Arcane Journey

Chapter 350 A Land Shrouded in Shadows

It's snowing in the floating city of Sacross.

Without the protection of the magic barrier, snowflakes are flying in the streets and alleys of this ancient city, as soft and silent as memories.

Did it wake me up?
The ghost prince Agrila stared out the window, unconsciously put down the quill in his hand, and couldn't help thinking.

In the garden under the Tower of Shadows, the snow is already deep.

They were flying one after another, covering the grass and blooming flowers, covering the statue with a white coat, and bending the branches of the flowering trees, reminding Agrila of a long, long time ago... long enough to completely forget the night, remembering childhood in Netheril.

The day his family moved to the Floating City of Karthus was the last time he saw snow.

The snowflakes back then were not as big as they are today, he thought, they would melt in an instant when they hit his hairline, and little Breners' snowball would never be complete.

The joy of that morning made him ache.

The eldest brother Rui Valan carried him onto the flying carpet, and the second brother Yada supported his body so that he could stand firmly on the magic carpet that slid in place like a snake.

Facing the fine snow, they flew out of the manor where the thorn roses had withered long ago, left their hometown, rushed to the vast sky, and flew towards the floating city protected by a magic barrier.

Agrela thought that his arcanist career would start in the floating city.

One day, he will also have his own floating city, but unexpectedly, it is almost coming to an end now.

He stood up, let the narrow window open, snowflakes drifted into the study, and Agrela opened the door and walked down the spiral staircase.

As he then opened the gate to the garden, he couldn't help but start to marvel at the peace he had never seen on the Shadow Plane.

The snowflakes are floating, the distant fragrance and loneliness.

They landed heavy and undisturbed, and all the colors of the Void City were defeated and fled, only black, white and gray: white houses and statues, black shadows and ghost towers, gray sky.

This is a world that is so pure that the shadow plane can't be compared with it, Agrela thought to himself, a world that no longer belongs to him.

The Prince of Shadows stomped out the door like a walking corpse, his boots digging ankle-deep holes in the slick white snow without making a sound.

He walked through the frosty undergrowth, looking at the thin black trunks, wondering if he was still dreaming.

Flying snowflakes are like a lover's gentle kiss, across the face and melted by magic.

He came to the middle of the garden, stood next to the collapsed, half-buried statue of Sekora, the shark god, closed his eyes, and raised his head to the sky, as if he smelled the smell of snowflakes, tasted the taste of snow.

This is the taste of Netheril, the taste of innocence, the taste of dreams.

When he opened his eyes, he found that he had already knelt down, but he didn't remember what happened.

The sky is white and dawn is coming.

It's a new day, Agrela thought, pointing to the future.

But what he longed for was to go back to the past, and prayed to go back to the past.

But whom should he pray to?

This small garden was originally the temple of the sahuagin god Sekora, a ruin without murlocs and gods.

Like him, empty, empty...

The Shadow Prince stretched out his hand to press his aching chest, silently feeling the only beating black heart in the dark, shadow-like skeleton, in the empty rib cage.

Agrela picked up a handful of snow, squeezed it between her fingers, and easily squeezed it into a wet ball.

He continued to work, fingering, until the snowball was round, white and flawless.

On a snowy day in winter, one morning, when he walked out of the room, he was ambushed by his two younger brothers, Cora Ribonas and Brenas.

They were each holding a dozen snowballs, but he had none.

Coralie Bonas was standing on top of the closed bridge, and he couldn't catch it, so it was Breners who was chasing.

The two of them ran across the stables and around the kitchen until they were both out of breath.

He could have caught Breenners, but slipped and fell on the ice.

The younger brother ran over to visit with concern and asked him if he was injured.

When Agrela answered 'no' honestly, he hit Breners with a snowball head-on, which made his face bloom.

Not to be outdone, he grabbed his younger brother's thigh, flipped him to the ground, opened his pants, and stuffed the snow into it with all his strength, until finally Yada came, holding each hand like a chicken, laughing and laughing. The two brothers separated.

Now that he had a snowball, what would he do with it?
Agrela looked at the poor little thing in his hands and thought sadly that no one here would play snowballs with him childishly.

The Shadow Prince let go, the snowball slipped from his palm and shattered...

When Agrila returned to her study, the sixth Lamorak had already been waiting for a long time.

It has been a month since the battle in Shadow Valley.

With the full support of the priests of the Lost Lady and the leader of the Sembia Women's University, the floating city of Sacross has basically been repaired and can be successfully suspended in midair.

In just two months, he will be able to complete all the barriers, restrictions, and mysteries inside the floating city, and then he can lead Sembia's army to destroy the Kingdom of Cormyr.

It only takes two months... he thought to himself, and then changed into an indifferent expression, meeting Lamorak's gaze.

"Old Ten, you don't know yet, Yada has already left."

Lamorac spoke first, "I saw in the Tower of Shadows that Braines came once last night, and then he left the next day without saying hello."

"I see." Agrela said lightly.

What he was most worried about happened, Yada's departure was obviously the last thing he wanted to see.

Among his many brothers, his second brother Yada is the most honest and loyal, but also the most persistent person. Once it is something he thinks is right, then he will stick to it to the end.

Like the belief in the Lost Lady.

But Agrila has long known that Yada's belief in the Lost Lady is just the result of a lie by Rui Valan.

Once the lie is exposed, his belief will collapse in an instant, and one can imagine what kind of change will happen to his mood at this moment.

Breners...

Agrila silently read the name of his youngest brother in his heart. He didn't know how Breners learned the truth about his mother's death.

But no matter who is right or who is wrong, he still insists that Breners' actions are a bit too thoughtless.

He could even imagine the scene when Yada met Ruivalan and desperately sought him out.

This will only make him, the stubborn second brother, constantly approaching the abyss of death.

Rui Valan's actions are certainly shameless, but if he hadn't done so, then the fate of the floating city of Sultanza would probably be no different from other floating cities.

Ask yourself, if Agrela chooses, he may really choose the same method after calmly weighing the pros and cons.

Of course, the premise of all this is that the truth about the impending demise of the Netheril Empire has been known.

As far as he knows, Riveran didn't know these truths before he killed his mother, but it was his fulfillment to share 'his secrets' with the Lost Lady, because to the supplicants of her clergy, it was It is the most important ritual of committing to the Faith of the Lost Lady.

The reward for Rui Valan is to use the power of the lost lady, and then use his own divination ability to help his father successfully send Sultanza to the shadow plane, avoiding the disaster that destroyed the entire empire .

No matter what the purpose of the lost lady is, it is an indisputable fact that she saved the city of Sultanza.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Lamorac's disgusting voice sounded again, "Yada ran away with Breners."

"And then?" Agrila looked at Lamorak indifferently, "The two of us chased him out, and captured this believer who betrayed the Lost Lady?"

"That's not what I meant." Lamorac waved his hand, and the light red eyes hidden in the black robe became a little brighter, "You have also seen that the plan of the Lost Lady is about to fail, and we must consider our own future. road."

Innocent!

Agrila gave Lamorac a disdainful look, and he knew what the other party's purpose was to find him.

back road?

For him, what is accurate is that for ghosts like them, they have long since had no way out.

"Do you know the world of the magic web?" Lamorak continued:
"The Realm of the Magic Web is also called 'Tahadana'. This is a super-two-dimensional space. It was created with magic a long time ago. It is said that these spells were cast by the Imascans of the former Mechanical Empire. They belong to Only the magic net can touch the place, as long as we hide in it, even the gods will not be able to perceive our existence."

Hearing this, Agrela looked at Lamorac with great interest, and then said in a sarcastic tone, "It seems that your magical attainments in certain aspects are really beyond my reach. Unfortunately, you are missing A heart of awe."

As for 'Tahadana', he naturally has heard a little bit about it. These ultra-two-dimensional spaces, like flies sticking to a spider's web, obtain the shelter of the magic web to survive.

Even the gods have difficulty finding these places, unless someone can control the magic net, or the chosen ones of the goddess of magic.

The reason why the magic web was able to be torn scars by the Lost Lady was that his father, the High King Telamante and Lalock, jointly cast a twisting maze on 'Tahadana', just like the magic lock on the 'Spider Web'. When the fly broke free from the shackles, it tore a trace of the magic net like the broken net it left behind.

If the voters of the goddess of magic want to restore the magic net, they must kill this troublesome 'fly' completely.

"Did you think that 'Tahadana' could not be found by anyone but the Mystery Lady and her Chosen?" Lamorak continued:
"This is a big mistake, some people can still do it, for example, Larlock is one of them, he uses these places to accumulate magic and wealth, and Manson of the Zhentarim, why does his clone always kill Can’t finish? Isn’t it because his body is hiding in the ‘Tahadana’, making new clones continuously.”

"So you found your way into 'Tahadana'?"

Agrela asked curiously, but he was not moved by it, "So what if I found it, I have been hiding in the shadow plane for more than 1000 years, should I be made to hide in a cave forever like a snake? In 'Tahadana'."

"But it's really the only way out for us."

Ramorak still did not give up and said, "As long as you and I work together, we can forcibly open a 'Tahadana', hide forever, and not be controlled by the Lost Lady. As long as we don't do things that endanger the world, the mysterious The ladies don't bother us either."

"So, I have always thought that you lack a sense of awe. Believe me, your terrible thoughts will pave the way for your future death." Agrila was unmoved, "You not only put 'Tahadana' is too simple, and Miss Lost is too simple."

Shar, the lost lady, is one of the oldest goddesses in the kingdom of heaven.

How could he get out of her control so easily, not even his father, Prince Shadow thought sadly:

And Brenners, he thought that if he became an archivist, he wouldn't have any interaction with the Lost Lady if he didn't contact Shadowmoon?
Innocent like a child!
…………

The ancient Comanthor forest.

The towering ancient giant trees cover the entire sky, only the shade of the trees and a piece of emerald green can be seen, the birds are singing in the forest, the reindeer are shuttled between the woodlands, occasionally you can see the fish swimming happily in a clear spring Wagging its tail, the huge guide stones contain strong magic power. The road in the forest is very narrow, and it is almost impossible to see the distance.

The priestess of the Lost Lady Shar, 'Black Veil' Elyrael, looked indifferently at the shivering black-robed man kneeling in front of her, and said in a cold tone:

"Anyone who has ever bathed in the veil of the shadow of the Lost Lady must serve the goddess wholeheartedly. Hajhorna, do you understand?"

"I understand, Your Excellency the High Priest." Hajhorner, who was lying on the ground, looked terrified like a mouse being held down by a cat.

"For the sake of the lost lady's glory, I know I was wrong. Here, I implore the goddess of keeping secrets to give her humble followers a chance to reform themselves."

"Wise choice."

Illyrel looked down at him, and said in an unquestionable tone, "Now, I order you to go to the depths of the Windsong Tower in the ruins of Myth Drannor, and help the goddess find a big tree in the shape of a golden beech. "

"Is it another complete set of Nether scrolls?" Hajhorner said in shock when he heard this.

In the once great Netheril Empire, a total of 100 golden scrolls were found in the ruins of Arivanda. There are two sets of Netheril scrolls, each containing 50 scrolls.

One of the complete sets of golden scrolls was stolen by the elves of Cormanthor.

And he inadvertently discovered traces of this set of Nether scrolls in the two King's Tears.

The purpose of his coming to Cormanthor was to find this set of scrolls.

"So..." Hajhorner said bitterly, "You let me obtain those two King's Tears on purpose, and the purpose is for today."

"It seems that you are not too stupid." Illyrel nodded and admitted.

"In this case, you must also know that the biggest obstacle for me to find the golden scroll is the guard of Myth Draenor, the high elf mage Srinsi." Hajhorner suppressed the shock in his heart and said truthfully, "I am not her opponent."

Since Cormyr's defeat, he brought Severin, the leader of the Dragon Cult, to help him find the golden scroll.

Who would have thought that as soon as they arrived at the ruins of Myth Draenor, they were attacked by the hidden guards inside, so they had to flee in embarrassment. In the end, when they could not break into the Tower of Windsong, the leader of the Dragon Cult He chose to leave, and went to the highest glacier alone to find Mysuo, while he lingered in Comanthor, waiting for the opportunity.

"Just go and get it." Illyrael sneered, "Srinsi has already left Myth Drannor, she can't threaten you."

Looking at the confident eyes of the priestess, Hajhorna didn't dare to doubt it, and didn't even dare to ask the question of the use of the golden scroll, so he bit the bullet and ran towards the ruins of Myth Drannor.

Looking at Hajhorner's leaving figure, Illyrel secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

In order to let the city of Tivanton be shrouded in shadow, the price she paid was too high, and her strength has not yet fully recovered.

However, she secretly rejoiced that all the plans were still under her control.

Even Lamorak, the Prince of Shadows, wanted to defect and go to the Magic Web Realm to avoid the control of the Lost Lady, which was within her expectation.

If Lamorrak really dared to put it into action, she would definitely make this cunning prince pay the price, Illyrel thought.

Although from the moment Elswell failed, it meant that the plan to tear the magic net had completely failed, but the voters of the mysterious lady want to repair the magic net, and it is by no means so easy. Lalock will let them pay A heavy price.

And she can take advantage of the rapidly passing time in the Magic Web Realm to speed up the next step of the Lost Lady's plan in the material world, such as the Kingdom of Cormyr.

"I hope Rui Valan won't let me down." Illyrel muttered to herself, "After all, he is the sharpest spear that can tear through the barrier of the Kingdom of Cormyr."

…………

The air was icy cold and full of fear, even the eldest prince Rivaran of the City of Shadows felt scared.

On a remote hill in Bula Star, the shadows continued to extend, and the darkness was threatening, and all the trees seemed to be bent over by the thick shadows.

Here the sky is dark and dark, and darkness murmurs in the shadows.

"I will not disappoint the Lost Lady." Rui Valan knelt down in front of the ancient statue of the Lost Lady with a pious look.

It is a statue of an elegant lady of tall stature, wearing a loose robe and a mask of feathers over her face.

The statue shone with phantom-like purple light, constantly changing and dancing between an elegant and slender young female dancer.

Rui Valan was imprisoned in the dungeon for a month by the lord of Brastar. He thought he would be imprisoned for a long time, but who ever thought that he would be released suddenly and voluntarily.

At this moment, the place where he appeared was a hidden and ancient temple of the Lost Lady in Brasing.

Placed in front of him was an unpretentious wine glass.

Although the liquid inside flows like rich shadow energy, it glows with a faint golden light.

This is the Holy Grail of Darkness!
It holds one-third of the divine power of the "Shadow" priesthood of Mask, the god of thieves.

He has just contacted 'Black Veil' Illyriel through the temple's communication circle, and learned about all the things that happened in the material world.

He is so eager for this power.

Only when he completely absorbs this powerful divine power can he take advantage of the chance that the mysterious lady's voters are trapped in the magic net, and completely turn the Kingdom of Cormyr into a place shrouded in shadow.

"Never be afraid of the dark, Rivaran."

The Prince of Shadow seemed to have heard the whisper of the Prophet of the Night, accompanied by the faint rustling of trees and leaves, it came over vaguely:
"Drink it, the darkness will be your cloak, your shield and your armor, the darkness will make you stronger..."

Time is like water, passing one after another, the days are shortened, the nights are long, the sun can no longer shine on the jungle below the mountain, the moonlight has no chance to see the stone hall, and even the stars have become strange spectators.

Rivaran drank the shadowy waters of the Dark Chalice, and the darkness deepened and flooded him.

The Temple of the Lost Lady is shrouded in darkness.

The darkness was blacker than pitch, thicker than tar, duller than a crow's feather, and the light, like an unwelcome intruder, was always fleeting and fleeting.

Whether it is a bonfire, a candle, or a lamp, they burn for a while and then slowly die out, ending their short lives.

…………

(End of this chapter)