Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty Nine – 269Just inside the literal mouth of the cave, Wyvora stopped them.
This one would ask that your Companion hide within your Spirit. For a time, she quickly added.
How do you know of that technique? Vess asked. Her partisan prodded the Henaari in the spine. The warrior only sucked in a tight breath but didnt break eye contact with Felix.
You are not the first Pactlord I have met, she said simply.
Interesting. Felix and Pit shared a brief moment of consideration, but both decided at the same time. It shouldn't be an issue. The mages climbed off Pit's back with minor groans, and Pit disappeared in a flash of light. Nothing we can't undo at will.
Pit chirruped in agreement.
They pressed farther into the cavern. After ten steps the darkness was complete, prompting the others to ignite their sight Skills. Brilliant green eyes lit the dark, though Vess' shone with a kaleidoscopic variety of colors, red and yellow predominant. His own, he knew, shone a sharp, cold blue while the Henaari's did not glow at all. In fact, they all but dripped darkness of their own. He could see a thread of strangely colored Mana trailing from her eyes, but the edge of it disappeared into nothingness...or to an unseen external source. The power Wyvora called on was not her own, that was clear.
The way was relatively relaxing, for all that they were within a Nymean ruin that was bound to be trapped. Felix spotted a star with only two points etched low along the wall, indicating the threat of the ruin. Not as high as the ruin below Haarwatch, which was a comfort, but not a place to get complacent. In fact, while they were still in the "throat" of the giant Nymean face, Felix sensed metal and acid Mana woven together in the walls to either side. Waiting.
"Careful here. There is a pressure switch that spans the length of the floor," Wyvora warned. She pointed out a perfectly unremarkable section of rock and had all of them step over it. Now that Felix knew where the trigger was, he could sense the dense packing of sigiladry that underlaid the stone. It wasn't really a pressure switch, not exactlythere was no movement or mechanical action. Instead, the ground was laid with a script that somehow detected the weight of people above it and once it did, blades of forged acid and metal would violently eject from the walls.
No, that's not right. Felix thought as they moved deeper into the cavern. It wasn't weight. There was a glyph I'm not familiar with at the center. He pondered its shape as they walked.
Wyvora guided them through the cavern, which opened up considerably after the "throat" portion, pointing out traps laid either by the Nym or her people. The Nymean hazards were extremely sophisticated, as Felix had grown used to seeing, but the Henaari weren't half bad either. Easier to spot, certainly, but clever. If he were relying on Night Eye to navigate, as the majority of his team was, he would have stumbled into many of them. In fact, Evie nearly did, and only her exceptional Agility kept her from harm as bolts of light burned her night vision while poisonous thorn roots tried to entangle her legs.
"Noctis' tits," she muttered. "Warn a girl next time."
"This one tried, but you insisted on walking ahead of"
"Stop. This conversation's pointless. Keep movin'," Harn grunted. "Evie, watch your step. Keep an eye on the Iron Ranks."
"...sure."
The way winded forward and downward. Aside from the traps, it was nice to get out of the rain. If he concentrated, Felix could hear the thunder outside, but the layers of earth and stone insulated them from much of it. The path seemed...intentional, as far as Felix could tell. Felix's Manasight could pick out all the details around him, and the eddies of earth and air and shadow Mana all seemed remarkably orderly. He was growing better and better at peering through the chaos of it all, even as each level of Manasight only increased the noise he could perceive. Still, he recognized that the staid progression of earth Mana was a touch more rigid than normal, and even the normally chaotic swirl of air Mana flowed back and forth through the cavern.
Almost like the statue is breathing in and out, he thought with a shiver. I swear, if we're in some giant stone golem I'm gonna be real mad.
Pit let out a worried trill.
Of course we'd be alright. We're tough, Felix said to his friend while attempting to mask his own worries. It was hard to hide things from someone that shared your Spirit. Pit qwarked at him, a clear rebuke. Okay, I'm a little worried. But we'll make it though however this shakes out. We always do.
Pit's attention shifted to those behind them. Friends, he sent.
Yeah, that's got me anxious too. He could protect himself and Pit. He'd done that plenty of times. But everyone else? What, exactly, were they walking into?
After only a few more minutes of narrow crevasses and low ceilings, they all emerged from darkness and into a faint, half-light. A massive cavern spread out before them, so wide Felix couldn't see the end of it and so deep the bottom was nothing short of an abyss. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, each the size of the massive redwood-like trees outside, but even they were dwarfed by the size of it all.
"This is the part where you must trust," Wyvora said.
"Trust who?" Felix asked.
Wyvora simply bowed her head.
Vess' partisan flashed, the blade beneath Wyvora's chin before she could blink. "And why would we trust you?"
"Yeah, get her. I'm really liking this angry side of you, Vess," Evie said from the back. Vess' face colored.
"Why do we have to trust you?" Felix asked, ignoring all the rest. His eyes bored into the Henaari's own, leveraging his Willpower. He was a stone, not to be trifled with nor moved by lies or threats. At least, he hoped that's what he conveyed. "Where do we go from here?"
There was no path. The ledge merely ended, and the abyss began.
"Down," Wyvora said, pointing over the edge. "This is where you step off the path."
"You're kidding," Atar said. "Tell me she's kidding."
"This one is entirely truthful. It is the only way."
Harn peered over the edge and whistled. "Thats, unf. That's a long way down. Can't sense farther than fifty span though. Somethin's blocking me."
Alister held his hand up. "I suggest we push the Henaari down the hole first."
"Ooh, I like that. The nobleman with the plan!" Evie chortled. "What'dya say, lady? You first?"
"If that is what the Pactlord wishes," she said, deferring to Felix.
"Twin's teeth, she's got a thing for you, huh?" Evie whispered to Felix. Her whisper was about as loud as a shout. "Pactlord this and Pactlord that"
"Evie," Felix said and gave her a look. She raised her hands and rolled her eyes. "Wyvora if this is the way forward, then I will trust you." Her Spirit was steady and serene as she had spoken. She was either telling the truth or was the best liar he'd ever seen. "You and I will go first, however."
"Very well," she said and stepped closer to the ledge. "A jump side by side would be best. This one would rather not dash herself on the rocks."
"...Right." Felix looked back at the others, who were each staring with varying levels of concern. Vess switched between glaring at Wyvora and looking worriedly at Felix. He made the handsign for and stepped to the edge. "Together on three?"
"As you wish."
"Three."
Felix grabbed her and stepped into the dark.
Vess clutched her spear as Felix and that woman disappeared over the edge. Had it been made of inferior metals, she would likely have crushed it.
"Relax," Evie said. She sidled closer and toyed with the chain around her waist. "Felix can handle her just fine. Plus, if its a trap he'll probably just fly back up here with his lightning-whatsit."
"...That is true," Vess admitted. She let a piece of her worry go, breathing the stress out along with some of her anger. The Henaari woman got under her skin so easily. And she had to admit it was not only because she tried to kill them all. "I am more concerned of their Urge's unpredictable powers. You saw some of what she did, yes?"
"During the fight? Yeah. I noticed her Skills seemed...weird." Evie bit the inside of her lip. "Thought I saw a black feather or two a couple times, actually. Not sure what that was."
"Manifestation of a compact of power," Atar said from where he was talking with Nevia and Alister. "She's been drawing on her god this whole time."
"That is what worries me," Vess admitted. She chose to ignore Atar's incorrect use of the term 'god.' "All of us are strong, but not even Felix can live through a knife in the heart."
"Dunno," Harn said from the ledge. He had sat down on it, with his legs dangling above the dark. "Kid's been through a lot. He's got this."