Chapter 25

Having informed the Elves of the name of their destination in order to gain access to Sthistor, Darras stepped through the gateway and found himself, to his surprise, still in Erren’s domain.

“Relax, my Darras. No time at all is passing in the world,” Erren greeted him with a smile.

“That’s a relief, my Erren,” Darras acknowledged.

“Here are the promised staffs,” Erren said as she handed over the two objects she carried. “They have been matched to Annos and Sondrast.”

“Which one is which?” Darras asked as they looked similar to each other.

“This one is Annos’s,” Erren replied indicating the one on Darras’s right. “Though the pair of them will immediately know which staff is theirs.”

“I’m sure they’ll be grateful,” Darras chuckled, then kissed Erren farewell before he stepped into the gateway.

There was a distinct chill in the air as Darras moved away from the vicinity of the gateway in order for it to operate again. This mostly was from a slight breeze coming from what appeared to be a natural cave leading into the domed chamber. The rest of the party came through, one at a time. Both Annos and Sondrast looked amazed at Erren’s gifts to them when Darras handed them over.

“Amazing,” Annos breathed out softly. “I can store up to fifty spells for immediate use on this.”

“I could never afford such an item should I save for two hundred years,” Sondrast commented in amazement as he ran his fingers along the staff.

“Do that now,” Firios commanded. “Traskis, Tinara and I will scout the immediate environs; Darras, please guard the entrance.”

“Got it,” Darras acknowledged as the three Elves moved out down the cave to the outside world.

Darras followed them, but set up watch in the dark where he could observe any activity at the cave entrance. Behind him he could hear the soft murmurings of Annos and Sondrast as they charged their new staffs, along with what appeared to be a technical conversation over precise symbolism.

‘Told you they’d be good for each other, ’ Erren giggled.

“Will they form a relationship?” Darras asked.

‘Yes, they bond even as we converse.’

“Good. I like them both.”

‘As do I, my Darras. As do I.’

Tinara chose this moment to return to the cave and moved to where Darras was. “We’re quite high up a mountain, but there’s a clear trail caused by some sort of animal that leads downwards,” she informed him.

“We’ll head down when those two are ready,” Darras acknowledged the information, referring to Annos and Sondrast.

“I sense they are attracted to one another,” Tinara chuckled.

“They are,” Darras replied with a smile. “Wenderos approves.”

“Good. Annos thought there was none that would have her.”

“Why would that be?” a puzzled Darras asked.

“No male would accept anything but distant friendship from her. Firios, Traskis and myself are already married and she was both frustrated and lonely.”

“Well, now she knows why,” Darras chuckled.

“Aye, the goddess plans our lives, it seems.”

“That she does,” Darras nodded, feeling Erren’s mirth in the background. “Now, let’s begin the hunt.”

Darras was surprised to find a paved road leading away from the cave, suggesting that someone, other than the gods, was at least aware of the gateway. There were, however, other signs of activity to the sides of the road which were plain enough, even with a light dusting of snow.

“Definitely Durglin,” Darras confirmed for the Elves, recognising the spoor due to his recent encounter.

“Traskis, Tinara and I will scout ahead. Just follow the road and let us see where it leads,” Firios commanded.

Because the road was in good condition Darras made fairly good time and soon the dusting of snow vanished as the air temperature rose. Sondrast and Annos were deep in a conversation involving the arcana of magic and hence oblivious to anything but the obvious, so Darras was relying on Erren to warn him of anything that got past the Elves. The road itself finally ended in a set of woods with a stone archway, where Tinara waited for the party.

“There are no woodland creatures to be found,” she informed them. “This archway itself does not match any known style but seems to be very ancient, if in good condition.”

‘You’ll need to be careful, ’ Erren warned. ‘If it is that ancient, it may have been set up by the first race and they guarded their secrets lethally well.’

“Erren suspects it may be of the first race,” Darras informed them.

“Ah,” Annos nodded, though the others just looked confused. “We don’t know what they looked like as they left no clues as to that, but here and there are signs of a race who founded a civilisation that rose and fell before the time of Elvenkind and others.”

“Anything else?” Tinara asked.

“If we do find any of their buildings, be wary. They often trapped them and those traps are still known to work, even today.”

“How come so few know of them?” Darras asked.

“The buildings often contained treasures of a type, though only those versed in magic were able to detect them and so ordinary people just thought them old ruins of an earlier civilisation and not important.”

“In other words, magic users wanted to keep the secrets for themselves?” Darras chuckled.

“Probably. My master only rarely mentioned them in passing and then only to warn of being cautious,” Annos replied.

“I’ll warn the others,” Tinara replied and then ghosted off into the woods.

“I sensed no magic at all on the road or the arch,” Sondrast confessed after Tinara had gone.

“They didn’t use it for those things. They were supreme builders in a sense in that their roads survive in places, though many of the blocks used were salvaged and used in early civilisation constructions,” Annos replied.

“Ah, right,” Sondrast nodded as the group followed a trail that, whoever had been using the road, had used it as they descended into the wooded valley.

“No signs of Lizardmen using this place,” Darras noted.

“They may regard the area as cursed,” Annos replied. “Whilst I have not met many, those I have, have been very ... superstitious.”

‘It’s actually still a little high for them and far too dry, ’ Erren giggled. ‘Not cursed as such, though Annos is correct in how they view it.’

“And who were this elder race?” Darras asked in low tones.

‘Humanoid, though descended from what you’d think of as dragons, ’ Erren explained. ‘They killed themselves off in a war involving magic.’

“Didn’t you try to prevent it?” Darras asked.

‘Their time was over and it was the time of the younger races, ’ Erren replied. ‘Their deaths moved them on to a higher plane.’

“Ah, they’d have prevented the rise of the younger races?”

‘Very much so. They were extremely powerful and intolerant of any rival.’

Firios made an appearance at this point and waved for them to stop.

“There is an abandoned building ahead. Tinara warned us against entering, hence it’s up to you magic users and those guarded by the goddess,” he chuckled, indicating a direction.

“Let’s go,” Darras nodded as the three followed Firios.

For all it was obviously a building, the aesthetics were definitely off from Darras’s point of view. Not that he could place his finger upon why it made him feel uneasy. It also seemed to have the Elves being extremely cautious as well.

“I sense an aversion spell,” Sondrast stated. “Not sure of the original source though, but it must have been extremely powerful once.”

Annos nodded assent and advanced cautiously forward to place the tip of her staff on the door frame and the feeling of unease that Darras had been feeling eased and dissipated.

“It’s gone, for now,” Annos announced.

“For now?” Darras queried.

“Not sure how the original caster did it, but the spell is regenerating and will probably trigger again at midnight,” she explained.

“Best take a look now while we’re able,” Darras nodded, trusting Erren to warn him of any hidden physical traps.

Inside, the building had the feel of a temple, though there were no statues nor an altar of any sort. Annos and Sondrast led the way, often using their staffs to touch certain areas, presumably to remove spells.

“Whoever built or used this, clearly did not want uninvited guests,” Traskis stated from a position behind Darras.

“Agreed,” Darras nodded. “Though there appears to be little of note to be seen ... so far.”

“There is something over here,” Sondrast called them over to what appeared to be an alcove of sorts.

Darras walked over to where Sondrast indicated and then frowned as the feeling of wrongness he normally felt when approaching a shadow seemed to fill a doorway, almost to the point of revulsion.

“Ah, you feel it, Darras?” Annos asked.

“I do, it’s very similar to a shadow, though not alive as such,” Darras replied and carefully reached out to touch the doorframe hearing a mental scream as his touch affected it in a similar manner to a shadow.

What had seemed to be an ordinary alcove gradually took the form of a room as the image that the shadow type of magic was producing faded away, revealing several objects stored neatly in pristine boxes.

“Thank you, Darras,” Annos acknowledged. “For all we could sense it magically, none of our arts could focus upon it.”

“You’re welcome. Now, shall we see what we have here?” Darras asked.

“They appear to be magical tools of some kind,” Sondrast informed the group, though being careful not to touch anything. “Also written documents, though the script is unknown to me.”

“Erren has told me she’ll explain what they are as well as translate the documents after our mission,” Darras replied. “Just leave them here for now as I doubt they’ll be disturbed once the barrier reforms.”

“Oh, we get to see her again?” Tinara enthused.

“You do,” Darras chuckled.

“Wonderful!”

“I doubt there is anything else to find. Other magic users will have stripped it bare,” Firios stated. “We only found this because Darras could counter the barrier.”

“True,” Annos agreed. “We have a mission to complete.”

The party moved out of the building and Sondrast used his staff to quickly reconstitute the aversion spell. Firios, Tinara and Traskis then led the way, following the spoor of the Durglin that now headed upwards towards a high pass and presumably another valley.

The Elves had found an uninhabited cave near the top of the pass just as twilight was beginning and the party set up camp for the night with Darras and Traskis tackling the cooking of a simple meal. Firios and Annos had scouted on ahead, though only to confirm that the downward slope of the pass was clear and nothing was approaching. The party then ate their fill and other than arranging a watch schedule, settled down for the night. Darras slept well, despite the hard ground and took the final watch before dawn from a clearly still tired Sondrast, who wasn’t used to the rigours of camp life. Darras used this time to bank the fire and prepare the cooking pot he carried to make a simple porridge as well as purify water they had obtained from a stream. The others, apart from Sondrast awoke as the sun just broke the horizon and methodically broke the camp down for travel, other than the cooking implements. This eventually woke Sondrast who pitched in helping and the party were ready to travel just as Darras served up the porridge.

“Do you think these Durglin are down in that valley?” Sondrast asked as they ate breakfast.

“Hard to say,” Firios shrugged. “It looks uninhabited, but these creatures have no need of buildings.”

“Just be careful, my friends,” Darras advised. “We do not want to become the hunted.”

“Indeed not,” Tinara agreed as dishes were washed and the cooking implements stored.

Firios led the group carefully down the pass into the new valley, avoiding open exposure to any who might be watching the horizon. He called a halt when the party reached the treeline and he caught the scent of a probable swampy area within.

“Darras, Sondrast, remain here whilst we scout these woods,” he advised. “It may be that that which we seek is within.”