={====>Blake Lambet

Finally, I found another person, I was starting to think I would die in this cave… or at least that’s what I would be thinking if I weren’t tied up! And lets not forget that this weirdo doesn’t even speak English! After we unexpectedly fell on top of the guy, well he wasn’t happy… can’t say I blame him really, although I don’t think it was necessary to threaten me with his pointy sword. Ah well, I need help if I’m to get out of here, so I’ll just play along for now.

Ben is currently staked to the wall, the guy pulled rope and a metal stake out of nowhere… well it was under his cloak… Who carries rope around with them in this day and age? What a creeper… anyway, we are both in a bit of a bind, pun intended. The man seems to be interested in those glowing crystals, he’s looking through them, but I think he’s searching for something specific, since he seems to only be faintly interested in them. I wonder what he could be looking for that is more interesting than freaky glowing crystals? Hmmm.

The man looks at me with interest clearly in his eyes; I can almost hear the many questions he must want to ask me... This language barrier thing is a major annoyance. There are a variety of questions I want to ask him too, ever since I woke up there have been things happening that I just can’t possibly understand, I think this crazy old guy might have some answers I need. Like what is this place… at first I kept telling myself that this was some kind of underground tunnel system, but the things I’ve seen…

He bends down and takes one of the smaller violet shards, it glows weakly even in the light produced from his weird ring. He didn’t say anything after our… introduction… I guess he understood that it was useless and simply gestured and grunted for me to do things. He sits down in a cross-legged position and starts muttering in the strange language. Oh! The shard is glowing slightly brighter; does he know how it works?

After some time he places the shard to his forehead and the thing slowly goes from a light violet, to a deep purple. It must have taken about ten minutes before he stopped and looked at me curiously. The man was obviously older than he looked; I’ve been around the elderly enough to know that ‘get off my lawn’ kind of grumpy personality when I see it. Somehow though, he seems tired, or maybe worried?

He gets up and comes over to me, a look of apology on his haggard face. “Ais novar larcenda, beolur’gaz.” He says in a voice that scares me, not because he’s angry… but because he’s apologetic, almost sympathetic. He raises his hand and places the shard on my forehead… I flinch a bit, not knowing what he is about to do. Then the pain came, it was so sudden and unbearable that I didn’t scream at first, just spasmed violently. Of course I began screaming shortly after, but I was in too much pain to notice.

It was a nightmare, my head seemed to fill with light and pain, pictures and words I couldn’t understand were swirling around in my head. I honestly thought I was going to die, it was like lightning was repeatedly striking my brain and I began bleeding from my ears and nose… I don’t know when I started crying. The words that were assaulting me went by so fast; it was like a banshee screeching in my brain… And then it was over. As quickly as the pain started it stopped, and I fell over and feinted.

I was back in that dark place… the only light coming from the light blue flames that made up my body. Something was different though… I couldn’t put my finger on it. I felt stronger, more alive… maybe I was dead and this was where souls went when they passed on? It was peaceful… that’s it… before I was in pain, this time I wasn’t, that must be the difference. I look at my hands and admire the beauty of the wavering blue fire; it was calming, yet exhilarating to watch. Focusing of the flames and only the flames… I don't know how long I was mesmerized by it, but eventually my vision began to blur, then brighten.

I opened my eyes slowly, testing my body to see if there was any pain, there was a faint throbbing in my head. And I think I might have hit my arm off something while I had my pain-induced seizure. But other than a few bruises I was fine, I sat up slowly, the man was eating what looked like bread. My head was swimming, and I had to steady myself else I’d surely fall back down. “Aah, what the hell did you do to me?”

The man looked at me with that same expression, apologetic yet stern, and said, “I apologize, but it was the fastest way for you to understand me. Though I admit it could have caused rather serious injury had I not been careful, does everything seem to be in working order?” I was about to respond but then I stopped cold… wait a second… what? He wasn’t speaking English… but I understood him perfectly… on top of that, I even spoke to him in a different language, I didn’t notice until just now! What the hell! When did I become bilingual!

My face went pale and my mouth was agape, I was at a loss for words… even though I knew a few new ones. Sensing my obvious confusion the man simply smiled slightly, though it didn’t reach his eyes, “I don’t blame you for being surprised, it’s rare to find someone who can use that particular skill. And it was my first time doing it to be honest. ”A bit of pride reached the mans voice but I was still too bewildered to notice, “w… what was that? What did you do?” I ask again, this time more seriously.

The man made a complicated expression as though thinking of a way to explain things. “I used Illusion magic, with the help of one of those magic stones, to copy my understanding of my native language, and impart it unto you. The process was tiring, and would have been even more so had I not used a stone. It was also painful, as you no doubt already know. Forcing information into a persons mind can be… difficult.” He took another bite of bread and tossed one to me, I was a bit too shocked to notice so it hit me in the face, breaking me out of my confused stupor. He then threw one to ben, who caught it in the air and gulped it down without chewing. beside him was the shard, no longer glowing.

Deep down… I knew something was wrong with this place… the weird animals, that humanoid crocs… but this, this was magic. I couldn’t lie to myself anymore… the truth was right in front of me, but I still didn’t understand. There were a thousand questions I wanted to ask, but how do I ask them? The man seemed to have his own questions though, and asked first. “Now then… we can continue, I asked you before but you couldn’t understand me. Who are you, and what are you doing in this place?”

I wanted to know why I was here too, but I could at least tell him what I do know. I’m far too confused to ask any questions right now, so I’ll gather information from what he thinks of my story so far. I tell him about when I woke up in the dark cave with the crystal, and how Ben seemed to jump out of thin air, I now assume that was some sort of magic. How the crystal broke up into many pieces and my encounters with the natives. The man seemed to take it all rather well, his confused grouchy face had returned and when I mentioned the crocs his eyes darted to my shoulder where I had been bitten.

“This wound was sealed with unrefined magic,” he mumbled to himself, almost inaudible. “I don’t know anything about magic, in fact I always thought it wasn’t real.” I say flatly, which makes him raise an eyebrow questioningly, “do you not use magic where you came from?” he asked with mild interest. “No, there are those that say they can but… wait... where I came from?” the man nodded as though he had found the answer some time ago. “Yes, from your story, it would seem you came from another realm.”

Another realm? Wait, wait, wait! Is he saying I’m not in Kansas anymore!? Metaphorically speaking of course, I came from Canada… “What exactly do you mean by, from another realm?” I ask, panic obvious in my voice. The man simply nodded seriously and said “yes, it is not uncommon, there are Realms that are rather close to this one, and visitors come from time to time. Though from what you have told me, your case is a bit odd.” A bit of sympathy crossed his old face.

“What do you mean by odd?” this whole conversation is odd! He starts to tell me about a place called the Nexus, that connects billions of Realms together, but normally one cannot travel to a Realm with very different laws from the one they are used to. Which is why I am odd, my world, a world without or with very little magic, should not be able to connect to this one. “Or at least that is what I was taught, I am no expert on the matter though,” he finished.

“Well can I go back?!” I didn’t mean to sound rude but I’m rather shocked and frustrated right now, I finally got some answers… but they just led to more questions. He seemed to understand though, and thought about it for a while before nodding to himself slightly. “I have business here, but once I am done, I can lead you to someone I know who might be of some assistance.” So that’s it then… no helping it? Well I guess it wouldn’t be a problem he could fix for me, he seems strong, but not all-powerful.

“By the way, what should I call you?” he asked, I cant believe we’ve been talking for this long and I forgot the first question he asked! “My name is Blake, and the pooch is Benjie, he also responds to Ben though.” He nodded and replied, “my name is Vorn Harzan, former First Warden of the eastern forests and trained at the citadel of Urune, granted you don’t die down here, we should be traveling together for a while.” Cheery, this guy must be a blast at parties.

I agreed to go along with him, he untied me, saying he trusted me to a degree but if I turned on him he would kill me without a moment of hesitation. A scary thought but I have no reason to betray him… he pulled a dagger out of his boot like some hardcore hunter and gave it to me. “Stay close to me, and don’t fight unless you have to… there are worse things here than what you have seen so far.” Vorn stated firmly, flipping the dagger and presenting me the hilt. The dagger is like a small scimitar; it has a curved one-sided blade that is about a hand and a half long. The hilt has a small rounded guard and is made entirely out of wood. Kind of reminds me of a fillet knife.

Vorn placed the magic stones in his pack, which was conveniently hidden under is cloak. The magic stones, as he named then, were extremely rare and might hold answers for the person Vorn spoke of. He then went to work on the shell, reducing the bottom half until it was easy to hold like a shield. “Here, use what we have, this will give you some added protection. Grungri shells are known for their durability.” He said handing me the shell, so that’s what that thing was called huh? Well I won’t argue with him, I have endured enough pain thus far and a makeshift shield is better than no shield.

It wasn’t long before I realized just how lucky I was, this Vorn fellow seems to be an excellent tracker and fighter… I’m honestly safer with him leading the way than just aimlessly walking around. We were walking for quite some time, until we came upon a section of the tunnels that seemed different than the rest.

I shivered involuntarily, it had been rather quiet before with no enemies in our path. Vorn seemed to grumble at this, saying something was amiss. But I was glad we didn’t have any trouble. This place though… the stone was dark, like obsidian, and our footsteps seemed to violate the unearthly quiet atmosphere. I noticed it was getting colder, just how far down have we gone? "Hey Vorn, are you sure you know where you're going? this place doesn't feel right." I know he is an expert, but this place gave me goosebumps. "Yes, I found a marking on the wall back there, it was obviously Dola," I nod though I wonder what kind of crazy would come down here, even for riches.

It wasn’t long until we came upon an opening in the tunnel… and what I saw… was beyond my comprehension. A great, dark cavern expanded below us, stalagmites and stalactites adorned the ceiling and ground… there was a large stream that seemed to go on forever below us, it glowed with a soft light. Ben licked his mouth, wanting a good drink surely. “Glairai Shrooms, they’re spores glow in the dark, the current must have picked them up from deeper in.” I nod, not understanding what he’s talking about but it sounds awesome.

Vorn nudges me with his elbow “quit gawking, this place may seem wonderful, but it’s The Deep, the underworld, where monsters reign supreme.” The Deep was the name for the deepest parts of the world, where thousands of tunnels and cavers connected together to form a whole new world beneath the surface. Luckily this was not where we were headed, but the side passage next to it leading deeper into the cave system I now knew was called Hrengir’s Grotto.

As we kept moving down this swerving tunnel we began to see odd drawings on the walls. Vorn said they were ancient drawings from the old races that once lived down here. They were rather intricate, some depicting ferocious monsters and others wove complicated patterns, when I asked what they meant he simply said they were directions... and warnings. after a few eerily quiet moments passed Vorn seemed rather upset, “I don’t understand! There should be far more opposition than what we have faced, where are all the-“ Vorn stopped and went silent… he motioned for me to do the same, he seemed to be listening, so I did too.

It wasn’t long before I heard a ticking sound, it was familiar, and kind of like the sound I heard before I fell on top of Vorn. There was also a feint humming sound, like singing. Vorn smiled and picked up his pace, feeling the walls and using his skills to find the source of the sound. We passed a few corpses while we made our way, Vorn warned me that they might not all be dead, so we were careful, and he gave them a good stab as he passed, he was way too in to it, weird old guy.

After about an hour we finally arrived to what looked like a graveyard, well under it actually since we technically are underground… there were skeletons and small monsters all around, and at the center a small shady figure swinging a pickaxe, like the bodies didn’t exist. Ben went off smelling everything in the room; I think peeing on corpses is a form of desecration isn’t it? You ignorant pup!

Vorn had of course told me about the Dwellvar girl he was here to find, apparently she had been missing for several weeks and her father was starting to worry. From his description I figured they were like Dwarves from fantasy, they were even stereotypically called Dwarves, though they didn’t seem to be offended by the name. I figured they would be rough, stout, hairy and stubborn… from what I know of fantasy Dwarves even the women have beards. As I approached closer I found that I was wrong.

The woman, for she was indeed a woman… with a full bust and well pronounced curves that were hard to hide even under her thick clothing, was rather beautiful. Excluding the dirt and grime all over her she had a fair face and a strong yet feminine build. She looked like any other woman would I guess, except she only was around three and a half feet tall. She seemed to dig away without a care in the world, of course she had noticed us, but wanted to get the rare metal she was working on before confronting us.

“Your father is rather worried Dola… I was too, I do hope it was worth the risk of giving us old men heart attacks.” Said Vorn a warm smile on his face, I guess he really was worried about her, he was like ice before, but after seeing her he warmed right up. And wait a freaking second! What’s with all the corpses? We didn’t see a single enemy for hours, did she clean house? Why was he so worried about someone who can do something like this!?

Dola finally gathered the ore she was trying to get and turned with a smile directed toward Vorn on her face. “Uncle Vorn! Why’re ye here? Has it bin a week already?” she asked innocently to which Vorn grunted un-amused “Silly girl, you’ve been gone for three whole weeks! Almost worried your father to death!” she pouted slightly and mumbled, “I didn’t think it’d bin that long” just loud enough for us to hear her. She was rather cute, if you got past the dirt of course; I wasn’t too different right now though so I couldn’t judge.

“What happened here? Why are all these corpses gathered around you?” Vorn asked, though he didn’t seem to ask the question going through my mind, ‘how did you kill all these monsters!’ but I let it pass, this was their reunion. “Oh these?” she pointed with her pick at one of the piles of bones that littered the floor Ben poked his head up from behind it. “I suppose I should show ye, there seems t’be trouble brewin down’ere.” Vorn made a complicated face and asked, “what sort of trouble?” Dola gave a mischievous smile and replied, “Why the Undead sort o’course!”

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