SEVEN MONTHS BEFORE THE EMERGENCE OF EMPRESS


    The murmur of voices drawing near caused him to tense. ((MANA)) flowed instinctively into his fingertips and warmed his clammy palms. He forced in back into his ((MANA POOL)) and took several silent breaths through his mouth. The air tasted of mildew. He was lying flat on his back on a slightly damp carpet that was more worn than the rest of the room, perhaps that was why the bed was above it. He had maybe half an inch of room on his sides, and his knuckles brushed against the rough wood of the rectangle crates that were stored beside him. He was starring directly into the hollow bedframe, which had become long ago a haven for all manner of spider, he recognized three species, although there were more than that, Gutterwailers, Dime Jumping Spiders and Sliver widows peppered the inside of the bedframe, curling webs around large dust bunnies.


    The door creaked open; three pairs of footsteps entered the room. ((MANA)) rushed back into his hands, he pushed it away again, any magic would be the death of him. Allucio greeted the newcomers warmly in dwarven. One of the men replied in gnomish common.


    “Salutations, you are Allucio, correct?”


    “Aye,” Allucio said, “Might I be of service gentlemen?”


    “I am Nuthian Drakcap, these are my brothers, we have been tracking down criminals by the name of Eithidien, we were told that you may be able to give us information on the three thousandth, twenty sixth born?”


    Erak flinched and held his breath. The grey text box in the corner of his vison seemed to grow a little bigger, but he ignored it.


    “I’ve been acquainted with a few of the Eithidien’s,” Allucio deflected, “I haven’t seen any of them recently, what crime?”


    “The line is being cleansed. They have been bred from a tragic seed.” Nuthian almost sounded regretful, almost.


    “What in the name of the Eternal Goodness is that supposed to mean?”


    “Erann’d Eithidien has defected to the Council,” Nuthian’s voice was monotone, Allucio was silent. “…This is, in of its self, not the only reason,” Nuthian continued after a moment,”, but we have good intelligence that he has been given a very high rank in the army of barbarians, and, of course, there was the incident with those halfbred twins. Twins are rotten luck.”


    Erak felt blood rush in his pointed ears, the selfish dullard. Allucio began to speak and pulled Erak out of his thoughts.


    “Last I heard of any of um’ was when Erak, Erbin and Eros got drafted.”


    There was a long, calculating silence. Erak waited for Nuthian, or for his unnamed brothers, probably Navino and Neil, to call Allucio’s bluff, or to accuse him of lying outright. The silence stretched on, the tension in the room grew until it infused the air like a thick blanket of smoke, Erak’s chest tightened up, like he was suffocating, the smoke had decided to defy it’s natural yearning for the stars to slither under the bed and steal the air from his lungs.


    The door flew open with a thud, air seemed to rush back into the room, along with a distinctly foresty scent.


    “GentleElves.” A heavy voice said, the word seemed to carry weight itself, it was an old voice, that creaked like a squeaky board.


    “M’lord.” Nuthian said, Erak heard him drop to his knees, followed by three other thumps, which he guessed was Allucio and the others following his example.


    “I am here to speak. Leave this place.” The voice said again, and Erak began to have a terrible suspicion on who it was. But it couldn’t be, it was impossible.


    “Of course, ((QUESTGIVER))” Neil said quickly,


    “My apologizes, ((SPEAKER)).” Nuthian said, a bit more collected.


    “Fair skies to you, FirstEnt.” Navino said, reverently.


    Erak felt his heart beat loudly in his chest. The door closed, and there was silence.


    “M’lord-“ Allucio began.


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    “Arulan.” The Ent said.


    “Arulan, sir, how may I be of assistance?” Allucio said,


    “For Eternal Goodness’s sake stand up boy.” Arulan said, “And tell your friend to come out from under the bed.”


    The floor creaked as Allucio stood. “Erak?” he asked,


    Erak kicked an empty wooden chest and it slid across the room, light flooded into the small chamber under the bed, it didn’t take long for him to wiggle out from his hiding place, although, it was rather undignified. He quickly jumped to his feet, blinking rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the bright light, he felt hot shame in his stomach.


    Allucio’s room was like most others in the guild hall, a square shaped room with a wardrobe, a few shelves, a single window, and a rickey bed that always seemed unusually high off the ground, he had wondered about that for a long time, why the beds seemed to have so much extra space below them, he didn’t wonder now, Allucio had added a few things, however. The walls were filled with paintings, they weren’t of anything specifically, they seemed like random splotches of paint to Erak, but apparently, they were art. A thick bearskin was laid across the floor and hooks had been added to one of the walls, from which hung a quiver and an unstrung bow.


    Allucio looked like a ghost in the uncertain twilight, he was shorter than an elf, but tall for a dwarf, his skin was a marbled quartz and his eyes rubies, he was clean shaven, which his family found strange, but was a necessity, as some dungeons had adverse reactions to facial hair. He was also thinner than dwarves tended to be, but he hadn’t visited a dwarven settlement for some time and found most other kinds of food bland. He wore the typical ((READER’S)) garb, a white cotton shirt, thick beige pants, a dark blue jacket and heavy boots. The outfit was filled in every possible place with buttoned pockets, even the boot heels had a compartment.


    Arulan was tall as a giant. The eight-foot-tall Bonsai Ent looked like the figure of Myth that he was. He had a deep brown bark that was cracked and mended in many places, almost like wrinkles, his eyes were like yellow glass, or large fish eggs. Arulan did have a beard, it was green and full, made from some kind of vine, or maybe he braided it? Erak would never ask something as silly as that. His head sprouted into a crown of green branches, they were well pruned, but never gave off quiet the right look to be called hair. Leaves grew from various parts of his body, but mostly in the joints, he wore a blue and white toga that went down to his ankles.


    Erak brushed off his blue jacket and gave a low and professional bow, deciding against kneeling, “Good eves, FirstEnt.” His voice was composed, even though his throat was dry, he did his best to seem dignified, ignoring the way his platinum hair was frizzed, or the way the faded lighting reflected off his sliver skin, causing him to glint.


    “Good eves, Eithidien.” Arulan said, placing emphasis on his last name, then he cleared his throat. “To answer your earlier question Allucio, I suppose you may be able to talk sense into your thick-skulled friend.”


    Allucio sputtered. “Sir?” He asked, uncertain.


    “I am here today as ((QUESTGIVER)), specifically because of him.” Arulan pointed a twiggy finger at Erak, who froze. “I’m sure you know what I mean?”


    It took Erak a moment before he was able to speak. “I have received a quest.” He said, slowly.


    “...of course you did” Allucio muttered.


    Erak cleared his throat. “It doesn’t make any sense… ((TRAVEL TO ELI’IN)), Eli’in was destroyed when my father was a child.”


    “Hmm. Everything must be crystal clear, eh? can’t just accept things and get a move on.” Arulan seemed relatively annoyed not exactly talking to either of them, which made Allucio and Erak uncomfortable.


    “I’ve never heard of Eli’in, on which side of the Inth does it lay?” Allucio said, trying to ease the tension.


    “You’ve never-? And after that wonderful Dwarven ballad about the Eulogy… the one that goes… in Inth’s loudest valley, ‘neath ashes that tally, lay caverns of light… No?”


    Allucio shook his head.


    “What are they teaching these days? No one knows a lick about the Epoch of legends.” Arulan said,


    “We focused on the Epoch of Myths.” Allucio whispered.


    “Everyone does.” Arulan sighed. Then turned to Erak “On another note. Erak. Pack a bag and leave. You are already going to be late.”


    Erak stared for a moment before hesitatingly asking, “If I may ask sir, late for what?”


    “So many questions... but I suppose…” Arulan said, “You are a ((READER)) are you not? What do you expect you are meant to do?”


    “How would one be late to a dungeon?” Erak asked, but Arulan stood up, and lifted a hand to silence him.


    “Now, now, no time for more questions. I have to be present for the birth of a local folk hero in an hour.” Arulan said, turning to leave. “And do hurry Erak, I’d hate you to miss the excitement.”


    Arulan left, closing the door behind him. Allucio and Erak stood in silence until they were sure that Arulan couldn’t hear them. Allucio finally spoke first. “Damian’s Beard, Erak, what have you gotten yourself into.”


    “I... do not know.” Erak said,


    “Where is this Eli’in?” Allucio said, sitting down on the edge of his bed.


    “It was in the heart of the Inth, its exact location is unknown.” Erak said,


    “It was in the Inth?” Allucio said, surprised, “No wonder it was destroyed, no civilized creatures could live in those conditions for very long, even those infernal warmongering-“


    Erak cleared his throat. “From what my father said, the city itself was successful, the Orc’s settled in the Inth directly after the FirstWar, a collection of scattered tribes was eventually brought together under a monarchy of powerful chronal mages.”


    “Orcs? Really?” Allucio said, “There is a road to Filadonta that was supposedly made by Orcs.”


    “That… is what my father said, apparently they were wiped out before he turned thirty,” Erak said, then his face had a dreamlike expression for a moment as he remembered the story he had been so often told in his childhood. “He said that the Inth glowed red for months, it was visible even in Ladremoor, no one knew what had happened, the Knights said that it must have been in divine retribution, and none doubted them, it was only until six months later that someone had brought news that the Ogres had decimated the Orcs. He said that the local Gnomes all held a funeral feast for them.”


    “They all died? How? Wouldn’t they have been reintroduced?” Allucio asked,


    “I… am uncertain, evidently there is something happening, a thousand years late at least, but otherwise Arulan himself would not have shown up.” Erak said, beginning to pace in a circular motion around Allucio. “Perhaps it was the One, smiting them for their sins, as He did so often for the Many.”


    “Perhaps.” Allucio said, grimly. “I hope not, for your sake, that you are not going to the burial pyre of the dammed.”


    Erak sighed, “It has to be a dungeon, doesn’t it?”


    “Arulan seemed to imply…” Allucio said, but then trailed off. “I would assume so.”


    “What sort of dungeon could possibly survive in the middle of the Inth? Nothing to sustain them, nowhere to expand into, they would starve, perhaps that is what he meant by me being late. Bating adventurers and ((READERS)) alike to go feed a hunger mad ((CATACOMB)).


    “Erak.” Allucio said, warningly “Do not speak like that.”