The Chronicle of Haethrong

"There weren’t always dragons in The Valley.

Nor were there Sculptors in the Deserts and Plains.

But much about the world had been altered;

much of the world had changed.

For in their fight to the death,

in a land seemingly before time;

The Gods of Haethrong battled:

forging the Great Divide...”

4 AGD

Far outside Canald, the City of Steel’s limits, and nestled on a patch of hills surrounded by forest, lied the new Human capital of Anu’keth. Not many survived “The Crack” as the Humans then called it: that brief span of time when the heavens opened up, and the world changed forever. The survivors that did escape the City were immediately thrust back into their ancestors' world... and that world was unkind to the mortals of Haethrong. A collection of Humans, led by the brave Knights Captain Lania Likain and Corporal Gregoris Hansmard led a band of survivors out of the City, and into the dense Polmian forests. After some time, a new capital was formed, where the Humans rebuilt, and struggled to live simple lives...

It was a dark, still night when Likain and Hansmard were called into the chambers of the Grand Council: the first Grand Hall that the Humans had managed to build. It was a majestic two story log cabin that spanned a couple hundred meters in length. Big enough to hold most of the new capital's inhabitants inside. A flurry of words were quickly muttered between the aged nine Humans that sat in front of Likain and Hansmard at their arrival. Neither Likain nor Hansmard could get a word in before The Grand Counselor, Julian Opnath, began to speak.

“So it’s settled then?” asked Opnath. He was an older fair skinned man with long, graying hair. Once a noble of Canald, now turned into a semi-leader of the new capital.

“If by settled, you mean agreed upon by the Council, then sure,” replied Captain Likain. She disliked Opnath heavily. She met his gaze directly and crossed her arms.

Opnath scoffed, “Miss Lika-”

“Captain Likain,” she retorted quickly.

“Captain Likain, surely you agree we would benefit in every way from this expedition? More armaments, potential knowledge, a look at the city...” said Opnath.

“If we survive,” said Likain. She squinted her green eyes at the old man.

“... and the potential to find and rescue more citizens of Canald,” finished Opnath, ignoring Likain’s statement.

“This is a suicide mission,”, said Hansmard. The younger, brown skinned male took a step towards the Counselor. “We’ve had more than one funeral as a result of hunting as of late, we don’t need to expend what few Knights we do have in search of arms and mystical artifacts... And survivors? You have to be joking...” said Hansmard and held his hands out towards them. He stepped towards Counselor Parnam, a light-brown skinned woman who sat on the left side of the Counselor’s, “Counselor Parnam, surely you must see the folly in this?” he asked.

Counselor Parnam looked down before Hansmard had approached, then looked at the Knight with a steely gaze, “You’ve been accompany to some of those hunting expeditions, Corporal. Surely you agree that... whatever warped and twisted nature surrounds us, requires whatever we can find,” she stated strongly. She grabbed a silver chalice that rested in a cup-holder on her chair. She took a long drink, and looked back at the pleading Knight, “We’re barely holding on here, Gregoris.” She finished her drink, stood up, brushed off her light red dress and walked away.

Likain stepped forward and looked at all the counselors solemnly, “I hope, for all our sakes, that you’ve put more thought into this than that conversation,” she said. She looked at Parnam, who exited the Hall without looking back.

“Kilkard and Fennick will take over your positions while you are away. You are to take Raedrid, Garfan, and Humal with you. Have each of them recruit a Knight as well,” said Opnath. He stood and clasped his hands. A faint echo bounced around the Hall.

“We are adjourned,” said Opnath. Him and the other counselors stood wordlessly and walked out, leaving Likain and Hansmard alone.

“This is preposterous,” said Hansmard, “This is Julian's doing, I know it. Za’ron damn him!” he exclaimed quietly. He lightly punched one of the long tables residing on either side of the Hall.

Likain pensively massaged her forehead, “We’ll have to cross The Valley to reach the Western sewers...” she said.

Hansmard gulped and sighed, “The Valley is the least of our concerns,” he said walking out of the Hall.

Likain felt her stomach drop at that, he’s right, she thought. Lania made her way out of the Hall, and looked up at the Red and Gray moons above her. The combined light produced a reddish hue that laid over the settlement, and seemed to reflect off her fair-skin. “Za’ron, uk’tan il... Anu’stal, haj'il...” she said aloud quietly.

She closed her eyes and hoped for that familiar warmth; that feeling of safety, suspended animation... The Acknowledgement. Lania’s expression became grim when nothing happened. The Gods have abandoned us, she thought, walking back to her house not far away...

Three days later...

The group trekked through the Polmian forest both day and night, with Lania and Gregoris at the helm. It was dark despite the two Fall moons shining brightly: the tall canopy above blotched out the sky. The sun had just begun setting when Lania heard a shriek and a loud yell from the line behind her. She looked back suddenly and began to move in that direction. Gregoris followed. They attempted to sprint back, but found their recently carved path to be gone: replaced by the thick brush they just cut.

Both hastily managed to connect the paths: the rest of the party was just beyond the brush, and surrounded by a pack of wolves: six huge multicolored beasts, with thick, bright blue and purple veins protruding from patched fur. The veins seemed to pulse with each step they took. The wolves growled as they encircled their prey.

Raedrid Niltah, an Elven Mage, began an incantation. He muttered half a dozen words of Magellan: the language of Maegick. He waved both arms in semi-circles and centered them towards his chest. He expelled them outwards around him. The wolves that growled and drew closer froze in their footsteps... all but one that is. The largest black wolf gnarled its teeth and loudly growled as Raedrid finished his spell. Those neon colored veins pulsed and the wolf’s hair stood on its end. Its eyes glowed a bright yellow, and the wolf began stepping towards the party once more, albeit much more slowly. Raedrid looked at the wolf with a fearful fascination: It... it countered my spell... he thought. He absentmindedly began stepping towards the wolf.

“RAEDRID! MOVE!” yelled Lania.

His apprentice, Evelyn Bismoth, shook her master lightly, “We must go!”

Raedrid snapped out of his momentary trance. The wolf still crept towards them, one slow step at a time. The rest of the party quickly made their way to where Lania and Gregoris stood. A cart with their supplies hovered over the ground behind the party and followed them through the brush.

And so, they cut and ran, escaping as quickly as their strength would allow. Gregoris eventually yelled, “I hear water! It must be The Laerdran River. This way...” leading the group further to the northwest.

They cut down more brush and traversed more forest before hitting the river itself: it was a roaring river laid in a canyon that stretched at least fifty meters wide. The river rested ten meters below the cliff edge that the party found themselves on. As soon as the party got to the edge of the river, a chorus of loud howls echoed through the forest.

“We need to cross!”, said Raedrid stepping towards the river's edge, “that spell will not hold for long. Evelyn, assist me!”

Raedrid locked his hands together and held them out in front of him. He concentrated once again and began to summon energy from within him. Although he specialized in fire maegick, he had prior training in earth maegick as well. He pictured the roots of Polmian trees extending from each side of the river and meeting each other halfway. Evelyn knelt down and placed both of her hands on the ground. She concentrated and began to pour energy into the earth. Suddenly, thick roots sprouted from both sides of the river, and began to grow towards each other.

After a minute, a rudimentary root-bridge began to take shape: it was thin however, and didn’t look sturdy. Raedrid began breathing rapidly and sweat began to trickle down his brow. Evelyn also struggled and began panting. Another chorus of howls rang through the forest: more wolves seemed to join the prior pack, and were closer than before.

Lania looked back worriedly, “Raedrid, we must cross! We don’t have any more time!”

Evelyn gasped and caught herself from falling over. She appeared completely out of breath and struggled to stand, “I- I’m sorry Master, something isn’t right,” she put a hand on her head as a migraine began forming.

Raedrid did not falter: he reached deep within him and tapped his large pool of maegical energy, “Untoth... Delfin Polmian Gahdral!” he shouted. The root-bridge stopped growing.

Lania ran to the foot of the bridge, “GO! Manta! Help Evelyn! Get yourselves across!” she yelled. Manta Estray, a Lance-Corporal under Van Garfan, helped Evelyn to her feet, “Do you need me to carry you?” he asked. Evelyn looked pained and nodded lightly. Manta picked her legs up and carried her like a child. He fully stepped onto the root-bridge and walked slowly: the bridge creaked slightly but held. He quickened his pace after the first few steps. The rest of the party and the HoverCart made their way across as well. Lania looked at Raedrid and nodded, he crossed quickly.

Lania began to cross when the howls echoed once more: three large wolves emerged from the forest baring their teeth. The large black one from before led the other two. Lania ran and the wolves followed.

Lania neared the end of the bridge, “Cut it!” she yelled.

Raedrid clasped both hands in front of him once more, “Nullon!” he yelled. Nothing happened, and the wolves continued unabated. Raedrid stared in disbelief.

Lania crossed the bridge, “CUT IT!” she yelled at Raedrid.

Raedrid was frustrated and angry. He quickly made a cross with his arms in front of him, “THRA’DA LIKOOD!” he yelled, throwing his arms out. A giant ball of flame rushed outwards from his arms and struck the center of the bridge. The entirety of the opposite side of the bridge exploded in a flurry of wood from its center. A red-furred wolf jumped at the last moment, passed through the fireball uninjured, and landed on the bridge near the party. The other two wolves fell into the river.

The red-furred wolf ran at them again and jumped towards Raedrid. Lania jumped in front of Raedrid, and stomped her right foot in the ground.

She concentrated, summoned energy from within her, and expelled her arms forward, “WILLAK BASTO!” she yelled.

A burst of force propelled itself outward around her, and struck the wolf mid-air. The rest of the party fell to the ground with their ears ringing. The wolf tumbled left and fell into the river below. The large black wolf cried out with a howl of differing pitches as it drifted down the river, watching her brethren drown. Those neon colored veins pulsed once more. All three wolves disappeared and flopped onto the ground on the opposite side of the river drenched in water, and out of breath. They took a moment to stand, shook out their fur and howled in unison. They stared at the party for a moment before running into the forest in a westward direction.

Lania panted, collapsing to a kneeling position. The rest of the party began to recover from the burst that Lania had just delivered to them. Manta Estray and Van Garfan stood after a few moments and began helping the party to their feet, starting with Lania.

Lania looked at Van, “I... I’m sorry. I... don’t know what happened,” she said with exasperation. She did not intend for that spell to be nearly as powerful as it was. She also wanted the spell to be directed in front of her, not all around her. Something's wrong with my incantation? she wondered.

Van chuckled and his thick Fulk’ton accent came through, “Don’t worry about it, Lania,” he said looking around, “it wasn’t your fault.”

Raedrid managed to sit up about five meters from the cliff’s edge: he panted heavily and put a hand onto his chest, feeling an intense burn. Evelyn put a hand to her head, “What is wrong with this-” she couldn’t get the words out before vomiting next to her. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed back to the ground. Her body began convulsing. Manta wasted no time: he went to Evelyn, opened up his knapsack, and fetched a small vial of yellow liquid. He unscrewed its cap, and then pried her jaw open. He quickly forced her to drink the liquid and then put his thumb into her mouth. She bit into it hard. He winced lightly, but his leather gloves absorbed most of the pain. She stopped convulsing after a few moments and seemed to fall into a deep sleep. Lania and Manta gently got Evelyn laying in a bedroll.

Raedrid looked at his apprentice and then to them both, “Thank you.” “Something is different about this place,” he said, beginning to regain his breath.

“Everything is different about this place,” said Manta. He hunkered down beside Raedrid and procured another vial of yellow-tinted liquid from his pack, “Here, drink this,” he said. Raedrid shook his head and refused.

“Raedrid, we have no idea what is happening here. We cannot afford our Lead Mage to falter. Drink,” he said, handing the vial over.

Raedrid’s eyes met Manta’s before he looked at the vial and accepted. He downed its contents and gagged, “Shit... that stuff is awful,” he said, laying down on the grass, looking into the night sky.

Manta laughed, “You’ll get used to it.”

Raedrid began to feel a “numbness” wash over him, “What exactly did you give us?” he asked.

“It’s a Maegick-Field Dampener. For us non-users. Was meant to help with intoxication. I got like Evelyn did when around too many mages sometimes...” he said, beginning to fish around his own pack.

He procured another vial that contained what looked like salt inside it. “Here,” he said, pouring some of it out onto his leather glove.

Raedrid leaned up sluggishly and looked at Manata again, “... Trying to drug me up, Corporal?”

Manta smiled devilishly, “Of course!” he said laughing loudly. It echoed throughout the forest.

“Hey!” snapped Lania from the cart, “Keep it down.”

Manta put both hands up in the air, “Apologies, Captain.”

Raedrid chuckled and wetted his thumb with his mouth. He rubbed it along Manta’s glove to collect the substance and stuck it on his tongue. Readrid recoiled a bit at the “sourness” of it but grabbed his water and drank it down.

“... And that?” he asked Manta, motioning the water to the Knight.

“A calming agent. Meant to help with nausea and vertigo... You should level out a little bit”, said Manta.

Lania gathered some of the Insta-light wood the party brought with them from the cart, “Raedrid, when you’re able, could you make a small fire circle please?” she asked.

After a few minutes, Raedrid walked to the center of the group. He closed his eyes, and concentrated. He felt a surge of energy flow through him. He put his left fist over his chest, flattened his right hand and pushed it in an outward direction, “Nuntik Extan,” he said quietly.

The grass and vegetation beneath his feet began to creep away from Raedrid, forming a small circle around him. He lowered his right hand and exhaled. The ground settled, and a small dirt circle was left in its wake. Raedrid sat back down.

Lania approached the circle and began stacking wood, “Thank you,” she said quietly.

Once the stack was complete, Lania backed away, “Vil'noth”, said Raedrid.

A series of sparks fluttered around the wood pile until one of the pieces caught. The rest of the party readied their bed knaps and sat around the now raging fire.

Lania then went to Evelyn, who began to stir from sleep. Lania handed Evelyn her water skin and helped her sit up.

Evelyn was sluggish and felt nauseous as she sat up, “Easy... easy,” said Lania.

Evelyn took the water and drank.

She looked at Lania and then Raedrid, “What’s happening here? Why doesn’t our maegick work as intended?”.

Raedrid shook his head and looked into the flames, “I don’t know. The presence of maegick is thick in the air... and those wolves apparently graduated with top marks from the Academy...” he said.

Evelyn chuckled, “Yeah... Haefid would be proud.”

Raedrid grinned lightly, “Yes... yes he would.”

Evelyn put a hand on her forehead, “Why do I feel like this?” she asked.

Manta looked to her, “Maegick-Field Dampener. It looked like you both were suffering from intoxication, so I thought it might help... hunch turned out to be right,” he said, shrugging.

Lania walked to the edge of the cliff and looked at the opposite bank of the river, scanning for anything that could be a threat. She saw nothing, and turned, “Right. Gregoris and I will do our first watch, Humal and Lipin will take second, and Van and Manta will take third. Raedrid, Evelyn, get as much rest as you can. We set out in five hours...” she said.

Raedrid and Evelyn both fell asleep quickly. Humal and Lipin were both from the desert, and used to a drastically hotter climate. Both set their bedrolls closer to the fire and struggled to sleep. Van and Manta were raised in the Northeastern part of Bholhan, where snow fell most of the year, and didn’t mind the colder climate at all.

Lania and Gregoris sat by for a couple hours, lightly patrolling the fire’s perimeter, nerves on edge. Outside of strange noises and animalistic sounds, the watch was uneventful. The watch changed after a couple hours allowing Lania and Gregoris to set their bedrolls down. The combination of the cold, and their uncomfortable armor made sleeping difficult. But after a while Lania joined the others and drifted into a dreamless slumber...

----

Dawn came by more quickly than Lania would have liked.

Van shook her awake, “Captain, it’s dawn. We must be off...” he said in his thick Fulk’ton accent. Dawn’s light revealed his pale white skin and brown eyes.

Lania nodded and got up. The rest of the party was mostly ready to go, with Raedrid helping Evelyn. Evelyn stood up and gathered her bedroll, “I’m okay I think... Feeling better than yesterday,” she said to Raedrid.

“Good... do you need anything from Manta?” he asked. Evelyn shook her head and drank water from her skin.

Lania turned to the party, “The Valley can’t be too far ahead, which means the City isn’t far either... I think it best if we all take Dampeners at this point...” Manta handed out yellow vials to everyone, and all of them drank quickly. Lania turned and nodded to Gregoris who led the party through the forest once more, with Lania at the back, behind the cart...

Six hours later, and the party came to the beginning of The Valley: an expansive canyon stretching far to the north and south, cutting straight through the City of Steel and the forest around it. The area surrounding The Valley had a strange blue-purple hue to it that glowed dimly throughout the landscape. The “entrance” of this canyon was a sloped crevasse shooting off perpendicularly to The Valley, providing a soft descent to the river below. Lania’s mind momentarily flashed back to the first time they crossed The Valley, when this crevasse was made. She hoped the path and bridge that Evelyn had made then was still intact.

Gregoris led the party into the crevasse. It sloped downward towards the belly of The Valley and was just wide enough to fit the HoverCart the party brought with them. Their footsteps echoed as they trekked, and the path seemed as clear as it was a few years ago.

Lania noted the path's seeming perfection, “I never noted how well this was crafted...”, she said.

“Yes... well, you have Evelyn to thank for that mostly... I assisted her with that conjuration,” Raedrid said. He turned to Evelyn, who walked by his side and smiled.

Evelyn however was not pleased with her work, “It was hastily made... It could have been better...”, she said.

Lania shook her head, “Nonsense, it worked well then, and stood the test of time... all anyone can ask for,” she said. Evelyn smirked and let the compliment slide without objection.

A half an hour later, the party reached the bottom of The Valley. A twenty meter wide river flowed north to south, with a rough “bridge” made of large, varied-sized boulders. The water had a radiant glow to it, and that blue-purple hue grew brighter as the party came closer to the rivers bank.

Lania quickly looked over the bridge as they approached, “This seems to have held fine as well...” she said.

Lania walked to the beginning of the bridge and stepped aside, “Right... Lipin, can you go first? You’re a bit nimbler than the rest of us...” she said.

Lipin nodded and approached. The boulders were mostly above the surface of the water and arranged in a nearly flat span; some however were submerged beneath the water.

Lipin easily crossed the first half of the bridge, “First half seems fine!” he yelled back. He continued forward and hit the final stretch of the bridge which was partially submerged in the radiant water.

He looked over the submerged patch of rock with unease. The algae growing on the rocks seemed to “breathe” as the water ran around it; a school of guppies became translucent as Lipin approached, and became transparent again towards the end of the bridge; a patch of vines grew from the bank of the river into the water, where a few strands actively moved beneath the surface, as if alive. H e saw a yellow-backed frog sitting on one of the rocks instantly move from the rock onto a lily-pad resting near Lipin.

Lipin looked on with an uneasy fascination, “Everything okay?” asked Lania from the opposing bank.

Lipin undid his backpack and reached inside. He procured a small vial full of Everweed, a weed that grew in the landscape of Bholhan, known for its healing properties. He retrieved a strand of this sharp green weed, and put one end of it into the water. Lipin pulled it out and watched the strand. After a few moments, the watered-down end of the weed began to grow thin roots rapidly. The roots grew towards the water at first, and then suddenly began arching upwards towards Lipins hand. He gasped, threw the strand into the water and backed up slightly. The strand grew more rapidly once submerged, and hit the boulder. The sprawling roots began to grow quickly, and then began to intelligently move towards the more submerged portion of the boulder.

Lipin turned around, “Do not touch the water...” he yelled.

He turned towards the bridge once more and began walking along the unsubmerged portion of the boulders. He easily stepped off the last boulder onto the opposing bank of the river.

“Be careful with the last portion... The river has overtaken a portion of the bridge...” he yelled.

Lania nodded and motioned for the others to go forward. Raedrid and Evelyn crossed first, making it across with relative ease. Raedrid examined the river-life just below the water when he finished crossing, “What in Gods name is happening here...” he wondered aloud.

Humal, Van and Manta crossed next with the cart behind them. Gregoris and Lania followed behind the cart after a few moments. As Lipin said, the first half of the bridge was above the surface of the water, and easy to cross. Lania and Gregoris waited as Humal, Van and Manta crossed. They were all larger men, and their armor didn’t help their dexterity any while balancing their way across the rocks.

“Come now lads, its not nearly as bad as some of the Trials...” yelled Gregoris with a smirk.

Humal was at the front, taking very deliberate, careful steps, “Those Trials were over water! Not... whatever this is...” yelled Humal back.

Lania smiled lightly, “Just take your time with this, no rush...” she said loudly. The three eventually crossed successfully with the cart.

A disturbance in the water further down the river caught Gregoris’s eye. He stepped to the edge of the boulder he was on and watched something move below the surface. A small wave moved towards them.

“Captain!” yelled Gregoris suddenly, who drew his sword and shield. A gray, sparkling mass leapt from the water at Gregoris and Lania. Gregoris lifted his shield in front of him and parried the creature’s attack as it flew. He managed to knock it out of the air, and into the water behind them. Moments later, it crawled out of the water and onto the opposite side of the river.

“Dragon!” yelled Lania drawing her sword and shield.

The Dragon bared its teeth, spread its wings, and shrieked loudly at the two Humans. It stood no more than a meter tall, with a two meter wing-span. It hissed loudly and moved towards them. Raedrid concentrated his energy from his side of the river and began to move his arms in the familiar circle motion that caused the wolves from before to freeze. As Raedrid began his spell, the Dragon stopped abruptly and shrieked much more loudly. The shriek pierced the party’s ears, causing Raedrid to stop casting. The dragon quickly dove back into the river from the direction it came from and disappeared.

A deep, boisterous roar echoed from the far northern part of The Valley.

Gregoris quickly put away his sword and shield and turned to his Captain, “Lania! We must move!”

She didn’t hear him, however, and was frozen with fear. Her mind flashed memories of those Hunts from the past... the ones that ended with funerals and ceremonies.

Gregoris shook Lania hard, “MOVE!” he said. Lania snapped out of it and began balancing her way across the submerged bridge. Another deep roar bellowed throughout The Valley, this time much closer. Gregoris and Lania crossed the river and began their ascent up the other crevasse. The party reached the top of The Valley.

They sprinted back into the forest, and after making it in deep enough, Lipin stopped suddenly, “Get down! Quiet!” he yelled as quietly as he could.

The party stopped and dropped to their knees inside of the forest brush that surrounded them. They all heard another roar echo from The Valley behind them. A large gust of wind seemed to follow it. Soon after, the party heard the canopy above them rustle with great force. Loud flapping was heard in conjunction with that rustling, and seemed to move away from them.

Lipin stood slowly, “Coast is clear,” he said softly.

The rest of the party stood panting and on edge. Lania put away her sword and shield, “We must keep moving, we’re close to the sewers...” she said.

Manta began passing out vials of clear liquid to everyone, “This is a stimulant, used by miners to keep their strength up for long hours. It will boost our endurance for a time,” he said, drinking its contents. Everyone else joined in without objection.

The party stopped panting abruptly and seemed to catch a second wind, “Come!” yelled Gregoris, leading the party through the forest.

Luckily for everyone, there were established trails through the forests surrounding the immediate vicinity of Canald. Wild brush grew in abundance over the years, but the trails were still visible and not nearly as dense. Gregoris and Manta cut down what little brush grew. The stimulant Manta gave them allowed the party to practically sprint through the forest. They occasionally heard that ominous rustling above them, followed by the flapping of large wings. But within an hour, Manta and Gregoris cut their way through the forest to their destination: the western sewers of Canald.

Lania stepped out of the forest and looked to the west. The sun was beginning to set, producing an array of vibrant colors in the sky. She could smell the ocean, which sat at the end of the sewers, and heard the sound of gulls occasionally through the air. She pictured herself sitting on the beach, looking out over the water, as she often did in the past when off-duty. Another world... she thought solemnly.

Van put a hand on her shoulder, “Lania, we must keep moving,” he said. The others already crossed the field that was between the forest and the sewer plant’s maintenance facility. Lania and Van joined them as the party made their way along the eastern wall. Moments later they arrived at the large double doors that stood between them and the inside of the plant. The rightmost door was still open from the last time that Lania went through it.

The sewage plants of Canald were a combination of engineering and maegick: sewage contents flowed from within the city via a system of pipes, which connected to four larger pipes leading out to the plant itself. Sewage flowed from out of the larger pipes and into a series of pools, which filtered the contents with different kinds of maegick. The final pool contained mostly filtered water, which flowed out to the ocean to the west. The closest of the larger pipes had maintenance pathways flanking it, which is how Lania and Gregoris were able to escape the city years ago.

The facilities were not as she remembered: the five meter wide corridor the party stepped into was littered with varying sized debris, and an awful rank smell flooded the party’s noses.

Evelyn concentrated lightly and clasped both hands together, “Fae’jin Ulomo Arstrid Extan,” she said quietly. Evelyn took a deep breath and exhaled with relief, “That should help,” she said.

The others sighed as well: the rank smell disappeared entirely. Gregoris took the helm once more, “Onward...” he said.

The group slowly made their way down the main facility corridor: debris had to be moved so that way the cart could continue unabated. Eventually, they arrived at another similar set of large doors, both of which stood ajar. As they approached however, Lania sighed: it was completely blocked by fallen debris. Raedrid and Evelyn stepped forward wordlessly and approached the pile of debris that blocked their way to the topside of the facility.

“We need to lift the pile, and generate a large, wide burst of force,” said Raedrid.

Evelyn nodded, “I’ve got the burst.”

Both Elves concentrated deeply and began muttering a collection of Magellan phrases. Suddenly, pieces of debris began lifting into the air; veins visibly stood out on Raedrid’s head as that happened. As Evelyn chanted and waved her hands about, a small white ball began to form in front of her. More and more pieces of debris began lifting until the path beneath began to show. Evelyn stopped waving her hands, and seemed to hover them over the top and bottom of the white ball she had created. Raedrid groaned with pain and struggled to lift both of his hands towards the ceiling.

Evelyn’s hands began shaking, “Raedrid! I can’t hold this!” veins protruded from both sides of her temple and the white of her left eye turned red as the veins in them exploded.

Raedrid focused even more of his energy and turned his head towards the ceiling, extending both of his arms upwards. Both of the whites of his eyes turned red in the process, and Raedrid yelled in pain, “NOW!” he screamed.

Evelyn brought the white ball close to her chest and then extended both arms outwards. A loud boom echoed throughout the hall and the floating debris was launched skyward, revealing a sloped path leading to the second level of the facility. Raedrid feinted, and collapsed.

Evelyn was out of breath, but still standing, “Master!” she said, running to his side. Van immediately picked Raedrid up and carried him.

Just then another loud roar echoed through the forest, and that flapping began again. Lania’s face grew pale, and panic crept through her, “RUN!” she screamed.

The party ran up the sloped corridor and found themselves on top of the wall, outside. They ran down the length of the wall, the cart ever following behind. The top of the wall led to a sequence of ramps which gave way to another long path that stretched the length of the four large sewer pipes. The party ran up the ramps and towards the closest sewer access point, which was another long corridor spanning the length of the sewer and into the city. Lania was the last to enter into this corridor which flanked the sewer itself. She looked out over the plant towards the forest: A large winged creature flew over the forest towards them. Another roar bellowed from it and stunned the party, causing their ears to ring loudly. The sun set over the ocean as the large black dragon flew towards them.

“NO! No no no no!” screamed Gregoris from inside the corridor.

Lania entered the corridor and caught up with the party: more debris completely blocked the way that Lania and company had used before.

“Shit!” she screamed, “Into the sewer! NOW!” she yelled.

The party cursed collectively but doubled back towards one of the doors that led into the sewer itself. Gregoris found the double doors to be locked. He concentrated with adrenaline and anger and kicked the door, “BASTO!” he screamed. The doors flew completely off their hinges and bounced against the sewer itself. The party poured into the sewer, ankle-deep in all manner of foulness that still presided there.

The dragon roared after hearing the doors bang against the metal pipe and jumped up towards the platform the party was just on. It looked inside the corridor they were just in with one of its large eyes and saw nothing. It then switched its attention to the pipe itself and spotted its prey. It shrieked as it reached one of its giant claws inside of the pipe. It dug its giant talons into the pipe a couple meters away from Lania who was at the back of the party, “RUN!” she screamed.

The party sprinted down the sewage pipe. The dragon roared once more and changed its tactics: it hovered its mouth just outside the entrance of the pipe and began concentrating its energy. Evelyn stopped abruptly in her tracks and let the rest of the party run past her.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! RUN!” screamed Lania.

Evelyn stayed back as the party pushed onwards. As the dragon welled up energy, a ball of fire formed inside of its throat. Evelyn began quickly chanting Magellan: another white ball formed in front of her, much bigger this time. The dragon pulled its head back briefly, and then bellowed a torrent of flames inside the sewage pipe.

Evelyn screamed, “THRA’DA BASTO EXTAN!”

The flames that barreled down the pipe were immediately repelled by a cone of force and dissipated instantly. The dragon was struck by the concentrated force and shrieked as it fell back into the pools. Evelyn collapsed, but Lania caught her. The dragon regained its composure, roared loudly again and took flight, disappearing from the party’s sight.

Gregoris helped Lania carry Evelyn back to the cart, which she was gingerly placed onto. Raedrid and Evelyn lied next to each other as comfortably as they could be placed.

Gregoris panted, “The access corridor is blocked, our mages are burned out, and that thing doesn’t seem to be going anywhere... What do we do?” he asked Lania.

Van spoke up, “My uncle used to work at this plant... there are other access doors spanning the pipes themselves, but...” he looked behind him towards that black, rank tunnel and looked back to the group, “Gods know how far down that access point will be.”

Lania made her way towards the front of the party, “Forward then...” she said sternly, making her into that dark expanse...