The dungeons weren’t peaceful like the one in the Imperium, this darkness was unfeeling and
unkind and cold. The cell was almost a box where there no chains but he was inside the cell
with a rather tall man “Darius?” the voice was familiar “Haldrith? The hell are you doing in
here?” Darius asked shocked “I made an error in judgement” Haldrith was dressed in white
cotton clothing, used but at least it kept the heat in “My fault?” Darius asked in a somber tone
“On the contrary it was mine and mine alone, it seems since I have been gone from my fair
kingdom a new regime has sprung in my absence, calling themselves Praetors of the Eternal
Embrace. At first I thought they were some kind of vile vampire brood that had taken the
people from me but alas I was wrong and quite alarmed at how quickly they turned against
me” Haldrith was down, so much so his voice was almost breaking “Tell me what happened”
it wasn’t a request “After our departure from the Iron Gaol, I spent the time travelling with
Alys until we parted ways at the Grau Crossing leading from the Sparse to the Sunless Peaks,
when I returned the fires were dead whereas normally they would be burning like the sun but
going through the gates in the dead of winter was impossible unless you were of the highest
ranking inside my order which I am, High Templar is the highest rank a peasant military man
like myself can achieve even if they call me a lord” he paused, inhaled and exhaled then
continued “I thought it strange so I started looking at the houses where the citizens slept
peacefully but as I began to peek I heard chanting from the Temple of the Sun and proceeded
inside where I saw sacrifices being performed, small children and the elderly were being
butchered to appease the sun, I know the dark must govern sometimes but these archaic
rituals were abolished centuries ago since we figured out the patterns of the sun, from the
dawn to dusk but these strange people were warping and perverting our sacred knowledge
and changing them saying the world is cursed to forever live in shadow, offer the young and
old and see the sun return. In all reality the sun is due to come up in six weeks judging from
the alignment of the stars which oddly enough coincides with the Black Eclipse where all
Templars receive the sun’s mark upon their heads but this is perversion of the truest nature,
not some voyeur schoolboy peeking at the teachers’ bloomers no. they are telling the squires
to fear the eclipse and fear the dark. I have no words for it” he punched the wall in anger, the
stone walls cracked under his strength. “Seems your strength hasn’t failed you at all”
remarked Darius “Seems not but my faith has been shaken, the faith I had in the Order of
Templars I was a part of have seemingly scattered, I even tried to find the master of my order
but he was executed three months ago so it seems this little wound had begun to sprout once I
left. If I was a threat, they should have killed me first” Haldrith was simply musing and
Darius understood but there was something amiss here “Question, why do the Inquisitors of
the Sun want me? I’m not affiliated with them nor do I care about their religious bullshit, so
why target me? Charon gave me a spiel in the carriage but I don’t believe her, I’ve never
believed that forked tongue behind her teeth, I did let my guard down by letting her touch me,
normally I would have never let that happen since I have a little issue with personal space but
to wind up here in this place was something I did not want to return to” said Darius looking
around and realizing he had been in this cell once before as he saw the lines on the wall
marking how many days/weeks/years he was here for, eight days, four weeks, five years.
Darius shook his head, so many lost moments now fleeting into the darkest parts of his mind,
when was he here? Somewhere in his misbegotten youth perhaps? Where does one go after
toiling in the Iron Gaol? Was he here before then? He didn’t know. 

The days ran on almost blending together, there was silence throughout the prison and it was eerie until Darius
spotted a shadow standing in front of the door “Darius?” it whispered, he stood and nodded
“My king sends his regards” the shadow whispered and the door unlocked “Who are you?”
Darius asked “A servant of the dragon throne, my king wishes to meet you in a year from
now when the veil in the Eternal Lands is thin, make your way there with that vampire friend
of yours and come to the land of the dragon’s throne” before Darius could utter another word
the shadow vanished. Then the chaos began, several loud screams echoed on their way down
to a loud crunch. The cell doors opened and the prisoners burst out fighting each other and
the guards that came enmasse slaughtering the prisoners since they had no rights in this place
“Haldrith this may be our chance to get out of here” said Darius but Haldrith refused “We
can’t, they will come for us and they will kill us, regardless of how we escape the inquisitors
will come for us. I know you don’t care if they come for you but these are my people and this
is my homeland, if the inquisitors kill me then it was all for naught” there was panic in his
voice “The hell did they do to you?” Haldrith was branded on his forehead, his golden hair
was shaved down to skin and the brand seemed to permeate everything on him inducing
paranoia and a sense of belonging “Brand of the Sun, no matter how I resist I cannot escape”
said Haldrith now dejected as he sat on his bed “A branded man here means a man who is
marked for death and the pain that goes along with it if I intend to leave, or the soldiers will
kill me before then. I hope you haven’t been branded yet” the sadness and frustration was
there but Haldrith being the way he is was staunch but the cracks were starting to show “No, I
think that trollop Charon has some plans for me” that caught Haldrith’s attention “The Sun
Witch herself caught you? Oh dear, did she touch you?” he was now alarmed “Normally I
would have punched her teeth in for doing that but she is an old lover of mine or so she
claims but for whatever reason I don’t remember our interaction I just remember being
employed at some stage by her again she claims I did” replied Darius, Haldrith thought to
himself “She has been known to try to manipulate and shape memories for a confession but if
she had got into your head you may be compromised” said Haldrith looking over Darius’
head “No my mind is fine, would you stop that? If these guards are coming to kill us I’d
rather put up a damn fight than hide like a little chicken shit and wait for death, pull yourself
together Haldrith I’m not going to sit here and wait like a scared child waiting for the big bad
adult coming to spank me with a big bad sword, so stop pissing around Hadrith, pick up your
balls off the floor stick em back inside you and man the fuck up” there was anger in Darius’
voice and for good reason Haldrith had almost given up but the templar simply sighed “They
come, stay here and don’t make a fuss Darius” a golden sun clad soldier walked towards their
cell and looked in “The infidels see their folly, good I guess there is no need to step in and
slaughter you, unmarked infidel step forward and let me look at you” Darius strode forward,
he tensed his arms then as the guard reached in Darius pulled the sword from the sheath and
ran it through him. Interesting Darius’ thought, he though they used heavy two-handed
swords to look intimidating but this one had a rapier alluding to the ability that they could
probably move rather fast with the armor on but wielding a rapier? It was an oddity to be
sure. The guard slumped to the floor and Darius shoved the door into the side of his head
forcefully rolling the body out of the way “Let’s go, we waste time standing here and arguing
over semantic crap” Darius said while the chaos was still ongoing “Marked.. Ones… Do”
Darius walked in and slapped him hard “Snap out of it!” Haldrith shook from the impact, it
was almost as if he had been punched “So much melancholy in my thoughts lately, ah Darius
my thanks for breaking me from my stupor, let us haste! The melancholy will return soon if
we do not get from here” Haldrith stood, retrieved the sword and began to don the armor of
the dead guard “Not really my size but for now please, strap the curiass and the clip the shin
guards please as I cannot reach them” Darius nodded and helped Haldrith into the armor
“Sweet nostalgia, save for the blood of course” he looked around “Seems we are in a new
section of the Inquisitorial Headquarters Prison, I do not know this area but we should follow
the path and see where it ends up” Darius could see a faint trial of something in the air, it
wasn’t connected to anything that this world seems to spill out, he thought it would belong to
that shadow that unlocked their cell, so instinctively Darius began to follow it with Haldrith
trailing.

They reached what Haldrith called Hall of the Sun, where the initiates would train. There
were memories here strong and solid he found but of course it was saddening him as the
melancholy he was feeling was starting to return but the trail Darius was following was
starting to fade, this shadow was fast and deceptive as the trail seemed to bounce off the walls
and ceiling “What are you following?” Haldrith quietly asked “I can see a faint trail of
something, for some reason its beckoning me to follow” Darius replied focusing “Indeed, it
seems you are leading us to the way out” Haldrith noted, Darius felt some memory in the
familiar surroundings but his reflections were broken by loud clamoring from behind them
“THE INFIDELS HAVE ESCAPED, RUN THEM DOWN AND FEED THEM TO THE
SUN!” the guards began to file in an attempt to surround them but a door opened and the
soldiers stopped and Charon stepped out “I knew you’d be the ones to go through here, seems
a small rat has infested our halls, it is a pity we did not catch him so he can kiss the sun”
Charon was dressed in odd garb, it was a death dress with an eclipsed sun emblazoned on it
“And in walks the dirty little witch herself” said Darius, she flicked him a look that if looks
could kill this probably would “Insults lover? I thought it was beyond someone like you but
alas this is you we are talking here” she looked at Haldrith “Kneel traitor” the marked on
Haldrith’s head began to burn and forced him to his knees “A man on his knees, this should
be the way not the other way around” she said with a smile “It’s a pity you have to resort to
using a brand to command someone instead of doing it with your own willpower, sad really.
How far those who had power fall” there was a small sense of satisfaction in Darius’ words
but the mood changed “We have supplanted the ruler in this land and instead have placed our
new Archon of the Sun and he will see the new dawn rise on this kingdom again” she seemed
brainwashed from what Darius saw “Palantius has been supplanted? By a bunch of fools who
yell at the dark? Inconceivable! I refuse to listen to this drivel!” Haldrith stood even with the
brand burning in his head “You will kneel infidel!” a soldier walked up to Haldrith armed
with a halberd but Haldrith grabbed the soldier and in a swift motion snapped his neck “The
idiocy my homeland has fallen into is very vexing!” one of the other soldiers came running in
but Haldrith struck him with the axe portion of the halberd bisecting him “I will end this farce
once and for all! If anyone dares attack, I suggest you, do it now while my rage is boiling”
the nearby door was open, Haldrith and Darius quickly headed through and they could see the
archway and they ran through but Haldrith stopped, blood poured from his chest and as
Darius turned to see what the commotion was several more wounds burst on his chest,
crossbow bolts had struck him and they were jagged “Run! Darius, for the life of yourself run
my friend RUN!” he bellowed but Darius was frozen in place “Find Archon Palantius and tell
him what has been betrayed here! Run my frie-“ a sword struck him down and for the first
time Darius could not retaliate or summon his power, he simply collapsed to his knees in
helplessness “The infidel has fallen my lady” Charon stepped to the fallen body of Haldrith
and gave him a kick, he was dead. Darius found his strength again but he ran into the dead of
winter, there were several loud orders given and the soldiers marched into the wilderness to
search for Darius.