Child of Ember - Chapter 23

The streets by the river are filled with vendors packing their wares. Occasionally one swears silently to himself as the rain pours down, soaking him and his wares. Mostly the street is empty, the revelers long since retired to drier festivities.
As the group approaches the latest scene, they hear soft weeping and coarse laughter. Muffled thuds, unmistakable sounds of fist on flesh echo through the night...

Alex listens a moment, to get the direction of the sounds and heads in that direction. She approaches through the shadows, quiet as death, in an attempt to sneak upon the scene unnoticed.

Lit stops and holds up his hand to stop his compatriots as well. He listens for a moment, and points to the sounds he hears. Then he slowly starts to walk toward where the sounds are coming from, motioning for the others to follow.

The sound is coming from the ruins of a ruined building up near the waterfront.
It has two unlighted stories and a gateless stonewall that seems to crumble in on itself. Even were the gate intact, there is little doubt that the wall would stop any ingress.

Celestia's ears perk up at the sounds. She motions for the others to stay near her as she casts a spell.
She casts Invis. 10 ft radius.
"That should help us as we get a closer look." Celestia draws her dagger and moves closer to the sounds.

Griffen moves up with the group scanning the surrounding shadows before taking to those shadows himself. He moves silently through the shadows towards the crumbling house and hops over the wall when he meets it. He notes the layout of the courtyard and then moves to one of the first floor windows to peek in.

The yard is weed-choked, there is little here of interest other than a equally weed-choked brick walk. The windows of the manor are unlighted and Griffen can see little inside, other than shadows moving here and there. As he looks in he notices the effect of Celestia's spell/ He now casts neither reflection nor shadow, it is as though he were a ghost...

Alex moved toward the nearby window and looked inside. She hoped there was a light source from within, or they'd be going in blind.

The ranger moves around the edge of the building slowly looking in the windows. He moves quickly without regard to the sound of his tred on the grounds. He looks for a way into the building and that may already be open and makes his way in. If he doesnt find an open door he peeks through an open window to get a good idea of what's going on.

He finds no open doors and the windows are too dark to see into.

Alex headed around to the side of the building after getting a good idea of what was inside. She was the shade of the ranger near the other side of the building. Motioning him to get his attention, she points to herself, then her ear, and holds up two fingers.

She draws her rapiers and prepares to go in.

The door is unlocked, and hangs from a single rusted hinge at an angle. It will be difficult to enter

Since entering quietly isn't really an option, Alex draws her rapiers and listens for the sound of breathing near the door. If she hears nothing, she pulls her foot back and kicks the door in, then moves to the side incase anything is waiting to come through the door from the other side.

Lit watches Alexi as she kicks in the door and draws his dagger with his right hand, a wicked-looking weapon with a wavy blade that looks cast of burning embers itself. The fire-colored blade glints in the pale light, while the hilt seems to draw into itself all light around it. His orange eyes, for a moment, seem to reflect the demonic light the blade looks to give off, but the moment after it seems to happen, he is the same Lit you've known for the past few hours.
"Let's go..."
He starts forward, to flank Alexi.

The cabin is a crumbling brick and mortar house set so near the river that you can hear the gurgle of it as it flows through town.

Alex nodded, her head inclining toward a badly beaten man crumpled and bloody in a corner. Her senses alert for anyone else in the building.

The room is filled with shadowy shapes of dark furniture, mostly ruined by time and vandals, crumpled body of the man lay in the far corner. Even from this angle you can tell that this was no robbery.
Bones meticulously broken with deliberation stick out at odd angles, nd a crushed ribcage causes him to shiver with agony with each labored breath.
Amazingly, despite the injuries, there is not a speck of blood on him as you stoop to examine the body.
Of his assailants, you see no sign at all.

Alex frowns, "No blood. That's wrong. With those injuries, he should be swimming in it." She commented to the room, "If you check him, be careful." Alex moved deeper into the room, searching for any signs of an assailant or assailants.

It takes you a moment, but your search reveals nothing. What ever was here is gone now. Worse yet you see no sign of Griffen.

Celestia keeps watch outside in case there is any movement outside. She casts Detect Magic, just to be safe.

Celestia detects strong magic from somewhere inside the house.

Celestia calls out a warning to the others. "There is a strong source of magic in the house. Becareful."

The source seems to be moving, and through the brick it isn't sure that the others have heard her!
Inside, the group faintly hear Celestia say something...

Lit suddenly stops as he hears Celstia's voice faintly.
"What?" he calls back
Not hearing anything else, he moves to watch for anything that might attack Alex as she examines the body, his dagger at ready.

Alex calls back, "We've got an badly injured man inside." Deciding things are fairly safe, Alex moves over toward the man and examines his injuries. She hadn't seen anything like this since the inquisitions of her homeland. It appears he had been purposefully tortured.
Due to the lack of blood, Alex checks for any bite marks or for any signs that he was turning. There had to be some sign as to why someone - or something - would do this.

Lit feels a sudden surge of vertigo, as though he is falling, spinning down...
The man looks up at Alex as she examines him, his eyes are glazed in exquisite pain. "He promised to show me things... the true meaning of life..." he coughs, and blood speckles his lips. "All he showed me was pain..."
Alex sees the man suddenly bolt up right, his eyes widening in terror! He tilts his head back and wails and throws you aside.
Lit feels the room spin as darkness rushes to claim him, hitting the floor in a heap, unconscious before his head hits the cold hard concrete.
Outside, Celestia hears a wail of agony.

As he feels the sudden rush of vertigo, Lit's hand opens and he drops his dagger. He fight to stand but loses, and crashes. All he knows is utter blackness.

Alex returns Lit's dagger to its sheath and he vaguely feels her struggling to lift him up into a standing position, "Come on, amigo, we need to leave this place." Her voice is hushed and he can smell the fear on her. "Let us find this crime scene and see what we can see."
Alex drags/moves him outside the cabin, looking for the young woman waiting outside, hoping she is alright.

Celestia jumps at the sounds of agony coming from inside the cabin. She moves to the door and meets the others as they are coming out.
"What happened? I detected a some magic and tried to shout a warning. I am guessing my voice didn't travel to well through the stone."
Celestia keeps an eye out and looks if the magic is still there.

The magic is gone... for now.

"Something was there, may still be." Alex shudders, and from the tone of her voice, Celestia can tell whatever was in there isn't something they want to meet again.
"We need to get out of here. I don't want to run into that monster again. The man we heard subscribed to his own fate, and got what he asked for."

"I agree with you Alex, we should leave the area incase the magic I saw returns."
Celestia does a quick look around the area. "Here let me help you with Lit. Between the two of us, he might be a little easier to handle."

Alex nods, happy to at least relinquish half of the lump she was dragging.

Lit's body twitches violently from time to time...

Alex pats his cheek from time to time, trying to rouse him.

As she is patting his cheek, he suddenly spasms more violently than before, and his eyes fly open and he shouts.
"It burns! Oh dear GODS it burns!"
He twists and writhes, trying to free himself.

Alex wraps both arms tightly around him, trying to hold him to keep him from injuring either himself or Celestia.
"You are fine, amigo. There is no fire here. Wake up! It is a dream."

Lit writhes a little more, but in Alex's grasp, he quickly calms. Recognition swirls into his muddy consciousness and he relaxes a bit. When Alex lets him go, he sinks to his knees, still trying to place himself.
"S-sorry. What...what happened in there?"
He looks up at Celestia and Alex.

"We could not save the man. He was too far gone. The creature inside was very powerful, and not concerned with you or I. He must have felt you more of a threat, because he rendered you unconscious with dark powers. Celestia tried to warn us, but we could not hear well. He took his prey and moved on. I fear he may have taken Griffen as well. All that was left where I last saw him was a small pool of blood."

Lit's face clouds and his head drops for a second. Then he hefts himself to his feet and looks into Alex's eyes.
"What did the creature look like? Could you tell?"

Alex send Lit a sad smile, "Don't look so down, my friend. I do not wish to sound callous, but he chose to make a pact with the fiend. As for what he looked like, I could not find the words to describe the horror that he was."
Alex shudders, her eyes taking on a far away haunted look.
"He stepped from the shadows, his black eyes gleaming palely. Lit only by Lit's fallen torch, light gleamed off of his flayed, fleshless body. A thin sheen of blood shined on exposed muscles as he walked towards me. Though nearly bare, wearing only a simple loin cloth, and armed only with a coiled scourge, you feel the darkness that embraces him like plate mail.
Draped over his arm, like a jacket, hung a neatly folded skin. He reguarded me solemnly, taking me in as I stood guard over you.
When he spoke, his voice was a mellow monotone, "...Fear not, for he is no prey of mine," he said as he approached. "Already has he embraced pain, and been embraced by it."
He turned to the crumpled wreck of the man huddled in the corner. "You asked me to show you the meaning of existance, but you deny the truth I have shown you. You are lost, and shall suffer in death as you had forsaken suffering in life," From his belt he drew a long multi tailed whip and with hellish speed lashed out, the barbs on the end tearing into the mans flesh, he gave a scream of agony his body jerking as the embedded hooks ripped the life from him.
A torn throat spilled blood in a thick pool around the corpse, and I felt a familiar hunger, my vision blurring, reddening...
When I looked back the nightmarish man was gone, and you began to stir..."

Lit listens intently, returning to his feet as the story progresses, until it is over.
"Though I hate to leave something such as this undone, he is of no concern to us. We must continue to hunt the Child of Ember. So, let us be off."
He waits for a moment, then begins the trek onward.

Alex follows closely behind, her thoughts on the creature she met. His evil took her breath away, yet somehow he was less frightening than some of the religious leaders from her homeland. At least it was obvious what the creature was. It didn't hide behind a veil of morality.

As the street bends toward the river Alex is the first to scent the smell. The scent of burnt flesh still lingers in the air, and ahead of you the smoldering stones of the manor house and the chared timber of the main beam give testamony to the tradgedy that occured here.

The moment Alex smells the scent, she shudders uncontrollably. Her mind spins back to her homeland. The screams fill the air, only to be drown out by the chanting, "Witch! Witch! Witch! Burn the Witch!" Alex could almost feel the marquis' hands holding her, them smell of the burning flesh imprinting itself on her memory forever.
She came back to herself a moment later, and followed the others into the building - or what was left of it.

Lit looks at the remains and stands rigid for a time, his brow creses and he involuntarily begins to sweat. He whispers something under his breath as he approaches the ruin, and stops before he enters.