Private Tales Lethality

[Kristen Pirian]

Instantly an energetic light (even more so than Markle usually displayed) flared in his eyes, as if Markle was simultaneously working on a handful of plans and weighing an assortment of options; one could almost see behind his eyes something like the frenzied character which must have been present at his Guild meetings. Markle said, "Right! Yes! Of course! Elves are the absolute scourge of Vel Anir, but traitors are not so far behind! Might as well have knife-ears themselves. Korric! Korric! Come here."

Without any a goodbye or manner of pleasantry in any form, Markle set off after this apparent Korric, an associate of his, to begin making those arrangements for sending word to Vel Anir. The man was industrious, no doubt about that.

Meanwhile, Kristen had jumped onto her horse and took the reins. She said in parting to Malik, "Stay on your guard, and take care!"

"These are dangerous times," Malik said curtly in response. By the gods, how right he was. The collapsed Spire, the devastation left by its ruination, stood as undeniable evidence to it, and all it could be said to be caused by someone in their own midst.

Kristen and Alistair were off with all available haste. The gate guards hurriedly and without any questioning opened the gates for them. With the walls of the city behind them, still that lingering cloud of dust, thinning though it may be, was visible, like some festering boil blighting the city's body.

"This is awful," Kristen lamented as they rode, raising her voice over the whipping wind of their galloping steeds. "They knew. When will this plague of treason come to an end? The Republic is the best hope for Vel Anir, a monumental occurrence in all our history, and yet..."

There were those who would see it fall for their own malevolent ends.

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

At least Markle was a man who did not linger long on his failures. He nodded approvingly as the man turned into a dervish of activity as he tried to get things under control. Al was going to have to leave the city to Markle and the other city officials.

The journey outside of the city was quick, neither Alistair nor Kristen was taking this slow. They both had their own reasons for wanting to end this, and those desires drove them to push their mounts hard.

"Treason had always been a part of Vel Anir...Unfortunately, we live in an era where it is far more...ostentatious."

They rode on for a few more minutes before Alistair voiced another growing concern.

"From my knowledge, Vel Acan has not been taken under the control of rebels. However, it is best for us to assume that we are hunting not only Bull, but other reinforcements that may have been waiting for him."

While killing Bull was a strong desire, Alistair had to remind himself that the priority should be getting the stolen goods back. The rebels were dangerous enough as they were, but giving them enough money to buy out several mercenary groups was not ideal.

While they road, every few minutes, Alistair would trace one finger through the air. A look of annoyance would cross his face before he would wait again to repeat the process.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Treason has always been a part of Vel Anir...

Were that Alistair's assessment not true. It seemed an immutable fact that wherever loyalty to one's country could be found, so too could treason, and the agents goading men and women to it were familiar devils: greed, resentment, corruption, so on. Yet there was solace in the warm truth nestled in Kristen's heart: that she would never be one amongst such vile company. Sooner would she die than turn her back on her homeland.

No strike could yet be leveled against the elusive Gilram himself, but in slaying Kester? In slaying Bull? These were blows which Kristen would find satisfying enough for now.

"So far as I know, Vel Acan is still much in ruin," Kristen said. Then came a small grimace, "Fertile ground for any potential cohorts of Bull's to lie in ambush."

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair took in every that Kristen told him and capped it off with a simple nod. Ruins, the perfect stage to set various traps for them. Bull would know they were coming, or at least someone was coming. He wasn't an idiot, although he certainly looked like it.

"We will need to be cautious when we arrive. I have a few ways of finding Bull quickly, but if we run in then whoever else is with him will just kill us."

Once again, Alistair drew another rune into the air, but again quickly ignored it. He had not explained it, yet, but during their last battle, Alistair had snuck in a tracking spell into the barrage he had sent at Bull before the towers collapse. The spell would work, but it had a maximum distance. They would need to get closer before it started working.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen watched again as Alistair performed the motions for a specific kind of magic. One of those few ways he had mentioned of finding Bull she assumed, and this was good. Even if it was merely Bull and the other Rogue with him, then still the ruins of Vel Acan presented problem enough from the sheer task of finding him.

Well...if he and his cohort intended to hide among the ruins. But what about the parts of the city that had been rebuilt? Indeed, the question stirred in Kristen's mind, why was Bull heading to Vel Acan, precisely?

She voiced this aloud. "Why Vel Acan? Markle said he had reason to believe Bull was heading there, and this was good enough to set us on our present path, but he did not have time to elaborate on his reasoning."

The hard, galloping hooves on the road punctuated her thought.

"Does Bull intend to embarrass the Republic? Markle? The Guard and the Dreadlords?" she mused. "Is there a hive of Rogues in Vel Acan? It is where, um..."

Unfortunate memories had to be recalled. Like Kristen mistaking an Archon for a Proctor. She grimaced a little at this.

"...Gilram was first encountered by our erstwhile class."

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair paused his second casting of the spell and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. He had not known that last bit...So, Vel Acan held some special meaning to her and their class. Was this Bull's way of trying to send a message? If the ruins had a history of dealing with Gilram once, then Gilram may have continued to send more reinforcements to this place.

Could he and Kristen handle all of them?... Yes, they could.

"I take it you were there that first time...It didn't go well?"

There was no reason to think too much on some of those questions. If anything, they would only cause more anxiety and it would not change what they needed to do.

The best he could do was learn a little bit of a story since it seemed like Kristen had more of a history with Vel Acan than he did.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen kept a straight face, which was certainly more than could be said of her past instances of speaking of Vel Acan aloud. Though, despite the effort, bright red embarrassment still flushed her cheeks. She hoped that in their the galloping ride Alistair wouldn't notice so much.

"Yes, myself and a numerous group of other Initiates. It was the single largest mission in which I had partaken, and it was in fact my very first. An...unexpected development occurred in one of the ruined libraries: the floor gave out and revealed a enormous system of tunnels beneath. As we searched, we came upon a laboratory, a laboratory which housed children—or what seemed to be children—on the tables. And this is where Gilram revealed himself."

Kristen had come to know in the time after Vel Acan what everyone suspected Gilram to be doing down there: creating Dreadlords. Making artificial human beings. Even though she herself had laid eyes (whoever naïve her eyes were at the time) upon his works, still, even now, she had much difficulty in believing that such a thing was possible. People, she believed, were invested with souls from the gods. Man could not by any means replicate that, not even the most powerful of magic-users. Gilram could not invest those creations of his with souls—no, she wouldn't believe it.

"He, of course, was never found in the aftermath. But, gods, could his agents have recently returned for some nefarious purpose?"

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

It was unclear whether Alistair noticed the blush, but he never said anything about it if he did notice. No, he was far more worried about the story had hand. He had heard of some of Gilram's experimentation, but he wasn't aware it had occurred at Vel Acan.

Could the rebels still be using Vel Acan to retrieve the remains of the experimentation? What if they were about to run into a small army of deformed, magical abominations...and Bull?

"That's enough information to make us more cautious, but it still doesn't change the fact that we have to go...We just may be fighting something that we don't expect. Once we deal with Bull, it might be a good idea to dig around and see what else we can discover in Vel Acan, just to make sure they aren't using the ruins for something."

He grew silent after that, a small part of him wanted to ask about the blush that was beginning to leave her face, but that was none of his business. If she did not want to talk about it then he would not ask.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"Yes. Prudence would suggest we inform the Guard, even it so happens that there is nothing more to discover."

A thorough search had already been conducted a year ago after the initial incident, of course. But was there something missed? Something reestablished after said search? Could it be that the Rogues were relying on the idea of "lightning wouldn't strike twice" to hide in relatively plain sight? It wasn't terribly far out of the question, no. Mayhap Bull and his cohorts had no long term business in Vel Acan at all, either passing through or looking to cause trouble and taking flight once the deed was done, but she and Alistair knew for certain that there was some kind of interest that vile traitor had there. It would be found out in due time, and until then, a mystery all the possibilities of which was left for the mind to conjure.

There was one thing of which Kristen was sure, however.

"I'm glad that you are with me, Alistair," she said, looking over to him, smiling and keeping her gaze as steady as she could on her galloping mount.

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

A small smile crept on Alistair's usually stoic face as he turned to lock eyes with her. Kristen was caked in dirt and blood from the recent disaster that they had been a part of. Her beaten and battered armor stood rigidly against her form. She looked absolutely perfect.

"Agreed, there is no one I would rather go into battle with. It will make our victory all the sweeter."

Focus, Al! Not the time. That could come later. First order, hunt down Bull. Second, don't die. Third, victory. Fourth, then celebrate.

They continued on their journey and only after a few hours did Alistair's spell finally begin to react to traces of Bull. They were close.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

VEL ACAN​

Familiarity had all the potential to sting in the right circumstances. Here, seeing this same bend in the road, the same sloping hill on the roadside to the west, the same vista of Vel Acan framed through the parting of trees, all of it summoned the prelude to Kristen's terrible debut, the outing of herself as a pathetic sister-in-arms, as a "spoiled noble princess" in over her head, as a sheep among wolves. Embarrassment of such a resounding level had a way of calcifying upon one's heart, that wretched pain available to suffer again at a moment's notice.

But time had moved on. She had moved on. She had more proficiency with her magic and martial skills, she had made that solemn promise to herself during the Festum Libertatis to always stand again if ever she should fall, she had taken a life (and many more since) in that dreadful assault upon Godendrung in the Blightlands. She was still the Daughter of Neil and Josephine Pirian, but there was hardly any Darling left in her now. In that stead, there was far more Dreadlord.

And she would need it. For this, she would need it. The Republic needed every loyal and capable warrior possible, especially in this desperate times. She needed to be such a one. She couldn't fail. Not again. Not against him.

Kristen brought her exhausted mount to a halt, the poor beast almost shivering from the fatigue.

"Still I fear the sight of this place," she murmured quietly, the words simply unable to stay held beneath her tongue. She gazed over the city from afar. The north side, that which was closest to them, still looked to be in shambles, as the sorry state of the walls attested. The south side was where all the reconstruction efforts had been concentrated. Indeed, visible even from their great distance, wooden scaffolds could be seen closer to the southern end as a legion of masons, stoneworkers, and laborers were hard at work repairing the walls.

Kristen looked to Alistair. "What does your magic say?"

And mayhap Alistair could precisely pinpoint Bull, or mayhap his information was approximate. But the rogue Bull was definitely in the ruined side of the city, yet close to the dividing line between the ruin and the reconstruction.

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

It was fairly obvious where the rebels would be hiding, but that did not make the situation any less difficult. The massive amounts of construction would essentially turn that area into a literal urban jungle. A place that Alistair and Kristen would not want to be if they were outnumbered. The ruins, while a little less confusing would leave them for more isolated.

He drew the rune in the air once again and frowned.

"Bull is definitely there," Alistair said with a point in the direction of the ruins.

"Roughly where my finger is pointing, but it will get more accurate the closer we get."

The horses were exhausted at this point, and bringing them into the city would do little good. It was best to leave them here to rest, and then retrieve them when they were done. Alistair slid from his saddle and quickly made sure all of his equipment was there.

"No time to mess around. We know where he is. Let's finish this...Kristen, there is nothing to be afraid of. You are a different person...You are strong."

Alistair was not one for lying, especially not to his friends. People got further in life by being told the truth of the matter and then thinking logically. Kristen could be assured that what Alistair said, he believed in.

Kristen Pirian