Chapter 29 – Trials and Pacts

  Rayne exited the Trial in a daze. The experience had been eye-opening, and meeting Arbour was like seeing a piece of history once believed forgotten come back to them. Slowly, she made her way down the stairway. Rayne wanted to find Sylvian to discuss what this could mean but was pulled out of her thoughts by the sight of Savgar walking up to her.

  Sylvian was quickly following behind looking worried but not stopping the dwarf. Rayne watched as Savgar approached. She liked Savgar, even respected the dwarf, but he was still a dwarf, and they weren’t known to be a very tolerant group. It had been a long time since the harvesting had happened, but time hasn’t done much to change the dwarves’ view on anything plant related.

  If Savgar went into the Trial, Arbour could be in danger. It may be a child of Yggdrasil, but it was still a child. Rayne doubted if Arbour could defend itself if Savgar made it his mission to eradicate it. It wouldn’t be the first time the dwarves destroyed one of the children.

  “Out of the way,” Savgar said, coming to a stop in front of Rayne. Rayne hadn’t realized it, but she had unconsciously positioned herself to block the dwarf. “I already had this conversation with the other elf. I know there is something in there I am not going to like, but if it is enough for her to invoke the pact, then I will know what it is.”

  Rayne looked to Sylvian for confirmation. Sylvian nodded. “He gave his word,” Sylvian said. “He will do no harm to it. He is bound both by the pact and now his word.”

  “And I won’t be forgetting that either,” Savgar said. “Elves are not the only ones with long memories.”

  Rayne understood. That was probably the only way Sylvian could stop Savgar given that the contract forbade them from saying more. She hated it had caused a rift between them as she was certain Sylvian did as well. He would understand soon and probably hate them more for it.

  Rayne moved aside, and Savgar pushed past her on his way up to the trial. Rayne watched him go. Once he was gone, she turned back to Sylvian. “Are you sure this is wise?”

  “No,” Sylvian said. “But I don’t think we have any other options but to trust him. There was no way we could prevent him from undergoing the Trial and he was likely to do it eventually. I am just glad Zajowle had the forethought to convince one of us to go in before him.”

  “Hopefully he will keep his word,” Rayne said.

  “He will,” Sylvian said. “His word means more to him than most dwarves. But he may not be very happy once he leaves.”

  “That doesn’t mean he won’t bring the news back to his dwarven brethren,” Rayne said. “He is an Ironbreath. If the Ironbreath clan moves against the child, we aren’t strong enough to protect it. He might even be obligated to tell them.”

  “I know,” Sylvian said. “But he won’t do anything while the pact is in place. We will just have to convince him to keep it a secret from the dwarves, or a reason not to. Like it or not, we will have to deal with the dwarves eventually. I just wish we had more time.”

  Rayne looked back up the stairway leading to the Trial. A new worry creasing her brow.

  *~*

  Savgar strolled into the Trial, Thurg resting on his shoulder. The first room he came across had almost nothing in it. Just a bunch of dead bodies and a single door with glowing glyphs and a small slit for a keyhole. It was obvious that that was where he had to go next, but this room wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t something for him to do here. Most likely, whatever it was wouldn’t start until Savgar approached the door.

  Instead, Savgar inspected the armor and weapons the bodies carried. The armor was of exquisite design. Light enough not to require special training to use, but solid and strong enough that even a test swing from Thurg wasn’t able to dent it. That meant it was enchanted. If he had more time, he would have liked to study the design, but that wasn’t why he was here right now.

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  Savgar moved on to inspecting the weapons. Each skeleton carried a single sword. They were expertly designed, like the armor. At first glance they all looked identical, but Savgar senses told him something different. The matrix of the steel had been altered. Blacksmiths did this sometimes to strengthen the design, but instead of a uniformed formation, he sensed a strange pattern worked into the structure.

  “Enchantment melded into the matrix of the steel at the time of creation,” Savgar muttered to himself, letting out a long whistle. It was normal to add enchantments to equipment, but those were always added after the base creation was made, not during. He continued to inspect the other four swords, finding that all were made with the same method. “Similar. But each is different. Why craft five separate swords with similar but slightly different enchantments?”

  Savgar collected all the swords placing them in front of him. Using his Smithing skills to scan the swords, Savgar found something interesting. If he hadn’t gained a slight understanding of the Runic language upon entering, he might have missed it, but now he could see it. Each sword had a different runic word inscribed into the matrix of the steel.

  It was truly a marvel of craftsmanship, and Savgar caught himself admiring the work for longer than he probably should have. He wasn’t here to admire the work of the Order. He already knew from their city that these were people who took pride in their work. They would have fit well among the dwarves, but that only bothered him more. What secret could they have hidden that could make a couple of elves risk another war?

  More importantly, what secret could they have that could make friends see each other as enemies? Whatever it was, it wasn’t in this room. So, he only needed to complete whatever challenge this room offered and then move on to the next. Turning to the door, Savgar read out the phrase showing on the glyphs.

  “What is the truest aspect of fear?” Savgar muttered.

  *Quest Received (Mandatory): Keeper’s Trials – Candidate*

  -Complete the four trials of the Akashic Keeper Trials – Candidate (0/4)

  Time Limit: 1 Month

  Rewards:

  -Grants Candidate access level to facilities in the city of Kharzast and advance trials

  -Support class (Rare)

  Failure: Death

  Note: You do not meet the requirements to benefit fully from this Trial

  *Quest Received (Mandatory): Akashic Keeper Trial - Trial of Fear*

  -Complete the Trial of Fear

  Reward: Akashic Keeper Skill

  Failure: Death

  At once, mist filled the room. At the same time the swords Savgar had gathered began to glow, showing the rune inscribed into them.

  “Threat, Survival, Nothing, Death and Unknown,” Savgar grunted as wailing filled the air. “Well, the answer is obvious. The first four either don’t really fit or else are too obvious. Wouldn’t be much of a challenge if the answer was just Death, so it has to be Unknown. I’ll try that one.”

  Savgar approached the door holding the Unknown sword as figments of ghost and phantasmal horrors took shape in the fog. They reached out to grab him. Savgar could feel their icy grip cling to him, but he ignored them all.

  He walked past everything as the spirits tried to hold him back and with one quick motion, slid the sword into the door. Immediately, the wailing came to an end and the figures in the fog disappeared.

  “Illusions,” Savgar muttered shaking his head. “It will have to do more than that to fool me.”

  *Akashic Keeper Trial – Trial of Fear Completed*

  *Quest reward: Ability (Rare) – True Sight (Beginner)*

  Truth is subjective to many, but not to you. Pierce the veil and see the truth of the world around you. Increasing this skill allows you to understand more and makes it harder for others to hide reality from you.

  *Note: This is a defining skill of the Akashic Order. You will be able to recognize and be recognized by others of the Order with this skill.*

  *You already have a sight-based skill Dark Vision. Skill True Sight has combined with skill Dark Vision*

  True sight has gained the property of Dark Vision skill

  “A sight base skill that only adds to my current skill without taking anything away from it?” Savgar muttered. “Not bad.”

  Before him now stood an open doorway and path to the second room. Not wanting to waste any more time, he continued down the hallway. He didn’t have to go far before he made it to the second room. He hadn’t even made it into the room before he was stunned, staring at the sight in front of him.

  “Welcome,” Came a deep rumbling dwarven voice.

  “Abomination!” Savgar yelled.