Chapter 49: Into relative darkness. (2/2)

“Old Harrakan. Those are the mine dwellers of the past,” Viv whispered.

“The mirror of the people. A fitting name. The artefact probably started as a layer of reflective iron and evolved from there,” Farren said.

“What do you mean, evolved?” Viv asked.

“You can discuss this on the way,” Lorn said, “we must go on. That thing is not moving, so you two eggheads can study it later.”

With some regret, the troop carried on. Farren stepped next to Viv and talked to her in a low voice.

“Careful. Lorn thought that you were talking about specifics but you should know what artefacts are. Have you never heard of named objects?”

“I read your books, yeah. Marruk also mentioned them in Kark folk tales but I always assumed it was, errr, really well enchanted stuff given a proper name.”

“I am talking about true artefacts. They are, hmm, they are what happens when the conditions are right. Essentially, artefacts are born more than made. They occur at a conjunction of factors. For example, that mirror probably came to be after generations of workers used a mundane object to see themselves. Artefacts are rare, but they all have interesting stories. I will tell you a tale tonight, after we have made camp.”

“I would like that.”

They fell silent. They left the ancient place behind with some regret, returning to their usual careful march. An hour later, the tunnel ended in a titanic cavern at least a kilometer across and the group stopped once more.

“This looks promising…” Farren said as they took in their surroundings. The cavern was roughly circular, structured like a funnel, with a wide road circling down to the bottom of the pit. Luminescent mushrooms dotted the ceiling and bathed the expansive complex in a pale blue light. The air was thick with humidity.

The guard who had made the lights took a step to the side and cast his spell again. A beautiful radiance spread, showing wet rock and, more interestingly, tracks. From something with many legs.

“Hey, what’s...”

Viv’s danger sense screamed to her. That was the only warning they got.

A circular maw propelled by centipede legs burst out from the side, bearing right on them. Viv’s senses heightened until she could see patches of reddish eyes. Time slowed.

“Yoink!”

Her reaction was near instantaneous, a reflex born in the deadlands. The bolt flew as a head as large as a doghouse fell upon them. She felt the spell connect, then fail to dig in. It was like trying to pick sand and meet slick stone instead. The creature was still alive.

[Juvenile Depth Worm: extremely dangerous]

Viv was caught in the middle of the formation. She could not even jump to the side. Everything happened too fast.

Viv managed to cast a quick purge spell, cutting a thin line across the creature’s flank.

The guards raised their shields and struck at the same time, but the creature was minibus-sized and smashed through them.

Viv was tossed aside, falling under the heavy weight of Marruk. She heard the shriek of metal and tortured wood and felt a pain in her shoulder.

“Shit, I’m hit!”

“Squee?”

“Dammit, Arthur, remove your claws from my arm. They hurt.”

“Up, up!” Lorn yelled. Everyone scrambled to their feet and the guards formed a protective lozenge with weapons wielded about.

“Loric, curse the risks, give us light.”

Silence. Silence and darkness.

“Loric?”

“He’s gone, chief. I mean, he’s not here.”

“Dammit. That thing took him. After them.”

The group rushed on, other guards summoned lights to see where they had gone. There were a few shrieks above them. Viv had a clear look of Marruk passing a finger through a fresh hole in her shield, then they were beset by flyers.

The creatures looked like scaled, massive bats with surprisingly serpentine faces. Viv cast purge spells in quick succession and limbs started to fly. Motivated by their loss, the soldiers cut into the assailants with cold fury. Arthur pounced on one creature after another, bringing them to the ground with broken spines.

“Enough of this. Purge net!”

Viv focused and covered the entire area above them in a dense network of interlocking void whips. The destructive nature of black mana sang to her as it carved through flesh and bones. A deafening cacophony of death shrieks echoed throughout the cave, and the survivors left in a hurry, back to their lairs under the ceiling. The humans (and that one Kark) were ankle-deep in blood and viscera.

There was no cry of triumph. Koro stepped up and kneeled without waiting for an order.

“There, the trail. Follow me.”

The tall woman rushed down the slope of the large cavern, group in tow. Viv tried to have a look at the ground but there were too many people in the way.

“Thanks for saving me,” she told Marruk in a low voice.

“You owe me a new shield.”

“Deal.”

Viv thought about what they had seen. The creature was massive and covered in a thick layer of skin and, apparently, fat. It had too many legs to immobilize. Its weak point was probably its massive maw. Earthworms didn’t have brains, but that thing was so big that it might have one. Probably close to those eye clusters.

Better not think of the guy who had been taken.

So yeah, she would prioritize the head.

That was her plan.

If you call that a plan.

“Sharp left!” Koro yelled after twenty minutes of non-stop descent. They had passed by a few openings in the cave’s walls on their way down, but Koro had not stopped. Viv supposed that they led to more sections of the mine. Farren had probably underestimated how stupidly massive the thing was. No, Viv herself had been dumb. The mountain range surrounding Harrak was kilometers-deep, probably. Any complex that provided a way between one end and another was bound to be enormous.

The new passage was just as large as the one they had followed a few hours earlier. There were rails as well and they passed by a few abandoned wagons. There was more life here, more humidity in the air. It also smelled quite rank. A pungent smell with a hint of rot filled her nose and throat. The rapid pace was starting to tax her stamina and sweat pearled on her brow.

“Fuck…” Koro said.

They had reached a T-shaped intersection, and the ground was filled with condensed, brackish water. The tracks disappeared in the pond that covered the ground of three different passages.