A Man with a Lightning Charged Axe

Having achieved my goal of reaching the castle and finding out that the Throne works as it does in-game I am left with exploring the rest of the rooms and halls on the surface, whatever is calling to me from the dungeon can wait a bit longer. If I plan on making this my new base of operations, I need to see where I would need to repair walls and roofs. Once I get a decent mental map of the castle I'll feel far safer.

What feels like several hours later I've finished mapping out the surface layers and the floors above them. Library, mess hall, kitchen, barracks with the training field, a well that still has water, an empty pantry, and all the other rooms you would expect to find are all accounted for. There are even some that I don't know the purpose of but I assume they are for the study and practice of magic. Useless for me since I wouldn't know where to begin not to mention the fact that I can't read the script written in the strangely well-preserved books. This leaves only the underground to explore. As I've been exploring the pull has only ever grown stronger, what started as a small feeling that I should explore the castle has grown to an almost magnetic pull dragging me down the steps into the darkness of the dungeon.

I can't postpone it any longer.

I craft makeshift torches out of the bodies of the wooden wolves and some cloth that I found in one of the ruined bedrooms, light one with sparks made by striking my axe on the stone wall, and make my way down the ominous staircase spiraling down into the earth. Despite the gloom in the air, I find myself almost falling down the stairs as whatever has its grip on me is now far too strong for me to struggle against. When I get to the bottom of the stairs I am met with a tunnel system, no prison cells just yet though I imagine they will be here somewhere. No good castle is complete without a place to hold prisoners and criminals.

I try my best to follow where I'm being drawn to as well as trying to keep track of how to get back. This place is a maze of collapsed halls and broken walls. Maybe during its height, this would have been easy to navigate but now after what I guess to be several hundred years, the degradation has made the once great fortress fall to ruin. Turns and side passages that seem too small for me to fit through litter the hall, either the people here were shorter than me or they weren't human.

I can't keep track of time down here, the lack of the sun or any access to the sky preventing me from telling how long I spend wandering the tunnels. Dead end after dead end keep appearing, and I'm getting annoyed. Between the pulling force and the damn ruins, I'm far more irritable than normal. I want to find whatever is drawing me here so I can get some rest. The incessant pull is like an itch that keeps growing in intensity but instead of being on your skin, it's out in the world somewhere, as if scratching your doorknob would relieve it. Eventually, it gets too much as I reach another dead end, or is it the same dead end? My frustration turns to a bout of anger and I smash my fist into the wall screaming, causing the wall to collapse and reveal a passage behind it.

This damn feeling made me forget that there may have been secret passages.

Still frustrated and angry but far less so now that the way forward has been revealed, I step into the new hall. It is dimly lit with small stones that give off just enough light to see by, fortunately, my torches lasted me this long as I have two left. Hopefully, they will be enough to get me out without having to grab one of these new stones. I don't know why this area was sealed and hidden but it probably means it isn't safe or there was some great secret hidden here. Both might not be great for me.

Keeping Wolf Beil at the ready as I advance, I take notice of several chambers with skeletons of different creatures chained to walls, some of them were clearly deformed with bones that do not fit with the rest of the skeleton. Some strange experiments had taken here. Notably, almost all of the skeletons are quadrupedal, the few that are bipedal seem more like mutated humans, or maybe some other kind of species. Minotaur maybe? Seeing all of this reminds me of Nergal and his Morphs, the false human creations he used to take over the Black Fang. Was someone doing something similar here? It was never stated if the Morphs required food or sleep, they seemed very human or very good at pretending to be. If there are any left alive down here I have to prepare for a very tough fight.

Whatever is down here though is definitely the cause of the pull. It seems like the connection is almost visible as I keep moving forward through the passage, ignoring the cells along the way. Something catches my eye as I keep walking, there are small lines engraved along the ceiling that seem to be sparking, they are clearly like power cables but they aren't physical, they rather seem to be channeling magic, magic that is powering the stones lighting the area, and as I get closer to the source they are becoming brighter. I wasn't expecting magical electricity but if I'm not the first person from the modern day to be transported here it makes sense that someone would want the modern conveniences. The pull is also following the lines, maybe there is some connection there.

Following the connection leads me to a large metal door. It is unmarked but there are handles. I've ignored several offshoots and side passages to get here but just standing in front of the door is making me almost lean forward both because of the connection and in anticipation. I stow Wolf Beil on my side as I step to the door. Pushing it open lets me see a massive chamber filled with what I guess to be runestones as well as wires and an uncountable number of wires and other instruments doing who knows what. All of this is surrounding a large orb glowing and cracking with electricity.

"So, someone has finally come." A deep voice rings from the orb, shocking me. It has been long enough since I've heard anyone speak anything that being talked at is startling. "And it seems you were drawn here by my final attempt to escape."

"What, who?" The ability to talk with someone is allowing me to finally get answers to many of the questions I had but before I can ask any the voice interrupts me.

"Before you ask anything, I would ask if you would free me. All you need to do is disrupt the flow of magic sustaining the runes. It should cause the sequence to collapse in on itself."

"Uhh yeah, I can do that," Rasing Wolf Beil and charging forward I try to smash several runestones at once. As the blade touches the first one I am met with great resistance and large sparks as electrical discharges come sparking out at me. Not expecting such a forceful counter from a slab of rock, I am blown back several feet before coming to a stop on my back.

Standing up and looking at the runestone I see that I've left a small crack but the stone is still mostly intact.

"I can sense the sequence weakening, two more strikes should be enough to break the stone." The deep voice says encouraging me to continue.

"I'll get it done in one," I say confidently. Once again I take a stance before the runestone, now ready for the resistance I take Wolf Beil in both hands and put as much force into my swing as I can. My boasting is rewarded when my blade chops right through the stone causing a large explosion of electrical energy. I am not spared from its wrath and as I am wearing metal armor and using a large metal axe the lightning runs right through me and into the floor.

Screaming out in pain as the lightning courses through me frying my body, I collapse writhing in pain. Panting I look at the orb in the center of the room. It is surrounded by large explosions as the other runestones break due to the magical sequence collapse. As the final rune shatters the orb starts to fade, my fried brain barely making sense of what I see hidden inside.

It's a dragon.

A brilliant blue and yellow honest to goodness dragon.

Unfortunately for me, I'm still in pain and my vision is blurry. I barely have the strength to move. I figure this is what being tased feels like. Not pleasant by any means.

"Thank you, young warrior," The dragon says looking at me, "If it weren't for you I would have spent my final moments as a caged beast and a failure."

"I'd love to say you're welcome but I don't feel strong enough to stand. What do you mean final moments, are you dying?" I can't help but notice that the majestic beast looks like it has been through as much pain as I have.

"I was trapped here by an ancient unicorn who had great mastery of dark magic, he used to be a friend but he let the corrupting nature of his Tome overtake him. He was sapping my strength to power his experiments."

"Unicorn? Aren't they guardians of nature, why would one use dark magic?" I ask, "Why would you be a failure? Where am I? Who are you? I have so many questions."

The weakened dragon sighs, sending sparks flying from its mouth in the process. "I cannot answer all of your questions young warrior, however, I will ask some of my own, and with what little time I have left I will answer the most important. My name is Thrud, will you become my chosen, and inherit my mission given to me by the Divine Dragon Naga?"

"Naga gave you a mission? What is it? What does being your chosen mean?" Even more questions flood my mind but I can't voice them.

"You know Naga? Yet you know not of my mission, how strange..." He looks pensive for a moment before turning to me, "You have the correct affinity to become my chosen, it will grant you strength and allow you to control lighting."

So it is like holy blood from Genealogy of the Holy War I think to myself. "I'll become your chosen, what is Naga's mission?"

"She wants her people to live alongside the races of this world, however, they were terrified of us, and they forged several weapons of great strength to grant them the power to kill us. We cast a spell on those few of us sent to fight that would hide and seal our civilization when they were killed, I was sent to see the world and decide if they were ready for our return. This is the mission I give to you young warrior."

"I gladly accept it Thrud, I will make every attempt to finish your mission." I dunno how I'm gonna do that but I can certainly try. "Who betrayed you? I can bring them to justice."

"A unicorn named Sombra, he was a close friend to myself and the princesses before he fell to darkness. We were well on our way for my mission to be a success, but when we started to collect the weapons to unseal the dragon sanctuary the first weapon we found was the tome Apocalypse."

"The Elder Revelation..." In-game it enhanced the user's magic stat. It was one of the more powerful weapons Roy obtained in his fight against Bern. "Unicorn? Princesses?"

"Do you not know? I don't have enough time remaining to explain, seek out Celestia, she should be able to answer many of your questions. Before I pass on, I will impart you with my blood making you my chosen." He very shakily walks over to me and tears off a scale from what would be his wrist causing his blood to start flowing.

He stretches his arm over me and his blood falls into my open mouth. Instantly I am wracked with even more pain as my already wounded body is forced to accept power that it never expected to have. I begin writhing on the floor as I desperately try to maintain consciousness trying with my sheer will in any attempt to make my body accept the power being bestowed to me.

I can't... Is all I can think as I lose consciousness.

When I wake up I feel far better than I've ever felt before. I stand and look around the room. Thrud is lying next to me, dead. Couldn't even get the answers I wanted. Spent all this time here trying to find someone to talk to and right when I do they go and die on me. How do I even try to give him a respectful burial? I at least have to try.

Then I guess I should try looking for this Celestia lady to get my answers and fulfill my vow to Thrud.