Chapter Two: Map and Monster

A chill wind blew through the castle that night and brought with it the feeling of dread that Rita had become very much accustomed to on dark nights such as these. Even with her two closest friends in tow, following Lamont through the old stone walls after encountering the shadowy beast left her on edge. Each step through the castle only raised the tension. Outside the windows far down the mountainside, Rita could catch glimpses of the city of white, Starsera, lit up with its beautiful lights, and its white stone buildings standing out against the darkness of the night sky.

“So,” Rita said as she tried to focus on what was important here. “When are you going to explain to us what’s going on?”

All Rita could really see was the back of Lamont’s robes and the back of his messy black hair as he spoke. “In just a moment. It'll be easier to show you.”

Rita was about to complain against him treating her like a child when they both knew perfectly well that she’d understand anything he could explain, but when she looked at her two friends the question of whether or not they’d be able to understand came into question. As much as Rita loved them, neither one truly comprehended magical theory. Go figure the terran in the room was the only other one to have a good understanding of magic, and not the two magic slinging starlings.

Lamont led them into the map room which was a large round chamber with no windows and illuminated by a large crystal casting bright blue light down into the room. The map itself was a three-dimensional representation of Silver Glow created with a messy series of illusion runes that Rita had been forced to repair a good number of times now. A series of chairs stood around the map and both Wonder and Lapis took seats immediately. Rita however took a close look at the map. She saw the city of Starsera sitting on its mountainside, the long winding road south of the city went down the mountain complete with the many little farms, outposts, and even a few gas stations that stood along the way. Just north of the mountain and the city was a little valley full of a rainbow of flowers and a small village that Rita knew all too well. In between the two of them stood a forest covering the mountain, and a black spot that seemed unlike anything else on the map proper.

Lamont spoke up almost catching Rita off guard. “So you see it too. That black spot represents an anomaly I found in the Lost Forest. I found some old ruins long forgotten by time itself. I thought these ruins were safe at first until I was attacked by these shadowy beings. I was with a good friend of mine at the time and he was hit by some kind of sharp blade that came flying out of nowhere. He collapsed fairly quickly, yet I managed to escape with him. Unfortunately, it would seem that one of them had managed to follow me all the way back up here, and I’m glad that my message had reached you so soon as I lack the ability to weave light magic and so continuing the fight with only fire would have been annoying.”

“Did you know it’s weakness before?” Rita asked.

“I had my suspicions but couldn’t test my theory.”

Rita leaned in closer to the table to examine the area where the black dot was. Through the woods, a small temple of sorts stood. “So what’s in there?”

Lamont rubbed at his chin where some black scruff was busy growing. “I suspect that was originally a part of an old castle or a town though with most of the surrounding ruins being gone it’s difficult to tell. Of course, if it is, there’s no telling what kinds of old treasures, lore, and surprises could be in there.”

Wonder kicked her feet up onto the table and leaned back in her chair. “I can already tell you one thing that’s in there; monsters.”

Lapis leaned forward resting her elbows on the table while cradling her chin in her hands. “Hmm, that doesn’t look too far away.”

Lamont nodded. “Your right about that, in fact, it would only take a couple of hours at most to get down there and back on foot. Most of the trip would be on the return up the mountain.”

Something about this ordeal left a sour taste in Rita’s mouth. Monsters weren’t uncommon to deal with, even in the big city of Starsera, but something about the old temple and the strange creature itself left Rita feeling like there was a whole lot more going on. She wanted more information before jumping down the shadowy rabbit hole and into this mystery, or at least a new weapon.

Rita stood up. “Where’s your sick companion at?”

Lamont stepped away from the map. “He’s in the infirmary downstairs. Saturn is taking a look at him.”

“S-Saturn, as in Princess Saturn?” Rita asked. Just hearing the princess’s name brought with it a burning flame in her chest which spread to her cheeks, as well as a delightful beat to her heart. “Is she doing okay? I mean how is she? Like, is everything okay with her?”

Lamont laughed. “You just asked the same question three times. She is just fine.”

Before Rita even knew it she was halfway to the door. Lapis’s voice was the only thing to keep Rita from breaking out into a full-on sprint. “Where are you going?”

Rita looked back at her. “To check out Saturn, I meant to check on Saturn.”

Lapis's eyes narrowed in a predatory fashion. “Sure you did.”

Rita had already turned around and was out the door so she hardly even noticed. As she practically raced down the stairs all Rita could think of was how excited she was to finally see Saturn again. It had been a good couple months since she’d seen the woman as Saturn was out destroying some evil magical crystals on the queen's orders. She could already imagine her heroine clad in her pure white full plate armor, and sparkling long sword, the long pink and white swirled hair flowing behind her as she knocked enemies away with her teardrop shield with the image of the sun emblazoned onto it.

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Let’s not say that being caught in a daydream was the best way to traverse the halls of a castle, as pointed out by the fact that Rita ran right past the turn to the stairs only realizing that she’d passed them after a few seconds. After making quick adjustments and heading back towards the stairs, Rita made haste as she stormed down them. She even jumped the last few steps of the stairs and continued running at full pace. She hit the infirmary door and slid to a stop inside.

On the bed lay a man with nothing covering his chest so that his chest was exposed. There was a deep gash stitched back closed across his chest with black veins spreading out over it. The man was breathing rapidly and his face was in a grimace of pain despite his sleep. A neat pile of armor lay near the bedside which Rita imagined belonged to him. His wings were folded against his back.

A cold shiver ran down Rita’s spine as she approached with slow cautious steps. There was a bowl of water-stained lightly red with a rag inside it. Clearly, he was in the process of having his wounds cleaned. If Rita had known more about medical science, she’d like to help out unfortunately although she knew next to Lamont she was the smartest person in the castle, she mostly focused her research on the aether sciences.

A rough but feminine voice sounded from behind Rita. “I didn’t realize you were here.”

Looking back showed Rita a tired-looking version of Saturn wearing a loosely fitted white dress. The woman towered over Rita at just over six feet tall with a white starmark on her forehead in the shape of a sun, and a pair of pink and white wings folded against her back. The black rings around her eyes and the hard look of determination told Rita that Saturn was in no mood for games and likely very focused on her task, whatever that was at the moment.

“Uh… yeah, I am,” Rita said as she stepped to the side to allow Saturn to pass by.

Saturn took a seat in the wooden chair next to the bed. “Are you still working for Lamont?”

Rita nodded a little too quickly. “Yes.”

“Are you working for him right now?”

“Yeppers, and I’m looking into this shadow monster fiasco.”

Saturn looked back at her with a serious expression. “This isn’t the first case of the Shadow Sickness.”

Rita swallowed. “O-oh?”

Saturn studied her for a moment before saying, “I know you're smart, and that you do hard work. Your family history aside, I will trust in your ability to solve this issue.”

It was like being punched in the gut by both a compliment and an insult at the same time. Rita took a step back and shook herself. Saturn was right, the crisis was much more important than her crush right now. “What can you tell me about the sickness?”

Saturn focused on the unconscious soldier. “I can’t heal him. The sickness will kill him in a few weeks if he’s lucky.”

“If he’s lucky?”

Saturn shook her head. “Either he dies and stays down, or turns into a dark corrupted being. There’s a reason I asked Lamont to help out, and suggested he ask you for your assistance as well.”

“You contacted him for support?”

“Yes. As the right hand of Queen Solaria, I’m tasked with taking care of the kingdom, and when things this severe happen so close to the heart of our kingdom it becomes a very big concern.”

It took a moment but Rita caught the second part of what Saturn had said. “Wait, you asked him to contact me specifically?”

“As much as I might disagree with your… behavior, I do acknowledge your skill and intelligence.”

That comment stung, but it had been well earned and Rita was quite proud of her explosive past... for the most part. “Thank you for that, I guess.”

Saturn reached into the box on the floor and pulled out some bandages. “It’s a compliment.”

“Again, thanks I guess.”

Saturn began to bandage up the victim’s wounds. “Even my healing magic won’t affect this wound. It’s almost like it nullifies magic itself.”

“How did he get this exactly?”

“Ask Lamont for confirmation, but I suspect that the wound was caused by a dagger.”

Rita started pacing. “So it's possible the shadow creatures came from the temple ruins, attacked this man and likely others, each attack leaving this sickness behind… is it contagious?”

Saturn shook her head. “No, only whatever causes these wounds can cause the infection.”

“So it’s less of a disease and more of a poison or toxin.”

Saturn shrugged. “We’re calling it Shadow Sickness as there’s been no indication of venom being involved, at least any we can recognize.”

“Then treating it becomes an impossibility without knowing at least the exact reason of infection.”

Saturn nodded. “Now you see the gravity of this infection.”

“The creatures can be killed by light magic, have you tried using light magic to burn the infection out?”

Saturn nodded. “Yes, I have.”

Rita didn’t like this one bit. She’d dealt with some dark forces before, but dealing with some sort of highly toxic monster was on a whole new level. The worst part was that she was going to have to contend with some more of them soon enough. Even with Lamont on her side, dealing with more of these creatures would be a problem without the proper weapon.

If only Rita could learn more about these creatures before going into their lair. That was unlikely but she could, however, do her best to defend both herself and her team from them. A few ideas of weapons she could use already came to her mind.

“What are you thinking?” Saturn asked.

Rita looked toward the doorway leading back into the main hall. “Give me a few hours and I’ll let you know.”

Rita said a quick goodbye and walked out at a brisk pace into the hall. Lamont was at the staircase coming down it already. She looked up at him and explained, “I’m going to need a few hours in the workshop.”

Lamont nodded. “Of course, you will, you know that’s what I always admired about you.”

Rita cocked her head to the side. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“Your ingenuity. You find a way to defeat any obstacle that appears before you, no matter the challenge you will use your mind and creativity to come out on top.”

Rita laughed. “Yeah, well if that was really true then I’d never lose anyone.” Dark thoughts and memories of her old friend and lover Heath flashed in her mind.

Lamont offered a sad smile. “Sometimes loss is an important part of our lives. You can learn a lot from it.”

“Yeah… about how I could have been better.” Rita shook her head. “But I'll just have to set my aims higher, and never lose again.”

Lamont folded his arms over his chest. “You know that you can’t always win.”

Rita stuck her tongue out at him. “Screw that, I’m never going to lose again.”

Before Lamont could react Rita was already marching toward the front gate. “If anyone asks, tell them I’m making something.”

“Rita, we decided to leave in the morning, you might want to get some rest before then.”

Rita laughed. “Sleep is for the weak."