Chapter Three
Lady of Malice
Lady of Malice
Continued from here.
In the chaos of the riot, Abra found himself an unexpected ally. A biqaj woman, in her mid-20s, with hair that faded from dark to light. She could be beautiful, if not for the scar that marred across her face or the faded black tattoos around her eyes.
She gave no name.
She only gave a promised chance to escape.
She hadn’t even responded unfavorably to the pick-up line that Abra had given her.
Around her, the Syn mage could see a faint aura of gold and of a pale green. The aura gathered around a glowing band around her left forearm that floated just off the skin. No brighter than candlelight, though, it was easily missed in the dining hall due to the bright shine of the braziers and lanterns.
…In the narrow corridor, barely lit by torches, the band showed more obviously.
The biqaj woman had opened one of the dining hall doors with use of a key she’d taken out from somewhere under her small and tight-fitting tunic. It’d swung the door open. She hurried Abra past with her before closing and locking it behind them, eager to not be noticed by any of the guards trying to quell the riot.
“Stay quiet,” she told Abra in a hushed voice. Light on her bare feet, the thin woman led down the corridor.
There were no doors in this corridor. It was identical to the corridor that the guards had escorted Abra down on the way to the dining hall. At the far end, the arched entrance to a spiral staircase loomed.
“You can see magic, can’t you? I heard you say so,” she whispered to him once they reached the stairs.
She started to head up the steps, keeping close to the inner wall and she gestured for Abra to stay near the outer wall. “Keep an eye out for anyone from either direction. I’m not very useful in a fight, so it’s best we avoid any.”
As they crept along the spiral stairs, she added in another whisper, “My name is Vy’Akor. Call me Vy.”
“Before we…” she paused, halted her steps, then looked upward. She waited, glanced at Abra, then continued along once certain that it had been nothing. “Before we can leave this place, we need armor… Will you help me, sir…?”
She looked for his name in return.
They reached a rounded door. Closed and reinforced wood with iron, Vy held a finger to her lips in a shush gesture. She slid over to the door, slipped the same key in, and a quiet click of the lock giving way sounded. She lowered into a crouch, opened the door a peek, then gestured for Abra to look around the opening. She asked, “Do you see anything?”
Past the door, another hallway would be there. Only this one had plenty of doors on both sides. At the far end, a pair of guards chatted. Neither had auras to be seen, but they were plain enough in their armor.
Choice 1
Q. Does Abra inform Vy of the guards? Y/N
“Shit,” muttered Vy. She let go of the door. She started up the stairs, then gestured for Abra to follow. “Hurry!”
Choice 2
Q. Does Abra follow after Vy quietly or frantically?
Quiet / Frantic
Quiet / Frantic
She reached a third door, but the key wouldn’t work in the lock. “What…” She looked toward Abra and said, “It won’t open! What if they come up here?! Oh no…”
…and then, a faint click sounded in the lock.
The door creaked open an inch.
Vy looked at it, then at Abra, then down the stairs where the familiar echo of armored boots sounded. She swore, grabbed Abra by the wrist, then pressed the door open and hurried them inside. Vy shut the door with a slam, winced at the noise, then looked down at a corridor that had lanterns rather than torches.
A couple of the lanterns had been torn down, glass and paper littered on the floor in spots of darkness that would’ve otherwise been lit with a warm glow. Carpet runners lined the stone floor, and the walls had velvet tapestries of different symbols on them.
It smelled sweet, like cold season spices for pies and cakes. A waft of cinnamon so strong that it could almost be tasted. Only two doors resided in the corridor, right across from each other. At the end of the hall was a large oil painting of Overseer Grimnir alongside a couple other people… only whoever the pair was, the canvas had been slashed apart to mar their features, only leaving the slightest hint of silken green attire and a long bow of polished oak wood.
She wasn’t dressed in a tunic, nor armor. Rather, she wore a simple white nightdress with modest lace frills at the edges. In the lantern’s glow, the white proved thin enough that anyone could see the tint of her skin underneath and the shape of her slender form.
Vy looked at Abra, her eyes wide, and obviously uncertain of what to do.
Abra could see unnatural shadows curled around the stranger's shoulders.
“Hello,” said the human. “Are you lost?”
Guidelines
You may do, say, behave, act however you like.
But remember…
But remember…
- play to the level of your skills (if you want a chance of success).
- you do not have access to...
- any domain magic.
- any marked abilities.
- any mortalborn abilities.
- dreamwalkers: you are unable to access Emea.
- some passive visual mutations will show, more active mutations will not.
- some Blessed markings will show, but the abilities remain inaccessible.
- you do not have any of your original clothes or belongings on you.
- you are unable to dream, thus when you are asleep, you are blacked-out unconscious.
- You are with a biqaj woman named Vy'Akor (or Vy)
- You ran from the guards, into an unknown hallway that is warm.
- An unknown human woman has greeted you both.
Code: Select all
Q. Did Abra inform Vy of the guards? Y/N
Q. Did Abra follow after Vy quietly or frantically? Quiet / Frantic