Seekers of the Epitaph: Frozen Wastes

by Xarmar13

The Old Kingdom

After some time crawling through a tunnel that was small enough for Mena to barely walk through, the paladin and priest emerged into a small chamber with several lesser crypt lords who took notice of them once they were in the chamber. Bella quickly smashed them with her hammer.

After a brief exploration of the tunnels they found themselves in, they realized that they were near the entrance of the pit they entered the spider kingdom from. It did explain the numerous parts of the tunnel that ramped upward or forced them to climb shafts. With how deep they were underground when they faced Anub’arak it made a lot of sense.

Regardless, they returned to Kilix who seemed pleased that the Traitor King was dead once again. He assured the two that the attacks from the undead nerubians would weaken somewhat with Anub’arak no longer leading them. However, in order to make the surface roads safe for supply caravans, they would need to deal with the Scourge leaders in the Old Kingdom as well.

According to the nerubian, the commander in charge of the Scourge in Ahn’kahet, The Old Kingdom, was an undead elf named Taldaram. This information made the two consider if this leader was going to be like Keleseth.

Thankfully, the nerubians attacking the surface from Ahn’kahet were less than the ones from the Upper Kingdom the two returned from. This was due to the battle for control of the city between the Scourge and the minions of the Forgotten One which Mena quietly informed her friend was the name the nerubians gave for Yogg-Saron and those like him.

After learning what they could about the Old Kingdom, Mena and Bella proceeded through a decorative nerubian archway and into a small chamber decorated in gold and obsidian with the spider motif being the dominant design.

Through the chamber they entered a doorway that led them through a series of narrow corridors until they found a door on the other side.

What they saw was quite breathtaking while creepy at the same time. They emerged into a vast underground chamber with countless nerubian structures with some webbed paths. A forest of giant colorful mushrooms lie below.

The two could barely make out several figures in the distance. They saw a giant blue pillar of magic with a figure inside but they couldn’t tell who it was. They also noticed another figure that seemed less noticeable but they could see that they were drawing power from a pair of spires.

They proceeded down a walkway of web and onto a small suspended platform and down another webbed walkway to the main entrance of the city.

It was from there that their battles began.

A pair of undead nerubians skittered toward them to attack with their claws but Surprise took over and burned one of the spider people in shadowy flames while Bella blocked the other’s attacks with her shield before countering with her hammer to crush his chitinous body and his head.

The battle attracted the attention of a number of giant spiders with webbed joints and spiked bodies. Surprise severed the legs of several spiders while Bella crushed a few with her hammer.

Once they were clear to advance, the pair moved forward through an archway where they encountered even more nerubians along with several truly horrifying creatures that looked like muscular zombies that mutated tentacles and had a number of disgusting, glowing green pustules on its back.

As they were still unholy creatures, Bella unleashed her holy magic on them which caused them to roar in pain. Mena’s shield and Bella’s holy protections kept her from suffering the effects of getting splashed by their bursting pustules while the paladin and priest incinerated them in holy fire.

After some time they managed to clear out the undead neubians before they moved downstairs to another floor where they faced more nerubians. Some tried to cast powerful bolts of dark magic that would have greatly wounded them if they had ignored them. Thankfully the spell took a very long time to cast so Surprise ended their strategy by silencing them with her spell. They also dealt with another plague eruptor like the one before.

The next room housed a large number of nerubian eggs with a number of nerubian spiders skittering around. Bella’s consecrated ground quickly burned those minions to ashes.

At the far end of the room the pair spotted a nerubian vizier like Krik’thir the Gatewatcher in the Upper Kingdom. Needless to say, the vizier spotted them. “The secrets of the deep shall remain hidden.” the vizier said as he skittered toward them.

Bella quickly caught the nerubian’s attention while Mena began striking him with holy magic. When he tried to spit a diseased toxin at either of them Mena easily purified the disease.

Elder Nadox, as the nerubian was known, began calling on the eggs in the room to hatch with his dark magic which caused a number of nerubian spiders to emerge from the eggs and attack the two. Bella consecrated the ground to burn the spiders as well as Nadox. He also hatched a nerubian that emitted an aura that protected Nadox before they tried to attack Mena. Bella found that the ward the guardian made completely repelled her attacks on Nadox which made the guardian a priority target. Realizing this, Surprise took over and sliced the guardian’s legs off with shadow blades before she crushed their mind with her dark power.

With the guardian dead, Nadox was vulnerable once more. However, Surprise didn’t want this annoyance to go on for too long so she began dismembering the vizier which gave Bella a chance to crush his body and his head with a satisfying crunch.

Overall they found that Nadox was not a formidable opponent, though they had no intention of lowering their expectations with the rest of the war-torn city. They were warned that an undead elf was leading the Scourge forces on this side of the city and since they often had powerful magics they weren’t about to let their guards down.

Leaving the chamber, the pair took down a few more nerubians and plague eruptors before moving down a set of stairs where a number of geists were leaping around. The pair’s holy magic made quick work of them.

After moving down another set of stairs they encountered more undead including variations that they had never fought before.

Aside from the geists, there were also skeletal mages who specialized in frost magic as well as phantasmal shades. While the shades were troublesome for Mena because of their ability to counter her magic whenever she began casting spells, Bella didn’t have the same issue due to her method of channeling her holy magic. When Surprise took over, she kept the skeletons under control using her Silence spell. When the shades were destroyed, the two were blown backward when they used the last of their dark magic to self-destruct.

Other than the skeletons and shades, they also encountered a new type of abomination that was about twice the size of your average abomination but from how the creature was stitched together it implied that the parts that went into them came from beings that were as large as they were. A tube in their right arm was pumping some strange orange fluid into their bodies.

If the creature’s parts came from actual giants from Northrend, the two couldn’t help but wonder what other mysteries the frozen continent had yet to offer.

Fighting the two giants on the terrace was a bit of a challenge for them because of their size. Surprise used her shadow blades to sever the stitchings and the tube on their arms. Bella kept the two giants distracted long enough for her friend to complete her task which ended with the giants falling apart at the seams.

Bella and Mena noticed two suspended platforms connected by web paths but they ignored them for a moment to investigate what was on the other end of the terrace as they approached the blue pillar of light they spotted earlier. At the top of the pillar of light they spotted an elf who appeared similar to Keleseth, including the robes he wore. This one appeared to be drawing power from several nearby spires that fit with the overexpressed spider leg design of the city.

Bella hated to admit it, but for a kingdom of disgusting spider people, their taste in design seemed fitting.

The elf in question appeared to be in a trance so if they were to get his attention, they would have to find a way to cut him off of whatever was feeding him power.

Returning to the platforms they missed, the pair quickly disposed of the skeletal mages and shades inhabiting them, being mindful not to be caught up in a shade’s explosive aftermath. The undead appeared to be guarding strange devices that looked like glowing blue eggs held in a cage of golden spider legs.

Mena, whose curiosity got the better of her this time, touched one of the devices which caused the egg-like object to dim and settle into the device. Looking back toward the elf, they found that the number of spires that he was draining power from had reduced by about half. They decided to do the same with the other device which yielded the same results.

With no more spires to drain from, the elf awoke from his trance with what was likely an unhappy mood since they suspected that they disrupted his meal.

“Intruders! Who trespasses in the Old Kingdom?” the elf demanded, loud enough for both of them to hear.

“That certainly isn’t Kelly,” Mena noted. “I think his voice sounded a teeny bit higher than this guy.”

“Regardless, let’s defeat him quickly,” Bella said. “I would like to be done with this place yesterday.”

Mena giggled, “You can’t clear this path yesterday silly, that was a day ago.”

Bella rolled her eyes as they returned to where they found the elf. As expected, he did not look happy. He was already channeling fire magic.

“You disrupted my meal! You shall be suitable replacements!” the elf growled as he launched an orb of fire at Mena. The orb followed the gnome and fired a beam of red-hot energy at her which she blocked with a shield.

Bella struck the elf with her hammer which had him retaliating with several fireballs thrown at her. The paladin blocked them with her shield before she threw a light hammer at him which he blocked with his own barrier spell.

“I can see that you appear similar to Keleseth, are you two related?” Bella asked

“If you met my brother and survived, then that must mean that he has fallen. I will make you pay for that. Feel the wrath of Prince Taldaram!”

After sending more fire spells at the two while blocking more of his opponents’ holy magic, he turned himself invisible which left the two wondering where he went.

After a few tense moments, Mena was suddenly thrown onto her back as Taldaram pinned her and pulled down his mask to reveal his fanged maw. Opening his mouth, he began drawing on the gnome’s life force. However, the elf only had a few seconds to do so until Bella slammed a light hammer on his head and knocked him away from her. He staggered when the paladin struck him with her flying shield before he could recast his barrier.

Mena quickly got back up and rejoined the fight where Taldaram resumed launching fire spells at the two before he vanished again. Mena was ready for him this time as she let Surprise take over and let her void magic locate the elf. Sure enough, the san’layn could conceal his form but not his mind. She sensed Taldaram creeping toward Bella and conjured a phantasmal eyeball which fired a black beam that struck the elf and slammed him into a wall.

Not wanting the elf to get the drop on them again, Surprise fired several more void beams until she was sure Taldaram wasn’t getting up again. The beams seared his body with dark energy and heavily damaged his robes. Bella made certain he wasn’t getting up again by slamming his back with a large hammer of light.

After a few moments of watching Taldaram, they found that he wasn’t getting up from that so they decided to move forward.

They entered a narrow passage filled with webs and eggs until they emerged into another part of the city.

Looking around, they realized that a massacre happened here recently as the bodies of many orcs, trolls and forsaken were lying around as well as the corpses of several swamp beasts as well as a particularly large one. A number of mushrooms appeared to have grown around the larger creature.

It was apparent that the people were ultimately victorious in the battle since they spotted more of them in the area. However, they were definitely not friendly to the two of them. Some threw fire and shadow spells at them while others showed that they were shamans who could fling elemental magic.

At first they thought the Horde had made it into the city somehow but the violet robes they wore showed that they were not. In fact, it looked like they were using bonfires wreathed in dark flame to commune with a creature that looked bipedal but its arms looked like they were made of tentacles. There wasn’t any clear sign that they had a face.

After they defeated their enemies, who they concluded were Twilight’s Hammer cultists, Mena noted the image over the fires again. “Hmm, looks like one of the n’raqi.”

“What might that be, darling?” Bella asked.

“Violetta says that they are the soldiers of the Old Gods. Apparently the only reason that we never encountered n’raqi in Ahn’Qiraj was because C’Thun lost the ability to produce them. They are pretty formidable and can use a tiny portion of an Old God’s psychological magic.”

Bella shuddered, “I pray we don’t find one of them any time soon.”

“She says that there are several of them nearby. One of them is particularly strong.”

Bella sighed in exasperation, “Let’s just deal with these cultists and get out of here, I am quite done with this place.”

The duo moved up a set of stairs and found what appeared to be a congregation of humans and gnomes kneeling before a female orc floating high in the air above them. She appeared to be drawing power from a pair of obelisks.

“That appears to be the leader of the cultists here. Let’s finish this and get out of here.” Bella said.

The cultists heard Bella’s hasty comment and turned to attack them. However, the cultists were not properly trained for combat and were easily defeated by the two.

Seeing her followers dead before her, the orc stopped drawing power and floated down to the floor. “These are sacred halls! Your intrusion will be met with death!” the orc declared.

The cult leader attacked with wind and lightning which proved hard to block with a metal shield but Bella managed to keep the orc’s attention on her while Mena attacked her with her spells. The orc’s lightning-infused swords sent electricity through Bella’s armor which caused her body to tingle from the electrocution.

As they fought, many more cultists showed up from somewhere unknown and knelt before their leader, ignoring the duo. Knowing that the two could overwhelm her in time, she decided that she needed more power and that required a sacrifice. Moving to the center of the platform that was being used as an altar, she elevated herself into the air again, calling for one of the kneeling cultists to volunteer their life to empower her.

It was upon one of the cultists volunteering that a shadow left Mena and fell beneath the orc. When the volunteer placed themselves underneath the orc for sacrifice, she ripped out their life force for power. However, that power ended up falling into the shadow which returned to the gnome.

“Yogg-Saron, fill me with your power!” the orc cried out. However, she was shocked when she realized that no power was coming to her. “What? What is going on?”

Mena giggled before letting Surprise take over. “It’s simple, zug for brains, your offering wasn’t given to Yogg-Saron, it was taken by his archnemesis.”

The orc gasped in horror at the implications of her statement. There was only one being that her master would call his archnemesis. “The Huntress of the Void! You are her vessel! The master is in danger!”

However, before she could say anything further, a chill ran down her spine as she felt a malevolent presence behind her. "̴̩͌̎ͅT̸͉̖̮̤͕̊̉̿h̶̝͑͛̚a̴̡̤̭̓̄ṫ̶̨̝͔̥͓ ̵͔̎̒̒w̵͖͔̭̌͘ã̴͔s̶̖̣̼͔̒̃̃̏͠ͅ ̵͈̦͉̓̄â̶̡̫̬̈̀ ̵̫͚͈͕̿̈ḓ̶̢̙̙͓̿͒̂̓e̴̢̟̳͈̜̔l̷̡̛̪̐̓̈́͊i̴̢̟͚̝͛̑̋͐͜ĉ̶̖̣̪̎̆̒̌i̵̝̤͌o̴͙̞̫͐̂͘ư̷̢̠̳s̶̝̞̘̟͛̅͌͆̚ ̶͖̻̪̪̈́̅͌s̴͈̘̻̉̎̍a̴͇͔͎͚̲̽͋͗̾̋c̴̠̈́r̴̘͛̌̄͒͗ĩ̸͔̅̄̍f̴̡̲̱̣̮́̍į̵̧̭̪̞̈́͆͘c̶͍̹̅̿e̵̛̻͛͌̀͝,̸̤͓͇̱̟̉̄̉ ̴̯͇̲͕̐Ǐ̷̦̗͂ ̸̢̡͓̼̊̅͐́͘ḑ̶̼̮̗̊́̓o̶̠̗̘͌̀̾͘͝n̸͔̼̱̙̳̒͒̑͛'̷̡̛̗̩̀̑́̐t̵̻̃ ̷̛͔͈̗̹̽͑m̶̧͒́͒͠į̸͋͋́̔n̵̡̮̰̮͎̍̽͘͘͝ď̷̢̡͍̤͜ ̷̫̫̫̀́a̴̫̬̝̓͊͆n̷̛̙͐̊́͝ơ̴̘̠͍̑̋͑͘t̸͈̂́ḣ̵̹̎̓̕͠e̸̢̖̘͙̊̆r̷̛̭̟͎͎͑.̸̩͖̖́͒͌̓.̸̤̥͝.̴̛̹̳̭̗̓̅̋̃"̵̬͕͐

Before she could react, the orc found herself cast into complete darkness as her mind was forever severed from her body. In panic, the remaining volunteers fled the altar.

Violetta returned to Mena’s body while Bella shook off the jolts of electricity that were coursing through her body. The paladin sighed as she thought about the cultists in the area. “I should have known that the Twilight’s Hammer would be in Northrend. They are never far away when it comes to the Old Gods or their servants.”

“I’ve heard rumors that they have been growing over the years,” Mena said. “Apparently, they believe that the end of the world is coming in the near future so Cho’gall is pushing for recruitment. It’s only been in hidden alleys of the cities so the guards have been keeping them in control for now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they start getting bolder in the coming months.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised that they recruit some of those dreadful vrykul into their ranks.” Bella shook her head. “I know I am going to regret this, but are we actually exploring that last area? I do not look forward to fighting those disgusting creatures.”

Surprise suddenly switched places with Mena to give her opinion on the matter, “Might as well. We are probably going to face a lot more of them as we continue battling the Old Gods. Better that we get a taste of their slimy tentacles and words worming their way into our brains now than when we have to face an army of them…” Surprise cackled as she said that last part.

“I can imagine many better ways you could have worded that, darling,” Bella deadpanned.

Surprise shrugged, “I don’t come with a filter, Bella. You should know that by now.”

Deciding to end the conversation there, the two returned downstairs and headed toward another webbed walkway that led them into what they guessed was a temple of some sort. They didn’t find any cultists inside, but they did discover a trio of n’raqi looking their way.

The three faceless ones created large spikes of shadow in their larger right arms composed of three tentacles before throwing them in their direction. The duo dodged the dark missiles and rushed forward to engage the horrors.

In an attempt to get the two to get away from them, the n’raqi tried invading their minds and compelling them to flee but Surprise’s mental defenses thwarted their attempts and gave Bella a chance to strike one in the head with a light hammer while striking the three of them with her shield that ricocheted between them before returning to its owner.

The three faceless ones made a number of high-pitched sounds that sounded unearthly as they tried striking at them with their tentacles. Surprise severed several tentacles with her shadow blades but found that some of her shadow spells were not as effective against them. Being creatures of the void, it made sense for them to have resistance to dark magic.

Bella’s holy magic engulfed one faceless in holy flames before using her shield to block a shadowy missile and sent it flying harmlessly away. Mena switched with Surprise and bombarded another n’raqi with bolts of light magic before unleashing an explosive wave of holy magic around her which made the horrors back away from her.

The battle soon ended with the three n’raqi lying in heaps with golden light burning their bodies. However, just as they thought it was over, another n’raqi appeared in the back of the temple, as if they had been invisible and watching them fight until now. This one was bigger than the other three and was likely much stronger.

As they approached the n’raqi, they suddenly found themselves unable to move as the horror moved to the center of the temple before speaking. "̴͕͚̂͘T̴̡͒́h̸̗̭̹͝e̵͗͑̉͜ ̸͚̍i̸̡͕̙͆̋̅n̶̖͓͎͑̽s̸̖̙̼͛ē̴̳̩̱c̴͖̣͉͛͆͝t̷̛̗̝̯́̇s̴͚̎̈́ ̷̨̗͗͂͒s̶̪͓̮̒h̸̭͈͋a̷͕̖͛̀͘ĺ̷͍̈́͝l̷̨̂̀͛ ̴͎̤̿̄̚n̴͎̔ọ̷̈t̵͙̤́͠ ̶͓͖̳͒́í̸̾͊ͅn̸̗̝̺̄͊̌t̸̲̆̽͜e̷͇̞̹̽̑̾r̶̢͉̘̆͑f̸̢̉͜͜e̷̩͓̚r̸̻͇̾e̵̡͙̹͑̇.̶͇͊ ̶̪̘͗͌̊T̵̹̖̓̓̕ḫ̴̒ͅe̷͙͐͠y̶͍̌͘ ̵̦̤͓͊̐s̶̛͕̪̎́h̴̪̮̜͒̅ä̴̦l̷̘̈́̇̌l̴͉̞̹̽ ̴͍͙͌́͝ͅs̸̛̱͗̉p̷͕̃e̸̞̽̏́ͅä̸͖k̸̢̬͕̉̕̕ ̷̰͈͗͜ẅ̵͉́́͝i̶̥̊͜t̸̡͍͍͆̅ḩ̷̪̘͐ ̷̮̞̼͋̒t̸͈̀̆h̸͑̏̒ͅé̵̤͊ỹ̸̥́͜ ̷̛͙̭͒͜w̸̙͍͖̽͛́ḥ̴͋̎̇ͅo̴̼̝̿͝ ̸̖̯̉͘ͅd̸̛̻ẹ̷̫̳́́v̷̠̣͝ͅŏ̵̼͒u̷̡͇͍̽̈́͐r̴̛͎̮̕s̵͎̙̥̾͑ ̶̢̟̆n̴̪͊͐̅ö̵͍́t̸͇̅h̸̺̰̿i̷̜̻̫̇̕͠ṇ̵̔̽̽ͅḡ̶̡̖̜͋̓n̴̝̓e̸͚̪̋s̷̭̬̆s̸̗̓.̸͕̜̪́̂"̷̯̤͘

Bella looked at Mena in confusion, “You are the one who understands that foul language better than the rest of us, Mena. Even when their words are spoken into my mind, I cannot make sense of them.”

Surprise quickly took over to explain, “It’s probably best that way. Trying to make sense of the words spoken in Shath’Yar is a one way ticket to an asylum. Basically, they want to speak with Violetta.”

A piece of the gnome’s shadow broke away and moved in front of the n’raqi. Violetta, whose purple, writhing hair moved erratically and bodysuit sporting numerous eyes, emerged from the puddle of black to observe the horror before her. "̴͉̞͜͝S̶̻͋̔͋ơ̸͕͙̭̂̿,̶͙̐ ̵̛̰̘̺̇̔w̴͈͉̾̚h̸̛̹͛̕a̴͎̘̓t̵̰̎́ ̸̥̼̓̌i̵̳͙̎s̶̩̃̔ ̶̞͔͑̄̒͜i̵͍̥̋̓͝t̸͚̾̌͘ ̶͚̀͘y̷͛ͅo̶̡͝u̷͎͖͈̕ ̸͚͔̋̈́̔w̴̥͕̃̌͘í̷̝̪̘s̸̩̜̈́h̸͎̅̿͝ ̷̫̙̐̊t̷͍͖̹̓̓̈́o̴͕͚͛̈́ ̸̭̾̿s̴͉̖͆̅̃p̵̨̛͝è̶̼̤̔͘a̴̪͕͑ḵ̴̩̘͂̀̚ ̵̗̭̃̑̈à̵͓̜͆b̷̗̟̽͆ö̸ͅu̸͆̏̔ͅt̸͕̑̈́,̴̡͕͔̍͠ ̵͇̙͊H̸̫͕͘͝e̸͖̮̻̒̀ŗ̶̬͔́́̈ā̴̬̙l̷̖͙͝d̷̛̤͔͝ ̷͉̦̗̓̂͝V̷͎̚͝o̶̝͉̫̽͘̚ľ̸͔̬̦͘à̶̖̎ͅz̵̼̮̍ͅj̸̹̫͊̍͊͜?̸̱͊͝"̶͕͝ she asked.

Volazj watched the figure before them for several moments before replying, "̴̠̊̽͂ͅT̵̥̓ȟ̷̦͔͝͝ě̸̡̗̓̚ý̸͍͕͕ ̵͙̦̼̀͐͑ŵ̷͖h̸̖̣̒̄o̴͈̔̊ ̶̪̪̼̍d̷̛͕̦̀ḙ̷́v̴̥̓̔̇ọ̵͂̆͊u̶̝̻̮͋̚͘r̶̻͝e̴͓̼͗ḏ̵̜͓͆ ̶̟͋͂̇C̶̝̓͌h̸̜͊͠a̸̢̡͒́ò̵̧̘̠̽s̶̰̀̅̚ͅ ̶̦̪̺͑̔̕s̸̠̖̓͐̒t̴̡̗͖͘͠ä̵̜̤́n̶̳̖̿̾ͅd̷̬̰̲̒̑͋s̵̗͘ ̷̢̩͗͊̑b̴̞̱̲̓͠ë̷̱͈̼́͑͌f̶̺̲̲̒o̴̩͂͋r̴̨̤͂ȩ̸̩͘ ̴̧̱̒͐͊t̶̖̪̀͘h̸͚̋ͅe̶̜̣̥̍̏̋m̴̪͌̉,̸̜̀̃͜ ̶͍̀i̶͙̼͈͆̍n̵̟̘͚͝s̷̢̛͎̹̄̓a̷̼̜̚ẗ̷̹̠ỉ̴̝͔̜͂a̸͓͕̠̓b̵̬͒l̴͚̰͒̇͘e̶̞͙̻̊ ̶͈̣̈́͋̐ͅì̸̳̺̆n̸̽̒ͅ ̷̨̩͌̈́͒a̸̛̭̟̋͠p̵͓͕͙̂p̷̠̲̏̾͋è̴͕͎̩t̴̺̲̽̐i̶̭̻͎̅̓̉t̶̼̘̲̃͐e̴̳̘̓.̵̛̜ ̴͈̭͊͋͝T̷̰̘̺̔h̶̭͕̊͝e̴̯̫̍͐́͜ȳ̶̳͆ ̵̡̪͕̔͠s̸̬̫̳̉̆e̷̛̠̳̻͐̚ḛ̷̡̛̊̒k̶̹͕̾͊̿ ̷͉̓̓̈t̵̺̑̅̍ó̵̩̭̼̓̚ ̶̧̨̥̀̿͝d̴͇͔̭͋e̸̢̪͔͛͛̍v̸̡̏̎o̸̡̘̝̕͠ṵ̸̐̓̚r̴̤͠ ̶̖̦̽̎͜D̴̦̣̫̊̈́̈ḛ̵̑a̷͙̥̰͒͊̓ẗ̶̖̰́́h̶̖͉͓̀̑͌ ̷͇͈̰͌a̷̩̯̍̚s̷̫̠͘ ̸͖̭͕͆̓̏ẅ̸͔̣̉ȇ̷̢̱͘l̸͖̪͌͆̚l̴̠̜̥̅?̵̝͌̃̕"̶̩͔͖̾͆̆

"̶̪̳̈A̷̯̭̦̓̍͋ľ̵̩̉o̷͈̼̩̓͘n̶͚̟͂͆ģ̸̯̔ ̴̭̳͊͆̀͜w̴̤̦͂̕i̴͕̫͆͛͊t̷̛̼̗̮̎ĥ̵͖͙̦͒͘ ̴̪̦͎͗͒̂R̵̖̓å̵͉ĝ̶̢̳̈́ȩ̶̺̩̀ ̴͍̈́a̸̟͙͕̍n̷̠̾d̷͕͋ ̸̥̃̅͝C̴̢̦̾̎̚o̷̲̘͎͛r̶͕͋̑͝r̶̨̝̭̆u̶͙̪̓̚͘p̸̱̿͜t̷͖̀i̴̢̹͎̕̕ȯ̸̗͉͇n̶͓̰͒.̸͉̟̈́ ̴͖͋͋̕B̷̡͝u̸͉͎̽̈̒t̵̜̓̚ ̶̣̳̏̑̑f̷̤̽ỉ̶̛̼̭̿r̴̬̜̈́̄s̷̰̹̰͒͘͝t̴̫͒̋͜,̵͕̼͌̈́̕ͅ ̴͈̘̓̇ͅa̵̧̮͑ ̵͍̻̖͂̓̓l̵̛͔̳̞i̴̥̙̊̓ẗ̶̨͔̝t̷̖͙̐̇ͅl̷͗͜e̶͖̐̾ ̸͕̗̇̌̈́ͅs̶͔̰̈́̆̅͜ń̴̻͙͔ḁ̴̗̥̌c̴̽͜k̴̘͂̅̚.̷͓̖̀ ̵̭͌͗͝S̷̢͕̰͊̌i̶̮̿̂n̴̗̦͖̉c̸̛̼̘̑e̷̗̒ ̷͙̼́͌͋y̵̨͈̎̕o̴̬̙̓̈͠u̸̻̭͌̾̆ͅ ̵͙̄͘d̷͑̃͛͜i̸̓͜ḍ̷̫̰̿ṇ̸̥̙̏͆̚'̴̰̬̆t̸͉̞͇̂̓͝ ̵̹̗̚ȑ̵̗̰u̶̝̳͙͒̑̈́n̷̢̨̓̾̐ ̵̨͈̈́ḁ̵̪̳̉w̸̪͎͓͗̉͘á̶̯y̷̢̝̫̋́,̴͕̈͂̕ ̵̲͒y̸̙͛͝o̸͖̪̖̍u̴̢̩͈͊́ ̴̜́̇h̷͈͚̅a̵͕̥̓̉v̷͙̭͉̉̕ḛ̶̼͗ ̶̭̫͆v̷̡̻̏ȍ̸̢͓͗̅ḽ̵̡͈̍̋͑u̵̧͆͒́n̵̬̽ẗ̸̹̥̥́̉e̵̢͌ͅe̷͎͗̿̃r̵͔̭͝e̶̜͕͓͐͘d̵̤̝͆̂̒.̸̝̤͌͛͠"̷̲̪̱͛ Violetta replied.

"̷̞̓̈́T̸̖͊͐͝h̵͎̎̓e̵͍̺̔̒͝y̸͍̍ ̷͖̤̼̈͂̔h̶̜̝̣̿̅̂â̸̛̬̙͖̊v̶̨͒e̷̡̩̍ ̸̼̰̎ṉ̶̦̖̋̍̎o̷̳͊͝ ̸͉̐c̵̹͋ĥ̷͓̳̻̀ả̴͇͆̿n̸̥̱̦͒͐͠c̴̀͌͝ͅë̸̬͊͑ ̷̖̓̆ǫ̷̅̈́̊ͅf̸̢̠̟̐ ̴̙͂͆͝s̵͍͍̼̎͌̄t̸͇̠̿ͅọ̶̧̮͋͠p̵̗̥͍̄p̴̭̓i̶̮͕͂̅̒n̷̖̥̿͑̑g̶̢͇͇͐ ̴̢̠͙̆͝ṭ̵̏̑͐ĥ̸̼e̴̘͈̍̾ ̶̬͖̯̓̍H̶̟̑̇̐ų̷̳͆n̶̢͕̋̓ṭ̵̀̎r̶̰̒̽e̵̙̖͉͗̆s̷̜̩̼͝͝s̴̞̹̒̇͝ ̷̗̖̳̈́̒ò̴̗̈́͒f̸̛̳̅ ̷̡̓t̶̛̞̀ḩ̵͕̓e̴̩͔͆̍̚ ̶̤̻̅͠ͅV̵͎͋o̵͖̓͂i̶̡͛̀d̵͍̟͐̌̀.̵̮͉̊̅ ̶̼͕̤̑T̶̨́̃̃h̶̘̜͝e̴̠͈̖̔̂͘y̷̯͌̓̆ ̸̨̖̅à̷̛̜̠̒ͅc̴̭̭̀̉̂c̵̢̥̱͝é̷͇̾͘p̸̨͔̰͝t̴͔͌ ̷̧̡̯́t̴̳̟͊́h̴̛͈͙̮̓ḙ̸̑ ̷̨̜̈͊͜ḟ̸̨̪̆͝i̷͎̇̔n̶̡̥͒͗a̸̦͚͠ͅl̴̛̰̙͗ ̵̘̳̽͝e̸̩̱̮͋̉́m̶̠͉̊͝͝b̶̎̒̃ͅr̷͓̙͗ä̷͖́͌̚c̶͙̊̄͐e̴͔̪̝͗̓.̵͕̼̐"̶͖̻̥̇̽͆

With that, Violetta called up a number of her black tentacles to feast on the faceless herald’s flesh. While the n’raqi cried out with sounds that Bella and Mena guessed was agony, the two of them were released from their spell.

Bella was not taking the sight of the n’raqi being devoured very well as her face turned a shade of green. Between the disgusting things she had seen Violetta and Thanatas do, she thought she was used to their antics by now, but she wasn’t.

“May we please leave this place?” Bella begged. “I am more than through with this adventure now.”

“Maybe there’s an exit in the back of the temple?” Mena offered.

The two proceeded to the back of the temple and around the carnage where they proceeded along a walkway of web and past a platform with a burning brazier on it before entering another passage that led into a tunnel that they had to crawl through.

To their surprise, they ended up in the same chamber they ended up in when they left the Upper Kingdom. They had no idea how the two passages connected to the same place but Bella was done questioning anything for a long time. All she knew was that she really needed a bath to get the webs out of her hair.