Chapter 7

The sun shined on the icy peaks of the great mountains of Alost'af that ruptured the blanket of wintery clouds covering both the Empire to the south and Frey to the north. Renowned for their tremendous age, dangerous cliffs and wildlife, and breathtaking forests of awakened ones, these mountains have been claimed as national treasures by the Empire. The mighty Balastor bird, the symbol of the Empire, nests at the highest point of Alost'af's peaks. With a wing span fifty feet and highly intelligent, they are one of the most feared creatures in all of E'a. Lucilky for the surrounding towns and settlements they only come down once per month to feast on the coveted Ulomy fish of the great lake of Donst'af. Aparat from the great diversity in fauna and flora and incredible views, these great mountains have served as borders for eons with only three points of access, making them the ideal location for an impenetrable stronghold. It would mean imminent defeat for the marching party, the Empire suffered great losses in the first and last ever attempt of invasion.

The only remaining crossable access point was Hark'un pass, the other two, Deadwind Cliffs and Ri'vel's Torment were now simple perilous traps for unbeknownst travelers. No successful passings through the two dead points have been recorded in recent history. Not since the Unhinged King Bravi had ordered his most powerful wielders to sacrifice their lives to destroy them to fend off the Empire. It is said that two hundred Wielders had died that day.

The Hark'un pass was now a frequently traveled trading route to and from the Empire and Frey. Between the strongholds on either side the toll for crossing the pass amounted to quite a hefty sum that no commoner or low standing paupers or vagrants could afford. Only the upper casts could afford passing, as such, guards were placed every six feet on either side of the pass for all six miles, concentrated within the checking points on either stronghold, while, of course, each traveler would employ their own armed protection. Despite this, muggings and murders were rather frequent on the pass. Bandits and groups of thieves had the habit of attacking the wealthy travelers of the Hark'un pass almost weekly, if not even more frequently, however, the number of armed guards and mercenaries often deterred such happenings on the actual pass itself.

Among the constant line of merchants with their caravans of goods and mrons, and some wealthy elites heading from some frivolous winter shopping within the Frey territory, for exotic looking slaves to plod around no doubt, four of Emperor's personal guard disguised as low standing merchants treaded the icy stone road between the rows of soldiers. They paid both tolls with little suspicion and successfully entered Frey territory.

The wildlife encountered was similar to that on Empire territory but more adapted to the cold harsh winters of Frey. Most had white furs that blended seamlessly with the snow and icy landscape while others hid in the evergreen Mossle pines or underground burrows or caves. They would rarely see a grazing Lantip, with it's elegant fast legs and cristaline horns or a Siret on the prowl. Luckily for them, the supplies they brought with the guise of merchants removed them from the need to hunt. The small group traveled four days into the country avoiding any major road until they reached their destination, three miles east from the frozen river of Arabel between the Yuna forest and Romy hill settlement lay the ruins of Gun'dah'lari. They set camp within the forest's cover and observed for the past three days.

"Captain, three on either side. Two capes and four swords, again in the same formation" Then said touching the main bonding stone on her glove. She crouched behind a Mossle pine near the treeline overlooking the ruins of Gun'dah'lari. For the untrained eye the ruins did not stand out from the occasional small boulders that strayed too far away from the rocky Romy hill, even more so with the recent heavy snow the past three days had experienced. But normal, uninteresting places that did not hide ancient artifacts left over from the Creators were not guarded day and night by trained soldiers and wielders. Their futile disguises as locals didn't fool Then. She was one of the most masterful infiltrators the Empire had to offer. Her light touch Wielding techniques made her Fios almost undetectable to even the best empaths in the Emperor's court, earning her a spot as one of Emperor Ryel's personal guards.

"Three outposts looking in, 1 mile east, 400 feet north west, 600 feet north from the site." Volyk said using the same channel as Then. The gloves they received to use as means of long distance communication was a personal invention of Emperor Ryel and he made sure that all of his guards stayed connected. It uses modified bonding stones, attuned to each wielder in his guard so that they can reach each other through vast distances. His finest craftsmen came together making them into seamlessly normal looking gloves.

"Wow, these really do work!" Ad'hm said, his excitement clearly palpable through the bonding stones.

"Yes, we know, captain." Hat'ri replied through the stones even though she was next to Ad'hm in their camp. Her heavy stride made deep imprints in the snow as she marched back and forth impatiently.

"Don't get snarky with me, Hat'ri. Too early in the morning for that. You'll see some action soon." Ad'hm said with a light tone. She just looked back at him and gave a curtly nod and resumed her pacing.

"Listen up, everyone." Ad'hm commanded and he could feel everyone's attention was on him through the stones. "The guards change every 6 hours, we wait until the next group and take them out. Then, we need you to put them into the deepest sleep you can, we can't afford for them to notice or accidentally wake up while we're in there stealing Creators know what from under their noses. Got it?" Ad'hm let his frustration with Emperor's Ryel mission show, he gave them little to no explanation aside from location and objective. Collect anything to be found.

"Yes, captain." Then replied.

"Good. Hat'ri, refrain yourself from any unnecessary forceful behaviour." Ad'hm could feel her impatience increasing. "I promised you you'll get the chance to punch something, I hope," he added in a whisper, although everyone heard. "I felt a lot of disturbances down below. They might have guards posted inside the ruins as well."

"Fuck yeah!" Hat'ri punched her palm in excitement. Then could not help but roll her eyes at the brute.

"Hey! I felt that, Then." she snarled.

"Ugh, sorry. It's just that you could do with a little more finesse, you know. You're a woman after all." Then replied.

"Don't listen to her, Hat'ri. Powerful women should be respected." Volyk added.

"Alright, guys, reel it in. Focus on the plan, please." Ad'hm said impatiently. They all apologized at the same time and quieted down.

"We don't know what we're facing down there, or where the entrance is. We have 6 hours in total, we can't waste any time. We need to be swift, in and out. Got it?"

----

After a few hours of preparing and waiting for the perfect moment, the other guards were drawing near to take their palace. Then laid in wait at the top of the highest and closest Mossle pine, she needed a good vantage point for her Wielding, one wrong move would fry her victim's brains.

Once the morning guards were replaced Then began her Wielding. Drawing from her pool of Fios she felt her consciousness being stretched over to the new guards as she narrowed in on them. She soon lost feeling in her own body and could feel everything around the five men. Focusing in on their minds she quietly asserted her will on them. She willed them to hear no sound, feel no pain, and dream their own perfect fantasies so that their own will is to never wake up. This was extremely dangerous as only another Wielder that knew why and how they were put to sleep could ever wake them up. As they, themselves would never want freedom. Slowly, but surely, they all fell to the ground one by one in a deep comma.

All four of them hurried to the guards and gathered them up and placed them safely within a bubble of heat, making sure they won't freeze to death.

"Right, one, two, three..." Ad'hm froze in place, but not because of the cold, but out of shock. "Then, didn't you say there were three on either side, two wielders and four soldiers?"

"Yes, why?" she asked, looking over. "Oh," her eyes widened.

"Oh, indeed." Ad'hm palmed his face. "Where the other one? he turned around and faced Them, but she just shrugged. Immediately after, the snow crunched under the foot of someone approaching and everyone quickly turned ready for combat.

"It's hard to find a good spot to take a shit in this white he..." He stopped in his tracks, letting go of his belt that wouldn't want to buckle as he noticed the four people that were prepared to strike. Hat'ri didn't allow the young man to process what he saw and she quickly pulled on her Fios and with a punch through the air she sent a wave of frost over the ground towards the man freezing his legs in place in a block of ice. With another sweep motion of her hand pulled her hand in and the ice block dragged the man to her at great speed making his face come in contact with her clenched fist. Knocking him out instantly. Everyone gasped at the crunch when the poor man's nose broke.

"Creators! That felt good." she yelled and shuffled her feet from one to the other. "You were right, captain. I did got to punch something!"

"That wasn't necessary, but what's done it's done." said Ad'hm" "Then, please wipe his memory of this and put him to sleep like the others." They then placed him with his fellow guards and Wielded the snow around and over them to make them under the bubble of heat so that it looks like a normal boulder.

"Right, that wasn't as impeccable as I hoped," Ad'hm added as an afterthought. "Come, the entrance is right there." he said pointing at a raised platform of stone that was circled by strangely shaped boulders. In the middle there was a square cave entrance with steep frosted steps leading straight down into the eerie cold darkness. They all followed Ad'hm through the tenebrous entrance, each of them procured a light stone from their packs and proceeded to float them by their side. Ad'hm assumed an hour had passed since they entered, the air began to warm without the aid of wielding and the stairs were now wet and slippery. They had to hold onto the rocky uneven walls on either side not to fall down. Their lights were not extremely useful as there was nothing to be seen but the begging darkness ahead.

"We need to hurry, Ad'hm." Volyk warned. He always was better at keeping time than him and Ad'hm trusted him fully. With a simple nod, Ad'hm took the remaining light stones from everyone and sent them onwards to illuminate their way, making sure to collect them once they passed. He sent a wave scorching heat towards the stairs evaporating the moisture to steady their footing.

"Arlight, everyone, let's go." They hurried their paces to almost a run until the stairs opened to a high ceiling cave. The light stones were not powerful enough to illuminate all of it and they stuck to the side of the wall. Darkness loomed where the light didn't reach. What little they could see was rocky formations and bits of broken ceramics and other forgotten everyday objects that in time turned themselves into precious relics. Volyk collected bits of shards and small urns that would fit into his bag. His passion for history and knowledge was insatiable, he was extremple well informed about any subject and because of that he was one of the most valued members of the guard. "Volyk, please." Ad'hm said and Volyk crouched to one knee, raising a hand as much as he could and forcing it down on the rocky floor. Through his strike he sent a wave of fios throughout the rock, giving him a perfect image of the cave with all of its tunnels and chambers.

"Come, there is a big chamber and strange formations this way." he said standing up with careless footing. Hat'ri quickly grabbed and supported him.

"Thank you, Hat'ri."

"That's one, Volyk." she said. "One more and that's it." she then warned him, to which he nodded.

"I feel disturbances in that direction, it must be it." Ad'hm added. "Let's go." They moved towards the end of the huge dark chamber following the wall until they got to a series of tunnels. Volyk pointed out the way and they pushed through a winding rocky tunnel trying to avoid scaring the millions of colonies of blind Terlics that clung to the low ceilings. It would take just one startled Terlic to get a few millions of them to swarm towards the team and suffocate them with their sheer numbers and bleed them to death. As trained guards and wielders all of them could withstand the pressure of the situation they were in and remained silent. They soon ended up in a second chamber that gave them more space to move freely and as they treated onwards. Luckily there weren't as many Tarlics and their numbers diminished as they moved forwards.

The walls of the chamber had strange carvings that quickly grabbed Volyk's attention. They were in no dialect he was familiar with but resembling Frey writings but of a much different structure, he took some paper and charcoal from his bag. Placing the paper over the carvings he dragged the long piece of charcoal over it imprinting the carvings on the paper. He then took a minute to take it in and examine how they were made, ideally he would have spent a few weeks just on this sole phrase.

"Volyk, I wish we had more time, but we need to hurry." Ad'hm urged

"Right, an hour and a half already has passed." Volky confirmed. They moved forward and as they did the darkness seemed to grow even bolder, the light coming of the stones was of no consequence to the vastness of the velvet black curtain that enveloped them. Lucily, their training prepared them for situations such as this, where one would question their mental stability, being so far underground surrounded by that liquid blackness would have placed a toll on anyone else's mind.Though, sometimes, training was just that. When faced in front of the actual situation other instincts of preservation might kick in without one even knowing. Ad'hm already saw the strain it put on Then, her usually courageous self laid quiet and meek against the darkness ahead.

The chamber ended in another tunnel that was a tight fit. They had to move forward in single file, scraping by and ducking under or jumping over caved in rocks. Hat'ri had to shuffle sideways, making her uncomfortable because of the rocky edges of the walls. Volyk kept looking back at her throwing glances of reassurance and squeezing her hand furtively behind the other's gazes. Her self-consciousness would drift away every time he was with her. She was grateful to have found Volyk, for he understood her lust to fight, and she understood his greed for knowledge.

A loud crunch that resounded throughout the tunnel broke the tender moment, forcing the others to stop dead in their tracks. Ad'hm turned around and looked over at Then who was trembling slightly behind him.

"I - I stepped on a skull." she whispered, eyes closed and tight fists. Ad'hm grabbed her shoulders in reassurance.

"It's alright, Then. No one got hurt. See," he looked down and Then followed his gaze. "He's been dead a long long time. It's not your fault." he comforted her. She nodded and breathed deeply to shake away her nerves.

"I'm good." she said and steeled her expression. Ad'hm smiled and continued to walk. Once Volyk got to the skull, he brought his light stone next to it and began examining every detail of the long departed creature. The, now broken, skull, exhibited strange features that were not quite human. It had a strange malformation in the middle of it's forehead and a huge hole on top of it, no doubt, the cause of death. He took the fragments of the skull and placed them in his bag and gave Hat'ri a nod that they can move forward.

The relief of finally exiting the claustrophobic cramped dingy tunnel made Ad'hm topple into the open space of the chamber. His footing got caught on a rock and fell face forward bruising his forehead, making him curse under his breath from embarrassment. He would have to heal that before anyone saw and bruised his ego even further. They ended in a chamber filled with various different rocky formations and a huge column of stone in the middle of the chamber. There were more tunnels through which no doubt they would have to traverse even further

It seemed that the poor soul that was left in that tunnel was not the only creature to be left to die in this Creator forsaken place. Around Ad'hm, wherever his eyes landed there seemed to be skeletal remains, or decomposing carcasses of animals and humans. Some looked fresh but their skin was shriveled up as if all moisture and water got sucked out of their bodies.

"Captain, you might want to get up. Something's not right here." Hat'ri added as she finally managed to squeeze out of the tunnel.

"Yes, Hat'ri. I noticed." he said dusting himself off. Everyone got closer together, rose their barriers and got ready to strike. "I'm picking up thousands of Fios signals all around us. Get ready."

The air reverberated with the power of four strong barriers. They waited in silence for whatever Ad'hm sensed and dragged these corpses down to reveal itself. It felt like an eternity of and Ad'hm's stomach lurched with anticipation. He felt them moving. Their Fios was a constant signal of their presence for a strong empath like him, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly where they were.

A loose stone came loose from the ceiling drawing their attention towards it. Ad'hm sent multiple light stones throughout the chamber to illuminate their fight, yet, there was nothing as far as they could see, only darkness and stalactites and other formations.

Then quickly turned around as if she heard something, ready to strike, but again, there was nothing.

"They're toying with us!" Hat'ri said.

"Don't do anything rash, they might not be hostile." Volyk warned.

"I don't think these things, whatever they are, are going to welcome us to some tea and sweet buns, Volyk!" Then said concerned preparing one of her deadly force blasts that are so concentrated it can tore away through solid rock.

"Let them throw the first stone. We'll be prepared." Ad'hm assured. "Meanwhile, let's move slowly to the exit. Volyk, where to?

"Straight ahead, it's the right tunnel that slopes downwards, right behind that huge rock in the center." he answered, squeezing Hat'ri's hand for assurance.

They all moved in sync as a team, making sure they got all angles covered in case for a surprise attack. Hat'ri, itching for a fight, cracked her knuckles and licked her lips. Everyone else was on edge. From the tunnel they once came slithering and hissing resounded. They were coming from all directions.

"Shit! They got us cornered, captain." Then said inching closer to Ad'hm.

"Stay calm, we're the strongest wielders the Empire got to offer, we can handle a few monsters." he ensured his team.

"Fuck right we can!" Hat'ri exclaimed in excitement.

"Sometimes it wouldn't hurt you two to show the same enthusiasm as Hat'ri." Ad'hm remarked with a smirk. Then scoffed and rolled her eyes while Volyk genuinely smiled. They moved slowly towards the next tunnel, everytime something slithered in the shadows or hissed would stop to assess the danger. The uneven rock high ceiling and walls with thick stalagmites and stalactites everywhere made for the perfect environment for multiple creatures to hide. Gradually the slithering became more apparent from behind multiple rocky formations at the same time. They already knew they were surrounded, but didn't know by how many exactly. Small rocks dislodged as the creatures moved on the ceiling and walls. The creatures descended moving closer, slithering and hissing behind the stalagmites on the ground. All of watched every shadow maniacally to make sure the enemy could not take them by surprise, but it was futile. They had too many places to hide, too many shadows that played with their minds. Slitheres echoed throughout unsure where they came from. Being able to only hear, but not see your enemy was a great disadvantage, one which Ad'hm could not afford.

"Ack! Fucking mron shit!" Then yelled in agony as she fell down. Something had touched her exposed ankle and sapped most of her energy in an instant.

"What happened?" asked Ad'hm concerned. He crouched to examine her ankle and she had a burn mark that made her Fios leak out of her body. He felt it stream out uncontrollably.

"It hurts! I'm getting weaker, Ad'hm." she managed to say between hardened breaths.

"Hang in there, Then!" Volyk said, coming to help Ad'hm. "Allow me, captain." Ad'hm gave him room, since he was a more accomplished healer and in an instant Volyk managed to stabilize1 the Fios leak that the burn caused and no sign of it was left. She got up supported by both men and steadied her feet.

"Thank you, something was sucking my Fios dry!" she said weakly. "Look! There's another one!" Then yelled. She sent one of her light stones towards that direction, with the little Fios she had left, and they saw a white tail slither behind a stalagmite.

"Just what are those things?! Ad'hm asked.

"Could be a lot of things, captain. I could name 10 off the top of my head that have a tail, white scales and feed on Fios." Volyk answered.

"Not helping, Volyk. Not helping." Then said with a wavering voice as another one slithered quickly between more rocky formations. "Don't let them touch you! I assure you it's not pleasant."

"It ends here," said Ad'hm. He had to do something quick to reveal the enemy but not endanger his team even more in this sub cavernous environment. They already were

Creators know how many miles underground they were, any shock or wrong move would definitely cause a cave in. "Enough, we're running out of time. We need to end this fast." said Ad'hm forcing himself to calm down. "Volyk how much time we have left?"

"Three hours and three minutes left, captain." he could even have added the seconds if he wanted to. Ad'hm nodded and motioned everyone to stay behind him.

"It's time we see who our company is, don't you agree?" he reached down and pulled on his Fios, taking a considerable amount. He sent energy around himself enveloping every formation, stalagmite, stalactite, every crease and bump in the rock walls and ceiling. The creatures were audible rattled by this as they began to hiss uncontrollably in hiding. Ad'hm covered the whole chamber and with a single will, one thought: "disintegrate" and everything turned to dust that billowed into giant black and grey clouds. A frenzy of slither and confused hisses echoed through the chamber. Tails and fins trashed about in the clouds stacking and maiming and biting everything they encountered.

Ad'hm protected his team from the dust clouds and trashign with a barrier and raised his left hand pulling again on his Fios he concentrated on the dust and settled it down on the floor.

Then gasped when she saw the creatures. "You're telling me one of these things touched me?" she said, making a retching sound.

"Shrills..." said Volyk. Announcing to everyone the name of the creatures. They were white serpentine creatures with fishlike narrow faces, several long and thick tendril like members that floated through the air protrude from the sides and fins covering the length of the body. They slithered on the ground everywhere, on the walls, ceiling and ground, over one another while others raised their heads 5 to 8 feet tall trying to make sense of what had happened. They were more than surrounded by a few creatures. There was a sea of Shrills around them.

"Now that we know what they are, Volyk, curious friendly creatures or viciously deadly?" Ad'hm asked, even though what they did to Then clearly stated their intent, he wanted to make sure before he decimated their entire nest.

"Oh, most certainly viciously deadly, captain. They are blind but sense Fios with their Feelers and feast on it through them, no wonder the fresh corpses were all shriveled up. I think we've drawn in the whole nest."

"That's what I wanted to hear," said Hat'ri, smirking ear to ear, waiting for a fight.

"Not so fast, Hat'ri." Ad'hm warned. "Is there anything else we'd like to know, Volyk? A weakness?"

"They're resistant to fios, so any direct hit won't work or eat the fios around. Projectiles will be our best bet." he answered.

"Right, here's what we'll do. Then, you stay back and shield yourslef, Volyk, and I will immobilize them by levitating them off the ground, they won't be able to slither away. We won't have much time since they will feed on our energy, but hopefully will be too distracted with the feast. Hat'ri you're the most powerful of us, I'm sure you'll think of a great way to dispose of these mronshits, as Volyk said, use projectiles." Ad'hm finished the plan and everyone nodded. "On my mark.

Everyone pulled in from their pool of Fios a great amount.Volyk and Ad'hm sent their energy through the room making sure every Shrill was wrapped snugly in it. With all their might they raised their hands as if lifting something inmensurable heavy. Every single slithery creature was lifted off the ground. Some complacent enjoying their free meal while others tried to undulate in place through the air in the hopes of escaping. It was Hat'ri's turn. She extended her arms along with her Fios throughout the dark chamber, but this time over the ground, over the dust that Ad'hm created just moments ago. The dust began to coalesce into hundreds and hundreds of small sharp blades around the creatures, all over the chamber. Her maniacal wide smile because of the impending massacre was nothing short of madness. She was glad everyone had their back at her, her love for fighting and Wielding was unmatched even by her love for Volyk. Hat'ri pulled in her arms crossing them in a tight embrace over her body and at once every blade shot with incredible speed through the bodies of every Shrill that surrounded them. The blades penetrated with such force they went through and stopped mid air only to shoot back at a different angle. In a few minutes the massacre had stopped and hundreds of lifeless bodies fell to the ground. Blood pooled down at their feed as the poor creatures convulsed on the rocky floor.

"Creators have mercy on their souls." said Volyk and made a half circle sign and touched his heart.

"Ugh," Then exclaimed the corners of her mouth sagged in disgust as she stepped in a puddle of blood. "They don't have souls, Volyk. They're clueless animals." she said kicking one as payback for what they did to her.

"Everything has a soul, Then. Just as the Creators intended." he answered calmly and she just rolled her eyes. "You were great Hat'ri." he said, turning around to her with a smile.

"Right, let's move. Volyk, we need your guidance." said Ad'hm.

"I'll need to do it again, captain.'' As soon as Volyk said it Hat'ri grabbed his shoulder and squeezed in confort. This one gesture meant the world to him. Reassurance that there will always be someone there to catch him. Ad'hm nodded and everyone gave him space. Volyk crouched down on one knee and hit the ground with his open hand. The waves he sent reverberated through the ground sending him a perfect image of the underground cave system. Once he got up, he lost his footing and as always Hat'ri was there to catch him. "Thank you," he took a moment to collect himself and stand on his own two feet. "I got it. This way." Everyone nodded and shuffled between Shrill corpses and trying to avoid any puddles of blood. They circled the rocky formation and moved towards the right tunnel.

Once they got out of the cadaver filled chamber the air suddenly changed, a mild breeze came from the end of the tunnel. It was pleasant and smelled unusually fresh, unlike the stale air in the other chambers and tunnels. This time the tunnel was even narrower. From the rocky uneven and crude walls the tunnel began to smooth out. Metal paneling jutted out from rocky formations on the walls and ceiling. They had small ridges etched with such immaculate precision when Volyk brushed his hand on them he could feel no deviations for defect, it would put even the Empire's mightiest craftsman to shame.

The tunnel opened to a wide room and tall room with two more levels of terraces along the walls accessible by ramps, everything was covered in the same metal paneling, aside for tall and smoky almost crystal like glass windows that were placed sporadically on around the edge of the room. The center of the room dropped a level down with four sets of stairs leading to the middle where the largest glass window sat in front of what looked to be a huge metal throne. Everyone gasped at the sight, they had never seen anything like this. There were weirdly shaped mushrooms in odd corners and what seemed to be organic living mass that breathed in and out on the paneling. Tendril-like arms stretched and dug into the metal. Some strange organic formations were huddled around what seemed to be skeletons and parts of skeletons.

The cool and moist climate of the room, unlike the rest of the cave system, seemed to have been the perfect environment for these strange formations.

"Careful, Then!" Volyk warned. "Don't touch those fungi, we don't know what they are."

"What harm could it do, it's just a mushroom, I think." she said poking the black and red fungi with her finger. It was nauseatingly squishy and soft with a slick moist film around it. Then rubbed the substance between her fingers and grunted in disgust.

"Ok, everyone. This seems to match the description Emperor Ryel gave us. We need to look for anything that might help us, books, scrolls, tablets, any writing at all. Everything you find, bag it and let's move. Volyk, how much time left." Ad'hm took charge.

"One hour and thirty." he replied.

"We got only one hour to search, make it fast, make it count." Ad'hm clapped his hands and everyone dispersed.

"Then took the upper level, Hatri the middle one and Volyk stayed on the ground with Ad'hm to search and examine the smokey glass windows.

"Incredible find, isn't it?" Volyk said brushing off dust and debris from a metal paneling at the base of a window, it had strange markings laid in a grid. He placed a piece of paper and got his charcoal out to take a sample of the grid.

"It sure is. They were much beyond our comprehension. What do you think these are, Volyk?" Ad'hm asked as he gently knocked on the glass window. It sounded sturdy and hard, unlike the glasswork they've recently been able to mass produce with the most advanced techniques.

"A temple, most likely, the level of details in the walls, the high ceiling with what looks like to be a glass opening. I think that leads to the outside, there's light coming through the snow that settled on the glass ceiling. It might have tracked time as the sun moved in the sky, the light hitting the glass windows in some way or form. Interesting, don't you think?" Volyk said with enthusiasm. Ad'hm agreed, it was the most likely explanation, at least he could not fathom a better one. He stepped down in the middle and began examining the throne. It was much bigger than any man would ever need, not even the tall people of "Uru'du" would need that much space. It had the same grid with scribbles on it as Volyk found on the others, on the right arm rest and on the left it had a crystalline deep purple sfere. It had a second pair of armrests above the first ones, with a slight upward inclination. Both of these had a set of scribbles inside a grid on them.

The backrest had what seemed to be an indentation for the head, the position of the indentation noted that it was made for a creature of tremendous height. It was no doubt made for the Creators themselves. A strange thought occurred to Ad'hm, it lacked any embezzlement or richness a Creator would have deserved, save for the crystalline sphere. It was shocking to see such humility from omnipotent beings. It put a lot of the teachings he had learned as a child in his parent's own temple in perspective. The adornments they had around every statue or painting depicting the creators would have shamed the what seemed to be the humble lifestyle of the Creators. They already had everything at their fingertips, they didn't need any materialistic possessions. They were gods after all.

"Volyk, come look at this." Ad'hm called. He brushed off the dust on the crystal sphere. "I think this stone reacts to fios. Just like the bonding stones or light stones. I feel something."

"Interesting." Volyk mumbled as he shuffled as fast as he could by Ad'hm's side. "What do you think it does?" he asked, as he pulled out his loupe and pressed it against the sphere to examine it.

"I don't know, should i test it to see if it does something?" Ad'hm asked eagerly.

"It's risky, we don't know what it does, it might kill us all, for all we know." said Volyk. This made Ad'hm crisp up and withdraw his hand.

"Right, what about the symbols. Do you know how to read them?"

"No," Volyk shook his head, "there are some small similarities with the very old texts. See here," he pointed at one of the symbols. "This looks like the rune for power that's at the entrance of the Hant'hur temple in Besmu'th. The oldest temple on the Empire's territory. But it's twisted and has this additional line. It might as well mean something completely different." he explained.

"Could this be the Creator's language" Ad'hm asked in awe.

"We don't know, it might be just a temple of some advanced lost Frey tribe, as much as I want this to be such an inmensurable find, we can't simply assume without evidence, captain." Volyk answered, as always he avoided assumptions in the favor of hard proof. Ad'hm nodded in agreement as he climbed on the throne himself. "What are you doing! That is a fragile reclive of the past!" he almost gave Volyk a heart attack.

"Relax, it's sturdy as fuck!" he said, giving it a good kick with the sole of his foot. Volyk just moaned in disbelief and turned away before the vein on his forehead exploded. Ad'hm brushed the grid with his left hand while with the right he touched the crystal. Even with his 6"7' constitution he could not reach the indentation with his head. Looking down at the symbol Volyk mentioned, he reached with a finger and traced the lines, accidentally putting too much force in his touch and the rune sank a little making the most dubious sound. Ad'hm quickly retreated his hand in shock and the throne began to shake.

"What did you do!?" Volyk yelled at Ad'hm.

"I don't know, I - " he got cut off by a giant arm towering over him holding another glass window above his head. The grids on all armrests lit up a pale blue. Ad'hm jumped off and both of them went for cover. Then and Hat'ri rushed over, hearing Ad'hm and Volyk scream.

"What happened?" Both of them asked at the same time.

"Take cover, something's happening." Ad'hm instructed. Immediately after an earthquake enveloped the chamber. It was short, but strong making them lose their footing. Once it finished the throne shot out light along the ridges etched in the paneling, connecting every single glass window. The all lit up showing formations of runes and images on each one. Some looked like maps, while others looked like they had detailed diagrams of plants and animals being dissected. Lines were traced from each organ and member that led to a formation of runes.

Despite the oddity of what the glass windows showed the one in the middle displayed the weirdest images of them all. It was the image of a human being dissected.

"Incredible!" Volyk said with such reverence in his eyes he began to tear up. Dropping to his knees he made the half circle mark and touched his heart. "We have been blessed by the Creators. We have to document everything! There's no doubt this is the work of the Creators!"

"I cannot believe this..."Then said, she always adopted the austerity of a non believer, but what had transpired in front of her eyes was more than enough to make her knees weak and ask for forgiveness in her mind.

"Everyone, start copying everything you see! We have limited time. Volyk, at the mark of 30, we go!" Ad'hm instructed. As they worked Ad'hm noticed that the mushrooms became more active. They started spreading at an alarming pace, and the growth level was unnatural. He felt an immense pressure of Fios coming from the throne. The fungi must be feeding on the Fios. He approached the main glass window to copy the runes and drawings, but was quickly distracted by the crystalline sphere. It pulsated with fios, pure, fios. It was incredible. Tempted, he extended a hand to touch it, and see if he could trance the origin of the energy encapsulated within but just as he reached the crystal something inhuman grabbed his hand.

"What the fuck!" he exclaimed and retreated backwards in a fluid motion.

"What is it, captain?" Ha'tri pulle away her gaze from the glass window. Everyone followed and they all backed down when they saw the creature.

"We've got company! The earthquake must've awakened it." Ad'hm cussed under his breath. "We need to deal with it fast, whatever this is."

"It looks like an Ophio parasite, captain. We need to be careful, if we inhale it's spores we'll end up like it." Volyk said pointing at the creature. It was extremely tall, with its head covered completely in fungi formations that extended down enveloping the body of whatever poor creature it infected. It had bone peaking through it's fungi formations that acted as muscle which contracted to move. It oozed unknown liquids from places and it reeked of death. It had three limbs that it flinged around as it dragged it's lanky feed behind. Two normal and one awkwardly placed protruding from its back.

"Everyone, quickly shield your heads and don't let anything pass except for clean air." Ad'hm commanded. "Hat'ri freeze this mronshit in place!" he was not about to let this pathetic creature ruin his mission, and endanger his team. Hat'ri did as ordered and a quick motion froze the creature's legs in place. Ad'hm pulled what remained of his Fios and encased the creature in an impenetrable barrier. It was so strong it dug in the metal paneling on the floor. The creature banged on it mindlessly, Ad'hm could feel how strong its hits were. He then began to pull and concentrate in his barrier only motes of oxygen. In a few moments the barrier got foggy due to the concentration of the motes and he could see it confuse the creature as it swinged his deformed members blindly in the air. Once satisfied with the amount of oxygen Ad'hm without a second thought lit the creature on fire. It writhed and hissed as fungi formations sizzled and burst with disgusting green liquid.

"Fuck, that's gross." Then said closing in on the creature. She was protected from the heat by Ad'hms barrier and she was curious to see the creature. Hat'ri had a big smile on her face, from seeing Ad'hm so seamlessly dealing with this threat. She always admired his powerful wielding, even though his Fios level was way below hers, the way he applied it was unlike she had never seen before, she took note of this application of the barrier for use in future battles. The ball of fire continued for a few minutes before consuming itself.

As soon as Ad'hm dropped the shield a wave of heat consumed the chamber. He felt a form of energy still hanging in the air. As he approached he reached out to it and as soon as he made contact a light formed from thin air. It was too bright to look at and Ad'hm retreated his arm back as it singed it's finger tips. Everyone covered their eyes as the light increased in intensity until everything seemed white, then, in the blink of an eye, it simply vanished.

Everyone got closer to see the remains, partially blind from the light, they looked around, but only charred bones remained. It was something humanoid but too large for a human and it lacked a skull. The smell turned everyone away with a disgusted wince on their faces.

"Right, no more distractions, team! Back to work! Volyk, time?"

"45 minute, captain, we need to hurry!"