Chapter 279: Secret Tunnel!

Now we're underground! Underground is fun! It's all tight and sometimes moist and dark, and boy does it remind me of some of my favourite places. Unfortunately the conversation today doesn't include more of those places, buuuut there's some interesting world information for Ann to learn, so I'm all for that. Girl's brain needs all of the nourishment it can get. Not just her heart.

Minnie had dipped her head inside the cave before, but she’d been busy setting up camp with everyone else. Ann could feel the woman’s excitement practically vibrating through the air around her as she strapped the lantern apparatus on. Every detail of her getup was arranged to allow Minnie uninterrupted movement while she worked. Straps upon straps stabilised her gear and kept it securely bound to her musclebound body.

Ann, Kat, Rosalyn, Bren, and Lucia were all in their combat gear, though the three less resistant to the cold had their heavy coats on over their gear. It made Kat look ridiculous, but she’d refused a cape for now, saying that she’d get one when she had a more solid chest piece worked out. Even then, she’d have to get a cloak that’d wrap all around her.

Ann felt a sense of unease wash over her as the sky disappeared. The roof of the opening wasn’t low, but it also wasn’t the towering cavern of Korvas. Ann could easily reach up and touch the stone, dragging her metal-clad claws to clatter across the stone. It smelled… old. There was a dampness that she could only attribute to a damp cellar without the rot of wood. Her dad hadn’t been someone who enjoyed spelunking, but they’d gone into a couple of larger lava tunnels when they were in the area. Only the ones you could walk upright in, though. Getting down and crawling was not something that appealed to either of them. Ann remembered Nutty Putty and did not want to re-create the tragedy. Some history didn’t need to be repeated.

Minnie, taking the lead, looked entirely comfortable in this environment. Her head was on a swivel as she examined the walls. Ann knew it was mostly granite, but there had to be more to it.

“Oh! We’re in luck! Look!” Minnie cried, trotting ahead on the uneven floor like it was the flattest sidewalk in the world. She came up short and tapped a white line on the wall. It kinda looked like quartz to Ann. “See this? What is this? No, it’s not Bultrite or Voltium?”

“Cloudstone,” Bren answered immediately. “Fairly common in this region. From what I have read, it is primarily used in barge construction due to its porous and lightweight composition, providing buoyancy?”

“Someone knows his rocks!” Minnie said. She walked up and struck the vein with a knuckle. It resisted the strike, but Ann could see a small dent that was filling back in as she watched. “Got one bit wrong though. It’s not just that it’s lightweight but also pliable! You don’t find many rocks you can squish and bend before they’re carved or broken. Makes it really good for rounded shapes where the stone would be weakened in normal circumstances. Need it in an arch for whatever reason? Yeah, it can do that! You also get to see it a lot in places where having heavy stone would cause structural problems. I even heard of a mage making his entire tower out of the stuff. Can you imagine the crazy crap a magical sort like that’d do with it?”

Ann whimpered. “I need to see that! I have so many ideas!”

“Are wizard towers a big thing? Only saw the one in Graven Keep,” Rosalyn asked. Ann had noticed that her skill was keeping her footing as sure as Minnie’s. Each step found the best spot without the woman seeming to even try.

Ann actually wasn’t sure if her perspective was right for this new world of magic, so she deferred to Bren.

“It is something of a tradition. Ancient texts described them as status symbols, and this has been further cemented in magical culture. Should a magic wielder attain significant prestige, they build a tower that serves as a proclamation of their power and speciality. For instance, the tower my parents reside in is made of steel, and its various enchantments and machinations run off steam. The amount of heat shielding that goes into the walls is ridiculous.”

“Your parents have a tower?” Ann gasped.

Bren looked at her like this should have been obvious. “Yes. They are famous.”

“Where?”

“Outside of Indelholm. Did I not tell you this?”

“NO!” Ann shouted in her excitement, then winced as her voice instantly reflected off the tight confines back into her ears. “No! I would definitely remember that part. It sounds awesome! I wanna go!”

“Me too!” Rosalyn agreed.

“We will get there,” Bren sighed. “Eventually. I do need to introduce Lucia to them.”

“Do. Too long.”

Bren just rolled his eyes, barely visible in the lanternlight.

Minnie had started moving while they talked, following the Cloudstone. By pure habit, the rest had been walking along.

“Wait, why is Cloudstone important?” Ann asked, remembering how this entire train of thought had started.

“Metallurgy is a weird thing. The properties of Bultrite are its durability and its being very lightweight.” Minnie pointed at Ann’s gauntlets. “You should know better than the rest here. Have those ever felt heavy on your hands?”

Ann looked down at her gloves. “Huh. No. Never really noticed.”

“Yup, exactly. So, part of that is the mineral structure that’s part of Cloudstone. That, mixed with another mineral I’m hoping to find down here, and with the right pressure conditions, can form Bultrite. We’re going to need to be pretty deep in before we have a chance on the metal, though. If it were like iron, it’d need oxygen to properly form into a useful material, but being an inert metal, it just needs pressure and precise mineral composition. The precise combinations aren’t something anyone’s been able to crack quite yet, though. Makes this stuff crazy valuable, and the Diadem for us miners.”

Ann felt dumb, but had to ask the question. “Diadem?”

“Little crown? Fits perfect on a lady’s head,” Kat explained.

“I know what a diadem is,” Ann sighed, realizing she’d walked into that one. “This one sounds specific.”

“Aye, cause it’d be Voltid’s, right?” Kat asked Minnie.

“Yup! Sounds like you already know.”

They passed a fork in the tunnel. Minnie marked the wall with a chisel, and took a moment to feel the stones. Ann didn’t see her lick the walls, though. She was still curious how that worked. She had her own weird ability that let her taste things. It was odd, that wasn’t even a skill on her sheet.

I will explain that after Katlyn’s answer. Waheela rumbled in Ann’s head.

“Tae understand the Diadem, ye gotta understand a bit about Voltid,” Kat resumed once Minnie had chosen a direction. “He’s the mountain God, an’ the one most o’ the crafters follow. There’re a few others, but ‘es Korvas’s favourite cause o’ the mountain. Easy tae understand. Anyway, ‘e fell in love wit’ a river Goddess tha’ presided o’er a river what split one o’ his mountains. Made ‘er a beautiful Diadem o’ the finest metals and gems. Went tae present it to ‘er an, when she tried tae accept it, it sank through ‘er fingers. Placin’ it on ‘er head was no different. It’s kinda a symbol that Orenous uses fer love that feels right, but can’t work out fer reasons outside yer control. Anyway, it’s one o’ Voltid’s most treasured possessions, an’ has become used as a symbol fer people like miners an’ jewellers as the best o’ the best.”

“A crown jewel,” Ann nodded. “We called it that because the jewels in a crown were important. I guess a diadem would work pretty well for that too, huh?”

“You people really like shiny rocks, huh?” Rosalyn laughed. Ann caught her fiddling with the gemstone in her collar at the same time. Little adorable hypocrite.

“Hey, I don’t make up the words,” Minnie shrugged.

The tunnel, Ann noticed, had been widening as they walked. That cold, damp feeling wasn’t going away. In fact, it seemed like the dampness was increasing. She felt the stone under her paws getting slightly damper, the fur between her pads starting to clump up.

“Ann, I’ve got a question,” Rosalyn said. “How’d you do that thing the other night? The one where you, uh, helped me out inside?”

Ann wasn’t quite sure why she was avoiding the blunt truth that she’d popped into the woman’s soul to get at Xirali. Maybe she was trying to spare Minnie possible distress.

“I…”

Let me speak, one moment.

Ann let her.

“One moment. I need to speak with Waheela,” Waheela said, mimicking Ann’s voice but flashing her appearance.

So, what’s going on?

I will keep this short. You understand that you have been tasting others’ souls, yes?

No?!?

Waheela sighed. What does Rosalyn taste like when you drink of her essence?

Like an oncoming storm. Ozone that tickles the senses, Ann answered instantly.

And you have never stopped to wonder why you consistently had this sensation? Or when you did the same for Katlyn?

I thought it was just some love Goddess magic making my body weird.

Ann could feel Waheela’s eyes rolling. You are naive about so many things. Annita, you are not just tasting their flesh and fluids. Somehow, you are tasting their souls.

Ann’s brow furrowed as she thought about it. It was true that that taste had never changed since the first time she’d gone down on either Kat or Rosalyn. Biologically speaking, they should have changed depending on hormone levels, how long it’d been since they bathed, or their time of month. She’d tasted plenty of that, considering everyone’s persistent libidos. Still, Kat was the mountain: earthy, clear, and indomitable. Rosalyn was the storm.

What does this mean?

Just that you are more attuned to the souls of others than others. You can sense them, and it seems to have manifested through your sense of taste. This sense, along with what I’ve been teaching you, allowed you to slip in. That’s the short version. Speak with them now.

“So, um, is there some kind of name for people who can sense souls?” Ann asked aloud.

“There are a few, and their acceptance varies between cultures. Some are persecuted, others welcomed as guides. Korvas and her people call them Voidseekers,” Bren said. He ran his hand along a vein of Cloudstone in the wall, watching how it reacted to his touch. “Those who know of the void between souls and seek it out. Not all of them can sense this gap, but all of them know something keeps our innermost selves separate. Did your time not have people like this?”

Ann thought back. Sure, there were stories, but… “Mostly bullshit and made-up stories to swindle people. Psychics and fortune tellers that didn’t have all the magic we have now. They’d do research and say they knew your dead sister and then put on a show. I’ve been over this.”

“Did you notice something like this before?”

The question pushed Ann back into silence. She’d been normal, hadn’t she? No weird tastes when people were around, or smells like when people could smell cancer. Just her going through life… “Well, dunno if it counts, but I could read the mood of a room before I walked in? I just chalked that up to being observant, though.” King would call it a bit of Shine to her.

“Considering the atrophy of magic in your time, that might be the strongest reaction you were capable of.”

“But why doesn’t this show up on my sheet?” Ann asked. “I feel like something like this would, especially if it let me do what I did last night?”

Bren shrugged. “It is not a skill. It is not a trait unique to any one species. Nor is it a spell that can be cast at will. Some are just born with it, and others are not. I would hazard that you were actually born with this before your long slumber. That it so synergises with your current abilities and the teachings of Waheela is merely a providential coincidence.”

“Mom always said coincidence was when preparedness and opportunity met.” Ann’s creased brow stayed like that. She was trying to come up with any other times she’d felt like something was close that she couldn’t see. The only times were when she’d gotten home after her brother was in a car crash. No one had called her. Everything outside the house was completely normal. Still, she’d felt something as she reached for the doorknob. He’d been fine, of course. His arm had a hairline fracture, and his seatbelt had bruised the hell out of his chest, but no one was seriously hurt. Still, Ann had felt the tension inside so clearly.

She’d also heard of kids with abusive or fighting parents who’d have something similar. Reading a room and knowing exactly when to make themselves scarce. That was a learned and reinforced talent, though. Her family had its fights, but not nearly enough to engrave a response on her reflexes. Hell, she’d started plenty of them. Ann might have worried her parents with how thorough her tirade against her sister had been. Anime being a trash medium. Fucking bullshit.

“Normally, that is correct. Ci’Ti, God of Luck, does not influence things. His two sides are balanced in their random chance. We mortals are the ones who push the odds in one way or another. That is not to say that misfortune cannot happen with no reason. A boulder may fall on you one day and…”

“Can you not talk about that while we’re down here? Bad luck,” Minnie muttered. “Yes, yes, I know how dumb that sounds considering all of that.”

“Superstition prevails,” Bren smiled, but stopped his explanation there. “If you are a Voidseeker on top of all other gifts you have been given, I am not surprised you were able to sneak into Rosalyn’s soul. The heightened emotions likely helped.”

“Don’t go doing that to me, you hear?” Minnie called back. “I have no clue what the hell that even feels like. What are your souls like?”

“Different landscapes,” Ann said. She didn’t mean to sound dismissive, but was far more focused on the other revelations happening. “So, what, I was able to invade Rosalyn’s soul like some evil ghost?”

“You looked the part. Did you see how feral you were?”

Ann had no clue what Rosalyn was talking about. “No?”

“Ann, you were like… half wolf!”

“Stretched face and limbs, long claws and teeth, and more fur?”

“More or less,” Rosalyn shrugged.

“Fuck yeah! Spirit werewolf! That’s awesome! Sorry if that scared you,” Ann flinched immediately after her shout.

“Scared Xirali more when you used her like a chew toy,” Rosalyn giggled.

Kat laughed, clapping Ann on the shoulder. “Shite, if ye can do that, I’ll tell ye the next time Dearc gets uppity. We can kick its arse together.”

Ann looked down at her hands, clad in the black-blue metal gloves. “What the hell else can I do? Oh fuck me…”

“What?” Kat asked, with sudden concern in her voice.

“I’m a fucking empath, and I have to deal with the fact that I mocked all of those people who went on and on about it!” This was a fate worse than hell. Thank the Gods the internet and anyone else who remembered it were gone. Her messages would be such a problem. Even with her upbringing, the whole psychic realm was an area she’d regarded with heavy scepticism at best, derision at worst. Ann couldn’t help but laugh at the irony.

“Not very nice,” Kat said.

“Shit was different. It was usually only the insufferable people who made the idea that they had this magical ability to be a nice person their entire personality who called themselves that. It was pretty self-serving and drove me nuts. Just be nice to people, you fucks! It’s not that hard! Anyway, sorry for shouting, Minnie.”

“I’m just ignoring it, but I don’t think those are.”

Ann followed Minnie’s outstretched finger to a point on the wall. It looked like a crag in the surface, black and jagged.

Then it moved.

Thousands of legs longer than Ann’s arm feathered against the stone as a spiny millipede-like thing noticed they were all staring at it.

“What the fuck is that?” Ann cried.

“Cave centipede. I told you to be quiet,” Minnie shrugged. “There’ll be more. Get ready!”

Ann, now that she was listening, could hear the legs brushing against rocks as what sounded like dozens of the monsters began to move. She was going to listen to Minnie a bit more from now on.