Nivenmage

Fennien Xenata

Argenen followed the new Fierim woman down a long corridor. Even with the urgency he couldn't help but look from side to side at the walls. Set into them were murals unlike anything Argenen had ever seen before, made out of ice and a kind of flickering light reminiscent of the light of dancing fire.

At first he assumed it was only ice, running along the entire length of the corridor, but then as be looked directly into the ice beside him he could see pictures, painted with the reds and blues and yellows of fire, and moving as if the characters were alive behind the ice.

There were Fierim people, peacefully living and farming in the fields of Galyn, then large people, Daghym, appeared and brought new food, and textiles, and stone from the desert. After that, the wooden houses were accompanied by stone ones, and the Fierim people wore new and interesting clothes.

Every now and then Argenen could also see tall, slender people that were obviously Neveans. They brought with them scrolls and books, knowledge from afar, history about the realm that the Fierim had forgotten. Something about the way they were drawn made Argenen think of the Neveans as silly creatures. They held themselves high and presented to the Fierim new magic, a white force, but it suddenly seemed so naïve against the beauty of Palinor. In the mural the Fierim tolerated them and listened patiently to their stories. It made Argenen feel small somehow.

After that, the murals depicted strife, a battle had begun. A tall, evil figure was shown with fire burning in him, holding a black sceptre; Renegen. He came with an army of Soulless into Palinor and held the Fierim captive inside their own walls. He made them work for him, tried to force them to teach him their magic. Argenen knew the story of Renegen well.

Then, a Nevean appeared and fought with him, and won. Galyn was free again, but it wasn't the same. The people didn't go back to farming and trading in textiles. Instead they bought weapons, and many of them retreated into the mountain city and built up defences. It was as if they had known that a new war was coming. Argenen knew what came next, he looked away.

Ahead of him the corridor was coming to an end, with an arch that opened to a small room. At the opposite end of the room were two heavy doors. The Fierim woman turned around and smiled faintly. She gestured to the doors.

"This leads to the mountain terrace. Beyond that is a path that will take you to the caves. There is only one way, at the end you will find the Fennien Xenata."

Argenen was uneasy. "How did you know?" He asked. "In those murals...how did you know another war was coming?"

She thought for a while, then said, "The black sceptre, the tool of Renegen. There was a power in it that we didn't understand, it was not of this realm. We knew that the source of that power was not dead. Now go, your journey is almost done."

With that Myca pushed open the doors and they left. The mountain terrace was an open surface with a sheer face on the north side and a drop on the south. Looking out they could see the fields, and the dry land beyond.

They moved on, and the terrace became narrower until they came to a set of stairs that bended to the left. At the top was another platform and behind it was a gaping hole in the side of the mountain that lead to the caves. Argenen glanced back at the beautiful view once more before he entered, wondering for a moment if he would ever see the light again.

Inside there was a natural atrium and then a tunnel. They plunged deeper into mountain, going faster now, not wanting to waver in the darkness. Somewhere ahead the Voidstone waited.

As they walked, Argenen's hearing adapted to the silence and he could start hearing new sounds, faint scraping. At first he thought it was only the echoes of their own footfalls, but it became steadily louder.