Converging Destinies: Part 1

Chapter 140

       Eris cautiously descended the steps downwards. They made their footsteps as quiet as possible. Eventually, they entered the dungeon proper.

       They saw the eight jail cells with iron bars, they saw the three church guards that occupied some of them. But, most importantly, they saw a petite, blonde woman in the cells near the back.

       "Ara' Sei, is that you?" Eris asked.

       "Eris! It's great to see you." Ara' Sei replied. Eris took out their lockpicks, and picked the lock on the jail cell door.

       "What did he put you in?" Eris asked.

       "Something that I can barely use magic in. My necklace that I use to focus magic is gone, but I need it badly." Ara' Sei said.

       "Are you talking about an arcane focus?" Eris asked. Ara' Sei nodded.

       "Trust me, Aaron probably has plenty of them, once I get everyone free, we can go look for it. As quickly as they could, Eris picked the locks on the cells, freeing the rest of the church guards. They all gladly accepted their freedom.

       The restraints on Ara' Sei's hands and fingers were more difficult, but by retrieving one of the dead guard's singed keys, Eris was able to free Ara' Sei's restraints.

       "Now to get you an arcane focus." Eris said. The two ran up from the dungeon and both of them looked around frantically. However, in their rush, it took them some time to find one. It was a ring made with pale metal with an amethyst set into it. It had ornate runes carved all across it.

       "Do you think that'll work?" Eris asked.

       "Yeah, this should do just fine." Ara' Sei said. Eris guided Ara' Sei out through the halls. Knowing that there were no other guards, both of them were okay with running loudly. When they exited the manor, they saw the other four out front. Besides Cedric, everyone had been badly burnt, and they were covered in burn wounds.

       "Is everyone okay?" Ara' Sei asked.

       "We're not the ones who got kidnapped, how are you?!" Ella asked excitedly. She had her sword plunged into the head of the Atheiran cleric's corpse. Gore and brain matter spilled all over the ground.

       "What happened?" Ara' Sei asked.

       "We kept getting battered by explosions, aside from Aaron, everyone is dead." Cedric explained.

       "Where's Aaron, this'll all be for nothing if he's still alive." Eris said.

       "He teleported." Ella said.

       "Where?!" Eris asked. Ella shrugged. Ara' Sei, Cedric, Ella, and Eris all looked around. Zerai and Roya were covered in burns, both of them noticeably weak and beaten.

       Ara' Sei switched from looking for Aaron to walking over to Zerai. His chest was covered in blood, his skin was covered in burns. Yet, his eyes were still just as dazzling. His body glowed with pale light as Ara' Sei put her hands on his chest.

       "Don't worry, it's alright." Ara' Sei said with a smile.

       "Now that you're here it is." Zerai said weakly.

       "Goodness, what happened to you?" Ara' Sei asked.

       "I honestly have no idea. I was kind of drifting between stumbling around and waking up on the ground feeling burns everywhere." Zerai said.

       "I'm sorry, I should have been stronger back in the cathedral." Ara' Sei said.

       "No, don't worry." Zerai said. Ara' Sei helped Zerai get to his feet and clean the ash and dried blood off of him.

       "Wait!" Cedric announced.

       "What is it!?" Eris asked. Cedric's hand pointed to the top of the tower that had broadcast messages to the entire town.

       "He's at the cathedral of Atheira!" Eris concluded.