Dreadlords Terror Within

[Edric]

Edric sat uneasily atop his horse, frowning slightly as he patted the Perchon's neck.

The road they stood on was devoid of all life. The trees on either side long dead, the grass turned a drab brown, the scent of decay clinging to the air. An unpleasantness seemed to hang within the atmosphere. The quiet wind enough to make ones skin crawl. Silence clung all around them. Not a serene stillness, but an eerie quiet that made the hairs on the back of the neck stand up.

Fingers tightened on reins. "This is it."

The words were more than stating the obvious.

Just below them, down the dirt path and into the valley sat an old manor house. It seemed an ancient, abandoned thing. A half fallen stolen wall ringing around it with a wrought iron gate half hanging off it's hinges. The Manor itself was clearly Anirian, though looked as though it had not been touched in nearly a century. Most of the windows were boarded up, the door was sealed, and the roof itself was collapsed in half a dozen places.

Supposedly, it was here that Baron Greshik had decided to hide.

The Baron had been labeled as a Traitor by the Anirian Republic, Edric had the others having been charged with bringing him to justice. By all accounts the Baron had been a bastard of a man, cruel to his people and exploitative as could be. Even under the old Regime Greshik had been seen as...a bit much, but his connection to many of the Great Houses had kept him in power.

With that protection gone, Greshik had quickly been charged. Though fled before the Guard could apprehend him. Hence why the Initiates had been sent out. Following a trail through two cities, half a dozen villages, and eventually to this ancient estate. Apparently once home to Greshik's ancestors not that it would keep him any safer. "Let's go."

He said, pulling on his reins and leading his horse down the ancient and decayed dirt path.

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone, not even to Tinker who wouldn’t ever tell another soul, but she’d much rather be on that mission with Liliana than Edric. Of course, it’s not like she had a choice— no one ever did, unless they had some powerful friend to help pull the strings. So here she was, with Edric, the one initiate who seemed to constantly get into missions that were well over his head. Maybe that was why she was picked to go along, she handled her duties with much more poise than their favorite golden child.

Not like she ever had to fight a dragon or got lost in a desert or whatever else Edric always seemed to stumble into.

But she couldn’t see this going awry, their mission was simple, easy enough. Of course, the poison eater figured that resistance would be found along the way, and the journey had been a rather long one, but they were finally here. Everleigh only hoped that this would be the last stop they would make before having to go back to the academy.

“You got it, Captain,” Everleigh said with light sarcasm, following after Edric. She took note of their surroundings and the dilapidated building that they were approaching. It was strange that as they got closer and closer to this place that all things seemed to have drooped or were dead. Especially since the manor was at the epicenter of all this death and decay. Maybe there was another Edric hiding down in that manor.

 

[Edric]

Edric grunted in response to Everleigh. Long ago having decided that offering any kind of sass to the poison puff was a lost cause.

He was neither clever, nor quick of wit enough to bandy words with her.

So instead of arguing about his status or who was in charge Edric instead lead them down the rest of the road. His eyes too flickered around them, searching through the decrepit wood and keeping his eyes open for any sort of ambush.

Nothing came out from the desolate landscape. Not an assassin, nor even the smallest animal. Edric could feel nothing alive around them. It seemed the earth itself was even devoid of earth, the only life remaining being small mushrooms and what little foliage still clung to the nutrient dead soil. It reminded him of being in the desert.

So lost and barren.

As they neared the gates of the manor his horse began to shift uneasily beneath him. It's hooves kicking up, sweeping to the side. "Woah!"

The Initiate said, pulling on the steeds reins, drawing him in and trying to steady the beast in a desperate touch. He tried to pull forward, get the beast going, but it refused. Simply stamping it's feet and coming to a total stop.

A frown touched his lips.

"Guess it's just us from here." Edric said, sliding off the saddle and tying the reins to one of the nearby metal grates.

He cast a glance over towards the others, and then stepped forward towards the Gate. Fingers wrapped around the wrought iron, pushing it open with a loud echoing creak that seemed loud enough to chill the spine.

As soon as his foot fell withing the bounds of the courtyard, a sudden rush of wind pulled over the entire grounds. It roared over them, an elemental scream near powerful enough to knock the Initiates from their feet.

 

[Eleanor]

Eleanor had been riding behind Everleigh and Edric with amusement etched on her face despite their depressing as fuck surroundings. Evie's sarcasm had become the only thing she enjoyed about her fellow Initiate. Edric did not appreciate it. Poor Edric had to deal with a lot of sarcasm on this mission so far.

This mission had brought them through cities and too many villages to keep track of. She was thankful that they had finally arrived at the manor. Well...thankful may not be accurate because the manor was creepy and screamed death.

It seemed that all the horses felt the same way as Edric's because hers started to paw at the ground as they approached the gates to the manor grounds. She looked over at Vance's horse who had followed suit with the others. Dead stop from all horses.

A frown curved Ella's lips as she slid off the saddle and looked around at their dreary surroundings. After she tied up her horse, she followed the others through the gate. The creak sent shivers down her spine and a hand unconsciously flipped the top of her throwing knife pouch open.

The roar of the wind was enough to almost send Eleanor running back to her horse but she was no scared little girl. She was also not going to show weakness in front of her partners.

 

[Vance Calgrave]

Vance looked around almost bored as they approached the manor. Yeah, things were dead around it but he didn’t care about some broken trees. It was strange, but for all they knew it was the result of piss-poor gardening by whoever had owned this place.

The young man was impatient, and the long task of tracking the baron had worn on him. He nudged his white-dappled horse onward behind Edric, determined to not be the last to arrive. He’d earned a respect for Edric, as near to respect as Vance could get, but that didn’t mean he would let him walk in ahead for all the glory.

Evie he could have done without. He was having a hard time thinking of any pleasant memories surrounding her.

He had finally lost the overt discomfort around Ella. A few forced missions had even granted the pair a decent sense of one another when working together. A fledgling sense, to be sure, but it was there.

His horse, like the others, outright refused to proceed. Despite his curses, kicking, and even a tiny jolt, the beast did not budge. “Stupid animal,” he spat, jumping down in a huff. He had scarcely made it to Edric’s side when the wind came.

It slammed into them, pushing him back a step as he crouched low against the gale. Scant blue sparks were torn from his body and he shut his eyes tight against the flying dirt and twigs. When it calmed, he stood slowly, eyes darting around for attackers.

“The fuck was that about?”

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh slid off her horse along with the others, patting the neck of the spooked animal, her expression neutral. One thing Everleigh had learned was that animals tended to sense things humans couldn’t. It was why most animals chose to stay far away from her, as if they could sense the unbridled danger of poison and acid within her. Of course, academy horses were of a different breed, trained to handle the killing intent of future dreadlords, yet if the manor before them spooked the horse, Everleigh deduced that it meant danger was ahead.

Good thing the poison eater was paired with the initiates that everyone raved about and thought their personal magic was oh-so great.

The purple initiate turned to take a step toward were the rest of the group was, now behind everyone due to her trying to calm her horse, before that large rush of wind came rushing at them. Everleigh gritted her teeth, hands going up to cover her face as the roaring gale caused her to back up into her horse. Good thing it was much sturdier and heavier than she was.

She narrowed her violet eyes, a hand going to the hilt of her sword as she marched forward. There was a small hint of a smile on her lips.

“Looks like the baron might have a strategy other than just hiding and waiting for us to flush him out.” Was all she said, her tone more eager than anything else. A big gust of wind? It would take a lot more than that to scare the poison eater away. Stepping into the courtyard, looking around to find a way in. They could barge in through the door, but the way her gimlet gaze moved over everything told that Everleigh was looking for a more discrete approach.

She pointed at a second-story window, one that hadn’t been boarded up yet. As she spoke, her finger traveled to each point of interest. “Front door is probably a trap. From the porch, we can use the pillar and beam to get onto that overhanging ledge, pull us onto that bit of roofing. We’ll have to be careful, shingles will probably be loose, but then we could reach that window. I’m sure the baron would be in the deepest part of the manor, in the back or underground.” She looked over her shoulder at the other three. “Or we can do a perimeter check and see if there’s a better opportunity.”

Edric Eleanor Vance Calgrave

 

[Edric]

Edric gripped the wrought iron-gate besides him just a bit tighter as the wind nearly pushed him off his feet. The howling gust sweeping his hair. A frown touched his lips as he looked around them, seeing that the dead trees did not even seem to sway.

"Probably some type of magic." He answered Vance, nodding along as Everleigh brought up that the Baron likely had a strategy.

His eyes followed the Poison-eaters finger as she pointed at one of the upper windows. A frown flickered over his face as she described a way to get to it.

Months ago he might have thrown Everleigh's opinion to the wind, ignored what she said and just busted down the front door. It would have been the fastest way inside, and he wasn't one to care about traps. Not usually anyway. Things had changed though, after his trip into the desert, his journey through Cerak.

"Alright." He said with a nod as he headed over towards the porch. They could have checked the perimeter, but every minute counted now. He was sure the Baron knew that they were here. "Vance."

Edric motioned to the other boy, moving towards the edge of the porch and getting down to one knee. Hands were cupped, and he motioned to his palms. The reserve pooled in his muscles, as he prepared throw the other lad onto the porch.

Once he was up there he could the rest of them.

 

[Vance Calgrave]

Vance's gray eyes kept sweeping over the dead gardens around the manor. That wind hadn't been natural, he had surmised that much, but who or what had cast it? He ran a hand through his now windswept hair.

Similar to Edric, Vance was never much for complicated strategy. He liked to think himself clever enough to see traps and quick enough to react to them. Of course, they had been caught unaware by the wind.

He snapped his head to Edric upon hearing his name. He was immediately prepared to be snide to any sort of order, an unconscious and quite unpreventable reaction to an old-time rival, but after seeing that Edric was in fact offering to help him up first... well that was acceptable.

"Yeah, alright." He took a moment to get ready, bouncing on the balls of his feet, then took three quick steps and kicked off of Edric's palms. The force was more than enough to him to reach the ledge of the overhang, and vault his legs over the side. That was a lot more fun than being punched with the same amount of force.

He turned on his belly and offered a helping hand to the next initiate.

 

[Eleanor]

Eleanor saw the look that crossed Vance's face for a split second when his name was said and she let a small smile curve her lips. It seemed that they had all been doing some growing in the last year. She still found the whole post Revolution Academy to be weird as fuck but she had to admit that it had let the Initiates become more than mindless weapons. They were still very much weapons, of course, but they were also aware of much more than kill kill kill. She hated to admit that she liked it.

The redhead watched the other redhead use Edric's help to get up into the roof of the porch. Ella stepped forward to go next and followed the same steps that Vance had gone through. She had to take a few more steps because she was shorter but she managed to get the right speed and kick off his palms as well. Since she was shorter, she grabbed Vance's upper arm to finish her pull up to the roof.

"Thank you," she said as she got to her feet and stepped out of the way to make room for Evie and Edric.

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh looked at Edric, silent when he helped up Vance and Ella. If they weren’t pressed for time she would have stubbornly found a way up there herself. Alright, she had already figured out a way to get up there independently, but now was the time to swallow her pride. Somewhat, at least. Because in all truth, after the war games, Everleigh didn’t want Vance touching her at all. The pair of piercings on each middle finger were back in place, not mention the other fifteen.

Besides, relying on others? Especially those here today? She couldn’t, her guard was completely up.

A swift, loping sprint into Edric’s hands and Everleigh crouched down into it so that she could launch herself high with the combined effort of her strong legs and Edric’s own impressive might. She angled herself at the apex of her jump, purposely leaning more diagonally so that she could skip Vance’s hand— no electrocution today, thank you— and swing over a hip and leg so that she was up and over the ledge. She got onto her hands and feet.

The shingles were loose, but luckily all the ones closed to the edge had fallen off long ago. She then looked over at the adjacent roof below were the window would be. Without waiting to see if anyone would follow, she took hold of the decoarated pillar, finding a bit of footing to hoist herself up high enough before creeping onto the other side.

Now at at the side instead of the front of the manor, Everleigh had to lift a leg up on the outcrop beneath the designated window, feeling for a suitable place that would allow her a study spot to lift herself upon. The moment she cleared that she could then look through the window. The glass was mostly shattered, only a feel jagged pieces along the edge of the wooden frame.

She removed them before climbing inside.

Edric Vance Calgrave Eleanor

 

[Edric]

Edric didn't wait to see if Evie made it up the porch, he had every confidence she did.

As soon as he launched the last of his companions into the air Edric stood. His muscles flexed as strength from his reserve pooled into them, his form turning on a heel as he took a running sprint towards the pillar. A foot struck it, then a second, and then a third as he launched himself up the wall. His hand extended, stretching out and grasping Vance's palm.

Two heartbeats later and Edric was standing with the others. His head turned as he watched Everleigh shimmy across the roof-line, already heading directly for the window she had pointed out. He made a motion to the others, and then quickly began to follow after the Poison-eater.

The other three Initiates came in directly behind Everleigh.

Edric landed on the ancient wooden floor with a surprising quiet. His boots making an impressively small amount of noise for someone of his bulk.

The room that the Anirians found themselves in was surprisingly well put together when the outside of the manor was taken into account. It was a sitting room, or perhaps a library. The floor was old and worn, but no sign of rot touched it. Furniture was covered with stark white sheets, and two doors presented themselves on each side. Standing directly opposite one another.

An odd haze seemed to cling to everything, the air stuffy yet sickly sweet.

Edric pointed to himself, then to Vance, making a quick motion towards the left door. Then gestured to Eleanor and Everleigh before pointing to the door on the right.

The less noise they made the better.

 

[Vance Calgrave]

Vance moved nimbly over the shingles after Everleigh and Edric and swung himself in gracefully. The training that had been seared into all of them immediately took action, and he noted the exits, furniture positions, and where a scuffle would best suit him.

Luckily there was no one in the room. "No one's been in here for a while," he said quietly, running a finger over one of the white sheets and picking up the film that time had left on it.

Again, Vance found himself agreeing with Edric's plans. They couldn't spare the noise to argue, anyway, so he moved feather-footed to the left door. He crouched by the side to first listen, then peer through the keyhole.

Cobwebs obscured the view, but the next room over appeared much like the first. Furniture had been draped so that the room looked more like a herd of large, amorphous clouds than a proper home.

He stood and nodded to Edric that the coast was clear.

 

[Eleanor]

Eleanor was in the middle of assessing the room when Edric made the decision that Vance would go with him through the left door while Evie and herself went through the right. She simply nodded and split off towards the right door.

Ella was not in a talking mood. She wanted to get out of this house as soon as possible. It was creepy and she did not like it. She was also not one hundred percent sure if it was even capable of holding four humans at this point in it's life.

The dust that they had kicked up just from stepping into this room and walking a little bit was tickling Ella's nose. She fought the urge to sneeze and somehow suppressed it for now. There was way too much dust for any living creature to be here.

Their door was slightly ajar already so Ella just listened closely before gently pushing it open.

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh already knew the plan before they walked in here. Split up and find the baron. Either team would be more than enough to bring him down. But as the poison eater moved to the right now, she couldn’t help but feel that prickle of anxiety. The translucent hairs on the back of her neck were raised, and her violet eyes were quickly darting all over the place.

The wind hadn’t frightened her. But being inside the manor gave her a sense of apprehension as she looked around. Perhaps it was the air. It was unusual, something that she couldn’t really say she had ever had the displeasure of smelling before. And she had been in strange ocean catacombs and underground tunnels, doused in a pool of blood and many other strange things.

Why did this take the cake?

There wasn’t time to dwell on that though as Ella was pushing open the door. Everleigh sneaked inside, looking around, only to discover that this room had nothing else in it but mirrors. Mirrors all along the wall, and standing mirrors placed copacetic throughout the room that would be pleasing to any Anirian.

There was another door, to the left of this room. Everleigh suspected it must lead out to the hallway and so she inched forward, careful not to make any noise, silent and stealthy as if she herself were a ghost.

Edric Vance Calgrave Eleanor

 

[Edric]

Edric glanced back towards the girl for a brief moment, watching as they moved into the next room. His fingers tightened, and then he returned his eyes to Vance.

The other boy nodded, and he stepped forward to follow.

Beneath him the wooden floorboards seemed to creek for a moment, and Edric moved through the doorway which Vance had stepped through. The other Initiate would see him approach, would see him take a step, and then suddenly...he was gone.

It was as though the moment Edric had touched the threshold of the door, the second that he had passed through he was utterly gone.

Instead of seeing his rival join him, Vance would only see the empty room beyond. That slight haze still hanging within the air. No sound reaching him save for the silent creak of the wooden walls around him. Not even a rasp of wind rushing through broken windows.

Edric's boot fell not onto wood, but hard stone.

The sound of his heel striking marbled floors echoed out, and he almost immediately bucked his head left and right in confusion. Lips thinned, brows furrowed as he found himself not within the next room...but a grand hallway.

It seemed to stretch out before him, running as a corridor for miles and miles.

Dozens upon dozens of paintings decorated the halls. The figures were dressed in all sorts of clothes, from peasant rags to noble silks. Their eyes seemed peer down at him, staring. His head whirled, looking back the way he had come to find only a solid wall. "What the..."

Edric whispered in confusion.

Vance Calgrave | Everleigh Ebersol | Eleanor

 

[Vance Calgrave]

Vance kept his senses at high alert. This quietness could be a trap, there could be enemies lying in wait around each ghostly piece of furniture and magical traps waiting to spring. Was the wind supposed to scare them off? It would take more than that to dissuade Dreadlords.

...almost Dreadlords.

He moved further into the room, keeping low and crouching behind what seemed to be a couch. He waved for Edric to move ahead and waited. Waited. He waved once more, and turned a crackling gaze back at... nothing?

"Edric!" he whispered. "Edric!" Still nothing. What the hell? He had heard the guy walk in behind him, had he turned around? Checking the room once more, Vance scurried back to the door they had come through only to have it slam in his face.

He grabbed at the handle but the damned thing would not budge. He strained and finally, his patience running out, kicked the door and called for Edric beyond. When no answer came he turned back to the hallway, taking a deep breath.

He had to calm down. This must be one of those traps, meant to scare or separate them. Well Edric could handle himself well enough and so could Vance. He drew his sword, cutting a whirling streak through the stagnant, dusty air, and flexed the fingers of his left hand with a few tiny arcs zapping between them.

He rounded the far corner.

 

[Eleanor]

Eleanor followed Everleigh into their room and furrowed her brows at the mirrors. How strange but this entire house had been strange so far and they had only been here for a few minutes. She watched Evie head to the door on the right and she headed towards the door that was on the right side of the room. She thought she had paid attention and that should be where a window was but maybe this room was not at the front of the house.

Whatever, she thought. They were here to find Baron Greshik and that meant checking behind every door. It was the only way to be sure that they were thorough. The pushed through the door and was immediately met with a dimly lit room that was covered in a thick haze. There were no windows and no candles but she could see just fine. The room was clearly empty which meant that it was time to rejoin Evie and the group.

She turned around and reached for the door handle. There was a flash and a spark ran through her body. She yelled and jumped back from the traitor of a door handle. Ella tripped backwards instead of getting her footing which caused her to hit the floor hard on her back.

"What the fuck," she said quietly. She could have sworn there was nothing on the floor a moment ago. She looked to the side to see what she had tripped over and screamed.

A shock of red hair and a face that Ella knew anywhere looked back at her with lifeless eyes. No...this wasn't right...Vance was out there. He had gone the other way. He couldn't be right here and dead. He hadn't passed here and there were no other entrances to the room.

No no no no, she tried to tell herself. The Initiate reached out to touch Vance. He was cold and stiff.

Eleanor screamed again.

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Like all the others, Everleigh stepped through the door unaware with what fate would meet her. For the poison eater, she had walked into a hallway as she had hoped. It was when she had turned back to gesture to Ella to take the right while she went left that she realized the mirror room was gone. Only a small empty closet. Everleigh took a deep breath, more so from being annoyed than anything. Had she walked into some sort of trap? Was there a marker? What had she missed? Another illusion, one like back in Arnim? Then there had to be a tell.

Her mind was working overtime and as she replayed every second back from when the manor had came into sight. Nothing stood out to her. The only thing she really fretted about was if she had been the only one to gotten stuck in this predicament. How embarrassing if that were the case. She was with three of the top five students with the extra flashy, “look-at-me” powers; three people that the academy would refuse to ever acknowledge that she could be better than. Everleigh had resigned herself years ago that she would be worse than anyone with the glitzy, showy abilities: a fate worse than death, someone’s worst nightmare— all of it, she’d be….

Now wasn’t time for her mind to wander. Everleigh pulled a flatblade from the small of her back and without hesitation stabbed herself right in the center of her thigh. The pain was quick and immediate, the purple initiate needing to bite down on her lower lip to keep a single grunt from escaping. She waited. The pain was radiating from where she had stabbed herself. She looked around. Nothing had changed. She frowned. So not another illusion like the one back in Arnim.

No problem. She’d figure out a way to escape it sooner or later. A little game before she got to the baron. She adored games. But first, her self-inflicted injury. The flatblade was removed and Everleigh took one of the four small vials of her special healing potions to fix her stab wound. There. As good as new.

She pulled out a coin. Heads would be left, tails would be right. She flipped. Heads. She placed the coin back in her pouch and began to go to the left end of the hall.

The hallway was bland and dark, nothing really standing out despite Everleigh placing extreme attention to every little thing. However it felt that the more she walked the further she was from getting to any sort of feasible destination. She continued on, her mind still working, possibilities and strategies and ideas quickly shuffling through.

Everleigh stopped walking, placing a hand over her stomach. She felt sick all of a sudden, her body warning her that she was going to upchuck at any moment. While that wasn’t frightening in the slightest, what was quite scary was the fact that she could feel something inside her stomach, squirming about.

Edric Vance Calgrave Eleanor

 

[Edric]

Edric's eyes flickered from painting to painting. It seemed a strange thing to keep portraits like these within ones home. The figures were all so different. Peasants and nobles. Elves and humans. He saw even what looked to be a Tiefling.

An unsettling sort of feeling lingered upon him.

The weight of being watched fell upon him. The eyes of the paintings all around him seemed to follow Edric with each and every step that he took. Fingers tightened, and he could feel himself tense. A frown pulled at his lips.

He glanced back towards the door.

Eyes flickered shut.

He tried to sense some of the others. Tried to feel those pin-pricks of life. He should have been able to feel them, even if they were near half a mile away. Yet all that he could sense was...emptiness. An everlasting and eternal abyss. The only life he felt was his own.

"You did this."​

The voice resounded in the hallway. It did not echo in his mind. It did not call through the reaches of telepathy. It spoke.

Edric's eyes snapped open in an instant, fingers flickered to the sword on his hilt. The odd curved blade he had taken from the desert rang into his hands in an instant. Head snapped from left to right, glancing over his shoulder. Searching.

He saw nothing.

A tightness drew into his chest, and slowly he began to step forward. Knuckles turned to white as he continued down the hallway, head slowly turning on a swivel as he tried to take in anything and everything around him.

The painting's eyes seemed to follow, watching. Their ever-changing faces all drawing after him.

 

[Vance Calgrave]

Around the corner was a long black sheet obscuring the rest of the hallway. Vance approached as quietly as he could, not wanting to give whoever or whatever was beyond a reason to suspect him. He weighed his options, but he would have to move through it eventually.

He flexed his left hand again and kept a steady stream of flickering, popping lightning between his fingertips. If anyone was on the other side they'd better declare themselves quickly, or they were getting zapped to the next world. A deep breath, and a quick push through the curtain.

Darkness lasted only a second and Vance came out the other side with nerves flaring and ready to fire upon...

His voice left him as Vance looked out at a large room. It was too large for the house's layout, but he didn't think about that, he was too distracted by Edric, Ella, and Everleigh all bound and gagged on their knees at the center of said room.

"Come to save your friends?" Said a drawling voice, and a dark-hooded figure emerged. "You're too late," a second figure came forward. "Surrender," said a third.

Vance grit his teeth... but smiled. All three of them had been captured already, and now he was going to save them? He could lord that over them for ages.

"I'd ask you to do the same, but I'm not so generous." He raised his left hand, blue lightning crackling, then felt his heart freeze at what he saw.

The metal dampeners running down his arm, the wires and rods over his chest, they were gone. Suddenly the lightning in his hand was like an unruly serpent, and he discharged it hurriedly, singing the ceiling.

"Something wrong, apprentice?" The figure mocked, stepping closer to the captive, knife in hand.

Vance could feel the lightning building inside of him, faster than it ever had before. It came of its own accord, drawn by anger and panic. Soon his hair stood on end and wild bolts streaked from his shoulders to the floor.

It was too much. It wasn't safe for his friends to be near him.

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Everleigh did her best to fight the sick that was welling up in the pit of her stomach. She took deep breaths, focused on other things, and even willed herself not to puke on the premise that if it happened she’d punish herself— usually an effective mind trick she had come up with thanks to the ruthless proctors of the academy. She could have stopped herself from retching, she was sure she could have, however there was one issue with all of it.

There was something inside that was trying to come up. And it brought Everleigh down to her hands and knees. When the poison eater opened her mouth and that first bitter heave racked through her body, she couldn’t stop. Fear coursed through her as it squirmed up from her stomach to her throat, forcing her to gag spittle and bile all over the floor. The head entered her mouth, cool and smooth and sleek. Another gut-wrenching heave and it was out.

Everleigh cast her mauve gaze down to see what it was, and was horrified to see that her assumption was correct. A snake. But not just any snake, the first she had ever consumed at the young age of five. That oily feeling made it’s way back into her gut, and while the snake writhed beneath the purple initiate, Everleigh felt yet another heave take over.

For a long time, Everleigh remained how she was. Heaving over and over and over, only able to see what left her mouth. Snakes, scorpions, spiders, jellyfish, man-of-war, frogs, newts, fish, toads, birds, sea turtles, basilisks, lake serpents, octopi, nightshade, lily of the valley, hemlock, larkspur, castor beans, lantana, rosary pea, oleander, white snakeroot, aconite, phosphorous, ricin, mercury, cyanide, sarin….

Years upon years of her ravenous hunger fully displayed before her. With watery eyes and a dry mouth she looked at the mess, at the horror that had resided inside her and would never leave her.

In some sort of sick torture, what she saw was herself.

Not purple. Black hair, gray eyes, but that omnipotent, signature smug smile that was entirely Everleigh Ebersol.

Before Everleigh could do anything, her doppleganger grab hold of her neck, choking her with a iron grip before pulling her down into total and utter darkness. Everleigh felt like she was falling, reaching some sort of destination where she could hear laughter far below.

 

[Eleanor]

Vance was dead.

He was laying right there and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. She just needed to find Evie and Edric now. They could come back for Vance's body after they found the Baron. She couldn't do shit right now. She reached out and closed the dead eyes that were staring her.

Ella got the her feet and wiped the tears from her eyes. She could do this. She had to do this. The door she had come in was gone now and a new one had appeared directly in front of her and on the wall next to the original door. She took a deep breath and stepped towards it.

Her hand turned the knob slowly before she stepped through the door. She was outside and definitely no where near the Baron's house.

Ella scanned the area around her then gasp heaved simultaneously.

The Dreadlord Initiate was standing outside the home of Talus and Zana.

 

[Edric]

Edric could feel the hair standing up on the back of his neck. Could feel the prickle of tension in his whole body.

It was like he was ready to snap. Ready to draw his sword and cut through whatever was standing in front of him. Every sense in himself was screaming to get out of there, was yelling that this was all sorts of wrong. An echo of panic reaching through him.

His steps grew faster. He walked as quickly as he could, almost breaking into a jog as he desperately tried to make it through the hallway.

Then another voice.

"You did this."​

His head snapped back almost immediately, his legs almost tumbling over themselves as he suddenly whirled around.

A figure stood there. A young woman. She was an elf, that much was clear, though her figure was lithe and skinny. It looked as though she had not eaten in weeks, her face gaunt and her eyes sunken. Lustrous hair turned pale.

"They took me from my family. Snatched me away, and then...and then I died in a cell. Cold. Shaking. Hungry. What little life I had ripped away from me."​

Edric felt a shiver run up his spine.

Bile filling his throat.

"I was arrested for stealing a necklace."​

Another voice echoed out from behind him, and Edric turned. This time it was a human, a man. He looked almost like Sable, but much shorter. He stared at Edric, his voice sad and dispassionate.

"I thought I would just get a light sentence, some time in the guard, but when I was thrown into the dungeon it was only a day...and then my life was ripped away from me.
​

Edric stared at the boy. "No...I...I didn't know."

"I was eight."​

Another voice, a little girl. Edric turned to his right, seeing her. She wasn't human, but...but something else. Horns growing from her forehead, and yet she looked no less innocent.

"My father didn't want me. I was...was a half-breed, and they threw me into the dark...That's where I died. Feeling my life ripped away."​

The voices didn't stop with her. They kept coming. An old man. A middle aged elf. An ancient looking crone. All of them spoke their stories. All of them appeared around him. Talking, never yelling. They told him their stories, they brought him to his knees.

"No...no no no." Edric whispered quietly as he curled in upon himself, tears streaming down his face.

 

[Vance Calgrave]

The attackers came at him, quick and practiced. He backstepped from the first swipe and ducked under a second, parrying the third knife that came at him. The metal met with a loud pop of sparks as Vance felt the hungry current race through his arm and down the metal blades.

Thin streaks of electricity shuddered off of his legs to the dusty floor, others snapped and crackled around his torso. Every time he blocked an attack a shower of sparks emerged, every swipe of his own blade had tendrils racing across the room. One came perilously close to his friends and singed some of Everleigh's dark hair.

He tried to reign it in, but he couldn't focus on that and stay alive. He yelled as a knife bit into his side and five heavy bolts lashed out. Vance planted his foot the man's gut and sent so much lightning through him that his bones lit up the room for a few flickering seconds.

The hooded figures jumped back, sparks fizzling from their knives just from being close to Vance. He now had a living aura, a haze of crackling lighting and sparks leaping out from him. It hurt, feeling that power ripping him apart, tearing at his seams to get out.

He screamed, loud and fierce and raging, while lightning ran between his teeth and over his eyes, and he smelled the smoke from burning wood, cloth, and flesh.

 

[Everleigh Ebersol]

Oh you’re here, you’re here!

The Circus. The Circus!

Tonight, we’ll be showing… the sad fate that some of this world carry…

Children that God has abandoned, restlessly creeping out. Children who can’t even carry the trembling limbs they were born with. Their shaking tongues even accidentally cry out! The crowns of their head that caress the dark clouds… They smile as they dream of their mother’s embrace.

Ooh, the deformity! D E F O R M I T Y!

Drop by and see them. Drop by and see [t]he[m]r.

Everleigh awoke with a start. A mental fog encompassed her, like a blue mist before one awoke from a dream. When was the last time she had even dreamt? Everytime she closed her eyes, anxieties plagued her endlessly until she would wake and—

This wasn’t her room back the academy? Was she elsewhere? She sat up. Her vision was so blurry, and then bright lights flashed all around her, causing her to squint.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, behold, the One with Two Heads! Look at the horror! A refined lady with an angel’s face now forced to be stuck to a trickster demon who seeks to lead others astray.” Somehow, vaguely, Everleigh knew who the voice belonged to. It was as familiar as her own, but now she couldn’t place why it was familiar. The only title she could give to it was that it belonged to the ring master. Ring master. Strange? She had dreamt of walking in the woods to go to a circus but…

A jolt. The stage rose. And looking out was a crowd of not many, only three figures. Everleigh held back a gasp as she recognized them. Liliana Lorel. Tinker Smithe. Zael Castomir.

Why were they here? And why was she even in this cage? She looked at them to see looks of horror and disgust, and in an after thought, she knew. Her reflection. Hands went up to cover her face but she couldn’t cover it completely, because her arms could only reach so far.

Never mind the two heads. She turned away, not wanting her friends to see but when she did so all she saw was a mirror. The horror she was. Worse than the forsaken beneath Vel Anir. One mishapen body with two heads. One head held her previous looks: obsidian black hair, sparkling gray eyes. The other? Purple. Purple hair. Purple eyes. A devious smug look on both faces, her signature smirk clear.

And the worst part was it was her. Everleigh was telling herself that it was a illusion, and truly it had to be because she knew she didn’t have two heads. The issue was the truth behind it, the two sides of her that she could easily switch between, but then also the part that reminded her how strange she was. The purple that contrasted against the natural was a stark reminder.

Almost as bad as the expressions she had had just witnessed. Those frightened faces terrified Everleigh. A truth coming to light. One that she tried to not think about when she was by their side. She closed her eyes, shaking her head.

“It’s not real.” She told herself and the lights turned off. She was in darkness once again. But the ring master’s voice echoed out once more.​

Spoiler: One with Two Heads

“A Deformed Diva, for your viewing pleasure. She’s become a monstrosity, caring only about looks was her downfall as she chose power over beauty. But now she has nothing.” Everleigh took a shuddering breath and looked up, once again, a friend before. Only one. The tall and elegant Liliana Lorel, looking over at her with a raised blonde brow.

“No don’t look at me, please, don’t look.” Everleigh begged, a plethora of eyes blinking all over her face, the bright light showcasing the dozens of piercings all over her face.

“Disgusting. And you’re not even useful to me anymore.”

“But I can be!” Everleigh insisted.

“Mm. No.” Liliana turned on her heel, inspecting her nails as she walked away. “I have Trix.”

Everleigh closed her eyes, sinking within herself, shoulders slumping forward as her head hung low.

Spoiler: A Deformed Diva

“A Purple Beast that Loves to Eat Things Cold! Watch her as she feasts on things long dead. Watch her devour living pests as if it were the best meal. Watch her indulge herself with disgusting innards and poison sacks as if she were being indulged by a man she loves.”

Everleigh was underneath the academy. One of the rooms she grew well aquatinted with throughout the years. She was devouring a lake serpent, a being a mixture of eel and snake with poison that paralyzed and also caused sweet hallucinations so their prey wouldn’t even dream of escaping.

And it tasted delicious. That oily feeling in her stomach was finally being satisfied as she ate with only her hands and mouth, teeth tearing into the leathery flesh and savagely pulling at red flesh and small bones. She ate it all.

“Ever?” Everleigh paused. She knew that voice, the nickname that only one person called her.

“Please don’t look.” She begged again.

“Fuckin’ shit, this is what you are? You’re… shit. I’m glad I never had to touch you more than I had to.” She heard him walk away, cursing in that drawl she loved to hear. That Tarrow accent she liked to hear when he said her name. Everleigh closed her eyes.

It was just a illusion.

But it was the truth all the same.

Spoiler: A Purple Beast that Eats Things Cold

It’s painful and it can’t be helped. Still you’ll continue on. Because it’s so much fun, because it’s… impossible for anyone to say or feel.​

The chairman showed herself finally. Long blonde hair trailing around her, a smirk that Everleigh learned to copy until it was her own.

“Hey, Evie, ready to play a game?” Proctor Marianne Goetsch said, holding up three cards. “It’s our version of three card poker, your favorite. But let’s bring your friends in this time. Should be fun, right?”