The Gray Flame suddenly found himself in another finicky situation when he had to explain again something he had elaborated on earlier.
"I attempted to inquire the Ent on the Ruins of Lasse, to no avail. Unfortunately it...he? has returned to slumber. As our guide, anything else do we know about the Ruins of Lasse? What was it originally? And what else we might expect aside from the phantoms and miasma you've mentioned?"
"After all we do not want further 'surprise' now do we, Sir Gray?"
He answered the Carnathia’s smile with a nod, and after sighing exasperatedly, he added.
"Lasse was one of the major cities during Serensiel's regime. It was attacked and had almost all of its entire population massacred. Such gruesome tragedy has left the city scarred, and infested with negative energy from those who perished. We just discussed how to navigate through the city without disturbing those manifested energies." sparing a glance at Vesemir, who seemed as if he was waiting for his turn to speak, he continued.
"As for what next, I do not really know."
Vesemir at last broke in, with a waning fire in his eyes, as if acknowledging the sad story with a keen eagerness.
"
We are looking for the Lasse Library. A long time ago, a powerful mage named Theriadore lived there and created a powerful protection artifact that could help us combat the Land of Twilight's negative energy. There was a chance, true, that the place might have been discovered at some point, or worse, pillaged by irresponsible adventures, but my instinct tells me they only managed to find the key, and not the access to the vault itself, for the access of it was well hidden with a powerful enchantment."Pausing to take a breath, The middle-aged elf showed everyone a pentagon-shaped brass device with runic letters on its sides.
"How do I know that? I've lived long, long enough, and coincidences felt like daily occurrences to me. I am an archeologist, my dear, and my calling is to find curious findings, whether they were in entombed ruins, or a black market." ____
And so, after some rest and another hearty dinner, courtesy of Mr Engelbert, the party was ready to depart. before the exploration began, it was decided that the porters, and Vesemir's most trusted aide, Stepen would remain at their base camp.
"Have your wits about you all the time, and if you want to sleep, keep the campfire lit." Gray Flame warned, and some of them replied with shallow yes and doubtful stares that were not only at him, but at the great chestnut tree by the north of the camp.
It was a chilly and calm night, with a waxing moon shining above the completely silent forest. They initially marched on the main road until they reached a crossroad, and then turned to take another well-paved path slightly to the northeast.
Their boss, Vesemir, walked in front, carrying a large lantern, and with him went Gray Flame, who seemed to know this land even in the dark. The others were in file behind, and Forban, who was tall and could observe many things, was their rearguard.
It was mostly a quiet march until they finally arrived at the sight of a ruined civilization. A broken archway was ahead of them, and beyond that, dim in perpetual darkness, were more ruins with vague shapes they could not discern, either part of the building or something else; something that moved and lingered.
"My heart trembles whenever I remember the record about Lasse," Vesemir said without looking back, stopping after they walked past that archway. There, he raised his lantern and whispered words of magic into it, and lo! What was a faint light from a meager flame suddenly grew into a glimmering light that illuminated the road, revealing the ruined houses and spires around and the very large tree ahead of them.
As the party moved with their light, the darkness retreated like a tide being swept back into the ocean, leaving numerous black silhouettes resembling people with a variety of poses and conditions. Like dioramas that partially came to life, and one could hear them scream faintly, or weep, or whimper in agony. Here their hands reached out, and their voice called for help, as if trying to share the anguish that had been oppressing them for so long.
Their employer did not stop, so Gray Flame warned the rest of the party with a low, but stern voice. “Follow the white light, do not touch the phantom, and don’t stare too much at them.”
“Indeed,” Vesemir added suddenly, reciting part of the old proverb like some sort of omen.
“If thou gaze long into the darkness, the darkness will also gaze back into thee.” And with that, he walked forward, followed by Gray Flame, who despite his experience and outward composure, was flinched by the revelation before them. There, on that tree’s lowest branches, hanged a few bodies of women and children, some were not mere shadows anymore but already in a form of perfect imitation of a person; tattered clothes shrouded their mangled bodies, eyes bulging and tongue outstretched, yet still writhing as if trying to set themselves free.
“All the peace we enjoy...,” Vesemir began solemnly, but then he spat in disgust.
"Was paid with too many blood and sufferings---"Then the remainder of what he said suddenly heard like a distant echo, and those who gazed upon the phantom of the deceased suddenly saw a blinding flash of white light that revealed chaos and bloodshed. As they opened their eyes again, they saw that the houses were on fire, and their smell was suddenly assaulted by the repulsive scent of burning flesh. Blood streamed from that tree like a small river, and dead bodies adorned its branches, fitted, tied on nooses, or outright impaled through, like a bloody diadem upon a twisted head. Then there was cruel laughter, five men stood under those bloody branches like people adoring a work of art.
They wore uniforms with insignia on their breasts and shoulders; A yellow sun on a black shield flanked by twin prancing horses. On their feet was the corpse of an elven man, lay unmoving with his head split open and a whole apple stuffed into his mouth. Not far from it was a female, tied to the trees, frantically screaming and clawing about as one of the soldiers sunk his teeth into the skin of her flawless neck, and pushed a dagger through her clothless abdomen.
To those with the keenest sense, it was apparent that what they saw was just an illusion from the past, yet the gruesomeness it displayed was so real, so inviting as if deliberately urging those who witnessed the atrocity to spring into action and do the right thing
Gray Flame and Vsemir were gone, but the faint whispering from that eccentric elf could still be heard. But it was starting to fade amids the cries and horror. Now was the moment when they remembered the masked elf's advice to follow the light, and they saw it, ever-present at the end of the road. The thing was, the only way to reach it was by rushing past those butcher-soldiers.
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