240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbdm0WD4B7
“How do you endure it?” Letifer asked, gesturing to the cloaked warrior’s now bandaged wrist, as the two trudged away from Belfennse.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmfHvgliE6o
She answered him, “I may choose to ignore my pain when I see fit, but to be spared of it completely is rare. It is a rarity you possess my lord.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tU4WEWkk0
As the two trudged on, Letifer asked, “Why do you call me that?”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYdqs7DIRC
“You are a knight, are you not?” The woman in the cloak responded.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbjJVOHUjz
“I was a knight. In the time when I was anything besides a dead man.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNX51rg8cxQ
She turned to him, “You are the same man now as you once were. That is why they hunt you.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HISpICYG4
“I am no different than the Rott-Kin.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJZB9BuyCR
“The Rott-Kin are returned as beasts, my lord, driven only by hunger and the will of their master. Your will is your own, so too are your desires.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38IK4wYTYz
There was a moment of silence following that.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnRYMzmCgj
“Should you insist on my former title, by what name do I know you?” Letifer asked.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWvIY9YqZJ
The fighter was silent for a moment.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡse4aF7Qze0
“Halyenne.” she answered.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBcNKeRjivm
Letifer responded, “In that case, Halyenne, perhaps you could disclose our destination.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiteglOM9s5
“I was tasked to deliver you to Fereldin, where my liege awaits us.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHVzHPcC1A
“Your liege?” Letifer asked.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFuooSPeX6
“You will meet him in due time.” Halyenne answered.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDXjr9fb00
“I suppose I’ll have to take your word.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrGdOdvFyeS
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCBKQzehZn
____________________________________________________________
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57WpMGISmR
It was rather an unsuitable place, for his purpose. It was dim, and cluttered. And it was certainly no boon, that Aleric had practised this art scarcely through the decades past.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡreNpyNkzE3
He’d received word from his hand, which now, was a rather ironic title. Word of success, yes. But also of a need for labour. Labour that he now commenced.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuEc6PXfEc
Upon the table in the Inn’s wine cellar was a mound of red and pink, standing like a beaten down mountain. Beside it was an assortment of bones. When practised correctly, sarcomancy was a powerful tool, capable of great things. It had served him well in ages past. And as he moulded the flesh, kneading it with his hands, his mind wandered to the great fields of gore. Streams of blood in the orange sand, flesh hewn and torn from the bone.
They plagued him through his years, and likely they would continue to do so, long after the end. For he’d learned in his time, that death is rarely the end. There are far worse fates, but none better.
He spent days on it, after all it was his passion. Carefully analysing the measurements, adjusting for the possible insertion of bones, and of course, refining the porcelain.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasoAE7QgNQ
But bodily sorcery was not his only talent. He was a man of science, to some degree. Specifically, that of the mechanical, and chemical sort. The frame was built of steel, and would remain rather durable. Having inserted it into the product, Aleric decided to add an additional boon to the design: a layer of leather, shallow in the flesh, to protect the essential structures even further.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBxdAaJTlM
It was a day after the product was complete, that she did finally arrive, with their quarry in tow. He went to meet them, in the dead of night, where those who ever watched would be blinded, if only a slight bit. He knew it to be a fool’s errand, having known full well that they knew of his dealings in the dark, though he feigned ignorance. No, it brought him a certain comfort, going about his deeds in the shadows. Like a lad, hiding beneath a quilt. A false sense of security, that deep in his mind, was known to be folly.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpcrxy4lylI
Thus, he strode out to meet them in the shadowy streets.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf44oAZteP5
____________________________________________________________
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlbSvJ9M0z
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2H5MZBcgBX
“My liege will meet us here.” Halyenne stated, as she and Letifer stopped within an alleyway, having discreetly entered the capital city of Malekott.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcfoKufjmY
“Good.” he spoke softly, having nothing more to say.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDZPIQzUCP
The face of the shadow was one he found oh so familiar. It was strange, actually. Many who live speak of feeling a warmth in the comforting glow of the light. Just as he now, could feel the dark. There was no warm glow. Nor was it a frigid grasp, as he’d felt in his final moments. Rather, it was lukewarm, to a fraction of a degree. So much so, that he could not discern where his hand would end and the air began. It was as though he were a part of it, like he’d melted into it. A single drop of water in a black ocean. And for that, he felt an iota of pity for the living. They had their warmth, yet he needed none. He had his waters.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8VAiCwTAg
It was then that the footsteps echoed in the remains of his ears. And so too, did a voice.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8PxoTckx4
“Halyenne. A relief it is to meet your arrival.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnamyxgwiS
Letifer knew this voice. It was raspy, and almost groaning. Yet also dignified, and soft-spoken. It was the voice of the Earl Dascule.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7G0JK3pMp
“My lord.” Halyenne responded, taking to a knee, “It is my honour to bring you Sir Letifer of house Mourse.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC3VjfO1lai
Letifer was quick to join her at a knee. Though the laws of life no longer ruled him, the laws of the living did. And some part of him deep within sought to maintain even an iota of chivalry. In fact, it helped him to retain his sanity. To know he had not lost whatever of himself remained.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSOj3Ohv3B
“Sir Letifer. You are well met, and I am glad to find you in safety.” The Earl stated welcomingly, as he turned to the phantom.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDGwYZFIGd
As Letifer stood to greet the man, he quietly stated, “Not but Letifer, my liege. I am no lord.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGz5gWSv6z4
The Earl turned to him, “A knight falls, and is remembered as just that. Even through death, he is a knight even still.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeT55RbQAeS
“As you wish, my lord.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWRukA0wWx
“With all respect due, my liege,” Halyenne began, “I would suggest moving to somewhere more private.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBygt2jmO9y
“Quite right.” Dascule replied, “I’ve made arrangements of course. Come, follow.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkml6qYnGiN
The Earl led the two through the cobblestone streets, blackened under the blanket of the night, but infrequently illuminated by the crescent moon, and the occasional smouldering flambeaux. Until at last, they came upon an inn, not a light in the house.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ23CKCFCWeT
Taking the still dimly glowing lantern from the post outside, the ageing vassal led the two into the alleyway beside the inn, where lay the entrance to its wine cellar.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHsTZ05Fdvx
Once inside, the Earl lit several torches, illuminating the casks of wine upon the shelves. In the middle of the room was a blood stained table, with cots located near the walls.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu9Eu12Y2Ug
“Now, we’d best begin work on that hand.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpClnpxN29
Letifer watched for the next hour, as the Earl unwrapped a severed hand, and began the process of sarcomany. It was something that he had not seen in his living years, as far as he knew. It seemed a painful process, as well. Having to peel back the flesh, in order to attach the steel frame to the bone. The only sorcery Letifer seemed to witness, was the seemingly magical ability to sustain such pain. That was before the wrist had been stitched. It was then, that Dascule began his true art. It was then that by some dark ways, the flesh melded together, which seemed a painful process in itself. The flesh, grinding itself on either end of the stitch, as though it were a link of worst, only to swirl around the bone with a sickening and audible sound. Eventually, the grotesque deed was done.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1AvNVv6B0G
“I do apologise that I was unable to procure organic matter for the bone structure. But, the steel should be more durable. Should you desire, we may be able to replace it, once Lucretia arrives.” The Earl explained.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EXdoXrQAt
“My thanks to thee, my lord.” Halyenne replied, as she experimented with the movements of the new appendage, “You sent word to the Lady?”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAClZGg9Dx
“Indeed. Now, I really must be going. I’d hope not to raise suspicion in my absence.” Dascule stated.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BCKqo8SoC
“Of course,” Halyenne responded, “Discretion is a rather precious commodity as of late.”
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8gNvPx4ZNS
Letifer had no words for either of the two. He simply lay there, upon the straw cot. Hoping desperately for the sleep that would never come. The sleep he hadn’t had since he fell.
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3oEPFNbrT
240Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMnnac7863
ns 15.158.61.20da2
