It was just as cold and dark as before, the rain still coming down but not quite so heavy.
"Where should we start looking?" She asked.
I pondered the question for a moment, mulling it over in my mind before coming to a decision. "Sewers, we'll take them toward the fortress, I've a feeling we'll find something in that area, but failing that we'll check the fortress itself, either way I've a feeling the corruption at the heart of this is in that direction."
She nodded at this, taking my word for granted. I spotted another patrol and ducked into an alley and she followed me.
Before the patrol passed out of site I pulled the Energetic Crystalis out of its pouch and handed it to her. "Put it over your eyes and look at the patrol." I said.
She did so, and gasped in shock. "What am I seeing?" She asked her mouth hanging open.
"Dark Kyn." I said. "I suspect that the entire standing army of Alfarok has been corrupted like this."
"How could anyone willingly let this happen to them?" She whispered as the last of the patrol passed beyond sight and she slowly lowered the Crystalis.
"They don't see what you saw, and what they feel is, to them, euphoric. They feel enhanced strength, stamina, endurance, etc. The more they let go of everything that grounded them into being eshiri, the more powerful they feel. It is a slow, gradual process, and as long as they get past the initial negative feelings people will feel when the tendrils of the Dark Kyn begin the process of corruption, which is easier than you think considering the feelings of euphoria the process can bring, it only seems to feel better and better, and attempting to reject Dark Kyn corruption when it has already found root in you is... well, I haven't seen the affects, but I've heard it is an incredibly nightmarish journey that few without a will of iron can traverse."
She shivered as she handed the Crystalis back to me. "Have Vrokanden and Dark Kyn ever worked together?" She asked.
"Officially, we can't prove that they have." I quietly replied. "However, the two groups have operated close to each other many times so it is strongly suspected that they have, but we have no evidence yet to support that. Now follow me, the patrol has likely passed beyond sight by now." She nodded and followed me as I carefully checked the street for the patrol and, finding them out of sight, led us out of the alley.
We made our way to an abandoned marketplace, found a storm drain entrance and made our way inside, my armor barely fit down the tunnel, my pauldrons scraping along the sides before I dropped from the ladder into the larger tunnel below. The pitch blackness would have frustrated me if not for my helm. The Calydris Crystal lenses I peered through, yet another mineral harvested from Torngund's mines allowed for several things, one of them allowed the user see in even complete darkness. It was disorienting at first but my mind adjusted to the strange hues and shapes my world became. Without light color was reduced to shades of black, white and the gray areas in between so depth perception was reduced somewhat but I could see farther than what a simple lamp would offer me, pros and cons.
I turned to the woman to ask her if she needed any aid to see and she shook her head. "I can see just fine down here."
"It's pitch black..." I said.
"Yes." She nodded, shrugging. "But I can still see, just differently, I don't really know how to describe it.
Wondering at this I merely nodded and we continued on. The tunnel we were in was just a little too short for me and I had to bend over to stop my helmet from scraping on the ceiling, while she was able to walk in relative comfort.
I was uncomfortable in the knowledge of just how much rock and stone was above me and the smallest of quakes could bring it all down but I tried to keep my mind off such thoughts. Still, what a dismal failure it would be to fall upon such an end.
"What is your name?" I asked her at one of the points I'd taken off my helmet to examine our surroundings with the Crystalis.
"Zehal." She said, "Yours?"
"Kovorran." I said. "A pleasure to meet you Zehal."
"A pleasure..." She said and I could see her blinking in confusion. "How, exactly... is anything about this situation pleasurable?" She said with notable confusion.
I paused for a moment, a smile curving at my lips as I put the Crystalis back and replaced my helmet. "Nothing except the finding of a new ally in otherwise bleak circumstances, the knowledge that a plot of the Vrokandin Var has been frustrated and that you have gained your freedom and, despite current circumstances, those are things to be most happy about."
"I'm... just not sure about how I feel about the Vrokanden yet." She said quietly as we resumed our journey. "What I saw back there was evil but... some of those who cared for me did not feel evil or wrong like that one did. I've no doubt whatever he planned to do with me would have been bad, but I don't know if all Vrokandin are bad just because of a few."
I kept my silence on that one. I seriously doubted any of the actual Vrokanden Varr were anything but evil, sure, their slaves were likely not to be evil, just victims of circumstance, like her. This however, I all kept to myself.
A thought occurred to me. "I wonder how much it would take to breach one of these tunnels..." I muttered.
She looked over at me, and shrugged. "Your guess is about as much as mine, though in truth I don't think it would take much."
"My thoughts exactly, how easy it would be to place a trap that would trigger just such a thing. I think you should start being the one using this," I pulled out the Energetic Crystalis "And constantly scan for anything that looks abnormal. I will keep watch for any traps of the more mundane nature as my helmet's Calydris lenses enhance my vision for just such a thing."
"Ca... lydris?" She slowly repeated.
"Long story for another time, short story for now is that it is a type of Crystal that, when refined and attuned to a person's eyes, Calydris crystals will greatly enhance a person's vision." Zehal looked like she wanted to ask more about this when I shook my head. "Another time." I reiterated.
She nodded, taking the Crystalis from me and at regular intervals looking through it and thoroughly scanning the tunnel.
We continued on for some time before the tunnel we were following came to an abrupt fork splitting off in opposite directions. Frustrated by the fact we had to split away from heading towards our goal I looked in both directions, contemplating which to follow. Zehal looked at me and shrugged.
"We could split up." She suggested.
"No, bad idea." I responded without any consideration. "We only have one Energetic Crystalis."
"Valid point." She conceded.
I looked both ways again; both tunnels were identical, nothing really different. "Check the Crystalis, see if it sees anything in either direction." She held it back up to her eyes and stared one direction, then another. She pivoted back and forth again and again. She did it slower and slower until she seemed to have finally zeroed in on something. Directly ahead of us where the tunnel ended and split at the fork, she stared right at it. Then she lowered the device and held it out to me. I removed my helmet and the stench of sewage and decay hit my nostrils with staggering force and I had to take a moment to adjust to it, but afterward I also detected a hint of something else I couldn't readily identify.
Zehal walked closer to the actual fork in the tunnel. At first I saw nothing besides a few strands of trace energy, then I began to notice something entirely different. The trace energetical elements were not random, they were anything but. They seemed to be seeping out from something, as though the wall was emanating energy, but the energy itself had been... hidden.
Zehal was just reaching the wall, her right hand extended out towards it. "Stop!" I shouted, but it was just a little too late. Her fingertip brushed what should have been stone just to have it vanish.
A black void was all that replaced it and for all my eyes could see there was nothing there but I watched Zehal's spine stiffen as she took a few rigid steps back, her head slowly craning up as she did so. I immediately dropped the Crystalis into its pouch as I jammed my helmet back into place and as I looked up through its lenses I saw just what she was looking at.94Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuXZD1tEVef
