Unbound

"I was surprised you asked to speak with us," Elder Regis said as she walked into Felix's sitting room. She was slight, an inch or so over five feet tall, and rounded with age despite her unlined face. Her eyes roved around the room before locking back onto Felix. "I'm sure you don't like the Guild very much."

"Hah! Why should he?" Beside her, the older Elder Holt laughed. He was taller than Felix by six or seven inches, with his long auburn hair held up in a ponytail. His long beard was streaked with five precise lines of gray. The laugh wasn't jovial, though he tried to force it. "What exactly has the Guild done to endear him to them?"

Felix motioned for them to sit in the armchairs that were the sole decoration in the room. His chambers were a collection of three rooms: sitting room, bed chamber, and a private bath. He'd asked the two former Elders to speak with him because of who they once were; as Elders of the Protector's Guild they must have had access to reams of information.

"'Them,' huh?" Felix asked. "That makes it sound like you've both officially cut ties with the Protector's Guild."

"Because we have," Holt stated. His mustache made for a powerful frown. "I'll no longer truck with a guild that puts power ahead of its people. What we did, that business with the Domain? All of it stank to the heavens. Had I known—"

"But you didn't, and neither did I, not until it was too late," Regis said with a sad upturn of her brows. She reached out an put her small hand on the older man's before looking at Felix. Her eyes were steel. "We are not perfect. We have chased power as anyone else, but it was always to be to raise up our people. The Protector's Guild is called such for a reason," she said before sighing. "Once upon a time."

"And now we atone with Lady Calesca's new government," Holt rumbled. He pulled his hand free from Regis' and straightened his dark robes. Much like Atar, they both wore reinforced and enchanted cloth in preparation for battle. "Which brings us back to the reason why you requested a meeting. What does the vaunted Fiend want from two lowly ex-Elders?"

Felix smirked at the feel of their Spirit: a mix of dark humor, resignation, and actual curiosity. Neither attempted to hide what they were feeling, and Felix wasn't sure they could anymore. The both of them had been damaged by the touch of Primordial Spawn, though they had suffered far less than the choristers of Yyero or Siva. The former Elders simply had their foundations damaged, reducing their advancement to High Adept, perhaps permanently.

"I wished to pick your brains on three subjects. I'll start with the most pressing." Felix folded his arms before himself. "What do you know of Primordials?"

He felt a flare of panic from both of their Spirits before they mastered their emotions. Holt spoke first. "Why would you wish to learn more of them? Haven't we seen enough of their kind to last a lifetime?"

"Indulge me," Felix said.

"Zara, ex-Archivist that she is, would be far better suited for such—"

"Zara is busy with something else right now, Regis. I'd appreciate it if you could tell me what you know while I wait on her," Felix said with a smile.

Deception is level 19!

"Oh. Of course." Regis cleared her throat. "According to legends, Primordials were birthed at the dawn of the First Age. They have been around for longer than recorded history. Any recorded history: Elven, Dwarven, or otherwise. As you saw with the dragon-like beast that attacked the Eyrie, they are gargantuan forces of nature, and they seem to serve no purpose but to end life wherever they find it."

"End it or infect it," Holt added. "We had doubted the last, but the Revenants and their ilk demonstrated the truth of it. A Primordial spreads like a disease, and everyone affected is dead, even if they don't know it yet." He looked at Felix, and this time it was appraising. "But not here. All infections have vanished as if they never were, and even the Revenant corpses we've encountered are all listed as 'Manawarped Humans' and the like."

"Lucky for us," Felix said. He ignored Holt's gaze. "So there are other Primordials? Harn told me of one in the sea somewhere to the east of here."

Deception is level 20!

"Yes, that is another strange detail about a Primordial's appearance in our midst. They are believed to be a sea-dwelling Type, as only the vastness of the oceans could hope to contain their bulk. The few that have come ashore live on in horrifying legends, and their mere presence has ended kingdoms in mere days. The attack Harn spoke of was the last known sighting of a Primordial, to my knowledge, and it was half a world away." Regis paused and steadied her breath. Anger blossomed within her Spirit. "Those men and women we sent to claim the Foglands must have encountered something out there, a hidden Primordial that spread its infection into our city. Had he shared his findings with me, perhaps this could have all been avoided."

"The Guild was headed down a dark path long before Teine lost control of his experiment," Holt said gruffly. "Our action was required years ago, but we were blinded by the good we could accomplish." The old man—large and physically fit—seemed to wither and diminish before Felix's eyes. "I count my blessings that we are even still alive when all the rest have fallen."

Regis went quiet at that, and Felix let them have a moment. He didn't care for the head of the local Guild branch. His Mind flipped through what he'd been told and what he'd learned.

"What are their powers? Are they all the same?" Felix asked.

"Again, you ask us about legends hoping for facts," Regis said with a sigh. "If a listing of Primordial powers is extant, I have never seen it. I would hazard a guess to say none living have experienced the might of a Primordial and lived to tell the tale."

"Until now," Holt added. "The Primordial you fought in the sky had breath of fire and the capability of flight, despite it's preposterous proportions. You would know more of its capabilities than we."

"Hm," Felix grunted. Likely each Primordial had different abilities, and the Ravager King had been a corrupted amalgamation of the Maw and whatever the Domain-Core had been. It was not a good example of their power. The Maw, on the other hand—Felix blinked as a thought occurred to him. "If the Primordials are so dangerous, if they infect everyone around them, why didn't the Inquisition do something?"

"A solid question, and one I've been worrying at," Regis admitted. "The standing order in most nations is to kill all living things that have encountered a Primordial. Mortal, animal, plants. Everything. That the Inquisition did not is evidence of their incompetent leadership."

Holt snorted. "Not surprising, considering DuFont was calling the shots. She was always a greedy little cuss. So hungry for power that she must have ignored all the warning signs. If the true leadership of the Inviolate Order arrives, they will not do as DuFont. They will raze the city in fire and ice and not stop until all of us are gone."

Felix felt a pang in his chest as he thought of the zealots currently racing to Setoria. It was clear the threat was enough that the Grandmaster would come herself. "They'd do that?"

"Without hesitation," Holt said. He laughed again, yet this had more humor than bitterness. "The only thing more universally feared than a Primordial is a Demon of the Void."

"Demon—?"

"Don't they tell those tales anymore? It was all we could talk about when I was a boy," Holt looked at Felix in surprise. "I suppose the names change. Dark Terrors, Demons of the Void, Unbound. If one of them appeared, the entire Continent would go to war."

Deception is level 21!

Deception is level 22!

Does he know? Felix kept his face studiously blank and his Spirit as calm as possible. How could he? The former Elder's Spirit did nothing to give him away, though. Felix's biggest secret was safe...for now.

"The Fiend didn't call us here to talk about nonsense, Holt," Regis said with a slight edge to her voice. "The Primordials, much to my regret, are not a children's myth. But that is also all I know on the matter. What were the other subjects?"

Felix began to pace again, organizing his thoughts. "What do you know of Omen Keys?"

Both of them sudden sat up, like they'd been shocked. Their Spirits buzzed with a curious combination of excitement and trepidation. Felix wasn't surprised. The item—which he had received as a reward for completing an insanely difficult Hidden Quest—was related to his Omen, a sort of class designation that granted leveling bonuses to your stats and was supposedly tied to your destiny. Felix had Revealed his Omen shortly after his arrival on the Continent—The Magician—and it had served him well by giving a boost to his Willpower, Intelligence, and Perception with every level earned. The Key itself was a mystery, however, though its item description hinted as its powerful nature.

Name: Omen Key

Type: Path (Enhancement)

Lore: Omens are our destinies unveiled, hints at futures yet to come and strength yet to unlock. Not all attain their destiny, but all meet their Chosen Fate. This is the Key to your Path. Walk boldly, or not at all.

"I see you recognize the term," Felix said slowly.

"How could we not?" Regis said with a soft voice. "We ran a Guild branch, after all. Our primary concern has always been advancement and training. An Omen Key...why do you seek such knowledge?"

"That is my business, I think," Felix said before repeating himself. "What do you know?"

Holt gestured to Regis, who was clearly going to press Felix. "The boy has saved our lives at least twice. I'll not begrudge him some information, Olivia." He looked to him. "An Omen Key is the first step beyond your Reveal, one that opens your Path."

"My Path," Felix repeated. "What does that mean?"

"Your Path is unique to you, and it must be walked to unveil the true power within your Omen," Regis added.

"Amazingly, that is still not really an answer," Felix said with mounting frustration. "Omens aren't unique, right? There are only twenty two of them, so why so much mystery built around them?"

"Thus the importance of one's Path. It elevates one's Omen beyond the standard twenty two, pushing one to greater heights of power," she said.

"Okay, so more power. More stats? Skills?" Felix asked.

Holt leaned forward. "One's Path is a personal thing, not shared among anyone, even your loved ones. Who you are shapes it, directs and guides it, and the destiny you find is the one only you may grasp."

Felix sighed. "That's pretty vague."

"Much of the System is vague, Felix," Holt said, but his smile and Spirit conveyed a sense of sympathy. "It does not hold our hands as we pursue power, nor does it warn or defend us from the consequences of our own actions."

Felix took a breath through his nose and nodded. That sounded like the System he knew. No free meals. "Okay, so an Omen Key enhances your Omen. If, hypothetically, one had received such an item what should be done with it?"

"It should be used as quickly as possible, but only if you are ready for the challenge it presents," Regis said, and he could hear her heartbeat speed up as her Spirit danced with anticipation. "If you fail, there is no second chance."

"Challenge? What sort of challenge?"

"We said it opens the Path, yes? That is not a metaphorical statement. It is a Key, and Keys open Doors. It is their purpose, their own destiny. You open your Path and you walk it," Hold said. "The challenge within is wholly dependent on you."

"So like fighting my shadow self or something," Felix muttered to himself.

"What?"

"Not important," he waved off the question, though he realized they had heard him perfectly. He would have to cross-reference some of this with Zara later, to see if they were misleading him, but he suspected not. "I appreciate the information."

"We appreciate being appreciated," Regis said with a half smile. "There was something else, yes?"

"Ah, yes. Below the city there were Nymean ruins, and you said a curious thing: the city of Haarwatch was built by the Nym. This is true?"

"To all our earliest records, yes," Regis said. "The foundations of Haarwatch are built upon an ancient Nymean city, and the deepest parts of the sewer system touch upon their ruins. As you saw."

"That's surprising. I thought they were a Lost Race," Felix said. "Doesn't information on Lost Races vanish?"

"You are correct. When the Ruin takes something, all written records of them will be erased as well. Like the Unbound, I suspect the Ruin is just a name history invented to account for peoples lost to time and disease and monstrous violence." Regis shook her head, a light frown on her face. "However, there are a number of Nymean ruins, mostly in the north of the Continent. They're all, without exception, packed with dangerous magic and traps to kill the weak or unwary. Most have been picked clean, so seeing that chamber below the city was a real treat. I was quite distressed when we learned the Belais Crystal and the statuary were destroyed."

"You and me both," Felix grunted. It had exploded on top of him, after all. "I saw the traps below the city, but I was curious whether these ruins contained more than that. Special magic, maybe? Doors marked with stars?"

"I am familiar with the general rule of Nymean ruins: count the stars. All the ruins have them, and the more points a star has, the more dangerous the traps," Regis said. "But that is the extent of my knowledge."

"I've seen such doors," Holt added. "I was just a boy, though, and that time is long passed. What I remember is deep within a Ruin near Levantier, there was a door. It was through a gauntlet of traps, enough to kill dozens of men. We were young and foolish, and we pressed on, despite our casualties. The promise of riches was too much." Holt leaned onto his knees, his fingers steepled as he regarded the bare stone floor. "We reached the door, one marked with a ten pointed star. We knew what that meant, of how dangerous it was within. I knew we shouldn't open it, but we'd just survived traps that so many didn't. We were drunk on the immortality of youth. We opened it."

Holt took a long, surprisingly shaky breath. Felix heard his Spirit quiver.

"Something got out, something that...it killed three of us before we even started running. It was fast, so fast we couldn't see it. I only survived because our team leader threw me from the ruin, into the sunlight that it couldn't abide." The man clenched his jaw and twitched his beard. "This is all I know of the Nym. Maybe you'll get treasures from their ruins, but that's incidental. The Nym weren't hoarding gold beyond their doors, Fiend. They're hoarding monsters."

In the distance, a series of bells began to ring. One, then two, then more as the ringing grew closer. All three of them jolted to their feet.

"Attack," Regis said with a gasp.

"On the Wall," Felix snarled.

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