Achil & The Rise Of The Mandrake
Page 24
Chapter XVI
The Grimmer
Achil had arrived at his bedchamber and with an effort undressed before sinking into a restless sleep, filled with nightmarish disturbing dreams of dark wolves gnashing at his door. He woke suddenly with the sound of howling still in his ears and small droplets of perspiration on his brow. He lay there heart pounding before realising where he was. The drapes across the opening leading onto his terrace rustled in the cool night air, which meant he could have only slept for a few hours at most, calmly his thoughts turned to how best defeat the enemy. Slowly Achil fell back to sleep; wherein he had an unsettling dream, where there was a deep dark presence hovering over his bed. It was so real as to wake him again. He lay there for a moment breathing heavily, disturbed by the feeling of their being some other presence in the room. The sensation quickly passed, he threw his covers off, poured himself a glass of wine and pondered the day ahead, at least it was starting to get light outside.
Achil spent the day studying uneventful dispatches, and was relieved when the time arrived for him to go stand watch on the castle walls, as he was about to leave he found Queen Lariset at his door, with some unsettling news.
“Achil, my Sage and the Alchemist were trying to help some of the victims of the plague; they have discovered something quite ominous. There is an unnatural reason for the cause of the malady affecting your people. It is in the main due to creatures we Askalons know as the Valkyrie.”
Achil’s eyes narrowed warily. “How could that be, are you sure?”
“All the signs are there,” said the Queen. “And we know because they were once in the service of Askalon. They were proud and beautiful creatures that were taken by Jin and corrupted so that they might serve his purposes and there is something more disturbing, apparently the plague has been here for some time, which means...“
The Queens voice trailed off as she did not wish to finish her sentence.
“Jin must have been planning this war against my people for a long time, long before our intrusion into Mead," said Achil finishing her sentence. "I must speak to your Sage and the Alchemist at once.”
“They are expecting us,” said the Queen.
Achil took down his sword which was hanging on the cold stony barren wall.
“When did they find out about the Valkyrie?” asked Achil.
Queen Lariset explained all that she knew on their way. When they arrived they found the Alchemist, the Sage and Agoran discussing the matter. The Alchemist called them over. The chamber they were in was quite cramped filled with dusty scrolls and books. A large chest rested beneath an open window, a candlestick holder kept some parchments from escaping out of it. The Sun invaded the room sending long shadows dancing across closed bookcases. They Joined the Alchemist at a large table. He desperately rustled through the scrolls, pulling out one in particular.
“Achil we are close to completing the weapon once done we may go out to meet the Mandrake and prove once and for all how futile his efforts have been,” said the Alchemist. “But first there is something you will need to do we cannot have the Valkyrie roaming the city, once word gets out that they are here it will spread fear among the people.”
“I agree, we have fought with creatures similar to the Valkyrie before,” replied Achil.
"Believe me when I say the Valkyrie are far worse, what you fought in Dragon City all those years ago is but a shadow compared to these creatures."
“Whatever the cost I will face them, do you know how many there are?”
The Alchemist and the Sage turned to look at each other and hesitantly shrugged; that was the problem they could not be sure how many were in the city.
“No, and that is why we have to resort to desperate means to deal with this situation,” said the Sage, taking the scroll from the Alchemist. “You will have to seek out the Grimmer. Agoran has informed us that to do this you will have to descend into the tunnels beneath the city, since she resides in the afterlife; and to do this you will also have to take an offering to Cerberus, so that he lets you pass. The Grimmer is the only one who can command the Valkyrie, but she may exact a heavy price.”
“The Grimmer isn't she one of the Guardians of the underworld," said Achil sceptically. “I think the Finns and many others have given her payment enough. And I do not fear her.”
The Queen stood silently next to Achil watching him closely, as an Askalon her race had long ago found the Alchemic solution required for longevity, which ironically had been discovered by Jin. The Queen knew that any heavy price paid to the Grimmer would probably mean something otherworldly.
“Achil shall not go alone,” said the Queen. “I will go with him; maybe I can be of some help.”
The others looked on and nodded their agreement. None of them thought to contradict the Queen or dissuade her from going; the task ahead would require someone with her depth of understanding and knowledge, if it were to succeed. Agoran pulled out some scrolls that held the plans of the catacombs that lay beneath Findolin, and as he began to explain the task ahead; the Alchemist and the Sage departed to prepare the appropriate potion that would defend them against the Grimmer. As the legend went, to look upon her without her permission would cause instant death. The potion worked the same way as any remedy. The problem was they did not really know how much was required for it to be effective.
They arrived back sometime later; the Sage passed the Queen a vial containing the potion, which they were to ingest when they encountered the Grimmer. He then held her hand reassuringly. All were now sullen as they said their goodbyes. Outside the day was quickly fading, and had all but gone by the time the two of them made their way to the door leading down into the labyrinth. Achil placed the key that Agoran had given to him in the lock and turned it. He paused a moment.
“Are you sure you don’t mind going through with this?” asked Achil.
The Queen smiled reached out opened the door and entered. They lit the torches that were hanging from the walls and disappeared down the tunnel. Agoran had left them specific plans of where they were to go. They quietly followed the plans and the frescos on the wall. There was an unmistakeably fierce smell that they had been warned of, which was in fact very difficult to ignore. Though they did not know it, the odour was a lot less pungent than it had been previously.