A Bored Lich

Frey blinked. "Oh. I'm sorry for your loss."

Elero nodded. "It's alright. Now you know about him, and I'd like to leave it at that." She finished the last of the rubbings and lay them on the ground. The others took their light crystals out to form a dome of light at the center of the large, dark chamber. Elero took one look at the notes before turning to Thomas with a concerned look. "Did you get injured in the earlier fight?"

"Not really," Thomas shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"You're extremely pale," Frey said, looking at Thomas with the same expression as Elero.

"I'm fine," Thomas insisted. "Let's just get this done and get out of here."

Frey nodded: "Now let's establish what we know: the light-based inscriptions depict the map of Draken Capital."

"And we have no idea what the dark inscriptions represent," Elero added as she flipped through the rubbings. "They may be sloppy but they're different from the map of Draken Capital. In addition we would have noticed key buildings like the colosseum, the castle, or the massive skeletal arm. The inscriptions don't look like the Notemaker's handwriting either."

Frey rubbed his chin. "but the Notemaker is definitely involved. He brought us here, and since he's working for Jackal, Jackal might know about this as well."

"That is true, but only if we are both looking for the same thing," Elero argued. "Jackal wouldn't leave something important unguarded. He might be an asshole, but he isn't stupid."

"But this doesn't look too important," Thomas gestured to the rubbings. "It's not fancy. It's just sloppy doodles. If not the Capital, then what is this supposed to be?" The three disciples fell into silent contemplation.

Frey worked his mind as much as Elero did. Thomas, however, found himself looking around. 'I swear something feels off,' he thought. 'It's like something is pulling at the back of my head. It's not dangerous. It's just…off.'

Each time he stared at the notes, his focus would slowly wander back to the pillars. Even though his feet were tired from the journey, he could neither bring himself to sit nor gather the nerve to lean against any of the walls. He still felt a slight numbness from touching the pillars, and something else.

"The Underground!" Frey suddenly announced, startling everyone present.

"What?" Thomas asked.

"The inscriptions," Frey gestured to the notes. "They make a map of the Underground. Look." He shifted through the papers and found a pyramid-like drawing. "These are supposed to be stairs leading down, and here are some other structures I recognize from when Doevm took me down there."

A dozen minutes later, Frey assembled a partial map of the Underground. It wasn't perfect by any means but the noteworthy structures, what few there were, matched his description. "How did you figure this out?" Thomas gasped.

"Don't act so surprised," Frey grumbled. "But it was actually pretty simple." His friends leaned forward expectantly, looking at Frey in a different light than before. "The capital is bright and the Underground is dark." Elero and Thomas shared a look.

"That's way too simple." Elero chuckled. "Sure they match but this is an ancient hidden ruin. Why would the hidden message be so easy?"

"Probably because it's just a stupid map," Thomas said as he took a few steps towards the entrance and turned away from the group. "We should go, soon."

"Let's keep going," Frey countered. "We haven't even been here for very long and I don't want to make another trip back if we miss something."

"Something like this," Elero pointed to an unusually thick line going through the map of the Underground. The line curved around squares, which represented buildings, and snaked through alleyways. "Was there anything like this line in the Underground?"

Frey shook his head. "Could this have been a mistake when you copied them?"

"Or maybe this line means something," Elero said. "Like a route to another ruin or something."

"Or we can check," Frey shrugged.

Elero rolled her eyes. "Thomas, do you see this line going across the pillars?" She momentarily put the light crystals away so Thomas would be able to read the pillars aloud, but he didn't respond. "Thomas?"

"Yeah," Thomas coughed in the darkness. "The line is there."

Elero slowly pulled out the light crystal and looked over at the pale-faced Thomas, who was leaning on the back wall over a dozen feet away from the group. "Are you dying or something? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Don't mind me," Thomas took a breath and pushed himself off the wall. "I'm not used to staying up this late. Elero, you have a point. Maybe we need a complete map. Should I sneak back and get some paper? You guys can just stay here." Frey sent a glare Thomas's way and shook his head. "What?" Thomas let out a nervous chuckle. "I'd come right back."

Frey gestured to his own bloody clothes. "You aren't going anywhere alone, not with so many of Jackal's goons prowling around. You are right though: we should get more paper. Elero, are you sure you don't have any more?"

"I'm sure." Elero nodded. "Just like how I'm sure that the line means there's a hidden path in the Underground. This is more than a map."

"Then what does it lead to?" Frey scanned through the notes but they didn't have enough of the map copied. "Thomas?"

Thomas took a quick walk around the pillars in the dark. "Nothing. It just goes to an empty space."

Elero cursed under her breath. "But this can't be it. We already came so far, and Jackal's goons are likely still lurking around the destroyed church. Let's risk it. There must be something here other than this stupid map. There has to be."

"Ok how about this…" Thomas said as he walked back towards the group. "L-let's go for another hour and then we are heading straight back. Alexander isn't stupid, and he doesn't hold back when it comes to punishment." He pointed to the bruises on his head. "I'm just going to…sit for a second." He shambled over to the entrance and sat down.

Frey scrunched up his lips and then whispered to Elero. "Are you sure you want to do this? We can easily come back tomorrow."

Elero stared at Thomas's back as she whispered back. "He was in the right."

"What?"

"When he asked me to be quiet during the walk over here, he was right." She wrapped her hands around the armrests and bit her lip. Frey went to argue but she waved a hand at him. "Don't say that it couldn't be helped. I have to do this because I can't keep sitting in this damned chair, but I understand if you guys want to go back."

"It's not just for you," Frey reminded her. "We're doing this for Doevm too. Then we're taking down Jackal."

"You don't have to remind me of that last part," Elero chuckled. "That's been my goal for a long time now." She sighed. "As long as I'm not putting you guys in bad positions, I'm happy to keep searching." She glanced at Thomas.

Frey shook his head. "Don't mind him. He's just whining like when he realized he had to sleep on his Amphiboard. He's not a soldier, not yet. He's still…innocent. I don't know." He, Elero, and Thomas spread out and searched through the chamber. They shed light over every surface, climbed the walls, looked outside, swept the light crystal shards around, and re-examined the notes yet they found nothing.

"We've done the best we can," Elero sighed. "Let's just go. We're really starting to test our luck." Frey looked on as Elero wheeled herself towards the exit, struggling when a shard of light crystal got caught under her wheel. He looked back to the pillars, their only lead.

'Where are you?' He rubbed Doevm's spatial ring like a good luck charm. 'Maybe we're just wasting our time here. We haven't found anything but a stupid map and a line. This ruin was nothing but a wild goose chase.'

"Let's stay," Thomas groaned as he poked his head out from behind the pillars. His face was paler than ever and his voice shook. "I can take punishment. We owe Doevm that much. Elero, Frey, are you with me? If Alexander finds out then so what? We can still sneak out. He has to sleep some time." Frey nodded and looked over to Elero.

"And you need to sleep sometime," Elero chuckled as she turned around. "I never knew you were so dependent on your cushy bed."

Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Oh that's right. Yeah I think the cold woke me up."

"Alright, a few more minutes." As Elero turned to wheel herself around one of the pillars, she wore a faint smile.

"Thomas," Frey said. "What's the real reason you-" Frey said as he turned to look at the empty air Thomas had once stood. "Thomas?"

"I just need to do this," Thomas's pained voice drifted around the pillar. "I will not hold you guys back. I refuse."

Frey smiled, thinking back to his conversation with Alexander: "They're going to leave me in the dust."

"Funny," Alexander had replied. "They all said the same thing."

'It's been a long time since I've wanted to be around a group of people,' Frey thought. 'Not since losing my old squad and Hopi. I'll never let anything happen to them.' He looked down and noticed a few drops of a transparent substance. He knelt down and got a closer look. 'Is this…drool?'