User blog:AloofComputer/Dark Winds: Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Regroup and regret

“Put him here.”

Sir Allan put Alatar on top of a glowing seal, his blessed sword still running through his heart.

“You can release the stasis spell now, brother Cornelius.”

The mage incubus lifted his spell with a grunt, and promptly fell to the ground, breathing heavily. The monk offered him a bottle, which he downed unceremoniously.

“Let me congratulate you all on your good work and quick thinking. A moment later and we would-”

“It was not just that” the mage incubus interrupted. “It was also luck. They had drawn that seal on the ground earlier.”

“You may call this luck, Cornelius” the monk smiled “but I call it a sign from Her. It all just came together way too conveniently to be just luck, didn’t it?”

Sir Allan nodded. “Indeed. But I never expected Alatar to give me so much trouble. And his companions...”

“That succubus fought like a really pissed vampire.” the other incubus admitted grudgingly. “I barely held her off.”

“That only means that you lack in training, Sir Godfreed. Her grace saved you today, but unless you back your faith with steel-”

“I will be soon under their heel. Thank you, Sir Allan, I have gone through my training. I can say with confidence, though, that this particular succubus fought fiercer than any other I’ve dealt with before. His wife, maybe?” Sir Godfreed’s face twisted in disgust as he spoke the last sentence.

“Probably. No matter, he won’t be needing her debauchery any more.” the monk said flatly. “Now, I need to hear the exact words of the blood curse. Not here, though; let us go somewhere more… private. After that, I will need some time to think of a way to reverse or alter it. The wound in his chest can be healed, but a blood curse trapped with divine energy can only spell disaster.”

“What do you intend to do with him, Father?” Sir Allan asked. “Wouldn’t it be better to just let him die and be done with it?”

“Now, now, Sir Allan, don’t say such harsh things for our misguided brother. If you knew of his circumstances, you would probably think the same… in fact, I do believe it’s time I told you of our guest’s past. I think you will find it most inspiring, and disturbing.”

“Do we really have to?” Cornelius said with an emotionless voice. “He doesn’t have more than a couple of days, even inside the stasis seal.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border-top: none; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; padding-top: 0in; padding-bottom: 0.03in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in">“Oh, believe me, you DO have to hear this, especially you, Cornelius. It will prove useful later.” the monk said as he walked into a corridor, motioning the incubi to follow him.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Pallanto woke up with a shout, looking around and searching himself. His shielded cloak and hood were in place, that was good. The room looked vaguely familiar…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The door opened with a slight creak, making Pallanto’s head whip to its direction. “Lucella?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Awake at last, magic boy?” the baphomet smirked.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Where are we? What happened? Why...” the last memory flashed through his mind “… why did you hit me with that sleeping spell?” his voice increased in volume.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“You would waste precious time on studying a complex magical reaction while you were dead tired.” Lucella answered, while she filled a glass with water. “Your findings would be unreliable, at best, while you could put yourself in danger. Alatar was reckless, but you must not be so, if you want to live a long life.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“...is...” Pallanto murmured.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“What?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Alatar IS reckless.” he turned to the stunned baphomet. “I have a growing suspicion that he may still be alive.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Lucella’s face darkened. It was odd, a childish face with an adult’s frown. “Listen, Pallanto, I know it is hard to accept it, but-”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“The stasis seal.” Pallanto’s now-rested mind went to overdrive.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“What- hey! Where are you going?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“To the library!” Pallanto tossed over his shoulder, as he rushed to the door. A purple tentacle grabbed him by the waist and held him in place. “Hey! Let go!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Lucella sighed, while pinching the bridge of her nose. “We ARE in the library, magic boy. Now, why don’t you explain to me what the hell happened there?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“I will need information on blood curses and divine magic energy, and-”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Fine, fine, I get it!” Lucella snapped. “Just calm down, already! Now we need calm rationality, not hasty enthusiasm! Geez, it is YOU who should be telling me this, not the other way around!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Pallanto, who was struggling to free himself from Lucella’s tentacle as she spoke, stopped abruptly and took a few breaths. “You are right. I am sorry. This whole mess is my fault, you know.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“A little late for self-reflection at this point. Or very early. What was the whole deal with this, anyway? I couldn’t contact Veronica, and I doubt you would tell her much anyway. So?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border-top: none; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; padding-top: 0in; padding-bottom: 0.03in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in">Pallanto’s defiant expression deflated before Lucella’s questioning stare. “Fine, untie me and I will explain as we go.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The monk went out of the small room, and the three incubi followed him, their faces expressionless but their eyes grim. He turned to face them.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“I know that this is a lot to take in, so please take your time.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Why have you told us?” Sir Allan asked.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Because I will need you, all of you, for the ritual. And you must maintain a calm heart and head through it. If anyone, this man deserves it. I will need some time to make the necessary preparations. Use that time to rest and regain your strength.” the monk turned his back on the trio and disappeared down the corridor.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“This Alatar guy seems like a nutcase all over” Sir Godfreed shook his head. “Any rational human wouldn’t walk down this path first.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“What does that make us then, Sir Godfreed?” Sir Allan turned to the incubus knight. “Are we irrational as well?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“We made a sacrifice, but we knew the consequences. He took a plunge into the yet-unknown. There is a difference. There is a fine line between genius and madness, and this one walks right on it. It isn’t much of an assumption that he tilted to madness.” the knight retorted, looking the paladin in the eyes.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Still, I can’t say that I don’t understand him” Cornelius said with a slight frown. “Motives and tragic past aside, he is a pioneer in this field of magic, blasphemous as it may be. And it definitely gives us an edge, a very sharp edge, against the monster forces. If what Father is planning works, we will have someone extremely useful to our side.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“I need time to think, and pray.” Sir Allan walked past the other two incubi. “You should rest, too. We have some hard days ahead of us.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The paladin walked to his room, and knelt before his bed. The words of the monk still echoed in his head.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">''A childhood destroyed because of an unfaithful mother-turned-succubus, studying to become a mage, surviving the fall of Lescatie, passing through the training of the Order of Holy Light, recruited by the Order of Shadows, immediately sent to Lescatie.. the whole life of this man has been one trial after another, and he pulled through. He had gained Her blessing. Then he chose the path of darkness, and finally he sided with the enemy. Why?''

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">The explanations that he was told seemed logical enough, but his mind was still in turmoil; he would feel betrayed, if he could, by the man who sent him out to capture Alatar, without explaining to him fully what he was up against. What other secrets were hidden from him?

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border-top: none; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; padding-top: 0in; padding-bottom: 0.03in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in">“You needed to be focused to capture such a man, and telling you his story would only complicate things”  was the reply. The paladin took a few calming breaths and prayed for guidance, before drifting off to an uneasy sleep.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“ Are those statues what I think they are?” Pallanto walked amid the stone owls.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Statues of Wisdom” Lucella confirmed his suspicion. He let a low whistle.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“And you keep such a treasure trove under Lescatie’s library? I would expect them to have been shipped to the Demon Lord’s castle already.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Those ones are relatively harmless. Mostly historical, or containing mamono techniques...” her voice trailed off suggestively. He snorted.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Cute. Not what I seek, though.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“I know, magic boy. Hold on, we go through here” The baphomet pressed her paw on a section of the wall, and it withdrew, revealing a staircase. Pallanto followed her, delving deeper into the darkness. His companion murmured something, and a ball of light purple flame cast long shadows, illuminating the way.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“ This is the forbidden section.” Lucella mentioned, as she entered another room. Pallanto suppressed a shiver; there was hardly any need to mention that. The stone statues here resembled monsters in their archaic form, savage man-slaughtering monstrosities. Ghouls stood in attack positions with talons drawn, old crones (or what witches looked like before the current Demon Lord) pointed at him, and other creatures from the depths of the Order’s horror stories glared at him from their pedestals, eternally immobile yet just as blood-chilling.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“So, where is a baphomet statue?” he asked, to break the creepy silence.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“In the Demon Lord’s castle. They contained very dangerous knowledge.” came the reply from the baphomet, clopping before him. “Oh, here we are, the area of the forbidden spells.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">If there was something that would put Pallanto on edge even more, was this room. Identical stone statues lined the room in neat, precise rows and columns, every one depicting the same figure: a cloaked, hooded figure with horns and demonic wings, holding a sword before it. The room smelled of dust and stale air.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Now, then...”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“ HOLD IT!” Lucella’s hand grabbed his before he could touch anything. “You are not touching ''anything. '' Are we clear?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“It’s not like I can cast any of the spells here” Pallanto said as he retracted his hand. Lucella just shook her head.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“ No ordinary mamono can attain the knowledge inside them. We have tried. But no human has ever set foot here. I don’t know what will happen, and how it will affect you. So, no touching.” Lucella shot a stern glare at the mage.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">Pallanto sighed. “I will have to do things the roundabout way, then. Luckily, all of the statues are dusty, so if Alatar came here, he should have left at least some mark...”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“ Yea, fat chance of that happening. You know how sneaky he can be.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“In fact, I know him better than you may assume. So...” Pallanto conjured a ball of light and examined the statues one by one. “Aha!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Did you find it?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Just one… hold on, there is another. And another one… damn, did he search by trial and error? What do those statues contain?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“I don’t know. As I told you, no ordinary mamono can gain knowledge. He was not ordinary, though. What did you find anyway? Those statues look the same to me.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Here. Do you see this? The statue’s dust here is uniform. Unlike the others. He swept the dust around to cover it, but none of the other statues has such evenly covered surface. Basic trick.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Humph!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">The baphomet and the mage circled around the statues, mapping those that Pallanto identified as touched. At the end of their search, Pallanto’s sphere of light had visibly dimmed.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“I think that’s all of them” he said, stretching his arms. “We need to go back, the trackers should have picked up something. And Frederic should have responded to my message. How do we find out what those statues contain?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border-top: none; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; padding-top: 0in; padding-bottom: 0.03in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in">“ I will send word to Lady Druella. Meet me at the library’s entrance in an hour.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">Frederic looked at the report with frozen face. Benjamin stood before him, his own face grim.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Fatalities?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Fortunately, none. Some members are in critical condition, some may even retire; I made an excuse of a bandit attack during an expedition. Still, even more worrying is this.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">He handed the commander another scroll. The knight-commander hesitated to open it; the seal of Pallanto would only mean VERY bad news.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“They got Alatar.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“!” Frederic opened the scroll and read it carefully. “Do we-”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“I have two squads at the ready… to search for those bandits. They are at the barracks now.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Father Fullmoon?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“He has agreed to help. I will be going too- no, this is not negotiable” Benjamin answered the unspoken outburst. “We will be dealing with something big. Maybe their headquarters. Whatever we get, we have at least three incubi to face… but I fear that we are spreading our forces too thin.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“I can cover for them with a large-scale military exercise. It will do my knights some good, to be out and about. Plant some rumors that we are going to hit them with this one exercise; it will distract them from your own groups and, with some luck, draw the majority of their forces. I will set it near the border, where the priest group was attacked. Hopefully they think that I will be chasing them. Do we have their location?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“No, not yet” Benjamin frowned. “But Pallanto was optimistic, so I can guess we will have it soon. Anyway, I will be leaving in the opposite direction. The supposed bandit attack happened deep in the northern mountains.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Damn it...” Frederic sighed as he pulled a bottle from his desk. “They are getting bolder. And they have precious information on us. A spy? More that just one?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“I suggest we keep our true objectives and destinations between us. It seems that the radical faction is still recruiting, and there are some people within the Order of Holy Light, as well as within the Order of Shadows, that disagree with the treaty.” Benjamin accepted the filled mug that the commander offered him.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“The fools… I only hope that this exercise will show them that all-out war is never a good idea. What of those beyond the pale?” Frederic used the expression when he referred to the monster realm. It sounded a bit silly, but it was at least concealing; many factions could be considered ‘beyond the pale’.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“They seem to be repeating their previous approach. Pallanto is going with them. If memory serves, we did give them a rather large present, so they should be able to compensate us somewhat when it comes down to numbers.” Benjamin took a swig from his mug.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Devil gems?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Lots. The border is still barren after both our border guard withdrew, so they will be able to move about freely. Yet.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Another race against time...” The commander sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I am getting too old for this.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“You should consider training your successor.” the mage said nonchalantly.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“If it was something easy, or simple, I would have done so already. Living this double life, one in the spotlight, one in the shadows… my every move is watched, and not just by those lunatics. It is a powerful political position… Goddess, I hate politics.” Frederic groaned.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">“Well then, it is good that you will be coordinating that military exercise then. It is a good opportunity to have a break! Get in touch with your knights again...” the mage leaned to the knight and lowered his voice “… and root out any moles.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal">A faint smile found its way to Frederic’s lips. “You know… you are right. I do need a break.”