Guild Towns
an excerpt

Raseir found himself in a narrow tunnel. It smelled of earth and damp stone, and descended steeply beneath the ground. He walked blindly through the tunnels until his adjusted and he saw a faint light ahead, followed by another, and then another. The rank odor of decay grew with every step he took causing Raseir to wonder just what was ahead. Finally, a few minutes of wandering in the dark Raseir reached the bottom of the tunnel and came out into a large cave. Faint light from the masses of luminous fungi on the walls lit up the cave, which looked to be about twenty meters across, and continued back as far as the eye could see.

He gazed at the white altar as he entered the cavern deep below the mountain. It was a massive room with the worn images of holy rituals conducted by clerics whom had once practiced here painted onto the walls. The ruins of a large statue loomed above the altar that dominated the room. Crushed bones were scattered among the broken remains of the statue littering the dusty floor.

Heading down one of the passages, jagged rocks shot out from the floor and ceiling like the teeth of a giant dragon, to a cavern that glowed red. With each step, the humid air grew hotter and hotter until Raseir stood beside the scalding waters of a vivid red spring. He had been concentrating so much on the spring that he’d barely even noticed the rest of the cavern. Looking around he found there was a stone altar to the right edge of the spring and beyond that row after row of benches were carved into stone floor. On the other side of the spring was a large boulder with runes etched into it and a passageway leading even further back.

While he was used to traveling in the wilds, the hot, humid, air here was almost unbearable. After only a few moments he found himself covered in a layer of water, a combination of sweat and humidity, which made his clothes cling uncomfortably to his body. His mind became more and more muddled with each passing second - it was almost as if he was awake, but dreaming at the same time. He could still see, and hear, what was going on around him, but it felt like it was happening to someone else.

He saw the runes on the boulder glow, heard the spring become more violent and the air become rotten and acidic. The water level of the spring rose and soon the edge of the spring was touching the altar. The water vaporized the moment it touched the altar and began to hover in the air above his body, growing and surrounding him like a cocoon until it suddenly entered his body.

The detached dream like state fled as blinding pain engulfed his body. He could feel it everywhere, every limb, every finger and toe, even his skin and hair felt like they were on fire. It was as if he was being cooked alive, only from the inside out. He wanted to scream, to shout, to run away from the pain, and to curl up in a tight ball – he wanted to give up but he could not, and that was almost as bad as the pain itself. He was a prisoner now; a prisoner in his own mind, no longer able to control his body.

The cloud of vaporized water began to enter his body faster and faster, the pain becoming more intense with each passing moment. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Raseir could not handle the pain anymore and he screamed. Only it was not a scream that came out. A giant roar emanated from his throat and then, moments later, flames shot forth out of his mouth.

The very air itself seemed to be set alight by the flames. It was an awe-inspiring sight, seeing the entire cavern engulfed in fire. He found it odd that he was not the least bit worried of being burnt alive though. The flames burnt themselves out and Raseir saw himself lying naked on the altar, remnants of his clothes smoldering. The pain was gone now, but the odd feeling of being in a dream had returned. It was then that Raseir noticed the spring, which had frozen over, was glowing blue now, not red like it had been when he first entered.

He felt himself be drawn towards the frozen spring, down and down he floated until he saw it - a shinny black gem, gleaming with a torrent and pulsating with energy. The longer he starred, the more intense it burned. Suddenly Raseir had an urge to touch it and extended his hand with out hesitation. He felt as if his hands were frozen to the gem as the chill swept through his body, racing along his veins in angry waves. Voices of a foreign tongue filled his head and images began flashing through his mind. Some of the images he knew. His childhood, his brothers Keaf and Gabric, his sister Reanna, his friends, and a few of the bleak memories of the future. But there were others too, ones that he knew he had never seen before, had not been alive to see.

Suddenly the voices died down and Raseir felt cool and refreshed, at ease with what had happened. He smiled. As if mocking his good mood the gem flashed red and he found himself being flung backwards up the spring and headlong back into the Altar. He screamed from the blazing pain.

The light was too brigh and hurt his eyes. He squeezed them shut and it helped. He was floating on a cold, dark sea. An acrid smell filled the air. The darkness was better than the light, easier and more comfortable. Though he knew there was pain just under the surface of the waves, he was able to ignore it. He did not mind really. He was familiar with pain and could handle it. It was the light he did not want to deal with. It was better down here in the darkness, floating in the sea, his mind half-numbed by the pain. Sleep, yes. Sleep.