Chapter 10: Survivors Among the Ashes
Faust reached the others in due time, all of which were waiting for him
as if they had been to a funeral. In his hand he held the dagger that
the female sorceress—Erias had possessed. He had been holding the dagger
by its belt, for he was almost afraid to touch it. He could sense from
it a power that was very great, but whether or not that was from the
weapon or the wielder he didn't know. Looking at it, he could seen its
blade even through the sheath, which was little more than a leather
backing with straps holding the weapon. It was originally curved, he
could tell, but it had been magically, or mundanely shaped into a
straight blade. Probably made from a particularly nasty fang of a felled
demon, the craftsmanship on the weapon was one that couldn't be denied.
It had to have been crafted by the joint efforts of both a cunning mage
and a very skilled blacksmith, the perfect weapon it almost seemed like,
the joining of two arts.
By this time he had become within reasonable distance of the group of
adventurers around. The only ones left now were four. There was a
sorceress, a younger one, whom Faust identified as Erias's apprentice.
Faust honestly had no backing on this, but the dirty yet worried look she
shot him gave him enough hints. The sorceress seemed almost accusing as
she followed him to the rest of the group as well, apparently she didn't
trust him very well. The second young person there was the assassin that
Faust had recognized as his cell guard, she seemed to share the same
feelings as the sorceress, but there seemed to be some...Understanding in
her eyes.
The other two individuals of the group towered above the three measly
apprentices; an imposing assassin and the golem Faust had seen earlier.
However, now the golem had decapitated himself, revealing his 'head' to
be nothing but a rather large helmet. Under the helmet, Faust could now
see, was the dignified and stone-cold face inherent to every Knight of
Zakarum, but this one had a sort of inner fire inside him, a great
determination. Also, not only did he stand clad in the most imposing set
of armor Faust had ever seen, but he also carried a mammoth shield on his
back, and his sides were adorned with two of the most fearsome weapons
ever laid eyes on, in Faust's world, anyway. The first, on his left hand
side, was a scabbard containing a long, intimidating long sword. The
hilt of the blade was adorned with runes, all of which Faust could read,
so he decided not to tango with the paladin. The second weapon was a
large wooden hammer hanging on a metal hoop that also seemed to have its
own presence in the room. Faust decided never to be on the receiving end
of that hammer, in fact, it was probably best not to speak to the paladin
unless asked, much less anger him, assuming that Faust didn't want to
become fodder to his peers.
They had all sat there a small amount of time, when the paladin was the
first to speak. The others in the room, who were familiar with his
voice, prepared themselves for the booming timbre of a voice they had
heard in the hall earlier. They could tell that the paladin was a
powerful speaker from his long speech earlier, and they planned to hear
more of the same;
What they heard was a voice that still seemed to contain that timbre,
that something the paladin had when he spoke, but also a quieter sort of
sound more suited for closer situations;
"We've won the battle for now, but we have to count our losses. We're
lucky. Six out of our group were killed overall. What we should be
happy about is that all of the elders made it out alive, even that
Corrack V'Arr mage. The rest of us will-"
The paladin was stopped short as Faust cleared his throat. The others in
the group turned towards him and looked at him with a look that showed
they were somewhat perturbed. Though he could tell that he was liked
very well among the group, being a Priest, he still said what he had to
say;
"That's..Not entirely true." He paused and let out a small sob. The
elder sorceress had been one of, if not his only companion in the past
day or so, so he had a special attachment to her, or so he thought,
anyway;
He continued; "We did lose one elder..." Not being able to say much else,
he simply dropped the dagger for the rest to see. The room went stark
quiet, like a mortuary or a mausoleum. The others there had known Erias,
and it showed. Penelope began weeping outright when she saw that lone
dagger without its master. The others recoiled in horror. Faust could
see why they were doing so. Erias wielded awesome power for a sorceress,
if the menace that they were up against could kill her, than what would
they be up against?!? If the savior from the Hell Days had already died,
then what hope was there for them now??
Quirrari, the assassin elder, was the first to speak after the news had
been broken, after the stark silence. Her leadership qualities were
apparent in the way that she carried herself, and in the way that she
spoke;
"Regardless. Erias may be dead, but that doesn't matter! We have eight
other powerful mages and sorceresses; Erias's loss was great, but it is
by no means our end! We must contact all cultures and reaches of the
world! There are still four heroes left, four others that survived the
Prime Evils, we must-"
This time Faust opened his mouth; he felt like he was a dwarf in a land
of giants, but his opinion had to be heard concerning the Heroes. He
had, of course, lived with one the whole of his life, and knew how he
thought. At least, he did. Now that his own father had wanted him and
Erias dead, and gotten his wish, he didn't know if he knew his father
very well at all. One thing was certain though; his father couldn't be
trusted.
"Four heroes? You would ask the service of my father?!? He cannot be
trusted! He was the one who sent the murderers of your elder! He is the
reason she is dead! You would trust a traitor such as he! He envied
Erias' power, and he killed her! Right now I imagine he is planning to
kill all of us, even me, his own blood! If you ally with Faust, you ally
with death, it is that simple!"
It seemed that his talk had rallied a spirit in the paladin as well,
moving forward, Aurthor began speaking too, in a voice just as emotional
and passionate as Faust's, but of course, with more wisdom and knowledge
behind it;
"And what of the others? Nikea is away in her islands, with enough
trouble on her plate as it is! Do you not recall how the Amazonian
nations just went into complete seclusion so many years ago? They will
not answer us!! The Barbarians of Arreat are too busy with their own
matters, Kathos will not aid us unless trouble is at his door step, why,
if it were not for the fact that the magic of the mages keeps the world
together, I doubt Kathos would much as speak to us! And as for the
druids... Good luck getting them to leave their forests!"
"ENOUGH!!!!!"
A crackle of thunder echoed throughout the room as the cry startled
everyone in the room. Penelope, the apprentice of the fallen sorceress,
seemed to take on an heir of her fallen mentor at that point. Floating
in the air with lightning crackling about her, she caused the others to
forget what they had been arguing about.
"I've had enough of this squabbling!!" her breath could be seen to come
out in misty spurts, for the air around her had been chilled by her fury;
"My teacher, my guardian, the only thing I ever had close to a parent has
died, and all you can do is ARGUE! Give everyone some time to rest
before you move on! I understand that what we are dealing with is
important, but if Evil is to prevail it will do so without your
planning!"
And with that, she levitated out of the hall, through the portal. The
others quickly followed, whispering to themselves about Penelope, and
other happenings. All of them left, except for Faust at least. He
stood there, alone, contemplating his future. He was there only a few
seconds before he picked up the dagger, and walked out into the camp.
"So you failed..." the stern voice of the necromancer pierced the hall as
he looked upon his apprentices. Even in the dim, candlelit room, they
could still see his disappointment. Their targets had been Faust and the
sorceress, but it seemed that they hadn't been successful.
"Failed? No, my lord!"
His nephew was the first to cover their tracks. It was to be expected,
he had always vied for his uncle's title. The second apprentice was just
quiet.
"In what way have you not failed?" Faust spoke up;
"You were supposed to bring me the head of the boy and of Erias, I do not
see their heads, so therefore, you both have failed.
"Not so! We did manage to kill the sorceress!"
"Did you see her dead body!"
"No, my lord. The apothecary's poison, and my minions made short work of
her body before we were able to lay eyes on it."
"You fool! Erias would not die so easily! I would punish you, but I am
beginning to tire. Leave me at once until I call for you. And next
time, I will not tolerate evil from both of you! Understand?"
Both of them nodded their heads, and left. In his mind, Faust could see
the wrathful gaze of Erias staring at his very soul. She would hear from
him again soon, for he knew there was no way she was dead.
Faust reached the others in due time, all of which were waiting for him
as if they had been to a funeral. In his hand he held the dagger that
the female sorceress—Erias had possessed. He had been holding the dagger
by its belt, for he was almost afraid to touch it. He could sense from
it a power that was very great, but whether or not that was from the
weapon or the wielder he didn't know. Looking at it, he could seen its
blade even through the sheath, which was little more than a leather
backing with straps holding the weapon. It was originally curved, he
could tell, but it had been magically, or mundanely shaped into a
straight blade. Probably made from a particularly nasty fang of a felled
demon, the craftsmanship on the weapon was one that couldn't be denied.
It had to have been crafted by the joint efforts of both a cunning mage
and a very skilled blacksmith, the perfect weapon it almost seemed like,
the joining of two arts.
By this time he had become within reasonable distance of the group of
adventurers around. The only ones left now were four. There was a
sorceress, a younger one, whom Faust identified as Erias's apprentice.
Faust honestly had no backing on this, but the dirty yet worried look she
shot him gave him enough hints. The sorceress seemed almost accusing as
she followed him to the rest of the group as well, apparently she didn't
trust him very well. The second young person there was the assassin that
Faust had recognized as his cell guard, she seemed to share the same
feelings as the sorceress, but there seemed to be some...Understanding in
her eyes.
The other two individuals of the group towered above the three measly
apprentices; an imposing assassin and the golem Faust had seen earlier.
However, now the golem had decapitated himself, revealing his 'head' to
be nothing but a rather large helmet. Under the helmet, Faust could now
see, was the dignified and stone-cold face inherent to every Knight of
Zakarum, but this one had a sort of inner fire inside him, a great
determination. Also, not only did he stand clad in the most imposing set
of armor Faust had ever seen, but he also carried a mammoth shield on his
back, and his sides were adorned with two of the most fearsome weapons
ever laid eyes on, in Faust's world, anyway. The first, on his left hand
side, was a scabbard containing a long, intimidating long sword. The
hilt of the blade was adorned with runes, all of which Faust could read,
so he decided not to tango with the paladin. The second weapon was a
large wooden hammer hanging on a metal hoop that also seemed to have its
own presence in the room. Faust decided never to be on the receiving end
of that hammer, in fact, it was probably best not to speak to the paladin
unless asked, much less anger him, assuming that Faust didn't want to
become fodder to his peers.
They had all sat there a small amount of time, when the paladin was the
first to speak. The others in the room, who were familiar with his
voice, prepared themselves for the booming timbre of a voice they had
heard in the hall earlier. They could tell that the paladin was a
powerful speaker from his long speech earlier, and they planned to hear
more of the same;
What they heard was a voice that still seemed to contain that timbre,
that something the paladin had when he spoke, but also a quieter sort of
sound more suited for closer situations;
"We've won the battle for now, but we have to count our losses. We're
lucky. Six out of our group were killed overall. What we should be
happy about is that all of the elders made it out alive, even that
Corrack V'Arr mage. The rest of us will-"
The paladin was stopped short as Faust cleared his throat. The others in
the group turned towards him and looked at him with a look that showed
they were somewhat perturbed. Though he could tell that he was liked
very well among the group, being a Priest, he still said what he had to
say;
"That's..Not entirely true." He paused and let out a small sob. The
elder sorceress had been one of, if not his only companion in the past
day or so, so he had a special attachment to her, or so he thought,
anyway;
He continued; "We did lose one elder..." Not being able to say much else,
he simply dropped the dagger for the rest to see. The room went stark
quiet, like a mortuary or a mausoleum. The others there had known Erias,
and it showed. Penelope began weeping outright when she saw that lone
dagger without its master. The others recoiled in horror. Faust could
see why they were doing so. Erias wielded awesome power for a sorceress,
if the menace that they were up against could kill her, than what would
they be up against?!? If the savior from the Hell Days had already died,
then what hope was there for them now??
Quirrari, the assassin elder, was the first to speak after the news had
been broken, after the stark silence. Her leadership qualities were
apparent in the way that she carried herself, and in the way that she
spoke;
"Regardless. Erias may be dead, but that doesn't matter! We have eight
other powerful mages and sorceresses; Erias's loss was great, but it is
by no means our end! We must contact all cultures and reaches of the
world! There are still four heroes left, four others that survived the
Prime Evils, we must-"
This time Faust opened his mouth; he felt like he was a dwarf in a land
of giants, but his opinion had to be heard concerning the Heroes. He
had, of course, lived with one the whole of his life, and knew how he
thought. At least, he did. Now that his own father had wanted him and
Erias dead, and gotten his wish, he didn't know if he knew his father
very well at all. One thing was certain though; his father couldn't be
trusted.
"Four heroes? You would ask the service of my father?!? He cannot be
trusted! He was the one who sent the murderers of your elder! He is the
reason she is dead! You would trust a traitor such as he! He envied
Erias' power, and he killed her! Right now I imagine he is planning to
kill all of us, even me, his own blood! If you ally with Faust, you ally
with death, it is that simple!"
It seemed that his talk had rallied a spirit in the paladin as well,
moving forward, Aurthor began speaking too, in a voice just as emotional
and passionate as Faust's, but of course, with more wisdom and knowledge
behind it;
"And what of the others? Nikea is away in her islands, with enough
trouble on her plate as it is! Do you not recall how the Amazonian
nations just went into complete seclusion so many years ago? They will
not answer us!! The Barbarians of Arreat are too busy with their own
matters, Kathos will not aid us unless trouble is at his door step, why,
if it were not for the fact that the magic of the mages keeps the world
together, I doubt Kathos would much as speak to us! And as for the
druids... Good luck getting them to leave their forests!"
"ENOUGH!!!!!"
A crackle of thunder echoed throughout the room as the cry startled
everyone in the room. Penelope, the apprentice of the fallen sorceress,
seemed to take on an heir of her fallen mentor at that point. Floating
in the air with lightning crackling about her, she caused the others to
forget what they had been arguing about.
"I've had enough of this squabbling!!" her breath could be seen to come
out in misty spurts, for the air around her had been chilled by her fury;
"My teacher, my guardian, the only thing I ever had close to a parent has
died, and all you can do is ARGUE! Give everyone some time to rest
before you move on! I understand that what we are dealing with is
important, but if Evil is to prevail it will do so without your
planning!"
And with that, she levitated out of the hall, through the portal. The
others quickly followed, whispering to themselves about Penelope, and
other happenings. All of them left, except for Faust at least. He
stood there, alone, contemplating his future. He was there only a few
seconds before he picked up the dagger, and walked out into the camp.
"So you failed..." the stern voice of the necromancer pierced the hall as
he looked upon his apprentices. Even in the dim, candlelit room, they
could still see his disappointment. Their targets had been Faust and the
sorceress, but it seemed that they hadn't been successful.
"Failed? No, my lord!"
His nephew was the first to cover their tracks. It was to be expected,
he had always vied for his uncle's title. The second apprentice was just
quiet.
"In what way have you not failed?" Faust spoke up;
"You were supposed to bring me the head of the boy and of Erias, I do not
see their heads, so therefore, you both have failed.
"Not so! We did manage to kill the sorceress!"
"Did you see her dead body!"
"No, my lord. The apothecary's poison, and my minions made short work of
her body before we were able to lay eyes on it."
"You fool! Erias would not die so easily! I would punish you, but I am
beginning to tire. Leave me at once until I call for you. And next
time, I will not tolerate evil from both of you! Understand?"
Both of them nodded their heads, and left. In his mind, Faust could see
the wrathful gaze of Erias staring at his very soul. She would hear from
him again soon, for he knew there was no way she was dead.