Leviathans

“Sand Wyrm!” Richard yelled, diving to the side as the creature arced towards them. Its segmented body covered in a pitch black exoskeleton that made a noise like shearing metal as it moved. Aria flung herself at it, yelling wildly. She collided with it in the air, the worm-like thing screeching as her axe bit into it. “Down!” Heinric yelled, pushing Lucy and Rayne backwards, reaching into the pouch at his waist. “Aria!” he bellowed, pulling out a dark glass sphere with a piece of rope running into it. Rayne could smell the oil on the bit of rope even before Heinric ignited it with the click of a contraption in his other hand. He threw the sphere into the monster’s open, circular maw. It sailed past unending rows of teeth. Aria threw herself off of it, landing on all fours as a dull boom sounded and a hole was blown in the Sand Wyrm’s side.

Aria triumphant roar was drowned out by the Wyrm’s insane thrashing. She charged at it as Heinric rounded the other side. The thing undulated for a moment before spewing out a greenish-purple liquid out of its mouth. Aria leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the repugnant jet. Rayne watched wide-eyed as the liquid ate through sand and stone alike and filled the air with an acrid scent that burned her eyes as well as her nostrils. Lucy screamed in terror as the worm flicked its tail into Heinric, throwing him backwards. He hit the sand with a thump, and rolled to his feet, blood flecking his beard. Aria hacked at the hole in the Sand Wyrm’s side and it let out a noise like a scream. Heinric lit another explosive, this one a different color waiting for a few breaths before throwing it. It exploded in the Wyrm’s mouth, whatever was inside of it bathing the inner surface in flames.

The Wyrm thrashed again, closing its mouth instinctively to try and put out the flames. Heinric grinned in grim satisfaction a small trail of blood dripping down the side of his mouth, when the Wyrm opened its mouth to reveal it was still on fire. Aria, now holding a knife that curved towards her as well as her axe, leapt at the Wyrm, straddling it with her legs before stabbing deeply into it. It tried to roll and throw her off, but she shifted, using the knife as an anchor. She laughed insanely, hacking at it over and over. “And down ye go!” Heinric yelled, throwing another two bombs at the Wyrm, both sailing with unerring accuracy into the flames. The first burst into a brownish gas, and the second exploded in the heart of the cloud. Green flames blew upwards, a jet of the stuff searing out of the hole the first bomb had left, as well as the multiple wounds aria had inflicted.

With one final screech, it thudded onto the sand. For a moment, the only sound was that of the fire still burning in the Wyrm’s mouth. Heinric coughed and spit, the bright red color of his spittle at odds with the white and yellow sand. Aria breathed heavily and looked around, like a predator searching for prey. Rayne and Lucy, still on the floor from when Heinric had pushed them down, stared in shock. “Well, that was certainly eventful.” Said Richard, holding his hat to his head with a hand. “Are you alright Heinric?” he asked, and Heinric grimaced. “Ah’ll live.” He answered. “Aria?” Richard questioned. She spun to face him, staring at him for a moment before taking a series of deep breaths. They seemed to calm her down. “I’m fine.” She said, flicking her wrists to get the monster’s amber blood off of her weapons before sheathing them. He looked over at the two technomages.

“Is um… is this what you deal with?” Lucy asked meekly, and Richard shrugged. “Occasionally.” He answered, and Lucy dry swallowed before looking at Rayne. Rayne looked back, before standing and offering Lucy a hand. She looked past the Wyrm’s body, at what appeared to be an entrance at the far side of the sinkhole. “Is that where we’re going?” Rayne asked, and Richard nodded. “Let’s go, then.” She continued, and he smirked. “As you say.” Heinric coughed again, and reached for a vial with an orange liquid on his belt. He grimaced, and drank it as quickly as possible. After another short coughing fit he gripped the handles on the cart. “Ach, Richard, ‘ave I tol’ ye that yer medicine tastes terrible?” he asked, and Richard chuckled. “That you have. It’s a pity it works so well, isn’t it?” he pointed out, and Heinric grunted by way of response.

Lucy, still shaken, took a moment to collect herself and followed Rayne forward. They carefully skirted the body of the sand Wyrm. Lucy reached out to touch the carapace, knocking it with her knuckles. The sound echoed slightly. Some of the liquid it had spewed earlier was dripping from its wounds, burning through the sand where it hit the ground. “You could make good equipment with this.” She muttered to herself, and the acid… Ray, can I borrow your knife?” she asked, and Rayne complied quickly. Lucy struggled to peel off a piece of the Sand Wyrm, but eventually succeeded. She cleaned it with sand and wrapped it in a piece of cloth before putting it on the cart Heinric was towing, and approaching him. “Heinric, can I borrow a vial?” she asked, and he raised an eyebrow. “fer?” he questioned, and she shook her head. “The acid the Wyrm makes seems useful, if we can use it.”

He gave her a strange look, but after a quick search, handed her a vial. “The Acid eats through glass. Crystal will serve you better.” He said, and watched as she let some of it drip into the vial before corking it. Heinric held out a hand, and Lucy hesitated a moment before giving it to him. “Ah’ll take care of et.” He promised, and she nodded slowly. She turned feeling the weight of Heinric’s gaze on the back of her head and moved to catch up with Rayne, who wordlessly accepted her knife back. The group followed the path, past the hole that the Sand Wyrm had left, and stopped in front of the entrance.

A wall had collapsed inwards when the sinkhole had formed, as if pulled away. The hole that was left descended into darkness, flanked by stone walls. It certainly didn’t look impressive. “This is what we’re here for?” Lucy asked, wondering if this was going to be worth anything. “We’ve been here before. There’s still stuff inside, though. We didn’t take everything.” Aria answered. Richard walked forward, and placed a hand on a shattered pillar that flanked one side of the entrance. “You’d be surprised at how large the inside is. It descends into ancient catacombs. Some paths had collapsed in on themselves. Bones litter the floor, dust fills the air.” Richard breathed, the excitement apparent in his eyes and voice. “And better yet, the catacombs are connected to other storage areas. We should be in and out in no more than a day or two, counting time we spend sleeping inside.” He continued.

Lucy looked at him aghast. “We’re going to be sleeping inside there?” she asked, pointing at the ominous passage. Heinric, Aria, and Richard all laughed. “Ye git used ta et” Heinric answered her, adjusting his grip and following Aria and Richard into the hole. Rayne and Lucy shared a look. Rayne shrugged, adjusted the temperature in her jacket, and followed the others. Lucy sighed, dragging her feet as she walked.

As they passed the entrance, Richard grabbed a lantern off the cart and lit it, the soft white light illuminating the area around them. He hadn’t been joking. Bones, both whole and broken, already littered the floor ahead of them. Rayne tried to see beyond the light of the lantern, but nothing but darkness greeted her. The cart and its contents clattered as it was rolled over the uneven floor. The sound of bones cracking under its weight cutting past Heinric’s occasional grunts of exertion.

They advanced in silence, the cramped passageway limiting their movements somewhat. The silence that greeted them was eerie, and the echoes of their footsteps and the rolling of the cart didn’t help. The air smelled stale, and musty, and the temperature felt like it had dropped double digits from outside. Lucy turned up the temperature in her jacket. “Further ahead there is a large, open space. We’ll make camp for the night there. It’s much safer than outside.” Richard stated. Rayne paused for a moment to look closer at one of the graves that lined the walls. Stone caskets, some of which had broken over time, fit neatly in even spaces. She approached, and blew the dust off of one, making herself and some of the others sneeze as the dust burst into the air. They complained as she brushed cobwebs off the face of the casket closest to her, a spider skittering away from her inquisitive fingers.

As she ran her hands along the casket, she felt reliefs in it and looked closer. They seemed to depict someone’s entire life, by the major events that marked it. The first panel indicated a birth, the second, a meeting with an animal. The third, the same person and the animal, side by side, looking up at a mountain. She shifted, and found the last panel, this one of the man, and a now injured animal, fighting against incredible odds. Rayne was filled with an indescribable emotion. All at once sadness, amazement, excitement and more. Her heart beat faster as she imagined what life must have been like for those that took their endless rest in these caskets.

And then something caught her eye. Lettering. Almost completely faded. Rayne stared at it. It was incredibly similar to what had been on the sphere that she had opened to find the shifting gemstone. Breath caught in her chest, her delicate fingers ran along the engraving. She had hoped, yes. The sphere had been old. Forgotten, was maybe a better term. But here, in these ruins, was something. Still. Rayne lowered her hand away from the roughly textured casket. Just letters told her nothing. This only proved the sphere, and by extension the stone, were much older than she had first though. But it also told her that someone, somewhere, might know more about it.

“There’s more to look at further in.” Aria said, gesturing Rayne forward, looking at Rayne curiously.

They continued on for much longer than Rayne expected. Passing endless rows of the caskets. Occasionally, a lantern would flicker within one of the alcoves. Each time, Richard would ask Rayne and Lucy to check if it would have any value to a technomage guild. They appraised each item quickly, most of them too old to even be repaired. There were one or two exceptions, however, that seemed to be in better shape. These were carefully relocated to the cart.

Lucy’s brow was furrowed in worry, so Rayne asked her what was wrong. “I don’t know.” She began, as the others listened. “Isn’t it wrong to disturb these graves? Take things from them?” she voiced, Aria shook her head. “We’re not touching the graves. Just taking their lanterns. What does it matter?” came her response, and Lucy shrugged. “It just feels sort of… wrong?” she said, and Aria rolled her eyes. “It’s okay Lucy, it’s not like they can care. They’re dead.” Rayne said, and before Lucy could open her mouth to protest, Rayne had already turned away.

Eventually, they reached an entryway. “Careful. There’s no railings.” Richard said, with Aria ahead of him. Rayne and Lucy passed under the stone arch onto a pathway with a sheer drop to either side. The lantern Richard was carrying didn’t illuminate far enough down to see the end. Heinric whistled as he pulled the cart into the cavernous space. “Never gets less impressive, does it?” Richard asked from a circular platform further ahead, and Heinric shook his head. The walls were still lined with alcoves, but these seemed to be different. They were better decorated, and the gold and silver that was embossed in spidery lines across the caskets reflected the light from the lantern.

The platform was large, easily fitting all of them and the cart, while still having a massive amount of space left over. Rayne walked toward one of the edges, looking at the alcoves across the drop that circled the platform. “Why is this built this way, isn’t it just a little inconvenient?” she asked, and Aria snorted in laughter. “I asked the same question.” She said, and Richard shrugged. “the dead don’ ’ave answers.” Heinric responded, dropping the handles for the cart and patting his hands on his pants. “We’ll set camp here. Stay away from the edge.” Richard commanded. Rayne and Lucy helped the others set up tents, and start a fire. “Isn’t this dangerous?” Lucy asked, and Heinric shook his head, pointing upwards. They were greeted by seemingly infinite darkness. “There’s enough space, so it doesn’t matter.” Their leader responded, warming his hands close to the flames.

It was only when Rayne took off her jacket that she realized how cold it was. She sat down next to the fire as well, a shiver running down her spine. Lucy sat next to her, closer than she normally did. Rayne looked over, and Lucy shook her head. Something about being surrounded by the dead bothered her. She was surprised it didn’t bother anyone else. She didn’t relish the thought of sleeping here. Lucy swallowed her complaints. She would live.

Not too long afterwards, they ate quickly and then retired to separate tents. They were all tired, and it was time to rest for tomorrow. Rayne and Lucy were sharing a tent, as both of them were more comfortable that way. They whispered through the night about what had happened that day. It had finally hit Lucy that the Sand Wyrm had been real, and she panicked for a few minutes before Rayne managed to calm her down. The rustling of wings occasionally echoed in the space around them, pulling Lucy fitfully away from sleep. Eventually, she managed to rest.

She awoke tired to the sound of the other tents being packed up. She turned over, finding Rayne gone. She groaned, her shoulder aching from having slept on it. She sat up and yawned, stretching. Rayne poked her head into the tent. “Lucy?” she asked, and Lucy jumped in surprise. “Gods!” she exclaimed, and Rayne chuckled. “Sorry” she said guiltily, and Lucy made an obscene gesture. Rayne smiled. “Come on, we’re packing stuff up before we have breakfast. Let’s get you out of there.” She said, extending a hand. Lucy took it, grabbed a few things with her other hand, and crawled out of the tent. While Aria and Richard loaded their supplies back onto the cart, Heinric sat a ways away, leaning over a small scale. Lucy was curious, and after one look, Rayne shooed her in Heinric’s direction and started to take down the tent.

Lucy approached slowly, not wanting to startle the giant of a man. She sat across from him, and he glanced up at her, a strange contraption on his face. Upon her first examination they looked like glasses, but with a multitude of other lenses that could be placed in front. Heinric, who had been weighing a white granular substance on a scale, carefully pushed it into a small pouch with a blade. He took a breath. “Aye girl, why’re ye here?” he asked, and she shrugged. “I was curious, what’re you doing?” he sat up straighter and stretched his back with his hands, an audible crack sounding when he twisted to each side.

“Makin’ explosives.” He answered gruffly, switching out one of the lenses on the glasses, and pulling out a small flask. A clear liquid swirled inside. Lucy watched as he placed another, smaller, flask on the scale and adjusted it until the weight dial read at zero. He then poured out the liquid drop by drop, with painstaking care. Lucy couldn’t help but hold her breath. After double and triple checking the weight, he slowly poured it into the same pouch as the white granules. “This is incredible” Lucy said as Heinric put away the flask, and pulled out yet another ingredient. He looked at her curiously and shook his head before continuing.

Lucy watched intently, asking questions as he worked. At first his answers were short, but as he realized her interest was genuine his voice softened. He began to offer information, slowly walking her through the process as he made a basic explosive. After measuring out all of the ingredients, he mixed them, careful not to apply any pressure, and slowly poured some of the pouches contents into one of his colored glass spheres. He capped it, and pushed a rope doused in oil through the top until it touched the mixture he had just prepared at the bottom.

“An tha’s how ye do et. They’re called grenades” He said proudly, holding it out to her. She took it in her hands, amazed at how light it was. She said as much, and he laughed. “Aye, but et’s got quite a kick, eh?” he commented, extending a hand to take it back. She nodded and gave it back to him. He carefully placed it aside before grabbing another sphere and pouring some of the mixture into it as well. He repeated the process a few more times, until the pouch was empty. He put the grenades away in a bag, and put it aside before he turned back to his equipment. “Can I help?” Lucy asked as he began to put the ingredients back into a wooden chest. He looked up at her, a twinkle in his eye, and nodded.

After another few minutes, they were ready. Heinric loaded his things back into the cart, and they were ready to continue on. Aria stamped out the fire with her boots and then kicked the ashes over the edge and into the dark. Lucy watched her, feeling a twinge of regret at her actions, and walked beside Heinric as he pulled the cart across the other pathway that led out of the strange room.

The path led to more graves, and Rayne quickly grew bored. She was wondering when they would see something more when the hallway opened into another large room. This one was caved in on one side, and light spilled from the gap into the space. Stone and twisted metal were scattered along the floor. A mosaic decorated the room, depicting the rising sun against distant mountains. The colors, dull with time, seemed to regain some of their sheen when they approached with the lamp.

“And here we are. This is as far as we got last time.” Richard said, and Aria nodded. “We had to go back. Nearly died fighting the construct. I hate things that don’t bleed.” She said, and Rayne saw that what she had taken for just more rubble in the center of the room was in fact, much more. She ran over, and Lucy quickly followed. The construct’s stone-and-metal frame was marred with damage, which Rayne could only assume was from the group’s previous encounter with it. It was roughly humanoid, but much stockier and with no neck, the head instead being attached directly to the space between the shoulders. It looked like it had crashed to the floor, cracking the colored stones beneath it with its weight. Rayne and Lucy scoured over it, examining it closely. “Look over here, the conduits all lead inside this compartment.” Lucy said, and Rayne moved to join her. “Can we get it open?” Rayne asked, and Lucy shrugged. “Only one way to find out.

Rayne was shifting to the side when she noticed the large red stain and scraps of clothing under the construct. She pulled her foot across it, brushing some of the stain off the floor. She looked up and opened her mouth to tell the others when she noticed their looks. Richard had his hat off, looking off to the side with a slightly pained expression. Aria was looking at the floor and Heinric was doing the same. Rayne pulled at Lucy’s arm, and tilted her head towards the others. “Anything to tell us?” Lucy asked, as Richard refused to meet their gaze.

“Richard?” Rayne asked slowly, and he took a deep breath. “When we fought the construct our…. Prior… technomage. He – well. He didn’t make it.” He said, almost choking on the words as emotion filled him. Rayne raised a foot, and noticed she was stepping on a cloak that protruded from underneath the construct. A familiar golden spark across a dark background decorated it’s hem. Rayne took a few steps backwards as it hit her that the red stain was blood.

“Our friend… he was from your guild. He had told us of one of the younger technomages before. One whose name was Rayne. He told us he had seen potential. When we were waiting… after… this” Richard began, gesturing at the body, “We did nothing for a period of some weeks. Then we heard the news. Two technomages from his guild, one of which was named Rayne, had ‘escaped’ the city. So I took a gamble.” Lucy’s face was blank for a moment, before it contorted in anger. “And you intended to tell us that your last venture ended this way… when?” she yelled, and Richard looked at the floor. Aria and Heinric now had their backs to them, adjusting something on the cart.

“It- it was always my intent to –“ Richard began before Lucy interrupted him by storming towards him. She poked a finger into his chest, shoving him backwards a step. “To what? Hope we didn’t find out? Tell us when there was no way for us to go back?” she asked, and he grit his teeth. He finally met her gaze, the steel and emotion in his eyes surprising her. “No. This is still a fresh wound for us as well. We worked with him for years. If you wish to leave, we will escort you out immediately.” He answered calmly, and Lucy seemed to deflate, sighing.

“Ray?” she asked, wanting to know her friend’s opinion. Rayne’s eyes were unreadable, as always. Her expression betraying very little of her thought process. “I say we keep going.” Rayne answered after a few beats, and Lucy nodded before looking angrily at Richard again. “Any other surprises?” she asked, and he shook his head “None that we know of.”

“Good.”

Lucy turned to face the construct again, arms crossed. Her eyes found the dried blood on the ground and she averted her eyes. “Let’s go Rayne.” She said, and Rayne silently followed. Neither of them wanted to touch the construct anymore. None of the others complained as they silently filed through the gap. Richard followed last, and stopped at the threshold. He turned, his hat on his chest, and bowed deeply towards the construct. The others had kept walking, and none of them witnessed his display. Tears swam in his eyes, and he blinked them away quickly. “May we see each other again someday, friend.” He whispered. He paused for a moment, watching how the blood stain covered the beauty of the mosaic below it, before moving to catch up with the others.

Rayne decided they were definitely somewhere different than before. Though, she conceded, that was a stupid way to put it. Still, it was obvious they were no longer in catacombs. After a short walk through a hallway, decorated with exotic fabrics and decayed paintings, they came to another room. The heavy wooden doors were rotten and had gotten stuck. Heinric bodily kicked them down with a dull pop, wood splinters showering the room beyond. Rayne had been in the middle of excitedly discussing the construct with Lucy, and stopped. Richard’s eyes widened. “Oh my.” He breathed. The room ahead glittered. That was the only way to describe it. Rayne felt like she had been transported into the past. The room was lit brightly and the cool air, which no longer smelled stale, told of runic technology at work.

Carvings decorated the four pillars that held up the dome that served as the ceiling. Heinric approached them, and brushed dust from it. “Ah’m not sure et’s possible ta do this today.” He said, and Lucy was inclined to agree. The carvings were so incredibly precise and so immaculately detailed. “I’ve seen many things in my life, but never a place so well preserved.” Richard commented, his footsteps echoing off of the walls.

As he walked, dust lifted from the floor, revealing polished black stone with white swirls. Rayne looked up at the ceiling, noticing that the dome was made of some sort of colored glass, or crystal and that sand covered the other side. They must still be deep under the dunes. Her eyes searched the stained glass. She found it, then. Leviathans. Not one. Not just the one she saw in the sky. But more than that. Others. She couldn’t quite make them out from here, but somehow she knew that’s what they were.

Lucy looked around and saw that statues were set into four alcoves, one for each wall. Aria walked up to one of what must have been a demon. Its great wings raised above it menacingly, it’s front paws raised as if to attack. Aria matched its scowl with one of her own, and part of her wished it was alive if only so she could meet it in combat. The eerie feeling it gave off was only accentuated by the near-absolute silence.

Each of the statues was carved out of a different kind of stone. The demon was pitch black, and seemed to absorb light so that it was difficult to make out its details. Across from it was a warrior with a raised hand. In one fist he held a blade pointed downwards, and from an open palm sprouted fire. Real flames that danced in front of them. The warrior itself was carved from black-veined red stone that caught the firelight in a way that reminded Rayne of the gem in her breast pocket. The wall to the warrior’s left held a jade spider poised above another rotted wooden door. Across from the spider was a statue of a kneeling woman, the white stone that made up her form seemed to glow, and the carving was so perfect, that had Lucy not raised a hand to touch it, she would have thought it to be fabric.

Richard turned towards the warrior with the flaming palm, and raised an eyebrow. “It appears we’ve found our first important artifact. Can you two extract it?” He asked the two technomages, who looked at each other for a moment before moving towards it. The statue stood out of the reach, some three or four feet above them. Lucy bent down on one knee, and knotted her fingers together. Rayne used the cradle as a stepping stone onto her shoulders, and after securing her grip around Rayne’s ankles, Lucy slowly stood. The fire was hotter than she expected, and Rayne pulled her goggles on to keep from being blinded by the light and heat. She could barely make out a circular depression with a sphere set into it in the warrior’s hand. Rayne pulled out a tool that looked like a small flat hook.

Her gloves protected her from the flames as she carefully pried the sphere out of its place. None of them heard the small click as the sphere, now free, began to roll wildly. Rayne grabbed it to keep it from falling onto the floor. She could feel the heat through her glove, threatening to burn her as she calmly searched for the set of nine small buttons she knew would be on the object. After finding them, she pressed them one at a time, listening to the small chimes that sounded. Rayne repeated the process one more time, the outer layer of her glove beginning to smolder.

She nodded to herself as she committed the sounds to memory, and then input a sequence into the buttons. The flames went out immediately, and Lucy bent down to let her get off. Lucy looked at Rayne’s glove and shook her head. “I’m glad they’re all standard.” She commented. “Definitely, I think it makes this possible.” Rayne agreed, turning the sphere around in her hands. Evenly spaced slits were cut into its surface, and she could feel the thrum of magic that permeated it. Lines, reminding her of the orb that protected the gem Master Ethan had given her were etched into it. Her mouth twitched upward into a smile. Maybe she’d get closer to figuring out what it was by being nowhere near the people who might know.

The warrior’s head abruptly turned towards them. Rayne’s eyes snapped to it, and she felt a rush of understanding. She could suddenly see the conduit that ran inside of it towards a small control box, even though it was encased in stone. She could see that an extension of that same conduit went to its now empty hand. “We may have a problem.” Rayne stated dryly. “Care to explain?” Richard asked, eying the statue warily. “Whatever it was holding” she began, jerking a thumb back at the cart. “It was a trigger for something else.”

Heinric grabbed one of his explosives with one hand, and tested the tool he had used to make sparks with the other. “Fer what?” he asked, searching around the room with his eyes. Rayne watched as magic flowed through the conduits and into the wall, eventually fading from her view entirely. A dull rumble shook the floor. “No way of knowing. But my guess? Whatever that was.” She said, and Aria looked at her like she was an idiot. “No shit.”

“Regardless, shall we continue? Richard asked, tightening his grip on the bag in his right hand. “Carefully, please.” Lucy added, as they all stepped towards the door that sat underneath the spider. Aria approached it first, barreling through the door with a yell. Lucy sighed and rubbed her temples. Rayne laughed at her. Behind the door was another hallway. Rayne pulled up the filtering mesh in front of her jacket to try and not breathe in any more of the dust than she already had. They paused to collect some of the reservoirs that powered the lights, and Lucy was amazed they were still working. This place had to be thousands of years old, she thought, as Rayne helped her unhook a particularly troublesome reservoir from the conduits that it was tangled up in. They left some of the lights working, so they would have a lit path to follow on their way back out. As they walked, Rayne noticed Richard meticulously drawing a map on a large piece of paper. She was glad, at least, that they wouldn’t be as lost on the return trip.

Still, Rayne guessed that wouldn’t be for a while. The only thing they’d collected so far had been Runic capacitors and the flaming orb. The spheres were not particularly rare as far as runic technology went, and she would bet that they weren’t worth too much. The orb, on the other hand, she would need to examine in more detail when she could. And so, they went on. Slowly making their way through rooms so well-lit that it was off-putting.

Rayne began to lose her sense of time, becoming irritated at how it felt like they were walking forever and finding nothing new or interesting. Eventually, Richard stopped them for a break. They spent the next hour, or at least Rayne thought it was an hour, slaking their hunger and thirst. They barely spoke as they ate, each of them alone with their thoughts. Heinric took the time to make more explosives, and Lucy watched as he did. Rayne ate with one hand and held the orb in another, turning it expertly with her fingers as if to pry apart its secrets with her touch.

Eventually they all finished, and their search resumed. As they turned a corner into another room, identical to the last few they had been in, Aria stopped them. The hairs on her neck raised in alarm. “Wait. Something’s wrong.” She warned, glancing around to try and figure out what felt off. Lucy, who had been talking to Heinric, moved to stand near Rayne towards the entrance. “What’s up?” she asked, and Aria held up a finger, her eyes narrowing in concentration for a few moments before she let out a sigh. “You don’t feel it?” she asked, not finding the words to explain. What am I looking for…? She mouthed the words silently, a small breeze from within the room brushed against her skin. Aria froze, her eyes flicking towards the floor. “There’s no dust.” She breathed. Richard gave Heinric a confused look, and the giant of a man shrugged. “Would ye explain?” he asked, and she snorted.

“Every room had dust on the floor. Why not this one?” Rayne asked and Aria nodded, fingers twitching. “There.” Lucy whispered as if to stay safe, pointing at a set of slits in each of the walls. “I’m not walking in there.” Rayne said flatly, a shrug punctuating her words. “Aye.” Heinric agreed. “So what now?” Aria asked, turning to face the others. “Are we supposed to just go back?”

Richard frowned, stroking his chin with his hand. Lucy watched the slits intently for a moment before searching the rest of the room. Probably a hundred or so feet in diameter the circular space held little of interest beyond some scattered pottery, most of which was broken, and two carved stone statues of armored soldiers hefting impressive spears. “What if we throw something heavy into the room?” she asked, and the others all turned to stare at her. Richard made a sound that was a mix of amusement and surprise. “Quite the good idea.” He answered, grabbing one of the larger runic capacitors from the cart and hefting it in his hand. “And this is why you technomages are in such good shape.” He chuckled, before tossing it into the room.

They watched with bated breath as it struck the ground with a dull thump that echoed much more loudly than they expected. The sound of textured metal against stone reached them. As the sphere approached the center of the room, a circle a few feet wide clicked downwards into the floor. A dull hum sounded, and after a few moments the slits Lucy had pointed out spewed fire, engulfing the room entirely. They all jerked in surprise. Aria fell backwards onto Rayne, flailing to put out the flames that ate at the hem of her cloak. They struggled on the floor a few moments before Heinric upended a canister of water on them both. Before either woman could complain, Richard cursed profusely in a language Rayne didn’t understand.

In the room in front of them, the two stone statues began to move. Jerkily at first, as if having to work past the ravages time had inflicted on their bodies, they tore from the wall in a shower of rubble. A shrill whirring accompanied their movements and the magic that escaped from damaged joints and cracks froze the air around them, rapidly dropping the temperature several degrees.

“Et may ’ave been better to ’ave Lynn ’ere too” Heinric said dryly, quickly grabbing his explosives. “Complain after we survive” Aria answered as she drew her weapons, teeth bared defiantly. Aria charged into the room, and Heinric followed. Rayne took a step forward, and Lucy grabbed her arm to stop her. “Don’t. we’re not fighters.” Lucy warned, when Rayne turned her head to face her friend. “No. But these are runic technology, and we’re technomages. We can help.” She answered forcefully, wrenching her arm from Lucy’s grip. Lucy grit her teeth, and followed as Rayne skirted the edge of the room, watching Heinric and Aria try to fight the constructs. Rayne’s eyes were focused, and any despair she might have felt at their situation was smothered by an iron determination. Her jaw clenched as she bided her time.

Aria approached one, dodging under and around the spear strike aimed at her chest. Her weapons seemed to hum as they split the air. Her axe bit into the construct’s wrist joint, unleashing a jet of magic that struck her in the chest. She hissed, throwing herself back. Aria grimaced as she brushed the ice crystals off of herself. Heinric lobbed grenade after grenade. Every concussive blast was followed by the rush of expelled magic. One of them charged in his direction and with more agility than someone of his size should have, he rolled away and to the side. The freezing raw magic burned where it touched his bare skin, and he roared in pain. Rayne flipped down her goggles and closed her jacket completely, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Aria was still locked in combat with one of the constructs, warily circling it. Each time it attacked her, she moved out of the way and struck. Each time, the magic forced her back. “How are we supposed to fight them?” she yelled in frustration as her knife bit into its neck. More magic spilled out, like an incandescent fountain of ethereal yellow-blue blood, she screamed and let go as it ate into the skin of her hand. At that moment, Rayne dashed forward towards the construct. “Ray no!” Lucy yelled after her, as Rayne jumped onto its back.

The magic enveloped her, ice crystals forming immediately on her clothing. She squinted to see through slightly fogged up goggles, glad they were treated to keep ice off of them. The statue stepped forward ignoring her in favor of closing on Aria, who swung her axe menacingly with one hand. Rayne ran one gloved hand along the statue’s back, desperately searching for a seam. Lucy, noticing what Rayne was trying to do, pulled down her goggles and ran to help, dancing past the statue’s strikes. Aria’s eyes widened as she saw them latch onto the construct almost like insects, but grit her teeth and resolved to distract it if she could. Her hand throbbed, each beat of her heart sending jolts of pain up her arm.

Aria dodged carefully, watching the tip of the construct’s spear. Each time it threated to move its arms to dislodge Rayne and Lucy, she struck. The two women desperately continued their work as Heinric, who was backed against a wall, mumbled a prayer before kissing his final explosive. It shattered against the construct’s head, tearing a hole in it. The statue reeled backwards from the force of the explosion, and Heinric quickly repositioned, grabbing a large blacksmith’s hammer from his belt and tossing it from hand to hand.

Rayne’s breath caught in her chest as she found a seam and shoved the flat hooked tool into it, twisting it into place before throwing herself off. Her arms were nearly wrenched out of their sockets, and she hoped desperately the tool wouldn’t shear. Stone scraped against stone as the tool pulled open a small compartment before Rayne bodily struck the floor. She saw stars, her vision swimming as her head cracked against the polished stone. Lucy’s hand snaked into the compartment, desperately grabbing at conduits. She pulled, and they came loose in her hands. Aria threw herself to the side as the statue froze mid-way through an action and fell over onto the floor.

The other statue jabbed at Heinric. He dodged to the side to avoid the strike, and brought his hammer down two handed on the haft of the stone spear. His grunt of strain was impossible to hear over the ring of metal and the shock of shattering stone. The construct seemed to pause for a moment, as if surprised, and Heinric raised his hammer a second time. He brought his strength to bear on its already damaged head, caving in its skull. He stood to the side, panting heavily as it fell over onto the floor. He swore and raised his hammer as it started to move, but Lucy was already on top of it, pulling open the compartment and ripping out the conduits.

Silence reigned in the room. Rayne staggered to her feet with Aria’s support, a new respect in the warrior’s eyes. Rayne’s head was still spinning, and she groaned. “Ray are you okay?” Lucy asked, running up to Rayne. “It feels like someone’s driving a spike into my head.” She mumbled through grit teeth. “Lay her down again, Aria.” Richard commanded, walking up quickly. “Keep her head up. Let me see her.” He continued, rushing over and crouching next to her as he grabbed his bag. He sorted through it quickly, grabbing two different vials. “Heinric, light please.” He ordered, as he bent over Rayne.

Heinric jogged over to the cart, ignoring his own injuries. His burns were uncomfortable, and he grimaced in pain, but he knew it was better than not feeling anything. Those were the dangerous ones. He returned quickly with the lantern to find Richard examining Rayne. He turned it on, and Richard nodded near-imperceptibly to thank him. Rayne’s eyes were closed tightly, and Richard carefully pulled the eyelids open. He sighed. “She’ll be fine. It was just a shock, not a concussion.” He took one of the vials. “Open your mouth.” He said, and after following his instructions she grimaced at the acidic taste in her mouth. “Swallow.” He ordered, and she did. She blinked, as her mind seemed to become fuzzy. “Let her rest. The rest of you, come here and let me see to your wounds.” Richard spoke, and before he finished, she was asleep.