Perdition's Rest

by J. C. Placeres

  "He took her when we were at our weakest, I...I want to apologize. I did not know what he was when we brought him," said a voice from behind Lorne.

  The high commander shifted slowly, turning to see Tulinda sitting against the southern wall near the crumbled remains of a golem. She took shallow breaths, still clearly exhausted from magically dismantling the elemental constructs.

  "What are you talking about?" Lorne's head was still swimming, and he was befuddled further by her statement. Unsure of his balance, he crawled over to her position, grunting in exertion. He came to a stop next to the geomancer and propped himself up against the wall. Tulinda reached up and touched her face, when she withdrew the hand; Lorne noticed there were tears on her thin delicate hands. It was the first time on the journey that he had seen any real emotion out of the geomancer who was as cold as the stones she commanded.

  "Vuurbin," began Tulinda with sadness in her voice. "Thelais said that he took Sielan immediately after the fighting finished. All of us were incapacitated or incapable of further action. Vuurbin grabbed Sielan and held a knife to her throat. Thelais could only watch as he took her deeper into the complex."

  Lorne coughed and tasted blood come to his lips. He wanted to get angry, he wanted to curse, yell and slam his fist into the wall, but complete physical and mental exhaustion prevented his rage. The priest, whom he had never trusted, had added insult to injury with this betrayal. Lorne further knew that if they ever managed to escape and make it back to civilization, which seemed impossible now, that the report of what Vuurbin did would likely mean war. First was Gunvold's assassination attempt and now a priest of the flesh kidnapped the imperial historian. The second slight by a Tormos representative would not be overlooked. It would be ironic that whether they returned with a cure, most likely their people were doomed to die, if not at the hands of the Three, then at each other's hands.

  "It's ok, I believe you didn't know," said Lorne quietly while wiping at his mouth and coming away with specks of blood. "He hid it well until we began getting deep into the trip. I noticed him continually following and staring at Sielan but...but I didn't believe a man of the cloth could actually do such a thing."

  "We have to go after him," said Tulinda. "Thelais doesn't know what direction he went, but we can't let this heinous action go unpunished. At this point our chances of surviving the journey are slim; perhaps our last action can be one of justice. I know the Three forbade us from murder, but in this instance, I think it may be forgiven."

  Tulinda cracked a smile at Lorne from the folds of her hood and the high commander slowly nodded his head in affirmation. "I don't know how successful we'll be given our current condition," he began, "but with six against one, we have fairly good odds I think."

  The guild master of the geomancers reached out with a thin hand and patted one of Lorne's hands. "I want to thank you Lorne. I know you harbor prejudices against my people but you're a good man, and all are as the Three made them. Whatever our fate, it has been an honor to get to know you."

  The high commander opened his mouth, but words escaped him, before he had a chance to formulate an actual response Thelais appeared before him and leaned down to embrace her husband. As much as the show of affection was appreciated, the hug caused him immense pain. "Thank the Three you're awake!" Thelais had tears of joy streaming down her face.

  Lorne smiled and gently held his wife's hand. "How are the other three doing?"

  "They are all wounded but will manage. I think Zeranidul's left arm is broken but I can't tell for certain. Of the four of you, you got the worst of it," said Thelais with concern in her voice.

  Lorne grunted and pushed himself to a standing position. Thelais tried to help him but he shook his head refusing her aid. As he stood supporting himself against the wall, Corvul came over and handed Lorne his long sword, shaking the high commander's hand in the process, a smile of respect on the smaller Phlebos' face. Lorne slung the sword onto his back, the movement, as with everything else, causing him immense pain.

  "Tulinda told me about the betrayal, you did good not to follow him Thelais," said Lorne. As he was speaking the two Tormos warriors came over as well to join the group, Gowinda walking with a noticeable limp.

  Lorne cleared his throat as Gowinda and Zeranidul joined up with the group, the six remaining party members forming a circle. "First I want to apologize to Zeranidul, Gowinda and Tulinda," began Lorne. "I have not given you the greatest amount of respect on this journey. You have shown me though that you are all honorable individuals. While I do not claim to be perfect, I believe all things happen for a reason. I do not know if we will make it out of this realm of death alive, if we do not, I want to say thank you for all that each of you has done to help me and my people."

  Gowinda and Zeranidul grunted and nodded their heads to Lorne. They were not ones to express heartfelt emotions, but it was clear they likewise had come to feel some respect the Phlebos high commander. "Unfortunately," started Lorne, "we have unfinished business. I'm sure Thelais has informed all of you that Vuurbin has taken Sielan, to where we don't know. If the Heaven's Light exists, finding any pieces of it, let alone eight of them and returning to the surface, seems impossible now. As potentially our last act on Nualn, I suggest we go find Vuurbin and bring him to justice for his heinous actions. From then on, if we survive, we can begin searching for alternative ways to the surface. I propose this course of action not as a Phlebos to Tormos, but rather as Vesnian to Vesnian. Do any of you object to this plan?"

  The group was largely silent until finally Gowinda spoke up, a rare occurrence. "I must apologize to all of you as well. Before we left Deep Ridge there was a girl who was physically assaulted. She was unwilling to tell us who mutilated her. While we had no evidence, I strongly suspected it may have been Vuurbin. I should have stopped him there, but I refused to believe a holy man could commit such a crime. It is clear now that the priest is corrupted beyond redemption. For all the lives he has ruined, and for those lives he may yet one day ruin, I concur that we must end him once and for all."

  Lorne nodded, a small smile coming to his face at the camaraderie amongst the group. "Very well then, Corvul and Gowinda, why don't you take point; me and Zeranidul will bring up the rear."

  With that the group left the golem room, now filled with only shards and dust of the once mighty creations of Juxon. Following in the steps of Vuurbin the group passed through another set of large doors. They found themselves in a hall that branched off in three directions. Zeranidul pointed out that the hall to the south had disturbed dirt on the floor, thus most likely Vuurbin had taken Sielan in that direction. The hallway they walked down, heading to the south, was largely non-descript. It gradually sloped downwards delving even deeper into the crust, large puddles of water pooled on the ground from the leaking walls and ceiling. On the floor where steel plating remained, they could make out the number three written in large red paint, though it had become tarnished over the ages. The group assumed the other two halls they didn't explore would have been marked one and two. Rooms branched out along the path but unlike the previous rooms which appeared to be hospital rooms; these were potentially military related. There were weapon racks on the walls and some still contained swords and spears, though they were rusted, cracked and broken from disrepair and neglect.

  After traveling the south hall for a short period of time they came upon a large circular room with a cathedral high ceiling. No pillars supported the circular room but all along the wall were massive alcoves stacked a top each other all the way to the ceiling. While many of the alcoves were empty, in some still resided machines. At this point nothing surprised the remaining members of the group and they counted five mechanical golems in various alcoves. Throughout the room lay several other mechanical golems but they were clearly inoperative, covered in rust and missing parts. Thus, they had discovered the last of Juxon's children, the second generation of constructs, predecessors to the stone golems. Thankfully though, Tulinda did no
t detect any magic from those golems still in the alcoves and it appeared all the mechanical constructs were truly broken and nonfunctional.

  There was only one other entrance to this room, and it was on the opposite side of the large circular holding area for the mechanical golems. Without spending much time inspecting the broken second generation, the group proceeded into the next area which was another short hallway sloping further down. This short hallway dumped them into another identical circular room with even more mechanical golems, each of these machines were likewise in disrepair and broken, but what else was found in the room caused them to stop in shock: Vesnian corpses, dozens and dozens of them. The group moved slowly, weapons drawn, spreading out in order to cover the whole room. With Lorne by her side, Thelais knelt next to a dead Vesnian male. The man had clearly been dead for an exceptionally long time, his body had no color, the skin was almost translucent, and the flesh was hard and tough. Every single corpse here looked the same and mirrored exactly what the Phlebos corpses looked like in Bleak Water when she had first done autopsies months ago with Sielan and Rordun.

  "They're all dead for certain," began Thelais backing away from the corpse and taking in the enormity of what lay before them in the room. "All these corpses perfectly resemble what has happened when a Phlebos fails to reincarnate. However, I don't think these Vesnians died recently, it seems as if they've been dead for a long time. This one here," said Thelais pointing at the male corpse next to her, "had his skull bashed in. If you look at the mechanical golem next to him, on its hand you can see traces of hardened Vesnian flesh and powdered blood. I think it's apparent that these Vesnians were engaged in battle with the golems, but I just don't know what to make of this, it makes no sense and goes against everything we know."

  "Could they be Dallions?" Lorne pushed at the golem with his sword, however the mechanical construct didn't budge and remained motionless and cold. "Perhaps before Gunvold wiped them out some fled down here."

  "No," responded Gowinda from across the room, "they do not dress as Dallions did. Look at their clothing, they are barely wearing anything. They are in rags and practically naked. I've never heard or seen of any Tormos dressing as such. They wear rudimentary jewelry as well, look at this one," Gowinda said while pointing at a female Vesnian corpse near him. "This woman wears a necklace of seashells and fish bones; I know of no Vesnian anywhere who decorates themselves with trinkets from the sea."

  "Who are they then? They certainly aren't Phlebos." Lorne felt his heart beating in his chest and a panic coming over him. Lorne could handle many things including a horde of undead and certain death, but this bizarre sight of mysterious ancient Vesnians locked in combat with mechanical golems shook him to his core. "What exactly is this place? Why did the rock golems attack us? Why were mechanical golems fighting Vesnians? Why is this building unlike any other building we've ever seen?" Lorne's voice continued to increase in tempo, it was clear he was about to suffer a panic attack when a scream was heard from the hallway on the opposite side of the room.

  All six members of the party instantly stopped and looked in the direction of the scream. Lorne was the first one to burst into a full run down the hall followed by the rest. His body cried in agony due to the quick movement, but adrenaline pushed him forward. Urgency and burning hatred dulled the pain that wracked his being. He recklessly raced down the passage, dodging and leaping over the long-deceased corpses of the mysterious Vesnians and the mechanical golems they had been engaged in combat with. Down the hall he saw a double set of doors and it sounded as if the screams were coming from that room. Without stopping or any caution as to his own safety he barreled into the doors, the ancient hinges snapping and causing the doors to fly off and land on the floor in a loud cacophony. He found himself in a room about fifty feet wide and with a length of roughly one hundred feet. The room was full of the steel operating tables found in previous rooms throughout the complex. The two long walls each had several doorways which seemed to lead into smaller adjacent rooms and halls. The first thing he immediately noticed was that the far opposite side of the room was completely missing. After the hundred-foot expanse of the room, the area became a gigantic lake with water lapping up against the cragged and broken floor of the room. The wall that at one point would have stood opposite them had long ago collapsed and now in its place was a massive opening. The underground lake that butted up against this shattered room was so massive he couldn't see to the other side via the light Thelais' glow sphere provided. They were so deep beneath the crust of Nualn that the ocean had begun to reclaim the complex they were exploring. Whatever once lay beyond this room was now lost, sunk deep below the waves into the unknown depths. The group had reached the end of the line; they could go no deeper into the complex in this direction.

  At one of the operating tables near the edge of the lake stood Vuurbin and Sielan, the priest's face was twisted in hatred. While scowling at Lorne, the priest of the flesh pulled the female Phlebos closer to his body. The imperial historian's clothing was torn causing her naked flesh to be exposed to the world. She was covered in numerous bleeding cuts across her abdomen, breasts and arms. It was apparent she had put up a fight as Vuurbin had a nasty gash across his face, but ultimately, she had been overpowered by the larger and stronger Tormos male. Tears streaked Sielan's face as she stared at Lorne pleadingly. Vuurbin gripped the Phlebos female tighter, the blade of his dagger biting into her neck and drawing more blood. Lorne heard the rest of the party arrive in the room behind him, but he didn't turn to look at them, his gaze was squarely locked on the priest.

  Tulinda stepped forward from the group which prompted Vuurbin to shake his head and press the dagger even deeper to Sielan's throat. "I wouldn't come further if I were you! If one of you takes another step towards me, I'll pour this beautiful creature's blood all over the floor!"

  Tulinda stopped mid-step, each of the warriors had their weapons at the ready in a position to spring forward and slaughter the betrayer. "Vuurbin, what are you doing? You are a priest of the flesh; this is not you! You are sworn to help the people, what has become of you? Let the girl go, she has done nothing, we can all walk away from this still," pleaded Tulinda to the priest.

  Vuurbin laughed shaking his head. "Oh please, spare me your drivel. You all saw what's out there! The golems, the dead Vesnians, this steel complex, don't you all get it? It's all a lie! All of it! The Three don't exist, everything we know is a facade! We were led here to our death based on nothing more than a tall tale!"

  "Shut your mouth blasphemer!" Lorne cried out to the priest while taking a step forward but stopping abruptly. He wanted nothing more than to leap over the tables and bury his blade into Vuurbin's chest, but he couldn't risk prompting the insane priest to do the unthinkable.

  "I was once like you," said Vuurbin to Lorne, "blindly believing what I read, but how can you still believe after what we've seen? I do not know what the truth is, but clearly we have been lied to! There is no hope! There is no Heaven's Light! We all lead meaningless lives that ultimately lead to nothing but oblivion! None of us are making it out of this complex alive, so before I die down here, I'm going to perfect my masterpiece!"

  "You-you're a monster," said Thelais coldly.

  Vuurbin pushed Sielan forward so that her upper body and face slammed down onto the steel table in front of them. He held the dagger over her back in a striking position aimed at her skull. "No, I'm the only one who sees things as they are. You know, I always wondered what it would feel like to penetrate a Phlebos and I must admit, it's warmer than I thought. From the minute I saw this lovely beauty at Armistan I knew I had to have her. All I had to do was wait for the right moment and when I saw it, I took it! For many years I've been collecting the most beautiful Vesnians I come across. I take them and then I make improvements to them, I sculpt their flesh so that they may achieve true perfection. Then, once I've made them how I want them, I have fun with them, as none but the absolutely perfect can enjoy the pleasure I off
er. I want all of you to leave the room immediately so I can finish my work here. When I'm done with my art you can have her back and do with me as you please. All of us are dead, whether I die by your hands or those of the undead horde matters not, but before I leave this world, I will finish my work on this Phlebos, she will be my final masterpiece. Her corpse will be an everlasting testament to my genius. Now leave!"

  Tulinda shook with rage due to the vileness of the priest of the flesh. She wanted to will forth the rocks above the priest to crush him into a pulp, but everything down here so unstable she was liable to accidently collapse the entire structure killing the entire group. "If you think we are going to let you harm her anymore you have another thing coming."

  "You don't have any choice," said Vuurbin. "I hold all the pieces here, I hold her life in my hands, she lives and dies on my whim! There is nothing any of you can -"

  Vuurbin was cut off by a loud crash. A side door directly to Vuurbin's left suddenly swung open violently and with such force that it was blown off its hinges. A massive figure charged out of the shadows of the adjoining room. A high-pitched whistling sound echoed off the walls of the steel room and a black mace made of the hardest steel was swung with monumental force. Vuurbin turned his head in the direction of the noise but his reaction wasn't fast enough. He couldn’t see what was coming at him before it was too late. Goredallion smashed into the back of the priest of the flesh's head, the impossibly hard mace completely obliterating Vuurbin's skull causing chunks of brain, flesh and bone fragments to splatter across the room.