35 A New Era Dawns
Before Callum could do anything else, his vision dimmed and he could feel something pull on his soul. Shortly after, he felt like his soul was hurtling far above a massive mountain range; he could faintly sense his body laying in that room.
The Dire Wolf promptly dashed over to his body and was trying to figure out how he could help. Amarok's confused whine as he pawed at his limp body tore at Callum's heart; he tried to mentally send that he was ok to his worried friend.
That seemed to help reassure Amarok because his whines of distress lessened in frequency. Amarok laid his head on Callum's chest, the Beast Core lay forgotten. Callum didn't think it was possible for souls to shed tears, but he swore that he came close to experiencing just that.
He reached one edge of the mountain range and came upon a large fortress that blocked passage into a wide pass that cut through the mountain range. The orb let Callum know that he was witnessing things as they once were a long time ago.
A major road followed the pass deep into the mountains; the road was filled with numerous groups of people, and mounted patrols kept the travelers safe. Callum's soul sped up as he followed the road hundreds of miles into the mountains.
He only caught brief images of dozens of settlements large and small; a prosperous land fueled by mining, timber, alchemy, and many other trades; thriving commerce with local and inter-Empire trade.
In the middle of the mountain range, sat a citadel whose size dwarfed the fortress guarding the entrance to the pass. The orb briefly slowed his vision down in the presence of what he learned was the Empire's capital.
All too soon, the orb whisked him away and he was once more thundering down the pass. He caught brief glimpses of various mines, settlements, dungeons, and geographic features; each sight was too brief for him to be able to take them in fully.
The orb and his soul eventually arrived at another large fortress that guarded the far end of the pass. Here, the two slowed down briefly before he was zipping along the road once more. The road joined a large river, both traveled westward towards the sea.
They came upon a massive city on a large body of water, his height gave him the ability to see it was an inland ocean or perhaps a large gulf. Large groups of merchant ships traveled away or towards the city and many warships patrolled the waters around the city.
Callum knew this was the edge of the Empire he had just been given a tour of. He glanced at the orb acting like his tour guide, it was somehow feeding him information he had no business knowing.
Information like the pass was 1,500 miles (2,400km) long and they followed the plains for another 300 miles (480km) before they reached the shore. Even as he was contemplating this, the orb drew him back to the room.
Except, this room was full of shelves, maps, chests, and many other items. The pass he had just traveled was displayed in blue magic lines as if he was a bird flying overhead. He readily recognized various symbols and icons on the map, even though he had never seen them before.
The wondrous sight was so captivating, that he didn't see the bloodied man leaning heavily over a table.
"Welcome, I will have been dead for at least a thousand years by the time you see this," an older man smiled wryly in his direction.
"And if you're standing here, you aren't a descendant of one of my betrayers. You'd already be dead if that was the case," his wry smile transformed into a ruthless one.
"I only had time to make a recording, so don't bother asking questions. You'll get a helper soon, they'll answer your questions."
The man coughed up blood, he tried and failed to hide a wince of pain as he coughed. He stared morbidly at his bloodied hands, before he continued in a sorrowful tone.
"They killed my family and they have killed most of those who remained loyal. Those rats have even killed me, I just haven't quite died yet. There's nothing I can do about the magical disease that is ravaging my body."
More painful coughs and blood interrupted him.
"I killed some of them, and I'll have my last moment of spite now that I'm in here. I'm placing a strong enchantment on this room. For one thousand years it will hide this room and prevent anyone from entering."
Callum could sense that eight cities and fortresses were linked to the orb, and it was pulling heavily on all eight in order to fuel the powerful enchantment. Individuals were magically transported out of buildings that folded in on themselves before vanishing.
"They betrayed me to get that cursed orb. I concentrated too hard on trying to get my Demigod class, that I gave them too much control and not enough scrutiny. We were all rich and powerful together, I was too naive."
"I'm leaving you this ring and this core, you'll need both as you establish yourself."
He pulled off an unremarkable ring and placed it on the table next to a familiar Beast Core.
"I'm afraid the Castle Core will need everything else, otherwise I'd leave you more. I'd ask Faradien, but those bastards killed him too. Brave fairy that one, sacrificing himself to save me."
The old man lapsed into silence. Callum could see the emotion on the man's face.
"Learn from my mistakes. Guard against betrayal, be careful about who you place in power, and don't take the ones you love for granted. Always remember . . . "
The man's voice grew weaker and weaker until he finally fell silent and collapsed over the table.
"What the hell is a Castle Core?" Callum questioned. He was still recovering from the sensation of flying and all of the images that flashed before his eyes.
He watched as the apparent Castle Core drank in magic from the eight settlements and finished the enchantment that would prevent the unknown betrayers from profiting from their betrayal.
Callum could sense that the death of the fairy and the old man had weakened it somehow; it was drawing heavily on the settlements. Buildings disappeared, walls vanished, and eventually nothing but stunned residents and their stuff remained in all eight locations.
He could sense that time, in his vision, was passing rapidly. Somehow he could see glimpses of the once great Empire's territory. The fortresses, capital, and massive port city were all gone. Fighting broke out amongst the population.
The once great Empire limped along for some time. Rival powers invaded the Empire, great Beast Waves streamed out of dungeons, and internal factions warred with each other. Trade fell due to all the strife and the lessened security.
Callum watched as the Castle Core absorbed magical and non-magical items in order to continue its existence. Soon, the room was stripped bare of everything except for what Callum had seen upon entering.
Hundreds of years passed swiftly. The remaining cities fell into ruin, overcome by Beast Waves or invading armies. Occasionally, nearby powers tried to set up settlements, but none lasted for very long.
Travel and trade through the pass became too dangerous without settlements to rest in or patrolling soldiers to drive away dangerous monsters. 1,500 miles was simply too far to travel without a single place to take shelter in.
Callum saw that the occasional caravan still made the trip. No more than a handful braved the pass in any given year. The nearby powers finally gave up trying to establish a settlement in the pass.
The next thing Callum knew, he was back in his body. Amarok somehow sensed this and started to lick his face, his tail thumped loudly against the floor.
"Sorry buddy. I didn't mean to worry you!"
He sat up and placed his arms around the massive beast and attempted to placate it, he could use a little support himself.
"Yeah, I should have been more careful. In the future, I'll try to avoid whatever that was," Callum promised. He walked over to where the Beast Core had been, but it was completely gone. However, he did find the ring.
He gingerly picked it up with his cloak and placed it in his bag, he was hesitant about any new surprises. They climbed up the long winding staircase. However, instead of walking out into the open, they walked into a brand new castle.
Callum looked around the great hall before he turned to look at Amarok.
"Does anything look different to you?"
