[Fsh] Chapter 50: Rael's Rest

“This Inheritance isn’t like the others.”

After a night of rest, they returned to their descent through Trepidation.

They entered the Inhertance situated at the very heart of the Gravewoods, the vast caverns that spanned under Solastra’s Dreadwood above. Where Vale had acquired the invocations necessary to stabilise her Fearcore.

They walked in…

A humble Inheritance.

At least by comparison to the ones they had visited before. Where the Gloamshores and Thundervale appeared to stretch on infinitely, this one was small, confined. They stared out over a round, sandy plains, beneath dark skies. Unlike the Gloamshores, the darkness was not all consuming.

A single, bright golden moon hung in the sky, making the sands before them shimmer slightly. The circular sandy plains was bordered by mountains that rose in the distance.

Then they realised, that the Inheritance wasn’t so humble after all.

The gleaming peaks, the colour of dark, burnished gold were spines. The mountains in the distance…

Was a sleeping dragon.

It bore little similarity to the… conventional image of a dragon that Valeric Brimstone had morphed into. For one, it bore no wings on its back. Where Valeric’s image had been more… proportional, this leviathan had a long, serpentine body that curled around the circumference of the Inheritance in the distance.

Spines of dark gold shone above its dark flesh, as if encased in dark, metallic armour resembling a ribcage. It spanned the entirety of its body at regular intervals, creating the illusion of flowing peaks and troughs that put Brimstone’s Verscallian Peaks to shame.

“What in… Insanity. Is that… a Terror?”

“Nice. It’s been so long since we’ve run into another one, I’ve been getting bored.”

Caledon and Shiver strode forwards, their eyes tracing over the enormous beast in the distance that eclipsed them, with slightly different reactions. Even so, they were united in their awe of it.

The final member of their group stood frozen in place. Her eyes glued to the mountainous creature in the distance, her breath caught in her throat.

Vale Revenant stared at the sleeping dragon, her lavender eyes wide with shock. She turned wordlessly to Virgil and the man gave her a nod.

Vale alone, recognised the creature and the Inheritance they walked within.

Rael Revenant’s final rest lay before them.

The grave of the original patriarch and progenitor of House Revenant, that had been lost to time.

---

“So, you’re telling us that this was the Inheritance of the founder of your House? The original Revenant?”

Vale nodded wordlessly at Shiver’s questions. She had momentarily lost the ability to speak. Paralysed at the sight before her.

Shiver frowned and let out a soft hum,as if considering something. Her eyes passed over the dragon.

“You’ll always be my favourite deathlady. But your great, great grandpa is cutting it Rael close.”

Shiver nudged her with her elbow as she waggled her eyebrows, even as Caledon shook his head with a sigh.

Still, despite her humour, Shiver’s eyes lingered on the creature’s head. The metallic, dark burnished gold that encased it in spires across its body formed to create a hood over its vast head.

Virgil’s soft voice interrupted the silence induced by their collective awe.

“Its appearance reminds me of House Solomon. Perhaps they drew some inspiration from it.”

The trio turned to regard him in interest.

“It’s hood? It reminds me of the headdresses of the Fearshapers of sand that once ruled the sands of Somnolence, many hundreds of years ago.”

Shiver’s eyes widened, as she noticed the creature’s similarity to clothing that she had once glimpsed.

Carved into sandstone, in a statue in one of the biomes that contained the skeletons of creatures in the Rooms of Trepidation, in Anhedonia’s academy. The statue of a male Fearshaper, with a mass of black sand that floated within the statue’s palm.

“Can you tell us about House Solomon? Besides… what is that thing?”

Vale rounded on the Fearshaper of stars with curiosity burning in her eyes. Virgil appeared to realise his mistake, when they all closed on him with interest.

He sighed.

“The sands of dreams were once ruled by a noble House bearing the name of Solomon. They birthed unparalleled Fearshapers of sand. The history books that had not been burned in the Rampage, preserved by House Flora – spoke of their achievements.”

A shiver of excitement ran down their spines at the awe induced by Virgil’s words. Speaking of yet another great, forgotten house fallen to the obscurity induced by the gambit of the great houses, to erase Fearshaping and its history. Along with all of its greatest wonders and horrors.

“House Solomon constructed countless tombs across the black sands of Somnolence, tributes to the greatest Fearshapers of their house.”

Even in his lethargy of having to share information, Virgil’s dark eyes flashed.

“Each tomb rumoured to be an Inheritance unto itself, said to contain untold Terrors and treasure alike. It seems like even they admired your forefather, Vale. Having drawn inspiration from their dress from his great guide.”

Shiver and Caledon’s eyes widened at his words.

 Together, they wordlessly communicated their intention to the singer, and they exchanged a glance of awe as their query was answered by Idriel’s beautiful resonance.

Retrieving named resources in proximity:

·        Azhkul Zhahaad [Mythic]

The creature that bordered the sandy plains was no Terror, the likes of which strode the silent streets of Anhedonia. Nor was it an Archterror, capable of felling nations and Archcities.

It was a guide.

Of an unparalleled master of death, who had lived a full life.

“That thing… was his guide?”

Shiver’s tore her cerulean gaze away from the monster in the distance, towards a spot on Vale’s shoulder. She stared incredulously at the rat that idly twirled his ivory walking stick with a touch less confidence than before. Eventually, Quietus Vingrave began to back away from the girl’s gaze that burned into him.

“Hold on now, young Shvier, we haven’t fully reclaimed ourselves. You can hardly compare me to a guide of Azkhul’s stature, where Vale languishes in Trepidation. You will come to regret the day, you ridiculed the unparalleled Gravelord, Lord Quietus Vingrave-“

“Sure, sure Lord Ratlad. You’re now my second favourite deathguide.”

“I say!”

Before Quietus could continue on his tirade, Shiver rounded smoothly on her entourage.

“Well… where should we start?”

---

“I’m jealous of you, princess.”

“Why, because I get to kill a plant? Are you that hung up on the Umbrawillows?”

“Ptooey.”

Vale and Shiver stared at their next target.

The “oblong” was a curious plant… made from bone. It took the form of numerous ivory pebbles stacked on top of one another, swaying in the slight breeze that washed over the Inheritance at steady intervals. The plant grew from ivory that the shifting sands revealed. Skeletons buried Rael’s Inheritance.

Shiver called her Phobia to her, and slashed through the plant, expecting it to tumble into a shower of ivory pebbles. She watched, incredulous, as the strange plant, collapsed in a shower of ivory dust, only to reform a slight distance away from her, infuriatingly swaying in the wind as it had before.

“I can’t even begin to guess at why Highlady Solastra recommended this one.”

Vale drew her towering Phobia into reality, and slashed through the plant. She sighed as its Alarum sunk into her core, granting her another invocations.

[Ivorydust of the oblong]

Vale raised an eyebrow at the invocation. She turned to Bladey, standing beside her, and called her Fear.

Vale stared in horror, as the Fearshaper of blades’ bones turned into golden dust. She screamed, reaching out desperately for the skeleton, only to be met with shifting ivory dust that began to intermingle with the sands around them.

Shiver collapsed in a heap, struggling to breathe through her laughter.

“Shiver, this is seriou-“

Vale stared, as her invocation ended, and Bladey reformed just as the plant had a distance away from them.

Utterly unharmed.

Caledon cleared his throat as the blush reached Vale’s cheeks, as Shiver wiped a frozen tear from her eye, brought from her outburst of laughter.  

“I suppose… transporting your undead around won’t be such a task any longer. We’ll be a lot more inconspicuous as a group.”

Vale cast a glimpse towards Caledon, whose eyes wandered over the shifting sands in search for the sole creature he had been assigned to kill, that dwelt within Rael’s Inheritance.

The nightviper.

It was clear that as time continued to draw onwards, that Caledon was growing increasingly more paranoid of his Fear. Shiver could sense it in the smallest indications of the lordling’s bearing. The slight hesitation when they spoke to him. The narrowing of his eyes that carried within them a hint of distrust. How his hands lurked over his Phobia, the dark metallic torch. Perhaps most tellingly, how Caledon had grown accustomed to digging his nails into his palms to ground himself in reality with the pain.

The prospect of allowing his Fear access to his memories as a means of tormenting him, would lead him to distrust both his experience of reality and his recollection.

Caledon returned a tight smile, when he noticed her looking. Vale gritted her teeth.

She understood his dilemma, because it was one that they all shared.

Vale mentally regarded the other creatures that Highlady Solastra had assigned her. The most inoffensive of her targets in Rael’s Inheritance had been slain.

Her next target shifted languidly through the sands. It had been the first creature they had noticed, upon their arrival. The hardest to miss. A creature which would unlock yet another dimension to her Fear. Shiver had turned in its direction as well.

“Graveserpent. Vale, your decision?”

She nodded. This one was simple. From what Virgil had told her, it was a creature that would empower her Revenants, deepening the dimension of Fear already established.

The sound of shifting sands reached them, as the Graveserpent momentarily emerged. The creature was cast from bone, and bore no visible flesh of its own – yet it was not undead, but a living creature.

Surrounding it were shambling skeletons, servants that attended to it.

“You know… I recognise this thing.”

Vale and Caledon stared at her in astonishment.

“Back in one of the biomes of the Rooms of Trepidation. I saw this huge, dead, serpent that drooped into a vast hole in a tomb of sand. Guess we actually get to fight it.”

With a glance at Virgil, it was clear that he was intent on letting them handle this one themselves. Shiver turned instead to regard the Fearshaper of blades at her side, that would be assisting her in the hunt. Neither Vale or Caledon were equipped for outright combat, at least as they were with their current invocations.

“Shall we, Bladey?”

The Fearshaper of blades leapt from their lookout, tearing downwards into the shifting sands beneath them. Shiver mirrordanced to emerge on the plains. They tore towards the creature at speed, where it bore into the shifting sands effortlessly like a anglerwhale effortlessly breaching and reentering dark waters.

The graveserpent noticed them immediately, and its skeletal jaws widened. The width of its yawning mouth doubled the size of Shiver, but it hardly deterred the girl.

[Bloodlink of the vampress]

[Lightning of the Thundermare]

Vale stared incredulously as she saw sparks begin to run across Caledon’s body. His bloodlink, a dark and translucent red haze had linked itself with the Graveserpent. Then, Caledon fell to the floor, convulsing.

“What in… Insanity is going on.”

He grunted, as his muscles twitched. When they looked out at the Graveserpent, they realised htat Caledon’s efforts had borne fruit.

Rather than clash straight into Shiver and Bladey, his Fearshaping had locked up the giant creature’s body, sending it crashing at an awkward angle into a sand dune, rendering it immobile for a moment.

“Urgh. This is all I can do for now. [Corrupt] doesn’t seem to affect it, its will is too strong.”

Neither had his [mirage of the anglerwhale] been effective. It seemed as if the efficacy of his invocations depended on the creature’s mental fortitude, and their readiness against them. [Nectar of the osepria] acted as a receptacle for [corrupt] and allowed him to inflict simple commands on creatures that ingested it.

None of them were of use to him, so he did what he could. He was just grateful that Shiver wasn’t there to mock him for the twitching mess that he had rendered himself.

Then he shouted to Shiver, as he saw something form above her.

The skeletons around the graveserpent had been lumbering aimlessly. They hadn’t even turned to meet Shiver and Bladey’s approach. It was curious, as Caledon had assumed that they were the serpent’s servants.

The Graveserpent used them for a different purpose.

The undead around it, turned into a flowing stream of bone. The skeletons melted into a mass of ivory that shaped itself into a spear that hurtled at Shiver.

[Bladefrog’s par-

The spear of ivory rammed itself into her thigh, as she missed in her return strike, glancing harmlessly off the deadly ivory spear that had shot towards her.

She had mistimed the parry.

Then her eyes widened as she saw the bone embedded in her leg… begin to shift.

If the graveserpent could shape bone into whatever form it wished, and said bone was embedded in Shiver’s thigh…

Caledon called the pair of invocations once more, and he felt lightning flicker through his veins as he screamed from the pain. The only small mercy, was that it was an agony shared by the Graveserpent. The ivory dissipated, slipping out of the wound it created.

[Woundstill of the frostwolf]

“That idiot… she’s getting complacent. She could have blocked the projectile with her shield.”

Virgil nodded at Vale’s words, laced with concern. Triol stood beside her, his deathstalker prowling around them, keeping an eye out for other threats to prevent an ambush.

“You didn’t think she’d listen to advice, did you? The only way that demon will learn, is through her own mistakes.”

Vale and Caledon exchanged a glance as Virgil shuddered.

The Fearshaper of stars certainly had a point.