Sehn: A Dead King and His City of Souls

It wasn’t a long walk for Sarah to reach the city she had seen from the forest, it had  actually been rather fast after she came across a path leading to it. She simply followed that path until she reached the outside of the now noticeably larger city that surrounded the castle structure she had seen from the forest.

Surrounding the face of the mountain that was previously hidden from view was a large, were multi-layered set of large, semi-circular stone walls, built into the ground and scaling up the rock, surrounding the castle and city within on all sides. At various points on the mountain, at the same level as the castle and higher, were small towers with smaller but similar walls to the city itself. Another sight which caught her eye was the massive, overgrown forest below the mountain and spanning the land around it, inside of which she could see the ruined tops of buildings jutting over the trees.

She wasted little time looking at these walls, towers and forest, and instead made her way through the peculiarly unguarded front wall of the city. Inside were various buildings and towers and shops and homes, all making up the sprawling city that was built into and around the face of the mountain.

Again, she spent almost no time admiring the city, instead marching straight through to the castle structure. As she neared it, she noticed that the opened gate, unlike the one to the city itself, actually had guards standing by, one on each side.

They were a dark gray color, blending in with the night, with black armor and bat like wings folded at their sides. Their eyes were very standoffish, being bright yellow, with slits for pupils, almost like a cat. As she approached these two, they took notice and spread a spear each in front of the gate, blocking her path.

“....” Sarah stopped in front of them in confusion when she saw the one to her right open it’s mouth, some strange sound coming from it. She assumed it was speaking, but it was foreign to her. It’s voice was soft and flowing, with an almost melodic quality to it as she listened.

She stared at the two and tilted her head to the side, saying to the one who had spoken, “I don’t understand.”

The two shared a strange look with one another, exchanged a few words in their tongue, then the one to her left offered, “....”

Again she couldn’t understand, but the words did sound different to her. They had a slightly different tone and pitch, with a different flow and wording, but still nothing she knew. She simply shook her head at the two, who exchanged another glance and a few more words.

After a short conversation, the two removed their spears, and one made its way through the gate and up to the castle, motioning for her to follow. She glanced at the remaining one, who nodded to the castle, and she smiled and made to follow the first.

She was led into the castle, and after a short walk through the halls, reached two large doors, a guard posted on either side. They gave her an odd glance each, but seemed eased by a few words from the one who had led her there. A few more words later, and the two nodded and opened the doorway for them, to which they both nodded thankfully and entered.

Inside, Sarah was slightly struck by the beauty of the room. It was long and wide and tall, with columns lining long, red carpet that led to a throne, and the walls carried large windows with depictions of various creatures, some of which had multiple windows dedicated to them, Sarah noticed.

The two walked through this room and up to the throne, where Sarah saw one of the creatures, this one larger in size and with feathery wings and a horn, with a dark blue coat and strange, blue regalia. What she really noticed about the creature, however, was the fact that she could sense power similar to what she felt underground earlier, though both coursing through the creature, and in the hair-like clouds of sparkling, dark blue mist that created it’s hair and tail.

She stared at this creature silently, who returned the notion, only moving to nod as the guard spoke to it in their language. Eventually, never stopping her stare, the large creature spoke a few words, and the guard bowed and jogged off, leaving the two alone.

They remained in their respective stances for some time, Sarah in her slightly slouched demeanor and curious gaze, and the creature with a regal grace, though with a similar look in it’s eyes. They did not try to communicate, as both knew it would be pointless, and instead resigned themselves to a simple examination of each other.

This continued on for a few minutes longer, when Sarah suddenly sensed a spike of energy, the same as in the ground and in the creature before her, though this one with a different feel to it. She turned her head to where the energy was coming from, a spot not far off to her right, and she stared at it intently and with interest.

As she did, she saw several streams of energy come up from the floor, reaching out from the pool of it contained within the earth. These streams began to swirl and convene at a single point a few feet above the ground, and their colorless appearance darkened to a gold.

Suddenly, so sudden that Sarah lurched back in shock, the energy burst outward, then imploded on itself, sending out a brief flash of gold before disappearing completely. In it’s place was a creature similar to the one on the throne, though this one was taller with a white coat, gold regalia, a multi colored cloud of hair and tail, and with a considerably different energy within it, almost an opposite to the one sitting on the throne.

This new one made to say a few words with the other, an annoyed expression across it’s face, when it spotted Sarah and stopped completely. The two stared at each other, not unlike how she and the other had, before the new creature decided to act. It began to slowly circle her, not in an imposing or threatening way, simply in curiosity. As it circled her, it leaned it’s head inwards slightly, and the horn protruding from it’s head began to glow with a golden mist, and Sarah could see streams coming up from the ground, through the body and to the horn.

She then saw a line, a thin line of gold, shoot out from the tip of the horn and strike the cloth she wore, the glow enveloping a small portion covering her left shoulder. Out of curiosity and having this unique energy so close, she lifted her right arm from within the cloth and grabbed at the energy coating her shoulder. Two things happened as a result.

First would be the white creature leaning back in surprise, the energy receding from it’s horn and crawling back into the ground. Next was the reaction of the blue creature, who stared at Sarah’s red and black arm with interest, and only seemed slightly as shocked as the white creature. Sarah payed neither any mind, however, as she was busy turning and moving the golden mist through her fingers, looking at it in wonder.

As she stared at it, she was unaware of the two creatures moving a little closer, casting glances between each other, and giving her curious looks. They stopped just a few feet away, and continued to watch her as she toyed with the energy in her hand, threading it between her fingers with a childlike look of amazement on her face.

She stopped soon enough, letting the mist form a small ball in the palm of her hand as she stared at it, wondering what to do with it. She thought for a moment, then wondered if it would give a different taste than the energy she pulled from the ground, as it was the same base, but had a unique feeling to it altogether.

The two creatures watched questioningly, wondering what she was going to do with the energy. They almost reared back in shock when she tilted her head back slightly and opened her mouth, revealing her sharp canines, and slid the ball of energy off from her hand and down her throat, swallowing it with a pleased look on her face.

“Sister...” Princess Luna began, staring at the woman before her in befuddlement, “did she just... eat your magic?”

“Yes, I believe she did....” Came the just as confused, if not moreso, reply of her sister, Princess Celestia.

“That’s... that’s what I thought....” Luna muttered dumbly, unsure of what to say.

After she swallowed the energy, Sarah contemplated the taste and feel of it. While certainly different, with a warm feeling as opposed to the tingling one she got from the ground, it offered nothing different otherwise. In short, to her, it was just a slightly altered form of the energy she pulled from the ground.

She decided not to pay it any more mind, however, as she still wished to spread word about what had happened in that town, but she currently had no way of doing so. She could clearly see that the two before her were leaders of some sort, most likely of the land she was in, but she still had no way of communicating with them.

At this point, as she wondered what to do, she heard a strange sound. It was faint, a very feeble sound that could barely be heard, but it was definitely there. She searched around the room, trying to find the noise, much to the confusion of the creatures.

Finally, she found it, hiding inside the folds of the cloth she had wrapped around her body. It was one of the souls she had gotten from that poor town, but it was different from when she had seen it before. It was twisting and pulling itself, swirling around her arm rapidly, making that strange noise; a high pitched whine.

She pulled the soul away from the mix of the others and stared at it silently. She tilted her head to the side as she looked at it, when it suddenly moved. It shot forward and entered her slightly opened mouth, rushing down her throat, and before she knew what had happened, she felt extremely tired. Without warning, she blacked out.

She didn’t know how long it had taken, but Sarah had eventually awoken, feeling the smooth, stone floor of the castle beneath her. She pressed her hands against it and pushed herself up, briefly wondering why she had been left there, when words from an unknown source were spoken, in a language she could actually understand.

“So, you have finally arrived, have you? Good, very good.” The voice was male, sounding very old and wise. When she finally got to her feet and opened her eyes, she looked for the voice and found its owner.

An old human man, at least she assumed it was human, wearing long, flowing white robes with a black, gold inlaid cowl over his shoulders. He sat up on a throne, in a position where the throne she had seen previously was, though this one was a mix of black and gold like his cowl.

His body, or his hands and face which were visible, were pale and wrinkled, his fingernails longs and jagged, his teeth old and yellowed, his eyes pure white, and his long, unkempt hair and beard were scraggly and gray, his hair kept under a tall, ceremonial headdress.

He stared down at her silently as she looked up at him, then he broke their silence by stating in his old, crooked voice, “I welcome you to my domain, Seshnara Akensuroni, or Sarah Akinson as it has been known. I am Atrigalus Morvenus, or Argal.” He inclined his body forward in a bow and said, “It seems the rurokinei was successful.”

Sarah, though confused, returned the bow out of respect, though she asked, “Sesh-nara Aken-sur-oni? Ruro-kinei?” Though she had trouble pronouncing them, she pushed in hopes of knowing what they meant.

“Seshnara Akensuroni,” he said simply, “is your true, Sehn-given name; a spiritual inheritance as it were. All of our kind have one- we simply choose others, or we are given them -such as Sarah Akinson or Argal, by refining our true name, as not many know of our language anymore. Simply to conform to changing times and dying cultures.”

He paused though, seeming to contemplate something, then continued, “The rurokinei... that is a harder subject to explain, and in all honesty I would have expected, and liked, for you to have questioned where you are, instead.”

She looked up at him with a curious tilt to her head and said, “I... actually am quite curious about that as well. Where am I? It is similar to the castle I was just in before blacking out, however the throne is replaced by yours, and those strange creatures are nowhere in sight.”

“Ponies.” He told her.

“Pardon?”

“Ponies,” he repeated, “they call themselves Ponies.” She nodded in understanding, staying silent so as to allow him to continue, “And to answer your question about your location... we are in my domain, the realm of Order, given to me as a parallel to this world by the Gods over Order, so that I may hold it for them, should anything arise that would be under their time and power to bother with. Namely....”

His eyes drifted over to the corner of the room, behind Sarah, and she turned to look at it as well. When she did, she noticed that the particular area was much darker, and the walls, floor and ceiling seemed to twist and bend, almost like they were water and oil. Sitting amongst the twisted architecture, she saw a stone prison, with thick bars and various runes and carvings etched into them.

“What is that...?” She asked Argal slowly.

“That,” he replied vehemently, “is what the Gods over Order, the beings who keep balance and order throughout Existence, have tasked me with watching over. It is the prison of Discord, a vile and monstrous God of Chaos, created by the artifacts of the Gods over Order; the Elements of Harmony. He is a major cause for woe in this universe, and many others in the past, and is part of the reason why I called you here.”

“I was wondering about that,” she said confusedly, “why did you bring me to this place?”

Instead of speaking, Argal waved his hand, and a large image appeared. Sarah recognized the image as the massive forest that spanned out across the land outside the castle she was in. Though, in this image, the forest wasn’t as wild and dark, and the small tower tops she had seen were no longer overgrown and deteriorated.

“This,” Argal stated, “is the nation of Kahl’Aman, the home of the Etrians, or Humans as your world would have named them. This nation was their origin, where the largest concentrated point of Humans existed, and it was a melting pot of all the cultures and species across the world.”

“What happened to it?” Sarah asked, “What made it so much more different than what I saw?”

As Argal was about to speak, the stone prison from the dark corner shook as the one inside it laughed darkly, “I happened to that pitiful little nation, with those insignificant, so easily molded and tortured beings, their minds broken so much in so little time by my power!”

“Discord-” Argal shouted, but the voice cut him off.

“My magic ruined that nation, their people twisted and warped by my energies, their forests growing and snaring their cities, crumbling rock and tearing land!” The voice laughed on, the happiness at what it had apparently done apparent in it, “They stood no chance when I came to rule, when I overturned those disgusting Ponies and stole their throne! Their nation was small, but the influence of their sun, my sun, was too much over this world!”

“Discord if you do not cease-” Argal was cut off once more.

“The sun was blackened, and the people of Kahl’Aman were frenzied, unaware who would challenge war on their allies! The Chaos their nation was thrown in at the thought, it was just too much for me not to enjoy, I just couldn’t help myself!” The voice was manic, the laughing accompanied by a strange warp to the voice, “I brOke tHeiR BodiEs anD MiNds, TwIsTEd tHeir SoUls to My biDdInG aNd MaDe thEm MinDlesS HuSks, sWorN tO mY ChAos, ReVeREd as a GoD!”

“Silence!” Argal’s voice echoed through the chamber and shook the walls and floor. There was a scream of rage and the slamming of something against stone, and the voice from the prison was gone. He muttered to himself a line he had said too many times for his pleasure, “As arrogant as he is mad, and as mad as he is cruel....”

His stare lingered on the prison for a moment longer, then he turned to Sarah and sighed, slumping back in his throne as he said tiredly, “As that... creature has stated, it was his magic that tore the nation of Kahl’Aman asunder. Under his influence the people were twisted and turned immortal, at least their souls.”

Sarah stared at him sadly and curiously, and asked, “What... what do you mean?”

“I don’t know what he did to them specifically,” Argal stated, “but he turned their souls immortal, and their core black as coal. They are mindlessly evil, to the ponies per Discord’s demand, and their souls are to last eternally, while their bodies rot around them.” He gave a short, humorless chuckle, “A true zombie you could say, though they keep their sapience.”

“However,” he continued on wearily, “there stands a problem, not just the one of their corruption under Discord. It’s the Ponies.”

“Did they do something bad?” Sarah asked him, worried that her body was left with people who might damage it.

He waved a hand dismissively, “No, nothing wrong. It’s more what they didn’t do, actually.” He noticed the inquisitory look she gave and explained, “They knew that Discord, under control of their throne, had attacked Kahl’Aman in some way, but given his destructive nature and violent disposition, they just assumed he let the people die in the impenetrable forests as they grew outward. They believed he let the nation, and its people, die.”

“In other words...” he sighed, “the Ponies are unaware that a nation, over six hundred thousand strong, full of powerful, immortal soldiers and people with an unnecessary need to hate their kind, is simply sitting at their door, only a mile away. They’ve even begun expansion of their land into the presumably empty forests, and you witnessed what became of that settlement.”

Sarah stared at him in shock and confusion, and she asked him, “Why call me here then? What would this mean for me?”

“Well,” he sighed, “as a result of the rurokinei, which in simpler words is what landed you on this world after your death, you are now a member of this world. These twisted people of Kahl’Aman? They could mean destruction for almost all of the world should they wish it, as they are immortal, and have grown powerful over the years and influence of Chaos.”

“So...” she hung her head and asked dejectedly, “even after I was told I would escape the evils that plagued me, new evils just await on the other side?”

“I would not say that, young one.” Sarah looked up at him in question, and saw that he had risen from his throne and was stepping down in front of her, stopping before her to say, “There is a way to destroy them, to grant their eternally damned souls rest, one which your arrival may help in.”

“What do you mean? What could my being here do with anything?”

He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled, “Our kind, which I sadly can no longer connect with after becoming an avatar of the Gods over Order, would be a cornerstone in an army to bring down these violently turned men. They are immortal, yes, but a body is useless without a soul. And what, dear Sarah, do our kind specialize in manipulating?”

She paused, thinking back to what those four strange beings had told her, when realization struck her and she breathed out, “Souls....”

Argal pulled his hand back and clapped once, exclaiming excitedly, “Exactly! If a being, who can quite easily take the soul from any being, with much practice, were to enter a world where the biggest threat were a race of powerful, sadly corrupt beings whose immortal soul is their strongest point, then a hope would be reached to avoid, or even stop said threat altogether!”

“But... what if you had gotten someone that couldn’t, or worse than that wouldn’t, help?” Her question made him stop in place, and slowly, his face sunk into a dark frown as he bent his head forward.

“I’m afraid,” he paused to sigh, “I’m afraid you wouldn’t have a choice anymore.”

“What do you mean?” She asked him worriedly.

He made his way to his throne again, setting down on it tiredly, and resting his forehead in his hands, “The Gods over Order, in conjunction with an unseen agreement with the four who sent you here, have already bound you to a seal to aid in this.”

“But...” she looked at him sadly, “they had promised I wouldn’t see evils like I had known on this world....”

He sighed and said in a pained voice, “Those four likely didn’t even know about the agreement anymore, it was all planned so many eternities ago. Most probably, they were simply being controlled without knowing it.”

“Oh... so I have no choice then?”

“No, you do not....” He saw the downcast, almost horrified expression she wore, and attempted to turn it around, “Well... cheer up at knowing it may not all be as bad as you think.”

She lifted her head slightly, still solemn, but asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well....” He stopped, trying to think of short notice reasons for her to forget her sorrow, and gave a slight smile when he thought of one, “Well, you’d be helping out an almost defenseless, unaware species. With you there, should threat arise, they would be likely to pull through.”

Her expression seemed to lighten at this, if only slightly, prompting Argal to inwardly sigh and think, Thank the Makers for our species having that absurd appeal to morality.

“Furthermore,” he stated, hoping she would buy what he said, “If the Gods over Order had an agreement for one of our kind, which in the end became you, to arrive on this world and aid it should the people of Kahl’Aman become a threat, then they would obviously have some form of contingency plan should you become fatally injured.”

She tilted her head to the side and asked, “What... what do you think that would be?”

“Well...” he mulled it over for a second, praying she would believe him, “perhaps they would have pulled a few strings to ensure you wouldn’t die? There are few of our kind left after all, and even fewer with the abilities we hold.”

She seemed skeptical of his words, but the more she thought it over, it seemed logical to some degree, at least in her mind. Unfortunately, her mind ran on an addled process of thought, not fully understanding that Argal’s words were false, a downfall of never being around other people enough to determine truth from lies.

Seeing the slowly and contemplatively agreeing expression growing on Sarah’s face, Argal clapped his hands loudly, catching her attention as he boomed with a too-genuine smile, “Right! We have that settled, time to send you back to the real world!”

“But-” Sarah attempted to say, but she was cut off immediately.

“No buts!” He shouted even louder, “You need to return and start learning the ways of the Pony society- can’t be there to save them if you can’t even fit in with them, can you?”

“I- I suppose not, but-” Again, she was interrupted.

“Great! Off you are then!” Argal, rudely as he had been acting, snapped his fingers, and in an instant Sarah’s world went dark, much like when she first passed out before arriving in Argal’s domain.

Princesses Celestia and Luna, for all their age and knowledge, had no idea what to make of the situation. First, a scarred, strange-limbed Etrian with off-color eyes and hair stumbled into their city and castle, seemingly ignorant of the world and their language.

Then, shortly after eating some of Celestia’s own magic and what the two sisters could only piece together was soul of all things, she blacked out and disappeared, only to return a second later, dazed and unceremoniously dropped to the ground from thin air.

“Sister...?” Luna questioned, feeling just as out of mind and stupefied as the Etrian before them appeared.

“I do not know either, Luna....” Was the half-hearted, almost defeated reply the elder sister could give.

Luna sighed dejectedly, “Right, of course....”

The two were left in silence as the woman before them tried, with great effort, to stand, failing on several occasions. If they weren’t certain whether it would devour their own magic again, they would’ve tried to aid it, but that doubt coupled with sheer dumbfoundedness made them simply stand by and watch helplessly.

Then, to their even further shock, she spoke, though disappointingly in a language they could not take anything from.

“Sedas mal... croret te heddan jäg...” the obviously still blunted woman muttered, finally gaining her footing, albeit unsteadily, “gestasas hargut... toh mana....”

She then released an exhausted breath and fell forward, already drifting into sleep before hitting the stone floor, if she were to even touch it. Seeing that she had fallen asleep, Celestia saw it opportune to catch her before she potentially shattered her nose and add to the already glaring damage done to her previously, presented by her twisting scars.

“Should we take her to the infirmary....?” Luna asked after a long, silent pause of the two standing there, the woman suspended by Celestia’s magic.

“Yes... I believe that would be best....” Without another word, the two set off to the still-open doors of the throne room, the floating mystery woman in tow. As they were leaving, however, Luna stopped, as did her sister soon after, a questioning gaze in her eyes.

“I apologize,” the younger sister said, “but thought it best to tell you I will be teleporting ahead, to the infirmary.”

“And why is that?” Celestia asked.

As Luna drew magic to her horn, she looked to the sleeping figure with a look of worry and said, “Obviously, given her clear lack of knowledge- of both the land, and the common language of her people here -she is from very, very far away. I thought it would be best to arrive early before you, and notify the staff that perhaps Maedith should be the one to look after this... guest, should she wake up in the near future.”

She looked back at Celestia and gave a weary smile, “Best she wake up to the face of one of her own kind; give her a sense of familiarity in a foreign land, even if they may be unable to communicate.”

Celestia, seeing the wisdom in her sister’s words, nodded once and said, “A wise decision, dear sister. Go on ahead, I will meet you there with our guest.”

With a nod of her own, Luna let the magic built up in her horn unfurl, and she disappeared in a flash of blue and white leaving the two alone in the long hallways of the castle.

“Well,” Celestia sighed, starting down the hall once more, “let’s get you to the infirmary, young one.”

The soft clicks of her golden shoes against the stone tiles echoed throughout the high ceiling as she made her way to the infirmary, the unheard mutterings of the woman closely following.