Beyond the door was a large chamber. One of darkness and cold stone, with walls that stretched up far beyond what the eye could see. In the centre of the room, a large stone platform sat. All below looked upon it with reverence.
"Where are we?"
"This... is where my last breath was taken." Alaion replied, his eyes locked on the high platform. His white light rose high into the sky, casting a pale light across the chamber. There, on the walls, were skeletons. Dozens of them, their bones old and brittle, armour once worn but now rusted and broken, chains around their limbs. Darkness had been their final sight.
Finally, atop the platform sat another skeleton, this one different. For its body not as decomposed as the others, its flesh still held to the bone. It was chained, like all the rest.
"Is that your body?"
"No."
*Fwoooossshhh*
The air's pressure changed suddenly, the darkness of the room grew thicker, and the light of the wisp was pushed away.
The darkness took shape, a dark fog swirled around the room like a vortex. An orb of dark purple energy began to manifest within the darkness, as it swirled around the platform. It pulsed and grew brighter with each second.
Finally, the darkness condensed, and from within, a figure emerged. A male figure, clad in armour of abyssal black. A long sword in one hand, and a shield in the other. Its face was hidden behind a helmet of the darkest black, but its eyes could be seen, glowing purple malice.
"Brother wait-" Alaion called, but too late. The spirit had already drawn its weapon. With a single motion; its form blinked instantly to appear before the Reaper, its sword raised high above its head.
*Clang*
Eren blocked with a sword of shadow. The impact from the strike caused the air to ripple and the floor beneath to crack. A powerful blow that could easily kill most men.
*Clang* *Clang* *Clang*
The dark spirit attacked, its blade moving faster than any human could. Eren dodged, and deflected, the blade passing mere inches from the Reaper. The speed was impressive, but nothing compared to what Eren could do.
A blast of dark energy pushed the Reaper back against a wall, knocking loose stones from the floor and walls. With the moment's respite; the dark spirit charged forward; its blade raised high.
"Stop." Alaion appeared before the creature, blocking the attack. "Brother... He has come to liberate us."
"..." The dark spirit said nothing, its eyes narrowed with predatory instinct, ready to attack again at any moment.
"He is here to free our souls. To free you of your burden." It spoke softly, placing a gentle hand on the spirit's chest.
The dark spirit hesitated for a moment, then lowered its weapon, sheathing its sword. With the threat of violence gone, the pressure lessened, and the shadows receded.
"Please... follow me." Alaion led up to the cylindrical pedestal. Stone stairs kept barely touched by the feet of any being.
Closer now to the chained body. Arms and legs shackled, forced to kneel atop a rune circle. Mysterious sigils and elvish words. The words were lost on Eren, but their intent was clear. To bind. To confine the dead to watch over those below.
"My brother... Talion. The former captain of the guard. He was bound by the goblins to watch all those underneath. They tortured us... For so long. When they found no sport in it anymore… They abandoned us, our existence forgotten save for him." Alaion knelt by the corpse of his brother.
"All except Talion passed on. Forever condemned to remain, watching our bones until the last stars fade. A cruel fate..."
The Reaper glanced down to the purple phantom. Madness had warped the mind of the spirit.
"Why do you remain? Why not pass on like your kin?"
Alaion's gaze remained on the body of its brother, eyes of soft white light were dim. "He would be lonely without me. I would spend an eternity by his side."
The Reaper unfurled his whip. No matter the crimes of Talion in life. No soul deserved such a fate.
*Slice* *Crack*
Without a thought for the intricates for the ritual that had been keeping the spirit trapped, Eren sliced the floor. Cutting clean through the stone. The runes and symbols no longer held power. They lost their glow. The magic faded, and with it the shadows that bound the spirit of Talion to this world. Free at last from the bonds that held it.
"Thank you." Alaion spoke, tears of white light flowing from its eyes. The spirit stood, looking down at the spirit of his brother. Yet it remained; looking up mournfully at its brother.
"Why hasn't we left yet?" Eren asked confused, turning to the wisp of white light.
"He is waiting."
"For what?" Eren looked at the dark spirit. It began to climb the stairs at an agonizingly slow pace. Each step seeming as though the spirit was being pulled back by some unseen force. Yet, despite the pain and suffering that it felt, the spirit did not slow down.
"For me..."
"I, Alaion. Last of the kingdom of Alaisa, hereby pledge loyalty to thee. The master of shadows. Lord of the night, Reaper of souls. May we forever serve thee." The spirit bowed. Kneeling before the Reaper.
The dark spirit of Talion finally reached the top of the staircase. He walked towards Eren, kneeling with his brother.
"Master of shadows... I offer you, my blade." The spirit's voice was cold and emotionless. A voice that had been deprived of all life and feeling for all of time.
"You owe nothing, you have your freedom. Why do you choose to stay and serve?"
"We... the spirits of Alaisa. Know of your ring. Our people would have once called you the bringer of the apocalypse. However... They have long since perished. We are free to choose. A man who would offer unconditional freedom; to those who have been denied such a right. Is a man worthy of our loyalty. Through death and through life." Alaion spoke softly, full of reverence.
"Once more, you would bind yourself to another? Is this what you want?"
"Yes"
"...Yes..."
"I accept."
The tendrils of the ring envelope the two spirits. Dragging their essence to the void. Alone now only the air of dread remained. A thick blanket of fear and malice that remained from years of torture, death, and sorrow.
*Wrrrrrr*
The shadows began to stir, excitement underfoot with the new additions. From these shadows rose two figures. Their black armour gleaming in the darkness.
Both wore long feathered cloaks of black, raven feathers that drifted gently in the windless catacombs. Their faces hidden behind helms akin to crows' Large circular holes revealed their azure eyes, glowing in the dark.
Alaion was on the left, significantly lighter than his brother, white feathers, and the grace of a noble knight. A Rapier by side. Clearly the virtuous one.
Talion, to the right. Clad in far darker armour. Slightly hunched with a meaner scowl in the helm. Talion carried dual curved swords at the waist, leaving this one to be the one of Vice.
"I didn't summon you?"
*Grab*
Virtue grabbed a hold of its new master's arm. The ring takes verbal communication abilities from all shadows; however, its eyes conveyed a message to the reaper. 'Follow.'
"Show me then..."
The pair metamorphosed into a pair of crows. One pitch black One dark white. Their wings beat, a powerful from relatively small form. Taking to the sky, heading deeper down the prison. Deeper and deeper, they flew. Down past the cells. Passing by the skeletons of the dead, to an area that was completely devoid of light, and sound.
A sealed door that had long since been left abandoned, no modern key opens this lock.
Its large stone door covered with runes and elvish symbols. Yet as the birds approached it suddenly cracked open. Reacting to the last vestiges of elvish magic in these halls. Their presence enough to activate the ancient seals.
*Crack*
Inside was a room of grey stone, lit only by a single glowing orb in the centre of the chamber. Its soft white light cast shadows across the wall, a place that once held a powerful being.
Pulsing with a similar pulse to when it found its lost armoured brethren. A piece of itself deep within a fallen elven empire.
The tendrils took the light into the black void. A sense of completion washed over Eren. As if the puzzle had found another piece.