Not Simply Walking (Part 1) - Alenea - 16/6

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A wall of heat hits Alenea's face as the portal slams shut behind her. She wipes her forehead, beads of sweat already starting to roll down into her eyes. She stands still waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness and listens for movement. The cave is silent except for the breathing of the infiltration team. A breath of wind passes over her and she shivers, the chill wind at odds with the heat pressing in.

Bones

"What was that?" whispers Laurel and a second later a light blooms from the tip of her horns.

Alenea covers her eyes as the sudden brightness strikes her. Slowly she uncoves them and squints around the cave. Below her feet a floor of bones spreads out to meet catacomb walls, packed skeletons reaching up to meet a ribcage ceiling. In front of her a pillar of skulls spirals upwards, hollow eyes staring out in all directions.

Ruk turns his head sharply and calls out, "Did you see that?", he stares wide eyed towards the cave entrance and clutches onto Laurel's sleeve.

Fresh bone bags

Above them the roof ripples and bones begin to fall from above and clatter to the floor. The pile of bones grows, twisting upwards to turn and face them. At the centre a deformed set of ribs open up and a gutteral voice screams from within, Osseract will have your bones!

Stuggling to take in the twisted mass in front of her Alenea stands paralysed. Before she can react claws reach up from the ground and grab her and Laurel, dragging them towards the snapping jaws. A crackling black energy spreads from the fingers wrapped around her and a wave of lethargy passes through her.

She turns her head to cry for help and stops to stare at a horde of skeletal monstrosities skuttle along the floor towards Cam and Ruk. A tripedal abomination sprints along the wall towards them and leaps forwards before the pair's magic rips through it. Looking up from the advancing hordes Ruk waves his arm and flings a ball of fire across the cave, showering Alenea with shards of bone as the creature's bones splinter.

Struggling against the claw wrapped around her Alenea yanks her arm free and rips the dagger from her belt and slashes it at the boney mouth. As it connects she hears Ankhet grunt and a blade flies from the darkness, shattering the hand holding Laurel.

The grip around Alenea weakens as assaults rain down on Osseract and she cries out for help between gasps for air. Looking down she sees Laurel's hands grab at the fingers and pull them back. Alenea takes the opportunity and slips out of the creature's grasp, dropping to the floor. She flips her dagger around and springs back upwards and plunges it deep into a crack in the carapace.

Feeling the crack widen she twists the blade and a wave of animating energy blasts out of the cavern as Osseract's boney mass shatters and falls to the floor, a soft whisper reverberating outwards, I just wanted... your bones.

Alenea kicks the the pile of jaws and ribs in front of her, "There's your fucking bones."

---

A vast ruddy expanse opens up as they step out of the cave onto the side of a mountain of bones. To the left the ruins of a city spread out. The shattered walls hinting at a violent end. In the distance a ridge of mountains rise up from the plains, a pass to the other side splitting it down the centre.

After a brief debate on the merits of rushing forwards versus resting first, Laurel waves their arms above their head and the cave entrance transforms into a flowered glade. Alenea's knees buckle beneath her as she sinks to the floor to rest.

---

Alenea slides down the last few meters of the mountain side and pushes herself to her feet, hopping forward to avoid a trickle of discarded femurs and clavicles tumbling down behind her. She lifts her waterskin to her mouth and gulps down water as she watches a meteor streak down through the clouds towards the distant city. It disappears over the horizon and she lets the waterskin drop back to her belt and jogs out to catch up to Ankhet.

The road stretches out ahead of them towards the mountains and the journey takes hours longer than it should have, interrupted by metal wagons rumbling across their path to parts unknown and the occasional detour around a pack of Lemures. Though the journey passes unremarkably a sense of unease sits unmoving in Alenea's stomach, her eyes watching the hellish creatures wheeling through the air above.

At the base of the mountain the air grows hazy with smoke and the ground shifts from a flat red dirt to a scree of pebbles. Alenea's steps shorten as the rocky terrain becomes uncertain and slippery, the cracked skulls littering the path a testament to those less careful. Dusty and worn from the journey they crest the pass and Avernus unfurls in front of them. The river styx winds its way towards the horizon, on the far side an orange tear stands bright against the darkened sky. Streaks of light shoot up from the base of the portal, arcanists clashing at the front-lines.

Alenea pulls her eyes away from the battle raging in the distance and searches the landscape for Zariel's tower. Instead nothing but rubble and ruined garrisons litter the terrain.

Feeling the tendrils of panic clutching at the edges of her mind she spins around and looks back across the plain they crossed, hoping that they missed the tower. Nothing.

"Ankhet, do you see anything? I can't see the tower?" she calls to the Bugbear staring out into the distance.

"Yes Dog, anything out there?" says Ruk, his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

Alenea frowns at him.

"Hmm..." Ankhet rumbles back, "... No."

Alenea turns to the Raven sat on the rock beside her, "Keri, find the tower for us!"

The raven launches into the air, a black streak rising into the sky. From the corner of her eye she sees a similar flash of red fly upwards from Ruk's outstretched hands. The two birds circle upwards together, shrinking until they disappear against the bubbling cloudscape. She squints and shades her eyes with her hand, attempting to follow them.

"Ruk, see anyth-" she stops mid-sentence as a small voice echoes in her mind, Back. It's back. To the Left. The raven falls from the sky, swooping up at the last second to land on a small outcrop of stone. At the foot of the wall is a crack wide enough to squeeze through.

"Over here!" she shouts and waves her arms at Laurel and Cam wandering in distance.

---

Alenea pushes herself out the other side of the crevice and looks down from the ledge in front of her. Stretching out below is a network of staging areas and pipes tangling their way towards a tower at the centre. Giant hooks reach up from the ground to hold the black fortress in place. Mountainous walls rise up around the tower, hiding the docking station from prying eyes.



A horn blares out and a battalion of soldiers emerge from the quill-like structure, the clatter of metal on metal audible as they march down the ramp. Along the other sides of the tower fiendish dock workers scurry up and down the other ramps, crates clutched in their arms.

"We've got to get in there," Laurel whispers, heir finger passing over the stacks of boxes below, "Based on the speed they're moving and the boxes remaining they'll finish loading in half an hour, max."

"And I don't want to be down here when that thing takes off," Cam says.

Ruk puffs out his chest and waves his hand towards the clouds, "Don't forget! If that comes to pass, I can fly up to the tower!"

"What about those of us who cannot fly?" replies Ankhet, stretching to her full, tremendous height, "Can you lift all of us?"

Scoffing, "No, I cannot, but what of it," he glances over Ankhet, "I can handle this alone, Dog."

Alenea grits her teeth as Ruk continues to gesture towards the sky and elaborate on his power. He begins to launch into the merits of flight but she cuts him off as the first idea flies into her head, "We could pretend to be guards bringing in prisoners. March right up and get them to let us in, then once we're inside we run off the hide."

The group turns, incredulous looks on their faces. Ankhet is the first to speak up, "But... we aren't fiends."

"Yeah, so I can use magic to make myself look like one, then, a quick illusion and we've got a platoon escorting us back into the tower."

"Why would they be bringing back prisoners to the tower? Wouldn't they just have killed us?" Ruk asks.

"Hrm... okay, that's a fair point," she says and taps her chin in thought.

She goes to speak, a further elaboration on the plan springing to mind but stops when Cam speaks up, "We could just climb inside the crates, let them carry us into the tower."

"That's..." Alenea starts before pausing, "A much better plan..." she glances down at the tower, her attention drawn by the clang of another ramp closing, "I think we better move quickly though."

---

Alenea presses herself between two metal chests to hide from a purple Lemure squelching past past. The creature groans with effort and lifts a stone block inscribed with runes and turns to haul it towards the tower. Once the demon is out of sight she gestures to the face peaking out from a crate behind her then indicates to a gap across the path. The five of them scamper forwards, hopping across the ooze covered path and into the next alley.

As Alenea squeezes into a gap on the other side she hears a thump and turns to see Ankhet on her knees, Laurel supporting her.

A hellish voice calls from the direction of the tower. Looking over Alenea watches a set of horns peaking over a wall turn and start to advance. Her eyes dart from the advancing figure up to the towers ramp and she waves her hands in front of her. A blue glow flows from her fingers as she traces a sigil in the air and the sound of boxes falling from a great height echoes from the ramp's direction.

The horns pause for a second and then turn and head towards the sound. Alenea's shoulders loosen and she waves Ankhet and Laurel over, "Quick, we don't have much time!"

---

Alenea looks over Ruk's shoulder and wretches at the sight of the blood filled crate he called them over to look at.

"This is our only option," he says, "We can all fit in and there's enough air for a good while. And the corpses..." He pokes the one floating closest to them, "That just gives an excuse for why the box feels like it's full of people."

The group turns to Ankhet who has been moving quickly from box to box, "I have seen nothing else."

The putrid stench of rotting cadavers redoubles and Alenea wretches as she digs in her bag. "God... it's so..." she chokes out and pull out a candle. Starting to squash wax between her fingers she mutters, "Hopefully..." then stuffs it up her nose, "Much better..."

One by one they cram wax up their noses and clamber into the crate. Cam and Laurel cling to Ankhet's sides to keep their heads above the surface of the blood.

"Nerry, she's here."

Surprise on her face, Ankhet digs in her pocket and pulls out a sending stone from her pocket. A blue glow glimmers across the surface of the blood as Taffeta's voice becomes clearer, "Are the girls safe in the Feythorn?"

Ankhet looks around the crate as she holds the stone up to her to her mouth.

"They're safe. Arvoreen protect you."