Wayne Dycedarg
Beoulve
Registered: Mar
2002 Location: There and Back Again Posts:
37 |
This will
wrap up Dycedarg's intro.... Given the reverence with which I
regard Easter, I won't have Sunday to work on this. So here we
go.
This being the final intro segment, you can expect
some heavy spoilage. Proceed at your own risk.
---
A little over a week had passed
since Rofel had given the Capricorn Stone to Dycedarg. There
were few outward signs of anything amiss to the Beoulve's
servants-- their master had missed several meals and spent
most of his time in his study-- but nothing too extraordinary
for an already-enigmatic man such as Dycedarg.
But
those few who had more personal access to the Duke knew
better. And though he would say nothing, it seemed obvious--
from his suddenly-sporadic dining times to his abrupt refusal
to accept guests-- that something was amiss.
But just
what that was... and why it had so suddenly and so completely
dominated his heretofore-structured life... was as great a
mystery as any that had arisen in the Beoulve Castle walls.
And the only clue these onlookers possessed was the
hand-sized, flat, green gemstone that the Duke jealously
guarded. He took it everywhere-- when he spoke; when he ate;
when he bathed-- and let no other touch it. His newfound
obsession was also a dangerous one, and two other midnight
assassins, much as the ninja a few weeks prior, had to have
their corpses removed from the manor.
---
An
aged man, the Beoulve family's seneschal for nearly thirty
years, breathed a deep, exasperated sigh. Why couldn't
Dycedarg have been the one to suddenly disappear? Ramza and
Alma were so much easier to deal with. He shook his head
and finished wrapping oiled strips of cloth around his hands.
They had taken to shaking in his old age, and goblin oil was
one of the few known treatments for it.
He tapped the
edge of his cane into the greeting room fireplace, and a
sudden chill put down the last of the blaze, reducing it to
embers and ashes in seconds. Well, that's enough for me.
The Master wanted the castle empty tonight....
He
quietly made his way upstairs and knocked on the door to
Dycedarg's bedroom. He did not hear a reply, and, knowing
better than to intrude, simply called, "The castle is vacant,
Master. I'll be back tomorrow morning."
"...thank
you."
"Good night."
---
Finally
alone. He wasted no further time and took the stone in his
hand. He could feel the dark energy radiating inside
it... a power that, like the Runes, could be bent to his will,
and yet possessed a power of its own.
But the Zodiac
Stone was different. Dycedarg had been able to communicate
with some sort of beast through the Stone's power. It had told
him that it was a powerful force from an evil plane of
existence, in service to the 'Prince Lucavi.' At first,
Dycedarg had refused to believe it-- everyone knew the Lucavis
were simply tales of a long-forgotten age now only kept around
to scare people into faith in Glabados-- but the evidence had
been striking. The beast knew nearly everything imaginable;
Dycedarg had yet to pose a question it could not answer. It
also claimed to possess knowledge of the Forbidden Level of
magic... dark forces that even a Sorceror could not bend to
his will.
It is time we met face to face. I must
see with my own eyes what this trinket from Murond truly
hides.
He stared intently at the malachite jewel,
eyes trying, as it were, to bore into the Capricorn sign along
its surface. It quivered in his palm, and suddenly lit up. At
that instant, he gave a sudden, sharp whisper... "Adramelk,
come forth!"
Diffuse green light exploded from the
gem, swirling around Dycedarg so tightly he could see nothing
else. A moaning roar escaped from the stone and it jumped from
Dycedarg's hand, hovering still in the sudden chill air in his
room.
And just as quickly as it had appeared, the
light, somehow brilliant and yet dim at the same time,
coalesced into a shape scant few doma in front of the
trembling Rune Knight. Slowly, the deep, reverberating groan
only getting louder, a shape appeared in the light, and in a
sudden flash the stone fell at the feet of a monster. ...a
monster no nightmare could dream of.
"...A...
Adramelk? The Ghost of Fury?"
The abomination was some
sort of goat, but far larger than a man. Even hunched forward
as it was it still stood fourteen doma (slightly more than
nine feet -W) from split hooves to sharp horns, scraping
across the wooden supports on his ceiling.
"I am."
His voice radiated power, fear, and
intelligence. His was a fierce will, an unfathomable mind....
Here was evil incarnated into flesh. "I...."
"...am
called Dycedarg Beoulve. The Rune Knight, the Duke, the
General.... All fine, and noble." He snorted, just as a lesser
goat would do, and cackled. "But that is not all, is it? You
are also the murderer, the manipulator, the fiend.... A human
like us."
Dycedarg paused to gather his thoughts. I
had no idea.... "Like you?" D--- it... I can hardly
control my own voice. It's as though... he's trying to possess
me....
As though reading his mind, Adramelk
laughed again. "Dominate your will? Force you to obey? No. Our
means are more subtle... our machinations never so obvious. I
can do nothing that do not wish me to do... so long as your
hand rules the Capricorn."
The Knight couldn't help
shaking his head. "I am not your Master, fiend."
A
blood-red light gleamed from its eyes. "No. I serve no master
but Lucavi. But he-- the Dark Prince-- has chosen
you to rule in his place."
What? "Lucavi
has chosen me?"
"In a way. At any given time, only
twenty-four people in all the world may use the Power of the
Stones. Twelve of these are men like you. You serve your own
ends, and hold to the tenets of Evil, whether or not you wish
to admit it. In that way, you and eleven others are chosen of
Lucavi to fight along Altima as the Zodiac Braves."
Wait.... "Altima? You have not mentioned that
name before, spirit."
Its lips contorted downward in a
scowl. "You know her avatar... Ajora Glabados himself."
Dycedarg inwardly lurched. Ajora?! It's all
starting to make sense now....
The beast nodded.
"Yes. Ajora sought to resurrect the Zodiac Braves. He was not
one of the Twelve... but no matter. For we are not twelve; we
are thirteen. Ajora took the Virgo Stone-- the sign of
Altima-- by murdering the One to whom the stone belonged. Thus
and thus, Ajora's evil deeds drew Altima to the World of Man,
and she was able to cross the planes to reach him."
"What happened?"
The beast showed its first
sign of disappointment. "Nothing. Ajora was killed before the
Angel could come to life in this world."
And now I
see.... "So you mean to say.... The Shrine Knights are
seeking for Twelve to take the Zodiac Stones and restore
Altima to life?" His tone was of measured disbelief. He had no
time to think; to dwell... his mind was spinning at the sudden
revelation.
Adramelk nodded. "Yes. And you are one of
these. You and I are alike, Dycedarg. More so than you may
think. And yet...."
"'Yet'?"
"Yet all is not
as it seems." He looked out into the midnight sky, gazing
thoughtfully just as Dycedarg did. "There has been a
disturbance in another plane. Surely the Sorcerors have felt
it."
Dycedarg blinked, and twitched his head in a sign
of disagreement. "I have heard nothing."
"No mortal
could know of this. We are not even sure ourselves. All we
know... is that there are ripples in our plane and those few
higher. Lucavi himself isn't sure."
Dycedarg pursed
his lips. "And I was led to believe that you knew everything."
The goat narrowed his eyes. "I said no such thing."
The human bowed. "I'm sorry. Forgive me."
"Forgiveness is not a virtue practiced among us. But I
am in no position to harm you. For now... we are one, you and
I."
While Adramelk was still speaking a flash of light
appeared where his heart would be, and he exploded into the
same pattern of light as before, rushing into the Zodiac
Stone. It uttered the same low howl as before and then was
still.
---
It is time. Zalbag's almost
here.... The story of the Beoulve family comes to a tragic
end.
Dycedarg, clad in the robes of a Duke, stood
along the stone walkway overlooking the main hall. Soon he and
his brother would fight to the death in the name of their dead
father.
Dycedarg, Son....
What is it,
Balbanes?
Why?
You know why, 'Father.' You
know perfectly well.
Why her?
Why 'who'?
Salmi. Why did you have to kill her, too? She was the
only gift of God I truly cherished... and you took it away.
If I had not, she might have saved you. Remember when
she suddenly decided that mosfungus was the poison? I had to
use cryzin oil on her to mislead the Chemists. It was her--
--it wasn't her fault, Dycedarg. It was yours.
Should I care?
Yes.
I'm sorry to
disappoint you, Balbanes.
Your road to glory is soaked
with blood. How many more must die before your appetite for
death is sated?
As many as it takes. And you,
'Father,' would know.
Excellent.
"...Adramelk?"
Not just another Nightmare.
Or have you forgotten that all of us have the power to warp
dreams and the distorted reality contained in them?
"I suppose I had. Why did you...?"
Play
your father? I had to make sure you were not showing weakness.
Zalbag is not the only Brother you must kill today.
"Ramza is here?" Well, well....
Yes.
He has slain Zarela in Limberry and has followed the Arch
Knight here. In fact... they are minutes away from us now.
Very well. "Captain Barnach! Report!"
A
leading Hokuten Knight and several of his subordinates all
appeared, taking defensive positions in the main room.
"Hide for now. As soon as I call... come."
"We
obey, my Lord." And with military precision, the Knights faded
into the adjacent rooms and halls around the main room.
And then he could hear it. Zalbag had come, revenge on
his mind. Dycedarg had fortified the front door well, but
Zalbag was a determined attacker, and soon Dycedarg could see
the point of a blade as it stabbed through, seeking to carve
an entrance.
He drew the Defender and stood in a
fighting stance. He took a few seconds to stretch, knowing
that he would need every possible advantage, especially if
Ramza and his friends were present as Adramelk had warned.
Zalbag was pounding on the door now. "Brother! Let me
in! You must answer for what you have done!"
Even
to the end....
With one final thrust, the portal
gave way and Zalbag rushed in.
But there was no one
waiting for him.
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