The Elder Lands

Lucan walked under the boughs of the Elder Root, close enough to its trunk that he would have to strain his neck to observe the extent of its height under the clouds. The trunk was predictably encircled by a wall. Thin however it was, it served its purpose. Keeping young ones with too little patience away from the tree, and isolating it well enough for the guards to oversee the entrance to the Labyrinth.

Behind him were the four men-at-arms who had accompanied them to the capital, Cordell, Ryder, Clifton, and Heath. They were all fully armed and armored. Walking like that through the capital’s streets had invited some looks and, sometimes, suspicion. But they’d only been approached by the guards once.

They arrived at the gate that separated the city proper from the Elder Root. There, the guards looked a lot less suspicious of them considering where they were heading. One of the guards raised a hand to halt their march.

Lucan stopped and got the letter out of his armor. It was adorned by the royal seal. He handed it to the guard who swept his eyes over them, perhaps counting their number, then gave the letter to another who disappeared behind the thin walls, presumably to give it to yet another man. Soon enough, two men came back, the one who’d just taken the letter a moment ago and another who was older, better armored, and better dressed.

“You are Lucan Zesh?” the older man asked.

“Yes,” Lucan answered.

“Son of Sir Golan Zesh?” the man said.

“Yes.” Lucan raised a brow.

The man nodded at him respectfully. “I’m Sergeant Lukas. Make certain to deliver my greetings to your father when you return. Tell him, Lukas of the High Right lives well with three fingers.” He raised his right hand which only had three fingers, obviously not due to natural causes.

“Aye,” the sergeant said. “And not just any war. The one with the fish-fuckers. I left two fingers on that border. Thanks to your father, that was all I left there.”

Lucan nodded sagely. “I will deliver your greetings, Sergeant.”

“Good. Now you seem to be missing two of your number.”

“Yes, they were supposed to be waiting for us h–”

“Master Zesh! Master Zesh?” a woman’s–no–a girl’s voice called. Lucan turned to look where his men were already looking. One young man armored and armed with a longsword was doing his utmost to look composed and presentable while keeping up with a girl who was tripping over herself in her haste to reach them. And she was wearing a dress.

She came to a stop in front of Lucan, gulping down mouthfuls of air. The young man stepped up right beside her with a scowl.

She curtsied and Lucan had to close his eyes and open them carefully to make certain that they weren’t tricking him and that she was indeed wearing a dress. Because he knew who she was.

“I’m Lilian Saltner,” she said. “The princess sent me?”

“I know who you are.”

“Good,” the young man beside her said. “Then you know who I am too.” He looked pointedly at his companion. “And we didn’t have to run.”

“Thorley Summers, I presume?” Lucan said.

“Yes,” Thorley said. “We know about your agreement with the princess. This is no charitable favor from you.” His scowl returned.

“I never claimed it was.”

“As long as everyone knows it,” he ran his eyes over Lucan’s men and the guards at the gate.

Lucan nodded, holding back a retort. Then he looked at Lilian critically. “I had assumed that you would be ready upon arrival.”

Lilian perked up and then flushed. “Oh, this–there’s armor under the dress. Nothing too heavy though.”

“You’re expected to keep her safe,” Thorley said. “And so am I, should you fail.”

“Will it not impede your movement?” Lucan asked the girl, ignoring Thorley’s assertion. The dress was slightly frilly and spread out at the bottom where it reached her ankles, but he didn’t know whether that would make it easier to move in or be its own downside.

“No,” Lilian said. “I daresay it is easier to move in this dress than in your armor. It was made and fitted for me specifically for this purpose by the Academy.”

“I see.” Mention of the Academy affirmed for him that she was a mage. He didn’t know how the princess’s friend had earned that opportunity but assumed it had something to do with the princess herself, which brought up strong doubts that he’d already had about this ‘friendship’. For now, though, he’d go along with it. “Shall we, then?”

The guards allowed them into the walls. Lucan nodded his acknowledgement to the sergeant as they passed him by. And while they were being led by one of the guards through the camp surrounding the Elder Root, he discussed their tactics with their two wards. He wanted them to stay in the middle of the group while he and his men-at-arms protected them. Lilian agreed readily, offering to support them with modest spells when needed, though she didn’t clarify what spells she was capable of. Thorley, however, refused to be ‘coddled’ and insisted on being involved in combat. He demanded to be in the front line that led the way through the Labyrinth’s passages.

Lucan had to accept the demand, considering how stubborn the young man was. He chose not to point out that being first in combat meant that if they failed to protect Lilian, then he would be party to that failure, and that he wouldn’t be able to rectify their mistake as he’d initially claimed.

Their short walk ended with their arrival at the trunk of the Elder Root. It was an oppressive tower of light gray that was wider than Lucan could comprehend for a singular structure. There was a gap in the bark at their level in the shape of a tent’s entrance, several times wider than a castle’s gate at ground level and narrower as it went up, until it eventually tapered to a point about four storeys high.

The guard questioned them about their supplies and affirmed that they had brought with them all the necessary items. His men had all come with shields and small backpacks filled with all that they could need in their venture into the passages of oblivion. Lucan himself had come with a shield but with no backpack of his own. All he could need was with his men.

As a group, they descended into the Elder Root. The ground was sloped as they passed through the crack in the bark and entered into the earthly passage beyond. Gradually, they dove into the earth. The passage was lit with torches, and it was gated every hundred yards or so, though the gates were neither closed nor guarded. After each gate, the slope became slightly steeper, but never steep enough to become hazardous. The torches began to grow scarcer, but Lucan wasn’t worried. He knew that once they entered the Labyrinth proper, glowing moss would light their way. And according to the Academy’s books, it would also be the only reason they don’t suffocate.

The slope didn’t change direction as they walked, and it took them so long that Lucan was certain they had walked beyond the city limits. Once they reached the Labyrinth, though, he knew it immediately. While the passage they had been walking through was a mix of earth and stone mostly brown in color, the Labyrinth was black.

They stopped at the end of the earthen passage they’d been walking and Lucan observed the new environment. Earlier his men had taken out their own torches once the torches in the passage had grown too scarce, but now they were putting them out as they noticed the glowing moss hanging off the ceiling.

The path in front of them opened into several passages made of what looked like pressed gravel and stone. The passages were no mystery, as this shallow level of the Labyrinth had been mapped long ago. Unfortunately, to seek Labyrinth beasts was to go to those places that weren’t so well-mapped.

Lucan chose the second passage from the right. It was the shallowest riskwise. It would gradually lead them down and they would have little chance of coming across something too dangerous early on. Even if it was to be the dullest of the passages, no doubt invoking divine amounts of boredom from any who trod it, Lucan preferred to heed his caution.

The passage was wide, so Lucan arranged them into a wide front line and a thin rearguard that he could reach with his natural agility and the assistance of the Star should they be threatened from behind. Upfront there would be four of them, Lucan, Clifton, Cordell, and Thorley, who hadn’t brought a shield.

“I prefer to fight freely,” Thorley said as he noticed the looks he was getting while Lucan arranged their front line.

“So do I,” Lucan said. “But the shields will help us hold off whatever comes at us and prevent it from breaking into our formation. A chaotic fight is the last thing we need down here.” He glanced at Lilian meaningfully.

Thorley simply grunted in response.

Lucan would be lying if he pretended not to understand where Thorley was coming from. He was certainly ready to discard his shield and step forward free of the line should he find the others capable of holding the line without him. Yet he couldn’t tell Thorley that. It would put the young man at too high a risk if he decided to do it too, considering he had no experience in fighting beasts and likely a low Copper Physique. The last thing he wanted was to return to the princess one ‘friend’ short.

They lined up with Clifton a step up from them on the left to receive the first bit of attention and Cordell beside him and a step behind, ready to support him with his heavy spear. To Cordell’s right was Thorley and to his right was Lucan. Behind them came Lilian. The mage would be cradled by the front line and the rearguard, ready to support them with magic from the safest spot in the formation should they need it. The rearguard was comprised of Heath and Ryder, one strong enough to hold off a dangerous attack and the other fast enough to fend off a surprise one. Heath held his shield with one arm and his greatsword in another. Ryder, however, kept his shield on his back, his two hands occupied with his stiletto and the sawtooth sword he’d replaced his swordbreaker with for this venture.

With this rigid formation, they stepped into the passage warily, the green glow of the moss bathing them from above and the dark walls on their sides bullying them into sticking close to each other.