1. A Friend in Need

Chapter 1 of Mysterium

A note on the Caldoran month names mentioned in this story:

The months on the Caldoran calendar were named after the various deities and/or the greatest rulers that ever lived.

Monorum is March and marks the beginning of spring.
Perisus represents April.
Aridium is the same as May.
Dessium is June, and marks the beginning of summer.
______


Although he rarely got the chance to do so, Darren Fisher loved walking in the forest as

the sun was setting on the horizon.  He was usually at the docks in Pilcon from just

before dawn to just after dusk.  He loved the coloring of the light and the serene calm

that blanketed everything around him; he wished his profession allowed him more time

off to enjoy walks like this everyday.  Today, however, he wasn’t taking a leisurely

evening stroll through the woods for recreation; it had been a month or more since he

had heard from his friend Christof Maltan, a man who lived with his family in this part of

the Eagle Forest in Damen.  He had asked around the village, and several of Christof’s

other friends hadn’t heard from him either, or from Madelyn, Christof’s wife.  Darren

had decided earlier that day while working that he would go and check on his old friend

and make sure everything was all right.

    A light breeze wound its way through the trees, caressing his face and chilling the

back of his neck.  The weather had remained mild the entire season, even though it was

late spring.  He pulled his collar up and briefly wished he had brought a coat with him.  

Lost in his various thoughts of work and life, he followed the packed dirt path as the

forest around him was receding little by little, until it gave way to a clearing up ahead.  

The Maltan house stood on Darren’s right and a small, placid pond lay across from it.

    Even there though was still plenty of daylight left to see by, Darren observed that

there was no light sources coming from the windows of the house, which would have

been darker inside than the forest that surrounded it.  As he got closer, he saw that

the front door was slightly ajar; so slightly that he might not have even noticed if he had

not decided to check the house out.

    “Hello?” he called out.  There was no answer, not even from the forest.  He was

suddenly aware that the woods around him had grown silent; none of the animals made

their accustomed noises and sounds.  A breeze blew carelessly through the trees, but

he felt that it was degrees colder in front of the house.  Before he could stop himself,

he was reaching for the knob and pulling the door open.

    Darkness greeted him.  He let his eyes adjust for a moment, and then he noticed

the upturned tables and furniture.  The fireplace lay unlit to his right; charred logs

were strewn about the room.  Ahead of him were two doors, one closed and the other

open.  An ascending staircase lay beyond the open door.  He was vaguely aware of a

light hum that seemed to be coming from the very walls.

    “Hello?” he called out again, and there was still no answer.  He took a step

toward the door that was open and then stopped dead in his tracks.  There was a huge

puddle of long-dried blood on the floorboards on his side of the door.  Bloody

handprints marked the wall beside the door that was closed.  It looked as though

whatever had happened here had happened weeks or even months prior.  Darren

swallowed hard, and opened his mouth to speak again.  What came out was little more

than a dry croak.

    “Is anyone home?”

    His only answer was that strange light hum coming from all around him.  He

swallowed again and decided he would go upstairs and see if anyone was hurt.  Stepping

carefully around the huge bloodstain on the floor, Darren ascended the stairs.

    There was only one room at the top, the bedroom shared by the family.  One

wooden bed frame lay in splinters, its mattress tossed aside like a sack of grain.  The

other bed had a large slash in the center of the mattress.  The cupboards and cabinets

and bookcases had all been cast to the ground.  There was more blood around the two

beds.

    The only piece of furniture in the room that hadn’t been moved or destroyed was

a desk on the far wall from the door.  On top of the desk was a book.  Next to the book

was a key.  Darren approached the desk cautiously.  He opened the book to a random

page near the front and saw right away that it was some kind of journal.  He read a few

lines from the page that lay open before him:


Monorum 30th--
Heard some strange sounds this evening when I was downstairs.  Thought it might be an animal outside (maybe a bear), but when I checked, I found nothing.


    Darren flipped a few pages forward and another entry caught his eye:


Perisus 2nd--
Heard the odd noises again, sounds almost like voices.  Maddie says they were coming from the basement and refuses to go down there.  I checked it out, and it sounded as if the voices were coming from the well.


    He ran a hand through his long brown hair and continued to read.


Perisus 3rd--
Heard the voices again today, and they were indeed coming from the well.  I climbed down to investigate, and found a tunnel of all things!  I didn't see who or what the was making the voices, but I think I'll investigate further tomorrow.

Perisus 26th--
I have just returned from what the place I discovered beyond the tunnel under the well!  And Maddie says I have been gone almost a month!  She, and my son Edwin, were so happy to see me.  And I cannot begin to describe what I found beyond the tunnel!  A whole other world is all I can say, it must be.  I was only there for what felt like ten minutes, but Maddie says it's been twenty days or more.


    Darren realized that last entry had been written a month prior.  Completely

astounded, he turned the page again.  There was one final, undated entry in the

journal:


To whomever finds this journal:

Wargs came out of the tunnel and took my wife and child.  I am going in after them.  I will lock the door behind me, but I will be leaving a spare key on the desk should anyone come across this journal and wish to lend a hand.

--C.


    The humming seemed to grow louder, and Darren absent-mindedly let the book

slip from his hands.  It fell to the floor, and the sound of it crashing brought him back to

reality.  He swallowed again and thought about his options.  He knew he was no

adventurer or hero; he was a simple fisherman from the small village of Pilcon in the

kingdom of Damen.  The only real weapon he knew how to use was the hatchet he used

for chopping firewood, and he didn’t have that on his person currently  However, he

knew something bad had happened in this cabin, and the family who had lived here,

friends of his, could still be in danger if they had somehow survived the ordeal.  There

was no way he could quickly go and get help; Pilcon lay miles away to the east.  Darren

decided would have to try and help Christof and his family on his own.  With a shaking

hand, he reached out and grabbed the key.  He silently made his way down the stairs,

no longer caring about stepping in the blood pool at the bottom.  He quickly unlocked

the door to the cellar and descended the stairs.

    The cellar was little more than a cavern.  The humming was louder, and starting

to make his head hurt.  It was also a lot darker than it had been upstairs.  He could

make out the well at the other end of the cellar from what little light there was.  He

made his way over to the well.  Now there was very little light to see by, but he

managed to make out a rope leading down into the well.  He grabbed it and flung one

leg over the side.  Sitting on the lip, he took a deep breath and descended into the

darkness.


The first thing he noticed, besides the water that came up to his chest, was that the

hum was now deafening, not that there would’ve been anything else to hear, except

the splash of the water as he made his way in the darkness.  After a few minutes of

walking he was aware that it was getting brighter.  A few more steps and it was difficult

to deny that there was a blue light source in the cavern up ahead.  As he made his way

toward the light, he realized that it was the source of the humming.  And then he stood

before it; a glowing portal at the end of the tunnel.  He could see the cavern wall

behind its shimmering surface, but he could make out what looked like another cellar in

the portal itself.  Could this have been where Christof’s family had been taken?  There

was only one way to find out, Darren decided.

    Taking another deep breath, Darren closed his eyes and stepped through the

glowing blue portal on feet not quite under his own power.