SS - Chapter 11 - The Sanctum

“Well, the solution seems easy to me,” Camille declared as she slowly sauntered forward. “I’ll go left and deal with the core, while you two go right. Then we get to do both!”

Before she could step into the hallway Selena slammed her halberd down, blocking the path. “The message says we can only go one way, and we’re not going to do anything that might risk those people, not when we’re so close!”

Camille grabbed the shaft of the polearm, and tried to lift it out of her way, but Selena didn’t budge. The two silently grappled with each other for several long seconds, eyes locked with each other until I finally decided to step in.

“Cammie, that’s enough. As much as I’d like to destroy the core, the people are our first priority. I don’t know why it decided to focus on me, or why it’s throwing puzzles and challenges at us instead of monsters, but I don’t want to risk aggravating it when we’re so close to the hostages. Once they’re out, we can come back with a couple knights and clear it out properly.”

“You’re assuming that this thing isn’t fucking with us, leading us into a trap right now,” Camille pouted.

“I don’t think it is… If it wanted to kill us it could have easily changed up the poem so we walked into some traps once we became a little complacent, or made the tactical challenge nearly impossible, but it played fair. Besides, if it set a trap at this point, do you think it would really leave a sign pointing the way to its location? It’s more likely that that corridor would lead you directly into a pit of snakes or something.”

She glanced back at the hallway leading to the core, which Selena was still blocking, and sighed. “Fine, but if a wave of monsters rolls into the village before we get a chance to come back here I’m going to tell everyone it’s your fault.”

I snorted at her remark, something that would have been seen as gross insubordination not even six months ago, and swept my arm towards the other hallway. “After you.”

Camille bounced on her heels a couple times, then casually strolled into the hostage hallway.

Even with Camille out of the way, Selena didn’t move. Instead she just stood there, muscles tense, blocking the door and watching me warily.

“I’d ask you to go first, but something tells me you’d just turn me down,” I grumbled. Rather than getting into an argument I just turned and started following Camille. “Whatever. Just make sure you don’t accidentally stumble into that hallway when you remove that stick from your ass.”

Unlike the previous corridors we’d encountered, which were short and straight, this whitestone hallway gently curved up and to the right. Considering that the two passageways had been mirrored, it probably had been designed this way to conceal the core, so it couldn’t be seen from the crossroads.

It’s a pity, I would have loved the chance to take a quick shot at the thing.

The long twisty corridor finally emptied out into a small hall, with a series of small feasting tables, and a massive heavy fireplace embedded into the far wall. The elf-bloods were spread out around the area, some tending to their wounds using a small pile of medical supplies, while others were eating the bread and water laid out on the tables.

“I’m not going to lie, I expected them to be locked in featureless stone cells, or hunted by monsters. I did not expect there to be a welcome hall buried this deep into a dungeon,” Camille muttered as we stepped inside.

As soon as she saw her people, Selena pushed her way into the room and rushed towards an elderly man sitting near the fire. “Elder Luceria, are you alright? I was so worried when you all disappeared.”

“We’re fine, girl,” he chuckled as he stroked his short grey beard. “We were a little disoriented when we were all teleported here, but the system windows assured us that we’d be safe here and we’d be released soon. As you can see, our host even provided us with some meger food, and bandages. All we had to do was promise not to wander out of the room.”

“So… you blindly trusted this random mystery benefactor, and didn’t question what was going on?” Camille asked.

A couple of the nearby elf-bloods looked up. “Would you rather have us try and escape? Sacrifice ourselves in a futile attempt to break out of the enemy’s sanctum, with no weapons or magic, after being shown how powerful they were?” one woman hissed. “We may be desperate, but we’re not suicidal.”

Camille paused, a roll stolen off the nearby table only halfway to her mouth. “Fair enough.”

As I stepped into the room, following the other girls, a system window popped up right in my face.

Your trial is now complete. 

We have judged your words, actions, and choices, and found you worthy.

Your reward awaits. Prepare to enter the inner sanctum.

“Worthy of what?” I growled. “All you’ve done is throw random challenges at us, and spout nonsense. What’s this all about?”

The room was filled with a deep grinding sound as a section of the wall to my left slowly sunk into the floor. Behind it was a hallway that wasn’t made of white bricks, like every other structure we’d encountered before, but appeared to have been carved out of a single massive block of gently glowing, jet black stone. It was featureless, flawless, and would have been nearly impossible to create with mortal hands.  I felt my breath hitch in my throat.

My system window flashed.

Sanctum opened. Opening secondary exits requires authorization. Please report to the sanctum.

“Now what?” Camille grumbled. “I thought we already passed all the dungeon’s stupid tests.”

“We did,” I whispered, as I ran my fingers across the featureless black stone of the hallway. “This is a result of our efforts.”

Leaning back into the hall I shouted towards the last place I saw Selena. “Selena, Camille and I are heading down here for a minute. The system window seems to be implying that I can open some exits inside. Follow if you want, or stay with your people, your choice.”

I didn’t wait for a reply, instead I immediately started walking down the featureless black hallway, one hand resting gently on the wall.

“Is there something wrong? You’ve been acting strangely ever since you saw this hallway, and you’re shaking,” Camille asked, making me jump. I twirled around and found her standing a few feet behind me, eyes full of concern.

I nodded, tightly clenched my fists so tightly that my nails dug into my hands. It both helped to keep me from fidgeting, and provided a little shock of pain to give me to concentrate on, to help me calm down. 

“I’m fine. This hallway… it just reminds me of a place I visited a long time ago. There’s no way they’re related though, there’s no way something like that would be located here,” I replied quietly, chewing on my bottom lip.

“I’ve spent nearly every waking moment with you ever since we were six, and I don’t remember seeing anything even close to this. Where could you have possibly gone to see something like this?” Camille asked in a bewildered tone.

“Iskel castle…” I muttered, but the rest of the explanation died on my lips as we reached the end of the hallway.

Beyond the corridor was a massive hemispherical chamber. It had to be nearly a hundred feet across, made of the featureless black stone as the hallway. There was a single narrow path made of matte black stone leading from the hallway to the center of the room, while the rest was made of a glossy version that didn’t reflect light, giving the impression of standing over a featureless abyss. The glossy stone wrapped around the walls and across the roof, wrapping the room in more void. Unlike the floor, the walls and ceiling had thousands of gently glowing jewels, mimicking the night sky.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Camille taking in the incredible view, but my eyes were locked upon what was sitting in the middle of the room. Sitting in a claw made of a combination of jade, Orichalcum, and Mithril, was a massive crystal orb which was lit from within by a maelstrom of swirling colors.

I broke into a run, closing on the orb as quickly as possible. A system window flashed up, but I slipped around it, intent on getting to the massive stone.

As I reached out to touch it another window flashed up, blocking my hand. 

You have completed the trial of the stone, and proven worthy of claiming its power. 

Once you touch the stone the fate of you, and the rest of your bloodline, will be bound to the stone until your last descendant falls. 

You will gain power to create a mighty kingdom, but will be restricted by the laws of stone. 

If you accept this burden, touch the stone and the first name that comes to mind.

I gently nudged the window to the side and lay my hand on the orb. Magic surged within my veins, swirling out and touching everyone within the complex, then extending further. To the village, and beyond. 

While the magical tempest raged one word appeared in my mind, and I uttered it without thinking. “Hoarfrost.”

An instant later the magic pulled back, passing through my system window before returning to the orb.

A second later it was all over. I blinked, staring at my system window, a smile slowly growing on my lips.

That’s when Camille grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around, eyes wide with panic.

“What was that? What did you do?” she sputtered. Her eyes glanced past me, landing on the system window behind me. Camille paled as she read it. “And why does that say ‘The Kingdom of Hoarfrost has been established’?”