Private Tales Of Eunuchs and Cults

[Trajan Meng]

Norman came into the bedroom quietly. In his hands he held two cups as he stood by the doorway. Light steam rising from them.

"Closed down the shop for the night," Norman said. "Made some tea.

He gestured for Trajan to take one and he did. An older man, Norman. Trajan had already arranged due payment for his services and the remedies used in Khadija's aid. But the man deserved more than the material wealth that was the matter of course in business. He was one of the rare embodiments of the cause, even if he was not a member of the Luminari proper. An avatar of an unified humanity, the promise of what it could be.

"Thank you," Trajan said. Took a sip.

"Any stirrings from Khadija yet?"

"No. Not yet."

They continued drinking their tea. The sounds of the festival outside.

"Animals," Norman said.

Trajan looked to him.

"Those people who burned down the inn yesterday. Wretched animals, whoever they are."

"I agree wholeheartedly," Trajan said. "And it is my solemn hope that I shall be able to exact the appropriate vengeance upon them."

"Is it just you?"

"No, friend. I've a number of fellows in kind to call upon. We will not allow this affront to pass unanswered."

Trajan looked back to Kha then. The rising and falling of the sheet. The lack of restful peace upon her visage as she lay.

He just needed to know who his enemy truly was.

* * * * *​

A blur of time. Dark and fragmented images of Elbion, there and gone, changing with each noticing. A crippling haze of sorrow and terror.

And Clarissa Mejeure was inside a building. A warehouse. Darker still inside, only scant light from scarce sources outside.

Gods. Oh gods. Was she alright? Was Kha alright? She. She watched her fall. Right there. Flat onto the ground. There was blood. Her friend's blood. This wasn't supposed to happen. This couldn't happen. No. No. No.

Claire shook and could barely stand. Pain. Her hair. A pitiful whimpering. Hands to the back of her head to try and stabilize herself instead of to the daggers on her belt. Her eyes closed and her lips curled in a suite of agonies.

Words. Spoken by the man who held her. Proper understanding overridden by the turmoil clouding her mind. The cerebral torture of not knowing. The primal response of burning fear.

She opened her eyes halfway. Enough to see that he was no man at all.

But a xeno.

And she closed her eyes again.

"Red..." Her voice a tiny and insignificant thing. "Red..."

But there were no comrades to hear her.

She was alone.

 

[Aldren Cordale]

All that Aldren wanted to do in that moment was to carve that man's face, after bashing it to the ground. Multiple times. And then proceed to maul him over and over, while ensuring he was still alive. And he almost got to the point of starting his torture, but the Templar was interrupted by the timely arrival of a City Guard, a important one, judging by the armor that stood out from the garments of a common soldier. He was all alone, shouting and demanding that Aldren stand down from across the bloodied alley. Certainly a brave character, but Aldren was out of time and patience to patronize such behaviour.

Growling, he tossed the wounded cultist to the ground, his head falling strong against the wet dirt, covering his face with a mixture of blood and mud. Only a matter of time before he bled out, and Aldren would be left with no answers, no clue as to where the woman's daughter was. If there was ever a time where Elbion's City Guard could stand up and honor their historied reputation, to uphold their honored vows, now was the perfect moment.

With the Captain's warning falling short of Aldren's ears, the Templar moved to grab his sword from the ground, his blade measured in the same size as that man's greatsword. He wanted no quarrel, but he couldn't let that man stop him from his duty and his mission.

He took a few steps towards the man, still in a distance compared to him. And then Aldren came to a halt. He held his sword in front of his face for a moment, before turning it over and sticking it in the ground once again. A warrior's signal, a moment to stop and listen to each other. A heartfelt request.

"My name is Aldren Cordale, and i'm a Templar! There's a girl, she was taken by evil fanatics tonight! She could be suffering as we speak... I ask you: Do not force my hand, because i will see that this girl is returned safely to her mother's arms! Help me to do so!", his words were heavy and true, carried with slight tiredness following the battle he partook in just a few moments ago.

All he could do now was hope that the City Guard could see reason and help him rescue that girl and uncover that cult's secrets. The mission, his own life, the lives of Willis and Claire, and the lives of everyone in the region were depending on that. They could not fail.

 

[Smiling One]

Red? It almost sounds like Claire was mocking Omega and his kind though the look of terror etched on her face said otherwise. It was likely a defense mechanism given the circumstances of what happened. Claire was too traumatized to speak so Omega will have resort to more painful tactics to extract information. What a shame he didn't want the girl to suffer so much in her final hours. Omega raised a hand over Claire's forehead. A "hum" sound was heard while Omega closed his eyes and concentrated. Claire began to scream in pain at the mind spell Omega was employing.

The screams filled the entire warehouse but the cultists made placed spells in the surrounding area preventing Claire's screams from being heard outside. Claire's kept screaming but all of a sudden everything was silent, Omega opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by darkness. A projection of Omega was in Claire's mind, images started to appear before him. Memories of her Claire from childhood to becoming a member of the Luminari: An pro-human organization bent on suppressing non-humans such as himself. That is something worth telling his superiors about.

Reaching a long red had, Omega began to absorb the memories of Claire's time with the Luminari. He will present these to not only superiors but his people as proof. If he feels so inclined, Omega probably will divulge this information to the Elves and the Dwarves. It seems that their leader: A warrior named Trajan Meng has his eyes set in undermining non-human authority in the College of Elbion. If Elbion finds out of the Luminari's intentions then it could lead to war between Elbion and Vel Anir for the first time in hundreds of years even though the Luminari is working on their own.

Omega absorbed the last of Claire's memories of her time with the Luminari placing them in a magically sealed vial that was in his robes. Now to business, Omega moved aside all the pointless memories before finding the dark-skinned man sleeping with Claire. She knew the location of their base of operations also Claire offered them membership into her organization, seemed to be willing to become his girlfriend and finally witnessed him fight the guard captain. It seems that this "Willis" was at the monster hunter fortress located far from the city they'll search for him there killing or capturing anyone who stands in their way. However, there was also a plan that they would possibly gain some evidence of his group's intentions.

The corpses were located at the College of Elbion wonderful! He will need Claire to get and there was a huge possibility, that Willis will be there as well. Though just in case Willis' finishes early and goes back to the fortress it's best to attack anyway especially when they have Templar aiding the two of them. They were going to reveal themselves any way they might as well do it when the cult is at their most powerful and when the Forefather is growing restless. Omega releases himself from the mind spell, Claire stumbling back clutching her hand on her enormous breasts cowering in front of Omega.

"I have the information," Omega said to the cult. "Go attack the monster hunter Academy, there's a chance that Willis is there. Be careful though he has a Templar friend. In the meantime, I'll take Claire to the college of Elbion where she'll help me retrieve the corpses.

Omega then smiled. "The Forefather is almost upon us," he said. "We will cleanse the city and he'll take his rightful place in Elbion. Let us make a statement that this city will never forget."

 

[Trajan Meng]

Trajan sat by Khadija's side and looked on. Norman had gone off, leaving him alone again. He drank what remained of the tea and set the cup on a small end table by the bed. Waited.

It was all he could do. A healer might yet be able to mend her body more quickly than the available methods at hand in Norman's shop, true, but it was solely up to Kha to return. No magic could bring her back. None without terrible and immoral cost.

No. He couldn't think like that. She was not yet dead. See there her breathing, meek as it was.

A simmering anger underlying the vigilant stoicism that currently inhabited his mind. For he wished to know his enemy, the nefarious actor who had brought ruin to The Broken Quill and who had so savaged Khadija and who had stolen away Clarissa.

The secrecy of the Luminari had served the cause well. And here marked the first time that the Luminari and its faithful had been directly attacked. Or so it appeared. There had been others injured at the inn, yes, but no word of anyone else taken. Only Clarissa.

A perilous time for the cause, regardless.

* * * * *​

An obscene violation.

There had been a humming sound. And the xeno was inside her skull. Inside her mind.

Claire's breath caught in her lungs. Only a quivering whimper for the duration.

The xeno released her. A few meek steps backward. Trembling arms wrapped around her stomach. Her head hung low, eyes straight down. Her knees gave out and she collapsed down to them with a dull thud as bone hit floor. A tiny hovel of a person.

It didn't work. The Luminari training counted for nothing. Nothing. It failed. She failed. The xeno forced its way into her mind and took what it wanted anyway. Oh gods. Everything would fall apart. Everything. What could they do? Oh gods. The Luminari were just mere men and mere women and they had failed and she had failed and there was nothing she could do nothing she could do nothing she could do and she was powerless and they were powerless and they all were powerless before the xenos oh gods they were powerless.

She was going to die.

All humanity was going to die.

It had been inside of her. Taking what it wanted. A grave, hollow gloom within her. The feeling lurking just under her skin. A certain sanctity forever in ruin.

It had taken from her.

She wept there on the floor. Futile tears doing nothing.

 

[Aldren Cordale]

Rain fell down as the two men stared each other, the blood being washed away from the alley and joining with the wet, pasty dirt that reached to the sides and all the way to the other side of the street. They were all alone, two men and their swords, doubtful of each other and their purposes far different, but their path had crossed, and Aldren was adamant that his path would not be supressed short of reaching and saving that girl, or he could never forgive himself, being made to remember in horror that woman's screams.

Suddenly, the silence was stroke, broken and filled with a horrid voice, or more like a legion of voices coming from behind Aldren, their tone obscure and damp, words unrecognizable as they went on, the Guard Captain frozen to bits and paused where he stood, unable to move a inch as the bloodied corpse behind Aldren gained life of his own. His hands were still split from his arms, but his once lively eyes were now taken by darkness, veins all over his body painted with the same color as the ground began to tremble.

Arms reached from the ground and grasped at the Guard Captain, slowly taking him down with them as he screamed, cursing all the known gods and heavens while pleading for their mercy for he didn't want to die just yet. Aldren stood puzzled, but was broken from his trance as Darksbane pulsed its magic through his self, light shinning from the blade and gleaming before the Templar cut the man's head off with a strong and firm swing, ceasing his evil spell right before the Guard Captain was taken fully down to the depths of Hell.

Even so, as the cultist's body fell to the ground, his head still refused to grasp at death's embrace. "The Forefather awaits you and your kind... He shall conquer a--", the stubbornness was cut short by Aldren's mauling of the head.

Walking over to the Captain, Aldren put away his sword and offered his hand in help to get him out of that putrid hole formed on the ground, but both stood in shock once they glanced back at what was inside of it. The girl Aldren was searching for, tortured and deformed and surrounded by several human pieces in some sort of sick ritual. On her forehead there was a burning sigil, some of its shape known to Aldren via his experience in demonic trials and rituals, and from books back at the Templar Temple.

"Bloody Gods...", the Captain spoke, staggered by the sight of that cruelty. Aldren could only stand in silence, his eyes and hands trembling upon seeing it. So lost in his anger that he couldn't even hear Dur'Val manifesting from inside his sword.

"Put the city under alert, Guard Captain. This is only the beginning", the Templar said, roughly and cold, before walking down the alley and back to the streets, his clothes covered in blood and mud, his hair soaked from the rain and his heart aching for violence, to brutally end that cult and its demonic plans. But the night was a disaster of its own, and he could only hope that Willis and Claire had found something useful, before the Cult could move ahead on its plans.

 

[Smiling One]

Willis leaned on the wall and started and pressed his lips. What was he going to do now? If there was one thing Willis was good at, it was improvising. Willis was about to appear around the corner to approach them when he saw two figures enter the Guard Tower. Frowning Willis stayed rooted in his hiding place to get a look at them.

“What the fuck,” Willis saw a tall hooded man grabbing the hair of a raven haired woman. Not just any woman.

“Claire!”

Willis’ first thought when he saw the hooded figure drag Claire by the hair. Was it Rusty? Unlikely he’s a typical Knight in Shining Armor who wouldn’t even think about masking himself. It’s gotta be the cult. Shit! Why did Willis Let Claire go off alone? Okay he knew she can take of herself, but as Claire said, she wasn’t a fighter. Willis’ hand gripped on to the handle of his Saber. He had to do something. He needed to save Claire.

Omega leaned on to Claire. “Go on,” he whispered clutching her hair. “Ask about where our comrades are.”