Lilliana stood silently in the Black Garden. Her once brilliant ring was emitting a maleficent energy that seemed darker than black. Mersk paced around the throne muttering to himself.
"That Shu-Ra escaped!" He grabbed Lilliana by the neck, "You let her escape!" He threw her to the floor, enraged, "Useless! What use is a standing sovereign if not to eliminate the one enemy I needed defeated?"
Lilliana lay where she was throne, her eyes were vacant, her body nearly a hollowed out shell. Beside her lay Zeek's body. His eyes stared back at hers absently, the hole where she'd torn out his heart still open, black tendrils still wriggling at the edges.
"Zeek, what have I done," a small voice echoed in the recesses of Lilliana's mind. Having lost the last grip on her body, she was trapped inside this festering shell, waiting for the sweet release that came once Mersk and the Heart of Sorrows had leeched the last of her divine essence.
"Ah," Mersk said, "A distraction!" He leapt up and skipped out of the room. "More wayward adventurers to fill the ranks. This," he chuckled darkly, "Will be fun."
Lilliana's eyes followed Mersk as he left the room before settling back on Zeek's empty gaze. Her lips moved, releasing only rasping sounds from.
"Is this how you felt?"
Lilliana's eyes went wide.
She looked on, black tears falling from her eyes as Zeek's stitched body rustled before blinking, taking in one desperate breath.
Two figures trudged through the snowy plains north of the Gates of Kal'Tas. Their cloaks were grimy and worn, the black stained snow caked on the bottom of their boots. The winds were relentless and unforgiving as they pushed forward through the biting cold. The horizon was lit by the sinking sun, giving way to the encroaching dark.
Behind them, miles to the south, black veins crawled across the landscape like tentacles from the darkest depths. The corruption from the Heart of Sorrows spread farther each day—villages consumed, forests withering, the dead rising. They had a year. Maybe less.
One of the cloaked strangers pressed ahead to the hillside. The spectacle before them was nothing short of breathtaking. A large floating crystal illuminated the city ahead. The city itself was surrounded by a dome made of magical essence with golden glyphs blazing across its surface.
"This is...marvelous," said one figure, rooted in place by an enchanted astonishment.
"It is," replied the other, "The brotherhood of the Silent Storm calls this city home."
They looked at one another for a moment, soaking up the view before continuing their journey.
"He's here then."
"Let us find him." The words were heavy, even more so with the thick accent that clung to them.
The two started making their way down, barely avoiding the rocky outcrops under the snow. The fastest but most direct way to the Citadel was born the steep hill and through the traveler's checkpoint into the city.
Getting entrance was a trivial matter, passing through to the city and through the barrier that kept the encroaching corruption from entering the confines of the Citadel. The streets were well paved and the architecture smooth but logical. Every building followed a pattern suited to its purpose, without exception. The whimsical nature observed in various aspects of other cultures was notably absent here.
"Where do we begin to look? This place," one figure murdered, "It sets my senses on edge."
"It is meant to," said the other, "The magic here is thick and concentrated. Everything beneath this dome here is subject to the rules of those who keep it in place. Sacrifice one freedom for security."
"Then we start at the guildhall?"
"No," the taller figure replied, "We start at the college."
The streets were less labyrinthian but more befuddling than Estus. This place was harder to navigate without a strong attunement to the magic arts. The two happened upon the college after a short while, the taller figure leading the two.
Students gathered and conversed both in and out of the college's gates. Young mages learning their attunement and gaining prowess through the teachings of more experienced adventurers. They came in every shape, size, and color, but amidst the sea of fledgling mages, one stood out. He was tall with medium build, cinnamon brown hair and brown eyes. One of the figures walked towards him, smooth and deliberate.
"Excuse me," the figure said to the young mage, "You are a student at the college, yes?"
"Yes sir," the boy said dutifully, "Are you a new professor?"
"I am not," the figure chuckled, "Pray tell, I've not seen a mage of your build before. You seem more attuned to the knights guild."
The young mage let out a shy laugh, "My father would tell me that too."
"Was your father a knight," the other figured asked, catching up.
"He was, by training, I suppose," the boy replied.
"Perhaps I've heard of him," mused the taller figure, "What is his name?"
"Verris," the boy replied proudly, "He was the strongest knight from the guilds out east. He even started his own company!"
The two figures looked at each other, sharing a sober moment.
"Do you know of him," the boy asked quizzically. "He may not be the easiest to work with, but he was always the strongest in a fight."
One figure removed his hood. Golden lines shown at his wrists as his hand felt to his waistband, disappearing beneath his clock. The man's long flowing locs and cinnamon brown skin shocked the boy.
"Sir, where are you from?"
"I," the man started, "Am from the Kemet. My name is Amon, and the woman beside me is Kerris." She removed her hood as well, eyes red with tears. "We traveled with your father months ago..."
"How was he? I haven't gotten any letters for a while so he must be on a new job," the boy said proudly. "He's never short on work!"
"I'm sorry," Kerris said, hugging the confused boy.
"What for?"
"Your father asked that I bring this to you," Amon revealed Regalia from his cloak, her Ruby eye Dom and inactive. "She is yours."
"But..." the boy stammered, taking Regalia in both hands, "I just got his letter last month, he said he'd tell me about his adventure... He can't be..." The boy sank to his knees. "What happened to my father?"
"He fell in the Heart of Sorrows," Kerris replied, "As did the man who recruited us. Your father was a brilliant fighter, and a great man."
Amon put a hand on the boy to console him. He lifted the boy to his feet and hugged him as he wept.
Days passed, Amon and Kerris gave Elias space to grieve over his father. On the evening of the 5th day, Elias returned to them seeking help from both Heka and Amon.
"I have a ritual to perform, and I need your help. No one from the college would condone it, but I need to go through with this."
Amon stood, "As I told your father, I will help train or teach you in any way I can."
"Thank you, sir. Please meet me at the college's ritual site, I only need about an hour to prepare."
"Amon is fine," the nobleman said, "I will meet you there."
"Please, bring lady Heka as well."
Heka swirled into existence from Amon's garments, "Of course."
When Amon and Heka met Elias, he stood in the center of a ritual site with regalia surrounded by glyphs. "I need you to power those glyphs, sir—Amon, I mean."
"Of course, but what for?"
"For my father," Elias said darkly.
"As you wish. Heka?"
"If my father was right, she can heal some injuries right?"
"That is correct," Heka stated.
"Please, shroud me with that healing when this begins…and a silence spell."
Heka and Amon shared a cautious glance. "Let us begin," Amon said with a deep sigh. The golden lines on his skin glowed as the essence of his flames poured into the glyphs around Regalia.
Elias whispered the words to his enchantment, causing as Regalia floated before him. As second passed, her ornate grip liquified and hurled itself toward Elias. Heka put a shroud of golden smoke around the boy as the liquid metal dug itself into his skin.
The boy didn't scream, not at first, but as the last drops of metal forced themselves into his body, Elias began to shake. Regalia's ruby eye exploded into a cloud of hungry scarlet shards the floated placidly for a few moments. Then, without warning, they peppered his body, shredding through his skin like shrapnel, burying pieces of the hungry core throughout the boy's body.
The shriek that escaped Elias was shrill, but muffled. Heka's silencing dampened the sound but was unable to cover the entirety of his screams.
"This is cruel," Kerris shouted as she approached the ritual site.
"This is what he called us to do, and I will respect his wish," Amon said, though his gaze was saddened at the site of the boy's immense pain.
"But this is insane," Kerris bellowed, "He's dying!"
The open wounds healed, covering the shards of Regalia's core, as she ate at the son of her previous owner. Heka's golden veil fell after a few more painful moments.
The screaming had stopped, but Elias's body had begun to gain mass as Regalia incorporated herself into his body, granting him strength in exchange for the blood in his body.
"My father told me about the last job you all went on," Elias said through ragged breaths, "If he failed, I will go in his place. My father was a man of his word, and I will not let whatever happened tarnish his legacy."
"This boy is truly his father's son," Heka whispered into Amon's thoughts.
"As always, you are right my love," Amon thought in response. "Come," he said softly, looking into the distance at the looming dark, "We have much to discuss."