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"Where... where am I?"
Brimelle opened her eyes, still dazed. She looked around, only to find out that she was still lying on the floor with Vorador looking at her from above. Her belly hurt and now she could remember why: her intestines were still located partially outside of her body due to the previous fight. Her abdomen ached as she tried to stand up.
"Don't move." hushed Vorador as he gave her a vial with some deep red liquid in it. "Drink this."
Brimelle took the vial in her hands and, as she was pouring the content in her mouth, she noticed how Aliranne and Kon es Kaz were undergoing a similar procedure. The fight was over, that she could tell. The room looked way brighter than when they first entered it, as if it was purged from the evil within. Slowly, the effects of the potion were clearly visible as all of her wounds closed without leaving a trace. She sighed relieved before looking around once more to inspect her surroundings.
Many scrolls laid on the various tables along with other many glass containers and vials. On the wall to her left, two windows, now open wide, gave way to the inner untouched courtyard. The door on the other side was still closed while the one she had behind her back was slightly ajar. Brimelle recollected her bags while Aaon and Vorador kept taking care of the other two party members. The centauress proceeded towards the open door only to find Rydell on the other side.
"Is everything ok? I am really glad that thou chose to stay behind: thou could have been hurt."
"Not quite." Kon es Kaz interjected from behind. "She seemed quite capable of defending herself. And of helping us, I must admit."
Brimelle raised an eyebrow. "What do thou mean?"
Then, slowly, the memories returned to her: she remembered clearly the woman raising her head, her eyes becoming completely white and all the impediments over the party getting dissolved from some kind of benign magic. Brimelle looked at Rydell with inquisitive eyes.
"What was it all about?"
The woman kept quiet for a while before murmuring out her answer.
"I don't know. It wasn't me."
At that point, the half equine decided to let the conversation drop and returned to the others.
Aaon was now looking at the floor.
"Iral must have gone this way, towards the garden. I can see the traces she left."
"Perfect." Aliranne spoke. "This means that we can either follow her footsteps and face whatever will come at us and probably die as we are all tired as the abyss OR risk losing her while resting in this room."
Vorador, who was sorting out the various scrolls while scanning the room for other useful objects, added his opinion.
"The room looks fine. I say we could stay here and rest for a while."
"But what about the little girl!" Kon es Kaz bolted out. He was taking it quite personally after the loss of Chaldar, Brimelle noticed.
"It's a castle. Unless she leaves it, in which case I would be most thankful for, I don't think we can lose her."
"I agree with Vorador. We are all far too tired and we do not know what awaits us." Brimelle added. "I think we should make a quick stop, at least for a few hours."
Aaon nodded. "It's the best option we have. But, are we sure of the safety of this room?"
"The room is safe."
The party turned around only to find out that the voice that spoke came from Rydell.
"How do you know?" Aaon asked.
"I just.. do." replied the woman, as if unsure of her own words.
The companions shrugged.
Finally, they all decided to stay in the room, rest a bit and then leave for the garden as soon as everyone was well-restored.
They woke up after a night's sleep, all restored. Even more than what they probably would have been in any other place, actually. They felt completely refreshed as if they had never entered that mason. With their refound strength, they went on towards the garden. The garden was not extremely big nor too small. Some statues decorated the place while a gazebo and a hedge maze stood like polar opposites.
Aaon, in his hawk form, after seeing Iral's traces once again, ventured inside the maze while the others followed him. At the center stood three statues of chimeras made of a dragon-deer-eagle mix protecting a wooden box on a pedestal. As soon as Aaon tried to take the box with his claws, the chimeras came to life and attacked him. Luckily, the whole party was there, ready to fight the three beasts which went down without making a fuss.
As soon as the battle was over, Brimelle took the wooden box opening it: it was a carillon with a small piece of paper, probably a letter or something, inside. She took the whole thing, reading the note before bringing it to Rydell who was awaiting the five heroes on the outside, sitting quietly in the gazebo.
"So... this was inside the maze where the traces of Iral led us. Rings any bell?"
The woman inspected the object. She covered her mouth with a hand as she let out a quiet whimper.
"This... this is the carillon of my daughter... she loves it. But why is it here? It's too precious, she wouldn't... she wouldn't dare bringing it outside. It could break!"
She looked at Brimelle.
"Was there anything else? Anything at all? Please, tell me!"
The centauress baked a little at that expression of motherly love.
"Er, well... as a matter of fact, yes. There was this note saying how a woman had appeared in this place a few days before the whole castle had gone decaying. But, aside this, nothing else. I am sorry."
"It's fine.."
Rydell gave the carillon a sad, pondering gaze.
"Thou.. can keep it, if thou desire."
"Thanks.. "
Brimelle came a little closer.
"Rydell... I want to know what happened during the fight with the two aberrations."
"Ah." the woman murmured. "Well... since I came inside, I feel like I'm being controlled by someone.. or something."
"Controlled!? Is it by someone hostile?"
"I.. I don't think so. It helped with the battle, didn't it?."
"It did.. we will keep an eye on thee, in case of the worst." The centauress uttered, exiting the gazebo and joining the others. From her back came a quiet: "Understood."
The party kept going, still following Iral's footsteps which now led back to the main entrance.
"We're going in circles!" Exclaimed Vorador.
"Quite not, my friend: the trace is hot." Aaon assured. "I wonder if I..."
Without further notice, the druid shifted once again in his feral hawk form, sprinting into the air and reaching the main tower of the castle: something was moving on the stair inside. On a better inspection, Aaon could clearly see Iral, as she was described previously by her mother, going up towards the top. The window panes were too thick, he could do nothing. He flew back to the others to inform them of his discovery.
"We have to keep moving, quickly!"
Kon es Kaz jolted towards the door, back again at the beginning hall.
"Two flight of stairs. Which one shall we take, Aaon?"
The druid looked at the floor once more, scanning his backgrounds for any hint of the girl's passage.
"... the one on the left."
Kon es Kaz and Brimelle sprinted on the stairs, reaching a green corridor with a giant deer painted on the side. They all proceeded down until they came to a sort of bridge connecting this corridor to the one of the other flight of stairs.
“She went that way.” Said Aaon, pointing at the other corridor painted light blue with, this time, a red eagle. As the group was crossing the bridge, they noticed a desecrated painting right in the middle of the passage: a man and a woman with holes in the canvas where their faces would have been and the writing "TRAITORS" right above them. The party kept it in mind and then continued following Iral's path.
They ended up in front of a closed oak door. Aliranne decided to cast an invisibility spell on such door to avoid unpleasant surprises. With the door now invisible, the five companions could clearly see the other side: it was a ballroom decorated in orange with a mosaic and many ground mirrors occupying the dance floor. There was a strange smell in the air and a female laughter filled the silence for some instants.
Kon es Kaz went scouting while Aaon followed him from above in his hawk form. On the far end of the ballroom stood a dressing table with three women behind it. One had raven black hair which was being combed by the other two, most probably handmaids, dressed in red. Kon kept coming closer, asking in his deep minotaur voice.
"Is everything ok? This castle seems to be cursed and infested with undeads. Do you need any escort, for your safety?"
He kept his sword unsheathed. The woman with black hair looked at him while Vorador, Aliranne and Brimelle came near the warrior from behind.
"Why don't thou join us, oh mighty knight?"
But Kon es Kaz kept his sword in his hands, looking at her suspiciously. At that precise moment, the two handmaids revealed their true nature morphing into what appeared to be two witches. One of them jumped straight into one mirror reappearing at the back of the room through another mirror while the other went for Kon es Kaz.
Aaon could now see, from above, the third woman becoming paler, taller, with tentacles coming out of her gown and covered in shards of glass: it was a glass witch!
The first thing Brimelle did, aside trying to avoid the vortexes of glass shards that came from the glass witch, was to destroy all the mirrors in the room. She cast a sonic explosion, destroying the one used by the handmaid and stunning her in return. Kon es Kaz broke to pieces the mirror next to the dressing table while Aliranne and Vorador, aided by the flying Aaon, attacked the three creatures.
The two maids went down easily, but the glass witch was a little bit more stable. She kept sending out her glass vortexes aiming at everything that moved. Only the combined forces of all the heroes were able to put an end to such an evil spirit. After the fight was finally over, Brimelle took her time to inspect the dressing table, finding another note like the one in the carillon right on the desk. It was the same calligraphy and paper than the other one and the date was of May, one month before as they were now in June.
This illness does not seem to fade. I tried everything. No healer was able to cure me.
My wife passed away but the lady who came in this castle appears to be knowing more that what she is willing to show.
Maybe she can help me with this illness.
May the gods assist me.
Brimelle took the note with her and kept moving forward with the rest of the party.
"...wait a moment. Where is Rydell?" She asked, suddenly.
They all looked towards the entrance of the ballroom but there was no sign of the woman.
"We have to go back and look for her!" Shouted Kon, full of chivalry.
"Not now." Vorador put a hand on the minotaur's chest, stopping him. "She is a grown up woman. If she left us behind, she probably knows what she's doing. In addition to that, we're here for the girl and we know where she went. If we don't catch her in time, she could run into more terrifying and dangerous monsters than a few witches."
"But she told me that she is being controlled! What if she is right now?" asked Brimelle.
"Same argument she told you." came Aaon. "What is controlling her is doing her good. We can only assume that she left us for her best."
"... thou were eavesdropping?!" the centauress uttered offended.
"Listen now, all of you!"
The voice of Kon es Kaz came out like a raging thunder, shaking the spirit of everyone present and the foundation of the place itself. Silence fell over the room and there it remained for a few moments before the minotaur spoke again.
"We are here to protect those who need protection. We all saw that Rydell is able to protect herself but we cannot say the same about the little girl. Now, stop bickering with eachother and start doing something productive to find Iral before it's too late. I won't have another innocent soul on my conscience due to our neglect!"
They all remained silent as Kon gave them his back, proceeding towards the door which led to the tower where Aaon saw Iral for the first time. Brimelle broke the silence after giving a meaningful stare at the minotaur.
"Let us follow."
They finally reached the tower. The sound of rattling metal, hooves and shifting robes accompanied them as they went for the top. Another oak door blocked their way to the chamber on the top. Right in front of it, rested, to the surprise of everyone, the carillon accompanied by another note.
I was right.
Finally, I'll be able to see the gates of the Bronze Tower.
"Something tells me this is about Morgion." Murmured Brimelle.
"Oh really?" Added Aliranne in a sarcastic tone as Vorador came closer to the door.
"It won't open." Said the mystic. "I'll try sending an entity over there."
He started to concentrate, summoning a ghost-like creature which then, to the necromancer's command, went through the door to inspect what was behind it.
In the meantime, Brimelle opened the carillon, observing it eagerly. She focused on the tiny figurine on the inside, such a fragile and cute addition. She could clearly understand how that was the favourite toy of a little girl, but how did it end up in that castle? And mostly, right on top of the tower when it was Rydell who had it with her? Her thoughts were stopped by the return of the entity which spoke mostly in whispers.
"I saw a man... sitting on a high throne... like a ragdoll... with a gold embroidered red tunic... the throne is broken and... there were many tentacles... on the floor... on the ceiling..."
"You're dismissed." said Vorador. As soon as the entity was gone he turned to the others. "No sign of the girl... We'll have to find a way to get inside."
As he was talking, Brimelle turned the windup key of the wooden box, making the melody start. A rumble shook the tower and a deep voice came from behind the oak door.
"NOT... YET..."
While the others were rather shocked by such an happening, Brimelle noticed only at that moment that a small music sheet was hiding at the bottom of the carillon. She took it in her hands and offered it to Aliranne.
"Keep it up like this, please." She said as she conjured her guiterne.
She started playing her instrument but nothing happened. On the contrary, what she was playing sounded awful and did not blend with the carillon at all. She looked confusedly at the music notes on the paper, trying to make sense out of it. It was inside the carillon, how was it that she didn't notice it before when she gave it to Rydell? No, it had to make sense in some way! Only in that moment she noticed the elvish words under the stave, recognizing an elven lullaby. She sang it with all of her heart, turning the windup key once again and letting the music flow freely.
Now, both her voice and the melody from the carillon seemed intertwined with one another creating a marvellous assonance and harmonization that produced once again a bellow from behind the door.
A clack.
The door was now open.
The five heroes entered the room, weapons in hand, ready to fight whatever was going to put itself between them and their mission. A giant creature with many tentacles, two giant pincers, a hideous black face with four eyes and tendrils instead of the mouth was standing over the broken throne which was now on the floor, completely shattered.
The whole party fought with all of their might. The creature attacked the heroes with its pincers, tentacles and venomous gas which was released from the abdomen every time it got hit. Aliranne fell on the floor after she was hit by the monstruosity but her state of helplessness motivated the others who put all of their efforts in bringing down the beats.
The floor shook violently under the vibration emitted by the tentacles. The tower seemed to sway under the creature's mass, following its pattern as it moved across the room frantically. Finally, one last blow was able to put an end to the very essence of the creature. The floor and the roof were miraculously intact, aside for a giant hole in the latter. Then, once Aliranne got stabilized and brought back to her feet, everyone sighed out in relief. But they still had one problem: where were Rydell and Iral?
The creature, in the meantime, was dissolving quickly. The facade of a giant monster revealed the red robed old man the spirit told the party about before. He was sleeping soundly and peacefully as if thankful for what had happened to him. Just as strangely as that metamorphosis, Rydell appeared from the main door. She discarded the five heroes, going straight towards the carillon. She started to sing.
Everyone was looking at her in disbelief. They were so shaken that only Brimelle had the courage to sing back to her, creating a once again harmonization that had some magic in it. Out of the blue, the carillon opened and the little figurine inside lit aglow, growing in size. Rydell put the carillon aside, taking the overgrown figurine in her arms, which was now taking the appearance of the body of a sleeping Iral.
Brimelle neared Rydell. She stared at her, trying to pierce into her soul.
"What are thou."
She asked softly yet firmly. Rydell did not answer. Instead, she gave her a white feather. It had the appearance of a normal white swan feather, but Brimelle was better than to not know when something this peculiar isn't normal.
Rydell passed Brimelle and, still with Iral in her arms, approached the sleeping man. She took him by one of his hands before turning towards the party of heroes. Suddenly, two giant candid wings sprouted from her back and a divine glow imbued her. Her eyes became completely white, sparkling of a pure light while a halo of immaculateness covered the whole room.
The party was left speechless. So many questions arose but no one had the courage to voice them and destroy that moment of absolute peacefulness. Abruptly, everyong broke into those questions who had been silenced till that moment.
"Who are you?"
"What does this mean?"
"Why did you bring us in this place?"
"What are those wings? Where do you come from?"
"What the fuck are you?!"
It was Rydell who now spoke.
"You mortals cannot comprehend and listen to revelations that are beyond your understanding. Be aware of the Herald, he is not what he affirms of being. One day, everything will be explained to you."
This being said, she jumped giving her more strength with her wings, leading along by their hands Iral and the red robed man.
The party could do nothing but look at the figure of the winged woman disappearing in the light of the sky.
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"Where... where am I?"
Brimelle opened her eyes, still dazed. She looked around, only to find out that she was still lying on the floor with Vorador looking at her from above. Her belly hurt and now she could remember why: her intestines were still located partially outside of her body due to the previous fight. Her abdomen ached as she tried to stand up.
"Don't move." hushed Vorador as he gave her a vial with some deep red liquid in it. "Drink this."
Brimelle took the vial in her hands and, as she was pouring the content in her mouth, she noticed how Aliranne and Kon es Kaz were undergoing a similar procedure. The fight was over, that she could tell. The room looked way brighter than when they first entered it, as if it was purged from the evil within. Slowly, the effects of the potion were clearly visible as all of her wounds closed without leaving a trace. She sighed relieved before looking around once more to inspect her surroundings.
Many scrolls laid on the various tables along with other many glass containers and vials. On the wall to her left, two windows, now open wide, gave way to the inner untouched courtyard. The door on the other side was still closed while the one she had behind her back was slightly ajar. Brimelle recollected her bags while Aaon and Vorador kept taking care of the other two party members. The centauress proceeded towards the open door only to find Rydell on the other side.
"Is everything ok? I am really glad that thou chose to stay behind: thou could have been hurt."
"Not quite." Kon es Kaz interjected from behind. "She seemed quite capable of defending herself. And of helping us, I must admit."
Brimelle raised an eyebrow. "What do thou mean?"
Then, slowly, the memories returned to her: she remembered clearly the woman raising her head, her eyes becoming completely white and all the impediments over the party getting dissolved from some kind of benign magic. Brimelle looked at Rydell with inquisitive eyes.
"What was it all about?"
The woman kept quiet for a while before murmuring out her answer.
"I don't know. It wasn't me."
At that point, the half equine decided to let the conversation drop and returned to the others.
Aaon was now looking at the floor.
"Iral must have gone this way, towards the garden. I can see the traces she left."
"Perfect." Aliranne spoke. "This means that we can either follow her footsteps and face whatever will come at us and probably die as we are all tired as the abyss OR risk losing her while resting in this room."
Vorador, who was sorting out the various scrolls while scanning the room for other useful objects, added his opinion.
"The room looks fine. I say we could stay here and rest for a while."
"But what about the little girl!" Kon es Kaz bolted out. He was taking it quite personally after the loss of Chaldar, Brimelle noticed.
"It's a castle. Unless she leaves it, in which case I would be most thankful for, I don't think we can lose her."
"I agree with Vorador. We are all far too tired and we do not know what awaits us." Brimelle added. "I think we should make a quick stop, at least for a few hours."
Aaon nodded. "It's the best option we have. But, are we sure of the safety of this room?"
"The room is safe."
The party turned around only to find out that the voice that spoke came from Rydell.
"How do you know?" Aaon asked.
"I just.. do." replied the woman, as if unsure of her own words.
The companions shrugged.
Finally, they all decided to stay in the room, rest a bit and then leave for the garden as soon as everyone was well-restored.
They woke up after a night's sleep, all restored. Even more than what they probably would have been in any other place, actually. They felt completely refreshed as if they had never entered that mason. With their refound strength, they went on towards the garden. The garden was not extremely big nor too small. Some statues decorated the place while a gazebo and a hedge maze stood like polar opposites.
Aaon, in his hawk form, after seeing Iral's traces once again, ventured inside the maze while the others followed him. At the center stood three statues of chimeras made of a dragon-deer-eagle mix protecting a wooden box on a pedestal. As soon as Aaon tried to take the box with his claws, the chimeras came to life and attacked him. Luckily, the whole party was there, ready to fight the three beasts which went down without making a fuss.
As soon as the battle was over, Brimelle took the wooden box opening it: it was a carillon with a small piece of paper, probably a letter or something, inside. She took the whole thing, reading the note before bringing it to Rydell who was awaiting the five heroes on the outside, sitting quietly in the gazebo.
"So... this was inside the maze where the traces of Iral led us. Rings any bell?"
The woman inspected the object. She covered her mouth with a hand as she let out a quiet whimper.
"This... this is the carillon of my daughter... she loves it. But why is it here? It's too precious, she wouldn't... she wouldn't dare bringing it outside. It could break!"
She looked at Brimelle.
"Was there anything else? Anything at all? Please, tell me!"
The centauress baked a little at that expression of motherly love.
"Er, well... as a matter of fact, yes. There was this note saying how a woman had appeared in this place a few days before the whole castle had gone decaying. But, aside this, nothing else. I am sorry."
"It's fine.."
Rydell gave the carillon a sad, pondering gaze.
"Thou.. can keep it, if thou desire."
"Thanks.. "
Brimelle came a little closer.
"Rydell... I want to know what happened during the fight with the two aberrations."
"Ah." the woman murmured. "Well... since I came inside, I feel like I'm being controlled by someone.. or something."
"Controlled!? Is it by someone hostile?"
"I.. I don't think so. It helped with the battle, didn't it?."
"It did.. we will keep an eye on thee, in case of the worst." The centauress uttered, exiting the gazebo and joining the others. From her back came a quiet: "Understood."
The party kept going, still following Iral's footsteps which now led back to the main entrance.
"We're going in circles!" Exclaimed Vorador.
"Quite not, my friend: the trace is hot." Aaon assured. "I wonder if I..."
Without further notice, the druid shifted once again in his feral hawk form, sprinting into the air and reaching the main tower of the castle: something was moving on the stair inside. On a better inspection, Aaon could clearly see Iral, as she was described previously by her mother, going up towards the top. The window panes were too thick, he could do nothing. He flew back to the others to inform them of his discovery.
"We have to keep moving, quickly!"
Kon es Kaz jolted towards the door, back again at the beginning hall.
"Two flight of stairs. Which one shall we take, Aaon?"
The druid looked at the floor once more, scanning his backgrounds for any hint of the girl's passage.
"... the one on the left."
Kon es Kaz and Brimelle sprinted on the stairs, reaching a green corridor with a giant deer painted on the side. They all proceeded down until they came to a sort of bridge connecting this corridor to the one of the other flight of stairs.
“She went that way.” Said Aaon, pointing at the other corridor painted light blue with, this time, a red eagle. As the group was crossing the bridge, they noticed a desecrated painting right in the middle of the passage: a man and a woman with holes in the canvas where their faces would have been and the writing "TRAITORS" right above them. The party kept it in mind and then continued following Iral's path.
They ended up in front of a closed oak door. Aliranne decided to cast an invisibility spell on such door to avoid unpleasant surprises. With the door now invisible, the five companions could clearly see the other side: it was a ballroom decorated in orange with a mosaic and many ground mirrors occupying the dance floor. There was a strange smell in the air and a female laughter filled the silence for some instants.
Kon es Kaz went scouting while Aaon followed him from above in his hawk form. On the far end of the ballroom stood a dressing table with three women behind it. One had raven black hair which was being combed by the other two, most probably handmaids, dressed in red. Kon kept coming closer, asking in his deep minotaur voice.
"Is everything ok? This castle seems to be cursed and infested with undeads. Do you need any escort, for your safety?"
He kept his sword unsheathed. The woman with black hair looked at him while Vorador, Aliranne and Brimelle came near the warrior from behind.
"Why don't thou join us, oh mighty knight?"
But Kon es Kaz kept his sword in his hands, looking at her suspiciously. At that precise moment, the two handmaids revealed their true nature morphing into what appeared to be two witches. One of them jumped straight into one mirror reappearing at the back of the room through another mirror while the other went for Kon es Kaz.
Aaon could now see, from above, the third woman becoming paler, taller, with tentacles coming out of her gown and covered in shards of glass: it was a glass witch!
The first thing Brimelle did, aside trying to avoid the vortexes of glass shards that came from the glass witch, was to destroy all the mirrors in the room. She cast a sonic explosion, destroying the one used by the handmaid and stunning her in return. Kon es Kaz broke to pieces the mirror next to the dressing table while Aliranne and Vorador, aided by the flying Aaon, attacked the three creatures.
The two maids went down easily, but the glass witch was a little bit more stable. She kept sending out her glass vortexes aiming at everything that moved. Only the combined forces of all the heroes were able to put an end to such an evil spirit. After the fight was finally over, Brimelle took her time to inspect the dressing table, finding another note like the one in the carillon right on the desk. It was the same calligraphy and paper than the other one and the date was of May, one month before as they were now in June.
This illness does not seem to fade. I tried everything. No healer was able to cure me.
My wife passed away but the lady who came in this castle appears to be knowing more that what she is willing to show.
Maybe she can help me with this illness.
May the gods assist me.
Brimelle took the note with her and kept moving forward with the rest of the party.
"...wait a moment. Where is Rydell?" She asked, suddenly.
They all looked towards the entrance of the ballroom but there was no sign of the woman.
"We have to go back and look for her!" Shouted Kon, full of chivalry.
"Not now." Vorador put a hand on the minotaur's chest, stopping him. "She is a grown up woman. If she left us behind, she probably knows what she's doing. In addition to that, we're here for the girl and we know where she went. If we don't catch her in time, she could run into more terrifying and dangerous monsters than a few witches."
"But she told me that she is being controlled! What if she is right now?" asked Brimelle.
"Same argument she told you." came Aaon. "What is controlling her is doing her good. We can only assume that she left us for her best."
"... thou were eavesdropping?!" the centauress uttered offended.
"Listen now, all of you!"
The voice of Kon es Kaz came out like a raging thunder, shaking the spirit of everyone present and the foundation of the place itself. Silence fell over the room and there it remained for a few moments before the minotaur spoke again.
"We are here to protect those who need protection. We all saw that Rydell is able to protect herself but we cannot say the same about the little girl. Now, stop bickering with eachother and start doing something productive to find Iral before it's too late. I won't have another innocent soul on my conscience due to our neglect!"
They all remained silent as Kon gave them his back, proceeding towards the door which led to the tower where Aaon saw Iral for the first time. Brimelle broke the silence after giving a meaningful stare at the minotaur.
"Let us follow."
They finally reached the tower. The sound of rattling metal, hooves and shifting robes accompanied them as they went for the top. Another oak door blocked their way to the chamber on the top. Right in front of it, rested, to the surprise of everyone, the carillon accompanied by another note.
I was right.
Finally, I'll be able to see the gates of the Bronze Tower.
"Something tells me this is about Morgion." Murmured Brimelle.
"Oh really?" Added Aliranne in a sarcastic tone as Vorador came closer to the door.
"It won't open." Said the mystic. "I'll try sending an entity over there."
He started to concentrate, summoning a ghost-like creature which then, to the necromancer's command, went through the door to inspect what was behind it.
In the meantime, Brimelle opened the carillon, observing it eagerly. She focused on the tiny figurine on the inside, such a fragile and cute addition. She could clearly understand how that was the favourite toy of a little girl, but how did it end up in that castle? And mostly, right on top of the tower when it was Rydell who had it with her? Her thoughts were stopped by the return of the entity which spoke mostly in whispers.
"I saw a man... sitting on a high throne... like a ragdoll... with a gold embroidered red tunic... the throne is broken and... there were many tentacles... on the floor... on the ceiling..."
"You're dismissed." said Vorador. As soon as the entity was gone he turned to the others. "No sign of the girl... We'll have to find a way to get inside."
As he was talking, Brimelle turned the windup key of the wooden box, making the melody start. A rumble shook the tower and a deep voice came from behind the oak door.
"NOT... YET..."
While the others were rather shocked by such an happening, Brimelle noticed only at that moment that a small music sheet was hiding at the bottom of the carillon. She took it in her hands and offered it to Aliranne.
"Keep it up like this, please." She said as she conjured her guiterne.
She started playing her instrument but nothing happened. On the contrary, what she was playing sounded awful and did not blend with the carillon at all. She looked confusedly at the music notes on the paper, trying to make sense out of it. It was inside the carillon, how was it that she didn't notice it before when she gave it to Rydell? No, it had to make sense in some way! Only in that moment she noticed the elvish words under the stave, recognizing an elven lullaby. She sang it with all of her heart, turning the windup key once again and letting the music flow freely.
Now, both her voice and the melody from the carillon seemed intertwined with one another creating a marvellous assonance and harmonization that produced once again a bellow from behind the door.
A clack.
The door was now open.
The five heroes entered the room, weapons in hand, ready to fight whatever was going to put itself between them and their mission. A giant creature with many tentacles, two giant pincers, a hideous black face with four eyes and tendrils instead of the mouth was standing over the broken throne which was now on the floor, completely shattered.
The whole party fought with all of their might. The creature attacked the heroes with its pincers, tentacles and venomous gas which was released from the abdomen every time it got hit. Aliranne fell on the floor after she was hit by the monstruosity but her state of helplessness motivated the others who put all of their efforts in bringing down the beats.
The floor shook violently under the vibration emitted by the tentacles. The tower seemed to sway under the creature's mass, following its pattern as it moved across the room frantically. Finally, one last blow was able to put an end to the very essence of the creature. The floor and the roof were miraculously intact, aside for a giant hole in the latter. Then, once Aliranne got stabilized and brought back to her feet, everyone sighed out in relief. But they still had one problem: where were Rydell and Iral?
The creature, in the meantime, was dissolving quickly. The facade of a giant monster revealed the red robed old man the spirit told the party about before. He was sleeping soundly and peacefully as if thankful for what had happened to him. Just as strangely as that metamorphosis, Rydell appeared from the main door. She discarded the five heroes, going straight towards the carillon. She started to sing.
Everyone was looking at her in disbelief. They were so shaken that only Brimelle had the courage to sing back to her, creating a once again harmonization that had some magic in it. Out of the blue, the carillon opened and the little figurine inside lit aglow, growing in size. Rydell put the carillon aside, taking the overgrown figurine in her arms, which was now taking the appearance of the body of a sleeping Iral.
Brimelle neared Rydell. She stared at her, trying to pierce into her soul.
"What are thou."
She asked softly yet firmly. Rydell did not answer. Instead, she gave her a white feather. It had the appearance of a normal white swan feather, but Brimelle was better than to not know when something this peculiar isn't normal.
Rydell passed Brimelle and, still with Iral in her arms, approached the sleeping man. She took him by one of his hands before turning towards the party of heroes. Suddenly, two giant candid wings sprouted from her back and a divine glow imbued her. Her eyes became completely white, sparkling of a pure light while a halo of immaculateness covered the whole room.
The party was left speechless. So many questions arose but no one had the courage to voice them and destroy that moment of absolute peacefulness. Abruptly, everyong broke into those questions who had been silenced till that moment.
"Who are you?"
"What does this mean?"
"Why did you bring us in this place?"
"What are those wings? Where do you come from?"
"What the fuck are you?!"
It was Rydell who now spoke.
"You mortals cannot comprehend and listen to revelations that are beyond your understanding. Be aware of the Herald, he is not what he affirms of being. One day, everything will be explained to you."
This being said, she jumped giving her more strength with her wings, leading along by their hands Iral and the red robed man.
The party could do nothing but look at the figure of the winged woman disappearing in the light of the sky.
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Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 1280 x 1274px
File Size 2.2 MB
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