Two stories beneath the surface Acolyte Kren stood before a stone dais, her eyes clouded with spiritual magic as she prepared herself for the ritual thaig. The walls glowed with the light emanating from the sparse sunstones embedded into the stone, their light casting wavering shadows as the acolyte raised her fraile arms and breathed out steadily. Her eyes glowed with a faint shade of blue as her spiritual power came into fruition. Slowly a misty circle manifested around the edges of the dais, a slight humm reverberating through the small, cold underground chamber. Acolyte Kren flinched as the circle grew in intensity, the humming turning into a loudening monotonous tone that filled the basement of the Priest’s Chamber building.

As her eyes closed the acolyte begged the spirits to send a warrior of worthy strength; a man with extraordinary spiritual power, far beyond her own. A sage of his time from the far islands of Nymaria to aid the king in his time of need. Behind closed eyes, she felt a heavy weight lift from her chest, causing her breath to hitch and her focus to falter as a response whispered in the back of her mind. It was faint and not in common tongue yet by its soft, caressing tone she knew she would not fail.

Acolyte Kren waited and waited, time passing agonizingly slow as her arms began to ache and a pressure began to build behind her temples. She waited for the powerful spiritual presence to materialize into existence before her but long moments continued on without so much as a waiver or disturbance bubbling around the opening between the realms. Her back began to ache as she stood over the Summoning Thaig, her arms outstretched and her spiritual power slowly seeping from her fingertips; the air surrounding her in the small room grew colder as the barrier between this realm and the next faltered. A distant ethereal wail echoed through the walls of the underground building, a song of beings between life and death reverberated around her like voices calling from the depths of the Crimson Sea.

A sneer pulled at the edge of her mouth as the moments ticked on with no reply, her aging frame urging her to break the Summoning Thaig and rest her weary body; to give up and try again tomorrow. Suddenly, her focus snapped forward as a dull grey smoke surged to life within the circle filling the center with its gaseous contents, like a controlled explosion within the glowing ring the mixture swirled and expanded. The humming loudened and the air rushed out of the room as a single figure came slowly into view.

He stood much taller than the acolyte, his deep purple travelers coat bustling around him as the air shook from the spiritual teleportation. His eyes slowly opened, glancing around the stone room before they met the older woman before him.

“Who’re you?” He asked, glancing about the elderly woman before his eyes dropped to the Summoning Thaig that surrounded him. His voice was deep and gravely as though he hadn’t spoken in a very long time. “And where did you bring me?” The older woman let her arms fall to her sides with a sharp exhale and an unhappy glance at the young man before her. As she did so, the loud humming ceased and the dull blue hue of the circle began to wane from existence. The room was left illuminated by the muted light of the sunstones that glowed along the walls of the basement.

He wasn’t what she was expecting. Entirely too young; they needed someone old and wise with a power to rival the darkness that loomed over the land, not a child. Kren examined his face for a moment before snorting and hobbling to the single wooden chair behind her. He’s no older than the third prince, how could he possibly be the priest who answered my call?

“Acolyte Kren, sixty-four years an acolyte of Nymaria, trained under Priest Uriel, although he’s long dead and you’re much too young to have known him.” She sneered at him again, looking closely at his face. He was handsome, with dark colored eyes and short cropped, jet black hair. Acolyte Kren could tell he was truly from Nymaria by his naturally tanned skin and wide planes of his face, so uncommon in this city. “And you are?”

The young man did not move from the Summoning Thaig as the dull blue ring completely dissipated from existence around him, instead he stood watching the elderly woman with an agitated and borderline exhausted look upon his face. Her eyes snapped to the item in his grasp, immediately recognizing the weapon he held onto loosely: it was a long staff made of grey wood, the top of the staff was engraved with spiritual runes imbedded around an obsidian orb that vibrated noiselessly with immeasurable spiritual energy.

Acolyte Kren felt the color drain from her face both from exhaustion and surprise. The young priest held a weapon of great strength and incredible spiritual magic; the contents of the obsidian snapped and churned violently like a snake made of lightning. It had been a long time since she saw a staff like that. If she could recall, she was still a young woman training on the Nymarian Isles when she envisioned her Master Uriel demonstrating his immeasurable speed with the staff.

“I’m a priest of nine years from Nymaria, studied under Priest Uriel’s son, Priest Zendril and Grand Priest Cathal.” He paused, one of his dark brows raising at the elderly woman who was still giving him a once over. “What have you summoned me for?”

Acolyte Kren frowned at the mention of her old instructor and the renowned Grand Priest Cathal. If this young priest was the chosen student of Cathal, he must be worthy of the king’s cause. She squinted her eyes in an attempt to pull his soul into view, expecting to see the flicker of flame erupt between them but it didn’t, her power having been drained from creating and holding the Summoning Thaig. Despite her distrust, Acolyte Kren could not deny that he was greatly powerful; his mere presence shaking her waning ability to sense spiritual energy. Reaching over and taking her cane from its place beside her chair, she stood.

“Come with me, priest. The king is expecting you.”

* * *

Isabel Alderlorn rolled her eyes at her twin brother, catching his smirk as he shoved her shoulder in a boyish way, faltering her steps momentarily as they led their horses along the dirt road that stretched the length of the wildflower field at the foot of the Glistening Mountain range. The sun was beginning to dip as the afternoon continued on, the cool breeze of spring chilling their damp skin as they neared the stables outside of the kingdom.

Chuckling lightly, Isabel smirked towards her twin as he straightened his shoulders to stand at his full height. He gazed down at her with keen grey eyes.

“You really should ride more like a lady, Izzy.” Quietus teased, raising a brow. Isabel snorted before she reached out and copied him, pushing against his shoulder in a playful manner.

“You’re just upset that I outmaneuvered you around that last bank.” His horse seemed to whine in protest as they approached the stables. Isabel laughed as Quietus reached out to the beast to calm her, his mouth twisting into a slight pout. Two stableboys hurried to their sides to take the reigns from the twins, allowing them to continue on towards the entrance of the kingdom.

“I’m going to ignore that comment.” He grumbled under his breath as they stepped off the grass and onto a cobblestone walkway leading methodically towards the sheer mountainside that flanked the grassy plains where the horses were kept. It wasn’t a long walk, although Isabel urged her twin to traverse it slowly so that they could enjoy just a few extra moments of the shining sun before entering the gate to the city.

Isabel smiled to herself victoriously as her elder twin begrudgingly took her arm in his, politely escorting her towards the large, darkly colored iron gates embedded into the stone walls that encompassed the kingdom of Mazamere. She loved the childish way his shaggy brown hair jutted off in random directions after an afternoon ride, his grey eyes exhilarated by his favorite pass time.

As they approached the impending mountain her gaze flited around the single entrance into the cavern city. The sharp exterior of the mountain was dark grey in color, jutting up into the heavens like stalagmites attempting to touch the sun. Its walls were streaked with scars from past wars that told a story and gave warning to anyone who approached the kingdom gate.

Isabel and her brother walked together as the two guards, dressed in light studded armor quickly opened the gates with a pulley mechanism before bowing deeply as they passed. The iron gates opened slowly at first and then suddenly very quickly. Isabel nodded to each of the guards in turn before they continued through towards the city proper of the great mountain kingdom.

As they passed through the mouth of the cave the sun extinguished from sight and the cool breeze that swept down the steep side of the Glistening Mountain range halted as the gates closed behind them. Looking up out of habit as they walked through the cavern passage, Isabel saw the shimmering sunstones that littered the stone walls, breathing light into the otherwise dark and uninviting entrance to their kingdoms homestead. The narrow passage wormed left and then right at sharp angles, chest height holes in the walls in front of them allowed for siege defense in times that the war came close to home.

In comfortable silence, the twins came to the end of the sunstone encrusted passageway where it suddenly opened up into an expansive man-made space dug into the belly of the mountain. Looking up once again, Isabel admired the amazingly high ceiling of the cavern that stretched upwards as though they were at the bottom of a grey stone chasm. Towards the center of the ceiling was an opening that ascended to the Upper Housing Districts of the mountain kingdom, from them dangled taut ropes attached to a center point within the city proper. Along the ridge walls of the open cavern were more, larger sunstones embedded deeply into the edges of the enclosure, she knew out of sight were snaking tunnels that traversed the entirety of the kingdom as secondary passageways from one level to the next.

Before them stood many nicely crafted building that lined the walls of the cave and continued inwards to encircle the white wooden platforms at the city center. As they passed the mechanisms in the center of town, Isabel motioned towards the closest white platform, one that was decorated with jet black and silver fabric.

“I’ve heard a few of the townsfolk complain that this platform hasn’t been working properly.” Quietus followed his twins gaze and nodded.

“Almon says that pulley system needs replacing. Luckily someone noticed before a bunch of people got hurt trying to take that lift to the Nightfall District.” Isabel nodded and made a noise of agreement. They continued past the lifts and towards the castle that stood tall as it overlooked the mountain kingdom. It was made of white stone, with sparse windows and a bailey wall that was draped with similar heavy fabric the colors ranging from purple and blue, to black and silver, then orange and yellow, and finally forest green and earth brown. Only the front wall of the castle was visible from Mazamere proper, the rest laid embedded deeply into the grey stone wall of the mountain behind it. A militaristic fortress to remind their people that, despite the attempts of their enemies, a mountain couldn’t fall by any means of this realm or the next.

* * *

“Taliesin.” The priest answered after a tense moment, clearing his throat as the silence persisted. The guard watched him carefully, his gaze suspicious. “My name is Priest Taliesin, of Nymaria. I was summoned here by - ”

“Yes, yes, by Acolyte Kren.” The guard finished with a hurried and annoyed tone, shifting the collar of his studded armor as he swiftly spun around. “The king is expecting you, follow me. Quickly.” Taliesin fought the urge to make a snide remark towards the guard, his patience wearing thin. Only a few moments before, Taliesin had been in the north traveling along the Desert Road to the Sea of Seasons; now, the priest stood at the stoop of some plain building in what seemed to be an immense cave lit by glowing lights entrenched deeply into the stone walls.

He felt exhausted, as though the act of being summoned through spiritual means had drained him of his own magic instead of using the acolytes. It didn’t help that the guard seemed to have taken an immediately disliking to Taliesin. I wonder if it’s because I wouldn’t give him my weapon. The priest wondered dryly, his brow raising. Shaking his head to himself as he tightened his grip on his greywood staff, Taliesin followed the guard through the immense cavern, his gaze darting curiously around the new sight.

He couldn’t help but stare at the town surrounding him, it was unlike anything he had ever seen before. He’d expect a city hidden within the belly of a mountain to be dark and dank with a smell of mold and stale air but Taliesin was pleasantly amazed that that wasn’t the case. The air was fresh and cool, as though a slight breeze constantly moved through the small cracks in the cavern walls, and the smell of wildflowers from an open plain permeated from seemingly everywhere. No surface was moist, no colorful fabric decoration or bit of wood were ruined by mold; Taliesin was at a loss for attempting to explain the state of the mountain town.

Looking forward towards the guard that led him through the businesses that bustled at that time of day, Taliesin deducted that he was potentially in one of two places. The Mists in the north or The Glistening Mountains in the south. He decided, considering they were the only two mountain ranges in the known realm. His lips pressed into a thin line as he mulled over what emergency this king could possibly have. Why call upon one priest when there’s an entire creed of them on the isles? He wondered ruefully. And why me, of all people? As he thought, Taliesin decided that if it were digression the king wanted then he would be hard pressed to find it through Nymaria; one priest could have possibly been the only answer, whether Taliesin liked it or not.

The guard glanced over his shoulder to make sure the priest was still following before ascending the stone stairs that led up towards a foreboding whitestone castle. As Taliesin took in the sight before him he amended his thoughts; it was a fortress not a castle. They climbed the steps in silence and, as they came closer to the gates that surrounded the bailey of the castle, his escort called out to another pair of guards. Taliesin took those few moments to examine the long lengths of colorful fabric that decorated not only the city but also the bailey walls. There’s so many damn colors here. He thought in confusion as his brows pulled together. They all can’t be heraldry, surely.

“Open the gates!” A more heavily dressed guards called. The priest noticed that across his shoulder was a sash of brilliant red, a color not found along the walls nor among the parts of the city he’d seen thus far. Curious.

The guards shuffled quickly to man the mechanisms on either side of the heavy iron gate. Heavy ticking of metal on metal clanked as the gate began to peel open. Taliesin glanced about the castle bailey curiously, noting the cobblestone floor and white stone blocks that built the walls of the fortress. Once the opening was wide enough for them to enter they moved through quickly, wasting no time as they came to the front entrance of the castle. Another two guards with red sashes opened the doors and allowed Taliesin and his escort through into the grand vestibule of the fortress.

It wasn’t overly lavish as he’d expect a castle to be, although it was still much nicer than anything he’d seen in the earlier parts of the town. The walls were decorated with exquisite paintings and memorabilia of what seemed to be past wars; old weapons, individuals of worth, and trophies of sorts. Before them was a grand staircase that spiraled upwards into two directions leading to the second story, he noticed a few more doorways beneath the staircase as well as another two to his left and then to his right. He couldn’t help but feel that the castle itself was much larger than it let on from the outside. Taliesin was stopped abruptly by the guard who motioned to the single open door to his right.

“You’ll wait in there until called upon.” The guard gave him a strange, untrusting look. “I suggest that you don’t hold that weapon so carelessly in the king’s presence.” Taliesin gave the guard a slight nod before turning away and walking at a lazy pace into the room he’d been directed towards, having absolutely no intentions of heeding his suggestion.

“What an ass.” He mumbled under his breath as he felt the glare of the guard burn into the back of his head.