"False Conscience"
by Black Mantle
ACT V:
On the other side of the gate, Fenril and Slust found themselves gazing upon a dense forest.
Slust looked over at his female companion, "So, what's on your mind?"
"I wish Fogel were here. It'd be best if all three of us took this on."
"Yeah, well he ain't here, and if what happened to us is any indication, he's probably a zombie to that slime Rashidi."
"You may be right." Fenril sighed. "Come on, we have to find that witch before she does something really stupid."
* * *
Trodding through the dense forest, Deneb was slowly making her way to the castle in the far west. The large Brunhild was weighing her down, making it harder for her and her entourage to pass.
"Alright, that does it." Deneb slumps against a tree in sheer exhaustion, "We're stopping here."
Her pumpkins circled around her as she caught her breath.
"Dammit, this jungle is murder. I thought we would have made Inohngo by now."
Rustle.
"What was that?!" Deneb shot up as she and her pumpkins tried to identify the source of the noise.
It was a few minutes before another noise was heard, up above the group, the leaves rustled and a series of squeaks and flaps are heard as several bats flew over head. Almost relieved at seeing the creatures, Deneb let her guard down. Letting out a sigh, Deneb was about to sit back down when two dark figures dropped from the branches.
"AAIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"
Deneb's pumpkins where about to come to their mistress' aide, but were ambushed by three other creatures. Seeing that she would get no help, Deneb started to back away from her two dark and well-dressed adversaries. With little choice, she fought back with whatever she had available, the Brunhild. Whipping the massive blade around her, she manages to scratch one of her targets, causing a fiery wound to scald him. Realizing the Brunhild's power, Deneb's terror melts away to yield a strong sense of esteem.
"Alright you bastards! My Momma didn't raise me to be some vampyre's midnight snack!"
Deneb charged while failing the Brunhild at whatever moved, the two vampyres were forced back a bit, but not for long. The Brunhild was far too large for the diminutive girl to hold, and soon found herself out of control. Taking advantage of the situation, one of the vampyres moved quickly to her exposed side and struck her down. The Brunhild fell, while Deneb smashed into a tree.
Deneb tried to open her eyes as she started to slip out of consciousness, trying to stay awake. The two bloodsuckers approached her, while a strange hand reached for the white sword, undetected by all. Picking her up with one hand on her shoulder, the vampyre Deneb struck earlier was about to take his revenge from her neck. The pain pierced her shoulder as the vile creature's grip almost shattered the underlying bone.
"HEEEEYYYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!"
The vampyres looked behind them as a flash of white light was fired towards them. Now reunited with her mystic blade, Fenril launched the iainuki at the vampyres, slicing the one holding Deneb in half, causing him to explode in a shower of blood. Deneb fell to the ground where she slipped out of consciousness.
The remaining vampyre hissed at the blue knight.
"Go ahead, try it!" From behind the menace came Slust, ready to strike down the demon.
Seeing himself with no options, the vampyre took off for the sky.
"Friendly son of a bitch, isn't he?"
Fenril glanced over to her companion, and then to the sleeping witch. Looking down upon the holy sword, she considered saving everyone the trouble and plunging it into the helpless target. Shaking off the idea, she sheathes the Brunhild and headed towards Katz with Slust.
"You were about to do it, weren't you."
"I'm not in the mood for this Slust, so back off."
Katz came up to them, "We have a problem."
Slust turns towards the samurai, "What is it?"
"That."
Behind him, the wyvern Lyon had left them was lying dead on the ground, a victim of the ravenous werewolves of the region.
"Great, so we can't fly out of here."
Fenril walked over to the carcass, "We'll have to head for Inohngo and recruit someone, we can't go undermanned."
Slust looks back, "What about her?"
"Leave her, I may not kill her, but I'm not helping her."
Katz and Slust stare at each other, "Compassionate, isn't she?"
* * *
After heading though Inohngo, the trio picked up a red dragon and were heading towards Antangeel.
"Hey Fenril, you think that bastard is still here?"
"I don't see how he could have gone anywhere else."
"That was over a thousand years ago, maybe…"
"Don't bet on it, we didn't."
* * *
The foursome fought their way to the inner sanctum of the castle where they entered a large throne room. Marble pillars lines a large red carpet that led the way to an unlit seat in the rear of the otherwise dank, undecorated room.
"Alright Galf, show yourself!"
"Fenril?! Is that you?" A sinister James-Earl-Jones-like voice called from the darkness, "Why yes it is! And as ravishing as ever. And Slust, the brazen young man who just can't keep his hands to himself. Heh, heh. Find any nice young ladies who tolerate your incessant attitude."
"Shut up and come out here."
The torches around the throne lit up to reveal a massive 8'6" gargoyle sitting upon it. "Why I'm right here."
Katz almost freaked when he saw the mighty devil in front of him, Slust and Fenril didn't flinch a muscle.
"It IS nice to see the two of you again, tell me, how's Fogel doing? Don't tell me this puny human is his replacement?"
Fenril took a few steps forward and drew the Brunhild, "Silence. It's time to finish it, once and for all."
Slust, Katz and the dragon followed suit, while Galf started to rise from his immense throne.
"I agree." Galf reached over and picked up a massive sickle, large enough to tear the flesh off a bull in one swipe. "I have grown very wary of my time here. And I…?"
Everyone froze as Fenril and the others were caught in a yellow aura, causing them to stumble to the ground. Fenril wondered as to what kind of trap Galf had laid for them, until someone came up from behind her and picked the Brunhild from out of her paralyzed hand.
"Deneb?"
"You were expecting the 'Good Humor' man?"
"My, my. What an interesting development." Galf smiled viciously as he signaled some of his minions to capture Fenril and her other downed allies.
"I wouldn't touch them if I were you, you might break the stun spell I used on them."
Galf waved his hand; his minions simply encircled the four warriors to make sure they didn't try anything. "So, why are you here little one?"
Deneb took the Brunhild and stood before the evil demon. "I need your help. I've been tormented by these hideous nightmares for the past few months now, and I need you to break them. I was told that you have a price."
"So, you wish me to cure you, in exchange, for the Brunhild?"
"Correct."
"Rashidi offered me the Black Diamond for my services, but I do believe the Brunhild would make an even better prize." Galf reached down and placed his cold hand on Deneb's forehead. "Nightmares you say. Easily fixed, but, what about something else?"
"Like what?"
"Power, I can sense your only real desire is the pursuit of magic, I can give you that magic."
"Uh, no thanks… ah what?" Deneb starts to get dizzy with a blinding headache.
"I can use someone like you. Think about it, you at my side. I will give you almost absolute power and make you a queen, just as Rashidi had done with Endora, then again, she's more of a pawn than a queen. Ha, Ha Haaa!"
Deneb felt as if her brain was being sucked out of her skull through the link now forming with Galf. Slowly weakening, the Brunhild fell from her loosening grip.
From the sky came her salvation; a bolt of fire rained down from the ceiling, scalding Galf's arm. "Arrgh!" He let go of Deneb and her limp body fell to the ground.
"Who did that?!"
As if to answer, a steel wire shot from the same location and snagged the white blade, pulling it up to a lowly ninja waiting in the rafters.
"GET HIM!!"
The ninja grabbed the sword, and threw it to the ground near the entrance where someone was waiting for it. Reaching down, Lexar brandished the blade, "Galf I presume?"
"Give me that sword!"
"I'll give it to you, when I send you to Hell with it!"
Lexar charged, follow by what seemed to be his entire army. Galf summoned all his warriors to attack, and soon followed suit. The two sides clashed into an orgy of swords and blood.
* Bonus Scene *
In a corner of the room, four boys stood watching the events unfold.
The one in the green hat spoke, "Cool, its like World War VII!"
Next to him, the fat one was enjoying the show, "Sweet!"
"See, I told you that if we hung around here we'd see a fight, orgy or some satanic sacrifice."
On the far right, a boy completely covered in a red parka muttered, "Iph wmph mph mph gmph mph mph mph dumph."
The other boy turned to him, "Sick dude, if we wanted to see that, we would have visited Mrs. Cartman. At least there we would have gotten some cookies."
"HEY! Don't you talk about my Momma like that or I'll kick you in the nuts!"
"Look out!" The boy in the brown coat pointed up as a decapitated tiamat's head flew towards them and fell on the small boy on the end. "Oh my God! They killed Kenny!"
"You bastards!"
* Back to the show *
To one side, Canopus flew to the aide of his four downed comrades.
"What happened to you guys?"
Slust looked up at their savior, "Deneb whacked us from behind with her stun spell, can you get us out?"
"Sure." With that, Canopus hefted his club and brought it down on Slust's head.
"Ow, dammit. Why the hell did you do that?"
"We blew our last Temperance card about an hour ago."
* * *
In the middle of the room, Lexar and Galf came face to face, er, face to chest, or whatever.
"So, you came to challenge me, puny human?"
"I was in the neighborhood so I said, 'what the hell?'"
"A fine choice of words!" Galf brought his sickle down atop Lexar who leapt out of the way. "After him!"
Several phantoms started to make their way towards the lord. Lexar swiped at one of them, causing it to vaporize, but the others started to swarm him, only to be cleaned out by a burst of healing magic.
"Thanks, Norn." Lexar jolted to his feet and prepared to face the devil again.
Galf retreated back towards his throne as Lexar followed suit. Standing there like a statue, Galf didn't flinch as Lexar moved closer to him. Just as he was within range of Galf's sickle, the demon made his move. Snickering, he pushed down on the staff, pushing a trigger plate on the floor. A massive rumbling is heard as a giant boulder fell from the ceiling, landing straight on the rebel leader, then rolling away, knocking over a few unfortunates as it bowled out the door.
"Foolish hero, did you think I could be so easily felled?" Galf started to menacingly laugh as he brought his weapon up above his head.
A heavily bruised and battered Lexar looked down at Galf's foot, where a small creature snuck up from behind. The winged sprite opened its mouth, revealing a large set of teeth that made the faerie look like it ate a bear trap.
*CHOMP*
"ARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!"
With Galf stunned, Lexar took the Brunhild, and threw it at the monster, landing right in his chest. Galf dropped his weapon, and fell to the floor.
"Noooo…, how could I have been beaten… by him… Ahhh." Galf looked to his conqueror. "Listen well… 'hero'… Rashidi still has the Black… Diamond… and there are others… even worse… you have not… won… yet. You will still die…"
Galf's body fell limp and started to decay, leaving a bony structure surrounding the Brunhild, which too started to crumble to dust. Lexar reached down, to once again claim the light sword. Galf's minions, escaped into the darkness.
* * *
Seeing the result of the recent battle, Deneb thought it best to quietly slip away before she was noticed. She stealthily leapt from behind pillar to pillar, hoping to avoid detection, but she failed. One of the intruders saw her and started to move into position, holding out a long lash of leather. Deneb then shifts behind another pillar, just two leaps away from the door, when a swishing sound is heard.
"Eeek!" Deneb feels the twining whip curling around her, tying her to the marble column.
A gruff voice is heard from behind her, "You're not getting away that easily, wench."
Lexar moves over to the action, "What's going on Lyon?"
"I caught this little witch trying to slip away."
Everyone there not concerned with cleaning up the remnants of the battle moved over to inspect Lyon's prize.
Lexar grins, "Well, well, well, look at who we've got here. A little far from home aren't we?" Lexar starts to pace in front of the bound girl. "Don't tell me they let you go, or maybe they just banished you."
Deneb started to cower in front of the rebel leader.
Lexar dropped his somewhat giddy tone and got serious. "So, why on Earth did you steal the Brunhild, or more specifically, why the HELL where you trying to restore that demon?!!!"
Deneb was too scared to answer, and continued to face away from him.
"WELL?!!"
"It's not my fault!" Deneb faced the lord, crying, "It wasn't my fault."
Everyone stepped back a bit as Deneb sniffled back a tear.
"The dreams, it's the dreams. They've been tormenting me for months. I couldn't take it, so I came here to get Galf to help me. It wasn't my fault."
"What kind of stupid idiot do you take me for? Are you trying to tell me that you were desperate enough to deal with a fiend like Galf just because of some nightmares? This is inexcusable! I swear, this time I'm…" Lexar was cut off as Saradin grabs his arm.
The aged mage spoke, "Wait, you can't punish her for this."
Rauny called from the back, "Why not, releasing Galf would be the biggest mistake in the world… no the whole universe. And you're saying that she's innocent!"
"This is my fault."
Everyone within earshot gazed upon the now sorcerer.
"You see, when you told me of Deneb back at the Balmorian Ruins, I thought it would be the perfect time to test a spell I had been working on. All people have a conscious; that which tells them of what is right and wrong. But Deneb seemed to ignore hers, blocking it out so that she could perform her magic experiments, so I tried to fix it. The spell I cast was designed to trigger her conscious, to try and make her feel true compassion for her victims, to truly feel sorry. But for someone who has ignored that little voice inside her for so long, she apparently couldn't take it. She continued to resist, subconsciously, but it came back in force in her dreams." Saradin stopped for a minute to catch his breath, "I take full responsibility for what has happened here today."
Lexar walked over to him, "Saradin? I wouldn't expect something like this from you. Didn't your teachings say that you should respect everyone for who they are?"
"Yes, and I realize that I broke that rule by trying to make Deneb something that she is not. I'm sorry."
"SORRY?!!! YOU OLD SON OF A BITCH, YOU CURSED ME WITH THESE TERRIBLE NIGHTMARES, AND YOU SAY 'SORRY'!! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS YOU BASTARD!! NOW UNTIE ME SO I CAN TURN HIM INTO CHOP SUEY!!"
Lyon tugged on his whip, tightening it around Deneb. "Silence, whore!"
The upper loop was dangerously close to Deneb's throat, so she became silent to avoid Lyon strangling her. Everyone remained silent for a minute as Lexar conversed with Tristan on what to do with the young witch.
"Lyon, let her go."
Everyone seemed a little stunned at the announcement, but Lyon agreed by whipping the leather binding, allowing it to fall off Deneb and the pillar. Deneb stood by the pillar and brushed herself off.
"Die you old…" Deneb ran towards the necromancer, but was stopped by Lexar's hand, which planted itself flat on Deneb's forehead.
"Hold it, Deneb. I know you have a right to be angry, but you're not going to get revenge on Saradin."
"Why not?! After what he did to me, he deserves to die!"
Everyone started to stare at Deneb.
"What?!" Realization fell on the young enchantress' face. "Oh… you mean that I deserve…"
Lexar and Tristan nod in response to the statement. Saradin walks up to the cursed individual, placing his cold hand on her head. A mystic smoke emanates from the bony appendage as Deneb felt a strange energy flowing through her system. She moaned in pleasure.
"There, I have removed the curse."
Lexar pushed Saradin back and confronted Deneb. "Listen, I condemned you once to the villagers, and it was a decision I have since regretted. Just as Saradin cursed you believing it was for the better good, he released you because it was right, and so will I. I'm letting you go, because THAT is right. You are to return to Valparine, and you will stay there until this issue with the Empire is finished, and then I'll return to deal with you once and for all. Agreed?"
Deneb nods in accordance.
"Good, now let's all get out of here, this place gives me the creeps."
* * *
The next day, Lyon and his two wyrms carried Deneb and her entourage back to Valparine castle where they disembarked. Following immediately behind them were Lexar and Saradin riding a cockatris, escorted by Canopus.
Lexar jumps down. "Now, you WILL stay here, won't you?"
"Yes, but what if I need supplies, I can't stay here without food and stuff."
"There's a temple north of here, I'm sure they'll perform any supply runs you may need, I'll visit them myself."
Deneb was not acting in her sugary sweet tone, "Thank you." Deneb looks over to Saradin.
The sorcerer climbs off the back of the winged creature as Lexar heads back.
"You alright?"
"I'm a prisoner in my own home, surrounded by hordes of people who want me dead, otherwise I'm just fine." Deneb and Saradin exchange glares. "Tell me. Did you really remove the curse, or did you just tinker with it?"
"I removed it entirely."
"Then, I truly am sorry."
End