A golden Elf furiously walked the marbled hallway of Queen Tyviona’s autumn palace. Pillars of gold, brown, and red held up the tall ceiling that were painted motifs of nature. Tall frosted glass windows sat in between the pillars, letting the last of the sun's rays alight the hall in a dull glow.
“Lord Tanyth!” A middle-aged human butler trailed off the elf that had a permanent scowl marring his face.
“Lord Tan-” The butler silenced himself when Tanyth abruptly threw open the golden inlaid tall wooden double door at the end of the hallway.
Tanyth glared at each of the nobles and politicians that were sitting around the various tables, discussing matters in hushed whispers and gorging themselves on the food set before them. Servants were posted near each table in case of refreshments needed. A sneer of disgust raced across his face as he took in each of their faces.
“Ah! Tanyth the Golden!” One nobleman stood, raising his drink in a toast, the sun’s rays making his baby blue suit pop, “Welcome! The Queen greets thee on this fine day!”
“Silence, Mather!” Tanyth viciously replied, staring daggers at the slender built yet handsome, chiseled man with brown hair that was slick back. Tanyth couldn’t stand the way Mather used too much oil in his hair as it wafted into his keen sense of smell.
Mather chortled, brushing off the accursed glare that Tanyth was sending his way, “My, my! Is that any way to speak to a colleague?” Mather moved from his seat, gracefully making his way to greet Tanyth.
“Don’t patronize me Mather, I need to see the Queen. It’s important.” Tanyth angrily replied, sneering at the outreached manicured hand of Mather.
Mather’s smug smile dropped slightly as did his hand, then took a sip of the honeyed berry wine. “She is currently occupied with her studies,” he replied, narrowing his eyes at Tanyth. “I can schedule you in for later this week if that would be appropriate?” his smile not reaching the corner of his brown eyes.
“After all, I’m sure she would love to know why you sent the distress signal to purge Lor-Vold.” Mather started, “I’m sure all of us here would like to know why, too.” He waved a hand to the rest of the audience behind him that were now watching the exchange.
Many others murmured in agreement as Tanyth took a breath, “Undead attacked.” He announced loud enough for all to hear.
Fits of outrage erupted all over the room as shouts of naysayers called it obscene and ridiculous. Mather held up his hand. “My friends! Calm yourselves!!” he said, quieting the building rage that rose incrementally now.
“Undead you say?” Mather turned his attention back to Tanyth, wresting control back from the crowd. “What proof do you have?” he wickedly smiled.
Tanyth threw out a pearl ball that blared to life with magical dust leaking from it, taking the form of a gigantic dust cloud that filled the high vaulted ceiling. Inside, scenes of the attack played out from Tanyth’s perspective as he battled an enormous mass of flesh with giant centipedes for limbs. Gasps rang out around the room as others became vocal at the display.
Mather glared at the image as Tanyth stood by, smugly looking around as the noblemen and politicians argued and shouted over each other about what to do.
“Where do you get off in this little contest of ours?” Mather hissed quietly enough for only Tanyth to hear.
“When you die,” Tanyth hissed back, equally as quiet.
Mather visibly bristled before taking a breath, regaining his snotty composure, “I will have the Queen meet with you tomorrow morning at the earliest or by dinner time at the latest. You better have a good explanation than this recording pearl.” Mather said, slinking off to calm the nobility.
Tanyth turned, his golden robes swishing in response as he strode out of the door past the wide-eyed butler that stared at the recording. “I will take lunch in my room,” He said without turning his back.
“Y-yes Lord Tanyth! Right away!” The butler said before skirting off further down the hall in the opposite direction.
Tanyth arrived at his assigned room moments later. It was tastefully decorated in the hues of autumn, much like the rest of the palace. A large oak double bed with silken orange sheets sat in the middle of the room. To both sides of the bed were the hand crafted oak end tables that held inert light orbs since the sun from the balcony window allowed the room to still be flushed with light. There was also a small desk and chair for the room’s guests to use for their personal use, along with a table that could sit two if one were to have refreshments brought to them.
Glee radiated from him as he accomplished riling up the nobility to get off their asses. He knew that attack wasn’t normal, but had yet to fully dive into the matter at hand. Needing to get all the facts before he presented himself to the queen, he pulled out a similar pearl orb that had a copy of the recording. The same cloud filled his ceiling as the playback of the fight began to play. Holding the orb in his hand, he rolled his thumb over the surface of it, making the playback fast forward. He replayed the fight, studying and dissecting it for any hints. Pausing at moments by tapping the pearl orb, he found that these Undead had gathered and somehow cloaked their essence.
“Curious,” he said to himself, squinting his eyes as he took focus on the named Death Gorger. It was fighting to keep his attention on it rather than on the waves of undead that flooded from a destroyed portion of the wall. He stared at the hole from the angle he was limited to. The Undead rushed in without remorse, but also with a goal in mind until it clicked into place. “This was a coordinated attack!” he snapped his fingers with a victorious grin.
A knock on his door drew his attention away. “Enter!” He double tapped the pearl, making the cloud suck back into the orb. The butler from before opened the door, letting a maid enter the room carrying a tray of food. Fruits and vegetables from his home country were tastefully displayed, with a side of his guilty pleasure, the tangy Goblin cutlets. The maid placed it down on the nearest table that would fit before dipping her head and exiting the room.
The butler lingered for a moment. “Would that be all, sir?” He asked, hesitant to leave.
Tanyth waved him away as he moved to the table that had his food. He sat, picking at his food, mulling over his thoughts at what exactly could have made the Undead act in a way. They weren’t mindless in the sense it was a random attack, yet it was still chaotic for it to be a possibility. A dreadful thought took hold of him as he quickly pulled out the orb to replay the event again. Noticing at one point the Undead no longer attacked anything that moved, but only those that fought back. “Another Necromancer?!” he bolted upright, knocking his seat over. The Undead were being deliberately controlled instead of what he originally thought as simple coordination.
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Rushing out of the room immediately, he made his way back to the room with the nobility up in arms, as he could hear them arguing behind the thick wooden doors. With little care, he threw them open again, “Mather!” he shouted, his wild-eyed scowl roving over every face.
Mather glared disdainfully at Tanyth, who had left the room in a buzz of activity. “What have you come to do now?!” he asked, pushing his way to him through the middle.
“There was a Necromancer! At the head of the attack! And a powerful one at that, if they had control of the monster I fought! The Undead stopped attacking people that were trying to escape and only acted in self defense,” Tanyth quickly explained.
Mather’s disdain slowly turned into disbelief the more Tanyth told him, “They were being controlled, Mather. One that is unassociated with the lunatics of Vaultstrand!” Tanyth finished.
Mather grabbed him by the arm, quickly pushing past all the people in the room towards a secluded corner. “If what you speak of is true, then the Queen will want this rogue Necromancer.” he said.
“Come on,” Mather walked around Tanyth, who followed closely behind him.
They raced out of the room and down the hall, making quick turns that led them down into a dark passage that was lit with inexhaustible torches. “The Queen’s study is just at the end of the steps,” Mather said, going first.
Tanyth hesitantly looked around, unsure if he was being led into a trap, regardless he readied a spell. They went down the steps, coming to a stop at a sheet of dark metal. Mather placed his hand on it, letting magic red runes scrawl over the edges of it, coming to a stop at where his hand was placed. The runes glowed green briefly, then disappeared, making the dark metal sheet door slide up, becoming one with the wall. From the entrance, Tanyth saw a brightly lit pristine lab with vials atop shelves, test tubes with various colored liquids in them, and tubs and vats filled with misshapen bodies in them that sloshed with liquid.
Mather didn’t bat an eye at any of this as Tanyth stared in wonder. “This is the Queen’s study? What is she doing here? These are dark arts!” He hissed in disgust.
Mather whipped around, pointing his finger in Tanyth’s face. “You will not speak of what you see here! It will be considered treason!” he spat.
“But-” Tanyth began.
“No! You are here by the grace of the Queen with information that is beneficial, Elf!” he spewed again.
“Mather.” Rattled a cold, hollow voice that ended in a hiss, similar to the Dwarven or Goblin machinery Tanyth knew of.
Mather blanched at the voice, “My Queen!” he said, immediately kneeling on one knee with his head bowing.
Tanyth did the same, trying to sneak looks as metal heels clicked on the smooth stone floor. He could only see the tips of the Queen’s silver heels. “Why have you bothered me during this time?” her voice was wheezy when she was closer, like it was coming out of tubes, yet it still ended in that same steamed hiss.
“Your m-majesty, I’ve come with news.” Mather fumbled, “A witness, mi’lady
Small ticking followed by a steam powered hiss resounded, “Tanyth.” her cold metallic voice said.
Tanyth bowed his head deeper, unwilling to become a next project of hers that he had heard rumors about. He thought them to be untrue, but those rumors have the truth to them now. “Lor-Vold was attacked by a horde and controlled by a rogue Necromancer.” he informed as evenly as he could.
Her raspy breathing hitched in her throat. “Find them and bring them to me. I need their services. Convince them anyway you can, whether it be forcefully or peacefully. I need the secrets of the Undead to finish my studies.” The Queen commanded. “Fail me and both of you will become my next projects.”
System Alert! Quest Issued: Finding the Dark
You have been tasked by Queen Tyviona to seek out the attacker of Lor-Vold and bring them to her by any means necessary!
Reward: ???
Failure: ???
Tanyth read the new quest issued to him with unease. An unknown reward and failure didn’t bring him any comfort, especially if failure meant becoming a project or at least whatever that meant.
The Queen turned to leave, her metal heels echoing on the stone floor as she began to walk away. “Mather, you did well to bring me this information; even if it is useless.” She said over her shoulder, that same hiss at the end of her sentence, further disappearing deeper into the dimly lit part of the lab where a muffled scream bellowed.
Once the echoes of her footfalls were out of earshot, the two of them stood up, Mather shooting daggers of contempt at Tanyth, who eyed him with annoyance in return. “I suggest you start at the scene of the crime.” Mather contemptuously suggested.
Without waiting for a reply, Mather marched back the way they came, not bothering to wait for Tanyth, who decided to look around briefly. It wasn’t until he heard another unmuffled, blood-curdling scream did he hastily make his way back too. The walk back was met with silence as both men contemplated the Queen’s words. More-so Tanyth grappling with the idea that all of his work he had with the Undead may be helping the Queen.
A sudden coldness ran down his spine as he remembered the Feral Vampires he had kept under the campus at Lor-Vold. Uncertainty bloomed in his mind at the thought of the Zombies staging a rescue mission, but who or what could have called out to them plagued his mind. Nothing strong could have that wasn’t tamed or bound magically, as only lesser Undead wandered the outskirts of Vaultstrand. That left his mind with more questions than answers, as he first needed to go back to the crater that had once been Lor-Vold and then to the dreaded place of Vaultstrand to pick up any leads.
Tanyth hoped the cold peace with Vaultstrand would still be in effect, otherwise he would need to gather his old team back together in order to assault the place. It was an idea that he wasn’t keen on since they last spoke; they all had serious disagreements about the direction of how he navigated his life. Another sneer crossed his face as he remembered being called a Queen’s Puppet. On the other hand, a sinister thought crossed his mind as he thought that a rogue Necromancer might be the one thing he needed to connect back with his old team.
Mather broke Tanyth from his deep thoughts by clearing his throat, “As much as I loathe to do this, the Queen has issued a command, one that I will follow to the utmost of my ability.” He ruefully sighed, “Whatever assistance you require, you shall have at your disposal.”
Tanyth looked at him, trying to find any traces of deceit or plotting, but saw none. “I will need to get in touch with my old team, then. Have them meet me at what was once Lor-Vold. Tell them the Queen has a Quest that they will be interested to hear about.” He answered, walking back to his room once they reached an intersection of halls.
Mather did not deign to give a reply, but promptly spun on his heel and began walking away. His own thoughts were in a flurry of activity as he wondered what could a rogue Necromancer be planning. Thoughts of another Vaultstrand filled him with terror as the Queen had barely restrained the lunatics that resided there. She had banned anyone from ever going there without explicit instruction and those that did go there with or without her blessing never came back. Relief and hope also took root in his chest at finally ridding himself of his rival, Tanyth, if he chose to go to Vaultstrand. Nevertheless, he would do what his Queen commanded, as it was his rightful place to be her loyal and accountable Servant.