Lore of Eternal Shadow: The Fugitive King

Chapter Thirty-Six

Lauren, Jannick, Salgan, Alyssa, and Sigfred came to the end of the long thin valley they'd followed since morning. They had followed Zanrai's map for the last two weeks, checking off every landmark. Now they saw the last, a great spire that marked the far, northwestern edge of this valley.

The place was otherwise uncharted and just barely warm enough to sustain some regular life. A bitter wind brought winter to this place. Patches of grass lingered onto the last remnants of summer. The snow-deer still hung around eating the dead remains of grass before wintering in the surrounding cave-laden mountains. Lauren looked at the sparse soil around the near-frozen creek and the snowbanks beyond. A great glacier loomed far above the ancient spire at the far edge of the valley. She studied the landscape, the jagged rock and snow. "Are all of the Northerlands like this?" she asked.

"There's dragons in the wider valleys up north and there's also the Duke of Mountains," Jannick answered, "but not much is different until you reach the Ocean of Ice."

"I'd thought your mapmakers just filled in mountains because they didn't know what was up here," Lauren remarked, "it just doesn't seem possible for there to be this many mountains."

"Legends say this continent was once as lush as the Varian League," recounted Sigfred, "until the inhabitants here committed a great sin and the entire continent was cursed."

"I remember that story," smiled Alyssa. She deepened her voice, mimicking some sage, "Mountains rose from nothing and destroyed the warring civilizations of the Northerlands from under their feet!"

"Of course, it's just a myth," Sigfred shrugged.

"Or maybe we're talking about an ancient cataclysm from before the time of the Zey^Rey or the humans... or even the Elementals," chimed Salgan.

"That'd be hard to prove," replied Lauren, "even for a Time-Master."

Jannick caught Alyssa shivering under her furs. "Still don't want me to conjure you a fireball?" he asked.

"I'm good," she answered, "thank you."

Jannick chuckled a bit, "I'll be sure to remember that when your limbs start freezing."

"Don't count on it, Pyrolith," Alyssa retorted with a playful grin.

The ancient spire beckoned them atop the end of the valley. It sat forever arrested in its decay. It had been here—a mountainous place miles and miles from civilization—for a long time; too long. Near the base of the spire and up a decent grade from the valley was the entrance of a temple. The architecture looked vaguely Zey^Rey. The long columns and archaic text across the roof were far out of place in this valley. The treasure here couldn't have been more obvious if a big red X was carved into the mountainside. Then again, the sheer harshness of the Northerlands and how lost someone would be without Zanrai's instructions were surely defenses enough.

"The Zey^Rey built this place," Salgan reminded the others, "it almost certainly wouldn't be as derelict as it seems, even after all this time."

Despite the fancy entrance, the interior was an ordinary cave. Jannick would often take shelter in caves like this when he was last here and the blizzards were too fierce. If Jannick's parents had seen what Jannick had seen, they probably wouldn't have been as liberal with letting their teenaged son go adventuring. Lit up by Jannick's fire, the five navigated the cave. It wasn't as cold in here as the winds weren't howling in everybody's face.

Salgan paused and it took a few moments for everyone to realize he'd stopped. He turned his head and said, "I can sense the power source. It's... below us."