Greetings All!
I hope you have all had a week, and if now, I hope this update improves it a little. I have been looking forward to updating this section since @zakludick dropped his post. I hope he'll be happy that I brought back one of our original characters! Please enjoy the next update!
Adrian was so set on getting away from the giant undead monstrosity that he never noticed a door open to his right until he was yanked into the opening. The door slammed shut, and he was thrown against the wall so hard that the air exploded from his lungs.
“Shh!” hissed a voice.
At first, Adrian could see nothing, and his body was momentarily paralyzed in fright and adrenaline. The moment the stars faded from his vision, he could make out some details of the room, but it wasn’t much to see in the dark before what had grabbed him earlier grabbed him again and dragged him further into the room. Adrian was on the verge of screaming when something scaly wrapped itself around his mouth, and then he was wedged under something and dragged until his back hit a wall.
“I said shh! Don’t speak and don’t think!” hissed the voice again.
Shocked, the boy could only lay cowering under what he could only assume was a bed. He didn’t have time to think much further before the door to the room slowly creaked open. The steady footsteps he had gotten used to hearing since his time here slowly made their way into the room. The shadow was hunting for him. This was the first time it had come into a room in search of him.
That sword made a horrific sound as it hit things in the darkened room. The closer it got to Adrian, the tighter the scaled object tightened around his mouth. He dared not breathe while that monstrosity was searching for him. Yet, he had no idea what was able to grab hold of him. His thoughts drifted to the undead he had seen wandering the castle, and he was convinced he was going to have this throat ripped out soon. Adrian was convinced the thing holding him just didn’t want to share his meal with the shadow.
The shadow searched for him fruitlessly before it seemed to whisper under its breath, “Running out of time. Must find him.”
Then it skulked from the room and slammed the door behind him so hard the room shook. Whatever was holding him seemed to wait for a few minutes before it released him. Adrian heard the scrabbling of claws as it moved out from under the bed. Then it seemed to jump onto the bed and say softly, “You can come out now.”
Terrified, yet thankful that he wasn’t going to be eaten or cleaved in two, Adrian crawled out from under the bed and nervously fumbled around the room for some sort of light.
“Hold still, Your Majesty.”
There was an inhalation of breath, and when it was released, the multiple candles in the room lit at once, revealing the room Adrian had spent the majority of his life in.
“This is my room.” He said stupidly.
“Well, where else would they store your body?” came a voice from the bed.
Adrian turned to thank the creature that had saved his life, and his breath caught in his throat. On the bed were two translucent boys, and between them lay what appeared to be a miniature, wingless dragon. The creature seemed to be shimmering between being translucent and being solid. Adrian was sure he had seen this creature before.
“You’re the thing that’s been in the rookery, killing the rats.”
“Ah! And here I thought I was quick enough to elude you. I guess you have his eyes, after all. Magic is deep in your bones.” The large reptile got to his feet and said, “I’m Rhyn, Your Majesty, and I have been waiting for you.”
Magna yawned as she sat up. She didn’t even remember falling asleep, but she woke to Derric nudging her with his nose.
Your uncle…ah…brother wants to have a word with you.
She looked around but didn’t see Adiran anywhere. It seemed to be only her and Derric in camp. She rubbed her eyes and slowly got to her feet.
Helga left you food.
“Do I even want to eat anything from this place?”
Food is food. As long as it isn’t rotten, it gives sustenance.
“You would say that you’re a wolf.”
Derric got to his paws and stretched before changing back to a teen. Magna was prepared to avert her eyes but quickly noticed that he was wearing skin-tight clothing that seemed to be made of some kind of leather.
“Nice, isn’t it? I think it’s the armour of some sort, but not sure how it just appeared on me when I came here.”
“Likely because of the crystals that fused to your bones.” Said Mortis as he stepped into camp.
In one hand he carried what appeared to be a rotting hand. Magna glanced at it, then looked back at the knight. The knight half smirked and said, “That’s right, I never explained what I am.”
“You’re a revenant.”
“A revenant is just someone that comes back from the dead. I’m an eater of the dead, or at least I was.” He looked to the decaying hand in his grasp, “Until I took your blood, eating the dead never bothered me, now it nauseates me to think I need it to survive.”
Magna, wanting to avoid watching the knight devour his gristly meal asked, “Where is my uncle?”
“Adiran is just beyond those trees helping Helga stretch her wing.” The knight sat down by the fire. “Derric, please accompany the Princess.”
The child of the forest took the hint and took Magna’s elbow and led her to where her uncle was. They were barely out of camp when Adiran and Helga returned. The harpy seemed to be overjoyed to have her wing free.
“Give it time to rest, no extended flights for some time, but there is no longer a reason for it to be bound.” The older man caught sight of the teens and indicated to Magna he wanted a word with her.
Derric released her and immediately took up Helga’s arm and led her away from the camp, hurriedly explaining why they should avoid it for a while.
“Magna, it’s time we approach the castle and get Adrian’s soul back,” said Adiran with a soft sigh, “I don’t have much magic left, and we need to hurry.”
Have fun Zak! It's all up to you now!
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Mortis Custos Parts
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