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https://itrp.fandom.com/wiki/Ashmark?file=Ashmark.jpg
New Quest Objective
- Survive
You’ll be playing Amaryllis a former novice of the temple. Born in a small village, she has spent most of her life training to take over from her mother and father as a priestess while always inwardly desiring to see more of the world.
***
Chased by memories of the Ash Spawn that had shadowed them for many miles, Amaryllis pressed on through the deadened woods. The ashen ground beneath them harsh and unyielding, surrounded by strange intricate molds that were born from the ashes. The animals that had once lived in the forest now frozen in place like sculptures that almost mimicked real life. The thick canopies they passed beneath, arching over them in great interwoven tapestries that drank away the light. The wind they heard outside buried beneath a wall of silence that only echoed their heavy footsteps. Each gasp for breath, snapping of twigs, and rustle of dry leaves amplified by the quiet stillness. The faces of those around her caught in a miasma of fear as they each tried to stop themselves from shaking at this overwhelming feeling of being watched.
Halmark, unaffected by the threat of danger, strode alongside her with a face built of granite. The large chunk of blackened wood he swung at his side collected from the forest floor, while he watched the trees. The big, sturdy minotaur a bulwark against the growing despair she felt, each time she looked back, and thought she saw eyes filled with hate observe them from the shroud of darkness. The fog concealing far too much.
But no matter how much she desired to stop, Amaryllis knew deep down that they could not rest. Not even for a little while. For even now as she walked past trees that showed no hints of colour nor life, through woods haunted by the eerie silence, she could still hear the voice of the one that had helped her to escape, telling her to keep strong and true to the light. Those that lagged behind her, chivvied on by Halmark who tried to keep a watchful eye on them all.
The callous minotaur she had thought he had been shed away to expose a noble heart that made sure Sigren did not give up. The bedraggled band of former captives quickly forming tighter bonds of steel as they each helped each other to keep moving through the banks of cloying green fog that smelled like a hundred year old dead body. The darkness somehow alleviated as they walked together in a place that had not been touched in decades. Dayala for once quiet and reserved with not a single complaint to be heard out from her lips, even though Amaryllis could tell she was struggling to keep up with the rest of them. Her elven features knotted up in pain as she tried to disguise her weariness.
Gromel, the stableboy from Shadow’s Bay on the other hand, despite his fear, looked almost cheerful at his newfound freedom, but Amaryllis knew better than to believe that the danger was over for them yet. Night would come and without a hint of daylight to seep through the forest’s branches they would all be blinded by the dark and become lost in a maze of trees that looked much the same to her. Or much worse be found by something else that dwelled within the forest.
In her mind, she could still see the faces of the Ashlings that had attacked the column of wagons, the creatures almost like her in every way possible but with this strange look in their eyes that hinted at something so much darker. Everything about them so foreign and so familiar, she wondered if any of them remembered who they were? A question she would have asked Halmark since he seemed to know so much about them, but a part of her was hesitant to find out the truth.
The darkness of the fog strangely thinner the further they traveled north, Amaryllis thought that she could still hear the high pitched howl of the wolves and rattle of steel as the minotaurs fought against the creatures of the forest, the sound alone urging her along when something shifted up in the mist ahead of them, a slight movement that shook the tree’s branches.
Jolted to a halt, her eyes flickered back to Halmark and wished she had a weapon of her own to carry, before scanned the thicket of dead trees and bushes ahead hoping against hope that she had been wrong. Hoping that it had been nothing but the wind she had still yet to feel when that same strange sound creaked through the stillness.
(Click here to illuminate the darkness. Cost: 1 Light. )
Spoiler: Spoiler
Hand held out before her, she called upon the magic inside of her and felt a release of energy from her palm as the globe of light flew out of her arm. The darkness pressed back to the edges of her sight to reveal blackened soil littered with dead herbs, mushrooms, wild flowers, and insects that had been sculpted into the ground with darkened ash. The only thing that resembled life anymore were the stunted trees that loomed overhead like giants. The shadows darting across the corners of her eyes. The stench of evil here so palpable here, she could almost grasp it in between her fingers. The path she had been about take blocked by a tangle of webs that glistened wetly in the light, stopping her heart cold.
Halmark, his gaze lifted upward at the strange sight, roared, “Run!” As the branches came alive with the sound of skittering footsteps. The Honor Blade, hastily thrusting her ahead of him as they both swerved around the twangle of webs. Gromel, letting out a cry of terror as Sigren was snatched out from his grasp before being knocked over by the elf who in her haste to get escape, and all but trampled over him. Maryllis the only one to see him fall as he tried to get back up.
Heart in her throat at what she was about to do, she turned and rushed back to the boy’s side. Both of them running wildly back towards Halmark who stopped and waited for them when something heavy dropped down from the trees behind. The Honor Blade’s skin bursting alive with inner flames as he spun around and beat at the eight legged creature that scuttled towards him, it’s one thousand black eyes and hairy mandibles clicking open and closed as it tried to take a bite from his flesh. The monster recoiling back from the flames that surged around him, allowing her to reach his side and charge forward together towards the glimmers of light.
(Click here to continue running.)
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Spoiler: Spoiler
Stricken by a wave of uncontrollable fear, she found herself inexplicably running forward, when she felt herself caught on something sticky that stopped her dead in her tracks. The more she struggled the harder it became for her to move when something sharp stabbed her from behind. The sensation much like a sleeping draught she’d used as a child to help her sleep when she dreamed of the girl at the gate. (- 50 Health Points. Magical Damage.)
Halmark, the first to reach her side, let out a battle cry that wreathed his entire body in flames that burst out from his skin. The wooden club in his hands darkened even further as he used the fire to cut her loose from the tangle of webs that surrounded her. The monstrous creature above her, skittering back from the light to reveal, furry grey flesh, eight legs and a thousand eyes that stared at her hungrily as she fell into Halmark’s open arms. The fire passing through her as though it did not exist.
Wracked by unbelievable pain, she looked up into the Honor Blade’s eyes as he whispered indecipherable words to her. The pain in her back becoming almost blinding until all she could do was scream and scream till the blackness took her…
...Coming to in a daze of agony, she found herself bouncing up and down on Halmark’s broad shoulders as he raced through the forest. The only person she was able to see with her was Gromel who looked up at her in relief, the claw marks on the side of his neck weaving a bloody trail of blood that dripped down his throat.
“Where are the others?”she asked.
The boy’s exhausted red eyes filled with unshed tears as Halmark released her down from his shoulder, his face tight with fatigue.
Awash in her own guilt, she chased after them...
...her feet stumbling across the tree roots that were intertwined together in a mesh of their own design. The screams that cut through the forest causing her chest to constrict as she tried to find the will to go on. The hot tears that fell down from her face wetting her fingers as she brushed them aside. The skittering sound of the creatures behind closing in all around them. The stony resolute warrior all but wobbling on his feet as a worried Gromel looked up at him fretfully.
The Honor Blade snorting in annoyance at the boy’s concern. “Just keep going, fool. Do not worry about me.”
But Amaryllis could tell, it was taking everything he had to keep himself upright and moving. She herself having never run this long or used so many spells at once found herself slowing down when a blaze of light washed through the forest’s treetops. The ground ahead transformed into a steep slope that she could finally see, while above them stood a line of silver armored minotaurs in heavy plate that waited behind a priestess in robes of purest white. Her violet coloured eyes filled with a warmth and beauty that left Amaryllis’ lips dry.
Bent over on hands and knees to clamber up towards her and safety, Amaryllis was stunned by the voice that boomed towards her. “Hold! Foul creatures of darkness! Take one step further and we shall smite you where you stand!”
Each word cutting through her as she looked up in askance, a part of herself seeing that same young girl who had stood in front of her father pleading for a place to rest for the night. The Honor Blades she saw above her, drawing their greatswords in a hiss of steel that flashed in the sunlight just out of her reach. The emptiness she saw in their eyes, sending a pang of fear running down her spine when the woman spoke softly in a voice she easily recognised. “Rest easy, Star, can you not sense the light in them. These are not servants of the dark. Sheath your blades.”
Star, a grizzled veteran with shaggy grey fur and gnarled old horns that sprouted from either side, bowed his head at her command, and with a slight flare of his nostrils he waved his arm down, the warriors around him doing as she asked and returning their blades to their sheathes in a practiced move that was almost breathtaking if it were not so cold and intimidating.
Smiling down at her, the woman held out her hand. “Welcome, dear child, I am called Aurora, high priestess at the Temple of Light. I heard your call and came as swiftly as I dared. Come, we must not linger here.”
***
Surrounded by his great army, Colmar watched from a hill as the last of his troops marched out of the Ash Lands and out into the green pastures of the northern slopes. The many years he’d imagined this day, playing at the back of his mind. The Citadel's beacon which had forever taunted him with her light, finally within his reach.
He knew there were some that thought him mad, mad to trust a witch, mad to turn his own people into abominations, mad for bringing them here of all places when the Ash Lands would eventually put an end to the accursed Honor Blades.
But to Colmar, he had waited for far too long for this very moment, each day he had watched the beacon stay alive, was an insult to his family. The handfuls of Honor Blades he’d captured and twisted to his bidding, a mere salve for the rage he felt each time he looked out his window to see that light still burning brightly on the horizon.
But all of that would change soon and he would finally be able to rest and lay down the burden he had carried for so long. The faint memories of his wife Grace, his daughter Petal, and little son Alder, a constant ache in his heart at the thought of what they must have suffered through at the hands of those that were meant to protect them, shield them from the darkness of the world. All of it would soon come to an end and perhaps he could finally rest and see them all once more. Their tiny faces lit up with joy each time he returned to their side, the comforting smell of his wife as she held him in her arms. The both of them reunited and whole once again as it should have been. All of it would come to an end...And perhaps he would see the light again…
***
Docked beside the coast of Shadow’s Watch, Grey, Calain, Lorel, and Glydel bid farewell to the Asgarolda. It’s black sails swiftly filling with the warm breeze as it continued on its long journey westward through the Ring which had once brought thousands of merchant vessels to trade their wares at Shadow’s Bay and the many villages between here and there before reaching the Port City of Minos.
The crash of the waves as they stood upon the rocks, urging Grey to move as he saw the Captain and his sons wave one last farewell on the deck of their ship before disappearing off into the golden sunset. The round tower house that stood behind them, stuffed full of the supplies they had brought with them from Haldasbre. The Captain insisting he could not take none of it for himself, not after Grey had saved the lives of his sons.
The memory of that moment, almost as troubling to him as it was to Calain who watched him with uncertainty. The vampire far too silent in his contemplations over what had occurred onboard the ship. Whereas Sky and Lorel were as enthusiastic as children learning they had gained a new toy and wanted to learn how he could best wield it.
But the truth was far simpler than they had yet to realise, in that he had no idea what had gone through his mind when he called out for Tamrel, no idea how he had come to wield the magic that flowed through him or how he was even still alive. Of course Hargan’s explanation that he was an Honor Blade, equally made no sense to Grey, since his uncle had made no mention of becoming an Honor Blade without first completing each of the rites.
But those thoughts would have to be left behind for now as he turned his back on the river, and gazed north towards the Citadel which shone like a beacon in the four suns. It’s snow white walls, turrets, and crenellations, a most wondrous sight to behold, which at times he thought he would never see. The encroaching Ash Lands held at bay by invisible lines that split the dark from the light. The valley before him filled with the kind of wildlife he had thought had been wiped out. The mellow-hearts that sat upon the trees, chirping cheerfully with their song as a herd of borels lazed beside a small pond.
Grey had finally arrived.
To be Continued...