Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 226: Book 5 Chapter 1

Ijal really was a beautiful world.

I wasn't certain of our exact position; our placement had been more random when we'd arrived than anything else. The weather had remained mild. Warm days that cooled only slightly at night. The occasional rain was refreshing. If I had to guess at the season, I would think late spring or early fall.

We had an entire world to map, to learn, to understand. But the land, the air, and the bounty of nature was encouraging. This would be a good place to live. A good place to build raise families. A good place for the Sidhe to expand and claim a larger share of the Universe.

"Bob, the mini-map shows the ravine but hasn't dispelled the fog of war for anything that may be within," I asked him.

"Is there any way for you to fly lower, within the gorge itself?"

The ley-line we had been following had diverged recently entering a canyon that followed the river's course. There was a slight incline, we were still traveling upstream, against the water's flow. I thought, not for the first time, that it would have been nice to have had a Kelpie or Selkie as a part of this first group. Ijal was like most life-bearing planets and contained vast amounts of water.

I hadn't been privy to discussions when our team was being selected. I knew that the System had criteria that had to be met for a claim to be considered valid. I had no complaints with Sieph, Bob, or Thutmose, but I admit to a bit of greed.

Bob was Slaugh, Sidhe that were born within the depths of Talahm's oceans. Their bodies adapted as they matured, their stingray shape allowing them to ride air currents as easily as they did water. But his size presented a problem, like now with the canyon we would be entering.

The initial planetary survey had given broad-scale information. There were eight continents, large lakes and rivers scattered across each of those continents, and massive oceans. The land and oceans of Ijal were divided about equally, with water having a slight edge. Forty percent of the planet's surface land, the rest mostly seawater.

The axial tilt and distance from the Sun made for a temperate world. The poles were almost non-existent, how that affected the weather, we would learn over time. We had no way of knowing how much of a factor winter played in the plant's growing cycle. It seemed, at first glance, that snow simply wasn't a factor, other than in the extreme north and south hemispheres, and at the peaks of the highest mountains.

"I could use a diving technique, in and out except the ravine is narrowing drastically," Bob said.

"There are areas where the canyon walls are more tunnel-like. I am going to have to travel on foot if we want to explore further in," Bob said.

His method of walking was painful to watch. He used the tentacles that he sported on his chest and abdomen to crawl across the land. It worked, but his size and weight meant he would be leaving some of his skin behind as the ground scraped his flesh raw.

"Alright," I agreed. "Let's use Beag as the point person then. He can use [Shadow Blend] to escape or hide until we are close enough to support him."

Bob's ability for over-flight had allowed us to progress quickly. The new mapping function that was shared between party members saving time. An army of Slaugh tasked with overflying this world was going to be almost as effective at mapping as the Magic Network that would be deployed utilizing the planet's ley-lines. That network mirrored and anchored by Pillions enchanted with Silinium to reproduce the communication infrastructure that existed on Talahm.

"Why not travel as a group?" Thutmose asked.

"We could," I agreed, "but I would like at least some warning if we are about to stumble into a nest of monsters that are too numerous or too powerful for us to handle." I sent Beag forward even as I explained my reasoning to Thutmose. His ability to retreat into shadow should make it safe enough and give us enough warning to act.

Bob was able to hover somewhat, a few inches off the ground, enough to allow his tentacles to propel him forward. He lost the adaptability and maneuverability that was intrinsic to his species while grounded. He wasn't defenseless, with his tentacles and serrated teeth, there was no way for him to ever be truly defenseless, but it severely restricted his ability to attack and defend.

"Bob?" Sieph said gaining his attention as we began to move forward. Why not use the river? You can swim really well. We will be walking along the shore, so we will be closer than we would have been if you were flying ahead."

It's funny how tunnel-vision works. I knew Bob was semi aquatic. I had made a point of discussing Slaugh breeding nurseries with Thutmose. And I'd ignored the obvious. Bob was as adept at travel in the water as he was in the air. There was no reason not to send him scouting using that medium.

"She's right," I said by way of apology. "Why don't you scout ahead with Beag. You move as fast in water as you do in the air." He didn't need to be told twice, exploding in exuberance as he flew towards the middle of the river before diving in.

As we advanced, I understood the problems he was having with the cliff walls. The ravine narrowed as we continued until the sides almost enclosed the river. The path hadn't transformed into a cave system, but the tunnel was enclosed enough that he would never have been able to gain access the farther along we traveled. We would have been unable to provide support to each other if that happened.

So far there hadn't been any flying creatures that he needed to worry about. The Horvee was the closest, but their additional mass, even with the lighter gravity found on Ijal, kept them flying under the tree's canopies. They hadn't evolved well enough to deal with the air currents and changes in the wind that the Slaugh had mastered.

Sieph cast a metal sphere that glowed, lighting our way as the passage becoming treacherous with slick stone and low light. We were forced to slow our pace, just as Sieph reported that the energies we were detecting seemed to suggest the tributary really did feed into a dungeon. We were forced to stop completely as Sieph took more detailed and exhaustive readings, trying to triangulate the densest energy readings. The task was made more difficult because there was really no way to get multiple readings from different vantage points.

It wasn't until a reading pointed back towards an area we had already traversed, that we could finally narrow down the area where mana had spiked. An area where the river had widened, and the shore had shrunk even further. We searched both embankments, looking for anything that could conceivably explain the spike in energies, only to find nothing.

Sieph had created a few metal spikes that we could use to tap the canyon's walls and floor looking for fake walls or hollow sounds that might lead to hidden caves. We had spread apart in order to cover more area, but it had been meaningless. I was just about to gather everyone together and continue until Bob stumbled on the solution.

[Party Notice: A member of your party had discovered the Sunken Shrine, a level one dungeon. (Warning: The Sunken Shrine is considered an underwater Dungeon.)]

The notice had the rest of the party turning to face the river that we had ignored, all but Bob.

"There is a Dungeon opening near the center of the river," Bob informed us when he'd risen from beneath the water. "A couple of marble columns have fallen, some broken vases, along with a few rotted timbers.

"It looks a building that was has was lost beneath the waves, but that's impossible, isn't it?" Bob asked. "There is no intelligent species on this planet."

"Those items are an effect," I informed Bob. "System's attempt to set the theme with visual aids."

"Exactly," Thutmose agreed. "Remember, any Dungeon instance may be populated by intelligent creatures, some of the more extensive dungeons even have entire civilizations living within them."

"Are they real?" Bob asked surprised.

"It is hard to know for sure," Thutmose answered. "The prevailing theory seems to be that if they respawn, they are System created. If they don't, then they are probably real."

"Remember CERN, Bob?" Sieph said. "That Dungeon had opened by creating a rift and joining two worlds. The Dungeon set a strict limit on how much we could explore that world, but the only things that respawned were plants. Even the animals were real in that instance."

"Exactly," Thutmose agreed.

"Those Dungeon instances are very rare," I said. "One in a Million, perhaps. If we come across a Dungeon like that, our task becomes more difficult. But this is a level one Dungeon, I don't think a Dungeon so lowly ranked would be populated by a world civilization.

"The System message mentioned an underwater instance," Bob reminded us. "I can survive easily in that environment.

"But Sieph and Ryu? You won't die, we are immortal after all, but every second underwater will seem like an eternity as your mind and body believe you are drowning. How will you be able to be of any help?

"And Thutmose? As a Scion are you immortal? Will you drown?" Bob asked pointing out our limitations and asking some rather pointed questions.

"Well, this is going to suck," Thutmose said speaking for all of us.