Chapter 9:
I've been lying on my bed for about two hours now without doing anything. I'm not even thinking right now. My head is filled up by a gigantic void. I feel strangely exhausted, yet I have not been able to sleep until now nor will I be able to after having met with Whitemane again.
Years over years everybody has always just talked about my father, how great of a man he had been and that I would surely become just like him some day to come. And now, from one moment to the other everything has changed completely. My whole world had been turned around on the whim of a single person. Suddenly my mother is supposed to be far more important than my father, although nobody even knows the connection between me and her. What's next? Somebody telling me I am part of a royal bloodline? I just cannot believe this is all happening...
Whitemane told me that I could still choose 'my path', but I've chosen to become a priest already, haven't I? All I wanted was my father to be proud of me, even though I will never be able to become a paladin. I just wanted him to be able to smile upon my progress, dead or not. And I don't want to interfere with the arcane, fire or ice.
Damn it! Now I'm even more insecure than I was before.
But right now, I can't do much but to try and focus again. Whitemane should arrive here any minute now. And even though I think I want to become a cleric, I still also want to know what she has to show me. Yet should it have anything to do with the shadows, I..., I will reject it. I swear to myself, I will turn her down if she tries to persuade me into the darkness. I want to be a sincere cleric, not something filthy and seductive as she is.
Mere seconds later, I can hear footsteps outside.
It sounds as if Whitemane is among them, those boots giving her away easily within these halls.
Moments later I hear a knocking on my door. Quickly I rush to open it.
"Don't take anything with you, young Fipps. We are in a hurry." She tells me right of the bat, leaving me to wonder what she means by that.
"Where are we going?" I ask just after I closed the door of my room behind me.
"You will see soon enough and with your own eyes my dear." She smiles at me, the expression strangely distorted. There we go again, all this secret keeping all of the time. Quietly I calm myself down knowing that I should know everything in a few minutes. Then again, I can only wonder: why do I even trust this woman...?
"Isillien is already waiting for us there. So we have to speed up a bit. But don't worry it's not too far away from here." She keeps her voice down trying not to wake anybody, which I would think is impossible just from wearing those boots of hers.
As we pass through the moonlight for once I notice that she is wearing a full uniform for a change and even has her inquisitorial staff with her. The staff itself is about as tall as Whitemane and looks as if it was crafted from pure gold, in the headpiece it is adorned by a red, always slightly glowing jewel. Now I start to wonder even more where we could be heading to during these dark hours.
As we reach the central hall of the monastery, I think I can spot the Grand Inquisitor waiting for us. And indeed he is. He is standing in front of the entrance to the cemetery, right next to the two guards. As we come closer, he briefly greets me and Whitemane in a somewhat awkward yet friendly fashion.
"Good evening, Isillien. Ready for the interrogation?" Whitemane's words sound darker and more disturbing than usual.
"It is my pleasure to attend, Sally." A grim smile takes a hold of his face. This does not look anything like the Grand Inquisitor Isillien I know from Hearthglen. He hardly never smiled, was always calm and thoughtful. "I cannot wait to question that bastard, to press out every little bit of information, even if I have to..." His voice quickly rises, he sounds angry, like in a fit of rage.
"That is enough Isillien! You will have your chance to give in to your rage when we are down there with the prisoners, but be careful! For now, stand down! Concerning you..." She turns around to face me. "Marc, do not be frightened of what you may see within those catacombs. All those creatures down there are being held secure at all means. None of them will be able to harm you in any way or form. And if one of the creatures should be able to escape, rest assured that I will take care of it personally."
Her words rightfully frighten me. "Do you understand?"
I'm quick to nod in response. "Ye-yes."
She takes a step towards the guards and Isillien, but turns around instantly. "Oh, and one more thing: ALWAYS do exactly as I say. If something unusual should happen and you don't, you will probably die." I swallow hard as the last of the words still echo in my ears. Isn't that a bit contrary to the things she said before I ask myself. Again I have no real choice to make.
"Yes I.., I will." She then takes me by the shoulder and pushes me forward.
"Good boy."
Whitemane doesn't hesitate any longer and gives the guards the order to let us enter. Immediately they open the heavy door they've been watching so thoughtfully until now. Hidden behind it we find a staircase going down. From my point of view it is pitch black down there.
"The first interrogators are probably already at work, so don't mind the screams. Watch your step for now, it will lighten up when we reach the end of the staircase." The expression I receive is scaring me though I still wonder what awaits me down there.
The first gleam of light is visible after a short while. We should be at our destination rather soon though the staircase proves to be longer than I had expected at first. We must already have gone down at least two or three floors.
The lights hanging from the walls and ceiling flickers, the flames of the torches feed on the wind coming in, probably through windows somewhere down here.
The stairs end in a large open room. Several columns spread out all over it are keeping the structure stabilized. It feels almost as if we are in a cavern.
A man approaches us with quick steps. He is wearing a black uniform with red highlights and a scarlet hood. "Lady Whitemane, always a pleasure to see you." He bows upon speaking.
"Cut it out Vishas! Just tell us where the new prisoners are and what you have already gotten out of them." She is extremely harsh to him.
"One of the three is held in a cage next to the iron maiden, so he has a chance to think of things we could do to him later on. The second one is held in a cell back with the other 'live' prisoners and the third is strapped to the rack. That is the one we were questioning until now." He eagerly turn a couple of pages inside a notebook he holds in his hand.
"So? Did you found out anything at all!" Isillien interferes.
"Honestly? Not too much, my lord. I'm afraid they are a bit stronger than the others that came before them. They're by far not as easy to break as the ones during the last weeks. Only thing we can tell for sure is that one of them was carrying a basket with mushrooms and herbs around..."
"Which one of them was that?" Whitemane speaks in a hurry before Isillien could interfere again.
"The one in the cell, he also wore a peculiar robe. We think he is part of this strange alchemists guild that has been formed by the undead. The other two wore the same guard's uniform as we have already collected several others. "
Meanwhile the Grand Inquisitor is standing uneasily, his fingers twitching nonstop.
"What do you think about the purpose of their venture? Why did they travel this far into our lands?" Whitemane remains completely calm in heavy contrast to Isillien.
"Well the one with the robe was definitely gathering herbs, but the two armed guards with him suggest that this could also be a small assault group. We do not know if one of them had potions or chemicals with him so they could mix something to poison us in our sleep. It is possible they swallowed it before being taken captive." All in all this explanation of him does not seem that reliable to me.
"Were there more except these three, James?"
"Possibly. We don't know if some escaped us before the rest took a stand. What we know for sure is that none of them died. And the guards only found these three and took them all in." He continues looking through his notes while he speaks.
"I WANT TO SEE THEM!" Isillien bursts out "NOW!"
"Shhh! Calm yourself for another minute..." Whitemane's voice is smooth and gentle. "Did you already use the rack, or is the prisoner strapped on it just for intimidation?" She asks the interrogator.
"Just as an intimidation so far. But we couldn't get anything out of him so we intended using it rather sooner than later."
"Well then, take us to him. I want to question him personally and if he still refused to spill his little secrets... use the rack or whatever is necessary to make him." She orders lightheartedly.
"As you wish, milady. The prisoner is this right way." He bows again slightly and points out the way with his left arm. "Follow me, please."
We pass through under at least three archways supporting the underground structure. My eyes wander towards the ceiling, finding it completely covered with frescos. Sadly due to the weak lighting I'm not able to make out anything of what the pictures show as we walk below them.
As I hear a strange uttering from around the corner Vishas states the obvious.
"We are almost there, as you can hear."
We turn around a corner behind a column and are immediately standing inside a small cubicle room, the huge rack taking up most of the space in it.
On the rack there is a creature as I have never seen one before. It is clearly undead, but it certainly is not a mindless ghoul. It's, or better, his eyes are glowing in a bright yellow, the fire burning in his soul. He still has most of his teeth and hair. Only his skin is grey like ashes. The body is also completely intact. If there wouldn't be those parts where you can see his bones or where bigger lumps of flesh and skin are missing, you could actually think that he is still alive. I swallow hard. The sight is disturbing on a completely different level.
"Marc focus! This is an enemy. He may not be from the ranks of the Scourge, yet this breed is intelligent and therefore even more dangerous than the blundering mindless ghouls of the Lich King!"
Whitemane tries to talk me into it.
"Now, do you remember what I wanted to show you?" She asks me in a surprisingly soothing tone of her voice.
"Ye...yes, of course I do.", I respond instantly still staring at the thing in front of me.
"Fine then... Remember that I can only show you such things here in this place, under these circumstances because I wouldn't want somebody 'unprepared' to witness any of it and neither would I want to use this on anybody from the Scarlet Crusade in order to demonstrate it."
She steps closer to the creature. "Come on now. Come closer... It's tightly strapped to the rack. It won't be able to free itself."
I hesitate but Isillien pushes me closer from behind. As I stand directly at the rack I can clearly smell rotten flesh.
"Now, let's start part two of your lesson today. I introduced you to holy magic earlier and I assure you, at the current state you will not be able to use it by any means." Isillien in the background nods silently.
"This time I will show you its opposite and I assure you, you will be able to control this type of magic to its full extend right from the start, even now. I will show you, or well you could even say I will teach you, three spells. They all use shadow magic and all of them are used by clerics throughout Azeroth. So you could call them basics I presume." She smiles at me knowingly. For the moment I don't try to think too much, I just listen to her words. I'm unsure if I even want to hear what she wants so teach me, but I can't leave anyhow.
"Shadow magic works pretty simply, you will find. Usually you have a word or the name of the spell to help you focus on the desired effect. You do not need this when weaving the spell itself, although you can use this as a kind of backup for your mind and focus, but that is all a matter of practice and in the end personal style. For performing the spell itself you only have to concentrate on what you want to do. That is all you have to do. Yet this makes it sound a bit easier then it is." She raises her right hand into the air over the rack.
"The first spell is known as the 'Shadow Word: Pain' and it does just what the name states. It inflicts pain to the target. Other than holy magic, shadow spells inflict their damage on the spirit AND the body. Somebody attacked with 'Holy Fire' won't show any remains of physical damage once the effect wears off. 'Shadow Word: Pain' on the other hand can cause old wounds to open, twist flesh or if performed by somebody very powerful, even shatter bones."
Isillien clutches his fists and reopens them behind me, I can tell only from hearing it. He can barely control himself. Whitemane also notices and offers him merely an annoyed look before she takes her hand back. "Isillien? Don't you want to have a look at our new prisoner in the cell?"
His eyes show an unnatural glare. "Oh, I do want to, Sally."
Whitemane turns to the head of the interrogators and orders him to escort Grand Inquisitor Isillien to the new prisoner. Both of them head of immediately. It's not far from here, after they've passed three or four archways. Isillien and the other man enter the cell somewhere out of my line of sight.
With a sigh she turns back to me. "Where were we?" She thinks for a short moment. "Ah yes. The only truly important thing you would have to know about shadow magic is that power always comes at a cost. The shadows seek for blood, pain and agony, they don't care from whom it comes, but every shadow spell will have its cost. If it is performed in the right way, the target or victim will pay the cost for you. But if the spell is deflected or improperly cast, you will have to pay the debt yourself. And much like with the holy arts, the strength of the spell will also be influenced by feelings you inherit. If for instance you feel rage, restlessness, agony or hatred, the shadows will also feed upon these feelings and the spell will be cast with much less effort and the effect will be far more devastating. Yet be careful... also will be the debt that has to be paid in case of a failed cast."
So that is the reason for the awful lot of scars on her left arm?
"I will now demonstrate the first cast. Attention!" She raises her hand back into the air over the rack.
Her lips move without a sound, her eyes closed. As she reopens them the undead in front of us starts writhing in pain. He screams out loud, his voice sounding dark and strangely hollow.
"This will now keep on for approximately a minute or two. I didn't put too much effort into it.", her words are again as cold as ice.
I see the undead in front of me screaming in pain. For a moment I wonder how a creature like this can even have feelings at all. And the more time that passes the more clearly I develop a form of disgust inside me, although I cannot tell if it is because of the undead or this type of magic.
It feels as if this sole minute lasts ages until the undead finally comes to a rest again.
"The second spell I want to show you, is called 'Mindflay'" She just goes on without paying any attention to the undead lying in front of us, "the characteristic of it is a blue beam emitting from ones finger to the head of the target. Especially for interrogation it is quite useful due to the effect that you can most literally read the memories of your target. But you have to be careful! As long as you perform it the vital functions of your victim will slow down increasingly, so if you do not want to kill your target and just question him or her, handle this spell with utmost care or the target might die because its heart simply stops beating."
She gives me a short look checking if I'm listening and watching her, then she turns back to the undead, pointing with two fingers at the head of the prisoner. A light blue beam emits from her fingertips for a split of a second. During this brief moment the room is filled by a cold blue tone.
"You see..." Whitemane appears to be a bit out of breath, "... it is difficult to retain this spell in motion. Yet I saw something important in the mind of this creature, so I stopped it right away." Her voice is shacking a bit as she pants for breath. In this one moment I'm not really sure whether she speaks the truth or if this is just an excuse for something.
"The third spell I wanted to show you is simply called 'Mind Blast'. To keep it short, the spell can 'blast away' memories of the target. It actually erases them. Partial and even severe damage to the brain can also occur, depending on how much effort you put into it. To cast this spell without harming the target you have to be absolutely concentrated. So please Marc, be quiet for a moment as I focus on the task at hand."
I nod, although I've been quiet the whole time we have been down here until now.
Whitemane points both her hands at the undead. Again she is mumbling something with her eyes closed. As she opens them again and the spell is ready, we both flinch because we hear a horrible drawn out scream from somewhere behind us.
Due to the loss of concentration the spell Whitemane was channeling goes wrong and the undead winces in agony. This stops abruptly though. Now he is lying quietly on the rack without any further movement, a dark liquid oozing out of his nose and ears.
"Goddamn him! ISILLIEN!" Whitemane seems furious.
Another scream is emitted from the cell with Isillien and the other prisoner, followed by a fierce, mischievous laughter. The voice surely sounds like Isillien, but can this really be the calm and gentle man that I got to know in Hearthglen?
"Wait here!" Whitemane orders me. "That fool."
She hurries to the cell with the other prisoner. I see from a distance how she opens the door and vanishes inside the room. I don't understand what they are saying, but Whitemane is clearly yelling at him. It sounds as if Isillien is still laughing.
Whitemane then quickly leaves the room, now heading back towards my direction. She still seems furious. I don't have the heart so ask what happened right now.
She walks right past me to the interrogator squad. "I need to talk to the head of the guards immediately! I want to meet him upstairs in five minutes." One of the men nods and rushes off to the staircase without any further word.
It doesn't take much longer for Whitemane to turn back to me.
"Come with me. We are undertaking an emergency field-trip right away."
"What?" It just bursts out of me.
"We need to get something from the undead urgently. But Isillien, that fool, killed the one of the group that knew most about it. And due to the... interruption, I accidentally killed the one we questioned. That idiot should learn to control his rage. He's jeopardizing all of our lives!" She increases her pace. "You are coming with me!"
I don't know what more to be shocked about..., that madman that seems to be Isillien, who I knew only as a gentle and caring person before tonight, or Whitemane telling me to go with them onto a field trip in the middle of the night. "Bu... but I won't be of any use?" We just reach the staircase as I fumble out these words, letting her take a full stop for a brief moment.
"Stop talking like a fool, just come with us. Remember what I told you earlier..., you have to do everything I say." She gives me a short smile before her expression darkens again. "THAT'S AN ORDER!"
I guess it would be better if I don't annoy her any further, she is still too enraged.
Doing the only thing reasonable, I stay quiet for the rest of the way up.