Chapter 5

They headed back into the crumbling hallway, still shaken by what they had witnessed. The wolf had stopped leading them. Now, it only padded along beside Osric, its head swiveling from side to side and nose twitching. Not that they needed a guide any longer.

There was only one direction left to go, and the three turned and headed deeper into the secret underground complex. They didn’t have to go far. The shadows had made the room seem larger than it was, deeper. In reality, they found the back wall after going only thirty meters, with a very large arched doorway in the center of it.

He felt Talia tense beside him, and for a moment, he thought maybe something about it frightened her, except her expression was one of wonder and amazement, not fear, as she approached the doorway, stopping in front of it and staring at the intricate carvings around its arch.

Reaching out, she ran her hands over the glyphs. For a full minute, she said nothing. Just ran her hands back and forth over the symbols, tracing out the detailed patterns.

“It’s some kind of barrier,” she murmured. “The glyphs are for protection, to keep whatever’s on the other side from crossing over to this side.”

Osric glanced back the way they had come and asked, “So if we go through, we won’t be able to get back?”

Talia traced a slender finger over one of the cracks spiderwebbing across the surface of the weathered glyphs.

“I don’t think that is true. Elder Miriam had books that talked about glyphs like this. They are very complex and take powerful mages to construct, but one thing was clear; the integrity of the glyphs is key. These are cracked and broken in places. They no longer hold any power, or function.”

“I would expect these to be for the other direction, keeping anyone from going deeper, sort of like a magic version of the guard room back there,” he said, gesturing vaguely behind them. “Was this some kind of prison?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. All I can tell you is that we’ll be able to return this way. Nothing about them suggests why they were put here.”

Osric thought for a moment, watching Talia examine the doorway and the glyphs and, not for the first time since she first showed her ability in Elder Miriam’s cottage, he wondered about how much she knew. And why she’d never told him.

“Talia, why didn’t you ever tell me about this? About magic?” The words tumbled from him almost against his will.

“Is this the right time to talk about this, Osric?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

She didn’t even look at him, her focus still on the glyphs.

“Maybe not, and it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. It’s just ... every time I think I’ve come to terms with it, you do something even bigger, more impressive. We were friends for so long...”

He let his voice trail off. He wanted to let it go, just continue their search, but he couldn’t. He knew she had reasons for not telling him, for keeping it secret, and he didn’t want to pry, but their lives were on the line. The more he knew about her, and her amazing abilities, the safer they would be. Which is why he was surprised when she sighed and turned to face him. He’d expected anger or maybe annoyance. Instead, she looked almost sad.

“It’s not because I didn’t trust you, Osric. I did. There’s just ... a lot you don’t know about my life,” she said in a soft, resigned voice, before pausing for what felt like a long time.

He could see a battle playing out on her face, as if she was at war with herself. He was about to tell her never mind, that he didn’t want to pry, when she seemed to make up her mind.

“I didn’t say anything because it was a secret. It had to be. Elder Miriam was teaching magic outside the Conclave. While it’s not illegal or unallowed, it’s certainly frowned upon. We didn’t want to draw attention from them. They have strict rules about how magic should be taught and used. I’m not sure exactly what danger she would have been in from them, but she made me promise to tell no one. Ever.” She paused, her expression softening. “And I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to put you in danger.”

Osric wanted to tell her she wouldn’t, and that he would take the danger if it meant their friendship being closer, but he didn’t. As she said, this was the wrong time for that and, with everything going on, it didn’t feel right. Something did confuse him about the story, though.

“Why not send you to the Conclave then? If what Elder Miriam was doing was so dangerous?”

Talia shrugged, “I don’t know. Elder Miriam left the Conclave over some disagreement, but she never talked about it with me. She never talked about them at all, really, beyond telling me she left and I wasn’t to tell anyone what she was teaching me.”

“Okay,” he said.

She looked halfway between conflicted and relieved, and he didn’t want to push her anymore. Besides, the rest was Elder Miriam’s story to tell, although right now, it seemed unlikely that they’d ever get back home for her to tell it.

Instead, he turned and stepped through the doorway. Even though she’d said the magic carved into the doorway was long gone, he half expected to feel something, like when the ring did its magic. But he felt nothing.

It was just a normal doorway now.

A short hallway extended beyond the door before opening up into a vast, cavernous space, the ceiling soaring up into darkness. Talia made a series of motions with her hands, sending the glowing orb of light flying up and around the chamber, showing them just how large and deep the space really was: a rectangle stretching at least a hundred meters ahead of them toward another rough, stone wall and an arched doorway.

The sheer size of the room was impressive, but even more amazing were the objects it contained. Arrayed along the perimeter were a dozen stone pedestals, six lining each long side of the chamber. Perched atop each pedestal was a large, upright stone ring, reminiscent of the one they had seen the rift appear in earlier; except these were completely unbroken and intact. The rings stood tall enough for a person to step through, if only there had been an opening on the other side. Instead, the back of each ring was smooth, flat stone. Steps led up the side of each pedestal, providing access to the solid rings, though they served no discernible purpose.

“What are these?” Osric murmured.

Talia drifted towards the nearest stone, scrutinizing the intricate symbols and patterns etched around its circumference. She reached out a hand, her fingers hovering just over the weathered engravings without touching them, as if the ancient carvings were something fragile to be handled with care.

“Some kind of portal ... or they were meant to be, I think,” she said. “The markings look similar to teleportation circles I read about in one of Elder Miriam’s books, they only exist within the Conclave’s major towers. Something about the unpredictable nature and dangers that can come from their use. The books were never clear on what those dangers were.”

“Could they have opened rifts like the one we saw earlier?”

“I’m not sure. Like I said, I only read about them in books. Elder Miriam never mentioned anything like this in her actual teachings. I think the magic required ... it’s beyond anything I’ve encountered.”

Osric joined her beside the stone ring. This close, he could make out individual glyphs and symbols etched into the surface. They seemed crisp, untouched by time. He reached out a hand but paused before making contact.

“Should I touch it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think they have any magic left in them, at least I don’t feel any. But that other ring was all but melted, and we saw what that did when your ring came in contact with it.”

“Then ... maybe I shouldn’t,” Osric said, backing away from it, choosing instead to stare around the room in open-mouthed wonder.

“Probably not,” Talia said. “I’m not sure there’s much more to see. This is ruins, just like the rest of this place.”

“Yeah,” Osric said, still staring around the room. “I’d love to know what this was all about.”

“I know, but unless you have some way of asking the people who lived here...” she said, letting the words trail off. “Besides, we have other things to worry about. Like why we’re here, what your ring is, and what we’re going to do about it.”

“Yeah, I guess we keep going,” Osric said, taking one last look around before continuing to the open doorway at the end of the rectangular room.

To Osric’s surprise, when they reached it, they found another set of stairs going down even deeper into the earth. They looked at each other for a moment before Osric took the lead, walking down the steps.

The stairwell deposited them in another magnificent room. Though much of the room’s contents had long ago turned to dust, the soaring architecture still conveyed a sense of importance and grandeur.

The chamber had a high, arched ceiling, not quite as high as the room with the rings, but still very tall and impressive. Spaced evenly along the curving walls were something that looked like alcoves. The walls themselves looked like they might have once held some kind of mural or painting, although it was all so faded by time that it was impossible to tell what the images had been.

The two most notable, and intact, things in the room were a large stone table in the center of the room and a dark metal door at the far end, opposite where the stairwell dropped them off.

For a moment, Osric didn’t move, once again caught up by his wonder, just staring at another in what was turning out to be a long line of incredible sights. Talia wasn’t so enamored, pushing past him and starting to walk the circumference of the room, forcing Osric to hurry after her.

He caught up as she paused to examine one of the recessed alcoves along the curving wall. Fragments of cracked pottery, what might have once been leather book covers, and shards of glass were heaped haphazardly amidst the rubble. She delicately shifted some pieces with her foot, squinting at them, but as far as Osric could see, it was all destroyed beyond recognition.

With a sigh, she pushed past him again, heading toward the large circular stone table. It was intricately carved from a single slab of black marble, with clawed feet and symbols etched around the rim. The surface was covered in some kind of engraving, but it was so worn down by time that, at first, Osric couldn’t make out what the markings were.

“It’s a map of the world,” Talia said, seeing his expression.

Osric tilted his head, trying to see it from a different vantage point. After a moment, he thought he could make out the outline of Peridia, although he didn’t know the shape that well. He’d seen it a few times in a shop he and Master Ironhand had gone to with finished orders, but studying in books and looking at maps had never held much interest for him.

“Are you sure?”

“I think so. I can sort of make out the mountains and the great forest. The shape is right,” she said, and then ran her hand over one side of it. “This is odd, though.”

“What?” he said, trying to make out what she was looking at.

“Here. This must have been important, since it’s the only symbol large enough that it is still showing. It’s in the wrong place, though. These are the Shadowfell Marshes. There’s nothing here now and no one ever goes there.”

“I’ve heard of that, I think,” Osric said, trying to remember where he heard it mentioned.

“It’s in the far northwest between the Dun River and the Craigshire Mountains. According to all the histories I’ve read, it’s a horrible place filled with monsters, exiled things and the occasional bandit on the run from justice. It’s not a place anyone would ever want to go to, at least not if they want to survive, which is why having something marked in the middle of it makes no sense.”

“As opposed to the rest of this place?” Osric pointed out.

“I suppose that’s true,” she said, running her hand over the map once more.

He knew she’d stay and stare at the tableau for the rest of the day if he let her. Mission or no, something this old and interesting was like sweets to an infant for her. For him, there was something more practical and much more interesting drawing his attention.

Now that they were in the center of the room, Osric had a better look at the door on the opposite end of the room, and it was obvious that it was quite a bit newer than everything else in this room.

Stepping away from Talia, he approached the door, running his hand over it. The metal wasn’t new exactly, but it wasn’t ancient, either. Rusted and pitted in places, it might have been ten or fifteen years old, but probably not older than that. It also looked very sturdy. It was impossible to tell with it closed, but the way it hung, he had to guess it was very heavy, which meant thick. It swung inward, putting the hinges inside the room, which was smart.

Some might argue that it would be better to have it swing out, put the pressure on the wall and closed hinge, in addition to the door, but that exposes the hinges to the people on this side, and they are almost always weaker than the door itself. If it had been that way, Osric could have potentially found a way to remove the door from its hinges. As it was, if the door was barred in any way from the other side, it would be all but impossible to budge.

“I can open it, I think,” Talia said from behind him, causing Osric to almost jump in the air. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. You just move too damn quietly.”

“You can open this? With magic?”

“Yes. Unless it’s enchanted, the spell isn’t that hard to weave.”

“Be my guest,” Osric said, stepping back and bowing, both arms extended toward the door in an exaggerated posture.

Shaking her head but otherwise ignoring him, Talia took a step closer.

Talia took a deep breath and closed her eyes, stepping apart slightly as if bracing herself. As Osric watched, she lifted her hands up in front of her chest, palms facing each other as if cradling an invisible sphere. Slowly, she interlaced her fingers, joining her thumbs together and pointing them upwards to form an oval shape. Keeping her fingers interlocked, she rotated her hands outward, pivoting her thumbs downwards.