Nostrum: Tales of Valor

Treading Waste

Water sloshes around Yuler's ankles as the pitch-black depths of The Bethel's dungeons consume her, leaving nothing to be seen but a dull light at the entrance point of a seemingly endless stairwell. As she continues to trek downwards, she acknowledges that the water around her seems to be pouring in from city sewage, as the odor alone is enough to blur what vision she does retain in such a place. When she finally reaches the base of the stairs, using nothing but a hand and the walls to guide herself, a new light source is found. Around the frame of what she can only assume to be a door, a glowing orange arch grasps her attention and she quickly moves towards it. Once the wooden barrier is felt by the pads of her fingers, she begins searching for a handle at either corner of the door. Once located, she attempts to open it, but to no avail. Assuming it to be locked and likely guarded, she backs away and readies the same shoulder that had been injured. Then, she charges the door. Softened by the water, it bursts apart and she is sent tumbling to the ground.

"What the hell?" Comes a voice.

"Grab her up!" Comes another, opposite in position of the first.

Swiftly getting to her feet, Yuler turns towards the voices, where she finds a male and female Nostrum. Each wielding swords similar to those of Lee and Hael. Yet their attire is slightly differing. Plated shoulders, helms, leggings, metallic knuckles, and chest guards cover their usual garbs. Yuler takes this into account while planning her attack. Placing her hands behind her head, the Nostrum lower their guard just enough that as one approaches Yuler, she quickly kicks out their leg. Before the second can react, she manages to kick the helm off the first and catch it. As the second takes a swing at her she uses the helm to block the strike. Sparks fly off the plates and Yuler uses the helm as a fist, knocking it against the female Nostrum's protected face until she too is subdued. Once this is done, Yuler wrenches the blade from the female's hands and uses it to collapse the lungs of the male. As he falls limp, she turns the blade on the second and twists the hilt. In doing so, the blade releases and extends to twice its original length. With the added length the tip of the blade has no trouble plunging into the eyesocket of the Nostrum. With both now deceased, Yuler begins adorning herself in the armors they had been wearing. Being sure to protect all but her stomach and torso.

"If I offer them a target, that should make their attacks more predictable."

Continuing on with her journey, she finds herself torn between two paths. One which leads to the right, and the other leading left. Looking to the water, she becomes aware of it traveling solely to the left. Accepting this as a sign that the left leads to the deeper section of the dungeons, she follows the stream.

"It's only a matter of time before more Nostrum come looking for me. I have to be quick about this."

With each split in the trail, Yuler continues to follow the stream until it eventually leads to a large area too dark to see in. Back tracking a few yards she collects a torch that had been hanging on the wall and marches back to the opening. As she waves the torch around, it becomes clear that there is nothing to stand on. The water simply falls into a pit and there... it likely remains. Feeling slightly discouraged, she turns back towards whence she came and begins searching for another tunnel until she hears a voice from somewhere deep below.

"Yuler!" Comes the voice of Hael. "Yuler?"

Turning back towards the pit, Yuler looks to the bottom but finds nothing other than darkness. She then looks about the stone walls surrounding her and there, she spots it. A cell many levels below her and straight ahead all at once. Unsure of if this is where the voice came from, she decides that the best way to find out is to drop the torch. As it plunges towards the bottom, it illuminates the walls in a flickering fashion. Nearing the bottom, with the surface of the water lit up, she spots two faces staring up at her. Though they are too far to make out, she knows them to be the faces of Hael and Lee. With a splashing sound, the water consumes the torch and her line of sight is lost.

"Hael, Lee!"

"Yuler, hurry! They sealed the drains! The water is rising fast!"

"I'm coming for you, hang on!"

"Yuler, three rights, a left, and a right!"

Understanding the message clearly, Yuler nods to the void of nothingness and follows the water upstream. In doing so, she finds herself back at the entrance. Once here, she faces the tunnels and takes a deep breath. Then, she reminds herself of Haels instructions and begins sprinting down each narrow trail.

"Right."

The tunnel opens up slightly, exposing her to several Nostrum who seem bewildered to spot one of their own moving so quickly for seemingly no alerted reason.

"Right."

Two additional Nostrum become visible as they turn the same corner and are plowed through by Yuler. With this, one sounds an alarm through what seems to be some kind of horn. The vibrations reverberate within the helm Yuler had stolen as she continues on her way.

"Right!"

With her blade out in front of her, she slashes at a man who attempts to do the same to her. With luck, her blade strikes first, and his clatters against the plating on her shoulders.

"Left!"

The pathway ahead begins to curve slightly and travel downwards for some time and yet another bellow of a horn can be heard coming from somewhere behind her. Along with the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, and many of them.

"Righ-"

The trail ahead falls out and Yuler plunges towards the bottom of the pit. Fearing for her life and uncertain of what is to come, she finds relief in the filthy water that swallows her whole. Resurfacing, she hears the calls of men and women that are now far above her and looks towards the sounds.

"Put her to rest with the others!" Demands one of the voices, followed by the laughing and cheering of many as Yuler spots a torch light something ablaze. As the object is lit, the well she has found herself in quickly fills with a vibrance, and a sparkling wick swirls down towards her. Realizing what is happening she takes a deep breath and goes below once more, swimming as far away from the object as she can.

BOOM!

As the fuse expires the water turns a bright white and Yuler is rattled to her core. The explosion is enough to send her twirling, no longer knowing what is up and what is down. Desperate to find out, she swims as far in one direction as she can, only to hit a wall. Running out of air and in shock, she tries again and manages to resurface. Coughing and gasping for fresh air, she hears another call of her name.

"Yuler! Over here!"

"She's still alive down there!"

"Give'er another!"

Looking back up the well, Yuler spots another lit fuse. Thinking quickly and panicked, she awaits for the explosive to reach her. Once it splashes into the water she swiftly dives towards it. With certain death in hand, she cuts the fuse short.

"What happened? Why didn't it explode?"

"Prep another! Another!"

Surfacing once more, Yuler travels towards the voice of Hael, which has begun to cough and gasp for air as well. The water now nearly reaches the ceiling of a tunnel at one end of the well.

"Yuler, hurry!"

"I- *cough* I'm coming!"

Paddling as quickly as she can while keeping the explosive held tight against her, she travels down the tunnel, where she hears yet another explosion go off, followed by the cheers of the Nostrum up above. Before reaching the end of the tunnel, Yuler finds herself using the ceiling to move forward, as the water has reached such a level that doing so is faster than paddling. Once she breaches the end, the ceiling rises up ever so slightly, allowing her more room to breathe.

"You're here!"

"By the Gods, you've done it!"

Lee and Hael laugh between coughs, whilst holding onto the bars that have sealed them in.

"What now though? How do we free ourselves of this cell?"

"Leave it to me." Yuler assures. "On my count, you swim to the bottom of the cell." Yuler pulls the explosive into view and the smile on Lee's face fades.

"Yuler, what are you doing?" Hael questions.

"Trust me! One!"

"Ah, Hell." Lee grieves, now certain of his demise.

"Two!"

"Why is she counting? Lee? Lee!?"

"Three!" Yuler strikes her sword against the bars, which clang loudly and shoot off sparks. As this happens, the fuse is reignited and Hael and Lee submerge themselves. Yuler then pushes the explosive across the water, and dives down herself.

BOOM!

Metal shrapnel bursts away from the second set of bars, which in turn begin to sink beneath the sewage. With this, Lee and Hael reemerge, finding themselves in the pit that continues to fill with water.

"Ha! *Cough* Yuler, you did it!" Cries Lee. "You- Yuler?"

"I'm fine!" She assures, still trapped in the climbing waters on the opposite side of the cell. "You two go. Find Marne, find Dabria's roots!"

"Yuler, no!" Hael shouts. "You find your way to us! You find your way out of there!"

"You know I can't." Yuler laughs briefly to herself, tears now streaming down her face. "You know this is it, Hael. Please, for me, for Cronn, for all of those who have been lost to Dabria, you find its roots! You kill this plague!"

"Hael, we must go. These waters are too high for us to-"

"No!" Taking a deep breath, Hael allows herself to fall below the surface.

"Hael, not here, not like this!" Lee demands, knowing that Hael would never take orders from him. Accepting this, he growls to himself, then turns to face the already submerged tunnel that Yuler's surely unconscious body resides in. "Hang in there Yuler, Hael is coming for you! Just hang on!"

As these words leave Lee's lips, a deep grumbling can be heard coming from somewhere beneath his legs. Then, the water erupts with a vicious screech. Soaked furs and gnashing teeth rip through the sewage as a beastly Hael tears through stone and metal alike. In no time at all, Hael manages to shred the bars that have trapped Yuler and- as gently as a beast can- collects her body. Once Hael has reached the surface once more, Lee quickly grabs onto her coat as she claws at the walls, slowly climbing back up towards the tunnel in which Yuler had discovered them.

Yuler regains consciousness for a brief moment, only to see herself being raised out of the pit, and the deep black skin of the claws that snare her before passing out once more. With nothing but the screeching of a Great Beast to send her off into the abyss.