At the Altar of Dragons

Session 33 | Chapter 1

The next ten minutes takes us around the edge of the city center, and if I thought the rest of the city was in shambles, the center is another level. In the heart of the city, there are more augmented individuals–people with mechanical limbs, or devices built into their bodies of various styles. Unlike the general looters we saw earlier, each person with some sort of alteration has depthless glowing white eyes, and they’re destroying the city as though it’s their life’s mission.

Buildings are on fire, vehicles and other machines beaten and torn apart. The level of devastation is unsettling, but I can’t focus on it. We have to get through this wreckage and get the rest of our party.

My focus is steel.

When we arrive at the entrance to the Crystal Garden, it’s evident there was a fight here, beyond the general destruction seen throughout the city at large. The packed earthen ground is torn up, and wispy green tendrils of necrotic fire lick at the rubble. The air is chill with an aura of decay as skeletons litter the ground. The three of us come to a momentary stop, not believing what we’re seeing with our very eyes.

This can’t be…this can’t be from them…

My stomach twists, but I push the fear and panic aside–we have to find them.

Layna moves into the area first, beginning to search for signs of our friends, while Lendys slips along the perimeter to check the security. My eyes trail across the expanse of the space, getting a read on the terrain before I close my eyes, focusing my senses.

Focus on the party. Focus.

I kneel to the ground and remove one of my gloves before placing my bare hand to the earth. I breathe, allowing my mind to permeate the soil, reaching through the fissures and underground natural networks that, to my excitement, still exist in this mechanical hellscape. When the pulse returns to me, an undeniable sense of three celestial beings triggers in my mind.

One is ahead and to my right–Lendys.

The other is directly ahead, and the third beacon is off to the left.

All three are within a mile of where I stand. Determination swells in my veins, feeling useful and in control for once in this godsforsaken place, and I jog into the center of the scene. “I’ve got a read on three–” glance at Lendys who is now beside me, then I correct myself, “two celestials in the area. I think it’s safe to assume one is Crimm and the other is his brother.”

Layna stands, brushing some of the dust and ash off of her pants. “Okay, so you can do something to follow them?” She gestures to our surroundings as she adds, “Because obviously this is not good.”

“Yeah, they’re that way.” I point in the direction of one of the beacons, then pivot to the next, “Or that way.”

“What do you mean ‘or that way’?” Layna snaps.

Whispering, I tell her, “I’m just fucking with you.” But suddenly, a fourth beacon comes into my range, and I perk up. “Oh no–there’s a fourth.”

“There’s another one?” She asks, a hint of fear evident in the waiver of her voice.

“Yes,” I reply, as serious as I think Layna has ever seen me. I roll my shoulders and crack my knuckles as I state, “Okay, let’s get a little more information.”

I root around in my component pouch, and pull out a small sliver of glass. I dig further before popping my gaze up and groaning loudly; I’m missing a vital component for this spell, my pipe. An idea comes to mind, and I swivel to look at Layna. I hold out my hand and state, “Give me one of your cigarettes.”

Layna gets way too excited for the situation we’re in as she replies, “Sure!” She flashes Lendys a victorious grin, before fishing out her case and asks, “Want a light?”

“Actually, yes,” I reply, placing the cigarette in my mouth, and puffing as she holds out a lit match. Once it’s lit, I puff a couple of times before turning and crouching low to the ground. Taking a long drag, hoping that any tobacco will suffice, I begin speaking the incantation as I slowly walk around the scene of the fight, holding the glass in front of my eyes to amplify my vision. Between puffs, I trace the arcane runes in the air using the cigarette as a pen, trails of smoke following behind, and when each is completed, the smoke glows green for a flash.

Ten minutes later, when I’ve completed the survey of the area, I finish the final rune, and my view of the area before us changes completely. I snuff out the cigarette before stashing what remains of it in my component pouch, then I move into the center of the skirmish.

Seven different sets of footprints glow, each in an individual color, giving me a glimpse into the fight our friends endured. Four of the seven trails are recognizable to me as the rest of our party, so those are the prints I focus on. “I’ve got them,” I declare, calling over my shoulder to the other two.

I move through the space, slowly pacing out the timeline of the tracks and where our party fled through the cave in. Layna comes to stand beside me and asks firmly, “Which one has cow hooves? That would be the trail to follow.”

“That one,” I state, pointing to a clear set of prints in my view, trailing my finger in the air along the path and ending at a pile of rubble at the far end of this area. Layna begins to move in that direction, but I grab her arm gently to stop her. Around the knot in my throat, I manage to add, “But the tortle prints go this way.” I hold up my other hand to point in the exact opposite direction, back into the heart of the city.

“What?” Layna shouts, her eyebrows raising in disbelief. “Where’s the tortle?”

Surveying the area once more to make sure I understand the scene, I then state, “Everyone else went through the collapsed tunnel there.” I point in the direction of a large pile of rubble. “And Zeref went this way,” I finish, pointing in the opposite direction. His footprints are the only ones that come out of the tunnel.

“So he’s gone back towards the city… that’s being looted?” she huffs, putting her hands on her hips.

Seeing her frustration and the look on her face, I know she’s weighing the odds, weighing what the priority situation is at the moment. And for Layna, that is always going to be Perona. As much as Perona has hurt her, has pushed her away recently, I know that she will always be Layna’s first choice.

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I can’t hide the terror in my voice as I cry, “By himself!”

“Well, he made his choice if he’s running off in the opposite direction,” she declares, unsettlingly calm. My face drops, and I feel the color drain from my face as I stare at her dumbfounded. She grabs me by the shoulders and looks me in the eye as she adds, “Look, I don’t want to leave him, but what the fuck?”

Out of nowhere, Raesh’s voice comes into my mind, each phrase punctuated with a pause as though he’s thinking carefully about what to say. Everything’s fucked. Brothel burned. I’m alive. Teleported back to Rosarium. Now at penthouse. Where are you guys? There’s a longer pause, before he concludes the message with, Peace, love, happiness, and fairy dust. Crystal tree?

At the sound of his voice, tears come to my eyes immediately as I’m overwhelmed with relief that he’s alive. I grasp Layna to hold myself up as he finishes speaking. At the end, I chuckle between sobs at the conclusion, then desperately try to keep my thoughts coherent as I reply, Oh thank the gods! Everything’s shit! We’re at the Crystal Tree. Everyone might be dead. Help! I’m so glad you’re alive. I’m gonna cry now.

A giant smile consumes my face as I look at Layna and exclaim, “Raesh is alive!”

For just a hint, she allows the relief to show through her mask as she sighs, “Thank fuck.”

With the news of Raesh being alive and on his way, a plan formulates in my mind and I insist, “Okay, we need to wait for Raesh to get here–he might be able to help us get through the cave-in.”

She nods. “Okay, so we track Zeref down while we wait on Raesh? How far out is he? Did you ask? Did he say?”

“He said he was at the penthouse?” I repeat, hoping it means more to Layna than it does to me.

“Okay…” she responds. Apparently, the information does not help.

Wanting to revel in the momentary victory, I whisper, “But he’s alive!”

“That’s good,” Layna reassures me, holding my gaze firmly. “I’m glad he’s alive. Where the fuck is the penthouse?”

“I don’t know–look for a big building?” I jerk my head towards the sky, and look around. To my dismay, every building in this fucking place is tall. “Everything looks big…” I mutter, disheartened.

“Everything is covered in smoke,” Layna grumbles. “Okay, we go track down Zeref, then we come back, and we wait for Raesh to get here. He knows where we are right?”

“Yes, I told him we’re at the tree,” I confirm. “But if we leave, then we won’t be here when he gets here…”

“We keep someone here then,” Layna instructs. “The other finds Zeref. Your magic is more appropriate for this situation–you and Lendys go and I’ll wait here.” She firmly directs, “Just go get Zeref and get back.”

I nod, a firm determination coming over me, and I turn to look at Lendys. “You wanna go get–” But I stop abruptly when I don’t see him anywhere in the area.

Fear floods my system, destroying the elation I feel at Raesh being alive, and momentarily the confidence I have to go find Zeref waivers. But the fear is quickly replaced with anger– “Fucking hells!” I yell, stalking around the fight scene to try to get a bead on his location.

“Where’s–where’s–where is he?” Layna stutters.

“I don’t know…” My eyes squeeze shut, forcing my mind from replaying the moment he faded into dust as Goose, refusing to allow my brain to tell me he’s left–or worse–is in danger without help.

“He’s a six foot tall man,” Layna mutters exasperated. “An old man! How could we lose him?” She pauses briefly, looking around the area too, before theatrically whisper-shouting into the space, “Did you get dementia when you changed? Where the fuck are you, Lendys?”

I spin, surveying the area once more, and mutter to myself, “How did that happen…”

“Do you want to wait for him while I go?” Layna offers.

My brain doesn’t register exactly what she’s asking, as I continue muttering to myself, “I don’t know…” but then I see her face, and my attention snaps into focus. “No– I’ll go. It’s fine. It’s better for me to go.”

Trotting a couple strides away, I stop, turning back to Layna and ordering her, “Don’t leave without us.”

“I won’t,” she vows, “If I’m gone, I’ve been kidnapped.”

I shake my head, and jog towards the city as I hear Layna call from behind me, “I won’t be kidnapped! Just go!”

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This place is a shit hole.

The streets are somehow worse than when we were just coming through these areas not more than twenty minutes ago. Looters are destroying shops, and items are being thrown into the street and set on fire with magic and mechanical flame throwers that resemble Zeref’s turret.

But I run at a full sprint, ducking through the chaos like a wraith. I round a corner, stopping for a breath at the mouth of an alley, when another familiar voice sounds from the pouch at my hip. Fishing out the sending stone that Layna returned to me, I put the stone to my ear, and the sound of Perona’s voice comes through clear, despite the sound of explosions and mayhem surrounding me.

“--check on lives? Hello, anybody?” Her voice is a little distorted through the arcane means of communication, but I clutch onto the stone, relieved that another member of our party is alive.

“You’re alive?” I ask, needing confirmation this isn’t some sort of trick.

She sighs, “Yes–tired, but alive.”

“Oh thank the gods,” I breathe, “Okay, um, Raesh is alive. Layna’s alive. I’m alive. We’re–I’m going to get Zeref.” I ramble, unable to stop the status update as I hear her begin to comment a couple of times.

After I fully stop, she says, nearly emotionlessly, “Okay.”

I press my back against the wall behind me as a large mechanical vehicle grinds past in the street beyond. This time whispering, I say, “I’m hoping he’s alive.”

“He wasn’t with us when we woke up,” she replies plainly. The flatness of her tone is unnerving, and sets me on edge–something is very wrong.

“I know. I picked up his trail going in the opposite direction,” I explain. “What about the rest of you?”

“The druids healed us. We’re fine physically, but we have other issues. We need to get out of here.”

“We know,” I confirm. “We have a plan–steal a skyship. The Queen has one of your sending stones.”

“Oh I know,” she replies, the first hint of emotion coming through in her tone. “She has more than that.”

When I’m unable to reply quickly enough, she adds, “But we can talk about it when we get to the skyship. Where is everyone else?”

“Layna and Raesh should be waiting at the collapsed entrance to the Crystal Tree. I’m getting Zeref, then I'm going to meet them back there. Afterwards, we planned to follow your trail into the garden.”

“Okay,” she responds, “We’re reconvening at the tree, and then we’ll go find a skyship.”

“Yes,” I confirm.

“Alright.”

Before putting the stone away, I allow myself a momentary ounce of weakness, saying, “Please don’t die.”

Her voice is just as emotionless as she responds, “Stay safe.”

I tuck the stone back into my pouch, then glance out at the street. With a deep breath, I tell myself, “Don’t die.” And I return to the bedlam of the Southern Forest.