FanFic: Eternal Darkness: The Coming Darkness [Complete]

[Stormsworder]

((Maybe one of my best fics ever, unless you take into consideration the fact I still have old chapters in here that I need to edit. >>; I'll work on that one day http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime2.gif ))

Chapter 1: Lost Past

It was the most intense part of the softball game. Last inning, two outs, bases loaded, and the opposing team was ahead by one point. For eighteen-year-old Danielle Sterling, this was her chance to shine. Two strikes, no balls, and the pitcher was about to throw. Danielle smirked, waiting for the pitch. No way was she going to mess up.

“Come to us, Danielle…” a cold voice whispered. Suddenly, the warm breeze became a frigid stillness that chilled her to the bone. She felt her heart stop at the sight of the dark figures surrounding her. What was the most terrifying by far was the massive four-armed shadow towering over a man. The man was clothed in flowing black and silver robes, and most of his face was shrouded by the hood over his head. His skin looked like it had been ravaged by fire or something, and it was stretched so tight over him that it made him appear skeletal. He stared at her with a cold smile, reaching out a hand to her and beckoning for her to approach. He stepped forward towards her, and as he approached, the insistent whispers from the shadows around her grew stronger…

“Kid, snap out of it!” Danielle’s coach shouted. In the nick of time, she snapped out of her trance-like state, and the shadows vanished. She swung the bat as hard as she could, and the ball soared deep into left field. With the sounds of cheering all around her, she dropped the bat and took off around the bases. She made it to third before being tagged out, but that didn’t matter. The Screaming Eagles had won again.

The two teams shook hands, and when she was about to leave, her coach called her over to the dugout. “Nice job, ‘Longshot’,” he said gently, smiling. “You pulled through for us again. I don’t know how we’re going to manage without you for two weeks. What do you have to go to again?”

Danielle wiped a trickle of sweat from her forehead, allowing a small grin at the sound of her nickname. Longshot was the name she earned for helping the team through their tightest spots in the season. It was even on the back of her jersey in place of her last name. “It’s a mission trip to Mexico for church. Have to help out a lot of people there, that’s all. It’s not something I really want to miss.”

“No rest for the best, eh?” he joked. His smile fell away, and his expression grew serious. “I saw what happened out there. You just blanked out for a minute. You almost missed the swing. It’s just like last time, and I know exactly what’s wrong. You really need to go talk to Dr. Roivas about this.”

Danielle let out a frustrated sigh. They had gone over this at the last game, and she had managed to convince Coach Stockstill not to send her to the psychiatrist the first time. She wouldn’t be so lucky now. “Coach, I don’t need to go talk to him! I just haven’t been getting much sleep, that’s all.”

“And that’s what your excuse last time was. Not this time, Danielle. You’re going to him. Tonight. Before you leave.”

Danielle opened her mouth to reply, but quickly shut it. It was no use in arguing. She really couldn’t slip out of this one. “Fine. I’ll talk to this guy. I don’t see how some doctor could possibly help me out with just a few dreams.” Before he could reply, Danielle strode off, quickly heading for home. Yeah, she would consider seeing Dr. Roivas, but she highly doubted it. She needed to try and get some sleep for once this week.

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All around her was darkness. Shadows flickered around her, and the outlines of those strange figures were closing in on her. The man from before walked forward, hand outstretched. Behind him once more was the massive shadow that followed in his wake. “Come join us, Danielle. Join us, and all of this will finally end…”

Danielle tentatively reached out a hand towards his, part of her screaming that she shouldn’t trust this guy, while another part of her coaxed her into accepting his offer. “You will have power beyond all your dreams... Just join us.” Suddenly, the man began to fade, and she heard a distant ringing in her head…

The phone on her nightstand rang shrilly, waking Danielle up almost immediately. She groped around in the darkness until she found the cordless phone and hit the Talk button. “Hello?”

“Miss Danielle Sterling?” an aging voice asked.

Danielle glanced at her digital clock, slightly surprised that anyone would be calling at two in the morning. “Yeah, this is her. May I ask who’s speaking?”

“I am Dr. Edward Roivas. I’m sorry to bother you so late at night, but I received a call from a trusted friend who was quite concerned about you. Since you did not come in earlier, he suggested that I call to talk to you if you don’t wish to come.”

Danielle slowly stood up, glancing at the clothes she had left out on her dresser for the trip. She couldn’t exactly be rude and say no… “I’ll be over shortly. I just sort of dozed off right when I got home.”

“It’s all right. I suppose you’ll be here soon?”

“Yeah, I will.” Danielle hung up the phone, letting out a frustrated sigh. Why did coach have to ask this doctor to call? He was just worrying over nothing more than a few dreams. She changed into the clothes, grabbed her house keys, and walked out the door after locking it.

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It didn’t take long to reach the massive Roivas estate on the outskirts of Providence. Danielle ran most of the way for exercise and an attempt to wake herself up more. She had only been to this part of town three or four times, and the sight of the ancient mansion still awed her. Most of the land around it was covered in a sea of hills, which she and her friends used to play on when they were younger. But while this area was a beautiful sight, rumors abounded about the Roivas family line. Most of them had contracted something that slowly drove them insane. To tell the truth, some of the younger kids that were about to move up into high school had been talking about Danielle behind her back. They thought that with these dreams she kept talking about, she was probably a Roivas herself.

“Mainly those idiots who will be freshmen next year,” she muttered darkly as she rang the doorbell. Not many people believed those guys, anyways. Seconds ticked by in silence before an elderly man answered the door. “Sorry about forgetting to come earlier. I was really tired from everything I had to do today, I guess,” Danielle said quickly, but Dr. Roivas merely smiled softly.

“No need for apologies, Miss Sterling. Or would you rather me call you Danielle?”

She shrugged. “Danielle would be fine. I’m not much of a formal person.” Danielle examined the foyer as Dr. Roivas let her inside. It was huge, a lot bigger than any foyer she had seen before in a house.

Dr. Roivas let out a small chuckle and gestured towards a door to their right. “Let’s sit in the library.” Danielle followed after him and sat down in the armchair he pointed to. “Mr. Stockstill didn’t tell me much. He did mention that you’ve been having some strange dreams. He believes they may be the cause of you being unfocused all of the time. Could you explain one of these dreams to me?”

Danielle felt a bit nervous. He would probably just think she was going crazy like everyone else did. Taking a deep breath, she hesitantly began. “It’s just the same one over and over again. It’s dark, and there’s a man standing in front of me. He has these black robes on, and his skin was really messed up. He sorta looked like a walking skeleton. Right behind him is this really big shadow with four arms. Then this female voice starts whispering in my head, telling me to join her. The man holds out his hand, and around that time I wake up.”

Dr. Roivas poured two glasses of water from a pitcher and offered one to Danielle, who refused it. He sat down in the chair beside her, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “This is something I have dealt with before, but not with someone your age.” He took a sip from his glass, then glanced at a picture hanging over the unlit fireplace. For a second he was silent, but then he pulled out a small photograph from his pocket. “Before I go any further, I have one small question. Does the person in this photograph seem familiar?”

Danielle took the picture, eyes widening in surprise. The woman really did look familiar, like Danielle had met her before. Actually, there was a slight similarity between them, except for the hair color. Devin was her twin brother, yet they looked nothing alike. The thought that she was really adopted crossed her mind again. Was she really related to her current family at all? “Who is this?” she asked, handing the picture back to Dr. Roivas.

“That is my granddaughter, Alexandra. And…” He seemed to search for the right words to say. “She is your sister,” he said finally. “You were separated at a very early age. After my son and his wife were killed, I took in Alex and let James’s closest friend, William, adopt you. We never knew when it would be time to tell you the truth.”

Confused thoughts swirled around inside her head. Why had this been kept a secret from her? What exactly happened to her birth parents? “Why are you telling me this now?”

Dr. Roivas shook his head. “Because something important is happening that concerns you. That man in your dreams isn’t just a figment of your imagination. I’m afraid I have no time to explain this to you in detail. I still have work to do. Perhaps… Can you return here in two weeks?”

Danielle nodded, getting to her feet. “Yeah, I can. It’s right after the mission trip.” Dr. Roivas led her to the front door, holding it open. “Thanks for telling me the truth. Maybe when Mom and Dad get back, I’ll ask them about this.” As she said those words, she wondered when they would be back. “Well, good-bye…” Danielle silently walked off, returning home.

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Edward watched as his youngest granddaughter was swallowed up by the shadows, and he solemnly returned to his library. When Stockstill had made the call, he knew the time had come. Why else would these visions start coming to Danielle all of a sudden? And how would she take it when her parents never came back?

He sat at his desk in the back of the library, pulling out his pent and writing a note to Alexandra with a quivering hand. Inside, he explained everything about Danielle being her little sister and how to contact her. The two of them would need each other to face what lay ahead.

Edward signed the note and slipped it into an envelope, addressing it to Alexandra and leaving it on the desk. He pulled out a dusty novel from his bookshelf, sitting down in his favorite chair in front of the fireplace. The old grandfather clock chimed three, despite the hands being currently on twelve. The time had come. For him, he could do nothing more.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Stormsworder on 2006-11-28 15:38 ]</font>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Stormsworder on 2006-11-29 14:23 ]</font>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Stormsworder on 2006-11-30 14:13 ]</font>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Stormsworder on 2006-11-30 14:13 ]</font>

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 2: The Tome of Eternal Darkness

Two weeks later…

“A two week long mission trip in Mexico… I am never doing that again…” Danielle mumbled, lying face-down on her pillow. As soon as she had arrived in Providence, Rhode Island, she had been called to a softball game because they were short one player. Now she was dead tired, still in her jersey, and ready to sleep twenty-four hours straight. That was when the phone rang. “It never fails,” she muttered darkly, snatching up the phone. “Hello?”

“Um… Is this Danielle Sterling?” a female voice asked.

“Yeah, it is. Who’s this?” Danielle felt a sense of déjà vu or something. This was almost just like when her grandfather had called her.

“My name’s Alexandra Roivas. My grandfather left me a note to call you. Do you think you can come to the mansion right away? It’s an emergency.”

Immediately, Danielle rolled out of bed and slipped on her tennis shoes. “I’ll be over ASAP. Don’t worry.” She hung up the phone, heart pounding with excitement and fear. She was going to meet her sister face-to-face. But what was the emergency about? She locked the door to her house and jogged down the street with the setting sun blazing behind her. In another few hours, night would fall.

Minutes passed by in almost complete silence. Every now and then a car would pass by, but that was all. Danielle walked up the steps and rang the doorbell, surprised when the door opened barely even a second later. Alexandra Roivas stood staring at Danielle with wide eyes. “You must be Danielle, right?” Danielle nodded. “Wow. I didn’t expect this… I mean, I never knew I had a younger sister and all…” She smiled a bit, obviously nervous. “Come on in. You can call me Alex, by the way.”

Danielle stepped inside, deciding to get right to the point. “Hate to be rude, but… What’s the emergency?”

Alex’s smile fell away, replaced by an expression of deep sorrow. “Something happened to Grandpa. He…” She shook her head. “He was murdered two weeks ago. I came here looking for clues. That was when I found the note he wrote. Your number was on there, along with a whole explanation about us being siblings. I figured that maybe you could help me out.”

Danielle thought about it for a second and nodded. “We should look around. Should we split up and look around?”

Alex nodded and pointed to a door beyond the left stairwell. “You go ahead and look in the dining room. I’ll be in the kitchen. If we can’t find anything, then we’ll check the library together.”

“What about upstairs?”

“The doors are locked and the key broke when I used it. The basement is also locked, and I can’t find a key anywhere for it.”

Danielle shrugged. “Guess that leaves us with only three places to look. If I find anything, I’ll tell you immediately.” Alex nodded, and they both went to check their respective rooms. “Let’s hope I find something,” Danielle whispered to herself as she entered the dining room.

All of the lights were off, so the setting sun gave the room an orange-colored hue. An elaborate piano was immediately to her left, and a table set for one person was on her right. From the look of things, her grandfather hadn’t led much of a social life… Danielle scanned the room once more. A few things of unimportance mostly, but what caught her eye was a strange painting over the fireplace.

Four colored circles with strange symbols in the middle of them were arranged in a peculiar pattern. The red, blue, and green circles were arranged in a triangle, and the purple circle was in the middle of them all. Below the painting were four marble blocks with each of the symbols carved on their surfaces.

Danielle rubbed her chin, slightly confused. Those symbols seemed to be of some importance, but what did they mean. And why did they seem so familiar to her, like she had seen them before? She was about to pick one of the blocks up when she felt a rush of cold air against the back of her neck, like something had brushed against it. She spun around quickly, but nothing was there.

“Just like every horror film… Alone in a dark, creepy house, weird things happening… Next thing you know, I’ll be seeing ghosts,” she muttered, chiding herself for getting worked up over nothing. Danielle sighed and was about to leave when she noticed an aged piece of paper on the dining room table. It was definitely old, probably by a good few years or so. She had no idea what it was from, but she was positive it hadn’t been there before.

Danielle walked over to the table, reading the words at the top of the page. “’In Darkest Night’,” she read. “Sounds like something from a book. She read a bit more and noticed a small caption just under the title. “A.D. 1990 Sterling Family Household, Rhode Island… What the heck!?” Her heart skipped a beat as she saw her name in the first line, but she didn’t get a chance to read on. A cold hang gripped her shoulder gently. Danielle glanced down at it, surprised at the sight of a ghostly blue translucent hand. Slowly, she pulled away and turned around.

Her grandfather was standing there, but he looked a lot different than when she had seen him the first time. He was wearing the same clothes as before, along with the glasses, but he had no eyes. He looked like some sort of ghost that always appeared in those cheesy horror films. Except that this time, it was real. “G-Grandpa…?” Danielle whispered, all thoughts about the page vanishing from her mind.

Solemnly, he nodded, picking up the piece of paper from the table. “Yes. It’s me. I know this might come as a surprise to you, but you’re now involved in something that had spanned for millennia. This single page from the Tome of Eternal Darkness explains how you were caught up in this war, but it is too soon to show you now.”

Danielle hesitated for a second. Here she was talking to a ghost and she wasn’t all that freaked out. “I don’t get it. You’re supposed to be dead, but you’re right here standing in front of me. What the heck’s going on here?”

“I am dead, but like the others, I can still appear in the form of an apparition. I do not have much time. Do not tell Alex about me appearing to you or what you saw on this page. You will both learn the truth soon enough.”

Danielle opened her mouth to ask him what others, but he quickly vanished. The dining room door opened, and Danielle barely stifled a cry of surprise. Alex walked in, looking slightly worried. “What’s the matter? Looks like you’ve seen a ghost.” Danielle merely shrugged, but Alex spoke before she could say anything. “When you didn’t come in, I decided to check on you. Did you find anything?”

She shook her head. “No, and I looked everywhere. That’s what took so long.” She felt guilty for lying, but she had been told not to reveal anything. “How about you?”

“There was a strange plaque that kept the pantry door locked, but that’s all. Guess that leaves the library and observatory…”

“An observatory? Dang… Never heard of one of those being inside a house,” Danielle commented as they entered the library. She looked at the door to her right. “Is it in there?”

Alex nodded. “Yup… Why don’t you see what’s in there and come get me when you find something. And this time, remember to check in,” she said jokingly.

Danielle chuckled. “Sure thing. I’ll remember to do it this time.” She watched Alex walk around a corner before turning around and entering the observatory. She let out a low whistle, examining the enormous telescope and the rows of books on astronomy. On a nearby desk was an open book with sketches and notes on a planetary alignment of some sorts.

She walked over to the desk, quickly skimming over the notes before she turned the page. There were even more notes, but this time they talked about something called the Tome of Eternal Darkness. “Wait… That’s the book Grandpa mentioned. So that means…” Danielle stared down at the notebook. This could possibly explain what all was going on around here… She took one last look at the telescope before reading on.

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Using the grandfather clock to keep a secret passage closed is an ingenious idea, but why would Grandpa have something like this made? And why was he so interested in the occult? He was hiding something…

When Alex opened the door at the end of the passage, she found out what it exactly was that Edward Roivas wanted hidden. It was a small study with numerous shelves, paintings, and various knick-knacks that Edward had collected over the years. There was even an old sword mounted in a frame. Everything was covered in a thin layer of dust except for the desk. On it were several books, notes, and one particularly large book bound in what appeared to be leather with intricate designs on it. It had no title on the cover, but a nearby note described it as the ancient Tome of Eternal Darkness.

Alex sat down, pulling open the book. As soon as she read the first few lines of text, strange images flooded her mind so fast that she didn’t have time to remember details. She shook her head a few times, falling back in the chair. What was this book? And what the heck were those things she just saw? Eagerly, she read on.

“I did not know what was to come, nor did I care. How the knowledge changed me, it will also change you. As you read this, you will come to understand fear as I have. You, too, will come to understand, or you will perish.”

[Stormsworder]

((Accidently posted chapter two twice http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime2.gif Whoops))

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Stormsworder on 2006-07-22 08:50 ]</font>

[Stormsworder]

((Well, my laziness is quite clear here. The whole part of the chapter from Pious's point of view is from the original version of the fanfic, which was really horribly written. >>; Um, yeah... I really need to edit it...))

Chapter 3: The Chosen One
26 B.C. Persia

"To think that once I could not see beyond the veil of our reality… To see those who dwell behind. My life now has purpose, for I have learned the frailty of flesh and bone… I was once a fool."

In the Persian desert, two Roman soldiers stood before their commander, Pious Augustus. Behind them, the water of an oasis glittered in the sun, giving it the impression of jewels. "Rest the men," Pious said, "they will need their strength. Make sure they take enough water, and are in high spirits. Today's battle was but one of many, if we are to complete our mission."

"At once, Centurion Augustus," the first soldier replied. "I would like to compliment you once more on your battle tactics. Our enemies did not stand a chance." The solider departed, returning to the other troops. The second soldier watched him leave, then looked back at Pious.

"Do you believe it really exists, Centurion?"

I do not doubt our Emperor's beliefs… or his orders. But if we are to retrieve the artifact, then we must be strong… and patient…" The two soldiers exchanged salutes, and Pious's subordinate left.

"Come to us… Pious Augustus…" He turned around, eyes narrowing a bit. Wondering who was calling him, he followed the voice into the desert.

"Come to us… Pious Augustus…" a feminine voice said. Pious drew his Gladius as he followed the voice. It was a while before he arrived at a circle of five stone monoliths; the center one was engraved with three strange symbols. It sounded like there were whispers coming from the monoliths, but he ignored them. Trudging through the sand, Pious entered the circle. The tips of the monoliths glowed yellow, and a low humming filled the air. Yellow light connected them in a pentagon, before lightning shot into Pious, and he vanished.

The Roman Centurion appeared in a strange room, decorated in a style he had never seen before. He walked towards the pit in the middle of the room, climbing down the ladder. He found himself in a long hallway with three corpses on the ground, each one further down the hall. As Pious walked forward, the corpse all the way down the hall stood up, as if willed to. The Roman soldier's eyes widened in surprise, but it quickly passes as he readied his Gladius. Pious ran forward at the creature, slashing at its head. But the creature didn't die. It felt around where its head had been moments before, then swiped at Pious. Before the soldier could counter-attack, two more of the walking corpses staggered out of alcoves on either side of him. Instead of risking getting hurt fighting the creatures when he could just escape through the door, Pious shoved the headless monster in front of him out of the way and ran down the hall. As he ran, the soldier spotted a granite block with a strange red symbol on the ground, and he stopped momentarily to pick it up before walking through the door.

Two more walking corpses came at Pious, who easily cut off their heads with the Gladius. They swiped the air blindly, unable to see their target. On a small platform about a foot off the ground was another granite block with a strange, green symbol on it. Pondering its meaning, the Roman Centurion picked it up and walked towards the door he didn't go through.

In the next room, five of the creatures waited for Pious. Deciding to try and dodge them, he ran in between the first two, snatching up a granite block with a blue symbol on it. He spotted a ladder leading downwards off to his right, but it was being guarded by another one of the walking corpses. Pious swung the Gladius hard three times at the corpse's torso, and it fell to the ground. Without looking back, the Centurion ran for the ladder and climbed down it.

The corridor he was in went forward, then branched off to the left and right. Another of the creatures limped around the corner, heading for Pious. He wondered if they were the servants of the god of the dead, Pluto. Perhaps the artifact he sought was hidden here, and Pluto's minions were to guard it. The walking corpse was decapitated, then knocked to the ground. Pious impaled the Gladius into its torso, then pulled it out. As he walked into the intersection, he saw that a large, steel gate blocked the door to his left. Instead, he walked through the door on his right.

Pushing open the large, metal door, Pious found himself in a short hall that led into a large, circular room. Four creatures turned to him and started his way, but were quickly rendered blind as the Centurion slashed at their heads. Now out of danger, he examined the strange symbols on the walls. They were red, blue, green, and purple, and the symbols on the first three matched the symbols on the granite blocks he found. Just under the symbols were square holes. Grinning, Pious put the blocks into the holes under their matching symbols. With just one hole left, he looked around and spotted the final block in the middle of the room. As he inserted the block, he could hear the sound of a gate lowering somewhere.

Pious went back through the metal door and entered through the now unblocked gate. Before him was a statue of himself. A distant voice spoke to him. "Pious, prove your worth to us by destroying this statue." Wondering if the very gods themselves were guiding him, he slashed downward, destroying the head. Behind the statue, a door lowered a bit. Two quick horizontal slashes destroyed the arms, and the door lowered even more. Slashing one more time at the torso, the statue crumbled, and the door behind it was completely opened. Feeling he was close to what he sought, Pious walked through.

The room the Roman soldier was in was dark, but the light from the nearby torches was enough to reveal three walking corpses. Pious quickly dispatched them and looked around. There was a strange button with yellow light around it that attracted his attention. When he pressed it, three stone pillars rose up, and the circular pattern on the floor began to glow. Pious entered the circle and vanished.

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The Eternal Darkness
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Pious found himself in a short corridor that led into a small circular room with three pedestals. A strange object hovered over each one, and a strange power emanated from them. The Roman soldier looked at the one on the left, which resembled a red-clawed worm. The one in the middle looked like a floating dome, and the one on the right resembled a warped angel. Thinking that the one on his left was what his Emperor sought, Pious went to grab it.
As his hand neared the artifact, it began to glow. Red lightning shot into Pious, who cried out in pain as the magick filled him. Screaming in pain with red light coming out of his eyes and hands, the soldier collapsed to the stone floor on his hands and knees.
Minutes later, an almost skeletal hand shot up and grabbed the back of the middle pedestal. Pious struggled to his feet, armor black and smoking a bit. He struggled to regain his breath as he looked up from the pedestal. His entire face was resembled that of a skeleton's, and his gray eyes burned with a hatred for the human race. Humanity's betrayer had come.

"Aeons have passed since then, and I have learned much. Chattur'gha's power filled me, invigorating my dead body. With a touch, I could level buildings, rend the ground asunder, and channel power such as mortal men could only dream. Face me, and you shall surely perish!"

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Danielle staggered backwards from the desk until she hit the wall behind her. It took her a few seconds to catch her breath. The vision she had just seen looked so real, like she was really there watching Pious as he had made his way through that insane temple. But seeing him become a skeletal monster was far worse than those creatures. When he looked up, it was like he knew she was there and staring straight into her eyes.

“Do not be afraid, my child. All of what you are seeing is the history of the Chosen recorded in the Tome.” Danielle looked up, just as her grandfather’s ghost appeared. “I cannot explain how you are seeing these visions as Alex reads, but what I can tell you is this: Over time, your questions about all of this will be answered. Just be patient.”

Danielle hesitated, watching him fade away. Was it true she would learn what she needed just from these weird visions? She rubbed her head, shaking slightly. She could only hope she would…

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“What the heck? That guy… What was he?” Alex stared at the last lines of the page, then got up from the chair. The man in the chapter had spoke of something called Chattur’gha. Maybe if she found more pages, she would learn more about it.

Alex spotted a piece of paper that looked like it came from the book in a frame behind her. She had ignored it before because she couldn’t read the strange writing on it, but now she could read them perfectly. Maybe it had something to do with her finding the Tome? She mentally shrugged and grabbed the page, reading its title. “’The Binding of the Corpse God’… Weird title, but I’m not all surprised…” She sat back down, beginning to read.

[Stormsworder]

((*le gasp* I am back! Yeah, I know I've been gone a super long time... Sorry >> Also, this is one of the original versions of the chapter, so it's not as good))

Chapter 4: The Binding of the Corpse God
1150 A.D. Angkor Thom Region, Cambodia

"I cannot say what was the true beginning, nor am I sure of its end, so perhaps here is the best place to start. I am reminded of ideas I first encountered in Sir James George Frazer's book, 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion'. We are overwhelmed by our very human need to weave a web of meaning where there may be none. Since time immemorial, ancient peoples have dressed up their lack of knowledge as gods and demons. I discovered that sometimes, the fates of gods and mortals intertwine, and legends are born…"

In a City Temple, deep within the forests of Cambodia, a young dancing girl sat on the ground, reading from the ancient book, the Tome of Eternal Darkness. Ellia, a dancer in the court of Suryavarman II, loved to read the book while in the temple. "Thy time is done, Great Ancient," Ellia read aloud. "Forever in shadow will you be, Master of Chaos, and to fade to nothing in obscurity will be thy fate. My master has planned many millennia for this day. It is the true chaos of all things that you now must be entombed amongst the beings of flesh and bone…"

Pious stood before a great mass of purple flesh, a staff of bone in his right hand. "…You have a great monument here, Mantorok. It is a pity that no one will ever recognize it as yours…" Nine glowing purple symbols appeared on the ground around him in a circle. "May the darkness claim thee, crawling chaos and wretched beast! No longer will thy reign be kept over the Ancients you have kept imprisoned. Thou hast seen the last of this world…" Pious hit the bottom of his staff on the ground, and purple lightning shot into the pillars hanging high above the room. They came crashing down into Mantorok's flesh. The Great Ancient roared in pain, body shuddering as the enchanted stakes struck it. Pious had accomplished his task and bound Mantorok, the Corpse God.

Ellia stood up, finished reading the book. "Not even these mythical fables can keep me amused. There has to be something to do around here. I only wish something that fantastic, and of higher purpose, could happen to me…" Suddenly, the stone door behind Ellia slammed shut. Her eyes widened, and she took her short sword in one hand. Walking towards the statue of the fertility deity the temple was made for; she spotted an interesting pattern on the floor in the middle of the room. There were four engravings filled with colored sand. The red, green, and blue symbols were arranged in a triangle, and the purple symbol was in the middle of the three.

Wondering what the pattern meant, Ellia walked over to the four-armed statue in front of her. There was an odd necklace around its neck, and it didn't seem to belong. When the dancer took it off, a stone door behind her and to the right slammed shut. Deciding to keep the necklace, which emanated a strange power, she walked through the only open door in the room.

Ellia looked around the dimly lit room. There was a small shine of candles against a corner of the room, and a mural of the setting sun on the floor. The four bodies that littered the room covered some of it. It seemed they had been there for a long time, which made the young dancer wonder how the temple guards missed them. She walked through the room quickly, careful not to step on any of the bodies. As she walked down a hallway beyond the room, Ellia stepped on a tile that sank a bit into the floor. There was a sound, and blades came out of the walls. Looking down, the dancer saw that the tile she stepped on was colored differently than the others. Further down the hallway were more of the trap tiles. Ellia dodged through the blades, wondering why the temple had traps in it. Proceeding down the rest of the hallway carefully, she arrived at the doorway unscathed.

In the next room, the door behind the young dancer slammed shut, locking her in. On the floor was a withered corpse with loose bandages hanging off of it. Before Ellia's very eyes, the corpse pushed itself to its feet. The beast stared at her for a bit, and she felt as if she was losing it. She slashed at the creature's arms, cutting them off. But ghostly versions of its arms replaced it, and it still tried to attack the girl. When she slashed at its head, the creature fell to the ground and flailed around. Ellia brought down her short sword, cutting into its back. The monster became still, and the door the dancer came through opened.

Ellia straightened up, looking around the room. There was a small shrine of candles near her, but it didn't seem to match the picture behind it. She put out the candle on the right, and the stone door in the room with the same pattern she had seen before lowered slightly, but not enough for her to get through. On a nearby stone urn was a bronze necklace, and Ellia knew what to do with it. She picked it up and started for the room with the statue.

When the young dancer entered the room with the mural of the setting sun on the floor, three of the bodies on the ground stood up and attacked her. She quickly dispatched them and entered the room where she started out. Ellia placed the bronze necklace around the statue's neck, opening the door that had closed earlier. Hoping that she could find a way out and soon, the young girl walked through the doorway.

The next room was empty, and she was able to get through the trap-filled corridor without stepping on the trap tiles. But when Ellia entered the room with a mural of the night sky on the floor, the door slammed shut behind her. A bluish colored corpse that resembled a drowned man got to its feet and started for the girl. Striking at its arms, the girl hoped it would go down easily. The monster leaned back, its face pointing towards the ceiling, and began to make a strange noise. A light built up within it, and its body began to shake. Ellia backed away as the creature exploded, releasing a shockwave of blue energy that knocked her back. Behind her, the door she came through opened. The other door in the room had the same triangular pattern she had seen on the other door, which made her wonder if it would open when she put out the candles. The girl walked over to the shrine of candles and put all of them out, and sure enough, the door with the pattern on it opened, allowing access into the corridor beyond.

More corpses littered the hallway, but none of them moved as Ellia navigated through the traps. About halfway down the hallway, she spotted an alcove in the wall. Sitting on a pedestal was a blowgun with poisonous darts. As she picked it up, a trap door under her opened up, and she fell down a long, dark shaft. She landed in a crouch when she came out of the shaft, and her sword hit the ground next to her, shattering into many pieces. Ellia gasped and got up from her crouch, looking around.

"A secret passage in the temple?" she whispered to herself. A temple guard to her right cried out in fear as two reddish corpses that looked like skinned men started for him. Ellia brought up the blowgun and fired two darts at each of the creatures, and they turned to her instead. While the poison slowly did its work, the dancer dodged the creatures' attacks easily. When the creatures fell to the ground, she fired one more dart at each of them to make sure they were dead. The temple guard she had saved thanked her, and asked her if she wanted him to fix her sword. Ellia retrieved the pieces of her sword and brought them to the guard. He said some words she didn’t understand, and three purple symbols appeared on the ground. A purplish lighting arced from the symbols into her sword, repairing it. When asked if he knew a way out, the temple guard shook his head.

"No, I don't. But perhaps the others know a way out." Ellia thanked him and walked through the trapped filled hallway. In the next room, more walking corpses attacked her. She easily dispatched them with her sword and looked around. One wall was dominated by a large mural, which depicted a skeletal man befriending the ancient Khmer people. Ellia continued on, noticing that there was a slot in the statue in the middle of the room, as if a lever belonged there. Wondering if she could find the lever for it, she continued on.

After another trapped-filled hallway, the dancer entered a room with a large flaming pit in the middle, a large mural on the wall, and two green and one red creature. The red one was fighting the green ones, and the red one was winning. When it had defeated the others, Ellia took it out. She then looked at the large mural on the wall, and was surprised that it looked exactly like the last scene in her book. The skeletal man, holding a staff, was standing before a great monster. Pillars were dropping down into its flesh, and the beast's many mouths were open in roars of pain. Ellia turned away and walked towards the other doorway in the room, hoping against hope that she could find a way out, and soon.

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Chaos Entombed
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Ellia walked down the short corridor and came upon a great beast. It looked like the one from the mural and book, and when she saw the pillars in its flesh, she discovered that this was the very same creature. "Stop! Don't go near it!" warned a voice. She turned and spotted two temple guards to her left. Suddenly, two tentacles shot out of the darkness and dragged the guards to their deaths. Ellia gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

"So, you are reduced to feeding on flesh and bone, Mantorok," a voice behind her said. She turned to face the skeletal man from the murals. "How the mighty have fallen. You will surely fester for millennia to come. A slow, and torturous fate, for thee…" The man turned to face Ellia, his skeletal face scaring her. "You had best leave, young fool, or you will find yourself as food for the Dead God!" He turned around and left the room. Ellia watched him go, unaware of the glowing eyes of the statue behind her. Purple light leapt from the statue and knocked her out. She came to after a while, and was vaguely aware of a man standing over her.

"You are one of the chosen many, flesh and blood." Ellia's vision faded, and when she woke up again, she found herself reclining on some steps. "It is now your destiny to fight the Eternal Darkness." The man held a glowing object in his hands as he spoke. "I give you a gift in return for an obligation. The gift is your life, sweet dancer. The obligation is this." He put the object in Ellia's hands. "You hold one of Mantorok's hearts. The Essence of the Corpse God. To some it is a source of great power. From those people you must defend it, lest they use it to destroy what little brightness your world has left in it. Guard it well…" The man walked off as the Heart of Mantorok was sucked into Ellia's body. She screamed in pain, eyes glowing with a purplish light. After awhile, the pain subsided, and she stood up again. The dancer looked at the statue behind her, and she spotted a metal rod in its hands. She took it and started back for the first room she found a mural in.

The resistance on her way back to where the lever belonged was very light; only about three walking corpses attacked. Ellia arrived at the room where the lever belonged, and she put it into its slot, pulling it down. She heard a door open in the direction of Mantorok's tomb. The young dancer backtracked to the large room and walked around the stone path built around Mantorok. The Ancient gasped for breath, slowly dying, but still clinging to this world nevertheless. There was a large doorway in front of the girl, and as she approached it, she felt as if her adventure had come to an end.

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Death of a Dancing Girl
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Ellia found herself at a dead end. There was a four-armed statue in front of her, but nothing else. She walked forward, wondering if there was a secret passage. There were the sounds of footsteps behind her. Turning to face them, Ellia gasped, eyes widening. The skeletal man from before walked towards her, being followed by two temple guards.

"Fool! You should have run! Instead you will die! Where is the Essence of Mantorok?" he shouted. The two temple guards hissed inhumanly as they flanked Ellia and grabbed her arms. But she remained silent. "Where is it? I will not ask again, child!" The dancer was still silent. "Very well, then. You will succumb to the horrors of oblivion." The guards released the girl, stepping back from her. Red light built up in the man's left hand, and red lightning shot into Ellia from the floor. She screamed in pain and fell to the floor in front of Pious. Dead.

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The Absent Horror
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Danielle blinked a few times, looking around. Along with being relieved that the vision was gone, she felt a sorrow deep within for the girl, Ellia. She had no idea how she knew Ellia’s name, but right now she didn’t care. She had to find Alex.

Danielle walked out into the library and into the back section where Alex had headed to earlier. She wasn’t there, but there was some sort of passage near one of the bookcases. “Okay, so she somehow found this and didn’t tell me about it. Guess we’re even on secrets.”

She walked through the passage, entering a small, cluttered study. Alex jumped up from examining a cabinet and spun around, holding a small leather tube in her hand. “Danielle! What’re you doing in here?”

“I came looking for you, that’s all. Find anything?”

Alex pointed to a large book on a dusty desk. “I think we may be able to learn something if we can get all of the pages of that book together. Other than finding that, nothing. And you?”

“Just a big telescope and notes on tonight’s planetary alignment. What’s in that tube?”

Alex opened the leather tube, pulling out an old paper. “Another page, it seems. I found it when I messed with these cand—Danielle, what’s wrong?”

Danielle grabbed her head as a vision suddenly played itself out in her mind.

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Standing before a strange stone structure was Pious Augustus. He motioned with his hand, and five red symbols appeared on the ground. A large image appeared in the structure; it was a combination of a mouth and several yellow eyes on a black background. "Your presence is long missed, my liege. I feel that my power is weakening from your absence."

"Yes…" Chattur'gha said in a deep, roaring, and guttural voice. "Your power flows from me. Without me, you are nothing…"

"My meditations reveal a flaw in our plan…" Pious reported to his Ancient.

"There is no flaw. Mantorok and the others move too slowly to counter our preparations. Once Mantorok is bound, its death will be prolonged for a thousand years. Its fate will assure that the balance of power over the opposing Ancients will remain in our favor. And with the Keeper nullified, my power grows stronger still!"

"And what of its Essence?" asked Pious.

"Mantorok has employed others to defend it. It is no matter, for the power I will wield upon my return will crush all that oppose me," Chattur'gha replied. "Enough of this. What of this Charlemagne the Frank? Is he still a concern?"

Pious grinned evilly. "His undoing has been planned in intricate detail. Those most loyal to him will be instrumental in his death. Nothing short of a miracle will keep him alive, and there hasn't been one of those in a long time."

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Alex gently shook Danielle’s shoulder until her eyes snapped back into focus. “What happened? You just blanked out for a moment.”

“It’s nothing,” she replied quickly. “I just need to rest a bit. I’m going sit down in the library.” Without another word, she walked out of the study. Alex looked down at the page in her hand, then up at the door. What was Danielle not telling her? With a small sigh, she sat back down and read the new page.

[Stormsworder]

((<< Yeah, another I seriously need to edit << I didn't really give Anthony much of a personality.))

Chapter 5: Suspicions of Conspiracy
814 A.D. Amiens, France

"From my research, it is apparent that the endeavors of mankind are mere puppetry at the hands of the Ancients. Whenever a king vows reform, the Ancients move quickly to stifle it. Under the auspices of Emperor Charlemagne the Frank, the new Holy Roman Empire was at the height of its power."

A young man knelt before one of the church's monks. The monk gestured for him to stand. Anthony, a messenger to Charlemagne the Frank, was handed a scroll. "Deliver this to our lord and Emperor, Charlemagne the Frank. No one but him must see it. They are words for his eyes only. At once!" The monk turned around and left, and Anthony walked off. When he heard a door open and close, he paused and glanced around to make sure no one was there. When he was sure it was all clear, he ducked into a corner and opened the scroll. Anthony caught a glimpse of strange symbols before yellow lightning hit him, knocking him to the ground. The messenger slowly got to his feet, rubbing his head.

"What sorcery is this?" a stunned Anthony asked. "A spell? I am bewitched! If this was meant for Charlemagne… then what will become of him? I have to warn him of this treachery!" He ran for the monastery where Charlemagne was, hoping to reach him before it was too late.

The monastery was silent, except for the hushed whispers of the monks. Anthony walked in between the pews and spoke to a monk standing by a coffin. He informed the messenger that a member of the order fell to his death from a tower. His tone was guarded, making the young man suspect that this was a lie. Anthony looked down at the casket, swallowing hard. He didn't want to do this, but he knew he had to. Pushing aside his fear, he pulled the lid off the casket. All around him, monks whispered feverishly among themselves. The corpse in the casket had a torn and bloodied face, and there was a gaping hole in his chest. The monk nearest to Anthony pulled him aside.

"You have proven what we have feared the most. This poor man has been a victim of great evil. Look how his body has been defiled. As if something has burst out from inside him." The monk pulled out a sword, a Scramasax, and handed to Anthony. "Here, take this for your protection, and find the Bishop! He must be informed of this horrible discovery." He walked away, leaving Anthony alone in the monastery. The door to the visiting chamber where was at was locked, so the young man walked up the stairs to the second floor. But to his surprise, the scenery around him shifted and changed, as if he was being pulled from one reality into another.

"What devilry is this?" he asked himself as the screams of hundreds of people reached his ears. The man walked forward, noticing two statues, one on either side of him. The one on his left had no torso, and the name Pious Augustus was engraved under it. To his right was the statue of a girl. The name on it read Ellia. Anthony wondered who these people were as he walked towards a statue of a hand a few feet in front of him. When he neared it, the hand opened up, revealing a book bound with human skin and bone. It beckoned to Anthony, as if yearning to be possessed once again. He picked it up, and strange images flooded his mind, showing him what happened to Pious and Ellia.

Anthony was back on the steps leading up to the second floor, as if he had been there all along. He took his Scramasax in hand and walked up the rest of the steps. Suddenly, the curse the scroll put on him flared up, and pain racked his body. When it stopped, Anthony looked down at his hands, and was shocked to see that they were gray in color. It was as if the very life was being drained from his body. No, I can't dwell on the thought. I must save Charlemagne, no matter what the cost! Looking up, Anthony spotted a strange gold medallion with three small circles arranged in a triangular pattern on a desk. As he picked it up, it pulsed with power and vanished.

"The medallion… It's vanished!" Suspecting that the book he had found had something to do with this, Anthony opened it up and flipped through a few pages. On one of him, he found the medallion he picked up, the 3-Point Circle of Power, in a space on the page. A bit confused, he closed the book and looked around the room. Behind him, a blue urn with a ghostly blue symbol on it sat on a shelf. Anthony picked it up and examined it, but the urn slipped from his hands and shattered as it hit the floor. In the midst of the pieces was a green rune, which glowed and vanished when he grabbed it. A quick check of the Tome confirmed his thoughts. The rune was now in the book. Quickly scooping up the pieces of the shattered urn, Anthony checked the bookcases in the room. He noticed that amongst the tomes and manuscripts was a single book pristine on the dusty shelf. The messenger pulled it out some, and to his right, a bookcase slid back, then sideways into the wall. There was a wooden ladder leading down into a dark passageway.

After he climbed down the ladder, Anthony walked into a corridor, and was surprised to see three greenish colored creatures turn to him. The nearest one was the tallest, and it had a rune in its body. Scramasax in hand, the young man dispatched all the creatures by merely slicing off their rotting heads, then throwing his sword into their body to finish them off. After picking up the rune the first creature dropped, he exited through the wood door at the end of the corridor.

A monk was swinging his torch at the three walking corpses that attacked him. He managed to set the nearest one ablaze, but dropped the torch in surprise as the creature flailed around and fell down the steps, catching a piece of tapestry on fire. It burned up, unveiling a wooden door. Before the brownish colored monsters could attack the monk, Anthony took them out. He turned back to the monk once he was done and asked him what he was doing down here.

"I was carrying a sacred urn from the baptismal font when I was confronted by the Bishop. He brandished a large blade, and his eyes burned with an evil fire. Frightened, I dropped the urn out of shock, and ran… When I returned to retrieve the urn, I found only the sword the Bishop had left behind. Here, take it. You will need it." The monk pulled out a two-edged sword and handed it to Anthony. He took the blade, then picked the torch up from the floor. With it, he was able to see the dark area down the steps, and pick up the fragments of the green urn. Once he had all of the pieces, he walked through the door.

Anthony walked down the stairwell off to his left, picking up a stone tablet on the floor. It had a symbol carved in the middle, with two words on it. "Magormor, item? What does this mean?" The tablet vanished, and he guessed that it was now in the Tome of Eternal Darkness. He heard the plodding sounds of one of the creatures' footsteps, so he took his sword in hand and cut it down as soon as it came around the corner. As it fell, it dropped the same rune that was inscribed on the stone tablet. This rune must be Magormor… But why did the tablet say item under it? Pondering this, he entered the door at the bottom of the stairwell.

Pain filled his body once more, and it felt like something inside him was changing, shifting around. Anthony winced, then examined the room, trying to put out a thought in his mind. What looked like a skinned man was fighting against the same creatures he had seen all over this maze, and it easily defeated the smaller creature. Off to his right, another of the creatures attacked Anthony. He brought the sword around, cutting through its torso. The reddish colored zombie came at the messenger, who found a harder time defeating it than the others. But it fell to his blade nonetheless. He noticed another stone tablet on a wood pedestal. This time, there was only one word, and they engraving matched the rune he had found in the blue urn. "Xel'lotath," he said weakly, and it vanished. The curse the scroll had put on him was starting to take its toll, and he prayed that he could find Charlemagne before he became too weak to go on.

There was a fountain in the room, and the face on it was that of a demon. From its mouth poured a sickening fluid that emitted a horrible smell. On another wood pedestal near the fountain was a red urn with a blood red symbol on the side. It was filled with the same liquid that was in the fountain. Wondering if he could use it somehow, Anthony picked it up and walked over to a tapestry on the wall. Remembering how the creature from before caught the tapestry covering the door on fire, he used the torch to set it ablaze. Behind it was another door, which he went through.

He was in a hallway that branched off to the left, and was about to walk around when one of the walking corpses came his way. It was cut down easily, and Anthony walked through the next door. As he entered the strange library, he saw the Bishop open a secret doorway and limp through it. The door closed behind him, and there was no visible way of opening it. Anthony walked forward, noticing a strange plate set into the floor. Three circles were arranged in a triangular fashion, as if something belonged in each circle. He put the filled red urn in one of them, and it fit perfectly. "Now, just to find a way to repair the other urns…" Something on the table in front of him caught his eye. It was a scroll with strange, geometric patterns on it and a drawing of a sword. Just under the drawings were some words.

"That which is broken, shall be fixed. That which is dull, will be sharp. Thus is the nature of the Enchant Item magick." Anthony smiled weakly. This was just what he was looking for. The spell scroll vanishes, and he guessed that it was now in the Tome. On one of the libraries shelves on the right side of the room was a stone tablet engraved with a symbol. The messenger picked it up, looking at the name on it. "Antorbok." The codex vanished, and Anthony knew that he had what he needed to cast the spell. Taking out the shards of the green urn, he focused hard. A female voice began to recite the runes he had found, and green symbols appeared on the ground. From them, green lightning shot into the urn, repairing it instantly. He did the same with the blue urn, repairing it also.

Anthony returned to the fountain, filling up the two urns, then placed them on the stone plate set into the floor. The door the Bishop went through opened up, revealing a corridor that branched off to the left. Another one of the brownish colored corpses walked around the corner, coming his way. But like the others, it was cut down in a single swipe. In front of the young man was the door to the Bishop's room. An uneasy feeling was in the pit of Anthony's stomach. Swallowing his fear, he opened the door.

The Bishop was standing before a shrine dedicated to a demonic god. As Anthony closed the door, the Bishop turned to face him. His eyes were blood red, and his face was torn and bloodied. He wasn't a holy man; he was a demon. "So… You have come to return my book… Very well, then. For your efforts, I promise a quick, and merciful, death." Anthony gritted his teeth and enchanted his sword. He ran at the Bishop, unaware of the two red corpses on the ground, and slashed at the demon's head. It snapped back, but he appeared to be unfazed. The Bishop swiped at Anthony, who ducked under the blow.

"Die, foul demon and servant of Satan!" he cried as he thrust the sword into the Bishop's heart. Mustering all his strength, the messenger pulled the blade to the left, cutting through the demon that was the Bishop. He collapses to the ground, dropping a gold key. On either side of Anthony, the two corpses got to their feet and attacked. When he finished them off, he gazed down at the Bishop, who was still struggling to get up, despite his wounds. Anthony reversed his sword in his hand and brought it down hard on the Bishop, and he stopped moving. Pulling out his sword, the messenger grabbed the Bishop's key on the floor and ran out the room.

As Anthony walked out the door, the curse within him acted up again, making him scream in pain. He was finding it hard to fight the curse, and he felt as though all the strength was gone from his body. Up ahead, two more corpses attacked him, but were easily cut through. Back in the Bishop's library, two of the brown colored corpses attacked him, but they fell just like the other ones he encountered. In the hallway leading back to the room with the fountain, Anthony encountered a strange red creature that resembled a scorpion. What he didn't know was that this creature was a Trapper; a being that could send humans, creatures, and objects to the Trapper Dimension. When Anthony tried to run past it, the Trapper let out a strange sound, and red light shot out in circles. The messenger got caught up in the light and vanished from the hallway.

Where the young man found himself at was a strange place with five floating pieces of land and gray mist under them. In front of him was a glowing circle of energy that would change colors to purple, red, green, or blue every few seconds. On each of the pieces of land was a circle of light with one of those four colors. When the circle glowed purple, Anthony stepped into it and found himself on the piece of land with a strange shrine. On the floor up the steps was a purple symbol in the middle of a gold circle. The messenger stepped into the circle, hoping that it would lead back to his world, and he vanished.

He was now back in the hallway where the Trapper had caught him in its attack. Deciding to be a bit more careful, Anthony snuck past the one that was in the room with the fountain. Three corpses attacked him in the stairwell, but quickly fell to his sword. Despite his fatigue, Anthony ran as fast as possible, not pausing to look at the monk he saw earlier. When he entered the corridor that led back to the ladder, pain filled him once again. It made him feel so weak that he was pretty much limping down the hallway. He climbed up the ladder, barely noticing how his hand looked decayed, as if he was becoming one of the corpses that he had fought.

Walking towards the stairs in the monastery's library, he felt and heard heavy footsteps on the floor. But when he looked around, he didn't see the source of the noise. The footsteps drew closer, and all of a sudden, a great red beast with three heads sticking out of the front of its torso walked through the wall. The creature, a "Horror", stopped in the middle of the room and let out an almighty roar. Behind it, a red barrier formed from the floor to the ceiling in front of the stairs, blocking the way down. Anthony enchanted his sword, gripping it with both hands.

"Accursed beast of Satan! I will not let you stand in my way!" He charged at the monster, slashing at its heads. The beast roared in pain as the right head was hit, and red lighting shot into the young man's body. He staggered backwards, but attacked the monster's heads once again, ignoring the pain in his body. Anthony jumped out of the way of the incoming lightning, then slashed at the last remaining head on the Horror. It roared weakly and collapsed to the ground, unable to fight anymore. The messenger stabbed his sword into the Horror, just as the barrier in front of the stairs dissipated.

In the monastery, three walking corpses attacked, but Anthony did not let them stand in his way. He cut through them with ease, ignoring the pain in his weary body. He pulled out the gold Bishop's key as he ran over to the door and unlocked it. It was time to inform Charlemagne of this treachery against him.

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A Conspiracy Revealed
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As Anthony opened the door, he saw Charlemagne's blackened corpse lying on the stone steps leading up to a large stone chair. Five monks were standing over him, and they all turned to Anthony when they heard the door open. "Nooo! Charlemagne!" he cried in anguish as he ran for his emperor's body. The curse on him flared up again, yellow light pouring out from his chest. "I have failed you…" Anthony fell to the floor next to Charlemagne, his decayed body smoking slightly. The monk on the top step looked down at the two as he spoke, his voice cold and uncaring.

"You are a fool for trying to save him, Anthony! His fate was decided many centuries ago, as is the fate of this world. Despite your faith, there is little to save you from the power of Chattur'gha!" As he said the Ancient's name, a reddish colored creature with bladed arms burst out of the monk's chest, the blood of its host dripping off of it.

[isahn80]

Wow, despite your claiming to need massive editing, I enjoyed reading your 'fic quite a bit. I particularly liked the excerpts from the Tome, and your rendition of the ancient evil and how it manifests in each time period is interesting (and more importantly, not overly cheesy).

Very well-written so far, and the description is excellent. I look forward to future installments, and am glad you began posting on this story again.

[Stormsworder]

XD Actually, this is based off of the game called Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem for the Gamecube. It's a little known game, but was the first Nintendo-published game to get the M-Rating by the ESRB. >> It's basically a novelization of it, but with a few twists, such as my added character and all that.

I am glad you like it despite some of the bad chapters. I REALLY need to fix them, especially chapter 9 that's coming up.

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 6: Approach of Darkness

Alexandra closed the Tome of Eternal Darkness and slowly stood up. She couldn’t believe what she had just read. Monsters that took over the bodies of people? It didn’t seem possible. “And neither does magick, yet that guy used it.” Suddenly, an idea came to mind. Anthony had used that spell he found to repair two urns. Maybe she could do the same with the broken key.

Alex opened the Tome and flipped over a few pages until she found the page with the runes Anthony had discovered inscribed on it. She placed the key fragments on the floor and recited the words. “Antorbok, Magormor, Xel’lotath…” she said quietly. As she spoke the runes, they appeared on the floor, and green lightning shot into the key pieces. They came together instantly, mending together and becoming as good as new. She pocketed the key with a smirk and picked up the Tome, walking out the door.

Alex stopped halfway down the hallway at the sound of pounding on the walls. Or was it just her imagination running wild after reading those last three pages? She shrugged it off, entering the library to find Danielle asleep in one of the chairs. Alex smiled a bit. Danielle seemed like a pretty cool kid. Athletic, smart… She was probably so tired because she came from practice or a game. She had to have if she was still in her black and gold uniform.

She walked on past her sleeping sister and entered the foyer. Suddenly, the phone began to ring. Wondering who could possibly be calling, she answered it quickly. “Hello?”

“Remember me, Alex?” a voice on the other end asked before the phone went dead. Alex hung it up and backed away from the table it sat on. No way could that have really been Edward, could it? He was dead.

“I am really losing it,” Alex mumbled softly, walking up the stairwell. She nearly dropped the key at the sound of banging on the doors in front of her, but she quickly recovered. “Just… ignore the weird things,” she told herself, trying to remain calm. Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door with a trembling hand and went through.

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“Wake up, Danielle… Wake up…”

Slowly, Danielle opened her eyes and looked around. She must have fallen asleep or something, but she didn’t remember dozing off. She sat up straight, stifling a yawn. She jumped a bit as Edward suddenly appearing standing in front of her. “Grandpa? What are you…? Where’s Alex?” As soon as she asked that, she felt stupid. Alex was probably still in the study or something.

“She’s searching upstairs for the next chapter page. Are you feeling all right? You fell unconscious after you came to sit in here.”

Danielle rubbed her head, holding back another yawn. “Just peachy. Now, mind telling me why the heck I saw a vision when Alex wasn’t even reading the Tome?”

Edward raised an eyebrow, but it looked just plain weird with a lack of eyes. “I must admit that I have no idea… What did you see?”

“That skeleton guy—“

“Pious,” Edward corrected.

“Right, Pious. Anyways, he was standing in front of this image. It was really big with this weird-looking mouth and a bunch of yellow eyes. They were talking about binding Mantorok and killing Charlemagne the Frank.”

Edward looked surprised, but only slightly. “Chattur’gha,” he whispered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Chattawhat?”

“Chattur’gha, one of the three Ancients and the one Pious serves. I don’t know why, but you are seeing the meetings of Pious and his Ancient. I suppose this is because of—“

A loud scream from somewhere upstairs cut him off, and Danielle was on her feet in an instant. There was only one person who could have screamed. “Alex!” Danielle ran for the door, but a spike of pain in her head sent her to her knees. Green light filled her vision, and the same voice she heard so many times before in her dreams spoke in her head once more.

“Soon…” the voice whispered. “I shall return…” As she heard the voice, she felt a dark presence in the back of her mind slowly grow stronger, yearning to take control. She felt herself slipping into the presence’s grasp, losing herself to it…

“Danielle! Snap out of it!” She blinked a few times, an icy feeling on both of her shoulders. Danielle had somehow ended up on her back and was now staring up at the ceiling. Edward grabbed her arm, which was strange, considering he was a ghost, and helped her to stand. Where his hand touched her arm, coldness slowly began to spread. He led her to the couch, sitting her down. “Tell me what happened,” he urged.

Danielle rubbed her head with a trembling hand, trying to her a grip on herself. “I-I don’t know… I was about to open the door when my head started hurting. Then I heard this voice. She said something about returning soon, and then I found myself on the floor.” She closed her eyes, trying to shake off the memory of how she had come close to losing it. “Grandpa, what’s happening to me?” She looked up, only to discover that he was gone.

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Alex sat down on the old bed in the guest bedroom, taking deep and calming breaths. She had entered the master bedroom to look around, then proceeded on to the bathroom. Everything had been fine the whole time, and she had even found a page from the journal of someone who lived here a while back before Edward. But then, something in the tub had caught her eye. When she went over to investigate, she had seen herself lying in a bathtub full of blood. Then she heard a scream and realized numbly that it was her own. Almost immediately she had ran into the guest bedroom, encountering no more freaky things.

“It was my just imagination,” she told herself, her voice low and shaky. “I was just seeing things, that’s all. None of it was real. I’m still worked up over Grandpa’s death, so my mind is just playing tricks on me.” Slightly relieved by her thinking, Alex stood up and looked around.

The room was fashioned with a colonial trend. Above the bed, there was even an old painting of the Roivas estate back when it was first built. Above the oak writing desk was another painting of a man in Napoleonic garb. A piece of paper peeked out from the side of the painting, and she instantly recognized it as a page from the Tome. She gently pulled it out without tearing the paper and returned downstairs, relieved that nothing weird happened. When she entered the library, she found Danielle wide-awake. Her skin was slightly paled, and she nearly screamed when Alex said her name from behind her. “Hey, you all right?”

Danielle nodded slightly, turning around in the seat to look at Alex. “Yeah, I am. What about you? I thought I heard a scream earlier.”

“Something just scared me, that’s all.” Alex bit her lower lip nervously, noticing that Danielle didn’t really look up to exploring around. “Maybe you should just rest some more, okay? You really don’t look so good.”

Danielle rubbed her eyes and shrugged slightly. “All right… If you need me, ask.”

Alex returned to the study, thinking. She knew she probably should have told her sister about those strange happenings, but she wasn’t sure about it.

You just don’t trust her enough, her mind chided. She’s your own sister, yet you can’t even tell her about just a few hallucinations.

“And there’s also the fact she’s not telling me whatever she’s hiding. That pretty much puts us on even grounds.” Alex sighed. “Listen to me, talking about my younger sister behind her back. What would Grandpa think of me? He wanted me to take care of her because she has nothing left…” She let out another sigh and sat down, rubbing her forehead. Her imagination was just working overtime again.

She stared down at the page in her hand, wondering how one book could cause so much trouble… Alex shook her head and began to read once more.

[Stormsworder]

((Alas, I wish I had reviews... *cries* X_X Also, this is another old chapter))

Chapter 7: The Gift of Forever
565 A.D. Persia

"Dreams: Modern psychology offers only unproven theories… Some see them as the meaningless tossing and turning of a brain settling into a restful sleep. Others see them as laden with symbols of our unconscious desires. To still others, dreams represent the upwelling of the archetypes, normally hidden deep within the human collective unconscious… Of one thing I am certain: After a brush with the Ancients, our dreams metamorphosize into nightmares…"

A Persian man trudged through the desert, weary from his travels. He was Karim, a young man of noble heritage trained in the art of the sword. Above him, the sun blazed uncaringly down on the desert. Karim shielded his eyes and scanned the desert, remembering the events that brought him here.

He was kneeling before a woman reclining on a sofa. Her mouth was covered in a partially transparent purple veil, and her body dressed in the same kind of fabric. Karim spoke to Chandra, the one he loved. "I have implored you for years, yet you ignore all my advances," Karim said, staring down at the floor. "You dominate my dreams, and I can think of nothing else. I fear O desire you many hundred times more than you love me…"

Chandra's expression remained neutral as she spoke, never changing. "My life has become a waking dream, Karim. For weeks I have dreamed of an ancient treasure so precious that in changes all life around it. It must be mine, Karim. If you truly desire me, as you say, then you will find this for me. Bring this treasure to me, and I will be yours. Both of our dreams will come true…"

Karim looked up at her. "I need nothing more than you. You have enthralled me to the point where I can think of nothing else… Promise. If I leave, you will not forget about me…"

"You need not worry. I desire nothing more than the treasure that you seek." Chandra waved her lover off. "Leave now Karim, and I shall await you."

That was almost a year ago. As Karim trudged on, he wondered if Chandra was still waiting. Surely, she would not break her promise. "Karim…" a distant voice called out. He looked up and saw a circle of five stones, one of them engraved with three peculiar designs. Their tip began to glow, and yellow light connected the stones in a pentagon. Feeling that he was close to finding the artifact, Karim entered the circle. Yellow lightning shot out from the tips of the monoliths and into him, and he vanished without a trace.

Karim appeared in a room with four pillars, and a strange gold pattern on the floor where he appeared. Corpses littered the floor, and most of them seemed like they had been rotted in the sun. The one near the ladder leading down into the temple was a man, his body covered in wounds where his armor had failed. Karim pulled out his Tulwar, prepared to face whoever had killed the man. As he climbed down, his surroundings changed into a strange temple with three statues of people. The names Pious Augustus, Ellia, and Anthony were carved on them.

"What sort of place is this, and who were these people?" he asked himself as he walked forward, trying hard to ignore the screams of the faces on the floor. There was a statue of a hand up ahead, holding something in it. As Karim drew near, the hand opened up, revealing a large book made of skin and bone. The young man picked it up, and strange images of what happened to Pious, Ellia, and Anthony flooded his mind. When they passed, Karim found himself back in the room he started out in. The five rotted corpses in the room stood up, their eyeless skulls turning to the man.

Tulwar in hand, he charged at the creatures that were probably responsible for the man on the floor's death. The Tulwar's blade sliced cleanly through their necks, removing their heads and blinding them. Karim then slashed their bodies until the fell to the ground, then drove his sword into them. By the time he was done, he was breathing heavily, but uninjured. He climbed down the ladder and went deeper into the temple.

Karim was in a corridor made of rock and sand. Up ahead, further down the corridor, were three bodies on the floor that looked like flayed men. He enchanted his Tulwar, comforted by its green glow, and walked down the corridor. Two of the corpses stood up and started for the young man. He slashed hard at their bodies, trying to bring them down. It took a while, but they were finally killed. Karim picked up a white statuette on a pedestal and took a left down the corridor, killing two more of the red corpses and picking up a rune one of them dropped. There was a nearby ladder, which he climbed up.

There was some sort of shrine for burning incense in the middle of the room, but the bowls on it were unlit. Across from the ladder Karim climbed up was another ladder leading downwards, but a yellow barrier blocked the ladder, its energies forming the image of a rune on its surface. On the floor were three circular patterns that sunk down when stepped on. The switches would ignite one of the three levels of bowls, but would put them out when something wasn't on it. Karim put the white statuette on one of the circles, keeping it pressed. He then walked over to the yellow barrier, and was surprised when the rune on it disappeared as he approached, followed by the barrier itself. Wondering if he would come across more of the strange barriers, he climbed down the ladder.

He was in another rock passageway, and there was a torch on the wall to his left. He grabbed the torch and walked down the passage until he came upon a circular room. Three red corpses stood up and attacked, their bodies covered in the sand they were lying in. Karim was quick to finish them off, since he knew how tough they were. Sitting on a pedestal was a black statuette. He picked it up, along with a stone tablet leaning against one of the rock walls. On it was a symbol he had never seen before, and a word carved above it. "Chattur'gha," he said, and the codex vanished.

Backtracking through the passage, Karim reentered the room with the three switches and placed the black statuette on one of the two remaining switches, then stepped on the last one. The shrine in the middle of the room rose up, as if it was some sort of elevator. On the platform that came up were four red-colored Trappers. Pulling out his Chakrams, small throwing rings with sharp edges, Karim killed the scorpion-like creatures from a distance. When the Trappers were dead, he stepped on the platform and descended deeper into the temple.

The corridor he was now in was empty except for the three bodies on the ground. The first two were covered in claw marks and blood, hinting that the inhuman creatures here may have killed them. The third corpse, the one nearest to the door at the end of the corridor, was covered in wounds made by the Tulwar impaled deep into his back. Did his partner do this to him before they were killed themselves? Karim thought as he pulled out the Tulwar in the man's back, swinging it to fling off the blood. He walked towards the door, holding a Tulwar in each of his hands. He paused as he heard sandals scrape against stone, and an inhuman hiss. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that the man had gotten to his feet, despite his wounds.

"Impossible," Karim whispered as the man turned to face him. There was no way the man could still be alive with all those wounds. The young noble readied his swords, stepping out of the way of an incoming punch. He brought both Tulwars around in a spin, cutting deep into the man's chest. He staggered backwards, but seemed oblivious to the pain. "What kind of monster are you?" Karim thought he saw a small grin form on the man's face, but it quickly faded as he started forward again. The young man drove both blades into his opponent's body, then used his foot to kick him back. The man staggered backwards, bleeding heavily, before a reddish creature burst out of his chest. His corpse hit the ground as the creature hissed. Its arms were long blades, and its skin was like that of the red monsters he had faced before. He was face to face with a Bonethief.

The Bonethief opened its mouth and let out a strange roar before leaping at Karim. It landed on his chest and began to claw at his face, trying to get in. He used both arms to push the creature off and throw it to the ground. He brought down both Tulwars, slicing neatly through the creature's neck. When it fell to the ground, the young noble brought both swords down into its body. As he straightened up, he gently touched the cuts on his face, hissing in pain. He was lucky to be alive. If he hadn't thrown the creature off of him when he did… He shook his head, trying not to dwell on the thought as he walked through the door.

Two of the red corpses attacked, but he took them out easily. To his surprise, another Bonethief burst out of the monster on the right. Karim quickly killed it, feeling as if the world around him wasn't right. Ignoring the feeling, he crouched down next to another body on the floor and pulled out a scroll of paper from his hands. Strange symbols were on it, and there was writing below them. "This spell enables the transfer of magickal power from the environment to the self. Restoration of the body, spirit, and mind are this spell's purpose."

Karim thought hard. This spell would be able to heal the wounds on him, but only if he had the proper runes for it. Wondering if he'd be able to find them soon, he walked over to the other two doors in the room. The one on his right had a circular metal plate covering it, and there was a picture of a sword on it. Under the picture was a slot wide enough for a large sword to fit into it. Above the picture and the slot was a red sigil. Perhaps it has something to do with the Enchant Item spell? If that's the case, then I must find the rune that will make the weapon red… Hoping he could find it soon, he entered the door on the left.

Three of the red corpses attacked him, but he cut through them with ease. Covering the ladder to his right that led downward was another yellow barrier. On its surface was the image of a rune he hadn't found, and it didn't vanish when he approached it. Beyond that, on the same wall, was a metal door. Enchanting his Tulwars, he entered the room.

In the room was a greenish colored Horror with three large eyes where its heads should be. As it roared, Karim felt his grasp on reality falter even more. He could hear what sounded like a baby and a woman crying from all around him. Trying his best to ignore it, he charged at the Horror, bringing his swords around to slash two of its eyes. The beast roared in pain, sending green lightning at Karim. He winced in pain and staggered backwards. I have to end this battle, the young man thought. He thrust his sword into the Horror's last eye, grimacing a bit. It fell to the ground, unmoving. Reversing the Tulwars in his hands, he impaled them into the monster, then pulled them out, making the sounds he was hearing stop.

Wiping a trickle of sweat from his forehead, Karim picked up the rune the monster had dropped. Sitting on a stone ledge was a tablet with etchings on it. "Santak. Self," he said, and the codex vanished. He opened the metal door he had come through and killed the Trapper that was patrolling the room. When Karim approached the barrier blocking the way to the ladder, it vanished, allowing him to climb down.

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Alex felt a rush of cold air behind her, and she heard a soft but familiar voice whisper in her ear. It was the voice of someone she knew was dead, yet was right behind her. “My dear Alex. I will always be at your side.” She felt a cold hand gently brush against her back, and a shiver ran up her spine. “There are times when insanity takes hold, and nothing seems right. During those times, I will help you.” The hand drew away, and her grandfather’s voice grew fainter. “Fear not, for I will keep the Darkness away.”

Alex shot a glance over her shoulder, but no one was there. Had Edward really been in the room? It couldn’t be. She had been at his funeral. No way could he have been here, could he? “But tonight hasn’t exactly normal,” she said under her breath, returning to the page.


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The corridor he was now in branched off to the left and right a few feet ahead of him, but some debris from the collapsed ceiling blocked off the door on the left. There was another tablet on the ledge directly in front of him, and it was for the latest rune he found, Narokath. Now that he had those runes, he could finally cast the Recover spell he learned. Karim focused hard, and soon heard a female voice speaking. "Narokath, Santak, Xel'lotath…" The green runes on the ground shone brightly, and green spheres flew into him. He felt as if things had returned to normal, but not completely. The young man repeated the spell until everything felt as if it should be, and walked through the door to his right.

There was a short corridor that lead into a large circular room. On the walls near the entrance to the corridor were four strange designs, and two of them matched the Xel'lotath rune and the symbol on the Chattur'gha codex. In the middle of the room, stuck in a stone pedestal, was a large broadsword, the Ram Dao. Putting away his Tulwars, Karim gripped the Ram Dao with both hands and pulled it out of the pedestal. Suddenly, a large stone door slid down, covering the entrance to the corridor. Six purple runes appeared on the ground around the lowered section of the room, and six of the brownish colored corpses appeared. He had walked into a trap.

Ram Dao in hand, Karim cut through the rotting corpses one by one. The world was a blur around him as he fought wave after wave of the creatures. The skinned corpses followed after the rotting ones, presenting an even greater challenge. He continued to cut through them without thinking, taking out two Bonethieves that had come out of two of the last three monsters. The tallest one was the last to fall to the Ram Dao's blade, and it dropped a rune as it was finished off. It was the alignment rune Chattur'gha. He used both the Xel'lotath and Chattur'gha runes with the Recover spell, and was surprised when the cuts all over his face healed. So, Chattur'gha heals the body, and Xel'lotath restores the mind… Karim noticed that the door covering the corridor had risen, so he walked back to the room with the metal plate on the door.

Looking at the red symbol on the plate, an idea came to mind. He enchanted his broadsword using the Chattur'gha rune. He slid the Ram Dao into the slit on the plate, then pulled it out. The plate vanished, allowing him to open the door. Four corpses wrapped in bandages attacked, but the enchanted broadsword easily cut through their rotted bones. As he approached the ladder further down the dark corridor, he heard a voice calling out to him. He climbed up it, wondering who was calling him.

The room was circular, with steps leading down into a lower, smaller circular area. In the middle of the small area was a pedestal with a ruby effigy of a warrior kneeling before an unseen opponent. The lower area's floor was shrouded in mist, almost completely hiding the three Trappers patrolling the area. Karim pulled out his Chakrams, throwing three of them. Each ring hit its target, killing the Trappers. He walked down the steps and picked up the effigy, careful not to step on the corpses of the strange creatures. Pondering its significance, he climbed back down the ladder. The path to his right was full of rubble, but not completely. The young noble climbed over the debris, careful not to hurt himself.

Karim heard the Horror before he even saw it, its electrical discharge giving away its position. Before he stepped around the bend, he enchanted his Ram Dao again. The Horror he was facing was like the one he had found the Narokath rune on. He charged at the beast, bringing the Ram Dao around in a horizontal slash. The broadsword cut deep into the monster and through all three eyes. It roared and collapsed to the ground, dying as Karim brought down the sword one more time. With the path cleared, he climbed down the ladder in front of him near the wall.

On some sort of strange pedestal was a large hand seemingly made of human bone. It was like a nightmarish bookstand of sorts, waiting to be used. Karim placed the Tome of Eternal Darkness into the hand, and was surprised when the gate behind him rose up, allowing access into the passageway beyond. He picked the Tome up, turned around, and walked into the opened passageway.

Off to his right, down the passageway, was a circular room with three pedestals arranged in a triangle. As he walked towards them, he heard a sound like a Horror's lightning attack. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that a red barrier had appeared over the back of the corridor, blocking the way into the other room. Five purple runes appeared on the ground, and brownish colored corpses appeared on them. Not another trap. I have to finish these things off, and fast. Enchanting his Ram Dao with the Chattur'gha rune, he waited for them to approach. As they drew near, he readied the sword. Letting out a roar cry, he ran forward, and began to fight for his life.

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The Shadow of Corruption
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A red Horror fell to the ground, large gashes covering its body. Karim let his Ram Dao fall to his side, the enchantment on it having worn off long ago. So many of the brown and red corpses attacked that he had lost count of them. Along with those bodies were a Bonethief and the enormous corpse of the Horror he had just fought. Karim wiped the sweat from his head and turned around to face the pedestals. Floating above the center pedestal with the blue symbol on it was a strange statue, but it hadn't been there when he first entered the room. It was made of dark green emerald, and it looked like some type of warped angel. As he reached out a hand to grab it, it began to glow with a green aura. "Karim…" a familiar voice called out. He spun around, searching the area. "We will be together forever…"

"Chandra?" he asked, and a ghostly apparition of her appeared in front of him. "What… What happened to you?"

"Things change, my dear Karim…" she replied, her voice sounding distant. "But even though my body is ravaged, I await you…"

"Who did this to you?"

Chandra looked away from him as she spoke, as if ashamed of what happened. "You were gone so long… I… gave myself to a nobleman with a jealous mistress. She had me dragged from my bed, and in cruel revenge, flensed with knives!!" Her body changed to what it looked like at the time of her death. Deep gashes covered her body, and her eyes burned with a ghostly blue light. "As the last blades were drawn across my body, and my blood cooled upon the floor, she cursed that I would only be with another in death…" Chandra's body changed back into what it was when she first appeared before Karim.

"So much for thinking only of me! I should never have left…"

"I have seen my folly, and have paid dearly for it. I see so much more, now. In death, I know the true value of the artifact I asked you to find, and it is not for us to possess. If we are to be together again, you must make a sacrifice. Only when that is complete will we be together…"

"Sacrifice?" Karim asked, his voice taking on an angry tone. "Why should I do anything for you? You lied to me! Betrayed me! And you really don't look so good anymore…"

"You must forget the past. Despite who you are now, you will also become something more, just as I have. But the sacrifice must be made. We must remain here and guard the artifact. Dark things will come to claim it, but you must be strong to keep it from them. Without your sacrifice, the world will fall into eternal darkness!"

He paused before muttering, "The things I do for love…" Karim closed his eyes as Chandra walked over to him. The young man felt something ice cold touch his cheek and lips, and the two of them embraced in a kiss. His eyes opened wide in surprise as blue lightning formed at their lips. He screamed in pain as the magick surged into his body, and his world faded to black.

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 8: The Preparations Begin

“Now that was weird,” Danielle mumbled, getting up from the chair. Karim had given his life to be the protector of the Artifact in that temple. “Actually, that was the same place Pious had gone to. There were three Artifacts there, and he took one. Karim was protecting the green one, so where’s the third one?”

Danielle heard the door the study open and close, and Alex walked into the library. She seemed calmer than she had before, and Danielle figured Alex had used the new Recover spell. It was a good thing, too, because Alex appeared to have been losing it earlier. “Hey Danielle, take a look at this.” She set the Tome of Eternal Darkness on the small table, flipping to a peculiar looking page. Strange symbols were glowing on the page, along with the red and green sigils from the painting in the dining room.

“These are Magick runes,” Alex explained. “These two, Xel’lotath and Chattur’gha, are alignment runes. They cause different effects when used with the spells.”

Danielle played along, even though she knew about Magick. “Are you sure this will work? I mean, it sounds pretty crazy.”

Alex nodded, closing the Tome. “It does. And I think the plaque in the kitchen has something to do with this.” They both walked into the kitchen, and Alex pointed to the pantry door. “There. That symbol was something different before. I read in the chapter page that this man enchanted a sword and unlocked the door. So that means…”

“We need a sword to get this thing open. Great idea, but where is one.”

Alex set down the Tome and the counter and opened it to another page. She said something, and a sword appeared in her hand. “The Tome can also store things. Pretty nifty, if you ask me.” She handed the Roman Gladius to Danielle, who took it hesitantly. Alex turned the Tome back to the page with the runes and gave Danielle a small grin. “You go ahead and try it. Just say these three runes in this order without moving, and it should work.” She pointed to Antorbok, Magormor, and Chattur’gha, and Danielle nodded.

“Here goes nothing…” she whispered. “Antorbok, Magormor, Chattur’gha.” Red lightning shot into the Gladius, and the whole sword began to glow red. Without warning, a sudden burning pain shot into her hand where it touched the Gladius. Danielle yelped in pain, dropping the sword. “Okay, is it supposed to burn when you touch it?” she asked, gingerly touching her hand.

Alex picked up the Gladius and shook her head. “Doesn’t happen to me. Weird… Well, it seems we can both use Magick. You just can’t really wield whatever you enchant.” She walked over to the pantry door and slid the sword into the slot. It vanished, and Alex pulled open the door. Danielle laughed as a rat skittered out and darted past Alex, making her scream. “Oh shut up…” Alex muttered. “I’m sure you would’ve screamed, too.”

Danielle chuckled, grinning mischievously. “Maybe, maybe not. I’ve dealt with furry animals jumping out of nowhere before.” Before Alex could ask what she meant, Danielle changed the subject. “Anyways, what’s in there?”

“Just a bunch of food, that’s all. Cereal, bread… Hey, I’ve got something!” Alex pulled out a glass container full of spices and a single piece of paper. She leaned the Gladius against a shelf and twisted off the lid. From where she was, Danielle could smell the faint aroma of exotic spices. But when Alex pulled out the chapter page, her vision faded to black, and she saw yet another vision.

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Pious stood in the Portal Chamber, waving his left hand horizontally over the ground. Five red runes formed on the ground, and Chattur'gha's image appeared. Pious bowed before the image and began to speak. "My liege, the future is yours. The Light in the Age of Darkness has been extinguished. The Pillar of Flesh has been constructed. The Master of Chaos, the 'Keeper of the Ancients', is long dead. The planets will be in alignment soon. All is prepared for your arrival. I will begin the final incantation to bring you into our world within days. The next millennium will truly usher in a new age. Your Guardians now prepare the gate!" he exclaimed, raising his hands and staff into the air.

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“This page talks about Maximillian Roivas, it seems. Have you ever heard of him?” Alex looked up at Danielle and noticed a distant expression on her face. Right when Alex asked “Well?” Danielle came to.

“Well what?”

“Have you ever heard of Maximillian Roivas?” Alex asked, slightly suspicious. This was the second time Danielle spaced out. What was going on?

“Can’t say it sounds familiar.” Danielle shrugged. “I’ll check the library while you read the page. Maybe I can find something.” She went to walk out of the kitchen a bit too quickly, but Alex grabbed her wrist and held it firmly.

“Danielle, what’re you hiding? You’ve been acting weird ever since I found the third chapter in the Tome. You’re my sister, Danielle, the only person I have left. Please, just tell me what’s wrong.”

Alex noticed a flicker of fear and sadness in Danielle’s eyes, but it quickly passed. “All right,” she said quietly. “I’ve been seeing these things while you’ve read the Tome of Eternal Darkness. Yeah, I know what it is. I even know about the people in those pages. Every time you read them, I see the events like I’m actually there. Just now, though… That was different. You picked up the page, and I saw Pious speaking with the Ancient, Chattur’gha. I don’t know why I’m seeing this, but it’s really starting to scare me sometimes.”

Alex gripped her sister’s shoulder gently, understanding what was wrong. While she had been dealing with these hallucinations, Danielle had been seeing things that were hard to read about, let alone see. “Don’t worry. I’ve been seeing some freaky things, too, but nothing compared to that. Just remember that we’re sisters now. You’re not alone anymore. You can trust me.”

Danielle nodded, fierce determination in her eyes. “Yeah. Guess I’ve been alone so long I’m not used to it.” A small smile spread across her face. “Come on. Let’s hurry up and read this page. The sooner we get out of this freak house, the better.”

Alex returned the smile and walked to the library. “You’ve got that right.”

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Edward watched as his granddaughters entered the library, and he let out a small sigh. From his spot above the dining room doors on the balcony, he had heard the entire conversation without being noticed. Maybe now that Danielle had gotten the weight of keeping the visions a secret off her shoulders, it would be a lot easier for her to get through this night.

He noticed the other ghostly resident of the Roivas Estate appear to his left, but he let Maximillian speak first. “You know that child is Xel’lotath’s target, do you not?”

“I am well aware of it. But what do you propose I do? Tell Alex that she had to kill her own sister?”

Max continued on as if he didn’t hear Edward. “If Xel’lotath gains control, she will surely return to this world. There would be no hope for humanity. Our sacrifices will have been for naught.”

“Do you have any idea what that child has been through? Or are you too heartless to even care to know she has lost her entire family to Pious?” Edward asked in a cold tone.

“Nothing is wrong with me, Edward. It is you who has grown too soft-hearted. Your granddaughter died years ago. All that’s here now is an empty shell, a puppet for Xel’lotath. Putting her out of her misery now would be a blessing compared to what will happen once she loses control.”

Edward’s temper flared. “And this is coming from one who killed every servant, guilty or not, because he believed they were Bonethieves? I know what I am doing. Just as she is a Seer, I am one, too. I’ve seen what she will accomplish, even after this night. What she will do far outweighs the risks. Now, leave me be, Maximillian.”

“Nothing outweighs the return of an Ancient,” Max whispered darkly as he faded away.

Edward stared at the library door, his anger dying away. Maybe Max was right, but it was also possible he was wrong. He had to just wait and see. But if the time came, would Alex be able to go through with it?

“Be strong my children… Just be strong…” he whispered.

[Stormsworder]

((I hate this chapter with a passion... It can burn for all I care. It would have sounded so cool if I had actually written it well! X_X I'll need to redo it soon))

Chapter 9: The Lurking Horror
1760 A.D. Roivas Family Estate, Rhode Island

"I will not argue that I was shocked by the sudden mention of one of my ancestors: the distinguished Dr. Maximillian Roivas. It chilled me to my bones. Where had this ancient book come from? How had my ancestor stumbled upon it? I feverishly began to read more, eager to learn his story. It seems Maximillian had inherited his father's mansion, just as I had. Alone since the death of his wife, and since his children had their own adult lives, he explored the house to discover his family roots."

Dr. Maximillian Roivas sat at his desk in the estate's study, writing in his journal. Everything was silent, except for the scratching of his quill on the paper of his journal. "It has been two weeks since the death of my father, and it has finally come upon me to look over the mansion," he wrote. "Now, I am truly alone, and forced to start a new life, here in Rhode Island. I intend to make the mansion mine, and live in it as my forefather's have, to continue the family tradition. The mansion has its secrets, I'm sure, and in my time here, I have to make them mine…"

He set his quill down, getting to his feet. Despite all his sleepless nights, he was still compelled to search through the mansion. He picked up a small sack of ammunition for the Flintlock pistol on his belt, then walked out of the study. A quick check of the servants' bathroom gave him another sack of ammo. As he entered the master bedroom, the servant cleaning it bid him good day and continued to work. On the small table near the bed was a letter written by his father. Opening it up, he began to read. It was written in longhand with some precision in longhand.

"Dear Friend,
"The antiquity of which you ask is indeed the Tome of Eternal Darkness, or a copy of it, at least. Its secrets are still hidden from me, for I have been unable to read it, as have most scholars who have tried.
"It will remain within the sanctity of the mansion, for in the wrong hands it would be a powerful weapon.
"Peruse it if you will, but beware its magick… It is a harsh mistress."
Aaron Roivas"

Max folded up the letter, thinking about what he just read. The Tome of Eternal Darkness? I have never heard of such a book. And what did my father mean by magick? There must be a secret he hid in this mansion. He rubbed his short beard thoughtfully while examining a stone tablet atop the fireplace mantle. There were peculiar designs carved on it. Above and below the design were the words "Redgormor" and "Area". Before exiting, he entered the bathroom and picked up more ammo. Finding nothing else of interest upstairs, he entered the foyer.


Walking past the maid cleaning the floor, he walked downstairs and noticed a letter lying on the table. Max picked it up, glanced at his servants, who were still cleaning, and opened it. The ink was clotted, and it was scrawled by a panicked head.

"Dear Friend,
"The House has been forsaken by the Ancients - I dare not enter it for fear of my mortal soul. I would suggest that you leave also. Bring the book. It is a far more potent tool than you have learned, and may well swing the balance in our favor.
A. Roivas"

What did my father mean? Who are the Ancients? I really do not understand what is going on here. Max sighed and walked towards the left of the foyer, examining the area. The carpet ended at a wall with a strange red symbol on it, which made him confused. What was even stranger was the picture hanging on the wall to his right. It was a painting of the very section of the foyer he was in, but there was a door where the symbol currently was. Strange. Why would the artist leave out such a major detail, while the rest of the details are exactly right?

Turning to the picture to his right, he saw that there were four strange sigils. Three of them were arranged in a triangular pattern, with arrows pointing from one symbol to another. The fourth one was in the middle of the others. The red sigil was the same one as the symbol on the wall. Perhaps it tells that one prevails over another. Red beats green, green defeats blue, and blue dominates red. A triangle of power. Pondering the reason why the painting was there, he walked out of the foyer and entered the kitchen.

Two maids were busy preparing the night's dinner, and greeted Maximillian as he entered. He returned the greeting and looked around. To his right, on a small table, was a stone tablet with engravings on it. The symbol was the same as the blue one in the painting, and "Ulyaoth" was carved over it. Inside the pantry was a pump handle lying on top of a wooden barrel. Wondering what these two things were doing in the kitchen, he picked up a sack of ammo from one of the shelves on the right side of the room and went to search the dining room.

Once again, the servant cleaning the room greeted him as he cleaned the windows. The table was set with silverware at each of the places, waiting for the food that was to be served. Max walked over to the fireplace, looking at the four stone blocks on its mantle. Each one had a different colored sigil on it. A small statue of a raven was in front of the stone with the purple sigil. Above them was a picture with four colored circles arranged in the same way as the symbols in the other picture. There was a small inscription under the picture. "When Darkness spreads its wings before my Master Chattur'gha's greatest foe, the path to truth will be opened."

Examining the painting again, Max slid the statue to where it was in front of the stone with the blue symbol. The back of the fireplace lowered, and a draft from the room beyond blew out the fire. Glancing at his servant, he saw that he was still busy cleaning the windows, and apparently hadn't noticed the secret passageway. Max got to his hands and knees and crawled through the passage. Behind him, the servant stopped what he was doing and watched his master, eyes narrowing. He picked up a knife from the table, hid it in his jacket, and went back to work.

The room he was now in appeared to be some sort of study. Shelves full of books were around the room, along with some paintings of various things. A cavalry sabre was hanging on the wall, along with another Flintlock pistol. He put the pistol under his belt and took the sabre in hand. A scroll of paper sat on a nearby chair, and it was covered with strange symbols and words.

"With this enchantment, the invisible is rendered visible. Use it wisely, for some things are invisible for a reason, and mortalkind not meant to see them."

Revealing the invisible… Maybe this has something to do with that strange symbol on the wall. Something on the desk in the middle of the room caught his attention. As Max walked over to it, he noticed that a large, leather-bound book was amidst all the others. When he picked it up, he noticed a letter slip out from between the pages. He caught it before it landed on the floor. At the same time, a red rune appeared in the air of the foyer, and a reddish-colored Horror dropped through it, letting out an almighty roar. Max's eyes widened as he heard the roar, barely noticing that the spell scroll he was holding had vanished. He opened up the letter, reading it quickly. It was almost indecipherable, but he was able to read it.

"Dear Friend,
"As I suspected, the Ruins of Ehn'gha - that blasted necropolis - lie deep under the site of the mansion! The accursed servants of Chattur'gha are so close I can almost hear their chittering!!
"There is a secret opening in the basement, and from there we can gain access… I urge you to gather some men and seal it, or better still destroy that cursed place!! I have stowed something that you will find useful on the upper level. Look to the light, and you will find it. I wish that I could be at your side, but my ailment worsens daily and I know that my time is short…
A.R."

Ehn'gha? What is this place that my father wrote of? I must find the entrance and see this for myself. He crawled back through the secret passageway, entering the dining room once again.

There was an inhuman hissing sound when the servant cleaning the windows turned to face him. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a knife, its sharp blade glinting in the moonlight that came in through the windows. "Stop this at once!" Max ordered.

"You know too much. You cannot be allowed to live," the servant replied in a cold voice. Panicking, the man slashed with the sabre, managing to cut deep into the servant's wrist. He looked down at the bleeding wound, then up at Max, just as the sabre was thrust into his stomach. The servant's body began to shake, and a reddish monster burst out of his chest. It opened its mouth, hissing at the frightened man. He brought down his sabre, cutting through the monster's neck. Max crouched down, doing a quick autopsy of the creature's body. He put all the notes he took on the "Chattur'gha Bonethief" in his medical journal, writing sloppily on the page. Pulling out his Flintlock pistols, he used the Chattur'gha Enchant Item spell and walked through the door.

A servant was cowering in fear at the sight of the large Horror in the foyer. Maximillian passed by him, eyeing the beast wearily. The Horror turned to face him, roaring once again. He fired off two shots at the beast's heads, but they didn't seem to do much. As the monster approached, he reloaded both pistols. Once they were both loaded, he fired at the Horror. The bullets had little effect, it seemed, and now it was close enough to swipe at Max. Its claws raked against his right arm, shredding through shirt and skin. Staggering backwards, he reloaded and fired again. The bullets slammed into its heads, and it finally fell to the ground. He did an autopsy on the "Chattur'gha Horror", both amazed and frightened by the beast. When he finished writing notes, he stabbed it one last time and cast a quick Recover spell with both alignment runes.

Max heard another hissing sound, and the maid nearby stopped cleaning the floor. He realized that she had never even looked at the Horror or paid attention to the battle. The maid dropped her brush and walked towards her master, catching a curious glimpse from the servant near the stairs. Max reloaded one of the Flintlocks, stepped out of the way of his maid's fist, and aimed the pistol right at her head. He fired, grimacing as blood splattered onto his face. Her body fell backwards, and a Chattur'gha Bonethief burst from her chest, hissing at Max. In one swift move, he drew the sabre and sliced neatly through the creature's neck. He looked at his servant near the stairs, his face betraying no emotion.

"It would be best if you leave. It is dangerous here." The servant nodded quickly and ran out the front door of the estate. Max reloaded his pistols and spotted a rune on the ground. As he picked it up, he heard a scream from the kitchen. Re-enchanting his weapons, he ran through the door.

A Trapper was patrolling the room, ignorant of the two maids in it. The nearest one, who was scrubbing the floor, looked up at Max as he entered, and he could hear an inhuman hiss. He fired at the Trapper, killing it, then shot the maid in her head. From her chest came another Bonethief, which dashed at Max. He brought up his other Flintlock and fired, hitting it dead in the middle of its head. As the creature fell to the ground, he turned to his other maid, who was cowering in fright. They're probably all like them! Nothing more than creatures that wear the skins of human! I should just kill them all now, but I must find out more… Max picked up the stone tablet with the word "Ulyaoth" on it and the pump handle from the pantry before walking out of the kitchen.

Remembering that there was another of the stone tablets upstairs, Max entered the master bedroom and picked it up. His servant noticed the strange glint in his eyes as he entered the room and gave him a worried look. "Is everything all right, sir?"

"Yes, everything is fine. Continue with your work." Maximillian exited the room and walked down the corridor, heading for the large, stained-glass window. His father had had said something of importance was hidden here, but where? Odd… There is an envelope between the cabinet and the wall. Did it fall there, or did someone hide it there…? Max picked it up, and as he did so, a felt an evil aura emanating from it. The green wax used to seal the envelope had the rune of Xel'lotath pressed into it, which he found strange. The man was about to open it, when a Bonethief jumped through the window, heading for Max. He pulled out his sabre quickly and brought it down, cutting into the creature's head. Breathing a bit hard, he looked at the envelope in his left hand and opened it up. Inside were another letter and a key. He set the empty envelope down and read the letter, written in a scrawling hand.

"Dear Friend,
"As I expected, the beasts are drawing closer to our discovery. They want the book for themselves it seems, and do not want us to have it in our possession. I have taken steps to ensure that their ilk will not touch the key in this envelope, should you fall prey to their claws.
"The envelope containing the basement key has been sealed with a corrosive magick - if one not aligned to us tries to handle it, it will be released inflicting pain, suffering and a grievous blow to their sanity, should they have any left!
"Be swift in your task!
A.R."

One not aligned to them? It mustn’t be me, for their spell did not do anything to me. What was it that my family hid? Max thought hard about the letters as he walked back to the double doors and entered the foyer.

It took him less than a second to realize something wasn't right. The world around him had lost its color. As he walked down the stairs, he noticed a strange mist covering the floor. What is going on here? From the other side of the foyer came a loud roar, like that of a Horror's. Max walked over the where the sound came from, and saw a three-headed, eyeless monster standing there. This must be an Ulyaoth Horror. It… It has no eyes! Yet… It's staring right at me!

He enchanted his pistols with the Xel'lotath alignment room and stepped around the staircase, firing at the Horror's center head. It roared and stomped on the floor, sending a bolt of magickal energy surging through the floor at him. He ran out of the way and reloaded the pistols. Max opened fire on the monster again, hitting its center head, and it collapsed to the ground. As he picked up a rune, Ulyaoth, he found himself back in the second floor corridor near the double doors. Quickly checking through the Tome of Eternal Darkness, he was relieved to see the Ulyaoth rune now in it. With a plan slowly forming in his mind, he went back into the foyer and over to the strange symbol on the wall. Maximillian focused hard, and three blue runes appeared on the ground, with a strange male voice speaking their names.

"Narokath, Redgormor, Ulyaoth…" His vision had a bluish hue to it, and a wooden door, most likely the entrance to the basement, replaced the symbol in front of him. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the basement key and unlocked the door. Max enchanted his sabre with the Ulyaoth rune before walking through.

The light provided from the torches gave the basement an eerie feeling. As he walked down the steps to his left, a reddish corpse at the bottom got to its feet. Max cut off its head, then hacked at its body, questioning the monster's existence. The walking dead! It is not possible for the dead to walk! A Chattur'gha Bonethief burst out of its torso, but was dispatched before it could even hiss. Suddenly, before he could even turn around, powerful arms grabbed Max from behind, pinning his arms against his sides. Jaws clamped down on his right arm, just under his shoulder. The monster's teeth bit down even harder, tearing away at his flesh. Max cried out in pain and rammed his elbow into the creature's gut, knocking it off balance. He then spun around and slashed rapidly at its torso until it fell.

"Narokath, Santak, Chattur'gha…" Red spheres flew into his body, mending the wound a bit. He crouched down by the creature, writing notes in his journal. When he was done, he stabbed the "Chattur'gha Zombie" and kicked it in its head to make sure it would never get up again. Max looked around the basement, noticing a stone tablet on a shelf near an old water-filled well. The words "Bankorok" and "Protect" were etched into it. Sitting on the well's ledge was a scroll of paper like the one he found in the secret study. He picked it up, quickly reading the words on it.

"This incantation exerts a force of mystical power within the confines of it runes. Nothing may enter till it is dispelled."

Max looked at the pump near the well, thinking hard. Its handle was missing. Who could have removed this, and why? He thought to himself as he took the pump handle in hand. Something must be hidden beneath the well. He used the handle to drain the well, revealing a ladder leading down into the darkness. Reloading both Flintlocks and putting them under his belt, Max climbed down the ladder.

The stench of rotting flesh hit him as he reached the bottom. Behind him was a rotting zombie, its body made of nothing more than bone and sinew. Sabre in hand, he cut swiftly through the creature's body in one move. It dropped the Bankorok rune, the last component to the Damage Field spell. Off to his left was a winding staircase, which was blocked further down by a barrier with the image of the Bankorok rune on it. To the left of it was a balcony of sorts, and when he walked into it, he saw a fantastic sight. Below him was a great city, its streets lit by an unknown light source. Nine spires towered over all the other buildings, the purpose they served eluding him.

"This must be Ehn'gha… Just as my father mentioned… It's more fantastic than I could have imagined!" Still in awe from the sight, he stepped backwards. Maybe he could find a way into the city and explore it. The barrier over the staircase vanished, allowing him to walk down it. As he got nearer to the bottom, he saw a large opening, most likely the entrance to the city. He enchanted both his pistols when he reached the bottom, just in case. It was time to see what lay hidden in Ehn'gha.

__________________________________________________ _________________________
Insanity Prevails
__________________________________________________ _________________________

He walked down the steps in front of him, now at the entrance to the city. He was standing on a stone bridge over some sort of dark red liquid. The scent of blood was heavy in the air, and the air had a strange quality to it. Something wasn't right, making him worried. "Bankorok, Pargon, Redgormor, Pargon, Pargon, Chattur'gha, Pargon…" Looking around, he tried to figure out who or what was casting the spell. A red sphere of light flew from behind Max and hovered a few feet ahead of him. It vanished, and a large spider-like creature replaced it. It stared at Max, watching him.

Is this… a Guardian of Chattur'gha that my father mentioned? The creature swept the area before it with one of its bladed front legs. Five red runes appeared on the ground, and the monster began to cast a spell. "Antorbok, Pargon, Redgormor, Chattur'gha, Pargon…" Red lightning shot through the ground at Max, who narrowly dodged it by running out of the way. He pulled the trigger on both enchanted pistols, managing to hit the Guardian. Roaring in pain, it changed into a sphere of light and floated around the area. The Roivas quickly reloaded his pistols, and when the Guardian reappeared, he pulled both triggers at once. The enchanted bullets slammed into the monster's mouth, tearing through the flesh there. It roared weakly, rearing up on its back legs before falling backwards.

Max reloaded the Flintlocks and stuck them in his belt as he walked over to the Guardian, touching one of its legs hesitantly. He had never seen a creature so terrifying as this in his whole life.

"The accursed beast was dead, but not without its toll on me. That was but one, and there was a whole city of them. I could not hope to fight them all alone. I knew I had to get help…"

He staggered up the winding staircase tiredly, exhausted from the fighting and eager to get back to the mansion. The smell of blood in the air was nauseating him. When he reached the mansion, he entered the secret study once more and sat down at the desk. The Roivas pulled out the Tome of Eternal Darkness, set it on the desk, and began to read through it.

"I knew there was a way. I just had to find it…"

__________________________________________________ _________________________
Three months later…
__________________________________________________ _________________________

A man stood facing one of the corners of his padded cell, his arms tied behind him by his straight jacket. His head had been completely shaved, with the exception of a few patches of brown hair. Rats scurried across the room, ignoring its occupant. "I tried… I tried to tell them… But they wouldn't listen to me…" he raved, voice frantic. "Curse them… Curse their eyes!!" he shouted as he spun around. The insane man turned around, and it was Maximillian Roivas. "They didn't believe me… Strange creatures… The world in peril from unseen foes… The death… The Darkness!!!"

Max slid down the wall and into a sitting position, his voice taking on a feverish tone. "Instead they jeered and threw me into this forsaken place… A place of empty souls and fevered thoughts… reeking of foetor and decay! Thinking me mad with delirium!" He chuckled. "The fools cast away their hopes of salvation by locking me in the wretched asylum!!"

Staggering to his feet, he ran over to the door to his cell and slammed his shoulder against it. "May the rats eat your eyes!!" he screamed. "I am not lost to your cause!!" Max sobbed, looking out into the corridor. "The Darkness comes!! It will claim us all!!"

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 10: Strange Happenings

“Ehn’gha…” Danielle whispered, glancing backwards at one of the paintings on the wall. “An enormous city hidden underneath the mansion. If it’s really that far underground that no one could find it, then it has to be billions of years old.”

Alex nodded. “And it’s crawling with Guardians. In a city that big, I’d hate to see how many are hiding there.”

Danielle shuddered at the thought. She would hate to run into one of those things, let alone hundreds. “Yeah, I know. Um, was this there before?” she asked, picking up a small piece of paper from the desk. As Alex shook her head, Danielle began to read the note addressed to them while sliding off the desk. “A timepiece with a story to tell…” Danielle whispered to herself. “I think I get it… Alex, do you have an idea of where the next page is?”

Alex shrugged. “If it’s like how it was before, then the spell we just received will have something to do with it.”

A plan formed in Danielle’s mind. “Search upstairs for whatever seems out of the ordinary. I’ll try to figure out exactly what this note is talking about. I’ll meet you upstairs whether or not I find anything.”

Alex nodded, walking out of the library. Danielle was about to follow when she heard a voice behind her. “Where does illusion begin and reality end?” She spun around, but no one was there. “Is it because you are blind to the truth, or is it that the only truth you know is the insanity inside?”

Danielle immediately turned around, catching a glimpse of a robed man. He was the same one who always haunted her dreams. This time, he looked different. His skin looked normal now, except for it being an ashen color. His eyes were a dark green color, but there was an aura of violence around him. He stared at her for a second, a cold smile on his face. In the blink of an eye, he vanished, leaving no trace behind. “Okay, can you say creepy?” She shook her head, breathing deeply. “I’m the one losing it now.. .Gah, I really need to try not to let my imagination run wild any more…”

Danielle walked back into the foyer, pushing the encounter with the man to the back of her mind. Right now, she had to find that key. There was no time dwelling on illusions.

The note mentioned a timepiece in the foyer, but all there is that tells time is that broken clock. And it’s stuck on…

“3:33… The same time written in that book, and it’s what the grandfather clock in the library is set to…” Danielle walked over to the small table that the clock sat on and checked the back of it, pulling out a gold key. “Gotcha… Too easy,” Danielle muttered. She made her way upstairs and into the master bedroom. There, Alex was examining a dresser. “Found a key downstairs, but I have no idea what it’s for,” Danielle announced as she entered. “Did you find anything with the spell?”

Alex nodded, pointing to a drawer with the Chattur’gha symbol engraved on it. “There’s a keyhole here, but it wasn’t before I used the spell.” She looked at the key in Danielle’s hand, then back at the drawer. “Hand me that key for a second.”

Danielle gave it to her without question, watching as Alex inserted it into a keyhole Danielle couldn’t see. There was a small click, and Alex pulled open the drawer. Inside were a chrome-finished revolver and a page from the Tome. As Alex’s hand touched the page, a vision flashed before Danielle’s eyes.

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Corrosion of the Dead God
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Pious waved his hand, and five red runes formed on the ground. Before him, the image of Chattur'gha appeared in the strange stone structure. "Our Guardians have located the heart, master," Pious reported. "Before the month is out, it shall be ours."

"Do not underestimate the power of Mantorok, warlock! Its power cannot be defined in terms you understand. For seven centuries it has corroded your Universe."

"And during those seven, the denizens of the region have been either destroyed or driven away. There is nothing, no one, to stop us from collecting it. Mantorok, and its Essence, lie unprotected in the jungle."

"Then waste no more time," Chattur'gha ordered. "Retrieve it immediately, and pray to me that you do. Time is running short… And without me you are mere flesh and bone… Remember that…" The Ancient's voice grew more distant; finally, the image of it vanished.

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When Alex saw the distant expression on her sister’s face, she knew that Danielle was seeing another vision. It was almost a minute before Danielle snapped out of the trance. “What did you see?” Alex asked almost immediately.

Danielle blinked a few times before speaking. “Pious had found the Heart of Mantorok and was planning to take it. That’s pretty much all.” She was silent for a second, and then added, “They said it was still in the jungle. So, it has to be in the same place Ellia’s chapter took place.”

Alex nodded, looking down at the gun in the drawer. Right now, they didn’t really need to carry around firepower. Nothing was going to jump out at them or anything. “Yeah, you’re probably right. But why would they want the Heart of Mantorok?”

Danielle shrugged, glancing at the revolver in the drawer. “Whoa. .38 revolver. Haven’t seen one of those since Dad took me to the range with him…” she whispered. Her eyes widened, as if she didn’t mean to say that out loud.

“Your dad must be pretty cool,” Alex said with a small smile. “Not many fathers take their kids shooting with them for quality time.” On the trail of that thought, she added, “Where are your parents, anyways? They must be worried about you.” Danielle’s expression changed to one of sadness. She stared down at the floor. “Danielle…?” Alex said softly.

“I don’t know where they are. They went to California for a few weeks to visit some friends, but I never heard from them since a month ago. No one knows what happened. It was like they just vanished, leaving all of their stuff in their room at one of their friends’ houses. And when I tried to call my brother Devin just before the mission trip, I couldn’t get a hold of him.”

Alex frowned sympathetically. “I’m sorry… When we get done tonight, I’ll try to help you find out what happened. I promise.”

Danielle smiled a bit, nodding. “Thanks, Alex. I’m glad you’re here with me.”

Alex embraced her sister lightly, a smile forming on her own face. “You and me both, kiddo.” She pulled away, knowing that now probably wasn’t the best time to just sit and chit-chat. “Come on, Danielle. Let’s go.”

Danielle nodded and said with a smirk, “And don’t call me kiddo.”

[Stormsworder]

((Yes, I've been gone way too long... X_X Darn school...))

Chapter 11: A Journey Into Darkness
1983 A.D. Angkor Thom Region, Cambodia

"The Ancient's influence was incredible. From all walks of life to all parts of the world, their tendrils crept and wrought their insidious damage. Their prisons decayed constantly as their Guardian's work continued. I discovered a mention of a breakthrough in satellite RADAR imaging that revealed the presence of a hitherto unknown temple mound in the Angkor Thom region of Cambodia. An archaeologist of some repute, Dr. Edwin Lindsey, took it upon himself to investigate the area, to reveal the secrets of history. Unfortunately, the local government at the time thought differently, requiring that Lindsey find other means into the country, and to finance the expedition. He found these in Paul Augustine, a collector of rare items, who professed an interest in the discovery and agreed to help. After a dysentery-riddled two weeks venture, Lindsey and Augustine located the remains of an ancient city temple, dating back to the twelfth century."

The two men walked into the temple, examining the area. "Yes, this is it," Lindsey said softly, walking forward. "It has to be. I hadn't expected the information to pan out, but here it is… The satellite data was correct!" He walked over to a nearby pillar, examining the ancient stone it was made of.

Paul Augustine, his face an unusual gray color, looked around the room with tinted glasses. "For years, I have searched for it without success. Here, all along clouded from us beneath the Great Ancient's insidious magick. I am very pleased with your performance, Dr. Lindsey… Very pleased…" Lindsey looked up from the pillar, growing suspicious. "In fact… so pleased, that I will give you an early bonus."

Lindsey spun around and saw the gun in Augustine's hand. Reacting on instincts, he punched him in the face, knocking the older man to the ground. The archaeologist ran behind a pillar, pulling out his Colt pistol. Augustine fired twice, but the bullets slammed into the stone pillar. Stepping out from behind his cover, Lindsey pulled the trigger once and hit the double-crosser in the arm. Unbelievably, Augustine seemed to be unfazed by the attack.

"My God!" Lindsey muttered under his breath, hiding behind the pillar once more. He ran from it to a pillar even further away, barely dodging two more shots. When Augustine spoke again, his voice changed, becoming deeper and stronger.

"You are a scholar, Dr. Lindsey, not a warrior. In that regard I have several centuries more experience than you…" Augustine walked into the center of the four pillars, being carefully watched by the archaeologist. "Don't be a fool. Die quietly, and you will not suffer."

Lindsey fired at his opponent again, and he was surprised when his appearance changed. His skin was ravaged, and he wore black armor like that of an ancient Roman soldier. "You cannot escape me, Lindsey! This place will be your tomb, just as it is Mantorok's!" Behind him, a stone door rose up, revealing a terrifying creature. Its head looked like a human skull, and a scythe-like blade, most likely its tail, rose up over its head from its back. "Guardians of Chattur'gha! Kill him!" The monster, a Gatekeeper, spread its wings and let out an inhuman shriek as Augustine walked through the doorway.

Swapping the Colt for his shotgun, Lindsey waited behind the pillar until the creature drew near before jumping out and firing at it. The bullets slammed into its chest at full force, and it fell to the ground. The archaeologist pulled out his Kukri, a type of machete, and impaled it into the Gatekeeper. He pulled it out, looking at the closed doorway that Augustine went through.

He must be after something in the temple. I'm not going to let that double-crosser get to it before I do!

He reloaded the Remington M-870 and Colt M1911 before crouching down near the middle of the room. A thin layer of dirt covered part of the floor, catching his attention. Lindsey pulled out his brush and carefully brushed the dirt off the floor. Underneath was a strange carving with indentation filled with colored sand, and a bronze bracelet lying in the middle of the carvings. He picked up the bracelet and walked over to the statue of a four-armed deity in the room. On one of its arms and around its neck were flecks of bronze, suggesting that jewelry had once been there. Lindsey placed the bracelet on the arm with the bronze flecks, and a door to his left opened.

Pretty clever. Put the bracelet on the correct arm, and it opens a doorway. The Khmer must've been pretty concerned about security in this temple, though I wonder why.

He holstered his pistol and slung the shotgun over his back, pulling out the Kukri. If there were any more of those creatures around the temple, he would need to conserve his ammo. He never expected to be attacked during his journey, so he didn't bring that many boxes of ammo with him.

“Boy, and some people thought being an archaeologist was boring…”

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Alex sat at the desk while Danielle sat on its surface, peering down at the Tome. Suddenly, the spirit of their grandfather appeared next to them. Alex noticed a surprised look on Danielle’s face, but she seemed to be at a loss for words. “Remember me, Alex?” Edward asked.

Alex looked up into his loving face, her voice almost a whisper. “How could I forget you, Grandpa? You’ve almost meant the most to me. Ever since… Ever since my parents died…” She noticed the sympathetic look on Danielle’s face, and Alex quickly averted her gaze.

“Yes… Ever since they were killed… You’ve been my little girl…” Edward said, putting a hand on her shoulder. An icy chill spread from where his hand touched her bare arm. “Yes… My little girl…” Alex looked up at him, just as he slowly faded away.

“I’m sorry about them, Alex,” Danielle said quietly, obviously talking about their parents.

“It’s all right. You don’t have anything to be sorry for.” Danielle looked like she wanted to say something else, but she couldn’t get the words out. She merely looked back down at the Tome, a saddened expression on her face.

She never knew Mom and Dad, Alex thought. It’s no wonder she doesn’t know what to say. Poor kid…

Alex sighed and looked back down at the Tome, reading the page once more.


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In the Hands of Kali
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“Tier, Aretak, Ulyaoth…” An Ulyaoth rune appeared in the air a few inches off the ground, and a Trapper jumped through it. Lindsey felt as if he was the Trapper, and it was very disorientating. He made it walk through the hole in the wall and into a large room with a wooden bride over an abyss and two Chattur’gha Horrors on either side. The Trapper walked across the bridge and over to a strange purple symbol on the floor. As it stepped on the symbol, a door behind Lindsey opened up. He blinked a few times, noticing that he was no longer linked with the Trapper.

“I guess you have to keep focused in order to maintain control over it. Interesting…”

He looked at where the door once was and saw a purple rune sitting in the alcove. There was a strange feeling about it, like it emanated some great power. He picked it up, and the rune vanished. He figured it was now in the Tome, like all of the other runes and codices he found.

There came a loud roar from behind him, and the wall that had blocked the way into the area with the switch was blown outwards. One of the reddish Chattur’gha Horrors roared, electricity crackling around it. Lindsey took his shotgun in hand and fired. The blast hit the beast dead-on, but didn’t kill it. He stepped backwards, pumping the shotgun and firing again. The Horror roared in pain and lashed out with its claws, swiping through the air just centimeters in front of his face. If it attacked again, Lindsey wouldn’t survive this time. He opened fire, flecks of blood landing on his face as the bullets tore through the Horror. It fell to the ground, dead.

Lindsey wiped a trickle of sweat from his forehead, looking through the doorway. The Trapper from earlier was roaming around, and he heard the second Horror’s heavy breathing. This wouldn’t be easy. He took out his Colt and aimed carefully, firing off two shots. The first one knocked a chip of the stone floor off into the pit, while the second bullet hit it in its body. Instead of wasting ammo fighting a creature he could just dodge, he ran across the wooden bridge and past the Horror, brushing some webs off another codex.

He could hear the bolt of magickal lightning shoot towards him, so Lindsey jumped out of the way, barely dodging the attack. He bolted across the bridge and ran out into the stone corridor, taking deep breaths. That was too close for comfort… Hopefully, the return trip to the lower levels of the temple wouldn’t be so bad.

Lindsey had encountered barely any resistance by the time he reached the last room he had visited earlier. The magickal barrier over the other door was still there, and like the earlier one he encountered, it vanished when he approached it. Inside was an unbelievable large room. A large, writhing mass of purple flesh, eyes, and mouths dominated the middle of the room. A stone walkway was built around it, and large pillars seemed to be stuck in its flesh.

“Just like on those murals… This place really is Mantorok’s tomb…” he whispered to himself while walking up some stone steps for a closer look. That was when he was aware of someone behind him. He turned around, staring at Paul Augustine in his true form flanked by two Gatekeepers.

“The power of Mantorok is not easily controlled!”

“What makes you think I want to control it?” Lindsey shot back, trying to form a plan in his mind.

Augustine laughed. “Arrogant man!” He pointed his staff at him, shouting, “Kill him! And make sure you succeed this time!” The two Gatekeepers spread their wings and started towards Lindsey. Suddenly, a wave of purple energy shot out from behind Lindsey, presumably from the statue there, and hit Augustine and his fiends. The Gatekeepers were instantly disintegrated, and Augustine fell to his knees.

Using his staff to stand up, he glared weakly at Lindsey, red light forming in a circle around him. “The Darkness shall prevail!” he managed to say before he vanished. Lindsey turned back to face Mantorok, noticing a purple light floating towards the door past Mantorok. It opened up, allowing him to enter. He took out his torch and lit it, staring in awe at the Great Ancient. He had never encountered such a creature in all of his life.

Actually, I’ve never encountered any of the monsters in here in my life… This has got to be the worst. But it looks like it’s on my side. It would probably be best if I hurried up and left…

He walked around the stone path and through the doorway, wondering what was on the other side.

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Daughter of Light
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Lindsey held the torch out in front of him as he walked forward, looking around the small room. There didn’t appear to be any visible exit, so he would have to backtrack to the surface. He was about to go back when he noticed the rotted corpse of a girl, her clothes tattered and dirty. It hung in the arms of a four-armed statue. He approached it, trying to get a closer look. The clothes appeared to be what the Khmer people wore long ago… But how did this girl wind up in a place like this?

As he approached, the corpse’s eyes glowed with an eerie white light. “Do not touch the heart, flesh and bone, lest you become like me, a dead, rotted husk.”

To say Lindsey was surprised was an understatement. He jumped back a bit with wide eyes, listening to the girl talk. “I have waited many years for you. It was not easy hiding from the dark ones as they searched for me. At first, they passed by not thinking that the heart was inside my dead body, but I was forced to find refuge here. You must seal the heart so it never contacts your flesh, and take it to the Gathering of Light.” In his mind’s eye, he saw the image of a large stone house with a sign in front that said “Roivas” on it. “Take the heart there or the world shall fall under a reign of Eternal Darkness!”

Suddenly, she began to move, body and eyes glowing with a purple light. “The veil of reality can only be pulled back so far, mortal!! Take your stand, and fight the darkness!” She reached for her chest and pulled out a black heart that was much larger than an average human’s heart. It floated to the ground as the girl’s body disintegrated. Lindsey stared down at it, knowing what he had to do.

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Edward Roivas raised an eyebrow curiously after Dr. Lindsey told the story of what happened in the temple. “She told you to bring it here, you say?”

Lindsey nodded, placing the glass container Heart of Mantorok in Edward’s hands. “I believe you could keep it safer from the Ancients then what I could.” He turned around, walking out of the library.

With a sigh, Edward walked over to one of his bookshelves. There was a secret compartment behind one of the books, which he had put there not too long ago just in case he needed to keep something safe. And now was that time. He placed the Essence in the compartment and slid a book over it. It did stick out, but no one would think of even reading such a strange book. Edward stared at the title, “The Demon and the Khmer” for a second before he walked away.

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 12: The Black Heart

Alex closed the Tome, and Danielle stood up from the desk. “You know what to look for, Danielle?”

She nodded, walking out of the library. When she first checked around in the library, she had seen a strange book on one of the shelves. She never imagined that something so important would be hidden behind it.

Danielle strode over to the book and slid it out of the way. Behind it, in a glass container, was the ancient Black Heart of Mantorok. As her hand closed in on the glass, she heard her grandfather whisper into her ear from behind her.

“Do not touch the Heart’s container, for even while it isn’t as powerful inside, its power still presents a threat to you. Allow Alex to store it in the Tome.”

Danielle shot a glance back his way, but Edward had already vanished. She pulled her hand away as she felt the corrosive magick of the heart reach out towards it and stepped backwards a few feet. Alex walked in not a minute later, carrying the Tome. “Well, did you find it?”

Danielle nodded, stepping aside so Alex could get a better look. “Don’t plan on me lugging it around all night.”

Alex handed the Tome to Danielle, sliding the container out. “I know. That’s why I’m going to try putting it in the Tome.” Before she could do anything, the container vanished. Danielle shot a glance at Alex, then flipped to a page in the Tome. Alex peered down at the page, smiling. “Well, at least that worked,” she said with a light tone.

“Got that right.” Danielle let out a low whistle. “I can tell why Pious wanted that thing so bad. It was incredibly powerful. I have no clue how, but I could feel the power from that thing. It was incredible.”

Alex nodded as she took the Tome back. “So, where do we look? Everywhere’s been checked already.”

Danielle shrugged, considering their options. They found the last page upstairs, so there might be a chance that more of them were there. “Second floor. We have to check through everything again. Maybe we have to use the Dispel Magick spell?”

“Good idea. Guess we better start looking.”

The two of them went upstairs and checked around. The two bedroom were empty, and one room was too dark to even check. They were about to return downstairs when Danielle stopped her sister, pointing down the hallway at a stained glass window. That was when a man appeared facing the wall to their right. He was staring at an oddly colored section of wallpaper when he gazed up at them solemnly and walked through the wall.

“Now that was weird,” Danielle muttered, slowly walking up to the wall. She examined the wood, knocking on two different sections of it. The first one, with the discolored wallpaper, made a hollow sound. The normally colored section made a solid thud. “There’s a room behind here, but it’s impossible to get through here with what we have now.”

Alex stared thoughtfully at the wall. “In Max’s chapter, that was where the entrance to the servant’s quarters was. I wonder who sealed it up…?”

Danielle shrugged, now focusing on the window instead. That was what had originally caught her interest. There was a strange power coming from that direction, and as she approached, it steadily grew stronger. She reached a hand out to touch the glass, but yelped in pain as magickal energy surged into her body. Alex was at her side in an instant to see if she was alright.

“I think we found that barrier,” Danielle said in a strained voice, forcing a small grin. Her arm felt like it was on fire, but she didn’t mention it to Alex. There was no need to worry her.

Alex opened the Tome and flipped to the page of spells. “Nethlek, Redgormor, Ulyaoth.” The runes floated in the air and slammed down, sending out a blue shockwave that made the hairs on the back of Danielle’s neck stand on end. The window vanished, and a chapter page hanging in mid-air was revealed. “A floating page,” Alex whispered in disbelief. “Now that’s a first.”

Danielle smirked and grabbed the page, glancing at its title. Just like all the times before, she saw one of those dark visions she was cursed with.

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The Black Guardian
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Pious Augustus stood in the Binding Hall of Oublie Cathedral, flanked by his two assistants. He waved his hand over the ground and begun a spell. “Tier, Pargon, Pargon, Aretak, Pargon, Pargon, Chattur’gha, Pargon, Pargon…” He tapped his staff on the ground, and a red portal appeared on the ground before him. From it came a great black creature that towered over Pious and his aids. The two monks backed away in fear, staring up at the great Black Guardian.

“I am not your food today! I am your master!” Pious shouted. “Your task is to guard the Artifact before you. Let no one touch it!” He stared at the stained-glass window behind the Black Guardian, barely able to make out the Veil of Ulyaoth behind it. If anyone came upon the Essence, they would not be able to get it. The Black Guardian would make sure of it.

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Alex raised a curious eyebrow at Danielle. “Another vision?” she asked, receiving a nod. “You looked really freaked out for a moment. What was it you saw?”

Danielle looked down at the paper, taking a small breath. “Really big monster just about sums it up.” She shook her head. “It was guarding something behind this glass window, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Maybe we can find out more with this page… Every vision I see relates to the page we find, so this has to mention something on that beast.”

Alex nodded, leading the way back to the study. “I sure hope it does,” she whispered to herself. With every page read, her worry continually increased. Would the two of them end up like every other person mentioned in the Tome? Would they be murdered because they knew the truth?

I only hope that we can stop Pious before he gets a chance to wipe out us, the last of the whole family line…

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Outside the Roivas Estate, sitting in an unmarked police car, was Inspector Jeremy Legrasse. Despite the heat from the car sitting shut with no AC on, he wore his customary tan trench coat over his t-shirt and jeans. He always wore his civilian clothes these days, even though he usually found it uncomfortable.

Civilians… It was such a long time ago that I was one of them.

He took a sip from his Styrofoam coffee cup, staring down at the file in his hand. A picture of the young girl who had entered earlier, Danielle Sterling, was clipped to the top right corner of a stack of papers. It was a full-fledged file on her, including information on how she was perfect to be on a police department with her intelligence and wits. There was also all the information that not even she knew about…

In the file, it mentioned her birth parents as really being James and Amber Roivas. Almost a month after she was born, they both died mysteriously. Adopted by the Sterlings, she was never told the truth as she grew up. The file continued on to talk about how her adoptive father talked S.T.A.R.S. into accepting her into their ranks and other assorted things.

Of course, Legrasse wasn’t here to talk about her recruitment and profile. He was here for “other” matters.

Just a few more hours, he thought with a smirk. And then, it will finally be time. Nothing anyone tries to do will be able to stop it.

Legrasse took another sip of his coffee as he sat in silence, waiting.

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 13: Heresy!
1485 A.D. Amiens, France

“In Europe, during the time of the Inquisition, paranoia and corruption ran deep. With the fear of devilry running rampant, the Ancients’ corruption extended far beyond mortal knowledge, corrupting all that could be corrupted. My researches uncovered an interesting incident. A Franciscan monk named Paul Luther was traveling through the region of Amiens during the witch-hunts of the Inquisition. Now under martial law, the Inquisition prevented anyone from leaving the town or its nearby cathedral, for everyone was suspect.”

Paul Luther walked through the large oak doors of the Oublie Cathedral, shaking the rainwater off his clothes. He was on the last step of his pilgrimage to see the sacred Hand of Jude, which was said to be stored in this very cathedral. It had been a long and arduous journey, but his faith had held out in the end.

“Welcome to Oublie Cathedral, Brother Luther. I’m glad that our sacred order can bestow hospitality on our Franciscan brethren.” From somewhere behind Paul walked out the bishop of the cathedral, Philippe Augustine. He was garbed in blood red robes with a rope tied around his waist. From under his hood he stared at Paul with a pale face that sent shivers up his spine.

“I shall not impost, Excellency,” Paul said humbly. “I merely request lodging and a viewing of the sacred relic, the Hand of Jude…” He bowed his head slightly while saying the name of the artifact.

Augustine walked behind him, placing his hands on Paul’s shoulders. “Many have traveled far, and even risked their lives for a glimpse of the hallowed relic’s true splendor. Of course, it would be wise to keep quiet during your stay.” He leaned in towards Paul ear as he spoke, as if he was telling him a secret. “The Inquisition is here for a reason, Brother. We seek to purge the deviancy from this town.” He let go of Paul and walked towards the doors of the sanctuary.

“I’m sure that will not be a problem. Amiens appears to be a peaceful hamlet.”

The bishop paused, but did not look back as he spoke. “It appears to be, but deviancy is secreted in the most deceptive places, which I believe is the case with Amiens…”

“Then I wish you luck in your search…”

Augustine spun to face Paul. “The Inquisition does not need luck, Brother Luther,” he said tersely. “Faith and purity are our guides.” With that, the bishop walked through the wooden doors of the sanctuary. Paul stood there for a second, slightly confused by the bishop’s attitude. Had he offended him somehow? He hoped not, for he didn’t want his long pilgrimage to be in vain. Quietly, he shook the rest of the water off of his robes and entered the sanctuary.

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A murder
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Paul walked past rows of pews towards the altar, intending to pray to the Lord for thanks on his safe arrival. But he noticed two things that immediately bothered him. The altar was clean of any religious signs. There wasn’t even a small cross. The other was a faint smell that steadily grew more powerful as he approached the altar. It was the smell of blood, along with decaying flesh.

He looked down the third row of pews and nearly gagged. A monk was lying on the floor, a gaping hole in his chest that exposed the bones of his ribs. “For the love of..!” he cried in a panicked voice, managing to stop himself before he forgot what he was taught. “Guards!! Help!! Come quickly!!”

From behind him, Augustine approached with two of his monks. It was clear by the expression on his face that he was enraged. “A murder! A murder most foul! What heresy is this?”

“I… I found him lying here… Dead… I called the guards…”

“Ah, is this our first suspect?” Augustine inquired to the monks next to him. The bowed their heads slightly. “Make sure no one touches the body. It must be examined for signs of devilry. As for this… ‘man’. Make sure he doesn’t leave the Cathedral… We will question him later…”

Paul looked at the three of them, stammering. “…But!!”

Augustine cut him off quickly with a stare that pierced into Paul’s very soul. “Hold your tongue Franciscan, or it might bring my wrath upon thee! Who is to say you did not commit this murder? If you trust in the Almighty, and are indeed innocent, then you will have nothing to fear…” Without another word, Augustine walked off. The two monks nodded wordlessly to Paul and escorted him to a small waiting room near the entrance of the cathedral.

“He will come to speak with you once he has a chance,” one of the monks said in a raspy voice. “You will wait here.” They walked out of the room, locking the heavy wood door shut behind them.

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A Light within the Darkness
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Paul paced back and forth in the small waiting room. What was going to become of him? He didn’t commit that murder, so why were they holding him accountable. Never would he perform such an act of heresy!

He stopped in the middle of the room with a heavy sigh. “Father, help me prove my innocence…” he whispered silently. When he glanced up at the picture before him, his eyes widened slightly. It was a painting of a monk holding a gold scepter in his hand. An emerald jewel was imbedded in the painting. Slowly, he walked over and took it in his hand. What was such a delicately cut jewel doing in a painting? It made no sense.

Behind them, the door opened, and an old man walked into the room. He wasn’t one of the monks, as was evident by his attire, but he was probably the custodian. “Are you here to pass sentence on me?” Paul asked uneasily.

“No, I’m here to free you… You are in incredible danger. This cathedral used to be a place of peace. Now many strange things happen here. I don’t want you to end up like the others…”

Paul’s mind drifted back to the body he had found. “What do you mean?” he asked, eager for information.

An expression of sadness appeared on the custodian’s face. “The body you found was Brother Andrew, and he was killed to protect a secret. We can’t talk about it here. Find me in the bell tower, and I shall aid thee further.”

“Why are you releasing me?”

“I don’t want another innocent to die like your Franciscan brethren. I have seen Brother Andrew make numerous entries into his journal. This may contain answers to the Cathedral’s dark secrets…”

“What can I do?”

“If I were you, I’d run!” the custodian urged.

“They will surely hunt me if I run! This has to stop!” What Paul said was true. Anyone who committed an act against the church would be hunted and burned at the stake by the Inquisition…

The custodian shook his head. “Then be it on your own head, Luther. Find Brother Andrew’s journals, if you can. He spent time in the Old Tower investigating. I believe I can find a key to the Old Tower in one of my stores. Later, come find me in the bell tower, and I will give it to you… Be swift! We can’t evade them forever…” The custodian walked out of the room, leaving Paul alone. Still slightly confused, he walked over to the door and opened it. Suddenly, he felt a wave of nausea and found himself in a large temple that was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

“What sort of unholy place is this…?” he whispered, staring in terror at the pictures of skulls and bones on the walls and listening to the wails of the faces on the floor. Statues lined the pathway to a large hand. In it was a book bound with leather and made of shrunken human bones. His hands were drawn to it against their will, and as he picked it up, strange images flooded his mind. In the blink of an eye, he was back in the room the monks had locked him in. Staring down at the book in his hands, terror built up inside of him, and he rushed to find the Custodian.

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Conversation in the Bell Tower
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Footsteps echoes throughout the room, alerting Paul to the presence of someone walking up the steps. He had made it all the way here, dodging a shambling corpse that ambushed him on the choir balcony. Perhaps ringing the church’s bell in an attempt to get the custodian’s attention wasn’t such a good idea. Nervously, he watched the person walk up the stairs. Paul breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed it was the Custodian. “Ahh. Brother Luther…” he said, obviously relieved. “Not a moment too soon. As you have noticed, dread things inhabit this place. Shambling corpses, and worse!”

Paul nodded. “There is darkness at work here! In the midst of the Inquisition!”

“I suspect it is worse than that, but I have no proof. Brother Andrew knew this also, and paid the price for it…”

“Why are you telling me this?” Paul asked with a hint of confusion on his face.

“Perhaps you can finish off what Andrew started.” From his robes, the custodian drew an old key and handed it to Paul. “Take this key. It unlocks the Old Tower. It has been sealed off since the Inquisition arrived…”

He took the key from the custodian’s hand. “I intend to uncover the truth behind this!”

“If you manage to uncover the source of darkness, return here, and I will do everything I can to help. Until then, Brother, may your faith protect you…”

Paul nodded and left the bell tower, avoiding the walking corpse on the choir balcony. It was time to get to the bottom of this.

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Suspicions Confirmed
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Paul held the last page of Brother Andrew’s journal in a trembling hand. The Cathedral’s secret had been uncovered, and it was far more frightening than he possibly imagined.

I must inform the custodian of this! The real Inquisition must be informed about these imposters!

He ran through the winding passages and back to the sanctuary. By the time he had reached the bell tower, he was gasping for air. He checked to make sure no one else was there before reporting his findings. “Brother Andrew suspected Augustine all along,” he said in a hushed whisper. “I managed to find remnants of his journal, and it all points to Augustine’s involvement with a paganistic cult operating inside the Cathedral!”

The custodian rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Aye… The Cathedral’s dark secret has been uncovered. I, too, suspected this, but was too afraid to act. Augustine himself is a heretic!”

“He has covered his tracks well, claiming that the sacred relic, the Hand of Jude, was stored here. He had those who came to see it murdered. The Hand of Jude never existed!”

“And with that realization, the trap closes, Brother. My days here are numbered.” He drew a strange dagger from his robes, handing it to Paul. Its blade was curved in a peculiar manner. When he spoke again, his voice was heavy with fear. “I awoke to find this cruel dagger placed on my pillow this morn. It can only mean one thing. I know too much, and they are moving to silence me. I can only hope that what little faith I have left is enough to save my soul…

“Please, take this thing away from me,” the custodian said, holding out the dagger to Paul. “Its very sight troubles me to no end.” Paul took the dagger hesitantly, repulsed by the dark aura around it. “May your faith protect thee, Brother Luther, for that’s all you have.” Paul slipped the dagger into the folds of his robes and nodded, walking out of the bell tower. He recalled finding some sort of stone effigy with a slot in its chest. It was most likely the dagger belonged there…

He made his way through the winding catacombs, battling against the demonic monsters that had taken up residence since he had spoken to the custodian. In the room with the effigy, he slid the knife into the slot. It made an audible click as it slid back, and a piercing scream echoed through the room. Part of the wall behind him slid up, revealing an ancient wooden door.

That scream… It came from behind the door. But who did it belong to?

He gripped the sword he had picked up from the body of poor Anthony, who he had to finally lay to rest in the old bishop’s chamber in the Old Tower. It was like his very soul was indwelt in the blade, wanting to seek justice against those who wronged him. Placing one hand on the handle of the door, he pulled it open and walked through.

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Heresy Revealed
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The room was dominated by a large pit with a balcony around the room that ended in a circular platform extending out over the abyss. A strange fog filled the pit, making it impossible to see the bottom, if there even was one.

On the floor directly in front of Paul were five red runes arranged in a pentagon. The air around them pulsed with corroding magick, and Paul dared not to touch them. Concentrating, he used the Dispel Magick spell that was in the Tome. A blue shockwave spread out through the room, and the runes vanished.

As he walked towards the platform, the smell of blood became thick in the air; weak at first, it steadily became stronger with every step. Something was lying on the stone altar on the platform. Its black robes were soaked with blood, which pooled upon the altar’s surface. Paul’s heart skipped a beat when he recognized the corpse’s face as that of the custodian, his only ally in the fight against the darkness.

“You are a clever man, Brother Luther,” the all-too-familiar voice of Philippe Augustine said from behind him. “Wanting answers to clarify your new position as fugitive, you seek them out, and this is what you find…” Augustine motioned to the custodian’s corpse with his hand. With a cruel laugh, he continued on. “Tell me, what does a man think of yourself think when he finds a viper’s nest of heresy, when he finds the very source of corruption!”

Paul’s voice quivered when he spoke. He was torn between fear and anger. “I think of irony… Irony of what you, masquerading as a member of the Inquisition stand for, and that you stand for evil!”

“Evil is merely a perspective that no longer concerns me, Luther. You will be executed in the most painful manner imaginable, after we have broken your frail body and mind, in the name of our true lord, Chattur’gha.” He turned away from Paul, walking back towards the door. “Come my children, feast on this morsel, and let us return to our preparations.” He stroked the heads of two Bonethieves as he walked away. They raises their heads and started towards Paul.

The two-edged sword cut swiftly through their necks. The beasts collapsed to the floor and were hacked to pieces soon afterwards. Paul took quick breaths, glancing at the corpse of the custodian.

Rest in peace, my friend. I will avenge your death and those who died before you because of this demon…

Gripping his sword tightly, he ran around the balcony, following Augustine’s trail. The hallway beyond the door was empty, but the same was not true of the room with the monk effigy. Augustine stood before a door with a strange metal pattern on it. He pulled a key from his robes and unlocked the door, walking through it.

Paul watched him before following him through. He ran through a corridor with a darkened stairwell, and yet another corridor before he reached a large door. It was different from the other ones throughout the basement, and there was an ominous presence behind it. The hairs on Paul’s neck stood on end as he reached for the handle.

The preparations Augustine mentioned must be taking place behind this door. I must stop this at once!

Ignoring the feeling of dread that built up inside, he opened the door and stepped through.

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The Black Guardian’s Lair
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The large hall he was in now had a checkered floor and strange murals on the walls. Paul examined them as he walked forward, repulsed by their maddening images. This place was, perhaps, the most unholy site he encountered under the cathedral. It was like a temple for some demonic god…

At the apse, the ground began to rumble, and a cracking sound was heard. He looked around quickly before realizing the sound was coming from beneath the floor. Suddenly, a terrifying creature burst out from the floor in front of him.

“This… is the one that seeks to do combat… with me?” the creature asked in a rumbling voice, staring down at Paul. To his right, Augustine walked forward, his voice different from before.

“Your task, my liege and Greater Guardian, is to guard this place.” His appearance began to change, and the robed Bishop was replaced by a skeletal demon holding a staff of bone. “Do not worry about this worm. His kind yelps in terror at the sight of your mightiness. We will dispose of him ourselves…”

Paul stared at the massive beast silently, eyes wide. It raised up its claw, slamming it down towards him. The last thing he saw was its massive claw before he felt a burst of pain and his world faded to black.

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 14: Harsh Reality

Danielle finished drinking the water she had poured into an old glass from one of the cabinets, noting absentmindedly that the water was lukewarm and not cold at all. Her thoughts drifted back to the chapter page, and she felt a burning rage build up inside. How many innocents had Pious killed already? He had to be stopped before Chattur’gha returned and even more people were slaughtered. “Man, if I ever get my hands on Pious, I’ll finish him off myself…”

As she set the glass down, she heard a cold voice from behind her. “And how will you go about doing that?” the voice uttered.

Danielle recognized the voice almost instantly. She spun around to face Pious Augustus, unsure of how he got here. She didn’t hear him enter or anything. It was like he just popped in without a single sound. Danielle glanced at the sword he held, a Roman Gladius, and swallowed hard. He wasn’t here on friendly terms, not like he was a good guy.

Pious grinned at the sight of Danielle’s fear. “I asked you a question.” Danielle didn’t reply, trying to think of a plan. The only thing she could come up with was to fight him unarmed. It was a stupid plan, but she was out of ideas.

Danielle bent her knees slightly and charged at Pious, throwing a punch at his face. As if anticipating the attack, he grabbed her fist and raised his sword. Danielle retaliated by landing a punch on his face with her free hand. Without letting go, Pious swung his Gladius around and pressed its edge against her throat. She felt a trickle of blood run down her neck as the sword was pressed against it. “So, when am I going to start paying?” he asked menacingly.

Once again, Danielle did not reply. Instead, she brought up her leg and kicked Pious away, forcing him to release his hold on her arm. Danielle took the chance to try and uppercut him, but he ducked and went around to her back. Before she could turn around, Pious landed a powerful blow on her side with the dull end of his Gladius. Danielle lost her balance and fell to the floor. Pious kicked her onto her back and placed his sword tip against her neck. But for some reason, he didn’t attack. “Why are you here?” Danielle asked.

“I have a preposition for you,” he replied calmly.

“And that is?”

“Join with me. You’re capable of great of great things, Danielle. Join with Chattur’gha and me, and I’ll grant you your life.”

Danielle sneered. “Nice sounding ultimatum, but no. I would never betray humanity to help you and that freak!”

Pious grinned coldly. “You would already,” he said viciously. “Though I’m giving you your option of Ancients to pick between.”

Danielle acted like she was considering this, and as soon as he relaxed his grip on the Gladius slightly, she grabbed his arm and twisted it hard. Her plan worked, but not how she wanted it to. Pious released the Gladius with a slightly pained expression, but he quickly put his foot on her chest. “You’re going to help an Ancient one way or another, Danielle. I will be tolerant, which is more than I can say for Xel’lotath.”

Danielle’s eyes widened in surprise. “What… What are you talking about!? I’m not helping any Ancient!”

His grin grew even wider. “You mean that good-for-nothing grandfather of yours didn’t even tell you? My, my, I’m surprised at him.”

“W-What?”

Pious shook his head. “This is quite amusing. You died at age thirteen, Danielle.”

“No…” she whispered in disbelief.

Pious let out a cruel laugh, pressing his foot down a bit harder. “Yes, and the only reason you’re still breathing today is because of me with the help of Xel’lotath. What better way to weaken an opponent than to force them to give a portion of their power to save their choice for Liche?”

“But… It can’t be…”

“Try to cast something with a Chattur’gha alignment and see what happens,” Pious said.

Danielle hesitated a moment, thinking of what to use. The only useful spell at a time like this was the Shield spell. “Bankorok, Redgormor, Chattur’gha…” she whispered. Suddenly, instead of red spheres flying around her, a burning pain shot through her body. After a few seconds, it subsided.

Once again, Pious grinned. “Xel’lotath’s magick flows within you, Danielle. You’re her Liche, and come time, she will be able to do what she likes with you.”

Danielle winced as his foot pressed down harder on her chest. “No. I won’t let her, and I won’t help you.”

“You think your dreams are as innocent as they seem?” Pious inquired. “Every time, she’ll be harder and harder to resist, and you will do her bidding whether you want to or not.”

Danielle glared at him, a burning rage building up inside. “No. I’m never going to help!”

Pious knelt down, his foot still on her chest, and placed a hand around her throat. “Choose. Help us, or die now.”

Ever defiant, Danielle replied with a single word. “No.”

Pious clenched his hand tightly, cutting off Danielle’s oxygen. She struggled to pull his hand away, but it was impossible. Her lungs burned in their attempt to get air, and she felt dizzy and light headed. Danielle stared up one last time into Pious’s cold grey eyes before she slipped into darkness.

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Flesh for the Pillar
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The wounded soldier knelt before the demon before him, staring at the bodies of fallen soldiers all around him. He was gravely injured, and he knew he would not survive long. He looked up at his enemy, the skeletal demon that bested him in battle. “Who… are… you…?” he choked, blood trickling from his mouth.

The demon clenched his fist and shouted, “I am your lord and conqueror!”

“What manner of forsaken being are you?”

The demon turned away, showing his back to the soldier. “So, you can see me in my true form. You are a gifted man…” He looked towards his two soldiers accompanying him. “Take this one, and use him as the foundation for the pillar.” The soldiers immediately grabbed the wounded soldier’s arms and dragged him off. He barely heard the last words of his captor. “He is special... and he should be given a special place among the suffering…”

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Alex looked down at the page she found, still sitting in front of the piano. It had been hidden inside the piano, and she had to play the same short song from Paul’s chapter to open it. It was another ingenious idea from her grandfather to keep something safe.

“Maybe I should check on Danielle now… She’s been in the kitchen for a while now.”

Alex stood up from the bench and let the dining room. As she entered the kitchen, she let out a startled gasp at the sight of Danielle lying prone on the floor. Her skin was deathly pale, and she didn’t appear to be breathing. Alex dropped to her knees beside her little sister, checking for a pulse.

“Danielle… Who did this to you?” Alex whispered, staring at her closed eyes. How long ago had this happened? There were no real wounds on Danielle’s body other than a small cut on her neck. So how could she have died?

Alex choked back tears, the sadness inside she had felt since the death of her grandfather rushing out. This was a sister she had just met a few hours ago, and now Alex had to bury her just like she did Edward. “I promise you I’ll get who did this, Danielle. I promise.”

Picking up Danielle’s body in her arms, Alex made her way out of the kitchen and into the master bedroom. There, she set Danielle down on the bed. Alex had lost everyone she held dear now, and if her hunch was right, she knew exactly who the killer was. “Danielle, I hope you gave him heck,” she whispered, closing the bedroom door behind her.

Alex walked back downstairs and picked up the phone, hearing only dead air on the other end. Were the phones down or something? “That’s not right. They must be working on the phones or something, but at this time at night?” She set it down, looking at the chapter page clenched tightly in her fist. “That’s gonna push things back a bit. I hope I can contact the police soon.” She thought about the look on Danielle’s face, and she felt a wrenching sorrow deep inside. Alex hadn’t been able to help her little sister, and now she was gone.

Alex struggled to hold back the tears as she returned to the study. She was now the last Roivas left alive, and it was up to her to uncover the secrets of the past.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Stormsworder on 2006-09-11 16:27 ]</font>

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 15: The Forbidden City
1460 A.D. The Middle East

“Much has been written about the exploits of conquerors. In the context of history, one man’s champion is another man’s nemesis: hero or murderer. Much has been written, but what is not is far more interesting… The Tome of Eternal Darkness mentions a Venetian artist of the Renaissance, named Roberto Bianchi. Roaming abroad to find inspiration, he was captured by a warlord expanding his empire. He forced Roberto to use his architectural and engineering skills to construct a monument to his greatness. To complete the task, he must survey the site.”

Roberto shielded his eyes, staring up at the two soldiers who had just thrown his rope down the hole. He had climbed down first, then the two of them undid the rope to make sure he didn’t escape back to the surface.

“Survey the site quickly, dog, and maybe you’ll live long enough to see the sacrament’s construction!” the soldier crouching down near the whole said with a sneer. “Did you think we would trust you, Bianchi? Even though you are graced with the generosity of our liege, you are still his prisoner! As I said, finish your work quickly, and maybe we’ll drag you out of this hole…”

Roberto lowered his hand, knowing it was useless to argue with the guards. They treated him as a slave and nothing more. It was to be expected. He turned to look at the dark rock passage behind him, shuddering at the ominous feeling from that direction. It just made him wish to quit the survey, but he knew he had no choice. It was either look around or be punished severely.

Roberto lit his torch with the aid of one on the wall and walked through the passage. Up a ladder, through an empty room, and down another ladder, he arrived in a corridor with a rotting corpse lying on the ground. As he approached it, the corpse stood up, staggering towards Roberto. In a panic, he waved the torch in front of him to ward off the creature. It ignored the flames but immediately paid the price as it went up in flames. Roberto edged his way past the burning creature and up a ladder.

Two workers were talking to themselves when Roberto entered. They paid him no attention until he called them both over to the four pillars in the middle of the room. He explained how the pillars would need more reinforcement if they were going to be able to hold up the enormous structure above ground. They both nodded and proceeded at once with the task. Satisfied, Roberto went to climb down a ladder across the room, but stopped as he caught a glimpse of an old saif on a stone ledge. His thoughts drifted back to the creature he had faced before and immediately picked up the blade. If there were more of those things, he would need this. Feeling a bit more comfortable with the sword in his hand, he climbed down the ladder.

The room he found himself in was very dark, but he could just make out the prone forms of bodies on the floor. They were all behind gates, and a lever was nearby. He carefully walked over to it and pulled it down, looking to his left as the gate opened. The single corpse inside staggered to its feet, heading straight for Roberto. Now that he had a sword, he sliced through it with ease. As he pulled the lever inside the cage, the gate behind him rose up, revealing two more of the zombie creatures. As before, he quickly dispatched them and pulled the third lever. The final gate in the room rose. This time, he faced three zombies. It proved more difficult than before, and he escaped with a few nicks and scratches. He climbed up a nearby ladder, hoping no more of those things were there.

Two workers were in this room, along with a crossbow and arrows for it. As before, he instructed the two men to reinforce sections of the room before proceeding down another ladder. Something strange happened though. He was now in a white-stoned temple of sorts. The pathway he stood on was covered with human faces that screamed in pain and agony.

Shuddering, he averted his focus from the faces to the statues that lined the pathway. There were about six statues of various people, but one lacked a torso. The name on it was Pious Augustus. Roberto wondered who these people were as he walked down the path to a large, leathery hand. It opened as he approached, revealing a book bound with human bones and skin. Hesitantly, he picked it up and found himself back in the room with the two workers. They gave him strange stares, and he immediately made his way down the ladder. With the strange book in his possession, he continued on with his task in this nightmarish temple.

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Guardian of the Temple
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He had been searching through the site for a while now. He had lost track of time long ago, along with the amount of monsters he had slain. Roberto was bone-weary by the time he happened upon a small circular chamber with three pedestals. A trickle of rocks from the far end of the room caught his attention, and he made his way over to it. All of a sudden, a ghostly blue light formed in front of him, and a spirit appeared right before his eyes. When the spirit spoke, his voice was heavy with anger.

“Venture no further, or be struck down where you stand!” he warned. He was holding a large sword in his hands, ready to strike.

Roberto’s eyes widened in surprise and fear. “Who…? What…?”

The spirit stepped forward towards him. “I am the Guardian of this Temple, the Forbidden City.” Roberto took a step backwards, but found his way blocked by another specter. It was a woman, her body cut in many places, and glowing blue light where her eyes used to be.

“None shall enter except the Chosen. Speak!” Before he could, the spirit brought his blade around and slashed through Roberto. He felt a cold sensation through his body, but he wasn’t harmed. He looked at his hands in amazement as the spirit spoke. “You… are the Chosen. For many years I have tested those who came here and all have failed. You are unaffected by the Power I wield, and thus must surely be the Chosen…”

“I…?” Roberto asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

The spirit’s expression softened. “Once I was as you were, confused and without answers. Yet, they came in time. Now, my duty is complete. I can finally rest. My sacrifice was not in vain.” He looked behind him, where the spirit of the woman appeared. He stared back down at the ground, and the two of them vanished from sight.

On the center of the three pedestals was a small effigy made of dark green emerald and shaped like a warped angel. As his hand neared it, he could feel the corrosive magick of the relic reach out to him. Roberto drew his hand away quickly, wrapping his hands in straps of cloth from his robes before picking it up. The Tome of Eternal Darkness stored it safely, and Roberto made a quick assessment of the room. He turned to leave when his foot nudged a small red effigy on the floor. He picked it up, noticing that it was of a warrior kneeling before an unseen victor. It, too, was stored in the pages of the Tome, and Roberto continued on.

He made his way through the labyrinth once more, passing through a locked door that opened when he summoned a zombie and walked it into a crushing trap. There was another room he had to inspect, but something strange happened when he gave instructions to the workers. All three of them turned on him, trapping him. Strange hisses came from them. “No, stop! What are you doing?” The workers ignored him, and one grabbed him around the throat. Roberto managed to pull free and ran out the door. He closed it behind him, slowly backing away, but the strange workers didn’t follow him through.

“Who in the world were those people? They weren’t normal. Not at all.” He wiped some sweat from his forehead, looking around quickly. There was a set of doors nearby, but they were locked. The only other way other than the way he came was a ladder leading down. He climbed down it quickly, taking out a few of the Trapper creatures in the hallway with his crossbow. He proceeded to another door, but stopped as he felt something strange nearby. When he looked in the alcove that the feeling came from, he saw nothing.

An idea came to mind. He opened the Tome to the spell page and recited five of the runes. “Narokath, Pargon, Redgormor, Ulyaoth, Pargon.” His vision was tinted with blue, and he saw what was hidden in the alcove. It was another small statue. This was a green one with a scholar on their knees, holding their head like their mind was being ravaged by some terrifying being. He picked it up, letting it be stored, and continued on into the next room.

A battle was raging between a Horror and a group of zombies. A platform across burning hot coals led to a key on top of a slab of stone. He snuck through the room and took the key, racing back through the door before the monsters even noticed him.

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Alex looked up from the Tome, glancing back at Edward’s spirit. “Help me, Grandpa… I can’t take this anymore…” She buried her face in her hands, shaking. All of this was too much to handle.

When Edward spoke, his voice sounded cold and harsh. “Don’t be so weak, Alex… You have a stronger mind than this. I didn’t bring up a weakling. Not a scared wretch of a girl!”

Alex was shocked by his sudden change in demeanor. “You kept all this from me! You kept me alone! You shared nothing with me!”

“I couldn’t. I could never give you the burden. I just wanted you to grow up, to grow up and leave me alone!” he shouted angrily. Edward looked away, speaking in a quieter but no less hateful tone. “Why couldn’t you have been killed with your parents…”

Alex held back tears as he vanished; she stared down at the Tome, scared and very confused. What was going on with her grandfather? Why was he so inconsiderate of the fact Danielle had been killed? Something wasn’t right, and she was going to find out what.

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A Monument for All Time
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Roberto climbed up the ladder leading back to the entrance, worn out from fighting the monsters in the final room he had to survey. The worm-like creatures had scared him more than harm him.

When he stepped forward into the large room, he was surprised to see his captor and two trusted soldiers standing there. The soldiers seized him, keeping him from approaching their lord. He turned to face Roberto, his eyes staring straight into Roberto’s. “And what news do you bring me, architect?” he inquired.

Roberto spoke quickly and fearfully, struggling against the guards. “The… The foundations are infested! Demons and devils! Many lives will be lost if you try to build there…”

“Hmm… You have done well to complete your goal, Bianchi. The construction will continue as planned…”

Roberto’s eyes widened. “But the demons!! You’d be insane to build there!”

The warlord pointed an armored finger at him, cutting him off with an angry shout. “Silence, dog! What dwells beneath the Forbidden City is the very reason it was built! For you to understand, you must witness it firsthand. Let me educate you.” The tone of his voice sent shivers up Roberto’s spine. “Guards! Put this one with the others of the sacrifice…” The two guards dragged Roberto off, making sure he couldn’t escape.

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Atop the scaffold of the pillar stood the warlord, along with his two guards and many prisoners. As he shouted for all to hear, the prisoners were thrown one by one into the pillar.

“I am the Scourge of God, appointed to chastise you, since no one knows the remedy for your iniquity, except me! You are wicked, but I am more wicked than you, so be silent!” As he said that, the last of the prisoners were thrown in, screaming in a foreign language on the way down. The soldier behind Roberto pushed him forward with his spear. “Now for you, architect. You are about to make your largest contribution to this project…”

The guard shoved Roberto into the shaft. He went down screaming before he felt a spike of pain in his neck, and his world faded to black.

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 16: Grip of Insanity

Alex gently closed the Tome, relieved that her grandfather’s spirit didn’t come again. Actually, she had trouble believing that this was really Edward. Almost all night she had felt like she was losing it, going insane. Maybe Edward’s appearances were all in her mind.

“Danielle saw him the second time… The same thing happened to both of us, I guess.” Alex slowly stood up, her legs feeling like rubber. Every time she read a page, she would have to resort to the Tome’s spells for help. She concentrated and quickly whispered the words. “Narokath, Pargon, Santak, Xel’lotath, Pargon.” There was an odd sensation as five spheres of light flew into her body from the runes. Alex could think clearly now, and she no longer had the feeling that something was wrong.

“What if Grandpa wasn’t the one here all the time? Even if he was a ghost, he wouldn’t act like that. So if it wasn’t him, then…” Alex’s eyes widened. Pious could use magick to change his appearance. He could be doing the same thing right now. “It would make sense. He could disguise his real form to get close to us. That would explain how Danielle got caught off guard. I can’t let the same happen to me.”

Alex was about to head out the door when she heard something small hitting the floor behind her. She turned around just in time to see pebbles fall from the ceiling near a painting. As she walked over to it, she saw the painting was of the same pillar mentioned in the chapter. As if someone was guiding her hand, she pushed aside the painting and pulled out a chapter page. She stared at it for a second. It felt so different now with no one to discuss the pages with. What vision would Danielle have seen if she was still alive?

“Don’t think about it,” she told herself, sliding the painting back into place. Thinking about her sister hurt too much. Alex sat down at the desk, but instead of reading the page, she began checking through all of Edward’s notes. If there was anything useful about fighting Pious, maybe it would be here. If not, then all she did was waste a few minutes.

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Binding the Black Guardian
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Pious stood over the latest sacrifice to his lord, wrapped up in his plans. As he cut the corpse with a curved knife, he felt the presence of one of his servants behind him.

“The Black Guardian grows restless, my liege. Its hunger increases, and the binding continues to weaken. We feed it flesh, but I fear it will not guard the relic too much longer.”

Pious stopped, but did not look back at the monk. “There is no choice in the matter. It must remain and guard the artifact until the time of planetary alignment. After that, the Guardian may return to its lair… Our Master does not like failure. It is imperative to keep the binding intact.”

“Then we must find more flesh and bone…” Pious ignored the servant and returned to his work, a plan already formed. The nations around him were preparing for war. The bodies of the soldiers would surely please the Greater Guardian…

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Danielle felt an icy chill on her forehead that slowly forced her awake. She opened her eyes, staring up into her grandfather’s face. Confused thoughts filled her mind. What had happened since the attack? How come she was still alive?

“You’re awake,” Edward said, the relief in his voice clear. “I feared that you would not survive. Unfortunately, Alex thinks you didn’t.”

Danielle sat up as he drew his hand away, slightly more confused than before. “How come I’m still alive, then? I should technically be dead.”

Edward seemed worried. “Xel’lotath’s magick runs in your blood. It’s what kept you alive both tonight and the night you were killed five years ago.”

“What happened? I would think I would remember something about that.”

He shook his head. “A Guardian came in the night while your parents were gone. It killed you with one blow to the heart. Pious had forced Xel’lotath to indwell you with her power then instead of when she had originally planned it. It was only enough to keep you alive. But Pious believed that maybe she would turn you against us.”

“Fat chance,” Danielle mumbled. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner instead of letting Pious deliver the news?”

“How could I tell you? You barely had any knowledge of the Ancients, so how would you react to this?”

“Point taken,” she replied dryly. “I just can’t believe this is happening. This is all so crazy.”

Edward nodded, his voice bitter. “I know. I hoped that maybe if you didn’t know, you would be safe.”

“Well, it looks like your plan failed.” Danielle rubbed her forehead. “Pious wanted me to join him and Chattur’gha. Any idea why?”

Edward paced back and forth, shaking his head. “The only reason I can think of is to have you delay Alex. You are both a threat to him. He knew this wouldn’t kill you. He doesn’t possess the power to yet. But when the planets align, you will be vulnerable. Vulnerable not just to Pious’s attacks, but to the control of Xel’lotath.”

Danielle was about to ask him what he meant when her whole body seized up suddenly. A stabbing pain in her head made her want to scream, but she couldn’t even move or speak. Green light engulfed her vision, blinding her. She could hear her grandfather calling her name before laughter filled her head, drowning her in Xel’lotath’s insanity.

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 17: A War to End all Wars
1916 A.D. Amiens, France

“’The War to End all Wars’ redefined how mankind looked at war, and the value of human life. Over 19,000 men lost their lives every day in the trenches of the Somme. Some say uselessly. Some invoke a higher cause. I read accounts of the slaughter from many journalists who spent time in the trenches, but I found the account of a certain Peter Jacob to be the most horrible of all. His implication about the Ancient’s involvement with the war was hideous, and so obvious. With the horror of the Battle of the Somme scant miles away, and the distant echoes of pounding artillery, a young journalist named Peter Jacob researched his latest story from the front lines. His grim task brought him to Oublie Cathedral, now transformed into a field hospital…”

The air around him was thick with the smell of sweat and blood, making it hard to concentrate. Every now and then, one of the wounded would cry out in pain, moaning something incoherent. Most of the hospital beds had bloodstained sheets covering them, hiding the body of another poor young soldier. Peter Jacob wrote silently in his journal as he surveyed the carnage around him.

“I find no solace in the purpose behind all the senseless violence that surrounds me. Young men die at a rate unheard of in centuries of warfare. Shelling, machine guns, and mustard gas, rip, pierce, and burn their flesh. Men soak gauze in their own urine to stop the insidious gas. The hospitals here cannot cope with the torrent of wounded.”

Even as he wrote this, a soldier pulled out a wounded man from one of the tents. He carried the half-conscious man to another section of the cathedral. Peter closed his journal, stuffed both it and his pen in his pocket, and stood up from the table he sat on.

The night sky outside the cathedral was lit up by the constant explosions of artillery shells. The walls shook with every impact, and Peter had to wonder how much longer it would be until the Germans invaded Amiens. The soldiers were fighting valiantly to hold them off, but more and more wounded came in every day. How much longer could they hold out?

He sighed and looked around in silence, noticing that the staff was too busy to bother noticing him. Perhaps he could look around, see what was hidden inside this ancient church. He hadn’t had much time to explore when he first came here, but now…

Peter walked down the aisle towards the altar, glancing occasionally at the tents that housed a mortally wounded soldier. There weren’t many places he could check out. Soldiers guarded the door to one of the older sections of the church, along with the stairs to the basement. A sealed envelope on the podium caught his attention, and he picked it up without anyone halting him. Peter opened it, pulling out a set of papers. They were orders to one of the soldiers stationed here. Actually, he recognized the name. Pvt. Thompson was stationed near the entrance, guarding a small room off to the side. He had always complained about being stuck there these days, so maybe this would cheer him up a bit.

Peter walked back down the aisle and through a set of double doors. Sure enough, Pvt. Thompson was leaning against a wall at his post, looking as bored as ever. “This came in for you,” Peter explained, handing over the papers.

Thompson took one look at them and grinned, speaking so fast with his British accent that he totally lost Peter. He snatched up his rifle from nearby and ran off, leaving a slightly confused Peter behind. He didn’t think Thompson would be that enthusiastic to go into battle.

Peter turned around and walked through the door Thompson had been guarding, immediately reeling backwards from the smell of blood that was so thick in the air. Bloodstained body bags lined the floor, and a nearby bench had a revolver lying on it. He slowly picked it up, wondering who would leave a weapon in such a place like this? As he checked to see how many rounds were loaded, a mortar exploded dangerously close to the church, making it shake hard enough to make him stumble. The lights flickered before going out, plunging the room into darkness. He heard screams from the sanctuary of the church, and he instinctively ran to check it out. But as soon as Peter’s hand touched the doorknob, the room around him vanished, replaced by a well-lit stone temple.

He hesitantly took a step forward, keeping the revolver raised. He wasn’t an expert in firearms, but he could defend himself if needed. While the temple was definitely strange, nothing jumped out at him. He did hear hundreds of screams everywhere, but he couldn’t find the source. But when he glanced down at the floor, he immediately shuddered and averted his gaze. “Don’t look at the faces… Don’t look at the faces…” he told himself, still walking forward. He had seen human faces imbedded in the floor, screaming out to him in agony. The image was seared into his mind, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it.

Peter continued forward, casting glances at the statues he passed by as he made his way to the large hand at the end of the path. When he was within a few feet of it, the hand opened up, revealing a large book in its palm. He tucked the revolver under his belt, picking it up. As soon as he did, he reappeared in the storage room. Confused and a little freaked out, he opened the door and stepped outside.

The first thing he noticed was a reddish creature standing in front of the doors to the sanctuary. At the sound of him closing the door, it immediately turned to face him and started his way. Peter took careful aim despite his trembling hand, and as soon as the creature prepared to jump at him, he fired a bullet right into its fiendish head. The monster hissed and went down in a spray of crimson, not moving again. Peter lowered the revolver, staring in fear and wonder at the creature. What was it, and where had it come from? He opened the Tome, flipping through a few pages until he found the picture of the exact same creature he killed. It was called a Bonethief, and it “wore the skins of humans.”

”I don’t like the sound of that, he muttered, turning back to face the sanctuary doors. As he opened them, he caught a glimpse of another Bonethief leaping onto the chest of one of the nurses. He watched in terror as it dug into her body, disappearing from sight. The nurse stretched out her neck a bit, then turned to face Peter, even though he was hiding behind the door. He heard more screaming from deeper in the sanctuary, and he knew that everyone else inside must have met the same fate. There was no other way for him to go but inside, so he took a deep breath and threw open the door, running as fast as his legs could carry him.

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Food for the Beast
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Peter Jacob had fought long and hard through the labyrinth of catacombs in the basement of the cathedral. The monsters had completely overrun the church, killing or taking over nearly everyone. He had found a rifle and sword during his struggle, along with a Circle of Power with seven points and the Magickal Attack spell scroll. The most shocking of all were the letters from a soldier describing how soldiers who were brought in kept vanishing in the night. What was really going on inside this church? What dark secret was hidden in its walls?

He pushed open a particularly heavy wooden door, feeling a knot of terror build up inside. He was in a massive hall with a huge pit on the other side. He noticed some sort of liquid on the floor around it, and it took him a second to realize it was blood. Peter close the door behind him, taking a few cautious steps towards the pit. He could smell the unmistakable odor of rot and decay with every inch he drew near, and when he came close to the edge, a massive figure burst out from the hole.

Peter fired twice with the revolver, but the shots merely reflected off a magickal shield around the creature. Four red spheres appeared in front of the beast, and they shot into the ground behind Peter. A wall of red magick blocked off his escape, leaving him trapped with the creature.

He turned back to face the beast, the Black Guardian. The battle had begun.

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Peter cast the last 3-point Ulyaoth Magickal Attack spell, and blue lightning shot into the Black Guardian. It roared in pain and collapsed back into its hole, finally dying. He bent over, hands on his knees, and breathed heavily through his mouth to avoid the smell of rotting flesh in the area. The stained glass that had been behind the Black Guardian shattered outwards, revealing a statuette hovering over a stone pedestal. He slowly made his way over to it, reaching out to touch it. But as he did, he felt its corrosive magick close in on his hand, and he opted instead to pick it up after wrapping his hands in torn strips from his shirt. If that beast had been guarding this, it had to be important.

Turning back towards the door he came in through, he finally relaxed a bit. Maybe this nightmare was finally over.

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Memories that haunt
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69 years later…

“…and that was how I came by it,” Peter explained, concluding his tale of that dreadful night so many years ago. It may have been quite a long time ago, but the memories were still vivid. “I know it sounds crazy, but there you have it. The only proof I have is that… statue…”

Dr. Edward Roivas, the psychologist who had been interested in hearing Peter’s story, leaned in closer to examine the statue while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm… It’s a strange one. I’ve seen one like it before…”

“You have?” Peter asked, surprised.

Dr. Roivas nodded, sitting back in his armchair. They were in the Roivas Estate’s elegant library, and the statue was on a small table between their chairs. “Yes. Very rare, though. Very obscure.”

Peter grew slightly suspicious. How did this man know about the statue while everyone else was clueless? “I’ve had experts take a look at it, and none of them know what it is. And you do?”

“I’m somewhat of an expert on these things, myself, an interest I developed a long time ago when I was a young man…”

“Then you should keep it,” Peter said, rubbing his eyes with a frail hand. “Lord knows I have no interest in it. I’m sure it’s the cause of my sleeplessness… I keep thinking about it, as if it’s calling out to me…”

Picking up his glass of water, Dr. Roivas raised it into the air. “Then a drink, perhaps? For the gift?” Peter nodded, raising his own glass. “For an unusual objet d’art…”

[Zelutos]

On 2006-07-18 14:06, Stormsworder wrote:
XD Actually, this is based off of the game called Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem for the Gamecube. It's a little known game, but was the first Nintendo-published game to get the M-Rating by the ESRB. >> It's basically a novelization of it, but with a few twists, such as my added character and all that.

I am glad you like it despite some of the bad chapters. I REALLY need to fix them, especially chapter 9 that's coming up.



Eternal Darkness was one of the best games i ever played on the Gamecube.

I'll have to go through and read all your stuff. [i was going to accuse you of stealing from the game, but then i saw this post http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif ]

[Stormsworder]

((Wow. XD I forgot to update this again. X_X And I'm getting rather far in its sequel already... Got some catching up to do here))

Chapter 18: Search for Truth

Edward stared down at Danielle, who was tossing and turning on the bed. Beads of sweat trickled down her pale face. Edward knew exactly what was going on. Xel’lotath had tried to take over Danielle when her mental strength had taken a serious blow, and now she was fighting off the Ancient’s control. Edward was worried about her. Danielle was a very strong girl, but this was her first time going through a fight such as this.

He noticed a ghost appear to his right, and thinking it was Maximillian, told them to not even bother arguing. That was when he discovered that it was Ellia, the young dancer killed in the Tome’s second chapter and the one who had guarded the Heart of Mantorok. “Ellia? Forgive me. I thought you were Maximillian. He and I haven’t been on good terms lately… What are you doing here?”

“It’s time, Edward,” she said softly. “You cannot stay here any longer.”

Edward looked down at his granddaughter, who had finally relaxed and was resting peacefully. “How can I leave her now when she needs me the most?”

Ellia sighed. “I know, but if the plan is to work, then we must prepare. I’m sorry, Edward, but this is how it must be.” She paused for a beat. “I suppose a few more minutes won’t do any harm. Tell her what you must, but remember that you do not have much time.” Ellia faded away, and Edward suppressed a smile. The young dancer was certainly more understanding and kinder than Maximillian.

He strode over to Danielle’s side as she slowly came to. She was clearly exhausted, but she looked better than before. “Grandpa, it was Xel’lotath. I could feel her inside me, trying to take over.”

“It’s all right. You’re safe now.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Danielle, I must depart now. I’ve aided you as much as I can, but the rest is up to you. The fight ahead will be difficult, but I know that you can manage if both you and Alex work together.” Danielle was about to say something, and Edward held up his hand to silence her. “I don’t have much time. Let me finish.

“You must rest to recover from what you’ve been through. Alex believes you are dead, so you must be careful when you have to rejoin her. Don’t tell her anything about your connection to Xel’lotath. It’s too dangerous for her to know about.” He thought over everything again, sure he had covered all that he needed to tell her. “Danielle, this will be the hardest test of your strength. Be strong, and you can make it through.” Edward felt himself weakening, being drawn back to the other realm.

Not now. Please, not yet.

“Danielle, even though you may not see me, I will always be at your side.” He took one last look at his granddaughter. She was just a child involved in something so dangerous, yet she shouldn’t have even been caught up in this in the first place. He smiled gently and vanished.

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Alex inserted the penny she had found in the Tome into the basement circuit breaker. After reading the page and encountering a strange ghost for the key to the basement, she realized that the next page was in the dark room upstairs. A quick check of the circuit breaker revealed that one fuse was indeed missing. Using the penny like Peter Jacob did in his chapter, she completed the circuit and returned upstairs.

That ghost was no illusion, she thought. Especially since it dropped the key. What happened to her?

Confused, Alex walked into the previously darkened room and looked around. It was the guest bathroom, and nothing out of the ordinary was present besides another page from Maximillian Roivas’s journal. “So where could that chapter page be?” she muttered, staring at herself in the medicine cabinet’s mirror. She stopped for a second and then opened the cabinet. Among the remedies, herbs, and medicines was the next page to the Tome.

Alex pulled it out, pausing momentarily to glance at all of the medicines that lined the shelves. There were cures for nearly everything, including hypochondria. She never knew Edward had been so concerned about his health. But was all of this medicine really necessary? “It was like he thought he couldn’t afford to ever get sick. Like everything depended on his well-being. But why did he think this…?”

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Dark Servants
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“You are not free to leave this plane until you complete a task for me,” Pious ordered, staring at the Chattur’gha Guardian before him. He had grown tired of the meddling Roivas line, so he decided to take action. “You are to hunt and kill the master of this house. Do this one thing and you will be free, else fear the wrath of Chattur’gha!” The Guardian turned into a sphere of red light and flew off in the direction of the stairwell that led to the Roivas Estate.

Rings of red light surrounded Pious, and he appeared before the image of his master. “Everything is complete for your arrival, Master. Now, we must wait for the planets to align, and that is not too many years from now. Another Roivas has crossed our path. This time, we will not be so merciful.”

The Ancient peered down at him. “Mercy has no place in this world…”

“He will meet such a horrible death that the rest of the line will never set foot in his house again!”

His master’s next words were low and menacing. “Pray to me that they don’t…”

-------------------------------------------------------

Danielle blinked a few times as the vision passed, still weary from having to hold off Xel’lotath. Did the vision mean the next page was about her grandfather? She didn’t know, but she had a hunch she was about to find out.

She laid back down, the exhaustion from before catching up with her. Taking the advice from her grandfather, she allowed sleep to overcome her. All she needed was a little rest. Then, she would be ready.

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 19: A Legacy of Darkness
1952 A.D. Roivas Family Estate, Rhode Island

Edward Roivas closed the door to the library behind him, examining the shelves of books that surrounded him. The single book he was searching for was on one of the many shelves, but he forgot where he had put it last.

“My education in psychiatry did not prepare me. I would love to see how Freud’s view of his mother would change with the knowledge of Chattur’gha. How Skinner would incorporate Xel’lotath into his behaviorist theories. How Jung would accommodate Ulyaoth into his theory of the collective unconscious.”

He found the book he was trying to find and pulled it out from the shelf, walking over to the chairs that were near the fireplace. Edward stared up at the painting of the Roivas family tree, the candles that stood on either side of it giving it an eerie appearance. It was said that if one looked closely, the secrets of the Roivas family would be revealed…

“Like my ancestor, Maximillian, I too had an interest in my family tree. As a psychiatrist, I believed that science could provide answers into my family’s sordid, bizarre past. It was with great excitement that I began my search.”

He sat down in one of the chairs, feeling comforted by the warm heat of the fire. He slowly opened the book, his eyes scanning the rows of text.

“The mansion’s history was filled with my colorful predecessors. Everything from convicted and hung witches to committed madmen, each laying their own peculiar mark on its character. I intended to find their secrets…”

Edward closed the book after a while, not sure of how much time had passed since he began. The information he had found still left many of his questions unanswered. His only choice now was to search elsewhere for clues. As he stood up, something slipped out from between the pages of the book, landing on the wood floor. He picked it up, recognizing it as the brass minute hand of a clock. “Strange…” Edward mumbled, thinking. Perhaps this was to the grandfather clock in the library? There was only one way to find out.

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Echo of the Past
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Edward walked into the back of the library, hesitation as he neared the grandfather clock. He felt a presence behind him, and he stopped in his tracks. “Edward…” a ghostly voice called out from behind him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and he spun around quickly. A translucent man was standing there, wearing clothes that dated back to colonial times. Edward gasped, slowly backing away from the ghost of someone he knew had to be dead.

“You know who I am Edward…. Although you are doing your best not to believe it. I am, or was, Maximillian Roivas, your ancestor. I died in an asylum after trying to warn the world. The pain and anguish I felt in that cell has empowered me to linger after my death. I must complete what I started, Edward. The Darkness must be stopped, or all of humanity may end!”

The ghost of Maximillian walked past him to the other side of the room, gazing at the clock. “Set the clock to the thirty-third minute of the third hour…” With that, the ghost vanished. Edward stared at where Maximillian had once stood, wondering if he had been hallucinating. It was impossible that a ghost could have been in this very room, yet he had seen it with his own eyes. What did he mean by finishing what he had started though.

Edward stared down at the clock hand in his fist. There was only one way to find out if this was true, and that was to do as Maximillian had instructed and set the clock to 3:33. He set the minute hand on the clock and returned to the foyer of the Roivas Estate, going over places to check in his mind. The mansion wasn’t exactly huge, but it would be hard to find a single clock hand. With a heavy sigh, he began his search.

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The Legacy Unveiled
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He had found the hour hand of the clock in the second floor study. As he set the time on the grandfather clock to 3:33, a bookcase behind him slid over to reveal a hidden passage. Maximillian’s ghost reappeared, leading him through the passageway and into a study of sorts. The desk in the middle was cluttered with miscellaneous junk. A large, leather-bound book was what stood out the most.

Maximillian’s ghost gestured to the items as it spoke. “Take them, and use them. They are humanity’s only hope. Destroy the Guardians, Edward, and avenge my wasted death…” As it said these last words, its voice grew weak, and it reached a hand out to Edward. It vanished from sight.

Edward examined the notes scattered about the desk. They referred to the book as the Tome of Eternal Darkness. They also explained that an ancient city was underneath the mansion and was filled with creatures known as “Guardians” that served the dark being “Chattur’gha”. As he read on, he felt a knot of fear build in his stomach. All this time, there had been monsters living under the house of his ancestors. “And it is up to me to stop them…”

Edward picked up the Tome, heading out the door of the study. But as he entered the library, he witnessed something that would forever haunt him. A reddish creature had appeared next to a frightened maid, and it opened its mouth and sucked out the blood from the maid without even coming in direct contact with her. He could actually see the blood going through the air and into the creature’s mouth. When it was done, it ran off and vanished, knocking over a vase that left the piece of a key in its shards. The maid collapsed to the floor, but it was only a few seconds before she stood up again and looked at Edward with a blank expression on her face. Her skin was deathly pale, like her whole body had been drained of its… “Blood,” Edward whispered. “That thing was a Vampire…”

The maid slowly made her way towards Edward, but he ran as fast as he could through the library door and out into the foyer while snatching the key fragment off the floor. He locked the door behind him quickly so that the maid couldn’t follow after him. Edward feverishly thought of a plan. There was a saber on display in the dining room. Even if he wasn’t a fighter, he had to keep something with him to defend himself. Edward ran in, receiving confused looks from his maids and servants, and snatched up the saber. As he was returning to the foyer, a shrill scream came from one of the second floor rooms. He could hear the confused words of the servants in the foyer as he charged upstairs, running into the master bedroom. The Vampire was there, attacking a servant who was busy cleaning the room. A single slash was sufficient to distract the monster, and it went after Edward instead.

After another hit, the Vampire became invisible. As it attacked from another side, it came into view once more. Edward instantly understood and came up with a pattern for fighting. He would dodge the slow attacks when it became visible and strike back quickly. After a few hits, it vanished and ran out of the room. The servant was shaking with fear as he handed Edward a key. “Use it to unlock the gun cabinet. You have to kill that… that thing before anyone gets hurt.”

Edward nodded as he ran out of the master bedroom and into the study where the gun cabinet was. He unlocked the door and took out the large gun inside, along with a good amount of shells. It was called an elephant gun and was one of the most powerful weapons created so far. “It would be better if you got out of here,” Edward informed the servant in the room. “Help as many of the others escape as you can. Something is here and is attacking the servants.”

The man nodded and left the room immediately. Edward hoped that he would tell the others to leave before the Vampire took more lives. He searched around the room, coming up with ammo for the elephant gun, revolver ammo, and shotgun shells. A more thorough search rewarded him with an old revolver. With a deep breath, he headed back downstairs and enchanted the elephant gun with the Ulyaoth alignment. After a while, he heard the scrape of claws on marble floor. The Vampire appeared nearby, reaching out with its claws to swipe at him. He blasted it with two rounds from the elephant gun, and it immediately ran off. Edward reloaded the weapon, picking up half of a key on the floor. He thought for a moment before combining them together with the Enchant Item spell. He unlocked the door and went through, reaching the bottom of the basement steps in time to see the Vampire absorbing power from a stone monolith. All of its injuries healed up as it did so, and Edward understood that this was what was giving the Vampire its power.

Edward dodged attacks from the Vampire, repeatedly blasting the stone monolith until it crumbled. He reloaded the elephant gun with shaky fingers, and when the monster reappeared again, Edward blasted it at point-blank range with the elephant gun. The effect was instantaneous. The Vampire collapsed to the ground, a massive hole in its head. Edward reloaded quickly, picking up ammo around the basement and taking a shotgun off the wall. The stone monolith was covering a hole with a ladder leading downwards. He remembered the notes saying that this was the way into Ehn’gha. Swallowing hard, he climbed down the ladder into the darkness.

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Death Comes to us All
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The ground beneath him shook as he ran. Magickal power built up in the surrounding area, and Edward knew he didn’t have much more time before the spell he had inscribed in Ehn’gha’s array was activated. He had fought his way through the hordes of Chattur’gha to inscribe the runes for a Dispel Magick spell. Now, the spell was about to activate and wipe out every living being within Ehn’gha. Guardians had been trying to stop him from escaping, but he had barely managed to get away from them. Now, he was running as fast as he could up the spiraling staircase that led back to the mansion, his legs aching as he stopped at the ledge overlooking the ancient city.

Blue light formed on the tips of the nine spires that overlooked Ehn’gha. Suddenly, from the center of the city, a massive wave of blue light shot out, decimating not only the legions of Chattur’gha but causing damage to parts of Ehn’gha. Edward watched with a shocked expression, unable to believe the power, but feeling relieved that he had destroyed the Guardians. But somewhere deep inside, he knew that this fight was far from being over.

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48 years later…

“Why are you telling me this now?

Edward looked at his youngest daughter, seeing the confusion in her eyes. He hated lying to her like this, but he had to. It was his only option. And he had to get her to leave soon. If she stayed any longer, the Guardian would kill her too, and that was completely unacceptable. He shook his head in reply to her question. “Because something important is happening that concerns you. That man in your dreams isn’t just a figment of your imagination. I’m afraid I have no time to explain this to you in detail. I still have work to do. Perhaps… Can you return here in two weeks?”

Danielle nodded, standing up from her chair. “Yeah, I can. It’s right after the mission trip.” Edward led her to the front door and held it open for her. “Thanks for telling me the truth. Maybe when Mom and Dad get back, I’ll ask them about this. Well, good-bye…” Without another word, she walked out and silently returned home.

Edward sighed, his heart heavy with sadness as he closed the door. He knew this day would come, ever since he discovered the chapter page about her. The vision he had seen of the Guardian murdering her, and then Pious indwelling her with Xel’lotath’s power, still haunted him.

He shook his head and returned to the library, writing out a note to Alexandra, his oldest granddaughter, that explained Danielle’s relationship to her and how to contact her. The two of them would need each other for what was about to happen. Edward sealed the note in the envelope and addressed it to Alexandra, leaving it on the desk as he stood up. From a bookshelf nearby he pulled out a dusty novel and sat down in his favorite chair in front of the fireplace.

He wished he could have done something to help her when she was attacked by the Guardian, but he was unable to. Not to mention he would have aroused her adopted parents’ suspicions. But now that they were dead, he had no other choice but to tell Danielle the truth. She would find out about her parents on her own. That was something that he couldn’t tell her about no matter what.

The grandfather clock chimed three, and he felt a presence behind him, along with a low rumbling sound. He looked up, closing his eyes and knowing what was about to come.

I was such a terrible grandfather to them both. Now, I’ve left them alone…

He opened his eyes, a single tear trickling down his face. “Forgive me, Alex, Danielle…” There was a sudden, stabbing pain in the back and front of his neck, and he saw no more.

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A Vision of Victory
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Pious knelt before the image of his Master before standing up. He had brought Chattur’gha news of Ehn’gha’s destruction by that fool, Edward Roivas. It seemed that he had acquired the Tome of Eternal Darkness and manage to defeat the Vampire Pious had sent. Staring at Chattur’gha’s image, he delivered his message.

“Master, I bring thee grave news. A colony of Guardians in the ruins of Ehn’gha has been decimated. Without them, I fear we are lost…”

“Your fears are unfounded, servant. This news is irrelevant. I have seen the future that will come to pass. In this vision, I see myself crushing Xel’lotath, as I was destined to do. My many mouths will consume its body from all sides, gnawing at it until nothing remains,” Chattur’gha boasted. “This I have seen. This is what will be…”

“You would place all our faith… in a vision?” Pious asked, doubtful of this.

“Yes, just as I have placed all my faith… in you…”

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 20: The Final Page

Danielle sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. So a Chattur’gha Guardian was the one responsible for Edward’s murder. Now she finally knew the truth. Pious had ordered the Guardian to take out Edward in order to scare Alex and her away.

“And the older sister shall join him, by blood betrayed, and our return shall be at hand.”

Her blood ran cold, and she immediately recognized the voices, one firm and one a whisper, as Xel’lotath’s. “Just shut up and leave me alone!” she snarled.

“You have no power to make me do anything. Soon, you will be powerless to resist me, and the blood of the Roivas shall stain the Earth once more before darkness covers the land.”

Danielle shut out Xel’lotath’s voices, slowly standing up. Something was wrong. The stench of diseased and rotting flesh was thick in the air. Suddenly, hands wrapped around Danielle’s torso, pinning her arms to her side. Hot, fetid breath washed over the back of her neck. She let out a cry of pain as the creature bit into her shoulder, tearing away flesh and devouring it greedily.

Danielle thrust her head back, a pounding pain in the back of her head as she hit the creature’s skull and knocked it backwards. She darted to the dressed and pulled out the magnum revolver that had been left in there. She turned to the Mantorok zombie and took aim at its head. Blood flowed freely from the bite on her shoulder, staining her uniform and dripping down her arm, but she did her best to ignore it. That was when she heard a scream of pain from the hallway.

“That was… Alex!” Ignoring the zombie, she ran out into the hall just in time to see a Chattur’gha Bonethief corner her older sister. The body of a second one was nearby, along with the corpse of a Trapper. Danielle focused on the living one, aiming with steady hands. Everything her father had taught her about firearms shot through her mind in an instant. She braced herself, aimed carefully, and pulled the trigger. The round hit dead-on. The Bonethief collapsed to the ground with a bleeding hole in the back of its skull and didn’t move.

Danielle lowered the revolver and looked at Alex, noticing the relief and confusion on her face. She knew Alex was wondering how Danielle was still alive and walking around. “You okay, Alex?” she asked softly, walking over to her sister and holding out a hand to help her up.

She nodded and took Danielle’s hand, standing up and looking a bit shaken. “I am, but… How did you… You were dead earlier.”

Danielle shook her head. “I never really was. I can’t exactly leave my big sis alone, now can I?” Alex embraced Danielle tightly, sobbing. “Whoa, whoa… Easy there… I’m still hurting from where that zombie bit me.”

Alex pulled away, surprised. “Zombie? So there are more monsters than just the ones I faced in the house. They must have come after I found this old stethoscope.” Alex held it up for Danielle to see, but quickly lowered it. “Danielle, your shoulder… It’s really bad.”

Danielle glanced at her shoulder, cringing. It really was, even though it didn’t hurt that badly. But she knew that if she didn’t do something about it soon, she could start feeling the effects of blood loss. Danielle closed her eyes and focused, casting a 5-point Chattur’gha Recover spell. As the red spheres of light flew into her, Danielle felt a hot, searing pain in her body, but she did her best to ignore it.

Just another side-effect of this stupid curse that I have, she thought grimly.

“I don’t get it, Danielle. What happened? You weren’t breathing when I checked. I really thought you were dead.”

Danielle shrugged. “I don’t really know a whole lot, but I do remember waking up in the bed after that last page.”

Alex smiled a bit. “I’m glad you’re okay. I thought I lost you.”

“I’m not going down that easily. Not when you could use my help.” Danielle stared down at the Bonethieves’ corpses, swallowing hard. They had come so close to killing Alex… “Did you find anything else besides that stethoscope?” Danielle asked, looking away from the bodies.

Alex nodded. “Downstairs, there’s a shotgun and some ammo for both it and your revolver. There’s also this old safe there, and I think that it may be where the next page is. We’ve checked everywhere else in the house, so that’s the only place I can think of.”

Danielle thought about it. “Let’s hurry up and get to the basement. I’m going to really need to get some more ammo. We have no idea what we’re going to face besides those zombies. Not to mention we need to get the page and get back to the study before more of them come.”

Alex stepped over the corpses to the door. “I think we may be too late on getting to the study before they come,” she said as she opened the door. Danielle glanced out of the door, surprised to see three Mantorok zombies climbing up the stairs. “On to plan B,” Alex whispered.

“We have a plan B?” Danielle watched as Alex charged the zombies, cutting them down swiftly. “Oh, that’s plan B. How’d you learn to fight like that?”

Alex shrugged. “Just comes naturally. How did you learn to shoot so well?”

“Dad taught me. I’m joining some sort of special police group after I graduate. Learning a few things early doesn’t really hurt, now does it?”

They both walked downstairs to the basement, talking like Pious’s attack had never happened. Danielle explained how she had already been chosen by an organization known as S.T.A.R.S. to join their ranks once she had graduated. She just didn’t know where she would have to go for it.

Once in the basement, Alex immediately began working on the safe. Danielle kept quiet so she could try to work on it. She walked around, picking up the spare ammo and taking the shotgun off its plaque on the wall. Nothing came at them, which was a big relief. A couple of minutes of waiting were rewarded with a click from the safe, and Alex pulled open its door.

A few items lined the shelves. There was an old-fashioned crank handle, two pieces of paper, and a glass container with the Veil of Ulyaoth inside. Alex tossed the crank to Danielle and picked up the container. Like before, it was stored in the Tome, leaving only the two pieces of paper. Alex took out the first paper, reading over it quickly. As she did, her hand quivered slightly. “He knew this would happen… Grandpa knew all about it…”

Danielle had a feeling she knew what Alex meant, but she took the note and read it. It was from their grandfather and was addressed to the both of them.

Dear Alexandra and Danielle,

If you are reading this, then I am surely dead. Knowing that the police will contact my only living relative that they know about, and that Alex would contact you Danielle, I made sure to leave this message for the both of you.

As I write this letter, Pious Augustus is waiting for his chance to strike me down for what I have done to the Guardian City. I believe I have slowed Augustus’ plans, but not stopped them completely. He will still try to bring his Ancient into this world.

You must continue what out ancestor Max has started. You must gather the Artifacts and call forth an Ancient to combat what Augustus brings into the world.

Of the artifacts, there are four, but one of these is in the clutches of Pious himself. They are:

The Black Heart of Mantorok
The Claw of Chattur’gha
The Sigil of Xel’lotath
The Veil of Ulyaoth

Your skill in the arcane science will not be as strong as Pious’, who has had nearly two millennia to prepare his gate. You will need all the remaining artifacts to match his power.

It all rests with you my dears. I wish you well in this desperate act. I wish I had more guidance for you, but I am at my wit’s end and I feel I am running out of time.

Your Loving Grandfather,
Edward

Danielle felt anger build up inside. “All this time he was helping us prepare to fight Pious.” She gripped the paper tightly. “It’s up to us now. That page must be the last one, and the alignment is in…” She looked at her watch. “…less than an hour. I found notes saying magick becomes stronger at the time of planetary alignment. We have to finish this last page.”

Alex looked at her, tears running down her face. “What’s gotten into you, Danielle? We find Grandpa’s very last letter to us, and it sounds like you could care less.”

The words hit hard. Danielle stared at Alex, awestruck. She was right, though. She felt like she didn’t really care about the note… What had gotten into her? “Alex, I’m sorry. I’ve just… It’s been hard on me…”

“Hard? You don’t know anything about hard! I had to watch them bury the man who was the only family I really ever had. And where were you, huh?”

Dang. All of this is starting to get to her. She’s having an emotional breakdown. I have to play it carefully.

“I was in Mexico trying to save lives. And in case you’ve forgotten, I just got home when I found out what happened.”

“Even if that’s true, you still rarely acted sad over what happened.”

Danielle stared down at the floor. “I’ve lost so many people in my life, I’m used to it. Don’t get me wrong about this. I’m not some cold-hearted freak. I’ve just seen death so many times I’m used to it.”

Danielle noticed Alex’s rage die away. “What do you mean?” she asked quietly.

“My whole family is gone. Just happened over the years until all I have left was Mom, Dad, and Devin. Devin went up to Maine for college and his job, and I haven’t heard from him lately. Mom and Dad went to San Francisco for police work and visiting friends. They were supposed to be back over two weeks ago. But no matter what Leo says, they aren’t coming back. They never will.”

Alex gently laid a hand on Danielle’s shoulder. “How could you be so sure?”

Danielle’s thoughts returned to that dream she had had those few weeks ago. It had seemed so real… “Because they vanished without a trace in the first week of being there.” Danielle pulled away, walking up the basement steps. “Don’t follow me, Alex. I want to be left alone.” She opened the door, slamming it shut behind her.

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Alex watched Danielle leave, a pang of guilt in her heart. Because of her argument, she had pushed her little sister farther away from Alex. “I’m so stupid! I didn’t even think about what she’s been through! I hope she’s not too mad at me…”

Alex sighed and turned back to the safe, staring at the final item on its shelves. The final chapter page from the Tome of Eternal Darkness was right there, waiting to be read. This nightmare was almost over.

She grabbed the page, skimming over its title. “Ashes to Ashes, 1991 in the Middle East. This must be it…” Alex took a deep breath and slipped the page into the Tome, returning to the study.

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A Storm Rises
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Pious stood within the Portal Chamber, staring into the darkness that surrounded him while thinking over things in his head. He heard one of his monks approach from behind, but he did not turn around. “A storm approaches, Augustus… A storm of Metal and Fire, and a torrent of souls along with it… Young and vibrant…”

Pious nodded slightly. “Yes, I have seen it coming. A worthy sacrifice, I’m sure, and one that will allow the Greater Guardian that resides below to finish its channeling…” Pious invoked a spell, speaking to the portal for Chattur’gha to hear. “With this sacrifice of souls I make unto thee, great one, the gates shall be readied to be open, and your freedom shall be at hand!”

[Stormsworder]

((This is sheer evidence of how lazy I was when I wrote this chapter. >>))

Chapter 21: Ashes to Ashes
1991 A.D. Middle East

“Wherever disaster and death lurk, there is likely to be an Ancient, just beyond our senses, waiting. They prey on our misfortune, and exploit it towards their own twisted ends. When hundreds of oil fields are set ablaze on the heels of war, the Ancient’s grip tightens, knowing that lives will be forfeit, and resources squandered. But a few people make a difference. People like Michael Edwards, a Canadian industrial firefighter hired to put an end to the insanity at the end of the war. Ironically for him, the insanity was just beginning…”

“How’s the temperature in there?” a voice crackled over his radio. Michael Edwards snatched it from his belt, shouting over the roar of the flames. Another oil well had been set ablaze by Sadam’s soldiers, and it was up to his team to put this one out.

“It’s hotter than heck here! I’m getting a little nervous about this one! It feels more out of control than the others! More powerful! And I don’t know how else to describe it!”

He watched two of his men in protective suits run to the well cap, preparing the explosives. “This is the safest way to blow out these things. You’ve done this enough to know that. It’s by the numbers. It’s all good, so relax…”

“The silicon cloth and the water spray are there, so you’re probably right. We’ve got 400 pounds of 80 percent nitro-glycerin grade dynamite all in place. We’re good to go!”

“Edwards! You can pull your team back now! Get your team to a safe distance, and we’ll try to kill the fire!”

Michael watched his team begin to run back, but one had stayed a bit longer working on the explosives. “Sure thing! Coming back now!” he called back to the helicopter pilot over his radio.

But something caught his eyes. Something looked wrong with the explosives. Suddenly, the pilot’s voice came over the radio, frantic now. “We’ve got a pressure increase at the well cap. It’s gonna tear itself apart! Get your team out of—“

Without warning, the explosives went off prematurely, blowing a massive hole through layers of rock in the ground. Michael only had time to register what happened before he was falling down into the darkness.

He didn’t know how long he had been out, or if he had ever been knocked unconscious in the first place. But as soon as he stood up, he saw the bodies of his two friends and comrades a few feet away. “What the heck happened? They’re all dead! McCormick… Patterson… All gone…” Michael looked around as he took off his gear, leaving on only a sleeveless muscle shirt and his overalls. There was a giant stone pillar, and on the sides of it, two torches illuminated a nightmare. People had been cemented into place; their faces showed expressions of pain and fear. “Looks like they’ve been buried alive… under tons of concrete…”

To his surprise, some sort of ghost appeared in front of him with a strange object floating between its semi-transparent hands. “Take this,” he beckoned. “Guard it well. Many have perished for it. Take it. Take it to the ruins of Ehn’gha.” A vision passed before his eyes of a great city with towering buildings and spires. “At the ruins, a Gathering of Light…” This time, the vision was of a large mansion. The sign in front said Roivas, and Michael somehow knew the exact location of the house.

“You want me to take this…” he gestured towards the object, “to some ruins under a house in Rhode Island?” he asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice.

The ghost held out the object. “Take it! Save us… all!” As soon as the last word left his mouth, the ghost vanished.

((Too lazy to put the rest of the chapter in <<))

Michael set up the C4 explosives, the spheres of blue light that served as his shield still flying around him. He focused on casting a 7-point Ulyaoth Enchant Item spell on the explosives, and they began to glow with blue light. “This should do it,” he whispered to himself, setting them down in the middle of the bridge that crossed over a large abyss. The timer was set for three minutes. He was sure he could get out of there before the bomb went off.

Michael hefted the assault rifle and ran as fast as he could out of the room, heading over the electrified floor and loosing a few spheres that protected him. As he rounded the corner, a massive Horror attempted to prevent his escape. Michael barely even thought about aiming as he snapped up the rifle and emptied the entire clip into the Horror. As soon as it fell to the ground, he was running past it and through the door. Beyond that were three zombies, slowly trying to reach Michael to attack.

There’s no time to fight all of these things! I’ll just have to run through them!

Michael braced himself and ran through the small group, shoving them out of the way to get to the door. He felt his grip on reality slip, and he saw blood trickling down the walls. Shutting his eyes against the illusion, he pulled open the door and slammed it shut behind him. Taking a deep breath, he cast a 7-point Xel’lotath Magick Pool spell before running through the ruins once more. Monsters filled the corridors he had cleared earlier, determined not to allow his escape. Michael was bringing down this cursed place, and the beasts wanted to make sure he went with it. The floor shook beneath his boots as he ran, dodging past terrors left and right. Rocks trickled from the ceiling, and there were places were tons of debris had fallen in the time it took him to return here from setting the C4. What kind of monstrous force was attempting to keep him here? He barely had time to think about it as he scaled up a ladder nearby.

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“Ahhhhh… Sweet Alex…” Alex gasped, recoiling as the hand of the ghost beside her touched her face. It wasn’t her grandfather at all. She was sure of it. “Many centuries I’ve waited for you… You are mine! Don’t disappoint me now… I’ve waited such a long time, Alex…”

Alex knew exactly who this was. Pious Augustus was here again. “Never!” she shouted. “I know what you are… I’ve seen what happened!” She put her head in her hands, and a chill passed over her back and shoulders as he whispered in her ear.

“You can try and fight me, but in the end you shall succumb to my desires, just as Danielle will…” Hs voice changed, becoming deeper and stronger. “My foolish child… You don’t even know your own destiny…” He pulled his arm away.

Alex clenched her fists, seething. “Get… away from me!” She swung her fist at him, catching a glimpse of Pious’s skeletal form just before he vanished. Alex stared silently at the place he once occupied, thinking. Why did he mention Danielle? Was he planning something that had to do with her? Alex didn’t know, but she wasn’t going to let Pious hurt Danielle again. Her anger slowly dying away, she went back to reading the page.

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The angry hisses and roars of the monsters behind Michael grew louder as he neared the exit. Sweat dripped down his face, and adrenaline pumped through his system. He knew that his time was quickly running out, and he wasn’t entirely sure if there was an exit nearby. Debris had closed off the previous way he entered into this place, not that it really mattered. There was no possible way that he could escape by going back to the room with the pillar. His only hope was to continue through a newly-cleared path.

As Michael shoved open the double doors, he felt a surge of relief flow through him. There was a ladder just up ahead with a shaft of light shining down onto the dusty tiles. This was it. He was finally free of this nightmare! Michael scaled up the ladder quickly as the monsters came through the very doors he just walked through. Their claws reached up to slash at his legs, but they missed each time, and he escaped to the surface. Even though he was exhausted by all that happened, adrenaline gave him an extra boost of speed, and he ran as fast as he could into the desert away from the well cap.

He had long since lost track of time as he ran, but soon he was shoved to the sand by a massive wave of sound and air. Michael closed his eyes as a cloud of sand rushed past him, but when he opened his eyes once more, he saw the massive plume of smoke and sand that rose up from the well cap. Michael let out a deep breath, falling down into a sitting position in the sand as the dust settled. It was finally over…

Not yet. I still have one more thing to do…

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Back to Civilization
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A few years later…

Michael shifted the brown package under his arm a bit as he walked, eyes darting towards the shadows. His footsteps echoed into the dark night. He noticed an elderly man standing alone with his back to Michael up ahead. This had to be the guy. As the man turned to face him, Michael spoke up.

“Thanks for coming. I didn’t think you’d show,” Michael said quietly, still glancing around.

The man, Edward Roivas, looked confused. “Look, I have no idea who you—“

Michael cut him off quickly, his voice urgent. “I think you do. Just as much as I know, you know. Let’s be quick. The Guardians know where I am, and I won’t last the night. But that’s not the point.” He handed the package to Edward, who was obviously not sure what was going on.

“What’s this?”

“Something you need. Don’t open it here, only in privacy. They can sense it, if it’s not shrouded,” Michael warned.

“Is it… one of the artifacts?”

Michael shook his head and took a step back. “You must leave. There’s something I need to do before they get to me… I can’t protect you if they find us.” He turned around, starting down the sidewalk once more. “Good luck!” he called over his shoulder as he walked away, aware that this may be the last night of his entire life.

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 22: Gateway to Destiny

Danielle grunted slightly with the effort of turning the crank handle in its slot. The beam of light from the telescope array rotated around and hit another of the sphere shaped mirrors. “Reflect the light around until it hits the spot on the globe. Simple to figure out, but why make something like this?” She sighed and pulled out the handle, heading to the next crank.

“The alignment is complete. Now it is time for the summoning.”

“Shut it, you freak,” Danielle muttered, moving on to the last crank. She was getting tired of having to listen to Xel’lotath’s voice in her head constantly. It was seriously getting on her nerves. Finally, she moved the light beam to where it hit the globe on the floor. A grinding sound came from somewhere down below, most likely in the basement.

As the doorbell rang, Danielle ran to answer it, only to have Alex beat her to it. She was holding a hastily wrapped brown parcel in her hands with a confused look. “Someone dropped this off here, but I couldn’t tell who. They just ran off…”

“I wonder what’s inside…?” Even as Danielle said this, Alex tore the paper off of the package, opening up the box that it covered. Inside was a Gladius glowing with blue light and a glass container with the third Artifact they needed: the Sigil of Xel’lotath. “The third artifact…” Danielle whispered. “Alex, do you know what this means?”

Her sister nodded slightly. “We can stop Pious now. But how will these help?”

Danielle gave Alex a sly grin. “We’re going to summon Ulyaoth.”

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Danielle squinted as they stood at the hallway that led to Ehn’gha’s array system. The floor was yellow from the magick that covered it, keeping intruders from proceeding further into the city. But it wasn’t the floor that caught her eye. It was a glint of red near the massive wood door a good few feet ahead of them. There was also an oppressive feeling from that direction; powerful magick in the air made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. “Damage Field ahead,” she said softly, her voice echoing in the still air.

Alex shot her a glance filled with confusion. “How are you so sure about that?”

Lifting her finger to point to the tiny bit of red she spotted from her position, she quickly explained. “I can see something red over there, like glowing runes. Also, I can feel it in the air… It’s powerful magick. Gotta be a seven point field, too.”

Alex squinted herself, then nodded. “Yeah, I see it, too. We’ll have to make it to one of those doorways nearby to cast the Dispel spell. There’s no way it can work from here.”

Danielle nodded, glancing at all of the doorways. “None of this was here before… The magickal defenses, I mean. Someone must have done it recently. And I’m betting it was a line of last defense set up by Pious. He expected us to make it this far, I’m sure… But he won’t be expecting Chattur’gha’s nemesis to be summoned.”

She noticed that Alex was staring at her with a slightly curious look. “How can you be so sure about all that?”

A small smile spread across Danielle’s face. “I dunno. I’m just taking all the clues I’ve noticed and trying to put together a logical conclusion.” A chuckle escaped from her lips. “Maybe that’s why I’m always made the leader of things.”

Alex shook her head, grinning. “You’re unbelievable,” she muttered. Casting a 7-point Shield spell, she took a deep breath. “You stay here until that barrier is down, then run through the door, okay?”

Danielle nodded, then folded her arms, watching as her older sister ran out onto the floor. As she closed her eyes, she focused her power into casting her own Shield spell. The green orbs of light circled around her quickly, almost like little fireflies in the dark corridor. She watched them zip around in circles before she felt a shiver run through her. Danielle looked up, noticing the blue shockwave that spread out from Alex’s perch near the door. The familiar sound of a Damage Field being nullified rang out in the air, along with Alex’s cue to run for the door. Danielle bent her knees and took off for the door, watching as orbs vanished from her shield one by one. She ran through the door without a moment’s hesitation, followed soon afterwards by Alex. Together, they stared up at the massive array, catching their breaths.

Danielle stepped forward to the three pedestals, examining the one in the middle. Its top was missing, and she noticed one of the pieces off to her right. “Hey Alex, check this out,” she said, stepping aside as her sister approached. “It got broken apart… Look around for the other part of the pedestal.” Danielle crouched down and picked up the piece, barely paying attention to Alex walking past her. It didn’t take long for Alex to find the other segment, and she brought it over to Danielle. She handed over the piece she was holding to her older sister, watching as she cast a 3-point Enchant Item spell. The magick surged into the pieces, putting them together.

“Go ahead and start putting the Artifacts on the other pedestals. I’ve got this handled,” Danielle said, fitting the pedestal on its broken stand. She stepped aside to allow Alex to place the final artifact, the Sigil of Xel’lotath, on the pedestal. The whole array lit up suddenly, and the air surged with power.

Alex walked over to one of the nine switches on the wall and pressed it, looking back at Danielle. “Stay here. I’ll go and inscribe each of the runes.” Danielle opened her mouth to protest, but Alex cut her off before she could even utter a sound. “No, Danielle. You are not coming. I’ve already lost you once. If it’s dangerous, and you get hurt… I’ll never be able to live with myself.”

Danielle shook her head. “Yeah, but… What if something happens to you, and I don’t know it?”

Alex stared at her silently, a look of sadness on her face, before stepping into the rings of light from the array and vanishing.

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Danielle stared dully at her watch, trying to remember how long it had been since Alex has last passed by. It wasn’t too long, and since this was the last rune that needed to be inscribed, she didn’t have to wait much longer. The array was already active again, with blue rings of light in the middle. But there was no way she was going to step into the array until Alex arrived.

The large wooden door slid up on its tracks, and Danielle fought to suppress a grin. “Speak of the devil,” Danielle whispered, standing up from her seat on the steps. Alex came through the door, looking a bit worn out. She stared at the array behind Danielle, appearing thoughtful. Danielle instantly knew what was going through her mind, because she was thinking the exact same thing. They were about to face off against Pious Augustus in a battle that would decide the fate of all humankind.

“Are you ready for this?” Alex asked softly, putting a hand on Danielle’s shoulder.

Danielle nodded and took a deep breath. “As ready as I’ll ever be… Let’s finish this. I have a little bit of payback to give Pious.” She gripped the shotgun in her hands tightly and stepped forward into the portal.

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Danielle staggered forwards as she was sent to the chamber she had seen so many times in her visions of Pious. It was the same as she had always seen it. But where was Pious?

She took a few steps forward when she realized that Alex wasn’t there. Danielle turned around, but was sent sprawling as something hard slammed into her face. She winced and looked up, confusion and pain replaced by fear as she saw who her attacker was.

“Looking for me?”

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 23: The Darkness Comes

Danielle stared into the face o Pious Augustus as he chuckled heartily. “Perhaps it would be useful to you and your sister if you had knowledge of the array. Its portal must recharge after each use.” He beckoned with his free hand, and a barrier of energy blocked off the section where Danielle had arrived. Almost immediately after, Alex appeared, looking surprised that she was trapped by a barrier while Danielle and Pious were on the other side. “Ahhhhh… Miss Roivas. You’re just in time. Your pathetic sister is finally going to receive the death she has been evading for so long.”

As he lifted up his bone staff, Danielle rolled out of the way, Alex’s screaming of her name ringing in her ears. The tip of the staff hit nothing but stone, and Danielle jumped to her feet. She lifted her shotgun and pulled the trigger, getting knocked back slightly by the weapon’s kick. The blast hit an invisible barrier around Pious, and he laughed once more. “Is that all the great Liche of Xel’lotath has to offer?”

Danielle gritted her teeth, aware that Alex was staring at her with a confused expression. “Liche of Xel’lotath? Danielle, what’s he talking about?”

Pious laughed sharply, amused by this. “First your grandfather, and now your beloved sister? My, my… People sure do love to keep secrets from you. Danielle here has kept the truth from you. All this time, she was a Liche, a betrayer of humanity. She knew about it all along, but she decided to not tell you.”

“No way… You’re lying!” Alex shouted.

A sneer spread across his face. “Is that so…? Then tell me, why is she so weak to my Master’s magick?” As he said this, he raised his hand, sending a blast of magickal energy at Danielle. She screamed in pain, collapsing to her knees and unable to move.

“Danielle! Leave her alone, Pious!”

Pious laughed again, turning to face Alex. Danielle could just barely see her sister out of the corner of her eye. “Why? The Liche are your enemy, Alex. Think to yourself: Why did just a weak blast of magick cause so much pain and damage to her? How come she could never use Chattur’gha magick herself?”

Alex fell silent, and she looked at Danielle. “Danielle, is it true…?” When she didn’t say a word, a hint of anger crept into her voice. “Danielle! Why didn’t you tell me!?”

Danielle felt her heart sink, along with the effects of the Magickal Attack wearing off. Pious laughed once more. “It hurts, doesn’t it? The only person you can trust turns on you as soon as she faces the facts and learns the truth. I wonder how your adoptive parents must have felt when they learned their child was the one who killed them.”

“No… I never hurt Mom and Dad!” Danielle shouted, staggering to her feet.

Pious walked up to her, but Danielle held her ground. “You don’t remember? Then let me refresh your memory. During the first week they were gone… Do you remember the nightmare you had? The one where you watched them be slaughtered by the Greater Guardian of Xel’lotath.

No way! How the heck could he know about that!? Danielle thought, her heart sinking. Pious went on. “It wasn’t a dream. You were there. You summoned the Greater Guardian. I watched you myself as you ordered their deaths.”

“No… You’re lying…” Danielle whispered quietly. But deep down inside, she felt that it was the truth.

“I’m not lying, and you know it.”

Danielle’s eyes were filled with tears as she gripped the shotgun tightly. With a roar of anger, she charged forward and slammed the butt of the shotgun into Pious’s jaw. He was silent as he slowly turned his head to face her. Danielle was about to bring the shotgun around again when Pious shot his hand out and grabbed her around the throat. With ease, he lifted her up, letting her feet dangle in the air. Her shotgun slipped from her grip as she tried to pull his hand away.

Danielle heard Alex cry her name, and Pious’s hand tightened. “Last time, your sister came to the rescue. Not this time.” She struggled to think of a plan, and one came to mind instantly. Bringing up her left leg as a brace on Pious’s armor, she landed a solid kick on his chin with her right leg that forced him to release her. She landed awkwardly on the ground, but managed to recover quickly. She snatched up the shotgun and stared Pious in the eye. “No matter what you do, you can’t change the future. You’re destined to serve Xel’lotath and kill your sister. Nothing will change that.”

Danielle pumped the shotgun with one hand as nine blue runes appeared on the ground. “No, Pious. You’re wrong. Things can change, and I’m going to prove it.” The spell finished with the last of her words, and a blue shockwave from the Dispel Magick spell knocked out the barrier.

A look of rage appeared on Pious’s face as Alex stepped up beside Danielle. She didn’t even glance at Alex as she spoke. “Alex, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—“

Alex cut her off. “Don’t say anything, Danielle. I understand. Let’s not talk about it until we finish this battle.”

Danielle nodded solemnly, and Alex readied the Enchanted Gladius. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with: Alex, the Guardian of Light, and Danielle, the rebellious Liche. They were the last hope for humanity, and they didn’t plan on losing.

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Pious knew things would not be simple. He was counting on Alex to no longer trust Danielle after the truth was revealed. It would weaken her will and maker her easier to fight. As for Danielle, she wasn’t even supposed to have the strength to break free from his grip. His whole entire plan was falling to pieces. The last chance he had was to summon his master. Even if he was to fail his master, Lord Chattur’gha would reign over all. He could imagine his lord making them pay, torturing them until the last minute of their pathetic and worthless lives.

“This is the end,” Danielle said calmly.

Pious tapped his staff on the ground, replying with a hard edge in his voice. “Yes, the end indeed.” Nine red rune appeared on the ground, and power flowed though Pious into his staff. With a maniacal laugh, a great explosion of energy rocked the chamber, and a pillar of red light shot forth into the air from Pious.

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In the cold depths of space, nine red runes appeared in a circle. An enormous claw was thrust out of it, and a serpent-like creature wriggled out as if climbing through a hole. Its tail came out just before the portal closed, and it gazed down at the sapphire and emerald jewel that was Earth, its new kingdom. Its armor was black in color and covered most of its body. Two large, pincer-like claws were its arms, and their ridges were sharp and lethal. It opened its three-jawed maw and let out a hideous roar. After thousands of years, Chattur’gha had returned.

Some distance away from the Ancient, a set of blue runes appeared. A jellyfish-like monster dropped down through the portal. A veil surrounded its pulsating internal organs, and small blue globes of energy surrounded its apex. Ulyaoth, Chattur’gha’s mortal enemy, pulsed with power as it sighted its nemesis. The battle had begun.

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Pious glared at the sisters. This was something he hadn’t even considered in his scenarios. The two sisters would summon Ulyaoth when he, too, wished to control the Earth? Were they willing to sacrifice the whole human race just to defeat him? No… he would not let this stop him!

The Claw of Chattur’gha appeared behind him, protecting him with a Shield spell. Taking his staff in both hands, he prepared for the fight.

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 24: When Darkness Falls

Danielle snatched the revolver from her belt, firing a shot that merely reflected off his shield. But something curious happened. Red light shot from Pious to a space behind him, making the Claw of Chattur’gha appear. “The Claw is the Essence, the source of Pious’s power from Chattur’gha…” Her eyes widened. “Alex, destroy the Claw! That’s the only way to get rid of this shield!”

Alex nodded and ran to strike the Artifact. Danielle ran at Pious, kicking at his face in an attempt to knock him back. He caught her foot with ease, throwing her down to the ground. She grunted as she hit the floor face down, the revolver clattering down a few feet in front of her. Pious planted his own foot on her back, pushing down hard and trying to crush her spine. Danielle gritted her teeth against the pain and reached out her hand towards the revolver, but ended up screaming as Pious plunged his staff right down into her hand. His cruel laughter rose over the sounds of her screams, but it was quickly cut off by a grunt. Pious staggered sideways, pulling the staff out in the process. Alex helped Danielle to her feet, looking at her bloodied hand.

Danielle’s body was shaking, and she couldn’t think straight. Her hand just hurt so badly, and she felt like she was going to be sick. She didn’t even notice Alex tearing off a piece of her shirt and winding it tightly around her hand to staunch the flow of blood. “Focus, Danielle! Stay with me!”

Danielle looked up at her sister, still trembling. She could also see Pious coming up from behind Alex, ready to swing his staff at her head. “B-behind…” was all she could manage to whisper, but Alex got her warning. She spun around, bringing up her sword and blocking the staff.

“Danielle, go!” Alex shouted over her shoulder. Danielle gripped the railing near her with her left hand and made her way to the lower section of the platform, panting with the effort and extremely light-headed. She looked over towards her sister and saw that she was striking at the Claw.

I… have to help her… Danielle thought, staring down at her hand. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the spell she wanted to cast instead of the immense pain in her hand. “Narokath, Santak, Chattur’gha…” As the spheres of light flew into her body, she hissed through clenched teeth, feeling a pain like fire spreading through her whole body. It took her mind off her hand, if only for a second. It still hurt, but nowhere near as bad as before. Danielle staggered over to the shotgun lying on the ground, picking it up with her left hand. She positioned it to where her right hand was supporting the barrel and her left was around the trigger.

Lightning flew by her, and the Claw appeared by her side. She quickly looked back towards her sister, but saw in her place the ghost of Ellia. “Danielle!” she shouted as Pious moved towards the lower platform.

Danielle narrowed her eyes. “Go. Get the Artifact, Ellia,” she ordered, but her voice sounded weak instead of determined like she meant for it to be. She fired a blast at Pious, knocking him back a bit more. Ellia darted past her without even a sound and struck the Artifact, being replaced by Alex.

“The others! They’re helping us, Danielle! They’re helping us to fight against Pious!”

Danielle glanced at her out of the corner of her eye and nodded, then focused on Pious once more. “Please, Alex. Be quick… I can’t manage this much longer…” Her breathing was heavy, and her vision kept on losing focus. It wouldn’t be long until she lost the small amount of strength she had gained from the Recovery spell and was at the mercy of her opponent.

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In space, the battle between the Ancients raged on. Chattur’gha opened his right claw, and a red beam shot from it. Ulyaoth brought up two of his tentacles and conjured a blue portal. The beam entered it and reappeared behind Chattur’gha from yet another portal, striking him in the back.

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Danielle sidestepped a staff strike from Pious, but barely. She fired another blast at him to push him backwards, but it didn’t do much good. As she reached for more shells, her injured hand seized up in pain, making her drop most of the shells. She muttered under her breath, inserting one of the shells she managed to keep a grip on. She was dimly aware of Karim landing a blow on the Essence of Chattur’gha.

Karim…? But I thought it was Anthony who was just there… Ah, forget it… I can’t recall anything right now…

Pious’s face contorted in range as he rushed at her, swinging his staff. She ducked and sidestepped, nearly losing her balance as she fired another shot. Maximillian rushed by her to the Essence, striking it with his ghostly sword. Danielle could tell that the Claw was starting to crack, which meant that it would soon be destroyed. Just a few more strikes would do it…

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Still smoking from the failure of his attack, Chattur’gha brought up his left claw and thrust it at Ulyaoth. The Ancient of Magick swiftly intercepted the claw with a portal. When the claw was halfway through, the portal closed and severed it. Chattur’gha stared at his damaged claw, which was trailing red energy, and let out a roar of pain. Off in the distance, the remnants of the claw appeared and drifted through space.

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Danielle was on her last few shells, still trying to keep Pious at bay. Paul attacked the Essence, which was even more damaged than before by now. With her revolver on the lower section of the platform, she was unable to go after it. Now, the only way she could fight was by using the now empty shotgun as a melee weapon. She grunted with the exertion of swinging the shotgun at Pious, but landed a hard blow on his shield, making the Artifact appear. Danielle sidestepped another blow, but Pious must have predicted her evasive move, for the staff cut across the left side of her face. She put her right hand over the injury, crying out in pain. But at that moment, Roberto hit the Artifact, and it shattered into pieces.

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Chattur’gha roared defiantly at his opponent. Ulyaoth created a portal above him and shot down a beam at Chattur’gha’s right arm. He was knocked down from the force of the attack, and the beam sucked his arm into oblivion. Chattur’gha roared in pain and attempted to crawl away. Blue lighting enveloped Ulyaoth, empowering him. He created a massive beam that sucked up all of Chattur’gha’s body except for his head and severed claw, instantly killing the Ancient. The globes around Ulyaoth’s body spun about, and a final portal vacuumed up the remainder of Chattur’gha.

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Pious roared in agony and anger, attacking Danielle in a blind rage. Somehow, deep inside, she knew the source of his anger. Chattur’gha was dead. She jumped backwards, then gripped the shotgun with two hands despite the massive pain in her right hand. She let out a cry as she thrust the shotgun into Pious’s face so hard that his head was jerked back and he fell to the ground. He didn’t get up again.

Danielle let the shotgun drop from her hands as she turned to face Alex, a weary and pained expression on her face. “You did it, Alex!” she managed to shout hoarsely, forcing a grin of triumph. Alex nodded and smiled, about to say something, when she suddenly screamed Danielle’s name. She felt a burst of pain in her stomach, and she could hear Pious’s soft laughter behind her.

Danielle felt Pious withdraw his staff, and Danielle staggered around to face him. A grin was on his face as he righted his staff, which was dripping with—

Blood… Danielle thought dimly. My blood… I turned my back on him… I did the stupidest thing of all… And I guess this is what I get for it… Guess I really was destined to die… at his hands…

Danielle’s eyelids suddenly became heavy, and she couldn’t breathe through the liquid in her throat. She tried talking, but the words were barely understandable. “A-Al-lex… So…rry…” As she closed her eyes, she wasn’t even aware of falling to the ground. She wasn’t really aware of anything other than Alex’s voice crying out her name. That was the last thing she heard before her heart stopped.

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Alex trembled with both rage and sadness. Danielle had fought against all odds to help Alex, even when she was in great pain. And now she was gone. No one could survive a blow like that. The final look on Danielle’s face would forever haunt her. It was filled with fear, pain, sorrow, and regret…

Pious’s laughing only served to fuel the fire blazing inside. Never before had she been so angry. For the first time, she felt pure, unwavering hatred for someone. “You killed her… You killed Danielle… YOU MONSTER!!!” Before Pious could react, Alex had charged him and cut deep into his side with the Gladius. Pious screamed from the magick that surged through the sword and dropped his staff, receiving another blow to his side. Alex continued the onslaught until Pious collapsed to the ground.

“How the mighty have fallen,” she muttered, picking up his staff and standing over him.

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 25: In Darkest Night

Pious screamed in pain, writhing on the ground. Staff of bone in hand, Alex walked over to him. “The Darkness is not so easily destroyed!” he shouted defiantly. She raised up the staff, but Pious interrupted her. “No! My death is just the beginning!”

Alex glared at him, remembering the look on Danielle’s face. She thrust the staff deep into Pious’s stomach, piercing through the armor. Alex pulled out the staff, watching as magickal energy, his life force, shot out of him. Pious let out a cry of pain that slowly died away as he slumped to the ground and didn’t move again. Alex tossed away his staff when violent images flooded her mind. She saw the Guardians of Ulyaoth performing arcane rituals on humans. At once, she realized her mistake.

“What have I done!?” she cried, falling to her knees. “Ulyaoth is still free! I can’t do anything to stop him!”

That was when she heard her grandfather’s voice in her mind. “Quickly, Alex! We must bind this creature! It cannot be allowed to remain in this Universe.”

Alex understood what he meant. “Bankorok! Use Bankorok.” Before her eyes, she saw Ulyaoth being pulled into a blue portal and vanishing from this realm.

Edward appeared nearby, walking over to Alex as she stood up. “It is finally over, my dear. The Ancients’ plans are finished.” He was about to say something else when a cold, cruel voice cut him off.

“It’s far from being over. The battle has just begun.” An icy hand clutched Alex’s heart as she and Edward turned to face the speaker. Danielle was standing there, her head down and eyes closed. Her body shook as she laughed softly. The laughing became louder as she raised her head, opening her eyes to reveal the emerald green color. The wound in her stomach and right hand were no longer bleeding. “It’s been so long, you know. So long since I’ve heard screams of pain like this. It’s very… refreshing, you could say.”

Alex let out a startled gasp, understanding what was happening in an instant. This wasn’t her sister anymore. The darkness and hatred that radiated off of her was evidence enough, along with her cruel smile. “What are you talking about… What did you do to my sister!?”

Danielle, now Xel’lotath, laughed once more. “Oh, she’s still here,” she said, tapping her head. “And because of that, she feels every little pain in her body. So, you can imagine how she must feel right now. If you thought her hand was bad…” She laughed sharply again.

Edward took a step towards Xel’lotath. “How could you do this to a child, Xel’lotath!?”

Xel’lotath smirked. “It’s survival of the fittest, as your granddaughter would say,” she replied, her voice sounding strange. There were two separate voices. Xel’lotath’s was the stronger one, and Danielle’s was the weaker. “Her body will do nicely until I open the Veil of Reality to allow my real body to come through. And then…. Well, perhaps I’ll let you witness what I’ll do to her frail mind. You’ll be begging me to put her out of her misery.”

“Let my sister go!” Alex shouted, anger flaring up inside.

Xel’lotath chuckled. “How about… no. Your sister is too weak to even do anything with her body. Why let a good thing go to waste? Besides, she’s not even human anymore.” Xel’lotath tapped her forehead. “Every single memory is here. How she feels alone, like the whole world abandoned her. And it’s so enjoyable to torment her frail mind with images of what I’ll do to you, along with making her feel such immense pain.”

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Edward roared, making Alex jump. “I have tried to help Danielle and failed once. I will not let it happen again.”

Xel’lotath used her foot to propel Pious’s staff into the air and caught it in her hand. “You’re powerless to do anything, Edward. Now you get the honor of watching your last granddaughter die.” She threw the staff at Alex, but she was already moving. Alex ducked under the staff and aimed a slash at Xel’lotath’s arm. In one swift move, she kicked the Enchanted Gladius out of Alex’s hand and caught it in her own. “Can you really make yourself fight, Alex, knowing that you’re hurting your sister?”

Alex gritted her teeth and took out her spare Gladius. The question struck home. Could she really fight her own sister?

I have to… That may be the only way I can save her.

“Alex, hold her off the best you can. I have a plan.” She nodded to Edward, getting into a defensive stance as he vanished.

Xel’lotath laughed and charged forward, a crazed look in her eyes. “It’s time to die!”

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Pain… That was all Danielle felt anymore in the darkness that surrounded her mind. She felt like she was just floating in the darkness, surrounded on all sides by Xel’lotath and being tormented by the demented Ancient. Her hand hurt, along with her stomach, but no matter what she tried to do, the pain wouldn’t stop. It just kept on hurting, making her cry out into the darkness while hoping for a relief that would never come. She could hear Xel’lotath’s taunts and laughter as the Ancient assaulted her mind with horrifying images of what she had in store for the world.

Danielle couldn’t take it anymore. The pain was too great. She just wanted it all to end, but she knew that it wouldn’t. The pain would never stop. Not as long as Xel’lotath was in control. Tears trickled down her face, and her screams echoed in the darkness. Why wouldn’t Xel’lotath just stop…?

“Danielle… I am here for you…” a voice said softly.

She struggled to look around, trying to see the source of the voice. It was comforting, and it actually drove the pain away. Danielle blinked a few times until she found the source. At first it was just light that she saw, but then as it came into focus, she realized it was a person. The person reached their hand out to Danielle, who slowly raised up her own. She could feel the darkness pulling at her, struggling to keep her from getting anywhere near the figure, but she fought as best as she could against it. As the figure gripped her hand gently, they came into focus completely. It was her grandfather, looking very much alive.

“Do not give up, my child. Alex is depending on you. ALL of us are depending on you. We need you to help us stop this once and for all.”

Danielle’s own grip became firm. “Okay… I’ll do whatever you need…” Suddenly, the darkness was replaced by the Temple of Eternal Darkness, where the spirits of Chosen who died in the past were waiting. She was still holding her grandfather’s hand, but she saw that her own was the same translucent blue as the others. Danielle looked up into his face. “So this is it, huh…? It’s time to stop Xel’lotath…” She stared down at her ghostly hand, clenching it into a fist.

“Yes, it is,” Edward replied. “And you are the only one who can help us against her. It is your body, Danielle. You are the one who must take it back.”

A determined look appeared on her face. “That’s what I plan on doing.” She turned to face the ghostly version of the Tome of Eternal Darkness that was in its pedestal and laid her hand on it, returning to the battle between Alexandra and Xel’lotath. Alex was trying her best to hold off the Ancient, but she was losing.

Alex sidestepped a swipe, cutting Xel’lotath across the arm. The Ancient cried out in pain, lashing out with a kick to the gut that sent Alex to her knees. Xel’lotath grinned in triumph, pressing the blade tip against Alex’s neck. “Now, Alexandra… You die!”

Danielle felt terror build up inside, and both she and Edward shouted her name. Xel’lotath looked up at them, actually surprised to see the two of them. That was when Alex took her chance to thrust her sword into Xel’lotath’s right shoulder. She withdrew the blade and stepped back as the spirits of the Chosen appeared in a circle around the Ancient. Danielle and Edward both walked up on either side of Alex, and Edward looked at Danielle. “It is up to you now. We shall all lend you our strength.”

Xel’lotath gritted her teeth, glaring at them with a look of pure hatred. The power of Chattur’gha’s magick from the Gladius Alex had enchanted had stunned her, making her unable to move.

Danielle closed her eyes, focusing on the power she felt deep within her soul. It felt strange, actually. The others were giving her their strength, including her sister. At first she thought she wouldn’t be able to do it, but the doubt vanished almost instantly. They were with her. She wasn’t alone anymore.

“Bankorok, Pargon, Pargon, Aretak, Pargon, Pargon, Chattur’gha, Pargon, Pargon…” Danielle opened her eyes after saying the spell. The nine red runes appeared around her, but there was no pain from the use of the magick. Red spheres of light began to encircle Xel’lotath, who roared in anger and pain.

“No!!! I… will… not be… defeated!!!” A column of green light shot up around her, blocking her from sight. That same green light filled her gaze, and she forced a small smile.

“Heh… I did it…”

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Edward watched as Danielle’s spirit faded, along with the column of light. Danielle was now standing in the middle of their circle, looking pale and weak, but smiling. “Heh… I did it…” she whispered before she collapsed to the ground.

Alex dropped to her knees beside Danielle. The other spirits had all left, leaving just him and his two granddaughters. “Will she be okay, Grandpa?”

He stared at Danielle, who was in a state of unconsciousness. It was a miracle she survived the battle. She had a very strong determination to live. But it would be quite some time before she recovered from her wounds. “Yes, she will,” he said softly. And he was telling truth.

[Stormsworder]

Chapter 26: The Darkness Vanquished

One week later…

Alex opened the door to her sister’s hospital room, peering inside quietly. Danielle was lying in bed, staring up at something on TV. Alex knocked gently to catch Danielle’s attention. “Alex…? Come on in.” She pushed herself up a bit, struggling because she could only use one hand. She smiled warmly up at her sister.

After a week in the hospital, her condition had vastly improved. The few minor cuts everywhere were starting to heal up, but she would still have some major scarring in some places. Other than that, she was doing well. The cut on the right side of her cheek was stitched up, along with the one down her right arm. Thankfully, her hand was bandaged up, hiding the damage done to it. The doctors had repaired it as best as they could, but Danielle’s usage of the hand would be much harder and slower. There was a look in her eyes all the time, like she had suffered indescribable torture while under Xel’lotath’s control. It was the shell-shocked look she had seen on the faces of so many disaster victims.

“How’re you feeling?” Alex asked, sitting in a chair beside the bed.

Danielle let out a heavy sigh, closing her eyes for a second. “Like crud,” she muttered, opening her eyes once more. “I can’t use my hand, my stomach hurts, it’s hard to talk, and I keep having the worst headaches ever. Other than that, I’m fine.”

Alex nodded a bit. “Well, the doctors are going to release you in a few days. Since I’m your only immediate relative, you’ll be under my custody.” She smiled gently. “In other words, I have to baby-sit you now.”

Danielle rolled her eyes. “Joy. I’m 18, you know. I’m not a little kid.”

“But you’re my little sister. It won’t be that bad.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” When Alex shook her head, Danielle let out a groan. “I can’t believe this. And school starts next week.” A small smirk spread across her face. “You’re helping me with my homework, though.”

Alex shook her head, grinning. “I don’t really care. I just need to find out how I’ll handle all my college classes. I suppose I could do them online…” She trailed off, noticing the distant look on her little sister’s face. A few seconds passed in silence before Danielle asked the very question that had been on Alex’s mind for the past few days since the incident.

“Do you think it’s over? Are the Ancients really gone for good?” Danielle asked gently, her voice nearly as distant as her gaze.

Alex stared down at the bag she had brought with her. Inside was the Tome of Eternal Darkness. Leaving it at the estate was too great of a risk. Someone could easily find it, and after all that happened, someone getting a hold of that cursed book was the last thing she needed.

“Alex…?” She glanced over at Danielle, who was now focusing on her. The empty look in her eyes made Alex’s heart break.

She shouldn’t have had to deal with that. She’s had everything she’s ever known taken away from her…

“Who knows?” Alex answered finally. “But if you ask me, I think this nightmare’s finally over.”

Danielle nodded a bit as she heard this, returning her gaze to the TV even though she wasn’t really paying attention to it. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Alex stared down at her bag once more, thinking of the ancient book inside. I sure hope so, Alex thought grimly.

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Danielle stood before the Roivas Estate once more, a book bag slung over her shoulder. The midday sun shone down on her as she stared at the doors, thinking back to the last week’s events. Even now she still had nightmares about it. She would wake up in the middle of the night, sweating heavily, and feeling as if something cold was deep inside her. She supposed it was just a side-effect of having Xel’lotath in control of her body. But what she was feeling was something unexplainable.

Footsteps sounded on the pavement behind her, and someone gently laid a hand on her shoulder. She instantly knew who it was, though. Alex and she had developed a very close bond following that nightmarish night. “It’s time to go,” Alex said softly.

Danielle looked back at her older sister, then glanced once more at the house. It was as silent and empty as ever, showing no signs of what happened a week ago. But there was a hostile feeling about it, as if the house itself no longer wished for the living to step foot inside of it. All that remained were the ghosts of the past.

“Let’s get out of here,” Danielle said, her voice almost a whisper. As the two of them turned away from the house and began to walk off, Danielle looked one more time at the mansion. In the window that opened into the kitchen she saw a familiar blue specter. It was the spirit of Edward Roivas, her guardian. Faint traces of a smile spread across Danielle’s face. Her grandfather would always be there with her, no matter what.

Thanks, Grandpa. Thank you for everything you’ve done for Alex and me.

Danielle took a deep breath and let it out, looking straight ahead once more. There would be no turning back anymore.