Chapter 236: A City of Dust (1/2)
Some minor plot changes in earlier chapters I did:
- Chapter 6: Removed mentions of a third class. Its existence is unknown.
- Chapter 8/9: Changed dialogue and added some lines to the thugs that had kidnapped Alice. Mostly because they were cringe as fuck and just the worst kind of characters. I didn’t know better back when I wrote it but it’s bad enough for me to go and fix it. They lacked any motive and were only there for Ilea to kill. Now at least there’s something more to it, a hint at a job, a reason to kidnap the noble girl or even kill her and a little foreshadowing line in regards to a nation’s preparation for war. Alice has all reason not to talk to Ilea about her nobility as she’s a wild healer she met in the forest and Ilea tries to be considerate, not asking too many questions. I think it’s somewhat acceptable like this. Let me know if you disagree.
- Chapter 10: Removed Alice’s mention of mages that can teleport others. That is neither a common ability nor known by the general populace. Even if the possibility of such an ability exists, we haven’t seen it so far.
Passing the meadow, she soon stepped on the stone road that lead downwards into the darkness. Nothing moved in the distance and no immediate knight could be spotted, Ilea carefully surveying the area. The first line of massive houses or rather mansions towered before her after a couple dozen meters already, the city and abyss beyond hidden by the warmly colored stone. If any paint had ever graced the structures, it wasn’t visible anymore.
Everything looked abandoned, forsaken and old. It was obvious that the buildings were crumbling but there was no indication that a fight had happened here. Like the people were wiped off. The knight was indication enough that at least unlife was still around. Ilea couldn’t help but compare this place to the Taleen dungeon or rather city she had been in before. The green lights, machines hiding behind every corner and the utilitarian architecture had made it feel eerie, like an outpost of some alien race abandoned to the machines when the air ran out.
This here felt more serene. Like a place where once an important mine provided jobs and a flourishing market and now it was abandoned, the mine dry. Blinking into the mansion before her, she found herself in a dust covered room. Metal frames remained on the wall, anything that had ever been inside a mystery. The wood groaned when she took a step, nearly breaking under her heavy weight. Furniture remained, all of it barely holding together, Ilea scared it would fall apart upon her touch. It didn’t, not quite yet.
It didn’t look like the room was fully furnished. Here and there it looked like the symmetry was amiss. Perhaps a different style these people had chosen to adapt or what fit more into her theories was that the people who left took what was important with them. Checking through drawers, cabinets, under beds and in every chest, there was nothing of note remaining. Rusty knifes, a sword whose handle broke when she lifted it, the once likely beautiful blade clattering back into the chest she had found it in. Staying quiet for a while, Ilea listened for any noise. Any movement that would indicate she had attracted not quite unwanted attention.
It was quiet. Wind came in between the metal frames where once windows adorned the big apartment. The second and ground floor brought similar results, old and broken down items most places Ilea had visited in Elos stocked their houses with. The height of the doorways, size of objects and the similar culture made her think of humans. The undead she had killed was of course human as well but there was no reason to doubt he had been an original inhabitant. It was possible he was a guard placed by someone powerful exploring the dungeon as well, in which case she had all reason to be apprehensive.
The chance was low. Nobody had yet shown up and the knight hadn’t adapted his approach during their fight, neither had he fled when his death was near. Walking down into the cellar, she found a closed off section, metal grids loosely holding onto the ground and ceiling, rust coloring the dark steel in a coarse orange brown. Stepping up to the lock, Ilea grabbed it and closed her palm. A crunch resounded as the lock was reduced to metal dust. She lifted it towards her face, her helmet vanishing as she blew the particles away.
Helmet on again, she opened the door with a creaky sound. One of the rods came loose, Ilea’s second hand catching the thing before more started sliding out of the frame. Her ashen limbs rushed out and secured all of it, slowly sliding the pieces down to the stone floor. A prison? The house hadn’t looked like a dedicated facility for that. Neither did the structure induce a very secure feeling considering criminals would have classes and insane abilities as well.
Four skeletons were resting in the room, huddled together in one of the corners. The wall behind them showed more defined cracks than the rest of the cell. The size and proportions definitely looked human to her. Quietly touching the skeletons, they vanished into her necklace.
The other two houses closest to the rose garden showed similar interiors, just as broken down and useless as the first one but at least there were no dungeons in the cellars. “Dungeon in a dungeon.” Ilea pushed air out of her nose as she sketched down a small cathedral in her notebook, the garden and three big squares. A small skull was added to the square on the left.
Each of the houses had big empty space around them, indicating gardens or training grounds. Metal poles reaching a couple meters off the ground left her thinking on the possible uses they might’ve served at some point. The three mansions were simply the first one immediately after the garden but the city spread out to either side, more and more until the suns didn’t reach it anymore.
Enough to explore still. Guess I’ll be focusing on the lit part for now. Another mansion was searched before she blinked to the roof, looking over the area. Wings spreading, she jumped from house to house before she found a rather large square, several hundred meters long. What looked like a fountain was placed in its midst, the water that had once added to its splendor was long gone. Ilea squinted her eyes and saw a lone figure enter the space from one of the side streets. His armor didn’t glint, not anymore. Still it was unmistakably a knight. The man looked like a mirror image of the one she had fought the day before.
Jumping down from the house, she checked if any more of them were around but found it as deserted as the part of the city she had explored so far. Guess we’ll be fighting for a couple hours again. A smile formed on her face as she casually strolled towards the knight in the distance. Glad for my helmet, I must seem fucking nuts to anybody that sees me smile at doom all the time.
Walking into and through the fountain pond, the knight finally spotted her. His shield and sword rose the same exact way the previous foe had used his before he started jogging, then full out running. Heavy steps stomped on the old cobbled stone, holding on to the warm color from long untreated exposure to sunlight. Ilea’s consciousness focused, her skills circulating power through every muscle of the warrior healer.
The sword rushed at her. Chipped and bruised, rust eating into the treated steel as it rushed past the dodging form of Ilea. The weapon a ghost of its former self but in the hands of its wielder remaining just as deadly. Her dance began once more. This time she knew the steps.
Punching into the knight’s side, she blinked away as she had many times before. Though it was a similar knight, his slight difference in height changed it enough for her to adjust. Just like before, every step was important, every movement calculated. They danced around, the knight slashing into the stone with ease, his blade whooshing as the heavy piece of steel pushed more than cut through the air. Ilea appeared and disappeared, every opening used to deliver just a little more damage into the undead warrior, its final rest simply a matter of time. Such was her confidence.
Hours passed, Ilea trying different things, overextending from time to time and paying the price with more cuts to her armor, bruised tissue that healed and cost her time and mana. She was used to the weight of his weapon, the speed of his movements and the perfect near machine like accuracy of his counters, thrusts and slashes. Still, she was in control. A single misstep could cost her life, she was aware of it but the fact made her calm. This was something she knew, every muscle burning, ash covering the ground, her arms and armor.