Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Illyria

 Illyria's vision went blue when she looked into the past, and she couldn't see Trevor, Damien, Darien, or Roderick, but she saw a girl, only an inch shorter than her, with long, dark hair, wearing what looked like a suit of light armor made from leather, and studded with gems that had similar look to diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, but they all had a faint glow to them. She could only assume that it was Princess Andrella. The Princess looked to the gate, then to a red book bound with leather, a dozen times. After each look, she pressed what looked like buttons in the gates that had strange symbols in them. They were Draconic, but they weren't letters that would be written in words. They were symbols in a prophecy. Andrella pressed a symbol of a short-faced bear, a saber-toothed cat, a burning skull, a centaur, a greyhound, a frog, and then a dragon. Suddenly, the gates suddenly split apart, and the Princess drew a long pistol from a holster on her belt. She stepped through the gates, but when Illyria tried to follow her, she felt like she was smacked on the head.

"Oh, that's right," she said to herself, then she closed her eyes, and opened them again to a closed gate in front of her, and the blue color went away. Like Trevor did, she sensed an aura of darkness from inside the ruins. Whatever Princess Andrella had gotten herself into, they had to get her out of it as soon as they could.

"Well?" asked Roderick. "Did she run into the door, like you did?"

"Prince Roderick, does your sister have long, dark hair, and blue eyes?" said Illyria, and Roderick nodded his head. "Do you know if she has a suit of leather armor with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires studding it?"

"Yeah, she made something like that, but I didn't think she'd wear it anytime soon," said Roderick.

"She's here," Illyria promised. "And she's armed."

"Armed?" gasped Darien. "With what?"

"Just a pistol," said Illyria. "But I think I saw a dagger."

"So, she came prepared?" asked Trevor. "What was she preparing to face here?"

"Let's find out," Illyria suggested, then she turned around, pressing the buttons she saw Andrella press in the order she pressed them, and the gate opened.

"I'll try to ignore that coincidence," said Damien.

"What coincidence?" asked Illyria.

"We'll explain later," said Trevor. "Come on." They entered through the gates to a passage with stone walls, and a lit, hanging brazier on the ceiling.

"Look," Damien snapped, pointing to a small sleeping bag at the end of the hall.

"Did she plan to stay here for a while?" said Illyria. Suddenly, Trevor ignited his blue lightsword as the darkness he and Illyria sensed quickly grew stronger.

"What is it?" said Roderick.

"Shh," hushed Trevor, as he stepped into a thinner corridor at the end of the larger one. Darien took out a warhammer with some kind of teal head, Damien a katana with a blade of the same color, and Roderick drew a shotgun. Illyria didn't unsheath the silver odachi or tonfas she brought just yet. Trevor took another step into the corridor, and his foot suddenly sank into the ground a bit. He quickly jumped back as large spikes came from the side of the hall, stretching all the way to the other.

"I knew it," said Trevor, then he cut the spikes from the wall and put away his blade. Illyria could sense a feeling of dread from Prince Roderick. She could only imagine what would happen if they found his sister dead in a trap, somewhere in the ruins, or in the hands of whatever darkness that plagued the place.