The Truth

Silax stepped out of the hall, he was going to check the barrels that were strewn around the courtyard, hoping they were still good enough to hold liquid in them.

He saw Chad laying a few feet away from the doors unmoving, it wasn't certain if he was still alive. Chad had been injured in the initial confrontation, ironically that's what helped him avoid being killed by Kal.

Silax approached the short burly man, he bent down to check if he was still alive. The movement of Silax next to him caused Chad to wake up. Chad opened his eyes and groaned in pain, clutching his bandage stomach.

He looked up at Silax, then he looked around trying to find the rest of the group.

"Silax? What happened? Where are the others?" he mumbled, unable to talk loud enough.

"They are dead. The only ones left are Elara and I, and she is also heavy wounded." Silax said to him while returning to a standing position.

His response to the question left Chad visibly shaken.

"What? How did that happen? Where there more of those creatures?" he questioned, alarm and fear evident in his voice.

"No, Kal killed them. He almost got Elara and I, but we got lucky." Silax stated perfunctory.

"I was surprised by the turn of events, I thought you all were friends."

Chad's eyes widened, he tried to sit up, but his injury prevented him from doing so. Blood began to seep through the dressing around the wound.

Silax looked at the bandages and thought to himself that Chad wasn't long for this world.

Chad had a look of confusion on his face, he couldn't wrap his head around Kal deciding to kill everyone.

"Why would he do that? What happened in there to cause such a change?"

Silax didn't respond immediately, he walked up to the wall opposite Chad and leaned on it.

"Before I give you more details, I have some questions of my own."

Silax stared at Chad, a steely expression on his face. The way Silax looked at Chad, made Chad a little nervous. He didn't understand why Silax had such a serious expression on his face.

"I've had a few things gnawing on my mind since Jack informed me that the secrets of this place could only be gleamed on the Crimson Night. Then there were some other things I noticed on the journey down here till we got to the hall.

"Susan said the way you guys found out about the Crimson Night was from a scroll, but Jack didn't say anything about a scroll when I met him.

"Secondly there were signs that someone had being through this hallway recently, but this place can only be accessed on the Crimson Night.

"Also, the poem on the doors to the hall referred to an elf who has a Nexus but wasn't a spiritualist. Although Alarynn and Elune didn't have sigils inscribed, I can tell that at least one of them didn't have a Nexus.

"Alarynn's ability to summon an Animus makes her an evoker, and evokers are born without Nexuses. Elune didn't use any elemental ability, which means he either had no Orenda-Sigils or he didn't have a Nexus. I lean towards him not having a Nexus."

At this point Chad couldn't keep his eyes on Silax anymore, he turned his head away, staring down the hallway littered with wrecked traps.

"So, my question is, had you guys seen this door before?"

Chad sighed deeply, then turned to face Silax. He had a despondent look on his face.

"We worked with the information you provided Jack, and they led us to this place. Susan is reaally..." he paused, realizing that Susan was no more of this world.

"Was really good at what she did, it took her just over a week to follow the clues and get the location.

"We arrived here a month ago, on the day of the Crimson Night. We searched around but found nothing of note, at first there were some doubts on whether we found the right place, but we trusted in Susan's work.

"So we thought it was your research that was faulty. We had spent the whole day exploring the castle, so we decided to spend the night here, and leave the next day. We were camped out in the courtyard when the moon turned red, that was when we saw the changes that the castle went through.

"We decided to explore the castle once more, and that's when we found this hidden hallway. It took some effort to get through the traps, especially because Kal preferred to just bulldoze his way through."

His voice faltered as he spoke of Kal crashing through the traps, he imagined what it must have been like for that strength to be directed at his friends.

"Then we got to the hallway and were impeded by the door, Alarynn and Elune informed us that we would need and elf. One without the power of the elements, but the ability to gain them. They said that they didn't fit those criteria.

"We went back and reported Jack, who spent the whole month trying to find someone who fit the description given by Elune. Jack couldn't get anyone like that, it was either they were already spiritualists, or they lacked a Nexus.

"In fact, it was this search that made me realize the different power systems of you elves, Spiritualists and Evokers. I never cared much about how you guys fought."

Spiritualist were those who inscribed Orenda-Sigils and relied on the power of the elements, while Evokers had the ability to connect to an ethereal space where Animuses dwelt. Evokers created bonds with different Animuses which linked them permanently with the creatures, then they could summon them into this world through that link.

Chad's eyes glistened with tears, as he spoke about the events of the past month and recalled the face of his friends.

"Anyways, back to answering your question. Jack decided to inform you about our findings, and he also enlisted the help of Elara, just in case she would be able to open the doors. He didn't know if you fit those criteria either, but he didn't want to risk asking you questions so as not to make you suspicious.

"That's the full story, it wasn't our decision to keep the fact that we'd been here from you, we were just following Jack's instruction."

By the time he finished, his voice was barely audible, he could barely muster the strength to talk.

"So you don't know of Kal's true nature?"

Chad misunderstood Silax's question.

"He always loved the thrill of battle, but I never imagined that he would kill anyone of us. He just seemed too carefree to do anything like that.

"What did you find in there? What led to him turning on you all?"

Silax left the wall he was leaning on and started to walk towards the exit.

"Knowing wouldn't change your fate."