The Realm of Austur Episode 2: New Consequences

A look of adoration passes across his face, and then something else before he looks away... Shame maybe? You are far, far too good for me Elia... I don't deserve you...

"Thank you Yekiri," he says softly, rising to his feet. He slips his coat back on. "Irving, are you ready to proceed?"

"Just out of curiosity how do me and Catie figure into all this?" Baron asked. "This is my first time hearing about the Black King and it seems you know a little more then me," Baron said to Serlen. "I already agreed we to help after everything goes down with my dad and that whole situation, so don't worry about me or Catie backing out," Baron told Serlen. "I am just wondering how I can help you out?" Baron asked Serlen

"Sure let's go," Baron said waiting for Serlen to lead the way

"It depends on the type of Lich we're facing," Vincent answers. "I can't plan for what I don't know. However, I do have a simple strategy in mind that will at least buy us time for me to learn its weaknesses. Since it's most likely to use Type 2 or Type 4 Magick, I'll take point and fight it at close range, keeping the focus of its attacks on me. Rosetta, I'll need you to stay back and support me. Once the Lich realizes she's a Type 1, it will probably change tactics to target her. I'll need you to focus on protecting her Irving, so I don't have to worry and can focus on fighting."

Vincent suddenly drops to one knee and places his hand on the ground, closing his eyes. I can sense him... But... Who is he? What is this sense of dread I feel?

"There is an entrance to the Mausoleum nearby, just down the hall... I know where it is. Are we ready?"

"Okay," Baron said. "Hm so east and farm," Baron said looking for a barn while heading east. "Hmm am I even close?" Baron asked while looking around confused

Don't worry, Elia. You've given me something to live for again. I have no intention of recklessly endangering myself. Not so long as you still need me.

"That may be more helpful than you think," Vincent says to Irving, rising to his feet. "If we can lure the Lich into an enclosed area, we might be able to trap him. It's something we should consider."

Once they were ready, Vincent guided them down the next hallway, stopping at a section of the wall that had slightly darker stone than the rest. He pressed his hand against it, mumbled something under his breath, and the wall slid aside, revealing a dark stairway leading down. "Watch your step and stay close," Vincent says, walking ahead.

The stairway leads straight down, and as they descended deeper and deeper, the walls began to be lit by torches of green fire, which bathed the walls in an eery glow. Finally, as they neared the bottom, they began to hear something; a low, constant droning, that almost sounded like chanting. The hairs on the backs of Vincent's arms bristled. I don't like this...

The stairway ended in a large antechamber, and a set of massive double doors, guarded by two very large torches and a demonic looking statue. The doors were built of solid obsidian and covered in eerily realistic skulls. The droning was much louder now, and it was clearly chanting, coming from just beyond the doors.

"Stay here," he whispers to Elia, shoving the doors wide. He walked only a few steps before he froze, staring in both disbelief and horror at the sight. A giant underground cavern loomed beyond the doors, with a lone bridge connecting one side to the other. Thousands upon thousands of holes had somehow been dug into the sides of the cavern, and every hole had a coffin stored in it. Twenty men in dark hooded robes were kneeling along the edges of the bridge, on both the right and left side, numbering forty in total. Their voices rose to a fever pitch as Vincent entered, their chanting echoing throughout the cavern, and Vincent recognised the language immediately.

They were chanting in old Shiryuan.

"Well better go check it out," Baron said as he made his way slowly

"Hey Serlen I see some foot prints," Baron motioned to Serlen. "If only Catie was awake her sense of smell would have come in handy right now" Baron sighed.

"Let's move on," Vincent says finally, his voice unusually quiet. "They will not attack us. The Lich is just beyond here."

He walks on ahead, leading Elia and Irving across the bridge, and through the already open doors, into a large underground church. And there, waiting just in front of the altar, was a ghost. Vincent knew it was a ghost, something that had passed long ago, and yet... He wasn't surprised to see the ghost alive and well. Vincent felt strangely calm as he stared into the twisted face of his first apprentice, his first failure. No, maybe calm wasn't the right word... He felt cold. It was his defense mechanism, that triggered whenever his emotions were dangerously close to flying out of control.

"And so the hero enters the stage at long last!" The Lich announces gleefully, grinning maniacally. "I figured you would come waltzing back into my life eventually, and here you are! Oh, it is SO good to see you again, My Lord. We didn't part very well last time, but I forgive you. How do you like our setup? It's all for you, you know. IT WAS ALWAYS FOR YOU!!!! But aaaaanyway... Aren't you going to introduce me to your companions? No? I'll introduce myself then. Hallo!!! My name is Michael. I'm Lord Lazarus's apprentice. It's so wonderful to meet you both. Would you like some dinner? Maybe some tea? I have iced tea."

Vincent closes his eyes for a brief second, taking a shaky breath. Even with his emotions muted, the pain was unbearable. "I... I will put you out of your misery, once again... Forgive me for failing you."

He draws Masamune, and Michael laughs, a wild, mad laugh. Torches roar to life all around the dark room, revealing a floor painted with numerous glowing symbols, a domed ceiling with a chandelier of bone, and the Lich himself. Half of his face was covered by a white mask, and the other half was mostly bone and decayed flesh. The rest of his body appeared mostly humanoid, though it was difficult to tell beneath his long robes. His eyes were pure black, as dark as the void itself, without any pupils, and he carried a twisted staff of burnt oak in his left hand, that was shaped like a dragon.

Undaunted by Vincent's words, the obviously unhinged Lich burst into peels of crazed laughter. "Put me out of my misery, you say...? Ah yes... You always were like that, were you not? Ever the White Paladin. What happened to my old mentor, hmm? To the man who stood defiant against this ridiculous world, ready and willing to burn it to ashes? To the man who conquered death itself and became a GOD?!! What ever happened to him, hmm?! Hmm?! No... You are not he. I see that now. WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!!!! In the name of my God, I command you to answer!!!!

"My name is Vincent," he answers softly.

"BLASPHEMY!!!!!!" Michael roars, the entire room trembling violently beneath his rage. "You would dare usurp the mortal name of the Master of War and Death?!! You ARE NOTHING!!! You are a perversion!!! A mere illusion!!! A ghost, who doesn't even exist!!! HOW DARE YOU!!!! In the name of my Master, I will send you sprawling to the gates of hell!!!"

He screams with rage, and a spark of electricity flickers in the corner of the room. Vincent barely had time to register what it meant. Acting solely on instinct, he pushed Elia and Irving out of the room, just before the trap could activate. A tidal wave of lightning spread across the floor almost instantaneously, bringing Vincent crashing to his hands and knees and leaving him writhing in agony. If it had been normal magic, it wouldn't have affected him nearly as much. But it was a trap specifically designed to counter Liches and more powerful undead, using pain and Holy Magic to force the being into his or her true form, paralyzing them and leaving them helpless. It was a forbidden spell, one of the most powerful Type 1 spells in existence, that many believed to be a corrupt, twisted version of Holy Magic. The existence of the spell itself may have been common knowledge, as most Mages were taught about the Forbidden Circles in school, but to actually use it... At the time, Vincent couldn't even imagine how Michael had pulled it off.

While the Lich in question levitated into the air, and thus wasn't affected, Vincent didn't have the time to evade it. He had used his only chance to react to save Elia and Irving, who might not have survived the trap. For the first time since becoming a God, Vincent was completely helpless. His hands gave out and he collapsed onto his side, the sound of his screams echoing throughout the cavern.