(A/N: Yo, I am locked the fuck in. It might be all them powerstones but I'm feeling crazy inspired after finishing this chapter up. As soon as I wrap up game night with the boys, I'm going to be putting a lot of ideas to the paper. I got too many of them just to ignore.)
XOXO
A slaughter.
Even that fell short of describing the sight that awaited Onyx after they rode a short lift up and ascended the steps leading into Castle Mourne's main courtyard. Piles of bodies, bloodied and rotting, covered a vast majority of it. And it wasn't just some pile. So many corpses were stacked upon one another that they could be used as a pathway up to the castle's eastern walls.
Irina may not have been able to see it, but she suffered the effects of being near such a thing, the mountain of death and decay forcing a muffled gag out of her, hand already cupped around her mouth and nose. Not that it would do much. He already opted to breathing only through his mouth but that came with its own slew of issues, the putrid stench taking the form of a taste he had little choice but to tolerate.
"W-What is that smell?" Irena questioned, low voice muffled further by her hand.
"Corpses. The misbegotten aren't sparing anyone." He said. Armored, unarmored. Small, big. Masculine, feminine. The remains were thoroughly rotted but it was clear there had been no discrimination about who ended up on the receiving end of their retribution. "The chances that anyone here is still alive aren't good."
That was a given considering what the misbegotten were doing.
A few bodies were strung up on burning wooden crosses imbedded within the very top of the mountain of corpses, the biggest among the misbegotten, its dark gray skin especially scaly and an axe to match its size, beside the crosses. Others bowed before it on lower parts of the corpses, a few even abandoning their pilfered weaponry to clasp their hands in prayer and reverence.
Not acts mindless beasts would bother with.
Either way, it explained why none of them bothered with guarding the castle's main entrance.
"Come on." Rather than heading forward, Onyx led them through the wooden doors to their right, entering a dark hall at the base of the castle walls. According to Irina, Castle Mourne's kitchens and food stores were in its eastern wing. If her father was still alive and leading any sort of battle against the misbegotten, it would've been a bleak long-term siege. The ideal position to set up in a situation like that would be a place with all the essentials.
Left unintended, the torches that were meant to light the place had long since gone dark. He had to be extra careful they didn't bump into any of the crates or barrels lining the sturdy stone walls. Stone, wood, and other materials. They didn't contain anything noteworthy, just what would be needed for short and long term repairs to the castle.
Eerie silence ruled the hall, only broken up by their faint steps. Had it not been for the smell that pervaded it, the stench wafting in from the slaughter in the courtyard, there was no sign that a battle had taken place.
Though that didn't last long.
They reached the entranceway at the end of the long hall, Onyx peeking into it.
Cots and bedding on one end of the room. Tables with wooden bowls of rotting food on the other. A barracks by the look of things. And their way deeper into the castle, another doorway to the left inside the room.
A pair of misbegotten were hunched over the corpse of a knight at the center of the room with their backs to him. The pried off pieces of armor that laid scattered about in blood and sick crunching coming from their mouths didn't leave much to the imagination.
That was behavior far in line with that of a monster. Or desperate people. They tended to be overlap in the worst circumstances.
He quietly drew back, guiding Irina a good distance back through the hall.
"There are two of the misbegotten ahead and I don't see a way around them." He explained as he carefully moved aside some of the lighter crates and barrels. "I'm going to hide you here and handle it."
"A-Alright." Reluctant but understanding the situation, she slowly released the tightened grip she had on his arm and he guided her into the spot he cleared up. After some further shifting to the hall's clutter, she sat against the wall behind several of the heavier crates. She'd be hidden once he stacked the last one in the right position but still defenseless.
Pulling a steel dagger bought from Kalé from his pouch by its blade, he reached over the blockade and held it out for Irina. "Here." He said. She raised her hands, fingers settling around the handle and feeling it out as he pressed it into them.
"This is-"
"A dagger." He confirmed her suspicions. "If you hear anything or anyone start moving these crates around before you hear my voice, shout, I'll come running. Keep that, just in case." It was only right that she had an option that didn't depend entirely on another person. She didn't have much of a chance of fending off an attack from anyone, but there was always a chance for the unlikely to happen.
So long as she had the nerve to fight anyways.
"Please, be careful, Onyx." She whispered as he slid the last crate over, completely hiding her from view. He took a moment to double check her cover before pulling out his sword and preloaded crossbow, stalking his way back over to the barracks. He placed the latter in his right hand, favoring his left as a sword arm due to the other's injured shoulder.
His steps were light. Feather light.
Not a single sound was made as he positioned himself over the two.
Not a single sound was made as he pulled his sword back, blade positioned behind the head of one of the misbegotten.
Not a single sound was made as he leveled his crossbow at the back of the head of the other.
The only thing that filled the darkened barracks were the sickening crunches of them feasting on the flesh of the dead and blood splattering from their ravenous bites.
He sent his left arm forward.
A click filled the room and momentary resistance met his sword, blade and bolt running the two's skulls through simultaneously. Thuds followed, the two limp bodies hitting the ground beside the knight.
Steps came from the other doorway.
Pulling back, Onyx put away his crossbow and readied his sword with both hands as he hugged his back to the wall beside the entrance.
The steps grew louder. A single heavy pair.
He waited. Waited. And-
Onyx swung, severing the head of another of the misbegotten before it could so much as scream or truly comprehend the deaths of its brethren. Another pair of thuds filled the room, its body collapsing into a heap mid-step while the head rolled around the barracks, a bloody trail left in its wake.
He waited.
Silence. A silence that held.
He lowered his blade and made his way out of the room and back into the hall they'd walked through. A quiet call of her name and he moved aside the clutter, guiding her out of the hiding spot. She was tense, some of which drained away as she retook her hold on him, but no worse for wear.
If luck was on their side, the rest of the castle's innards would be that sparsely populated with plenty of hiding spots at the ready. It'd make this whole thing a lot easier.
Not that he wasn't enjoying the heart pumping thrill of skulking about like this. With mana at his disposal, force was such a surefire answer to anything that he honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd been in a position like this.
There was nothing like a good fight, but this was definitely one of the close seconds.
XOXO
"Hold the line!" A shout, muffled yet commanding and resolute, reached them as they reached the end of a darkened hall, a thick wooden door reinforced with metal plating separating them from the source.
"Father." Irina muttered, her grip on his arm the tightest it's ever been.
It looked like he was one step away from finishing the goal that brought him here.
Onyx sheathed his sword and stepped up to the door, pushing against it. He grunted, straining as he pressed his entire shoulder into it but to little avail. The slightest shifts revealed that while it wasn't locked the thing was either barred or thoroughly barricaded. Which was to be expected. Given the sheer number of corpses they'd come across, both back out in the courtyard and throughout the dark halls and rooms, whatever force the survivors were combating the misbegotten with couldn't be large.
Better to fight on one front in this situation. And they were definitely fighting, distant clangs and yells coming from beyond the door.
He glanced behind them.
There weren't any other ways into the corridor aside the path they took and he'd put down every misbegotten on their way here.
"Go on." Onyx said as he stepped back from the door. "Hopefully your voice gets their attention."
Irina took his place at the door without an ounce of hesitation, knocking at with all the force her smaller form could muster. "Father! It's me, Irina!" Her yell, full of the desperation she'd been holding inside, was just as loud as the knocks. Neither got any response, the distant sound of battle unrelenting. That didn't stop her, Irina continuing to knock at the door and shout.
"Lady Irina?" A response finally came from the other side of the door in the form of a tentative question, the speaker's disbelief crystal clear through sound alone. "Lady Irina? Is that truly you?"
"Y-Yes! How is my father? Is he okay?" She asked.
Her questions went unanswered, shuffling coming from the other side of the door. Other voices joined in, each one surprised to hear her voice. Before long the shuffling came to an end and the door opened, the light of flames filling the hall.
Knights, armed with a combination of swords, shields, torches, and spears greeted them, but they lacked the proper armor. Instead, they wore bloodied clothing with different parts of their bodies bandaged up, each and every single one of them injured in some way.
"It truly is you." The knight at the forefront muttered, torch raised towards them. "Thank Marika. How did you get here?" Their questioning was short lived, weapons turned on him before she could come up with any answer. "Why is a tarnished with you? What happened to your escort?"
"Wait." Irena stepped in front of him, the poised weapons instantly lowered slightly. "Please don't harm him. Sir Onyx rescued and protected me after the knights with me all perished. If not for him, I would be dead as well." The men looked amongst themselves, none sure of what to do while Irina tried to convince them to lower their weapons.
By then Onyx had lost interest in them, attention mostly elsewhere. The distant fighting had died down given way to a different sound just below the crackling of the torches.
Groans. Whimpers. Heavily muffled screams. The sounds of the dying and injured if ever he heard it. Their small force must be heavily injured after holding out for such a prolonged period.
"Lay the injured wherever there's space. Everyone still able is to take up their weapons, this will be our only chance." That commanding voice from before filled the room behind the knights. "You lot, what's going on there? Why have you…"
A man, dressed in a full suit of engraved silver armor nothing like that of any of the knights Onyx seen so far, paused as the group blocking the doorway parted. "Irina?" All the authority he'd spoken with had vanished, his narrow eyes widened and large halberd moved aside. "How-What are you-"
"Father!" Disregarding her lack of sight, Irina moved forward, all giving her space and moving aside their weapons so that she could reach the man. The man, Edgar if he remembered correctly, moved forward once the initial shock passed, free arm wrapped around her shoulders while she caught him in a full hug.
That joy in her voice told Onyx that this was a job well done.
Mostly done anyways.
Without the flame of the torches fully blocking his way he could make out what had once been a mess hall. Wooden tables were uplifted and moved throughout the spacious room, used as makeshift barricades around the room's entranceways, a chokepoint formed at the other one while the one he and Irina had come through had been completely blocked off.
The rest of the room might as well have been an infirmary. The floors, against the walls, on other tables. Injured knights filled out a majority of the room, little space left for much else. There were definitely some recently deceased as well, some far too still to be breathing.
Desperation was in the air, the few still in armor downcast.
"If circumstances were different, I would be able to properly thank and reward, but I must make a request of you instead." Onyx hummed, turning his attention back to Edgar, who Irina now stood beside, wiping at the bottom of her blindfold. With their reunion and a quick recounting of their journey here passing, she seemed to be picking up on just how bleak the situation was here, the groans getting to her. "We have already been acting with the assumption we would be receiving no reinforcements, but every able blade is welcomed. Would you be willing to lend yours?"
Like father like daughter. Onyx thought, banishing a faint sense of deja vú. Irina had said something quite similar to that, hadn't she?
Unfortunately for them, things wouldn't be going quite the same.
"No."
XOXO
(A/N: To those obsessed with details, environments and areas won't be an exact one to one with the game. I just try to keep the general design and vibe then do as I please.)