The attack on Astillen had come suddenly and without warning. Levin and Rolwen had just been walking back toward the port when they suddenly saw something that pulled their attention.

Standing to one side of the road, they saw a small boy, appearing to be just a little younger than their own age. However, there was something very unusual about this boy. It was his skin color. The boy had skin that was of the exact same ashen grey shade as Asaren.

The very moment the mages who were with them saw this, they all froze in fright and immediately got into defensive positions.

{Dark gnome!} One of them shouted as they all began to level wands and staves toward the boy.

Meanwhile, the boy’s gaze remained steady. He was looking straight toward the two of them.

{What brings you here, gnome?!} Auden, the mages’ leader, demanded.

Despite the man’s taunts, the boy continued staring at Levin and Rolwen.

“I’m sorry. The evil god they worship has called for you. Please don’t resist. They wish to capture, not to kill.” The boy said in perfect English, after which he vanished feet first into the ground as though the earth had simply swallowed him up.

{Shit! He went underground! Hurry! Everyone to the boat! Grab the kids and run!} The noble mage said as they all seemed to know exactly what was going on.

Levin and Rolwen were grabbed up under the arms after this was shouted, and the mages all began running full speed. After this, the entire area was rocked by some kind of earthquake. Shouting and chaos erupted all over the city.

As they continued on their mad dash for the port, six crystal pillars began to rise out of the ground. As Levin watched carefully at this odd sight, he could see small figures standing on top of each pillar, each dressed in red clothing from head to toe.

{Depart immediately! Get away from the land! We need to be on open water! We are dealing with gnomes!} Auden shouted as they were within earshot of the large ship in the port.

Any mage who had magical means of flight, high jumps, or other means of crossing distances quickly used their various methods to avoid use of the gang-plank, reserving it for the use of those who had no other means of boarding the ship as everyone was in a mad scramble to board. They did not even bother to untie the ropes from the port. Someone with an ax simply cut the rope from the ship side.

Levin and Rolwen were carried up onto the ship just as it started to move, causing the gangplank to fall due to the moving surface beneath it and tumble right into the water.

By the time they got a good look at the red crystal pillars again, they had grown even larger and thicker. The people standing at the tops of them were no longer visible, and the pillars had more of a bent conical shape now, kind of like large horns bent inward as they loomed over the city. In addition to this, large sheets of crystal wall were starting to form between the pillars. This included between the two pillars that were positioned right along the shoreline.

Houses that were built up along the waterfront that were in the path of these crystals were demolished as the wall closed in from both sides, threatening to entrap the ship within the city. But as the ship was moving, it was looking like they were on course to escape. But then, suddenly the wall at their location stopped extending.

Just as quickly as the first wall had been rising, a new line of red crystal wall began to rise at an off angle between the two closest towers, distorted out this time. It was very clear they intended to close them in.

The crystal walls cut straight across the river, and came to meet on the far shore, managing to finally cut off the retreating boat in the middle of the waterway.

After this, the nearby crystal wall cracked and a large chunk of the red stone was dropped into the river right next to the ship. On top of the crystal island that had just been created stood one of those red robed figures.

The red cloaked man was really covered from head to toe in extravagant blood red robes that covered every part of him, including his face. Only his eyes were visible. It was hard to tell from a distance, but he appeared short.

The man began to speak, his voice was far louder than the boys would have guessed would be possible, and the sound seemed to be coming from all directions. It was the complete opposite of what one would expect from such a small man. It was booming and deep, like the voice of god in old religious movies. It was as though when this man spoke, the entire earth spoke with him.

[INHERITORS OF THE VOID KEY. SURRENDER. IF YOU DO NOT LEAVE THAT SMALL SHIP AND COME TO THE SHORE, WE SHALL DRAIN THE WATER FROM THIS NOW CUT OFF SECTION OF RIVER AND KILL EVERY MAGE ON BOARD.]

Levin and Rolwen looked at each other. Everything had happened so fast. It wasn’t even ten minutes before this that they were just walking down the street, and already the entire world around them changed.

[YOU HAVE ONE HOUR.] The small man continued talking. [FOR EVERY FIVE MINUTES UNTIL THEN, WE WILL BRING FORWARD ONE PERSON FROM THIS TOWN AND SINK THEM IN THIS RIVER TO DROWN.]

To punctuate this threat, two more people in red cloaks were seen walking down the pier dragging a struggling doc worker. They had the stature of 8 to 10 year old children compared to the large and burly doc worker, but they had no problem pulling him by the shoulders as his feet dragged along the ground.

On closer inspection though, it became clear that he was not just having his feet dragged because he was protesting the action. His feet were bound together by what looked like a lump of pure stone.

“Wait! Are they going to…” Levin said.

Suddenly, before even setting foot onto the doc, the two red-cloaked people dropped the man, and then one of them lifted up a hand. In sync response to this action, the lump of stone that encased the man’s feet suddenly levitated into the air. The man let out a cry of terror as he was lifted from the shore and levitated out over the water as the two red-cloaked individuals simply flicked their wrists.

The man was hurled through the air, screaming in terror as he hurled toward the ship dragged by the stone around his feet. There was a sickening thud as the stone, and then the man’s skull, hit the side of the boat a moment before there was a splash that indicated he had been pulled under.

Back on the shore, there was more screaming. When they looked, they could see the people in the red cloaks had dragged out a small child this time. They saw the child’s feet sink down into the stone that made up the pathways around the port, shackling their feet in place.

“That first one was just to show us they were serious.” Rolwen said. “They really do intend to carry this out. And they are definitely able to.”

[ONE HOUR!]

The booming voice said again. And then, an object which surprised Levin and Rolwen rose up next to the bound child. It was not something that they had ever expected to see in this era that seemed to have technology that seemed to be in the early bronze age, but it was something both of them recognized and also which made perfect sense once they considered the fact that these people understood the concept of what an hour was.

It was an hour glass. A large hour glass, as big as an adult human and easily visible from where they were in the middle of the river.

Tension on the vessel was heavy, and the mages all looked to one another.

{He is asking for someone called the inheritors of the void key} Auden said, translating the elven for anyone who might not have understood. {He says that they have cut off this section of river and will sink our vessel in one hour if we do not surrender these inheritors. Does any one know what he is talking about?}

Levin and Rolwen looked to each other again, and they noticed there were several mages around them who were giving them suspicious glances. It looked like they had already started to suspect what this could be referring to.

It didn’t take long for an understanding to pass between them. They nodded to each other, and then Rolwen stepped forward.

{They are probably talking about us. We have not reached this level yet, but the discipline of magic we are learning progresses toward making us able to harness energies of the void.} He said.

The noble leader of the mages made an unpleasant face upon hearing this as he gazed down at the two of them.

{I see.} He said. {That is very unfortunate. I was interested to learn more of you and your master, but I do not see this as an enemy we will have the ability to face on your behalf.}

{Don’t worry about it. To tell you the truth, we have not been being completely honest with you thus far. You should not feel obligated to protect us.} Rolwen said.

{Oh? How so?} The man asked.

Rolwen seemed to be silent for a moment as he looked out to the shore, and then he looked up to the man again with a face full of resolve.

{Before I answer that question, I would like to hear all that you can tell us about these dark gnomes we are facing. I have not heard of them before, and we have less than five minutes before they throw that child on the shore into the water.} He said.

{You can speak elven?!} The mage leader reacted with shock.

{We were taken as the birth mates to a pair of elves as infants. Our master is someone we happened to meet in the elven village who was also from the same world in their previous life as myself and the other so-called ‘children of gods’ that you refer to. This way of magic we are learning is one that is not of this world. It comes from our own world, Earth.} Rolwen explained.

{I see. So you and your master escaped from the elves?} The man asked.

{Something like that. We brought along the elf children we were raised with as well, in addition to their parents. It’s complicated to explain how it all went down, but we have been on the run from some high level enemies for most of our lives in this world. Right now, I am asking for information on this new enemy we are about to face.} Rolwen explained.

{Yes, yes, very well.} The mage said. {I suppose this might be the least we can do as you have willingly agreed to take on the wrath of this enemy for us.}

{Dark gnomes are creatures born from some depraved ritual of the dark elves. They capture a gnome, the spirit that embodies the element of earth, and entrap it in a vessel of flesh by merging it into the soul of one of their own unborn children. The child grows up with their growth stunted, and loose access to the other three elements that are natural to the dark elves. However, the mastery which they gain over the earth element is absolute.}

{Aside from an actual gnome or earth elemental summoned from the Agarath, these dark gnomes are the strongest users of earth magic in the entire world. These ones, though. They exhibit a power even beyond what is normally seen among gnomes.} The man explained

{You can see they are dressed in those red robes,} he continued. {The fabric their clothing is made from is woven from the fibers of the blood flower. A detestable species of plant which the demons cultivate. It feeds upon blood, and the fibers woven from it enhance the performance of demonic bloodline magic. Clothing made from the blood flower is worn almost exclusively by gnomes among the demonic tribes. Normally just a cap in most cases. However, these ones are covered with several layers of robes to the extent that it makes them look more stocky than the average gnome, and they are even wearing it over their faces.}

{So…} Rolwen cut in and looked out at the adversary again. {In other words, these are the elite of the elite.}

{I have to confess. The level of magic I have seen here surpasses anything I have seen in all my years studying at the academy. This is an enemy that could likely even take down the whole of humanity’s magic users. Things truly are beyond us at this point.} The mage leader said.

After finishing these words, the mage walked over to the side of the ship. [Dark gnomes, hear me!] He shouted. [The inheritors of the void key have revealed themselves to me and they have agreed to surrender. Name the conditions under which you will receive them!]

Jemini

And so the story of the dark gnomes is revealed.

And yes, the one who spoke English at the beginning WAS from Earth. He is, in fact, the MC of Hell's Underworld, the companion parallel same-universe story to this one.

I had actually originally intended to start writing Hell's Underworld at the same time as I started book 3, but plans got derailed a little bit back then. I only managed to get 7 chapters done, which are currently posted as Patreon Only. Even those are not up to the level of editing I would like.

That makes this incident here a 100% cannon cross-over between the two stories. However, in order to preserve the timelines of the two stories and make sure they stay consistent, I need to put this one on hiatus as soon as book 3 is finished as I had mentioned a while back. I've been having a hard time ending it, and it's gone on now a full 10 chapters further than I'd originally predicted, but I've finally managed to hit the climactic point of the fight you are just seeing in it's start-up phase here, and so we are pretty close to the wrap-up portion of it. I'm guessing somewhere around another 6 or so chapters before this one goes on hiatus, then I will put in some work to Hell's Underworld before finally releasing it publicly. (It will be released on Patreon first starting as soon as the Key to the Void hiatus does.)