A door, Vess smiled. A secret door.
They stepped over the threshold and the door closed neatly behind them. A short, dark hallway greeted them, but beyond a pointed trefoil archway warm lights burned bright. On the othe side, Vess beheld a cavernous chamber. The quietude of the path they had traversed had been replaced by a cacophony of religious zeal. A stage on the far end supported a woman in a dark red robe, currently shouting something. A large crowd dominated the space, filled with the coarse features of laborers and other menial workers.
All Untempered, judging by their Bodies. Those who pushed beyond Apprentice Tier found themselves more youthful and vital for far longer, but it was clear that most present had not. She watched as the robed woman, clearly a chorister of all things, spoke with further vehemence. What is this?
"This way, your Grace," Mettias said, leading her along the outskirts of the chamber, toward an alcove in the rear. As they drew closer, the red-robed chorister shouted about someone called the Blue-Eyed Fiend.
Someone defied the Guild? And the Inquisition? How much had she missed, locked away in her tower?
There was a sharp squawk and Mettias hesitated in the archway. He looked entirely too young as his voice shook.
"Uh ma'am?" He glanced back at the uproar of the crowd with wide eyes, and Vess felt a twinge of sympathy before her suspicions began solidifying.
It's an act, Vess swallowed. What have I walked into?
"Ah, yes. Come in, boy." The voice was smooth as silk, older and feminine, but strong. Powerful. It reminded Vess of her mother in a way. Mettias moved forward and gestured for her to follow. Cautiously, ready to summon her spear to hand, Vess walked through the archway.
Within was a table and three people. At one end was a Naiad woman in black chorister robes. Two birds sat on her shoulders, strangely enough, and she fixed Vess with a pleased smile. Opposite her, however, was a surprise.
"Evie! Felix!"
Moving at a speed she could barely see, Evie tackled Vess in a hug. The heiress felt her ribs creak with the girl's strength, but she squeezed just as hard. A bubbling laugh worked its way up from her belly, threatening to burst from her chest if only Evie would loosen her grip. Her eyes teared up, blurring the form of Felix as he regarded her from across the room. He too had stood up, though he hadn't rushed to hug her or anything.
Not that I would mind that, she admitted with a blush. He was as broad shouldered as ever, but seemed to fill out his much nicer clothes even more. Then his sharp smile turned into a frown as the red chorister shouted something else.
*KATHOOM!*
The room was rocked, each of them tossed around as if the earth itself tried to buck them off. Vess stumbled from Evie's grip, but kept her feet, as did the rest of them. Mettias, however, looked shaken.
"What have you done?" The Naiad pointed at the courier with an ochre finger. "Did they follow you?"
"No! I swear it!" Mettias' voice was high and sharp, the epitome of panic.
Vess maneuvered toward the archway and peered out. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Felix do the same. The chamber was filled with dust and debris and much of the crowd was struggling back to their feet. The explosion seemed to have originated along the wall, near where Vess and Mettias had entered. A cloud of smoke hung in the air, thick and obscuring at this distance.
"Run, my friends!" A gentle voice cried out from atop the center stage. A woman in grey chorister robes raised her hand and summoned a trilling spark to spin above her. The silvery wheel of fire shot off toward the far wall. "They have come for us!"
The silvery fire burst against a dome of orange light, the force of their meeting clearing the dust and smoke away in an instant. Beneath that dome were dozens of armored soldiers in bright red cloaks.
"Fuck," whispered Felix.
Someone screamed, and then all hell broke loose. The crowd began to run, away from the Inquisition soldiers and toward various exits around the large chamber. Boots began to march forward, slowly, their tread loud, the orange dome above maintained as it tanked strike after strike of the choristers' magical bombardment.
"It's like a Roman shield wall, but," Felix gestured. "Magic."
Roman? Is that a Skill?
"What do we do?" Evie asked, and Vess started. She hadn't realized her friend had been leaning over her shoulder. The warrior leaned back and unraveled her spiked chain. It clunked to the ground like a heavy, deadly snake. "Do we fight?"
"What? Of course not! We run!" Mettias, whatever his skillset, was still a child. "Come, your Grace! We must get you out of here!"
"The child is right," said the Naiad. She looked imperiously over them all, her bright blue eyes far harsher than Felix's. "You all must flee. The Inquisitors must not find you here."
"What about you?" Felix asked, crossing his arms. "You'll get burned just as we will if you're found here."
A burst of power lit up the chamber outside their alcove, flares of gold and orange as Skills discharged. The shouting grew louder, though it wasn't just manic flight. From somewhere, men and women of various Races had emerged with spell and blades to face the Redcloaks.
"I must help the choristers," the Naiad said. "Mettias. Lead them away, head down the northern passageway. Yes?"
The courier nodded, his face growing serious.
"I'll meet with you all when you're clear of here. You know where to bring them, Mettias. Do not fail me." With that, the Naiad ran out of the archway.
"God damn it," Felix cursed in his strange way. He turned toward the rest of them, searching before his eyes alighted on Mettias. "Kid, time to go. Lead the way."
For a moment, Vess could have sworn the courier sneered at Felix before bobbing his head in a bow. "Of course, young master. Follow me!"
The three of them followed after the messenger. Their side of the chamber was a mess of rocky debris and a few unfortunate people who had fallen down or been trampled by the crowd. Vess saw Felix hesitate as they ran past a number of people, all of whom were no longer moving. With a gentle push, Vess urged him onward. He flashed her a pained look before taking off.
Despite weaving through the crowd, they made it across the chamber fast. Mettias led them toward an unassuming section of brick wall that reminded Vess of where they had come in. The Untempered laborers all pushed and jostled against one another, all of them funneling into the diffuse side passages further onward. Screams and the clash of steel on steel filled the air, while the flash and hiss of activated Skills underlaid it all.
"Why aren't we following them?" Evie yelled over the din, gesturing toward the Untempered masses.
"You wanna get caught?" Mettias growled. Wait, growled? "You think the Redcloaks just happened to find us here? Who do ya think is waiting outside those exits?"
Vess' eyes widened as folks streamed past them, all running headlong toward their doom.
"We're just gonna let them run into the Inquisition's hands, then?" Felix asked. Mettias was ahead of him and pushing across the traffic flow toward the wall. He glanced back at the young man with an exasperated look.
"You wanna fight a whole phalanx of Inquisitors, be my guest, stranger," the courier scoffed. "Me? I'm gettin' the blazes out of here."
Another explosion rocked the room, followed by a bloom of vibrant orange and red. The air was growing hot, and smoke began to fill up the chamber faster than ever. People all around them started coughing and choking as the air was superheated.
"Run, heretics!"
Vess turned to see several Redcloaks had broken through the warrior's line, but they hung back, taking potshots with their Mana Skills. All of which were fire based. Sparkbolts were common, though she saw a few larger strikes she was not as familiar with; none of them, however, were striking the fleeing Haarwatchers. They were hitting the ground, or above them. They were being herded.
A particularly large blast engulfed the wall ahead of them, coating it in a wash of yellow flame. The substance of the Skill clung to the wall as if it were a sticky paste, and it burned hot. Evie cursed and Vess saw Felix take a step back, worry in his eyes.
"Yyero's ass!" Mettias cursed, his voice sounding rougher and deeper as he coughed. The smoke was pouring through the room now. "I can't get it open!"
"Stand back," Felix said. He still looked worried, but his brow was furrowed as he reached both of his hands forward. A flare of dusty light flickered across his hands and arms, barely visible to her Elemental Eye. Then he thrust his arms outward.
The wall ahead of them turned liquid, and with a violent gesture from Felix, began to open up. Immediately, air rushed into the chamber and the fires all around them flared into new, explosive life.
"AHHHHGGGG!!!" Felix screamed as the immolating heat engulfed them for the briefest of moments, but the fire ahead of them began to dwindle immediately. Vess blinked in surprise as the brick wall had started folding over itself, extinguishing the flames as it did so.
"Go!" he gasped.
All of them leaped forward through the hole, Vess included. The moment she landed on a blessedly cool walkway above clear, running water she turned back. Felix struggled forward, though he didn't look injured. A deep voice shouted from behind him.
"Get him! Don't let them escape!"
With a final scream, Felix threw himself forward through the hole. He landed in the shallow water with a cry, before turning back and throwing his hands together again. The wall closed back up nearly instantly, stone flowing until it hardened into a new, altogether rougher surface.
Then the wall shook with a bang, and stone chips flew.
"We have to keep running!" Mettias shouted, taking off down the pathway. "Get up if you want to live!"
Vess watched in disbelief as the courier disappear into the dim gloom, while Evie hopped down and helped Felix to his feet. The young man was soaking wet but looked in less pain than before. "You okay, Felix? This water is freezing!"
"Much better, yeah," Felix grunted. "The cold is good for my bro-uh--"
He paused as he met Vess' eyes, then looked away. Evie, for some reason, rolled her eyes. He clambered up, dripping wet as the sounds of impact continued. They increased in tempo, and stone chips began to break off in multiple places.
"We gotta move, fast," he said. "I thickened the wall a bit, but it won't last forever."
"Where'd that little shit go? Did he take off?" Evie looked around noting the dim light of the pathway. There seemed to be a greenish-blue ambient light coming up from the water itself. Vess nodded and all three of them began a slow jog away.
"He--" she shook her head. "I do not think he was what he seemed. It has been a strange night."
"Hah!" Evie barked a laugh. "You too? Ever since this guy appeared, it's been one strange thing after another."
She smacked Felix on the shoulder and he pretended not to notice. Vess saw that Felix was scanning ahead and seemed to be...listening? They picked up their speed, running at full tilt, and before long reached a branching point. Four pipes led off in four different directions. Felix stopped a moment and, yes, Vess was right. He was listening.
Felix snarled to himself. "Lost him. Too many echoes down here. I can't tell where the kid went."
"Neither can I. And I know my Perception isn't close to yours." Evie shook her head. "So do we just guess?"
Vess looked between the two of them and bit her lip, then flared her own tracking Skill.
Gaze of the Unseen Hunter!
The world changed colors, flipping into a high contrast heat map of their surroundings. It made normal maneuvering a chore, but was worth the disorientation. Clear as day, she could see the crescent shape of a child's heels, bright against the cold stone. She started walking forward.
"Follow me."