Chapter Three Hundred And Three – 303

Chapter Three Hundred And Three – 303

The onset of full dark took the Foglands well before they glimpsed the waterfall, but they had been hearing it for miles. Felix crept through the thick underbrush, senses extended. The waterfall was loud, certainly, but he could hear other things over that sound, within it, things that put his back up.

He heard screams.

They weren't Human screams, or Elven, or Dwarven, but they were full of terror. It quivered on the air, more vivid than the scream itself. As Felix stole up a small ridge, he saw why.

Below, the river had been almost diverted into a complicated series of dank, stone-lined pits. Within was a slurry of run-off river water, rotting plants, and the pulped pieces of monsters. Felix fought back his gorge at the sight and smell of iteven with his Willpower, it was a close thing. Thin walkways had been erected over each pit, and half-starved creatures were being hauled onto them by tall, ice covered Reforged. The creatures were a mix of monsters Felix had remembered seeing in the Foglands, and each of them fought tooth and nail against the Reforged. As he watched, a large bear-like beast bellowed before it was clubbed over the head and tossed over the side. It splashed into the thickened goop, sinking like a boulder.

What the hell are they doing?

Pit merely growled in disgust and frustrated anger. Frustrated because he could fly down there and rip the Reforged apart. More monsters were thrown into the vile muck.

The pits are interconnected, Felix. Look, where the nearest one joins its neighbor? Sigaldry. Karys paused, as if uncertain. Not any sigaldry I have ever encountered.

Profane Sigaldry, Felix said by way of explanation.The Archon's own special blend of bad magic. What's the purpose of this, you think?

I...am uncertain. It is being funneled somewhere, clearly, based on the tiered designs of the...reservoirs.

Felix could see that. And as he scanned the Profane Sigaldry he was able to pick up a bit more of the symbols, but they were all tertiary markings, pieces of the whole. They made little sense without the uniting glyph.

Beyond the vile reservoirs, he could see the curve of the lake the river emptied into. It was heavy with willow-like trees, thick roots, and even thicker undergrowth. Due in part to the strange reservoirs, the banks of the lake were flooding over, spreading water several feet deep as far as a hundred yards from the old shoreline. More Reforged stomped through those muddy waters, either carrying beasts to the pits or hunting more. The waterfall pounded in the distance, barely visible through the trees.

Felix signed to Vess. She was the nearest in their little relay system. She signed an affirmative back at him and they both disappeared.

It took far less time to cover the same ground, but backwards, padding silently through ferns and roots to find the rest of his team. Atar and Alister were marking things out on the ground again, going over their part of the plan, and both of them started when Felix cleared his throat.

"Blind gods, Felix you scared me," Alister said. He slammed home his rapier, which he had half drawn out of its sheath at the noise. "What did you see?"

"Wait for the rest," he said.

The Haarguard had settled in some miles back after Harn and Vess had outlined their plans, intent on securing their get away ifwhen, he amendedthings went wrong. Inside five minutes Vess, Evie, and Harn filed into the clearing, followed closely by Wyvora, A'zek and Kylar. The swordsman looked frustrated, but Felix didn't have the time to ask why. "What did everyone see?"

"Pits. Many of them, all marked up with those yellow-red sigils that hurt to look at," Evie said. Both she and Harn had gone a bit deeper than Felix had, relying on their Stealth Skills, but it sounded much the same. "Nasty things."

"They're disruptin' the river all along this bank, only I don't know why," Harn added. "Monster parts and plants and river water. What's it all for?"

"If it were less chaotic, I would think they were engaged in alchemy," A'zek rumbled. His dark eyes glittered in the moonlight. "As it stand, it looks simply as if they are denuding the area in preparation for something else."

"Something else? What would require such preparations?" Wyvora asked. "We went further afield, halfway to the mountains, and they had cleared large swaths of the forest. Only stumps remained."

"They're clear cutting the forest?" Felix asked. "Are they building something?"

"So it seems," A'zek said. "We saw evidence of the trunks being shorn and dragged off to the south-west."

"To the waterfall," Vess said.

Felix drummed his fingers on the bole of a fallen tree. "We must get closer. Atar? Is your working ready?"

"We've gone over the script a score of times, but almost. Almost." Atar gave him a considering glance. "Might move faster if you take a look."

"I'll do that. Harn, take A'zek and scout the waterfall. I'd know more of what we're walking into." The warrior nodded and jerked his head at the big chimera. They both slid off into the darkness. "Evie and Vess, find a path around these reservoirs."

Evie gave him a mocking salute and a grin before she too slipped off into the moon shadows. Vess gave him a smile too, though it was threaded with pain. Both of them ignored it though, and she followed Evie into the dark. Felix sighed.

"What about me, sir?"

Kylar stood to the side, conspicuous now that everyone else had a task. The swordsman still had that frustrated aura about him, as if he wanted to charge something and get some use out of the two longswords at his waist. It wasn't that he was useless, but Kylar's primary function was offense, and he wasn't particularly good at any sort of stealth. Felix wracked his brain for something to keep him occupied.

"Kylar, I need you to guard us," Felix said. He gestured to where Atar and Alister were still going over sigils and drawings on the ground. "We'll be absorbed in this for a bit. WeIwill need your protection during that time. Can you do that?"

The swordsman puffed up his chest, pride and a puppy dog's eagerness rising in his Spirit. "Of course. You needn't worry. My blades will stop any beast from disturbing you or the others, sir."

Felix nodded, happy to have that work. Then he turned to the collection of rubbings and sigaldry his team had been working on.

"They've torn it apart. The Temple is wide open and its defenses are gone. I thinkI think the Archon has cracked it open," Felix explained.

"Twin's teeth," Alister swore as he peered over the rise. "They've denuded the whole area, even worse than down river. And it's crawling with those monkeys and bugs, and...I count twenty Reforged. Atar, can you make out what that sigaldry is doing?"

"With time, maybe. Profane Sigaldry burns to read, and its unrelentingly twisted." Atar spat to the side. "It tastes like destruction and madness."

"It tastes...?" Kylar muttered to himself. Felix doubted anyone else heard him.

"So, what? We lost?" Evie said with a scowl. "That's not fair. We just got here."

"Is the Quest still active?" Harn asked.

Felix toggled it open.

The Door Of The Lidless Eye!

Seek out the Temple you once took refuge within, Ascendant. Dire secrets dwell within, waiting the Inheritor. It is your duty to prevent the darkness from escaping into the light. Do not tarry, for the Archon is close, and the darkness closer.

"It is. Hasn't changed," he said.

"Then we're in the clear. Either the big metal idiot just got in there, or he hasn't been able to figure out the door thing." Harn rolled his shoulders, unsheathing his axes with the same easy motion. "Either way, it means the plan ain't changed, yeah?"

After a moment, Felix nodded. The plan would still be good. I just hope it works.

A'zek growled, a low rumble. "We'll make them pay for damaging such a place. Such history." Wyvora gripped her spear in mute agreement.

"Are we ready?" he asked.

"Aye."

"Yes."

"Mhm."

"Y-yes."

To battle, Felix. To battle!

A chirrup from his Spirit and they were all in agreement. As one, they split up into separate teams, each one moving forward with determination. Felix ducked low, moving ahead of the rest; he and Pit were moving solo again, and not only because he bore the key to the Door of the Lidless Eye.

He had a feeling, a strong one, that the Archon would ignore his friends. He checked Inheritor's Will in its scabbard, unsheathing the blade for several inches before letting it slide back.

No turning back now.

"They're moving," Tyrk said. "Toward the open cliff face."

"Then we follow," Ifre replied.

"Into that?" Isyk said, his nerves obvious. "Those monsters will kill us as soon as look at us."

"We go to secure the Temple, as we've been charged," Ifre said, her voice iron. "Or did you think this journey would be without risk?"

"N-no, Captain, I just"

"You are afraid," she stated. Isyk jerked back as if struck. "And that is acceptable. Let fear Temper you, strengthen you, but remember you are beyond it. Above it."

The man's tightened his grip on his spear, until his knuckled whitened. He nodded, once, with purpose.

"Very good. Now," Isyk said as she padded through the forest, spear at the ready. "Now we go, as the Raven wills."

"As the Raven wills," they both said in low tones.

The darkness rose up and enveloped them all, until only moonshadow and bobbing ferns could be seen. And then those stilled, too.