Published at 16th of February 2024 2:24 pm

Chapter 43. Survivors Of A Forgotten Age

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The rift's interior was as bleak as the exterior. It had no natural light besides the little coming from the stars overhead, and the temperature felt well below freezing. The party saw no signs of snow, but the eerily silent dimension appeared frozen solid.

Everyone in the party except Lillin had a source of light. Thanks to her mimic physiology, she didn't need any. Her irises and pupils adopted feline properties as she scanned her surroundings. Still unsure of the non-human, Joey kept her at arm's length. She brought up the rear, and he stayed close to the vanguard, following close behind Caitlin.

Bioluminescent moss covered the Woodson woman's elemental armor. Glowing dandelion fluff also floated around her. Whenever one dimmed, it disappeared into the thick wood covering Caitlin and then reappeared moments later, emitting more light than before.

Alexander and Nox followed close behind Joey. The former had squirrels casting silver-blue ethereal light on his shoulder and flanking the party. Meanwhile, the Arcane Archer's magic bow bathed him in a blue mana glow.

Even though it felt unnecessary, Joey added to the party's light with the djinn container. The glass spearhead cast dancing, ever-changing lights around them using a mote of Djinn Fire. The sight would've been beautiful if not for their bleak surroundings. He studied the petrified, bone-white trees they passed. The bark resembled that of ordinary trees but lacked any color. Joey had never seen anything like it before.

After several years spent stuck around the apprentice rank and living on the streets, Joey knew little about magic and mana—compared to his new peers, at least. The chances of him passing the upcoming written exams were low unless his cheating plans failed. He had only learned how to sense it recently and detected no traces of it. The dimension felt dead and empty.

“Have the scours found anything?” Nox asked after they had walked for a little over an hour.

“No,” Alexander replied. “They haven't seen, heard, or smelled anything. Given that everything is frozen and there is no wind, their noses will probably not pick up anything.”

“This doesn't feel right,” Caitlin commented. “The wood elementals don't like this place. Something has them scared and almost sickly. It's like the dimension is so starved of life essence it's trying to suck it out of my armor.”

“Maybe all of the dimension’s residents fled through the rift before we arrived,” Joey stated. He silently probed his contracted partner for an answer, but the djinn remained silent as it had for several weeks now.

“Not possible,” Nox told him. “The Rift would've destabilized and collapsed if that happened.”

“What do you think happened then?”

Nox's bossiness often annoyed Joey. He was a nice enough guy but behaved as the leader even though he was weaker than Caitlin. The man's shortness when giving out instructions and occasional commands bothered Joey. If Kris hadn't ordered him to obey all of the senior apprentice's instructions, he would've given Nox peace of mind. Caitlin constantly defended Nox's behavior and justified it, which bothered Joey even more.

“Kris told us this rift had a yellow danger level. The color we saw was closer to green than yellow. The last time I encountered such a phenomenon was because of an internal incursion. An invasive Rift Lord and her army attacked the dimension and eliminated most of its residents, trying to make the realm her own. It's possible the same happened here.”

“Wouldn't there be corpses or traces of battle if such a thing happened?” Joey asked. He sent the spearhead to the border of his mana zone—thirty feet—and had it revolve around the party, granting them a better view of their surroundings.

“Not if the attackers consumed every trace of them before moving on,” Lillin stated. She pointed at the black emptiness to their right. “I sense something coming from that direction. The presence is weak, but it's the first I've sensed since we entered this space.”

“Anything notable about it?” Nox enquired.

The mimic-woman nodded. “It reminds me of the emptiness in my dimensional pockets. I can only think to describe it as timeless nothingness.”

“That—” Alexander and Caitlin exchanged concerned looks. “Doesn't sound good. It's how Grandmother describes the Void and Void essence.”

“We might be in danger if that's the case,” Caitlin added. Despite the warm yellow glow surrounding the elemental armor, her face appeared strained and pallid. The look in Caitlin’s eyes hinted at her fear. “The signs fit. It's very much like Void dwellers to consume everything in its path, leaving nothing behind. They're the antithesis to life essence, explaining the elementals’ reaction to this place.”

“How would we fight such a thing?” Lillin asked. “Just brute force it?”

“There aren’t many other options.” Caitlin shrugged. “Grandmother said that only light essence can weaken Void dwellers, and none of us have any. We should confirm our hypothesis, gather evidence, and retreat. Perhaps Grandmother or Kris will have a better shot at this dimension.”

“The diviner claimed the rift was on the verge of breaching,” Nox said. “If there are Void dwellers in this realm, we need to eliminate them. Given how fast they supposedly reproduce, we can't let them escape this dimension.” He retrieved a white sphere from his pocket. Runes covered it. “I have enough life essence to take care of this problem.”

“Did Kris help you with that?” Alexander asked, taking the fist-sized sphere and studying it closely. The runescript covering it appeared far more complicated than anything Joey could manage. He barely understood the spellscripts Nar and Kris had assembled for him.

Nox shook his head. “The mage asura's eye beams are more light essence than fire. I've been multiplying my stores with every delve.”

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“However much you have, that can't be enough,” Caitlin said. “We can’t just rely on throwing essence. We need someone capable of creating it. Retreat is our best option. Let’s just—”

“I can produce light essence, too,” Joey said, interrupting her. He felt bad about going against Caitlin. Their relationship had no label and had not long started. He hoped his contradiction wouldn't end whatever they had between them. “Since my magic has the power to create constructs out of nothing, she thought it might pair well with Fae Fire. I can only use it to create illusory flames, bolts, and spearheads and turn myself invisible—which is a bitch to do—but it produces light and mind essence.”

“I just don’t like this, okay?” Caitlin sounded shrill as she spoke. “Things would be different if we had Ernest with us. We haven’t trained enough as a party for this. If it were just a journeyman rift, I’d be all in, but this dimension is on its way to ascending. We might be dealing with Voidborne on top of that. We aren’t ready for this, Nox.”

“What if the rift breaches, Cat?” Alexander asked, placing a hand on his sister’s armored back. “There are far too many civilian settlements within half a day’s walk of here. Coidlings or not, we can’t let the beasts get to them.”

“Grandmother might have you brainwashed with a hero complex, Alex, but that won’t work on me. My brother and friends come first. I’m not going to risk them for people I don’t know. Perhaps that’s not the right thing for me to say as a delver or a Woodson, but it’s the truth.”

Caitlin scanned the party. She lingered on Joey. He could tell she wanted his support. They had spent several nights up discussing their lives, beliefs, and desires. Joey felt horrible for not siding with her. This delve was an important opportunity, and he couldn’t afford to give it up. Kris had instructed him to win Nox’s favor by whatever means necessary. They needed to learn to work together for the upcoming campaign. A party was also essential for empowering Nar and fulfilling Joey’s side of the contract.

“Fine.” Caitlin sighed. “How about we agree to table this until we find out what we’re dealing with? Just be aware that my armor’s effectiveness will be halved if facing Void essence.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Nox told her. “I understand where you’re coming from, Caitlin. Every life in this party is important to me, too. But we have to do this. Dean Woodson and Kris need to protect the city. What if potential Voidborne use the time to multiply and flood the walls in a few weeks?”

The Woodson woman said nothing. Instead, she grew her helm to cover her face and head before waving in the direction Lillin had pointed. The party resumed their march, swapping the frontline and rearguard positions.

Joey attempted to initiate a conversation with Caitlin but received the cold shoulder.

That was a mistake, Jitendra. The djinn finally broke his several-week-long silence. When choosing between friends and your lover, always choose the latter. I appreciate the sentiment, though. A meal will go a long way towards helping you control our flames.

When Joey asked questions, hoping to solve arcane problems or get Nar’s input on the dimension, he, of course, got silent. The damned djinn only spoke when it wanted something or found the opportunity to poke fun at his mistakes.

The march to the source of the odd presence took the party just over an hour. Caitlin’s wood armor displayed surprising mobility when encountering cliff faces and ravines. It adopted a simian shape and grew a tail and extra digits, making climbing easier. Nox and Joey climbed on her back, making traversal easier. Lillin displayed unnerving physiology-changing abilities and accomplished the same. Meanwhile, Alexander half-ran-half-climbed up an almost vertical surface. He appeared nearly as agile as his squirrels.

Lillin led the party to a claw-shaped crystalline structure. It stood almost three stories tall, had sharp angles and curves, and an opening twice as tall and wide as Caitlin’s armor. The party’s light sources proved invaluable as they ventured into the structure and started their descent.

The squirrels led the way, warning them of weak floors, steep drops, and obstacles. They traveled less than a hundred feet before encountering signs of life. Alexander’s scouts detected them first, but the advanced warning only let the party prepare for the coming assault. The rift dwellers had already noticed the party—perhaps long before the squirrels saw and heard them—and made a beeline for the delvers.

Nox launched arrows into the attacking beast without hesitation. It moved like a spider on eight limbs, except each was a human arm or leg. The torso also looked like an assortment of male and female parts twisted or melted together. The entity before them looked like a chimera made of several people instead of beasts. The arrows shredded flesh and bone without issue, turning the monster into nothing more than a pile of flesh and gore.

“Where is the blood?” Alex asked as his squirrels got a closer look. “Is it a puppet?”

“No,” Caitlin replied. “Grandmother told us about these things. Arachne. They’re worshippers of Maka Dee, the Cosmic Spider from her home dimension.”

The noise of nails scraping against glass cut their conversation short. The crystalline structure refracted all of the party’s light sources, illuminating the approaching horde. Counting the approaching foes proved impossible because of the sea of arms and legs. The party unleashed their attacks as one.

Arcane projectiles and beams shot from the Arachne’s backlines, forcing Nox and Alexander into cover. Meanwhile, Lillin conjured a black portal as tall as her, sending all that came at her into a pocket dimension. Joey created a barricade of her own using frost fire. A rough wall of icicles appeared in front of him. He simultaneously sent a barrage at the attackers. Joey lost control of his Djinn Fire once they left his mana zone, so he first turned them into ice spikes.

Caitlin joined Lillin at the front without hesitation. Her left arm grew into a giant shield, and her right into a pike. They met the charging Arachne together, shredding limbs and skewering torsos.

It was tempting to launch fire spells because of their destructive power, but the vanguard made it challenging. Curious about Caitlin’s hypothesis, Joey mixed fae fire projectiles with ice spikes. Thanks to the horde of monsters, he didn’t have to aim and only needed to avoid hitting Lillin and Caitlin.

“Damn it.” Joey hissed when a fiery projectile struck Caitlin’s armor and set her ablaze. The flames only lasted for a couple of seconds. Lillin retreated momentarily, withdrew two flasks from a dimensional pocket, and splashed their contents on the elemental armor. Such protections didn’t last long, so he conjured frostfire and Shaped it into a wide wall. He climbed atop it and attempted to eliminate the casters in the rear. Unfortunately, he lacked the accuracy for the job.

The party’s long-range attacker came to the rescue. Nox leaped onto the platform and unleashed monstrous arrows of red glass. They transformed into fire lances mid-air, incinerating through his targets—the rings surrounding them shredding everything nearby.

Thanks to the narrow passageway, it didn’t take the party long to gain the advantage. At first, they only pushed the Arachne back, then achieved a point where the monsters could no longer advance. Caitlin remained planted in place, protecting the backline, while Lillin charged in, wearing gravity armor and wielding giant gravity orbs. She mowed through all in her path while Joey covered her rear. Nox continued eliminating the rear and taking out distant specimens who added to the horde.

Squirrels darted between legs, tripping foes, mauling heads and spines, or electrocuting the rare weapon wielders. They tripped enemies that got past Lillin or Caitlin, giving Joey the time to eliminate them. The battle dragged on, but the party won the fight. They survived with nothing but scratches and bruises. However, their mana wells suffered significant depletion.

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