User blog:Darknessabove/The explorer, Chapter 4, Volume 1: Royalty

Gillia was walking towards the holding pens, which were used to hold any men that had been captured on hunts or had proven to be defiant, in this case, she was after one particular man or rather, boy, who had proven time and again to be extremly defiant towards the amazonians, something which angered her in particular.

She arrived at the pens, guarded by several of the younger amazonians, ranging from the ages of 7-8, good practice for when they were older, not to mention it kept them out of trouble.

She approached one of the pens, inside, a boy, around the age of 10, was lying down inside, wearing tattered clothing.

"JJAAAACCCCKKK" Gillia shouted, grabbing the wooden bars of the cage, which drew the boys attention, causing him to sit up as he turned towards Gillia, 2 blue eyes staring at her as her face contorted in anger.

"Why did you disrupt our sacred ritual" she shouted, which caused the boy to smirk.

"I did what?" he said as he looked at her, pausing for a moment, amused at her anger.

"As far as i know i've been lying here for the past few hours since you threw me in here" he continued, which only angered Gillia more.

"Cut the crap, i know it was you" she snapped backed, breaking one of the bars of the cage, quickly throwing the bar away.

"I've been here allllll this time, you can ask the guards" he replied as he went back to lying on the ground, whistling as he did, while Gillia quickly turned to one of the young amazonians.

"Has he left this cage, even for a moment?" Gillia asked.

"No he hasn't" a voice behind her drew her attention, it was her daughter, Opelia.

"I've watched him all this time, hes been lying there since he was thrown in there" Opelia said, with the other young amazonians agreeing with her.

Gillia breathed deeply, she knew, deep down, he had been responsible, but with out proof, she had no way to tie it down to him or prevent him from doing it again.

Gillia turned back towards jack, who was now standing up now, right up against the bars, as he stared at Gillia.

"Can i go home now?" he said with a grin, causing Gillia to twitch.

Gillia let out a sigh as she opened to cage, allowing Jack to walk out the cage, though she put her hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know how you did it, but when i find out and i will find out, i will make sure you can never do it again" she said, before letting go of Jack, Opelia quickly grabbing his hand, getting ready to "escort" him home.

"Good luck with that" Jack muttered under his breath, causing Gillia to glare at him as Opelia dragged him off, Jack smiling as he was dragged off, something which pissed Gillia off.

Evasion

Garth bolted down the tower stairs, as he did, he looked through the holes in the tower, sand was piled right outside and should of simply poured right into the tower and filled the insides, yet, it seemed liked something had prevented the sand from doing so.

Garth would of stopped there to investigate further if it wasn't for the fact that Milisa was hot on his tail, determined to get a hold of Garth.

"Come back, i just want to embrace you" she shouted, racing after Garth as he reached the bottom of the stairs, which opened into a hall way with 3 possible routes, one had foot prints leadng up to it, while the other 2 were bare, the sand unmoved.

Milisa followed the footprints, sliding down the hallway until it opened up into a chamber with several sarcophagus, some were opened, while a few were sealed, the footprints had split up and lead to the sarcophaguses, before joining up again to lead down another hallway, which she quickly followed, disappearing down the hall way.

Garth waited until she went before jumping down from the ceiling, he had cast a sticky spell and used it to latch just above the hallway entrance he had ran down.

"Those people i saw earlier proved to be useful even though we haven't met" Garth muttered as he smiled to himself.

New worries

Garth was alone now, with only the sarcophaguses and a single lit torch which illuminated the room, completly silent except for Garths breathing.

Garth took this oppotunity to see what supplies he had left, taking off his back pack and laying it on the floor, emptying its contents.

1 Devil gem with no spell loaded, 1 smoke bomb, 1 slice of prisoner fruit (emergencies only, great energy boost, but well, side effects) and finally, 1 very unusual devil gem, which was made up of 4 different coloured pieces, loaded with one of the most dangerous combonation spells he had managed to come up with, an explosive spell, a wind spell, a earth spell and gravity spell, the gravity spell would suck in anything nearby, before exploding, the mix of wind and explosive power would catapult bits of rock from the earth spell all over the area, it was a last resort option, since the range of the gravity spell was quite big and it was indiscriminate with its targets and the fact that it would probally cause significant damage to anything within its area of effect.

"Well fuck, no bait packages, very little food, no water, only 1 spare gem and a spell which would probally take me out with the enemy, yeah, this is just a great situation" Garth muttered before sniffing him self.

"And i stink" he said as he sighed, before packing his items back into his backpack, before wlaking towards one of the unopen sarcophaguses, looking at the symbols etched into the side.

"Some kind of coffin i guess, bit fancy, considering who ever it was made for is dead" Garth though to him self as he moved his hands across the side, studying the symbols, trying to discover the meaning of them.

"Its simular to those pillars, but this time, its a bunch of people kneeing before one on a throne, servants perhapes?" Garth would of studied more if it wasn't for the groan he heard.

He got up and looked around, tyring to find the source of the sound.

"hhhhuuuuuurrr"

Anbother groan, it was coming from the sarcophagus.

"Don't tell me, those people from before chucked some one in there and put the lid on" Garth though to him self as he paniced, pushing the lid of the sarcophaguses as he attempted to get the victum out.

The lid hit the floor with a thump as Garth pu8shed off, peering inside, he saw a woman wrapped in bandages, her body still, her eyes closed.

"Oh fuck...don't te...." Garth's though was interrupted as the woman suddenly opened her eyes and attempted to grab him, Garth shifting back just in time before he started to run out the room.

"Oh bloody hell, your telling me i have to deal with dead people now" Garth shouted as he ran as fast as he could, not looking back as he ran down the darkened hallways of the tower, torches on the wall lighting up as he ran, seemingly reacting to his presence as he entered a massive room, the floor was covered in sand, the walls were covered in dust, while a single sarcophagus was placed in the center on a raised platform.

Unbelievable

Compared to the sarcophaguses Garth had seen, this one was larger, bits of it shone a bright gold in the light of the torches placed around it.

Garth would of approached it to investigate if it wasn't for the fact he could sense a sudden spike in demonic energy irradiating from the sarcophagus, which caused him to shiver as a pulse of energy erupted from the sarcophagus, blowing the dust off the walls to reveal that they were made of pure gold, while knocking Garth off his feet, causing him to land on his back, the sand that was on the floor before had been blown away, revealing smooth, clean marble.

"Wtf is going on" Garth muttered as he looked back at the sarcophagus, the lid was off now, a hand resting on the edge of the sarcophagus.

"Okay time to bugger off" Garth though as he turned around, running back down the hallway.

Another pulse of energy flew through Garth and down the hall way, looking behind him, his eyes couldn't believe what they saw, the dusty, ruined walls were now....changing, becoming clean, smooth marble, any sand or dust was just disappearing as the pulses of energy kept coming faster and faster, everytime a pulse hit Garth, he felt his body shiver while at the same time, start to heat up.

Garth looked forward to find the same Woman with bandages standing in the hall way, blocking his way, pieces of bandages of hung off her arms as she held them off.

"Feed.....me" She groaned as she advanced towards Garth.

"This still isn't as bad as when i met that vampire" Garth said to himself in an attempt to shake off the feeling of dread, he could sense something powerful advancing from the direction of the large room he had ran out of, slowly getting closer towards him, he had to think and think fast before it got to him.

Voice in the darkness

As the woman slowly approached Garth, he closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath as he blocked out the world around him.

"So Garth, you must be in a bit of a pickel to be back here" Garth opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by unending darkness.

"Na, just though you could use a bit of company" Garth joked as he laughed, the sound echoing in the darkness.

"The fact that i'm always with you means visiting is pointless" the voice in the darkness said.

"I wouldn't attempt to push past her, not in such a small hall way, if shes like most monsters, she'll simply grab you and it'll be over" the voice echoed again.

"Then what do i do?" Garth asked

"Its simple, you give her what she wants" the voice said, followed by a chuckle.

"Wait what, i'm sorry, but i'm not into dead buggery" Garth shouted back, promping another chuckle to come from the darkness.

"It seems we no longer have time to discuss this, so its time for action" the voice replied to Garth, who was panicing at this point.

"Wait what?"

Confusion

Garth opened his eyes to find himself standing in a chamber, with 3 other people, the cloaked individuals he had seen entering this tower earlier, which caused him to jump backswards as he drew his dagger.

"Hey calm down man" one of the individuals said, holding his hands up towards Garth.

"How did i get here" Garth shouted, looking around as he did.

The cloaked individuals looked at Garth in confusion, before one of the answered.

"What do you mean how did you get here, your the one that came barreling into this room with that mummy" the cloaked individual said as they removed their hoods, revealing a blond haired lady, before pointing towards the mummy that was on the floor drooling.

Garth held his head as he looked at the mummy.

"Fuck, it happened again" Garth muttered to himself, causing the lady to raise a eyebrow.

"Jill, what are you doing taking your hood off" one of the individuals asked.

"Hey, he just took down a mummy, something the other 2 couldn't do, god rest their souls" she replied, motioning the other 2 to lower their hoods, one of the was a brown haired man in his late 30's while the other was a young man with silver hair in his early 20's.

"So, whats your name?" the lady asked.

Garth looked at her for a moment, before replying.

"Donald, Donald Rickman"

Company

Garth (as Donald) and his new found company made their way through the crumbling halls, it seems that the energy pulses from early couldn't reach the entire structure, which made Garth wonder how big this tower really was.

"So Donald" Jill said has she looked at Garth, pausing before continuing, "where ya from?".

Garth looked at her, his single blue eye staring at jill (he had closed his right eye, since it was difficult to tell at first glance who was allied with the order, and most humans living in order held lands did not have a scarlett colored eye), thinking for a moment, before replying to her.

"A small village, in a forest" Garth replied, causing Jill to raise an eyebrow.

"So Donald, why are you here then, in a lifeless desert, well, baring the sandworms and mummies" Jill asked Garth.

Garth couldn't say he was teleported by some strange artifact, since he didn't fancy being stabbed in the back for a powerful artifact like that.

"Well i was traveling to a city and though the going across the desert would make the trip shorter, how i regret that choice" Garth replyed, sighing for effect.

"Well, thats good for us, especially since the number of people that can fight a monster and win aren't many, especailly when they aren't blessed" Jill said, with her partners nodding in agreement.

"So, you gonna leave me hanging here with your names huh" Garth said has he looked at Jills 2 partners, the silver haired one in particular drew his attention, Garth could sense he didn't like his presence.

The 2 guys looked at each other, then Jill, who nodded to them.

The brown haired man was the first to reply.

"The names John, used to be a guardsmen, though that was in the past"

The silverhaired man quickly followed.

"And my names Nel, me and Jill have known each other since we were kids" Nel said has he quickly brough him self to Garth.

"So you 2 are all hooked up huh" Garth said has he smiled, which caused Jill to blush.

"No, we....um....just decided that it would be easier to travel together, have each others backs and such" Jill replied hastily, which caused Nel to look down, disappointed at Jills response, before looking back up at Garth.

"So Donald, how did you take that mummy out?" Nel asked, causing Jill and John to look at Garth.

Garth pondered for a moment as he looked down at the ground, thinking of how he could respond, before looking up.

Garth saw a black figure behind the 3 people, blue eyes staring at Garth.

Garth blinked, finding the figure gone has he opened his eyes again.

"Donald" Jill said, which caused Garth to shake his head, before feeling a hand on his shoulder.

"Tell them the truth" a voice behind him echoed.

Garth breathed deeply, exhaling shortly afterwards has he went to answer the 3 individuals with him.

"I don't truly know my self, i just know that sometimes, if i'm in danger, my body just......reacts, causing me to black out and when i wake up, i find the danger gone" Garth said, rubbing his head as he looked at his side, seeing the dark figure by his side, it was human shape, but energy twisted and flowed around it, while it floated in the air, having no legs (and no need for them), it seemed the other 3 could not see what Garth saw.

Figures warning

The 4 continued to walk along the hall ways, occasionally stopping when ever they found a room, taking time to search through the rooms for anything valuable.

While the other 3 searched around the room, Garth stood at one of the entrances to the room.

"Why are you here" Garth muttered in a low voice so that the other 3 couldn't hear.

"You know there's only 1 reason why i would appear" the dark figure replied, grinning has he folded what seemed to be arms.

This concerned Garth, this wasn't the first time this had happened and it only happened for one reason, to warn Garth, that the concentration of demonic energy in the area was getting to the point that he would no longer be able to tolorate it, in other words, he would begin to suffer the same effects that other humans would feel when saturated with demonic energy.

The problem was, what was causing the level of energy to increase to such a point, most likely it was what was in that sarcophagus, but it could just as easily be the result of an dark matter in the area, which would be bad, since beings of pure energy were uneffected by attacks not enchanted with magic or holy power and Garth was out of magic, nor could he use holy power.

Garth continued to mutter under his breath, which drew the others attention, who quickly gathered up and spoke amongst themselves.

"So, when do you plan on cutting him loose Jill?" John asked.

"As soon as we've finished exploring this place, having some one that can take care of monsters for us is useful and besides, if we encounter a horde, we can use him as a distraction, like we did with the other 2" Jill replied, with the other 2 nodding in agreement, before walking over to Garth.

"Ready Donald?" Jill asked.

"Yeah, lets go, its bad to stay in one place to long" Garth replied as he joined the 3, before walking through one of the entrances to the room, walking down another hall way.

"They aren't to be trusted" the dark figure whispered to garth, before dissipating, leaving no trace of his presence.

"I wish he could clarify things before doing that" Garth though to him self as he continued to walk down the hallway with Jill and the others, with an uneasy feeling, like something big was about to go down.

Royal Greetings

The 4 walked down hallway after hall way, the tower seemed to have an unending number of rooms and hallways to travel down.

Garth kept thinking about the dark figure, it couldn't be a guardian angel, definatly not, nor could it be a demonic being, since despite its appearance, Garth could sense a mix of spiritaul and demonic energy from it when ever it appeared.

Garth's thoughs were interrupted as he walked into John, who had stopped, along with Jill and Nel.

Garth looked over Johns shoulder to find that the hallway no longer had the dusty, crumbling walls and the sand covered floors, instead, it was clean, presitine, just like what the energy pulses from earlier had done.

"Don't tell me i've come back towards the room where those pulses came from" Garth though to him self, worried that what ever had emitted those pules could very well still be there.

Garth went to turn back but found Jill and the others start to walk down the hallway.

"This has been caused by magic, and if theres magic powerful enough to keep this area clean like this for years, then it could be valuable" Nel said out loud, with the others agreeing with him has they continued to walk down the hallway, Garth sticking close behind, Jill and her partners were unaware of the true reason for the area being clean.

"Safty in numbers" Garth though to him self.

They soon arrived at the room that Garth had ran out of earlier, the room glistened with a golden glow, the walls were made of pure gold, which caused the jaws of everyone to drop.

Jill looked behind to see Garth at the entrance, who was looking around the room.

"Not coming in Donald?" she asked.

Garth shook his head, causing Jill to meet up with John and Nel, who were at the sarcophagus in the center of the room, staring into it, they found a person inside it, a woman, her light brown skin wasn't rotten, almost like she had only been killed recently.

Jill, John and Nel scanned the body, her ankles and wrists had golden bracers attached to them, while her legs and arms were covered in bandages, with black cloth materail covering her groin and her very large breasts, which drew Nels full attention, only stopping when he heard Jill clearing her throat.

They continued to look at the body, which had long, black hair, 2 golden snake shaped earings and a large, golden headband, which held a single, large black jewel at the center and a golden necklace adorned with varous multi colored jewels.

Garth looked at the 3 from the entrance, he couldn't sense any energy coming from the sarcophagus, but he wasn't taking any chances..

"Maybe those pulses from earlier were some kind of magic trap to scare off intruders, but then that begs the question, why did the coffin open it self, unless....." Garth's eyes widdened as he saw Jill and Nel grabbing hold of John, pulling him back, causing the 3 to fall back wards, tumbling down the steps that lead up to the central raised platform the sarcophagus was on.

For a moment, they all looked at the sarcophagus, with Garth sensing nothing, then suddenly, energy erupted from the sarcophagus, causing Garths senses to be overwhelmed, which almost knocked him out.

Garth panted as sweat poured from his face, he was terrified now, what ever had caused that sudden spike in energy was powerful, very, very powerful......and demonic in nature.

A hand rose from the sarcophagus, grabbing hold of the side, which was soon followed by a face and then, an entire woman.

"But...she.....you...." Jill stuttered as she and the others stared at the woman that had risen out of the sarcophagus.

For a moment, time seemed to stop for Garth, his eyes widdened as he stared at the woman, whose lips slowly began to move, words erupting from her mouth.

"Greetings, loyal subjects" she shouted as she smiled.

Garth gulped.

"This is bad"

Chapter 3

Chapter 5

Index

Authors notes:

Alright, thats the end of the chapter, i know its a bit of a strange place to end it, but it means i can now plana  nice, action packed chapter 5, that and i feel garth needs to really be in the deep end now, it just feels......right, when hes in panic mode.

Laterz

As usual, critism is always welcome.