Private Tales Read between the lines

[Talus]

If any of the soldiers were particularly impressed by the display of magic none of them said anything, though that would hardly a surprise.

These men weren't regular guardsmen, they had fought mages before, and as Talus had told Zana they had been the true plan for killing Dreadlords. At least before Talus and his wife had joined the side of the Guard and recruited more of their own.

"Darwyn, Flen." Blackforge motioned to two of the men.

They nodded, one drawing a long knife from an odd sheath on his back, the other pulling strange short pike from a similar spot. The two soldiers moved through the window without hesitation, footfalls landing silently.

"Clear."​

It was the first word that Zana heard any of the Black Guard speak. Blackforge moved quickly after them into the hall, followed closely by the two other soldiers.

 

[Zana]

There was somewhat... unnerving working with the Black Guard or what the Dreadlords quietly called the Deathguard. Their whole existence, she knew, was to destroy people like her. She wondered in part whether they were there because of her in case she decided not to listen to orders or whether they really were necessary to the mission.

Zana dismissed the niggle at the back of her mind as she followed them through into the room. Once her feet hit the threadbare carpet she quietly sent the slab of rock back to the wall it had come from and re-created the window panes. If anyone entered the room they wouldn't see a sign of any type of entry.

Not that she really expected them to be coming anytime soon. It looked as though they had stumbled into the serving quarters of sorts but the fire was cold and cobwebs were strew across the ceiling. It didn't look like the room had been used in a long time.

At least not by the living.

"I get the sense you are looking for something more than just... information," Zana said slowly. The niggle they were withholding information from her still had been with her since the beginning. At first she had thought it was to do with the method of transport but now... now she wondered if it was something more.

 

[Talus]

Blackforge wasn't the type to lie, nor be indirect. "I told you"

The hulking giant of a man glanced down the hall then looked back towards Zana. His expression was no less or more gloomy than it ever had been, but there was a certain shift to how he moved as he spoke.

"If I can stop a.problem.before it becomes one, then I will." The matter was that simple for him. Blackforge had told Zana the Rumor was the Arch-Lector was gearing up for war, if that was true, why not just get rid of the Arch-Lector now? Easier to prevent a war before it cost ten thousand lives. "This way."

He motioned and quickly the group moved on.

Just as they did the clatter of armored boots hitting the ground echoed out ahead of them, the sound ringing out in a thunderous echo. Half a dozen armored figures moved just around the corner, their appearance would be more than familiar to Zana.

 

[Zana]

Zana's eyes narrowed the tiniest of fractions but she said nothing else. Instead she dutifully followed her General like a Dreadlord should and tried not to get too close to the Black Guard.

She was already on edge when the sounds of armoured feet echoed down the halls. Her eyes widened a fraction as the odd symbol on the armour she knew all too well appeared.

Dreadlords did not swear, that was far too human, but her whole expression said she wanted to in that moment. Knowing her magic wouldn't work directly on them without one of those robbed figures to take out, Zana disintergrated the floor beneath the soldiers feet sending them tumbling below.

She grimaced.

"I've fought these before, you have to aim through the eye or they will keep going. They're usually controlled by a mage..." her eyes hunted the halls for them.

 

[Talus]

There was no mage, but there was a tremendous racket as the armored soldiers through what had once been a floor.

The sound of clattering armor on stone below rumbled through the entire keep. Metal clanging and shattering seemed to ring out like a song, reverberating and resounding like an alarm had just been set off.

Blackforge stopped in his tracks for a moment, frowning at Zana. "Good to know, but I feel we could have done that more quietly."

A small smirk touched his lips.

"Ah well." Hefting his ax the the General stepped forward and leaped over the hole Zana had created. "At least it will be more fun now."

The Black Guard wordlessly followed him into the waking Keep. All around them on the halls beyond the Dead and living began to stir. Feint echoes of marching death, mages rousing themselves from their slumber. Yet it was the walls themselves that seemed to shift, a feint thrum of magic floating through their reaches, something that had been there all along but now seemed to grow stronger.

 

[Zana]

Zana's face remained neutral at Blackforges criticism but when he turned his back she grimaced. It had been loud and reactionary, not at all like the cool and calm reputation she had in the heat of battle. Her heart was racing and her palms felt clammy. Quietly she took a breath and followed.

Get a grip. They'll be fine, you'll be fine.

As they proceeded through the Keep Zana focused on casting her mind out as wide as she could and silently added pressures to doors to make them near impossible to open for the enemy, stairs turning to steep inclines and the tiles beneath their feet moving. The sense of magic she was feeling was coming from further up.

"We need to go up."

 

[Talus]

"No disagreements here, lass." Blackforge said with a frown, looking around them as though they were surrounded by ghosts.

There was something oppressive about this place, broken and not quite...right. The old General could not have said what, but it was like feeling insects constantly crawl over your skin. He did not like it, and a steady sense of unease had come over him the further they went into the keep.

His fingers tightened on his ax as they found another staircase, this one curling upward into the keep. Odd snake like onyx scones decorated the walls here, and as Blackforge took the first step they suddenly sprang to life.

With a loud hiss one of the flame wreathed creatures of stone suddenly jumped forward. It's maw opened, snapping at the general. His eyes popped open, axe swinging and stroking the animated stone. A caucophony of sparks erupted as steel met onyx, the creature falling to the ground as two of its brothers suddenly slithered down the stairs. "What the fuck."

The general said through gritted teeth as one of the Black Guard batted away another of the creature, the heavy thunk of its landing echoing in the keep.

 

[Zana]

As the only magic user, Zana felt as though she should be the magical expert but even she was dumbfounded by the creatures that were protecting the hallway. The only benefit was that they actually seemed to suffer at a touch of her magic unlike the undead.

Three further snakes screeched as they were turned to ash, purple energy rippling down their body.

Zana pushed past and led them further down the corridor with more determination now. The snakes had the same magic signature as what was in the walls and its source was further down here.

"Magic will not work on the soldiers but it seems the creatures it will for now, the creator is this way. I can sense him now."

And he her.

 

[Talus]

As they continued up the stairs the rock around them began to change.

The stone had already been black, but strange lines began to run through it. Odd interlaced webs that seemed to crawl over one another and interconnect through thousands upon thousands of strands. Magic thrummed through them, though at the same time did not.

It seemed power seemed almost stunted, blocked. The same as it was with the odd armor worn by the ghoulish soldiers. The rock itself seemed laced, as if held together and brought into a singular abyss.

At the end of the hall sat a single set of double doors, one carved and laced with depictions of a thousand screaming souls. As they stepped onto the hall an odd echo passed out, and then suddenly the black stone that surrounded them shifted and slammed shut into place over the entrance they had just stepped through.

Blackforge glanced at Zana, but she would find her magic useless upon the stone.

Behind them, opposite the double doors of souls the clanging of armor began to ring out. Though nothing could yet be seen in the distant abyss of black.

It seemed they'd stepped into a trap.

 

[Zana]

Zana gave the merest of shrugs at Blackforges look; she couldn't move it. Perhaps Talus would have been the better option for this mission. Just because she couldn't move the rock itself though didn't mean she was powerless in the room.

"He is close," she frowned, head cocked to the side. The noise of armoured soldiers didn't seem to alarm her. "There will be cloaked figures with the soldiers, kill them and those dead linked to them will also die."

She drew her throwing knives calmly.

 

[Talus]

The five Guardsmen all seemed to tighten the grip on their weapons as the group began to march down the halls. There was an odd foreboding that clung to them, the strange doom laying over them that came from the walls.

"We go through the doors first, then close them behind us." He told Zana as they moved forward. "Better to face one foe than twelve."

His gaze fell on her. "Can you seal the doors behind us?"

The question came just as they reached them, and the answer would come quickly. Unlike everything else in this hall the doors were naught but regular wood, old and ancient, but simple wood that had been likely been crafted hundreds of years ago.

Behind them, the Soldiers began to appear in the hall, still not a single black cloaked figure among them.

 

[Zana]

Where are they?

The doors slammed shut with a loud bang that echoed down the hallways. It wasn't a solid wood that would hold very long but it would do well enough for now. She took the shield from her back and slid it up her arm; there might always be a need to use it and it was far more than just a method of defending herself.

"Maybe the magic is going through the walls..." Zana murmured more to herself than anyone and gingerly touched the stone walls.

A terrible mistake in hindsight.

The magic pulled her under and through the very walls with a sharp intake of breath. Along the tendrils she went deeper and deeper into the keep until she was in a room, in the centre of the circle. Thirteen of the robed figures were stood in a circle, heads bowed murmuring under their breath.

One of them looked up sharply as she 'arrived' and looked directly at her. He drew his blade and-

Zana yanked herself back from the wall, stumbled, and almost turned and threw up but managed to catch herself.

"Don't touch anything, they can kill you if you do. It's all linked - like a living body."

 

[Talus]

"Lovely." Blackforge said with a scowl, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his ax.

The room that they had stepped into was large and circular made of the same black stone as everywhere else, as Zana had already discovered. Three more doors, just as the one they had already stepped through, were located at direct points throughout the room.

Besides that there seemed to be nothing else.

The General would have called it a meeting chamber, though at the moment he wasn't quite sure what to make of any of this. His mouth was about to open to speak when suddenly the doors just ahead of them fell open and from them poured a dozen of the armor clad undead.

Blackforge cursed. "That one!"

He called as he pointed towards the left door,knowing that they couldn't let themselves get stuck here. Before they could move though the armored ghouls charged.

 

[Zana]

The left door felt a million miles away when a sea of undead creatures stood between them and their goal. with no robed figure amongst their group there was no way out other than to plough their way through with the strength of their arm and the sweat on their back. Zana's dragon-forged blade sung as it slid free of its sheath and alongside the Black Guard she dove into the fray of monsters.

It wasn't just the undead the group had to worry about.

The door Zana had sealed behind them with magic was being battered down. The sounds of splintering wood could be heard amongst the sounds of steel and shouts from the men. Her blade dove into another's eye socket and she panted as she drew it free, turning towards the ghouls who had begun pouring in behind them. Without her magic she felt clipped.

"Mind your ba-" her warning was cut off as something snaked about her ankle and dragged her off her feet in a sudden whip like motion. The mages controlling this place were learning, testing the group and adapting as they went. The tentacles were an advancement on the snakes from earlier except this time they carried the same magic proof runes as the walls.

 

[Talus]

The Black Guard met the ghouls with all the ferocity of animals and the grace of a dancer.

It was almost strange, inhuman. They moved like a Dreadlord would, like men fueled by magics. Their blades swept through dead flesh, crushed metal and caused the thundering crack of spines as they clashed with their armored foes.

One of the men, the one that had wielded the short pike moved like a flash of light. His spear pierced through the throat of one of the beings, and then suddenly the flesh beneath popped and burst. The Ghoul's skin exploding from within.

Two others moved to guard Blackforge's flanks, though all three turned their heads as Zana was suddenly grasped and flipped into the air by odd roving tentacles.

"Fuck!" The General cried as he turned on his heel, his great axe suddenly swinging down upon the stone.

The half-moon blade seemed to flare for a moment, and then with a great spark it severed the black stone at it's base.

 

[Zana]

Zana hit the floor with a curse, rolling with the motion to lessen the impact on her shoulder. Even so her body was a symphony of pain. The stone had not been gentle with its grip upon her. The metal greaves she had been wearing looked like crumpled paper that dug into her flesh. Her ankle throbbed with the warning that something was broken and her shoulder, hip and side were bruised. Talus was going to kill her if this place didn't first.

"Thanks," she said begrudgingly as she stood, ignoring the pain and any offers of aid. Anything further would have to wait. Now that two doors were open bodies were going down but more were replacing them. They were being forced away from the still closed doors. With a slight grimace of pain, Zana ploughed back into the action.

 

[Talus]

Blackforge grunted as he swept his axe to the left, the blade cleaving through heavy plate armor and leaving a gash through dead flesh that offered no blood. His foe stumbled back for a moment, and then stepped forward to strike again only to be met with the Black Guard's lance.

The General turned his head, nodded, and then roared. "Follow me!"

His voice boomed out through the room, echoing off the rounded walls enough that one of the ghouls seemed to turn towards him. Blackforge didn't seem to care though, and with a deep breath he suddenly charged forward.

Using himself as a battering ram the General dashed into the ghouls.

He threw himself into the fray, his arms tossing aside the ghouls, throwing them into the walls and sweeping them aside just long enough to open a path even as they hacked and slashed away at his flesh.

 

[Zana]

The only thing her magic worked on was the doors and her own armour, but the more she seemed to reach for it the more the ghouls and creatures seemed to turn towards her as if they could sense it. The Black Guard stuck to Blackforge like moths would a flame and Zana brought up the end of the little group. Given she was the last one through the door anyway and their attention was on her disappearing back, just before she slid through the door after the men she brought the two doors through which the other ghouls had streamed, and piled them in front of their exit.

Perhaps three doors would keep them occupied for longer.

The corridor beyond was relatively quiet in comparison. Zana could hear her ragged breath and that of the others as they caught their breath. Everyone seemed to have taken at least a few hits.

"The magic... is getting worse..." she rubbed her temples and squeezed her eyes shut. Before she could taste it but now it was suffocating her and making her head throb with the pressure.

 

[Talus]

Cuts and gashes decorated Blackforge like banners did the citadel's of Vel Anir. Blood stained his fur cloak, and the armor he wore was half shredded from the Ghoul's blades. The axe in his hand slumped slightly, his jaw set hard as he spoke.

"Bastards." He grumbled.

He'd never thought that it would be easy. He'd never thought that any of this would go as he planned, but this was something all together different. What the hell was going on here? What had happened? Lips thinned for a few moments as he looked at the Black Guard and then to Zana.

Fingers tightened, and then he spoke. "Lanya, Veras. Stick to the Dreadlord like she were my daughter. Things take more of a turn the three of you get out."

The two Black Guard looked at one another, and then instantly shifted their stances so they were closer to Zana.

There was no question, no concern of the order was right or wrong, just that it was the command that had been given.

"For now, we continue." The Old General said as he hefted his ax and set off down the hall. This one was different than the others, with several doors lining the corridor. As they walked the Guardsmen opened each one, revealing rooms that appeared to be laboratories. Slabs of onyx that seemed to be tables and pedestals with bloody tools were contained in each one, with several even holding corpses already dressed in that odd black armor.

"This is where they make them then." The General commented, noting that a few of the rooms had slim windows that seemed to lead somewhere. "Come on."

Blackforge said as he moved towards the room at the end of the hall.

 

[Zana]

Despite her state Zana's back instantly went up at the order she should be protected - especially above a General. Dreadlords were expendable. There might not be another like Zana in the ranks as of yet, but there were a hundred others who were better or would be better in a few years time. She was not arrogant enough to think she would always be at the peak of her physical fitness or powers. It was the way with Dreadlords, the young overtaking the old. If one ever managed to reach old age that was. She had only met a handful who had reached 50.

Her eyes flickered to the two either side of her and her lips turned down into an uncomfortable grimace. She debated arguing against it but orders that were given were unquestionable. It overrode everything else unless someone more senior, like Ash, told her to keep Blackforge safe.

"It makes sense for me to go first," Zana said as they approached the final door. "If there is a magic attack, I can sense it."

 

[Talus]

Blackforge nodded, and as Zana approached the final door the two Blackguard who had been ordered to protect moved to her flank as the other three took up positions behind.

There was a sense of something beyond, a darkness that seemed to linger. It was the same as was held in the walls, in the ghouls, but somehow...more. It did not move to lash out however, it did not even move at all. As the door was slowly pushed open that feeling only grew worse.

The reason why became immediately apparent.

Like the room that they had fled from, this one was circular in architecture, except the clear difference here was there were no other doors.

That and at the center of this room was a gigantic throne. Upon it sat a man, though calling him a desicated corpse would have been more accurate. His flesh stuck to his bones, and odd stone tendrils sat embedded into his skin. There was a lull to his head as he looked up, an odd green glow settled within his gaze as his eyes slowly panned upward towards the group.

He stared at them, his eyes hollow as his head slowly tilted.

"It has been so long since I have had guests, please. Please come in."​

The corpses hand waved, and suddenly the floor seemed to shift, throwing the group further into the room and closer to the throne.

 

[Zana]

Her lips twisted as the two guards stepped forward with her but she said nothing as she prepared the shield, ready at a seconds notice should they have need. The magic sensation she had felt along the walls that had been steadily growing the deeper they got into the keep reached a fever pitch now. It made her eyes swim and her body feel as though it were being dragged down through the flagstones beneath her feet.

Zana hadn't been expecting just one, twisted vision of humankind to confront them. Yet, as soon as she had set eyes on him she knew it was the sources of her queasiness.

"We sh-" her suggestion of retreat was quashed as the stone beneath their feet ripped like the tide and propelled them into the room. Zana barely kept her footing as they came down but blinding pain went up her leg and side as a reward for her tiny victory.

The door slammed shut, sealing them inside the room with him. Her hand flexed on the hilt of her blade as purple energy crackled down the length of steel.

 

[Talus]

The corpse waved a hand.

"You'll find that sort of thing to be quite useless in here, I suspect."​

The old man slowly looked around the empty room, lips thinning fora brief second...if that were even possible at all. He slowly looked back towards the group, honing in on Zanna in particular as though she were really the only one of interest.

"They made quite sure that magic was useless in here."​

He lifted a hand as if to try something, but nothing seemed to occur.

Blackforge stepped forward, this time half moving between Zana and the man. "What do you mean?"

The corpse looked up at Blackforge for a moment, narrowing his oddly glowing green eyes before he slowly turned his attention back towards Zana.

"You have indeed walked into a trap, I'm afraid, but the trap was not meant for you."
​

He smiled, a bare, sad smile, and then loosely waved a bony finger at himself in indication of what he meant.

 

[Zana]

Zana was actually half relieved when Blackforge stepped between them both. His large form was a comfort, something whole and human and alive as opposed to the thing opposite her. Her fingers protectively brushed across her stomach and she half raised her sword into a more defensible position. However, much like he had said her magic was indeed useless in here. It was odd considering how badly the room reeked of it but even though she could make the purple energy appear she could feel how weak it was. Her telekinesis would barely be able to lift her dagger let alone anything else and her visions had been absent since she had stepped foot inside the keep.

"Who are you?" perhaps it was a stupid question but Zana preferred to get straight answers to simple questions rather than speculate. "Why, would they set a trap for you?" her eyes wandered over his form quietly. It was like the life was being drained from him bit by bit, or was it that the magic was forcing him to stay alive for some reason?"

 

[Talus]

"He's the Arch-Lector." It was Blackforge that spoke, though the words were little more than a complete guess. "The one who disappeared."

The one who's 'death' had ended the war before it had even started. Fingers tightened for a brief moment, and the corpse slowly inclined it's head in a nod of confirmation. A chill ran down the General's spine, clear displeasure on his face.

"Surely, young mage, you know the laws of magic."​

He gestured to what was around them.

"There is a price. Always a price."​

The corpse sounded weak as he spoke, and Blackforge looked at Zana for some sort of explanation. To the Dreadlord it was simple really, the clues within the stone, the throne, the tendrils that extended from the man. The Arch-Lector was being held as a price, as a fuel. His magics twisted to create the Ghouls in some way, and perhaps more.