Chapter 297: Cramped Coffin

The crate was simple without inscriptions, just a lid held up by decayed wood. Frey got into a stance but Elero wheeled past him. "Finally," she said. She looked at the others and pointed at the exit, signaling to run if anything were to go wrong.

"Careful," Frey cautioned as Elero yanked the lid off.

She immediately covered her nose and turned away. "Smells like something died in there," she gagged.

"Anything?" Thomas asked.

Elero waved for the others to come closer. The crate was empty aside from a single slip of paper but something must have been stored there once upon a time, or someone.

Elero pulled the note out, blew the dust off, and read it allowed: "If you're reading this, it means I failed to fix what the God of Evil has done to you. I'm sorry, more than you know. The enchantments hidden within the pillars recognized your mana signature. You most likely destroyed my chamber. That's something that traitor, Eric Guildri, would never do. He must never find out about this, but you don't care about any of that do you? Liches never care much for human matters.

All you want is my secret, what you probably imagined would be just another spell in your arsenal. No, behind those double doors is something far greater, greater than all of us. Take it. It's the only thing you'll have to defend yourself when they come for you. Believe me, they will come. Magic, fists, and metal won't work. I leave my legacy to you: my students, my sons, my greatest regret.

Elero, Frey, and Thomas looked down at the old, dusty crate. Thomas thought there was a similar smell to Kilot's arm, except a hundred times stronger. Old bloodstains coated the inside, as if there had never been a proper corpse stuffed into the cramped coffin. Maybe if the body were cut into smaller pieces it would fit, or if it was simply a small body.

"If you want to find out more about your past," Elero flipped the note over and continued reading. "You must first find the right path. You may remember that old hiding spot in the Underground, right? Follow the cave to our home. Slaughter every single last one of your murderers. Signed, Maximus Draken."

"A path," Thomas said as he turned to the pillars. His attention was drawn to the deep line, consistent throughout the sloppy inscriptions. "It must lead to somewhere."

"We already confirmed that," Elero sighed. "But we need to know where it goes." She turned the crate over and, after dispersing a cloud of dust that suddenly rose up, she found a carving.

Unlike the other sloppy inscriptions, this one was much clearer, as if more time had been spent on it. It was also strangely visible in the light. Jagged stick figures had 'x's for eyes. Some had horns, others had halos, but most were normal humans. The dead stick figures lay in piles as big as the mountains in the background. 'This is horrible,' Thomas thought. He couldn't begin to count the number of dead, much less imagine piles of corpses that big.

Standing on top of the largest mound were two stick figures. One was obviously a human since he had neither a halo nor horns. The other figure wore a dark cloak. Two familiar, fiery eyes burned in a skull. Although it was just a carving, Thomas felt as if those flaming eyes were staring right through him.

Strings wrapped around the two figures as if they were nothing more than puppets in a show. Following the strings through the clouds led to two pointy masks. One of them wore a warm smile with a slight crack. Whether time had taken its toll or by intentional design, the crack distorted the mask's warmth. The other mask was frowning, and as Thomas ran his hand over it, he found that it held more depth than anything else. He could imagine the man who carved the mask running his blade along it over and over again.

At the far end of the drawing, almost off the side of the crate, was a small human stick figure hiding in a familiar building: The Magic Academy. The only words in the entire carving were above the boy's head: "He will pay for what he did to my family."

"What the hell is all of this?" Elero asked as she ran her hand over the drawing. "This looks like a massive slaughter but I haven't read anything about this. The holy book doesn't mention it either and I can see the symbol of the War Monks."

"I always read that the white stone buildings were once whole and solid," Thomas said as he pointed to buildings scattered along the carving's mountains. "The Underground was never finished, and most of the ruins you see today were destroyed by an unknown calamity. Everyone knows that Maximus Draken's past was wiped from history, but his achievements remained. It's one of the greatest mysteries in the world. Whatever happened to him, he wasn't alone." He turned to Frey. "How old did you say Doevm was?"

"Old enough," Frey said as he stared at the small crate with a deep frown. "Elero, can you show me how to do one of those rubbings?"

"I don't have any more paper," Elero shrugged. "It's not really one of my priorities to carry paper with me."

Frey pulled out the book had been reading ever since he arrived at the capital and ripped out the first page. "Will this do it?"

Elero hesitantly pulled a piece of charcoal out of her spatial ring and handed it over. "Frey what are you trying to do?"

"Will this do it?" Frey insisted as he pointed to the page. It was filled with his and Doevm's handwriting, letters painstakingly traced over and over again with old ink.

Elero nodded: "It'll be tough to decipher later but for the most part yeah." After a quick demonstration, Thomas and Frey realized how simple the process was and the carving was copied.

"We don't need to copy the drawing," Thomas shrugged. "We can just carry the crate in our spatial ring. Maybe there'll be a secret use for it or something."

Frey shook his head and pulled out a flint and steel.

"Wait!" Thomas reached forward. Too late. Frey showered sparks onto the crate, which lit up like a bonfire. The old, horrid smell vanished, replaced by the smoky scent of a warm campfire. In a matter of seconds, the dusty crate was reduced to ash. Time's passage hadn't left much to burn. "Why?"

"It wouldn't make us any better than them," Frey said as he pointed to the stick figures and masks on his paper. "I don't like anything about this. Let's just get Doevm. We're not here to solve a mystery. We're here for this." He pointed to the line going across the recorded map. "This leads somewhere so let's go there." Without another word he turned and walked away.

"What about never splitting up?" Thomas asked.

"I need to cool my head." Frey said as he disappeared through the ruin's entrance.

"At least help us pick up the map," Thomas muttered. He pointed to the note in Elero's hand. "Can I see that, just in case there's something only I can see?" Elero nodded and handed it over. Thomas scanned through Draken's note and his face dropped.

"Find something?" Elero perked up.

"Nothing," Thomas sighed and handed the note back. "Just confirmation. Only an Undead could have discovered this, and I found it." He turned away from her and went around the room collecting pieces of their map. Occasionally he would look towards the entrance and wipe some of the blood off his lips. Elero looked on in silence. "When I…changed," Thomas finally spoke. "I blacked out. I don't remember anything."

"Want me to fill you in?" Elero asked.

Thomas shook his head. "I can gather what I did. I'm sorry."

"You said that already."

"It doesn't feel like it's enough. It doesn't feel like this will be the last instance."

"Don't worry," Elero comforted as she wheeled closer. "Doevm will fix us both when we see him. We're going to be normal again."

"Normal?" Thomas gestured to the ruin around them. "None of this is normal. Our friend is a Lich who knows Maximus Draken. I am slowly losing my mind. Frey is part-hero, and you have wings somehow, I guess. You both can show your powers with pride. I, on the other hand, tried to kill you guys.

I held you guys back before when I was kidnapped. I held you back again a few seconds ago. I ate a rabbit whole the other day. What's next? I have been trying to move on but the more I try to forget about it the more I think about it. What if that happens in my sleep? What if I get the drop on you and-"

"We'll find Doevm before then," Elero insisted. "We have to keep moving. Just try to control yourself."

"I tried that."

"Try harder then," Elero said. "We can get you animals to eat. You can do better if you train."

Thomas threw his hands up in resignation: "And how would you know miss angel? Do you have any experience with dark magic?"

"Yes, I do," Elero snapped. "And never call me that again." Her last word echoed in the silent chamber. One could hear a pin drop it was so quiet. The glare she sent Thomas shut his mouth. "Dark magic gets in the deepest recesses of your mind. It breaks down every part of you and eats away at your sanity if you don't resist. If you ever stop fighting, you submit to it. I'm sure Doevm didn't bring you back with the intention of turning you into a zombie bunny rabbit."

"Wait what?"

"We just need to find something that works." Elero hurriedly followed up, glossing over Thomas's confusion.

"Like what?" Thomas asked. "I want to try. I want to resist this thing but it has not worked. Eating things feels like submitting. It feels like a temporary solution."

"Balance," Elero said. "It's like the inscriptions: you have two sides to yourself. If you cling to who you were, you won't see what you're becoming. If you can't see what you're becoming, you can't prepare for it. You're about to walk into darkness, and you need to open your eyes to see the right path."

"I think," Thomas said with widening eyes. He scanned the pillars. "I see where it's supposed to go!" He walked to the last pillar, where the biggest inscription lay, one that detailed the bottom of the Magic Academy. "The path leads to the Magic Academy. We can do it. We can break Doevm out."

"Like that," Elero pat him on the back. "Good job."

"So what was that you said earlier about being a bunny person?" Thomas asked.