A spiral staircase led up to something above them, but Serenity was instead led to a tunnel. It started off with a few steps down, then turned into a shallow slope with occasional short sets of steps. Most of the steps led down, but there was one set of four steps that actually went up. It took Serenity longer than he’d have cared to admit before he realized that they were following a root. Most likely, it was a root that had died and now gave a relatively easy cleared path through the ground, at least for dryads that could easily shape wood.
He assumed they could shape dead wood as well as living, at least. He couldn’t actually be certain.that was the case without asking and this seemed like exactly the wrong time to ask so he stayed silent.
The tunnel varied in width. It started out wide enough for four people to walk abreast but narrowed to the point where there was only plenty of space for two. At that point, it seemed to stop getting narrower. It continued like that for a long way, then Serenity started seeing rock in places instead of wood. It was clear the root had narrowed enough that the dryads could no longer stay entirely within it. Serenity was a little surprised there didn’t seem to be any dirt or cracks, but in some ways it made sense. This was an airless moon; any significant cracks had to be sealed or there wouldn’t be air in the tunnel.
By now, Aide was fairly confident that not only were they no longer under the dome, they were a good quarter-mile away from it. It was clearly a very, very long root, far longer than Serenity thought was natural. He couldn’t say for certain, of course, but he’d always heard that the roots of a tree generally covered more or less the same area that the branches did. Whether or not that was true, this was far beyond anything Serenity expected.
They finally reached the end of the tunnel, which widened out into a stone room that reeked of magical residue. It was strong enough that not only could he see it shining slightly in his magesight, he could actually taste the clashing Affinities as he got close enough.
It made him realize there was no dungeon nearby. There were some on Berinath, but there wasn’t one close to this particular pocket. That was an interesting choice; dungeons were in ley line nexuses, which could be used to power rituals if they were done properly. There couldn’t be a nexus or even a ley line here, however; it would wash the residue away, given time.
There were long splashes of Death-attuned mana scattered around the room, mostly on the ceiling. It called out to Serenity, attracting his attention away from the rest of the room for a long moment. For a long moment, he stopped in the doorway.
“Keep moving,” the guards’ leader growled from behind him.
Serenity moved forward as the rest of the room came into focus for him. First was the other magic that layered the room in a choking conglomeration. Undeath affinity - or perhaps it was unlife, the two Affinities were extremely similar to Serenity’s eyes - streaked the walls and ceiling and hung in the air. An Affinity that had to be Life coated much of the floor. It was especially strong in a corner of the room that held a permanent ritual circle.
Serenity hoped that circle was where they returned former undead to life. The residue that filled it could indicate that, but it could also indicate far worse things, like the Hollow Ones Serenity fought on Asihanya. Serenity doubted the dryads would do such a thing, but he couldn’t rule it out. In extreme enough circumstances, people would do things that were far past their normal limits and justify it as necessary.
A smattering of other Affinities glowed in spots, but most were small. Fire and a relative of Solid, perhaps Earth or Stone, were both quite common. One streak on the wall to Serenity’s right resonated with his Solar affinity, while an entire host of different tiny fragments were weak enough Serenity couldn’t immediately identify them. It was enough to make Serenity itch; a place like this was dangerous and surprisingly uncomfortable.
There were people in the room too, more than just the guards, Senkovar, and Serenity. Elder Lizven sat with three other older dryads at the far side of the large room, in chairs that looked like they’d been grown rather than carved. Elder Lizven was on the far left, with two men between her and another woman who sat on the far right.
Other than the chairs, the ritual circle, and the magic splashed all over the place, there was only one feature of the cave that seemed important. The one that anyone else would probably have noticed first.
There was a section of the floor in front of Serenity that was tiled. It took up a good bit of the middle of the room, probably about twenty feet in any direction. It was approximately round, though the edges were jagged; it was clear that they hadn’t bothered to cut the tiles to make it a true circle. Instead, there was a pattern painted onto the circle. A rune, more accurately, though not one Serenity could interpret in the seconds he’d had so far.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The thing that made it clear the tile was magically significant was the same reason Serenity had overlooked it to begin with: there was absolutely no Affinity residue inside the pattern on the floor. There was some on some of the outer tiles, but none stretched past the paint. That made it seem insignificant, but in a room like this it had to take a lot of effort to keep the lines clear.
Sekovar took a long look around the room. “This room is badly contaminated.” Senkovar’s words were neutral in tone and to the dryads he probably appeared impassive, but to Serenity his expression was anything but neutral. He looked exactly the same way Lex did when he was pissed off yet refused to show it.
“It cannot be cleansed,” one of the elders Serenity hadn’t been introduced to stated calmly. He was seated two seats to Elder Lisven’s right and seemed the oldest of the four of them. “We have tried; the stain of Death is impossible to remove. Only time can extinguish its pain.”
Did they really not see the rest?
“Death isn’t even the strongest Affinity here,” Serenity objected. “That’s unlife or maybe undeath, I can’t reliably tell them apart. Life is the second strongest; Death only takes third place.”
Serenity saw Senkovar slowly blink. His eyes stayed closed for a moment longer than a normal blink.
The elder on the far right snorted. She held up a hand and hand and waved it at the cavern. “Does that mean you can purge centuries of accumulated debris?”
Serenity took a look around the room. If this was centuries of debris, it wasn’t really used all that often. “Eventually, yes. It would take a long time, probably years, but it can be done if no one leaks more attuned mana in the area. I’m not going to stay here to do that.”
The man on the left, next to Elder Lizven, gave a small chuckle. It sounded almost sinister, somehow, though Serenity didn’t know why. “A bet, then. If you prove you aren’t undead, we will allow you to talk to Berinath and train with her. We won’t require you to set up another dome. If you fail, we will still return you to the living, but you will have to pay … let’s say half again as much as the usual, that shouldn’t be too onerous. Starting with cleansing this area.”
“No.” Serenity didn’t even have to think about it. That was a fool’s bet.
“Well, there you have it. He doesn’t believe his own story,” the Elder said as a grin spread across his face.. He was still looking at Serenity, but he clearly wasn’t talking to him. “Proof enough, wouldn’t you say?”
“No,” Serenity said again. “This is why I won’t take the bet.”
The elder who challenged Serenity to the nonsensical “bet” waved a hand at Serenity dismissively. “Hah! Now-”
“Elder Ibken, that’s enough.” The elder next to Elder Ibken interrupted him before Serenity could decide if Ibken was about to give instructions or gloat. “Stranger … Serenity, explain yourself.”
Serenity shrugged. “It’s simple enough to explain, I don’t take bets where the other side of the bet is the side that also gets to determine who wins. All you’d have to do is say you weren’t convinced and I’d “lose” the bet, even if you really believed me. I also don’t take bets where I can’t accept the consequences if I lose, and I am absolutely not spending several years here.”
Technically, he could clean this place up the fast way, but even that would take time. More importantly, it would generate monsters and Serenity really didn’t want to see what it would generate. They’d be annoying to deal with at best, given how strong some of the magical residue was. He’d have to repeat what he did with the Night Fire and that required having people he trusted with him to kill the monsters, which meant he had to tell them it was connected to cleaning up the residue. That wasn’t an option.
The oldest of the four nodded. “A good explanation. Accepted. Lizven?”
Elder Liszven nodded. “Accepted. No change to my opinion.”
The apparent leader nodded at that. He didn’t seem surprised. “Inchabe?”
The woman on the right shook her head. “I don’t like being called a liar, but I cannot expect a stranger to know our ways. Accepted.”
“Challenge failed,” the man stated. “Stranger, you should have guessed by now that we are your judges. I am Elder Omprek; you have already met Elder Lizven. She is your advocate. Elder Ibken is the Challenger, while Elder Inchabe and I are the Watchers. You must gain the approval of three of us, or of Elder Ibken and one other. We will not be easy to convince.”
Serenity repeated the names to himself in order. Elder Lizven was on the left. Next to her was the man who’d tried to trap him, Elder Ibken. Elder Omprek was to the right of Ibken; he seemed to be in charge, for all that he called himself a Watcher and claimed to be equal to the woman on the far right, Elder Inchabe.
“Before we begin, a question.” Elder Inchabe glanced at the dryad next to her, then continued when Elder Omprek nodded. “If we decide you’re undead, what will you do?”
Serenity shrugged. “Leave Berinath.”
“You don’t want to be alive again?” Elder Inchabe didn’t seem to be deliberately trying to trap him the way Elder Ibken tried, but that didn’t mean her question was any safer.
Serenity gave a long sigh. It expressed his feelings and gave him a moment to pull together the words he needed. “I’m not undead. If I were, well, the important thing is being myself. Which doesn’t include the Life Affinity, so I’m not sure you would count me as alive in any case. Even if I did decide to do something that extreme, I’m not going to let someone else perform a ritual on me without thoroughly understanding it myself. Not for something like that; it’s too fundamental.”