(5.1) Beneath the Surface

Aki scanned the trade district. The catacombs were already a distance away from the general population. A standard plotting format to show respect for the dead.

Probably.

According to her guidebook, at least.

Even so, temporary barriers had been built out of wooden stakes, magically crafted cobblestone walls, and pit traps along the only exit from the enclosed cemetery. Even the cemetery watchtowers had been reinforced.

Armoured soldiers were busy cleaning up the mess of bodies that had risen from their graves or broken out of the catacomb entrance sitting deeper within the cemetery grounds.

Several of the soldiers stopped what they were doing to look at the group walking straight to the catacombs with curious expressions. At least, Aki assumed they were curious. She knows she would be if she saw what they were seeing.

Two people who look and are children for all intents and purposes on Tsarjar leading a very tall, muscular woman and her twin-tailed companion. All of whom are being loyally followed by a platoon of soldiers answering directly to the Estril family; anyone would stare.

Aside from herself, Winter walked a few steps ahead of the group. His head held high but really forcing that he's a kid. This Otherworlder was certainly not a good actor by any means. Perhaps a bookworm?

Meanwhile, Mirra and Phoebe spoke quietly to each other in that unknown language. It was hard to hear them clearly with all the noise from the city and armour, but Aki was sure she at least heard something regarding herself and Winter's presence in New Pinacca.

"What's the plan once we're inside?" Phoebe wraps her arms playfully around Aki from behind. "Just look for an event flag? Hidden passage? Oooh, a secret tunnel?"

"None of that," answers Winter. They had reached the catacomb entrance, where several soldiers stood guard. "Since we entered the cemetery, I could detect a large amount of mana pulsing through all the graves. All of them connected and led down here."

The guard checking the letter handed to him by Aki and Mirra looks nervously at the boy and then at the sealed catacomb entrance.

Weak, muffled rattling and grinding sounds can be heard coming from within. Combined with Winter's description, the guards get visibly agitated and tightly grip their spears and polearms.

"Careful descent and good luck." Offers one of the men.

Judging by the gold chain capelet hanging off their shoulder, he's probably some kind of senior officer.

"We won't fall easily." Mirra flexed her muscles, and the Viscount's soldiers behind her made a strange grunting noise that probably meant they were psyched up.

Aki chuckles and nods her head. "Don't… uh, fear not. I am an Acolyte of Mune, and I shall fulfil my duty to protect you from the evils of this world. We'll figure out what's really going on and keep you all safe."

On a count, the sealed entryway to the catacombs is opened. Some type of dust spurts out, obscuring visuals inside. Rattling skeletons and rotting corpses fall forward and writhe on the ground, struggling to get up. The soldiers closest to them pierce their heads, and the Dead fall permanently still.

"Let's go," Winter traipses over the fallen corpses and into the catacombs.

The group marches in after the boy, guards raised and prepared for danger. Strangely, aside from the few Dead at the entrance, none were roaming about the relatively spacious catacomb interior.

Brick walls and a stone path greet the large party. The walls are lined with sconces holding magically lit torches.

Red stones embedded into wood illuminate the interior with a reddish light.

Going deeper, the path opens up to a circular room where slabs of rock engraved with some type of writing and old images stand sentry over the entrance to one central passage.

A stone altar covered with the dried remains of flowers and unknown tools sits in the middle of the room. Splintered wood and metal cover the ground. The remains of the door that blocked the passageways they're looking at.

Crouching down to examine the materials, Aki drags a finger over a blackened groove in the wood.

"These things were reinforced with magic. No normal Dead could do that unless they had help from a summoner. Or…" Aki looks nervously down the passage. Light from the gems continues a fair distance but gradually darkens into pitch black. "Or there's something very powerful down here."

"Guarding the spell source, I bet," Winter says coolly. "It's what any necromancer would do if they went through the trouble of a spell like this."

He goes up to the passage entrance and studies it carefully. Meanwhile, Phoebe and Mirra inspect the writing and act as though they're cross-referencing the script with something invisible in front of them.

Of course, the Otherworlders that are so convinced Tsarjar is some sort of game can see their statuses. Amidst this, the armed accompaniment stands back, allowing the four to work unimpeded.

A cold gust of air blows in from the passage, followed by the rattling and clanking of bodies rushing to their location. Suddenly, the pressure in the chamber compresses and light flashes blindingly bright. Aki feels her body tighten as though she is being crushed into a pinhole. Her breath escapes her, but she does not struggle against it. She's experienced this sensation before.

Teleportation.

In the next second, they all stand in a new, wider chamber with several passageways leading into the darkness. Just like the last chamber, this one is ransacked and beaten, with a central stone altar covered in dust.

"Curses!" One of the soldiers shouts. The rest raise their weapons in preparation.

The air chills. A strong gust of air and a resonant growl that builds into a screeching howl that sounds not unlike the high-pitched screams of many people echo in the new chamber. Everyone other than Winter and Aki clasps their hands to their ears.

"What is that?" Shouts Phoebe. "We're not gonna fight it here, are we?"

"Follow me!" Winter waves at everyone and heads down one of the wider passages. "This one will take us into a secret underground necropolis."

"There's a necropolis? How do you know?" Mirra takes the lead behind him. The soldiers follow behind her.

Phoebe is about to go as well but halts when she sees Aki hasn't moved yet. Rather than running, Aki is digging through her bag and flipping through the pages of her books.

"C'mon, Aki! I dunno how that kid's so sure, but it's better than waiting to get overwhelmed in a teleporting room."

"That's exactly why. It's hours away from nightfall, so why are there so many rushing here?" Aki smiles as she finds what she's looking for.

Holding the book as a guide, Aki starts to trace symbols into the stonework walls and floor with the help of her amulet. "I can't stop them from coming, but this should at least force them to chase us down these passages. That way, none of them get any ideas to bust out."

"Can't we close them in with terra magic?" Phoebe asks. She waves her staff frantically and raises the stones in front of each of the passageways, save the one everyone else ran into. Careful not to block the symbols Aki wrote into the exit.

Moments later, the sound of bodies striking the magical raised stones fills the two girl's ears.

"See?"

A decomposing arm holding a femur bursts through the stones.

The two girls scream and run after their allies. The ease of her magic being broken through doesn't stop Phoebe from raising another stone wall behind them. At the very least, out of hope to slow the Dead down.

With the path behind them closed, all the two girls have to guide them is the dim red light from the gems at the path's edges and in recessed light holes.

Once wide enough for an entire carriage to drive through, the path slims down until running side-by-side becomes difficult. Stonework gives way to natural rock dirt, making lit areas increasingly uncommon.

The dusty footprints from their allies continue several metres more until suddenly disappearing into a wall.

"A secret passage? How did they open it?"

That question is answered when Winter sticks his head through the rock as if it isn't there.

"Imagine you can pass through it. You'll feel a little resistance, but you'll be able to cross."

Aki and Phoebe press their hands against the wall, flanking Winter's head and push to no avail. How is she supposed to imagine walking through something like that?

It feels too solid.

The sound of running and screeching from behind them no longer allows Aki to muse. Closing her eyes, she dives, completely filling her mind with the idea of hitting the floor.

"Oof!" Dust kicks up around her as she and Phoebe lay on the floor, staring up at the opening to the path she was in before. A veil of energy reminiscent of illusion magic curtains the dim path she lies in and the one outside. "Cool. Let's go!"

Winter helps the pair up; they quietly but quickly run down the dim path together. Behind them, they hear the sounds of the Dead rushing by, growing fainter and fainter.

Moments later, the path opens up to a massive cavern. Their path overlooks stone-carved buildings covering nearly the entire cavern floor. Opposite their own path, she can see a wider walkway. Perhaps the main entry to the necropolis.

A decrepit tower pierces toward the ceiling, looking as though it alone is challenging the stalactites looming threateningly over the cavern.

Glowing gems of all sorts embedded throughout the enormous space combine to create a sickly whitish-green light. Aki isn't sure, but it even looks like the walls, buildings, and stone columns have wide divots carved into them.

Strangest of all, some floating object glows atop the tower, pulsing gently every few seconds. Occasionally, she can spot large figures moving around the inside and outside of the tower. The movements are almost insectlike. Monstrous.

"That's part of the source of the necromancy spell." Winter takes the pair around a bend to where Mirra and the soldiers anxiously wait beneath a stone arch. "I knew it had to be here. It's the only mapped part of the catacombs that isn't on any current maps. With any luck, we can destroy it before the rest of their defences wake up, or those guys out there make their way back here."

"Wait, wait, wait." Phoebe waves a hand in disbelief. Mirra and a few of the closer soldiers also chime in. "How did you know this was here? You just said it wasn't on any maps. We didn't even see a thing about it back at that noble guy's house. Didn't we teleport? Are we still by the city? Isn't there, like, a whole bunch of water and stuff?"

"I wonder…" Winter says mysteriously. He adjusts his mini leather archer's guard and unsheathes his sword. "Do you really think we're near New Pinacca? Let's go. We need to finish this before night falls."

Aki falls in step behind Winter, quietly leading the group down the path into the necropolis. She vaguely recalls her friend Shur saying something about otherworlder types.

"Could he be a time regressor or reincarnator? It would explain how he knew where this place was. Still, the way he talks feels like he's trying hard to emulate something. A transmigrator? Maybe he has knowledge of this world from some source or other."

Phoebe and Mirra seem to believe the world of Tsarjar is a game. Does he? No, that didn't make sense. Aside from the strange RPG interface, there's no way this world could even remotely be compared to a game.

She unconsciously rubs her wrists and grits her teeth. "They're just crazy people trying to make sense of this the only way they can."

Heat envelops her suddenly. Danger.

Aki reacts quickly, raising her amulet to the right and pulling Winter close to her. Thick white webs splash harmlessly against her shield spell. A pitched shriek responds aggressively at the failure. From the shadows around their path crawls a hideously enormous arachnid.

The monster screeches again, and the sound of more crawling sounds from all around them grows louder.

It wiggles its body and launches at Aki. Its chelicerae stretch wide in anticipation. Even with a shield spell, its weight would surely knock them over the edge to the ground below.

"Witchbolt!" Acid green mana coalesces into a ball before firing at the monster's face. It strikes true, but the damage is so inconsequential the monster doesn't even flinch.

Aki closes her eyes and turns away, preparing for the end.

Instead of being violently torn apart and dragged away, a shriek of pain and the sound of liquid splattering on stone greets her. Turning to look, Aki sees a stressed-out Phoebe holding her staff out. A thick pillar of rock had cleaved the monster in two. Green-black blood oozed from its corpse.

The glassy-eyed head lays less than a metre away, staring at her with what could only be a look of frenzied hunger.

"They're Ogre Spiders! Don't let them get a hold of you, or you'll be paralysed!" Mirra shouts from further back. She and the soldiers are busy beating back seven more of the monsters and quickly losing ground. "We need to run into the buildings! They'll have trouble following us there!"

Mirra kicks the nearest one in its face, sending it tumbling backwards into a second. The weight of the two sends them falling off the edge. The remaining spiders hiss and begin shooting webs from a distance. The soldiers raise Shield spells to deflect the attacks while Mirra raises her fists and slams into the ground.

She intends to destroy the path. With her intentions that clear, Phoebe and the soldiers don't hesitate to sprint down the path like there's a fire on their tail.

The ogre spiders won't be able to follow directly after them and would need to crawl down the walls if they weren't planning on jumping several dozen metres after their prey. Everyone would reach the city before that happened.

"Wait! Mirra, can you even run that distance?" Aki shouts, concerned. The response comes as a loud grunt and a final smash followed by crumbling rock.

The path underfoot breaks apart, and Aki starts to lose her footing. She holds tight to Winter and starts to run.

Winter has other plans as he wiggles free and runs to the top half of the spider's corpse before it falls.

"Winter! We gotta go or else!"

"Rise, my servant," Winter says, hand pressed against the corpse's head. The spider shudders and sinks into the darkness as if swallowed by something. Next, he raises a ringed finger and points up. "Come to me, Ogre!"

An ogre spider made of slithering darkness with glowing white eyes materialises from beneath Winter's feet. It scoops him up like a stead and its rider.

"Go! I'll make sure she doesn't fall!"

Aki doesn't have to be told twice. Running like the wind, she lithely steps over the crumbling stone. Quickly overtaking Phoebe and the soldiers and reaching the necropolis first.

Vile miasma overwhelms her senses; it nearly makes her puke. This place is teeming with previously inactive Dead. The monster noises and destruction of a rock bridge must've woken them up.

Crawling out from the holes in the cavern walls, stepping out of buildings, and standing up from behind long-forgotten boxes and barrels rise numerous skeletons dressed in an assortment of robes. Aside from a select few, none are armoured. Even fewer carry arms.

"The ones that tried to attack us near the entrance are the attack force!" Aki turns to Phoebe. "Can you hit everything with Terra magic?"

"I could try."

"I'll help you, so clear a way as close as possible to that tower," Aki raises her amulet high. "Boost."

A gentle light washes over Phoebe as she prepares a spell.

Multiple stone spikes shoot up in a single shot, forcing the oncoming mob of skeletons to part. Everyone runs in, ducking and blocking the stray arrow fired by incoming skeleton archers.

Phoebe and Aki continue to blast charged spikes around their group while the soldiers provide magical support, throwing spell after spell with precise accuracy at any threat untouched by Phoebe's spell.