Valor and Violence

The rest of the journey was uneventful. Levi and the other guides seemed cheerful and proud to have killed a beast of such size, and they had even borrowed Calris’ knife to skin the hide, bringing it with them as a souvenir.

Jasmine had expected mourning and sadness, but when she spoke to Levi about it, he explained they handled death differently in Marduk. He had told her life was hard and frequently short, and the one thing every man, woman and child could know for sure was that, one day, the jungle would claim them, a toll extracted from the villages for the bounty of the earth.

And so, they had left the bodies where they fell, continued on with their task, and then, when they returned to the village, they would hold a celebration of the warrior’s lives. A feast would be held in honour of their sacrifice, their deeds spun into songs, and the record of their life recorded in the village vault. Their spirits were believed to join with those who had gone before, though Jasmine was confused whether he meant a collective afterlife, or if they believed their souls physically merged.

When she asked Levi for clarification, he had just said ‘yes’. Either way, his people believed that as long as the Aluwai remained, the individual could never truly die. She had decided it was a pleasant way to face the death of a loved one.

Even Calris had seemed in better spirits since the attack. His demeanour had soured over the weeks since the Keep, but now he was back to joking and laughing with Ban and the others. He had been much nicer to her as well, almost sweet, and she frequently revisited their conversation back on the ship. She had told him she didn’t think he could be a gentleman, but now she had to admit…

He still wasn’t a perfect gentleman by any stretch, belching contests were a regular post meal ritual between him and Ban, but there were little gestures here and there that showed he was at least trying. Also, he wrestled a monster for her. That carried a lot of weight. She wandered over to say hello.

“Seen anymore drakes today, Ape?”

“Just little baby ones, only four or five meters, I’d say.”

“Oh! Positively tiny!”

“It’s a relative term with drakes,” he said, nodding sagely. “But if any decide to come after us, I’ll protect you again.”

“You honestly think I need protecting?”

“You did last time.”

Jasmine punched him in the arm. The gesture was meant to be teasing, but she still made it hard enough to hurt.

“Ow! Alright fine, in fairness, I think we all needed protection from that thing.”

“That’s better.”

They walked along in a comfortable silence for a few more moments before Calris turned to her.

“I was the one that killed it, though.”

“After Ban damn near chopped off one of its legs and I blew out one of its eyes!”

“So, it was a team effort. I still think I made the biggest contribution.”

“I swear to the Pantheon, Calris, I do not think anyone else could act like such an insufferable fool after killing a giant swamp drake,” Jasmine said, shaking her head with a smile.

“What I’m hearing is that you think I’m unique.”

“Uniquely touched in the head. Arsehole.”

“You know, name calling doesn’t bother me. Sticks and stones and all that.”

“Yes, I suppose you would have gotten used to it by now. Gods know you probably get it from everyone you’ve ever spoken to.”

“No. Everyone else finds me delightful. I’m just rising above your hostility.”

“I’ll show you hostile in a minute!”

“And now we have progressed to threats of physical violence. Very juvenile.”

Jasmine raised a threatening hand, but Calris laughed and swatted it away.

“I’m just playing, Princess.”

“Of course you are,” she replied with a smirk. Calris chuckled and resumed walking, and Jasmine noticed his gait was a little off. He was taking shorter steps, and he was favouring one of his legs.

“How are the ribs?”

“Bloody sore, but I’ve had worse,” he said, putting on a brave face.

“You know, one of the mages at the site is an Aetheris mage. She can probably patch you up.”

Calris’ face went from stoic to relieved and he let out a happy sigh. “Oh, thank the Pantheon! Truth be told, I’m actually in significant pain right now.”

“By the gods, Calris, why didn’t you say something? Give me your pack.”

Calris protested as Jasmine grabbed the strap and tried to pull it off him, tugging back and forth before he re-jarred his rib and let go, doubled over from the pain.

“Princess, that is the worst executed act of generosity I’ve ever experienced!”

“I was helping!” she protested, slipping her arms through the straps. The weight of it surprised her. The marines had insisted on carrying the provisions for the mages, so she hadn’t been carrying a pack at all until now. “Gods, this is heavy.”

“Hence why I didn’t want you to carry it.”

“Why? Because you are the ‘big strong man’?”

“Well… yes?”

“Calris, you have at least one cracked rib. Probably more. And, furthermore, I am not some nobleman’s daughter needing her coattails to be carried along.”

At this point Ban, who had apparently been eavesdropping, snorted out a laugh and moved closer, whispering conspiratorially.

“He’s actually pretty good at helping noble daughters with their clothing though, see it all started in Griffon Keep and ended with a pig.”

Calris recovered from his pain remarkably quickly and cuffed Ban behind the ear.

“Shut it, arsehole, not another word.”

“Technically, I’m allowed it since our landing was another port visit.”

“Technically, it wasn’t a port visit at all,” Calris shot back.

Jasmine couldn’t help but ask how Calris figured that.

“Sarge wouldn’t let us off the ship except to load stores. Because of the bar brawl,” he added as an explanation.

“Semantics,” Ban huffed, then wandered off. Jasmine shook her head and smiled.

“You know, we are going to get the story out of him, eventually.”

“Maybe, but I’d still rather put it off for as long as possible. How is the pack going?”

Jasmine shifted the weight on her back, trying to get more comfortable. It didn’t work, but she was finding the longer she had it on, the less it bothered her.

“It’s fine, actually. I can keep going as long as you need.”

Calris grunted. If Jasmine didn’t know better, she would say he sounded impressed.

“It shouldn’t be too long either way,” he said, gesturing ahead. “We’ve reached the Sentinels.”

Jasmine followed his gaze to a large, black stone monolith rising several meters from the swamp beside the causeway. It didn’t look like a natural feature. In fact, the colouration indicated it was likely not native to Marduk at all. Standing beside it were several local men and a pair of mages, one dressed in the black of an Umbral mage, and the other the bright yellow of Aetheris. Her attention was pulled away from them as the formal challenge began.

Compared to the challenges at the other villages, this one seemed far more tense and aggressive. The Speaker didn’t make any of the ritual vocalisations she had seen previously. He simply walked forward with his club levelled at Levi and told him to stop. Levi’s reaction was unusual too; though he complied with the command, he bared his teeth and he held his spear defensively.

“What’s happening?” she whispered to Calris.

“Bad blood between the tribes, I think. The Gundagaal raided the Aluwai a few years back during a lean dry season. Killed a few tribesmen and stole some yams.”

“The bad blood is because of yams?”

“Yams are important here. They’re a staple crop for the region and they don’t grow well during the dry, so they need to stockpile them. Losing half the storehouse can devastate a village. Also, there’s the bit about them killing Levi’s tribesmen.”

“That… would probably upset me too,” Jasmine conceded.

Levi and the Speaker eyed each other suspiciously as Ferez and the other two mages met in the middle ground. Eventually Ferez returned, speaking briefly to Levi, who signalled for the Aluwai to depart. Jasmine ran over to him as they retreated down the causeway, Calris and Ban in tow.

“Levi! You’re leaving?”

The warrior turned to reply, but Jasmine noticed his eyes never left the Gundagaal as he spoke.

“I am. It angers me to leave you in the hands of these mongrels, but custom is clear. If we set foot beyond that stone, it is a declaration of war.”

“So that’s it then? Goodbye?”

Levi stopped glaring at the other tribesman and focussed instead on her, his expression softening.

“Only for now. We will collect you again in a couple of weeks and bring you back to the port,” he paused and cast another suspicious glare at the others. “If you have need of us, our village is only a day’s travel from here. Turn left at the last crossroads we passed and follow the causeway until you reach us. You will always be welcome there, Jasmine.”

She smiled, but to her surprise felt tears welling up, and she choked when she tried to say goodbye. Levi laughed and embraced her in a warm hug, then shook hands with Calris and Ban.

“If you boys get bored, come to the village. I’ve got a quality bottle of whiskey I swiped from some rich arsehole a few expeditions back.”

“Sounds like a plan to me, mate. What happened to the noble?”

“Orniraptor. He wanted to steal a chick to raise back home. The father wasn’t happy.”

Jasmine was taken aback by the exchange. Not the bit about the orniraptor, the noble sounded like an arsehole, but by Calris and Ban planning to leave early.

“You two aren’t serious, are you? You are supposed to be protecting us!”

“Protect you from what, Princess? The Gundagaal seem to have treated your compatriots well enough.”

“What about the swamp drakes and orniraptors?”

“They don’t come inside the perimeter marked by the stones. No one knows why, but still, you’re probably safer in there than anywhere else in Marduk. Right, Ban?”

“Of course, Cal. Everyone knows that. It’s common knowledge!”

“Shut up, Ban, don’t encourage him!” she snapped, throwing a clod of dirt.

Ban laughed as he retreated down the causeway, protecting his face with limited success. Once he was out of range, she flipped him a rude gesture and turned back to say her final goodbye to Levi. After a last hug, he and his men departed, and she joined Ferez at the boundary of the Sentinel Marsh, where he was talking with the other two mages. As she approached, she noticed low stone structures resembling squat buildings protruding from the water and mud. At a cursory glance, they looked to be the remnants of some sort of village.

“Alincia, Rory, this is my apprentice, Jasmine,” he said as she arrived. “Jasmine, this is Alincia and Rory Totenvie. They’re the ones who found the artefact.”

“A pleasure to meet you both,” Jasmine said, giving them both a small bow. Ferez had told her about them during the journey. They were about her age, which was unremarkable. They were magical twins, which was an extremely rare occurrence, but not unheard of. And they each belonged to a different school, which was, to her knowledge, supposed to be impossible.

Yet here they were, Rory with the jet-black hair of an Umbral mage, and Alincia with the radiant blonde of an Aetheris. Both were remarkably powerful and already fully fledged Adepts of their respective colleges.

When Jasmine had gone into a slight depressive episode at the revelation, Ferez had comforted her by saying that their appointments were mostly political and religious. The twin’s respective Circles felt it was proof from the gods of the entwined nature of their sects, and it helped them to espouse the doctrine of the Pantheon to their otherwise more secularly focussed sister colleges.

As she looked into their eyes, though, she knew Ferez had just been sparing her feelings; they had intelligent and confident gazes, and the fact they were running an excavation as important as this one by themselves was a testament to the trust placed in them.

“Well met, Jasmine,” Rory said, as he offered a hand. “We are excited the two of you have finally arrived. Just a few days ago, we excavated a new room in the main complex. It has provided some fascinating insights into not only this place, but the history of our colleges and even the nature of the Pantheon!”

Jasmine was surprised by the soft-spoken and polite young man. Umbral mages had a reputation for being dour and abrasive individuals. Not bad people per se, but when your college is widely known to embody the cosmic phenomenon of death itself? Well, it affected their outlook fairly often.

“That sounds like a lot of revelations from one dig site, Adept Rory.”

“Just Rory is fine,” he said, flashing her a smile.

“Rory,” she repeated, returning his smile with one of her own. She was suddenly very conscious of the fact he was still holding her hand.

From behind them, Calris cleared his throat.

“We have some fascinating insights to share, too,” the marine said.

Rory looked over Jasmine’s shoulder, though if he was annoyed, there was no trace of it on his face.

“Is that so? Well, I hope that, together, we can unravel the remaining mysteries of this place in short order, Adept…”

Jasmine snorted at Rory’s misidentification of the marine. She realised they all wore similar clothing, the mages having foregone their robes and the marines, their armour, when the heat grew too intense. Calris himself went red, but to his credit, squared his shoulders and pressed on.

“Actually, I’m not a mage, Corporal Calris, at your service.”

“Calris is an uncommon last name.”

“It’s actually my first name,” Calris said, glancing down at his feet and shifting his weight. “My last name is Telruson.”

“Ah! A fellow child of the gods,” Rory replied warmly, releasing his grip and offering it to Calris. Jasmine shot a quick look at Calris and found shock on his face. The name Telruson carried a stigma with it. In fact, Jasmine recalled it was the flash point that started the rivalry with Gaelon. Having it treated as an honorific must have been an unfamiliar experience for him.

“I’m not sure about that. My mum was a maid and my father a soldier, apparently. Either way, I don’t know what you guys found in this swamp, but we found a whole new world. Trumps your mouldy rocks, I’d say.”

No doubt Calris was expecting surprise or disbelief, but instead Rory and Alincia laughed and clapped their hands.

“This is fantastic information! This could solve some of the mysteries raised by our latest discovery. My friend, we are about to answer the greatest questions we never knew to ask!” he said, turning and striding down the causeway.

“Uh, could someone please look at my ribs first?”

Jasmine swore, in the excitement about the site, she had completely forgotten about his injuries.

“Oh dear, Cal, I am so sorry. Adept Alincia, Corporal Telruson was injured by a swamp drake, do you?”

“What?” Alincia squealed, interrupting Jasmine. She had already seemed excited, but at the mention of a swamp drake, her beaming smile grew even wider. “A swamp drake? Where? Is it still alive? We should go back and find it! Corporal Telruson, know your valiant struggle was not in vain. I will avenge you!” she blurted, balling her hands into fists and punching them into the air.

This was also surprising to Jasmine; Aetheris mages had a reputation for being quiet, respectful, and non-violent. In fact, Light Mages wielded the only known type of magic that had no offensive value whatsoever. Jasmine inspected the bubbly girl closer and noticed her robes concealed what looked like a chain mail shirt, while a mace hung from a leather loop on her belt.

“Adept Alincia, I thought Aetheris mages weren’t allowed to kill anything?”

“Kill anyone. Things are perfectly acceptable.”

“The mace is for swamp drakes?”

“No, the mace is for people.”

“But you just said-”

“To be honest, even the thing about not killing people is open to interpretation.”

Beside his sister, Rory sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “It’s not open to interpretation, Ally. You aren’t meant to kill anyone,” he said.

“Shut up, Rory. You stick to Umbral doctrine, and I’ll stick to mine. To quote the scripture:” she said, holding up a finger as though lecturing in a hall. “Aetheris mages shall preserve the life of the innocent and the faithful. No Aetheris mage shall spill the life blood of man, woman or child, for such deeds are abhorred by the Goddess.”

“It means no killing, Ally.”

“It means what it says: no spilling of life blood. Spilling, as defined by allowing a liquid to spill outside its container, life blood as defined by a quantity of blood which, if the host is deprived of it, will cause death. Therefore, if we accept that the human body is a vessel for blood, which it is, then minimal external bleeding below the threshold for volume as a symptom of death by internal bleeding or blunt force trauma is perfectly acceptable.”

Alincia rattled the spiel off so fast Jasmine’s brain took a few seconds to catch up after she had finished. Evidently, she had used this argument before.

“Are you two really twins?” Jasmine asked, then yelped as Ferez stomped on her foot. She shot him a glare, because she could guarantee he was thinking the same thing. She opened her mouth to argue but was interrupted by Calris.

“Yes, well, this is fascinating, but I’m not dying, Miss. I am, however, in quite a lot of pain, so… my ribs? Please?”

Crap. She had forgotten again.

Alincia shrugged and inspected Calris, probing his side with her hands and tut tutting whenever he flinched.

“Definitely a few cracked ribs here.”

“Uh huh. And what gave that away?” Calris asked through gritted teeth.

“Mostly the bruising and your reactions when I poked said bruises.”

“Genius. Never would have figured it out by myself. Ow!” he exclaimed as she jabbed him again, much harder than was strictly necessary. “Can you do something about it?”

“One moment.”

She held a hand to his side and closed her eyes. A warm glow appeared between her palm and Calris’ bare skin, and as Jasmine watched, the bruising shrank, as though the blood underneath was being sucked back into his veins. In the space of a few seconds, the bruising was completely gone.

“That feels glorious,” Calris said, awe clear in his voice. “What did you do?”

“At its heart, Aetheris magic is just the reversal of entropy. The swamp drake disordered your insides, and I reordered them. Feel better?”

Calris nodded and experimentally twisted his torso, testing for residual pain. With a satisfied grunt, he thanked the mages and said goodbye, leaving with Ban to find the Gundagaal tribesman in charge of site security. With the marines gone, Rory guided them deeper into the site until they lost sight of the Sentinel Stones in the jungle foliage behind them.

As they went, the structures grew more numerous and densely packed. She realised they weren’t in a village at all, but passing through the outer sector of an ancient city. By the time the group reached the remnants of a great stone wall that marked the inner sector, she estimated the city must have been at least as large as The Six back in Emrinth.

“This place is incredible! I never would have imagined a city of this scale could be built so deep within Marduk!”

Rory turned to her as they walked, the smile he wore when they met still on his face.

“Isn’t it? The stone used in its construction isn’t native to Marduk, but neither is it the same as the stone used for the Sentinels. Whoever built this place transported vast quantities of building materials, first by sea, and then overland to this spot to build a fortress. The workmanship is far more advanced than anything we have ever seen in ruins from this time period, too. In its prime, this fortress was likely the single most formidable city on the Continent.”

Jasmine stopped to inspect the wall as Rory spoke and saw he was right. The stone was smooth to the touch and perfectly angular, not the rough-hewn blocks common in even the most modern keeps. The only place she knew of that had a similar standard of construction material was The Six. Even the mortar was special, after who knew how many hundreds of years of being lashed by tropical storms and invasive jungle vegetation, there was no chipping or flaking. It was as solid as the day it was built.

On the whole it was still worse for wear, of course, the wall had collapsed in several places, and the once wooden gate was completely rotten away with only the rusted metal hinges remaining to betray its presence. The whole thing had a lateral slant to it as well, indicative of the substructure wearing away and allowing the wall to start sinking into the swamp. Another few centuries and this place would likely be lost forever.

“Why was it built here? It seems like the worst place in the world to build a fortress,” she said, resuming her march with the others.

“We believe that is precisely why it was built here. Not only was it a mighty fortress, but the sheer logistics of marching an army through the swamp to attack it would have deterred all but the most determined foes, and the physical act of assaulting would have been impossible to coordinate. We believe the army that destroyed it in the end was… unique,” he said, giving her a sly smile.

“What do you mean, ‘unique’?”

“You will see soon enough.”

Jasmine sniffed. Judging from the theatrics, he was likely planning a dramatic revelation.

At least Ferez’s penchant for needless drama isn’t unique to our school.

She guessed whatever Rory planned to show them had something to do with the beasts they fought at the Keep, and since she already knew all about that, she was more interested in the room he had mentioned earlier.

“Rory, what is this room you are taking us to?”

“We found it in the same building we found the artefact. It appears to be the building’s version of our own archive rooms back in the colleges. And the records it kept all these years are fascinating. It’s just in here,” he said, gesturing as they rounded a corner to find what looked to be a mage’s college.

Jasmine was shocked. The building was an almost exact replica of the colleges back in The Six. There were some minor architectural differences; for instance, the open arches in the outer walls back home had been covered up with louvres, and the colour scheme utilised a shade of red far deeper than the Pyris college back home. She supposed it could be Pyrerite, weathered and oxidised by the harsh tropical environment, but until she had the opportunity to study samples, it was mere speculation.

The group followed Rory inside and through the corridors towards the college archive. Back home, the archives had been built below ground where the environment was cooler and more forgiving to ancient manuscripts. If the builders here had done the same thing here, then the archive would have been the first room to become inundated when the substrate eroded.

“Rory, if the archive was submerged, how can any of the records have survived?”

“It seems the mages who occupied this place understood the risks of keeping manuscripts in a swamp. Their archives are exclusively stone or metal friezes.”

As he finished talking, they came to a stone staircase leading down into darkness. Alincia held up a glowing hand and went first, the others following in her pool of light. The base of the stairs opened into a vast room, and the first thing Jasmine noticed as she entered was a foul stench. She gagged and recoiled, holding her hand up to summon a flame to burn away the smell.

Rory’s hand shot out and grabbed her own. “No! Stop!”

“What? I’m just going to get rid of this smell!”

“One labourer thought to do the same thing with a torch. Alincia was able to save his life, but even she couldn’t fix all the burn damage. The algae seem to excrete some sort of flammable gas as it dries out and dies. We installed a chimney to make the air breathable, but until the algae is fully gone, we can’t risk any open flames.”

Jasmine looked around at the walls and immediately recognised what Rory was talking about. Even with Alincia’s bright light illuminating the vast space, the walls and floor remained a glossy, slimy black. Thick sheets of algae covered most of the surfaces, and Jasmine fought the urge to flee back up the stairs and find a river to bathe in. Slowly, she lowered her hand.

“I assume we still shouldn’t be down here for long, even with the chimney. What are we looking for?”

Rory gestured for everyone to follow him and walked to the far wall, Alincia transferring the glow from her hand to a free-floating ball of light that flew above the frieze they were to inspect. Jasmine gasped as she came close, realising that she recognised some of the panels.

“These are the same as the friezes on the High Mage’s doors back home!”

Rory nodded and started pointing at various parts on the carving.

“Largely, yes. However, there are some interesting discrepancies. For instance, here we see the meeting of the first Arch Mages, and the founding of the towers, but in both instances the number of objects is seven, not the six we have back home.”

“Seven towers? But, that would mean…”

“Seven schools of magic, I know. Furthermore, the depictions on the panels diverge even further from here. At the meeting of the Arch Mages, six of them are bowing to the seventh, rather than the meeting of equals we are familiar with. The siege by Emrinth is completely absent, and in its place is… well, I would like to get your thoughts on it. I must confess, my interpretation seems too far-fetched.”

Jasmine looked closely at the panels. They depicted an army, led by mages from all the colleges, waging a battle against a horde of monsters. Many of the monsters bore a resemblance to the ones they encountered in the Keep, as she had predicted, but they were not the only species represented.

The generals of this other army were tall humanoid creatures, with glowing red stones set as eyes and elongated canines that gave them an almost wolfish appearance. There were others, too. In one corner, a giant matching the description of a mythological troll set about a squad of human soldiers with wicked claws, while elsewhere a swamp drake held a hapless man between its jaws. Everywhere she looked, there were new and terrible monstrosities wreaking havoc on the human army.

She traced the scene with her fingers, marvelling at the precise craftsmanship, as her eyes were drawn to the centre of the scene. Amidst the chaos, a mage stood alone against the enemy general, a red-eyed creature that towered over the others of its kind. The mage held aloft a sword in one hand, while the other was outstretched, a stream of, something, arcing towards his foe. His college symbol was strange, unlike any of the known colleges, a teardrop of red gemstone set into his cloak.

“It looks to be an army, led by mages, battling another made of monsters. The head general bears a college marking unlike any of the existing colleges, though, and some of the monsters are unknown to me as well.”

“Some?” Rory asked, standing beside her and following her gaze.

“Well, down here we see a swamp drake, and it’s easy enough to prove their existence, just walk out past the Sentinels and one will find you soon enough. And these others,” she said, tapping her finger on the brutish beasts they had seen at the Keep. “These are the creatures that attacked us when we opened the gateway.”

“So, we can confirm two of the species depicted are real. As uncomfortable as the thought may be, it might not be a stretch to imagine the others are out there somewhere as well. Look at the next panel. If anything, it is more surprising than the first.”

Jasmine complied, turning her attention to the next panel along on the frieze. One of the upper corners showed a map of the Continent with two locations marked. One was the fortress in Marduk where they currently stood, denoted by a stylised college building silhouette, and the other an archway somewhere in the Northern Wastes. The rest of the panel depicted another battle between humans and monsters, a glowing gateway in the background discharging an army onto beleaguered defenders.

Jasmine agreed the panel was indeed surprising, for it was not monsters and demons streaming forth from the gateway, but men and women in armour wielding swords and spears. The invaders were human.