What Lies Beneath

Vandrad wasn’t one for simply stopping to enjoy the sights around him. He was always focused ahead, always scanning the horizon for targets or enemies or what have you. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the landscapes he visited the or the backgrounds to places he went. There were several times that he mentally commented about the glory and splendor of the places he had gotten the chance to visit. But he never said it out loud because frankly, it seemed redundant and pointless. There were always far more important things to be looking at and focusing on. A brief, fleeting observation of the way the landscape was shaped or the way the light shined along a valley wasn’t going to help anyone hunt down their enemies or root out villains trying to use that very backdrop as a hiding place.

But there was one setting he never really could find an interest or understand the hype about and that was ruins. There had been several times during his tenure in the military that he had been conscripted to protect archeologists while they unveiled old and decrepit areas long buried under the ground. These signs of what came before this age were fascinating and to many it raised a lot of deeper questions. What were they like? How did they live? What did they do to advance their way of life that eventually would inspire the modern day civilizations? There was lots to learn from fallen places and it was just a matter of rooting through the sand, grime and muck to find evidence and hints. But Vandrad wasn’t about that life. He didn’t deny that knowledge that came from such exploits proved worthwhile and he would never shirk at the chance to learn more about former civilizations – but only in a situation where he wanted to learn. If it was an order from a military superior to help better understand and enemy or if it was providing insight on technology that had advanced past the former models. The results were fascinating but the actual work to get the answers? He saw no personal delight in it.

But he understood the necessity of it. So as much as the jobs didn’t interest him, he still attended them without complaint. But he found ways to keep himself occupied so that he wouldn’t grow bored and then start becoming a vocal rebel against the job. So anyone that knew Vandrad personally – and none in Fiore really did – they would have been surprised at his willingness to take a job that required guarding an archeological team. In truth, there were probably several people that were surprised by the fact that the Prince was willing to actively help anyone at all. But it wasn’t out of the goodness of his heart nor was it for the possibility of treasure. No, the job sheet had outlined that a group of archeologists had recently discovered a cave opening on the cliffside outside of Cedar’s city limits. Based on some of the artifacts they had unearthed nearby, there was a strong belief that this was a burial chamber or some kind of archive of buried relics. But as was the cast in most situations like this, there was a catch. Previous discoveries had also been guarded by traps and ancient magic that attempted to subdue and eradicate imposters. As the group of archeologists had no desire to die while looting the lost treasure of a former civilization, they had put out a posting in hopes of hiring a decent wizard to provide protection.

Vandrad was curious about the state of the so-called threat. After his sideways journey with Mercury in Silent Glaciers, he had come to understand that perhaps the world offered more than just tangible challenges. While most people wouldn’t have stood a direct chance against spirits, the Prince had the unique position of being able to not only combat specters but defeat them too. Absorbing and utilizing raw energy from ethernano did have its perks after all. He had wondered for days afterward if there were other creatures that he hadn’t faced yet that would push his limits beyond what they were already. Plus, the discovery of new information about prior civilizations was an important quality to protect. He may not enjoy spelunking in the ground but that didn’t mean he didn’t understand how important it was.

He arrived at  the camp just outside of the cliffside at early morning – so early that most of the researchers were still rousing from their sleep. But it seemed the woman in charge was already up and going. Despite her height being nowhere near her male comrades, there was an aura of authority that even the Prince could feel as he approached her. A blue-haired woman with eyes that focused as hard as diamonds. The only thing about her that proved odd was her outfit; she was dressed in tight-fitting jeans, a white tank-top with a denim half-jacket over it and shoes that were just as much heels as they were boots. As he approached her, she was tying her hair back in a ponytail and looking over a map on a table, covered in recovered but broken pieces of pottery and clayware.

Her eyes snapped to him, incredulously studying him for a moment before she smiled. “Well, well. Looks like the bodyguard has arrived,” she mused with a playful twinkle that Vandrad, unfortunately, knew too well.

Great. What was with his luck and running into women that insisted on putting on this playful demeanor. He rolled his eyes. “I’m here to keep you idiots from getting killed by spear traps and razorblades. I have no desire to be ogled like a piece of meat,” he stated coldly, crossing his arms over his chest. He’d gotten enough of that with the Silver Wolf wizard – he was going to establish a baseline right from the start.

But she was having none of it. “Then you came to the wrong job, forehead. I’m quite capable of analyzing the topography data and dirt degradation while still checking out those rippling muscles. By the way, what is your armor made of?” Without asking for permission, she marched over to him and began to poke the chest covering with her finger and then pinched and pulled on the jumpsuit near his shoulder. “Flexible polymer with a tensile strength of iron on top of a flexible fabric that clearly can withstand high damage volumes. Yet you still made it look like spandex. Quite the look there, dancer,” she remarked with a giggling snort.

“Woman, do not touch me without permission. And don’t… touch my armor either. It’s of the finest make,” Vandrad stepped back, fighting the urge to smack her hand away. In a better situation he may have but right now, she was the client. He needed to be respectful – to a point.

“Oh, one of the stingy types, huh? That’s too bad,” she said, unbothered by his uncomfortableness. She finally held out her hand for him in greeting. “Dr Patricia Reeves. But you can all me Pat or Patty if you want.”

Vandrad did not take the offered hand at first, his eyes narrowed. It wasn’t out of disrespect but rather the inclusion of her name had sparked… something. It seemed familiar in a way he couldn’t put his finger on. After a moment, he took it and shook it roughly. “Vandrad.”

“Vandrad with the steely grip. Someone’s a military man,” she observed again, giving a small shake of her hand to tease him. But before he could remark on it, she continued. “C’mere. I want to show you what we’re looking at.”

Doing his best not to grind his teeth, the Prince followed her over to the table. There she spread her arms out against a crude mock up of the cave. “We utilized a mixture of our deep scanning machinery and the senses of one of our earth-type mages to create a rendering of what we’re looking at. It doesn’t look like much on the face of things but…” Her finger trailed over to the path that led in from the cliffside. She pointed to a series of flat lines, likely walls that were carved specifically against the rest of the jagged outcropping. “See these? Nobody carves into a cave and makes them flat unless they’re doing it for a purpose. And since this is not my first rodeo, I can tell you from personal experience that these are probably traps of some kind.”

“Any idea of what they may be?” Vandrad asked curiously.

She shrugged. “They differ from every site. Sometimes they’re poison arrow traps, sometimes they drop massive boulders if you step into the light – other times they are marked with spells and reanimate the guards that were ordered to stand there until they perished – that’s a fun story.” She let out a small laugh. “Either way, we need to get through that and a couple other places that were suspicious.” She took the time to point them out with her finger before she leaned back to look at him. “So I hope you’re as tough as you look.”

“Fine. I’ll head in there before anyone else and clear out any dangerous spots so you scientists can do what you do best and dig holes or whatever.”

She grinned. “Oh no champ, I’m coming with you. I’m not one to shy away from a little danger.” As he opened his mouth to speak in protest, she shot up her hand and held it out towards him. “Client’s orders. Now then… shall we?”