They looked down the long dark corridor, which had no illumination from the gems. Felix had grown so used to the dim greenish glow that his sudden absence shocked him. It was as if the sun had set at noon. Gotrek started off into the darkness, apparently unaware of the lack of light, and the poet wondered if the dwarf could still see.
“Better light the lanterns,” Frey commented as he shook his head. The light has been looted. Damn goblins…there should be gems lighting up the place, but they just couldn't leave them where they were.”
Jules prepared a lantern, and Zauber lit it with a word, while Elysia watched them with a sense of uselessness. Suddenly, she heard Frey groaning behind her and turned to look.
In the distance, at the end of the corridor, there was a figure that shone with a weak greenish light. It was an old bearded dwarf; light emanated from it and through it, and it seemed transparent, as tangible as a soap bubble. The ghostly silhouette groaned in a high, fine voice, and advanced towards Frey with outstretched arms.
Frey was stunned, and terror washed over Elysia as she recognized the quality of that light. He had seen her before, on the mountainside and outside the city.
"Gods protect us," Aldred murmured, and the catgirl heard the musical note of the templar's sword as he drew it.
She felt her hair stand on end as the ancient dwarf advanced on them. The air seemed colder and made her skin shiver. The figure's lips moved, and Elysia thought she heard a far-off sputtering voice; at that moment, Frey regained the ability to move and stepped forward with his sword held high, as if to parry a blow.
The ghost redoubled its frantic pleas from him, and Frey shook his head as if he didn't understand what he was saying. Then the figure hurried to join him, glancing over his shoulder at the same time, as if pursued by a distant, unseen enemy.
Horror washed over Elysia as she saw the ghost begin to unravel. It was like fog when a strong wind blows, as parts of it just flaked off and vanished. Before Frey could get to him, she vanished completely, and as this happened, Elysia heard a distant, desperate wail, like the scream of a banshee being dragged into hell.
When Frey returned to them, the catgirl noticed that Frey was in a daze. The dark hero looked shocked and puzzled.
They hurried down the corridor, and even when they reached an area where the gems gleamed again, no one seemed in a hurry to turn off the lantern. Many hours after that encounter, the dark hero had still not uttered a single word.
♦ ♦ ♦
Elysia was tempted to drink from a fountain that flowed into an ancient trough carved into the stone, so she leaned over the water, which gave off bluish reflections; but then she felt her hand grab him by her hair and pull her back.
“Are you crazy, cat girl? Don't you realize that the water is corrupted?
Elysia was about to object when Zauber leaned down to look out over the water and inspect the luminous blue dots.
“Mana stone?” he said in a surprised tone, and the catgirl felt her blood run cold. All she had ever heard of the hideous substance was that it was the pure essence of magic.
"What did you say, wizard?" Frey inquired dryly.
“I think this might be a mana stone. It has the bluish luminosity that certain scholarly texts attribute to this unpleasant substance. If there is even a hint of manastone in the water, that could mean a high degree of mutations around this area, along with abnormal magic potency.”
"Mana stone..." Frey spoke those words slowly, it seemed that he had agreed something, but he didn't comment on it.
Touching his chin, Zauber continued his explanation. “I have heard that the ratfolks use manastone for fuel. Perhaps this serves a dual purpose, providing them with sustenance and rendering the wells useless to their enemies.”
“You seem to be well versed in unethical arcane sciences, mage,” Frey commented suspiciously.
“The doctor and I have hunted down quite a few witches,” the paladin explained. “It is a task that forces you to acquire a lot of strange knowledge. Are you implying that any of my companions are so corrupted as to make deals with the Evil Powers?
Elysia shook her head, for she had no wish to irritate a warrior as deadly as the paladin was.
"I apologize for my partner's unfair suspicions."
Frey gave a loud laugh.
“You have no need to apologize. Eternal vigilance is necessary because the minions of Darkness lurk everywhere.”
Aldred nodded his agreement. Apparently, Frey had found a kindred spirit.
"We'd better keep going," Jules Gascoigne commented as he turned to look nervously in the direction they had come.
"You'd better just drink what we brought, cat girl." Frey said as they started off.
♦ ♦ ♦
"What is this?" Elysia inquired nervously, her voice fading into the distance.
Jules shined his lantern into the darkness, and they saw gigantic, misshapen mushrooms casting long shadows on the white, moldy walls. The spores floated in the beam of light.
"In other times, surely the dwarfs grew mushrooms to eat," Frey muttered. Now, it seems, they too have fallen victim to the mutation.”
Frey entered the room, where his boots left footprints on the mold-soaked carpet. Somewhere in the distance, Elysia thought she heard running water.
White splinters about a foot long broke off the walls, growing larger as they parted, and hurtled toward the startled adventurers. Frey cut one of them with the sword, and there was a soft and pasty sound. More and more splinters left the wall like a flurry of giant snowflakes, and Elysia found herself surrounded by soft, bloated bodies and fluttering wings.
“Night Butterflies!” Zuber yelled. “They are moths! They try to reach the light. Turn it off.”
Darkness enveloped them, and the last sight Elysia had was of Frey's body covered in gigantic insects. Then he lay still in the swirling storm of flapping wings as the touch of the moths tickled his skin. In the end, all was silent.
"Let's go out slowly," Frey whispered, his voice betraying distaste. "We will find another way."
♦ ♦ ♦
Catgirl paused to look back down the long corridor, wishing the luminous gems would shine brighter, for he was convinced he had heard something. She reached out a hand and rested it on the smooth cool stone of the wall, feeling a faint vibration. She drummed on the walls.
She strained her eyes and, in the distance, she could make out vague silhouettes. One carried a huge banner topped with what appeared to be a human head. So, he unsheathed his sword.
"Looks like they've found us again," Elysia said, but she got no answer.
The others had disappeared around a corner. She realized they had moved on when she stopped, and ran to catch up.
♦ ♦ ♦
Overcome with dread, Elysia opened her eyes, startled from her sleep. It was Frey's turn to watch, but she seemed to have heard ghostly voices. She looked around the small chamber, and her hair stood on end. Her heartbeat was pounding, racing, inside her ears, and she thought she was going to pass out right then. The strength had completely left her limbs.
The strange greenish glow lit up the room, bathing Frey's sturdy armor, giving him the look of an ethereal knight. Frey's shadow loomed huge and menacing against the wall, and the entity from which the light emanated was kneeling before him, arms outstretched imploringly. It was the ghost of some ancient dwarf.
It was insubstantial, and yet it had the presence of the ages, as if it were a manifestation of ancient times come true. Her attire was regal, and her face had once possessed authority. Her cheeks seemed sunken; she gave the impression that her flesh had come off and was full of holes, as though sifted by maggots. Her eyes, hidden under highly arched brows, were shadowy pools, in which an unnatural light burned. Elysia had the feeling that the ghost was being eaten by some disease from the other world: a cancer of the spirit.
The appearance of that being filled the cat girl with terror, and when she experienced it, her fear intensified even more; there were things that waited beyond the grave, from which even death was no escape. Her sinister powers could seize a soul of hers and torment her. Elysia had always feared death, but now she realized that there were worse things. She felt on the edge of sanity and she wanted insanity as a release from that terrible knowledge.
Nearby, Jules Gascoigne whimpered like a child in a nightmare. Catgirl tried to tear her eyes away from the scene playing out before her, but she couldn't; she was possessed by a powerful impulse, for she was horribly fascinated by the confrontation.
Frey raised the sword and placed it between himself and the tormented spirit. Was it his imagination, the catgirl wondered, or did the runes etched into the massive blade blaze like fire?
"Speak, ghost." Frey said in a rough voice, barely more audible than a whisper. “If you have nothing to say, go away; I am still among the living.”
The ghost laughed, and Elysia realized that it made no sound, but she heard her voice inside her mind.
“Help us, Frey son of Njördr and brother of Freyja, last of the Vanir, bearer of the Lævateinn, and lord of Ragnarök. set us free Our graves are desecrated, and a terrible dark power resides in our halls.”
The spirit wavered and seemed about to dissipate like mist, but it held its form with visible effort.
Although Frey tried to speak, he couldn't. The great muscles of his body were tense. Frey was truly terrifying, Elysia had never seen him that way.
Looking directly at Frey. Many questions arose in Elysia. Who is Njordr? Frey had a sister of hers, what happened to her? Lord of Ragnarök, what does it mean?
"We have committed no crime," declared the spirit in a voice that conveyed ages of suffering and loneliness. “We had set out to meet our ancestral spirits when we were brought back by the desecration of our resting places. They ripped us from eternal peace.”
"How can it be?" Frey asked with a voice that contained both astonishment and terror. "What can pluck a dwarf from the bosom of his ancestors?"
“What else has the strength to alter the order of the universe, dark hero? What else other than the power of a god?
“I am but a warrior. I can't face a god."
“You don't need to. I'm sure your power in that form is more than enough to cleanse our tombs of what's in them, and we'll be free. Will you do that, son of Njördr? If you don't, we won't be able to reunite with our families. We will waver and fade like candle flames in a storm. Even now we are already fading away, and only a few remain.”
Frey looked at the anguished spirit, and Elysia saw in the figure reverence and compassion from him.
"If it is in my power to do so, I will free you."
Hearing this, a smile crossed the spirit's ravaged face.
“We have asked others, including our descendant Beliar; but they were too scared to help us. In you, champion of champions, hero of hero, I find no doubt. You are truly worthy to wield such a powerful artifact as a weapon.”
Frey bowed to him, and the spirit reached out a glittering hand to touch his forehead. It seemed to Elysia that a sudden insight washed over Frey. The ghost dwindled and vanished as if receding into a vast distance, and soon after there was no trace of it.
The cat girl looked at the others. They were all awake and staring at the dark hero in profound amazement. Aldred looked at Frey reverently, and Frey just placed his greatsword on his shoulder.
“We have work to do,” he declared in a voice that was more like the rubbing of two stones.
As if he were in a trance, Frey led them down long corridors that descended into the depths below the ancient city, and entered an area of wide low tunnels, flanked by statues with disfigured faces.“The green-skinned ones have been around here,” Elysia commented to Jules Gascoigne, whom she had by her side. Goblins were easy to identify due to their repulsive smell.“Yes, but not recently. Those statues were broken long ago. Look at the lichens that grow in the broken areas. I don't like how they shimmer."“There is something evil in this place; I can sense it” Zauber stated as he tugged on one sleeve of his robe and looked around nervously. "I sense an oppressive presence in the air."Elysia wondered if she could sense it as well, or the sensation of it was only due to her being receptive to the warnings of her sixth sense. They turned a corner and headed down a path flanked by massive stone arches, between which strange
While the creature was distracted, Frey jumped up to it and landed a glancing blow on its shoulder, where the baby's head grew, which was cleanly severed. The head rolled to a stop near Elysia's feet, where he stood shrieking. Catgirl managed to set the lantern on the floor, draw her sword and bring it down on her head. It was divided into two halves that began to join again. He continued to lay sword blows at her until the weapon blunted, blunted, then snapped from her as it lurched against the ground; Still, he couldn't kill the thing."Stand back," she heard Zauber tell her, and jumped to the side.Suddenly the air burned, filled with the smell of sulfur and burning metal, and the tiny head fell silent and did not recover.As if sensing a new threat, the troll jumped out, leaving Frey behind but not before taking a deep cut from Frey's sword, and caught the mage with the giant pincer. Elysia saw the look of terror on Zauber's face as he was lifted into the ai
Since we were short of money, we decided to return to the Kingdom of Lothal and look for some paid work. The return from the fortress-city of the Five Peaks had not been easy. The weather was atrocious, the landscape was inhospitable, and my companion was in an even more irrational mood than usual. Whereas we had traveled into the gloomy mountains in comfort and safety relative to being part of a large caravan protected by armed men, on the way back we had no help or means of transportation other than our own legs. . The people of the few villages we entered were wary of two armed strangers, and the provisions they sold us were expensive and of dubious quality.Perhaps it was unreasonable of me to expect a reprieve in the seemingly endless chain of adventures when we returned to the realm, since the dark hero and I seemed predestined to permanently encounter envoys of the Dark Powers. Still, I would hardly have believed the extent of his sinister influence had I not witnessed it with
The ferocious attack caught them by surprise, and the fat leader barely managed to flinch as the sword whistled past his head. The creature's agility surprised Elysia. With a terrible crack, Frey's weapon slammed into the skinny lieutenant's chest, then lopped off the head of a second attacker. The return blow tore through the leader's leather shield and severed the tentacle holding it.Giving them no time to recover, Frey dashed between them like a deadly whirlwind. The leader ran out of range of the deadly weapon as he babbled orders at his followers. The mutants began to surround Frey, and they were only kept at a distance by the huge eight that the great sword described in the air.Elysia then threw herself into the fray. The magical sword, Dragon Slayer, that she had taken from Paladin Aldred when he died seemed as light in her hands as a willow wand, and almost sang as he cleaved a mutant's head from behind her. The runes gleamed as they sliced through the top
The land was greener since they had come out of the mountains. The warm golden sun bathed the vast pastures of the plains in soft late-afternoon light. Here and there clumps of purple heather bloomed, and among the grass were little red flowers. Before them, perhaps a league away, a huge gray castle loomed above the plains, perched on the craggy crest of a hill. Beneath herself, Elysia could see the walls of a city and the smoke rising lazily from numerous chimneys.She felt more relaxed and she reckoned they would reach the city before night fell. Saliva filled her mouth at the thought of cooked beef and fresh bread. She was really sick of the dwarves' field rations they had picked up at the fortress-city of the five peaks: hard biscuits and strips of dried meat. Tonight, for the first time in weeks, she could rest easy under a safe roof and enjoy the company of civilized people; she would even have a chance to drink a little beer before retiring to bed. The tension began to
At first he thought she was going to refuse, for she was young, she had only recently arrived from the country, and she still had quaint ideas about virtue. But she was a slave to the Empire; she belonged to the lowest peasant class owned by the feudal lords, and she had fled to the city to escape serfdom. Losing her job at the tavern meant having to choose between starving to death in the city, trying her luck in the nearest city, or returning to the empire where her master's wrath awaited her. If she lost her job there, Wolf could see to it that she didn't get another one. When the reality of that situation penetrated the girl's mind, she lowered her head to nod once; the movement was so minimal that it was hardly noticeable.“In that case, get out of my sight until then,” Wolf said.The girl fled as tears streamed down her face, pursued by coarse jeers.Wolf allowed himself a contented sigh, then drained another glass of wine. The sweet, clove-sce
Elysia was lying on a pile of rubbish and her whole body ached. She had a loose tooth, and something wet ran down the back of her neck; she hoped it wasn't her own blood. A plump black rat stood on a mound of moldy food and looked at her. The moonlight made her red eyes glow like malevolent stars.She tried to move a hand, and when she succeeded she put it on the ground to brace herself on the earth and prepare for the monumental task of getting up. Something soft flattened under her palm. She shook her head, and little silver lights darted past her field of vision. The effort of her movement was too much for her, so he lay on his back, in the middle of the garbage pile, which seemed to him like a soft and warm bed.She opened her eyes again and thought that she must have blacked out on her, though she had no idea how much time had passed. The moon was higher than before. Her eerie light lit up the street unevenly. The mist had begun to lift, and in the distance the ni
Wolf Ladmer lay drunk on the bed. From The Sleeping Dragon, located on the ground floor, came the muffled sounds of revelry. Not even the thick rugs that covered the floor or the thick leaded glass in the windows could completely insulate it.He downed a glass of gin and stretched, enjoying the caress of the satin sheets on his skin. With a wistful sigh he closed an old volume of knowledge, his bedside book, the camasutra, the first he had acquired in that strange bookstore in Bergheim. To tell the truth, the calligraphy was already quite simplistic and the positions of the couples that illustrated it were tedious and unexperienced. Only one of them might have been vaguely interesting, but where could one get a constricting giant python in Freiburg at this time of year?He got out of bed and wrapped the silk robe around himself to hide the stigma he had on his chest. He smiled; the garment had been a gift from the fascinating traveler Dieng Ching, guest of Duke Emmanue
“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