INSIGNIAS: THE REGALIS

The path down the steep mountain took the group of six the whole day without stopping except for short breaks. The rocks shaped like spikes made it harder for them to walk in a straight line. The cold air covered their skins, clothes, the earth, and the rocks. The fog thinned as they ascend, giving them a clear view of what lay below. The dim light that illuminate the surrounding came from behind another tall mountain in the west. Compared to the murky water that extend as the eyes can see and thick fog that reached the sky of the side of the mountain where the group came from, the other side was brighter, dry, and flat. Below was a huge round flat surface surrounded by mountains on all sides. The Daimon Ground was nothing but barren and dry land. Structures were scattered on surface and figures moved about.

It was late afternoon when the group rushed behind two 6-feet tall spiky rocks near each other. The group was still three hours away from the flat ground.

“There are more than 20 of them,” Aria muttered as she squinted at the people below, with only her head poking from behind the rock.

“There’s probably more,” Raven whispered beside her. Aria threw him a short but frustrated look.

“Those structures…” Ciar stopped.

“What?” Aria asked but refused to turn to him. It was difficult from afar to determine what the structures were but Aria noticed that they were square in shapes and each side has a different color.

“Anything familiar?” Someone asked. Aria glanced at him. He looked the same as always but she noticed that he was a bit distracted. She couldn’t blame him. He was separated from someone.

“I’m not sure,” Ciar replied. Someone snorted. Aria shook her head. For the nth time today, she wondered again why she chose to be in the group going to Daimon Ground.

“Another artefact, another weapon.” Kage rarely speak that Aria kept forgetting he was with them.

“We have to know what it is and how they will use it.” Skhy took a step forward and crounched on the ground. His gaze swept the entire Daimon Ground.

“How? The place is crawling with Roseins,” Aria pointed out.

“And they probably up their defense since the last time we’re in The Mort,” Hunter muttered distractedly. His statement made her think of Clyne and the other others who were on their way to the black fortress. She subconsciously bit her lower lip.

“Most likely.” There was a hint of distress in Skhy’s eyes.

“We have to split up,” Ciar suddenly said. Skhy nodded.

“One group to investigate those weapons and deactivate them,” Hunter said, returning to his usual firm self.

“And the other?” Raven asked. “For distraction?” Aria clenched her fists. Several emotions surfaced from her, determination to stop the Rosein Army, revenge for the Seven’s parents’ death, and fear that the Seven will lose their lives soon.

“Yes,” Skhy answered softly. Aria wondered if, like her, Skhy and the others were thinking of their ends. She shook her head. She knew that she never regret her decision to fight, she just wished she has more time with her friends.

“I’ll deactivate their weapons,” Aria volunteered. Everyone turned to her. For a moment, she felt insecure, being the only girl in the group. However, that feeling was immediately erased because she knew that she is capable too. And as much as she wanted to fight, she was more curious about the Rosein Army’s weapons. She figured that destroying their weapons will not stop the enemies but it would buy Arconien some time and advantage.

“That’s fine.” Ciar patted Kage’s shoulder. “You and Kage do that.”

“We will take care of the rest,” Hunter added. Aria nodded at Kage whose expressionless face didn’t change.

“I can make us invinsible,” Kage revealed. Aria raised her eyebrows, impressed. What elemental is that?

“Darkness,” Ciar replied as if she could hear her thoughts.

“Darkness and Space are two elementals which have sub-elements.”

“So what’s your plan?” Aria asked the others.

Skhy, Hunter, and Ciar started debating about how they were going to distract the Rosein Army while Aria and Kage sneaked in. Despite being invisible, the two might encounter others who possess Darkness elemental stronger than Kage who could still see Aria and Kage.

As Hunter and Ciar started arguing, Aria blocked them from her mind and turned to the Daimon Ground. She counted five squared structures. There were three visible tents that might contain other weapons and artefacts. She nodded slightly at Kage, who immediately moved toward her.

“Which structure first?” she asked. Despite not trusting the Eclipse, she didn’t want to face the enemies without organizing a strategy with her companion. Besides, she’s ready in case they stab the Seven on their backs.

Kage glanced below.

“Farthest,” he said after seconds of silence. “No one’s guarding it.” It was Aria’s turn to check. She squinted. She could make out small figures around the box farthest from them.

“Those are tool, I believe.”

“You can see them?” Aria asked, confused. Kage nodded but offered no other explanation.

“Fine!” Aria and Kage turned to Hunter because of his outburst. Now what?

Skhy walked toward Aria and Kage, offering an apologetic smile.

“We’ll take care of the rest.” He glanced at Hunter who was fuming. “What did you talk about?”

“We will first do the one farthest from us,” Aria replied. “Kage said no one’s guarding it, for now, that is.” She said the last sentence hesitantly.

“Ciar said your sight is wide.” Skhy smiled at Kage. That’s why. Kage just nodded.

“You and Kage move at dawn,” Skhy said after his smile fell. “Be careful.”

Dawn arrived after an hour. The dim light became dimmer. The sky didn’t change from light blue to dark blue and orange like any other normal setting of the sun. Darkness eveloped the the Mort but the Daimon Ground was surrounded by torches of fire. Aria and Kage nodded their goodbyes to their companions before Kage made them invisible. When Kage extended his invisibility to her, she felt the cold air warm. Only Ciar could see the two of them because his Darkness elemental was stronger than that of Kage.

They descended quietly. When they neared the flat ground, they moved to their east. Aria watched the Rosein Army carefully, noting their expressions.

“Non-users,” Kage whispered. Aria frowned, saddened by what she saw. The members of Rosein Army they saw had no powers, no elementals. The Rosein Army was composed of Concordians, Mortemians, and non-users of elementals. They aimed to banish magic in Arconien. Forever. Despite their bad intentions, Aria couldn’t help but fear for those who have no elementals to use to fight and protect themselves. But then, she remembered that the Rosein Army possesses weapons and artefacts that could give powers like what happened to Tessa’s father.

Aria gasped as they neared a structure. It was a black square, 15-feet high and wide. On each side was a large gem, each side has a different color of gem. The box looked familiar to her.

“Come on,” Kage urged her to move faster. The Daimon Ground was wide and spherical so it took them long to reach the box they meant to deactivate first. Kage was right, the box was unguarded. The unmoving figures she saw earlier were tall quivers with long arrows.

“What is it?” she muttered as she stared at the tall black box with gems.

“Stop!” she whisper-shouted when she noticed Kage hand inching toward the gem. Her heart started drumming beats on her chest as she looked around. No one seemed to notice them.

“Don’t touch.” Aria glared at Kage who withdrew his hand. “We might activate it or something.”

“It’s a fascinating object,” Kage commented while Aria quietly circled the box. Aria rolled her eyes. Kage sounded like Clyne, fascinated about everything but a really quiet guy. Then the thought surfaced in her mind. The important piece of the puzzle.

“It is a large Pandora’s Box.”

“What?” Kage asked.

“Pandora’s Box. Or Nexxus.” Aria walked toward Kage. “The Rosein Army used a smaller version when they attacked the Northern Lux.”

“Was it the one they used to bring back the death?” Aria shivered at the memories.

“How to deactivate it?” Kage asked.

“Give me a moment.” Aria searched her brain for the instructions. Clyne kept telling her about it after the battle in Northern Lux.

“Maybe it’s different.”

“What?” Aria turned to Kage who was staring at the large blue gem.

“After the battle, maybe they changed it.” He’s right. Aria started tapping her foot on the ground while eyeing the blue gem.

“It doesn’t have initials,” she noticed. The Pandora’s Box had initials of the realms which separated from the traditional ways. Clyne removed each gem based on which realm separated first. The Seven informed the Consortium about it and pointed the possibility that the four realms organized the Rosein Army in Arconien.

“The same colours, yes,” she murmured. “Maybe we have to remove each gem by the colour based on the initials on the previous Pandora’s Box.” But what if it’s wrong? What if touching will trigger an alarm? What if this is entirely different from a Nexxus?

Her anxious thoughts were interrupted by voices. She turned toward the sound and found members of the Rosein Army looking toward a mountain. They pointed their weapons at the mountain. At first, Aria thought that the Rosein Army’s leaders were coming. The thought made her take steps back. She tried to locate moving figures in the mountain. Her eyes widended when she noticed the large shadow.

“They live here?” she whispered, her eyes didn’t stray from the shadow.

“What?” Kage asked. He was on the other side of the box, oblivious to what she was seeing.

“Dragons.”

“Dragons don’t live here.”

“Are you sure?” She swallowed the growing fear in her throat.

“Yeah.”

“So what is that huge black creature with wings on the top of the mountain?”