The Asterian Dream

IX: A Moment's Peace

The night did not come along with an easing of the storm. Rain still poured down, and both Conrad and Fasela were shivering with the cold. Any trees or structures had been burned by the recent battles, leaving basically no shelter.

Fasela snapped her fingers and a small bright spark appeared in the night sky. It flew slightly ahead of the pair of travelers, lighting the way ahead. Conrad nodded in thanks, put his head back down, and continued walking forward against the cold winds and rains. After what felt like over an hour, Conrad turned to Fasela.

"Are we going to find somewhere to stop soon?!" he yelled out, barely making himself heard above the sounds of the storm around them.

"No!" Fasela yelled back, "We are almost at the passage! Keep moving!"-

Conrad grunted in annoyance, pulled his hood down firmly around his head, and continued trudging forward. After much more time had passed, and as Conrad was beginning to consider giving up and falling asleep right in the middle of the road, Fasela tugged at his arm and motioned to the side of the road. He turned to look and saw what appeared to be an inconspicuous forest.

Fasela quickly moved into the trees, Conrad struggling to follow and only able to keep up because of the light. They wandered through the forest, strange noises and echoes all around them. Normally Conrad would have been somewhat spooked, but now he was just grateful for any relief from the storm. They continued for what felt as if it was another full hour, all with the echoes of the forest around them. Once or twice, Conrad could have sworn he saw eyes glimmering in the darkness, but whenever he focused in they were gone.

Fasela turned to look behind her and noticed Conrad seemed somewhat afraid. She slowed down and let him catch up.

"Nothing will harm you in this forest. The creatures here will not harm Moraks or any of their companions."

"Creatures?" Conrad asked.

"Mostly wolves, foxes, bats, and the occasional forest guardian spirit," she replied. "However, elves do inhabit this forest. They are tasked with guarding the entrance to the passage."

Conrad had to suppress a gulp. "Um, elves don't exactly like draugh. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Fasela shrugged. "They are under orders to not attack anyone traveling with a Morak, so you're fine. What, has an elf harmed you before?"

Conrad appeared mildly annoyed. "I don't want to go into details. Can we just hurry up?"

And so the both of them continued in silence. Finally, they reached what appeared to be some old ruins. There were stones scattered everywhere, most fallen to the ground and covered with moss. However, there was also an incomplete archway made of stones, and engraved on each one were strange symbols.

Conrad was confused. "What are the symbols for?" he asked.

Fasela brushed the moss off one to get a better look. "These seem to be the signs of the twelve Archons of the Imperium. However, the set is incomplete."

"What?" Conrad asked.

"Help me look for a stone that has the symbol of two dragons locked together in an embrace."

He nodded and began turning over stones looking for symbols. They both searched for quite a while, but eventually Fasela came across one such stone. She yelled for Conrad to come over.

"Help me lift this into that open space in the archway," she said.

He reached down and together with her lifted the stone. They carried it over to the archway, where the gap was at the top. It was a struggle, but they both eventually managed to boost it up high enough to fit it into the space.