The trek through the black desert was more exhausting than they had anticipated. It had been overcast all day, offering a small reprieve from the sun, but the shifting of the sand beneath their feet was tiring them out fast. They had already taken twice as many breaks as the day before, much to Raven’s frustration.
The further they followed their quarry the more they saw of those half buried ruins. It would seem that a city had once stood here although what exactly doomed it was uncertain. Some of the ruins look like they had been bombed while others seemed to have simply crumbled in on themselves and occasionally they came upon large, half buried spherical structures that almost looked like tiny little moons. But a few of the structures they came upon had suffered an entirely different fate. Their exterior seemed to have been melted and molded into twisted shapes, like boney monstrosities that lay on their backs with their spindly legs sticking up into the air.
“What do you guys think did this?” asked Kurai as she inspected one of these buildings closer. She was trying to figure out what type of energy source could have been used to melt and mangle concrete and steel.
“Who knows. The few reports that have survived from the Downfall are very contradictory.” said Raven while keeping an eye out for enemies. “If they are to be believed the entire world was plunged into chaos with reality being torn at the seams. Let's just appreciate the fact that what did do this probably no longer exists.”
“Hopefully.” added Arcaea.
“Hopefully.” agreed Raven.
“Do you think our homeworlds survived the Downfall?” asked Kurai.
“What do you mean?” asked Janette.
“I mean, none of our people originated from Okuza, we all came here from different homeworlds and settled here thousands of years ago.” explained Kurai.
“Right. What’s your point?” asked Raven.
“I wonder if any of our homeworlds were affected as well. Do you think the Downfall affected the entire universe?”
The rest of them took a moment to consider this.
“From what I know, all attempts to contact the homeworlds or any other worlds beyond the Void have yielded no responses. As far as we can tell...the Downfall probably destroyed everything that’s out there.” said Raven. “Apparently a few ships have been sent out by certain private interests to cross through the Great Beyond to establish contact with one homeworld or another. But none of them have returned.”
Kurai took a deep breath and sighed slowly. “So we’re all that’s left...in the entire universe.”
The thought was depressing and terrifying on a cosmic level. It was something they had all thought of before and probably never truly comprehended before and the idea now filled them with loneliness and dread. And this sense of cosmic dread only seemed to amplify the emptiness of the Badlands.
“Lucky us, huh?” said Raven with a sad smile.
Kurai looked back and smiled.
The four of them continued to follow the tracks which led them through clusters of ruins into black dunes and back into more ruins. At one point they heard a distant rumble and immediately crouched down, scanning their surroundings.
“Do you see anything?” asked Arcaea.
Raven amplified her perception and looked out towards the sound. One of her nilshards filled out as she did it. Looking towards the horizon she spotted three hills, one with a crooked tree on top of it. She peered her eyes and tried to spot any kind of wildlife or any figures lurking around the hills but saw nothing.
“Nothing yet. We should move carefully...oh wait.”
The hills suddenly started moving. The sight was grand enough for the others to notice it too.
“What in the Void?” asked Janette.
“Are those hills moving?” asked Kurai. “Is that a thing? Can hills move out here?”
“Those aren’t hills. They’re garam.” explained Arcaea.
While the rest only saw moving hills Raven could see thick trunk-like limbs slowly drag these massive creatures forward. Their skin seemed thick and dark and their heads were flat and armored with scales.
“Whoa. Never seen garam before. They’re supposed to be pretty dangerous, right?” asked Raven in awe of what she was seeing.
“Oh yeah. But only if we pick a fight with them.” said Arcaea.
“What if they decide to attack anyway?” asked Janette. “They’ve got to be pretty hungry out here in the desert.”
“Don’t worry. They burrow deep into the sands for water and usually try and snag unsuspecting prey that passes by while they remain buried.” explained Arcaea. “So let’s just keep our eyes peeled for suspicious looking hills from now on, alright?”
“Good, cause I don’t think we have enough firepower to even take out one of these things.” said Kurai.
It was true. They had been armed by the Keystone peacekeepers with three rifles and enough ammunition for each rifle to fire around 10 shots. And while each shot could prove highly lethal they were not powerful enough to do much damage to creatures with thick hides like the garam.
“Come on, guys. We’re losing light.” said Raven as she continued to follow the tracks.
As they resumed their journey Raven took a quick look at the nilshards on her belt. By her count she only had four left to last her throughout the day. When they settled for the night she would perform the ritual once more and empty them out into the Void. But that greatly limited her abilities if they’d find themselves fighting for their lives at some point today. And they had so far managed to pass unnoticed. It’s only a matter of time before our luck runs out and we’re forced into a combat scenario, she thought to herself.
Crossing the blackened dunes they soon began to see a collection of spires in the distance. A cluster of high rise ruins that seemed to surround a larger spire that had been destroyed and shattered. As they got closer Janette began to realize that some of the spikes and rocks sticking out of the sands around them were actually debris from the larger spire. She paused for a moment to take a look around. If these had all been pieces of the destroyed spire then the force that laid it to waste must have been incredibly powerful. But if that was the case, why hadn’t it destroyed the smaller spires surrounding it?
“Janette! Don’t get left behind!” she heard Arcaea call out as she snapped back into reality.
“Nah, it’s fine. Janette can take care of herself. She can eat her tablets when she begins to starve.” said Kurai sarcastically.
“Ha ha, very funny.” said Janette as she jogged on over to them.
As they got closer to the ruins the sun was getting dangerously close to setting. Raven figured they could find shelter amongst the ruins but first she wanted to see if the tracks led back out into the desert or if this was perhaps where their target was hiding.
They had traveled so far up north that the Argal Mountains, which had been looming in the distance ever since their journey began, were now towering over them. They stood so tall that their snowy peaks were almost entirely enveloped by clouds.
“This reminds me of something.” said Kurai as they moved ever closer to the ruins. “Did you guys know there have been several attempts to reclaim the mines of the Argal Mountains?”
“Sure, what does that have to do with anything?” asked Janette, confused.
“Did you know that every single expedition into those mountains has gone missing?” replied Kurai.
“Well that sounds ominous.” said Arcaea. “Why is this important to our current task?”
“It isn’t but this is the first time I’ve ever seen those mountains, and you know what?” asked Kurai rhetorically. “Looking at them now, there sure is something spooky about them, isn’t there?”
The other three looked at the mountains and while Janette and Arcaea only saw the dark mountains and the numerous jagged peaks that were too many to count they really didn’t get a foreboding feeling from the sight. But Raven did. As her eyes glanced at them her heart started beating faster and she had a sinking feeling in her stomach. There was definitely something off about those mountains and now that she was aware of it she kinda disliked the idea of camping out in those ruins knowing she’d be sleeping in the shadow of the mountains.
But there was no time for any of that. They had a family to rescue and a blood mage to kill. She had to stay focused.
As they approached the cluster of ruined spires, rays of sunlight began peering through the clouds. Raven was the first one to notice it, due to her amplified perception but the sight soon became apparent to all of them.
“Whoa.” said Arcaea.
“What the tork happened here?” asked Kurai.
The pillars of warm sunlight reflected off of the spires and the ground around them a little bit too much. As if they were all made of glass. Because, in a way, they sort of were.
“A powerful magical explosion must have occurred here, hot enough to turn the ground and some of these ruins to glass.” said Janette.
Raven looked around and took notice of the horizontal glass stalactites that stretched out from the ruins. All of them seemed to indicate the epicenter of the explosion to be the large shattered spire in the center of the cluster.
“It might be too early to say…” she said. “But I’m pretty sure we’ll find that the tracks will lead us to that big spire in the center. That seems like the logical lair of powerful blood mage. Especially if he has a bit of an ego.”
“Probably.” said Arcaea. “Let’s follow them and find out. But if they do, we’ll have to decide if we want to venture in there today or wake up early tomorrow and go then.”
“Is there a reason why we would go tomorrow instead of tonight?” asked Kurai, not really thinking.
“I mean, we’re all tired.” explained Janette. “And Raven needs to empty a lot of nilshards if we want to go in there at peak strength.”
“And since we’re going up against a blood mage, who is apparently somewhat powerful, I would say a rest is in order.”
“Those are all good points but what about that family?” asked Kurai.
“They’re probably dead by now.” said Raven, still keeping her eyes at the ruins.
The others looked at her with shocked expressions.
“You don’t know that.” said Arcaea.
“They’ve been in there for at least 2 days already and I’m guessing that blood mage has already drained those he meant to drain and started experimenting on those he meant to experiment on.” explained Raven without a hint of emotion in her voice. “We’ll have to prepare ourselves for the possibility that we’ll have to end their suffering when we find them.”
Arcaea nudged her in the shoulder which made Raven turn her head to look at her. Wordlessly Arcaea gave her a stern look and motioned with her eyes at the other two. Raven looked to find Kurai and Janette staring at the spire with fear and hopelessness in their eyes.
“Can we not demoralize them any further?” whispered Arcaea.
“The Frontier is unforgiving. They need to prepare themselves for the worst.” said Raven, trying her best to mask the sadness in her eyes. “Let’s get going.”
They followed the tracks into the towering ruins and just as they had suspected they led into a large crack at the side of the central spire. From the look of it it seemed to lead to an underground passage.
“What do you guys think?” asked Arcaea. “Go in now or go in at first light?”
“First light would probably be better. We need to be fully prepared for this battle.” answered Raven.
“I agree.” said Janette. “I really wish we could help those people now, though.”
They all looked at Kurai who simply stared into the darkness.
“What say you, Kurai?” asked Arcaea.
“Let’s find a spot to rest.” she said before turning on her heel and walking back to the other ruins.
The other misfits joined her, none of them saying a thing. None of them were happy with the situation they had found themselves in.
They quickly found a secure chamber to camp in. It was high up in one of the spired ruins and gave them a good view of their surroundings. It seemed to have once been an office building of some kind. It had no functioning elevators and only one functional stairwell.
Night rolled in silently. Like an abyssal blanket smothering the world in inky blackness. And soon the sound of thunder crept ever closer and closer. The precipice of a storm looming over them, a whispering promise of blood and death.
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