Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Melody

 While they were in the catacombs, Melody must have lost track of time. As they went through horde after horde of bonewalkers, human and Draconian alike, and marched through tunnels that led deeper and deeper underground, all she could assume was that it was midday. It was still hard to be sure, though, since the only light they had was from Trevor's lightsword, and hers. As they went deeper, the aura of darkness grew stronger and stronger with each step they took, and they eventually arrived at a dragon gate in the wall, where the darkness was at its strongest. Melody had cut down one last Draconian bonewalker, bringing it to its knees and taking its head off, before they approached the blood lock in front of the dragon gate.

"I don't think we can get any deeper than this," said Trevor.

"Are you sure?" Melody asked.

"No," Trevor answered, taking off one of his gauntlets. He dragged his bare hand across the top of the sharp rock, and let his blood drip down its pedestal. He healed his hand as the dragon gate raised into the ceiling. All that was in the next room was darkness at first, and the strong aura that was with it, but when Melody, Trevor, and Illyria stepped through the doorway, the dragon gate suddenly slammed shut, and four braziers ignited in the corners of a huge, stone chamber.

"Woah," Illyria whispered. In the center of the chamber, in the middle of a stone circle was a large, stone circle was a silver sarcophagus that was built for something twice their size.

"What's that?" Melody asked.

"It's a metal box," said Illyria.

"Illyria, come on," Trevor scolded.

"Hey, wait a minute," said Melody, as she noticed something on the edges of the box's cover. The three slowly crept to the sarcophagus, but when they stepped inside the stone circle, its cover suddenly flew off. Nothing else happened for a moment, there was an aura of darkness in the sarcophagus, but it wasn't the one that led them down the catacombs. That one was stronger, but the one in the box was still powerful. When Melody took one more step forward, she suddenly felt Illyria's hand grab her arm.

"Look," she warned, as a clawed, skeletal hand gripped the edge of the coffin.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Melody whined. From the sarcophagus rose a Draconian bonewalker, but this one wore black, tattered robes instead of teal glass armor, and it had no legs, hovering above the ground, holding a long staff tipped with a blue crystal of storm malakyte.

"That doesn't look like the ones from before," Illyria observed.

"It's a lich," said Trevor.

"A what?" asked Melody. Before Trevor could answer, he was suddenly hit with a bolt of lightning from the lich's staff and sent flying back into the dragon gate, where he landed on the floor with his eyes closed.

"Trevor!" Melody screamed.

"Leave him!" Illyria shouted before Melody could run to him.

"He could be injured," Melody suggested.

"He's fine," Illyria promised, then she looked to the lich and said, "We won't be if we don't deal with this." The lich raised its staff, and the storm gem on its tip flashed a light. Dark clouds began to form at the ceiling of the chamber, with lightning cracking in them, lighting the room as bright as day. A lightning bolt shot from the air, striking the ground between Melody and Illyria. Suddenly, lightning came from the lich. Melody and Illyria held their blades up, blocking the bolts, but they were both thrown across the chamber. Melody landed on her back, and Illyria landed on her feet. Illyria quickly threw stars at the undead spellcaster and deflected them with a quick spin of its staff.

"Damn it," Illyria cursed.

"Come on," said Melody, standing up. The lich pointed its staff at Melody and fired a bolt of lightning, and she blocked it with her lightsword, standing her ground, and barely moving. Illyria took the chance to throw more stars at it, and they went straight through the sorcerer's robes. The lich bent over, and the storm above them stopped.

"It's concentration," Illyria said. "That's why the storm stopped."

"Let's kill it, then!" Melody screamed as she rushed at the lich.

"Melody, wait!" Illyria shouted, but Melody had already leapt into the air, raising her lightsword. Suddenly, she was struck with a bolt of lightning from the lich and was thrown back. Melody caught her in her arms, but she felt pain all over her body.

"Stay with me," Illyria urged. "There's an aura around it that it cast to protect itself. Specifically, a storm one."

"Got it," Melody groaned, as Illyria put her down. Her head was spinning, but she could still stand straight. Suddenly, the Draconian lich's head came off, and its body dropped to the ground, and Trevor was standing where it used to be, with pale skin, and heavy eyes.

"Trevor!" Melody screamed as she ran to his side. "Are you alright!?"

"I think that thing's lightning gave me a heart attack," Trevor suggested. "But not a fatal one."

"I got hit with it, too," said Melody. "Come here." Melody touched Trevor's shoulder, and flashed a golden light around herself, touching Trevor with it, too. The color returned to both of their faces, and their heads returned to normal.

"If this doesn't get you knighted by Commander Vestarr, I don't know what will," Trevor promised. "You did well, Melody."

"Thanks," Melody wept, then she threw her arms around Trevor. It was perfect. She had fought against impossible odds, and against supernatural forces that would have easily killed her. She was well on her way to becoming a Guardian, now.

"Guys?" Illyria suddenly said, looking into the lich's sarcophagus. Melody and Trevor looked in with her and saw a small hole in the bottom.

"What is that?" Trevor asked.

"I have a good idea," Illyria suggested, then she picked up the lich's staff. She stuck the end of the staff in the small hole, and it was a perfect fit. Suddenly, the ground shook. The circle around the sarcophagus began to sink into the ground, through a long, dark shaft.

"I'll admit, I've just about had enough of this," Trevor complained, and Melody chuckled. The powerful aura of darkness gradually grew stronger as they went further down, and when they stopped, the light from the braziers was gone, and Trevor and Melody ignited their lightswords. When Melody began to shine her blade throughout the darkness, she saw something slither on the floor of stone bricks, but she couldn't get a good enough look at what it was.

"Did you see that?" she asked.

"See what?" said Illyria. Suddenly, she saw it again, but clearer, before it vanished. It was a long, dark tail, but not rotted away like everything else in the catacombs.

"What the hell was that?" Melody gasped. A low growl was heard, and the ground shook as something made a stomp. Dread filled Melody, Illyria, and Trevor. For three months, it was wondered what dark power lay below the city of Mistral, and now they knew.

"I know what's down here," Trevor managed. "Dragons."