by Turtle Me
The guard on my right, a rather plump man wearing plate armor that obviously couldn’t contain his wide girth, managed to muster up what little training he had in order to at least point his trembling spear at me. It only took his skinnier companion a second longer to follow suit.
“W-who goes there?” quavered the skinnier guard.
I was still considering how best to answer when the rounder guard spoke.
“Did you—are—a-are you coming from the R-Relictombs?” he sputtered, his head shifting left and right.
‘Don’t bother answering these stooges. Just kill them,’ Regis groaned.
Ignoring the voice in my head urging me to kill the bumbling pair, an action that would almost certainly result in me being hunted down and executed, I looked at the rounder guard, who flinched under my gaze, and answered, “Yes.”
The guard to my left let out an audible gasp. It was becoming more and more challenging not to roll my eyes.
“E-esteemed ascender,” the guard on my right stammered, bowing as much as his potbelly would allow him to before raising his head. “Allow this one to guide you to Maerin Town’s chief.”
He gestured for me to follow after him, and the other one trailed close behind. Pushing aside the idle thought that maybe one of them should’ve stayed behind to guard the portal, I instead turned my attention to the sights around me.
Like the men guarding it, the hall I’d arrived in was rather dull. While not large—no bigger than the size of a modest house in Ashber—it had features that obviously displayed its importance. A line of pillars towered over us on both sides, holding sconces of actual fire on each one. Upon closer inspection, I could see intricate carvings of a basilisk in its humanoid form being revered by genuflecting men and women. Each pillar told a brief story, all leading to the same message of worship toward the basilisks.
They made my stomach curdle.
I followed the guards, both of whom kept casting nervous glances over the shoulders at me every ten seconds, through the smooth marbled floors in peace until we reached the exit. Light seeped in between and around the two ironbark doors, and I was suddenly keenly aware of my longing to see the sun.
The doors opened with a screech and groan, and I was bathed in rays of sunlight. A knot formed in my stomach and I found myself struggling to hold back tears. The warm touch of the sun enveloped me like a mother’s embrace.
“Uhh… esteemed ascend—”
“Shhh! He must be cultivating insight or something!”
I closed my eyes for just a moment, gathering myself before stepping through the blanket of light that spilled over me like warmed honey.
As my eyes adjusted, I was able to take in my surroundings. The little village was equal to the hall I’d just left and the guards who watched over it. That is to say, the entire place was rather unimpressive.
Single-story houses of brick and mortar were arrayed uniformly on either side of a cobblestone road about three carriages wide. Civilians could be seen going about their day-to-day tasks, from hanging laundry on a clothesline to tending to their gardens while children ran around swinging wooden swords wrapped in cloth. There was even a child drawing random scribbles on his friend’s back using coal.
It wasn’t long before I noticed a stench reminiscent of a back alley outhouse emanating from somewhere behind us.
“Please bear with the odor until we reach the town proper, esteemed ascender,” the thin man said, noticing me wrinkle my nose. “We’re at the edge of the town, so the smell from the outskirts seeps through the walls if the wind blows wrong.”
I turned around to see a wall over twenty feet high behind the edifice we had just walked out of.
“What’s on the other side?” I asked out of simple curiosity.
“The vagrants and parasites that were evicted from Maerin Town for either not paying their taxes or committing a crime are all congregated there. Our benevolent chief allowed them to stay in that area and even take jobs from residents within the town, if the need arises,” the rotund guard explained. “That also includes nightly jobs as well, if esteemed—ow!”
The thinner guard had smacked his companion in the shin with his spear. “Stop being an idiot, Chumo! Do you think an ascender has so few options that he would resort to bedding those foul wenches?”
The two digressed into a heated argument, elbowing each other and whispering insults as if they didn’t think I would notice.
‘I wonder if this skit was something they rehearsed,’ Regis pondered, obviously amused.
It was interesting to see that, unlike the ascenders I had met in the Relictombs, these two stooges didn’t have gaps in their armor to reveal the marks or crests lining their spine.
Perhaps flaunting their markings was something only higher-tier mages did to show their status?
Many of the civilians we passed by were staring at me. Some had the decency to pretend like they were doing something else, but most just blatantly stopped and gawked.
Some of the men sized me up, instinctually puffing up their chests even while their heads lowered in respect.
A group of town girls who couldn’t have been much older than my sister blushed after making eye contact, then burst out in a fit of giggles behind us. A woman my mother’s age met my eye unabashedly, adjusted her blouse to accentuate her chest, and gave me an exaggerated, lusty smile.
“See, Chumo! Look at everyone just drooling over our esteemed ascender. He has the pick of the lot,” said the thinner guard, who I started mentally referring to as “Not-Chumo.”
“How far is the town chief’s office?” I asked, casting a cold glare at the both of them.
“J-just a few blocks, right at the heart of the town proper!” Chumo answered, visibly shrinking under my gaze.
Houses soon gave way to storefronts as we got closer to the heart of the town. I couldn’t help but reminisce about my time living in Ashber. Although Maerin Town was much larger and more developed than Ashber had been, it had a more peaceful ambience compared to the cities of Dicathen that I had grown used to.
We reached a place where the cobblestone road suddenly branched off into four separate roads—one main, and three smaller paths that each led to an estate-like structure. Each one was focused around a single large building, but the estates were isolated, surrounded by wide fields and what looked like training grounds.
“What are these buildings for?” I asked. Those three buildings were the only multi-leveled structures I’d seen so far, so I assumed they carried some importance.
“Ah! These three schools are the pride of Maerin Town!” Chumo puffed. “The one to our left is where our children who have received their first mark as a Shield attend, while the larger building is for Casters and the black-roofed one is for our future Strikers!”
“Our instructors are all very capable, with crests themselves,” Not-Chumo chimed in. “And the head instructor from our Striker school has two crests, and once taught in an actual city!”
“Speaking of, you came at a great time, esteemed ascender,” Chumo said. “Not only is bestowment day tomorrow, but in a few days, students from our neighboring towns will gather here for our annual exhibition!”
While the ‘bestowment day’ sounded interesting, I didn’t want to waste too much time in this backwater town. My priority was to get a map of where we were after speaking with the town chief.
“I wonder if any of our Strikers have a shot at winning the tournament,” Chumo muttered to Not-Chumo.
“Draster, the chief’s kid, probably has the best shot, right? I heard he just tested into the third stage of base-tier,” Not-Chumo replied.
“Yeah, but there’s that little monster from Cromer Town that just tested into the fourth stage of base-tier, and at the age of fifteen!”
“Damn. And I heard an elder from one of Aramoor’s academies is actually going to spectate this time to see if there are any potentials to take back as a candidate.
”
The two continued their gossiping, completely carefree, as we neared what looked like the town square. The number of people in the street quickly inflated. The smoothly-paved center of the town was surrounded by storefront and eateries, and several vendors stood next to wooden carts loaded with goods for trade. Some were filled with food while others carried leather goods or simple clothing. Nothing caught my interest.
What did catch my eye was the coliseum, which dwarfed the single-storied establishments around it. By the number of soldiers—actual, able-bodied guards that displayed some semblance of strength—guarding the large bowl-shaped structure, I could guess the level of importance it carried.
Civilians in carriages and carts pulled by horses and mana beasts lined up in front of the main entrance, waiting to get inside. From the materials they hauled in the many carts, it seemed like they were there to prepare for this upcoming exhibition.
‘It seems like this esteemed ascender is interested in the upcoming events,’ Regis noted.
Maybe a little, I admitted. The idea of seeing how the Alacryans trained and fought was certainly of interest to me. There was a part of me that was just excited by the idea of competition, though, and the lively air surrounding the coliseum was infectious.
“—scender?”
I turned to see my two escorts waiting for me.
“It’s this way, esteemed ascender,” Not-Chumo said, gesturing me toward a domed building with a long portico supported by columns similar in design to the ones in the edifice that housed the portal.
Once inside, I was guided to the front counter of an otherwise empty building. Behind it, an obviously bored young woman was fiddling with her brown hair, which had been tied back tightly in a bun.
Chumo leaned his elbow on the counter. “Hey, Loreni.”
“Skipping work again for a snack, Chumo?” Loreni asked, not bothering to look up. “Be careful. That’s how you two got stuck guarding the descension chamber to begin with, wasn’t it? Honest to Vritra, I don’t know why the old man bothers placing guards there when there hasn’t been an ascender come out from that portal in years. If it were me—”
“Uhh, Loreni?” Not-Chumo chimed in, nervously glancing between me and the girl, who had now moved on to picking dirt from underneath her nails.
Loreni finally looked, glaring at the guards with clear annoyance. “Wha—Oh!” Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed as she stood up and smoothed out her blouse. “W-who is… this?”
“He’s an ascender,” Chumo whispered, leaning in closer.
I didn’t think the girl’s eyes could open any wider, but they did. “Oh my! Please accept my humble apologies for my rudeness, esteemed ascender. W-we don’t get many ascenders here, so I had no reason to assume that they’d be—oh, I should stop talking now. Are you here to meet the town chief? Of course you are, that was a silly question. Right this way!”
Loreni guided me through a corridor, often peeking back before nervously turning away while the two guards snickered behind me. We arrived in the town chief’s office, modestly decorated with a desk and two leather couches separated by an oval tea table.
“Chief Mason, our town’s leader, will be here shortly. Please make yourself comfortable while I get you something to drink!” Loreni exclaimed as she bowed. Her agitated movements were so halting that her bun burst, sending her auburn hair cascading around her face in a tangle. She quickly gathered it up, but her face had turned as red as a strawberry.
The poor girl dipped her head once more and practically ran out of the room while Chumo and Not-Chumo stood guard outside the door. Loreni stopped just long enough to whisper a few choice profanities at the two guards, and I burst out with an unexpected laugh.
‘It’s been a while since you laughed,’ Regis mused.
It’s been a while since I’ve been around so many idiots, I quipped. Regis mentally nodded in agreement.
Taking a moment to open the window behind me, I basked in the gentle breeze that flowed through it, carrying in the chatter and sounds from the town square. Laughter, both young and old, chimed like melodic bells that nearly lulled me to sleep.
As I lounged back on one of the couches and listened to the mundane babble of the town, my mind replayed all that I had gone through: Fighting not only to live, but to grow stronger from the moment I had woken up. I had lost Sylvie and was separated from my loved ones with no way of knowing how they were doing. But in this brief moment, I was at peace as it finally dawned upon me…
I had made it out of those hellish Relictombs.
282
Blood of the Ancients
ELEANOR LEYWIN
I heard the creatures skittering through the darkness before I saw them. The dim light artifact I carried only lit up about ten feet around me, enough to walk without twisting my ankle but not enough to show me what was coming.
There were three, maybe four of them, and they were still at least fifty feet down the tunnel.
Cave rats.
We’d first discovered them when exploring the tunnels around the refuge. The beasts hadn’t posed much of a threat to the refugee shelter, in fact they’d even been really useful since we could eat them. They didn’t taste great, but without them, bringing enough protein into our refuge would have been a lot more difficult. Still, people had to be careful, because the cave rats could be dangerous for someone traveling on their own.
Thankfully, I had Boo with me, so I wasn’t too worried about one pack of cave rats.
The mana beasts were about the size of wolves and moved in packs like wolves too. From what we could tell, they were the dominant predator in these tunnels, surviving off the smaller vermin.
I swung my bow off of my shoulder and drew the string, conjuring an arrow into it. Boo huffed, but we’d practiced this before. He would stay behind me, out of the line of fire, until the enemy got close, then I could fall back while he charged forward.
The scratching of the cave rats’ claws on the rough stone floor of the tunnel suddenly quickened, but I waited until I saw the first pair of eyes glowing red in the reflected light of my little lantern stone.
The string hummed as the beam of white light flew into the dark. A second arrow had been conjured and nocked by the time the first found its mark right between the lead rat’s eyes.
The beast tumbled end over end, just a shadow at the edge of my vision. My second arrow sped past it, thudding into another cave rat I couldn’t see yet.
The third beast sprinted past its dead companions, trundling heavily like a little bear, but it didn’t make it much closer before one of my arrows struck it in the joint between the neck and the shoulder. Its legs gave out and it slid forward on its chest, wheezing horribly.
I put it out of its misery with a final arrow through the skull.
The tunnel was silent except for the soft sound of my own breath and Boo’s deep snorting behind me.
“Sorry boy,” I said with a smirk. “I promise I’ll leave some for you next—”
Movement from above drew my attention: a fourth cave rat was using its hard claws to creep slowly across the tunnel ceiling. It was shrunken and mangey, its mottled black-and-gray fur sticking out wildly.
Moving slowly, I set my hand to the bowstring and began to draw back, but the creature reacted much more quickly than its dead companions. It dropped to the ground, spinning in the air to land on its gnarled little feet, then opened its grotesque mouth and hissed, spewing out a cloud of greenish gas.
I loosed my arrow, but the cave rat—if it even was a cave rat—leapt to the side, spun, and bolted down the hallway, quickly moving beyond the range of my faint light source.
Stumbling backwards to escape the fumes, I sent another arrow speeding down the tunnel after it, hoping to hit it blindly, but the arrow only impacted against stone and then fizzled out.
Boo roared and barrelled past me, tearing through the dark after the strange cave rat, ready to te
ar it apart.
The tunnel smelled sweet and putrid, like rotting fruit, making my eyes run and my nose burn. I stepped back further and waited, a cold shiver running up my back. What the hell was that? I wondered, rubbing away the goosebumps that had appeared on my arms.
After less than a minute, Boo came lumbering back down the tunnel. From the absence of fresh blood on his muzzle, it was clear that he hadn’t caught the creature. I didn’t like the idea of that creature hiding somewhere out of sight, clinging from the ceiling like a bat, watching me… I shivered again.
“Let’s get moving, Boo,” I said resting my hand on his thick, shaggy fur. Then, to reassure myself, I repeated the mantra that Helen had taught me: “Eyes up and bow steady. Never falter and always ready.”
Moving quickly and quietly, I held my breath as I passed through the foul mist that still hung in the air. The dead cave rats lay in twisted lumps on the floor, and would soon enough draw more of them in from the surrounding tunnels. I’d have to be cautious on my way back to the underground town.
I looked at every jutting protrusion of rock on the ceiling and walls, and on two different occasions I shot an arrow at what turned out to be loose stones that had fallen from the roof, but in the dim edges of my light they had looked like cave rats lying in wait.
Each twist and turn of the path leading to Elder Rinia’s little cavern made my heart beat more and more as I crept around the blind corners, bow at the ready, waiting for the mangy beast to jump on me from above or breathe out its noxious fumes.
Finally, I saw the steady glow of the light artifact that hung over the crack in the wall that served as Elder Rinia’s door. Letting out a deep breath of relief, I realized that the burning in my nose had moved down into my throat and lungs, and that it was painful to breathe.
The gas…
Rushing forward, I slipped through the crack and burst into the small cavern that Elder Rinia had claimed as her home.
Boo grunted from behind me; he usually didn’t mind waiting out in the tunnel while I talked to Rinia, but he could sense my distress. I heard him pawing at the narrow opening behind me, as if he could claw his way through to help me.
