Chapter 7
“A Burning Rescue”
Sethurin and Aura take some time to rest while Bernard gives them a small briefing about the mine “situation”. Bernard tells them that their commander is trapped deeper in the mine, he is probably still there guarding the Vault.
The Zhelezos know that the elementals won’t be able to open or smash it alone, but the commander needs some kind of sustenance and he has been a long time in there without any food or water. Bernard kindly requests the strangers to help deal with the rest of the elementals outside the dormitory and the Vault room or get the commander out of there while they guard this position and make sure no more of these flaming lunatics escape and bring more harm to the forest.
“A Warm Farewell”
Sethurin and Aura agree to help but before they venture inwards, Seth steps out of the illusion towards the forest…in waiting for her. Soon, her voice sounds like a melody once again into the young elf’s ears, Calina, the werebear figure, says :
‘’The peace is restored, the forest is safe, and the dryads will probably not be too angry, but I need to let them know, as promised. It is time for me to leave, looks like it’s time to separate again…Be safe, Seth, I’ll miss you!’’ to which the pale elf responds calmly and with a sadness in his voice:
‘’Thank you…for everything. I wish you could join us, but I understand…There are boundaries that are better left untested. Hope we will see each other soon again…Sehanine guide you, Calina..’’.
Then, the werebear figure takes a respectful bow and gestures her arm on her chest ‘’Moonweaver sees you, Amatheldir, I wish you find what you are looking for and don’t take too long, it’s rude to keep a lady waiting!’’ she smirks and takes her leave.
“Revelation or Trickery?”
Sethurin drops to his knee and makes a silent prayer to the Goddess of the Moon, so that She keeps Calina safe until their paths cross again. The warmth of Her essence fills him and somehow he knows that his prayers are heard.
Sethurin takes a few moments to meditate on the last few days, how things have radically changed, how he himself has changed. Others have taken months or even years to learn to use the weave of fire and magic, but he felt like he ‘unlocked’ something within him, but this troubles more than it appeases him. Sethurin’s mind is flooded with thoughts…
‘’What does it mean?…Is Sehanine protecting me more than the others or is she testing me? Is this a revelation or some kind of trickery? But I feel her faint warmth within me, running through my body, I cannot explain it, so I think I just need to have faith in Her, she already showed us the answers once, time shall reveal Her will once more. Though no one needs to know until I understand.’’
“Minor Descend”
Sethurin bolsters himself and returns to Aura and they both get ready to enter the mine. They follow the rails as instructed towards the darkness of the mine, until they reach the south-western side of a well lit place.
The cavern seems to widen here. The rails pass through this chamber-like stop and continue northeast-wise but there are crates, tables and chairs which indicate that this should be the dormitory Bernard was telling them about.
The adventurers are silently moving through the less lit parts of this room and soon notice that they are not alone.
A bunch of magmins -which is how Bernard called the small fire creatures- are wandering around the halls. A faint noise echoes from the left side of the entrance.
The noises seem to come from a mined cavern north west that houses a room build from pure metal. A large reinforced iron door appears to be the only way to enter this room and three magmins are throwing flaming rocks to it and laughing maniacally.
“Preparation is the key”
Sethurin counts at least ten of them within the large chamber, which makes him think twice before engaging in hostilities. Aura discretely pulls out a small pouch that her wood-elf friend had given her a long time ago, takes out a few animal figures and throws them. Once the figures touch the ground they start growing and moving, magically transforming to actual beasts.
An owl and two rats appear in front of Aura and look at her expectantly, as if they are waiting for instructions. Aura starts speaking to them in weird gestures and signs but they seem to understand her perfectly, which Sethurin recognizes as a ‘Speak With Animals’ spell variation, though, it seems to be innately procured. Αfter all, he never saw Aura cast or chant something beforehand in order to speak to them.
The animals scouted the room as instructed by Aura and revealed that an Elven man is locked inside the room and a small hatch on the middle of the door may let them communicate if they so wish. In the meantime Sethurin whispers in elvish to his staff ‘’Beri nin!’’ which in the common tongue translates to ‘’Protect Me’’ or ‘’Shield Me’’. The staff suddenly enlarges and morphs into a huge snake, alive and threatening, but under its master’s command. Its ruby red eyes ominously gazing towards the elementals and its reptilian body silently moving around Sethurin ready to protect him.
“An elf, two birds, two rats and a snake walk into a room…”
The magmins are unaware of the potential ambush and the three that were hitting the door to no effect, eventually get bored, return to the main chamber and start playfully throwing rocks at each other. Aura seizes the chance and sneaks towards the door and whispers ‘’Hello Mr Commander! Mr Bernard told us to get you out of here!’’.
The hatch opens and a handsome but tired elven figure looks at Aura in disbelief and replies in matching whispering tone…
“Who in the Nine Hells are you? Bah, whatever! Tell Bernard that I am not leaving the Vault to these wretches! Either deal with them or bring me food and water, especially, water!”
Aura looks back towards Sethurin and the rest of the zoo that lurk in the shadows, in the distance and with only but a look, both silently agree on what’s about to happen. Sethurin orders his reptilian buddy to charge in and he follows suit. Aura unbuckles the glaive on her back and charges in.
“A challenger appears…!”
A battle commences as Aura proceeds to take swipes from the air to the short-bodied elementals, while avoiding going too close to them or set foot on the ground. Even though they are outnumbered, it’s apparent that Sethurin and Aura have a handle on the situation. But soon, a new addition joins the opposition.
Clanging of metal can be heard from the depths of the mines, opposite to where the adventurers entered from. The clanging reverberates, sounding like steps of something very heavy running towards the ruckus!
A walking flaming light approaches from the deeps, bigger than the magmins, and far more intense. A short sturdy figure is the source of the bright light. Specifically, it’s head. The entity enters the fray, shouting to the magmins as if it is commanding them! The figure has the stature of a dwarf but its skin is made of bronze. It’s head is seething in flames like its brain is being burned in wildfire!
A bronze face is occasionally visible through the blazes and the heat, while it’s voice sounds like a rough echo of raging inferno…
“Al bouar, odi cah sa loh”
Aura understands part of this speech, as it is the same dialect the magmins used before.The creature is commanding them to obliterate everything and focus their efforts on the ‘big one’. Thus, all the remaining elementals begin to hurl their burning rocks and punches to the Giant Snake, Seth’s protector.
The dwarf-like entity wields a heavy, bronze maul and with each strike, its fire follows, burning the skin of the giant Snake. Sethurin and Aura both shift their attention to him, as it is clearly more dire threat than the magmins.
Blows are mutually exchanged in a dangerous dance of fire and steel! His pure bronze skin is making any weapon attack very difficult to push through its defenses. Luckily, Seth has a few more aces up his sleeve. Divine magic once again is concentrated on his hand, but this time, the radiance is immensely fiercer.
He shouts “Incedio Divinous” and a bolt of pure light blasts through one end of the cavern to the other, momentarily blinding anyone who dared stand close to it’s trajectory. The bolt lands on the chest of the metallic man creating a huge dent near its heart. The flaming dwarf recoils in pain and his embers turn almost white for a moment. It is vulnerable. Aura notices the dent and focuses her own druidic magic to mark her target.
A subtle purple glowing mark appears over the entity’s wound and Aura’s forehead. The mark is displayed as symbol and as Aura shoots her arrow, the symbol becomes more intense and the speed of the arrow increases exponentially! Aura hits the open wound and the arrow that pierced through burns for a few seconds before it melts and only dust is left behind.
The entity locks eyes with Aura and his flames light up like a boiling furnace…the creature is angry, furious! The adventurers look at each other in concern.
Suddenly, the dwarf drops its hammer and the sound of the metal hitting the ground echoes through the cavern! The bronze man speaks with a commanding voice and says directly to the sender of the arrow “Condor dur Ist a gul, Vas a dir!” which Aura roughly translates it to “This is not over, I’ll remember you!”…and the flames start to flicker. As the creature turns, Seth notices that even though the arrow itself was burned, the iron arrowhead is still inside the dent and that Aura’s shot struck true.
The dwarf walks a few steps towards the winged warrior and falls to the ground, his fire disperses and his extremely heavy body smashes the ground. The magmins stare in terror as the strongest of them was bested.
The laughing stops. Smoke and fury is bursting out of the remaining creatures, but all the rage in the world is not enough to avoid their demise. It only takes a moment for the adventurers and their band of wildlife to dispatch the remaining entities. The threat was dealt, fast and efficiently and eventually, the commander was saved.
The worst seem to be behind them.
“Making friends in high places”
Aura and Seth returned to the entrance with the news. They take some time to eat, hydrate and patch up some of their minor wounds.
A few hours later, a small armada of armor-clad elves on warhorses emerge from the forest. Reinforcements have arrived. The elves’ armors are elegant and protective with bright red-colored fabric lined along the metal. This clearly indicates that these are not your standard Zhelezos.
Along the reinforcements, Seth and Aura notice two more figures, one of them is Linus, the red-haired gnome who is visibly distraught because as it turns out, he does not enjoy horse rides all that much…and beside him…an elven woman.
The woman wears only a simple but stylish elven-made silk robe, but her gaze looks more confident than anyone in their midst. The warriors nod on the guards to take care of the horses and the woman starts talking to Bernard a few feet away.
Linus sees the adventurers and rushes towards them coughing a little as if he is preparing to say something.
“Hello, Aura! Looks like you made it a lot faster than us and as far as I can tell you also dealt with the…problem? Right?…and who are you? I haven’t seen you around?”
Linus looks towards the pale elf in wonder and Seth responds…“I am Sethurin, I was nearby and came to help, I’m making my way to an elven city called Gwardan, I guess that’s where you are all from, isn’t that right?”
‘’Well, most of us, yes…I’m Linus, Linus Denwallop, nice to meet you Sethurin! Now let me briefly introduce you to a friend…meet Marquis Vasan Atrith! Vasan, here’s the adventurer I’ve told you about and Sethurin…a friend!’’
Vasan, finishes the conversation with Bernard and comes close with a faint smile and a friendly manner. Her long untidy hair are of a light blackish coloration with a bun on top and through her seemingly ordinary-looking brown eyes, you see a faint shine, making it hard not to glare at her minimalistic beauty and gaze.
She looks towards the adventurers, respectfully bowing and shortly after, they hear her soft and gentle voice with a conviction behind every word.
“Greetings, Aura and Sethurin, as a marquis of Gwardan, I thank you for your services! Bernard told me what you did, Gwardan thanks you! You did more than enough for us, we’ll take it from here now. Thank you for giving us some time, I shudder at the thought of what wildfires the magmins could unleash upon the forest. You saved us the trouble and that is something I won’t forget. Go back to Gwardan with Linus here, he’ll be your guide and make sure you are properly rewarded. And feel free to check up on Linus here if you need any work, there’s always a need for brave individuals that can handle themselves like you and it seems like it will never seize to be on trend. But take this with a grain of salt and be careful out there, the world is a dangerous place, especially for the unprepared…and I see potential in both of you, stick around town, I’d be more than happy to hear of your tales over a warm fire and some good wine, when I get the time, that is!”
Vasan faintly chuckles and both Aura and Sethurin are taken aback while they can’t help but stare at the beautiful elf and nod at her every word, they are both visibly charmed to make this acquaintance. Aura shakes off the feeling and proceeds to say, once again in an enthusiastic manner:
‘’It’s nice meeting you too Miss Marquis! We are glad to be of help!’’
Vasan smirks at the enthusiasm of the young Aarakocra and then fixes her eyes on Sethurin with a sense of curiosity. She touches his cheek with her warm hand and says:
‘’You look, pale…Sethurin, though sickness is not the reason for it, I haven’t seen a color like yours in a long time.’’
Sethurin’s eyes light up in surprise and says:
‘’Wait, what? What do you mean long time?! Have you seen anyone like me somewhere? When? Where?’’
Thoughts and assumptions start to flood Seth’s panicking mind as he knows that no one from his home has ever ventured south. At least no one they know or are aware of…The warriors shout that they are ready and Vasan holds her hand up as if to silence them..
“That is not for me to tell, dear Sethurin, in any case, I need to be off, thanks again for everything, and I trust whatever happened here will remain between us. No one likes a panicking crowd for no reason. You are in good hands, Linus will take excellent care of you! I’d trust this little gnome with my life. Until our next meeting, friends!”
Vasan bows once again and takes her leave along with her warriors, venturing inwards. Linus, Aura and Seth decide to take their time.
They rest there for the night to recover their strength for the journey back to Gwardan.
At dawn together, they make way for the elven city. About four hours later, Aura, Seth and Linus are overwhelmed by the beauty of the sight before them as they approach the outskirts of the city and Gwardan greets them with inviting aromas and savory smells of freshly cooked food.
