Tale of Eldramir

For the next two days, Ezekiel did his best to enjoy the time he had with his sisters and Riley. He still spent time training, and Shine took the time to continue searching through his Spirit Paths for his sixth Chakra. However, what he had learned from the Guardian had left him unsettled.

Something had happened to his mother, and his [Danger Sense] was weakly telling him that entering her trial to figure out what happened was one that could harm him if he was not prepared.

It wasn’t an immediate threat, but it was something that he was still worried about.

To the point that, before he entered the lava chamber again, he felt the need to give his sisters a warning. In hopes that it would keep them safe from whatever it was that he was expecting.

“I need you two to promise me that you would meditate, or enter the shadows, alone.” He was seated with Riley across from his sisters. A pair of Artifacts were laid out in front of him, and he had just finished explaining their purpose as training aids and weapons.

Now, he was giving his sisters instructions for when he was gone.

“Why not?” Wendy asked with an indignant look on her face. “Does it have anything to do with why mom is still undergoing her trial?”

“Something of Mythical proportions has occurred. I need to spend the next three days recharging the Legacy, or we’ll all be suffering, but I know that something has happened. Something to do with the shadows, and I’m concerned that you, and the others Obscure Mages and Spirits, will get caught up in it without some sort of anchor tying you to the physical world.” Even now, he still felt a sense of apprehension whenever he reached out to where his mother was undergoing her trial.

It wasn’t something he had felt before, but now that he knew how to look for it, it was like whatever had been hidden from his was found. Not revealed, but he knew that it was there now.

“I’ve already told Feynari and Callrond about this, and they both have agreed to be careful. Feynari went so far as to swear an oath that she would not enter the shadows of her own free will until I returned. I would like you to do the same, but I will not force you.”

His statement about not forcing her was probably the only thing keeping Wendy calm. But this was exactly why he had saved speaking with her for last. He knew that she would be opposed to this, since she would be just as worried as him when it came to their mother’s state of being.

“I’m only asking this of you, because technically there’s no need for you to enter the shadows at this time. Nor will there be until I get back. You can continue your training without doing so.” He could tell that his words were not getting through to her. She continued to glare at him. “If you swear the oath, then I will know that something is wrong if you fall into the shadows. It will mean that I have the proof I need, in order to stop charging the Legacy. Then, I can leave, the Guardian can safely shut down the trials, and I can barge into mom’s trial to find out what’s going on.”

He hated how the fact that he was using her as bait for an excuse to save their mother was the one thing that made her stop glaring.

“Please, swear the oath, and when I get back, I promise to keep you involved when I investigate what’s going on. Okay?”

Much to his relief, Wendy finally agreed, and the oath was sworn. A band of opalescent magic wrapped around her wrist. It wouldn’t stop someone else from dragging her into the shadows, but the consequences for going in on her own would be large.

With that now finished, Ezekiel stood up from the table. He wrapped his arms around Riley, holding onto her for several seconds before reluctantly parting.

He hugged his sisters too and whispered an apology in their ears before leaving and heading down the tunnel to the lava chamber.

Taking in a deep breath, and donning his Spirit Armor again, he [Jumped] into the molten core, and once again began the process of recharging the Legacy. Though, the subtle message carved into the brightly lit wall, before it was flooded once more, made him grimace in preparation.

Hopefully, the Guardian of the Legacy would be able to provide aid until he was needed.

All the while, shadows flickered all throughout the corridors he had passed by.

----------

It wasn’t even a day after Ezekiel had entered the section of the Legacy in order to charge it again that more Hunters and Mages attempted the trials. At which point there was a noticeable shift in the atmosphere. Paranoia and anxiety began to spread throughout the remaining Hunters, Scholars, and Spirits.

“The shadows are moving.”

Each and every person, when asked what was wrong, said the same thing, and Riley knew that Ezekiel’s warnings were well found.

“Was there another injury?” She asked Scarlet, who had recently returned from a helping mediate a fight between two parties.

“Unfortunately, yes. We also can’t find out who the damned culprit behind the fighting is.” Scarlet sighed and sat down next to Riley’s bed. The older woman wasn’t the leader of their expedition, but her wisdom and experience made her a respected member who the others tended to follow.

She recounted the situation, and Riley couldn’t help but hum in thought. This was the fifth conflict to have occurred in just as many hours.

One had been an Obscure Hunter who was attacked by a Lightning Mage. The fight had been brief, but it had been enough to cause injuries to both sides. If Scarlet and several others hadn’t been close by, the outcome would’ve been far worse.

“It’s only been a day since Ezekiel went to charge up the Legacy... Is it possible that, whoever is doing this was able to get past the various privacy wards and enchantments that he had in place when he was issuing warnings?” It had been something she thought was a bit extreme when it came to precautions, but it seemed that she had been proven wrong.

Clearly, Ezekiel’s wariness hadn’t been enough this time.

“Exalt Riley! The teams you sent out have come back... It looks like there’s bad news.” A lighter pitched voice called to them from outside their quarters.

While still recovering, Riley had healed enough to be able to move on her own now. So, with a grunt of effort, she slid off her bed, where Celia had grown to a size capable of holding her up.

However, Scarlet held out a hand. Riley looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“All the guards outside were men when I came back,” Scarlet said with a frown on her face.

Without a second thought, the room was bathed in azure flames, even as shadows tried to pierce both ladies through. A warbling shriek echoed the chambers, and the shadows fled in a writhing mess.

Darkness that Riley hadn’t even known was there evacuated the area, leaving it far brighter than she remembered. Yet even so, Riley and Celia did not let up their flames.

Shocked cries followed the terrified shrieks, but then there was the sound of confused calls and grunts when none of the Hunters and Spirits nearby burned.

The fact that there were several unconscious guards made the few that were still standing gasp in concern. The commotion ended up bringing even more Hunters and Scholars to the forefront after Riley had arrived.

“What happened?” She demanded of the Hunters that had not been unconscious. “Did you see anything that could tell us what occurred here? Also, where are the scouts I sent out earlier?”

“Lady Exalt... The scouts you sent out came back and approached your quarters... When your fire spread outwards, they turned black and... Splashed onto the floor. They fled with the rest of the shadows.” One of the Hunters finally answered, though he was looking at the flames with caution. As if it would burn him.

No... Not my flames, the shadows flickering alongside them! Seeing the Hunters trust in her magic was heart lifting, but she knew that this couldn’t last for long.

So long as the flames flickered, there would be holes that their apparent enemy could use against them. The current state of things was not sustainable.

Orbs of fire rose from the sea of flames. They specifically cast light in all directions and were strategically placed to ensure that there were no shadows that were obviously noticeable.

“Everyone! You need to release a bit of your mana around yourselves! Form an aura around your bodies so that the shadows beneath your clothes are subject to your [Will].” Riley saw all of the Legendary Hunters and Spirits follow her orders, while the few Adepts were slightly slower, and had more trouble than the rest. She moved her flaming orbs over to them to brighten them up even further.

Now, bathed in light as they were, and covered in a shoddy, yet still viable, protective aura, everybody seemed to relax. There was a noticeable relief in the tension each of them had in their bodies.

“We need to regroup and find out where the last few people I sent off had gotten to. As well as figure out how this strange new challenge managed to affect so many senses.” Riley strode forward, her Spirit Armor gleaming in the light of the blue flames. “We move as a group, and no one breaks off! It’s possible that we’re dealing with an antagonistic Mythical Obscure user. Going off on your own just means getting picked off one by one.”

There were audible gulps from many of the Hunters. But Riley’s strong and sturdy looking figure seemed to bolster some hope inside them. Each one followed without complaints, to which she was thankful for.

In truth, her soul groaned in pain at how much mana she was expending. She was using magic nearly three days before she was expected to be given a clean bill of health. Something that was the most positive of the theoretical outcomes.

“What of the Obscure Mages and Spirits?” Scarlet’s question kept Riley’s mind in the present while they walked. “I hate to say it, but they are going to be the most susceptible to whatever is going on. We’ll need to figure out some way to keep them safe, but doing so will be like depriving them of air.”

Riley couldn’t help but grimaced at that, and the mumbled grumbling coming from the others. She finally noticed that there were no Obscure Mages among them.

“We shall have to see how things go once we find the others. We have over a hundred people to look out for, and a force that is trying to take us out now that my husband isn’t here. Things will likely escalate for the next day and a half as whatever this thing is attempt to take us out before then.” Riley continued forward, guiding the others to follow her as the shadows around them were forced away. “We can’t allow this thing to get something, or someone, that might be used against Ezekiel. A head count, first, then we figure out what we can do to keep people safe.”

Scarlet frowned but nodded while holding her chin in thought. Riley just sighed in relief but kept marching forward. While she knew it wasn’t the best plan, she was happy to see that the Grand Scholar was willing to help her by, as far as she was aware, trying to come up with a plan while Riley kept things together as best she could.

Now all she needed to do was gather the others and pray that the twins hadn’t already been taken. She had kept them mostly together with the primary group in the central chambers. Near the entrance to the trials, so hopefully they had enough support to keep themselves safe.

Upon hearing sounds of battle after getting close to their destination, she knew that her hopes were not going to be met.

----------

Wendy was not having a good time. Neither was Ellen, who was cursing up a storm beside her, nor were the other Hunters who were huddled up on one side of the central cavern where the entrances to the Legacy’s trials were.

“Flame Mages, we need more light! Condense your fires and increase the amount of mana inside them, while focusing on their brightness, not their temperature!” Ellen shouted out orders, which were followed almost instantly, and Wendy could only bitterly remain sitting on the ground.

A pool of darkness swirled around her, and it was only her sister’s presence that kept if from swallowing her whole. Something that had already happened to several other Obscure Mages over the past half an hour.

Keeping out of the shadows was like being deprived of any air to breathe, but she knew she couldn’t give in. No matter how much it felt like she was suffocating. No matter how much the pull on her soul tried to drag her down.

Wendy, please! I need your help!

No matter how much the sound of her mother’s screams inside her head made her cry.

The oath she had sworn was shining brightly on her wrist. A reminder of her brother’s warning, and of the promise she had made. One that she now understood was well warranted.

“Not even two days have passed... Is this the kind of bullshit that Ezekiel has had to deal with all the time?” Ellen’s pained grunt pulled Wendy’s focus back to the situation at hand.

“Maybe,” her voice was weak, and came out as barely a whisper, “but I don’t think we’ve quite matched up to his exploits just yet.”

Ellen let out a snort of laughter, followed by a lance of Radiant energy that caused a swam of shadowy cats and birds to recoil and shriek in pain. But the relief was temporary and filled in not seconds later.

“Hold! We need more fire, and lighter!” A Hunter on the other side of the group called out this time. Their side was faltering, and Wendy noticed a starling lack of Hunters compared to when this fight had started.

“Damn it all! Why the hell are they coming at us so quickly! Shouldn’t a fight like this have required some sort of build up?” Another Hunter roared in frustration as she shifted the earth into a twisting maze that slowed the shadows down, but only barely.

“No Walls! We need to make as few areas for shadows to be cast as possible!” Ellen cried out upon seeing a series of walls twisting out from where the Cavern Hunter had tried to make obstacles.

It wasn’t even a second later that a large shadow, much darker than the dimmer ones from before, shot out and wrapped around the Hunter’s throat. She barely had a chance to scream before she was dragged over her own wall and pulled into the darkness.

“Damn it! I thought that the Exalt was sending out scouts to figure out what was happening. Why did it turn into this!” More shouted complaints from other Hunters filled the air. There was, perhaps, a third less of them than when this had started.

However, Wendy could barely focus on that. Instead, she tried her best to focus on the light that was next to her. As far as she knew, she was the last Obscure Hunter left. Among the Spirit's, only Feynari, who was in her smaller form, and currently being held in Callrond’s talons, remained.

“Wendy! Stay with me! You need to stay with me!” Ellen must’ve noticed that she was fading, because the next thing Wendy knew was that her sister was right in her face. “You can’t fall into the shadows. You can’t! I need you to stay here. Ezekiel, Riley, me, and even mom, need you to stay here!”

That’s a lie! I need you to come down here! Down to where I am! I need you here, Wendy!

Her mother’s voice cried out in opposition to her sisters, and she knew that, if her brother hadn’t warned her of something being wrong with their mom, she might’ve given in already.

Please, Wendy, I need your help!

She shook her head, but the voice was growing louder. The pleas were becoming more heartfelt.

Tears were streaming down her face. There was a coldness that was creeping up her legs.

Kari cried softly in her arms. She realized that she was sunken into the ground. Half her body was in the shadows. Only Ellen’s arms, wrapped around her torso, kept her from falling entirely.

“I won’t let you take her!” Radiant magic flowed from Ellen’s body, and Wendy felt a searing pain on her soul that snapped her out of the trance she was falling into. “I’m sorry. Please stay with me.”

Without any more warning than that, Ellen flooded Wendy’s body and soul with her own Radiant mana, and if it weren’t for the weeks of practice she had in channeling and maintaining the flow of her own mana to withstand such a flood, Wendy had no doubt that her soul would have suffered more than just a light searing.

Instead, the shadows beneath her wailed in pain, and immediately fled the area. Retreating to outside the encirclement of Hunters. The moment it did, the shadows around them all grew darker, and an angry face seemed to take shape.

Now merely dazed from pain, not the suppression of her soul, and slightly clearer headed because of it, Wendy could see what was happening with unclouded eyes. Besides her, Ellen had lowered her weapon, and the tip of it clanged against the ground.

A gaping maw of unending darkness rose from the stonework beneath their feet, and the weight of a Mythical being pressed down on all of them. The face reared back, as if to charge them directly. This time, there would be no mercy, no attempt to draw them in one by one.

This time it was simply trying to kill them.

Then the room was bathed in azure flames, and the world was bathed in a much brighter light.

----------

Riley forced down a guttural scream of frustration and annoyance.

Fortunately, it seemed that the fear of her sisters-in-law would not be dying today. Even though the tiredness and lack of over a third of their forces meant that they would be fighting much harder in the coming hours.

“Group up! We can’t allow anyone else to get picked off!” Her group quickly joined up with the rest of the Hunters and Scholars. “Create an aura around yourselves to keep the influence of the Obscure magic from affecting your shadows!”

The Hunters quickly followed her orders. Dim lights surrounded all of them, and they immediately began forcing back the few shadows that remained, even after she had flooded the room with fire.

“Exalt! It’s good to see you!” Fiana approached from the edge of the battle. She and several other Flame and Radiant Mages were the ones fighting at the front for the most part. “Any news from the scouts you sent out?”

“No. It’s possible that they were captured, and that’s why our enemy is currently acting so aggressively.” Riley shook her head, but stopped before she could stumble. A sense of vertigo nearly overcame her. She couldn’t fall now, however, or else whatever happened next would not be good.

So, even as her soul ached from the strain, she pushed on.

Yet, it seemed that her efforts to keep a strong face were in vain. Fiana immediately put an arm around her and hoisted her up with a shoulder under her arm.

Healers! Keep the Exalt going for as long as you can!” the Flame Scholar called out, and several Life Mages rushed to provide aid. A few Death Mages followed, and their grimaces at seeing her using her magic so much were not pleasant to bear.

“Where the hell is the Guardian? Shouldn’t he be making sure that this kind of shit doesn’t happen? I thought he was meant to protect this place, and the people who were in here?” George, who Riley had just noticed was acting to support the healers, made his presence known.

His question also raised the voices of the other Hunters, who were still watching the walls and their fellow fighters warily.

Not that Riley believed that they would attack each other at this point. It was more like they were watching each other’s shadows. Just in case something began to creep up on them.

“An hour...” One of the healers whispered. “That’s the longest you’ll be able to keep this up before you collapse. If you try to push past that, then the injuries you previously sustained will break you.”

Riley couldn’t help but grimace at that. An hour wouldn’t be nearly enough time. Especially since there was going to be at least another day before Ezekiel was expected to come back. Unless he had already returned without telling anyone. But until the Guardian spoke to them, she wouldn’t know what was going on with her husband until it was too late.

“Guardian!” she nearly coughed up blood thanks to the mana she had used to enhance her voice. But this was necessary. “What is happening? Why are you not taking action?”

For a moment, there was silence, and each of the Hunters and Scholars waited for a reply.

Nothing was said. Not with words, at least.

Instead, the entire Legacy began to shake, and the air began to feel much lighter. Even the amount of mana in the air seemed to lessen, while the enchantments on the wall began to glow even brighter. To the point where Riley’s flames weren’t needed to keep the shadows at bay.

Throughout it all, Riley couldn’t keep the smile off her face. It seemed that Ezekiel was taking action after all.

“Riley!” a panicked scream cut through her joy, and she whipped her head around to the twins.

Stone walls had sprung up around them, forcing the other Hunters away, and casting them in shadows that surged above their neck.

She nearly launched herself forward, before her foot sank into the ground. A hole appeared in the ground beneath her, before wrapping around her ankles and keeping her in place. The familiar feeling of the Guardian’s presence reached out.

“Apologies... but I have no choice right now...” the Guardian’s voice was soft, and full of regret.

Yet that didn’t change the fact that he was actively working against them.

She didn’t even get the chance to scream before the entire room began to shift.

----------

Meanwhile, stuck inside a room full of lava, Ezekiel made out several shifts in the walls around him. Changes were made by the Guardian that were keeping him to date with the situation outside.

It was difficult to make out what words the shapes were making, but Shine was not burning and was able to translate for him.

It seems like this charge must be cut short... Do you have any idea what this is? To be able to make the Guardian act in such a manner? Shine’s mental voice was quiet, but it cut through the anger that flooded Ezekiel’s soul.

I have an idea... Though how it is still here, and why it is acting against us in such a manner is the real question. Ezekiel had lowered his channeling efficiency in order to maintain more awareness and focus. The Legacy would last a couple of days without him at this point, but he would need to wrap up whatever was happening fast.

What’s your idea? I don’t think there’s anything alive that could control the shadows like this... Unless your mother went insane... There was a sense of apprehension and wariness in Shine’s voice, but Ezekiel didn’t mind the accusation.

Instead, he focused on reaching out to the area of his mother’s trials room. It would be different, making a rift inside a lava pool, but necessary all the same.

I don’t think my mother going crazy would grant her the authority to command the Guardian... This is something different. Something older... Something Ancient...

With that final apprehensive statement, Ezekiel forced his mana into place. Thought strained, his soul was filled to the brim with mana that his [Will] had taken control over.

Even as shock filled Shine’s mind, and echoed through Ezekiel’s, they both focused on the task at hand. In one moment, they were bathing in the world’s molten core.

In the next, they were drowning in darkness.