Fable - Ask The Tides of Fate

[Ruvsá]

"The solitude has addled your brain, dwarf," Ruvsá scoffed, "if you would rather continue living, bound to this place, until it crumbles into dust."

She could see Lok'ran bristling, though, and she glanced to the side when she heard Kol's movement toward them. Warmth flickered through her eyes for just a moment to see him ready to come to her defense, but she didn't let herself be distracted. Disgust flooded her when she turned her gaze back to the dwarf and heard his next words.

"I'm not a fighter. I'm a builder. I no more want to see that fucking King than a snowman wants to meet the sun. I just want to survive."

"Pathetic." Kol stated plainly.

His head shook.

"I can see why they chose you." The Nordwiir stated. "A cowardly little puppet to maintain their prison. Nothing more."

"A coward indeed," Ruvsá agreed. "What use is it to be a builder in a place where you cannot make anything new?"

She lowered the knife then, and gave the dwarf a thoughtful look.

"If you do not wish to die, then you will help us," Ruvsá said. "We will be closing that gate, and you will be inside it with us. You will accompany us to find the imprisoned king, and then you will simply wait, out of the way, while we deal with him, unless there is yet some secret you know, some weakness we can take advantage of, that you have not revealed.

"If the tide of the battle turns from our favor, rest assured that my final act will be to slit your throat and bring the entire prison down on us all."

 

[Kol]

"There isn't any finding him!"​

The Dwarf hissed.

"This is his cell! He is beyond these gates as I was beyond the door. This is the end. the Heart of the fortress. Once you open the door you will see him."​

Kol looked at their tiny companion with no small amount of contempt, though his glance slowly carried back up towards the doors. He wondered briefly if the King's condition was just like the dwarfs, or if it would be different.

No magic bound the King to this place, and after many thousands of years even a powerful sorcerer would start to wane.

Would they find a man in chains? A corpse? It was all possible.

"Enough." He said softly. "Let's open the door. Grab him and make sure he doesn't run like the little nit he is."

Everything else would come as it did.

 

[Ruvsá]

Ruvsá pinned the dwarf with a withering glance. She was not going to argue semantics. Cleary they were within the king's cell, but they had not actually laid eyes on him yet. For all they knew, perhaps he'd traded places with one of the guards out here and was one of the corpses they'd dismembered.

"Enough." He said softly. "Let's open the door. Grab him and make sure he doesn't run like the little nit he is."

"I have him," Ruvsá said, circling behind the dwarf and laying her hand--with a weight and strength behind it that would surprise the dwarf, for as slight as Ruvsá might seem in her human form--over his shoulder. Silently, she withdrew her other knife with her left hand, ready in case the dwarf protested too much.

She met Kol's gaze. "Let's finish this."

 

[Kol]

Kol stepped up to the key-hole, the haft of the hammer shifting in his hand as he moved to open the gate.

This time the fortress did not shake, did not quake. Instead the doors seemed to longer closed. Then slowly the sound of falling stone and shifting gears began to echo outward. The thundering racket of some unseen infernal mechanism rang out so loudly that one almost had to cover their ears.

Kol took a few steps back, the rune knife still in his off-hand as he listened to the sound of shifting stone.

Locks inside of the door fell away, great pillars fashioned by the ancients drawing away and loosing the huge stone doors. Then slowly they drew apart, pulling into either side of the rock wall and revealing a small oval room.

In the center of it was a massive altar inscribed with thousands of intricta runes. Hanging above it was a man, or something close to it. Chains wrapped around his legs, his arms, his throat. His body entirely wound in place. As the door opened his head began to move.

A dark and dessicated form looked down on Ruvsa and Kol, empty black eyes staring at them with the expression of a skeleton.

 

[Ruvsá]

Ruvsá kept her grip on the dwarf firm as Kol opened the second gate. She was still uneasy about leaving the first one wide open behind them, but for now it couldn't be helped, it seemed.

She flinched as the sound of grinding gears and metal echoed painfully in her ears. A downside of being Nordenfiir was heightened senses, and if this was the resulting sound even after the magic of the prison set in place to dull senses, Ruvsá did not want to experience what it might sound like without it.

As the gates pulled apart, disappearing into the rock wall, Ruvsá peered inside the cell. The altar was reminiscent of the one where they'd encountered the giant. Her eyes were drawn up, though, at the quiet clattering shift of chains as the prisoner moved, however slightly.

"Not much more than corpse," Ruvsá stated, waiting to see what Kol would do.

 

[Kol]

The Elf peered down at them, looking towards Ruvsa when she spoke. His eyes seemed to linger for a moment, then slowly drew towards the Dwarf that was all but in her grasp.

Kol walked out ahead of the others, moving towards the alter. "Not much."

He said, gazing up at the ancient King.

Behind him he could see the dozen floating grins of the Dark Gods. Their smirks seemed stuck against the walls, watching their servant as he made his way closer to altar. A frown touched The Sorcerer's lips for a brief moment.

His gaze followed the chains.

"Can you speak?" He asked the figure.

There was a moment. It was not hesitation, but contemplation. After a few moments the Elf King shook his head, and then opened his mouth to reveal that his tongue had been cut out.

 

[Ruvsá]

Ruvsá felt the dwarf shift and tense beneath her hand as the elf king watched them, and she slid her hand a little further up his shoulder, till her palm rested against the point where shoulder and neck joined, and she curled her fingers, nails digging into the tender flesh above his collarbone. "Stop resisting," she whispered. "There is no chance that you will escape me, even if you break free."

Then she guided the dwarf closer to the altar, till they both stepped within the cell's gate as Kol questioned the bound king, and the prisoner revealed his muteness. She was, in all honestly, a little awed that the elf was still alive. If he'd reigned for a thousand years, and been trapped here for several more... even without being bound to the prison like the dwarf was, there had to be magic involved that extended his lifespan.

"Does he need to speak, for what you need from him?" Ruvsá asked Kol, her eyes tracing the lines of the chains from where they wrapped around the elf king to where they were secured along the walls and ceiling. If she shifted to her Svalen form, she might just be able to reach them if they needed to be loosened. Right now, she was unsure if any of them could reach the elf king without standing on that altar, and she was not going to climb up there herself. "Do you need to be able to reach him?"

 

[Kol]

"I don't need him to speak." Kol answered, his eyes never leaving the Elf King as he spoke.

The figure hanging within chains stared at him. There was emnity there, though why that was Kol had no idea. Perhaps the man knew that he was about to die, that Kol was about to peel away a piece of his soul. It had happened before.

Slowly he stepped forward. "And yes."

He added as he moved towards the alter, glancing at the chains that held the ancient King.

"I need to touch him." The blade in his hand needed to carve his flesh, strip away his muscles and tear at his soul. It was the only way to get at what he needed. The precious source of power that was this creatures very being.

Slowly he motioned to Ruvsa.

"Break those chains." He told her softly. "And I will do the rest."

 

[Ruvsá]

Ruvsá nodded, and pushed the dwarf toward a corner of the cell. "Stay there," she ordered. "Don't move."

Placing her knife back in its sheath, Ruvsá shifted again. For a moment, she looked at her front paws. This was the first time she'd shifted since Kol had healed her hands earlier, and she was relieved to find that they... looked the same as before her encounter with the frost giant.

Then she looked up and examined where the chains were fastened. There were five of them, and they weren't extremely large, so as long as there were no strange enchantments on them, she should easily be able to break them.

The chain securing the elf king's throat ran up through a loop in the center of the ceiling, then fastened to the wall. She went to that one first, tentatively touching the chain. She felt... something about it, something off, but whatever spell that was upon it couldn't transfer to her hands. Looking back at how the king was suspended over the altar, Ruvsá stepped away from that chain. "That one last," she muttered in her slightly husky bear voice. "Otherwise he'll be yanked across the room by either an arm or a leg."

While the sight of it might be amusing, severing the throat chain last would give them greater control over him.

So Ruvsá went around the room, snapping one chain at a time, until the elf king hung by his neck over the altar. Stepping up to that final fastening, she glanced over at Kol as she gripped the chain between both paws.

"I hope you're ready," she said, and tore the chain apart as easily as if it were rotted rope, watching as the elf king plummeted toward the altar.

 

[Kol]

There was a loud clatter of metal and a crash as the Elf King fell onto the Altar below, his body seemed to seize slightly as the chains shifted and moved.

For a second Kol did not approach the man, but instead stared over at him with no small amount of suspcion. Lips thinned, and he glanced over towards the Dwarf who was clearly trying to get as far away from this as possible without leaving Ruvsa's side.

He was a coward, not at all like the tales Kol had heard of his people.

Slowly the Sorcerer stepped forward, his feet landing directly before the altar when the King suddenly shot up a hand.

For a second Kol expected something to happen. Some sort of magic to come free, some sort of attack, but after a heart beat passed he realized that the King was gesturing. He looked down briefly towards the altar, frowning. "It is a trap?"

The King nodded, though his body barely seemed able to move.

 

[Ruvsá]

Ruvsá winced as the chains clattered to the floor and the altar, and she returned to the dwarf's side without bothering to shift back to her human form, this time settling a heavy paw with long claws on his shoulder as he tried to move away. Tried to hide.

She watched silently as Kol approached the king on the altar, but since the king's back was to her at the moment, she didn't see the gesture, only that Kol suddenly paused, then frowned.

"It is a trap?"

The King nodded, though his body barely seemed able to move.

Ruvsá's paw slowly curled over the dwarf's shoulder. It wouldn't take much for her claws to slice through skin and sinew, and she felt Lok'ran flinch.

"You said you built this place," she growled softly. "Why didn't you tell us about the trap? How is it triggered?"

 

[Kol]

"I didn't make this part!"

The dwarf hissed. Kol wasn't paying attention to the man, his focus was entirely on the broken King before him who was staring him in the eye.

Why warn him of the trap?

His eyes flickered to the Dark Gods watching. Their whispers echoed in his ears, called to him. Resounded again and again within his ears. Lips thinned for a brief moment, and then he looked over towards the dwarf.

"The elves made this! It's their magic. They did something."

Kol considered for a moment, looking down at his knife. The King seemed almost fastened in place, as if moving was somehow painful. The sorcerer motioned for Ruvsa, his hand gesturing so that she would bring the dwarf to him. "How do we break it?"

The Sorcerer demanded as he finally took his eyes from the Elf.

 

[Ruvsá]

Ruvsá snarled quietly at the dwarf's response, but made no other reaction. She knew little about magic, and so had nothing to suggest. When Kol motioned for the dwarf, she nudged Lok'ran forward. He resisted at first, and she let out a low, rumbling growl to encourage him and it was just a moment later when they stood beside Kol.

"How do we break it?"

The Sorcerer demanded as he finally took his eyes from the Elf.

As they waited for the dwarf's answer, Ruvsá took the chance to examine the altar. So far as she could see, though, there was nothing physical about the trap unless it would be triggered when one of them stepped onto the pedestal the altar sat on.

Perhaps, though, it was a ploy. The elven king surely knew that they were not there to free him, and maybe he was trying to buy time as he regained some strength. But, if the king had been as feared as the dwarf implied, then there was likely some failsafe in case the chains were broken. Perhaps even simply by breaking the chains, she'd activated some spell.

"It has to be the runes," she whispered, eyes tracing over the etched script on the altar. "But is it really a trap? Or is he trying to trick us into breaking the final spell and freeing him?"

 

[Kol]

"Perhaps both." He looked down at the prisoners, lips thinning as the two of them stared at each other.

Kol could read intent behind the man's eyes, but for what he could not say. It was as though the man had something to say, but could not say it. His body was a broken shamble, skeletal and as thin as could be. If the Sorcerer had to guess, the Elf King was barely alive still.

Held together only by magic.

"This man slaughtered thousands, just leave and let him di-"

Before the dwarf could finish his sentence the Elf began to move. One of the chains was suddenly thrown forward, the heavy metal tossed out and wrapped around the builders throat. It tightened, and before Kol could move the dwarf was yanked forward onto the altar.

The Elf caught him, his arms wrapping around his new captives throat. One hand settled on his shoulder, the other resting on his neck. No taunting smile touched the King's lips, no laughter echoed from him. He looked to Kol and then to Ruvsa with that same strange intent.

Kol tensed, half stepping forward. "Do-"

As the Sorcerer spoke a loud crack echoed out, the King wrenching the Dwarfs head to the side and snapping his neck.

Silence loomed in the room, and then the ground began to quake.

 

[Ruvsá]

Ruvsá was inclined to agree with Kol. Perhaps both, indeed. But to what end? She doubted the imprisoned king would even survive trying to leave the prison in his current state. But then she saw the elf king shift just a fraction of a second before, with surprising strength, he managed to lasso the dwarf with one of the chains. The end of the chain flicked against her foreleg and she lost her grip on the dwarf.

She hissed in pain, shaking her foreleg to speed the following numbness away, glancing down to make sure it wasn't broken. There was wetness glimmering on her fur, so the blow had broken skin, but it didn't seem to have fractured anything, fortunately.

When she looked up, the elf king was watching them strangely, and she recognized the hold he had on the dwarf.

Kol tensed, half stepping forward. "Do-"

As the Sorcerer spoke a loud crack echoed out, the King wrenching the Dwarfs head to the side and snapping his neck.

Silence loomed in the room, and then the ground began to quake.

"Does he seem suicidal to you?" Ruvsá growled to Kol. "Because if not, I think we need to get on that altar with him. It might be the safest spot in this entire cursed prison."

 

[Kol]

The fortress was shook and rumbled, and Kol could see cracks beginning to form within the ground. The Dwarf had called this place the center of the Prison, and it appeared that was where it would begin to crumble.

When Ruvsa spoke the King looked over at her, strangely enough as though he could understand her. The body of the dwarf fell onto the ground with a thunk, crumpling as it lay lifeless on the altar. The King turned towards the bear for a moment, then gestured with his hands.

There was an urging, a motion for them to get away.

Get out. "Thousands of years in a prison."

Kol commented to his companion, his fingers tightening on the Rune-Knife. The blade seemed to flicker for a moment, shifting with those odd black flecks.

"Death would be a reprieve." Something in Kol's tone changed, echoing strangely as though he were speaking with a dozen other voices along with his own. Then Ruvsa would see it, a spear of black forming just behind the King.

The Sorcerer's finger twitched, and then suddenly the spear jerked forward and through the King's chest. His face twisted in pain, confusion, looking up at Kol for a brief moment. His eyes seemed to shift, drawing inward as his pupils were washed with a strange blackness.

Laughter erupted in Kol's skull, the Dark Gods reveling in their servant's act.

Kol stepped back from the Altar, moving to turn towards the door. A strange black smoke seemed to rise from the Elf, rushing towards Kol as he spoke to Ruvsa. "We should go."

 

[Ruvsá]

With as difficult as it was to read expressions on the elf king's skeletal face, Ruvsá had to agree with Kol again. She couldn't even comprehend the thought of living a thousand years, let alone being in solitary confinement for a few thousand years.

She did not understand why the dwarf had wanted to live. Not unless he'd been lying about the elf king, and had found some satisfaction in remaining here to maintain the king's imprisonment. That she could understand.

Those thoughts would have to wait, though, and as the king gestured for them to leave, Ruvsá watched silently as the black spear formed out of nothingness and plunged through the king's back and out his chest. Her eyes followed the black smoke.

"We should go."

Ruvsá nodded and lowered herself to all fours, testing her weight on her injured foreleg. It ached, but didn't give.

"I can run faster than you," she said. "Get on my back. But you'll have to provide the light and help me navigate out of this place."

 

[Kol]

Kol blinked for a second, the idea of riding on the back of a Nordenfiir somewhat...strange to him.

Fingers tightened for a moment, the Rune-knife in his hand disappearing as the last of that strange black shadow disappeared into his flesh. "Alright."

He agreed, his head dipping in a nod.

This entire situation felt utterly ludicrous, but if they were going to escape then they would have to use both of their skills to the best of their abilities. His fingers sprawled, the bright glowing bulb of light appearing within his palm.

"Go!" He called to her as he practically hopped onto her back.

 

[Ruvsá]

Ruvsá saw Kol's hesitation at her suggestion, and to be honest it wasn't something she would have normally offered. But to leave someone behind, no matter how strange or dubious their intentions, for almost certain death was not something she could live with. If he wanted to risk outrunning the collapsing prison on his own two feet, she wouldn't stop him, though.

But then he agreed, and called forth his strange light again.

"Go!" He called to her as he practically hopped onto her back.

"Hold on to my fur," she called to him as his weight settled on her. "You won't hurt me."

The ground shuddered under them, and Ruvsá leapt forward. Past the bodies of the guards. Through the mosaic gate, and back up the passageway the dwarf had led them through. She almost faltered, seeing now--though faintly through a shimmering haze, almost--dozens of new passages that branched off. The magic that was bound in this place was apparently failing along with the prison's destruction.

But with it her senses returned. While she couldn't smell where they'd come from before, and there were no footsteps for her to track--the magic before apparently having prevented them from leaving anything behind, rather than simply obscuring it--she could smell fresh air, and it wasn't coming from any of those newly visible passageways.

So she kept running, grunting out directions when she needed Kol to illuminate a different path. They'd just reached the prison cells where they'd rested when the first crashing rumble of collapsing stone came from behind them. Ruvsá paused to steady herself as the ground quaked, sniffing at the air again.

"I can smell fresh air coming from multiple directions," she spoke after a moment, gesturing to the main passageway before them, likely where they'd come through the first time, and two other smaller halls to each side. "But I'm not sure which route to take."

All the options were still on the far side of this cavern, though, so she kept moving forward, albeit more slowly, as she tried to make a decision.

 

[Kol]

"Just go!" He hissed as he heard the ceiling fall behind them.

Kol didn't remember the paths they had taken, didn't know which direction or how they could escape. She smelled the fresh air, heard it's call, but for him he was as blind as could be. The ball of light flickered forward, his fingers dug into her fur.

He closed his eyes for a brief moment.

Magic ran through him, but not that of the Dark Gods. It was a spike, a remnant of power that he had seized for himself. His eyes snapped open, a brilliant blue mixed with strange black. A breath flowed from his lungs, icy and cold.

"That way!" The Sorcerer called, his voice echoing within itself. He tugged gently at her fur. "That way!"

He called again.

Behind them the fortress began to tumble in upon itself. Tunnels collapsed, stalagmites began to fall. The ground quaked and broke apart, splitting just steps from where they had been moments ago.

 

[Ruvsá]

Ruvsá snarled when Kol snapped at her to just go. She was trying. But she didn't want to lead them out the long way rather than the quickest way, and still end up trapped in the rubble.

Admittedly, she was probably still thinking too hard about all the different variables at play, but it was too late to do anything about that. She faltered when she reached the other side of the cavernous central room, eyes shifting between the three options. If only she had some idea of which directions were which, which direction she was facing, then she could make some guess based on where the stronghold had been located aboveground.

"That way!" The Sorcerer called, his voice echoing within itself. He tugged gently at her fur. "That way!"

He called again.

His voice was strange, but she assumed he'd used some sort of magic again, and with a final glance at the other two passages, she turned to the side and took the smaller side passageway that Kol pointed out.

She leapt forward again, barely even noticing the ground beginning to crumble behind them. Fortunately, this passage had no turn offs. No more side passages. It just led them up at a somewhat steep incline, and straight ahead.

The air grew stronger, fresher, eventually even picking up in a light breeze, and Ruvsá began to see daylight ahead as the prison and passageways collapsed behind them.

And then there was a door, and Ruvsá skidded to a stop, but not quite in time to avoid slamming into the door. She let out a muffled grunt, managing to just barely turn her head to the side and ram the door with her chest rather than her muzzle, and felt Kol slide off her back and land on the ground with a thud.

The network of tunnels was still creaking and crashing behind them, and when she'd righted herself, she eyed the door. It was made of thick wood and had a window near the top, lined with bars. It hadn't budged when she hit it.

"Is it locked or just latched securely?" she growled, backing up and pawing at the ground in frustration, bracing herself to try and ram the door again. She could see daylight and smell the outdoor air and hear the call of birds. She wanted out and the blasted door was in her way, and she did not relish the thought of being crushed to death by the imminent approach of the collapsing prison.

 

[Kol]

Kol rolled onto the floor just as Ruvsa went slamming into the door, her growl echoing out behind her as she tried to force it open.

He frowned for a moment, glancing at the heavy wood before he looking back the way they had come. The ground was still shaking, quaking and parting as the Prison began to swallow itself up. A scowl pulled at his lips.

"The joists." The Sorcerer said as he pointed to the metal at the side of the door.

In his hand snapped the rune-knife, faster than before. He scrambled quickly to his feet, and then the blade sliced through the metal joists. It cut like a hot knife through butter, severing the ancient steel in one quick swipe, then another, then another.

"Smash it down." He hissed as the ground shook once more.

A loud crack echoed out, the ceiling above them loudly splintering into dozens of different pieces. Threatening to collapse any second.

 

[Ruvsá]

As soon as Kol finished slashing through the metal reinforcing the doorframe, Ruvsá growled and charged at the door, lifting her paws to slam into it. It shuddered with the first blow, but didn't quite push out, the frame starting to buckle under the weight of the ceiling. Dust and silt began to fall around them, and Ruvsá backed up one more time and charged again. This time, she felt the door give, and she grabbed Kol by the arm and dragged him through the doorway with her as the prison came roaring down behind them.

Blessed, blessed air and daylight met them.

She continued to run for several more paces, unsure of whether there might be any tunnels that branched out under their feet, before finally coming to a halt and looking back.

All that remained of the prison, at least that she could see, was a plume of dust.

With a sigh, she shifted back to her human form.

"Are we really out?" Ruvsá gasped, bending over to catch her breath. "We're not dreaming?"

Then she flinched and swore as stinging pain radiated through her arm. She straightened and pushed up the sleeve of her tunic, examining the cut. The laceration had obviously torn further as she ran, and blood ran down her arm to drip from her fingers, but it wasn't deep. Just through the skin.

Gingerly, she prodded the flesh around it. While it hadn't seemed broken in the prison, she would be surprised if the bone wasn't bruised where the chain had grazed it. She flinched when she hit a tender spot.

"Do you know bearded lichen?" Ruvsá asked Kol, looking around to see if there was a tree line near. "If we can find some, I can make a poultice for this."

Then she bit her lip, and looked over at him hesitantly. For all she knew, he might just... want to leave.

 

[Kol]

Kol took in a deep breath, eyes closed as he felt the fresh air fill him.

For a few seconds he did not answer Ruvsa, too absorbed with the sensation of his own flesh crawling. It was strange feeling, one that seemed to linger. Fingers slowly opened and closed, the rune knife disappearing as he let the power settle within his skin.

Then slowly he opened his eyes. "I do not know it."

He told her truthfully.

"but describe it to me and I will do my best to find it." He glanced around the island for a few moments, lips thinning. "Though I'm unsure how much luck we'll have finding much of any life here."

Even as he spoke though something about the island seemed to shift. The fog that had clung to every inch of the mountains and sea began to drift away, the sun casting down upon them for the first time in what felt like an age.

 

[Ruvsá]

Ruvsá felt the air change, and she lifted her face to the sun, inhaling deeply.

"There's life here." She smiled. "But... it feels like a curse has been lifted."

There had been life before they entered the prison, too, just scarce. She'd found the wild boar, after all. But she hadn't heard birdsong. Not until right before they broke free from the crumbling stronghold. Whether that was because of some pall cast over the island by the dwarves and elves magic or because of the oncoming storm at the time, though, she couldn't say for certain.

Ruvsá folded up her sleeve to keep it mostly clean--there were a few drops of blood on it, but not much so far, and she'd prefer to keep it that way--and looked around.

"Bearded lichen likes to grow on fir and pine," she answere Kol. "It'll look like long strands of hair hanging off of bark or limbs. If we find some trees, it will probably be there. The air here is clean, and it likes that."

She looked down at her arm in annoyance. "I'm just not sure I'll be able to reach it, depending on the height of the trees."

Ruvsá started walking, looking around at the island, and heading deeper into land instead of toward the shoreline. That was where they would find trees, most likely. And fresh water. Maybe even game. If she'd found a boar before, she was sure she could again.

"How long do you think we were in there?" she asked. "A day? Maybe two?"