The Darkness Journeyman

[Ghostshadows]

This story will eventually reach MAR...perhaps. It is a backdrop for everything that happened to my character beforehand. If you do not know my character or his story, then welcome. For those who were around for WAR GAMES, good to see you again. At any rate, I will be using the forums to filthily post my own story. Feel free to comment snidely to my PM Box or add any attractive criticism that you might see fit.

-EPIR


The Darkness Journeyman: Sky Bridge

Sky I


In that day

Shall return again

The one who was not

The one who is not

The one who will not be




I have returned to this world again. Although I believed myself to have entered the Final Slumber, it appears that the gods above the sky have yet again had mercy on me...

The seemingly endless corridor stretches forth on stone-tiled floors. The whistle of the wind travels down the darkened hall...

The man who lay in darkness sat up abruptly. Swinging his legs off the slightly glowing bed, he stretched his limbs before standing. His boots muffled by the carpetef floor, he stepped to the wall and placed his hand upon it. The wall glowed red, then blue before silently parting to form a doorway.

How much time has passed?

The hallway outside the door contained no light save that which filtered forth from the room. The man turned and looked back at the bed as if searching for something, but after a moment he slightly shook his head and stepped into the corridor. The door closed behind him, plunging him into a world of darkness.

The energy chrystal must have lost most of it's power.

With that single thought, the man turned right and headed down the hall. The sound of his boots hitting the stone floor echoed all around him. In the still gloom a single point of light appeared ahead. The light grew as he drew nearer until it revealed itself to be yet another doorway. Multi-colored lights shimmered across it like a wall, obscuring the other side. Approaching the doorway, the man hesitantly touched the light with a finger. Where he touched, the lights rippled and swirled away. Breathing a sigh of relief, the man quickly traced a series of symbols, sending lights out in various directions.

Suddenly, the light pulsed once, twice, then fragmented, revealing a door behind it. The man put both of his hands to the door and pushed. The door creaked, then with a slight groan began to slowly slide open. As it opened, a slender ray of sunshine pierced through the darkness into the hallway. As the door opened further, the sunbeam grew wider and wider. Eventually the door rumbled as it opened all the way. Blinking in the light of the sun, the dark-haired slender man stepped though the doorway into the city street which lay before him.

[Ghostshadows]

The Darkness Journeyman
Bridge II: City of Light

Chapter Two...finally. But unedited. Don't be surprised if this changes in the future. I haven't had the time to properly edit, but wanted to at least put this up. Hopefully I can update on Mondays (My most free days).

Encepheron stepped into the empty street, blinking in the bright sunlight. Though near evening according to the position of the sun, compared to the darkness of the Hall of Angels the light struck his unadjusted eyes painfully.

So the world yet stands.

With these thoughts, Encepheron turned and hurried down the street.

I must seek the Alliance Masters.

Encepheron ran down the street, then turned towards the center of the city. He had been expecting heavy traffic, but there were no people to be seen. This nearly brought him to a halt.

Odd…Perhaps the word has reached here and the people have been evacuated?

Encepheron quickened his pace.

The Guard should have stayed back to defend the city…

Encepheron halted before a large building which lay on the edge of the square. White marble stairs led up to the main entrance, an impressive looking oak door on which were carved various battle scenes. Usually there would be a squad of guards patrolling the area but today there were none.

More and more odd pondered Encepheron as he ascended the stairs. Reaching the landing before the doorway he looked about noting that there were no signs of any sort of conflict. Shrugging his shoulders, he made his way to the door and pushed it open. With a ominous groan the door slowly opened. The main entrance way was a large room with a rich red carpet. Large pillars lined the way leading to a grand staircase. Usually the area was brightly lit, but today there were no lights.

“Is anyone here?” called out Encepheron as he stepped through the door.

No lights, no power to the place. Yet, no sign of conflict. Is there truly no one left in the city?

Encepheron scanned the area with what little light streamed through the open door. Suddenly, he walked forward and then stooped, picking up an object from the ground.

A guardsman’s sword…Have they abandoned their posts?

Encepheron looked about once more and realized that the entire area had weapons scattered about.

These weapons… they are roughly in the places that the guardsmen usually stand...yet there is nothing else. It cannot be that every single one dropped their weapon exactly where they stood and ran away. Something serious happened here.

Taking up the sword, Encepheron advanced forward into the gloom.


The second floor consisted of two sets of hallways which led away from the balcony that overlooked the main room. Encepheron headed down the right-hand hallway. which was dimly lit from the fading light that streamed in from windows lining the corridor. Along the corridor were rows of doors leading to various rooms and other parts of the building. Although he looked through every room, Encepheron could not find anyone. Each room looked as if there were nothing out of place. Desks covered in papers, bedrooms, bathrooms, all appeared as it did during the day. The only difference was the absence of people.

Perhaps the Alliance Masters’ offices might offer some better clues as to what happened.

With that thought, Encepheron made his way up to the third floor. In a more normal time, his way would be barred by a squad of guardsmen, but today, nothing impeded his progress. On the third floor, he headed past the reception desk on the main landing and stepped through the door which led to the waiting area. 4 doors led from this room to the various Master offices. Encepheron stepped through the area into one of the offices.

The sun had completely set by this time and the moonlight streamed into the room, revealing a dark oak desk surrounded by bookshelves. Encepheron moved to the desk, looking around. There was nothing which seemed out of order aside from the documents which lay on the table. He shuffled through the documents but they seemed of little import. Battle reports, news of the city, among many other things. Sighing, Encepheron turned and began to leave the room.

Hello?

The sound was so soft that he thought that he had misheard it. Pausing, Encepheron turned and looked around the room. Nothing appeared different. Turning, he headed out the door.

Is anyone there?

Again, he stopped and turned, looking through the open doorway into the room.

“Who’s there?” he asked, stepping back into the room.

Hello?

Again, the voice. Encepheron strained his ears, trying to discern to the source of the sound.
“Are you here?” he asked, stepping slowly back to the desk.

Is no one here?

This time he detected that the soft voice coming from the corner of the room. Holding the sword in front of him, Encepheron advanced to the corner. The gloom made it difficult to see. There was no one in the corner though.

“Where are you?” queried Encepheron. There was no response. Looking around the corner, Encepheron could find nothing out of place. Encepheron put his ear to one of the walls, trying to see if he could hear anything. However, there was no sound. After attempting to several more times to get the mysterious voice to respond, Encepheron gave up and headed out of the office.

Searching through the other offices yielded no further results, either in respect to the fate of the citizens of the city or the voice. Encepheron did obtain a map of the complex, however, and used that to locate the kitchens. By this time he was quite hungry and had decided to go look for food.

Hmm…so according to this map, the kitchens are located in the sub-basement.

With that, Encepheron made his way down from the Master offices. Upon reaching the kitchens, he found some bread and cheese and ate that. Feeling better, he took some of the left over food and headed out of the kitchens and back towards the stairs. As he reached the stairs, he heard a sound coming from his right. Turning, he looked down the dark hallway.

Cautiously, he made his way down the hallway. The sound grew louder as he walked down the hallway. Abruptly the corridor ended with a steel door. It was from behind this door that the sound emitted. Encepheron stepped up to the door and tried the handle. The door was locked. The sound behind the door stopped though. Encepheron considered. Whatever was behind the door had been left behind. It was obviously not important, but he had no idea as to what it was.

It couldn’t be anything worse than the Glandroms of the Death Marsh…

With that thought, Encepheron gripped his sword.
“Kai. Hosth. Tur. Nuk. Ki. Ra. Tor.”

The sword in his hand glowed green as he stepped to the door and slashed several times. The door shook before crumbling into chunks of metal. Stepping through the doorway, into the dark room that was now illuminated by his still glowing sword, Encepheron looked down at the figure of a young girl who was curled up in a corner of the room.