The first to make sense of their surroundings was Isara. With a slightly confused voice she asked:
"Cal? What's going on? Where are we?"
"I'll explain in a second, we just have to wait for these two to realise something is wrong." Calen responded, indicating the pair to the side with his head.
Indeed, just a bit further Cassian and Elira were continuing their conversation from five hundred years ago as of nothing happened.
"... and as I said there's no danger to your father's life, it's a simple to flu and should wear off in a few days." Said the alchemist ina calm and quiet voice.
"I... We are very grateful you took time from your busy schedule to check up on father." Cassian gave her a firm nod
An awkward silence followed as the two stared at each other. Calen couldn't watch the exchange any longer and decided to interrupt:
"You know Cass, for someone with such a good battle instinct your situational awareness is abysmal." he said with a grin.
Cassian stiffened immediately and Elira jumped in surprise. His friend slowly turned his head to face him - his expression was impassive but his eyes betrayed how alarmed he was.
"...Am I to assume you're who brought brought us here, Calen?"
"You're sharp as ever, Cass."
Cassian's nostrils flared a little, but he didn't retort.
"A... Are.. Are we in one of the hells?" Elira asked after observing her surroundings with wide eyes.
"No, we're still in the Sun kingdom." responded Calen.
"So are you going to explain everything or..." Isara piped up from behind him.
"Right. Gather round everyone, I've got a weird-ass story to tell you."
His companions formed a semi-circle, and stared at him with expectant expressions.
"The world was invaded 500 years ago by an unknown enemy, and that invasion corrupted everything which is why everything looks like it does.
Also, the human civilization was mostly wiped out and our goal is to destroy the unspeakable evils and rebuild the society."
Calen smiled widely.
"Any questions?"
His companions looked completely dumbfounded by the absurd things they were just told, and didn't speak for quite a while. In the end Isara raised her hand.
"Yes Isa?"
"So we traveled into the future?"
"No... Yes? Kind of. We are in fact 500 years into the future, but we weren't transported here by a spell or a magical artifact. Asharil got caught up in a stasis barrier, most likely cast by master."
He pointed at the city covered by an almost invisible green dome.
"How long ago did you wake up and how do you know all of this?" asked Cassian.
"I woke up in an old storage room this morning, where an old man told me everything"
His friend gave him a deadpan expression
"It's true, the guy was ancient and apparently the one who ripped me out of the barrier. He didn't tell me much, but he did say where we can find more information.
He also gave me three displacment siglis, so that's why you're here."
Cassian thought for a moment.
"Did he choose you because of the..."
"Yes."
"I see."
"Don't be jealous that Cal ls special Cass." Teased Isara.
"I'm not special."
"I'm not jealous."
They responded almost simultaneously. They look at each other - Calen laughed and Cassian's mouth quirked up slightly.
"Uh... Um, excuse me?" Elira spoke up. "If it's not a problem, would you mind telling me what are you talking about?"
Instead of answering, Calen pulled up his sleeve and presented the mark. What he didn't expect however, was the the mark itself has changed.
It wasn't a dramatic one, but for someone who has lived with it for majority of his life it was noticeable.
The charcoal-like surface of the symbol was now threaded with thin glowing lines, making it look like a dying ember.
"Oh my!" Exclaimed Elira covering her mouth. "You're a Flamebearer, that certainly explains a lot."
All of them turned to the alchemist with quizzical expressions.
"Whenever the world is in crisis, a Flamebearer is appointed to resolve the issue." Elira cocked her head. "Did you not study the history of your predecessors?"
Calen coughed, embarrassed.
"Not carefully enough, apparently."
Mercifully, Cassian stepped in and changed the topic:
"Does the lamp contain what I assume it contains?" he pointed at the metal cage dangling from Calen's belt.
"It does. It's quite weak currently though, so we'll need to strengthen it before we go on a crusade against the corruption." Then he clapped his hands and said:
"I took the liberty of pocketing a few of your things when I was getting you out of the barrier, so now I'll give them back so that we're better prepared for what's ahead."
He took the dimensional bag off his shoulder and started pulling out various items, handing them back to their rightful owners.
"Since when do you have a bottomless bag?" asked Cassian with a raised eyebrow.
"I might have raided Grond's shop, and before you say anything, we need those things to survive. I'll pay the old man back in full if I get the chance."
Cassian gave him an unimpressed look but he didn't comment.
"Speaking of going back to the city..." Started Isara "How long do you think the barrier will hold?"
Calen watched the barrier for a few seconds and answered:
"Four years, Five maybe, If nothing goes wrong."
"So four." She the added awkwardly "Hey, so like, it's nice that you took my clothes but where am I supposed to change, exactly?"
"I thought you'll do it when we get to the place where we'll be spending the night honestly, but if you want to do it now I have an illusion cloak." he said and handed her the large cloak made of strange material.
"Thanks. Ellie, could you please hold it while I change?"
"Sure" responded the shorter girl.
The girls moved away from them, and Cassian spoke up:
"Didn't know they were friends."
"Neither did I, but it kinda makes sense, there's only a handful of young people in Asharil." responded Calen.
His friend hummed in agreement, and they both continued putting on their armour in silence.
"What's on your mind Cass?"
"Survival, mostly. You said you've found a place where we can spend the night?"
"Yeah, a ruined manor about three hours to the south. It's relatively safe from any 'wildlife' this era has to offer because a mutated spider-person used to live there."
"Used to?"
Calen looked away.
"I killed it."
He could feel Cassian's gaze on him
"Was it difficult?"
"Easier than I would have liked it to be." He looked at his friend once more. "It used to be a human, I think"
"Don't be too hard on yourself, I'm sure you did what you had to."
Calen didn't respond but he nodded weakly, seeing his reaction Cassian quickly changed the topic:
"You mentioned that the person who freed you told you where to go to find more information?"
"Yes, supposedly there's a place to the south called the putrid grove and it has everything we need to know."
"Never heard of a place like that, maybe it was built after the invasion."
"Maybe, but if I remember correctly there was an old temple dedicated to the first gods in that direction. A fine place to hide a lot of knowledge if you ask me."
At that moment the girls have come back. Isara's clothes changed, but not by much - the slevless tunic was replaced with a long-sleeved one, the shorts with pants and she was now wearing shoes appropriate for long trips.
She has also put on the protective robe, it was deep blue with delicate silver embroidery around the edges, and underneath it one could see a sheathed dagger attached to her belt.
"So, are we ready to set off?" Isara asked Calen.
"Almost, we still need to camouflage and cast spells to hide ourselves"
"Is that why you're covered in ash?"
"Yes, although in theory our magic put together should be enough to mask us completely it's better safe than sorry"
His companions proceeded to smear ash and dirt all over themselves, until they were completely covered.
"Great, now please hold hands everyone. Isa, we're casting mid-level erasure illusion, if everything goes well we'll be able to hold quiet conversation without disturbing the spell."
They formed a circle with everyone holding hands, Cassian was to his left and Elira to his right, the spit opposite to his was filled by Isara.
He and Ida has cast spells together many times, they only needed to look each other in the eye to perfectly harmonize the chant.
As the alien words filled the air, a semi-transparent dome started to form around them. It was significantly thicker and darker than the one he cast himself, which was a good sign.
A few seconds later the dome was finished, it looked stable and didn't show any signs of cracking.
"Okay, we should be fine you can let go. As long as we stay together the spell will move with us."
"And talking is fine?" Asked Cassian
"If we don't scream, yes."
They began making their way around the perimeter of the city back to the southern gate.
The silence that accompanied them was a bit oppressive so Isara started asking Calen questions about things he learned about the state of the world so far.
"So have you seen any wicked monsters?" she sounded almost excited.
"Sure I have, there are some that look like twisted versions of real animals, and some that look so alien it's difficult to compare them to anything. You'll probably see a couple yourself in the way."
"What about the vines then? They're everywhere and they're disgusting, do you know anything about them?"
"They seem to fulfill a couple key roles in the ecosystem, some creatures make their nests with them and some eat them, but I have a feeling that's not all they do. I hope we find some answers like I was promised."
"And why is the sky red?"
"Because the sun is red, and before you ask: no, I don't know why, it's probably related to the invasion and corruption in some way."
Isara pouted a little at his annoyed voice, but her smile came back quickly and she continued her questioning
"Do you know anything about the invasion?"
"Only that it started in the capital, and that the invaders are apparently from another dimension."
Isara has seemingly run out of questions after this one, but Elira has asked one in her stead:
"That place we're going to stay at for the night... did you notice anything unusual about it?"
"Apart from the human-spider hybrid nesting inside? Well, there was a still active enchantment on the basement door, I was planning on getting it open when we come back. Why are you asking?"
"Ah... You see the chief of that village was a very infamous alchemist, his name was Drithen, I believe.
He was obsessed with longevity and there were rumours he had a lot of very rare and expensive reagents in his lab..."
"...And you wanted to take them for yourself."
Her cheeks darkened slightly, but she nodded.
"Yeah sorry about that, I didn't really get anything for you from the city, but in my defense I don't know anything about alchemy."
"Please don't apologise! I should be grateful a Flamebearer has chosen me for their party."
"I feel like most people would be mad at me for putting them in mortal danger..."
He looked at his remaining two companions.
"I would have been mad if you didn't pick me" said Isara with a smile
"I've been through so many bizzare experiences because of you Calen, what's another one" shrugged Cassian
"Uh.. um, thanks guys I guess" he scratched his neck and ten added:
"and by the way at least half of those adventures were your fault Cass."
Cassian huffed but didn't respond, they both knew they were equally at fault for their little escapades.
Just as often as he would rope Cass into doing something that was 'stupid' or 'beneath him', his friend would convince him to take a part in his 'test of courage' or 'new method of training'.
That was when they were children obviously, they haven't done anything stupid in years. Well, they haven't done anything overtly stupid.
"Right, so now that I know you don't hold a grudge against me I don't feel so bad using you. When we get there there are a couple things we need to do:
First off, we need warding around the building - that's your job Isa. Cassian, you're going to do a thorough sweep of the building, see if maybe I missed something important.
Finally, Elira you're going to check if you can use the web the monster produced for anything."
"And what about you?" asked Cassian.
"Me? I'm going to try to get the basement door open."
As they got farther from the city and closer to the village they started seeing more and more monsters.
Cassian was clearly searching for weak points, and Isara looked interested by every new creature they saw, but Elira was downright fascinated.
She was mumbling to herself and Calen was sure she would be taking notes if she had something to write with.
The fungal giant got the biggest reaction, it turns out that the beautiful growth on it's back was in fact bioluminescent.
In the weak light of the dusk and from afar the creature was breathtaking.
"I suppose deadly things can be beautiful as well." murmured Calen
The light was almost gone by the time they reached the manor, not wasting any time Isara started scrolling runes in the four corners of the building
Unlike spells, wards didn't need an energy source, they fed off of the ambient magic in the air, which was made possible thanks to the careful placement of the runes and their rather subtle effects.
Calen wasn't entirely sure why, but he had a feeling that nights here were much more unpleasant than days
As the final rays of sunlight disappeared behind the horizon Isara scribbled the last rune into the wooden door and activated the enchament.
When they were sure the runes were buzzing with a soft blue light, they ran inside and locked the door. A few minutes later they heard a bone-chilling howl in the distance.
The night has begun.