Veyra had already moved, her figure dancing with an eerie grace. She raised her hands muttering a chant, her breath. Illusions began to flicker around her, bright lights, shifting images of movements, illusions meant to distract.
But the wraiths were not fooled. They swarmed her, tendrils of shadow grasping at her form.
"Get back!" Aelric shouted, rushing forward. He swung his sword, cutting through the wraith's dark bodies, but his strikes passed through them like smoke.
He could feel the coldness of the darkness seel into his very bones as the wraith's essence tried to corrupt him.
His chains lashed out again, this time enveloping one of the creatures. He focused on tightening the hold of Iron Bind, and the shadowy figure froze, its screeching wail piercing the air as it struggled against the chains.
But even as Aelric watched, the wraith's form began to flicker and twist, its black ichor dripping into the stone floor, forming a new wraith's form in's essence.
"What are these things?" Aelric muttered, pulling back.
"They are the city's sorrow incarnate," Veyra answered, her voice strained. "They were the keepers, the guardians who failed to protect their rulers. Now they exist only to feed on the living, to give their rulers a second chance at life through torment."
Aelric's mind raced. "So they are not just guardians…they are remnants of the city's rulers, too?"
"Perhaps," Veyra said, her voice shaking slightly. "But what they truly are doesn't matter. What matters is how to survive them."
The wraiths, having gained strength from the pools of ichor, began to surround them. Their eyes, empty and endless, locked onto Aelric and Veyra with predatory intent.
The air thickened, pressing in on them as the darkness seemed to close in. The wraiths, born of grief and rage, were relentless, their attacks swift and merciless.
Aelric felt a pulse of energy surge through him as he activated Devourer's Bloom. His skin burned with the best of the Abyss as he reached forward, the remnants of the wraith's essence, absorbing the lingering memories of their despair
The shadows screamed within his mind, their mournful wails filling his senses. But something else stirred within him, a sense of understanding.
[They are bound by an ancient curse.] The Voice said, its tone tinged with a dark revelation. [The sorrow of the city's rulers bound to these statues, to these wraiths, is not just emotional. It is spiritual. If you wish to defeat them, you must have to sever that bond.]
Aelric nodded, his mind clearer now. He knew what he had to do.
He swung his sword once more, cutting through the nearest wraith, but this time he didn't just attack. He focused, using his newly acquired skills to stop the wraith's essence as it diffused into black smoke.
With every wraith he consumed, the chains on his arms burned hotter, brighter, the power coursing through him like a rising tide.
He turned to Veyra, who was still caught in a desperate battle with the wraiths. "Veyra! Use your illusion to distract them. I need to sever the connection."
Veyra nodded, her face was pale but resolute. She raised her hands, conjuring a shimmering light that cast a false reflection of herself, moving in every direction at once.
The wraiths hissed and snapped at the illusionary figures, their focus now split between the real and the false.
Aelric's chains glowed brighter, and with a sharp motion, he launched them towards the base of the nearest statue. He focused every ounce of his will into the chains, forcing them to wrap around the stone form.
The wraiths shrieked in agony as the chains tightened, pulling the essence of their sorrow from the stone.
The statue seemed to groan, its eyes flickering to life for a moment, but then it cracked, and slowly the cracks spread, with a burst of sound. The statue shattered and turned into dust, and the bond between the statue and wraiths was severed.
As the wraiths screamed one last time, they collapsed, their forms dissolving into the wind, vanishing into nothingness.
Silence returned to the courtyard.
Aelric stood panting, his chains still glowing faintly with the remnants of the wraith's essence. His heart raced, and the battle had consumed both their stamina a lot. Be turned to Veyra, who was leaning against one of the broken statues. Her breath is shallow.
"They were…" started, but he couldn't find the words to describe. He felt as though he had just escaped a nightmare, the weight of the sorrow still lingering in the air around him.
Veyra didn't speak immediately, but when she did, her voice was soft. "The city was full of grief, a grief that never died, never faded. Now, it feeds on anyone who steps into this place."
Aelric felt the dark eyes of the fallen statues still watching him, as though the city itself were waiting for his next move.
[The sorrow of the Draz Kurhaal had been severed.] The voice said quietly, [But at a cost, of the wraiths vanishing, byg more of them will come. As the city has not finished with you.]
Aelric glanced at the shattered statues and fading ichor, and for the first time since he entered the ruins, a feeling of uneasiness set over him.
There was no peace here, no respite. Only more shadows, more trials, more answers that only led to deeper questions.
The city of Draz Kurhaal was far from done with him.
"Let's go, we still need to find many things." Said Aelric. The Veyra looked at him and nodded.
They both slowly got out of the courtyard. And slowly go deeper into the city. As they go. They found many ruined houses, many statues, and other miscellaneous things.
The descent into the lower catacombs of Draz Kurhaal was like falling through time itself.
Aelric's steps echoed down corridors of ancient obsidian and bone, the walls slick with some kind of ichor that pulsed like a dying heartbeat.