Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Two: Beneath the Hawthorn Tree: Verse Ninety-Three

Alvin, Glenda, and Cypher stopped a few hours later and set up camp for the night. The sun was setting and the temperature was beginning to drop rapidly. Pushing ahead would be simple if they used magick, but Glenda insisted that they keep their reserves at maximum. Alvin was reluctant at first and argued that if they kept going for a while longer they could get a few more kilometers behind them before setting up for the night.

Since Alvin had been working to set up his tent for the last few minutes, grumbling all the while, it was clear that Glenda had won that argument. Alvin offered to share his tent with Cypher and he quickly accepted. He found Glenda too brash to even attempt to ask to share with her, and he was not about to spend the night sleeping on a bedroll in the cold.

Silent Night had also moved into position some distance away from their campsite and was making it through the cold of night with their spells to keep them warm and alert as they kept watch.

Cypher and Alvin huddled around a pile of sticks in the middle of a ring of stones, though they tried their best, they simply couldn’t get the fire going. Glenda let out an exasperated sigh and stepped forward, “Seriously?” she asked as she drew her sword and pulled her whetstone from within her own dimensional pocket. Sliding it down the length of her blade a few times, a rain of sparks erupted and showered the kindling in hot flecks which quickly ignited.

Cypher and Alvin looked at each other with embarrassed expressions and hurriedly rushed to blow air into the smoldering twigs and sticks before they lost their chance. Soon, a fire had taken hold and a few minutes later, after piling a few larger logs on top, their fire was roaring and providing them all with heat.

They spent the night talking and Cypher was happy to ask many questions about the Zight Stanza. Glenda wasn’t too keen on theoretical explanations and preferred actual hands-on experience and so she wasn’t quite the fountain of knowledge that Cypher had first hoped.

Soon, after a meager meal, they had all turned in and gone to sleep with Glenda standing watch. Battle intent seeped from her in steady waves and it was quite easy to see that she was eager for a fight. That, of course, made it difficult for Cypher to sleep. Each time he would be close to drifting off, a new wave of pressure would sweep over him and his eyes would snap open. Eventually, though, he was able to drift off, and only when the sun had arisen once again did he open his eyes and crawl wearily out of the tent.

It wasn’t long after that that their party packed up camp, and continued their trek through the mountains. Deer and various other animals ran through the trees as they walked, and at noon, they stopped near a river so Glenda and Cypher could spar while Alvin refilled their canteens.

The fight had gone as expected and Glenda came out the victor. Still, he had learned a few new techniques, although he felt that if he had been able to use his Zight Stanza, things would have gone somewhat differently. However, Glenda had once again insisted that they conserve their energy.

Now it was Cypher’s turn to be frustrated at her limitation, but she was his teacher and he trusted her judgment. They continued on their way once again after about an hour and a pair of steep cliffs came into view over the treetops.

“We’ll be heading through there,” Alvin said to Cypher, raising a pointed finger towards the two cliffs, “it’s a place called Elthanor’s Breach and it should take us right down to Seven City in half the time it would take to go around it,” he continued, a tone of excitement in his voice.

“Who is Elthanor?” Cypher asked, and Alvin smacked his forehead in feigned distress. “Once again, I have failed to instruct you properly, although since it doesn’t relate to combat or casting spells I can’t say I’m surprised. You know, knowledge is power too in its own way!”

“Just tell him already! That place doesn’t sit right with me, it’s too narrow and I don’t like enclosed spaces. We should tread lightly here, who knows what beasts might await us in there,” Glenda said, her own excitement building as she considered the possibilities of a battle and Alvin frowned at her before continuing.

“Legend has it that Elthanor himself, the Conductor responsible for creating this entire mountain range during the Arkwar started his work at that very spot,” Alvin’s eyes lit up whenever he got the chance to exposit some random detail about history nobody else either knew or cared about.

“A single Conductor created this entire mountain range? How?” Cypher asked, wonder sparkling in his eyes as their group drew closer to the gorge.

“Have you forgotten what I told you already? Elthanor was a mighty Rank-Six Conductor! Anyone in the Relic ranks would replace such a task easy, but what a task it was! These mountains stand as a testament to his power even to this day! Sadly though, he was slain during the war and most of his other works were destroyed in the fighting,”

Cypher was impressed, of course, and was eager to hear more about this Conductor as well as what the power contained in the Relic ranks could really do. However, before he could ask another question, their group passed through the entrance to the gorge and a sudden feeling of dread prickled the back of his mind. He looked around with a puzzled look on his face and Alvin and Glenda quickly took notice.

It was at that moment that he began to hear a faint humming sound. It was strange but it carried with it dark and heavy melodies that gave him chills as their sound grew louder. “Do you hear that?” he asked.

Alvin looked down at him questioningly, “Hear what?”

Cypher suddenly felt nauseous and his head began to spin but he quickly pushed through that feeling and expanded his mental energy to his ears. Now the sound was clearly audible and it was strange that the two Professors still didn’t hear anything, “THAT! It’s some kind of strange song or something I don’t know how to explain it.”

The noise continued to grow in volume and soon Cypher could hear it without even using his mental energy to enhance his ears. It sounded like darkness if such a thing had sound, deep, ancient, and all-consuming.

The first thing that came to mind was drums, large and heavy, but Cypher quickly discarded that idea. No, as he thought about it, it was more like the sound of a pipe organ that only contained low notes. As if someone was hammering away at the keys with relentless persistence.

It was only a moment later that his instincts began screaming at him and without a second thought he leapt back several feet, Alvin and Glenda quickly mimicking him. The moment their feet touched the ground again a large explosion burst forth from their previous location and pushed them back another few feet. If they hadn’t moved when they did Alvin and Glenda would have been shredded by the blast.

Twelve hooded Conductors in pitch black robes edged in red embroidery swarmed out from the sheer cliffs above them and behind them, another series of explosions blocked off the path leading out. Glenda revealed a wicked smile and drew her sword as she saw the Conductors and only three words came out of her mouth after that, “I knew it!”

Further down the path, a large golem began to work its way toward them. From the looks of it, it was quite weak compared to his two teachers. It was only a Rank-one, but Cypher knew that it was still a challenging opponent for him and he followed after Glenda and drew his sword.

The opposing Conductors quickly made their moves and each one seemed to prepare a different spell. Alvin flared out his robes and blue light appeared in both hands. Glenda flourished her sword, a crimson light glowing in her other hand, which she soon dragged along the length of her blade.

The edges rippled and small spikes jutted out from them which soon began to move along the blade at a rapid rate. A whirring sound emanated from her weapon and Cypher could tell that if it made contact with his flesh it would easily tear through it like paper.

“We’ll handle these clowns, you take care of that thing!” Glenda said as she pointed her whirring sword at the Golem that was drawing near. Cypher nodded. He had trained long and hard and now it was time to put his new skills to the test!