Heirs of Hyarch

Ronny's sister was completely insane.

That was the only reason Nela could think of, watching as Edeline walked down the stairs again. Having seen entire groups of armed men fall before the Spellking's gigants, a single person had no chance. Come on, she'd seen what that one had done to Ronny.

And worse, this was no normal gigant. The Spellking having special elite gigants hadn't been something she'd thought of, but Nela supposed it made sense. How it ended up here, she had no idea, but anything was possible at this point. For all they knew, it could grow extra arms and start throwing magic attacks at them.

Still, thinking of Ronny, laying there, pale and staring...Nela knew she couldn't just let Edeline die. "Get him out of here," she called to Hamond.

"But-" Already over halfway up the stairs while holding Ronny, Hamond started to protest, then stopped himself. "I've got it."

Still staring at Edeline, Ronny struggled weakly, but Hamond kept hold of him as he finished climbing up. Nela nodded, then turned back to Edeline and the gigant. She lifted her crossbow, taking aim.

The gigant had started to move forward, towering over Edeline. "Run for it!" Nela shouted, firing a shot.

The bolt bounced off the gigant's shoulder with no effect. Neither the gigant nor Edeline reacted.

"Shit," muttered Nela, quickly trying to load another bolt. Edeline really was insane to not take the chance to get out of there, and it was looking more and more like Ronny was about to end up an only child.

One final chance. Leave now."

The gigant's voice rang out just as Nela managed to finish loading the crossbow. Not even bothering to aim, she fired a second shot. It also uselessly bounced away, not even working as a distraction. Well, it had been nice getting to know Edeline, however briefly.

"You really should have listened to us." Edeline's response was cold. She then thrust her sword straight up, looking a bit ridiculous to Nela's eyes. The gigant's answer was simply to raise an arm, preparing to strike.

Then, Nela felt it.

A pulling sensation moved past and through her body, a drag on...something. Nela blinked, wondering what was happening. There was no wind, no air moving, but all the same, the pulling continued. Actually, it was getting stronger, drawing in towards the center of the room.

Towards Edeline.

Nela's eyes went wide. She recalled her grandfather's explanation of magic, spells like their healing ones pulling their energy out of the air around them. It hadn't seemed particularly interesting at the time, but now, looking down on Edeline, it was plainly clear what was happening. But for a spell to pull this much energy at once...

"Deus volt!"

A booming sound filled the room, making even the gigant pause. Nela's eyes shot up as a glow emerged. For a brief moment, the air itself near the roof looked as if it were cracked like glass, the break glowing with white light.

"This spell! How could you-"

The words of the gigant were cut off by the sound multiplying as the room flared white, now as bright as daylight outside. A bolt streaked down from the crack, racing down to Edeline's blade. Instantly, she brought the blade down in a chop, slicing in the direction of the gigant. The bolt followed with her sword's arc, traveling towards the gigant impossibly fast.

With a thunderous roar that shook the chamber, the gigant exploded. Chunks of stone flew around, one catching Nela on the arm. Still reeling, she fell backwards on her arse, dropping the crossbow. It clattered down a few steps before stopping.

Rubbing her arm, she climbed back to her feet, peering into the cloud of dust and smoke that was filling the chamber. The light had faded, but Nela's eyes were still watering, her ears ringing. Even so, she could see the dim figure of Edeline turn and approach her.

"See? It was no trouble." Edeline's voice sounded off to Nela, although that could just be her ears still not back to normal.

"You're crazy," Nela said, bending down to collect the crossbow. A quick look over it showed it wasn't damaged, which was a relief. "Why didn't you tell us you had a spell that could do that?"

"I did not think it would be needed," Edeline admitted, "Besides, it wasn't as if we had the time while facing down...that."

Nela couldn't disagree with that point. Still, to actually march out there and face that gigant down, that took some nerve. "You're still crazy," she repeated, as Edeline picked up the lantern off the step where it had been set. It, too, was still intact.

"Where's Hamond? And my brother?"

"They went back upstairs. What, you don't remember you told them to?" Nela glanced up to confirm it. Probably retreated down the passage, which was the safe option. She would've done the same. "Want to go give them the sign we're alright?"

"Oh. Of course." Edeline stretched, rolling her shoulders. "It should be fine."

Assuming they didn't have two more gigants or some other nasty surprise in the next room, Nela thought. Then again, whoever put that gigant here probably hadn't expected someone like Edeline to come along. Of course, she hadn't expected someone like Edeline to come along either. Destroying a gigant just like that...that sounded unbelievable, even though Nela had just seen it herself.

Edeline lifted the lantern up as they arrived at the arch leading back. It wasn't really needed, as they could see the figures of the two others highlighted by the flickering light from below. One was seated against the railing, the other standing over him. Nela figured Ronny was the resting one, and Hamond was standing.

Ronny didn't stay resting, apparently seeing the lantern's light. "Edeline!" he shouted as he scrambled to his feet, racing forward to see her. "You...you survived! How?"

"I am tougher to kill than that." Edeline said. Nela just shook her head.

"But...that gigant! That was lightning! It had to have hit you!" Ronny's voice was strained.

"I was wondering about that too," Hamond added, "What happened?"

"That was my spell," Edeline answered, "I would not be here if that was something that gigant used against me."

"You did that?" Hamond's eyes went wide.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Edeline said.

"She's not lying," Nela confirmed. It really was completely unexpected, casting a spell so powerful that it could call lightning...

...and there was the old tale of the Stormsage.

"Where did you learn that spell?" Nela stared at Edeline. This couldn't be possible. It couldn't. But everything she'd seen, everything she knew, pointed to it being the case.

"Excuse me?" Edeline blinked.

"You heard me. How did you learn that spell?"

"I invented it." Edeline stated plainly.

"You what?" Somehow, Hamond's eyes grew even wider.

"I created that spell," Edeline told them, sounding annoyed. "Well, if you want to be precise, I got the idea from a dream I had. But it was my creation."

"A dream..." Nela paused, trying to make sense of it. "Do you remember the dream?"

"Why would this dream matter?" Hamond asked, "What's important is that she cast a spell that no thaumaturge should even be able to handle."

"And I'm sure you've met so many," Nela snapped back, "Look, I have a reason for asking."

"What have you thought of?" Ronny asked gently.

Nela sighed, wishing she remembered more about the old stories. "We're figuring this place was built by elves, right? One of our old tales I've heard is about someone called the Stormsage."

"What would that have to do with the spells she knows?" Hamond was clearly doubtful. "It could just be a coincidence."

"I don't know." Nela had to admit, "The old man...I mean, my grandfather, he could tell you more about the old stories." Shit, why had she not listened as a child?

"So back to Morgivel," Hamond sighed.

"We still need to go down and check if we can get into the lower chamber." Edeline held out the lantern towards Hamond. "There could be more clues in there that will tell us more information, Stormsage or not."

"And you can tell us about the dream along the way." Nela smiled impishly. It wasn't like they would have much else to talk about.

"Why are you so insistent about this?" Hamond let out a sigh.

"Honestly, it was a very strange dream, and I've nothing to hide regarding it." Edeline turned to Ronny. "First though, how are you holding up? Is your arm better?"

"Still sore, but I can move it now." Ronny wiggled his fingers in the air for a moment. "I should be back to full strength in a day or two."

"Sure, and you're king of the frogs." Nela gave Ronny a look. His frustration was understandable, but come on, he had to take care of himself. At least a little.

"Only if our resident healers agree that you are fully recovered," Edeline added. Nela frowned, realizing she still trusted Hamond on that front. Again, that was for later. " We should get moving again."

"This time, I'll bring up the rear," Nela stated. It wasn't ideal, but she was taking no chances with putting Ronny at risk. With the noise Edeline had made, all those kobolds had to have heard. Hopefully, it would have scared them further and there was no problem, but Nela was not about to take that chance.

"So the dream," Edeline spoke up as they moved back into the gigant's chamber. "In it, I was out in a field, in the middle of the night. Standing in the middle of the field was a woman, with her arms raised up in the air. It was dark, so I could not make out her features. I felt like I knew her, but looking back, I do not think it was someone we had ever met."

"Probably someone your mind made up," Hamond commented.

"Perhaps." Edeline looked down the stairs, where the gigant's remains lay scattered. "I recall trying to ask her questions, but I cannot remember what I asked. She simply stood there, then said one thing."

By this point, they had reached the bottom of the stairs. With the dust settled, Nela could see that Edeline's spell had split the gigant in two, splitting off the arm and a large fragment of its body from the rest. Whatever magic had made it walk and talk was gone now, the carved face now staring up at the ceiling.

'"She told me that she was waiting for me. Right after she said that, a bolt of lightning struck the woman." Edeline gestured at the destroyed gigant. "I woke up right after, well before the dawn, and could not get back to sleep. By this point, I had started studying thaumaturgy, so when thinking about what the dream meant, I started to wonder about a spell that could do that."

"So you went and invented it, and it worked," Hamond said. Never having been inspired by a dream before, Nela had to respect Edeline for coming up with that.

"When I started working on it, the words for the spell almost immediately came to mind," Edeline answered, "It was easier than I thought...almost like I had already known the words, if that makes sense."

"From what I've see of your abilities, it does," Hamond said.

"I had to test it, though, so one night I went out to the garden and tried using the spell on one of the trees. That was what you had heard about, as it was very visible. Fortunately, I was able to bluff the guard who came to investigate, leading to the rumor of the sudden storm coming in."

"You blew up a tree, and got away with it." Nela had briefly seen that burned stump in the garden, but hadn't thought much of it. Now it made sense. It was a little surprising though that Edeline had thought no one would notice.

"Essentially, yes." Edeline looked sheepish.

"I'd think there would be better ways to bake a fruit tart," Ronny commented. Nela just had to laugh at that one. Edeline also let out a chuckle herself.

"Anyway, I believe that's the door," Hamond noted, pointing. Located below the stairs, set into the wall, was a carved stone slab.

"Shit...that looks heavy." Nela didn't know if they could open it, especially since Ronny couldn't really help because of his arm.

"Let me see." Edeline walked up to the door, inspecting around it. "There's...some kind of track here in the floor. I would wager it was made to slide along it." She stepped to the side, and began to push.

The door didn't budge.

"Let me help," Hamond said, taking a step forward.

Edeline ignored him. "Corpus volt!" she spoke, and glowing light flowed around her. Right, she'd used this spell earlier when they faced the gigant, to dodge its strike. It left Nela wondering what kind of spell it was, and more importantly, how many different spells Edeline knew.

The door began to slowly move. Edeline let out a pained grunt, clearly pushing with all the strength she could muster. Hamond rushed forward, placing hands on the front face of the door and trying to help slide it.

Well, she could hardly let them do all the work. Dropping the crossbow, Nela went to the opposite side from Edeline. She pulled on the door, bracing herself as best she could. It felt like she was doing nothing, despite her best efforts. Perhaps the door was moving a little faster, but she could not tell.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the door came to a halt, the passage behind it open. Edeline dropped to one knee, the spell fading. Nela didn't blame her, as she felt drained herself. How many people did the builders of this place want for sliding this thing anyway?

"Are you alright?" Ronny asked worriedly.

"I...I will live," Edeline panted out.

"Definitely don't want to have to do that again," Hamond said, the least winded of them. Well, not counting Ronny, of course.

"Whoever made this door...was an arse," Nela complained, still breathing hard. "Guess we catch our breath, and then we go in?"

"Right." Edeline said. Nela went to collect the crossbow. She might yet still need it.