Chapter 7 – Darkness Rising

Zorthac had been surprisingly calm when Sorene had returned to report that they had lost Myne. Of course, as it had been his magic controlling her he would have known the instant that the bond had been severed, but she had been a powerful asset to the Demon King’s cause, and Melody knew that she would extract the price for what had been done to her. Melody had been assigned by the Demon King to keep an eye on Sorene and Myne in case something went awry, so she had seen first hand the devastation that the former dragon rider was able to cause. She did not know where her power had come from, whether it had always been in her, or if it had been gifted to her by Zorthac, but it was absolutely terrifying. Now Myne was with the Prime Rider, who had appeared from nowhere during the Witch event and done a number on the Clans southern temple. And they still didn’t know anything more about her either.

But all of that hadn’t been a concern to Zorthac. He’d just looked at Sorene intently as she had knelt before him, declaring that her people would pay the price. They did however have a new Mask in their midst, a man by the name of Erragon, a cruel and twisted man who had been a bruiser for the Brotherhood of Craftsman. He was a large man, solidly built and muscular, his eyes filled with rage and hatred. Zorthac had readily accepted him, having called him to their midst in the first place. He was a perfect candidate to become a Mask, his body easily accepting the corruption. As part of the process Zorthac had supplemented his power by imbuing him with corrupted gems taken from the corpses of failed experiments, which had allowed him to take the corruption to its full extent, changing Erragon into a creature similar to what Myne now was, albeit without the same level of magic, and not quite as perfect. An artificial vampire rather than a true vampire Zorthac had said. Whatever that actually was. Erragon had become the Mask of Black.

Melody, ironically the Mask of Sound, was one of the three Riders serving Zorthac. She had only been a Mask for a handful of years, Sorene having brought her to him on the night before her initiation. A talented and well known musician in the capital city, it had been a surprise to everyone when her power had awakened, especially as her magic was that of a rider and not of a caster as would have been expected of one in her position. But then you had no control over what magic you had. Magic was not a good fit for her sickly body however and the closer they got to her summoning, the worse she became. Sorene had then come to her, offering a solution. She knew of a way to cure her of her illness and strengthen her body, so that she could be both a Rider and a famed musician, healthy again, but it would carry a cost. Melody had agreed, neither the magic nor death on her agenda. The cost and process had not been at all what she had expected, but the results had far surpassed her expectations, and she had returned to the stage superior to when she had left it. Her dragon had turned out to be a sleek Nightwing, whether that was what she would have always had or was a reflection of her new body was an unknown, but it was also reflected in her armaments and reinforcement magic, so alongside Byron she had become her masters shadow operative.

Her commitment to Zorthac’s ambitions however was tenuous at best. She served him because he owned her, but she was not always happy with what she had to do, and often did things her own way, or just did her own things. Zorthac was well aware of this she knew, but he still continued to use her anyway, especially to keep an eye on the other Masks. She had her uses to him, and at least he had let her keep her music.

They were moving into the next phase now. The Clans and Guilds had been doing a good job of ignoring what had been happening, especially in part due to the actions of the other Masks, but that was all about to change. Soon the kingdoms would learn the true face of the Demon King.

“You won’t be walking into a fire, you’ll be jumping into an inferno.” Alice looked at Izen, her voice tempered with concern.

“At least then I’ll be warm,” Izen quipped with a grin on her face, before sighing and looking serious again. “It’s our best option; I don’t think there really is any other choice.”

The party was seated around the campfire, discussing their next course of action. While all of them were nervous about the prospect of having to give a warning to the Sisters of the Radiant Dawn about the Demon King's return and Sorene’s involvement, they did know it was necessary.

They had woken that morning to a damp miserable day, Myne informing them that she had sensed that Lyrissa had passed away during the night, a return trip to her chamber confirming that she was right. Their mood had changed to match the weather, the source of any further answers, information of the Demon King, and possible training for Myne and Izen on how to use their powers now gone. Even in her weakened state she would have been a staunch ally for them, but they also were not surprised that she had died. She had pretty much hinted at it during their talk. Given how old and experienced she was, they were quite surprised that she hadn’t had some form of back up plan or a contingency for them in the event of her death, as she would have sensed it was near. At least they weren’t aware of anything and nothing obvious threw itself at them. But given that none of them had lived as long as her, nor experienced what she had, it was not their place to judge. It just meant that things were going to be more difficult for them than it could have been. But it was what it was.

Alice and Laphir had spent the better part of the day in the underground chamber, studying the magic down there and seeing what they could learn or discover from it. They suspected that the cloaking ritual was down there, but they weren’t really sure what they were looking for so weren’t able to find it. Nor did the contraptions make much sense either, especially since they had all ceased functioning, and so they had returned with nothing gained. Shino had continued to try and train Kyla, but the young cat girl reflected the mood of everyone else and couldn’t get into a rhythm. Myne and Izen had gone to forage for supplies again before they had camped themselves in the mural chamber, seeing what else they could glean while also working on their magics. They weren’t ready to discuss the scour mark that had appeared in the wall when they gathered for the evening meal.

Conversation had naturally drifted to the Sisters of the Radiant Dawn. They knew that they were going to have to face them at some point, at the very least to warn them about the return of the Demon King, Sorene’s actions and the presence of the splinter cell. There was no guarantee that the Clan would listen to what they had to say, or even give them an audience at all, but they had to try, and it would be better to do it on their terms than on the Clans. Given that they were already in hot water over Izen’s awakening, they would be walking in on the back foot, and would need to be careful. There was the strong chance that everything would go horribly wrong, but there was also the potential to gain an ally for the fight against the Demon King, and in the end they just had to do it. Izen had made it plain from the start that it would just be her and Myne going on this mission, as that way it would be easier to get both in and out of the Clan’s temple, as the possibility that they would have to escape at a moment's notice was quite high. Alice had tried to argue the point, but even she knew that Izen was right and had conceded. They settled on the Southern Temple as their destination, as that was likely the last place they’d be expected to go at the moment, and the capital temple, while granting them a possible audience with the Council of Lady Knights, would also be the most risky with the number of Riders that resided there. Not to mention it was the most probable place for Sorene to be.

The rest of the group would reclaim their wagon. Laphir was confident that the horses would still be around the area of the wagon, as they would often stop at locations for weeks on end, so once collected they would head back towards the ruins, with Izen and Myne catching up with them once they had concluded business with the Clan. There was quite a bit of equipment in the wagon that would be useful to them at the ruins, especially as it looked like they would be having an extended stay here.

Izen had contemplated leaving one of her dragons with the others, but she had no idea what the range of comfortable separation for Light and Ashling from herself was. Myne had said it would likely be much greater than what it was for most Riders, but right now wasn’t really the time for experimentation. They also didn’t know what effect it would have on either of them; for most Riders and their familiars it was both mental and physical stress, and they usually took pains from having to experience it. They wouldn’t have any issues finding them however with Myne’s seeking compass, Myne demonstrating that she already had Alice’s signature memorized.

All of their other plans however would be dependent on the outcome of the visit to the Clan, so there was little other planning ahead that could be done.

From there they started to talk about what they knew of the history of the world before the birth of magic, which was almost nothing. Lyrissa had said and hinted at many things that they didn’t understand or comprehend, especially of the stuff called technology, and they wondered if amongst all of that was something that they might be able to use against the Demon King. After all, he had been defeated twice, the first time without any magic at all, and the second time with the heroes, though there they hadn’t been by themselves although they had been instrumental. Myne talked a little about what she had seen in her dream, trying her best to describe the foreign things that she had observed. It was something that they would look further into when they had the time, but without Lyrissa they would be relying on blind chance to discover something useful. It was food for thought at least.

Izen landed in the middle of the temple complex in a crouch, using her magic to soften her impact with the ground as a small cloud of dust blew out from around her, Light and Ashling perched comfortably on her shoulder. Myne landed gently beside her, wings of black flame unfurled behind her, allowing her a much more graceful descent from their direct drop out of the sky from Lights back.

It was eerily quiet, not a soul to be seen, and the smell of death hung in the air.

“This isn’t right,” Myne muttered, as she steadied herself, letting her magic sweep the surrounding area. It was fortunate that she no longer need to hum for her sensing magic, something that was now a little awkward with her fangs.

The temple complex looked pretty much the same as the last time that they had been here, the main temple in ruins from Izen’s awakening, rubble lying all around its perimeter, although it did appear that there had been some effort to condense the piles down. There were still scorch marks in the ground from where the wisps had exploded, and the signs of the skirmish and panic was evident, which in itself was a little worrying. However there were no people present at all, and no signs of life.

They had departed at first light, breaking out of the low fog that was hugging the ruins and headed south along the forest's edge to where the wagon had been hidden. It hadn’t take Laphir long to locate the wagon, and once he had confirmed that it had been left untouched, and that the horses were still in the area, Izen and Myne had taken flight again, heading towards the Southern Temple. Even given what Izen had said the previous night they had both were quite nervous about going there, and they snuggled into each other as Light carried them closer, Ashling happily having a free ride as he slept on Izen’s shoulder.

But they knew something was amiss as they neared their destination, unease settling into them.

“Something’s not right,” Myne stated with concern as the temple complex came into view. “It looks far too quiet.”

“You’re right,” confirmed Izen, peering down, Light slowing her approach. “There is no activity at all.”

They had already decided to make a direct landing, so once they were within range Light had changed size, letting her passengers free fall down to the ground, Izen borrowing Myne’s former technique while Myne made use of her wings, which Izen hadn’t actually seen since her rescue. They were quite majestic and terrifying at the same time, a blatant display of raw power, but it wasn’t really the time for compliments.

Myne swore.

“There’s no one here at all, except for one person deep in the dungeon,” stated Myne with anger on her face, “and a cursed demon standing guard. What, are they trying to set a trap for us?”

“By way of a bait,” replied Izen, fear clawing at her. “Sorene’s been here. The question is why.”

“And being in the dungeon too means that we can’t use our other forms.” stated Light. “It feels like it was set just for us.”

“No time like the present to learn how to take them down without your aid then,” said Myne as she charged off towards the dungeon entrance, Izen following close behind.

They found the first of the bodies as they neared the dungeons, the twisted and broken forms of what had been the staff and slaves scattered around like rag dolls as if they had been something's toy. A demons toy.

“That’s only a small portion of the staff,” Myne stated as she did a quick count, before heading into the dungeon. “And no magic users either at a glance.”

The sight of it was making Izen feel sick.

mogust

Queue suspenseful music...

While this isn't one of the largest chapters, it is still on the lager side, and will be split into four segments due to it's flow. On the plus side they will be posted fairly quickly, and proofing smaller sections doesn't take as long.

For all those reading, thank you very much. It means a lot to me that people are reading and (hopefully) enjoying the story.

Happy New Year to you all :)