Rise of the Inquisition (Arc 4-6)

Chapter 108: Not dead, but feeling it.

Everything was black for Ashley, as her eyes were completely closed. She attempted to open them, but everytime she tried to open her eyes, she felt as if she had no energy. Her eyes felt heavy and watery, it was if she had been crying for decades. She was unable to speak, unable to scream out for others to hear her. She was being dragged by two Icarus Cultist, as both of them were holding onto her respective hand, dragging her along the ground. She was able to hear the conversations around her, conversations that seemed endless.

"So--we finally got her? The Princess of the Snow Elves Kingdom, the one who was eternally sought after by Dark Sorceress Icarus herself."

"Yes we did, a grand thing accomplished truly. However, the cost to secure only her was not worth it, in my personal opinion--"

"Not only that, but we have a bigger threat now. The Inquisition, truly they are something to worry about. They foiled the plans in Anvil, and now we're hearing that they foiled the plans for the Great Burning Minotaur."

There was the sound of Cultists gasping, learning that the Great Burning Minotaur was eliminated.

"That is why we needed to secure them before the plan, we should've guessed that they would've ruined the plans."

"Does Altum Chaplain Sparrow know yet?"

"No...he doesn't."

There was a pause in the conversation happening between the Chaplains of the Icarus Cult, they were taking in what they heard.

"Did any of the Inquisitors die at the very least? Even if a single one of them died, then we can call it a semi victory."

"I'm afraid not...not a single one of the Five powerful Inquisitors died."

"Well...that is a real shame. I thought the Great Burning Minotaur was truly powerful, according to the legends, none of the seven House Odin members were able to defeat him, they weren't able to defeat him together."

"Well...hopefully, it's not true and it was just a fabricated story. If not...we'll need to pray that the Dark Sorceress herself, Icarus, will come and defeat the Inquisition."

As the two Icarus Cultists that were dragging Ashley stopped, Ashley slowly brought her head up and attempted to look at what was in front of her. While her vision was blurry, she could tell that the room was almost completely dark. She was only able to see eight pillars made of stone bricks, positioned around the room in a circle. Each of the eight pillars having white banner, with the golden symbol of the Icarus Cult planted firmly on the stone pillars. There were white cloaked Icarus Cultists standing in between each of the pillars. The entire room was crowded, endless upon endless white cloaks were in the room. All of them were huddled together, leaving no space in between them. Standing in the middle of the Eight stone pillars was Altum Chaplain Sparrow, his hands were interlocked behind his back. To his right, was a different Altum Chaplain, who also had his hands interlocked behind his back. In between them, Ashley could see a black vortex, with dark purple circling roaming around the black vortex. Suddenly, Ashley could hear footsteps running up to the side of her.

"Altum Chaplain Sparrow, have you heard the news?"

"What is the news young disciple, is it good or bad?"

The young white cloaked Icarus Cultist standing next to Ashley shook his head.

"Good and bad--"

"Tell me the good first."

The young white cloaked Icarus Cultists nodded his head, and he took a deep breath.

"The Armies of the Kingdom of Orion have taken heavy casualties, and they are in a severely weakened state. Currently, we can't give an accurate estimate but we believe that they'll need time to get their strength fully back--"