The morning after the banquet, we met with Calduran and Balgrim as instructed.
There wasn't a single one among us, including the two dwarven leaders, who wasn't at least slightly hungover from all the Murt we drank the previous night. Still, it was a wonder we'd all made it on time to our meeting, but to our benefit, Balgrim had accounted for that.
"Here, drink this. You won't feel like you've got a buffalo sitting on your head," the druid said, handing the others and I a small flask of some unidentifiable liquid. At least it's not as murky as the stuff last night, Ysevel sent with a wry grin before taking a sip. I don't think Meliss was joking when she said it was called Morning's Bane. I haven't felt like this since the first time I got drunk, I mentally groaned, as a simple task, such as thinking, made my head pound.
I was grateful for the elixir, as Athar called it, but had no idea how it worked. My stomach felt better within a few seconds of taking the first sip, and my head cleared shortly after, though I could have sworn I still had some residual phantom pain. As each of us drank it, we could physically see the results that removed the dark bags and redness from our eyes.
Even Kalia's posture has improved, I noted, unable to see her face beneath her helm.
"Now that I can see some life in your eyes, most of you, anyway, I think it's time we went to the Tasglann Arsaidh, don't you?" Calduran asked in a much more chipper tone than I'd expected him to. "Of course, Great Calduran," Mom replied, getting a bright smile from him, and a scowl of disapproval from Balgrim.
As we followed their lead down the many, luminous halls, I couldn't help but wonder what sort of relationship she'd had with the dwarves. It was clear Balgrim disapproved of her being there, but Calduran had a much more light-hearted disposition toward her.
That's because I saved his daughter the last time I was here. Had to destroy an ancient burial ground to do it, since she was kidnapped and brought there for some sacrificial ritual, Mom said, having read my thoughts through our connection. I couldn't help but be surprised she even told me the story, but I felt there was still a lot missing.
Would the ritual have worked if you hadn't been there to stop it? Kalia asked, coupling her question with my own curiosity. I wasn't about to risk it, if that's what you're asking. Additionally, there were stories about a creature residing in that region that allegedly fed on human souls. I couldn't risk a beast like that to be left alone, so I destroyed everything in the area to make sure it had no chance of survival, Mom shrugged.
Before we could ask any further questions, however, we turned a corner and came to a large stone door that was locked in place with a dozen thick chains. It was obvious to us all that they were reinforced with whatever mana resided within an octagonal seal at the door's center.
"I understand you keep the secrets here closely guarded, but how could you expect any normal person to get in there?" Mom asked Balgrim jokingly, but he could only offer her a defeated sigh. "It's not meant for keeping mere mortals out," he began to speak as Calduran moved toward the door. "Wait, are you saying that this was meant to keep something else out?" I asked, getting a curled eyebrow from him.
"As you'll come to see here shortly, there are many other beings who would easily kill for the chance to see what we've kept hidden here. That's not to say there haven't been attempts in the past, but none have succeeded thus far," Balgrim replied.
He's dancing around the answer. Mideia probably tried to enter this place at some point during the Great Partition, I sent Ysevel, who nodded in agreement. I think we should be grateful he hasn't succeeded yet, then, she replied. Not that we know of, at least, Kalia sent with an air of caution.
It made perfect sense, but I couldn't afford to dwell on that for too long, since Calduran had muttered something in his native tongue and cut a slit across his hand. A few droplets of blood sank into the geometric design carved into the floor beneath his feet and began to move toward the door.
It seemed like the mana from the door was pulling his blood toward it, but that wasn't the only thing I noticed. His mana is radiating through the floor and into the lock, I realized, wondering just how much control he had over his mana. It must be a three-part locking system. Blood, mana, and the correct heritage must be the keys to this place, Mom sent back, having observed the same thing I had.
For a heartbeat, I recalled her story of the ritual she'd stopped. What if that sacrifice was meant to open something to allow the creature out? I asked loosely, but quickly realized it must have held more truth than I understood at the time. Now that's a theory I'd also come to, but since I destroyed the area, I never got the chance to see if I was right, Mom replied regretfully.
The lock came undone with a heavy clunk, and I could hear some form of machinery within the walls retracting the chains in response, leaving the large, stone door open to us. "Follow me, then," Calduran said, pouring mana into his palm to seal the wound.
The doors opened to a deep stairway that could have easily taken us hundreds of meters underground. As we crossed the threshold, the mana stones embedded in the walls responded to our presence, illuminating our path as we made our way downward.
"How far do you think this goes?" Athar whispered, squinting his eyes to see if he could see the end. "Your guess is as good as mine, but I suspect the deeper it is, the more well insulated it would be against superficial attacks against the city," Ed surmised, getting nods from the rest of us. "And you'd be right, Edryd," Balgrim said over his shoulder with a prideful look.
"Narin has faced many trials and tribulations over the years, though each time, the Tasglann Arsaidh has remained unblemished," he continued with obvious, prideful satisfaction. We unanimously wondered what he meant by that, though we didn't have time to answer, as the end of the stairway appeared before us.
We've been walking down the stairs for the better part of twenty minutes. It's about time we see something at the end of this hall, Ysevel sent with a bit of satisfaction, which I agreed with wholeheartedly. Coming back up these stairs is going to suck, isn't it? I returned with a slight frown, knowing it wasn't likely for there to be some way to transport us back to the surface.
The end was in sight, and we all held our collective breaths when we crossed the final threshold. Before us was an incredibly vast room, filled to the brim with countless bookshelves, scrolls, tomes, and artifacts that my mind had a hard time comprehending.
Each one spanned from the floor to the high ceiling, with each section lit adequately by more of the mana stones.
"Welcome to Tasglann Arsaidh," Calduran said, raising his arms as if to welcome an invisible flood of knowledge. "Let's make this a little easier to read in, shall we?" he asked over his shoulder just before flooding the room with mana, causing the lighting to change from turquoise to a bright yellow that could have easily been mistaken for daylight.
The ceiling responded to his command and projected the morning sky onto every open space of wall that wasn't covered by the bookshelves or artifact housings. "This is incredible," I thought aloud, hardly bothering to hide my amazement. "That's not even half of it. Observe," Calduran said with a wry grin, moving to a thin pillar of stone that rose from the ground at his command.