I stared upon Alfarok, not the dark, decaying city in which I distantly knew I was in, but the newly built city. People thronged among the streets, happy cries of children echoing down alleys, tired men leaving warehouses stopping by the bakery on the way home.
Turning I looked upon the fortress but instead of seeing the pitiful creation I had observed before I now saw a sculpted masterpiece, arching spires of white stone elegantly reached toward the sky, curling bridges spanned the gaps between them, vines clinging to many surfaces and draping down hundreds of feet provided vast shade to the grounds below. There were no seams in the stone, as though it had all been hewn from the same rock. To my even greater surprise I saw an actual dragon perched among the spires, not nearly as large as the ethereal one I had seen before, this one had black scales, wings folded to the side and a thicker, shorter neck. It peered down at the city below with keen interest, green eyes looking to and fro, its reverse jointed legs casually holding onto the top of one of the spires. Movement caught my eye and I saw an eshiri pull itself from a window beneath the dragon, a large pack upon its back, I thought for a moment it was going to fall as it bent out of the window before it nimbly leaped to the edge of the roof, catching it and pulling itself up with ease, it then casually sat down and took off its pack and began to take out the contents. The dragon turned its head and climbed down to lay next to the eshiri as a wide variety of what I could only guess was food from this distance was placed in front of it. Wondering at the companionship of the two I began to hear distant voices and I felt my thoughts turn sluggish as the world around me faded from view.
My sluggish thoughts gained momentum and I slowly opened my eyes, merely slits. Above me stood the Vrokandin Varr but his head was now turned, following his gaze I saw the woman arguing with a man, I could barely tell their voices apart and couldn't even begin to understand what they were saying but I could see her face and she was starting to look angry, the man, dressed in a dark gray cloak was gesturing at her fiercely then over at me. I looked back up at the Vrokandin Varr and then noticed his staff, my armor magnified my energetyc output, he had no armor to do so, he instead had his staff, without it he would be of little threat.
I peered down at my belt and saw my helmet clamped where it should be, my armor protected me from harm but could only properly do its task when whole, without my helmet I'd left myself vulnerable. Looking back up at the Vrokandin Varr I focused all my will to my sluggish limbs, slowly forcing out the lethargy he had brought on me and when I finally began to feel them responding properly I sprung into action. I pivoted off the floor using my right arm as my left gauntlet closed around my helmet and I clamped it into place just as the Vrokandin Varr turned back toward me, his black enshrouded hood peered at me and from within I felt recognition as he realized his error, I bolted to my feet just as he leveled the staff at me and a bolt of chaotic red energy lanced into my chest.
My armor easily absorbed the blow as I stumbled back slightly before leaping forward, my gauntlets closed around the staff and instead of attempting to physically wrest it from him as he might have expected and prepared for I channeled as much energy into the staff as I could, causing its entire length to burn brightly. The Vrokandin Varr recoiled slightly, nearly letting go of the staff before he rallied and gripped it with two hands, channeling his own energy into it he attempted to send negative feedback through my link to it, absorbing it easily with my right gauntlet I simply let go with my left hand and slowly reached out toward his chest. Realizing his error he panicked and actually tried to physically wrest the staff from me, I chuckled as I made physical contact with him and using my armor as a conduit channeled energy in a circular motion from the staff, myself, to him and to the staff again. He went rigid as the energy coursed through him freely, in greater and greater amounts until finally his limbs no longer obeyed him and he simply let go, falling to the ground rigidly, flat on his back.
Looking up from the fallen Vrokandin Varr I saw the man charge at me, pulling a black blade from within his cloak. I simply leveled the staff at him and watched as he attempted to reach out a hand to bat it aside, the moment he made physical contact with it the large energy still built up within it discharged quite violently into him, jettisoning him across the room, he smashed into the far wall before falling to the ground, motionless.
I looked back up at the woman as she stared after the fallen man, she then slowly looked back at me. "Friends of yours?" I asked casually as I slid the staff into place beneath Talth's sheath.
"You could say that." She said, shaking her head. "But I don't know him." She said, tilting her head toward the fallen man. She stepped forward, kneeling next to the Vrokandin Varr she pulled back his hood and the darkness dispelled to show a startling elegant man face, his eyes closed he seem almost to be a sleeping angel and I scoffed in disgust as I knelt next to him and placed my right gauntlet on his chest. I could feel the energy holding the illusion in place and with ease I dispelled it, revealing what was beneath.
A ravaged face now met our eyes. His flesh was withered, giving him an unnaturally aged look, something I knew only happens when you channeled dark and unnatural energies and there were areas where the flesh was seared as though with great heat that I knew was the result of over-channeling energy at levels you should not. There were tattoos upon his face and head, markings that I didn't recognize outright but I could feel a loathsome aura just looking at them. Both the woman and I immediately withdrew from him, standing over his fallen body I could feel not but disgust and pity for this man, what a life he could have had if he had not bent his will to darkness but then again he might have been coerced into this path against his will, at least in the beginning, what else he might have been had the Order found him. It then occurred to me what dark path I might have found had the Vrokandin Varr found me instead of Durkthar and the Order.
"It stings my eyes to stare upon the markings on his head." I turned to look at the woman, her face twisted with disgust as she stared upon the Vrokandin Varr's visage.
"Then don't look." I said as I bent down and drew his hood forth to cover his face.
"Is he dead?" She asked.
"No." I said, shaking my head. "But he'll be unconscious for some time." A thought occurred to me and I bent over him and placed my right hand on my chest as I focused.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"I'm ensuring he sleeps for a rather longer time, which is somewhat lucky for him as otherwise he'd like wake in a great deal of pain form his injuries."
"You're not doing that for his benefit." She observed.
"Indeed not." I replied. "He is going to still be extremely dangerous, even without his staff, and I have to make sure he doesn't interfere with my mission." I stood up and did the same to the other man before turning to look back at the woman who was quietly observing me.
"I came here looking for signs of dark kyn and everywhere I look I am finding hints of it, even here, with this fool." I said, nodding towards the fallen Vrokandin Varr.
"How does he display signs of.... Dark kyn?" She asked, arching an eyebrow at me.
"Those tattoos on his head, while I don't recognize them I sense their purpose and it is without doubt for ill intent, this man has bent his purpose to darkness and the exploitation of others as all Vrokandin Varr do, knowingly or not and it does not surprise me to see him here, however he could not be the cause of this, not him alone, I assume there are no other Vrokandin Varr here?"
"No." She said, shaking her head. "Not as far as I know, but they pretty much don't tell me anything, but this house is empty besides us."
"Well there is that at least." I stared down at the man for a moment longer before turning toward the woman. "I am truly sorry to have caused you any distress, I'll leave now before they wake up." I turned and walked back to the fireplace and picked up Talth and returned it to its sheath then turned back for the door when I heard her speak.
"I've never seen one of their faces." I turned back toward her, she had gently drawn the hood back over the Vrokandin Varr face but kept his forehead covered. She looked up at me. "From the moment I woke up seven svars ago I have never seen one of their actual faces, only other people who serve them, they've always been shrouded in darkness, hidden and secret. I almost started to believe they didn't have faces."
I looked down at the Vrokandin Varr and then back at her. "You truly have been a prisoner your whole life?" I asked. She slowly nodded.
"Always kept away for my protection." She spat the last word out with disgust and shivered slightly. "I don't want to be here anymore, not here, not with them, not in this place." She looked up at me and I back at her through the lenses of my helmet. I remembered the feeling that I knew her from somewhere which even now was prominent, slowly nodding my head I spoke. "Pack light, we have to move fast."
Her eyes widened with surprise. "Truly? You'll take me with you?"
"I'm not guaranteeing anything." I said, holding my hands up. "I have to try and find the source of the dark kyn activity here above all and normally I'd have you wait here till I completed that but..." I looked down at the Vrokandin Varr. "I imagine you don't want to be here when he wakes back up and I've seen first hand that you can hold your own in a fight." She grimaced with a smile.
"Sorry." She said,
I shrugged. "No reason to be. Now go, I'll be here."
She nodded and turned, and ran from the room through the doorway she'd come in from. I waited for but a small moment before she returned, this time wearing a helmet, unlike my own it had slits for her eyes, matching the green color of her armor, it fitted onto it easily and turned with her head. She wore a small pack about her waist and her feet were now clad in boots of similar style and color of her armor. She nodded to me.
"Ready." She walked to the stone slab and eyed it for a moment.
"They didn't teach you how to open this?" I asked.
"No." She said, shaking her head. "But you got in, you can get us out, right?"
I nodded, clenching my gauntlets as I charged them with energy. "But getting in isn't the same as getting out, and this place was built to be a prison and a haven for darkness. Time to break it, permanently."
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