Mark of the Fool

Chapter 290: Magical Reconnaissance

Alex sat on the edge of the hill, chewing his bottom lip while his mind chewed over the Chosen of Uldar. Before too long, Cedric would be heading down into the depths of a Ravener dungeon with him and the rest of his team.

But first, the Wizards Eyes would have to explore the underground, inspecting every nook and cranny concealed in the darkness.

Meanwhile, Alexs team waited tensely, sitting around him in silence, mentally preparing for what was to come. Other teams paced and readied themselves, while the more experienced wizards prepared to cast Wizards Eyes.

He looked up at his golem standing there: solid, loyal and silent. Would he be alright down there? He was the first construct with a golem core made from the remains of a dungeon core, as far as Alex knew. The black substance was what was used to make the Heroes equipment for generations now, and thered never been any talk of their equipment going rogue when it came in proximity to an active dungeon. Even Cedrics, Drestras and Harts weapons werent acting like they had minds of their own. Alex thought, carefully assessing each Hero.

But maybe blades were different from golems.

After all, swords couldnt go berserk.

at least not normally.

When he was building Claygon, Jules and Baelin had talked about a couple of strange cases where weapons became sentient then went absolutely berserk. What were their names again? Storm edge? Soulbringer?

Something like that.

But what had happened with those swords was different from his situation since they hadnt had anything to do with a dungeon core, theyd been cursed. Claygons core was powered by core remains, and if he went berserk down in an underground tunnel, it would be a catastrophe for everyone down there with him. Alex remembered the golem rampaging through Shales Workshop; a scene hed prefer not to see repeated. Especially with Claygon.

What would happen if being near a living dungeon core triggered that somehow? He thought back to the core in the Cave of the Traveller. It seemed to have an intelligence and will, considering how hard it had fought him. He remembered the strange sights that had whirled through his mind: dark spheres, blasted landscapes and monsters in the dark. To this day, he had no idea what any of that was.

Memories, maybe? Were they something the dungeon core had experienced in the past? Can they even have memories? Or were they things it wasconnected to? Hed wondered about that more than a few times in the past year, but had never reached any conclusions.

Blood Magic could bridge the gap between life-forces and mana, while Claygon had a permanent mental connection to him. There were spells that could craft telepathic bonds, reaching between minds to allow one to speak to someone else through pure mana and mental connection. Maybe the dungeon core had something similar within it.

If it didthen what would happen if it sensed the core remains powering Claygon? There was a sort of sapience in his golem, would a dungeon core sense it? Would it try to communicate with him? What about himself? Would it recognize that hed briefly taken control of one of itssiblings? Was siblings even the right word?

Ugh, so many unknowns, he muttered, his eyes drifting to the Chosen standing talking to Drestra. If something does happen, Cedric was the last person he wanted witnessing it.

Time for a plan. His mind began working through different scenarios. If something happened and Cedric was right there, then Alex would need plausible deniability. Battles were always chaotic, so he might be able to use

Worried? Theresas voice broke through his musings.

He nearly jumped out of his skin: hed been so deep in thought, hed almost forgotten she was sitting beside him.

Yeah, he admitted quietly. But, Im trying not to go crazy with it. He held her gaze. Speaking of worry, I nearly lost it when we heard youd found not just one, but two dungeons. I thoughtwell, never mind what I thought since youre okay. but how the hell did you guys find them, anyway?

It was Brutus and Vesuvius that found them, she said. We were passing the hillslike alwayswhen Brutus suddenly stopped and started barking like hed scented a pack of wolves over the next hill.

On hearing his name, the cerberus perked up and put one of his massive heads in Theresas lap. She stroked behind his ears. He was jumping around like crazy, then he led us to the blood-drak hill, and when we got close enough, Grimloch and Thundar smelled something nasty. Then I smelled it too. She made a face. It mustve been their blood: you wouldnt believe the stench.

She glanced over at the wizards casting Wizards Eyes. Having finished their spells, theyd begun sending the Eyes toward the dungeons. Khalik immediately put Orbs of Air on those of us who cant cast spells, otherwise I dont think we wouldve made it. It was so bad, Alex. Ive never smelled anything that bad in my lifenot even the smell from days old carrion baking in the sun smells that bad. She made a face of disgust.

Then what happened?

Tyris had Vesuvius climb the hill and stomp on the spot we were checking. Thoomp! She made a pounding noise, then a punching motion with her fist. Part of the hilltop fell in, and there was this tunnel underneath. Thats when we realised what wed found so we pulled back to a third hill, then lit a flare and sent an urgent message back to camp. Some of the teams surveying near here came in to back us up, but the monsters attacked before anyone else could get here. We just fought until you guys came.

She glanced at the Heroes. But, I didnt expect them.

Yeah, they were literally Uldar-sent, Alex said. But, I dont think we wouldve gotten through so much Ravener-spawn without a lot more blood being spilled if they hadnt been here.

Agreed, Khalik jumped in. He was leaning back against the hill on Alexs other side, looking at Cedric, Drestra and Hart. Such power is humbling. The might shown by Cedricthats the dream of any warrior. Harts strength is something I would love to have. He flexed his own thick arm. Though I know I could never grow that much on my own. Not naturally. As for Drestra? I think the Sages spells could overpower those of most of our professors.

You aint kidding, Thundar polished one of his horns. I wouldnt want to fight em, let me tell you.

He threw Alex a meaningful look.

Alex nodded, then glanced at Theresa.

The huntress looked away. Rather quickly.

This is what I mean, Alex whispered. If I was an enemy of their enemies, he made sure to use very general, hypothetical terms. Id make sure that anyone I knew got out of their way. No one should fight them. Theyre toopowerful.

Mmm, was all she said, with a little resentful nod of agreement.

Right then, Cedrics jovial voice called out.

The group startled: the Chosen was sauntering over, leaving Drestra talking to Hart. Good to be workin with all o yous. All together well give this bloody dungeon core a right good thumpin, then be back to camp in time for an early supper, by my reckonin.

You think so? Prince Khalik asked, appraising the leader of the Heroes. You will not have your usualpowerful reinforcements, though I do not mean to dismiss our own abilities. As youve seen, we hold our own, but we are not divinely selected instruments of destruction like you three. He gave the Chosen a slight smile.

Aye, but weve worked with knights, rangers an the Thameish army, Cedric said. We know how to work with others. My partnersll be nearby on other teams ifn things go wrong. And you all can handle yourselves, thats a sure thing. Trust me: we cud only dream o havin this many wizards in one spot. Most o the few weve been workin with are academic fuddy duddies, not too big on battle magic. He gave a wistful smile. We wouldnt say no ta havin this much battle magic with us everytime we go divin into dungeons.

Well, were academics too, dont get us wrong, Alex said. It

The Wizards Eyes are now in the dungeons, a wizard announced, cutting their conversation short. Well be creating illusions so we can follow their progress in real-time.

There was a mad scramble to surround the illusions. Multiple windows had been conjured, showing the point of view of each invisible Wizards Eye floating up the hills toward the entrances to the dungeons tunnels.

In a few heartbeats, they sank into the darkness.

Adjusting for the light, one of their controllers said.

There was a flash as the illusions brightened to a blinding white, then dimmed until each provided a greyscale view of the dungeons tunnels. Seeing the Eyes floating through the dark brought Alex back to his family's own experience in the Cave of the Traveller.

If only Id had something like this back then, he thought. We couldve checked things out from a safe distance and maybe avoided spiders that wanted to eat us and statues that wanted to roast usthats if we didnt step on tiles in the chamber with the statues. Then again, if Id been able to cast fourth-tier spells back then, we could probably have just blasted our way to safety. Oh well, better late than never: thatll be the fourth-tier spell that I learn right after Planar Doorwayand a bunch of summoning spells.

As one of the Wizards Eyes turned a corner in the dungeon, it revealed chitterer corpses clustered together: the fallen ones whod succumbed to their wounds as they fled back into their lair.

Ach, I hate it when they do that, Cedric said. They use the dead ones as barricades. Sometimesif some clever ones get spawnedthey even set traps. Or, they even regularly jus leave scraps from their feedings in the tunnels as a warnin.

A memory came back to Alex: the image of Brutus picking up a dead delvers skeletal hand from off the ground in the Cave of the Traveller. There hadnt been any more of the skeleton lying in the dirt: probably completely devoured by silence-spiders. He remembered how terrifying seeing the hand of a dead person had been back then. Theyd seen worse since, a lot worse, but now, they were much better equipped to deal with whatever came.

The invisibility of the Wizards Eyes was letting them move through the massive tunnel complex freely, though they hadnt spotted any living chitters yet. It truly was a massive space. The two dungeon cores were well-concealed, which had allowed them plenty of time to not only remain undetected, but to also build up their lairs and forces. Beneath the hills, a dizzying network of chambers and shafts constructed to confuse and frustrate anyone trying to attack the cores, had flourished. Itd be easy for someone to get lost down there, trapped in the dark with endless horrors surrounding them.

Trapped to meet a gruesome fateone that some had already suffered. An expedition member gasped as the answer to where the chitterers equipment had come from was revealed.

A Wizards Eye floating along entered what had the sinister look of an abandoned abattoir within a high ceilinged smooth-walled cave piled with skeletons and discarded equipment. It looked like the dungeon had been busy catching prey for sometime, long before the expedition had arrived in Greymoor. The bodiesfor the most parthad been stripped down to the bone.

Some were partially eaten.

I think Im going to be sick, one of the wizards turned and walked away from the illusion, dry-heaving as he went.

Its only going to get worse, Hart grunted.

Look. Thundar pointed at the illusion. Some of those bodies aint human. Theres some beast-goblinsandwhat the hell are those?

His finger levelled at smaller corpses. Theyd been chewed up, but Alex caught sight of pointed ears andwings, maybe? Theyd been too torn apart for him to confirm what they were with any certainty.

They look like fae. Drestra grimaced. But, I cant really tell what kind they were.

I thought the fae were safe from the Ravener, Khalik wondered out loud.

Aye, mostly, Cedric said. But a few stragglers get caught up. They dont get taken in the numbers we mortals do, though. Not all the time.

Wolves, Theresa said.

Sorry? the Chosen asked.

The dungeons are wolf packs, the huntress said. We tell stories of people being killed by wolves all the time, but theres really only a few folks that actually get taken by wolf packs. Theres wolves all over the Coille; I think only one person got taken in all my years growing up there.

She thumbed her knife. Wolves are smart: they know that were tough prey: we hunt them more than they hunt us. So they know to fear and leave us alone, unless theyre starving or they can catch one of us alone, or injured. Leave a wolf pack to themselves, and theyll be happy to fill up on deer, boar and the occasional sheep. Id bet its the same for the dungeons: they target us as their preferred prey, but they only take the fae now and then. Likely when an opportunity presents itself.

Sfair theory, Cedric said.

Regardless of theories and fae, the Wizards Eyes moved on. The deeper they probed, the more living chitterers they found moving through the tunnels. It wasnt unexpected that theyd find a small army of them lurking down there, but the Wizards Eyes scouting was giving the wizards a bigger advantage over them.

Hmmm, Watcher Shaw noted. Theres still a good few of them down there to be sure, but we withered their numbers down pretty good. Well have to get them in the tunnelswhere they cant surround usand rip them apart. Send the Wizards Eyes down deeper.

Careful, one of the Watchers said to the wizards controlling the illusions. When we dissected some of the dead ones we found sensory organs in them, and experiments on live ones we caught showed us they can sense things cloaked in invisibility. Wizards Eyes arent physical things, but we might be in for a scare if those monsters detect them, or if we use invisibility when we get down there.

Speakin of scares, can your magic eyes find hidden things? Like secret tunnels? Cedric asked. Chitterers like to make em and spring out atcha from the sides or the back if youre not bein too careful. Their hiding places aint easy ta spot in dark places, unless you move real slow and careful-like.

Hey, I think theres one over there, a wizard said, pointing. He drifted the spell closer to a wall. I think that looks like a seal

Something suddenly blurred in front of the Eyes field of vision, filling the illusionary view and drawing gasps.

Oh hells! the controller swore, whirling the spell around.

A group of chitterers had cornered the invisible spell, trying to eliminate it. Hideous, snarling mouths snapped and chomped at it repeatedly. Sharp claws tore at the Eye.

Aaaan theres the scare, Cedric said.

Weve got scares of our own, Watcher Shaw said. Well see how they deal with a fistful of demons shoved down their throats. Alright, keep scouting and take notice of all the concealed tunnels the Eyes find, then find those dungeon cores. Theyre our end goal people.

Though the chitterers kept trying to attack the magical sensors, the controllers kept finding their hidden passages; Watcher Shaw had the map-makers keep adding onto rough maps of the dungeons they were making for each strike team.

They would continue updating the maps until the Wizards Eyes found the dungeon cores.

And, they finally did. Located at the very bottom of each lair: orbs as dark as midnight were pressed into walls guarded by monsters. Alex gulped when he saw them waiting there, forbidding anyone to come near: but soon, hed be down there, looking to destroy them.

No sign of the chitterers commander, one of the wizards reported, a note of hope in her voice.

Oh, itll be there, dont you worry about that, Cedric said.

Well, the chitterers know were watching them, Watcher Shaw said. So lets get a move on. Start summoning.