Graham awoke in a freezing, cold darkness. The ground below him was moist, and his hands were tied back, above his head. He could see his white breath in front of him as he shivered. His robe was gone and he was left with only a small tunic.
His breath and heart quickened as he became more awake.
What is going on? he thought. Where am I?
He took a moment to center himself. After many long years, he could be rattled, but he was always able to come back to center.
Breathe, just breathe, he said as he slowed his breath back to normal.
He quieted his mind and listened to his surroundings. He heard water droplets fall into a nearby pool. He felt the rough stone beneath his feet. He heard some nearby echoes of a nameless noise.
A cave, the old man thought to himself.
“Hello, hello?” he called out in to the darkness.
A laugh sported up out from the darkness in response. Then, he could see a figure approach him. It was a woman with blue skin and white hair. She had black leather armor as she knelt down next to the old man. The kuinan put her hand out and grabbed the old man's chin to make him look at her.
“You made a critical mistake, mage,” she said. “You failed to understand that you are dealing with powers beyond your control. You will pay dearly, I am afraid.”
The goblins from his household, Griesnak and Farnuk, approached them with torches. They were joined by other goblins as well that were dressed in crude iron armor.
“I am sorry,” Griesnak murmured as she looked upon her previous master.
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Graham struggled in his binds as he tried to put his hands on them, but it was no use. He was bound tightly, and the chains had some enchantment upon them that the darkened his ability to use any magic.
“Shhh," the woman said. “In time you will learn what true power is, and you will be serving me and my master.”
“Never,” Graham spat. “You may think that you have beaten us, but you do not know anything about the Defenders of Sol. They will find me and you will be brought to justice.”
Astrid laughed as she stood up proudly, “We are far away from your precious friends, far away from your silver armies, far away from any of their grasp. The people of this kingdom have long forgotten of these dark places where me and my servants dwell. For now we lay and wait. We wait for our chance to take back this world for our master.”
“You mean Dyurkan?" Graham said. “I know you are from the White Hand. I know that you betrayed your people it is not too late. You can come back from this. You can come back and make these things right. Trust me, it is not too late.”
The woman seemed to be surprised that Graham knew this about her. She paused for a moment and stared at him curiously, “I have done terrible things to get power.”
“And you can come back, trust me you can come back from any evil that you have done,” the old man repeated.
There seemed to be a moment where she looked at him with a hope that lit up her eyes.
“Shut up, old man,” one of the goblins sneered. He threw a small stone at Graham and it prompted a chorus of laughter.
The light went out and she shook her head as she said, “Even if I wanted to, it is too late, but I do not. I have a new master now and I do not serve those hypocrites with the White Hand. I serve the one who will bring in justice to this world. You can trust me, the White Hand will be the next to fall. It is only a matter of time.”
“Dyurkan,” Graham scoffed. “You think that he would even show himself to you? He does not care enough about you. Once he has what he wants, you will strike you down.”
Astrid held out her hand and smiled. The pyramid artifact laid there with its runes glowing an ominous red. It hummed to life and levitated as a tunnel behind her also started to glow a deep red. The goblins snickered and laughed as they started to chant. Griesnak and Farnuk looked nervous at first, but they joined in the chant in a foirgn, harsh language.
The woman started deeply into Graham’s eyes as she said, “He has not shown himself before, but he will now."