Heleion Archives

With a child like wonder reflected in her calm eyes, Selindrae walked into the quite large innermost command chamber of the Nightingale – a smaller Sky-Vessel. The command center itself was a large circular room with the pristine silvery black metallic floor with a matte sheen, the center spacious sunken area with carpeted burgundy floor and a round table emanating an aethereal grid projecting the winged metallic beast of a vessel as it coursed through the clouds.

“Welcome aboard miss Selindrae.” Tabiaroth, the gilded stygian who attacked her in the warehouse greeted her in a manner fit more for a stewardess than an assassin or spy.

“Hope my strike didn’t hurt much!” Selindrae said a bit awkwardly to the affable Tabiaroth who simply waved it away with a bit of joking that she got used to it during her years serving as a vordriar in the capital.

At the outer rims of the control center, she noticed the ebony beauty Henriatte clad in her tight dragonid leather pants, the vivid amethyst blouse with its collars arching high towards her chiseled jawline while her long, tousled hair left parted side slanted onto it, a few dark locks caressing gently her dusky smooth neck while on the other side, rows of braids traversed the distance from her temple to the back.

Her hands pressed onto the Guiding Console of the vessel – a chimney like ornated contraption with twin towers with glass domed tops glowing with an aethereal light. “We shall arrive in a few hours Opaque Sisters!”

“So you are the one who beat Sim and Tabi!” Whilst she was surveying the well sculpted figure of the ebony beauty, she jumped when Faenia called out to her in a threateningly inquisitive tone as if inviting her to a bout. She wore her preferred get up, the asymmetrical, elven dragonid leather jacket with a singular, large triangular lapel of uneven contours, zipped down and the inner layers outspread like an origami, while in the gradually expanding gap, her pearl white aetherna satin blouse peeked with its shimmering luster in the soft umbral confines.

Her hair befitting a street urchin, a punk more than a refined agent and assassin of the Black Roses, the sides sheared to her milk-smooth, caramel tanned skin, while the long white mane streamed backwards except for the two gathering of locks framing her menacingly gorgeous face garnished with a few piercings above her brows, in her shapely nose and a silvery pearl under her glossy lower lip.

“She even beat Vjeriina a few centuries ago.” Raabdeth said as she stood up from behind one of the tables welted into the floor with a wide monitor highlighting her statuesque form clad in her open turtlenecked dragonid leather jacket revealing the buttoned down collars of her emerald green barsoon blouse while the left dark waterfall of hair cascaded into it.

Faenia expression grew even more excited as she walked up to Selindrae’s face and inspected its sharp elvish contours. “What about a quick match?” She said, her breath warm and tantalizing.

“Another time my dear Fania. For now let’s review the interior of the mansion.” Lyaldis said in a kind but commandeering tone as she stood beside Astrydril in the sunken floor. Her hand ran in front of the aethereal projection which turned from their ship into the large mansion reflecting a transparent interior.

Selindrae calmly walked onto the left of Astrydril and stared pensively at the projection. “We know this and that are here offices, Henrietta and Faenia shall check those for the vials and documents.”

While she listened to Lyaldis giving out her orders to the five remaining Daomaorns, Selindrae noticed the faint outline of runic descriptions belonging to certain rooms, except for one. “This is just her “trophy” room.”

Astrydril turned at her with a momentary inquisitive look in her striking, brimming eyes. “Trophy room?”

“Well that is how she described it. But that place is filled with golden statues that I’m a hundred percent sure she didn’t commission in the traditional… normal way.” She stopped for a moment. “That is where we also talked business.”

“That makes sense. There are enchantments in those walls that not even our sensors could penetrate.” Lyaldis said while her index finger engulfed in mana carved the words of trophy room into the air with the small note added by Selindrae.

“We shall check that ourselves.”

“Isn’t it enough If I aid in taking her down?” Selindrae a bit puzzled turned and asked Lyaldis.

“Honey, Ilsarei is most definitely left to one of her many mansions in the heimrad. For now we shall raid the place and find out where she went and hopefully rescue our agents.”

While the others remained hopeful, Selindrae herself expected the worst for those two, though she kept a composed look on her face.

**

The early hours of the 25^th of March, 406^th of NDE.

“Well this is certified creepy. No wonder the old man cheated on her numerous times.” Lyaldis noted as the three of them walked slowly between the gilded statues of various folks.

A godborn of with stag like features in a highly erotic form with his bulky arms stretching upwards, three loops of rope hewn around the wrist, in his mouth a spherical gag with the straps heading back on his head. On his right, a petite naelfrith whose golden silhouette was hugged by a revealing high collared vhalex dress while she was taped to a chair with her legs spread out, her clitoris hewn with great detail just like the battering ram like dildo forcing its tip into her.

And a myriad other, some the two agents recognizes as they walked past them near the walls, searching for any secret door after they found the mansion mostly empty as their Daormaorns reported. The five stretched across the vast mansion found no more than five servants still cleaning and patrolling the hauntingly empty mansion.

“Nothing on this side.” Selindrae yelled after she pressed her artificial palm against the wall, spreading small metallic organisms out from them to sense any irregularities in the flow of mana in the enchanted walls.

 “Are you sure they can notice high grade spells, inscriptions?” “Astrydril asked while staring at a tightly bound stygian maiden’s statue whom she recognized as a reporter who allegedly had a quite lengthy affair with the former mayor, former husband of Ilsarei.

“I’m pretty sure. This arcnobots saved my life once when I was hired to take care of a Shadow Demon haunting the old Grischmarks’ family mansion.” Selindrae said while holding her pleasing nose high. “Their only fault though is their range is limited in the sense that I have to touch each individual wall.”

For a moment she stopped and pondered while staring at the awfully empty center of the room where eight statues all looked – except the two blindfolded naurdians – inwards. “Let’s check the floor.”

A smile curved onto her lips as she felt inscriptions forced into the cloaking one woven into the floor’s material. “There is something here. Give me a sec.” She said as her metallic fingers phased into the floor and after a few moments, with a howl a disk shaped aperture appeared beneath her feet, and she fell onto the first few steps of the coiling wide stairs descending into the dark.

Before Selindrae could have hurried down drunken on the excitement of discovery, Astrydril caught her still natural arm. “Wait. Just incase we shall grab Faenia to sniff out any possible traps.” Selindrae feeling merry at the gesture of halting her, nodded.

The trio returned through the garden into the main entrance hall leading to the street through the front garden decorated with the marble statues of divine servants of the various Gods of the North and East. The closer they got, the familiar harsh tearing of sealing tape grew stronger, then they arrived to Faenia and Tabiaroth binding the left-behind staff members hoarded like treasure into the hall.

The two agents lined them to the wall and followed the usual procedure of securing the wrists and ankles first, then moved onto the torso and thighs before finishing by applying short strips over their lips. Thankfully most of the left behind staff were either humans, dwarves and elves.

As soon as they heard the clanks of the trio’s steps on the marble floor, the two halted in the securing of staff, then turned and looked a bit hopefully. “Have you found them?” Astrydril shook her head.

“Not yet, though we found a secret door leading further down.” Without saying anymore both agents began to walk, though Lyaldis raised her hand. “Stay with them, if any wake up began the questioning.”

“But...” Tabiaroth was quickly shot down when Astrydril painted her palm at her. “Will do. But promise me if you find Kotty, you notify me instantly!” Astrydril nodded.

**

Faenia led the group with the two Eyes of the Black Roses following while channeling their mana into a warding spell around her. “Seems to be clear. I guess she either took compromising stuff, or she is pretty sure we won’t find her in time.” Faenia commented as she scraped her head at the lack of traps.

“Stay at the back with Selindrae.” Hearing her name uttered by the husky voice of Astrydril strengthened the spreading warmness within Selindrae.

The two followed behind them in the dim corridor with arched roof of stacked grayish silver stones and a golden cement neatly fitted between them. No sound traversed the corridor except for the pleasant stretching of their outer leather garments, planting a foreboding feeling as if they were walking into the belly of the beast itself.

At last, they arrived to the end where an arched doorway led into a vast room. Selindrae instinctively whistled at the sigh of long and wide room which like the command center had a mildly lowered railed off from the narrow rectangular passage near the wall lacking any distinct furniture.

A congregation of long, polished wooden planks of a synthetized color combination of amber and oaken formed the top layer of the floor, while there seemed to be a second inner layer filled with a certain mixture of cement and alchemical solvents.

“Maybe I was wrong.” Before they stepped in, Faenia halted them as she sensed vicious darkness spreading and stretching the space of the room indefinitely. The source laid in the weird solvent beneath the neatly stacked wooden planks, though she recognized the Nyx flower often used for Night-Smoke Bombs – a magicraft grenade that on explosion spreads a blinding darkness which quickly can fill up a large area and linger for hours, days in some cases even weeks.

“Can you take care of it?” Lyaldis asked as she felt weirded out by the strange, lingering energies. “Yeah, just give me a few minutes.”

Faenia reached forwards and uncurled her fist from which thin arcane threads spread out and branched in all directions of the compass. Her face grimaced, contorted and she groaned a few times as if in great pain, but at last the darkness retreated to the void beyond existence, then at last the room fully became clear.

It was still quite spacious, and well decorated with expensive antique furniture clearly imported from the south as the three Raven Eyes recognized them seeing them in the palace of the former Sultan. Or at least similar ones, though those got scavenged by an unknown party.

Opposite to them, a large map of the Eptirrion Basin was carved masterfully into the wall with threads and pins running in and through all the heimrads. Though what drew their attention – and their weapons out – was the cylindrical object draped under thick, gloomy veils. Astrydril grabbed the linen veil and with a swift move revealed the inhabitants behind the paneled window.

The golden forms of Kottryna and Matilda stared, pointed their wand pistols at them while their backs melded together, their eyes strangely calm as they accepted their fate, though the same wasn’t true for the three Raven Eyes whose stares creeped Selindrae out.

“She’s dead.” Astrydril declared.

**

27^th of March, 406^th of NDE. Ilsarei’s Mansion at the Kumikill Highland.

Ilsarei felt rejoiced after hours of sitting in one place, stretched her legs and arms while inhaled a mouthful of the mountainous air blowing her loose layers of her garments. The spiraling road she always hated leading up to her country side mansion built atop a majestic crag overlooking one of the landing bases of the Black Rose.

Behind her, a long convoy of expensive magicraft cars lined up, slowly entering the vast courtyard of the five floored mansion of modern mansion built with a mixture of cement, limestone and processed metals. The outer walls all around were painted in a bright golden, while the overlapping gambled roofs bore a charcoal shade of black, the stairs and the loggia a blinding shade of white.

In the center of the courtyard, facing the arched gate from which the angularly contoured walls separated the beautiful garden from the steep depths. The strange and exotic monsters garnished the wall at measured intervals, bearing a brownish amber shade like most of the wall except for the top edges shaded in a deeper blackish brown.

“Welcome Lady Ilsarei. We didn’t expect you so early!” While she watched the cars get swallowed by the garage one by one, Oyuun a soratanese envoy with cropped dark hair with gentle waves draped in a lavish kimono-coat of dragonid leather and the issued full snow silvery blouse of aetherna satin with imposing, large triangular collars greeted her as she was followed by two stunning Skjaldmaeriths.

“Excuse me for not notifying you in time my friend!” Ilsarei said in her mellowing voice and a wicked grimace behind the motionless white mask bathed in the shadows of her silken shroud draped over her head. “But I finished things in the capital so I decided to come early so I can enjoy some fresh air.”

“I see. Who is that handsome man if you don’t mind the question?” Just as Oyuun was turning around, she noticed the Eye-Patched Half Dark Elf stepping out from Ilsarei’s limousine.

“Just a friend and business partner. He shall accompany me on the visit as he has a better eye to these things.” She said calmly as the Eye-Patched Half Dark Elf greeted Oyuun quite courteously. “Now let’s eat something.”

“Before that I have to check something ladies. though I’ll be with you in a moment.” He said with an affable smile and opened the door like a true gentleman to the four while he calmly walked towards Kiri opening the trunk of the limousine.