Immortals Tongue
20th Cylus, 718
20th Cylus, 718
If there was one place on Scalvoris that Tio was scared of, it would be the Immortals Tongue.
Perhaps scared wasn't quite the right word. Although he was undeniably afraid to set foot upon it, as every time he did it seemed like he got himself involved in some strange and/or life threatening event, it was a fear that somehow kept drawing him back to it again instead of pushing him away. It was like his terror had fused together with his determination to uncover just what the hell was so damn special about the place that caused all this madness to surround it, an emotion akin to a rivalry. Was it weird to consider an island to be a rival? Probably, but then again nobody ever accused Tio of being completely sane.
It was no wonder then why Tio had been acting a little strange since they'd arrived, going from his usual comical self to fully alert and silent the second so much as a twig snapped. Ozbourne made no remark on his erratic behaviour, having heard the story of his past adventures here from him, but always kept a watchful eye trained on him whenever Tio wasn't looking.
“The compass is growing restless. Prepare yourself, we should find it shortly.” Ozbourne grumbled, leading the way forwards across the mountains with a small bronze compass in hand. Despite its rather bland appearance the compass was no ordinary object, but a device of Oz’s own creation, an artifact that only pointed towards a very special kind of place; a fracture site.
Tio had heard of a fracture in passing before, but had never learnt what it was exactly. When he joined the Seekers, Oz explained to him that a fracture was a tear in reality, a hole leading to some kind of strange dimension of magical energy and chaos called Emea, and that it was from these tears that wells could be mined and used in certain forms of magic. The Seekers saw fractures as perhaps their greatest lead in unravelling the higher mysteries of magic and prioritized fracture exploration as one of their most important duties, but due to how dangerous fractures could be even they knew little about them.
And during yesterday’s training session Ozbourne had arrived looking more energetic than Tio had ever seen him, excitedly announcing that they'd be taking a trip tomorrow. He'd heard a rumour that a place which sounded a lot like a fracture site was somewhere on the Immortals Tongue, and was taking Tio along to check it out. Tio had grown a lot stronger in magic this past season, strong enough to be allowed a bit more independence, and so once he'd accompanied him on this trip and proven himself helpful to the Seeker’s cause Oz would raise him to the rank of Acolyte.
As they walked further and further the compass point began to shake more and more violently, until it was almost jumping out of Oz’s hand. Before them lay a large cave mouth, with the light of day illuminating it just enough of it to see that the ground inside sloped downwards to take any who entered deeper into the bowls of the earth. Oz snapped the compass shut, tucked it back away into the folds of his robes, and turned to look at his apprentice.
“I can’t say for certain what we’ll find in there, but no matter how extraordinary the sight I want you to promise me that you’ll keep your wits about you. Fractures can be… strange. No two fractures are the same. Some look like natural structures, some look like buildings, some are guarded by terrible creatures, and some have weird abilities. They can be beautiful, but never let your guard down. Understand?”
Tio replied with a cheeky grin. “Don’t worry boss-man, when am I ever not careful? I’ll be fine.”
Ozbourne harumped quietly, and turned back to the cave entrance. “If you’re so sure then fine, let’s get going. I’ll-... wait, what’s this?”
He stopped and crouched down to examine the ground, where a bootprint was pressed into the mud. The mud around it was hard, suggesting that the print wasn’t new, but also not so old as to have been erased yet by the bad weather that often passed across the island.
“Someone else has been here… recently.” He murmured, closing his eyes as if trying to listen to something, which after having gotten to know him Tio knew meant he was talking to the elements. When Oz stood up again there was a wariness in his eyes.
“We aren’t the first ones to find this place.” He revealed, trying to keep his tone casual but unable to fully hide the tension that’d entered it. “Two people came here yesterday, mages both. Stay close Tio, I suspect they might mean us harm.”
Tio drew his cutlass from its sheath, keeping the point down but ready to to rise at a moments notice. “How far in are they?”
“I don’t know, the earth within the fracture is different from this one and still a stranger to me. There’s no way to tell until we’re inside. Perhaps we should turn back, and return later when we have some reinforcements.”
“What? Come on boss-man, there’s no need for that!” Tio replied indignantly. This fracture could well be the key to all the weirdness that’d happened on this island, and now that it was right in front of him the last thing he wanted to do was run away. “We don’t know for certain that these other two mages are hostile; they could just be here to explore like us. And even if they are, it’s not like the two of us have anything to worry about when we fight together. We’ll be fine! What’s more important is that we get a report of this fracture to send to HQ.”
Ozbourne stood silently for a moment, weighing up the risks and rewards in his mind, before eventually letting out a long-suffering sigh. “I’m getting too old for this nonsense. Alright, you win. Let’s go.”
Catiously Oz stepped through the cave mouth and led the way into the darkness below, feeling out the area before them with his staff. Tio followed close behind him, his cutlass still drawn and ready to strike at the slightest trouble. He was not going to underestimate this place a second time.
