Part 1

“Oh spirits, hear my voice, and grant your servant powerful magic,” Caeli prayed, hands raised before the gaping maw of the cavernous dungeon. “Obey your master, oh spirits of the past and—”

“Come on, we’re waiting. Hurry up with your little ritual already,” Velu cut in.

“...And grant us protection from forces—”

“Does that even work?” Velu interrupted again. “I mean, you say it sometimes but you don’t seem to be any stronger?”

Caeli halted, her pointed ears twitching. She glared down at the lightly furred face of her partner. “A beast like you wouldn’t know what works or doesn’t when it comes to magic,” the half-elf argued, avoiding actually answering the question.

“Beast!? Hey, that’s rude!” the catgirl hissed, yellow eyes narrowing. “Maybe I won’t keep a watch for you. I hope you bang your head on a… a… stalagmite!”

“It’s stalactite, you uneducated hairball.”

“Uneducated!? We go to the same academy! Alina,” Velu ducked back, her hands on their third party member’s shoulders, “Caeli is being mean to me!”

“What are you, five?” Caeli scoffed. “Don’t bug her.”

“Well at least she’s doing something useful rather than saying dumb chants,” Velu countered, sticking her little tongue out at the half-elf.

Alina, the only full human of the ensemble, looked up from her map as Velu’s paw-like hands shook her shoulders. “What? What’s going on?” she asked, a bit startled but the jostling before realizing it was just the other two bickering again. She pushed her glasses up, looking between the other two girls. “Yeah, sorry, coming.” She rolled up the map as Velu rolled her eyes. “You guys ready?” she asked.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Velu eagerly answered, the slight forgotten with the prospect of actually moving along.

“...fromforcesthatconspireagainstus. Yes!” Caeli fist pumped as she spit out the rest of the prayer. “Come on, we’re waiting.”

Alina stepped up, lighting a torch for her and Caeli to see by. “Step carefully now,” she cautioned them. “The map showed the overall labyrinth, but there may be inaccuracies.” She drew her sword, a long but skinny thing held deftly in her right hand, and slowly led them in.

“Slime!” Velu called out after a minute inside, her eyes far more attuned to spotting the washed out green blobs on the dark grey walls. Before Caeli could draw an arrow or begin a chant, she was already leaping onto it, sinking twin daggers into the gelatinous form. It let out a squeal, like air escaping a balloon, before stilling, the membranous sack seeping ooze.

“You called that late,” Caeli gripped, lowering her bow.

“I called it just in time,” Velu argued, turning with her hands on her hips. “It was— ACK!” She grunted as another slime dropped from the ceiling, landing on her head and enveloping it.

“…Five more seconds and I shoot,” Caeli said with a smirk as she walked up beside Alina.

“Don’t you dare,” Alina sighed, sheathing her sword. “Come on, Velu, you got this!” she cheered instead.

The catgirl squinted, sharp nails clawing at the gelatinous membrane nesting over her. In only three more seconds she threw the small monster off of her, slamming it to the ground. “YOU! GUYS! SUCK! SO! MUCH!” she grunted as she stabbed it with each word.

Alina cleared her throat. “The slimes, or…?”

Velu spun on them. “You could have helped me.”

“I was going to,” Caeli sighed wistfully, looking down at the still notched arrow.

Alina slowly walked over to her, glancing around to ensure there would be no further surprises. “You were fine,” she reassured, patting her friend on the back. “Your hair’s a little… slick, though.” She offered a handkerchief.

Velu ignored it, grunting and pulling up the front of her shirt to try and wipe away the residual mucus.

“Animal,” Caeli muttered at the display.

“And you’re just a halfblood,” Velu argued back, lowering her shirt enough to stick out her tongue.

“H-half— All us half-elves are just half; that’s what makes us half-elves, obviously,” Caeli sputtered.

“…Alright then.” Alina hesitated, not sure where to cut in. “The crystal formation should be up ahead. Shall we continue? If you two can handle it.”

“Yes!” they both shouted in unison before glaring at each other. Alina just smirked as she walked further in, again brandishing her lengthy rapier with her free hand, the other still holding a source of light for her and Caeli.

The movement through the caves was decent, a steady pace as they passed from cavern to cavern. They dealt mostly with slimes, the bulbous creatures skittering around like quick gelatinous slugs, but far larger. Most were easily slashed or stabbed by Velu though when there were at least three, Caeli didn’t pass up the opportunity for target practice, even if it resulted in two broken arrows.

“Alright, girls,” Alina said, peeking at the map, “the cave crystals should be just around—”

“Chit! Tch! Kchit!” A series of sharp clicking noises echoed around them.

Velu actually hissed, her hair standing on end. “…Lizards,” she warned, as if the distinct noise didn’t make it obvious. “I thought this test was supposed to be safe,” she whispered.

“It is… was,” Alina replied.

“What, you scared, hairball?” Caeli questioned with a smirk.

“Shove an arrow in it!”

“Quiet!” Alina snapped, shutting them up. She held out the torch, trying to get a full view of the empty cavern they stood in. Five gaping maws led to further areas, including the one they had just come through, leaving four as possible points of attack. “Caeli, watch right. Velu, left,” she ordered, staring ahead at the two passages in front, blinking at the wall in between.

The wall blinked back.

CLANG!

The first strike came for Alina, the light source. She barely reacted in time, raising her blade to defend with the base, barely missing the hilt.

“CHI! TCH CHLK CHI!” Its skin, ashen grey, had given it opportunity for ambush. Its jagged rusty blade had swung from behind its back, aiming for her skull. It stood a head over her, on par with Caeli, and used that advantage as it weighed down on her. Her legs bent, trying to take the weight, but she could feel her knees threatening to buckle.

“G-guys… help,” she huffed as the lizardman licked its lips.

“No good,” Velu grunted as she lashed out, kicking one of the two charging her before crossing her daggers to block the second’s blade, though the force of it still drove the handle into her jaw.

Fwip!

The sound was repeated thrice more as arrows were frantically buried in the chests of the lizards. “Got them!” she cheered. “Ahem, I mean, of course I did.”

“Not quite,” Velu grumbled as she wiped blood from her lip.

Only the one that was charging Caeli stayed down, drooling blood, while the other three cried out in guttural screeches, stunned but not defeated.

“Ah! Alfura Uropai!” Alina almost didn’t hesitate, spending nearly her last second chanting the spell while leaping from her low position. Her sword drove in slightly off centre, where the arrow beside had been intended. Her lizardman squealed as the shimmering blade pierced its heart before falling, slumping over. Alina shook it off with a look of disgust as the edge of the sword stilled, the vibration dying out.

“Come on!” Velu screamed at the pair running at her, this time in unison. He daggers rapped against each other before she charged at them in turn, each with a blade level to its throat.

“Alfura Bront Kanti!” Twin pillars of fire erupted around the lizardmen, and Velu hissed, jumping back, shielding her eyes from the sudden burst of light. “There,” Caeli sighed, patting Velu on the back, “I did get them.”

Velu slowly turned, narrowing her eyes at the taller girl. “Nearly burnt my fur is what you did,” she grumbled.

Caeli shrugged. “Blame the spirits.” She turned back and looked at the lizardman bleeding behind her. Walking over, she pulled the arrow from its chest and slashed the tip across its throat, ceasing its flickering eyes. “Alina, I thought this was supposed to be a safe test.”

Alina flicked the blood from her sword as best she could before adjusting her glasses. “It was supposed to be. Professor Izzak didn’t say otherwise. Just get to the cave, grab the crystals, and return,” she recited. “The map…” She pulled the rolled sheet out and looked it over, the edges trembling slightly. “It doesn’t indicate any lizardmen around here. Just that the cavern is around the corner.” She tucked the parchment back away, missing her bag on the first attempt. “Should we go back?”

“I can’t afford to fail this test,” Velu grumbled.

“Me neither,” Caeli agreed.

The catgirl turned. “Oh? Miss straight A’s can’t take a 0?”

“How else would I stay ahead of you… Not that it’s that hard with your marks.”

“Hey, hey,” Alina cut in. “So we keep going.” We were fine. Enough. Fine enough,” she rambled. “Just, it’s this way, around here.” She readjusted her glasses as she led them, momentarily forgetting their practised walking order until Velu stepped ahead. “To the left,” she directed, and Velu nodded as she led them around the corner.

“…Wow,” Velu said first, slowing in her tracks.

The other two followed, Alina almost walking into the catgirl before steering around. The light of her torch seemed to bounce around unnaturally, making it unclear what they were walking into. “Alfura Signala!” Caeli called. All around, little pockets of light quickly appeared, giving off bright white light that refracted throughout the room. Crimson reds, fiery yellows, emerald greens, and deep blues danced from end to end as the slightest wavering of their sources shifted each resulting spectrum, bathing the room in a pool of rainbow spectacle.

“Wow,” all three of them softly gasped in unison, the new sight putting to shame the hollow beauty Velu saw only seconds previous.

“Alright, girls,” Alina said after collecting herself and adjusting her glasses, “time to collect!” She pulled the picks from her bag, handing one each to the other two before again testing the weight of her own. “We need a couple fist sized chunks each.”

Velu took to the work with enthusiasm while Caeli held the tool with disdain. “I really don’t see why we should even be required to do grunt work.”

“Aw, scared you’re going to break a nail?”

“It’s not about grunt work,” Alina chimed in. “It’s about being able to forage in the field.”

Caeli looked around. “Yes, this… field.”

“Not a literal field,” Alina chuckled. “Light.”

“Alfura Signala!” Caeli called out. Again light filled the cavern in seemingly random pockets that refracted into rainbows. “You got the logs? It’s not as bright in here if I keep using that over and over.”

“Oh, right, yes.” Alina set down the pick and opened up her bag. “Yep, got it here.” She pulled out a pair of small logs and set them in the centre of the room.

“Alfura Kanti!” Caeli called, and a small burst of flame ignited the logs. The light was harsher than the fading white pockets around the cavern, flickering red and oranges with bursts of yellow. The light still refracted through the crystals, painting them ruby crimson.

Velu grunted as she stabbed the pickaxe, grinning as the crystal sprayed red fragments. “Looks like bits of—”

“Don’t finish that,” Caeli groaned, cutting her off. “Ugh, I’m going to break a nail, I swear.”

“Come on, girls,” Alina cheered them on, not that Velu needed it. “Five chunks each should be good, then we can break for lunch.”

“Five?” Caeli echoed, sounding exasperated. Her shoulders slumped, the pick lowering, as she had barely made a dent in her first chunk.

“Well, I suppose it’s up to you; we’re getting marked on our three best samples so I figure it’s best to play it safe.” She readjusted her glasses, each strike causing them to slip just a bit more.

“Well, I’m confident I can get three perfect ones in as many attempts,” she boasted. “Unlike… that one.” Her gaze panned over to Velu, who was muttering dark and gleeful as she drove the pick frantically into the crystal that she was more disfiguring than severing.

“It’s your grade,” Alina shrugged as she resumed her work. It was harder than Alina had anticipated, each strike slowly chipping away, but vibrating the pick in her hands. The first chunk, fist sized, fell with a dull thud that echoed through the cavern. “There’s one,” she sighed, huffing as she fixed her glasses and wiping her brow. It had been a whole twenty minutes just for her to obtain one.

“Easy-peasy,” Velu huffed, dropping her pick and holding two malformed crystals in her hands. The edges were chaotic and jagged, a contrast to the fairly clean cut of Alina’s, but the catgirl didn’t seem to care.

“We need… precision…” Caeli grunted as she drove the pick into her crystal outcropping, blinking as red fragments sparkled light in her eyes. Her cut was the cleanest, but also the least complete, only about two thirds of the way through.

“Yeah… I don’t want to be here all day, Caeli,” Alina chuckled. “I think I overestimated how fast we’d be. Let’s break for lunch after three.” She didn’t specify three for who, but got back to work, picking a nice outcropping of crystal and began to drive her pick into it.

After an encore of grunting, the next dull thud on the cavern floor was from Caeli’s corner. She sighed, wiping her brow before picking up the crystal. “There, a perfectly clean, smooth, perfect—” She halted, finally eyeing where the nugget had disconnected from the base, feeling the jagged break with her finger, so small it was almost invisible. “That’s it!” she huffed, slumping down against the cave wall. “You two keep working if you want. I’m taking my break now.”

“That’s a good idea,” Alina echoed, more encouraging. She set down the pick, massaging her sore hands as she sat down as well, reaching for her bag. She rustled around inside before pulling out wrapped sandwiches. “Hungry?”

“Hardly,” Caeli remarked, pulling a book out of her pouch and flipping through it.

“Well I am,” Velu eagerly answered, salivating as she looked over. She swung the pick with renewed vigor, freeing her third crystal sample in seconds. It was even less shapely than her others, but she tossed it into the growing collection. “Guess I’m the only one that’s reached three,” she boasted as she took the sandwich, unwrapping it as she sat down and taking a huge bite.

Caeli’s eyes glanced over the rim of her book. “Those look like jagged moonstones,” she muttered, but the comment went ignored.

They sat in relative silence, the crackling fire carrying the one sided conversation as they ate and read in peace. The log burnt long and steady, the flickering light continuing to cast the room in amber glow.

“So… what are you reading?” Velu finally asked after she finished her lunch, again faster than Alina.

“Hmm? It’s just a book. History. Of the elves,” Caeli elaborated in short bursts of explanation. “They came to this world from the realm beyond, crossing a sea of stars, over a millennium ago, gifted humans with magic, and made the earth a utopia.”

“You mean they conquered ancient civilizations and then spread like wildfire," Velu countered.

“That… may be true,” Caeli spoke through slightly gritted teeth, “but they built an empire here on earth. The start of a dynasty.”

“While ending others,” Alina cautiously added.

“Yes, yes, kingdoms whose names are lost from the annals of history; mere specks of dust in the wind of time.”

Velu rolled her eyes. “Your eloquence only makes you sound insecure.”

“I’m impressed that you even know that word,” Caeli scoffed.

“What was that!?” Velu hissed, rising to her feet, clawed fingers flexing in and out.

“Oh, sorry, did your big animal ears not pick it up?” A smirk cracked her annoyed glare as she rose to meet Velu, towering over her. “I stand as a testament to a legacy that bettered humanity, while your kind were still in the fields, eating mice.”

“You take that back…” she growled, not in her nature to back down. “I’m just as human as you are. As either of you!” She looked behind her, but Alina stayed silent, grimacing slightly as she looked away.

“Maybe you are just as human as me, but where we differ is what’s telling. I am born of a high and noble race, and you are more like a pet.”

“Caeli!” Alina snapped, finally stepping in. “That’s too far!”

Velu’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. She just stood there, shaking, nails digging into her palms as she slowly looked down.

Caeli turned to the human, her scowling smirk flattening into just a glare. “Whatever,” she huffed, snapping the book shut and tucking it away. Her pick again in hand, her back was to the other two girls as she resumed their task. Her swings struck true, denting into the largest outcropping, where the crystals were so large the cave wall could not be seen.

The cavern soon echoed with the sound of vibrating strikes from the three corners, each at a different pace. They were undeniably slower than before, except perhaps Velu’s not that any of the other two girls commented on it. Their weary hands were distraction enough as they all whittled through the crystals growing from the walls, tiny bit by tiny bit.

“Ugh!” Caeli grunted, throwing down the pick. “I shouldn’t have to do this manual labour, I’m an elf!”

“Half-elf,” Velu corrected.

“Zip it!” Caeli snapped. “ALFURA BRONT—”

“Wait, don’t!” Alina yelled, grabbing Velu and yanking her back.

“UROPAI!” Caeli finished with a shout. Lightning erupted from the very air around her, surging through crystal outcropping. The glow in the room changed from deep reds and oranges to a sudden bright white, forcing Caeli to cover her eyes. She was glad a second later that she did, as her face was pelted by tiny, finger-sized pieces of crystal. The blast was concussive, shaking the cave and vibrating through the air, and the force of it knocked Caeli to the ground.

“Caeli! Are you ok!?” Alina yelled. “…What did you do?” she muttered as she slowly came over.

The outcropping had shattered, electricity amplifying through it and fragmenting it. Larger pieces as big as them fell directly down but fragments from the size of a finger to a fist were strewn halfway across the room, forcing Alina to watch her step as she ventured over.

“I… I needed to break it up,” Caeli muttered, slowly sitting up. Her eyes were wide, her system still shocked.

“The crystals amplify magic, especially lightning,” Alina reminded her as soon as she confirmed that Caeli was alright. Though the explanation was somewhat redundant after the explosion.

“Yeah… but at least we now have pieces to turn in.” She held one fragment up, a little smaller than her palm, a halfhearted smile looking down at it.

“Ugh… we were supposed to chip them off though,” Alina fretted.

“Whatever works,” Velu shrugged, admiring the fragments strewn along the cavern floor, not that she needed anymore. “It’s not like the assignment said we had to use picks.”

Alina didn’t seem to hear her. “Now there will have to be a clean up crew and they’ll need to section this cave off and who knows how long it took those crystals to grow and—”

“What’s that?” Velu asked, cutting Alina off as she pointed. The other two followed her finger to look at the wall, now bare as the crystals were shattered to their anchor. And while the rest of the cavern walls that were exposed were as rocky and curved as one would expect a cave wall to be, this one was interrupted by something rectangular, flat, metallic, and sporting a handle where any normal door would have one. “Is that…?”

She didn’t get to finish her thought as a ruckus deeper in the cave began to build. Sudden screeches echoed down the natural hallways as footsteps grew in volume, clearly numerous.

“Lizards!” Caeli gasped, a pang of guilt in her voice.

“Sounds like a dozen,” Velu panicked, her ears swivelling and twitching. “Through the door!” She leapt over the field of shards and grasped the handle, yanking. “It’s stuck!”

“No, what are you doing!?” Alina fretted. “That’s old tech, I’m sure of it. It could be even more dangerous!”