A small mouse swam quietly in a dark space.
It spotted a small floating seed and rushed towards it, swallowing it quickly.
Suddenly, a loud noise rang out, and a large silhouette fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing the mouse as light appeared in the tunnel for the first time in years.
The naga stepped aside, and others jumped shortly after him.
About seventy serpentine silhouettes filled the narrow space, led by two Valyrs and two enormous nagas.
"We're not far now. It's should be at the next intersection," said the Valyr man.
They followed Ilbert's directions and soon stopped in the middle of the sewers.
Sylvera looked around. No matter how many times he checked, he couldn't spot anything special.
"Are you sure about this, old man? There's nothing here!" he said.
Liam smiled and placed his hand on his saint's shoulder.
"Patience, there's more here than meets the eye."
As Liam calmed the naga, Ilbert bit his finger and applied the bloody wound to the wall.
After injecting his mana into it, several bright runes lit up on the wall, centered on the bloodstains.
"A lineage verification, huh," thought Liam.
This kind of magic was quite effective and allowed access only to those with the same bloodline.
Of course, there were huge loopholes in this kind of protection. For example, all it took was a sample of the right person's blood to open the safe.
Of course, it wasn't the only protection measure implemented by the Valyr royalty.
Secret codes, soul recognition... Ilbert went through a slew of security measures.
Over a quarter of an hour later, a small platform rose from the ground, and Ilbert turned to his granddaughter.
"Ruvia, put the royal seal on the pedestal. It's the final key."
The young Valyr mage stepped forward, removed her necklace, and placed it on the pedestal.
A few seconds later, a bunch of runes lit up on the pedestal and the ground shacked slightly as it sank into the ground and the walls retracted, revealing a small door.
Ilbert turned to Liam.
"After you!"
The group entered without hesitation, leaving the four great warriors to guard the door – another one had reached rank 3 since then – while the others followed the Valyrs.
After about ten meters, the flat ground turned into a spiral staircase, and they descended into the depths of the plane.
As he looked around, Liam noticed that the entire structure had been reinforced with a multitude of runes and formations.
Even intermediate powerhouses would take some time to damage these installations.
This was clearly not the kind of thing that could be acquired in a few years but represented the accumulation of the Valyrs over thousands of years.
As they went down, Ilbert began to chart the history of the building.
"Every year, the royal family invested part of its resources in this vault and reinforced it. Potions, magical plants, minerals, spiritual stones, weapons... there's almost everything. At the same time, we would retrieve what was beginning to age and redistribute it to improve our forces."
"The area has been relocated three times since its creation and is now nearly five hundred meters below the surface. At the same time, we have spent so many resources to strengthen it that only few people may damage it, and even detecting it is almost impossible."
"When our ancestor learned of the existence of the gods, he realized that our race might one day face extinction and ordered the creation of this treasure vault, which was to serve as a lifesaver in case of disaster..."
As he reached the last step, the old man couldn't help but sigh.
"But who could have guessed that we didn't fall because of the gods, but because of the greed of our own people."
The rest of the group emerged from the staircase and entered a huge treasure vault.
It was made of beautiful white stones and was a fifty-meter-wide and two-hundred-meter-long rectangle, with a height of about ten meters.
There were hundreds of shelves engraved with runes and several huge sealing formations.
The eyes of the nagas widened, and Ruvia was left speechless.
It goes without saying that the fake cellar she found must have been nothing but a decoy and looked pitiful compared to this room.
Liam deployed his spiritual sense and smiled as he counted everything in the room.
He spent several thousand faith points and opened a spatial channel directly into the spiritual isolation formation of his divine realm.
"Alright guys dismantle the shelves and take everything inside."
He would prefer to directly send the entire vault into his divine realm, but it was too much for a mid-tier demi-plane.
He could only send the magical shelves one by one into his domain with everything inside.
These shelves were a treasure themselves. Each of them was covered with a multitude of formations that would slow down the decomposition of what is placed on them, and they were of considerable value.
As the nagas worked on the task, Ilbert approached Liam with a serious expression.
"What's troubling you, tell me!"
The Valyr great elder took a deep breath and looked Liam in the eyes.
"I have a request to make of you. Even though there were only three magus in Vinaya City, they probably managed to hold off our enemies long enough for the citizens to escape. Since both races were running out of time, it is very likely that they did not chase them at all, so many should have escaped."
Liam nodded, understanding what the old Valyr wanted.
"I know what you mean. You probably want me to accept them into our world, right?"
Ilbert lowered his eyes, a bit embarrassed, and an awkward silence fell between the two.
"Well, I agree with that, but they must all become believers of our lord and must not disrupt the balance of our world!"
Liam had already anticipated that this would happen. What kind of guardian would leave his race behind?
Moreover, there shouldn't be more than a few hundred Valyrs, and the demi-plane could tolerate it after some time; there weren't really any downsides to recruiting more mages.
Earring that, Ilbert straightened up and looked at him gratefully.
"Thank you very much your Excellency! I can guarantee that there will be no problem with them!"
"Don't rejoice too quickly," said Liam. "We will only stay in the plane for thirteen days before definitively leaving. We won't wait for stragglers!"
The old man smiled mysteriously.
"Don't worry about that. The kingdom had everything planned!"
...
Huf huf huf
A figure wrapped in a worn cloak hurried through the forest.
There were about a dozen large wolfs on his heels, rushing with their mouths open just behind him.
Even though he ran with all his might, he couldn't outpace the beasts the size of a small car, and the distance between them was quickly closing.
As he already imagined his pursuers tearing him to pieces, a gust of wind blade flew over him and crashed into the pack.
BOOM.
Several trees fell down and blood splattered as dust filled the air.
Another figure rushed in, holding a long staff engraved with a few runes and with a large satchel slung over his shoulder.
"Jake!"
As he saw the new arrival, the pursued figure threw himself into his arms, knocking his hood off.
It was a young Valyr barely a dozen years old.
As the dust cleared, several wolves slowly emerged and bared their teeth at the two Valyrs, growling.
"Back off!"
Jake shouted, releasing his full beginner acolyte aura.
The wild beasts looked at each other and hesitated. They had already lost three pack members in the earlier attack and were now down to just eight.
They quickly weighed the pros and cons and decided it wasn't worth it. Slowly, they turned around and disappeared into the depths of the forest.
Jake breathed a sigh of relief as he saw them vanish.
It was pure bluff, and he would have struggled to oppose so many wild beasts: he had already exhausted his catalysts, and his spells would have been much weaker.
Finally, he became aware of the leech clinging to him and managed to detach it.
Slap
After giving him a hefty slap, he bent down and looked at him with angry eyes.
"Damn it, Issen, what are you doing here? You've alerted everyone, and we've been looking for you everywhere!"
The boy held back his tears and touched his still stinging cheek as he sniffled.
"I... I wanted to fight monsters, like you and Uncle Owen..."
"What, but what the fuck do y... ha!"
Jake couldn't help but sigh.
Issen was his little brother, born short after the war. Their father died during the war as he was defending the city while their mother passed away a few years ago from a deadly illness.
With his uncle, Owen, they were his only parents.
He lowered himself to Issen's level with a serious expression but much gentler.
"Listen, Issen, wild beasts are very fierce and cunning. You only became a transcendent a few months ago. Even your uncle and I have trouble to fight them. You're far from being able to face them, so promise me you won't do something like this again, okay?"
The young Valyr bit his lip but eventually nodded.
Jake nodded and took his hand.
"Come on, let's go back. The wolves might come back."
...
After some time, the two brothers arrived at the base of a hill and found a small cave.
They entered without hesitation, and after a while, the landscape changed from irregular and haphazard ground to smooth and clear.
As they approached, they heard echoes of a lively conversation coming from the depths of the cave.
"We can't continue like this! Maria and Wilson died last month looking for food, and Tretcher was seriously injured a few days ago," roared a voice.
"Calm down, Dexter, yelling won't solve anything," said another.
"What do I have to calm down about? Look around you, Owen! We were over thirty when we arrived here, but now only nine of us remain!" replied the first voice.
"He's right," said a female voice. "We'll all end up dead if we don't find a solution."
Haaa
Owen sighed.
He really couldn't do anything to improve their situation.
He didn't know the dire straits their enemies were in and was afraid he would lead everyone to their deaths if they revealed themselves.
They could only stay in the outer area of the forest, hoping that no one would find them.
At that moment, Issen and Jake entered their field of vision, and the young Valyr rushed towards his uncle.
"Uncle Owen!" he cried, throwing himself into his arms.
The middle-aged Valyr smiled as he picked up the child, but his moment of happiness was short-lived as a bitter voice sounded behind him.
"It's not done yet Owen. We need to find a solution, and quickly."
He put the child down and turned around, preparing to respond when a strange sound came from behind him.
chrchrchrchr
A strange crackling sound echoed in the cave, catching the attention of all the Valyr survivors.
Jake looked at the pendant hanging around his neck and unclasped it to examine more closely.
It was the official acolyte medallion of his father that he gave him just before he left to cover their retreat.
As time went by, the volume of the crackling increased, and some sounds began to be discernible.
"chrchrchrchrchrchrchrchrchr – harsh – chrchrchrchrchrchrchr – not the mome – chrchrchrchrchr – ly found a w – chrchrchrchr – ny time. We will only b – chrchr – the tree month. All hope is not lost!"
"Ilbert Luminara here, former great elder of the Valyr race. I address every Valyrs still alive and who wish to finally be able to hold their heads up – chrchr – recent times have been harsh. The pain of losing our loved ones and our homes marked each of us. However it is not the time to give up. We finally found a way to leave this world in the – chrchr – of Vinaya City and are ready to leave at any time. We will only be able to keep the portal open until the 18th day of the tree month. All hope is not lost!"
"Ilbert Luminara here, the former great elder of..."
The message keep to play as they all looked at each other, eyes wide with surprise.
They had always thought that these medallions were merely iron plaques that symbolize their status and throw them away long time ago; it was the only one that remained.
Finally, a Valyr woman couldn't hold back her tears and began to cry with joy like a baby, followed by several other Valyrs survivors.
"And what if... it's a trap?" Jake said timidly.
This cast a heavy silence in the cave as everyone seemed to receive a cold shower.
Finally, Owen pounded his fist on the table and said sharply:
"Even if it's a trap, I'll go. As Dexter said, we're just waiting for death by staying here. If I have to die, at least I'll do it while trying to change things!"
...
The same situations occurred in many places around the ruins of the coastal city.
After facing so many hardships, almost all the groups that received the message packed up what few belongings they had and prepared to return to the place they had fled years ago.