Chapter 56

After Veli and Alvar had stepped to the front of the group of children the various mages began to chant silent incantations and soon a dome like structure, invisible to the naked eye, began to set itself over the group which resulted in all sounds produced inside the dome to be contained so that nobody outside of the dome could hear what was happening on the inside. Next came another spell that encompassed the whole group and, with the few Mesmers that had cast the spell as focus points, turned them all into transparent shadows.

Looking down at his hands Alvar could still see them but they were shrouded in a light grey veil that possessed an unusual quality to it, one Alvar wasn't really familiar with but couldn't really bother to analyse it at this very moment. After all he had a duty to fulfil.

With the adults guarding the children like a ring of thorns slung around a vulnerable flower the group of escapees left the now empty room through another dark and narrow corridor. They passed by dim torches that barely illuminated the surrounding wooden structure of the great hall until even those torches grew sparser and sparser while the walls, formerly made of wood, now had turned into the hard surface of the mountain.

Letting his eyes roam over the ground they were walking on Alvar surmised that they must have entered a tunnel carved into the mountain that would lead them somewhere, possibly even out of reach of the enemy.

When his mind came to that hypothesis Alvar at first wondered why they hadn't just all escaped through said tunnel but soon understood that the enemy would catch up only too fast if they did so and at that point the Norn wouldn't have any walls they could use in order to buy the most time for those that needed to survive. The conclusion Alvar had arrived at brought a grimace to his face while the emotions in his guts began to stir again until he supressed them with viciousness and refocused his mind back onto his mission, if only to keep himself occupied so that he wouldn't have to deal with all the feelings rampaging in his heart.

After a few minutes of walking the group reached a gate of some kind that was fused through runes of some kind with the mountain itself which made it impossible to find the entrance from the outside if you did not know where to look exactly.

While Alvar was examining the intricate runes carved into the stone of the gate the old necromancer, who had helped Alvar and Veli on their escape from the great hall all those months ago, stepped forwards and softly put his hand onto the middle of the stone gates. Next a dark green aura began to shimmer around the old man while Alvar heard the necromancer softly humming a sad melody which seemed to shape the dark green mana into runes that began to fill in the blank spots on the gates.

When the old man had finished the melody that had strangely brought a sense of serenity to Alvar's mind for a second the gates flashed for once and afterwards slowly swung open, letting the biting cold of the night in while doing so.

With firm steps the old necromancer exited the gates and stepped into the night with Alvar and Veli promptly following after the man, soon joined by the rest of the group.

Once they were outside they looked around for a second to orient themselves but were given no further time as the adults pushed them to leave with haste.

Turning around once more into the direction where he thought Hoelbrak to be located Alvar lowered his head with his eyes resting on the ground before him, the shame, the anger, the gratitude and the sorrow he was feeling all contained in the simple gesture until he straightened his back and turned around with a determined expression on his face.

'One day I will be back to reclaim what is rightfully ours and wipe your rotten kin from the face of Tyria! That I promise you, Jormag…' And with those thoughts engraved into his mind Alvar rejoined the group of children to bring them to safety. Once done so he would begin with the preparations for his newest mission, to eradicate the ancient dragons from Tyria; every last one of them or die trying…