The Figure: Another Broken Memory

I knew that despite my best efforts to have gathered all I could in one trip, The Old Vault would be a place I would visit often during the course of this project. The fear of wasting materials I could never replace. Over the course of days with not a wink of sleep, I worked. Taking notes, researching magical formulas and chemistry. I understood it all well enough to be better than most mages in the ‘real world’ but all this was Theodosia’s field of expertise. At this point it was likely that I had accumulated far more knowledge than she had before the accident, but knowing something and executing it are far, far different. I knew it on paper. While far more than capable of the creation of Simulacrum so advanced they would make arch-mages feel like amateurs. I knew little of magic that involved more destructive and creative forces. Or at the very least I knew little of how to create new spells. Maintaining or repeating spells that are documented I could do a fine enough job. Which meant one thing. This would take time. Though I had time ad infinitum, it angered me to feel as though I were wasting it. And days without sleep were starting to affect my mental state.

—

Again I awoke on a distant shore, not of sea, but of fire. Rippling and pocked black landscape stretching far beyond sight, only broken by flows and sprays of glowing yellows reds and whites, of hot magma finding its way out of any place the crust was thin enough for it to force its way through. The only thing protecting us was a soap bubble thin sphere of glowing light, that hovered high above the landscape. And despite the enchantment Theodosia had placed on our clothes to try and keep us cool inside the bubble, I could feel sweat against my lower back and forehead.

“There can’t possibly be anything interesting here.” I said, having to speak louder over the eruptions taking place all around us.

In front of Theodosia floated a small nearly translucent hand holding her notebook, as she wrote something, her left hand focused on maintaining the spell keeping the bubble intact. “.... If it’s anything like the last dimension I’m sure something interesting will be here. We just have to watch.” she said, she’d spoken my name…or I think she did, it only came to me as a ringing in my ears that made the base of my neck and gums around my teeth ache. Something buried…

I turned what little I could in the small space, to look behind us. “We barely escaped last time.” I noted. “Do we really want to risk it again?”

“Discovery is risks, dear.” she said smiling, “Besides.” she said holding out a small rod made of some kind of lilac colored glass. “We don’t need chalk this time. Just snap and poof, back home safe, sound, smiling.”

“And sweating.” I noted.

Theodosia shrugged. “I’m fine.” she said.

She twisted her hand slightly causing the bubble to rotate to get a better view of another section of that Hells-like landscape. “It should be here somewhere.” she frowned, puzzled. “I made the portal specifically to lock onto things like the ziggurat.”

“You what!” I asked. “I don’t mean to repeat myself but we nearly died last time.”

“You might have mentioned it.” She said, turning the bubble slightly again. “As soon as I prove it’s here we can leave before something knows we noticed it.” she said, her words sounding more like “Right after I take notes of its size, shape and material construction.

On the fourth rotation we spotted it. Or I suppose what used to be it. A spire stuck skyward from the lava field. Likely once a sleek, elegant construction of an unknown builder, was now little more than a misshapen, amorphous mass of what could have been eons of buildup from the spray and cooling of lava, foundation surely cracked or sinking caused the ziggurat to lean at a strange angle, its left most wall nearly parallel with the ground, half of one side buried under the slowly rising surface from eruption after eruption.

“So they can be broken.” Theodosia said, hurriedly writing down as much as she could, mostly in short hand to refine later. “Fascinating.” she said grinning, engrossed in her notes.

I was however focused on the land around us. The last time we’d taken notice of the ziggurat it seemed to become aware of us. What? I’d not bothered to give it a name, Theodosia had taught me that names are power. And those things were strong enough without them. I wasn’t going to be foolish enough to get them the power of being knowable. It took me longer to notice, I likely would have sooner had my feet being on solid ground but a new rumble shook the ground. It was then I realised we were underground. The ceiling was just so high above it was impossible to see with the smoke and red haze that hung over everything. Something was coming this way, something unimaginably massive. The ground shook forming fractures on the rippled stone surface, lava oozing from the cracks.

The ground exploded, like some sort of subsurface volcanic eruptions, but it was not lava the sprayed fourth, but a creature. Something made from the land around it, flesh made of imperfectly rippled stone still glowing with the heat of ‘swimming’ through the lava underground.

Theodosia spun in the small space, eyes locking on the ‘God’. Panicked trying to take at least one note about the monster.

Though not entirely correct to compare the two, it was like a serpent meeting a worm, two sets of eyes, above where eyes should go and a set below. The head alone was larger than any whale I’d ever seen even in story books, and I could tell this abomination could have gone for miles under our feet. Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, its head split in a Cruciform Maw, what should have been saliva replaced with thin rivulets of lava. The thing’s eyes swivelled to meet Theodosia and I. Its mouth closed, shifting on its jaw as best I can describe like a fly cleaning its legs. And we heard it, the same strange language of the oceanic outer god. A string of words not understood, before it lunged, grabbing us in its jaw, seemingly trying to crush us in its mouth. It felt like we were being cooked. The lava saliva rolled over the surface of the bubble, causing the magic to ripple, though it hadn’t failed yet it was just a matter of time. “Theodosia…” I said slowly. “Break the thing…” I pleaded.

She pulled it out and snapped it in one motion, then the pulling of being ripped from one place to another in an instant, fresh clean cool air filled my lungs, then the taste of pond water, and cold wet and mossy water on my skin. My eyes snapped up to see something following us down through the portal. I pulled Theodosia under the surface of the water and pulled hard and away, as a giant clump of lava hit the water’s surface, boiling the water almost instantly, steam burning skin but overall safe. I pulled her to the opposite shore, coughing up some water. “Better than the chalk…but needs some work…”

She laughed. “I said it was better than the chalk…not safer.”

It was a long time waiting for it to cool but we took the stone that had formed from the alien lava and put it in the vault.

—-

I opened my eyes. “Something else to look into…” Starting to hope these dreams were clues and not a curse warning me of the danger of doing something like this without her.