I can't remember exactly how we decided to head into the gloomy mountains in search of the lost gold of an old, abandoned dwarf fortress, but I remember that, like many important resolutions from that period of my life, it was one we made in a tavern under the influence of huge amounts of alcohol. I also remember an old, toothless dwarf repeatedly babbling the word gold, and I have vivid memory of the insane gleam that appeared in my companion's eyes as he listened to the tale.
Perhaps it was typical of the Dark Hero to be willing to risk his life and limb in the wildest, most barren territory he could imagine, no matter how tenuous the provocation. Or maybe it was the characteristic 'gold rush' effect that the vast majority of people tend to suffer when they find a way to get money quickly. As I was to discover later, the lure of that shiny metal has a tremendous and terrifying power over the minds of all relatively civilized beings.
In any case, the decision to leave behind the southernmost borders of the Kingdom of Lothal was fateful and led to encounters and adventures whose dire consequences haunt me still...
Elysia, 'The Adventures of the Dark Hero', vol. 1.
Printed in Riverheim, Arcadia
♦ ♦ ♦
"Honestly, gentlemen, I do not want problems of any kind." Elysia declared truthfully, as she held out her hands open before her. “I just want you to leave the girl alone. It's all I ask."
The drunken hunters let out wicked laughs.
"I just want you to leave the girl alone." one of them imitated her in a high, lisping voice.
Elysia looked around for support. A few stocky fellows, clad in the thick furs of highlanders, looked at her with drink-clouded eyes. The owner of the establishment, a tall, stooped man with straight hair, turned and began to arrange jars of jam on the rustic wooden shelves. There were no other customers.
One of the hunters, a huge man, approached her.
Elysia could see the particles of fat clinging to his beard, and when she opened her mouth to speak, it gave off a stench of cheap rum that overpowered even the smell of rancid bear grease that hunters smeared on to ward off cold. Elysia made a face.
"Hey, Hef, I think we have a city girl here." said the hunter. "She speaks very well."
The one called Hef looked up from the table against which he was pinning the girl.
"Yes, Lars, I think she speaks well, that hair black as night makes me fall in love, too bad she is a repulsive Feral, although it is easy to see that she is a very pretty girl."
“When I come down from the mountains, anything looks good. I'll tell you what we'll do: you stay with the girl, and I'll settle for this animal. I don't care if she's a Feral or a beast girl."
Elysia felt her face flush. She was starting to get angry, but she hid her anger behind a smile because she didn't want to get into trouble, at least if she could avoid it.
“Come on, gentlemen, there is no need for all this. Allow me to buy you a drink.”
Lars turned to look at Hef, and the third Highlander guffawed.
"And on top of that he has money... It's my lucky night!"
Lars smirked, and Elysia looked behind her desperately as the man advanced on her. Where was Frey? Why was the musclehead never near her when she needed him? She turned to face Lars.
“Okay, I'm sorry I intruded. I leave you to go about your business, gentlemen.”
She saw Lars relax a bit and let his guard down, though she continued to move forward. She allowed him to get closer to her as she watched him open his arms as if he was about to embrace her; suddenly he kneed her in the crotch. With a blast like a blacksmith's bellows, all the air rushed out of the big man's body, and he doubled over with a groan. After her Elysia grabbed the man's beard and pulled her down to hit him with a knee.
She then heard a crunch of snapping teeth, and the hunter's head bounced back and she was thrown backwards. Lars fell to the ground, gasping for air and clutching his crotch.
"Son of a bitch!" Hef exclaimed, throwing a punch at Elysia whose force sent her stumbling across the room and crashing into a table where she knocked over a mug of beer.
"I am sorry". Elysia apologized to the startled beer owner, and she struggled to grab the table by weight and throw it at her attacker. She strained until she thought the muscles in her back would tear.
The drunk looked at her and gave her a wicked grin.
“You can't lift it. She is pinned to the ground in case fights break out.”
"Thank you for telling me". Elysia replied as she felt someone grab her by her hair and smash her head against the table.
A frightening pain ran through her skull, and little black dots began to dance before her eyes; then, she felt the wet face. "I'm bleeding." She thought to herself, but she immediately realized that it was just beer. She banged her head against the table once more, and from far away she heard footsteps approaching her.
“Hold her tight, Kell. Let's have some fun for what he did to Lars." Elysia recognized Hef's voice.
Desperate, he threw an elbow back and hit the hard musculature of Kell's stomach. The grip on his hair loosened slightly, and Elysia managed to wriggle free, turning to face her attackers. With her right hand she groped frantically for the ale tankard, and through a haze she saw the two gigantic hunters closing in on her. The girl had disappeared; Elysia saw the door close behind her and heard her begin to scream for help. Hef was drawing a knife from his belt just as Elysia's fingers closed on the handle of the pitcher; he then he threw it, and the blow landed square on Kell's face. The hunter snapped his head around, spitting blood, and turned back to Elysia with a foolish smile on his lips.
Muscled fingers like steel bands gripped Elysia's wrist, her pressure forcing her to drop the jug. Despite her frantic resistance, her superior Kell strength managed to drive his arm behind her back and pull him inexorably up. The stench of bear grease and body odor from her was almost overwhelming. Elysia grunted and tried to wriggle free, but her struggle was useless.
She then felt something sharp prick her throat, and looking down she saw Hef holding a long-bladed knife against her neck. She smelled the well-oiled steel of the weapon, saw her own blood run down the depression in her throat, and froze, because all Hef had to do was press forward, and she would enter the realm of death. the dead.
"That was very aggressive, girl." Heff commented. “Old Lars was just showing you how much he cared for you, and you go and knock his teeth out. Tell me, what do you think we should do about it, since we are his friends?"
"Kill that insolent one." Lars gasped.
Elysia felt Kell push her arm up, to the point that she was afraid she'd snap it, and she groaned in pain.
"I think we'll do just that." Hef decided.
"You can't." wailed the merchant behind the bar. "That would be murder."
“Shut up, Pike! Who asked you? Also, remember, this pretty girl is not human, we can do whatever we want with her.”
Elysia realized that they were determined to kill her. The violence fueled by alcohol set them up for murder, and she had given them the excuse they needed.
"It's been a long time since I killed a pretty girl like you." Hef commented as he pushed the knife back just a few millimeters. Elysia winced. “Are you going to beg for mercy, cat boy? Are you going to beg for your life?”
"Go to hell". Elijah replied. She would have liked to spit in her face, but her throat was dry and her knees were weak. She shivered and closed her eyes.
“You're not so polite anymore. Certain?" Elysia heard a thick laugh rumble in Kell's throat.
“What a place to die.” It was the incongruous thought she had. "A repulsive tavern lost in the Shadowy Mountains."
There was a sudden rush of icy air and the sound of the door opening.
"The first one who hurts the cat girl, he will die instantly." said a deep voice that scraped like one stone smashed against another. "With the second I will take more time before killing him and torture the third all night to enjoy his pain."
Elysia opened her eyes, and over Hef's shoulders, she could see Frey, the dark hero. Frey's silhouette filled the entrance, as his robust and muscular body filled the entire door. He was as tall as the door and had the build of two burly men. Torchlight illuminated the black plate armor that covered his body, and the helmet on his head turned his eye sockets into shadowy caverns, from which his pupils flashed blue with an intimidating brilliance.
Hef laughed, then spoke without turning around.
"Get lost, stranger, or we'll settle accounts with you when we've finished with your friend."
Then Elysia felt the grip on her arm loosen, and Kell's hand pointed over her shoulder toward the entrance.
"Really?" asked Frey, who stomped into the room while shaking his head to remove the snow from the top of his helmet which was shaped like a castle tower, making the hinged plates on the helmet rattle. in your neck section. "By the time I'm done with you, you'll be singing as loud as an operatic castrati."
Hef laughed again as she turned to look at him, but suddenly the laughter died to a slurping cough as the color drained from her face until it was white as a corpse. Frey gave him a wide, sinister smile and ran a thumb over the blade of the huge two-handed sword he held in a fist as big as a ham. Sparks began to rise from the friction between the edge of the weapon and the metal of Frey's gauntlet, he just smiled wider, and the knife fell from Hef's hand and clattered to the ground.
"We don't want any trouble." Hef assured him. "Least of all with an honorable gentleman such as yourself."
Elysia couldn't blame him. No man in his right mind would cross arms with someone who could possibly crush your head with one hand.
Frey glared at them, and then gently tapped the ground with the tip of his sword. While Kell was distracted, Elysia took the opportunity to put some distance between herself and the Highlander. Hef looked panicked.
“Look, we don't want any trouble. We were just having fun."
"I like your idea of fun." Frey replied after an evil laugh. "I think I'm going to have fun too."
The Dark Hero advanced on Hef, and Elysia saw that Lars had managed to get up and was crawling toward the door, hoping to sneak past Frey while he was distracted. Frey put a foot on Lars's hand; The creak that was heard caused Elysia to wince. "Clearly this is not Lars' night." She thought.
“Where do you think you're going? You'd better stick with your friends, as two against one doesn't offer very good odds."
"Don't kill us." Hef implored, already completely broken.
Kell moved until he was close to Elysia again. Frey, who had positioned himself right in front of Hef, kept the blade of his sword at the man's throat. Elysia could see the ancient runes gleaming red in the torchlight. Slowly, Frey shook his head.
"What's going on? You are three. You thought you had a good chance against the cat girl. Have you run out of guts and balls?”
Hef nodded awkwardly; he seemed about to burst into tears and in his eyes you could see the superstitious terror that the dark hero inspired in him. She was already on the verge of fainting when Frey pointed at the door.
"Get out of here mangy dogs!" he roared. "I will not dirty my weapon with cowards like you."
The hunters rushed towards the entrance; Lars limped a lot. The girl stepped aside to let them pass, and then she closed the door. Then, Frey gave Elysia a fierce look.
"Can't I even stop for a call from the wild without you getting in trouble?"
"Perhaps I should escort you back to your house." Frey commented.This time, he surveyed the girl with a more attentive gaze. She was frail and thin, and her face would have been ordinary if not for her large dark eyes. She wrapped herself in the velvet cloak that Frey himself had lent her, clutched the bundle of what she had bought in the village to her chest, and then raised her face to give the dark hero a shy smile that lent beauty to that countenance. pale and famished."I'd appreciate it, if it's not too much trouble.""It's not a bother at all." he replied. "Maybe those ruffians are still lurking out there."“I doubt that. They seemed to be very afraid of you.”"Let me help you carry those herbs, then."“The lady she told me exactly what she had to buy. They are to alleviate the effects of frostbite. I will feel calmer if I carry them.”Frey shrugged, and they went outside; the cold was so intense that his breaths formed clouds of vapor.In the night sky, the Shadowy Mountains
Elysia knocked on the wagon door, which she was told belonged to the baron's master-at-arms. She was alone mainly because her partner, Frey, was in charge of maintaining his armor and giving his sword a perfect edge."Ahead". said a voice.Opening the door, her nose was assaulted by the smell of bear grease, so she reached for the hilt of the sword.Five men were gathered inside the wagon, and she recognized three of them: they were the hunters she had met the night before. The other two were a young man, richly dressed and with delicate features, with short hair in the style of a noble warrior, and a tall, powerfully built man clad in furs. The latter was tanned and appeared to be in his thirties, although his hair was silvery gray. He carried a quiver of black-tailed arrows slung across his back, and close to his hand was a long, sturdy bow. The men she didn't know, Elysia, bore a certain family resemblance."That's the bitch." Lars said through his missing teeth, and the two strang
By mid-morning, the exiles were ready to move. At the head of the long, disorderly line, Elysia saw a white-haired old man, clad in a sable cloak, riding a black war steed. He rode under the unfurled wolf banner, which Dieter carried. Beside him, Manfred leaned down to say something to the old man; The baron then gestured, and the caravan that made up his people began to move forward.The catgirl felt a shudder run through him at the sight of it all. She drank in the sight of the row of wagons and wagons with their armed escort of mounted and armored warriors, then climbed into a supply cart that she and Frey had seized from a sour old servant, who was dressed in the barony livery.Around them, mountains pointed to the sky like gray giants, trees dotted the roadsides, and streams ran like quicksilver down the sides toward the source of a River. The rain mixed with snow softened the contours of the landscape and gave it an untamed beauty."Time to go again." Frey moaned as he took his
The crossbow bolt whistled through the air and stabbed quiveringly into the earth before the steed's hooves. Frey struggled to control the animal, which reared. At times like this he was glad to have ranks of skill in Riding."Come no closer, stranger, or we will fill you with arrows, white flag or no white flag." His voice was rough but powerful. It was clear that its owner used it to give orders and have them obeyed. Frey struggled with the mount and managed to control it."I am a messenger to Garfield Von Deyl, Baron of the Northern Fringe of the Gray Mountains." Frei yelled. “He has no intention of causing you any harm. We just want to shelter from the elements and refresh supplies.”“Well, you can't do it here! Tell your Baron Garfield that if he is so peaceful, he can continue on his way. This is Aken, and we are not interested in any dealings with the nobles of any country. We are a free and independent city, we do not bow down to anyone.”Frey studied the man shouting at him f
“I think I have found the inspiration for a new work.” declared Manfred Von Deyl enthusiastically. "The delightful story the hunter told last night will be the core of the plot."Elysia looked at him doubtfully. They advanced along the western flank of the caravan, keeping between the chariots and the ominous mountains.“Perhaps the hunter's story is more than just a tale, Manfred. Many ancient legends contain real facts.”"Of course! Of course! Who better to know than me? I think I will title this work Where the legends walk. Think about it: powerful spells that make the earth rumble, and the metallic sheen of legendary weapons gleaming in the haunted light of the moon. Imagine the figure of the god of the dead who remains unbeatable in the midst of battles."Looking at those accursed elevations, it was very easy for Elysia to imagine such things. Of all the people following Baron Von Deyl, only three people dared to enter the hills. During the day, Dr. Stock and Mrs. Winter searched
Frey looked at Krisvel, although his cheeks were in shadow, he saw a tear shine. Their faces were very close to each other. Behind them, the wisps of mist rising from the river's surface had thickened rapidly, and they could barely see the water. Krisvel moved closer to the powerful figure of Frey."If he hadn't come this far, he wouldn't have met you."They kissed awkwardly, tentatively, barely touching lips. Then, Frey bent down to take her long hair in her hands. They leaned toward each other again, embracing more greedily as the second kiss deepened. Passionate, hands began to travel and explore the other's body over the thick layer of cloth that covered Krisvel's body and the robust plate armor that Frey possessed.They leaned in too far, and Krisvel gave a little exclamation as they fell from the trunk of the tree and sprawled on the soft, damp earth."My armor and cloak are muddy." Frei said.“Perhaps it would be better if you took it
As the first light of morning appeared, Elysia watched warily as Frey inspected the rubble of the ancient stone arch. The stench of stale air and rotting bones rising from within nauseated him. She turned to look down the mountain, where the surviving outcasts were setting up funeral pyres from the remains of the chariots to cremate the dead. Nobody wanted to bury them so close to the mountains.Elysia heard Frey growl with fierce satisfaction, and she turned around again. Frey was expertly running his hand over the broken stones, on the surface of which the engraved runes formed a faint web, and then he raised his eyes and gave her a wild smile.“There is no doubt, catgirl; the runestones that guarded the entrance were split from the outside.”Elysia looked at him as suspicion washed over him. She felt enormous fear.“Looks like someone has given the Von Deyl Curse a hand.” she whispered.♦ ♦ &diam
Elysia ducked just as an arrow splintered the wood of the parapet before her. She bent down to pick up a crossbow from the hand of the guard who had been killed when an arrow pierced her neck. From her He groped for a bolt and struggled to load the weapon with it; finally, she got it.She jumped to her feet. Fire arrows flashed overhead like shooting stars, and from behind her came the smell of burning. Elysia looked down from the parapet, and she saw the goblin wolf riders surrounding the camp like a pack of beasts rounding up a herd of sheep. She saw the green skin of the horsemen gleam in the light of the flaming arrows, which also highlighted the yellow of their eyes and fangs."There must be hundreds of them." Elysia thought, and she mentally thanked Frey for the presence of the moat, the stakes, and the wooden wall that her partner had made them build. At the time, it had seemed like an unnecessary effort to them, and Frey was cursed by everyone; but now the cons
“Take the sword!” Elysia yelled at him.But the stunned Frey was in no condition to heed the advice, and besides, he wanted to spill blood. He took an unsteady step toward Oleg, who was standing where he had left him, howling as he clutched his nose. Then, hearing Frey's staggering footsteps, she looked up and let out a tremendous bellow of anger and pain. He rushed toward his foe, crouching low and arms outstretched, intending to once again ensnare the dark hero in a deadly embrace. Frey remained where he was as the monster charged into a thunderous race towards him, as unstoppable as a runaway horse-drawn chariot.Elysia didn't want to look… The mutant was big enough to crush Frey, but she couldn't look away in horror.Oleg reached where Frey was. His massive arms began to close, but at the last second Frey ducked and dove between the monster's legs, then spun around and lashed out with the chain, which wrapped around the mutant's ankle. Fre
"Ulber?" I ask. Ulber Roger?"Do not call me that way!" The man's voice approached the scream. "Address me as 'Sir'.""Do you know this idiot?" Frei asked.Elysia nodded. Ulber Roger was a philosophy friend of Elysia's owner before the catgirl had murdered her mistress and escaped from her. He had been a quiet young man, very studious and could always be found in libraries according to his mistress. He had probably never exchanged more than a dozen words with her in the two years he had been friends with her mistress. He also remembered that Roger had vanished. There was a bit of a scandal… something to do with some missing library books, and he also remembered that some Inquisitors had shown interest."Stop!" Roger yelled at him in his thin, irritating voice. "You are my prisoners and you will do as I command for the remainder of your wretched lives."“Will we do as you bid us for the rest of our worthless lives?” Elysia looked
Elysia noticed that all the patrons were looking at the innkeeper strangely, as if he had spoken at the wrong time, or said something they had never expected him to say. But she dismissed that thought. Maybe they were just scared. Who wouldn't be with a servant of the Dark Powers housed in the castle that overlooked the town?“He is wicked like a dragon with a toothache. Isn't that right, Helmut?"The peasant the innkeeper had just spoken to froze in place like a rat staring at a snake."Isn't that right, Helmut?" the innkeeper repeated."It's not so bad," replied the farmer. "Considering how evil warlocks are.""Why don't you storm the castle?" Frey asked, and Elysia thought that if the dark hero couldn't guess the answer from the beaten-dog looks of those louts he was more stupid than he looked."Because the monster is there, sir" replied the farmer at the same time that he dragged his feet and looked at the floor again."The
The idea must occur to readers of these pages from time to time that my companion and I were under the influence of some curse.Without any effort on our part, and without any desire on my part, we managed to meet all manner of worshipers of the Dark Ones. I myself often suspected that we were really doomed to oppose his plans without ever understanding why; but such speculation never bothered the Dark Hero.Frey took all such events as they came, with a groan and a resigned shrug, and dismissed any such speculation as that of a useless and vain philosopher.However, I have thought long and hard on the matter, and I have the feeling that if there is a power in this world that opposes the servants of evil, perhaps it was the one who sometimes guided our steps and even protected us. What is certain is that we often stumbled upon some of the most outrageous and malevolent schemes perpetrated by the most unlikely of evildoers...Elysia, 'The Adventures of the
The desire to kill reverberated through Jasmine's brain, and the darkness rooted in her soul threatened to overtake her completely. Madness bubbled through her veins, and bloodlust flooded her as if she were a drug; her carnage gave him ecstatic pleasure. She wanted to find the black-armored warrior and kill him, for of all the enemies she had faced, he was the most powerful: a worthy offering indeed to the god of Wrath. At the last second, when she was about to brush aside his sword and kill him, her fate, in the form of her own idiotic followers of hers, had intervened to separate them. She wanted to find him again and finish the fight.And then she saw the girl. As if against her will, she gazed at the frightened little face that peeked out from where she was hiding. He knew what he had to do, because it was time to end this once and for all, to take the first step on the path that would end in eternal life, to take advantage of the opportunity offered to him of a glorious
Jasmine watched as the great cannon blasted the third breach in the city wall, then decided enough was enough. They had to save powder for the next fortification they came to, and the gaps were big enough for their soldiers to squeeze through. The defenders were tired and bewildered, so the time had come. She signaled to the bugler, and he sounded the advance blast. Marching to the beat of the human-skinned drums, the beastmen sprang into motion.Jasmine felt the thirst for blood rise within her, and with it, her desire to offer souls to the god of Wrath. She that night she would make him a great offering.♦ ♦ ♦Elysia watched as the tide of beastmen surged across the grounds, and archers began firing from the ramparts. They chose their targets calmly, methodically, and efficiently, and fired. Arrows pierced the darkness, piercing chests, throats, and bestial eyes. As the infernal drums beat, the relentless bloodthirsty beastmen continued to adva
Elysia watched the clouds overhead, racing across the sky like a mass that twisted and undulated in a strong wind. The color of the forest had changed from a light green to a darker, more ominous hue; she seemed as if the trees, like everything else, were waiting.She was standing on the parapet at the top of the wooden wall, and she was looking across the fields, straining to catch any sign of movement in the undergrowth. By her calculations, it was the end of the afternoon. Next to her was Frey, who was looking at his sword with disinterest. Every ten paces along the wall there was an archer, one of the woodcutters, men who could hit an ox's eye from two hundred paces, and measuring the distance between them and the line of trees, Elysia realized. realized that this was a slaughterhouse. Any attackers would get bogged down in the plowed fields and be easy targets for archers.She tried to let that thought reassure her, but she couldn't. Night in the woods was not lik
Elysia looked up at the ornate golden hammer that gleamed in the early morning light streaming through the open door of the temple. The runes etched into the Hammer's head reminded him of the ones adorning the blade of her own sword, but that didn't surprise him too much. Her sword had been the most prized possession of an Order of paladins and it seemed only fitting that the sword be engraved with holy signs.There were few people present; only some old women who were sitting cross-legged on the floor and praying. The babies with their mothers were outside, getting the cool while they could, and Elysia guessed the air might be unbreathable in there with the doors closed.The temple was a simple sanctuary with a simple altar, except for the presence of the Hammer, which was used to bless marriages and contracts. The Father, The Mother and The Son were not very popular deities there, since most of the woodcutters looked to Belial, Lord of the Forests and God of the Eart
Kat hurried toward the base of the watchtower because she felt the need to be alone. She had grown tired of sitting by the large central bonfire, and not even Frey's presence reassured her. She felt very alone in the midst of all those busy adults; in reality, there was no one with whom she could talk, and for the first time she realized that she no longer knew anyone in this world and that she had no place in it. Her flames reminded him too much of the Kleinsdorf fires. The ladder barely creaked under her bare feet as she climbed toward the trapdoor with the agility of a monkey.Elysia was sitting alone, and she was looking into the darkness. She had long since set the sun like a bloodstain on the horizon; the moon had risen through the sky, its silvery light bathing the surroundings. A gentle breeze cooled Kat's cheeks and made the forest whisper and murmur ominously. Elysia watched him mesmerized, lost in her own thoughts, and she hurried across the tower and sat down besi