CHAPTER 3: Shimara's Doom.
The environment around them changed, obeying the command of the dead sorcerer. Aurion found himself standing beside a tall dark man, with a well-trimmed black beard wearing elegant purple robes. Around them the dark catacombs had vanished. In their place Aurion could see a magnificent garden. Flower beds and trees, fountains and glorious statues were spread in the area around them, as far as the eye could see. Somewhere in the east he could see a building of some sort, a tower with iridescent walls.
"Walk with me, boy", said Herenwolf. "What you see is just an image of the past. We are in the royal gardens of Shimara, once known as the Desert Star and the crossroads of the realms. Hear my story", said the spirit, "and pass it on to the world. Maybe then this manuscript will bring no more death".
"In a time long forgotten, when your kin hadn't even appeared from the void and the Elder Races still walked on the land, Shimara was the capital city of the realms. In here, everything could be found. Exotic merchandise and adventure, knowledge and arcane lore, love songs and dark vice beyond description. And among the greatest treasures was the secret of immortality. Almost immortality that is, because denizens of Shimara were immune to aging and disease, although they could be killed in combat. The city's ruler Leukius reigned with justice over a mixed population of all kinds of races, most of them extinct by now. I was his advisor and friend, but my loyalties lay elsewhere. My true master was the endless search of Arcane Power and Knowledge. In my crypt inside the Royal House I would study ancient manuscripts and call upon dead gods to enhance my skills and increase my magical abilities. Caravans from other places brought me strange artifacts and parchments, and I would drink deeply from any secrets they held.
One day, I was asked by king Leukius to help one of his subjects, the keeper of the wine cellar. The man was found on the cellar floor mumbling what appeared to be just gibberish and had strange seizures, as if something was burning his brain. I went to the man and casted a healing spell upon him. That seemed to calm him down a little. During this time he told me of a tale he had heard from his great grandfather, as it has passed from the generations before. As he told me, when the world was still young and Shimara just a small village, a star had fallen from the sky. Upon it a temple was built and miracles were perform in it, as the strange rock seemed to alter the environment around it. But with time the power of the star diminished and the temple became the palace. That man thought that he could find a piece of that heavenly rock underneath the wine cellar and sell it. All he found was an old scroll.
Yes, it was the scroll that has found its way to your hands.
The wine keeper died minutes after he gave me the scroll. His brain was actually turned to ashes.
I tried to decipher the scroll, but in vain. So I tried to locate its source under the cellar. I found a small room under it that led to a series of caves. In the last cave there was an opening on the ground, leading to a dark pit. There were traces of an unknown material on the pit edges. It seemed to me that the fallen star had somehow burned its way to the earth's depths. So, I stood there, looking at the bottomless pit, not sure what to do next. I sat down by the edge, took out the manuscript and tried to make some sense of it. And ten, I heard a humming sound from the dark depths of the pit. In my head I heard a voice. A low, seductive voice, that promised me power and arcane knowledge beyond my wildest fantasies. All I had to do was help whoever was talking to me regain some power and walk on the earth again. To achieve that I had to place an offering of innocent blood, of pure horror and despair.
I fled, trying to block out the images that the Entity was projecting to my mind.
Oh, I can see you've had them too. I was promised the powers of a demigod, with the skills to reshape reality at will. But my human blood burned in disgust, even by the thought of the price of the offering. Night by night, the manuscript burned in my hands and in my head, whispering to me promises of grandeur. Until my will broke and my lust for arcane power prevailed.
During that time, the king's companion was pregnant. She was a dark beauty of unknown origin, the last heiress of an extinct race, skilled in spellcrafting and lore. The king fell for her on first sight, probably because of a glamour she had put upon her. The Entity in the dark void under the palace demanded a sacrifice of her blood. Getting close to her was not easy. But a newborn was another story.
On the night of the child's birth, while the city streets were alive with feasts and celebration, I crawled inside the newborn's room. The guards and maids fell to my sleeping spells. I took out an ancient dagger carved on a dragon tooth and slit the baby's chest open. With the warm heart still beating in my hand, I ran to the pit.
I stood at the edge of the pit. I recited ancient chants and invocations, calling upon the Entity. I threw my bloody pledge into the darkness and expected It to appear. But it didn't. How fool was I, believing I could summon such a creature with flesh and blood! Above me, I heard a scream of pure terror and genuine despair. The king's companion had discovered the bloody remains of her child. At that moment, I smelled of rotting flesh and a white tentacle appeared at the edge of the pit".
Herenwolf's Spirit stood silent for a moment, lost in his thoughts. He looked up towards the image of the long gone Royal House and sighed....
"Before me stood the most ancient of all the Gods. The Angel of Death, the Great White Worm, the Eater of Souls who feeds on pain and hatred and despair. He was old as time itself, created along with life, because life cannot exist without death. Nourished by the pain of the woman, who found her newborn slain, and invoked by a foolish sorcerer, he was brought on the surface to deal with those who mocked his dominion. The Great White Worm tore the palace walls down and crawled on to the city streets, feeding on flesh and terror. Soon there was nothing left but the stench of Ancient Death."
The illusion around them faded and Aurion could see the catacomb walls again.
"I fled to the underground catacombs", continued Herenwolf. "I slid my wrists open and casted a protective circle around me. My years of arcane studies helped me control my feelings and keep out fear, so I could go undetected. But It did find me. And it did not kill me, but left Its minions to guard me, the undead you faced to reach this place. And when there was no one left to feed on, It crawled back to the depths where It had came from, carrying with It the secret of immortality. And I was left here to starve to death, weak from the blood loss and my guilt, forgotten by everyone... Until you came".
The spirit stood silent. Aurion looked at the scroll in his hands. It seemed less appealing now. But he still had to ask:
"So, what's the secret this manuscript holds?"
"This is a curse. A bait, if you prefer, that lures greedy wizards into a quest for power, while its true purpose is to invoke the Great White Worm on this plane. It still waits in the dark depths for some other foolish like me to release It, especially those who cheat death and reanimate the dead. Like necromancers, that is", said the sorcerer and laughed.
Aurion released the spirit with an angry gesture. This scroll held a threat to his kin and all of those who dare summon the dead. He should find a way of destroying it.
If plain fire wouldn't burn it, then maybe Hellfire would. In Diablo's lair, then, he would find a way to dispel the stench of Ancient Death.
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Any chance of a review now?
Aurion's tale continues in "Where no Shadows Fall"
