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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 2732336" data-attributes="member: 143">Heh, could be worse; I could be one of those authors that only updates once a month or so.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> * * * * * Chapter 494In the shadows, the Chosen waited.  The only illumination was the coals in the braziers set in a half-circle around the dais, their ruddy light shining off the glossy black sheen of the chamber’s walls.  The light was insufficient to reveal details, only suggesting at the considerable size of the room.  Thick stone pillars supported the ceiling above, which was utterly lost in darkness, giving the illusion of a vast endless space.The light also reflected on the faces of the occupants that crowded the chamber.  There were dozens of them, humanoid, but with monstrous visages and sightless white orbs for eyes that glowed redly in the glow of the braziers.  The light also had some odd effect upon the mostly-naked creatures, for it seemed to shine through their skin, as though their flesh was translucent, infusing them with a carcerian nimbus that added an additional fierceness to their appearance.  Their hides were marked, criss-crossed with scars and piercings that looked to have some sort of ritual significance.  All were armed, mostly with heavy axes of black metal, although some bore small swords, metal bludgeons, or curved knives tucked into the wiry leather harnesses they wore across their bodies. The creatures all faced the dais, where the Chosen sat upon a plain stone bier, shrouded in a long cowled robe of heavy gray fibre.  “Bring the petitioners forward,” came a voice from within the cowl, thick and gravelly but decidedly feminine. The cloaked figure rose as the gathering of creatures parted to reveal several wide-eyed humans, some still struggling against the unyielding grip of their captors.  There were five of them in all.  The last one was unconscious, his left eye a bloody mess, dragged easily by the strong humanoid warrior who’d taken him.  The humans stared up at the cloaked figure in obvious terror.  Her identity was lost within the darkness of the cowl, but a small gray stone floated around her head, animated in its lazy orbit by some foreign magic.  She lifted an arm, the robe falling away to reveal a slender, feminine hand that was so transparent to be almost invisible, like the appendage of a ghost.     “Wha… what do you want with us?” one of the young humans managed to squeak.“I am the Chosen of the Cha-Sabratoth’ka,” she intoned, pointing at them with an eerily indistinct finger.  “In your tongue, surfacers, that means, ‘the children of the ordeal.’  For many years we have wandered the underworld.  All hands are raised against us, for we exist outside of the bounds of mere mortal folk.  We have been through the fire and through the flensing, and the weak have been pared away like the dust.  Those that remain have become strong, but we continue always the trial, to pare away those that are not worthy.”The humans could only look up at her, fixed by the potency of her power and the iron hands of those holding them. “At last, after passage of the tests set for us, we were guided to this place, the Cairn of the Fade.  Here, and in the halls above, we found the true purpose of our search, the gateway to the evermore, that beyond this world of ordeal and suffering… release… truth… deliverance.”“Oom bar sabrat,” the gathered creatures chanted as one, causing the men to flinch at the cold potency of that united sound.  “At first we feared that gift, the touch of the Fade.  But then, it was revealed, that this was not another ordeal, but rather the final test.  The Fade has taken some of us, and those that remain must prepare for the last transition into Beyond.  Ours is the ordeal. Oom bar sabrat.”“Oom bar sabrat,” the collective echoed.  The cloaked figure looked down at the humans cowering before her.  “When we learned of the proximity of your surfacer settlement to the Cairn of the Fade, our final purpose was revealed.  We will bring the Fade to all… such is our purpose, why we have been left in this mortal realm of suffering, while our brothers and sisters have gone ahead into Beyond to prepare the way.  Your people will be first, and you few will have the honor of being the first pilgrims to chart the way for those that must follow.”“Bring forward the vessel,” she commanded. A scarred creature of the same race as those others gathered came up upon the dais from behind, bearing an oblong container that resembled a minature keg, perhaps two feet long and a foot thick.  The bearer’s hide was mangled with carvings, piercings, and fetishes that were too patterned to be anything but deliberate, but it was not evident how a living being could have suffered so much damage without going insane.   The bearer held forth the container prominently as he came forward.  The red light from the coals glimmered on golden runes inlaid into the thick wood, but they were meaningless to the humans, who were not familiar with the gnomish language.  But the obvious veneration given by the creatures and their leader to the device were enough to instill a great fear in them, and they quailed within the grasp of their captors.The robed female produced a small silver cup from under her robe, and extended it to the small spigot on the side of the container.  She touched the rune marker with her other hand, and whispered something, a command, perhaps, although it was barely audible and not in a language that any of those present spoke.  That knowledge had been difficult to come by for the Chosen, as well, but she was a being of great resourcefulness and cunning, and after much effort the little keg had yielded its secrets. A small trickle of liquid issued from the container into the cup.  It only took a second to fill it; the female quickly muttered another word to stop it, and the mutilated acolyte withdrew, remaining on the edge of the dais with his burden. “You will now take into yourselves the gift of the Fade,” she said, moving closer to the first young human with the silver cup extended.  As she came, the two creatures holding him released him, although they remained close at hand, offering little chance of escape. Still, the prisoner lashed out immediately, striking the female’s hand and knocking the silver cup flying.  “Worm!” she hissed.  “You refuse the blessing we would bestow upon you?  You are not worthy!”  And she reached up and drew down her cowl.  Her servants had twisted the other prisoners, turning them away, leaving only the single man to face her.  He tried to break free, but the rough hands drove at his body, offering no escape. He tried to lunge ahead, across the dais, but as he stepped forward he caught sight of the woman looking down at him.  Her features were not at all like the crude visages of the other creatures, the outlines of her form smooth and even sultry.  But her flesh was still nearly transparent, and the red light of the braziers revealed that her skin bore a texture to it, rough like scales. And her hair… it moved, animated by a living force… no, not hair…The young man’s mouth fell open to scream, but he never got a chance. When the other prisoners were turned back toward the dais, the female’s cowl was back in place, and their erstwhile companion stood frozen in mid-lunge, a statue perfectly captured in grainy gray stone.  The medusa gestured, and the acolyte came forward again, bearing the keg.  Another of the creatures had recovered the cup, bowing deeply as he placed it once more into her hand.“Now… let us see if the rest of you are worthy,” she said.</blockquote>

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