[Fallen ❤ Dreemurr]

Aᴛ ᴛʜᴇ Gᴀᴛᴇs ᴏfꜰ Eᴠɪʟ!
❝ You're at your final destination, the Evil Castle. What does an evil castle even look like?
How does your hero feel about starting the last stage of their journey? ❞

•••

As the three Kalon's stare down the prehistoric looking castle from afar, Ghost could remember something that one of his friends had told him before this journey even began. It was when he and his team had saved his first client from being history, and it was at a castle similar to this one. He remembered his client, the knight armor that was infused with a spirit speaking to him before he headed off back home to his village.
"This may be odd for me to say now..." the knight said to the Kalon as they walked through the doors of the castle and headed toward the bridge that separated the castle from the land,"But I think I should let you know something that will be of use for you on journey."

Ghost paused and looked up toward the knight's stare, his tail curling up a bit.

"A journey, sir?"

"Well," The knight sighed, stopping and turning to Ghost too, his hand resting on a hilt at his side* "wherever you go I mean... I know you have more business to attend to."

Ghost made a polite smile and nodded his head, swishing his tail back and forth.

"Yeah, go ahead and say whatever!" He said peppily, watching the knight make a slight nod. He lowered himself down and placed his left knee down on the pebbled floor, looking straight at Ghost. The knight had somewhat of a serious stare at him, even though he was merely a ghost in a shell of something that was meant to look serious, and intimidating too.

"I wanted to let you know something that may be of use to you," The knight said calmly, fatherly in a way,"That everything has an energy to it; buildings, places.... people."

Ghost twitched his nose and folds his arms, raising a brow at the knight in a confused manner.

"Energy?"

"Energy.. You can't see it, but you can feel it."

Looking back then, Ghost had recalled the knight continue to go on about how you can determine if a place was good or bad with its energy. And from what Ghost was feeling, this place was not a joke. He could literally see the energy rising off of the castle, dark and thick with no clarity through it. At this point, the fun and games from the other lands were over, and it was time to face the true monsters of the land. Putting on his brace faces, Ghost and his friends head toward the Castle, having their sense of adventure still intact, with doubt still taking the back seat for the trip.
•••

[whimerri]

Prompt 17

[lucas.]

Prompt 17
[ 166 words !! ]
Rhea and Li-Wei continued their journey after finding the last of the crystals, quite proud of themselves. They actually weren't sure if they were going to find it in the end, but now these quests would almost be over. It seemed crazy, sure, after everything they've been through. But it's true! They were almost able to go home! However first, something was in their way.

A castle that loomed over the biggest hill. It seemed super dark and scary, and as they made their way up to it, Rhea felt uneasy. "Li, don't you think this is.. dangerous?" She gasped, noticing they weren't even half-way up the hill.

"Danger is why we took this mission when nobody else would, Ree." He smiled at her friendly, "come on, we gotta make it up there. Sure, it's scary, but what can you do? Not finish this mission? Have we done all of this for nothin', Ree?" He snarled at her, before calming down a bit. "We'll be fine."

[Pepurrmint]

day 17 | pepurrmint | 402 words
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
indent i continued plodding along the beaten path leading to the now-corrupted castle. it had gotten cold, so cold...
indent you know it's freezing when a canadian starts feeling frosty, but this was more than just a chill. it was a monster, threatening to freeze my blood to ice in a blizzard of murderous, piercing torture. not even my fluff would save me now. i could barely feel anything, my toes nearly about to fall off. i had to leave my dear corncob a half mile back, it was too frigid for him to continue on. poor thing, i thought as i had set him into a small, abandoned rabbit hole. the wind battered my face, the dust clouding my eyes with tears. the bitter, brutal conditions were a fate worse than death. all i wanted was to go home, back to my cool and cozy rocking chair, back to a normal life. if only i had known before, if only i had just stayed home, stayed in my safe little house where everything's okay and stable and comfortable. but i had come too far now, too deep into this quest, there was no backing out now.
indent i gave the sky a desperate look, pleading for the thick cover of clouds to clear away, pleading for a single beam of sunshine to reach this depraved land. i glanced at the castle, a heavy covering of eerie purple fog shrouding it from curious eyes. hints of bitter stone could be seen in the thinner places, a flag waving proudly on the top of the behemoth castle, taunting brave heroes and heroines. it was laughing, insulting anyone who somehow made it to this hellish place. words couldn't describe this anguish-filled, tormenting, numbing place. magic wouldn't save me this time, all of my normal spells simply wouldn't cast at all. the wand would glow as if nothing was wrong, then just stop. only the four crystal enchantments would cast at all, being just as potent. that must of been why they wanted us to collect each one of them, so we could actually have a fighting chance of these demonic monsters, feeding off of the innocent residents of this once wonderful place. all i could do right now though was continue trudging along the trodden path to try and reach the castle, try to finally go back home, try to get back to where i truly belonged.

[Goddess Sword]

Prompt 17
[166 words]

It took them a few days to reach the castle from the cove and through the forest, going at a steady pace. Demons, shadowy creatures, and even lowly street gremlins had attacked them as they approached, swarming from the epicenter, but the three had grown stronger and more skilled through their journey. With a few blasts of fire and slashes of their swords, they defeated them without much issue.
Standing before the imposing, shadowy castle, Ramey held the four crystals under his middle set of arms, and Galena and Fay held their swords ready.
"You think the castle was always like this?" Fay asked. "I mean, it looks cool, but it's not exactly a nice symbol of a kingdom."
Ramey shrugged. "I wouldn't mind so much if it was normally like this. It has an interesting aesthetic, I think." He turned to look at his companions. "Are you ready?"
The smaller two Kalons nodded.
"Then let's go."
And the trio stepped forward into the castle grounds.

[Vanillasaur]

Prompt Seventeen
Feat. Arian, Cieran, and Ikena

Arian and Cieran are both dead from having to walk /all/ the way through the hills and soggy grass to get there and are wholeheartedly not looking forward to this castle, but Ikena, being relatively young, is full of energy and ready to take on some monsters


It's a huge image,, click for better res?

[Unleashed Squiid]

Eden stared at that pipe-cleaner skyline before her, and a wave of evasive emotions hit her like a truck. On the horizon was a castle, and even from this distance she could practically feel the addictive pull of its darkness. She had been told that it messed with one's brain, and caused even the purest of creations to begin acting offset and toxic, but it never really occurred to her that this would be something that she herself would have to deal with. Above all else, it was frightening.

Though she feared, Eden still trusted Lilith's potion, for the protective aura had not yet faded. It was said to guard not only the body, but the mind as well, so though this place loomed with a greater darkness than was comprehensible, Eden would be safe. She gazed up, and felt no sunlight hitting her body. In this evil, the sun could not shine, and the kalon couldn't help but wonder if she would even gaze upon that single light again.

If all went well, the answer would be yes, yet Eden knew that even if she returned home, even if she walked back to her house, it wouldn't really be her anymore. She knew that this place was going to change her in a way that no amount of preparation would ever be able to prevent. And it would be something that no amount of help could ever fix. With a large sigh, and one last glance behind her, the kalon began to walk. She headed straight towards the castle of the demon.

[lonk]

prompt 17 | 273 words | roster post | palmer, venita, & rudy

the castle sat atop the hill, looming over the heroes. they stood at the edge of the winding path leading up to it. the whole sky was dark, purple clouds and a thick fog obscuring their vision. it was finally the end of their journey.
"the demon king is in there," palmer told his companions as they reached the path, "and we have to take him down." rudy nodded in agreement. they'd have to do their best to stop him, no matter what it took! he tried to keep a positive outlook on the scenario, but things were looking grim. they'd only faced monsters before. how were they going to fight a king? and how would they be able to pull their weight and save people?
venita stood calm beside him, impatient for the party to keep moving. "this will only be bad if we make it, rudy. i can tell you're worried, and there's no need to be." she sighed. it wasn't entirely true, and she was nervous herself, but the faster they got to the demon king, the sooner it'd be over, right?
it didn't take much to make someone like rudy afraid, but the other two party members were also scared of going into the castle. palmer had told himself so many times that he'd be ready for his final fight, and that entering the castle would be easy, but now he was beginning to doubt himself. the castle was gigantic, which he already knew, but the black and purple haze surrounding it made him uneasy.
all three didn't want to proceed, but the group headed toward the castle regardless.

[hazilnut]

=

____________________________________

Prompt - 17

Kalon Party
Dustin | Sell-sword | 17 years old
→ A hyper but forgetful boy with a good
heart and a wish to see the world

Perseus | Scholar mage | 25 years old
→ Dustin's relatively reserved mentor,
and reluctant but wise accompaniment

Jade | Shadow puppeteer | 24 years old
→ A graceful but painfully shy woman
with a cynical outlook on life

882 words
____________________________________

But before the heroes could return home, they had one last task to accomplish; an epilogue if you would. Marble plodded along towards the capital, her quiet oxen determination leading the band towards what had always been their destination. For reigning heros, even ones of such quiet renown, the band was quite sullen and subdued. Dustin considered himself gypped by life, and for all Perseus had tried to convince him, he didn't want to go home. The boy had told the mage that he didn't taste anything from the potion he had been presented, which according to Perseus was supposed to taste like home, much to the man's dismay. Later however, Jade has overheard Dustin confiding to his dragon -which he had somehow successfully kept under wraps for the majority of the journey- that he had in fact tasted something, but something slippery and sad in a way he couldn't quite remember. It hadn't tasted like home was supposed to. Later Jade had sneaked a swig and found herself at the same kind of loss as Dustin.

As they approached the capitol, all confused and unsatisfied for reasons none of them could quite put into words, Jade found herself growing anxious. It was not because she was without her veil as what promised to be a crowded city arose in the distance, but rather because the road was so quiet. It should be bustling with tourists and entertainers or at the very least farmers carting their goods to market. But instead it was completely empty and quite dark for noon. As the caravan drove past farm after farm, the trio began to notice a trend of abandonment. Crops were withering without the diligent attention of farmers and harvests lay untouched. A cold lump began to grow in the depths of Jade's stomach.

"We fixed everything, so why is everything so wrong?"

Dustin voiced what they had all been thinking but too scared to voice in fear of it becoming true. With the forest shrine fixed and the crystal safetly nestled in Jade's trunk alongside its kin, shouldn't the crops be flourishing? Should the warmth of summer not have returned to the air with the securing of the fire crystal, or the tainted streams revitalized by the water crystal? And if the air crystal was in their possession, then why did the atmosphere crackle with the same evil energy as before. It was true Jade did not know how the crystals were supposed to work, not even Perseus did, but surely something must have changed?

"Maybe- maybe they work slowly. I'm sure it takes time for the earth to heal, but with the demons gone then-"

Perseus was interrupted by a shadowy flash and a nervous low from Marble. Hephaestus curled tighter around Dustin's shoulder's and refused all attempts to make him loosen his grip- not that Dustin complained very much. Something slammed into the side of the cart, nearly tipping it, and Marble broke into a run. The caravan bumped and shuddered along the pot-holed road, its axles screeching in protest to the abuse, but Jade couldn't get her ox to slow down, neither did she want to.

"What was that!?"

Jade refused to answer the question posed by one of the boys. Her knuckles grew pale with terror and the tightness she gripped the reigns with. She had seen what had slammed against the cart and recognized it with a certainty that came from working with shadows all her life. It had been giant and humanoid- but not quite enough to be classified s man. Beastly- but not so much as to be mistaken for natural. And more than anything she had recognized how it wavered in and out of being, like it truly were nothing more than a shadow. A shadow that could tip over a cart. It was only when the castle before them rose tall enough to block out the sky and Marble had slowed to a nervous trot, that Jade gave them the answer they already knew.

"A demon. We haven't changed anything."

The streets surrounding the castle were as barren as the countryside had been, but that didn't mean they were empty. Writing shapes poured from the buildings that had once been occupied by innocent citizens. They didn't have enough time to get a good look at the castle before they had abandoned the caravan in the stables and rushed in through the service entrance for shelter. Perseus shoved a stove in front of the door they had entered through just in time to hear a resounding band against the wood. The few entrances that the small servant's kitchen had were quickly secured, and a torch was lit to provide the group with light. But even magic fire didn't seem able to penetrate the gloom nor the fear that hung about the room. Jade glanced guiltily towards the stable-facing wall. She knew the demons could not feed on the life-force of animals, but that did not make her feel any better about leaving Marble outside alone.

But the three of them could not spare much thought for anyone but themselves at the moment. For now they were safe, but in the midst of an empire now controlled by demons, for how long could that safety last?

[Carnations]

Prompt 17
Feat Avvi and Etoile
xxx