by Skyler Grant
Maria saved me. “I. AM. NOT. A. VAMPIRE.”
Good. Dodged that bullet.
Walt looked very lost in his thoughts, Ashley seemed excited, Maria was still stewing on the vampire thing.
I said, “Maria, you know I’m on a mission to go to the floor above and for reasons I can’t really explain these others must come with me. If things are truly so risky, as he says, you’re free to stay behind.”
“Idiot,” Maria said with a glare, “If what he says is true my father remains above, twisted and tortured into something unrecognizable that he would hate. I will see him dead, and if whatever sent this curse still lives, see it feels considerable pain.”
A few heads of the skeletal guards turned towards each other at her announcement and I heard the faint clattering of bones as if they were talking to each other.
Perhaps this was one of those moments when I should use that Charisma score.
I clambered onto the table and offered a hand down to Maria, who joined me with considerably more grace than I had managed.
I announced, “Loyal servants of Castle Sardonis, you don’t know me, but you do know my companion. The Princess Maria Alera Sardonis, daughter of your late liege. We intend to go to the floor above, to break the magic there and to see her father released from his endless suffering. You live now, because you are dutiful souls. Even death couldn’t keep you from service to this place. But you haven’t been living just to live another day, you have been living for this moment.
“Should we succeed, the magic will be broken. Castle Sardonis will have a new king, and if you so choose you will have a place in your undeaths truly serving the Kingdom once again.”
Was adding in the bit about the King a bit unnecessary? Probably. Screw it, who needed to be a good speechmaker, when they had Charisma?
“If you would choose to have a purpose again, join us. You fled below, because you were ordered to do so. Now I ask you to fight and lend us your aid.” I grabbed Maria’s hand, raising it into the air.
There was silence, as if the crowd of undead was not quite decided.
“Sardonis!” Maria called out, not so much a shout as a stone dropping into still water and rippling outwards.
From the tables skeletons and zombies began to rise, a daunting assemblage of the undead. Bones rattled, swords were raised.
“Princess Maria Alera Sardonis,” Wimbley said with a quiet sigh. “You appear to have an army. Now I hope you have a plan.”
We stepped down from the table.
“Floor diagrams,” Walt said. “We’ll need them.”
“I can use spiders scout as well,” Maria said. “Provided they are not affected by this mist.”
“Try it,” I said.
I got a glimpse of her bared leg as the spiders coating it scrambled to the floor and began to rapidly move in a dark line off through the crowd. In seconds her flesh was again concealed beneath new spiders. I pondered on the metaphysics of where all the spiders actually came from and decided perhaps I’d be happiest not knowing.
“Do you have somewhere quiet where we can work on war plans?” I asked Wimbley.
“I’ll have something prepared at once. And bedrooms as well. If you would like something to eat, I can have the kitchens prepare it, but I fear it would just be fungus and rat.”
“We’ll take it,” I said, wincing just a bit. It would be worth getting to the surface just to have real food again.
We adjourned to discuss plans and prepare for the next day. Things were about to get violent.
Chapter 18
Between the old diagrams of the castle and what Maria’s spiders discovered, we had something of a plan for the next day. The skeletons and zombies were prepared for a war, but were holding back on the floor below until called. Each of us had added a horn to our inventory. We were uncertain just how long they would be able to resist the corrupting influence of the mist above, and while I felt their help would be invaluable I feared calling them too early would only wind up adding them to the enemies ranks until we had found a way to shield them from the curse.
We were making our way up a narrow stairway leading to the main chapel of the palace.
“I’m sticking to this being a dumb idea,” Ashley said. “We should be going for the treasury.”
“We all agreed this is the best first move,” I said. “Face unknown supernatural power, get some divine power on your side. The treasury might have some good loot, but it’s a complete unknown.” I said, feeling suddenly more chilled as faint swirls of dark mists swirled around the next steps.
I stepped through the black smog and felt nothing.
“Well, that was disappointing,” I said and climbed more.
“Skittering about my mind. I don’t like it,” Maria said.
I glanced back. All of the others wore some expression of distaste.
“You all feel something?”
“You don’t?” Walt asked. “They don’t even quite make sense, the whispers, but I can hear them all around us.”
I listened intently, but to me all was silence and stillness.
“Idiot,” Maria said. “This is the proof it’s the right course of action. Your Goddess must be protecting you.”
“Or he’s too dumb to bother with,” Ashley muttered. “Let’s get on with it then.”
The stairs weren’t directly connected to the temple. Supposedly it was down a servants’ hallway, then through a large hall to a set of double doors. We reached the top and the mists were much thicker here. Ominous and drifting, they cast everything into shades of black and gray. The others were looking even more troubled.
Cracking the door to the servant’s hall open, it looked clear and we made our way out.
Excellent. It was about time that something was easy. I led the way towards the main hall.
With the thick mists, I didn’t even see the blow until it hit my midsection, a slash of a sword against my chainmail. I raised my shield and bashed blindly, hearing a rattle of bones as a skeleton fell backwards onto the floor.
“Walt! Under attack here. Can you give us an idea what we’re fighting?”
I heard chanting and several fireflies zipped through the air to help illuminate the mists.
The hall was completely filled with skeletons and zombies, all entangled with some sort of black ooze. For the skeletons it stretched around the joints almost like muscle tissue. The zombies had black pulsing veins visible beneath their flesh that made them look even more unhealthy and diseased.
“Fuck,” Ashley said.
“The mist must have let them know we were coming,” I said. “We fight through. I’ve got point, Ashley and Maria guard our back. Walt, stay in the middle and blast things.”
We shifted into formation and began to make our way down the hall. My arms soon ached from the repetitiveness of it all, bashing skeletons out of the way with my shield and stabbing at zombies when they appeared.
I wasn’t even getting kills out of it, although from the steady drips of experience coming in the others were doing better on that score. I spared a glance backwards and saw Ashley deliver a blow cleanly separating a skeleton’s head, as Maria was almost toying with a zombie, inflicting a series of crippling blows.
I made a note—the girls were dangerous. Really, really, dangerous. I mean, I could take a punch and had some spells, but they were engines of destruction.
But they were also being overwhelmed. Each was already down almost half their health bars and I only had the one healing spell. It was a horde—and we were overwhelmed.
We reached the double doors and crashed through.
Much like the one below this temple appeared to have been the scene of some past violence. Windows were maws of shattered glass. The sky outside let in no light, but rather shared the perpetual gloom of inside the castle. Several massive pillars of stone had shattered and fractured, marble statues that probably once represented a pantheon of deities were smashed.
I urged the others
through and closed those doors behind us, bracing against them as Ashley and Maria grabbed the remains of an old bench to help prop them shut.
“We’ve got this,” Ashley told me. “Get over there and waggle your dick or whatever the fuck it is you do to summon the crazy bitch.”
In other circumstances I’d probably have hurled a choice insult or two back for that one, but we were rather pressed for time.
What I presumed was once the altar was more or less crumbled stone. I reached out to it with both my hands, hoping for a prompt. Perhaps knowing what I was trying to do, the mists grew darker, pooling about me. In case I wasn’t being quite reverent enough, I dropped to one knee. By now, I couldn’t even see the stone in front of me through the mists.
There came the sound like claws scratching on the door, trying to break through.
I tried to focus through those sounds. A prompt struggled into being, shaky and filled with static, as if the mists were keeping the game itself from bringing up the interface. I could only just read the flickering, wavering letters.
Location: Temple. Castle Sardonis
Status: Unclaimed
Materials: Marble, Oak, Gold
What was I even looking at? I’d expected a prompt with an offer to claim the altar. This was far more informational, not exactly helpful— with a horde of undead breaking down the door.
I really didn’t care what the altar was made of—I cared about what it could do to get Yvera here. My limbs began to turn limp.
Damn it. What was I supposed to do here? I thought of Yvera, it wasn’t hard. Even though I’d only seen her briefly, she haunted my thoughts, my dreams. More than she should have.
Those thoughts seemed to drive back the whispers and I saw the prompt change.
Connection to Yvera found
Claim Temple for Yvera: Y/N
Warning: Temple location is intended to be multi-denominational and is currently claimed by no faith. Claiming on behalf of a single deity may have consequences.
I had about as much appreciation for vague warnings as I did for snarky dick-waggling commentary. That was to say, I’d had quite enough. So yes, damn it. I focused on the prompt and my acceptance.
There was a rumbling in the air. Through the dark mists a faint hazy glow grew, the outlines of a number of braziers lit. Had they even been there before? I didn’t remember any.
A swell of heat arrived and it was as if the mists were ablaze, followed by a flash of light that left clear air in the wake.
The temple had dramatically transformed. Flaming braziers lined the edges of the chamber, majestic stained glass windows depicting fiery scenes filled the walls, reflecting a warm glow from the fires below. The line of shattered marble statues had been replaced by obsidian ones of Yvera in a variety of sensual poses and states of dress—or undress. Subtle, she was not.
It took me a moment to notice the Goddess herself amongst all these changes, a vision in red and gold pacing near the altar.
Yvera said to everyone, “Liam, smartly done. Robe boy, you can stop hiding. Rude girl, pretty girl, no need to block the door. They won’t be getting in.”
“We have names too, you know,” Ashley said.
“Yes, probably. But I can hardly be bothered to focus on the unimportant things,” Yvera said.
“I like mine,” Maria said.
“You could be rude girl,” Ashley told her.
“She is not,” Yvera said. “Moving on.”
“So everyone can see you now?” I asked her.
“Idiot,” Maria said, while Yvera gave me a look saying she agreed with that assessment. It was a tough crowd.
“If we are quite done with the complaints and stupid questions,” Yvera said as she continued to pace. “The curse. Clever enough, when your enemy builds an impenetrable fortress, you twist it around and try to make it your own from the inside out.”
“We were hoping you could counteract it,” Walt said.
“I could. I can. If Liam ever bothered to use his bless spell on the rest of you,” Yvera said.
“You have a bless spell and you don’t bless us before every fight?” Ashley said incredulously.
“Idiot,” Maria said.
I’d be lying if I said my fantasies hadn’t included picturing these three women giving me their full attention together. It wasn’t proving nearly as fun as I’d imagined.
I took a deep breath and went along one by one, focusing on the magic until soon all were blessed.
“I don’t feel terribly different,” Ashley said.
“You’re already in my temple,” Yvera said. “Go out there in the mists and you’ll mostly be protected now.”
“We have an undead army down below,” I said.
“Holy magic and the undead don’t exactly mix,” Ashley pointed out.
“Erm…” Walt said. “I don’t mean to make this awkward, but isn’t she a little on the unholy side? I mean, Liam is really more of an anti-paladin.”
“You really want to do this now, robe boy?” Yvera asked. “Fine. I’m no Goddess of the Dead, I am fire and life, temptation and passion. I’m a deal-maker and a whisperer of forbidden truths. I’m playing a role that was judged the epitome of evil long before I came along. It doesn’t mean I won’t melt your army, if they get too close. I am unholy, but still pretty toxic where they’re concerned.”
Right. I was an anti-paladin. Sort of.
“If we could bless the undead army below, they could be protected?” Ashley asked.
“Liam’s not actually all that bright. Big, giant sword, but little tiny mana pool,” Yvera said, shaking her head.
Ashley said, “I keep saying that. Well, not the sword part.”
I glared.
“Shame you haven’t taken the throne already. If they swore their allegiance to you, they’d be protected as your host,” Yvera said.
I liked the sound of that, although the curse was centered in the throne room. It would likely be too late.
“They are sworn to my family and by extension to me,” Maria said. “I will enact terrible vengeance upon those who attacked my family and perhaps those who wilfully left me behind. I will be the spider of a thousand webs.”
“Then perhaps I can help?” Yvera said, giving her a sly smile.
“I don’t like fire,” Maria said.
“We’ll work on that.”
“All right, I give you my faith,” Maria said simply.
The braziers in the room glowed just a little brighter and Yvera shot her an indulgent look.
“Usually a touch more formality, but it will do. Your undead host is protected from the effects of the mists,” Yvera said.
“We should call them and head for the throne room,” I suggested.
Yvera said, “No, you should call them and head to the treasury.”
“I’ve been saying that all along, too,” Ashley said, excited. “Looting chests should always come first.”
I asked Yvera, “Why?”
“There is a certain magical artifact contained within the treasury called the Hero’s Gate. It should be protected by layers of magical and physical security, but with the fall of the castle you should be able to get to it.”
“What does this artifact do? What’s worth putting it before the curse?”
“Power,” Yvera said with relish. “The gate is meant to be accessed by only the greatest of heroes, thus the uninspired name. Pass through it and you face certain challenges. Whoever triumphs is granted gifts unique and powerful.”
“Interesting,” Maria said. “But is a little uniqueness that worth it?”
“Yes,” Yvera and Ashley said together.
“Will it just let us walk through? I mean, we’re all low level and… you know, pretty much evil,” I said.
Yvera snapped her fingers. On the altar appeared a box with a number of bracelets crafted from bone.
“The catacombs do not lack for the bodies of heroes. Wear these and I’ll cheat the system,” Yvera explaine
d.
We grabbed the bracelets and slipped them on.
“Then it’s a plan,” I said. “We’ll call Wimbley and those below and make for the Gate. Is there any more help you can give us?”
“I’ll be around,” Yvera replied, before vanishing in a puff of flames.
Maria extracted her horn from her inventory and blew it, the sound echoing throughout the castle and to the floor below.
Great. Time to ignore the main quest in search of hidden loot. Ashley looked cheerfully vindicated about the whole thing.
Chapter 19
Within the Temple we’d taken a long enough break that our health and mana levels topped back up. I noticed a flashing prompt. Quest completion was a pretty good experience.
Congratulations!
You have reached level 5.
You have one stat point to assign. As a Paladin of Yvera you have gained a further 15% skill to Barter.
You have further gained the innate ability of sense alignment.
You have further gained the following spells and abilities...
Your Lay on Hands spell may now be used twice.
Divine Steed: You now have the ability to summon a Divine Steed. Exceptionally intelligent and loyal a divine steed is more than just a standard mount, but is an extension of the Paladin’s will.
To be honest this level felt like a bit of a letdown, although I did like gaining the barter skill. We hadn’t exactly encountered anything approaching a merchant yet, but my pack was full of gear to sell. The Divine Steed sounded like something I wanted to give a try, but it wouldn’t be much use inside a castle. I had to admit the extra use of Lay on Hands was pretty amazing. I wondered about the innate sense alignment and I looked over my companions. Oh. Wow. Ashley was surrounded by a faint red glow while Maria had one that was dark red and pulsing. Walt meanwhile was surrounded by something of a gray cloud. I supposed the red must be evil and the gray neutral. That made sense, based on what I knew so far.