I have found them! The Morlac gloated as she realized that her spell had led her to the source of the magic it had found. She didn't recognize this place but that didn't matter to her. Below her as she slowly drifted down was not one but four distinct points of light. Four mages! Hungry for their power, the Morlac moved in, riding on the parasite spell.
They were standing in a windowless room where Aeronwyn's mage light cast dim shadows. Looking behind them, it appeared as if they had just walked out of a mirror. The room itself was featureless other than a staircase that led upwards. "A portal of some kind? I never knew those existed. God magic?" Aeronwyn mused as they took their bearings. She walked over to the stairs and began climbing them.
The stairs went on for a while then opened into a larger room that was brightly lit from above. The rectangular stone walls peaked in an arched ceiling that was studded with what appeared to be openings where light came in. The floor of the room was covered with broken stone and greenery that had overgrown most of the stones. The stone walls themselves gave way here and there to vines and shoots that had long ago penetrated their structure. At the far end of the building, Aeronwyn could see another smaller building.
"We go there, I guess. Nothing else has survived in this place," she said. They made their way across the floor of the room while Alt'ker and Shi'mie unfolded their wings and took to the air. A few minutes later, Alt'ker swooped past Aeronwyn and shouted, "We are in a jungle of some kind. Nothing but jungle in every direction."
"A jungle? Where are we?" Moiril asked.
"Somewhere south and maybe west of the Spires or else on one of the islands that lay north and east of Sessailaine. Lots of tropical lands where no one lives." Lenck offered.
Aeronwyn waved to Alt'ker and Shi'mie to get their attention. When they flew down, she asked "If you flew away from here could you find this place in the jungle again?"
Alt'ker nodded. Shi'mie said, "From the air it is quite distinct. Landmarks in the air are very different than down below. Sure. What do you want us to do?"
"Stay safe, know where you are in relation to us but figure out how we can get to the coast. Check for any settlements but stay out of sight, alright?"
Alt'ker and Shi'mie nodded. They leapt into the air and within a few moments were out of sight. The four mages arrived at the small building at the end of the large structure. There was a stone door with a lock. Wary, Aeronwyn inserted the same key that had brought them here. Opening the door she could see the shadow from daylight fell across the sill normally. "Not another portal then." she sighed with relief.
Aeronwyn crafted a small mage light and sent it into the structure. It was bare except for some kind of stone table at one end, on which sat eight small statues. She recognized some of them as did Keri. "Look, there's Althene. There is Berialus, too."
"I know. It is all seven of the Old Gods." Aeronwyn looked at the last figurine. It was a woman, dark looking, mysterious but with an almost angry cast to the face.
"I don't know this one," Keri said. "Aren't there only seven Old Gods."
"That's what I thought. Three of them, like Althene, interacted with humans and, now we know, dwarves too. Two of them were gods of nature, like this one with the stag horns. One was the god of the sea and one the god of the air. So who is this one?" Aeronwyn considered it. "I don't know this one at all."
"Mercy, Hunt, Harvest, Love, Animals, Birds, Sea, Air. All of these we worship, these are they who care." Aeronwyn said under her breath as if repeating a children's song. "Watch the night...." Aeronwyn stopped. "Watch the night! I thought it meant the stars."
"What is that?" Keri asked.
"Something my mother used to sing to me when I was young. A bedtime song. I always assumed the Old Gods she named were the only Old Gods. There was one more. The Goddess of Night. I think this is our clue to the Morlac."
"Morlac is an Old God?" Moiril asked.
"Yes. Or no, sort of. She was but the song...well. 'Watch the night, it left its place and sought its life among our race.' or something like that. It has been a few millennia. I think the Morlac was once a Goddess." Aeronwyn studied the small statuette.
"How do we fight a Goddess?" Keri asked.
"I don't think she is anymore but even if she has only a tenth of their magic she will be more powerful than us. Just look at only two spells the Old Gods used through me! They were powerful enough to transform an entire race each. I don't have magic nearly that powerful." Aeronwyn considered the statuette. "Well, it might be useful."
She bent to pick it up and as it came loose in her hand she could hear a click. A small panel opened up in the stone table. Aeronwyn was about to reach inside and take whatever was in there when pain beyond any she had ever experienced wracked every nerve in her body. Screaming in agony, she collapsed to the ground in front of the table.
Keri, seeing this stepped forward when a grip like an icy hand enveloped her body and she went into convulsions as intense pain gripped her. Moiril and Lenck joined Aeronwyn and Keri on the ground of the old abandoned building as the same pain tore into them as well.
None of them could stop screaming. The pain was so intense that every fibre of their being felt like it was being pulled apart, molecule by molecule. Aeronwyn could feel everything that was her; her magic, her soul even the life that held her cells together being pulled out of her body and drained away. She tried desperately to find some magic, something that would stop the pain but she couldn't. As hard as she fought, the pull seemed just to become stronger. Then a voice spoke, heard by all the mages at once.
I have you, weak and puny things. When I am done with stealing your magic I will eat your life force. I was once the Goddess of Night and while the Old Gods spell have robbed me of much of who I am, I am still greater than any of you will ever be. Once I have your magic I will be strong enough to do as I please again! I will conquer this world and when I am done, I, the Morlac, will be Queen of the World and you, pathetic little mages can do nothing to stop me. Within minutes, you will all be gone forever.
Keri had been trying her hardest to fight the terrible pain. She reached as deep inside herself as she could but what little magic she had left was being siphoned off faster than she could even summon it. Desperately Keri tried to cry out for Aeronwyn, then the Goddess Althene as she felt herself slowly blacking out. So this is what dying feels like, Keri thought as the world around her went black.
THIS ENDS THE STORY OF THE LOST GODS - BOOK 2, "MAGE"
Look for 'THE LOST GODS - BOOK 3, "RULER" ' coming soon.
