Role

Chapter 5

The soft chanting of ancient words woke Kharnial from his sleep deep
within the cellar. After long hours of whipping, he thought he would
never wake up. Yet the ancient words of power were there again, like
every night, drilling themselves in his mind and his thought. He would
chase them down this time. He was close to finding their location in
the past - however, to no avail, as they would abruptly stop if he
came near. Yet today was different. Despite the enduring pain in his
body, Kharnial opened the secret panel in his room and emerged in the
corridor of the cellar. With a small ball of light in his hand, he
swiftly and noiselessly scampered to the source of origin, enough so
that it would have made his mother proud. Steadily the noise grew, and
he could make out some words from his studies. Night, Queen, Eternal,
Blood, Return... At last, he finally approached a well concealed door
where the noise was overpowering. How others could not hear it was a
mystery. Curiousity overcame caution, as it always did, and he silently
cracked the the door open. A tendril of black magic swiftly grabbed
him and pulled him in, scraping his flesh against the rotted wood.

"A rat in our midst?"

The voice reverberated all around him. Kharnial blinked his eyes as
he attempted to refocus his sight. The room was dark besides a ball of
blood red light, from where the tendril appeared, floating magically
above an ancient altar. In the middle of the altar lied a dying human,
stabbed and cut masterfully so that the flow of blood steadily
trickled down the intricate tunnels carved onto the altar. Six points
of exit gave way to six jewelled chalices, each halfway full to the
brim of the human's blood. Next to each chalice was a blood-soaked
human, completely nude, with wild eyes of fervor.

"No..you see..I was just..."

From behind him, dark ominous presence grabbed his arms and lifted him
from the ground.

"Kharnial Loke is it? To think that you were able to hear us..."

Murmurs of agreement emerged from the others next to the chalice.
Kharnial, terrified even beyond his father's abuse, slowly turned his
neck and stared up behind him. He first noticed long elongated canines,
accompanied with blood shot eyes and the skin of white alabaster. A
hypnotic gaze held his sight, befuddling his mind and commanding him
to obey. Despite being caught, the creature behind him smiled fatherly,
similar to what he always wished from his true father.

"An inordinate amount of magical power to detect us. A source to the
ruler of Udgaard? I am sure he must feel at unease with the
reappearance of the Nightborne Queen. I sense thoughts that would
benefit us. Perhaps it would be good to make him one of us."

Thrumming through his mind, making his adrenaline pump, a single
command blazed through Kharnial's head.

DRINK.

One of the chalices, full to the brink, floated in the air. The various
rubies, emerald, and diamonds embedded on the chalice has turned blood
red. Kharnial crawled to the chalice without hesitation. He had resisted
the dark creatures suggestions, even though that one was not aware of
Kharnial's control. However, the power exhibited by the creature went
far beyond anything Kharnial had witnessed. Playing the fool, as he had
throug