Unbound

Vessilia nodded at Evie as the latter left, ducking out the side exit and leading her small group on their journey. Atar and Harn had already left, presumably were even beyond the encampment even now, well on their way to the tower. The plan was working, though she feared almost too well.

Stop those thoughts. May the grace of Siva guide us. Vessilia had often turned toward her father's religion for comfort, usually finding it a warm blanket to soothe her thoughts. It was less than comforting today, however. Swallowing, she turned toward the room, doing a final count.

Other than Magda's friend (who was even now getting to her feet), there were nine prisoners still there. One group each for Felix and Magda to lead out of this place. She considered her own group, five of the survivors with impressive physiques but all the hallmarks of exhaustion. All were weakened, tired and bloody, near the end of their Stamina and Mana after hours in the Labyrinth below. Vessilia had learned much in talking to Vivianne, the Dwarven woman who had rushed to Callie's side after Magda had originally knocked her down. Apparently she was a journeyman in Field Medicine, though unfortunately without talent for Mana Skills, so lacked any true Healing in her repertoire. Impressive, nonetheless; the woman had a good head on her shoulders and helped to keep everyone else calm.

Smiling at her group, she led them to the exit. They were running low on time, having projected only a fifteen minute window to get in and out. Vessilia feared...No, she insisted. It will be fine.

"AH!"

One of the survivors, an Elvish man by the name of Pell, collapsed to the ground. Moving quickly, Vessilia rushed to his side, Vivianne right behind her. Ice was scattered all around the area, remnants from the weapon that nearly chopped her in half, and it was clearly on these chunks that the Elf had tripped upon. She glanced down at his leg, and his tattered pants revealed an ankle swollen and red, streaked with something dark just beneath the skin.

"Tsk, Pell why didn't you say something? Did it bite you?" Vivianne asked, her eyes intense. Pell only grimaced and nodded, looking away. Vessilia watched the Dwarven woman's face soften slightly before she pulled a few rags out of a pocket. "What'll I do with you, Pell? Foolish Elf." Quickly, she wrapped up his ankle and the two of them helped the Elf to his feet.

"Can you not heal it here?" Vessilia asked, looking at the Dwarf who shook her head, braid's swinging. The noblewoman reached for her hardened potions case, a side pouch where she kept her two emergency Health Potions. Vivianne's squarish hand stopped her.

"No, those won't do any good. The wound needs cleansing, and we can't do that here. All we can manage is a brace, for now." The Dwarf furrowed her brow, frustrated. Vessilia put her hand on her shoulder and smile gently, both at her and all the others.

"We will take care of him, of all of you, once we're free." She looked about, noticing that Magda had started to gather her people around her. "We must go. There is not much time."

The spearwoman got Pell's arm over her shoulder and neck, supporting his lanky weight. He stumbled, a slight tearing sound as he leaned against her and hissed in pain. Vessilia slipped, feeling something drop from her waist, likely Pell's patchwork armor. She fetched up against the icy wall for the briefest of moments. "I have got you, Pell. Everything is going to be fine."

Oration is level 16!

The Elf nodded, his face smoothing slightly, and the noblewoman kicked ice chunks out of her way while extolling her charges to follow her path.

"Come, my friends! We must be quick."

Magda released Callie, loath to let her go but knew that they were short on time. The nine remaining survivors gathered around them, all of them watching with some measure of nervousness.

"You good, Cal?" One of them asked, a dark skinned man, heavy with muscle beneath his tattered leather armor; clearly he'd developed his Body well beyond his first Temper, likely past his second as well.

Callie wiped her face and smirked. "I'm fine, Bodie. Thanks." She stood straighter and noticed the empty room. "Where is everyone?"

"Evacuated," Magda answered, gesturing toward the side exit. "My people led three groups out already. Just two more to go and we're done in this cursed city." Only silence met that declaration, and Magda looked at askance at Callie. "I know that silence. What?"

Callie hesitated, looking back toward the bronze doors they had just entered. "We...we can't leave, Mags."

"What?"

"There's something...whatever got buried here? It's bad. It's real bad. We can't let it be." Callie put her hands on her hips, scowling at the ice all around them. "Can't leave it to these frosted bastards."

"Explain," Magda frowned.

Cal grunted and started pacing. "The Labyrinth they had us run every day? It's a maze of traps and illusions, filled to the brim with chimera and elementals and who knows what else. It's a nightmare of torment, worse than any Nymean ruin I've ever seen."

"So why stay?" Magda asked, exasperated. "My plan was to leave all that behind. Get us back to civilization. Safety."

"Pfha!" Callie snorted, nose wrinkling in that familiar way it did. "Safety? Back in Haarwatch? Do you know why we're out here?"

"Territory grab," Magda shrugged. "Guild overreach."

"Right. And if that don't stink like Yyero's backside, I'm a mage." The treasure hunter shook her head and opened her mouth a couple times, as if working out what she wanted to say.

Magda scrubbed her face with her gauntleted hands, not caring that the metal scratched at her skin. She had two Tempers of her own. "Fair enough. That doesn't answer my question though, Callie."

The blond shook her head, like she was worrying at a bone. "It's a hunch, alright? Most of these giants, they don't speak like people do, just that monster tongue of theirs so I can't figure out what they're sayin. But...they're after what's in the center of this place. And that has to be awful. Why else put all these monsters here? Why build a Labyrinth? These Geist did it for a reason, and I know it's meant to hold in something much worse."

"Geist?" Magda hadn't heard the word before. "That who built it?"

"Yeah, some damn mad illusionists far as I can tell. They mess with your mind down there, turn everything...everyone...They're nasty pieces of work." Callie scratched her jaw, and wouldn't meet Magda's eyes. "We're almost to the center. Another day, maybe two, and we'll be there. The giants have been throwin us at it, grinding down the Labyrinths' defenses, pushing us harder and harder. And now it's there, almost in reach." This time she did meet Magda's eyes, her stare bright and intense. "We can't let them get it. Whatever it is."

Magda sucked in a breath, unfamiliar with this intensity, this drive in her ex. She crossed her arms and frowned. "We have minutes, at most, before the Risi and their leader return here. I'll gladly come back to this ruined city with an entire legion of mages and bombard the place to dust, but we have to go. Or else none of us are leaving."

Callie stood tall and rigid, anger in her eyes as bright as Magda's own. She opened her mouth, clearly intent on arguing, when a chunk of ice rapped off her skull.

"Ow! Hey! What the hell?"

They all looked up, and Magda groaned.

The boy was climbing the ceiling.

As Vess left, Felix signaled Pit that she was coming out and to watch out for her group. Pit, positioned atop the ruined building they had hid within, had excellent vantage of the square outside as well as the nearby gathering of giants that even now rolled fitfully in the tail end of their nightly rest. He would send Felix frequent pulses of contentment or even hazy images and smells of Atar, Harn, and Evie leaving the area safely with several prisoners in tow. Now, with Vessilia on the move, they were down to the last of the prisoners, still being gathered by Magda below. Everything was apparently going as planned.

Well, almost everything.

Felix's grip had been sure as he navigated the first portion of the wall, ascending vertically with little issue. His levels in Free Climbing did him wonders. It was the horizontal approach that terrified him, and his first attempt had almost led to a very long fall and near certain death. So he got clever. Once he reached the highest he could climb and before the dome started to curve, Felix fished out his brightweave coil and imbued it with Mana.

The rope came alive in his grip, vibrating just slightly as the end quested about like a creature tasting the air. With a gentle pulse of Will, Felix sent the rope snaking along the ceiling, the imbued fibers easily clinging to the craggy ice that covered everything, easily reaching the central point of the dome before tying itself off with another pulse of intent. Still holding onto the rope, Felix ordered it to knot itself every five feet and held on tight.

"Whoa!"

The coil shortened considerably, dragging him off his perch and swinging him into the center of the room. Mastering the stomach-flipping disorientation, Felix began climbing up the rope, dislodging a growing pile of ice and snow to fall below him.

He distinctly heard swearing but couldn't really do anything about it at this point. Sorry! He kept climbing, hand over hand, his Strength and the knotted rope making the ascent child's play. At the top he came face to face with a glowing shard of ice embedded into the dome's interior. A small balcony ringed this part of the building, undoubtedly for maintenance and which meant that there was probably a MUCH easier way to get up there. Then again, probably not, he thought as he swung over the railing and saw the eight inches of enchanted ice that coated the walls.

Exploration is level 22!

He turned and inspected the ice shard, which was easily the size of his entire torso.

Analyze...

Name: Elemental Shard

Type: Elemental Core

Lore: While an elemental core is a central node to an elemental being, an elemental shard is an order of magnitude greater. Can be used for many crafts up to and including Epic ranked artifacts.

Rarity: Epic

Wow. Imagine if Pit ate this one? If he could even get his mouth around it, that is. Felix gazed at the shard embedded in the ceiling with wide eyes, walking around the circular balcony to see it from all angles. His eyes snagged on something on its surface, a faint sheen that seemed too orderly to be mere light reflections. He stared hard, tilting his head this way and that, trying to catch the light from below on its angled planes. Then he had it. It appeared to be a series of shallow engravings on the upper third of the shard, and the more he looked the more he saw.

Sigils of the Primordial Dawn is level 4!

They're sigils! Felix perused them a moment longer, noting only a few squiggles he recognized from the markings in the Temple. Working off a hunch, he tried Analyzing it again.

Name: Elemental Shard

Type: Elemental Core

Lore: While an elemental core is a central node to an elemental being, an elemental shard is an order of magnitude greater. Can be used for many crafts up to and including Epic ranked artifacts. This shard is being used as a focal point for a large area effect spell, evidenced by the sigils gracing its surface.

Rarity: Epic

Analyze is level 24!

Oh shit, finally! Analyze was his first Skill he'd ever earned, and he definitely planned on Tempering his Mind once it hit Apprentice Tier. He looked again at the new Lore entry for the Elemental Shard and grinned. Aha! This is the focal point of the wards around the building! I knew it!

Felix started to inspect the ceiling, certain that if he could somehow get this shard out of the roof he could break it up, feed it to Pit piece by piece. He was strong, he could probably carry the thing easily, right? He circled the icy balcony several times, but each time he couldn't quite figure out a way to leverage it out. Then he smacked his forehead, feeling like an idiot.

Magic. Use your damn magic, man.

Reign of Vellus!

He reached his hands forward and lightning began to arc around the ceiling and shard. With a tug of his Will, the ice shuddered and groaned...before sliding loose.

Hell yeah!

Felix floated the Elemental Shard toward himself, tilting it slightly so that it wouldn't bang into the iced over railing. The moment he put his hands on it, a notification popped up.

Do You Wish To Claim This Shard?

"Um, yes," Felix said with no little trepidation.

Shard Already Claimed. Contest Claimant?

Already claimed? Realization hit him. The giant. Or the Circle witches maybe. Whoever had cast the ward.

Directing his thoughts toward the prompt, he reluctantly said, "No."

Then the shard became absurdly heavy, almost ripping through his hands and into the floor beneath. "Holy shit!" He wheezed, veins standing out on his forehead. Felix could feel the ice-laden floor creak beneath his combined weight, and he did the only sensible thing he could think of: Reign of Vellus.

Lightning rapidly arced around the shard, but the weight lessened greatly as his Willpower took on the load. The shard bobbed in the air, lifted with much more grace than Tides of Vellus ever managed. "This Skill is so cool. If only I could stop all the lightning. Reduces the utility a lot."

Suddenly the building shook, ice shivering off and falling the hundred or so feet down to the ground floor.

What was that?

Then the doors, those massive bronze doors that fronted the building, exploded inward.

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