[hider=Drevala Returns]
Eli sat upon his iron throne, the metal cold beneath him. His advisors had gathered to discuss the upcoming wedding between Naomi and Patrick De Reimer. The wedding had already been delayed by several months as the king Cawanor had travelled north to deal with the heretic uprisings in Uzgob. But the day was finally approaching and according to his scouts Patrick and his convoy would arrive by the morrow. He had spent the week prior making preparations for the wedding ceremony. He had tried to get Noami involved considering it was her wedding after all but quickly gave up. Ever since their last argument regarding the wedding she had given her brother nothing but silence. For nearly a year she had barely said more than a handful of words to him and ever since Beatrice's death she had grown even more cold, distant and twisted. She now spent most of her time in dungeons torturing the poor men and women who had been sent there, often to death. He had tried to ban her from entering but she always seemed to find a way in. Those who had once seen her as the sweet princess of Alenius now only referred to her ‘the torturer’. At first he had felt sympathy for his sister, even regretting and questioning his decision to marry her off to a De Reimer. He even tried to reason with her once he first heard about her sadistic activities, though to no avail. It soon became clear that it mattered not what he did, his sister was gone and now all that was left was this amoral, monstrous creature. Beatrice’s death had cracked them all, and Naomi who was already cracked was now shattered.

“The woodland area has been cleared for the wedding and we have guards constantly patrolling the area for any potential assassin’s who might try to lie in wait. Benches and tables have been moved to the location and we have found a priest of notable reputation to oversee the ceremony”. One of the advisors said.

“Good” replied Eli “What is our situation on the food and drink. I do not want the De Reimers and their guests returning to Nyhem telling stories of how boorish we are”.

“We have prepared four courses with six types of meat” Another advisor replied “All meals and ingredients are native to Alenius per your request”. Eli gave a nod of approval

“Patrick De Reimer may be part of this union but this is a Blackwell wedding and it will reflect as such-”. Eli was interrupted by a hawk which flew through the window at such speed he was certain it would crash into the floor. However before it did there was a flash of mage light and soon standing before him was Drevala; naked, exhausted and wild eyed. Eli felt numerous emotions at once. Confusion, concern but above all else anger. After Beatrice’s death Drevala had disappeared without a trace, abandoning him, father and Noami. The advisors stood bewildered and many turned to Eli in the hope that he would know how best to handle the situation. After a moment of silence Eli spoke.

“All of you leave” He said before pointing to one of them “You give her your cloak as you do”. After a quick bow, his advisors exited without hesitation. Drevala took the cloak from the advisor who averted his eyes from the dragonslayer as he did, wrapping it around herself. Personally she felt better in just her own skin but she knew it would make her brother more comfortable.

“Brother-” She started once the advisors had left the room but she stopped speaking the moment she started. After flying all this way at neck breaking speed she realised she didn’t actually know what she was going to say. It had been months since she had left and by the way Eli stared at her he didn’t seem happy to see her.

“...Brother I have-” She continued but was shortly cut off by Eli

“Where have you been”? His voice remained steady but was still icy cold and harsh “It has been eight months since Beatrice's death and you left without so much as a word. Where have you been”? He asked a second time, but this time it was a demand as well as a question. Drevala looked away from her brother in shame as Eli stood from his throne “When I met Alasdair, I told him that my family was united behind me, that the spirit of the Dragonslayer is bigger than Kingdoms. I said it with conviction and with zeal, but what happened? You, father and Vivian all disappeared and left Alenius to fend for itself”. Eli was now face to face with her as she looked up, her eyes meeting his.

“I’m sorry for leaving the way I did, but after Beatrice died I couldn’t just wait in Alenius, stand by and watch as another person I love dies. I wasn’t strong enough to protect Naomi or save Beatrice, so I vowed to learn magic that could keep those who remain safe and brother, I succeeded. I found the Ashwood cult and learnt magic I didn’t even know was possible”. Eli’s face remained unchanged so Drevala pressed on “But recently a man arrived at their, a mage of power so great that it likely rivals a circle leader. He killed the cult’s leader mother Ashwood and usurped control from her. They head here, in search of something though I do not know what. I know this is a lot to take in but I will answer any questions you have”. For a while Eli did not say anything, he did not move, or even alter his expression. Finally he spoke

“Very well” he uttered before turning around back towards the throne “Please send my advisors back in on your way out”. 

“Eli, please I know you are angry but you must take my warning seriously. This man, Zilak is a threat”.

“I hear your warning sister,” Eli said as he sat back down, his voice cool as ice. “I will take the necessary precautions to handle him. I believe I know what he seeks. Now please send my advisors back in, I have Naomi’s wedding to plan”. Drevala’s eyes widened

“Naomi is still yet to be wed. But she was betrothed near a year ago”?

“It seems Patrick De Reimer has finally found time away from fighting Uzgob rebels to come to Alenius and wed his betrothal”. Eli replied.

“Then she is still here”? Drevala said with a smile, though her face soon turned to concern. “How is she? Has she recovered? Has the darkness in her soul lifted”? Eli’s face grew hard and it was in that moment that Drevala felt a pit in her stomach.

“Physically she is stable, but she still feels great pain in her abdomen. However her broken soul is now shattered. There is nothing of the girl we once knew left”. The pit in Drevala’s stomach grew deeper as she started to feel sick. “Sister,” Eli continued as his voice grew somewhat softer, “While I am enraged with you, what I say next is not out anger but for your own sake. Do not visit Naomi before you leave, it will only break your heart”. 

“I will not leave brother” Retorted Drevala “I have learnt what I need, and I will remain here in Alenius. I won’t abandon you”.

“We shall see”.
[/hider]



[hider=A Curious Letter]
Zilak watched from the coast as his cultists carried supplies off the fishing ships and onto the beach. Many of his cultists were happy to be off the ship and back onto dry land. Despite trying to intimidate the fishermen who had sailed them here, they had spent most of the journey bent over the side of the ship heaving and retching. Had Zilak not left some of his men to guard their families back in the village they pillaged the fishermen might have attempted to fight back while they were in the middle of the sea. While Zilak had no doubt that he could deal with them if needed he knew that leaving his cultists stranded in the middle of the ocean with no sailors would have hindered his plans. They would be instrumental for later. Zilak spotted Matai in the distance and he waved his hand to hail him over.

Matai swayed from side to side as he approached Zilak. The waves hadn’t done anything to his stomach, of which he was happy, but it had affected his equilibrium. Fortunately, he made it to Zilak without tipping over. “The men have nearly unloaded the ships and have started getting ready. What is the plan for now?” He stood in place, and after the third or fourth time he lost his balance he decided to take the chance of falling out of fate’s hands and sit down on the ground cross-legged, staring up at Zilak. 

Once Matai sat Zilak produced a small note from under his belt. “Our plan has been somewhat disrupted” Zilak said with a scowl “I received word from our friend in Mercy. It seems the Blackwells have been told about us and know that we head to Alenius. No doubt the countryside will now be teeming with their forces looking for us. Fortunately our friend has been able to send us their patrol movements, and they assure me that this increase in security will not hinder us in trying to enter the castle, the secret entrance remains unguarded. But actually stealing the magical source will be a lot harder now. Blackwell troops now guard the castle threefold and even some of the famed dragonguards have been diverted from the wedding back to the castle itself. How did they find out about this”?

“Beats the hell out of me,” Matai said with a shrug. “It doesn’t seem that they don’t know what we’re after, though, which is lucky for us. They probably think it has to do with the wedding.” The swaying of the ground seems to have stopped so he tentatively rose to his feet. “You sure seem to have someone embedded deep in with the Blackwells. Not an easy task for most.” Matai turned back to the ships. “Well, there’s been some ideas floating around in my mind for a while now, so I’m going to go write them down before they fade. You wouldn’t happen to know where my notes were packed up with, would you?” 

Zilak gave a shake of his head "If you loaded it with the other important things they'll be in the lockbox over there" he said pointing to the pile of supplies that had already been unloaded. 

Matai nodded absentmindedly “I didn’t pack it myself, since I was unconscious. Finding the medical journals was difficult..thanks for pointing me in the right direction, though.” He made his way to the lockbox. Sure enough, his notes were in the lockbox. As he grabbed his notes he picked up a yellowed envelope fell to the ground beside the box. The letter was addressed to Mother Ashwood. Curious, Matai picked it up and put it in his pile of notes which he tucked under his arm. 

“Something to read later, hmm, Erik?” he said as he looked around for the man in the armour that had accompanied him for so long, but he wasn’t around. “Oh, right.” Erik was in the fishing town, with one of the cultists that had helped him in the infirmary and morgue. What they were going to do wasn’t something that Erik would do, so Matai left him behind, for now. 
With a shrug, Matai went and found a place he could sit down and jot down his notes, but not before raising a spare skeleton that had been unloaded off the ship and bringing it with him. It took all of three seconds before he was opening the letter for Ashwood and giving it a read.

[i]Bastard had paid off a lot of people to quell this rumour. Luckily, we could pay more to loosen their tongues. Our sources had heard correctly. The kid has supposedly brought his beloved pet back to life in front of a servant. They lined the servant’s pockets to not say a word about the incident. Unlucky for the family, though, because the servant picked up some expensive habits and was out of coin pretty soon. Went to the family to try and get more money, and when refused, started spreading a certain rumour. They were quickly paid to keep quiet and has been given a source of money to keep the drinks flowing. Such a shame they drank themselves into a stupor and choked on their own vomit. I’ll continue to watch the family until I can learn more about them. Perhaps I can get on their good sides somehow.-[/i]

“And what is that you have there” Said Zilak who had grown bored of watching the crew unload supplies and had made his way over to Matai.

Matai jerked his eyes away from the letter and to Zilak, a startled yelp escaping from his mouth. “I don’t really know. It looks like a letter to Mother Ashwood on some potential cult member. I have no clue on the age of the letter though. An interesting individual, though.” Matai handed the letter over to Zilak to read. 

Zilak read through the letter, pausing at one point to look up at Matai and quickly back down at the letter. He then quickly crumbled the letter in his hand. “Whoever this is they are irrelevant to our current plans. We must get moving onto Mercy, I prefer not to linger here any longer than needed” Zilak said as he abruptly walked away from Matai to ‘motivate’ the rest of the cultists to work faster.

“But I hadn’t…” Matai started at Zilak crumpled up the letter, but the cult leader had already started walking away. “Ah, well.” With a sigh, he started breaking apart the bones of the skeleton he had brought with him. Now that he had succeeded in figuring out what had happened, he now needed another hypothesis to work on, and after previously reminiscing on how Zilak had dealt with Mother Ashwood and Elm, specifically Elm, an idea had come to him, and now it was time to put the effort into his experiment, at least until they had to set out again.
[/hider]


[hider=A groom to be]
Eli awaited atop his warhorse outside the gates of Mercy, flanked on either side by his dragonguard. Patrick De Reimer and his entourage could be seen in the distance and would soon arrive in a few minutes. From the castle to the streets of Mercy, everything had been prepared for his arrival. While he had no doubt that Patrick would turn his nose up at Alenius regardless, he wanted his men to tell stories of Mercy’s wealth and strength. As Patrick approached the gates some of his men blared a brief tune on trumpets, to which the Mercy guards atop the city walls did the same. Blackwell banners were raised and soon the battlements were a sea of orange and red dragons. Patricks guards started to spread out, themselves bearing De Reimer banners, before Patrick De Reimer himself emerged from the formation. With the exception of his beard which had grown longer and his skin which was darker, he was exactly the same as when Eli had seen him in Telmarion.

“King Patrick De Reimer, I welcome you to Mercy”. Eli announced

“It is good to arrive, the journey from Uzgob has been long and hard” Patrick said as he scanned the faces of those at the gate.

“I hear the Uzgobians have been giving the empire trouble of late” Eli replied, a wry smile on his lips.

“Not anymore they don’t” Patrick replied bluntly as he finished inspecting the gathering. “It would seem my wife-to-be has not come to greet me. Should I be concerned”? He said as a jest, though his tone remained flat.

You have no idea, Eli thought to himself “By Alenius tradition the groom is not allowed to see his betrothal until the ceremony. As per the agreement this wedding is to uphold our native traditions. 

“So be it” Patrick said, unbothered for this was nothing more than political marriage and he cared not for how his bride looked. Though if he only knew the truth of how twisted Naomi had become he would likely reconsider the moment he lay eyes on her, for the evil that now lay inside her could be seen clearly on her face for the world to see. Eli was glad that he had kept the rumours of her activities limited to the castle grounds. Gods know what would have happened had Patrick caught wind of them. 

“Shall we head inside? I imagine you wish to rest” Patrick gave a simple nod in return and soon they were heading into the city together, side by side. While Patrick’s mounted entourage followed in rows of three behind, the dragon guard flanked on either side. The populous of Mercy had come out to cheer and Blackwell soldiers guarded either side of the streets so densely that it was impossible for anyone from the crowd to break through. 

“How fares the empire in these times?” Eli said. He rode tall and proud for his people and Patrick did the same.

“I have received word that Lycoan of Saint Elenor has taken care of the heretic Fenick. With that peace should return to the north and we can finally start rebuilding after the war. The Blackwell’s tribute should help greatly towards that” Patrick said with a cold smile

“Indeed I hope it does” Eli lied “Although I should warn you that Andris Mandarass has situated himself in Deliverance, declaring himself king of the isles”.

“Let him stay there in exile and in shame. He is no longer a concern to us. Should he ever try and enter Formaroth again we will throw him back to the sea.

“It would be my pleasure” It seemed in their hatred for Abbas Mandarass, they had finally found common ground. As they approached the castle of Mercy the De Reimer guards looked on in awe. Even Patrick looked impressed as they crossed the drawbridge into the keep within.
[/hider]


[hider=Eyes of a dead woman]
Drevala made her way down into the castle’s dungeons, a place that made her fearful even to this day. When she was a young girl she had once snuck down into the dungeons against her father’s wishes, taking the form of a mouse so that no one would notice. The shrieks of anguish and wails of pain soon scared her away, resulting in nightmares for weeks. Drevala was certain her father knew, the disturbed look on her face more than gave her away. Though she never knew why he never said anything, perhaps he thought the nightmares and trauma was a lesson enough for disobeying him, or perhaps he told her not to go down there knowing she would disobey him, in hopes that it would toughen her. Drevala could never fully understand her father’s reasoning. Now the place she feared most in Mercy was the place her once sweet sister now called home. Eli had warned her against seeking Naomi out, but she had to see for herself. She made her way down the cold stone corridor, past the thick wooden cell doors towards the torture chambers. Most percularily there were no screams, no wails, no pleads for mercy. The torutre chambers remained silent and as far as she could tell each of the rooms were empty. Indeed the once full and overflowing prison seemed completely devoid of prisoners. She had been told by a nervous prison guard that Noami’s torture room was right at the end of the torture chambers. The idea that Noami had been assigned a torture room specially for her chilled Drevala to the bone. As she approached the final room she heard a slow dripping noise from inside the room. She hesitantly opened the door. What she saw turned her stomach and froze her in place. Inside stood Noami, pale and thin with messy blood soaked clothes and hair. Around her were scattered the corpses of several men and women, some hung from the ceiling, some locked inside small cruel cages, while others lay strewn across the floor. From those who hung from the ceiling blood dripped slowly down their bodies onto the blooded stone below. All with grievous and brutal injuries, many of whom had clearly been lashed to death. Some had been so mutilated it was impossible to identify them as human. Naomi turned around to face her sister, she seemed unfazed and unmoved by the sight of Drevala. Almost annoyed she had disturbed her. 

“I heard you’d arrived back. From what I gather, Eli can hardly contain his fury”. She was calm, as if she were not standing over the bodies of seven people, covered in their blood.

“Noami...what is this” Drevala managed to utter. As she looked into her sister's eyes she saw they were empty, black voids of nothing. Noami didn’t hesitate in her answer.

“With my marriage upcoming, along with my inevitable departure to Cawanor, I decided to finally finish up my work here before I leave. Chances are I am unlikely to be able to engage in such actions in my new home to be” She answered as if what she was doing was completely normal. There was no remorse, no bloodlust, only a terrifying calmness. Noami opened her mouth to say more, but Drevala turned around and abruptly left, horror finally overriding her shock. Noami didn’t pursue her or call out to her; she simply remained where she was. Once Drevala left the dungeons she darted away out of sight before vomiting onto the ground. The level of violence she witnessed was something that disturbed even her, but that wasn’t the reason behind her extreme reaction. It was her sister’s eyes, they were the eyes of someone already dead, empty and apathetic to life. What Eli had said was true, and she now knew she had lost another sister. 

[/hider]


By [@TheDuncanMorgan] and [@Konan375]