215 Kelthor Citadel II (1/2)
The indentations formed into a circular pattern, and within that circle, there were further inscriptions that read out labels such as 'Main Hall', 'Residential Quarters', 'Alchemical Laboratory', 'Crystallography Center', 'Wandmaker', 'Scrollbearer', and so on, indicating a plethora of areas present all throughout the citadel.
”Hm, let me see here,” said Ven'thur as he rotated his hand. With that movement, certain labels glowed brighter than others, indicating they were being selected.
As he scrolled through them, he remarked, ”Ah, I would have wished so dearly to show you the entirety of the citadel when it was yet standing and unburnt. We had everything under the stars all in this hallowed mountainside study.
Can you believe we held even a menagerie full of live specimen spanning all known continents? Headed by a dracolich curator, no less.”
”Dracolich? Those are extremely powerful undead,” said Li, knowing that unlike lesser Bone Drakes that were just animated dragon skeletons, dracoliches were dragons that had fully embraced high undeath, using their massive latent magical potential to become extraordinarily potent undead that were at minimum level 80.
”The more I think about it, the more I am beginning to question how mortal forces ever razed this citadel. It must have been one of the most powerful areas in this entire planet, guarded by high undead and all their centuries of knowledge.”
”Oh, you compliment the citadel too highly. It is no Torr Valeris, that is to be sure, filled with bloodthirsty battle maniacs. It had no true defenses. We were all scholars wrapped up in the pursuit and maintenance of knowledge, and perhaps, we did grow idle, believing as you believed that our power alone would ward away any threat.
But of course, we did not consider the idea that the mortal races would tap into the Source, draining the world of its life force for their gain.”
”Something not of this world ended Kel'thor, then,” said Li.
”That is so. An Elven hero arose like a shining star, wielding a contraption that could fire the light of the sun against her enemies. With that weapon, she along with the mortal races pushed back the third demonic invasion, and emboldened by that victory, sought to eradicate Kel'thor as well.”
Li glanced at the blackened stone around him. ”And they did.”
”At the cost of all their lives, though I should say the tradeoff between knowledge lost and mortal lives lost skews rather heavily towards knowledge.
”You let them in?” said Li.
”Oh, yes, we did. Initially, as a gesture of goodwill and to ask them to leave if they valued their lives,” said Ven'thur. ”And when they began to fight, the citadel and its walls became an inescapable slaughter pen with which we could eliminate them more efficiently.
We did not want any of them escaping us, after all. And slaughter them, we did, wishing to leave the heroine for last so as to study her contraption and prevent any more abuse of the Source.
But, oh, how petty she was, even when we promised her life. She broke apart her weapon, not even knowing that it would erupt into a blast never before seen upon the world.
A blast that thoroughly encompassed the whole of the citadel. Likely would have reduced it to ash, too, were it not for Kel'thor himself giving his life to reinforce the structure in hopes that the knowledge could be retained.”
Ven'thur pressed his hand into the wall, and a click resonated throughout the empty library. A portal opened up behind him.
”And I,” said Ven'thur. ”Was far too slow. At any moment, I could have taken that elven waste of matter and sent her into another dimension, teleported her far, far away, but two hundred years ago, I was far less wieldy with my magics.
But enough of the past, good seer, for are you not a being that looks to the future? A future that you intend to shape?”
Ven'thur bowed and motioned to the portal. ”And the keys to the future you envision lie in wait for you there.”
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Past the portal, Li, Tia, and Ven'thur found themselves within what seemed like a cavern.
There was no ornately carved ceiling of stone above as there was in the grand archives. Instead, rough, natural formations of spiked rock jutted out from every which way, and the occasional drip and drop of water seeping through the stone could be heard.
”Mind the puddles, they do get so very dirty,” said Ven'thur as he floated forwards over rocky, cracked ground littered with pools of water. ”Kel'thor may be hewn into the face of a mountain, but the rains in the centerlands pour down strong, and the rock is surprisingly permeable, despite how deep in the mountain we are.”
Li followed Ven'thur. At his shoulder, branches started to grow, twisting and forming a light canopy of broad leaves above Tia to stop water from falling on her. ”
”This is the heart of Kel'thor?” asked Li. He felt a powerful hum of power here. A pulsating, beating power. It reminded him of his own heart in the Winterwoods. ”I sense power here. A living, ancient power.”
”A World Vein,” said Ven'thur. He snaked past a sharp angle through a corridor of jagged rock, and when Li followed, he saw what Ven'thur meant.
Sprawled out in front of Li was a massive cavern, and all around its ground were drawn fissures in the rock that criss-crossed over a single point at the center. That center point formed a upon which a huge, purple crystal had been inlaid, and it glowed incredibly bright with warm, purple energy.
Tia immediately woke up, her little body tensing up as she sensed threats.
And threats, there were. Around the crystal, dotting most of the cavern, was a huge host of undead.
Regular skeletons, many of them, but some were far higher leveled Skeleton Brutes, Bone Wraiths, and even a Bone Dragon whose huge, serpentine form lay curled around the crystal.
”Bone things,” said Tia. ”Dangerous.”
”I apologize for this rather inconveniencing display,” said Ven'thur. He clapped his hands, and his will as a higher undead manifested over all the lesser ones, rendering them tame.
”The Grand Archives, I occasionally come back to and sweep lesser undead from cluttering. But Kel'thor is so vast I cannot do the same elsewhere, especially here in the heart where the magic crystal draws them like desperate moths to a dancing flame.
But, in a way, I am thankful that these undead still spawn here. It prevents mortals from being foolish enough to try and desecrate the citadel and is proof that at least here, the undead still find natural birth.”
Tia relaxed and pouted, ”I wanted to fight. New prey. Like bone man. Bone, but living. Strange.”
”Oh, if the majestic dragon so wishes it, I can have some of these lesser ones spar with her,” said Ven'thur. He nodded to Li. ”I can assure it will be all safe and controlled.”