When Raven and Siren arrived at the doorstep of the castle, Victor was already there. He looked a bit surprised to see them so early, since he thought they would be gone for more then a few days. The fact that Raven looked really in hurry seemed to unnerve the youngest brother as he approached the God of Death.
"You look like you need a breather, are you al-"
"I need to speak to Solara, NOW!" interrupted him Raven. Victor looked behind him, towards Siren, who seemed to be in a hurry too. Victor led them both to a conference room, where Solara and Luna were currently speaking to a wealthy looking gentleman.
"What's all this?" asked Luna towards both Victor and Siren.
"I apologize, my lady." Said Victor as he kneeled down, Siren did the same. "They have a message for you, it is urgent as I understand."
"We are in a middle of important discussion, you lot." Said the nobleman. He looked very nicely dressed. Wearing a red armada coat with awards on it and a sword by the side. The sword seemed very expensive, but unused. Victor didn't even bat an eye.
Raven stepped forward and approached Solara. "It is about Revise."
Solara sighed as she turned towards the nobleman. "Excuse us, lord Pavus. We will need to discuss it another time."
The lord scuffed, but he was in a presence of royalty, as such, his status was much lower. He simply nodded his head and left without a word. He did seem pretty disturbed though.
"I trust you have a big reason for interrupting a diplomatic meeting Raven. Even though you are a guest, such a thing is not advised in our home." Said Solara as she sat down. While her face seemed kind, her attire said otherwise. Dressed in beautiful golden armor with red cloak and a symbol of the sun on the shoulder-pads. Unlike the sword of the nobleman before, this armor looked like it was repaired multiple times. It was probably her choice of formal wear, as a symbol of status.
Luna on the other hand was dressed in a silver and blue robe that had moon and star symbols etched into it. The symbol in the front was very similar, if not identical to the one on Victors coat and Siren's dress.
Raven looked at Siren and simply sighed. His entire demeanor changed. "Is there a map here?" asked the black haired brother. Siren went and brought a map of the surrounding area. On it, she pointed out the town of Revise. Located next to a mountain, it had a symbol of two hammers crossed on a shield next to the name.
"Will you finally tell us, what's going on?"
Victor was silent, but he looked at Raven with confusion. It is not very common for Raven to be so serious about anything. While he is a tactical genius, he is also very jolly, not unlike Victor.
He breathed in deeply and started talking. "Do you know, what adamantide is?"
The sisters looked at each other. "Of course we know. It is a product of Revise. A mining city with heavy focus on harvesting metal."
"Yes, but do you know the nature of the metal? Do you know where it can be found?"
"…" the sisters did not answer.
"Long ago, our ancestors fought back the Old Gods, The titans of the Dark ages. In their battle, the Aspects granted the Guardians a set of chains for each god. Those chains were made from special metal. A metal that would spread instead of corroding. That would absorbs and distribute, instead of being turned to dust. That metal is now known as adamantide."
Luna and Solara realized it together. "You mean to tell me that we have been harvesting the chains that bind the primordial beings of chaos for weapons?" asked Solara and Siren.
"Not quite. The metal can spread. What you have been harvesting was more of a dead skin. But the people of Revise found something. Something that should have remained hidden."
Raven summoned his scythe and from its blade, a small drop of black liquid fell to the ground. As it landed, it writhed and made horrible high-pitched screams.
"This is a parasite that feeds of the souls of the dead. Corrupting them and using their corpses to get more mass. It escaped by climbing the chains. All of the chains are highly enchanted so that they cannot be destroyed. But…the rock around can be dug up. The people of Revise dug so deeply and so unfortunately, that they found a small hole besides one of those chains. While it is a source of the most pure adamantide one can harvest, it also hosted this." And he slashed the pool of black liquid, stopping its movement as its cries died out.
"What do you suggest then?"
"I personally…don't know." Said Raven. Victor stepped forward however. "If we cannot contain it, we should destroy it. Burn the whole city."
"It not a matter of one city brother. Many villages have been turned by this…thing." As he shouted towards Victor. Siren grabbed him by the shoulder. Looking at him, raising a voice and sowing discord would be a bad move.
"This is complicated, if not…impossible." Said Solara as she held her forehead.
The group sat in silence for a while. No one could say anything. There was no plan. No next step…all they could do was probably act as soon as possible when it broke out.
"What are we going to tell the people?" asked Solara.
"They deserve the truth." Said Luna.
"And start panic? There would be chaos, sister." Said Solara.
Victor nodded. "Unless we find a way to take out the…blight, we won't be able to make any big decisions."
Right as he said it, a loud crash echoed through the room. Victor quickly unsheathed his blade and Solara did the same. "What is going on?!" shouted Solara.
Raven looked out the window, and his face went pale.
"It's her…"
"Who?"
"Snow…"