Heirs of Hyarch

The passage, lined with rough stone bricks, led down to a stairway leading further down. The small group of four had carefully descended for what seemed far too long. The sound of every breath and every step echoed back at them, only serving to heighten his nerves.

Being this far underground was not an experience Hamond was enjoying. Not at all.

The seemingly endless stairs finally ended. Ahead of them was a square corridor leading further on. Hamond wondered just how large this place was. It was definitely not simply a tomb, at least not one for anyone short of royalty. This posed a problem, for as far as he knew, the Elefae had never had a king of their own.

Morgivel might know, but they could hardly drop everything and go ask him. Another time, perhaps. For now, the mystery of the passage was more important.

"To think this was under Hallowscroft the entire time..." Despite how low Edeline's voice was, the dim silence added so much weight to her words.

"We really should find out if our father knew of this," Myron said from the back.

"Even if he did not, there have to be more records," Edeline replied, "There is no way that tunnels of this scale were not known of by someone."

"How old is Hallowscroft, anyway?" Nela asked.

"Good question." Edeline looked back at the Elefae. "My ancestor was awarded the title a bit under one hextra years ago, and from what I can tell the town had been around well before that."

"So it could be as old as Hyarch itself, or older?"

"Possibly, although I doubt it's quite that old." Edeline started walking forward again. "We might find some evidence of the age of these halls further in."

"True, but we've got other problems." Hamond lifted the lantern higher, looking further down the passage. Ahead of them was a crossway, with additional dark corridors leading left and right.

"You have to be joking with me," Nela said, "Shit, which way do we go?"

Edeline looked back and forth between the options, face clearly pale even in the dim light. "I don't know. I doubt we have the time to search every passage, if these tunnels span all of Hallowscroft."

"Let me try something." Hamond knew the odds were this wouldn't turn up anything, but at this point it was a low risk gamble. "Teleios horama."

The spell activated, letting him see the magical energy flowing...in the bricks in the walls? That made no sense. Enchantments on nonliving objects needed to be renewed periodically, or else they would fade. But most of the bricks bore a small enchantment of some kind, one he did not recognize. All Hamond could tell was that the enchantment was not a particularly powerful spell, and it was not reacting to their presence.

Turning to survey the different passages, Hamond saw a strange flicker of energy straight ahead. It was brief, and for an instant he thought he had imagined it, but then a second flicker. There was a different spell at work in that direction. Investigating that was likely the best choice.

"We should go straight," he said, dismissing his spell.

"What did you see?" Edeline asked.

"There are a lot of enchantments in the walls," Hamond explained, choosing to set aside the impossibility of that for now. "But further ahead of us, there's a different spell active. I cannot tell what it is, at least not from here."

"Spells on the walls?" Myron sounded uneasy.

"They're not anything powerful, and they're not active. Again, that's all I can say without studying them further."

"Could it be a spell to reinforce them?" Edeline suggested, "These passages look very old, and I would have thought at least some of the ceilings would have given in by now."

That was actually a possibility. Thinking back, Hamond could not recall having seen any support beams holding things up, and a spell to strengthen the tunnels would at least lessen the need for such. However it still didn't explain how the spells were still active, if no one had come down here. And even if someone had, who could possibly know the right spell to maintain the enchantments?

"I don't know," was all Hamond could answer with.

"Then we shouldn't-" Myron started to say, only to be cut off by a snarling sound from the right passage.

Turning with the lantern held high, Hamond saw a dim shape with shining eyes, crouched down. It looked vaguely dog-like, except the proportions weren't right. It had too long legs, too rounded a body compared to the hounds he'd seen. Larger than most dogs too, from the look of it. He estimated if it stood next to him, it would come close to his waist.

The creature, whatever it was, let out a long growl, briefly lunging forward for a quick feint before hopping back. Not going on the attack, but not backing down either. A clear warning if he had ever seen one.

"A kobold." Myron's voice was grave.

"This is just great," Nela added, stepping around to cleanly aim her borrowed crossbow at it.

Hamond recognized the name, even though he'd never seen a kobold. Clever beasts who lurked underground or in abandoned buildings, they were known for breaking into houses in search of food. Due to the danger this posed, men had to chase them off or kill them whenever they appeared.

They didn't have the time for the first option, so this kobold would have to die.

"Phloxoistos," Hamond spoke, extending his free hand. A fiery missile materialized in front of him, floating in the air briefly before shooting off. It struck the kobold right above its eye. With a pained screech, the creature rolled over backwards, thrashing about before becoming still.

Hamond nodded, satisfied. No real reason to waste time or resources on something so simple.

"Why in Aether's name did you do that?" Myron grabbed Hamond's shoulder, spinning him around.

"I was trying to-" Hamond started to explain, a bit baffled. A shrill scream cut him off though, followed by several others coming from down the passage. Distant, but they were growing louder.

"Kobolds come in packs." Myron settled into a fighting stance. "There's never just one of them. And they have really good hearing."

It would've been good to know of that in advance.

All too quickly, the kobolds came running out of the darkness, only to come to a halt at the sight of them. This time, Hamond counted at least two hex of them, all growling alternately at them. What really struck him, a detail he had not realized with the first one, was that the kobolds were completely hairless. If anything, it only made them seem unnatural, even more menacing.

One of them crept forward, sniffing cautiously at the charred corpse of their fellow. It looked up, staring at them for a moment, then made what Hamond could only describe as an angry bark. The other kobolds echoed it, and the sound grew into a chorus.

"If they continue this, they will attract everything living down here to us!" Edeline had to shout to be heard.

"Then we have to take them all out!" Myron called back.

"On it! Cover me!" A crossbow bolt flew out and caught one of the kobolds right in the side, sending it toppling over from the impact.

The kobolds immediately rushed forward, leaping and screeching. Myron caught one with his shield, stabbing out at a second as a third grabbed onto his leg. Stepping forward to help her brother, Edeline sliced forward with her own blade, felling one beast before another pair of kobolds leapt at her. Another crossbow shot from Nela stopped one, but the other managed to sink its teeth into Edeline's free arm.

Hamond stepped forward to do...what could he do? Any spell he cast into that fray stood a high chance of hitting Edeline or Myron, and he was no warrior. And with the risk of the lantern breaking, he couldn't afford to get too close.

Edeline turned and slammed her arm, the kobold still clinging on, into the wall once, then a second time. The kobold let go with a squeal, tumbling down to the floor before her blade ended its threat. Without hesitating, she spun back to face the remaining kobolds.

Even standing back, Hamond could see dim shapes moving down the dark passage. More were coming. They'd soon be overwhelmed unless something was done. But what he could he do without...wait. They lived in darkness.

"Shield your eyes!" Hamond called out, hoping they would react in time. "Phosekkletos!"

His hand glowed, and then a spread of light shot down the tunnel, illuminating everything in stark detail, casting long shadows. While more powerful than the spell Edeline had shown off earlier, the light itself would not harm anything it touched. But that had not been what Hamond was betting on.

Sure enough, the kobolds squealed in surprise and pain as the light seared their eyes, eyes that almost never saw the day. Disoriented, some turned and fled, while others spun in place, pawing and clawing at their faces.

Knocking a reeling one away, Edeline pivoted to assist Myron. While he had been holding his own against the ones swarming him, the kobold that had clung to his leg held on tightly, biting into his knee. Edeline skewered it with her sword, then flipped its body away after it released its grip.

Myron's leg gave way as Edeline advanced, blade held out and gleaming in the fading glow of Hamond's spell. Still dazed, most of the remaining kobolds broke off one by one and ran down the tunnel. A pair remained, still growling.

Edeline's sword found one, and Nela's crossbow bolt the other.

"How's your arm?" Hamond said, trotting up to Edeline. The bite needed cleaning and healing. So did Myron's leg wound, but they had two healers, and it was obvious that Nela would want to tend to Myron.

"It could be worse," Edeline answered, looking back at him with a pained grin. "That was an interesting spell, though."

"Thank Aether it worked." Hamond pulled up Edeline's sleeve and inspected the wound. It was bloody, but it didn't look too terrible. He paused, realizing he didn't have a readily available rag for cleaning it.

Well, it wouldn't be the first time. Hamond reached down and tore a strip of cloth off the bottom of his trousers. Besides, this was another of her tunics ruined, so it was only fair. He wiped the blood away, then placed his hands on her arm.

"Panakeia logos." The bite marks twisted and sealed under the spell, leaving reddish spots and the bloodied sleeve as the only sign of the wound.

"That...felt strange," Edeline admitted, pulling her sleeve back down.

"The healing spell?" It was an interesting observation, since she'd been unconscious the previous time he'd had to heal her.

"Yes," Edeline looked at him briefly, then pulled her gaze towards Myron.

Turning, Hamond could see Myron still down on one knee, with Nela keeping a hand pressed on his wound. The two were touching foreheads, a gesture of affection. For a brief moment, Hamond thought he heard Nela saying something, only to realize it had to be her chanting her healing spell.

Nela then pulled away and straightened up, then gave Hamond a foul look. Fair enough, since his misreading the situation was part of what had led to the fight. At least the price for learning about how to deal with kobolds was nowhere near as grave as it could have been.

"Shall we continue?" Edeline said, indicating the passage Hamond had noted earlier.

"Let's, before more kobolds return," Myron grunted, climbing to his feet. Hamond fell back into position behind Edeline, and the four set off once more.