The Necromancer's Cauldron

Chapter 10

AN: Happy New Year everyone! Hope next year will be significantly better than 2022! And I hope you'll enjoy reading this chapter, too~

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Chapter 10:

The sound of rustling leaves was the first thing that Drayce recognised as he waded through the murky haze of post-sleep. He uttered a soft groan of discomfort. He felt jittery, as if his body was quivering from all over.

As he worked to open his eyes, he felt the unusual feeling of déjà vu. The sensation, the mental fog, the confusion was all something he had experienced before.

The light was thankfully low as he forced his eyelids to open. Yet, the sight of tall trees was something that he had not been expecting. It took him a few more moments to understand what kind of position he was in. He was on his side, lying on a blanket of some kind. His arms were pulled behind his back, held there by something strong and coarse.

He sighed and slumped against the ground, a bubble of frustration settling in his chest. He was held hostage in the labyrinth. Again. He hoped it wasn't going to be a reoccurring theme!

At least Shashi was ok. Right? He was safe back in the city. Looking after Finan. Getting information out to the others.

Right?

Drayce gritted his teeth as he forced himself into a sitting position. His vision was still hazy and he was unbelievably lightheaded, but he forced himself to look around. He checked the places next to him. If Shashi had been taken hostage along with him, it made sense that they would keep the two hostages together.

But he was alone on the dark brown blanket.

However, he most certainly wasn't alone in the labyrinth.

A few yards away, in the centre of a clearing were about five others, dressed in strange black robes. All identical, made from thick, seemingly cumbersome material. Their hoods were pulled forward, draped over their eyes to reveal only the lower halves of their faces.

They were gathered together several feet away, seemingly unconcerned with him.

One, however, glanced over in his direction and did a doubletake upon realising that Drayce was awake.

"My Lord, he is awake." Drayce recognised that voice to be that of Terence, the scholar from the museum.

Drayce tugged at his restraints idly as the hooded figures parted to reveal another.

A celestian. He was tall, quite muscular in build. He was completely bald, however, with his right ear the normal shape of a celestian, but the other torn and scarred. Severed violently, from a previous injury.

By first appearance, Drayce thought he had black skin. But as the celestian moved closer and Drayce's gaze cleared, he saw that he actually had eerie, icy blue skin that was marked in inky black etching and markings. The designs were eccentric, seemingly holding no true purpose or meaning.

Whatever meaning those markings held, they were something that the celestian took joy in showing off. If him walking around shirtless, only wearing a pair of loose black pants that were tied with a torn piece of white cloth around his hips were any indication.

And as he stood over Drayce, he saw that he had pitch-black eyes. No whites, no irises, no pupils. Just a void of black.

"This is...?" the Celestian began, his voice hoarse and cool, yet somehow on the verge of excitement.

"Yes, Lord Nukpana," Terence quickly scuttered to the Celestian's side. "This is the one you wanted."

That celestian was...?