The Ethersmith

“We’re apparently stuck in some ‘Gauntlet Of The Gods,’” Alda said.

“It’s a quote from the Age Of Typhoons,” Cael said. “From literally five thousand years ago. I’ve seen it a few times, and only in the most obscure historical papers. Mostly in lists of influential quotes. It’s one from Noxbryn, the Demon God, that says, ‘When ether returns, find me in the Gauntlet Of The Gods, at the bottom of the world.’”

“The human translation seems to be incorrect,” Lortel said. “It is not ‘When ether returns’, but ‘When the ether returns’. It refers to a specific event. Though, you would need to learn ancient Fimian for the full meaning.”

Lucius, Vivi realized, was translating her words to Fimian, the demon language. Alda and Cael also spoke Fimian, with Aolinn staring at the grass under their feet, slowly nibbling at her piece of meat. She was the only one without a spirit, and without access to translation magic.

Vivi spoke to her in the human language. “We’re discussing plans with Lortel for now. She’s knowledgeable, but she doesn’t understand us. We need to speak Fimian. We’re not plotting anything.”

“Mm,” Aolinn said lifelessly. “I understand.”

“I do comprehend,” Lortel said, speaking slowly with broken enunciation, which Lucius wasn’t translating. “Not all, however. Ythar Standard is not my preferred… communication.”

Aolinn blinked at her. “You understand us? But you’re a demon?”

“Humans are always surprised to learn that demons are not mindless blood hungry monsters. We love life just the same. I may speak your tongue if you prefer.”

Alda wheezed a quiet laugh. “Sorry. You speak like you’re in a fairytale.”

Lortel crossed her legs. “I did not have anyone for practice, except books. You shall teach me. I will listen.”

Alda glanced at Aolinn suspiciously. She spoke in Fimian, with translation magic. “Do we want her to listen in, though? She’s Helegar’s daughter.”

“A daughter of a man of influence might have knowledge,” Lortel said, continuing in the human language. “I believe she should be included. And I will now stay quiet, before my use of your tongue grows embarrassing.”

“You’re very good,” Aolinn said, though hesitantly. “You’re just using uncommon words and overly complex expressions. It’ll be easy to learn.”

Lortel smiled. “Vivian, continue, please. In your language. What happened on your way here?”

“We met the armor as well,” Vivi said. “It told me it wouldn’t repeat its tale after already telling it to someone else. That must have been you. What did he say?”

“I suppose we can relay his full tale?” Cael said. “I memorized his speech word by word.”

“My spirit did as well,” Alda said, looking unimpressed, “but go ahead. You’re good at tales.”

“We talked to him last night when the underground was still dark after being ambushed by rabbits,” Cael said. “His aura in the rotten forest didn’t seem hostile, but we formed an escape plan regardless, in case of traps.

“We tried to talk to him, but the armor didn’t wake up from words alone. We then flared our auras into his armor, knocking him in the head a few times, but neither showed a reaction. Only when we offered him a hundred wisps of ether, his senses began to return, and he woke up like a bear from hibernation.

“He observed us for a bit, clearly too out of it to fight even if we were enemies. Drowsily, he asked, ‘How much time has passed? What year is it?’

“I told him, ‘It’s the thirteen hundredth year of the Empyrean rule,’” Cael wore an amused smile. “And I think the armor realized a whole new age of civilization had started, more than a thousand years in counting. He fully woke up and introduced himself as Francesco.”

Stolen from NovelFire, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Cael relayed everything from there with a lot of details, while everyone else listened calmly. Francesco had been some sort of dungeon hunter five thousand years ago, though he hadn’t revealed much about himself beyond that. He had been searching for someone named Sannelia, who’d gotten lost in this dungeon centuries upon centuries ago.

Everything the armor had told the others had been just as cryptic. Francesco told Cael that they were at the bottom of the world as well, at the Gauntlet Of The Gods. When asked if there was a way out, Francesco had laughed, wishing Cael good luck.

“His final words before falling asleep were, ‘You are not the first travelers to end up here. They all die. To old age, if not monsters. There is no escape. No salvation. Only an existence of endless dungeons. Make yourselves at home, and do not wake me, do not befriend me, for I will not watch more friends die.’ The glow of his eyes dimmed, and he did not speak again.”

“Interesting…” Vivi said. “He told me mostly the same things. He also said, ‘One day, when the world ends, and levelstone breaks, I might rise again, and ask my god to end my life.’ Could that give us hints?”

Cael looked thoughtful. “Well, if we’re truly stuck here, it seems we have plenty of time to think.”

Vivi glanced at Aolinn. The noblewoman had been listening, having finished her meal, but her head remained low, and she didn’t have anything to add.

“Survival will be our first priority,” Alda said. “The land is fertile here, meaning if we’re actually stuck, we can probably start a farm. Once that’s secure, we can start thinking about exploring the caverns.”

“Actually, I was already there for a while,” Vivi said. “It’s a long network with insane monsters. There’s also a lava area.”

“Interesting,” Cael said, leaning forward and began asking Vivi about her trip.

She didn’t have much to add, other than to describe the monsters that kept attacking her. The most damning fact about the caves was that the network extended seemingly forever and with very little changes to the surroundings, making it the most miserable place Vivi had ever trotted, even worse than the blight.

Nobody had any genius ideas on how they’d get out of here, and neither Cael or Alda could access Paradise to contact anyone for help. Not that the humans on the surface would have traveled to the bottom of the world regardless.

For now, they agreed that their first step would be to fully explore the forest area, which was also massive, and to start preparing a farm in case they had to spend a longer time here. They spent the remaining day improving their camp and building beds out of dry grass.

Night quickly came, and Vivi did her best to sleep, while Lortel took the first turn protecting their camp from the rabbits and reanimated forest animals, and to replenish their firewood.

Sleeping turned out to be much more difficult now that Lucius couldn’t just send Vivi to Paradise to instantly fall asleep. She had to close her eyes and let her body get calm enough to rest, which wasn’t easy in a location and bed as uncomfortable as this. She must have tried to fall asleep for at least an hour, until she gave up and sat up, deciding to switch turns with Lortel, taking her turn to watch the camp.

Vivi sat by the campfire in the pitch black forest with Lucius keeping his attention on their surroundings for ethereal presences. Even with ether in her eyes, she couldn’t see more than fifty yards around her, though she knew if she added void ether, the whole forest would be clear as day.

Everyone seemed to sleep well, except Aolinn, who kept shifting around. That continued for a short while, until she sat up, facing the campfire and hugging her knees.

“Still worried about your father?” Vivi asked quietly.

Aolinn spoke with her head on her knees. “Yes… But it’s more than that.”

Vivi lifted an eyebrow. Should she ask for more? Did she care? It wasn’t like Aolinn would be useful to their survival in any way. The noblewoman couldn’t channel ether. And when this was all over, Aolinn would probably somehow make Vivi and the others seem like the bad guys.

“Vivian?” Aolinn asked, lifting her head. She wiped her eyes. “I’m just a foul person. That’s what you think of me. What everyone thinks of me.”

Vivi blinked. “What do you mean?”

Aolinn took her time forming her words. “When we got out of the dark caves and into the forest, and found everyone else… When they saw you, everyone looked so happy. They all smiled. But when they looked at me… They looked disappointed.”

“They’re my friends,” Vivi said. “You have your own friends who are like that, right?”

Aolinn turned back to her knees. “Do I? I don’t think I do… I thought only lovers would be that happy to see someone like that…”

“Your friends don’t smile when they see you?” Vivi asked.

Aolinn breathed in. “My mom scolds me when she sees me. Friends at balls try to walk away. My brothers… I don’t know. Only my father has ever smiled at me like that.”

Wow, Vivi thought. “How old are you?”

“Sixteen,” Aolinn said.

She’s really just a girl, Vivi thought. Just like everyone.

“I know there’s something wrong with me,” she said weakly, her voice wavering. “I know nobody likes me or my father. But it just hurts… I want to stop. I want to be good. I don’t want everyone to hate me.” Aolinn sniffled a tear, turning to Vivi. “What makes me horrible, Vivian? Please tell me…”