Private Tales Deep and Dark and Dangerous

[Zaire]

The Spine. Such a strange name to name a land, in Luella’s opinion it was almost brutish. While she could understand how it received such a name, she couldn’t quite comprehend why it stuck for years upon years. Personally, she would never like to say that she lived near the spine. Not like those in this small, silly town. The high fae had placed an impeccable glamour on herself, her pointed ears matched humans and her height, which was on the short side for a duanann, had been cut down nearly a foot so she could blend in better. She even changed her eyes, the unusual bright lavender was now a common brown, but she kept pale blonde hair. A bit unusual, but not enough so that it would draw in more attention— although she had plenty of it.

Luella was wearing armor, but was smart enough to not wear those that resembled that of fae. It was heavier and less intricate, with large shoulder plates that made her seem wider than she was, but at least it was not made of iron. The cape behind her was a dull gray, made out of a gentle semi-cotton blend, and it swirled behind her as every step Luella took was swift with agency. Following the road speckled with dips and rocks, she had her gimlet gaze set on the town in front of her, praying that iron was a rare commodity there. Usually a place as small as this one lacked resources, and any ore they did have was rarely turned to steel or titanium. Brass or copper would be more up their alley, right? At least with her magic, she could afford for her armor made of lead and zinc to be as strong as any steel armor, but she always had that bit of worry that out in the mortal lands, she could be placed in a poor situation.

Yet, her worries were put to rest, entering the town as the sun finally dipped behind the horizon dotted with mountains; and not feeling even a slight twinge of discomfort as she moved forward. She was right to assume that the main metal used here was brass and copper, and she was thankful for that. Even more so, she was thankful that those who seemed to protect this town could not afford proper armor, using wool and thick leather vests and boots for their protection. That only meant there was no need for them to change, whatever came to this town, tiny short swords or shoddy bows and arrows seemed to do the trick. Luella moved forward, going deeper into the town’s center, passing by homes and stores without a light inside, but that was because in the center of the little nameless town, a greater light was growing.

Candles and lanterns and unusual pumpkins with carved faces began to dot the dirt road, and Luella could see quite a large crowd. But there was laughter and song accompanied by music. A party? Or festival? She raised a pale brow in minor intrigue, if only for the curiosity of whatever could the mortals be celebrating? It was autumn, so perhaps harvest? She did recall seeing crops on the outskirts of this town, and the smell of livestock could never be truly cleansed out of a small town like this one. Stepping into what Luella concluded to be the town’s square, she tilted her head. A stage had been set up, but currently there was a group of children huddled around a puppet show, with a knight fighting off a beast. More interesting than that though was how everyone seemed to be wearing a mask. The glamoured duanann looked around as casually as she could, feeling looks being directed at her, brief glances or long stares, she did not care as she wanted to blend in.

Despite this being a sorry-excuse for a festival in the fae’s mind, there were a few stalls, most of them selling food or treats or trinkets, but one was selling masks. She went up to the stall, peering at the masks. Some were very fanciful with bright colors and decorated with flowers or stars. Others held a more ominous tone, darker clothes and long teeth or an evil looking third eye.

“First time a traveler has come to partake in our humble festival,” the woman manning the stall said, probably because the silence that Luella preferred always seemed to unsettle everyone. “Your hair is quite pretty, I think this mask may suit you?” She added, slightly hesitant after catching Luella’s eyes. She pulled out one of the more simple masks, but there was more artistry to it, colors more cohesive and shapes more uniform. The mask seemed to depict tiny wild flowers of chamomile, buttercups, cornflowers, poppies and foxgloves, and held accents of butterflies and dragonflies with a large bright yellow sun in the center of the forehead.

“How much?” Luella asked, pulling out her small coin purse. She never had to carry much money considering her travels tended to be quite brief, especially since she just had to use the ley ways to travel instead of actually traversing on foot. The perks of being a high magical being.

“Only a coin,” the woman chirped, quite excited to make a sell. Luella handed her 1 copper, and took the mask from her hand, noticing the ribbon was lavender. Interesting. Perhaps her glamour needed some work? Luella nodded her head in thanks, and put on the mask as the woman tentatively asked, “you’re a knight, right? From another land? Or city? What are you doing here?” Luella couldn’t tell a lie, but she neither wanted to tell the truth about what she actually was.

“I’m here to observe,” she said, her voice stern and unwelcoming for more questions. And with that, she turned on her heel, skulking off, keeping to the edges of the crowd but still alert nonetheless.

Garrod Arlette

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Garrod stared down at the poorly carved gourd that lay before him and its lop-sided grin dripped seeds tangled in stringy pumpkin guts.

"Aye, that's it!" Said a small and high pitched voice bright with encouragement. "You got the hang of it now, mister, now you just need to carve the eyes out."

"Why are we doing this again?" Garrod asked the child.

"To ward off the evil spirits," The child said proudly, lifting their small carving knife up high into the air. "They'll come and take our harvest! So we have to put up the lanterns to scare them off!"

"Is that so?" Garrod replied and a smirk crooked the corner of his lip. "I don't think a little candle in a pumpkin will do much against an evil spirit."

The gem in his gauntlet gleamed in the fire light, hungry.

"Not alone, no," The child said, and brought their knife down, thumb and finger pinching the blade as they fiddled with it. "But that's why we all put our lanterns up around the town. If it was just one lantern, the spiirt could just find another way around."

Garrod nodded to the kid, sawing some of the pumpkin flesh off until he reached the other end of the cut. "Ah, that makes more sense, yes," he poked the pumpkin chunk through. "There, all done," he tossed out the rubbish, and put down his knife. "What'ya think?" he asked and turned the pumpkin towards the child.

"It's only got one eye..."

Garrod smiled grimly. "Yes, not all of us still have both eyes you know," he croaked.

"Oh! It's like you!" The child laughed put their knife back into its sheath, and picked up their own carved pumpkin, hefting it up with a grunt. "Well, let's go place ours!" And they were off. Steady step after steady step took them into the dark of night, fended off by candle light. A Purple-blue kind of sky, and a large yellow moon, full enough to pull the soul right out of you.

Garrod nodded, and looked around. Not but dark shadows did surround him there with gourd in hand, and great sword upon his back.

Oh... how the night will turn to deep delight. Said the demon in the jewel of his gauntlet.

"Tch," Garrod smacked. He followed after the child.

Many danced and cheered, ate and drank, round the bonfire that burned in town-square.

"Pumpkin Tarts! Pumpkin bread, wear a pumpkin on your head!" One seller called out.

"Masks, for sale! Come get your masks for Sale!" another hawked.

Instruments sounded their tunes, fiddles, flutes and harps. While heavy drums did beat with the pulse of it all. Candles placed in ever space, wax ran long down the side of houses and curbs alike, and the fire painted stone and face alike, in its gold and orange hue.

 

[Zaire]

The crowd how grown larger, Luella nodded, but it was still quite easy for her to move through the throng of people— everyone seemed to step aside. So even at 5’8 she was still intimidating? The mask didn’t seem to do much to help her blend in, but she couldn’t deny she did enjoy wearing it. It was almost like a masquerade. Just less… classy. The treats being sold by vendors didn’t interest her, and quite frankly they didn’t smell that good. Perhaps she was spoiled with fae treats, especially the sugary ones she tended to go for.

She had moved around the massive bonfire six times now, and still nothing was catching her interest. She had expected to feel some prescience, some sort of magick that all higher fae were sensitive to, especially when it wasn’t their own. There had been rumors about some forgotten town being a target, or an offering, or something of that sort. Investigating this manner wasn’t something Luella thought she would ever do, but there was something that had caught her ear. “The leader carries with him a pair of violet eyes.”

Was it a leap to assume it was a pair of duanann fae eyes? Of course, because how could a mortal get their hands on such a thing. But she had had a recurring nightmare upon hearing that, remembering when she woke up days later after her home destroyed and her parents dead. In her dream, she stumbled, dazed, to her mother’s side, and turned her over. The horror of someone’s eyes being carved out, that stench of sweet, sticky rot mixed with how gummy the decaying flesh looked… it had to be a nightmare, right?

In the midst of her dreadful reverie, she felt a tug. A pull. Power. She paused, scanning the crowd. Had perhaps someone appeared? Someone who was connected to those rumors? Her eyes searched, at times the twinge of magical power seemed near or far, but she soon pinpointed it to a man— one unlike the townsfolk. The first thing she noticed, as he wasn’t facing her, was his sword. Definitely unusual. But, it couldn’t mean he was what he was searching for either… or maybe it did. So far, he was the closet thing to any semblance of power in this place, and keeping on the outskirts, she slowly began to trail him, almost languidly. With a sword like that it would be hard to lose sight of such a thing.

Garrod Arlette

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Eye wide open, Garrod looked for any sign of worry in this night of revelry. But all he saw were the townsfolk, gleefully going about their festive jaunts. Some scurried along, masks adorned, orange light and shadows bright danced across their planes, It was rather eerie to the hunter. The way they gathered in mass and danced around the roaring flame.

"Here's a good spot!" the child said, their voice bringing Garrod's attention down to them.

"So it is," he said as he eyed the stone ledge, which lead down a cobbled path. He watched the child plant his gourd upon the stone, and Garrod walked up and plant his beside the larger lantern.

"There!" The child celebrated. "Now we just have to light them..."

Garrod smirked. "I can take care of that." He bent low, and placed a hand out to the lanterns. He snapped his finger, and the candle within caught flame.

"Woah!" The child exclaimed, and the second candle caught flame soon after. "You can use magick?"

Garrod straightened up, and looked down at the child. "A little."

"Can you teach me?"

"Not in one night," Garrod stepped down the cobble stone way some, and saw their lanterns glow warm against the dark. "Besides, its festival night, not time to be learning spells and the sort."

"Yeah, I guess that's true. Oh!" The child nearly leapt with sudden realization. "You haven't tried the tarts! I'll go get you one." And then he ran off.

"Weird kid," Garrod said, following after him, albeit slowly. Then he saw something. Or someone. Masked as they were. Were they looking at him? Somethng about them was off.

Yes, go, Garrod, go and see if you will give them to me, Belephus said, sing song in his mind.

Garrod made no attempt to address the masked stranger with lavender strings, though he did pass by them close, and what sense for energies and magic he did have felt... different then. So he eyed them as he walked by, in a way that let them know that he saw them.

In the distance there was a scream, blood curdling and full of terror. Garrod's eye went wide, and he raced toward the sound. Villagers gathered round, and on the ground there was a man who writhed around, hands clutched against his stomach, as he groaned and moaned in a puddle of his own bile. It reeked, acrid and vile, with a tinge of sickly sweet rot.

"He's sick! Oh someone please, please help him! He just fell over and, and I am not sure what to do, please, he just started spilling sick everywhere."

 

[Zaire]

And so her presence was known, although it wasn’t much to Luella’s dismay. If she really wanted to spy on the interesting man, she would have used a glamour to conceal her presence, but really there was no need for that. The way he scampered around with the children was no act, she could tell by just how carefully he had placed his gourd next to the child’s, almost protectively even.

When she heard the scream, the looked over in that direction, but upon seeing a man throw up, she could only wrinkle up her nose and let out a disgruntled sigh. Filthy. Probably drank too much and ate too much sugar, no big deal. Besides, puke wasn’t really her thing, especially the puke of mortals which always was so slimy and sponge-y. She was going to continue on her original path when someone else near her fell to their knees and began heaving, one hand supporting them up while the other clutched at their stomach and then their throat. They didn’t have time to cover their mouth before spilling out their guts as well.

Luella nearly groaned, about ready to turn her head the other way until she noticed that smell. It was one resembling decay. Now, that was unusual. Still utterly gross, and Luella left the heat of the bonfire, making her way to the outskirts to watch the townspeople crowd around the two who were vehemently spilling their guts out. Dry heave after dry heave to the point that the blood vessels in their eyes swelled and popped, turning the whites of their eyes crimson with a deep violet-brown bruise forming under each eye. Faces slowly turned red, each of them unable to catch their breath. Luella continue to watch on though, feeling some form of concern for them but at the same time, she didn’t want to get in between it. Not yet at least.

She did, however, decide to search more for that interesting man earlier. If she couldn’t find him, then perhaps he wasn’t the good-natured mortal she had assumed him to be. He could be the one causing two people to heave their guts out… but why and for what purpose, Luella supposed she’d find out soon enough. Just in the safety of the distant shadows. She really hated the sound of retching, and it was almost like a cacophony of disgusting gasps and heaves and spluttering spit near the bonfire. She’d rather stay here.

Garrod Arlette

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Things escalated quickly. The man convulsing on the ground was changing. Their form, curling up as their whole being seemed to be trying to come out of their throat. Eyes bloodshot, bruised. It turned his gaze demonic. He rose to his knees, heaved out a solid tangling mass of flesh, and at this, Garrod's eye went wide with horror.

The people around him screamed and ran from the man, while some others stayed to look on. The twisted mess of meat on the ground moved, writhed with its own volition, as the man, now hollowed out, collapsed. The woman who had been with him screamed again, and jolted to his side, but when that thing that had come from inside of him began to screech, from many small mouths that opened wide and showed chittering teeth, she froze. The primal will to live telling her to stay away.

Belephus laughed, gleeful in Garrod's mind.

"Get back!" Garrod shouted, as the thing's many eyes opened beside its many mouths. They blinked, arrhythmic, and their pupils took in all those around it. Garrod canted ancient words of Drako, and raked his Gauntlet forward, palm open and pointed at the monster. Flame, bright and burning, streamed forward and washed over the abomination.

It let out a wailing screech, as its mass hissed and popped and turned to ash.

"Gods! No! What, William!" The woman shouted, her mind fracturing as it processed what she had bore witness to.

The torrent of fire went dry, and Garrod brought his hand back, the leather of his armor hot against his palm. "Blast it all," he cursed, and searched around him. He could here the groaning of others in the crowed. The coughs, the dry heaves, the screams.

Garrod moved to the woman, and grasped her by the shoulder. She only kept staring at William's corpse. "Miss," he shook her. "Miss!"

"He's dead..."

"Miss, you have to tell me, what happened, what were you two doing?"

"We... we were just eating pie... that's all."

Garrod stared at her, struck in disbelief. "Pie?"

"Garrod?" The child called out, two tarts in his hand.

"Marlo!" Garrod ran over to the kid.

"What, what was that?"

"I... I am not sure." He said looking down at them. He eyed the tarts, and felt a strangeness there in them. He took them both, and threw them to the ground. "Where... where did you get those?"

"F-from the man in the pumpkin mask..."

This was planned. "Stay close to me, understood?"

The child nodded.

Garrod drew his sword, and ran to the closest scream.

 

[Zaire]

It wasn’t until everyone began upheaving their pumpkin delights that Luella realized this wasn’t just a one time thing. This was more than just someone having too much to drink or having a weak stomach. Upon seeing the man with the white hair slaying the abomination that had came out of the man meters away from her, Luella figured that he wasn’t someone she’d need to tail. But then who should she pay attention to?

Another thing was coming out, from the animal cry of a man to her right, Luella looked over to see a nasty thing pulling itself out through the man’s back. The slurry of blood and slimy, purple gunk of organs was oozing from the creature’s mass of a head that strangely resembled a hammer. Unfortunately for that vile thing, it’s body was smaller than it’s head, gaunt and skeletal with only one large arm that it used to grip the earth around it and pull itself out of it’s host. The stench coming from the gurgling, fleshy mouth was awful, full of rot and decay.

Luella had enough of observing the grotesque thing and while everyone began to panic around her, she reached behind her for her claymore, unsheathing it as she strode forward. The thing had no eyes but yet it turned it’s head towards her, still covered in that viscous slew of human insides. It screamed, high pitched and shrill and hoarse all at the same time, only becoming silent when it’s head was dislocated from it’s premature body.

“How did I get myself into this disgusting mess,” Luella murmured, looking at the smear on her sword. There was no point in cleaning it now, as she turned, more of those townsfolk were producing more of those heinous creations. Each one was unique and different in it’s own way, but ultimately, Luella soon found out as she began slaughtering the lot of them, they were incredibly weak and feeble. Why one even began melting the moment it’s flesh touched the air, the oxygen being like acid.

Luella continued with her mission of making sure each of those things were dead, only stopping when seeing a small child clutching at their stomach, spittle dripping from it’s small mouth. She hesitated, if only because she wasn’t sure if it was the shock or if the kid had a monster inside of it as well. When the child looked up at her, Luella shook her head. No, thankfully it seemed to be alright, at least for now. She knelt down, removing her mask. Often kids were quite mesmerized by her beauty and tended to trust her right away because of that.

“Come with me,” She said, holding out her hand. As expected, it didn’t hesitate, and she picked the small mortal being in one arm, holding it against her chest. “Close your eyes, don’t look.” She warned, hoping the child was smart enough to heed her words. There were more things Luella needed to kill.

Garrod Arlette

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Down came an overhead blow from Garrod's greatsword, its metal shone in a blur of silver death that cleaved one of the mangled monstrosities in twain. But it did not die. Its gelatinous form, pulsed and pumped and shook as its gooey flesh tried to inch its way back to its other half.

Marlo screamed. Not sure what else to do as one of the fleshy tendrils reached out for him. Garrod growled, and channeled his will through his sword, spitting the verse of his spell's canto. "Ignis!" he shouted as he ran two fingers across the length of the blood stained steel, and the weapon caught flame, golden and pure and red and angry where it kissed and licked at the creature it so hungrily consumed.

The abomination screeched. Its goo sizzled and popped and turned to carboned stain again the ground as Garrod's sword still burned.

Mark them, Garrod, mark them all and let me feast upon these lost souls! Belephus roared with glee. What harm would there be? Oh none at all, none at all sweet hunter, but think, oh just think of how much easier it would be for you. Just let old Belephus devour them. Just give them my mark, and be done with this nightmare, sweet swordsman.

"Marlo, are you alright?" Garrod huffed as his sword still crackled with firey magic.

"Y-yes," the child replied, "but, we have to find Thomas. He's... he's still out there."

Their brother. The wayward urchin had mentioned them before. Their parents had been lost in a monster attack earlier in the year. Not but a couple of months prior.

"Yes, let's," There was a sound of comotion, steel hacking at flesh, and crunching through bones, and the horrid, mind splitting sounds that wailed out from the creature's mouths. Garrod looked about to find them, and saw a woman, fighting back the gathering horde of creatures, a mess of dead ones already in her wake. "There, let's see if we've found a friend, shall we?"

The child nodded.

"Good child, come, stay close," Garrod hurried over, and saw that more than one creature assailed the swordswoman. Though they shambled and stumbled and seemed to barely hold themselves up long enough for her to cut them down. "Hail!" he called out, "Didn't eat any of the pumpkin tarts, did you?" he asked as he closed the distance between them, the flame of his sword went out, and his eye went nearly blind in the shift in light. He slowed his step, blinked and came to a stop. "Its good to see someone else not puking out their guts," he started, and when she came into focus, she looked a bit familiar.

"Thomas!" Marlo called out, and rushed to hug their brother.

Thomas wept with relief as soon as his sibling had wrapped their arms around them. "Oh Marlo, I, I thought you'd maybe turned into one of them, I thought maybe you had died,"

"Don't be silly Thomas," Marlo said behind a tearful smile, still squeezing their brother tight. "I met a monster hunter, he kept me safe."

Thomas sniffled, "S-so did I,"

"Did you eat any of the tarts?"

"N-no, not yet. I was waiting for you so we could eat them,"

"Oh, that's good, that's good," Marlo came unglued from their sibling. "They're lousy anyway, best not eat them this year."

Garrod looked over to the woman. "I wish I could say that we had met well, but, well... things are pretty shit, aren't they?" He looked around their perimeter. No living creepers seemed to be moving about. "I'd been directing survivors to the temple, seemed like a nice defensible ground. A few fellows with hoes and pitchforks took up guard. We best get over there before any of these things do," Garrod said, and set his eye on her. "The name's Garrod, by the by," he nodded to her.

 

[Zaire]

As the child left Luella’s arms to run to it’s older brother, Luella officially brought her gaze to Garrod. So he survived as well. Perfect. Not many of the townspeople had, and Luella only hoped that no children had suffered. She watched the interaction between the two kids, and while her face remained grim, in truth, she was quite happy to see them united.

“No,” she said, speaking the mortal tongue, the words coming out of her mouth easily as if she had grew up with this language instead of Iza. “I don’t have the sick.” She confirmed to Garrod, raising a pale brow. “It was the tarts that did this?” She asked, rather incredulously. What on earth could be in those things that could turn people into such horrible monsters?

“Luella,” she responded, dipping her head briefly, before bringing her gaze to where the temple lay. She looked around, in hopes of maybe seeing another survivor, but there were none. Only the four of them stood in the town square, layers of viscera covering the floor. She picked up Thomas, holding him easily in one hand. She looked over at Marlo then at Garrod.

“If we’re going to the temple, we should go quickly,” She said. “These things are weak, half-baked. I fear if one comes out… healthy, it’ll mark trouble for everyone, pitchfork or not.” She gestured for Garrod to pick up Marlo, after all, Luella was certain they would run faster than the children could keep up. Especially Thomas who was quite small. Without another look at Garrod, Luella dashed to the temple, her legs carrying her swiftly and quietly through the town.

The temple near the rear of the town was actually quite impressive, old but the work that had been done on it had kept it from falling apart. Although, Luella was curious why the entrance of the temple was a of a gigantic mean-looking face with it’s mouth open. She could see lanterns and torches had been lit and a few people were waiting around the outside. She slowed down her face, briskly walking to survivors, and setting down Thomas, she stood tall.

“A sickness has spread through your town,” Luella commanded attention, everyone falling silent as her melodic voice reached their ears. Her tone was stern and firm, despite being nice on the ears, it warned that no one should speak while she was speaking. “The children say it’s the tarts, and unless anyone says otherwise, I shall believe them. Does anyone have an idea on who made them?” Might as well get the obvious questions out of the way although Luella was sure they would all be clueless on it.

Temple Photo

Garrod Arlette

 

[Garrod Arlette]

When she spoke, they all listened, and Garrod was taken aback by how much presence this stranger was able to command. What brought such a magnetic person to such a lowly little place as this, some part of his mind begged to ask.

What if it was her? The voice inside his Gauntlet whispered in his mind. What if she was the one who had orchestrated all of this?

Garrod's brow furrowed, and he turned away from Luella as she addressed the crowd.

"Aye, I... I saw my husband eat the tarts, and we did not else but drink and dance this night," The woman who had seen her husband eject his insides, but she held it together now. "The swordsman was there, he, he vanquished the creature that came from my William," her eyes welled over with tears, and she burried her face into the palms of her hands. A neighboring villager consoled her.

"There were them fellas with the pumpkin heads," one squat man said, his family gathered around him. "I, I thought they looked funny, like folk I'd never quite seen before. I figured they were just travelin' merchants, who knew bout our festival and wanted to make a coin," his eyes looked down, as if to replay all the small signs he had missed up to this point. "I aint a fan o' sweets, so I didn't eat none, but, m' son."

Men wearing pumpkin masks. That was the second time Garrod had heard that.

Those gathered around the room muttered in their agreement.

"Aye, I saw them roll into town but some days ago, those pumpkin masked fellows. They was millin about the village, at night some days ago when-"

Shrieks came from the entry hallways, and the guards, armed with what little they had, shouted out. "The creatures are here! The monster'sve come!" Those gathered in the inner sanctum murmured their worry and dread as the torchlights and oil fires burned their bright and orange flames.

Garrod glanced over at Luella, motioned for the entrance, and broke into a run, drawing his blade as he did. He was met by a scene of carnage. One of the villagers who'd stood up to defend the temple lay on the ground, being eaten by one of the dread things, while the other kept a creature at bay at the end of his pitchfork. Skewered as it was, the bulky mass of twisted flesh and conglomerate bone screeched and grasped at the villager with tentacle arms and boneless fingers.

"Gods grant me strenght, gods see me through this, gods help me!" the man prayed.

"Out of the way!" Garrod roared, and the man turned back to see the charging swordsman. The man dropped his pitchfork and scarmbled back, and the creature seemed to fall after him. Chunk went the steel shaft of Garrod's greatsword, slicing clean into the center of the creature's mass, and he lifted the weapon up splitting it in two.

But the creature went on screeching. It went on shambling, only momentarrily stunned by the rending of its flesh.

"What in the hell," Garrod cursed beneath his breath.

In the blink of an eye, its flesh stitched itself back together, and the monster lashed forward, quicker now. Putrid tentacle slapping at Garrod's side and bouncing off the armor of his pauldrons. Garrod turned his blade quick, and slapped the creature back with the flat of his weapon. It stumbled back, but it gained its footing quick.

The other creature that had been eating the villager seemed to be finished. And there was no trace of the villager left on the ground. Only a mutated horror, larger, more rigid, and with more arms and mouths poking out of its freakish flesh.

"They... they are changing," Garrod remarked, in slight disbelief.

 

[Zaire]

Luella nodded her head as each person spoke— and just when it seemed like they were actually getting somewhere, of course their progress had to be stopped. Luella tsked at the disturbance, once again unsheathing her sword, a narrowed eyes slightly at the fact that Garrod had just dashed ahead. She wasn’t sure of his skill, although he seemed capable enough with a sword.

“Shout if you need help, keep the women and children safe in the middle,” She suggested before following Garrod’s lead, trotting a few meters behind him. She came in just in time to see the creature somehow being put back together, and one eating innards. Now her facial expression was quite surly— she had been worried about this.

“The ones before must have not had a proper gestation period,” Luella directed to Garrod at his comment. “Some beings only stop moving when the head is off from the body.” These beings were mutating, and it seemed human flesh was the catalyst for it. As if to test out her theory, Luella’s blade whistled through the air, first dismembering the limbs. That was a mistake on her part.

The moment the limb fell to the ground, slimy tendrils of flesh wove together and shot out at her, the tip of the tendril was pointed and hard enough to crack the stone ground beneath her feet. She skipped side ways, bringing her sword over her head and down on the tendril. Quickly, she chopped up the tendril, seemingly only moving her wrist, each movement precise. The monster then lunged at her, screaming, and she pivoted, the mass of flesh missing it’s target.

The thunk of the creature’s head falling to the ground ended it’s scream, soon followed by the large clunk of it’s body. Luella looked satisfied, irritated but satisfied. She turned her head, to address Garrod and see how he had fared with the one closest to him, but then more of those screams echoed, coming deep from within the temple. Her pale brows furrowed together.

“Is it the temple that’s the cause? Something deep inside, do you think?”

Garrod Arlette

 

[Garrod Arlette]

*The head* Luella had reminded the monster hunter, her magick-sweet voice pulling him out of the fog of terror these strange aberrations seemed to spew about them. It had not been enough to strike true fear in Garrod, but it frayed his mind, ever so, causing each calculation to take just the tiniest bit longer.

That creature that had re-stitched itself together swung back, like a weighted pendulum gathering its momentum, and then lurched itself forward with a sudden rock that lifted it off the ground and sent it careening through the air.

A quick change of his grip and a shift in his stance saw Garrod receive the creature upon the tip of his blade. The momentum which had propelled the monster forward saw it run long along the edge of Garrod's great-sword, splitting the beast down the middle once more, only now, as it reached the base of his blade, and as its tendrils of flesh snaked down to wrap around his gloved hand, Garrod ripped his blade up and to the left, then across to the right, severing the two halves of its head and letting them fall low to the ground with a wet squelch.

The spellsword exhaled with a long breath, and hefted his sword up and onto his shoulder as the creature's limbs twitched and convulsed. He closed his eyes, stuck out one palm, and whispered a quick cant. "Ignis," he ended the spell, and the remains caught fire. The stench of their burning reeked, but the abomination was turned to ash in seconds.

"The temple?" Garrod asked, and turned toward the sound of the creatures and their scream. "It sounds like it, aye," he agreed. "We best go and investigate," he added, and then nodded to the corpse of the creature. "Nice work, by the way," he said with a smirk. He turned his eye onto the farmer who'd survived the attack. "Take your pitchfork and safeguard the others, there is bound to be more of these creatures lurking about."

The man nodded, grabbed his tool, and ran back to the main prayer room where the others had gathered.

Garrod turned back to the dark hallway that lead to a chamber further into the mountainside. "It's possible they've raised a whole host of those things in there...."

 

[Zaire]

Luella raised a brow at the fire magick. Her own alignments were for earth and air, and while it proved useful for her in battle, a part of her had always wanted something more explosive— like fire. She was mildly enthused about this, after all, this swordsman had more than just a sword— fire magick would be useful. Especially against these creatures it looked like. Removing the head did do the trick, but fire just made things more… permanent. At his praised she only nodded her head in acknowledgement.

“It will be interesting to see what’s below,” Luella noted, trying to make herself a bit more friendly, but ultimately, this was not her forte anymore. She looked over at the hallway and saw steps that descended further down. “We’ll need light.” She added, glancing over at Garrod. She had dark vision and while she couldn’t see colors, everything else was basically picture perfect. “Unless, are you able to see in the dark?” If he knew fire magick she wondered if he also knew of spells that could allow him vision down below. Torches did line the walls of the temple, but they were spread out far apart and Luella was unsure of they were lit below.

If need be, she’d grab a torch for Garrod but she felt like if he needed light he’d be smart enough to grab one himself. Swiftly Luella went to descend the stone stairs, even her gentle footsteps began to echo around them as they descended, although it couldn’t be heard over the din of monster cries and yowls. There had to be dozens of them, all waiting for a good snack. The moment they had finished with the stairs, a ginormous room greeted them. Luella caught sight of caryatids holding torches and also holding up the high ceilings along with a set of flying buttresses.

In the center was raised platform, which held what seemed to be sacrificial alters among other religious things. She noted a podium, a scale made for liquid, and grand calandras to host light. Then she noticed the plethora of creatures making their way towards them in unrivaled glee. Luella herself had just the slightest hint of a smile on her lips as she charge into them, using her sword in wide arcs and swings. Almost in a dance, she use her legs for momentum but to also land strong front kicks onto her enemies, knocking them back whenever she couldn’t land a swing that would cut off the neck. She hoped Garrod was able to keep up as well, considering no matter how many times she seemed to cut the monsters down, more appeared.

Garrod Arlette

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Garrod nodded, and cant a short verse, "Ilumbre," he ended, and a small orb of flame materialized before him. He guided it forward with his hand, and it float on before him, lighting the path ahead. As they ventured down deeper into the structure, the sound of the creatures grew louder and louder. As if they were taunting them. Gleeful for the meal they smelled. Glad for each step they took.

A smirk cut across Garrod's lips as he thought of washing them away with fire. "We'll see how you like it," he said beneath his breath.

Oh, I do enjoy it Belephus stated from within his jewel prison.

The stairs came to an end, and a mass of writhing bodies shuffled before them in the great and empty hall. When their misshapen eyes did notice the pair of fresh fleshed humans that had entered their domain, so many howled with glee and rushed toward their next meal.

Luella exploded into action, hacking at the beings with wide arcs, slicing them down, a score at a time. Garrod growled and canted a spell as he rushed forward, swinging his greatsword two handed. He cleaved through a swath of them with each glimmering arc. the warmth of the Ilumbre sprite still high above him.

Down came a crashing swing, and it smashed through a few twisted ghouls. "Rio'digni!" the spellsword called out, and thrust his hand out, a plume of flame streamed out and washed over the mass. They went up like candle wicks, and burned bright as they screamed.

 

[Zaire]

Despite being quite skilled, with the masses of monsters rushing towards her, not all of her swings were a clean cut to the neck. Angles mattered, as did make sure nothing was going to actually bite her, and she hadn’t want to tap into her magick just yet. Here, the ley lines were muffled, she could feel the magick being bottleneck despite the fact that she was a duanann and hand always accessed magick from the keys easily. Luckily she had her reservoirs, and this glamour she had was rather simple so it wasn’t biting away at it too much. Because of these things, she needed to be precise with her sword work, because the only thing that seemed to keep them down was fire and a decapitated head.

Slicing through limbs to then get to their heads, Luella could feel the heat of Garrod’s flames and hear the screams of its victims. He was making quick work of everything and a part of her was grateful for someone else being in here with her— especially someone with skills. She didn’t know how much stronger that feeling would grow soon enough.

Under the din of the whistling of swords, screams of monsters and roar of flames, a small group of no more than 5 hid in the deep corners of the room where light couldn’t reach them. Clad in black with necklaces of teeth, bones, and other strange oddities began to recite. Luella felt the pull of magick before she even saw them, but by then it was too late. She was still fighting against the multitude of monsters, unable to reach the group before the cut down pieces of flesh began being pulled together. Even the creatures that were alive began stick to one another, their oozing flesh combing and crushing them into other creatures or other body parts.

It was less than a minute that this all happened, and before Luella and Garrod, a massive, towering behemoth of a monstrosity was before them. Hundreds of flailing arms and legs scattered throughout, bodies forged together to create strange, gangly limbs that erupted all over the mass, some shorter, some longer. Eyes in every nook and cranny, staring at Luella and Garrod, mouths still able to cry out and scream. Luella clenched her teeth, see how this thing was at least 30 feet tall, if not more and her eyes went over to Garrod as she began stepping back away. She wasn’t running away, she just needed space, after all, that creature had 2 arms sprouting from it’s back that were closer to tentacles than actual human arms.

Garrod Arlette

 

[Garrod Arlette]

It was a vile dance macabre, and the rhythm of his pulse climbed higher and higher with each swing of his sword, each cast of fiery spell, and each slicing cut that came down from his allies own hand. In the dim darkness of that temple bellow, Garrod slowly lost himself to the mad pace. Sweat ran down his face. Teeth bared in happy grin, Belephus laughed gleeful in his mind.

While fatigue sapped his strength, slow, his muscles went on with the work. His magick channeled bright in his chest, and his eye could see the enemies, painted by the angry glows and violent wash of his fire.

Yes, that's it, Garrod. More and more. Just burn them, more and more. Cooed the demon's voice.

There was a pause in the madness. A moment for breath, in which the adrenaline waned. The fatigue crept in. "What... are they doing now?" Garrod asked through snarled teeth.

The corpses split apart and dashed around slithered together, stitched themselves to one another and gave birth to a monument of suffering and agony. His eye went wide with horror, and his hands held tight to his sword, his bone white gauntlet clicked against the metal of his blade's grip.

All those eyes set on them. Its horrid arms flailed about and the creature shrieked and cried and screamed with all its mouths.

Horror, whose seed had been planted earlier this night, sprouted wild down in the pit of Garrod's stomach. Its roots vined and twisted and sprawled about his being. What rage fueled him earlier against the horde. What hot and bloody beat of his drum kept him going forward, paused now. Stilled. Grew cold and frigid.

Will you just die then? His foul companion bait. How sad. The demon in the jewel snickered. How boring.

No. Now was not the time to stop. "I'll draw its attention!" He barked, hot as flame, he cant his spell again, lowered the point of his great-sword down, aimed it at the beast as magicked words poured from his lips. "Igni!" he shouted, and scraped his gauntlet along the length of his sword. Its ancient runes glowed bright and the magicked metal caught flame. Gold and red and full of wrath. Garrod charged the beast with a blood-hot shout.

Its eyes turned to him, its tentacles writhed and all its mass wriggled to meet him. It moved, whip quick despite its grotesque size, and Garrod moved in response, blade brought up in a rising cut as he dashed away. Flame and steal sliced through rotten flesh, but there was too much there. The great limb smacked Garrod away as a cat would a mouse and the spellsword was sent across the ground with a hard grunt.

"Gods," he cursed as he worked himself onto his feet. "Not my best move," he laughed and winced as his whole body protested movement. But there was no option but to move. His sword still burned, and the monster still wriggled and writhed with all its horrible heads and eyes turned to him.

It raised a tentacle up, and he sprung onto his feet, with sword in hand, and dashed away. The tentacle crashed down, and the whole chamber shuttered with its force.

 

[Zaire]

Luck was not on her side tonight, which Luella was used to as it seemed luck never really favored her unless she beat it to submission. She hadn’t wanted to use magick, she was hoping she could avoid it, but now there was no need to not use it. Before her was one of the greatest monstrosities she had ever laid eyes on, and yet… this fear, it was only fear. There was no desperation in her, just her body telling her to survive. But right now, survival meant that she could only run away.

“Garrod!” Luella shouted, the creature had started wedging between them, which was smart, keeping them separated meant they couldn’t bring their forces together. And for this, they most definitely needed to bring their forces together. But to make her way across to Garrod without getting whacked by one of those arms or that massive fleshy tentacle, she’d need to use affinity. And she did just that, knowing she’d need to make it quick. Using it for too long caused far too much mental strain, it could even debilitate her physically, and she wouldn’t want to be a burden.

Her zone was activated after she had sheathed her claymore, and Luella started a mad dash to reach where Garrod was. Anytime an arm tried to reach out she could evade it with ease, not needing to keep her eyes on the monster at all. Even when it tried to knock her back with one of those tentacles, a grand leap allowed her safety and in a matter of seconds, she was almost at Garrod’s side before the tentacle crashed down. She had rolled off to the side, but due to the entire chamber shaking, it took her a moment too long to get back up to her feet. She cursed. This thing needed to go and quickly.

The monster was making it’s way to attack Garrod once again, and with a burst of speed and might, with maybe just a bit of wind and earth magick to aid her feet swiftness, she pulled Garrod out of the way. Bringing them further back into the chamber and quickly trying to get out of reach of those tentacles. She ended her glamour, appearing to now be her full height and her lavender eyes gleaming even in the darkness.

“Your fire,” she heaved, taking her hands off of him. She felt a bit guilty, she had been slicing and dicing and she felt that those actions—at least when compared to Garrod burning the monsters— had caused a monster like this to even form. “I’m afraid our swords may not be enough, your fire, how much can you increase it? Enough to engulf the entire thing?” She was a bit hopeful, but she did have her doubts about his magick capabilities.

Garrod Arlette

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Garrod blinked at his companion, suddenly taller. Suddenly less human and ethereal. "You... you are a fae?" He stammered stupidly as she set him down, as if he weighed little more than halfa sack of potatoes.

Belephus laughed loud in his mind. You didn't know? How adorable you are, Garrod.

He cleared his throat, straightened up, and re-gripped his sword as she mentioned his flame. He settled into his guard once more, his sword still burning bright against the darkness that did surround them.

Could he surround the monster? He laughed a bitter and dark laugh. "I'm no provost of Elbion, Luella, I'm a spellsword, trained by a drunken hero past his prime," his eye went wide as the creature swung for them once more, and he pushed the elf away as he leapt back. A tentacle smashed between them, writhed and wriggled as it tried to break them. But when it raised up, they could see each other again, he channeled his magick into his blade. Felt his mana waning.

Why don't you use me, Garrod? Belephus asked. I can help you bring this monster down. You know it to be true.

"I sensed you have magic, Luella!" He called out as debris fell from the ceiling, bits and pieces clattered against the floor. "Wind magic, aye?" He had some mastery over wind, could add it to his own attacks. But with his energy dwindling, and with more fight left unknown... "Feed my flames! Add your magick to mine, and we'll see if we can send this sorry sack of shit back to hell!" He called out, and readied his sword, the fire growing hotter, brighter until he felt the other's mana mix with his own. Their energies twined and danced, trying to find each others rythm, trying to fall into sweet syncopation. Not a unity, but a driving dissonance, where one energy fed the other.

A swell. He felt it beneath him. Rush through him. His fire grew, and he ran forward, legs carrying him fast across the dark floor. A bright column of flame roared in his hand. The creature swept at him with a dread attack, but he leapt up and over the tentacle. Felt the winds carry him up higher still. He shouted wild, his fire burned hotter still and when he brought the blade down onto the tower of corpses-made-suffering-monster, he cut a bright gold line down across its surface. The magic fire burned deep into the beast. Burned hot. A searing glow of gold and orange and ember red traced long upon fetid flesh.

"Now Luella!" Garrod Called, at the bottom of his attack, his sword, so deep in the creature, was stuck in its mass, and Garrod hung about halfway down its height as it shook and screamed and tried to knock him off. "Blast it with the gale winds!" He cried out, as he groaned and fought to hang on to the thrashing horror.

 

[Zaire]

Luella sighed, of course, maybe she should have warned him about her glamour. However, to her, that held little importance with a giant monster out to kill them and then destroy the townsfolk waiting above them.

“Yes, mortal, I am fae,” she said this in Iza, as if to further prove this point about her. But there was no point in continuing in speaking in a language for Garrod to not understand. They had a monster to kill and this required teamwork. “Lady Luella of the house of Balsinde,” Luella appreciated the fact that Garrod had aided her in not getting hit. At the base of her skull she could feel the faint needling of a migraine. The first sign that her using her affinity was going to further affect her concentration. “I do possess an air alignment, yes,” she told him, raising her voice once more. Luella nodded her head at Garrod’s plan— she would’ve suggested something similar, after all, it made sense. Flames could not exist with air to feed it, and while she never really used air in the way Garrod needed, being a high fae and duanann meant it would come almost naturally… almost.

She tapped into her reservoirs of magick, concentrating on the air within the chamber, that buzz ringing in her ears. She would need something far greater, and she used her hands to help move more air inside the chamber, picturing the open outside, the crisp air of night that held the scent of stone and smoke. This focus was greater than she had expected, especially since she couldn’t just stand there as the monster was slowly crawling over to her, using it’s large and multiple of arms to propel itself closer to Garrod and Luella, everything that beast had was reaching out towards the duo.

Luckily, Luella had always been fast, and with her strength she had trained herself to also be explosive in movements whenever she needed to move away fast enough. And yet, each time she had to dodge, her magick and control of the air faltered a bit. Not enough to stop all aid completely, but she was sure Garrod could feel the slight wane. And this thought made her grit her teeth and focus even harder, after all, she couldn’t have some mortal not respect a duanann— she had to keep that good image.

The moment Garrod told her now, Luella took a deep breath, holding it in deep and when she exhaled, all the air seemed to rush to Garrod’s sword. The feeling was rather exhilarating, Luella hated to admit such a thing, but there was this liquid hot energy that coursed through her as she felt the air shiver and rush into the beast, soon alighting and scorching. She felt the greedy lick of flame as if the air has momentarily a part of her, and so she fed it more, and more, and more, a tight vacuum of screaming gales ever increasing, all aiming for that sword of flame and then beyond.

Garrod Arlette

 

[Garrod Arlette]

Beat after pounded beat, his heart raced on against the bones of his chest. Pumped life's blood through Garrod's veins. Gave the fibers of his being strength to go on. Strength to hold firm his sword in his hand as the the monster groaned. Cried. Wailed as it tried to shake him off. Its countless heads let out their miserable cries. It stirred him up inside. Shook him. So much suffering. So much agony. What had those responsible to gain from this?

The same that you gain from me, Dear Garrod. The same that your master had hoped to give you when he handed me to you. The demon laughed.

Even through all of this. He could hear the blasted thing laugh.

A shout, frustration turned fire hot, errupted from Garrod's throat. And he felt it then. The swell of magick. The great wind that fell upon the monster like a churning wave against rocky cliffs. The fires he had traced along its surface. The wounds so gold and red with magick. Luella's magick. It coursed through him, into his hands gripped white knuckle around the handle. They relaxed. Felt the weapon better between his fingers. Let the magick pass on through.

That greedy lick of fire grew and grew as the giving gale fed it more and more and a thousand splendid tongues of gold burst from the wound which Garrod had traced. The creature screeched, as so much brilliant light engulfed its wicked flesh. Garrod, there in the wash of fire, grinned mad, his clothes singed, his hair fanned out. Were he not able to will what little Magick he could in that cursed pit, he was like to get swallowed up.

Amid that golden storm, he fell. Down to the ground, with not but his sword in his hand and his Magick veiled around him.

The monster screamed and thrashed and burned. Oh how it burned. Until it turned to not but a pile of ash.

 

[Zaire]

Somehow, some way, together they had defeated this unknown source of agony and evil. Or at the very least, this monstrosity that was born from such things. Luella stayed away as far as she could, the heat and flames scorching her pale skin despite her back to the wall. Her eyes felt dry, her throat wasn’t much better, and while Garrod had to focus on increasing the bandwidth of the flames to encompass such a large foe, Luella had down her best to also redirect the smoke outside of this chamber. The last thing they needed was for them to both die from suffocation. The smell of burning flesh, cries of pain, and quite unbearable heat seemed to stretch on forever. Until it ended. Not in a bang but in a whisper.

Luella focused so much on redirecting the smoke that she didn’t catch the fact that Garrod had fallen. When there was nothing but ash and she saw him there, covered in that ginormous pile, she felt bad for not having go to his aid and maybe helping him out of that predicament. But now, she did walk over to him, slowly as the energy of the air died. The amount of concentration from using her affinity to then having to concentrate on using elemental magick—which she rarely practiced— had caused her migraine to only increase and her entire body felt sore as if she had ran for hours upon hours and then decided weight lifting sounded like a good idea.

“Garrod?” She asked, voice hoarse and then proceeded to hack and cough. She reached out a hand for him to grab so she could help him stand up. Despite the prey being slaughtered they had yet to achieve victory. There was plenty more going amiss, and they would need to figure out exactly what was going on here in a nameless town.

Garrod Arlette

 

[Garrod Arlette]

In the pile of ashes, that were all that remained of the prey they had slaughtered, was the drained spellsword and monster hunter, Garrod. Eye shut. He had lost consciousness in the fall. Having leapt so high on a thermal vent of magicked air, mana channeled and focused into his blade so full of roaring swirling fire. He was but a mortal, after all. A mere human. Flesh and bone that came and went like the rise and fall of the sun and the moon. And this place was something far older than he, or even his race.

But you have me, dear Garrod. And I can always come to your aid. Belephus whispered sweetly into the unconscious swordsman's mind. Simply give yourself to me, just a bit. Just a piece. And all the power I have taken will be yours.

"Garrod?" came the increasingly familiar voice, sweet with inhuman charm.

His eye blinked open slowly, in that heap of monster soot, "Luella," he grumbled, smirked and took her hand to get up. "We got it, right?" All that dust stirred and billowed and ashen as he was, Garrod grabbed up his sword and tried to dust himself off with his un-gauntleted hand. "Bloody monster," he grumbled, and shook the dark dust out of his hair, stained a deathly grey.

"This doesn't seem like any old temple to me," Garrod started, coughing some as the cremated remains of the creature swirled about. He began to walk towards what looked to be a doorway. "And these creatures... the way they stitch their bodies together it..." He covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, still feeling his limbs heavy and sluggish. "It reminds me of some form of vile necormancy."

It was always the bloody necromancers.

Clear of the dust pile, near to the next exit, garrod stopped, and sparked to life another guiding light that pained the space about them a soft orange and red. "Gods, I feel as if i barely have any magick left in me," he smiled grimly. "You notice that feeling?" He asked. "Like I'm pulling magick through molasses."

 

[Zaire]

Luella nodded her head at Garrod with his question asking if the strange monster had been defeated. It had been, thanks to the two of them combining their efforts and powers together. Luella had yet to boast of such a feat as that, even if it meant she had required a lot of help in vanquishing such a foe. There was a swell of pride deep in her chest despite it only showing in a brief glimmer from her lavender eyes. She gave a sigh of relief, something that they both deserved after this harrowing battle.

“No, something is amiss,” she murmured, looking around, pursing her lips in thought. “Earlier, there were… other mortals.” Could they have been humans? Perhaps, but their dark robes kept them well covered. In a sense, they could have been anything that was of average human height, which didn’t cross a lot of things off the list. “In dark robes. I barely got a good look, but they were there, in that corner before the… monstrosity appeared.” She said, pointing at the corner furthest in the back of the chamber, diagonal to them.

“You may not be wrong about the necromancy,” she added, placing her hands on her hips and leaning her weight onto her left leg. “I’m not sure continuing on now would be wise. I have no doubt that this temple goes deeper underground. There must be catacombs in a place like this. Imagine what they could do with that, if they are indeed necromancers?” Luella huffed, giving a light shake of her head before remembering her manners.

“Are… you alright?” She asked a bit awkwardly, looking away from Garrod instead of at him, rolling her shoulders back to achieve some tension. “The magick is stifled here.” She agreed, not wanting to admit that with being away from the ley lines she couldn’t refill her own supply. She’d have to be careful. Good thing she had always been excellent with a sword, with or without magick to add her.

Garrod Arlette

 

[Garrod Arlette]

"Something far bigger and far nastier, I'm sure," he said through long full breaths. But if they failed to press the attack, allowed them time to recover...

"Are...you alright?" She asked, and Garrod looked up to find her turn away and stretch her limbs. "The magick is stifled."

"Aye, that it is," he agreed, and at the path that lay ahead of them, deeper, darker, and ever more dangerous still. He looked back to her, "And I'm well enough," he replied, a tender humor in his voice to hide the strain. "Thanks for asking'." and he looked up at the staircase they had descended upon. He lifted his blade up and let it rest against his shoulder, its magicked steel shimmered blue and seemed to drink up the light of his guiding fire, and he noticed how heavy it felt after their crazed charge down into these depths.

He looked up at the staircase, at the shadows that loomed above, no lighter than those that lurked below. "I suppose it would be best for us to return to the upper chamber," he remembered Marlo, and his little brother Thomas. "Hopefully, the villagers are ok after all this," he nodded his head toward the way back. "Shall we?" He stepped back across the stone chamber that had been their arena, boots kicking up little clouds of ash with each stride.

As he stepped across the dark space he aw something gleam there in the soot, touched by the guiding fire's light. "Hey, what's that?" he asked, and moved closer to it. still. It was hard and gleamed clear and crystaline. Garrod noticed that the light which passed through it was filtered into a sickly green and purple. He stood over it, and picked it up with his gauntleted hand, aware that it may have magical properties. "It's at the center of the ash," he thought aloud, and held what seemed to be a jewel up to the fire light. "Strange," he said as he plied it with his clawed and armored fingers. "It looks alive almost," he turned it against the magic light, watched it pulse and catch the light.

Could it be? The demon in his gauntlet asked. Cousin Jeffery? Belephus laughed.

Garrod's brow furrowed, and he looked back at Luella. "Looks like some part of the ritual," he showed it to her, then tossed it to her underhand. "Maybe those other mortals used it for a ritual?" He re-gripped his greastword, and adjusted its weight on his shoulder, and kept on with the march back. "Might help us figure some things out," he added. "Thanks by the way," he said, warm and the tiniest bit raw. "Not many would decide to see all this out, yet..." he laughed a little as he kept on up the stairs. "You never faltered," his lips curled softly upward. "I would have thought that the lowly plights of us humans would be of little interest to you... Fae I mean."

 

[Zaire]

Luella nodded her head, agreeing with Garrod as well that now was the time for recovery. Quite frankly, Luella was a bit nervous going on ahead, after all, would there be more monsters? How much energy should she conserve? How deep did this strange temple go. Her pride wouldn’t allow her to admit it out loud, but there was that sense of relief of knowing that there would be a brief break, and a moment to discuss what was going on. Really, her concern for the villagers was small, definitely not at the forefront of her thought process but she was hoping more so for some information— if they had anything. Dark forces were at play and this town had been picked for a cruel turn of events. Luella wondered absently what would have happened if neither her or Garrod showed up? Another nameless, decimated town that would be forgotten in a century or two, she supposed.

“Oh,” Luella murmured, easily catching the gem with one hand and inspecting it. Her pale brows raised up immediately as her skin came into contact with the gem. This was very interesting, the magick coming off from this small gem was indeed quite strong. She followed behind the sellsword, letting him lead the way as she continued to inspect the jewel. That was when she noticed the slightest scratch, or rather, not a scratch because this was a word. However, a word only she would know, as it was written in iza. What a surprised. Her eyes narrowed at the pulsating light within in, almost missing what Garrod said next.

“Human affairs don’t concern me,” she said, her voice even. This was a truth, even if now these human affairs may concern her. Or may not. “This stone is peculiar. The magick radiating from it is strong.” Changing the subject, a fae’s best and simplest tactic. But this subject change did more than hid her intentions. After all, both her and Garrod seemed intent on going further. Or rather, they had to at this point. They had defeated a monster, yes, but that didn’t actually solve anything. Not the mystery or the problem of keeping the town safe.

“There…” a moment of hesitation from the duanann, wondering if she should share. “The stone. There’s a word. Not in the mortal languages of this realm. It’s written in iza, the language of fae.” She informed slowly, obviously picking her words carefully and trying to keep her tone neutral. After all, she didn’t want to be blamed from this. “The word is… I believe it translates to… Soma?” She frowned, hoping that this was the correct translation, but considering what they witnessed, it did make sense, did it not? After all, this wasn’t a beast of natural causes, there was more going on. And this gem… yes, it was most definitely used for the ritual.

“Garrod, I don’t plan on leaving until I find whoever is responsible.” Luella said firmly, just as they were up the stairs and could see the entrance of the temple. Before she went out there, she felt it was important too say this. She would continue downward, with or without his help, even if it meant that ever step below was far more perilous than the last.

Garrod Arlette