Chương 21: Aftermath

Aaron was back at the miserable camp outside the accursed "dungeon," as the soldiers had taken to calling the anomaly. Something had happened recently, yet not one of the temples could get any information. Because of that, and his experience with the blasted hole in the ground, Aaron had been left at the training camp to uncover the truth. Aaron had sent a report that the dungeon had been closed off as soon as one delver team had emerged and met with Simon.

Right after that, Simon had returned to the capital with two members of that team, rushing at a speed that made it look like he was bringing word of the capital's pending destruction. After looking into things a bit further, Aaron had managed to learn that Simon had ordered the remaining three members of the team that had reported to him to be executed without trial or explanation. The entire thing was shrouded in secrecy, and the temples were unable to learn anything at all, even directly from the king himself.

Aaron was known to be familiar with both the dungeon and Simon, which was why he had been regularly sent to the training camp. However, despite their previous cooperations, all of Aaron's requests for a meeting with Simon had been simply ignored upon the general's return to the camp. With no other choice, Aaron continued to observe the camp while trying to keep tabs on Simon, despite the relative futility of trying to keep a tail on the general responsible for the Shadow Guard.

Worst of all, Aaron was relatively certain that at least two of his men had not merely been captured or shaken off, but murdered by Simon or the military. What had happened that the kingdom would risk ostracizing the temples? Aaron had covertly sent several reports already, as it was clear that something had changed within the dungeon, and it was not a minor affair. Whatever this was, it was worth the kingdom losing the support of all of the temples, which was horrifying to even contemplate.

Aaron made various arrangements for his own safety, as it was clear that no one could guarantee that even a high priest of Hidde would be protected by his status. At the same time, he carefully watched. Two days passed, but all that Aaron could determine was that the army was waiting for something while making preparations for some sort of expedition, likely into the dungeon again. No one had entered the caves, as that was easy enough to observe without excessive risk.

Supplies were being gathered and prepared, apparently for a rather lengthy excursion, or for much, much larger numbers than typically delved into the dungeon. After nearly a week, Aaron's curiosity was sated, but the truth was beyond shocking: Simon had personally led the entire Shadow Guard into the dungeon. The Shadow Guard was never announced, as that would defeat their entire purpose, but Aaron had worked with the elite troops before, and thus was able to recognize several soldiers, including their chief scout.

The interactions between the soldiers had been quiet, but entirely too comfortable for them to be anything other than a single unit. The unspoken coordination and cooperation between them during even the most mundane of tasks spoke volumes to careful observers, so despite the fact that the Shadow Guard had only been in the training camp for a few hours had been enough for Aaron to determine their identity. Also, for the very first time, Simon had gone into the dungeon, the first of the kingdom's generals to do so.

However, Aaron had never seen Simon, despite watching the entrance to the dungeon. The only evidence of Simon's passage had been his distinct absence from the training camp, combined with the fact that no one had left the camp from any of the roads or paths. The only people who had left had been the Shadow Guard, and at that same time, Simon had vanished. Coincidence? Absolutely not.

Aaron and the other priests of the Temple of Hidde had their own means of communications that could not be disrupted, though Aaron was quickly running out of pigeons to carry his reports. The temple had long spread rumors, creating a facade that pigeons were a preferred meal of their elite priests. For this reason, the high priests and others at the top of the hierarchy would always travel with a coop of pigeons. No one ever suspected that the birds were not food, but couriers.

Even so, Aaron occasionally had to eat a few of the tasteless fowl in order to maintain appearances and the entire farce that the temple had put on for so many years. Increasingly anxious, Aaron continued to observe the camp and the entrance to the dungeon. At all times, there was an acolyte stationed with the pigeons, ready to release one of the birds, should the worst befall Aaron. No matter what happened to him, the temples would learn of it. A day passed. Two. Five. A week.

This was already an excessive amount of time for any expedition into the dungeon, as even the slowest of teams never took any longer than five days to return. The fact that the dungeon became non-aggressive as soon as anyone tried to return made the return trips never take any longer than two days, and that was when traveling with wounded team members. It was only natural that the Shadow Guard would move faster than the raw recruits who normally delved into the dungeon.

Given his anxiousness and fear, Aaron started carefully watching everything, and while he knew his paranoia was rising, he could not help but feel like there were always eyes on him. Tensions were high in the training camp, as everyone could feel that something had happened. People who had returned from the dungeon had been quietly imprisoned. Elite veterans had filtered into the camp and quietly taken control of every important position within it, keeping an eye on everyone.

The healers had been isolated, though not overtly. What had really happened was that the soldiers had stopped socializing with anyone known to be from any one of the temples, though no one had any idea why. Finally, after about two weeks had passed, the soldiers returned. Aaron could not be entirely certain, but he felt that there were several missing, which did not make any sense at all. The difficulty of the dungeon was well known, and the creatures inside had been studied extensively.

What could possibly have happened within the dungeon's depths that push even the Shadow Guard to the point of needing to sacrifice members? Aaron kept his distance and avoided approaching the soldiers. He recognized the scout, and was relatively certain that he spotted Simon's hidden form as well. One detail that stood out blatantly to Aaron and anyone else who was watching the returning soldiers was their obvious cheer and excitement.

They were congratulating each other, though it was impossible to determine what the congratulations were for. The soldiers stayed together and moved to a section of the camp that had been reserved for their use. Aaron was debating over whether or not he should try to approach Simon to get a feel for the current situation, but mere minutes after the soldiers had returned, a small group of five rode off towards the capital, each with several extra mounts to rotate. Just what had happened?

Aaron sent an acolyte who was relatively good friends with some of the soldiers to approach and make inquiries. He was still worried about potentially being targeted by the soldiers, and so he kept himself back to try to stay safe. When would they learn about what had happened in the depths of that accursed cave? Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

Simon was beyond excited as he rode towards Guilone, accompanied by the luckiest of the Shadow Guard who had charged into the depths of the dungeon. All who had returned had profited greatly from the delve. Some had gained strength, speed, had some measure of youth or chronic injuries restored, or even gained magical skills. Simon himself found himself faster and stronger than he had been even in his youth. He had been a prime specimen even then, and that was him being modest.

However, the one who had made out with the greatest luck of all had been none other than Matt. The man was young, for a member of the Shadow Guard, and while they had been exploring the lava chamber that had been discovered in the depths of the dungeon, Matt had managed to strike down one of the flaming beasts that occupied that alien habitat.

A book had appeared, but unlike the other books that had appeared to the soldiers, this one did not grant Matt an innate ability like a magical beast, but had taught him an actual spell that used ambient mana and had a chant and everything. Matt was not a mage priest, nor was he a devoted follower of any god. Furthermore, the chant he had learned for the spell made no mention of any god at all. Somehow, impossible though it should be, Matt had become a mage, without becoming a priest.

Simon still did not know what to think of that, as it was a well known fact, as well as information in the scriptures of every single temple, that magic was a gift to humanity from the gods themselves for humans to be able to protect themselves from the magical beasts of the world. Without the magic that the gods had granted to mankind, it was without question that humans would have been wiped out before ever even establishing themselves as a civilization.

A perfect example of that was when Guilone had been attacked by the eldar dragon several years before. Without the protections put in place by the mage priests, Guilone would have fallen then and there. Instead, the dragon had been the one to fall, and it was thanks entirely to the gods and the magic they had bestowed upon humanity. In fact, the Shadow Guard had remained in the dungeon longer than planned just for Matt.

He had taken some time to familiarize himself with his spell, as well as simply consciously controlling his mana, which was a bit of further knowledge granted by the book he had received. Over the course of a week, Matt had gone from directing a gout of flames in front of him, to shaping the flames into a whip or even a sword that he could somewhat control. It was clear that he needed a great deal of practice to perfect his control of the new spell, but he had already proven himself to be a very fast study.

After that, more and more of the soldiers had tried to find a similar lucky break, but while they had indeed found more books, not a single one had granted them any spells or true magic. Naturally, Simon needed to make a report and deliver a demonstration to the king. Orbs of light that could strengthen people's bodies? Magical skills or even spells? These were not prizes that should be offered to fresh recruits right out of basic training, but to the kingdom's most elite soldiers and generals.

Simon had seen for himself how some of the oldest soldiers had lost wrinkles in their faces and had color restored to their hair after absorbing a ball of light that did not seem to do anything to strengthen the body. That right there was undeniably extending their youth and their lifespans, which was just as invaluable as making soldiers faster or stronger. A soldier with decades of experience, yet the body of a youth?

What could be more terrifying than that, except for perhaps soldiers capable of wielding magical abilities like certain beasts, or even spells. With this dungeon boosting the strength of their soldiers and armies, Farun would no longer have to fear Tamar, or even the Savaren Empire! A new era had arrived for Farun! Still, despite his excitement, Simon was aware that there was also a very real need for secrecy.

While which gods were more popular in a given nation varied, the pantheon was well known, and the temples were also technically international. Hidde, Yur, and Anba were the principal gods in Farun, though they were also worshiped in other countries, just as there were followers of Urdan, Ixel, and Erdil in Farun. If the gods united against Farun and the dungeon, it would not matter how much they strengthened themselves, they would still be doomed.

From what Simon knew, which was relatively limited given his background and profession, it had been ages since any of the gods had taken direct action against any particular nation or group, and that had been to eliminate the followers of another pantheon. Simon was not entirely certain what that meant or involved, but from what he could understand, it seemed that the gods only took action when they were somehow threatened. Could humans gaining magic independent of the gods be seen as threatening the gods?

Simon could not think of it as being anything different. Simon understood just how important it was to report the situation to the king, and also to keep things absolutely secret. Any leaks could see the entire kingdom brought to ruin. The small group of soldiers raced to the capital, ruining each horse in turn as they pushed the beasts beyond their abilities. In the end, they arrived even before Simon had anticipated, and they ran their horses straight to the palace, where the king had been waiting for them.

It was time to learn the fate of Farun's dungeon and army.

In a place that both was and was not an actual place, six individuals were meeting for the first time in known memory.

"Last time, I felt something steal a spell away from me, but I couldn't trace it, and all that I could sense was that someone tried to steal a supplication for magic from me. There were no words at all, and all I could feel was that they tried to first take the prayer from me, then direct it towards themselves, before finally simply removing the supplication from the spell entirely and somehow creating an independent working magic.

"I searched, but found nothing, just the same as this time."

"And you never thought to mention such a theft to the rest of us? This is no longer as simple as stealing a prayer from you; someone just granted the humans free use of magic! The source of our power is being stolen, and you were in a position to have given us a warning!" A radiant voice accused Hidde of negligence, yet he could find no words to retort.

"None can track better than I, yet even I can find nothing at all. Removing the single human would accomplish nothing without eliminating the source of this theft. I've looked at the man himself. He could never have accomplished this. Someone granted this to him as a gift or a curse, and they did so in a manner that none of us could sense a thing." A bright and cheerful voice spoke up, somehow managing to sound upbeat despite the evident frustration the speaker was feeling.

Another individual shifted uncomfortably, and five sets of eyes fell upon him.

"It's true that magic is my domain, and I provided all of the prayers and supplications that all of your followers use, but what is happening and being used is more like the natural use of mana itself than magic. This is not something that I can touch, as this is more similar to what beasts and dragons use. The only way we ever managed to suppress those monsters was by cooperating with them." This explanation caught Hidde's attention.

"You are saying that whoever is behind this is either freely manipulating mana like a dragon, or using an innate ability to direct mana in a highly specified manner like a beast? While a beast being responsible for this is impossible, could we have missed a dragon somehow? I know that we've been tracking all of the dragons, but could we have made a mistake?" An ancient voice finally spoke, and her words left everyone chilled.

"There are no unaccounted for dragons. I am the earth, and I can sense every last part of myself and can tell you that the possibility of a dragon is nonexistent.

"However, I have lost a part of myself, and it coincides with where the human acquired magic."

"Elder, what do you mean, you have lost a part of yourself? How can the earth itself be lost?" The ancient goddess, the first of her kind and the only deity on the planet to have been worshiped by all races and belonged to both all pantheons and no pantheon, just shrugged.

"I have lost a part of myself. It is as though it has been ripped away from me and no longer exists, despite clearly still being there. Some power has come to be that is able to be the earth in the same manner as me, it seems." All of the gathered deities fell silent. This was not nearly as simple as a new god coming into existence. They had all been born from the worship of humans, and had fought to fully replace their counterparts from other races by eliminating anything not human from their planet.

Even so, Yur had always been. As she had stated, she was the earth. She had existed from the beginning, and had merely become aware of her own existence with the arrival of the first sapient races. There were none older than Yur, with the possible exception of the most ancient of dragons that had arrived on their planet from elsewhere. Hearing that something was supplanting Yur herself sent a chill running down everyone's spines.

Finally, Ixel, the second eldest of them all, spoke up, "Eldest, if this is affecting even you and stealing your domain from you without being detected by you, how do you want us to proceed? I can deliver death to any, but they must either be sent to me by time and fate, or I must meet them personally. In order for me to eliminate this threat, we must first find it."

"Do nothing for now," Yur commanded.

"The humans are merely following their nature, and unless we can identify who is behind this, we will do nothing. Let them do as they will." Hidde could not accept ignoring a battle, even if the opponent remained hidden.

"But Elder, what if our own followers betray us to this new blasphemy?" Yur gave the eager god a level look.

"Your followers belong to you, as always. Neither I nor any other will ever command you on how to deal with your own."