Episode 12: Sealed and Unsealed
Written by: Auraboo & Tehri
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They had all heard the tales, yet the utter silence of Altùin still took them aback. It had been a large, bustling city for centuries – one of the first cities founded by the first elves to have settled the western coast when their ancestors had once upon a time sailed from Cellewan. The gates stood wide open, the guard towers empty. Grass pushed from cracks between bricks on the pavement, where rain and moss had in places turned them slippery.
What was left of Altùin was as still as a painting. Even under a gray November sky it left an impression; tall spires, old-fashioned towers, two- and three-storey noble houses in that elaborate and intricately decorated style that had heralded the golden age of elven architecture some centuries previously. A dream, a fairytale of the ephemeral world, even though the polish on the doors had dulled ever so slightly, or the ivy climbing the walls gone wild. Here and there ordinary objects lay abandoned right by the doorways, curtains blowing out of open windows; on someone’s balcony old laundry waved in the breeze, moldy, sun-bleached and forgotten.
Kajo had not expected the wave of sorrow that washed over them as they walked the seemingly endless empty streets. It was the end of an era, no matter how one looked at it. For a moment it even overwhelmed the unease gnawing at their gut, which had only deepened the further into the city they went.
That the red-haired elf – Luzem, the god thought his name was – had taken the lead had come as something of a surprise. He was meek, jumping at shadows and sudden noises as though expecting an ambush, which was at odds with how he carried himself. He was not without combat experience, Kajo could tell; a former soldier, perhaps, or a man-at-arms. Once past the city gates and the guest houses, however, something had shifted, as though he knew the city.
Ahead, his sister turned to him. ”You’ve been here before?”
Luzem shook his head, saying, ”not in person. But old Highlander cities were all designed around the same model – class. The higher your status, the deeper in the city you lived. You noticed how all the taverns and guest houses were right by the gates, right? Visitors, commoners and merchants reside on the outskirts of town, in that order, and the innermost quarters are inhabited by the nobility.”
”Like peeling an onion,” Kae said, which drew a small smile from Luzem.
”Except it’s the most rotten onion you’ve ever had.”
”Don’t you think the wealthiest quarters have already been completely ransacked by thieves?”
”Undoubtedly,” Luzem said, eyes creasing with familiar worry once more. ”But we need a place to start. If whatever caused this calamity came from within the city itself, I find it hard to believe the commoners were to blame.”
They were exhausted when they returned to camp with a mere hour until sundown. They sketched a rough map based on their findings, prepared dinner, and retired early, expecting another long day of exploring.
Scouring the nobles’ quarters took several days. The streets were wide as boulevards; every block seemed to have its own parks and public gardens, now a mere shadow of their former selves. Just like the capital city of Llavarron to the south-west, the quarter was home to most of the city’s finest institutes and libraries, for only the very privileged could have their children under the tutelage of the city’s brightest minds. Many of these buildings were still locked, unlike the private villas and manors of the highborn.
”Sealed against intrusion,” Kae explained when the others were surprised to see a library with intact stained-glass windows completely untouched, though the neighbouring buildings bore every sign of breaking and entering. ”You’d have to know magic pretty well to get past something this complex.”
”Can you unravel it?” Tariya asked. She did not have to reach out with her magic to feel it; it was layers and layers of threaded magic shutting the building off, like a blank spot on a map.
”That, my friend, is more or less my area of expertise.” He regarded the door quietly and laid a hand on it. Something hummed in response. ”Give me a moment.”
The seal gave in easily enough under his handiwork, but the library yielded nothing worthy of notice. It was just as empty of any traces of people as the rest of the city; the same sense of hollowness had settled within its walls, the same unease made Kae’s skin crawl when they circulated among the shelves. The only sign of its last visitors were the unfinished notes left on the receptionist’s desk next to an uncorked inkwell, the ink at the bottom dry and cracked.
They paused to inspect similarly locked buildings whenever they came across them, but as nightfall came they retreated to camp empty-handed once more.
It was not until late in the afternoon the next day that something interrupted the monotony of their search. An ordinary nobleman’s study, in disarray from the countless hands that had stripped it of its valuables much like all the rest, except Kajo came to a sudden halt as soon as they entered the room, as though they had walked straight into a wall.
It was faint, yes, but impossible to ignore. They held up a hand, back ramrod straight, and cut sharply through the others’ chatter, saying, ”be quiet.”
Kae recognised the tone at once, his interest piqued at once. ”Something amiss?”
”Don’t try to tell me you don’t feel it.”
Their gaze turned distant for a fraction of a second, and Kae understood. On instinct he sent out his thoughts, momentarily mingling with theirs, and felt a curious sensation, as though his stomach had dropped from a sudden plummet.
”Ah.” He huffed a laugh. ”Clever bugger, whoever the owner was.”
”What is it?” Tamrus asked, looking between the two of them.
Kae pointed down. ”There’s a wide space right below us. And judging by the traces of magic, the owner was keen on keeping it hidden.”
”A hidden basement?” Lily scoffed. ”Not exactly original as secrets go.”
”Has anyone ever applauded nobles on originality?” Kae rolled back his sleeves. ”The wards have to connect somewhere. Tariya, Lily, you two can sense magic. Let’s spread out and search.”
They had to clear out furniture to search the walls inch by inch, feeling for any and all spots where the overlapping wards thinned just a fraction. It was slow going, even with Kajo joining the search. Finally, Kae paused in front of a faded tapestry and ripped it down unceremoniously. The grooves in the wall panelling were invisible to the naked eye, but Tariya, who had been close by, inhaled audibly as she joined the warlock.
”You can see it?” he asked, noting how her pupils had dilated.
”Almost.” She was blinking rapidly, as though looking at it was hurting her eyes. ”It’s not really meant to be seen, I don’t think. I feel like it doesn’t want to be looked at.”
Kae nodded. ”Seals aren’t that different from curses. Insidious, hidden in plain sight, designed to encourage anyone happening upon them to ignore their existence. Nasty business.” He placed his palm against the wall; Tariya could have sworn the air itself recoiled at it. ”Let’s see what you’re hiding.”
”Careful, lad,” Tamrus said, his face grim behind the beard. ”It could be trapped.”
”I know. You folks might want to step back.”
The motions came to him so reflexively that he didn’t need to think. The burn of the magic and the tether, so distant normally that he rarely noticed it, was ever-present; he often thought of it as embers, something smouldering quietly, always just moments away from being rekindled. It went up in flames as he reached for it, its warmth engulfing him. Carefully, methodically, he found the cracks in the seal, and channelled his magic straight at them. It took and it took and it took as if dying from thirst; the outlines of something door-shaped glowed with an angry red halo, before it spat the magic back at him.
The others had seen him at work often enough to be able to tell that something was amiss, even before Kae stepped back with a hiss. The seal did not settle back to its previous dormancy even though the flow of magic had ceased, for the outlines stayed. Something about the light felt wrong, and Tamrus looked away, feeling his eyes watering.
”What’s wrong?” Lily asked.
”Well, that’s a new one,” Kae muttered, waving his hand rapidly as though burned. He was frowning. ”Boss? Your professional opinion, if I may.”
He did not flinch when Kajo appeared next to him, their footsteps so silent even in that vast space that it was nigh on impossible to hear them moving. Silently, the god observed the wall without lifting a finger. Their expression never shifted, nor did Kae’s, but Lily guessed a conversation was happening all the same that the others were not privy to.
Kae tilted his head ever so slightly, making a noncommittal noise at the back of his throat, to which Kajo shook their head. He quirked an eyebrow; their reply was a throaty little noise that could have meant anything.
Finally, Kae shrugged and said, ”fine, have it your way. It doesn’t make any sense, mind, but I’m not stopping you.”
”As if you could. Watch.”
They brought a hand against the wall, much like he had done. The reaction was instantaneous. The outlines grew blindingly bright then dimmed, vanished. The floor quaked as the wall parted, revealing a pitch-dark doorway leading who knew where.
The heaviness in the air had evaporated as soon as the seal yielded. Kajo did not budge. They stared into the darkness, scowling. Something about it felt like a warning, they thought; that it had melted with so little resistance, answering the touch of the divine so suddenly. It was not unusual – very few on the mortal plane knew how to ward against divine magic properly – yet it sent Kajo’s hair standing on end.
The seal had not just undone itself – it had done so almost eagerly.
”Hunger,” Kajo muttered. Revulsion shone from their face. ”It has sunk all the way into the stone.”
”Not exactly a surprise, is it, considering what we’re hunting,” Kae said. He rolled his shoulders. ”Well, no time like the present. Shall we?”
Kajo turned to look at the others. Their voice was stern when they said, ”exercise caution. Do not wander off on your own.”
They strode into what turned out to be a dark stairwell without another word, Kae right at their heels.
Torches lit up with a flicker of magic as they went, casting a yellowish light on the slippery stone steps. The air was heavy with moisture, as though the seal had kept all heat and humidity trapped downstairs alongside with whatever else it had been protecting. Somewhere up ahead muted light was filtering in, like daylight through treetops.
They were a silent pair, god and warlock, looking around, then locking eyes with each other only to look away moments later. Only minute changes in their expressions revealed that something was being passed between them once more.
”You think—” Kae began.
”Without a doubt,” Kajo concluded.
”That is so basic.”
”I am sure the caster would find your criticism riveting.”
”Hmm.” He blinked. ”Ah. There it is.”
”You thought I was mistaken?”
”No, no. It’s just so obvious.” He fell silent again, the echo of his boots ringing out in the silence. ”Almost disappointing, truth to be told.”
Lily rolled her eyes. ”Mind telling the rest of us what in the Hells you two are yapping about?”
”That wasn’t everything. There are multiple seals dead ahead – less robust than the one upstairs, but noteworthy all the same,” Kae said.
”Meaning what?” Lily frowned, thinking back on things she had seen in noble houses in the past. ”Traps of some sort?”
”The place is likely trapped to some degree, yes.” He wiped his face with a sleeve and added, ”the air is so sticky, it’s like walking into a sauna.”
The bottom floor turned out to be a cavernous, a low-ceilinged chamber with a vaulted ceiling. Above them were round windows at regular intervals through which the bleakest hints of daylight pushed in. Perhaps, once upon a time, it had been a study of sorts. There were shelves lining the walls, candelabras stained with hardened drips of candlewax, and several desks that had twisted with moisture. Without its keepers the chamber had quickly fallen prey to the elements, despite the seal keeping unwanted visitors outside.
Rain had flooded in through shattered windows and left the floor slippery with algae, and most documents on the desks had turned unreadable, though Altùin had not stood abandoned for longer than two years. Even now there were puddles all over the floor. Every now and then a drop landed in one of them, making the surface ripple.
Tamrus mopped cold sweat off his brow. Something about the blasted city had him on edge; he had felt it as soon as they had spied its silhouette in the plains all those evenings ago. Descending into its depths had not much improved the sense of foreboding.
Kae shed his overcoat on a nearby table, fanning himself. The western moors upon which Altùin stood were barren and cold so late in the year, but there was heat emanating from somewhere, making the place a different sort of uncomfortable. ”Man, it’s warm. What did they build this on, thermal baths?”
Tamrus frowned and shook his head.
”This isn’t coming from underground,” he replied quietly. ”This is different, whatever it is.”
Kae hummed and glanced around. Dwarves had exceptional senses for such things, and if Tamrus said that the heat did not come from activity underground, then one could only trust him. But where did the heat come from? Magic did not precisely radiate heat – at least not seals or curses that were waiting to be tampered with or triggered.
Luzem and Tariya were the last to join them. Slowly, they all looked around. The place felt as still as the rest of the city, a mausoleum where even cockroaches did not stir the dust. A single doorway lead deeper into the cellar; there was no door, no hinges, only the charred remains of burned torches on both sides of the doorway. Soot had blackened the ceiling in places.
Kajo eyed the doorway carefully, which did not escape Kae’s notice.
”I can feel it, too,” he said. He only received a nod in response. ”Well, you guys keep an eye on things. I’ll go take a peek.”
”I’m not sure it’s wise to go without a back-up,” Lily intervened, frowning. ”Even I can feel that something’s wrong here.”
”This is routine for me,” Kae said with a shrug. ”Be my guest if you want to join me, but I’ll warn you: batting your lashes at curses doesn’t usually do much.”
She elbowed him on the hips, for she was unable to reach much higher. ”Ha-ha, very funny. Get going already if you insist on going alone, you prick. Don’t come crying to me if it goes wrong.”
He made a show of stretching with all the laziness of a housecat, conjured a flame to dance over his palm, and vanished through the doorway. Darkness swallowed him, fire and all, as soon as he was over the threshold.
”You sure you’re okay with sending him there all by himself?” Luzem asked. He still had trouble addressing Kajo, and only managed to glance their way briefly before looking away.
Kajo waved it away. ”Oh, please. He has stolen from the Hells. This is nothing.”
Privately, Tamrus agreed with Luzem’s concerns, but decided not to voice his thoughts. The atmosphere at camp was tense enough already without him adding to the shared anxiety unnecessarily.
”We’d best take a look around while the lad’s doing… whatever he’s doing,” he said. ”It won’t be light for too long. Let’s hurry.”
It was slow going. Most tomes in the shelves were in old Highlander Elvish, which meant Luzem was their best available interpreter, and decades away from the west had taken their toll on his fluency.
Lily stole a calculating glance at Kajo. She suspected the god, too, could read the language, but they did nothing to make themself approachable. They wandered around the chamber lost in thought, drifting further and further away from the others, and Lily saw no reason to stop them.
A faint quake made the water in the puddles ripple restlessly. All but Kajo froze and turned to stare at the doorway.
”Just another seal come undone,” Kajo stated as though reading their thoughts. They had not looked up; there was an open book hovering in the air in front of them, pages flipping on their own.
With a shared look of unease Luzem and Tariya resumed their search, keeping close to one another.
It was only some twenty minutes later that the sound of Kae’s whistling announced his return. They heard his footfalls before anything materialised from the darkness, and Luzem breathed a sigh of relief.
”About time. I thought you’d gotten eaten, son,” Tamrus called out to him.
It was obvious from the dwarf’s voice that he was growing weary. None of them had rested particularly well in the past days, and returning to the camp frustrated and none the wiser night after night had not improved anyone’s morale.
Kae’s silhouette appeared before the rest of him did. Tamrus felt a small pang of disappointment upon seeing him return empty-handed, though he had hardly dared to hope for something as convenient as casually happening upon a grimoire that would explain his burdens, curse and all.
”No luck, then?” Luzem called out.
”Nothing worthy of notice, unless you’re looking into starting an armory.” Kae laughed. ”I suppose eleventh century elven codpieces could fetch a good price, if you know the right kind of rich freak.”
”I know someone who might,” Tamrus muttered just audibly enough for the others to hear, shooting a glance at Lily.
Kae’s shoe landed on the threshold, sending out the tiniest tremor in the air. It was so brief that Tariya would have thought she had imagined it, if it had not been for Luzem suddenly whispering, ”did you feel that?”
The same moment, Lily’s head snapped towards the doorway. Kajo turned, their mouth already opening. No words left them; it was already too late. As Kae doused the flame something flashed in the dark, a large, formless something that made the walls vibrate visibly as it stirred. No other warning came.
A sickening crunch cut off Kae’s laughter abruptly and he jolted forwards with a strangled noise. In one moment Tamrus saw Kae smirking to himself as he stepped into the light. In the next the smile had turned into a grimace.
The book Lily had been holding tumbled to the floor with a thud.
”What the fuck is that?” Lily shouted.
Something black, sharp and gleaming was jutting out of Kae’s chest. It had gone straight through; there was a rapidly spreading stain around it. He stared at the thing, eyes wide with surprise, a trickle of blood staining the corner of his mouth. The thing yanked itself free just as suddenly, drawing another gasp of pain from him. No one moved. He brought a hand to the wound, staggering where he stood before his knees gave in.
They all seemed to spring into action simultaneously. Lily reached for her weapons, metal ringing. Tamrus clapped a hand over his mouth, the reek of blood sending something in his stomach churning, fighting to break free. He tried to block it out, maintain control; how many hours had it been since they had eaten? He could not, he could not, he could not! He backed away and forced himself to close his eyes, even as guilt ate him from the inside, but there was no blocking out the noises, the panic, the tremours that still rocked the structure beneath his feet.
Tariya was already sprinting towards Kae, Luzem at her heels, when Kajo came out of nowhere and shoved the rest of them out of the way. Kae would have keeled face first on the floor had their arms not caught him on the last second.
His voice was thick as he managed, ”the seal… redo the seal, quick.”
”Don’t try to talk,” Kajo said sharply. They could feel something warm and wet splattering onto their clothes. They raised a hand to the doorway and the air quivered, then settled, just as the thing banged against it once, twice. All they could make out was black, gleaming metal, something sharp that could have been a spear or a stinger. Many tense seconds passed but the shield held, and whatever was holed up within the sanctum did not attack again.
Tariya knelt next to Kajo, her eyes round with fear. ”Don’t move him, he’s hurt—”
Kajo ignored her. They tilted back Kae’s head, staring straight into his unfocused eyes and spoke in urgent tones, ”focus. You can see me, you can hear me. Just focus.”
Without waiting for a response they laid Kae down on their lap face down and placed the tips of their fingers around the gaping wound on his back. Transfixed, Tariya stared as bone, flesh and skin started knitting together at once, black blood forcing itself out as tissue grew out of nowhere. Kajo’s mouth moved wordlessly, mere hisses of an alien language the only hint at the power they were wielding.
Kae trembled all over, fingers clawing at Kajo’s arms. He gasped as they flipped him over, the back of his head against their chest. His face contorted as Kajo shoved their hand inside the bleeding hole in his chest. When they pulled out there was a jagged shard that vaguely resembled a piece from a beetle’s carapace, only enormous, held in their gore-covered fingers. Something sickly and greenish was oozing from the piece.
Someone gagged. Kajo tossed the piece aside and planted their hand on the wound. Their eyes glowed with that strange, iridescent fire as the wound closed, and Kae went limp in their arms.
”Motherfucker,” he panted. ”At least warn me first.”
”Don’t talk,” Kajo repeated. They turned to look at Tariya, who was still staring at them as though petrified. ”You, druid. You have something for pain?”
”I… Yes. Yes, I do.” She started rummaging in her satchel at once, instincts finally kicking in. ”How did you do that? I didn’t even feel the magic coming off of you.”
”I remade his flesh when we made our pact, therefore it answers to me. I am able to shape it to my will.”
Kae grimaced. His voice was weak when he said, ”oh, gross. Do you have to phrase it like that?”
He fell silent when Kajo fixed him with a stern glare.
Luzem hovered uncertainly behind Lily as they came closer. Further back, Tamrus’s breathing had started easing back to normal, the echoes of terrible hunger only a shadow now that the scent of blood had grown fainter, though it refused to fade entirely.
There was a touch of skepticism to his voice, faint and almost hidden beneath the nausea, when he asked, ”you can heal him, but not do anything about the pain?”
”The body remembers it underwent trauma, even if the wound is no more,” Kajo replied. Their arms were just as covered in blood and gore as Kae’s front. ”I cannot remove the pain without modifying his memory, which is generally unadvisable.”
Tariya had conjured a mortar and a pestle from her bag. She quickly added long, dried leaves of some plant in the mortar from one of her many animal-skin pouches and pounded the leaves with the pestle until they softened. ”He needs to chew on these. It’ll dull the pain.”
Kae’s expression spoke of extreme reluctance, but he let Kajo drop the leaves in his mouth regardless.
”What was that thing?” Lily asked, breaking the silence. She was still eyeing the doorway warily, a dagger in hand.
”Your guess is as good as mine,” Kajo replied. They stared at Kae unblinkingly as he chewed. ”It had no aura. A construct, perhaps, or something that’s part of the structure itself. It is certainly not alive.”
”So it’s a defense mechanism. Why did it only react when he tried to leave the sanctum?”
”An excellent question, that.” Kajo’s eyes narrowed. ”What did you take?”
Kae reached into his pocket with a shaking hand. He tossed something at Lily’s feet, something that glinted feebly in the light. A ruby as large as a chicken’s egg, polished to a perfect luster. She stared at it, then at Kae, before picking it up.
”Stupid fucking idiot,” she muttered. ”I hope it was worth it.”
Kae gave her the thumbs up without bothering to open his eyes.
”Spit them out when you start feeling your mouth going numb,” Tariya instructed him. ”Don’t swallow them.”
The leaves had turned into green mush by the time he was finished. His head lolled back as Kajo lifted him up effortlessly, as though he weighted nothing. From the slow rising and falling of his chest the others could tell he had passed out. Kajo did not utter a word as they brushed past the others and up the stairs, the other four trailing after them.
The warmth of the fire was the first thing Kae became aware of. It was already pitch dark, he could tell even through his eyelids. How many hours he had lost, he did not know. He felt at once weightless and heavy, as though his bones had been replaced with lead, and made no effort to pry his eyes open.
The hand slowly raking through his hair was familiar enough, though, that he would have recognised it even in his sleep.
”Will there be permanent damage?” someone asked. It took him a bleary second to recognise Tariya’s voice. She sounded hushed, subdued, utterly unlike herself.
Short nails tickled the base of his horns, brushed back hair from his forehead. ”He is healed to my best ability. Exhausted, no doubt, after the blood loss, but he will recover.”
”That’s amazing.” Silence. ”You can heal him, no matter how bad the injury?”
”As long as his heart still beats. That is my limit. No god can cross that boundary – well, no ascended god, I should say.” Kajo shifted, arranging Kae’s head more comfortably on their lap. ”You ask many questions, druid.”
”Her name is Tariya,” Luzem intervened. He blanched as Kajo met his eye, but stared resolutely back for once. ”We have names. I’d rather you use them.”
”Tariya,” Kajo repeated. ”That is no Woodland name.”
”Our mother was… is a Highlander.”
For the first time Kajo regarded the two of them with some genuine curiousity. ”So not all old fellowships are as dead as some want to pretend.” Their attention drifted back to Kae as he stirred and groaned. ”Awake, are we? How are you feeling?”
”Throat’s drier than a priest’s pint on a sermon day,” he managed. The words felt like glass in his mouth and he dissolved into a fit of coughs.
Tariya handed over her hipflask wordlessly. He drank, heaving a sigh once he was done, Kajo supporting his head the whole time. Carefully, Kajo lowered him down on a pallet that had been laid out in front of them, a thick cloak folded under his neck for support.
Tariya stretched, her outlines growing blurry. In the matter of seconds there was a silvery-white cat where she had sat before. She padded over quietly and settled on Kae’s belly, purring loudly. He yawned, scratched her behind the ears once then moved no more, weary from the extertion.
On the other side of the firepit Lily tossed in more firewood, fanning the flames. Tamrus and Luzem had lapsed into quiet conversation, but she scarcely heard a word of it. Once or twice Kajo looked up, meeting her unflinching gaze with one of their own before turning back to Kae. That his every little movement and noise drew Kajo’s attention back to him did not escape her notice.
Words meant little, even coming from gods. Whatever vitriol they spouted, actions spoke louder, and for all her personal disinterest in the matters of the heart, Lily saw more than most. Desire was simple; perhaps even understandable, despite the odd circumstances. But it was not desire she saw, she realised. No, this was far worse, far messier.
The fingers in Kae’s hair, rubbing soothing circles against his scalp; Kajo, watching him like a wolf hovering over its cubs all evening. It was all so revoltingly tender that she would have rolled her eyes had she not wanted to scream.
She would not get involved in this.
She would not get involved in this!
She found the godsdamned ruby in her pocket once more. Fuck it all, the world seemed hellbent on involving her in everything she wanted no part in. She did not need to ask to know that Savrosil would have found it all bloody hilarious.
She looked away as Kajo tucked the quilt more firmly around Kae’s sleeping form. Only the flickering shadows cast by the fire painted the silhouette of large wings wrapped protectively around the pair of them, the illusion gone as soon as Lily tried to focus her gaze.
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