While the warp gate had taken Alexei and Risa to the nearest town to the dungeon, that didn’t necessarily mean that the town was actually all that close to the dungeon itself. In fact, the dungeon in question was still about an hour's drive by dragonhorse caravan, and they’d need a caravan to bring desert faring supplies with them. That of course all relied on someone actually renting out a dragonhorse and a caravan. The anti-mage sentiment in the town was strong enough that the locals may have refused to sell to them if their feelings on the matter were strong enough. Alexei had hope, though, that their need for coin would far outweigh their need for petty revenge on something that happened decades ago. “I’ve never seen a dragonhorse up close before,” Alexei thought out loud, “Well, we were transported in a dragonhorse train when we were taken to the Academy I suppose, but we weren’t allowed anywhere near the creatures.” “Nervous?” Risa asked. “Not nervous as such, quite
Stepping back out into the blinding heat wasn’t exactly something that Alexei enjoyed doing, but if it meant he got to meet and hang out with some dragonhorses? That was something else altogether. The Academy had its own fleet of dragonhorses, of course, but only a rare few Initiates ever got to interact with them. Those that truly excelled in combat would be called forward to train in the ways of dragonhorse riding, being able to ride through the legions of the Shades atop the back of a mighty beast did a lot for the morale of those around the rider. It was only those Initiates, and the Dragonhorse trainers, that were allowed to get close to the beasts. It wasn’t because the animals were dangerous at all, it was just another way for the Academy to limit the experiences of their Initiates so that they minded less when they were sent out on the front lines to die for their kingdom. Being able to go face to face with one of the creatures had always been one of Alexei’s dreams, and
For some reason, Alexei had expected it to be difficult to suit the dragonhorse up with a harness, but the creature seemed entirely accepting of the apparatus. When the old shopkeeper drew close and lifted the harness up, the beast simply knelt its front two legs down and presented its head forward so that he could throw the harness strap over its head and secure the fasteners around its sides. The temperament of the big beasts continued to surprise him when the creature simply followed after the old man as he walked toward a second shack, presumably where the caravans were kept. “Are they intelligent as well as tame?” Alexei asked, impressed by their behaviour. “Dragonhorses are some of the smartest creatures out there,” Risa replied, “They’re easy to train as long as you’re not scared of them and once they take a liking to you they’ll be loyal for life if you’ll let them.” The door to the second shack opened with a creak and a flurry of dusty sand. It was clear that the carava
Travelling across the dungeon was actually easier than Alexei had expected. The Dragonhorse cleared the sand dunes with no issue, the wide pads of its toes giving each foot more than enough surface area to stop it from sinking through the sand. The skis of the caravan worked on the same principle, which allowed their vehicle to easily glide across the surface of the desert. They needed to stop a couple of times to rehydrate the dragonhorse and give it some food, which it was always appreciative of, but within an hour they had made it to the entrance of the dungeon. It had been clear that they were drawing close to the dungeon long before they actually made it to the doorway that served as the entrance to the place. A chasm had opened up in the desert before them, leading down out of the harsh sunlight and into a shade-covered crevice. As they wove deeper and deeper the chasm got wider, and the sand on the grand grew thinner until it revealed a blue and red coloured brick path.
Taking a step into the dungeon was almost as nice to Alexei as dipping into a cool river at the height of a hot summer's day. Even in comparison to the shady areas of the chasm outside it was much cooler inside the dungeon. “Almost wish I’d brought a coat at this point,” Alexei joked, “So, where do we go from here?” “Well, that’s hard to say, exploring a dungeon is no easy feat,” Risa replied. “What do you mean by that? Surely people have gone through this dungeon in the past,” Alexei said. “Yes, no doubt countless people have made their way through the dungeon, but we mages learned early on that trying to keep a record of anything to do with a dungeon is a fool's errand.” “How so?” Risa muttered a spell under her breath and a cool blue flickering flame flickered into being between them. It gave off no heat, but it did illuminate the entrance area of the dungeon. “Well, you see how there’s three different tunnels leading off of this section?” Risa asked, gesturing to the three
Alexei and Risa stepped out of the passageway that they had discovered and into the main bulk of the room. Alexei hadn’t noticed it at first, but as well as the strange glyph writing on the pillars there were also tapestries hung up on all the walls. “Risa, you see what I’m seeing here, right?” Alexei asked, his voice was nothing more than a hiss now. “Yeah, I see it,” Risa replied, “Maybe you’re right… Maybe this place is a bit weird, but dungeons are weird. That’s their whole point… right?” He didn’t like how uncertain Risa suddenly sounded, but he liked the story the tapestry wove a lot less. Alexei reached out and touched the tapestry, right on the face of the man, and then his mind was cast into the aether. xXx[Three Thousand Years Ago]The Demon Lord awoke from his slumber. There was much that the Lord of demons despised. He despised goodness in all of its forms. He despised magery and its continued efforts to try to thwart his goals. He despised the weapon-bearers and
[Present Day]Alexei staggered away from the tapestry with a gasp. “Alexei? Are you okay? What happened?” Risa asked. She placed a steadying hand on his shoulder to stop him from falling over, which was definitely a possibility considering how unsteady he seemed on his feet. “Shouldn’t be here,” Alexei muttered, his head splitting, “This place… it’s bad.” “What do you mean it’s bad? It’s just a dungeon, isn’t it?” “Not just a dungeon,” He groaned and looked up at Risa with bleary eyes, “It is a dungeon but it’s more than a dungeon, it’s his tomb.” Risa looked around with wild eyes, “What do you mean ‘his’? You can’t… not him. Not the Demon Lord.” “This is the Demon Lord’s tomb,” Alexei breathed, his headache beginning to recede, “Somehow that tapestry… showed me a fragment of his memory. Projected it into my mind as if I were somehow living it. The moment he did it, the moment he tore the world and let the Shades in.” He stood back up to his full height, winced slightly as his
[The Present Day]Alexei staggered away from the second tapestry. His head was spinning and bile attempted to force its way up his throat and out of his mouth. “That was… unpleasant,” He groaned as he shook the dizziness out of his head, “Not as bad as the first time, but not great.” “It’s like you're getting more acclimated to the process each time it happens,” Risa said, “I’m not sure what that means for you going forward, or what it’s actually doing to you… maybe you should stop now, Alexei.” “I can’t stop now, I’ve already learned so much,” Alexei replied, “That tapestry… it showed me the Demon Lord’s ascent, how he actually did it… and what it unleashed.” Risa’s eyes opened wide, clearly, this wasn’t information she had either, “What it unleashed?” “The Demon Lord didn’t just summon the Shades, they were a byproduct of his own botched ascension… they used to be people,” Alexei explained, “And… They can turn more people into more of them. I think that’s what’s been happening