#lambdaera

Finally, a mellow, cold light catches Cinna’s attention and he hopes it’s not another glow squid when he rushes towards it, ditching his original course completely and getting his hopes up again.

He wades through a waist-deep cold spring and finally loses the hoard of the undead on his tail. Blue lights reflect off of its surface and drown Cinna in magical hues of aegean promise. He doesn’t waste time on killing them all, after blocking last rounds of the skeletons' arrows with his pincushion-like shield, he runs deeper into the cave and out of their range.

The splashing and squishing sounds of his boots resonate through the lit up tunnel leading up towards a geode. Cinna’s heart is quickly pounding in both excitement and exhaustion, however it all dissolves once a shadow on the wall of the opening geode reveals another contender for the Beacon who beat him to it.

Cinna isn’t there first, the realization sinks in and he pulls out a sword, determined to take the relic by any means, he sneaks closer to the geode, hoping the moment of surprise is still on his side. Then a violent roar shakes him to the core and he instinctively takes a step back as two majestic horns reflect in the flickering shadows. The creature curves forwards into a predatory snarl, spines flicking out its back like a row of sharpened blades as a long and twisted arm reaches up into the darkness. Its claws catch the light momentarily - too sharp for the usual beasts encountered down here.

This can’t be!- Cinna stares at the silhouette he hasn’t seen since The War, he thought Men purged the demons off the face of the world once they won, however it seems like one got away.

The demon leaps forward, claws raking against the stone to steady itself, an eye of bright blue flame peering through the darkness as it suddenly illuminates the small cave. Unbeknownst to its spectator, it strikes its tail off the sharpened geode beside it, drawing a small groan from it that reverberates menacingly around the two of them. Another terrifying hiss bounces off the walls and there comes the demon in its full glory, tall and dark, just as Cinna remembers them, it takes everything in him to stand his ground.

Without the Dark Lord’s authority on his side, there is no way he can actually win this fight, he witnessed the destruction demons can cause. This whole place would be crumbling down on their heads in no time. But the demon doesn’t strike - instead they both just stand there for a few moments before the towering creature doubles over slightly, curling it’s injured tail around itself. It fills the space, sure, but suddenly it loses a lot of the intimidation it had moments before. The beast’s eye flicks up to settle on Cinna - or rather, close to Cinna. It seems to have trouble seeing. Still, it sparkles a vivid blue. Was it a defender of the Beacon?

Cinna looks into the flaming eye and beats at his left shoulder to greet it. “May the shadow prevail in your Realm, brother.” He hopes his voice isn’t shaking as much as his insides.

What follows is a long and grumbling hiss as the demon rights itself, tail returning to its usual position, but curved horns still twitching. The eye seems to drift as it tilts its head, but the second the beat echoes through the small space it focuses on him. It shakes its head, clearing the ringing it inflicted on itself.

“Ceilings need to stop sneaking up on Viable… but Viable’s name is Viable, not Brother!” It hisses with a grimace, before its demonic jaw twists into an awkward looking smile. “May the…uh, happies do good in your realm too though!” The creature crouches low again, wary now of the height of the room; it seems it either moves too much or not at all as it is suddenly almost too still, listening.

For a seasoned warrior it was clear to see this creature operates off of echolocation- it's unnatural clicking bounces around the room before it continues speaking, seemingly entirely unaware of any tension or danger either figure may be in down here.

“What name do you have, sneaking-in-the-cave-kin?”

“Happies,” Cinna repeats in disbelief, processing the image unfolding in front of his eyes; what a unique demon, but despite its rather quirky mannerism and choice of words, he doesn’t let his guard down just yet - then he notices the shiny blue relict rolling on the floor by demon’s feet. Viable must have dropped it when they banged their head.

He quickly decides that talking is the only way to go, as the demon would know immediately if he tries to quickly snatch it. His wet boots and armor make too much noise to fly under Viable’s radar. “It’s Cinna, and that is a pretty thing you have there, what is it? It’s glowing and round like a glowberry, I haven’t seen one of those yet, but I heard you can eat them.” There is a small pause before Viable turns slightly, picking up the relic to slooooooowly lick it, blue tongue almost falling out their jaws. Definitely not a glowberry. It tastes like cold and no. They place it back down gently as if Cinna didn’t literally just watch them do it.

“Viable is lucky Cinna came though! Cinna have fish?”

What a unique demon indeed. Cinna smiles, catching up on its friendly and open body language that just makes this way too easy. This curveball should have cost him his life, instead he feels like he's about to gain a really powerful ally for his future endeavors and steal candy from a child at the same time when he sheaths his sword and mirrors Viable’s kind and welcoming gestures. “Well, tough luck, I don’t have any fish on me, just a few spider eyes. But there are a lot of fish in the Stonewood’s river, let’s head back up and get some?”

“The fish in the river are so tricksy… but with Cinna there Viable will show them all!” The demon moves towards Cinna, immediately so trusting of the new friend. The relic is left on the ground, pulsing slightly against the crystals of the geode.

Cinna carefully picks it up and it immediately fills him with comfort and a familiar feeling of home. Its magical swirls are spinning on the background of his lichen iris, making them look deep and mysterious like all those lush cavern lakes he has seen in this underground complex so far. The powerful aura of the Beacon grows quickly stronger, burning brighter, pulling him deeper, calling him louder.

“Yea, they stand no chance,” he mutters in response to Viable’s excited clicking noises, finally looking away from the artifact and hiding it in the folds of his cloak.

The fog is thick and heavy as a small merchant ship nears the coast of Infinia. One lonely seagull lands on the deck, lured by the stench of fish. It waddles around, looking for a tasty treat when a deadly arrow pierces straight through its neck.

“You son of a bitch, you did it!” a young sailor pulls a few coins from his pocket and tosses it to the other one before he picks up the filthy bird and throws it overboard. He pulls out a telescope, searching for the land from which this flying rat came.

The fog is thick and heavy, he can’t see shit.

“Gosh, I can’t wait to be back in Infinia, I will go to a pub and order a goulash with a ton of onion and a whole loaf of bread and a pitcher of Royal Lager the first thing after docking in the harbour! It’s been so long since I had a proper infinian meal.. at least eight months!” The sailor opens up a bottle of rum with his teeth and pours them both a shot in tin cups to celebrate. “What about you? How long has it been since your last time in Infinia?”

“Uhm -about five thousand years,” he says almost seriously after briefly counting millennia on his fingers.

His pal bursts into laughter and slaps his company’s shoulder. “Yea, it does feel like that sometimes, doesn’t it!! Crazy how time flies on the sea.. "

"Anyways," he clears his throat, clicking his cup against the other to toast, "To the safe returns!"

"To the safe, glorious returns," his older crewmate parrots and his gnarly scarred lips twist into a brief smile before he downs the drink.

-

Infinian flag dances proudly on top of the ancient lighthouse that has been torn down by the elements and rebuilt by men many times over the past five thousand years, but here it blows again, as good as new, welcoming the merchant ship as it arrives to the bay.

Cinna greets it with a smile as an old friend, he never thought he’d see it again. It feels like yesterday when he was fleeing on the board of a little fishing vessel with the lighthouse watching over his cowering back as he disappeared over the horizon.

The world has changed so much since those days. The Orc lord holds his head high this time. He faces the land that once adored him, then feared him and in the end banished him, with determination, grudge and a silent promise in his heart.

The harbour smells like rotting fish, fresh shit, and steamed garbage, Cinna scrunches his nose as soon as he jumps overboard, planks of the pier squeeking underneath his heavy boots. Nobody else seems to mind the smell though; people go around their usual business, fishermen haggle the prizes of their catch, children fight rats over the scarps of the fish, beggars cry for change, pickpockets work hard and guards work even harder.

His crewmate catches up to him and clings up to his shoulders. “Let’s have some goulash!” he guides him through the beehive of chaos and filth to his favorite tavren ‘where prostitutes welcome the sailors with open arms and legs’ as he puts it. They get the meal and proper craft beer while bards sing their songs.

The crowd loves especially the old folk music, chanting excitingly to the catchy old-timey tunes when bards sing the popular epics about ancient gods, fearless warlords, tragic battles and mythical kings. Cinna tosses a shiny to the bard to sing the one about the Fall of the Mount Hathol one more time, he laughs, claps and cheers the bard on loudly.

Even the deepest and the most painful and traumatic wounds left in the collective consciousness of the free Infinian nations can fully heal and turn into fairytales and fables to entertain peasants if enough time has passed.

And you know what they say about those who fail to remember their past... With the shadow returning to Infinia, this aphorism is as relevant as ever.

-

Without a single shadow of doubt, Cinna knows the country roads have led him exactly where he is meant to be as he overlooks the god-forgotten mountain grove eloping what looks like a former mining colony of Men. It baths in the sunlight and the golden hour makes it look prettier than it actually is. He nudges his horse with a heel and follows the steep trail down the grove.

The contract for a killer bear that has brought him this way doesn’t matter anymore, he completely loses interest in those few shinies he would have gotten from the mayor of a nearby village for bringing back the bear’s head.

Cinna gets off his horse once he reaches the lively centre, he leads the horse towards the marble structure that lays ahead and looks so out of place in this dirty boondocks. The same Men that built this pathetic settlement can’t be given credit for such a beautiful structure, that’s for sure; It’s a sign of an entirely different time and most likely also of a different people, and for that it entices Cinna and calls his name.

Of course it is a fucking temple, Cinna laughs under his breath as he secures the reins to a convenient fence post, people just love their little godlings and deities and building them opulent homes is a part of that. He quickly makes his way up the polished stairs and nods to the cleric at the entrance who gives him a nasty side eye.

He should be at awe in front of the otherworldly beauty of ancient master craftsmen’s work just like all the worshippers that came to visit the temple, however he doesn’t feel the urge to fall down on his knees in a passionate prayer, he isn’t intimidated by the high dramatic arches or the detailed frescas on the vaulted ceiling, after all, this temple too shall crumble under the weight of time like they always do.