The morning following our conversation with Ed and Meliss, we donned our armor and waited for the others in the main hall.
Of course, Mom, Devyr, and Kalia were already waiting for us with Athar and Irun, though the other two were nowhere to be found.
"Someone stayed up too late. It's about time you got here," Mom said with a wry grin the moment she saw us. "Oh, come on. We're not even late yet!" I sighed heavily. "Riiiiight," Athar's alternate voice chimed in with a shit-eating grin smeared across his face, wrinkling the bags beneath his eyes. "You look like a bag of smashed assholes. What happened to you?" I asked, noticing his eyes were much more tired than usual.
"Eh, I just couldn't sleep last night," he said, fighting back a yawn, prompting me to raise an eyebrow and lean in toward him. "Because of Balgrim?" I asked hushedly, to which he returned a barely noticeable nod. "I tried to work it out in my head last night, but I can't figure out what's wrong with him," he replied, getting a raised eyebrow from mom this time, too.
"I've known Balgrim for nearly a century now, but I didn't notice anything so different about him. Then again, he's always been grouchy with me, given my history here," she said, averting her gaze and scratching her cheek. "That doesn't surprise me, but you've got to believe me when I say something just isn't right with him," Athar said with a furrowed brow.
"Mom, I think we should listen to Athar. After all, he's been dealing with his alternate's personality for a decade. If anyone's going to know the signs, it's him," I said, giving my mom a solemn nod to know I meant every word. "Alright, alright. Let's suppose something is wrong with him; what the hell are we supposed to do about it right now?" Irun asked, keeping his voice low. "Not much we can do, except watch what we say or do around him until we find out more," I replied, getting a nod of agreement from the others.
Before anyone else could pitch a theory, Ed, Meliss, Balgrim, and a score of guardsmen walked through the doors. "Oh, I didn't expect you all to be here early. I take it this means you're ready to go?" Balgrim asked, giving us all a once-over with his eyes as if inspecting our equipment. "We were told to be here at first light, so we came as instructed," Mom said as if stating the obvious.
Will you be alright if she comes along? Kalia asked me with a slight air of concern. I'll be okay, don't worry, I sent back with a thin-lipped grin.
"Of course, I should have expected as much from you," he said with a half-chuckle. "Follow me, then. We'll be heading this way," he continued with a gesture. Do you think he's in league with the other corrupted wardens? Kalia asked us. If he is, then that just means we'll have to feign a little ignorance in the event he asks us questions about whatever we find, Ysevel replied, causing Mom to raise an eyebrow.
I could feel Kalia's concern about Balgrim begin to grow through our connection, but we didn't continue that portion of the conversation. Instead, we simply followed the dwarves, Meliss, and Ed down the numerous streets to where our transport was waiting for us.
It was much larger than the carriage-like vehicle we'd ridden in the day prior, including thick metal panels that covered the backside of it entirely. The dwarves entered first, filling in the far side of it first, allowing the rest of us to sit near the large door.
"I apologize for the rush, but time is of the essence here," Balgrim began after pushing a small glowing stone embedded in the metal plate next to him. "It's fine. Just tell us what we might be up against," Mom said, raising a hand dismissively. "Of course. After what you brought me last night, I figured that it couldn't have been a coincidence," he began, regarding each of us seriously.
"A few months ago, we noticed a burst of strange mana that caused several creatures to awaken. As a result, we've sent out numerous scouting parties to discover its origin, but only a handful have ever come back alive. The survivors spoke of large, dark creatures; ones they had never encountered or even read about before," he continued, prompting Kalia to tilt her head slightly.
"Those bursts came to a halt until about two months ago, when they showed up again. One of our head scholars, Markus, died on that expedition, and when we retrieved his body, we noticed there were strange markings all over him. However, we couldn't identify if it had been one of the creatures or the mana that had done that to him," Balgrim explained carefully.
He's trying to be honest about the situation, but not go into too much detail to cause Meliss any further pain, I realized, seeing her expression sour a little at the mention of Markus' name.
"So, what's our job here?" Mom asked pragmatically. "Since your arrival, there have been several bursts of this strange mana, and our scouts seem to have found a potential origin point. Your job will be to help us investigate this potential source and take care of any resistance we may meet," he explained.
Kalia immediately sent the others and I a flood of information compiled from hers and Devyr's combined knowledge of the creatures from Vareluth. I could hardly think straight with the sheer quantity of possibilities of creatures that could be drawn to such a source, but until now, we'd only seen the Thran present on the Isles. Do you think it's any of those we haven't seen yet? I asked Kalia, who cocked her head slightly, as if to tell me it was likely.
"Sounds like a trap," Irun muttered to no one in particular with raised eyebrows. "One, you probably laid yourself," Ed scoffed and shook his head.
Ah, shit. Here we go, I sent the others with a mental sigh.
"Ed, I'm fully aware you still don't trust me, but I did what I had to do, and I'm sorry that it had to go as far as it did," Irun said with a sigh, surprising Meliss most of all, while Ed, naturally, didn't believe a word he said. "While I can't speak for Edryd, I do hope that your remorse is truthful. After all, it wasn't just him who was affected by your and the Masked One's actions," she said calmly, but I could see it in her eyes that those memories were still very much at the forefront of her mind.
As soon as the words left her mouth, there was a unified surge of disgust in my core coming from both my mother and Kalia. The sheer audacity of her to say something like that about being remorseful. I wonder if she was sorry for the way she treated you, Thoma, Kalia sent, hardly able to contain her spite.
Deep down, I knew Irun's betrayal couldn't compare to what she did to me. After all, I was the only one truly affected by it back then, but I'd had more than enough time to get over it. To her and Ed, however, Irun's betrayal was still pretty fresh in their minds, and they didn't know what I did about why he did it to begin with.
"It is, Meliss. I'm well aware of the consequences of what we did. I know Ed won't believe a word I say, but I am sorry about how it all happened," Irun said, offering her a slight bow of his head, interrupting my thoughts. As I regained awareness of the others around me, I noticed Athar was beginning to grow uneasy with something.
"Hey, Athar. You alright?" I asked, leaning forward to get a better look at him. His teeth were bared, and while I couldn't exactly tell what he was going through, it looked like he was in pain. "T-They're… here," he barely managed, causing the rest of us to become alarmed immediately. "Thoma, do you feel that?" Mom asked me urgently.
As soon as the question registered in my mind, I began to feel something strange in the air. Ysevel and Irun noticed it as well, immediately clutching their swords like the rest of us. "We're under atta-..." the driver called out, but was cut off just before the armored carriage flipped over.
In the heartbeat that it took for us to realize the situation we were in, we braced ourselves with mana, adding barriers to the dwarves as well. Ed braced for impact with Meliss, and I admit I was glad to see his quick reaction to shield them both from the damage that was sure to come.
The carriage came down with a heavy crash, and I knew that it was improbable that the driver had survived, since his voice had cut out just before we were flipped. "Fuck! Is everyone alright?" I asked, quickly glancing at the others who were still recovering from being flipped on their heads. "We're fine, but we're sitting glicks in here. We need to get out now!" Mom commanded, springing the rest of us into immediate action as she blew open the back end of the carriage.
One of the dwarves sitting next to it hopped out first and was quickly met with an axe to the face. "Oooh, I like the way these small ones bleed," a snarling voice came from just beyond the threshold as the gigantic axe was pulled from the dwarf's parted skull. "Tough little bastards, aren't they?" the voice said again, getting a few howling cackles in response.
They're close. I'll handle them, Kalia sent us. No, we can't risk using Wraith mana here, Mom urged, drawing a massive amount of mana to her before bolting out the back. As I heard a few slashes and whelps come from just outside, alongside various deafening booms from her blade, I knew we had to move.
"Get the fuck out, now!" I belted, following behind Ysevel and Kalia, who were already out the door. I helped Ed and Meliss to their feet and gestured for them and some of the other dwarves to wait a moment. "You guys will come out last," I urged, nodding to Balgrim as well. "We can handle ourselves," Ed said, almost as if he were disappointed in my distrust of his and the dwarves' abilities.
"I know, but that's exactly why I don't want you going out there to fight them right now. You have no experience with them, especially you," I glared at Meliss, who lowered her head in understanding as the battle raged on outside. "Fine. Have it your way, but how am I supposed to get experience with them if I'm stuck here?" Ed asked, frustratedly.
"You'll have your moment, trust me. These fuckers don't show up in small numbers, and they're at least twice as strong as an ochelon," I noted as I moved toward the back of the overturned carriage.