The Empire of Zeth/Chapter 4

Ranth's arms reach out, trying in vain to grab Evy as a dark energy envelops him. His senses are cut off - for a moment that feels like an eternity he can feel nothing. He's not even sure if he's still alive. "EVY!" he screams into the void, though no sound comes out. Then, all of a sudden, the darkness cuts off. He thumps onto hard stone flagstones, breathing hard, his blood pumped full of adrenaline.

Many spears are leveled at his throat, he doesn't move, but does look up and realizes for the first time where he is. Ranth was in the Cathedral of Light, located back in the heart of the capital city of the Zeth Empire, Coravan. The holy warriors of the priesthood leveled spears comprised of pure high magic at his throat. He dared not move a muscle.

A hooded figure behind the spear wall moves toward him and gestures. A blazing white aura of pure holy light floods over Ranth. He braced for pain... but it didn't hurt at all. It actually felt.. nice. Peaceful; serene. After a few moments of calming peace, the aura faded.

"Stand down." a voice Ranth knew very well said. "He is clean." The holy warriors pulled back their spears of light. In unison they slam the butts of their spears onto the ground two times, and they vanishes. The warriors then file out of the room as Hight Priest Emery of the Imperial Order of Holy Light approaches Ranth.

"Ranth.. You're... alone? What happened to young Evy?" Ranth tries to speak, but his strength fails him at long last. He collapses and Emery catches him, blacking out.

...

Hundreds of miles away, in a small town between the border and the capital, a young initiate of the Church of Holy Light stood watch over the ley line point in the town's small chapel. It was a duty all initiates had to undertake, though it was very boring as nothing ever happened. The young woman yawned sleepily as her shift needed it end.

She was just about to go fetch her replacement when the ley crystal pulsed brightly. The woman stopped and turned in shock. "High priest!" she bellowed into the metal tube that served as their communication line. "The ley crystal... it's shining! C-Come quick!"

Turning back to the crystal she gulped. This was NOT part of her training! She began casting basic warding spells in the air in front of her. A strange humming sound came from the crystal as the light shone bright and brighter until her vision was filled with nothing but blinding white light... then the light and sound both suddenly vanished. The young initiate blinked her eyes trying to clear them. When she could see again, there was a small girl standing at the foot of the massive ley crystal. Evy let out a moan and she collapsed, passing out on the stone floor.

The poor terrified initiate ran back to the communication tube and yelled again. "G-Grandfather, a g-girl came out of the c-crystal!! P-Please h-hurry!!!"

...

Ranth's dreams were filled with frightening demons, mind-tearing eldritch horrors, and thousands of other unspeakable sights. He ran past them all, determined to find her. "EVY!!!" He shouted. Rounding another corner, Demon King Elron's form rose out of the floor in front of him, toasting him with a goblet of blood. Evy's broken body lie at his feet. "NOO! EVY!!!" He dropped to his knees, taking her limp body in his arms and hugging it tightly to his chest as wept. Elron's bone-chilling laughed echoed those Ranth's mind as he swam back towards consciousness.

His eyes flew open, and his body surged upwards. Strong hands gripped his shoulders. Ranth's heart pounded in his chest as his addled mind struggled to make sense of what he was seeing. A voice was shouting in his face, but it took him a moment to be able to understand what it was saying.

"Ranth! Ranth! My son, you're safe! You're home!" His father shook his shoulders again. Ranth's muscles relaxed. "F-Father??" He is eyes finally focused on the concerned face of his father: High Lord Tristan, Holy Knight Commander and first seat of the Imperial Council of Zeth.

"Ranth... my son... you're safe now!" Ranth found himself squeezed very tightly by his father as he wept openly. "The priests weren't sure you'd... you'd wake up..!"

"I'm okay dad... Really. Just... tired." Lord Tristan squeezed him tightly one more time then let him go. Wiping his eyes on his sleeve, he sat back in his chair. Ranth was in a small private hospital room inside the Great Cathedral of Coravan. Bandages wrapped around his ribcage and a lot of other parts of his body.

"Father..." Ranth's mind finally caught up. "EVY! Where is she!? Is she okay!?" Lord Tristan frowned. "The drow refugee girl that master Garth sent to rescue your train? She.. she didn't come back with you. I'm sorry son. I know it may sound selfish of me to say, but I'm just so grateful to her for returning you to me. She won't be forgotten."

"B-But... You don't know that she's d-dead! We have to s-save her!" Ranth tries to get to his feet and winces in pain. "Son! Calm down! We can't - Carthidge fell! That land is now the property of the Infernal Legion! You are blessed to have made it out alive - no one else has! If that girl hadn't been on hand and capable of teleporting such massive distances to get to you in time..!" A tear runs down Lord Tristan's cheek.

Ranth's shoulders slumped. "Sh-She... she was so strong... and so brave. I tried to protect her, but she wouldn't let me..."

I'm sorry son... She may not have been from the empire, but I make sure that her sacrifice is no-" A loud knock sounds at the door. Lord Tristan gets to his feet quickly and answers it, to find High Priest Emery standing there.

"My lord, she's... she's back. We don't know what to make of it." The priest looks shaken.

"What!? How is that possible? Where!?" He grabs the priest by the arm. "A few hundred miles from here in the small town of Riverthorn. They say she.. came out of the ley line."

Lord Tristan turns to address his son. "I have to go, Ranth. Stay here and do what the priests say!"

"B-But, father! Who is it? Who did they find???" Lord Tristan rushes out of the room. Ranth turns to Emery. "Emery?? Who did they find?" Emery only turns and leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

...

Evy comes to in a dark room. Her whole body aches, as if each tiny bit of her body had tried to fly off in a different direction. Wincing in pain, she sits up and looks around, finding herself in a small cell with a featureless door. The door is practically swimming in powerful high magic protection and warding spells.

Evy gets to her feet with a small cry of pain. "HELLLOOOOO?" she shouts. "P-Please... L-Let me out..!" she starts to cry, and bangs her fists against the door. Nobody answers and, she collapsed to the floor. Evy curls up in a ball and cries herself into hick-ups, more memories of another time she was put alone in a small cell flooding her mind. She had only ever been taken prisoner once... and the memory was something she could never, ever forget.

...

So lost in remembering is she that she doesn't notice at first that raised voices are arguing outside the door, coming closer. Evy sniffs and tries to listen. The voices are shouting, but even her keen pointed drow ears can't hear enough through the shielding on her cell to tell what they're saying.

The door rattled. Eye placed herself by the wall on the blind side of the door, hoping to take whoever opens it by surprise. The door opened and she heard a young man's voice. "Y-You cannot, sir! I have strict orders from Lord Tristan himself to keep her in here!" Evy readies her attack. A figure walked into the cell. Evy jumped at him with a scream and he whirled and grabbed her out of the air. Her eyes went wide as she recognized the man who held her aloft.

"M-Master! Master..." Evy cried again and hugged then man tightly. Lord Garth, leader of the order of the Devout Hand, hugged his youngest and favorite student back as tightly as he could while she cried into his tunic. His long white hair was combed as fine and neatly as ever. He had strong high cheekbones and the worn face of someone who has seen a lot of life. His mustache hung long, draping down to his chin on either side of his mouth.

Master Garath's hazel eyes stared at Evy with an intense kindness and love. "Evy... I'm so happy you're safe. We feared the worse when young Ranth came back alone..!"

Evy continues sobbing into her master's tunic. He gets to his feet and walks out of the room, cradling her in his arms. The young knight standing guard outside the cell protests intensely. "M-My lord, I m-must protest! You c-cant take her from here! I have orders to-" Master Garath snaps back at the unfortunate knight. "You can tell Tristan he can stuff his cowardly orders! How could he think he could keep her from me! I am the head of our intelligence arm, for all that is holy! If he wants to see her, she will be home! In her room! Under MY protection!"

He rubs Evy's back as he carries her away from the dungeon, whispering calming things to her softly as he cradles her tightly. "There, there... It's over now. To think Tristan would do something so horrible to you after what you just did for him... disgraceful! We're going home, Evy." As soon as Master Garath takes a single step out of the prison, white light flares around them both and they vanish.

Chapter 5: Reunion

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