Chapter Text
The team with their new furry companion, walk down the halls of the Gauntlet, ready to tackle the trials. Shadowheart, eager to fulfill her gods will, has taken the lead.
They all walk into the first room in the hallway. Pieces of stone litter the floor here and there as the gauntlet is in a state of disrepair. Before them is a small idol of Shar, holding out a plate. The edges are lined with a thick layer of dried blood.
"So, are we supposed to just offer up our blood to complete the trials?" Daedra asks.
"No, not our blood. My blood. Please, allow me to do this." Shadowheart says stepping forward.
Gauntlets. Trials. Such a grandiose sense of self-importance. No wonder they all died off.
Shadowheart removes a dagger from her pack and cuts at her arm, spilling some blood into the bowl. Accepting the crimson fluid, the nearby gated doors open up, permitting entry.
"Lady Shar values those that can remain unseen and can still obtain what they want. Stealth is a virtue derived from her very essence." Shadowheart says healing at the fresh cut on her arm.
"Want me to go? I can go unseen." Deadra offers while stepping forward.
"No. These trials are for Shadowheart to complete to prove her worth before Shar. Allow her the opportunity to complete them on her own first." Minthara stops Daedra.
"Precisely." Shadowheart crouches down. "I'll just be a moment." she whispers entering through one of the doors.
"Daedra?" Minthara directs her attention back to the ranger.
"Hmm?"
"I did not get a chance to earlier. But allow me now to thank you, for protecting me from Lolth's wrath. There are not many who are willing to stand before her and ask her not to do what she wants. An even rarer few who are able to successfully persuade her to stop."
Daedra steps forward and begins to caress Minthara's arm. "Of course! Though, there's really no need to. You act like I wouldn't have. Like I said, as long as I am here, I will always protect you from Her as long as you need it."
The two look down as Nessa begins to circle around Daedra, appraising her. Minthara may no longer be able to share words with the feline, but her soft purrs as Daedra scratches her head is a sure sign of approval.
"That reminds me, while I was completing that side quest, I had discovered and disposed of the last Dark Justiciar that haunted these halls. In his hands, I found a powerful sword." she reaches into her pack and hands the Justiciars Scimitar over to her. "I believe it to be an improvement to one of the swords you currently have."
Daedra looks over the weapon and makes a few test swings in the air. She squeaks in approval as she swaps it out with the right sword strapped to her back.
"Thanks, Minnie! Can't wait to start blinding people." Daedra tugs on Minthara's arm and gives her a peck on the cheek.
In that moment, Shadowheart suddenly appears in the room before them, and the braziers light on their own, illuminating the room. In her hands is a purple orb.
"The first trial is complete." she says stashing away the gem.
"That's right!" Minthara says digging into her pack again and retrieving her orb, handing it over to the Justiciar in training. "Here, the reward from my side quest."
"I'm surprised you managed to sneak your way through there! Your armor didn't give you away?" Daedra asks as they follow Shadowheart out of the room.
"It almost did. So, I just used a Misty Step scroll to just move me to the end of the arena."
"Ha! That's something I would have done! Don't be smart, be lazy!"
"Countless initiates walked these halls once, seeking to become Dark Justiciars. I will follow in their footsteps. I will succeed. I will prove myself worthy of Her embrace." Shadowheart says as they near the door of the second trial.
Is she going to regurgitate this scripted drivel the entire time?
They approach another sacrificial altar in which Shadowheart promptly offers her blood again.
"The Dark Lady teaches us that we are our own worst enemy, much of the time. Her embrace will elude us until we shed that which holds us back." The three with their cat walk into the room, but Shadowheart stops.
"Ambush." she says to the others while hiding from view. She looks around the room to get a gauge on the situation. It would appear that the room is filled with duplicates of the team.
Nessa's duplicate is hidden in the corner there. Shadowheart's duplicate is at the top of the platform. But, where are mine and Daedra's? Between the two of us, which is the most dangerous to not see coming?
Minthara looks down to see Shadowheart and Daedra looking back to her, as if waiting for her instruction.
"This is your trial Shadowheart." she whispers. "I will not give you the answer, you must command us with your vision. But to advise: this trial is meant to demonstrate our weaknesses and highlight our strengths. Use your own judgment to determine the best course of action."
"Right. The trial is forcing us to fight ourselves, we cannot attack each others duplicates until we have defeated our own. But, the duplicates have no such restrictions..." Shadowheart sits to think to herself, determine a strategy.
Stealth. That is the obvious strategy, girl. Stealth.
"The worst thing that can happen is Dae's duplicate spotting us. So, we'll need to sneak around and ambush ourselves." Shadowheart scuffles over to Nessa. "Girl? Do you think you can fight the beast in that corner there on my signal?" she scrunches her nose as Nessa licks her face in confirmation.
Nessa crouches down on her haunches and silently stalks to the duplicate displacer beast. Shadowheart waves her hand and the two drow begin to follow behind her. As they reach just beneath the platform, she puts her hand up to signal the others to halt.
She calls on the tadpole and connects her mind with the others, Minthara, your duplicate is just on the staircase in front of us and mine is on that platform. But, I can't see Dae's which is a real problem. I can lightning strike my duplicate, that'll be my signal. Minthara, Dae, trying sneaking behind the stairs. Try to corner your own duplicates.
Daedra takes the lead and Minthara follows behind her. She realizes how perfectly silent Daedra's footsteps are. If she did not have her in view, she would never know Daedra was even there.
She thinks to herself, She has mastered the art of silence. If she can remain completely hidden, I would say she is more dangerous than me.
Minthara comes to a stop on the other side of the staircase, behind her duplicate who is staring forward. Daedra continues ahead without her, looking for her duplicate. Daedra stops just before the only bright light in the room. She flicks her hands in the air and pushes them down, completely disappearing, entirely unsee.
I am grateful that I am not her enemy. If she really wanted, she could kill me with ease.
She can feel a light psionic touch on her mind, I found my duplicate, Shadow. On your signal.
Minthara sits silently in anticipation of Shadowheart's signal. She grows curious to learn who will struggle the most against their duplicate, and who would have the most ease. She reaches to her hip and pulls her knife.
In the corner of her eyes, she can see a bright blue flash of light, followed by a crack of thunder. She begins to approach her duplicate, ready to stab it. She swiftly and quietly leaps forward, grabbing the duplicates shoulder. She pulls her knife back, ready to stab herself in the back, but the duplicate quickly turns around and slaps her wrist, knocking the knife out of her hand.
As she reaches back to pull her sword, she feels a sharp pain in her abdomen as the duplicate stabs her. She coughs in pain as her duplicate retracts in knife. As the duplicate prepares to attack again, Minthara points two fingers forward and recites an incantation, holding the duplicate in place. She grabs the knife from the duplicates hands and stabs her in the chest instead. The duplicate then disappears in a cloud of smoke.
She grimaces as she holds her hand to her stomach to heal herself from what is close to being a fatal wound. She retrieves her knife from the floor and heads up the stairs.
On the platform, there is a bubble completely surrounding it. Shadowheart and her duplicate are locked into a battle with their maces. Minthara flips her knife in the air and catches the blade between her fingers, ready to throw it the moment she feels Shadowheart becomes overwhelmed.
Every time one version of the half-elf swings, the other dodges. They can evade well, but they seem to be unable to land an attack at all. It is just a never ending series of critical misses. Shadowheart reaches her hand up, and grabs her duplicates wrist that is holding the mace. She uses all her strength to then throw her duplicate to the floor a few feet away. She bends her elbows and brings the mace up to her shoulder. As the duplicate stands, Shadowheart lunges her arm forward and a beam of sunlight blasts out from the mace.
"Aaahh! Nindel zhah vith'ez ssussun!" Minthara yells out as she shields her eyes after being flashbanged by the sunbeam.
"Minthara! I'm sorry!" Shadowheart yells running over to her. "Are you alright? I didn't realize you were so close."
Minthara rapidly blinks her eyes, a single tear leaving one of them.
"A bit... blurry. I will survive." she says covering her eyes still. Shadowheart hooks her arm under the drow and escorts her further on the platform.
Minthara tries to look ahead, but her vision is still obscured. She can hear the furious clashes of steel as Daedra is locked in a sword fight with her double. She can only briefly make out their body movements as her vision fades in and out.
Daedra manages to get one cut against the duplicates shoulder. As it slices through its false flesh, vines sprout underneath it and ensnare it. As Daedra pulls her sword back to cut again, the duplicate throws her hand and slaps her across the face. The real Daedra jumps back as she tries to fight off the necrotic energy spiraling through her body.
She reaches back to pull her bow and she fires a shot. But the duplicate throws a guiding bolt and burns the arrow as it soars through the air. The duplicate then throws one of her swords and it stabs through Daedra's leg, bringing her down to her knee.
As she attempts to pull the sword from her leg, the duplicate breaks out of its ensnarement. Daedra begins to fire arrows at her duplicate as it rushes her, but it doesn't stop running even as arrows pierce through it. The duplicate closes in and tackles Daedra to the ground.
Get up!
Minthara's sight has recovered enough. She raises the knife, ready to throw it.
As her duplicate prepares to stab her, Daedra grabs its head and pulls it down. Daedra lifts hers up and bites at its neck. If it did not turn into dust, Daedra had practically just ripped its throat out with her teeth.
Shadowheart and Minthara rush over to Daedra who lays sprawled out on her back. Shadowheart immediately address the gushing wound on her leg.
"Dae, are you okay? Can you move?" Shadowheart says reaching towards her face.
"I'm fine... Just had to fight some... crazy bitch..." she says between heavy breaths.
Minthara turns her head to see Nessa walking up the stairs towards them. She reaches her hand out as the cat snuggles underneath Minthara's arm.
"Can we... take a break?" Daedra asks.
"Please." Minthara agrees while rubbing her eyes. She grunts while sitting back on the stairs. Although healed through, the inner muscle and soft flesh in her abdomen still remember having been stabbed moments earlier.
Shadowheart sits on her feet and sets Daedra's head in her lap. She rummages through her pack and pulls out a wheel of cheese. Daedra immediately grabs it from her hands and starts her feast. Shadowheart pulls out a few oranges for herself and hands the pack over to Minthara.
She looks through and retrieves a few racks of ribs that are somehow not rotted and hands them over to Nessa, who gently takes them in her jaws and crunches the bones. She hands the pack back to Shadowheart and retrieves the pitcher of water from her own.
Shadowheart reaches out and grabs the purple orb that was left behind from Daedra's duplicate.
"In spite of it all, the fight actually wasn't as bad as I thought." the half-elf says peeling her orange.
"Yeah, it was pretty fun!" Daedra says.
"I presume you are the only one who did not get stabbed?" Minthara asks Shadowheart.
"No. No matter how hard the duplicate tried, she just couldn't get a hit on me. I can't tell if it's because she couldn't hit or I was good at dodging."
"Probably both."
The team continues down the hallway as Shadowheart has completed the last trial. One in which she had to navigate in absolute darkness, relying on her own memory to get to the end. With all the trials completed, she is now on her way to becoming a Dark Justiciar.
They approach one last room whose doors are already open. Shadowheart signals to the group to crouch down and sneak forward. Minthara can see the silence bubble in which Shadowheart and Daedra's spells will be nullified.
Minthara feels a light brush on her mind, There are six dead justiciars and one shroud in the center of the room... ... Daedra, try to see if you can shoot the shroud and destroy it. We don't need to be ambushed by more skeletons.
The ranger reaches back in her quiver and pulls two trick arrows. She breaks the silence barrier and nocks the two arrows. The other three slowly follow behind with the paladin pulling her sword.
The drow commander breaks from the group and nears the closest undead, but remains out of its view. She listens as the two arrows soar through the air. At the sound of an explosion, the dead turn to the noise to discover the shroud has been destroyed. With the shroud destroyed, so is the silence bubble.
Minthara continues her stealth, knowing that the moment one of the other two attack, their stealth will be broken. In the distance, she hears the flick of a string and hears how all the undead, including the one before her, screech as they are hit by one of Daedra's trick arrows.
Such a splendid arrow! I need to get her more. She swings her sword into the skeletons legs, knocking it over. She stands up and stomps her foot forward, crushing its skull.
In the distance, a bramble of thorns appears from the ground. It doesn't stop the four undead trapped within, but it does slow their movements as they trip over the thorns. Minthara runs forward and slides over a decorative pillar to the one undead Justiciar not caught in Daedra's thorns. Before it can make an attack, she lands a thunderous smite against it. The force of the thunder causes its bone to explode in each and every direction.
In the center of the room, Shadowheart recites an incantation and releases a shockwave. Three of the undead immediately shatter, but one valiantly remains. But, it gives up trying to move. It drops its sword and pulls out its own crossbow.
It shoots a bolt at the other archer, but Daedra learned a new trick not to long ago. She counters the Justiciars shot by throwing a guiding bolt at the arrow, burning it in the air. Shadowheart readies a magic spell, but Nessa roars as she leaps forward past the cleric. The sheer weight of her body is enough to shatter the undead as it is tackled against the ground.
"Good girl!" Shadowheart says as she approaches Nessa and shows her appreciation.
With the library finally being silenced, the group turns their attention to the large metal gate. Shadowheart follows Daedra as she walks over to unlock it, but Minthara turns her attention to the bookcases. She begins to grab some of the books and places them into her pack.
After she has pilfered her full of entertainment, she walks down the staircase and joins her team in the room behind the gate, standing before a pedestal.
"What can silence the Nightsong?" Daedra says as she reads out an inscription. "What the hell is the Nightsong?"
"It must refer to Lady Shar herself." Shadowheart elaborates. "She is often referred to as the 'Nightsinger'. The one who brings darkness and snuffs the light."
"And the Nightsong is sung by the Nightsinger? Seems like such a meaningless puzzle. This temple was built in worship of Shar. Seems counter conductive to ponder over how to silence a god in her own place of worship." Minthara says out, circling the pedestal.
"Exactly. Darkness, loss, absence... all songs of the Nightsinger. Songs that can be heard if one were to listen, to embrace Her truth. The curse it just one such melody, one sung by Her. She created the curse and only She can remove it. Only the Nightsinger Herself can silence Her Nightsong." as Shadowheart says the words, the nearby braziers light and a secret door is revealed to her.
The drow follow behind the cleric as she approaches yet another altar of Shar. Minthara begins to scratch as Nessa's head as Shadowheart inspects the spear being presented to her.
"It's pretty."
"I can feel its importance here, I should keep it close." Shadowheart says as she straps the spear to her back next to the morning star.
"How does it feel, Shadowheart? To know that your destiny is within your grasp?" Minthara asks as the group walks back to the temporary camp.
"I... can't quite put it into words." Shadowheart looks down at her hands. "This has been a dream of mine for so long. It's almost hard to believe that this is real. To prove to Her, to show Her that I am worthy of being Her Dark Justiciar!" Shadowheart says in devout worship. "Mother Superior be damned! Nothing and no one will stop me!"
"Good. The power of a Dark Justiciar is a legend to behold! And you have proven to Shar that you are worthy of the title. I feel honored to be here and walk beside you on your journey. If anyone tries to interfere, you need not worry. I will kill them if they try."
"Thank you. For now, we should get some rest. We have all of the orbs so the pedestal should unlock to us. When we wake up, we can move deeper into the Gauntlet."
