A Dream of Empire Ch. 002

Talos and Alanna conversed telepathically to discuss potential countermeasures to the necromantic witch, but didn't come up with a particularly good plan in the short time it took them to reach the lair. Alanna's best theory was for Talos to fend off any attackers while Emmanuel distracted the sorceress, allowing Alanna to enchant her. Talos figured a simple crossbow bolt to the mage's head would suffice, a plan which Alanna agreed to with a light chuckle, a noise which confused the bard as he thought it had come out of nowhere.

They soon reached the cairn, and tied their horses to the stones laid in a circle atop the grassy mound. The spiraling stairs towards the crypt were laid around the circle of stones, and were crumbling and covered with moss due to the inevitable assault of time. The crypt had to be at least three centuries old, but could have been around for two-thousand years for all Talos knew.

Talos attempted to push the large, ornamented black door at the bottom of the staircase, which refused to budge. He frowned and stepped aside, allowing Alanna to press a hand against it. She sensed a magical lock on the door and frowned as well, shrugging her shoulders.

"No idea," she muttered. The only magically-locked door Alanna had ever cracked was one where she had learned of it's solution in a dream, and she had not dreamt of this one.

"Step aside my alluring savior, allow Emmanuel to have a gander," the bard offered flamboyantly, clearly having recovered from his near-death experience not an hour ago. Alanna did as he asked, an amused grin present on her face.

"Em, what in all the hells do you expect to do?" Talos asked indignantly. Emmanuel tsked twice, then rummaged through the small leather satchel on his hip.

"And still the grouch castigates, berates, and belittles, yet he's only known me for but a little."

"And on your rhymes do I spittle," Talos smirked. Emmanuel fished a small silver ring affixed with a red stone from his pouch, and placed it on his right forefinger.

"Ah Talos, your efforts at jest are so very brittle," the bard replied mockingly, pressing both the red stone and his ear against the ancient door. He squinted as if in extreme concentration.

Hospital, Alanna thought to Talos with a grin. Talos waved a hand about, mimicking Emmanuel's typical attitude.

"The bard should watch his tongue, lest I send him to hospital," Talos retorted dryly. Emmanuel heard a soft click emanate from the stone, then moved his head from the door.

"And do I so look forward to my imminent committal," Emmanuel replied dully. He removed the ring from his finger, then produced a thin, pink needle from his bag. The bard pressed the tip of the needle against the center of the locked door. Talos glanced towards Alanna with raised brows.

I've got nothing, Alanna shrugged adorably.

"Fuck you, Em," Talos said with only a tittle of sarcasm. Emmanuel's eyes widened, and he returned the needle to his satchel. He stepped away from the door, bowing pompously towards Talos. Talos looked towards the still-shut door, tilting his head.

"So?" he said. Emmanuel sighed, then pushed it open with a bit of effort. Alanna's eyes lit up.

"Wow."

"Yeah... that's... what else are you hiding, bard?" Talos asked with genuine surprise and a smirk, a smile which Emmanuel mimicked.

"Nothing much of import," he answered with a whisper, then stepped into the tomb. He waved towards Alanna and Talos. "Come, my friends, let us find a witch to thwart."

-=-=-

The trio delved into the dim and ancient tomb from an era long forgotten. Talos' hand ran along the dusty stone walls with amusement, knowing that, when this structure had been constructed, the great Empire of humanity had not existed at all. Humans had instead been relegated to several smaller fiefdoms, kings squabbling with one another for control over this river here, or that fortress there. He found it a preposterous notion. How did humanity get anything done at all in that age?

The tomb wasn't very expansive. It soon opened up into the main central chamber, which held dozens of coffins lining the walls of the dank room. Cracks of sunlight from the world above seeped through the ceiling, which allowed the humans to see appropriately. Good thing, too, as the trio had forgone bringing torches or any other source of light, knowing it would give away their positions had the sorceress they hunted been hostile.

And hostile she likely was, seeing as she sent a squadron of shambling zombies to ambush them in the forest earlier. The trio's steps would be giving them away regardless, seeing as the tomb was otherwise silent. Talos stepped into the chamber first with a hand on the pommel of his sword, both concealing the natural glow it emanated as well as keeping the blade handy in case he needed it.

Talos scanned the room he had stepped in to, which was split into two levels; he had entered off to one side of the chamber, and the area to his right was at the same level that he was. To the left laid a large central staircase, flanked by pillars, atop which was the upper floor of the chamber. There appeared to be a large table in the center of the upper level, but Talos couldn't determine if the table held anything from his current vantage point. Every other remaining surface of the room was cold stone, holding nothing but dust.

He beckoned his companions forward with a wave, not looking behind himself as he did. He leaned against a pillar at the base of the large steps, leaning out when he noticed an shuttered passageway at the anterior of the upper level.

Talos immediately felt as if he should not be leading the party up the stairs, but was not quite sure why. He was relieved when Emmanuel instead stepped in front of him, bouncing up the stairs as if he held not a care in the world. Talos glanced towards Alanna, who was staring intently at the bard as he climbed the steps.

Talos shook his head, realizing Alanna was likely... encouraging Emmanuel to perform the action. She glanced towards him and shrugged gently before returning her attention to Emmanuel, confirming his suspicions. He soon heard Emmanuel yelp with surprise when he'd ascended the stairs.

"Ahh! Friends, come quick!"

Alanna held an outstreched hand out towards Talos, a wordless command for him to stay where he was. She rapidly ascended the stairs instead, reaching out to Talos when she had arrived by Emmanuel's side.

Fresh ritual sacrifice. Miller's body, perhaps.

Talos unsheathed his sword, but only made it up two steps before he heard a loud crash of wood on stone emanate from the anterior of the hall. The doorway at the top of the stairs had opened abruptly, startling him, Alanna, and especially Emmanuel. Talos crouched, hoping to remain undetected.

"What is the meaning of this?" a booming feminine voice asked the trio in the chamber. A tall, pale woman stepped from the chamber's latest passageway, garbed from neck to toe in a tattered black dress, which matched her long hair both in color and dishevelment. She appeared no older than thirty, an age that was likely deceptive, as sorceresses were known for.

Her eyes flickered between the bard and Alanna, and the witch quickly casted an abjuration shield before her, a ward which is used to block offensive spells from other sorceresses.

Alanna opened a palm, casting a futile restoration spell while transmuting it, making the healing spell appear instead as a hellish ball of purple lightning clutched in her fingertips. The enchantress knew no offensive magics, truthfully, but was hoping to trick the witch into thinking that she did.

The illusion seemed to work, as the necromancer kept her ward raised with the palm of a hand, which shimmered in front of her with an iridescent glow. Her other hand was clawed behind her, with small purple flames dancing through her fingertips.

"Who are you?!" the witch snarled.

"My name's Alanna, a sorceress from the College of Catriona," the enchantress greeted coldly, keeping her deceptive spells raised. She tried telepathically reaching out to the necromancer, but her attempts were deflected by the shimmering shield. "I'm here to arrest you for practicing necromancy, a practice which violates our sacred laws," she said confidently with a smirk. "As I'm sure you're well aware, sorceress."

The black-haired sorceress cackled, finding the notion ridiculous. "Yes! You're of the party my thralls found earlier. Tell me, Alanna, where's the third of you?"

Alanna feigned a frown. "He fell." The witch cackled louder.

"What a shame! Well, I'm afraid you will have to return to Catriona empty-handed, or fall as well. Do you not realize you stand betwixt a hundred potential soldiers?"

Alanna's face now showed concern, or perhaps a great mimicry of it. "I'm aware, sorceress," she replied reticently.

"And are you also aware of the terrible havoc that can befall you and your friend in but a moment? I do not wish to fight you, Alanna of Catriona, yet you leave me no choice," the witch explained gravelly.

The necromancer's clawed hand opened, producing dozens of small flames which danced forth towards every corner of the chamber, before settling into many of the coffins lining the walls. Emmanuel stepped back nervously, and Alanna felt the first pang of anxiety. She gulped, but stood her ground.

"For hundreds of years, Alanna, we sorceresses practiced every art of restoration. Through the blood of the living, we can become powerful. Through raising the dead, we can command armies of thousands! And yet, the hags of Catriona saw it fit to outlaw the strongest of all the arts!"

Dozens of coffins began to crack open on all sides of the chamber, their stone tops crashing heavily onto the stone floor around them. Skeletons could be seen rising slowly from each, a demonic purple glow present in each undead eye.

"I will give you one final chance, Alanna. Beg me for my forgiveness, and return to the college you have come from! Warn them of what you saw here. Of the expansive power of the art!"

Alanna's eyes darted around the room in fear, spying the many undead warriors standing to attention around her. Most were naked and unarmed, yet a few had picked up various rusted weapons that were laid out about the room.

She gulped, returning her sight to the necromancer. "I... I..." Alanna stammered.

"Beg!" the witch demanded. Alanna fell to her knees, quenching the illusory ball lightning in her hands.

"Please, sorceress. Please," Alanna cried quaveringly, her hands falling to the stone floor. "Allow me to return. I will tell them. I will tell them!"

The witch raised both hands, cackling defiantly towards the roof of the chamber. Her ward was released, and fifty skeletons began to shamble towards the center of the room.

Now, Talos!

Talos squeezed the trigger of his crossbow, leveled with the necromancer's skull. The bow twanged and bolt flew true, straight between the witch's eyes. Her lifeless body fell to the cold floor, followed by a clattering of a thousand thousand bones as the fires of fifty-one and two eyes were extinguished all at once.

A silence fell over the room, the footsteps of Talos ascending the stairs the only noise being produced. Alanna pushed herself to her feet, then dusted off her knees and hands nonchalantly. Emmanuel's mouth had been agape for an entire minute before he uttered a sound.

He chuckled quietly. Then he laughed. He turned towards a grinning Alanna, who stepped towards the deceased witch and spat on her lifeless corpse, a corpse which had hastily weathered to appear hundreds of years old.

"You had me there, Alanna," Emmanuel admitted nervously. "Very... very well played."

Talos stepped behind him, placing a steady hand on the bard's shoulder.

"Remember this day, Emmanuel," he said with a smirk. "And do not forget that all sorceresses are a little full of themselves, in one way or another."

-=-=-

The trio shied away from the ancient elven crypt with all haste, decidedly agreeing that venturing further into such a eerie place for the promise of treasure was simply not worth it. Talos had, however, carried the body of the woodmiller from the tomb, after lighting the corpse of the necromantic witch.

Talos buried the man six-feet deep just outside the cairn with a bit of help from his companions. He stood there silently once the task was completed, wiping sweat from his brow as he looked solemnly over the unmarked grave. His elven lover Casiama would have had something reverent to say right about now, but he had never learned the words. It was during times like this that Talos wished he could believe in the divine, if only to ensure a good ethereal journey for those that did.

With nothing more to be done, the trio continued on into the forest. Most adventurers would have returned to Featherton, to retrieve a reward for defeating the dastardly witch. Alanna, Talos, and Emmanuel, however, had all come to Featherton for its natural splendor, and not for the promise of gold and silver.

Alanna read it on her lover's mind as they neared the roaring sound of water on rock. Had it been last year, the enchantress would have been greatly surprised of the man's forethought and romantic charm to take her to the feet of a great waterfall over a bed instead. She thanked him for thinking only of her as they crested the final tree-strewn hillock before the wonderous sight known as Horseshoe Waterfall.

The sun was but an hour from setting on their backs as the travelers arrived there, warming the trees and water with an omnipresent orange glow. A cascade of falling water dominated the sight and sounds in front of them, stretching nearly one-thousand feet wide and one-hundred feet tall. It was shaped just as the name suggested, a large 'U' where the ends of the falls were nearer to the travelers than it's core. Rivers atop the ridge where the falls began had meandered from the mountains beyond before meeting here, to erode the forest floor with its endless power.

Alanna had found it all positively awe-inspiring. The thought that she had lived not three days away from such a wonderous sight and had never even heard of it struck her like a sack of grain. How many wonderous sights laid just beyond the next hill? How many spectacles beyond the next mountain?

She wrapped herself around Talos eagerly, grinning ear-to-ear as they basked in its natural magic. Talos leaned in to retrieve a bottle of wine from his saddlebags, figuring the magical moment a good a time as any.

"Talos, this... you..." Alanna uttered in shock, her eyes dancing gleefully over the exhibition before her.

"It's... kind of cool, huh?" Talos asked with a grin. He didn't need to, of course; he could read it on her gorgeous face, or listen to it on her soft words. Gods, was she beautiful.

"Kind of?" she asked incredulously, only to be met with a rugged beard scraping her forehead as Talos kissed her gently. He then fetched a corkscrew from his pack to open the wine, before handing the bottle to his enchanting lover.

He hadn't brought glasses to drink from. Just like the pair had done in the Badlands last year, he decided that they would drink straight from the source instead. She took it in turn, taking a swig of the sweet, familiar liquid before resting her head on his shoulder.

"I love you, Talos," she said softly.

"And I love you, Alanna," Talos replied in turn, heart full of emotion. "You know, the elves of Falinor believed these falls to be divine."

"Yeah?" Alanna asked softly.

"Yeah. Something about believing that it falls straight from the heavens above, and that all those who bathe in its pool would be granted with eternal luck."

Alanna grinned, knowing neither him nor her would believe in such fantasy. Yet, when one was surrounded by such a sight, in the arms of the one you cherish above all else... isn't it worth it to pretend? Just a little?

"Are you trying to get me to unclothe, sir?" she asked coyly, taking another sip of the pinot noir in her hand. Talos cleared his throat, smirking.

"Maaaybe," he replied, mimicking Alanna's favored indecisive reply.

"Hmm," she mumbled with a smile, taking one last drink before handing the bottle to Talos. She glanced towards Emmanuel, seated alone twenty feet away on the edge of the pool. His sight never left the falls before him, and Alanna knew the bard had found the inspiration he was looking for.

Alanna sighed, deciding to give in to Talos' request. She pushed off from his gently, meeting his grin with one of her own. She dressed down quickly, so she wore as little as she had on the day she was born. Alanna tossed her clothes to the side to ensure they wouldn't get wet.

She spied a glance from Emmanuel, his head immediately turning away when he realized she was completely nude. Alanna giggled, stepping towards him sultrily in tease.

"Don't shy away. You may look upon me," Alanna offered the man sweetly, feeling just playful enough at the moment.

And Emmanuel did look upon her, briefly. His eyes danced all the way from her feet to her face, widening as they rose. "I see the maid's sumptuous thighs of yesternight only hinted of her endless delight."

"Will you write a ballad of me, Emmanuel?" Alanna teased playfully, swaying side-to-side.

"I could try, but I fear my words would not do you justice."

Alanna giggled softly, tilting her head slightly to the side. "I imagine that line works on most women, huh?"

Emmanuel shrugged with palms outstreched, rising to his feet. "You'd be surprised, really," he said with in a brief moment of sincerity. Alanna giggled again, then turned to sway towards her lover once more. The bard fixated on her swinging hips and jiggling cheeks as she moved, before he turned towards the falls again.

Alanna gave Talos a deep kiss on the lips before glancing towards the pool.

"Are you not coming with?" she asked him. Talos shook his head.

"I've already bathed in it once," he admitted with a smirk. She slapped him softly on the chest, knowing that he wanted to get a show of her in the pool. And a show he would receive.

Alanna swayed salaciously towards the water, glancing back at him when she'd arrived. Talos stood beside Emmanuel with eyebrows risen.

"Don't test it," Talos advised with raised voice and a grin. "Jump on in!"

Alanna turned back towards the pool, sighing deeply. She took a skipping start towards the water to jump over a small rock, then splashed loudly into the water. She rose from its depths a second later, flicking her head back to clear her hair from her face.

"Talos of Evora! It's fucking freezing!" she admonished him shrilly, knowing he had planned to surprise her.

Talos chuckled before taking a deep swig of the wine, then offered the bottle to Emmanuel. The pair shared a roar of laughter before sitting down once again at the pool's limits.

"They always fall for it the first time," Emmanuel said, his eyes flickering between the falls and the maid before taking a drink of the wine.

"Did you?" Talos asked as he nodded.

"Indeed I did, Talos," Emmanuel admitted as the bottle left his lips. "Indeed I did. You?"

"Yep," Talos confessed with a grin, much to Emmanuel's delight.

"Never let her go, Talos. She's far too good for you."

Talos nodded with a smile. "Yeah. I know."

Alanna swam back towards the edge of the pool, lifting herself from its frigid embrace with all her strength. Her nipples were hardened like stone as her tits bounced lewdly, and her wet hair clinged coldly to her perfect alabaster shoulders.