The Second Seal

[Xarkly 17299]

 

 

 

The snow was still melting from Sendred's cloak as he knelt on the carpet of the General's study.

 

'Study' was, perhaps, a generous title. Lasthope had never been a fortress designed for comfort; it had been built to scale the wall, and it was only after that occasion that the fort had been modified to become the defensive behemoth it was today. Comfort had never been a priority, and that showed in the plain furnishing of the General's study; a Cold Bear-skin rug, a sturdy desk and chair, and bookcases lining the walls. That was it. Even some of the fortress' corridors, with their banners and tapestries, were more finely decorated.

 

"Rise."

 

Sendred obeyed, and stood rigidly erect. His side ached; he did not need to look at the menacing creak along the side of his black and white-trimmed breastplate to know it was the cause of his wound. Yet he could not allow himself to sag in front of the General himself, even if it did feel like his side was about to split open. Besides, he had overcome far greater trials that day, and he drew some comfort from that. The memory of his close encounter in the Darkways made his injury feel like a paper cut. Focus, you fool, he scolded himself, and muted his wandering thoughts. Instead, he watched the General.

 

"I admit," the man opposite Sendred said slowly, "I am surprised you were successful, Sendred." In his gauntleted hands, the figure held a large disc of gleaming carbarum, etched with a lone eye surrounded by rings of knotting designs. He studied it appreciatively. 

 

"You ordered me to, Lord General, and I obey you orders," Sendred replied stiffly, though he swelled with pride. It was his first time that Lord-General Vaeyl himself had humbled him with such praise. His wound was forgotten now.

 

The General only nodded. He was a tall man, topping Sendred by a hand or so, and clad in the traditional attire of the Vaeyl Order - a full suit of bronze platemail, painted black and trimmed along the edges with white, a black tabard emblazoned with a white eye, and a visored greathelm. From his helmet, a long plume of black twinned with white cascaded down his cloak - pitch black but for the white eye. Around his neck, a chain of intricately-worked black links suspended a white eye of studded opal. The chain, cloak and plume were all that Lord-General Vaeyl wore to tell him apart from the lowliest of the Order's knights. His cloak trailed along the floor as he moved across the room, and laid the carbarum seal gently on a shelf, right next to a perfectly identical seal. "Two, now." For as long as the General had lived and for all the things he had seen, Sendred still found it remarkable that the man was so soft-spoken.

 

"Two, Lord," Sendred agreed solemnly. "Is there news of the hunt for the other seals?"

 

Vaeyl stood there silently appraising the twin carbarum seals for a long moment before he answered. "You are the first to return with one of the Seals. Drochmar has left to seek out Kal'Riad in the old tunnels, Taevynd will find the Seal deep within Endmoor, and once Eyrid has repaired the Darkways, we will send a banner to retrieve the Seal from Old Sevenna." He spoke that last name with a hint of disdain, but Sendred could not blame him.

 

"We traveled the Darkways, Lord, on the way to Yrodholm. Eyrid was not there, and it was crawling with Travellers." An unbidden shiver jolted Sendred at the sheer mention of the Darkways, and the Travellers. Images flashed in his head, from when he first arrived there with the Haensetians, to when they helped him when he fell near to the edge, until their blessed departure into the Yrodholm portal.

 

"That is ... troubling," Vaeyl began, though his conversational tone betrayed nothing. "We will afford him a few days to appear."

 

"And if he is dead, Lord? Taken by the Travellers or lost to the Darkways?"

 

"Eyrid of Caer Baddyn has been caretaker of the Darkways since their inception. No one knows that twisted realm and its portals better than he. I doubt he is gone, but if he is ... We will cross that bridge when we come to it," the General said dismissively. His helmet creaked as he looked away from the carbarum seals, and eyed Sendred. "The Invader. They cooperated?"

 

"They did, Lord," Sendred answered with an eager nod. "In fact, I doubt I would have succeeded if not for their aid. They answered my summons, helped me through the Darkways and took the Seal from its guardian in Yrodholm when I was injured."

 

"Yrodholm," Vaeyl muttered absent-mindedly. His visor was focused on Sendred, but Sendred could tell that the General was looking at something entirely unseen. "What state is it in?"

 

"It is ... a ruin, lord, as can be expected. The residential district has collapsed, but there are some shops left standing. The carpenters, the smiths, even the tailors." 

 

"And the populace?" 

 

Sendred frowned. "Ghosts, Lord. Gravens, Specters, even Apparitions. And the Golems. It is ... a dangerous ruin, Lord."

 

"I had hoped ..." Vaeyl began, but he stopped himself with a shake of his head. "Never mind. You have done well, Sendred, to retrieve this Seal."

 

"And ... and the Inv - the Haensetians, Lord?"

 

Vaeyl tilted his head. "The Invaders? What of them?"

 

"They have fulfilled their agreement, Lord," Sendred said cautiously. "They have helped us traverse Yrodholm, and retrieve the second Seal. They have repented of their invasion, and of their transgressions at the Battle of the Waste." Even as he spoke, different words spoken by a different voice echoed in Sendred's mind; Do you truly ever think there can be peace between us, Sendred?

 

"That is true," Vaeyl admitted morosely. "I will conclude our business with them myself."

 

"Lord if -"

 

"Thank you, Sendred. I will conclude our business with them myself." He did not have to raise his voice. Turning on his heels, his helm surveyed the two carbarum seals once more. "Two Seals here in Lasthope. Three more remain out of our hands. Endmoor, Kal'Riad and Old Sevenna. Just three more, and the Wall will never be threatened."

 

Do you truly ever think there can be peace between us, Sendred?  The Highlander voice whispered in his head. Sendred ignored it. "You can send me to fetch any, Lord. I promise you I will be successful."

 

"You have done enough, Sendred. Return to your patrols in the Waste."

 

With a nod, Sendred turned. He knew better than to argue with the General, but even as he closed the door behind him, the voice in his head, the words of an Invader, echoed like a drum.

 

Do you ever think there can be peace between us and the Vaeyl Order, Sendred?

 

 

 

[Arygon 135]

good read

[DarkElfs 160]

"I love the Vaeyl order's liquor..." Robyn state one night with a bottle in hand that was more or less slowly going through her system and probably knock her flat out in a bit this night

 

 

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Ooc: Very good read and my character rply is a lover of their liquor. Just had quote a rp moment I kind of had with her on seeing this lol. Good read as per normal! 

[ScreamingDingo 20568]

Moved to The Great Library. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

 

If you feel this is a mistake, please contact myself or any FM and we'll restore it.