Tielo was still muttering darkly the next morning as wan sunlight blundered through the ruins of the city. She packed her meagre possessions, out of habit checking her sword, lifting the blade clear from the scabbard to examine the mana jewel set in its hilt.

“We need to find some bare earth and a ley line Michael, my Stormblade is running low.”

He glanced at his own blade and nodded. “Aye, we have a long journey ahead of us too.”

“Are you insisting we go on this fools errand to the north?”

He shrugged. “What else can we do? There’s nothing left for us here other than eventual death when we make the inevitable mistake.”

She sighed. “So we go to the Olymor?”

“Yes, and I hope we may find some clue as to the whereabouts of Alastair.”

“Do you really think the old man is still alive?”

“He’s survived longer than anyone else but us, despite his age. He’s a tough old codger and hellish intelligent too.”

Tielo carefully slid her blade back into its scabbard and hefted her backpack. “Then north we go.”

They picked their way carefully through the city, the streets littered with the debris of the past. Cracked concrete and the piled wreckage of useless technology paid grey tribute to the past, a forlorn reminder of the Mana wars and the ascension of magic over science.

As they passed the desiccated corpse of a long dead Crawler, Tielo halted and stopped to pick something up. "Michael!"

As he turned, she mutely held out her hand. In the centre of her palm a silvery orb rested, an opalescent sheen reflecting the pale glow of the sun.

"Mana Orb. But from what? I've only ever seen orbs like that in Stormblades, Shields or Poweraxes, never free and mana drained like this one."

"Do you think there's some way of recharging it?"

"We can but try. I think we need to get out of this place quickly, I've never like the cities."

"Agreed."

Tielo lifted her wrist and moved the bangle resting there into the sunlight, looking direct into the jewel. "Com man dident i fyley." She spoke the words of power carefully, causing the mana jewel to flare, its companion on her Stormblade glowing for a moment in twinned response. Once lit, she quested the directions of the compass, the gem glowing red until her swinging arm caused it to change to green. "We go that way."

~

"I don't like it here Tielo," said Michael softly. "It doesn't feel right."

The ruins of an old church stood nearby, ornate stonework showing its age with a beard of vegetation covering the stones and fallen walls. There was no sign of life, no sound.

"We have no choice, Michael."

"Aye, I know." He drew his blade and plunged it into the dusty soil, the blade sinking effortlessly into the ground as he knelt. Placing his wrist with its Stormshield bangle on top of the hilt he closed his eyes as Tielo stood watch. "Com man dener gyca che." As Tielo watched, she noticed the hum of his Stormblade increase rapidly, the jewel glowing brighter and brighter as the seconds passed, the Stormshield jewel matching in pace and intensity.

He opened his eyes with a smile. "Well, it may be creepy around here, but that's one of the most powerful ley lines I've seen for years."

"Good, my turn." Tielo knelt, and then held out her hand to Michael. "Give me the other Jewel Mike, the one we found in the street. I want to try something."

Michael passed over the other jewel and watched as she set up the mana transfer, holding the jewel so it contacted with her Stormshield. She gasped as the transfer finished, gaping at the jewel she held in her bare palm. It glowed at full power, but instead of the usual green or red, the jewel throbbed with a strange morass of swirling colours.

"What the hell -" started Michael, but stopped as a glow formed above Tielo's palm. The face of Alastair appeared in the air, smiling broadly at them and words spilled from the old man as they watched in awe.

"My friends. If you're seeing this then I've managed to unlock something that may change all our destinies. If you are not already heading north, you must travel to the Olymer, I will wait for you there. If I'm not alive when you get there, please do not mourn me, for this is the culmination of a life's work and if it means you survive my friends then that is all I can ask for. The jewel you hold in your hand is from my Stormblade, but I have managed to modify it with the help of the Olymer. It is a wise, if somewhat confusing companion, and what I have learned troubles me as it means you have little time left to get to me. Strom and his followers are gathering their power to march north and finish the Olymer and anyone who stands in their way. You must stay ahead of him and the shadow of darkness flowing up from the south. You have a chance to escape death my friends, but you must join me. May the Light of all things remain with you."

As the light faded, Alastair's image waved a hand in farewell and the jewel died. As they watched, the jewel lost all colour and crumbled to dust in Tielo's palm.

"Alastair... do you think he's dead?"

Michael, looked at Tielo, the sadness in his eyes mirroring her own. "There's only one way we can know. I think perhaps we should have something to eat for a moment and then we move."

"Aye, ok." Tielo thought for a moment. "Why is this ley line so strong?"

"I don't know, I've not seen its like for some time. Do you think it's something to do with the old church?"

Tielo cast her brother a sad glance. "Shall we have a look? I think I'd like to experience a place of peace for a moment."

Michael paused, his own sense of unease warring with the wishes of his sister who had been far closer to the old man than he had. "Aye, come on, let's have a look. It'll be nice to get out of the wind for a moment."

They walked through the open door of the church, the wood of the doors barely solid on rusted hinges. As they passed by the font, Tielo sprinkled the dusty remains of Alastair's mana jewel into the empty basin and closed her eyes for a moment.

Michael lifted his Stormshield, his eyes widening in astonishment as the jewel pulsed. "Tielo," he said softly, his voice muted by the vastness of the walls around them, "this place is alive with mana energy. It's a bit like a mana node."

Tielo looked past the font into the main body of the massive church, the pale sun streaming past the remaining beams of the long fallen roof. "I think there's something else alive here too," she whispered, her voice strained in fear.

Michael looked past her and swore softly. On a stone throne in the centre of the vaulted space sat a dark figure, metal talons gripping the seat with powerful intensity, eyes flashing redly. Around him stood brown cloaked figures, faces obscured by masks and the curious antler headdresses of the Vir, dark forces of the Lord Strom.

"Go, quickly."

The two Storm warriors ran swiftly from the ley rich church and its dark contents, their boots kicking up a dusty penumbra as they went.

"It can't be helped," said Michael once they were outside, Tielo pointing to their tracks. "We have to get out of here now. I think they must be mana feeding, restoring themselves during the day so they can go hunting tonight. We need to run and get to the Olymer before they do.

Tielo pointed to the south. "Michael, look. The sky."

Michael followed her direction, shock registering on his face. The sky to the south was a roiling mass of electrical energy. Darkness followed in its wake and there was no end to the east or west.

"What is it?"

"I don't know, but I don't intend to find out. Let's get the hell out of here before Strom and his friends wake up." 

End of Part 2