Kassasi and Madrona had elected not to test what would happen if they attempted a teleportation spell that would exceed the tether that bound them together, instead opting to always teleport as a pair and to the same location. However now as the world around them exploded they both reacted too quickly to coordinate. They both grabbed for their packs and Short Hopped… unfortunately they did so in opposite directions. As they vanished they move instantly away from each other, reaching the limit of fifty feet they had between them, and found themselves being ripped from their spell, spilling out of their transport. They halted with great force and their bodies wrenched, pain stabbed into the two of them as shoulders threatened to dislocated. To top it all they hadn’t managed to move beyond the Glyph Trap’s radius and they were both consumed by wreathing flame and force. They huddled there being battered by the magic, lucky enough to be far enough to not endure the fatal forces at the epicenter. It hurt, however, and the two took long moments to rise after it was all over. Kassadi stumbled towards Madrona in a daze, blood dripping from several wounds she received from the shattered shards of the table she was pelted by. Madrona, less effected by the firestorm was instead clutching at temples, begging the ringing in her ear to go away so she might focus instead on what she was sure was a broken rib and shattered kneecap she received as she was bowled over by a flying armchair.
“Ma… Madrona.” Kassadi managed, still struggling to stay on two feet. Her vision was blurry and she was seeing doubles. She managed to fall to one side beside her Inferni friend.
“Kassadi?” Madrona squinted and shook her head, the ringing made it so hard to focus on anything. Except for the pain, that was easy to focus on.
“I’m a mess Madrona.” Kassadi whimpered. Rolling over a fresh pain shit through her side, she reached down and found a foot long splinter of wood sticking out from her abdomin. “A big mess.” She choked out.
“Not much better here.” Madrona grunted. She panted, shook her head, she was so dizzy. “Why invite us if she was gonna set a trap?”
“It would have… signaled her if it killed anyone.” Kassadi explained, reaching into her pack. It was more of a struggle than it should have been, but eventually she was in the pouch and drawing out two vials of red liquid. She passed one to Madrona.
“Oh thank the gods.” Madrona said as she took the vial. She pulled free the stopper and drank it down, wincing at the flavor. But she relaxed soon after, the ringing stopped and the pain ebbed away. The sensation of a rib and knee healing over a matter of seconds was strange but not unwelcome. “She didn’t take these?” She asked, glancing over at Kassadi.
“She doesn’t care about what we have in our packs.” Kassadi said, taking the wooden spear in her stomach and with a jerk and a yelp freeing it from her. Blood began to flow from her in gouts but she was already quaffing her own healing potion. The wounds all started to close rapidly leaving Kassadi a bloody mess, but unmarred. “She cares about whats on our wrists.”
“It would have signaled if it killed us, but what about just being triggered, does she know?” Madrona pushed herself off the floor.
“Yep.” Kassadi said, rolling to sit on the floor. She looked around at the destruction of the room. “Probably real pissed she blew up her study and didn’t even get one of us.”
“Her problem to deal with.” Madrona said, she glanced up to the wall where the portait of Valel Hex sitting in her throne rested, burning. The flames caused the paint to crack and bubble while the canvas curled. Madrona stared as the commanding features of Valel, the power in her eyes and the demand for respect in her posture was overtaken by the fire, the power of the woman consumed by smoke and turned to naught but ash. “Can we win this, Kassadi?”
“Don’t know.” Kassadi frowned, now digging through her pack to pull out her clothes. She was thrilled to see them, but the excitement didn’t quite rise to her expression. It was muted by the situation. “I don’t know the extent of your powers, Madrona, I can see that you're pretty powerful and while I may not be a world famous Wizard, I was schooled at the most highly regarded Arcane Academies on the continent… but I don’t know.” Kassadi let the uncertainly hang as she stripped herself of the bugbear’s clothes right there in the study. She wasn’t the most modest at the best of times and right now it… didn’t seem to matter.
“I don’t even know my own capabilities.” Madrona stated morosely. She glanced at Kassadi, seeing the woman’s exposed body. She frowned as she spotted the numerous wounds the woman had suffered over the past few days. The healing of magic and potion had closed the wounds and they hadn’t even scarred, but a careful eye could see where skin had been pierced, torn, battered, and burned. It was a little too new, a little too fresh compared to the rest. Madrona saw this new skin on Kassadi’s arm, across her face and down her chest. She saw it on her back and her thighs and a large patch of too new skin in her stomach, where she had been skewered by a piece of shrapnel that, had they not had the potion, Madrona realized would have killed her. That was one spell from Travlona, one. Madrona turned and began to get dressed herself.
“We only have one potion left.” Kassadi said, seemingly ruminating on the same thing.
“Hold on to it.” Madrona said as she pulled a boot on.
“No you should have it!” Kassadi said, taking the vial and offering it to Madrona. “Come on we both know who has their head screwed on tighter between us.” Madrona glanced at the vial and shook her head.
“And we both know who’s gonna need it more. I’m Inferni, Kassadi. I am walkng into this with more protection than you from the start. And you have spells I’m sure that can get you to me in an instant. I’m new to teleportation magic, I want that in your hands because I trust you to use it right.”
“You trust me?” Kassadi asked softly.
“Yes.” Madrona furrowed her brow at the statement. “I guess I do.” She smiled and stepped towards Kassadi, giving her a gentle side hug. Kassadi let out a squeak of excitement.
“That’s so nice Madrona!” The Wizard said, making a strong effort to not let any tears show. “No one ever trusts me.” She was failing, her lip trembled and there were in fact tears showing.
“Come on now.” Madrona said, trying to veer Kassadi away from breaking down. “We have time for that later. We have to finish this.”
“Yeah.” Kassadi said with a nod. She sniffed and wiped her face. “Yeah we need to finish this. Well, she told us where she is.”
“She did, which means it won’t be easy to get to.”
Steeled now, the two left the manor. The comfort of being in their own clothes for the first time in two days was hampered by the severity of their situation. They made their way back down the road and headed north, following the road only about three and a half miles before turning east. There was no road to follow now but they both knew the way. They walked until they found themselves in a large clearing, the grass seemingly unwilling to grow. The dirt was hard and cold even in the sun of the late afternoon. Here under their feet lay the place where this would all come to an end, the labyrinth of Valel Hex, the Passionis Vault. Kassadi reached out to an innocuous stone on the ground and felt for a notch she knew was there. Pressing it in the ground began to rumble, the earth split open and a stone arch emerged. It was intricately carved and designed to be both beautiful and frightening. The women stared as the entrance to the maze revealed itself. They took the last safe breath they could have and moved to the arch, passing the threshold. As they did there was a thrum of energy and suddenly all of the sconces burst into black flames. Despite their color they still shone light down the hall, Madrona and Kassadi glanced at each other in confusion. They had both been here not too long ago, both entered the same way, the rock switch being a commonly known path to the maze, however the sconces did not light the last time they entered. It almost seemed to be an invitation, but it felt more like a threat.
“That’s new.” Madrona said cautiously.
“No.” Kassadi corrected, a deep concern on her face. “That’s old.”
“What do you mean?” Madrona eyed the Wizard.
“Travlona is an expert in everything Valel Hex… Including the inner workings of the labyrinth.” Kassadi said, worry in her voice.
“Oh no.” Madrona realized what Kassadi had surmised.
“Yep. Travlona has reactivated the lost magic of the Passionis Vault. All of it’s traps and defenses. It’s no longer an aging relic, it’s back in tip top shape. And it wasn’t even that easy to traverse when it was a relic.” Kassadi swallowed hard.
“Fantastic.” Madrona said, spitting the word.
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