//------------------------------// // Escaping Airyglyph // Story: The Eternal Sphere // by Xarmar13 //------------------------------// Lyra observed the cavern around her. The sound of flowing water nearby and the man made structure in places convinced her that her group was currently in an underground aqueduct that provided water for the city. The chilling underground air gave her suspicion that there will be plenty of ice in the area. “So,” Nel began, “Now that we have some time without interference from the soldiers, tell me, where are you three from? What was that metal thing you came here in?” “Uh…well…” Fayt stuttered. Cliff and Lyra quickly figured that Fayt was bad at making up cover stories. He did seem too honest for his own good. They knew that they couldn’t tell Nel the truth because of the risk that would pose for her, her country and her planet if they knew about worlds beyond their own too soon. Cliff decided to take over the discussion. “We’re from a country far to the east of here. It’s pretty small so most people haven’t heard of it, but we’ve got some pretty solid technology. It’s also the only place in the world where you’ll find Lyra’s people.” “One of the countries in Greeton?” Nel inquired. “Yep,” Lyra acknowledged. “I was following behind their vehicle with one of my own. Theirs broke down and crashed into the city. We couldn’t afford to have both vehicles taken if a foreign country found ours so my partner, whom you will likely meet soon, had our driver take it back home. We wanted to make sure Fayt and Cliff didn’t divulge our secrets so myself and my crew mounted a rescue operation. We plan on getting back home together.” “We’re engineers,” Cliff lied. “Lyra was hired for protection. She’s a mercenary.” “I see, but that doesn’t explain what you three are doing in Airyglyph,” Nel said. “We needed to test the vehicles in a wide variety of climates,” Cliff lied. “Didn’t do too well in the icy mountains since some of the mechanics froze up and broke down. We lost control of our vehicle after that and that’s how we ended up here.” Nel was debating whether or not she would believe their story, she suspected that they were lying about a few things but she would get nowhere if she called them on that. Lyra might intervene if she pressed them too hard. She decided to accept their story, for now. “So you are from Greeton, I thought as much.” “How so?” Fayt asked. “There is no country on this continent with that level of technology, it was an easy conclusion.” Satisfied, the group started looking around. “Hey, it’s all frozen over,” Cliff noticed. “This comes as a surprise to you? It is winter in Airyglyph. I would have thought the snow to be your first clue,” Nel snarked. “Right…” While the banter continued, Lyra decided that it was time to update Twilight on the situation. “Hey Twilight, can you read me?” “Yeah, are you alright over there? Have you found Fayt and Cliff?” Twilight asked through the psychic link. “Yep, we’re currently inside some underground aqueducts and looking for a way outside. We also have someone else with us. She seems to be some agent of a place called Aquaria, goes by the name Nel Zelpher. You know about either?” “Yes, Aquaria is a nation to the east of here that’s currently in a state of conflict with the nation we’re currently in. We saw two more people claiming to be from Aquaria park their wagon near the city entrance. They may be acquainted with the agent who’s with you as I overheard the name ‘Lady Nel’.” “So that’s how they planned to make a speedy getaway once they got Fayt and Cliff out of the city. Nel’s target was them and she wanted their tech for some reason. Probably to give her country an edge in the coming war.” “If they want assistance with their existing weapons then that’s fine, anything more advanced than that though and we have to refuse. The last thing we need is Elicoor II destroying themselves with technology they’re not ready for.” “Agreed. Also, our cover story is that we come from a small country on the eastern continent of Greeton. Aquaria and Airyglyph are fully aware of how advanced the countries there are. If we are going to interact with these people for the next few days, we need to be sure to keep our story straight.” Lyra explained. “Right,” Twilight agreed. “Oh, and an update on your newest apprentice. She seems to be improving her telekinetic skills very rapidly. She is starting to move the training orb with ease. She may figure out how to invade our telepathic link soon so we may need to find another way to communicate sensitive info if that becomes necessary.” “Alright, contact me again if any updates come up.” Lyra cut the link. From where they started, the group moved through a passage and into an area with a small walkway overlooking a moving stream of water. Aside from the ice-covered walls, there were also large blocks of ice around. Fayt couldn’t imagine how such massive chunks of ice could have formed naturally, even with the winter climate. The next room had a massive wall of ice that surrounded the entrance the group emerged from. The strangest thing about the wall was the hole that was large enough for a person to fit through. Some of them wondered if someone was in charge of the aqueducts and was creating holes in the ice formations. On the other side of the wall, the stream of water fell to a lower level. To their right, was a ladder which Lyra took to explore the lower level. The others didn’t wait long before Lyra returned and declared the route a dead end. A little exploring of the room led the group to their first encounter with the denizens of the area. The two creatures looked like red fish that flew around. Nel identified them as Water Reapers. They were named that because they had the ability to make their fins glow and take a sickle shape. The glowing fins were the most dangerous part of the creatures. With that info, Fayt and Nel used their blades to block the glowing fins of one of the fish creatures while Cliff beat its face mercilessly. Lyra sidestepped the other Water Reaper and grabbed it by the tail fin. She then slammed it several times on the wall and the floor which left it dazed and injured. She then finished it off by using her blades to eviscerate it which caused it to vanish. Two doorways led out of the room. One glance through one informed them that that was a dead end while the other led up some stairs. Along the way, they encountered a pair of light green slime monsters like the ones seen on Vanguard III except these were as large as a person. The slimes also had a red nucleus which served as their brains. Cliff electrocuted the slimes by charging up his fists and with how narrow the ascending pathway was, his wide swings were able to hit both slimes. The slimes retaliated by contracting their middle mass and expanded their upper mass. Gravity took over and the slime collapsed back into its original state while firing bits of itself in all directions. Cliff got a face full of slime. When he wiped away the ooze that hit him, Nel noticed that Cliff’s movements had become sluggish. She remembered that the bodies of slimes were toxic. She reacted by casting an Antidote symbol on Cliff to purge him of the poison. Fayt cleaved through the membranes of the slimes and sliced the nuclei in two, causing the slimes to collapse on the stairway and dissolve. More rooms filled with massive chunks of ice awaited the group at the top of the stairs. With the gaps and blockades of ice all around them, the ice had effectively created a small labyrinth. While Lyra could have simply shattered the ice if she wanted, she didn’t want to waste too much energy breaking ice if they ran into trouble later. It would not do to accidentally cause a cave in either. Another room brought the group into an encounter with a small group of bandits who had taken up residence in the aqueducts. Some bandits looked like anthropomorphic toads wearing armor and carrying crude axes. Others looked like really tall anthropomorphic hyenas wearing leather armor and carrying clubs. Nel referred to them as Bogles. Fayt decided to try out a new technique that he had thought up where he invoked a small amount of fire type symbology and infused it into his sword. The blade ignited and he charged at the bandits. The toads really did not like the flaming blade and the heat alone made them wince. They were quickly brought down by the Blazing Sword. Nel and Cliff each took one of the smaller Bogles and left the biggest one to Lyra. The tall creatures were fast but Cliff nor Nel were slow either. Cliff dazed his foe with a series of punches to the face before he leapt up high into the air and clenched his fists together before releasing a powerful shockwave that exploded outwards as it hit the floor, blowing the Bogle away and throwing Nel’s Bogle off balance. Nel capitalized on this by bombarding her foe with a number of Fire Bolts which set the bandit on fire. The creature collapsed in a heap before vanishing. Lyra sidestepped her foe’s club swings. One missed swing from the Bogle Leader cost him dearly as it left him open to attacks from the side which resulted in numerous cuts. Lyra then jumped on the back of her huge foe’s neck and grabbed it before yanking it upward, causing the bandit to lose balance and fall to the floor. A stab wound to both jugular veins finished the job. In another room, Lyra felt some necromantic energies come from it before they discovered some living skeletons which were handled quickly. The next room they explored filled Fayt with concern as the path was on a downward slope and the slope was frozen, making any careless actions lead to the victim slipping onto some rocks at the end, which would be very painful. Lyra decided to have a little fun by sliding down the ramp before kicking a wall which propelled her toward a safe patch of floor. Fayt, Cliff and Nel didn’t feel like following that stunt so they walked carefully down the slope. A nearby room led to nothing important. A slime was inside but that was quickly dealt with. Back in the room with the slopes, the group headed down another slippery ramp and toward the next room. Lyra halted and motioned for everyone to stop. “Hang on guys, I’m sensing a lot of dark magic coming from the next room. Whatever’s in there seems to be pretty tough.” “Yes, it’s most likely guarding the exit to this place,” Nel added. “Great, another big hassle to deal with,” Cliff complained. “So what should we do?” Fayt asked. “Unless Nel knows of another way out, our only option is to take out whatever’s in there.” Lyra, Nel and Fayt drew their weapons and Cliff took up his fighting stance as they entered the next room. A giant horned crab awaited them. It had massive pincers, a red stripe along the top of its shell, and a massive tail with fins to allow it to propel itself underwater if it wanted. The terrain itself was unfavorable for the party. Massive chunks of ice were all over the room. What was worse was that there was ice on the floor as well. Lyra had a feeling that the ice on the floor was quite brittle and could shatter easily with careless movement. Thinking quickly, Lyra ordered the others to follow her back into the previous room. The Giant Crab pursued them, smashing part of the doorway to get through. The group moved up the slippery ramp and used the rocks to climb the slope. The crab had no problem climbing the slope as it used its legs to walk on the tractile rocks. The group returned to the room at the top of the slope a few moments before the crab busted through the doorway. The group took up a fighting stance as the crab entered. It began attacking by smashing the ground they were on with one of its giant claws. Everyone jumped out of the way before Fayt set his sword on fire and ran toward the crab while being careful of its claws. While the ice limited everyone’s movements, the crab had the same disadvantage because of its size. If it wanted more room, it would have to smash the ice. Frustrated with the limited space in the room, the crab took some time to smash the ice blocks in the room, time that was not focused on its prey. Nel leapt onto one of the unbroken ice walls and jumped on the crab’s back. Unfortunately, her daggers barely scratched the crab’s hard shell. The crab started bucking and tried slamming itself into the ice, throwing Nel off. Nel launched a volley of Fire Bolts as she flew off before landing safely on the floor in front of the crab. Lyra and Cliff noticed Fayt’s charge and moved to wrestle with one of its claws each. Once they each got a good grip on one of their foe’s claws, they used their impressive strength to slowly move them away from the crab’s face which allowed Fayt to freely slash at it with his Blazing Sword. Lyra could feel the creature’s mental screams with each slash. While the blade was doing some damage to the crab’s face, she could sense that the blade was also attacking its mind somehow. She would need to bring the information up with Twilight later. The possibility of some forms of Symbology being able to attack someone’s psyche had to be considered. As it turned out, the creature had very weak mental stamina and its mind quickly shut down after a few slashes from Fayt’s infused sword. It vanished as it collapsed. “That critter wasn’t so tough,” Cliff boasted as he brushed his hands together. The others rolled their eyes. With the crab dead, the group walked carefully down the icy slope once more and entered the room where they found the crab. Looking around the room, they saw a light at the eastern exit to the room. Cliff took one look at the ice and saw that it was pretty thin. When he turned around to warn the others, he quickly noticed the females of the group were missing. Looking around, he saw the two jumping atop the ice blocks and leaping from block to block until they landed by the eastern exit to the room. “No fair,” Cliff complained. “Couldn’t Lyra at least carry us over there? She seems pretty strong.” Lyra smirked, “You have legs, use them.” Cliff groaned and Fayt rolled his eyes as he carefully walked on the thin ice with Cliff a distance behind to avoid too much weight in one place. Lyra was prepared to catch Fayt or Cliff in her telekinesis if either ended up breaking the ice though she was glad she didn’t have to when they reached them. With the aqueducts behind them, the four emerged into frigid, yet fresh air. While Nel wanted to move ahead first to make sure the guards weren’t guarding the cave, Lyra assured her that she knew a technique that would conceal them if necessary. She left out the part about being able to feel the minds of nearby guards if they were there since she didn’t need to come across as a creepy mind reader. Cliff stretched his muscles as he spoke, “Ahhh, nice to see the sun! I was down in that muck so long I thought I was gonna mildew!” Fayt looked at the sky and saw that there were nothing but storm clouds in the sky above them. “Uhhh…Cliff,” Fayt began before Cliff cut him off. “Don’t care about the clouds kid, I stand by what I just said.” Lyra noticed that Fayt was about to ask Nel about what technology she wanted from them again, she placed an arm between Fayt and Nel as he began to address the spy. “This still isn’t the time or place to discuss the matter, Fayt. We’re still in the middle of Airyglyph City. You never know who might be eavesdropping around here so save it for until we get out of this city.” Lyra’s tone told Fayt that there was no room for argument on the matter and that he would have to wait until they were somewhere safer. Nel beckoned for the group to follow her into the city. She assured them that while the citizens were loyal to Airyglyph, most of the things they see don’t get reported to the guards. Apparently, the citizens were fearful of punishment from the likes of two of the three military divisions. Because of that, the citizens often kept to themselves. They followed the spy into the city, with Lyra shrouding everyone in her Shadow Walk ability, to their surprise. Even if Nel assured her that the stealth was unnecessary, Lyra knew that she was going to be suspicious just walking around in plain sight. “The guards in the city are lax most of the time and many haven’t been informed of your identities yet,” Nel explained. “There is one shopkeeper in the city I want to visit before we leave.” She said nothing else as she led the group to the middle of the city. Near the castle gates, Nel turned to a shop that was advertised as an armorer. She told Fayt to come with her into the store while the rest waited. Inside the store, Nel went up to the merchant. “I’d like to have this guy outfitted with some armor. Nothing clunky like the soldier armor, just enough to maximize protection and mobility.” The merchant was happy to make a sale since he didn’t get many customers outside of the guard. He quickly measured Fayt and looked in his inventory for items that would fit the boy. He came back some time later and gave Fayt the requested armor. Fayt was then directed to a nearby changing room. After Nel paid the merchant for the armor, Fayt came out a few minutes later. Fayt was dressed in an off-white vest with a zipper. The shoulders were reinforced with metal plating. He wore a belt that held a sheath for his sword. He was also wearing thick armored blue leggings and blue armored boots. “Why are you giving me this gear?” Fayt asked. “You can’t go around like you were,” Nel explained. “That shirt you were wearing alone would have made you more identifiable, given the childish drawings on it.” Peppita sneezed. “I suppose you make a good point,” Fayt conceded. The two left the shop and regrouped with Cliff and Lyra. The two took a moment to take in Fayt’s new appearance and nodded in approval. With that errand complete, they started heading toward the exit of the city. That was when they started hearing the soldiers begin getting riled up. They began calling each other to arms and to be on the lookout for two escaped prisoners while giving them a description. They also mentioned an Aquarian spy among them. Lyra quickly enveloped the group in a cloak of shadows to allow them to head to the exit without being seen. They made it out of the gates before the gate guards were informed of the escape. Across the bridge, the group spotted a covered wagon with two hooved creatures hitched to it. Next to the wagon were two women who appeared to be waiting for something. “Sorry I’m late,” Nel called out. “Lady Nel!” the strawberry blonde woman responded. “Our preparations are complete, ma’am. We can leave immediately!” “Nice work, Tynave.” “Are these the ones, ma’am?” asked the purple-haired woman. “Yes, Farleen. They’re engineers from Greeton as we thought.” “Great! Then we’ll be able to complete it!” “Excuse me, Lady Nel, but who is that with you?” Tynave asked. “This is Lyra Heartstrings. She is a mercenary who was hired to watch over these two.” “Nice to meet you two,” Lyra said with a cheerful smile. “We have no time to waste, let’s get underway,” Nel ordered. “Actually, three more will be coming with us,” Lyra said. “They’re nearby and heading over here now.” An instant later, Twilight, Peppita and Sophia appeared before the group in a flash and startled the non-ponies into taking up defensive stances. Peppita looked a bit queasy but Sophia took the abrupt displacement better than the performer did. “Who are you?” Nel demanded. “Stand down, everyone,” Lyra ordered. “One of them is my boss and another is my apprentice.” “Another pony?” Nel wondered. “Two children as well and one looks like a gypsy?” “Hey!” Peppita shouted. “I am a certified circus performer.” With the shouting behind them getting louder, Nel really didn’t have time to argue. She ordered everyone into the wagon. Farleen took the reins and motioned for the lums to begin moving away from the castle at breakneck speed. Nel could only hope that they would be able to escape the pursuers who were most likely beginning to mobilize. She feared that if the dragon riders of the Dragon Brigade got involved in the pursuit, things might get hairy. In the meantime, she needed to try to convince Fayt and Cliff to help her country.