Chapter 261 - The Source (1/2)
”By all that is right!” Mason shouted as he flinched, feeling the sudden final lurch of impact as the Helgat, a divine artifact that had withstood a millennium of history, shattered. He and his brother Mercer both reacted, putting their hands over their heads instinctively.
Everyone else, however, looked up at Li as he calmly grabbed the chrysalis with his tether of roots, manifesting once more the Sanzuwu wings to keep everyone afloat and not hurtling down into the abyss below. He watched as the shards of adamant that once formed the Helgat fell down into a yawning void of darkness, their blue glimmer rapidly fading.
Li narrowed his eyes as he peered down. ”More darkness, huh?”
”It should not be so,” said Asala as she put a finger to her lips. She noticed Mason and Mercer still cowering and spoke out. ”Collect thine wits. Thou art about to witness lost history discovered oncemore. Grant it the respect it deserves.”
Hearing Asala's words snapped Mercer out of his stupor and he shook his brother to normalcy. Li could not really blame them for how they reacted. For all this time, they had witnessed power that seemed feasible to them. Power that they knew was incredible but within the boundaries of reason they had built up through their whole lives.
But for the first time, they truly saw before them raw, overwhelming strength that shattered all their previous conceptions about the invincibility of divine might and blessing and myth and legend.
”What do you mean?” asked Li to Asala. The glowing red light from his fiery wings lit up a significant amount of space below, but even that was not enough to appreciably see anything except for darkness.
”There should be light. The dwarven city of Stedheim lies below the Helgat, and though the dwarves be people of the earth, by no means are they of the dark. Whence last recorded, Stedheim was a city of lights and laughter, of warmth from the heat of its three great forges.”
”I sense absolutely no life below,” said Li as his green tinted eyes peered down, their life s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e gaze finding but muted nothingness. Not even the choking undead mist was here.
Tia, too, nodded, agreeing with Li. ”Nothing. Scary nothing.”
”A crying shame,” said Old Thane. ”By the time I'd made me way down south, the triforge dwarves had already fallen. I had heard many tales from their relatives in Montagne of the great city of Stedheim, how within its three great pillars there was equal parts hard work and merry drinking.
But alas, the tides of war and time and fate favor but precious few.”
”At the very least, having come this far, knowing that this black mass lies below, I will give the dwarves peace of memory. Ensure that they are remembered properly.” Li fluttered his wings, and he began his descent down below.
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As the light from Li's blazing wings lit up the centuries sealed civilization of Stedheim, he first encountered more of the black mass. It pulsated in a massive network of interconnected tendrils lined with strange dark veins that seemed to stretch out infinitely, and yet, this time around, the mass was not hostile.
It seemed instead rather dormant, even making way for Li as he approached, as if afraid of the light and heat he emitted, shrinking away with surprising quickness. But after some amount of descent, through the cobweb of tendrils, Stedheim became visible.
”Impressive,” remarked Li.
”Impressive?” Asala shook her head with a wistful smile. ”Impressive is insufficient to describe the scale of Stedheim.”
Mason and Mercer stood at the edges of the chrysalis, peering out with childlike wonder, and Tia joined them with the same level of energy. Vilga and Sheela were a little more composed, but even then, the twinkle of wonder and curiosity flashed in their eyes.
Stedheim was, in essence, three enormous pillars of stone that supported the vast underground cavern that once housed the entirety of the dwarven civilization. Each pillar was spaced far from each other, visible only when Li shot out bursts of flame to light up the scene for everyone else. They were far enough from each other that Li could make out that they lied underneath each of the three peaks of the Triforge Mountains.
And upon flying closer to a pillar, it became evident of the sheer enormity of its scale. Each pillar must have had, in total volume, space similar to Riviera itself, one of the four cardinal cities of Soleil. When Li reached the pillars, the black mass that covered them in a thick coating of tar like ooze shuddered and withdrew, revealing countless openings carved into the stone that looked like doors and windows, leading into living and working spaces.
Sort of like the mega apartments back in Li's own world, though instead of reaching high into the sky, these spires reached down below, deep into the depths of the earth.
”Wish you could see this, old man,” said Li.
Old Thane laughed. ”No worries, lad. I've told you already – my blindness is a part of myself that I have long accepted. There is no need to wish for this or that. And, though it may be hard to believe, I can 'see' quite well.”