Chapter 3: Chapter 3: The Fallow Courtyard
Chapter 3: The Fallow Courtyard
Andrew O'Kelley
andrewokelley.com
!Alert!
You have entered the fallow courtyard of the Castle of Bran. Once, this was a place of renewed beauty before the Court of the Owls and the rise of the Owl Eater. The Dark God Falanor is the current Lord of Castle Bran.
This is considered a temporary safe zone, as such your Hunger, Thirst, and Cold have been reset and suspended.
*****
With a loud thud, the heavy wooden gate to the Castle Bran slammed shut behind me, trapping me within the decaying, desolate, and damp-looking courtyard. Urgh, it smells, I thought to myself while pulling my body up off the ground. My stomach was stinging a bit from when I had dived under the gate on my belly. I made a point to try and brush off the clumps of dirt that had become stuck to me and rubbed my dirty hands on my pants, waiting for my heartbeat to get back to normal from the sprint I just had. That was too close, I just barely made it.
That's correct, Christopher. You are lucky Adrenaline Rush has no drawbacks save for its commonality. Your survival in this was but by only the thinnest of margins. Many of the challenges ahead of you will be much the same. The first of which will start shortly. Whatever you do, mind your tongue, volunteer little, and be wary of the others. You will find no friends here.
"What do you mean, mind my tongue? From who? Who are the others?" I asked the Wisp, hoping for clarity and getting none. Without any kind of guidance, it fell on me alone to figure out what to do next.
That is correct. I am a Sol, a guide. I am neither your servant nor sidekick. This is your adventure and your wish, not mine. It is only my responsibility to guide you.
"Well, thanks, I guess," I replied, annoyed with the Wisp's intentional cryptic words. With no further conversation between us, I looked around the courtyard. A task which was more difficult than it sounded with how thick the mist was. Everywhere I looked, I saw dark shadows and heard hushed voices, but as soon as I got closer to any of the shadows, they were revealed to only be statues of heroes long forgotten by time scattered throughout the castle courtyard without any apparent reason.
The last statue I checked out before leaving the courtyard drew my attention like none of the others had. This bronze statue long turned green that depicted a man with a long sword in hand and a flaming spear in the other, the flow of the flame etched into time in the bronze. The man wore a dragon skull helmet and jagged medium-looking armor that seemed to be crafted from crimson scales, scales that appeared to have a razor's edge to it despite the oxidation of the statue.
His name was James. It was he who once slew the Monster King and he who brought peace to this realm. He carved from the monster's body artifacts of great power and gave them to his most trusted of vassals. All of them gone now, all lost to time and madness of the Owl Eater. Their bones and their curses all that remain, fouling this world.
The wisp’s words seemed sad, and I didn't know how to respond or even if I should. It seemed oddly personal, and I didn't want to linger on it. Almost as if by magic, a tunnel through the stone walls of the castle courtyard appeared behind the statue, and I walked through it, careful to mind my steps as I passed through the darkness between the courtyard and whatever came next.
The other side of the tunnel opened up into what might have been a royal garden. Beneath my feet were bricks of grey and faded red bearing a seal I couldn't quite make out. Withered vines clung lifelessly to stone walls, joined by long-dead trees and bushes.
"Looks like we got a straggler!" called out a man's voice as I realized I wasn't alone. On the far end of the garden grouped together on a small dirt reception field, I saw a large number of people mingling together, they were too many to count, but I figured it was at least a few hundred people, give or take. "Get over here, we've been waiting on you," the man yelled again, and this time I was able to get a good look at him, a teen like me with long white hair in old military khakis.
"I'm coming, sorry, sorry," I responded as I ran over to the group, holding up my hands in well-meaning greetings. On the edges of the courtyard, though, I could tell that plenty of people were lingering in the shadows, taking a measure of everyone who was there. Those guys might be a problem later on, I told myself and without needing a response, I knew the Wisp agreed with me.
"Hey guys," I called out to the group, excited to meet up with other people, despite the Wisp's warnings. "I'm Chris." A few of them returned the wave with a half-hearted greeting of their own but mostly ignored, except for the kid with the white hair. "I'm Atticus, welcome to Netherland. Hope you're ready for this. This will be my third round since I first got here; not many survive to make it to this point."
Without a word more, he turned around to look at a balcony overlooking the garden. I ran over to try and question him, but before I could ask anything, the door on the castle balcony swung open loud enough for everyone to hear it. From where I was at, the only thing I could see through the open door was an impenetrable interior of perpetual gloom.
A shiver of fear ran up my spine as out walked the same dark figure I had seen at the foot of my bed when I had been taken to this realm. The monster who dragged me here. A quick sideways glance showed the exact same concern, and fearful looks on everyone else's faces. It let me know I wasn't the only one who had been taken. I wasn't alone. Though I noticed that Atticus stood apart, on his face I saw a look of grim determination and pure hate as he stared at the monster.
I felt this immediate sensation of panic and, without even thinking, turned to try and run away from that dark figure. But as soon as I tried to move, my legs became rooted to the ground as twisted and gnarled poisonous-looking ivy wrapped around my lower half.
!Alert!
You have become ensnared through the use of a root ability. You lack the power to pull yourself free and must wait until either the spell is released by the user, or the timer expires.
*****
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone