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Chapter 3: Down Below

Having rested rather well throughout the night Aldric was preparing breakfast in Leofwine's hut with great care. It surprised him that neither the otter nor the wolverine Vidar were awake right now as he himself usually was sleeping much longer than most people. He already had eaten with Leofwine's siblings and Khaba, who went out together without much explanation. Aldric didn't mind that because he thought they were old enough to do things by their own merits.

"Hmm, fish?" Vidar mumbled as he slowly opened his eyes and sniffed around. "Yes, it's fish. That's pretty nice of you to make breakfast for us."

"It's probably already lunch considering that you two have slept through the entire morning," the badger replied as he finished the last touches of the breakfast table. "Khaba, Lucille, and Crawford already went outside to play or something."

Being still rather stiff Vidar got up and stretched his limbs to get himself more energetic for the morning, though it hardly made him actually more active. "Alright, should I wake up Leofwine?"

"He already had to throw up because of you and I punched him in the face, so I think he had enough for now," Aldric replied as he looked around the hut for something to drink. "Hmm, juniper juices certainly would be nice, so could you wake up Leofwine to ask if he got any?"

"Well, if you say so," Vidar replied as he took a bit from the straw of Leofwine's bed and used it to tickle the otter's feet.

It was rather uncomfortable for the otter and in reflex he kicked Vidar across the jaw before he was awake enough to realize what was going on. Despite being a natural pacifist, and also much weaker than Vidar, it caused the wolverine to stumble over and bleed from the nose and mouth. As soon as he realized what just happened Leofwine was looking extremely distressed at what he had done. "I hope that wasn't too painful."

Although he was hurt, Vidar knew that it was his own fault in the end, so he just smiled with his bloody face. "No need to apologize, I started it, so it's probably what I should be doing."

"You really should apologize for your lack of creativity with that joke. Tickling, really? The water bucket was a touch more interesting. Anyway, there is only water and wine," Aldric interrupted the two as he was rather annoyed by the trouble they already caused in the morning.

"What region is the wine from?" Vidar asked as he looked up at the bottle that Aldric was holding in his hands. "Looks like it's from Scathsolas. Oh well, that will do," he said and got up to take the bottle from Aldric. Without any hint of decency he took off the stopper and downed the bottle faster than anyone could react to him. "Much better, I haven't had anything for a week now."

Being rather disturbed by the way Vidar just emptied an entire bottle of wine, Leofwine couldn't help but twitch his eye in disbelief. "That wine wasn't even mixed with water, yet."

Vidar chuckled in a drunken tone as the alcohol started hitting his brain. "Oh well, how about we mix it with more wine instead? You surely have some more around."

"This was the only bottle I had, and it was meant as a gift for a good friend of mine and for all he has done for me," Leofwine replied as he slowly got angrier.

"Oh well, if I remember last night, I think I qualify for another wine," Vidar replied with an extraordinary lack of realization about what he just said in front of both Leofwine and Aldric.

The badger was looking curiously at Vidar and then at Leofwine while he tried not to laugh at what Vidar was just implying. "Another wine and the nonsense you talk would be about furless creatures flying on giant boats made from iron."

"I am all for the nonsense! More wine!" the wolverine exclaimed as he sniffed around to search for any hidden spot of wine that may be in the hut. Eventually he rushed to a spot where the ground was looking distinctively darker. He dug in the ground and uncovered three dirty bottles of wine from Bijulac's central region. And another time he just ripped off the stopper of one of the bottles and let the red liquid pour down into his throat.

That was enough for Leofwine to snap as he ripped the bottle violently out of Vidar's hand and smashed it to the ground. "Stop this already!"

"Why? Let's have some fun," the wolverine replied as he was now starting to see everything twice. He was still laughing as he saw the otter's face twisting in a suppressed rage. "It's just that piss you brew in Bijulac, so what's the problem?"

Leofwine snapped at this comment and started to yell, "If it's tasting like piss, then drink some of that you cretin!"

The heated atmosphere and the alcohol were finally starting to hit on Vidar's temper as amusement turned to anger. But before he could leash out in fury his body shook violently, collapsed in front of Leofwine, and started to show struggle while breathing.

"Vidar! Oh no, no, no!" Leofwine was completely taken by surprise as the wolverine suffered from an alcohol poisoning. But he reacted quickly enough to put the massive body of Vidar into a stabilizing position to prevent anything worse. "Aldric, get Gaius here quickly! Then get Khaba and Crawford! We need healers as fast as possible."

Without wasting any time for words Aldric rushed outside, immediately aiming towards the hut he remembered as the one belonging to Gaius.

Further upstream the river that went into the Topaz Lake, Khaba was wandering with the two otters Lucille and Crawford to a place that they have told him about last night. "So, this grotto is seriously unknown about?"

"Certainly, the entrance is just a small hole and covered up by bushes and trees. Most of the people wouldn't even recognize it," Crawford replied in a jolly mood as they went towards a rock at the side of the river stream.

Lucille pushed aside a few branches and revealed the entrance to the cave while Crawford helped the fruit bat to get through easier.

Khaba was a bit scared to slip away as they descended down the hole into the bigger part of the underground. "How deep is this?"

"Just a couple of meters and we are through," Lucille replied as they finally came into a bigger chamber. Surprisingly it was not dark but illuminated in a magnificent blue as a number of crystals broke the light of a small sphere that was floating in the center of the cave. "The light has been here for a long time. Actually, it seems to be a permanent spell that has been left here. But since nobody ever comes into this place, we think that was probably decades back."

Excitement rose in Khaba as he looked around himself. A stream of water filled a pool that was clear enough to safely drink from, while the rest was simple just a wet cave with some spaces going up rather high. "So, is there anything special you have yet to tell me?"

Crawford looked a bit nervous as he pointed at a space that was rather high up, where a niche was going deeper into the cave. "If it doesn't bother you, we would like to know what is behind that hole. We assume that there could be something because the dripping of water can be heard from there."

"So, I should fly over there and see what there might be? Okay, it sounds rather fun to be honest," Khaba replied as he spread his wings and flew to up to the niche. The darkness was unpierced by light beyond that point, thus Khaba perked his ears and opened his mouth to use his larynx to produce a signal that was reflected back to him from the dimensions of the space that was before him. "There is a larger cave beyond this point. Twice as large as the one you are in."

Lucille was smiling at that hint of something greater behind the wall of rock. "Can you tell something more specific, maybe?"

Khaba again used his sonar to check this time for things that may would be oddly shaped for a cave. "There might be something. Let me check that out." After stepping a bit further and pushing himself from the ledge Khaba managed to reach the ground of the new cave area. With another use of his sonar he could make out something a bit to the right to him. A few steps later he was feeling a small pedestal and he went a bit further up and got his foot on a small trinket. It was smooth, small, perhaps like a round stone for him. He grabbed it with his left foot and flew back to the small hole that lead back to where the two otters were waiting for him. As he descended down to them he couldn't shake off that the object was feeling somewhat odd and the looks of Crawford appeared that there was a reason. As he landed and had a chance to look down he was a bit shocked at the sight. He was holding a skull in his feet, which had features no species he knew had.

Crawford came close to take a look at the skull and he took it in his hands. "This belongs not to an ordinary being. Maybe we should ask Gaius if he knows about it. Or maybe Aldric, he doesn't seem to be an idiot."

"I take that as a compliment," someone said from the entrance to which everyone turned their eyes to see Aldric climbing down fast and cautious. "So, what do you have found in this cave?

Immediately Crawford threw the skull towards Aldric who plucked it effortlessly out the air. "Do you have an idea what it may be?"

A glance down to the skull later Aldric shook his head. "I have not seen something like that before. And judging from the shape it is not a species native to this land. Maybe from the east or south."

"I am not even sure if it belongs to this world," Lucille commented as she took a look on it. "But, it oddly seems to be fresh, which can't be considering only we knew about this place and the part behind was closed off."

"Or maybe sealed off," Aldric replied as he put the skull down to the ground and went to wall that separated the two spaces of the cave. By focusing his magic and concentrating on the rock before him intensely he was able to make the rock tear apart to the sides and create an entry into the other area. "I will take over from here. Khaba and Crawford, Vidar needs your help right now, so I would ask you kindly to go to him for now and come back after he is okay. Lucille, do what you want, you are an adult."

Crawford made a gesture that he understood Aldric's command and he and Khaba immediately went up the hole to get back to the village as fast as they could.

"That prince got himself in trouble again? What happened this time?" Lucille asked as she and Aldric went further into the cave.

"You usually drink wine mixed with water, but Vidar did drink a lot of unmixed wine just now. I am sure he would have killed himself, if Leofwine didn't tear the bottle out of his hands," Aldric replied rather calmly considering the context of his words. "At least I got Gaius in time and he thankfully had some unexpected guests overnight, and your brother actually seems to know how to treat an alcohol poisoning."

"It's kind of him being prepared for such cases. Not that I or Crawford would ever get into such situations, but it appears it worked out for Vidar at least," Lucille replied as she stepped into the bigger, yet overly dark room that Khaba found the skull in. "Alright, any idea how to solve the issue with darkness?"

Aldric chuckled in amusement. "Is a nose not enough? Okay, give me a second." In the darkness Aldric had no problem focusing his energies into the rock around him as he let his magic flow through the wall behind him to tear it further apart, letting in the light of the sphere.

Lucille was rather glad that the badger did it as she now had a clearer image of what was behind the skull being located in this room. Unlike the natural structure of the cave before, this place looked like it had been modified to form a dome with an altar in the center, surrounded by eight pillars that were painted with images of strange creatures and buildings. "Those things are getting stranger and stranger by the minute."

"Well, it seems like an abandoned temple. We have similar structures in Scathsolas, though the pillars show nothing of known iconography to me," the badger explained. He stepped further at one of the pillars and looked over the paintings left a long time ago. "The images actually appear to show the Old Ones. If you compare the buildings to those of other interpretations they look rather similar. However, those creatures, they appear to be what the people here would have thought the Old Ones as. And it fits the shape of the skull perfectly."

"So, you think they worshiped this skull as a remnant of the Old Ones?" Lucille asked the badger as she looked behind her where the skull was shone upon by the blue light in the other room. "If that is the case, why was it sealed off?"

"If you think about it, the skull hasn't decayed a bit. So, this makes me wonder about it," Aldric answer rather worried as he stepped back into the other room to examine the skull a bit more. "Magic can have many effects on the world. It lies upon the caster and his might what possibilities it has, but this skull is surrounded by enchantments that cause it to be unaffected by time. Meaning, it is completely preserved in the state it has been since it was worshipped. I assume however that the cult must have acted against other people and thus was terminated and their temple sealed away. That must have been before we could write down about such events, so I can't be for sure about it, but it would be plausible."

"Yeah, but I kind of wished something else was here. It's kind of boring," Lucille stated as she run to the skull to put it back on the altar again. "A disappointment considering that it could have been a treasure maybe. But the head of someone is nothing I really find interesting."

"It isn't? Then I guess Vidar's father has wasted his life with a big collection of those," Aldric joked as he was going back to the other room towards the altar. "But if you want something more interesting, there might be more underground."

Now Lucille was getting more excited. "Okay, then we really should start looking, so we can explore that place once Crawford and Khaba come back."

Meanwhile at the hut Leofwine was fiddling with a piece of cloth that he soaked in cold water. Focusing a little bit more, he was able to reduce its temperature magically a bit in order to be more efficient as he put it down on Vidar's head.

Gaius meanwhile was going over the wolverine's stomach and liver with his left hand while he focused to use a healing spell on it to purge the poisonous alcohol from the bloodstream. "More luck than intelligence. Just a bit more and he would probably have been stumbling into Styx before Charon could ask for a fee."

Leofwine sighed. "It's kind of stupid, he was just downing it like water without any restraint. And see where it brought to him."

Gaius laughed a little bit. "Add some hetairai and then we have a symposium. But seriously, he was very stupid," he said and took his hands back to stand up from the ground. "But he will be alright. Now, I guess Aldric should bring Khaba and Crawford here, so I hope they aren't mad that we disturbed them."

"Well, Lucille would be," the calm voice of a walking in Crawford said as he and Khaba went over to Vidar. "So, this is our prince. Quite a sight to behold."

Khaba snickered into himself. "To be fair, this happens to a lot of people in the nobilis of Urbulchem. Including the embarrassing state we see Vidar in here."

"Unfortunately he is right about the nobilis," Gaius said with a soft chuckle accompanying the sentence. He then took Vidar under the arms and dragged him to the bed on the side of the room. "By Iuppiter, he is pretty heavy."

Leofwine agreed to this statement with a nod. "I can tell from experience. He rolled around in his sleep and almost suffocated me. Anyway, where are Lucille and Aldric right now?"

"Just in the forest waiting for us," Crawford replied, not entirely eager to give his brother the full story about the hidden cave where they found a strange skull. He knew Leofwine would freak out if he heard about that.

"So, you want to spend time with Aldric? Okay, I think that he might have a good insight into the forest, so sorry for interrupting you so suddenly. I was just very worried about Vidar," Leofwine replied as he sat down on the table and started to eat his breakfast before it would spoil.

Khaba and Crawford took the chance immediately to return back to Aldric and Lucille in the cave before they could rise any suspicions.

However, Leofwine just started stuffing his food into his mouth and swallowing it barely chewed as soon as he was sure they were far enough away. "I can smell something odd about this. Watch over Vidar for me, Gaius," he told the wolf and run out of the hut in a hurry.

Back at the cave Crawford rushed down rather fast, slipped at the last few steps, and would have hit the ground with his nose if Khaba wasn't keeping him afloat by flapping his wings.

Aldric was looking at them while trying to not give in to the urge of laughter at the sight of Khaba's helpful ability. "Good, so Vidar is fine I assume."

"As fine as it gets. He probably won't remember this morning," Khaba replied as he got off from Crawford's back and flew right on Aldric's. "So, this place was a temple of sorts?"

"Certainly. And maybe a bit more, if my guess should be right," the badger replied as he went over to a spot further in where a heavy layer of dust was covering the ground. "There is a smell of iron here. Maybe we should push away some of the dust." And so he did, and revealed an iron door covered under it.

Crawford caught up to the others and looked in awe at the plate. "What is the meaning of this? Who would have forged an iron door into the ground, especially considering how long this place must have been shut off from the outside?"

"It appears to be a temple where a cult worshiping the Old Ones was once thriving, so it probably has to do with such," Aldric replied as he tried to pull open the door, but to no avail. "Well, it is rusted shut. And metal is unfortunately not like rocks, dirt, or plants. Its properties are not within my control."

Lucille groaned in disappointment. "You mean we discovered something beyond everyone's believe and can't get in without magic that can control metal?"

On the other hand, however, Crawford simply glanced around the room, and took an old rusty blade. With a careful movement, he slid it under the door and pushed all his weight on it, causing it to lever the door open. "He never said we needed it."

"He also never said that he would encourage my siblings to do something dangerously stupid," someone said from the cave entrance and everyone turned to see Leofwine rushing in, stumbling just at the last step and falling down on his face. "Damn, how embarrassing."

"Sliding down a steep tunnel is more something for experts," Aldric joked as he waited for Leofwine to overreact about him helping the two younger otters out with their adventurous plans.

"Stupid stripe face, have you any idea how dangerous such places are?" Leofwine was now getting angrier as he got up and shook of the dust from his fur as he stepped further into the grand temple hall. "Somebody could break their neck down here or be attacked by someone hiding in the shadows."

"You are the first one who almost broke his neck the way down, at least after what I can tell," the badger was giving Leofwine a smug grin as he looked down the hole that the door was covering. "So, aren't you curious about what's down here? Maybe we find something valuable, either in terms of money or use."

Making a face like he just got punched in the face by Aldric again, Leofwine clenched his fists. "Alright, go down there if you want, but Lucille and Crawford come back with me."

"Don't plan to," Lucille answered to her brother's demand and took the ladder down before she could be stopped doing so.

Crawford and Khaba followed suit as long as Leofwine was not in reach of them. The fruit bat gave Leofwine a view of his tongue sticking out as they went further down into the unknown.

"You two are going nowhere!" Leofwine shouted as he run to the hole and followed his siblings down the ladder.

Having no other option left, Aldric went straight down himself and he was a bit overwhelmed by the scent of iron being everywhere around him as he descended into the room below. The darkness was disorienting at first as his nose was occupied by the smell of rusted metal, but soon he found himself able to locate the others. "Does anyone of you know a light spell?"

"Certainly," Crawford replied and snipped his fingers. A moment later he was holding a sphere in his hand that was bright enough to illuminate the room they were standing in. Due to the time that had passed it was mainly consisting of rusted and dusty metal objects, all undefinable for the group. Several doors, of some which were rusted shut, others open, lead further into the complex.

"Crawford, Lucille, you two will go up now and return to the village!" Leofwine demanded as he was getting more and more furious with every moment.

Lucille made a rude gesture at him and went further in without saying another word or even caring what her older brother was going to say. Crawford and Khaba followed her wordless.

"Alright, do what you want. I just sit here on my tail while you have fun or whatever," Leofwine sulked into himself as he let himself down on one of the tables in the room. A second later the table collapsed under his weight and he tried to not let a curse escape from his tongue.

Aldric on the other hand was just bored and went to the others. He was rather amused as he saw that Crawford had entered a room in which several strange objects were attached to the wall and ground. "So, what do you think this is for?"

"Well, it is old and dusty, but there are a few things that look like levers," Lucille replied as she pulled one of them that was attached to the wall. A few moments later water was raining down on her and she jumped up from the surprise. "Okay, it's just water coming out of this strange thing."

"So if this lever made water appear, then what do the one's attached to those bowls do?" Aldric asked himself as he went to the bowl that was attached to the wall and pulled up the lever, or rather tore it off as the rust had already eaten through it. Just a moment later the wall got some cracks and a powerful fountain of water shot out of it, hitting Aldric right in the face.

Khaba laughed at the badger's misery just to be hit by a fountain that was coming from where the other lever was located. "I think we broke it."

The group went out of the room to get to safety from the broken apparatuses in it and went further into the complex, carefully not to touch anything, till they got to a staircase that was completely rusted apart. At the very bottom several stair parts were piling up, as they probably crashed down at some point.

"Well, Khaba, you want to inspect again?" Lucille asked the fruit bat as she looked at set of doors that was located far down. "The door down there looks fun. Maybe you can see if there is something?"

"I do demand a payment for that later on," Khaba replied as he dove down to the door and looked for the handle. Much to his surprise, there was none and only a strange plate attached to the wall seemed to be standing out. But he had another idea for opening the door. "Aldric, could you look for Vidar? He could maybe melt the door open with a fire spell."

Alcohol was still churning his brain somewhat as Vidar slowly got back to his senses. Groaning in pain about his headache he tried to step out of the bed and to a place to relief himself from his stomach ache.

"Ah, you are awake," Gaius called to him as he got up from the table where he was waiting for something to happen. "Good thing Leofwine was thinking quick, you almost died from an alcohol poisoning."

"That explains a lot actually," the wolverine replied as he staggered around a bit to regain his equilibrium. Not too much success as he fell down on his butt and wished someone would help him with his headache. "What did exactly happen?"

"Well, Aldric told me you drank almost two bottles of unmixed wine. Leofwine tore one of the bottles out of your hand, so he kind of saved you there," Gaius told him with a calm smile on his face. "And you also had some problems accompanied with it, so we had to make you fresh again to put it in less embarrassing words. You can keep the loincloth by the way."

Vidar was blushing a little bit. "Did you have to say that? Screw it, where are the others?"

Gaius shrugged at that question. "Not entirely sure, but Leofwine ran out an hour ago because he thought they were doing something dangerous in the forest."

"Well, I might as well just follow his scent then." Vidar then took a sniff and followed the freshest smell he could get from Leofwine as he stepped outside into the rather painful sunlight. Blinded from the bright glare he was disoriented and hit his foot on a wood log on the ground. "Gods!" Jumping on one of his legs without proper recovery from the wine he quickly fell over and landed on his back. "Why me?"

"Why you? Because the world needs some humor, doesn't it?" the voice of Aldric said as the badger came into Vidar's field of view and helped him up from the ground. "I hope you are not too exhausted, but Khaba had the idea for you to help us with something."

"Sure, but I keep my right to just sleep on the ground, if I want to," the wolverine replied as he slowly was able to see in the sunlight again. Eagerly he followed Aldric, but found himself trying to keep pace with the currently fitter badger, while his headache was killing him. It took them about half an hour to get into the cave and to the hole that lead further down.

Leofwine was reacting rather surprised as he could smell Vidar getting down. He got up from the debris and flinched as he felt splinters in his fur piercing through it enough to touch his skin. "Good to know that you are fine Vidar. But shouldn't you stay in bed for a bit longer?"

"Maybe, but I feel better doing something," the wolverine replied as he stepped closer to the otter's scent, just to sneeze loudly as the dust in the air was getting to his nose. "So, where are your siblings and Khaba?"

Trying to not sound unpleasant Leofwine took Vidar's arm and dragged him towards the door where he could make out the faint blue glimmer of Crawford's spell. "If you follow the light, you should find them. I could hear how they talked about getting you here for a door, so have fun."

"Oh, someone should follow his own advice. Have fun with us," Vidar replied as he now lifted up Leofwine over his shoulder to drag him to the others.

Of course the otter was getting angry for that and kicked Vidar in the butt a few times to be dropped off. His attempts got weaker at the moment as he realized that Vidar was rather unresponsive towards physical pain to his buttocks.

Khaba was already waiting eagerly at the edge of the staircase for the two to join in. "Vidar, if it is not too much trouble, the door down there," he pointed at the double door with his left feet, "is in our way. A fire spell would be rather helpful."

"A spell, you say? Um, alright, I am going to do that," Vidar said with a faked confidence that barely could hide that he was not too eager to use fire magic. "Step aside, this is a bit dangerous," he held both arms stretched out and focused his inner energies to form a small ball of fire in front of his palms. It grew immensely however as the wolverine started to move his hands around the orb. With his will he let it descend towards the door, but the magic was getting on his still not fully recovered brain and the fireball exploded in front of the door, tearing it apart. His head began spinning and he would nearly have dropped down, if Aldric didn't rush into the staircase and pulled him back to the ground.

"Alright, that was not the smartest idea. You should have stayed a bit further from the edge," the badger told his friend as he knelt down to see if he was fine.

Vidar gave him an exhausted look as he tried to sit upright. "I see that in hindsight. Speaking of which, how do we get down there? Specifically we, I do know Khaba can fly down there."

"It should be enough if I check it out," the fruit bat replied before he flew down without another word. Going fast through the tear he was able to make out something large located at the end of the room. Landing down before it he tried to make out details with his sonar.

A loud noise was suddenly tearing through the room and a bright picture was illuminating the room shortly after. A voice from somewhere was saying words Khaba couldn't understand, but a few moments later it stopped. "What was this? Voices, sounds, but there is just dead stuff in here." Being rather disappointed Khaba was about to turn around till he suddenly could feel something shivering down his spine. An icy cold filled the room and went through Khaba's entire body. "H-help," he muttered weakly before he lost consciousness and fell over.

"Khaba!" Vidar's heartbeat increased as adrenalin pumped through his veins once again and he took several steps backward to run straight to the edge of the platform. He jumped with all the energy he could push out of his legs and managed to land on the platform of the other floor. Keeping his left palm pointed up he concentrated for a small flame to form above his hand. He rushed towards the fruit bat and grabbed him with his free arm to run out of the room. Without even seeing it coming he hit something solid and landed flat on his butt as he saw that a massive wall of ice had cut off his path. While his coat was holding off the cold, every time he tried to evoke fire again the flame went out immediately. "Helvíti! Come out you bqllrhqfdi!"

"Chimera," an icy and scratchy voice whispered into the wolverine's ear. "Your kind, your deeds against us, they will not be forgiven."

"Come out you raven starver!" Vidar shouted as he put Khaba down to go into a battle stance with his fists. That courage soon came to weaken as the air in front of him grew solid and formed a roundular head and a bipedal body two heads larger than him.

"Your kind shall leave this world!" the ice monster said in an eerie tone that chilled through the ears of Vidar and the others behind the ice barrier. "Blood shall be paid in blood."

"You are eager to get some from me? Try that!" he screamed as he stretched out his right arm in expectation to unleash a powerful fire spell, but the flame didn't even last for the fraction of a second as the air cooled down immensely and started to even go through his pelt. "I can't die here. I will not die here!" Finding a bit more courage in himself Vidar rushed towards the monster and punched at its arm.

The creature was not reacting as its limb was shattered from its body, but a few moments later it regrew in the same shape of the arm that was no lying on the floor. And as it was in close range to Vidar it retaliated by grabbing on to Vidar's throat and throwing him across the room against a wall.

The pain and cold was hard on his bones, but Vidar shook it off in his adrenalin rush and took the next best object he could find on the ground and rushed to his opponent with a piece of scrap metal to sever the head from its body. Much to his pleasure it went right off as the neck shattered into pieces, but just like before his triumphant feeling was cut short by the body part regenerating.

"You don't seem to understand the futility of your battle, chimera," the icy creature whispered casually as its hands grabbed Vidar's arms and lifted him up like he was a sack. "Feel what we felt when your kind brought death upon us. Despair and fear is all you deserve."

Vidar tried to free himself from the grip he was trapped in, but he soon felt how his arms were pierced all over with icy extensions that formed across the arms of the creature and looked similar to rose thorns. Seeing how his own blood was flowing down and dripping from the arms the wolverine was losing courage and hope as his situation grew direr by the second. He could feel the ice extending further and he feared that soon it would pierce his heart. "I am sorry everyone."

"Don't worry, this will be soon over," the voice of Aldric echoed through the room with a determination and power behind it as a large boulder came through the ice barrier and to the creature, shattering both in an instant. Aldric was however on a stony platform with Leofwine and his siblings holding on to him to not fall off. "Crawford, you need to apply healing magic to Vidar, Lucille and Leofwine you warm up Khaba!"

The three otters obeyed that command and rushed to where the shaman was pointing them. Within a few moments Lucille and Leofwine dragged Khaba to a safe spot at the edge of the room, while Crawford focused a powerful healing spell to help Vidar stand up from the ground.

Having regained the feeling for his body again Vidar tried to evaluate his own situation. It was a relief to have again survived an ordeal, but he still was shaky on his legs as the pain stuck to his mind. "What did you do, Aldric?"

Aldric didn't answer to that question as he was staring into the space before him. He sensed the spirit still luring in the shadows and he was about to banish it from the spirit world. As soon as he transitioned over he approached what looked like a person with a head fitting for what he found as a skull in the cave before. "A soul like yours would find no place in Annwn. You will only be reborn once again."

"How arrogant of you, chimera. To speak of the afterlife, while in the end you are just abominations that should never have been," the soul said in a calm yet hateful voice. "We are your true gods, not the lunatic dragon. And we will call forth your Armageddon, just as you did when you betrayed us."

"Arrogant? You call yourself a god and call me arrogant? I have to question your perception, but please do explain," Aldric replied in a manner that made his spirit make a smug smile.

"You brute animals couldn't even comprehend. We made you, you were only meant to serve, and yet you disobeyed. Slaughtered our women and children," the ghost answered. "I shall do the same to you and your friends."

Aldric chuckled softly as he stepped closer to the soul. "No, I don't think so," he softly spoke as he grabbed the soul on the head and focused heavily to pierce through its mental defenses. Within moments Aldric's body was reactive again and looked around to see the others looking at him. "Exorcism must look awkward when it happens from the other side. But it's over now."

"So you send the spirit to Helheimr?" Vidar asked with a mix of exhaustion and satisfaction as he was carried by both Crawford and Leofwine.

"Maybe, I banished his soul to the Otherworld," Aldric replied as he went to the wolverine and took the place of the two otters to carry Vidar by himself. "Might be Helheimr, though. I can only see as far as the layer before the afterlife."

Vidar chuckled weakly to that statement as he was slowly put down on the stone platform and carried up to the top floor.

Back at the village Aldric made sure that both Vidar and Khaba were feeling well enough after they were attacked by the spirit. "Chimera, why did he call us that?" he was asking to himself as he was cooking a soup from several of the herbs that he could gather in the kitchen. "What do you guys think?"

"Well, the Old Ones were worshipped as gods, so maybe they developed that belief of themselves being gods and our creators," Crawford suggested as he covered Khaba with every single piece of cloth he could find in the hut.

Aldric looked into the soup kettle and sighed. "Maybe, but I am still bothered by this. Too bad, it would have been too risky to let him stay for longer."

"Maybe we should tell Gaius. He does know a few things," Leofwine suggested as he was just lying on his bed doing nothing like everyone but Crawford and Aldric.

"You suggested it, so you get him here," Aldric said as he tasted the soup he was brewing with a clean wooden spoon. "Meanwhile I will add the cream and fruits to the soup and make a Scathsolian stew out of it."

Leofwine got up with some grumbling and went out of the hut to get the wolf back to their place.

"Good, so how about Khaba?" the badger now asked with his eyes glancing over to Crawford who was carrying a pile of blankets to cover the little fruit bat.

"Well, he lacks the fur to really withstand cold. Even Vidar's summer pelt was able to protect him somewhat," Crawford replied as he dropped the blankets on Khaba's bed and checked his pulse. "But he is stable now."

Aldric mixed the cream and fruits into the kettle and left it alone to go over to Khaba. "Still, it does mean he may should return to the south before winter comes."

"He needs new clothing, though. Any idea what bats wear in Urbulchem?" Lucille stated as she took one of the fined flax blankets and gave it some thought. "Aldric, flax is a plant material, so you could manipulate it to form clothing out of it. Maybe something that can be mentally put on and off even and change shape?"

"Give me the blanket, please," Aldric replied as he presented his left arm to grab what Lucille deemed expendable for the spell. Soon enough he was holding the blanket and let it hang down from his arm. He folded it to a compact bundle and then dug out Khaba from the pile of cloth that Crawford covered him with. Putting the blanket on Khaba he concentrated and moved his both arms in a rhythmic dance-like movement.

The blanket started to dissolve completely and reformed around Khaba's body, replacing the old, dirty clothing he wore before with something clean and fitting perfectly on his body, a dress that covered the wings, legs, and torso without any issue for Khaba if he would be hanging upside down.

"Alright, and that's what magic is for. It's still enchanted with the same spell I used to create it, so he can shape it mentally, which makes five silver pieces as my payment," Aldric joked as he put the blankets back over Khaba.

A moment later Leofwine returned and had Gaius and his stepbrother Septimus following him inside. "Sorry that I had to bring that guy, but he insisted."

"He was unconscious when I came to Gaius earlier, so what's the deal with him?" Aldric asked as he stared at the fox, who was trying to cover his exposed upper body from the eyes of the others.

"Stop staring at me, you filthy barbarian," Septimus hissed as he took a blanket from the pile Khaba was lying under and put it around himself.

"An adult brat, great," the badger said as he violently pulled the blanket away from the fox and put it back on Khaba. "Anyway, Gaius we went to explore a cave and found an underground building of the Old Ones in it behind a sealed off wall. Inside we got some trouble with a restless soul, which froze Khaba nearly to death and may would also have killed Vidar."

The wolf was looking slightly surprised about Aldric's words. "In that case, I should tell you that the gems we found were made by the Old Ones. Or rather, they are shards that have been taken from the ruins of one of their cities and later were spread across Meresteria's Axis region. At least it seems fitting to me."

Aldric nodded into himself and starred at the ceiling. "Something I was however confused by is that the spirit called us chimeras. Have you any idea what this could mean?"

"Chimeras? A peculiar term that describes a creature mixed from several different species of animals. Does that help?" Gaius replied with a face that was looking a little concerned.

"So, it suggest that we are basically creations made from different parts? Which is not really all that shocking as they were worshipped as our gods and creators millennia ago, so the spirit would have believed in that," Aldric concluded as he sat down on a chair and scratched his left ear. "But considering that most of our species have shared traits, it is not too uninteresting if those traits were in fact from something else. But it's too early to come to a conclusion, yet."

"Not that I care about it. What about the gems?" Vidar now interjected as he got up from his bed and walked over to Gaius. "I have no interest in what those corpses think they are and what we are, just get to a point about those gems!"

"Remain calm, Vidar. The purpose of the shards is only speculated and the most common theory is that they were part of a construction on the Adamas Isles, which has sunken into the ocean when the Grey Star arrived," the wolf explained as he glanced over to Aldric. "Our own legends tell of it as a victory of the Helans, but I have learned that your legends tell of this deity, which destroyed the Old Ones."

"As taken from oral accounts, yes. It is heavily influenced by cults, so there are variations to it, of course. The Grey Star does appear in a variety of ways in every single story told here in the northwest," Aldric replied as he realized something. "Maybe neither is wrong. The spirit said something of our ancestors slaughtering their women and children, but also mentioned a lunatic dragon, ergo the Grey Star."

"Come to the point, you bacrauts! What about the gems?" Vidar now screamed in desperation as he found himself ignored by Gaius and Aldric.

Aldric sighed as he stood up from his chair and slapped Vidar in the face. "Get a grip on yourself, we are evaluating it right now."

"If I wasn't pierced all over my shoulder an hour ago, I would beat you to a pulp, but please hurry up," the wolverine replied angrily and slightly shocked at the badger's backlash.

"Okay, I will recap. The two gems we have are cyan and red, they convert magic into light, they are made by the Old Ones, and someone is willing to kill for them. It will be something light related and something that even with magic is impossible for us. Like resurrection or immense destruction," Aldric explained and took a breather.

"Considering the temper of that spirit, I assume the later," Vidar commented as he sat back down on his bed. "I am sick of all this. First all my comrades get killed, I get tortured, then I cause public distress, then I poison myself, then I got nearly ripped apart by an ice monster. That all in three days."

Aldric shook his head. "I do hope that our days will be more relaxed later on. How about we all go to Scathsolas and enjoy the hot springs in the lowest depths of the city? We can also get information easier in a larger settlement. Sounds good?"

"I would actually love to relax a bit," Leofwine stated as he thought about how sore his body felt after all they went through lately. "So, how should we plan this then?"

Gaius chuckled softly as he looked to his stepbrother and then to Lucille and Crawford. "Well, I do need to attend some business in Urbulchem, so how about I let your siblings live in my villa for a while, so you don't have to worry a bit about them? Even though they clearly are old enough to be left unattended."

Septimus' jaw dropped at that proposal. "You want to let two barbarian children live in our villa? Are you out of your mind? This boy is a filthy weakling and that girl looks like a boy to me!"

Lucille crossed her arms in disgust as she went over to the fox and looked straight into his eyes. "Aldric is right, you are an adult who behaves like a brat," she said sternly and kicked Septimus in a very painful manner that caused the vulpine to drop to his knees and groan in agony.

"Good, that should shut up the more annoying noises and maybe spares the world of more Septimi," Aldric said as he turned to Leofwine. "So, you did turn back on your decision then. Glad to hear that I got a hand to make sure Vidar doesn't get into trouble again."

The wolverine was making a hurt face but he eventually started laughing about the badger's jest. "Probably better to have a dear friend with me."

Leofwine was looking gratefully at Vidar and then towards Aldric. "I may not be a brave man, a powerful warrior, or a wise magician, but I will do whatever I can for you, Vidar, and everyone."

"Grand words and I hope you will keep to them," the shaman replied and stepped back to the kettle and took a bowl to fill it with the stew. "Alright, it's finished. Who wants something from my home?"

Soon after the kettle was empty and everyone had some of it, Lucille and Crawford went to their rooms to take some rest from the events of the day, Gaius and Septimus went back to their hut, and Aldric and Leofwine were lying down on their beds. Only Vidar was not very satisfied as he was still somewhat hungry. "I have to be honest, soup and stew doesn't fill up my gut as well as some really juicy and fat meat. Maybe we should eat some tomorrow?"

"I am not really into eating much else than fish and some vegetables," Leofwine replied as he was holding his stomach while he was slowly dozing off. "Maybe a little, but not much."

Aldric meanwhile was not responding as he was fast asleep and wrapped in a blanket while a soft breathing could be heard from him.

"I would wake him up, but he seems to lose patience with me and my shenanigans. Never expected him to hit me," Vidar chuckled into himself as he got up from his bed and stretched his limbs a little. "Anyway, I need to, well you know. Just takes a few minutes."

Leofwine just glanced up at the leaving wolverine and the let his head fall back into his soft pillow, wondering what was up with himself. It was not avoidable for Aldric and Vidar to kill someone, if the subject of their journey already claimed so many lives. And he also feared that his siblings would be in danger when they followed Gaius to do the same. Eventually however he stopped thinking about it and fell asleep.

"Help!" Vidar's voice screamed from somewhere in the barely illuminated void in which Leofwine found himself standing. "Help!"

Panic was coming into Leofwine's mind as he ran towards the screaming noises and he eventually found himself in the same forest in Argentflux where Vidar was tortured by the Urbulchemian horse. He fell down on his knees and started crying as he found the dead body of the wolverine lying in front of him. "No. Please no!" Unable to realize this was all just a nightmare Leofwine was shaking the corpse as strongly as he could, but eventually collapsed unto Vidar's chest as he could feel a strong force hitting him on his cheek. Suddenly he was back in his hut and helped up by Aldric, who was looking rather concerned at him.

"Sorry, you were screaming and sobbing everyone awake, and I was too lazy to try softer methods," Aldric said with a satisfied grin. "You do overreact even in your sleep, you know?"

"It's just, I saw, Vidar was," Leofwine stopped for a second to take a breather and sort his thoughts in order to reply to the badger. "I dreamt that Vidar was screaming for help and that I was unable to safe him," he cried with eyes leaking more tears.

Aldric slapped Leofwine another time and shook him heavily for two seconds, "Sorry, that's the traditional method to make someone snap out of it. While we are at it, where is Vidar?"

"He wanted to, um, well you know," Leofwine replied as he was caressing his sore cheek before he looked at the empty bed in which Vidar was supposed to sleep during the night hour. "And he should have returned already."

"Should have, but didn't," Aldric stated as he searched for the freshest scent he could get from Vidar. "How peculiar, there is someone right outside," he whispered and slowly went towards the door. With a sudden burst of haste he opened the door and threw the person that was outside to the ground. "Who are you and what do you want? Tell me, or I will be much less comfortable to be around."

The man, a familiar young ermine, was trying to cover himself from the intimidating badger. "Please Aldric, I was just trying to help."

"Aren't you Jocelyn? I remember you knocking out Leofwine when you tried to knock out Vidar, so thanks for the help," Aldric replied with a dripping sarcasm. "The Great Mother hopefully will forgive me, but right now I want to rip all of you guys' tails off."

Jocelyn got up from the ground and wiped off the dust from his leather armor. "I really am trying to help. Durandt, he got Prince Vidar!"

Leofwine's heart skipped ten beats as he heard this. "No, what does this bastard want with him?"

"So far he only knocked him out while he was, well you know, then he and two other guys dragged him into the forest. Maybe they try to get rid of him while they don't have to fear any interference," the ermine stated as he gestured to a chest standing at the side of the room. "Grab your sword, this might be serious."

Being uneager to actually use a weapon, but willing to help Vidar Leofwine run to his chest and took out a pair of trousers, a leather vest, and a sheathed sword. A minute later he was fully equipped and ready.

"Good, so we are saving Vidar's royal butt again," Aldric complained with his eyes rolling. But eventually he just grabbed his walking cane and went outside and searched for the scent of Vidar while the other two were behind him. "I am going to make him regret being such an idiot."

"If you don't, I will be cooking for all of us for the entire journey," Leofwine offered the angered badger with a nervous smile.

Aldric's expression calmed down and he chuckled into himself. "Then I will punch in Durandt's face in twice as hard as I originally intended," he replied and stepped towards the forest away from the lake. "And that will be soon enough."