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Fable : Fall of the Guild	By : Samson Category: +A through F > Fable Views: 8222 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Chapter List
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Shadows.
Fable : Fall of the Guild

Part VI - "The Hunts"

By: Jesse Racine AKA Samson

Original Date Written: February 11, 2012

Marst had crawled through the forest for hours. She had survived her fall, barely. Constantly bleeding, her body almost crushed and mangled in numerous places, she had dragged herself towards the village she had seen from the clifftop. She had only remembered that Heroes could survive immense falls once she had regained consciousness, but had still been surprised over her survival in the face of such shattering trauma. Every moment was agony for her, every movement made the beacons of torture in her body grow sevenfold in their strength. She could only use one arm, as the other had been crushed beneath her in her fall. Digging her fingers into the ground, slowly pulling herself along, she was forced to endure dragging her stomach across the ground, the suffering of feeling dirt invade her firearm injury almost beyond comprehension. Eventually, despite her truly Heroic endurance and obvious will to live, her body had failed her while she was still quite some distance from the village.
Lacking any and all trace of energy, she collapsed fully and lay there, breathing raggedly with a long trail of blood leading off behind her. Marst's mind was darkening rapidly. Tears flowed from her eyes, copious in the face of pain and death. "Not like this...Not face-down in the dirt..." She thought desperately. Trying to crawl once more, failing, she groaned out "Not like..." before all went dark. The pain faded. The world disappeared. Her clouded eyes stared out sightlessly as a cool breeze blew through the trees, her death at the hands of the League only one of many, that day.
Brute had been sitting in the living room of his family's home, watching his baby sister, when the town crier had suddenly let out a shout. Brute's face went curious as he glanced over his shoulder to a window nearby, his younger sibling giggling with lack of understanding. He looked back to her, his face still curious. His family, consisting of two brothers and four sisters, was absent on that day, all out doing things aside from the fourth sister, the baby. Brute's father and mother, as well as his two brothers, were all out working. Two of his four sisters were out shopping for groceries, and his third sister was currently on a date with some boy. Brute, left alone, had been expected to watch his youngest sister, a child that his parents had conceived while he had been at the Guild. Deciding that he might as well see what was important enough for the town crier to call people for, he got up from the floor, picking up his baby sister with the same ease he would have had if he had picked up a feather.
She seemed amused by his strength, giggling as he lifted her up. She looked as if she weren’t even a year old, still just a tiny little thing, wearing nothing aside from a white diaper of cloth. Considering it was raining outside, as was usual for Witchwood, Brute headed over to a nearby room and got a small white blanket, swaddling his little sister in it so she would be less exposed to the elements. "C'mon, Anna...We're gonna take a little walk, see what's going on." Brute said, gently. Anna murmured wordlessly, smiling happily. Brute, wearing just his shirt and pants, stepped out of his family's typical all-wood home, shutting the door behind himself. Carrying Anna in his arms, he walked down the street, seeing that most others were already heading to the town square. Brute saw that a crowd was already forming around something, hearing a man shouting out. Brute knew that the speaker was a League member within seconds; the speaker was proclaiming the many evils of Heroes, amidst much applause.
Brute's brow furrowed a little. He felt like turning around and heading back home, thinking it was safer, but he had already walked outside. He knew it could be suspicious if he abruptly just turned around and walked back home. "Could be even more dangerous if someone recognizes me as a Hero." He grimly thought. In the end, he decided to head back home, but just as he turned around, he heard the speaker call something out that chilled Brute's blood. "...And here we have her! A Hero in the streets of Knothole Glade! Watch her execution, see the fate of all Heroes!" Brute's eyes widened a little. "Who could it...?" He wondered, turning back around, hastily heading for the gathering. Anna cooed, not understanding what she was hearing. Brute made his way through the crowd until he could see what lay in the center, in the clearing. He could scarcely believe what he saw. Pyre had been captured by nearly a dozen League members, down on her knees in the middle of them all.
Her arms were behind her, iron shackles around her wrists, keeping her restrained. "Kill 'er!" Someone shouted loudly from Brute's left, their call being met with clapping and cheering. Pyre's brow was furrowed deep, her cheeks stained with furious tears. Her tears caused her makeup to run, black streaks heading down her cheeks in numerous lines. Brute watched as the League members stared hatefully at Pyre, some standing off to the side with their arms crossed over their chests, some prowling around Pyre with their firearms brandished. The speaker was a tall man, dressed in an all-black ensemble. A longcoat was wrapped tight around his body, a hat with a rather wide brim sitting on his head and keeping his face from easily being seen. He had black pants on, along with large black boots, shining metal plates over the front for more painful kicks. "And to prove she's truly a Hero..." The man called out, turning to Pyre. Leaning over towards her, he reached into her jacket.
Brute noticed the man grope Pyre, giving her left breast a squeeze through her shirt before actually reaching into her jacket. She glared at the man, but she didn't say anything. He smiled mockingly at her before whipping around, holding up her Seal. "Here it is! Her Guild Seal, hidden within her jacket!" The man called out. "Kill the Hero! Kill the Hero!" The crowd called out, chanting. Brute began to breathe quick with emotions. He felt he should try to save Pyre, but knew that he couldn't survive doing so. She was being guarded by too many League members, too many firearms could be pointed at him. And besides, who knew how many people in the crowd had firearms too, who knew how many could shoot Brute down before he had even broken Pyre's shackles. The crowd kept chanting as the man called out "And to show we are not unreasonable, we will give this Hero a chance to defend herself, to give us an appropriate reason as to why she shouldn't join her fellows in Skorm's clutches!"
Looking to Pyre, smiling slightly, he said "Well? What say you, Hero?" Pyre grit her teeth for a moment before shouting out, audible above the crowd's chanting. "You're all insane! You can't do this! I've never hurt any innocents, all I've done is help you people! I-" The man abruptly cut her off by pointing his firearm down at the side of Pyre's head, nuzzling the muzzle against her soft hair for a moment before squeezing the trigger. Anna went quiet at the sound of the firearm going off, perhaps shocked by how loud it was. Brute shut his eyes as Pyre was shot. Blood flew from the side of her head, a short fountain of gore erupting. She collapsed to the ground, the crowd rising up in a massive cheer. Anna began to cry over how loud everything was, Brute holding her close, trying to comfort her as he opened his eyes again. He saw, with disgust, that Pyre wasn't quite dead. The League member hadn't killed her with his one shot.
She lay on the ground, twitching, blood running from her nose. Her eyes were blank, her mouth hanging open a bit. Another League member walked over, pointed his firearm down, and gave Pyre another slug through her skull. Pyre stopped moving, then. Brute turned and began to walk away, cheering villagers all around him. He felt a little like he would be sick, his stomach in turmoil over seeing Pyre go through such treatment. "Such will be the fate of all Heroes, rest assured! With the firearm, we need not fear Heroes! With the firearm, we can eradicate the plague of Heroes, self-important, greedy, useless, evil Heroes!!" The speaker called out. Brute decided it was time for him to leave Knothole Glade. He thanked Avo that nobody in the crowd had identified him as a Hero, for if they had, it was possible that Anna could've been killed along with him. Maybe even his entire family would've been slain. If he had ran and managed to escape, he wouldn't have abandoned Anna, but he didn't know much about caring for a baby.
He knew that Anna still required milk from his mother to survive, and if he fled to a ship in the harbour and sailed away, he didn't think she'd survive long. It wasn't as if he would reach anywhere in time to find Anna a wet-nurse to feed her, at least. He headed back home, knowing time was of the essence; he wouldn't even wait for his family to come home before he left. Giving Anna a kiss on the forehead, he set her down, beginning to write a note for his family to explain his sudden disappearance. When the note was finished, he left it by Anna. He prepared himself a pack of supplies to last him what could be weeks at sea, then grabbed his battleaxe. With most people only then beginning to head back to their homes, Brute slipped away towards the harbour. Nobody noticed him using his battleaxe to cut through the bindings of the ship, what kept it fastened to the dock. Climbing aboard, he withdrew the anchor, quickly and quietly setting sail with his stolen ship...
Timoteo and Bianca had entered the region of Deepwood, quickly enough. The trees were thick and massive, very much like Greatwood, only they were much more numerous in Deepwood than they were in Greatwood. There were so many trees that their foliage partially blocked out the sun, shadowing the forest floor a little, only thin rays of sunlight managing to penetrate past the trees here and there. The duo had been travelling for only a day and a half before Timoteo saw the community, down the thin dirt path about a kilometer from them. "I see it. We’re almost there." He said, glancing at Bianca. Bianca, due to the weakness of her eyes, had not seen the buildings of the town, and nodded slightly in understanding at his words. Timoteo faintly heard the small, metallic bones of his necklace, clinking against the inside of his chainmail shirt as he walked. The two continued down the path until they entered the main street of Grove.
The buildings of Grove were made of dark brown wood, obviously from the thick trees of Deepwood. The town was easily illuminated by the sun, given that it lay in a large clearing. Bianca glanced around. Quietly, she said "There’s evil, here. Not exactly Dark Will, but...Something unnatural." Timoteo glanced around. He knew something was off, but he made his decision based on what he saw. As far as he could tell, the town was empty. The street was devoid of people, and he couldn't hear any sounds coming from any building on either side of the street. No lights were visible through windows, no lit fireplaces or candles. Some houses had doors that were left ajar. There were possibly dozens of homes in the town, which meant there had been likely over a hundred or so individuals; there were no signs of conflict anywhere, nothing to suggest a battle, which made the theory of bandits having attacked seem quite unlikely. Timoteo noticed an uneasy feeling in the air, and quickly realized he felt like he was being watched, much the same as the feeling he had gotten when at Lychfield and in Darkwood.
He and Bianca slowly walked down the street, Timoteo quietly saying "This place is creepy...No blood or bodies. No broken windows. No burned houses. Can't have been bandits. It's almost like everybody just...Got up and left." Bianca looked to a nearby home. She narrowed her eyes a little. Timoteo glanced over. "What is it?" He asked. Bianca lightly said "I thought I heard something...I can't be sure what it was, though." Timoteo stopped walking. "Want to check it out?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Bianca slowly came to a stop. Nodding a little, she said "Yes...Something happened here. Maybe it was my mother. The presence of Dark Will here is weak, though..." Timoteo walked with her as they headed towards the nearby home. It looked like a typical home, having two floors along with numerous windows over the front. The front door was open, revealing shadows beyond. The windows were barely lit, despite the sun coming down strong on the community.
The unsettling sensation of being watched seemed to grow more prominent as the two walked up to the dwelling’s front door. Bianca lightly pushed the front door open all the way, her heeled boots tapping against the wood beneath her feet. She glanced around, Timoteo doing the same. There was a large room to the right, the living room from the looks of it. Nothing of interest was within, simply a few furniture pieces could be seen. Over to the left was a dining room, though aside from a long table, there was nothing of note. In front of them, a staircase went to the second floor, and beside it, a long hallway that led only into darkness. Bianca’s eyes were calm as she looked up the staircase for a few seconds. Timoteo heard something coming from up the stairs, like a slow creaking, faintly sounding out every other second. Bianca began to climb the stairs, Timoteo not far behind her, both as silent as ghosts. At the top of the staircase, a hallway led off to the left, a few doors to be seen on either side of the passage.
All were closed, aside from the one at the end. The door at the end of the hallway was open a crack, the soft creaking sound coming from the other side. Bianca began to walk a little quicker as she headed down the hall, Timoteo right behind her. When she reached the doorway, she quickly raised a hand and pushed the door open, causing it to ram against the wall to the doorway’s right. Neither of them were expecting what they saw. The creaking sound was being caused by a rope, fastened tight around a metal fixture in the ceiling. Hanging from the noose of that rope was a man in his early thirties, his entire head a deathly shade of purple. His face was swollen and distorted, almost unnaturally so.
The tipped over chair behind his dangling legs suggested a self-inflicted escape from the world. The man was, very slowly, swinging from side to side as he hung there, the creaking caused by the rope straining the fixture in the ceiling. Bianca and Timoteo froze when they saw the man, Timoteo’s face going surprised. Bianca’s eyes went a little wide for a moment as she stared at the man, but she quickly regained her composure. Neither of them did anything for a few seconds, Timoteo eventually mumbling out "Avo..."
Bianca looked left and right. The room had a bed, a desk, and a thin door set in a wall nearby, likely leading to a closet. Her eyes narrowed a little when she saw something on the bed. "Is that a piece of paper?" She asked, beginning to walk over. Timoteo tore his eyes away from the hanging body, looking to what had caught Bianca’s attention. Lain over a corner of the bed, near the foot of it, there was a single sheet of paper. "Yeah. Does it say anything?" He asked, beginning to walk over. Bianca picked up the paper, holding it close to her face so her eyes could make out the words. Softly, she said "...If you’re here, I’m sorry...Get out...The shadows..." Bianca’s face went calm, her eyes relaxing. She stared at the paper for a second more. She slowly handed him the paper, saying "There’s nothing else...But it’s enough." Timoteo took the paper, looking along it. In a hurried scribbling, the warning had been scrawled over the middle of the page, nothing else anywhere to be seen.
"The shadows? What does that mean?" He said. His face began to grow blank as he said "You don’t think he meant...Actual shadows?" Bianca nodded. "He must’ve. But, there’s no signs of battle. If there’s shadows anywhere here, they can’t have killed anybody, which doesn’t make any sense..." " Hard to imagine every single person in a village like this managing to escape, or taking an alternate exit, like this fellow." Timoteo muttered, nodding at the hanging corpse. Bianca nodded. "Mhm. But..." She sighed softly through her nose. "Maybe he..." She mumbled, before trailing off. She reached into her cloak, pulling out her mother’s letter from the Grey House. Unfolding it, glancing along the writing, she murmured "Octavia must’ve been involved in this. She mentions shadows, here. I hadn’t been sure if she meant actual shadows, or..." She trailed off again, folding up the letter, slipping it back into her cloak. "What do you want to do? Check other homes here, or move on?" Timoteo asked.
Bianca slowly took in a deep breath, exhaling quietly as she headed over to the door to the room. Timoteo tossed the man’s final written note over his shoulder before he started walking by her side, Bianca saying "I wouldn’t know where to begin. Besides, Jeremiah said that Grove’s caravan was a few days late. That means that what happened here could still be recent. Octavia might not be far." The two headed down the stairs, Timoteo saying "What was the next stop? Last one, right?" Bianca nodded. Reaching into her cloak, she pulled out their map, unfolding it. The two walked out into the street as she quietly said "Last stop wa-" She was cut off by a loud whooshing sound, coming from the middle of the street. Both of them looked over. Floating in the air, numerous little red pinpoints of light could be seen. Within moments, shapes began to materialize around those pinpoints. Humanoid bodies appeared, black as night, though translucent to the duo’s eyes.
The sets of red pinpoints of light became their eyes, staring unblinkingly at the two as they stood nearby. The beings didn’t appear to be wearing any clothing, though they seemed to lack most of the physical characteristics of humans, including a lack of any genitals. None of them had mouths or noses, lacking ears as well, leaving their humanoid appearance a somewhat disturbing replica of a true human. Weapons, as dark and translucent as their bodies, appeared in their hands. The shadows numbered fifteen in total, all beginning to quickly walk towards the two as soon as they had finished materializing. A black mist of sorts trailed out on the air behind each shadow, but disappeared after a few seconds of discolouring the air. Bianca slipped their map back into her cloak, Timoteo pulling out his steel mace. "Never fought shadows, before." He commented, a little quietly. Bianca lightly said "Little more than inhuman puppets. Don’t expect these mindless creatures to fight with any more skill than your typical bandit."
Timoteo cast his Physical Shield before rushing over to the nearest shadow. It let out a sort of light, wordless call, almost like a groan, as Timoteo swung his mace against it. It recoiled at the attack, but his mace passed through the creature as if it were made of thin air. The shadows rapidly began to surround him, jumping over and crashing their weapons against his barrier. Bianca quickly raised three skeletons, quietly ordering them to assist Timoteo. The undead beings quickly walked over, their ancient armour protecting them from the shadows’ unholy blades. They broke the group up, giving Timoteo some breathing room, allowing him a chance to fight without being overwhelmed. Bianca set her feet apart a little, bracing herself as she held her hands before her stomach. An pale orange light began to appear between her hands, swelling rapidly, a high-pitched whine appearing as the magic grew stronger. Timoteo cast Battle Charge, sprinting forwards at unimaginable speed for a moment, a trail of orange light stretching out on the air behind him.
When he reached a shadow, he smashed his mace down over it’s head, the shadow letting out a little unintelligible cry before vanishing, disappearing entirely within a second or two. He spun around and swung his mace for another shadow, but it held it’s sword in a defensive stance, blocking Timoteo’s strike. A few shadows rushed over behind Timoteo, slashing at him rapidly, causing his Physical Shield to fall before he could spin around to attack. Bianca’s three skeletal minions walked over, cackling as they swung their ancient weapons about, knocking the shadows away from Timoteo. Bianca held her arms up as the magic grew increasingly large and volatile, draining more and more mana from her before she let it go. Throwing her arms out by her side, suppressing a grunt as the magic suddenly left her, the massive orange sphere of light burst, creating a clanging sound akin to two swords crashing against one another.
Her Blades spell caused five long swords to appear in the air above her, spinning around above her in a circle for a moment before abruptly freezing in place. Each sword pointed itself towards a different shadow, flying over with the speed of an arrow not a second later, impaling themselves through their targets. Each struck shadow instantly vanished, groaning wordlessly in death. Timoteo launched a large fireball into a nearby shadow, causing it to stumble backwards a few steps as the flames burst against it’s torso. He finished it off with a quick blast of Lightning before spinning around, ramming his mace against the face of an approaching shadow. A shadow slashed their blade down across his back, the weapon harmlessly running across his chainmail. A shadow rushed towards Bianca, Bianca narrowing her eyes as the shadow raised it’s weapon. She held her hands by her sides, her hands wide open with her palms pointed towards the shadow.
A grey sort of light flashed from her palms for a moment, a veil of red light abruptly surrounding the shadow. It still approached her. When it swung it’s weapon down, however, the ethereal blade passed through her like she were incorporeal. A split appeared in the veil across the shadow’s body, leading from it’s left shoulder down to it’s right hip. The shadow let out a wordless wail before disappearing, the veil of light around it disappearing along with it. Timoteo grit his teeth as a shadow plunged it’s sword forwards and found him, the tip piercing through his chainmail and impaling through his stomach. He swung his mace over with blinding speed, slaying the shadow in a single strike, the feeling of it’s sword through his body disappearing instantaneously as the shadow faded. A moment later, the shadows all vanished without warning, Timoteo panting as he pulled off his pack and fished around within for a health potion.
Bianca walked over to him as he guzzled down the potion, saying "They left...That’s unusual." Timoteo tossed the empty potion off to the side, pulling his pack back on, saying "They don’t just go away, eventually?" Bianca shook her head. "They’re not smart enough for that. Lesser shadows like those are no more intelligent than a human child. And, besides..." Timoteo’s eyes narrowed. "Wait a second. You know they were lesser shadows?" Bianca nodded. "Of course. Greater shadows...I don’t think we could destroy them, just the two of us. They..." Bianca nodded slightly, raising her eyebrows for a moment before she said "...Are supposed to be very powerful. But, either way, there’s an issue with seeing shadows." Timoteo nodded, saying "Didn’t you say once that both types of shadows can’t just appear whenever they want? Lesser shadows aren’t strong enough, and greater shadows are too proud?" Bianca nodded.
"The only way shadows can typically appear is if they’re contacted..." Bianca clenched her fists, her expression turning cold. She stopped looking at Timoteo, looking past him, her eyes pointing to the ground a little. "That must be why I can feel Dark Will here. Someone must’ve called the shadows here, and since my mother mentioned them in her note, it must’ve been her." Timoteo took in a light breath, saying "Seems like it. But where could she be?" Bianca let out a little breath through her nose, no longer clenching her hands as she met his eyes again. "She could be anywhere. She might not even be here, anymore. We should start heading for the next town." Bianca released her skeletal minions with a wave of her hand before she and Timoteo started down the town’s main street once more. "What was the name of it?" He asked. Bianca calmly said "New Treal. It’s the last spot on the map, so if my mother isn’t there, she must’ve gone somewhere off the path. That, or...All this is just an incredible coincidence."
"We’ll find out." Timoteo said, confidently. Bianca didn’t react for a few seconds before Timoteo felt her reach over, slipping her hand into his. He held her hand back, threading fingers with her. The two had only held hands for a few minutes, having traversed a good part of the street, before another dozen shadows suddenly appeared in the street before them.
Darrah got herself under control before returning to her father’s war room, but realized just before pushing the doors open that, considering she had had mascara applied to her, dark streaks were likely running along her cheeks. Cursing softly, she stopped the first servant she saw and asked for a cloth. Rubbing at her cheeks until she was satisfied that they were free of mascara that had ran with her tears, she gave the cloth back to the servant before she headed into her father’s war room. The three looked up from the table as she entered, Darrah shutting the doors behind herself. The lord said "So, how did they receive you?" Darrah slowly took in a deep breath as she walked over to the table, exhaling quietly. "Mother greeted me with more happiness than I expected." She said, slowly. Her father, a little slowly as if to explain a wrongdoing, said "I suppose that’s to be expected, considering how she...Remained unattached during your departure, but you are her youngest daughter. She loves you, Darrah."
Darrah nodded, calmly saying "I know." "I hope everything was okay with Natalie?" He said. Darrah was quiet for a moment before she said "Mother should be talking to you about it, later." Her father let out a deep, quick sigh. "I guess that means it went poorly." He commented. Before her father could say anything else, Darrah said "I forgot to tell you something earlier on, it slipped my mind." Her father, Wesley, and Miller all gave her a curious look. Darrah’s face was serious as she said "The assassin that Benedict sent after me and my friends...We got something interesting out of him before Bianca killed him." "Bianca?" Wesley repeated. Darrah shook her head slightly, quickly and coldly saying "A witch. She’s not even a real Hero. It’d be very unwise of her to enter my company again, let’s leave it at that." Wesley and Miller exchanged a bewildered glance. Darrah raised her eyebrows and hastily said "Anyway, before she killed the assassin, he told us that Benedict had a fort in the mountains by Hook Coast."
Miller furrowed his brow. "I’ve never heard of any forts by Hook Coast. If that’s true, then...Benedict might not even be with his army of bandits. He could be leading them from his fort. How, though, is beyond me." Wesley calmly said "Getting enough men to Hook Coast to attack a fort would be difficult. Besides, we don’t know where the fort is, or if Darrah’s assassin was lying. And besides, killing Benedict in his fort likely wouldn’t stop his army from approaching the lord’s land. No, our primary concern must be the approaching threat." The lord nodded, saying "I agree, but it’s still something worth investigating. Miller, get a few men on a ship for Hook Coast, see if they can find anything out. After dealing with the army, we can go after Benedict himself, if what Darrah’s assassin said is true." Miller nodded. "I know a few men that’d be suited to the task." Darrah quickly said "I’ll need some information, here. Tell me our plans of defence in the event of the attackers reaching the estate walls." Wesley stepped around the table until he was beside Darrah, pulling over a map of the lord’s estate, saying "I’ll explain, we’ve got a few strategies in mind..." Darrah nodded, listening as he began to elaborate.
Once Timoteo and Bianca had dispatched of the new batch of shadows, neither of them being injured by the assailants, they had both been about to walk down the street again when Bianca froze in place. Timoteo looked to her curiously. Bianca stood perfectly still, her expression blank. After a couple of seconds, her head snapped over in the direction of a nearby home. Timoteo looked over just as the front door burst open. Someone came rushing out of the home towards them. It was a man, looking to be in his late thirties. He looked ragged and terrified, but relieved to see them, all the same. "Oh thank Avo, someone’s come!" He cried. Bianca raised her hands in a flash, pulling up her hood, hiding her face. The man rushed over to them in a gasping jumble, hastily panting out "You’ve gotta get me outta here! There’s nobody left, everyone’s gone, we’ve gotta go!" Timoteo calmly said "Hold on, wait a minute. Tell us what happened. Why are there shadows here?"
The man glanced left and right for a moment, hissing out "We can’t talk, there’s no time! We’ve gotta go!" Timoteo’s brow furrowed a little as he firmly said "No. We need answers. What happened?" The man glanced left and right again for a moment before turning and rushing back towards the home behind him. Bianca quickly followed after him, Timoteo doing the same. When the man got up to the front door of his home, he rushed within, turning and watching the two. He beckoned rapidly for them to enter. When they did, he shut the door behind them. The interior of the home was mostly dark, but the living room nearby had a large number of candles lit over a table. The curtains had been drawn over every noticeable window, Timoteo quickly spotted. The man quickly walked over into the lit living room, Bianca turning and looking at the back of the front door. "Glyphs of Warding. Impressive Will manipulation." She murmured.
Timoteo glanced over his shoulder to the door. Carved into the wood of the door were several large symbols, all arcane and unfamiliar to Timoteo. They were traced with green paint, which was glowing just faintly in the dark. The man, loud enough for them to hear, said "An old friend in the Guild put that there, said it’d keep me safe. Never thought it’d actually do me any good." The man began to laugh nervously, laughing for several seconds before calming down. Timoteo and Bianca stepped over into the next room, seeing the man to have sat down on a long couch. He didn’t even wait for them to take a seat before he began his explanation. Putting his elbows to his knees, his eyes still somewhat terrified of something unseen, he rapidly said "It all started a few nights ago. All I heard was gossip that some stranger had come to town, asking about the ruins in Deepwood. Apparently, they were interested in Old Kingdom crap."
Bianca quickly stepped over and took a seat on the couch, quietly asking "Tell me about this stranger." The man’s eyes darted to her for a moment before he narrowed his eyes a little, his face a little confused as he shook his head a few rapid times. "I don’t know much about them, just that some outsider had walked into town. Asked about the ruins, asked for a guide to them, then that was it. But, then...People started disappearing, and those things were showing up in the streets at night. Could never see them, just their eyes, darting around..." The man let out a short, nervous laugh. "Nobody wanted to investigate at night, and nobody talked about it when day came. We all just acted like it didn’t happen! But more and more people started disappearing, and those things started walking around during the day, too. I stopped going out. I haven’t seen anyone outside for three days." The man grit his teeth a little, his eyes watering as he said "They’d knock at my door in the middle of the night, tap at my windows...They were trying to trick me into opening the door, break the seal. I was running out of food and water..."
Timoteo remained standing, his eyes compassionate at the sound of the man’s fear. Bianca’s voice didn’t suggest that she cared, Bianca asking "Tell me about these ruins, where are they?" The man took in a sniffle before he said "Don’t know much about them. Old Kingdom ruins, looks a bit like an old cathedral on the outside, but never went inside, myself. I’ve heard some people say that there’s a passage inside, leads to some sort of cavern. If there was anything of interest, though, I’m sure it’s already been taken." Bianca quietly said "Where is it? We need to go there." The man looked to her with wide, panicked eyes. "You can’t! I need help to get out of here! I can’t last here much longer, I’m running out of food and water, a-and those things could find a way inside! I can’t get out on my own, I can’t!" The man was breathing hard as Timoteo said "Calm down, just take a deep breath. We can help you after we deal with this stranger. They could be the cause behind the shadows."
Bianca pulled out her map, unfolding it and holding it out, saying "Mark it, here." The man shook his head. Bianca didn’t respond or react, still holding the map out. Timoteo lightly said "Sir, we can help you out of here once we’ve dealt with the person in the ruins. They probab-" The man rapidly shook his head again, urgently saying "No! I can’t hide here anymore! I need to get away, I need to-!" Bianca dropped the map and shot up to her feet. The man looked at her fearfully as she marched over to him. "No!! Get away!!" He cried. "Bianca!" Timoteo said, his eyes widening a little. Bianca grabbed the man by the throat, holding her free hand over his face, spreading her fingers out entirely. A rapid series of gray flashes blinked in the palm of her hand, the man’s face going blank, his eyes wide with his mouth hanging open a little. Timoteo rapidly walked over to her, hastily saying "What’re you doing to him?" Bianca didn’t respond, keeping up her actions for a few seconds before suddenly releasing the man.
He limply relaxed into the couch, his eyes blank. Bianca bent over and picked up her map, holding it out to the man, muttering "Now...Mark it." The man nodded stupidly, his mouth still hanging open a little. "Th...There..." He barely managed to say, as if he couldn’t even articulate his tongue, anymore. Timoteo’s brow furrowed a little at how the man acted, as if Bianca had reduced his intelligence to that of a slow-witted child. Bianca reached into her cloak and pulled out a small stick of charcoal, making a little mark on the map before folding it up again, slipping both it and the charcoal stick into her cloak once more. "Let’s go." She murmured, quickly beginning to leave the home. Timoteo slowly began to follow after her, glancing his shoulder at the man, who simply reclined on his couch and watched the two leave. "What did you do to him?" Timoteo asked. Bianca was quiet for a moment before she said "I flashed part of his brain. It seemed the only way to calm him down and get the information I wanted, without wasting time by leading him away from here."
Timoteo and Bianca walked out into the street, Timoteo curiously asking "Will it wear off?" Bianca quietly said "No, it’s permanent. He’ll never be the same again." Timoteo was quiet for a moment, his brow deepening a little as he thought over how easily and quickly Bianca had ruined the man’s life. Bianca seemed to notice his reaction, but she didn’t say anything for a few moments. Her eyes darted left and right for a moment, pointed to the ground, Bianca perhaps a little ashamed with herself due to his lack of approval. When she spoke, she quietly said "The ruins shouldn’t be far, judging by where the man pointed...It shouldn’t take us long to get there." Timoteo let out a soft sigh through his nose, letting go of what she had done, deciding that the man could’ve told the two what they wanted to know without being so stubborn. "Right, let’s go." He mumbled, beginning to head down the street, Bianca quickly walking by his side.
The two headed to the far eastern side of Grove, occasionally fighting packs of shadows along the way. Eventually, when they reached the edge of the community, they found two thin paths leading back into Deepwood. Bianca pulled out the two’s map, looking to the mark representing the apparent location of the ruins. Bianca murmured "The ruins are more northernly than eastern." Looking up from the map, beginning to fold it up again, she said "The path on the left should be the one we take." Timoteo nodded, beginning to head down the small path, Bianca by his side. For hours, they walked through the trees, following the narrow path. The sun rapidly set, letting the stars twinkle at the duo, the moon washing them in it’s pale glow. Neither of them saw any shadows as they made their way along the path, though both of them were on their guard, anticipating more enemies at any moment. After several hours, Timoteo began to contemplate stopping to make camp for the night, but he had the distinct feeling Bianca would be quite against the idea.
Considering she could be so close to her mother, he didn’t think she’d be stopping for rest any time soon. After another hour, something unnatural occurred, taking place within just a few seconds; the stars and moon all disappeared, black clouds suddenly whipping over the sky, blocking them entirely. The path the two were on became nearly pitch-black, Timoteo barely able to see his hand in front of his face. "Hang on, I’m sure I’ve got a lamp, here..." He said. The two came to a stop, Timoteo unshouldering his pack. Reaching in and finding his lamp from the Guild, he pulled it out, shouldering his pack once again. Sticking a finger into the lamp, he shot out a thin beam of fire, lighting the lamp. A flickering glow was cast over the two of them, illuminating the ground around them in a short radius. "There. That’s better." He mumbled, holding the lamp up. Bianca said nothing, beginning to walk with him again.
The two walked for only half an hour more before Bianca began to slow down. "I think we’re getting close...I can feel it. Dark Will, a tremendous amount. And...The evil of shadows. Much more than in Grove. Can you sense it?" Bianca gently said, looking to him with her question. Timoteo pouted out his bottom lip and shrugged, saying "Can’t feel a thing. I don’t even feel like I’m being watched. Felt that in Grove, but once we got on this path, it disappeared." Bianca started walking again, a little faster than before. "No shadows are on this path. It’s almost as if my mother didn’t expect anyone to go to the ruins..." "Maybe she didn’t want to send shadows here, so nobody would think she had gone to the ruins?" Timoteo suggested. Bianca shrugged a little. "Maybe." She mumbled. After another twenty minutes of walking, Timoteo noticed something appearing in the sky ahead of them, and quickly realized it was the spire of a building. "This is it." Timoteo said, coming to a stop.
"Hm?" Bianca mumbled, curiously. She glanced at him before he held the lamp up, trying to see if he could illuminate the building. He did, but just barely; only a bit of the front wall was weakly lit. The stone of the building was black, blending in excellently with the starless night. The entrance was quite large, but wasn’t blocked by any door or gate. The entrance showed only darkness however, giving them no hint of the building’s interior. "The Dark Will’s coming from...Beneath our feet?" Bianca murmured, confused. Timoteo quietly said "The guy from Grove said that there was a passage within, led to a cavern. The stranger might’ve gone down into it." Bianca nodded lightly. She started to walk closer to the building, Timoteo following after her. Holding the lamp up to illuminate their path, they walked through the wide entrance. The floor beneath their feet was dark stone, much like the walls. The interior of the building was pure darkness, Timoteo quickly saying "We could be walking into a trap Bianca, we need light to see..."
Bianca came to a stop. "Yes, you’re right." She murmured. Suddenly, as if reacting to their words, flames burst into life around them. Timoteo glanced around rapidly, his hand flying for his steel mace. Torches in sconces, along with standing braziers, burst into life with flames, brightening the interior of the building with a hellish glow. True to the word of the man from Grove, the building looked like some kind of cathedral, though the ravages of time were quite evident. Most of the ceiling had collapsed, leaving high piles of rocky rubble all around them. Pillars were still existent, though with most of the ceiling gone, these pillars often led to nothing, simply pointing up defiantly at the sky. There were gaps in the walls as if windows had once been plentiful in the building, but none of them remained, all of them having long ago been shattered. Dirt and grime was encrusted along much of the walls, blown in through the broken windows and partially destroyed ceiling.
On the far side of the building, there was an elevated platform, like where the religious leader of the cathedral would speak during congregations. Behind the platform, the wall had partially crumbled, revealing darkness. Bianca’s eyes darted around at the lit interior. Timoteo’s hand rested on his mace. Nothing happened however, no enemies appeared. Eventually, they both relaxed a little. "I wasn’t expecting that." Bianca mumbled. A rustling sound appeared behind them, Timoteo glancing over his shoulder. His eyes widened when he saw a tall shadow, it’s eyes burning like fires, standing rather close to him, holding up an axe. He dove forwards, barely avoiding the shadow’s swing, rolling against the ground before jumping back to his feet. He lost his grip on his lamp during his movement, the light of it going out as the lamp struck the ground. Bianca spun around, seeing the tall shadow rush towards her. Just before it could strike her, she cast Assassin’s Rush, disappearing in the blink of an eye and reappearing behind the shadow.
Pulling back both hands before throwing them out towards the shadow, she cast a powerful Force Push, causing the shadow to fly through the air for a moment before crashing in a jumble. Timoteo pulled out his mace and cast Physical Shield, running over to the downed shadow. He grit his teeth as he raised the mace, swinging it down hard against the shadow’s head. It disappeared in response to his attack, slain. Rustling sounds rapidly appeared, Timoteo and Bianca both glancing around. Tall, muscular, humanoid shadows appeared all over the cathedral’s interior, all wielding rather long blades. They stepped out from behind piles of rubble, from behind pillars, all beginning to rush in their approach.
Bianca’s eyes began to glow green as she swept her arms up before her, the tiles of the floor bursting apart as a tall skeletal minion shot up from the ground. The skeleton was dressed in a full suit of ancient armour, a long bastard sword held in it’s bony clutches. The helmet over it’s skull had twin spikes coming from either side, like horns. The skeleton let out a malicious cackling as it quickly began to approach the nearest shadow. Though the shadow was tall, the skeleton was taller, the sword in it’s hands nearly as long as the shadow, itself. It swung in a wide, cleaving arc, killing the nearest shadow in a single hit. The tip of the blade struck a large stone in a pile of rubble behind the shadow, dust flying on the air as the blade blew right through a small part of the stone. Timoteo’s barrier endured a few rapid slashes from a shadow before he had smashed his mace down over it’s torso, knocking it flat to the ground. Blasting it with a large fireball, he finished it off.
A shadow ran over to him, swinging downwards for his head wildly. He swung his mace over, crashing against the shadow’s wide blade, knocking the shadow’s arm to the side. He shot a hand forwards, blasting into the shadow’s stomach with a shot of Force Push, sending the infernal creature sprawling backwards. Bianca had begun to charge a fiery spell before a shadow had sprinted for her, likely hoping to take advantage of her defenceless state as she charged. Bianca simply launched the spell towards the shadow, and though it hadn’t been as powerful as she had wanted to make it, it still sent the shadow toppling over in an inferno. Her skeleton walked over and, raising it’s fearsome sword, swung down and killed the shadow in a single hit. The stone tiles of the floor were partially crushed by the impact of the skeleton’s blade, dust flying up in a short jet. Bianca reached into her cloak and pulled out a vial, the fluid within deep green.
She gave it a vigorous shake for a moment, causing the fluid within to turn a bright orange, bubbling dangerously. Bianca threw the vial at a nearby shadow, the vial smashing open against the shadow, exploding in a violent burst. The shadow instantly vanished, the stone tiles that had been beneath it crushing in the face of the small explosion. Timoteo cast Ghost Sword, a floating, ethereal blade appearing by his side. It joined him in attacking the shadows, swinging at them with him. Bianca’s skeleton swung around, killing shadows left and right, whispering unintelligibly every few kills. Eventually, all visible shadows had been slain. Timoteo was panting lightly, looking around for any remaining enemies. His Ghost Sword faded eventually, though he didn’t pay it much attention. Bianca lightly said "I think we got them all." Timoteo’s Physical Shield fell a moment later, the Hero saying "They were tougher than the ones in Grove."
Bianca nodded, beginning to walk towards the platform on the other side of the cathedral, her skeleton following behind her. "We’re getting closer to the source." She murmured. Timoteo began to walk towards the platform as well, a bit behind Bianca. As Bianca came within a few steps of the platform, something abruptly materialized over the platform, causing Bianca to freeze in alarm. It was a giant of a shadow, likely around ten feet tall. It was humanoid like all the other shadows, but this one had an unusual head; at various points along it’s head, sharp spikes could be seen, jutting out from it’s body. The shadow raised a hand, pointing a finger at Bianca. A few low-pitched words came from it, but they were entirely unintelligible, little more than noise. Bianca’s expression turned dark, her skeleton walking past her. Her skeleton had barely walked up the platform before the shadow shot out both hands, Bianca’s skeleton exploding from a massive blast of Force Push.
Bianca’s eyes widened for a second before the shadow attacked her, as well. Crying out from the second Force Push, she went zooming backwards, crashing into Timoteo. Timoteo caught her in his arms, but they both slammed down to the ground in a heap. The shadow slowly began to step down from the platform, eyeing the two, it’s featureless face giving no hint as to what it felt. Timoteo and Bianca quickly got back up to their feet, Bianca’s face growing wrathful as she did so. She held her hands together over her stomach, a dull gray light beginning to appear between them. A strange swirling began to grow between her hands, the swirling flowing counter-clockwise. Timoteo ran for the shadow, holding his mace ready. The shadow had been about to slam him with a Force Push blast when Timoteo cast Battle Charge, reaching the shadow before it could hit him. Swinging his mace for it, his eyes went wide when it disappeared in a puff of black smoke, reappearing on the far side of the nearby platform.
Bianca raised her arms above herself as the swirling gray light grew and grew. A faint sound, similar to the chiming of a clock, began to appear around her. Timoteo launched a blast of Lightning at the shadow, striking it and causing it to recoil for a moment. The shadow responded by launching the Blades spell at him, four swords appearing on the air, flying towards him. They all struck him at once, his shield falling in the face of the attack. Bianca swung her arms apart, releasing the magic. Everything turned colourless around her. Slow, clock-like chiming rang in her ears. Timoteo and the shadow both ceased their movements, seemingly frozen in place. Bianca quickly walked across the cathedral, stepping up on to the platform.
Feeling drained yet pushing herself for one more spell, she started to charge a Blades spell of her own, an orange light rapidly appearing between her hands and swelling with power. When Bianca knew her Slow Time spell was starting to wear off, the chiming in her ears growing quicker in warning, she threw the Blades spell towards the shadow. Six long blades, made of orange light, appeared on the air, spinning for a moment before aiming at the shadow. Her Slow Time spell wore off just as the swords flew for the shadow, all six impaling through it. The shadow disappeared in the blink of an eye, slain.
Timoteo seemed caught off guard by Bianca’s spell, but smiled a little in victory, nonetheless. Bianca looked over to him. "Are you okay?" She asked, softly. He nodded. "Yeah, thanks. How about you?" Bianca’s expression grew increasingly weary as she said "Not good...Low on mana..." Timoteo’s pace quickened as he headed for her, pulling off his pack as he moved, saying "One second, here..." He reached in and pulled out a mana potion, holding it out for her. She took it gratefully, pulled the cork out, and drank half of it. Her eyes growing bright with energy once again, she offered him the rest, which he swigged in a moment’s time. He tossed away the emptied potion as he looked over to the back of the cathedral. He realized that the darkness visible through the crumbled cathedral wall was set in the face of a cliff, meaning it must’ve been the entrance to the cavern. His expression grew grim when he contemplated how near Octavia the two might’ve been.
He quickly headed back and grabbed his lamp, lighting it once more before walking over to Bianca. "I wonder why she came here..." Bianca muttered, beginning to head towards the cavern entrance behind the broken cathedral wall. "Why summon the shadows to annihilate Grove, though? That’s what I’m wondering about." Timoteo mumbled, holding his lamp up. Bianca quietly and confidently said "We’ll get answers when we find her." Timoteo nodded, walking after her. The two kept their eyes locked on the dark cavern entrance, Timoteo’s lamp slowly beginning to illuminate it’s cold, stone mouth...
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Fable : Fall of the Guild