Juliette's Diary

Chapter 8 (27 April 2001 CE *)


Armand, Carsen and I survey the siege from an escarpment. The terrain surrounding the keep reflected the four primal elements. The land shifting, grinding where the four realms met. In the middle, a nexus of chaotic forces swirled. And in the centre - the Keep. Father assigns Torrez as his emissary to the small army, and Carsen to the large barbarian one - they are to gain control of each army. Father and I are to enter and take the Keep. All to be completed in six hours.
I stretch out my senses, and as well as sorcery I can detect a primal power, which is different to that of the Keep. Father sends out 25 or so scouts, but only 5 return. Those that make it to the front of the gatehouse simply drop down dead there - some force or spell that covers only the doorway ?
I cast a veil of invisibility on Father and myself and our equipment, and we go to the Keep (staying out of the way of the massed armies). Using our grappling hooks we scale the walls and climb up to a storeroom high up. We feel the power of Broken Pattern. The room is warded as we discover when Father steps into the room and screams in pain, blood streaming from eyes and nose and ears. I am able to alter the energies within the room that ward it so that they resonate with our own. We go through the room, into the corridor. No further wards appear to be present. We come to an eating hall, but can see no obvious leader. we wander through. Father learns that the keep is ruled by a powerful sorceress named Jasra, who took it from Sharuz Garul who she now keeps enslaved/imprisoned in a font of energy. She has a private room apparently which is where she'll probably be.
We get to the room where she is; Father cleverly gets the key out from the other side of the locked door and unlocks the door. We burst in. I use a Power Word - Psychic Disrupt (Jasra Askiir) as Father slams a crossbow bolt into her chest. The power source that she was part of seems to be gone. Father slams a knife into her, and kicks her head in. She's not breathing. She appears to be dead.
Father and I go out and find some guards sleeping. One rouses, but we force him to go with us and he asserts that the dead woman is indeed Jasra. He says that given that his old employer is dead, he is willing to accept new employers, and will accept us as new rulers; the other guards will doubtless do the same. It seems that the guards of the Keep are used to changing sides to stand with whoever appears to be the strongest claimant to the Keep. I instruct the guard to separate the sorceress's head from her body (as a precaution against her rising again - never know what powers some people may have). He does so and I hand to Father as a trophy, which he hangs on his belt. The guard looks a bit squeamish at this. I ask the guard where the previous owner is. He says that he is sort of alive and imprisoned in the Fount. I ask the guard his name and that of his father (Sin, son of Alaric). Then three other guards arrive (Jacovitch, Esperanza and ______________ ). Father makes arrangements with their Lieutenants. They have reported that there is a breach in one of the Keep's walls and the enemy will enter soon, probably with the dawn. The guards seem unfazed by the changes in the Keep's ownership. They repeat that they customarily change sides as soon as the sinning side becomes clear. I go to where the Fount is, Father and Esperanza with me. We come to a door bound by three bars. The guard opens the door at Father's command. The door opens to reveal an atrium/courtyard in the centre of which is a fount of energy and flame. Suspended aloft within it is an old man, translucent. I sense he is in agony, but I can get no closer. I judge that with lots of study and practice I may be able to tap into this Fount of Power.

* Note: CE = Chronology of Earth

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