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    Tycon''s and Sylaina''s boots splashed on the wet stone of the spiralling staircase that lead deeper into the structure. He could feel that they were descending beneath the lake, the air and stone growing colder the deeper they went; The damp chill only reinforced the emptiness around them. The stairs went on for a while, spinning into darkness and he brushed his hand along the mossy walls to keep himself stable as the light faded from outside.


    When the sound of the brushing trees and the howling wind disappeared, they were left with only the rhythmic drips of water and the sound of their own footsteps as they echoed into nowhere. Tycon kept his other hand grasped on the hilt of his sword, the touch reassured him and made him feel safe but he knew he wasn''t. He knew there was something down there waiting for them and that feeling of safety would be fleeting.


    A few minutes went by and he found himself able to make out faint silhouettes as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, mostly ones of the stairs but he no longer needed to caress the damp stone walls.


    "I feel like we should''ve brought a torch," Sylaina remarked from behind.


    "Even if we had, it''d probably have been soaked anyway."


    He heard her sigh, "You''re right. It''s just cold as shit down here... And dark."


    "Maybe we can find something down here but I doubt it," Tycon said.


    There was a short pause, the silence broken by their footsteps until eventually, they reached the bottom of the staircase. From what he could make out, there was a large doorway just beyond it. He tapped his foot on the wet stone and listened for the echo. He could feel Sylaina''s confused eyes on him.


    "What are you doing?" She asked quietly.


    "Checking how large the room is by how far the echo carries."


    "You could also be ringing the dinner bell for whatever is in here," She whispered harshly.


    He immediately felt stupid, she was right, and found himself surprised that it hadn''t crossed his mind. Tycon waited a few moments, his hand on his sword but nothing came. No growls or hisses, just the echo fading away. He made a mental note not to be so reckless again.


    "Anyway," Tycon started, "The room is pretty big so remain cautious."


    "Says you," She replied jokingly.


    At the very least, her charm relieved some of the tension that had begun to grow within him.


    They stepped slowly into the large chamber, he could barely see a few feet in front of him and it made him nervous. From what he could see, it reminded him of Meliora. Not much was different save for the floor being wet and mossy rather than covered in sand. There were marble urns scattered along the walls as they were in Meliora and in retrospect he realized that it was likely what housed the ashes of the elves who fell long ago.


    Tycon began to wonder again as to why these tombs of all places seemed to house the gems or at least a few of them. Perhaps they belonged to great kings of old or maybe for another purpose altogether. Was it to hide them? That was likely the answer, he saw no other reason for there to be a guardian protecting it. In the end, the reason didn''t matter, the fact was that one was here and he needed to get it by any means necessary.


    As they reached the other side of the large dark chamber, they found themselves within a hallway with the floor and walls made of marble. The hallway took many turns with no interconnecting rooms until finally, Tycon saw a light at the other end. An intense glow of red that shimmered like the light of a fire and every step they took closer, the air began to feel warm again. Warm quickly became hot and that''s when he realized that they were somewhere beneath the volcano.


    He emerged from the hallway into a cave with an island in the middle of a lake of lava. On the island was a marble pedestal with a blinding blue light that pulsated every now and then, almost blinding him. He scanned around until he saw a bridge on the other side of the room that was connected to the island but he didn''t take a step towards it. He stood still and drew his sword from its scabbard.


    "I won''t take another step until whatever is hiding in here shows itself," Tycon said with his sword grasped in both hands in front of him.


    He heard Sylaina pull an arrow from her quiver beside him, "I don''t want to jinx it but maybe there''s nothing here."


    Sweat poured from his brow and the droplets split where the bridge of his nose began. He wanted desperately to wipe it away but didn''t want to sacrifice even the slightest moment. They waited some more but still nothing came and after a lot of hesitati0n on his part, he reluctantly took a few cautious steps forward with Sylaina in tow, still gripping the blade.


    "I feel like I shouldn''t help with the jinxing," Tycon said slowly, "But so far so good."


    He heard Sylaina snort from behind, "Hopefully those aren''t your last words."


    "Would you prefer a cry?" Tycon said and sarcastically mimicked a shriek.


    "I think that might be even worse."


    The tension slipped a little and they made their way slowly around the rockface that circled around the lake of lava. The elves headed towards the bridge to the island on the other side. His skin felt as if it were right next to a campfire and for a moment he smelled his coat singe a little. The heat was uncomfortable but not unbearable but he knew that would change the longer they remained there. It was best to make it quick but that may prove to be easier said than done.


    The blue light shimmered as they arrived at the bridge, the glow almost outshone the dominant red that cast its light upon the walls of the cave. The bridge was made from stone and chunks had clearly crumbled and fallen into the lava over time, leaving it to look a lot more unstable than he would have liked. There was no other option, however, but it still took him a moment to mentally prepare himself to walk across it. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    "I think you should hang back," Tycon said.


    Sylaina nodded a little too enthusiastically, "Hey, any excuse not to walk along that thing."


    Reluctantly, Tycon took a step upon the crumbling bridge and it seemed to be holding firm. He took another deliberate step and this time a small chunk of stone crumbled from the handrail, splashing into the fiery depths below.


    Shit.


    A part of him was tempted to just sprint across and make the agonizing journey a quick one but the risk of the bridge collapsing under the sudden weight seemed likely. He sighed and took another step and as soon as his foot touched the stone, the cavern suddenly began to rumble. It startled him and he shot a glance back at Sylaina who was wide-eyed in fear and it mirrored his own expression.


    Tycon had no clue what was making the cavern shake but when he began to see the bridge crumble more and more, he decided against his better judgement that he''d have to sprint across. Rocks and stalactites fell from the high ceiling and began plummeting into the lava around him and in a fight or flight response, he quickly darted across the bridge like a startled deer, making a leap at the end to land face-first into the dirt of the island and right before the pedestal.


    "Are you okay?" Sylaina called from across the crumbling bridge.


    Tycon climbed to his feet, struggling to regain his balance in the shaking room and gave her a half-hearted thumbs up.


    The violent rumbles began to grow and it was almost impossible for him to stay on his feet. He made sure to stay as far away from the lava as possible as it began to bubble and splash. Tycon had no clue as to what was causing the tremor, he guessed an earthquake but wasn''t entirely sure. Stumbling his way to the pedestal, he reached out to the bright light, hoping to grab the gem and get out of there before the bridge collapsed entirely but was stopped when something rose from the lava lake - something large.


    The thing looked to be what Tycon thought was a demon made of cracked stone. Its head was shaped like a lizard with curved horns protruding from the sides of its head with molten red glowing eyes that peered at him with a cold gaze. Its humanoid stony torso was cracked with the humming red glow of lava in between, looking like veins of fire that twisted throughout its muscular figure and on to the wings that were on its back.


    When the creature fully emerged, the tremors stopped and it let out a powerful roar with fire coming from its mouth like a hot wind. Tycon stunned at what he was witnessing grabbed anxiously at the hilt of his sword but he knew it was useless. The creature stood twenty-five feet tall and his sword would be nothing but a thorn if he were even able to pierce its stony skin. He glanced back at Sylaina who held her bow ready and he could see her arms shaking. She knew as well as he that it was useless, his best bet would be to snatch the gem and make a run for it before it could attack. And Tycon did just that.


    He reached into the light but was shocked to find his hand grasp something else. It didn''t feel like a gem, not even close. It felt strong and heavy,  his hand felt at home as he grasped it in a tight grip. A smile crept upon his lips as he began to pull the object from the light and the immense power he felt as his eyes met with it was overwhelming.


    It was a sword.


    A blade imbued with a faint light. Glowing blue runes of a forgotten language trailed down the fuller, only stopping before the ridge. The hilt was gold with a red grip of the finest leather he had ever felt upon his hands as if it stuck to him and would never fall from his grasp. The pommel had an empty socket and the crossguard had a snake coiled around it with similar empty sockets along its back. That''s when he knew what the sword was for and he didn''t hesitate to reach into his pocket and grab the gem, then slip it into the socket on the pommel all in one quick motion.


    The hilt vibrated as the gem slipped into place and the blade almost began to feel heavier as if the weapon had come to life. With no time to gawk, he raised the sword to the molten creature with no idea what exactly it was going to do.


    The creature raised a hand and slammed it into the cavern wall, clenching its fist to remove a boulder from it.


    Oh shit.


    Tycon lowered his guard and turned to run. There was no way he was going to block a boulder, even with a sword that felt as powerful as it did. He ran without a second thought, leaping over the bridge with as few steps as possible and grabbing Sylaina by the blouse.


    "Run!" He shouted.


    They made their way quickly towards the cavern door they came through but the creature was in the middle of the lake and they were in range at all times. Suddenly a boulder flew past them, only missing them by mere feet and he could feel the wind blow past from the force of it. They stumbled but continued on desperately to their only way out. Tycon glanced towards the creature as it was readying itself to launch another boulder their way and tried to quicken his pace. He looked away for a moment as they ran and then glanced back toward the creature only to find a large boulder headed directly at them.


    He didn''t know why he did it nor did he know how he did it but in a response that felt almost automatic, he swung the sword at the incoming boulder in a desperate attempt to die fighting only to find, to his surprise, that he crumbled it to dust with a flash of light.


    Tycon stared wide-eyed at the sword for a moment. What in the hell had he just done?


    He swung the sword again and light shimmered around the blade. He knew that it was no ordinary weapon but for it to be able to be powerful enough to turn a boulder to dust blew his mind. He could only imagine the power it would hold with all four of the slots filled with gems.


    "Quickly, we have to go now!" Sylaina shouted.


    The two continued running around the lake and were gaining on the exit when the creature began making large strides through the lava towards the cavern door. Tycon began to run harder and as fast as he could to at the very least meet the creature there to kill it. He felt more confident with the sword. He felt like he could take on anything with the power he now held and finally he could make a difference.


    The creature reached into the cavern wall again and threw another boulder, this time at the exit. Tycon wasn''t worried as the doorway collapsed in on itself. If the boulder he destroyed was anything to go by, he would have no problem carving them the way out.


    The creature arrived at the collapsed doorway just as they did and it reached out to grab Tycon but he jumped aside and swung the weapon at its hand, watching with a smile as it cut right through and crumbled it to dust. The creature roared again, spouting flames into the cavern but it had made a mistake by coming into range of him. One slash across its gut as it stood by the edge of the lava was enough to send the thing falling backwards and into the lava it came from. When it didn''t come back up, he assumed it was done with fighting for now.


    The calmness that had suddenly engulfed the cavern felt odd as if he hadn''t just been running for his life moments before.


    "Okay, so what is that?" Sylaina asked, trying her best to sound as nonchalant as possible.


    "I don''t know," Tycon replied, "Some sort of ancient magical sword? Look here."


    Tycon showed her the pommel where the gem sat snugly with a faint glow emitting from it.


    "So this weapon is somehow connected to the gems," She said ponderously, her eyes locked to the gem.


    "I''m guessing this is what their purpose is," Tycon said, "Was this what Zeke was looking for? Or are there others out there?"


    Sylaina shrugged, "I don''t know."


    "It was rhetorical."


    "I know," Sylaina teased and bumped him with her arm.


    "Anyway," Tycon started, "Let''s get out of here, I''ve had enough of this place.


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    There was a blue night sky when they emerged, flashes of light on the horizon both of fire and magic. When they had entered they thought they had more time but when they returned they found quickly that the sand in the hourglass had run out and their world was at war. Tycon knew Zeke had come, they were here to burn the world and rebuild on top of the ashes of the fallen human rule. He looked to his newly found sword once again, knowing that this may be the only way he could stop them. The only way he could save the world.


    Continued in book 2 "The War Of Reclamation"


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