The Long Road to Ruin Ch. 30

"What is it, Shiloh?" She peered in at her, her eyes flicking over Shiloh curiously.

"Look at this and tell me what you see."

Myra scoffed, "I see someone who has a dirty mind."

"No, Myra, really look. Look past the cage and the rest of the things in this room. Look carefully at this woman and tell me what you see."

Myra eyed Shiloh ponderingly before taking in the sight before her. "She's afraid. Terribly frightened. She was trying to fight something off. Dear gods, she's encased in stone."

Shiloh leaned closer to Myra, her voice dropping an octave or two until it became husky. "Can you help her? Release her and allow her to walk amongst the land of the living. We can't leave this poor girl like this. Obviously she doesn't wish to be here."

Myra's eyes flicked over Shiloh before carefully studying the statue before her. It was too lifelike to be just a piece of carved stone. She touched her holy symbol before she chanted a few words. Magic burst from her hands and surrounded the cage. Blue light settled upon the statue, seeming to sink into the very stone. "There's a magic effect in place, a fairly strong one. It's transmutation magic," Myra replied. "I can't do anything for her at this moment, but come morning I can beseech the Lord of Light for guidance and the power to break the enchantment she's under."

"Are both of them under the same effect?"

"I believe so." Myra nodded her head. "I'm glad you noticed they weren't just carved edifices. Releasing them is the right thing to do. Releasing them and letting them return home to their loved ones, if they have any left. If not, Christano and I can take them to the monastery where they'll be taken care of."

Shiloh nodded and walked away. She searched the contents of the chest of drawers, pulling out a few robes that still looked to be in good condition. She sat them aside and headed for the strongbox.

"Treasure hunting already?" Christano spoke up as he stepped in behind her, his eyes following her every move as she bent low to pick the lock.

Shiloh glanced back at him, rolling her eyes at him. "There might be a remedy in here for those two poor souls trapped by that stone enchantment. You shouldn't be staring at me so intently." She popped the lock off and opened the lid at the same time Christano shoved her aside, causing her to fall down on her bottom. Shiloh hissed in anger and launched herself at him, pulling her short swords in the process. It took little to press them against his throat while he rifled through the contents of the box. "Make my day, paladin."

Christano flinched momentarily before reaching up and gripping her hands. He wrenched the swords from her grasp, startling her with his swiftness. She let out an enraged hiss when she found herself flat on her back with him straddling her middle. "Know your place, wench."

She could feel the heat of his body through his armor, could see it radiating in his grey eyes. They devoured her. His hands gripped her shoulders tightly, his thumbs rubbing intently. "Get off!"

"It's time someone show you where your place is. You need a strong master to guide you. I can do that for you and you would love it," he leaned down and murmured in her ear. "Think about it, Shiloh."

He lifted himself from her and helped her to her feet. She leveled upon him a menacing glare. "Never!" She spat at him through clenched teeth before stalking away. She flopped herself down on the bed, watching him pull from the chest a suit of black barely there chainmail, a shortbow made from bone and a few vials of liquid. He handed those to Myra.

"Nothing of real value in there. Just some girly armor and a useless bow," he scoffed. "Can you identify the contents of the vials when you have a few moments, sweetie?"

She glared at him before she gave him a curt nod.

"Might I see that armor?" Shanna purred as she extended her hand to him. "It's very sexy. I think it'll look quite good on me. What do you think?"

His eyes raked up and down her body very suggestively. "Put it on and let's see."

Shanna smiled and left the room, going into the one Shiloh had found the key in across the hall. She wiggled out of her tight black armor and put in the pieces of the chainmail armor. The top barely covered her breasts, exposing her cleavage for all to see and the bottom half was nothing more than a chainmail thong, exposing her round cheeks. A pair of thigh high boots, and wide metal bands that fit around her wrists and forearms completed the ensemble. She reemerged from the room into the bedroom the others were soon to rest in, flaunting her assets in front of Christano. "Now what do you think?"

"You are absolutely stunning, Shanna." He purred appreciatively, despite the glare from Shiloh and the cry of disapproval from Myra.

Shiloh spoke up first. "Shanna, you shouldn't encourage him."

"I'll do as I please, sister." Her evil grin lit up her face and brought a mischievous twinkling to her eyes. "Are we going to rest in this room or continue to explore some more? There was another door."

"I think we can hold off on resting for a while and check out that other door. Perhaps we'll find a way that'll go on further down and lead to the tombs."

Christano agreed, "Let's move on. Shall we?"

"I like a man who is always ready for the next thing," Shanna quipped, her eyes twinkling with invitation.

"I'll bet you do, slut!" Myra ground out before stalking away. She glanced back over her shoulder at Christano with indignation coloring her cheeks.

Shiloh shook her head before taking point ahead of all of them. She carefully checked the floors for anymore traps, but found none. It relieved her and allowed her to move ahead. She could hear hissed squabbling behind her as she came to the other locked door, the one not shrouded by the mystical blue barrier. Some wary voice inside her warned her to steer clear of it and she heeded it well. She had come to listen to her instincts. They hadn't steered her wrong... except for when it came to Vico. She sighed deeply and pushed the thought out of her head. Now wasn't the time or place to ponder that anomaly.

Ignoring everyone else, she set to work on the door before her. It had a similar gas trap on it, much like the other one. She disabled it in the same way and then went to work on the lock. As locks went, it was fairly easy to pick, even an unskilled novice could have done so. Which gave her an idea. She cracked the door, reached inside and twisted the locking mechanism. Then she shut it again and called for Shanna. "Sis, I think this is an excellent opportunity to teach of few rogue lessons. This lock is a fairly simple one, should be easy to pick. I'll loan you my lock picks and teach you how."

Shanna joined her, taking the tools in hand. "What do I do?"

"You'll use this skeletal key and this size pick. Place them both in the keyhole, and listen carefully to the sound it makes. If you've succeeded, you'll hear the telltale sound of the tumblers clicking. Try it, but be patient."

Shiloh stepped back and watched as Shanna manipulated the tools in the lock. Frustration settled on her face when it didn't open as quickly as she wanted it to, but she stuck with it and let out a cry of joy when it finally opened. She hugged her sister and danced a saucy jig down the hallway. "I did it!"

"You did very well, little sister," Shiloh smiled and opened the door. She peered in, motioning for the torch to be brought forth. "This room looks like a torture chamber. There are cages, a rack, a spiked press. There is also a large bed, armoire, bookshelves and a table. The architecture is dark."

She walked further into the room before stopping in her tracks. Christano bumped into her from behind and let out a soft curse. "Warn someone before you do that again, wench."

She paid no attention to him and continued on, skirting past a few piles of bones. Her eyes flicked over them, wondering if they too would spring to life. But they remained motionless. She let out a sigh and continued to the gate, unlocking it swiftly, then crept into a darkened hallway that reeked of death and decay. Not a good sign at all. She knew how badly Christano wanted to find the tomb of the high priest, but she felt he failed to realize this whole temple was a tomb and could very well end up being theirs. She shivered and took a few steps further into the dark. A faint shuffling ahead perked up her ears, causing her to stop dead in her tracks.

And that's when she noticed the trip wire she could've stepped on. Shiloh retreated a step or two, following the wire to the wall. She quickly exposed a narrow slit and used a knife to cut through the wire, preventing the spring loaded missiles from firing. She continued on, disabling another gas trap before she came to an intersection. The shuffling noise continued. She squinted in the darkness, allowing her eyes to adjust to it. Once she was able to focus on it, she knew what it was and made haste back to her companions.

"Undead," she hissed through clenched teeth and motioned wildly at the hallway. The two holy warriors quickly took up the charge, racing headlong into glorious battle with the decaying creatures.

Maces and morningstars flailed about while claws reached out to tear at the skin and armor of the defenders. A grunt of pain followed by a cry for power sounded in the dark hallway.

Shiloh sneaked up in time to watch Christano bash his shield against one of the creatures, knocking it backwards against a wall. He pressed his attack and swung with great force, connecting the spiked ball of the weapon with the head of his opponent. Bone and other squishier substances flew in an arc, but the undead thing remained standing. It drew back a fist and slammed it into Christano's jaw, causing the paladin to stagger momentarily. She watched as he shook himself and attacked a second and third time, smashing more of the thing's head in.

Meanwhile, Myra chanted aloud to her god, beseeching him to lend his mighty grace. She summoned forth bright channels of radiant energy and hurled them at each of the three creatures. They recoiled from the light and produced wretched hissing noises from their long dead throats. It gave Christano the opportunity he needed to utterly smash the one he fought to dusty bits before turning to one of the two remaining undead that appeared to be female. He took note of the rusted chains attached to certain areas of their bodies, forming a sort of intricate armor.

Myra blasted the two female undead with a gout of flame that struck from above, engulfing them in divine righteous fire. After she had done substantial damage, she held aloft her symbol of holy power and cried out to the Lord of Light for his blessings. Noxious dust filled the air as the two creatures burst into near nothingness. Yet oddly enough, their armor made of small chains fell to the floor in a metallic crash.

"Such indecency!" She sneered, "These priests were utter perverts! And furthermore, I don't think I want to know what they may have been used for when they were alive."

Shiloh and Shanna joined them during Myra's rant. "I think it is quite obvious what their master's used them for. It's the same thing that Christano uses you for, honey." Shanna quipped with a nasty look on her face.

"You are such a slut! How dare you speak to me like that? I am not a sex toy for Christano. He loves me. Only a low born trollop like you would think like that!!!" Myra's cry of outrage came just before the slap she delivered to Shanna's face.

Shanna glared at her with hate filled eyes. "I am not low born! My father was a king! And if you weren't such a prissy bitch, maybe the man who loves you so much wouldn't be eyeing everything else that moves! Then again I bet you're just as much of a cold fish as my sister is!"

Shanna recoiled as Shiloh slapped the other side of her face. "Call me a cold fish one more time and I will make good on undeniably stealing Vico from you!" Shiloh's eyes narrowed dangerously as cold fury ripped through her. "If you persist in this bad behavior of yours, the only place you'll be going is back to the boat, because I will personally escort you there myself. Have done! Do you understand me?"

Shanna gingerly rubbed both sides of her face before looking from Shiloh to Myra to Christano with imploring eyes and back to Shiloh. "Dirty cunt!" She growled. "You couldn't take Vico if you tried!"

Christano cleared his throat, "Enough!"

But Shanna's insult was too much. Shiloh grabbed hold of her by her hair and dragged her kicking and screaming back to the nearby room with the torture equipment and the bed. She tossed her down on it and joined her, pulling her flailing sister onto her lap. Once she had her settled, Shiloh began yanked down the chainmail thong until it rested at Shanna's knees. "Perhaps I'll take a page from Vico's book and give you what you have coming to you!"

SLAP!

Shiloh's hand connected forcefully with her sister's bare bottom, causing the girl to scream out on impact.

SLAP! SLAP!

Two more hard impacts followed, eliciting more howls from Shanna, who kicked and squirmed even harder. Vile curses slipped from between her lips as Shiloh administered a few more bottom reddening hits.

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

"You crazy fucking bitch! Dirty man stealing cunt! Let me up now or else!"

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

"Or else what, Shanna? You'll cry to Vico! Or Christano? If he was going to help you, he'd done it by now. You're my responsibility and I'll do as I see fit when you're being bad!"

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

Fat tears were coursing down Shanna's face, yet still she cursed and struggled wildly. "Or else I'll slit your throat in your sleep and bathe in your blood! I'll cut your head off and take it back to Vico as a present!"

SLAP!

One final skin-stinging, welt-raising hit later, Shiloh yanked Shanna up and slammed her body against a wall. Pulling Darkstar, she pressed it to her sister's throat. She dropped her voice to a barely audible hiss. "Make my day and I swear retribution from Bastian will be swift. Not to mention Rhys and Vico and a score of others."

Shanna swallowed loudly. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! It's just that you have everything and I have nothing! It's how it's always been!" Tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks.

Shiloh scoffed at her. "You'd say anything to save your hide!" She pushed away. "But I swear I'll lock you up in one of those cages and leave you here until we've recovered the chalice if you don't behave."

"Kinky bitch! You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Shiloh raised an eyebrow at her, but said nothing, "Let's move on."

They returned to the hallway and rejoined their two companions. Christano curiously looked both of them up and down while Myra sneered. "Are we ready to continue?" He asked, noticing Shanna's reddened cheeks.

"We're fine and yes, let's go!"

O.O

Shiloh stalked down the darkened depths of the hallway, bypassing a heavy black curtain before she came to a section of floor that didn't look quite right. "Myra, do you have a spell in your divine arsenal that will detect auras of magic? I'm sensing something isn't right here."

"An illusion?" Myra stepped forward and offered, taking measure of the area before her. She chanted a few unintelligible words before flourishing her hands about, calling into being a spell of divination. "It's definitely magic. It's as if it's an illusionary floor. It's concealing something. A trap of some sorts? I have another spell for that."

She repeated similar words and called forth another divine incantation. She swept her arm out before her in a wide arc, allowing an eerie blue glow to emit from it. The light settled upon the floor, illuminating a well placed and disguised hole.

"Good job, sweetie." Christano crowed as he patted her bottom affectionately. "Perhaps this might be a way down to the next level since we haven't found another way and that one door with the strange blue glow isn't open for us."

"I believe you're right, Christano dear. This was obviously hidden for a reason. But before we explore this possibility, perhaps maybe we should go back to that room with the statues and rest some. I'm quite exhausted from the heavy use of magic. We could all use some rest."

"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm tired as well," Shiloh spoke up. "I'm anxious to find out who those petrified females are and who did that to them?"

"We'll find out after I've rested and gained the proper spells." Myra replied as she headed back to direction they came ahead of everyone else. Christano quickened his pace to catch up with her, leaving Shiloh and Shanna to bring up the rear flank.

O>O

Rest didn't come quickly or easy that night for Shiloh. She tossed and turned upon the large bed in the room that she'd claimed for her own. Both Christano and Myra were curled up together in a single bedroll, their soft snores filling the room peacefully. She flopped over on her back and stared up into the darkened ceiling before sitting up and looking over at Shanna, who sat beside one of the braziers that a small fire burned away in.

"Shanna," she whispered. "Come here, please. We need to talk."

Shanna flashed Shiloh a curious look, pondering the request for a few silent moments. Then she nodded her head and slowly climbed to her feet, joining Shiloh on the bed.

"About what?" Shanna retorted with a scowl. Her voice was hard and unfeeling with a glare in her eyes to match it. "You've been an insufferable bitch ever since you brought me back to life. Sometimes I think you did it to hurt me even more. Sometimes I think you see me as a replacement for Shira. She's too far out of your reach now. Therefore you needed someone else to fill those shoes. You needed someone else whose life you could make a living hell."

Shiloh gaped at her questioningly. Shanna's words were as harsh as any she'd thrown at her in the past few days and they weren't far from the truth. "That's why I thought we should talk."

"Maybe I have nothing to say to you."

"Then maybe you should just listen to what I have to say. Please, Shanna. There are things I need to unburden my soul with. Things that have plagued me terribly."

Shanna nodded curtly as a lump formed in her throat. She looked away momentarily, fighting the urge to last out. "And what do you have to say that I would want to listen to?"

"Everything."

Shanna gave another curt nod. "Fine. You probably won't leave me alone about it until then." Her dark scowl deepened.

"You're all I have. You're flesh and blood and I'm tired of all this constant sniping. There's so much I want to teach you. Things I've learned since I became about of Master Nathan's family. So much I want to share." Shiloh began as she scooted closer to her sister and cupped both her hands in her own. "I am so incredibly sorry for everything I've said and done that has hurt you. I want to turn over a new leaf with you. I want the bitterness between us to end here and now."

"Shiloh, you have everything. You always had whatever you wanted at the tip of your fingers. All I want is my Vico back, the Vico that I knew so long ago, it seems. I feel so lost without him. Do you have any idea how it feels to have a hole in your heart where the one you loved beyond reason used to reside, but no longer? Do you?"

Shiloh nodded slowly. She did know. Vico was good at that. He'd torn her heart to shreds more times than she could count. "To love is to hurt."

Shanna shook her head, "It's not fair."

"It never is." Shiloh whispered. "Promise me something, though. Promise me you'll stop throwing yourself at that self-righteous paladin. Promise me that and I will do anything I can to give you back Vico. Please? I promise you that I don't want him anymore."