The Abyssal Sanctuary had been the sight of a horrific massacre.
What had greeted Delilah, Alice, and Marcus in the Sanctuary’s entrance hall was only the beginning. Two dozen had been slain there alone, but as they traversed its halls with watchful eyes and listening ears, they saw more of the fruits of violence.
“The Abyssal Sanctuary is one of the smaller Daylight Bastions,” Marcus said, leading the way. “But it had two Paladins who shared the responsibility of its defense, dozens of Sub-Paladins, and over a hundred residents and administrators who helped keep the place in order. It would not have fallen easily.”
“And yet here we are, just a single Paladin and two Sub-Paladins in-training,” Alice said, hands shoved in her pockets. “Perfectly safe for us, I’m sure.”
“Maybe the ones who did this are gone?” Delilah asked. She kept her gaze high most of the time, following Marcus closely to avoid stepping in horrific places, but even so, the carnage wasn’t confined to the floor.
It had been in the second room they reached. Taking the left corridor off from the entrance hall, they strode in silence for a short while before reaching what had once been something akin to a ballroom.
Rather than littering the floor with corpses, whoever had done such violence had, in this room, focused on the ceiling. Delilah had gazed, horrified, at the lifeless forms strung from ropes and chandeliers high above, their empty eyes staring hollowly in echoes of fear and anguish.
“I don’t think it was a group who did this,” Alice said. She was still so nonchalant it chilled Delilah. She took a very hands-on approach to inspecting bodies in particular, and her feet frequently sloshed in liquid that Delilah tried hard not to think about.
“I agree,” Marcus said, his voice solemn.
“You mean… one person killed all these people?” Delilah asked.
“And I have a strong idea as to who,” Marcus said.
“Whoever it is, they’re probably still here,” Alice said. “Everything’s still so fresh. It’s gonna reek in here in a while, but it hasn’t gotten there quite yet.”
I really wish you hadn’t told me that. It smells awful enough as it is, and now you’re saying it’s only going to get worse?
“Alice, do try to stay behind me,” Marcus said. “I will never discount your strength. But I assure you, there are forces in this universe that you are no easy match for.”
“Sure,” Alice said with a shrug, dropping the corpse she’d just been inspecting and falling in next to Delilah. She nudged Delilah with her elbow in a playful manner. “Not quite the field trip we thought we were getting, huh?”
“Yeah…” Delilah said slowly, not meeting the other girl’s eyes.
“Hey, teacher,” Alice said, staring at the back of Marcus’ head. “Are we gonna have to clean this place up?”
“Of course,” Marcus said. “Once we ensure the Abyssal Sanctuary is no longer in danger, we will see to restoring its defenses and cleaning it in its entirety, as well as providing these fallen souls with a proper burial.”
“Dang,” Alice muttered. “At least the murder mystery thing’s interesting.”
They’d seen the entrance hall, a ballroom, a library, and a parlor so far. Now they reached a dining room…
Which was conspicuously devoid of people, living or dead.
“Not even a trace of violence,” Marcus said, leaning on his staff as he surveyed the room with careful, narrowed eyes. “No blood was spilt here.”
“A few traces of something,” Alice said. She pointed out a pair of chairs that were toppled, and then held her hand over a bowl of soup. “Still warm. This all happened really recently.”
“And they likely had some level of warning,” Marcus said. “Those who had sat down to eat left this room in a hurry, either to hide or confront the attacker.”
“How much more on this floor?” Alice asked. “And how many more floors are there?”
“We’ve almost seen all there is on the first floor,” Marcus said, coming closer to the table and examining the food. “There are three floors below us, built into the rock. And if any have survived, they’ll be on the lowest floor.”
“Shouldn’t we rush there, then?” Delilah asked. “If there are any survivors, they might be in danger!”
“We won’t rush anywhere,” Marcus said. “No matter what. It’s too dangerous to not be properly cautious. We will move carefully and be thorough in our investigation. Every clue counts.”
“Should we check out the kitchen?” Alice asked, already peeking into the adjacent room.
“If you can follow my instructions more closely,” Marcus said, striding towards her. “Let me go first.”
“Does that count for Rabanastre?” Alice asked, jabbing a thumb towards the kitchen’s entrance. “Because he’s already checking things out.”
Marcus gave Alice a stern look, and she stared back at him with a mischievous smirk. For a moment, neither spoke or even moved.
Finally, Marcus’ lips turned up in a small smile. There was a twinkle in his eye as he walked past her into the kitchen. “Curiosity is a fine trait,” he said. “Just don’t get carried away.”
“Roger that, captain,” Alice said, snapping a sloppy, casual salute at Marcus’ back.
Delilah entered the kitchen last. It was a spacious affair with dozens of ovens and stovetops, and ample counter space. Racks of kitchen utensils lined the walls and hung from the ceiling over individual work stations. In each corner was a refrigerator.
On the opposite side of the entrance, at a work station against the far wall, a covered pot rattled softly. Steam escaped in brief bursts now and then, and water occasionally dripped out, hissing as it touched the stovetop. Next to the pot lay a metal ladle coated in moisture.
“Smells good,” Alice said as Marcus removed the lid. Bubbles foamed up, and then rapidly dispersed as Marcus lifted the pot from the burner and placed it on the counter.
“Delilah, you have some training in Divination Magic, correct?” Marcus asked. He left the pot behind, heading back towards the dining room. Alice leaned up on tiptoe to see what was inside.
“I do,” Delilah said.
“To our right is a hall that leads to a lounge and the stairs leading down to the next floor,” Marcus said. “Do you think you could have one of your Summons go there and see that our path is clear? Do not have him descend, but reach the top of the stairs and see what he can find.”
“Got it,” Delilah said. Wordlessly she communicated with her Summons, sending the orange archer Redmond off on his own.
You’re the fastest, and have the keenest eyesight. I’m counting on you.
“I could’ve sent Rabanastre,” Alice said, trailing behind as they left the dining room through a new hall. “He’s no slouch in the scouting department.”
“He’s also all you have,” Marcus said, “so he should stay by your side.”
Alice grinned. “Well, by my side is where I like him to be,” she said. She held up her fist, bumping knuckles against her muscular anthropomorphic rabbit Summon.
The hall they went through led out into a bright, airy room, a far cry from the dark, claustrophobic rooms and halls of before. Dozens of feet above them was a domed glass ceiling, letting in tons of natural light. And before them…
It had, most likely, been a garden.
It had, most likely, been beautiful.
But Delilah couldn’t bear to look for more than a glance. The dining room and kitchen had been, it appeared, a very brief reprieve from the carnage.
“Ooh, this adds a wrinkle to our developing theory,” Alice said excitedly, heading out into the crimson-dyed flower beds.
“You noticed so quickly,” Marcus said.
“I love mysteries,” Alice said. “Especially ones that keep raising new questions.”
“What’s strange about this place?” Delilah asked. She kept her eyes skyward, on the bright light filtering down through the ceiling.
“The only entrance or exit is the hall we just went through,” Alice said. “There aren’t any secret passageways, are there?”
“Not from here, I’m afraid,” Marcus said. “That sort of thing is contained to the lower floors.”
“And yet the dining room and kitchen were totally spotless,” Alice murmured.
Oh, I get it.
“So where did the attacker come from?” Delilah asked. “What path did they take? And if the Bastion’s defenders had warning, why were there so many in this garden?”
“And how is the violence so localized?” Alice asked. “There’s not a drop of blood in the dining room or kitchen. And there’s no door to bar off, or sign of a barricade or any attempt to hole up or hide here. Hey, did Redmond find anything interesting on the other path?”
“There’s a lot of death before the stairs,” Delilah said with a shudder. “But the stairs are clear.”
“Let’s go,” Marcus said, turning back towards the dining room.
They left the brightness of the garden behind, heading down the final path from the dining room to the lounge and the stairs beyond. Darkness once again crept in, owing largely to curtains being drawn over the windows and interior lights conspicuously unlit. Redmond stood at the stairs, a beacon in the gloom.
The stairs down to the next floor were, like much of the Abyssal Sanctuary, rather unimposing. The ceiling was low, and there was only about enough room for two people to walk side-by-side.
“Totally clean,” Alice said, nodding as if she’d expected that as she looked down the stairs. “Something’s very fishy about this whole scene.”
Down they went, and Marcus lit lights as he led the way. The lights were like gas lanterns in the walls, casting a hazy yellow glow to their surroundings. The stairs descended for what seemed like multiple stories before exiting out into a wide, low-ceilinged room. Marcus lit the lamps, and their gaseous light revealed lion statues like the ones out in the front of the Sanctuary and in its entrance hall.
“This marks the beginning of the Bastion proper,” Marcus said, standing before a low stone archway. “The top floor is more of a greeting space, a place to relax and also a place to welcome visitors. Our first major objective lies on this floor, halfway to the next staircase. We need to check the Light Catcher.”
That’s what I’m most worried about. If living darkness has infested this place, what will it take to dispel it?
The top floor, even with most of the windows covered, had still been lit with residual light. It hadn’t truly been dark. Down here, however, every hall and room they entered or passed through needed to be carefully lit, as Rabanastre and the Felines provided mobile light sources.
It was truly, completely dark down here.
And yet…
It’s not like the living darkness. That’s good, I think.
But if the living darkness hasn’t taken over this Bastion…
Then who or what killed all these people? And why?
“This is seriously strange,” Alice said after the fourth room had been lit.
“Indeed,” Marcus said, surveying the empty stone chamber.
“What’s strange?” Delilah asked.
“We haven’t seen anyone,” Alice said. “Living or dead. Tons of carnage upstairs, even right in front of the stairs leading down here, but we get down here and there isn’t even a sign of conflict? And we haven’t seen enough corpses, right?”
Marcus nodded. “Stranger still, there’s no sign of either Paladin who defends this Bastion.”
“So they’re deeper inside, right?” Delilah asked. “Probably in that safe place you said there was.”
“Perhaps,” Marcus said, but everything in his quiet tone made it clear he didn’t believe that for a moment.
“What Paladin is going to hide behind all their servants and stuff?” Alice asked. “That’s not how Paladins are supposed to work, right?”
Marcus nodded as he left the chamber. “We don’t trade lives, lest they be our own.”
This lower floor of the Sanctuary felt less homey compared to the first floor, and more like some kind of secluded monastery. Every hall and room was small and low-ceilinged, with simple stone walls, floors, and ceilings. No decorations were seen, save the lion statues, and furniture was sparse, with even many “beds” being simple mats on the floor.
The chamber with the Light Catcher was no different. Small, low-ceilinged, unadorned, it held only the silver-framed mirror in its center.
“What do you make of it?” Marcus asked, stepping aside and inviting the girls to inspect the Light Catcher.
“The four cornerstones are lit,” Delilah said.
“And the frame and glass aren’t cracked, or scuffed, or even dusty,” Alice said.
“And it responds well,” Delilah said, able to change the glass to peer into other rooms and chambers throughout the Bastion, averting her eyes when it settled on the sight of the upper floor’s carnage.
“So darkness hasn’t touched the place,” Alice said, shoving her hands in her pockets.
“Not necessarily,” Marcus said. “But it hasn’t laid hold on the Bastion yet, that much we know. We need to continue our investigation to find out more.”
“So if it hasn’t ‘laid hold’ of the place,” Alice said, following Marcus, “then it could still touch it? Wouldn’t the Light Catcher tell us?”
“Clearly, the Light Catchers aren’t as effective as they should be,” Delilah said. “The Library of Solitude was taken over because they never knew the darkness was coming until it was too late.”
“Evil learns,” Marcus said, “while our Light Catchers are devices devised millennia ago. No one’s thought to update or devise a new system in their place, because we never thought we needed to. Our folly is becoming clearer by the day.”
The rest of the first subterranean floor was empty, and they found their way to the next set of descending stairs without incident. Light shone into the stairwell from the ceiling, and as they descended, Delilah realized why.
The stairs were built up against the edge of the spire on which the Abyssal Sanctuary rested. Windows built into the ceiling of this staircase could let in light from the outdoors, providing a welcome reprieve from the gloomy darkness within. Delilah found her heart a little bit lighter as she looked up and out at the sun and snow.
But the gloomy darkness swiftly returned as they reached the second underground floor. They were faced with a perfect twin to the entrance of the previous floor, with lion statues framing a stone archway leading into a close, dark corridor.
Through the halls and chambers they went, finding nothing new, nothing interesting, nothing surprising, nothing to learn.
“And now I’m bored,” Alice said, lazily kicking the floor. “Are we sure the killer’s still here?”
Marcus stood at the top of the next set of stairs, silent for a long moment. He tapped his staff against the floor, and three rings sounded with clear music.
“Stay here,” he said in a hushed voice.
“As if,” Alice said. “We’re coming with you. This is part of our training, right?”
Marcus looked back at the girls, his expression stern and focused. Alice stared right back at him.
Delilah…
I don’t know what to do.
He’s so serious. He told us to stay, so what’s below must be terrible, right? Way too dangerous for us.
But…
Can he really handle it alone?
And Alice has a point, too. We need to learn everything we can to become Sub-Paladins. This isn’t just part of our training – it’s part of our mission.
We need to learn to defend the other Bastions. And that means we need to know the full truth of what happened here.
Delilah nodded, meeting Marcus’ gaze with a determined stare of her own.
Marcus sighed. “I did tell you two to do exactly as I say when we first entered this place, didn’t I?” he asked. “Though I suppose I should have known that would go over poorly. But –” he fixed the girls with a serious stare, “do not take anything lightly. Not here, not now, not from me or anyone else. A great danger lies ahead.”
“The three of us were more than a match for Jormungand and Kaohlad,” Alice said. “We’re ready.”
Marcus turned back towards the stairs. He started down them, and the girls and their Summons followed.
These stairs descended through darkness, and Marcus didn’t light the lanterns. A soft, white glow emitted from the top of his staff, adding to the light from the Summons, but that was all they had to see by.
Down, down, down they went, longer than ever before.
When they stepped out onto flat stone, Delilah felt the change in the air. A frigid shiver ran down her spine.
The darkness here wasn’t the living darkness. It wasn’t, but…
It was on its way to that.
It’s in the process of transforming into something. How did the Light Catcher not recognize it?
Is this how they slip past it? Cultivate it, develop it, transform it slowly, so that when it’s fully the living darkness, it’s too late?
The chamber was also different. There was a sense of space, and Delilah knew that the shadows around and above her stretched to great lengths.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
There was a faint sound in the silence. Steady, constant, like water leaking from a pipe, and then falling a great distance.
In the distance, a man’s voice, strong and commanding, spoke.
“You don’t want to see this.”
His voice was more than commanding. It had the air of someone who held an incredible position of authority, a man who gave orders with ease and was always obeyed.
A man who had the strength to back up such overwhelming, unconquerable confidence.
With a dull boom, lights flooded the chamber. It truly was a vast place, with a stone domed ceiling rising high above, perhaps a hundred feet over their heads. And it also extended below, down long stairs, like an auditorium.
Spotlights above shone both down at the bottom center of the spherical chamber, and at the very top. Dark wisps of vapor wafted here and there in the beams of light. Towards the top Delilah first looked, and felt horror leap in her chest.
Two men were suspended from the ceiling on wires that…
No. Delilah couldn’t look anymore.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
It wasn’t water. It was their blood, steadily falling down to the floor.
And there at the bottom of the chamber, in a wide open stage-like area…
Dozens of corpses.
In the midst of them stood a man who…
No.
There’s no way.
“Sen…?” Delilah asked slowly.
Though she spoke so softly, the man looked up at her.
“You know me,” he said.
But no. Delilah had seen him before, but…
That monster of a man who defended the locks that bound Lunos… he was complete darkness, like he was made of it. Even his sword was. But that man down there…
He had the same form of the sword-wielding warrior that had been the girls’ final test to free the Doomed Beast. Imposing height, broad and muscular shoulders. He carried the same great sword in a single hand, and it, like the bodies suspended high above, dripped with blood.
But the man Delilah and Alice had fought had been like… a silhouette. Here, now, they saw the man clearly. He was dressed all in black, close-fitting clothes adorned here and there with glittering black badges and emblems. His dark hair was short, like that of a soldier, and the skin of his square-jawed face was pale, making his fierce, bold eyes all the more pronounced.
He’s like…
Valgwyn.
And Kaohlad.
Could he be…?
“We kicked your butt on Lunos,” Alice said.
“Ah,” Sen said, nodding once. “You defeated a shade. Then you have earned a small measure of respect.”
Behind Sen, a portion of the stage’s floor was open, revealing a steep staircase. Up from it came footsteps, and out emerged…
Delilah stared in shock.
Valgwyn.
She’d never forget him, how impeccably dressed he was, or the long bow he carried and the quiver of arrows on his back. Though…
He wasn’t entirely the same.
The hair along the top left half of his head was gone. And indeed, the entire left half of his head and face was horrifically disfigured, twisted and molded by vicious burns.
As soon as he emerged into the light, Valgwyn looked up at Marcus, Delilah, and Alice with his one good eye. Delilah couldn’t be sure from this distance, but she thought that his gaze lingered the longest on her.
“We’ve run out of time,” he said, his cold, detached voice marred by a raspy quality.
“Nonsense,” Sen said. “I did what I came here for.”
“So I’m the one who’s out of time,” Valgwyn said.
“You fear them?” Sen asked.
Valgwyn stared for a long time in silence. “You can’t leave me like this,” he said. “You know –”
“That you’re unfit for battle,” Sen said. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. But they aren’t important.”
“They aren’t –” Valgwyn started.
“Important,” Sen said. “Don’t make me repeat myself. Come, Valgwyn.” He looked up at Marcus. “Rejoice, Paladin, for the moment. You haven’t lost this Bastion. Put the pieces together, however, and you will see that you will lose far worse.” He turned away.
“Why did you kill everyone?” Delilah asked.
Sen paused, turning back to look at her. He cocked his head to the side, eyes narrowing slightly.
He said nothing.
“Don’t waste words on these guys,” Alice said, slapping a fist into her open palm. “We kicked his butt once, we’ll do it again, you know?” Next to her, Rabanastre stepped forward in a fighting stance.
Sen made a small sound – a brief sigh, or a tch of annoyance, Delilah couldn’t tell. But in the next moment, he had vanished.
Alice gasped.
Sen was right in front of her, crouched low, his sword back behind him.
He swung upwards in one powerful, vicious slash.
Rabanastre was utterly and completely helpless. He put up his arms to block, but Sen’s black, bloodstained sword sliced through them, and the Summon’s entire body, in one fell swing. Rabanastre split apart, bursting into motes of light.
Next to him, Alice crumpled to her knees, screaming as she clutched her chest.
Marcus dashed forward. His staff sounded with dozens of powerful, wondrous notes.
A flash of light. A bolt of darkness.
Staff and sword met, held together for a moment. Light sparked and crackled between them, bursts of white light and electric-like bolts of blackness.
For a moment, Marcus and Sen stood locked in a stalemate. Marcus’ eyes were fierce, his expression one of intense determination.
Sen stared back at him with a steady, level gaze. Still holding his sword in one hand, he pushed forward.
A shockwave erupted and Marcus was flung backwards, slamming against the stone wall. He slumped to the floor, eyes fluttering closed.
Delilah stood stunned, paralyzed. Rabanastre and Marcus… both had fallen faster than she could even think to react.
Sen stood tall.
“You are bold, Paladin,” he said softly. “Your comrades were, as well. Be glad that you have yet to suffer their fate.”
Sen turned on his heel, and stood back on the stage far below, walking with Valgwyn. A dark portal formed in the air, and the two men stepped through. The portal closed behind, leaving Delilah, Alice, and Marcus alone in the Abyssal Sanctuary.
I…
I couldn’t even move.
Delilah’s hands were trembling.