by Inspirational Quote 23rd February 2016, 5:49 pm
Ni-Ju wasn't sure quite what to make of the woman's offer, but as the pounding in his head abated and he began to think it over more seriously, he couldn't help but be just a little bit intrigued. "Just tell me what is needed.".
Ni-Ju lost himself in reverie as he stopped at the entrance to a rough hewn stone crevice. It had been a long journey through the most twisted and uncharted parts of the labyrinth in search of the gem of scales; a priceless artifact that had been present during the founding of the guild itself and would presently serve as a token proving his ability to take over the position of guild master of Lamia Scale but he had eventually found the path that would take him there. After the woman had finished explaining his task and left, he had begun searching in the guild library for clues to the whereabouts of the lost item. Ni-Ju had come across a small brown handwritten journal that had become yellowed and faded with time.
Much like the vast majority of books that he had poured over in the library, this one had been unassuming and to put it quite kindly had not raised his hopes very much at all. His disappoint was quickly put to rest however, as the journal was revealed to have been written by a man who went by the rather strange name of Nolan the Digger and seemed to be a recounting of his many supposed exploits. While incredibly badly written and more then a little ludicrous, the man had by his own account been present when the labyrinth had been carved out of the bedrock beneath the guild and had begun to be connected to a series of naturally occurring tunnels that had bisected some of the farthest dug shafts. According to the man's strange ramblings, he had possessed a rather strong gift for earth magic and had been hired to strengthen the earth surrounding the main tunnels that would support the labyrinth and the guild hall above. During one of the deepest ventures, the man had become separated from his fellows and found himself hopelessly lost. After an undetermined amount of time had past, the digger had wandered into a series of naturally formed crevices that had opened into something truly wondrous;a city drawn from the many bounties of the sea that had become lost to the annals of time. Seated in the steeple of a glistening tower of pearl at the center of the forgotten city shone a beautiful gem that rippled like the scales of some great serpent. The last legible words had been rather mysterious and in his opinion had made absolutely no rational sense, "That Place".
Taking his pistol in one hand and the lantern that he had brought with him in the other, Ni-Ju continued forward through the crevice, clothing brushing both walls as the earth seemed to close in around him alarmingly. This wasn't the first time that he had spent underground but this was by far the deepest and based purely upon what had been written in the journal of a self professed braggart. This place that he was in search of might not even exist at all and he might be wasting his time entirely but it was still the best clue that he had been able to find in his search and therefor his best bet at finding the heirloom gem of scales. Passing through several sets of similar crevices that began to blend together making this place out to be far more maze-like then even the labyrinth, Ni-Ju began to see a faint bit of light shining through the tunnels, giving an eerie cast to everything.
Emerging from the eerie darkness into the light, Ni-Ju was met with a barrier of loose set stone that blocked the tunnel's exit and looked as if it had come crashing down and became fused together, leaving little gaps here and there throughout the great mass of earth, granting small cracks through which the barest glimmers of light might fall through. The man who had left the journal behind had made no mention of closing the tunnel behind him but from the look of the rocks it could only be the work of an earth mage exerting his will over the stone.
Taking several steps back into the tunnel so as to protect himself from what he intended to do, Ni-Ju sat the lantern at his feet and brought his pistol to bare on the rocky wall which blocked his passage. Aiming at the base of the great mass, Ni-Ju began to fire his weapon, very carefully taking chunks out of the wall with each blast of his great weapon. It wasn't long before his pistol began to take it's toll on the barrier that lay before him and it crumbled to the ground with a great resounding crack that reverberated throughout the stone passages that he had come through to get here. "Easier then I would have thought." Ni-Ju whispered to himself as he picked his way over the loose tumble of rocks into the massive chamber that lay ahead.
He could never have imagined what he saw next in his wildest dreams as his eyes adjusted to the well lit chamber where he now stood. The place itself far dwarfed the vast majority of cities that he had ever visited and despite its great size, seemed to have been built by someone with a far greater eye for detail then was ever normally given to such a huge undertaking. The city before him stood resplendent with a myreid of shimmering colors that resembled something taken from the very pages of myth itself. Every color available seemed to have found a place in the sprawling city including quite a few that he couldn't even put a name to.
Taking his first steps into the the chamber, Ni-Ju breathed in air that held the salty tang of the sea to it and marveled over how something like this could have possibly been here this entire time without becoming known to the world at large. This could have easily stood as the capital of any advanced nation or a trading hub of great renown and yet it had been buried and lost to common knowledge. Before he could do anything else however, the itching feeling on the back of his neck started up, alerting the young mage to the signs of danger was coming his way.
Flooding through the streets towards him came what could only be described as an army of reptiles in untold numbers. These creatures ranged in size from those about the size of a shoe string to massive beasts that could easily rival his friend and companion Sim, who stood seventy five feet tall while standing and there seemed no end to their scaled kind. Ni-Ju retreated back into the entrance and began preparing himself for what would likely be one hell of a fight. As the reptiles quickly closed the distance between them, Ni-Ju began noticing that a fair number of them possessed parts that were quite obviously human. Arms and legs for some and others with very human-like faces and torsos.
When they had reached a space approximately fifty yards from the young mage however, he could see as a thin blue line of light sprang up in front of the advancing reptiles bringing their impromptu charge to a sudden and screeching halt. Forming across the shining blue curtain, he could start to make out very tiny symbols written in a foreign script that seemed to flow into one another creating a sinuous river-like pattern of what could only be some form of magical warding that kept these creatures from escaping the confines of this area.
"I guess this is why this place isn't exactly visited very often." Ni-Ju whispered wryly to himself while looking over the horde of creature that stood watching him with their menace plainly turned towards him as an invader of their territory. From amidst their ranks, Ni-Ju noticed as a they began to pull to the side, forming a pathway from which he could see a single reptilian being approach and stop at the warded wall of light. The snake woman was easily twenty feet long and from the waist up held the form of a beautiful dark haired maiden of about twenty five years of age with a regal bearing that he could only think of as royal in nature.
From the distance he held, Ni-Ju could just barely make out the moving of her mouth but it was if she were whispering directly into his ears. "You have come seeking something here human, yessss?" The faint hiss on the end of her speech was quite pronounced but only seemed to provide a faint allure to her otherwise melodic voice. "If you are to take from our city then you mussst give in turn. Thisss would be what you humans refer to as a fair trade yesss?" Even from where where he stood, Ni-Ju could make out the almost playful expression that was on her face. "That is unlessss you had intended to sssteal from us young human. If you wisssh to deal in good faith then approach the wall so that we may ssspeak without resorting to thessse petty tricks." Wary of a possible trap and with his every sense screaming at him that this was a very stupid idea that would probably get him killed and eaten, Ni-Ju nevertheless decided to try and act in good faith on behalf of his race. After all, there were many nonhuman races that seemed pretty scary despite being relatively harmless the vast majority of the time.
Approaching the wall with every expectation of having to flee quickly should things take a turn for the worst as they had done so many times in the past, Ni-Ju finally got a better look at exactly who he was dealing with. The snake woman would be impossible for someone in his position to not be able to identify properly as she was clearly of the race that was the namesake of his guild, a Lamia. The snake woman's tail was onyx in color and the rippling scales moved with a rhythm that would be almost hypnotic and probably served as a means to attract prey. Her eyes were almost as dark as her tail and and held a gleam that spoke volumes of the mischief that she probably carried with her into any given situation.
As they came face to face, she seemed to look him over in the same manner as he had given her, eyes stopping on the dark green symbol that adorned his wrist with a look of surprise. "Will you not ssssshow respect and give your name mortal? You are after all in the presence of a lady." she quipped playfully, staring him directly in the eyes. Shaking off the feeling that he might become her food quite suddenly should he make a single wrong move, Ni-Ju mustered his courage and answered her. "My name is Ni-Ju Hachi and I have come in search of something known as the Gem of Scales which has led me to your beautiful city. May I in turn ask what your name might be miss?" A somewhat pained expression crossed her face for but a moment before she sighed loudly and pointed one slender finger towards the guild symbol emblazoned on his wrist. "Has human-kind grown so stale in it's learning that you would not recognize the cursed daughter of Hecate?" It seemed as if she could clearly tell the lack of understanding that he possessed as she raised herself up on her tail and grew quite red in the face as she shouted at him. "I am Lamia!! How could you not figure that out!!!?" She seemed to notice her rather embarrassing state as she suddenly slunk back down to eye level and carefully pushed her mildly disheveled hair back into place. "Now if you wish to discuss me giving you our sacred treasure then you shall have to follow me and agree to my terms young man. And please do not worry about my subjects. So long as you remain respectful and do not try to do anything untoward then you shall be returned safely to the spot on which you stand by tomorrow morning. On this you have my word."
Following after Lamia in trepidation as she turned and began making her way through the streets towards the tower that lay at the center of the city, Ni-Ju couldn't help but stare at the vast multitudes of serpents that flanked them during their journey. Several of them had taken to playing some sort of game amongst each other where they attempted to scare him. One in particular had pretty much nailed down what did it as it the massive snake would stare him directly in the face,showing just a bit of its sword-like fangs before giving a slow wink his way and then continuing to mirror his path, repeating the process every so often at it's pleasure.
As Ni-Ju and Lamia entered the tower proper and the doors swung shut behind them with a resounding clang, the young mage found himself standing in a large opulent chamber that resembled something from a rich sultan's pleasure palace. Vibrant colors of silk rich with embroidery covered nearly every inch of the room and anything it didn't, seemed to be made of delicately crafted metals of the highest quality. Slithering forward and taking a seat upon a large pile of pillows that looked to have placed for just such a purpose, Lamia beckoned him forward to a spot just a few feet and front of her and gestured for him to sit as well. Once seated comfortably, she made a small motion with her hand and spoke a single harsh word under her breath, causing the room to hum with a faint noise as the gem that had stood atop the building floated down from the rafters towards her hand,getting smaller and smaller as it descended til it was about the size of a large marble, which she grasped in her palm. Ni-Ju couldn't be more happy with how this whole ordeal had turned out so far. He had expected fighting and hours of long struggle but it seemed as if all this would require is for him to preform some sort of task or trade on Lamia's behalf. He was quite nearly ready to give in to any request at this point as long as he was the only one who would have to be responsible for it and it didn't require some sort of evil to be done on his part. Ni-Ju nodded to himself satisfactorily. This should be a piece of cake after what it had taken to get down here in the first place. So intent was he on his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that Lamia had already began speaking and had apparently taken his nodding as Ni-Ju agreeing. Before he could blink, Lamia had crossed the distance between them and had the young man promptly wrapped in the coils of her tail. "I am sure the daughter you will give me will be very lovely given your hair color and light complexion, young man." At that very moment any coherency of thought fled him completely and the best he was able to muster was a very bewildered look and a single word. "Daughter....?"
Arriving back in the guild hall library several days later with a look on his face that spoke of horrors unseen by mankind in a millenia, Ni-Ju prompty dropped the gem into the hands of the surprised woman who had sent him in search of it wordlessly and turned around to leave. For the rest of the day the faint sound of crying could be heard from the guild's showers.
Word Count:2672