Re: Story: Through the Grimrock
Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2016 3:37 pm
by AnnElfwind
Missing Heir - The son of Herbert [Part 3/3]
When they reached the last step, Jack noticed something.
"Where the fuck is Shadow?!" he growled.
"Huh?" Sinister looked at him.
"It appears he is missing," Ruk'Ur stated.
"Way to state the obvious..." groused Jack and started looking around himself, but not seeing the rogue anywhere.
Meanwhile with Shadow...
"Outch!" the man whispered and held a hand to his head.
"When I find out who bonked me, I'll end them!"
He stood up and looked around. Not seeing anyone of his friends, he paled.
"Don't tell me they left me here!" he yelped.
"WAIT FOR ME!" he wailed and started running through the cells area and back to the begining of it where the teleport was.
Shadow practically jumped through it and landed in a heap on the floor back in the big main area.
"Now what..." he said out loud as he picked himself up.
He started walking in a random direction, but thanks to the fact that he wasn't looking where he was stepping, only around himself, he overlooked an opened trapdoor.
"KYAAAAAAAAAH!" he landed on his back, his breath knocked out of him.
For a long while, he just layed there, trying to catch his breath and hoping that nothing was going to eat him while he did so.
It took several long minutes, but in the end, he managed to slowly climb to his feet and started inspecting the new area.
What he saw made him almost screem. He was standing on a closed trapdoor and around him were big flying buzziing things. So far, they didn't see him, but they would soon discover his presence. He was sure of it. But how was he gonna get out of there? All the other trapdoors around him were open and the solid ground was too far away for him to even think about attempting a jump.
"Help?" he squeeked.
And suddenly, al the buzzers were looking and more importantly, flying, in his direction.
"Fuck!" Shadow swore and drew his dagger.
At the same time with the rest of the group...
After backtracking in order to look for Shadow, and not finding the rogue anywhere! They decided to go forward instead, hoping against all odds, that he managed to stumble through some kind of a shortcut and was actually ahead of them.
"I just hope he's not dead..." whispered Sinister.
"I think that all of us are hoping for that," said Jack. "He might be a bit of an idiot, but he's our idiot!"
As they were talking about the possible places Shadow might be at, they fought their way through throngs of skeletons, but found it somehow easy. The monsters were, compared to their Grimrock counterparts, relatively weak.
Well, that was perhaps going a bit too far, but they certainly were weaker than Grimrock's were. That was for sure.
The group took another flight of stairs leading down. And then stopped in their tracks.
“Are you as reluctant to go forward as I am?” Jack asked the other two.
“It’s the walls,” said Sinsiter.
“Then let us hope we will not have to face what we have associated with them,” concluded Ruk’Ur and was the first to start walking again.
As it turned out, they did not have to fight another Undying one, but that didn’t mean there was nothing waiting for them.
“It’s a fucking Goromorg,” declared Jack. “Why is there a fucking Goromorg? Why does everyone of the so-called bosses look like a bloody Goromorg?”
And he would have kept ranting, had Sinister not silenced him with a kiss.
“Look closely,” he said when he broke the kiss. “He’s caged and there’s something different about him.”
“He looks…” Ruk’Ur trailed.
“Somewhat more human?” suggested Jack after taking a look.
“Maybe he can talk?” Sinister added.
“Let’s find out,” decided Jack and made his way closer to the ‘monster’.
But before he could so much as open his mouth, the Goromorg spoke.
“So you came,” he said.
“Uh…” Jack stumbled over his tongue, not sure how to reply to that.
“My name is Bartheus,” the Goromorg said.
And that’s where Sinister had enough.
“Sorry to but in,” he said, sweetly.
“No problem,” Jack said. “You’re probably the best to talk to this guy anyway.”
“No,” said Bartheus.
“Excuse me, but it’s not really up to you,” growled Sinister. “You see, I’m his boyfriend and whatever you have to discuss with him, you can say to me as well, and anyway, I’m better at this talking thing, he has a chronic syndrom of a foot in the mouth.”
“Oi!”
“Don’t worry, dear, I love you all the same,” Sinister told Jack and then turned back to Bartheus.
“So, where were we? Oh yes, I was about to ask you why you are in a cage.”
“No!” screamed Bartheus, “you have to listen to me, I don’t have much time, if Master find out I’m talking to you, we will all be in big trouble!”
“Who is this Master? And why is he so dangerous?” Ruk’Ur asked from behind the shorter two.
“For you to understand that, I will have to start at the very beginning…”
And Bartheus started his long tale. How he was a lowly druid that attempted a summoning way above his level, which resulted in Master coming to this world. Bartheus managed to contain him here, in Steeprock, but at the cost of cursign himself and never being able to leave the place.
But Master wanted more and he thought that a kidnapping would be a good way to start his career of world domination. But Bartheus managed to create an opening for someone who would be able to take Master down. However, first, they needed to recover twelve druidic stones to even be able to summon Master to this dimension, otherwise he was invincible.
The rocks were scattered a few levels down, but apparently, Bartheus had some control over Steeprock and was able to create a prtal for them that would lead to the entrance to the area they needed.
“I will see you there,” he said and then he was gone.
“I have to say I’m a bit sceptical…” Sinister said when they were alone again.
“And we still have to find Shadow!” added Jack. “And what’s with that mumbo-jumbo about me being so important?”
“I have a hard time believing that as well.” Deadpanned Sinister.
“You don’t say…” grinned Jack and then pounced on the sorcerer only to start tickling him.
“You will have enough time for that later, we need to move,” Ruk’Ur separated them.
“Fine…” pouted Jack.
And they stepped through the portal.
With Shadow…
No help came, and the poor rogue was forced to jump down one of the holes surrounding him. Unfortunatelly, he landed wrong and fell unconscious again.
Bad luck seemd to follow him today…
Back to the group.
They appeared in a sort of library. The central area of which has been sealed off. In there they could see Bartheus. So far, he did not notice them. There were also two portals on the other side of the room, if you could call it that…
"Oyi! Bartherus, where to now?" Jack hollered to get the goromort look-alike's attention.
"Ah, so you have arrived," Bartheus said and turned toward them.
"As youc an see," he continued, "one of the portals is sealed off, it leads to an area where you can take on the Master, but to unseal it, I will need the power of the druidic stones. The other portal leads to the area they are scattered in. Please hurry."
"Why do we need to hurry?" Sinister asked. Something still didn't sit right with him.
"Because, your lost companion managed to get himself stranded there and it is unclear how long he will survive on his own," Bartheus explained.
"Shadow's there?" Jack asked, surprised.
"If that is his name…" allowed Bartheus.
"Then let us go and rescue our missing rogue," declared Ruk'Ur and made his way around Bartheus's 'cage' and towards the unsealed portal.
They managed to get eleven out of the twelve needed stones and were making their way toward where they thought the last one was, when they heard it.
"HELP!" a familiar voice screeched from somwhere in front of them.
"Shadow!" all of them yelped together and dashed toward the sound of runnign feet, that were soon followed by something much heavier.
"Don't tell me he managed to get himself chased by one of those wardens?!" yelled Jack in disbelief.
"Then I won't tell you," answered Sinister and started redying a spell or two for when the warden finally came within sight and reach.
And then they turned a corner and could see Shadow running impossibly fast toward them and before anyone coud react, he smacked into them, knocking them all to the ground.
But Jack would have none of that. Quickly untangling himself from the dog-pile and swiftly grabbing Sinister, he stood at the ready, waiting for the probably-warden that was chasing Shadow, to show up.
"When this is over, I'm smacking you on the head," he informed the rogue and then turned to Sinister.
"Ready?"
"Yeah, though I'm not looking forward to fighting those again…"
"You and me both," Jack said and gripped his sword tightly.
At that exact moment, the warden came to view. But it wasn't alone. Something else was following it. And it was fugly!
"What the hell is that naga wannabe?" asked Jack, an annoyed expression on his face.
"Hell If I know…" muttered Sinister and sent a bolt of electricity toward the warden.
"Let's worry about that after it has been defeated, shall we?" suggested Ruk'Ur and threw one of his spare axes past the warden and toward the naga-wannabe, nailing it in its shoulder.
"Good shot!" pipped Shadow happily.
"Less yapping, more fighting," Sinister borrowed Jacks phrase. And then promptly set another lightning toward the warden, this time, it was one of his new white lightnings.
To the entire groups surprise, the warden crumpled down.
"Wow!" Jack stared. "Did you know it would do that?" he asked Sinister.
"Not to that extent!" Sinister answered.
"Cool!!!" grinned Shadow, stars in his eyes.
However, talking came to an end when the naga thingy finally came within reach. It swung at them, but they managed to dodge the blow, retaliating with their own. Jack managed to completely cut off the previously injured arm and Shadow somehow got behind the thing and stabbed it in the back.
And then Sinister finished chanting another of his spells, and set a lightning at the naga wannabe, this time, the lightning was red.
"What the hell was that?" Jack asked when the thing was confirmed dead.
"Another combination of elements," Sinister said with a smile on his face.
"And the drain on you?" Jack pressed.
"Almost none, this was one of the better combination, being fire with lightning," Sinister explained.
"Okay," nodded Jack. "I'm not gonna pretend I understand all this magic stuff, but like I said before, don't put yourself in unnecessarry danger, kay?"
"Sure," Sinister smiled and kissed Jack lightly on the lips.
The moment was interrupted when Ruk'Ur spoke.
"It appears that Shadow managed to find the last stone we need."
"This thing?" Shadow asked.
"That's it!" Jack nodded and took the stone from the rogue.
"What's it for?" Shadow wanted to know.
"To help us find the missing heir," Jack explained.
"Well, to be honest, it is to help us defeat the Master, because we won't be able to reclaim the heir if we don't," clarified Sinister.
"Who is the Master?"
"Think of him as this place's Undying one," Sinister decided to say.
"The full story is too long to explain now anyway," added Jack and turned toward the way leading back to the library and Bartheus.
"Are you coming?" he called over his shoulder.
"Now, that you have placed all the stones in their proper places, I can begin the ritual to summon Master to this plane of being, but be ready, he won't be fighting alone, you will probably have to fight a lot of his servants, the sluggomorgs, or as you call them, naga wannabes. And if you're unlucky, he will summon me to help him."
"How will we know when to go?"
"The grate blocking the portal to the final area will not lift until the summoning has been completed, take the time it will take to rest and replenish your energy," Bartheus explained and them vanished to get the ritual started.
"And he's gone," deadpaned Jack.
"Way to state the obvious," Sinister grinned.
"We should probably heed Bartheus's advice and rest, so that we may win the fight that is to come," suggested Ruk'Ur.
"Good point," nodded Jack and then promptly dropped to the ground.
"Wake me when it's time to go."
About four hours later, Jak was awake, courtesy of Sinister, and he and the group were getting ready to go through the portal, the grate opening about ten minutes ago.
"Shall we go and see what the hell is this Master?" Jack said when he was ready.
"Let's," nodded Sinister with Ruk'Ur and Shadow right behind him.
The group stepped through the portal and appeared in a relatively small room with several cages filled with the… what did Bartheus call them again? Sluggomorg? What kinda name was that anyway? Clearly, they were naga wannabes. And on the other side of the room, something akin to a Goromorg was standing. Only, with less tentacles and a lot darker. The Master.
"So you have come…" the Master said and moved his hand.
The ground under the group exploded, sending them crashing onto ground and into walls.
"You will pay for that!" Jack growled when he managed to pick himself up from the floor. Blood was dripping in his eyes and he looked wild.
Then he charged. The ground blew up several more times and he had to dodge lightning and fire as well as ice, but at this moment, nothing would stop him. Not after seeing Sinister on the ground and not moving.
Ruk'Ur and Shadow managed to pick themselves up and made their way towards Sinister. Their first thought was that he was dead, but looking closer, he was breathing. And it wasn't irregular either.
"It would seem that the mage had us all fooled," Ruk'Ur chuckled in his deep voice.
"Don't give me away!" hissed Sinister. "And make sure that you keep an eye on those cages, if the Master openes them, you two will have to fight those beasts."
"What about you?" Shadow asked.
"I'm gonna help Jack."
"Good luck," Ruk'Ur said and he and Shadow started making their way to a spot that would let them keep an eye on all of the cages.
Sinister slowly turned his head toward the fight between Master and Jack. Jack, obviously driven by grief, was winning. He had the Master on defense, but how long can he keep it up? Slowly, Sinister stood and muttered an invisibility spell.
Moving along the wall, he walked toward a suspicious looking doorway. He placed his hand on the metal and could feel it thruming under his palm.
"Of course it would be magical door…" he whispered.
Frowning, he put his other palm on the door too and closed his eyes to feel the magic properly.
He's there. And the magic feels like…he turned toward the fight, that now included Shadow and Ruk'Ur fighting the nagas.
He was about to join the fight, but before he could so much as even think about which spell to use, Master vanished.
"Come back here you son of a bitch!" Jack screamed.
And so Sinister grinned softly and made his way toward his lover.
"I'm still alive you idiot," he said and dropped the invisibility spell.
Jack wasted no time crushing him in a bear hug only letting go when it became apparent that Sinister could not breath.
"Don't scare me like that again!" Jack scolded and kissed the mage.
"You needed the push, but don't worry, I don't plan on dieing for real any time soon."
"Good," Jack nodded, now calmer. "But don't scare me like that again anyway."
"I'll try, but for now, shouldn't we help them with the naga wannabes?" Sinister answered.
"Right," and the duo turned towards their still fighting companions.
Soon the fight was over.
"Now what?" Jack asked as he looked around the room, which was mostly destroyed.
"What about the door over there?" Shadow asked pointing at the door Sinister checked earlier.
"No good, it's linked to Masters life force, it won't open unless he's dead," Sinister said.
"And when did you have time to check that?" Shadow whined.
"When you guys left me to deal with the naga wannabes," Sinister said.
"Didn't see you there," Shadow was being stubborn.
"Invisibility has its perks," Sinister simply said.
"There si a draft coming from here," Ruk'Ur called from one of the corners of the room.
When hearing this, Sinister started looking around the room again.
"What are you looking for?" Jack asked.
"Hidden buttons of course," he answered.
"Then I think I've been staring at it the whole time," Jack said and pointed at the wall he was staring at.
"And you couldn't have said that earlier?" Sinister hit him over the head and made his way forward to press the button.
"Another portal?" Jack almost whined when they stepped through the newly created opening.
"It probably leads toward Master and maybe even Bartheus," Ruk'Ur said.
"If that happens, I suggest we focus on Master and as for Bartheus, just try to evade his attacks," Sinister said and was about to step thgouth the portal.
"Not so fast," Jack grabbed him. "I'm going first, not you!"
"Then stop being so overprotective and just go," Sinister said and with that, pushed the fighter through.
"You next, Ruki," Shadow said, giving Ruk'Ur a nickname.
"We shall talk about your taste in nicknames later, little rogue," the minotaur rumbled and stepped through.
"And now us," Shadow said and dragged Sinister into the portal.
Shadow and Sinsiter appeared in a darkened area and the first thing their senses comprehended was a lot of metalic noise. Softly, Sinister whispered a light spell and then they could see it was a lot of grates that were falling and rising in irregular intervals.
"Well that will be a pain…" muttered Shadow.
"I'm more worried about where Ruk'Ur and Jack are…" Sinister replied, looking around.
"Over there!" Shadow suddenly pointed and when Sinister turned, he could see Ruk'Ur and Jack holding their own against the Master.
"Let's go help them!" Shadow suggested, grinning.
"I'm afraid it will not be possible," a familiar voice said.
"Bartheus," Sinister nodded to the cloaked figure and dodged the fireball it threw at them.
"I do not wish to fight you, but the Master's comand is absolute," Bartheus said.
"Then don't fight us," Sinister said and started chanting.
"I'm sorry but you will not be able to complete the spell," Bartheus declared, readying himself to send a barrage of spells at the young mage.
"You'll have to go through me first," Shadow growled from behind Bartheus and stabbed him in the arm, then danced away.
"Whatever you're planning, do it fast, I can't keep hem ocupied for too long on my own!" he threw toward Sinister as he dodged a poison bolt and then darted toward Bartheus again.
"It is no use, little rogue, I'm invincible," there was sorrow in Bartheus' voice.
"Get away!" Sinister screamed at Shadow as he finished his spell.
Shadow didn't have to be told twice. With a quick backflip, he put enough distance between him and Bartheus to not be caught in Sinister's spell whatever it turns out to be.
Sinister finished the last gesture needed and a barrier rose up around Bartheus, effectively keeping him contained.
"How long does it last?" Shadow asked softly as he made his way to Sinister.
"For as long as I feed it magic," the mage replied through gritted teeth.
"So…" Shadow trailed of uncertainly.
"Go help the others," Sinister growled lowly and did an additional gesture with hishand, sending more power into his barrier.
Shadow looked at the mage, but could see he was serious. And there was nothing that Shadow could do to help anyway. So the rogue turned and started making his way through the grates and towards the fight against Master.
"He's too strong!" Ruk'Ur grunted as he fell down to one knee.
"What did you expect?" Jack called back from where he barely managed to dodge one of Master's spells.
"We're probably in his domain now!" He added as he somehow managed to get close enough to leave a scratch on their opponent.
"Can we even win?" Ruk'Ur wondered as he slowly stood.
"We have to!" a new voice shouted.
"Shadow!" the two grinned happily.
"Sinister's holding of Bartheus, we can't give up!" Shadow insisted and danced around several ice bolts Master send his way, making his way close enough to stab him in the arm.
"He's right!" Jack yelled and threw his shield away, grabbing his secondary sword.
He sprinted right through a poison cloud, coughing, but keeping up the speed, he got right in front of Master and stabbed both of them in the enemy's stomach.
The Master looked surprised for a moment, but then grabbed Jack by the neck and threw him into a wall only to be assaulted by a thrown axe from Ruk'Ur. It grazed his shoulder, but he managed to avoid any major injury.
"You're dead," sounded from behind the Master and for the first time in his life, he felt fear.
How did the little pest managed to get so close without him sensing him? And shouldn't he be dead by now? What the hell was Bartheus doing?!
That was the last thing in his mind as Shadow managed to drive two of his daggers into Master's skull and end his reigh of terror.
The Master was dead before he hit the floor and with him, his domain started to fall apart.
Sinister was reaching his limit when he felt the shift in this place's magic.
"You can lift your barrier, little mage," Bartheus said, "I am myself again."
Sinister did as he was told and Bartheus promptly caught him as he collapsed. Then he started making his way toward the other three. The mage wouldn't forgive him if he left them there.
When they heard him approach, they looked up from Jack who was out cold.
"I can keep this realm alive long enough for you four to escape, but you have to be quick," he told them as he handed Sinister to the rouge.
"What about you?" Ruk'Ur asked.
"I cannot live outside of Steeprock, for this place is both my life and my grave," Bartheus said, "now go, the portal won't be stable for much longer."
Heeding his advice, Ruk'Ur threw Jack over his shoulder and helped Shadow with Sinister, who was awake already, but for now too weak to walk without support. They made their way to the portal as fast as they could and quickly stepped through.
They appeared back in the area where they first encountered Master. It was still littered with naga bodies and the ground was destroyed, but the magical doorway was open.
"Through there," Sinister weakly pointed.
"Aye aye captain," Shadow grinned and started walking, Ruk'Ur hot on their heels.
They stepped through and found themselves in a small but cozy room. There was a bed and several bookshelves. Also a desk and a chair.
On the desk was a note and a sack with something in it.
"It's the druid rocks," Sinister said when he was close enough to feel the energy radiating from them.
"It would be nice if these were returned where they belong," Ruk'Ur read the note out loud.
"And there's the heir," Jack pointed from his place over Ruk'Ur's shoulder as he regained consciousness.
True to his words, there was a body lying on the bed in deep sleep.
"Should we wake him?" Ruk'Ur asked.
"Hell no!" Jack grinned and dropped to his feet.
"You carry the brat," he pointed to Ruk'Ur and went to snag the sack with the druidic stones Sinister was about to take.
"I'll be carrying this," he grinned and gave his mage a playfull kiss.
"Hey!" Shadow suddenly called.
"What?" they called back.
"There's something behind this bookshelf."
"And there's a hidden button right next to it," added Sinister when he took a look. "I suggest you press it, as it is probable that the shelf is hiding a way out of here."
"I'll ge the heir," Ruk'Ur stated.
Shadow pressed the button and the bookshelf slid down into the ground, revealing a portal hidden behind it. The group took one look at each other and then they stepped into it and vanished from the Olde Steeprock Town.
And from his realm, the new Master was watching them, smiling.
Teehee! And that concludes the Missing Heir segment. And you still don't know the actual name of the heir. Only what I intended to use, but I never said I would. So to find that out, you will have to wait for the next segment to start. Which might take some thime, because I have no idea which mod to use now. But the wait probably won't be as long as this one was! I promise to try and be faster than that at least.