The Elder's Path (9 page)

The
icy cavern seemed much less inviting Lyn’s second time through it, probably because she had to fight herself each time she took a step forward. She had deliberated for some time on the noise she had thought she heard, and she had convinced herself it was possibly just the wind. But that hadn’t stopped her yesterday from turning directly around and returning to camp. Today, however, Lyn had decided she had to either explore the dark tunnel to make sure they were safe, or leave altogether. Unfortunately, that latter choice was not much of an option; the snow had continued in torrents and had piled up at the cave entrance, effectively blocking their exit. Worse, the ravine which had brought them here had apparently collapsed with the weight of the snow and closed itself off. As such, Lyn and Alir found themselves stuck in the cave for the foreseeable future and therefor obligated to search out the noise. Loathe as she was to go alone, Lyn felt it necessary to leave Alir with their equipment in case she did get lost and required him to find her. This is how Lyn found herself sliding along the icy wall of the open cavern towards the dark portal and whatever lay within. She took small steps, each punctuated by a pounding heartbeat and quickened breath.

She moved in to the tunnel and stopped, waiting to hear the sound that had stopped her so abruptly the day previous. But she heard n
othing over the sound of the wind whistling through the cracks in the cavern ceiling and resigned herself to moving forward. With bated breath, she proceeded into the darkness and waited once more for the sound. Counting the seconds, she waited until she could no longer hold back her breathing and let loose a relieved sigh. She smiled to herself, glad of the small victory, feeling the tension leave her shoulders in a rush.

“You fool, getting
scared of the dark like a child,” she said aloud, her voice carrying down into the dark. No sooner had she turned about to return, no longer interested in pursuing further, than the noise returned. It was a deep and low rumble, more a feeling in the walls and floor than an audible sound. Lyn stiffened and caught her breath once more, her eyes wide and locked forward. She feared to turn once more and gaze into the depths, scared of what she might see. She closed her eyes tight, trying to block out her fear. But the rumble came once more and the Druid steeled herself to reality.

“I must, I must,” s
he whispered to herself, gritting her teeth. Lyn spun around and proceeded to march determinedly towards the sound. No more creeping, no more slinking. This was going to end, one way or another.

In the back of her mind she heard
Nana’s voice, coming to her from a memory. “You cannot be slave to your fears,” she had said, “They will seek to influence you your whole life. If you deny they are there, you allow them control over you. Face them, acknowledge them, but do not become them.”

With clenched fists, Lyn put her head down and pushed forth, coming in to a darkened chamber large enough to live in. There were no cracks or holes here, only pitch black. Were it not for her torch, she would have been blind. Though it didn't seem to m
ake much difference; she saw nothing but blackness in the whole of the place. The chamber was the termination of the tunnel as far as she could tell, the sound
had
to be coming from somewhere within. The low sound came again, and this time Lyn felt its proximity. It was close. It was in the chamber with her.

She cast about with her torch, seeking the source of the rumble. Frustrated, she stomped her foot. The vibration came again, this time much louder than before, and at the edge of her vision Lyn caught
movement. She looked on, frozen in place, as a dark shape arose before her. Ice crystals fell from it and shattered on the floor, echoing into the tunnel beyond. A growl came from the massive shadow and Lyn found herself unable to even cower in response. Three glowing red eyes opened and turned to look at her. A great mouth formed beneath them, full of teeth as long as her fingers. As the shadow took a solid shape, she saw it was a giant wolf standing as tall as she.

Despite her fear, Lyn’s instincts kicke
d in and she stood her ground; she knew that running from a predator would only cause it to chase her, and she knew she had nowhere to go. The great maw opened and for a moment she was certain the beast was about to lunge forward and swallow her. But to her surprise, the wolf spoke, albeit in a language she was unfamiliar with. It was guttural and low, making it difficult to decipher. She listened close, but she could make out no words she knew. The great wolf waited, clearly expecting a response.

“I, I do
n’t understand...who are you?” The black beast did not move or respond, but simply looked at her.

After a moment, the mouth opened again and said
, “What age have I awoken to?”

Lyn took a step back from the voice of the creature; his words carried with th
em some strange power. When he spoke, she could
feel
it as much as hear it.

“The 700
th
age of Arc, in the Northern Province,” Lyn responded, unsure as to who or what this creature was. She found herself looking to his third eye, placed in between and slightly above the other two. She had never seen, nor heard, of something so strange. The fact that he was also gigantic, spoke, and was holed up in a cave for long enough to not know when or where he was also understandably contributed to her confusion. “My name is Lyn,” she continued, hoping to prompt more out of the creature and determine whether he was friend or foe. “I am a World-Walker, on my journey. Wha-...
who
are you?”

The black wolf stood on
all fours and shook himself, more ice crystals leaving his coat and cluttering to the floor. Sitting back on his haunches, he looked once more to her, and Lyn felt small under his gaze. “In your tongue I am called Marcho, the Voidwolf. I am unfamiliar with the place Arc. Where is this located in relation to Velheleon?”

Gooseflesh rose on Lyn’s arm as Marcho spoke, but she found herself responding with a steady voice. “Velheleon, that is ancient history. 700 year old history, in fact. Arc was formed after the collapse of Velheleon, and we are in the 10
th
month of the 700
th
year.” Lyn’s brow furrowed in confusion. It was impossible for a creature to survive at least 700 years, wasn’t it? Her own Sage Tree was from the ages before Arc, but it was a tree, not a giant three-eyed wolf. “Am I to assume you have been here for all that time?” she asked, realizing she was prodding but unwilling to stand like a simpleton playing ‘yes and no’ with this stranger.

Marcho’s great jaw opened and closed a few times, and then he spoke again with an abrupt “Yes.”

Blinking, Lyn processed that information for a moment, and then decided to ask the obvious but potentially rude question. “Marcho, what are you, exactly?”

“A demon,” h
e answered shortly. He sat perfectly still, almost expectantly. He wasn’t exactly answering her questions, but he didn’t seem averse to being questioned, nor overtly hostile.

Lyn decided to press forward with her questions and see where she got. After all, it wasn’t every day that one ran in to a 700 plus year old demon. “A demon...But how? That kind of sorcer
y is, well, a myth.”

With the same stoicism, Marcho replied, “I assure you, it is not.”

Lyn frowned, unsure as to what to ask next. “If that is true, what are you doing in Arc? And why did you think you were in Velheleon?”

“At the time of my arrival, th
is place was known as Velheleon. It is only logical, upon hearing it is no longer, to assume that I was elsewhere. I now know better.”

“Alright then, let me rephrase. Why were you here in the first place?”

“To carry out my summoner’s orders.”

While Lyn
understood that the demon was not intentionally dodging questions, she twitched at his response; she was beginning to be irritated at having to phrase her questions so specifically. “I deserved that. More to the point, what were your orders?”

“To locate a
nd eliminate the demon Umbra. To return it to the Void at expense of all else, to stay until this is completed, at any cost.”

“The demon Umbra? There are no demons out in the world, at least not that I know of. Why would you still be here?”

“I am unable to return to the Astral Plane. Therefore, Umbra is still at large in this world and must be sought.” He seemed to hesitate at this, and to Lyn’s surprise continued, “I was unable to achieve my objective in the old world. I sought this place of refuge to wait for Umbra to move to a new host, to make a mistake that would lead me to it. It appears I was sealed away longer than I had thought.” He looked sidelong at the young girl. “It is curious that I should awaken now. Perhaps I should be asking you the questions.”

Lyn, taken aback, did not respond. “In
what manner did you find me?” he asked with no accusation in his voice. Lyn proceeded to explain her presence in his cave, and why she was there. There hadn’t seemed to be any strange or extenuating circumstance to her, just chance. Marcho did not seem to agree. “The universe works much more efficiently than in simple chance, young one,” he replied, “coincidence is rare at best. I feel a resonance within you. My fate is tied to yours, somehow.”

Lyn had a diffi
cult time understanding what he meant at first, then with a panicked wave of her hands she said, “No, no no, you can’t come with me! I’m supposed to be visiting all the provinces and the people there! Learning, teaching! I can’t have a giant demon beast with me! Can you imagine how people would react? I’d be the first Druid to cause utter discord and chaos!” The two sat in silence for a time, Lyn panting from her outburst.

After a moment of
embarrassing silence while Lyn recovered, Marcho spoke again. “It has been centuries, and the world has been made anew. From your reactions, I determine that the culture of the old world has been destroyed along with it, and the world has reverted to a less developed state. It is impossible that my master is still present; I would have been awakened much sooner if that were the case.” He paused for a moment. Unsure of what to say, and puzzled by what he meant by ‘less developed state’, Lyn kept her silence. “I must complete my orders without his assistance, or risk never returning to the Astral Plane.”

“What happens if you don’t find Umbra?” Lyn ventured quietly.

“I will continue existing in this plane until my power runs out. If I do not succeed before such time, I will cease to exist entirely.” The ebon wolf said this so matter-of-factly, Lyn wondered if he even cared that he faced his extinction. Or if he had the ability to care at all.

“Returning to your plane after all this time, won’t things be different?”

“Time has always been something those of your world have misunderstood. It is not linear; it is much more fluid and convoluted. You think of time as a straight line, with past behind you and future ahead. But the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. In short, no, things will not be so different.”

Lyn
couldn’t wrap her mind around such a strange concept; she was having trouble enough understanding the idea that this being was from an entirely different realm of existence. How had he come about being here? He had mentioned a summoner. Could it be that one of the people of the old world had been dabbling in dark magic? She knew the old world was a place of great mystery and arcane forces, but to summon such a beast, and one that could last through the ages at that...such a show of force was beyond Lyn’s comprehension. Magic had died out in Arc long ago, during the reformation into the new age. It had been 700 years since magic had been a part of life in any real capacity, let alone such a physical manifestation as the great wolf before her.

Marcho interrupted
her train of thought, making her jump.  “What is your purpose, Lyn World-Walker? What does your journey entail?”

Lyn hesitated for a moment, but in fairness Marcho had been honest and answered all of her questions so far. It would be rude not to reciproca
te, and besides, this was a highly unique experience. If he had meant her direct harm, he’d have done it already. With a deep breath, Lyn told Marcho about her people, and what it meant to be a World-Walker.

Despite herself, Lyn found that she enjoyed spe
aking with the strange creature. For being so out of place and time, Marcho seemed to understand very well and asked relevant questions. Lyn found herself telling him about much more of herself than she had intended, and by the time she was done she found it to be much later. She was tired, and hungry. Even though she had spent hours with him and had come to no harm, Lyn was uneasy about  going back to her camp and being able to sleep. She seemed to have little choice, however, so with a farewell and a promise to return on the morrow, Lyn returned to her camp with the help of Alir’s guiding cries.

Her rest was tormented by tossing, turning, and bad dreams. Not all nights could be easy comfortable ones, and she had been under quite a bit of stress with the f
all and the storm. Not to mention the huge demon in the next tunnel. When she came blearily awake, she couldn’t remember where she was for a moment. She looked about, disoriented, nearly experiencing a heart attack when she saw Marcho standing nearby just outside of the light from the cave entrance. His dark form made it difficult to distinguish him from the darkness, but his glowing red eyes certainly stood out. Alir seemed to notice him at the same time and let out a distressed exclamation.