Authors Corner

There might be a 3-4 day break after either this chapter or the next. Not sure yet.

So if you don't see any chapters for a few days, don't panic.

Chapter 25 – Oh! What a tangled web they weave

Wil

“Woah! Wil? What are you doing?” Nem yells as I take a swing at him.

Nem dodges out of the way of my fist.

I missed...

“Wil? Are you finally trying to kill me? The others are right nearby.” Nem looks around nervously, as if willing other people to show up.

I missed on purpose. I only wanted to vent a little frustration. This might be unexpectedly quite fun, however.

Nem sees me smirking and becomes even more worried.

“Is the mana in here corrupting you?” he asks warily.

I see, I see. An interesting subject.

“What do you mean?” I reply as a I slowly lower my fist.

Nem sees me reign in my onslaught and takes his time to compose himself. He then acts to dust himself off from his dodge, even though this place has no dust.

I stifle a laugh. Being dignified looks like such a hassle.

I wonder how this... dignified personage … in front of me thought that I was suffering from mana corruption? Does he know something I don't about the Ethul? Maybe my body?

“This place is old and rarely used, but entry is technically forbidden by the Mages because of the strange mana here, as far as I have heard.” Nem replies.

“I thought Owen had explained some of the history of this place to you.” he continues on.

I shake my head dumbly. Maybe I should punch Owen instead?

“Really? That's odd. Even the Trailblazers of the past were wary of this place, because of what hides in solitude here. When forced into traveling this path, they'd race through like their lives depended on it.”

Rest in peace Owen, you sounded like such a nice fellow.

“What hides in the solitude?” I ask.

“Well, according to some, it's yourself.”

“Myself?” I ask as I look at all my body parts to make sure none have escaped me.

Nem sees me taking stock of myself and lets slip a sardonic laugh.

“How do I have such an incompetent warden? No, Wil. Not your body, but you, unstuck in time. There is strange magic related to time and space here. You should know that, you're a Mage.”

“I'm not a Mage.” I growl.

My growl might have contained too much of my glistening teeth because Nem backs away suddenly. The atmosphere here keeps sneaking up on my composure.

“Okay, okay, Wil. I get it. This place is obvious forbidden for a reason. We definitely won't come back this way once we're finished this job. We're almost through now, so it won't be long. You only have a few more laps. Will you be able to … keep it together, until then?”

My growl has already receded, so I just quietly nod my head, not trusting my words too much right now. This place is interesting, more so then I had previously thought. I think I have been hearing bits of my past life. I want to stay to listen but I'm worried about the effect it will have on me. I might regain my memories at the cost of my sanity.

Is staying, trying to weave together the threads of my past worth unraveling my future?

Nem speaks, as if to answer this heavy question, but the words of his take me somewhere else entirely.

“By the way, have you seen Owen? I don't really care anymore after all this trouble he's caused, but my other self can't see him right now amongst the others. Someone saw him take off down the path, saying he needed to talk to you, but here you are, and he's nowhere to be seen.”

I think I'll punch Owen too.

---

Wil

The final lap.

We're nearing the end now. We're close enough to the exit that I can stop running. I am traveling with the others until we reach the exit.

We haven't seen Owen. It's somewhat strange that he, of all people, disappeared. He's a phenomenal Scout, so it doesn't make sense that he got lost. He's the one that told me how to safely get through these tunnels in the first place.

“Where do you think he went?” I ask a Nem. The two of us kept it between us that he went missing, because we didn't want to cause a panic.

“I'm not sure. I don't actually know why he insisted on coming down here so strongly in the first place. Even if a small army were to attack us on the normal path around the mountains, we'd probably escape with only a death or two.” Nem states.

Wow. It's clear how much he actually values his minions.

“Why'd you agree on coming down this way then?” I ask, confused.

“Well, I wanted to see it myself, for starters. I agreed with Owen that with you here, we had a good chance of making it through. At least I thought so until I saw you standing there talking to yourself.” he says while glaring at me, “if you had lost it on us, we all would have died, you know?”

“It was your decision in the first place, I knew nothing about that place.” I defend myself.

Nem frowns.

“I don't really believe you, but you're right that it was my decision. I'm not sure what came over me, I think I relied to heavily on the opinion of a newcomer.”

“Whose opinion?”

“Owen's.”

Wait wait wait. Now it's my turn to frown.

“Hasn't Owen been a regular in the expedition for a couple years?” I ask.

“No, he only joined around... I think it was a month before you.” Nem's frown is even deeper.

“Wait, isn't that strange? Why is he treated as a senior member?” I ask

“He joined with high recommendations, and proved himself to be the most capable Scout, by far.” Nem says, obviously thinking about it too.

“Who recommended him?”

At my question, Nem's face lights up.

“Now that I think about it, it was a retired Scout and a Trailblazer. They both were probably the last people to travel through here.”

…

“Do you think that's a coincidence?” I ask

“I would have said yes, before I actually walked through here myself. Having well known retired members endorse you is not uncommon, even if you share a specific place in common. For all I know, he could have lived around here his whole life and met them when they were out this way on an expedition. It just so happens he knew about traveling through here, and then somehow got lost. This sort of story is heard often.”

“What is it then?”

“This place is different. I can't see any friendship made over a place like this to be ordinary. This place has enough power that I can feel it, as poor as my mana affinity is. I'm not well versed enough to know what that power is, but I think it's pretty evident that it is some form of ancient magic.” he says while giving me a pointed look.

“Like I have said to you many ti-” I say before I get cut off.

“Sure, Wil, sure. Thinking about it though, I don't think Owen was a Mage himself. He could have always been a magic user, but that means there could be some artifact here that a magic user would find useful, I don't see how any artifact that a magic user would use could be worth getting lost in time though. They aren't worth all that much.”

“Is there some secret here that we don't know about?”

“I'm sure there are many secrets here that I don't know about. I can't say the same about you.” Nem laughs quietly.

As I'm about to refute him, a call from in front grabs Nem's attention.

“It looks like I am needed, as much as I'd love to, I can't keep playing games with you all day, Wil.” Nem says with a touch of sarcasm.

Nem takes off with that, leaving me to solve the riddle myself.

---

I've been straggling in thought as we reach the end of the tunnels. I'm at the back of the group now, and one of the Nems has dropped back again to keep an eye on me.

Everyone else has started up the craggy path to see sunlight once more.

I'm the last to go.

“Ah, Wil. Come on, let's go. He's gone or he's not, but either way, we won't find him.” Nem says to me.

I agree that it's time to go. I'd like to get back to being entirely lucid.

As I lift my foot to take the final step off the dull gray rock, I hear one final whisper. Without even a thought to the danger I turn around. It's only for a moment, but I catch a glimpse of something.

It was almost insubstantial, but I caught a glimpse of a dusty looking gray creature with many thin spindly legs and many more tiny black eyes.

Although it was inhuman, it had a pleasant look about it, as if it was smiling with it's sharp edged maw. It gave off the feel like it would be the kind of creature you could have a beer and a chat with, like an old friend.

How strange...

As my last step took me away from this odd place, I was even more lost in thought. One thing kept coming into my mind for me to mull over, again and again.

For some reason, the spider-like being reminded me Owen.

---