The miserable group from the Descendant Order followed their injured leader through the damp catacombs beneath the Roman Capital. The hooded members wrinkled their noses at the rank fumes and stench that wafted through the air of the cramped tunnels. Rather than some dated catacombs, the tunnels they trudged through felt more like a dilapidated sewer system.
But the old withered corpses and skeletons lining the indented walls of the tunnels confirmed that they were indeed inside of the empire's forgotten catacombs. If not for the practically omniscient information network that their Order has created, such forgotten places may have never been traversed by mankind again.
Their injured leader led the way with his remaining hand waving the faint light of a crude torch. They had many makeshift tools and equipment for situations such as this that they have been taught to make, and the rudimentary torch was included in that arsenal.
The navigator of the group stood near the leader and utilized the small amount of light to decipher the old copied maps of the Empire's capital. According to the map, their position should be relatively close to the gate they were searching for.
"The old fallen Kingdom of Myria should be just up ahead. We only have a little further to go until we can locate the void gate discussed in the documents." Said the leader with a tired voice as he looked over at the map in his navigator's hands.
The navigator looked up to the leader and asked in amazement, "The Myria Kingdom? Wasn't it said to be lost to the ages for nearly five hundred years?"
"Yes, according to the myths surrounding its disappearance, I suppose it would have been lost for around that long."
"Unbelievable… To think that it was here, under the capital of the empire, for all this time…" mused the navigator with adoration.
He had not expected to be able to witness such a sight as the lost Kingdom of Myria during their mission, which was always believed to be nothing but a rumor. Amongst the gossip that drifted around inside of the Descendant Order he had heard tales of their Gods striking down the kingdom in a fit of rage.
The reasons behind such a catastrophe were not exactly certain since so much time had passed and construed the original story. All that remained was the fact that the kingdom had fallen off the face of the continent since then, never to be found again.
The stinking catacombs ended with its crumbling walls eventually leading to a wide opening. The small group carefully scaled their way over the rubble at the end and looked out into the expanse of darkness that grew before them.
"The Kingdom of Myria…" Breathlessly whispered the navigator, who ravenously soaked in the little view of the kingdom that he was afforded by the dim light of the torch.
The brief moment of wonder was concluded when their leader brought them back to their priority.
"The hold should be located there in the center of the kingdom. If the old documents are correct, then one of the ancient void gates should be somewhere deep within its halls."
The Order traveled their way through the ancient ruins quickly as the navigator expertly deciphered the old text their leader had brought with them. He was amazed by the astuteness and preparedness of their leader for bringing such precious information with them on their mission. If not for his ridiculous caution and foresight, they may have had no other way out of this expansive empire.
As they maneuvered through the rubble and crumbling buildings that fell into the dust ridden streets of the old city, they came into contact with something unique.
"Commander! There's someone up ahead!" Reported one of the men, who had scouted ahead for any signs of danger.
"Let me take a look." Replied the assassin as he stealthily followed his scout. He carefully ascended the half collapsed building whose structure had sunk into the street. He met with his scout on top of the vantage point and gazed to where his man pointed.
Faintly he could make out a small figure in the dark street further ahead at the far edge of his scout's torchlight. Until this point, they had not run into any soldiers or people since they had used the old catacombs to sneak past beneath them. But how could a soldier be present down here?
According to his knowledge, not many, if any, people in the empire realized the forgotten kingdom laid slumbering beneath them.
"I'm going to get a closer look, stay here." He commanded.
He jumped down from the building and skillfully landed in silence. Sneaking up from behind he approached the strange figure. Due to their dim lighting, he was unable to make out the appearance of the strange figure very well. However, as he quietly drew closer, he realized there was no need for alarm.
Signaling back to his scout that was still positioned at the vantage point, he casually headed back to the main group.
"What was it commander?" Asked the navigator.
"No need to worry. It was just an old fossil." He replied before gesturing to them to continue on.
The men exchanged nervous glances amongst each other in confusion after not being able to understand their leader's strange words. But they soon realized his meaning when they witnessed the "someone" that the scout had referred to.
Beyond the stone person laid in wait hundreds more, as they continued to explore deeper into the depths of the ancient kingdom. The members felt a chill run down their spines as they stared at the life-like expressions on the stone people.
It was as if actual people had been frozen in time here cursed for eternity. Their dawdling ended after a call from their leader made them hurry up.
It didn't take long for them to get to the hold with their navigator carefully guiding them in the correct direction. Although, even without him, they would have managed to find it relatively quickly. Most holds were located in the center of their respective kingdoms after all.
But now, their navigator would truly be of use since they needed to locate the whereabouts of the ancient void gate supposedly located in the ancient Kingdom of Myria. The navigator studied the documents filled with the old text. It would be difficult to understand from here on since most of the words describing the void gate were pretty abstract.
According to the text, the Myria Kingdom was a nation of summoners. They were among the first people who aggressively studied the void gates since it was essentially a gate to another realm. A realm they monikered as "The Void".
Most of the Order's information regarding the void gates came from the ancient texts of this lost civilization. That, and the experiments which the Order very frequently performed. Similar to their own methods, the Myria Kingdom also conducted many experiments that further advanced the knowledge on these ancient gates.
As the first documented discoverer of the void, the Myria Kingdom believed it was a realm that existed outside of all other realms yet connected them all. It was like the vast ocean that trickled out and split into many different rivers and streams.
The old texts went on for quite a while through all the theories and experiments that either proved or disproved these insane ideas, but did not mention any of the gates' locations. It did however, mention there being multiple gates and the possibility of travel between them.
"Commander… There isn't much more in here that could lead us to their void gate." Said the navigator as he read to the end of the texts.
"Look through again. Until you find something, the rest will spread out and search on our own for more leads." Replied the leader.
The navigator nervously looked back down the old documents and began reading through them again. There was little else he could do than besides hoping to find a hidden message of any kind in the confusing text.
Time passed before the man stationed at a higher vantage point in the hold returned to the leader and navigator.
"Commander… We have company."
The leader looked over to the navigator that frantically gripped the old pages and feverishly scanned through them at an even faster rate.
"How many are there?" Asked the leader while glancing back at his watchman.
"I only saw three sets of light sir, but it branched out into many more after they entered the outskirts of the city."
The leader paused and assessed their situation. They needed to find the gate as soon as possible since it was their only means of escape or reinforcement. However, if they could not locate it in time then they would be killed off eventually, even if they hid down here. There was no source of food or water in this dark cavern and they had not brought any with them in order to lessen the load and move faster.
"We'll have to stall for time… Go and fetch half of the others to engage the intruders. The rest will stay here and continue the search." He instructed.
"Yes commander."
The watchman ran off quickly to fetch more hands in order to lay an ambush for their uninvited guests. The leader was unsure whether they would indeed be able to escape or not, but he sure as hell would die trying.
"C-Commander! I think I found something!" Said a voice coming from a hall across from them.
"Lead the way."
The navigator followed along with the two men and the trio entered into what appeared to be a throne room. Once grand pillars were half missing or cracked and crumbling while a massive gorge scarred the room's floor.
The gorge spanned beneath their feet from the front of an old throne to almost the arched doorway they entered through. It was wide and very dark, with its depth being left to only their imagination.
Many stone figures were strewn around the room with a few even clinging against the edges and walls of the gorge. It was like they were frantically trying to escape from whatever terrible thing laid at the bottom.
"Is this what you wanted to show me?" Asked the assassin leader as he peered over the edge into the dark depths of the chasm.
"Not just that… This way sir." Beckoned the member as he led him into a hall adjacent to the ruined throne room.
As they walked through the winding halls of the hold, the leader noticed a change in the stone people. Not only did they now appear different, with clothes similar to that of robes, they were all trapped running in place towards the same direction.
"Where is it that these people lead to?" Questioned the leader as he realized the intentions of the frozen stone people.
"A room down the hall… And I believe I've found what we were searching for."
Further down the hallway, the stone priest-looking people grew substantially in number, practically blocking out most of the room in the cramped hallway.
They pushed the statue-like people out of their way and wrestled themselves through the crowded doorway they all seemed to be running to. Inside were many more of these priests, who all faced the same direction.
The assassin turned his head and moved the torch in his hand over towards the wall all the statues faced towards. A large black gate presented itself in the warm light that made its obsidian colored posts shimmer.
"There it is!" Exclaimed the assassin.