Runeblade

Their exit from the Godsmaw jungle had led them to a wide ledge halfway up a mountain, joined into a small U-shaped range. Cold air rolled down from the ice-capped peaks above, rapidly cooling the sweat that beaded on his skin from the previous humidity.

It was a biome of grey stone dotted with brown tussock and rare patches of softer dirt — growing more and more common closer to the foothills. Kaius didn't have eyes for any of it, nor the blue sky, or the immense canyon that encircled the cluster of peaks.

His focus was entirely devoted to the sense within him, the one he had since he'd earned Persistent Survivor.

It was pulling him in three directions, where only two should have existed.

The first was normal — the distinctive feeling of a Champion, up and around the inward curving edge of the range. A large cave that hung dark and looming maybe a few hours walk away, judging by the direction.

It was his Guardian sense that troubled him. Against all possibilities, it pulled him in two different directions. An impossibility according to all he had known, and every record he had seen while trawling the guild's stacks.

The first pulled him upwards, towards one of the central mountains. It was the source of the flowing lava that he had seen when he first approached — a glowing stream that ran free of a wide plateau at the peak. It almost looked as if the very mountain top had been cut free — sliced by some overwhelming sword-stroke.

He leaned on his Truesight — searching for a sign of the beast as a low, rumbling unease started to settle into his bones.

Something was wrong. This was beyond the magnitude of changes he had expected to find in a layer this deep — it completely disregarded the foundation of how the Depths was supposed to work.

One Guardian, one biome. How would two even work? Would they lead to different biomes on the layer below, or just different entrances?

Despite the acuity granted by his skill, Kaius had no luck with searching for the source of the first signal. The ridge was too high above them — his angle causing the lip of the ridge to hide whatever lay at the mountain's peak.

The other yanking thread pulled him down — far below their ridge to the rolling hills and alpine plateau of brown grasses that filled the central space within the range. His view blocked, Kaius took a step forwards and peered over the edge of their entrance to the zone.

Grey stone interspersed with scree shot straight towards the marker — a chaotic slope of cliffs, ridge lines, and narrow natural paths. He spotted what he was looking for immediately, freezing in place.

Even though it looked as small as a needle with the distance between them, Kaius could see it clear as day. An eight sided obelisk, carved from flawless glossy black volcanic glass. It was a megalith, large enough that it would have dominated the skyline of Deadacre — easily as large as the governor's tower.

It wasn't just its size that made it so visible. Runes covered its every surface — glowing with orange fire. They shifted and swam across the glass. System runes, they had to be — they fit the picture perfectly.

More were scrawled on a flat plane of black that extended from the base of the obelisk, almost as if the spire itself was reaching out to its surroundings. It felt corruptive, like an out of place malignity had forced itself onto the biome.

Kaius clenched his teeth, his eyes boring into the black and burning glass. Deep in his gut, he could feel that it didn't belong — that it was other.

And his Guardian sense pointed straight towards it.

Right as he went to inspect the surroundings of the structure — to try and find the ultimate source of the pull — Kaius felt a nudge at his back.

Porkchop, exiting the cave behind him. His brother was giving him a curious look.

It disappeared as he crossed the threshold, the same anomaly that had given Kaius pause rooting him to the spot.

"What in the hells?"

"What's the hold up, you're blocking the exit!" Kenva yelled from behind Porkchop, just visible as she tried to peer around him.

Porkchop hurried forwards, joining Kaius at the edge of the ledge to stare out at the biome, shifting between the plateau and the mountain peak before he stopped and gave Kaius a look of confusion.

Kaius shrugged. He had no answer — likely only more questions, he didn't know if Porkchop had the eyes to spot the obelisk from this far away.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Still, this needed discussion. Whatever was happening, Kaius was certain of one thing. Change was dangerous, and they needed to be sure if they were going to tackle it anyway.

As Kenva and Ianmus filtered out of the same crack, they smiled with unfocused eyes — reading the system descriptions that appeared in front of them.

Blinking them away, Ianmus took a single look at Kaius and Porkchop and frowned.

"Allright, what is it this time?"

Kaius grunted, pulling back from the ledge, "There's two guardians."

"What? That's impossible!" Kenva replied, whipping her head towards him.

"Apparently not," Porkchop replied, shaking his head. "There's one at the peak of the flat-topped mountain, and another near something in the middle of the plateau. Kaius could probably tell you more about the second, I couldn't make out much."

"It's an obelisk, covered in system runes — no clue if it's got a purpose or is just scenery." he pointed off the ledge towards it.

Kenva stepped forward, following his gesture — her eyes focused for a second before she looked back towards him. "Did you manage to find the actual creature — analyse it and confirm it's a Guardian?"

"No — you came out before I could. I'll give it a go now — do you want to try to see what you can find at the mountain peak? Our viewing angle is terrible, but if it's roaming you might be able to catch it."

Kenva nodded as Kaius refocused on the obelisk far below them.

No longer clouded by the shock of its presence, several more details jumped out to him. At the spire's base, an arch of runes dominated one of its flat sides. It glowed with magical potency, drawing him in as he lost himself in the pulsing shift of the runes.

There was something about it. He just couldn't place what. Kaius frowned, pouring over the shifting arch, trying to place the niggling feeling of familiarity he couldn't shake.

When the realisation slammed home it left him reeling.

The runes that changed every time he focused on them, the size, the constant tug that led him in its direction. The way the runes seemed only half charged, their luminance dull compared to the blaze of the others that covered the spike of glass. The similarities were unmistakable, no matter how foreign it might have been — an altered pattern that was all too similar to something he'd seen hundreds of times before.

An exit portal.

But it couldn't be! It was so different! And yet his gut screamed that he was right. The differences only made him more concerned — and more curious. Two guardians would have been one thing. Even if it broke every rule he knew, at least there would have been the possibility that it was simply an extremely rare but known occurrence.

A second guardian, and an ominous spire of black crystal, covered in system runes and sporting some variant of a Depths portal? He would have heard of that — it was too distinctive.

This was new. There was only one thing that could have led to a shift like this — the phase change. Everything that had come from that had been dangerous, and he suspected this would be no different. Not if he was looking at what he thought he was.

A suspicion grew in Kaius's chest, fueling a slowly burning hunger.

He tore his eyes away from the arch, searching the surrounding area. Where there was a portal, there was a Guardian — he doubted that much had changed.

He found the beast quickly.

It was just past the edge of the flattened circle of glass that surrounded the obelisk, curled up tight next to a series of small mounds covered in tussock. It was easy to see how he missed it — it blended right in, covered in long wiry hair the colour of sand.

Closer inspection revealed a patchwork creature — like a fleshmancer had hacked apart multiple different beasts before using crude magic to force them into a single whole. Its body was that of a wolf, lean and strong, though its mane and cat-like forepaws were those of a lion. Its tail was even more out of place — long and sturdy, covered in reptilian scales; it was tipped with a boney maul that looked like it could crush stone with ease.

The beast twitched, stretching out to full extension as it woke. As it moved, Kaius got a glimpse of its face — he recoiled. Twisted, goblinesque features were plainly evident, though they were marred by a bestial prominence and a fine covering of fur.

Was it a beast? Or an abomination?

The latter worried him. He wanted to fight this thing — it was exactly the sort of whetstone they needed, and unique challenges like this always came with potent rewards. But an abomination…he could still remember his first brush with that breed of monsters. Their twisted vitality, and indomitable healing — it had been an issue when they only had levels in the teens, how strong would it be on a second tier Guardian?

He frowned.

"Found it — I'm about to analyse it, have you had any luck."

"Not yet, you were right about our angle — it would need to come to the very edge to be spotted. Let me know what you find, I'll start looking for evidence of depthsborn — see what this biome has in store for us." Kenva replied, still focused on her own scouting.

He grunted back, focusing his intent on the Guardian that defended the anomalous spire.

Abrissian Manticore - Level 268:

Crucible Guardian, Depths-born, Beast, Vanguard

The notification hung in his vision, holding him in place like a vice.

"Rotting roots!"