Chapter 262: Discovery (1/2)
“Impressive.” The voice of Terok resounded behind her, Ilea smirking as he appeared in her Sphere.
He already knows the range of my perception magic…, It spoke for him more than anything else, Ilea continuing her meal as he landed next to her, his machine back in order and with a head to boot.
“And why are you here? Are you making it a habit to follow me around?”
“Kept a safe distance and I didn’t go into the darkness so keep your boots on lassie. They don’t follow you out of there?”
Ilea nodded at his assumption, “Don’t fight one on one for long either. I think killing them will be quite a difficult task. Oh and I met a Soul Ripper… I suggest you don’t venture too deep.”
Terok sat down next to her in his robotic exoskeleton, “You didn’t engage?” He laughed when she shook her head, “Perhaps there is some brain matter in that skull of yours remaining still.”
Something shot out of his suit, Ilea looking at it before he let it fall into her hand, “A key? To the closed off chambers?”
She could practically smell the grin between his beard, “Maybe. It’s a working theory but someone has to try. I thought you should have the honor. Before you ask, yes it might fail and cause whatever traps are down there to spring to life. Maybe the knights will come for you. Why I think you’re the best for the task.”
“Didn’t you say it’d take weeks to do this?” Ilea asked, looking at the small shiny key.
Terok looked her way and chuckled, “Well the chances of it not working are rather high. It should in theory disconnect the enchantments imbued in the lock from the source of mana that keep them running. To continue working I need to know what happens when you put the key in.”
“You need to be there?” Ilea asked but he shook his head.
“Seeing it from a distance is enough. I can hide behind the plants to observe.”
Ilea frowned before the key vanished into her necklace, “What if the trap encompasses the whole area and not just the door and a couple meters in front of it? What if the knights from upstairs come down?”
“Then we’ll deal with that. I’m willing to take that risk.” He said in an excited voice.
Ilea thought about it, “Why don’t we test first with some of the plants or literally any other enchantments than the main door?”
Terok gave her a metallic thumbs up, “Good thinking. That’s what I did to come to this solution. I didn’t expect to be done so quickly but the elf and his barrier magic helped to forge the key a lot quicker than I’d have been able to. Plus something was off with the central door. Almost like the enchantments weren’t in place correctly. I might be wrong and trust me I’ve been wrong before but with all my experience I say that it’s the only one that can be cracked like this.”
He was silent for a moment before he continued, “Perhaps it’s an elaborate way to deceive anybody trying what we’re attempting but honestly… the other doors that remain closed, I doubt I could get in there in months even. Why set up a trap like that?”
“There could be reasons. We don’t know who set it all up.” Ilea said and sighed.
“I know. Still, there’s a chance it’s just a coincidence. Or maybe it was damaged at some point, perhaps deactivated and not reactivated correctly. I’ve seen it happen with plenty of old ruins or people reusing enchanted artifacts they found down under.” Terok explained.
Ilea smiled at the mention of down under. “Maybe. Meaning somebody else could’ve been in there before us?”
The dwarf shrugged, “Only one way to find out.”
“Well we can try. I should be able to escape should it go awry. Just make sure to keep as much distance as you can.” Ilea said.
The dwarf nodded, “Will do ma’am.”
Shecontinued eating in silence, the dwarf standing up and waiting for her, arms crossed. “Give me a couple minutes.” Ilea said with a full mouth.
Terok didn’t seem happy about it, though he nodded and started pacing behind her. “Do that somewhere else, you’re stressing me out.” He stopped before teleporting away. Like a dog waiting for his walk.
Ilea wanted to know what was in the closed off chambers but her mind was still lingering on the Soul Ripper and the undead knights. While the dwarf was here for riches and perhaps better metal and materials for his suit, Ilea wanted to fight stronger beings. To think she already had several of them to chose from but lacked the ability to engage was more than a little irritating. Terok considered her crazy to even think about it, as did most humans considering the way they thought about the North. Ilea just didn’t see a reason why not, even while they were too dangerous now, with the system in place, it was only a matter of time until she smashed them apart like she would an ordinary Drake by now.
She just hoped it wasn’t the decades or hundreds of years that her current cooperators suggested. I’m at two sixty already, just have to find more solo Blue Reapers or something else reasonable in the Descent. Putting off the thought for now, she finished her meal, savoring every bite. Terok waited a couple buildings over, still pacing and impatient for her to join him. Ilea sighed and blinked over, her wings spreading and taking her the rest of the distance, landing next to him. “Let’s see if you’re just an extraordinary salesdwarf or if your products actually live up to expectations.”
Terok started hovering, moving in his suit as naturally as he would standing on the ground, “Trust me, I’m as interested as you are to find that out.”
“Got an opinion on the subject?” Ilea asked as she started flying towards the distant form of the palace.
Terok caught up with her, the two flying a couple meters above the buildings below them, “A mixture of both I guess. Though I assume you have enough experience at least to know that even a high skill can result in failure from time to time.”
“Depending on what’s standing against you.” Ilea suggested, landing a couple hundred meters away from the palace. She jumped down to the street and started walking.
Terok followed her down but kept floating next to her, likely to avoid making any noise. Ilea wasn’t overly concerned yet, her sphere alarming her before the knights would hear her steps on the stone. They walked the last part in silence but she could hear his heart beat. The dwarf was scared, excited or nervous. Maybe all three. She grinned under her helmet. Perhaps she would feel similar once the door had been opened. Worst that could happen is them being trapped with a level one thousand necromancer and his ten most loyal guards, each triple marks rushing to dissect the two of them.
Ilea had survived the Praetorians, she had survived the Basilisk and the elves. If she was the kind of person to stop at a what if scenario then she wouldn’t have come north. Perhaps she would have rotten away down in the Azarinth temple so long ago. “If we get stuck, you distract them and I find a way out.” Terok said when they reached the courtyard, not a single knight in sight.
Ilea nodded, the plan simple but with how little information they had it was as good as it got. Holding a finger to her mouth, Ilea checked the inside of the palace. Stepping inside, she made sure to stay hidden in the long hallway. Knowing where the throne room was and where the knights patrolled made it simple to reach the main hall of the palace. The two waited next to the thrones for the patrolling knight that would soon come up the stairs.
She looked at Terok, tapping her armored leg while waiting for the Kingsguard. Finally the knight showed up, walking through the throne room in his beautifully crafted armor, his sword sharp and deadly. Ilea itched to engage but she knew it would end in disaster. Very likely. There was a chance. A tug on her arm took her out of the thought, Terok motioning towards the stairwell leading further down into the structure. Blinking down, the two of them found themselves in the underground hall a couple seconds later. It looked virtually unchanged from the last time she had been there.
Blinking thrice, Ilea appeared behind the two knights guarding the central path that led to a massive closed door. Silver in color and of course a rose embedded in the massive thing. Looking back, she could barely see a glimpse of Terok hiding behind the plant she had just stood by. Giving him a thumbs up, she summoned the key and checked the door. A single opening was visible, energy visible as it washed over the sheet of metal. The entrance was seamlessly set into the white marble. Ilea wondered what it had cost to build such a place. The key looked simple in comparison, made of some of Terok’s spare metal to be sure.