Mallek the death knight stood gracefully and turned to face the four armed intruder. His presence was bone chilling, and the lizardmen scrambled away to watch from behind one of the stone pillars.
“You are in no danger.” Vathec casually comforted them. “Come and enjoy this unexpected but most welcome distraction.” He waved a gauntleted hand, and two beautifully carved chairs materialized next to his small throne.
With a frightened shrug to one another, the lizardmen complied, and watched in shaking anticipation as the two titanic powers faced off a few mere steps away.
Mallek drew his ancient looking greatsword, a pitted and stained thing that radiated black miasma. He began to give a stiff and antiquated salute, but a sudden and ferocious barrage from four weapons at once interrupted the ritual.
Mallek silently and easily parried the two high attacks from the axes and evaded one of the scimitars. He accepted a hit from the other scimitar and the force of it caused him to slide a few steps to the side.
“Is that truly all the force an oni such as yourself can muster, miss Vermillion?” Vathec yawned as he leaned back and threw one leg over the other. “I shouldn’t have allowed my hopes to soar so high.”
“I’ve never heard of such a cheeky bastard vampire.” Vermillion growled back as she continued her onslaught. “This rusted can of bones barely qualifies as a warm up.”
Indeed, it seemed to be all Mallek could manage to minimize the hits he was absorbing. He was truly a marvelous swordsman, but Vermillion was confident that she would win easily. She may have to use her full strength against the vampire lord, but she remained certain that no undead would ever be a match for her.
The fight wore on for another minute, the impacts of weapon on weapon shook the stones of the hall. Then, suddenly Vermillion was victorious. Mallek’s head was chopped off cleanly by a vicious horizontal swing of a battleaxe. The mighty death knight swayed for a moment, then collapsed to his knees as his helmeted head clattered to the stone in front of him.
“Now, what do you have to say? Prepare yourself, arrogant vampire.” She began to step around Mallek’s still form as she spoke.
“Sir Mallek, Sacred Hero Knight of Albius, you are permitted to fight without restrictions. Show this pitiful creature what it means to stand against the exalted Gray’s most loyal servants.” Vathec’s command carried with it a wave of magical force that physically knocked Vermillion back several paces and made her grunt in surprise.
“As you command, Your Majesty.” A deep voice came from the severed head on the floor.
Mallek rose to his feet, and his severed head began to float and orient itself to rest in place upon his neck. Vermillion blinked and shook her head slightly. Someone new now stood behind the vampire lord that hadn’t been there a moment ago. A lich? And it was no spring chicken at that, but a venerable and ancient thing with magic that plumbed the depths of the hells and the astral heavens with impunity. The only other thing in this world with that level of magic was Kutris himself.
“Archmagus Thornwhisper, you needn’t frighten her so. Sir Mallek and mineself have been politely suppressing our energy all this time after all.” Vathec admonished over his shoulder.
“It displeases me to see a mere eight thousand rated oni act discourteously toward such an honorable man. She should be kissing the stones at his feet.” Thornwhisper didn’t disguise her derision.
“Now, now. From what I can tell, eight thousand is quite a feat in this young world.” Vathec patted the air as if consoling someone.
“What...?” Vermillion’s mind raced to keep up as a sudden blinding light flared to life from the death knight she had just defeated. “The Holy Element? That’s not...”
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When the light calmed, a majestic knight in a suit of full platinum dragonscale armor stood tall before her. He held his empty gauntleted hand high above his head.
“Come forth, Avenging Wrath of Albius - Guiding Light of Kings! Come forth, Holy Sword Iudicium!” With each word, Mallek’s voice carried higher and higher and something appeared in his raised hand.
It was closer to the size of a lance, but it was unmistakably a great sword. Its blade was white obsidian, and its crossguard formed the wings of a platinum dragon rampant. This was a pinnacle weapon, the ultimate masterpiece of a divine craftsman.
Vermillion could only stare as the attention of the being she had dismissed settled upon her finally in earnest.
“Your Majesty, a somewhat powerful magical signature is spying through her from afar, it appears to be attempting a spell to transport her away from us.” Thornwhisper sounded animated and curious, causing Vathec to raise a dark brow.
“Lord Kutris... is rescuing me?” Vermillion’s hope mixed with despair. That meant that even her invincible master had judged these enemies to be beyond her.
“I have severed the connection, though there was a bit of sophisticated interference I haven’t seen before. I should like to investigate the caster.” Thornwhisper’s casual declaration shook Vermillion far worse than anything up until this moment.
“Lord Kutris’ Unravel skill is impossible to defeat. No magic can go against it! You’re lying!” Vermillion screamed in denial.
“Then tell me, little girl.” Vathec spoke calmly. “Why are you still here? Why is the Holy Avenger Iudicium still poised to fall upon you?”
The statement shocked Vermillion into silence, and then there was a flash of light followed by endless darkness.
“Send word to our lord and master.” Vathec ordered Thornwhisper as Vermillion’s unconscious form was carried away by a pair of skeletons. “He may have questions for that woman. You may petition lord Gray directly for permission to investigate this magic user whom has caught your interest, dear Thornwhisper. Could it be that the sorcerer queen of the elven nations has finally rekindled her passion for magic?”
“This place abounds in curiosities. What immortal whom has suffered the empty epochs could contain their excitement?”
“A sentiment I share.” Vathec agreed. “Now go. This development warrants a personally delivered report. Do nothing to embarrass mineself nor this household, Archmagus.”
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“Lord Gray, our defenses have been breached.” Tabula’s sudden disembodied vocalization made me send a bit of the cola I was enjoying down the wrong pipe. I coughed once and got it together. It was lunch time and I had decided to eat at the tiny cafe in the interior courtyard because it was pleasant and usually not busy at all.
“Is it that Kutris guy already?” I asked, standing up.
“I do not believe so. This individual is manipulating EDEN directly with a disturbing level of ease and accuracy.” Tabula’s voice was distracted, and I had never once heard her use the word disturbing. I was suddenly taking this much more seriously.
“Lock everything down. Where is the intruder now!?” I summoned my spear as I spoke, ready for a fight.
“This intruder is before you, my great lord and master.” The voice was clear and beautiful, I could have mistaken it for Kitha’s transcendent voice. “I, Alandrithiriel Thornwhisper have have come at the command of his Majesty, King Vathec to deliver a report.”
I looked down, and found the intruder on one knee with her head bowed. To my best memory Thornwhisper was a skeletal lich, but this unbearably beautiful elf dressed in deep green and gold silk robes was certainly not what I remembered. She must be using illusion magic or a transformation skill to adjust her appearance.
“Tab, she’s one of ours.” I said to release the lockdown and sat back down in my delicate looking chair. I gestured at the seat across from me. “Take a seat.”
“Thank you, I shall.” She stood, turned, and sat in a fluid motion as though it were a dance move she’d been rehearsing for years. “Please forgive me for approaching so brazenly. I must say that your castle is magnificently well defended.”
“Hearing that from someone that just breezed through those defenses in a few seconds makes the words sound a little sarcastic.” I couldn’t help but reply with a twisted grin.
“Anti magic areas and counterspells are a specialty of mine. Defeating them is no different than holding this conversation, but I must say that I am even now struggling to maintain this form. More than a hundred thousand unique anti magic permutations per second are currently assaulting me, and each wave is more complex than the last. I’ll eventually lose.”
“Tabula, relax. I told you she’s one of ours.” I firmly said aloud.
“Apologies, Mr. Gray.” Tabula’s avatar appeared and bowed. “It would seem my subroutines are behaving like an autoimmune system and It’s taking a moment to resolve.”
“The onslaught has abated.” She said to me and visibly relaxed as she turned toward Tabula. “Your defenses are supremely impressive, fellow servant. Before I depart I shall share the gap which allowed my unannounced ingress so that our master’s fortress may be truly impregnable.”
I felt an odd sense of curiosity mixed with tension between the two ladies. One undead and one android, what kind of pair could they make? It’s probably for the best to keep some miles between them. I decided based on nothing more than a strong gut feeling.
“Tell me, what brings you here?” I decided to move things along.
“We have taken a hostile invader hostage, and require your guidance. She identified herself as Vermillion, third general of someone named Kutris. I encountered what I would call above standard anti magic when an unknown entity attempted to extract her. Such a magic user could be dangerous to the local populace, if not us directly.”
“I see, he’s moving faster than expected.” I replied. “Transfer the prisoner here. I’ll also make time to meet with Vathec as soon as possible. Well done. Was there anything else?”
“His Majesty has permitted me to petition you directly. I would like to investigate this Kutris, both as a matter of regional security and my own personal curiosity.”
“I’ll allow it but I insist you collaborate with my top advisors.” I could feel myself imitating her stiff dialect and that made me smile. Her personality was that overpowering. “I’ll ask Raj and Nadira to work with you on this, they already have a great deal of information on him. Kutris is a proper enemy, and not to be underestimated. Make no moves until you have support and authorization. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly, Exalted One.”