Griffinstone United

Ellie shivered, breathing on her hands, but it was no use. Her used breath simply floated upwards before being carried away by the gusts. Her talons were numb even as she held them over the dying fire. Amethyst noticed this and immediately dropped a sphere of fire onto the little firewood that was there. Ellie was thankful when a short wave of heat washed over her. Repeated balls of fire wouldn't keep them warm forever, though.

Big Mac better get back with those logs soon, Ellie thought, her fingers regaining little feeling. They had just left the cave two hours ago only to find the center of a harsh blizzard to greet them. The wind howled like a pack of wolves, but she was beginning to get used to it. No place was safe from the snow, however, as it didn't hold back it's endless barrage. The sky was invisible, mixing with the grey pellets of snow.

They'd set up camp under a ridge, a small pocket in the side of the steep rocky dirt wall, the ground only baring small sheets of snow. Ellie had casted a protective wall around them to deflect the relentless snow as they ate a dinner of apples from Big Mac, one for each of them as to conserve food. Ellie wasn't sure when this would end, assuming it did.

She stopped herself. Bah, gotta stop thinking so pessimistically. Thankfully, Amethyst had stayed quiet of the book, but Ellie wasn't sure whether that was because she hadn't read enough to know about her or if she was just merciful.

Everyone had been assigned jobs for the time being; Ellie and Amethyst stayed at the fire, the unicorn keeping the fire going while Ellie kept their packs and sacks safe. Benedict had run off, unable to fly, to scout for a safer place to stay. Big Mac was getting more firewood, whether it was a twig or a dozen logs.

Amethyst's teeth chattered loudly, but Ellie paid her no geed. Rather, she eyed the sacks made of the rough, brown fabric. She had made sure that she'd stuffed her bag at the very bottom of the messy pile, which was easily distinguishable because of the red splatters on it. She shook her head, dismissing the train of thought that would soon follow. Better to just not think about any of it.

Ellie looked out through the wall that she had kept up, only noticeable by the white, glowing edges and illuminated center. That was how most shield spells worked for Aids like her. You focused your energy on one point, that would be the center of the wall, and then expanded it. She could curve it if she wanted to make a curved wall or dome, or just keep it straight or slightly slanted.

Despite all of the events that had occurred, she was quite bored. Slumping against the wall, she spared a glance at the pile of rucksacks. She'd love to read some of her books, perhaps learn some more of Ray's concoctions, but she wouldn't dare open the book in front of Amethyst. If she asked about it, one thing would lead to another that either ended in her book being given to her or a mounting suspicion. Ellie knew how the second felt, and it was painful to have a friend unable to put his or her trust in you. It'd happened so many times...

And it'll happen again, God added, his voice almost mistaken for a whisper of the wind, but Ellie had heard him long enough to know how he sounded. Ever since she was little and found all of them, and since she touched it, she'd had this voice stuck in her head. It asked her to do multiple things, killing was the most prominent. But it was easy to ignore, especially in pain, unless she was stressed. Stress led to God having more control over her, but she would never let that happen. The first time it did, she...

No. She wouldn't think about those times as a fledgling. That's why she had left in the first place. Her mind eventually traveled to other places. If we're going to the north, she thought, I might get to see Ray, if I can even find him. The blizzard didn't give her much hope, however.

What did, however, was the returning form of Benedict, a rusted iron axe slung over his shoulder. Ellie immediately broke her ghostly shield, the crazed winds instantly extinguishing the fire much to Amethyst's displeasure. Her face lit up at the sight of Benedict.

"You are back," she noted, Benedict nodding as he dropped the axe, leaning it against the wall for the wind to only blow it over.

"Yeah, and I finally have some good news," he said, grinning. Ellie felt somewhat guilty about Benedict losing his ability of flight, for he had jumped down after her, but she remained silent.

"Oh?"

"There's this small tower a little ways from here, and it seems like it goes underground. The top room seems like a bedroom, and all the windows are intact, but it was locked. Now, I'm thinking that we the keys are somewhere downstairs, but I thought that come back here and bring one of you back with me to the tower." Ellie saw that he was eying her. "Oh, and I got this axe for you, Ellie. Was lying near the staircase, and seems like you've only got that bow. It'd be convenient to have both a ranged arm and your own weapon for close combat, I think, and it's sturdy enough."

"Thanks," Ellie said.

"Ah, it's no problem." He walked over the fire, looking from Amethyst to Ellie. "So which one of you want to go?"

"I will!" Ellie said, perking up and raising her hand like a student eager to be called on. Benedict just chuckled.

"Alright, I guess you won the vote. Amethyst."

"I will stay here, thank you," she responded quietly.

"Well, alright then. Let's go El, I wanna get the tower secured quickly."

She grinned and nodded, inwardly squealing. He called me El! As she got up, she paused, glancing at the pile of sacks. She didn't want Amethyst to be looking through her stuff when she was gone...

She grabbed the axe and walked over to Amethyst as Benedict went outside to wait. Then, in a hushed whisper, "Listen, while I'm gone, can you please not go through my stuff?"

"I understand that it is of a private nature, so I will abide."

Ellie's face both drained of color and she was relieved. So she might know about it, but she promises not to look into it. She would probably avoid talking with her, for she feared any further awkward questions. The less they know, the better.

The deader, the better, God added.

***   ***   ***

The tower rose out of the ground, though it wasn't as big as Ellie imagined. It was a wide pillar of cobblestone, the top of it with four glass windows poking out of each side of the wall. It wasn't as much of a tower as it was just a really tall shack made of stone.

"This is it," Benedict said, stopping near the door. He opened it for Ellie who thanked him and went inside, Benedict following. She could still hear the wind's howls, but now they were muffled and echoed, adding a slight creep factor to the place. A couple dusty boxes lied in the middle of the room, an even dirtier lantern sitting on top of the stacks. A staircase spiraled upwards and downwards.

"Should you-?" Ellie began, Benedict nodding and grabbing the lantern. After a couple scrapes of a piece of flint, it burned to life, a ghostly glow filling the room. He grinned.

"So we're going down?"

"Yep," he said, speaking as he descended. "I already checked out the first parts of the basement, just snooped around a bit, and it seems pretty extensive. Tons of doorways, but I just went to that one room."

"Huh," she said, looking at the strange and wicked shadows that the lantern cast. There were small cubbyholes in the walls, empty save for cobwebs and spiders. One particularly large one dropped on her shoulder, making her panic before realizing what it was. They finally reached the bottom, the stairs giving way to a room of cobblestone walls, similar to the outside. Torches that Benedict must've lit already brightened the room.

Despite the fact that Benedict had already been here, Ellie had begun to clutch the iron axe, wearily looking left and right as she moved throughout the room, Benedict going ahead towards the door across from the entrance. There was something... off about this place. The tables held numerous pieces of parchment, quills lying in dried out inkpots. Padded chairs were toppled over, and naked bookshelves lined the walls. Someone must've been here before Benedict...

Probably, God whispered in her ear, making her pout. The voice usually told her to do bad, but it would sometimes acknowledge her thoughts and even help her. One of the perks of insanity, I guess, she thought, shrugging, her paranoia returning as she came to a halt next to Benedict.

"I was thinking that I'd go ahead with the lantern, lighting the way while you inspected everything, assuming it isn't just another room." Ellie nodded, ready. When he pushed against the door, however, it wouldn't budge. It wasn't until the third time that it finally creaked open, Ellie joining in his efforts to shove the thing open. There were cracking sounds once the door had fully opened, each one sending shivers down her spine.

The first thing she noticed was the smell, that familiar smell that she had come to know so well. Death.

Beyond the door was a long tunnel, the walls intricately carved to make swirling patterns. Cobwebs dominated any corners, and skulls of varying creatures lied in the dusty pockets in the wall. Griffons, ponies, unicorns, and more that she didn't quite recognize. The rocky ceiling was high above Ellie's head, but that only increased her fear of spiders dropping down on her, many of the creepy little bastards crawling around on the webs above her. There were two pockets for each slot in the wall, each pocked carved on top of the other, like shelves.

Before she could stop him or voice her concerns, Benedict was lighting torches, proceeding to go further and further away. "I'll holler if I see something," he said, getting further and further away. She raised a claw and opened her beak, but decided against saying something. Rather, she looked back at the closed door to see what that noise was.

She gagged at what she saw. Scratch marks had been carved into the wooden door long ago, and the decaying corpses of two griffons lied by the door. Each one donned a tattered piece of cloth with the symbol of the Red Gear.

What had made those scratches? She wondered, both confused and nervous. Or, maybe it was those two soldiers. Maybe they were trying to run away from something, something terrible, maybe-

Snap out of it, she told herself, shaking her head. She turned back only to see that Benedict had left, leaving a trail of blazing torches. Ellie slowly made her way through the catacombs, cautiously looking at each shelf. At first it was just bones and pottery, but after three slots, there were full skeletons. They were all in the same position as well, like some sort of creepy synchronized act, hands on their chest and skulls lying on a stone brick, propped up. She jerked back when a particular skull's eye socket gave birth to a rat, the vermin squeaking before disappearing back into the dark hole.

This place isn't right, she thought once again. She didn't know why, but she could just sense it. With the other side of her magic, she could sense some sort of force here, something about all these dead bodies and skeletons. Then again, the other side of her magic was focused around death in the first place.

The pattern was the same for everything beyond, multiple twists and turns leading her through the maze-like tomb. It was only then that she noticed out of the corner of her eye a glint of metal. Peering closely at the skeleton, it was of a griffon, a female by the looks of the bone structure. Unlike the pattern she'd been seeing, only one arm was over her chest, the other leaning outwards from the shelf, grasping a corroded dagger. After poking and prodding with the tip of her axe, the bony hand and claws went limp, the knife clattering to the dirt ground.

What was this place? She knew that it was some sort of burial place for the dead, but this was different. She'd been to many, she knew how they were usually laid out, but this was different, and her darker magic was once again sensing something. But what is it? she asked herself, continuing onward. As she went deeper, it became apparent that almost all of the skeletons had a weapon of some sorts, whether it was a knife lodged into one's eye socket, a club or sword leaning limply from one hand, or a dusty shield on one's chest.

Eventually she came across a large stone coffin, the heavy slab of rock that held it shut not budging when Ellie tried to lift it. She frowned, wedging her axe into the seam and twisting it up, trying to crank the lid off with little success. She didn't need to, however, when a bony set of claws pushed it open.

She screamed, jumping back as another hand appeared from the coffin, this one wielding a dagger. It swung blindly as she backed away further, yelping when there was the popping of bones behind her. Turning, she saw the skeleton of an earth pony with a battered metal helmet rising, toppling over and slowly getting up. All of the dead around her started to do the same as she backed away, looking about frantically, both scared out of her mind and amazed.

I didn't animate them, who did?! She backed away as more and more long dead ponies and griffons began to shift out from their shelves, each holding some sort of weapon. Her powers would be useless against them; unless you were the Necromancer who had raised them, you couldn't use many of the tricks on them that you could on a living person or on your own dead. Few of them worked. For instance, Ellie couldn't manipulate their bone or flesh, rendering her magic useless against them. She was screwed.

Run, God whispered.

She only began to regain her wit when one of them grasped her shoulder, jaw opening with a croak to reveal a swarm of roaches. Screaming out, she raised her axe and slammed it down against the arm, it immediately falling off. She silently thanked whatever was up there that the opposing Necromancer hadn't casted any bone-strengthening spells. That didn't stop him from using his other arm, however.

"Ah!" she squealed, jumping away and making a dash for an escape, following Benedict's trail of torches. As she passed, the skeletons began to have bits and bits of more flesh, and a cold breeze became more and more noticeable, but she ignored the rising corpses. She couldn't fight any good in these halls and tunnels; she needed to find a bigger room.

And there it was. Well, it was there, but it was sealed off by an iron gate, closed. Beyond it, she thought that she could see Benedict lunging at a corpse that had large amounts of flesh on him still. She cocked her head, looking up at the glowing hole in the ceiling. The pieces clicked in her head immediately.

The cold must be freezing the fresher corpses, keeping them from rotting, she figured. But... where did the bodies come from?

She didn't have enough time to answer that riddle, however, as multiple skeletons were shambling towards her, the torches distorting their appearances with warped shadows. Luckily, there was a stairway to the left of her. She took it immediately, scrambling upwards.

Thankfully, there were no more shelves to hold dead bodies up here. She stopped at the top of the ramp and took out her bow and pulled an arrow from her quiver, the tip of the cold, sharp metal glowing. Closing her eyes, she mouthed the name of a bone-corroding slash bone-weakening spell and enchanted the special arrow, letting it zip directly into the rising earth pony that still bore patches of skin, jaw hanging loosely by some threads of flesh.

It shattered her skull, sending pieces of bone everywhere like she had just bashed one of the pots near the entrance. Her arrows were enchanted to where one could cast an advanced spell on them rather than just a simple enchantment. Basically, it was an enchantment that enabled enchantments. There was a hissing sound as the bones collapsed, but Ellie didn't have time to watch. Instead, she rushed through the unlit hall, using her healing magic to light the way instead.

Eventually there was a light coming from a doorway to the right. Turning led her to a swinging, structurally-unsafe bridge, the wood planks only held together by loosely-bound rope and a couple nails. The square room was large, with the floor below the bridge slowly sloping upwards to a platform, something similar to a shrine built on top of it. The wind from above traveled through the hole in the ceiling along with a ray of white light, revealing all of the disturbed dust that floated about. The wind rocked the unsturdy bridge to the left and right, but that didn't worry Ellie. She just flew across. She suddenly felt a pang of guilt when she landed at the column of rock that was in the middle of the room just below the hole, thinking again of Benedict's crippled wings.

Benedict! She looked down, remembering that her friend was in danger. Ellie might have, but Benedict didn't know how to deal with these things. Simple slashes at the bones wouldn't work unless they were extremely acute and well-placed. You had to either break, crush, or destroy bones completely to destroy the living dead, which is why a blunt weapon would work best. Sadly, Benedict only had his daggers.

She looked down at Benedict, biting the lip of her beak as the skeletons approached her, each one clutching a curved sword. The first two were frozen corpses with large chunks of flesh left, giving them a ghoulish, zombie-like appearance, both griffons, while the other was the skeleton of a unicorn.

Just kill them all, God begged. The dead and Benedict, he's not that important.

No! Shut up, she screamed back.

He'll find out sooner or later, best you stop him now. God ended at that, and she actually questioned herself, pausing long enough for the unicorn to swing her sword right at her throat. She barely had enough time to jump back.

It's the stress, dammit! Ellie leaned in towards the dead unicorn and swung her hefty axe over her head, splitting the horn in half before obliterating the rest of the skull. The two zombies looked at her with lifeless eyes, one of them dangling out of its socket, before they both lunged forwards. She yelped, flying to the side and equipping her bow, holding it sideways. She nocked two of her arrows at once and squeezed her eyes shut. Another bone eroding spell will work.

Her hands dulled as she cast the spell onto the enchanted tips before letting them loose. Both arrows zoomed in two different directions, both striking home as they smacked into the cold flesh and tissue.

I can help, God whispered, his voice encouraging. Just let me in you for a moment, I can show you new knowledge.

Never. More skeletons started flowing out from the doorway, clustering together on the bridge. She saw an opportunity. Balling her hands together, she broke out in a sweat as a small sphere of shadows started to form, growing bigger and darker every second. Her pearl reserves were running out quickly, so she'd need to recharge immediately, but until then...

Ellie's hands started to tremble, losing control of the ball of death and decay in her hands. Bone erosion mixed into a deadball to send these bastards back to the grave. A deadball was like a fireball, but for a Necromancer. It was one of the most effective attacks against the living dead, breaking their curse and rendering the body useless. It was one of the first things God teached her.

She let it go.

Like a whirling black hole, the void of shadow whirred towards the group of dead warriors, leaving behind a smoky mist that sparkled and glittered. It clashed with the leading griffon in a dark explosion that sucked away the light from the room, a loud hissing noise sounding once the black mist dissipated. It left behind a pile of bones and bits of flesh.

She grinned, dashing downwards and slamming her axe into the spine of a pony who was about to stab Benedict in the back. He looked up, nodding his thanks. Deadballs didn't explode like that unless they were charged like hers, though charging one drained a lot from her reserves. Normal deadballs just penetrated a single walking corpse's spell if they were hit.

"Thanks!" Benedict shouted as skeletons banged against the iron gate, its hinges squeaking, threatening to give out. Ellie saw that he had only succeeded in defeating three of the dead.

"You've gotta use something heavy on them, your knives won't work!" she yelled back, the scraped griffon acknowledging this bit of information with another nod.

One particularly fleshy earth pony fell from above with a sickening smack, getting up slowly and shambling towards them, multiple worms and maggots falling from her rib cage. Benedict glanced at Ellie before rushing forward, grabbing the dead pony with one claw and throwing it back to the ground. He then grabbed a nearby rock and bashed it against his skull. It hissed immediately. He looked up at Ellie for approval, and she grinned, giving him a claws-up.

They both jumped as the room got a thousand degrees colder, a loud creak sounding from behind. Ellie turned and gawked at the creature that rose from a black coffin, the heavy slab of stone that was the lid clattering to the floor. The candles around the shrine extinguished as it rose, the large skeleton looking over the two of them with angry, disapproving eye sockets that glowed a bright turquoise.

He was a griffon almost twice as tall as Benedict, and he was already a big griffon. It wore tattered blue rags that might have been a flowing robe in a time long ago. A freezing aura radiated off of him, making a shiver go down Ellie's spine, though she wasn't sure if it was from the cold or raw terror. And around his neck was a golden key.

"Who dares to disturb me?" he demanded, his voice magnified and echoing all across the room. In response, Benedict hefted the rock and tossed it at his bone chest. Ellie face-palmed with her claws when it simply bounced off harmlessly. So this one does have a bone strengthener.

Both of them leaped opposite ways when a long icicle struck the ground where they just were. Balls of ice were casted at Benedict as he swerved around, attempting to strike the hulking mage from the side. Ellie was about to join in when the gate behind her broke, a horde of skeletons streaming out, gripping Ellie with panic.

Those were a lot of dead ponies and griffons, she thought, gulping. Her axe would be useless against them all, they'd drag her down and strip her of her skin in mere seconds if she attempted to come near them.

I can help, God offered, Ellie turning him away after a quick second.

No, I won't let you hurt Benedict!

Just let me in, I promise I won't hurt him, God whispered in response. Ellie reconsidered it, frowning. She didn't have enough time to formulate a plan, and God had always been honest in his promises to be let in, even if he did encourage murder. And every previous time that she'd let him in, she did learn something new, something that Ray hadn't covered...

"Okay," she whispered aloud.

As the skeletal griffon and Benedict were wrestling behind her, the crowd of skeletons actually stopped and looked up at Ellie as she rose, screaming. She rose from the ground without flapping her wings, eyes rolling back before turning a ghostly white. God flexed Ellie's claws and smirked, looking out over the crowd of warriors.

"Weaklings," he said through Ellie's beak, grinning as a shadowy mist began to spread around her. Oh, how he relished having a body.

He floated higher in Ellie's body as the dark fog thickened, and he clenched Ellie's fist, shadows leaking out from it. And then, he slammed it downwards to the ground, sending dark shockwaves of black that rattled the bones of the skeletons. Benedict shoved away the giant skeleton and gasped as they all collapsed into piles of bone, Ellie falling to the ground, weak.

Enjoy the gift I have bestowed, God whispered in her ear as she opened her eyes. Enjoy the treat of bypassing the rules. Enjoy being able to manipulate others' dead minions.

Her head once again throbbed as God left her body and retreated to her mind. She lied there, unable to get up. This was normal, and it happened every time she made a deal with God. Until she felt strong again, which should be in a minute or so, she could only crawl to a wall and watch the fight. Moments like these made her appreciate her insanity, though she was sure that God would start to annoy and pester her moments after.

"Griffons," he intoned in a booming voice, refraining himself from attacking, "I warn you of this place. Leave now, or I will be forced to act." His blue eyes flickered dangerously and his bone hands and claws twitched.

"Look," Benedict began, shooting glances at Ellie every now and then — she knew she was in trouble later — "we just need that key around your neck so me and my friends can stay in that top room for the night or two."

A look of what almost seemed like sadness flashed across his face. "Then I am sorry." His eyes blazed as he let loose a spray of frost, freezing the ground. Benedict could only run away, his wings binding him to the ground. Only Ellie could counter the bone strengthener, but God's shockwave-thing had drained her completely. She reached with a trembling finger and grabbed a couple glistening pearls, draining and tossing them away. Her hand glowed with a white light as she held it up to her head, performing a general wellness spell. It was the least effective an Aid could perform, but it was meant for minor things like slight headaches.

She got to her paws and started to fly, trying to stay inconspicuous as she nocked an arrow in her bow and cast a bone erosion spell to counter him. Once she let go, it zoomed towards him, going directly in the ribcage, flying through it and snapping on the dirt wall behind. She swore, nocking another arrow and aiming it at his head, casting the same spell over the enchanted arrow. This time, it hit home, extinguishing one of his dead eyes and getting stuck in the back of his skull.

He howled in pain as his bones hissed, slowly cracking and falling. Eventually he himself fell, dropping to the floor with a loud crash. Once he was on the ground, Benedict looked up at Ellie, beak wide. She cringed as she slowly descended from the air, thinking of what he'd say, looking down.

I'm screwed, he's going to tell everyone else and-

"That was amazing!" he said, surprising her.

She looked up, confused. Huh?

"What did you do to do that stomp thing? It was awesome!"

Ellie gulped. She was digging herself a bubbling tar pit of lies, and she was only going to get deeper.