Private Tales The Race for the Rune

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair nodded slowly as more and more of the blocks of information began to slide into place. There had to be another entrance because the other option was far scarier. He did not waste more time thinking about the subject, choosing to focus on the problem at hand.

A few quick motions created two spells in the air that clung to both himself and Kasim.

"Agreed, the spell should help you climb. Be careful, they aren't great handholds."

Not wasting any more time, Alistair reached down and began to descend into the hole. The descent was slow, at first, because Alistair had to figure out where each indention was created, but he began to move faster as he started to recognize the pattern.

However, the further they descended down the pit, the thicker the arcane atmosphere grew. It made it hard to breathe but in a magical sense. Alistair could feel the spells he had placed on himself and Kasim begins to slip.

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

"Between the two of us, we could practically open up a magic shop." The Noble mused, as always injecting humor to tease away some of the tension that lingered in the air.

Both of them knew this wasn't anything to joke about. The amount of magic that had been gathered in this place was colossal. A fraction of a fraction could level half of Alliria. If whoever had come before them intended to use this place in a malicious way?

It could spell an utter disaster not just for Vel Anir, but the world.

Without another word Kasim followed after Alistair, taking the small handholds as best he could as the globe of light followed after them. As they descended though he could feel the magic being picked apart. His hands struggling a bit more, his protective wards slipping, and the light that had been following them beginning to fade.

"I think we're about to have a pro-" Before he could even finish, the light suddenly snapped out. Leaving Alistair and him in total darkness. "Problem."

He finished.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

It was true, and it was the reason that Alistair had felt that this entire trip had gone easy up until now. He had always prided himself on having such a wide variety of magic to pull from, but one could not know everything. Unbelievably, Kasim seemed to always be able to fill in any holes that Alistair had in his knowledge. It was the perfect combination of book knowledge and experience.

He dreaded the warning that finally came from Kasim since he was sensing the same thing. The warning soon came with the entire area being filled with darkness.

"Oh, fucks sake."

The descent was difficult enough on its own, but now Alistair was just having to blindly feel with his foot for any sign of indention that he could use as a foothold.

"Just take it as slow as possible. It can't be much further."

He actually had no idea if what he said was true, and the worst part was that Kasim likely knew that to. Alistair could only hope they were right, or they had a very large fall in store for them.

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

In the bleak darkness which surrounded them, Kasim rolled his eyes.

"The confidence of youth." He complained outwardly, though knew that Alistair did not mean anything by his words.

There was no real telling of what lay beneath them. Though the globe of light had followed them for several hundred meters, it had never quite managed to lay bare what sat on the earth beneath. That was not a fault of the light, but simply a representation of how far these caverns actually went.

With a loud sigh, the Noble continued his descent.

It took nearly another ten minutes before finally their hushed breaths began to echo slightly more. The sound of their very breathing ringing out within the dim darkness of their surrounding.

"I think..." Kasim began as his fingers, tired and sore, curled into the wall. "We're just about..."

He trailed off, taking a deep breath and letting his toes gently explore the ground beneath. Finding solid purchase only seconds later with a solid thwap of his foot. "There!"

Kasim declared, finally hopping down onto solid ground.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

The next several minutes were nerve-racking and more than a bit of taxing on the body. They had to stop several times while Alistair just blindly reached for any footholds. One wrong step would not only spell his doom but Kasim's as well. He had focused on the task at hand so much that it shocked him when his foot suddenly met the ground. With a sigh of relief, he felt for the ground before falling back with a deep sigh and taking a large breath to center himself.

Quickly, Alistair realized that the breathing was partially due to his exertion, but it was also just the thick atmosphere of the area they found themselves in. Slowly, he began to regain his breath as he sat up.

"See, no problem."

He would have continued talking, but he was interrupted by a whine, no wait a groan, actually it was a scream of rage. It was coming from down here. Just ahead of them. While he could not see, there was a light in the distance. There must have been another room.

"No! No! Work Damn it! I finally had it."

Alistair's eyes shot in the direction that he thought Kasim was before swiftly scrambling to his feet. Without any further hesitation, he quietly began to make his way toward the light and the voice.

As he got closer, it took some time for his eyes to adjust. What met him was almost enough to freeze Alistair in outright wonder.

The large room before them housed a strange-looking machine, made of a metal he could not describe. This was far more advanced than the stone above. At the heart of this machine was what could possibly be the largest gathering of pure arcane energy that Alistair had ever seen. The radiant, ever-changing mass of energy swirled about in the center of the large structure. However, every few seconds the mass would lose its cohesion and threaten to burst out in all directions before gathering back together.

Alistair's eyes finally landed on a single individual standing over what he could only assume was some kind of control panel. The first thing of note about this man was that he was bald, in fact, hairless from what Al could tell. It was easy because the man stood there shirtless, only a light robe hung on his shoulders, but open to expose his chest.

Far more fascinating was that every single inch of this man's skin looked like it held some sort of rune. It was mind-boggling, the current theory behind most runic studies was that each body only had a certain number of runes that the body could support before the individual's body would collapse from the strain. This man flew directly against such ideas.

Just what was all of this?

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

"For you, I'm getting old." Kasim said into the darkness, lips thinning for a brief moment as he considered activating the rune on the back of his neck. It would let him pierce the darkness, but…with the energy still crackling in the air there was no telling what effect it would have. Magic could act…unpredictably, in circumstances like this.

Even if it was only corporeal.

With silent begrudgment, Kasim decided it was best to simply rely on his other senses. As Alistair slowly began to tread forward, the other noble quickly followed.

Slowly he crept along the wall, moving just behind his younger counterpart. Eventually he too saw the light, lips thinning as he heard the sounds of the machinery ahead. It was faint to his ear, but as they continued it grew only louder. Fingers tightened, and as the machine came into full view Kasim swallowed hard. He could see the magic move, the arcane energies slowly dancing and coalescing within the mechanism.

Wordlessly he glanced towards Alistair, motioning to one side of the man who seemed too consumed with his work to even see the two newcomers.

Kasim's fingers flickered, and perhaps in surprise to Alistair, the noble spoke in the silent speech all Dreadlords were taught. Don't reveal yourself, figure out what the machine does.

He stared hard at Alistair, hoping he would do as he'd been asked, then stepped more fully into the light.

"Hello there." Kasim declared openly, smiling. "You wouldn't happen to know where I am, would you? Seems I've gotten myself a bit lost."

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair blanked in surprise, but only for a moment before giving the Dreadlord sign for understood. With nothing left to say, he faded into the shadows eager to analyze such an ancient and yet miraculous machine.

---

Kasim's entrance came just in time to stop the tattooed man's fist from slamming down onto the control board in frustration. His head whipped around with reckless abandon, his head rolling to the side, almost making the man look inhuman.

He spoke in a harsh whisper, but somehow the words seemed to fill the cave.

"Whaatt are youuu doing here? IT WAS YOU!! You ruined it all!"

The first words came out sharp with the sting of a verbal slab, but the cadence of his voice quickly shifted several times over. It was like the man could not decide on a dialect.

"How did you get DOWN here?"

During this questioning, his fist gun in the air before slowly falling to his side. It did not take long after that for the man to begin to move forward to close the gap between himself and Kasim. However, just like his speech, his gait seemed disjointed, constantly changing rhythm and speed.

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

There was something off about the man, that much was almost immediately identifiable.

Kasim's eyes flickered up and down his form, hyper-observant in every little detail that he could possibly take in. Clothes, expression, how he moved. All of it was taken in, dissected, and then put to some use as the noble tried to put the pieces together. "M-Me!?"

The once jester said as he wheeled back, slowly keeping his distance from the strange scholar before he could ever come too close.

"I fell, and then I walked, and then I walked some more." Kasim said, letting a smile flicker over his features. Eyes quickly darting to where he knew Alistair was and ensuring that the strange man's attention remained on him. "But how did you...what are you doing down here anyway?"

He asked innocently. "What is all this?"

Kasim continued, gesturing towards the machinery and keeping up his tone of ignorance. "Are you some sort of...scientist?"

 

[Alistair Krixus]

The man's scoff was almost more him coughing up a lung at his indignation from the last question. He flung his hand out and some of the runes on his arms lit up. It looked like he struggled to move his arm, but when he finally brought the arm back down, the gathering of arcane energy shifted in a volatile manner.

"SCIENTIST? Please, like calling a lumberjack a luxury carpenter. YOU S-Should not be HeRE. N-No one simply finds themSELVES down here. Did you come for it? YOU WISH TO STEAL MY PRIZE?"

The man had stopped moving forward, realizing Kasim was running from him. The man froze for mere seconds, but when he moved again, his entire body seemed smooth but somehow heavier.

"No one steals from the Leviathan."

The arcane energy was growing the most volatile that Kasim or Alistair had seen.

---

Alistair had hidden as well as he could hope before quickly crafting a large-scale analysis spell. Some things were obvious within moments. That clump of energy had enough potency to power a city the size of Vel Anir, several times over.

The next realizations were scarier. That tube they had just climbed down was one of several. They would channel the energy up into the rest of this large complex, maybe even into the outer world as well. Such pure magical energy could have been used to terraform the land proving food and water...That was if they had the necessary facilities down here, but they were likely long gone.

If this magical energy was released straight up, it would decimate most of the life in the area and mutate the landscape.

Maybe this man, or Leviathan as he called himself was just trying to siphon some of the energy, but it was so potent that it would certainly have unknown consequences on his own body.

This was bad.

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

"Ah, no!" Kasim objected furiously, knowing that at this point conversation was very likely the only thing keeping him alive.

He was no slouch in a fight, even without Magic, but this man seemed to be tapped Into the primordial source of the world itself. Funneled here by the strange make up of this place. There was no telling what the man could do, what this place could make him capable of. Best to keep him talking, not acting.

"I'm not a thief!" One could have called him that years ago, when he'd first been setting out, but he'd not robbed anyone in a long time. Unless one counted graved anyway. "I'm a bard!"

He thrust into the conversation. "A story teller!"

It was as close to the truth as he could manage. There was little else he would be able to say to convince the damn man. At least this way he could buy for time, and the man seemed somewhat…unhinged. Perhaps talking the right way would calm him down.

"I'm just here looking for stories, the things…nothing else interests me." Kasim said quickly, though with surprising calm. "You-you sound like you have a story?"

He said cautiously.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Leviathan scoffed, once again beginning to step closer to Kasim. The man seemed to...fill the robes that he was wearing better than he did a few moments ago, almost like muscles were suddenly appearing across his body.

"A minstrel? Down here? Why do you come here when you know nothing of the glory of Luminor? A city so ancient that it has long since been forgotten by the lesser savages of the world. You do not deserve to even stand in this presence, and yet you go so far as to ruin my experimentation."

All the while he spoke, his words grew angrier and so did that ball of energy.

"Come here. I will provide you with a story. Every story needs an end."

---

Alistair grimaced as he was no longer really paying attention to the conversation. He needed to find a way to calm down that ball, but...His eyes trailed over to the control station where the man had been standing just moments before. That was the only way he could hope on slowing this down.

He sent Kasim a few hand signs, not sure if he even saw them, and then began to stealthily make his way towards the machine.

Taking his time, he eventually arrived and...What the hell did any of this mean? It was like the runes they had been messing around before had been made for children. Such a complex array was as likely to fall apart as soon as he touched it.

There was only one symbol that he recognized, that same rune for 'flow'. Alistair began to reach out, guiding magical energy to his fingertip, but he hesitated to press his hand to the machine.

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

Why was it that talking to madmen seemed to be the perfect way to gain new information?

If one learned to listen, incoherent babbling could lead to a great amount of knowledge. Neither he nor Alistair had known this city's name, nor had they known the city had been forgotten. It stood to reason, obviously, but It was still a benefit.

He just had to keep himself alive. ”No! No, listen, please!”

Kasim objected, still continuing to wheel backwards. His hands jutting over his face as he desperately tried to make himself appear the babbling fool.

”How could I not come here?!” The Jester demanded. ”Look at this city! Look at Luminor! It’s resplendent! We fools allowed ourselves to forget. The histories are broken, lost to time and ego! But we can rewrite them, we can show the world what has been forgotten!”

He thought it was a good argument. ”I don’t want to ruin anything! I swear.”

Kasim said, gesturing. Having become so lost in his side of the conversation that he didn’t even notice Alistair’s signaling.

”I just want to witness.” He offered desperately, smiling, and hoping the man would listen.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Something in Kasim's words only seemed to enrage the man even more, his face turned red as a large vein bulged down his neck.

"We? we? WE?!?! NO! THERE IS ONLY LEVIATHAN! IIII will burn the histories to the ground to mark my path. I will clutch the chains of destiny and bend them to my will. I WILL BE THE END AND THE BEGINNING!!"

This torrent of rage suddenly stopped bringing with it silence and stillness before the madman spoke once more, this time with the same soft and stuttering voice as earlier.

"B-but yes. You s-see my vi-vi-vision. Y-You can help m-me."

He reached out a hand, beckoning Kasim forward. Kasim would feel some sort of pull, but that pull also brought with it the creeping of numbness.

---

In this emergency moment, Alistair did not examine the machine as safely as he should have. He did not notice the circlet sitting next to the panel. None of that mattered though.

When he placed his hand to the machine, his eyes glazed over with arcane energy. It was overwhelming. A torrent of mana that brought with it so much information. Every bit of temperature in the entire forgotten city, such as the temperature of each room to the density of each wall. All trying to slam itself inside his head.

Enough to drive any man mad. Alistair should have pulled away, should have stopped, but he was lost in the conflux of magic before him. The only thing his conscience could focus on was slowly calming the magical energy back into stability.

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

It seemed that his silver tongue had once again saved him from the hangman's noose, or in this case a madman's magics.

Kasim frowned for just a brief moment, allowing himself a sigh of relief as he shifted. Not quite stepping towards his new 'friend' the bard instead shifted so he moved parallel to the odd man. Deciding that keeping his distance, even now, was probably for the best. Even subdued the man had an air about him, as though he were under some great strain.

A twig that could snap at any moment.

"Tell me." Kasim urged gently. "How did you find this place?"

The more they understood the better. This man clearly knew this city, he had its name after all, and Kasim intended to bleed him for every bit of information he could possibly be good for. The runes might not reveal their mysteries, but maybe this man was.

"I was a fool and fell where I should not have." Kasim said with a dry chuckle, denigrating himself.

"But you." He continued, doing his best to sound venerable. "You knew this place, you knew it was here before you came didn't you?"

 

[Alistair Krixus]

"S-Select pieces of knowledge have been passed down t-to me. I was able to gleam-" Suddenly the voice changed once more.

"Find? It found me! Called to me. It is my destiny. It is mine."

The man lashed out once again, this time moving with surprising speed as he attempted to grab Kasim. However, instead of a hand, the limb deformed into that of a flesh-like blade that swiped at Kasim.

"You defile this holy place with your very presence."

The only thing that made the madman hesitate was the voice that came from behind them.

---

At this point, the events occurring behind Alistair might as well have been miles away as his mind attempted to fight back against the pressure of energy upon him, but it was useless.

Unaware of this, blood was beginning to flow from his nose. His body was trying to subconsciously protect him by pulling away but he could not.

This was killing him. Or worse, it would burn out his brain leaving him nothing more than a driveling mess for the rest of his life. WIth no other course to turn to, he wasn't even sure if he actually spoke the words out loud, but he did choke the words out.

"Kasim...h-help."

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

The man swiped at Kasim’s chest, the blade very nearly cutting across his torso as he darted back. He was about to offer another joking objection, dig the well a little deeper, but instead he caught Alistair’s plea.

Almost immediately his eyes flickered over towards his companion.

A rash of different emotions rushed through the young nobles face. Dozens of realizations striking him all at once. A curse echoed through his head, and he wondered if they wouldn’t have been better off just slitting the mad man’s throat.

“INTERLOPERS! I’LL KILL YOU BO-”

Before the man could finish, his eyes caught on Alistair, Kasim darted forward.

He moved with a shocking speed, and from beneath a small bracer on his wrist slipped out a stiletto like knife. The blade flickered forward, slipping through the back of the mans neck in one quick piercing stab. Shocked gurgling escaped the maddened creatures throat, but Kasim did not linger.

Slipping the blade free he rushed over towards his companion. It would have killed an ordinary man, though Kasim knew this crazed bastard was anything but ordinary. Yet he couldn’t stall, couldn’t linger. Not with the blood trickling down the other Anirian’s face.”ALISTAIR!”

He shouted.

”Let it go!” It was a futile, rushed demand, but he didn’t know what else to say, what else to do. He hadn’t gotten anything out of the madman, and the workings of the city were still an utter mystery.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

"C-Can't. W-Won't l-let me."

Alistair was trying to pull away, but it seemed futile. His eyes were looking off in a haze before another surge of magic came from the large conflux of energy, making the young Dreadlord shiver.

He was no longer aware of his bodily workings, but his body was groaning in pain as his entire body was straining like he was beneath the greatest of weights.

The circlet that rested near Kasim and Alistair had a small cerulean gem at its center. The gem began to blink urgently, clearly in response to either the machine or the magic.

By now, it was clear that magical energy was beginning to escape from the large gathering at the center as the ball began to lose its structure.

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

”Shit.” Kasim swore, his lips pressing together in a thin line.

He ran through every bit of knowledge they had. Everything they had learned about this place, everything he could tell about the machine at a glance. All of it and everything, including that which he’d picked up long before meeting Alistair.

”Okay. Okay.” The noble said, not touching his companion but stepping close. ”It’s a gathering of magic, right? And this controls it.”

In theory, it seemed that way anyway. ”So just…distribute the magic. Let it go.”

Could Alistair even do that? Kasim fucking hoped so, because his only other solution was to start yanking wires. ”Disperse it. Purge every system, every nook and cranny, aim it at the fucking moon if you can.”

They didn’t know enough to do anything else, and that much magic? It could easily kill them both, or destroy whatever city lay nearby. This much power shouldn’t be used, it shouldn’t even exist.

Within a matter of minutes it would burn through Alistair, and then?

Then Kasim suspected this entire city would go.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

That was easier said than done, but this system must have been run by several mages at once or even some sort of spirits. As brilliant as Alistair liked to think himself, he was not more intelligent than several dozen ancient, advanced mages.

Actively shooting this sort of energy already felt impossible, he was directing somewhere and that was just out, for the time being. If it kept gathering in this one room then there would be some explosion.

Even now, the amount he had been pushing outward had probably already begun seeping from the underground network.

While Alistair's entire attention was focused on this one goal, surprisingly, something kept intruding on his view the blinking of that small circlet.

"T-T-That thing...put it on."

When creating a machine, one didn't just strap hardware onto it for decoration. It had to be tied to the system somehow, maybe as some sort of regulator or management.

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

Kasim gave the circlet a leery look.

Perhaps it took a decade more of life or the birth of ones children, but the noble couldn’t help the aversion to risk he felt in his heart. Looking at Alistair, watching the blood gently drip from his nose, Kasim couldn’t help but be frozen by fear.

What would happen if he put on that crown? What would happen if he was dragged further into this?

Did it even matter?

It wasn’t like he could get away if this thing exploded. It wasn’t like he could run away and somehow escape. It wasn’t like he could…he could just Alistair here to die.

Kasim knew that he didn’t have the strength for such a thing. Knew that he couldn’t have abandoned the boy if he had wanted to. His hand snapped up, and without a second more of hesitation his fingers drew the circlet up and over his head. Gently placing it upon himself and taking a deep sharp breath.

In an instant his eyes snapped open, and the lines and networks of magic seemed to come into ‘view’. A whole network of power shaped like a nervous system drawing across his eyes. Thousands upon thousands of lines and nodes appearing, all of them flickering and blinking, as if calling for something.

”Fuck me.” Kasim swore, somehow feeling distant and rooted all at the same time.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair was beginning to lose it, it was like his brain had to throw away everything that wasn't helping him fix this problem. That included his worries, his desires, and his self. All that was left was controlling the flow.

He wasn't sure if Kasim had even grabbed the circlet anymore, but if he didn't...Alistair was as good as dead. At least, this version of Alistair would be gone for good.

---

The nodes filled Kasim's head much like Alistair's own mind but in a slightly more controlled manner. Kasim was able to hear a soft ding before a soft, nonbinary voice spoke into his mind.

"Unrecognized user, please allow for scan...Unauthorized user...Alert. Danger. Flow state instability. Bariyon Chamber failure. Emergency Access Granted."

A slight pulse pushed through Kasim's body as the voice spoke once more, but this time with a level of emotion and tone.

"Oh dear, you two should not be here. We will need to fix this mess quickly. Oh dear, this is not good. Very not good."

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

Ah voice!

A voice babbling complete and utter nonsense. "Bariyon chamber?"

Kasim echoed, not entirely sure what that was or how it was relevant in the moment. They were staring down the barrel or a crossbow with the bolt of bloody fire! This thing was spouting nonsen-

It said something else, actual words.

"Yes!" The noble responded instantly. "Not good!"

The panic in his voice threatened to overwhelm everything else. "How do we fix it?!"

Kasim demanded firmly, dispensing with a greeting or anything else. Right now all that mattered was getting this city under control, ensuring that they wouldn't be burned alive by the magic around them. If this voice could help with that then Kasim would gladly do whatever it said.

Introductions could come later.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

It wasn't clear if the voice actually heard Kasim, at first. Instead, they continued to rattle off various warnings.

"Other organic lifeform interfaced with champed. Mental deterioration in progress. Luminor mana capacity reaching maximum storage for safe containment."

A long pause in which maybe the voice was just going to leave it there, but thankfully the voice spoke up again.

"Initiating failsafe protocols. Please initiate node synchronization."

Instantly, the patterns in Kasim's vision changed shape into a runic language. It was quickly the most advanced formula they had seen so far, but what would have been nearly impossible for Kasim and Alistair to solve earlier had a new meaning for the wearer of the circlet. The device instantly translated each rune, imparting information directly into Kasim's mind, making it all easier to understand.

Alistair's strain also seemed to lessen as his breathing stabilized once again.

"Whatever you are doing. Keep doing it. It's all slowing down. Still bad, but better."

Kasim Areth

 

[Kasim Areth]

Kasim frowned slightly as the voice continued in his head, not understanding.

His eyes flickered over towards Alistair, no small amount of concern painted in his features. Lips thinned, and then the voice continued to speak. As it did something flickered before his eyes, and for the time he began to understand. Eyebrows slowly rose as runes were translated almost in real time in front of his eyes.

”I-” It was amazing, like nothing he had ever experienced before. Yet at the same time he began to notice something.

”It’s not me.” He admitted to Alistair as the boy spoke up. ”The City…I think its talking to me, and I think.”

Slowly Kasim began to look around the room, each Rune he looked at instantly he translated. He began to understanding, linking together puzzle pieces that a few moments hadn’t even been present.

This place, this city, didn’t view magic as magic. To this place it was simply a source of energy, power that could be used for any one of a thousand different things. It was utterly remarkable, like nothing that he had ever seen…though familiar in something he’d been told of just a short while ago.

”Ah, right.” He said suddenly, searching for a moment before he found a lever which he thought he was being ordered towards.

Quickly the Noble moved across the room, touching the lever and initiating the ‘node synchronization’. Whatever the hell that meant.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

"W-Well, s-say t-thank you."

Alistair forced out through gritted teeth. By this point, he was growing more accustomed to manipulating the flow of magic outward and out of the city, but the magical energy was showing no sign of slowing, and Al was showing signs of exhaustion.

However, as soon as Kasim flipped the switch, Al visibly slackened as a great weight was lifted off his shoulders. To be more precise, it wasn't that their weight had lessened, but more like Alistair was using newfound muscles.

---

"Node stabilization in progress. Secondary bypass valves activated for emergency dispersion."

The voice went silent inside Kasim's mind for several moments as it looked like things were growing under control. Several of the formulas in his vision dispersed, only to soon be replaced with new ones.

"Mana levels returning to sustainable levels. Must begin reconfiguration process."

More and more directions popped into Kasim's mind. Each one bringing with it a new understanding of magical theory.

Kasim Areth