Greeting readers
I may have gotten a little carried away with today's update, so it's a long one. I hope you all enjoy it. To kee up to date with the various villains of this series, don't forget to read @zakludick's update.
Letulah Molder was furious at herself. In the heat of the moment, she had revealed who she was, tipping her hand to her mark, Darius. She had meant to kill him but now he was on the run once more, doing the bidding of his death cult, but now he knew who she was.
Cussing under her breath, she indicated that she wanted another drink. She had been here most of the day, sipping the drink before her now and again, and tipping the rest to the filthy saw dust-covered floor of the bar she sat in.
She had been forced to flee the previous town she had been in. She needed to regroup and gather her thoughts. Her leads on Darius had dried up and now she was considering truly drowning her misery in the cup of fresh whatever passed for beer in this bar.
She looked into its depths when she felt the presence slide into the chair next to her. She didn’t flinch at the appearance and smell, as it would do no good, as no one else around them could see it for it really was.
“That was stupid.” It slurred.
“I know.”
“How do you expect to complete this mark if you give yourself away the way you do.”
“It slipped out.”
“You are too full of passion. I could end that for you if you wish.”
Letulah noted the sickly green blade that was partially slid from its sheath at the creature’s side. She sneered and shook her head.
“Ah! The emotions of the living, that is something I don’t envy of you.”
The blade slid back into the sheath as Letulah indicated to the barmaid that she wanted another mug of beer by putting more coin on the bar.
“At least pretend that you live.” She muttered as she slid the filled mug to the creature. “Why send me here?”
“Because you have no more ears that can hear. No more eyes that can see. You need leads.”
“But why here?”
“Because I know this place, and there have been stirrings of strange things. Things that were not allowed when I was here decades ago.”
Letulah snorted and raised the mug to her mouth but didn’t sip at the contents.
“This place is always calm. Well, except for the giants that attacked here.”
“Giants? No dear, those were avatars of the Fiery One and Cold One. If you listen, you will hear more about oddities.”
“I think you only sent me here because the queen of these lands and I grew up in the same village.”
The creature stuck its gnarled finger into the mug before it, stirring the contents slowly while muttering under its breath. Letulah knew what it was doing and she couldn’t help but struggle to hold her excitement. Soon she would be able to see him again.
“Our contract stands until such time that Darius is before me. You know what is at stake. I can only keep his body and soul alive for so long.” It pushed the mug toward her.
Letulah stared at the depths of the mug and made out the resting face of her husband. One of the first victims of Darius, but he hadn’t been successful in harvesting either his soul or body. No, he rested in a death sleep that required her to work closely with the lich beside her.
“Why do you even need Darius?” she muttered as she ran her fingertips around the rim of the mug.
“Our deal wasn’t to answer questions. It was to find Darius and I would restore your husband’s body to its soul. Until then, listen to rumours well.”
“I don’t appreciate being sent on a wild goose chase. Why here?”
The lich looked at her. It’s cold blue balefire eyes staring into her soul. She couldn’t tell whether it was grinning because it was amused, or because it was frozen that way with age.
“Because this is where I was betrayed and if anything, you will get your answers here.”
“That explains why I am here. Why are you here?”
“This is the closest I can get to the castle…”
“Biggest green beast I have ever seen!” exclaimed a voice in the corner of the bar.
Letulah couldn’t help but turn her head slightly to catch the conversation.
“Massive, dressed in armour, likely a woman, I think. And that monstrosity with the axe was back. Oh, and Sir Robert has been found. It was strange though, so much blood.”
Her ears prickled, and her instincts told her that this could be useful.
“A greenskin? Here? Oh, come off it!” said another voice.
“I swear! In the throne room. It looked like a warzone in there. But with those twins, it doesn’t surprise me. Maybe Mary is planning on marrying her son off to a greenskin. Heaven knows how she’s going to keep those clans in line otherwise.”
“Wait, hold on. Greenskin clans? Clans! Since when?” Letulah turned to her companion.
However, the lich had disappeared. Letulah quickly looked at the fading image in the mug before her before she sighed heavily. She knew she had to find answers, but she wasn’t sure if she would find them here at the bar. The voice had said all this went down in the throne room. Mary’s throne room.
Letulah hadn’t thought of Mary in over a decade. The last time she had seen her was soon after the birth of her twins. They hadn’t had a falling out or anything, but communication had dwindled. It was the life that Letulah had gotten used to, especially with the curse of their people.
She had been so focused on hunting the would-be killer of her husband the last few years, that she had ignored massive life-changing events that had occurred in this country. She took a deep breath, and drained her mug, before tipping the other one over and leaving. She needed to look drunk; she had been here too long.
As she stumbled from the bar, she looked up at the castle in the distance. Mary lived there. Would she really have the answers she sought? It had been a long time. Letulah sighed heavily and knew that she needed to wait until evening to get the answers she needed.
The shadow crept up the side of the castle. Metal claws dug into the imperfections of the brickwork as it moved up. It hadn’t taken long to get the required information of where to get the information that she needed. In the span of the afternoon, Letulah had learned that her childhood friend had suffered tragedy after tragedy over the last few years. She had also learned about some unsavoury actions she and her children had taken. There was even a rumour that there was an undead knight roaming the halls of this castle.
Letulah wanted to judge her old friend but knew that she too was under the thumb of an undead fiend. However, the population was only filled with rumour, and no matter what palms she greased, the inner workings of the castle remained unknown to her. She needed answers.
She knew the room the twins had been born in. It had been the marriage room of the king and queen. If she wanted to talk to Mary, she needed to surprise her. There was no way after all this time that Mary would welcome her with open her, especially not with the curse afflicted on Letulah.
The silver claws made climbing the stone easy, and even picking the lock on the window was a snap with some extra tools. All she needed to do was slip into the room and speak to her old friend.
The window silently opened, and she slipped in, just another shadow in the night. She was silent but desperate. Rumours had it that the queen also had gods on her side. Literal gods. If there was something that Letulah needed now, it was the help of a god or two.
As soon as Letulah stepped foot in the room, she heard the whisper of metal through the air. She was fast, she had had to be to survive as a child, but she wasn’t fast enough for this metal. It sliced around the back of her and came to rest across her throat. The silver edges of the claws that rested against her throat burned. While the pain was there, she relaxed, realising that she had been led into a trap by her desperation.
“Come now, Letty! Sneaking through a window? This isn’t like when we were kids. You could have used the front door.” Came the familiar voice of her childhood friend.
“If I had come through the front door, I would have missed this greeting.”
There was silence for a while before Mary asked, “Does the silver burn still?”
“Why would it have stopped? The curse of Clarprati is deep in my blood. It’s why your husband ran me off.”
“So, that’s why I haven’t seen you. I thought you stopped talking to me after the twins.”
“I wrote.”
“As did I.”
The claws were removed, and Mary continued, “My husband was a lot of things; overcautious of anyone from Clarprati was sadly one of them.”
There was a clap, and suddenly the room was shining brightly. Hissing under her breath, Letulah shielded her eyes but could make out Mary’s brother-in-law.
“Seems I was expected. Were any of those rumours true?”
“More than we would like to admit.” Said Adiran. “We need your help.”
Letulah laughed, “That is why I am here.”
“Then perhaps we can help each other.” Said Mary.
And back to Zak
Here is an explanation of Chain Stories and here is the current Chainstory Library
Mortis Custos
Sanguifex
Vetitum Nemus
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