Hex
Dying wasn't the worst experience possible at least the pain was gone, and everything was peaceful around me despite not being able to move or see: There really was no reason to move, I was comfortable. Though I should've felt guilty for enjoying the rest, but I'd died so what else could I do? I couldn't bring up the system, and Damien was gone so there as nothing keeping me from enjoying the peace. Everything had hurt as soon as I'd stepped foot on Astoria, but how could the gods hate me enough to cast a spell to kill? From the few memories I remembered from Alestar's life he'd been betrayed by royal demons of his realm, and the Exile was...a stepping stone. The gods wouldn't bother with one rogue demon, and the Exile was a dead thing of the past: That left all my answers with my mother.
As Fate would have it I died before reaching that goal, and Below's gifts hadn't helped me at all. I thought about cursing the old god, but a strange voice cut through the silence around me. "Young god, Liar god. You owe a debt to many souls!" The voice was feminine, and upset but the sensation I felt when I heard the words was like a drink of cool water during the Reshi noontime. The voice didn't continue speaking until I felt cold fingers touch a hand I'd forgotten was there. "Now we find ourselves at a crossroads young one. The gods have asked that we keep you off Astorian land, but the souls of those sworn to your service cry out. Their injustices need recompense Starlight Child, and the gods have barred them from rest in the afterlife."
Those words brought more hands gripping at me pulling downwards towards the sound of hollow groans. The way the hands pulled at me was desperate as if they'd find some kind of salvation by pulling me down with them. She spoke again then, "Do you swear to right the wrongs they've suffered in your name? Will you swear to keep the oath you made, and free them from this place between death and the afterlife.?" The mention of an oath brought one of the Exile's memories, the people he'd been tricked into leaving behind. It was his oath, but I still felt the weight of his guilty conscience: So I used lips that shouldn't have worked, and answered the voice. "I swear. I swear to uphold my oath...to bring a wrathful justice down on our enemies. Then they will rest."
As soon as the words left me I felt a small hand wrap tightly around my wrist before I was pulled up, and out of the grasping hands' hold. As I ascended I began to feel a tingling sensation in passing through my body until I came to a sudden stop. "Beyond this is the world of the living, and I hope you do well to keep your promise Hex. Give them a god that will listen." I felt the hand in my wrist loosen its grip as the stranger began to ascend higher. I blindly reached out and grabbed hold of a soft fabric that sent a chill through me followed by the faint sound of more low groans. "Who are you?" It was a simple thing to ask but I didn't plan on leaving the strange space between death and the afterlife. The question brought a small fit of laughter from the stranger before she spoke again. "My name is Daelia," She said before I felt a soft pair of lips press against my forehead. "And I'm sure we'll meet here plenty, if you can get those eyes to work, though it is customary for you to wait till the wedding."
"Wedding!?" Without answering she lightly tapped my back, and I began to fall forwards: Daelia decided that she had something else to say then. "Enjoy your gifts! I fixed your mana circuits for you!" The question of "what gifts?' hadn't fully formed before I was assaulted by messages from the system.
[ Alert! The Player has unlocked the following Skills, and Abilities. ]
>(S)Unbreakable Lv EX<
>(S) Soul bind Lv SS<
>(S) Legion Lv ??<
>(A) Dark god's wrath Lv SSS+<
>(A) Death's Lover Lv ??<
>(A) Chameleon Lv SSS<
[ The Player has also been awarded the following gifts. Due to the >death penalty< the Player will be unable to view the gift descriptions before accepting or declining. ]
>Soulburner<
>Godeater<
>Singular Path Eye of Chaos<
>Abyssal Princedom<
>Ethereal Charm<
>Death's Legions.<
>Melevar's Call<
>Faerie Godmother<
The last gift made my choice for me really, after all how could I reject bringing Pixie with me when she'd been lost to some god's penalty? The system understood my unspoken answer, and a small bell sounded out as a bright light filled my vision.
Madris Silverwater
Despite her best efforts Madris had fallen asleep during her vigil sometime late in the night, and when she woke from her resting place against a small Weeping Willow she saw the man resting against a boulder near the shore. He wore a hood over his head while the dark crimson coat around his shoulders remained unbuttoned. There was a strange staff resting against the boulder next to him, it had strange runes carved everywhere she could see: Save for the gnarled head where a crow the size of a falcon rested. As she approached him Madris caught herself staring at the man's face while she'd been studying him for any signs of whether he'd wake or not. The starling that rested on his right shoulder watched Madris approach while iridescent light in its feathers shifted strangely.
"Ya two are a long way from the sanctuary don't ya think?" The voice that called out from behind her made the young woman jump slightly in shock, and when she turned to see the band of men approaching from the Eastern road her heart stopped. 'The Baron's men.' Every Demi-human in the South knew what it meant to be caught by men sporting the midnight black armor of Baron Praric: A slow unspeakable torture, followed by a death unfitting for even the lowest curs who clog the gutters of New Brekin. There where fifteen of them in total with four hell hounds between them all: Madris involuntarily took another step back when she saw the chained elves they led.
The starling didn't appreciate how close she'd gotten, and it started to cry out in a plethora of noises. Madris heard a bell, a warbled name, and finally a crow's caw before it pecked at the man's ear. That woke him up though he swatted at the starling who'd already hopped from his shoulder to his lap. The man gave the crow an accusing look, but the dark feathered bird still had both its eyes closed while it rested atop the staff. The crow finally moved once the man stood grabbing at the staff while Madris had tried to avoid looking at him, but his gaze seemed to draw her eyes. Once their eyes met it took a moment for Madris to pull herself out of those pools of swirling colors. The starling's warbling pulled Madris out of the trance, and she noticed the small bird perched on her shoulder. The stranger had walked past her, and was pointing his staff towards the men in armor that seemed to draw in the light around them.
The man at the head of them all laughed at the strange Demi-human before he spat a wad of phlegm onto the man's coat. As soon as the wet splat hit her ear a fount of white flames flowed from the staff. The men screamed for a moment while the hell hounds yelped in pain as they ran away from the man. Madris had to close her eyes once the light from the white flames got too bright, and when she opened them she was greeted by a strange sight. The chained elves were all kneeling next to empty suits of black armor the men had been wearing that lay on the ground. Madris stood in shock from what she'd just seen, and stranger still was that fact that the man's magic hadn't left behind the slightest trance of the fire from before. 'The ground doesn't have a mark on it.' She thought to herself before the man interrupted her thoughts with a question. "These men...where do they come from?" She, and a few of the other elves pointed eastward in the direction of Baron Praric's keep . The man's smile of thanks made her heart jump, and she felt the tips of her ears heat up. The man either didn't notice her reaction, or couldn't spare the time to be concerned. Madris watched him walk away from the elves that were busying themselves with the locks on their chains. Madris wondered if it was just the trick of the light, but she could swear she saw two red eyes and a snarling mouth outlined on the back of his coat.
Royal Court
There was a somber mood that day as the Queen's council held court for the day, and the Grand Hall was overflowing with bystanders attempting to get at look at the culprit behind the 'Praric Massacre' as many of the common people had already dubbed it. There were two members of the Royal guard posted at each of the twelve white pillars around the hall. The crimson manticore snarling in defiance against the dark banner that hung behind the throne carved from onyx drew the light from the windows. The effect of this was that Queen Silvia constantly seemed bathed in the daylight as she held court without having the extra heat. She wore a loose fitting golden robe with diamonds inlaid through it in set patterns subtly implying her allegiance with a Demon clan. The thin silver circlet she wore had four red rubies set along its crown that matched the luster of the four crimson armored knights that flanked Queen Silvia.
The Queen's three advisors stood slightly to the sides of the hall behind the throne while a nervous young monk prepared to write the Royal Court's proceedings. The Queen's dark green eyes lazily looked between the Demi-human and the offended party: The noble was one of Praric's kin that hadn't been in the keep during the massacre. The young man had dark brown hair, a large sloping forehead that seemed to be growing, but his bulbous nose was what marked him as Praric's kin if they'd known the man. For the Queen it didn't matter what the young man said, the accused was Champion to Prince Frederick's betrothed: He would deny the charges, and the day would continue. That was how it should've gone, but the Demi-human spoke up once Gregor Praric finished. "I did it..." He spoke clearly for all to hear while his head raised and he stared directly at the Queen. "I crippled Baron Praric, I forced him to walk over hot coals, and then it was glass. I spent the better part of a day forcing him to watch his children be torn by the starving hounds he kept in his pens. Finally I fed the nobleman to his hounds before I hung the remains from a tree planted on a hill overlooking Old Brekin. I burned everything down then, and I waited. If you ask me for the reason why it's simple Queen. Baron Praric was a sickness in your lands corrupting the people who look to you. I was...inspired by your people's god to purify the soil Shekh Yatu has chosen to plant the Desert Flower in."
Arinta's face fell as her Champion signed his own death sentence with his every word, and all the while she wondered why he'd do it. Queen Silvia's face had brightened with interest as the Demi-human spoke, and when he'd finally finished speaking her smile had grown strangely large. Arinta attempted to salvage the situation quickly by standing in front of her Chanpion. "My Queen I beg you ignore his—" The Queen waved the girl's words away as if brushing a fly out of the air, and her eyes focused on the Champion with an eerie light behind them. "The punishment for killing one of the Kingdom's sworn Houses is death in the arena: I do hope you're more entertaining than the last one."
With another wave of her hand the Royal Guardsmen stepped forward to place a pair of dark metal shackles on the Champion's wrists. He walked away silently, and he may have continued that way until they led him into the arena: He stopped when Queen Silvia spoke again taunting him again. "It's a shame about those slaves though...they'll probably be bought by one of the brothels: If they're lucky at least."