Chapter 25 - The Crystal Void Passage (1/2)

Diego led his band of twelve warriors and one shaman through the Quko campgrounds. Shaman Fanflame looked their way, but just gave a simple nod to Rainshower before losing interest in their group. He had the veteran warriors cross the blue ring first and, as each of their feet passed the inside edge of the stones, they appeared to be yanked forward while spinning in a counter-clockwise direction and disappearing almost instantly. Diego, Peyni, and Tovao all shared a look of muddled fear and concern, but Rainshower did not as she excitedly crossed the line and vanished without a trace.

”Certainly can't let a woman beat us,” Peyni said, summoning his courage, before he stretched his foot over the line then vanished.

Tovao gave a nervous chuckle while shaking his head. He tightened his grip on his glaive then entered the passage like everyone else. Diego looked around the campsite one last time before stepping forward and following the others into the Void Passage.

Instantly, it was if some suction force latched onto the toe of his boot and pulled him inside as it crawled up his body an army of bugs swarmed their way up his entire body within a moment. Somehow, it felt as if his whole body was being yanked through a garden hose and it even felt like it had changed to fit the tight, narrow tube he was being pulled through. There was no light, or he had no way of seeing during the transfer, but he could feel his body spinning at high speeds.

Then, after what seemed like an eternity though it was only a minute, everything stopped suddenly, and he was in a dark cave with a few torches being the only source of light. The chamber was quite large, nearly a hundred meters in width, and the sound of metal picks against stone could be heard in the distance. The air was still, muggy, and had the faint smell of sulfur. With his sense returned, Diego paled as he stumbled to the side, but a pair of strong hands steadied him.

”Will you be sick, young lord?” the warrior holding Diego's shoulders asked.

Before he could answer, he heard the sound of someone retching and peeked over to seeing Peyni on his knees with his head in a bucket. Although Tovao had yet to lose his last meal, he had a greenish complexion and sweat on his forehead as he sat on the ground. Diego gritted his teeth and forcefully tried to suppress the queasy feeling.

”I'll be fine,” Diego said to the warrior.

The warrior gave him a nod then loosened his grip on Diego's shoulders. Diego was still a little wobbly, but he was no longer in danger of falling over. He looked around his group and saw that, aside from himself, Tovao, and Peyni, everyone else appeared fine, albeit, a little pale. Rainshower looked like nothing had happened to her as she examined the area with a big smile on her face.

”So, are you going to show me what's in the bag now?” Diego asked as he walked over to her side.

”Not bad, junior-apprentice brother, most people end up like Tovao, if they managed to not end up like Peyni,” she said with a light chuckle. ”This is something Mother created for me with some of our spare Light Crystals.”

Rainshower reached into her sack and pulled out something slightly larger than her hand that was tightly wrapped in a leather pouch. When she started pulling the cord tying it all together, white light poured out of the gaps as they formed. Once it was completely free of the leather pouch, the orb of pure white light was revealed. She gave it a little toss as her fingers lit up with white glow and then it remained floating in the air, hovering just over her head.

”Once I remove the cover, the orbs will last six hours, and I can set them to hover over anyone's head. Mother made thirty, so we can't go crazy with them, but we should have enough that we won't need to rely on torches in our group,” Rainshower replied with a smile.

”It is definitely brighter than the torches,” Diego said as he used a hand to shield his eyes from the miniature sun above her head.