The Blackstar Legacy - Chapter 11

Other than the journal, which gave context for what was happening in the tower when the Calaphium fell, there wasn’t much else in the living area to give them information on the Blackstar. They headed back to the central corridor and followed the footsteps to a large, spiral staircase in the center of the tower.

“The knights went straight up. They ignored everything back there,” Rowan said, kneeling to study the floor and pointing past the stairs to another corridor continuing beyond the stairs through an archway, presumably to the other half of the lower floor.

“I assume we check that out before continuing?” Grace asked.

“It’s worked so far,” Osric said.

They moved through the archway into another hallway flanked by rooms, similar to the living area, except instead of side hallways and a series of small rooms, these each led into long, wide curving rooms.

They were also much more bare and practical than what they’d seen in the living area. Wooden workbenches lined the walls, their surfaces scarred and stained from centuries of use.

“A workshop,” Talia said. “Like the keep but bigger. Look at all these tools.”

Scattered across the surfaces were strange implements, delicate metal instruments, crystalline containers, and devices whose purpose Osric couldn’t begin to guess. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.

“Lot of fancy equipment. Probably worth a fortune to the right buyer,” Grace said.

“Don’t touch anything,” Rowan warned. “After what we’ve seen in these mountains, who knows what these tools were used for.”

“Remember what the journal said. They were in here before the mountains appeared. This predates the mountains,” Talia said.

“And yet, something they did caused the veil to tear as badly as it did, and they had ways of working with the veil we’ll never understand,” Jasper said. “So maybe still leave it alone.”

They moved on to a second workshop chamber.

They passed through an archway into a second workshop chamber. This one contained what appeared to be a forge, though unlike any Osric had seen during his apprenticeship. The hearth was small and precisely shaped, with channels carved into the stone.

“This is where they crafted their instruments,” Talia said, examining the setup with clear fascination. “See how the workspace is arranged? Everything flows toward the forge. They were channeling power through their creations.”

“Like the Blackstar?” Osric asked.

“I don’t think so. This all seems too small for what you described. I’d guess it was for smaller works,” Talia said.

She moved to a nearby shelf, where rows of tiny tools were arranged with mathematical precision.

“Look at this,” Jasper called from across the room.

He stood before a series of diagrams on one of the benches. Together they seemed to form some kind of complex geometric pattern.

Osric joined him, studying them over his shoulder. “Can you read any of it?”

“Not exactly. But these patterns, they remind me of things I’ve seen before. Similar principles, at least.”

“It makes sense. They wouldn’t just start with giant magical constructs. They would have started with smaller things first,” Rowan said.

“Can’t control something if you don’t know what makes it tick,” Grace added.

Talia had moved to another workbench, this one covered in smaller instruments. She lifted something that resembled a tuning fork, though crafted from some dark metal Osric didn’t recognize. The object seemed to absorb the light from her staff rather than reflect it.

“Jasper just said be careful touching anything,” Osric said.

“It’s fine. This is a measurement tool, I think. For detecting magical resonance.”

“How can you tell?” Grace asked.

“The shape, the material... it’s similar to instruments Elder Miriam showed me, though they weren’t exactly like this. I wonder…”

Before anyone could stop her, she gently tapped the fork against the edge of the workbench. A soft note rang out, barely audible but somehow reaching deep into Osric’s bones. The sound seemed to ripple through the air.

For a moment, nothing else happened. Then the fork began to vibrate, giving off a faint purple glow as the note grew slightly louder and more complex.

“Talia...” Osric started, taking a step toward her.

The fork’s vibration intensified. Tiny cracks appeared in its surface, spreading like frost across a window. The purple glow flickered, then faded as the ancient instrument suddenly crumbled away into fine powder that slipped through Talia’s fingers.

“Well,” Grace said. “That was dramatic.”

Talia stared at the dust coating her palm.

“It wasn’t meant to last this long. Maybe the enchantments were too delicate and unbalanced after all these years,” she said, brushing her hands clean. “At least we know their tools still held power.”

“And that we should probably avoid testing any more of them,” Rowan added pointedly.

“Agreed,” Jasper said. “Though this does confirm we’re on the right track. The Calaphium clearly used this space to study and manipulate magical energies, which is essentially what The Blackstar sounds like it did.”

Osric moved to the next archway, peering into yet another chamber beyond. “There’s more. How many of these workshops did they need?”

“Knowledge requires experimentation,” Talia said. “And experimentation requires space. Especially when you’re dealing with forces that could tear reality apart if handled wrong.”

“Comforting thought,” Grace muttered.

Osric walked into the next chamber, which was much like the one they’d left, except on one side of the wall were a series of metal stands that held twisted fragments of metal that might have once been something but now were unrecognizable. Where metal stands held fragments of twisted devices. Talia touched one, her fingers tracing the strange patterns etched into its surface.

“The markings resemble those used in binding rituals, but far more complex than anything I’ve seen,” Jasper said, looking them over.

“Binding what?” Grace asked.

“There’s no way to know.”

“But there’s nothing here now,” she pointed out.

“No. They could have disappeared, or perhaps just escaped their binding.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”

They walked around the room, looking at different parts, on the work tables, broken pieces, and left over experiments. None of it seemed familiar outside of the other ruins from the time of the Calaphium they’d found. Remnants of a long ago time whose use had long passed out of memory.

Not even Jasper and Talia could tell what most of this was used for.

In one corner, he found a metal box roughly the size of a travel chest. Heavy clasps, eaten through with rust, lined its edges. When he tried the lid, it creaked open with surprising ease.

“Found something?” Rowan asked, moving closer.

“Empty,” Osric said, showing him the interior. Black marks scored the metal walls inside. “But something was in here though.”

Talia joined them, running her fingers along the scorch marks.

“These are like the other markings. I think Jasper’s right, they were part of some kind of binding, similar to what I draw for my alarm spell, but drawn in reality instead of with threads of the veil. Whatever was in here, they went to great lengths to keep it stable.”

“Or to keep it from getting out,” Rowan said.

Grace wandered past them to investigate a shelf lined with metal containers.

“More empty boxes. Lots of empty boxes.” Grace said, investigating a shelf lined with metal containers before picking up a small cylinder, rattling it. “Though this one still has something inside.”

“Put it down,” Jasper warned.

“It’s sealed shut anyway. But there’s definitely something rattling around in there.”

“Let’s leave it that way,” Osric said, taking it from her and putting it back in place.

They continued through the workshops, passing tables strewn with shattered glass and rusted implements. The remnants of countless experiments lay scattered about, perhaps failed attempts to understand the forces they sought to control.

“Look at this,” Rowan called from ahead.

He stood in a doorway leading to a chamber different from the others. Instead of workbenches and tools, this room held rows of bookshelves surrounding a massive desk. Some of the books were pristine, as if they had just been put on the shelf, without a trace of dust, while others were half disintegrated, with part in pristine condition transitioning into frayed and torn edges where the remainder of the book should be. In other spots, there were only metal clasps on a pile of dust and decayed leather.

“Finally,” Grace said. “Something worth taking.”

Jasper joined her, picking up one of the pristine books and flipping it open. “This is in high Calaphium, the same way the document was written.

“Even better. Rare books are valuable books.”

“They’re also dangerous,” Jasper said. “The Calaphium weren’t just recording history or poetry. Remember what people think of the Calaphium, what you thought before we started this journey. It might not do for you to be carrying around a book by monsters that caused a near destruction of the world at the beginning of time.

Talia had already pulled a volume from the shelf. When she opened it, half the pages crumbled to powder. “The preservation spells are failing. Whatever magic kept these intact is breaking down.”

“Good riddance,” Rowan muttered.

“No, you don’t understand.” Talia carefully turned what remained of the pages. “This could be centuries of knowledge about the veil itself. About how magic really works”

“We might know from the Sage’s history that they were trying to protect the veil and only controlled magic to keep it from tearing our reality apart, but we don’t know the lessons they learned to be able to control it and get to this place. We also don’t know exactly how they lost control of that power and how it almost destroyed the world,” Jasper pointed out. “Better to leave it to history. Besides, it would take years to translate even one of these books.”

“But think what we could learn…” Talia started.

“He’s right,” Osric cut in. “We’re here for the Blackstar. That’s all.”

Grace moved along the shelves, examining bindings, finally selecting a particularly well-preserved volume and slipped it into her pack.

“Grace.” Osric fixed her with a stern look.

She shrugged. “What? Maybe it’s a cookbook. Or poetry. Won’t know until someone translates it. Besides, I was promised loot, and so far all we’ve found is a bunch of looted tools. I’m not a guardian of forbidden knowledge, that’s your department. If I can sell this, I will.”

Before Osric could argue, Grace pulled her bag back on her back and walked out of the room, heading toward another. Osric sighed. She might be more than she let on, but the years of stealing to survive were still there, alive and well.

“Come on, we should stick together,” Rowan said, following Grace out.

The rest followed them out, although Jasper and Talia seemed particularly reluctant to leave behind the wealth of knowledge contained in those ancient tomes.

She had headed through the archway in the back of the hall, that led to what seemed, to Osric, to be the furthest edge of the base of the tower. On the other side was a vast chamber that dwarfed anything they’d seen so far. At its center stood a massive furnace that was larger than anything Osric had ever heard of. It was as if they knew the small forges in the other workshops were inadequate, and built their exact opposite here.

He couldn’t imagine what kinds of things such a massive furnace was required for.

“What is this place?” Talia asked.

Before anyone could answer, Cinder let out a low growl, staring at something beyond the furnace, deep in the shadows of the room, his hackles ruffled back.

A distinct warning.

Osric pulled his sword, an action copied by the rest, as they stared into the dark, trying to see what the wolf saw.

The answer came in the form of heavy, metallic footsteps. From the darkness emerged three hulking figures, each easily twice the size of a man. Their bodies were a complex network of gears, pistons, and metal plates, adorned with glowing symbols, each with a strange face as if the smoothest helm that had ever been made was attached where a head should be, and a eerie yellow glow where it should have had eyes.

“What in the abyss is that,” Rowan said, pulling his bowstring back.

Not that there was time for an answer. The machines had clearly reacted to their presence, and were advancing menacingly enough that none of the group had to guess at their intentions.

Talia reacted first, her hands weaving through the air and snapping forward, sending out a barrage of the small glowing diamonds of energy streaming toward the machines. Osric had seen her do this several times, usually to great effect, but this time was different. As the bolts reached one of the creatures, it lifted a hand which seemed to draw in and absorb the magical energies, causing them to come apart and vanish.

“What?” Talia gasped.

The automatons didn’t let her attack even slow them down. Each had one arm that ended in what looked like some kind of precision tool rather than a weapon, although still sharp enough to be deadly, and the one that charged at Osric raised it above its head, bringing it down in an arc aimed at taking his head off. Osric brought his longsword up, barely able to parry the blow, the strength and weight of the machine felt like a mountain, the weight pressing down on him as he parried the blow.

The force of the impact sent shockwaves up Osric’s arm, nearly numbing it. He gritted his teeth and pushed to the side, using the beast’s own weight to send it staggering to one side, creating space between them.

With a quick step and a twist of his body, Osric brought his sword around in a half circle, coming back across with a powerful slash aimed at the construct’s midsection. His blade was on target, but instead of the satisfying bite of metal cleaving metal, Osric felt as if he’d struck a wall. The automaton staggered back slightly, but the damage was far less than it should have been.

Scratches in the metal, and that was it.

Talia, who’d scrambled back a few steps when they charged, was forced to dive out of the way as another of the automatons lifted its other hand, which was half hand but with a wide circular shape in the center of it, out of which came a line of deep blue energy, the color of a river during a bad storm. She managed to just avoid it, the line of energy striking a nearby table, reducing it to splinters.

In response, Rowan sent an arrow flying at the machine. As always, his aim was true, but the arrow only bounced harmlessly off its metal exterior.

The third construct advanced on Grace, who had drawn her short sword and was circling, trying to stay out of its grip. Cinder leapt at the automaton as it reached for her, his jaws clamped down on its arm, but the wolf’s teeth couldn’t penetrate it. With a casual swipe, the automaton sent Cinder flying across the room, smashing into a far wall with a yelp, and then crumpling to the floor.

“Cinder!” Osric shouted, starting toward the fallen animal when the machine next to him took another swipe, sending him scrambling back for safety.

The machine continued to press, pushing him away from his friends, circling around as he parried and dodged, until his back was almost to the dead furnace. His sword connected again and again, but each blow seemed to do less damage than the last.

Talia, after diving for cover, scrambled back to her feet and quickly began to weave another spell. This time, a green triangle, dripping and sickly looking, shot out of her hands toward the creature.

Once again, the creature waved it away, dissipating it before it could make contact.

“It’s no use!” Talia cried, ducking behind a workbench as another blast sailed over her head. “They’re disrupting my magic somehow!”

“Try something else, less direct,” Osric yelled, parrying another blow.

Grace, almost caught between two of the hulks, rolled between them to avoid being surrounded. As she came up, her short sword flashed, seeking the joints and seams in its metal bodies. She managed to briefly wedge her blade into a gap, eliciting a shower of sparks, that caused the beast to stagger slightly.

Their first sign of success.

Rowan, backed almost out of the doorway, must have seen her success, because his next arrows flew toward the shoulder of one of the automatons. Two bounced harmlessly off its metal shell, but the third lodged in the joint as the creature was lifting its arm, causing something to start leaking out of it.

“The joints!” Rowan called out. “Aim for the gaps in their armor!”

Osric, who’d been facing them to see both successes, feinted low, then brought his sword up in a swift arc, targeting the area where the automaton’s arm connected to its body. The blade bit deeper this time, and a spray of sparks rewarded his effort.

Still, they were small victories, and the automatons continued to press their attacks. One pinned down the still-whimpering Cinder, while another drove Osric further back, keeping him from helping his friend, and the third was pushing Talia back, further and further into the corner.

She raised her hands, weaving until a translucent shimmering light blue circle flickered into existence before her, but the automaton’s fist smashed through it as if it were made of spun sugar.

“Talia!” Grace shouted, pulling a dagger from her side and hurling it toward the automaton threatening her.

The blade spun through the air and struck the neck of the construct, causing it to take a step back, swinging erratically, clearly affected by the damage.

Their victories, however, were being outdone by their losses as the automaton turned and charged at her. She started to scramble away, but was too slow. Rowan tried to interpose himself between the two, but the monster slammed a heavy arm into the Ranger’s chest with bone-crushing force, sending him sailing across the room, his bow sliding across the floor away from him.

Jasper ran toward the ranger, sliding to his knees next to him, praying fervently to the gods for aid.

Osric, seeing Cinder still pinned and struggling, made a desperate move. He dove around his opponent, using its slower turning speed to his advantage, and crashed into the one holding Cinder down. It felt like smashing into a wall, but it was enough, causing the automaton to stumble back, freeing the wolf.

“Cinder, go!” Osric commanded, scrambling to regain his footing.

Talia waved her hands, bringing them down in the direction of the automaton that had just hit Rowan, as if she was setting something invisible on it. As she did, a sphere of pure blackness engulfed its head, causing it to stop its charge as its vision was obscured.

To Talia’s dismay, the automaton swiped a hand at the darkness surrounding it, causing it to begin to dissipate, as if being eaten away.

Osric was distracted for a second, watching Talia’s spell fail, and had lost track of the hulk he’d escaped until his manipulator arm clapped down on his shoulder from behind. The pressure was immense, crushing his gauntlet and forcing him to drop his weapon with a cry of pain.

He struggled against the iron grip, but it was like trying to bend a mountain with his bare hands. Panic began to set in as he realized how helpless he was.

Grace must have seen the trouble he was in. She’d moved to get behind the automaton that had been shrouded in darkness, the one that had charged at her, when she changed her trajectory as Osric was grabbed. She jumped up on a workbench in the corner, kicked off a wall and landed on the creature’s back.

Pulling out two more daggers, she began stabbing at the exposed point in its neck, where its metal plating opened up, showing its inner workings. Again and again she brought the daggers slashing down, ripping into the monster, sending sparks and strange liquid flying.

The automaton released Osric as it began flailing around wildly, allowing Osric to wrench himself free and stumble away. His arm throbbed, and he knew without looking that it was badly bruised, if not broken.

From across the room, Jasper pointed at Osric and called down Heathus to protect him. A moment later, a shimmering aura enveloped Osric, almost as if he had additional armor protecting him.

With the beast distracted and out of control, Osric slashed at the back of its knee where the armor plated opened. The creature, still being cut apart by Grace, began to stagger, going down to one knee as its leg gave way.

Talia was rescued from the attack of the automaton that burst through her shield as Rowan, who was now back on his feet, put two arrows into the back of its neck, both sinking deep and forcing it to take a step back, looking around for what caused it damage.

She took that chance to run out of the way while waving her hands. Instead of some big display of magic, however, this time pieces from the ground, chunks of ceiling and concrete, partially decayed tools, and parts of the destroyed bench began flying at the creatures, smashing into the joints of the monster wherever they were open like a tidal wave of clutter.

Alone, it might not have been enough to cause any real problems, but the sheer volume caused more and more of the pieces to lodge in its joints, getting stuck in gears and cogs, causing them to lock up and slowing its movements to almost a crawl.

The automaton that had been over Cinder raised a hand and fired one of the beams of light at Grace, catching her in the side and sending her sailing off, crashing into a pile of discarded equipment.

They needed to end this. Osric charged in with a roar with his sword in front of him, stabbing in as hard as he could, driving up through a gap in the automaton’s chest plates and piercing deep into its core mechanisms. For a moment, the construct stood motionless. Then, with a whine of failing systems, it collapsed to the ground, inert and lifeless.

Jasper, on the way to check on Grace, whispered a prayer over his mace, causing the weapon to glow with a yellow light as he brought it into the center of another of the automaton’s chests, hitting the glowing, pulsing symbol. As soon as the blessed mace connected, there was a bright flash of blinding light that caused a wave of blue energy to crackle over the body of the beast. As the energy cascaded over it, its limbs locked in a form of rigor, and then toppled over.

Jasper barely paused as the automaton fell, leaping over it and running to check on Grace.

The final automaton was struggling from the damage already done to it, standing almost still, making it a perfect target as Rowan sent another arrow directly into the eye slit, causing it to have a similar cascade of energy before joining its fellows on the floor.

The battle had been so fast and they’d been off guard the whole time that all of them looked almost stunned when it was over. For a moment, no one moved, as if afraid that any action might bring the automatons back to life. Then, with a collective exhale, the tension broke.

Jasper immediately moved to tend to the wounded. He knelt beside Cinder, channeling healing energy into the injured wolf. Osric limped over, cradling his injured arm, relief washing over him as he saw Cinder’s tail begin to wag weakly.

“He’ll be alright,” Jasper assured him, before turning his attention to Osric’s arm.

The warm glow of divine magic soothed the pain, knitting together bruised flesh and mending hairline fractures in the bone.

“What were these things?” Talia asked, nudging one of the beasts as Jasper moved on to help Grace.

“Guards?” Osric suggested.

“More likely they were to help with the projects here,” Jasper offered while he knelt next to Grace. “Look at their hands. I think they were some kind of construct to do dangerous work on magical tools.”

“This thing is much larger,” Osric said, pointing at the furnace. “Could this be where the blackstar was made?”

“It’s possible,” Jasper said. “But it’s been dead for a long time. I’m not sure anything’s left if it was.”

“It’s still worth checking,” he said, helping Grace up off the ground.

For the next twenty minutes, they checked every inch of the room. Osric mostly focused on the forge, which was not so different than the one in Master Ironhand’s smithy, except for some strange channels built into the side.

It was interesting, but ultimately told them nothing about the creation of the blackstar, or even if it had been made here. Likewise, nothing else in the room revealed much that gave them useful information.

The only ones who seemed to be learning anything were Jasper and Talia, who went over every inch of the automatons.

“Anything?” Osric asked.

“Something, perhaps. The way it seemed to dissipate magical energy sounds a lot like what you described for the blackstar. I think it might operate on the same principle.”

“Okay, but can you figure out how they did it? Maybe how to build something similar if we don’t find the blackstar?”

“No,” Talia said. “It’s going to take a lot of study, and even then, that might be beyond us.”

“Still,” Jasper said with a grunt, managing to wedge the manipulator hand off the creature. “I’m taking this with us. I’ll keep working on it and see what I can find.”

“Okay,” Osric said. “Then let’s get going. Although maybe keep an eye out. No telling what other of these kinds of things they left turned on when they all disappeared.”