Remnant's Past- The Fall of Stoneholt

by Beaux Riley

  Caliya reached Zimae and the Princess was the first to notice Kilo’s injuries. She gasped at the blood coming down her face and proceeded tell the others.

  “Bring her to the healers, I will help this one.” Caliya said as the twins lifted Kilo. The paladin’s head began to spin. The loss of blood was causing her to lose consciousness. Shaeth did her best to keep Kilo awake, but the words became garbled to Kilo’s ears and her head slumped down as she fell into a deep welcoming sleep. Halfway across the bridge Kilo’s staff fell from her hand and it surprised Caliya as she caught it before the metal weapon fell off into the rivers below. The Princess inspected the weapon, seeing burn marks along its ends, and a warm feeling that presented itself for a brief but memorable moment. She thought it to be the Light that the paladins were known for. This weapon had to have saved the silver haired woman’s life many times over.

  Caliya saw only briefly before ordering the twins to save Kilo from her injury, the darkness within Stoneholt. The entire mountain city was pitch dark, though light could illuminate a portion of the entrance. She believed it would do them all good if this city was destroyed properly, even if it meant disrespecting the dwarves. She was sick of being near it.

  ***

  The bird was clearly not having any more of Asa’s fits. As it dived, it swatted at him, presumably telling the paladin to stop kicking its sides like a bull. Asa tried to ignore the gryphon’s obvious anger and as they came closer to the golem, Asa built up the Light in his hand. Raising his palm towards the abomination’s head he was ready to take a shot at it.

  A ring of fire surrounded the bird and frightened it. Asa had no idea what manner of magic was coming at him until he pulled the bird’s reigns up and met face to face with yet another person enveloped in flames. This one’s essence and heat felt all too familiar to him. The being snapped its fingers and engulfed the poor bird in flames. Asa fell from several hundred feet in the air until the Char caught him a few feet above the ground and let him fall hard on his shoulder. Asa turned his head and tried standing, only to have the figure step on his right shoulder and shoving him back in the grass. His nose felt as though it almost broke.

  “You are too important to kill.” Said the voice. Asa looked up for a brief moment to see a beautiful woman appear from the fiery form. She looked much like Sinesca, but her face seemed colder, an ironic feature to be sure. The sounds of massive footsteps could be heard by Asa as he wondered how close the golem was until it grunted near him.

  “Don’t hurt him.” Said Sinesca to her sister. Vinesca laughed for a moment until she saw the condition her sister was in.

  “What happened to you?!” Vinesca cried out as she saw her sisters beautiful green eyes reduced to milky white, proving that Sinesca was truly blind.

  “I got ahead of myself when I fought two of the paladins. It shames me that my own son is one of them. Maybe it’s my fault. This is my penance for abandoning him…” She pointed to her eyes.

  “Don’t talk that way. We did all this for father.” Said Vinesca. She turned to Asa, who was trying to stand. “You’ll stay where you are, dear nephew. It is only by your mother’s will that I don’t incinerate you.” Vinesca could see the harshness in her words on Sinesca’s face. The boy’s mother was distraught and she needed to have time.

  “He is needed, in more ways than one.” Said Sinesca. Her sister nodded.

  “Come boy, have you ever seen Imrosyn up close? We have some lodging for you, while you stay.” Vinesca’s sarcasm struck Asa and he jumped at her only to be struck down by one hand entirely consumed by fire. Asa noticed for a brief moment that Vinesca threw several stones around them, in a circle. He counted as she did it. One, then two and all the way to eight small sized etched rocks around them. He had not the faintest idea what she was trying to do to him. She gripped his arms and left what looked to be two bracelets. Immediately Asa felt the Light drain from him. He fell to his knees as the bracelets began to glow in a strange orange hue. While he was struggling, she clamped a second bracelet on his left hand. He felt nothing.

  “Please don’t struggle, my son. We have to get you to safety.” Sinesca pleaded. She grasped his right hand while Vinesca his left. The two became engulfed in flame and surrounded the paladin. He looked up to see the approach of thousands of soldiers as his sight faded into nothing but orange and red. Asa’s body split in two, consumed in the flames of the Char.

  Chapter 14- Preparing the Ritual

  A circle of fire burned into the grass where Asa and the Char disappeared. Both armies looked on in disbelief as the unnatural magic circle remained, burning away. The golem stood in anger as it could not find its master. The rock creature approached the ring and stomped at it while beginning to charge into the army of elves and men. They readied themselves for a stampede when from under them the look of a small woman pushed several soldiers out of her way, insulting anyone who proved to be bothersome. None other than a very hung over Milla pulled from her pocket a rune stone that she used to try to command the creature.

  It struggled against the rune that Milla possessed. Orange veins coursed through the creature’s etched body from head to rocky toe. Milla understood this to be the mark that the Char had incorporated and perverted into the Rune Lord’s designs. Her fellow brothers and sisters had betrayed her. They had to have taught the sacred dwarven magic to the sisters.

  The creature made a strong roar at the dwarf and slammed its closed fists near her, enough to make the ground around her shake and nearly knock her down. It became furious as it looked about for Sinesca, not realizing that it was abandoned.

  “You…were a tool of the Char.” Said Milla. “Sleep and return to your natural state. Be no more a puppet of those wenches.” The golem bent down and within only a few feet of her face of her face, it cried out.

  “WWWWHHHHEEERRREE….IIIISSSSS…..MAAAAASSSSSTTTER?? It drew out every word, spraying Milla with tiny bits of rubble that were on par with spit.

  “She left you, creature. You are her play thing and nothing more.” Milla called out to the golem. It slammed both of its fists on each side of the dwarf once again, not wanting to strike Milla for some odd reason. She did not blink and the creature fell back on its rear end. “I will help you…” She said softly. She saw the golem’s beady red eyes go black, the equivalent of blinking or closing its eyes. Milla removed another rune from her bag. She approached the golem, the runes that Sinesca had forced onto its body reacted violently to the dwarf. With a gloved hand she reached for them, feeling a burning sensation that caused her to cry out in pain. Milla realized that the Char were placing parts of their essence into these stones, adhering them permanently to the golems, but why?

  She pulled hard at the two runes that were now burning her hands through her leather gloves. She could feel her skin being cooked as she finally removed them. The stones crumbled into dust after being torn from the golem’s poor body. Its eyes relit for just a moment and it reached out to her, the etchings on its body now fading.

  “TTHANNKK…YYY…” Its jaw broke off and its words fell silent as the golem fell to pieces. Rock that no one could assume was ever alive, sat before them.

  “She made them feel. Stone brought to life like this…it was never something we thought possible." Milla said to herself. Only a few hundreds of yards away, she could see the ominous looking prison. Its walls were higher than the trees of Ela’syn and an untrained eye could believe it was as tall as the mountain in which she used to live.

  The prison stood quietly. Its only entrance, beyond the secret tunnel that allowed for access to the lower depths, was a gate that strongly reinforced by what looked to be thick iron. Whomever had built Imrosyn, took great pride to keep its permanent citizens inside the walls. Milla was approached by several of the soldiers, fearing that the golem could still come back to life. She looked down at her gloves. The palms had been eaten through entirely and her flesh beneath had been burnt badly. She tried not to flinch, but the pain was obvious on
her face.

  ***

  The armies of the Zirris and Ela’syn were camped only about a half mile from Imrosyn. The leaders were sitting on a hillside, discussing strategies. Illoke distinctly remembered being in this same situation when Stoneholt fell. Stratus had regained consciousness only after all of the chaos had ended with the minor elementals. The same awakening liquid that brought back Angaea, had been administered on him. Stratus was not budging from his position. The deceit had run deep into the relationship between the elves and the humans of Saebel. He wondered how much he could really trust in the King’s words.

  “My son made me believe he was dead for years. I wanted to think that he had been heroic in saving people and was lost in those flames.” Said Stratus. “But instead, he went gallivanting with this foolhardy crusade and you helped support it, Dawnsent!” Tension was high between the two. Illoke perfectly understood Stratus’s feeling and position on the matter. They did keep the truth from him.

  “What we did, was for your benefit and the benefit of the families of the paladins. The Char have made all of us uneasy and not knowing who we can trust.” Said Illoke. The King rubbed his hands, still feeling the needle pricking as though the circulation had stopped from sleeping on them.

  “I lost my wife, and then my son to that god damned elemental power. Should I believe you were looking out for me?” Stratus asked, with a fist clenched at the King. Illoke made no motion to be concerned with the Zirris leader. He needed to vent his frustration, but he also needed to know the truth of the matter. It was only until a small glow, only noticeable for a moment coming from Stratus’s hand that Illoke caught on.

  “Commander Omni, your son is still alive. We both know that.” Said Illoke.

  “How can you be so sure? That ring of fire left nothing. Your gryphon is basically a cooked meal! I should take my people and return to Saebel. Our country needs to be reinforced against this damn elemental threat.” Stratus spat out. Mistakenly some fragments spat on Illoke’s face and the King impatiently wiped his face. Several soldiers pulled Stratus back and Illoke waved them off.

  “I know because most of my people were affected by Aedrius’s wave of Light. We were all imbued. We lacked the understanding to learn this power, but it is clear that you are of the same power as the Paladine.” Stratus stepped back. The six sense that came from being an Elementalist did grant them some insight into others. It was as if one’s scent was different and only two of the same elemental power could tell that each other had the gift. Illoke began to sigh deeply. “Stratus, I am a father too. We have to let our children make decisions that we wouldn’t agree with. My daughter wanted to be a ranger after her mother. If I told her no, or forced her down a path she didn’t want to travel, what kind of man would I be?” Stratus listened in silence, almost nodding.

  “What father are you to not save your son, now? Don’t lose him twice in a lifetime, as you lost Sinesca.” Illoke’s words struck Stratus hard. The old man didn’t think, he didn’t try to argue. It was the truth. Stratus was a terrible father by not telling Asa who his mother was. Given that knowledge, he might have tried to save her rather than kill her in the name of the Paladine. He had to make things right, for both of them. So long as Sinesca was still alive, there was a chance she could be saved.

  “I am a poor father. But I will not be a poor leader. We must siege this prison now.” Said Stratus.

  “I believe I can help with that.” Aedrius said appearing out of nowhere. The former paladin pointed behind his back, making Illoke and Stratus both notice what looked to be a half circle calmly swirling from the grassy hillside. Stratus reached out to the vortex and Aedrius snapped his finger, making it disappear.

  “What was that?” Stratus turned back to the thin man. Aedrius was now wearing some elvish clothing, a simple brown coat with a white shirt that and appeared to have cleaned himself within the past few hours that gave him time to do so. He looked sickly still, but was moving about easier.

  “The power of the Darkened, we can travel through the shadows, in some small capacities.” Said Aedrius. “I don’t fully understand it, though I believe this portal can bring a small squad into the prison.”

  “That’s suicide, we have no idea what is behind that gate.” Stratus argued.

  “I know exactly what’s there, commander. I spent three years of my life wasting away in a cell. Do you know what that’s like? Counting every tile, every rune etching, and how many links in the chains that held me in place. When you have known what a living purgatory is, you can tell me that I don’t know what is in that place.”

  “Even then, who would take on such a mission?” Stratus asked as Aedrius had turned his back to the ignorance of the Zirris Commander.

  “I would.” Milla stated, raising her hand, now wrapped in bandages, allowing for some movement with the intricate white bandages wrapped through her fingers. Beside her stood Angaea, Cray and Zimae. The two paladins and younger girl saluted Illoke and Aedrius. The half-starved man made a slight smile.

  “I can send at most, a few inside, including myself.” Said Aedrius. A loud sound of what sounded like chanting came from within Imrosyn. The group looked down the hill. Aedrius looked on and immediately recognized the roaring coming from behind the walls. “No…she couldn’t have…”

  “Don’t leave us in the dark…” Illoke said hearing what could be equated to drum beats.

  “I could hear their plans. Once in a while when they came by to give me some gruel or to mock me, they spoke about subhuman experiments. Vinesca wanted to break the secrets of the Beacon of Light. I believed she failed.” Said Aedrius, rubbing his chin. “We’re short on time. If we cannot stop her now, that army might very well destroy our force here.”

  “Sub humans…are such things possible?” Stratus asked himself, thinking of the things that he’d seen back in Vathra. The variety of beasts that never were seen here in Ethra, it made him wonder.

  “The golems you saw here were forcefully infused with the Char energies, so much so that a fraction of the soul of the sisters controlled them indefinitely. I believe she managed to do the same with people that were imprisoned there.” Said Aedrius. He began stepped ahead of them, bringing himself to a flat base at the bottom of the small hill. Soldiers of the Ela’syn stood on the left of him and the Zirris to his right. Captains of each race stood to the front of the ranks, motivating the soldiers as they waited for the King and Commander to finish planning their strategies.

  It took nearly all of Aedrius’s stamina to quickly make his way from Ela’syn City. Now he would more than likely pass out from the portal he was conjuring for the final assault. The portal formed, a black swirling vortex that every soldier from each of his sides had taken notice of. Stratus and the others approached, feeling the pull of the black half circle.

  “It’s a one way trip. Here’s hoping we can walk out the front door.” Aedrius stated as he stood aside for the others to decide if they were going in. Angaea produced a shield on her arm, and a dagger in the other and ran straight in. Cray without thinking, followed her, only to be side to side with the rather short Milla coming right beside him. As they disappeared within the portal, Stratus came right up to Aedrius, within inches of his face, and grabbed the former paladin’s shirt.

  “Listen to me. I cannot come with you. I have to lead this invasion. Please…please bring my son back to me.” Aedrius placed a thin hand on Stratus’s leather glove and pulled it off slowly. The two stared at one another in silent agreement.

  “There’s no guarantee any of us will survive this, but if my brother truly intended to make these people the future of the Paladine, you have nothing to fear.” With that statement, Aedrius stepped back into the portal with his front still facing the lone Zirris and the elven King, possibly for the last time.

  Illoke approached the front of his army and his heightened senses could hear something incredible stirring from within the gates.

  “Men! Women! Whatever the threat tha
t comes from those gates, we will not folly. We will not falter. Nor will we run. We are Ela’syn and we have been victorious for thousands of years and hundreds of wars. This is no different. The monsters that come to face us will know hell as we deliver them to it with our own hands!” Illoke cried out to his people. A cheer could be heard from them. “To our allies, Zirris, Saebellians and human beings of which I owe my utmost respect. You being beside us in this dark time, we honor you!” Stratus raised his hand in agreement and the Zirris chanted praise and began to rally themselves, ready for a war.

  Illoke called for a horse and he and Stratus both rode out to the gates.

  “Come out CHAR! You have taken my wife, and my son and you owe me your life! Face your crimes!” Stratus shouted at the top of his lungs at the inanimate gate. The chanting behind the gates stopped so rapidly that Stratus believed he was actually heard.

  Five giant streams of flame pushed from what looked to be windows within the fortress. They circled around the King and Omni fast until they came together right in front of Stratus’s face in form of a small woman. It was Vinesca, but much more translucent, and no heat came from this being. He believed it was a projection.

  “Crimes? Your entire order murdered our father, and by extension, your own family. You…you would go on to follow her here…and you failed. You know what the juicy part of it all is, Omni? I’ll see you fail twice in a lifetime.” Vinesca mocked as she flew around. Stratus grinned and raised his palm. She looked curiously at the display. Stratus called out as he shot a fast bolt of Light at the projection.

  “See you inside.” He leered at her.

  The chanting resumed, but at a different pace. The sounds of marching could be heard from beyond the gate. Massive footsteps rumbled the ground beneath their feet. Stratus waved Illoke back and the two retreated to their respective armies.