Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

Alistair and Elowen proceeded cautiously while holding their weapons at the ready. Much to Alistair's surprise, the thick pine forest was suddenly cut off as if by a knife and replaced by what could be best described as a rocky valley with peaks of various sizes scattered about.

This kind of scenery he would have expected to see somewhere far south where water was sparse and heat dominated through most of the year. Yet here it was.

"How did this place even come to be? It's as if from a different part of the world," Alistair whispered as they entered the Wyrm's Peak. The weather also seemed to change instantly. Instead of fresh forest air, he felt heat cling to his skin.

"Because it is. Wyrm's Peak was once part of Monster Realm, but it got pulled into the Human Realm because the passageway wasn't stabilized and went berserk," Elowen explained in a whisper.

Alistair shuddered at the thought. Is this what would have happened in Sunglow if Melina hadn't stabilized the passageway? Looking at the Wyrm's Peak, he couldn't see the end of it, meaning that it took up a rather sizable territory.

"What happened to the area that was here before?" Alistair asked.

"It was sucked into the Monster Realm. Luckily, there was nothing but forest here, but I shudder to imagine what would have happened if this was anywhere near any human city or settlement."

Alistair nodded in agreement. The passageway had been so close to Sunglow. If it had gone berserk then likely the whole town would have been affected. No wonder Melina had looked so torn at the time. She likely knew the result and decided to reveal her secret to prevent a tragedy.

But how did she know what would happen?

However, there was no time to ponder the question as Alistair heard a hiss coming from somewhere nearby. Both of them reacted instantly, pointing their swords at the source of the noise. Another hiss resounded from further away, then another and another. Before long they were surrounded by a cacophony of displeased hisses.

"I had hoped we would manage to slip by, but it appears that your human scent has set them on edge," Elowen said in a soft voice. One by one wyrms emerged from their hiding places among the rocky crevices, hissing and snarling in dissatisfaction.

Some of the wyrms looked exactly like Sienna in her large form—black and covered with bright orange marks. Others had more earthy tones with gentle green markings—earth wyrms he assumed. There were a few river wyrms too with a more aquatic color palette but those were in the minority.

"We can't fight them all," Alistair muttered.

"We don't have much of a choice if we want to get to the Architect. We shall fight only enough to get past them," Elowen said, gripping his sword more tightly.

This gesture didn't go unnoticed and the wyrm snarled furiously, ready to attack at any moment.

This is madness. All of the adventurers in Sunglow weren't enough to defeat Sienna. What chance do we have with just the two of us against an army of wyrms?

Alistair slowly sheathed his sword, the wyrms watching his movement. They seemed to relax a little once his sword was fully sheathed. He also buckled his shield to his backpack. He knew that it wouldn't serve as much of a defense against these creatures anyway. One good fire breath would overheat the metal in seconds.

"I mean you no harm," he said and raised his hands in surrender. He also made sure to look down at the ground instead of staring at the wyrms. Usually, animals perceive eye contact as threatening. Perhaps, the same rule could be applied to monsters.

"Good job. It appears that humans are not as hopeless as I thought," Elowen said and sheathed his sword as well.

Wait, was he testing me?

"Sorry for bringing out my sword, my friends. I never meant any harm." The elf removed his backpack and rummaged through it. After a moment, he got out a rather large bundle wrapped in a leaf. As he unraveled it Alistair saw that it contained little meatballs. At least they looked like meatballs.

"You knew this would happen?"

"Do you really think that we elves wouldn't know how to deal with monsters in our backyard?" Elowen prompted and began feeding the little meatballs to each wyrm in turn. "Would you like to feed them too?"

"What is it exactly?" Alistair asked, pointing at the meatballs.

"Concentrated ball of deer innards along with a few feyberries. Wyrms love these treats."

Alistair took one of the balls, sniffing it curiously. It smelled mostly of meat and of something sweet—likely the feyberries. He then tossed the ball to one of the nearby ember wyrms who ate it eagerly.

"Could I buy some of these from you later?"

"Don't think that you can lure the wyrms away and exploit them. This is their home and they will not leave it just for a mere snack," Elowed explained with an angry frown.

"No, I'm not interested in these wyrms. I just wanted to give some to one back in Sunglow," Alistair explained, thinking of Sienna. Perhaps, if they could find feyberries in the passageway near Sunglow, Melina could recreate these treats.

"There's a wyrm in a human town?" Elowen looked genuinely surprised. "Oh, wait, Sunglow has a few elves living there. It must be one of theirs right?"

"No," Alistair said, wondering how much he should reveal. Outright lying didn't seem like the right thing to do. "It was tamed by a human."

"A human? Impossible. I've never heard of a human bonding with a wyrm."

"But it happened."

"How did it happen? What did they do to the creature? Beat it into submission until it had no other choice but to obey?" Elowen snarled.

"No! She'd never do that!" Alistair exclaimed with more fervor than necessary, making the nearby wyrms wary of him. He took another meatball from Elowen and offered it to one of the earth wyrms.

"What did she do then?"

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"She gave it a tart."

Elowen paused and blinked at Alistair in disbelief. "A tart?"

"A tart."

Elowen looked utterly appalled by the idea.

"Is it really so farfetched? We are feeding these wyrms to get them to calm down."

"Well… yes, but these treats were specifically made for wyrms."

"From my understanding, so was the tart."

"Tart specifically made for wyrms?"

"Yes."

Elowen seemed deep in thought for a moment. "I'd like to meet this human."

Alistair didn't reply. He certainly didn't want this elf to meet Melina, since he had seen her in his visions. But what could he do to convince the elf otherwise? No matter what he said it would likely only make the elf more curious. So he decided to remain silent and keep feeding the wyrms.

With wyrms bribed and satisfied, Alistair and Elowen could proceed into Wyrm's Peak territory without worry. There was a passageway to Monster Realm hidden in its depths from which occasional monsters emerged. But usually, wyrms were quick to take care of any intruders. Not many monsters could defeat a hoard of wyrms, hence why the surrounding area was relatively monster-free.

"Are you saying that the Architect is somewhere here?" Elowen asked dubiously.

"No, this is just the first step. We need to find the highest peak here and climb it. From there we need to search for the next landmark," Alistair explained. Although there was no need to search much—one of the peaks stood high above the rest.

"We're not going to find it today. The sun is already setting," Elowen said, looking at the sun creeping just a little above the treetops. "Let's rest here for the night."

"Here? Among the wyrms?" Alistair asked, looking at the creatures that swarmed around the area. They weren't hostile anymore, but sleeping among them seemed a bit much.

"Scared?" Elowen taunted.

"We are only surrounded by the most powerful monsters found in the Human Realm."

"There are plenty of stronger monsters. Don't worry. If you don't bother the wyrms, they won't bother you."

Alistair had no choice but to agree. It was true that spotting the tiny stream when dusk was already setting in would be near impossible. They settled into one of the rocky crevices, making sure to keep a substantial distance from each other, and slept.

In the morning, as soon as the sun was high enough, they set out to climb the highest peak. Much to their surprise it was much easier to climb than expected. There were distinct ridges that looked like they had been carved into the rock. They made it easier to climb to the top. Of course, it wasn't easy and the heat was all the more obvious the higher they climbed.

"What are we looking for exactly?" Elowen asked once they were up. The scenery from above was breathtaking. They could view all of Wyrm's Peak as well as the surrounding forest. The cutoff between rocky peaks and the forest looked even more jarring from above.

However, Alistair had no idea how was he supposed to spot a stream from here. He saw no obvious bodies of water anywhere. Most likely they were hidden among the trees.

"A stream apparently, but I don't see anything of the sort around here," Alistair grumbled, squinting his eyes.

"There's one right over there," Elowen pointed north.

Oh, I understand now. The sender directed me to Euroa first so I could get an elven companion. Without their enhanced senses, I would never have found the place on my own. I wish I had known this ahead of time, then I could have taken Remi with me.

So they made their way to the stream. It was a decent distance away from the peak, and once they returned to the forest, monster encounters became more frequent very fast. By the time they reached the stream, they didn't dare to put down their swords, expecting an attack at any moment.

"You're not too bad with the sword," Elowen said as he finished off yet another swamp boar.

"Neither are you," Alistair returned the sentiment, finishing off one of the monster's companions. He had earned a nice amount of experience from all the monsters.

[You've defeated . You've gained + 132 exp.]

[Congratulations! You've reached Level 40.]

"What are we looking for next?" The elf asked, scanning the forest for more monsters.

"Entrance to the underworld."

"What? I've never heard of such a thing. Is it a cave?"

"I have no clue. The person who provided me with the path never explained anything in detail, leaving the bare minimum of clues to get there."

"I can't blame them, but I still wish we knew more," Elowen noted.

"It must be somewhere nearby. Let's search the surrounding area."

They searched and they searched everywhere they could think around the stream. They even expanded their search to the nearest area and then a bit further away, but neither of them found anything that looked like a "gate to the underworld".

Alistair was becoming so desperate that he was peering into a rabbit hole, wondering if it could perhaps fit the description.

"Are you sure there weren't any other clues?" Elowen asked Alistair after climbing down from a pine. He had been trying to search from above, but this method hadn't yielded any results either.

Alistair thought carefully about the letter and the words he managed to decipher. Could he have missed something? Some clue that would have led him to this "underworld"?

"Think about every word. Anything you could have dismissed," Elowen prompted.

Maybe I missed something while deciphering the letter. But how could I even know what I missed? I don't have it anymore. Dammit. It should be possible to find this "gate to the underworld", the letter was written so I could find it. It had clues only I would understand. Think, think, think.

An image of Melina appeared in his mind, leaning over the table and thinking hard. What could that clever girl think of? How would she mask the "gate to the underworld"? Alistair looked at the stream, watching its shimmering surface for a moment.

"Wait… I think I got it," Alistair said and ran up to the pool of water, formed by the steam.

"You do?"

"The gate wasn't a hole or a cave or anything of the sort," he explained, peering into the pool. It was just large enough for a single person to fit in, so Alistair dipped his hand into it. Instead of feeling wet and cool spring water, it felt like his hand had pushed through a membrane of some sort. "The stream is the gate."

Elowen ran up to the stream and also dipped his hand into it. "T-That's not water. I sensed that something was off in this area, but I just couldn't pinpoint it. The magic is masterfully hidden."

The two men looked at each other for a moment and nodded. Alistair stepped into the spring first, wondering if he would just fall into… someplace. However, as he put his legs into spring he realized that there were stairs hidden underneath its surface. Slowly and carefully he stepped down until finally, he was inside the spring.

He was surprised to see a staircase that was illuminated by the occasional magical light. It spiraled down so Alistair began descending, Elowen following shortly after him.

"I can see why the Architect is so hard to find. We elves have searched this forest multiple times, leaving no rock unturned in hopes of finding it. We knew it should be here, but in the end, we were forced to think that we were wrong. Who could imagine that a spring would act as a disguise for this underground cavern?"

"It certainly is a great hiding spot especially since it is so far from any human city," Alistair nodded in agreement.

They continued down in silence, listening to any noises that might come from further ahead. However, everything was completely silent as they continued descending. The way down was surprisingly long and it took them a while to reach the end of the staircase. It led into a large cavern which separated into three tunnels.

"So which way are we supposed to go?" Elowen asked, confident that Alistair would know the answer.

"I… I don't know. I wasn't told anything about winding paths."

Elowen looked at him incredulously. "So we have to just guess and hope we find the right path?"

"Seems so."

They sighed in unison. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

At around the same time in Sunglow, Melina was scrubbing Etan's tools clean of soot, her hands turning numb from the repetitive task. She wasn't even halfway done.

I understand why Master Gilbert hates this guy so much. I'm starting to hate him too! I want to make those waffles already!