Yvvaros: The Clash of Worlds (19 page)

“Hold on!” Tess reached for his shoulder, but he was already rushing forward.

They don’t look that tough. We should be able to handle them.

The smallest of the Veloth started toward him, running on all fours across the snow with easy, graceful steps. It almost looked like the other three were trying to hold it back. Luke slowed, hearing Tess calling after him and decided to play it safe.

“Luke, stop it!”

The Veloth leaped up at him, closing the last few feet in the air. Luke spun to dodge it, and brought his sword down in retaliation.

Suddenly, white light slammed into him. Luke lost about a quarter of his health and was thrown forward a dozen feet through the air.

Wait, the means the attack came from… behind me?

He slammed down into the snow and looked up just in time to see Tess lowering her staff.

“Luke, listen to me!” Tess was screaming at him more forcefully than she ever had before. “Don’t attack them!”

“Tess, we don’t have a choice!” He sat up in the snow and gripped his sword tightly as the other three Veloth approached. “This is the quest that we’re on!”

CONJURE SWORD 3

He stood to his feet and readied his swords against the other, bigger Veloth in the group. Right as he moved to attack them, Tess launched another spell at him, dispelling all of the magical blades.

“Put your sword down Luke, quick!”

He didn’t have much of a choice. The Veloth had him surrounded, and Tess was making it very clear that she didn’t intend on letting him attack.

Wait a second… why haven’t they attacked yet?

Luke looked around. One of the Veloth was holding the smaller creature that had rushed toward him. The others stood in combat stances, but made no move to attack. Slowly, he lowered his sword and slipped it back into his scabbard.

“Tess…” Luke watched as she slowly made her way over to him. Her own staff was hanging from its tie on her back, and she held her hands out in the open, showing them that she meant no harm.

“They’re intelligent, Luke,” she whispered. “I could tell from the way they were moving before they saw us. They… were watching the little one play.”

She muttered a quiet spell chant, and a moment later, white light engulfed the smallest Veloth. The wound that Luke had dealt healed before their eyes. The Veloth stepped back in surprise.

“The quest we’re on, though,” he whispered back. “Marina and the expedition want the gold.”

“There has to be a way that we can settle this peacefully.” Tess’s eyes were optimistic, and in Luke’s opinion, a little bit naïve. “I don’t think they mean us harm.”

One of the larger Veloth stepped forward and slammed a paw into Luke’s face, knocking him back. He fell to the ground, unsure of whether he should feel angry or not.

“Stop!” Tess threw herself in front of him, holding her arms out wide. “Don’t, please!”

“Tess, let me use my swords!” Luke stood to his feet and tried to push her out of the way. “Tess!”

The small Veloth, fully healed and moving much more calmly than it had before, walked over to them. It stood at Tess’s feet, first on all fours, and then on its hind legs. It was almost the same height as Tess, and it stood on his hind legs and brought its strange face close to hers.

“Uh, hello…” she whispered. The Veloth opened its mouth, and an orange tongue covered in tiny hairs came out and brushed against her cheek. The other Veloth held their places. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Finally, one of them waved an arm, and the group of them started forward. Luke and Tess were still surrounded, but the Veloth didn’t force them along. It was more as though an invitation had been extended. They could follow, or they could stay.

“Come on, Luke!” Tess grinned and hurried after them.

This is not what I was expecting.

Luke dusted snow off his legs and then followed.

CHAPTER 20

The Veloth led them for about a half hour, walking slowly and alternating between two legs and four. Tess and Luke kept a respectful distance. Every so often the youngest Veloth would jog back and loop around them. Its face wore a curious expression that Luke could recognize even despite the creature’s unfamiliar facial construction.

Is this really the same one that tried to attack me before?

The group slowed as they approached the Ancestor Glacier. There were no houses, at least from what Luke could see. The glacier was massive and the face on it was breathtaking up close.

The Veloth looked back at Tess and Luke as they approached the base. The largest one, apparently the leader, waved a hand for them to follow, and then dropped low and disappeared through a tunnel of snow. The others waited for Tess and Luke as they walked over.

“Do they know that we get cold?” asked Luke. “I’m not sure if this is such a good idea…”

Tess was already following after the Veloth. She dropped to her knees at the mouth of the tunnel.

“You’re not claustrophobic, are you?” asked Tess. Luke shook his head, and then watched as she disappeared into the opening, pushing snow out of the way with her hands and wiggling like a dog trying to get underneath a fence.

If this is a trap, then the Veloth have set it up flawlessly.

Luke crouched low and then followed in Tess’s wake. The tunnel went on for about ten feet, and it was tall enough for him walk hunched over once he’d made it through the first tight squeeze. It opened up at the end, spilling out into a cavern the size of a large stadium.

“My god…” whispered Luke. Tess was having a similar reaction next to him. Hundreds of Veloth were milling about, some of them tending to smaller ones, and others carrying dead animals in their paws.

“The gold…” Tess pointed to one of the walls. “It’s embedded in the cavern.”

Luke could see thin waves of gold ore where she had pointed to, surrounded by walls of rock and ice. There were more openings, presumably leading off deeper into the glacier.

The tall Veloth from before gestured for Luke and Tess to follow as it walked deeper into the cavern. It was only then that Luke realized that most of the creatures around them were staring, their eyes wide with wonder.

“Luke, they’re intelligent,” said Tess. “This isn’t just a nest, or a hive, or whatever. This is the home of a burgeoning civilization.”

Luke didn’t say anything.

What does that mean for us? We still have to find the Elemental Well…

They followed after the Veloth as it walked through the cavern. A large bridge of rock and ice hung a few dozen feet above the ground, connecting two passageways on either side of the walls. Luke and Tess walked under it and then crouched low as they followed the Veloth through a hole in the back of the cavern.

The Veloth was able to move through it comfortably, walking in the same way a dog or a cat might. The tunnel was longer than the first one had been, and by the end of it, Luke’s knees were slightly bruised from the repeated impact on the hard ice floor.

The room that the Veloth brought them to was small, and a long, winding ramp had been carved into the ice of the walls. The ceiling was hundreds of feet tall, and Luke could see tiny openings every few dozen feet along the ramp.

The Veloth started up it. Luke and Tess followed.

“Is it taking us to the Elemental Well?” asked Tess. Luke frowned and shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t think so. I’m not sure how they would know that we were looking for it.”

The walk to the top of the cavern took them close to an hour. Luke and Tess were silent for most of it, walking close together to keep warm. Luke was tempted to pull out his sword and set it aflame, but worried that the Veloth might interpret it as a provocation.

Eventually, they made it to the very top. The opening at the end of the ramp was bigger than the others, and sunlight and icy cold wind blew in from outside. Luke walked through first, Tess followed close behind him.

“My god…”

The view was breathtaking. They weren’t at the very top of the glacier, but they were high enough up to see far off into the distance. Only the Teeth of the North blocked their view of the horizon. Luke kept his distance from the edge of the cliff and followed the Veloth as he led them around its curve.

It took Luke a moment to realize what he was looking at as they made their way around. The Ancestors Glacier’s face was directly in front of them. The passage had led them out of its left ear.

“Welcome, Luke. Welcome, Tess.” A voice boomed in their ears, coming from the face, but also from within their own heads. Luke resisted the urge to grab the hilt of his sword as he looked at Tess’s frightened face next to him.

“Hello,” he said, feeling like an ant attempting conversation with a giant. “Are you… the Ancestor Glacier?”

The face said nothing.

“You have come for the Elemental Well,” said the face. 

It was Luke’s turn to hold his tongue.

Is this it? Will he try to stop us?

“The Veloth will show you the way,” said the face. Luke relaxed. Tess was holding his shoulder, and as he turned toward the Veloth waiting by the exit she stopped him.

“Wait,” said Tess. “Hold on. Please, there is so much here that we don’t understand.”

“Do you need to understand?” asked the face. “Was your journey motivated by curiousity, a yearning for understanding, or by practical necessity?”

“I… We did come here for the Elemental Well.” Tess shook her head and held out a hand toward the gigantic ice face. “But the Veloth, and you, and all of this… how did it come to be?”

The face didn’t say anything. It was motionless even when its voice was in their ears, but now it seemed genuinely still, frozen in thought.

“I was cursed, many years ago,” said the face. “By a force greater than myself.”

Tess didn’t look satisfied with his answer.

“Was it during the Severance Onslaught?” she asked. “And what about the Veloth? Were they cursed, as well?”

A deep, well natured chuckle sounded in Luke’s ears.

“The Veloth are not cursed, child,” said the face. “I communicate with them in their language, just as I communicate with you in yours.”

“Where does their intelligence come from?” asked Luke. “Is this just how they are naturally?”

The face was silent for a moment.

“You are not special,” said the face. “Yvvaros does not pick favorites. For you to misunderstand this truth would leave you blind in the light.”

The Veloth… what exactly have we gotten ourselves into?

The Ancestor Glacier went silent again, and this time, Luke understood that the conversation was over. The Veloth that had led them to the Glacier stood in front of the ice face for a moment then it beckoned for Luke and Tess to follow it.

“Luke…” whispered Tess. “I’m scared…”

“Why?” Luke shook his head. “What is there to be-”

He paused, following Tess’s gaze out to the snow below. Marina and the expedition team were slowly making their way toward the Ancestor Glacier, with several more NPCs in tow.

“Fuck!” Luke pushed by the Veloth and started rushing down the ramp they’d come up. “Stay here, Tess! I have to talk them out of this.”

“Wait, Luke,” she yelled. “Don’t…”

Her voice disappeared into unintelligible echoes as Luke sprinted down the ramp. He was slightly concerned about reentering the main cavern without his Veloth guide, but  none of the creatures interfered as he crawled back through the tunnel.

All of the young Veloth were gone, and only the larger, intimidating adults were still in the main cavern. They had clustered themselves around the exit tunnel, and Luke could sense anxiety and nervousness in their bestial body language.

They were growling and clicking their tongues at each other, and several of them turned to look at Luke as he walked over. He held out his hands, shaking his head and wishing that he could do more to communicate with them.

“Just… hold on.” He knew that they didn’t understand him, but he tried to make his voice carry the message along with his words. “Wait here and let me talk to them.”

The Veloth continued growling to one another, but made no move to stop him as he crouched down and crawled his way out of the tunnel. The wind was whipping around outside. He’d forgotten how cold it was, and he had to focus to keep his teeth from chattering as he moved toward the group.

He could see Marina and her expedition waiting in the distance, weapons in hand. They held their ground as he approached, watching him with a mixture of suspicion and impatience.

“Luke,” said Marina. “Have you taken care of the Veloth?”

He shook his head.

They have to listen to reason…

“Look, the Veloth are not the monsters that you think they are,” he said. “They’re intelligent. They’ve populated the inside of the glacier. And on top of that, there are hundreds of them, maybe over a thousand.”

Marina looked at him blankly.

“And the gold?” He voice was emotionless, and suddenly Luke understood just how it was that she’d been able to leave her husband behind so easily.

“It’s in the walls of the glacier,” he said. “Marina, you would have to destroy everything in order to get it. It’s not worth it. Look somewhere else.”

“We brought pyromancers, Fire Mages, with us,” said Marina. “We can smoke them out and set flame to any that stand in our way.”

She started by Luke, and he pulled her back roughly by the arm.

“No!” The word came out with force and Luke gritted his teeth as he stared the woman down. “Marina, I can’t let you do that.”

“Are you going to stop me, Luke?” She smiled, and several of the members of her expedition moved to surround him.

“Head south, Marina,” said Luke. “Head back the way you came and leave the Veloth alone.”

“I should have guessed that you’d turned traitor when I saw that your little girlfriend wasn’t with you,” said Marina. “We’re going to take special pleasure in killing her, once we’re done with the Veloth.”