Hello, Everyone!
Last time, our heroes were faced with a difficult choice. The dark entity calling himself Kloth made them an offer. Become heroes and free the four remaining elven maidens (letting Kloth go in the process), or fight him and some of them were sure to die. Mary and Aurum wanted to take the offer (and think about the concequences later) but Bruno and Tesaya were against it. They pointed out that if they let Kloth live, their future evil deeds were going to weigh on their consciousness.
The one hour Kloth had given Mary and her friends was ticking by. Fifteen minutes in, the four still hadn’t managed to settle on a decision.
“Maybe we should ask for help,” Mary said. “This thing may be way over our heads and, honestly, I don't think it's our place to decide this instead of the elves. We can send a message to Tiriel Elaire or Balaine Endoras, or, or, or to anyone… Tesaya? What do you think?
“I'm not sure that would do what you hope it will,” the Paladin said. “You want to save the girls, but the Elders would want to end this Kloth entity once and for all… even at the cost of four lost lives.”
“What?!” Mary cried out. “How could they?!”
Tesaya shrugged.
Mary didn’t want to risk that. She thought back to their conversation with Kloth and tried to remember if there was anything in there that might hint to who that thing was or where they resided.
What did he mean by 'last time we spoke'? And who was ‘she’? He said 'she is with me again'. Who could that be? Dorina? No, when he spoke of her, it was with a completely different tone of voice. The one about ‘she’ was soft, almost loving…
Mary gasped.
“I… have a theory,” she said loud enough for the others to hear her. “It's… I don't want to believe it but it makes more sence the longer I think about it.”
“Shoot!” Bruno said.
“Tesaya, can you remind us the date of the first abduction 18 years ago?”
“It was on October 22nd,” the woman said.
“What about the death of Olivia Enry?”
“August, 26th.”
“What if…” Mary hesitated. “We know that Olivia Enry was killed before the first attacks. Two мonths before them, in fact. And we know that her soul was destroyed, and that her husband was overcome with grief. But what if… what if he did something to try and bring her back? What if all those abductions and killings are his desperate attempts to study the elven soul and find a way to return his wife to life?”
Nobody said anything.
“I know, it sounds awful. It’s just a theory…”
“No, it’s good,” Tesaya said. “Maquiel did say he heard the name ‘Olivia’ when he was captured.”
It did make sense. But what good did it do? Knowing who Kloth was didn’t help them save the four girls and Dorina, and they only had half an hour left until he was back.
Mary was beginning to panic.
Where could the girls be? In Kloth’s laboratory? But where was that? Maquiel had said it was dark and damp, and it smelled like dirt. It must have been underground. Was it under Entivio’s home? Or was it here? Why would Kloth want them to meet by the mausoleum if the place wasn't somehow connected to his laboratory?
Mary ran towards the entrance of her family’s resting place, grabbed the handle and turned it with force.
It didn’t open.
“Come on!” she screamed. “We need to get in! There must be something in there! Anything…”
The lock clicked and the door came ajar. With no precautions of any kind, Mary barged into the stone building, followed by the rest of her friends and Tesaya. She desperately looked around.
“There might be a secret entrance to Kloth’s laboratory,” she said. “If we find it, we can save the girls before it’s time to meet him! Help me look, quick!”
They ran through the place, pulling all the torch stands in hopes to discover a secret lever, pushing all the benches and tables away to unveil a trapdoor. Mary’s heart was racing with the urgency of the situation and every passing minute made her more and more desperate to find anything of use in here.
She reached the sarcophagi and, almost without hesitation, asked the others to help her remove the lids. Tesaya gasped, horrrified, but Mary just shook her head. The girls who were still alive were more important than her family’s remains.
Opening Terros’ sarcophagus revealed an old skeleton. It was dressed in burial robes and had some jewelry and special items put around him as a memento. No secret passage there.
Falka’s didn’t contain a body. It had more jewelry and items, and in the center, a small pouch with some reddish-brown hair inside.
Mary panted and advanced to her father’s casket. She removed the prismatic crystal from the lid. She would put it back up, once this was all over. Aurum and Bruno pushed the sarcophagus open and revealed it being… empty. Only a golden wedding ring was lying on the velvet.
“No!” Mary sobbed, clutching at her chest.
They’d chosen the wrong place to search and there was no time to go to Entivio’s place anymore. It was almost the end of the hour.
Bruno put his hand on her shoulder and nodded towards the door. She wiped away her tears and nodded back.
They went out and stood around the back end of the mausoleum. Not long after, the darkness on the wall grew denser, the upper part formed into a skull and Kloth was there, looking at the four of them.
“So,” he said. “What did you decide?”
“Can we see the four maidens to be sure they’re alive?” Bruno said.
“They’re in my laboratory. You’ll see them when you go there to destroy it,” Kloth said.
“We want Dorina, too,” Aurum said. “If you give her to us, we may accept your offer.”
“I told you once already. She’s mine.”
“By her own will?” Bruno asked.
The figure chuckled. “Yeah, why not?” he said.
This was obviously a lie. Kloth didn’t even try to hide it.
“Can’t we see her?” Mary insisted.
Kloth laughed. “You don't want to see her, trust me,” he said. “She’s armed and dangerous.”
They knew that. Aurum – most of all.
“Do you accept my offer?” the figure repeated. He looked like he was losing his patience.
“Give us Dorina and show us the girls first.”
A sigh came from the depths behind the skull. It spun from left to right and then to left again, as if Kloth was shaking his head. The darkness around him thickened, condensed and formed into a tangible humanoid figure, holding a big magical staff in hand.
“Be it, then,” Kloth said. “Avarak thuul, ish miraak thuul!"
Suddenly, the air in the elven graveyard turned icy cold.
Soo, did you guess what our heroes would choose? I bet you didn’t say “nothing”! 😂 In our defence, it was a really tough choice. And the whole time we--or at least I--were thinking how to cheat Kloth and get both the girls AND his death.
Which shows what kind of a person I am, probably :)
See you in the next part when we’ll find out what ‘Avarak thuul, ish miraak thuul!’ means.
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: These are my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum and Bruno) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.
Oh, cliffhangers, they drive me nuts. Nice job. I think it means "Here you can have everything you want, I'm leaving now." !LOL
Yes! Exactly! How did you guess??? It's all fun and peaceful times from now on! 😄
(Thank you for the comment! I enjoyed reading it!)
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Credit: fallingforward
@mellindor, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of @hhayweaver
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