Valkyrie Profile:
Lenneth Novelization AU:
Disclaimer: I do not own Valkyrie Profile or any other tri-Ace properties. Please support the official release.
Chapter Thirty-Two:
Plots and Schemes in the Dark
"I didn't see Llewelyn at breakfast among the other einherjar today, either. They must have really deployed him already," Jelanda murmured.
"Lord Odin did say he would be getting orders shortly," Lawfer pointed out.
"Speaking of, a new archer to replace Llewelyn the very next day after he was transferred. The timing is curiously convenient, no?" Belenus asked the others.
Yes," Lawfer thoughtfully answered in agreement. "'Tis as though Fate wants us to have our bases covered as a unit."
"Fate, huh?" Arngrim muttered to himself.
The scarred mercenary was sitting on the bottom step of an ascending stairwell a short distance away from the others as he listened to them talk. At the moment, it was morning, and they were waiting for Lenneth to finish assisting Janus select his gear in the armory. Lawfer was leaned up against a wall across the door from the armory beside Belenus, Jelanda, and Nanami.
"But I don't understand how that can be," Jelanda piped up. "Llewelyn wasn't even supposed to be chosen. Lady Valkyrie chose him when he needed a new fate. If she hadn't done that, she wouldn't have had an archer like Lord Odin and Lady Freya wanted."
"That is curious," Nanami agreed with her fellow magi.
She thought about it a moment longer before a thought came to her.
"That is the part I just cannot figure, I will admit," Belenus confessed with a helpless shrug. "If Lord Odin and Lady Freya wanted an archer, should there not have been one for her to choose slated much sooner?"
"Perhaps…" Nanami thought about it a moment longer before fully answering. "Perhaps Lady Valkyrie choosing Llewelyn delayed Sir Janus's own demise?"
Lawfer, Belenus, and Jelanda looked at her, considering the point.
"Sounds as possible as any of this other crap," Arngrim muttered.
Seeing he had the floor now, the mercenary just shrugged.
"Janus was crossing the Artolian Mountains alone," he said. "The Undead-infested Artolia Mountains. He mighta been one of his king's elite, or whatever, but that's a lot for one guy to get through."
The rest had to concede the point. However, they could dwell on it no further, because the armory door swung open. Lawfer reflexively stood at attention as Lenneth stepped out, followed by Janus. Belenus, Jelanda, and Nanami lined up beside him. Arngrim, however, remained seated on his stair.
The first thing they noticed is that the Valkyrie had a bow of her own now. It seemed to be made of a strange white kind of wood. It did not appear to have been painted, and was engraved with silver runes and patterns. Lenneth plucked the string as she looked over it with satisfaction. Then it shimmered in her hand and vanished.
"Whoa!" Lawfer was wowed, and then confused. "Where did it go?"
Lenneth considered how to answer that.
"I have a… pocket, of sorts, I can store a few things in," she answered.
"Well, that's good, 'cause that getup don't have any," Arngrim deadpanned.
"I've been overdue to claim a boy and serve as a second archer, when need be," Lenneth said. "But…"
She glanced back at Janus.
"I believe you will find Janu's gear more interesting," the goddess said.
Then she stepped aside, letting Janus take center stage. Janus stepped forward holding up a pair of Twin Crossbows for the others to see. He put his fingers to their triggers, generating energy bolts on both the top and bottom of both weapons.
"Ooh!" Jelanda cooed, genuine impressed. "So, four shots every time?"
"Seems to be the case," Janus said.
He took his finger from the triggers, causing the arrows to dissipate. He had a grin of wonder.
"No more reloading or worrying about running out of arrows," he thought. "I could get used to that."
Then he stuck them into their holsters, which hung from the sides of his belt, which was no longer a sash belt, but a leather one with a proper buckle. Several throwing knives and fighting daggers also hung from it. He was a man ready to fight at any range.
Belenus craned his head to the side as he examined one of the crossbows a bit more. They were a polished black iron and a dark type of wood he'd never seen before. He couldn't help but marvel at the dwarven craftsmanship. They watched as Janus tested pulling the bows out and putting them back as he got a feel for his new arsenal. His was quick in drawing them and they slid back into their holsters smoothly. Satisfied with how effortless it was, Janus put them away once more.
"I think that will do nicely," he said.
"Good. Everyone else ready?" Lenneth asked.
"Yes, Lady Valkyrie," everyone but Arngrim answered.
"Yep," was his version.
"Ay, Lady Valkyrie," Janus answered. "My aim is yours'."
"Very well. We depart," Lenneth answered.
Arngrim finally got up and joined the others they started to head out. They walked in a semi-organized line behind their goddess through the halls of Valhalla.
"Where to today?" Arngrim asked.
"Not sure just yet," Lenneth answered over her shoulder. "If the Strings of Fate do not pull us in particular direction, I have been given a list of locales to investigate by Lord Loki. We will begin with one of those if nothing else. I will explain once we are on Midgard."
Clink, clink, clink, clink.
Lezard grinned as he dropped the last of the gold coins into the chest. It was now full, and he pulled the lid shut. He uttered a quick spell under his breath, magically sealing the wooden trunk. He ran his hands over its rounded lid.
"Finally," he thought eagerly as he looked on his work. "After three days of hard work, I have enough. This should easily pay for passage across the southeastern sea to the Forest of Spirits."
Lezard leaned over the chest on the worktable, beginning to laugh quietly. Whether the chuckle was at the absurd amount of trouble he was having to go to, or that he could finally move forwards with his plans, even he didn't know. He put his elbows on the trunk and rested his head in his hands as he paused to look around Mystina's workshop. Lezard lamented how there were certain things even theft, extorsion, and his dealings on the Backdoor Market could not get him, which made bartering for use of this place a necessity.
"Whatever. The work is done," Lezard snapped himself out of his musings and stood up.
He glanced at the large device behind him against the wall adjacent to the workshop's front and back doors, spanning the entire length of the exterior. He run his hand over the side, noting with some surprise how it was still cool despite the alchemic processes it had completed within the last hour. It was a large horizontal metal tube as tall as two men and twenty-foot-long sitting suspended about three feet from the floor by a steel frame built around it. At one end, a small compartment made of thick glass with reinforced metal-bindings was where components were fed into the device via a conveyer belt. At the other end an identical compartment where the purified, mixed, or otherwise altered elements were rolled out. Any leftover refuse from the alchemic reaction was drained out through a pipe in the device's bottom and collected in a lead bin which sat right under it.
"Handy, this thing," Lezard had to admit. "These alchemic accelerators are really something. Shame it's wasted on someone like Mystina or those boring pretend magi at the academy. I'd put this thing to some real use."
Then he almost automatically gave the door a cautious look, half-expecting Mystina to barge in at the most inopportune moment as she had been known to do. When the door didn't fly open and slam against the wall behind it in the wake of his irritable former classmate, Lezard looked to his homunculus servants.
Belion, his large ogre of an assistant, and Lilly, his Lenneth-lookalike maid, stood at the side of a screw press which Lezard had them man to make the coins. The two semi-living entities were still ready to grab the weighted balance arm at the top of the device to drive the massive screw it turned downward, where it'd smash against the round slot to press the gold into its perfect coin shape.
Lezard saw just how many gold scraps were all over the floor, around the base of the device. Then he glanced at the accelerator's waste bin.
"Right, we best clean up the evidence so Misty won't get in any trouble during one of the academy's inspections," Lezard mused.
It was no secret, least of all to former students of one of their academies, that licensed magi in Flenceburg were always under heavy scrutiny from both their academies and the State because of the equipment and components they had access to for their research.
"I'm surprised ol' Headmistress Lorenta let Misty have the lease for both an alchemic accelerator and a screw press," Lezard thought. Then he frowned. "If so, the inspectors must come here almost weekly. Misty literally has everything she needs to make her own money."
That prompted Lezard to look toward the window. He almost jogged to it and looked around the city streets outside. It looked to be just regular citizens out there.
"Nevertheless…" Lezard thought.
"Belion," he pointed at his large green assistant. "Grab the broom and dustpan. I want anything that glitters swept up off the floor. Don't dispose of it until I tell you how."
"Yes, Master," Belion answered.
Then he went to fetch the needed cleaning tools. Lezard watched him, since he hadn't been right since the elf woman who had become Lilly used her telepathy on him. When Belion grabbed a broom and dustpan, Lezard sighed almost happily. He turned to Lilly, who stood poised with her hands folded in her lap, staring at him blankly.
"Lilly, help me with the waste bin of the accelerator. We need to take it and dispose of its contents somewhere where it won't come back to haunt Misty."
"Yes, master," Lilly said.
They grabbed the bin by the handles on the sides and slid it out from under the disposal pipe.
"Master, this is not your workshop or lab, though," Lilly monotonously said.
"So…?" Lezard asked.
They lifted the lead box from the floor. Lezard took the lead, walking them over to the workshop's backdoor.
"Why bother cleaning up after ourselves if this is Mistress Mystina's property?" Lilly asked.
"Because if we leave nothing incriminating behind, it may be possible to barter use of these devices again," Lezard answered. "As if stands, this is the only alchemic accelerator I have access to because it is nearly impossible to get one without being a licensed magi."
"Understood, master," Lilly said.
Lezard opened the backdoor and they carried the waste out into the alley.
"A new building is going up about four blocks this way," Lezard pointed right from the door. "We will dump the contents among the piles of earth they have dug out to lay the foundations. They will never know anything, but rock and dirt was there."
"Yes, Master," Lilly said.
Master and homunculus servant ventured through the backstreet as soon as no one was around. They paid no heed to the sound of horses galloping through the street at the front of the buildings until they heard a trumpet. Lezard recognized the tune it played right away.
"I'd know that sound anywhere," he thought. "An official announcement from Parliament is being sent out."
"Lilly, stop," Lezard ordered.
Lilly obeyed while her master listened for the sound to repeat itself. When the trumpets blared again in junction with the sound of hooves drawing closer, Lezard knew a procession of Flenceburg government representatives had come to Mystina's neighborhood.
"Set the bin down," Lezard ordered.
Lilly lowered the box to the ground, moving with her master.
"Alright, for the moment, just get this out of sight," Lezard told her. "I'll have a look at what those trumpets at about."
"Yes, Master," Lilly complied.
The homunculus maid grunted from the effort of picking up the bin by herself and began looking around for a hiding spot. The bespectacled wizard darted back inside the workshop, shutting the door behind him. He ran to a window and peered out from the side to keep out of sight.
Sure enough, a procession of men rode into the busy downtown area just a block away. They stopped in front of the apartments where Mystina lived. They bore the official colors of Flenceburg, black and gold. The man at the head company wore all black. Everything from his shiny boots to his tight pants, his double-breasted jacket with two rows of brass buttons, and even his leather gloves were jet black, except for the long, flowing golden side-cape wrapped around his right shoulder. The cutlass hanging from his belt was visible thanks to his cape flapping in the wind. The two riders who flanked him bore the banner of the Phoenix, a golden flaming figure with its wings spread in mid-flight surrounded by black, denoting their status representing The Flenceburg Parliament.
"Oh, this can only be annoying," Lezard thought.
The fact they had shown up where he was working under the roof of Mystina's workshop could not be a coincidence. The trumpeters sounded out once more as people continued to gather around. People on the upper floors of the various buildings in the area were also opening windows and sticking their heads out to listen. People exited their rooms in the nearby apartment complex and stood on the balconies and walkways, lining up.
The door of Mystina's apartment burst open, nearly slamming into the wall. She stood with wild hair in her short pink nightrobe which she held shut, yawning. Then she shuffled out with her only bunny slippers to protect her feet from the cold wooden boards.
"Oh, what could be so important at this ungodly hour?" she groaned.
"'Ungodly hour'?" one of her neighbors asked, unimpressed. "'Tis half past Ten!"
"Ugh, heathens," Mystina crossed her arms with a roll of her eyes.
The trumpeters were about to sound out again when the leader raised his arm, halting them. It was then the man in the cape held up a scroll before unrolling it. The people looked on curiously and even murmured among themselves, wondering what the important news was.
"Do you think Crell Monferaigne is finally coming for us in full force?" someone in the crowd asked.
"Good people of Flenceburg!" the caped captain announced. "I have come straight from Parliament to deliver news, but not for our government. No, this message comes straight from the gods, themselves."
While the crowd out on the street were now captivated, Lezard had a sinking feeling in his stomach. Mystina leaned over the railing, having her doubts about the verisimilitude of the man's claim.
The caped captain continued, "Seers from all across Midgard has received a command from the goddesses of prophecy, and that command is being delivered to every city, village, and even secluded outposts across the realm. So, listen well. This is a command not just for the church or the kingdoms, but all humanity."
Lezard was liking the sound of this less by the moment.
The necromancer looked at Belion tensely, "Hurry up with that sweeping, you big lummox."
"For this is the gods' word concerning a criminal most heinous," the caped captain's voice blared quite clearly even through the window. "He has intruded upon Forest of Spirits and committed grave sins in that sacred sanctuary of the gods upon our realm."
By now, gasps were bursting from the people in the crowd. Some folded their hands in contrite prayers, begging the gods not to hold this man's actions against the lot of them. Up on the third floor of the apartment, Mystina was no longer half-asleep. In fact, she now gripped the railing hard as it began to dawn on her they were talking about Lezard.
Mystina glanced back into her apartment, thinking of the root of Yggdrasil he had used to barter his way into her workshop just down the street. She felt her heart leaden and realized the trouble she could also be in.
"That little rat! If he gets my wizarding license revoked…" she thought with fearful anger.
The caped captain was undeterred by the noise of the crowd and continued, "His name is Lezard Valeth. He is guilty of theft and abducting an elf woman. His reasons are currently unknown, but my men will begin hanging up the wanted posters now. If you see this man, you are to report him immediately. Do not approach, he is a powerful wizard and should be considered extremely dangerous…"
Lezard ducked away from the window.
"Damn it! How did the gods even figure out it was me?" his mind whirled. "I am completely unknown to them still. Why, the only member of the Aesir to have ever met me is…"
Then he remembered he had formally introduced himself to Lenneth that night in Lombart's office. He had just used Lombart's corpse to summon a Hel Servant to keep the Valkyrie distracted while he escaped.
"You!" Lenneth had shouted. "You summoned this beast! Defiler! You used that man as a catalyst!"
"Now, now, there's no need to be rude. Pointing fingers. Tsk, tsk. Please, don't just refer to me as 'you'. My name is Lezard Valeth, dear Valkyrie. Allow me to engrave my name on your heart."
"My Darling Valkyrie must have sorted out it was me," Lezard concluded. Then his eyes lit up and he smiled with a blush. "She still remembers me! Oh, I was beginning to worry I had not made a big enough impression!"
He sighed lovingly, staring upward like a schoolboy with a crush.
"That was probably foolhardy of me in hindsight to give out my name so soon, but such is the price of love," he hummed.
"…The culprit has been spotted in this area recently," the captain explained.
"Oh, this. Right," Lezard thought as he remembered his current situation.
"…If anyone here has seen this man, come forth now. There is a cash reward of 100,000 oth for his head, dead or alive."
With that, Lezard knew Mystina would rat him out. A chance for some money not granted by the Headmistress and her board of Trustees would just be too tempting. The necromancer bolted for the back door and stopped short just outside.
"What?" he was caught off guard seeing Lilly still standing where he'd left her in the alleyway looking around.
She heard him and looked over.
"Oh, pardon me, Master, but I seem to be unable to find a suitable hiding place in the immediate area. Shall I go ahead to the construction site?" she asked.
"No, you fool, get in here," Lezard hissed at her. "Hand me the bin and help Belion finish up in here."
"Yes, Master," Lilly answered. She picked up the bin of waste and walked with some difficulty back to him. "I am coming."
Lezard thumped his head against the door, before shaking it, unintentionally grinding his forehead against the finished wood.
"Homunculi," he groaned.
"…The culprit has been spotted in this area recently," the captain explained. "If anyone here has seen this man, come forth now. There is a cash reward of 100,000 oth for his head, dead or alive."
Mystina felt herself go weak in the knees in response.
"100 Grand…" she was almost at a loss of what to even think. "How did that little lech manage to anger the gods so much that they put a price that big on his head?"
Then her heart skipped a beat when she realized where he might be at that very moment, listening to the captain's words, no less.
"That idiot just got a price put on his head by the gods themselves and I let him into my workshop," was her horrified thought. "If he's there right now…! If they learn we made a deal and I've been letting him use the equipment I have on lease, I'll be ruined!"
Without any further delay, Mystina took off running in her short robe still untied and flapping open, showing the world her immodest short nightgown. She did not care at all about the stares she got as her slippered feet padded against the wooden floor of the balcony. She was in such a rush, she didn't bother excusing herself as she pushed through her floor neighbors.
"What? Hey!" a man in a brown suit protested as Mystina shoved her way between him and another fellow who'd been standing behind him.
A mother covered her children's eyes as Mystina ran past. Mystina flew down the stairs, almost tripping because of her slippers sliding against the smooth wooden surface several times before she managed to get down all the tiers and reached the ground. Mystina ran into the alleyway behind her workshop to avoid the crowd. It was just down the street. A few took notice as she darted through. Mystina paid them no mind, especially in the final stretch when she nearly rammed the back door of her workshop and peered inside. She had been just in time to make out three figures standing in the room before a shining circle erupted from the floor, forcing her to cover her eyes. Mystina yelped and tried to look between her fingers.
The shine extinguished and Lezard teleported far away with his homunculi and the evidence. Mystina still had spots in her vision when she looked through the rear window again. She stared, and then blinked and rubbed her eyes before looking again.
"Did that toad did just make off with my worktable?" she cried.
Indeed, he had. Along with the broom, dustpan, the waste bin of the alchemic accelerator, and every scrap of gold and lead Belion had gotten off the floor.
Back in Lezard's Tower, they had arrived in his workshop. Lilly took the waste bin to dispose of its contents and then wash it out. Lezard burst into movement, running over to one of his own worktables and grabbing several things he needed. He had no time to waste. Word was going to spread of his transgressions fast and he had to get a ship before every coastal town knew, too.
"Belion, fetch me the buoy," Lezard ordered.
"Yes, Master," his lumbering assistant replied.
"Now I just hope he brings me the right thing," Lezard thought.
He spread out a spell array across the table top and began setting up potions, chemicals, powders, and finally, a small flat rectangular stone slate about the size of a deck of cards with spell runes inscribed on it. The design on the scroll Lezard had drawn showed a device that much resembled a large clay jar with similar runes drawn around its side. An enchanted cylinder was to go into the opening at the top and would power the spell.
"Once I've completed this buoy, I can bypass whatever nasty little tricks the gods think they can catch this fox with," Lezard thought.
The design was simple: make an astral connection between the buoy and the small stone slate, casting a Recall spell. The buoy would be left back in the tower and Lezard would take the slate with him. Once his business in the Forest of Spirits was done, Lezard would activate Recall on the slate and return to his tower with Belion and their new elven captive regardless of what magic jammers the Aesir and elves had put in place. Recall was not something humans were supposed to know about. As such, the gods and elves who were hunting him would never think to account for him having mastered it.
"They'll never see it coming," Lezard smirked smugly.
Janus stared at a large stone block the size of a house which served as the connection between Asgard and Midgard. He stuck his hand back through it. Its surface rippled like water as his hand penetrated its non-existent surface.
"I wonder if I will ever get used to that," Janus uttered.
"You will," Lenneth called from behind him.
Janus pulled his hand back and walked away from the Bifrost entrance to rejoin the others. Lenneth stood across from him with the others off to either side forming a circle. Everyone gave the Valkyrie their full attention. Glancing around, Lenneth concurred they were all listening before she began.
"Before we depart, let us discuss the mission Loki has given us," Lenneth announced.
She held out a cupped hand as though to catch something and a scroll materialized in her palm. As soon as it was solid, her fingers quickly closed around it. Lawfer, Jelanda, and Nanami all took a small, shuffled step forward out of interest while Arngrim, Belenus, and Janus remained still.
"This first and foremost," Lenneth said, holding the parchment up and waving it little for emphasis. "This is a map of Midgard Lord Loki has given me. Marked on it are six locations he wants us to investigate."
Lenneth untied the red ribbon holding it shut and unrolled the scroll, holding it out flat.
"Gather around, and we will begin going over the details," she instructed.
As they looked over the map either from the side or over Lenneth's shoulders, it was just a chart of Midgard at first glance. Landmasses were inked in traditional dark gray. However, red lines starting in the southeast corner at the Forest of Spirits spread out across the realm.
"These red lines are each roots of Yggdrasil," Lenneth explained. "They connect Midgard to the tree, and life is fed into the realm through them. Each location we are to investigate is an Undead stronghold build right over one of Midgard's roots. Lord Loki is of the opinion that they may hold some answers to why the human realm has been experiencing unusual phenomena."
"Hmm. Five of the six are along the continent's West coast," Belenus noted, stroking his chin.
"Correct," Lenneth answered. "I believe you already know of some of these locations, Belenus. Up here in the Northwest, we have the Arkdain Ruins in Villnore. Then southward, the sunken Audoula Temple on the Lake, also in Villnore. The Clockwork Mansion down in the Lassen Providence, and finally, the Dark Tower of Xervah just north of Gerebellum, neighboring those troublesome Turgen Mountains."
Jelanda and Nanami exchanged wary looks at the prospect of going near that place of death. Lenneth's finger hovered over an island just off the Western coast near the Sunken Shrine.
"And Brahms's Place on Åland Island," the Valkyrie said. "But we will not be venturing there unless we fail to get results or answers from these other locales. That includes our outlier, the sixth location in Crell Monferaigne's Northeast."
She pointed at the sixth spot marked.
"The Black Dream Tower," Janus muttered.
"Quite correct," Lenneth answered.
It was located along Crell Monferaigne's Northern shore almost straight south from the lost city of Dipan and almost straight north of where they were in the Forest of Spirits.
"If I detect no new heroic spirits or sources of darkness during my meditation, we will begin with The Black Dream Tower," Lenneth said.
Arngrim stepped away, leaning his head back in his hands. Jelanda breathed in, steeling herself for the task at hand while Lawfer, Nanami, and Janus looked up from the map with concern in their eyes. Lawfer clearly had something on his mind. Lenneth noticed right away.
"If any of you have concerns: speak," Lenneth prompted as she rolled the map back up.
"Well," Lawfer softly said. "We will surely not just be venturing into an Undead stronghold?"
"Why not?" Jelanda confidently asked. "We do it all the time, correct? We're always barging right into places the Undead have made themselves at home in. We're always outnumbered and outflanked, but we're the ones still around, and Valkyrie's enemies lay vanquished."
Lenneth and Arngrim cast a dubious eye on her, both wondering how she justified this overconfidence.
"Yes, we have had been victorious in caves and ruins they make do with," Lawfer countered. "But nothing like The Black Dream Tower, which they've made specially for themselves."
"I must concur with Lawfer," Lenneth said. She finished retying the ribbon on the scroll before sending it away again. "Conquering a permanent fortress designed for its masters' use will be very different from we have accomplished thus far."
Jelanda seemed doubtful of this rebuttal, so Arngrim stepped in,
"The Undead weren't exactly organized at Castle Trelleborg or any of them other places," he said. "That was more like raidin' the slums. You're gonna get a lotta resistance, but nothin' too tactical."
"It will also be more secure," Janus added. "And they will have not only numbers, but supplies and the organization Arngrim mentioned."
"There was such a place on Yamato," Nanami piped in. "A manor house just outside the Yamato capital. Before the army stormed it, the priests and maidens from all the local temples and shrines surrounded it with a holy barrier to prevent the beasts within from getting out and bringing about reprisal if the siege went poorly."
"Which is why we will conducting extensive reconnaissance before we brave the interior," Lenneth said. "I will explain my strategy on the way. Let us go."
She began to rise into the air, as did the einherjar. Janus gasped and momentarily thrashed about, not used to the sensation yet. While this got some chuckles from Arngrim, Jelanda, and Lawfer. Lenneth seemed not to notice.
Instead, the Valkyrie focused on continuing her briefing, "The tower is in a remote location deep within the St. Monferaigne mountains. It stands on a high seaside cliff. The rocky terrain will provide us with enough cover to hide during a careful examination around its exterior."
"What are you hoping to learn?" Jelanda asked.
"Simple," Lenneth answered. "We will formulate an entry plan. We will also be watching for when they leave the tower at night and return during the early hours of the morning. The more we discern of the inner workings of the tower by our observations, the better."
Then the Valkyrie turned to fly them through the skies of Midgard as she always did. With her back turned, Lenneth allowed some of her anxious doubt to show. Her eyes drooped for just a moment before she set them forward again.
"We cannot fail," Lenneth told herself. "We plunge these depths and break the dark hold the Undead have claimed over Midgard."
Yet, deep inside, she could not shake the question,
"What if Midgard's illness pervades even if we take these strongholds?"
Lenneth had to admit the thought troubled her, but she forced it from her mind.
"No time for childish fears," she forced herself to think. "I will find the answers I seek. No matter what."
"…and so ends the short but illustrious career of Janus, formerly of House Iron Side. He had so much promise in the beginning, but in the end, whether it was greed, ambition, or disloyalty to his country, it ended shamefully."
Magnus paused for effect before his audience. He almost smirked at how Janus had practically giftwrapped himself as a scapegoat once again. At present, Magnus was addressing the tribunal King Ferdinand had called in light of Janus's body being found in Magnus's office.
Some knights were among his listeners, in the back of the courtroom as they stood watch over the proceedings. Specifically, Captain Fahn and a dozen of his most trusted men guarded the door. Fahn folded his hands behind his back, casting an air of impartiality as his scanned the crowd from behind. Nothing seemed out of place, so he looked up to the gallery on the second-floor. Some of his men patrolled up there as well, watching over the nobles as they listened to Magnus's speech.
Then Fahn glanced over at King Ferdinand in the judge's chair. The young king's long black locks hung about his shoulders, contrasting starkly with his smooth, pale skin and deep blue eyes. The knight captain grinned as he watched the monarch attempt to stifle his boredom.
"That is just a taste of how long-winded the old codger can be, Your Highness," Fahn humorously thought.
"Oi, if that wasn't the fakest show of regret I've ever seen, then I'm the Queen of Gerebellum," another youthful voice said from directly beside him.
Fahn looked at Jayle. The young knight glared at Magnus as though he were observing the accused of a murder trial, instead of the owner of the office Janus had broken into.
"Watch your tongue and your tone," Fahn scolded him.
Jayle looked back at his captain as though the man had struck him.
"With respects, Captain, I'm just saying what everyone's thinking," he insisted.
"But you are on duty. You will show your superiors respect," Fahn answered firmly.
"Yes, Captain," Jayle replied.
For a moment, the knights were silent. However, Fahn could not help but sneak a sidelong look at his young subordinate. Jayle seemed to watch and study every move Magnus made.
"Something about Lord Magnus bothers you?" he asked.
"…Yes, sir," Jayle answered. He turned towards Fahn but kept his eyes Magnus. "You said we should leave Janus alone after you recognized him. Said he was harmless."
"Yes, I did," Fahn answered, hoping no one heard.
"And everyone knows what a… suspicious character Lord Magnus is," Jayle continued.
"Ah, so that's it," Fahn thought.
"We can suspect all we want, Sir Jayle," the captain said. "But in the end, we have no evidence to pursue him with. Janus was killed by an unknown assailant after breaking into the office of his former superior. As far as the law is concerned, Magnus was the victim of burglary."
Jayle scowled, but quickly turned away.
"But what about that abnormal chest wound?" Jayle asked. "I've never seen a stab wound like that. All the guards carried swords. Whatever killed Janus was blunt, and like it was rammed in rather than a smooth thrust. Something doesn't sit right, sir."
"Yes, quite puzzling, but several eyewitnesses place Magnus away from Intelligence HQ at the time the crime occurred," Fahn said. "We need to find the killer to learn anything."
"If I were a betting' man, I'd say Magnus knows who and where they are," Jayle muttered. "There has to be something more at work here."
"I agree," Fahn answered.
Jayle then looked at him with almost hopeful eyes.
"But at the present, Lord Magnus is untouchable in this case," Fahn reminded him. "If there is conspiracy here, then Magnus will show his hand sooner or late. In the meantime, we must do our duties."
Jayle glared at his captain in the corner of his eye before turning their fierce gaze on Magnus again.
"Oh, you'll slip up, Magnus. I know what a murdering rat you are. You'll show your hand as the Captain said, and when you do, you bastard…" Jayle's fist clenched. "I'll have you. I'll fix you good."
Fahn caught the fiery look of pure hate Jayle was shooting Magnus.
"I think there is something more to your dislike of Lord Magnus than meets the eye as well, Sir Jayle," the captain thought.
"Feel that? She came."
Orlok stopped to concentrate, stretching out with his senses. His eyes opened wide when he realized he felt the unnatural chill and that his night vision was kicking in more than it should even in their present darkness. Before, the black curtain of the underground had been broken up by the torches Lady Beliza's servants had set up. Now, they were dim lights barely penetrating the dark, as though they were burning from inside a lantern that hadn't been properly cleaned. The red-headed Vampire Lord had to use his night vision to even see his hands as well.
"By the Damned, you're correct," he uttered.
He looked toward his sandy blonde companion. Beliza smiled back at him.
"I told you Genevieve would answer our summons," she all but bragged, turning up her chin. "Now, come. She will not appreciate being made to wait."
"You impress me again," Orlok admitted. "You must truly have higher standing among our kind than even I thought if you could get one of the elders to answer your summon."
"Oh ye of little faith," Beliza quipped.
Beliza took the lead, and Orlok followed closely. The walls at their sides only stood at about eight feet. In them had been carved niches on which skulls or full human skeletons had been neatly arranged. The ceiling of the chamber far above them, far above where the walls reached. As Count Orlok glanced out at the empty smiles of the skulls, he could almost swear he felt them watching him through those black pit eye-holes.
"The Solde Catacombs, though, Beliza? Why here for our meeting place?" Orlok asked.
"I accounted for the possibility the Silvermaned Valkyrie might discover us with so many Vampire Lords being in one place," Beliza replied. "'Twould be too risky to bring Genevieve to our current base with Odin's battle maiden searching and watching for us so closely. I would rather meet her here on neutral ground."
"I see your point," Orlok commented after a moment. "It's still too soon. If she discovered our plans now, they'd be thwarted.
"Precisely," Beliza said.
"I wonder if she will appreciate being called somewhere so murky, though," Orlok commented.
"She will endure," Beliza dryly muttered.
They reached a round room with the entrances to many corridors from end to end. Beliza went through the fourth from the right, with Orlok still close behind. It took them down a short hallway with a dim light at the end. Orlok had nearly forgotten how Genevieve's presence caused a cold dark to set in, so he was surprised when they got there so quickly, and entered into a large room with a high ceiling. Unlike the rest of the dilapidated catacombs, this place had been recently refurbished with a clean floor, a long stone table, new chairs set at its sides and ends, and many candles and torches set up to light it. However, their effect had been dampened by the presence of the table's sole occupant.
Genevieve did not bother rising to greet Lady Beliza and Count Orlok when they arrived. She sat at the head of Beliza's table as though she were the host. A platter and plate had been laid out in front of her by the undead servant attending her. Freshly cooked and cut slices of duck were already half eaten, and the silverware had been used. A headless man hung upside down over the center of the table with his vital fluids draining into a large vat set beneath him, which had a tap along its side.
Genevieve held up an empty wine bottle for the servant.
"Another," she ordered.
"Yes, Milady," the servant bowed and took the glass from her.
Then Genevieve acknowledged the two Vampire Lords for the first time.
"Ah, there you are," she cattily said. "I was wondering when Brahms's pets were coming."
Orlok stomped forward a step indignantly.
"Brahms's pets…!" he cried. "Now see… Ah!"
He was pulled back and thrown against the wall by Beliza. He stared at her, almost hurt. Beliza just glared back, shaking her head in disbelief. Then Beliza went forward around to the side of the table and took a knee before Genevieve.
"Forgive him, Milady," Beliza said contritely. "He's stupid."
Genevieve silently chuckled. Orlok was clearly vexed, gaping angrily at what his own ally had just said about him.
"Stupid?" he cried. "Why I never!"
"Quiet, you idiot!" Beliza hissed at him.
That hit Orlok like a punch to his middle. However, watching Beliza give Genevieve a worried glance made him think twice. His found his own gaze going over to her. He had felt her power, and upon a short reflection realized this Vampire Elder must really be someone. The woman also had brilliant red hair which put his own ginger locks to shame. Then, he sighed and went to Beliza's side, also bending the knee with some hesitation.
"Yes, quite correct. We are Lord Brahms's subordinates, but we are acting on our own volition," he stated.
"Disobedient pets, then," Genevieve cracked. She accepted the refilled wine bottle from the servant and drank from it. "Hmm! Freshly killed, too. Too bad this man was a soldier. They always taste of wherever they've been."
"Picky eater," Orlok thought.
"But we have not greeted you properly, Lady Genevieve," Beliza reverently lowered her head again. "'Tis good to see you again, and freed from your deep sea confinement in this twilight hour of Creation."
Genevieve rolled her eyes and looked at her juniors, unimpressed.
"Alright, enough of that. Just get to the point," the ancient witch said. "In fact, take a seat already. As much as I enjoy looking down on you, I am a very busy woman."
"Yes, Milady," Beliza complied without question.
Orlok slowly raised his head, glaring. He took pulled out a chair and sat down roughly, making a point of showing his displeasure.
"I assume you did not summon me just to say "Hello"," Genevieve said. And then she took another sip of the dead man's blood. "Although I do appreciate the refreshments."
"No, as a matter of fact. We have a proposition," Beliza said.
When she paused, Genevieve gestured for her to keep talking.
"If you've been to Yamato lately, you may have heard of strange activity at Wakoku Island, Yamato's uninhabitable neighboring island," Beliza continued.
"Yes, a place of sand and rock," Genevieve said.
"Well, I have entered into an alliance with Albrecht the Banished Dwarf," Beliza proudly told her.
For the first time, Genevieve was even remotely interested.
"Albrecht?" Genevieve asked almost keenly.
Beliza smiled.
"Hook, line, and sinker," she thought.
"Yes, filthy, horrible ol' Albrecht," Beliza concurred. "The dwarf who overthrew King Balin and the Dwarven Council, however temporarily. Albrecht the forger of the Ring of Nibelung, and the scourge of Nidavellir."
"Alright, you have my curiosity," Genevieve conceded. "But you can snare my interest?"
"Well," Beliza said. "He and I have set up a facility there where our underlings have been at work on various secret projects, we will be employing to rid ourselves of The Valkyrie, and eventually march on The Forest of Spirits."
"The Valkyrie is immortal," Genevieve pointed out.
"Immortal, yes," Orlok spoke up. "But even the cleverest rat can be caged."
"Alright, go on…" Genevieve encouraged.
"It defies even my grimmest expectations," Lenneth thought.
They had just crossed over the last mountain peak and found the Black Dream Tower sitting on the cliff, surrounded on all other sides by the mountains. It had been impossible to miss against the dull grayish-brown of the mountains. The Valkyrie had lowered them onto the slope of one of the peaks around the tower, hiding them at a distance. Jelanda felt ill gazing upon The Black Dream Tower. She even heaved and turned away to fight her nausea. The former princess even shut her eyes to block out the tower and calm down, but the fact she'd have to reopen them sooner or later kept the lump in her through from going away.
The Black Dream Tower was a tall, nasty thing that looked like a tower fortress that had been skinned alive and left with its bright red flesh, muscle, and bone exposed to the elements. It was rectangularly shaped, like a modern skyscraper. Four rib-like bones in the tower's corners supported it. They were connected several smaller, horizontal ribs between each floor on all four sides, holding it together. The muscle-tissue of the walls occasionally twitched and the structure was even visibly breathing with its middle floors swelling and shrinking rhythmically. At the base was a great mouth which was currently clamped shut. Some of its sharp teeth poked out from behind the lips.
The entire party looked on the horrid sight from high above as they hid behind tall rocks along the mountainside. They were slightly scattered, as none of the protrusions were big enough to hide more than two or three of them. Lenneth, Belenus, and Janus hid behind one while Arngrim and Jelanda peered around the sides of another to the left and, Lawfer and Nanami hid behind another on the right.
Nanami covered her mouth with one of her sleeves, too horrorstruck to even be sick.
"Who could have known something like this was even possible?" Lawfer murmured more to himself than her.
"Not I. Even in our world of horrors," was Nanami's muffled reply.
"This particular horror is not meant to even be here," Lenneth commented.
She looked over at the knight and shrine girl behind the neighboring rock.
"This is one of Queen Hel's Flesh Towers," Lenneth explained. "Her temples of worship constructed by her demon hordes, the Undead, and even the Dark Elves."
Lenneth was still stunned this had been allowed to be constructed without the Aesir stepping in.
"Lord Odin barred the construction of Hel's towers in the middle and upper realms," she said. "I had hoped never to behold one, myself."
Janus looked at her in surprise.
"There are horrors in the Nine Realms even you have not encountered, Lady Valkyrie?" he asked.
Lenneth looked around at her party, feeling strangely self-conscious.
"As much as I am loathe to admit… inexperience, I must, at least regarding… that," she pointed at the tower.
"But you are one of the gods. You travel all over smiting evil-doers," Lawfer asked.
"I am but Lord Odin's recruiter. My part in the war against Asgard's enemies is seeking and training Heroic Spirits," Lenneth explained. "Although I have been to Alfheim from time to time, and was once welcome in Vanaheim, my domain is Midgard."
Arngrim gave a look which betrayed the suspicious thoughts in his mind.
"You've only been to a few realms?" he asked.
Lenneth shrugged.
"Humans only dwell in Midgard," she answered. "The campaign against The Three Kingdoms and Hel's followers is handled by Lord Odin, Lady Freya, and their armies' commanders, and will be fought by all of you. Your time with me is but your first step."
"So, you've never participated in any of the battles?" Arngrim pressed.
"We must all know our place," Lenneth said, and then pointedly looked at him. "Even you."
This time, Arngrim did not brush this comment off as he usually did. He gave Lenneth a look, not of anger, annoyance, or any of his other usual default emotions. There was something probing in his eyes she did not like. His gaze seemed to be telling her it wasn't right she was left out of the campaign and had never taken part in any of the Aesir's battles against their enemies. For the everlasting life of her, Lenneth could not pinpoint why he would think that. However, Arngrim broke it off quickly and he returned observing the area around the tower.
That doubt bubbled back up, but Lenneth buried it by also concentrating on their quarry.
"Just focus," she ordered herself. "What does a human even know of the inner workings of Valhalla, anyway?"
Belenus found himself also having to turn away for a moment.
"I can see why they had to construct that tower all the way up here in the mountains," the Lassen noble spoke, straining against his own disgust. "No human settlement would have allowed such an abomination to go up."
Jelanda felt bile coming up her throat. Arngrim took notice of young mage's queasiness as she stood next to him, hidden behind the rock they were sharing. He took hold of her shoulder with a gentleness she had not been expecting to get her attention.
"Just look away if you have to," he advised.
"But Arngrim, we have to go in there," she said, trying not to whine. "I have to get used to it."
"You heard Valkyrie. It's just recon today," he said. "You can pace yourself for this one."
She gave him an appreciative nod in thanks and let herself sink behind the rock.
Lenneth quietly analyzed the lay of the land below. The tower stood off at the far end of an expansive open, grassless plain in the mountains near the cliffside directly over the ocean waters, some sixty feet below. The cliff below it was sheer and treacherous, nearly impossible for humans to reach by climbing up from ships parked near the cliff. To even arrive at the valley of the tower by land, one had to climb high up into the St. Monferaigne coastal mountains. Moreover, the valley was surrounded on all sides by tall mountains walls, cutting it off entirely from a landbound army.
"I don't doubt they have watches set in these surrounding peaks," Lenneth thought, turning her eyes up towards them.
The Valkyrie had to admit, the location was ideal for someone who wanted to be able to spot enemies coming from a long way off.
"That is a lot of open ground," Lenneth stated.
"Just having watchers in the tower would be enough to spot us arriving," Janus said. Then he gestured around at the surrounding peaks. "If it were me in charge here, I would have more watchers in the mountain slopes."
The more they looked, the more it seemed to be impenetrable by anything except an army.
"Man, how did that soldier even get in, or escape with his life?" Arngrim asked.
Lenneth had to think a moment before she remembered what Arngrim was talking about.
"You soldier who took the cursed orb containing the vampire, which afflicted the Forest of Woe?" she asked.
"Yeah, that clown," Arngrim muttered. "He somehow climbed up here, got inside, stole it, and headed back to the Skara region with it. Can't figure how he did it."
"The answer is obvious," Lenneth answered. "They let him take the orb. They knew he would free the vampire within. That the beast would kill him and use its dark magic to cast the curse which caused the eternal winter The Forest of Woe became trapped in. This was all part of a plan, likely dreamed up by the demented mind of Hel, herself."
"We still don't have a way in, though," Nanami said.
Jelanda looked out onto the mountain plain again, trying not to stare at the fleshy tower. Instead, her eyes strayed to the cliff.
"What if we approached from under the tower?" she asked.
Everyone looked at her questioningly, so Jelanda pointed towards the cliff.
"The cliff," she said. "If Lady Valkyrie flies low over the water and brings us up once we're directly under the tower, we'd be right next to it when we reached the top."
Lenneth actually considered it. She put a finger to her chin as she mulled over their prospects.
"Will they not have defenses for that, too?" Lawfer asked.
"For a human army who has to climb the cliff, maybe," Jelanda answered. "Not someone as fast in the air as our Lady Valkyrie."
Lenneth was still silent.
"Well, Valkyrie?" Arngrim asked.
The goddess scanned the cliff.
"I cannot say 'Yes' or 'No' at this moment," Lenneth said. "Our entry into the tower will not be today, as I've said."
Lenneth cast a heavy eye on that meaty structure.
"Besides, I also wish to witness what will flood out of it come nightfall," she said. "It would be nice to know what we are up against ahead of time for once."
Belenus checked the position of the sun.
"Well, 'tis not even midday yet," he said. "What shall we do until then, Lady Valkyrie?"
"First," Lenneth said, and looked right at Jelanda. "I think we should have a look at the cliff."
The party's premiere mage beamed.
After finishing, Beliza sat back down. Genevieve sat with her chin resting on the backs of her interlocked hands, considered what she had just been told. While the elder vampire thought, Beliza gave Orlok a confident grin as though to say they had this in the bag. Orlok grinned back before glancing at Genevieve, expecting to see how impressed she was. The ancient vampire then bowed her head, resting her face in her hands.
"Heh. Ha ha ha!" Genevieve began laughing.
Beliza and Orlok looked to each other for answers, not sure what to make of her response. Then Genevieve stood suddenly, with her head still lowered.
"Foolishness…" she said in a low voice before looking up with a superior half-grin. "Utter foolishness."
"What?" Beliza also rose, aghast at the turn this had taken. "What do you mean? We've never been so close to being able to challenge the Aesir."
Genevieve snorted condescendingly. Orlok felt himself beginning to boil over with anger and he balled a trembling hand into a tight fist on the table.
"My dear child," the elder vampiress said. "Your little science project with Albrecht is nowhere close to being able to match the might of the Aesir. What you have is an amusing diversion that will entertain them for an afternoon, but that is it."
"Then we can at least rid ourselves of The Valkyrie," Orlok asserted.
Genevieve let out a wheezing laugh, throwing back her head as she began chortling at them mockingly.
"As if!" the Undead witch said through her laughter.
Orlok stood up, gripping the table tightly. The stone began to crack in his grip.
Beliza was at a loss for words. So, she did the one thing she could think of:
"Then help us," she begged. "At least have a look at our facility. Show us where we can improve. After stealing that Rhinegold…"
Genevieve stopped laughing and spoke frankly, "My dear, I've wasted too much time indulging this idiocy. If you really want my advice, then here it is: stop this foolishness before the Valkyrie kills you. Return to Brahms's side and exist under his protection in his cozy little castle."
"But Lord Brahms has opted not to act," Beliza protested.
"That is not my concern," Genevieve flippantly replied. "Now run along, I've no more time for children at…"
"That will be quite enough!" Orlok shouted.
Genevieve snarled, cutting loose with another jungle cat growl as the light dimmed in the room and a pressure filled the air.
"You dare interrupt me, boy?" Genevieve demanded.
Orlok resisted the pressure and jumped up on the table, brandishing his sword.
"I dare!" he shouted as he pointed his blade at her. "We are all among the elite of the Undead, enemies of the gods! Yet you answer the summons of an old acquaintance with rude dismissiveness and mockery! I will not tolerate being made a fool of!"
Beliza tried to pull him from the table, but Orlok shrugged her off.
"What are you doing, you fool?" she demanded.
"I'm going to each this old hag a lesson!" Orlok determined announced.
Beliza visible cowered and looked at Genevieve in fear before she slowly backed away from Orlok. Genevieve cast him a look with intent to kill on him.
"What did you just say… little boy?" Genevieve asked in a low, dangerous voice.
"I see your old age has made your hearing go," Orlok shouted. "You know, for all your bragging, you were the one sealed beneath the waves. On your watch, the Valkyrie remain undefeated. Just where does this pride come from, because from my perspective, you are no more successful than against her than us."
Genevieve smiled in anticipation and made a beckoning gesture with one of her fingers.
"Try me, then, boy," she challenged. "Try me and see!"
Orlok pounced off the table and flew in an arc towards her. Genevieve did not move as he bore down on her, not even as his sword swung towards her to slice her across the torso.
"Huh?" Orlok yelped as his sword, and then him, passed through the image of Genevieve.
The illusion of the elder vampires disappeared as he careened through it. Orlok couldn't control his momentum and was sent rolling over the floor upon impact. He caught himself during his tumble and righted himself before looking around.
"What? I couldn't even tell she had teleported away and left a…" his own reeling thoughts were cut off by something in the corner of his eye.
The black shape of Genevieve glided over the floor at him. Orlok swung at her again, but Genevieve slapped the blade away with the back of her hand as though it were paper, knocking it from its master's grasp. Orlok finally began to feel the first pangs of fear. Genevieve held up both hands as dark energy gathered in them.
"Indiscriminate!" she chanted.
Genevieve's fingers morphed into long, metallic claws and then she disappeared. Orlok looked around in a dead panic, but he did not spot Genevieve again until she was right beside him. He screamed as he tried to back away, but she stayed right on him. Genevieve's first strike slashed Orlok across the stomach, sending him into shock. Then she kicked Orlok back, slamming him into the stone table. He gagged and made a gurgling sound as blood poured from the wound. Genevieve then leapt on him like a wild cat. She howled like one, too, as she pinned Orlok against the table and began tearing at him with those wicked claws.
Beliza had her own back pressed to the wall with her servant beside her. They watched in terror as the Elder ravaged Orlok until his skin and clothes were ribbons, which took only seconds. Once Genevieve was satisfied, she reverted to her hands to their normal state and held up the near-dead Vampire Lord for the room's other occupants to see. She smiled savagely at Beliza and the servant, who still cowered low against the wall.
"I think he may just learn from this lesson in humility," Genevieve said.
Then she threw Orlok over to his compatriots with such ease, she may as well have tossed a rag doll. Chunks of his own flesh bounced away in pulpy piles on the floor.
"If you hurry, the dead man's blood will restore him," Genevieve told them and turned away.
Beliza just stared at the eviscerated and near dead remains of Orlok.
"You are sparing him?" she asked.
Genevieve just smiled.
"Sparing him?" she laughed as though that were the stupidest thing she had ever heard. She pointed at Orlok, still motionless on the floor. "That one has made his own prison of torment and sealed his own fate so well that letting him perish right now would be the real mercy. Nay, child Beliza, I will enjoy watching Orlok struggle in hopeless futility until the Valkyrie brings down the gavel on him."
Satisfied she had made her point, Genevieve wrapped herself in her hooded cloak and bowed.
"I bid thee adieu," she said.
Then dark energy gathered around her once more, splitting open reality and stretching it out to swallow her up as she passed into the astral plane. When the rip closed, the oppressive weight of the witch's presence vanished, and the world brightened to the lighting the candles and lamps would have been emitting. Beliza ran over to Orlok and examined him.
"He still draws breath," she muttered.
She turned to the servant, gesturing at the vat of dead man's blood.
"Bring it here. We must hurry to mend him," she ordered.
"The dark auras are too many for me to pick out any particular one, but these caves along the cliff's face definitely house lookouts," Lenneth said.
They were further westward down the coastline, hidden behind a mound of earth where the sand of a small beach met a grassy plane. They had a good view of the seaside cliffs of the St. Monferaigne mountains. Lenneth and her einherjar peered around the side or over the top of the hill at their quarry. The cliffs' face had many caves and large ledges peppered around its surface. The Undead could easily fend off attackers coming from the sea below.
Lenneth sighed as she, Lawfer, and Nanami retreated back around the side of the hill. Arngrim, Belenus, Janus, and Jelanda were on their stomachs up on the mound's top. They crawled back down the side before hopping off the short drop near the bottom. The Valkyrie leaned against the hill's side, letting her head rest on the soft soil and exposed roots. She gazed up at the sky as she considered how to approach this situation. The einherjar huddled around her as they also deliberated on the situation.
"We may as well leave and begin scouting out the other locations," Lenneth thought. "That would still give us plenty of time to return tonight to observe what manner of beasts dwell within the tower."
She conjured the map again, keeping an ear open to her einherjar's own conversation as she began looking it over.
"This is so spooky. I never did things like this on Yamato," Nanami said.
"Heh," Lawfer shrugged. "I can't say even our old mercenary band ever took on a target like this, either."
"For all intents and purposes, the Undead have the perfect location," Belenus said.
"Too perfect, 'twould take an army to storm it, no matter how you look at it," Lawfer muttered.
Nanami put a reassuring hand on the knight's arm, and then spoke,
"Maybe what we need to do is isolate it with a barrier and then send a team in to finish off the creature within," she suggested.
"That would still require an army, if only to protect the magi casting the barrier outside," Lenneth muttered.
"If we infiltrate the tower, our presence would be inevitably discovered and they would sound the alarm, alerting every Undead in the area," Janus said. "We are too few to fight off that many even without the lookouts up in the caves."
"So, we will need an army no matter what?" Jelanda uneasily asked.
Lenneth sighed and pushed herself away from the mound's side, brushing the loose dirt off.
"Yes, an army I do not possess," the goddess unhappily muttered.
"Hmm…" Belenus stroked his chin as he thought. "Perhaps we should inform Lord Thor of the situation. He is Midgard's designated protector, after all. With his einherjar division, they should be able to distract the Undead forces long enough for us to enter and break whatever abominable curse allows that tower to exist."
Lenneth thought about it, and had to admit she did not see any alternatives.
"I believe you have hit the target dead-center, Belenus," the Valkyrie said. "I will need to discuss this matter with Lord Thor, Lord Odin, and Lady Freya. This tower represents a very real threat to both Midgard and Asgard."
Janus quirked his head to the side in response to that.
"Why would you need to discuss this matter with the All-Father and the Queen?" he asked. "Is it not Lord Thor's duty already to defend Midgard?"
Lenneth squeezed her eyes shut, internally lamenting what she had to tell him.
"Unfortunately, Lord Thor has been withdrawn from Midgard altogether to focus on the war against the Three Kingdoms," she said.
"What?!" Arngrim, Jelanda, and Lawfer all cried.
"Oh, dear," Nanami sadly muttered.
Belenus and Janus both stared in shocked silence. Arngrim looked on in appalled rage, and turned away from the others with a sudden, jerking movement which made Jelanda and Belenus, who'd been standing next to him, quickly step away in surprise. The large mercenary took slow, deliberate steps away as his anger simmered.
Lawfer and Jelanda cast worried looks at Lenneth, and then at Arngrim.
"Arngrim…" Lawfer said to stop his friend from saying something rash.
"Those no good, two-faced… No wonder Midgard's gone to shit!" the scarred mercenary rambled.
Lenneth stiffened with indignant rage.
"What was that?" she demanded challengingly.
Arngrim whipped around with his jaw set in a deep, angry frown.
"Arngrim, wait," Lawfer stepped between him and Lenneth with his hands held up haltingly.
"Don't you ever grow tired of arguing with her?" Jelanda wearily asked the warrior.
"Do not interfere," Lenneth stomped up and pushed past Lawfer. "I think I want to hear this."
She stood tall with her head high as she crossed her arms, daring Arngrim to repeat the sacrilege which had previously passed his lips. Behind her, Belenus, Jelanda, Lawfer, and Nanami were all silently pleading for him to just let it go. Janus looked around, quickly understanding this was a battle that had been fought many times and it was wearing on everyone.
"Oh, you wanna hear me air out my grievances, Valkyrie?" Arngrim growled back.
He approached until he was looming over her, "I'll be more than glad to."
Lenneth narrowed her eyes and was about urge him with a condescending "Fine" when she felt a disturbance. It was further westward, behind Arngrim. She leaned to the side, looking past him.
"What is it?" Arngrim reflexively turned, grabbing Dáinsleif.
He had been expecting to see an enemy approaching, but there was only more coastline stretching into the distance. Lenneth walked past him, visibly on high alert. Her sword was out of its sheath, but she held it lowered to her side as she let her senses guide her. The others drew their own weapons and quickly joined Arngrim in a line.
Lenneth stopped a few paces ahead, looking around again before staring straight forward up the seashore. She half-turned towards her team, pointing her sword northwest of their position.
"I sense the familiar dark aura of that woman who killed you, Janus. Genevieve, it is," she said.
The assassin brandished both crossbows with a steely gaze.
"I would be more than happy to pay her back for that," he said.
"Good, because she is near, and I sense there is another Undead stronghold in the same direction," Lenneth said. "There is a good chance she is actually there."
Belenus glanced back at the cliff. The flesh tower's top few floors poked over the top, visible even from the beach below.
"We may perhaps learn something of value about The Black Dream Tower," the Lassen noble suggested.
"My thoughts precisely," Lenneth agreed. "Come, my einherjar."
She sheathed her sword, and paused only to fix gazes with Arngrim.
"And Arngrim, we will finish our conversation after we have investigated this," she told him. "Understood?"
"Yeah, crystal," Arngrim answered flatly.
With that, Lenneth levitated into the air, bringing her einherjar with her. As they moved away from the tower, she kept them low over the ocean waves until they were out of sight and then began to ascend higher to look down onto the landscape as she searched for the Undead stronghold she had detected. They flew along the shoreline, which continued west in a jagged line before it veered northward. Along the way, they mostly saw rolling hills, large rock formations, the occasional village or homestead, and the even ruins.
Lenneth would slow down near inhabited, or formerly inhabited, places before moving past them after confirming they were not the Undead stronghold. It wasn't until they had moved beyond the far reaches of human civilization, almost to the center of the continent's northern shoreline that she found it. Nestled against the base of the northeast side of the Artolia Mountains where they nearly met the coast was the ruin of a large port city.
"No doubt about it," Lenneth thought as she looked down at the city.
She could feel the dark energies radiating up like smoke from a wildfire.
"So remote a place," she thought. "A perfect place for them to lurk."
"There," Lenneth called to her einherjar as she pointed down at the city.
The einherjar looked, spotting the ruined city as well. As Lenneth began taking them down the ground, Belenus studied it as he tried to recall if he knew the name of this place. He looked out onto the ocean and spotted a large island in the distance to the Northwest.
"That island would be the lost kingdom of Dipan," Belenus realized. "'Twould be a straight shot to sail there from this place. Only a few days' boat ride, too… Ah."
That's when he realized where they were. The closer they floated down to the ground, the more evident what ancient, abandoned port city this was. Lenneth stopped them about thirty feet up, low enough that the city stretched out into the distance all around them now. She examined the area below them, looking for a relatively safe place to set down.
The ancient city had been very wealthy with fully stone streets and buildings, all overgrown, decaying, and falling apart now. The stones of the streets were uneven, covered in moss and weeds. Much of the brickwork was even broken or cracked. Rotted shingle roofs had caved in, buildings were half or fully crumbled. Stone bridges which once crossed over a river which ran through the center of the city had collapsed and fallen into the waters below, leaving jagged ends on the banks. The statue of a Valkyrie which had once stood proud out front of an old cathedral had lost her head, wings, and arms. Although the church itself was surprisingly well-preserved, having been built like a fortress and made to endure. However, holes where stain-glass windows had once been gave the structure a more ominous air.
"We are very far North on the east side of the mountains," Janus observed. "I'm not even sure if the Crell Monferaigne border extends this far. We may be in neutral territory. This close to the mountains with no forts or cities nearby, you can count on the Undead and the creatures of the wilderness having the run of the place."
Lenneth's eyes fell on an open square just outside the cathedral with the broken Valkyrie statue. She took them down and landed near a dried-up old fountain. The decorative statue which once housed the water mechanism lied in pieces in the basin, which was filled with algae-covered stagnant rainwater. Jelanda groaned and plugged her nose when they landed, disliking the smell coming off the fountain. The group formed a rough circle, with everyone facing outward to watch each other's backs as they looked around at their surroundings. However, there was no sign of movement, and the only sounds were those of birds and insects.
As Arngrim looked on what had been a quaint port city once, he was hit with a sense of déjà vu which made no sense to him. He knew for certain he had never been to this place in his life, because he had never ventured to the east side of the mountains before his death. Yet, as Arngrim stared at the ruined buildings, he could almost see a flicker of the civilization that had been. He could almost hear the hustle and bustle in a tongue no one spoke anywhere. Arngrim turned towards the harbor and stared at all the wrecked ships out there. They sat in pieces or halves in the shallows, as though abandoned at the docks by their masters long ago.
"Ships… a harbor city made unusable," something about that thought just grabbed at Arngrim's mind.
Jelanda glanced at Arngrim and could see something was off. His eyes were focused on the harbor like a man looking on the carnage of a battle that had just ended.
"Hey," the ex-princess tugged at his arm. "You alright?"
Arngrim didn't look away from the ships, only slightly turning his head towards.
"Yeah… I'm good. I just…" he haltingly spoke.
Jelanda tilted her head, screwing her lips to the side.
Then, unbidden, Arngrim uttered "I've been here."
"Here?" Jelanda looked around. "How? You said itself yourself, you'd only gone as far as Villnore's border."
Arngrim finally looked at her with eyes full of confusion.
"I haven't," he said.
Now Jelanda was as confused as he was. "Then why say you've been here?"
"No clue," he softly answered. "There's just something… awful familiar about this place."
Jelanda wasn't sure what to say to that.
"Maybe you've seen a ruined port city just like this before?" she offered.
"…Maybe," Arngrim sounded doubtful.
While she felt no familiarity with the ruins around them, but looking at them did stir a sense of melancholy in her.
"This might be home someday," she thought.
She pictured Artolia burning, and her father being dragged out of his castle to the chopping block by Villnore or Crell Monferaigne soldiers. She chest tightened up and the girl violently shook her head as though to shake off the horrid image.
Lenneth did a visual sweep of the area as she tried to reconcile what her eyes were telling her with what her sixth sense was saying. They were right at the epicenter of darkness from what she could feel, but there was just nothing aside from an abandoned, ruined city around them. There were no dark auras in the immediate area. So, Lenneth closed her eyes and concentrated. She turned and faced where she felt the negative energies. When she opened her eyes, she was staring at the ground.
"Of course," she realized. The Valkyrie got down on one knee and felt the broken stones of the streets. "I sense despair and death. There must be catacombs under the city."
The battle maiden looked here and there, then.
"There must be an entrance somewhere nearby," she thought.
Then she remembered the cathedral and looked over, surmising its importance within the social infrastructure of the city during its prime.
"Yes, we should be able to enter the underground through a passage somewhere inside," Lenneth thought.
Her eyes settled on the door. One of its double doors hung crooked on its hinges while the other still upright, albeit with its rounded top missing.
"I've not seen or heard any sign of monsters or the Undead," Lawfer said. He hopped onto the fountain for a somewhat higher vantage. "The beasts must be hiding inside the old structures."
Nanami took out her crystal pendant again and had tried focusing to let it swing in the direction of the nearest source of evil, but it quickly ceased its back-and-forth rotations to hang straight down. The shrine girl furrowed her brows and tried it again to the same outcome.
"Curious…" Nanami muttered. She looked around for Lenneth, and found her a short distance from the rest, examining the rundown cathedral. "Oh, Lady Valkyrie!"
Lenneth looked as the shrine maiden ran up to her, holding up the dousing necklace.
"Forgive me if I am distracting you, but I tried dousing to determine where to begin looking, but it kept going still," Nanami explained.
"Show me," Lenneth prompted.
"Of course," Nanami answered.
The shrine girl held it up again, attuning to the crystal before making it swing again. Just like the other two times, its rotations ceased, and it hung. However, Lenneth noticed it was not limp. The cord was taut, as though it were pointing downward.
"No, it is functioning correctly," Lenneth told her.
Nanami back in confusion.
"But, Lady Valkyrie, it just hangs…" she stopped and turned her eyes to the stones they stood on.
"Down," Nanami finished.
Back with the others, Belenus looked out onto the ocean again, pinpointing where they were relative to the island of Dipan from the ground this time.
"There's no doubt about it," he said. The Lassen noble announced, "This is Solde, the merchant city which was Dipan's main trading partner."
"Dipan?" Arngrim breathed.
He turned toward Belenus.
"…That sounds familiar," Jelanda said.
The Artolian princess could almost think of it. She knew the name sounded familiar.
"Dipan? Dipan?" she mumbled.
Janus gave her a critical look, wondering exactly what she had been learning at Castle Artolia if not proper history. He said nothing and decided instead to continue keeping a lookout for the party.
"Dipan. Ay, I thought as much, too," Lawfer said.
He also spotted Dipan in the distance. They did not seem to notice Lenneth and Nanami rejoin them.
"Just a few days' boat-ride away," Belenus said. "They were in the perfect position to be the ones who bought goods straight from Dipan and then in turn sell them at higher prices throughout the mainland."
"They would have been very wealthy," Nanami said. "The whole city's brickwork was expertly crafted, from the lowest street to the tallest tower. The old church is almost like a castle. Living here must have been a dream."
Then her expression turned solemn.
"It's almost sad," she noted.
"Do not get distracted," Lenneth interjected.
Nanami shrunk down bashfully.
"Apologies, Lady Valkyrie," she said.
Janus, who had been silent, decided it was time to speak up,
"How shall we begin searching, Lady Valkyrie? If we use this square as a base, we can spread out in quadrants to be thorough with relative ease. Though, I am certain the Undead stronghold must be in one of the larger structures."
"Thank you, Janus, but that will not be necessary. Nanami and I have discerned where the source of evil is," Lenneth told him.
She pointed straight down.
Janus raised a brow, and looked at Nanami curiously. She smiled sweetly and held up the dousing crystal. That just raised more questions as far as Janus was concerned.
"Underground?" Arngrim asked. "Hrpm. If there's something under this town, it'll be a tomb, since I didn't see any mining equipment on the way down."
With that statement, everyone looked towards the old cathedral.
"And where a tomb lies, a church stands nearby," Belenus said.
Lenneth walked past them, taking the lead. Without needing a signal to follow her, the einherjar stayed in step, following her quickly. Arngrim and Lawfer walked close behind Lenneth, guarding her flanks. Next were Jelanda and Nanami with Belenus shadowing and Janus bringing up the rear. He took out both crossbows and frequently turned to watch their backs.
"Jelanda, summon Goldie," Lenneth ordered.
"Yes, Lady Valkyrie," Jelanda answered.
There were two windows on either side of the front door, so when they reached the cathedral's front steps, Lenneth stopped them. She silently pointed to herself, Arngrim, Janus, and Lawfer and then to the windows. Then Lenneth pointed at Belenus and the magi, and then at the broken Valkyrie statue. She waved them back to indicate she wanted them to take cover behind it.
The einherjar nodded. Arngrim, Lawfer, and Janus joined the Valkyrie in walking low as they fanned out to approach a different window, each. Belenus and the magi hung back, positioning themselves behind the limbless Valkyrie statue while they stood watch. Lenneth and the three former mercenaries placed themselves beside their respective windows and then peered inside.
"I summon thee, Goldie," Jelanda chanted.
She held up her finger, and her small golden parrot Familiar materialized.
"Greetings, Master!" Goldie greeted with a bow.
"Hey, Goldie, it's good to see you," Jelanda quietly replied.
The former princess cautiously glanced towards the building. However, there seemed to be no cause for alarm. Lenneth and the three warriors had moved from the windows towards the door with their backs to the church's front wall. The four stopped at the door's corners.
"Lady Valkyrie has orders for us," Jelanda told her.
"I won't let you down!" Goldie exuberantly answered.
Lenneth motioned Belenus and the girls over, gesturing at the cathedral's rotting double doors. Belenus and the magi moved out to join the others, spreading out once they reached the steps. Nanami joined Lenneth and Arngrim beside the crooked door. Belenus and Jelanda joined Lawfer and Janus beside the half-missing one. Lenneth looked toward Jelanda.
"Now, send Goldie," she quietly ordered.
"Show time, Goldie," Jelanda told her Familiar. "Tell us what you find. Look for Undead and the entrance to a catacomb."
"Yes, Master!" Goldie chirped.
The little golden Familiar then took off, flying though the space between the frame and the crooked door to scout. Now Lenneth and her group had to wait.
"It's ready."
Lezard smiled at the spell slate in his hand. The enchantment he had etched onto its surface glowed pale blue with power. It dimmed and brightened in pulses in tandem to the same spell carved into the jar on the table in front of him.
"I am ready," the mage gleefully said.
He pointed at the chest full of recently minted gold coins, "Belion, carry that. We leave for the southeastern ports now, while we still can."
"Yes, Master," Belion lumbered over to the chest and obediently picked it up.
Lezard pointed to a spot on the floor next to himself and the large, green homunculus hoisted the trunk onto his shoulder as he approached his master. Lezard pocketed the spell slate and was about to begin casting when he remembered Lilly, standing by ready for orders.
"Oh, right," he said. "Lilly, be a dear and keep the place spick and span while we're away. Oh, and call a coachman to return the items we borrowed from Mystina."
"Of course, Master," Lilly bowed.
"Then Belion and I are off," Lezard announced.
"Have fun, Master," Lilly monotonously said as she robotically waved.
"Might need to liven her programming up," Lezard commented.
Then he focused and commenced with casting the teleportation spell. In a few minutes, the spell circle appeared beneath them, and they were taken away to a port city where Lezard hoped they could still get a ship before news of the bounty on his head reached it.
"Master, Master!" Goldie zipped out through one of the cathedral windows.
"Gah!" Jelanda whirled around.
Lawfer, Janus, and Belenus also whipped around in response to the girl's surprise, weapons raised. When they saw it was just Goldie, they calmed down, but Lawfer gave the little bird Familiar a look of utmost annoyance for having returned behind them. Jelanda clutched her chest as her calmed herself down. The former princess then held up one of her fingers for her Familiar to land on.
"Don't surprise us like that, Goldie," Jelanda crossly scolded. "We're all on high alert here."
"Apologies," Goldie said as she landed.
Then Jelanda turned so Lenneth, and her half of the crew could also hear the exchange.
"Report, Goldie," Jelanda said.
"Good news! There were no Undead sleeping in darker corners inside the cathedral!" Goldie announced.
"Glad to hear it," Jelanda said. "But, did you find the catacombs?"
"Yes!" Goldie chirped and did a little hop on Jelanda's finger. "It's at the bottom of a long staircase in a room behind the altar! You can enter from the right side in the back of the sanctuary. It's been recently opened, too."
"You understand her?" Janus asked. "It just sounds like chirping to my ears."
"Oh, that's because you're not the mage who summoned her," Jelanda told him.
Then Jelanda repeated what Goldie had reported to the whole group before moving onto her next question for her magic servant.
"Did you enter the catacombs, even a bit?" Jelanda asked.
"Nuh-uh, but I did sense the Undead inside," Goldie answered.
"Alright, thank you. You can go back now, Goldie. I'll summon you again if I need to," Jelanda said.
"As you wish!" Goldie bowed and vanished.
"Move in," Lenneth ordered.
A moment later, the door which still stood on its hinges was pulled open by Lawfer and Belenus, but they stayed behind it. As soon as it was open enough, Lenneth and Janus stepped around the corners with their new bows drawn, energy arrows generated and blaring deadly power. Janus was turned to his right side facing the cathedral's interior to make himself a narrower target, with his right arm held straight out and the cross keenly aimed. He held the other close to his body with its aim aligned with its counterpart.
He and Lenneth slowly panned their bows around the sanctuary inside, looking for any sign of Undead that Goldie might have missed or come up to investigate if they sensed her presence. However, the sanctuary was still, silent, and thoroughly overgrown. Sunlight flooded the interior through the broken windows. Where the pews once stood, there were now weeds and even small trees growing around them. The carpeted walkway between the aisles was still fairly open. Vines grew up the walls and through the windows and pillars.
There were some doors along the walls, but they were all shut or broken off. Lenneth looked to the back right corner of the room and saw the entrance to the room behind the altar Goldie had spoken of. Lenneth lowered her bow, first dissipating the arrow and sending the weapon back into her dimensional pocket.
The Valkyrie drew her sword and softly called, "All clear."
She and Janus stepped aside to make way as the rest of the einherjar filtered into the cathedral. Lenneth led them through the aisles and Janus waited until everyone had passed before he brought up the rear again as their passed through the decrepit old sanctuary.
"Oh, it's such a shame this place fell into ruin," Nanami mournfully looked around. "So many people must have gathered here to worship the gods."
"They would have better served their community with a few smaller churches spread throughout the city instead of this one cathedral," Lenneth countered. "I only see one city's pride and need to vaunt their wealth with such needlessly ornamental trappings."
"But don't the gods deserve the best?" Jelanda asked.
"I have always preferred humbler chapels in smaller hamlets, where I at least know they are sincere," Lenneth answered.
They passed by the altar, and Nanami noticed how there did not seem to be a place for offerings up on the ruined stage.
"Maybe Lady Valkyrie was right," she thought.
The group had reached the door, and got ready to enter. While Belnus, the magi, and Lawfer formed a line to stand guard, Lenneth approached the door with Arngrim and Janus. She gripped the knob with them at her sides. After a little jiggling, Lenneth managed to pull it open. Janus and Arngrim moved in, but only find a room empty except for the ruined furniture and books, and the old stone stairwell in the corner leading down to a subterranean level. The opening was surrounded by waist-high stone railing with a flat top and sturdy corner posts and inlets. On the wall beside it was a dusty, faded plaque which read, "Solde Catacombs".
Lenneth went to the steps, but stopped at the top while the einherjar gathered around the sides of the railing, peering over the side. The staircase descended far, far down beyond what they could see. Lenneth scanned with her second sight. She could feel and see the Undead as shapes moving about. Some seemed to be resting.
"Goldie's intel was correct," Lenneth said. "The Undead have gathered in the underground."
Nanami whimpered, "Why does it always have to be caves?"
"Because cravens hide in darkness," Belenus answered.
Lenneth's armor rattled, and her boots clanked against the stone as she began down the old steps.
"We must hurry. We know not if Genevieve will linger in this place," she said.
So, in single file, they ventured down. In the back, Janus found himself smiling a moment.
"Heh," a single, disbelieving chuckle escaped.
Lawfer, who was next ahead of him, looked at him inquiringly.
"'Tis nothing," Janus said. "When I left for home, I never knew if I go on this kind of excursion with you and Arngrim ever again. So much has happened in such short a time, it feels almost a lifetime ago."
The young knight had to agree.
"Ay, these are strange times," he muttered. Then he cast a quick grin Janus's way. "All the same, I am glad have you at my back again."
"Likewise," Janus amiably replied.
Then they were plunged into darkness. Janus reached for an old torch to take it from its stand when his enhanced vision kicked in. He nearly gasped as he looked around. It wasn't complete night vision, but the black of the underground was lit up as though the full moon were shining down unimpeded.
Their flight down eventually came to a large, heavy stone door which had been left slightly ajar outward. When Lenneth reached the bottom step, she peered through the slit into the next chamber. It was large, stretching out a good distance. Human bones littered the floor in a disorganized mess while others had been entombed in stone caskets, which were placed in rectangular niches in the walls. They were rows and rows of them, from wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling. There were also many, many doors leading to different parts of the underground.
Lenneth, however, was undaunted.
"Ready or not, here we come," Lenneth determinedly thought.
