Heleion Archives

17^th of August, 1409 ASC. Colony of Naurdlieche, Northern Eoran.

            The conjured cannons’ thundering roar filled the night as Ansrud – a stunning dracorith Chessack of the Sisterhood – watched from the living quarters of the Feasrnacht Castle located in the south-western tower. Occasionally the light of spells lit up the vast courtyard with a labyrinthine maze of busy corridors and the gloomy walls and towers.

The castle itself was built up from the gloomy lime stone hoarded here from the shores of Northern Eoran by locals enslaved by the Imperial Colonizers that included the Grauburgians.  Yet currently it was not the source of the native’s angers who battered the lone gate of the fortress with their dark, mutated beasts – but the murder of one of their youth.

The prince of the Amdenz State decided to visit his claimed territory a month or two ago with the simple desire to venture in the gloomy forest where the Oidche Tribe – feyfolken worshipping the Archfey of Night and Darkness. Yet his quick adventure led to the gruesome murder of the Chief’s second daughter whose body parts swam down in the river to their hidden village in macabre order so to speak.

They did not need to think long on who to blame as it was not the first time the colonists took – or like this case – murdered one of their kin. And this time they won’t sit idly, leaving retribution to the true children of the Night, no this time they amassed an army of their warriors and beasts infused with the essence of pure darkness, mutating them into horrifying beasts who swallow the light even during the day.

Ansrud, whose long hair cascaded out the window and hanged above the rushing soldiers of the fort in their metallic woolen uniforms of a dark bluish shade, heaved a sigh. She watched from the high elevations as winged, bat like beasts with beaked heads rush towards the towers, but in the end an invisible force crushes their heads into bloody chunks while their massive corpses fell onto their fellows.

On one part she longed to partake in the battle as it had been centuries since she participated in a proper battle or siege. But on the other hand, the Sisterhood and its leader – Freianna the Black Rose – maintained a good relation with the locals of the northern colonies unlike the other colonizing vassals of the Empire. So currently her company was assigned to guard the warehouses and the House of Healing.

As the sun started to rise over the horizon, bathing the vast scenery spreading seemingly infinitely into the distance, Ansrud tapped her scaled cheeks and leapt out from her sturdy, rigid bed the Grauburgians so preferred. She scurried towards the cabinet and opened it, staring with gleaming mauve eyes at the sleek uniform that hovered inside neatly folded out, waiting to be worn.

**

Ansrud tracked across the ground blanketed in sprawling green grass flattened by the wheels of large carts filled to the brim with chests and cartridges full of potions, crossbows and other supplies the grauburgians need to keep the horde at bay. Said grass gained a glow under her low-heeled leather boot with a semi-pointed toe with glow’s source being the snow silvery liquid palladium frame engraved with nairenthian runes.

Above it, she wore the traditional hussariath trousers embroidered with rose patterns that had a distinct draconic contours, frames, points and edges while also contrasting the dark, smooth surface of the drouvhen leather trouser. The embroidery itself seemed to continue onto the double breasted drouvhen leather short coat that mimicked the Grauburgian’s uniform, though with a bit more concave contours.

The coat itself tightly fitted her delicate, yet also well-honed, fair form of Ansrud with the lower end being a simple, but perfectly straight hem thinly encased in snow silvery liquid palladium, the neck rose proudly, offering its extravagant protection, its excess folded down resembling a methodically drawn wing of a phoenix or dragon with its serrated, snow silvery edges of soft metal. On both ends of the shoulders, tasseled epaulettes with ornate lotus rose sewn onto their hard surfaces hanged above the straight slope that led down to the rose petal like sleeves.

In its embrace, the soft aelfhrad silken dress shirt draped over her scar decorated body of delicate features and shape, ripping with soft muscles. The shoulders remained featureless while the neck rose to similar heights as it encircled her supple, snow silver scaled neck, with pressed out tips that quivered as the cold wind of the north blew at them, tickling her subtle chin. The veiled placket shrouded the buttons, while a deep, raven black cravat hugged under the weakly flapping tips.

Along the way to the warehouse – where her shift was designated for that day – lustful gazes fell upon her mesmerizing form. Ansrud was already used to it thanks to being a lone elf in her birth village where such gazes were an everyday occurrence.

Though the gift given to her by Freianna amplified her elven beauty tenfold – just like with all her other Sisters, which was partly the reason the grauburgians could overcome their primal desires. It sharpened her facial and body contours, amplified and turned her graceful, almond-shaped eyes to mauve, enhanced her wide, thick wine red lips softness and hue, gave her already draconic elven ears a sharper tip, stretched its width.

Her once, ivory hair gained a deep, raven black hue while it became even more luxuriant which she currently bundled up into a braided high bun while her thin eyebrows were hidden behind the thick bush of a fringe that hanged above her gleaming, calm eyes. Even her toe and finger claws gained the same raven black shade while their surface became as reflective as an ice-covered lakes’ while still as strong as mythrinite.

She heaved a sigh as she glimpsed her tall, naurdian chessack Sister with braided crown hairstyle that was popular in the Nairenthian colony. “Morning An!”

“Morning! Anything interesting happened?” She asked as soon as they were done with the saluting.

For a long moment, her senior Sister looked pensively over her bun – for a moment Ansrud thought she was day-dreaming as her mauve pupils lost a bit of their shine – then said. “Nothing really. The most exciting thing were those winged beasts that tried to break in, but most of them stopped after a dozen of their kin fell in the river with their crushed heads.”

“Thought so.” Ansrud let out a sigh as boredom showed its first signs. “Well, maybe you will run into some infiltrator.” At those words Ansrud’s gaze stabbed through the naurdian Chessack.

“How would that happen?” She asked as her head tilted towards the right. “Oh you don’t know? Allegedly there are secret tunnels under the walls, leading to the other bank of the river. To be honest, its mostly just rumors.” Before Ansrud could speak, her Sister’s mouth gracefully formed an oval shape as a deep yawn escaped her. The two saluted and she slowly rushed to get some rest.

Ansrud looked at her for a bit before she disappeared in the busy crowd.  “Hopefully it’s not just a rumor.” With a whisper, she started her long shift that will last until the sunrise of the next morning.

**

As the sun started setting at the western horizon, Ansrud stared at the sky as the strange, warped cawing hurt her ears. “Great.” She muttered as a headache started softly assaulting her. Her sleek uniform emanated a soft snow silvery glow that enveloped her whole body, and the pain subsided only to rear itself once again.

This cycle repeated itself until one of the grauburgian mages hurled an enormous fireball at the creatures, taking them down slowly, one by one. Their flaming corpses emanating brim, shadowy mist slid down in the air slowly before their corpses were washed away by the raging ravine behind the fort.

As darkness fully enveloped the world, the fort Ansrud continued her shift and just as she stopped to take a break at the left corner, her head jolted to the alley between the warehouses, occupied by heavy shadows. From the corner of her glowing mauve eyes, she noticed a faint blur in the dark.

Mana coursed through her arcane veins as her alluring form slowly slinked into the shadows while the yells intensified in the opposite direction as the umbral feyfolken began their nightly assault once more. Warm air from within breezed her soft lips as she realized that it must have been her imagination which played tricks on her mind as she reached the small section between the wall and the warehouses. As she turned around, returning to the door, the soft thud passed by her long, knifed ears.

**

On the next night she internally thanked Myelia for her luck to be assigned to the warehouse interior. While it was an imposing structure from the inside, thanks to the spatial inscriptions woven into the beams and oaken walls, the interior itself stretched far and wide. Stiff mountains of crates led to the formation of so called Crate-Halls which confused her mind twice at least.

First, she found herself closer to the east section when in reality she wanted to continue towards the south. Then later when she planned to head towards the western wall, she ended up a few stacks away from the entrance. But after two more hours inside she spent mostly mentally mapping out the labyrinth, she came to a sudden realization, one which seemed not important, though it still poked her mind.

Usually, when shifts were changed, the previous patrolling personnel must wait until the next arrives. Yet when she stepped in without calling out for her Sister. For a moment she joked inside that she may have got lost inside, but in the end, she just chalked it up to maybe missing her in the crowd in the courtyard. At least until she heard a faint noise coming from the loft above.

A noise that awfully resembled loud thuds that gradually lessened with the distance. Her senses tingled that something truly wasn’t right in here, and it wasn’t the labyrinthian maze of crates. The rumor told to her the day before surfaced in her mind, and started to form into a truth masked by the history of the place. Especially that it was standard for forts and castles to have a hidden escape route, though it was mostly known to the higher ups at the time.

She sharpened her ears as she headed towards the nearest ladder at the right corner. The closer she got, the stronger the thuds became and now she could make them out to be for what they were. Kicks against a thick wooden door.

Her arms gently stretched out to her sides, one palm facing the bottom of the loft, the other had her fingers pressed against each other while the palm faced forwards. Both got enveloped in contrasting lights. The one facing up lit up in an orange light that resembled swirling flames, the other a much colder tone with snow particles falling towards the creaking floor under her leathery boots.

Before she headed up, her head tilted up, the combination of her dark hair and head pressed down the back of her collars as her mauve eyes glared into the well-lit area above. The wood became mildly transparent in her vision and when she was sure no one waited above for her, her delicate form lifted up into the air while her attention remained on her surroundings.

With heavy steps, she reached the door where the thuds came – and now stopped – and opened it with telekinesis. The door slowly creaked itself open and she walked into the completely dark room which she could see through easily. Inside a few more crates greeted her, but after she circled around them as she followed the line drawn into dusty floor, arriving to the source – or sources – of the noise.

Two of her Sisters sitting at the center back to back. One a dark elf with short dark hair with curling contours, the other a sraudornian with warm, exotic skin and voluminous, wavy hair and the one that was assigned to the interior before her.

Both had their arms bent between their back, tied with enchanted rope that siphoned their stamina and mana while also locking their wrists together. Another long, thick coil looped around their waists, while two more made sure that they could not stand properly.

Their lips and cheeks hidden behind snow silvery muffle scarves with the tight knots hidden under their raven black hairs. Yet no muffled plea came from them as their heads slumped over their robust breasts – only soft whimpers came from the two dreaming Sisters.

Instead of rushing to free them, her attention focused on the dark surroundings in which blurs appeared here and there. Although her senses were sharpened, she was still too late to notice the pale figure wrapped in primal garments that blended in with the darkness blowing a dark mist into her face.

Ansrud stumbled back and forth as her sight blackened completely, soft, adorable coughs escaped her wide lips as she grasped for air before her ethereally glowing mauve eyes rolled up into her head, her smooth lids closed down over them. With a soft thud, she landed on the floor kicking up dust.

“Tie this Daughter of the Black One up too.” As the first assailant approached her slowly with dagger in hand, another appeared and said. The other stopped and sheeted her blade then rolled the unconscious Ansrud onto her face before taking her own enchanted rope and muffle scarf. The two quickly bound and gagged her as tightly as the other two, placing her before leaving them in the shadows, where they shall be found by their own, thanks to the vigilant gaze of Myelia.