The Cursed Souls of Liriethem - Forgotten Lore of Liriethem Volume 1

The labyrinth city of Liamsa

The day followed the night, the sun rose and disappeared once again, but Liriam barely noticed the passage of time or changed position. Only from time to time she would sob silently, attacked by some memory of her father.

One night, however, something unexpected happened: human voices were heard and were slowly approaching the place where Liriam was. There seemed to be three or four men out there, but it was difficult to know for sure because of the echoes that were created in the vaulted halls of that part of the city. The princess tried to get up to hide, but her legs were very weak. As soon as she tried to stand up, she fell hard against the ground, hurting her hands and knees. The voices were almost in the room, so, without any other alternative, she crawled like a caterpillar behind the grave, hoping that the strangers would not want to take her away from her father.

- It's here! - shouted one, without any respect for the city or for the mortal remains that rested there.

- So, here is the bastard... the rottenest of all the rulers of Liriethem - said one and then spat on the ground, filling the princess with terror.

Who could not love her father? "He has been the best of all kings!", she almost cried out, when another person spoke.

- So it seems, Otis. Oril III... - and spat on the ground as well.

- You have no idea of what this bastard did to me... - started a third.

- Yes, we know, Tim - Otis interrupted - you don't have to tell us the same story twenty times.

- We all know that this bastard assaulted your sister - completed another voice.

- ... raped my sister... - continued Tim unperturbed, looking at the grave without hearing the comments of the other men - and now, I will have the last word... I will be the one who destroys the corpse of this dead fool.

- You going to do what? - The first man began to complain, along with the others - If you're going to do that with the old man's body, I hope at least you give me time to leave this room... I don't want to have pieces of this corpse on me and smell like a carcass for a whole week!

- I thought that our mission was only to take the old man's body so that the brotherhood could finish the ritual and we would only destroy this place. Nothing else.

(Footnote: The brotherhood was a smallgroup of unimportant renegades, of ideas contrary to those of the Liriethemgovernment. In this story there is no further mention of the ritual to which themen refer.)

- We all have our stories, Tim - Mirt said - we will do what we came to do and then we'll get out of this place. It gives me goose bumps.

One of the men was carrying some bags on his back. He threw them to the ground and began to distribute the spikes, shovels and hammers that were inside. Liriam watched everything from her hiding place. The words of the man named Tim reverberated still in her head. "Did my father rape his sister? It cannot be true! These have to be lies of enemies of the realm. Yes, they must be lies. My father was the most beloved man in Liriethem... which brotherhood were they talking about? Nothing these men say makes any sense to me."

The brotherhood was a small group of unimportant renegades, of ideas contrary to those of the Liriethem government. In this story there is no further mention of the ritual to which the men refer.

When everyone was armed with their tools, they began hitting Oril III's sarcophagus. Unable to endure the devastation that these strange men were causing to the remains and memory of her father, the princess stood up, gathering strength from the depths of her heart.