Whisper of a Demon's Shadow
By Richard LeBlanc
The Frozen Heart
Time stands still
When nightmares rule
Doubt can kill...
...The Prophecy
Chapter Sixteen: ghosts
It had been a relatively uneventful trip from that campsite by the ancient bridge. The four stopped for a few moments and took in the sight that was once a proud temple. Time and lack of care had been unkind to the once proud place.
That in itself was bad - but the damage ran far deeper. For not only time had been unkind the temple - dark forces had also reaped their fury upon the place - desecrating it in every imaginable way.
"Dark times must indeed have fallen the land for such a deed to be aloud to stand," Gailin remarked as he whispered a silent prayer to the goddess.
"Dark times must be at hand for people with good sense to enter such a place. It doesn't take a cleric to know that this place is cursed," Louie added.
"What choice do we have?" Thomas rebutted.
"True," Louie admitted - as he took out his dagger. Gnar grunted as he took out his mammoth axe. Gailin casually gripped the staff he had made along their trek. Thomas drew his rapier and motioned for them to cross over onto that cursed site.
"We - are being watched," Louie remarked.
"Gathered that all by yourself?" the dwarf sarcastically retorted.
"You - are funny," the thief rebutted.
"I seriously doubt that now is the time for such banter. Let us stay focused to the task at hand," the monk suggested. As they walked through the once holy place - they saw unholy things painted on the walls in human blood. Some writings looked old - others looked more recent - one or two looked fresh.
"Why do I get the feeling that what we seek won't be up here in the open just waiting for us to claim it?" Thomas remarked.
"I see a dark place - surrounded by death - old and new," Louie remarked. "Look - for the heart of the temple - whatever that means," he added.
"There is a honeycomb of passageways and tunnels beneath this once holy place. The heart is the main praying chamber. Where those of the order would pray and fast," Gailin remarked.
"More tunnels - just once I would like this quest to take us to an open place," Thomas muttered. They made their way towards the center of the once holy place and saw a structure that looked anything but holy.
The outer door was decorated in a perverse way with defiled corpses. The stench was almost overpowering. But they held they breath and quickly descended into the darkness that was before them.
Eerie torches lighted the halls. Mad whispers danced on the stone walls around them. Some could be understood - warning them to leave - others were little more than mad ranting. Unnatural breezes wafted through the empty halls - as the shadows played tricks on their over active imaginations.
"What an evil unpleasant place. Remind me never to come back here," Louie remarked. The statement brought a smile to their faces for a brief flickering moment. "Alright - as you our resident monk seem to have some knowledge of places like this - lead the way," he offered. The monk nodded and motioned for the others to follow.
As they progressed lower - deeper into the lower catacombs of the temple - the defilement and desecration grew worse. Pictures that were once showing holy images were painted over with perverse themes. Crude pictoglyphs depicted horrid acts being done to the sisters and brothers of the order that once watched over that holy place.
"No - ordinary war was fought here. If - I didn't know better - I would swear that Rubius had no hand in this," Gailin muttered as he looked at one pictoglyph. Thomas walked over and looked at the image.
"Why do you say that?" he asked.
"I don't know - everything I know - everything I was taught - I can't explain it. I can feel his dark taint all over this place - yet - the war that was fought here - that turned this place into what it is - was not him," he muttered quietly.
"Yeah - okay - and now that means what?" Louie remarked.
"If I knew I would tell you," the monk replied as he shook his head. "I fear there is more going on here than we know. I shall pray for guidance in the matter - and hope - the answers come to me before it is too late," he replied seriously as they made their way down the winding hall.
"But - this evil - if it wasn't done by Rubius - who?" Thomas asked.
"Maybe not a who - maybe a what," Gnar remarked.
"Something not born of this world?" the monk asked.
"There - are stories told among my people - of creatures of great power that dwell in the ether between this world and the next. Rubius - he might have allied himself with such a power," the dwarf suggested. The monk nodded.
"That would explain much. I will feel better when I am away from this tainted place," he admitted as they descended even lower into the darkness of the tunnels ahead.
After what felt like an eternity of walking and descending through winding twisting corridors - at last they found themselves at the chamber in question. They stood at the entrance to the room and looked around. The floor was littered with corpses - many seemed aged - a few had markings that showed they had the misfortune of happening onto that place recently.
"Thomas?" Louie muttered.
"Let me guess - if we go in - death will surround us," Thomas rebutted.
"That obvious?" Louie asked.
"Not really - was just guessing," he muttered.
"I don't know what killed them - look at some of the armor - completely untouched - others - the armor is bashed in," Gnar pointed out. Gailin closed his eyes and began to chant.
"You sense something?" Thomas asked.
"Powerful evil is at work in this place - powerful - evil - and old," he muttered.
"If anything screamed of Rubius - that would be it," Gnar muttered.
"Louie - is the Heart in there?" Thomas asked. Louie closed his eyes and concentrated on the pearl in the handle of his dagger.
"I - see many warriors - surrounding - fighting - ah - that - that's all," he muttered. Thomas sighed and shook his head.
"Then we have no choice - but where would it be in there?" Thomas asked himself as he looked around the floor that was littered with bones.
"Center of the room - the floor is the key to the evil," Louie muttered.
"Fine and good that is - how are we supposed to go?" Gailin asked as Thomas began to float up. "The Burning Star," he mumbled. Thomas nodded as he slowly flew into the room. All around him whispers and echoes danced in his head. He looked down at the floor a few feet below him - the armored skeletons were sprawled about.
"Now what?' Thomas hesitantly asked.
"In the center - is where the Heart beats," he replied - then shrugged his shoulders. Thomas made his way to the center of the room and looked down where several bodies were sprawled out.
"The floor is the key. Will be okay so long as I do not touch the floor," Thomas muttered as he rolled one armor clad skeleton aside. It was then that he saw it - a hole in the floor under him. in it was a glowing neck-guard with a glowing sapphire. "I see it," he stated. He reached down to grab it - but was stopped. It wasn't a hole - but a flat surface. "Uh oh," he muttered. All around the room an unholy wind began to blow.
"Trouble," Gailin muttered. They all rushed into the room and surrounded Thomas. They all watched as the skeletons began to rise around them. An eerie glow escaped from their eyes - just by the way they moved - the voices that escaped their bony mouths - everything about these unholy creatures screamed that they were no mere skeletons.
"Soul stealers," Gailin muttered.
"What?" Louie asked.
"Wraiths," he clarified.
"I thought they wore robes - had scythes," Gnar commented.
"Some do - others inhabit bodies of the fallen. If they touch you - you will age and die," Gailin warned as the undead creatures loomed closer. The small band stood with their backs to each other.
"Ideas then?" Gnar asked.
"We fight," Thomas stated. They yelled out as they attacked the slow moving horrors. Within moments - all of them were in shattered ruins on the floor. They once again stood back to back - there was silence.
"That was easy enough," Gnar remarked.
"It's not over," Louie muttered. They looked over and watched as a ghost began to rise up from the floor - then another and another until they were completely surrounded. Thomas swung his magical weapon at the specters - the weapon went harmlessly through them. "And if they touch us," he began.
"Aging and dying," Gailin reminded.
"Gnar - torch the place!" Thomas suggested. The dwarf concentrated. an aura of flames exploded outward from the dwarf. Filling the room with magical flames. When he stopped the wraiths seemed unaffected. "No good," he muttered. The specters floated ever closer.
"This is how the others died - how some armor was untouched," Louie remarked. Thomas looked down at the floor and saw the artifact they had come there to find. It was so near yet so far away. He muttered a curse to himself and looked up. He then looked back down at the hole. Then back up. The hole was a reflection of what was above. But where was the Heart?
"What did you say Louie where is the Heart?" Thomas asked in a mild state of panic.
"In the center of the room," he repeated. Thomas looked up and glared.
"It must be," he began as he leaped up. The all watched as his hand arched up in the air and snatched the invisible artifact from thin air. The wraiths screamed as they vanished into a spiraling wind. The others watched as Thomas landed and looked at the artifact in his hand.
"Okay - how did you do that?" Louie asked.
"It was in the center of the room - not in the floor - but in the air," he said as he looked at the perfectly cut square sapphire. "The Frozen Heart - it was the power that was holding those specters here," he said as he looked at the jewel more closely.
"Where?" Louie asked as a black wind blew through the room. Rubius appeared and glared at Thomas. The others stood before the chosen one and the dark specter of a man that was Rubius.
"You mindless fool! You have no inkling as to the events that you have set into motion! I was hoping that you would abandon your fool's quest - or at least fall victim to some peril along the way. But I was a fool to leave this to chance. Go further and I swear you will learn what it means to incur the wrath of Rubius!" he echoed as he exploded into a swarm of bats that flew past them. They watched as the swarm circled the room and then escaped through an exit.
"Boast all you wish fiend! Your time is at an end," Gailin shouted.
"He must be getting scared," Louie muttered. "Maybe we do stand a chance," he added. Thomas slowly put the Frozen Heart on around his neck and then looked to the others.
"We do stand a chance. We will succeed. And there is nothing Rubius or anyone - or anything can do to stop us," Thomas stated confidently.
To be continued...
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