Private Tales The Race for the Rune

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair only nodded in agreement and quickly followed after Kasim, but as they moved, Alistair could not help but notice he was stumbling or tripping on debris that he could not clearly see. This confused him because he thought the place was just emitting strange lights, but not actively hiding things.

As they entered the first room, he was glad to see the remainder of the party, but...some of the individuals were harder to see than others. The slow realization that his vision problems might actually be him and not the city was enough to visibly shake Alistair.

He extended his hand to the wall and steadied himself as he took a moment to take a deep breath and calm his nerves.

One of the head researchers of the group hurried to the front to greet Kasim and Alistair with a smile.

"Did you feel it? The magical manifestations? We were safe inside the structure, but...outside its miraculous!" He exclaimed excitedly, as he moved to the exit beckoning them to follow.

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

Kasim shot Alistair a weary look as the researcher raced towards them. ”Yes, we felt them.”

He confirmed quickly, though found himself tongue tied thereafter.

A part of him wanted to start shouting like a mad man. He wanted urge people to get out of here, to insist that everyone pack up and get moving. Yet the curious part of him took over, the weary part of him.

He did not know what waited beyond the gate, but he found himself once again almost transfixed. Curious as to what they had wrought, and already knowing that in a matter of minutes it would be destroyed. They had saved this place from a mad man, saved the world perhaps, but now they had also doomed a wonder of the ancients.

Kasim still couldn’t even fathom how he felt about that.

Wearily he followed alongside Alistair, moving up the ramp in stoic silence as the two of them began to ascend. Light cascading over them, the sun rendering Kasim nearly as blind as his companion as they stepped outside once more.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

The savannah plains that had greeted the expedition's arrival were unrecognizable. For starters, most of the above-ground ruins had been blasted to dust, leaving few remaining skeleton structures. However, none would be blamed if Kasim and Alistair did not even notice the building's disappearance. For in a nearly mile radius around the city of luminous, every grain of sand, dirt, and grass had been transformed into...glass.

The orange and purple hues of the setting sun descended onto the plains and flicked and danced as the light bounced off the rough and random edges of the newly reflective surface.

The researcher who had led them above ground now caused the glass to crunch and shatter beneath his feet. As he soon turned to the both of them with excited glee.

When he looked back, he would see Alistair's face with a subtle frown. He could not see much, there was something in the air, a fine powder that covered nearly everything. It was vibrant and multicolored, making it difficult to describe exactly what he was looking at.

Normally, it would be enough just to register as beautiful, but his frown came from another confirmation. It was not the city that was messing with his vision...It was him.

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

"Well..." He said softly, and then simply never finished his sentence.

Any words would have come up empty, or at least that was how it felt.

The city below was magnifcient, if it was even really a city. Luminor was something else, a chapter of history that might have represented a whole other world. Kasim could not even begin to imagine what a place like this could be used for. What it could do in the hands of someone who understood it.

It excited him, terrified him. A slow breath filled his lungs, and slowly he looked over to Alistair. For a moment his gaze lingered, then he turned his attention towards one of the attendants.

"I want everyone out." He commanded. "As quick as you can."

For the first time in a while his gaze turned to something more serious, stern, noble. "Now."

The Attendant frowned, looked up and down, but did not offer a single question.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

There was not a lot that could put Kasim at a loss for words, Al had learned over this expedition, so what they were looking at must be something really incredible. Even so, while the colorful dust hanging in the air was interesting, it was not so profound as to impress him...the moment was lost on him.

Hearing the seriousness in Kasim's voice, Alistair shoveled further away from their entrance into Luminore. He noticed the hard texture beneath his boots, it certainly did not feel like sand or grass. Nothing to worry about until it became a problem.

The orders were quickly spread to the other members of the expedition, and within minutes, the group was packing up and moving outside the ruins, taking a few moments to pause and look at the magical landscape around them. However, the orders of Kasim were enough to keep everyone on task.

"What is the next step?"

Kasim Areth