[Mkguild] Warmth in Darkness Part 4

[Stealth]

Slightly smaller...


Stealth face pawed, "Fine, let's go... at least I can leave you to handle
any more scary statues."



            "Scary statues? We're in a crypt full of the dead and you are
worried about statues." He jokes and steps slowly toward the stairs.



            The feline quietly seethed at Edmund before calling out in a
soft voice, "Wait, what do we do with the horses?" Stealth asked as he
patted the neck of Terrant's steed.



            "We can leave the horses here." Edmund says. "We'll only go a
short way and won't leave them alone for long."



            Stealth let go of the reins and followed after the paladin into
the darkness.



            The paladin holds up the glowing stone throwing light where it
had not been for centuries. Slowly Edmund started stepping down. "Watch your
step. These stairs are a little slippery."



            Stealth carefully followed after, watching the imperfections
become illuminated in the tunnel's walls from the stone. The walls and
ceiling looked to be in good nick though it showed its age, either in chips,
cracks or even water damage.



            The stairs eventually ended. They started passing niches in the
walls filled with more remains. "This is fine craftsmanship. Whoever dug
this was an expert."



            "Perhaps not slave labour then." Stealth mused, "If it was done
right."



            "No slave did this work. Far too much care went into it." Edmund
explained as they walk.



            Edmund waved the stone around throwing the light all about.
Shadows dance and zoom around the room revealing stone coffins arraigned
neatly across the room. On the far wall comes a glimpse of figures painted
onto it.



            "Who's buried here?" Stealth asked as he looked about the bodies
he could make out in the light.



            Edmund walks up to one of the stone sarcophagi and looks at the
inscription carved into the side. "Looks like important family members. This
one was a family matriarch. Beloved mother, grand mother and great
grandmother. It says."



            "She was one of the last buried." The cat pondered, "It looks
like they were running out of room."



            Edmund nods. "They probably intended to add more tunnels or
another room."



            "Spare no expense," He intoned.



            Edmund nodded his head. "I've noticed that people often spend
more coins on the dead then on the living. I've seen mausoleums hundreds of
feet tall and covering acres. All to glorify only one person."



            "Life is short, death is forever." He shook his head, "To a
ruler that is all that matters."



            "All too true," Edmund answered. "The coins spent to build this
could have been better spent on the living. To build a place for the living
to rest in."



            "We're putting this place to better use than it was intended!"
Stealth joked as he looked at the wall. "What is this?" Stealth gestured his
head toward the large stone wall, "I noticed that before from your light."



            "What?" Edmund turns to the wall Stealth was looking at. "A
mural!"



            Stealth tried to make out the image and saw many beasts. It
looked as though a lion chased a bull. There were many such creatures
running around. They consisted of a repetitive shade of brown, trampling the
pale yellow dirt or sand in an area that looked like an arena. Surrounding
and seemingly encircling the men and beasts were stone walls beyond which
grandstands choked with spectators cheered and basked in whatever was
happening down below.



            "What is it meant to be?" Stealth asked as he tried to
distinguish each animal.



            The paladin leans closer. "It looks like some sort of
gladiatorial games. Men and animals fighting to the death."



            Stealth wondered if Cladius was an avid spectator at the
colosseum or something more... "Did these people own slaves and beasts to
fight at these things, you suppose?"



            Edmund shrugged. "Hard to tell but probably. They might have
owned one of the many gladiator schools that existed."



            "They taught slaves to fight and die for fun..." The cat gagged.



            Edmund nodded slowly. "Yes. All too true a fact. Such schools
were common."



            Stealth nodded slowly as he made out the details of the, more or
less, preserved mosaic. He could see vendors selling bread, people in rags
and then those in robes. The people in robes sat off to the side but in a
spacious area. Stealth craned his neck up and saw the tops of the stands
ending in awnings that gave some sort of basic shade to whoever was lucky
enough to sit in a spot under its ward.



            His eyes turned down to the ring once more. Off to the corner
the cat spotted a creature of notice. It looked large like the lions but it
had yellow fur a similar shade to the dirt making it difficult to detect at
first. The fur had a covering of some sort of spotted pattern...



            "Edmund! Look at that!" The cat keenly pointed a claw.



            The knight gazed to the far right corner of the mosaic and
looked over the creature Stealth had discovered. "I'm sorry, Stealth, but
that is a leopard."



            "...oh." He said simply.



            "I could be mistaken, but this animal is quite large and stocky,
also it's covered in rosettes." Ed pointed a claw, "See here? The spots are
hollow and partial."



            "I guess we don't have a relative in this picture, then." He
joked.



            "Not counting the leopard and the lions." Edmund shrugged.



            Stealth let his gaze drift to other parts of the image. Of
course there would be no cheetahs; they're not nearly the toughest big cats.
Perhaps the long dead Suleiman family owned them for hunting but it wasn't
important. His eyes scanned over the fight scene. In another part of the
arena he saw a cruel depiction of a fighter being impaled by an opponent and
another felled by a lion. The image brought his mind back to the crypt they
stood deep within.



            Stealth looked to the knight without a word.



            "I think we've been among the dead long enough," Edmund said.
"Let's get out of here."



            "Okay, I hope the horses are still up there... and that no nasty
thing has eaten them," The feline joked.



            "I'm sure they are fine." The two quickly make their way out of
the room and start up the stairs.



            Stealth almost forgot about the condition of the steps and
warded his step lest he fell back. Edmund would be there to break the fall
but then they'd probably both tumble down and land in a heap or sprawled out
like the corpses. Of course the thought never eventuated. Once they reached
the upper level of the tomb Stealth felt humbled and relived when he saw the
horses hadn't gone anywhere astray.



            Edmund pats his horse on the neck. "Glad to see me?" He asks.
"I'm glad you're still in one piece." The animal nickered at the knight in
some sort of recognition.



            "How does he feel around you, being a carnivore?" Stealth asked,
"How did any of your peoples horses take to the change of their riders?"
Their voices faintly echoed in the din thought their ears picked it up well
enough.



            "He was vey skittish at first. It took me a long time to get him
used to my new form. I couldn't even get within arms reach of him for over a
month. Oddly enough he did recognize me AFTER the curse changed me. I went
from human to cheetah and yet he knew it was still me. Edmund his rider. It
was the same with all the others." He gave a chirp of laughter, "Except for
Alwyn. He became a horse. All the normal horses accepted him right away."



            "What? Didn't anyone else become a horse morph?" Stealth
continued to rub his fingers through the horse's neck fur. That along with
the conversation helped distract him from being in a place full of the dead.



            "Alwyn is the only equine Keeper among my own people but there
are a few others at the Keep." The knight pointed out as they began to head
up the tunnel again.



            "That poor guy!" Stealth raised his eye ridge, "How did he cope
with it?"



            "He adjusted to it quickly. He was always good with horses. Now
he is even better." Though the dabble gray had preferred to become a woman,
not that Edmund would bring that up.



            Stealth chuffed at that, "Good, and then again he is an
individual. How many of your men became foxes, over half?" He joked.



            Edmund laughs. "I've noticed that there are a lot of foxes at
the Keep but none of mine became one."



            "Humpf, the curse truly is random then." Stealth tilted his head
in contemplation as they walked past the bones of another Suleiman. Edmund
would recognise them as Cinnius Vipsanius, The Clarissimi =96
mostdistinguished =96 or
so the inscription read.



            "Sometimes I'm not so sure. Misha says the curse has an odd
sense off humour sometimes but it is fair affecting everyone without
exception."



            The cat's eyes suddenly lit up in recollection, "Hey wait a
minute, you said before that you couldn't get near your horse after the
curse even though he knew it was you," He started bewildered, "You mean he
recognised you but he was scared of you?" Stealth asked as he pat the flank
of his horse.



            He nodded. "Yes. You do have to admit it was a considerable
change. It took me a while to get used to my new body."



            "We're always changing." Stealth said thoughtfully, "We change
constantly. It's just not as obvious most of the time."



            Edmund nodded. "True and a profound idea!"



            The cheetah smiled as they continued to lead the horses onward.
"The scary thing is the curse isn't necessarily the most considerable change
many can make."

* *

            Edmund nodded his head in agreement. "True. A change of the
heart and spirit can be the most profound transformation."**

* *

*            *"For better or worse..." He lamented, "But it happens."



            "Indeed!" Edmund comments. "There is an old saying, as I said
before. The only constant is change."



            They soon became silent once more as they continued on. By this
point the anxiety of being in the tunnel =96 even after discovering its true
nature =96 began to wane. Despite that, the growing illumination at the far
end was still a welcome sight.* *However the closer they drew to the light,
the more they could detect a foul odour. **



            "What is that smell?" The courier asked as he tried to discern
the cause, "It smells... fresh." Stealth said in nervous tones.



            Edmund shook his head, "Stay calm, it might only be rats." He
pointed out hoping to believe it himself.



            "Edmund, those must be some rats..." The cat's nose wrinkled in
disgust.



            Though he didn't want to speculate for his friend's sake, Edmund
knew the smell all too well.  Stealth on the other hand didn't =96 he'd nev=
er
been to a days-old post-battle ground in the warmer parts of the
continent...



            "Let's get away from this tomb," Edmund says and starts to lead
his horse away. "We've . . ." He stops walking and speaking and lets out a
moan. "Oh Lord."



            "Oh... oh, ugh..." Stealth gagged and backed into the horse he
had been leading, he urged it back into the tomb at the sight.



            "No not back inside," He points off to one side. "Take her
around that way. And ware your step. No telling what else is around."



            Stealth quickly led the horse away to the side, keeping his head
down, gaze averted from the source of the odour. The cheetah swallowed and
took many deep breaths, trying to keep down the potatoes from lunch.



            Edmund waits till his friend is clear. "You wait there. I want
to see to these poor souls." He bends over the closest and freshest corpse.
The body looked as if all the blood had been drained from it and there was a
look of pure terror on the face. It was hard to tell if the person had been
human or lutin. There was too little left. The corpses were up wind of the
morphs so they hadn't been able to detect the scent till much later then
they should have.



            "It looks like they were tomb robbers," Edmund says calmly.



            Stealth chanced a glance at the bodies and saw a number of
scattered jewels about, probably spilled from a bag. "What happened to
them?"



            "The shadow does not like looters," Edmund explained calmly as
he walked over to his friend.



            Stealth was running his hand along his horse's neck. Terrant's
steed was a war horse and faired well as compared to the cheetah. "Will that
happen to us?"



            "No. It won't. So long as we take nothing we are not meant to."
He explained while tending to his own horse.



            Edmund saw the look of unease on the other cat. Stealth frowned
and his ears folded back as his hand hovered over the hilt of the dagger
they'd found.



            "I told you, that weapon was meant for you." The knight said in
a firm tone. "He does not like looters but we are not looters! Now, are you
all right?" Edmund asks.



            "I'm fine, it's a disturbing sight... and smell, except if
you're a jackal or vulture." His mood seemed to lighten, "Don't tell any
jackals or vultures I said that." The cat joked.



            Edmund gave a chirp of laughter. "I'll keep that secret. Let's
get away from here and leave this place in peace."



            They saddled up and took a b-line around the bodies. Stealth
spared a final glance before looking ahead to the road.



---------------------------

* *

*            *As they continued through the manmade wood, past shadows of
the past, Edmund's gaze cast from the road to the courier who had his head
down with an expression like he'd eaten something tart.

* *

            "You look troubled Stealth," Edmund comments. "Something wrong?"



            "Oh," Stealth said, sounding startled, "Just trying to keep my
lunch down." He joked without much humour.



            Edmund nods. "I see. That crypt still bothers you?"



            "It was unsettling, didn't help seeing the... thieves, I mean
how long have they been there?" The feline shivered, "They must have been
there for some time."



            Edmund shrugs. "No telling but some have been there for weeks or
months."



            Stealth's eyes shot up to meet Edmund's, "There are MORE corpses
like them?!"



            "You didn't really get a close look on our way did you?" The
paladin asked. "There were two dead there but many more thieves have tried
their luck in these woods. But it doesn't matter; I've seen many dead in my
life. Far too many."



            "You've seen people... badly decomposed you mean..." Stealth
thought softly with his eyes turned down but then looked back up in a
questioning glance.



            "Battlefields are not the clean place you hear of in stories.
The dead are rarely ever picked up. Usually they are just left to rot where
they fell." He said with stony composure.



            The cheetah swallowed some bile and nodded. He imagined a field
full of dead soldiers like the two thieves he'd seen minutes before.



            "There are worse things to see in this world then just a few
rotting corpses." Edmund said softly.



            "Like what?" Stealth asked despite himself.



            "In the Keep, thankfully in some well hidden place." Edmund
explains. "Is a thing of pure evil. A monstrous creation of some vile
wizard."

* *

            "Evil...?" Stealth asked in a bored tone.



            "It's a war machine. A giant battering ram but one possessed by
something." He pauses. "Something truly evil."



            "How's that?" Meaning no disrespect to Edmund, he couldn't help
but doubt the words of a follower knight when referring to 'evil'. To date,
such people have claimed that the keep, the Lightbringers, the Rebuilders,
anything they don't understand not to mention the cheetah himself to be
'evil'.



            "It was not made in the keep. It was made by some long dead
Lutin chieftain who then tried to take the Keep with it. He was killed and
his army wiped out."



            "Who or what wiped them out?" Stealth furrowed his ridges.



            "The Keepers did!" Edmund explained. "He marched on the Keep
with the evil ram in tow. The Keepers ambushed him about where Glen Avery is
now."



            "Didn't do him much good then." Stealth pondered for a moment,
"Was this battle as taxing as Three Gates?"



            "It was a ferocious battle - thousands were involved," Edmund
explained.



            "And what of this ram?" The cat persisted.



            "Ironically the ram proved tougher then the chieftain who made
it. The Keepers could not destroy it in spite of trying for some time.
Finally they took it to the keep for safe keeping."



            "How do you know about this?" He asked, "Did someone use it or
what?"



            "Misha mentioned it during the Counter attack back in January
and we both paid the thing a visit," Edmund shivered. "It is rare that I
experience true evil so close."



            Stealth shook his head, "How do you know it's true evil?"



            "You had to be there to understand. I just FELT it. The evil was
in the very air. And it was also dripping blood."



            Stealth just looked at Edmund with a questioning expression.



            He shook his head. "No exaggeration. It was dripping real, human
blood."



            Stealth rubbed his chin, "Where did it come from?"



            Edmund shrugged. "No telling. But it was coming straight from
the evil thing. No trickery."



            The courier felt a knot in his stomach and swallowed again,
"Where is this thing?"



            "Still at the Keep," Edmund explained. "Kyia keeps it locked
away in a deep, very secure vault."



            Stealth couldn't help but shiver, "Where?" He asked, "We live in
the keep, Edmund."



            He nods. "I know but no need to worry. Kyia has it secured in a
place far from everything else. No one can stumble upon the place by
accident." Edmund felt certain of it. "She keeps it from causing any more
harm."



            "Is there anything like that here?" The courier asked looking
around.



            The paladin shook his head. "No. Else I would have sensed it by
now. Being a paladin makes me sensitive to the presence of evil."



            Stealth smiled slightly, and looked at the knight in a
questioning manner, "...can you sense it on me?"



            "On you? Evil? No," He responded. "In you I see only good."



            "I know it's dumb but..." Stealth began.



            He patted Stealth softly on the shoulder. "It's not dumb to
wonder about your own hidden nature."



            "I know many consider me 'evil' for various reasons." He sighed.



            "A lesson I learned long ago was the difference between what is
perceived as evil and what truly is can be vastly different." Edmund
intoned.



            "People are perceived as evil by those who truly are!" Stealth
joked.



            He gave a short chirp of laughter. "Often all too true."



            Stealth nods with a grin, "Unless they're just stupid, which is
usually the case."



*            *They laughed some more as the mood lightened. Stealth began to
relax and just look about the trees and foliage, occasionally spotting some
more ruins of one type or another. Perhaps the woods weren't so bad after
all.
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