Embrace The Ether 46 Land Of The Forgotten

Deus turned grim as he watched everything unfold. He had been protected by the tower's vastness, allowing him to remain out of harm's way even with the torrent of energy whistling around below.

"This is the Mir? The power that Roland was looking for… the power you were looking for?" Deus turned to face the little faun at his side, unsure of how he should react. Droh had been working as Rol'an's guide for quite some time, so most of the borun's power could easily be traced back to those past times.

Even Droh recalled this, his expression plummeting upon his recollection. "All those things we found… this was what it was all for? This dark destructive power?"

As the two of them pondered everything, a voice sounded from behind them. One of the soldiers had approached them, calling out to Evelien and Reinout. "Lady Evelien, we've brought them for you, where would you like them?"

"Ah, wonderful. I was afraid with that mist it would be too late, but fortunately for us it seems that the master noticed my intentions and allowed you safe pa.s.sage," Evelien spoke, a clear sense of both pride and self-a.s.surance rang out with her words as she turned around to face the sorry-looking group of people who had been chained and dragged before her.

Deus turned as well, curious what she meant. Immediately, shock spread throughout both Droh and himself as they laid eyes upon this group.

Stood in front was a heavy-formed soldier with a rough scar slashed down his eye, landing at the bottom of his cheek. His hair as grey as the mist from before. Behind him were several other soldiers, each of them carrying—or perhaps dragging—a pair of heavy metal chains that looped around their captives.

These captives made for a sorry lot, as they were covered in odd blemishes and b.l.o.o.d.y scabs.

"Elias? Mercer?" Deus recalled these people's names as he stuttered out. It hadn't just been those two, either, but instead, it was everyone who had accompanied them, even the Krex warrior stood with them, his head hung as he understood his own defeat.

"You captured them all, even with everything going on?" Droh asked, capturing Evelien's attention as she smirked in response.

"Of course. We're the mighty crows, servants of shadow and darkness. If we aren't able to take advantage of a chaotic situation like this for our own benefit, then what good are we?"

Reinout grunted out in agreement as Evelien proudly exclaimed.

"My lady," the old soldier from earlier called out, his tone humble and hushed, "unfortunately we were unable to capture them all, as those personal guards of his seemed to have already made their escape, planting themselves further away. They still have loyalty, though, as they're only waiting and haven't fully abandoned their leader yet."

Reinout turned back around, looking out across the previously battlefield. His gaze flew past Androma and Rol'an, who had been locked in a sort of standstill as neither side was willing to make the first move, which meant sacrificing their advantage.

Very quickly Reinout locked his sights on a small ridge nearby, he squinted as he made out the appearance of those black-robed guardsmen. "So those people are handpicked to fight alongside someone who is able to fight relatively evenly with our master?" Reinout exhaled out, "I wouldn't mind having a go at them myself, test the waters."

"You may get the chance soon enough, you big oaf. Don't burn yourself out yet, though, we've got plenty of work that still needs to get done."

Evelien turned to face one of the soldiers who stood nearby, "I'm a.s.suming everything is going as planned?"

"Ah, yes ma'am!" The soldier shuffled around as his back straightened and he went to salute. "We've received a response from the spire. We're good to go, we're just waiting on them now."

"Very good," Evelien nodded as a pleased grin spread across her lips, "Keep me informed, now go on."

The soldier hurried off as she turned to face Reinout, instructing him with a stern tone, "Go get ready, we've got visitors coming, we've got to make sure we look our best."

"Pardon me, but what exactly is going on?" Deus asked, interjecting himself into the conversation as he steps closer toward her, trying to physically involve himself.

"Nothing you have to worry about," Evelien explained, "As always, just sit back and relax… you'll find out everything soon enough, I promise. Once that happens, we'll know for certain if it was worth it to spare you or not."

"I've already called dibs on throwing you off the tower if it turns out you are dispensable…" Reinout exclaimed with an eager, almost giddy smile. He looked entirely innocent, but that grin only made Deus more anxious as if he were staring into the eyes of a demon.

Deus wasn't a fool, however. He began to put different pieces together. In an attempt to solve one unanswered question, he directly asked, "Is that particular captain Roch coming?"

Hearing him, Droh, Evelien, and even Reinout turned to face him, a perplexed expression glued onto their faces. Evelien spoke up first, "Ah, you're a clever one… perhaps the clues I gave you were indeed too easy. The answer to your question is a resounding yes, but from what I've been informed, that may not be all."

"That's not all?"

"Mhm. Something seems to be happening, something that may go beyond even the removal of the Orion clan that was originally intended. From the radio chatter I've heard from before we pulled you into this tower, it seems some old monster started moving within Direfell again."

Deus didn't know what she meant by 'old monster', but it couldn't be anything good. "What do you mean by that? Are we still safe?"

"Safe? Oh, honey, no one is safe. This is Midnight, after all. The land of murder, death, and betrayal. The land of the forgotten."

'Land of the forgotten?' That name stuck to Deus more so than the others, perhaps because the others were generic while the latter was almost a true label.

Evelien beckoned closer to him, drawing Deus in as she began to whisper, "You've been on the sidelines for far too long, don't you think? I believe this may have something further to do with you, after all, saving you wasn't an order we received solely from master Androma, but instead a direct command from the spire itself."

"The spire ordered you to save me?"

The two continued to whisper to each other as Droh and Reinout could only haphazardly attempt to eavesdrop.

"Exactly so, the spire ordered your capture, emphasizing peaceful methods and non-physical extremes," Evelien explained, "Otherwise nothing could've stopped ol' Reinout here from simply breaking your legs and dragging you here. Instead, our master personally pulled not only you out, but your little faun friend too."

A wicked grin spread on her face as she asked tauntingly, "You haven't done anything extremely naughty, have you? Because it seems you've gotten quite a lot of attention on you…"

'Done anything? No, I couldn't have… could I?' Deus thought to himself, his mind racing through different moments as he recalled his last few days, step by step. 'Things went smoothly… I met Droh and arrived at Direfell. I then met Mercer who lured me and Droh into a meeting with Elias… nothing should've drawn anyone's attention…'

He went through each moment, not exactly sure what could've gotten him the attention he's getting. He wasn't particularly powerful, he had no name recognition or history, and he wasn't even well informed.

There was nothing that he could recall that would warrant placing him into the scopes of an 'old monster', as Evelien refers to it as.

"Oh no…" Deus murmured to himself, so quietly it might as well have been a mere thought.

A single memory was stuck in his head as he recalled every second in gruesome detail. The sudden and intense feeling of pain that struck everywhere throughout his body, and the trembling sound of electricity that practically popped in his ears as that split second occurred.

'In the alleyway… by that thug with the knife…' Deus had gone ghostly pale as he remembered what had happened, or more specifically, how he felt when it happened. His memory of it had gone blank in the middle, rendering his vision impaired and leaving only the physical stress behind.

'That pain I felt… and the b.l.o.o.d.y mess that I left behind…'

"Evelien, ma'am…" Deus slurred out, "What exactly do you mean by 'land of the forgotten'? What exactly is Midnight, and… I'm not sure how to ask this."

"Hm?" Evelien glanced at him with a curious smirk, waiting for his next words.

"Is it possible… purely hypothetical… to accidentally use this Mir… and what would that entail?"