Chapter 133: Mirror Springs

“The village should be right over this ridge,” Crow looked down at his map.

“We’ve been walking for hours. Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Kyriil the elf complained.

“It’s freezing, is the damn snow ever gonna stop?” Nokuti the vampiress groaned.

“Right? I really wish you all had just left me back with the battalions at the bottom of the mountain,” Lysaila the lamia shivered.

“I don’t mind the cold, but is there any chance that we have gone off the trail?” Grim the axlean craned his long neck over Crow’s map.

Crow tucked the map in his feathered cloak, “I wouldn’t have brought us all the way out to the Rupture Mountains if I hadn’t done my research.”

“I know we’re all cold, but we’re almost there. A little faith and patience can go a long way,” Lord Marek Helene nodded to Crow.

“So, what, you want us to be like the dead-silent twins?” Kyriil pointed his slim arm at the archmage twins.

Dawn and Vaughn’s violet eyes glanced at the elf, but the hybrids stayed quiet.

“You see what I mean? They don’t say anything,” Kyriil rolled his eyes.

“Honestly, I wish you were like them,” Lysaila giggled.

“Wha-?” Kyriil’s stopped marching in the deep snow.

“We’re here.” Crow stood at the top of the ridge and pointed down.

“Finally,” Nokuti sighed in relief.

Everyone’s tired legs suddenly found one more burst of energy. They pushed through the snow towards the top of the ridge. Lysaila slithered her indigo tail past the rest and joined Crow first.

“What is this place?” Lysaila narrowed her eyes.

“...We shouldn’t be here,” Nokuti said breathlessly.

Down below the snowy ridge laid the remains of what once must have been a village. The old houses were in cold decay, most of the roofs and walls had collapsed. Large, jagged, broken pillars of ice protruded from several of the homes.

“Welcome to Mirror Springs,” Crow said triumphantly.

“This place looks like shit,” Kyriil turned away in disgust.

“For once I agree with Kyriil,” Grim nodded.

“This isn’t what I had imagined,” Marek frowned.

“What did you expect? A paradise utopia where everyone can just forget their worries? This isn’t a fairytale,” Crow shook his head.

Nokuti grabbed Marek’s forearm, “We shouldn’t be here. I’m getting a bad feeling about this place.”

“I never took you as a superstitious type. I thought Marek was the devotee,” Crow made his way down to the village.

“I am as devout a believer of Bellum as the next vampire and I don’t believe the goddess of war would approve of scavenging a ruined village,” Nokuti said.

“We aren’t here to scavenge. We are looking for a cave entrance, nothing more,” Crow said.

“Marek,” Nokuti pleaded with her eyes.

Marek took a deep breath, “Nokuti is right, Bellum would not want us rummaging around a ruined village… But, Stjerne the Traveler looks kindly upon all adventurers.”

“Should have guessed,” Nokuti sighed.

“What happened here? I thought this was supposed to be some pretty village or something?” Kyriil poked his head into one of the broken-down homes.

“Mirror Springs was said to be a frost giant village and a paradise to all who are weary of the wars of the Ebon Realm,” Nokuti recited.

“A fool’s tale,” Crow chuckled.

“Excuse me?” Nokuti raised her ax.

Crow opened his palms in surrender, “All I’m saying is we shouldn’t put our beliefs on the hearsay of idiots. Until today all you ever heard of Mirror Springs were folktales, the hopeful dreams of a trodden people. But to me, it seems like this village was destroyed by frost giants.”

“I’m inclined to agree with your assessment, but I take the words of atheists with a grain of salt,” Nokuti crossed her arms.

“Not all of us have the luxury of believing in the unseen. Instead of waiting for a figment of a god to help me I rather take my fate into my own hands,” Crow shrugged.

“Whatever the truth may be, the village is clearly in ruins. Let’s not spend more time than needed here. We should split up and look for this cave,” Marek said.

“As the war lord commands it shall be done,” Crow bowed.

“...Fine,” Nokuti walked away.

Everyone began to slowly wander about the empty streets.

~~~

Grim lifted a wooden beam from a broken doorway. He poked his long grey neck into the house.

“Anything?” Kyriil yawned.

“Aren’t you going to help?” Grim’s milky-white irises stared at the elf.

“I’m too cold for that, besides I got you. Your people live underwater, right? A little bit of cold is nothing to you,” Kyriil shrugged. “So, find anything?”

“It’s more like what I didn’t find,” Grim said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not entirely certain about Crow’s deduction, but one thing is for sure, this place was definitely attacked. There are markings of a struggle all around these houses.”

“So, it was frost giants then. I’ve never seen them before, but they sound like dangerous people,” Kyriil shivered.

“You see, that’s just it. I’ve read up on the frost giants. They are a very aggressive elemental species, they don’t like anyone intruding on their territory. Which is why I found the story of Mirror Springs, a peaceful frost giant village, to be so strange.”

“Not very strange anymore I imagine,” Kyriil kicked one of the giant ice pillars.

“No, it is. As I said, frost giants are said to be aggressive, they like to make examples of their enemies.”

“So, what’s your point?”

Grim tapped the door frame, “My point is where are the giants’ defeated enemies? We haven’t found a single corpse or skeleton anywhere. What happened to the people who lived here?”

~~~

Lysaila closed her blue eyes and calmed her breathing. Contrary to popular belief, lamias did not have incredible night vision, in fact, their night vision was worse than most. What lamias had was very sensitive and precise hearing. It allowed them to have a clear view of their surroundings even when blinded in darkness.

Finding a hidden cave entrance? Should be easy enough, Lysaila smiled.

She could hear the heartbeats of all seven of her companions. One could learn a lot from a person’s heartbeat, the changes of pace and cadence were as important as their facial expression.

After the past few months, Lysaila had learned to identify the heartbeat rhythms of her companions. She could tell Kyriil was far off to her left from the sound of his unstable heartbeat. One second the elf would be calm, the next he'd be spooked by the simplest of noises.

Lysaila could also tell Grim was standing next to Kyriil. The axlean's heartbeat was very slow, beating only once every few seconds. She always wondered how strong Grim’s heart must be to pump blood through such a large body and long limbs.

Marek’s heartbeat was a tad slower than most humans, a common trait among dire creatures. Nokuti’s heartbeat rang an angry tone. The vampiress was clearly upset that the group was here, yet Nokuti’s sound never strayed very far from Marek’s. She truly cared for the dire human’s safety, even when she was upset. Lysaila smiled, true loyalty was an admirable trait.

Crow’s heartbeat was calm and steady. In all the months Lysaila had known him, his heart never once diverged in cadence. The twin archmagi’s heartbeats were calm as well, until now. Ever since they had arrived at Mirror Springs, the twins’ hearts fell out of order. Vaughn’s heart was thrumming loudly and Dawn’s heart practically pounded at her rib cage.

Something was off with them and Lysaila was too curious to ignore it. Lysaila opened her eyes and began following the twins from afar, careful to stay unnoticed. Unlike the others, the twins stayed together always, even now.

While the others wandered about the village, the twins made a straight beeline to the northeast of the village. The hybrids ignored the rubble and broken down homes and kept trudging through the snow without a single word.

As they moved, Dawn’s heartbeat began to increase until Lysaila thought it might explode. Eventually, the twins stopped walking and stood in front of the largest house in the village. The building had fallen apart almost completely, with only a few wooden beams and bricks as a sign of what once was.

Dawn waded through the debris until she paused in what once could only have been a bedroom. She bent down and pulled something small from the snow. She dusted the snow off and held it close to her chest.

A doll? Lysaila frowned.

Dawn’s shoulders began to shake and she fell to her knees. The sound of her quiet sobbing echoed in Lysaila’s ears. Vaughn kneeled next to his sister and wrapped his arms around her, a faint tear slipped down his cheek.

“Guys! Hey guys, Nokuti found the cave entrance! Hey, are any of you there!?” Kyriil called out from a distance.

The twins stood up and wiped away their tears. Dawn quickly hid the doll in her backpack. They raised their hoods and took one last look at the ruined home before quietly making their way towards the loud elf. Lysaila slipped away before anyone noticed.

~~~

“So, is this what we're looking for? It seems… simple,” Lysaila said as she slithered up to the group.

The cave entrance was nothing more than a small hole under a mound of snow. Mist floated up from the pools of water nearby.

“So, those are the fabled Mirror Springs? I wouldn’t mind dipping in those hot springs and getting away from this damn cold for a bit,” Kyriil scratched his pointy ear.

“I’m inclined to join you,” Lysaila nodded. She despised the cold, her body would always get sluggish and unresponsive.

“Don’t. Those waters are said to have special healing properties. But after seeing the truth of this place, I wouldn’t trust it,” Nokuti warned.

“Oh, come on. I’ll just go take a peek. Maybe they really do perfectly reflect your appearance like mirrors?” Kyriil grinned.

“Nokuti is right. We aren’t here for a bath. We are on a mission, let’s stick to it,” Marek ordered.

Lysaila puffed up her cheeks, “You’re no fun, silly boy.”

The elf groaned and pulled at his blonde hair, “I don’t get paid enough for this.”

Crow poked at the cave entrance suspiciously, “I think this is it.”

“Oh, Dawn, you’re finally here. Mind helping with the entrance?” Marek asked.

Dawn nodded silently.

Crow stood aside, “Grim, Dawn, if you please.”

“Not a problem.” Grim raised his arms and channeled elemental water mana into his hands.

The snow shuddered away from the hole, leaving the floor barren with rock. Dawn stepped forward, planted her palms on the ground, and channeled chromatic green mana into the earth. The stone spell rang through the ground and pushed the rock and dirt away, widening the entrance of the cave until it was ten feet in diameter.

“Well done, you two,” Marek nodded. He glanced at Crow, “Are you sure about this?”

“That this is the right cave? Yes. That the weapon we seek is the best solution? Not at all. But, honestly, what choice do we have?” Crow walked into the cave.

Marek sighed, “Kyriil, Vaughn, light up the tunnel.”

Vaughn and Kyriil channeled white mana and cast bright spells, creating large orbs of light above the group’s heads. The twins and Kyriil walked in after Crow, with Lysaila and Grim close behind.

Nokuti grabbed Marek’s arm, “I really think this is a bad idea.”

“So you keep telling me,” Marek smiled half-heartedly.

“Marek.”

He reluctantly pulled away and stepped into the tunnel. He looked back, “You coming?”

“And if I don’t, who will protect your dumbass?” She shook her head.

~~~

They had been walking in the tunnel for over an hour with no end in sight. The tunnel walls were etched with unfamiliar grooves from the floor to the ceiling. Marek had never seen anything like it. He paused for a moment and scratched at the wall.

“What are you doing?” Nokuti asked.

“I’ve been looking at these tunnel walls. They haven’t changed in appearance a single bit in all the time we’ve been walking. Does that look natural to you?” Marek rubbed the piece of rock between his fingers.

“That’s because this tunnel was not formed, it was made,” Crow said.

“By whom?” Marek asked.

“I wouldn’t worry about that. I would worry about what else might still lurk in these tunnels,” Crow kept walking.

“And what the hell might that be, mask-man?” Kyriil blocked his path.

Crow cocked his head, “Skolguls. Even a high-master like you should be wary. They are incredibly dangerous elemental beasts that will not hesitate to rip us all to shreds. The few frost giants that have ever managed to slay a skolgul have worn its carapace face as a mask, the highest symbol of martial prowess among their people.”

Crow leaned his avian-skull-mask right up to Kyriil’s elfen face, “That is what we should worry about. So, if you could kindly move out of the way, we may just get what we came for and not see a single one of those arthropod monsters.”

“...Welp, I can’t argue with that logic,” Kyriil stepped aside.