Chapter 58: Chapter 58

“Oh, you found me…” the small voice comes from beside me. I turn, and my eyes widen. A transparent figure, glowing faintly, looks up at me. I swallow, before asking, “Do… Dorothea Trevalli?”

“Yes! I’m the late Duchess Dorothea Trevalli; it’s an honour to meet you!” She curtseys, a genuine smile on her transparent face. Dorothea is-or was, rather- a pretty young girl, with long, dark blonde ringlets, pale skin, deep blue eyes, and an aristocratic figure. Her spectral clothes are elegant, refined, but terribly out-of-date.

“You know, you’re the first person to stay this long. Normally, mama and papa get them, or they run off when I try to warn them…” She sighs, and looks towards her bones.

I ask, “Duchess Trevalli… Would the wraith at the window be what became of your lady mother? I also heard a dissonant bellow, could… Could your lord father also have become an entity of similar kind?”

“Oh, please, just call me Dorothea! It’s not like I could qualify for noble status anymore. I mean, I AM dead, after all. And yes, my parents suffered so much due to my sickness that, upon their deaths trying to protect me, that they resisted the call of the afterlife, and lingered, becoming dishonoured and tainted phantoms, mere shades of the good, kind people they once were… that’s what drew me back. I… I’ve been trying to lay them to rest, but they’re so lost in their own misery that they no longer recognize me…”

I can feel my heart ache for the little ghost girl, and regret my cowardice in coming here. “Dorothea… let me help. My name is Kettrin, and I’m a servant of Lady Voltesse. I came here to find out what was causing the apparitions here. Please, let me do what I can to release your parents and allow them to pass on.”

I try to hug her, and my arms pass clean through. She smiles. “Thank you so much, Kettrin. I’m… I’m sorry for trying to prank you. I’ve been ever so lonely here…”

I can hear another howl, louder than before. I begin casting my angelic ritual. As soon as it completes, I have backup. The Principality of Lightning and the Principality of Thunder descend, and Dorothea shrieks, hiding behind me.

“NO! Don’t send me with them! I don’t want to be taken back!” 

I smile, shaking my head. “They’re here to act as my backup. I came here with a friend, but I don’t know where she is, and I don’t really want to fight multiple corrupted souls alone.”

The ghostly duchess calms down, staring with a hint of worry at the pair of angels. I attempt to reassure her with headpats, before remembering. Right, ghost.

I turn, and start heading for the door, Dorothea and the Principalities in tow. I adjust my grip on the handle of my mace, before pushing open the door to Dorothea’s chambers. The hallway is deserted, and I advance, steeling myself. At the top of the stairs, I look down, and lock eyes with the spectre of Lady Trevalli. She shrieks, an awful moan, and starts drifting towards me. I sling my shield onto my left arm, and, as she claws at me, I feel her nails rake down over the surface of my shield, and swing my mace down. It impacts, and a small, bright flicker of light flares for a brief instant. The wraith reels back, and I swing again, before the sword of the Principality of Lightning slashes over my head, and I give my guardian angels an order.

“Put the spectre of Lady Trevalli to rest, and then join me if you can. If you’re unable to join me, send a signal if you failed to defeat her, and flee!”

They salute, and take wing, leaping down to cross blades with the wraith of Lady Trevalli. While the angels do that, I slip down the stairs, heading in the direction I heard the deeper, more masculine roaring. Passing through a huge dining room, I skirt the ruins of the long table, murmuring a quick prayer over the fallen bodies of four men or women in rusted, corroded armour. The roar comes again, definitely from below. I scout about, hunting for a cellar door or something, making my way through the kitchen, where the stove has been savagely caved in with what looks like a warhammer, the chopping board smashed to splinters. A door at the far end, rent in twain by blows from a battleaxe, hangs a door. On the other side, is a flight of stairs, leading down into a coldroom, meant for storing things that needed refrigeration. One of the walls has collapsed, exposing a darker passageway that leads into a second room, meant for ice blocks. Part of the floor has fallen away, too, the wooden struts having given way over the years.

As I approach the hole in the floor, I can feel an air of pure malice emanating from below. Lord Lucien Trevalli’s soul has not been able to pass on, and his pain and despair have twisted what seemed to be a good man into a wretched husk of his old self. In order to help him, I must destroy him, freeing him from his burden and allowing him to rest.

I slowly make my way down, dropping through the floor and using my wings, as the ghostly child floats after me. Dorothea’s spectral form sheds a dim light, and I’m glad of her company, even though I’m worried for Dana. I haven’t seen hide or hair of her since we entered this accursed place-

Suddenly, I almost fall over in mid-air as a ringing starts up in my ear. It’s the communication magic that players use to contact each other!

I jam my finger against my ear, wings beating. “Hello?!”

Dana’s voice fills my mind, and I sigh in relief.  “Oh thank the feckin’ Maker, I got through! What happened? Where are you right now?!”

“I’m beneath the mansion. There’s a cave system under the house, why?”

“I’m stuck outside the gate, that’s why! When we went in, I just got booted out, and I cannae get in! There’s some sort of barrier keepin’ me out! I’ve been callin’ you f’r almost three hours, too!”

 I blink. “Three hours?? But I’ve only been in here for about forty minutes at most- wait. HUH?! I just checked the time, and we came here at midnight, where did three hours go?!”

Dana lets out a muffled string of curses. “Didn’t you hear my calls, at all?? It was like you were there, but I could only get back gibberish when I spoke.”

I shake my head, forgetting that she can’t see me.  “No, I never got any calls! It’s like a… a dead zone in here, no ‘signal’ at all! Maybe it’s because the two spirits at the heart of the problem are really powerful. Maybe it’s distorting the communication magic in some way? Did the problem JUST clear up a bit?”

“Actually, yeah. What did you do, Ky?”

I giggle, “I maaay have put one of them to rest by setting my Heavenly Host on them. I guess they must have defeated her, but they don’t seem to be coming back. I guess they retreated after beating her like I ordered them to!”

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There’s silence on the other end for a minute, and then I hear her chuckling. “Ohhh, what are you like, Ky? Every time I think ye canna surprise me anymore, you go and do it! I wish I could help you, but there’s something stopping me. I can’t even fly in anymore. ”

 I gulp. “W-well, I’m going to have to finish this quest one way or another. I also made a friend here, I’ll introduce you later!”

 

Another howl echoes up from below. It sounds close, but somehow far away at the same time. Dorothea flinches, and I instinctively try to interpose myself between her and the sound, mace in hand.

“I’m sorry, Dorothea, but I have to do this. Your parents wouldn’t want this, and they’re too dangerous to be left like this…”

“I know… It’s okay, I understand that you have to do this. My parents were good people in life. They deserve better than to suffer like this…”

I bite my lip. “Well, I guess my angels managed to lay your mother’s soul to rest, and now I have to do the same to your father. I can’t summon more angels for a while, and I don’t think we can afford to wait…”

“Yes… I think you’re right, Ms. Kettrin… my father was a noble and kind man in life, and his legacy should not be contaminated with his unwilling corruption into this … this twisted shadow of his former self…”

Landing on a ledge that hangs over the subterranean chasm, I nod, adjusting my grip on my weapon, stepping into the oppressive, suffocating darkness of a tunnel through the cliff-face. Passing through the cold stone halls, the passage damp and chill around me, I can feel the malevolent air around me thicken, as if my presence has been noted, and it is NOT welcomed here in this place.

Dorothea stays at my side, and I feel a little more at ease than I would be alone. Sure, she looks as nervous as I feel, but her simply being there is comforting, at least.

The tunnel angles down, heading deeper into the bowels of the earth, the air growing colder and colder, as though I’m walking into a refrigerated warehouse. I can SEE my breath fogging, and even through the padded under-layer, I can’t help but start shivering, keeping my wings tucked around me for warmth.

The tunnel ends up ahead, and, judging from my best guess, we’re easily about fifty metres below the mansion. It doesn’t feel like this is man-made, though. More like the underground crevasse and tunnels were formed centuries ago and the mansion’s foundations simply broke through into part of the cave system.

I peer cautiously out of the mouth of my tunnel, looking into a room filled with…. Treasure chests! Not as full as it could, be, though. All but one or two of the chests are visibly emptied and overturned, while the stone shelves are bare of all but a smattering of jewellery and valuables.

Standing in the centre of the room, is a shadow, proportionately human. The dark void where his face should be suggests the barest hints of a mouth and chin, with eyes that burn like smouldering coals. He paces, clad in what looks like a suit of armour as black as him, a sword in one hand. The blade seems to have dulled severely, with dark tendrils of some form of rot or corruption snaking and twining almost the length of it.

The spirit mutters to itself, pacing with heavy, dragging steps.

“My daughter… I must protect her… I must keep all intruders out…. Must… must kill all who enter… the mansion must not fall… the guards…. Where are my guards…? No matter… I-I will kill… and kill… and kill… under the fighting is over. So many…. It must end soon… how long has it been…?”

Dorothea whimpers silently, and I can almost feel it as she wraps her arms around my waist.

“F-father…. He’s in so much pain… please, Ms. Kettrin, you MUST free him. As the last of the noble House of Trevalli, I will allow you to claim any and all riches left here as yours, just save my father from any more suffering!”

My heart aches for the sad little ghost, and I steel myself. “Stay in my eyesight, Dorothea, but keep out of the way. This could be rough.”

She steps back, and I push through the cobwebby entrance into the vault.

I raise my mace, and bring it down on my shield. The dark spirit whirls, eyes bursting into literal flame. I bellow, “Lord Lucien Trevalli! I am here to commend you for your steadfast defence of your home and kin! You have fought admirably, but now it is time to lay down your sword and rest. The Lords have you to thank for the safety of the city of Vassim and its citizens. I speak with the voice of Lady Voltesse, and bear her authority in this matter!”

The shade stares at me, and I see its blade waver, lowering towards the stone floor.

“Then… the war is over? The city is safe? Lords be praised…. But, no matter the situation… you have intruded upon my ancestral lands bearing weapons and armour…. You… you are an enemy… MY ENEMY! YOU! YOU TOOK MY DAUGHTER, MY BELOVED WIFE! I MUST KILL YOU… to save them…”

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