T. A. Star
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3 - Executioner
🕑 Added 2024-02-29 01:00:04 +0000 UTC
Camrin Ruwena was exhausted. Ever since his older sister, Murinah, had decided that she had to murder any potential competition over her fatalistic obsession with an orphaned gemite, his life had gone completely off the runerails.
He had been horrified by his own part in tricking the young woman in order to kill her –who he had more recently learned was a Wayfarer and Protégé to the most powerful Caster in the city. When his parents both hadn’t seemed to care in the slightest that one of their children was obviously evil and the other an idiotic accomplice, he had decided to try and push it from his mind. Bury the guilt of being a killer; albeit an unwilling one.
When his father had then proceeded to rope him into abducting that same woman he surely believed was dead –after all, nobody without magic abilities survived an encounter with a swarm of miserlings– he had begrudgingly agreed because what other choice did he have? Ohsen was his father, whether he liked it or not, and he was powerless to disobey. At only fifteen, it wasn’t like he could even leave his home without reason to try and separate himself further.
As soon as he had dropped off his father and the unconscious redhead, he had decided to find out how deep the evil streak in his family went. When he approached his mother, she scoffed at him and said to not waste her time on his father’s latest research projects. Once his mother had left for her own project, he decided to dig deeper.
What he had found in the secret room his mother thought he hadn’t known about was both disturbing but unsurprising the longer he contemplated it. He had realized long ago that his parents –and by extension the whole of House Ruwena– cared most about power and control. It was only his love of the Hero’s stories that had given him a better sense of the path he wanted to walk to obtain his own form of power.
This divergence of paths from his family was likely the only reason he wasn’t dead now. As he sat in the chair, wearing [Chains of Silence] that were also keeping him linked to the table in front of him, he wasn’t sure if that divergence would be enough to save him from the execution that he was certain awaited many of his relatives.
“I’ve told you already,” the young cinderen said to the runeforged man sitting across from him, “I didn’t know about my family's ties to the Renseres or Soul Reapers until the night before the raid on my home.”
Allan Trayvious looked down as if to check the notes on the papers splayed out on the table between the two of them. Camrin didn’t believe for a second that the Sapphire Caster had forgotten a single word of any of it. They had been sitting here for an hour already going over in painfully repetitive detail the events surrounding the battle for Tulisuda. A battle that he hadn’t even really participated in.
“Right, you discovered your parents’ treachery the night before and peacefully surrendered during the raid on your House’s estate despite your mother and others having already fled the premises,” the man seemed to read off one of the pages that Camrin was fairly certain didn’t contain those details then asked, “Explain to me again why you didn’t flee with the rest of your family? Even the branch families and other allies seemed to have been forewarned about the impending conflict. How is it that the son, the newly appointed heir apparent, was left behind?”
The young portalist ground his teeth in frustration. He had thought at the time that not going with his family and surrendering to the Alliance of Adventurers would have helped clear his name of any misdeeds. Instead, it only seemed to cast more doubt and suspicion upon him. What “good” son would abandon his family –his own mother– even if they were all evil? He was condemned either way.
He almost felt like crying again as his voice broke, “I’ve told you. The information won’t change just because you ask again. I wanted no part of what my family was involved in. I am not a traitor of Tulimeir. I do not serve the Soul Reapers. I only want to become an Adventurer and protect my home.”
The interrogator scoffed slightly, “Your home has been temporarily confiscated by the Duke as we continue to discover its secrets.”
“Tulim is my home,” the cinderen corrected, “This city is my home. My life is here, my friends, my hopes. I don’t want to see anyone destroy it, not even my family.”
The AOA Officer looked at him for a long moment, setting the papers back down on the table and leaning away from him before inquiring, “Is that why you helped Lord Wayland find your mother’s study and father’s ritual room?”
He nodded, wondering exactly how this man would twist those actions into painting him as guilty, “Yes. I knew about the rooms but it’s not like I was allowed in them. I thought they were just used for their legitimate work for the OOM.”
“And the fact that they were hidden didn’t clue you in that they might be hiding nefarious deeds?” the runeforged asked with a raised eyebrow.
Camrin rolled his eyes, he was beyond caring about decorum at this point and leveled the man with a flat look, “I’m not one to hold noble rank against someone, Mister Trayvious, but every noble has a secret room that they hide things in. I’m fairly certain at this point that they believe the more secret rooms they have, the more important they are. Ask any of the other noble children.”
The man surprised him by snorting a laugh which caused him to jump even more when a loud bang came from the solid wall to his right and the interrogator quickly choked the sound off and schooled his expression, sitting straight in the chair once more. Carmin’s eyes narrowed in suspicion at the wall that he no longer believed to be the solid stone it appeared as.
“Alright, so you find out too soon to notify anyone before the raid. Refused to join your family during their flight from the estate. Peacefully surrendered during the infiltration and met with Lord Wayland at that time to give him a little tour,” Trayvious highlighted while gathering all the papers back up into a single pile.
“Then ended up here in one of our holding cells, more than willing to answer all of our questions while the expedition to reclaim the Reality Rift was underway, and now here we are. Are you sure there’s nothing else I’m missing? No hints of treachery leading up to the raid that you should have perhaps brought to the attention of either the AOA or Ducal Guards?” the Sapphire Caster finished asking while watching him carefully.
He hesitated again and he finally understood why they had kept him here for so long. They knew he was hiding the earlier signs he had seen firsthand. He didn’t think anyone knew about what Murinah had done with him though. Not even a whisper of a rumor had been going around the city –or even among his family– about the Wayfarer surviving a pack of miserlings while wearing a Silencer. That was practically a miracle on its own that he wouldn’t be able to explain.
His father’s actions, however… Well, if they had Ohsen in this building somewhere, then there was a chance the Magi could tell them about it and then it would look like he had been hiding his guilt.
Camrin really did want to help the city, including somehow making things up to Lord Wayland’s Protégé. Perhaps, this was a piece of the puzzle the AOA needed and his offering of it would help.
“I… Well, my father made me help him kidnap Phoenix Fraser as revenge for my sister’s death. He’s convinced Lord Wayland was the one who killed her, despite the report of miserlings,” he explained, actually agreeing with his father on that assumption since the way Murinah had been killed was much too similar to what they had done to Phoenix to be anything other than divine retribution.
“My father thought that by hurting Lord Wayland’s Protégé it would be justice for his own daughter,” Camrin finished, thinking the explanation a bit lacking, especially with the way Trayvious was eyeing him, so he added, “He made me portal him to the roof across from her dorm window and then –after he tranquilized her– had me portal us all back to the entrance of his ritual room–”
“So you knew that your father was kidnapping people for his twisted experiments?”
“No! Right after that is when I left and tried to find more information to give to the AOA!” he practically shouted, leaning forward in his slight panic, “You can ask my father! I didn’t go into his room at all!”
Trayvious went eerily still at those words, giving him a curious look before asking, “No one told you about what happened to your father?”
Camrin suddenly became wary about the news he knew he was about to receive as he said, “The last I heard he had come here to fight against the requests for his research notes. I assumed he was being held in a cell somewhere here like I’ve been.”
The runeforged frowned and glanced towards the stone wall to Camrin’s right, which he was now positive was enchanted. A soft double tap came from the wall and he knew there was no way he could have imagined that as the interrogator gave a heavy sigh before stating, “You’re father was executed by divine ordinance. I’m sorry but he is dead and we can’t ask him anything anymore.”
He felt his blood run cold for a moment. Camrin never got along with his parents –his father more so than his mother– but he had never wished death on either of them. Despite their deficit of attention-giving, they still provided him with anything he needed or desired if they could manage it. They might not have said they loved him but he still liked to believe they had.
The young noble wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer to his next question but he needed to ask, “And my mother? Is she dead now too?”
The door opened then, cutting off the response the runeforged man was about to speak, and in walked his interrogator's sister, Director Agatha Trayvious, walking purposefully over to him. She surprised him by squatting down to be eye-to-eye with him as she said gently but firmly, “Your mother is being transferred to Blomstra for public execution by Knight Thevaris.”
He blinked at that news. Stunned not just by the knowledge of his mother’s impending death but by the spectacle it was going to be. That name he recognized but he needed to make sure he wasn’t mistaken, “Knight Veldrix Thevaris, the Pyre Executioner? The royals are actually using a Ruby Caste Executioner on a Sapphire Caster?”
Agatha grimaced slightly but nodded, “They want to make an example of any noble who might side with the Soul Reapers. Zero tolerance for traitors to the crown and world. In a few days, you will be the Lord of House Ruwena by right of birth,” then she stood and took a key to the collar around his neck, removing the Silencer, as she added, “Let us hope you will lead the tatters of your House towards redemption.”
Dazien was nervous as he prepared to enter the ritual circle and turned back to quietly talk to his partner, “What if it's not what I'm still missing?” he asked in a rare show of nerves.
“It will be,” Uriel said confidently, halting his friend’s uncertainty and trying to get him to focus, “Everything will be alright. You’re the one who always tells me that our abilities do not define who we are.”
The cinderen glanced over at Phoenix who was already finishing the circle for him, “Well, you and now her,” he amended. Then in an uncharacteristic show of familiarity, he placed their foreheads together so Dazien couldn’t look away as he tried to quietly soothe the man, “You are my king no matter what happens.”
The gemite closed his eyes tightly and took a few moments of companionship to recenter himself before stepping back and saying, “Thank you, Uriel,” before standing in the Absorption Ritual circle for the last time while Crystal Caste.
The twins rejoined them near the circle and all of his friends gave looks of encouragement as Phoenix performed the ritual while Paul watched them all in silence from near the door like a guard dog.
As the Spirit Gem melted into his palms, Dazien could feel the newest and final ability unlock within him and he smiled, already intuitively knowing the effects, as Phoenix's useful book spelled it out for everyone when he lightly touched it.
Class Ability: Royal Executioner
Type: Execute (divine, radiant)
Cost: High mana.
Cooldown: 1 minute.
Current Caste: Crystal 1 (0%)
Crystal Effect: Enchants a blade so that its next attack deals additional Radiant damage on impact. Damage is scaled based on the amount of health missing from the target.
“An Execute ability that deals Radiant damage?” Rayna said, impressed, “That’s incredible at Crystal!”
He grinned in return and said cheekily, “I am rather incredible, aren’t I?”
“That’s not at all what–”
The gemite ignored the flustered voxen as he turned once more to Phoenix and pulled her into a tight hug, unable to hold back his excitement from flooding his aura which then displayed on her book alongside the new class ability when he lost his grip on it and his aura accidentally encompassed the informing book in his enthusiasm.
Passive Ability: Monarch’s Dominion
Type: Aura (magical, covenant)
Current Caste: Crystal 5
Crystal Effect: Allies within the aura gain increased resistance to Retribution effects.
“Thank you,” Dazien said, his voice cracking from the immense relief mixed with the exhilaration he was experiencing at that moment from unlocking the coveted Execute ability.
“I just performed the ritual. I’m not the one to thank for what ability your soul unlocked,” Phoenix said breathlessly as she was squeezed.
“It was the gem you gave me,” he pointed out but obligingly released his grip, giving her a sincere smile, “I will be forever grateful,” he said, then turned to give a running hug to his closest companion, as Phoenix shook her head indulgently.
Uriel’s strong arms wrapped around him in shared celebration and an attempt to keep them from toppling from his momentum as he said excitedly, “You were right! I should never have doubted!”
His partner finally gave him that smile he had started to see more often since Phoenix had entered their lives and his mood lifted even more at the rare gift as the Mage said, “I’ve never seen you fail to get something you needed. Whether it’s convincing people to accept me or forcing your soul to manifest the ability you were missing.”
He hugged the taller man again before letting go to race over to the man he had started to see as his mentor –immensely grateful that he had been wrong about the man’s betrayal. Before he could ask what the Paladin thought about the desired Execute the wrathful lord gave him a judgmental look and said, “Reign in your aura before I do it for you.”
Dazien’s excitement fell as he focused on the loose aura that had gotten away from him and flushed slightly as he muttered, “My apologies, Lord Wayland. I was just excited about the new ability. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
A beat of silence was followed by the Wrath Blade turning to leave the room and commanding over a shoulder, “Follow me, kid.”
Comments
Some BS Deity
Wayland dumping cold water on our boy. You could at least tell him it's a good ability. Tsk tsk what are we going to do with this emotionless father.
Custus
Thanks for the chapter!
