Ultimate Assassin Saga: Woodlands

Several more minutes of walking and it was like he'd gotten nowhere. All the trees looked the same, though they were starting to get denser as he walked deeper. He walked up one small hill, and at the top, he looked down into the open area beyond. It was a small glen with tall grasses, but the most noticeable thing was the pool of water in the middle of the area. It was a large pool, twenty feet wide and twenty feet long. From the crystal clear water, he could see steam pouring from it, indicating that it was a hot spring and not a regular pool of water.

Acheron hadn't bathed in a while, and even though he knew that he needed to keep up his guard, he could still bathe without having to drop his guard. So, he walked slowly down the hill, looking from side to side to search for enemies. Finding no one by the time that he reached the hot spring, he stopped in front of it and he began to reach for his belt, unbuckling it before allowing it to fall to the ground, but he was going to be sure that it was to be near his hands at all times.

Just as he sat his blade down, the Chaos Demon undid his leather breastplate and allowed it to fall to the ground next to his sword. Then, just as quickly as he'd done that, he pulled off his shirt, pants, and boots, stacking it all near his blade. The Chaos Demon, naked now, looked down into the water, seeing his own reflection in the water, but there was nothing within it. No fish, no worms, no parasites, no life at all. Just the steam from the underground.

Acheron jumped into the water and allowed the heat of the hot spring to sluice around his skin, allowing him to relax for a little while, his mind drifting off as he bathed in the hot spring.

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A couple of hours later, Acheron climbed out of the hot spring and began to pull on his clothing slowly. Before too long, he was dressed and ready to go once more. However, he didn't really have a destination in mind. He didn't know where he was or where he was going really. All he knew was to follow his instincts. His instincts were telling him to just walk and something would happen that would lead him to the next stage.

After all, destiny was ever weaving her wet and she didn't exactly give any of her puppets any choice in what she was weaving. She decides what your life is going to be and in between you make the decisions, but she makes the choices for you. There is nothing you can do to fight destiny, and no matter if you believed in it or not, it still came into your life.

He stopped in a clearing, and noticing the light upon the ground, he frowned before looking up into the sky. The trees were twisted back, revealing the dark blue sky, but that wasn't really what he noticed. What he noticed were the two suns in the sky, both glowing with different lights. One was gold and very large while the other was a deep red color while it was smaller than the golden one. He didn't feel any extra heat that should've been cast by the two suns, but he also didn't think that there should be two suns over the Jungle.

It was still an interesting concept though and he found himself glad that he was getting to see it. It was something amazing to see, much more than the beauty of the High Forest or the fresh atmosphere of the Tundra. This had its own special features and he was able to easily identify them. He looked around, looking through the trees, looking for any sign of danger, but there was nothing. He could see no glowing eyes in the darkness and he could sense no amazing power level or anything of the sort.

The Chaos Demon walked for what felt like hours through the trees, dodging the bushes and stepping over them to keep from getting stuck with thorns. He was starting to get tired and he had no idea why. After all, he hadn't been traveling that long today and he should've had plenty of energy to do so. He put his hand on the side of a tree trunk as he stepped forward, but he stopped and stared out at the scene before him. There were several creatures gathered here in the middle of the glen in front of him and each one looked ready to kill.

There were Wraiths floating above the ground moving to and for, their scythes strapped to their backs while their long black cloaks floated around them, obscuring their features. Zombies of all kinds - some from the Human race, the Elven race, and even a couple of Dwarves - were milling around the area, obviously growing impatient with their need to kill. There were about fifty Zombies of all kinds and they all looked quite dangerous. The wraiths had well over a hundred in number and they were all similarly armed.

While he knew that he could kill these creatures and come out the victor, he also knew that there were too many of them for him not to get fatally injured. It would simply be impossible for him to attack these creatures and not be overwhelmed. Numbers always won out eventually, overcoming even the most powerful of warriors and driving them down into the annals of history.

Cursing inwardly, the Chaos Demon carefully stepped back and was already running over the many different ways that he could avoid battle with these creatures. He wasn't afraid of them, but there was no reason for him to do battle with the Undead and possibly end up injured. He stopped when he heard shuffling movement behind him and he whirled around, hand gripping the hilt of his Diamond Blade. What he saw there was something that he wasn't going to be able to escape.

There were dozens of Zombies shuffling towards him, their arms outstretched to take him. He gripped the hilt of his Diamond Blade even harder and he began to draw the weapon. Suddenly, he felt his whole body being filled with electricity and his hand spasmed, falling from the hilt of his sword. He sank to his knees, his power completely sapped from him with the attack, but he was still able to lift his head, looking for the one that had attacked him.

The Command Assassin found the one that had attacked him floating nearby, hovering ten feet off of the ground with its scythe aimed at him. Lightning still sparked down the length of the blade of its scythe and back again. The Wraith made a moaning sound, its features lost completely in the hood of the cloak, and from what he knew about Wraiths, even if the hood came off there would be no face there. They were featureless, malignant spirits who sought only to kill and kill some more.

Killing was all Wraiths were about because they searched for their own mortality with each kill. He found himself at the mercy of such a creature and he found that hard to swallow. Of course, at this time, everything was hard to swallow with a high voltage of electricity rolling through him. He noticed the electricity sparking down the scythe once again, but this time it was moving even faster from shaft to tip of the wickedly curved blade.

Lightning fired from the scythe once more, and unable to move from his kneeling spot, the attack struck him fully. Acheron fell over onto his side, twitching from the attack and his consciousness quickly fading. He could see the blackness around the edges of his vision, but he wasn't out just yet. He could still see the Zombies all around him and the Wraith floating around him, looking like some sort of absurd angel of death. He could hardly believe that he was going to die like this. He'd pictured himself going out in a blaze of glory in the middle of a war, but here he was now, felled by a damned Wraith. It was quite humiliating actually.

Unable to stop it any longer, Acheron's eyes drifted closed, and before he could form a single coherent thought, his world went black.

Acheron awoke slowly, moaning from the pain in his chest, arms, and legs. He was in pain everywhere and the fact that he felt any pain at all told him that he wasn't dead. If he was dead, then he was frying in one of the depths of hell and he didn't think that was possible. He wasn't feeling enough pain for that after all. He'd done many bad things in his life, and if he was to fry in eternal damnation, his soul would be in a lot more pain than it was at this very moment.

It was obvious to him that he'd survived, but how he had no idea. He'd been struck down by the Wraith and the Zombies should've swarmed him shortly after that. It was apparent that they hadn't though because he was still alive and he could feel every limb of his body. So he knew that he hadn't been killed or dismembered at all, but he didn't feel that he'd been restrained in either way either. He kept his eyes closed as he flexed and moved his arms and legs, making sure that he wasn't restrained.

In fact, the Chaos Demon could feel linen laying across his obviously nude body. He frowned, and even though he wasn't comfortable being naked in some strange place, he wasn't going to lose his mind. He still had to be covert about his actions just in case he was under some sort of imprisonment and they didn't want him to leave. He blinked open his eyes slowly, darting his eyes from side to side and taking in the scenes of the room that he was in because he wasn't outside, but inside.

He frowned before sitting up. He looked around the room, taking in every nook and cranny of the room, storing the knowledge away in his brain somewhere in case he needed it for later. He didn't know why he would need it later, but one could never be too careful.

The room was circular in shape, making it the first room other than an audience chamber that he'd ever been in that was that shape. The roof was more than fifteen feet above his head so whatever structure he was in, it was tall and probably thick. He had no idea just from this one room how many people could be housed in this structure, but he was sure it was going to be a lot more than what he was use to.

When he swung his legs over the side of the bed he was laying in, he looked down at the floor and he frowned. The floors were made of smooth stone without any sign of carpeting or any sort of padding whatsoever. That was strange to him because even in the smallest rooms with people who could barely afford food, they had carpet, and for this place not to have any, it made him wonder if this was a place of squalor that he'd never experienced before.

Shaking his head, the Command Assassin pushed out of the bed, coming to stand at his full height. He stretched his muscles, relieving pains that he'd never felt before in his entire life. He'd gone through many times when he'd grown stiff and in pain from immobility, but never anything like this. This felt like he hadn't moved in a long time, and for the first time since waking up, he found himself wondering just how long he'd been out cold.

He would learn that soon enough. For now, he had to find out what where he was and whether he was a prisoner or not.

Acheron looked around the room, searching for his clothing, but he couldn't see much in the dark room. There wasn't a single window in the circular shaped room so it prevented any light from outside to fall in. Knowing that he had no other choice, he held out his hand palm up and drew magic into his palm. Before to long, a small spark of golden light appeared in his hand. The light grew from a tiny spark and expanded to fill his whole palm, creating a globe of golden light.

The golden light illuminated the room better, lighting the shadows that took up the corners of the room. There was a small, knee high stone table against the right wall and atop that table were his clothes, folded perfectly atop one another. Seeing this, he narrowed his eyes, but he didn't see his sword. Had they taken the Diamond Blade so he wouldn't be a threat? If they had taken his sword, he would get it back soon enough, but as for now, he had to find out who they were.

First though, he needed to get dressed.

The Chaos Demon walked slowly over to the table with the golden light settled nicely in his palm, not burning or draining him of energy. He hurt all over, especially in his head and he attributed most of that to being struck by the Wraith's lightning bolts twice. However, it was possible that some of his pain was from not using his muscles for however long he'd been out. For that to happen though, he would've had to be in that bed much longer than he thought.

The Command Assassin turned his eyes back and forth, searching for a way out of the room. Strangely enough, he saw that there was a door like apparatus on the floor near the furthest wall and it had an iron ring on it to pull on. He frowned at the sight of the trap door which had no lock on it and would allow him to go through it any time he wanted to. However, he had more important things to do right now. Like get dressed.

He sighed and turned his attention to the stone table. He dissipated the golden globe of light, and even though the darkness had encroached once before, he knew where the clothing was. He reached out in the darkness, and when he felt the fabric of his clothing, he picked them up. He was able to feel that it was his pants so he bent and pulled the pants up his legs, fastening them.

Acheron grabbed his short sleeve black shirt and pulled it over his head. The fabric of the shirt clung to his wide chest, his broad shoulders, and his large biceps. With that done, he grabbed the leather breastplate from the table, and after taking the time to unbuckle it properly at the waist, he slid it over his torso before clasping it back correctly. Grabbing boots and belt off of the table, he walked back over to his bed, sitting down on it, setting the belt aside.

He pulled on the boots and stood up with belt in hand. Securing the belt around his waist, he moved his head from side to side, the sound of bone popping filling the little room. That done, he decided that it was time for him to leave the room and find out what was going on. He needed to know where he was and who had brought him here as well as if they were friend or foe.

The Chaos Demon blew out a breath and walked slowly across the room. He knelt down where he remembered the trap door being and he slid his hand out. His fingers brushed across the cool metal of the ring attached to the door and he pulled the door open. The trap door pulled up into the room without a sound and he stared down into the next level, but what he saw there was very different from what was in his room.

There was a metallic stairway that started at the ground floor and lead all the way up to just below the trap door he'd just opened. Also, there was light within this room, and from what he could see, it wasn't a bedroom like this one. There was light in this room as well, casting its artificial glow as far as he could see, but he couldn't see all the room just yet. All he could tell about the room was that it was circular like his own and made from stone just like his own room.

Deciding that he needed to see more, the Command Assassin turned and began to lower himself down the ladder. He had to turn his back while he was climbing so he could descend the stairs correctly and not bump his head on the roof. He ducked his head closer to his torso as he descended the stairs and he stared down at the stone floor below to tell how close he was to the floor of the next floor. Touching his boots down on the ground, he turned his head and began to look around the room.

It was barren of any decoration or tapestries, but it held an austere aura of power that he couldn't shake off. He saw no hallways in the room and that worried him a little bit. If there was no hallway, how would he get out of this place? He walked to the middle of the room and he looked around, trying to discover whether or not there was a hallway, that he'd just missed it completely. He examined all the walls closely and even using his magic, but there was nothing.

He walked around the room a little more, trying to figure a way out of the room. There had to be a way in and out of the room. He just wasn't seeing it for some reason. He stopped in the corner of the room and he leaned back in the corner, sighing heavily. He had no idea how to get out of here. There seemed to be no way out of this room and that worried him.

Running a hand over his face, Acheron was just about to give up when he saw it. On the floor in front of him was another trap door with a silver ring through it. As he looked closer, he noticed that there was more than just the one trap door that lead down, but when he looked up at the roof, he saw that there were several other trap doors that lead upstairs to the next level. But why was there no stairway to ascend to those levels when there was a door from his room?

Just as that thought entered his mind, the trap door that lead into his room shut closed tight, and as he watched, the stairway disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place. He stared at the space where the stairway had been, unable to comprehend how that could be possible. What sort of magic was this? This was something that he never would've constructed himself and never would've even thought of. Someone would have to know the exact layout of the building to get to one place or another and not get lost in the huge building.

Shaking his head, the Chaos Demon knew that there was no point in giving up now. The only choice he had was to keep going. The best that he could do was guess about where he was going and hope that he was right. If he wasn't right about his guess', he would be lost in the building, probably to never be seen again. If any siege army attempted to take this place, it would be a very difficult thing for them to get in and out without getting lost in the onslaught.

The Command Assassin turned his gaze downward to the trap door and he decided that it was what was best. He knelt down and gripped the ring, pulling the trap door upwards before looking down into the room below. This one was also lit like the one he was in now, but it seemed different somehow. There was actually carpet of green laying on the floor, covering the hard stone and putting up at least an air of luxury. He turned around and slid down the metal stairway, moving as quickly as he could.

Feet touching the ground, Acheron turned away from the stairway and he took in the features of this room. Like the last two, it was circular, but unlike the last there was a painting on the wall. He couldn't make out exactly what it was about, but in the painting he could see clearly the night sky with the stars burning bright. There was a large, eagle like animal in the air and overlaying the eagle like animal was a thin veil of silver that should've looked out of place, but didn't.

Also, there was a single hallway to one side with a high arch that looked like anything from a humanoid to a fully grown Dragon could pass through the arches without having to stoop their heads. There were stones embedded in the roof of all different sizes that cast golden light into the room, illuminating it completely. He knew there was nothing else for him to do so he turned towards the hallway and made his way across the room towards the hallway. He stopped at the entrance to the hallway and he turned back to where the trap door in the roof shut, the stairway disappearing.

Ignoring the amazement that he still felt, the Chaos Demon turned back to face the hallway and he noticed the small golden torches every five feet down the hall. Settled where there would be a flame was a small globe of glass and the glass was illuminated with golden light. However, the light didn't really show much of anything. The floor was carpeted in the hallway the same color it had been in the last room, but there wasn't a single painting within the hallway.

His boots made little noise as he walked down the hallway, and the closer he got to the end of the hallway, the more his heart beat. He could feel his heart fill up with anticipation and anxiety, but there wasn't an ounce of fear. He didn't know where he was, but he wasn't afraid of not knowing. He was confident that even if he was in the den of an enemy, he could handle it and find a way to escape.