-25-
"How might the Intelligence Trait taste like…? I'm sure its better than swallowing tarous."
Abyss ignored Storm's comments as both superiors traversed the Mjolnir hills. It was past dusk and they had reached the outskirts of these mountainous regions. Both of them left the Mjolnir pits this evening, heading westwards to the dreaded kingdom of Glast Heim, said to be the bastion before the world of the restless dead and the tormented souls.
This grand kingdom of the dead, situated at the west of Rune-Midgard, had attracted many adventurers to hunt down the Dark Lord and Baphomet. Those brave enough to intrude the grounds of these formidable duo ventured in, but till today, none made it out alive. Even before they caught sight of these two, the overwhelming abominations from the oppressive depths of Glast Heim dungeons were more than enough to clear off the trespassers.
The damned, distorted living corpse roam the churches, castles, dungeons, every dark labyrinth you could ever imagine. Fierce and merciless spirits like Whispers glide like the wind, brushing people's neck with a chill running down their spine. The corrupted priests called Evil Druid, the ghostly horse Nightmare, Brilight beetles and a variety of zombies served in the corrupted, insane kingdom of Glast Heim.
"We're nearing. I can smell… did you smell it Abyss? The rotten flesh of zombies and the tainted wind! Mysts are nearby," Storm talked excitedly.
"I am well aware myself, announcer," Abyss said in a raspy voice.
Storm waded through thick vines hanging down from tall, but dead trees. He wriggled his nose as it became more sensitive to the stench of Glast Heim. He suddenly turned very serious.
"Stay back, Abyss. I think I sense the split of Dark Lord himself, the Dark Illusion."
Both superiors remained out of view, surveying the area silently for the Dark Illusion was almost as tough a nut to crack as Dark Lord if found. Sure enough, a purplish apparition with a fluttering cape patrolled the woods, looking behind thick trunks and over shrubs for signs of intruders. Storm and Abyss realized by the Dark Illusion's behaviour that they were out of the Mjolnir boundaries, and crossed into the woods not too far east from Glast Heim.
The Dark Illusion, a floating skeletal figure with purplish glow, wore black armour and a purple cape imprinted with a shining symbol of a star within a circle. A dark aura beneath his floating form flared an eerie light, it looking more fearful in the night. Apparently sensing no one, it headed westwards back to the castles, to report his findings to the Dark Lord. The Dark Illusions were also known to be the Dark Lord's most trusted right hand men, yet brutal and formidable when ending a life.
Storm and Abyss came out of their hideout when they were positive that no beings from the Glast Heim were patrolling or guarding the vicinity. Both knights avoided the leafy paths, for they would be found out from the noisy crunching. Yet, they could not risk travelling the main trails. Demons from Glast Heim usually took these paths when sent off to reconnaissance purposes.
Because of these two factors, the journey to the kingdom of the undead proved difficult and cumbersome. At first Abyss objected when Storm produced a fly wing, saying that he would not succumb to mortal ways of transportation which was of great insult.
"You can't use any of your abilities here, let alone teleportation. Baphomet and Dark Lord would be able to sense the presence of a superior."
Storm was not wrong; the demons of Glast Heim would already sense the utilizing of great powers, then identifying it as superiors intruding the kingdom. If they used a fly wing, things might not appear to be as obvious. They had no choice…
Abyss accepted a fly wing reluctantly from the blue knight, crushing it in his palm. The world spun madly, going at faster speed each moment. Abyss was dumped onto a slight down slope, the ebony knight rolling his way down, eventually crashing into a grey mossy wall.
Cursing Storm for making him travel through a disastrous fly wing, he began to look around frantically for Storm. However, a myst was what that greeted him first. The crash might have awakened the undead kingdom. If it did not, this myst would send signals to announce the arrival of a superior. It had to be silenced for good. Drawing out his black sword in a swift movement, he slapped the flat side of the blade to the shield it was holding, sending it dropping off the insubstantial arm of the ghostly myst. He then proceeded to thrust the sword in between what appeared to be eyes. Since his sword thrust into nothing but air, he readied another blow, which was unnecessary. The myst dissipated as it died.
Scolding himself for his stupidity that the sword could touch anything, including ghostly demons, he looked around again for Storm and signs of other Glast Heim demons. He abandoned the latter when it looked like the coast was clear for the moment. Abyss began his ascend up the slope, but a telepathic message came to him suddenly.
We'll contact this way, Abyss. Don't bother going up, I'm already through the entrance, Storm's voice rang.
Fine.
Abyss peeked around the area, making sure that no demons were nearby. He spotted a bluish gleam ahead of him, and he let the problem of Storm's whereabouts drift off his mind. He increased his pace, catching up with the blue knight who had just slain another myst.
Didn't you mention that we should not use powers of any form? Abyss communicated.
There was a slight pause, then Storm replied, but verbally.
"We can communicate verbally for now. Unless we're together, we make use of telepathy to keep in contact. And this is just communication, not use of physical powers."
Abyss nodded in understanding, taking the lead. They scaled walls instead of traversing openly through gates and stairways, using the looming dead trees as cover whenever necessary. But, no matter how cautious they tried to be, they encountered mysts along the way, which was quickly slain to prevent the sending of their signals. This was not a bad thing, considering that they did not have to meet demons of stronger abilities and more menace, a Dark Illusion, for instance.
"Our current destination?" Storm asked.
"We have to survey both Dark Lord and Baphomet, then we formulate something to seize their Intelligence Trait. So this makes our destination different," Abyss said after a quick thought.
"I'll go for Baphomet, so I'm headed for the castles. Remember, contact through this," Storm decided, pointing to the side of his head while he spoke.
Abyss flexed his chest out, then went off to the Glast Heim graveyard wordlessly.