The Upper Room
Something about the Veil was different. I couldn't place it exactly but something had changed.
I arrived in my room with Kumbuye and Corvessa. For some reason, I felt drained like the Veil had taken more energy from me than it should.
I moved quickly, going to where I kept my weapons. My fingers closed around the daggers first — the twin-bladed daggers. I secured them at both sides of my waist, then I reached for the sword.
I turned and held it out to Corvessa.
"Take this," I said quietly.
She did not hesitate before taking it from me. Her grip tightened around the hilt.
"Should we divide ourselves," Kumbuye asked, "or go together to the Upper Room?"
My eyes swept the room again, trying to think of the best approach.
"We stay together," I said finally. "Always."
"What if Doya isn't there?" he pressed.
"Then we regroup and find him."
"The rest of the Bound won't be in the Upper Room," Corvessa interjected. "If they've been taken, they'll be held somewhere else. We can't just leave them."
"We get Doya first." My voice came out stern.
I moved toward the bed coffer and set the urn down.
"Let's go."
I stepped out of the room first, Kumbuye and Corvessa followed behind me.
We stayed close to the shadows of the walls, going forward.
The stairs felt longer than they should have been. Every step sent a thrum of vibration through the soles of my boots, a low-frequency hum that made my teeth ache.
"The air," Corvessa whispered, her hand hovering near the hilt of the sword I'd given her. "It smells like copper."
She was right. The scent of incense and old stone had been replaced by that strange coppery smell. My head throbbed, a direct side-effect of the drain I'd felt coming through the Veil. It was as if the Sanctum was suffocating me.
We reached the fourth floor, the corridor that led toward the Inner Sanctum — the private meeting quarters of the Ascend — when a muffled thudding stopped us.
"Wait," Kumbuye breathed, his hand catching my shoulder.
He didn't need to point. Ahead, three guards stood close to the entrance of the Inner Sanctum — not blocking the door, but close to it. They weren't patrolling, they just stood perfectly still.
"That's the way toward the Upper Room," Corvessa hissed.
"We can take them easily," Kumbuye muttered.
"Yes, but we must not draw attention to ourselves," I whispered. "The last thing we need now is for Darveth to know we are inside this place.
The muffled thudding we heard earlier sounded again.
"What's that sound?" Corvessa asked.
"I think it's coming from the lower chambers." Kumbuye said as he closed his eyes. "I think it's some Bound, probably restrained in their quarters too."
Corvessa stepped forward, out of the safety of the wall's shadow. "Dana, those are my brothers and sisters. If they're being held there—"
"Corvessa, stop," I gripped her arm, pulling her back. "We have to get to the Upper Room. If we trigger an alarm here, we'll never reach Doya."
"You want me to just leave them?" Her voice rose thin. "They sound like they're—"
She stopped. We all heard it then. It wasn't just a thud. It was a low, melodic chanting coming from behind the heavy oak doors of the Inner Sanctum. It sounded like a funeral dirge.
My vision blurred for a second. Something in the Sanctum was actively pulling on my energy.
"Dana?" Kumbuye's voice sounded distant. "Are you feeling that?"
I glanced down at my hands, my vision splitting into two. My mouth was heavy as I struggled to speak. "I can't... I can't suppress it," I gasped, leaning against the wall.
"We have to stop whatever is happening in that room first." Corvessa muttered. "It's the only way to cut this drain on us."
"But Doya—" I started, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Doya is the goal," Kumbuye snapped, "but we won't make it to the door if we're draining away. We go into that room first. Stop whatever is causing this, then we move."
Corvessa was already moving. I looked at the way leading to the Upper Room. "So close." I whispered.
I tried to steady my breathing. Every breath felt like I was inhaling iron dust.
As we moved further, the three guards didn't act like normal men. Their heads turned up at the same time. Their eyes jerked toward us, responding to our movement.
"I don't think they can see us," Kumbuye whispered, his knuckles turned white around the daggers on his side.
The guards charged at us. One came at me with twitching limbs like something was pulling him by strings. Corvessa met him halfway. The sword I had given her struck his shoulder.
The guard didn't stop. He didn't even seem to feel it. He just kept coming with his eyes pale and empty. He wasn't in control of himself.
"Something is wrong with them!" I hissed.
My daggers were surprisingly heavy, like they were made of hard stone. My body felt slow, and my vision kept blurring when I tried to focus.
It wasn't a real fight. It was a messy struggle for survival. Kumbuye knocked the middle guard to the ground, while I pushed the others back toward the stairs. We didn't wait to see them recover.
We ran for the heavy oak doors of the Inner Sanctum.
I slammed my weight into the door and we all fell inside, still feeling hazy. I quickly stood up and braced myself for a fight.
I expected Darveth to be waiting, but instead, the five Ascend — who were neutralized earlier — stood in a tight circle. They weren't fully standing though, they were slightly slouched.
The Iron collars wrapped around their necks still glowed and pulsed, burning into their skin. In the center of the circle floated a relic — a piece of black stone that seemed to swallow all the light of their powers.
"They're draining them," Corvessa whispered.
She reached out, but the air around the circle pushed her back to the floor like heat waves.
"They don't even know we're here," I squinted my eyes to see clearly.
The chanting stopped suddenly.
I stepped closer, analyzing the circle. "Can you hear their thoughts?" I asked glancing to Kumbuye.
"Already tried that," he sighed. "It's foggy."
"I don't think they're the ones causing the drain though." Corvessa muttered standing up. "It's the balance that's breaking." She croaked.
The blood spilled earlier in these halls had broken the Sanctum's seal. Now the place itself was like something starving, trying to fix itself by draining the life around it.
"What's this black stone?" I asked Corvessa.
"It's a soul anchor." She approached me. "It is an ancient artifact that's normally kept in the reliquary, used to control and trap consciousness."
"They're using it to control the guards." Kumbuye growled.
"Exactly, and I believe they'll go for my brothers and sisters next." She groaned.
"What makes you think they haven't yet?" I asked her.
"The Black Stone requires immense power to extend its reach, that's why they are using the Ascend. If they've begun with the guards, then the Bound will be next."
"They plan to control everyone." Kumbuye said.
The chanting began again startling us. Godsdamn it.
The Ascend weren't acting of their own will. They were being used as fuel for the black stone.
"How do we stop it?" I asked.
"We can't stop it," Corvessa muttered. "If we break the circle, the backlash could destroy the whole floor. And we can't kill them too, they are victims and more blood will only make it worse. We have to save them."
"We will come back for them," I said quietly. Even my voice sounded far away. "The Sanctum is still draining us, we have to get Doya. Fast."
I turned away from the circle and moved toward the door.
The moment we opened it and peeked outside, the three guards we had fought earlier were still there, standing in that same strange way as before. Though, they didn't see us.
We kept close to the wall, moving as quietly as we could, and started up the stairs that led to the Upper Room till we reached the top of the stairs.
"This way," I whispered, pointing to a tight corner. "There should be a secret passage here." I ran my hands along the stone wall, feeling for anything unusual.
"Could it be a spell?" Corvessa asked.
I kept searching until my fingers hit a small, hidden latch.
"I think I found something," I said quietly. I pressed it in, and with a low grinding sound, part of the wall slowly drew open.
Kumbuye leaned forward, staring into the thick darkness inside.
Corvessa's eyes widened as she looked around.
"This must be it," I muttered, stepping inside.
The wall slid shut behind us. The Sanctum was layered with secrets — hidden on every level.
As we climbed the narrow, spiral stairs, I held onto the wall for balance. My knees buckled, but I caught myself.
"We're almost... there," Kumbuye rasped, struggling for air.
Corvessa followed close behind, forcing herself upward despite the strain.
At last, we reached the point that led into the Upper Room. I pressed my eye to a small spyhole in the door, and I saw Ascend Kaelric inside.
I gripped the handle and twisted. The door swung open instantly.
Kaelric's eyes met ours the moment we stepped inside.
"I have been waiting for you," he croaked.
The drain was obviously also affecting him. I looked around the room but Doya was not here. Shit!
"Ascend Kaelric," I murmured, unsure what else to say. He was sitting on an old wooden chair before a table scattered with books and scrolls.
The iron collar still circled around his neck, but unlike the other Ascend, it didn't glow or pulse. Stranger still, the door had been unlocked. He could have left.
"I have written a letter," he stood up approaching us with a small scroll already rolled and sealed. "Get a bird and send it to the West. It must reach King Achaleous."
"Why didn't you let yourself out?" I asked, ignoring the letter.
"Now is not the time—"
I cut him off. "You're not chained. You're not restrained. Why didn't you walk out of this room?"
He exhaled slowly, exhaustion evident in his face. "This collar has trapped me here. It prevents me from leaving."
Only then did I really take in the room.
They called this place a sacred chamber, yet it looked more like a cell.
The space was small, contained beneath a low, slanted ceiling supported by rough wooden beams. There was a narrow window by the side, and a small bed stood against the wall, with a wooden chest that rested at its foot. A desk sat nearby with scattered papers on it and an oil lamp that burned low.
There was nothing remarkable about it, nothing that justified the restrictions of this place. I couldn't understand what made this room so special.
I took the scroll from him and slipped it into my kirtle.
"Head to the courtyard, then into the Dovecote. Get a homing pigeon to deliver this message," Kaelric instructed.
"But what about you?" I asked, concerned. "The air is affecting you."
"But it will not kill me," he replied. "The balance here is broken. Anyone inside the Sanctum will feel it, the fatigue and distress. It keeps us in this state, but it won't kill us." He exhaled slowly. "Go on. I will be fine."
"The other Ascend are being used to fuel a black stone with their power," I added quickly. "Darveth plans to control everyone. We have to stop it."
Kaelric looked away briefly, as he muttered. "Ah... now I see why he kept me here instead." His eyes returned to mine. "He only needed to keep me from the circle while it's still unstable."
His voice dropped. "Because I'm the only one who can shut it down before it completes."
"Do you have the spell to stop it?" Corvessa asked.
"It's not just a spell," he said. "It's authority. The stone recognizes the Sanctum's highest seat of the Ascend as the only one permitted to end its binding."
"So I can't stop it?" I asked him.
"No." His answered. "Only the one seated at the highest Ascend rank can issue the halt. Although if the source is cut, the Black Stone can still be stopped, but if the ones operating it are being controlled, there's no way to stop it then." He let out a short breath. "And once it completes... even that authority is revoked. Not even I can override it."
Everything just became harder to untangle. The Black Stone couldn't be stopped without Kaelric and even he couldn't act while the collar held him bound. And once the binding ritual is completed, his authority would mean nothing at all. We had to find a way to release the Ascend before the binding ritual is completed, so they would stop feeding it their power.
Darveth had been careful and very strategic. Every move of his was planned far ahead of ours, like he had already walked the path we were only just discovering.
Worse still, I didn't know where Doya was. I could only hope he was safe somewhere beyond all of this.
"We have to move," I said quietly to Kumbuye and Corvessa.
We left the Upper Room together, retracing the narrow passage inside the wall. My legs ached with every step as we climbed down the spiral stairs.
Then, I heard my name. A voice I knew too well, but he wasn't here.
"Dana!"
It hit me like a shock through my chest. My foot slipped, and I collapsed on the stairs.
"Dana!"
My head spun. Everything doubled. I could barely make out Kumbuye and Corvessa as they rushed toward me, trying to hold me up.
I tried to respond, but all that escaped was a broken, croaked sound, "...Doya?"