"Knowing is half the battle."

-Unknown

"Sometimes inaction is the best course of action."

-Unknown

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The skeleton awoke with seemingly a shiver. It had dreamed of it being ordered to clean an inn outside of a city from top to bottom as a rather rude woman ordered it to stand in a corner, come back, go back to said corner, follow her, and clean while being insulted on its attempts. It rose as the flames of the group's fire crackled with life, intelligent orbs pondering and considering various things, something it did with an ever increasing rate the more its mind developed.

The skeleton looked up at the moon hovering overhead brightly, noting to itself it was time to move. The others awoke without any sort of prodding, instinctually aware of the moment. The masked elf, Reshiram, and the crooked nose scholar Stultum rose with yawns at the late hour, they could not afford a long rest after all.

Reshiram clasped his hands behind his back like a wise sage, his eyes glowing faintly blue in the dark. "Well, shall we go?" The skeleton nodded as several of the dozens of runes lining its form began glowing faintly. The skeleton vanished from view, as the other two members gave no visible sign of acknowledgment to it, and simply set to work erasing all traces and eventually moving to their destination. 

The skeleton ran fast as the wind, cloth armor black as night allowing it to blend further with the dark. Up the hill, it traversed without difficulty as it found itself in front of a ledge to the hills cliff face. It crouched down and pulled over the hood to further reduce detection, a rune glowing dark enhancing its undetectability. Below was the temple they together had sought out for over two years now, their efforts would not be in waste it seemed. Figures moved, black masses of mist with beady red dots for eyes patrolled the dark temple grounds as the steady sound of gongs rang quietly out, the dark priests keeping watch over their flock. 

A rune on the skeleton's wrist glowed as it summoned its familiar.

"Master..." the common greeting slithered out from the demon princeling as the waves of regality and cruelty washed over the immediate surroundings, killing the grass beneath their feet. The skeleton said not a word, but the prince knew the will of the one it pledged its dark soul to. "By your will...." and the devil vanished. Beherit vanished in a thin mist of black powder, only to reappear on the steps of the chapel, the cruel gaze rending all he saw, as the screams of the damned flock wretched and spurned as they were forcefully returned to his domain. None would stand before his master so help him.

Stultum and Reshiram were the second and third to reach the temple steps respectively, their eyes studying inquisitively the structure, as it was most definitely older than even Reshiram by many, many centuries. Silent as a cat, the skeleton walked beside the three, catching all by surprise though none were surprised it happened, slowly becoming further acquainted with their silent companions abilities after all this time.

However, no further could they progress without the final member of their company. The skeleton stared out from the temple steps at the dark shadows that danced across these cursed grounds, watching for his arrival.

The silence was broken with a slow and steady rhythm with increasing volume of chain and armor. A dark figure slowly approached a large greatsword as tall as the figure carelessly held in one hand, in the other a just as large towering great shield, a large snow white circle being the only ornament on the gray metal. A crimson cape billowed in the nonexistent wind, as a wolf-like helm returned the skeletons gaze. He approached the group and stopped before the skeleton on a lower step. While elves are tall, Reshiram especially so, this being was a giant of a creature. Being a hill giant he stood twenty-four feet tall, just over double the elven feet Reshiram bore claim, let alone the six and a half, and just under six that the skeleton and Stultum themselves held. 

The warrior looked down, seemingly hosting a staring contest against the skeleton before a gravelly voice came from the armor "Boss, I come." the skeleton nodded, obviously used to the hill giants weird speech.

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"Hmph, took you long enough, Cestrium." Stultum gave an annoyed eye, inciting a gruff sigh from the giant, knowing it was in fact late. 

Reshiram motioned to the temple "Be as it is, we have business to take care of." The group, save the skeleton and its familiar nodded. The skeleton glanced at Beherit, inciting a bow and his sudden disappearance.  The demon prince appeared before the massive stone doors of the black temple, before muttering words of arcane leaving the sealing runes on the temple useless, opening the doors with dust to dark abyss inside. The group stood before the opening, knowing full well there would be no back. Though the skeleton, for all it had gained in its relatively short free existence, did not think of that. The skeleton's sole thoughts were of the next step, and a step forward into the temple it did take, with its comrades of heart and mind following behind as they too only sought the next step.

Dark light flickered into existence as the temple doors ceremoniously shut behind the five trespassers. Shadows flickered to and fro with malice against the living that dares make entrance into their halls, though one of the invaders was a fellow undead like themselves. A few of these dark spirits took note of this curious, as they could be with their limited intelligence, and swirled around the skeleton attempting to discern this. Normally the group would already have been assaulted by the spirits who dwelled within these plagued walls of death, to feast upon their earthly flesh. They kept walking through the twisting halls lit solely by the mysterious purple light without source. More and more spirits gathered around the one track skeleton, its familiar growing rather jealous and aggravated by such lowly creatures getting so close to his master, though it could not act on its desires without its master's will to allow it so. 

Cestrium ignored all the commotion surrounding his boss, uncaring. She couldn't smash spirit skulls, after all, so long as they didn't become hostile she cared little. However the other two members, Stultum especially, were quite interested in this phenomenon, taking notes with their arcane books hidden inside their bags as they watched the skeleton seemingly become coated with dark energy the further they delved into the temple.

Slowly but surely, a dark presence began resonating, causing the walls to seemingly breathe like a mortals lungs. Air blew back and forth like one would after a long strenuous run. At a certain point, the spirits seemed to flee like sheep to a wolf. The three mortals of the group felt this feeling of wrongness slowly ebb into their souls. They shouldn't be here, something isn't right. We should go back, but they didn't. As they were connected to the skeleton, they were able to know that the skeleton felt not what they did, thus it was some sort of magical trickery this temple cast upon them. It didn't want invaders in its deepest place, likely whatever controlled these halls was nervous to some degree its spirits did not attack.

The lights became fewer and fewer with greater distance slowly accumulating as they ventured forth. They traveled down many a winding staircase, till they arrived in the final chamber of this accursed temple. A dark, yet ornate hall greeted them with rows of pews leading up to an altar covered in bone and blood. Black swirling masses filled nearly every seat, as a horrid creature with strikingly white robes spoke words in some black tongue in raspy breaths. 

However, upon the noticing the group, the dark priest became silent seemingly sizing up the entrants. It spoke various words, all seemingly from different languages until it came to elvish.

"Trespassers...ah so this is the gross tongue you speak? Tell me o' invaders why do you come to our..." the priest held its rotting hands to the various walls, its eyes taking it all in "Sacred halls?"

Silence was the response, a cough came from the priest as if it expected as such. It raised a finger and a bolt of dark energy speared forth. The skeleton stepped forward, various runs lighting up making it seem like a corpse Christmas tree as it raised a hand at the orb of dark power, catching it. The skeleton brought it to its face, eyeing the orb before putting it to its jaw, seemingly eating the mass. The priest frowned at this sight, clearly not expecting but not, not expecting this. "Ah, so that's what you come to my halls for..." The priest flicked its wrist, a book darker than shadow wrapped in chain appeared in hand. Immediately the group shifted, save the skeleton the dark priest being point on. 

"Hohohoh...how long has it been since one knew of this book? Tell me, what do you seek to gain from my tome, hm?" Silence once more permeated the room. "No matter, if my lord wills it, so it shall be yours, after all, hm hm..." The priest waved its hands as the dark congregation stirred. Low moans first, then came the stares. They shifted formlessly as they slowly approached. 

Immediately Reshiram began chanting as spells were flung from himself to the black masses, the priest and some of those masses returning fire. Cestrium muttered words beneath his breath as his sword and shield began to glow a faint gold color. With one step, he swung seemingly erasing a dozen of the hundred black masses in one go, only for them to reform causing him to click his tongue in annoyance.

Beherit wanted nothing more than to wipe his master's enemies away, however it was not the will of his master. Thus he stood silently next to his master, as they both watched the battle unfold neither making moves to aid or hinder in any form.

So they fought in the dark of this temple, all for a book held in the dark priest's gleamingly bloodthirsty eyes.