" You.....you have betrayed your best friend and your comrades."
"I am still shocked, for your act of terror has made me shunned. I don't know if I still know you, the person you were when we met on the battlefield. I have totally lost faith in you for the person you are portraying to be. I don't know who you are anymore. But I am sure about one thing that you are a traitor Rica and what did you expect after the death the of the empress, that you would be forgiven. You show no remorse nor you feel guilty you don't show any emotions you have become a totally different person Rica."
His tone was almost as if he would cry anytime, for the death had taken a toll on his heart and everyone else . He then said with a fit of anger , "Till the time we the ones who are loyal to the empress are alive for her purpose there is no chance for you traitors to capture our place and break apart Memoria."
This was the whole conversation; I mean a one sided between them till they reached that place.
It was a dark place, very cold and chilly, somewhere deep inside the castle.
"Yes, this the black prison, made by the empress to capture criminals like you."
He then sent her into somewhere ,total darkness, and then put a magical lock, but this time the lock wouldn't be broken and it would be impossible to escape as the black prison was like a maze, once someone is inside it is equivalent to living here for their whole sentence. The exits keep on changing, the routes keep on getting tough with traps everywhere. It is nearly impossible for someone to escape, even if it were powerful mage like Rica. Moreover, she was still wearing those magical cuffs which drained mana and a blindfold covering her eyes. This had made her escape impossible.
Danver was a caring person, even though he said those harsh words to Rica in a fit of anger and disappointment, he thought about doing her a little bit of favour for the very last time. For the times they spent together on the battlefield, for their little bit of friendship alive, Danver reduced the dose of the device sucking in the mana, otherwise she would be dead in a few days of time with her core sucked up dry.
He then closed the door of the cell and asked her the last time, "Rica do you want to say anything in your defence for the last time?"
Rica remained quiet their whole journey as though someone put a spell of no talk onto her. But that was surely not the case, there was no such spell onto her and as a matter of fact she had the right to remain silent as well. But Danver asked her this as a sign of final courtesy, thinking she would at least open up to him.
He then nodded his head sideways in disbelief as she still chose to remain silent.
"Since you chose to remain silent, I cannot do anything for you. Lady Dani will be coming for enquiry, be ready to pay for your crimes. For those innocent people who you killed, Melania's family, think about it seriously. It is not going to be an easy punishment for you. Also in the meantime, your partner in crime, Deux is also undergoing a tough trial. I hope you don't feel concerned about him and look after yourself as you already have a lot on your plate."
He then finally left holding a sphere which glowed a bit, just enough to see the markings, telling him the exact location of the exits and prior information about all traps set.
He hurried over for he had to prepare for the funeral of the empress along with few of the head priests, it was a period of mourning for the whole world. Her kin, the eleven family would also be remembered and prayed for and the knight who died an innocent death, would be honoured. The place for the funeral was yet to be decided, after the council would plan it out in the meeting. But the proposal that Danver thought of was going to Eleris and laying her beside the previous queen of Eleris, the empress Melania's mother. The travel from Insaria to Eleris was going to be a long one via sea route and hence a lot of preparations would also have to be made in a short time.
There was some whispering in the black cell after the mighty dwarf had left, "Ah, Dani is going to enquire me, times have totally changed. Isn't it? But I guess it can't be helped for my crimes are too big. She then sighed and said, Melania, where are you now?"
On the corner of her room in the castle she wept badly, It was Dani the saintess who took upon herself to take revenge and fulfil the wish of Melania , TO KILL THOSE CRUELMANCERS
Bwaaah, bwaaah, "Melania please come back, I am sorry, I couldn't save you or protect your family. I should have returned soon after sending you the scroll warning about danger, I should have come along with you Melania. I can never forget that cold body lying above my legs. MELANIA...…"
She calmed herself down but her puffed up eyes couldn't be hidden as she wept continuously for hours.
She headed down to the underground, via stairs to the coffin where Melania was kept, the purification sacred chamber to go and greet her and talk to her before planning the great capture of the cruelmancers. She had to gather courage for it as now she wasn't even able to face her.
She entered the chamber and tears automatically came out from her eyes, she couldn't control it. She went near the crystalline box kept under chilly ice and preservatives.
Dani collected herself finally and said, "MELANIA , don't worry, I have grown up and not a small kid now, I can look after myself and I am not going to forgive that traitor too. I have told Sir Casper to send his trustworthy knights across whole of Insaria to search for the cruelmancers and I have made adequate preparations for the citizens of all the kingdoms to stay here. I have also relayed my instructions to the knights to keep extra eyes on the citizens of Azeth and the previous members of the imperial family of Insaria in case of rebellion. All the knight captains are stationed on the borders and port of Vasta so that no one would escape from here. The priests are into prayer to goddess Lunaris to increase their levels before the battle and the dwarves and mages are into the repairing process of the protection barrier device. Am I doing good Melania?"
Yes, you are Dani, I am proud of you. She thought Melania spoke to her, but it was just the inner thoughts of Dani, she becoming too emotional.
"I will come again to see you soon Melania, good bye."
She left and headed outside the castle to the questioning and torture room where the one who pierced Melania's heart was kept into bounds by Sarah and Casper.
BAM, she opened the door so loud intentionally, as though letting that murderer know that she is not going to go easy on him.
There he was seated on a wooden chair in an empty room with all those torture devices made for criminals and surrounded by Casper and Sarah.
"Lady Dani, you came. Are you alright? You don't look too well."
"Sir Casper, look after yourself as well you also don't look too well. Also Are the knights stationed properly at their respective places and did you tell them to inform you if they see the cruelmancers?"
C…l…M….R….S.....H H H HAA….. someone was going on mumbling, with eyes blindfolded and mouth fully shut too.
"Shhhh, It's not your chance to speak, you despicable person. I won't forgive you for what you have done to my master. I will kill you."
"Easy Sarah, easy, there is still time we must remove all the information he holds. His end is not too late. So be patient."
"But"….
"SARAH!!"
" understood lady dani."
"Remove his blindfold and undo the spell so that he can open his mouth and spill down the truth."
Sarah removed the spell of no talk. This time there really was a spell like that. It was an important arcanum magic used to cut off any sort of spoken communication between individuals or any sort of communication through the mind. This was done one order to prevent any information leaking to his members, his subordinates including deuxa and the cruelmancers.
Casper removed the blindfold with the tip of his sword, SLASH…..a loud voice came and Sarah removed the spell, BOOM.
And under this whole set up, that black magician was giggling thinking all of this as a joke.
"HA, HA , HA You…..you people are going to capture the cruelmancers, with your power, now not even Melania is present here and both Rica and I won't be of any help to you.
You are to be doomed; this whole world is to be doomed."
"Oh goddess Lunaris, I your faithful devotee urge you to make your holy appearance and purify this evil soul yourself."
A radiant silver light shone in the punishment room, translucent being made an appearance, it was not the goddess herself but some of her power showed up, this is how powerful saintess Dani is.
After the war this was the first time, she had to call upon such a mid-complex level divine spell, but it did work out showing its effect.
"Ahh…Ahhhh….What…..is…this…..?....."The black aura inside his body was emitting out and disappearing into nothingness against the divine light. The giggling deux was finally pleading for help.
"First of all, Sarah put back the spell of no talk so that he cannot even let out his voice and scream in pain."
She did what Dani told her to do and the results was unbearable to watch. He was struggling on his own, a pitiful sight to watch.
"This is the power of divine spell, it will purge all the power of those volic stones in your blood, until you die, it is going to be painful. I will ensure you die a thousands times the more you are towards the death side, I will bring you back, heal you and purify you again with this spell. You will be alive but no longer capable to even lift your head."
Casper was surprised, the playful and childlike Saintess Dani would become like this he did not know expect. The death of the empress truly left a great impact on each one of us, he thought.
A tear left his eye, taking the name and remembering her, MELANIA….
"OOH…OOHH…OOH…." He mumbled again in pain, then he repetitively stamped his feet, Doom…Doom, symbolizing that maybe he wanted to speak.
Sarah removed the no talk spell…..
"I guess you are ready to speak Deux… I didn't know you would be under control so soon. But I guess, you treasure your life and authority you wield more than anyting."
Then looking staright into his eyes as if it would pierce anytime, she screamed….
"YOU ARE TRULY A DEMON, NOW TELL ME WHY YOU PLANNED THIS AND WHAT WAS YOUR PURPOSE AND MOST IMPORTANTLY YOUR GOAL ..."
"WHERE ARE THOSE CRUELMANCERS HIDING ?"