Blood Stained Handprints In the Dragon Queen's Crown

by ArcaneTrickster_3

Summary:

"Please..." he mouthed. It was in that split second where my gaze softened. A rush of guilt waved through me. The hold on my glaive weakened as my heart ached. It was only the sudden grip of the invisible string tightening around my skin that snapped me back into reality. Even if I wanted to spare him, I would be met with the Dark Lady's Wrath. I had to kill him. For Her. For Tiamat

The Chromaclaw House are avid worshippers of the Dragon Queen, Tiamat. On his day of Ascension, beneath the streets of Neverwinter, Aspen Chromaclaw is forced to slay a worshipper of Bahamut to gain his new rank of Warden of the Electrum Mail. After the sacrifice, Aspen begins to question the teachings of his own house, as his faith begins to falter, its rekindled by the sudden disappearance of his brother.

Notes:

Apologies if you find any spelling mistakes, I usually write these late at night

Chapter 1: For him.

Notes:

For those who don't know a lot of Dungeons and Dragons lore:
Tiamat and Bahamut are two dragon gods in the Forgotten Realms (Toril). Bahamut is the god of Justice and Good Dragons while Tiamat is the Goddess of Chaos and Evil Dragons.
Tiamat has been imprisoned in Hell (or the Hells in Faerun) and her followers agenda is to free her from the First Circle of Hell (Avernus) and let her back into the Material Plane so that she is not bound by the inferno and completes her plan to rule over The World with her army of evil dragons. Of course, Bahamut's agenda is to never let this happen.
In this world, there are many worshippers of tiamat, such as the Cult of The Dragon. But, what I added into all of this is a family that has been so indoctrinated into her Word that they are literally bred just to worship her

Anyway, enjoy lol

Blood spilled over the dark stone runes, running down from the crimson stained altar, where the Bahamut cleric bled to his demise. A sharp, twisted scarlet dagger stabbed through the man's chest, it's sharp end piercing through his spine. 

I watched just a few feet away as the draconic markings filled up with the Platinum Dragon follower's unholy blood. My gaze was fixed on the altar of My Lady. I was horrified.

The sight of death wasn't new for me. The ChromaClaw Noble house held many sacrificial rituals; rituals I have witnessed ever since I was a child. But this time, the ritual of Ascension, was the first time a death was caused by my hand.

Several robed men surrounded me in a circle, my father at the front. He wore the traditional draconic crown: a golden circlet with five draconic heads jutting out, each head with a different pair of gems as eyes. He extended his hand forward, as the ashes from the torch-lit room compressed into a long polearm right in front of his palm. The dark weapon suddenly radiated with a powerful gold, as it took a more complex shape: a Glaive. Its handle shone with red draconic runes, it's blade, shaped like a dragon's mouth spitting a long steel tooth.

"Aspen Chromaclaw, second born of the Chromaclaw noble house and Defender of the Silver Shield" my father decreed as he held the weapon on both of his hands, offering it to the sky "we stand here today for your rite of Ascension, where you climb up the rank of Defender of the Silver Shield, into Warden of the Electrum Mail. You, who have hunted down this follower of the Blasphemic Dragon, shall now offer his blood to quench the thirst of our Many Mawed Mistress, and tear his flesh to feed her spawns"

Then, a red string of unholy light manifested out of thin air, wrapping its first end around the golden glaive; its other end stabbing into my left hand. I winced at the sudden piercing pain and held back the incoming tears from it. _I couldn't cry. Not here. Not in front of father_ I told myself as blood tainted the markings of my palm. The string, then, wrapped itself around my wrist before vanishing. It was almost ethereal, but i could still feel its grip tighten around my skin. 

The glaive flew to my hand. The recoil of the heavy weapon took a toll on my whole arm as it protested against the weight. Once again, I bit away the crying. Shedding tears in front of the Dark Lady... what would they think of me? What would She think of me?

"Now" father announced "Are you ready, son?" My father smiled at me.

Oscar Chromaclaw was a man of dedication. Despite raising a powerful family from scratch, he never showed any emotions to any of his kin. The last time I saw him smile was two years ago, when I first ascended as a Defender of the Silver Shield. And before that? Probably never.

That smile scared me. It scared be because it told me I had to do something I didn't want to do. 

I was lucky enough to find this Bahamut follower. I had seen his emblem from afar in the streets of Neverwinter, and followed him to the Driftwood tavern. It was easy enough to spike his last drink before he went to bed, far much easier drag his drugged body to the Chromaclaw house in the dead of night. 

But now... taking his life by my blade? I felt sick. Something, somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it was wrong. I have seen many bloodsheds, but never tainted my own skin in the gore.

"...Son?"

"A-ah! Yes, f... father..." I zoned back in and stood up from my kneeling position and moved forward. Each step echoed throughout the cavernous sanctuary. One of the mages flicked his wrist, conjuring a set of stairs for me to climb onto the altar.

I stood above him. Now that I had time to look at the Bahamutan, he was a half drow. Short pearly white hair, now tainted in patches of red. His silvery eyes drifted around the room as he slowly lost consciousness.

It was his lips, however, what made me hesitate

"Please..." he mouthed. It was in that split second where my gase softened. A rush of guilt waved through me. The hold on my glaive weakened as my heart ached. It was only the sudden grip of the invisible string tightening around my skin that snapped me back into reality. Even if I wanted to spare him, I would be met with the Dark Lady's Wrath. I had to kill him. For Her. For Tiamat

I slashed.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

My gaze was fixed on the slices of human flesh in front of me, roasted into perfection, along with a side of purple beans and slices of waterdhevian cheese. This was no diversion from the celebration meals we've had in my family before, but having been the one to kill our meal was... another experience altogether.

The dinner hall was filled with music, lively chatter, and a great mixture of scents that could make the stomach of any beggar rumble like an earthquake. As my 18th birthday, and so the day of my ascension, It was bound to be filled with family members. My father, as always, sat at the first end of the long mahogany table, eating his food ever so delicately that I could have mistaken him by a ghost at any other moment. His piercing violet eyes shifted to different faces every now and again, almost as if taking note of everyone who came in; my mother sat next to him, her soft, delicate hands held my father's lenky, bony fingers as she stared at him with lustful eyes. When she looked away from him and caught my gaze, her expression shifted into innocence, waving at me excitedly from across the table, before resuming her telepathic connection with father about her carnal desires.

Gross.

To my right, my little sister, Aeris, devoured her meal using her hands like a ravaging beast, her golden twin tails stained in grease and blood as she forced a good chunk of flesh into her mouth and chewing it while meat grease drooled down the sides of her lips. On her row, several of many cousins, whose names I barely bothered to remember. They ate and enjoyed the night away. Giggles, snarky comments and even food flew from one seat to the other. Some of them were older than me, even. Yet father treated them better because of their high rank. 

How come their rank is higher? I thought as my fork stabbed through one of the slices They have the same maturity as kobold offsprings... yet just because they're a rank above me...

Jealousy flourished in my insides, as I felt my face grow red. 

On the other row, many of my uncles chattered amongst themselves, each and one of them wearing more jewerly than the other. Our goddess is very greedy, after all. 

I looked at the empty seat next to me before sighing. 

I took a bite.

The taste of human flesh was invigorating for me before, a delicacy my parents told me that I was privileged to taste because of my noble house. At first, I didnt take note of it. I just followed my parents' words. Now, biting down and swallowing the cooked skin of a Bahamutan is... quite strange. I felt like if I let my thoughts spin around that fact ay further I might just throw up.

Dink, Dink, Dink!

Chattering was halted as all heads turned towards my father, who was standng up with fork and glass in hands. Once the silence lingered for brief moments, Oscar spoke up

"I believe everyone is aware of the celebration that we must enjoy today. My son, Aspen Chromaclaw, Second Born under the blessing of the Dark Lady, has finally ascended ranks by taking the life of a Bahamutan known as Rodius D'Verdin. The blood that my son spilled today quenched Her thirst, his bones addorn our tributes to Her, and his flesh fills our bellies to being us strength and bring Her word to these lands."

He raised his golden goblet to the air before soft clapping filled the room. My face grew red by the sudden attention brought to me, but I guess I deserved it this time...

However, I couldn't truly enjoy the moment due to my cousin Esva's laughter.

"Is there something a matter, Esva?" My father asked with an icy tone, raising his eyebrow lightly

"Oh, nothing, dear uncle. I just feel like this whole thing is..." the half elf waved her hands around the table with disgust on her face "beneath us"

Esva Chromaclaw was one of the prodigies of my bloodline. Two years younger than me, but already a Keeper of the Platinum Crown: two ranks above me. A high tight ponytail wrapped her golden locks, with bangs hanging loosely right below her silver eyes that suddenly darted my way. A sly smile grew on her face, belittling me with something as simple as a glare.

"Care to explain?" My father puzzled, as if sensing my disconfort.

"Well, you see... when I first ascended as Warden of the Electrum Mail, which was also my 13th birthday, I tore life out of 2 Bahamutans, yet no huge party no celebration was in my name."

"Well, that is easy to answer. You are a half blood. A mutt. You are only half of what the true blessed bloodline of the Dark Lady can achie-"

"Yet I have been able to achieve far more. You reward mediocrity because it's what you cradled."

I wanted to defend myself. I stood up from the chair and I stared daggers at her. I felt my cheeks flush and my eyes water. The words were right at my lips, but my tongue tied itself into a knot. 

"What? Are you gonna cry?" A smile crept up her face.

"Enough, Esva" Oscar demanded. Then, he stared back into my eyes as I called for his aid "while Its true that your ascension had nothing in special despite the ranking, I still decided to make a party for my second son, mutt"

Relief washed over me like soothing icy wind, only for my heart to shatter at his next words.

"But... it is true that I have let his incompetence be praised for too long. This will be the last event of this sort for Aspen"

Thorns grew around my lungs as I gasped for air in pure shock. Tears streamed down my rosy cheeks as the knot in my tongue just got tighter. I wanted to say something. Scream, cry, but nothing came out that I could counter for my defense. My mutt of a cousin ripped me off of my birthright and I couldn't say anything against it.

"I hope to not have interrupted anything, but it seems I should have" a voice echoed from the creaking opening doors, as a familiar siluette made itself present

I grinned. It felt as if a draconic guardian was sent for my aid. I couldnt say it out loud due to my current emotional state, but i managed to utter "Brother....!"

Chapter 2: More than Flesh and Blood

Notes:

Was in finals lmao BUTTT‼️‼️ I'm posting do that's what counts

Reminder that english isnt my first language so forgive any grammar errors

The wooden greatsword swung upwards, kicking up sand. My entire body screamed to flee, so I leaped backwards, holding onto life to my new glaive, as if it was some sort of savior.

"You can't keep running forever, Aspen" Dustin criticized, but his words fell on deaf ears as I dodged his following swing.

It had been 2 days after my birthday party ended up in a sour mouth taste, but at least my older brother, Dustin Chromaclaw, managed to show up before the night was over.

Dustin didn't spend too much time with us. As an Oathbound warrior to the Dark Lady, a Wing of the Green Gargantua (two ranks below father), and a Knight of the Five Thorned Rose, his responsabilities are far superior than mine, a simple Acolyte.

One of my main responsabilities, though, was to better my combat abilities. Many raids in the honor of my queen were planned for the future, and I was expected to lead them. Therefore, every time my brother came by, we'd have a sparring session.

Teal lightning tendrils coiled themselves around my brother's gauntlet, climbing up his wooden greatsword as it lit up in it's hellish light. He, then, lunged forward. His slashes were futile, however, as I conjured a pearly golden barrier came to my aid. 

He struck once more, my magic defense cracking.

"You can't keep using magic to surround yourself either"

Desperation grew in my eyes as more cracks webbed the abjuration spell. I muttered an incantation in draconic, fire roared down my arms and crawled through the rifts in the dome before shaping itself into a dark fiery glaive, which slashed downwards at Dustin, the flames scorching the armor he wore. The Spiritual Weapon slashed forth once more, only for my brother to parry it. Using this window, I thrusted my glaive forward, the shield breaking like glass as I stabbed into his side, the steel now tainted in Chromaclaw blood. Dustin grabbed onto the pole, trying to pull the blade out of his insides, but I pushed. His feet slid on the sand as I rammed him against the wall. He hissed in pain, but it was quieted under my heavy breathing. I gulped for air like a fish out of water as I did not use the divine energy that my Lady granted me, but my own strength. My mind always doubts, but my body never falters, as I felt the muscles in my arms and legs burn and my teeth gritting, steam coming out in between them.

"I yield! I yield!" Dustin declared, laughing. My face, although, was everything but a smile. 

The wound in front of me kept pouring out blood, to the point the liquid reached my own fingers. I wanted to flinch, move away or even scream, but I couldn't. The continous flow of the wine of life kept me frozen in place, almost even in time.

"...spen...? Aspen....! Aspen!"

My brother snapped me out of my trance. The voices of doubt vanishes as he shot me a smile "it's fine, dude."

The man removed the blade quickly from his body. I flinched at the sight of his insides, but he waved his hand over the wound. In matter of seconds, a golden string of divine magic sealed the opening shut.

"See? Barely a scar now"

"I... I'm... I'm sorry..." I muttered, my eyes beginning to swell

"Woah, woah, woah!" He grasped my shoulders "Are you okay? You're crying. I'm fine bro, really, don't worry about-"

"I-it's not that!"

"Okay... do you want to talk about it?"

Dustin put his arm around me and sat me down against the wall. Then, he pressed my chest against the wall: soft, yet firm. I felt my anxiety and fear slowly fade away, as the pressure brought peace to my mind. 

"Th...thanks..."

A few minutes passed as we both stayed silent. I wanted to speak, but my words werent able to come out.

"Was it because of what Esva said?"

"Y... yeah..."

I wanted to tell him all about it. The rage, the jealousy, the amount of things you wanted to scream at Esva. It wasn't the first time she pulls one of these antics, pushing me into the dirt to elevate herself even higher.

But I couldn't.

Words were never my strong suit. My lips, my most deadly enemies, sealed shut at my thoughts, never being able to express my feelings. Even at moments of confrontation, my tied vocal strings froze my entire body, instead of acting. I was only able to _react_ at what was in front of me: a parry, a gasp, an exhale.

But never a word.

"Take your time"

Dustin whispered, and i felt a wall crumble in my chest as tears streamed down the sides of my face.

"Its just..." whispers escaped my lips "How can father hear her complains? She's not even a true Chromaclaw..."

Dustin patted me on the back, letting me continue

"It's not fair! It was MY day of Ascension and MY birthday! I... I wanted father and mother to only talk about me... b-but... now they wont even look at me in the face. Just when I thought I made father proud of me... If I cant make father happy, how will I make Her happy?"

I looked at my brother, who stared back with a comprehensive smile, yet a saddened gaze.

"Aspen, you don't have to prove anything to anyone. Even without Her happiness, you are still you. It's okay"

"But... that's what our whole bloodline is about, isn't it? It's not like you'll ever lose her favor... you're a Knight of the Five Thorned Rose..."

His fingers grasped my arm and squeezed it. 

"Even if the whole family outcasts you, I'll still be your brother. Everything will be fine, Aspen. I promise"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! Why wouldn't I be? We're bound by flesh and blood. Even if Our Lady tosses you aside, I'll still help you stand up. That's what siblings are for."

I hugged him. His steel armor cold from his elemental resonance.

"Thank you" i murmured. I felt him return the hug before releasing me and helping me stand up.

"Hey, I found something that might cheer you up."

"Another magic item?" I picked up my new glaive and sheathed it on my back

"Yeah" he smiled "found it on a dungeon I was scouting. Thought you might like it."

 

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

 

As we walked through the elegant halls of the Chromaclaw mansion, I couldn't help but watch the paintings of my ancestors, mesmerized. 

The Chromaclaw House initially started as a cult. Worshipping the Draconic Queen, not only because of her motivations to rule over Toril with dragonkind, but also the pure darkness that they bore in their hearts. Only one of them stood out from the common pictures of old folk: Jvinnia Chromaclaw. The first and only Chosen of Tiamat.

She faced upwards, her wavy true golden hair cascading down her shoulders, embers and ashes swirling around her figure as she cradled her scythe, her fingers with sharp crimson claws for nails and several red scales running down her hands and arms. Jvinnia was addorned in a draconic red scale armor, along with a silk cape coating her back. 

Jvinnia Chromaclaw is a forgotten name amongst the best Tiamat worshippers, such as Severin. However, her feats did not go unnoticed.

On one of the cult's raids, Jvinnia managed to slay one of Bahamut's Chosen and recovered one of the Dragon Masks for herself. For this feat, Tiamat granted her Her blessing. Enemies and colleagues in the cult alike witnessed her Ascension. Beautiful, crimson draconic wings grew from her back, tearing through muscle and steel as if it was nothing; giant dark red claws grew from her fingers, and her usual pupils turned into draconic slits, before letting out a triumphant roar and tearing down that Bahamut Cathedral. With so much divine power in her hands, she had two goals: first, use such blessing to bring as much wrath and destruction in Her Name, and reproduce. She knew that such blessing was to be passed onto her bloodline, equal to how the Dark Lady passed onto her gifts to the chromatic dragons that wonder our land. Sadly, she was defeated by another Bahamut chosen when she aged. But her Legacy still lives on the family name. Of course, even with the riches that Jvinnia brought from her raids, it still couldn't support the lifestyle of the entire family tree. The Chromaclaw house took on the Jewerly business: selling well carved gemstones, jewerly and accessories, only to send family members to steal them back. I remember countless times brother said that it was such a bad marketing idea, yet it worked stupidly well in our favor. 

Many of the paintings in this hall weren't from _all_ of our ancestors: just the ones with amazing feats: like Silvant Chromaclaw, using an ancestral draconic relic to slay a Silver Dragon, and collected it's blood to mock Bahamut; Spina Chromaclaw managed to plan and execute 10 successful heists at banks all along the Sword Coast; and Oscar Chrolaclaw, my father, who discovered a ritual to feed into the Dark Lady's pool of energy. Although its compared to feeding droplets of water to an ocean, Our Lady savors the energy we provide for her next attempt at escaping the Hells, as a reserve of energy. And through the kidnappings of our raids, sometimes it turns those droplets into rain.

My stomach stirred at the thought. Despite my love for the Dragon Queen, surely there had to be another way to quench her thirst... Images of my ascension flashed in front of my eyes: the sliced open flesh of the half drow gave me nausea, and the dripping of blood still rung constantly in my ears. 

I was only awakened out of my trance well i felt a tiny hand grab onto my tunic. 

"Where are you two going? I thought we three agreed we'd spend our time together as siblings when Dustin came back, and you two are sneaking Tiamat knows where!" Aeris pouted and crossing her arms. The floor froze underneath her feet, making me flinch for a second.

Dustin, however, placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm really sorry, Ae, but as your big brothers, we have to attend a lot of responsabilities."

She frowned. Her lower lip quivered as her eyes watered "that's what you always say!" A sniffle paused Aeris' sentence "and then you just spend time trainning ornwith dad and we never get to be the three of us together! If only I was older so I could do family business with you..."

A knot tied itself in my throat, making me almost choke on my own saliva. My sister, Aeris Chromaclaw, was barely 13 in age, yet incredibly talented at her arcane studies, despite not having the Draconic Gift of Sorcery from My Lady, she was already able to Misty Step several times a day. The thought of her getting her hands covered in blood like mine did... It was as if someone was showing me her future, she wouldn't take it... she wouldn't...

"Well," Dustin interrupted my thoughts "We get more work around because of the Divine Aid that we get from our lady. You still have to formally finish your studies"

"But i have my own spellbook now! A-and a wand too!"

"And a diploma?"

Aeris fell silent and looked at the floor. My brother chuckled at the reaction. "That answers that. Hey, how about we all go tomorrow to the market and go shopping? Just the three of us"

"Really?" My sister and I both said in unison.

"Yeah. We haven't hung out all together for so long. We could catch up during our walk. What do you guys think?"

After agreeing a time and place, my sister Aeris cheered happily before heading to her room to sleep as soon as possible. My brother, however, just glared at me, seriousness in his eyes.

"Let's keep going"

As he opened the door of his room, I felt as if static ran through my skin. Magic weaved around my brother as he looked around frantically.

Did he just cast a spell? was my initial thought. After he closed the door, a draconic ward enveloped his lock.

"This way" when I looked back, he was already on the other side of the bedroom. There was a glint in his eye: an emotion that he was trying to mask. This was important. This was something neither mom or dad should know.

I trailed behind.

Chapter 3: A breath.

"That'll be 15 silver, sir" the shop owner announced before putting my sister's new scarf into a shiny scarlet bag. Dustin placed 20 coins on the table, took the bag and made his way back into the street again. Holding Aeris hand, I followed. 

The Merchants Quarters were as busy as ever as the three of us swam through the crowds of the pre winter mornings of Neverwinter. I quickly grabbed my sister and put her in my shoulders before a huge Loxodon almost stepped on her. She grabbed onto my hair, guiding me like some sort of leash on a horse. Despite the humilliation, she seemed happy, which in turn made me and Dustin happy as well.

"Keep going with the story, brother!" Aeris sung with a cheery tone "How did the battle end?"

"Well," Dustin scratched his chin as he looked around. I did the same, in case a Bahamutan was listening "I grabbed the Silver Dragon by the horns and slammed it onto the ground! Then, ligntning coated my claymore before I stabbed it in between his eyes!"

"Woooaaaah!" Wish I could've been there! But I do have a question, brother"

"Yeah, Ae? What is it?"

"Why didn't you use Fire against the dragon? Don't Silver Dragons breathe ice? Why Lightning?"

"Well, first of all, I can't use Fire magic"

"Why not?"

"Do you remember your Chromaclaw Elemental resonance classes?"

My sister pondered for a second. But before my brother could answer for her, she put a hand up, halting him.

"I remember, I remember! It was like, uhm.... so, Jvinnia is the first and only Chromaclaw known to be able to manipulate the breaths of Tiamat and wield them like weapons, but the more generations passed, the less elements our bloodline could manipulate at the same time..."

"Correct" Dustin and I said in unison.

"For example, I can wield Fire and Ice..."

"I can wield Ice and Lightning"

"A-and I can wield Lightning and Fire... b-but my Lightning manipulation skills are far better than my Fire ones!" I confessed, a little ashamed of my poor lack of grasp of my lineage.

"Aww, then you should've taken Aspen with you, Dustin!"

"I'm sure Aspen would have loved to help me, but he has responsabilities too, Aeris"

"Yeah, like what?"

I coughed "w-well... I'm usually the one in charge of keeping the church clean, counting the money in the hoard, house cleaning, train the guards, keeping the vault of weapons intact, rearrange the books, divide the scrolls from nomnagical and magical categories, examine the requests from different noble houses, and even-"

"Wait, wait- last time I was here, you were only in charge of the church and vault. Why do you have so much stuff to do?"

"Well, uh- dad wanted me to do more stuff around the house- since you're out doing missions and Aeris is in Arcane Trainning, I've taken onto many of you guys' tasks...."

"You train the guards?" Ae interrupted "but everytime I see you spar with Dustin, you're shying away from him!"

My cheeks flushed red as i felt embarassment crawl up my nerves. Dustin laughed it off "That's because Aspen doesn't want to hurt me, despite him being a beast with weaponry!" My brother patted my sister's head "I'm sure you'll be able to see his real skills soon"

"Well I still think Aspen is a chicken!" She mocked before making a really bad chicken impression. Despite her insult, I laughed. It had been a good while since i spent time with my siblings. With all the responsabilities and chores i had to do for my family, I didn't have time to truly enjoy time with them. It was peaceful. I felt happy.

Yet, my mind still couldn't leave the sight of the item Dustin presented me yesterday. 

 

 

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆   

 

 

As he closed the door behind him, his hand reached for a book in his shelf. When he pulled, i heard a faint click! The shelf slowly turned sideways, leading into a small passage. It wasn't strange for our Manor to have secret passages, but I didn't think one would connect with Dustin's bedroom.

As he led me inside, he began to talk. His voice felt almost lifeless, as if death itself was grasping at his throat: "Aspen... I'm showing you this because I trust you and I trust your judgement. You're a good kid, you know that? I truly think that you are better than anyone else in this rotting household... but that isn't why I brought you here today... I need you to promise me something. If I leave tomorrow... if I disappear, if you haven't heard from me... I want you to come here"

The brick hallway turned into a small room: a Hoard. Separate from the family's. Yet aside from the many magic items that caught me eye instantly, there was one sitting at a pedestal that shook me to my core. My mouth opened and hung from my skull like a curtain. My eyes were fixed on it, yet I couldn't believe it was there. 

The Blue Dragon Mask. 

A relic lost in time after Severin's attempt to bring the Many Mouthed Mistress into our plane of existance using the power of the five masks, but he failed due to intervention. The five masks after that, weren't seen for decades. Some thought they were bought by rich nobles or artifact collectors, others were thought to be sealed away in dungeons, or outright destroyed. But now, despite it being damaged, one of them sits in front of me. Of course, while it doesn't have the same full look of the blue dragon head (missing it's lower jaw and some of the scales look fractured and some outright chipped off), yet the power that emanates is draconic in nature.

"How..." my gaze slowly traced back to my brothers, who stared back with a cold, violet gaze "How did you find it? And how did you get it here without Father noticing? Y-you would be heavily rewarded for finding a Dragon Mask! S-surely you would be ascended for this feat! Why no-"

"Aspen." He roared.

I fell silent. If he wasn't my brother, I could've sworn he was about to kill me. Therw was no kindness behind his eyes, no emotions behind the icy expression that he bore. He stepped forward. I stepped back. Every cell in my body screamed for help. I was going to die. I was going to die by the hand of my brother and I couldn't do anything about it. My back hit the wall, and in seconds he was just inches away from me. His hand reached out. I closed my eyes, hoping my death would be painless, but all thoughts cleared when his hand rested on my shoulder. I opened my eyes again. His gaze was stern, but softened.

"No one can know about this mask. Not mom, not dad. No one. If something ever happens, I want you to prioritize the mask's security. Alright?"

 

 

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 

 

 

Now I turned my head at Dustin, who smiled and laughed with is as if that night had never happened. 

Regainning my senses after zoning out, I looked forward to the streets of Neverwinter. Dark clouds thundered from afar in the sky as wind began picking up. 

"We should start heading back home... seems like a storm is coming"

"Wait!" Aeris interrupted Dustin, pulling my hair once more "Can we get something to eat first? I wanna try some Canaulé from the restaurant that mom always buys from!"

Dustin and I looked at each other before sighing. 

We took a right and made our way back to the Merchant's Quarter.

 

"3 Canaulé dishes please. For takeout." Dustin announced at the cashier while i went quickly to the bathroom.

My mind trailed off as I separated from my siblings, specially thinking about what Aeris said about my responsabilities. Father told me that my main goal was to become stronger. After all, I did excel on martial combat, but once Dustin left, everything fell on top of me: since I got out of school pretty early, and I was still underage, father didn't want to send me to missions yet: He kept saying that he wanted to keep me safe, yet sent Dustin on his first mission when he turned 17. And, although I don't have the adventurous drive that bith my siblings have, It would still be nice to wander the world with Dustin and Aeris. I've always wanted to know how Baldur's Gate, or Waterdeep, or travel east to the Sea of Fallen Stars, or even visit the Well of Dragons. In my dreams, sometimes i fantasized about me and my family setting foot in new lands, nothing related to business or our Dark Lady: just time together. I would never share these dreams or ideas, though. My father would call them blasphemous to not act for the word of the Many Mawed Mistress, which I understand, since it's our job to worship and spread Her word, but seeing other families go out on trips or spending time together made me... jealous. Even if i had free time, no one in my family would spend it with me. Hells, I don't even have friends to spend it with. My only "friends" at the moment are Dustin and Aeris

As I come out of the men's restroom, i take one look at Dustin before my heart drops.

"E-excuse me... I'm trying to go- through!" I slimed my way through the crowd of people before reaching him

"Oh, you're back" he said, smiling at me

"D-dustin... where's Ae?"

Chapter 4: Crimson stained Rooftops

Notes:

Wrote this at 3 am, once again I apologize for any spelling mistakes :p

Panic ensued as if a thousand icy needles stabbed onto my spine. Dustin held the gold coins in his hand as he stared at me with a confused glare
"What are you talking about? Ae is right--" but his face drained from all but panic as he realized our sister wasn't with us anymore.
"Shit- Aeris!" Dustin's gaze scanned through the crowd. I did the same, but nothing.
It wasn't until my ears caught the faint whisper of my sister's voice. Inmediately, my eyes shifted towards the direction I heard her from: she was exiting the restaurant, holding... my hand?
"D-Dustin! O-over there!" I pointed. The moment he caught her sight, we both rushed through the crowd, leaving behind the food we came in for in the first place.
My brother pushed a half elf about to enter the bar. She stumbled backwards and i heard her cursing at the both of us before he pushed the door open. We were greeted by the ever constant chattering of the streets. Our gazes swept to both sides, and we found... two Aeris?
On the left side, my sister was holding "my" hand, looking directly at the road in front, without a care in the world. On the other, she was holding my "brother's", as she seemed to be ranting about something I couldn't catch amidst the city cacophony.
"Shit... shapeshifters" Dustin cursed under his breath as he muttered a prayer in draconic
"W-why are they after A-Aeris? A-and h-how do we know which one is our real sister?"
"I guess we'll have to split. We can't lose Aeris. I'll go after myself! You head towards your copy!" He took off running as he unsheathed his claymore
"W-wait! Split!?" But he was gone before i could refute at pur sepatation. "Shit..."
With no time to waste, I pushed my fears and doubts down and ran towards my impostor. I felt the strange glaive's red string tighten around my wrist, hungrily waiting for my command.
I never inspected the Glaive bestowed upon me during the day of my Ascension. The only things i noted is that I could summon it into my hand and that it's material was perfect to channel elemental magic. The Power, granted to me by My Dark Lady, resonated even deeper with the weapon, though.
Once i felt the warm polearm steel materialize in my hand, I picked up speed as I raosed it over my shoulder before screaming
"Aeris! Get away from that man now!"
My sister looked back, her smile going to an expression of shock right before the glaive reached the doppleganger
It didn't connect, though, as the other me parried the weapon with a shortsword, his movements a blur in my eyes. My glaive spun mid air before digging itself into the ground. The crowd let out a gasp and horrified expressions as the doppleganger reached for my sister, covering her mouth and restrainning her wrists
_shit! She can't cast spells now!_ i screamed in my mind as i dodged the people around me. As i called for my weapon again, I watched horrified as he, with uncanny speed, climbed onto the side of the wall of a house and began leaping from roof to roof, heading north east, my sister let out a shrilling scream muffled by the kidnapper's hand.
As i reached the spot he was in, i stared quizzically at the walls around me. My body wasn't as dextrous as he was, for my trainning focused on strength. Without a succesful result of my scan, I hurriedly grabbed onto the loose bricks and wood from the house he lept onto, pulling myself upwards onto the roof tiles. I could sense the eyes of spectators drilling into my back, and despite my urge to stop being the center of attention and leave, I was driven by the fear of losing my sibling.
As my hand reached for the top, I felt the sting of metal pierce through my flesh. I used my feet to push myself to the edge and saw several caltrops laying in front of me. After sweeping them away once i was at the top and heal my wound in the process, i looked up to see myself holding my sister captive. He was not running though. Aspen was standing a few houses away, staring at me, mocking me.
The man had my image to detail: my golden locks in a bowl cut hair style with bangs that sat right above my deep violet eyes. He smiled in a sinister way that I could never think I myself could make.
"Wh-what do you want?!" I roared from my position, fearing that any step I take might make him run from me.
No response.
"Y-you don't want to do this! Le-let my sister go and I'll l-let y-you g-"
"You sound really pathetic trying to threathen me, you know that?" The other Aspen answered, his voice without cracks nor stuttering, even to the point of being overconfident. Even with my sister constantly kicking his stomach, he didn't bulge an inch.
"Wh- wha--"
"I can't believe the Church of Tiamat had such weak nepo-baby nobles to represent it."
Anger boiled inside me like a raging furnace. The mere mention of her name on his unworthy lips was enough to set me off like a fuse. I reached for my glaive, that reappeared onto my grasp and began running towards him.
He shot me a sly grin before taking off. He dashed and danced through the rooftops with ease as I trailed behind with the same grace of a pregnant Rothé. The only thing that compensated for my lack of nimbleness was my brute strangth, letting me jump across ledges with ease, yet i struggled to keep my balance once i ran over the buildings.
Every few seconds he turned around and _kick_ something at me, wether it was a potted plant, a tile, or even a weapon, it seemed like an attempt to slow me down using my blade i parried and cut through whatever he tossed, but I knew I couldn't keep doing this. I had to go into the offensive.
But how? He had Aeris in his grasp and any spell I cast might harm her in the process.
_unless..._
My pace began to slow and i huffed, my lungs begging for air before i was forced to a stop. I let my glaive fall to the ground, clanking loudly against the wood and stone, and put my hands on my knees, barely containning the urge to vomit.
"What is it? Are you tired?" I heard my voice calling from me "Not only incompetent as a cleric, but also in a horrible shape."
His footsteps grew closer. I needed him to get in range...
"You know, my informants told me you were a soon to be captain of a platoon for a group of Tiamat raiders." He chuckled, making my stomach boil once more "I can't imagine a kid like you leading an army of crazy zealots who think that burning down cities will bring their deity back from the Hells!"
_we're not raiders... we are spreading Her word..._ I thought, biting back my tongue in fear he might take off again.
"It's even funnier that I'm wearing your dace to do this! Haha! Truly a poetic failure you are when you are clearly outbested by yours-"
The moment he took that last step, I knew he was in range.
Power gathered at the back of my throat, before i unleashed a word in a deafening roar
"Kneel!"
My Command spell took effect inmediately. Desperation crawled into his expression as he let go of Aeris and knelt down, trying his best to try to even move a limb, yet the enchantment i had casted on him was definite.
In an instant, I let go of my facade and dashed forward, summoning my weapon once more. "Ae! Get away from him!" I pointed the glaive directly at his throat as I rushed in my bull like charge, in an attempt to behead him. However, only inches away from his flesh, I was forced to slash at the incoling bolts fired towards me.
I skidded to a stop, my weapon cut through the flying wooden stakes. The power of my Command spell waned, then i felt the man's cold dagger stab onto my side.
Still, with my face warped as his, he gave me a furious glare as he twisted the blade in my ribs. I reached for his wrist and pulled it back with an iron grip. He stared in disbelief at my own strength, before I headbutted his nose, blood coming out in a stream as I broke it.
He recoiled back, dropping his weapon on the floor and stumbling onto the ground. From the corner of my eye, I saw more bolts headed my way, but before I could prepare myself to block them, an icy wall manifested itself in front of me. My head turned, to see Aeris finishing her conjuration. I gave her a stern nod before picking her up. She set herself on my shoulders, before opening her spell book
"Where's Dustin?"
"He was after another doppleganger. Seems I found the real one, though..."
The doppleganger's disguises flickered away, revealing a human. The sides of his hair seemed cut sort, while the top and the mullet where tied up into a bun. He wore a black tank top, revealing his slim bodies, filled with cryptic like tattoos. On his face, he bore several piercings on his lower lip and eyebrows. Yet what caught your attention were his brilliant, cyan eyes.
My polearm spun in between my fingers, now that an ice wall covered me from further ranged attacks, I could now land a killing blow while he was recovering.
What made me stop was the sound of footfall on both of my sides.
"There's more people coming" I warned Aeris.
Despite the situation, I admired my little sister for keeping her composure. I heard her chanting in draconic, preparing several spells and having them at the ready.
"Keep me protected, Ae. I-I will take the offensive..."
From my left, a half orc emerged wielding dual daggers; from my right, a tabaxi with handaxes.
Channeling lightning through my body, I could feel my senses heighten. The grip on my glaive tightened as tendrils of blue lightning wrapped themselves around the steel. And then, I waited.
The tabaxi rushed in first, her hand reeling back to throw the first handaxe. I spun on my heels and rushed her direction with electricity in my veins. A single thrust of my glaive with powerful strength was enough to force her to a defensive state, dismissing her own attack. Wasting no time as she repositioned herself, i slashed upwards, the tip of the golden blade drawing blood from her chin and the side of her mouth.
Footfall grew closer from behind me. I looked back, hoping that her minor wound would give me time to respond tot he second attacker.
A firebolt emerged from my sister, forcing the thief to dodge to the side. I took the opportunity of his leap to strike him in the chest with the back of my polearm. The hit connected, and before he had the opportunity to respond, I pivoted and slashed at his neck. My killing blow, however, was met with two daggers blocking it's path.
My sister's incantations grew louder and more desperate as i heard a loud thud from behind me. A shimmering icy force field protected my back from several crossbow bolts and one handaxe, all stuck in the magical barrier. Aeris, then, fired 3 Scorchung Rays, 2 of which struck the tabaxi in the chest and shoulder. The fiery bullets continued their trayectory until hitting a building several feet away. The tabaxi, however, didn't stop her charge at me.
I kicked the half orc on the chest, pushing him a few yards away from me, and spun my glaive to slash at the incoming enemy
My attack did not connect, though, as it was halted by a chain whip that stopped it mid track.
The doppleganger held the other end of the metal, which caught me by surprise, not allowing me to see the handaxe that dug itself deep into my bicep. A bit deeper and I might have lost an arm, if it wasnt that my body was still coated in enough Power to prevent major injuries.
Still, blood dripped onto the rooftop, which woke me up from my state of shock. I released the glaive and punched the tabaxi square in the jaw, then grabbed the handaxe from her own grasp and hacked at her neck. Blood streamed out of her jugular as her eyes met mine with shock, then disbelief, then darkness before toppling against the esge of the building and falling to her demise.
The doppleganger and the half orc both rushed forward, but before they could lay a finger on me, they froze in place, as their skin were lightly coated in blue frost, thanks to my sister's Hold Person spell.
First, i reached for the half orc's frozen neck, my hand imnued with dark energy. The moment my fingers made contact, the ice around him turned into a charred brown, then into black, as necrosis took over his shoulders and head. His eyes bulged out, and by the time my Inflict Wounds spell was done with him, his head rolled out into the ground.
Suppressing the memories of my Ascension that threathen to surface, I turned my attention to the doppleganger, who was still struggling to break free from the spell. I grabbed my glaive and unwraped his chain from it, before looking at him in the eyes
"D-Don't ever... d-disrespect Her name like t-that!"
Is stabbed his chest and twisted, blood dripped into my hands, and it's warm feeling flashed me back into the Sacrificial room. I stepped back, leaving the glaive stabbing into the frozen man as I looked down to my bloodied hands. My robes were coated in crimson, several tears exposing my skin and muscles, along with wounds and bruises caised by both parkour and combat.
Yet seeing the bloodstains on my hands flashed the image of the half drow in front of my eyes once more. I had forgotten his name, yet his expression was imprinted im my retina. An ask for mercy. He did not fight like the ones here, yet why did guilt arise at a moment like this? The world became a blur and I froze. I could faintly hear my sister's calling, despite her being by my side. The only thing that woke me up was the sharp pain of the crossbow bolts that pierced through my arms and sides.
"..spen! Aspen! Can't you hear me!? Stop staring at your hands and look at me! I'm running out of mana! We need to get out of here!"
With grunts, i pulled out the wooden bolts out of myself, blood dripping onto the ground before using the last bit of Power to close the wounds, leaving bullet-like scars. It didn't bother me, though. Because of how weak my healing spells are, ever since I started learning how to control divine spellcasting, I could never make scars dissppear. For this, my body was covered in myriads of them.
I turned around and resummoned my glaive. Aeris had use a bit more of mana to create an icy wall to protect myself from the ranged attackers.
Once again, I used the last bit of my Power reserves to seal my wounds and make my bruises heal. I couldn't do anything about my robes, though.
A sigh escaped my lips, yet I knew I had to find Dustin.
As I headed towards the way i came from, I suddenly felt something grip and twist at my ankle. A grunt escaped my mouth as I looked down, only to see a spiked chain stabbing onto my skin. The doppleganger was the user of the weapon. He was trying to keep me here. The hole in his chest was still there, yet he was still able to pull back. It wasnt his strength that kept me there, rather the shock that he could get up from such grace wound
"Fuck- how do I take this shit-"
"Aspen! Look out!"
I turned around once more, to see a large brute rushing towards me. I released the whip and prepared myself to be met by his strength. As our arms locked, i skidded to the edge of the building. The Bugbear's body towering over me, yet even when he tried to push me off fully, I didn't budge. He unleashed a string of curses, but he couldn't overpower me. Aeris, doing an effort to stay on my shoulders, condensed flames into a sphere before throwing it at the attacker
_"Ignis!"_ she roared as the fire exploded in the humanoid's face, weakening his grip. Using this to my advantage, I grasped the man's long arm and used his recoil to redirect his movement. In a fast motion, I threw the 7 ft tall bugbear over my shoulder and into the alleyway behind me. I watched as he fell over a bunch of planks of wood, yet I grew surprised when the wood broke, letting him into a deeper fall inside of a giant, dark hole.
"What the...-"
As I looked at the abyss, I wasn't able to notice the one who would push me into it.
The doppleganger hurled himself towards me, pushing me by the hip in an attempt to throw me with him into the void. At first, of course, I wasnt pushed off, but the impact made Aeris lose balance. My heart dropped when she fell off of my shoulders, her hand reaching for mine, but my reflexes not fast enough to catch her.
I let myself embrace the gravity and began to fall... with the doppleganger.
I couldn't catch Aeris with him still trying to restrain me. Mid air, I wiggled until i was facing him before grabbing his head and snapping his neck with a quick motion. His face was backwards as I released myself from his grip. Then, I reached for the falling Aeris and pulled her close, wrapping her around me like a cocoon. I would take the worst of the fall, but I didn't care. My sister wouldn't survive a drop like that.
The light of the afternoon soon went from a warm blanket into a spot in the distance as me, my sister, and the body of the doppleganger fell inside of the hole. My embrace tightened around my sister, knowing the ground would hit soon... but that never came. I opened my eyes to see me and my sister outlined in silvery mana as we floated right above the concrete ground. To my right, the bugbear, his ribs jutting out of his chest and his skull opened. To my left, the doppleganger, dead.

Chapter 5: The Hankerchief that Cleaned the Blade.

It didn't take long for me and Aeris to make it out of the sewers. My sister tried to stay awake, but due to the lack of mana after the confrontation she couldn't help falling asleep. I took one of the cloaks from the corpses of the rogues and made my way through the alleyways and less populated streets. I avoided main roads like the plague, in fear of running into more thieves or any Wintershield Watchmen or Neverwinter Guards. After all, the battle i took place in made quite the commotion. However, the heavy pouring rain must be washing away the bloodstains off of the buildings. I uttered a small prayer the moment it began to rain, and used the Power granted to cast a Shield of Faith spell on top of me, serving as an umbrella for me and my sister. The invisible shield could have drawn some stares if I stayed still, but running through the rain masked it pretty well, specially since people might just take it as if i was trying to find a place to slip into to avoid the droplets. 

After an hour or so, I found myself at the entrance gate near Blacklake. Guards, despite the weather, roamed the fortified gate as any other day, yet my appearance and anxiety could raise suspicion.

I hid underneath some horse stables, where i set down Aeris and tried to calm myself down. 

After making sure no one was around, I took off my top robes and set them in front of me. My hand reached inside of my bag of holding, where i produced a needle and a thread ball and began working. I admit that despite my hands being trained to kill, my mother taught me some tips on how to sew. The holes and tears on my clothes were sealed shut with a golden string, and time passed quickly.

"Shit--!" I cursed in a whisper as the needle stabbed into my finger, drawing blood.

I would usually wipe it clean-specially now that I don't have any Power left- but as I gazed into the dripping liquid, my mind couldn't help but jump back at the half drow. It felt a bit ironic: I just killed four people, yet I still went back to the first one that begged me for mercy. I felt... bad. When I turned 14, I had already aknowledged thay my family and me myself weren't good people. In fact, I had embraced it. I trained every day under my parents' and teachers' watchful gazes to become a soldier for My Queen; I had stolen gold and killed creatures and monsters to feed their souls to the Dark Lady; hells, I even poisoned and kidnapped a follower of Bahamut and sacrificed him. Yet... why did I keep thinking of him? My chest felt tight as if there was a string that kept pulling my heart and lungs to sink deeper... was this... guilt? Did I feel guilty for assasinating someone that was pleading for his life? No... I shouldn't... these weren't part of the teachings I have been taught. We are supposed to carve the way out for her, to annihilate any other cleric, priest or follower of any other god and bring Her Majesty to World Domination... yet... I couldn't even get out of my head the only Bahamut follower I had murdered. Even worse, I ate him for my birthday dinner. 

The beats in my heart grew faster. What if the Dark Lady was hearing all of this? My insecutiry and faltering of faith will surely make her mad... she will cut off my spells and keep me in the dark... father will disown me and throw me into the streets for being a failure. Aeris and Dustin will never talk to me again and I will never achieve what I've been trainning for so long... I will be a failure, a disappointment... a...

"Brother!" A yell amidst the constant bullets of rain rung into my ears. My mind calmed at the sight of Dustin.

 

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

 

"Seems like you got the real Aeris, huh?" Dustin's Ring of Mending slowly closed the openings on my robes, making it seem as if nothing had happened to them in the first place.

"Y-yeah... and a-after we escaped... I-I took o-one of the robes and r-ran away... I-I dont want any watchmen or g-guards after me... father would be so mad..."

As I sulked, I was shut out of my feelings as my brother flickered my forehead.

"Oww! W-what was that for!?"

"You just saved your sister's life, took down potential threaths to our House, and you still worry about what dad is going to say?" He stared at me, bewildered "I can't believe this is how dad raised you..."

My brother sat in front of me, eyes closed as he pinched his nose.

I looked down, mt hands still i above my eyebrows "a-are you mad at me...?"

"Wh-what? No, no, Aspen- it's just that- ugh!"

He placed his hands in both of my shoulders as he glared directly into my soul "I don't want you tto berate yourself for doing a good thing. If it wasn't for you, the Hells know where they could've taken Aeris. You are a good kid, Aspen. I want you to know that. If dad yells at you for this, he will have to go through me, but if you keep living under the expectations of father, you will never be anything but a shadow."

I stared at my brother, both shocked and awed by his words. I stuttered, trying to get words in response, but my train of thought was interrupted as Aeris stirred awake.

A yawn escaped her lips before rubbing her eyes. She gave us both a tired look "Hi Dustin... when did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago, are you okay?"

"Yeah... Aspen kept me safe"

"That's good. Seems like you're low on magic. Wanna head home?"

"Yeah... I wanna sleep early... I have an exam in a few days..."

"Alright. After the rain stops, we'll head to our prayer site and then back home."

It took only a couple of minutes for the rain to stop. The grey clouds cleared and the sun slowly made it's way towards the horizon.

 

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

 

I carefully placed the gold coins and bundle of gems into the small hoel I carved onto the ground before burying it. I stared directly at the beautiful, merigold dusk and closed my eyes. Putting my hands together, I prayed.

"Chromatic Dragon, Conquer our weakness..." I uttered, my words true and without stutter "Let the flames of Your wrath consume the heretics and expand upon our world... Many mouths speak your Hunger, so let me be the loudest."

As I finished my prayer, I felt Power surging through my body: it's warmth bringing me a feeling of both euphoria and calm. It meant that even after my doubts, Her Grace still loved me... 

It was a feeling I couldn'r express well, but the fact that even with my flaws, my second thoughts and my insecurities... she still saw me worthy of her power. It wasn't like Father, who nagged at evrery small mistake I made, or Esva, who used my insecurities against me. Her Grace sees past that and... trusted me. 

Once I felt my divine reserves filled, I opened my eyes and looked up at Dustin and Aeris, who were both waiting for me.

We got away from the main road that led to one of the many entrances of Neverwinter and ventured into the grasslands, ehere our Mansion was only a few minutes away, deep into the tall green blades.

I looked up at the golden arch with our last name forged in gold. A long, enchanted iron fence surrounded our four story home; several statues of red dragons -distinguished by their horns due to the lack of color -guarded the main gate, their eyes pairs of refined jaspers with runes placed on their foreheads. I could watch from the pathway our butlers bustling inside of the manor, preparing everything for dinner. Today was the last day our uncles would be staying: they came for my birthday and Ascension, after all. That would mean that Esva would also be gone... I let out a sigh of relief, but inmediately sucked it back im at the sight of mom and dad opening the door.

"Kids!" My mother spoke with a smile in her face while her hands dangled from my father's neck "You're just on time! Dinner will be ready in five minutes!"

Violet Chromaclaw was a ver beautiful woman: in fact, most of Dustin's and Aeris' features came from her, unlike you: she had long, wavy hair that reached her lower back, a set of prominent deep blue eyes that matched her smile; her button nose similar to Aeris, and her puffy cheeks similar to Dustin's. The only feature that made you two similar was the small spot right underneath my lip and the barely visbile freckles on our noses. I knew my appereance wasn't great, but next to my family, I looked more like the ugly duckling. 

"Hi mom, Hi dad" Dustin smiled at them 

"Where were you all?" My father quizzed

"Just hanging out in Neverwinter. We were gonna bring Canaulé, but the shop was closed.

"Oh, really? Then why is Aeris without mana?"

My father glared at me, drilling his gaze into my skull as if looking for answers. Inmediately I began to sweat profusely, but Dustin, once more, interjected.

"She was just showing us some of her new spells. Her affinity with Fire has grown better, and her Ice spells are just as good as ever. Isn't that right, Ae?

Aeris nodded innocently. My brother gave our parents and authentic smile, yet I sat there, still frozen like a deer in candle light. 

Oscar growled, his gaze still drilling into me, but it was interrupted by my mothers elbow digging into his side. He looked at her for a second, before scuffing and taking a step forward. 

"Aspen... your mother talked with me... and... uh..." it was strange to see my father unable to find the words he meant to say "I would like to... apologize to you."

I froze

"It was unfair of me to listen to that mutt in our family and take away celebrations from you... after all, you work hard every day and improve your connection with Our Lady every time you can. I haven't been fair to you, and I would like to apologize for that. I will keep organizing parties for your achievements."

I was in shock. I didn't know wether to laugh, cry, shout, or run away. My emotions reacted faster than me, because I didnt feel the tears rolling down my eyes.

'Aspen, what did I say about crying?" Oscar aprehended

I quuckly wiped them off my face and saluted "yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" I was happy. I could finally aknowledge it. 

"Rest." He nodded "see you all at dinner" 

He turned around and headed deeper into the manor. My mom gave me a thumbs up before following him. 

 

 

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

 

The rest of the night progressed normally: the banquet was exquisite. Our uncles had raided a no-name hamlet today in the morning, and we feasted upon the less damaged bodies of the commoners. I glanced to the seat right next to mine, Where Dustin sat peacefully as he ate dinner. To my right, Aeris had just finished devouring her food.

I took a bite as joy filled my heart. With Dustin here, Esva wouldn't be able to pick on me, and I could enjoy my meal with both of my siblings. 

After dinner, I bid goodnight to my family. I changed robes and put on a set of pijamas, but before I could sleep, I heard a light knock at my door

"How are you doing, my little kobold?" My mom opened the door and closed it behind her, in her hand, a gold chalice still filled with liquor.

"I-I'm doing fine. T-thanks for talking to dad, mom"

She sat down next to me before taking another sip "No problem, sweetie. I'm sorry your father made you go through that on your birthday. I know you put a lot of effort into getting that Bahamutan, and it was wrong for Esva to taint the fun for you. Sorry I didn't adress it sooner, though. I had arrangements with your dad that night"

I couldn't help but sigh. I smiled at Violet as I tucked myself into bed. I felt her icy soft fingers run through my hair 

"You know, I've been wanting for you to get rid of that haircut for a while now..." she revealed 

"B-but that's the haircut dad says I should use to be a s-soldier..."

"Oh, my little kobold. You're 18 now. I'm pretty sure you can spread the word of Her Grace with a better look. Do you have any plans tomorrow?"

"N-no..."

"Good. I'm taking you AND Aeris to fix your haircuts. Your sister sometimes looks like a bird's nest." 

A giggle escaped my lips as she got up and took another sip from her drink "Have sweet dreams, Aspen. Don't let the pseudodragons munch your toes~"

With a flick of her wrist, the candles in my room went off, and I closed my eyes as I slowly sank into deep slumber.

 

KENDRICK GRASON'S POV

 

The writhing of my flesh forcing itself to bind each tissue faster is a feeling I would never wish upon anyone. I could hear my inner organs twist and grow inside my body, and my bones snap and rebuild themselves to fill the hole that the Chromaclaw kid stabbed with his glaive. I turned my head slightly, every fiber of my being screaming in pain as I did so, to watch the pool of my own blod beneath me drift to the sides and meld with the merky waters of Neverwinter's sewage. I let out a sigh, this curse of Inmortality isnt as pleasant as many people think, specially when you feel every cell and tissue forcing themselves into existance and trying to meld with the rest.

I let out a sigh, which inmediately made my ribs burn like a raging hellfire, but quickly subsided as the healing factor finished taking effect.

I slowly got up from my crimson puddle, looking down at the wounds that were inflicted upon me, now good as new-except from my clothes, of course. 

"Tch... that's the fifth shirt ripped this month" I muttered as wiped the blood off of me.

I looked around in the sewers, met with only darkness. It wasn't until I heard footsteps from behind me that I ignored all protest od my body to take a fighting position. I cracked my chain whip against the floor and spun it's head with my other hand, looking directly at the dark sillouette in front of me. It wasn't until he stepped into the moonlight that I let myself relax

"Sharp as ever, Grason" Zeke praised, his hands behind his back, his eyes scanning the bloodied mess and his face expressionless as ever.

"Don't scare me like that... that kid was tough and the pain is already hard to manage while I'm healing. I don't need another fight to damage my clothes even more."

"You did fulfill your purpose, though." 

The man walked forward, signaling for me to follow.

"Cigarrete?" He motioned the thin wide stick in between his fingers in front of my face

"No thanks, I don't smoke"

My decline amused him "Inmortal being, but doesn't smoke? Sounds like a God in the line of a fruit market"

"I don't like how my lungs feel when they're trying to regenerate the damage"

"Suit yourself" he took a puff "So... what did you think of the kid? Did you get enough information out of that little play fight of yours?"

"You callin' that a play fight!? He murdered four of my men and threw the biggest one out of the roof like some sort of tribal warrior! I threw myself towards him when he wasn't focusing, but that little shit of his sister didn't let him die with me"

After finishing the cigar, he tossed the tail towards the waters "And... what would you say was his biggest weakness?"

"Well- he ain't all that dextrous. In fact it took him a lot to catch up to me. Got to taunt him and shit- that's also another thing: he hates it when you say something bad about his deity. Pretty weird if you ask me when your god's agenda is to take over the world, but who am I to judge?"

"Speed and ego, got it. Anything else I should know about?"

"Yeah, that little sister of his? An absolute monster. One of her spells cut two holes through one of my thieves. She protegted his rear and his flank, better to keep 'em separated, but I do think he would have still held his ground without her."

"Noted, but we already have a contingency plan for the girl"

"Contingenc-- what? Wait... you never told me what you were gonna do with all the info I just gave you"

"Aren't mercenaries as refined as yourself smart enough to know when to not ask questions?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know I said that, but... y'know, its rare to see Bahamutans hiring our services and... it's obvious that you most likely hate the Chromaclaws, but I've been here in Neverwinter a short amount of time and I know the political and economical power they hold. What exactly are you all planning to do?"

He halted, forcing me to stop in my tracks. 

"The Chromaclaws hold an artifact that they shouldn't have at their disposal"

"And that is...?"

"...none of your current business" he stated, turning around to glare atme with his dark amber eyes.

"... Damn. You know, you're pretty edgy for being a Bahamutan. I don't see you carry around any holy symbol or anythin' of that sort"

"I am not one by choice, but yes, I worship the Platinum Dragon"

"Not by choi... you know what? I'm gonna stop asking for details. Where's my pay? I'm pretty sure we agreed to 100 gold pieces for playing cat and mouse with the noble"

"Yeah... about that..."

It wasn't that I didn't expect betrayal, it was the fact that he brought company that I didn't notice that bothered me. I felt the flat of the claymore strike at my back, throwing me to the ground as I felt the shards of my spine stab into the flesh around it. I looked up at him, but before I could utter the words, his boot struck at my face, leaving me to first see stars, then darkness.

 

ASPEN CHROMACLAW'S POV

 

A desert. The sandy winds struck against my armor cladded body as I huffed due to the exhaustion of the battle. In front of me, a faceless Bahamutan: covered in platinum scales and wielding a longsword and a shield, it feels like I have been fighting him for ages, yet it feels like I just got here.

No matter; in my mind, I knew my mission: eliminate him.

I took a step forward, my feet sinking into the dune as I prepared my own Scythe for battle. I spun it in between my fingers, aiming the sharp head towards his neck.

With a quick swipe, he stopped my attack and lunged towards my chest. Using the momentum of the Scythe, I spun it and blocked his strike with the handle, then pivoted to the side and dug the blade into his left thigh. He quickly kicked it away with his other foot and unleashed a torrent of slashes and hacks at me. My weapon managed to block his high speed, countering perfectly. Elemental energy surged within my hand and the moment I found an opening, I unleashed a torrent of black ice towards him. With his shield up, my spell only managed to push him backwards as he dug his heels onto the sand. 

As the spell ended, however, I realized that my magic reserves were painfully low.

With this in mind, I rushed forward, my movements blurry due to my high speed, I hacked at the man's arm, cutting it off. Blood sprayed around us as he let out a pained cry. Then, I kicked his chest, knocking him off balance. I pressed my heel against his body, forcing him to stay down. Putting the Scythe to his neck, I scoffed, but when I talked, it wasn't my voice that escaped my lips.

"The Chosen of Bahamut, hm? A mere joke without a punchline." 'I' said, but instead of my usual baritone, it came out as a countertenor female voice. "With ot without army, the Dark Lasy still rises above you."

He tried to reach for his sword with his remainning hand, but with a quick swipe i threw his weapon even further away from him.

It seemed like he said "my" name, but it sounded like a blur "... Please don't do this. You can't let her lead you astray-"

"And who are you to tell where my path lies?" I inched my weapon's sharp cloder to him, but lead it's tip undernesth the helmet that covered his face. "You say to serve the Platinum Dragon with pride, yet you hide yourself underneath a barrier of steel... who are you?"

The polearm slowly took the helmet off, but he... didn't really have a face. Not like a blur, though: he physically didn't have one. Skin had taken over his eyes, nostrils and mouth, as if it melted on yop of him. He tried to speak, but flesh got on the way. 

I felt my heart drop. The wriggling of eyes underneath the skin amd the tongue trying to crawl out brought me nausea. I turned around to vomit, but the scenery had changed into a throne, where I sat in front of several of my family members. I could recognize their bodies and hair, but... their faces are coated in their own skin, similar to the warrior that was in front of me a moment ago.

They chanted... a melody I recognize yet the words were all a blur: like shattered crystals trying to place themselves back together to form a coherent thought. 

W a k e. U p.

 A warm liquid ran through my hair and fell onto my face. I looked up, the ceiling just a huge cloud of darkness. I touched the top of my head, where i felt something solid placed on top of it. After taking it off, I realized it was a crown

W a k e. U p.

It's gold shone with the flickering lights of the crimson torches, the gems embedded into it coated in blood. It hummed the same twisted melody the skin puppets of my family sung. I could hear it... I could feel it. Like a heartbeat with a rising pulse.

W a k e. U p.

Then, I could hear it. I could hear Her.

That moment of clarity, that second of light was all I needed to realize this was a dream. My body felt hot and sweat fell down my face, I needed to get out of here. The room around me melted like a candle at the presence of heat.

W a k e. U p.

I forced myself out of it. Trying to send signals towards my sleeping body from my drifting consciousness, I sent Power down my spine. The magical essence fortunately reached my senses, jolting me awake im the process.

And I was greeted with the sight of flames.

Notes:

Tried to make it longer this time! Hope yall like it xoxo

Chapter 6: A Platinum Spark amidst the Crimson Mist

Notes:

Was filming some stuff for my finals but I managed to write this lol

The familiar scent of smoke filled my lungs and it's thickness irritated my eyes. Panic was injected in my heart, making me hyperventilate. I looked through my window, my room being at the top floor of the manor, and watched in horror as the home I've been living in was up in flames. 

Looking down at the front yard, I saw the perpetrators of it all: Bahamutans. 

Many platinum clad warriors with the disgusting symbol of the Platinum Dragon fought the now animated statues of red dragons. Despite the constructs' strength, they seemed to be struggling against the Paladins' tactics.

I also spotted 2 of my aunts: Dalia and Anabelle Chromaclaw. My aunt Dalia was fighting against 3 clerics at the same time, her movements swift as she dodged many of the hacks and spells from her opponents, before striking with deadly strenght and precision through their armor. Aunt Anabelle, on the other half, conjured deadly vines around Dalia, limiting the terrain of her attackers before setting them in a beautiful, crimson wild fire. 

Then it hit me: my family must be fighting too. 

With as much speed as I could, I quickly changed clothed and looked for any useful armor. Looking through the small armory i had made for myself, I reached for a blue dragon scale armor. Looking at the runes inside it, I quickly pressed them in the order my uncle Silvant had told me to. In an instant, the blue scale half plate slithered on my skin and formed itself on top of me, keeping me protected. 

Now with the armor covered, I reached for some hand axes and placed them on my hip. I also grabbed a hand crossbow and rapidly placed it on my bag of holding, along with a few bolts.

I made my way towards my door. I summoned the strange glaive bestowed upon me and opened the exit as I was welcomed with flames, screams... and corpses. 

My instincts kicked in as I ducked an arrow that was aimed to my head. I looked to my right, where the missile came from, to see my uncle Donald casting a protective barrier near the entrance of the hallway were my room was. One of the arrows managed to slip through the many cracks his spell already had.

"Uncle Donald!" I called, running to his side

"Oh! Aspen! My boy! Ho ho! You finally woke up!" Despite his jolly smile and upbright attitude, it was clear that he was struggling to keep his spell up.

"There's another!" One of the archers shouted, as two more nocked their strings back.

There were four in total: three archers and one caster at the back, arranged in a T formation. I looked at my uncle, who was fully well versed in graviturgy "Why haven't you killed them yet!?"

"Oh, my boy! Don't wanna ruin your dad's house now, do we?" He smiled awkwardly "take them down! I'll cover you!"

Almost inmediately, I could feel a surge of power within my body. As my uncle finished his casting, his Haste spell took hold of me. Hissing steam enanated from my growing muscles, and the world moved slow around me in comparison from everyone else. 

As it did, many things emerged in my mind: Aeris, Dustin, mom, dad... I needed to make sure everyone else was alright. I had been asleep for Lady knows how long, so the chances they were hurt-or worse- were high. I was trained to be a soldier, a sword and a shield for my family. If there had been any time to do my job, was right now.

With thundering speed, i blitzed through the cracking barrier of my uncle, shattering it in a thousand pieces before raising my glaive and readying a slash towards the archers.

Their eyes widened in shock as they released their projectiles. With swift swipes, I parried their arrows to the sides, flying off course from me and Uncle Donald. 

I lept towards a wall and pushed myself off of it to slash the first archer in the neck. It's head came off clean as the crimson liquid sprayed onto the windows of the manor. The other three looked at their fallen companion, so I took their distraction and swiped upwards at the second one's chest. My increased strength and enhanced speed made my weapon cut through her chestplate like butter, leaving a deep gash that went from her hip to her shoulder. She let out a pained yelp before i kicked her in the center of the wound, pushing her towards the wall behind her. The wood and stone cracked at the impact, as I could hear bone shatter before she fell to the ground. The third archer, though, managed to raise his bow to block my attack. His attempt was futile, however, as my blade pierced through the wood an managed to cut his face in half.

As I turned my gaze towards the caster, I felt my body freeze. Mana was heavily pressed against every part of my body, as the caster focused his Hold Person spell on me. Her hands interlocked, a radiant ball of light accumulating energy by every milisecond. She aimed it directly after me right before reciting in Celestial--

Yet the attack never came, as the spell fizzled out of existance. She looked down at her hands, only to be met by a giant rock thrown at her. I could hear her body crunch by the massive stone before she was flattened against the carpet.

"Oh ho! I guess Oscar won't get mad at me for my bad taste in decoration!" The spell created by the caster faded as my uncle walked up to my side. 

"Uncle! W-what's going on!? W-why is the house in flames? Why are the B-bahamutans a-attacking us?"

"Calm down, calm down, boy. To be quite frank, I don't know either." He quickly took a hankerchief and handed it to me "We woke up to the sound of our windows being shattered, and several of these men walked up and started attacking us! Clearly they have underestimated us, none of our family members have fallen... or at least that's what I know. Your mother sent me upstairs to protect you, but I got stuck in between those archers and... I didnt wanna use too much graviturgy in case it destroyed your room... but oh ho! You're here now!"

"With you on the battlefield, this will be a clean swipe! That being said... I have been here for the past few minutes, I have not checked on our family..."

"W-we should get moving..." I mantained my composure as the Haste spell ended it's effects, leaving me with a sense of exhaustion, as if I just ran a marathon "...and find the others. Do you remember where the fight was mostly gathered?"

"That was in the entrance. Before I left, Dustin and your parents were dealing with the stronger ones while leaving the weaker to the rest."

I nodded.

"Let's move"

 

DUSTIN CHROMACLAW

 

My divine infused Claymore cleaved through the bahamutian soldier in front of me. The blood evaporated at the touch of radiant energy, and the flesh was sliced like a knife through butter. The top half was sent upwards to the right while the lower half fell to the ground, tainting the house crimson and filling the hallway with bodies.

I raised my weapon to my shoulders and readied myself for another strike, but the enemy I had locked my eyes into was sent flying by a blast of infernal energy, searing through his chest as life left his eyes.

To my sides, my mother and father smirked at the Bahamutan's demise as the energy around my mother's hand cooled down

"Reminds me of our first raid as a family. Truly brings wonderful memories, doesn't it, Dustin?" My father, despite his stern expression, looked relished in joy as the enemies of the Dark Lady fell one by one. Draconic Runes crawled up his arms and onto his neck as blue fire manifested at his fingertips

"There's... something off about it, though." I replied "These Bahamutans are nowhere near as strong as the ones I've faced. It feels... off. And there's more coming our way... it's not possible that there's these many fighters for one assault."

"Maybe they have grown weaker... of you have grown stronger" my mother snickered, infernal glyphs manifesting in front of her as she prepared another spell "focus on spilling blood, we'll do the body count later~"

"Let this be a gift for the Many Headed Goddess! Tonight she shall feast on the blood of her enemies. Every drop of their blood is another source of strength for her day of Conquering." 

My father rushed forward before teleporting up into the sky, spectral draconic wings potruding from his back. His head lunged back, as mana gathered around his throat before he spilled a massive torrent of blue flames towards the enemy lines in the main hallway. Those who managed to escape the draconic breath by a hair were pushed back into the teal inferno by my mother's eldritch blasts.

As much as I would love to let loose, I asborbed back in the energy i had imbued into my claymore. The long, heavy blade's light slowly dissipated, going back to it's original metallic crimson hue. My instincts screamed for me to save energy for something else, so I followed it. 

I lifted the weapon to my shoulders once more and dove head first into another group of soldiers. 

Even without divine Power aiding me, with just a couple of hacks and slahes i was able to down several of the divine men that I fought, making my suspicions grow. 

The fight went on for several minutes, the number of enemies never decreasing, despite my family's attempts. Many things weren't adding up:

One of the things that I've noticed is that, no matter how many soldiers I struck down, the number of corpses in the ground remained the same. Was someone dragging them away? No, it couldn't be... we even killed the healers the moment they set foot here, it's impossible for a body to be dragged out in secret with Chromaclaws on watch. But then again... how come the number is still the same?

Another thing was the fact that the soldiers got easier to kill. Usually with this much fighting, my legs and arms are already tired, and my movements are more sluggish, yet despite my tired muscles I was still able to down fighters with a single strike at their chests.

Lastly, what was their purpose of their arrival? Just to throw themselves towards death? We've had raids from many other factions before: they wanted our wealth, our magic items, or even a family member or friend... but they just seemed to throw themselves at my blade for nothing in particular. 

I looked at my parents, who were already way past their half on magic reserves. Despite this, however, both of my parents were having fun. My mother controlled a thick, ashen cloud as an extemsion of herself, while my father was coated in blue flames, his spell mking him ressemble something akin to a wyvern. The tapestry in the walls crumbled into dust by their heat, and the scent of cooked flesh filled my senses.

That's when I saw it. From within the large pools of blood behind my mother, dark mana seemed to take hold of a limb. It jerked and snapped it's broken bone into place, before the dark aura crawled down it's body like a myriad of spiders. The rest of it's limbs jolted awake, and the twisted neck whirled back into it's correct position. It grabbed a greataxe from the ground and threw itself towards my father, who was distracted by another platoon.

I clenched my fist and raised my claymore as I prepared to charge towards it, but I stopped in my tracks as a spear of Infernal light stabbed through the body of the soldier, pinning it against a wall and letting it's weapon fall to the ground. Looking up, I smiled as I saw the perpetrator was my own brother

"Aspen!" I cheered, but inmediately I scanned the area as I injected my eyes with Power. The world fell into a monochrome state as particles of magic where the only color projected around me.

And, to my demise, every single corpse on the ground was coated in a thick layer of necromantic energy.

"I'm quite surprised it took you this long to notice, Dustin"

 

ASPEN CHROMACLAW

 

The voice boomed from the halls of the house, but it's origin came from the front doors that were bust open by a single kick. My parents managed to choke the life out of the remainning standing soldiers on their side before twisting their heads towards the new entity. 

A man. He stood at 6' in height, with brilliant bronze skin covered in golden tattoos. His long, wild wavy jet black was combed back with several streaks of grey and white addorning his mane. He sported an uneven goatee, along with a scar that went from the side of his face towards the side of his lower lip. A pair of cinnabar eyes scanned the room and landed onto me. He smirked in an enchanting, yet terrifying way.

"What charming family you have, Dustin. Hope I haven't made any bad impressions yet." He mocked, as his grip tightened on a glowing chain that seemed to be linked to something behind him. Then, with a powerful pull, the other end of the chain was sent forward, showing both of my aunts,Dalia and Annabelle, tied up and unconscious. Burn-like marks spread across their arms and faces, with silver ashes and white embers on their skin. 

 

R u n .

 

Something echoed in my head, begging me to get away from him. I wasn't sure what it was, but it was similar to what I heard in my dreams.

"I will not let a Silver scale hurt my family. You have written your name on your Tombstone, heretic!" Mana swirled around my father's arms: a series of complicated glyphs coated his body as a thick layer of protection, the draconic runes glowing with beautiful blue flames. He lauched himself towards the man as fire spiraled around him like a cerulean tornado, and their impact caused the heat to explode all around us. 

I quickly hid behind a pilar, avoiding to get hit by the flames as I felt their blaze tickle at the side of my ears. However, shock stunned my limbs as I saw my own father trapped inside of a Force Cage spell, casted by the strange Bahamutan at our door.

Gasps from my family members echoed around me, my father encased in a transparent forcefield. I could see him try to cast teleportstion spells to release himself, but it was just met with mana being drained off from his body.

 

R u n.

 

It rumbled in my mind once more, but I was brought outside of my thoughts by my mother's furious yell.

A cloud of crimson ash compressed in rings around her hands before she shot them out like a soundwave towards the cinnabar-eyed man. 

It was futile, however, as he parted the ashen cloud with the flick of a finger.

The deathly smoke was divided into two streams, heading into the outside of our manor with neckbreaking speed.

"You surely didn't spend your mana well, Mrs. Violet." He teased, drawing a draconic symbol in the air that I didn't recognize "It is such a shame to have to use such a high spell on such a beautiful woman... but we can't have you rely all this to your Patron, can we?"

The sigil expanded into brilliant platinum chains that wrapped around her hands and neck. I watched horrified as my very own mother shrank into nothing more than a jade pearl ring.

The ornament fell onto the ground, tinkling thrice before rolling at his feet. He picked it up, in between his thumb and index before slipping it into his ring finger.

"The great Messenger of Chromatic Wrath is nothing more than a piece of jewerly... oh, how the mighty have fallen...~" Zeke mocked, my father banging the walls of his imprisonment at the sight of his wife's defeat.

Instead of screaming, however, silent anger boiled from within my very core. 

It felt as if something had flipped inside me: either my stomach, my mind or my heart: but the pure rage that bubbled like a magma cauldron rose to every cell in my body. The thin red string that connected me to my glaive tightened, as if sensing my fury. I grabbed the weapon with both hands and infused Power into my legs, ready to leap forward and-

"Aspen!" Dustin yelled, his eyes drilling into my skull "go get Aeris and get out of here!"

"But-"

"That's an order!" He cut me off before I could even answer. But the way he looked at me was giving me something else than rage. No, it was giving me a message.

His eyes were a mixture of frustration and determination, that suddenly turned cold and emotionless. I knew that gaze. I had almost died by it's hand.

I knew what he wanted me to do.

Our glares disconnected as a platinum beam of energy fired towards my brother. Dustin raised his curved greatsword, using the flat of the blade as a shield from the spell. The attack sobered me, and I took off running.

Chapter 7: A Soldier's Duty; A Brother's Responsability

Notes:

I had college finals which took most of my time, but aye, I'm back!

DUSTIN CHROMACLAW

 

I dug the tip of my feet into the wooden ground, the metallic screech of my boots avoiding for me to get pushed any further by Zeke's spell. The silvery beam deflected and scattered, smaller rays hiting the walls and ceiling, but only scrapping my weapon. Once the beam dissipated, I took the claymore off of the ground and imbued my body with Power, creating a thick layer of divine magic around my body. It worked wonders inmediately, as Zeke was already behind me and stabbed to my back, only to be met with my magic and armor's resistance. With monstrous speed, he hacked again at my sides, but his gold and cerulean scimitar only managed to briefly open the layer before I swung with my weapon towards his neck, the blade creating a wide scarlet arc, but it didnt meet my destination as he lept back.
I focused Power onto the sharp of my blade and slashed diagonally at him once more, a wide crescent of golden and scarlet light flew towards my enemy, hitting him square in the chest before he was able to touch the ground. He was pushed back into a wall, the crash lifting up dust and debris.
Once the cloud dissipated, I saw him.
From the crater in the wall, Zeke laughed. A psychotic cackle bubbled from his throat, his eyes rolled back into a mixture of pain and ecstasy. In this state, it was almost unimaginable that this man was supposed to be Bahamut's future chosen. His head kicked forward as his hair fell on top of his shinning cinnabar eyes, glinting with euphoria. The wound I caused in his body tore his robes and opened the flesh on his chest and abdomen, but it slowly sealed itself as he started to expulse healing magic onto hid body, not a care in the world about how much mana he was using.
Like stiches, the slash closed by parts before sealing off completely. Then, he pulled his arms off of the crater and pushed himself into freedom.
"I forgot how thrilling it is to fight you, Dustin. I truly hoped you exhausted your magic like your parents, but it seems you are still as a cockroach as ever"
"Why are you doing this? I thought you Bahamutans were wise enough not to attack one of the Chomaclaw houses"
"I am not like any 'Bahamutan', and you know this."
"True. You are like a puppet that that old man won't let go of. I give you one last warning, Zeke. Release my parents and leave my family alone. And maybe, I'll consider--"
Without warning, Zeke shot forward, his body a mere blur, before his blade slashed at the side of my armor. The metal gave away like a knife through butter and cut open my flesh. I pushed magic into the wound to try and stop the bleeding, but a second cut slashed at the back of my knee, sending me toppling down. My chin hit the ground hard, but I ignored the pulsing pain and rolled, managing to dodge the downward thrust of my opponent's blade by a few inches.
Focusing Power towards my knee, I stood back up. The wound stopped bleeding, and some of the tissue regenerated, but it was still open, and I already lost a lot of Power in that Crescent Smite. I couldn't win. Zeke was faster, smarter, and had a huge supply of mana feeding his spells. The last time I faced him, he wasn't like this, no. I clearly remember overpowering him. My blade slashed clean through his chest before the force of it pushed him off the cliff. I knew that wouldn't kill him, but I certainly didn't think he would have struck back that soon.
Magic swelled around Uncle Donald, still casting a long enchantment. His hands were pressed against the barrier that isolated my father, but his own magic wasn't enough to shatter it away. He cursed loudly before attempting once more, my father banging at the spell as if he could shatter it like glass.
Still, with the left over strength that i had in my body, I lifted my claymore in front of me. I just needed to buy Uncle Donald some time to figure out how to free father, and Aspen enough time to find the mask.

 

ASPEN CHROMACLAW

 

I rushed through the blood caked hallways, heading directly towards Dustin's room. I could hear the spell slinging and blades clashing fading away in the distance, but I didn't dare to look back. I had a mission, and I needed to complete it.
The paintings and decorations became nothing but a blur, and the scent of blood and grime instigated the already rising bile at the back of my throat. The frigid gales of the night mixed with the raging heat of fire blasted against my sweaty skin, temperatures mixing and feeding into my cells. Yet none of these overwhelming sensations could ever get rid of the thoughts plaguing my mind: that Bahamutan. His cinnabar colored glare stabed icy hot rods into my soul, and the mana that expelled from him was magnificent, to the point i was terrifying: with a single flick of his wrist, he managed to imprison my father and seal away my mother. The thought of going back and explode all my anger onto him was nagging at my mind, but I am the weakest link of my family as of right now. I'm just a soldier, and I must complete my duty. Even if I'm harmed or killed, I must be a line of defense in between my loved ones and me.
Yet the appearance of the man didn't make any sense. He seemed to know Dustin... were they enemies? How long has he been planning to attack? Did Dustin know about this? No... he could've warned us beforehand... specially since he has been on several missions to take down Bahamutans.
But something still doesn't sit right with me.
Ever since his last trip, Dustin has felt... distant. His talk about not living under father's shadow was a bit out of his character, since he always wanted to inherit the Chromaclaw house, maybe he became more ambitious? But the mask situation I had with him raised even more questions: A relic of the Cult of Tiamat, held by many powerful Tiamatans and sought by many adventurers and cultists' alike. Our family would be proud for him to bring such a legendary item back home, yet he hides it as if he commited a sin by bringing it here, the House of the 5 Headed Goddess. And the fact that he was threathening to keep me quiet, meant that he trusted me- at least more than our family- to an extent. He told me for a reason: as a failsafe if something like this happened, and therefore it is my duty to protect the Dragon Queen's artifact. Whatever that Dustin was hiding, I had to ask him later, right now if that man got to the mask-
"Help!" A familiar cry reverbed through the hallway, making me skid to a stop only a few feet away from Dustin's room. I turned to a branching hall to the left, where the scream came from: my sister's room. The moment I recognized her voice, another yell tore from the room, along with the sound of a snapping bone. I stepped forward, but another string pulled at my thoughts: the mask.
I was a soldier, and my purpose is ot fullfil my duties. If i got the mask before the Bahamutan, I would be preventing it's plans, but I also had to save Aeris. It was part of my job to protect every member of the Chromaclaw house, and I just finished saving her from those kidnappers.
Now looking back, I should've gone for the relic, but the boiling pot in my belly awoke at the thought of someone bringing harm to my sister.

As soon as I forced the door open, it's sight made every cell in my body burn.
A dragonborn, gold scales, was holding up my sister by her left arm, while her right arm was broken: the forearm was bent sideways in an unnatural, uncanny way, as the skin around it swelled into purple. Tears streamed down Aeris' face as she struggled to even release an incantation from her lips.
On the other hand, the agressor stood as still as a statue as she watched my sister squirm. The golden dragonborn had a very slim, yet athletic physique. She wore a black sleeveless top covered in droed blood and a pair of loose bloodstained pants on the lower end. Her muscular arms were wrapped up in old bandages, and a gleaming, dark emerald eye glanced directly at me when I opened the door.
I could feel my teeth grind in anger and the blood in my veins boil uncontrollably. The glaive manifested in my hand, it's red wine thread gripping at my pulse harder, but I did not mind, for I spun the handle in between my fingers and hurled myself towards the enemy-
"So, you're the brat Zeke told me about"
My weapon cleaved through the afterimage of the dragonborn, while the warrior herself already punched down at my stomach.
I could feel the air leave my lungs as her knuckles dented my armor inwards, and i could feel her fingers punch my stomach flat to the point i felt her hand on my spine. In a split second, i was sent flying backwards.
My back hit the wall, forming a spiderweb of cracks onto the wood as I struggled to regain my breath. I couldn't move. I forced- screamed- at every nerve in my body to at least twitch, but I couldn't. What did she do to me? She must have-
My head wrapped in my thoughts, I didn't notice the ramming kick that was aimed straight to my face. The sheer force shattered the wall behind me and sent me flying backwards into the hallway. I coughed, and the sudden rise and fall of my chest sent needles of pain throughout my nervous system, but I seemed to regain control of my limbs once again. It wasn't without price though, as I turned my body around and hurled tonight's dinner onto the carpet.
"I imagined you taller... stronger..." she walked through the hole on the wall as her shadow loomed over me "... more attractive than Dustin, at least. But to my surprise you are none of those things..." she stated, her voice frigid in comparison to the lava-like blood that courses under her scales.
I coughed the last bile in my mouth before speaking "Who... who are all of you!? How... how do you... how do you know Dustin?"
"He hasn't told you? Pity. I truly hoped for some family drama, but I guess I have to break the news for you."
Like a blur, her arm moved towards my face. I raises my hand to catch it, expecting a punch, but instead her fingers slithered around my wrist and grabbed my forearm. Without a warning, she yanked me out of the floor and tossed me toward another wall. I forced my body to react and spun mid air before planting my feet against the wood. Power flowed through me, healing the internal bleeding and the broken nose I had and imbued it into my feet. With enough strength, I hurled myself towards the woman and resummoned my glaive. This time, lightning curled around my fingers and the steel. I feigned my first attack, an upwards slash. She seemed to have taken the bait, because she sidestepped to the right, so I inmediately twisted the blade mid course and slashed directly at her neck. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she raised an arm to block it.
The momentum took hold and i flew past her. I rolled on the ground before regainning footing, and dashed forward.
"I won't let you hurt my family anymore!" I yelled, my body coated in lightning.
"Oh, if you only knew the foundation of your so called family."
I hacked thrice at her. My attacks were swift and precise, but her movements were faster: I thrusted the weapon forward, aiming at her sternum, met with only air as she had made her way to my side. Without time to react, her elbow struck me in the jaw. I reeled back, but quickly repositioned myself as I anticipated another attack. Her palm aimed for my face, but I ducked just in time before it hit the painting behind me.
Rolling to the side, I grabbed a handaxe from my hip and threw it at her. She caught it with her other hand as her left one was still stuck in the portrait of my mother.
I took the oppotunity and inmediately took distance. Power manifested into my hand and elongated itself into a javelin of blue light. By the time she got herself unstuck, my spell was already on it's way.
Caught off guard, the monk crossed her arms in an X and took the full force of the Guiding Bolt.
A small explosion of divine light appeared and dust rose. As it dissipated, I could see her forearms, the scale peeled away, revealing searing flesh with dropplets of blood falling into the carpet. I smiled at my attack, but my grin inmediately faded away.
She was healing... no, she was forcing her body to heal. As if time was on reverse, the blood on her arms was soaked up by the wounds, only leaving the bare grey flesh exposed. She was, somehow, forcing her blood flow to stay in her veins. I was so stunned i didn't see the foot that kicked me in the chest.
"I should congratulate you. Not many are able to harm me in this degree. Perphaps it's because you are Dustin's brother... yet it's still a shame that your potential is wasted in this pigpen." The dragonborn announced as I stumbled back, struggling to regain footing and breath. I could feel my own rib piercing my lung as air escaped my lips faster than I anticipated. I dug my nails into the ground and forced myself to a stop. When I looked up, the blurry body of the woman had already cut the distance between us and raised a leg for a kick. Power flowed out of my body, forming a barrier next to me, which was shatter almost instantly by her sheer force, striking right into my shoulder and sending me flying.
_She's faster and much stronger than me!_ I thought, hurling through the air before hitting another wall. Thankfully, it didn't collapse at my impact. I had to think. How do I beat an enemy who's superior than me in every single way? I could try to overwhelm her with a Spiritual Weapon, but that could only last for so long. Maybe try to use the new Third Circle spells I learned? But it would only consume my already depleting reserves.
Suddenly, I felt a sudden breeze hit my back, rising through the crater in the wall.
"Your brother Dustin has been in a lot of different circles, kid" she began, slowly making her way towards me.
I needed her to get closer to me without attacking me, so I needed to follow up conversation "It's... It's mandatory for a Knight of the Five Thorned Rose to... have a silver tongue for several circles" I managed to wheeze out, my punctured lung making it hard for me to get my words out.
"Well, your brother's tongue has explored much more than mere circles. In fact, Dustin had quite a bond with Bahamutans." A snicker escaped her draconic lips, as a smile crept up her face.
I tried to hide the shock in my face, but my eyes widened at her words. My jagged breath and the taste of iron in my mouth ere the only things i could feel while my mind whirled at the unforgivable thought of Dustin having dealings with Bahamut.
Tiamat and Bahamut are of the same blood, yet they couldn't be as different from water and oil. Even a subtly nice interaction with a follower of the Platinum Dragon might earn you a punishment from our church- or worse, Lady Tiamat herself.
But Dustin couldn't... no... he wouldn't even dare to commit such crime as a Wing of the Green Gargantua.
"You're lying..."
"I wish I was lying to you kid. But no..." she took two more steps forward, leaving her face only inches away from mine as she slowly wound up abother punch.
Just where I wanted her
"Your brother, Dustin, is a dirty, little..."
Infusing my mouth with fire, i spat a good chunk of hot-boiling blood into her eye.
"Bagh-! You little-!" She recoiled back, desperately trying to wipe the fluid off of her eye. With her wound up fist, she aimed to the general direction of my face, but i had enough time to duck and reposition. The wall behind her crumbled to dust, letting in the midnight breeze and a view from the third floor of the manor.
With all the speed my body could afford, i moved behind her and summoned the glaive back into my hand. With a swift movement, I swept her legs with the golden staff, using her loss of balance and blurred senses against her. Like a hacked away tree, she fell sideways onto the ground.
Then, the last part of my plan.
I used most of my Power reserves to imbue my body with enough strength to do the following, my muscles yelling at me to stop, but I couldn't- not yet. I grabbed her leg.
"What are you...!?"
Before letting her continue, I lifted her off of the ground and spun her in circles. Using both my strength and her momentum the only hard part was actually getting her off of the ground. The sheer amount of force i pulled inmediately dislocated her leg.
"Don't... mess... with my family!"
"Wait- dont you dare...!" But I couldn't hear the end of her threat as I flung her into the exterior of the third story building.
Like a rag doll, the dragonborn woman tried her best to regain balance mid air, but failed before she fell right outside of the mannor's limits. I knew that wouldn't stop her, but it gave me time.
I had about 10% of my Power reserves intact.
But I couldn't use it in me, no.
Someone else needed it more.

I turned around to face Aeris' room, and it inmediately sent a jolt of pain through my spine. I yelped at the static-like ache, but I knew that if I didn't move, she would come back. Tears ran through my face as I had to focus in each step at a time, otherwise I'd fall to the floor like a log.
Stepping through the hole that the woman created, I made my way towards my sister, who layed on the floor with her arm bent outwards, the area around the forearm almost completely purple.
Kneeling next to her, my hands glew in golden light before imbuing magic into her, like dark golden needles that pierced and knit her skin and bone back into place. I watched with relief as the dark violet skin turned back into the usual porcelain tone.
I, then, watched my sister's face. Aeris was unconscious but breathing. Her eyelashes glew lightly under the moonlight, and her hair was covered in patchs of dust and blood. Tears ran down my eyes as I felt the weight of everything that was happening: mom and dad were gone, most of our family has been captured, and the only person I had the closest bond with was a possible traitor.
But oh, Aeris, my dear sister. If I could spare you this hell I would do so. You don't deserve this.
"Please, My Dark Lady. I plead under the starlight and above the heretic flames that consume my home" I prayed in whispers, my head bowing down at the moonlight that shone through my sister's window, hoping for an answer "to give me strength to continue forward. Conquer our weakness and allow me to spread your flames to snuff your brother's. Many Mouths speak your Hunger, so let me be the Loudest."
For a few seconds, I kneeled in silence. Throbbing pulses scattered across my body because of the physical and magical backlash i had forced myself into, and my shortness of breath was still notable.
It wasn't after a minute had passed that I felt Power surge within me once again. Like a cup being filled with liquid, everywhere where her magic touched it washed over my senses like a calming, healing ooze that made me regain strength. Instantly, I focused some of the energy onto my lung, sealing the wound. My fractured bones could wait.
I wasn't nearly to 50% of my reserves, but it was enough. And the deep, growling like hum that entered my head told me that the magic granted to me was the last reserve I'd be granted in a while.
I had to make it count.
I imbued Power onto my muscles as I carried Aeris with me. The soothing divine energy made my body ache a thing of the past and I rushed out the door. During my prayer, I realized I couldn't hear the sounds of battle anymore, so that must mean that there was a victor. Either way, I couldn't check on them, I spent too much time fighting the monk and I needed to get the mask out of the manor. Where would I go? I had no idea, but I knew i had to take it as far away from it as possible- at least until i had contact with Dustin or Uncle Donald- or anyone, really.
I reached the end of the hallway and moved to Dustin's door. With no time to waste, I covered Aeris' head with my hand and shoulder bashed the wood open. I looked at my sister once more to see if she sustained any injuries, but when I looked back up, my veins ran cold.
"Aspen, right?" The man from downstairs was now sitting on Dustin's woodframe. "The name is Zeke."

Chapter 8: Talon of Justice

Summary:

Pretty boi beats up ugly boi

Notes:

Once again, don't mind spelling mistakes lmfao

"Aspen Chromaclaw, Warden of the Electrum Mail, Second born of Oscar Chromaclaw, the Talon of Neverwinter." Zeke walked in a circle around me, like a hunter toying with it's prey "brother of Dustin Chromaclaw, famed Knight of the Five Thorned Rose. I wonder, how much shit have the Chromaclaws implanted in that brain of yours?"

Despite his smug look in his face, his current state said otherwise: magic and blood leaked down from his eyes and mouth, the mana giving the blood a neon cyan coloration; the veins around his neck glew lightly with the same color, and not to mention the meat stub where his right arm should be. Mana infused blood dripped into the ground, making a glowing puddle in my brother's carpet. His clothes were also a mess: there was a large gash in the robes that went from his left shoulder to hid right hip, but the skin that was exposed didn't seem to have a scratch on it. 

Setting Aeris on the bed, I resummoned the glaive to my hands and took a fighting stance. With how damaged he looked, maybe I had a chance.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you, kid" he warned.

"W-where's Dustin? What did you do to him?"

"He escaped, of course. The only thing that man knows how to do is run away. I did manage to get the rest of your family, though. Most of them are sitting in my jail cells right now"

His sentence alone bubbled many questions in my mind: Dustin ran away? Where to? He left me and Aeris still here? What about the mask? Also, what did he mean by that's all he knows how to do? For how long has this man known my brother? My brother never runs away from a confrontation, then why would he do it now? And why would he keep my family in cages? They sare Bahamutans: aren't they supposed to kill us? Our mere existance and the Cult of the Dragon's is to be the toxin that corrodes draconic lineage... then what use are we to them alive?

Zeke sighed. His confident mask dropped as he walked back and leaned onto the wall "Listen, Aspen. I've had many spies around the Chromaclaws for a few years now, and I can tell that you're not like them. You're far better than them"

A soothing, cool like sensation washed over me as he talked to me- not like an enemy, like an actual person. Despite his manaical and devastated appearance, there was a rare, bright spark of kindness behind his cinnabar eyes.

"The Chromaclaw legacy has been tainted by those before you. They have darkened the hearts of their descendants... but you, Aspen. You have a good heart. I've heard so much about you from my spies and from... from Dustin. You are a good man with a golden heart, waiting to slowly be corrupted by the bindings of your blood."

"So join me." He extended his hand "If you do, I will answer all your questions, and even show you the true meaning behind the Chromaclaws. You don't have to be the weapon they sharpened. Become your own person and choose your path, Aspen. You'll choose when to use your blade, not them"

I stared at his hand, his kindness and offer were almost alien to me. Something deep within me wanted to reach it: I don't know why or how, as if I had known this man my entire life and his offer was like any other every day. My heart beat against my chest slowly, as I could feel the blood pump into my veins on every hidden corner of my body. My hand trembled as I slowly reached it. Maybe it wasnt so bad. How was life not under the light of Tiamat? How was the world outside? Would the world feel different without her blessing?

 

K I L L. H I M

 

That voice... that echoed in the deepest walls of my skull, it was stronger now. No. It echoed from somewhere else. It was only when the Glaive quivered in my hand that I realized what- or who- was speaking to me.

And like a cold splash of water, I regained my senses. I realized with overwhelming guilt that this serenity my body was experiencing was just the product of a spell.

Power embued my limbs, ejecting the charming mana out of me. My stretched hand pulled back and grabbed onto the glaive. Somehow, it felt like it gave me... strength.

"Don't touch me, Bahamutan! I won't fall for your tricks! Glory and Blood to Tiamat!" I barked, and tried to hide my smile at my lack of stutter in said statement.

His eyes were a mixture of sadness, regret and disappointment. A hidden depht in his pupils that i couldn't decypher glinted with the moonlight, but he just sighed.

"Fine, have it your way. But let me warn you, I'm not just any Bahamutan."

Before he finished his sentence, I already lunged foward. I felt my body brim with newfound elemental energy that radiates from my weapon. I never dug deep into it's abilities, but the energy it brought me was enough to take him down. I spun the weapon twice and using it's momentum I aimed for the neck.

In a flash of light, my Glaive was stopped. I was blinded by the radiant mana and shut my eyes hard to avoid losing my vision and held on tightly to my weapon. When i opened them back up, I looked at the man with horror.

"I'm His Chosen." He proclaimed, holding my weapon with the arm that he was missing, now somehow regrown into flesh, bone and skin. I tried to move my weapon, but it wouldn't budge from his grasp. 

Like a birthday candle, the bravery and strength that was infused into my nerves suddenly snuffed away, replaced by something you wouldn't wish on any soldier...

Fear.

I wasn't sure when it happened, but in the blink of an eye I was already against the floor. 

Above me, Zeke towered like a celestial being: mana swelling and twisting around him, as if it's an extension of his soul.

Debris caked around me as I suddenly realized i had sunked into a crater in the ground. The wood splintered and stabbed at my back and arms, along with a strange breeze that ran through my chest.

Zeke reached for my neck and held me above him from it, it was hard to breathe as the world was a blur, but my own fingers held tightly onto his.

I tried to wiggle myself free to no avail.

"You are truly brave, Aspen. Not many choose to face a Talon of Justice. Dustin did say that you were strong." Zeke admitted as he balled up his fist and wound up a punch

"But not strong enough"

And before I knew it, darkness.

 

 

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

 

 

Amidst this lingering darkness of the mind, I found peace. My mind and soul drifted through the Never-ending darkness, like a fisherman's boat being ever so slightly moved by a single ripple in the dark waters of a merky swamp. Yet, among the ethereal depth that I was submerged into, I felt my mind beginning to fall apart. Memories came and went, like puzzle pieces that didn't fit into their slot quite right: sometimes too big, sometimes to small, or even sometimes it didn't even fit at all. I knew i had to reach to these fragments and find the picture of my mind, or I would lose myself completely. I had time, however, so in this darkness I could complete who I truly was.

My... name... is Aspen Drakonemis Chromaclaw. I am the Second Born of Oscar Chromaclaw and Violet Chromaclaw, Talons of Tiamat. I was born in the Chromaclaw Noble house, a powerful noble house with influence over the Sword Coast for jewerly, weapon fabrication, and trading. It is also, however, a family blessed by the Evil Dragon Goddess, Tiamat, who seeks to escape Avernus, the first layer of hell, destroy her brother, Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, and rule the Material Plane with her Chromatic Dragons. Our bloodline, despite the tremendous amount of worship and aid to her cause, is the only line that hasnt been blessed with a physical change into dragonkin, our family is known for their pale porcelain skin, golden hair and affinity to the elements of the Chromatic, as a hoamge of respect to the first Chromaclaw. My... face... yes, I bear these features as well. I picture myself thr last time I saw my own face... I stood short in comparison to many, only at 5'8. I had... golden hair, made into a nice bowlcut, with the sides shaved off; my eyes... were they blue or violet? I couldn't remember well, my mind only picked up the other imperfections: the large amount of freckles that covered my face, along with the scars that I never managed to fully heal because of my lavk of grasping on healing magic. I had a pink scar running down the side of my left eye, another right underneath that same eye, forming an X in my cheek, and a last line of badly healed flesh that ran from the side of my lower lip to my chin.

Healing magic... yes, I had magic. I didn't use it for impressive things, though. It wasn't what they taught me. No, I was a soldier.

The memories of my trainning kicked in. Some were crucial, others were cruel, but each thrust and parry was another mile that I had to run to become the man I am now. I was physically the strongest in the branch of my family, stronger than my brother, Dustin, but I lacked insight in magic, I wasnt as dextrous and flexible as everybody else, I my tactics were mediocre at best, and I stuttered in every social interaction I had. But despite everything, in my mind I had only one goal: serve Tiamat.

I knew nothing else aside from that. I was a weapon, and I knew it very well. I only serve to strike, be sharpened, and finally thrown away when I become brittle and worn.

Suddenly, the darkness stirred at the mental tug of the pieces of who I was. Now, i needed to recall what happened before I found myself. I remember... fire. Yes, golden and silver flames consuming the ChromaClaw manor. I remember the smoke and the sound of clashing steel, as well as the scent of charred wood and the peculiar, iron scented smell of magic. Dustin... my brother. He was fighting a man named Zeke... dark skin, jet black hair and golden tattoos around his neck and arms... he was a Bahamutan. He was the one that caused all of this. He trapped father and mother and beat Dustin. 

Bahamut, the Dark Lady's brother and enemy of the Chromatic Dragons. A seeker of so-called "Justice" that has made life Hell to the Talons of Tiamat and the Cult of the Dragon.

Then, the Bahamutan tried to offer me to join his ranks. It wasn't long until I realize I had been put under the effects of a spell and refused his offer. My... glaive awaked at this, and power surged through it.

I never really took the time to look at the artifact given to me. Usually when a ChromaClaw ascends to a meaningful rank, they are given a magic item that can aid them in their battles, but I just took this one as a deadly glaive that could return to my hand at any given moment. When I find the time, I need to inspect it further.

When, though? When will I get out of this darkness? Maybe I'm meant to drift endlessly, repeating the pictures of my life time and time again until i forget why I was doing it...

Of course, all these thoughts vanished as soon as I heard an intense bickering echoing from the darkness

"--well I don't wanna hear your sad backstory--"

"--how come YOU were working with him and STILL got caught--"

"--its better than being a no named piece of--"

 

W A K E. U P

 

 

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

 

 

 

I sat up straight the moment my eyes open as I inmediately gasped for air. My eyes inmediately welled up with tears as I coughed out thw sudden influx of air. My gaze fixated on the floor, still blurry, I looked at both of my hands, that seemed to be bound by thick, stone handcuffs.

"Good mornin', princess" a familiar voice echoed in front of me.

I looked up in both hatred and horror to see the doppleganger sitting right in front of me, cuffed in the same manner I was.

"Seems like someone woke up on the wrong side of the cell" he quipped "I'm pretty damn sure you're as confused as--"

I didn't let him finish his sentence as I was already right in front of his face after leaping from my side towards him. If my hands were free, I would have punched him, but the handcuffs were chained to the wall, making the entire place quake at my strength. 

He didn't fully drop his mask of confidence, but seeing the crackling rage behind my eyes was enough to indulge fear into his heart, so luch I could see it in his eyes.

"Wh... what the fuck are y-you doing here!?" I yelled "I killed you!"

"Uh..." he gulped "Yeah that's gonna be hard to explain, but-"

"Do you work for Zeke!? We... were you the o-one who caused MY house to get attacked!? And... and..."

The boiling rage in my stomach quickly subsided at the realization of where I was, replaced by an icy carcass of fear "why are we here!?"

It was strange to see the dungeon beneath the manor from inside one of the cells: mossy, cobblestone walls surrounded me in a thirty foot cube, with no exit in any of them, aside from the criss-crossed iron bars at the ceiling, where flickering candlelight barely managed to enter. From the walls, five out of the six chains were attached to someone. My eyes quickly scanned the area, where I saw two familiar faces: Uncle Donald, laying against the wall... and Aeris, still unconscious on the floor.

"Uncle! Aeris!" I cried out and made my way towards them as much as my chains would allow me.

"Aspen! My boy! Ho ho--" Uncle Donald's laughter was interrupted by a gargle and cough of blood that tainted his lower lip.

I reached my hand forward trying to cast a healing spell

"Wait- don't--!" My uncle wheezed, but it was too late.

A sudden burst of energy zapped the Power I casted and bounced it back onto me, searing my fingers in the process. I yelped and fell back onto my butt, hissing at the peeled skin on my hands.

"Oh, my boy, I already tried... but it's to no avail... these anti-magic chains are way too powerful, ho ho..."

"We've tried everythin': smashin' em, pullin' n pushin', Kendrick even tried bitin' down on 'em! But nothin'..." a voice spoke up from a corner of the cell, which made my head turn

"Uhm..." I cleared my throat at the sudden statement "I... uhm... I don't want to be rude, but... who are you exactly?"

A pale half elven woman sat on the moss covered floor with both of her hands bound by the same chains that you had. Her skin was pale- almodt light grey with sickly purple veins faintly glowing on her flesh, along with several tattoos on what seemed to be Deep Speech carved on her forearms; long black hair with white strikes fell on top of her shoulders, her bangs hanging above her light pink eyes; she wore a black tank top and a pair of long violet cargo pants, each pocket in it seemed to have been worn down by the amount of things it carried.

"The name's Bonnibel!" She cheered "but m'friends call me Bonnie!"

"What friends? I don't recall your broke ass to have anyone around" the doppleganger, whose name seemed to be Kendrick, hissed at Bonnie.

"Hobble them lips, Ken. You were the one who got Hornswoggled by the Bahamut feller! At least trynna steal one of em Gold Canaries would've actually given me money had I got away with it!"

"But you didn't! Just fucking admit it! You'd have stolen one if you didn't leave MY thieves' guild!"

"You call that a 'Thieves' Guild'? Hun, I'm pretty sure three to five fellers are called an 'Adventurin' Party'"

"We were MORE than that! But this... motherfucker and his brother killed my most powerful members!" He pointed towards me, a snarl tattooed across his face, the fear I implanted onto him was nowhere to be found.

Ignoring their constant bickering, I focused on the shackles that bound me. 

It was only then when my eyes recognized the draconic runes written into the metal that a smile crept up my face.

Chapter 9: Prison Escape

BONNIBEL

 

 

I wasn't going to act like I'm not guilty of my crimes, but being kicked out of a noble family and having my entitlement to a cut of my dead step father's inheritance is a somewhat shitty start to an independent life in the Sword Coast. Adventuring Guilds were filled with reckless people, smart asses and, honestly, just weird people that find an excuse to kill things, to the point of fetishizing the gore and edgyness, as if crafting a super detailed backstory that always involves "murdered parents" wasn't something I havent heard a million times. Commissions didn't give enough of the money I owned to the people I took help from, and without the help of a good family title to brush them away, I had to turn my gaze into.... more grim matters.

So, when I heard about the legendary Golden Canaries and how one was currently hidden away in Neverwinter, I knew I had to at least try to get it. To be honest, I still dont know why these canaries are so sought after, but if they truly gave more than 50,000 gold for just one, It was my ticket out of poverty!

What I didn't know was that it was in the manor of the house I owed the most money: the Chromaclaws

According to the informant, they didn't have it, but the manor was going to be raided by the one who had it.

And, well, I dont know what I was thinking. I think the little me in my brain knew that the one who wielded such a powerful item was going to be easy to defeat.

Well, I wound up here now. It was truly terrifying what the famed "Boogeyman" Zeke could do, a single swipe of his hand counterspelled my strongest spells. What's worse? I didn't see a damn canary anywhere! Was it a code name for something else? I realized how dumb it would be to try and get a bird. 

I sighed, my hands bound and magicless, my stomach rumbling and my fate doomed, as I was stuck in a jail cell with Kendrick and THREE Chromaclaws. I lost my title, my dignity, my money and now I was gonna die by the hand of Tiamat worshippers- if they kill me first. How would my brother react to all-

Click!

My attention, and everyone else's, turned towards the man the old guy called "Aspen". His looks and behavior were kinda funny to me: the guy fashioned a bolwcut that hung from his head like an oversized helmet, a pair of violet eyes with a large, thin scar running thriugh his left eye, freckles addorned his cheeks and he had another healed slash underneath his lower lip. What truly impressed me, though, was his physique. Despite the short body and ugly face, I could see the well built muscles underneath his ripped tight lycra top. Despite his armor having a huge hole in the chest, he looked like a high ranking soldier of some kind. I looked down at his hands, where the click came from, only to see that he found away to unbind himself.

"Wh-what? Aspen, my boy, how did you-"

"Father... father made it do that these anti-magic shackles could be opened by... by Chromaclaws. I-it allows us to use our e-elemental affinity to the five breaths like a key to open it..."

Another click! Quickly rang from the fat man's shackles

"By Tiamat's horns... you're right! Ho ho!" He quickly stood up "unlock your sister's chains and let's get out of here! We must reach Baldur's Gate and find shelter and regain our strength at the Chromaclaw manor!"

"B-Baldur's Gate...? How will we reach it...?"

"If those bastards didn't kill them, I have a drake carriage we can take to escape!"

"A-alright..." then, for a second, his expression changed "w-wait... before we go, I... I gotta find something first..."

"What is i- oh! Of course, of course. Alright. I'll inspect the area and try to find the best path. If there's no safe path, I'll make sure to clesr it for you! Ho ho!"

With that, the fat man disappeared in a cloud of icy mist.

Aspen kneeled in front of the unconscious little girl as he placed his hands over the shackles, another Click! Ringing in the prison cell

"Wait- yer not plannin' to leave the both of us here, are ya?" I asked, my voice slightly trembling.

"Uhm... I was planning to kill him..." he pointed towards Kendrick "I.. I don't know what use you'd be freed, though..."

"Wh- what the fuck, dude!?" Kendrick protested "I can bring plenty of use, and you can just discard me like a fuckin' old animal!"

I giggled "sounds like someone got a tad offended~"

"Fuck you, Bonnie! Ugh..."

"What use would... would you be if I freed you? Aren't you going to try and kill me again?"

"First of all, I tried to kill you because I was paid to do so! Well, I was SUPPOSED to be paid, but that fuckin' Zeke betrayed me, and now I'm sittin' here, waiting for him to take us all to Mount Celestia"

"Mount Celestia?" I echoed

"' 'parently he wanted to take all of the prisoners of this attack to the Chromaclaws to Bahamut's place to get them judged or somethin'"

I looked at Aspen, who seemed to be focused as he stared at the ground.

"If... If I free you... will you provide more information?"

"Oh, I'll provide more than information... I want to kill that Zeke motherfucker... no one messed with the leader of the Undying Petra and gets away with it"

"I keep tellin' you to change that name, doesn't have a really good ring to it"

"There will still... be a blood debt you must pay..." Aspen decreed "for the crimes you've commited to the Chromaclaws. But we'll see about that once we are on our way to Baldur's Gate."

"Dunno much about how a blood debt with Tiamat works, but if t means fucking Zeke over, count me in"

"... and what about you?" The man's gaze fell upon me.

I needed a reason for him to free me. He wasn't from the specific branch of Chromaclaws that I owed money to, though. I owed money to the Baldur's Gate branch. Maybe if I helped him reach it safe and sound, maybe they could spare me the payment! Or at least, a good bunch of it... but how could I convince this guy to take me with him?

"Weeeeell, I do hate that Zeke guy with all my gut! I wanna cast a Fireball up where the sun don't shine in 'im! And, uh...I also hate Bahamutans! Always with the 'code of justice and rightousness'! If it were up to me, I'd let Tiamat herself rule Faerun! She'd do a better job than the Platinum Dragon!"

I inmediately cringed at my overdoing, but I still smiled at Aspen, hoping it would be enough.

"A... alright, then... I'll take you both with me..."

Yes!

"...but if you try any...anything funny... I will kill you"

"Wouldn't even think of it!" I affirmed, but Kendrick didn't answer.

Once I was free, mana surged through my body like a cooling river through my veins. I pushed as much as I could of my Shadow Art into my fingers, and nearly giggled like a kid when I saw the wispy shadowy flames flicker in between my nails. 

"Aaaalriiight!~" I sang as arcane glyphs and purple wisps danced around me "Time to get us outta here!"

Mana condensed in a string in front of me, it's girth slowly increasing as shadow magic was poured into it, forming a long rope. With a twitch of my finger, it shot upwards and wrapped itself around the lock of the ceiling. I, then, grabbed on tightly and pulled with all my strength. The lock was broken, and the ceiling opened with a loud bang! I muttered an enchantment, as my body snuffed into black flames and reforming at the top of the cell.

The frigid air of the Chromaclaw dungeon seeped into my skin, as if walking through an invisible snowstorm frozen in time. Looking around, it was as if it was a ghost town, I peeked my head into the jail cells, only to find them emtpy. Weird. Did the other Chromaclaws already found a way to escape?

 

 

 

ASPEN CHROMACLAW

 

 

Me and my newfound "companions" ran through the maze like dungeon beneath the manor. I carried Aeris in my arms, her hair sometimes getting in my mouth, forcing me to spit it out akwardly. Her body twitched rom time to time, as if fighting the urge to stay asleep, trying to wake up. It was my duty to protect her until she came back, we needed her.

But my main priority right now wasn't getting out of here, no. Without father, mother or Dustin, It was my duty to retrieve the family Hoard into a specialozed ring of holding, held beneath the Dungeon and near the Rite Altar

The rite... the man's expression and plead was burned in my retina

I shook my head, dispersing the misty thoughts that invaded me, that wasn't the priority. I pivoted to the right and ran down the flight of stairs, he steps of Kendrick and Bonnibel echoing behind me.

"There might... be Bahamutans guarding the entrance... finish them quickly." I ordered.

"Alrighty!"

"Noted."

My Power reserves were at their top, probably because of how much time I was unconscious, but i still needed to save them. Right now, though, I did need to use one...

At the bottom of the stairs, a short corridor stretched towards the vault door, where two Bahamutans kept watch.

At my sight, they raised their spears to a defensive position, andnone opened it's mouth to say something, but I was faster.

"Kneel!" I Commanded, my voice firm like wood as both of them inmediately sank down into one knee.

"Now!"

From behind me, a long, silver chain shot out towards the first guard. It wrapped itself around their neck and head, before Kendrick yanked and twisted it into the opposite direction, killing them in an instant.

From the other side, several shadow needles shot at sound speed, the first one stabbing into the Bahamutan's thigh, burying deep until hitting the stone below; other two stabbed in the lungs, blood splurting out of the white and blue armor, addorning the halls of the Dragon Queen, and the last one directly into the skull. The guard fell back, dead.

"Alright, perfect... stay close and watch my back while I open the Hoard Vault.:

"Wait, Hoard Vault!? You mean you dragon ass eating motherfuckers have had treasure here all along? I could have robbed yall!"

The man's comment irritated me, but I had to focus on the elemental combination "e-even if you made it past father, the Hoard is cursed..."

"Ugh... of course you people would put a curse on money" 

Father made sure to teach all of us how to use certain locks around the house. Only ChromaClaws are able to manipulate them, where regular people can barely tap into it at all.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the inner magical lock. A Chromaclaw with affinity to all the Breaths would be able to unlock it in an instant, but sadly, that doesn't exist. Lightning slowly crackled through the "tunnels" of the lock, filling the first three slots, then fire into the other two. I held it, making sure the lock absored the magic pretty well. A loud pang reverbed through the hallway before steam shot out of the creaking door. 

I could feel Kendrick and Bonnibel's eyes drilling into the mountains of gold that shone brightly from the inside of the vault as it opened, and inmediately reeled back at the sight of magma flowing around it. 

At the center of the room, a large banner of Her five heads was displayed in golden threads. I walked in, counting in my mind how many mountains of money were around me. I was thankful to see that all the magic items hoarded were in one of my Father's extraplanar pockets, so I didn't have to carry any possible bomb on me.

"What happens if you touch it?" Bonnibel asked, her hands hovering slightly on the gold. 

"You... see that magma? My mother... she put an enchantment over every coin here, so that if you touch them, your bones and flesh turn into stone... and then heat up and liquify into molten rock... and you will spend eternity flowing in the vault..."

Upon my words, she inmediately retracted her hands "By the clocks of Neverwinter, das' fucked up-"

I reached for the banner, my hands feeling the cloth before my fingers came across the bump i was looking for. Reaching from behind, I took the Ring of Holding my uncle Silvant gave us: it worked similar to a bag of holding, but it had more space and it was easier to hide. Once in my finger, I raised it to the sky, imbuing magic into it. Like a vacuum, the gold and precious stones were inmediately absorbed into the ring's red gem. The beautiful glow of the vault was lost, only left with canals of lava flowing endlessly. 

"Alright. Is that all? Cuz I think we should get the fuck out of he-"

Kendrick's words were cut short at the sound of magic blasting through the air.

I turned around to face him, only to see half of his face blasted away by fire. Where his right eye should've been, there was only a charred hole that oozed of blood and brain fluid. As his body fell, I saw the perpetrator standing a few feet behind him, panting after casting the Scorching Ray: my sister.

"Aeris! Why... why did you do that!?" 

"What do you mean "why?" He's the one who kidnapped me!" She snapped back, wiping the sweat off her forehead "what is going on!? Where's mom and dad!? Why are you working with... him!?"

I looked at Kendrick's body, who's head was nose deep into the magma. The sizzling of his flesh and the smell of burnt flesh filled the room. I kneeled down in front of Aeris, holding her shoulders.

"Listen, Ae. We were attacked by Bahamutans. We have to regroup back at Baldur's Gate and see what to do next."

"Where's mom? Dad?"

"They've... been captured. But I'm sure they'll be fine." I lied, knowing what Kendrick said about Judgement in Celestia.

"And Dustin...?"

Silence. My eyes darted to the floor as I tried to come up with a reasonable explanation of where was Dustin. "I... I don't know... everything has happened so fast and... I just woke up and I knew we had to get the Hoard safe and--" with a pang of anxiety, I realized, I needed to grab something else... the mask.

My sister, however, started screaming.

Her eyes locked onto something behind me, a humanoid shadow looming over the both of us. When I turned around, my eyes focused on a conscious Kendrick, with his face melted away, letting his skull exposed.

We watched in horror as his skin regrew in such a gruesome manner: like mold reappearing and growing, expanding the tissue until his facial features were recognizable again, and it showed a pretty pissed off expression

"What the fuck is wrong with you, brat!? That laser-thingy hurts a bubch, y'know?" Kendrick lashed out at Aeris, but I put a hand up to stop him

"W...wait wait... how are you...?"

"Alive?" Bonnibel finished as she giggled at our surprise "The old rat didn't call his boodle of nobodies the Undying Petra for nothin'! Kendrick's inmortal. No one knows how or why it happened, and trynna get answers from him is like barkin' at a knot."

"That's fucking right! And I better not catch you trying to shoot me ahain you little-!"

"I said, calm. Down." I stomped at the ground, making the room quake at my strength and words. Despite his ability to regenerate, Kendrick seemed terrified of me. He shrank, his anger and confidence snuffed out.

"Tch..." was all he could muster before getting out of the vault, waiting outside. I shot a glance at Bonnibel to make her follow him. She nodded and left the room as well. 

"Aeris. We don't have much time, we need to get out of here as soon as possible. I know I don't have... all the answers... but... I want you to trust me on this... please..."

Her eyes seemed lost, hopeless. I offered her my hand, but hers twitched backwards for a second. She didn't trust me. Who would, though? In a situation where your entire family is in danger, your greatest enemies have finally attacked, your brother might be related to said enemy and the strongest in the family, my father, has been captured? I didn't know we would even make it out aliv-

"Okay..." she nodded, despite her entire body quivering "I... I'll trust you. What do I have to do?"

In her eyes, a spark of determination surged underneath the looming fear. My lips curled up, giving me strength. 

"Alright... stay close... we need to... find Uncle Donald and escape."

"Hey, Aspen!" Bonnibel called out "We got company!"

From the vault, I could hear the hurried steps heading downstairs towards us. The glaive appeared on my hand. With this many amount if soldiers, we couldn't spend our magic resources on them, we had to wait for the bigger fish.

"Save your magic. Swift strikes and cantrips only" I ordered as I walked out of the vault.

"Noted!"

"Okay..."

"Tch..."

I held my weapon close to my heart and took position.

And then, I waited.

Chapter 10: A Mask Covered in Dried Blood

Notes:

Omggg ten chapters! Thank u for reading <33

Once again excuse the spelling mistakes, i write these late at night lol

Bodies littered the entrance of the dungeon, my metal boots deep into the gore. My vision blurred at the bloodshed: Bahamutans. Each and one with their necks slit open, their flesh torn open by spells, their limbs addorning the cobblestone floor. I looked down at my hand, that held the still beating heart of the last non undead soldier, my entire palm covered in dark red up to my elbow. Looking back at the woman, her hand insitnctively went towards the open cavity in her chest. She stumbled back and fell, severing the veins that still connected her to the organ in my hand. A last breath... and life was no longer in her eyes.
Despite this, I knew that her body would come back to life to attack me once more. 
Whatever necromantic spell Zeke had placed on his soldiers, it wasn't something strong, but constant: the bodies, every few minutes or so, would stand up, like soulless carcasses that attacked replicating the movements they knew before they died, as if to disguise the fact that they were no longer alive. It seemed more understandable how he managed to capture mother and father: wasting their magic reserves through constant, almost endless, fighting, so that they were nigh exhausted and are easier to capture.
I wonder if Dustin noticed this and was why he lasted longer than them...
"Aspen?" A female voice snapped me out of my thoughts. It was Bonnibel,
"Ya good?" She asked "We gotta barricade the door before them corpses rise again"
"O-oh..  yeah.. I..." I dropped the heart and rubbed my eyes, forcing my vision to unblur "lets go"
The moment we exited the lower level, Aeris muttered an enchantment in draconic. Around the door, a draconic sigil that read "Locked" engraved itself into the wood. 
"No one should be able to come in or out." She stated.
"Good... lets find Uncle Donald"
We made our way up the stairs. The sound of blades clashing and spells slinging was getting closer, giving me slight nausea. This was all way bigger than me, and what if we don't manage to make it out alive? What if mom and dad are taken to Celestia and judged by the Platinum Dragon? What if-
"Hey, uhm..." Bonnibel said "those polearm moves were like greased lightnin'! Where did you learn them?"
"I.. uh... why are you asking?"
"Y'know, just makin' casual conversation before the whole fightin' undead type thing"
"Well... my brother taught me the basics of fighting... and whenever she visits, my cousin helps me improve my magic and combat abilities."
"Oh! You have a brother too!"
"Yeah... uh... I think your shadow magic is amazing as well"
"Oh, this old thing? Yeah, my momma used to say that I should call it "Umbramancy" to make it sound fancier."
We stayed silent as we ran upstairs, and awkwardness seeped into the area. Not wanting to but off casual conversation, i forced myself to talk.
"Uhm... by the way, w-what's with the accent?"
"Oh! Uh... just a lil' thing I got stuck in me from home. My momma actually-"
The door at the top of the stairs burst open in a huge ball of fire. From it, an armored Bahamutan came flying. We pushed ourselves against the wall to not get hit and watched how his body fell back into the dungeon.
We looked back up, where I smiled at a familiar face:
Standing at 6'1, the Mane of Golden Fire cracked her knuckles as the smoked cleared. Her golden hair was lit up like vivid flames, and her arms were coated in beautiful merigold wisps that danced and hardened like living armor. My aunt Dalia Chromaclaw grinned back at me.
"Aspen! Aeris! About time you got out of the dungeon!"
"Auntie! H-how are things going?"
"First off, who are those two?" She pointed at Kendrick and Bonnibel. Both of them shot me awkward glares as they were both unable to explain the situation properly.
"They... are here to help! They have information about the Talon of Justice that attacked us!"
"Talon of Justice, eh? Well, as long as they behave, they can come with us. We found a Teleportation Circle in your father's office. Donald confirmed it leads to our manor in Baldur's Gate, but he needs a bit of time to configure it so that they don't follow us through the portal"
Reaching the top of the stairs, I stood in front of her "how?"
"By destroying it the moment we go through."

☆  ☆   ☆   ☆    ☆

 

Every hall in the manor was infested with undead bahamutans, their armor torn open and weapons with brittle and shattered blades, yet they came back only minutes after being knocked down. As my aunt Dalia helped us cleave through the hoards, I pondered how Bahamut, a god of Justice, would allow their followers to indulge into necromancy? Maybe he's had a change of heart? I have never heard of a deity, specially a good aligned one, that would use such tactics. Or maybe... he was desperate. Looking for any possible way to take his enemies down. Either way, it must mean that he isn't underestimating us.
We reached the fourth floor of the manor, our gear covered in blood and grime. I managed to stick to melee rather than using my Power reserves, but that did mean i took some heavy hits. 
Bonnibel and Kendrick were in a similar state too... well, mostly Bonnibel. Because she mostly stuck to using cantrips and shooting people with a crossbow she found on the ground. It did come with it's costs: a nasty open line ran across her forearm that was awkwardky bandaged, along with bruises that turned her pale skin into nasty black bumps. 
Kendrick looked fine. I watched his arms get cut off twice, only to regrow back in the span of seconds. The only thing damaged on him was his clothes. 
Aeris managed to stay close me and aunt Dalia. I focused all my strength in clearing the path, but her magic managed to cover my back a couple of times. Her Art reserves were low because of this.
I could already hear the sound of bones rattling at the bottom of the stairs, but vines inmediately sealed off the path. My gaze instantly settled on my aunt Annabelle, who was at the entrance of my father's office. 
"Auntie Anna!" Aeris sped towards her, embracing our pixie hair cut aunt. Her freckles were similar to mine, but her face was 100 times prettier than mine. Mom sometimes jested that Anna took all the freckles from father's face when they were in grandma's belly.
"Oh, Ae! I was so worried! Are you hurt? Did you get bitten?"
"We're fine. We just need to reach the-"
"Aspen! What happened to you?" Aunt Anna reached for my arms and held them tightly. Around them, pink-green vines wrapped and stabbed into my skin. Then, they injected a teal colored fluid into me, my wounds healing and my exhaustion gone.
"There, there... anyone else needs to patch up wounds-"
"Uh... hi... Anna...!" Bonnibel, standing behind me, waved at my aunt with a quivering smile.
Aunt anna's face dropped into a somber expression, one I have never seen before "what is SHE doing here?"
"You... you two know each other?"
"Well ya knoww.... it's a pretty dang long story! Me n' Anna go way ba-"
"She owes the Chromaclaw House money." Anna stated, her voice with a hint of hostility.
"Yeeeaah... that..."
"Aspen, why is she with you?"
"Uhm... she knows information about the Talon of Justice that attacked the manor"
"W-well! It's not like I have him on speed dial or anythin'! Hahaha!" Bonnibel struggled to keep her composure in front of Anna.
"Don't... know what 'speed dial' means... but it's true. If we know what he wants, we can... counterattack"
Annabelle stood like a statue in front of the half drow. She drenched in sweat as my aunt seemed to impose this heavy weight in her shoulders, but was quickly dispelled at the sound of vines being torn to shreds.
"We'll finish this conversation later. Let's head to the portal"
"A-actually..."
"What is it, Aspen?" Dalia's eyes set on me, curiosity and a hint of pressure emanating from them.
"I... I have something else to do before we go. A-activate the portal and take Aeris with you"
"What!? Why!?" Ae interrupted, but I kept going
"She's low on mana, and with the situation we are in right now she won't last for long."
"How do you plan to activate the portal?"
"Bonnibel can activate it"
"I can?"
I shot her a glance
"Oh! Yeah, I can!"
"Alright..." my aunt sighed. "But be quick. If I don't see you at the Baldur's Gate manor in 10 minutes, you'll be in lots of trouble, young man!"
I knew she was speaking in a playful tone, but her heart spoke true at the sight of her pupils. She was worried, but she knew that despite not knowing what I had to do, she trusted me that I would tell her when we got to Baldur's Gate.
And I will.
If I had to go against my brother's wishes to find the truth about the attack, I will. Mother and father are captive and my home is destroyed. 
They will pay for this. These bahamutans will die.
"Aspen...! Please! Let me go with you!" Ae cried "I don't want to lose you too!"
"Ae... please. I need you to go with our Aunts, okay?"
"But... mom... dad... Dustin..."
"I know... but I'll be right there."
"...promise?"
"Promise."
I hugged her. Her tears felt like warm kisses against my cheek. I felt the urge to bawl too, but I had to stay strong. As I pulled back, I tucked a stray hair behind her ear before standing up.
"You two are coming with me."
"Tch..."
"Where are we goin'?"
"To my brother's room..." I watched as Aeris was taken into my father's office. "... at the third floor."
"Oh, fuck me..." Kendrick mumbled, but still pulled out his chain whip and dagger as the vines that my aunt conjured broke away.

 

☆  ☆  ☆  ☆  ☆

Silence. The last undead soldier fell with an eerie crush of bones and pang of metal. I hadn't used any of my reserves yet, but we managed to cleavr through all of them again. This time, they were at their weakest. We waited. Waited for a few minutes to see if any rose back up again, but they laid on the floor inanimated. Did the spell finally wane? And for a spell so powerful, why did it take this long to lose power? In fact, what kind of spell can do that?
I should ask that later, right now we were on duty.
"Hey, Aspen? Do ya have any healin' pots with ya or somethin'?" Bonnibel spoke up, looking a bit paler than before. Her wounds were still open, and she had gained new ones in the last battle.
"No... but... hold on, stay still-"
I grabbed her arm and removed the dirty bloodied bandages off of her arm. The wound was nasty: the skin was sliced open and I could make out the white of the bone underneath the flesh. I traced my fingers on the skin, Power sinking into it and thinnking into a silk holden thread that jumped from end to end before pulling both together and closing it. The same spell lingered through the bruises and small cuts on her, making them disappear and replacing them with barely visible scars.
"Ooh.. thank ye kindly! But why ain't they fully healed?"
"O-oh.. sorry, my healing spells leave scars... th-they're not perfect..."
"Huh... well, no worries! Always wanted to have a cool battlr scar to show off, y'know?"
I giggled in response "yeah..."
"Stop being so loud and let's keep moving!" Kendrick protested, looking over his shoulder at us "what are we even looking for anyway? A new set of armor for you?"
"What...? Why would I need a set of arm-" his comment made me look down, and I noticed the horrifying state of my plate.
One of my shoulder plates was completely ripped out, leaving the strap damaged but still dangling; the chestplate itself was melted away, carved by a large circular like crater that left my chest exposed. 
How didn't I notice this? I knew that the dragonborn monk had dented it, but she didn't melt it away! Was it... Zeke? It was the only possible answer, only someone with so much power could do this to draconic armor. No wonder I sustained so many injuries as I cleaved through the hoard of Bahamutans, the adrenaline must have blinded me...
"N... no. We're looking for something else. Something... my brother entrusted me with."
"Tch... and why should we go with you? It's not our job to follow you around like some sort of leader..."
I couldn't find the words to counter his argument, but Bonnibel jumped in
"Well, you go have fun trynna' fight The Boogeyman alone! At least ee'll have the family of the Chromaclaws on OUR side, right Azzie?"
I tilted my head at the nickname, but i nodded all the same. We both started walking towards Dustin's room. It took a while, but I heard Kendrick's steps catching up behind us.
The door opened with a loud creak, and my brother's bedroom was torn apart as i glanced at it for the first time: the window was shattered, glass shards spread throughout the carpet, his bed a complete mess with several blade slashes opening the matress, books from his shelf were scattered on the ground, but only a few remained on their respective positions. 
As the other two inspected the room, i made my way towards the shelves. My fingers traced the ash and dust that covered some of them until I found the one I looked for.
I pulled the book.
Suddenly, the entire wooden bookshelf began quivering before sliding slowly to the left, letting me see the passage.
I turned slightly to face Bonnibel and Kendrick "Follow me."

Anxiety bubbled up in my stomach: what if Zeke had found it first? Did the mask have a connection to the attack? What id Dustin hiding? However, all doubts cleared as I saw the cerulean head piece sitting idly on it's platform.
"Oooh... so that's what ya were lookin' for!" 
"I'm more interested on the gold! Is this one cursed?"
My eyes shifted sligthly at the hoard "No..."
"Great! Shame those Bahamutans took my fuckin' bag of holding, but my coin pouch will do!" Kendrick jumped at the gold and started filling his pockets. Bonnibel did the same.
Carefully, the tip of my fingers lifted up the dragon mask. It still had the roaring draconic energy that I sensed back the first time I was here. I figured it would be dangerous to carry it around in my personal bag of holding, so i put it in the ring of Holding instead.
"Alright. That was it. Let's go. We have to get to the teleportation circle"

Our steps grew hastier as we traversed back through the way we came. Beneath my feet, the crunching of bone and metal grew louder eith each step i took. I had made up my mind on the situation: despite his plead of not doing so, I had to tell the Chromaclaws about the mask. The suspicion lf Dustin's betrayal grew heavier in my heart, and if he truly sided with Bahamut, I had to ensure the safety of my family first. That's what I was taught. I was a soldier. This is my duty.
But... Dustin is also my family.
Was there an ulterior motive? A reason behind this betrayal? Maybe he joined their ranks to look for information, or maybe he got cornered into a situation he couldn't escape... but if so... wouldn't he be judged by Bahamut himself? Rumors say that some strong warriors of the Platinum Dragon are inspected by their god himself as he weights their sins. If so, Dustin wouldn't even be alive. He would have become another pillar of foundation in the Dragon's Domain. 
Nothing made sense. His disappearance, the attack, nothing... and the mask was probably only a scrape of the surface. You had to get to the bottom of this. You had to find your brother.
You skidded to a stop however, as a golden figure blocked the door.
The same muscular body you faced stood a few feet away, her arms crossed, already fully healed from your spell, along with a bo staff strapped to her back. Looking at her face, the burn mar around her eye still seemed halfway through healing.
"Time for a rematch, kid."

Chapter 11: A God's Forsaken; a God's Chosen

Notes:

MERRY CHRISTMASSS!!! sorry for no chapters. Finals were INSANE

Anyways, enjoy. Apologies for mistakes. I havent written in a LOOOONG time, but I promise quality will go back up again B)

"It's... you..." was all that escaped my lips in sheer terror. It was like looking at a ghost, but her feet still touched the ground, and her skin wasn't see through. I knew that hurl wouldn't kill her-even though I hoped it did- but I didn't expect to see her this soon.
Like barbed gold, the woman's scales rised spiked, only a wry smile across her war scarred face. 
"I finally have you under my thumb, Chromaclaw"
"Clover. You look like shit" Kendrick chimed in. Her eyes locked on his.
"Kendrick... why are you on the Tiamatan side? Get over here and help me get rid of this noble scum-"
"Yeah- no." He cut her off, a silver chain whip wrapped arpund his forearm as he took a step forward "Zeke is a piece of shit. I'm not working for him anymore"
"You choose the Tiamatan over Bahamut?" She snarled
"Hey, he hasn't stabbed me in the back yet, and he already paid me!"
Silence lingered in the ashen hallway, a single bead of sweat rolling down my forehead was the only thing that helped me keep track of time.
My eyes shifted to Bonnibel. Despite being still as a statue, her hand was hidden behind her back, slowly writing incantations in the air, preparing a spell as the absence of action.
And as soon as the droplet fell, everything moved like clockwork.
Clover pounced. I barely managed to dodge the kick aimed at my face before she spun mid air and smashed my shoulder with her leg. Despite the divine barrier around me, I could already feel the pain. As she was going to kick my face in, however, a silver chain wrapped around her ankle and pulled.
Kendrick dragged her off balance, making her fall face down against the floor. Taking the chance, I stabbed on her back with my glaive. A yelp of pain escaped her mouth, followed by another kick at my hip, pushing me away. 
When she tried to get up, several shadows lashed at her, emerging from the ground like undead tendrils. Her head turned to Bonnibel, who held her in place. The dragonborn growled, and Kendrick and I took the opportunity to jump.
Which, of course, turned out horribly as in a blink, Clover snapped the darkness with sheer strength, grabbed onto Kendrick' arm and threw his entire body towards me.
I dropped my weapon and caught the rogue in my arms, pushing us back as I kept my footing. 
"Tch! Let me go!" Kendrick protested, his cheeks tinted a light pink as he jumped away from my grasp. As we both recovered, Clover jumped towards Bonnibel. The monk unleashed tree-shattering kicks that were only met with afterimages and illusions summoned by the sorceress. She was frustrated, as several copies of Bonnie surrounded her, she thrust and punched at each summoned face, but they disolved into shadows and sunk back into the ground. 
"Where... the fuck... are you!?"
"Right here, partner!" The drow yelled from several feet back. Her arms were coated in pink lighning tendrils, aimed forward like a cannon as they coalescef into a singularity before launching a powerful beam towards our enemy.
Without any time to dodge, Clover braced herself and guarded eith her arms in an X position as the spell hit her. A cloud of rubble, magic and dust blocked the view, but once it dispelled, the dragonborn was still standing: arcane energy expelled from her charred forearms, similar to when I hit her with my Guiding Bolt on our last battle. 
After a second, she pounced towards Bonnibel.
Luckily, I had finished healing my shoulder, and Kendrick's regeneration was complete. 
The rogue, faster than me, jumped towards her. From her peripheral view, Clover stopped mid-track and let Kendrick fly freely in front of her. He, however, was expecting this.
The man's whip wrapped around her neck in an instant and pulled her with his momentum. A choked cry escaped her snout as she struggled to keep her stance, only followed by another one as my glaive stabbed her in the back, the blade piercing to the other side.
Kendrick landed flat on the floor, but quickly recovered and began pulling her towards him, while I pushed from behind. Where were we aiming her for? The window.
She, however, noticed our plan the more we struggled to move her. It didn't make any sense... how was she stronger than before?
My eyes darted to Bonnibel, who was finishing the casting of a spell, I asdumed strong by the deadly aura that swirled like a whirlwind around her, but was instantly shut down as I saw Kendrick flying to her and colliding in a thud, the mana dispersing in an instant. When I turned back to my enemy, I couldn't avoid the jab at my nose.
I was sent back, stumbling on my own feet before falling onto my ass, both my hands still on the glaive. Clover, bo staff in hand, spun it around her fingers before aiming her attack at me.
I dodged out of the way and used my own polearm to get back on my feet. With a lunge, I tried aiming at the same wound I made to instigate onto the damage, but the monk's dexterity outmatched mine. We exchanged blows: lunges, slashes and parries became what seemed like a choreography in the eyes of a third person: my strength never able to defeat her dexterity, and viceversa.
What I did notice, however, was that the gap that I made on her stomach was still not healing, as blood dripped down onto the carpet and sprinkled blood onto me with every dodge. 
And apparently, Kendrick and Bonnibel noticed too, as a crossbow bolt flew right past her abdomen. Clover's focus split as she parried another one of my attacks while her head was turned to my companion. From the corner of my eye, I saw something flying our way, another bolt. She pushed me back, struck the ammunition with her weapon and sent it back to Kendrick, puncturing his shoulder.
However, they expected that, as shadow tendrils lashed from Clover's Shadow and wrapped rightly around her. I looked back and I didn't see Bonnibel anywhere, but I knew it was her doing.
"Aspen, now!" Kendrick yelled as he took the bolt out of his skin.
Clover, defenseless, shot me a glare "Don't you dare-"
But it fell on deaf ears. I infused Power onto my glaive to the point my hands went numb: black lightning conglomerated at the blade, coating it on a darker, necrotic shade.
Like a knife on butter, my attack pierced through her solar plexus, and, inmediately, the magic spread through out her body as my 3rd Level Inflict Wounds spell took hold of her.
Soon, each cut, burn, puncture and bruise quadrupled in pain. Her entire body seized and twitched as dark crimson liquid oozed from her eyes and ears. With every second, I forced more Power onto the glaive, in hopes that it would be enough to bring her down.
Until she finally did.
Like timber, her body fell to the ground, coated in her own red and black fluids, a nasty splash reverbed through the hallway. Soft, dying breaths escaped her draconic mouth.
I, on the other hand, never upcasted a spell like that. My hands regained senses and tickled with an invisible buzzing, and my breaths came out jagged. I probably wouldn't have even moved from where I was if it wasn't for Bonnibel's hand suddenly grabbing my shoulder. I flinched at her touch, but was just met with a smile.
"Hey! You fucken' did it!" The half drow cheered as her spell slowly faded away.
"Uh... yeah... I guess so... uhm... how did you dissa...?"
"Oh! Yer brother had a ring of Greater Invisibility in that big ole' hoard! Shame its only one use per day, tho"
"...right..." I slowly regained my senses "let's go. We don't have much time"
My glare drifted slightly to our enemy. She laid on a pool of her own liquids. Her eyes were rolled to the back of her skull, but a grin was plasted on her face. It made my heart drop.
Bonnibel must have noticed, as her face grew concerned "Aspen? Everythin' okay bud?"
Suddenly, I was running towards the door where our exit was. My heart drumming in my ribage, threathening to collapse. I rammed my shoulder against the door, tearing it off it's hinges and falling onto the ground with a thud.
My suspicions became true.
At the center of the portal, a large crater had erased and shattered most of the important draconic runes, as a spiderweb of cracks completely ruined the spell. Despite her defeat, Clover had trapped us outside the grasp of my family. We were stranded.

ZEKE

Rubble, dust and corpses was all I found at the Chromaclaw's Neverwinter Manor. My ears grew deaf as the constant bickering of holy men and soldiers under my command grew blurrier, along with a high pitched buzz that delved my thoughts deeper into a bottomless pit.
Despite our heavy scale attack, we only managed to capture two Chromaclaws: Oscar and Violet. One was the head of the family, and the other was Tiamat's little animal messenger. Now, however, all that was left was 2 jade rings in my fingers, each glowing in dark emerald light as their essence swirled on each corner, looking for a way to escape with no luck. What frustrated me, however, was that none of them had the Blue Draconic Mask on them when I casted the spell.
I was sure that an attack of that scale would force them to use an artifact like that, specially with my highest ranking men on the job. Surely, eith such a threat they would out their best cards to use, but I was only met with their sheer brute and magical force with little to no aid of magic items.
They were just strong enough to not rely on them.
I stopped a few inches from Clover's corspe, one of my strongest singular units. Chain markings were visible around her neck, slowly fading away as her body decomposed, the stench growing unbearable. There were two large wounds: one on her chest, the other on her stomach. I assumed those were Aspen's which meant the kid managed to escape. I wasn't surprised since his entire family managed to. Injecting my eyes with mana, I noticed tracings of Shadow Magic clinging onto my soldier's bones. Along with the wounds on her neck, that gave me reason to believe that Aspen was helped by someone else, either one or two people. The Chromaclaws don't have affinity to Shadow Magic, so whoever was on their side wasn't part of their bloodline.
Whatever, the kid is not a danger right now. I needed to find more clues of Dustin's whereabouts. 
My hand rested on the woman's rotting abdomen. Silver mana ejected from my palm as it coated her entire body in a thin transluscent capsule, my Gentle Repose spell. It has been only 3 days after the escape of the Chromaclaws, in which I was away dealing with business in Luskan. Hopefully this would buy her some time so that she can be revived in a few more days.
I continued my walk, analyzing the possibilities. I remember distinctly my last duel with Dustin prior to our fight on the Chromaclaw estate. He had taken the mask out of our grasp and had left without a trace. Only months ago, and we were both at a stalemate. Now, however, I was confident I was stronger than him. But even then, he managed to escape. I tried to detect the item on his person on our encounter, but it seemed he didn't have it with him. But that didn't make any sense... if the item wasnt on his person... why come no one in the family wasn't using it already to destroy our troupes? Even with their raw strength, the item would have driven our forces back way faster.
Unless... they didn't know about it.
What if Dustin was hiding the existance of the Mask? That way, even with our strongest Divinators wouldn't be able to obtain any information on the matter, aside from him.
It must be hidden somewhere, maybe he stashed it away in some secret room or-
"Sir! We found something!" One of the clerics, a half ofc to be precise, called out to me "I think you might wana take a look!"
With a nod, I followed.
After a minute, my soldier led me to Dustin's bedroom.
The same crater I had forced Aspen into after my attack was still there, along with singed wood, books scattered on the floor, and a messy bed, somehow still intact.
"Why did you bring me to his room? To show off his collection?" I jested with an aggressive undertone.
I could sense his fear, but he did a good job at hiding it "I believe we found where he kept the item. However..."
"However what?"
"... here." The man reached for a book in the shelf. It didn't come out fully, instead emmiting the sound of gears turning. Before I knew it, the shelf had moved to the left, letting us see a secret passage that seemed to delve deeper into a hidden room in the manor.
Without any warning, I hastened my step inside.

"FUCK!" My fist cratered the wall beside me, the small vault-like room shaking as debris and dust fell on my shoulders and the piles of gold around. A pedestal presented itself in the middle... only to be empty.
"S-sir! Be careful! The structure here might cave in if you--"
"One more FUCKING word and I'll feed you to the Canaries!" I shot back at the young healer that called for me. His eyes swelled in tears and a darker shade of color in their pants grew larger. I could feel my own aura drown out the entire room, some of the soldiers under me struggling to keep their composure.
There was no way Dustin could have hidden it elsewhere, or even taken it when he escaped. When I took the upper hand in our fight, despite the injuries he inflicted upon me, he escaped through a shattered window. As much as my pride nugged me into following him, I had other matters to attend to.
Now, however, I wished I had gone after him.
None of this made any sense! First he doesn't tell anyone about the mask, then he doesn't even have it hidden anywhere, did he take it with him? No, he wouldn't be as stupid carrying it on his person... a magic item of that much power would alert anyone. Then how could he-
Just then, it clicked. Like completing a puzzle with a piece I actively chose to ignore.
"Aspen Chromaclaw..."
What was he doing at Dustin's room when his own brother sent him to pick up Aeris? I vividly remember sending Clover to deal with the kid. If his only goal was to grab her and run, what business does he have in his bedroom?
He was the only one Dustin trusted. 
Of course, he needed a failsafe, so why not give it to his weak brother that no one would suspect? The thought infuriated me. My blood hot like lava at the thought of Dustin outsmarting me.
"S... sir..." a breathless cry reached my ears. When i faced it, several of my men had collapsed on the floor, faces blue and out of breath. I suddenly nocied how much of my magic had leaked into the air, and I instantly retracted it.
Like fish back in water, they swallowed the air around us, filling their lungs once more. 
"Ugh... I need some space" I declared before making my way out of the vault

☆ ☆  ☆  ☆  ☆

The stars above me twinkled in place, the night sky looming over me, mocking my failed attempts to get the mask. The Chromaclaw Mansion was far away, so was Neverwinter. I looked at the black ocean, reflecting poorly the scenery above. The sound of crashing waves attempted poorly to soothe my anger.
"Screaming at Umberlee's domain won't do anything, Zeke." A familiar, annoying voice seemed to reverb in divinity from behind me.
"Leave me alone, Bahamut." I hissed. "I'm not in the mood for your monologues."
The hand of a light bronze skinned man rested at my shoulders. Without turning my head, I glared at "Fizban the Fabulous", a white hairedsenior with a long, white beard that seemed to glimmer with the starlight. His eyes, azure in color, held a compassion and empathy that my heart wasn't capable of feeling. Maybe that's why he chose to trap me in this deal...
"I come not to taint your fun, my dear friend" a chuckle reached my ears, boiling my blood even further "I come to see your progress. And I see the human mutts of Tiamat have gotten away... I must say I-"
"NO! This is where you zip it, _Bahamut_" I spat venomously as I slapped the hand of a God away from me. "I said I didn't want to hear your shit today. _I_ have done more today than any of your useless 'seeker of Justice' army has done in the past century. You may hold the power, but I hold the brain of this operation"
His eyebrow raised a fraction of an inch, his distaste barely noticeable physically, but his emotions leaked into me like rivers "There is no need for harsh words and acts fueled by anger, I'm just suggesting what you can-"
"Suggest one thing and I'll punch you in the face."
"You dare strike a God?"
"A useless one at that."
"Let me remind you the position you are currently in, mortal."
"What? Are you going to Polymorph me? Sink me into marble and let my body become one with your temple? Because if you do, there is not a single one of your soldiers capable to replace me."
I knew I was going over the limits I had, but I wasn't going to let myself be tossed around by an over-glorified dragon. 
"If you needed a reminder, Platinum Dragon, I have captured the head of the Chromaclaws and their Messenger. Something not a SINGLE Bahamutan has ever gotten close to achieve. In fact, the only thing your sorry excuse of a clergy is good for is for donating to charity. The Tiamatans have destroyes more than the Bahamutans have been able to rebuild. A golden heart is always praised until you need to save the day. How many times have the Tiamatans gotten away with their plans because a Bahamutan had to save a life? How many times have the Tiamatans gotten closer to release their queen out into the Material Plane because a Bahamutan couldn't FUCKING KILL someone and let them slip away into darkness once more?"
"YOUR kind is weak, Bahamut. This is why we made a pact. You needed someone to pull the strings, and I'm doing just that. Kill me now, and let the world sink into your sister's hands."
The crashing waves against the cliff Is stood upon had been my answer for the minute of silence we shared. The dragon's fury roared like hellfire, and was as palpable as tar in the air.
But he knew I was right.
"You have poked the dragon's head, Zeke the Boogeyman, and you have survived for today." He sighed, admitting defeat. "It is true. I need that icy calculation of yours. But if you'd let me finish, you'd know I'd bring you something that could help"
"... What...?"
In the palm of his hand, a single, glowing golden lock of hair sat unmoving from the wind. 
"It's Aspen Chromaclaw's hair. Use this to track him down."

Chapter 12: A Mole in a Dragon's Den

Notes:

Happy new 2025 :D

AERIS CHROMACLAW

I waited.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Half an hour.
Even when the magic waned and collapsed, I still held hope, wishing that the sorceress that accompanied my brother had the skill to bring him back.
It was only when Aunt Dalia's hand fell on my shoulder that I broke down in tears.
Salt water flowed down my cheeks, freezing at the end of my chin and falling on the ground before shattering. The ground itself was coated in my own frostbite, a guttural yell from my throat threathening to shatter it. Aunt Dalia embraced me, her body warm, but not enough to melt my sorrows.
Mother... father... Dustin... Aspen... all of them were gone in a night. The third daughter of the main Chromaclaw branch... a survivor from a tragedy caused by the Platinum Dragon's hand. 
My freezing tears suddenly melted and boiled into steam, my arms expelling ashes as I could feel the magic inside me scorch my insides. No, it was my insides that were scorching, the sheer rage burning everything around me in blue flames.
Not for long, however, as all I was left with once my emotions were expelled was a void in my chest.
"Riri..." my aunt had taken the full impact of my magic. I didn't even noticed the burn marks in her arms until I looked up at her, but she only bore a sad smile "It's alright... Let me take you to your room"
"No..."
"Please... I know you want to wait for your brother, but... you need to rest. You spent the past days without food or proper rest. Please-"
She was right. I was angry at the fact that she was right. It's not like she could understand, Aspen was my brother, there's not a chance she knew how it felt-
Except she did. She was dad's cousin, and Dustin told me she helped him train. She was probably feeling worse than I... but what about me? Was I supposed to just... sulk and do nothing about it? 
Like a war drum, a sudden pang crawled at light speed up my spine into my head, manifesting into an exploding migraine that overwhelmed my senses. I was no familiar to backlash, but given the fact my emotions eruped into a hot and cold magic landscape, there was little to no spec of mana in my body. My eyelids threathened to close under crushing weight, and I had no escape but to give in. 

An icy puncturing wind awoke me from my slumber, as if resurfacing after diving into deep waters. My unfamiliar surroundings slowly registered in my mind as the quarters Uncle Donald gave me as a temporary room in the Baldur's Gate Chromaclaw manor when we came to visit. Two golden banners were displayed in between the entrance, each with Tiamat's symbol sewn into them with glossy silk, each head their respective color. The floor and ceiling were made onyx black wood, a small chandelier hanging at the center, along with walls of the same material, yet covered in tapestries that portrayed teachings of the Many Mawed Queen: Greed, Metallic Bloodshed, etc...
Bookshelves caved into the wall in front of my bed, rows of books written in draconic, along with a window that let view to the Upper City of the famous city by the Sword Coast.
I looked down at the new clothes I fashioned: an ocean blue silk dress with a white piece that ressembled something akin to an apron, the dges with intricate patterns in the form of claws or draconic heads; my feet had long white socks and onyx black strap shoes. I looked at my spellbook strap on my hip, only to notice it missing. Panic slithered in my skin rapidly, but subsided just as fast when I found it on the small night desk right next to where I was laying.
Once my nerves calmed down, the memories of my home flooded into me like a shattered dam. The dragonborn woman who attacked me in my sleep. It was a watercolor blur from there until we found ourselves in the prison. If Aspen was right and they weren't here with us, then mom and dad...
Dustin was an enigma to me, despite being my older brother. Even when I was a child, we didn't spend much time together as much as Aspen and I did. In fact, I barely saw him at all when I started my magic trainning. Since Aspen was doing house duties before rising ranks, he and I would bump into each other or even use our breaks to play together. When I thought of them, Aspen's shadow always seemed to be only a few feet away from me, while Dustin's was on the verge of the light, threathening to leave us behind.
The time I spent with aspen flashed like paintings in my memory, swelling my eyes once more. I uttered a small prayer to the Many Mawed queen, hoping Her Flames would keep my brother safe.
One thing didn't make sense to me, however.
A year ago I was learning family spells with Mother. She wore a long, black and merigold dress that seemed to drag through the grass fields around our manor, a long with a black addorned umbrella that shielded her from sunlight.
"Riri, darling, I'm sure you know why I brought you here" her voice ever plummy, with a hint of honey laced in between her words.
"You brought me to learn about the family's abjuration field, Mother"
"Correct"
Ash materialized around her hand, swirling like a cyclone in between her fingers before she slashed her hand at the air. The cloud of burnt remnants swept through the grasslands, however it did not burn the vegetation, but rather seemed to hold it down onto the soil. On it, several draconic runes lit up in fiery light out of the blue. 
"These are the Seals of Warning we have placed unto the surroundings. Every time someone steps into them, me and your father will receive a mental ping about who they are, and we'll be able to trigger a trap or an attack at the individual depending. Well, of course, except from our own blood. All Chromaclaws are undetectable under this spell, just so we don't get a headache from learning about our kin coming in and out"
I nodded "What did you bring me here for, though?"
"To be our failsafe, of course." Her hand extended, and I took it"You won't have as much control as I do, for now, but in case we aren't home or we aren't able to get into the reach of the spell, you'll be able to know who is it."
"How powerful is this... mental ping?"
"Enough to wake you up"
"Is there a reach limit for this spell's notification?"
"In the material plane, no. It is cut off if you enter another plane of existance, however"
"What if they're accompanied by a Chromaclaw?"
"Same effect, but won't detect the Chromaclaw"
"Is there a way to Dispel it?"
"For an outsider, it'd take a Dispel Magic spell to erase it with a power equal to that of a Wish Spell. And that's only for one of the glyphs. For a Chromaclaw? We only need a spell of third level."
"Why?"
"In case our trap is rewritten or used against us."
"Who made the spell?"
"Me"
"Does the Elemental Key system work with this?"
"No"
"Which School of Enchantment?"
"Abjuration and Divination"
"Alright. No more questions"
She snickered "Clever girl. Now, I'll transfer part of the spell unto your senses. You'll feel small preckles on your brain, but they are not harmful."
She did as she said. Ashes cycloned around our interlocked fingers before diving into my skin. I felt the burning sensation on my bloodstream, but I welcomed it. As she predicted, several prickles punctured around my cranium, as if they were diving needles onto evry pore of my scalp and digging out the roots of my hair. Thankfully, though, it was only a mildly annoying sensation at best, that was replaced by a sudden awarenes of my surroundings. Every glyph on the ground, all 100 of them, were suddenly imprinted in the back of my mind.

I let out a sigh I didn't realize I had been holding as I pryed into my mind in search for those glyphs, yet they vanished from my brain, as if someone had snuffed them out.
How could have the Bahamutans possibly known about the warding glyphs? And how could they have snuffed out all 100 of them?
A knock on the door interrupted my train of thought. It squeaked open as Uncle Donald's round and redcheeked face popped out from outside
"Ho ho! My dear Ae!" Despite trying to keep himself in his ever jolly mood, even his sentences were laced with a soft layer of melancholy "We are... gathering all of our family for a meeting... would you care to join us?"

☆  ☆  ☆  ☆  ☆

"What the FUCK were you all thinking in leaving my brother under the claws of that Bahamutan!?" Aunt Spina's make up ran down her cheeks in black lines that almost seemed to accentuate her rage "We are the Human Legacy of our queen, and NONE of you thought of freeing my dear Oscar!?"
Everyone at the table, including me, stood silent as my curly haired aunt Spina Chromaclaw, my father's older sister, lamented the disappearance of a third of our family. When I got into the room for the first time, she held me in her arms. I fought my own feelings to not shed tesrs right then and there.
I was beside aunt Dalia and Uncle Donald, my father's cousin and brother respectively. I had hoped for uncle to reply at Spina's question, but we all knew our answers would disappoint her.
"The Bahamutam that faced us was clearly nowhere near the level of any other Platinum Dragon we have faced" aunt Annabelle stated, the only one defying her sister's fury "His strength, regeneration factor and the fact that he used a ninth level spell twice to trap both Oscar and Violet isn't something even the strongest casters in the Material Realm are able to achieve."
"Not yet" Esva added as she leaned against the door frame, a lollipop in her mouth
"... Right... and not to mention the necromantic spell they used to constantly bring their soldiers back. That is not a tactic that we've seen from any Bahamutan. Either they changed tactics, or were desperate enough to use it."
"Not to mention the sudden attack. What were they there even for?" Cousin Elliot, Annabelle's son, chimed in. His well trimmed hair and soft features glistened with the candlelight.
"We're not sure, but with the intensity of the attack, it seemed like they were making a final stand against us"
"How could they have known most of us were at the Neverwinter state, though?"
"A mole..." aunt Spina uttered, her long, sharp fingers grasping the wooden table, leaving claw marks on the material.
"That's Impossible" Luna, Dalia's daughter and Aspen's teacher, interjected as her metallic arm slammed the table.
"What other explanation can you even find?"
"Dunno, to be honest, but I refuse to believe our own kin sold us out"
"But who?"
"Aspen, obviously" Esva pushed herself off of her stance and walked over to the table with her candy in hand, covered in her own spit.
"Aspen is one of the most devoted on the clergy" Luna countered as a vein bulged on the side of her head "what maked you even believe he'd betray his own blood?"
"Easy" her lollipop suddenly pointed towards me, small drops of her saliva dropping on the table, giving me the ick "Say, Aeris. What was Aspen doing in the time Uncle Oscar was freeing the other Chromaclaws feom their prisons?"
With all eyes on me, I struggled to get the words out "Uhm... he was... securing the family Hoard with one of Uncle Silvant's Rings of Holding."
"Correct. But... before all the family was about to leave into the telepotation circle, what did he say?"
"He said that... he needed to do something else before he left."
"Bingo!" A smirk crept up her face as she popped her sweet treat back into her mouth "It's easy to deduce that Aspen took the hoard, broke the portal and ran away with Bahamutans!" She sat on the table, kicking her legs like a little girl "he's probably splitting the share with them right now. Whispers broke amongst the family, heads turning and eyes scanning the rest. I knew that Esva's accusations were just baseless assumptions, so I took a page out of mom's and slipped into the icy, calculating mask that she taught me to use, both metaphorically and physically as I stripped emotions from my line of thought, along with frostbite growing underneath my dermis to calm myself down.
"Silence." My voice reverbed loudly in the room, silencing and catching everyone's eye."I will not tolerate slander for my innocent brother, specially when the accusations are baseless."
"How could you even know-"
"First, the entire manor was guarded with 100 Glyphs that served as both eyes on who stepped on them. Aspen had no knowledge of this because it was never known to him. This information is only passed down to pure spellcasters, such as me."
"Second, our hoard is cursed. This is known to every branch of the family that only those with our blessed blood are able to hold our riches. Even if Aspen did give away our riches, they'd have melted on the spot."
"Why didn't he give us the ring to any of u-"
"Because he suspected that there was a mole, too" I countered against Esva's proposal. Even though I was lying, I knew Aspen isn't a traitor.
"And three, Aspen left to go get an item that Dustin entrusted him... he..."
My memory traces back to when Dustin and Aspen locked themselves into Dustin's room. I hadn't had any suspicions until Dustin locked his door with an Arcane Lock spell. Wanting to pry, I casted one of my newer spells: Arcane Eye.
After following them inside of the hidden vault that my older brother had, I learned the truth...
"Dustin was hiding a Dragon Mask."
A cacophony of gasps erupted from every family member. Spina looked at me with plates for eyes, Dalia couldn't seem more confused, Silvant's expression grew somber, and Esva and my cousins seemed like they'd just seen a ghost.
"Riri..." Uncle Silvant approached me slowly "are you sure that what you saw is true?"
I nodded, suddenly feeling the effects of my spell waning "It was the Blue Dragon Mask, I'm certain."
"How could have Dustin come across such a Relic? No one has heard from the items after Severin's failed attempt to bring Tiamat into our realm"
"Which is why I hypothesize that Dustin was hiding the mask for the very same reason we are fighting right now: He knew there was a mole amongst our ranks"
Tension rose, ending my spell on the spot. The frost melted away under the heat of my blood and emotions merged back into my head. However, thanks to my luck, no one seemed to focus again on me
"We'll... call this meeting short for now" Aunt Spina declared as tears fell onto the wood. Her swirly bangs hid most of her expression, only a trembling lip being visible. Without any other word, she turned around and hurried to what I could only assume her chamber.
I looked at my family: Oscar followed her sister to confort her, Annabelle and Dallia seemed deep in thought, Silvant exited the room without a word, my cousins walked away, whispering amongst each other. The only one whose gaze was still atop me was Esva's. Her pupils were a pair of daggers hurled at my soul as her face scrunched in sheer rage. Without a warning, the handle of her lollipop broke away as she bit too hard into it. I twitched at the sound it made, and watched as she walked into a different room, still side-eyeing me.
Luna's hand rested on my shoulder "You did great out there, kid. Honestly, these reunions take around a millenia to end, so you wrapping it up in less than an hour is kind of impressive" she giggled, her features simetric and beautiful as her hair hung off of a high loose ponytail. "However, if it's true, it means we have to get in contact with Aspen as soon as possible."
"How do we even know if he's alive...?"
"Pffft, your brother is a tough cookie! He'll be fine, specially with a magic item as powerful as the dragon mask! Besides, if there's truly a spy, I doubt it's Aspen. He's the most religious out of all of us."
"I..." I sighed "I guess you're right..."
"What does surprise me, though, is that Oscar was captured. He was powerful enough to be the second-in-line chosen, after Tchazzar, of course."
"You think it was a Talon of Justice?"
"Talon's of Justice are all Silver Dragons. But... wth what Uncle Donald said, someone that powerful must be either near or amongst their ranks."
As if sensing my now spiraling emotions, Luna patted my head
"Hey! No need to sulk! That's just a reason to get stronger! If we all train really hard, I'm sure we'll kick his ass the next time he appears!"
It was suddenly evident to me why I was so angry, like a puzzle piece clicking into place.
The reason why I was kidnapped.
The reason why Aspen sent me away with the rest.
The reason I felt so... helpless.
I wasn't strong enough.

AURELIUS CELESTINE TIMBERFALL'S POV

I parried Leonic's sword with a lazy swipe before pushing him into the ground with a soft kick. His wooden armor clanked hollow as he fell on his rear.
"You have such a great ability with the sword, but you never prioritize your stance, Leo" 
"Wh- not fair!" My brother smacked the ground with his wooden sword "You're way more experienced than I! That's why you always win!"
"Well, If I wasn't experienced, I wouldn't be standing here with you"
It had been a few weeks after me and my party members had saved the world from another threat. After finding Galvin Chromaclaw's lair hidden deep underneath the Sea of Fallen Stars, we managed to stop his goal of merging his essence with the heart of a slumbering Dracolich, not only avenging Solomon's brother who died by the Tiamatan's hand, but also rescuing my father, who managed to see me one last time before he passed away. After I did a proper burial for him, we took the Dracolich's heart to Carmilla's fae patron, an old hag for a knack of dragon meat as food, she finally gave her the one thing she always wanted: a home. Now, we are in the small pocket dimension Carmilla gained for herself, and after I finally proposed to her, we've been enjoying our days with my little brother Leonic in between Waterdeep and the Sword Mountains.
The small pocket dimension has everything we needed: Golden leaf trees surrounded us like a forest clearing, a two story shack at the far corner with a front yard that we used to train on our free time; the sky was something akin to a glass bubble, letting us see the daylight and the stars when night came along outside on the material plane.
I helped him back up on his feet "If you really wanna go out into adventures, the least you can learn is how to position well your feet. If your stance is incorrect, even a gust of wind is able to knock you in the ground"
"Listen to your brother, Leonic." Solomon, the giant Leonin, made his way toward us with a plste filled with finely cut apple slices "The base of a warrior relies on how it stands in the battlefield!"
"You say that cuz you're bigger than everyone else, Sol" he rebutted, his gaze on the ground.
"Alright, strike me."
"... what?"
"Come on, don't be shy! Push me, kick me, punch me!"
The younger dragonborn regarded me with a confused glare, which I only replied with a shrug and a grin.
He approached the titan of a man, Leo only reaching in height about the Leonin's abdomen. He wound his fist back and struck his belly. Like a log just a hatch away from being split in half, the giant antropomorphic creature fell into the ground with a loud thud, the ground quivering and dust rising at his fall.
"See? Even Goliath once fell for David's stone!" Solomon roared happily, recalling once again that strange Untheric tale. He stood up and dusted himself "If you are not careful, you may fall prone in battle, and that might be the end for you"
"Ugh... you two make it sound so easy, but it's hard to get a good footing..."
I took a few apple slices and popped them into my mouth. Its taste filled me with vigor after so much time trainning Leonic.
"Hey! Guys!" My fiancé called from inside of the cabin, her head popping out of the door frame.
I stared into those drow elven eyes I deeply adored, but as I was about to make a romantic reply, I noticed the hint of concern in her expression.
Solomon seemed to notice too as he stared at me. We both nodded.
"Leo, stay here." Solomon ordered.
I stepped inside the wooden building and took a good look at my beautiful soon-to-be wife. Her snow white locks were tied in a low, lazy ponytail that sat on her shoulder, her light grey skin glistening the same as her silver eyes, yet her frown indicated other words instead of the usual flirt and flatter she always offered me.
"The Silver Lances" a familiar baritone rung from within the kitchen. I didn't truly believe that the Chosen of Bahamut was walking in our halls until I saw his tired cinnabar eyes staring to me. He looked worse than the last time we met, however: his jet black hair wasnt tied in a bun, but rather dishiveled and greasy, his bronze skin seemed to be paler, scars running up his flesh, and his once bulky frame was replaced by a thinner form, where his clothes seemed to be bigger than his mass altogether.
"Zeke!" I sped towards him before he fell, catching the man's fragile body and helped him up.
"Wh-who did this to you?!" My Leonin friend roared, veins bulging underneath his fur, but his anger subsided as the Chosen One raised his hand.
"No need to burn flames yet, my furry friend, for my current state was my doing. I... consumed the Platinum Sprout."
"What!?" We all gasped, realizing the severity of the situation.
The Divine Sprout was a fruit cultivated in the Gardens of Celestia, grown from a branch of the Tree of Eternity and hibridized with an empowered seed, given by Chauntea, and some of Bahamut's very own blood. None of us know how the fruit that it grows actually does, we only know that the seed that it leaves behind contains great power within it. Bahamut offers, though rarely, the seed for one of his most devoted clerics or Paladins to consume in times of aid. During my use of Divine Intervention to revitalize myself and companions in the fight against Galvin, Bahamut hinted of giving me the Sprout in order to finished the fight, but I declined, in fear of what would it do to my body once the effects waned.
And now, I watched what happened to someone who did ingest it.
"A few days ago, I conducted a raid towards the Chromaclaw's Neverwinter manor. With the help of contacts from the inside, we managed to capture Oscar Chromaclaw, Talon of Neverwinter, and his wife, Violet Chromaclaw, Messenger of Tiamat"
"That's... great, but-" Carmilla helped him into a chair before grabbing a cup of water from the kitchen "Did you manage to capture Justin?"
"...no."
"That traitor! Where he could have taken that mask!?"
"That's... the reason why I came here, actually."
Zeke took a sip, the liquid almost seeming to invigorste his paling skin "We don't know where Dustin is, but we do know who has the mask right now. It's Dustin's little brother, Aspen Chromaclaw. He... he killed Clover before escaping with the mask."
My heart sank into my stomach "Clover is dead!?"
"No way..." Carmilla's eyes swelled in tears "surely... there are means to bring her back.
I looked for hope, only a glimmer of it, in the Chosen One's eyes, but he only released a sigh and shook his head.
Unconsciously, my hands locked with my fiancé's, as we both were reaching for something to keep our feet anchored to the ground. It was only the shattering boom that exploded on our left that saved me from my mind being submerged in a sea of darkness. When I looked at the source, it was Solomon: his fist had shattered one of the walls thet separated our living room from his bedroom. I watched as the wall slowly rebuilt itself, at the same speed that tears leaked from his eyes. I knew Solomon had feelings for Clover, but right now I could only offer him my silence as comfort.
With a deep inhale, I cleared my mind from feelings and undesired thoughts "tell us what we need to do."
"Bahamut himself provided me with a lock of his hair that was left in combat. With it, our most powerful divinators managed to locate him through Scrying. He was last seen headed towards the Mere of Dead Men."
"Isn't that the Domain of Ebondeath?"
"It is, but there hasn't been sighting of the Dracolich in decades now. We don't know the true intentions of the Chromaclaw, but an area as dangerous as that might lead to one of their many lairs. Your mission is to find Aspen, kill him, and take the Mask back to our hands. On the way, I will send one of our diviners with you to help you locate him"
"What will you be doing?" The drow asked
"I... I still need to recover from the effects of the Divine Sprout, but my mission is still prioritized in finding Dustin. He posseses too many Bahamutan secrets that bring risk to the clergy."
"I'll prepare our things. I... I need some air." Carmilla made her way out of the building, fast in her step. As she did, I locked eyes with Leonic, who had his head peeked into the house. I walked towards him, my eyes still not believing that he stopped being that bratty 10 year old, and now was almost a man, at 17 years of age, yet...
"You're leaving already?"
"Yes." My answer came out more somber than I intended. "There's another Chromaclaw, and we must desl with him before he causes anymore damage."
His gaze dropped to the floor "I... I see... I can't come with you, can I?"
"No. It's too dangerous"
"But... I'm stronger than I was before! I know I can be of help somehow! I just--"
"I can't lose you too, Leo!" My reprimand came stronger than inteded as well, almost a roar. I opened my eyes and stared at the scared face of my relative.
"I'm... I'm so sorry" I pulled him into a hug "I just... there has been so many bad news already... I only wish to live well amongst my loved ones. You know how much I tried to bring back our father... if something were to hsppen to you... I..."
"Aurelius. It's... it's okay." He embraced me back.
After a few seconds, he pushed me out of our interlocked arms "Go save the world... again. I'll stay here."
"Are you sure? I can send you to one of the finest inns in Baldur's Gate or Waterdeep if you wish s-"
"I'll be fine. Besides, fruits regrow here very fast!"
Zeke's firm hand rested on my shoulder "I'll watch over the boy, don't worry. Who knows? If I recover any faster, I can train him in the meantime."
"Wh-what!? Really!? I-I mean, I don't want to disturb the Ch-chosen One of Bahamut if he has any remainning tasks to do, a-and..." Leonic stammered, trying to not disturb Zeke, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't surprised myself.
"It's all right. The least I can do right now is train the brother of the leader of the Silver Lances while they're away on a mission."
"Th-thank you so much, Mr. Zeke sir!"
"Please, just call me Zeke."
I decided to leave my brother and his new mentor to chatter away while I looked for my brother in spirit. 
Solomon stared into the demiplane's blurry horizon, unmoving like a atatue that I feared would crumble at any given moment.
"Brother..." my hand reached for his shoulder, but he gently moved it away
"It's alright, Aurelius. We both knew what being heroes would bring us. I just... didn't think it'd be this soon..."
"We'll perform a proper burial for her once her killer is dead."
"Let me take his life. I will crush his head in my maw for what he's done to Clover."
"Do not let anger consume you, my friend... I fear that if you delve deep into your aching heart, I might lose you as well."
When he didn't respond, I continued "We'll bring justice down upon him. I can promise you that." 

Chapter 13: Twin Kings Of The Dead

Notes:

Hiii! Sorry I've been gone so long! I got a job and college had me in shambles, i also got sick and hospitalized twice, my dog died AND my boss at work is an absolute piece of shit

I also lost inspiration bc this story might never be something dnd official, bc i would really love to contribute to faerun lore, but i gained it back after seeing a comment on my work and the fact that 150+ ppl have read this so.... why not continue a bit more???

 

Also, a bit of a shorter chapter

ASPEN CHROMACLAW

My glaive cleaved through the last of the Bullywugs, the weapon deep into the amphibian's mouth, tearing through the back of the skull and tainting the golden polearm in a sickly green-red blood. When his desperate gargling stopped, I pulled it out with my weapon with my foot and let his body sink into the black brown mire. When I turned to my companions, I let out a sigh of relief at the sight of their enemies also slain: Kendrick slowly wiped the sickly colored crimson out of his face, his daggers impaled onto several of the frogs, bled to their demise; Bonnibel, on the other hand, was sitting atop of the branches of a half sunken tree, completely clean with her summon, Sir Lukiah, a shadow wreathed wolf that measured only an inch shorter than me; its midnight black mane and small, pink tie around it's neck were coated in blood as it approached it's master, only to receive a rewarding scratch in the snout.
"How close is this... 'family friend' of yours, Azzie?" Kendrick asked as he took out his weaponry off of the corpses
"O-only an hour away from here. They- uhm... he usually meets people in a certain spot"
"Also, uh- 'scuse my bad memory, but didn't a Dracolich live here? What was his name again? Uh... Evendeath? Evandeath?"
"Ebondeath, Bonnibel" I corrected "and, according to some reports we got a few months ago, there hasn't been signs of him for a while"
"You heard that Bonnie? There's a Dracolich on the loose..."
"Pre-tty sure Aspen's last name has SOME weight against even Dracoliches! Don't cha basically work along the Cult of the Dragon? We're gonna be a-okay!"

It had been four days since we escaped the manor in Neverwinter and went into hiding. Despite the unlikely group we made, we had a goal in common if we wanted to be closer to beating Zeke: Reach Baldur's Gate.
That goal, however, was hard to complete when we were on the other side of the Sword Coast, and with Bahamutans almost everywhere I knew that the path wasn't going to be easy.
The time spent with the other two wasn't as bad as I imagined it to be. Both Bonnibel and Kendrick turned out to be a nice addition to my battle style: the sorceress taking the rear and supporting from the back, while Kendrick covered my flank. I remember stories of adventurers in faerun where the cleric was the one standing at the back or taking care of the party's wounds, but I found myself being the main force of the cohort. With my military trainning, I was an inpenetrable wall in between the enemy and the other two, and no monster, bandit or undead had been able to harm us: Bonnibel's magic was mostly based on illusions, with a few strong damaging spells on her arsenal. Even if an  enemy reached her, I have seen countless ways she could evade their grasp; and Kendrick wasn't something he needed to worry about. His inhuman regeneration allowed him to come back from even the most gruesome of wounds unscathed.... besides, even if I asked if he wanted me to heal him, he refused in an offended tone.
The leader of the Undying Petra was... strange, to say the least.
I, myself, found a bit of growth in my own connection with My Lady. At first I didn't notice, but more spells have been added to my arsenal a day ago. I haven't had time to put them in practice, despite the constant battles that we have faced to get to the Mere of Dead Men.
Blood, mud and vegetal stench overwhelmed my nostrils, as each step onto the wet soil threathened to sink me into the depths of the swamp. The trees creaked and swayed with the gales from the ocean, its branches reaching towards our path like malevolent grey tendrils attempting to grab us and never let go. 
"Can you remind me why your family friend lives in the fucking Mere of Dead Men?" Kendrick's voice came out weak from behind me.
Without looking back, I just stated "Th-this is where their lair is located"
"Lair? What do you mean by Lair?"
Suddenly, he stopped walking, frozen in realization
"W-wait... don't tell me your family friend is..."
A brittle smile addorned my face "Th.. The Black Death of the Mere of Dead Men."

One of the many jobs my father has is to establish good relationships in between the chromatic dragons of Faerun and the Chromaclaws, mostly because he's one of the few who is able to kill them, should the situation escalate. Voroagamanthar was one of the most rational dragons, and so the situation between our family and him was friendly.
However, I still remember a secret my father shared with me that will make any negotiation with the Black Dragon go better. 
"You Chromaclaws are fucking nuts! Isn't that dragon the one that sinks people into the mud to eat them later!?"
Bonnibel stared at Kendrick with a bored expression "ain't his family a bunch'a dragon whisperers?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he's gonna save our asses! What if The Black Death suddenly decides to devour us!?"
"Our... our treaty of peace with dragons concerns our alliances as... as well. Y-you two are considered allies of... the Chromaclaws"
"See!? What did I tell ya!? Hehee!~ we're gonna be a-okay!"

Fog seeped into the mere,  the humidity leaking into the soft latex fsbric underneath my tattered armor. Each step became a wet slop, unable to keep our pressence hidden, and the sky was slowly being closed off by the many trees that almost seemed to lesn towards us. Kendrick and Bonnibel's bickering grew quiet, and my senses sharpened at a fsct that we couldn't quite prove, but we couldn't quite deny, either.
We were being watched.
I stopped in my tracks, making Kendrick accidentally bump into me.
I waited.
Then, I spoke 
"Voaragamanthar... show yourself. I came in seek of aid and guidance"
Speaking in draconic felt way more comfortable than speaking in common, since it was the first language that my parents taught me.
At first, the only answer to my call was the distant crunching of dead branches, then a small swirling in the fog, and then ravaging winds that threathened to blow us away.
From above, I could barely discern the black mass before it landed before me, the mud around us splashing like a tidal wave that I only managed to evade thanks to a shielding spell. Once the ruckus was over, however, i faced fearless the creature just a few feet away from me.
Towering over like an onyx devil, The Black Death of the Mere of Dead Men stared into my eyes, his' glowing like two deep pools of neon green acid, with black, lightless slits scanning over every inch of me. Each horn that potruted from the sides of his head pointed straight at me, a subtle yet terrifying threat, coated in dark grey before connecting to the body, showered in midnight scales. His wings were wide open, embracing me and my companions like the trees that once surrounded, or rather, covered any chances of escape.
"For someone to utter my True name out loud in my native tongue..." Voaragamanthar's voice rumbled through the vastness of the swamp, his words akin to that of rattling chains "You must be either a brave, or an insolent fool... and I'm inclined to believe the latter."
Kendrick fell onto the mud butt first, while Bonnibel muttered a chant, yet I stood my ground against the King of the Mere.
"I am neither brave nor insolent, I am only here to strike a deal... I'm here on behalf of my father, but I'm sure you know him, Voroagamanthar. Or should I say... Waervaerendor"

The legend of the Black Death of the Mere of Dead Men was quite chilling for any young adventurer that found themselves passing by the swamp: a Black Dragon with a silver tongue and zero tolerance for any disrespect. If faced in battle, the entire battlefield was on the dragon's side: using the deep pools of mud to hide from any attack, and the foggy skies above to obscure his real position. Many survivors spoke of The Black Death like a terrifying night ballad: the mastery over a huge category of spells, the great regeneration factor it possesed, making grave wounds be gone in matter of seconds, and the dragon's speed that could let him delve into the pools and rise in the sky in an instant.
Of course, this was just what the Black Death wanted.
For there wasn't one dragon... but two.
Voroagamanthar and Waervaerendor are one of the rarest alliances in the world of dragons, and that is because they are twins with a very rare empathic link. One plays the act, the other schemes behind the veil.
"You.... you must be Oscar's offspring. Only the Chromaclaws know of our identities." Waervaerendor leaned closer to my face, his breath filled with the stench of death and gore. 
And then... the dragon retreated his wings, stepped back and... laid down?
"Speak. I was not aware I was going to be greeted by good company. Oscar is a great friend and companion, and I believe his son should be treated the same. What is your name, child?" He politely questioned, now speaking in Common
"Aspen Drakonemis Chromaclaw..."
"Ah...the second born. It is an honor to meet you, Aspen. You may call me Wulzour."
I nodded before looking back at Bonnibel and Kendricks, whose jaws may as well had fallen off their faces. They stayed frozen for a minute, as if seeing a tame and relaxing dragon was something straight out of a dream, before Bonnibel finally reacted with a laugh. It was not an offense to the dragon, but rather a chuckle at the sheer terror she probably felt with Wulzour's introduction that now subsided.
"Pheeeeew! Gods! I told ya, Ken! We'll be fine with our lil' dragon whisperer!" She stopped at that last part, however, as Waervaerendor shot her a nasty glance.
Since Kendrick still showed no visible reaction, I turned back to the dragon and sighed "These are my travelling companions... Bonnibel and Kendrick"
"Quite the party... but I am not here to judge. Tell me, Aspen. What brings you to my lair? Since you're not with your kin, I must assume that something must have happened."
"W-well.... we've been attacked."

I told Wulzour the events from my perspective: the fire, the Bahamutans and their spell that raised the dead, Zeke and the way he knocked me on the ground with a singular hit, the capture of mother and father, and ouru escape.
"I-I came looking for you two to... h-help me reach Baldur's Gate as soon as possible... we need to regroup with my Uncle Donald a-and my aunt Spina and figure out what to do from... from there..."
The dragon raised one of it's powerful claws and tapped his chin thoughtfully "Zeke, you say? I have heard about this individual before..."
"You have?" Kendrick asked, seemingly out of his trance
Wulzour nodded "Indeed. From the whispers of travelers and Bahamutans that take short cuts across our lair."
I could hear Kendrick mutter "our?" behind me, but i chose to ignore it and let the dragon continue
"Zeke, despite being only human, is considered a Talon of Justice. Son of the former Bahamut's Chosen One, he was once an urban legend in many cities, but now he seemed to become devoted to Bahamut. Some say he didi it for a chance to see his mother again, others say he was always devoted, but the theory I favor the most is... that he was forced against his will."
I cocked my head in confusion. 
"From the tales of the Bahamutans, he doesn't seem to be filled with that sense of uprightousness that every Chosen before him ever had. In fact, he always seems... rather angry, according to sources, of course."
"How can one be forced to be a Chosen? Isn't that like- illegal or somethin'?" The sorceress pondered out loud before the dragon shrugged 
"I'm not versed in Divine Laws, but that is most of the information I've gathered."
Now, it was my time to ponder. The information about the enemy was valuable, and it spoke best about Zeke's ablilties. Maybe he was a sorcerer or a warlock under Bahamut's gaze, but if he was against it... maybe there was a chance to bring him to our side? It's doubtful, but for Bahamut to have one of his strongest chess pieces have his thoughts clouded was already a great advantage.
"I-is there anything else you know, Wulzour?"
"Of course, young one, but that information is not free."
I cursed inwardly "I... I have a large sum of gold i could... I could offer to you... and..-"
"No. I do not want your gold" he raised his claw, stopping me from continuing."Besides, angering Her Grace is not something I seek by taking from the Chromaclaw's gold, given that you've told me you had to take your hoard with you."
"Th-then... what do you want...?"
Suddenly he got up from the mud, the soil sliding perfectly out of his scales "Follow me. This matter requires both of us."
He then turned and walked away. I motioned for the other two to follow before I did myself.

It took a while to get to Voroagamanthar and Waervaerendor's lair, Wulzour himself taking leaps to go above fallen trees from a clearly recent battle, forcing us to take another path and avoid the acid infused soil that expelled toxic fumes into the air.
The dragon stopped at what seemed to be at a lake of merky waters. The mist seemed specially thicker in this part, obscuring my vision to see the full extension of the body of water. 
Without a word, the Black Death stepped inside of the water and slowly sank it's body inside, fully submerged.
Bonnibel squealed "Ew, ew, ew, ew! Hell naw! There is no way in the damn Nine Hells I'm gonna get in that!"
"For one, I agree with Bonnie. I'm not getting in there, either."
"Wh... what? Dont you... dont you have prestidigitation... Bonnibel?"
"It's not about the aftermath! It's about PHYSICALLY bein' in a pool of whatever is inside that! And even with prestidigitation, do you know how hard it is to get mud out of my hair!?"
"... alright... uhm... I can understand that... what about you, Kendrick...?"
"I find it gross, honestly. I already have to deal with my body rebuilding itself through sheer pain, I don't need more uncomfortable shit to go through."
It took me aback that they were so icked about the swamp water, although I had a feeling that this was just a facade. They weren't terrified of just the icking mire...
They were terrified of what they would find beyond it. 
"I... I guess I'll go alone, then. Please stay here until I come back."
After a second of contemplation, i sighed and set foot on the waters. Chilling to the touch and seeping into my boots and tight leggins, I  ignored the gross, muddy sensation that clung tightly against my skin and let my boots sink into the soil beneath.

Notes:

I havent proofread and its shorter, but i hope yall liked it :( <3

Chapter 14: Soul-Bound Judgement

Notes:

Another shorter chapter till i get back on my feet o7

As I traversed the merky waters, I felt a tendril gently wrap around my waist. For a brief moment, I panicked, thinking it was a sea creature, but inmediately became relieved as I felt the draconic scales against my skin. It pulled me gently, guiding my body through the darkness.
Another moment later, I was taken out of the liquid and into a bubble of air. I wiped my face with my hands and opened my eyes, adjusting to the light.
An earthen womb greeted me, stalactites hanging from the ceiling like a myriad fangs ready to bite down, along with smooth, cavern walls that seemed to have been polished and disintegrated by acid to expand the space around here. Beneath my feet, piles of gold stretched over for the entirety of the lair, but what surprised me was the amount of magic items that filled most of the corners: rings, swords, capes, staffs, rods; both common to freakishly rare artifacts laid dormant within the Black Death's home.
The tail that pulled me into the bubble was none other than Wulzours, who greeted me with a nod. 
"Await here. Weszlum will be here with us in a mome-"
"N-no... he's here." I stated, looking over my shoulder.
A low chuckle echoed through the caverns as the figure of the twin brother of Wulzour, Voaragamanthar, slowly came into view as his invisibility spell faded away "So you truly are a Chromaclaw. Only your kin can sense chromatic dragons like a sixth sense."
Both dragons were uncannily similar: the only difference I could find was that Weszlum was just a bit slimmer, and Wezslum's hind leg had a singular crown in it's fingertoe, worn like a ring that glimmered with the dim light.
I nodded, thanking his reassurance "I... I'm glad that you agreed to help us. It has been... uhm... difficult, lately..."
Both dragons circled me like prey, making me lose notion of who was who. Voaragamanthar... or was it Waervaerendor? They spoke like one: "Worry not, Aspen. But I do ask of this small favor before letting you go with your companions."
"S... sure. What is it?"
"Have you heard the tale of the Twin Crowns of Myrmoran?"
I shook my head, at which both twins cackled
"When King Ornoth I met his demise, his only heirs were a pair of twins. Both had ownership over both his kingdoms, yet they couldn't find a way to make it fair for both"
"...So, the royal mage, Iniarv, created a pair of crowns for each twin. They were enchanted with both mind and soul binding magic so that rhey were able to rule both kingdoms..."
"... as One."
Voaragamanthar faced me, his eyes scanning over my body, as if searching for any sign of fear. "I assume you already know where we're going with this."
"You... want us to find and retrieve and... and find the crowns-"
"Only one crown." Waervaerendor corrected "Your father helped us retrieve the Yarlith Twinned Crown with the help of the cult of the Dragon."
"Why... why don't you ask the Cult of the Dragon for help...?"
Weszlum clicked his tongue in annoyance "Ah... you see, Aspen... the Cult of the Dragon offered to help in exchange of turning us into... dracoliches. And... undeath inmortality isn't something particular that we look forward to."
"After all, why ruin a perfect sync in mind and soul by rotting our minds and caging our souls?"
They were right. Even though the Chromaclaws worked with the Cult of the Dragon, it didn't mean they always saw eye to eye: for my family, Dracoliches are lesser than true dragons, and despite their power, they still didn't have the purity of a living one. Most of the times, we became allies out of sheer neccesity.
"Uhm... I see..."
As if sensing my discomfort, Wulzour raised an eyebrow "what is wrong, child?"
"Brother, he clearly is at a loss. How will he be able to find a magic item that his family and Tiamatans havent?"
"Hmmmm... he also seems to be questioning what will he be getting out of it..."
"Yes, yes... truly, what can two black dragons offer to the second to the throne of the Chromaclaws? He did ask to get him to Baldur's Gate, but how?"
"And what about his companions? Sure, we can help him, but we don't owe anything to the umbramancer and the Cursed One."
"... they could be our dinner if Aspen fails. We can't touch the boy, after all. Unless he has become already attatched to the two of them."
"Ha... can't have a quest without any stakes, now?"
"And what about the reward, brother?"
"Hm... I mean, we have already promised to provide him transport across the Sword Coast."
"But we can't just give him a ship and sail him away, can we? As the second born of Oscar, we should at least spoil him to an extent. We don't want Her Grace's fury for not aiding one of her clerics."
"However, what can we offer to the Heir of Evil? For a Ring of Telekinesis might not suit his style in battle..."
"Or an elven Cape..."
"Or a myriad of potions..."
"Poisons.."
"Explosives..."
"Spell scrolls..."
"Staffs..."
Voaragamanthar and Waervaerendor had pretty much voiced every concern in my face. Were they able to read minds? No- I didn't sense any magic prodding in my brain, my face must just be an open book. They guessed all my thoughts right, and I even felt a tinge of fear at the mention of the death of my companions: sure, I had no strings attatched, but the thought of embarking in a journey alone through terrain i barely knew was terrifying, and both Bonnibel and Kendrick seemed like fish in water when it came to travelling. Those two were variables I couldn't dispose of.
Not yet, at least.
I was snapped out of my trance at the sudden poking at my armor- or what was left of it. This time, it was Weszlum. "What happened to your garments...?"
"A-ah... this..."
"Your chestplate has a giant hole and your shoulderpads are gone. How did you manage to survive all this time...? In fact, how were you able to survive something that tore a hole in a blue dragon scale armor?"
"Are you ill in the head, brother?" Wulzour interjected snarkily "He said fought Zeke. Well- it was more of a beat down than an actual fight"
Mad cackles escaped both dragons, making my face redden.
"Ah... well, that matter aside, i do believe we have something for you" Wulzour started digging down piles of gold, the constant tinkling and clicking of money fall making my head spin. 
It wasn't long until he finally snatched something from the depths of his cave.
From his claw, an elegant suit of armor dangled in it's pristine glory. Ressembling plate, the metal was replaced by onyx black scales and golden sigils written in them, mostly mundane and for decoration. It's gauntlets were sharp, mimicking draconic claws, and it's boots were much thicker than yours, the soles made of pure gold.
"A cohort of adventurers once raided the swamp in hopes of killing the Black Death, and it's paladin was wearing this. Safe to say, they did not succeed" both dragons cackled while recalling the event. Only when he handed it to me, I realized how heavy it was.
"I... t-thank you...  you didn't really have to..."
"Oh, please. It's the least we can do for Oscar's offspring. Here-"
Weszlum extended his claw and carved two lines in the center of the chestplate. It glew in a sickly yellow ligiht before dimming down.
"There we go. A little extra as courtesy."
Acidic energy tingled in my fingertips, almost akin to the attunement that my family had to Her five breaths. It was familiar... yet alien at the same time. 
However, I had no time to ponder such things.
"A-alright... what do I have to do?"
Noticing my determination, Wulzour grinned "We have searched for Unthower's Twin Crown for years now, we've explored every inch of the Mere, with no result."
"At first, we thought that maybe they took it outside of the Sword Coast, but we figured that there was only one place we haven't checked... and we're certain it's there."
"There is an Ilmatari church at the skirt of the Sword Mountains, just on the other side of the road. It's pretty far away from civilization, but it focuses on helping travelers and adventurers on the road."
"However... what their clergy doesn't know is that their sacred House is built atop of an ancient Unthower dungeon. They say it's a labyrinth that stretches for miles underground."
"As much as we'd like to raid it ourselves, destroying an Ilmater church might bring us too much unwanted attention, not to mention that the Revered Mother of the House is an ex adventurer, and rumors say she has dealt with our kind before."
"So, your task is to either fool or take down the Revered Mother and sneak into the dungeon below."
"Even if the crown isnt there, bring anything of help with you. If you find a map, or even a tome with the smallest piece of information... whatever you can"
"And if you find more magic items... well, bring them to us"
Ilmater... the Crying God, the Martyred Father, The One Who Endures. He who protects the broken and the suffering. I've seen some of their churches around Neverwinter: they take in homeless folks and heal adventurers after their quests. 
And they absolutely hate my family.
Our public view in society is simply a Tiamatan family that has great impact in the jewerly market, and regularly gave patronage to the Adventurer's Guild. We were just a noble family with questionable religion, yet we never showed dour true colors. It was just that Ilmater bore hatred towards Her Grace, and so did the Ilmatari.
How would I be able to enter a church of Ilmater without being discovered?
"A..alright... Thank you. I will... I will bring the crown back."
"Ha! Great! The spitting image of his father! Just a bit more of confidence and we might as well call him Oscar."
"Alright, Aspen- oh... one more thing."
I was stopped mid pivot as I heard Weszlum call out to me.
"It's about the Dragon Mask you carry..."

BONNIBEL D'VERDIN

"Soooooo...."
"Soooooooo...." Kendrick mirrored me, not finishing our sentences, yet the same thought rang in our heads:

'How do we get out of this situation!?'

We had been travelling with a Chromaclaw for the past few days, and the signs have been slowly pointing at having to do the entire Baldur's Gate trip.
I haven't slept for nights just thinking what would Annabelle would do to me, specially after all the horror stories that other noble houses have spoken about the Chromaclaws' torture methods! I vividly remember my brother describing how they would use their cryomancy to freeze your teeth, conjure flames to burn the inside of your nails, and put acid on your pubic hair!
"What if we stab him in his sleep?" Kendrick suggested, his nails scratching the back of his skull so hard he was peeling off his hair before it grew again
"Wh-huh!? No, you dumbass! Ye wanna frame US for his murder and have fuckin' DONALD CHROMACLAW up on our tails?"
"What if we just... I don't know!? Leave?!"
"He's talking to TWO DRAGONS who LIVE HERE! he's gon find us faster than we can count to three!"
Now, it was my turn to scratch my head.
"Agh! Don't get me wrong, Ken, I like Aspen- surprisingly, he's more normal than his entire family! Remember when he went to hunt for food for us and cooked it? Th-that was... nice..."
"Just because he has one screw tight doesn't mean the rest aint loose! They're CANNIBALS, BONNIBEL! THEY EAT PEOPLE DAILY! WHAT IF WE'RE DINNER NEXT TIME?!
"WHA- HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW THAT!?"
"ZEKE TOLD ME! Apparently, when Tiamat gets hungry for sacrifices they spill their blood at an altar undergound and then they- they fucking eat what's left like some sort of fucking scavengers! But they have a fancy fucking dinner and shit!"
W-well, how do ye know das true!? That fuckin' nutcase could be weavin' fake stories or sum!"
"WHY WOULD THE FUCKING CHOSEN OF BAHAMUT FAKE A STORY WITH SO MUCH IN-DEPTH DETAIL!?"
Kendrick's scratching wounds healed in the span of seconds before he continued "Okay... let's say we stay buddy buddy with Asoeon and actually reach Baldur's Gate with him. Then what? The Chromaclaws forgive all our sins and we leave for free!?"
"Maybe!?!?! It's still better than leaving right now!"
"Fuck!" We both yelled in unison.
I had nothing against the guy, to be honest. In fact, he was kind of cute when you forgot that he worships a five headed hellish dragon! 
A sigh escaped me as i leaned back on the shadow chair i had conjured. The sun was setting in the distance, painting the sky im merigolds and violets, as well as fog slowly seeping undernesth my feet, like a blanker covering the mere.
I put on my cloak, one of the many artifacts i got from Dustin's hoard. The Cloak of Protection's enchantment was a bit odd, to say the least: the moment i get attacked, it hardens like metal and absorbs most of the momentum before turning back into smooth, silver silk. I also had an Amulet of the Drunkard, a circlet of Blasting, a Dread Helm and the Ring of Greater Invisibility. Only things I'm keeping are the Cloak, the Ring and the Circlet. The other two don't really match my style- and the helm is kinda ugly- so I might as well sell them when we reach the city. 
It was kind of funny, now that I think about it. I had never made enough from adventuring, and even when I did, my gambling addiction took most of my earnings in hopes i could double them- maybe even triple them. Now, however, with the giant amount of money i stole from Dustin, I had over 5000 gold coins.... only a quarter of what I owed to the Chromaclaws.
'Maybe i could take this to the casino and triple it.... plus the earnings from selling the magic items, I should at least have most of my debt paid!'
No! I cant be thinking that! That was my exact thought before i ended in debt.
Another sigh escaped. What am I going to do with myself?
Kendrick spat to the side before addressing me "Tch... how long is that bastard gonna ta-"
Suddenly, the brown mere started bubbling. From within, the muscular figure of Aapen rose, cladded in onyx black armor. He opened his eyes as he surfaced, taking in the surroundings before his cerulean- or were they violet?- eyes landed on me, and then on Ken.
"Uhm..." he squeaked, blushing as he noticed our stares at his new equipment "I-I'm back..."

☆    ☆    ☆    ☆    ☆

"So, we gotta infiltrate an Ilmatari church and SOMEHOW enter the dungeon while the Revered Mother of the House isn't watching?" I echoed, to which Aspen nodded. "Gee... Immatari are hard to fool. Them self martyrs are everywhere, it's like they have eyes on them necks!"
"Still, most of their fucking prayers are during the day, right? We just gotta sneak in during the night and that's it!"
"Uhm... wouldn't... wouldn't we make too m-much noise...? What if we make them up?"
"Oh! Das' pre-tty easy! I got a Silence Spell in the back of m'brain!"
"I say we also stay a couple of days to at least fool them. I don't think they'd just let us in with the fucking excuse that we're gonna be there for one night."
"Pffft? Why not? Ain't they like summ sort of charity religion?"
"N...no...  Kendrick is right. W-we need to come up with a story... and I need to find a way to... hide my Tiamat symbols..."
"Cant'cha just take off the armor, dye yer hair and act like ya don't worship a doomsday goddess?"
That last part earned me a death glare, but his face softened just as quickly "W-well... I do have... her symbol tattooed on my shoulder. M-maybe we use some bandages?"
"Motherf- of course you have that in your skin! Fuck... Bonnie? Do you have any bandages then?"
"Why would I carry those things when we have a healer AND a living lizard on our team?~"
"So... what do we do?"
We both sat pondering around the fireplace, the wood cracked at the heat, making our shadows dance with it's burning performance. As if the fire had spoken to him, Kendrick suddenly rose up
"I have a plan."

Chapter 15: A Bleeding God, a Bleeding Heart

Notes:

Shorter chapter again, sorry! I was in finals, and work was absolutely kicking my ass

Anyways, soon stuff will spice up :3c enjoy!

*SERAPHINA* 

I stared at the cigar box that sat on my desk right in front of me. It was rather new and clean, made out of cardboard with a set of five mocha wrapped cigars, set in line perfectly. I gripped my thighs tightly, my nails digging into my pearly white skin. 
Gods... I'm such a mess.
'Forgive me, Ilmater!'
It wasn't of me to feed my unholy desires, but I just couldn't contain myself when those adventurers that passed by left some of their stuff behind on mistake, specially when the bard of the group had forgotten a full pack of tobacco behind. I managed to swipe it off the dining table and hide it in between my breasts before Revered Mother noticed. Now, it had been hidden on my room for the past few days, calling me as I craved to touch it once more.
My quivering hand reached slowly for one of the sticks, as if they were going to bite my fingers and tear them off. When it didn't, I brought it up to my mouth and held it in my lips. The tobacco scent invaded my senses, sinful guilt crawling up my spine. My other hand struggled to grab the box of matches, only for it to slip from my grasp and fall onto the floor, the insides scattering across the wooden floor. I also dropped the cigar out of sheer surprise. 
I sighed in defeat, for my heart was filled with ill desire, but my body was too righteous to let me fall into the temptations that each beat of it pumped into my bloodstream. 
Footfall reverbed from behind my door, forcing me to jump into action. I grabbed the cigar box and stuffed it in my undergarments drawer, and kicked the stick on the floor under my bed. I knew i couldn't pick up all the matches in time, so I hastily grabbed some candles from the edges od my desk and placed them in front of me. Lastly, I bent down and started picking up the matches slowly, right when the door opened.
"Ugh... Sister Seraphina?" Sister Kaia stared st me from across my room "what so you think you're doing!? Lighting candles before monday's prayer!?"
Sister Kaia was the one who invited me to join the clergy all those years ago. The halfling woman, now with white hairs growing out of the sides of her forehead, shook her head in dissapproval. I placed the now filled match box on the table and bowed.
"I'm really sorry, Sister Kaia. I didn't mean to hold everyone back. I'll be down in just a minute."
Her eyes scanned me for a second before a defeating sigh escaped her. "Alright then... you have five minutes! Five! You hear me!?"
The door shut tightly, and I was left in the embarassing silemce of my quarters.

My life as an Ilmatari nun was... somewhat of a rushed decision after times of sorrow and suffering. Several years ago, I watched my own mother turn into a Mindflayer in front of me during the Netherbrain attack on Baldur's Gate. I was only a teenager at the time, and my father had used himself as shield to let me escape. I hid in the rubbles of an ilmatari temple, where Sister Kaia fought against the hive of brain eaters while keeping the rest of the refugees safe. I still remember the warmth i felt as I hid behind the altar, as if a divine spark was underneath the marble, warding me against the eldritch hunger that plagued my home.
I had nowhere to go afterwards. Sister Kaia took me to one of the temples where I had my initiation and trainning... and after long, ardous years... I'm here.
In the middle of nothing, in between the Sword Mountains and the Mere of Dead Men.
My job was to aid travelling adventurers, despite my subpar magic abilities, keep the House of the Lord spotless and aid with the everyday prayer. It was something nice and quite easy to do, really, specially since the travelers that passed by always left donations, giving us enough to survive for the upcoming months. This is and has been my life for the past few years.
And yet... I yearned for more.
It was like... embers after a spark, sitting idly in the very core of my soul. A call of the world, a whisper of the wind, a glint in the horizon. Maybe it was because of all the grand tales many travelers brought into the church, or maybe I was just tired of the same scenery outside my window.
And yet... even if I took some time away from faith...where would I go? My healing spells are only able to wash off flesh wounds, and i can barely lift a dagger properly.
... perhaps one day, I'll find someone who takes me away from this rightful duty and allows me to see the world.

The halls' silence was broken as each step I took reverbed through the stone walls. My skirt dragged along the wooden floor, my eyes looking at each opened door, each room empty. 'I am really late- I should hurry.'
The moment I got to the stairs, as if on cue, a cello's low hum resonated within the cathedral. Black and crimson tainted windows let in dimmed rays of light into the nave, where all my sisters were gathered. Ancient and grey, those were the words that always came to mind when I entered this room. A long, red carpet stretched on the pathway in between the mahogany seats, leading to the altar: a white marble table with Ilmater's symbol carved on it: a pair of bloodied hands tied by a scarlet lasso. Behind it, a statue of Our Lord bled away. His hands reached for the heavens, where His wrists were cut open, dryed paint mimicking the strings of red that pulsed out of Him. His hair hung wet over His face, where tears streaked down, along with ripped bandages that barely covered His skin.
On the front seats, my five sistera sat in silence. Sister Kaia, Sister Antoinette, Sister Helen, Sister Henrietta and Sister Diana. 
Sister Henrietta's skills on the cello were unmatched as awlays, a melancholic melody resonated within the carved pillars, her gaze fixated on me as her fingers did magic on the instrument. The dwarven woman slowed down before the tune was completely gone.
"Seraphina. You're late. Revered Mother will be disappointed."
"M-my apologies." I bowed "I was-"
"Silence. Head over to the storage room and grab the ceremonial paint."
Biting the side of my cheek, I did as asked: I came out of the back of the nave with two plates filled with blood red paint. After placing them on the altar, I placed all ten fingers on said liquid. It was cold and sticky. I brought it up to my face and drew fine celestial runes in my cheeks and forehead. Despite my poor language comprehension, I knew they were something along the lines of "healing" and "martyr". Once mine was settled, I drew the same on all my sisters, one by one. 
When finished, I sat next to Sister Kaia and uttered my prayers.

After an hour, I wiped their faces clean with some wet cloth and sat, waiting for Revered Mother to come down.
"Sister Helen, have we gotten any new mail recently?" Sister Antoniette questioned as she shuffled on her seat.
"Not yet. But we do expect it by the end of this week. Revered Mother's Divination also told us a few adventurers might come by this week."
"Really? Is that handsome artificer gonna visit again soon?"
"I doubt it" Sister Kaia scoffed "His insistance on hate of religion overshadows his beauty."
A giggle bubbled out of me, which prompted their attention onto where I was
"What about you? Sister Seraphina? Any mail you might be expecting?" 
My cheeks flushed "Ah... I... don't think anyone will be sending me anything anytime soon..."
As if sensing my discomfort, Sister Kaia slapped Diana's wrist before scoffing "uh- anyways, Sera. Wanna help me hunt later for tonight's dinne-"
The metallic doors of the church swung right open. Me and my Sisters remained in silence at the oppressing power that emanated from our Revered Mother.
A breathtaking woman walked forth, her hair covered by her veil. Her vision was blindfolded by a metal, that was nailed like a coffin into her eyes, where dries blood flowed down her perfect face. Her sacred vest had severak crimson patches across it, ripped open with nails cleaving straight through the skin. Both her veil and her dressed dragged from the back, as each step of her bare feet left a faint trail of red.
We all stood up at her pressence and bowed. Despite blinded due to the trials of her Second Suffering, I could feel her eyeless gaze burn holes through me, but did not address me directly as she declared:
"Dear sisters. I greet you under this new Sun with important news. My Second Suffering is coming to and end. My eyes will be healed and the iron that clings to my skin will finally be removed. I have completed my task to our Lord, so I must travel to Waterdeep for my ending ceremony. I will part tomorrow at first light."

After that, we didn't really exchange much words with Revered Mother, other than packing her enough food and water for her travels. Even with the dangers of tomorrow, her presence alone was enough to ward away most of the monsters that lingered in the depths of the forests and the Mere.
It's not like I talked much with Revered Mother, either anyway. She was always too... lofty. As if above this world and not in it. Her gaze before her Second Suffering had always been unfocused, as if what truly lied in front of her was in another plane of existance. That didn't mean she was rude to us, no. Revered Mother was kind and, ironically enough, motherly. She treated us like her kin, and she received the same warmth back. However, now that she was leaving, I did feel a bit of fear about what would happen to us when she'd depart, afraid of any horrors lurking nearby, but she reassured through future sight that no creature would come to harm us.

Nightfall came fast, and I was once again left alone, a pack of cigars in front of me. And my guilt as an invisible wall that kept us apart.

☆   ☆   ☆   ☆   ☆

High noon's light bathed my robes as I tended my clothes outside after washing them. My hands dripped cold water mixed with soap. I took the chance to rinse in between my fingers and forearms, erasing all the mud stains and dust.
"Hurry up, Sister Sera!" Sister Henrietta called from one of the windows "A storm from the west seems to be heading our way! Bring the clothes in! I'll dry them!"
Confused, I looked back at the sky and frowned at the looming grey clouds on the horizon. The wind began to pick up, threathening to blow thw laundry away with a single swipe. I threw most of the already dried clothing in one shoulder, and the wet one on the other before packing things up
That's when I heard it.
From the green that surrounded the temple, a distant cry robbed my attention.
"Help! Anyone! Please!"
I watched stunned as the rustle of leaves turned more aggressive, until a man emerged from the bushes.
He was tall and lean, the sides and back of his hair shaved, leaving only the top of his heas tied up in a manbun. Piercings addorned his features, and two blue marbles that zigzagged, as if looking for something, until they landed on me.
Next to him, a half drow made her appearance as well. Streaks of black and white cascaded on her shoulders, flawless grey skin and a delicate, thin body that seemed to be dragging something out of the woods.
The last one, was a man. Both arms slung over his two other companions as he was being dragged out. Golden locks were arranged in a truly horrible bowl haircut on his deathly pale sweaty skin and blue eyes.... or were they violet?
He wore onyx scaled armor with green runes carved onto the very meterial, and a black bodysuit underneath that seemed to have been ripped and torn. 
What was most concerning, though, was the bleeding, gaping wound on his side.