Dreadlords The First Domino

[Mae Heilig]

Jinx proved herself reliable, that earned her a gold star in Mae's imaginary book.

But Edric? That kid sucked. She'd warned Gilram when he'd shared his plan of just storming up to the academy to recruit initiates that he'd likely end up with the ones that were twisted and broken beyond repair. All of them knew a few Dreadlords like that. Her experience with Edric thus far had been his refusal to don a dress, his violent murder-spree, and now he was seemingly beginning to lose his shit once more.

"Shh," Mae said as she stepped between the ruthless Dreadlord and the captive man in green who dangled from a watery tendril, "it's ok. I know you're scared."

Whimpering and terrified the nobleman nodded while sniffling some combination of fallen tears and snot.

Mae moved a half-step closer with a cheshire grin coating her face. "I bet you wish you knew where the chalice was. Then we could just leave you be."

"Y-yes, ma'am, I do."​

"Then just say it," Mae said while extending her magic to include him, "wish that you knew where the chalice was and I'll keep this foul man away from you."

She spoke with such confidence, such poise, that despite the confusion that colored his face the man regained a modicum of composure. He brought a wrist up to dry his eyes and then looked at Mae Heilig as if she were his life line.

"I wish I knew where the chalice was."​

Nothing happened. Nothing seemed to change. But Mae felt it, the subtle feeling she always got when a wisher activated her magic. The exertion that it triggered, the minor pain she'd experience in her chest, all of it signs of her ability activating. Then a candle seemed to light within the man's head.

"Basement. Third corridor from the left. Top shelf. Father stored it there an hour ago."​

 

[Jinx]

Jinx watched everything with rapt attention. She had originally dragged the man forward in the hopes that Edric would end him quickly, but he settled for scaring the shit out of the man. Judging by the smell, that saying might have been literal.

Then...Mae came in and ruined all the fun. Just let him loose! Jinx did not want to tell Gilram or his commanders how to do things, but you can not hope to control a natural disaster. Just like you could not control a hurricane, you can not control death and that was what Edric was.

As interesting as Edric was, Jinx could not help but slowly grin as she watched Mae play her games. She had only ever seen Mae work her magic once so this was exciting.

And just like that, they had the location but had the wish worked had the boy just remembered where the item was. Who cared really?

Jinx giggled as she clapped in delight. Turning on her heels she began to skip to the stairs.

Edric Mae Heilig Chasmine

 

[Edric]

Edric took a few steps back as Mae approached the boy, watching with a listless stare as his wish forced the very words from his own lips.

Instantly he remembered that day at the fortress, when Mae had explained her magics to the those who had just joined Gilram. She had called it limited, but could that limit be broken? Briefly he thought about Noel, what they had been able to do together on that ship.

A shiver ran down his spine, but he suppressed the thought as something tugged at his attention. "We should move."

There was no way for him to know who the flickers of life were that rushed towards the Ball Room, but it didn't take a genius to guess. None of the fops who'd run out would be eager to run back, and equally he doubted any new ones would be eager to test themselves against Dreadlords. That only left the castles Guards.

He turned, noting that Jinx was already two steps ahead of him. Skipping towards a side staircase with all the glee of a child.

The nobility still in the room were deathly silent. Some clinging to their dates, siblings, or even parents while others grasped at ceremonial daggers and swords. Holding on desperately enough that one would almost have thought they were actually going to do something. Edric stepped up the Mae, his words quiet.

"I'll lead the Guards away. You guys get the chalice." He said, as if intending to make up for his earlier gaff. Pausing for a moment before adding. "It'll be me they'll want."

 

[Mae Heilig]

A grin materialized upon Mae's face as the boy gave them what they had wanted. She began to move forwards, behind Jinx, satisfied that they'd be able to grab the chalice and get out without this mission being a compelte waste. They'd have to simply let Gilram know what happened and hope that the Republic would assume it was just a group of thieves and not the rogue dreadlords.

And then, as she took her first steps towards the staircase, Edric grabbed her attention away to inform her of his latest idea.

The grin faded as soon as it had arrived.

It wasn't a bad plan, far from it, and if she were being honest leaving one of them behind to cover their backs was probably a better idea than all of them bounding forwards. "Fine. Don't get yourself killed."

While she barely cared about the boy's fate having to explain that the mission had gone upside down and she'd let one of the children die would a colossal failure instead of just a major one.

Mae increased her pace to match the gleeful stride Jinx took as the girl moved down the steps and into the darkness of the basement. A few lit torches were all they had for light.

"To the right," she echoed the noble boy's words with a torch in hand, "third corridor. We've looking for shelving." The quicker they were the less chance of Edric murdering more of the nobility.

 

[Jinx]

Jinx listened to her keeper's instructions, confirming that she had heard with a nod. As she skipped, a tail of water extended from her hand, taking the shape of a hand. Mumbling under her breath the entire time.

"Third corridor, top shelf."

It took a minute of searching, but she came to a stop in front of what she thought were the shelves that the piss boy had been referring to. The watery hand snaked up and snatched what looked to be a chalice off the top shelf.

She smiled in delight as she waved the chalice around with the gusto of a child who had just been given a cookie.

"I gooootttt iiiitttt!" She sang with delight.

Edric Mae Heilig

 

[Edric]

Edric did just as he had said he would, leaning down and swiping up one of the blades which had fallen before darting across the room.

Those nobles still within the hall gave him a wide berth. Quickly parting as he strode towards the far door. In the distance he could hear the echoing tromp of boots, soldiers who had already failed their task coming to avenge those who had been lost.

As he walked Edric stopped, then suddenly reached out and grabbed one of the fair skinned women.

Her mouth opened in a scream, but his finger stuck in her face. "Shut up."

Edric told her, shoving the girl forward towards the door. A few of the other nobles moved to object, but a single look from his odd snake-like eyes quickly saw them stepping back. By the time he and his new companion reached the far door, he heard echoing shouts behind him.

"YOU THERE!"

"STOP!"

"HE HAS LADY ELDWIN!"​

He glanced over his shoulder, spotting a score of guards.

A small curse echoed his lips, and without another word he shoved the girl forward. Throwing her into the hall and beginning to 'flee'.

 

[Chasmine]

Down at the end of the hall...

An effervescent glimmer in the air.

A pale, translucence shifted before a door.

The space grew cold very suddenly, and that cold permeated the hallway and struck the occupants to their souls. Well ... one of them anyway.

There came a sudden pinging as a door's lock released and said door swung open of its own accord.

"This way..." said a voice that belonged to no body.

Edric

 

[Jinx]

Jinx swiftly noticed some of the water that still remained on her hands starting to freeze. She shivered involuntarily and quickly waved her hands to remove the frost.

"Warn a girl next time. I hate the cold."

She tossed the chalice to Mae with a little laugh. Since she was the 'boss' then she could carry the thing. Besides, Jinx was more likely to just break the thing accidentally.

Jinx hurried off down the hall, but hesitated long enough to look around confused for a moment before just talking to the air.

"Chas, right? Where exactly is this taking us?"

Edric Chasmine

 

[Mae Heilig]

Mae caught the chalice and held it firm. Perhaps the choice to pose as noble ladies was a poor one as such an outfit didn't leave room for a satchel to store the cup.

"Doesn't matter where it takes us, we just need to get outside."

Castle Aubert was going to be on high alert after the mess Edric made. The sooner they got outside the sooner they could put some space between themselves and the noble guards. As creepy as the ghastly child was at least the girl's abilities allowed her to scout ahead and find them an exit.

Her heeled-shoes clacked against the polished floor of the hall they trudged down, even in the lower levels of their manor the Aubert's kept things pristine. "Once we're outside we should make for the lower cliffs." A decent enough place to keep an eye out for Edric.

 

[Edric]

"Please, please don't kill me." The girl would not shut up.

Despite Edric still holding the back of her neck, and despite him telling her to shut up several times, it seemed as though her nerves were overriding everything else. Every few seconds she would offer some statement as to why she deserved not to die, followed quickly by more pleading.

At this point he could have set a watch to it. "I've only just graduated! I was going to go to university and go away-"

"Shut up." Edric insisted. "I'm not going to kill you."

He said, forcing the girl to turn down the hall. He frowned for a moment as if considering something, then continued to stalk forward. Doing his best to remember the layout of the castle so he could find what he was looking for. The girl, still terrified, let out a whimper as he shoved her towards the end of the hall.

She glanced over her shoulder. "You're…you're not going to touch me are you?!"

This time Edric stopped, forgetting briefly about the soldiers a few halls behind.

"What?" He asked bewildered. "No, don't be gross. I'm just looking for a way out."

The girl, now looking either relieved, confused, or…insulted? Edric couldn't quite tell, blurted out. "But there's no exits this way! It's all just balconies."

"I figured." Said the Dreadlord as he continued to force the girl forward.

 

[Chasmine]

"Here..." guided the voice again and somewhere down the hall a very expensive vase, deciding it could no longer stand its life of gluttony and delight, quite suddenly toppled off an ornamental stand and ... gave a gentle thunk as it landed harmlessly on a woven wool runner. How disappointing.

Around the corner a tapestry waved to them lazily in boredem.

A painting fell crooked in shock of their tresspass.

Toward the middle a door greeted them with a long yawn of a creak as it swung open.

Footsteps at the opposite end, many of them. Clanking and stamping in the way only heavy boots and armor did as it moved in haste. A suit of armor on display screeched as it turned it's head to look. Then, just as the retinue of guards rounded the corner at the far end the suit itself exploded into pieces from where it stood, sending pieces flying in every which directly so quickly that some of them lodged into the walls and floor. Some into approaching bodies.

The room to which the door permitted the tresspassers was a study, with a walk-out balcony to the ramparts.

 

[Jinx]

"Holy hell!"

Jinx laughed as she jumped into the study at the loud bang. She slowly managed to get her giggles under control before saying into the air.

"For someone so mysterious Chas, you sure know how to go out with a bang."

She moved over to the balcony and the ramparts before looking back to Mae.

"I don't suppose I could just wish for a super easy, convenient, and comfy way to escape...that was also fast?"

 

[Mae Heilig]

"We just need to get clear of this place," Mae said while securing the chalice.

Chas had done well to guide them towards an exit, and she'd done even better to slow down the guards which pursued them. Whenever they reached safety she planned to make it a point to praise the translucent girl after she admonished the buffoon who'd caused this entire job to go belly-up.

The wish-granter glanced out the open window towards the balcony, towards freedom, before turning back to Jinx. "If you've got any ideas just go for it," her posture was rigid, ready to move, "if not, we're just going to scale down."

Not the safest, or the fastest, exit but if they had no other options it'd do in a pinch.

 

[Chasmine]

"Why not..." a cold rush of air blew past Mae as she glanced out the window and blew it open on its hinges, "...glide..."

 

[Edric]

It was only seconds after the window blew open that a figure went tumbling past.

Quick eyes might have caught the shape of a man, while those just a tad slower would be able to glance out and beyond the balcony. When they looked down they would see the figure continue to fall, and then with a seconding crunch hit the ground below. Blood splattering and bones cracking as the cliff rocks tore apart the fallen figure.

From just above then the group would hear a squealing yell. The girl that Edric had taken appearing on the balcony above, hands covering her mouth. Eyes as wide as saucers as first she looked at the mangled form of Edric on the cliffs below, and then to the other Rogue Dreadlords. "He-he jumped!"

She cried, half startled.

"I swear I didn't- he just…" The girl sounded half panicked. "He just jumped!"

The panic cry echoed out as Edric's eyes snapped open. Pain lanced through every fiber of his body. Broken leg screaming, gash on his ribs howling in pain. Cut and torn flesh threatening to rip further as he began to shift. "Ow."

He grumbled to himself, his hand drawing forward to snap his dislocated shoulder back into place.

 

[Jinx]

"Oh, that's a good idea, Chas. Mae, I wish for something that two of us could glide through the air on, preferably gentle please."

Jinx exclaimed with a sense of delight and curiosity to see if Mae's powers were this grand or if were they more equipped for getting people to find cups and stuff.

The other option was just she jumped and splattered on the ground in a puddle, and of course reform, but that was so boring.

Mae Heilig

 

[Mae Heilig]

Mae nodded at the intention to glide and before she could think up a plan Jinx did the unthinkable.

Eyes bulged in shock and she shook her head in disapproval. "You should be more specific in your wishes, we could end up with," her words died in her throat as a giant talon grasped Mae and carried her upwards.

A gryphon. It's second front talon wrapped itself around Jinx.

Only instead of bringing the pair of rogue Dreadlords to a nest for its young the gryphon, for reasons not even the creature itself knew, glided the pair towards the base of the manor, depositing them onto the rough terrain the manor had strategically been built into centuries ago.

Mae dusted some of the dirt off her ball gown, straightened her hair, and polished the chalice they'd absconded with. It wasn't exactly a gentle trip for the two humans but it was one of the gentlest descent the gryphon had ever taken in its life.

"Remember, don't make another wish today. If we need something best have Chas or Edric ask for it." She'd explained the danger of making more than a single wish in a day before but she always felt the need to re-iterate it when working with the younger recruits Gilram had nabbed.

 

[Edric]

Edric slowly peeled himself up and off the ground. "I just want to get the fuck out of here."

He said, drawing himself up and glancing at his companion.

Half of his body was still a mangled mess. Gashes and cuts all over his face and body, the armor he'd been wearing being half crushed. Yet the young rogue didn't even seem to mind, his thoughts still preoccupied with what he had earlier learned.

"That doesn't take a wish." He said, then stopped and looked at Mae with no small amount of concern. "Right?"

Kress he just wanted this day to be fucking done.