Never Wish, Never Tell

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Artemis didn't need to be told twice to move on ahead, though as she stepped intot he darkness, the smell of rotting corpses quite pungent in the air, she wrinkled her nose and gave way to a small coughing fit, and as he struck the match and lit the torch,s he let her eyes scan the room, taking in the deathly hall way with wonder. She had only ever heard about the catacombs, and despite them being quite creepy, they also fascinated her as well. Though her attentions were soon torn away, fascinations easily muted when he reminded her of the book. She clutched onto it, frowning as she gave a shake of her head.
"If this thing is cursed, I honestly don't feel comfortable holding onto it. Can't we just burn the book and be rid of it?" she suggested, her voice carrying in an echo through the dark.

[Lion]

Dietrich was about to keep pulling her along when he paused at her suggestion.  He bit his lip in frustration and had a feeling that unless he tried, nothing was going to satisfying her questioning.  If only it was that simple.  But quiet frankly, he didn't think it was going to work.  And the only thing slightly less flammable than gunpowder was undead flesh - the last thing he needed was to accidentally set himself ablaze either.  So Dietrich took the torch and motioned for her to set it on the ground.  "We'll see if it burns the way we hope it will," he muttered and took the top of the torch to the leather hide of the book.  As flame touched to the tome, it unleashed a howling screech that only seemed to make the book angry, but in fact, it seemed as if the torch almost dissipated upon contact with the book.  He pulled it away.  "Well, that didn't seem to go as it planned."

Pursing his lips Dietrich stood and motioned for her to do so as well.  It was time they got on their way before the hunters found them through the junk of the storage room.  But as he stood, he paused yet again, as he heard a distinct growl that did not come from the book.  And as he held the torch out he found three corpses, still quite thick with waxen flesh twitch and move from their slots of rest.

Great.

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Artemis's hope almost dwindled away when the torch flame nearly went out. She had no idea what to do or say now, staring at the book in defeated awe. And with some resignation, she reached down to pick it up, only to catch wind of the soft growls from behind her. She jolted to a more erect position, eyes wide, arms clinging around the book as her brown eyes took in the shadows dancing along the wall- but it was only their shadows moving from the dancing torch flame.

"What... what was that?" ANd as she waited, trembling as she held a breath, she heard the low moans again. Instincts had her drawing nearer to Dietrich, her lips set in a pout, frustrated tears threatening in her eyes. And then she saw it too.. the corpses twitch and move slowly from where they were resting, until one raised itself up tall, cobwebs, now well old and dusty, pulling with it, as it moved and turned it's head, dark pits where it's former eyes turned to look at her as she realized the bones just move, and the skeleton was looking right at her.

"Oh.. my ... god.."
Dropping the book again, she let out a scream, and the other skeletons began to rise, much more quickly as all eyes turned upon them, staring at them in menacing silence before suddenly they were on their feet, and when one got close enough to nearly reach her, Artemis screamed again, grabbing up the book and smashing it into the skeleton's hands so hard, all of the small bones once connecting it's fingers broke off and fell into pieces upon the ground.

And that did little to stop the corpse's pursuit as it reached out with broken fingers in attempts to grab Artemis's arm. Artemis screamed again, becuase this time not just bones were looking at her, but the more freshly decaying rotting corpses still carrying remnants of decaying flesh. And all of them had hands out stretched, groaning and moaning and trying to reach out and take hold onto her.

[Lion]

Good gods!  If this was the working of the book, Dietrich immediately regretted picking it up from it's pedestal.  He didn't know what compelled him to do so.  He didn't know why he didn't just leave it there but something about the book wouldn't let him move from that room without taking the book into his grasp.  And now that it was with them, they couldn't just put it back.  Books like this never were good news and were hell bent on revenge to those that refused to obey.

As the skeletons surrounded them, and at her scream, Dietrich only grit his teeth in frustration  and smashed the torch into the face of one of the waxen bodies.  Whatever fluids lingered on the flesh took to flame immediately and the corpse flailed and bumped around into others, spreading fire and opening a passage for them to run.  "Hurry!" Dietrich cried out as he pulled her along.

They ran down the halls, one that broadened out into a chamber with four massive pillars at the center, holding up a high ceiling that was nearly impossible to see even for the vampire.  "Gods, there's got to be an easier way out," Dietrich growled and held close to her that the dead that surrounded them drew closer and closer.  And perhaps in that moment of desperation, his senses had left him.  "The book!  See if there's anything in that damn book to stop these things!"

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Artemis's eyes went wide, watching in horror as the animated corpses began the burn. She flinched back, instinctively keeping close to Dietrich and as she was pulled along, she was baffled by his suggestion.
"You want me to what!?" Her lips fell open, too stunned to reply as she bounced along barely beside him in a stumbling run.

[Lion]

"Read the book!" Dietrich cried out as he burned yet another corpse and kicked it away, setting the bones to shatter and break away.  "I'm pretty sure the book woke these things up, maybe it can kill them!  You have to try!"  He smashed the torch into another corpse that nearly grabbed at her.

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Artemis made a face.
"But it's only a book!" A book that suddenly thumped within her arms. Gasping, she clutched onto it, afraid it would spill open upon the floor.  She was whimpering by now,t he corpses seeming in an endless supply in the catacombs. And as they continued to run, she began to realize, much to her chagrin, it seemed she had little choice but to try. Just becuase it was a book, doesn't mean it might not be able to help, so she opened the book, a chill washing through her before trembling fingers began to wokr at flippig through the pages.

"I.. I don't see anything! And I'm too panicked too read! It all looks like a series of jumbles! Something about a Dark Prince and his queen.." she whimpered, eyes on the books, eyes on the animated corpses."Something.. something about an alter, blood, a knife.. Oh, I don't know!" she said frustratedly, hugging the open book to her chest. "What am I to look for?! Some chapter on walking bones!?"

[Lion]

"ASK IT A QUESTION!" Dietrich cried out as he moved out of the way of a old rusted sword produced by one of the skeletal minions.  He slammed a boot into his chest and setting him ablaze as well.  The torch was burning low and the light was dim and Dietrich was doing all he could to keep the devilish things from surrounding them.  "Ask it to stop these goddamned things!"

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"Wh-what!?" she sputtered, staring at him with wide eyes, though she flinched back as Deitrich began to dance backa nd away from a skeleton with a sword. This was SOOOO not happening. She felt her heart thumping wildly about within her chest as she released another whimper, clutching onto the book until her fingers were going white. "How am I to ask a book a question!?" she shouted, frazzled and alarmed as a skeleton popped up behind her and grabbed onto her arm. She turned towards him, staring into the cobwebbed recesses of it's eyes before letting out a gasp, bashing the thing over th head wit the book as it's skull fell off and toppled to the floor.

"This is all so crazy!" she shouted, but then again, what other choice did she have?  CORPSES were moving about, as if alive all around them, reaching out for them! So stumbling back into a wall, pulling her arm free (which broke off the remaining headless corpse) as she shook off the boney fingers with another whimpering whine. Then, she opened the booka nd began to frantically move through it, when suddenly a bony hand came out from behind her in the darkness, grabbing onto her wrist then mouth and pulled her into a dark hallway she failed to see that was nearby. The only noise that was made was a muffled squeak, and the loud THUD of the book as it fell.

[Lion]

It seemed the girl had the hardest time being able to comprehend the most straightforward of directions.  He knew considering the situation, it must have been a little too much to take in, but now was not the time to panic.  These skeletons wanted blood and though they were no match for his strength much like the vampire hunters, numbers could easily overwhelm.  When she was snatched away, Dietrich cursed and whirled around, smashing bones and burning flesh in a circle all around him.

It was then that he bolted forth into the darkness, torch flaming in hand, illuminating the narrow hallway.  And faintly ahead of him he could see Artemis' feet being dragged around a corner, flailing about.  He cursed again and bolted forward, past the book and down the hall, even as the traps had been activated ahead of him.  Swinging blades went back and forth overhead.  He timed it right and dove for it, rolling on the side and avoiding another just the same way before dashing for the corner once again.

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This corpse was strangely powerful, keeping a firm hold upon her as it groaned and dragged her away. Artemis could not believe this was happening to her, and although she tried to struggle, it held a knife to her throat. Her eyes widened at the sight of the blade as she let out a scream.

"Mister Maddic!" she cried, voice echoing through the dark halls. She was surprised she recalled his name. "Somebody- anybody, please help!" And no sooner did her voice call into the darkness did traps begin to trigger, blades falling down from the ceiling and swinging in mechanical arches in their wake. She clung to the side of the corpse man, brown eyes going wide as she watched him purposely trigger trap after trap to deter Dietrich from gaining on them.

"I can't believe this is happening," she whimpered through a mutter, and no soone r had she spotted Dietrich gaining on them did her eyes light up. "MISTER MADDIC!" but the bone man grabbed onto her wrist, dragging her away with a few harsh pulls. Her cries echoed down the hall, though when they looped around one bend, she found them at a dead end, heart thumping loudly in her chest. And since hte man paused, she tried to struggle again, but that's when the knife was drawn out again. 

Her eyes went criss-cross one another as she peered down at it with a whimper, and then the corpse's boney hand smashed into a large button,a nd a secret passage opened. Her mouth fell open, eyes going wide. It looked like some ceremony chamber. Trembling, she turned and shouted again, "MISTER MADDIC!" but the slamming of the stone door cut off most of her plea as she was dragged inside the secret area forcefully by the zombie.  Her mind was racing, her eyes were too strung for tears, and all she could do was allow herself ot be dragged along, fearful she might be cut to ribbons if she did not obey.

And in this room they were not alone, other dead corpses began to awake, and her heart was now pumping within her ears. This time, the corpses were in robes, all holding knives themselves as they rose up with dusty, crusty hair feathered about around them, making them appear more feminine. Their skin was sunken in, decaying, grey and leathery with writhing with maggots that would occcasionally peek out from the holes of their nose or eyes.

She flinched back as they drew near, drawing closer and all around her, forcing her nearer and nearer to a stone slab, and before she knew hwat was going on, they forced her down upon it, cuffing her with metal straps. She struggled, eyes going wide, mind in a whirl. There were so many faces of the dead, of the damned, that she almost didn't notice through the chaos that one drew out a glittering gold dagger and began to speak with their broken jaw in broken common...

"Mistress to the Book, the book of the dead, a tome of a demon. You must die to lay us back to rest. To die so his bride will never return to the world of the wake. May your blood be a lesson to all."

She caught that, every word. Her eyes widened, panic took over her as she shouted out desperately once more... "MISTER MADDIC!!!!!!" just as the gold knife was being thrust down, aiming for her heart.

[Lion]

Mister Maddic.  Gods, why did he have to choose that name as his alias!?  And leave it to a woman to let herself get dragged away by a hand of the undead.  Useless!  But he could scold her and smack her about that another time, provided she was still alive by the time he got to her and he didn't know if he was going to be there in time before something really bad happened.  These skeletal creatures were surprisingly fast for creatures with stringy loose muscle and brittlebones.

But something more possessed them, something beyond mortal comprehension and Dietrich knew in his gut that it had to do with the book.  She opened the book and now it was attached to her.  And these corpses?  He didn't know what they wanted with her, but one thing was for sure – it wasn't going to be pretty. 

So as Dietrich rounded the corner, you might imagine his surprise when he found the stone wall had covered the chamber once more.  He was not strong enough to break through the rock and thankfully the switch had not been deactivated as he struck it again and as the stone slab began to shift upward again, he crawled underneath the stone and threw the torch at the first zombie nearest him.  The corpse with the raised dagger paused abruptly to look up at him, but Dietrich had picked up the dagger from the one that had fallen and clashed rusted iron for iron when two skeletal monsters came at him at once.  Too bad they didn't have any organs to spill, or the ones that did were already shriveled and dried up.

He grit his teeth, taking a step back and blocking a strike to his head.  He lunged forward and knocked the first corpse down, smashing the hilt through it's chest and shattering bones everywhere.  He cried out when a dagger sunk into his back and he turned around and savagely tore off the head of the zombie that did so.  One by one they fell and Dietrich attacked with nothing short of animal savagery, clawing and shattering what could be torn and broken.  It was a shame these creatures weren't human though they once were probably, at least then he'd have reward for all this energy he was burning.

Eventually he found Artemis on the slab and pulled her from the stone and proceeded to smack a hand sheer across her face.  "My name is Dietrich."  And as if by magic the book abruptly appeared on the slab beside them as if placed there by the wind.  "Read it!  Stop these things."

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Artemis should have been elated she was being rescued, but she noticed the book looming behind Dietrich, and when he struck her, she let out a noise and nursed a hand against her cheek. Her brow furrowed at the mention of his name, still uncertain what he meant (Was Dietrich a name or a being? She couldn't tell) but when the book fell beside her she gave a jump, stared at it before blinking back some tears she hadn't realized were collecting inside her eyes.

"But if I read from it," she stammered. "What would happen? These corpse.. things.."s he said, backing up closer to him as they continued to draw nearer, weapons in hand. "They threw me on that stone slab and actually spoke to me, warning me, telling me I had to die since I read from the book. That I was it's mistress..." She shook her head, it was all too hard to fathom, but with the skeleton's drawing nearer, she quickly dropped her head and began to flip through the pages.
"I.. Id on't even know what I'm looking for-"
And as if on cue,t he pages began to turn for her, landing right upon a scrolled inking incantation with skull men breaking into pits of bones.

"Oh my God, this might be it!" and no sooner did she declare that did she give a scream as an approachign corpse warrior swung it's blade at her head.

[Lion]

Dietrich pulled her away, sending them both reeling to the floor as her feet tripped over his and he fell to the side, watching the skeleton that made it through the open stone door.  More would soon trail in behind it.  And there was only one other avenue of escape.  Dietrich was no longer interesting in putting these things to rest, there was no use in trying to flip through a book that would only listen to a featherbrain.  So he scrambled up when steel clashed to ground and made for another hallway on the opposite end of the sacrificial chamber, motioning for Artemis to follow him.  He could see two iron doors up ahead and bashed through them as he ran, leading to a ladder that led up a stone tunnel.

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Artemis followed after him, finding herself bouncing in a run, remaining in place, after she watched him bash through a door. Her feet were moving, yes, but they just couldn't carry her forward as she stare at him in dismay.

"What did you- did you just-?" her brain was rattled as she hugged to the book, keeping the page open as she whimpered. "Where are we going? And what about me reading the spell? There's something on this page about putting the guardians of the dead to rest, to halt pursuit.." her eyes scanned the pages, all the while she was trying not to trip over her own two feet and kept up behind 'Dietrich'. "Oh, but some of this text is hard to read... Tutso... so... me'ak.. or something."She frowned.

[Lion]

"I just want to get the hell out of here!" he cried outa she climbed higher.  "Keep reading if you want, or stay behind!  I don't give a damn, I'm not sticking around to wait to see what'll happen."  He did so and reached the top of the tunnel and threw more lit torches on the walls down at the zombies that started to climb up after then bolted for the iron grate that led to the city streets above them.

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Frightened, Artemis abandonment her mission to read and slammed the book closed. This Dietrich had the right idea. She followed as swiftly as she could after him, eyes nearly blinding her with tears all the way to the top. She kept as closely as she could, what other choice did she have, all the while fumbling to keep the book clutched tightly within her arms.

[Lion]

Dietrich almost didn't wait for her to pass through before he slammed the grate shut and latched it closed.  Where they ended up mist have been in one of the many underground tunnels that sprawled thoughout Connlaoth, allowing smuggling or safe passage for mages.  Or they could have just been the sewers from the smell of it.

Dietrich covered his mouth and nose and forced the stench from his senses.  "Be thankful you're at least in one piece," he muttered, leaving her there as he turned his back and began to walk through the dunly lit tunnel.  "It was nice meeting you.  Have fun with your demon book!"

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Artemis blinked, too stunned by his reaction that he was about to simply just walk away, and despite her better judgement, she pursued him.
"Wait! Mr. Deitrich!" the name sounded funny. "I haven't an idea what this book even entails! And if it truly is a book of demons," she said, grabbing onto his arm and seeking his eyes. "Then we have to do SOMETHING to put it back to rest! We were the ones that disturbed it, after all, so it's our responsibility to do something about this. What if those undead creatures still find us up here?" And then she remembered.. "ANd what about those people chasing after you? What was that even about?"

Perhaps she should have left it go.. for all she knew, he was some sort of deranged murderer!

[Lion]

"We don't have to do anything!" Dietrich growled, yanking his arm away.  "I'm wiping my hands clean of this.  This isn't my problem anymore.  You've used up all you usefulness to me.  I'm going home.  Good evening Miss Longfellow!"  Dietrich waved goodbye as he continued down the tunnel path.  He'd gotten quie far from her when she was little more than just a dot in the distance.  But somehow as he was walking, his feet became all the more sluggish until he couldn't even lift it from the ground.  Suddenly he let out a shrill cry as something abruptly yanked him from his feet and catapulted him back toward Artemis, landing in a rough roll on the ground.  He stared up at her with wild eyes.  "You're a witch!" he growled, warily climbing to his feet.