The Stone Sorceress

Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Before the tapestried wall, the devil cut a frightful picture. Astraea loved Eros. He would kill him, what would she do then? Thanatos massaged his firm brow, and if she fought against him, he would kill her too.

Thanatos brooded in this state for some time, and, when at last he was calm, he went to his study. There he searched the many shelves stacked with scrolls until he found what he was looking for. He spread it out upon his desk and began to pour over it. The wax from his candle stained the parchment.

202.02.19

We fear her power, her might still. The sister is slain but will her elixir last?

202.03.10

It is strange to look upon her face. Is she still conscious? The smirk she wears shakes my very foundation. I see it in my dreams, my nightmares. Why does she act so?

202.03.28

The stone sorceress terrifies the others and I. We have resolved to bury the forsaken castle beneath Lucretia, we fear not move her. She scares us in death as she did in life. We will move the ground, and bury the castle. Upon it we will begin anew. The sun has set on the sorceri, and it rises upon the vita obscura.

Anon Justin

Thanatos's firm hand caressed his chin. He didn't move; his gaze fixed upon the scroll until at last, very much fatigued, he succumbed to sleep. Rising the next morning he breakfasted at table; his eyes didn't stray from the vacant seat opposite him.

He then stepped outside where it was a fine morning. Shielding his eyes from the sun, he saw Phanishwar grazing upon the plain.

"Come, let us put an end to this," he grumbled to himself.

The journey calmed Thanatos's wrath, that is to say, his choleric mien abated slightly. Many hours passed.

The walls he thought he would never again see spanned the horizon. Thanatos never did return to the city that he once risked his life to defend. It was a long time ago. The sound of the grapeshot, and the cuirassiers charge echoed in his head. Sentiment overcame him because the memories were many.

Eros.

The rogue was silent. Much had changed since then. Things were not as clear as they were made out to be in the academy. Through the course of life matters had become convoluted. Bahamut, the pact and the watchers, the cursed vita obscura. He must perform what remedy the world needed.

Phanishwar landed. Thanatos alighted and advanced to the gate grasping the pommel of his sword. The dark knight stood against a resplendent landscape. The sentinels looked upon him with distrust in their eyes. When Thanatos endeavoured to pass they confronted him. He didn't have the correct papers, and was asked to leave. They would have done better to have let him enter because the chevalier smiled curtly, and in one swift movement unsheathed his blade, lacerating two men so severely that they died within moments.

The remaining sentinels, advanced but they were readily despatched with elegant swordplay. The gate rank of death. It was Thanatos's signature now, a trail he left in his wake.

King Ixion III sat upon his throne tending to matters of state. He'd aged much since we last saw him at the Lemurian ball, when he'd sent Eros on his quest. Aurora was popular with the people, and her disappearance had been noticed. Lemuria also was furious: how could Hyperion perform so uncouth an act as to rescind the princess's hand in marriage? Their armies readied for war.

It was then the king looked up from the many scrolls he had to pore over: he heard swords clash, men scream in agony, bodies fall heavily to the floor. The door was kicked in and Thanatos emerged with a bloody blade in his hand.