Chapter 51 — Ranger’s Discovery

The place Ranger led them to was the base of a large tree in the earth-attuned section of the garden. Ranger had dug a hole between the tree’s tall roots that were almost like walls, hiding his work from view.

The hole had clearly been widened recently and was now large enough that she could crawl her way inside, but from what Ranger was telling her, the ruins were a long way down.

“I need to change out of my dress first,” Ria decided.

Everyone looked down at their finery and the decision was unanimous.

“Let’s meet back here in a half-hour,” Keira decided, adding, “Maybe Ranger can guard the hole for us?”

“Woof!”

Ranger was excited for the responsibility and for getting to show-off his hard work.

“He says, not a single one will get past him,” Ria reported.

Keira nodded in Ranger’s direction. “Aldri, Ethan can prepare you a guest room. Orlisi and Iselyn, you’re welcome to use mine or Ria’s rooms. The maids can assist.”

“I’ll help Ria,” Orlisi decided right away.

“Guess you’re with me again, Iselyn,” Keira offered, and Iselyn nodded without complaint.

Miela and Ana were waiting for them once back inside the manor. As before, Ana and Orlisi helped Ria with her hair and clothes, this time, helping her into her armor and raven helmet.

Orlisi whistled. “Real battle armor that has seen actual battle.”

“It has? By Miss Ria?” Ana asked wide-eyed as she tightened the lacings.

“I don’t know the full story, but you can’t fully wash out the smell of blood and the curses of the dead,” Orlisi noted and Ana shivered.

“Phaelys would probably be happy to see me dressed like this,” Ria mused.

Ria ran a hand over the padded armor that saved her life countless times. She and Master Rigure had enchanted the coat and pants to resist piercing and cutting. It was one of the requirements Lord Vorshan imposed before allowing her to take the wall during the siege of Vorshan’s Hills.

Her magic dagger was next, strapped opposite Jeni’s pouch.

“What about you, Orlisi?” Ria asked.

Orlisi touched her vault key and a shimmering robe dropped into the elf’s hands. “Ana, if you wouldn’t mind?”

Ria watched with interest as the elf girl changed into a sleeveless robe and wrapped her knuckles and wrists with enchanted hand-wraps.

“My disciple’s robe,” Orlisi explained and turned to show Ria the house crest embroidered onto the back. “Shall we rejoin the others?”

Ria nodded. “Thank you for your help, Ana.”

Arthur and Aeri were in the sitting room, having tea served by Ana’s mom and little sister.

“Something going on?” Aeri asked, worry tinging her voice.

Ria shook her head and held up a hand to calm them as she and Orlisi sat to wait for the others. “Ranger discovered a rodent infestation under the garden.”

“Oh, dear!” Ana’s mother, Cielle, gasped. “If they get into the manor and the kitchens, it’ll be hard to be rid of them!”

“Can dad get rid of them?” Ana’s little sister suggested.

“I don’t know, Ella. If the young mistress is dressed like that, these might not be ordinary rodents,” Cielle told her daughter.

“Don’t worry. We’ll take care of it,” Ria reassured.

“Rodent infestations can be troublesome,” Aldri added as he joined them, wearing simple trousers, button-up shirt, and boots. “By the time they reach the surface, the colony might be quite extensive. Many city houses just put up wards and let the rodents become someone else’s problem.”

“That’s terrible,” Ria muttered.

Aldri shrugged. “When they’re in the sewers, there’s not much else to be done, short of culling the numbers.” A crooked smile slipped onto the red-haired boy’s face. “By the way, is this the true appearance of the Witch of Vorshan’s Hills that I see before me?”

Ria nodded. “This is my combat armor for when Keira and I went adventuring and when we defended the wall against the barbarians.”

“If yours is like that, I can’t wait to see what Keira’s adventuring outfit looks like.”

“It’s nothing special,” Kiera spoke up as she entered the room wearing her rain-frock and ghost mask. Iselyn beside Kiera was attired similar to Aldri with her hair tied back and her vault key tied to a belt loop. Ria spotted a few pieces of enchanted jewelry.

Like Ria’s own armor, Ria and Master Rigure had also enchanted Keira’s rain-frock.

Aldri laughed. “What’s with the Festival of Fear theme you and Ria have going on?”

Keira huffed.

“You’re coming, Iselyn?” Ria asked with a bit of surprise, choosing to ignore Aldri’s comment.

Iselyn nodded. “I might see something useful for my illusions.”

A wall of rats or whatever… Ria had to admit that might actually be terrifying to their noble-borne competition.

“We should get better adventurer gear now that we have some coin to our names,” Keira complained.

“You fought monsters in that?” Aldri asked as he looked Keira over. “Isn’t it heavy?”

“It is. And hot,” Keira confirmed. “But it has saved me from disfiguring injuries several times. And if we’re crawling into rodent-infested tunnels, I’m not taking any chances.”

“I still can’t believe you two were risking scars and worse in the wilds like that,” Aldri muttered.

“Guardsman Harvin and I usually accompanied them to make sure they didn’t get involved in anything too dangerous,” Miela assured from behind Keira and Iselyn.

Aldri shrugged. “At least, I can teleport us out if we get stuck or if the situation gets too dangerous.”

“Your assistance is reassuring, Sir Mage Aldri,” Miela encouraged.

“Should you take one of the guards?” Ana’s mom suggested.

Keira shook her head. “They won’t be able to fit.” The masked girl looked around at her companions, took a deep breath, and decided. “Alright. Let’s go.”

Arthur, Aeri, and the staff, saw the group off at the hole with Miela wishing Keira success. Jarrel wasn’t there though, having yet to return from his daily tasks for Lord Vorshan.

Gathering her courage, Ria crawled after an eager Ranger into the tunnel. Keira was next, then Aldri, Iselyn and Orlisi last. The tunnel curved around the tree’s roots and opened up into a hollowed-out space that Ranger was probably using as a burrow or den of some kind.

A gentle light filled the tunnel as Keira cast a light spell to illuminate their progress once the light from the entrance was no longer visible.

Running a hand against the clay and dirt walls, Ria was beginning to suspect that Ranger was using some kind of earth magic to harden them. How he had done that, she had no clue. Maybe thanks to his new collar?

She was glad for the oddity distracting her from the further journey downward as the tunnel narrowed again and she continued crawling forward. The descent steepened to the point that Ria found herself pressing against the walls to keep from sliding downward.

“How much further?” Keira asked.

“Woof!”

“We’re about halfway,” Ria reported.

“How many days has Ranger been digging this?” Aldri wondered.

Indeed. That was what Ria was wondering as well.

“War-woof.”

“Mostly just today…” Was that really true? Ranger’s adaptation to his new element must be proceeding well. Maybe he always had a strong earth-attunement all along?

“He did dig his way under that dome when we were fighting that Earthen Doom team,” Iselyn pointed out, her quiet voice echoing in the tunnel.

“Woof!” Ranger agreed, sounding proud.

“If Ranger continues to improve, you should consider having him learn Beast Arts,” Orlisi suggested.

“Beast Arts?” Ria inquired, thankful for the distraction her friends were providing. Being in a tight place and having the weight of so much earth above her with no easy escape was… something she didn’t want to think about too much.

“Yep,” Orlisi replied. “Farenthil Hall has specialists that have developed systems of combat techniques for beasts and familiars. Your familiar training class is a good start, but if you can gain the interest of one of the masters…”

“Woof?”

“Is that something you want, buddy?” Ria asked.

“Woof! Woof!”

“Okay, okay. Let’s do our best then.”

“Woof!”

Orlisi chuckled behind them.

That reminded her of something. “Keira, I saw one of those Dawn Chasers fighting when we were dueling with our familiars in class, and it was really impressive, fast and mobile—even gave Malleron a tough time.”

Iselyn huffed. “He kept complaining I wasn’t giving him enough energy to put out a serious effort. I got Welkin to upgrade his bond. He won’t lose next time.”

That was news, though not entirely unexpected.

“Is that why he was so much stronger at the tournament?” Ria asked and looked back to see Iselyn nod.

“Isn’t it weird sharing your head with…” Keira hedged. “I don’t know if a fish is for me.”

“It’s not like Ranger can read my thoughts or anything,” Ria assured her friend.

“Yeah, it’s not weird at all,” Iselyn confirmed. “Like getting a new friend who helps with your magic and can watch your back.”

Keira was silent.

“It does permanently reduce the amount of energy a mage has available for spells though… unless you get a dragon,” Aldri offered as a counter reason.

“Woof!”

Ranger’s claws clicked on stone as the tunnel leveled out into a more open area that had been more extensively excavated.

Ria ran her hands along the cut stones that formed the arching surface as she made room for the others to squeeze closer and get a look.

“I guess this is the ‘ruins’?” Aldri asked.

“Woof!”

Ria nodded. “I think so. Ranger says he wasn’t sure he was allowed to dig through the stones, but that the noises and movement are coming from below here.”

“It could be a sewer tunnel…” Keira evaluated, rubbing away some of the dirt to get a better look at the construction.

“Opening up a sewer tunnel, might give the vermin a way to the surface,” Aldri cautioned.

Keira nodded. “Yeah, if they’re confined to the tunnel below, then we might just end up in a worse situation.” The girl looked Ria’s way and gestured. “Earth sensing is your thing, Ria.”

Ria nodded, forming the spell and tapping the stone surface. Her senses spread out into the space below.

The structure below seemed more of a passageway than a sewer—not that Ria knew what a sewer tunnel was like. The interior was wide enough for two or three men to walk abreast and there was a small channel cut along one side to carry away water, but it wasn’t more than a hand’s width. Surely, a sewer tunnel would have a larger channel for carrying away waste and wastewater.

The rodents were there, just as Ranger had heard, scurrying along the floor. They were something halfway between a cellar rat and the moles that would cause problems for the farmers in Shadewood, and they were huge, large enough to be dangerous.

“It might really be a ruin…” Ria mumbled then explained to her friends what she’d found.

“If it’s actually a ruin, there might be treasure!” Orlisi suggested with a grin.

“Doesn’t sound like a sewer tunnel,” Aldri admitted. “Unless maybe it’s an accessway…”

“So… we gonna open it up?” Orlisi pressed.

“Ria, there aren’t any holes or collapses that the rodents are coming in through?” Aldri asked.

Ria shook her head. “Not nearby anyway.”

“Ugh,” Keira complained. “Which means if we open it up, we’ll be letting the rodents out…”

“I could use fire,” Ria offered. “Or recharge my devastator and use that…”

“Either way, burnt rodent is going to smell horrible in this tight space,” Aldri pointed out.

“Sewer probably doesn’t smell much better,” Iselyn added.

“I can keep the air fresh,” Orlisi offered, and a faint breeze stirred around them, bringing the smell of a storm having just passed by.

Everyone looked to Keira for the final decision.

“Can you set up a ward to keep them out after we’re done investigating?” Keira asked Ria.

“Of course!” Ria gave Keira a thumbs-up. Vermin wards were something she had lots of experience with after the journey through the wilds.

“Try not to damage the stones. If it is a sewer tunnel, Lady Asara won’t be happy with us damaging city infrastructure,” Keira instructed.

“Keira, I don’t have any magic for that…” Ria complained.

“Aldri can void-away the mortar, then I can levitate the stones out,” Orlisi suggested.

“You say that as if summoning void-elementals is safe or easy. There’s no way I can be that accurate,” Aldri objected.

“Void summoning?” Ria repeated, worried. Did Orlisi mean the swarm of black fish he summoned during his match with Tallien?

Orlisi rolled her eyes. “What if Keira forms a barrier in the shape you need to cut?”

Aldri went quiet for a few breaths then nodded. “It’s a bit tight down here, but I think that would work. It needs to be something simple like a circle or a rectangle.”

“Is that good enough, Keira?” Orlisi confirmed.

“As long as we can mortar it back in place, I think it will be fine,” Keira reluctantly agreed and cast her barrier spell forming a cylinder of light that extended into the arced surface of the exposed stonework. “I’m ready.”

“Ah, hold on,” Iselyn spoke up and cast a spell, causing a thin pool of water to form above where the opening was going to be. The water rippled gently then calmed into a mirror-like surface. “I want to see inside before you burn them up.”

Aldri looked around in the cramped space lit by Keira’s floating light spell to make sure there weren’t any other precautions to be taken then concentrated for a full minute as he formed his spell and thousands of tiny black fish swarmed out of a tear in space to throw themselves at the edges marked by Keira’s barrier.

There was a faint ‘whomp’ sound with the impact of each fish, like a rumble or murmur of strange fish-shaped raindrops as Aldri’s spell cut a finger-width circle through the stone and mortar. Worryingly, both Aldri and Keira looked like they were beginning to strain, but the stone silently shifted, and a gust of wind swirled above to pull it up and out of the way.

The barrier and summoning spells dissipated, and Ria could sense a problem right away as the large rodents rushed for the light of the opening.

“Ria-!” Iselyn warned.

Not having time to form a proper spell matrix, Ria performed the energy transformation and filled the opening with fire. A rat-thing still managed to leap upward through the flames, and a smell of burning fur and fat filled the tunnel as Ranger lunged forward and chomped the squealing beast. Red liquid squirted and the rodent crunched sickeningly. Ranger shook it twice and spat it down into the hole to be burned with the others.

“Yuck!” Aldri complained.

Ria didn’t even spare him a glance as she intensified the flames, and pained squeals and shrieks and scurrying of oversized claws echoed up from the hole cut in the stonework. Just as the air was beginning to feel uncomfortably hot and thin, the fresh scent of storms swirled around them and made the air bearable as Orlisi promised.

When the rodents in range of her spell were no longer moving, Ria let the fire disperse. A not insignificant number of the beasts had escaped into either end of the stonework tunnel.

{Ranger? Can you guard as we climb down?}

“Woof!”

Ranger dove into the hole, his quartz-like eyes and transformed fur catching the light from Keira’s light spell as he blurred past to land with a clacking of claws on stone.

Ria scooted into the hole next, catching the lip with her hands and dropping to the ground. She wasn’t as lucky with her landing and twisted her ankle, falling backward as her boots stopped against a dead rodent almost as big as she was. She landed on her back with its terrifying mouth and oozing eye-sockets filling her view.

“Eeep!” was the sound she made as she rolled to her feet accompanied by Ranger’s snickers.

The sight inside the tunnel was rather terrible with dog-sized rodents laying around contorted in death, their fur burned and flesh melted and charred. A trickling of water from the side-gutter quietly hissed into steam as it made contact with the still-hot stone, forming a mist that clouded the tunnel, giving it an eerie otherworldly feel.

Iselyn was the next down, careful to land next to the dead rodent instead of on it. She proceeded to wander from rodent to rodent poking and shifting them with her wand, even cutting a few open with her knife for some reason.

“Giant Volents,” Orlisi pronounced as she fluttered to the ground after Iselyn.

“They are,” Aldri confirmed, landing shortly after the elf and reaching back toward the opening to help Keira down.

“They're coming back!” Ria warned, her sensing magic still active.

Ranger growled and lunged to catch one leaping out of the mist at Iselyn. Orlisi ran to the other side, and her bare foot flashed out to crunch a volent in its long teeth, snapping its head back unnaturally.

But that was just the beginning of what was to come. Ria summoned her remaining training dagger and her air shield wand and rushed forward to assist Orlisi as two more shot out of the mist.

Behind her, Iselyn’s water-whip could be heard slashing through the air and striking against fur and bone. Aldri summoned larger fish this time, each ‘whump’ of impact stilled a target.

Animal screams filled the tunnel as innumerable volents, large and small, scrabbled over their dead to launch themselves at Ria and her companions. Some of the smaller ones stopped to gnaw on and drag away the dead.

Trusting her guildmates and Ranger, Ria focused on using shadow magic to hack and blast as many as she could until the wave receded, leaving only the sound of fur and claw being dragged deeper into the tunnel and the winded breathing of herself and her companions.

“That was terrifying,” Keira breathed out and made her light a bit brighter. Movement could be seen deeper down the tunnel now that much of the mist had cleared.

“It’s not an adventure without monsters!” Orlisi asserted, still enjoying herself. Somehow, the elf’s handwraps managed to stay bloodstain-free even with all the volents she had sent to explosively bloody ends.

Ria glanced at Iselyn to make sure the girl was doing fine, and the noble girl had returned to poking corpses. “Which way should we try first?”

“I’ve no idea what direction we’re facing after all the turning in Ranger’s tunnel,” Aldri admitted with a shrug. “We should probably collect the tails from the volents; there might be a standing bounty for killing them.”

“Are you an adventurer, Aldri?” Keira asked.

He shook his head. “No, but some of the other boys in my neighborhood were. They would talk about hunting volents in the sewers for their tails and getting paid by the Adventurers Guild. I did go along on a few hunts, but my parents told me I wasn’t allowed to go to the guild.”

“If you’ve got some twine, I’ll do it,” Iselyn volunteered.

“Are you sure, Iselyn?” Keira asked, surprised.

“Yep.” Iselyn smiled and shook some goo off her wand before wiping it against a volent’s fur. “This expedition is turning out to be quite useful already.”

Ria blinked a few times, along with everyone else, before summoning the leftover twine from her recent paper purchasing.

“Thanks,” Iselyn said as she received the twine and got to work, an enchanted knife in hand just like during their anatomy class practicum.

Keira tore her gaze away from the grisly task. “If we explore away from the opening, there won’t be anyone to stop the volents from escaping into the estate…”

“Help me clear some space and I’ll ward off this area, like we mentioned before,” Ria offered, dragging away the volent directly under the opening.

“I’ll keep watch on this side,” Orlisi volunteered.

“Guess, I’ll take this side,” Aldri quickly added, to eye rolls from Iselyn and Keira, though it was hard to tell with Keira’s mask.

Ranger seemed fine with Aldri’s offer and joined Ria in clearing the area by dragging away the carcasses.

Keira joined in, and soon they had enough piled against the wall opposite the gutter to reveal half the floor and so that they could get by down either direction without having to climb over the oversized rodents.

Ria summoned her staff and drew the vermin repelling ward into the stone. “It should last six hours or so.”

“Hopefully, we won’t be down here that long,” Keira huffed.

“Let’s try this side first,” Orlisi suggested. “The water is coming from this direction, so it might take us to the entrance. And there were more volents coming from this direction.”

Ugh. As if that was a reason to go that direction…

Keira nodded. “Alright. Ria, why don’t you and Orlisi lead.”

“Okay.”

Once they were away from the area Ria had burned, the ceiling above became covered in dusty cobwebs that hung down in the occasional streamer of loose webbing to catch on her helmet, or her glove if she tried to brush it away with her hand. She didn’t sense any living spiders, but the idea still wasn’t pleasant.

A few more volents attacked, as they explored. There were no branches to the tunnel, but the source of the volents soon became apparent as a collapse of the tunnel became visible ahead—a collapse that seemed riddled with holes leading into the volent warren. Ria could sense that the tunnelway continued on the other side of the collapse, but they’d have to dig a way through, unless Aldri…

“Aldri, can you get us to the otherside of the collapse?” Ria asked.

The red-headed boy shook his head. “It’s risky opening portals to places I haven’t been and can’t see.”

“I hope we aren’t still under the estate.” Keira was eyeing the warrens. “Iselyn, is there something you can do about the volents?”

“If Malleron is here, I think can poison the warrens,” Iselyn offered.

“So, something for later then,” Keira sighed.

Iselyn shook her head. “No, Malleron can create fairy gates between mushrooms made with his magic. Do you want me to ask him to come help?”

“Oh?” Keira tilted her head a bit and seemed to perk up. “In that case, if he doesn’t mind, I would rather not leave the volents to spread further.”

“He says he’ll come,” Iselyn reported after closing her eyes for a while and further warned, “Stand back.”

Once everyone was a good distance back, Iselyn touched her vault key and a rotted board with large mushrooms growing out of it appeared on the ground. The noble girl closed her eyes to concentrate, and the mushroom puffed, peeling outward to reveal Malleron. Ria had seen Malleron use that magic a few times now, but it was still neat to see.

After a brief exchange with her mushroom-man familiar, Iselyn placed more broken planks in front of the holes. New mushrooms grew up among the more normal looking ones, these had dangerous purple, green, and red colorations. With a wave of her wand, the mushrooms puffed, and scary clouds of spores began to flow into the holes.

“Ho-hoh, that doesn’t look like anything I’d want to breathe,” Orlisi observed with a laugh.

Aldri seemed to agree, if the wary look he was giving the air around them was any indication. Ranger sniffed and shrugged, not seeing what the big deal was.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got us protected while Iselyn works,” Orlisi reported.

When the task was done, Keira had Ria use earth magic to seal up the holes as best she could without further collapsing the ceiling. The ‘earth shift’ spell was one Ria had recently practiced in her elemental class, so it wasn’t too difficult, just tiring after using up so much energy for the fire earlier.

“The other direction?” Orlisi cheerfully suggested to groans from everyone else. “Oh, come on. You can’t be that tired already!”

“Woof!” Ranger agreed, pawing the stone floor, eager to explore more.

“Good boy! At least I can count on you,” Orlisi told the excited dog, as she happily ruffled his fur on his head. “Lead on, Ranger!”

“Woof! Woof!” Ranger barked and took off back the way they came, his new elf friend laughing and running barefoot with him.

“Who’s familiar are you?” Ria grumbled and rolled to her feet, jogging after them.

“Guess it’s got to be done,” Ria heard Keira sigh out.

“Maybe there really will be treasure,” Iselyn’s voice followed with a chuckle.

“One could hope,” Aldri agreed with a laugh of his own.

Down the other direction from the entry hole Aldri had made, they passed another partial collapse that had been turned into a volent warren, pausing to poison and seal it just like the warren at the other end.

This time the tunnel continued on though, and it continued for a distance that felt as far as maybe the distance to the academy, though it was hard to tell without any landmarks.

When they reached the end, smooth stone blocked their way. The only clue of how to continue forward was a slab of cut-stone at about head-height… probably chest-height for an adult man. Mithril had been embedded into the stone in patterns that Ria could recognize as spell constructs.

“It’s a template spell,” Ria reported.

“Can you figure it out?” Aldri asked.

“Treasure! Treasure!” Orlisi was lilting, all grins.

“It might be trapped,” Keira cautioned.

Iselyn nodded and added, “There might be a guardian golem.”

“I’ll ready a portal spell,” Aldri agreed.

“I’m pretty sure it just opens the door,” Ria updated and glanced at the others for confirmation on whether she should proceed.

Keira cast a barrier of light across the passageway and motioned for Ria to proceed.

Ria placed her hand on the stone slate and pushed her energy into the template, until the entire spell construct filled.

Dust trickled down as the stone wall began to vibrate and then shake. Just as Keira called out to her to stop, a section of the wall began to rise and a cloud of what looked like dust billowed out from underneath filling the passageway until stopped by Keira’s barrier.

Ranger was with her and sneezed as he breathed in some of the dust, but he didn’t notice any strange effects, so Ria kept powering the magic and the door continued to rise until it stopped, revealing a darkness and silence beyond.