The Ethersmith

“A spirit?” Vivi asked, squinting at the piece of rusty armor. Nothing about it looked spirit-like to her. No translucent colors or even an aura of ether around it. That was just a stack of old plate armor sitting upright.

“It’s not Ythar’s spirit,” Lucius said, floating next to her, eyes warily fixated on the armor. “It might be Noxbryn’s spirit. The demon god’s.”

That probably wasn’t a good thing. Aolinn listened, horrified by the rotten forest. Vivi added more ether to her eyes and observed the area. The recent footsteps entered the rot and walked close, facing the armor there, but weirdly, the footsteps continued onward, passing straight through the rot.

“Let’s go talk to it,” Vivi said, stepping closer.

“Eh?” Aolinn squeaked. Nearly falling over, she followed only because Vivi was still holding her hand. “Can’t we go around?”

“We need clues,” Vivi said. “If it attacks, I’ll protect you.”

Aolinn held her hand over her nose, blocking the smell. Vivi almost wanted to do the same. The smell was truly appalling, as if the trees themselves reeked of pure rot. It got worse as Vivi traveled to the source, where flies swarmed the armor.

“Hello?” Vivi said, far enough that the flies didn’t swarm her as well.

No response. The armor didn’t give any movement at all.

“Is he awake at all?” Vivi asked.

“I feel a presence,” Lucius said. “It’s weak. But alive. Spirits don’t really sleep, though. Maybe he’s not paying attention.”

Not paying attention, huh… Vivi thought. Maybe she needed to do something.

She summoned Dawnpour, filled its runes, excluding the shockwave rune, and performed a slash from a distance. The weight of her swing shook the air, and even without the shockwave, the flies were knocked off by a powerful gust of wind, now fully revealing the rusted armor. The hilt of a sword poked out of his scabbard, which looked like it had once had runes on it, but they’d all worn out and were now so out of proportion that Vivi couldn’t identify them.

Vivi stepped closer. “Hello, spirit. Are you friendly?”

Slowly, a miniscule glow lit up through the visor. The armor lifted its head by half an inch. The man’s voice was weak, as if haunted by something. “Huh…? More visitors?”

“Oh, wow,”Lucius said. “He’s speaking ancient Fimian. This will be a pain to translate. Speak slowly.”

“Are you okay?” Vivi asked, slowly as Lucius asked. “Do you need help?”

“Help?” He laughed, and that was just as powerless as his voice. “Yes… I suppose if you can turn back time by… a few thousand years, that could help me.”

A few thousand years? Who in the world is this?

"The old spirits are old, Vivi," Lucius said. "I might know history that has never been written. Maybe he has spoken to Noxbryn directly."

She wondered what she should say. Or more importantly, what information she could gain from this spirit. His voice was so frail, he would probably collapse soon.

“I’m Vivi,” she said. “A friendly human. Could you tell me where we are?”

Another weak, amused chuckle. “You are here, but you don’t know where?”

“I was banished here. I did not come by choice.”

He was quiet for a bit. “Well, make yourself comfortable. You will not be leaving.”

“Where are we?” she asked again.

“The bottom of the world,” the armor said. “Welcome to the Gauntlet Of The Gods. The worst dungeon to ever exist.”

“Gauntlet Of The Gods?” Vivi asked. “What’s that?”

He stayed quiet for a short while. “I have told this same tale to humans who still live. Find them. They have not left, and neither will you.”

“I see…” Vivi said.

“I will now rest,” the armor said. “And one day, when the world ends, and levelstone breaks, I might rise again, and ask my god to end my life.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Oh, wow, Vivi thought, and before she could respond, the light in his eyes disappeared, and his helmet fell limp once again.

“Did he die?” Vivi asked.

“No, looks like he let go of his attention,” Lucius said.

Vivi considered hitting him again to wake him up, or perhaps carrying him out of the rot, but it seemed like he was the cause of the rot. Anywhere he was dragged, the rot would spread and the land would die. The smell was truly appalling.

She turned to the footsteps, which were still fresh. “Let’s go.”

Grabbing Aolinn’s hand, they walked out, through the rot following the footsteps. It took a few minutes until they started to see greenery come back to life.

Aolinn finally asked, “What did you speak about?”

Right, she doesn’t have access to translation skills, Vivi thought. “He told us there are people here. Let’s move quickly and meet them. Hopefully it’s our friends.”

Do you know anything about this ‘gauntlet’? Vivi asked, though from Lucius’s silence, she could guess the answer.

“We’re apparently at the bottom of the world,” Lucius said. “That doesn’t make sense. The bottom is blocked off with levelstone. Nobody has ever been there.”

Well, we were teleported.

He crossed his paws uncomfortably in her core, posture closed-in. “I don’t like this.”

Vivi didn’t either. But she hadn’t liked Zand, and she hadn’t liked the blight. She didn’t like most things in the world. But there were a few things she liked a lot, and those were worth fighting for.

The trip continued as before with the occasional reanimated animals attacking them. The small amount of water they’d drank helped, but her stomach was still mostly empty. The one chocolate cake she’d eaten at the ball had lost its effect long ago. Her legs were still only getting weaker.

She continued and she continued, Aolinn struggling to walk after her. The forest continued for seemingly as long as the dark caves had. With no food to think of, she followed in her footsteps, when Vivi's nose caught something. Smoke rose to the air, hitting the facets, and within the smells of the forest, a savory scent was now mixed in. She added ether to her nose and focused on it.

“Is that meat?” Vivi asked. “A campfire?”

She sped up the pace, toward the smoke. Aolinn struggled to stay on her feet as they crossed trees, pushing past bushes, onto the opening within the forest.

There they were. Lortel, Alda, Cael, sitting around a campfire with a slab of meat cooking on a stick. They had a bucket of water and logs to sit on. They’d built a little rack for firewood, having cut a nearby tree. They all looked fine, wearing the same clean clothes, though a little tired.

Spotting Vivi, their faces lit up. Lortel smiled, relaxing her posture. Alda jumped from her seat. “Vivian!”

A sharp and warm feeling hit her head. Vivi smiled and walked in, giving Alda a hug. She took her in and returned the hug without hesitation.

Alda wasn’t Senith or Essi, Vivi’s closest friends, but right then, Vivi still felt relief. Everyone was okay, for now.

“We were wondering if you fell in,” Alda said, letting go of the hug and holding Vivi from the shoulders. “So good to see you.”

Vivi met Alda’s grin with her own. Cael smiled at them from his seat, and Vivi gave him a quick and soft hug as well, and then she moved to Lortel.

“I apologize, Vivi.” Lortel sat on the log, still wearing her black and white skirt with her hair nice, and looked away. “I knew what was coming, but I didn’t anticipate a portal. I couldn’t—”

Vivi grabbed her into the tightest hug, lifting her from the log and hitting her head against Lortel’s forehead, half accidentally and feeling the harsh cracks in her face. She let out a laugh.

Letting go, Lortel wore an expression Vivi hadn’t yet seen on her—pure, honest surprise. “You’re hugging me?” Lortel asked.

“I just felt like it,” Vivi said. Another laugh came out on its own. “I’m glad you’re alive.”

The surprise stayed for a second longer, when Lortel’s eyes fell back to their usual calmness. She sat back, though her cheek lines were vaguely smiling. “I see. I may have underestimated you, Vivi. I apologize again.”

Vivi had no idea what that referred to, but she didn’t care. The tension and exhaustion from the long trip relaxed. Nobody was dead.

“You silly little runesmith, let me get you a seat. Food’s almost ready.” Alda moved to the trees. Summoning a spirit blade, she cut a piece of log, thumping it on the campfire.

“And one more seat,” Vivi said, glancing behind her.

Aolinn stood there awkwardly, afraid to interrupt. With her eyes pointing down at her feet, she asked, “Is my father here?”

“Helegar didn’t teleport with us,” Alda said briefly. “We don’t know where he is.”

“Oh…” Aolinn clutched what remained of the hem of her dress. “That’s… Nevermind. Sorry, I won’t complain.”

She sounded almost as depressed as the piece of armor. Everyone stayed quiet as Alda cut another piece of log, placing it down, while Cael rolled the stick of meat. “This should be about done,” he said.

They began cutting meat and sharing it around. Vivi’s stomach couldn’t be more thankful. She also convinced Lucius to turn into a mug for her to drink water.

Apparently, the others had been teleported straight to a river when they woke up. They had barely stepped into the dark caves so far. The meat was from a clawed deer they found some hours ago. Apparently those were also common near the river.

Just Vivi’s luck…

Aolinn stood by the side like some abandoned watchdog. A lot looked to be in her mind, and they didn’t look like happy thoughts.

“Aolinn,” Vivi said, tapping the empty seat. “You are allowed to sit here.”

Hesitantly, the noblewoman sat next to her. Vivi offered her a piece of meat, and Aolinn began eating, though her head remained low.

“Do we have shoes for Aolinn?” Vivi asked. “We lost her heels.”

Cael glanced at Alda, who sighed. She was wearing sturdier boots now, and she summoned her ballroom shoes from spatial storage. “They might be a size too big, but better than nothing.”

“Thanks,” Aolinn said weakly, nibbling on the piece of meat.

Vivi studied her from the side. Should we have been less rude to her?

“Don’t feel bad,” Lucius said. “She’s just a rich noble.”

That was true. Vivi had felt the same. But looking at Aolinn… all Vivi could see was a young and lost girl, surrounded by unfamiliar faces that didn’t want her to be there. When Aolinn asked about her father, she hadn’t sounded like she wanted to use Helegar for power. More so, she sounded genuinely concerned. Or had Vivi misread her?

She didn’t know. But for now, they had bigger problems. She faced everyone else. “Did you meet the piece of armor?”

“We did,” Alda said. “And it seems we’re stuck in the bottom of the world.”