CH3

It seemed like hours went by without anything truly happening, yet in truth, only moments had passed. Fenryn felt the tension building inside him. He wasn't sure how Lynnette was handling things, but he supposed she was equally as nervous. Undead creatures could certainly be taken down as his experience earlier had proved, but it was not an easy feat.

“It is too quiet.” The woman murmured. She slowly inched her way forward. She paused, then moved forward once more.

Fenryn matching her steps closely. “If only our torches were more effective in this darkness,” Fenryn said softly, he paused a moment as if thinking, then added, “or if we had magic that could aid us.”

“A shame magic is outlawed then,” Lynnette muttered.

Fenryn made a displeased tut, then said, “technically it is not outlawed at all.”

“But you have to work for the bastard King, or be classed as a monster and be killed.” She grumbled, “though it is a moot point seeing as I am guessing you can use magic as much as I.”

“Which is not at all, I suppose?” Fenryn asked though he didn't expect an answer from her. He gave no response to Lynnette's comment about the King. He had no desire to get into such things with a stranger, at least not when their lives were at risk if they made one wrong move.

“I am no mage, though our magic is quite a bit different to that used by humans,” Lynnette replied. She glanced at the man beside her and then gave a thoughtful “hmmm” before she continued to speak, “I might have something that'll work though.”

Fenryn tilted his head slightly, “Oh? What is it?” He questioned curiously.

“Keep an eye out, while I take it out of my satchel,” Lynnette said, carefully sheathing her sword. She then pulled her satchel over her head and placed it on the ground in front of her. She began to rummage through it before finally finding the item she wanted. She pulled out a small cloth. Unwrapping the object carefully, Lynnette uncovered a crystal. The crystallized item was at least as long as an adults hand, and as thick as two or three fingers wide. The most noticeable feature of the crystal was the white horn inside of it.

Fenryn recognized it as a unicorn's horn as soon as he saw it. He was awestruck. He had only ever seen such a thing once before, and even that had only been in a book.

“What?” Lynnette asked with an icy tone returning to her voice.

“How, and where did you get that unicorn horn from?” Fenryn asked, wide-eyed.

Lynnette sighed softly, returning the satchel to her hip. She knew anyone would be curious about the object, but she had not expected him to know what it was. Very few people ever saw such things, and most believed the creatures to be nothing more than a fable.

“It has been in my family for years. I am surprised you know what it is. As for where it came from, I believe it was found in Lightmist woods. Though the exact location, and how it came to be encased in crystal; I could not tell you.” She explained, a shrug rolling off her shoulders. She then gave Fenryn a critical look before saying, “you cannot have it. Try and I will kill you, as surely as I will the undead here.”

Fenryn gave a short laugh. “Don't worry. As much as I would love to have one of my own, I have no intention of taking yours. Even if you were willing.”

The woman narrowed her eyes at Fenryn but nodded once. She then held up the crystallized horn and uttered the words, “begone blackest of darkness! I command thee!” As she finished her words, the horn seemed to suck all of the surrounding darkness into itself. All that was left was the usual shadows cast by the torch's glow. Lynnette then re-wrapped the crystallized horn and returned it to her satchel. Finally, she unsheathed her sword once more. She nodded and then said to Fenryn, “that should do it. Though let us hope we do not need the horn's power again. Such dark magic as that seems to take its toll on the unicorn's horn. I believe its power is dwindling with each use... though it still has power yet.”

“Honestly, I am more surprised that unicorns actually exist. I always thought they were bedtime stories told to children.” Fenryn admitted.

Lynnette gave a sorrowed smile while glancing at the man beside her. She could not quite get a feel for his character. He seemed nice enough, for a human. Yet there was obviously more to the man than even she believed even he was willing to show her. Whatever he was neglecting to tell her, she only hoped it was not anything she had to worry about.

Fenryn looked around them. So far there was no undead around them, but had Lynnette not used the horns magic, they likely would have fallen off the side of a steep drop. Moving slowly closer to the crumbling edge, Fenryn peered over the side. He gave a low whistle. “I think we found them.” He said, not taking his eyes from the mass of bodies below.

Following his lead, Lynnette thinned her lips in mild annoyance. “That explains why none had made their way to us,” she said quickly glancing around the area. There did not appear to be any possible way down without some kind of rope. “Once they fall down here, they cannot get back up again.”

Nodding, Fenryn pointed to the opposite side of the cavern. “Over there. Looks like a shrine. A safe bet that is where we need to be.” He said as he moved slowly back from the edge.

“But how to get there,” Lynnette mused while folding her arms. “Going down there with them is risky at best.” She continued to look around for a way over but saw no viable way of doing so without fighting a hoard of undead.

“You can't just magic up a bridge or something with the horn?” Fenryn asked with a wry grin.

Lynnette stared at him for a long time, her eyes narrowing. Obviously, she did not find it as amusing as Fenryn did. “No.” She said simply, “magic does not work that way, and even if it did, the horn has its limitations. Especially since it is running out of magic.”

Fenryn gave a slow sigh. “I know magic does not work that way. It was a jest.” He said bitterly. Her serious attitude reminded him of a friend back home. He had a sinking feeling that they would get along perfectly if they ever had the chance to meet.

Lynnette stared at the man for a moment before rolling her eyes. She then continued to search for a way across now ignoring Fenryn's pouting. “We may just have to fight them, and hope we do not die in the attempt.” She said, speaking mostly to herself.

“How about a floatation spell?” Fenryn suggested as he watched her. “That should be easy enough to cast, correct?”

Blinking a little, Lynnette looked back to the human man with a hint of surprise. “Floatation? I had no idea you were so knowledgeable when it came to spells.”

“Ah, well...” Fenryn said, rubbing the back of his neck, “I know a few mages in the city, so I've seen some of what they can do.”

Lynnette folded her arms and eyed the man up and down. “Are you sure you're not a mage yourself?” She asked.

Shrugging his shoulders, Fenryn said, “if I was, we wouldn't be relying on the magic of your unicorn horn. I could probably fry the undead easily, or do any number of things to get to the other side.”

“I suppose so,” Lynnette said, sighing a little. “Not like I care at all. Our clan always has at least one or two that can use magic. Unlike you humans, we do not lock our people up because of it, and expect them to fight in your King's wars.”

Fenryn gave the woman a look of annoyance. “We don't lock them up, per se. They just cannot wander about without an escort and have to go through intense training so that the spirits of the old Gods cannot possess them. They can still live a mostly normal life, and what wars? There hasn't been any fighting in a long time.” He explained.

“Uh-huh. Whatever you say.” Lynnette mumbled though she made no further attempt to argue. He knew she didn't believe him, or that she did not see any difference in the mages situation. Fenryn couldn't blame her mistrust, in all fairness. Human's hadn't exactly been the kindest race in Terra, especially not towards her kind. Though it had been many generations since slavery had been banned. The ancestors of the current line of royalty had seen to that when they had overthrown the King of their time. Or so he had been taught. It was a rather complicated history, but one that had apparently changed things for the better.

“Anyway, we can talk politics as much as we like after we've dealt with this.” Fenryn then continued, hoping she agreed that this situation was more important than talk of mages, and old wounds that he could do nothing about.

Lynnette mumbled her response and nodded. “Fine. Let us go then.” She said, once more taking the crystallized unicorn horn and holding it up. She then uttered the words, “grant us the power to float to the other side, I command thee!” Satisfied with the results, Lynnette kept the crystallized horn held up as they both safely made their way to the other side of the ledge. However, upon reaching the other side, the crystal began to crack. It was a clear sign that soon there would be no magic left to hold it together. Lynnette gave a displeased look but made no comment.

Fenryn made his way to the small shrine. He carefully inspected it for any traps, but upon seeing none, he moved to stand right in front of it. “I half expected sacrifices, or at least the remains of one.” He commented, glancing to Lynnette.

“It is possible that they joined the walking corpses down there, but somehow I don't think many sacrifices were made here,” Lynnette said moving to stand beside Fenryn.

Neither of them moved for a time. They stared at the object that laid upon the shrine, each pondering on how such a small thing could be so dangerous.

Fenryn decided to be the first to speak, “I was also not expecting a pendant. Seems anticlimactic if you ask me.”

“A little.” Lynnette agreed. “However, even such a small thing could bring about untold dangers in the wrong hands.”

“Why did anyone even build a crypt over this place?” Fenryn then asked, glancing back the way they had come.

Lynnette shrugged a little. She didn't know any more than he did. “I can only guess that they did not know until it was too late.” She said, offering the only explanation she could think of.

“So should we destroy it? If that's possible at all?” Fenryn asked, looking back to the woman. “If so, would a normal weapon even cause it any damage? It did belong to a God, after all.”

Lynnette gave a thoughtful sound at his questions. She wondered at that herself. There was only one way to find out.