Chapter 09- Investigation
The night swallowed up the camp, and even with every torch lit. The warmth of the campfires and torches were eerie things casting shadows that danced only a few feet around before the thick gloom of the cold damp mist devoured their ghostly glow, and with it the gloom sapped away any joy to be found among those sheltering within their light.
The fog swirled as an invisible presence moved silently through the camp. Sinaan had his orders; find Rweble, Grunngrul, and Hayden's tent and search it for clues to the identity of the Necromancer or demon and uncover evidence that House Faline was involved in the attack against Aalyn. Pulling his knew cloak a little tighter around his shoulders, he grimaced at the thought of a beautiful svartalf girl's dead eyes and plump kissable mouth as her face flashed in his mind. Her name was Elwin Drovenne. Thurdain had informed him of as much when he asked earlier in the day, and now he was wrapped up in her cloak. It made him feel sick. Illglan had been kind enough to mend all the punctures from his stabbing Elwin, and had even had an Initiate wash the blood out of it for him, but it didn't quell his nausea in the least. However, with the gloomy weather most of his fellow svartalf had reverted to using their infrared vision, something his stealth couldn't defeat, but the cloak could.
Earlier in the day Aalyn and Thurdain investigated Elwin's corpse, stripping her of her clothing, what little there was, while Thurdain insisted that the enchanted under-wire and diaphanous waist-chain dress was to be returned to the temple. As rewards for surviving the assassination attempt Aalyn kept the girl's jewelry, and gave the cloak and daggers to him. When he donned the cloak he discovered that it was imbued with a very powerful Invisibility spell that completely wiped out his heat signature. The only thing it didn't do was eliminate sound with a Cone of Silence which was what allowed Aalyn to hear Elwin's attack and survive. When he reached into the interior pockets, he found that they were all dimensional spaces allowing for one item to be hidden inside. This had allowed Elwin, and now him, to carry and all of his daggers without any additional weight or encumbrance.
As he moved through the mist he used Stealth in tandem with the Invisibility of the cloak allowing him to move unseen and unheard through the camp as he followed Rweble. The lieutenant colonel finished his inspection circuit, and Sinaan followed him back to his tent. Along the way he noticed that Hayden and Grunngrul were nowhere to be seen, and after another half-hour trek, Rweble walked up to a larger tent than the regulars. It was roughly the same size as Aalyn's tent, but the three brothers shared it unlike their Brigadier General who slept alone, or with him. Sinaan watched the entry flap close, and then surveilled from outside as Rweble's heat signature moved about inside the tent before he picked something up from their desk, held it to his mouth, and started whispering.
A bolt of alarm ran down his spine, and he quickly moved to the side of the tent to eavesdrop.
"..Met dit contract van levenskracht beveel ik je Sojourner om me naar Beatrix te brengen," Rweble commanded, and then set the device back on the desk and placed his fingers on top of it.
Sinaan retreated quickly and crouched behind a tree and when he turned back around Rweble's heat signature had disappeared.
"What the hell," He whispered softly to himself.
There were no other heat signatures inside the Faline brothers tent, and now Rweble was gone. Curious, Sinaan snuck up and carefully inspected the entry for hidden traps and devices both magical and physical. He disarmed three spells and one very nasty physical trap before entering to find a completely nondescript tent with three cots, a small travelers desk with a foldable chair, and a small lamp. There was nothing else. No personal possessions. No gear, tac, clothing, not even a chest of drawers. The only thing out of place, and the only evidence at all that the tent was occupied was a small silver mirror sitting on the desk.
Picking up the mirror, Sinaan turned it over in his hands and inspected it carefully. The back felt like it was etched, so letting his eyes shift into the normal light spectrum he whispered, "Lk maak dit contract van levenskracht voor een kleine bol van licht in mijn handpalm."
A small white globe of light appeared between his fingers, and he held it beneath his cloak to preserve the darkness within the tent as he read the inscription on the back of the mirror; 'To my beloved Sojourner, So that no matter how far you travel, you may return to me quickly. Your beloved wife, Beatrix'
'Interesting,' Sinaan thought as he mulled over the passage and he turned the mirror over in his hand. Releasing the Globe of Light spell, he set the mirror back down on the desk, and with a deep inhale placed his fingers on the smooth reflective surface and recited the spell he heard Rweble chant earlier, "Met dit contract van levenskracht beveel ik je Sojourner om me naar Beatrix te brengen."
A warm light surrounded him and the tent evaporated as he was transferred somewhere else as darkness enveloped his senses and the air smelled like ozone and rain, and just as the tent had evaporated, a large lamp lit room materialized in front of him. It was a bedroom with a large four poster bed on the far side opposite of him and the vanity that he stood by with a hand resting on an identical mirror to the one in the tent leagues away from where he was now. Falling into a crouch, he immediately surveyed every inch of the room for enemies. Rweble who had transferred moments before was nowhere to be seen, and there was no other furniture save the bed and vanity. Above the bed was a large anchor and from it hung a chain, and as he began to move toward the bed, a lump beneath the covers shifted. Pulling a dagger from his cloak, he started looking for traps as he moved to his target on the bed.
"I can see you assassin," Came a soft feminine voice from beneath the covers, "Don't worry, there are no traps in here. Those idiots wouldn't want to accidentally kill themselves by their own devices when coming and going and having their way with me," Sinaan took the opportunity to close the distance between himself and the girl on the bed and thrust a dagger tip against her neck. All the while she smiled a small sad smile and continued, "I promised I will not scream or raise an alarm. Please, I beg you, thrust a little deeper, and end my agony!"
There was something strange about this girl. She was so calm, and her voice was so tired and hollow. She sounded young, very close to his age, and yet, she was ready to die.
"Who are you? Why do they have you shackled like this." He asked in a harsh rasp meant to intimidate.
The girl sat up when he didn't thrust his knife into her throat, and he had to pull back lest she impaled herself upon his dagger. As she sat up the covers fell away revealing extremely voluptuous ebony breasts, and shocking curly flame red hair that fell about her shoulders and down her back to the bed. She tried to lean into his daggers, but a collar connected to the chain that was anchored to the wall above the bed, and two chains anchored to each side that he hadn't seen earlier held her head and wrists back as she thrust her chest out. Her breasts bounced and shook pendulously, and she hissed and cried when he refused to end her life.
"Please!" She begged, "Please!" She hissed, her mouth now a crazed grin as she panted hysterically, "My life is hell! Please kill me! Kill me now!"
She tossed her hair and laughed maniacally when Sinaan refused, and for the first time he saw that her eyes were closed, and as she laughed raunchily he could see that they were sewn shut.
"What happened to you?" He gasped as he reached out and grabbed her chin and tilted her head so he could clearly see her beautiful features.
She was beautiful beyond any svartalf woman he had ever met. It was almost as if she were blessed with divine beauty, and yet, from her sewn eyelids were thick flame red lashes that seemed to ooze a thick bloody ichor that streaked down her cheeks.
"Kill me," She hissed as she tried to bite his hand.
Instead he released her, and grabbing the coverlet, he pulled it down to the bottom of the bed. She laid out before him completely naked, and he saw that for a svartalf she was remarkably curvy and robust, very unlike the lithe frames of most svartalf society.
"Oh so you are like them! Like my brothers," The girl bewailed pitifully, "You've come to bed me just as they do! For fucking sake please take pity on me and end my miserable life when you're done, so I that I may resurrect with a better character, or, at least die in peace!"
"Fucking? Character? Resurrection? Do you think this is a game," Sinaan gasped as he lurched forward and took the girl's face in both his hands again, "Who are you? Did you come from earth as well? I used to be Jamie! Jamie Duvall! Do you know me?"
"J-Jamie?" The girl asked in a stunned whisper, "Jamie Duvall?"
"Yes," He answered and nodded his head which he then immediately felt stupid for doing since she couldn't possibly see him.
The girl's face went from insane to horrified to unsure and then ecstatic as she tried to raise a hand and pat Sinaan's cheek only to be thwarted by her chains, "I-I can't believe it! I thought I was the only one! Oh god! Thank you! I wasn't the only one to come to this forsaken hell!"
She shook her head in disbelief and reassured herself by throwing herself at Sinaan and when she couldn't reach him she begged, "Hold me! Please! Hold me!"
He felt warning gongs sound in his head, but despite them he enfolded her in a tight hug. When her body was tightly pressed against his, she kissed his neck and moved up to kiss his mouth. He let her express her thanks and reassure herself for several seconds before pulling away and asking again, "Who are you? I thought I was the only one brought to this world..."
"No! No, not the only one," She moaned when he pulled away, "This whole world is a lie, and only exists because of magic and some weird technology. It exists parallel to our world and marches through time side-by-side with it. It is our world, and yet, it is not. No, the game we played had a rainbow bridge. I think it somehow accessed enough magic power to transfer us here, to this...fucked up world. This green world..."
"How do you know this," Sinaan asked as he started looking around for a key to the girls' shackles.
"They took my eyes because I was too dangerous with them," She whispered, "But, my blindness has given rise to a new perception. I may be blind to the sights of the world as you see them, but I see the ebb and flow of magic all around us and even inside you and them, and me."
"Tell me," Sinaan asked for the third time, "Who...are...you?"
The chuckled and tossed her wild mane of red hair back causing of her breasts to heave and jiggle as she declared, "I was born into this world Sulabha Faline, daughter of Forelain Faline, and the only younger sister of Hayden, Grunngrul, and Rweble Faline whom I will kill once you release me. However, my dear friend Jamie Duvall, you once knew me at work as Kenneth Freedman and my gaming Necromancer avatar as Cliffjumper..."
"Kenny!" Sinaan gasped in shock and nearly spit the kisses Sulabha had given him out onto the floor, "But you're a girl?!"
Sulabha chuckled again and nodded her head, then shook it, "Yes...I am. Don't you remember, Cliffjumper was a girl too. I used to always play girl characters. I mean, if I am going to have to watch a character from a third person viewpoint, I much rather watch a girl's ass than a guys! That is, until Dimension..."
"Oh my Goddess," Sinaan gasped, "You were reborn as a girl!"
"That's not even the most ironic part," She chuckled and shook her head, "I named my character Easy Pussy, and when I was named by Forelain, she named me Sulabha Faline..."
"Which means; easy cat," Sinaan finished as he scrubbed his free palm across his face.
"That's right," She confirmed and nodded.
"Okay, that sucks, and you obviously got a raw deal being born into this household. So let's fix that now. How do I get you out of here," He asked as he cast his gaze around again looking for a key, "I've been looking for the keys and they aren't here."
"It would be best if you just killed me," Sulabha answered.
"Don't be foolish, I am getting you out of here," He retorted, dismissing her suggestion with a wave of his hand.
"It is you that shouldn't be foolish," Sulabha returned as she raised her chin as if she were looking right at him, "I see the cloak you're wearing and the daggers within, and I know you took them from one of the assassin's sent to kill Aalyn Abendroth."
"How do you know this," He hissed.
"So, you are an Abendroth as well," Sulabha mused as she shook her head and looked down at the bed, "I know because I am the Necromancer they used to steal those girls' souls and seal them away, and I am also the one that put the assassin's spirits into them before they sent them off to kill your sisters."
"You," Sinaan hissed and grabbed for his daggers.
"Yes, me," She confessed and raised her chin to accept his judgement and the dagger in her throat.
"Why? Why did you do this? Why is the Faline House starting a war with us," He asked, his voice insistent and demanding.
"It isn't House Faline," Sulabha answered with a shake of her head, "At least, I don't think it is. It has been a long time since I have seen my mother, but I can't imagine her doing this. No, this is my brothers. They hate your sisters. They hate all women, but especially those that excel and accomplish what they can not..."
"You would be surprised what noble houses do. Their spitefulness is nothing I haven't seen before," Sinaan said with a shake of his head.
"No, I wouldn't," Sulabha retorted as she tilted her head so that Sinaan could see her face where her missing eyes used to be.
He nodded, "You're right. You would know exactly what the Faline House is capable of doing. So, why did they do this to you, their only sister?"
"I was stronger than they were," She answered simply, "They knew this while I was still very young. So they took me from my mother when I was little and my magic hadn't manifested. They raped and beat me, starved me for weeks, and tortured me until I begged them to kill me. Then they brought me to this room and chained me to this wall, and here I have stayed for years. When my magic manifested I needed no spells or words to use my power. I could enthrall, bewitch, and control with but a glance of my eyes. So they took them, and shackled me with an enchanted collar and cuffs so that I couldn't see them or cast my spells without their permission."
"So they made you do this," He proposed hopefully.
"No," She whispered, "I did everything willingly..."
"Why would you do that," He entreated, but as soon as he did, he dreaded the answer.
"Because," She chuckled, "I knew that at some point someone would come looking to retaliate, and when they did they would kill me, and now, here you are..."
"I'm not here to kill you Sulabha," He informed her firmly, "I'm here to investigate the disappearances of the priestesses and the source of the assassins, and to find evidence of treachery. Now, I must return to my sister and report what I have found."
"Kill me then, or rescue me" Sulabha begged pitifully before her voice took on a desperate maniacal edge as she hissed, "Or I promise, I will tell my brothers everything that has transpired here, and I will make sure they send thirty assassins next time...not three!"
Sinaan took a step back and just stared at his longtime friend. He couldn't see Kenny anymore, despite who this girl, Sulabha, claimed to be. Though he had to admit, his friend had always played girl avatars, and he had always been an edgy personality. Definitely chaotic evil if he had to categorize him, or her now. Very mercenary at work, and even more so when gaming. He was, however, very loyal to those he considered friends and close companions. Sinaan could also understand Sulabha's desperation. She had spent years doing anything and everything she could to elicit a reprisal that would either kill her or free her from her brother's imprisonment.
"Fine," He answered after a long pause, "If you will give me your word as my former friend Kenny "Cliffjumper" Freedman, and as a noble and heir of House Faline, that you will not betray me or my family, or try to bring us harm, and your will defend me and my loved ones with your life."
"I so swear it," Sulabha agreed with a sigh of relief as tears leaked out of her sealed eyelids and ran down her cheeks.
"Okay then," Sinaan mumbled as he reached inside his cloak for his lock picks, "Then first things first, let's get you out of those restraints."
"You can't pick these locks," Sulabha whispered as he carefully slipped his tools into the lock on her neck, "It's enchanted with magic..."
Her voice caught when she heard a "click click" and suddenly the collar fell away.
"I guess it's a good thing that my lock picking tools are enchanted as well then," Sinaan purred in self-gratification.
Seconds later the shackles on her wrists fell away for the first time in twelve years. Sulabha shook and she began to cry as Sinaan carefully pulled her to the side of the bed and helped her to stand up. Her legs were shaky and weak though they looked thick, muscular, and curvy, and for the next few minutes they paced around the room as he supported her until some strength returned.
"The first thing we should do is find you some clothes," He suggested.
"Yes, let's do that," She agreed with an adamant nod.
Pulling the cloak close to his mouth Sinaan whispered, "Disable Invisibility."
The magic of the cloak became inactive and he appeared beside Sulabha as he led her from the room. Sinaan didn't know the House Faline compound, and so, they slowly meandered through the hallways of the underground mansion moving from door to door. He engaged the magic of his cloak again and snuck into room after room looking for clothing, armor and weapons. He began to feel like they were in a rat's maze when at last they came to a very large set of doors.
Inside was the dining hall, and as he snuck around the room, keeping to the shadows despite his cloaks invisibility, Hayden, Grunngrull, and Rweble sat around a table eating a lavish pulled pork dinner while servants and maids waited on them. They drank wine, and pinched and fondled the maids as they made their rounds. Silently, he moved into a serving room off of the dining room where platters of food were set on tables. Looking for a plate, silverware, goblet, he loaded up a plate with the choicest meats and vegetables and poured mead into the goblet, and then he left. When he returned to Sulabha they moved down the hallway to another room as she commented, "Something smells good. What do you have there?"
Sinaan swept his hood back and his cloak aside as he revealed the plate of food.
"Oh fuck!" Sulubha gushed as she sniffed deeply and drool started to fall from the edge of her plump mouth before she sucked it back in, "I've forgotten how good food can smell!"
She reached out and he placed the plate in her hands with a fork and knife. The next few minutes were spent watching Sulabha eat like a starved wolf. From there they continued their search for clothes for Sulabha. They found another set of doors with a large spider carved in each door.
"This must be the temple," Sinaan whispered as he pushed the doors open.
The smell of the room was unmistakable.
"I smell death," Sulabha hissed as she marched past Sinaan and gathered two balls of crimson light in her hands and cast them into the air to float up to the top of the domed ceiling.
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