At the Altar of Dragons

Session 33 | Chapter 3

If I have to pull Zeref away from another one of these damn glowing figures, I’m going to lose my mind.

On our way back to the entrance to the Crystal Garden, we duck and avoid five more of those creatures, confirming my earlier suspicions that there were more. You’d think that the sounds of explosions surrounding us and nearly being erased by those creatures would quell Zeref's insatiable curiosity…

It hasn’t.

However, a crackling sound coming from the sending stone in my pouch gets both of our attention. I pull out the arcane object and bring it to my ear, but Zeref immediately spikes the stone out of my hand.

“Zeref!” I shriek, skittering across the ground to try and catch the stone amongst the rubble of the city.

“I’ll fucking–” he starts, his nostrils flaring. His stare is venomous. “Don’t fucking use that! They’re tracking us with them!”

“No, they aren’t!” I cry back, pivoting my body to hurl the response back at him with as much force as he’s yelling at me.

He groans, rubbing his hands across his face. “They fucking stole one and marked it!”

Zeref’s words trigger the memory of the Witch Queen answering Layna’s earlier call to the other half of the party, and my stomach drops. I stare at him blankly, trying to determine how compromised we are based on the conversations I’ve had using the stone.

Seeing my understanding, Zeref grumbles, “Exactly! Don’t use it.”

I scan the area around me in a last attempt to spot the valuable magical item. I’m so stunned at this information, I hold my hands in front of me numbly, fingers spread in mid-movement. I'm unable to use them for anything as my body fights to catch up to my brain. I find his gaze once more and naively ask, “Is it bad if I have it on me?” These items cost our party a lot of gold, and to just throw that away feels like a waste. As much as material wealth doesn’t motivate my life, it’s a valuable resource for our group.

Zeref shrugs. “I don’t know–I chucked mine, so they couldn’t trace it!” His eyes are wide, bordering on deranged.

Finally, I spot the stone and reach to pick it up again as I casually offer, “We’re only five minutes away from the garden. Let’s just keep running.”

Zeref snatches the stone as soon as my fingers touch it, and he begins inspecting the markings on it. After a moment, his expression changes, and he spins the stone for me to look at. He’s pointing at a tiny marking amongst all of the other sigils as he shouts, “You see this?!”

I scream involuntarily at his uncharacteristic aggression. But then, I nod to placate him, though I don't even know exactly what I’m looking at. In this haste, all the markings look so similar to me.

Without a second thought, he throws the stone as far as he can, and it disappears into the rest of the destruction–another casualty of the day. “We spent good money on that, Zeref!” I pointlessly cry; the stone is lost, and there’s no use in dwelling on the loss.

“I know!” he shouts. “Now go!” He shoos me, and we take off running through the city once more.

Thankfully, when we reach the battle-torn area outside of the garden, the area is void of looters, glowing figures, and is generally quiet. It’s unsettling how my own panting breaths are the loudest sound instead of buildings collapsing, screams of people dying, or that unnatural screech from the creatures. I scan the terrain, looking for signs of Layna or Raesh, when my eyes land on a five foot diameter hole carved through the pile of rubble blocking our path.

“Can you fit your ass through that?” I stalk over to the opening, lowering my head just slightly to peek through the space.

“Yeah, I can fit,” he replies, starting to squat.

I place my hand on his chest lightly to stop him. “Do you want to go first or me?” I’ve never known Zeref to be the first to walk into anything unknown, and all I can assume is this is fueled by the adrenaline of our race through the city.

His eyes widen and he straightens. “You go first,” he confirms my suspicions.

I nod, retrieving my bow from my back as I crouch a little in order to clear the top of the opening. The tunnel isn’t far, and we’re delivered to an enormous forest–an actual forest… in the middle of this city. For a moment, I’m lost for words. It smells like the forest at the base of the conclave, and I breathe deep. The mossen ground and tree canopy dampens the bedlam of the city beyond the massive stone walls that extend out to either side of the tunnel entrance. For a moment, I’m captivated by the beauty of this place so much that I nearly forget why we’re here. Just nearly.

The path before us is dirt and with a brief inspection reveals our party’s footprints heading into the forest ahead. With my bow readied, we make our way along their trail, scanning the forest as we progress deeper into the garden. I’m on alert looking out for any sign of life. Layna and Raesh were supposed to be waiting outside for us, and there’s only two reasons why they wouldn’t be there when we arrived: they connected with the rest of the party or something bad happened. With the way our fortune’s been playing out today, I won’t be convinced of their safety until I see them with my own eyes.

A quiet hangs in the air, but not like in the city outside these walls. The quiet is accented by small scuffles, wings flapping— the soundtrack of the natural world. As we reach the center of the garden without incident, I pause at the sight of the feature that gives this garden its name.

A gargantuan crystal tree is rooted in the ground at the middle of a clearing ahead. Its trunk is dozens of feet in diameter and reaches so high, I can’t make out where the uppermost branches stop and the sky starts. Sunlight reflects through the tree, adorning the other, plain by comparison, trees nearby with a rainbow of light.

We circumvent the edge of the clearing, keeping near the brush, instinct telling me this would be the spot for an ambush if this was a trap. As we round the opposite side, a scan of the trees reveals a small cabin tucked into the forest. It’s covered in moss, ferns, and mushrooms, almost as if it was intended to be camouflaged. I study the trail of prints before us and conclude the party headed in the direction of the structure.

At that moment, familiar purple hair flashes in the light on the porch, and I shout with excitement at the sight of Layna, alive and well.

“Oh, you made it!” she calls down to us.

Jogging the short distance up the hill, I quip, “You weren’t kidnapped!”

She smiles, shaking her head. “No, we weren’t.”

“We almost died,” I say with a laugh, scanning the area to see if Lendys is with the group, or still missing. The knot in my chest tightens when I don’t see him nearby.

Layna’s brows shoot up as she explains, “We tried to tell you through the stone–wait, what happened?”

“Him!” I declare, spinning to point at Zeref walking up behind me.

“Zeref, what the fuck?” Layna groans.

Crossing my arms, I add, “He thinks we’re being watched.”

Layna glances at me out of the corner of her eye as she replies, “Well… we are.”

Zeref shouts, “Hah!” at me, elation at being proven right steamrolling any concern at this moment.

“They won’t let me shoot it though,” Layna comments.

Stunned, I ask, “Why aren’t we shooting them if we’re being tracked through them?”

Layna rolls her eyes. “That’s a great question. Go inside and see the others.”

Inside the cabin, the light is dim, and the wooden construction leaves the air smelling slightly musty and earthen. The aroma gives me a momentary reprieve before Alba snarkily comments, “Because destroying them would alert the Queen that we’re onto them.”

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As Zeref crosses the threshold, he pauses, taking in the sight of the other party members alive, before he collapses to his knees sobbing. I lean over slightly, placing my hand on his shoulder and say, “I told you they were alive.”

He looks up at me with tears filling his eyes and wails, “I didn’t believe you!”

A laugh escapes me as I reply, “I know you didn’t!”

Alba charges over to where Zeref kneels and scoops him up in a bearhug. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” she blubbers. The fur on her face is crusted, clumping a little–clearly there was a tearful reunion before we got here. I sidestep out of the way of the hug, back over to where Layna stands at the edge of this scene. “Why wouldn’t he be alive?” Layna groans, and I sense she’s still bothered by the fact that Zeref fled from the group earlier. I can’t say I disagree with her, but those emotions are tempered as I observe the group back together.

After a moment of holding only Zeref, Alba starts pulling the others one at a time into her embrace. It’s not lost on me that she makes no move to pull me into this emotional moment. I stand along the edge of this scene, an outsider amongst my own party, and the hole left by Lendys’ absence is even more prominent in this moment.

One other person isn’t included in Alba’s over the top display–Raesh. A smile comes to my face seeing the gnome alive and unscathed, in part because of my overt ostracization, but mainly because I’m truly happy to see him okay. I nudge his shoulder and tease, “You burnt down the brothel!”

He looks up at me, smiling even as he protests, “No, I didn’t do that!” The only response I can manage is a nod as I laugh, the relief starting to manifest as tears along the edge of my eyes. His expression drops as he asks, “Is that what happened?”

From under Alba’s arm, Layna mutters, “You summoned demons to the brothel, Raesh!”

I pull him into a hug, appreciating the compassion, and the fact that it appears like someone in the group is happy to see me alive. Between Alba’s increasingly loud sobs, Zeref explains to Layna what happened before he fled, and why he thought the others were dead. When his story is over, Alba reaches out to lightly lay her hand on my shoulder, almost as though she can’t bother to actually touch me, and dramatically states, “We almost died.”

My blood boils, and red immediately overtakes the edges of my vision at her words. If the unending string of curses that came through our telepathic connection and kept me from meditating earlier are any indication, it’s likely that Alba’s temper escalated whatever situation the other half of our group ended up in. Despite the guilt that still lingers in the back of my mind at destroying the dojo and harming my friends, my actions weren’t a result of my lack of self-control. Unable to hold my tongue, I snap, venom lacing every syllable, “Everyone almost died!”

My comment goes unnoticed though, or the truth in the statement is lost on the others, and Zeref continues his protests of how critical the fight was for their group. I know I should be more considerate, more understanding of the severity of their situation, but in truth, Alba’s condescending tone and abrasiveness towards me today as a result of Perona and I breaking up has left little empathy in me. I throw my hands up and roll my eyes, taking a seat a few feet away from the theatrics. Raesh sits next to me, bumping my shoulder with his.

“So where did you end up after the brothel?” I ask.

His eyes are bright, but slightly creased, revealing the strain the situation took on him as he replies, “I called out to Bahamut, and he teleported me to the Rosarium.” A light smile plays on his lips, the admiration and appreciation of our god evident in his expression. “Bahamut saved my ass,” he adds with a little laugh.

I chuckle slightly. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s doing good,” Raesh informs me. “He told me not to get hurt again today. Which I’m hoping doesn’t happen, obviously.”

“Let’s hope!” I laugh, then nudge him back. “I just got hurt instead!”

He doubles over laughing beside me, and Layna looks shocked at him. “Raesh! Why are you laughing?” The way Layna is being held in Alba’s grip, but is still paying attention to me and Raesh makes me smile slightly, feeling a little less like a pariah.

I giggle and quip, “We’re just his problem children!”

After freeing herself, Layna scrambles over to join us and asks, “Raesh, why was the Pleasure Palace full of succubi, imps, and demons when I walked in? Why was everything burned on the inside?” Her tone pitches up as she tries to deliver the accusation in a delicate manner.

“What?” Raesh’s eyes widen before he conspiratorially replies, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Layna levels him with one of her signature glares, and he tries to recover. “All I know is they thought I had no use for them anymore,” he says in an attempt to defend himself. “So, they decided to burn the whole shit down with me inside!”

I shake my head and shriek, “What use were you to begin with?”

Raesh isn’t embarrassed or sheepish often; it’s one of the things I admire about him the most, but seeing him now, he looks as if he would gladly teleport out of here at any moment if it were possible.

Layna slowly asks, “What do you mean ‘use’?”

“What did you do, Raesh?” I snap, tired of dancing around the events of the day. We’ve all been through hell today, and we gain nothing by hiding vital information from each other.

He eyes Layna and I as he slowly mutters, “They… charmed me.” A chorus of groans and gasps floods the cabin, and Raesh quickly adds, “It was a very powerful charm! Technically, it was the madam’s witch lair… I heard that phrase being thrown around the brothel if that means anything to y’all.”

Layna presses her fingers to her temples, inquiring, “What did you share with her?”

“Um..”

My eyes widen. “Everything?” I accuse.

“No.. not everything! Just what I could remember… and what I thought was important, which I think a lot of things are important,” he rambles.

“What did you say?” Perona asks emotionlessly. This is the first time she’s spoken since Zeref and I arrived at the cabin, and her lifeless tone is jarring. This morning, her demeanor was performative–play hostess and guide to her visiting friends, put on a good show for the crowd. But right now? Her tone is numb, and it sends a chill down my spine.

“So much has happened,” Raesh mumbles. “I actually don’t remember what I said exactly.”

“Oh that’s helpful, Raesh. Thank you,” Layna groans.

“She was asking all sorts of questions like, ‘who was in our party’ and ‘who we have connections to’. I tried to explain to her that I was just there for a good time, but she just kept asking questions!”

“You didn’t tell her any of those answers right?” Layna’s tone is shrill as she fights to hold her anger at bay. “Because even if you’re charmed, you don’t have to. Just because you think a person is your friend doesn’t mean you have to tell them everything, Raesh! Did you tell them everything?”

Quietly, he replies, “Yes, she’s very powerful.”

“Gods, okay,” Layna groans.

Raesh adds, “And then she decided I needed to die.”

This is bad. Based on what Markus shared earlier and the potential alliances in the Southern Forest, it’s likely that the information Raesh shared with the madam was how the Witch Queen knew of our presence in the city, and why the attacks were orchestrated on the other part of our group. “Wow,” I sigh, muttering under my breath. “And here I thought I was the one that screwed up the most today.”

From the other side of the room, Alba chimes in, “They burned it down? So the madam was aware of what was going to happen after…”

Raesh brushes off her comment and, with a haunted look in his eyes, continues, “And then all three of us spontaneously combust!” His gaze meets mine, and his horror is palpable. “They died on me! Burning alive!”

“We’re going to deal with that trauma later,” I mutter.

Layna snaps, getting our attention, and leads with, “Okay? So you have a burnt dick, Bahamut saved you–then where did you go? Because when I walked in, you weren’t there.”

“I was teleported back to the Rosarium,” he states.

“Are they okay?” Layna blurts.

Perona clarifies, “My family?”

Raesh rocks a little and explains, “Um, there was a guy who decided to attack me, Alicander, and your father–”

“Which guy?” Layna asks.

“I forget his name, but he was in a wheelchair,” Raesh muses. “He was Zeref’s friend! He cast a lightning strike on everybody, but I did have time to save your father, Perona. He’s alright and recovering. Alicander is taking care of him.”

Perona blinks rapidly, taking in the wild story that Raesh is sharing with us. Without pause, he continues, “And then Alicander said we could either take a three day skyship trip here, or wait a day for this portal to open up. But then I asked if there was anything quicker, and he said we could cast a teleportation ritual. So that’s what we did, and I was teleported to the penthouse here in the city. There were all these white floating guys around–”

I cut off his rambling account of the events, and exclaim, “Zeref and I saw those! They almost killed us on the way here!”

“Can we get back to the penthouse to teleport back?” Perona asks.

My comment clearly landed on deaf ears, and I close my eyes to focus my emotions from the party’s rejection to the mission in front of us. We need to get out of here. All this talk isn’t doing us any good in this immediate moment. I still don’t know where Lendys is, and we need to get out of here before those creatures decide to invade the forest.

“Someone would have to be able to cast a teleportation ritual,” Raesh answers, shaking his head.

“We’re stealing a skyship,” I command, tired of dancing around other options when clearly there are none. “That’s Plan A.”

“Does anyone have a scroll?” Layna offers.

“No,” I snap. “I haven’t inherited that ability yet from my ancestors. One day, yes, but that day is not today.”

“Okay then.. Moving on,” Layna mutters.

“I would think Plan A was probably a portal,” Perona comments, and I taste blood from biting my tongue so hard. “Plan B is teleport? Both of those are gone. So Plan C is a skyship?”

“We’ve already ruled out those first two plans with the information we had,” I state, keeping my tone firm but even.

“Plan Z is we just run through the forest,” she adds.

Layna groans, “I already told you the portals were down, Perona. There’s no portals.”

“Which is why we’re on Plan C: skyship,” Perona declares.

Finally everyone else has fucking caught up! Now if I can just get these bastards on their feet–

“When did y’all discuss the skyship plan?” Zeref asks, innocently enough.

I start to explain the conversation Layna and I had with Lendys earlier when a form appears at the cabin entrance. Jerking my head, I’m nearly knocked off my axis at the relief that floods over my system. Lendys is standing in front of me. Unfortunately, my temper is threatening to boil over, and I shout, “Fucking hells! Where have you been?”