringed, again wracked by pain in her side after the rough ride. "Are we going to stay in Dunwal?"
"As sad as it is to admit," Derrick said, "it appears my school town won't be safe for long. Let's stop here, but get ourselves a wagon and take these books somewhere else."
"How about Hullel?" Finn suggested. "Home sweet home, huh Rose?"
"I wouldn't be too fond of seeing my peaceful hometown host the experimental revival of magic. I've seen enough explosions there in recent times, thank you."
They were at a loss as to where to take their priceless discovery. With the future of the Brushknoll in doubt, there weren't many places they could easily reach that would suit their needs. At last, Derrick spoke up excitedly. "How about we go straight to Gustrone? It's the safest place in Kayland, being the king's home and all. There's no way he'd deny us a place to set up shop, considering that the return of magic promises to give us an edge over all other nations who lack this wonderful power."
Rose expressed doubts about moving so far from her childhood home, and Finn sympathized with his love. Loreen didn't much care, because she planned to rejoin her brothers in Coblan soon. In the end, Derrick was able to convince his friends of the merits of his plan, except for one small point.
"But won't it be hard," Rose asked, "to travel hundreds of miles with all these books in tow?"
He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, it'll be tough. But hasn't everything been? Do you think a little travel too much for you to handle, Finn?
"Only across the nation? Bah, that's nothing! Right, Rose? You aren't the weak link in our party, are you?"
Rose pondered what dangers they could encounter on the simple trip to Gustrone. Remembering all the unexpected perils she'd found on her journeys, a smile came to her face. "Well, if you're up for it, I guess I have no choice but to go with you. After all, who else is going to protect you wimps from whatever horrors you find on the open road?" Everyone laughed then, and they floated eagerly into the bright new future they'd made for themselves.
Iron Bonds
Chapter 1
Finn watched Rose fight with herself. Sitting in the tower they'd been granted to use as their center for magical study, the giant warrior recently turned mage wondered what bothered her as he studied his love's conflicted face. The stone-walled room around them was scarcely furnished, for they had just settled in. He knew Rose would normally be very interested in their scholar friend's Derrick's ideas about how to advance the center's mission, but right now as he talked she barely paid his words any mind at all.
"What's wrong?" Finn asked, and Derrick stopped knowing something was up. "Is it something I can help you with?"
His mighty love, feminine and voluptuous though built more powerfully than most men, smiled though Finn could recognize a bit of sadness in her eyes when she spoke. "I think I'm going to have to leave you for a while again. I'm sorry, I just can't sit around staring at books knowing there's an army trying to invade our country. Even though it might not be enough, I want to do everything I can to help our people there."
Finn's heart sank, though he'd known she would say something like this sooner or later. "Rose, we're doing something important here. I mean, this isn't just any old research. We're going to bring back the art of spellcasting, and I'd like you by my side while we do this."
"I know it's important. It's going to change the world, the return of magic. But it isn't life and death, not directly. We're being invaded, and countless men are losing their lives. I want to try and save as many of them as I can. You must understand."
Finn hugged the courageous warrior close, not wanting to see her go again into mortal danger even if her sword was nearly without peer. "I know it makes you sad to hear of all those people dying, but why do you want so badly to go there? You hate wars. I heard how miserable you always were in the battles against the Coblan forces."
Rose looked into his eyes. "Why are you so against me going now? Before, you encouraged me to go and fight against the Sevrians. What happened?"
"I would've been glad to have you at my side while we fought them. But you'll be away from me if you go now. Besides, that was when we thought there was something valuable in the Brushknoll and wanted to keep the Sevrians from getting it. Now that we have that something, I'd rather make good use of it instead of fighting over some useless province."
"The Brushknoll may not have much of value, but what about the lives of the men who defend our border? They're dying out there, and I know I could make a difference. A big difference, to be honest. It wouldn't feel right if I didn't go. Why can't you just come with me, if you don't want me to leave your side? You've never been hesitant about going into a fight, and the center can wait. We'll have plenty of time to do this later, but the men out west need help now."
Finn considered going with her, but Derrick interrupted in his clear voice. "Rose, if Finn leaves here, what do you think King Benedict will think? He gave us money and this tower to promote the revival of magic. If the only actual mage runs off to fight in the war when we're supposed to be setting up the center, he'll obviously begin to question the soundness of his investment."
Even so, Finn did not want to let his beloved Rose go into danger alone. "It'll only be for a little while, I'm sure. Once we crush the Sevrians and bring peace back to Kayland, we'll be right back, right Rose?" He didn't really believe those words, knowing the strength and number of the forces the Sevrians could bring to bear, but hoped the scholar would buy into his bravado and let him go.
To his surprise, it was Rose who now shook her head. "No, Derrick's right. It's my priority to help people in need, but like you told me before, yours now is to bring magic back to the world. I mean, you are the first and only mage of the modern world. I know trying to teach it hasn't been working out, but you simply can't d
ie before we get a proper foothold here."
They had access to the language of magic now, but it was a foreign language with a completely different alphabet and pronunciation. This made getting the babylike babbling sounds—used to command the elements—right very difficult. Finn couldn't teach the few spells he already knew thanks to an ancient archmage's scheme, because they contained some part that made them only usable by him and nobody had any idea how to separate such restrictive components from the rest. Therefore, with regard to magic usable by Rose and Derrick, and others in the future, they were pretty much starting from scratch.
Finn was a bit annoyed by the idea his life was worth more now that he was a mage, as it implied he wasn't quite as valuable before. But he could hardly hold onto anger against Rose. "What about you risking your life? You say mine is so valuable, but I don't know if I could go on without you, especially knowing I might've been able to save you had I been there. So I really want to come with you, even if it means the revival of magic will have to wait."
"I won't die, Finn. How many tough situations have I survived, when everyone thought I wouldn't make it? Please trust me, I'll come back to you. I wouldn't dare get killed knowing how you'd react, like a rabid animal!" She smiled just a bit at that. "You have to stay here, and do what Benedict expects of you. I'll handle things at the Brushknoll, and I'll be fine. Come on, I beat Prince Wilner, the 'greatest warrior in the world,' remember? If anything, I'll be worrying about you, worrying about me!"
A glance at Derrick confirmed he agreed with Rose, and reluctantly Finn nodded. "All right, Rose. But be careful, okay? You're good, but I'd hate to see a repeat of what happened with Wilner, especially if you aren't so lucky as to survive this time around."
She seemed to tense at the memory of being run through by the terrible ruler of Coblan, but smiled and said, "I told you, I'll be fine. It hurt like hell, but Wilner didn't keep me down. I don't want you to let your worry for me keep you from doing what you need to. So try not to imagine what's happening with me too much, and just trust that I'll be back in your arms soon."
