The Vault of Kings

by Matt Taylor

  It made sense to Sylas, he saw how difficult it was to perfectly align his will with the will of the Light, and it seemed crazy to think of learning how to do that with all six elements and be efficient with all of them.

  After returning to where they had laid their packs and making sure that nothing was being left behind, they continued towards Gelendor. Sylas mentioned to Uthren the idea of Geode teaching him some Nature Magick, and Uthren agreed that it seemed like a good idea.

  “It’s important that you find out which element naturally attunes to you and that you learn it well. If you want to be equally rounded, that’s always an option, but you should figure out which one you are naturally gifted in first. I think that it’s beneficial, especially when you are first learning, that you find which element really speaks to you and get your basics cemented with that element first. Of course, I expect you to learn all of the elements and be at least somewhat proficient with each of them eventually, but would advise to find and focus on the one that feels right to you first.”

  “Do you know how to use all of the elements then Uthren?” Samara asked.

  “I, along with Geode, do know the basics of all of the elements, yes. But I would not say that I’m skilled with all of them. As you know, the elements all have their opposites. Water and Fire, Nature and Air, Light, and Darkness. As I have found that my strengths lie in the area of Light, you can naturally assume that my weakness would be that of Darkness. I know several basic spells and have learned about what others can do with it, but can’t do very much with Darkness. If you fancy learning Darkness, Geode would probably be a better teacher than I as he is very well rounded with most elements, but I would caution against starting with Darkness so soon. It has a tendency to bring out some of the bad in you… but maybe I’m just somewhat bias as I’m naturally pulled towards the Light.”

  Sylas shook his head. “I don’t think I want to learn any Darkness right now anyway. I’m interested in learning Nature as soon as I’m able, though.”

  He hoped that maybe Nature would be what he was naturally attuned to. The abilities that Geode displayed when they were attacked by the black hand were incredible. And although he could see how useful it would be to be a master of Light, Nature seemed very appealing.

  “I can teach you the symbol of Nature tonight when we make camp Sylas, and we can go over some of the basics if you wish.” Geode said, “If that’s alright with Uthren, that is.”

  Sylas turned towards Uthren and was pleased to see him nodding in approval. “I think that would be appropriate, I’ll continue to teach Samara about shielding in the meantime, and you can decide where you want to go from there Sylas.”

  Sylas agreed, and the group continued their journey towards Gelendor. A smile spread across his face as he eagerly awaited the long day to end. Just then, Sylas thought he felt something brush against his mind. It was cold and felt almost like a shadow had been cast over him for just a moment. It was hardly noticeable, he didn’t know if it had even really been there or not. He waited for the feeling to come back, but even after walking for some time, it never returned. Shrugging it off, he focused his eyes on the horizon. One day closer to Gelendor.

  Just before dark, the group approached a small bog to make their camp for the night. Searching for dry places to set up their tents, Samara surprised Torren and Sylas by letting them know that there was more dry ground over by where she had set up her tent and that they were welcome to pitch their tents next to hers.

  “It might be safer if we stick a little closer together anyway, just in case we run into more trouble. It’s been quiet the last several nights, but I’d rather be safe than sorry, I think. I still expect to have my privacy, though.” She said, looking straight at Torren.

  Torren looked at Sylas and then back at Samara, “Don’t worry, you can trust us. I promise.”

  Sylas agreed, and they followed her towards her tent.

  After setting up their tents and getting something to eat, Sylas approached Geode, anxiously hoping that he would agree to start the Nature training.

  “Geode, are you still alright to start teaching me about Nature Magick tonight?”

  Geode extended his muscular arm in front of him and motioned for Sylas to sit down. “Have a seat Sylas, we will start with a brief history.”

  Sylas excitedly sat down and focused all of his attention towards Geode. The moon was full tonight, and although the sun had not yet entirely set, the bright moonlight shone down through the clear night sky and illuminated Geodes silhouette. Sylas thought it almost looked like the moon was attracted to Geode, but shrugged the idea off and paid close attention to the mages words.

  “As Uthren has already taught you, the original Nature mage was named Nymphara. She was bestowed with the knowledge of Nature Magick and its source of power. Look around you, and tell me what you think the source of power is for Nature Magick.”

  Slightly confused, Sylas looked around and saw many things that could have been a source of power for Nature. The trees, dirt, rocks, grass… none of them really stood out more than the others, though.

  Sylas scratched his head and then looked up again at the moon. It didn’t really seem connected to Nature, but yet tonight, it shone so brightly and seemed so alive…

  “Is it the moon?”

  “Very good, yes, the moon is the source from which Nature gains its power. Of course, the trees and the earth and all living things have Nature Magick flowing within them, but it’s the moon that gives us strength and life. Nature Magick flows through its user more freely in the light of the moon, and you will find that on a night like this, you will have the most power. The symbol for Nature Magick, therefore, is appropriately a symbol for the moon.”

  Geode held his hands out in front of him and made the symbol of Nature by curving the fingers in his left hand to form a crescent shape, and then with his right hand made an open circle and touched the middle of his bent pointer finger to the bottom of his outstretched thumb.

  “You will find that tapping into your inner life and opening your second mind is the same with any element that you decide to use, so you should be able to tap into Nature Magick with little to no problem. Once it has been opened, however, your second mind will vastly differ from that which you are used to feeling when using Light. Nature is calm and collected, observant, and peaceful. It’s highly protective of all living things and destructive towards that which would harm the earth and its inhabitants. Now, go ahead and make the symbol of Nature and open your second mind.”

  Sylas did as he was instructed and made the symbol of Nature with his hands. Cupping his left hand to form a crescent, and then making an open circle with his right and placing it below his left hand, middle knuckle on his pointer finger touching the fingernail of his thumb. He then reached into his pool of inner life and moved it from his stomach into his hands and saw a green glow start to emanate from them. He then closed his eyes and moved the energy to his head and, like he had done so many times before, began to imagine his soul leaving his body.

  Sylas opened his eyes, but to his dismay did not feel his second mind open, nor did he see Geode sitting right in front of him. Instead, he found himself in a vast graveyard.

  It was dark where he was, but the same moon that he had seen just earlier that night shone above him.

  He noted that the moon was in a different position in the sky than when he saw it earlier, though, and the sun had completely set where he was now.

  He continued to survey the landscape around him, trying to orient himself. The graveyard was massive, gravestones littered the ground around him, and large dead trees cast eerie shadows across the grass at his feet.

  Most of the gravestones were small slabs of stone with names engraved upon their faces. Others were massive pillars that stood several feet in the air with varying designs, cracking, and faded with age.

  A flash of black and a loud “Caw!” made him jump as he saw a black crow take flight from a sizeable tomblike bu
ilding that stood off in the distance.

  As he peered into the darkness at the building, he suddenly felt himself being whisked through the air until he was right in front of it.

  The tomb was made out of a dark stone material and stood at about the same height as a one-level house. Two stone pillars sat on either side of the door, holding up a stone slab which acted as a porchway. The pillars were cracking and faded, showing that they had been here a long, long time.

  The door to the tomb was made of a dark, thick, and heavy wood with large iron braces holding its frame. Above the door was the same symbol that he had encountered in the Ancient Crypt, a large black skull emanating a cold, heartless aura.

  Sylas quickly stepped back away from the tomb and heard what he could only describe as the sound of bones clanking against each other behind him.

  He spun around and met the purple gaze of a reanimated skeleton. One by one, additional skeletons seemed to fade into view, an entire host of skeletons standing where he had been only moments before.

  The air inside his lungs choked inside his throat. He tried to scream, but no sound came, neither did his lungs allow him to breathe. His heart raced, and his blood turned ice cold. A chill ran throughout his body, sending goosebumps down his neck and arms.

  The skeleton stared right at him, at least that’s what Sylas thought until he realized that it was actually looking directly passed him. The air he had been choking on softened, and he let out a gasp.

  He moved out of the skeleton’s line of sight, and gratefully the skeletons did not react in any way. He observed the skeletons in absolute horror. They were each glowing with the slightest of auras, a dark black color with a hint of purple radiating from their dry bones, which reminded him of flames but flickering in a much slower, much softer fashion.

  Their eye sockets held a floating orb of dark light of the exact same color centered where eyeballs would have been who knows how long ago. There were thousands of them! Each one making a clanking noise as bones rubbed on bones with every slight movement. Eventually, he noticed that it seemed that they were all looking at something behind him. With terror gripping his soul, Sylas slowly turned to see what the animated skeletons were looking at.

  The scenery immediately changed, and he found himself standing in a dimly lit room. The smell of dust and stale air unwillingly entering into his nose.

  Coughing, he found himself staring into a large mirror. The mirror was leaning up against a wall and showed his reflection at just a slightly skewed angle.

  Sylas approached the mirror. The closer he got, the more unskewed his image became. Coming to a stop in front of the mirror, he observed the bit of stubble that had formed on his chin and upper lip. He touched his face, his reflection exactly mirroring his movements until suddenly, it didn’t.

  Sylas watched in horror as his reflection in the mirror started to smile an evil, devious smile. His reflection then put its hands out in front of it and made a symbol that he had never seen before.

  His reflection made a small circle in each hand using its pointer finger and thumb. It brought the two circles together then extended each of its other three fingers in a diagonal, meeting them together at a point above the circles. It then proceeded to tip its hands forward until the symbol was upside down.

  His reflections eyes and hands began to glow with dark black and purple Magick energy, and it stretched its arms out to either side of its body. A dark ball of energy then formed in each of his outstretched hands, and with an evil laugh, it threw each of the balls of energy towards him.

  Acting purely out of instinct, Sylas quickly made the symbol of Light with his hands and attempted to open his second mind to create a shield of Light around himself, but as he tried to open his second mind, a bright light swept over him and knocked him to the floor.

  Sitting up, he found that he had again been transported to a different place. This time he was somewhere near the mountains. He wasn’t sure which mountains they were, but they did look somewhat familiar.

  In front of him stood a giant statue of a man in Armor that had the same symbol that Uthrens battle mage robes had, sitting right in the center of the breastplate. The statue held a large maul, the length of the maul looked to be almost as tall as the man was if stood upright. The head of the maul was a large bulky rectangular cube with intricate designs carved into it. As he looked at the maul, it began to fade slightly, and he found himself looking straight through the statue.

  Inside the head of the maul sat a bright yellow glowing stone, the only reason he was not able to see it before most likely due to the thick stone that covered it. The statue then gained its thickness again, and he was no longer able to see through it.

  The statue started to crack and shake, and a gust of wind blew past it, crumbling it into dust. As the plume of dust faded away, a shadowy figure entered into his view.

  Maelos sat on a large golden throne, dark battle mage robes covering his body. His hood rested on his back as he sat, eyes closed, and hunched forward, looking towards the ground.

  Sylas took a step backward in fear, the very aura of the dark mage’s evil presence, causing him to want to flee. As his foot touched the ground behind him, Maelos opened his eyes and looked up at him. His eyes met Sylas’s and terror flooded into his entire body.

  Maelos stretched his hand out towards him, and Sylas felt his soul being torn from his body. The pain was unreal! He felt as if his second mind was being forcefully opened, and his soul was about to be rent from his body unwillingly. Just as it seemed as it was about to exit, a bright light again swept over him, and Sylas lost his strength and fell onto his back, his vision fading into darkness.

  His eyes were ringing as he heard the muffled voices of people around him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Geode, Uthren, Samara, and Torren all gathered around him. The ringing in his ears slowly began to dissipate, as his senses faded back into existence.

  “Sylas! are you alright? What happened?” Uthren reached his hand out and placed it on his forehead. “Are you hurt?”

  “I… I think I’m alright,” Sylas said as he sat up slowly. “I think I just had another vision, though. And I saw Maelos again.”

  Geode and Uthren both looked at each other, worried expressions on their faces. “We must pack up and leave immediately. Torren, Samara, get your things and hurry. Maelos will know where we are, we’ll have to travel through the night.”

  They nodded and immediately did as they were asked and ran towards their tents.

  “Sylas, can you get up?” Uthren asked.

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  He forced himself to yawn to try and get rid of the rest of the ringing noise that invaded his ears and pushed himself to his feet.

  “I’m alright, I’ll get my stuff ready to leave.”

  Uthren gave him a nod of approval then left with Geode towards their tents to pack things up for their untimely departure. Sylas started running towards his tent, thoughts of having to face more warriors sent by Maelos to kill them, giving additional speed to his legs.

  The group traveled swiftly and silently through the tall grass and trees. The swishing of the grass joining the choir of insects and other animals in the night. After their first confrontation, Geode and Uthren decided that instead of taking the most direct route towards Gelendor, it would be safer if they took a more roundabout way to the city to try and throw off any inclination of what direction they might be going. If any of their suspicions were correct, Maelos was most likely able to pinpoint their latest location because of the vision, so it was essential to put as much distance between themselves and where they were as possible.

  Who knows how close his soldiers could have already been. There’s no doubt that after his first batch had failed, he had sent more to pursue and track us down. Now that Maelos saw precisely where we were, it’s probably a matter of when not if they find us… Sylas thought to himself. Stupid! Why did that happen again?

  He continued to ponder as t
o why he had been successful in opening his second mind so many times while training with Uthren, with no incident whatsoever, just to let it happen to him again when trying to open it for Nature Magick for the first time.

  Several hours passed, and thankfully no incidents. They continued to travel as silently as possible, only allowing their steps and labored breathing to make any noise. Sylas watched the full moon as it slowly changed positions in the sky, along with the millions of stars that surrounded it. It was a beautiful clear night, despite the temperatures continuing to grow colder and colder. He wished that he could enjoy looking at the stars in peace rather than running away from potentially a band of murderous henchmen.

  His train of thought was cut off when Geode immediately stopped moving and raised a hand into the air. He crouched down slightly and motioned for everyone else to do the same and drop their packs onto the ground. Sylas’s heart rate increased dramatically as his anticipation for horrible things he was sure were about to happen grew.

  In a low whisper, Geode told them that he thought he heard something. Just then, a whooshing sound came flying through the air, and with a thwack, an arrow embedded itself into Geodes Shoulder.

  chapter 8

  Confrontations

  Apainful scream echoed through the trees as Geode clutched his arm. The sounds of voices yelling and leaves rustling took over the silence that had once prevailed.

  “Samara, Sylas, use your swords to fight and your Magick to shield yourselves. Torren, help protect them!” Uthren said while simultaneously opening his second mind.

  The golden glow of Light Magick filled the area around him as Uthren ran towards the oncoming men. Sylas watched as Geode made a symbol that he had never seen before, and his eyes and hands began to glow a deep red. Geodes muscles bulged larger than normal, and a slight red aura covered his body. He then reached up with his hand and grabbed the shaft of the arrow in his shoulder and without even wincing, tore the arrow out of his arm, revealing a deep, bloody wound. Although it looked excruciating, Geode showed no sign of pain. It looked like the pain he would have been enduring didn’t affect him at all now that this unknown spell was taking its effect.