Ch 29: Ties to the Past

Alexander and the others discover the Seeker's diary in the citadel's library, and Ace is confined after his past comes to light. Loki summons everyone to his study to ask them for aid.

            Saturday July 7, 520NA. Looking through books on the dusty shelves of the citadel library, Mythra grumbled, “Why do I have to spend all this time helping you look for stuff on the Seeker while Amy gets to look around the citadel with Grey?” Sitting in a chair across from Richter at a table in the middle of the library, a stack of books beside him, Alexander replied, “For one thing you’re a speed reader, able to read books faster than anyone else. You’re also one of the few among us who can actually read the demonic language. It would have been nice if Ace had come along as well, but seeing as we can’t find him it’s just you, me, and Richter.” Looking over at Richter, who was examining a book Alexander had already looked through, Mythra said, “Richter, you don’t read demonic at all. Why are you here?” Looking up from the book with an enthusiastic smile, Richter said, “Why? This library is a treasure trove of ancient knowledge about a race of beings I would not have believed existed until a little while ago! Even if I can’t read it, just being here is a thrill to me!” Mythra sighed and in a whiny voice she muttered to herself, “Why me? Why is it always me who has to do this boring stuff during my free time when I could be spending it with Grey?” Looking at the demonic letters in his book with great interest, Richter carelessly said, “It’s really best to move on in cases of unrequited love such as this Mythra, I think we all know who Grey-” Sailing through the air, the book Mythra hurled at Richter struck him in the head, the force with which it struck sending him and his chair toppling over backwards with a loud crash. Alexander calmly flipped to the next page of the book he was reading as he said, “Richter, sometimes it’s best to keep your thoughts to yourself…”

            Struggling to get up, Richter noticed the book Mythra had thrown at him and said, “What’s this? This book, it’s not written in demonic. I think it’s the ancient language that’s on many of the ruins back on Teramis.” Extracting himself from the fallen chair and getting up, Richter bent down and picked up the book. Examining it, he said, “It’s a diary. The author is someone named Claire.” As Richter continued to look the book over, Alexander looked over at it as well and said, “It looks a bit too old to be a memory diary. I wonder what it’s doing here in the first place.” Still looking sour, Mythra continued to look through the titles of books as she said, “Who cares?! Hurry up and find something on the Seeker so I can get out of here!” Richter’s eyes went wide as he read an entry in the diary, and he quickly reread it out loud, saying, “August 13, 1120EH. I have foreseen the destruction of the world at the hands of an ancient evil. Released by my own kind, if something is not done, its grasp will stretch across all creation. After much consideration, the only path I can take to prevent this disaster is to cause another, the destruction of humanity itself. A dark path indeed, I do not expect anyone to understand. Upon consulting my close friend Malphas, he has reluctantly agreed to lend me the aid of his people. Together we shall lead the demonfolk in a crusade against mankind. May the world forgive us for what we must do in order to protect our very existence.” Looking up from the diary, Richter said, “Was it not the Seeker who led the demonfolk in a great war?” Looking to be deep in thought, Alexander said, “1120EH… EH was the abbreviation of a dating system used by humans up until a thousand years ago when the events involving the Dark Crusade occurred. It stood for the Era of Humanity, it was during that time that mankind was most prosperous. If that was dated in 1120EH… it was written almost three thousand years ago…”

            Walking out onto a large balcony overlooking the city, as Amy saw the view she said, “Wow…” Following behind her, Grey said, “Quite a view!” Noticing someone standing over by the railing, as she recognized him, Amy said, “Isn’t that Ace?” As the two walked over to where Ace leaned against the railing looking off into the distance, he seemed deep in thought and did not notice them approach him. After a moment, Grey said, “Something wrong?” Turning to look at them, Ace said, “Huh? Oh, it’s you guys…” Noticing the tired look in his eyes, Amy said, “Ace, did you not sleep well?” Looking away, Ace muttered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Awkward silence persisted between them for a moment. Then Ace cleared his throat and said, “So, uh, are you guys almost about done here? I really need to get back to the troupe, they can’t get a damn thing done without me y’know…” Certain there was something strange about his behavior, Amy said, “Ace, we haven’t known each other long, but we’re still friends right? If something’s wrong you can always talk to us about it.” Nodding, Grey said, “Yeah, if you got a problem just say something!” With a sigh of frustration, Ace said, “Jeez, nosey much? Look it’s nothing you guys need to worry about, ok? Let’s just say the sooner we get out of Daemonholm the better…” Just then Loki walked out onto the terrace, and spotting Grey he called out, “Are you enjoying the view?” Ace’s eyes went wide. As Loki drew closer, he noticed Ace and stopped in his tracks. The two stared at each other for a moment, and then Loki quietly said, “It can’t be! Caine… is that really you?” Grey and Amy both looked at Ace in surprise. Ace merely closed his eyes with a sigh and said, “Loki…”

            Looking back and forth between Ace and Loki, Amy said, “Caine?” Staring at the ground, unable to bear meeting Loki’s gaze, Ace said, “That’s my real name. When I joined up with the troupe I changed it…” Loki slowly walked up to Ace, and raising a fist he bonked Ace on the head and said, “You fool! You mean to tell me you joined up with some circus?! Everyone said you were dead!” Rubbing his head, Ace looked up and exclaimed, “Hey! Would you leave me alone already?! What else could I do?! You know I wasn’t cut out for it!” Totally lost at this point, Grey said, “Hold on, cut out for what? Just how do you guys know each other?” Turning to Grey, Loki said, “This idiot here is my half brother, Caine. Seven years ago when our father passed on, he disappeared. Although I am the older one, because I am a half demonfolk born of a halman mother, he would have been the one in line for the throne.” Pointing at Ace with a shocked expression on his face, Grey exclaimed, “This guy?! But you can barely tell he’s a demonfolk at all, while you’re…” Quickly Ace shouted, “You see?! We’ve barely met and even these guys know I ain’t got any business being the Lord of the Demonfolk! That’s why I left! I want nothing to do with it! Nothing!” With that, Ace quickly rushed off as Loki shouted after him, “Caine!” As Ace disappeared through the doorway back into the halls of the citadel, Amy let out a sigh and said, “There he goes. Nice work Grey…” Heaving a sigh, Grey said, “Sorry, it just kind of blurted out. I don’t get it though. If he didn’t want to be Lord, why didn’t he just say so?” There was a sad look on Loki’s face as he said, “It’s not that easy I’m afraid. If it were, I would have declined as well…” Facing Grey, Loki said, “Thank you for bringing him home, however unintentionally. I apologize, but I must go after him before he disappears on me again.” As Loki rushed off after Ace, Grey turned to Amy and said, “Let’s go see the others. I’ve got a feeling they’ll want to hear about this.”

            Making his way through the all too familiar halls of the citadel, the black stone walls adorned with many paintings and statues, the floors covered in green and gold carpeting, as Ace finally arrived at the entry hall he headed for the tall doorway of the main entrance. Intent on leaving as soon as possible, Ace thought to himself, “Why’d I even agree to come back at all? I should have known this would happen!” Reaching the doorway, he stopped as he saw a group of people coming up the path to the citadel, and as they got closer he could see it was Xanth and a group of the Daemonholm guards. Taking a few steps back, he thought to himself, “Did Loki call the guards to catch me?” Noticing Ace as he stepped through the door, Xanth looked surprised and said, “Caine? What’s the meaning of this?” Rushing up the entry hall towards them, Loki shouted, “Caine! Wait!” Glancing back at Loki momentarily, Ace tried to make a break for it, but Xanth quickly grabbed his arm as he tried to run past him. 

As Ace struggled against his grip, Xanth said, “Calm down. What’s going on here Loki?” Reaching them, Loki replied, “As you can see, Caine has returned. He seems to have joined a circus, of all things…” Gritting his teeth a moment, Ace shouted, “Go ahead and make fun! Sure I missed home, but at least I was free to be myself! I’m happy being a member of the troupe! I’m not staying to be your damned lord, so let me go!” Shaking his head in disgust, Xanth said, “Guards, take him to his old room and lock the door. I’ll deal with him later…” As the guards took Ace away, Xanth said, “Loki, there’ve been more unexplained deaths…” Loki, having been watching the guards haul Ace off, turned to face Xanth and said, “What? But we’ve sealed the Bone Wall! I thought that these incidents were limited to just tourists.” Presenting him with several sheets of paper, Xanth said, “I thought so as well. Unfortunately, these say otherwise. The other night while I was ‘cooling off’ in my cell, it seems several of the prison guards disappeared without a trace. After I was released today, I was presented with these reports from the crypt keepers. The bodies have been found in Shadow’s Reach again.” Loki stared at the reports with a frustrated expression and muttered, “Are there any leads this time?” Nodding, Xanth said, “The crypt keepers said that they have an idea what could be doing this. They’ve kept quiet till now because it is, admittedly, far fetched. They fear it may be one of the ancient ones…”

            Having all been summoned to Loki’s study just moments after hearing of Ace’s confinement, Grey and the others stepped through the black double doors of the room, all wondering what was going on. The walls of the study were the same black stone, but the carpet was purple with golden designs upon it. Through the ornate windows on the wall opposite the entrance was a magnificent view of Daemonholm, the study being on the top floor of the central spire of the citadel. Sitting behind a wide silver desk in a silver chair with purple velvet cushions, Loki looked up from the reports he had laid out on his desk and said, “Ah, I thank you for coming. Please make yourselves comfortable.” Walking up to the desk, Grey leaned on it with an angry look upon his face and said, “Just what the hell is going on Loki?! I don’t know anything about what it means to be in line for the throne, but you can’t just lock Ace up like this!” Calmly gathering the reports together, Loki pushed them across the desk to Grey and said, “I’m sorry, but I refuse to let him leave until he agrees to calm down and talk to me, and with the current state of affairs I cannot have any of the noble families discover that he’s returned from the dead. If I let him wander around he’ll be recognized and before you know it he’ll be replacing me as Lord of the Demonfolk. It’s the last thing he would want, I assure you of that. The matter will have to wait though, because judging from these reports I received from Xanth we have a crisis on our hands. I’ve called you here because I may very well need your help.” Putting his anger aside, Grey picked up the reports and looked at them momentarily. Seeing they were written in demonic, Grey turned and handed them to Alexander.

            Looking the reports over, Alexander said, “This is rather disturbing. The way the bodies were mutilated, the fact that the bodies were warm when they were discovered, despite being long dead… It’s consistent with ancient methods of essence devouring. If it’s a creature we are dealing with, it’s intelligent enough to be versed in ancient demonic magic.” Feeling certain it was exactly as the crypt keepers had feared, Loki said, “Are you familiar with the beings known as ancient demonfolk Gabriel?” The term sounded extremely familiar to Grey, and he found himself struggling to remember where he had heard it. Pulling up one of the silver chairs in font of the desk, Alexander sat down and said, “Yes I’m familiar with them, though my knowledge of them is limited. They are the pureblood ancestors of the demonfolk.” Walking up to stand by Alexander’s chair, Richter said, “I thought that the demonfolk themselves were already pureblood! The discrimination against half breeds makes no sense if they are not of pure blood themselves!” 

Laughing quietly to himself, Alexander said, “Pure blood… After thousands and thousands of years of interaction between the different races of humanoids, you’ll be hard pressed to find a person whose blood is truly one hundred percent pure. Yet discrimination will exist as long as there is someone different, someone whose blood is not as pure as another’s…” Standing by the door with Mythra, Amy said, “So then, the ancient demonfolk can’t still be around… Can they?” In a matter of fact voice, Mythra said, “Demonfolk today can live to be anywhere from 300 to 1500 years old, and it usually varies from family to family for some reason. On the other hand, the ancient demonfolk were immortal. In other words, don’t count them out of the picture just yet. Unlike the demonfolk of today they didn’t make cities and live together. They could easily still be out there, living in their own little lairs, being mistaken for monsters or simply living in out of the way areas where no one would know they were there.”

            Placing the reports back on Loki’s desk, Alexander said, “Considering you’re bringing them up, can we assume you have reason to believe an ancient demonfolk is behind this?” Taking the reports, Loki opened a drawer and stuffed them inside as he said, “That’s what the crypt keepers think. By the way Spellweaver, your information is not quite correct…” Raising an eyebrow curiously, Mythra said, “Oh really?” Opening another drawer, Loki pulled out a very old looking folded up piece of paper. Unfolding it carefully and placing it on the desk, Loki said, “Yes, really. In truth, the ancient demonfolk did have a city of their own.” Looking at the paper on the desk, Richter said, “A map? I take it this is their city then?” Nodding, Loki said, “This is a map of the ancient demonfolk’s city, Underworld. It is a city built within the depths of this very mountain, supposedly abandoned long ago. The main entrance has caved in. However, there is a passage deep within the catacombs in Shadow’s Reach that leads straight into Underworld.” Remembering their conversation with Tobias, Grey said, “Shadow’s Reach is right nearby the city! If there is an ancient demonfolk in there, it’s pretty much living right next door!” Then Grey remembered where he had heard of ancient demonfolk, and quickly he said, “Loki… Is the name ‘Shadow’s Reach’ related to something, one of the ancient demonfolk maybe?” Slightly surprised, Loki replied, “Well, there is a great deal of history behind the name and the ancient demonfolk it is named after. Since you all seem to know very little of the truth behind the ancient demon folk, let me give you the full story.”

            Clearing his throat, Loki continued, “While the ancient demonfolk are usually thought of as uncivilized, the truth is that the ancient demonfolk of Underworld were not all that unlike my people as they are today. They did not exactly invite non-demonfolk into their home, but they participated in trade with human and halman villages near the mountain, and in the rare case even formed bonds with them. That’s how the demonfolk you know today came into being. Yet these steps towards coexistence would eventually prove to be their undoing…” There was a sad look in Loki’s eye for a moment as he thought of his ancestor’s struggles, but then he continued, “To make a long story short, they got involved in an ancient conflict that decimated their population and destroyed their positive relationships with the other races. The Lord of Underworld at the beginning of the war was killed in battle, and the only one in line for the throne was his son, whose name was Dagra Zolrus. Dagra was very frail when he was young, but as he grew up he became quite a powerful Lord. Unfortunately, for some reason he slowly lost his mind, and eventually began killing and devouring the essence of his remaining subjects. Shadow’s Reach, or rather Dagra’s Azgar as one would call it in demonic, was most likely named after him because it is apparently where he died. The cause of his death is unknown, the records conflict over whether it was assassination or suicide. Both are quite likely…” Taking this in, Grey said, “So, if Dagra’s Azgar translates into Shadow’s Reach, then Dagra in our language means…” Not understanding the significance of his answer, Loki said, “Shadow.” Turning to Alexander, Grey said, “Alexander, that’s the name of the ancient demonfolk Alastor is going to resurrect as his vessel for the Nameless One!” As the Alexander and Grey exchanged grave looks, Loki merely raised an eyebrow.

            Explaining the likelihood of Altera Veritas’ involvement to Loki, the Lord of the Demonfolk looked quite unsettled as he said, “I had only my own assumptions as to the reason another He of the Infinite was among us. It would have to be the worst case scenario…” Taking a deep breath, Loki regained his composure and said, “If they are truly involved in this, there is no one else we can turn to for help but you Angelorum Lux. I can only imagine Dagra’s power. We cannot allow this Altera Veritas to bring him under their control!” Grinning, Grey clenched a fist before him for emphasis and said, “Leave it to us! I don’t care if it’s an ancient demonfolk or whatever! If Altera Veritas is here, I’ll be the first one in line to kick their a*s!” Rising from his chair, Alexander said, “I suppose it is not something we can ignore. We request you make preparations to explore the ruins of Underworld. By the way Loki, according to those reports the victims were all prison guards, correct?” Once again unaware of the importance of his answer, Loki simply said, “Yes.” Behind his shades, Alexander’s eyes narrowed as he thought, “Somehow I find it unlikely that it’s a coincidence…”