Landing in the castle's courtyard gracefully before hurrying towards the front entrance, she passed by numorous employees and other guards who caught sight of her irritated expression that made them wonder if she was angry at the cat demons again. It was impossible in this scenario due to Ater and Arbus still working in the daycare center on the first floor. Although that department's proximity to the elevator was close by and gave them the allusion that it was her destination, Grora proved otherwise when she made a beeline towards the elevator itself and quickly pressed a button to call it down to the first floor. "Not going to give those girls their usual beating?" an angel asked, taking a sip of coffee while passing by when he noticed her presence. Ater and Arbus were nearby and they had already exited the daycare center with a child who had yet to be taken by his mother who was already on her way to the castle for him. The two of them saw Grora as well and watched as the angelic lady turned to address the other angel who'd been walking past her just then.
"Not this time, no," she answered him, impatiently tapping her foot against the floor as she crossed her arms. Her tone of voice came across as curt, though the obvious distress that manifested in her facial expression clearly showed she was definitely upset about something. What it was he'd only guess at as would everybody else who saw her arrive. However, some of them also witnessed Froze coming through the lobby with a similar expression on her own face before and they must've figured Grora was also tense because of a similar reason if it wasn't exactly the same. Perhaps the two of them really had to get to work and were upset at how tardy they'd been today, but that was actually the wrong assumption to make considering who just showed up in the Gray Garden. That was why both of them were in a rush, and Grora hoped this damn elevator was coming down right away so she could take it up. "Come on, come on…just get here already, will you?" she demanded.
Taking that kind of attitude with an elevator was odd, a bit strange even. Nevertheless they could understand she was impatient and was desperately wishing the elevator would arrive. When it did and the door opened, Grora wasted no time entering despite the fact she was rudely shoving her way in through a few other people who exited. "Excuse me," she commented bluntly, but in a polite way even though her tone was still bitter. "Sorry about the rush and all." Letting it shut once she made it in and pressed a button for the top floor, Grora again tapped her foot against the floor. Watching the dial turn in the direction towards that floor, she grimaced uneasily and hoped to god nobody else had to use this elevator too. Thankfully it appeared no one did, so she managed to get to her true destination right on time and exited once the door opened. Quickly storming over to the double doors into the office Kcalb and Etihw used, Grora threw them open hastily and stomped in.
"Grora!" Froze called out, whirling around at the sound of the doors opening and instantly rushing to see if the older angel was okay. "You're alive! You're not hurt or anything, right?"
"I'm fine, Froze, thank you for the concern," her foster mother spoke quickly and gave her a light pat on the head to quickly ruffle her head while hurrying past the younger angel toward two desks on either side of the room. "He's come back!" she exclaimed in anger, looking between the Goddess and the Devil who apparently had already heard the message from Froze. Although Kcalb didn't look surprised, he maintained a grim outlook concerning the matter; whereas Etihw became bewildered at the thought of that man's return to their world. "The bastard's shown up again! He's come back to attack our world again, just like he attempted to do back then! We have to stop him!" Words alone could not express the urgency of this situation, hence Grora's reference to the past.
"We know, Grora, Froze told us already," Kcalb said calmly while his brother watched on as the angelic lady was relaying her own statements regarding Hastur's reappearance in their world after decades of peace in his absence. "We've already made arrangements to have patrols be on an alert for him. They shall keep a close eye on the surrounding region and others in the event he has brought allies with him to aid in the assault. Their orders are to be cautious apprehending him due to his skills as a warrior assassin." While his comments were sound, Grora didn't seem to agree.
"Apprehend him?!" she sounded somewhat surprised and mostly outraged at the idea of an attempt to arrest Hastur. "You think he'll just eventually surrender at some point?! No, this is some stupid idiot who shall not bow down to others and refuse to turn himself in! He knows better than that; Hastur is well aware that simply attempting to slip away while in custody is an advantage we are already knowledgeable of. He'll not come quietly, preferring to slaughter everyone we send to apprehend him before working his way here." She strode forward and slammed her hands onto the desk Kcalb sat at, nearly knocking over some of the miscellaneous items related to work. "A much better idea would be to send an army after this guy to take him down by killing him, you know."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on for just a minute, Grora!" Etihw leapt from her chair and took several steps over to try and calm their subordinate down before she did anything rash. "That's not how we do things and you know it. Violence is never the answer. We'll get him for sure, but we've no desire to stoop to his level. Were we to do so, it would only tarnish our harmonious nature and taint us with a possible darkness we'll have difficulty clearing away. Please, let us handle this."
"And what then, huh? You would rather send innocent men and women to their deaths?"
"We're not saying that, Grora!" Etihw protested against the angel's remark.
"Your actions and decisions are implying it!" Grora countered with her own comment and strode away from the desk to pace in the center of the room while thinking of her own plan to end this threat for good. She put a bent finger to her chin and tried to soothe her nerves so she wouldn't think unclearly, though it was hard when the Goddess and the Devil were not taking it seriously.
"True, we shall not deny that," Wodahs spoke up while his brother nodded to agree. "This is indeed a very serious threat as we do acknowledge it. However, we must be rational about it. He is most definitely a threat to the stability of our world, and the stability and harmony are things we wish to preserve. Calm yourself, Grora, we know this man will endanger the Gray Garden, but we cannot ever resort to murder and violence as the solutions to solve this problem, understand?"
"So you're willing to take him on as if Hastur's some petty to moderate threat?!" she jabbed a snappish finger at them all to accuse them of not handling this matter accordingly. "Your plan to settle this peacefully won't work!" To emphasize her point, Grora stopped to stomp her foot. "We need to kill Hastur to ensure he doesn't corrupt anyone else in this world or other worlds! You all want to try and apprehend him, fine! My only advice is that you go after him with the intention of fighting to kill him, because underestimating his military prowess will get you killed, got it?!"
"While we may have to oppose him in combat from that approach depending on how strong he's become since having been exiled from this world following his escape, we still can't kill him," Kcalb concurred with the idea despite still siding with the notion to let Hastur live and be arrested.
"But he can and will kill us!" Grora continued to protest, trying to hammer her point in.
"Point taken, but we're not giving in to aggressive tendencies even if our opponent will. It may not be the best course of action in your mind, Grora, but know we will not ever go down that dark path even if a man like him does," Etihw spoke her own piece and held a hand up to quiet the angelic lady before she could argue any further. "We understand your concern, but please consider ours and calm yourself, Grora. You know he'll do anything to ensure he succeeds, that much could be extrapolated from this. With that in mind, we can be sure he'll go to extreme measures and even place himself at risk to usher in his own twisted ideal of peace if nobody else is supporting him."
"Somebody already is helping him," Grora commented and then began to explain what led to that conclusion. "Before he was about to fight me, somebody called Hastur off via his cellphone. He left without saying who it was, though that in of itself is definitive proof he has allies or so."
"Somebody called him off, eh?" Kcalb murmured and shut his eyes to ponder what it meant and how that piece of the puzzle was important and relevant to the situation. If I had to guess, it'll probably be somebody from either this world or Fumus' heaven. We did establish communication with his heaven, but also Rosaliya's world and Reficul's underworld all for the purpose of foreign trade. Hastur wouldn't work with demons, so we can rule out Reficul and Rosaliya; the same could be said for Fumus because I believe he wouldn't provide any aid to Hastur either. Nevertheless, it is possible somebody in his heaven might've just as it's possible for somebody else from a different world completely might've done it. Even so, he was exiled and our magic should've kept him out."
"With all due respect Sir Devil, maybe the magic you and Lady Etihw used wasn't enough to stop him," Grora suggested a possible theory that put doubt on their abilities, not that she meant to because it was only a hypothesis and nothing more. "Perhaps it weakened over time or the like."
"Maybe," Kcalb went on theorizing as well, "but if not that leaves a variety of suspects. If not Rosaliya, Fumus, or Reficul—and I'm strongly positive none of them are the perpetrators since I believe them—it would need to be another deity because Hastur wouldn't accept help from Devils and demons. We know that about him, and we're also aware of the fact that only other deities and Devils can bypass our magic to send their forces into our world. Ruling out the latter, we're left to assume it's a deity." His logic made sense and everyone agreed with it because it was the only idea they had as to who could've helped Hastur return to this world following his exile after his crimes.
"It looks like we're dealing with another invasion, one that could lead to another war," the Head Angel remarked, recognizing the grim outlook of their situation. "We should prepare for it."
"Indeed," his brother agreed and nodded, "though this time let's be better prepared. We do not want a repeat of what happened when Ivlis invaded our world. That being said, and this is just my personal opinion of the matter even though I dislike him, but I believe he might side with us if the God of his world, Siralos, is behind this latest excursion. However, his reason for joining us is to fight against Siralos as his God would be a common foe not just against us, but him as well."
"Yes, just as Reficul would aid us against Elux if her Goddess invades," Etihw commented. "Even so, Kcalb, do you really believe we should accept foreign aid with our own problems? I do think it is a good idea, but an invasion of our world is between us and the invaders, not others."
"It is an idea, yes, one we mustn't overlook when attempting to solve such problems. Still, I too would like to avoid getting other worlds involved in our defense unless it is necessary and of the utmost importance. Calling on allies is good and all, but we must handle this with honor despite the fact our opponent might not be honorable. In the event whoever our foe may be summons allies of his or her own, we can call on others to gather their opinion and see if they would support us in an attempt to convene a diplomatic meeting to avoid the conflict if it can be avoided, that is. Even so, we might also be able to call upon them to help in the defense if they wish to think about it."
Looking back and forth between the Goddess and the Devil, Grora frowned as she listened to their discussion and shut her eye to ponder on the state of their international affairs. Their world did indeed trade with a few other worlds, so commercial ties were the only foreign links they had. If one of their commercial associates were to provide aid, it would only be to preserve trade instead of friendship even though individuals like Reficul and Rosaliya had friends in this world. That link would've been a close second priority in this dilemma. Besides, the Gray Garden was neutral with regards to foreign conflicts in other worlds and only conducted diplomacy if they ever got involved in the dispute and whatever it was about. None of the other worlds would aid a neutral world even though they might've respected it for handling matters diplomatically in fair negotiations; yet they probably would if they actually did seek the Gray Garden's skills in diplomatic affairs. Getting aid from another world or two was going to be difficult because each of them had an underworld, or a hell as it was known in some places, and a heaven. Two different leaders governed each world and fought against one another: deity versus Devil, and angels versus demons. Calling on one for help meant the other could become an enemy. As simple as it sounded, it was complicated in reality.
"In any case," Kcalb went on in the discussion, "we must still consider the idea; though for now let's concentrate on Hastur and play this matter by ear. Based on how strong he might be, we should have somebody experienced lead a team to confront him. We have seasoned warriors and mages among our forces, including battlemages, spellswords, and knights. In my opinion, I believe we should instruct our veteran battlemages and spellswords to take charge in case Hastur somehow learned how to do magic. Granted, I'm sure he might not look favorably on it, but we can't assume he wouldn't consider using it to his advantage even if he takes pride in being a skilled warrior."
"Very well, that is a sound precautionary idea. Let's go with that," Etihw agreed with him.
"Certainly, I'll instruct the guards to prepare themselves and update them on this strategy," Wodahs commented, not warping out just yet because there may have been more they wanted him to relay to them when Grora spoke up after a brief period of silence to garner everyone's attention.
"Oh, believe me, I'm sure he knows how to use magic. He warped out like the Head Angel does when he departed. You might want to have some anti-magic means of stopping him too. You should think about also calling in some of the old witch hunters who are still in our world. They're retired souls, though we could really use their expertise in that case in addition to my own skills."
"We appreciate the suggestion, Grora, and we shall follow through with it even though we don't hunt after witches anymore," Etihw murmured in agreement, making eye contact with Grora. "Still, I don't understand why you'd want to help out unless it's to bury your past. Last time you've faced him alone, you lost. We can certainly put you in a squad with others and take up patrols too."
"Thanks, though this isn't just to bury my past." With a small sigh of exhaustion, she closed her eye temporarily before reopening it to look them straight in the eyes. Speaking up in a confident voice, Grora declared what her intentions were. "If anybody is going to be taking him down, it has to be me. Besides Hastur, I'm the only other survivor of True Light. A former member of the order must defeat him to find complete redemption by atoning for the past mistakes we committed. You need me because I know him better than most, and I need this opportunity to truly make peace for my actions in True Light. Although I know you and everyone else already forgave me, I can't even forgive myself for what I've done back then until I put an end to Hastur and his life for good." She got down on one knee to humbly bow before them with one arm across her chest and the other on the floor, her hand pressed against it. "Please, I only ask that you grant me this much in this matter."
Kcalb, Wodahs, and Etihw all exchanged looks as they thought about whether it was right to let Grora have this chance to prove herself loyal to them. She already had multiple times before after confessing her involvement in True Light, but eventually the Devil addressed her and placed a compromise in front of her. "Very well, but do not kill Hastur unless you really have to in order to protect your comrades and civilians. That much we'll allow, though we still must try our best to avoid slaying him. After all, violence only breeds violence just as hatred breeds hatred, Grora. We must avoid that at all costs if we're to maintain harmonious peace and preserve it too, understand?"
Grora stood up and nodded before saluting them. "I understand, and thank you," she stated before turning to walk out. However, she made sure to stop next to Froze and smile at the younger angel who had remained silent throughout the entire meeting. Shutting her eye, she ruffled Froze's hair and messed up the position of her foster's daughter's cap, but she quickly fixed it. "Hey, Froze, sorry I didn't get a chance to help you finish your homework. I hope you've still got time to do it."
"I do, yes, and I can finish what I don't get done in homeroom session tomorrow morning," the young angel responded to that topic first before showing concern for her foster mother. "What about you, Grora? How will you handle this and where do you plan on starting? You won't get too hurt, will you? I mean, you can handle fighting Hastur even if you're on your own, right, Grora?"
The older angel's smile widened and she gently stroked Froze's cheek, grateful the girl she raised as her foster daughter was worried about her. "Fear not, sweetie, I'll take care of myself and anyone else with me. I know better than to go it alone. I also have a good idea of where to begin."
…
"Well, here we are, gentlemen, the entrance to our secret hideaway. Nobody would've ever suspected to look for a hidey-hole here in Daybreak Forest," she remarked, having stepped forward to present the tunnel entrance to them. It was more of an underground cave, really, secluded within a nest of slippery elm trees with poison hemlock and garlic mustard at the bases within patches of cheatgrass and foxtail barley. They had flown up onto a hill upon arriving to reach the mouth of it once they set down a warp slate for faster travel from here back to Blancblack Castle. As it was in the late evening to the dark of night, the sky was meant to be pretty dark. As they were in Daybreak Forest, however, the sky was very much like what it looked like each morning: dark purplish before the sun rose to bring light into the world. "Quite the hidden entrance, right? I'm not surprised no one saw it in the past because of how well hidden it was, though it seems vegetation took over."
"Back then, yes, and still the secret remains to be seen even when right in front of it," Rorin murmured once Grora introduced them to the entrance of the cavernous tunnel leading to the ruins of what had once been a silver mine during the war—the very same silver mine True Light utilized as its base of operations following the peace treaty established by Etihw and Kcalb. "I could barely see the way in through all the natural flora and trees blocking the opening." Unsheathing a weapon from his back, a double-edged claymore made from silver with a steel hilt laced with leather, Rorin stepped forward and poked at the vegetation to see if he could hack his way through it. "We should have brought some machetes with us to cut this stuff down so we can proceed onward into the old mining facility. I know a guy at the sporting goods store who sells them; a quick trip back can—"
"Sorry to interrupt, Rorin, though we don't have that kind of time," Mitchell spoke up and also stepped forward to examine the growth of vegetation. The light spell he cast moved with him, specifically one of four balls of light that would stay active for some time until he had to recast the spell. Clad in a steel cuirass with chainmail leggings and boots of the same design, he reached his hand out and felt the vegetation. "I'd burn this stuff," the spellsword suggested, knowing it wasn't a good idea, "but I'd run the risk of causing a forest fire that will immolate the entire forest."
"Oh, there was a way past it back then, and I'm sure it still is to this day," Grora said while walking forward, decked out in her Mithril armor minus a helmet. She reached out and seized one of the vines and used it as a rope to scale one particular tree instead of flying over it. Her bow was slung over her back and she kept her pair of silver scimitars sheathed at her sides, the weapons all clinking as she leapt off the tree and swung up to the top of a steep incline. Holding a hand above her face and pressing the side of it against her forehead to gaze around the area for signs of anything or anyone that could've opposed them, the angelic woman then diverted her attention towards the entrance and smiled, grateful it was left untouched with the exception of vines covering it. "Yeah, it's still good from what I can see up here. Just a few vines is all, but not much of a problem." She leapt down and unsheathed one scimitar, delivering a quick horizontal slash near the top to cut the vines down to provide them a way in. "Climb on over and come right in; the door's already open!"
"Already on it," Othros stated affirmatively since he and the other two were currently on a quick ascent up before dropping down to follow Grora into the tunnel. Sauntering forward, he had a quick look around and put forth a casual observation. "Plenty of mushrooms here of many diverse varieties. Better be careful, lest any are poisonous which I expect some of them to be at any rate." His chainmail armor brushed up against the vines that slid across two handheld crossbows on both sides of his belt, holstered there so he could draw them quickly at a moment's notice if need be.
"There's a lot down here," Grora uttered and began to lead her friends into the tunnel. Their footsteps echoed throughout the rocky corridors and she unsheathed the other scimitar to deal two strikes unto a giant cave spider that scuttled up to greet its guests with fangs. Although the creature attempted to make a meal out of them, the angelic lady easily dispatched it with the strokes of her blades. "This place was cleared out last time I was here. When was it?—oh, decades ago, just after I fought Hastur in the church constructed deeper in the cave to hide it from demons in the war. It's amazing how time flies; I imagine the place is already in a serious state of decay. Hell, perhaps the old structures have already crumbled into dust and aren't standing anymore." Another giant spider approached them and tried to strike with its front legs, but Grora blocked them to stop the attack.
"I'd say the new tenants aren't too happy with our unexpected arrival, barging in with none of the invitations to show the doorman," Mitchell joked, lashing out at the spider with a sword that he produced from air to slay the thing in one blow. "These guys don't seem that strong. I guess the creatures we're encountering aren't the main threat here." He followed up that attack with another one, a shard of ice he fired at a third spider which showed up to assault the group as they proceeded further into the cave. "Hey, Grora, how big is this place anyway? Surely Hastur wouldn't have put the main base of operations so far back to make his followers walk that much to arrive there."
"It's only a few winding turns here and there with a clearing in the center before two paths," Grora answered him while Othros dispatched two more spiders with crossbow bolts enchanted by Etihw to deal a small amount of fire damage with each blow while the crossbows themselves were enchanted to never run out of ammo. Enchantments were powerful abilities bequeathed upon what could hold them; particular items had to be proportionate in size, construct, and strength so magic in the enchantments could match said items. They were only as strong as the items were themselves because a stronger enchantment risked breaking the item in any sort of manner. The crossbows he wielded for example were recurve crossbows that could only contain adept level enchantments; if anything higher was applied to them, they would explode into pieces whenever someone fired the bolts. "This is a relatively small cavern compared to other ones in this region, so it won't be long."
"I'm more concerned with whatever else might be in here," Rorin commented, kneeling on the ground to examine a set of tracks he caught sight of to determine who or what made them. "I'd say we're probably going to be in for a clash with the beast who likely calls this place home now."
Stooping to analyze the tracks as well once their way forward was clear, Othros put a hand in the print of one footprint for a comparison of its size before doing the same with his foot. "Ogre," he declared, standing upright and alerting his friends to the creature's presence. "Its tracks are still fresh and there is a meaty smell in the air if you happen to notice the scent. Obviously it came back from having just caught dinner, venison or pork if I happen to be correct on the smell of meat."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go grab ourselves some seats at the table," Grora said in jest to lighten the mood, adrenaline pumping through her due to excitement. She fought a lot of ogres before, and figured they could add another one to that total—she lost count of how many she slew, exactly—while en route to True Light's old base. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving for some good eats—particularly those of the large and smelly variety," she referenced the ogre.
"I think I'll probably pass on that," Rorin chuckled, joining in on the fun. "We already ate not too long ago before coming here, though I might have some second thoughts about what to eat. Carrying Mitchell took a lot of energy I could gain back, though I'll probably go with fasting."
Mitchell was grateful for the ride, though he also laughed too and put an arm around Rorin after recasting the light spell. "Come on, dude, just go ahead and grab all the grub you can get! We need all the energy required to get through the night and back to the castle! And if we happen upon catching Hastur in the act, we'd need one of the best warriors the angels' have ever had the honor of fighting alongside in the war! After all, I bet the man's a mere novice compared to your skills!"
"Well, I wouldn't want to be modest about that," Rorin commented, returning the gesture.
"Indeed, though I happen to think Hastur would not be so easy to quell in battle even if we all outnumber him four to one," Othros pointed out and began to briefly explain his point of view. "Remember, this was a man who had been a candidate for the position of Commander-in-Chief of the angels' entire military force. Although he had not learned how to wield magic like Mitchell or anyone else has, we cannot deny the possibility of him having acquired skills in it after his exile."
"Exactly, his skills are some of the best techniques he knows," Grora commented to agree with him while going down a tunnel towards the first clearing. "Hastur is bound to be a tough nut to crack, especially since he could potentially go toe to toe with other excellent fighters. If I recall correctly, Rigatona was the only angel amongst the other candidates who could defeat him easily. Furthermore, even Yosaflame himself was superior in skill and good behavior like chivalry. Even Sir Devil, Head Angel, and Lady Etihw could take him down if they fought him. I'd reckon there's few individuals who could stand up against him and come out of the conflict unscathed whereas a number of other combatants would only escape with grievous wounds and possibly survive them."
"And which category would we fit in, Grora?" Mitchell inquired to comprehend the matter they were all facing. "I doubt we'd be able to win unscathed, so it would probably be the latter."
"Yep, the latter it is," the angelic lady confirmed it for them, yet none of the four members in their group let it dampen their spirits because they were fighting for a worthy purpose: the safety and security of their world and all who inhabited it. "I'll admit even I'm probably unable to handle Hastur on my own, hence why I'd like to thank you guys for offering to come with me so I shan't fight him alone. Our chances of success are greater together than alone; strength in numbers and a strong sense of unity! That's our power together as one, and I'm grateful for the aid you can give."
"That's what friends are for, Grora," Rorin murmured in agreement as they emerged in the cavernous clearing. "You know we'll always have your back in a situation like this problem here."
"Just as I'd always have yours in any other problem," the angelic lady smiled at him before she frowned at the sound of noise coming from all around them. It sounded like chanting, someone speaking in another dialect. The thought of having run into a cult crossed her mind, but Othros had taken a few steps forward to hold his arm out in front of everyone to keep them from going on. He listened carefully to the chanting as well, and turned to the group when bells were also heard too.
"Eloko," he murmured quietly as they all adopted the same cautious stance of his. "I could hear three of them. These flesh-eating dwarves must be servants of the ogre within. That may mean it'll be in the far back of this old mine, so we definitely must be close to the beast's inner lair."
"Then let's take care of the servants first once they welcome us to their humble abode with a firm greeting," Mitchell remarked, recasting the light spell yet again and then preparing to charge a bolt of ice to help fend off the Eloko. Catching sight of three figures approaching them, he raised an arm and pointed at the little trio who were coming to surround the four combatants. "That must be them now, I'll bet. Coming to expect an easy catch for their master, but will get a rude surprise." Saying so, he fired the bolt at one Eloko who raised a magic shield to block the blow. However, it only made the monkey demon smile because that particular spell could also freeze a target solid.
Caught off guard, the other two turned to their frozen comrade and stumbled backwards.
Immediately Rorin took the next step of the initiative and quickly stepped forward to bring his claymore down on the frozen target which shattered the Eloko into pieces. "You know, I must say these things don't seem really strong at all like the spiders we just finished slaughtering. Maybe whatever spell they're using isn't that effective on seasoned veterans like us; not to brag, that is."
"True, the Eloko is ineffective against experienced hunters and fighters such as us," Othros chimed in and fired two bolts into a second Eloko before the third made an attempt to flee, but the poor creature failed as Grora had already unsheathed her bow and shot one of her arrows into its neck. With the servants dispatched, the gang proceeded on their way forward while the bat demon holstered his crossbows for the time being until he needed to draw them again, still lecturing his friends on the nature of Elokos. "In addition to nature themed spells they can use, Elokos will use bells and singing to allure their opponents and victims by lulling them into a false sense of security. With their defenses down, the Eloko is free to consume them unless somebody can snap the targets out of the trance. Singing alone isn't powerful, but their bells have been enchanted to increase the potency of their vocal skills and improve the reverberation their singing has in interior locations; however, their bells also affect how far sound travels in exterior locations too. Fortunately, they're not too powerful and their spells can be negated by wearing any amulet enchanted to ward off their power. Although we don't have any, experience is sufficient enough as it too makes us immune."
"You sure seem to know a lot about the mythical fauna in our world, Othros," Grora stated as a compliment to him while they continued walking. "You must read a lot of field guides in your spare time, I bet." She shut her eye and giggled with a closed fist to her chin after slinging the bow over her back. "Nice to know we've got a living field guide among us to share his knowledge."
"Hey, the more you know, the more you can live through on excursions like this one we're on," the bat demon chuckled with her, appreciating the compliment as their other friends joined in and laughed too when they neared the threshold into the larger clearing where the silver mine used to be. It still was, though not in the same state it used to be because time had already aged the few buildings in this area of the cave. All the buildings miraculously withstood the test of time, yet the apparent rotting of crippled wood was leaving behind a foul odor as the wooden parts of each one began to fade and decay. One of the walls keeping the warehouse intact had already fallen, the rest of the igneous stonemasonry having cracked with huge holes in the remaining walls. The quarters used by the miners was also in poor shape since a portion of the second floor had fallen down into the first which left the stairs inactive as could be seen through a few holes in the structure and also the broken windows stained with grime. Even the church's roof had caved in due to wearing away, and the walls and glass were in a sorry state as well. However, what caught their attention was not any of these buildings, but rather the lone occupant that had stomped into the clearing and roared.
Clad only in fur leggings because nothing else could fit its enormous torso, the ogre could make out the intruders standing in the light and instantly knew they were imposing on its territory. Technically this place used to belong to the angels prior to becoming a base for True Light, though this creature was proud to call the place its home now that nobody else needed it. Grora knew this place wasn't valuable anymore, but felt there could've been something the other authorities missed when they searched the place. That was why she came here with her friends to investigate further, but it appeared their examination was going to be delayed shortly by a monster with tusks and the intelligence of a stupid brute who only knew how to get things via raw strength. Not that it mattered too much because they could take down a single ogre without breaking much of a sweat.
Prepared to handle it, they allowed the ogre to charge them while Rorin walked forward to hold his claymore out. The beast ran headlong into the blade that pierced its stomach, but it showed no intention of dying here. Thankfully Othros and Grora helped keep the angelic man steady while Mitchell quickly ambled by and spewed ice from his hand which froze the ogre's legs into a block of ice. Trapped with no way of escape, it attempted to grab the claymore from the angel until Grora stopped its reach with two well-timed strikes of her blades as Othros casually sauntered around in a circle to fire bolts into the beast's body. Wrenching the claymore from its torso, Mitchell swung the large sword around like a baton before driving the blade into the ogre's head, killing it instantly. "Well, that was quite a lackluster bout," he commented, pulling the blade out as Grora affirmed it was dead by sticking her scimitars through the ogre's back and slashing upwards at a diagonal. "It definitely felt like something even a novice could handle with the right equipment to take it down."
"You give the newbies too much credit," the angelic lady asserted with a laugh, pulling out the blades after chopping the ogre's heart up. "They'll need somebody to help brace themselves if attacked by one of these disgusting creatures. Thankfully they smell worse than they fight, it seems, otherwise we'd really have to worry about fighting an ogre twice our size." Sheathing the scimitars, Grora turned around and gazed at the three buildings with a bent finger to her chin. Considering a plan of how to go about their search, she thought about whether splitting up would be a good idea. Three of them would search the premises of each building, but then Hastur could stealthily murder them all one by one if he was here. The man knew how to enact guerilla tactics well, and he could be quiet as a mouse at times if it was required. No, they'd need to stay together to survive anything. "Alright," she finally declared once the light spell was recast and her friends had already regained their energy from taking down a simple opponent. "We'll stay together as we search this place for any sign of clues the original investigative team might've missed decades ago. It'll be difficult due to how old this place is and how many of us are here now, so we'll search the buildings tonight."
"What about the deeper parts of the mine?" Rorin inquired and directed the ball of light by him to go over towards that entrance and keep it lit up since they already had three lights by them. "Do you think there might be something in there? It's possible Hastur hid something in there, or a portal to wherever he came from was established. Perhaps it's what he hid there if nothing else can be found. I'd wager that's what we might locate if we were to go explore the old mining shafts."
"Perhaps, but it's late which is why we'll stick to the buildings for now and determine if a potential lead on his current plans and who he's allied with is," the angelic lady responded and led them all into the warehouse through a broken hole in one of the walls. "We'll begin in here, first."
"Next comes the church and the miners' quarters, right?" Mitchell asked to check on that.
"Yep," Grora replied as they began going down aisles of shelves with old items the miners used to use stored on them. Amongst the debris and rubble were plenty of used pickaxes, decrepit from age and on the verge of actually fading away into dust whereas others were just breaking into pieces. Construction tools and other kinds of equipment were also arrayed around the building on shelves or the floor, and even some uniforms were found among the heap of ancient mining tools. Finding nothing there on any of the shelves after doing a thorough search of each one, the group's efforts were then diverted to the floor to check for any soil and dirt that had been disturbed. Though nothing was discovered in that regard either, the four of them next set their sights on an office with but a single chair and one empty desk in it before concluding their search of the empty warehouse.
"I guess that's the warehouse then," Rorin remarked after overturning a miner's cap to look underneath it one last time before they left the building. "Which building should we look in next?"
"I'd say we should try the miners' quarters next," Grora suggested as they all sauntered out to stand in the clearing. "The place is already too wrecked to support anybody planning on sleeping there, though I wouldn't rule it out just because nobody's living inside. There's got to be clues we might be able to find in there." Saying so, she led her friends to the establishment and checked the front door to see if it was either locked or stuck. Since the latter was the case, she stepped back to kick the door in and succeeded in securing them passage through the threshold. "I see a lot of desks and nightstands in here, so we should check the drawers before looking under the mattresses. We'll even go crazy with the floorboards if possible since something might be hidden under there too."
Following her advice, the three men with her helped Grora search through all the desks for possible clues and then searched the nightstands. Nothing was present so far even when they pulled up the mattresses one by one—however many remained—so they began pulling up loose planks.
"This old shit smells bad," Mitchell commented in disgust, an opinion the others shared. "I think the miners must've brought up all kinds of smells from the mine and out in the forest."
"Pretty much anything came through here when they sought to relax," Othros spoke up and continued the conversation. "I've poked through some of the records pertaining to this place weeks ago and found they hardly had any comfortable furniture aside from beds. I bet they could've taken seats on this other stuff, though I imagine sitting or lying down on rocks and other stuff they used wouldn't solve their problems with discomfort. According to the files, this silver mine was closed down due to collapses in the tunnel that killed some of the miners and prevented them from further digging and advancement into deeper parts of the cave. Then True Light came in after the war."
"Wait, you've already been looking over this place before?" Grora inquired, unsure why it hadn't been brought up before, especially since she was part of True Light and came here with the organization. She wasn't suspicious of him because Othros was her friend, but she did wonder why he hadn't relayed that information to her or anyone else prior to coming here for their own search.
Luckily he caught her meaning and revealed the truth behind his earlier examination. "Not from within the context of why we're here now, Grora. An associate of mine asked for my help in leafing through documents of locations like this one that could be added to the list of dungeons in the Gray Garden; popular attractions for adventurers, so to speak. This place came up and we both decided to include it on the index. The name of this place—if I recall—was Dying Souls Mine."
"Grim name," Rorin commented while they flew to the second floor to begin looking there. "What, was this joint named after a ghost or something? Some kind of apparition or wraith?"
"That was the idea since this mine was rumored to be haunted by spirits," Othros replied.
"Well, we have the means to dispatch any spirits that show up," Grora commented. "We're well prepared for any variety of beast or monster that shows up to get in our way." Opening up the drawer in a desk closest to her, the angelic lady removed an old journal that must've been forgotten by whoever was here last and flipped through it. Most of the writing was illegible because of how ancient this manuscript was, yet she could make out a few words here and then in disjointed phrases and sentences that were incomplete due to the worn out parchment. Nothing too serious caught her eye, but there was one entry which made her wonder whether the cause of the mine's condemnation which the bat demon alluded to was the only problem. "Hmm…this old diary I found mentions an elusive presence within the mine, possibly one of the spirits this place is famous for. Poor guy may have been a little afraid of them, even with any guards posted here to ensure their protection would be a priority so the miners could keep working. Perhaps the ghosts didn't like them disturbing their home and had a hand in the collapse, maybe by causing explosives to go off throughout the place."
"That is one theory," Othros murmured, agreeing with her idea. "Nevertheless, we mustn't let that distract us from our own work, lest we encounter any interruptions. Better to leave the old spirits be and hope they leave us alone in turn." It was sound advice and everyone followed it, but Grora made sure to pocket the journal anyway as a gift for Froze to analyze with her coworkers.
After following the same process they used on the first floor, the group again found nothing and decided to call it quits for this building. "I guess that just leaves the church as our final location. We've not found anything in here, so I'm hoping there'll be something in there if possible," Rorin commented as they all left the miners' quarters and proceeded to the front entrance into the church. Running her hand along the mahogany double doors that were already corroding with their hinges and metallic knobs, Grora frowned and sighed as she felt nostalgic about coming here. Memories of her active participation in True Light were returning, and her brief hesitation worried her friends as the other angel spoke up to see if she was okay. "You alright, Grora? Need a short break?"
She shook her head. "No, I'm fine," Grora remarked to set them at ease. "Just remembering some things about True Light. We always had our meetings in this building and stored our weapons and armor in the warehouse until those things were collected by their owners." She sighed, letting the reminiscent memories flow over her. "Blood was spilled in here, gentlemen. A lot of it was by everyone's hands, including my own. They were all innocent people whom we believed were real traitors—turns out they weren't the treacherous liars we thought they were, but rather it was us."
"They may have been slain by your hands, Grora, but that doesn't mean the blame entirely rests on your shoulders," Mitchell said to comfort her. "Hastur was responsible for everything that happened; those murders were primarily his fault. Those who believed in him to the very end were also killed by him, if by the hands of others who granted their wish of an honorable death. He was the main perpetrator of those killings, not you. You've already atoned for them and made peace."
"I did, yes," the angelic lady agreed with him on that, knowing he spoke the truth. "Yet the other feelings I had besides the pride I felt from having served a cause I believed in are coming to me now as well. It's been decades since I last walked through this church, and I hoped to never be here again because of the emotions I used to feel which Hastur eventually shattered in the end. The feelings were good for a time and I thought they would last forever, but they were illusions to me."
"I do believe you once mentioned to us that you loved him," Othros commented since he'd been present with them for that conversation the first time she brought it up to them in the garden.
Grora tipped her head down, frowning while feeling the shame of having felt that way. She had loved Hastur in the past…but that was a long time ago and he had broken her heart. He might not have ever indicated he noticed, but the final reveal of his plans to her with his acknowledge of her feelings severed their connection for good. It was he who had called her love for him misguided and filthy, claiming her love was pitifully tainted and would never hold a place in his vision for an existence governed solely by him alone. That was the first time Hastur openly threatened to murder her if she ever went against him, threatening to put her through all kinds of torture like everybody else he and their organization put to the sword. It was the day when Grora struggled with the choice of whether she should've still followed him or not, and she had decided to turn him in after having spent another day mentally debating the morality of it. "I did love him…once, but no more." That was the end of the brief conversation they had before Grora opened her eye in determination. "Now then, let's get this search done and over with. Be ready to find anything of value, and stay prepared in case Hastur or anyone or anything else is on the other side of these doors into the church."
"We're ready when you are, Grora," Mitchell spoke up and readied his weapon and magic while Othros took up his crossbows as Rorin unsheathed his claymore. As they did so, the angelic woman unsheathed her scimitars and breathed deeply, getting ready to kick the doors in to enter.
"Alright, let's go," she declared and did just that, scowling when the four of them saw him. He had already arrived before them, and was standing in the center aisle with his own weapons at the ready. None of them were surprised to find him there, glaring directly at their appearance here.
"Grora…" Hastur murmured, gripping his twin war axes, prepared to fight them all.
Grora grimaced, also glaring at him as she seethed with well controlled anger. "Hastur…"
…
Well, that was quite a good reveal of Grora's old feelings for Hastur, wasn't it? To be fair, I'm not really interested in romance; however, I do acknowledge that it would be helpful to Grora's character development because it adds another facet of her that was also affected by Hastur's betrayal of her and True Light. I kind of imagine it would've been similar to the way Ivlis and Rieta had a similar bond because I think Rieta had feelings for Ivlis that he did not show for her, possibly because she was a servant as I alluded to in Scarves. The idea of a failed relationship between Grora and Hastur which only failed because of him sounded good in my opinion due to its integration in Grora's character development, hence why I included it into the story. What do you think? Any thoughts on this concept and its role in the story?
As for the class system, weapons, and armor, I imagine they would pretty much come from any kind of RPG like Elder Scrolls, Dungeons and Dragons, and World of Warcraft. It also seemed like a good idea, hence why I placed common classes wherever I could put them (apologies for not mentioning it until now). The class system I'm interested in the most comes from the Elder Scrolls series because of how versatile it is, so look to an earlier disclaimer for that. I'm not going to include other disclaimers as classes are common in many games.
I looked to A Field Guide to Demons, Vampires, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits for the Elokos in this chapter. I tried to stay close to their description in the book, but I also added a couple elements or so to them for the story so they can fit into it. According to the book, Eloko don't wear clothes or even have hair, yet their bodies are completely covered by leaves and grass respectively with eyes like fire. They seduce victims with their bells which was also associated with an unnamed death god in the entry on Elokos. A tale about them in the book tells of a hunter who left his wife alone at home while he went out to hunt, and while he did warn her to not go out or let others in, she was eventually enraptured by an Eloko. It gradually took pieces of her body to eat which she willingly provided due to being in a trance because Elokos are cannibalistic. However, the hunter eventually figured out what was going on and slew the Eloko which killed his wife in the process prior to him displaying the creature he dispatched as a warning to others of what would happen to them too as it did to him. The book also claims Elokos' spells can be warded off by specific amulets and unnamed fetishes.
I've also looked to a pocket guide called Invasive Weeds of North America which was by the Waterford Press (and I'm assuming it was made by Kavanagh and Leung even though their names aren't on the pamphlet), and I've turned to National Geographic's Field Guide to Trees of North America when including the flora in this chapter of the story. As the Field Guide wasn't referenced with a disclaimer yet in this story, I'll include it here; however, I'm not going to put one up for the pocket guide because it's essentially in the same series as that other pocket guide I used in the first chapter, so the same disclaimer will cover it.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Field Guide to Trees of North America; it is owned by National Geographic. I don't own A Field Guide to Demons, Vampires, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits; it's owned by Carol K. Mack and Dinah Mack.