1.11 - Orphiel Fairwind

Eyes shut tight against the terror, she fell.  All around her, friends from Silverwood were falling at the swords of the undead.  A few fell from fear alone, but many lived to strike a few blows before their lives were undone.   Above here, she could smell the stench of rotting flesh of the undead, the endless cultist who had fought her to this state.     Throughout the battle here at Thedeor Fields she had not struck a killing blow; though not for lack of trying - the warriors of Regulos were stronger than many rabid beasts she had dealt with in her home of Silverwood.  With her last ounce of strength, she rose as high as her weakening muscles would allow,  planted her dagger deep where a breathing opponent would have the most to lose-where blood and air would normally flow- and heaved it to one side, falling to the ground as she did so.  Time slowed and her vision tunnelled, but she was able to watch his head leave his body before all went black.

The sound of cannons and battle surround her. 

“It is strange.”  Anneleigh thinks.   “I have a strange feeling I have been in a similar position before.”  She stops to consider this.  “But the last time, I felt hard stone beneath my head, not grass and mud.”

With this recollection, the events of the previous day flood her mind; her ascension, meeting the messenger of the Vigil, Shyla, Borrin, and Cyril.  At the memory of Cyril she opened her eyes, finally remembering where in time she should be.  Hovering over her were several unknown men who smiled when she opened her eyes. 

“General Kelmar, she’s awake!”  One of the men called over his shoulder.

They stood back to allow Anneleigh some space to sit up.  Slowly, head still pounding, she looked directly at Cyril.  “You used me as bait.”  She repeats to him. 

Cyril cleared a way through the men around her and took Anneleigh by the elbow, helping her to her feet; Anneleigh noticed her leg had been placed in a splint.  “I know, but it was the only way.  We needed someone who appears weak and defenceless.  You held out remarkably well for someone of your stature.”

Anneleigh shoved him away, “General, I am Ascended, just like you.  I may resemble my original self, but...”   Anneleigh’s sentence tapered off.  She had not proven herself any stronger, any more capable to handle herself in battle.  He had come to her rescue, as he would have for any citizen, ascended or not.

“You miss understand me, Anneleigh.” He says with a gentle smile, “We needed someone who appears weak.  Only appears.   We waited for an Ascended.  The plan could not have succeeded were we to choose a housewife of the city, even if one did survive.  They would not have lasted more than one minute; might possibly have died of pure terror when I proposed the plan.  No, it had to be an Ascended.   Any other way, and the sourcestone would have been lost.”

For the first time, Anneleigh noticed orb he held under his left arm.  The sourcestone had been saved, had worked as intended.  She softened a little towards him, but they continued the walk to Valor Hold in silence, the others walking behind them.

The allow Anneleigh to rest for the night but in the morning she is summoned to report to General Kelmar.  Wary of another foolish plot, Anneleigh gathers her few belongings and presents herself at the General’s tent.

Cyril calls her inside and she sits in the empty seat across from him, a wooden table covered in strategic maps laid out between them.

“You are strong, Anneleigh.  I recognized it in you.  But the Vigil can make you strong yet.  I would have you visit with the God’s messenger but you must prove your worth.”

Anneleigh looks at Cyril, “Do you believe me capable of completing this task you have in mind?”

“I would not ask you if I thought we would be retrieving your corpse.”  He answers, a little more sharply.  Perhaps he is not accustom at defending his statements to anyone but himself.  “Here, “he points to the map, “at Ascendant Hall, is where Orphiel is deploying foul devices to replicate the Vigil’s power.  We need you to dismantle the coward’s machines and expel him from our holy site.”

Anneleigh stands to leave.  “If this needs to be done, I will give it my best effort.”

Walking north, towards Ascendant Hall, Anneleigh tries to remember what she knows about Orphiel; Tutor to Prince Aedraxis and Prince Zareph, as well as Asha Catari, the dragon slayer, in their youth, Orphiel had remained in the employment of the King until the time of his death and continues now to work for King Aedraxis.  Little has been know about him since the Princes coronation.  That is, until recently when his work on the Eth war machines was unveiled to Ardenburg’s destruction.

Knowing what a powerful opponent Orphiel Fairwind would prove to be, Anneleigh was determined not to fight her way to Ascendant Hall if she could do so.  Although the Hall was only just across Thedeor Fields, the journey took far longer than expected as Anneleigh skirted bushy overgrowth and rocky outcrops, putting all of her hunting and tracking skills to good use.

She approached the gates of Ascendant Hall, only to find them impenetrable; locked or barricaded from the inside.  Anneleigh skirted the building and found that it had been built into the side of the cliff face, a well beaten path serving as access to the upper levels.

Anneleigh climbed the path, careful to keep to the sides, behind bushes where possible.  About ten feet from the summit, she was struck by a paralyzing force and saw Orphiel step out. 

“Get away from this place!” He shouted down to her.  “I will steal the power of the Vigil if it’s the last thing I do!”

Anneleigh was unable to move.  The paralysis spell prevented her from following him for a moment, but his appearance gave her a guide stone and as soon as his spell lifted, she followed him further into the hall.    When she reached the end of the path, she was surprised to find it led, not into the hall, not to an outer balcony or alternate entrance, but to the roof of the building itself.  Further along, on the presentation platform at the edge of the structure, stood Orphiel, head bent low over what could only be described as a mechanical solider.

She had never encountered a machine as large as this.  The machines used by the Defiant in bloodmurk grove were child sized when compared to this creation.  Unsure how to attack, Anneleigh simply walked closer to the creator and his machine, looking for an opening or weakness.  Orphiel looked up when he heard her approach.

“Ethect.”  He said to her, as if he were her old tutor, not Asha Catari’s.  “It will allow me to siphon the Vigil’s power.” 

“Not if it doesn’t work.”  Anneleigh said with a smile, for she had spotted the machines weakness.   She took up her Vigil’s Dagger and to her aid came the forest protector, spirit of Tavril.   In a matter of moments Ethect was defeated.

“You WILL regret that!”  Orphiel shouted from further along the platform.  Without warning he struck her again with a paralyzing spell and passed her at a run, heading for the outer ramp.

Anneleigh was confused by Orphiel’s refusal to fight, until she laid eyes on the Messenger of the Vigil who had appeared behind him.