A Legacy of Blades - An Epic Tower Fantasy

Swimming through a tunnel was a far less pleasant experience than walking through one. Even after growing accustomed to the sensation of breathing underwater, some primal part of Orion's brain was fundamentally uncomfortable with the closeness of the walls, while also navigating an aquatic setting.

People weren't meant to be in places like this; this was a place for Razhik and his ilk, creatures born for sinuous movements, able to move masterfully, even when so boxed in. He found himself growing increasingly anxious, hoping they would find the tunnel's end with each passing moment.

Disappointment greeted him around each bend, becoming far too chummy as the procession continued deeper and deeper into the mountain. After a certain point, gods only knew how long ago that was, direction became harder to tell, and he couldn't rightly tell anymore if they were heading down or up, as the pitch of the tunnel became impossible to keep track of, suspended in fluid as they were.

Cave diving was not on his list of things to repeat, if he had any say in the matter.

A pair of hydromancers led the way, apparently versed in the proper path, because of course it wasn't a straight fucking shot down there. No, fork after fork passed until his head spun, and he could only begin to imagine how disorienting it must be for Ani, who had grown used to seeing so much more than, well, anyone else. Her habit of periodically laying a hand on the stone walls hadn't gone unnoticed, and Orion found himself wondering what she saw in those moments: wondering if she could see the way forward for a time, or if she was also just following along.

At least Razhik seemed to be enjoying himself, swimming up and down the line, darting in and out of any open spaces, and startling more than a few Grokar in the process. His Shadow Guard, as he had taken to calling them, stayed at the front with Orion and Anilith, forming a barrier between them and the other Grokar. Their presence was more comforting than he might have expected, but then again, Razhik had always been a good judge of character.

Foolish and immature as he could be, he had a knack for knowing the trustworthiness of people.

The Grokar carried their strange, glowing lanterns that seemed to give off more quality light in the dark water. The tunnel walls were illuminated in ethereal greens and blues as far back as Orion could see, and the effect was as disorienting as it was beautiful. The line of warriors continued far into the distance, pitch darkness marking any side passages where the tunnel forked into unknown territory, while the telltale glow of the Grokar emanated from the path the hydromancers had guided them down.

Given no choice but to continue, their small group constantly ushered forward, making him feel like bait far more than the spearhead of an army, Orion trudged on. There would have been woefully little to keep him entertained, if he used the word loosely, were it not for the otherworldly light, which seemed to pulse as the lanterns moved through the water, giving the impression of something alive.

But that didn't make any sense to Orion. It seemed an awfully poor survival trait, giving off light, so he couldn't imagine anything doing that on purpose. Still, what did he really know? He'd only scratched the surface of what the Tower had to offer, evidently, in all his time here. This world was both stranger and more unpredictable than he'd anticipated, and it was a wonder that the people of Spokane had remained so oblivious to how ignorant they were, developing ways to persist, not thrive, when wondrous experiences like this were just out there, waiting.

His appreciation for his circumstances, unfortunately, did little to temper the growing feeling of claustrophobia, nor the panic that grew stronger the longer he spent in these damnable flooded caves.

What he wouldn't give to just be up there, breathing normal, blessed air. The longer he spent down there, the more certain he became: people were not meant to be anywhere like this. It was the ghosts of shapes moving in the darkened side passages that really drove the thought home for him, though.

He hoped that was just a byproduct of an overactive mind, but really, he didn't care to find out. Better to just keep moving forward. It was always better to just keep moving forward.

A tap on his shoulder caused him to blink rapidly. Anilith floated next to him, a look of concern etched onto her face. He wiped the blank stare off his own, thankful that the water would have washed away any of the drool he would have expected to find, coming out of such a stupor. His head felt fuzzy, swimming in a way he'd never manage, and he couldn't help but feel he'd somehow been mesmerized in the depths.

It was anything but a comforting thought.

The lights, he'd just been staring at the lights and…and the water seemed to glow with a more amber hue than before, no? And the walls, they weren't so close or containing, taking a weight off of him. The tunnel appeared to have widened significantly as his mind had…wandered.

Gone were the blues and greens that had marked their journey beneath the keep. Gone were the dark passages that he hoped to drown the memory of in a bottle, as soon as he could warrant getting good and proper sloshed. Gone was the claustrophobic tightness in his chest, replaced by something he knew far better: the anxious anticipation of battle.

As Grokar formed ranks where the submerged cave widened, Orion knew without a doubt, this leg of their journey had come to an end. Now, it was time to see what awaited them.

As her shoulders breached the water, following a short swim up a sloped path that culminated in a shelf jutting out into the water, Anilith felt a hiss, accompanied by a tickling sensation in her mind, as the Grokar's spell failed, no longer sustained by the water. The strange feeling quickly abated, as the air around her sang in her presence, the voice of the Wind seemed more prominent to her after her journey through the void of the flooded space.

She wouldn't have made it without grounding herself, allowing herself to feel the shape of the mountain, to feel anything but that haunting, empty nothing the water appeared as to her senses. She hadn't considered how subjecting herself to the experience would strengthen her appreciation for her abilities, nor how much more sensitive it would make her.

When they had climbed through the skeleton of the mountain, she had hardly been able to feel the touch of the Wind, the Earth being so much more apparent, while they were entombed in its domain. Now, although their circumstances hadn't truly changed, she saw the cave through fresh eyes, the soft breath of the Wind that plumbed the deep reaches of the earth painting an undeniable picture that told her two important details.

Firstly, cutting herself off from her senses, embracing nothingness, showed her something unexpected. Even still air held the presence of the Wind; it just spoke to her differently. It was easy to read motion, but stillness spoke to her in the disturbances of anything that moved the stagnant atmosphere.

Secondly, the Wind told her, in no uncertain terms, that this cavern the Grokar had found was anything but uninhabited. The susurrations of gentle breaths sent ripples through the air, alerting her to the presence of far too many living, breathing creatures for comfort.

They just hadn't noticed the intruders yet.

As Orion breached the surface next to her, painted with the fiery hues of torchlight, she looked at him with wide eyes, holding one finger up to her lips. The journey here had been far too quiet, and she knew the man behind her well enough to know, his mouth could get the better of him in moments like that.

Anilith was so focused on Orion that she hardly noticed the gentle ripples caused by a certain creature breaching the surface behind them.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Razhik's crown crested the water's surface, noiselessly shifting into the cavern's cool air. He snaked his head over to the pair, moving limberly, his undulating form barely disturbing the water in its passage.

As the droplets ran down his sleek scales, not dripping so much as clinging to his form, he looked between the two, seeing Anilith's finger over her lips, and asked in a flurry, "Am I interrupting, you two? What's the big secret? Have you been talking behind my back, again? You know, anything you have to say, you can say to my—"

"Gods, Razh, would you can it," the Wanderer exclaimed hoarsely. The damage was already done, though.

From all over the cave, Anilith could feel disturbances in the still air as unseen enemies shook themselves from slumber, or whatever repose they'd been enjoying. The cavern was large, giving the lurking creatures ample space to spread out, as Anilith could feel there were no large clusters of the creatures, but solitary threats.

That was a small comfort, though, as each seemed to uncannily zero in on the disturbance, namely, Razhik.

"Well, here we go again," Anilith said, "We've got incoming. Would have liked to have a chance to find out what we're up against in here, but this is just so much more fun, isn't it, your Eminence?"

"Hey, it's not my fault you looked so guilty! How was I supposed to know what you were trying to say with all that soft-skin nonsense?" Razhik sniffed quickly, and gagged. "And what is that smell. Gods, it's almost like…"

A faint look of recognition came over him, and he let out a sound Anilith had never heard before, a sound that fell somewhere between a hiss and a growl. It was the most oddly sibilant warning she'd heard, and far more unsettling than any snake she'd come across in the marshes.

"What is it, Razh?" A look of concern came over Orion at his old friend's behavior, and the look of rage set upon his face. "Not sure how long we've got, so get ahold of yourself. I'm gonna set up a connection, and we don't need to be infected with…whatever it is you're feelin'. Somethin' tells me we might need our eyes in the sky."

Razhik didn't acknowledge the man, but his threat became less intense, and a small measure of tension left his body.

"Ready when you are, old man," Anilith chimed in, "let's do this thing."

As Orion worked his magic, Anilith felt a strange sense of rivalry bleeding over from Razhik. It was muted, almost as if she were hearing a conversation through a wall, but there was no doubt in her mind that this went beyond mere hatred. This was a deep-seated, primal thing, something that was ingrained into Razhik by the natural order of the world. It left little doubt in her mind that he knew what was out there.

Beneath the feeling of rivalry, a sense of apprehension bled through, telling Anilith that these weren't creatures to underestimate. Anything that could give Razhik pause wasn't anything to trifle with, and there were more than a few such beasts headed their way. These things moved quickly.

Too late, it occurred to her that they'd unwittingly stumbled into the den of unknown creatures. Behind them, only Razhik's coterie breached the surface. "Gods damn that Kewrok," she spat, her words more envenomed than she intended, "I find it hard to believe this is a surprise to him. How many times are we going to let him use us like this?"

Orion gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing in similar restrained anger, "We'll worry about that later, Ani. What are we up against, Razh? Any help would be good, here!"

Razhik snapped his head so quickly towards them, Anilith feared the air might crack from the motion. "Egg snatchers, hatchling killers, usurpers, all of them! I thought we'd hunted them down to the last, here in the Tower. These bastards are the reason my kind favor the swamplands, after all the young we lost when we roamed the wider world." He growled again. "We don't breed quickly, and we don't grow fast. The same can't be said for these vermin."

"Not gonna lie, buddy, but that don't tell me what I need to know," Orion replied.

As the first incoming eyes began to reflect the faint light of fire, Razhik replied, "Greater Wolverines, and I will kill them all." He said the last part cooly, no threat in his voice, merely a promise.

The feeling of rivalry intensified as more silver-ringed eyes pockmarked the darkness, catching the flickering torchlight. Razhik roared, a deafening sound in the enclosed space, as his companions, overcome by the intensity of his hatred through their shared connection, cried with such primal fury, it threatened to tear their throats raw.

That drew the attention of every creature in earshot.

The first of the creatures moved close enough that its details became clear, even as Orion used Anilith's senses to mark each of the incoming beasts. They stood nearly three feet tall at the shoulder, and longer than that by far, with a short, coarse pelt. They looked as if they'd be nearly as comfortable burrowing through the earth as through a body, and seemed capable of finding a meal in either case. They lacked the overbearing strength of Dire Wargs, but appeared to make up for that fault with a sinuous tenacity. Anilith had a hard time imagining a Dire Warg taking one of these beasts down even one time in ten.

Razhik'issala Khash'dhrissa was no Dire Warg, though.

"Grodo," Razhik said as he stepped into his space between, "Protect them, as you would protect me; I have monsters to hunt."

Anilith took her place at the fore, Orion securing the rear, as the Shadow Guard, wreathed in Razhik's mantle, took up the wings.

Even while the creatures rushed them, coming in greater numbers than Anilith cared to count, they began to fall dead, Razhik cutting down any who strayed too far from the pack. It wasn't done with the precision he favored, but with overwhelming force. His venom never even factored into the slaughter, as the beasts were simply incapacitated by a passing blow.

Even in the heat of the battle just the other day, Anilith had never seen Razhik lose himself to this extent. There was no feedback of joy across Orion's power, no concern for his own well-being, even as he took retaliatory blows from the dying beasts that tore through his armored hide, only stoic determination. In that moment, she didn't doubt that Razhik would fight these creatures to his last breath, with or without them.

She couldn't let that happen. "Shifting, Orion! Shield the connection," she cried as she drew upon the power beneath her. Stomping, she shouted with the force of the Earth, challenging the beasts before they set upon hunting her friend, as the ground quaked beneath her might.

Changing her focus to the Wind in a moment, she reflected on the freedom she'd felt on the summit, conjuring that feeling and imbuing her frame with its essence. "Shifting," she said simply, as she moved with a speed she'd never imagined.

The Shadow Guard closed ranks behind her, protecting Orion with their bulk while arrows flew through gaps in the line. Each found its mark, guided by Orion's uncanny powers. Each shot crippled or killed one of the beasts, even if the latter was rare.

The enemy was numerous, but didn't hold a flame to the numbers they'd faced the day prior. The aches hadn't fully subsided, Orion having used his best potions early on, but neither of those factors would deter Anilith. Numbers and an overtaxed body were nothing in the face of Razhik's determination, a force which bolstered Anilith's own.

Anilith sank into the trance of Blade Weaving, letting its cool embrace temper Razhik's rage, but never letting the ability fully overtake her senses. The sharpened claws of the feral beasts sang in her mind's eye. Empowered by the wind, she moved across the stone floor and dispatched enemy after enemy, focusing on crippled foes and those who might move to flank her friend, giving them precious little time to regret the decision.

Each time the trance threatened to overcome her, she fought it back, feeling an unnatural weight settle over her as her ability taxed her more than it ever had. It did little to slow her down as she drew upon the Wind, but brought with it a sense of inevitable fatigue that affected her on a level somehow deeper and more vital than her bones.

Despite Razhik's wounds and the increasing exhaustion born from Anilith pushing beyond any limits she'd ever known, refusing to give in to the meditative peace of Weaving, they tore across the battlefield, a terror of Shadow and Wind.

By the time goblins came rushing into the cavern, it had become a mausoleum, fetid with the musk of savage, dying wolverines.

The reinforcements, limited as they were, quickly joined the rest, unable to withstand the rage these beasts had kindled in Razhik and his allies.

In the aftermath, when pumping blood was the only sound in Anilith's ears, she limped, along with Razhik, back to Orion and his guards.

Blood seeped from countless wounds along Razhik's body, staining the path he'd taken crimson. He eased himself into the water, licking his wounds, and dyed the watering hole a sanguine hue.

Anilith sank to her knees, safely in the company of her friends, unable to hold the foreign sense of weariness at bay any longer. As the Earth came up to embrace her with its cool, hard touch, she heard Orion growl, "Razh, as soon as you're healed up a bit, we're gonna have a chat with that there Chieftain. I've got some questions, questions that nee…"

Anilith, unharmed though she remained, faded into nothingness, lost beyond her body, beyond even the reach of darkness.