The Kingdom of Everfree

by HeartlessSpartan

Envy

Envy

Within the dining hall of the castle, Basil couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He watched as Sombra ran from the window back to where everyone stood near the fireplace. Outside the great window stood a giant, slender, troll; it pressed its flat hands against the window, and with all of its weight it pressed inward. The glass shattered in sections and simply slid off the tough skin of the troll. The troll had to crouch downward to fit itself into the hall as it ignored the hail of glass falling from it.

“Sombra, go find Marcus and Erik!” Basil ordered, holding his dagger, unsure of how much good it will really do him here.

“And miss this? I don’t think so,” Sombra said with a sinister smile.

Sombra fired a bolt of magic that struck the troll in the shoulder. It staggered back slightly and glared directly at Sombra. It proceeded inwards toward them, crushing the long dining table to pieces with its clumsy feet. Both Sombra and Starswirl were now firing into it, only slowing it down but having no other effect.

“We can’t take it on in here!” Basil shouted as the troll meandered to one side of the room where it pushed shelves and cabinets in front of the doors.

“It seems to be a lot smarter than it looks,” Regina said as she flapped her wings in the air.

“It wants to trap us inside, it’s going to take more than just magic to take this thing down,” Starswirl said as he maintained fire on the troll.

“We can’t take this thing down in here, it’ll just crush us. We need to force it back outside, it’s a sheer drop down to the village on this
side,” Basil said as he tried to formulate a plan as the troll attempted to swat Regina out of the air.

“What about the villagers?” Starswirl asked with concern.

“Who cares! I want to know how this thing got in without a word of warning!” Sombra shouted, trying to keep his balance as he fired bolts of magic alternating with Starswirl.

“We can use the chandeliers to force it back. Regina cut them down!” Basil shouted as he tossed his dagger up to her.

Regina cut the safety ropes to a chandelier and tore it from the ceiling. The chandelier dropped down just between the troll and the others. She moved on to the next. The second chandelier landed onto the troll’s head and rolled off in pieces. The troll staggered back to the open window, being pushed back by magic.

Regina began to swing the third chandelier back and forth. Basil knew what she intended to do. He quickly took an oil lantern from a holder on the wall and ran just in front of the troll. He chucked the lantern as high as he could, and it hit just under the troll’s chin. The oil from the lantern ignited and burned its face, blinding it.

The troll wailed and flailed wildly as fast as it could. Basil retreated to allow Starswirl and Sombra to force it back with magic. Regina swung the chandelier back toward the troll and cut it from the ceiling. The chandelier hit the troll in the chest. The troll grabbed hold of it with both hands as it fell backwards.

It was over as quickly as it had started, the troll fell backwards with a pathetic groan and fell out of the window. Only silence and a chilling breeze carrying flurries from the window followed. The three ponies and the griffin made their way to the edge of the broken window and peered cautiously over the edge. Far at the base of the hill lied the unmoving corpse of the troll with its face on fire.

“Why was that easier than I thought it would be?” Regina asked.

Sombra barfed out the window and sickeningly watched as it snowballed down onto the dead troll. Starswirl held Sombra to ensure he would not fall. Basil walked over to the barricaded doors followed by Regina. Someone was knocking on the other side. Together they managed to push aside the cabinets that had sealed them in.

“You’re alive!” Marcus said happily as he pushed into the room.

“Lucky us,” Sombra grumbled before he gagged.

“What was that Marcus?” Basil demanded to know.

“That was a very scrawny, yet rather tall troll,” Marcus replied as he surveyed the damage in the dining hall.

“We got that already Marcus, how did it get in here without anyone noticing?” Basil questioned.

“And don’t say the window,” Regina smartly added.

“I honestly can’t say for sure my friend. It could’ve been after anything in here really. This place is very old and, magical. It’s a miracle that you all survived,” Marcus explained.

“What do you mean magical?” Basil asked.

“Come with me, I think it’s time I show you the rest of the guild castle,” Marcus said as he ushered Basil to follow him.

The group followed Marcus down through the castle, deep within the hill it rested on. The walk was very silent, and as they continued it seemed the entire village rested above a labyrinth of halls, rooms, and large chambers. They passed storerooms and locked vaults, even dungeon cells as they went on. Marcus lead them through a large room, a library full of old books and scrolls catching Starswirl’s curious eyes as they passed through. Eventually they arrived at a locked wooden door with the image of a strange tree carved into it.

Marcus unlocked the door and they followed him in. Inside was a massive underground chamber within the hill the castle and village rested on. In the chamber was a lake with a small island in the middle. The entire room was lit by white glowing crystals hanging from the walls, ceiling, even in the water.

“This place was down here this whole time,” Regina thought out loud.

“Yeah, I wonder what else he’s been hiding from us,” Sombra said as he regained his composure.

“You wanted answers that I was not yet ready to give you, but after you’ve defeated that troll I can see you’ve earned some,” Marcus said.

“What exactly is this place Marcus?” Basil asked.

“Why does it draw such dangerous creatures?” Starswirl added.

“The chamber you stand in was once the home of a very powerful, magical artifact. It was defended by the greatest warriors and creatures these lands had to offer. Unfortunately it had enemies, the kind possessing such unimaginable powers the old guild could not stand forever,” Marcus explained.

“So the old guild was destroyed and the artifact was taken?” Basil asked.

“The artifact was a great and magical tree of power that was moved and hidden so it would not be taken. There was no record of its location and Silence Sweets did not know where they had hidden it,” Marcus said.

“So these creatures still attack believing the tree is still here,” Starswirl said.

“Speaking of Silence, did anyone think to check on her?” Regina asked.

“I haven’t seen Orion in a while either,” Basil added.

“I suppose there is no harm in checking in on her,” Marcus said as he ushered them out of the chamber and locked the door behind them.

“Marcus, may I remain in the library, I may find something of use to us here?” Starswirl asked.

“By all means unicorn, read away. Though someone should remain here with you, if the troll wasn’t all that broke through,” Marcus said.

“I’ll stay, I’m not in the best of conditions to walk back up all of those stairs at the moment,” Sombra said as he took a seat along the library wall.

Marcus, Basil, and Regina made their way all the way back up into the castle. They climbed the stairs of the tower to find the door unlocked. Marcus pushed open the door to see the trashed room and the body of Silence Sweets lying in the bed.

“What happened in here?!” Marcus shouted.

“Whatever happened she wasn’t alone. See the blood on the floor? It trails to the window,” Basil pointed out.

“An assassin?” Regina questioned.

“Perhaps, she may have been elderly, but she was the last living member of the old guild,” Marcus explained.

Looking out the window, Basil could see that the snow had slid off the one side of the rooftop and not the other.

“I think our assassin made a hasty retreat out the window, and slid off the roof and over the cliff of the hill. I also believe one of ours pursued it,” Basil said.

“Do you think Orion went after the assassin Basil?” Regina asked.

“Probably, I don’t believe he would be one to let the murder of a helpless old mare go without punishment,” Basil replied, trying to place events together with what he knows of his friend.

“There is little we can do for poor Silence now. We should look to see if anyone survived the fall,” Marcus said before leaving the room.

Regina and Basil followed Marcus, closing the door behind them. They left the castle and made their way down through the village. Snow flurries blanketed the massive corpse of the troll as townsfolk gathered around it, both to ensure it was dead as well as to collaborate on how to clean it up. Curiously enough, none of them approached Marcus as they proceeded through the village. Instead they all appeared to avoid being in the way, as if they knew he had more important things to do than answer their questions.

When they reached the base of the cliff, Marcus was overcome with anger as he saw his companion lying dead in the snow pile. Marcus sat beside Erik, he searched the cloak of the dead body for anything that might give them some answers.

“You fool!” Marcus shouted at Erik as he removed a dagger from the cloak.

“What?” Basil asked.

“He carried a cursed artifact, the dagger of envy,” Marcus said as he wrapped the dagger in a cloth.

“What is that?” Regina asked.

“The dagger of envy drives and possesses the holder to extreme jealousy. I believe Erik became madly envious of your totems, so he murdered Silence Sweets. He is a fool for holding such a thing,” Marcus explained.

“Any other cursed artifacts we should know about Marcus, I don’t want my next bowl of soup to try choking me to death?” Regina questioned.

“There are six more, one for every capitol sin. None of which should be here, and this is what happens when I am not told of such things,” Marcus said as he carefully bound the dagger.

“Fantastic,” Regina said sarcastically.

“There is no sign of Orion here, I am certain there is nothing buried under the snow either,” Basil said after sifting through for his friend.

“The two of you head back to the castle then, I will tend to the body,” Marcus said as he prepared to move Erik.

Basil nodded and walked with Regina back toward the village until they were far enough away from Marcus to talk so he would not hear.

“Orion survived and made it into the woods,” Basil said as they walked.

“What, how do you know?” Regina asked.

“I just barely discovered his tracks leading into the woods,” Basil said.

“Why didn’t you tell Marcus?” Regina proceeded to ask.

“Orion didn’t come back to meet us, which must mean he discovered something about the rest of this guild that we have yet to find out for ourselves. Be on your guard Regina, the night isn’t over yet,” Basil explained.

“He must’ve thought Erik was ordered to kill him. We should meet with Starswirl and Sombra to tell them what’s happened,” Regina said.

“Agreed,” Basil replied as they picked up their pace back towards the castle.

“Basil, do you think Orion is still alive out there?” Regina asked as they made their way back.

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Basil said confidently.

Elsewhere in the land, Orion was slipping in and out of consciousness. Each time was a blurred vision of ponies dragging him, accompanied by violent words and followed by a pleading voice. The last thing he had heard before drifting unconscious again was the sound of being clasped in iron shackles.

Comments

[Arya Stark]

Holy shnikies, this is good.

Also, could you make ME such an awesome cover page?? XD

[HeartlessSpartan]

4766015 Good to hear, thanks! Also, I took that picture myself. It is actually a real picture including the lens flare, I just changed its height/length and inserted the text. It was taken a few years ago, waited about a day to walk out and snap a photo of the sunset. It's coincidental that I still had it because I tried to draw the cover at first, but I'm not very good at that.

[Arya Stark]

4767313 Wow...wonderful photography.
I myself, am a photographer as well. :)

[HeartlessSpartan]

4767364 That's pretty cool. I wouldn't call myself a photographer though, my camera is likely over eight years old, eats two AA's in an hour, and turns itself off in about thirty-five seconds. I need a new camera, I just get some lucky pictures when it works!

[Arya Stark]

4767403 Get a Nikon D-300!!

[HeartlessSpartan]

4767409 Then I could snap cover photos to my hearts content! They don't accept payment in bits of string though. You know what, never mind I'm all out of string anyways... but thanks for the suggestion I suppose.