The next day we woke early to meet with Raella and the others. Raella had questioned the prisoners early in the morning but got no further answers from them, and instead spent most of the day closely attached to Jon Umberling, asking him copious questions about the temple he had found and the information he had uncovered there. The dwarves were in the process of looking for volunteers to go with us on our expedition underground. The danger was great enough that the King wasn’t comfortable ordering soldiers to accompany us. The previous expedition had consisted of a team of scholars, some from the local university and others employed by the royal court, like Jon. They had ventured underground with a team of soldiers to guard them from the dangers there.

Only half the scholars and a handful of the soldiers had returned.

“They’re called Underlings,” Jon said with a shudder.

Greyjon had nodded, his expression grim. “I’ve heard of them. There are some places in the Empire where we can access the subterranean places of this world. We’ve never ventured far – the conventional wisdom when we find such places is to block the exits and place guards to watch them.”

“Underdark,” Peyton said, glancing at Lucas, who nodded as though he understood what she meant perfectly. I raised an eyebrow at their interaction. “What kind of people are these Underlings?”

“People is a stretch, though they are humanoid. We don’t know much about them. They may very well be richly cultured and intelligent, but we’ve never been able to approach them. Any attempts to travel into their domain is met with instant hostility,” Jon explained.

“In the past, the Empire had managed to build and defend a passage directly to the seal. That has likely been swarmed by the Underlings,” Raella said. “I understand promises were made that the passages would be reopened for our return.”

Jon nodded, but grimaced as he spoke. “We haven’t made much progress. For one, our alliance has not been long, and the timeline to achieve such a matter has been… short. Our expedition was mostly intended to be reconnaissance. And so few of us returned… We can make our way safely to the underground temple, but past that will be dangerous. I think our hopes lie in the power of your magical abilities, and perhaps the protection of the gods.”

Raella nodded thoughtfully. “It’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work. I will need all the information you do have on these Underlings and as much as you know about our passage underground.” Peyton and Asterollan stayed with Raella, Greyjon and Zolambi as these matters were discussed, as interested in hearing all the details as they could manage to absorb and to help with strategy.

The rest of us found other ways to pass the time. Chase seemed focused on keeping Lexie preoccupied exploring the Dwarven palace and the surrounding city – they visited several places, trying as many different foods as they could manage, and Lexie cheerfully described everything that evening when she was eating with us. I wasn’t sure what had happened to her in the gardens, or if she was completely okay, but she seemed in better spirits at least.

Lyre and I went to visit the palace gardens to see what they looked like in the light of day. They were quite lovely despite the damage we had caused there and despite it being quite late in the autumn. When we stepped out, we could see Lucas glowing brightly, using his abilities to grow the hedges in the maze and close the circles that Asterollan had blasted through them. An entire troupe of gardeners and palace servants were gathered around, applauding his handiwork. I watched in fascination.  When he was done, he took a seat on a bench, and I went to join him, Lyre trailing along behind me. “That was very helpful of you,” I said.

Lucas shrugged. “It’s the one thing I do. Plants.”

“Plants,” I repeated, amused. He still glowed with the power he continued to grasp, and I watched as some of the nearby plants brightened and bloomed. He didn’t even seem to realize what he was causing.

We were afforded another night of rest in our nice plush rooms. Peyton spent the evening in the stables with her horse – she was quite attached, and we couldn’t bring them underground with us. Lying in bed, the realization that we were going to be traveling underground really hit me and I felt grateful that Lyre and I had spent our day in the gardens. We’d soon be traveling where there was no sunlight and fresh air.

The next day, we were escorted to the nearest mines that led into the mountain, and personally attended by the Dwarven king himself. There was a short ceremony, during which the king lauded the bravery of the soldiers present, all volunteers, a group of 25 brave men and women who were willing to follow us deeper underground than anyone from the surface had been in many hundreds of years. We were also traveling with Jon Umberling, which I found surprising – I hadn’t considered the messy haired bespectacled scholar as a brave man, but this was his second trip into this danger, after the first one hadn’t gone well. I found myself reassessing him a little.

I glanced up at the sky one last time before entering the mines. And then I forced myself not to look back.

We were in the active Dwarven mines for most of that day, and on occasion passed dwarves who were in the process of working to extract some sort of silvery ore I could sometimes spot in the rocks. Everyone was quite relaxed through this part of the journey, as we were in known territory – some of the soldiers even lingered behind to chat with miners they recognized. When we reached the end of the mining shafts, we came to a massive wooden door that blocked the cavern – guards were posted there. The door was so heavy that it required a mechanism to open, and the guards were reluctant to do so until every lingering soldier had caught up. They didn’t want to leave the gate open longer than it had to be, and their nervousness was somewhat infectious. When we did finally pass through, the sound of the massive door shutting behind us seemed to echo with a grim finality.

Half of the soldiers traveled ahead to scout out danger and the other half trailed behind with our supplies – they were intent on keeping us in the middle, where we could be guarded. We carried magical lanterns that held glowing stones to provide light, though sometimes we came across patches of bioluminescent moss that helped light the way as well. Sometimes we came across chambers, and other passages that veered into different directions, but the dwarves all seemed to know the path we should take.

When it was time to camp for the night, we stopped in a narrow passage where any attack would be forced to come from one side or the other. “We should reach the temple by evening tomorrow and be able to take shelter there. It is relatively safe up until the temple, but we should remain alert. Our last excursion was chased nearly back to the mines before the Underlings gave up on us,” Jon Umberling explained, the lens of his glasses flashing in the lights we had. The passages were spacious enough, but I somehow still felt cramped in. I had never considered myself claustrophobic, but I also didn’t spend copious amounts of time in still, dark places underground. It was stifling, and I found myself clutching Lyre’s hand or leaning into him.

The next morning we gathered together and continued on through the passages in the same way we had the previous day. The soldiers were quiet and intent on their duty, grim faced and tense. I found it disturbing, a testament to the danger we could possibly be facing. Most of the rest of us were lost in our own thoughts. It would have been oppressively quiet if it weren’t for Jon’s presence – he was quite happy to chatter away at any question that was asked, and was especially excited to volunteer information that he had learned from his previous trip. “The god of truth and justice shares a name with the star at the center of our galaxy – Cenastrum – or perhaps we named the star after him. It makes one wonder what other things we linguistically centered around the gods, keeping their names safe even as we forgot about them,” Jon was enthusiastically saying to Asterollan. “Still, his symbol is the sun rather than a star. The star symbol is mostly reserved for Sateen, The Morning Star, god of ambition and gold.”

“How many gods are there?” Peyton asked curiously. Even though Raella must have already quizzed Jon on the subject extensively, she still listened intently, her yellow eyes gleaming in the low light.

“Nine gods in all. Besides Cenastrum and Sateen, there is also Myrapen – your goddess, Miss Saint, the Eternal Flame. Gno, the All Knowing; Holtrin, The Ever Changing; Udacha, our Lady of Luck; T’Keran, the Storm; and Koz, the blood god. And then there is the one that I’ve heard blesses you,” Jon tilted his head over at Lucas. “Strangely, or perhaps not very strangely at all, Nature has no name or grand title.”

 I shifted uncomfortably as he said T’Keran’s name, and could swear that I almost felt a soft breeze, even this deep within the underground cavern. I couldn’t decide if I was reassured or spooked. “I don’t suppose you found out the name of the being we’re facing?” I asked.

Jon frowned and shook his head. “I didn’t, unfortunately. But there was a lot of information that we didn’t get through. So much more to study. The temple held a massive library and seemed to be primarily devoted to Gno, but there were rooms with altars devoted to each of the deities. You may all be able to individually commune with your gods there.”

Peyton looked lost in thought as she considered that. We continued with Jon rambling about the different domains and natures of the gods. I was just getting tired of walking when the passage opened into a massive cavern. As we stepped out with our escorts, we found ourselves staring down into a stone ruin. I had expected absolute darkness, but something within the cavern seemed to glow faintly, providing enough visibility to make out the structures within. While many of the smaller buildings that had made up the area had crumbled and given way to time, the larger building of the temple itself still stood tall. A statue of an immense robed figure stood at the gate, its head tilted over a book. The face of the figure was obscured, in part by the low hood but also in part by the giant stone eye that covered the opening of the hood. I realized the eye was providing the light in the cavern.

As we approached, I could see the iris was faceted and glittered faintly. It was some sort of opaque deep red gemstone that reminded me of especially shiny red obsidian. “Well, the Underlings aren’t present, I believe,” Jon said quietly, sounding nervous for the first time. He chuckled lightly. “We’ll make camp inside the temple.”

As we entered, I spotted another statue like the one out front, but smaller – it was situated on the far side of the hallway from us. There were eight doors on one side of the hall, which I realized must lead to the altars that Jon spoke of. On the other side was a massive set of double doors that had been left open previously, through which I could see the remnants of an old library.

Most of the soldiers set up camp in the front hallway and just outside the front doors. Greyjon and Zolambi joined them to provide some magical defenses. Greyjon was probably more at home with the soldiers anyway. Meanwhile, the rest of our party set up camp in the old library. I could see the rotted remains of wooden tables, and wondered how old they were. Had they been well maintained when this temple was a stopping point for the Graces in the past? Or had this library just been allowed to rot for 5000 years?

Some of the books were in remarkably good condition, and I wondered if perhaps there was some magic at work in preserving them. Jon began to lead Raella through the library, and they poked through the more well-preserved tomes, handling them with near reverence. Chase followed, looking mildly intrigued. I was under the impression that they were choosing what books they needed to take back to the surface on their return trip.

Once we were settled in, Lexie wordlessly went to go investigate the doors across the hall. Lyre and I followed her, and the others trailed after us. We stood together in a loose line, surveying the doors, which each had colorful symbols arrayed on them. The symbols were vibrant and held a faint shimmer to them that reminded me of the tether tattoos the elven slaves wore. I recognized the sword in front of the starburst that belonged to Asterollan’s god. And I stared at the lightning bolt in front of the storm cloud, knowing instantly that it belonged to T’Keran.

There was also the flame of Myrapen, and what looked like a pentacle of shimmering gold with a solid black star at its center, and a chalice set in front of crossed axes, and even some more abstract symbols of lines, circles, and squares. Lucas was staring, frowning hard at the door that must have belonged to his god. There was the image of a humanoid skull on it, with flowers vining and blooming over the skull. I frowned, wondering why a nature god would have such a strong image of death as part of her symbol.

The air felt strangely heavy in that moment as we all silently stared at the doors. As if compelled, we moved forward, almost all at the same time. I remember hearing Lyre softly call my name as I stepped away from him, pulling me out of my trance just long enough that I glanced over to see Lexie and Asterollan already passing through their doors, and Lucas just barely hesitating as he pushed his open. I turned to smile reassuringly at Lyre as I pushed the door with the lightning bolt open.

And just before I passed through, I remembered seeing Peyton standing back, looking slightly stricken. And I realized suddenly that she was the one that was dreaming of the god ascendant.

But the compulsion that drove me was too strong, and I stepped through my door.

I had expected a small room, hewn from stone, with an altar and a statue of T’Keran, but I entered absolute stillness. I took several steps forward before I realized just how unnaturally still it was. My breathing sounded too loud in this absence of sound. I saw a distant flash of light and heard and felt the faint rumble of thunder. It was eerily like the calm before a violent storm – I could smell the rain, and feel the humidity thick in the air and heavy in my lungs. The flashes of lightning began to quicken, lighting the darkness around me.

A violent wind swept through and I could hear rain falling, though I didn’t feel any moisture. During a particular bright flash of lightning, I saw the looming form of T’Keran standing before me, her hair shifting in the wind, and felt my breath hitch in my throat. I reached for my magic, and in the soft glow of my power I could see T’Keran, her arms spread as she reveled in the feel of the storm that raged around her.

As I watched, her figure shrunk, until she was a woman roughly of Peyton’s height. She stepped forward, staring at me impassively. I struggled for a moment, trying to figure out what to say or do, before stammering, “Why did you choose me?”

The corner of one of her lips quirked up in a faint smile. “You are different than the others that were summoned. There is a certain degree of chaos to your presence,” she studied me intently, but before I could ask about how I was different, she continued, “And you fell into my corner of the sea. That seemed as good a reason as any.”

I remembered the cursed stretch of sea that I had fallen into, how the sailors had seemed spooked by it. I also remembered what they had said about it. “They said it was cursed because there was no wind or current there. That doesn’t seem very much like you,” I pointed out.

“It’s been calm because we’ve been absent. It will rage once I am free.” There was an almost menacing promise to her words that made me shiver.

“Once you’re free? What do you mean?” For a moment, my mind reeled, grasping at all the possibilities behind her words. And then she explained everything.