DING DING DING.
Before Alina could continue, a loud and dull chime like a great bell spread through the vast underground opening that made up Drelks fortress. Alina and Drelk seemed to be well accustomed to the meaning of the noise, quickly halting their conversation as they began moving toward the door of the building.
"Come along Leor. We will escort Drelk to the main gates." Alina explained.
Leor rose from his seat and rushed to follow the others out of the building as he questioned Alina about the sudden change.
"What's this then, Alina? What do the chimes mean?" he asked as they moved along the outer road toward the front of the fortress.
"You'll see in a moment. The sun is about to set, that can be a dangerous thing in this place." She hastily replied.
Alina and the old elf hurried their steps as they moved toward the great gates. By now Leor could see the main entrance of the fortress, where Beasts were rushing to get inside like a flood of moving bodies.
As they reached the gates, the last of the stragglers were rushing inside. They waited for a few more moments to ensure that none had been left behind, and with the sound of one final series of chimes, the massive green gate was pushed shut by a pair of sturdy looking bull type Beasts. Then, a massive bolt was pulled down across the doors to lock them tight. After the bolt was securely in place, Drelk stepped up and pulled a large crystal from his pocket. It appeared to be a spirit crystal, a common item that could be used to store Willpower and power magic formations. By the purple color and large oval shape of the crystal, Leor judged that it was a high grade spirit crystal, a rather valuable item. Used most often by Willpower Masters, due to it's large capacity.
As Drelk placed the crystal into one of the two matching slots at the center of each great door, the vast stretch of large runic inscriptions on the first door began to flicker to life. As they did, Leor immediately noticed that the lingering corruption in the air around them was being quickly sucked away. The runic magic array seemed to be capable of sealing out even corruption and defilement from entering the large fortress.
Alina leaned close, whispering an explanation to Leor as watched Drelk place the second crystal on the other large door. "The formation is a powerful protective barrier, but it burns through energy all night long in order to fight off the corruption in the air. Normally it would remain in a power saving mode until something or someone attacked the barrier, but the formation sees the corruption as a threat, and remains activated throughout the night. Drelk is forced to spend many hours a day meditating and refilling spirit crystals with his own Willpower in order to supply the runic array with power. There is no choice though, the fortress would be overrun by the strange Defiled creatures that stalk these plains in the night without the barrier."
As Drelk was finishing up his daily duty of supplying the two protective formations with power Alina tugged on Leor's sleeve, pulling him with her toward the doors. They moved right up to the first spirit crystal that Drelk had inserted.
This close to the runes, Leor could hear the soft hum of power moving through the doors, and could see the runes gently flickering as if they were being forced to constantly work in order to fight off the corrupting influence of the defilement outside.
"I have an idea, Leor. If I'm right about the nature of your new talent, then adding the slightest bit of your Willpower to these spirit crystals should provide some benefit to the system as a whole. Allowing the runic formation a much easier time defending itself against the corruption." She explained, gesturing for Leor to inject some of his Will into the shining purple crystal.
"What are you two doing! Do not interfere with the formation, it is incredibly intricate! If we lose the ability to protect ourselves with the runic array during the night, we will be forced to flee the fortress!" Drelk shouted, tiny specks of saliva flying from his mouth.
"Calm down Drelk, you already know about Leor's unique talent. Allow us to run a test. We will inject the spirit crystal on the left doorway with a dose of Leor's will. That way, we can judge the effectiveness of the procedure by comparing the energy expenditure of the two sides." Alina explained.
Drelk let out an audible huff as he wrapped his arms across his chest tightly. "And if something goes wrong? What if his strange Willpower is incompatible with the draconic magic that is keeping this fortress safe? Is your realm of light going to take responsibility if my master's fortress is lost to defilement?"
Alina rolled her eyes before swiftly putting on a charming expression as she turned back to face Drelk directly. "You're being much too cautious, Drelk. A bit of Willpower is not going to harm such a great formation. Would your master's own work be so flimsy? I think not. But, yes, my realm of light will take responsibility. How's that? Won't you let us try?" A stunning smile stretched across Alina's face, exposing her pearly white teeth and making prominent the deep dimples on her round cheeks. Her stunning yellow eyes fluttered effortlessly. Leor was not even the target of the smile, but he felt himself getting charmed by the secondhand effects of that beautiful face. "Afterall, if we can increase the efficiency of the formation, that might free up hours of your time everyday! How much better could you care for your master's belongings with an extra few hours a day on your hands?"
That final line seemed to tip the old dark elf over the edge, Leor could see by the expression on Drelk's wrinkled face that he was already considering how he would spend his extra time.
"You know, come to think of it, this old magic formation is quite sturdy. The master is fantastically skilled at laying down magical inscriptions, after all. I don't see the harm in allowing you and Leor to run your test. Carry on. I'll just observe to make sure nothing goes wrong." Drelk's tone had changed completely, it seemed like he would force them to do it now even if they suddenly tried to change their minds. Such was the nature of Alina, the noble young woman knew exactly how to get her way.
With a nod of her head, Alina turned to face Leor, gesturing toward the spirit crystal as if to assure him it was okay to start.
"Don't add too much Will, Leor. The purpose of this test is to better understand the limits of your new talent. We can always try increasing the amount of Will if we don't achieve the desired effect, but I'd like to see how great an impact we can achieve with a small dose to start" She explained.
With a nod of understanding, Leor reached forward and placed his fingers against the smooth surface of the purple spirit crystal. It almost felt warm to the touch, with a gentle tingle of power running through his fingers like static. The crystals had been freshly filled by Drelk, so there wasn't much space inside them for additional Willpower. Thankfully, Leor only needed to inject a tiny amount for now.
It was a bit straining on him, like trying to force air into a balloon that was already full, but Leor managed to add a touch of Will to the crystal. Then, he moved away from the large doors, standing beside Alina and Drelk as the three of them observed for any changes.
Time ticked by slowly without any noticeable change, Alina could be seen rubbing her chin thoughtfully as she continued to observe the great doors.
"Hmm. We might not notice any difference right away. It could be that we will only know if there has been any change when we compare the Willpower usage of the two sides in the morning." Alina suggested.
As she was speaking, Drelk stepped closer to the doors with his eyebrows tightly knitted together, placing one pointed ear directly against its thick green interior
"Hush now. Be quiet" he demanded, as a satisfied grin slowly made its way over his mouth. "Come and listen!".
Alina and Leor stepped forward and followed Drelk's lead, pressing their ears up against the door, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not understand what Drelk wanted them to hear.
"There's nothing. It's silent." Leor admitted, as he lifted his ear from the door. The moment he said those words, the grin grew even wider on Drelk's face, and Alina seemed to suddenly come to understand what the old elf was talking about.
"Exactly! It's gone! The constant hum of Willpower expenditure is gone!" Drelk nearly shouted the words in his excitement. "I have listened to these inscriptions hum with power as they worked to keep the defilement out for most of my long life, they have never operated in silence. Not since before this world fell to defilement!"
Just as one of the nearby Beasts was pressing their ear to the door to imitate Drelk and the humans, a loud boom shook the air, the entire door trembled as if it had been struck by a battering ram. The noise was so loud that Leor was forced to press his hands against the sides of his head to stop the pain, while the unfortunate Beast who had been pressing their ear against the door fell to the ground in agony.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
Three more great strikes landed on the outside of the doors, like the rapid punches of a giant. Leor could see the runic array ripple with power as it drained energy from the spirit crystals to endure the powerful blows.
Drelk's expression turned grim as he hastily gestured for everyone to step away from the doorway, speaking in a hushed tone as he did.
"We've been too loud near the doorway at night. We must have attracted the attention of one of the creatures of the plains. D-don't worry though, the inscriptions will hold. It would take more than that to break into a dragon lord's secret vault." Drelk's expression did not match his words, however, a look of anxiety filling the old elf's face.