Chapter 3: The Labyrinths of Stone
The caverns seemed to get rougher the further I went into them. Constantly I was tripping over stones and rubble that was strewn across the floor down the long winding passage. There were few monsters, a couple of rats crossed my path but little more then that because it was daylight and most monsters were sleeping in their dens and for that I was thankful. The Azure light got brighter the further I went and sometimes it would reflect off large crystals that had grown up through the walls, leaving multi-coloured stains all over the walls around them as the light from the Azure Crystal filtered through the prism of the smaller one that pointed at me from where it had grow, almost accusingly.
I progressed through the caverns well, but even so night was coming fast, and with it would come monsters that I could not face on my own. According to the map I was halfway to the Stone Labyrinths, a place that, once you were inside, the way you have to go was no longer shown. Being a labyrinth there was no known way to the exit, you just walked, and hoped you got to the end before you run out of food. I prepared a small camp in an alcove, carefully making sure the fire would not make too much smoke so that it didn't attract monsters to me. I sat on guard after eating my meal so that I would not be surprised when I was sleeping by any monsters that thought of me as the very meal I had just eaten but soon the weight of sleep began to get to me. My eyelids drooped but I forced them open, my head nodded several times but I shook myself hard and told myself to not be so stupid, if I was going to survive I needed to stay awake. It reminded me of when I was a young boy, only five years old. The darkness frightened me so badly and I was afraid that monsters would leap through the door and tear me apart. Thinking of old times made me even more drowsy and I felt myself slipping into a deep sleep, a small part of my mind protested but it was not enough and I was swallowed up by the the monsters of my nightmares.
I awoke the next morning realising what had happened and jumped from the spot I was lying in. As I stood up an incredible pain ripped through my back, making me groan suddenly and stumble. I looked back at where I had been sleeping and saw a small odd shaped rock sticking up right where my back had been. I cursed it and began, in pain, to pack up my camp.
After a while the pain went away, the walking had probably helped, and I was able to make faster progress. I went down the cavern at a reasonable pace, seeing that I was over half way to the labyrinth now. The way was much clearer here, as if more people had used it, which I thought was odd as the dwarves said they never travelled this far. Obviously somebody lives out here, in these caverns with nothing but bloodthirsty monsters in them. But even with my curiosity making me pause, my common sense told me to not worry about it, to keep moving in the direction I was supposed to go. I kept going down the long winding cavern, going with the shadows at corners in case something was waiting for me behind it. Cautious as I was I still made great progress and settled down to camp just a little way off from the labyrinth. I had decided I would need rest before entering it, it probably wouldn't be easy.
This time I thought I was quite safe from the marauding hordes of monsters as I was so close to an area made by sentient beings like myself. Well... hopefully sentient beings like myself anyway. Even though I thought I was quite safe, I still made my fire small and my camp hidden. I settled down and, after my hard day of travelling, slipped into slumber almost instantly.
I woke up, the lack of light being the first thing I noticed. For a moment I thought it was still night, it was only when my eyes adjusted to the light that I realised I wasn't in the place I went to sleep in. I looked around me, noticing that I was not outside but in a room and a small one at that. The two small windows explained why the light hadn't woken me, as they barely let in enough light to see around by. There was very little in the room; a bed, a pot and a small potted plant, which I had no idea why that was there. The door on the far side of the room was locked and I could see no sign of a key hole or handle anyway. After around three hours, maybe more I couldn't tell, I heard footsteps outside. There was whispering outside that I couldn't hear well enough, but the vague sounds of the language itself sounded somehow familiar. The door swung open suddenly, flooding the room with light and blinding me for a few seconds. Three people came in, at least I say people, to be more precise two Lemurs and a taller, scarlet robed figure walked in. Seeing the Lemurs both amazed and frightened me at the same time and I found myself wondering if they were assassins sent to hunt me down and were about to torture me ruthlessly to see what I knew and what military secrets of the Lemurs I had passed on to others.
“Name?” said a voice. I couldn't tell where the voice came from, it seemed like it came from everywhere at once. The voice was definatly female, meaning neither of the two Lemurs, who were both without a doubt male, said it.
After a few seconds of looking for the origin of the voice I told the three that my name was Skagwort.
The atmosphere was charged and everyone was tense, you could have cut it with a knife. The voice spoke again, this time I watched the three figures lips for movement, but there was none.
“In this place of narrow passages wrought of stone, there are two types of people. The alive and the dead.”
My first thought was that it was pretty obvious. If your not dead you must be alive. The voice continued; “Similarly, there are the worshippers of Laanx and there are the unfaithful. Prove to us that you are a long time worshipper of the great God Laanx and you shall live. Prove your ignorance however, and you shall join your unworthy brethren in the Pit of the Faithless.” the word faithless echoed round the room for a second before everything became totally silent once more.
The three were totally unmoving, as if they had turned to stone while the voice had spoken. Finally the head of the red robed figure looked down at the floor and I felt my eyes itch suddenly. I instinctively blinked and in that millisecond the red robed figure disappeared. Before I had time to register properly what had happened, The two Lemurs walked towards me and one offered me to sit down. I looked to where he had pointed and there was three large stone chairs in a sort of triangle. I sat down, as did the two Lemurs opposite me. They looked at me for a while as I sat there, making me feel increasingly wary of the Lemurs.
“Recite the first Epoch.” Said the Lemur on the left suddenly, his gaze fixed on me as though trying to push his gaze through my head and into my mind.
I did as I was commanded. I told them how Laanx and Talad were Gods before the races ever existed in Yliakum. Laanx and Talad were beautiful and harmonious; they were inquisitive and always looking for new knowledge to enrich their eternal lives. Then, guided by an ancient and powerful god, named Vodùl, god of the future events, they discovered one quiet planet with a crystal column full of energy and mystery. Together, they explored the depths of the planet where the majestic obelisk has its roots, full to the brim with the azure energy. Together, they reached the lower end of the column and discovering a rocky niche that contained the luminous and faceted extremity that now gives life-energy to Yliakum. Talad and Laanx realized the nature of the crystal and wanted to create a prosperous dominion with people to worship them. Therefore, they used their powers to enlarge the niche and created the huge cave comprised of eight levels. They diverted the courses of the underground rivers to feed the fertile and rich land that they had placed on the rock to make it suitable for life. Everything was made to host the people that Talad and Laanx wished to create, but the land was still empty.
The two were silent for a minute more before the Lemur on the left said, “and how did the two Gods create life upon Yliakum?”
This was also easy, as while I lived at the outpost all children were taught the Five Epochs and I knew all about Laanx and Talad.
“Well, Talad and Laanx prayed to Vodùl to lure some races from the other gods and to bring them to Yliakum. Vodùl agreed their requests, but in exchange wished for Talad to become one of his servants and Laanx to become one of his lovers. Laanx and Talad accepted the exchange, because Vodùl was a kind master and a pleasant consort.
After leaving Vodùl's palace, Talad and Laanx noticed that Vodùl had honored the promise, but a long time had to elapse before the people reached Yliakum and they were impatient. Laanx, young and very pretty, had fascinated the ancient Vodùl and he'd taught her that the energy of the crystal could be used to create life.
She wanted to make Talad happy, for he was more restless and found the wait more unbearable then she did. To surprise and amaze him, she drew the incommensurable power of the azure crystal as much as she could and, in secret, mimicked the rituals of Vodùl to give life to some creatures reproduced in her image. The new people matured and reproduced, they were nice-looking and had a quiet behavior, like their creator, and they called themselves "Lemurs".”
The Lemur on the right spoke this time; “Good, we were indeed the first race to be created in Yliakum. But you surely know of the creatures that Talad created after he... destroyed (he spat the word with a venom that surprised me) Laanx's limitless beauty? The Kran, as they call themselves, what is your view of them?”
I paused, knowing that giving the wrong answer would mean certain death.
“They are foul, worthless beings that have less sense then flesh, their very existance insults Laanx and the fertile earth of Yliakum should be purged of their kind.” As I said it, merely repeating the words of an old priest back at the outpost, I felt guilty. All I had previously known about races from the outpost had been destroyed from my mind and I was intent on viewing all races in equal standing until they proved otherwise themselves. Saying such things about a race I had never even seen made me feel bad and unworthy, but I reminded myself that I was just saying it to survive, besides which, the Lemurs looked impressed, so it was probably worth it.
“You speak our own minds, Dwarf. The final test of your worship is on its way. Stay here and await judgment.”
They left. I had no idea what to expect. The next few hours were incredibly hard, I sat on the chair worrying over what they might ask me to do. It could be anything, they had looked like they had been ready to obliterate me with whatever magic they possessed that was able to create furniture at will, in the blink of an eye, at any moment. Obviously, they were not the type to cross. The one in the red clothes was very odd though, the cloth was pulled tightly across it's face tightly so I should have been able to see it's mouth move when it spoke, but I couldn't. Perhaps it had not spoken at all? I didn't know what to believe.
The hours passed slowly, feeling like days should have passed in that time, but eventually the door creaked open again. A female Lemur walked in, she was majestically clothed and had an air of superiority about her. She turned two cold, hard eyes to me, giving me a stare that I could have sworn pierced through me and could read my mind. She finally, silently, motioned to the door and slowly, uncertainly, I made my way over to it, and giving her a last look, hurried through the door. I was taken by two male Lemurs to a large compound, on one side of which was a enormous pit, filled with bones and rubble. Something told me this is the infamous 'Pit of the Faithless'. Over the other side was five large barred rooms, one side of them totally bars, the other four walls made of stone. One of them contained a Kran, he was watching me and, as our eyes met, I looked away remembering what I had said not long ago.
In between the two terrifying prisons, was a raised platform. On top of it was a large throne. It was the only decorative thing in the entire cavern, everything else was there simply because it was necessary. There was no colour, no luxury. Only the throne. On the throne, was the scarlet robed figure. It was too far away to see it properly, but I could feel it's stare boring into me as I walked towards it. I felt an extreme urge to look away. The two male Lemurs suddenly appeared either side of me, flanking me in a way that was horribly similar to the way the two guards did when they were taking me to prison to await my death sentence. In fact, the whole thing was very similar to it. Too similar.
The two men suddenly stopped, pulling me back into line with them as I had taken a step further, not noticing they had stopped. They knelt, I copied. I was right below the platform now, the robed figure staring straight ahead. As if it hadn't noticed we were even there. Without the figure moving, a voice suddenly echoed through the cavern; “You have said unto us what you're hatred for the 'abominations' is like, now you must prove it.” A silence deeper than the pit nearby deafened me, the words that had just been said echoing through my mind longer than in the cavern itself. The words I had said to them earlier accompanied them, reminding me that what had been said was true. I looked back at the Kran, but he was looking away, his back against the bars.
The voice resumed. “You must send the 'abomination' to the worst and most painful of deaths we can administer. Bring in the grindstone.” I heard a shout and looked round again, it was the Kran, he was on his feet now and looked terrified. He looked at me with an expression of desperation and I hated myself for getting him into such a position. A loud clang confirmed that the grindstone was here, and all eyes turned towards it. It was easily the largest grindstone I had ever seen, the top was higher than my head easily. Then they began to spin it. There were two handles connected to it on the sides and two incredibly muscled Lemurs began to turn them, quickly getting the grindstone to an amazing speed. Two other Lemurs forced the Kran out of his cage, bound him in leather shackles and frogmarched him over to the spinning, sparking grindstone. He was trembling all over and at that moment I knew that I could not do this. It was a disgusting, barbaric way to kill somebody and this Kran had not done them any wrong other than be a Kran. They forced him to stand at the front of the grindstone, watching the tool of his impending doom. The voice boomed once more, but I did not hear it, I was too busy forming a plan to help this Kran and escape these evil creatures.
I whispered in to the Kran just loud enough that he could hear and he went completely still. With one hand I slowly edged the Kran's head closer and closer to the grindstone and I began to feel him instinctively resist, even though he knew what I was doing. With my other hand, I carefully pushed the leather shackles against the grindstone so that the rough, jagged edge tore at it. His face was getting closer and closer and he began to make slight whimpering noises in his throat. If Krans could sweat, his face would have been sodden. Just before his face touched the grindstone, the leather broke completely and he suddenly pulled away and we both ran for the end of the cavern. All of the Lemurs suddenly froze in shock, not knowing what to do. The civilians scattered, trying to keep as far from the 'abomination' as they could. No doubt the priests had taught them all stories of what disgusting things Krans had done in the past.
As we ran the scarlet clothed figure stood up, pointed to us and screamed, “STOP THEM! DESTROY THEM! OBLITERATE THEM! THEY HAVE DISOBEYED MY DIRECT ORDERS! OBEY ME FOR I AM YOUR GOD! DESTROY THEM IN THE NAME OF LAANX!” I didn't need to look back to know that hundreds of soldiers had begun to chase after us, I could hear their cries of death and vengeance, readying their weapons, each hoping that they would be the one to kill us and gain the favour of their God. Crossbows fired and barely missed me, whistling by my ear close enough to hear their passage through the air. One landed in the large support pillar holding open the large entrance way. Almost as one, both me and the Kran I had saved threw all our weight and strength against this pillar. It shifted slightly, so we smashed against it again. We felt it budge considerably, but the hordes of Lemurs were getting closer by the second, screaming for our deaths. We threw our weight against it one last time and as more arrows buried themselves in the wood centimeters from my head, I began to run further on. I heard the Kran cry out and turned back to see him just behind me, with an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. I ran back to him, helping him along, but it was too slow. The Lemurs were gaining on us fast. Then I heard it, a great creaking coming from above. I looked up to see large stones falling down from the top of the support pillar, sending more and more parts of the ceiling down to the ground. “Run!” I suddenly shouted and we ran as fast as he could along the cavern, rocks falling down all around us. The way behind us had caved in, meaning the Lemurs were no longer a threat. The rocks falling down all around us however, was another matter. We ran for a long time and eventually th passage caved in enough to support the rest of the itself, and the rocks ceased falling.
Exhausted, we collapsed onto the ground at the bottom of the cave in. As he rested, I saw to his wound, using my healing magic I had learnt so long ago from my mother. The wound was very clean luckily and was easy to heal. The arrow head had stayed attached, it made things much easier. He told me his name was Traff, he had been on his way to get some platinum to cure some people where he lived. The Lemurs had found him, he had been imprisoned. We got on very well, instantly becoming friends. He agree'd to take me back to where he lived, it was not far from Hydlaa, as I had told him of where I was headed. We set up camp for the night, Traff needed a good nights sleep to heal properly, magic could only do so much. I personally also needed a good nights sleep, it had, without a doubt, been a tiring day, and one that I will never forget.
thats all so far, but im still writing! chapter 4 is on its way!
