#clairfaye

“Well, this is just great,” Faye commented, pinching her nose. Clair frowned, poking at the rubble with her spear.

“I did not expect a cave-in, of all things, to be part of the dangers Queen Celica warned us of.”

“She did say she barely explored the place before deeming it too difficult to go further. I suspect the skeletons scared her party off before they ever got this far.” Silque added, seemingly unperturbed by being trapped in a strange dungeon full of undead monsters.

She was facing away from where the ceiling had fallen in, examining the rest of the cavern. It was large, but full of a dense fog that made it impossible to see much more than a few feet. Strangely, the sound of waves upon a shore echoed in the chamber, along with the occasional ominous rattle of bones and odd moan from a revenant.

Faye sighed, picking up her shield and staff and giving up on trying to move any of the rocks.

“There’s no way to go but forward, then. There’s gotta be another way out. The water must come from somewhere.”

Clair wrinkled her nose. “I volunteer to not be the one to swim around in search of an exit. Mila only knows what may be lurking in there.”

“I’m trying to be optimistic here,” Faye retorted, waving her staff back and forth in an attempt to clear away some of the fog.

“The cave-in could be part of the puzzle,” Silque broke in. “It wouldn’t make sense for finding a spring that can revive the dead to be easy. You find the spring or die trying to escape, so that only those worthy can access its power.”

“Morbid,” Faye muttered. She glanced between her two companions, thoughtful. “I’ll lead the way. You aren’t quite as resilient without your pegasus, you know.”

Clair sighed, because it was unfortunately true. Even if they had been able to persuade her mount to enter a strange underground cave, there had been no guarantee there would even be space enough to maneuver a horse. “Thank you for looking out for me, dear.” She squeezed Faye’s shoulder before falling back to stand beside Silque, who offered her a small smile.

Faye focused and called forth a glowing green light to the tip of her staff. It barely made a dent in the mist, but it was something to concentrate on. She followed the sound of the water, searching for the shore. Of course, things wouldn’t be that easy.

There was a breathy, hoarse inhale, and then a silhouette from the fog threw itself forward. Faye jolted backwards, raising her shield on instinct. Fingernails screeched across its metal surface, and before her was the rotting face of a zombie. The fog seemed to fade away, revealing three more of the monsters. Her eye caught on the oddly tinted claws of two of them, familiar from her previous times in a dungeon.

“Watch out! Those ones have poisoned claws!” She wrenched her shield from the grip of the leading zombie and brought her staff down on its head, hard, and the zombie howled as it staggered. Green magic flared from one corner of her eye, enveloping one of the poisonous zombies. A javelin pierced through the head of another. She chanted an incantation and dark magic wound around her staff in sync with a similar braid of magic around the zombie closest to her. It wheezed as it fell to the ground, life force sapped.

The final zombie lumbered forward, one eye glinting golden. It opened its barren jaw and with a click click click its skull twisted around grotesquely, now upside down. She prepared another spell, unfazed. A circle of runes surrounded it, and then another as Silque joined in. White light flared within the borders of the spell, and when it faded there was nothing left but dust.

“Not bad.” Clair said, smile on her face. “Nowhere close to a match for us.”

Silque was troubled. “Those would have been a challenge for Celica’s crew, but not one bad enough to prevent them from going further in. We need to be on our guard.”

Faye nodded in agreement. Clair frowned, retrieving her javelin and shaking off the ichor before re-sheathing it.

They continued forward in silence, until at last Faye’s boots fell into water. Gentle waves lapped at her feet, and in a blink the fog along the shore had cleared.

“I suppose that was step one of whatever puzzle we’re trying to solve.” Clair said, unsettled. “I haven’t been in catacombs as strange as this in quite some time.” They all shared a glance, recalling their time fighting under Alm. Even with Duma vanquished, it seemed dark powers had yet to fade from all corners of the world.

Faye reached for Silque’s hand with one arm and looped the other around Clair’s elbow. “I don’t like this one bit. The fog could come back any minute.” Above the water was eerily clear, the waves acting as some sort of mystic barrier to the mist. Yet, even with Faye’s staff lit up, it was impossible to see the end of the lake. Every now and then, bells chimed and something metal clinked, as if somewhere strung above them were windchimes.

“I think I see the end of the cavern,” Clair said, squinting. Sure enough, there was the solid rock of a wall. But there was also something else. The wooden carcass of a ship, crashed and rotted.

They approached slowly, circling around in case there were monsters hiding beneath or within it. Faye went in first, crawling through a hole in the hull. Her hand touched something cold, and she whirled her staff to the offending object. A skeleton. She bit her lip to stifle the noise she wanted to make. There were a few more corpses, all picked clean. No flesh, hair, or even clothes remaining.

She reconvened with a pale looking Clair. “I think I saw the captain on deck.” Clair said. “Dead, of course, and still clutching the wheel.”

Faye jerked her thumb to where she came from. “I found the rest of the crew.”

Silque emerged last, a moldy journal in one hand. “This may give us some insight as to what happened here.”

It was a ghastly tale, a group of men from a nearby village determined to find the life-giving spring for their families, all who had suffered from the recent famine. Finding themselves trapped, they had cobbled together a ship from the crates around the cavern, and set forth.

“Something repelled them.” Silque muttered. “Local legend says that beyond the waters lies the veil into the realm of the dead. That’s how the spring can recall souls that have passed on.”

“Maybe their souls got to go to the other side, at least?” Faye offered, though spirituality had never been her strong suit, skilled at white magic as she was.

“I wonder how long ago they were in here. Perhaps if we had come sooner…” Clair’s eyes were downcast. Silque flipped through the pages, rubbing them between her fingers, taking in their texture.

“It’s at least a year old. Probably more, with the reference to the famine. There’s nothing we could have done.”

“We should bury them.” Faye declared. “Or at least sanctify their bones, or something. We’re clerics, aren’t we?”

“And we should burn this book. If they truly made it that far, then this book is touched by the land of the dead. It may be playing a part in fueling the revenants around here.”

With Clair standing guard, they got to work, pulling out the bodies and gathering them in a pile. Faye etched sigils in the sand around them while Silque went through the verbal parts of the ritual. Faye had a knack for so-called religious magic, which was apparently tied more to the will of the soul than actual gods, but she didn’t have the knowledge Silque did from growing up in a monastery.

Luckily, no monsters interrupted them, and Silque clasped her hands together in prayer one last time. The book burst into flames while the bones decomposed before their very eyes, particles joining the rest of the sand on the beach.

As the journal disappeared, the cavern shook. Faye leapt to her feet, whipping out her staff and pressing her back to Clair’s.The rock around them rumbled, and slowly but surely the fog disappeared into thin air. And then cracks split the ground, and decomposed hands reached forth, a horde of revenants and zombies and skeletons ready to rise.

“Silque?” Faye called, panicked. Was she still recovering from the drain? Would one of them be able to carry her while the other fought off the hundreds of monsters?

“Give me a moment.” Her voice was quiet, but strong as steel. She pressed her hands to the ground, and wisps of white rose up around her, as if it were steaming. Her eyes glowed, iris and pupil overtaken by a blue that matched her hair. The smoke began to coalesce into loose figures, and Faye realized what she was doing.

“Clair—"

“I know! Cover us, won’t you?”

Ghostly soldiers solidified, a veritable army to match the monsters, and Silque slumped from the strain. Her arms gave out just as Clair reached her, grabbing her shoulders before she could fall face-first into the dirt. She knelt down, pulling Silque onto her back.

“Let’s go!”

They made a break for the far side of the cavern, searching for any passage out. The soldiers were keeping the zombies at bay, just barely, and Faye still had to snipe down the occasional foe who broke free.

There was, thank Mila, a tunnel to escape to that they’d missed earlier, obscured by the mist. They ducked inside, following its twists and curves until they could no longer hear the water or the sound of combat.

Faye came to a stop, panting heavily from the dash. Clair crouched down to let Silque off, keeping a grip on one of her hands.

“Are you all right, darling? That was quite impressive, even for you.”

Faye deemed the passage-way safe enough, and turned to press a hand to Silque’s forehead. Sweat dripped from her brow. Her restoration ring was still on her finger, which meant the fatigue would only be temporary.

They took a moment to rest, pressed against each other in the corner of the rocky tunnel. It was dark and musty, clearly unused for quite some time. Maybe it hadn’t even been a visible entrance until the fog had cleared. When Silque was ready, Faye summoned a light once more.

It wasn’t long before she heard heavy breathing.

“Do we need to rest ag—"

She was cut off by Clair’s hand over her mouth. Her eyes were wide, and she held a finger to her mouth. Silque’s mouth was flat as her eyes flitted around.

Faye cut off her next sentence as she realized the breathing wasn’t coming from either of her two companions. In fact, she wasn’t even actually sure it was breathing. With bated breath, she peered around the corner of the tunnel.

There was a large archway, pure white marble carved with elaborate spiral markings. Torchlight flickered, illuminating the large room before the archway. And to either side of it, there rested two large, rotting necrodragons, guardians of the spring. The room stank of their flesh, which was slogging off their very bones. A false breeze stirred, whistling through the exposed naval cavities of the dragons.

“The fountain has to be beyond them. That’s how they’re still functioning.”

“This would be a wonderful time to have my pegasus,” Clair said. The cavern wasn’t big enough for the necrodragons to have room for flight, but she would’ve able to slip over and behind them.

Silque patted her solemnly. “I would’ve loved to have him here too.”

Faye chewed on her lip, judging the distance. “You know, I think we could pull off a classic, if we do it right.”

Silque met her gaze, catching on as she looked out at the necrodragons. Clair smirked, twirling her lance, confidence returning.

“I have no qualms with that. Let’s wreak a touch of havoc.”

They drew their weapons, and in jumped Faye, shield at the ready. The necrodragons roared, spewing fire on instinct. Magic flared on her shield, absorbing the green flames. A javelin tore a hole in the neck of the one on the left, and she targeted the other with a blast of white and feathers.

The one she attacked lashed its tail angrily, moving with surprising speed. She managed to block its claws with the shield, but it snapped at her legs with its mouth, teeth sinking in and tearing flesh open as she jerked away. Magic exploded in its face, sending it reeling backwards.

She could feel the blood dripping down her leg, and just gritted her teeth. Silque wouldn’t be able to reach her from here. Clair was across from her, blocking blows with her lance. Silque finished her chants, and three soldiers ran forward to take Clair’s place. Clair sprinted for Silque’s side.

Faye switched up her casting, aiming to heal herself. Purple tendrils wrapped around the dragon’s limbs, sapping energy from them, the wound on her leg knitting together. Enraged, it breathed out more fire, and Faye rolled to the side. It lunged for her, saliva dripping from gnarled teeth.

She shoved her shield into its mouth, staff batting at its talons to keep them at bay, though the edge of her dress still ended up tattered. It tore her shield from her grip, rearing back proudly with its capture and crunching down, shattering the metal. And then it gurgled, twisting wildly as it fell, a spear protruding from the front of its neck.

Faye stomped the butt of her staff on the ground. Clair, falling in midair from behind the dragon’s neck where Silque had warped her, was enveloped in the magic’s aura, and she reappeared at Faye’s side.

“And on to the next one!” Clair kissed her on the cheek, exhilarated, before slipping away again.

Faye joined the ranks of Silque’s remaining illusionary soldiers, staying behind them as she weaved her spell. This time the dark magic appeared like a chain, wrapped around the dragon’s front legs. Her staff moved backwards, and the chains moved in the same direction. The beast staggered, off-balance.

This time Clair appeared right behind its head, legs gripping its neck as if it was her pegasus. She stabbed her lance straight down, piercing the skull and the chin in one blow. Faye didn’t waste the energy to recall her, seeing as the two threats were defeated.

Clair hopped off its head, tucking her loose hair behind her ears.

“I must say, I feel that quite a bit more when doing it with my own two legs.”

Faye rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t keep from smiling. “Maybe you need to work out more. Practice walking like the rest of us peasants.”

“I have to let you have something to yourself, otherwise you’d complain that I show you up.”

“You say that, but I’d like to see you do magic.”

Silque grinned fondly as she joined them.

“Now, now, let’s be reasonable. I’d say I was the most valuable member of the team there.”

Clair and Faye quieted, as they couldn’t argue with that.

“Now, let’s find this magic fountain for Celica once and for all, and get out of here.”

Stepping around the corpses, they entered the archway. Sure enough, there was a fountain protruding from the wall, filled with glimmering water. Silque approached it cautiously, eyes shut, trying to sense the type of magic that permeated the area.

Faye and Clair awkwardly stood back, trying to stay out of the way.

“This is it.” Silque announced. She dipped a hand into the fountain, and a pulse of magic swept through the area.

“That better have cleared our way out of here. I’m sick of dead things.”

The way back went much faster, though whether that was because of the atmosphere or because it had truly been shortened, they weren’t sure. They emerged back in the cavern with water, and there was no sign of any earthquakes, no mass amounts of decaying zombies littering the ground. Even the ship wreck was gone.