Anger swirled in the heart of the Tower. Hot, explosive, barely contained. One could not be named before the other had fallen. That was the way things were, how they had always been.
But now there were two.
The rage continued to build. There could only ever be one.
...
Breathe.
Sol was trying to stay calm, but it was proving to be impossible. Her arms were stiff and sore, wrenched behind her back and, judging from the burning itch encircling her wrists, cuffed with Aetheryian silver. Her muscles were weak, she felt nauseous, and her vision was indistinct and blurry.
Wanderers were beings of magic, it was a part of them and they relied on it from birth, and now Sol was being denied it. It felt like gravity was pressing down on her four times harder than usual. It would only get worse until her heart became too weak and simply gave out.
Breathe.
Sol wasn't coping well. She was certain her sanity was snapping. She could feel this ... presence, hovering on the fringes of her mind. It was angry. Very angry. It called to her, wanting her to obey, but obey what?
It frightened her, though not as much as Toby did.
Breathe.
He would be coming for her soon. Sol didn't know what she could do. She wasn't even sure where she was. Someplace dark but warm. The silver filled her head with a fog and made it hard to think. She was too panicked to come up with a plan, and that lack of plan added to the terror.
Toby was stronger than her. Smarter. A Hell of a lot more insane. Sol had no idea what he was planning. He was working with the Wizard ... and that was about all that Sol knew.
Breathe.
...
Rose clasped her hands together to hide the fact that they were shaking. She had been such a fool. She never should have trusted Sol. Rose should have gone to Kaern and told him the truth. Perhaps then this could have been avoided.
Velvet smirked at her, looking far too pleased with herself. Her hand absently stroked the stone railing. Rose should have told Kaern to kill her back in Heaven's Peak. Nothing good could have come from leaving there, angry and scorned, but Rose had been too happy to finally be the favoured one, the special one, and she hadn't been able to see past that feeling of triumph.
They would all pay for that now. Waves of magic pulsed through the Tower, emanating from the figure in the throne room below. The Wizard, her father, awaited Kaern's return. It wouldn't be long now. With a certain amount of glee, Gnarl yelled reports of Kaern's progress from the room with the basin. That traitorous snake. Rose had known from the beginning that he couldn't be trusted, but why would he support her father? He had been the one to kill the last Overlord. It didn't make sense.
Rose was doing her best to puzzle it all together. She only had until Kaern returned. Kahn had attacked Heaven's Peak, decimating the city, then moved on the Spree, inching his way to the Tower in the wake of blood and chaos, raving about how he'd avenge Jewel. It would appear the hero thief had met her untimely demise recently. Kaern would be tired from the fight, and then return to this... Ok, think. Her father hadn't been the same since the battle at the Tower. He was also much more powerful. The amount of magic coming off of him was staggering.
"Have you made your decision, Rose?"
His voice echoed through the Throne room, up to where Rose stood on the balcony overlooking the room.
"She already made her choice when she turned her back on you," Velvet scoffed, crossing her arms.
He looked up at Rose, cold eyes cutting through her like a knife. Rose hesitated. For some reason, and she doubted it was paternal love, he hadn't killed her yet. But she had to watch her step in case he changed his mind. Refusing him would be her death. But quickly switching sides wouldn't fool him. She had to play this carefully, with just the right amount of hesitation.
"I must agree with Mistress Velvet," Gnarl cut in from the basin room doorway. "Her loyalty lies with Kaern."
Rose straightened her back and squared her shoulders. "It would seem that soon Kaern will be gone, no matter what I do."
"And it is up to you to decide if you die with him." He turned his head to stare back at the portal.
Velvet sneered at Rose from across the balcony. She was out for blood.
"Sire, even if she joins the winning side, there will still be those in the Tower who wish to oppose you..." Gnarl said.
Her father laughed, surprising everyone in the room. It was a full body laugh with genuine humor. "What Sol wishes hardly matters! She can do nothing but obey her Overlord, willingly or not. We have seen to that."
Then it all clicked. Rose grasped the stone railing, squeezing tightly. He had been different ever since he fought the Overlord. Gnarl and the other minions jumped to do his bidding. He had been slowly setting up the heroes to fall. Someone had been manipulating Kaern from the very beginning.
This was bad. Very bad. But, where was Sol? He spoke as if he knew where she was, but Rose hadn't seen Sol for over two months. Had she abandoned them?
Rose thought hard about everything she knew about the Tower, the Overlords, and the minions. With this piece of information, perhaps she could come up with a plan. She was, of course, the smartest person she knew.
...
Rhaeg ground the metal blades against the stone floor, grinding away the rust and sharpening the edge. He was tense, itching for a fight but there was no one he could fight.
The dead-not-dead-Master had returned to the Tower-burrow-home. The Green-Not-Green was missing. Brown-Not-Green Gnarl planned to kill the Master. The death-smell-man watched everything unfold with smiling eyes.
Rhaeg was watching him now. He was far too happy, all the time. The smile never left his face no matter what he was doing. Rhaeg didn't trust him. He was constantly preening, adjusting his spotless, wrinkleless clothes, combing his fingers through his perfect blonde hair.
He reeked of death as well. It hung around him like a cloud of rot and decay without any visible explanation. It was his only redeeming feature, Rhaeg thought, but it wasn't enough. The green minion wanted to claw out the eyes of the death-smell-man, but that had been forbidden by the dead-not-dead-Master.
With one final screech of metal against stone, Rhaeg inspected the blades of his clawed gauntlet. Sharp enough to gouge bone. But far too shiny. Rhaeg rubbed dirt against the edge as he continued to watch the one named Toby.
When Rhaeg and the greens had returned from the hot-sand-desert three days ago, they were met with a surprise: attempted murder. The brown-not-greens that stood as ceremonial guards in the throne room of the Tower-burrow-home, usually serving no purpose other than as decorations, had jumped into action and tried to kill them.
Not used to be on the receiving end of an ambush, Rhaeg's three bothers had fallen quickly. But Rhaeg was stronger and smarter. One hundred and sixty-two. It wasn't too difficult to outsmart the brown-not-greens and slip away to hide in the Tower-burrow-home's many shadows.
Rhaeg had spent the past three days laying low. He didn't know why they had wanted him dead, but very few people could have ordered them to do that. So Rhaeg avoided everyone. But that didn't matter with the death-smell-man. He couldn't tell the difference between minions. He was stupid that way.
...
Nothing made Gnarl happier than a plan coming to fruition. Deep fried baby seal nuggets came at a close second, but there was something about orchestrated misery and death that made him feel positively giddy.
The subtle twisting of the heroes into the vilest of monsters, Kaern's manipulation, the Master's return... The only thing that could make this better would be Sol's head mounted above a fireplace. The Master didn't have the same opinion, unfortunately, but he'd tire of his toy eventually. Gnarl supposed it was best to wait until after her brother led them to their next conquest before they killed her, anyway.
As if summoned by his thoughts, the Follower strode confidently into the Throne room. Too confidently, in Gnarl's opinion, but that was hardly a big deal. Neither Gnarl or the Master cared about what Toby did as long as ha gave them what they wanted. A doorway to the Follower realms, an empire ripe for conquest.
Toby had approached them with an offer too tempting to pass up. He had spoken of the Follower lands, a corrupt place filled with weak men who had never fought a real battle. After generations sealed off from everyone else, alone and stagnant, they would fold under even the most incompetent of assaults. And, in return, all he wanted was his sister. Strange fellow.
The Master had happily agreed. Sol's transformation by the Tower Heart had already been well under way by then. She wouldn't be able to leave, so really he was giving up nothing. They would probably have to kill him later, but that wasn't much of a problem. They could just order Sol to.
"Everything is set up," Toby declared, teeth flashing in a grin. "I can open the portal whenever you want. With mine and Sol's magic added together, we'll be able to keep it open long enough to get an army through if need be." He pulled at the tops of his gloves, adjusting them just so, then went to stand directly beside the Master.
Gnarl's nose sniffed, catching a whiff of rotting fruit. He looked around, but saw nothing to explain the smell.
The Master nodded. "Bring her here."
Toby's smile froze in place and his eyes became hollow and cold. It lasted for only a fraction of a second, a short enough time for Gnarl to doubt it had happened at all.
"She doesn't need to be here for-"
The Master's head spun to silence him with a cold glare. "Bring her here. I have a point to make."
...
It was getting worse. Sol could feel it, ripping and tearing at her mind, demanding she do something. That added with the effects of the Aetheryian silver and Sol was left in a feverish and delirious state, her awareness of her surroundings limited to the stone floor she lay on.
She wondered if she was going to die.
"Oh, the things you make me do." Sol's eyes fluttered open for a second, then closed. It was far too much effort to keep them opened and she couldn't see anything more than indistinct blobs anyway. "You're lucky, though. No one else has a brother as patient as me. But it's time to drop the rebellious act."
Sol felt something touch the side of her face. A coldness settled into her limbs as she came to terms with her inevitable future. She wasn't going to die. She was going to live as a prisoner.
"Yes, I know. Aetheryian silver is nasty stuff. The stronger you are, the more it hurts. The Followers try so hard to keep its existence secret, but secrets always get out, especially when you make enemies the way they do. I ran into this tribe of Fay once, more vicious than any would expect of their kind. Hated Followers with a passion, which is understandable after they were almost wiped out. You know how they get about 'threats'." Sol heard Toby's soft laughter. "So whenever the tribe ran came across any of us, almost always Wanderers, they would hunt them down, bind them in sliver and keep them in tight, silver cages. Gods know where they managed to find it all. And then they would wait."
His hands grasped her shoulders and sat her upright. "But you don't need to worry about that. I won't let anything permanent happen to you."
Nothing permanent. That's comforting.
Toby pulled her up to standing, but Sol didn't have the energy to do anything more than lie on the floor and wait to die. He held her close and supported her weight.
"And that includes what that... human is doing to you. I wish I could repay him personally."
Sol's feet stumbled and dragged along the ground as Toby took her out of the room. They didn't go far, Sol thought, when she suddenly felt a rush of dizziness, detachment, and weightlessness, and then reality slammed back into her. Toby was inexplicably gone, and she toppled over not onto stone, as she would have expected, but carpet.
The softer landing was no comfort, however. Where ever she was now, the presence was bigger, stronger, looming over her and threatening to swallow her up. It was angry, so angry, screaming at her to do something but never saying what that something was.
Sol whimpered. It was too much, she was too weak, she didn't know what to do.
"Sol, I command you to stand."
The voice cut through the pain, the weakness, and even the presence quieted in its wake. The sudden absence felt indescribably wonderful.
"Look at me."
Sol's eyes snapped open as if of their own accord. Everything was nothing more than blurry blob, but she couldn't look away.
...
Glad you could make it. It's not like I could have used your help earlier when they took over the Tower.
Rose glared down at where Sol was splayed out on the floor below beside the Tower portal. She felt no sympathy for the Wanderer. She had gotten herself caught and Rose was angry for ever thinking that Sol would be a useful ally. She was stupid, reckless, and having a brother like Toby didn't help matters either. Rose felt slimy just from looking at him, all smiles and polite courtesies. Rose didn't believe any of it.
As for Rose's sibling, Velvet was beginning to look decidedly bored and was examining her nails. She hated to be kept waiting and Kaern was taking his time. But Gnarl had informed them that Kahn was now dead, distracted by browns then swarmed by greens and reds. His head was being displayed on a pike outside of Spree and then Kaern would return to a trap.
And Sol thought this was a good time to lay about and play opossum.
"As you can see, see is hardly in any condition to be of use in this fight," Toby said, kneeling beside his sister. "I would like to put her someplace out of the way, else wise we'll be tripping over her."
The Wizard didn't answer him. He stared at Sol, tapping his fingers against his wood and gold staff. The black orb at its end glowed softly.
"Sol, I command you to stand."
The result was instantaneous. Like a puppet who had had its strings yanked, Sol shot up to her feet, sending Toby scrambling back out of the way. She stood there, back ramrod straight, hands shackled behind her back, eyes still closed.
"Look at me."
Sol's eyes snapped open. Rose realized her mouth was hanging open and quickly closed it. Since when did Sol take orders without some snarky comment? Since when did Sol take orders at all? And from him? Rose's first thought was that Sol had betrayed them, that she had been working for her father, but then she saw Toby's face.
It was filled with a burning fury unlike anything Rose had seen before. When Kaern had razed half of Spree he hadn't looked this enraged. And it was all directed at the Wizard who was too preoccupied with Sol to notice. There would be no reason to be this angry if Sol was just following orders.
"Brilliant, father," Velvet said with a false smile, leaning over the railing. "She did strike me as no more than a trained monkey. Has it learned to dance?"
The Wizard grinned cruelly. "You heard my daughter, Sol. Dance for her."
Sol's legs kicked and jumped in what Rose could only interpret as a crude attempt at a jig. Her body twisted from side to side, doing her best to dance with her arms tied behind her.
Velvet, the Wizard and Gnarl found this hilarious. Toby looked ready to murder someone.
"Enough," the Wizard finally said and Sol abruptly stopped. Then, to Toby, "Remove her chains. I think it's clear they are no longer necessary."
Struggling to keep his anger under control, Toby nodded stiffly.
"Do not attempt to attack any of us. Once you are free, wait over there out of the way. Silently."
The gleaming shackles hit the floor with a clang. Sol immediately went to the wall beside the stairs. Toby's smile had returned to his face, but it was strained and Rose could easily see the anger simmering underneath.
...
It felt so good. And she could breathe. It was like a crushing weight had been removed from her chest and strength was quickly returning to her. It was like Sol could feel the magic rushing through her blood once more. It was the most glorious feeling she could imagine.
And then her vision cleared and Sol was filled with horror.
She was in the Tower, though she didn't know how, with armored minions lining the walls and Gnarl standing by the basin room. Nothing odd about that. And there was Rose, opposite and above Sol on the balcony overlooking the Throne room. The mistress had her serious face on and was looking strained. Nothing too strange about that, either. Rose always looked as if she had bit into something sour. And then there was the floating old man in the center of the room. That was new. Rather alarming, too, but no one was running around and screaming/ trying to kill him, so he couldn't be an immediate threat.
And then there was her psychotic brother lurking to the side. It was a moment after that that Sol recognized the floating man as the Wizard.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!
Sol tried to run, but it was like her feet were glued to the floor. She tried to yell at the minions to attack, but no sound came out. She tried waving her arms to get their attention. She could do that, at least, but no one paid her any attention.
"Stop that," the Wizard commanded, then went back to staring at the Tower portal.
Immediately, Sol's arms returned to her side and stuck there.
Sol freaked. She twisted and bent, trying desperately to move from that spot. She thought that perhaps magic was binding her, but she couldn't sense any. She flared her own power just in case, finding nothing and succeeding only in depleting what little magic she had.
"Stand still, and stop using magic," the Wizard snapped.
The blue sparks coursing across her body died and Sol stood straight and still. Her eyes frantically searched for help.
Gnarl grinned at her from across the room, enjoying her panic. Why the minion master would just stand by in a room with the hero who had killed his previous Overlord Sol didn't know, nor did she particularly care at the moment. Toby was watching her, but the sight of him only panicked her more. Was this his plan? To turn her into a slave who had no choice but to obey? No, this wasn't his style. He wanted her to choose to obey him, though the choice to choose to obey him certainly wasn't her choice. His was a mind in which torture was fine but mind control was crossing a line. And he looked pretty pissed about what was happening, though he tried to hide it.
That left Rose. The mistress was doing her best not to look at Sol, but would glance down for a brief moment fairly often. Sol looked at her with pleading eyes. Rose ignored her, but after awhile subtly pointed to a point above Sol's head.
Sol tried to look up, but couldn't see anything. Was there something up there she could use? Maybe the source of the magic holding her like this was up there? It would have been helpful if she had been able to crane her head back.
There was a flash of magic to Sol's right. She strained her eyes to the side and in her peripheral saw the Tower portal activating. Whoever was coming through, Sol hoped they could help.
Ok, everyone, we're getting close to the end! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, not with school and the upcoming release of Dragon Age: Inqusition (Yay!), but I'll try to get it out before I'm sucked into the abyss that is X-box 360.
deathbykitsune: I will be going into Overlord 2, but having never played raising hell myself and also not seeing a good way to write it, I will not being going into the details of that dlc.
General Herbison: What aspects of this did you find hard to follow? Given that I had no experience in writing before and this was one of my first fics, I could see that the first chunk of this story would be something of a mess. Thanks for sticking through and giving it a chance!
Think again my dear: You're right about Sol not handling Toby well. Things are going to get worse for her before they get better. Thanks for taking the time to review!
