Chapter Two

Chapter Two

As the door gently comes to a close behind him, Hakon walks down the steep stone steps that lead deep into the ground beneath the Spire. The air is dank, stale and coupled with a lingering scent of mildew, there is no light save for a single torch on the wall which Hakon takes and carries with him as he carefully places his feet on the unsuitably short steps now slick with water leaking in from the ceiling. Hakon makes his way further down, slowly but steadfastly. As he reaches the bottom of the stairs he enters a small square room with a single round table in the corner and two Praesidian Knights on guard, both playing cards and drinking, the faint smell of ale mingles with the other insufferable scents hanging in the air.

Both guards wearing armour for combat with their helmets on the table, the guard on the left wearing thick, heavy plate armour above a thick gambeson designed to take a beating, his helmet is designed with similar intent featuring a beautiful purple plume extending from the back of the helmet across the top to the front above the eyes, he has a face typical of an Avarican, his hair is as black as coal, short and fine, he has small facial features yet a square jawline and bony cheeks, golden yellow eyes and thin nose, his skin seems unburdened by the common marks of combat, soft and unmarked, unlike the other guard who is clearly his senior. The second guard, wearing armour mixed with heavy and light, metal layered with leather elements maintaining a balance between sustainability and flexibility, is clearly much older, long yet grey hair, a short grey beard covers his chin and lower cheeks, dulled golden-yellow eyes and a face the opposite of his comrades, marked with the scars of combat and the ageing of time. Hakon, still wearing his dark, unremarkable cloak, his visage hidden beneath the hood enters the room and places the torch on a free sconce on the wall and simply stands in the centre of the room watching the Knights who speak to him without making the effort to raise their heads to look at him.

"Do not stand there awkwardly stranger, we will not serve you like some tavern wench, state your business or go away" orders the Knight on the left of the table with the soft yet stern voice of a young man with a level of authority that he has let get to his head, as he flippantly throws cards on the table causing the guard on the right to fling all his cards in rage, sending them flying across the table.

"Oh just fuck off will you Velitus, cheating bastard!" he exclaims with a gruff voice, as he drops his head and sighs like a man fed up of losing not just the game, but his money as he hands over a small purse of coin to the other guard. A slight jingle of coin bounces around the room as Velitus chuckles at the older guards' expense. As the older guard sinks back into his chair, he looks at Velitus and casually asks;

"Is that creepy fucker still stood there like some sort of garden ornament?" 

"It appears that way Loriannus, perhaps he's shocked at your sheer level of incompetence at cards?" says Velitus as he smiles at Loriannus wryfully.

"Right" says Loriannus as he slams his hands on the table and pushes himself up, causing the chair to scrape along the floor as he slowly stands and takes a step towards Hakon, turning to face him, without realising who the hooded man is. Before he speaks he places his hands on his somewhat wide waistline. "The fuck you after cunt? speak, before I throw you and that filthy cloak of yours in a cell with the rest of the vagrant scum who piss me off!" Loriannus speaks like a man with a lifetime of rage to let loose, his face a permanent expression of hate and anger as he speaks. Velitus behind him, drinks from a tankard of ale with a slightly sheepish look on his face. 

Hakon turns his face to look at Loriannus, his entire body remains hidden by the cloak, his right hand now free from the burden of holding the torch now hidden as he crossed his arms. His face remains hidden as he speaks.

"My intent was to speak to a prisoner-" Hakon doesn't even finish his sentence when his voice is instantaneously recognised by the two guards, Velitus spits out his ale and jumps to his feet and stands at attention, his face struck with fear, ale dribbling down his chin while Loriannus violently shudders as if Hakons voice pierced his very soul as he too stands at attention, his skin covered in goose bumps and shivering slightly. 

"Perhaps first I shall end something other than your game" Hakon gently turns his head, the dark void within his hood now facing Velitus as his deep, dark voice reverberates around the room. "Thirsty, Velitus?"

Hakon suddenly moves across the room towards Velitus moving at an unsettling pace, with his feet hidden beneath his cloak he seemingly floats across the room brushing past Loriannus who quickly scampers out the way. As he moves closer to Velitus his arms emerge from beneath his cloak and as he moves next to Velitus he grabs the back of his head aggressively pulling it back forcing Velitus to look up at the ceiling. Velitus gasps in pain and shock, his eyes widen in distress yet he makes no attempt to fight back as Hakon grabs the metal tankard of ale with his free hand and begins to force the contents down Velitus' throat, the rim of the tankard bashing against his teeth. 

Velitus gags as he tries to swallow as much as he can yet is unable to prevent the ale from filling his mouth and blocking his throat as the ale begins to overflow, flowing down his chin and neck, spilling onto the floor. As he struggles to breathe he starts to claw at Hakon, first at his hands, then further up his arms then attempts to reach his face and neck, in doing so he looks up in distress into the blank darkness within the hooded cloak where there should be a face, but instead he sees in place of eyes are two icy blue lights glowing gently and in the corner of his eye he notices a ring on Hakons right middle finger, a simple silver ring with several red gems dotted along the top also glowing gently.

Suddenly his attention is brought back to the tankard as he realises an impossible barrage of ale continues streaming from the tankard, distress sets in as he understands the finality of the situation and as he continues to struggle, albeit in vain, Loriannus stands in the centre of the room with a look of horror on his face, as if despite all his experience of war he has never seen an act of such cruelty.

Hakon continues forcing ale down Velitus' throat, he makes no sound and seems to be putting very little effort into the act as it seems an eternity passes by for Velitus who is now violently convulsing and coughing attempting to clear his throat of the overwhelming amount of ale as Hakon begins violently forcing the tankard into his teeth causing them to tear away from his gums, blood pours out mixing with the ale, his clothes drenched, the floor soaked as his body slowly begins to sink into the chair, his hands gently release their grip from Hakons arms as his own arms begin to drop by his side. His eyes, not so long ago a vibrant golden yellow colour now begin to fade as his head dips slightly to the side, seconds more pass and Velitus' body, after a few final convulsions, goes entirely limp as his eyes close shut.

Seeing Velitus pass Hakon simply lets go of the tankard, letting it crash down onto the floor and as it comes to a stop Loriannus notices the flow of ale ceases entirely and can't decide what is more shocking, the death of Velitus or the tankard and the sheer impossible flow of ale. Hakons ring seemingly stops glowing as does his eyes as he straightens himself, rising up from the now lifeless body below him. As he stands straight he turns around to look at a cowering Lorennius, his hands return beneath the cloak from whence they came and he walks forward coming within breathing distance of Lorennius who at this point is stricken with terror barely able to control his body from quaking in fear.

"The Novitiate from Mag Luachmhar, take me to him" orders Hakon as Lorennius can only uncontrollably nod his head in response before promptly grabbing a set of iron keys hanging on the wall near a gate opposite the flight of stairs Hakon came down earlier. Lorennius attempts to slot a key inside the lock of the gate yet struggles to control his now shaking hand as the key clumsily clatters against the bars of the gate as Hakon stands behind him, waiting. Eventually and with a concerted effort, Lorennius regains some form of control over his hand and unlocks the gate, gently pushing it forward and quickly taking a step back as the gate comes to a stop against the stone wall. 

Hakon continues facing Lorennius and without a word turns to walk further into the dungeon, leaving Lorennius alone with Velitus' lifeless, ale soaked corpse. As he walks down the hallway there are several gaps in the wall on either side, all of which are about five feet apart and three feet wide, these gaps have lit torches on the wall, the oil from which dropping onto the floor where instead of stone are these thick metal grates that are seemingly impossible to remove. Hakon simply walks past these odd gaps without a second thought, yet upon passing some of them, whimpering voices begging from below call out, some for mercy or food, others simply sobbing quietly. 

Hakon reaches the end of the hallway and enters a larger room with four sizeable cells, two on his left and two on his right, he walks to the centre of the room and inspects each chamber, all of which seemingly full of generic prisoners apart from one, the furthest cell on his right only has the one prisoner, quietly sat in the centre of the cell clutching a small flower. This man seems drastically underfed, his body deteriorated and bones threatening to pierce his flesh, he wears nothing save for a pair of torn and badly worn cloth trousers, his ribcage and collar bones protrude outwards, cheeks and his pale yellow eyes sunken, his brown hair is patchy and receding revealing much of his head. This man looks like death itself yet he sits peacefully, as if in a moment of peaceful bliss as his focus remains with this blue petaled flower almost entirely unbothered by his situation.

Hakon takes a moment and steadily examines the Novitiate, a little time passes as the Novitiate quickly chuckles to himself and smiles gently. An air of quiet innocence lingers around him, like a child blissfully unaware of the cruelty of the world around them, one cannot help but find beauty in their ignorance. As the Novitiate remains lost in his own world, his face lights up in shock as the plant he so gracefully handles goes up in flames, he looks up startled to find a tall, huge, cloaked figure standing on the other side of the gate, two strange blue lights fading away where the figures face should be. The Novitiate passes from shock to misery as he begins to sob as his hands open up, the ashes of his beloved plant falling to the floor as he exclaims;

"That's all I had left of her!" his voice deep and garbled from the sobbing as he looks up at Hakon wide eyed, before he looks back down at his hands and cries at the small dark grey mound of ashes on the floor. 

"Tell me of Mag Luachmhar, why did you fail your charge?" orders Hakon, utterly devoid of any emotion toward the Novitiate. The Novitiates face turns from sadness to confusion and then to anger.

"Fuck you! Fuck you for burning my flower! That was all I had left of her! The Novitiate stands and steps closer to the bars of the gate that are now the only thing separating him from Hakon who remains still. Seconds pass as the Novitiate hits the bars of the gate with the palms of his hands before turning away from Hakon, stepping further into his cell and tilting his head back, letting out a long sigh and dropping his tensed shoulders, before dropping his head and rubbing the bridge of his nose in melancholy. Still turned away from Hakon he resumes talking this time with passion, as if speaking from the heart.

"That village is beautiful, it is peaceful and calm and innocent, its people are at one with the world around them and I found it all so beautifully intoxicating" He turns to face Hakon once more, this time a smile has returned to his face, his eyes glistening from the tears forming over them as he composes himself once more. "I was dispatched with my fellow Novitiates and our Orderly Knight to investigate claims of Daemonic influence which might explain why the village has escaped the famine and disease ravaging the Gallian lands, except The Order got it all wrong. There is nothing wrong with the village, no Daemonic influence, no corruption, nothing"

As the Novitiate continues to speak he almost seems to be pleading with Hakon, "It is just an isolated, secluded village, nothing more, its only contact with the outside world is from travelling merchants and overzealous warriors from the Order" 

Hakon scoffs a quiet laugh through his nose in disbelief.

"Daemon poison pours from your mouth Novitiate, whatever dark corruption has spread throughout Mag Luachmhar has clearly taken a hold of you too" 

"Believe what you want Hakon, I know what I saw, I know what I felt"

"Corruption or not, why do I find you here, languishing in misery?"

The Praesidian Knights showed up" The Novitiates face turns to a grimace as he continues speaking, "They were as disinterested in the truth as you are, threatened to start killing the children if the village elders didn't admit to Daemonic worship, my fellow Novitiates, myself and our Orderly Knight stood in defence of the village but the Praesidian Knights took this as blasphemy and ordered our immediate execution, the villagers joined us as we fought them, the fight was less a battle and more a desperate brawl in the mud but we overwhelmed them, but it took the lives of my Orderly Knight and fellow Novitiates as well as a few villagers, including the woman I had fallen in love with" He looks down at the pile of ashes sorrowfully.

"I told the villagers I would return to The Order in the hopes that I could fool the Council into believing the village had been pacified at great cost. Bloody stupid of me, as soon as I arrived here I was dragged to the feet of Grand Archon Vacellus who saw straight through my lies, laughed at me, claimed I had been forced into loving plants by Daemons and threw me in here. Now here you stand, Hakon, surely you will ignore all reason and allow your blind faith to dictate your judgement as you have been doing for decades and condemn those innocent villagers to death!"

Hakon begins to chuckle while the Novitiate continues speaking, this time with a rage, one built up over years coupled with great exhaustion.

"I am done with the Order! I am done with the Gods! For a brief moment I had found true peace and love after years of torment at the hands of The Order and you took it all away!" The Novitiate again walks up to the bars of his cell and clasps his hands around the bars, squeezing his head between them and continues speaking with a maddened hatred.

"Do me a favour yeah? Go get yourself and everyone within this fucking Spire buried in a pile of Daemon shit, suffocate in it and fuck off to hell!" Spit gets sent all over the bars of the cell as The Novitiate can barely contain his rage as Hakon ceases his laughter and retorts, his speech deep, reverberating around the stone dungeon.

"I think I'll send you there first, when you find your scum Gallian whore being passed around the endless horde of Daemons, give her my regards will you?" Hakon chuckles once more as The Novitiate quickly attempts to beg before his neck is suddenly and brutally snapped, the bones within protrude outwards as blood splatters the wall to his side as his lifeless body slumps to the floor in a heap. The other prisoners, likely rendered insane from years in the dungeon begin to laugh as Hakon coldly walks away, returning to the room with the now one live guard. There he finds Velitus' lifeless body lying down on the ground, his face covered by some sort of fabric and Loriannus quietly sobbing at the table. Hakon turns to him.

"You have a free cell" he says, void of any emotion whatsoever as Loriannus' woes worsen. Hakon turns away, grabs a torch from the wall and walks back up the stairs to the entrance emerging back out into the world. He slowly makes his way back into the Spire, entering the Grand Chamber and back up the stairs to the floor with the Grand Archons offices, this time he continues forward to another set of stairs leading to a second floor, here he finds several bedrooms, the doors of which specify whether a room is occupied or available. The décor of this floor is the same as the floor below, warm, dark coloured wood, the same red carpet along the floor, same floor plan as well.

Hakon finds himself an available room, removes the available sign on the door revealing a brass  occupied sign behind it and shuts the door behind him.