Thread: Shadows in the Light: Prologue

And an expansion! Larger one this time! It's amazing how much easier it is to write when I'm not supposed to be doing it... The coast. That was where they led him. Nicolas was there with two more members, and they were all long standing veterans. Nicolas drew out his blade, and hesitated. No one liked crossing the layers near the oceans. There was a power to them that transcended the layers, and just as there was an undertow that could drag a person under the waters, there was a similar force that could drag a person through the layers. And that, in a lot of ways, was even more dangerous. An undertow could only kill you. The layers could do far worse. Still, if Sophia had come this way, he needed to see what was there. Nicolas slashed the air, and Stepped. What he found was no what he'd expected. There was a deep crater in the ground before the waters. It smouldered still, and the scent of sulphur was powerful. Nicolas crouched beside it, holding a hand over the ground. It was still warm. Hell, the centre was still burning. The other members behind him approached. What do you think? One of them asked. Not sure. Might be a mage, but if it is, they'll messing with powers that are way beyond dangerous. Nicolas observed, withdrawing his hand. This must have happened recently. No, this is old. See the edges of the crater? There's been a lot of sand blown around it. I think this a few months back. So we know what happen to Sophie then. Nicolas wasn't so sure. Sophie was a survivor, and a very tough woman. She was also one of the people he knew to be fast on the ability to Step. She was one of the only ones he knew of that could do it effectively enough to make use of it in a fight. Knowing that every layer deeper he went was going to be more dangerous, but he needed more information. He sliced a new gash, and went into the Second Layer. The sands were different here, and the ocean looked a lot darker. There was a dark stain in the air, making it hard to see. The crater was still there, and it still smoldered. Nicolas blew out a breath, and cleared his mind. He closed his eyes to brace himself, and then opened them. He needed to See deeper. He Looked into the third layer, then the fourth, and then the fifth. And the crater was still there. He felt the other coming into the layer with him, he could feel the nervous nature of them. What is it? One asked, seeing Nicolas' face. It's not a mage. Nicolas responded. How can you tell? The blast. It's burned five layers deep. At least. The other two went quiet. They didn't know exactly where he was going with this, but it was clearly not good. What could make a blast like that? Nothing mortal. And nothing good. This is Banefire. It burns through everything. What do you mean by everything? It goes through steel, sand, stone flesh, the Layers, even time. Wait wait wait, time? How does something burn through time? With enormous difficulty usually. Believe me, it's complicated on how this works, and I only sort of understand it myself. How did you learn about it? Alcadizzar taught me. The other two were quiet now. Nicolas was pondering his next move. If something could throw a punch this hard, it was entirely possible that a Binder would be utterly no match for it. But if it could do this, then why hadn't it taken out Alcadizzar with it? Or had Sophia stumbled onto something completely unrelated? All this excursion had accomplished so far is to raise even more questions. What do we do from here? Nicolas heard the words, but was reluctant to answer. Mostly because he knew what had to be done, and he wasn't looking forward to it. Both of you go back to base. Let them know what we found. I'm going to do some prep here. I'm going to have to move deeper, and try to See just how deep this burn goes. He explained. There others nodded, not wanting to be around if this went poorly. Once they were gone, Nicolas started pacing around the crater. This was a delicate process. Alcadizzar had taught him hoe to limit the scope of his vision, to See deeper, but not to allow himself to be distracted, and catch sight of things that would blast the sanity from his mind. But he needed to know. He paced for a full ten minutes, his mind taking in the crater, encompassing it, focused on it beyond anything normal. His mental discipline was tight. He was ready. He cut again, and Stepped, then again. And then again. Now five layers deep, he knew that he was in severely dangerous territory. Most of the things that lived in this layer would be able to tear him apart, and without much effort. he cleared his mind, closed his eye, and pushed his Sight. When he opened his eyes, he was piercing the veil another five layers, reaching all the way into the Tenth Layer. He remained focused. His senses hinted at other things brewing, a faint chatter. He was being noticed. But he was seeing what he needed. The blast went all the way down. Power this strong was limited to a very small list of candidates. And he knew that even his observation of the handiwork was likely going to attract attention of something that was goign to make things hard for him. He heard a faint rumbling, almost like a growl but from a throat that would likely be large enough to swallow him whole. Time to go. Nicolas concentrated, not wanting to waste time with being safe and secure. He made a careful cut, and his blade sliced all the way up tot eh material realm. He Stepped, leaving the layers behind him. Once he set foot on solid ground, he saw the gash close. He still had his Sight pushed to the limits, and he turned to See what might be coming. he caught the hazy outline of a creature breaching the veils, heading for the surface. And it was massive. Something this powerful might be able to harm him, even through the veils, so Nicolas did the only thing he could. He ran. He hadn't gone more than a hundred feet when the rumble from the beast faded, apparently giving up the chase. Nicolas slowed down, and turned to look at the beach. He knew a little bit more. But he was going to need to know a lot more. Only one thing left to do at this point. And that was consult the Ancients.