[center][h1][color=goldenrod]Drakus[/color][/h1][/center]
[b][u]16th day of Anais[/u][/b]
[indent][color=orange][i]Afternoon[/i][/color]
Location: Escaping Harrows Tower, Basement.[/indent]


‘Well, that wasn’t very exciting.’ Drakus thought to himself after a short moment of staring expectantly at the darkness that had engulfed the monk. 
[color=goldenrod]Jerome.
[indent]Jerome?[/indent][/color] he called out casually as he awaited a reply. Nothing. He shrugged with a dismissive ‘oh well’ and wondered off away from the devouring darkness back towards the pantry.

He was crunching down on a juicy warm apple when two things hit him, the growing stench of the two dead bodies and the realisation that this place needed a fresh air supply. Suddenly and quickly Drakus began searching the walls and roof. It was there just near where he found Jerome that he saw it, near the top corner of the far wall, an air ventilation shaft.

It was subtly disguised by a large stone block filled with many drill holes. In the dark corner you could barely notice it, but Drakus found it. He knew it was there and that behind that holey rock there had to be a larger and clearer path for the air to flow. Just how big, he couldn’t be sure until the cover was out the way. A smirking grin took his face as he welcomed the challenge.

[center][b][h3]* * *[/h3][/b][/center]

It was a short time later and Drakus’s blood buzzed with the thrill of spent mana burning through his veins, sweat dripped down his forehead and his body heaved with the weight of his heavy breaths. There was a ringing in his ears that muffled the rest of the world, but it was quickly fading. But oh how he felt alive.
Above him a smoke cloud snaked across the ceiling, dark puffy tendrils reaching out from the now exposed ventilation shaft. Soot and char marks stained the walls around it, shrapnel of cleaning containers lay scattered across the floor and the centre table smouldered in patches around the dead monks. Small embers glowed on their robes, teetering on the swords edge, threatening to either grow and engulf their clothing entirely or simply fade away from existence and die like the monks it danced upon.
Either way Drakus did not care, he had his goal clear before him. 

Wiping his brow with a kerchief from his vest, he took the last bite of his apple before casually discarding the core over his shoulder and raising his hand towards the open stone vent. 
A wide and proud gate appeared before the shaft. Drakus mused and his grin widened, his mana already fully replenished. Maybe he didn’t want to escape this place after all, what ever was going on it made him feel near invincible.

A strong heavy gust of blazing hot air washed through the vents, clearing the dust and cobwebs, killing all the insects or creepy-crawlers that called it home, and sucked up all the smoke. 
Drakus stared proudly and curiously at the now clean empty tunnel. 
The mana high he was on made him too enthralled with action that he didn’t really stop to consider the possible consequences of the path that lie ahead, what had transpired here or what he might find. He just moved. 

A move he might later regret.

The stone ventilation duct was tight, made for fresh air not men, lucky for Drakus he was not claustrophobic. Even still it proved to test his nerves. 
For a start the round tunnel did not favour his rectangular frame. He had to roll his shoulders in and squeeze them together just to fit. Once his arms had a position either in front or behind him there were few opportunities to change that. From every direction the walls pressed in on him. 
His body blocked nearly all light, and that tiniest bit that was left did not follow him around the first bend.
He wondered if maybe this was how Jerome felt right now. 
The air around him felt thin and tasted stale. The stones in the wall ever so often sat jutting out grabbing at his soft body and he had to twist, wriggle or just drag himself over it.

And then it happened, he threw his arm forward as he had been for the last five minutes, to grab blindly at the floor in the pure darkness that had swallowed him whole. To get some small amount of purchase as he pulled himself forward as he wriggled and kicked his legs. 
The five minutes of monotony seemed like forever and it all came to an abrupt end when so to did his path. 

Panic hit him as he struck the dead end, again and again. His fingers bruised and his nail folded back and bled. He strained his eyes to try and see but it it made no difference in the pure black. He couldn’t go 

But then a sound reached him, ever so faint but unmistakable. A horse. The panic receded on focused breaths and Drakus felt around. Above him, there was an opening above him, but his back did not bend that way. 
It took a small amount of painfully slow backtracking before Drakus found the space to roll over. Once on his back, reinvigorated with hope  he released a wave of mana into the tunnel around him before he wriggled on with renewed enthusiasm. 

Still the bend was tight but after defying some of the bones in his body it felt damn good to be nearly standing. The slight incline and tight space made for a possible if not awkward climb. It was only a short one though. Then he could see it. The reflection of light. 

As he manoeuvred around a small bend to a more verticals tunnel, suddenly the air tasted fresher and he could once again see. He was nearly out. Only one thing stood in his way, a heavy grate and old padlock. He made quick work of the lock, eagerly deforming it’s shape till it no longer served its purpose. Then, after getting purchase on the tight walls, he mustered his strength to push off the heavy grating. 

Freedom!

As he flopped to the dirt floor Drakus found himself in the shadow of the grand keep. If that’s what it still was, it presented itself as more of an abomination than the portals now did. It was twisted and disjointed, defying gravity in ways no craftsmanship ever could. He looked around confused. The buildings were familiar but all wrong. Broken and misplaced like the stones of the cellar walls, but these were entire houses. 

And the death!!!!

It filled the streets. Bodies were strewn everywhere where he looked. Some stumbling around or crying, others not moving. 

It. It was just too much to take in. Drakus shook his head confused. None of this made any sense, where was the tower, where did he just come from. What happened to these buildings, what happened to these people. Just what in Anais’s name was going on! 
All hell broke lose right after he teleported to the basement...
Did it have something to do with that swirling vortex?


Nearby a young girl on a small horse tried to rally some wayward and lost guardsmen. Drakus stood up and dusted himself off. His fine attire now disheveled, marred with dirt and small tears. He felt like words would not reach these people and considered opting for a display of power, but then again, under these circumstances maybe now was not the time to be opening gates, despite how badly he wanted too.

“[color=goldenrod]I command all of you to fall into formation and report before me.[/color]” Drakus boomed in his most authoritative voice. This was not his first time taking command of local guards. Perk of the Immolis house.

He started with a simple command. One the guards would have completed a million times before, one their bodies could complete without their minds. 

“[color=goldenrod] little girl on the horse, you too! I have an important mission for you.[/color]”

[@Stitches]