Rogue Adventures - A Tale from Neverbeen Universe

9

In front of them the black stronghold waited for their arrival; a mighty bulwark throning on the snow covered plateau coronated by a line of active volcanoes — whoever wanted to attack this place would face a very hard time.

Sendrith briefly admired the work his Lord had done erecting this monument of power before he passed the heavily guarded gates to his home. The thought crossed his mind if he might have the time to pay a quick visit to his beloved dungeons and see if the inmates had missed him yet. Ah, their painful cries and tormented moans would be pure bliss in his ears...

Beside him Yumír huddled deeper into his fur coat and peered at the fortress with wide eyes. It was obvious the young shadow devil was more than intimidated. As far as Sendrith knew, Yumír had not been to their Lord's main fortress often. And unlike Sendrith he was very much afraid of the mightiest Daemon in whole Neverbeen Universe. Not that Sendrith didn't fear his Lord, but he also longed to please him and took delight in the sweet punishments — though he knew, nobody else would ever call them sweet.

So Sendrith was actually thrilled to be summoned. It had been months since he had last seen his Lord, and he wasn't sure what this was about. Maybe Sendrith was about to be punished for neglecting his duties as master of the dungeons, maybe Yumír and he would receive rewards for decimating the Soul Smasher population, maybe they would be punished for not having slain Lord Moony yet, maybe the Lord wanted to play with Sendrith again... or maybe this was about something entirely different.

Mostly familiar faces greeted them as they marched through the labyrinthine halls and corridors, none of them friendly, but Sendrith didn't care. The only face that mattered was the one of his Lord. Sendrith shivered slightly as he imagined what his Lord would look like when they met; the cruel black stare, the handsome features framed by black curls, the wolfish grin on his lips when he was pleased...

Finally they reached the tall ebony doors to the Lord's office chamber, and Sendrith's heart beat a mile a minute as they were announced and then allowed in. He held his breath as he stepped closer to the large desk, then bowed deeply before his Lord; Yumír did the same.

"Sendrith, Number 463...ah, right, you want to be called Yumír nowadays," the Lord addressed them as he leafed through his letters, then set them down to look at them. Sendrith's heart skipped a beat. This was exactly the look he had been dreaming of!

Yumír ducked behind him, too shy to face the Lord. Inwardly Sendrith shook his head. "Mylord," he murmured instead, bowing more deeply, "how can I be of your service?"

"Since you've worked together so well on your self-assigned mission," He paused with a long warning glance that sent shivers down Sendrith's spine and had Yumír whimper quietly, "I have another mission for the two of you."

He picked up a thin folder from a stack and pushed it toward Sendrith. "I need you to find and retrieve something for me. Details are in the file. This mission has top priority, and I advise you to not waste any time. There are... others, who have the same goal. Do whatever needs to be done to retrieve this item."

Sendrith nodded. "Yes, Mylord." He took the folder and opened it, skimmed the information it contained on the target object. He was sure he had never heard of this Ruby Shard of Celia, but somehow it rung a bell. And this bell sounded very much like an alarm, not the shrill and unnerving kind but dark and foreboding like an approaching thunderstorm. He accepted the mission nonetheless; he would never deny his Lord anything ever.

"After your return with the object," the Lord continued calmly, "I have a duck to pluck with you." So this meant, there certainly was punishment ahead. Sendrith shivered, licked his lips and couldn't help touching his prominent scar on his collarbone.

"Yes, Mylord," he rasped, already anticipating what his Lord would do to him. Ah, he hoped, He was really in a bad mood. This would be so much fun. And if he could, he would focus all his Lord's attention on himself. Yumír didn't like to play much anyway.

The Lord scrutinized Sendrith, and he was certain He already knew what Sendrith was thinking about. The Daemon could see right through you, knew every thought you'd ever had and every move you'd make. Sendrith was always awed and amazed by His power and his capabilities. And he half expected Him to say: "Screw this mission, let's have some fun first!" Not that the Lord would use this wording, but these were Sendrith's hopes and dreams. However, the Lord wasn't one to give you your desires so easily either; you had to earn them. And right now Sendrith hadn't done anything to deserve special attention yet.

"If you don't have any more questions concerning the mission, you may proceed," the Lord stated. Sendrith was almost disappointed, whereas he noticed Yumír gasp with relief. So they bowed once more before their Lord, who then resumed his paperwork, as they exited the office chamber. On their way out Sendrith reread the mission details and tried to recall why this artifact sounded so familiar.

"Have you ever heard of the Ruby Shard of Celia?" he asked the shadow devil, but Yumír only shook his head. "Nevermind then." Still he pondered and ruminated, but never reached an answer. So he handed the file over to Yumír, who had a quick glance at the pages, then gave it back.

"What are we going to do?" the younger one asked timidly. Sendrith threw him a glance and palmed his spear.

"Obviously, we're going to the location described in the file, search the place and hopefully return here with the target object. If someone else tries to interfere, we kill them," he grinned and licked his lips. He really hoped someone would block their path; the Lord would be pleased as punch if he heard how they got rid of them.

For now Sendrith ordered Yumír to transform into the winged beast he had turned into at the beginning of their previous mission. Albeit reluctantly the boy obeyed, and Sendrith climbed on the beast's back. "To the southeast!" Sendrith clicked his tongue and the creature started, then leapt into the air and took wing.

They reached the place described in the file in the evening of the same day. Sendrith watched how Yumír struggled to return to his usual appearance. He didn't care that changing too often and for a too long time could cause a shadow devil to lose their mind and go berserk. But he might be disappointed to lose such an obedient companion if that happened one day, and it invariably would as this was the fate of any grown up shadow devil. And the fact, that Yumír's furred claw would never return back into a human hand, was a sure sign that the day would come in due time.

"Let's start with the main building," Sendrith suggested and pointed at the largest ruin. Yumír nodded and followed Sendrith, stayed very close to him as if he was afraid to get lost when they entered the half collapsed building. Sendrith took a torch from one of the holdfasts and lit it, then pushed it into Yumír's arms, so the boy would have a task and not fret as much. Besides, now Sendrith had both his hands free to use his spear should there be an ambush.

"Mind out! There are traps supposed to be everywhere," Sendrith murmured, but he was tempted to try them just so he could see and feel what the architects of this place had in store for them. Yet he refrained from doing so.

Just then behind him Yumír let out a tiny yelp, something clicked loudly, then the whole floor rumbled and dipped until it became a slippery slope. Without anywhere to hold onto they slided down and deep into the dark heart of the ruin.