Hope you like the chapter!
The spirits led them onward through the drifting clouds. At first they remained high above the fragment, walking across the endless white fields of mist. The small elemental shapes darted ahead of them in loose clusters, occasionally pausing to circle back as if to check that Hump and the rest of the group were still following.
Hump had been sceptical to begin with. Trusting unknown spirits in an unfamiliar fragment hardly seemed wise. Yet the longer they travelled, the more confident he became that the creatures were helping them. It helped that Nisha flew ahead to scout for him, keeping watch for something that might threaten them, but even she only saw more spirits.
Hump closed his eyes briefly and reached outward with his senses to test their direction once more. The staff in his hand hummed faintly as he brushed against the threads that ran through the fragment.
When he opened his eyes, he said quietly, “They’re bringing us toward the thread.”
Emilia glanced at him. “You’re sure?”
“At the very least, we’re going the right direction. The resonance with the thread is getting stronger.”
Gradually the clouds around them began to thin, revealing more of the world below. At first it was only vague shapes and muted colours beneath the mist. Then the fragment opened up beneath them and Hump slowed to take it all in.
It was breathtaking.
Around him the others paused as well, staring toward a distant mountain rising from the forming land. Not because anything moved across its surface, but because the mountain itself was moving. Vast slabs of stone lifted slowly from the ground, drawn upward by spiralling currents of essence that twisted through the air. Thousands upon thousands of spirits swarmed around the rising rock, guiding the process. In some places the stone seemed to form out of nothing at all, the concentration of earth essence so dense that matter itself was taking shape.
“How is that possible?” Acalin asked.
“Loften told us that some fragments are remnants of dead worlds,” Hump said. “Others are the beginnings of new ones.” He gestured toward the growing landscape. “I think we may have found the latter.”
Behind them, where the clouds parted toward the horizon, the sea was forming. The essence was so thick it was hard to tell where the water began. It poured endlessly into a vast basin that had not existed moments before. Waves rolled across the expanding surface, spreading outward.
They continued descending as the spirits guided them lower.
The closer they came to the ground, the more Hump realised the world was not forming on its own. Essence was not the only force shaping the fragment. Spirits were everywhere. Thousands of them. Millions.
They moved across the forming landscape like living expressions of the elements themselves. Some burst from the rising rock like small worms made of gravel before scattering into the air in showers of dust. Others clung to the sides of newly formed trees, their leafy shapes swaying gently as though they were part of the branches themselves. Feathery wisps drifted through the sky, stirring the wind and pushing the clouds into new shapes overhead.
Water spirits flickered through newborn streams that trickled toward the distant ocean. Even the ground beneath their feet seemed alive with movement as small stone spirits wriggled through the fresh soil, leaving faint trails in the dirt behind them.
“I would love to spend some time here,” Dylan said, gazing around at the forming landscape with clear wonder. “We’re in an elemental world. I’ve never felt so much nature essence. I’ve never been to anywhere as pure as this. It’s amazing.”
“There really is something special about it,” Hump agreed, watching the spirits drift through the branches overhead. “Do you think beings like these might be the key to restoring a place like the Remnant Realm?”
Dylan shook his head slowly. “I don’t think they could survive there. The Remnant Realm is too far gone. From what you saw of the gorger’s previous life, it wouldn’t surprise me if shades were once like them though.” He looked out across the growing forest. “It’s sad to think about. Maybe one day they can return to the realm.”
They continued walking through the forming woodland, the spirits weaving around them as if curious about their presence. The trees here were young and thin, their trunks still twisting slowly as essence flowed through them, shaping bark and branches in real time.
Then ahead of them something appeared that did not belong to the natural growth of the fragment.
Black brick walls rose from the earth, half-hidden beneath creeping moss and fresh grass. A single doorway faced them, set into the dark stone. The roof was little more than a mound of soil and vegetation, trees already beginning to grow around and over it.
It was unmistakable.
A structure built by hands rather than nature.
“There it is,” Hump said.
“Is that a gateway?” Emilia asked.
Laughter erupted among the group, relief breaking through the tension that had followed them across the abyss.
Around them, the nearby spirits chimed cheerfully, their small forms flickering with bursts of colour and light as if sharing in the excitement.
The structure itself was smaller than the temples they had discovered in the Remnant Realm or in Alvaron, but the material was instantly recognisable. The black stone was identical.
Hump found himself wishing he had asked Loften why so many gateways were constructed from it. His instincts told him the stone possessed some sort of magical conductivity, but he would have liked to know the truth.
“Thank you, Shimmer,” Dylan said.
The small spirit perched on his shoulder let out a tiny howl, and several others nearby chimed in response.
“They must be quite intelligent to bring us here,” Emilia said, studying the cluster of spirits floating nearby. “I wonder why they did it?”
“The larger ones seem to have led the way,” Dylan said. “The others, I think, are just trailing along, interested in what we’re doing.” He glanced around thoughtfully. “It does make me wonder if there are greater elementals here. I’ve heard of spirits like these that are capable of speech. If people have been here before, it’s possible they’d even speak modern Alveronian.”
“I’m not about to stick around to find out,” Bud said, making his way forward toward the entrance, only for a few spirits to float before him and start pressing him back with a blast of wind essence. He frowned. “What’s going on here? Am I under attack?”
“I don’t sense hostile intent,” Celaine said. “They don’t want you to get to that door.”
“Maybe we need to give them something,” Dylan said. “That might be why they helped us. Shimmer and the spirit on the Crown of the Winds both react well to essence. stones. Try give them a few.”
Celaine reached into her Belt of Storage, withdrawing a enough small essence stones to give to each of the nearby spirits. The moment they appeared, they floated toward them, draining them of essence.
The ones that had swarmed Bud left him alone now. He took a tentative step toward the entrance, this time undisturbed, and then continued.
Dylan chuckled. “Amazing. They must have learned that humans will give them gifts if they help them.”
“Like stray cats,” Emilia said.
“I suppose so.” Dylan shrugged. “Ruins the magic of it a little.”
“Let’s get a move on,” Bud said. “I want to make sure the area is secure before we lower our guard entirely. Everyone behind me. I’ll lead the way.”
As they approached the door, Hump’s eyes fell upon the symbol carved into the centre of the stone. Hump recognised the Three-Eyes sigil set into the centre of the stone immediately, just above the divide. Three eyes joined at the tear ducts like the petals of a flower.
“So it’s not one of Loften’s gateways,” Hump said quietly. “The Three Eyes were here.”
He lifted both hands and ran his fingers back through his hair, letting them rest behind his head as he stared at the symbol.
“How could they build this?”
“The Wandering Wizard, maybe?” Emilia suggested.
Hump wasn’t convinced. From what he could tell, the Wandering Wizard hadn’t shared his knowledge. It was for that reason the Twelve had turned on him in the first place.
Still, Hump wondered if the man had once stood here as they did now. Perhaps he too had travelled the abyss, following threads, opening rifts, fleeing from one fragment to another, escaping a demon world only to arrive in an elemental one. It seemed likely.
Hump stepped forward and reached out, placing his hand against the stone door.
The moment his fingers brushed the surface he felt it—the familiar structure of runes hidden beneath the black stone. He had opened a door like this once before, deep beneath the waters of Fisher’s Lake, in the ancient wizard temple buried there.
At the time it had been difficult.
Now it felt almost effortless.
The runes flared to life beneath his fingers. Pale lines of light raced across the surface of the door as the ancient formation awakened, revealing its layered complexity. Interlocking patterns of magic unfolded across the stone, each line feeding into the next in precise channels.
Hump studied them carefully.
Then he compared the structure to the old entry recorded in his spellbook.
SPELLBOOKThree-Eyed Seal
Unknown
Description
A powerful locking enchantment designed with a channel pattern that can be altered to restrict access to only those that know it.
It was exactly the same. The runes were in the sharper shapes they’d found on other such shapes, somewhere between God Glyphs and Alveronian. Actually, they reminded Hump of Bud’s blessings once Loften had changed them.
“Something interesting?” Dylan asked.
“It’s exactly the same as the temple we found in Fisher’s Lake,” Hump said.
The doors pulled back, sliding into the walls. The spirits flitted ahead of them, illuminating the temple within. In a dazzling display of colours, the light was absorbed by the black walls.
Inside, the temple was ancient. Everything here was stripped down to its most basic form. There were no decorations, no elaborate carvings or murals like Hump had often seen in places like this. The design was entirely utilitarian.
Dust covered every surface, thick enough that their footsteps left clear marks across the floor as they entered. A small chamber opened off to one side. Inside were half a dozen simple beds carved from the same age-dry wood, the bedsheets partially disintegrated. They looked untouched for centuries.
The main room contained what they had been hoping to find. The same style of gateway that they were familiar with.
“This location may be directly connected to the rest of the gateways,” Hump said. “I don’t know if it’s the same network Loften was talking about, but it may be our route home.”
“How will we know?” Celaine asked.
“If it’s connected to the same network, it should function with the correct essence application now that Loften has brought them back.” Hump approached the central console—an orb in place atop the podium, the main platform behind it, surrounded by a curved black wall. He inserted his essence and sensed threads all around him. It was so much clearer than before, as if many different places attached to here.
Hump smiled at the others. “It’s working.”
“Can you reach Ur?” Princess Urella asked.
He tested it, feeding the artifact his intent, but it was distant. Perhaps he could find the route if he looked hard enough, but it wasn’t connected to here. Alveron, on the other hand, felt much closer.
“I can sense the thread distantly,” Hump said. “If this leads directly to other gateways, I believe the path home would be possible. It would be far though. We cannot take you.”
“We can pay you handsomely, Wizard Humphrey,” Marcoff said. “You must take us back.”
“We’ve not come all this way only to take you home,” Hump said.
“You don’t have to,” Captain Hadbur said. “Am I able to work this artifact?”
Hump nodded. “There’s nothing complicated about it. I can show you later.”
“Then we will make our own way back. You have brought us far enough already.”
“It could be dangerous,” Emilia said. “It’s been a long time since anyone has walked these gateways. Who knows what’s wormed its way in.”
“My skyship has carried me across Ur for many years,” Hadbur said. “Yet it is gone now—destroyed. Lost. If there are new boundaries to explore, I would be the first to face the danger.”
“And if we die along the way?” Marcoff asked.
“Then we die,” Hadbur said, a little of his cheer returning. “That is the way of adventure, Prince. To survive, we must be wise, skilled, and above all, lucky.”
Hump looked to his own party. “What about us? Do we continue trying to find the Path to Heaven or return to Alveron. I think both would be possible.”
“Allies would be helpful,” Dylan said. “Our people know what the warlocks are after. They would have involved everyone they could in learning to navigate the abyss. Master Vivienne would certainly be trying to find a way to navigate the abyss now that the veil is open. It’s possible they already have.”
“Returning home would allow us to coordinate with them,” Emilia said.
Dylan nodded. “And in truth, I would like to let everyone know we’re alright. I don’t like that Lorissa thinks I’m dead.”
“The pantheon will take charge,” Bud said quietly. “If the gods are not what they say they are, then our Chosen—our priests—have been leading us on falsehoods. I do not know if reinforcements would be a boon or a burden.”
Hump frowned at that. Hearing words like that from Bud was shocking. It made him realise just how much had changed. Not just for the knight, but for all of them.
Hump said nothing, but the words lingered in his mind. He had always been pessimistic when it came to the gods. Yet now there was little doubt left in him. The gods, and anyone who served them, could not be trusted any more than the warlocks they had been fighting so desperately to defeat.
“I hate not having enough information,” Hump said with a sigh. “My own instinct is that we keep looking for the Path to Heaven. I’m not sure allies will be as helpful as speed. The gateway network has only just opened again. If we move fast enough, we can arrive before anyone else. If we do that, at least we can make an informed decision about what we do next.”
“What if the warlocks beat us to it?” Emilia asked. “Not sure how I feel about the six of us taking on an army.”
Hump shrugged. “It’s a risk either way. If we do it this way, we won’t be beholden to anyone else though. What we find—what we decide—it’ll be up to us.”
Emilia nodded. “Agreed. I’m in.”
The rest of the party gave their affirmations. All were in agreement.
Hump nodded. “Captain, shall we get this lesson underway? We need to get moving quickly.”