As soon as the master finally fell asleep Kwez looked around. He left the cave where master was but something seemed to stay in place though, like a shadowy imprint of the small creature.
Now where was it exactly?
He had noticed early on that the stone labyrinth they were in seemingly blocked master's eye from seeing much of anything. But he felt a tumultuous energy and it was surely on the other side of the labyrinth, that much was doubtlessly clear. Even when they were just drawing nearer Kwez had already started feeling it. A gentle and steady flow of magic that was cutting away the pillars of reality very much like a saw did on a tree. It felt rather interesting, but Kwez was quite sure that the reason for that was not something that was connected to the grimoire his master was after.
The feeling of the mage was mysterious to even the likes of Kwez, as it was similar and different to ancient magic at the same time. Kwez was quite sure the concept of it was somewhat familiar, the application of it on the other hand was decidedly unfamiliar. Quite a conundrum if you asked him.
If he followed his instinct it was telling him that at the same time a bustling lively city was nearby, while there was a certain impression of death and decay to it all the same but different from what he would say undead things were like. Peculiar, really.
It was rather similar to something in between life and death, but then again not.
Kwez was just growing more curious, that was for sure. It was quite a mystery begging to be solved.
Giggling Kwez was darting through narrow passages that contorted more and more, the deeper he went into them. One would expect him to get lost at some point, but that was about impossible for Kwez.
Following his way all of a sudden he was out in the open. Wondering he turned around, but yes, there were the polished walls, no mistake. Blinking he looked around. Right, that was the exit it seemed.
Bizarre was not quite enough to describe the phenomenon.
He had reached the last passage, as it was, no crossings to be found. The path he followed was winding like a slithering snake, just smooth walls on either side, though still up high he could make out the stars. After a few turns he stopped and remained rooted on the spot, disbelievingly staring.
The walls had parted and spanned to either sides quite a bit. In front of him it seemed as if buildings were growing out of the stone, clearly manmade, but having been expertly crafted, they did look anything but crude. Though decrepit in many places now you could still get a feel for how artfully they looked when still filled with life. Many different woods could be seen, even if rotten and enough of the buildings seemed to have broken down to some extent, as he could see debris and splintered wood and the like.
It started getting strange when he went exploring though. As soon as he was near a building it did seem pristine as could be, no damage whatsoever visible, looking newly built. When he was farther away again the ruins appeared just like before. Curiously he went to a rather destroyed building, looking whether he could enter. He could, the stairs that shouldn't be there were working just as they had been build. Stair, ladders, wooden railings, beams that had collapsed and taken half of the buildings with them they had been supporting, it all was fine when you wanted to go inside somewhere. Odd was just not covering that either.
Attentively checking the surroundings he found a few cave systems that weren't natural either. He wasn't sure what purpose they served exactly, but they were rather extensive as well. Some were filled with water and didn't seem flooded, so Kwez was quite sure they were for that exact purpose. What was more, he wasn't sure but seemingly he heard a clanging from time to time, but it was so faint it might have been his imagination.
Still, he hadn't found something that would have looked like a warlocks dwelling, so maybe the grimoire was somewhere in those caverns, which might make a search rather arduous. Plus, the architecture style had quite changed from the last time he had been roaming the lands, so his knowledge might just be woefully out of date. Hopefully the master had a better idea.
When Nic laid his eyes upon the city he was floored. At first in a sense of amazement, which turned to bone deep horror within moments. He swallowed heavily, shaking like a leaf and his hands were anything but steady. He didn't follow his first impulse of drinking water as he would have just been spilling it everywhere.
"What has gotten into you, master?" Kwez asked deeply confused.
Faintly he sat down on a stair nearby, glassy eyes roaming the scenery. "I take it you can't see the people then, right?"
Kwez frowned, taking another look around, eyes squinted. "What people?"
"Well, going from your description, that thing with being alive and dead at the same time. Well, I am seeing something like..." he was struggling to put into words what he exactly was seeing, but nothing else came to mind. "... Ghosts. Though it might be a bit different from the usual thing, I'd say."
He could hardly call it anything else. Shivering he noticed the hustle and bustle what his milky eye was seeing. Merchants and their customers, obviously haggling, craftsmen, busily hammering away as did the black smiths, shopping women and many more. It looked like they were preparing for some kind of celebration or other, but he couldn't hear a single sound. Plus, what he saw was weirdly transparent, rather similar of what he knew of ghost to a certain degree, but well. Ghosts usually were something to be frightened of, being driven by revenge most of the time or hanging around as something of great importance had been left unfulfilled or other. And not so alive, in lack of a better word. It was as if he was watching something through a foggy looking glass or ice. If he closed his normal eye the image got a bit clearer. The other way around the people weren't visible anymore.
It was a bit of a headache inducing phenomenon, but ever since that strange happenstance his hurt eye could perceive things he hadn't noticed before. And if he compared this with what he had seen in the magical city All-Mag'Ick, then it was like comparing a colorful and vibrant chaos of splashing and moving colors to something that had been bleached a few times to many.
Nic was left wondering whether the people there were alive or even aware of their state. Though as far as he could see they went about their day normal as usual. If anything was different then not in a sense of being a great concern to anyone. On the other hand, maybe they were better of not knowing, for all that it didn't seem to matter much.
It wasn't like he had an idea what it was after all.
Heck, even Kwez had admitted as much, so he didn't see much of a point in trying to solve it.
And then he just had to picture that, suddenly becoming aware of such a state of being. Blinking he came to the conclusion that this either had happened on purpose or a terrible accident might be the reason for this. He wasn't sure what was worse16.
"Let's just go and ... look for the book," he concluded. He had no idea if anything could be done and if there was, he was rather sure he didn't have the means.
This time Nic wasn't quite sure where it went sideways, but it did and in a spectacular fashion at that. And much more annoying than Nic would have liked for sure.
After having found water and finding it to be drinkable he went to explore the caves. Which contained a number of trapes, few of magical nature, thankfully, but Nic had to admit it was a bit of a problem as he wasn't all that good at dismantling physical ones. Kwez thankfully managed to find many of them before they went of or had a chance of doing so, others had already gone of for some reason or other or just broken down as parts of them had withered. But still, that approach did sadly not work universally, and they ended up in a very irritating situation because of that.
It went like this: Just beneath Nic's feet a part of the floor had unexpectedly given way and he had just gotten to the other side with stable ground with a timely dive. Even that had been a close thing, as Kwez had had to help. Though Kwez could probably carry him a bit, Nic was still a bit green around the nose and wasn't about to tempt fate as the critter had said that he felt strangely weighed down around this place for whatever reason. With the trap having been a bit larger than your usual pit trap that was a bit far now. And of course, when he went further to just go the other way around he just found a dead end, what else?
Nic had just sat down there, thinking of what to do. He could try climbing, sure, but he was rather worried about the distance he would have to cover, plus, well. The walls were not all that rough, meaning he wasn't even sure he would even be able to get started altogether. Or could be stuck in the middle without being able to get back, knowing his luck.
Still pondering what his options were he noticed a distinct clanging sound, that seemed to stem from somewhere nearby. Puzzled he looked around but couldn't find the source of it. Then a few minutes later a part of the wall started crumbling and he noticed a sharp end of a pickaxe sticking out of it. With a mix of fear and curiosity he waited a bit, the hole growing larger and larger. Suddenly all went rather quiet and a dirt caked face was looking at him. Blinking Nic stared, the beady eyes looking around, their owner seemingly miffed.
"Dan'it, wron'turn again," a deep voice rumbled. "An'who you?"
**********
16That he tried to essentially one day reach for similar power was clear to him, but honestly. Something like that was a bit unnecessary. Without subjects ruling was a bit difficult after all.