Secret of the Aetherscribes

The village alarms blared out a warning that sent the Voltfolk skittering for shelter like frightened kaie'o. While thunderstorms were common enough in Enion, a storm this wild hadn't been seen for centuries. Yet one person dared to charge away from the safety of Volthaven. She had better things to do than hide from some rain.

Aurora sailed over the rooftops, leaving a trail of lightning and laughter crackling in her wake.

"Today's my lucky day!"

Her pace quickened as she approached the edge of the floating isle. She let herself fall, compressing herself into a ball of pure energy as she landed near the bluff. Without wasting a moment, she uncoiled her limbs and vaulted off, a loud CRACK punctuating her departure.

Aurora knew the difference between the sound of thunder and the sound of earth; she spared a backward glance and watched as a chunk of rock slipped into the clouds below.

"Whoops! Oh well. Can't get to Boulderhead without breaking a few rocks."

Ribbons of multicolored lightning cascaded off her like a shooting star cutting through the darkness as she soared through the storm. Thunder shook the sky and thick bolts of lightning struck around her.

What a perfect show for such a fearless star!

A flock of fleeing shock strikers threatened to knock Aurora off course, but she dipped and dived to stay on target with precise maneuvers that would rival the finest of wayfarers. At last, her goal peeked over the horizon: Boulderhead Island.

The 'creatively' named island bore a striking resemblance to a bulbous head, but more importantly, it was home to an ancient vault just begging to be explored. Aurora landed at its dormant door.

"Ok, listen up," she addressed the storm. "I know you're dying to zap something. This would be a great time to do it!"

She'd skimmed a ponderous tome, found out that this vault would only open for a lightning bolt a hundred times stronger than any wayfarer could produce. This was her one chance.

As if acting on her suggestion, the storm called down a massive bolt to strike the floating rock.

The door unleashed a blinding light before groaning open like a slumberous Ollin thawing under a new dawn. The large mass stirring in the shadows cued that the angry door was the least of her worries.

A towering stone golem scraped towards her. Aurora smirked and drew her blade. It crackled to life as her lightning surged through it. The golem's stilted movements looked otherworldly in the strobing light, and when it spoke, the words were cryptic, the tone piercing.

"I have no clue what that was, big guy, but I know a bard or two who could help with your annunciation."

Aurora sprinted toward the golem and slid between its legs to dodge its massive fist. She spun on the wet ground and stabbed the back of its knee. The golem's leg buckled, but as it fell forward, its upper body swiveled to face Aurora again, catching her off guard.

It lunged for her. Her well-honed reflexes reacting faster than fear, Aurora ran up along its outstretched arm, wrapped herself around its craggy shoulders, and plunged her blade into its neck joint. Surely that would do it!

Or not. The golem reared back with an ear-splitting screech. Aurora had two choices: throw herself off or let the angry creature do it for her. She chose the former, barely evading its grasp at the cost of an unfortunate meeting between her skull and the ground. Her vision cleared just in time to roll away from the golem's rain of blows. She scrambled to her feet; reached for her sword—

—but it was still lodged in the golem's neck. She could work with that. Aurora looked up at the sky and silently willed the lightning to strike twice.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" she taunted her foe.

The creature receded back to its resting place, the opposite of what she intended, only to reemerge wielding a stone column like a hammer.

Couldn't this thing take a joke?

The golem hobbled towards her with murderous intent written in the cracks of its eerie stone face. The column's reach more than made up for its injuries.

Aurora waited for the swing, jumped over it, then ducked as it swiped its makeshift weapon back and forth with terrifying speed.

Frustrated, the stone sentinel rooted itself to the ground and put all of its power into spinning its torso round and round like a pinwheel. One wrong move and Aurora would be obliterated.

She ducked and dodged with lightning-powered bursts, just long enough for her plan to work. With a resounding snap, the storm sent down a heroic lightning bolt straight to her blade. The creature glowed white-hot, then blew apart from the inside out.

"That rocked," Aurora chuckled as she wiped golem dust from her face and retrieved her weapon. "Now let's see what this old head's been hiding."

The inside of the vault was a monument to lost memory filled with machines too rusted to work and books too faded to read. Skeletons, wrapped in the scraps of once beautiful robes, failed to deter Aurora from whatever dangers might be waiting.

After all, she'd just smashed a golem!

The rest of this expedition would be a cinch.

Aurora peered at the arcane symbols etched into every inch of the walls. She'd seen enough of these to decipher a prominent word: Arcturos. Was that the name of this place? Eh, she liked Boulderhead better.

Her fascination with the décor almost cost her an eye as a blast of lightning whizzed past her face. Balls and bolts of lightning blinked in and out of view down the hallway ahead. Their pattern was almost too easy to crack. She danced through the electric air, effortlessly evading the deathtraps as she counted the seconds between blasts.

The next obstacle was a little more tricky and a lot more fun. She opened a door to a twisted mosaic of mismatched tiles and colors. A labyrinth of archways to strange and beautiful places beckoned, but only one would lead her forward.

She didn't risk eating any of the suspiciously tasty-looking fruit and drink options laid out for her as a "Welcome to Arcturos". But she couldn't resist another temptation.

"Here, na'shi na'shi!" Aurora bent down and held her hand out to a juvenile na'shari as it wandered out from a door where a giant hand waved from the upside down sky. The beastling gave her a tentative sniff and a gentle headbutt.

"Aw, you little reality-defying cutie."

The na'shari's fuzzy tail rattled and it bolted back to the upside down world where the giant hand was now pointing to the left. Aurora looked that way and saw a hooded figure pointing up, then followed it to another pointing left again.

To trust or not to trust their creepy fingers?

No other obvious pattern emerged. Definitely a trap. She turned right and found a lone closed door tucked discreetly away. When in doubt, be the odd one out.

She opened the door and emerged back into the Boulderhead—Arcturos—whatever vault. An ornate door stood before her, and after that dizzying sequence, the last thing Aurora expected from it was a simple passage.

A grid of symbols lit up when she approached, above them an inscription: "We honor the many cycles of the moon in which Yvor defended Enion against the Old Ones."

"Just like in the old stories." Aurora slid the symbols for 90 into place and cackled as the door opened. "Works for me!"

Unlike the rest of the vault, this chamber was trapped in time, untouched for who knows how long until today. A glowing orb in an elaborate metal cage illuminated the massive chamber. Despite its size, the room didn't seem to hold anything of value.

Aurora had barely taken two steps into the cavernous space before ominous whirring noises started up. They grew to deafening volumes as dozens of metal golems flew at her on silver wings. A lone golem was one thing, but five, ten—thirty or more of them with wings?! If she survived, Melody should write a song about her.

A pair of golems collided in an explosion of sparks as Aurora dodged their two-sided attack. Another golem glanced off her quick-drawn blade. The next, she impaled through the chest and used its body as a sledgehammer to destroy two more.

As four golems surged towards her, she sent out a wave of lightning that sent them sputtering to the floor. Before she could recharge, one golem snatched her sword away and opened a gap for eight of its companions to swarm her.

So much for the song.

Mandibles pinched her skin as the golems pinned her to the ground. Even as one raised her own sword above her head, Aurora refused to believe this was how she would die.

Miraculously, she was right.

"Release her," a metallic voice bellowed.

Aurora searched for the source of the voice as the golems flitted back to their posts, but aside from them, she was alone.

"Who said that?"

In answer, the glowing orb pulsed. Its cage shook free of the wall piece by piece, strands of light holding the metal shards together as they floated toward her as one.

The sheer scale of the thing was mind-boggling; a moving tower of metal and magnetism, bound by ancient energies beyond any she'd seen before.

"Tell me your name."

Aurora retrieved her blade and stood. She wasn't sure whether to look at the orb at its core or the shards where its head should be when it 'spoke'.

"You first."

"The Aetherscribes denominated me Oscilio."

"The Aetherwho?"

"My creators. I have been monitoring your progress through Arcturos."

"If you knew I was here, why did you let your friends attack me?"

"It was necessary for me to analyze your combat prowess."

"Was fighting the sentinel outside not enough?"

"I cannot see beyond Arcturos. But my aetheric receptors indicate an unusual fluctuation in The Flow."

Aurora tentatively lowered her weapon. "What kind of fluctuation?"

"According to the Aetherscribes, only the most powerful surge could have awoken me. You must accompany me as I seek its origin."

"Hold on a sec! What makes you think I'll just tag along with you?"

"There is no reason for you to object."

"Based on what? You don't know me."

"I have determined that you are a capable individual with fascinating potential. You appear to thrive in challenging circumstances."

Even though Oscilio talked about her like she was an experiment, his observation was oddly touching.

"My mission is far too complex for a single agent," he continued, "even one of my sophistication. I must share my knowledge with those willing to share my burden."

Aurora considered for a moment. True, she was pretty awesome (or "capable," as he put it).

"This 'burden' of yours," she entertained. "How heavy is it?"

Oscilio floated toward her. "The Aetherscribes, greatest scholars of the Third Age, imbued me with the sum of their studies."

Aurora had a gray vision of droning lectures in a dusty hall. She shuddered.

"Weighty tomes...exciting."

"I cannot fathom any more intense excitation than the pursuit of knowledge."

Aurora thought of all the other vaults hiding among the islands, waiting to be explored by some enterprising wayfarer. If only someone knew where those vaults were and, even better, how to open them. Oscilio was her ticket to the wonders of the Third Age. She could pick his brain—or whatever he had—and learn Enion's tastiest secrets.

"I could be up for some learning. But I've got a certain subject in mind."

"Name it."

"Tell me all about Enion's vaults."

Oscilio's core darkened a bit. Was he thinking?

"That aligns with the long-term objectives of my mission." His projected voice sounded almost smug. "Though it shall take years to explore them all."

Aurora smirked. "We'll see about that. I'm quick on my feet."

"Very well. Although I too have a favored topic in mind."

Uh oh. Aurora braced herself for a deluge of tedium. "Okaaay."

"You will introduce me to others like you. My mission requires the efforts of a multitude."

"I can play nice with others." She'd always been a firm believer that a wayfarer's discoveries should benefit everyone. "As long as I get first peek in the best vaults?"

"That is acceptable."

"Great! Put her there, partner." Aurora extended her hand to a nonplussed Oscilio. "Oh, I guess you don't have a hand to shake with."

"No," Oscilio said, "but I am familiar with the concept."

He slowly extended his arm toward Aurora. She wrapped her fingers around one of the metal spikes, which was pleasantly warm to the touch.

"The name's Aurora, and I'm very pleased to meet you."