Eight Intertwined II

201 - Darius

The path through the cathedral was a lot kinder and cleaner than Therion expected. He would have thought that an underground church would have been consumed entirely by the elements as it fell out of relevance, but as it turned out, Darius' group had kept it in nice condition. There were a few crumbled statues of the gods and other high-ranking figures in the faith of the Flame, but the church was in better state than Therion had thought it would be. Strangely enough, the cathedral was notably in better condition than the sewers of Quarrycrest despite seeming far older. Even ages after his death, Morlock still found ways to fail in Therion's eyes. 

At the end of the cathedral, the path opened up to a room of worship that had been forgotten by time. Therion could only assume that this church had once been an important place for the people of Northreach, but it had been left to rot since then. The pews stood uncertainly, and some of them had collapsed onto one another. At the far side of the room, Therion could see two small tables with silk pillows, each containing one of the remaining dragonstones. The jewels perfectly framed a headless statue of an angel at the far end of the hall. The sunlight filtering through the shattered windows made the scene seem like something out of a painting, and Therion almost lost his mind in the midst of it all. 

Almost. 

Therion started toward the two dragonstones even though he knew already that he wouldn't be able to reach them before he was stopped. It was just a matter of time before Darius or some other thief under his command appeared to take this victory out from beneath his feet. Therion was ready for it though, one hand resting loosely on his dagger in preparation for the moment he would need to pull it free. 

The other travelers looked just as anxious as Therion, but Ophilia was the only one confident enough to voice her thoughts. "I still don't know why Darius is after the dragonstones," she remarked, and Therion paused at that. That was true; none of them knew what Darius was planning, and even if they did, he didn't think it would have helped. All they truly knew about the dragonstones was that they held immense power and warped the minds of those who drew too close. Darius couldn't have known what he was getting into when he took them for himself, and Therion could only hope he would be able to convince his enemy to loosen his grip long enough to grab the jewels on his own.

"'Cos they'll grant me an even greater power than I have now."

Therion wanted to roll his eyes at the sound of Darius' voice, but he couldn't do it. Instead, he felt his stomach sink into his feet and then into the ground beneath them. Darius walked out casually from behind the remnants of an arch lining the pedestal containing the angel statue. His lips were twisted up in a cruel smile that accentuated the scar across the bridge of his nose. His green clothing practically glowed in the low lighting, and Therion couldn't help but notice all the tiny ways in which Darius' shade of green was different from Alfyn's green. "Darius," Therion greeted flatly. 

"Therion," Darius returned with a snort. "Still alive, I see. I didn't think you had it in you to come this far. You must really want that bangle gone." He didn't say a word about Gareth or his apparent death at Therion's face, not that Therion had expected him to. Gareth was always fated to fall as far as Darius was concerned. There was no point in dwelling on the corpse of a man who he was certain had died on Therion's blade. 

Therion's free hand reached for his bangle, but he didn't tug on it too much. The lock was open, and if he pulled on it, then he would just end up tearing it off. Much to his surprise though, Therion didn't think of it as a mark of shame as he once had. Instead, the fool's bangle felt like the red thread that had brought him to the people who had changed his life for the better. If he never had the bangle around his wrist, Therion never would have found his family. "Yeah," Therion said flatly. After all, Darius did not deserve to hear the truth about him or the bangle around his wrist. Darius had lost that privilege as soon as he kicked Therion off the edge of that cliff all those years ago. "But I'm not here for me anymore."