The white light surrounding Aldain faded and the Keeper found himself once again inside of the temple, staring at the crystal. The Imp and the Old Man suddenly swarmed into his sight and both looked concerned
"Time is moving again, you must act to preserve the Heart from the Reaper!" the Imp began to yell frantically.
The old man remained calm, but still concerned. "I agree. You must act quickly, the reaper will know very quickly and will revolt immediately."
Willing himself to the Heart, the world seemed to blink out for a moment, then the Keeper found himself inside of his dungeon once more, and the roar of the Reaper could be heard echoing down the large hallways.
Without seeing them, Aldain heard the voices of his good and evil sides, "He knows already, prepare to defend the Heart!"
Aldain's quickly drew his mana, his magical power, and the Call to Arms spell took effect, calling his minions to do battle at the Heart. Horny, one of the fastest of his minions was on the move and had a head start, so Aldain again drew in mana and with a surge of power, flattened the Reaper to the ground with a Lightning Bolt.
The Reaper stood up quickly and when Aldain hurled another bolt, the Reaper held up his hand and when the bolt struck, the energy of the spell swirled around Horny, but did not touch him.
Aldain knew at this point, that many of his minions were going to beat the Reaper, so instead of wasting more magic, Aldain spoke.
"Horny, stop!" Not really expecting the words to have any affect, Aldain kept speaking without checking to see if the reaper had indeed stopped. "You are going to attempt to destroy the Heart of a Keeper that has gained power that no other Keeper before me has done." Watching now, Aldain heard Horny growl and his steps faltered for a moment so Aldain continued, "Not only is my dungeon powerful, but I have gained access to the surface world and am free to impress my will on the denizens of that world of Light!"
Horney suddenly stopped in the guard room and looked up "at" Aldain. Through the open door, the now collected force of Aldain watched and waited in nervous anticipation. They were all loyal to the keeper, but not a one of them actually wanted to fight the Reaper.
"Say what else you have to say Keeper." Horny growled.
"Free yourself from your Dark Gods!" Aldain suddenly shouted. "They have no sway on this Dungeon or this Keeper. I will grant you sanctuary should they seek retribution for your betrayal. I seek peace Reaper, but we are both aware that no matter how idealistic I may be, there will be battles along the way. There are times when peace is brought at the end of the sword, but if you stay with me, submit your will to me and free yourself from the darkness, Peace may come on the blade of your scythe."
The Reaped scowled for a moment and looked to the Heart through the mass off bodies, then back up at Aldain. "How do you propose to remove the influence of the Dark Gods, to take my bloodlust from me."
"Yeah." The voice of the Heart suddenly echoed in Aldain's mind. "How you propose to do that?"
Aldain ignored the Heart and focused on the Reaper, "The temple is mine. The Fallen Angels that have come to my side as a result of that Temple are linked directly to it. Look at them now Horney, their once black wings are now gray in color. Their darkness has been lifted because of the temple. Cleanse yourself in the water, be baptized and you will find your freedom." Aldain released silently cut off the flow of magic to his Call to Arms spell, and the creatures gathered at the Heart visibly relaxed.
Horny looked down for a moment, then looked up. "I agree Keeper, let's try this your way."
***
All of the Dark Angels and many of the dungeons other denizens were in attendance for the ritual. The old man, his good side, knew the ritual of cleansing and guided Aldain through the incantations and the large disembodied hand of Aldain scooped water from the temple pool and poured it over the head of Horny. The demon visibly tensed, then howled in agony as the dark spirits were suddenly ripped from his body.
Horny watched from his knees as the dark energy briefly coalesced into a shaped similar to the Reaper, but then collapsed in on itself and with a pop, disappeared from existence. Horny rose to his feet and then raised his scythe to the sky, "Hail the Keeper! Hail the God of the Redeemed!"
***
Unknown to Aldain, moments after the baptism of the Horned Reaper, a dark elf under his rule slipped through the portal and returned to her own land. This dark elf, Vrinn J'Virath, beautiful in the standards of almost any race, traveled through the truly deep places of the earth. Dark realms and tunnels of her home stretched out before her. The absolute blackness would have been engulfing and terrifying to anyone not born in the deep. Vrinn waited for just a second for her eyes to adjust to the infra-red spectrum and then moved forward through the warm tunnels.
Soon she found the front gate of her home city. Split in three sections, the city of Dri'vrin D'aelth, or Blood City, housed three races of intelligent creatures. Each considered evil by human standards.
First and, in Vrinn's opinion most importantly, were the dark elves. Most dark elves that journeyed to a Keepers dungeon were the fighting type. What most Keepers and surface dwellers did not know is that Dark Elves had their own society, their own cities, and their skills were as widely spread as those of the humans. Wizards, Warloks, Healers, Warriors, and Rogues.
The second race in the three part Blood City, were the Drolls. It is rumored that the drolls are actually a magically created mutation of Trolls and Dark Dwarves. If they were at one time, they are no longer. The Drolls have been an independent race for centuries and came to the Blood City originally to establish work and trade routes. Several Drolls set up residence in the city to act as liasons for the merchants There was talk of the trolls abandoning their own small city and living with the Dark Elves, but nothing was decided.
Until the Orcs moved in. The Orcs brought something to the city that was sorely lacking. Muscle. Not the type of strength that moves ore carts or carries loads produce to the market. Aggressive, Mean, and Violent muscle is what the orcs brought. Orcs do not have wizards. They do not, normally, have complex thoughts. By no means are orcs stupid though, they just do not take the time to think before acting. The orcs need many things crafted and built for them, homes, carts, armor, weapons just to name a few. The Orcs are a blessing of work for the drolls and the industrious creatures have been profiting since the orcs arrived.
All three of the races took part in a council of rulership for the city to help keep peace and ensure the prosperity of the city. One thing the council demanded of any who answered the call of a Dungeon Heart, is that should there be anything truly unusual happen to the Dungeon or the Keeper, they are to return and report it to the council. Vrinn considered Horny being freed from the Dark Gods and the Keeper gaining access to the surface world two very unusual things.
