The Rise of the Empress Midnight Sparkle
Chapter 7: Grogar's Crypt part 1
Previous Chapter Next ChapterThe sun was starting to raise for the new day. Saddle Arabia was heating up as its rays draped across the desert, though not to an unbearable level as it was going to become in an hours time. While the natives and long time residents of the country were used to the blistering heat, it was known to bowl over visitors to their nation. The Order took advantage of this reprieve from the heat to march at a near gallop towards the source of the roar. A company of holy warriors moved with confidence across the sand. Their armor light and arid to account for their environment, yet strong and durable between the materials it was made from, and the shielding spells woven into the fabric.
One of their best squads had responded to a disharmonious surge of magic during the evening of the day before. Galia, the leader of that particular squad, was known as a first responder for disharmony signatures like this. Her ancestor was no secret to the Order, even down to the newest of recruits. If she had been born to any other family line, she probably would have been a top ranking member of the Order. Her dedication to their mission, and the myriad of medals and accolades she had earned over the long years she had been with them were more than enough to earn her place. It was not as if there were any doubts to where her loyalty lay. At first they believed the Ram to be a spy, a plant to lower their guard. She had accepted so many restrictions, so much scrutiny, and so much mistrust as she worked her ass off for them. She threw herself at the enemy, dedicated herself to their teachings, and even earned the respect of any who worked with her. Part of the reason Galia was not a higher rank than she was, beyond her ancestors infamy, was her own dedication to working on the field. She felt a drive to stop any rise of disharmonious magic in Saddle with impunity.
Her reputation had spoken for herself so much that they had assumed that the disharmonious surge, that had that had triggered a blip on their specially designed maps, was as good as dealt with. Her track record spoke for itself after all, and the soldiers that were with her had been by her side on the field for nearly as long as they had been in the Order. When the disharmonious signal vanished off the maps, they had even stopped monitoring the situation, assuming that Galia's company would come back and speak of their latest victory.
That was a grave mistake. In the middle of the night a roar had been heard echoing through the desert. Even miles away it had shaken the walls of nearby cities, waking up fearful children and triggering the barking of dogs whom moved to defend their families. It was the roar of a dragon, something they were not used to in Saddle Arabia. The Order scrambled to respond, checking the maps they had on their person to see that the blip had returned, larger and more menacing than before and joined by what they assumed to be the dragon.
By the time the Order had arrived, the first responders came over and briefed them on the situation. The mangled legs of what had been Titania were surrounded by some soldiers, and a super heated patch of sand turned glass had another group around it. The skeleton was that of a Zebra, half sticking out of the thick slab of glass as the skull's jaw, opened in what had probably been a scream. Those were not what the Company Major was brought too however, but an unassuming pile of broken crystal and stone rings.
Fear jolted through even the most hardened of their ranks as they looked down at their miniature prison broken before them. In centuries there hadn't been a single escape from their famous constructs, not since Grogar. The fact that whatever had was captured by Galia had broken out so quickly after being captured hinted at the danger the situation posed. What worried them more was the absence of Galia's body.
A sagely Zebra oracle came over to the Major when he made a gesture with his head. The Major was far taller than the elder equine, his build and stature common among the horses of Saddle. They had a different evolutionary path than the ponies of Equestria. They were taller and sturdier than the Chosen of Harmony, but their magical aptitude was far lower than their smaller kin. They did not have unicorns and pegasi variants like they did, nor the Godly Celestia whom controlled the celestial bodies in the sky. Most ponies did not leave the borders of Equestria, so the closest thing they had to their kind were the Zebra, the only other creatures known to have Marks of Harmony, or as it was known in Equestria, a "cutie mark."
The Mark of Harmony directed the flow of magic in a creatures body, giving the creature a preternatural gift in a particular field of magic and skill set, a "Special Talent" as it was referred too by Equestrians. This sagely Oracle was no different, given a gift by Harmony to glean truths about the past, present, and future from the most minuscule of clues. Her body was shaking not only from age, but from being in the vicinity of these crimes. The powerful stallion looked down at the old mare and asked in a deep voice,
"What do you see Zuwena? Where has Galia gone?"
"Galia had tried to calm the little one. She had not realized what the filly had become."
The major looked quizzically at the Zebra as her head bowed, suddenly looking very sickly as her body began to shake violently. Her voice took on an echo to it as her eyes began to glow. Sorrow and fear filled her as she tried to form the words.
"What do you mean a filly? A Saddle Arabian did this?"
"No. She is Equestrian born.
Barely above a foal, with an undeveloped horn.
She had been meant for greatness, under Harmony's guide,
but something had changed, and her destiny has died."
"What destiny? What are you talking about? Where is Galia?"
"This world has gone so terribly wrong.
The filly had escaped, with a dissonant song.
The Ram had been broken, under her voice,
She leads them to the crypt, for she no longer has a choice."
The Zebra's chest was heaving now. The Major felt his blood run cold as he heard mention of the crypt. If he was reading what the Zebra was saying correctly, then this supposed Equestrian filly was making Galia take her to Grogar's Crypt.
"How is this the work of a mere filly? Where did the dragon came from?"
Zuwena's voice echoed through the air now as she hovered above the sands. Her face contorted on sadness as she spoke out to those who could hear.
"The unicorn's destiny has gone from my sight,
Her path is now gone, snuffed out by misguided spite.
Weep now, for the death of Harmony's Twilight.
She who remains, has now become a blight
Fear now, for the world, at the coming of Midnight."
The stallion rushed forward, catching the Zebra as she fell unconscious. Nervous murmurs rose up from the soldiers upon hearing the mournful prophesy, but the Major maintained his cool as he brought the Zebra over to their clerics. He rose up to his full height and addressed his company, his strong and powerful voice silencing their discussions.
"We need to send word to the Order. Time is of the essence here. Galia has left a means to track the movements of Grogar's crypt in case of such a situation. If this supposed filly manages to acquire whatever it is she wants from that cursed Ram's crypt, we will be there in force to stop her in her tracks! This prophesy is not set in stone, we can stop this before it even begins! This is what the Order trains for!"
His company stood at attention now, their fears temporarily quelled at his words.
"FOR SUN AND HARMONY!"
"FOR SUN AND HARMONY!" They yelled out in response.
Catrina shuddered awake as her fur and lungs were hit with a sudden sheet of cold, damp air. Her body had fallen asleep in the dry air some time during the night, and had subconsciously prepared itself for another round of unrelenting heat. Instead the air had decided to throw her body a curve ball, and her body had made its protests known by lurching her tired body awake to figure out what was going on. As the felines eyes and ears adjusted to being awake, she began to notice that something else was wrong besides the atmosphere of the desert.
Flying a few feet away from Catrina was Twilight Sparkle. Her little body was contorting and writhing around in unnatural angles while the filly was cackling maniacally. She was frothing at the mouth with each new peel of laughter and her face was strained to its limits against her fit of mania. It didn’t take long for the wheels to turn in Catrina’s mind and figure out that Twilight was under a mental assault by the Alicorn Amulet. The only thing that indicated to Catrina that Twilight hadn’t completely lost was the fact that Spike, Twilight and herself were still flying through the air and trailing behind their Ram Escort.
Twilight’s body nearly folded in half as she bent backwards. Her chest was heaving as her eyes bulged out in pain. Drool dripped down her strained cheeks as she spasmed through the air. If this kept going, Twilight was going to die, or at least fall unconscious and cause the three of them to fall down to the dunes below.
Catrina braced herself for the fall that she believed was going to happen. Twilight had other plans however. A youthful yet raspy roar tore out of her throat as she snapped herself forward. The young filly’s voice grew louder, screaming with more and more rage as she glared at the ground below her. By the time she was done, her chest was heaving and her lungs were working overtime to get oxygen back into her bloodstream. Catrina almost instinctively reached out to rub her back to help her calm down, though she was held too far away by twilight’s telekinetic hold. Twilight’s hooves were shaking violently as she brought the twitching limbs to her face, wiping off the saliva that had drooled out during her laughing attack. It took her several moments before Twilight could even croak out a sentence.
"I think we are getting close to our destination."
Her words were laced with raspy giggles. It was clear that her body threatened to burst back into an attack of mirth at any second. Catrina raised up her paws as she looked at the panting unicorn, trying in vain to somehow prevent such an attack from happening.
"What is going on? What is the Amulet doing?" Catrina asked, trepidation lacing every syllable.
“The voices usually pull me in different directions. At the moment they are all working together towards the same goal,” Twilight spoke in a tired voice. Her head was thrown back again violently, her face pulled tight in another manic grin. She looked like she was teetering on the edge of sanity, but then all at once she violently shook off the second attack far quicker than she had before. Her lips were pursed into a small line, fustration creasing her brow before she continued.
"They are all terrified. They want to flee, and it's put more of a strain on my mind than I've been used too."
"We should land then. We cannot have this happening while we are in the crypt."
Twilight wiped some more spit off her mouth as she shook her head in protest, "I'm getting a feel for it now. They had caught me by surprise; however now that their advantage is gone I have them under control again."
“Twilight, we need to slow down. Get that Ram to take a break. We have so much to go over before we enter Grogar’s Crypt.”
Twilight pointed a hoof down at the Ram, drawing the feline’s eyes to where she directed.
“We are already here Catrina.”
It was then that Catrina noticed something severely wrong with the desert below them as well as the horizon. Though she had not noticed this when she was paying close attention to Twilight, the color in the world seem to be bleeding away into shades of gray. Even the sun was being sucked of its color from their perception. Once brilliant reds and oranges of the sunrise was turning into what looked like a brilliant black and white painting. She remembered tales of Grogar that had mentioned how the world seemed to lose color whenever he was around, but she had never taken it to be literal. The fact that his crypt radiated such an effect this far out did not bode well.
She was mesmerized by the Ram’s movements as she continued to gallop. New textures in the ground began to radiate from where Galia was galloping. The dunes of Saddle Arabia began to morph and transform before their very eyes, replaced by a flattening expanse of a bog. The mire seemed to spill out from each of the Ram’s foot falls, flattening hills of sand as each new ripple kept radiating out to replace it with murky, almost black water. Dead trees and thorny vines grew out of the ever-expanding swamp before them. Soon their jagged branches and sharp thorns were reaching up to where they were. Within minutes the new terrain had spread across the desert like an infectious virus, taking up the previous expanse of sandy heat and replacing it with the monochromatic mire before them. Whatever their senses were telling them, it was obvious to their logical minds that they had stumbled into some kind of pocket dimension. Instead of a door bridging the two realities together, it was instead some kind of huge area of effect that the Ram led them in.
Flying became more and more of a chore now that trees were growing up into the sky all around them. It also made it that much harder to keep an eye on the Ram. On top of this, a fog began to spill profusely out of the thick mire Galia was effortlessly running though. It was as if an unfathomable amount of dry ice was poured into the swamp from horizon to horizon, producing the thick white mist that billowed beneath them. With all these factors affecting their vision, they ended up having to leave the heights of the sky and descend into the swamp, following very close behind their unwilling escort.
Catrina wondered how many desert dwellers and merchants ended up wandering into this mire by mistake? How many had wandered in the desert, dying of thirst and heat, only to find themselves in this disturbing murky swamp mere moments later? Would they think that it was really happening, or that they had gone mad from being out in the sun too long? The air was thick, humid, uncomfortable and chilly all at the same time. It made their fur feel uncomfortable and gross. It felt like something was fundamentally wrong about the fog that seemed to almost cling to them. Even Spike looked uncomfortable wrapped in his blankets and inside his pouch.
Twilight began to nervously giggle again as she watched the Ram run. It was not nearly as intense as the manic fits she had in the air. It was just a slight nearly imperceptible chortle that barely left her throat and only slightly curled her lips into a grin. Catrina wasn’t entirely convinced that she would have noticed it at all if it wasn’t for the unnatural echo that carried it. Instead of the echo coming from the filly and fading away into the trees, it instead came from the trees and towards Twilight, gaining intensity until it almost had the same volume as the chuckle itself. It gave a distinctly opressive feeling to the already unsettling environment they were in.
"How has this place not been discovered by others before now?" Catrina breathed out. The question had tickled her ears before she had spoken it, her own voice sounding alien to her as it drifted in from the trees and voiced what she said before she had spoken it.
"Look around you Catrina, this place has been discovered by many creatures," Twilight replied. She spoke loudly this time, so the strange reverse echo the bog seemed to have been made all the more clear. Twilight grinned at Catrina as the feline took the time to look through the fog at the blackened trees as they sped past them. It was only after intently looking at the blackened trunks when she saw it. Minotaurs, ponies, camels, even other felines like herself found their faces and bodies imprinted against the bark, hinting to the fact that they were trying to force their way out of the trees before they had finally died. Some of the knots that grew out of the trees were eerily similar to cloven hooves and paws, and was parallel to the impressions of limbs against their surfaces. It wasn't just the trees either, the murky swamp had reflections of pained and fearful faces fading in and out of their murky surface. Even the fog itself seemed to form the faint impressions of bodies as it churned around them. Catrina could just envision entire caravans being caught up in this strange place, before slowly being absorbed into it one victim at a time, never really understanding where they were to begin with.
The world became more defined as they continued to follow their escort. Where oppressive silence was around them before, now they were being inundated with irritating noises. Distinct sounds of flies buzzing about their ears could now be heard. It started off sounding like one or two of the insects doggedly harassing their twitching ears. They reflexively swatted the air with paw and hoof alike to wave away the offending bugs. The gesture was in vain however, because there were no bugs to swat at. Soon the occasional buzzing had turned into the deafening roar of a swarm. Their bodies could almost feel the insects around them, but it was soon very evident that it was the fog itself that was making the ungodly noise. Distant sounds of crying infants and weak voices calling out for lost loved ones could be heard beyond the trees as well, though when they looked there was no one to be seen. All there was an expanse of murky water and dead trees bearing the faces of the poor souls who happened into there. For all Catrina knew, these were just delayed echoes of the victims who wandered in here long after they were absorbed into the swamp.
As the pocket reality became more defined, Catrina began to notice that the blackened trees were moving when they were not directly looking at them. She could hear the groaning of branches of wood as they jerked towards the party. The sound abruptly ended when she turned around, but the trees that were reaching for them only made her want to turn around more often. The Trunks of the trees themselves seemed to bend and twist to get closer to them in those brief seconds when they weren't being observed. Even when Catrina merely blinked her eyes they seemed to use that brief instance of not being observed to jerk that much closer towards them.
Twilight on the other hand was watching her Ram escort to notice the jerkily moving trees like Catrina was. Now that they were so much closer to their escort, Twilight noticed something was off about her. Before, Galia was still trying to resist. Sure that resistance was weak and she was broken at her very core, but it was still resistance. However Twilight was growing aware of the fact that her movements were not only compliant with leading them, but confident and sure of herself in a way she wasn’t even before Twilight had broken her will. Pairing this observation with the fact that her hoof falls had not once tripped over a stray branch or even sank into the bog, it led her to the conclusion that something else was guiding her movements now.
Twilight, led by her own curiosity, left Catrina’s side and drifted forward fast enough to catch up with their suspiciously acting guide. As she got closer the ram’s head jerked to the side, locking eyes with the filly. Her suspicions were confirmed and the glassy unnatural expression Galia had. With the way her facial expression was, she almost look like an entirely different person. Galia was gone, leaving behind this world-weary thing who dryly smirked at the unicorn. She did not turn around to look where she was going, rather the rest of her body simply continued to gallop unabated, knowing exactly where to go without the need of sight. Twilight held Galia’s gaze, or rather, the gaze of whatever had her body. She did not break eye contact with the ram even as she floated back to where Catrina was, tapping her shoulder with her hoof without breaking the staring contest.
"Galia's possessed..." Twilight said. Her words were prefaced by the now familiar reverse echo this bog had. She didn’t sound stressed or worried as she stated this fact. In fact she didn’t sound worried at all. At best she sounded faintly curious, hinting at how she wanted to see how this turned out. Catrina turned around to glance at the Ram before keeping her eyes on the trees behind the fast-moving group. As she kept her gaze on the trees she spoke to Twilight’s ear.
"Can we trust that she's leading us in the right way now? I haven't a clue how to navigate this place, and these trees..."
Galia's gaunt face was smiling now as her glassy eye stared at them. Her mouth began moving quite suddenly, causing Twilight to look down at the disturbing way she mouthed out words. No voice came out of Galia’s throat, nor did her galloping slow down any. She just kept silently speaking, not making a sound as her lips repeated their motions over and over again. Twilight could parse out some of the words, but it was her amulet that ended up filling the blanks on what Galia’s body was actually saying.
"Welcome to Tambelon. Welcome to Tambelon. Welcome to Tambelon. Welcome to Tambelon. Welcome to Tambelon. Welcome to Tambelon....."
Each and every voice repeated those three words in time with Galia’s mouth, however they all had different degrees of panic in the way they repeated it. With each refrain, her Amulet tried to pull her away from continuing down the path. Their fear over this situation was deafening, but she had steeled herself against their influence now. It made everything that much more difficult for her to do, but it was still worth it in comparison to the weakness she had as a simple normal filly. She didn’t even have a cutie mark yet, so she did not have the vaunted “special talent” to help guide and control her magic. She had the distinct impression that those marks only helped in regards to harmonious magic as well, so perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that it hadn’t revealed itself yet.
It wasn't long before the walls of a city in the bog were barely visible through the fog. Galia and the voices repeated themselves over and over again, Catrina wasn’t speaking, but concern was clearly evident on her face. It was beginning to really irk Twilight with how passive the feline was. She was more of a spectator than anything else. She had barely even begun to show her magic as well. Twilight figured she had learned more getting captured by the order than she had so far with Catrina.
Galia continued to move faster and faster, even as the spiked gate of the city came into view. She kept staring at Twilight, grinning broader and broader as she pumped her legs towards the spiked door. It was almost comical for the filly the way the Ram finally skewered herself into a jagged spike, running herself through with the gate’s defenses.
Her body fell limp, held in place by the sharp hunk of metal that ran through her torso. Her mouth spewed blood as her head fell limp. Her face looked almost relieved as her life faded away from her. No more suggestion magic or possession holding her down. Twilight had the distinct impression that if souls existed, that Galia’s wasn’t going to leave whatever this place. That relief may be very short lived.
The gate jerked to life after Galia died, seemingly activated by her blood. Loud clanks of thick metal chains sounded off as the huge gate groaned out of its resting place. The spiked gate jerked with each tug of the twisting chains beyond its entrance, dragging up Galia’s body as it moved upwards at an agonizing pace.
Absently Twilight took the now awoken infant dragon and tied off his comfortable pouch onto Catrina while simultaneously manifesting a sword for her to wield. It was a simple thing, but it was sharp and it would service the need for allowing Catrina to defend herself well enough. Twilight could feel that the feline wanted to restart that conversation they were beginning to have earlier, about not being ready for Grogar’s crypt, and just the feeling of that topic caused her jaw to clench.
Twilight gestured her head as she walked through the now opened gateway. Catrina moved to follow the filly, however she was halted by an invisible force where the gate had been. Twilight turned and looked quizzically, and Catrina demonstrated that there was an invisible barrier in the way. She even used her sword to clang against its surface for emphasis, though it merely bounced back like it was more of a membrane than a solid surface. Twilight put her hoof out towards it, only to jump at the sound of the enormous gate being released. Twilight responded instinctively, lighting up the entirety of the gate with her magic and halting the several tons of steel mid fall. Catrina backed away from the gate as it glowed red with Twilight;s magic, and the filly visibly strained as she forced the enormous weight back up to the ceiling above them. As she held up the massive gate she put her hoof out again, feeling the invisible force barricading her from her companion and her dragon.
Twilight looked at Catrina and raised her eyebrow as she pointed towards the barrier, wordlessly asking her if she had any recommendations for this. The feline responded by pulling out a scroll and a quill, her paw darting quickly around its surface in what was clearly muscle memory. She turned it around and revealed a glyph that was almost unfamiliar. Almost, though i had recognized some of its components involved sight from what few things she had taught Twilight on the road. Through a bit of intuition, Twilight focused her magic onto her eyes, creating the glyphs on the surfaces of both of them.
What resulted was an inundation of information that nearly bowled her over. Intricate patterns of magic coated everything, weaved into the very air itself a dissonant patchwork that she could probably stare at for a year and still find new things to learn. It was a dissonant cacophony at first glance, and brilliance incarnate the more she stared. Twilight could not marvel at the sheer magnitude and density of the magic at work in this dimension and focused on the barrier. What she saw startled her.
Amidst the complex patterns in the barrier itself, there was a message scrawled in modern equestrian.
"YOUR FRIENDS STAY OUTSIDE WITH THE TREES"
Twilight released the magic detection spell and felt a cocktail of emotions. First and foremost was frustration with Catrina holding out on a spell like this until now. Second was a mixture of trepidation and excitement at the dimension communicating with her in such a way. Twilight relayed the message to Catrina and she looked far more worried than the filly would have preferred.
Another few quick motions and Catrina had drawn out another glyph. Showing it to Twilight spiked her irritation again. From what she could tell it bore some resemblance to the mindscape magic she had used on their first meeting. Upon focusing on the glyph with her magic, she felt a tendril of thought extending out of the horn. It was some type of mental communication spell. The barrier halted its movement, but after lacing it with amplification magic Twilight was able to force its way through it, almost puncturing it like a needle before snaking to Catrina.
"We need to turn back."
That was the first thought relayed on this pathway from Catrina to Twilight. Twilight took in a sharp intake of breath and fired off her own thoughts back at her.
"What in Nightmare Moon's name do you mean? We are right here?! Our escort died and I don't even know if we could find this place again, assuming we can even get out!"
"Twilight, I can barely hear your thoughts over the screaming voices of your amulet. This is going far too quickly, you aren't ready for this yet."
Twilight's jaw clenched as she stared across the barrier at Catrina. The stony quality her features took made her almost look older.
"Again you are talking about turning back? When I am this close? I have bested every magic user and trap I have come across. There hasn't been a single thing that has stood against me so far that has been able to out think me!"
"Grogar is different filly, do not be a fool. You need to plan and prepare for this! You need to learn much more magic before you even try to move any further."
Twilight audibly snarled and slammed the several tons of steel hovering above them into the ceiling, making the chains connected to the gate clang about in protest. Catrina jumped slightly at that, apparently the sounds of the gate carried to her end even if their own voices didn’t.
"You? Telling me that I should prepare for something? You who was stripped of her power and did NOTHING to try to claim it back after all this time?! You? Who only NOW decides to show me how to see to see normally imperceptible magic? Do you have any idea how this spell would have been helpful before now?"
This time it was Catrina who snarled, revealing her sharp teeth in indignation as she thought back at her, seemingly yelling out the words at the same time for emphasis.
"Listen to me you ungrateful brat, I am trying to help you!"
Twilight used the pathway she had created with her magic to shoot out kinetic force past the barrier. Catrina became shocked as her neck glowed red and she began to choke. Twilight lifted her up into the air, having the felines legs dangle uselessly as her hands tried in vain to grip her throat, dropping her sword as she did it. Calmly Twilight moved a calm spike off of her body before slamming the feline face first into the muddy ground, maintaining her choke hold as she sent her next thoughts, making sure her mental voice was that much louder than her Amulet.
"Do not think me so foolish as to think you are doing any of this out of a sense of good will? Don't think I did not notice how utterly pathetic you were in that fight against the Order.? I KNOW you didn't even try. I let it slide though, because I know you have magical knowledge I need."
The pressure on Catrina's throat became harder, making her eyes bulge out as she glared at the filly, forcing her head out of its face down position to lock eyes with her. Twilight continued.
"It fascinates me how you choose to entice me with these useful spells, when you were showing me that basic nonsense on the road. It's almost like you are afraid I will go back on my word about restoring your power... or that you think once I see what Grogar has to offer that I won't even NEED your magic."
She had emphasized this last point by taking Catrina into the air and slamming her body against the barrier. The feline had rage broiling in her eyes as she stared down the filly, even as she continued to choke. Catrina's mind was still being filled with the screaming voices of the amulet, but Twilight's voice was so much louder than them in her mind. The filly floated over to the choking cat, looking her eye to eye from the other side of the barrier.
"The Catrina I respect is a Goddess, a powerful being who knew what she wanted, and was able to command and be worshiped by entire civilizations. The Catrina I see is an aloof bystander who is scared to lose what little ground she has. So which one are you Catrina? A goddess, or a bystander?"
Catrina’s jaw jutted out as she glared down at Twilight, trying not to give her the satisfaction of visibly choking even though she could breathe. She emphasized herself with a growl in her mind as she thought towards the filly.
"You better pray you are more powerful than me by the time I get my power back," Catrina mentally said. Twilight grinned broadly at this, satisfied with seeing that fire igniting in the feline like it had been when they had fought in the mindscape.
"That's my Goddess.” Twilight let her go, “I expect to see more of that drive when I get back. Watch Spike, and keep an eye on those trees. It would be exceedingly embarrassing if they consume you two while I'm gone."
"You are really going into his Crypt alone?"
"But of course Catrina," Twilight whirled around and looked out into what looked like a fog covered kingdom, what she assumed as Tambelon.
"This is a test after all, a test I've been personally invited too," Twilight released the tendril of magic from Catrina as she spoke out her next words, growling them to herself as she glared into the obscured distance.
",....And this time, I will not fail."
Next Chapter: Grogar's Crypt part 2 Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 8 Minutes