Katerin was content with her quiet life of studying the arcane, and wanted for nothing in her life. She had friends, family, and plenty to do.
But life has a way of changing people--a way of pushing them to do things far outside their comfort and ex...
Katerin squared her shoulders and walked around the tower, scanning it for any entrance. Finding none with her own vision, she cast a spell, passing her fingers in front of her eyes.
Everything glowed in a different light now, startling bright colors of the arcane, pastel colors of natural magic, the radiant and glowing colors of divine magic, and the washed out and dull colors of necrotic and blood magic.
Fykes, Arjiah, and Brazen searched with her, and finally, she pointed. Hidden from the naked eye was a doorway, wide enough for one person. She laid a hand on the tower cautiously and began climbing, using the sharp and uneven obsidian to heave herself up, being careful not to get cut.
As she climbed through the hidden entrance, a chill ran down her spine, accompanied by a dizzying feeling she had to shake away. The room was by no means small, and low red lights lit up around a door across the way, but everything else was bathed in shadow. She had nothing to tie the rope to, so she gritted her teeth and held it taught, trying to keep an eye on her surroundings as she pulled Fykes up. From there they worked until Juen'tal appeared in the doorway, the last one to climb up.
"This is pleasant," Fykes remarked, as Katerin checked over the opposite door for any traps or magical runes.
She snorted at him. Pleasant was not the wording she would have chosen.
The doorway led into a narrow hall that quickly broke and split in two directions. The red lights were sparse and cast an eerie glow on the shining black stone. They turned left, then right, then left again. As they walked on, Katerin felt even more confused and lost.
The light cast shadows that showed alcoves where none resided.
"It's not a hallway," Arjiah said, with a groan, after several minutes of walking. "It's a maze."
Katerin cursed in dwarvish, drawing a few funny looks from the rest of the group. "Fykes, do you have any ink? I need two colors."
He frowned at her but reached into his patched cloak and held out two small vials of ink.
Katerin handed one to Arjiah, "Walk with me. I'll mark the halls the first time we pass them."
"And I'll mark them if we pass them again." Arjiah nodded, a worried look in her eyes.
Katerin grimaced and leaned toward her. "Hopefully it works... I've only read about it," she whispered. She looked up to the rest of the group. "Keep an eye on the corners as we walk. We want to avoid any path we've already taken," she said, and they all nodded.
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Arnet smiled as he stared at the large crystal orb on the table. They wandered without an idea of the trick. "They brought quite a few friends."
"That won't matter," Byron said, kneeling in the sand in the center of the arena Arnet had created and finishing the last of his magical preparations.
