The Keepers of Chaos: A Vault of Hell

Asher Exitium: V

The Fools of The City: V

The morning couldn't have come quicker for Asher. While he was averse to working with a band of nobodies, he knew Markos at least, which.. Didn't really mean much, but.. Markos was an alert guy; he had good sense fifty percent of the time. And had saved his life before. Oh, who was he kidding? He liked the half-elf. Asher sat up in his bed and began reapplying the straps of his armor; he wasn't the kind of person to waste time.

"Hey, it's Asher, right?" He looked up at the doorway to his room to see the figure of Riu, the annoying bimbo who had attempted to sleep with Alekzandr the night prior. Or maybe just molest him?

"Yeah." Asher stood up and finished the final straps to his shin guards. "Did Markos do something?" Expecting some trouble from his friend, he looked Riu up and down. Blonde hair, striking frost eyes, a decently standard figure, and a large chest. She seemed medium height, maybe five foot five? Six? While he could glean some physical attributes, the vast majority of Riu was hidden below a dark black cloak. He didn't trust people in coverings; always something to hide, and the idiots who wanted to stay warm should've just worn a coat like him.

"What? No. No, uh.. the.. cultist is fine. I was checking on everyone, ensuring we were all getting ready." Riu's words were minced, leading Asher to distrust her; while he assumed that Markos was probably not doing anything at the moment, she still spoke as if something had to be hidden. Her eyes flashed when he figured she wasn't sure where to look with his mask on.

"Gotcha.." He made a mental note not to trust the girl. Sliding his scimitar onto his side, Asher exited the room while Riu continued to hug the door frame.

Asher passed Alexander's room; the locked door didn't surprise him at all. Was Riu just unaware of the shit she pulled the night prior? He passed the open door of Herod's room. With the feats he had displayed last night, it wouldn't be surprising if the guy was a warlock; in fact, that's probably exactly what Herod was; his sword glowed weirdly, and.. damnit that spell, the stupid spell, he was all too familiar with. "heh." Asher chuckled to himself; despite Markos's prayers and shit, he was still far from being a warlock; it seemed that Herod was younger than him and still had more 'power.' Although. He knew better than to underestimate the ball of chaos that was Markos. "Shit, Markos."

Asher had been standing outside Herod's room for far too long. Sprinting down the hallway, he found Markos's room and opened the door. It wasn't locked. He'd left the healing to experts, but.. there was something that couldn't be healed and never would be. Stepping into the room, his visored gaze met a shivering figure. Looking around the room, he saw random pamphlets with the same title, which had been scribbled onto furiously. Markos sat in the center of a bed, holding his knees against his chest, shaking violently. His body was soaked with sweat. "Bad dreams?" Asher approached slowly, holding his hands out for comfort.

"They're here!" Markos practically lunged from his bed at Asher, who sidestepped the cultist quickly. "I can hear the dreams! The gleaming schemes! They-they're here, it's here!" Markos grabbed his leg and shook, his eyes welling with tears. "We have to wake him; he will-"Asher cut Markos off with a slight shove. Kneeling down, he steadily set his hand on Markos's head. This was a once-in-a-month mind fuck.

"Shh, no one is here. Nothing is coming." Markos shook furiously as his purple eyes darted around the room; Asher felt that Markos could see things in the room that he could not.

"Please- don't leave me alone again-"Asher cut Markos off.

"Yeah yeah, of course. I won't leave you, Markos.." He felt lousy lying, but.. he'd lied countless times. He tried sleeping in the same room as Markos; the kid screamed and shook the nightmares, sometimes keeping him up all night and keeping Asher awake too." It was better to let the kid sleep alone and deal with the aftermath. He looked like a failed River of Styx oath breaker. Just.. tortuous.