I made my way through the empty city following faint tracks in what looked like a long not really traveled area (there was so much dust it was like a real world representation of my own mind). I kept spinning around with the torch to see if anything was following me, but there was nothing. No sounds, no growls, no gurgles or plops. Just a long abandoned creepy stone city covered in sigils with tracks dragging most likely Valrym deeper in. I did see where it looked like the thrall had been called from, next to where he was cooling his heels was the dessicated corpses of other previous thralls, much like everything else in the empty city it looked like they were undisturbed for years. Have you ever been in an empty underground city formerly filled with evil creatures? No? Its really creepy. Almost as bad as having to fight your entire way in killing anything and everything in your path, at least then you know what you are getting into.
So I tromped through the tomb of a city until I reached an altar, on it was Valrym tied in usual sacrificial fashion. Standing over him was a shadow, I mean that literally, it was a shadow given form. One of its arms was twisted into a blade, most likely to sacrifice Val (or I dunno shave him, you can never tell with shadows given form). When I arrived the shadow which had a sort of face in that there were gaps where a mouth and eyes should be seemed to perk up. I couldn't tell if it was because he was waiting for me, or just happy to see someone else.
"And your champion arrives." Voice was empty like so many other creatures in the dark, it was like wind blowing leaves.
"Just kill him Trezlan, do not listen to it." Valrym offering the wise choice in a decidedly wisdomless scenario.
"Trezlan? Lorentino? You are no champion of the earth god, you are known to us and those like us, be gone pretender we await his followers." I guess my reputation as always proceeded me.
"Can't, here to complain about some bad beer, gave me a nasty headache." As I always say kids, better to be a jerk than well liked.
"You are not the champion you are not warranted here! We need the champion, we need the followers! When we destroyed our enemy we destroyed ourselves! Look around at the ruins of our malice!" It made sense, if gods can lose power when they are no longer believed in, couldn't also their villains? I mean if you kill the hero and all who know of him, what would become of his foe when there is no one left to torment. "The earth gods are not dead, their avatar is here, they will worship again, we will become rea..." Turns out fire works pretty good on crazy old villains of dead gods (and they say where there is shadow there shall be light, damn it I should have said that when I killed him).
"Thank you for not taking all day, he's been talking none stop since they drug me here." Valrym looked no worse for the wear, though who's to say how that works with avatars of gods?
"So now that he's dead does that mean you disappear?"
"Don't be ridiculous you idiot." Have I mentioned how thankful Val is for saving him? Yeah he's not.
"So that's two you owe me then?" I helped him out of the bindings and passed him one of my few remaining torches.
"That sword is worth more than anything I could ever owe you."
"So two then?" His pace quickened and I made sure to hurry, I don't know what had constructed the underground city, or how sturdy it was, but I wasn't about to be left down there to get collapsed and left with the buried ruins of a dead shadow entity. Valrym and I didn't speak on our way out, nor did we speak on the way back to town. I gathered my things got my horse out of boarding and made my way back home, it had been a lesson on what curiosity does to you, but I did at least find out where the sword came from. So there was that, which didn't make up for all the crap, but you know sometimes you have to take what you get.
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