Hellooo all!
Happy new year everyone! I hope y'all have had a good winter holidays. Next chapter! So close to the end of HoD.
I hope you enjoy!
Corruption
A murky concoction bubbled slowly in the vials that were handed to each member of their group of four. Mel stared warily into the clouded vial, before looking up at the apothecarist.
"When you take these, it will make you feel rather ill for a brief handful of moments. Just bear through, that is the tonic forcing rapid adjustment to our realm, and providing protection to your mind and body while it does." The apothecarist explained.
"With the kinds of things I had to eat and drink after living so long in the realm of the dead to keep from getting ill without sunlight, I really don't think this can make me all that sick." Mel muttered.
"Bottoms up then." Nox quipped.
As a group they threw back the contents of their vials, Mel grimacing at the spice that burned its way down her throat. For a moment it just sat uncomfortably in her stomach, then the sudden world tilting nausea hit and Mel found herself doubling over with a groan. A cool arm wrapped around her shoulders to hold her upright, and she looked over through spinning vision to see Nox holding her upright.
"Goddess and the seven hells." Gyendal cursed.
As Nox helped Mel straighten up, she looked over to see Gyendal braced against a wall with Uma helping hold him steady.
"How are the two of you still okay?" Mel questioned, looking between Uma and Nox.
The nausea was settling almost as quickly as it had come, though Mel still felt as green as Gyendal looked in the moment. Yet somehow their two companions were fine, seemingly unaffected by the foul concoctions.
The two girls exchanged looks, looking in that moment like exact mirrors of each other as they turned in sync to look back at Mel.
"Our interaction with the realm is different than yours." Uma finally said, her simple answer shedding no light on Mel's many questions.
"Now the question is, did it work for us." Gyendal said.
They all pulled experimentally on their power, before various sounds of delight and triumph echoed around the room as they all watched their power respond with the same effortlessness it did on Aia.
"I think it's time to begin the search for our second stop." Uma said.
As a group they thanked the apothecarist who merely sniffed and waved them off, before venturing back out of the city onto the planes. Magic flew as they came up against each enemy blocking their path, but no longer did each fight feel as though they were forced to their limits.
The staff in Mel's hands was warm, and the persistent tugging served as their guide to the next flame. Through winding paths and up cliffsides it led them, until in the distance they saw the decorated cave entryway they had been told of.
The entrance to the demon caves.
As they worked their way along the paths a prickling sensation began to tingle at the base of her neck. A sensation that had become very familiar to her over the years of being on her guard. Her eyes narrowed as she tightened her grip on her staff, and with one pointed clearing of her throat had drawn Gyendal's attention.
Subtly she raised her other hand in front of her to gesture behind them, signalling that they were being watched. He gave her a faint nod, his hand drifting to the blades on his belt. Behind them something rustled faintly, and as the rustling inched that bit closer, both Gyendal and Mel spun to fire.
Magic exploded against the rock face behind them, and an unearthly shriek echoed as a blur of green and purple bolted out of the line of fire.
"Mistress stop! It is only me!" A familiar voice wailed.
As the dust cleared their unknown follower became visible once more, and Mel slumped with a string of curses as she glared at the being.
"Yemite?! What in the wide world do you think you're doing? How are you even here?" She demanded, arms crossed tightly over her chest.
"I saw them cast you and the master in, I had to follow you. It is my duty to serve you and protect you." Yemite declared. "It just took me time to find you in this place, it is very disorienting for my power."
Mel threw her arms up in exasperation before turning to face the others. Uma and Nox looked surprisingly unbothered by the situation, nor did they seem phased by the arrival of the darkling.
"Uma, Nox, please meet Yemite. She's my self-appointed darkling servant." Mel said with a baleful look back at the darkling. "She is impossible to get rid of."
Yemite puffed her chest out proudly at that.
"It is my job to keep you safe, even if you would rather not be." Yemite said.
"Oh she's so cute!" Uma cheered, rushing over to her. "Nox, just think-"
The healer cut herself off before finishing that statement, but Nox seemed to understand perfectly as she approached the darkling with a grin. Mel wasn't sure if she should be concerned or unsurprised, as within a few minutes the other dark mage girl was chatting like old friends with Yemite. She could see the evil sparkle in Nox's eyes, and a groan escaped her as they started off once more towards the caves.
"They're going to be a terror working together, I didn't sign up for this." Mel grumbled to Gyendal.
"It isn't hell without a little extra suffering." Her bond pointed out with a sigh.
"How entirely unencouraging."
Uma glanced over her shoulder at the two of them with a little giggle, looking the most like her mischievous mirror that Mel had seen yet on that quest.
The lighter mood carried them through the entryway and into the tunnels, where they were hit by a virtual wall of heat. It was sweltering below the surface, as the lakes of molten fire bubbled around stone pathways.
Wisps floated through these empty marble tunnels, their soft hissing the only sound outside of the winds and their steps. Mel could feel the staff in her hand yanking her forward, pulling her towards the next puzzle piece in this absurd test.
"Mistress, are you sure you know where you are taking us? This seems to be only leading us in circles." Yemite ventured as they turned down yet another corridor.
"This isn't my sense of direction guiding us, it's this staff, which is a product of your goddamn pet prophecy. Unless you have a better idea, this is our map." Mel snapped.
"Well, hopefully it's supposed to be actually leading us out onto the planes again, because that looks like outdoor light up ahead." Nox pointed out.
A few ugly curses escaped Mel as they stepped out through the exit back onto the planes, and she looked around for whatever trick had led them out this way.
"Wait, is that not the diadem that we heard demons in passing speak of? The headdress of the true queen, that would retrieve great reward?" Uma suddenly said, pointing across one of the many crevices between.
The glittering gold headdress now had all their attention, and for the first time since landing in that god forsaken realm, a calculating smile flickered across her lips. That diadem was a bargaining chip, and one Mel would make damn sure was used to the fullest potential.
"I'll go get it!" Yemite called, her wings extending on either side as she made the quick flight across the dizzying drop to where the diadem sat waiting. It was back over to their side in seconds, and with a bright smile the darkling offered it to Mel.
The metal was almost painfully hot to the touch as it was settled into Mel's grip, the stone in the centre of the diadem almost mesmerizing with it's slow swirl of inky power.
The mark of power, of a queen...
Her finger brushed absently over the metal as she turned it over in her hand, studying it with a critical eye for anything unusual or that might tie into the world of Aia.
Put it on.
Mel stilled abruptly at the command, spoken with the same soft internal voice that observed the world around her. Observed what this diadem represented. This wasn't meant for a former street rat, she could feel the ancient authority inside. This was meant for a queen of the demon realm.
I could be a queen.
The orb staff in her other hand began to pulse even as the traitorous thought passed through her head, spinning images of the orbs and a tantalizing glimpse into freedom distracting her.
"..el? Mel?"
The call of her name made her flinch and she looked up to see her companions watching her in concern.
"Sorry, got distracted thinking about what we could get out of this."
Her companions seemed to take her statement at face value, and as they set off once more she tucked the diadam away into her bag. Yet, she could still feel the heat, burning into her back and reminding her with each step of the power it held.
The demon realm was messing with her head. The sooner they left, the better.
Midnight eyes fixed themselves steadily across the glass of an ornate mirror, watching as it's surface rippled to reveal a group of five as they sought out the next flame. A soft but cold laugh escaped the oracle of Shadow Aveyond as she watched them, she couldn't help her amusement at the sight of Uma and Nox.
"Oh my light counterpart will be rather unhappy when she learns the extent of your meddling." The Shadow Oracle murmured.
The two girls shimmered with blue light, a protective shield against the atmosphere of the realm around them. They flanked the little darkling who wandered, entirely unaffected by the demon planes.
Then her eyes shifted to the two other mortals, a dark smirk flickering across thin lips.
The process that had begun the moment they had landed, was beginning to take visible hold. Once nothing more than floating wisps, invisible to any eye, were now taking their own shape. Darkness, essence of a realm never meant to be visited by mortalkinds, was clinging onto the fatebound pair. To them it would be a mere trick of the light, never realizing what was happening.
But the Shadow Oracle knew and she understood.
Corruption.
The inky touch of the demonic that slowly took hold over their minds, whispering the forbidden into their ear even as they believed themselves to follow instinct and the motivations that had driven them in Aia.
Every step was one taken towards the destiny they had been marked by before they had even been born. Their story, one that had been woven for them by the fates from the very beginning. Oh they had forced against its limits, torn through pieces of the tapestry and pushed down their own paths to reach this point, but they could not change the outcome.
The greedy fool Mordred sought to use them to raise the empire, believing it to be his. He had no place in the future set before Mel and Gyendal.
Heirs of Darkness, about to take their places on shadowed thrones.
Their group was silent as they stood before a filled in doorway, marked with an image of all kinds of beings commanding black winds. The etchings in the stone were intricately detailed, the only colour being black tar that filled in the wind grooves. There had clearly once been an opening there, but it was now filled in with solid stone, save for the obsidian archway that marked where the doorway had once stood.
"How are we supposed to get into this?!" Nox demanded. "This is nothing more than some stupid art!"
Uma reached out a hand to rest it on her sister's arm, trying to hush the easily frustrated girl. While Nox grumbled, Mel's eyes darted all over the stone, seeking in vain for some sort of inscribed answer. Next to her Gyendal stood with brows furrowed, before stepping up to the wall and running his hands over the obsidian arch.
"Obsidian…" He trailed off before abruptly spinning to face Mel. "Mel, what is obsidian known as within the magic community?"
"A reservestone, you can channel fire magic into it and pull from it the same way you would a spell scroll." Mel said automatically, before stopping up short.
Slowly her eyes flicked over to the orb, where the gem marking the first wyvern spell, Dragon's Bane, glowed with power.
Fire.
Gyendal nodded in silent agreement with her epiphany, and she grinned at him before rushing up to the wall with a hand raised. Slowly she lifted it to press against the cold black stone, her companions falling back to avoid what was coming next. She could feel the dragons bane burning within her, a magical manifestation of the dark element that her soul was made of.
The obsidian became hot under her hand, and blazed with a thousand colours as the fire rushed through it and activated the energy and magic housed within. The stone within the archway began to shudder, Mel falling back to watch wide eyed as with a grinding sound, the stone swung inwards to reveal a chamber within the caves.
In the centre of the chamber sat a brazer that burned black, and behind that, stood the second wyvern.
There was no time to prepare, to fall into stance. Only time to dive into battle, against a wyvern that rose up on dark misted wings and attacked.
The battle was brutal and intense, all of them pushed to the limits of what they could safely wield within the confines of the chamber. Spell after spell was launched, as they rotated between mages attacking while the rest wove and ducked with their weapons.
Weariness dragged down muscles that shrieked in protest against the fight, but with gritted teeth and battle honed instincts, they backed the wyvern into the corner and slayed the second flame guard.
The ringing shrieks and cries echoed off the walls and ceiling even as the creature dissolved away under the force of the Dragon's Bane. But soon even those fell silent, leaving them alone with the black flame that danced with unnatural airiness.
Mel strode up to it with the staff in hand, teeth gritted in pain from the battle they had only just completed. If anyone noticed the way it trembled in her hand, no one said a word about it. Instead they watched, as she raised it up and placed the orb into the second flame.
Once more her eyes closed as the world fell away from her, Mel fighting against every instinct to let this pressure into her mind. There was no heat, no blazing, only shadows that rolled over her mind like a mist and enveloped her whole.
It was as though she stood on clouds, wrapped up in a silence that taught her through unspoken image. Picture after picture flashed through her mind, mages from every corner of Aia that called upon darkness in the air itself, taking control of the very winds that guided their world. They became like shadows, answering the call of mages in billowing robes that were marked with the same magic Mel was.
She could feel it's chill as shadow winds answered her call, sweeping around the room and blowing out the flame in the brazer before her.
Slowly she pulled the power back, lifting the staff up and looking to her friends who only watched in silence. She felt the power settle into her bones, an unfathomably old sort of magic that made her stagger under its weight.
Yemite let out a little yip of alarm, but Mel waved them off as she caught herself on the edge of the brazer and steadied her feet.
"We have the second flame, and a diadem that has to be worth a great deal." Mel said, cutting off any questions on her wellbeing before they could ask. "Time to go back to Sheian Lyr, get tonics to deal with these injuries and find out which one of those queens is willing to shell out for what we have."
Blue eyes stared up into the darkness of the rafters above the poor excuse for an inn. The blue queen had been willing to pay anything for that diadem, leaving them with an extra pack of rare tonics and free stays at the Sheian Lyr motel. It was just too bad that their inn was as terrible as the rest of the demonic city. Two makeshift sleeping spaces had been pieced together for the young women who shared the room, with the twins sharing one bed and Mel in the other.
While Uma and Nox were blissfully asleep, Mel found herself barely able to relax. Every time she was starting to drift off, the sound of one of the girls shifting or murmuring jerked her back into wakefulness, pulse going like a jackhammer.
And it certainly didn't help having Yemite hanging off one of the rafters like a goddamn bat.
Mel muffled a groan before sitting up in defeat as she stared around the room. This was useless, there was no way she was going to get any sleep sharing a hotel room in hell with a bunch of virtual strangers. She trusted them to have her back in battle, but to be vulnerable without someone that had her back within arms reach? Yeah that wasn't going to happen.
With one more check that the girls were really asleep, Mel carefully and soundlessly got out of bed. Her pillow in one hand, and her staff in the other, Mel tiptoed in stocking feet across the floor towards the door. Her things would be fine here overnight, she'd be able to retrieve them in the morning.
The hallway was empty when she stepped into it, the faint click of the room door closing behind her echoing across thin walls. With a glance at the other closed doors, she stepped over to the one just on her left and raised a hand to quietly knock.
The door swung open to reveal Gyendal in a simple linen shirt and pants, already ready for bed himself.
"Mel, what…" His puzzled enquiry trailed off as his eyes dropped to her pillow.
"Don't trust waking up in one piece yet." Mel muttered.
The other dark mage made a sound of understanding as he stepped to the side, opening the door wider to allow her in.
"And here I thought you were donating bedding. What they have here is truly abysmal." Gyendal said dryly.
Mel snorted at his comment as she stepped into the room and let him close the door behind her. She could hear him relocking and warding the door as she stared down at the floor with distaste, before sighing and using one sock to try and sweep aside some of the dust on the floor to make room for her pillow.
"Please tell me you're not serious." Gyendal suddenly said from behind her.
Mel turned to stare at him, and he rolled his eyes before stooping down to pick up the pillow she had just dropped down.
"You are not sleeping on this floor. Goddess knows you'll wake up covered in insects or worse." He stated.
With one step Gyendal had already navigated around her with pillow in hand, and Mel watched in shock as he pushed aside his own pillow on the bed in front of him to lay hers out next to it.
"I'm not-"
"Neither of us can afford to be off our game down here lamb. I won't bite you, that was guaranteed back in the Memory Caverns." Gyendal said in exasperation.
A sharp bark of startled laughter escaped Mel at his comment, and he shot her a look of amusement over his shoulder as he rounded the bed to his side. Without another word he slipped under his side of the covers and laid out on his back, eyes already closed. For a moment she hesitated before shrugging and climbing into the bed on her side gingerly. Acutely aware of the warm form laying inches away and who it belonged to, Mel found herself scooting to the far edge where she laid facing the door.
Nothing obstructed her gaze as it was inevitably drawn to where she had leaned her orb staff up against the wall, it's faint glow casting flickering light across the room.
She could feel it pulsing with power from here, calling to her. Every day the pull got stronger, the darkness at the centre of that orb strengthening its hold.
It would be such a narrow window that they had to destroy Mordred, where they would be forced to use everything in their arsenal to stop Mordred and the gynna. She was already feeling the pull as a constant presence, the whisper of a birthright she had been running from since she was a child. The promise of power to protect herself.
And the knowledge that to tap into the prophecy, would mean that no one would ever put the man laying behind her in danger the way Mordred had again.
Impulsively Mel rolled over, turning to face Gyendal where he laid unmoving on his back next to her.
"Gyendal." She breathed his name out, almost inaudible.
"Hmm?" Gyendal's acknowledgment was quiet, as he rolled his head slightly in her direction.
His eyes remained closed, which somehow made it easier for Mel to give voice to the question spinning in her head.
"When we face Mordred again, I'll give my everything to destroy him. Even if I become what he wanted me to be in the process. The prophecy is Mordred's tool of destruction and manipulation, what are you going to do if I cannot fight it off any longer? Is it even possible to build the bracelets down here? Will you be willing to incapacitate me?" Mel's tone was low, her gaze fixed on her bond as she awaited whatever answer he might have.
Her words fell between them with the weight of an anvil and Gyendal's eyes snapped open in shock. She never had a chance to react as he abruptly half rolled to face her and braced himself on one elbow, the former vampire partially leaning over her.
The light of the orb illuminated his green eyes, the shadows dancing within his gaze of its own accord.
"If you give into the prophecy, I will join you in the darkness. I care nothing for my humanity, but I will not raise my hand against you in battle again." He almost snarled.
Mel opened her mouth to argue, but was stunned into silence by the finger that came up to rest against her lips as he hushed her.
"I have stood by as countless mortal empires rose and fell, I would not care if a hundred more did the same. I fight this prophecy so long as Mordred holds its leash, but without him in control, I will follow as deep into the darkness as it takes you."
Mel would never be quite sure what possessed her to ask, she supposed she could blame the frenzied whispers in her head, as without completely realizing she pushed aside his hand to voice one dangerous question.
"And if the darkness makes me it's queen?"
Gyendal paused for a moment at the veiled challenge within her question. Then, a midnight grin began to flicker to life on his lips. So eerily familiar that she could almost see the fangs.
"Then I would be your killer, and the world will bow at your feet."
His words resonated around the room, carrying power and conviction that shook Mel to her core. For a moment they watched each other in silence, Mel strangely without reply. She could see him studying her in the dim ruddy light, gaze darting all over her face.
Then one hand came up to push hair back behind her ears, before pausing and settling featherlight against her cheek. Slowly the hand drifted down over her neck and down along her arm, before pulling away as Gyendal rolled onto his back once more and closed his eyes.
Mel watched his breathing start to steady and even out, her mind whirling as she replayed his words and the unusually affectionate touch over in her mind.
There was something in the back of her head that called out faintly, raising all the alarms in a panic that she felt strangely detached from. She had always known that there were some things about her bond that would never fully click, no being could remain a vampire that long and ever stay fully sane. But this was different, a kind of reckless abandon that the calculated mage never stepped into blindly.
Everything about this conversation should have been a dire warning, an alert that something was simply not right, in either of them.
But somehow… Mel simply couldn't bring herself to care.
Something stirred within her soul, the pull of the staff only growing stronger. It lulled her, her thoughts becoming unguarded and indistinct as her eyelids grew heavy and she drifted slowly into sleep.
Power, and eternal loyalty. All who could bring harm would be forced to bow, to her and her bond. No risk, no fear.
Only sweet, sweet darkness.
Warmth wrapped around Mel as she was slowly pulled into wakefulness by the increased light coming through torn curtains over the inn window. She could feel a weight draped over her, and after a moment she forced herself to open her eyes and take stock of her situation.
The first thing that sunk in was the realization that the weight around her was not just the blanket, and Mel froze slightly as she peered down at where Gyendal's arm had been wrapped around her in his sleep.
Instinctively a hand came up to push it off so she could make her escape, before hesitating just over the tanned skin.
Slowly she tilted her head to look over at her bond, her eyes following the inky hair that fell partially across his sleeping face. His head just barely dipped down to rest against hers, and despite herself Mel found herself reluctant to move.
Mel had been this close to Gyendal before, on the floor of a cathedral as they both struggled in the recovery of a wounded bond.
But this was different.
This wasn't pain fuelled closeness, a unit uniting to fight Mordred. This was a choice, to share the bed and comfort from years of history that let them sleep deep enough for this to happen
Her hand settled absently over his forearm, fingers lightly tracing rune patterns against his skin. Soft sleeping breaths were exhaled against her temple, making something flicker in her chest.
Her thoughts jumped unbidden to moments across the quest for the orb of life, the look in his eye in the mirror as he helped her into the gala robes. The feeling of his cloak draped around her shoulders on that rock as he walked away, when they got that bit too close to the invisible line they danced upon.
Teases and taunting in Veldahara, and the lingering touches he had left last night during their conversation.
She should be dismissing this, pushing it into the corner where all dangerous thoughts like this went. But…
"Why are you tracing nature runes on me?"
Her eyes snapped open wide, his murmur spoken almost directly into her ear. Embarrassment and mild irrational panic at the realization he was awake washed over her as she bolted upright, ignoring Gyendal's faint chuckle as she wiggled out from under his arm that fallen over her hips with her sudden sitting up.
"I didn't realize I was-." Mel scrambled for an explanation as she rushed over to the wall where her orb staff was sitting, her sleepy brain flustered by the situation and the thoughts she had been interrupted in the middle of considering.
"Lamb, where are you going?"
Mel half turned to face him at his question, watching as Gyendal sat up and ran his fingers back through unruly black hair. His eyes were still foggy with sleep, and he raised a brow expectedly as she stared at him.
"We should leave before we lose more time." Mel muttered, before turning on her heel and quickly leaving his room.
The inn door closed with a thud behind her, leaving her precious seconds to gather herself before she reentered the room where Nox and Uma would be getting ready. Her back rested against the wood as she leaned against the door with a groan, giving her head a rough shake.
What in all the hells was wrong with her? She could not have picked a possibly worse time to be entertaining foolish thoughts.
Every second that passed, Mordred could be gathering forces. Time was not something they had, and if they wanted to stop the monster, Mel needed to focus on that final flame.
