Rise of the Nightmare Crestmaster

Aldrich realized that he must be on a mountain path, to his left and right he was surrounded by natural stone.

He walked forward, it was the only path forward really. He faithfully followed the old trail until he came upon a clearing, that's when he saw it.

Atop a barren hill rising from the center of a dark wood stands the silent remains of an ancient chapel, its black form silhouetted against the blood-red sky.

Five broken towers surrounded the main structure, weatherworn walls and a crumbling slate roof reveal centuries of decay, and yet the structure stands intact.

Gargoyle-like statues leer out from buttresses along the chapel's outer walls and flank a gate of rusted iron.

Dozens of mausoleums and grave markers dot the rocky slopes beneath the structure, twisted and shunted as though the earth itself had tried to expel them.

Aldrich pushed open the iron gate and it swung open without resistance, he walked in and noticed strange looking trees within the front yard which must have been a beautiful garden a long time ago.

Vines as thick as a human arm grow twisted around the gnarled trees. Dark vines pulse within shining red leaves, while razor-sharp thorns coated in a sticky black liquid threaten to flay the skin of passing creatures down to the bone.

The scarred skulls of beasts, monsters and humanoids lie hidden within the surrounding brambles.

Aldrich didn't go over there to check he ignored all the other things in the area and headed to the giant gate of the chapel which had somehow remained intact in the midst of all this.

He certainly didn't remember it looking like this when he saw it in that vision. At that time it looked holy, no matter what kind of evil it was it could not stain it. But now…

Aldrich tried to push the door open but it wouldn't budge, so he tried harder, this time he really put his back into it but the result was the same.

It had to be known that Aldrich could kill a man with a punch easily. He could put a hole in a wall without a scratch on himself.

He stopped, clearly brute strength was not the answer, well maybe he just didn't have enough strength. Then he noticed a handle that could be used to knock so he tried it and knocked twice.

Suddenly the statue of a Gremlin-like creature besides the gate moved on it's own and it opened it's mouth. It's eyes released blue light that shone on the gate, the light formed ito words.

"Your… blood? Shall… prove your allegiance?"

Aldrich still wasn't that good in Qouhen but he finally managed to read the text. Blood again.

*sigh*

Aldrich pricked his finger, for the third time this night and dropped a few drops in the statue's mouth. The mouth closed for a moment and then cracking sounds rang out as the gate opened.

Aldrich stepped in to the chapel feeling a bit nervous. He noticed that this place was alone devoid of any candles, in the current nightmare realm candles dominated the whole place, they were everywhere.

But here, wherever here was, not a single candle to be seen. Not even the yellow sickly moon disturbed the red sky of this place.

As he walked in he passed by broken tables and chairs, scattered pieces of clothes drifted with cold winds that originated from within the chapel.

Walking in he found himself in a crossroads, two sets of stairs lead to the left and right respectively but the third one lead down to a central hall within the chapel.

Aldrich went downwards, the massive hall was circular and along the edges of the walls there were more statues, however these were not of monsters but of humanoids.

Each wearing different armors and unique styles, they had their weapons pointed upwards as if trying to say something. On each of the statues there was a bloody handprint that seemed extremely fresh.

The bloody handprint didn't belong to the owners of the statues but to one person alone. This was only a guess but the statues were not of the same size some were big some were not but the hand that marked them all was the same.

At the center of the room an obsidian slab sits on a raised platform, as he got closer he knew it was the source of the cold wind in this place.

On the platform there was another thing, which could only be a spherical clay vase but it was too big and there were several holes in it.

Between the vase and the stone slab there was an inactive seal of Tindalor, Aldrich didn't know whether to consider himself luck or not for finding two in one night.

Before he dealt with the most pressing issue in this hall he used the same finger to squeeze a few drops of blood and trace the sign to activate the seal, with this he felt a little less reserved in this place.

Now for the most obvious thing in the room, in front of the platform there was a book that levitated in the air surrounded by pure white light, the light had many golden words floating in the light itself as the letters circled the book.

Aldrich deliberated on how to deal with this situation in the best way but he couldn't come up with anything clever so he just decided to go with the easiest approach.

'Anyway, I was invited here. In the worst case I will just die.'

Aldrich stretched his hand towards the light and the words scattered into nothingness like a mirage, the light faded and the book came into his hands like it was natural.

Aldrich opened the book on the first page and read the first thing he saw:

"Whoever might get this journal, without a doubt you are our kin not in blood but by will. I hope that you will inherit our will."

Aldrich took a while to read that sentence, that page was actually empty when he first laid eyes on it but almost immediately after, the words appeared, the words were shining with light.

No more words appeared so he flipped to the next page and more words manifested:

"I struggled to think of how the next generation must feel, to be thrown into a strange world without any recollection of who you were, and no one to guid you. It must be a terrible thing.

My companions don't see a point in writing this since the prophecy stated that no more Lost Ones will emerge and indeed it has been so for the last thirty years. They believe we are the last of our kin, we have been stranded with not a word from the ascendants in the Divine city.

As the leader I cannot be idealistic, I must not allow myself to succumb to illusory dreams. But it is because I am the leader that I must have hope.

We have failed our siege against the Overseer's mansion, only twenty of us remain. We will attack once again, one last time. I believe we will emerge victorious, we must, we cannot fail.

The souls of our vanquished comrades and friends watch over us, their sacrifices and their lives were not in vain. I will make sure of that, at least one of us will reach Castamerphia.

If not… then I believe someday new Lost Ones will emerge carrying our fates, it is a foolish hope. I can see the decay of the pure chapel with my own eyes but I have to believe and so I left this journal for you.

I feel like I have returned to the boy I once was when I first awoke here. I don't care about the scars I bear on my soul, I am a childish man who believes in fairy tales and legends and that is fine by me.

I have always believed someday one among us, Lost Ones, will one day reach the Divine Land and unravel our fates."

Aldrich read these words slowly but he was confounded on some of the hidden meanings behind them. But be that as it may, this person was right, he was a newly 'emerged' Lost One.

But how did the Lost Ones die? Aren't they supposed to be immortal? And what was the meaning behind using the word 'emerge'?

Shouldn't the right word be 'born'? Or could it be that it was intentional? As if to say the Lost Ones appeared out thin air. Like him.

He wanted to continue reading but he was suddenly struck with an annoying headache, he felt like he couldn't concentrate or focus clearly on the words in the book.

To his eyes right now it looked like there was a blur on the book. This wasn't normal, he wouldn't be exhausted anytime soon his stamina was extraordinary so how did the simple task of reading consume him so much?

Aldrich closed the book despite how badly he wanted to continue on reading, this Chapel definitely wasn't the right setting for a comfortable read.

He used the activated seal of Tindalor and returned back to the base with the book in hand, he notice that the teleportation didn't cost him any essence orbs.