RuneScape Forum Archive | SotD1: Trap of the Necromancer

Crystal Smee

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"Katelynn..." he whispered, though he knew she couldn't hear him. "I love you. I have to go, now...I hate to leave you here, to rot…I’ll never forget you. I hope you know that." He stroked her hair, pawing it, as though it might bring breath back into her body.

Sniffing, he straightened and strode down the corridor, chin out as he attempted to stifle his endless crying. It was so hard to take in, that barely two days ago they had met, that only hours ago he had cradled her in his arms. And now she was gone, dead.

He trod mindlessly through the hallway, following the twists and turns as his feet took him. He had no sense of time, though it continued ticking. Hours passed as he walked. Finally, he came to a door. He blindly shouldered it open and was suddenly facing another doorway, into a grand chamber.

A small figure, huddled on the ground, became the focus of his eyes. He could see it was shaking, hear the sobs, just as he had been a few hours ago.

"Krystal?" he asked incredulously, amazed that his voice was so calm.

She looked up, prying loose strands of hair way from her reddened face. She flushed further.

"Oh. Raylin. Hi," she choked out.

"What's--" he began to ask, then saw the source of her tears. A gaping pit, filled with gleaming spikes, stood between them.

"You look as though you've had your own fair share of fighting," she replied, scrutinizing his bloodied and dirtied clothes with one red eye.

"Katelynn--" he began, then faltered. The lump in his throat blocked all speech, and the tears welled in his eyes.

Krystal softened, her eyes bearing the agony of both of them. She understood perfectly. "Raylin, I'm so sorry..." her words rang true, heartfelt compassion bearing them. Raylin sighed.

18-Dec-2010 16:06:46

Crystal Smee

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"Would you care to travel with me, Krystal? For we are both alone, now." He scuffed his feet uncomfortably on the floor, head bowed. Krystal's tear-stained face broke into a smile.

"That I would, Raylin," she agreed. Raylin pointed behind him to another door.

"I think this might lead to the room you're in," he gestured. She nodded, and he set off. He began to jog toward the door, but suddenly he crumpled. In a wave of agony, all of is injuries seemed to come alive again, burning with a new passion. Blood flowed freely down his chest from the wounds given by the wolves. His heart swelled with memory of that first kiss, and he nearly collapsed again. He groaned and staggered through the doorway, turning right.

Sure enough, he saw another doorway. He made his way toward it and tugged the handle. Nothing happened. He tried again.

It was locked. Tears welled in his eyes as he fumbled for Katelynn's lockpick. It had fallen out of her pocket and he had picked it up. A memory of her laughing at him while he fought with the door stirred in his mind. He would treasure such memories forever. He couldn’t let them make him sad, but instead remember then fondly. Such memories were a blessing, not a curse.

Hands shaking, he drew the lockpick from his pocket and inserted it into the lock. He twiddled it for a minute, unsure how it worked. Then he heard a satisfying click, and he grinned to himself. The hinges creaked as the door swung open, and he was in the room with Krystal. She leaned unsteadily against the wall. Now closer, he could also see the crude splint made of bloodstained bones that supported her leg.

She wobbled toward him, and he hastened forward to catch her as she stumbled. "What happened?" he asked softly.

"The leg or--here--?" she responded.

"Ah..well, both, but you don't have to..." he trailed off, giving Krystal the freedom to hold her silence.

18-Dec-2010 16:07:34

Crystal Smee

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"The leg..well, we fought a dragon. It picked me up, then dropped me...That was where Seth and I...and then here..." Tears streamed down her cheeks now.

"There was an orc--and--he was fighting it. I tried--to help, I threw some--knives." Her speech was broken by intermittent sobs. "The orc--it moved out of the way and--Seth--got hit. He fell into the--door, and the pit--opened. He thought--I wanted--to kill him." She had completely lost it now. Raylin supported her as they hobbled out of the room, back into the corridor.

"Hush, hush," he murmured. "It's okay."

"What about you?" she said, eyeing his chest. "You should -- clean that up."

"You're right," he conceded. He ripped the top of his pack off. It wasn't that important, nothing would fall out. When he tore it into thinner strips, it was big enough to go all the way around his chest.

The pair slowly made their way down the corridor. Ahead, there was the door Raylin had come from, and their was a turn opposite it. They rounded the turn, entering another room. It was mostly bare. There was a table in the center of the room, and a small pile of hay in the corner.

Krystal spotted a door in the far corner, and headed for it, keeping conversation with Raylin.

"And the demon, it just snatched her away," Raylin was explaining. "And we'd already been weakened by the door trap, there was now killing it. So I grabbed her and got out. But then it was too late, and she was gone." At this he began to weep again. Krystal turned back, brushing the tears from his cheeks.

"We'll make it," she murmured comfortingly.

"I doubt it. The alchemist brought us here to kill us," Raylin replied cynically. "Or did you not know?"

"I knew," Krystal countered slowly, heaving the wooden door open. "But there has to be a way out."

"There is no escape...no way out of the trap..." hissed a cold voice. Then a howl, a piercing howl, eerie and high-pitched, rent the air. Krystal nearly jumped out of her skin.

18-Dec-2010 16:08:14

Crystal Smee

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"More food, Elger," snarled the first voice. "The necromancer's favor is surely upon us today."

Krystal stood in the doorway, ridden with horror. The two werewolves began to circle inward, fangs bared and glistening with saliva. Elger, his matted fur still coated with Syroce's blood, opened his jaws to yowl again. Laric parted his own mouth, joining him.

Raylin peeked over Krystal's shoulder.

"We should...go..." he began uncertainly, eyeing the bloodthirsty wolves.

"I don't think so," sneered Elger. The werewolf lunged forward, claws outstretched. Krystal was stunned with shock, and didn't move. Her delayed reaction allowed Elger to sink her claws into her chest. Raylin shoved her forward, and Elger was flung away.

Krystal collapsed on the floor, moaning. Laric, on the other hand, focused his attention on Raylin. The man was thrown to the stones, a powerful crack shattering his skull. Elger had returned to Krystal, sinking his fangs deep into her neck and shaking her entire body. She screamed with agony as fire coursed through her blood. She convulsed, quivering.

Elger, seeing an easier prey now that Raylin lay unconcious on the stones, released her and darted over. He stood over Raylin's prone form, Krystal's blood dripping from his jagged canines.

Krystal watched as the two began to tear Raylin apart. Their claws rent through his flesh, shredding him to the bone. They feasted upon him. Bits of flesh sprayed from their lips as they laughed maniacally and howled. Blood poured from the body as the skin was lifted clean away and pooled in the cracks between the flagstones. The thick crimson liquid seeped quickly through the channels and raced toward Krystal.

Sickened and retching, Krystal turned away from the horrid sight. She twisted her head away, and came face to face with another such body. Shredded and destroyed, the limp remains of Syroce were right before her.

18-Dec-2010 16:08:34

Crystal Smee

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The girl choked down a scream, not wanting to remind the wolves of her presence. She knew she could do nothing for Raylin now. She had to escape.

She scrambled toward the door, dragging her broken leg. She could hear the sickening slurps of the wolves as she found the northern door to the room. She barged through it, heedless of the noise it made in her haste. The wolves didn't even notice her departure in their frenzied feast.

Even as she staggered along, barely on her feet again, she could feel herself changing. Her hands itched as fur sprouted on them and her fingernails lengthened. She could feel her teeth digging into her lips, too. She collapsed on her knees, looking at her hands in horror.

"No, no, no!" she wept. "No!" She tried to crawl away, only to find the furried hands following her.

"Seth!" she screamed in vain at the walls of the dungeon. "Seth, help me! Help me!" Her words echoed off the walls of the dungeon.

"Help...help...help..." But Seth would never be there, never again. She had killed him. It was her fault he couldn't save her now. All her fault.

She thrashed at the walls, pounded her fists against the stones. "No!"

Suddenly, she could see the wolves again, chasing her. Laric was on top of her, his claws fastening around her throat. She swiped at him, but her hand went right through him. She clutched at her neck, and suddenly he was gone.

She huddled on her knees, sobbing. She knew she was mad. There was very little blood. Just the pain. Always, the pain.

Howling, the new werewolf crumpled to the stones, weeping. She could have wept forever.

***

Ellya flattened herself against the wall. "What do you want?" she stammered, fear clenching her heart in its icy grasp. Zamorak's lips parted in a wicked smile.

18-Dec-2010 16:09:28

Crystal Smee

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"You see, Ellya, the necromancer who took you here serves Zaros. This much, I believe you know, thanks to Armadyl's angels. You see, the Staff of Armadyl is locked into this dungeon. The necromancer continuously brings adventurers in here, thinking Zaros wishes them dead. Zaros hunts for an Armadylist to find the Staff, and once the Armadylist gets the staff he will take it from them. The magic around the staff prevents anyone but a devoted servant of his Lordship of Good," Zamorak paused, his mention of Armadyl laced with a venemous sneer, "to take it from its place."

"What does that have to do with me?" Ellya pleaded, quivering.

"You, little lassie, are the only Armadylist left in the dungeon. The only one who can get the staff," he sneered. "Never have I had to explain so much to my victim. You see, lassie, I have to kill you."

Ellya shrieked as fire engulfed Zamorak's hands, clasping to form a giant ball of fire. Zamorak cackled, releasing the fire. It wasn't just any fire, it was black and glittering. It soared through the air, closing the gap between Zamorak and Ellya. It surrounded her and she screamed.

Instead of being burned, and collapsing charred, the fire did something else. Zamorak murmured a few indistinguishable words under his breath.

As the flames engulfed her, they formed a blazing orb in the middle of the floor. The heat was unbearable. Her skin became soft, like liquid. Slowly, agonizingly, she began to melt.

Her skin turned to liquid, dripping away from her body droplet by droplet. She watched herself in horror as her skin streamed away like a flowing river, until she was little more than her own pile of bones in a puddle of molten flesh. It fizzed and bubbled as it boiled in the heat.

The bones finally tumbled to the stones, splashing in the puddle. The skull was last to fall. As it hit the ground it shattered. Shards of bone exploded upward and slammed into the fire.

18-Dec-2010 16:09:39 - Last edited on 18-Dec-2010 16:10:02 by Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

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They sizzled instantly and clouds of ash drifted downward like rain.

Zamorak laughed and snapped his fingers. The fire guttered out instantly. "That's a new one," he chuckled to himself. "Let them rest together like that, forever." A small heap of bones sat next to the gruesome remains of Neo. Zamorak lavished in the horror of it. Oh, Zaros was clever, all right.

He turned on his heel, chanting another spell. Then he waited. Nothing happened.

Frowning, he spoke again, the low drone of the spell resonating off the walls. Once more, nothing happened.

***

Zaros watched in horror as Zamorak cornered his last hope. Slowly, he saw Ellya become nothing more than a pile of bones beside her lover. He cursed softly.

Then he remembered, eyeing Zamorak, one of the best parts of his trap. You couldn't escape without the staff. There was no exit. Teleporting didn't work.

Laughing softly in madness, he channeled his voice into the dungeon. "Fool. There is no escape from my trap. The only way out is with the Staff. Well done, Zamorak. That was quite a trick." For a time he savored the glory of having trapped the god in his dungeon. Oh, Heavens, how he loved that dungeon.

Then he clasped his hands as he remembered his original business. Theonalios muttered a spell and was transported to Theonalios's castle. He rounded on the spindly necromancer, wrapping a hand around his throat.

"You...fool..." he hissed in anger.

Theonalios's eyes bulged and he writhed in Zaros's grasp. His face turned slowly more and more red.

"What--have I--done wrong? I killed them all! Just like you wished!"

Zaros cackled softly and tightened his iron grip.

"You idiot. You are a fool to have not seen it by now. I thought you knew why I have you do this. But you are just another little fool, ignorant and blind. You let the Armadylist die..."

18-Dec-2010 16:10:29

Crystal Smee

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Theonalios gaped. "The Staff? The--Staff is--in the dungeon?"

Zaros's black eyes flashed, diamonds of darkness. "How could you not have seen, you little idiot!" The last word was borne with venom and hate, pure contempt. His grip remained iron upon the necromancer's throat, until the man fell limp in his grasp, face purpled and eyes nearly popping. He threw the body aside with a sniff of disdain.

"Fool. I'll find another. I will have the Staff!"

-- End of The Trap of the Necromancer --

18-Dec-2010 16:10:43 - Last edited on 18-Dec-2010 16:10:53 by Crystal Smee