The Crimson Spire / Gateway to the Amber Forge

[Haeo]

This out of the way spot is shadowed and barren with not a single window facing it nor any door to the castle proper nearby. It is the perfect place for the crafting of things best left unseen by any more eyes than necessary.

A spire of brilliant crimson stone, shining like polished steel, rises above the tallest tower of the castle by a good measure but it is just a shell. There is nothing inside, no stairs, no floors above the ground, no ceilings but the spire's top high above.

In the middle of the floor is a small magic circle of black veined with gold inset into the crimson stone. Barely four feet across and glowing a soft amber, this circle is the only link between the Amber Forge and the world proper. It answers only the will of the Forge Master, Baron Shale Elkeil.  

[Haeo]

The first place that Ost took Shale to had been disturbed only four months ago. While it fulfilled the other conditions admirably it lacked the level of actual isolation necessary for the safe completion of the spire. The second location, however, had not been disturbed in nearly a year. It was perfect.

Shale nodded his approval and quickly thanked Ost before beginning to pace off the dimensions of the area he would need to secure. He would not be able to begin construction until his duty as a baron was fulfilled at the upcoming meeting. However, he could begin establishing security at the site now. He dragged his staff along the ground, leaving no visible mark, laying out a pattern of delicate magical energies while he began also to draw the entire population of raven golems to line the perches all around the site and for twenty meters in every direction with unblinking crimson eyes.

They had instructions to warn away anyone who approached, with the exeption being the King and Ost, but if any others persisted then they would be attacked immediately and without mercy. This was as much to protect the castle as it was to ward off spies. When he began construction the magic would be far too volatile to allow any disruption.

-------------------------

Ost was surprised mildly that there had been so little traffic in this part of the castle grounds for so long. Still, it met the Baron's requirements and, from what he could see of the Baron's first actions after dismissing him, it seemed that this out of the way location would rapidly become one of the most heavily secured places in the castle. For the first time, as he left to continue his rounds, he felt a little easier about this new noble.

((Exit Ost to Lareth's Castle))  

[Hot Champion_of_justice]

Lareth left shale a note telling him to go down to the dungeon and see ilea as she was getting weak. He even told him the door lock would opento his blood sample.
After he left, lareth went to greet the early arriving barons.  

[Haeo]

Hot Champion_of_justice

Shale discovered the note just outside the security perimeter. He had done all he could for now to prepare for the construction to begin. Now he had to complete his baronial duties before beginning the long and involved process. But first, it seemed that he had another task to perform. Ilea needed the presence of her master. Besides, he was actually starting to miss the sensation of the blood bond and she was important to the plan.

He took his staff in hand, destroyed the note, and proceeded to the deepest part of the dungeon once more. This time, he was mentally prepared for the effects of that fascinating chamber.

((Exit to Demon's Pit and Void))  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Hot Champion_of_justice

Shale approached the site of the spire-to-be with myriad concepts and calculations buzzing through his mind. He hadn't realized that he had led Ilea all the way here by the hand. He had ground to make up and much to do. But, he now had to figure out how to make the construction secure with Ilea right beside him. The numerous raven golems stared down at them with unblinking eyes, making no sound. For several long minutes, Shale stared back with equal intensity. The thoughts finally settled into a proper plan.

He planted the butt of his staff into the ground at one of the conjunctions in the faint web of magic that he had begun to form before. He began to bend the shape of the web. There were no words for how he bent it but it seemed to go in and down when before it had sat still. It warped and twisted, the magic in it writhing and weaving unnaturally as the conditions around it were reshaped. This was not the original spell.

The shadows and light that reached that place rippled and bent into a spiral centered on the point where the highest amount of magic was gathered. This would be the difficult part. Shale looked back at Ilea without thinking, she seemed to not have suffered too much from the walk. The outfit was working. While these thoughts were flickering through his head he was calling blood from his hands and walking forward toward the vortex of warped Law in the center of the spell. His grip stayed strong on Ilea's hand, in spite of the blood that covered their joined hands and flowed onto the ground. It followed the magic, forming a large and complex magic circle, as thirteen of the raven golems descended from their perches to land at the thirteen major vertices of the circle's outer edge and began to glow with a dull, red light. Then Shale's staff struck the center and he pulled Ilea against his bloody body as everything around them vanished.

They were in darkness. There was no ground. There was no air. There was nothing at all but the sense of the blood-bond. Even though Shale was holding onto Ilea he couldn't feel her. The laws governing touch and sensation within this space had not been written yet. This was a blank pocket of reality. It would be the Crimson Spire. There was no way in but the door he would craft and there would be no way out save through his permission. But for now, he had much work to do.

Though he could not feel it, he willed his eyes shut and began to burn his blood for power. This time, however, it was the blood outside him that flowed and drifted in droplets and strands through the nothingness. It glittered and shone like a lazy storm of rubies as sparks and bolts of power leaped from one droplet to another. Laws of light and force were beginning to come into being. It was impossible to tell how much time could have passed before the first chamber finally solidified from the flowing blood and flaring magic. Shale knelt at its center with Ilea held tightly against him as blood and magic continued to flow. The bond had strengthened him. He would never have been able to do so much so quickly before. Still, there was a vast deal still to be done.

Outside the space, little time had passed. However, there was a change. Both Ilea and Shale's presences were suddenly absent from the wards and a powerful nexus of magic had formed at the construction site. To those with the training or talent it would seem like a visible column of burning light that nearly outstripped the tallest of the castle's towers for height. The thirteen ravens connected to the spell were also burning, their form and nature was being consumed to aid whatever the spell was doing. While the power could be easily detected, the nature of the spell was far too intricate to be understood. There were dozens of layers of visible and invisible spell circles all interacting in hundreds of ways all at once. Even the King would not be able to comprehend the nature or behavior of such magic. This was a Grand Spell, normally impossible for a single being to cast. One thing was certain. No matter how the trap fared against Goh, the power of the King's newest Baron would be enough to seriously disturb the balance of power.  

[Red Gypsy]

Haeo

Ilea paid no attention as they walked and even less to the pain. The novel sensation for her was Shale holding her hand. It puzzled her, confused her on a level she couldn't imagine. No one had ever held her hand like this.

Furthermore, no one had ever created her clothing like she was wearing now. Goh had always preferred her to bleed after he was finished with her. While Shale hadn't been the one to torture her this time, she still found his lack of interest in her bleeding and pain to be beyond curious.

But then he was bleeding and she was watching it as it flowed over their clasped hands and onto the ground as he worked his magic. She stayed fascinated by it for a long moment then found herself surprised yet again as he pulled her against him and held her.

She kept yet crimson eyes focused on Shale as the world around them disappeared and became something else, something of his making. All she could feel was the bond and knew what she had to do, so she simply did it.

As he held her, she opened up to him in the only way she knew of. She reached up to cup his face in her hands. Well, more like her fingertips, as if she was afraid to touch him on her own like this. But she did it anyway then leaned in and pressed a feather-light kiss to his lips.

That one action opened her up to him fully through the master/servant bond and she gave him everything she could and everything she knew. In that moment, she did something quite remarkable. She altered the way his magic worked slightly. She made it easier to do what he did with blood with only half the cost, and she also gave him an extra influx of energy channeled through her pain.

That was one of her smaller abilities, to turn her own pain into energy. She usually used it to do whatever Goh had commanded her to do but right now gave it to him for this working, enabling him to finish it as soon as he could without the usual cost.

The kiss was very short-lived but it did what was needed and opened her to him to give him what she felt he would need. But the transfer of energy had her swooning in his arms, her eyes getting heavy and her hands falling from his face, leaving lines of blood down his cheeks right before she finally passed out.

She'd done as she'd been created to do and gave everything she had in the only way she knew to give it. But she'd also given him the knowledge to do what he did so much better while cutting the cost of it in half. Maybe she'd taken a liberty she shouldn't have, but it was all she knew to do...  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Sorry about the wait. Gaia killed the first version at 2/3 and I had to rewrite it from scratch.

Time slipped past slowly as the space around Shale and Ilea expanded and changed. The laws began to be written and then there was air and sensation, touch and sound. Then there was light and form and one substance, blood. The floor beneath them was black stone of blood and the walls and ceiling of the room were black crystal blood. But this small part had already taken hours upon hours. Shale was unweakened and the rate of progress, though slow, did not waver. His blood flowed strong and freely from his body to flow swiftly through the channels between the bloodstone blocks that made up the floor. It flowed up the walls and through the floor, weaving a pattern that soon changed to amber and gold outlining arches in the walls and long halls beyond them that curved and twisted out of sight.

Then Ilea kissed him. Immersed in the Grand Casting as he was, Shale did not feel the touch or the kiss themselves. But, the sudden influx of knowledge and power were immediately evident. Columns of shining amber suddenly grew from the floor to form an inner circle between the two and the walls around them creating a sort of inner court a dozen meters wide. Then the rate of progress truly improved. The blood began to visibly burn with magic, igniting and drifting from its swift flow to a lazy nebulous form of burning bloody mist. This mist floated upward to gather at the midpoint of the ceiling, where it was highest, and then spread along the peak point of the hall ceilings until it passed out of sight. Everywhere it spread an amber glow followed.

In this way the major areas were illuminated. Floors were of black stone; walls were of black crystal with deep and mysterious images deep inside them hinting at secrets within. Arched doorways were rimmed in complex golden molding with interwoven amber that bent the light like water at sunset. And, the final touch, the ceilings were lit by flowing fire. Ruddy, golden and alive it allowed no shadow to form. The entire place resonated with Shale's heartbeat.

But, the sorcerer himself remained mostly unresponsive. His eyes that burned with amber light staring straight ahead into the unseen distance while he bled fire and held Ilea close. His strength through the bond grew rapidly and that strength was not held selfishly. Back through the bond flowed a passionate heat that revitalized and healed, awakened and enervated. It also began to work on her clothing. Woven from her blood with Shale's magic and now soaked in his blood as well, it was a perfect subject for his next working.

The magic flowed through the bond, through Ilea, shifting the nature of the garment. No longer was it a mere magical suit. While not what Shale intended for it yet, it was far more than what it had been. It became something akin to a puppet, able to change its shape and actively protect its mistress. In fact, it was specifically designed to protect her from things that would otherwise be her weak points. But most of all, it was a partly living thing crafted from Shale's blood magic. It could maintain the bond even if cut off from Shale for quite a long time. It could also prevent the bond from being cut or transfered and, when in his presence, it sped the strengthening of the bond. A thin strand began to rapidly gain threads, growing and growing with every beat of his heart and hers. Shale had much more planned for this garb but it would have to do for now.

The sudden change in knowledge and power had helped him make rapid progress but it had also increased a part of the mental fatigue associated with the spell. Thankfully, he was not casting from outside the space but from within it. From the inside there was an option. He completed one last chamber, paying it greater attention than the others, and then tied off the casting. The spell became dormant. What he had crafted was stable and he could expand upon it later. For now, he had to rest. He would be able to do more during his next session.

His eyes stopped glowing as the blood stopped flowing from his body. What was around them formed into a smooth circular surface of ruby glass to await the next casting. He came to himself and blinked, sitting back on his heels while his staff fell to the ground next to him with a clatter. Ilea was slumped in his arms and her blood was on his face. He had crafted a bedchamber nearby, or so he had thought. Now that it was time to go to it he found that it was nearly a hundred yards away down a smooth hallway. Perception through magic could be extremely trecherous in a pocket dimension.

He was tired enough that he actually sighed softly as he picked up his staff again and leaned upon it to rise to his feet, hauling Ilea up along with him. With her head on his shoulder and her feet doing little of the work, he slowly walked the hundred yards. The striking of his staff on the floor would have carried far but in this place the sound seemed to just die only a few feet away. This was a place of kept secrets and immensely powerful magic that had only begun to grow.

The doorway before them when he stopped was exactly the same as two others they had passed, black opaque crystal that hinted at secrets while revealing nothing. It also had no handle. A touch of his staff opened it silently to reveal a large apartment. A large bed, big enough for several people to use without touching, a depression in the ceiling that gathered enough blood-fire to not only light the room but heat it to a comfortable warmth as well. Three small arches scribed in gold and amber extended off from the right side of the round room. One went to a magnificent, though of modest size, kitchen and larder. One extended into a large chamber that seemed to combine an armory, a closet, a workshop, and a library. The final passage extended to both the usual bathing facilities and also a large bath chamber with heated water that was both enchanted with healing magics and gently fragrant with hints of several flowers that... in truth, did not actually exist outside this dimension.

At this point Shale reached his limit. He moved far enough forward to slump against the bed. His ability to reason was nearly gone from fatigue but he managed to make sure that he did not drop Ilea, though he couldn't think well enough to determine her condition. Even the clarity of the blood-bond could not cut through the fatigue. He simply leaned back against the foot of the bed and closed his eyes. A single whisper reached Ilea before Shale slipped into a light sleep, though whether through the bond or from weary lips would be hard to tell.

"Stay... near..." It was faint and gentle, whether he was asking or telling was vague though the bond showed that the word 'near' indicated the rather grand confines of the partially begun Crimson Spire with a subtle emphasis on the apartment and its facilities.  

[Red Gypsy]

Haeo

It's perfectly fine. Happens all the time.

Ilea barely heard the words but still understood their meaning. Once he went out, she switched to pure instinct and long habit. She could work for long periods on pure exhaustion thanks to Goh's training. She vaguely remembered days and weeks of learning skills, being berated for not learning quickly enough, told that her skills still weren't good enough and to work the task over and over and over again until he felt she'd learned it well enough to move on, being beaten badly when she made a mistake.

She shook her head to send the images to the back of her mind and tried to concentrate. She eased Shale further up on the bed so that his head was against the pillows and took his boots off, setting them beside the bed where he'd find them easily. She considered making him more comfortable by stripping him down the rest of the way but instantly reminded herself that he held no interest in her in the ways that being without clothing would require. And he might be a bit upset if she took such a liberty with him. So she left him clothed and left his boots beside the bed with his staff laying within easy arms reach for him.

Only then did she crawl further into the bed and eased herself onto the silk and satin-covered plush bed, blinking her crimson eyes as she tried to stay conscious for another moment even though she was so exhausted that she could barely see. She didn't notice the changes to her new outfit yet but found that she could appreciate the fact that it was supporting her wounds and seemed to be accelerating her healing.

The enhancing and tightening of their bond wasn't something she'd intended to do and found that it left her exhausted on its own. Adding to that the fact that the bond already pulled at her energy when his was low to enable him to do more and it was amazing that she was conscious at all right now. She couldn't see anything of the room around them, her exhaustion making her vision hazy. But she was actually used to that thanks to long practice and training.

In fact, her life under Goh actually made Shale's life under his family look like a holiday at the beach. But she never once tried to compare the two or tried to invite pity or even compassion to herself. She simply did what she did without complaint, endured what she did without any hope of surcease. She simply was what she'd been created to be: the perfect servant and companion.

She slowly found herself sliding against the blankets and pillows and tried to stay awake anyway. But it was impossible at this point. She slid down until her head was on the pillows and her crimson eyes closed, throwing her into sleep before she could stop it, her dark hair spread out over the pillows above and around her.

The blankets weren't bothered with thanks to the perfect temperature in the room. They both slept undisturbed for hours in the peace of the place and, at some point, Ilea had managed to shift in the bed until she was curled up beside Shale. But she was facing away from him instead of cuddling with him.

When one considered the fact that she never actually slept in the same bed with another person, the fact that she was near him at all was amazing in itself. But when you added in the soft sounds of distress she was making thanks to a nightmare, it was even more amazing that she'd moved closer to him. The sounds weren't enough to disturb someone in ordinary circumstances, but in the silence of the spire, it probably shouldn't have been that amazing that Shale might have heard them.

Ilea was lost in images of the torture with Lareth, but those images were mixed with other times from her past. And they were further confused by images of Goh's few tender times with her, the moments that had made her fall in love with him, the moments when he'd showed some kind of emotion for her other than anger or rage. But those moments were few and far between so the painful memories slowly taking her dreams over.

She was instinctively trying to stay quiet, not wanting to disturb his restorative sleep. Thankfully, the outfit he'd created for her had enhanced her healing so she only had residual pain with her internal injuries. But even that was adding to her nightmares...  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Shale's sleep was silent and still, dreamless and without passion. He had killed his own demons and left their heads rolling on the floor at the feet of his chosen king. Now, he had no one that he truly feared even though many could kill him. Death had never been the source of his fears or his hate. It was simply a thing which existed. Pain was the same, just a thing that was. While he had been punished harshly and often, there was little actual torture in Shale's past. Instead, he suffered a wealth of deprivations. He had been isolated and barely kept alive for many long stretches of time during his training. He had also been blind for several years after his father finished experimenting on him. Yet, he was not one to feel the need to compare sufferings with others. No two people felt pain the same way. It was a waste of energy to try and compare such personal experiences.

But, this was the first time in over a quarter his life that such a short casting had taken such a toll that sleep was necessary. The sleep did not weather the test of his discipline for more than six hours before he awoke from habit. That, and he was not accustomed to having the warmth of another person close to him or the comfort of a bed. His eyes opened to the soft whimpers of his bedfellow.

His boots were off. His staff was missing from his hand. A glance to the side as his eyes regained focus identified the nearness of his staff and clarified his location in the room while diminishing his slightly elevated pulse. He had not gotten into bed. Ilea. He looked without turning his head and observed her curled up beside him, facing away. She was having nightmares. He could feel her state easily through the strengthening bond. He could also awaken her if he chose. But, while he debated which method to use to quell her fears, a part of him took action without conscious thought. His arm moved just enough that the back of his near hand rested in the small of her back.

Her whimpers were soft and the Spire was designed to dampen sound so as to prevent distractions during longer castings. Yet, she was right next to him. And, they were both still covered in blood. It was dry now and it was flaking off with every movement. It was good that they were on top of the covers. Only the top layer would need cleaning. Shale knew where they would go once she awoke. It would both speed her healing further and aid in their mutual recovery of energy to make use of the bathing pool.

Shale had no experience taking care of someone else. He knew that his own nightmares had made him stronger and better able to survive. So, given Ilea's background, he was torn as to whether or not to awaken her. He found, to his own surprise, that he wanted to comfort her. But, he also wanted her to become stronger as an individual. He debated these two things for the next two hours without moving before taking his free hand to grasp his staff and silently command the kitchen to prepare a meal and the bathing chamber to prepare towels for them. Then he waited.

Ilea's muscles were tight from the nightmares. Shale ran his hand up and down her back, lightly seeking the tightest knots and loosening them gently with idle fingers while he continued to think of other things, mostly what to do next with the spire's construction. It still had no entrance. Even the King couldn't enter to visit until that was created. But, the chamber with the entrance would be the only place for Goh to enter as well. It would have to be a critical part of the trap. He couldn't just use the rooms he had already created. They were for storage, crafting, living in and other utilitarian functions. Though, he didn't know why he created a garden on the level above them. He would have to examine the reasons why that seemed to be wise at the time.

The kitchen thrummed softly to indicate that the delicate and sustaining food was ready. The scent of the elegant and unnamed spices drifted into the bedchamber to season the warmth with delicious complexity. It was time. Shale sat up and stretched slowly, one muscle group at a time to give Ilea time to awaken and process the situation.  

[Red Gypsy]

Haeo

Ilea almost woke up at that first touch but the bond told her who it was so she remained asleep. Until his fingers started working through some of her tightest muscles. That eased her nightmares until she was into that state of half-sleep one generally got to before fully waking where dreams disappeared from memory. But her nightmares never did that. Had she ever had a dream that wasn't a nightmare? She couldn't remember.

But that thought became completely unimportant when Shale sat up and began to stretch, pulling her fully awake in an instant.

She was even more unused to waking up beside someone than he was. Living with Goh, she'd always been sent to her own room whenever he was finished with her, no matter what he'd been doing to her. So she'd always slept in her own bed alone. That meant that this situation was as new to her as it was to him but on a more uncomfortable scale.

She sat up slowly, ignoring the soreness in her muscles and the few internal pains left over from her torture. She pushed her long dark hair out of her face and raised her crimson eyes slowly to his face briefly then moved to get out of the bed. For her, blood on the bed was normal, as was the stuff dried to her skin.

But she was created to serve and noted that he had the same issue, the thought of a bath moving through her mind briefly though she wasn't sure why since he hadn't said anything to her.

Yes, she caught the scent of the food prepared for them, but assumed that it was for him and moved into the bathroom to see about starting a bath for him. She automatically thought about taking one for herself later as she found the tub and worked out how to start the water flowing into it then set soaps and cloths next to the tub before stepping into the bedroom again.

She looked at him briefly but found herself foundering with him again, not sure what to do or say. So she fell into habits long ingrained, and often pounded, into her, "The water is ready for you, Master," she said softly and lowered her eyes, vaguely wondering what else she should do.

He didn't wear armor like Goh did, so he wouldn't need her to take it off of him. He hadn't expressed any... interest in her either, so there wasn't any need for those skills. She could help him clean up in the tub, but she doubted he wanted that either. He possessed his own magic and she'd done what she could to help him with that, so the rest of her abilities were useless to him.

What purpose did she have other than being bait for the trap?

She realized that she didn't have any other purpose and knew she was simply going to have to accept that, but that wouldn't make her days here any better until that happened, which meant that she had nothing to do other than simply trying to anticipate his needs for now; like the bath, for instance. She could do that much...  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Shale observed Ilea's first responses and how she conducted herself without orders to guide her from his seat on the foot of the bed. This was the way she was expected to behave by her former master. His boundaries continued to limit her. Shale stood up and leaned his staff against the amber bedpost. He too was accustomed to blood, but mostly when working. He found unnecessary stray materials to be detrimental to his crafting and so remained quite clean normally.

He also sensed her lack of comprehension. While many wished her dead and her original master seemed to only desire her in certain, limited, capacities, Shale had begun to develop far longer reaching plans for her. He hated to waste things of value. She was brilliant and unique and he had many things he intended to undertake where her assistance would be invaluable. But, for now, there were immediate things to take care of. He stood again and walked up to her until they stood only inches apart. His voice was clear and quiet and calm as he spoke.

"Follow me." He turned and walked through one of the archways. This passage led to the place where the personal tub was, it was here that Ilea had drawn a bath for him. It was a dutiful gesture, but an unnecessary one.

He gestured with one hand and stilled that bath, draining it and leaving it to dry. Their was neither displeasure nor disappointment in his movements as he led her past it without slowing down. Farther down the passage the air became gently moist with steam before an arch on the left side of the passage opened into a large chamber with a pool dominating it. Slender arches of woven amber met over the center of the waist deep pool. The pool was more than twenty yards to a side and practically shone with magic.

Shale was not one to under engineer a creation.

"Join me." He said as he unceremoniously removed his cloak and black body suit, leaving them on a bench enchanted to launder and fold garments.

He was naked in the steam, yes. However, he was not showing any signs of attraction. Also, he was not terribly attractive as a man. His pallor was not limited to his face, he had no hair to speak of, and he had scars. Yet, this would not be horrible to someone of Ilea's background. They would likely be only a curiosity. He had muscle but not enough to make his form seem hardened. In fact, his body seemed quite weak on its own. It was his presence and the calm will in his eyes that made the large chamber seem full with just the two of them. Before, his will had been partially sheathed so as not to conflict with his role as a servant of the king. Here, there was no reason for that sheath. He was his own master first and lived by his own chosen path, a path on which Ilea now walked as well.

He stepped into the pool, leaving Ilea to imitate him, and sat against the pool's edge as the water began to glow softly and restore him. While he waited for her to join him he began to speak.

"You do not only have one purpose. You have one goal, as I do. We will destroy him, proving ourselves worthy of the king's trust. This trust may permit me to keep you." It was time she understood just a little of what was developing in his unceasing thoughts. He turned those eyes on her with the full force of his personality. "I do not throw things away."  

[Red Gypsy]

Haeo

Ilea followed him as ordered, silent as she observed everything he did. Once they reached the chamber with the larger pool, understanding dawned in her crimson eyes: a healing chamber. Much better than her attempt.

But then he simply stripped down and moved into the pool, allowing her to get a good look at him in the process. She followed suit, though, since he'd said to join him in the water. The outfit he'd created for her came off easily despite the fact that it fit her like a proverbial glove. She set it on a separate bench and slid into the water, ducking under to rinse her hair before noticing that the remaining bruising to her skin was fading as she watched.

But then he was speaking again and she did pay attention to him, though what he said only reinforced another problem for them both.

She moved through the water, staying in it up to her shoulders with her hair moving around her in the process of approaching him with a simple look of resignation on her face.

"I am what I am, Master. Lareth will never forgive that. I understand and accept it. While you hold to that standard, and even understand me in some way, Lareth never will. He will only see the creation, the tool, the servant. I am what I am. My fate is what it is. I will survive long enough to see my creator die. But Lareth will not warrant my survival past that. You've gotten a glimpse of my life through the bond between us, yes. But there is so much more to it than that," she told him softly.

For what else she had to say, she wasn't sure that looking him in the face was best. So she moved behind him and used her hands to lift more water over his shoulders, making sure not to touch him then continued to speak.

"Goh taught me to lead his armies as well as everything else he taught me. So I understand where some of Lareth's thinking comes from. If he's going to be eliminating an enemy, he must do it in such a way that there will be no reprisals from allies of that enemy. In his mind, I am Goh's ally, not just his creation. In his mind, I'm as much his enemy as Goh is. In his mind, I'm as much to blame for Cynthia's torture as Goh is.

"In my own way, I fell in love with Goh. He was my entire world. I did everything I could to please him in any way I could think of. In the end, it wasn't enough. But he doesn't allow his creations to leave him of their own will since he creates them to have little or none of their own. That is why he will be coming after me. I'm his creation, not meant to leave him on my own. That is why he will come for me. He'll be angry at me over it, I know, but he will still come. Once he's dead-" she stopped there and moved away from him.

She got out of the water and collected a towel to dry herself off with, carefully not looking at him as she tried to figure out what it was she was trying to say. More was coming out than she intended, but she had to say it all anyway.

"Once he's dead, I will belong to you fully, with nothing to go back to. Even now, I can feel you changing me. I've felt uncertainty before, yes, but never like this. You can say that doing this task, this goal, will earn Lareth's favor for me and spare my life all you want to. But he will never forgive what I am. I will help you all I can, do whatever you tell me to do, but giving me false hope about a future I can't have is beyond any torture I've yet been through," she finished and collected her new outfit from the bench and carried it from the chamber.

She stopped in the secondary bathroom to dress and found a brush that she used to attack her hair with, thinking to braid it down as she worked through the conflicts within her.

She was so confused and conflicted. When she'd been with Goh, she would have blasted Shale for telling her what he had, for trying to tell her something she knew wasn't true. She would have blasted Lareth for every bad thing he'd spoken about her former master. She would have...

But what she would have done didn't matter any more. What use did Shale have for her necromancy? None. What use did he have for her battle knowledge? None that weren't limited to what Goh would use to get to her. What use did he have for her personally? Again, none. What use for her skills in torture that had been proven woefully inadequate after her time spent in the Void? Again, none. So what did he mean when he implied that she had more than one purpose now?

She had no idea. And she had no idea what to do now but to follow his orders. Furthermore, she had no idea why she felt like crying right now. She didn't cry. She knew fear, terror, ecstasy, anger, despair... But this sadness and depression confused her...  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Shale listened expressionlessly as this, so called, tool declared her position and her disbelief of his words. But, after she was occupied with her hair, he found a slow and eerie smile slipping onto his face. She was a nest of contradictions, enigmas, and densely woven lies wrapped around something far more wonderful than the limited view of a necromancer could perceive. And, she could not even begin to comprehend the significance of the tower's existance and design. He soaked for a few minutes more while the waters restored his energies before rising from the bath and dressing. His bodysuit and cloak were now fully cleansed of blood and any other dirt.

He was still smiling when he stood in the doorway of the smaller bathroom and watched her. There was something inside him stirring, something that had not had cause to stir before. There was a lot to do, but... somethings take priority.

"Goh crafted a blood-bond. But, he was, and is, a necromancer in method and thought." Shale's smile actually reached his eyes, for the first time in centuries. "Have you ever thought about the reasons why Necromancy was first developed? Have you ever considered the origins of the Blood-Bond?" The smile left his face but a subtle light still seemed to lurk in his black eyes. "Blood magic and Necromancy were both created to cheat death. Do you truly believe that I, of all people, have been underestimating King Lareth's anger? His pain?" He stepped forward until he was close enough to take a single stray strand of her hair and gently tuck it behind her ear. "Are you still underestimating me?"

Shale was a blood sorcerer. A necromancer could make a blood-bond, and even make it strong, but they would never fully be able to realize its potential. Shale reached through it into Ilea and turned a 'key' of sorts. He literally turned her libido on. He did not hold back either. He turned it way on. Then, he brushed her neck gently with his fingers, turned, and walked away back to the kitchen where he sat at a small table of elegantly carved amber and began to eat as though nothing had happened. Sometimes, good things could be far more potent than any negative factor and the slightest touch could trigger an unceasing chain of powerful sensations after that key turned. Shale had a very different idea of torture. And his demon attributes were finally waking up.  

[Red Gypsy]

Haeo

Ilea listened to him as he moved into the room with her, frowning at his words. It wasn't that she'd underestimated him, just her chances of survival. But she did have to admit that there were still things she didn't know, or didn't know that she knew. Like information on blood mages and sorcerers. Well, blood mages, she knew more about. The other? Not so much.

But then he showed her a 'trick' she'd had no idea was possible.

He set her body on fire with need with a mere thought then that one touch to her neck... Gods! It was enough to have her writhing her way out of the chair she was sitting in, onto the floor, and nearly bashing her head against the tile as she screamed herself hoarse.

After her body started calming down from the initial overload, she found that even her new outfit rubbing against her skin was enough to set her off again. So that had to go. Then it was her hair and she shifted until it wasn't touching her as much as she was able to. Then it was the coldness of the tile. But she couldn't escape that.

Over and over, her body went into full overload until she was giving off soft whimpers of pure physical need she knew he wouldn't be able to hear as she tried not to move or touch anything. But she was covered in sweat by then and even the trails of sweat moving over her sensitized skin was enough to make her start writhing all over again.

Then it was the pure pain of the need that would set her off since pain and pleasure were sometimes mixed up for her...

It was an endless loop of one of the oldest tortures known to Demon-kind. And she was a bit trapped into it right now, unable to escape it until he let her go, if he let her go. By the time he came back to check on her, she would be both trying to avoid his touch and trying to get more of it. Hell, if this was the kind of 'attention' she might get from upsetting him, she might be doing it more often. Even if it hurt this bad.

Of course, she was also proving that she had a higher libido than he'd probably thought she did...  

[Haeo]

Red Gypsy

Shale finished his breakfast with neither haste nor sloth. Then, he reached through the bond and turned Ilea's physical sensitivity slowly back down to normal levels so as to avoid any additional shock to her body. He stood up from the table which still held enough food for another person and went back to the bed to reclaim his boots. There was work to do now.

He had left Ilea's libido at the max on purpose. But, he would reduce it to normal once she got to him. With her sensitivity reduced she should at least be able to manage it for a little while. Especially as he had not targeted it on himself but left it unfocused.

He walked quickly down the third of the passages, sending a quick order through the bond for Ilea to clean up and eat before joining him. He entered the multi-purpose chamber and walked to where several large crystalline blood structures rose up from the floor. While he had crafted a quick and dirty golem forge in the courtyard of King Lareth's castle, this was enormously superior. Here, he would attend to the greatest of his worries. First, he had to take steps to prevent Goh from asserting any influence over Ilea once he was in the trap. He would equip her with golems and continue his efforts to aclimate her to his way of living. Then he would attend to the problem of the King's wrath. But, first he needed to complete the golem that Ilea's clothing would become. By having her assist him she would gain an understanding of exactly why Shale was so much more confident of her survival now that he had created this space.

He was thinking rapidly again, staring blankly at the forge while he designed things in his mind. His plans were changing. The trap he had in mind would almost certainly guarantee the death and obliteration of anyone inside it, even if he attempted to create a way out. And, given what he knew of Goh, he could not allow any way out. So, this would not be the Crimson Spire. This would be the place from which he created it. This would be his Amber Forge and the birthplace of the perfect trap.

His thoughts traveled deeper into the matters ahead. Death was the necromancer's specialty. Death required that the goddess's law governing the process of death be upheld. It was risky to not allow that law to function. But, to truly trap a necromancer of power he had to eliminate the possibility of a spirit being able to depart the tower once the trap snapped shut. So, he would have to forbid the existence of disembodied spirits within the spire. Since he was writing the laws of reality in these places he really could do this. However, as a child of the goddess himself, he could very well suffer serious punishments for taking such extreme liberties. Should the trap attract the goddess's attention... things could become very bad, very quickly. But, that would be after it had destroyed Goh.

An acceptable risk. Without spirits or any connection to the sources of necromantic power and with shadows being bound to be powerless the majority of Goh's skills would be completely nullified. That would leave him vulnerable to the Master class golems that Shale was intending to have within the spire.

His black eyes widened suddenly as his own subconscious inclusion of a garden finally struck home. Common golems only required a little power to function but could do nothing against anyone with real power. Any type of greater golem required a power source, a self-sustaining core that would feed both its powers and its ability to reason. Such things were not easily crafted, but they could be easily grown. He cast his mind's eye into the garden on the floors above. Crystalline flowers with a flawless gemstone of fluid magic growing from the center of each bloom. Those were indeed golem cores. Some had elemental attributes, others had personality attributes. His eyes opened from his concentration and he smiled. With such a garden he could create a true army of powerful golems. Yes, this forge would be of great use in furthering his plans.