Dark of the Present

Axel found himself frozen in place by the sight. Did the light just bring another unfortunate soul to this forsaken land the same way he was? If so, why did the light do so now, after everything had fallen? Didn't the light show up to bring Axel to Falnear after Argean finally died?

Axel watched in confusion, debating whether to step out of the bushes and greet the man, as the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a strange rectangular device, thinner than Axel's finger, with a strange box attached to it.

Tablet, said Axel's mind.

Nearby, Kyle seemed to agree.

"That looks like one of those sci-fi tablet things those hacker-spy dudes always use in movies," Kyle whispered.

"Should we say hello?" Axel asked. "Maybe he got dumped here just like us."

The device beeped, sending a strange, bright noise through the eerie, dark forest. The man turned away, looked at the tablet, and started walking.

"I kinda want to see what he's up to," Kyle said. "Let's not disturb him for now."

Axel rolled his eyes. Kyle clearly wanted to scare the new guy.

"Let's test your stealth, actually," Kyle said with a grin. "First person to get noticed has to do whatever the loser wants."

"Seriously?" Axel struggled to voice his many concerns.

"Let's go," Kyle said, quietly making his way through the bushes with renewed vigor.

Axel sighed and followed.

The man walked steadily through the dark forest, his path illuminated gently by some sort of light coming out of the back of the tablet. The device attached to the tablet beeped occasionally, and when Axel crept close enough to peer over the man's shoulder, he could only see two numbers. The man would continuously check the two numbers, one of which would fluctuate as he moved, turning and changing his direction, weaving through trees and steadily walking through the darkness as the number slowly ticked down. Axel looked on in confusion. Not only did he not understand what the numbers meant, but he could somehow read the symbols that flashed across the screen.

The man frowned at the screen as the number ticked up again and turned around in frustration. Axel immediately shrunk down into the bushes, heat pounding violently, as he caught a glimpse of his face. Framed against black hair and pale skin were a pair of serious black eyes that carried some sort of focus and determination that made Axel want to get out of his way. As Axel struggled to calm his beating heart, the man walked a few steps, watching the number, clicked his tongue in annoyance, and turned in a different direction. Axel let out a small sigh of relief, masked perfectly by the gently blowing wind whistling through the leaves. The man turned and walked a few steps, changing direction every now and then until the number on his screen started ticking down again. He nodded in satisfaction and kept walking.

As Axel struggled to understand what was happening, he caught glimpses of Kyle, truly living up to his nickname of Paragon of Thieves, slowly creeping through the branches, syncing his occasional jumps and movements with the wind blowing through the trees, or the snapping of branches under the man's feet. Kyle frowned as he moved, following the man's winding path through the forest with the highest level of focus he could muster. Axel quietly crept alongside, silently pleading for the items in his backpack to not crash together and make noise every time he had to make a particularly large step over a tree trunk or fallen branch.

Kyle suddenly retreated and landed silently next to Axel, gesturing for him to wait. Axel stopped moving. When the man had walked out of earshot, still following the steady beep of the device, Kyle spoke.

"We need to stay as quiet as possible," Kyle muttered quietly.

Axel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's the whole point of the competition, right?"

Kyle quickly shushed him.

"I don't think he was dropped here the same way we were."

Axel frowned. "Why do you think so?"

"He started off in some sort of direction the moment he got here. Like he came here with a purpose. That's not a good sign," Kyle hissed.

Axel nodded, thinking carefully over the encounter.

"He might be on our side, he might be an enemy, or he might not be involved at all," Kyle explained.

"So what do you want to do?"

"I have an idea. And stop it with that look. I know what you're thinking, but I actually thought this one through."

Axel sighed and signaled for Kyle to continue.

"We can't just attack him in case he's actually an ally. We might need his help later and it'll be hard to explain ourselves after stalking him for so long."

Axel didn't agree. Kyle continued talking before Axel could protest.

"We can't just go over and talk to him in case he's actually an enemy. I know your temper and you'll just go ahead and attack him."

Axel scoffed and shook his head. Kyle continued again, interrupting Axel before he could voice his opinion.

"And if he's not even involved in any of this," Kyle finished, gesturing between him and Axel, "we might not even need to get involved with him. That's why I think sneaking after him is the best idea."

Axel just looked at Kyle in silence.

"What?" Kyle asked. "Good plan, right?"

"You just want to see what he's up to and then scare him, don't you?" Axel said, crossing his arms with a disapproving look.

"Not remotely," Kyle said, shaking his head. He paused. "Okay, maybe a little, but that's besides the point."

Axel took a deep breath.

"Why can't we just go back to your Dark Lord friends?"

"Because I'm really really curious about what this guy is up to," Kyle said, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "And I also don't really feel like searching for Dracoa. It's like she disappeared off the face of the earth or something.

Axel let out a long sigh.

"Aren't you curious?"

Axel paused and nodded.

"Then let's go! Spying time."

"If this turns out to be a waste of time, you owe me one."

Kyle chuckled. "Sure thing. Bet's still on, by the way."

Axel glared at Kyle. "No, it isn't."

Kyle just smirked and darted off through the trees in the direction the man last disappeared. Axel took a deep breath and followed.

They caught up to the man rather quickly. He was still walking steadily through the forest, eyes glued to the numbers on the screen, turning occasionally to make sure the numbers ticked down instead of up. His pace had slowed considerably, however. The numbers seemed to stagnate in one place, and the man didn't quite know where to turn. Axel took this opportunity to look around and try to gain his bearings. They were still in the forest, but the trees had gotten significantly taller, and the foliage had gotten more dense, calling for more careful movements to avoid making noise. Off to the left, towards where the man's path seemed to be curving, Axel could see the peaks of the mountains splitting Argean in half towering over the treetops through the gaps in the canopy.

Eventually, the man found a direction to go in, and kept walking. Axel followed as silently as possible, noiselessly stalking him as he gradually made his way to the mountains. Axel frowned. If the man's path led him up the mountains, it would be difficult to follow while staying both silent and out of sight. The man continued walking until he reached the foot of the mountains. Glancing between the rocky slope and the device in his hands, Axel could see him frown in confusion, but eventually start up the mountain, climbing diagonally up the slope. Kyle shot Axel a confused look before darting after him, careful to stay crouched within the dark shadows cast by the small crags of rock that occasionally poked out of the mountain.

The man climbed faster now, seeming to have found the right path as he now only occasionally glanced at the beeping device as he climbed upwards. Axel caught a glimpse of the screen. The number was steadily ticking downwards, faster than before. Axel kept following as the man continued walking, almost tripping over himself and crashing against the mountainside when the man abruptly stopped and turned back. Axel held his breath and quickly darted to the side, making as little noise as possible, climbing further up the mountain and up to a small ledge overlooking the path the man was walking along before the man's gaze could sweep over where he had been standing, crouched out in the open.

The main didn't look backwards with suspicion, but with confusion. He glanced at the tablet and moved back along the path he was walking on and frowned, glancing around in confusion before looking down at the ground.

"Is it underneath?" the man asked, his serious voice echoing off the rocks, piercing through the silent night and almost causing Axel to fall off the ledge in surprise.

Axel actually did fall off the ledge as the ground began to rumble violently, shaking and throwing Axel around despite his best efforts to stay quiet. His efforts to silence the pained noises that threatened to escape his mouth rewarded him, however, as the rumbling of the earth and the falling of rocks around the man perfectly obscured the sound of Axel crashing down onto the path behind the man. The man didn't turn around. He was too focused on the sight in front of him. Axel's eyes widened against the now-green glow of light.

The earth was splitting right before his very eyes. The mountain itself was bending and cracking, opening up before the man to reveal a deep hole into the earth. The man checked his device as he crouched down and looked into the hole, nodding in satisfaction as he saw the number on the screen tick down once more. He tucked the tablet into a pocket inside his jacket, and jumped down.

Axel ran up to the hole and looked down, seeing nothing but complete darkness. Kyle landed near him from his perch further up the mountain.

"How'd he do that?" Kyle murmured.

Axel suddenly recalled the earth gem that Riselus wielded, capable of lifting and bending the earth at a mere thought, glowing a bright green as it worked and responded to the massive creature's will.

"Magic," Axel replied. "What he's looking for is probably down here."

"Ladies first," Kyle said, his joking tone contrasting heavily against the serious look on his face.

Axel rolled his eyes and jumped down the hole, sticking out his arms and legs to brace against the edges of the thin rift in the ground to slow his descent. He heard Kyle slide down behind him, knocking loose a few small pebbles as the two descended carefully, almost getting knocked loose by another massive rumble that shook the rift as they descended slowly.

Axel fell to the side suddenly as one of the walls disappeared, letting out an involuntary grunt of frustration. Kyle landed silently behind him, clearly smirking at Axel in the darkness, even if they couldn't see anything. Axel put a hand out to the wall and felt rough, cold rock, untouched by the sun, and a deep chill that ran through his bones. A piercing coldness that could only be matched by the dungeons hidden under the ruined castle on Falnear, untouched by light and heat for a thousand years.

This cavern, however, had a gentle light in it. Axel felt the ground rumble once more as they walked carefully. Axel could see traces of the ground splitting apart and moving to the man's will as he gradually made his way towards whatever he was looking for. The path wound forwards haphazardly, with many ledges and unstable portions that almost made Axel trip and fall many times, eliciting barely stifled chuckles from Kyle.

The path abruptly veered left and opened up to a massive cavern, a gaping fissure so high that Axel bet that it could have its own weather if it wanted to, and so wide that the bright light cast by the man standing on the floor of the cavern in front of them could not hope to reach the other end. Axel stood, perched on the ledge a half dozen meters from the floor, debating whether he should drop down and immediately alert the man to his presence or stay up there and not be able to see what the man was doing.

Before Axel could make a decision, the man moved, and, well, neither choice would have mattered in the end.

The man reached into the device attached to the tablet and pulled something out. A golden chain with five rings on it, each with a brilliant jewel that Axel could barely see from his vantage point glowing its own separate color. Red, blue, gray, green, and blinding white. As he lifted it, the light from the tablet disappeared - it was the white jewel which had been emitting the light, and raised his arms.

"What's happening?" Kyle hissed from behind Axel. Axel shifted to the side slightly, allowing Kyle to peek out over Axel's shoulder and see the awe-spiring sight unfolding before them.

Each of the gems glowed brightly, and the air began to swirl. An uncomfortable buzz began to burn through the air, one that shook Axel's bones, sending uncomfortable vibrations through Axel's stomach, which had thankfully just finished digesting his recent meal. Axel's blood ran cold as he recognized the familiar sensation running down his spine.

It was the aura of an Elder Dragon's gem.

But unlike those gems, this feeling was much more raw, unrefined, and violent.

Axel leaned forwards slightly as the air whirled violently around the jeweled necklace in the man's hands, which now glowed brightly with the light of every star in the night sky at once. He frantically looked around the now better-illuminated cavern for any trace of a large, glowing magic orb the size of his head sitting somewhere in the room, but couldn't find any.

Kyle let out a quiet curse. Axel looked up in surprise and sucked in a sharp breath.

As the whirling wind swirled violently around the man, as rocks tore themselves from the ground, floated in the air, as blazing fire rose up from nothingness and burned midair, as the water in the air condensed into streams and coalesced into rings that spun around the man, and as brilliant white light filled the center of it all, Axel could see something stir. Further in the cavern, shrouded by the darkness that even the brilliant light could not penetrate, something responded to the immense magic power that was released. As the light increased further, Axel could see what lay sleeping deep underneath the mountains in Argean.

Lying there in all of its twisted glory, a spot of night that descended from the sky to shun even reality itself, a being so large that the mere swing of its claws as it stirred sent a shockwave spinning through the cavern, disrupting the man's massive display of magic, was a deep black dragon, scales lined and tinted purple, sleeping silently as its warehouse-sized body radiated pure, raw power.