Private Tales The Legend's Heir

[Solgrin]

So the worms had returned to their corpse, apparently willing to wait out Sera's assault.

Einar and Solgrin sat crouched within a dark alcove. Huddled so closely against the wall that they were pressing themselves into stone. The Bandit Chief took slow shallow breaths, lips thinning as he waited for another Robe to pass by.

When the figure shifted Sol signalled and the two darted forward.

Their progress was slow, slower than he might have liked. Yet the chaos outside had set backs up and caution to the wind. The necromancers were so focused on what was outside that they never even considered someone might have broken in. The thought likely seeming all but impossible.

Before long, the two Bandits made it through the antechamber and entered the crypts.

Rows upon rows of stone tombs lined the walls. Dozens of bodies hidden beneath thinly shrouded veils. "I'll take the left."

Solgrin said, Einar frantically dashing right as they began to search.

 

[Serafina]

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Maria gestured towards the gates.

"You just said--"

"Yes well that was before undead direwolves with riders were heading for us, do the thing!" Maria waved her hands more frantically. Sera pinched her nose in an attempt to stop the headache forming from the whiplash of her friends orders. Stop, start. Don't kill, kill. With a deep sigh she refocused herself. It didn't take much to find the magic again and it leapt to life in her mind like a blooming flower. A flower that wanted to grow and grow, to tear down walls to make more room for it in all its glory. She filled herself with it and then hurled it at the things pouring from the gates.

Fire leapt up and circled the whole temple about a mile from its gates. The hounds slid to a halt and whimpered, backing away. Even from here they could hear the curses and shouts. Finally one beast dove towards the flame only to shriek as it went up in ash along with its rider.

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin didn't know how long it took.

Seconds. A minute. Five.

He searched through the catacombs, and in truth he wasn't even entirely sure what he was searching for. A name, a face that he remembered from Einar's description. None of the bodies were wrapped, but all were perfectly preserved. Kept as whole as they had been the day they died.

It was a gruesome sight, and had he more time Solgrin might have felt bitter, but he had nothing to spare. So he searched, looked, clambered through the catacombs.

"Sol."​

The word was quiet, hissed.

"Sol...I...i found her."​

Solgrin froze, his head turning as he searched through the rows and rows. He found Einar standing above one of the tombs, his face torn in a mixture of grief and rage. The Bandit Chief stepped up besides him. "Take her. Grieve later."

The words were curt, even cruel, but Einar looked up at him, then nodded in understanding as he picked up his daughters body.

 

[Serafina]

There was a large groan and the temple seemed to shake then with a groan one of the turrets fell away from the rest of the building.

"That... doesn't look like brick or stone," Sera said with her hands on her waist where she stood panting. Despite the life and blissful addiction still swirling around inside of her her body at least was beginning to feel the strain of what it was she was doing. The ground around her feet was a blackened scar where she had unconsciously sapped the life from every living thing to feed her magical outpouring.

Maria eyed it dubiously as she stepped up to her friend.

"It's bone," she explained gently. "I think we should go, return to town. You've done enough damage."

"But half of it is still standing! We should bring it all down now."

"If you push yourself much more you'll end up killing yourself, Sera. Besides, Sol and Einar are in there - if you bring it all down they could die. You've caused enough chaos for them to slip out. Now come on!"

 

[Solgrin]

They had her.

They had what these weeks had been for, why the Band had made their way to this area first. A part of him felt the thrill of success. That little pique within the back of his mind that told him they had won, but of course they weren't quite yet there yet.

An entire tomb still lay between them and home. Safety. "Alright."

Solgrin said, clapping his friend on the shoulder.

"You go first, and if you need too..." He frowned. "You keep going. I have more life than these bastards can take, so you keep going, aye?"

"Sol-"

"No arguing." The Bandit Chief said firmly. "You keep going."

The hand on Einar's shoulder pressed him forward, and slowly the two of them began to make their way back through the tomb. The panic no less palpable. The Necromancers no less angry. They moved, slunk, and crept forward...

Until a scream echoed out from behind them.

 

[Serafina]

Sera froze. She hadn't thought the two would go inside whilst she was throwing magic at the temple. Only a madman.... the thought trailed off as she remembered who exactly she was worrying about. A man who couldn't die and a man who was so consumed with his task he would rather die than fail. She gave an irritated sigh.

"I'm not going back to the village until we know they're out. We might have to go in and help," she pointed out before Maria could say something. The other woman's jaw worked as she struggled between the orders Sol had given her and the good point Serafina was making before finaly.

"Fine! I'll take you to where they went in," Sera ignored the muttering as Maria began to stalk off and cast one glance back to the temple. She just hoped they hadn't been in that tower.

 

[Solgrin]

Sneaking through the Temple was no small task, especially with the weight that Einar was now carrying.

Somehow though they managed it. Moving from alcove to alcove, hiding themselves within the dark. They listened all the while to panic, complaints and confusion. None of the Necromancers were sure what was happening, nor why.

They threw out wild theories. The village attacking, someone else coming for their hoard of bodies, a thousand other thoughts that did not strike true.

Solgrin tried not to listen to them, tried not to let his mind wander and rush on how to exploit all of this. He did his best to keep focus, to get himself and his friend out from this mess. It took nearly another ten minutes before they crept towards the back exit they had taken.

They moved in tandem, and just as they neared the door a voice echoed out.

"HEY! You there, stop!"​

Solgrin felt his heart pound in his chest, his head sway. Then he grabbed Einar and shoved him forward.

"Go." He hissed, practically throwing him and his daughter towards the entrance.

 

[Serafina]

"Where are they?"

Sera and Maria had been back at the rocky outcrop the latter swore she had left the two men at for nearly twenty minutes. Given all the time that they had been up on the hill launching attacks on the temple Maria muttered that they should have been back by now but there were no tracks to suggested they had headed back to the town without them. Not that she thought Solgrin ever would. She knew very well that when they got back to town there was going to be another argument between them; a bigger one.

"I don't know Maria, maybe they were in that tower when it--"

"EINAR!" Maria shouted suddenly as a figure staggered towards them with a body over his shoulder.

 

[Solgrin]

Einar half stumbled.

There was not a mark upon him, not a cut through his robes nor a mark of scorch on his skin. Yet there was a weariness about him, a bone sort of tiredness that settled deep within him. He could barely walk, his face gaunt as he moved.

"Caught us." He said swiftly as he staggered forward. "Sol's still inside."

His voice was gruff, quick. "They use some sort of magic. Their blades..."

A grimace flickered over the northerners features as he finally reached Serafina and Maria. They would see the body in his hands more clearly now. She was starkly beautiful, dark raven hair, her skin pale, but somehow soft even after all the years of death.

"Go get him." Einar urged gruffly as he collapsed onto his knees.

 

[Serafina]

"Sera!" Maria cried, but it fell on deaf ears. Sera hadn't needed to hear more than the word 'go' after Einar had attempted to explain. A part of her believed she should have stayed to help, to ensure he wasn't injured from the magic he spoke of, but he was with Maria and she was a medic. There was not much she could do for him Maria couldn't. Besides, Sol needed her. He might heal rapidly but if magic was involved who knew what it would do to the curse?

She flew down the track, blonde braid flying behind her like a dragons tail, hopping over larger stones and leaping over tiny fissures in the earth she had caused from the blasts of magic. It wasn't long before she found the wall they must have scaled and, forming a solid step of air, used it to vault over the top. With a hushed noise she landed in the courtyard and saw first hand the extent of her work. Bodies lay everywhere. There was muted crying from somewhere further to the West but she couldn't see. Aside from that there was not much movement. Stealthily she began to sneak towards an entrance.

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin's chest steadily rose and fell. Fingers clutching a sword in one hand, and what looked to be little more than a piece of steel in the other.

It was a knife, at one point, warped by entropic magics. Before him lay three men, each of them gaunt and pale as corpses. They were not the minions which were sparsed around the courtyard, but those who held the strings of puppets.

Two of them still stood in front of him, staring.

"Who are you?"​

One of them hissed. "Just a man."

Solgrin's answer was quick, terse, his face an impassive mask as the one who had not spoken stepped forward. In an instant the Bandit Chief whirled the twisted mass of metal, the blade suddenly springing forth from the man's throat.

"Nothing el-" Before he could finish speaking a lash of ethereal blackness reached out from the other Necromancer. Whipping out at Solgrin in an instant.

 

[Serafina]

As two ghostly figures moved down the passageway she pressed her back into a small alcove and bent the light around her to hide herself from any glance in her direction. It wouldn't stop someone seeing her if they looked directly at her but it was enough for those who were not expecting someone to be there. She would have slunk on except their conversation caught her ear and made her stop to listen.

"They say no matter how many times they cut him, he will not die," murmured one to another who clicked their tongue.

"All things die, there is no such thing as a true immortal. The Priests will find out what take his life and how it can be used to serve the Order."

 

[Solgrin]

Half a dozen of them now surrounded him.

Each of their faces was obscured, half hidden beneath cloaks. His face was impassive as he stared up at them, fingers still clutching at the knife in his hand.

He was not a prisoner, not captured, not yet. They had corralled him, backed him into a corner and forced him into a plight that most beasts would have abhorred. He knew they were watching him, studying the mark of his curse.

They could have killed him long ago, he was sure of it, but none knew how. Not truly. "COME ON!"

Solgrin shouted.

"KILL ME YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!" His voice boomed, echoed out within the empty caverns of the Temple.

None of the Necromancers stepped forward.

Instead a corpse exploded out from the floor. It's skeletal figure springing from the earth and dragging itself free. It lashed out just as all the others had, scratching, biting, doing anything it could to leave it's mark on the bandit Lord's flesh.

Before it could even touch him Solgrin grasped it, smashing it against the floor and sundering the bones. "COME ON!"

He shouted again, rage taking him.

 

[Serafina]

With Solgrin bellowing it didn't take long for Sera to track him down.

The priests watched Sol like an interesting puzzle to be solved. They murmured amongst one another, discussing possible ways of removing the mark that was a physical manifestation of his curse, and now and then one of them launched some kind of spell towards him. None of them worked but they didn't seem pressed for time. Sera gritted her teeth.

"Perhaps the Dvobrik sp--"

Dashing forward Sera sent a violent wave of air towards the semi circle sending them all flying off their feet and crashing into walls.

"Come on! Let's go," she leapt forward to grab a hold of Solgrin's hand.

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin had the look of a wild animal. There was a fierce flash within his eyes, anger and vitriol that sought a release through the blade in his hand. A part of him, that wild and murderous part didn’t even notice when Sera appeared.

Instead he prepared to dash forward, to strike and take the opportunity presented.

He took a step forward.

Then her palm suddenly wrapped around his. Wild eyes turned in an instant towards Serafina, his features flickering through a cycle of emotions. At first rage, then recognition, and then a moment of panic. ”What are you doing here?”

Solgrin said as he let her pull him to the side.

Behind them more shadowed calls rang out, the heavy stomp of skeletal feet ringing through the empty halls of the still thriving crypt. There was no time to talk, to explain, for every moment spent here was another closer to death.

 

[Serafina]

"Having a picnic, what does it look like I'm doing?!" Sera shouted over her shoulder as their feet pounded down the flagstone hallway. There were shouts behind them, orders being given, and Sera haphazardly threw some kind of magic back down the way they had come. At this point she didn't know what spells she was conjuring. They simply... appeared, like she had known them all along.

Abruptly she pulled them through a door and with all care and quiet shut it behind them, before putting her back against it and a finger to her lips for Solgrin to keep quiet. A few minutes later the sound of feet outside and voices shouting went sailing past. With a deep sigh Sera glanced around the room; it looked as though it bad been a bedroom.

"We should be able to get onto the wall from here."

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin's blade was slick with blood.

He had sundered dozens of undead, cut the throat of more than one necromancer, and yet this temple had only more and more. They were an army. A force that he had severely underestimated. He wondered how they had gathered so many, how they had managed the numbers.

It made no sense, really. "Push through."

Solgrin said, his skin slowly knitting back together and sealing some of the wounds his foe had dealt to him.

"We can't wait long." Even Serafina's magic suffered attrition. Eventually the power would run out, overwhelm her, and the Necromancers seemed to be swarming all around. Their numbers darting around the halls in desperate search. "Even if they come to us, it's better to get out first."

He told her.

 

[Serafina]

Serafina left Solgrin to guard the door whilst she went to the window. Her palms pressed against the glass, searching for a small latch that would swing it open. Surely the undead were not worried about falling from such heights? With a noise of triumph she finally found it and the window swung outwards letting her peer out. Her stomach lurched at the drop. A fall from that height would easily break a persons neck. With effort she forced herself to look away from there to the wall to the left.

"It's not far, there's a ledge," not that Sera wanted to put one foot out there. Scrambling up before she lost her resolve she carefully edged her way out. "Come on, Maria and Einar are waiting," they just had to get over the wall.

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin gripped his sword a little bit tighter as he glanced over his shoulder and spotted Serafina slowly stepping out. He took a heavy bar of metal, shifting it over the door and doing his best to lock it into place. A clatter of steel ringing out.

Lips thinned for a brief moment, and then he quickly stepped up behind her. Slipping out of the window.

He drew himself beyond the framing, sword once again sheathed as the two of them quickly nudged themselves into place. "Alright."

Solgrin said, his voice surprisingly calm.

"You go first." He told her. "I'll be right behind you."

Just outside the door that he had wedged closed Solgrin could hear the clatter of bones. Fleshless hands thundering against well-worked wood as they tried to make it through.

 

[Serafina]

Serafina definitely regretted her decision enormously. She hadn't realised how badly she hated heights until that moment. Trying to fix her eyes studiously on the stone in front of her and not the narrow ledge her toes delicately side stepped along, she slowly made her way along to the very edge of the building. From there it was a small jump to the wall. The problem being it was still a jump.

Behind them the noise of a door breaking sped her on the way to conquering her fear however.

There was no nicer way to describe her scream as she jumped for the wall other than shrill and girly, but Sera landed somewhat gracefully after a minor stagger.

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin watched as Serafina soared through the air.

For a brief moment he felt tension flicker through his body as he expected her to crash to the ground with a hard thud. He winced ever so slightly as she staggered atop the wall, almost falling backwards into the courtyard before catching herself.

Behind him a crash echoed out, the door that he had barred being sundered by a creature thrice the size of him. He let out a curse, and then jumped.

His body wrenched away from the wall that he had practically been sticking to. His boots clattered against the top of the wall with a soft thud, body leaning forward as he tried not to topple down onto the ground below in one instance. "Keep going!"

Solgrin called, grabbing Serafina and guiding her down into the grassy hillscape below.

 

[Serafina]

Sera did not need telling twice. Down the other side of the wall they went and scrambling over the hills.

"Wait!" she said and came panting to a halt then turned back towards the temple. Even from here they could hear the sounds of shouting and people were visibly moving across the wall. Pursuit would be on their heels if they didn't do something here and now. Sera closed her eyes and crouched down to the floor, pressing her fingers into the earth until the grass tickled her skin. She tuned all that out though to focus on the final fragile bits of magic she had left and pushing it all into the ground.

Suddenly the earth began to tremble.

Shouts went up from the wall as the earth at the base broke away, tumbling in on itself and forming a chasm a good 12 foot wide. Sera stood swaying, blood running from her nose.

"Okay, we can go," she nodded tiredly.

 

[Solgrin]

Solgrin glanced back towards the wall, lips thinning as he watched the last echoes of Serafina's power. For a brief moment he hesitated, and then half turned to Sera.

Without another word he took a step and swept her up and off the ground.

Out of all of them, The Bandit Chief knew he was the least weary. The curse he carried helped, but even more than that he knew that more than most of them such things were ingrained in his veins. Maria had been made to choose this life. Einar had decided, but never chosen. Sera?

The answer to that was clear. So he would carry the weight, as he always had and would. For that was what he did, what he did better than most. Why so many had joined him, and why so many had chosen to stay. Even after everything.

A sharp whistle echoed out, and Solgrin turned his head.

There in a crest of rocks sat Maria and Einar. Quickly he began to run in their direction.

 

[Serafina]

There was not a spec of that sweet elixir of power left inside Sera's body. She felt cold, empty, but she knew it would come back with time and stronger too. She just had to be patient even though the loss hurt her as much as the exhaustion. So she didn't protest when Solgrin swept her into his arms and her head lolled against his chest.

"Thank you," she mumbled and gave a soft sigh. She wanted nothing more than to sleep but something told her doing so just yet would be dangerous.

"Remind me not tae piss ye off lass," Einar grunted as he eyed up the giant rift in the earth she had created. There was a difference to him now, a softness, as he cradled his daughter in his arms.

 

[Solgrin]

"Tell me about it." Solgrin said softly, his gaze flickering to Serafina with a small smile before he returned his attention back to Einar.

Lips turned almost instantly as he looked at his friend. The Northman smiled, but the sorrow in his eyes were more than clear. A depth of pain that could only come from the loss of a child. It was a feeling Solgrin would never feel.

"How..." He paused. "You'll want to return her to the North?"

The Bandit Chief asked softly.

Einar looked at the body in his hands, his lips thinning as he shook his head slowly.

"No...No. She wouldn't want that. Never liked the cold."​

Maria glanced over towards Solgrin, then gently placed a hand on Einar. "Alright."

The Bandit Chief said quietly. "Let's get back to the Village, alright? We can figure out what to do next there."

Einar nodded slowly, and quickly they set off back towards town.