Chronicles of a Mage, Book One

Chapter 4: Ruins

We'd opened the two towering stone doors and inside were a set of steps that lead into a darkness. As we wandered into the tomb it turned pitch black almost instantly
"Uh I can't see a thing"
"If only there was someone here who could conjure a flame." I said sarcastically.
"Fine, you can use magic just this one time" Replied Grash. I then  held my hand out and conjured a reasonably sized flame, and it was then when I became aware of the wall.
"Hey there's writing on the wall."
"The writing's not gonna help me get stronger" Grash didn't seem to care but I found it fascinating. The writing itself was in the ancient imperial tongue. I knew this because I'd seen glimpses of the script Uncle's research notes. Either way it was a far cry from the modern imperial tongue that most people on the continent speak. The script might be somewhat similar but the meaning and the context would be far too different to understand without sufficient knowledge. There was one word I could understand though. A name

"Arthur..." I said quietly

"Arthur... Why do I feel like I know that name?" Eeuna asked.  Our train of thought halted when a 'click' sound rang throughout the tomb. Grash and I both halted as well, not moving a muscle. 

"Uh what was that?" Grash said, a tad nervous as we looked down at his feet. There was the source of the click.

"You've stepped on a pressure plate. A trap, maybe?" but before I could give a more detailed explanation I was distracted by the sound of a massive stone gate dropping behind us
"Oh we've been trapped alright. Ugh I thought there would be more undead in here." 
I then noticed a dart shoot from a hole in the wall behind us. Then another dart shot from a hole slightly closer to us and then again, from a hole even closer to us until "Run!" I warned Grash and the two of us ran. Time felt like it fast forwarded. Both of us were frantically scrambling forward and trying to avoid getting shot full of darts. How we were managing to not get hit by a single one I had no idea but I wouldn't dare question it. Then I spotted a door frame up ahead "Through there!" I yelled as I was huffing and puffing and before we knew it we were through and stopped for a little bit. "*huff puff* I did not expect that"
"It seems your uncle failed to mention the myriad of traps in these tombs." Eeuna said
"Let's be more careful from now on." Grash suggested
"Agreed, though I think we have more fish to fry" in front of us was a big wide corridor made of the same dull mossy stone as the rest of the ruin and a fairly low ceiling lined with torches (that were somehow lit for possibly centuries)  that made the flame in my hand redundant so I put it out. More concerning however was the numerous coffins which ran along the walls. "I guarantee those coffins have zombies in them, but if we're quiet we should be able to sneak past without-"
"To hell with that sneaking around crap! HEY ASSHOLES, YOU BETTER LISTEN UP! I'M GRASH SINDON THE IV AND I'M GONNA TEAR THE LIVING SHIT OUTTA YA!"
"Oh now you've done it" 
"You really should've expected that" Eeuna adviced in my ear. Then, as a response to Grash's incessant and unconsensual shouting, the coffins begin opening one by one and shambling towards us was a horde of zombies.
"I count at least 40 zombies. I wonder if he can take them all at once" I whispered to myself. You might think that a single boy would have a tough time against so many foes, but you have to realize that these are zombies not people. Most tend to be slow and unintelligent to the point that even a child with a pitch fork can take one down with a bit of effort. 
"Well either way we can't interfere. Maybe we should've brought popcorn?" Eeuna mused.
All the while Grash jumped right into the frey, swinging his axe and yelling like a madman. It was quite the spectacle and quickly he dispatched the whole front row of zombies.
"Hmmm half a minute and he's already killed 10 of them"
"Wait you're counting this?"
In another half minute he killed a fair bit more but I could start to see he was getting a little clumsy
A little more time had passed and Grash unskillfully delivered the final blow to the final zombie "Well done." he was absolutely covered in zombie guts and his clothes stained with disgusting ichor "But uh... you might want to clean up."
"Eh I'll do that later, for now let's just go that way" the fight had clearly been draining on him and I was feeling a bit apprehensive about Grash's ability to fight anymore Undead. Such a fight would've been hard on anyone and if Grash ran into anymore fights like that he'd be in dire straights. In any case we headed down the corridor and I tried my best not to step on anything squishy.
A few minutes through the corridor and we had found ourselves some more coffins. "You look tired, maybe you should-" I tried saying, but the oaf didn't listen
"Hell yeah! WOOOOH"  He charged into the horde with his axe and started carving up some more zombies. Small mistakes becoming more common and I could see on his face that he was struggling to keep it up.
"He looks like he's having trouble. I don't know if I should help him or not" I murmured
"He doesn't look like he's in too much trouble just yet." But as if Eeuna had jinxed it, I heard a cry that wasn't one of Grash's usual shoutings. When I looked up I saw a gaping wound on his right arm and he dropped his axe to the ground.
"That's it. I can't stand here any longer" I stated, but Grash didn't like the idea.
"No! It's just a flesh wound I don't need your help."
"Move. I don't have time to argue" I closed my eyes and started to concentrate. Suddenly It was like the battle in this room was happening far away. "Oh spiritus venti, adeste preces et concede potestatem" I started doing hand gestures and with a flourish I opened my eyes as a quick rush of energy swirled from my chest into my hands. Out came a powerful gust of wind that sent straight forward. Grash moved out of the way of my tornado spell but the were not so lucky. The ones directly in the wind's path were ragdolled aside and the rest was collateral damage. I'd lynched most of the zombies but such a powerful spell left me fatigued both physically and mentally.
"What did I tell you? I had that under control! A great warrior always relies on his own skill. That's father always says!"
"And what good will becoming a great warrior be if you're dead and buried?" I said coldly "Now let me have a look at that injury. Even the smallest of scratches can get infected."
That seemed to to change his attitude a little. "Good point... I guess using a little magic is fine."
I didn't have any bandages to staunch the bleeding so I tore a small piece from my trousers. It wasn't great but it would have to do for now.

We then came to a room about 6 metres in both width and length and empty save for a few bones lying about the place. More importantly however was a ring standing on a pedestal in the middle of the room. "Now that's what I've come here for" I went into the middle of the room so I can take my (not so) deserved prize but that was when the two piles of bones started moving.
"What the?" The bones began to take shape in the form of something humanoid and looked into my soul with pale white skulls. The skeletons both lunged at me with terrifying agility that I only narrowly avoided and I reflexively cast a flame at the one on the right. The heat scorched and to a degree even melted some of the bone but to call it effective would be an overstatement. "Hey you're up" I said towards Grash
"Don't have to tell me twice" he rushed in holding his in both hands and with a strong few swipes one of the skeletons crumbled to the ground with no time to retaliate. The second skeleton kept up it's onslaught of attacks on me. I jumped back and hit it with a flame shot and prepared to cast another when suddenly the skeleton crumbled as Grash appeared behind it.
"Thanks. And sorry for using magic"
"Hey it's not like your magic did anything so I'm fine with it. Now take your artifact."
"I will." When I touched the ring it exuded a tingle which betrayed the presence of magical energy.  "Though calling it an artifact would be giving it too much credit because it's really just an enchanted ring. I'll take it anyway though."  When I took the ring from it's place the ground shook and a mechanism must have made the wall in front of us slide to the side, revealing the sun's light and a set of stairs that led to the surface "Shall we?" I asked, sliding the ring on my finger.
"Let's get out of here" With that we both ascended the stairs, surrounded by the lush greenery of the Grune forest.