Although Elm might have been piecing together some information about what was going on in the abandoned town, Rud was completely clueless. The druid saw the abandoned buildings and checked them out alongside the mage, but the lives these people had left behind were just as mysterious to him. There were scattered writings in almost every building they inspected, but each revealed mundane details that helped reveal exactly nothing.

"Here's another merchant talking about an inferior shipment of copper," Elm said, organizing papers on a stone desk and shrugging. "It seemed as though he was displeased and wanted to lodge a formal complaint."

"I'll be honest, I expected something a little more from a magical city that's stuck underground," Rud said. "You know… Wizard duels and whatever."

"Come then," Elm said, stuffing a few things into her bag and slinging it over her back. "Let's head deeper into the city to search for these amazing facts you wish to find."

"Don't get me wrong. I'm a big fan of history and all that, but I'm more interested in the origin of this place than in what the local merchants were slinging."

"Well, I've pieced together some information, although it's spotty. I know this was a magic city that had moved several times. How it moved or why is beyond me. The writings of the locals are pretty clear. I can't determine the date since they are using some notation I don't understand."

"They were on a different calendar?" Rud asked. "Now that I think about it, I don't even know how the calendar works for everyone else…"

"Really?" Elm asked, cocking her head to one side. She let out a peep-like scream when Major ran over to catch up. "No matter how much time I spend with you spirits, I'll never get used to a giant bear charging me."

"I found some food over there," Major said, gesturing with his head to an old storehouse. Elm had dispelled the barrier over that one, granting access. "Tasted like electricity."

"Let's do our best not to eat the random stuff we find in the abandoned buildings," Rud said with a shake of his head. "Ignoring the fact that it might be hundreds of years old, it was enchanted with magic."

"They tasted fine to me."

Rud took in the mundanity of the city. There were many mysteries still to discover, but it was simply a place where people had lived once upon a time. Their entire lives were contained here within the rows of buildings and the streets they walked. As the group made their way deeper into the city, the buildings themselves became more grand. With that, even the enchantments on those buildings grew stronger. Elm had particular trouble with a barrier that rested over a gate, preventing them from entering until she dispelled it. They took that time to reach out to local plant life, feeling for how things were growing and getting a sense of the ancient flora.

Some nearby potted plants had been under a similar enchantment to the buildings, and Rud could feel its age. He pulled his senses away when that feeling came back with more than just age. It felt maddened, as though spending this much time locked in a prison without the ability to grow had messed with it. Plants didn't really have thoughts, but the druid felt their desires. It was normally a need to grow or reproduce, but those feelings had gone sour.

Elm finally popped the lock on the gate, and the party proceeded forward. They were only a few steps inside when Major rushed ahead, moving with far more speed than Rud had ever seen him produce. The bear thundered across an open courtyard, slamming into something that appeared to be a statue. It took the druid's mind far too long to realize it was more than just a stone effigy. It moved, swiping at the bear just before the moment of impact, but it caught only air.

Rud stood there, as though staying still would keep the stone sentinel from targeting him. Others rose nearby and a webwork of magic sprang up around Elm. Bolts of energy shot out, piercing through the cores of the constructs. Major ripped through the hard surface of one man-shaped statue, shredding it with his powerful claws.

"Disgusting," Major said, spitting a mouthful of crumbled stone onto the ground.

"Now, that is very interesting," Elm said, jogging over to inspect one of the many destroyed constructs. She said nothing about the magical display she had just put on and instead returned to the studious mage she was. "This is very interesting. I did not expect golems here. The magical binding on those normally don't last very long. Whoever made these must have been of a rank I can only imagine."

"Seems like you handled them pretty well," Rud said, coming over to kick at the rubble that represented the spot where the Golem head stood moments ago. Through his magical senses, he could feel the faint tendrils of Mana leaving the cores of the golems. They were built around a construct of some sort, and the druid could never hope to understand exactly what it was; he would leave that to the mages of the world.

"Right, but we should still stick together." Elm said, "Ensure Major doesn't wander too far."

"Stick close, big guy," Rud said, patting the bear on the side. "She thinks there might be more."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Understood," Major growled.

Of course, Elm wanted to inspect each building within the new plaza they had arrived in. Rud somehow convinced her to check only a few before moving on, but the contents of those buildings were no less illuminating than in the previous area. They moved on within the hour, finding themselves fighting against several more groups of golems and eventually arriving at another sealed gate. The mage got to work, claiming this one was far more difficult than the last. By the druid's estimation, they were now pushing into the inner sanctum of the city.

Although Elm expected a pitched battle in the next area when the gate finally gave way to her touch, they found nothing. It was simply another plaza that was even more finely adorned than the last. The buildings were made from exotic materials that no one could recognize, and they stretched higher into the sky than those in the last area.

Rud picked up the rear, walking with the help of his artifact staff and probing the air with his magical senses. There was something that had been growing in his mind since they had pushed past the first barrier, and it was only growing stronger as they approached the center. As he crossed an invisible line, he stopped, going rigid as he felt something familiar.

"Hold up!" Rud shouted. "Get back behind me."

Major and Elm both gave him a strange look, but upon seeing the seriousness on his face they were quick to retreat. When the mage finally came alongside him, she sagged and crumpled. The bear released a concerned growl.

"Ban's energy didn't fix this part," Rud said, squinting. If he focused hard enough, he could almost see the nasty power in the air.

"I don't feel so good," Elm said.

Whatever energy lingered down here wasn't fatal. So long as a person exposed to the miasma returned to the healing energies of the Grove, they would fine. That left the druid free to narrow his gaze on the horizon, scanning for anything that stood out. In his magical senses, the druid could feel something emanating from the spire in the center of the city. A malicious power rolled off it in waves, seeming to batter against the energy Ban had suffused the area with. It was simply too powerful for her to diminish entirely, even if she had reduced it significantly.

"We can't go further," Rud said, looking back to spot the shadowy form of his spiral staircase in the distance. He had an idea, but he didn't know how effective it would be. The druid withdrew some water from his bag. He poured it into a cup and then tipped it into Elm's mouth. She drank deeply, some of the light returning to her eyes. "You should be fine in a few minutes, but you need to take a break."

"It felt like a curtain of power," Elm said, releasing a heavy sigh. "I should've sensed it."

"Why am I fine?" Major asked.

"You're a powerful forest spirit," Rud said. "It would've gotten to you eventually, though."

"Makes sense… So, what's the plan?" Major asked.

That was a good question. Rud only had a wisp of a plan in his mind right now. He needed to remove the rest of the energy if they were going to get to the center of the city. His only plan for that was to take roots from his spiral staircase and snake them into the area affected by the negative energy. After that, it'd be a waiting game.

"We wait for Elm to recover," he said.

"Ah. Sounds delightfully boring."

It didn't take long for Elm to recover. She was up on her feet and stretching out before long. Of course, she wanted to stay behind to inspect the buildings in the area. As long as she respected the invisible wall of energy, everything would be fine. So Rud felt comfortable leaving her where she was. He ran back to the stairs with Major in tow, and got to work.

The tree Rud had planted on the surface seemed eager to spread its roots through the weird city. It stretched out, seeming to almost grow on its own as the druid urged it forward. He felt the power of the grove flowing through his body, adding its strength to his own and making the work easy enough. Roots soon covered most of the exterior wall, wrapping around the buildings in the first area and digging into the soil. The tree was happy to suck up the errant nutrients that lingered there—either deposited through magical means or just existing naturally.

"You're doing a great job, Rud." Ban's voice flooded into his mind, seeming to echo off the walls of the massive cavern.

"I thought you had cleared the entire city with your energy," Rud said back. He wasn't disappointed; he was just confused.

"I thought I had done the same," she said. "When I focused the energy of my roots on the underground city, I felt as though all of it was cleansed. I can't exactly see down there, but I have a sense of all the energies. The roadblock you encountered wasn't something I was aware of. Whatever force is generating that magic is powerful, and you need to be careful."

Rud guided a series of roots, snaking them through the city and shooting them into the soil. This was the furthest he had guided a single tree, and he wasn't certain he was doing it correctly. However, the tree he had selected must have been powerful because it neither objected nor showed any signs of stopping. It simply grew and grew until most of the first area was encompassed by those roots.

"I'll tell Elm to be careful," Rud said, doubling over after finishing with another sprint of root-growing. "Can you tell if this is working?"

"Yes. I can feel the tree absorbing the energies down there," Ban said. "The tree is taking a fair amount of the power for itself, though… Greedy little thing."

"Want me to stop it?" Rud asked

"No. If we're lucky, it'll absorb enough energy to become another Sacred Tree."

"Wait, that's an option?" Rud asked, his mouth hanging open. Major gave him a strange look.

"So long as a wandering soul attaches itself to the tree, yes," Ban said. "Although, you'll have your hands full soon enough."

"With what? What are you keeping from me!?"

Ban giggled into his mind. "Bring the mortal to the surface. You'll see soon enough."

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