Chapter 660: Audur (1/2)

Chapter 660 Audur

“You know quite a lot about this realm. Your own research or did Audur teach you?” Ilea asked after they had walked for a while.

Every new hall or room they came into showed signs of a long past battle, not a single working machine remaining, nor anything more than a few small pieces.

“I have learned from the Druned. What little they know, they share with those who ask,” Hereven explained.

“The Druned. I have not heard of them,” Verena said.

Pierce seemed occupied with checking their surroundings.

“They’re stone golems, but I didn’t know there were any this far north,” Ilea said. “I’d be interested in meeting them too.”

“Many of those who live here are not born of this environment,” the demon said. “Though few find their fate limiting. They are safe here. Protected. Predators hunt prey still, but compared to the lands above, Izculen is peaceful. I too have shared these views for many years,” he explained.

“Did you try to leave then? Or ask Audur about it?” Ilea asked. “She seems intelligent enough to come to a similar conclusion. Especially if she’s protecting the creatures here.”

“As I have explained. Audur is above all. A wish to leave her side is seen as either betrayal, lacking self preservation or missing common sense. I have offered my wishes and based on her reaction to similar situations have to assume that I only am alive today because she thought me inept, unable to understand the dangers of this world and the extent of her generosity,” Hereven explained, his tone drifting more into sarcasm.

“Doesn’t sound like she’s particularly grounded,” Ilea mused.

“She is winged after all,” the demon said.

I like this demon, Ilea thought. “At least you tried. Maybe she’ll understand it at some point.”

“The issue does not lie in understanding. Her superiority is not imagined. It is fact. Based on my limited experience on the surface, I have to agree with her logic as well. But… it goes against my…,” he paused, clicking his claws together.

“Your dreams, feelings, your passion,” Ilea supplied.

“Yes… perhaps those words are fitting, though their meaning partially eludes me. You too seem unreasonable for coming here,” the demon said.

Ilea chuckled. Yeah, probably. “I’ve done some things that could be considered unreasonable.”

Verena laughed.

“Quiet it down a little. Please,” Pierce said.

“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry,” Ilea said as they walked into an spacious unlit hall, shattered tables and shelves littering the floor, pieces of destroyed machines nearby similar to the rest of the dungeon. The locator pointed at the pile of metal near one of the walls.

There were Taleen swords and hammers, pieces of machinery, and even armor. No bones, Ilea noted, looking through everything within her dominion. There you are, she mused, finding the key at the back of the pile.

“Do you hear that?” Pierce asked, checking the main entrance to the hall, two more leading out to each side.

Ilea moved a few ashen limbs into the pile and got the key. She blinked her eyes a few times, unsure why the gesture had felt different. Almost like my ash moved through water.

“There is no noise,” Verena confirmed in a whisper.

She’s right, Ilea thought, turning around with the key in hand as she listened intently. The insects and birds were gone, some still visible within her perception but unmoving, as if frozen entirely. She stored the key and activated her third tier transfer, but the runes refused to form. Focusing on a random sword in the pile, she used Displacement. The spell failed to move the weapon.

“Hide,” she said, layering her mantle and forming two ashen copies as she rushed to a nearby pillar. She imbued the ash with commands to hide and help if necessary, both her or her allies.

The others followed suit, Verena crouching behind a large chunk of rubble and Pierce downright melding with the pile of metal, her armor changing shape to something non human. Hereven found a pillar for itself.

Ilea had started to form heat within her core, just in case. She could feel the mana density rise in the next moment, a wave of magic flowing into the room in a near visible manner. The color of the air changed within her dominion as a lithe being stepped into the hall, its form crouched as it passed through the large entrance, expanding its body when it was no longer constricted.

She checked the others, finding them tense but calm. The presence of the creature would not outright kill them at least. Ilea knew the mana alone outclassed the Meadow. By how much, she couldn’t tell. She noted that the animals and insects in the vicinity didn’t die however, either resistant or protected in some way.

The creature itself had four legs ending in claws, its whole body covered in scales that shimmered with light within Ilea’s dominion. Its head looked similar to a Drake or Wyvern, scaled with two long horns jutting out from its skull, angled backwards and rather straight. Its maw remained closed as it glanced around the hall with inquisitive eyes, a tail sliding out of the entrance as the being moved down the set of steps without a sound.

Its wings remained tucked on its back, the creature still reaching a height of nearly five meters, about three times as long, more with its thin tail.

“I can see you,” it said in a whispering growl, its eyes looking straight at Ilea. “Who intrudes, with ash and fire?”

Ilea could feel the air vibrate with the words, the sound waves visible to her dominion as if spells flowing through the air.

“Tell the others to flee when the chance presents itself, I’ll try to distract it. You too,” Ilea sent to Hereven, stepping out from behind the pillar, her helmet retracting to reveal her face. If the creature disliked ash, perhaps she could show that she wasn’t made entirely of it. Her wings spread out to allow for quick movement, her teleportation still restricted. She focused on her space awareness to try and decipher whatever ability it was the creature used to prevent teleportation.

“I’m Lilith,” Ilea said. “Greetings, Guardian of the West.”

[Audur – lvl ????]

No further information showed as she identified the creature, its eyes like molten gold, its scales a dull green. Powerful muscles were visible below its scales, though there seemed to be little tension in its body. Veteran failed to discern the creature’s power, its level beyond that of the Meadow.

“A human. So far north, so far… west,” Audur spoke.

Ilea could feel a wave wash over her, something brushing her instincts. More subtle than a roar. An aura, just barely visible within her perception, but she knew it to be there, among another set of more prominent spells, her own abilities like drops in the ocean before her. She refused to budge, remaining where she stood with a slight grin still on her face, her focus mostly on unraveling the space magic restriction.

“Rare it is, for thine kind, to reach into these heights. With endless greed, you push on. And here, in a land thou do not know, thine end will come,” it spoke. “Lilith,” it said, as if tasting the name.

She’s a talker, Ilea thought. That’s good.

“You’re the first Dragon I meet,” Ilea said.

“Dragon… your kind once used that name. Long past. Tell me, deviant corrupted by ash, what did you seek within these halls?” Audur asked.