A stench of mould and decay polluted the air of the sandstone corridors. The graveyard silence was disturbed by heels scraping along the damp floor. A half-elf sorceress, in her mid-twenties, dishearteningly dragged her velvet boots forward. She played around with her auburn ponytail, trying to get it to go from one shoulder to the other. Needless to say, Lydia Lockheart was bored.
“Time to check for the umpteenth time if the signal is back!” she expressed in a song-like format.
Reaching into the pocket of her unremarkable blue dress, she pulled out a branded smartphone. The screen filled with artificial light, as the digital padlock came undone upon recognising its owner’s face. The sorceress` gaze was drawn to the right-hand corner of the screen, however the small bars, she hoped to see filled, remained transparent.
“No surprise there” she’d gotten used to the sight over the past few hours.
Anxiety began to creep up on her, as she scrambled to find something on the device to help the situation or at the very least, distract her. In her video folder, she found just that.
“Oh, the ‘Valoran Dungeon - Intro and FAQ’ I forgot I even had this!”
She had downloaded it back when she was still a newbie, preparing to enter Valoran for the first time. At this point, it had been sitting in her the folder for a little less than a year. The idea had been for it to serve as a brush-up of dungeon basics, in case she needed any theory in that course. Surprisingly, now was a perfect time.
A seed of optimism formed as she tapped on the thumbnail. Appearing on the screen was a human man in his late fifties. He wore a classy black suit over a white shirt. His dark hair slicked back neatly, and his moustache groomed elegantly. His voice was characteristically sophisticated and full of energy. It all felt ideal for dubious marketing campaigns, which appeared to be a sign of things to come.
“Hiya, folks, I’m Mr. Howard - President of the ‘Istrian Dungeon Association’ and CEO of ‘Valoran Dungeon Incorporated™’. Today, I’m here to tell you about an adventuring opportunity you cannot miss!” he declared in a fashion similar to a sleazy salesman, preparing to sell you a dead horse.
“Great, this bozo again! Does he have to be in every single dungeon related video? You’d think owning the dungeons would be enough for this guy, but he even saves money on hiring likeable people. What a cheapskate!”
Lydia began speaking her mind out loud. She did this frequently enough that it became a hobby and a form of stress relief. Her opinion voiced, she tapped the slider on the screen, sending the video skipping forward.
“Yes, adventurers,” Mr Howard continued, “Priests will claim that everything in our diverse world of magic, monsters, and MagiNet, or the internet as some people call it, came to be through the will and blessing of the Gods. If so, then even the dungeons - home of all manner of foul creatures, curses, and worst of all, cockroaches - are also by their will. What a joke, folks! What’s next - taxes are the will of Mina, Goddess of fortune and gold?”
Lydia facepalmed at how out-of-touch this attempt at humour had been.
“Others will claim something about everything evolving from some itty-bitty thingies, and that Lizardmen were once Orcs. Crazies, I tell you! Our world is full of crazies with fanatical opinions! Unlike them, we at ‘Valoran Dungeon Incorporated™’ don’t want to confuse you with theories or convince you of this or that. We only want to uphold the great pastime of adventuring, and help you on your rise to fame, glory, and mansions full of riches!”
“What, no way! You’d really do that for me?” Lydia sarcastically remarked.
“Trust us when we say that we understand you completely. You’re just like us as you care about making a living; both in the present and the future. We know there is a reason you didn’t go to university or haven’t taken an office job yet. We understand the appeal of slaying monsters and making ends meet on your own terms, and by the sweat of your brow. The prospect of becoming a living legend doesn’t hurt either! We know these feelings all too well, adventurer. That is why we are offering you a tested way to get where you want to be in life, fast! It is a journey through an epic dungeon, unlike any other!”
“Oh, let me guess, here comes the sales pitch.”
“Yes! Even amongst the hundreds of dungeons scattered around our peaceful and diverse continent of Istria, the Valoran Dungeon Complex stands as an all-time great! Inside, you will find a vast interconnected network of grimy corridors, odd cavern chambers, and several cool ancient cities! We also have sanctums and dubious forgotten temples, worshipping countless ancient hoo-ha’s most people have never even heard of before! The dungeon is so vast that no single adventurer has ever fully explored it. In fact, new areas are discovered almost every month!”
“Dude, your marketing queues were not supposed to be this predictable!”
“With confidence, we can say that the variety of loot, monsters, and adventure is almost endless! And we offer it to you for a small maintenance fee of only four silver pieces per month. All you have to do to afford that it is not engage in alcoholism for one night, and you too can get your very own digital access card! With it, you can visit the most popular zones in the complex, while enjoying exclusive discounts from our in-dungeon hub stores! It is the perfect package for newbies and grizzled veterans alike!”
“Amazing. Now, where is the actual content marketed in the title of the video?” Lydia mumbled as she continued mashing the skip button.
The young sorceress was getting impatient, as so far the video was more snazzy ad than a tutorial.
“However, things are different nowadays, young adventurers!” Mr Howard continued ever more energetically.
“Ever since the ‘Istrian Mage Union’ introduced MagiNet communication some thirty-years ago, the march of progress has seen adventuring undergone a digital revolution! Questing is now easier than ever, as there is an app for almost everything you need! Want to navigate the well-known parts of the dungeon? Simply open up the DungeonMaps app and see yourself meticulously guided, hassle-free. Thanks to MagiTech handheld devices, or smartphones, as the hip kids call them, the world is really in the palm of your hands!”
“A history lesson followed by a tutorial for people in their fifties. Are you serious? Also, ‘meticulously guided’ my back-side! That piece of garbage is the reason I’m in this situation in the first place.”
DungeonMaps began glitching out midway through her trek down to The Black Sanctum, continually changing the route. Naively following its whims, Lydia found herself stuck in some old crypt-labyrinth. Needless to say, she was beyond livid, and many more furious skips followed, as the video began winding down.
“Yes, adventuring is not what it used to be! Be it the tradition, heroic stories or making heart-warming connections to last a lifetime, we can guarantee you that Valoran is the best place to do so! Not to mention, you get the most bang-for-your-buck towards building your adventuring career, so you too can become more than a desk-jockey! Thank you for watching! Don’t forget to leave this video a like. I’ve been Mr Howard from ‘Valoran Dungeon Incorporated™’, and I wish you the best of luck on the journey ahead. May the Gods bless you!
For more questions and info, please visit our website at www.valoranadventurers.info and remember to follow us on Instafam, Macebook or to subscribe to our ViewTube channel for the latest and greatest from us! Disclaimer: We do not take responsibility, encourage or condone horrible life choices, paying taxes on in-dungeon purchases, insurance with another provider, death or funeral fees.”
“That was it?!” The video abruptly ended with what Lydia considered useless information.
“Screw you, Mr Howard and your smooth marketing voice! Talk about clickbait title! It was worse than a ViewTube sponsorship video! And here I was hoping a multi-billion gold corporation would make something useful! You know, maybe talking about what to do when the signal dies in a dungeon or how to react when the map spazzes out and gets you stuck in a maze of traps! Wishful thinking, I guess!”
Lydia’s disappointment was immeasurable, but she wasn’t sure if it was due to the video or herself for ending up in a situation where she needed it. The sorceress had been following all available paths in search of a way out. Sadly, this had been a fruitless endeavour. The whole area was a textbook example of a dusty crypt. Even better, it was full of her most hated creatures - undead skeletons.
She’d developed a phobia of the creatures after spending the first two months of her career hunting them every single day. By this point, she’d accumulated enough knowledge of the boney-beings that she felt like she was turning into a necromancer. And here she was, stuck killing hundreds of them just like old times.
Crypt Skeletons were simpleminded beings. Their drive to fight came through an unhealthy compulsion, or better yet, an obsession to stab, in the hopes that whatever they pierce drops milk. The very idea of this had sounded like a joke to Lydia, until one time she decided to test it out by giving a group of them fresh cow’s milk. The creatures ended up splashing, snorting, and fighting over the stuff before going into a maniacal frenzy of dance, akin Elves after a dose of hardcore drugs. After that incident, Lydia officially coined the term ‘milk-fiends’ and dubbed them such.
Other than the odd addiction, there wasn’t much to write home about. Their physical strength was on par with a malnourished drunk. Sure, they could swing a sword, fortunately, the blade was often dull or broken, but they hardly offered much of a threat. In most cases, a few bruises were the worst one could expect from an encounter. Even as a horde, they were clunky, getting in each other’s way more often than helping the group achieve anything. Lydia remained under the firm belief you would need to be a special kind of mouth-breather to die to them.
Creatures aside, the unfortunate predicament remained. Following the tunnels back wasn’t an option either, as a thick slab of granite had ensured the sorceress remained in the confines of the labyrinth. Lydia had tried many spells, including ones with the strength to blast through walls, to no avail.
Sure enough, high-level protection magic had been used to achieve this kind of result. It was safe to assume that all perimeter gates had the same enchantment. Whether this was a trap made to imprison adventurers or a wrangling mechanism to ensure the skeletons didn’t wander outside of their dusty crypt, the result was the same.
Lydia discovered that even if the creatures roaming this place were no issue, the dozens of hidden traps were, as one had gotten relatively close to separating the head from her torso. The traps were fairly obvious, being oddly shaped or coloured floor pieces, and could be avoided with comparable ease. However, this wasn’t reason to let her guard down as all it took was one accident and any adventurer - newbie or veteran alike - could end up on fire, skewered, limbless, and even butt-less.
Without a signal, she couldn’t load websites or access her social apps to figure out a way to get out or call for help. However, the worst part was the half-a-day lost in roaming around like a headless chicken. It defeated the entire purpose of why the sorceress had come to Valoran alone.
This journey was time-sensitive, as The Black Sanctum had been discovered just the previous day. It was like a ripe and juicy peach - intact and yet to be bled dry of its quality loot, unlike every other mid-tier area in Valoran.
An opportunity like this was enough to start a riot amongst those hungry for fame and glory; however, there was a catch - the sanctum itself was only accessible through a ritual chant, which only those of a mage background could perform. Under normal circumstances, every skilled mage with half-a-brain would have been rushing down into the dungeon with trucks and bulldozers to carry out as much loot as possible. Heck, even without that, they could make a waterfall of gold by selling their services to allow non-mages to enter.
As if luck was on her side, Lydia was one of the few remaining mages in the Vezimir area. The rest of the magic casting talent had left for Orlas, Genovia, or Torlay. Something about joining the 'big names' and by relation, the Instafam clowns (aka celebrity adventurers), in clearing newer and cooler dungeons. Even this morning, she had seen only a handful of low-level mages around town.
This chance was why she’d dropped out of university a year back. This opportunity was the closest she had gotten to fulfilling her dream of getting rich and retiring before the age of thirty. She was so close that she even entered Valoran imaging how within one week time she would be spending her days relaxing with a cocktail in hand, on some quiet beach by the Ko’zulian Coast.
“Maybe for once in my life I’ll actually be lucky and get what I want, all I need is this damn app to start working again!” she mumbled through her teeth while banging on the screen with her fist.
No amount of smashing, bashing, and resetting seemed to do the trick, until now. By some miracle, a signal bar appeared on the phone. Scrambling like a maniac, Lydia opened DungeonMaps and watched it slowly begin to synchronise.
“Come on, you stupid thing, update already!” she shouted, nearly foaming at the mouth.
As if it had been waiting to hear that, the map began working, providing an accurate reflection of her surroundings. Sadly, her gut feeling had been correct - she was in a crypt-labyrinth, and The Black Sanctum was nowhere near.
Lydia felt herself on the verge of tears. The only consolation was that there would be a tunnel on her left which would lead her to a structure with a home gate.
“At least I can get out of here… Maybe if I hurry, I can even pay someone to drive me back to the dungeon entrance and give this another shot.”
While following the path, the sorceress began to notice a subtle colour change in the distance, akin to the figurative light at the end of the tunnel.
Rushing forward, Lydia froze in place in awe of the sight before her - a cavern canyon so massive in size and scope, that it could fit a small town. And that was just what could be discerned from the limited visibility. In this place, darkness stretched as far as the eye could see, so there was surely even more hidden behind the curtains. Sounds reverberated, getting lost in the space of it.
High above, she spotted a dome of sorts. It had an opening, through which a natural stream of light seeped in. The golden rays fell like water or a silk thread of hope amidst this perpetual abyss. Following it with her gaze, she took notice what stood in front of her - a massive construct of dark stone blocks, rising from far below.
The sorceress was unsure what the structure was meant to be. It possessed grandeur similar to a temple, yet it stretched into the horizon like a bridge.
As she moved closer, a vivid hue of colours weaved together in front of her eyes. Gentle flames rose from cauldrons, scattered all around. Further illumination came from the violet glows of the Dwarf Irises. The roots of the flowers had wound themselves into all available nooks and crannies of the construct, even climbing up most of the grand marble columns, spanning its length. The scene felt as if it belonged in a children’s fairy tale.
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“Snap out of it! There is no time to gawk. Talk about acting like a tourist!” Lydia scorned herself, as she began pushing forward into the structure.
After a bit of walking, she noticed something forming overhead. A roof of sorts, adorned with the remains of vivid frescos, some of them more beautiful than most of the temples she’d visited in her life. Whatever this place was, it was exceptional - the aura of it felt calm and tranquil. It was the same feeling one gets as the sun gently caresses their face on a warm day. The entire construct looked well-maintained and rather pristine. Certainly untouched by anything other than the hands of time.
In the distance, a figure began to form. Several meters in height, its shape akin to a humanoid - a statue. It seemed to be placed precisely at the centre of the structure.
Gliding her fingers over the monument, Lydia recognised the feeling of marble. The stone had been shaped to look like a woman of some beauty. She wore a cloistered headpiece and a robe from neck to ankles.
“A priestess of sorts.” she thought while walking around to the statue.
Oddly enough, this section of the building had no roof. Odder still, the light from the dome fell directly onto the face of the statue. The golden rays of dusk highlighted the intricate beauty of the piece and revealed various adornments of ivory, gold, and gems.
Her head tilted to the right-side, eyes closed, and a stream of transparent tears ran down her cheeks. In her hands, she held an orb, which looked to be more than a mere piece of crystal - A flux of energy twisted and turned within it, pulsating like a beating heart, changing colours between shades of black, pink, and white. Whoever this woman was, Lydia had never seen or heard of someone like her before.
Standing in front of the statue, the sorceress also noticed an altar-like construct. It rose rather tall, coming up to her stomach, and wide enough to fit a person. Decorations of jewels, in the shapes of flowers, of various sizes, ran along its sides.
Some manner of text or inscription littered the face of the altar. It was in an alphabet Lydia had never seen before. As she tried to decipher it, an ominous whisper, more akin to wind than human speech appeared from nowhere.
“A stream of tears will absolve us of our sins.” the words filled Lydia’s mind, as she jumped back in panic.
There had been no draft or wind, and she quickly confirmed that no one was around. However, the entire feeling of the area had changed. This murmur was a clear sign not to linger longer than needed.
Checking the map, she began searching for the home gate rune — several meters behind the statue. Upon further inspection of the area near the ledge of the structure, Lydia noticed a faint, pinkish circle lightly simmering on the ground. It was in-fact the home gate, albeit a very worn-out one. It had, at best, two more teleportations left in it before it would disappear.
“How does a home gate end up in a state like this? The academy classes taught us that the gates could function for at least four thousand years. There is no way this place can be this old!”
Fascination replaced urgency, as Lydia lost herself in attempting to formulate alternative explanations. After some internal debate, she couldn’t reach a satisfying theory.
“I’ll just ask Gilbert about it when I find the time. He’s always been pretty good at figuring this weird stuff out. Anyway, fun’s over, time to get out of this place.”
Just as she prepared her home crystal, an echo of footsteps began forming from the direction she’d arrived from. A hint of fear began to grip her as she started chanting.
“Oldeas morgula aveni toras - Wait, what the hell?!” She interrupted the casting upon properly seeing the figure.
Revealing itself to be nothing more than a regular crypt skeleton, the sorceress let out a sigh of relief. The thing was wandering all alone, looking more confused than an orc did in a university.
“No wonder I felt a nasty presence. Talk about being a stalker and literal creep all in one package. Have you been following me all this time?”
The skeleton stopped in place in a relaxed stance. Staring at Lydia, it did the unthinkable - in what seemed like an insane act of self-awareness; it lifted its hand and waved it in greeting to her.
Lydia’s eyes shot wide open in bewilderment. Never before had she witnessed a skeleton doing such an odd thing. This situation reminded her of another odd ‘milk-fiend’ from earlier, which acted differently from the rest. It hadn’t attacked her; instead, it moved almost self-aware, proceeding to run away from her after she turned a group of its friends into ash.
“Could this be the same one? No way… Hey, boney, can you understand me?”
The skeleton didn’t seem to react, which only made Lydia feel ridiculous for even asking.
“Yeah, right? Imagining something like this… I must be getting tired. Tell you what, I’ll play with you before I go. You can be a quick stress reliever for me, and I’ll also see to it that you don’t die from loneliness since I already made all your friends go ‘poof’.”
Lydia pulled out a spell tome and began scouring the contents.
“Alrighty, let’s see if we can find a fun spell to use on you.”
The skeleton seemed to realise that Lydia wasn’t in a friendly mood, and its waving died down. Unsure what to do to draw her away, it remained fixed in place and began to scratch its skull, as if seeking to encourage its mental energy to work. Lydia too was pushing her mind into overdrive.
“Blackhole is too strong. Instant Frost is too boring. Spirit bomb is too cliche... Geez, this is difficult, and I don’t have the patience for it. Instead, I’ll just toss you into the abyss or something.”
Just then, in the corner of Lydia’s eyes, something glittered expensively. Lifting her head from the book, she noticed a corpse behind the statue. Its bones were rotten and had an odd black colouring, akin to deep decay. In the remainder of its hand, it gripped onto a rusty mace, but there was something more than the iron weapon around the remains.
“What do we have here?” Lydia approached the rotting bones, which threw the much livelier skeleton into a visible panic.
Reaching behind the remains of the body, the sorceress grabbed onto an object with a decent weight to it - an amulet shaped like a flattened crown. It had a large gem in the middle, with traces of gold, but looked pretty worn out. To Lydia, it seemed like the piece was the definition of rusty treasure. However, as soon as the skeleton saw it, the sword it carried dropped to the floor as it began waving its boney arms in hysteria.
“This doesn’t look too bad. It seems like I won’t be walking away from this place empty-handed after all.”
Deeming the piece enough of a consolation payment for her troubles, the sorceress turned back to face the skeleton.
“Tell you what, I’ve had a change of heart. Enough mana has been wasted on your kind for one day, and the whole cliff idea was a bit mean. Instead, let’s turn this into a duel. I’ll fight you fairly with this mace, and you can use your sword. This way, you’ll be able to die with honour or something along those lines.”
Lydia pried the mace from the hand of the corpse. It was heavier than the typical, but she was more than confident in her one-hand skills. So convinced she didn’t even bother setting down her backpack for the fight.
“All right, sweetie, come to Lydia!” the sorceress taunted in a cutesy voice.
The skeleton hardly seemed willing to fight. Having already dropped its weapon, it didn’t seem to have any interest in picking it up again. Instead, it slowly moved forward, slightly shaking as if it had peed its bones.
“Aw, don’t be shy! Come on over to Lydia so I can smack your skull off and score a home run!”
However, the skeletons gaze seemed fixed on the amulet. It pointed at the amulet, then the ground, before giving Lydia a thumbs up. She interpreted the gestures as return the amulet, or you’ll end up in the ground.
“Ah, you want me to drop it, or you’ll hurt little ol’ me? Well, since you asked so nicely, I’ll definitely return it! Come over here, and I’ll personally put it in your hands.” Lydia couldn't help but continue to taunt the creature.
Becoming apparent that the sorceress had no plans on dropping the piece, the skeleton just stood in a continued shaking for another minute. However, that died down, as a look of resolve formed. In the next instant, it shot itself forward in a heroic charge with an outstretched arm, aiming for the amulet.
Lydia wound up a swing, only to pull back at the last moment. Instead, extending her left-foot forward, causing the charging skeleton to trip, fall and slide, before planting itself face-first into a nearby puddle.
“PFFF! HAHAHA!”
Lydia burst into a fit of loud, uncontrolled laughter. Tears started forming in her eyes, as her stomach hurt from the strength of her excitement.
“I can’t get enough of how stupid you things are!” She barely managed to gasp out of her mouth. “I have to be honest, doing this sort of stuff with you milk-fiends always makes my day!”
Lydia’s outbursts masked the soft sounds of mechanisms beginning to twist and turn. By the time she’d quieted down enough to notice something was odd with the surrounding columns, a hiss had ripped through the air. As if by instinct, she turned towards the sound, only to be greeted by the sight of objects flying her way. Whether it was because of the laughter or genuine disbelief of the situation, Lydia’s response came with a delay. In the next moment, a ferocious shredding noise dominated the area.
A rusty dagger had ripped its way through the side of the sorceress` neck, catching several arteries on the way out. Blood erupted, like a thick-red fountain, spraying in all directions. The mace, tome, and amulet she carried in her hands dropped to the ground, as the sorceress scrambled to cover the gash with her hands.
However, this was like putting a band-aid on the tap of a sink. The stream of red fluid continued seeping out, as Lydia convulsed in shock and fear for her life. Her brain kicked into survival mode. To quickly seal the wound, she cast a fire spell on her hands. Skin hissed as the blood bubbled and evaporated. Flesh burned and fried, bounding together in a distinctly macabre way.
Lydia shook from pain and adrenaline. The backpack she still carried, slipped off of her shoulders and dropped to the floor, spilling its contents in all directions. Barely standing, the young woman’s mind became clouded and drowsy from the blood loss and horror. Confusion swelled as her vision started becoming ever hazier. Her body felt heavy, yet loose. Her perception had gone down enough that she didn’t notice that something glowed beneath her feet.
“You! You waste of space! I’ll... make sure you... pay for this...” Lydia raged in short and desperate outbursts as if trying to convince herself she still had the power to act on these threats.
The skeleton had begun shaking in deep fear of what it was witnessing. As if it no longer considered this place safe, the boney-being stood up and started running away, only to freeze in place. It had been caught in some sort of circle of runes. In fact, dozens of these circles now littered the floor, scattered at different locations all around. They began spinning as if they had come to life.
At this point, the amulet began pulsing, quickly increasing the tempo as something stirred behind Lydia. The sorceress` swelled all over from a sharp pain, as heavy stones started moving. Out of nowhere, a horrifying wail rang out, akin to a thousand tormented souls unleashing their pain and grief in unison.
A shadow began to form in a humanoid shape. As it grew, so did the pain bubbling up inside her body and mind. As soon as it grafted itself together, the spectre began approaching Lydia. Its presence triggered a rush of vile and macabre scenes within sorceress` mind.
Visions or memories. In all of them, the young woman witnessed a living hell. Thousands upon thousands of souls tormented in the most violent and horrendous ways imaginable — nothing but tremendous pain and suffering, playing on repeat.
Time warped, as the experiences continued for what felt like aeons on end. At once, all but one of them came to a freeze. The remains of Lydia’s conscious focused on the single image still alive and vivid - that of a young woman - an unparalleled beauty, carrying a motherly smile. The woman’s eyes were glistening like polished emeralds, and her long hair appeared like strands of dark-purple silk. Her body perfectly outlined by an elegant white robe, highlighting her slender figure. Finally, around her neck, was the amulet. Now polished, it looked like a masterwork. The centrepiece of it was a black oval gem, inside which a mist of colours spiralled around, similar to the orb the statue held.
Lydia’s pain began to dissipate, replaced by the feeling of gentle bliss - As if her soul had gotten absolved of all its burdens and been granted peace. Within a blink of the eyes, the hellscape surrounding Lydia disappeared. She found herself brought back to reality. In front of her stood the same woman from her mind, playfully smiling like an old friend. The woman softly grabbed Lydia’s hands, gracefully pulling her in for a hug. The woman was cold, but Lydia was overcome with warmth. The purple-haired beauty leaned her head towards Lydia’s ear. From her mouth, a gentle whispered escaped.
A blissful smile formed on Lydia’s face as the hug broke. Left staring into each other’s eyes, the golden rays shining on the statue softly faded, as dusk gave way into the night. The statue wailed at the disappearance of the light. With it, the flames from the cauldrons died out, leaving only the gentle hues of the flowers. Darkness crept in as the statue’s tears transformed into violent streams of puss and black blood.
Lydia blinked, returning to reality only to be greeted with a knife being plunged deep into her neck. However, this didn’t stop either of the women from smiling. Their gazes remaining locked in a pleasant trance. From the new wound, a white mist began escaping. Spiralling out, it twisted around the blade, before disappearing into the hand of the purple-haired woman.
The sorceress blinked again. The illusion of a friendly face shattered. In its place, the hideous and deformed shadow from before. It seemed this was the purple-haired woman’s true form.
As her conscious faded, Lydia thought back to something Mr Howard had said in the video:
“Everything is by the will and blessing of the Gods…”
Lydia couldn’t help but wonder if this nightmare was by their will and blessing. Funny enough, even the skeleton ran through her mind.
“Maybe it was trying to warn me...”
At that moment, she felt a deep and lonely kind of sadness.
“If I could, I would have loved to apolog-”
Those thoughts were abruptly cut short, as the shadow ripped the knife out from Lydia’s neck. The sorceress collapsed to the damp, stone floor. Gently picking up her body, the dark being carried it to the altar which had transformed into some manner of a sarcophagus. Together they entered, and the lid closed behind them. Soon enough, a crunching of bones and horrifying shrieks began seeping out from the stone encasement. As quickly as they’d started, the noises once again gave way to silence.
The lid came undone. From it emerged a beautiful young woman with long dark-purple hair and emerald-green eyes. A lot of her features were similar to Lydia’s, but aspects had improved to create an exceptional beauty - more in common with a goddess, than the half-elf sorceress.
With grace, she picked up the amulet from the ground and put it around her neck. Closing her eyes, she began playing with her skin while heavily breathing in and out.
“Goddess! I’ve finally been given a second chance to spread your word and save all the lost souls of this world! I couldn’t be more grateful to you and the saviour I knew you would send me.” she proclaimed, before turning around to look at the skeleton with loving eyes.
The boney being still couldn’t move, but the dark energy, keeping him together, was still raging in fear. A flight mechanism had kicked in, screaming for it to run with all of its might. However, no matter how it tried, it couldn’t wrestle free, remaining frozen in place.
“Come, my hero, let me grant you your reward!”
The woman spoke, and she started walking towards the boney being, her steps as light as a feather. Grabbing the skeleton, she brought it close, before giving it a long, affectionate kiss. Pulling back her face on it was a sincere angelic smile.
“Thank you for freeing me, brave warrior! I pray that the Dark Mother Aleia grant you her protection. Know that I owe you a debt that I don’t believe I can ever repay. However, as a daughter and disciple of Aleia, I will make sure you receive a reward worthy of your deeds. For now, I offer you my own blessings, and the gift of my name - Moriana.”
Upon hearing the name, the vision of the skeleton faded into darkness. Everything went quiet, as whatever it had as a mind disappeared from existence, after receiving the sweet kiss of death. And from nothingness, something returned. Reverberating like some manner of conscious, as a rush of thoughts flooded its cranium. This anomaly gave birth to an odd sensation, causing it to shoot awake from the darkness.
It was back on the bridge. Moriana had disappeared, leaving the skeleton all alone. Distinct loneliness came over it, along with the rush of something never felt before - feelings beyond fear. However, there was also another something new in front of its eyes - a strange box with odd squiggly lines.
*** *** ***
Chosen Undead - lv. ???
cOnGraTuLat----iOns, a speci#l 4k7ion hAs grEntAd you a new purpose in life:
You are now a Chosen Undead
Congratulations! A special action has granted you a permanent curse:
Black Maiden’s Blessing is now in effect
May the Dark Mother bless you on the journey to come!
*** *** ***
In a faraway castle, Mr Howard played with his moustache, observing how dusk gave way to the night. His eyes were staring off into the creeping darkness of the horizon. His face carried a tired look, as he was mentally lost in a world of his own thoughts.
A tiny crystal, hidden in the face of his wristwatch, began to blink with the colour purple, dragging him back to reality. He starred at it for a second, only to confirm that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, before returning his gaze to the view in front of him. His sullen expression was now replaced with that of pride and optimism and his face now carried joyous little smile.
“And so, the gods have blessed us.”