Sacrifice – Chapter 10: Destination and Discovery

True to the old mage’s word, Aperio soon saw the walls she had previously spotted from above. Small as it was, the wall now had guards of some kind on it. Some wore the armour she now knew belonged to an order of Vigil; most of these were clustered around the gate that led into the village proper. 

The remaining people on the wall wore mismatched pieces that weren’t part of any obvious uniform. Drafted villagers? She had heard that it was normal for the local guard, whatever form that might take, to draft able villagers in times of need. More often than not the ‘villagers’ turned out to be slaves though. Why risk your own life if you can have a slave do it?

What was of more interest to her than the guards were the numerous tiny runes that were etched into the stone. The greater part of them meant nothing to her, but a few did resemble ones she knew. Most of those were some kind of reinforcement for the wall, something any town had. No matter how small. The Empire made sure everyone knew just how well protected their assets were.

While she had no idea what the rest of the runes were for – or what wards they formed – she was not very worried that they would harm her. If her journey through that forsaken ruin was any indication, wards would do precious little to her. It, however, also presented a problem. Those wards would probably break if she got too close to them.

She stopped once she came as close as she dared to the village walls, the wards already reacting to her presence. Ira, the old man, noticed her hesitation and turned to look for what was causing her to stop. His eyes paused on the slightly glowing runes that now seemed to etch themselves even deeper into the stones before him. 

The man's gaze shifted thoughtfully between the Elf and the wall a few times before a quiet mumble left his lips. He cleared his throat before he addressed her directly. “Does this always happen?”

Should I lie? It was a reasonable idea, after all she did not know who he really was and his friend made it perfectly clear that she disliked her. On the one hand, telling them the truth could be the wrong move, but on the other hand what did she have to lose? She did not know how to not break runes by simply being near them; it was never an issue before.

She gave a brief nod. “Yes, it does.”

Apparently her voice was enough to upset the runes as they flared up with each word she spoke. Aperio tilted her head and squinted at the markings. Could they just ...not do that? How am I supposed to go anywhere if all the wards just scream at my presence? Maybe I should have stayed in the void. 

“Would I be right that you do not frequent cities or other settlements often?” 

She gave another nod to answer Ira’s question. Currently she did not frequent anything; she had just returned to the world after all. Not that she would tell them that. She seemed to have a certain level of presence – of status – with these people. Admitting a lack of knowledge felt weak... revolting.

They didn't need to know of her confusion.

The old mage hesitated before continuing, seemingly unsure how to word his next question. “Would you be so kind as to restrain yourself? Just a little as to not break the wards.”

Aperio looked at the man, head still ever so slightly tilted to the side. Restrain? I am not doing anything! ...should I be doing something?

Ira’s face paled a bit when he got no response. Why he did Aperio knew not nor did she question it; she was too busy trying to figure out how to restrain something that she wasn’t even aware of. That she was different from before was obvious, the problem was that she didn’t feel any different; she felt normal, as if it had always been this way. 

She was taken from her thoughts by a yell coming from the walls. Aperio turned her head to look at the source of the voice and, while she couldn’t understand what it said, she could tell that the man it belonged to was not happy. He was looking down on them with a scowl on his face, his eyes fixed on the Elf. 

An annoyed huff from Ira caused her to look back. The mage was mumbling something; something she could understand. Not that it was particularly useful. At least she now knew that the man on the wall was an idiot according to the older mage. Why he had chosen to insult the man in an apparently not so common language was a mystery to her.

Ira suddenly did a motion with his hand, causing a black rift to appear. What is that? Aperio took a step back and glared at the rift. A way to the Void? ...no. Doesn't feel right.

Her question was soon answered as the mage inserted his hand into the rift and pulled out what looked like a card. It glinted in the torch light, appearing to be made of the same silvery metal as the necklace a certain now-dead mage had tried to put on her. A single rune was engraved on it, made out of a myriad of lines and dots, completely unlike any rune she had seen before. Yet it felt familiar. Another weird thing was that this rune did not react to her presence, or at least not in a way she could see. Before her rational mind could stop her, she had plucked the card from the mage’s hand.

Aperio turned the card every which way, ignoring the unintelligible yells from the man on the wall. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t figure why this rune looked so familiar nor why it behaved differently from the others. Turning to the old man she asked him, “What is this?”

"This" – he pointed at the card – "is proof that I am a [Guide]. Only those who have been approved by the [Grandmaster] have one. May I have it back?”

The Elf obliged and handed back the shiny card. Once he held it in his hand he closed his eyes and a moment later the rune engraved on the card gave off a yellow glow. The action seemed to placate the man on the wall as he stopped his yelling and instead turned to someone out of view.

A moment later the gate slowly opened and revealed more armoured guards on the inside. Ira motioned Aperio to follow him, having either forgotten or accepted that the Elf would do nothing to save the wards on the walls.

Once she had stepped through the threshold of the gate a few of the runes shone brightly for a brief moment before breaking the stone they had been engraved into. A few more steps brought her through the gate and into the village proper.

While the wall that protected the small village was like any other she had seen, the same could not be said about the inside. There were no grand palaces, no magician's towers, no buildings on a grander scale than 'humble'. In fact, most of the houses that lined the small, winding streets were made from nothing but wood. Though if her ‘landing’ was anything to go by, the wood from this forest was a lot more durable than stone. Or maybe I am weak to wood?

Laelia still had her hand on the hilt of her sword and seemed unwilling to let the Elf out of sight for even a moment. Understandable. I did just break a few wards. It wasn't like she knew of anything she could do about it, though. Even if she did push past her discomfort in showing weakness to explain her situation, she doubted it would matter to the paladin. She seemed ready to fight at any time, the only thing stopping her being what the mage had said in the forest. Whatever that was.

Another thing that felt abnormal was the lack of people. The Elf couldn’t see, or hear, anyone else. Aside from the two people in front of her and the – admittedly numerous – guards on the wall, there weren’t any people around. Even a town this small should have someone going about their business; a few children playing in the streets. Was everything she had seen an illusion? A setup to lure her inside?

As if the old mage could read her thoughts, he answered her unspoken question. “The villagers have gathered in the town hall. We had feared a larger attack and having them in one place makes it easier to protect them. Or evacuate, should we need it.” 

“Attack?” She tilted her head. “From what?”

After a pause that seemed to have become obligatory for the old man he responded. “Demons, like the one you fought.”

The guards, and even what she presumed to be drafted villagers, looked competent enough. If you coupled that with the rather excessive amounts of wards on the walls she had a hard time believing that one of those ‘demons’ would be able to get through. It would probably survive a few dozens. ...unless they break wards like I do? Was that why the other paladin tried to use that scroll?

“Wouldn’t the wards stop them?” She did not want to ask directly if the demons broke wards like she did – not being lumped together with those things seemed like a good idea. 

“For a time yes, but only few people can truly defeat a demon and we only have so many paladins here.” The man stopped and turned to face Aperio. “Not everyone here can hold their own in a fight. Especially against a monster or demon. That might not be the case where you are from, but it is here.”

He seemed to want to ask something but hesitated for some reason. Aperio gave him an expectant look. So far the old mage had been helpful and while she did not trust him farther than she could throw him – an expression she would probably have to rethink now – she was inclined to indulge the man, if not only for her own gain.

“Would you be willing to use an [Appraisers Stone]?”

The last time she remembered using one of these was when a foreign dignitary was interested in purchasing her from the Empire. She had never seen the result, but shortly after she had used it she was suddenly selected for a larger amount of experiments, and only a few years later she was sacrificed. 

Wanting answers for herself she gave Ira a nod before adding, “But only you will be present for it.” The old mage was the only person she had a tiny bit of trust in.

Laelia wanted to say something but Ira waved her off. “That’s fine. Please follow me.” 

He took a turn into a smaller alleyway and Aperio followed. It didn’t take long before the paladin was speaking to the old man in a rather agitated voice, ignoring all his attempts to stop her. The one-sided conversation only ended once they had reached a large stone building that had a wooden plaque depicting crossed spears in front of a shield above its door. The symbol reminded her of the one the mercenary guild had used, or at least the one they had boldly emblazoned upon their pamphlets. Certainly not something that inspired confidence. That specific guild was full of people the various knightly orders or city guards did not want.

The paladin’s eyes followed the Elf’s gaze and landed on the plaque. “Adventurer’s Guild.” Her voice carried the same tone of disgust that the guards at the Imperial Palace had when speaking about mercenaries.

A light cough from the old man drew her attention away from the plaque. “Yes, this building used to belong to the Adventurer's Guild. Now it's mostly the local branch for [Guides].” Ira pushed the door open and stepped inside before continuing. “It is also the only place where we can perform an appraisal.”

The inside was rather spacious, and featured a row of counters. Though there was no activity at the moment, Aperio could readily imagine the way a Mercenary would select a help request from the far wall and bring it to a staff member behind the counter. Glancing at the board she found that most of them were for the subjugation of various monsters and – maybe more importantly – were written in multiple languages; one of which she could read. 

Maybe more people can understand me? The thought was exciting; she would love to interact with more than an old man and an aggressive paladin. Sadly, finding a request written in a language she could read did not mean that many people actually spoke that language.

The bar that the guild had so prominently displayed on their pamphlet had been replaced by a series of tables that were stacked high with books and scrolls. One of the chairs was occupied by a young looking man that was absorbed in the book on the table in front of him.

The young man’s attention was only diverted from his book when Aperio stepped into the building and caused the wooden floor to give off a loud groan. Evidently he had not been expecting guests as the irritation is his voice was quite clear when he asked the old man something. 

The two exchanged a few more words before the young man scurried off and Ira offered her a seat. Aperio eyed the seat and choose to simply stay where she was. She had no desire to squish her wings. Draping them over the backrest might have been an option but she was in no rush to figure out how to properly sit. The groaning of the floor boards both here and in the ruins gave her the impression that the rather flimsy-looking chair would probably not support her.

Soon the other man returned, carrying a slab of black stone which he deposited on one of the tables with a grunt. A few more words were exchanged before Ira sent both Laelia and the young man out, the paladin giving a few more protesting sounding words but eventually departing, leaving the old mage alone with Aperio.

“You know how to use this?”

The question earned him an enthusiastic nod from the Elf. Finally something she actually knew how to do! And knew how she knew what to do. 

She walked over to the table with the black stone on it, stepping as lightly as she could on the wooden floor. Once in front of the [Appraisers Stone] she picked it up and inspected it from all sides. It looked exactly like the one she had used Gods-know-how-long ago, the tiny runes forming mesmerizing patterns that seemed to move on their own when you did not look directly at them. Interestingly these runes also did not react to her presence, much like the [Guides] card. Something to keep in mind.

Satisfied that it was as she remembered, she put her hand on the cold surface and quickly mumbled the chant used to activate its function. As soon as the last word had left her mouth a semi-transparent blue window appeared in front of her and, unlike the last time she had used one of the stones, she was able to read what was written on it.

The only problem was that it made absolutely no sense.

GamingWolf