They unbolted and unchained the door, and finally it gave a little. Through the crack, light leaked out, along with the pungent smell of chemicals. Elysia pushed open the door, despite the alchemist's resistance, and she made her way inside, where she was surprised to find Greta standing at the other exit from the room. It was obvious that she had hidden in the adjoining outbuildings.
"Come in, Miss Elysia," the alchemist said in a prickly tone as he stepped aside to let Frey enter.
“Wolf is looking for you” the catgirl commented to the Kitsune, who seemed too scared to speak. "Why?"
"Leave her alone, young lady," Kryptan interjected. “Don't you realize that she's terrified? She suffered quite a horrible shock at the hands of your friend Ladmer.”
Quickly, Kryptan filled him in on what Greta had seen when she'd ventured into the merchant's son's quarters the night before, and though he was discreet as to why she'd come there, he mentioned the demonic symbol she'd witnessed.
“I was already afraid of it. I should have known when he asked me to add manastone to his dream root. I guess that was when he started to develop the Demonic Mark.”
“Did you add manastone to his dream root? Mana stone?”
“There is no need to make such a shocked face, young lady. Its use is not so unusual in certain alchemical operations, and many respectable seekers of my art make use of it in small doses. My old tutor at the academy in Archheim, the great Litzen himself, used to say that...
“I heard that Litzen was expelled from the imperial magic academy because of his experiments, and that the ministry of magic withdrew his license. It was quite a scandal. In fact, the last I heard from him was that he had become an outlaw."
“There is always malice among academics. Litzen is nothing but a man who is ahead of his time. I mean… Look how long it took for Eisenstern's theory that the sun revolves around the earth to be accepted. When he made it public, the inquisition had him burned at the stake.”
“Regardless of the philosophical merits of your argument, Lord Kryptan, manastone is an entirely illegal and highly dangerous substance. If any prosecutor in the realm of Lothal ever finds out...
Hearing this last, Kryptan flinched before cutting him off.
“That's exactly what Wolf Ladmer told me… although I don't know how he came to know about my experiments. I buy the... substance in a very small and discreet emporium in Bergheim, in Van Niek's bookstore. I told him that he did not intend to do anything illegal with the substance, that all he wanted was to learn how to transmute lead into gold… and the manastone is the very essence of magic.
"That's what Wolf is about to find out, it seems."
Try as she might, Elysia couldn't keep an unseemly note of delight from creeping into her voice. It was perfect, since she could expose this decadent pig as a mutant before the entire population. She would thus pay for the beating she had received, and also for what she had done to Greta, of course.
“You won't report me to the authorities, will you, young lady? After all, I treated your wounds. I promise you that if you don't report me, I will never do anything with the mana stone again."
Felix looked at the startled alchemist; she had nothing against him, and it was very likely that Kryptan had learned a lesson about using illegal substances. Though there was still the problem of what to do with the wealthy young man's bodyguards, he had the answer for Kryptan.
"Lord Kryptan, if you can heal my mate, I assure you that I will forget everything you have done."
♦ ♦ ♦
Elysia idly played with the mortar and pestle, while Kryptan continued with the work. The laboratory was full of emanations that rose from the pot in which the alchemist had reduced the sunflowers to yellow paste.
The cold stone of the mortar had something reassuring about it, and the perfume of the flowers reached him even though his nose was stuffed up. She had taken two more pills than the ones Kryptan had given her, and she felt a bit detached from everything that was going on around her. She wished her head would clear up and all her pain would go away.
"Elyssia?" said a soft voice that brought her back to reality.
"What, Greta?"
She was still irritable. Her human touch shortened the distance between her and the world, broke down the barriers Kryptan medicine had surrounded him with to protect him from pain, and brought her anger back.
"What will Wolf's men do if they find me here?"
"Don't worry about that, soon Wolf will have more than enough worries of his own."
"I hope so. Luthor has been very good at hiding me here. You run a terrible risk. You know how Wolf's bodyguards can be."
Deep down, Elysia thought that the alchemist had hidden the girl for the sole purpose of mortifying Wolf, since she had no reason to be attached to him. Or maybe it was because of her guilt for giving him the mana stone that had caused the change. "Has he always been a sadistic monster?" Elysia wondered. "Or has that transformation only occurred recently, after the appearance of the Demonic Mark?"
Other questions ran through her dull mind. Why had her enemy felt the need to consume manastone in the first place? And what of the sinister rumors she Greta claimed to have heard about him? She pushed those topics aside, since she would probably never know the answers. However, one thing was clear: by eliminating that guy she would do a tremendous favor to all the inhabitants of the city.
"Nope! Leave that. It's acid!" Kryptan suddenly yelled at Frey.
Frey stopped poking around the flasks and test tubes on the alchemist's workbench. He gave the impression that he had been about to drink something from a large silver flask, but he shuffled his feet and returned it to his place.
Elysia looked around the lab. She had never been in such a place before, and everything seemed very arcane and incomprehensible to her. The workbenches were laden with intricate structures, made of tubes and test tubes. Distillation equipment covered almost half a table, and against one wall were several rows of stoppered test tubes; they contained cobalt-blue, lime-green, or blood-red liquids, and in some there were several layers of multi-colored sediment. She recognized the symbol of the imperial magic academy in Archheim, famous throughout the region for its faculties in magic, alchemy, and other magical sciences.
Charcoal burners heated jars and pots containing various substances, and Kryptan moved briskly from one to another, stirring the contents, adjusting the temperature, and occasionally tasting what was inside with a long glass spoon. He opened a large cupboard and pulled out a huge, white padded glove full of burns, slipping in his right hand.
“It won't be long now” he announced at the same time that he took one of the jars that were heating up and poured the content into the central pot.
The mixture bubbled and hissed as the alchemist put a stopper on the second vial and shook it before pouring it into the mixture. A great cloud of acrid green smoke spread throughout the room, and Elysia coughed, and heard Greta do the same; she seemed to have her more sensitive than human senses of smell working against her.
As the smoke cleared, she watched as Kryptan carefully emptied the contents of the third alembic into the mixture, each drop rising a tiny cloud of smoke of a different color. The first was red, the second blue, the third yellow. Each rose like a tiny mushroom of steam, expanding to the ceiling.
The alchemist left the alembic and regulated the flame that heated the pot; then he took a small hourglass and inverted it.
"Two minutes," she said.
Elysia was filled with a sense of triumph, for soon Frey would be healed and together they would pay a visit to The Sleeping Dragon, where he would unload on Wolf Ladmer the many tribulations he had suffered.
As soon as the last grain of sand slipped down the neck of the clock, Kryptan removed the pot from the fire.
"It is done!"
He beckoned Frey over, then poured a portion into a small ceramic bowl, which the catgirl could see had the inner rim decorated with red circles corresponding to astrological signs. She guessed that they pointed out the different dosages, and she was relieved to see the alchemist fill it up to the top mark before handing it to Frey.
"Drink it all, now."
Frey gulped it down in one gulp.
“Yuck!” he said he. They stood there and waited. And they waited. And they waited.
"How long does it take to take effect?" Elysia finally asked.
“Uh…, not much else!”
“You said that an hour ago, Kryptan. How much exactly?" The knuckles of the catgirl's hand turned white as she gripped the pestle very tightly.
“I already told you that the process was, well, uncertain; that there were some risks involved in it. Perhaps the mountain sunflower was not in the best condition. Are you sure you picked it up exactly at the end of the day?”
"How long?" Elysia spoke both words clearly and slowly as she let the irritation she felt show in her voice.
“Well, I… The truth is that it should have worked almost instantly, the moment the neural modules and bodily humors had returned to their previous configuration.”
Elysia looked at Frey, who looked exactly the same as when they entered the lab.
"How do you feel? Ready to meet your destiny? she asked her in a very soft voice.
"And what destiny is that?" Frei replied.
"Maybe we should try another dose, Elysia?"
Elysia let out an inarticulate bellow of anger and pain. That was not going to tolerate it. She had endured a severe beating from Wolf's men. He had climbed that mountain by paths unspeakably difficult. He had narrowly escaped death at the hands of a horde of bloodthirsty mutants. She was tired, hurt, bruised and hungry. And what was even worse, she was about to fall ill with some pestilential disease. Her clothes were torn and she desperately needed a bath. And all of that was the alchemist's fault.
“Calm down, Miss Elysia. You don't need to bellow like that."
"Oh, it's not, is it?" Elysia growled.
Kryptan had sent her to fetch the flowers. Kryptan had promised to heal Frey. Kryptan had spoiled his glorious plans for revenge. She had been through hell for nothing following the stupid instructions of a stupid old man who didn't know her stupid profession!
“Maybe she could make you a nice soporific potion to calm your nerves. Things will look much better after a good night's sleep."
"I could have died from picking those flowers."
“You are upset; It is very understandable, everything must be said... but violence will not solve anything.”
"It would make me feel so much better, and you'll feel so much worse."
Elysia hurled the pestle at the alchemist, but Kryptan jumped aside, and the pestle slammed into Frey's head with a huge crack. Frey collapsed.
“Quick, Greta! Send for the guard!” the alchemist spluttered. “Miss Elysia has gone mad! Help! Help!"
Elysia ran after Kryptan around the workbench, knocking it down after lunging at it. Putting her fingers around the alchemist's neck gave him great satisfaction, and she began to squeeze his throat as she smiled. She felt Greta trying to pull her away from Kryptan, the girl's fingers gripping her hair, and she tried to shake her off of her as the alchemist's face began to take on an interesting shade of purple.
"Not that I have anything against senseless violence, cat girl, but why are you strangling that old man?"
Her voice, hard as granite, was rough, cracked, and held a hushed note of sheer cold menace; It took Elysia a second to fully realize who she had spoken to. Then, she let go of Kryptan's neck.
"And who is that? And where are we? And why does my head hurt?
"The blow from the pestle must have brought him to his senses," Greta commented quietly.
“I…uh…prefer to think it was the delayed effect of my potion,” Kryptan gasped. "I already told you it would work."
"What reason? What potion? What are you talking about, you old lunatic? Also, why are you wearing my armor, Elysia?"
Elysia got up from the ground and dusted off her armor. She then helped Kryptan to his feet, picked up the alchemist's pince-nez and handed them to him. Lastly, she turned around, to look at Frey.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
“The attack of the mutants, of course, cat girl. Some of those boogers hit me in the head with a rock. Tell me, how did I get here? What magic is this? Frey was looking at her with a majestic frown.
"All that will require many explanations" replied his partner. “So first let's go get a beer. I know a very cozy little tavern just around the corner.”
Elysia smiled malevolently to herself, and the two headed towards The Sleeping Dragon; but before heading to the tavern, Elysia returned the armor to Frey.
As they left the lab, Elysia uttered, "Now I understand why you always wear the Helm."
After exposing Lilith's worshipers and incapacitating several of her satellites, we headed back down the road to Bergheim, leaving our former tormentors at the mercy of their not-so-benevolent fellow citizens. I don't know why we decided on that powerful city as the destination of our trip.During a stop at a roadside tavern, Frey and I decided that we should avoid the main route, which was perhaps a stupid decision considered from the present. Inevitably, and perhaps predictably, our drunken decision to take a detour through the woods led to disaster.In our desire to avoid any possible run-ins with law enforcement, we strayed far from the haunts of men, and ended up deep in the woods, in an area long believed to be the site of an Altar. Black. Little did we suspect, as we set off, that we would soon stumble upon stunning proof of the existence of that hideous sanctuary, or do battle with the most powerful of all the followers of the Dark we had encountered so far...<
Suddenly, it was all too much for Kat, and she began to cry tremendous choking sobs as her tears streamed down her soot-smeared face."What was that, Elysia?" asked the harsh voice from somewhere nearby.Kat choked back sobs as stealthy footsteps approached. Something blotted out the sunlight streaming into her hiding place, and she looked up at the face of a girl framed by long black hair and wearing a pair of cat ears, who stared back at her with eyes with vertical pupils which, Unlike the evil eyes of a beastman, they reflected nervousness, weariness, and for some reason, disappointment. Kat found herself staring at the sharp point of a long sword, the blade etched with faint marks."Come out slowly" said the unknown girl, whose soft and educated voice was then cold and without a trace of mercy.Kat crawled out into the daylight, realizing that she was near death at the time.She stood up and saw that the girl was much taller than her and was dr
The catgirl looked up at Frey, who was in front of her, sitting against the trunk of a fallen tree and staring into the depths of the fire; he watched the flickering flames as if he could divine some mysterious truth in them. His hands played idly with the flints he used to light the fire; lit from below, the severe angles of his face seemed as roughly carved as the granite wall of a cliff. The oscillations of the fire made the shadows chase each other across her cheeks. The light reflected off the pupil of her eyes, which shone with inhuman sparkles like a star. Beside him lay Kat, motionless and breathing regularly, apparently asleep on Frey's crimson cloak which was spread out on the ground.The sight of Frey taking care of Kat brought a strange question to Elysia's mind. What would Frey be like as a father? If they had children, how would he treat them?Frey felt Elysia watching him, and she looked up at him."What's troubling you, Elysia?"Catgirl av
"You have failed, my love," said Salthor, a Demon Lord in the service of Baal, the dark god of Wrath, despair, and vengeance, calmly. He looked at her through her usurped eyes, and Jasmine felt a shudder run through her to the core of her being.She backed away, for he was well aware of the punishments her patron could inflict on him when he was displeased. Instinctively, her fingers closed around the ruby hilt of her black warsword. She shook her head and her great mane of white-streaked black hair ruffled. She felt helpless. Even though she had a small army of beastmen at her service, she knew there was nothing they could do to help her. In the presence of her boss, no one could help her, no one. She was glad that the old beastman shaman, Grind, and his acolytes had withdrawn beyond the Altar when she finished the invocation, for she did not wish to have witnesses to her defeat."Everyone in the village is dead, as we both decided" she lied, knowing it was useless.
Jasmine made her way through the throng of her followers to take her place on the carved wooden throne, and once on it she rested the bare sword across her on her legs and faced the mightiest of the ranks. horde. The sword was to all present a reminder of how she ruled, a naked symbol of her power. She had the favor of the Baal, the dark god of Wrath, despair and revenge; and the expression of that favor was the power she wielded. The beastmen might not like her, but they would have to put up with her until one of them, according to her early code, could best her in single combat. And none would challenge her if she had any sense, for they all knew of Salthor's prophecy, made when she was promoted to the ranks of the Demonic Knight. They all knew what the demon had said: that no warrior would ever defeat her in combat. They had all witnessed that truth, though they were beastmen anyway, and defying their leader was an instinctive purpose for them.That night she almost wished
“Wake up, Elysia! Something is coming!”Elysia came out of her doze, her mind still cluttered with remnants of haunting dreams, shaking her head to clear it, her neck and back aching from lying on the cold forest floor. The chill had broken through the insulation provided by the leaves of the trees and drained the strength from her body. She got slowly to her feet, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and, as quietly as she could, drew her sword and looked around her.Frey stood close to her, like a solid statue frozen in the dim light of the dying fire. The red glow of the embers reflected on the blade of the sword, and it seemed that the dark hero held a blood-painted weapon in his hands.Elysia looked up at the sky, and saw that the moon had almost set. Fortunately, dawn was not far off."What is it about?" she asked, but her voice caught in her throat and came out as a raspy whisper. She didn't need to see Frey's alert posture to know that something wa
Kat moved under the bushes. She didn't want to, but the fascination of horror made her look outside again. She knew that the beasts were coming, she could feel it, for the air carried the same sensation that she had felt the night before. She looked at her two benefactors of hers and felt sorry for them, because they were going to die. Although her appearance was frightening, they had tried to help her and they did not deserve the death that the beasts would give them.She looked at Elysia and saw that her beautiful features were torn between hopeless fear and savage exultation. She understood how that could happen, because she had felt the same way when Karl had driven his car too fast down the path full of sprouting roots; she was kind of itchy, excited, scared and happy at the same time. However, Elysia did not seem very happy, and that was the difference.The dark hero did look like it, as he laughed slightly in a psychotic way. Kat was sure that she had noticed hi
She was still alive. Elysia repeated that phrase to herself like a mantra.She had passed through the terror and out the other side, and her enemies, the monsters who had wanted to kill her, were dead. And she was still there to feel the sun, draw in her lungs, and watch Frey and Kat as they moved cautiously down the hill, putting their feet on the stones that protruded from the mud of the steep, slippery path.Her senses had been heightened and she felt more alive and energized than ever; it was as if she had leveled up. It was just a delight to be the sensation.Cobwebs glittered with drops of early morning dew, birds sang, and everywhere the bustle of life filled the forest. Small animals moved through the undergrowth, and Elysia paused to let a snake cross the path without making any attempt to kill it. That morning she had a clear notion of how precious and fragile life was.The fight with the beastmen had made him understand how precariously he clun
“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