A/N Hey Guys and Gals! So I know its been a while but I assure you it was worth the wait. This chapter is almost if not double or more what I normally write, I just had so much to put in soooo... Anyway I hope you all enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 3 The First Quest
Reynauld awoke to the light shining into his room. For him the light was something that brought his mind comfort and ease seeing as how he was a crusader of The Light. However leaving the warm cocoon of his bed was something of a struggle most people had to deal with. Luckily the Crusades helped with that, that and the light of the sun was also shining in his eyes.
Coming to the right side of his bed, his feet meeting the cold, hardwood floor, he put his hands onto his knees and pushed himself to stand. Grabbing his gear he quickly suited up and got himself ready for the day. After 20 minutes of adorning, fixing, and adjusting armor, Reynauld exited his small room into the hallway to wake the others. To his right was Marcus and to his left were Dismas, Sophia, and Hannah. Deciding to wake Marcus first he went to the door and softly knocked 5 times. There was no response, so Reynauld opened the door to find Marcus sound asleep. Coming over to his right side he gently shook him, but this was to no avail.
"Come on now Marcus, wake up." Reynauld said.
Reynauld then smiled a little under his helm and decided to rip the covers off. When he grasped the blankets however he found himself on the floor 2 seconds later with Marcus fully awake now and glaring daggers at Reynauld.
"You wouldn't wake up, so I improvised." Reynauld said as he got up.
"Yes thank you. Now leave please." Marcus said, his anger quickly vanishing.
"I'll be downstairs waiting when you're ready." Reynauld said as he exited the room and shut the door behind him.
Marcus had packed a large mirror with him when he came here, not that he desperately needed it but simply because he could. He looked at himself, examining his tall and muscular figure. He stood around 6.2ft tall and had a light tan. His hair was short and was dirty blonde. His eyes were bluish green with a hint of grey in them. He had thick eyebrows that matched his hair. His skin was smooth like that of a pampered noble, not that he really worked on it.
Deciding to get ready for the day he put on a rather bland white shirt and trousers, then grabbing a pair of shoes followed by a long brown coat. His hair was a mess so he straightened it and then did a quick shave to finish off his readiness. He then exited the room to see Reynauld exiting Dismas' room with a grumble, then knocking on Hannah's door. Curious, Marcus stayed silent and watched. Reynauld stood still for a moment, his eyes fixed on Hannah's sleeping form. Reynauld reached out his hand to wake her but it seemed mother nature had struck first. Hannah's eyes shot open wide and what she saw was a dark looming figure about to grab her. Quickly, Hannah grabbed a wooden board on the floor and smacked Reynauld across the face ringing his bell and making him stumble over the the right where he tripped over a chair and fell on his back.
"That's what you get you peeping tom," Hannah said with a smile. "Though it was a good effort."
"Umm. Hannah, Reynauld was only trying to wake you." Marcus said with a look of surprise.
"Oh." Hannah face then turned bright red as she blushed.
"Anyway, we'll be leaving as soon as you and the others are ready." Marcus said, then left to wake up Sophia.
Reynauld looked up at Hannah from his position on the ground, she was still in her bed with the sheets covering her body.
"I'll take my leave." Reynauld said, then got up and walked out the room closing the door behind him.
A half hour passed by and Reynauld along with Dismas, Hannah, and Sophia all stood on the outskirts of town ready to head out.
"You'll need supplies should you wish to survive long in there." Larrin said behind a wooden counter littered with food, trinkets and bobbles. "And yes you'll have to pay for them. We need the gold to fix the Hamlet."
"Fine. We'll take 10 torches, a bottle of holy water, 2 bundles of bandages along with a flask of anti venom, 2 shovels and what are those keys?" Reynauld asked, curious about the skull like keys.
"These keys unlock certain locks that you will find in your journeys. However the keys have a strange magic that makes the key vanish after it has been used. They tend to pop up from time to time but I really have no idea why. sometimes they never show up." Larrin said finishing with a shrug.
"Alright we'll take two." Reynauld said, taking the supplies and divvying them up between the others. Reynauld took the shovels and strapped them to his back along with most of the torches which he stored in a long bag he carried. Dismas took the food and water while Sophia took the bandages and other torches while Hannah took the antivenom and keys.
"Stay safe." Larrin said as he took the gold Reynauld had paid him.
"We'll try." Dismas said.
Marcus waved at the 4 as they went off in the direction of the ruins.
About 2 hours later the 4 arrived at what could be described as being an old abbey. Sadly the slow decay of time had seemed to seep into every piece of church that was there. Most of the windows were broken, the roof was caved in and the front doors were utterly smashed apart. The courtyard seemed to be untouched which was a small relief to the crusader and vestal.
"What a shame, this abbey is simply sad to look at." Sophia said with a hint of sadness.
"True, but let's not linger, this appears to be the only way in, so onward we go." Reynauld said as he entered, followed by the other three. Inside was no better looking than the outside. The roof was littered all over the floor except for the parts of the red carpet leading to the alter. They continued forward until they reached the altar, but what they found made even Dismus shiver. A passageway lit by candles leading down. Gathering their courage, the heroes ventured down the pathway.
"What exactly are we doing down here anyways?" Dismus asked.
"Maybe if you'd not fallen asleep you would have known. Anyway Marcus had asked us to scout the first levels of the ruins, he's not sure what is down here so he told us to be prepared for anything. Though the candles are very interesting." Reynauld replied.
At the end of the passageway was a large square door. Opening the door and stepping inside, they found they were in a room with a small altar lit by three candles that appeared to be dedicated to The Light, however a few skeletons littered the floor around the altar with swords and spears driven into their bones. The smell of death and decay hung in the air creating a level of uncertainty.
This caused an air of stress to wash all over the group.
"Why are there skeletons down here? this place is supposed to be abandoned." Hannah asked getting a bit scared.
"I'm not sure, but we shall prevail. The Light shall be our guild." Reynauld said as he lit a torch, unsheathed his sword and headed to the first door he saw.
The door looked like the exact same that they came through. On the other side was a pathway that was extremely dark, where not even the torches light would go very far. The darkness was almost alive as it seemed to hiss and flow back and forth around the edges of where the light reached. Stepping forward Reynauld continued, followed by Dismas, Hannah and Sophia bringing up the reer. The corridors were made of thick and old looking cobblestone that had many shelves and other interesting pieces of torn books lying against the walls. Up ahead Reynauld saw a large wooden post that held a single torch on top of it inside a metal casing. Dismas took the torch and lit it, adding to the light that was becoming a comforting sight.
"The way is lit, the path is clear. We require only the strength to follow it."
"..."
"Umm tell me I'm not the only one who just heard that." Sophia said.
"Afraid not darlin'. We all heard it." Dismas said.
"It matters little, come on." Reynauld said as he continued, then reaching the end of the pathway.
Reynauld opened the door to reveal a large room with holes that dotted the room's walls. A small chest lied in the middle of the room along with with two skeletons that looked very much alive and looked at them with eyeless sockets glaring.
Dismas was the first to react and fired a shot at the 2nd skeleton hitting him, breaking a shoulder bone. Sophia then chanted a few words and a yellow light struck the same skeleton reducing it to a pile of bones.
"Here drink this!" Hannah said quickly handing Reynauld a flask of green liquid.
"Wha-" Reynauld tried to say but was quickly stopped as Hannah lifted his helm and brought the flask to his mouth.
"Drink!" She yelled.
Reynauld gulped down the strange liquid and immediately felt angry, a small surge of power due to an adrenaline kick. He turned around and brought his sword down upon the remaining skeleton, destroying it beneath his mighty sword. Taking a deep breath, Reynauld relaxed a little along with the rush going away. Inside the chest they found a painting and a stash of gold. Continuing on they came to another passageway.
"First they're dead and now they're alive. This is insane." Dismas said speaking of the skeletons.
"Easy Dismas, you know what you signed up for, as do all of us." Sophia said reassuringly.
In the middle was a blocking of stone that was preventing passage. Together the group dugout the cave in and continued on, only to be met with another pair of skeletons and a woman wearing strange black cloths and a weird black metal helm with spikes pointing inward.
Dismas again was the first to react and fired a shot at the woman, that crushed her right arm disabling it. Hannah then threw a yellow ceramic ball that smashed into the woman, causing her to gasp and suck in the plague vapors that she was covered in, killing her instantly. A skeleton then reacted and took a swing at Reynauld but found his sword to be covering the spot he attacked. Sophia chanted and a light went after the first skeleton, but the beam went haywire and missed the target. It was then Reynauld who reacted last. He raised his sword and went to strike the 2nd skeleton. It brought its club that it held to block the attack but Raynaud's sword was stronger,smashing through the rotting wood and cleaving the skeleton to a pile. Sophia then blasted the last skeleton with her light, making it bone dust.
The remains held a pile of gold and a pair of busts that the group was guarding.
"We must take everything we can find. After all, everything has a price." Dismas said gathering the spoils into a large sack.
"Good idea." Sophia agreed. Dismas looked up and smiled at her, meeting a similar expression.
The expedition then continued, through another door that lead to a large room filled with rubble and 2 doors.
"Is it just me? Or did the previous owner have a thing for identical house-ware?" Sophia asked.
"I think it's just you. Like, that last room we visited had a little less rubble than this room, so…" Dismas said with a smirk earning him a glare from Sophia.
"Which door should be go through?" Reynauld asked.
"Hold on, give me a second to look." Dismas said as he got closer to the two doors.
Dismas looked hard at the mark's on the cobblestone floor leading into both doors. His eyes widened at the realization.
"These tracks show that both ways lead to a room that holds some kind of value, though I'm not completely sure. Also they show that there are things ahead though I still can't be certain."
"So both ways lead to danger. I'd say the first door." Reynauld stated.
"I agree." Hannah said looking at Reynauld.
"As do I." Said Sophia.
Without another word, they ventured through the first door. The pathway was uneventful except for a large sack that laid in the middle of the hallway. Hannah went forward and untied the large sack revealing a few shining blue stones and a key.
"Sapphires! Oh I do love the color blue." Hannah said as she put the stones and key inside the large pack.
"Blue like strangled dreams."
"Whoever you are, show yourself!" Reynauld called. No reply. "Don't pay it any attention Hannah." He added seeing the young woman's face pale for a moment.
She nodded and the group continued on through the next door into a large room filled with bookshelves, and a hearth. Inside was a large man armed with 2 pieces of sharp metal attached to both of his hands. He wore the same strange helm and with him was another woman who wore the same garb as the last along with a bone soldier.
The woman revealed a staff with a metal skull at the tip. Then a wave of black energy seemed to thrust out of the skulls eyes as she cried "Feel the darkness!" The energy smashed into Sophia's face causing her to see horrible hallucinations.
"For the cult!" The large man yelled as he rushed at Dismas and took a swipe at him.
Dismas dodged the attack and replied with a grapeshot round, hitting the three enemies. Hannah launched another plague grenade at the woman, soaking her with blighted vapores.
"Back you servants of Darkness!" Reynauld yelled as he opened a scroll attached to his hip, showing the text that glowed bright and struck the large man turning him to dust and the bone soldier in a mighty light.
"I can't see the light! I'm blinded!" Sophia cried out as her hands covered her eyes trying to block out the terrifying images.
The cultist witch shot another blast of energy at Dismas only to see him duck under the wave and return with a shot to her head. The witch fell to the ground with a thud, signaling victory. Quickly, the three turned to Sophia to see her crying on the ground. Coming to her, Reynauld knelt down on one knee and took her hands in his own.
"Sophia, the light hasn't abandoned you, just open your eyes." Reynauld said quietly.
Slowly she opened her eyes to see the her companions all staring at her, with concerned faces.
"Come on now darlin'." Dismas said as he put a hand on her shoulder.
"Were in this together." Hannah said.
A few minutes later the group was moving again. Inside the chest they found a large sack of gold, a few crests and another painting along with a yellowish crystal that glowed a faint orange in the light of the torch. Even with the torch light being a blaze, Reynauld could sense his inner demons coming out the further he looked into the darkness. But as he continued he did not notice a small spear trap until it was too late. Out of the ground came an old rust covered metal that was jagged and edgy which shot from a small hole and sliced Reynauld's left arm, drawing blood. Quickly Hannah rushed over and treated the wound with care, sealing it up.
"My thanks, doctor." Reynauld said, patting his small wound.
"No worries." She replied with a smile.
The room they entered was empty, save for a few piles of skulls and bones that thankfully the group either didn't acknowledge or did not see.
"So we can either continue this path or go towards another battle. But we might find some more treasure." Dismas said hinting mostly at making a profit.
"I say we go with Dismas. After all, the skirmishes we have faced haven't been that bad." Sophia stated.
"I'm all for adventure so why not." Hannah said.
"Then it's to battle we go." Reynauld concluded, and walked out of the room followed by the rest.
The hallway was uneventful, except a small trap that was swiftly dealt with. Inside the room they found three bone soldiers guarding a shrine. the first two soldiers had steel swords and the third fashioned a crossbow. Hannah gave another vile to Reynauld and once again his power surge kicked in. Dismas shot a grapeshot round into the enemy, but the shot went amiss. The two bone soldiers then attacked Dismas and Hannah slicing at their bodies, each scoring a painful hit. Reynauld cleaved the first bone soldier in half while Sophia chanted a few words and Dismas' wounds sowed themselves back together. Dismas then fired a shot at the crossbowman, destroying its left hand. Reynauld then took this opportunity and pulverized the soldier to dust with his scroll. Hannah took this precious time to seal her wounds, while Sophia blasted the last swordsman to pieces.
Dismas raided the bone soldiers belongings and found a jade stone, more yellow citrine and a few shards of onyx.
"Excellent! see I told you we'd find some!" Dismas exclaimed joyfully as he bagged the precious minerals.
While the other three were distracted Reynauld took this time and pulled out his own personal bottle of holy water and cleaned the shrine. Another moment later he was blessed by the light, his stress was completely gone making him feel as light as a feather and his wounds were no longer noticeable.
After heading back the way they came, the group ventured forward. Stopping for a brief moment, they came upon another large sack. Reynauld stepped forward whistling, and opened the sack while his back was too the others. Inside he found a large amount of gold and a jade stone.
'I'll be keeping this, a reward well earned.' He thought as he pocketed the goods secretly.
"All right let's keep going, we've only got a little farther to go." Reynauld said quickly, little did he know he had been caught by a pair of blue eyes.
Spooky cliff hanger! Again hope yall enjoyed what I wrote and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. Review, Fallow, or Favorite if you want. It gives me great joy to see that people like what i'm serving :)