Editing Tears of a Fallen Crown:Characters:Mirage:History (section)

==Chapter 8:  The Deathlord’s Fortress==


Finally, one day, they were shaken awake when the ship dropped anchor.  Off in the distance, silhouetted by a strange twilight glow, Samira saw what seemed to be a huge palace almost the size of a large city.  Spires of black obsidian towered above it in such a fantastic way it seemed they should collapse, and yet everything was perfectly symmetrical, each tower having a twin counterpart opposite it.  Both Caleb and Samira stared in awe of the place until, unable to contain his curiosity, Caleb gasped, “What is this place?”


Walker in Darkness replied curtly, “This place is my palace.  I wish I could offer to show you around, but that glowing fog is miasma.  It kills any living thing, even a deathknight.  We’ll be staying in the fortress in front of it.”


The fortress, while dwarfed in comparison to the palace, was still very impressive.  There was a massive outer wall with a moat filled with inky black water surrounding it.  They passed through entire armies of shambling zombies and skeletons that all stood to attention as Walker in Darkness passed by them.  Ghosts of various types were occasionally seen roaming back and forth – but none dared to attack the group with their master.  Two huge clockwork monstrosities were standing guard by the front gate.  Their hulking forms were a grotesque combination of gears, bone, and flesh.  Walker in Darkness nodded to the sentries and they quickly turned aside and started cranking giant levers to lower the drawbridge for the group.  


Walker in Darkness grinned at Samira, saying, “Wonderful, aren’t they?  One of my other deathknights created them for me.  When your training is over, I’ll probably send him to help you in your task.”


Caleb grumbled, thinking Walker in Darkness couldn’t hear him over the gears, “You still haven’t told us what our task is.”


Apparently, Caleb was wrong, since Walker in Darkness turned sharply and replied smugly, “Patience, Raiton, all in good time.”


As they entered the main hall, once again they still had to be in awe of the place.  Its walls, floors, and ceiling were all made of what appeared to be polished obsidian.  In fact, it was polished so brightly, that they could see their reflections in it almost as well as in any mirror.  There were also elaborate statues carved into spaces in the walls such as black horses, people screaming, skeletons, horrible abominations, and in the center of the room a carving of the deathlord himself, posed as a conqueror.  All of the statues were so elegant in detail that it almost seemed they could come alive- and to Samira’s shock, they did.


As they walked by, the heads of the statues all followed them.  As though sensing their worry, Walker in Darkness waved his hand indifferently, saying, “Pay it no mind.  I have ghosts possessing those statues for protection, and they’re probably only curious about you.  They won’t harm you, but I suggest you stay close.  There are worse things in this fortress than ghosts.”


The hallway opened out into a large circular room, but from the obsidian gears lining the ceiling, Samira got the feeling the hallway probably only opened into this room because the deathlord wanted it to.  The entire place looked like it could revolve to take him the shortest way to get where he wanted to go, and probably the longest way for his enemies.  The fortress was a marvel of engineering.  She wondered if he had built it himself.  Still, she decided not to ask, for fear of seeming rude.


The room she was in now seemed to be a sort of throne room.  There was nothing in the room except the throne in front of them but even this was extremely elaborate.  It was carved into the black obsidian of the wall with intricate scenes carved all over it.  It also seemed to be a mixture of obsidian, sun-bleached bone, and crimson and black silk.  Everything she had seen so far in the fortress was a testament to his power and while it did frighten her (and terrified Caleb), she could still very much see the benefit of being trained by him.  Plus, after coming all this way, she doubted very much he was going to harm them.


With the air of a king, he sank into his throne and faced them.  Almost instinctively, Samira knelt down in front of him.  Caleb followed suit.  Walker in Darkness beamed at them but motioned them to rise, saying in a chuckle, “Well, you know your manners.  Still, rise.  I’d like to have a word with both of you face to face.”


They stood and, oddly enough, two obsidian chairs had appeared behind them.  They sat down, waiting for him to speak first.  This also seemed to please him and he nodded and grinned at them again, “I can see we’ll get along very well.  I wanted to tell you that you won’t regret the decision to be my deathknight.  I’m going to train you in sword fighting, necromancy, and anything and everything you’ll need to know in the future.  You don’t understand your powers now – I’ll teach you to define yourself through them.  You killed a few fey; I’ll teach you to kill hundreds-”


Caleb stood up, “How did you know that?”  


The deathlord smiled a bit sheepishly, “Well, as I said, you’re sharper than I expected.  I tend to research my deathknights before I choose them.  I knew where the spark implanted itself and went to investigate.  From the fey corpses I found there, I knew she was a promising talent.”


Caleb sat back down, still frowning.


“As I was saying,” he continued, calmly, “When I’ve finished training you, you’ll be able to take on hundreds of men, fey, and hopefully even a few of the chosen of the sun should you have to.  All I ask of you in return is that you do a few favors for me and to remain dedicated to me.  I’m hoping that when all your training is through, you’ll gladly serve me dutifully as a student would serve a good teacher.  And, in return for your loyalty, I’ll give you rare equipment, your own spies and armies, and even access to one of my manses.  I’ll even give you free reign to do as you please as long as you’re still serving me.  Do either of you have any questions?” 


Samira couldn’t help but feel excited.  The idea of commanding her own armies and having the skills to kill hundreds of fey – she felt a strange urge to lick her lips thinking of their blood – made her only have one question, “When do we begin?”


Walker in Darkness cackled, “I like your eagerness!  We’ll start first thing in the morning.  I’ll have a vigorous training regime planned out so hopefully you’ll know everything you need within a few months.”


He looked over at Caleb who clearly by the look on his face didn’t like the idea of staying a few months.  Walker in Darkness chuckled, “Not to worry, Raiton.  I’ll be training both of you.”


Caleb nodded, but by the look on his face that was exactly what he was worried about.


Walker in Darkness showed them the way to the guest rooms, which were right down the hallway on the right side of the throne room.  Again, Samira got the impression that the castle was moving to accommodate them, feeling that Walker in Darkness probably wanted them close by to keep an eye on them.  


He said as they entered, “This is the master guest room.  I hope you find these accommodations comfortable.  It contains both a canopy bed and a coffin, depending on what you prefer.  I’ll have a servant bring you a meal as well.  You must be famished after your journey.  I don’t eat much anymore myself, so I didn’t think to offer you anything on the trip.  My apologies.”


Samira smiled, “No need to.  A meal would be nice, though, and I’m sure we’ll be comfortable here.”


The bedroom was very ornate and filled with furniture, not at all what Samira expected after seeing the openness of the throne room.  It was decorated in crimson, black, gold, and finished red-wood.  There was a four-poster bed, a desk with a quill and parchment, a bookshelf filled with oddly bound books, a wardrobe filled with clothes with a mirror, and as he had said, a coffin in the corner of the room.  There was a nice washroom attached and elaborate statues decorating the corners of both rooms.  Oddly, these seemed to be of satyrs and black winged angels.  Somewhere in the back of her mind, it reminded her of a room she had once had, without the coffin, of course.  Caleb, however, still seemed unimpressed.


Walker in Darkness nodded to them and said quickly, “Well, I’ll take my leave.  My emissaries tell me someone will be arriving in my domain soon, and I should get ready.  If you need anything ring the bell above the bed and one of my servants will attend to you.  Get plenty of rest – you’ll need it tomorrow.”  With that, he turned and left closing the door behind him.


As they heard his footsteps trailing away in the distance, Caleb turned to her, “I don’t like this, Mira – not at all.”


She sighed, “Truthfully, I don’t like it much either, but we’re here now.  Besides, as uncomfortable as this is for us to have to depend on him, I think this is the best place we can be right now.


He nodded, “I suppose you’re right.  He’s been very hospitable to us.”


Samira nodded absently.  She was holding the fey mirror and seemed transfixed on it.  Caleb looked over her shoulder.  Around the image he could see illusionary scenes swirling around her of her destroying entire cities of fey, founding a new city in the remains of the fey forest, and himself at her side as her partner.  He couldn’t help but to smile.  She had to care about him, and even if it was unconsciously, that was at the very least a start.


Samira, or Mirage, as she was now calling herself, found a pretty silk gown in the wardrobe to sleep in and curled up in the soft bed, immediately falling asleep.  Caleb started to settle in and watch her sleep.  It felt like it had been a long time since he had seen her with such a sweet and vulnerable expression on her face.  Still, he was snapped out of his memories of her as he heard the click of heels walking quickly down the hallway.  He gently kissed Samira on the forehead and ventured out to investigate.